I can’t stand the news any more

I start my day looking at the news, both online and by reading the NYTimes, when I am home to get the physical paper (i still enjoy that), These days it just gets me upset. For a while it was just the first section, with all the incredible things coming from the White House. Now it’s all throughout the paper. What the fuck is happening to our country and what effect is this having on the world at large. Let’s take just today’s (2/20/25) articles as an example:

Front page: Trump calls Zelensky ‘Dictator’ as Feud Grows. Flood of false claims. Ukraine leader attacked for criticizing a ‘web of disinformation.’ Trump is rewriting history and turning Russia into our ally while isolating the Ukraine. unbelievable. the European leaders are aghast and clearly can no longer trust the US.

Front page: Trump aims to end congestion pricing plan in NYC. wtf? Why would he even want to cancel this program, and how is this legal (apparently its not). He even posts “congestion pricing is dead. Manhattan and all of new york is saved. LONG LIVE THE KING.” accompanies by a mockup of Time magazine with a picture of trump wearing a crown. the white house posted this!!

A two-page section is highlighted about how so many more people now own a gun.

Filings in court create window into Musk team. Arguing his work with DOGE provides maximum transparency while it clearly does not, legal filings begin to give this transparency.

The end of amends for a toxic offensive. The US dropped agent orange all over Vietnman during the war. A project funded by USAID has provided assistance to the many people irreparably harmed by this and now of course the support will end.

Arab leaders begin their own plan for Gaza’s future. Reacting to Trump’s idiotic plan to deport every Palestinian from Gaza and turn it into a beautiful beach community, the Arabs have decided to come up with their own plan.

Trump media sues a Brazilian judge weighing the arrest of Bolsonaro. Are you kidding me? Tump’s media company are accusing them of censoring right wing media. Bolsonaro is a criminal (of course, so is Trump!)

Migrants deported to Panama by US are taken to jungle camp. Conditions at the camp are primitive.

Environmental groups sue to block White House’s offshore drilling plan. Stop this shit! We are ruining the planet!

As they gush over each other….an article about the Fox news inteview of Trump and Musk together, by Sean Hannity. “I love the president.” Musk is “a great person.” and “a brilliant guy.” ugh.

Civil rights groups sue Trump administratin over over President’s DEI orders.

Justice department official suggests Mayor Eric Adams helping Trump outweighs prosecution over corruption.

On the Opinion pages, we have: 1. Imagining a US betrayal is surreal for Europeans, 2. Farewell, Justice Department independence, 3. A humiliating month to be an American, by Nicholas Kristof, the best piece of all. He wonders that most Americans won’t appreciate the monumental damage Trump is doing to the post-WWII order that is the wellspring of Amerian global leadership and influence. He’s shattering it. He’s making the world more dangerous. He’s siding with an alleged war criminal (Putin) and poisoning relationships with longtime US allies.

Hegseth orders plans to cut 8% of defense budget for each of next 5 years. However, he’s protecting the plan to pour troops to the southern border to protect it from migrants (who aren’t there).

Musk’s team seeks access to vast amounts of data. These DOGE idiots will have access to Social Security Administration info on medical info, bank accounts and other sensitive personal data.

Lutnick is confirmed at Secretary of Commerce. Let the tariff wars begin.

Right wing media praises peace talks with Russia. “Every day has kind of felt like Christmas, hasn’t it, ” says Kari Lake. The discussions with Russia are “a breath of fresh air.

i got a break during the Sports section, but then came the Arts:

Kennedy Center challenge. Trump has installed himself as Chairman of the Kennedy Center (why???). He purged the center’s board of all Biden appointees and ousted Davi Rubenstein, the center’s largest donor. they also fired the president and other senior staff…all to rid the center of “woke” influences and “anti-American propaganda” to reshape the programming to the president’s tastes. Good luck with that.

And then, in the Thursday Styles section of the paper: White House green space at risk. Trump wants to rip out the rose garden and lawn and replace it with cement patio like he has at Mar-a-lago.

All of the above before I even dared to catch up on social media (do i dare?). It makes me sick. His impact on democracy is potentially disastrous, at home and around the world.

What If We Get It Right?

I just finished this wonderful book by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson. It caught my eye late last year given the vital importance of the impact of climate change, and all the hand-wringing over it. I bought a copy for my son, for Christmas. Last month, the President of Island Institute (Island Institute) sent me a copy, as she did for all the board members…so I had my own copy to read!

I cannot recommend it highly enough. Of course she discusses the challenges and the difficulties we have left ourselves by doing way less than required for so many years. However, the book encompasses interviews with a variety of experts, on the science, financials, cultural issues, legal and regulatory and community impacts. She even put little marks to highlight key passages.

It is meant to inspire, and it does. It is meant permit us not to give up hope, and it does. It is meant to educate us and it really does this!

Of course it was published before Trump was put back in the White House and withdrew (again) from the Paris accords and started thumping his chest about fossil fuels all over again….a horrifying turn of events, that dampens my hope and inflames my anger.

I’m glad I have found a way to be somewhat involved, via the Island Institute up in Maine. Everyone needs to find their own way, looking (as Johnson suggests) at the intersection between What Are You Good At, What Brings You Joy, and What Work Needs Doing.

Good luck to us all. Hope is not a strategy.

I can’t work with her!

…and she can’t work with me. And we have learned that this is okay. Let me explain…

Shortly after we were married we bought a house. Like many a young couple we thought getting a ‘fixer-upper’ would be a good investment and good fun for us. It was a good investment. It was not fun. Our learning lesson came when we tried to work together on wallpapering. It was a terrible fight, we both still remember it – 40 years later!

The lesson grew as our marriage did, and what we learned is that we can’t work together. We make decisions together, but when it comes time to work on something, we do better separately than together. We each need our own space – physically and virtually. We know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. My wife is more handy than I am around the house but I pitch in on cleaning, doing the dishes and I am a better communicator, both written and verbal, so she asks me to write the letters that need drafting. I must have other relevant skills, but who knows…

Our situation won’t apply to everyone for sure – some couples will enjoy working together. Not us. I can already see one of my kids learning that her situation is more like ours, though. Her fiance is doing the work to fix up the house (he’s better at this than me!) and he’s doing it himself. She does a lot of other things that are in her wheelhouse…and that’s okay. They don’t need to force the “why can’t we work together.” They can make decisions together, love each other and make a life together, but

Don’t work together! :-).

You think this is funny?

I had dinner with an old friend recently. Inevitably the subject of Trump came up, and I shook my head at the most recent noises out of the asshole’s mouth, about taking over a couple of independent countries – Panama and Greenland. My friend said he thought it was all just funny, not even a bad idea maybe and he gets a kick out of it.

I didn’t respond at that point, but the more I think about it, the more I want to call him up and ask “do you really think this is funny?” I think we are in for four years of horrible nightmares from this egotistical blowhard

Another friend recently said “well they are all liars.” Wait – do you really compare anyone else in the political sphere with the lies that Trump tells….every day?

Another friend (i do have some who are more grounded) asked if 20 years ago I thought we could have imagined we’d be looking at the political landscape we now have. In so many ways it is unimaginable.

More people in the US voted for Donald Trump than for his opponent! I am so embarassed by my country. Whatever you think of Joe Biden and/or Kamala Harris, it’s just awful to think that most of my fellow citizens would prefer Trump as the leader of our country.

I feel like I have election PTSD. I’m getting over it, but I have to blow through the US news each day to avoid what he’s doing – his appointments are nuts, the involvement of Elon Musk is dangerous and his Vice President is a boob.

Dry January is in serious danger at this point!

4 dogs

The above photo is of my wife (thankfully she never reads my blog so won’t yell at me for posting her photo) and two of our four dogs.

During Thanksgiving we adopted a new pup, Gracie. She’s the black and white one – maybe some corgi, maybe some jack russell, who knows, who cares. She needed a home and a single mom in Brunswick Maine was keen to find the right home for her. The other one in the photo is Gimli, our little terrier mix of some sort. We adopted him a couple years ago when an elderly lady decided that a 1 year old pup with a lot of energy was not the best idea. We got the DNA test done, just for fun and it came back with 17 breeds (is that a record?)

They are now the best of friends, playing all day long and sleeping together at night (in our bed, of course).

They join the other two – a couple of elderly rescue labs, one black (Surrey) and one yellow (Rooney). Here they are. They are about 13 years old now. We adopted Surrey first, from “Adopt-a-Lab” a now defunct rescue society. She was the sweetest, most perfect dog we had ever had. So we decided to adopt a second, from the same organization. so it figures….Rooney was the worst behaved dog we had ever had. It took a good two years for her to settle down and get over whatever trauma she had been through. Now they are old ladies. Surrey is about 6 months older, but Rooney is the one who looks oldest now. Last year, on January 4, 2023, our vet did an x-ray and found a tumor in her chest that was and is inoperable. He said she probably had 1-3 months to live. Rooney was ill-behaved when she was young, as I mentioned, but she grow to become a loving weirdo, a “kook” (as our vet calls her, and says she is their favorite). She is also stubborn. We watched her closely over the next few months and as I write this – December 12, 2024, she is still with us. She goes for at least one and sometimes two walks a day. We feed her 3x day now and she gets babied. She doesn’t seem to give a shit what the vet said almost a year ago.

We love them all. Gracie has fit into the pack and acts like she belongs and has always belonged here. My daughter was telling her friend the other day that we have adopted a 4th dog. Her friend asked “are they crazy?” and my daughter pointed out that we are retired now. “Oh, then they should get some more!”

I don’t see how we could live without them – they are great company and almost like ‘replacement kids,” but don’t tell my real kids that.

What is conservatism?

I was speaking with a friend of mine (who is still a friend) who asserted that he was planning to vote for Donald Trump “because he’s a conservative.” I decided not to explore what he meant by that but I ponder it now, assisted by Heather Cox Richardson’s book “Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America.” Her book was published in 2023, before the recent election. Chapter 1 discusses Conservatism in America.

Conservatism seems to be contrasted with Radicalism, so let’s think about that. Are conservatives focussed on maintaining the status quo? keeping to the rule of law? the constitution?

History may provide some guidance. During the days of slavery it was hard to tell what was conservative. President Franklin Pierce claimed in 1855 that the Founders had believed in a hierarchy of races, in which “free white men” ruled over The subject races….Indian and African.” The editor of the Chicago Tribune was outraged and claimed the word ‘conservative’ for the cause of equality – “…Pierce’s message cannot fail to arrest the attention and shock the feelings of the most conservative among us.”

Yet Stephen Douglas tried to portray his political opponent Abraham Lincoln as a “radical abolitionist.” Lincoln of course hammered that Douglas and his supporters were the radicals. Lincoln claimed to be fighting against slavery on “original principles.”

Isn’t conservatism about sticking to the old and tried, against the new and untried?

I fear that people are clinging to such labels to defend their political positions. Those who vote Republican do so thinking they are voting for conservative values, accusing their political opponents of radical liberalism. Yet the old values of “all men are created equal” and “give me your tired, your poor.” seem to be conservative values.

It seems to me that ‘conservative’ refers to a reluctance for change, and sticking to old values and ways. That’s not necessarily good or bad, it’s just sense of values. Radicals seem to want change, sometimes for the sake of change, and they challenge conservative values. Both labels have now taken on purely political meanings and those in the USA or UK who believe they are “conservative” use the lable to defend themselves against radical liberals.

It’s all so tiring. I am going to read on in Richardson’s book…

Why people vote for Trump

I am not voting for Donald Trump for President. I didn’t last time and wouldn’t consider it this time, for many reasons. I like nothing about this man. My reasons for not voting for Trump are not the subject of this post, however. I do know people who are voting for him and so I have spent time thinking about why they do so. I have come up with three basic reasons:

  1. They like his policies

A lot of people believe that his policies are more in line with their views, or more importantly, will benefit them personally. This might the belief that their taxes will go down, or the price of eggs and gas will go down, or something similar. This is usually a “what’s in it for me” reaction rather than ‘it’s good for all of us.”

2. They in fact love what he says

Most(?) people find what Trump says to be offensive, repulsive, amateurish, rude, pick any one of many adjectives. There are a lot of people who just love this about him. He says things that they may have been thinking (immigrants are bad for our country, or muslims are dangerous) but would not have thought acceptable in polite society until they listened to Trump. He in fact gives ‘permission’ for people to not just think this way, but to speak this way. They are not repulsed by his diatribe; they eat it up!

3. It’s my team and I have to vote for my team

This is the one that bothers me the most I think. Many people have conservative views and simply choose to vote for Trump because he is the leader of their ‘team.’ They believe they need to vote of the red team regardless of many things that my in fact repulse them about Donald Trump personally. He may be an asshole, in other words, but he’s ‘our asshole.’ I have friends in this category 3 and it disappoints me terribly. when I asked my friend why he would vote for this guy he said “I’m a conservative.” This is just “he’s on my team.” It ignores the fact that Trump is no conservative; he in all this for himself and that alone. You can admire conservatives – Liz Cheney is very conservative, as is Mitt Romney – but they are not irresponsible assholes. I shake my head when I think about my friend who is voting for Trump in this way.

Finally!

I turned 65 last month. I am now eligible for Medicare. Rather than being depressed about aging, I am thrilled. I cancelled my $1400/month Obamacare bill from Connecticare and signed up for medicare immediately.

It’s crazy that in this country you have to wait until you are 65 to get reasonably priced (certainly not free) health care insurance…unless you are eligible for medicaid, which I am not. We can argue about the quality of care in places like Canada, UK, Australia, etc. etc. but they have determined that all citizens are deserving of health care, and it is provided.

I had my appendix removed a few years ago when I was living in London. Fortunately, I was registered with the NHS there; I went to a local hospital and was there for several days until they removed the offending organ. The total bill was $0. Did they do everything right? Were they efficient? I don’t know, but I am sure I don’t feel like arguing about it. I remember looking to see what that would have cost in the USA and it was thousands of dollars.

I am now 65. I am lucky as I am healthy and in no need of a lot of prescription drugs or medical attention. I am active and happy. Again – I am lucky.

I think she’ll win

I read an article in the Economist recently about how Kamala Harris is an excellent candidate, but questioned whether she can govern well. It worried over her experience with international affairs, her track record with the economy and immigration, etc.

I have thought about this and there are some valid points. I then thought some more and have decided that I don’t care.

The damage that Donald Trump could do as President far outweighs the risk of limited effectiveness of Kamala Harris. She strikes me as having integrity, which is in sharp contrast to her opponent, and I believe that’s important. She sets a decent example and an example of decency. Her speeches are sometimes cringeworthy, but I am hopeful that a) she will surround herself with strong, talented, committed people, and b) she will be a fast learner. I don’t know if either of those hopes are realistic or likely, but I’m willing to take that chance. I’m not willing to take a chance on a Donald Trump presidency. What an asshole.

Best Retirement Gig Ever

My youngest child is an outdoors-minded kid. Actually, all of my four children love the outdoors, which is rewarding for us all, but this one is ALWAYS outdoors. He’s not had an indoor job since he graduated from college (is that an indoor job?). Like everyone in my family, he loves Maine, especially the little island we live on, Deer Isle, and the charming town of Stonington.

Stonington is a little lobstering town. The town is small and charming, but it also happens to be the largest lobster port in North America (maybe the world?). It’s a rocky coastline and beautifully unspoiled. The year-round population is less than 1,000, but people make the effort to come up here in the summer to see the gorgeous scenery and relax. Even folks from southern Maine (Kennebunk, Portland, etc) come up here and say “oh this is REAL Maine!” I fell in love with this place well over 50 years ago when my parents started coming up here for summers. They ended up moving here full time after retiring. After losing Dad and selling his house, my wife and I bought back in. We got incredibly lucky and found a parcel of land on a small peninsula with 15 acres, on Webb’s Cove, just outside of Stonington. We built a house and it’s got water on both sides of the land and hiking trails all through the woods. We all love it and it’s the family flag firmly planted (figuratively speaking). Frankly it’s dog heaven! My dogs don’t wear a leash much between May and November at least.

So then I started thinking about my own retirement….

My son (youngest, referenced above) decided he wanted to start his own business and asked if I would help. He had become a licensed kayak guide working as a summer job for an outfitter here on the island. The outfitter – Old Quarry Ocean’s Adventures – went out of the business when the owner got tired of it after 20+ years. It was a real loss to the island as people enjoyed going there. Will decided he loved the guiding – being on the water, working with customers, and was interested to learn what it would take to run things on his own. I was finishing up my last IT firm and trying to decide to look for another or not.

Choosing to retire was not as easy a decision as I thought it might be when I thought about it back in the day….it turned out that I liked working. I liked managing people, and leading sales organizations…and it scared me to just stop doing that. I wasn’t going to sit around, play golf and drink beer (much). I knew that I wanted to help some non-profit organizations, and Will’s new company idea represented a new idea. I said yes.

 I suggested we put together a business plan, and a P&L. “Okay Dad, but what’s a P&L?” was his answer. That gives you a sense for where we started. We made a plan and gave the company a name – Osprey’s Echo Sea Kayaking! Ospreys and osprey nests are all around us here on the cove.   We acquired assets (boats, paddles, and other equipment) and developed a plan. In our first year we decided to launch tours from our own property. This was not a strategic decision – it was our only choice. As gorgeous as the kayaking is (i will get to that) there are not many places to launch safely on this island. There’s a town ramp – it gets way too crowded and there’s no parking.  There’s the ‘sand beach’ but launching boats there is frowned upon as sunbathers and swimmers gather there. Our property is on the water, which is good…but it’s very tidal, which presents a problem. Every day, each tour was a new math problem – will we have enough water to launch? and to return? If not, we would have to but the kayaks on the truck and ‘truck’ them to another launch spot.   (well, you can’t live here without a little pickup truck, after all!)

Our first year was good fun and looking back on it we learned a lot. We learned that we need a booking system, rather than pen and paper. We learned that we need to charge customers up front, when they book, or people can cancel at their leisure, leaving us high and dry (so to speak). And we also learned that our property is not ideal for running the business, as beautiful as it is.

Then we got lucky. A small parcel of nearby property came up for sale in 2020. It is an acre, with a small 1-bedroom cabin, and sits on the same cove we are situated on, but it has a ramp, and it also enough water for us to launch even at low tide. We snagged it. It seemed expensive at the time, but it changed everything for the company. We built a couple of kayak racks so we could store all our boats there. Good news, the fellow renting the cabin at the time was an excellent carpenter. Presto – two kayak racks!

We licensed a booking system – PeekPro – which allowed customers to book trips from our (new) website (www.ospreysecho.com). We decided on the culture and ‘vibe’ we wanted, as there are a couple of other kayak companies already on the island. One is led by a very experienced fellow and the other by a not so experienced fellow. They both launch from the town ramp. There were real pluses to being on our own private launch spot. We can launch into the beauty and peace and quiet of Webb Cove, and then make our way to the islands. Those launching from the town ramp will know that it’s crowded, there’s no parking and you launch right into the harbor where the lobster boats are. No prize for guessing which launch spot has more wildlife to see :-).

It is a tribute to the diversity of skills in our family that we got up and running quickly.  Will’s oldest sister Katie is a marketing maven, expert at social media and our social media presence has been outstanding from the start.  His other sister Sarah works for a bank and her sophistication with finances and cash flow comes in real handy for Will. His older brother was in medical school when we started and a bit short on time, but always pitched in with expertise on risk management and provided a lot of muscle when he was in town.

We got up and running at our new launch spot – 35 Big Pond Road in 2022. The little cove is the ‘big pond.’ Somebody’s idea of a joke, i guess. Will is the kayaking expert. I am the business expert – teaching him about customer service from beginning to end, as the way to build a reputation. We make sure that every call is answered. Every single one. We make sure that every email is answered. Every single one.

This is now our fourth season (third season at Big Pond Road) and things go smoothly.  We have a system for taking bookings, greeting customers, getting them into their gear and on the water.  We have a plethora of routes to take, multiple tour options (2-hour, 4-hour, full day, overnight camping, lessons, custom tours) and a post-tour ritual of taking polaroid photos, putting them in our guest book and offering customers a small choice of merchandise if interested (hats, water bottles, coasters, post cards made by Katie).

We didn’t really think about it at the start, but we couldn’t be more fortunate.  The Stonington archipelago is made up of over 70 islands and is considered by many who talk about kayaking online to be the best sea kayaking on the east coast.   The islands provide a sheltered environment for paddling, hosting and seeing wildlife and an almost unbelievable set of scenery.  It’s pretty easy for us to impress visitors to the island.

All in all, it’s not a bad retirement gig 