GETTING OLDER

There is a small and almost unnoticeable change in the heading of my blog. Those of you who are sharp-eyed regulars will have noticed I no longer say, “You get to see the workings of an 83-year old brain that doesn't seem to view the world as most others do.” As of now it says, “You get to see the workings of an 84-year old brain that doesn't seem to view the world as most others do.”
I made it! Monday, March 26th, was my eighty-fourth birthday and all is going well.

It’s also Jen-Chi’s birthday. Incredibly she and I have the same birthday but she is one year older. For those of you who might be math-impaired, and you know who you are, that means she turned 85.

In my wildest dream I never thought I’d be sleeping with an 85-year old woman but then again, I doubt her fantasies involved an 84-year old man.

Faced with the problem of what one buys for an 85-year old woman who has everything I came up with an idea – flowers.
I bought her some roses.
85 roses.
One for each year.

Here she is trying to hold the bundle together.

Judging by her enthusiasm I’m led to believe the choice of gift was a great one.


The Old Professor

Carmel, CA

March 27, 2007

MY DAD WAS SMART

My father was a cop. I was the son of a cop. I was always reminded of this. We didn’t have father-son conversations very often but a newspaper item the other day reminded me of one of the rare ones we had. I suppose the term “father-son conversation” is not quite accurate. My dad talked and I listened.

One particular time he and I were riding in the car for some reason. He expressed his opinion on what kind of a career his son should have. Here again, that’s not quite accurate. What he said wasn’t exactly an opinion it was something like, “I’ll never let my kid become a cop. You see nothing but the seamy side of life.” He further went on to rule out being a fireman because “They have too many heart attacks due to those bells going off in the middle of the night.”

So, you can imagine my surprise when, some 70 year later, I saw a headline in the newspaper that proclaimed, “Study Shows Firemen Prone To Heart Attacks.” I’ll be damned. My dad knew that 70 years ago.

As I read the article I found his conclusion was correct but, according to this study, the reason was different. The scientists concluded the cause often was lack of proper exercise and poor dietary habits. They rightly observed the fact that firemen are sometimes called upon to do extremely strenuous physical tasks and therefore need to be in excellent physical condition.

It was nice to know that 70 years ago it was possible to reach valid conclusions even without the latest scientific data. I’m guessing that’s how they managed to raise kids without Dr. Spock and all the other child-raising experts. Nice going Dad!

The Old Professor
Carmel, CA
March 23, 2007