Grumpy Grandpa

  Quite a year and a half !   Time sometimes zooms by.  To my surprise, it's been a year and a half since last I posted anything.  The events of the last 18 months have been stonishing, to say the least.   Not only the toll from the COVID-19 pandemic, but the events in Ukraine, and our own explosion of mass shootings.   My Democratic leanings, and background as a psychologistg interested in crime and violence, has left me more and more irritated with the national situation.  The shooting in HIghland Park, Illinois on July 4th, and the knee-jerk Republican reaction, finally galvanized me to write a note to Rep. Boerback ("controlling guns DOES NOT stop mass shootings.")  The rest of this is what I wrote to her, and Sen. McConnell and Rep. McCarthy.  I would very much appreciate your feedback, good or critical, and any thoughts you have.     "Rep. Lauren Boebart US House of Representatives 1609 Longworth House O...

  MAKING A DIAGNOSIS??  This post is really my giving voice to a genuine dilemma I have, and that is making a diagnosis of D. J. Trump, currently president of the this country.   Truth in writing:  The American Psychological Association's rules of ethical behavior are very specific.  A diagnosis should not be made of a person without first-hand interaction, interviews, background data, and, if possible, the help of psychological tests.  OK, I'm retired so being in good standing with the APA is not very high on my priorities.  But I digress. DJ Trump sharpened the problem for me when I heard the tape recording of his hour long telephone conversation last Saturday with Brad Raffensperger.  Raffensperger is the Georgia Secretary of State, and has some control over the election and reporting of it.  During the phone call, Trump repeatedly trotted out arguments that he won in Georgia though election fraud denied him the win.  He baldly...

SPENDING TIME DURING THIS LOCKDOWN .    We are already retired, but not being able to do the usual stuff (daily gym, daily shopping, visiting friends, folk dancing, etc.) means that there is a lot of time to fill in during the day.  Somehow, I have evolved a routine that seems to have become, well, routine.  Before getting to it, I would love to hear how others are filling the spaces.   My day seems to consist of a two hour breakfast drinking coffee and doing the daily crossword puzzle.  kudus to my friend David for forwarding the Philly one, which helps fill that time slot.  I have painfully amassed a few weights, so I can do curls and squats, tricep curls, and what my better educated friends call "flies." (flys?)  For those with a sense of humor, I also do sit-ups on the living room floor, and an ever-diminishing number of push-ups.   Gardening takes up some time, as I have learned how to coax grass to grow, after 55 years of frui...

My life is being endangered by DJ Trump--along with hundreds of thousands of others.  My anger is growing at the wanton disregard for my life by this president and his allies.  And he doesn't even know me--we've never met and never will.   He is endangering my life, that of my wife, my neighbors (in their 70s and 80s, respectively), my children-in-laws' parents, and millions of others who have never met him.  Many voted for him.  Many support him.  Many seem to fear him and kowtow to him.    He is doing it passively, by refusing to cooperate with the incoming administration.  So plans for dealing with the Covid-19 plague are tied up in his childlike opposition to the election results.    The longer it takes to initiate a transition, the slower and more complex the distribution of the two candidate vaccines will be.  Every day of delay means that hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people will get the infection.  Hundreds...

  Sometimes hard work doesn't pay off--or does it? Today, two days after the election polls have closed, it is still not clear who has been elected president of the United (?) States.  Biden is edging closer to the magic number of electoral votes (270), and if his razor-thin lead in Nevada holds up, he will be the elected president.   Politicians from the dominant groups have been working very hard for over a hundred years to keep minority voters from the polls.  Democrats from the end of the Civil War until after World War II, using special taxes on voting, excessive requirements to register, intimidation, and even murder to keep non-Caucasians from voting.  Republicans have taken up the challenge, and their efforts have accelerated as more and more of electorate become non-Caucasian (I am told that over half of eligible voters are now from what used to be known as "ethnic minorities.")  The ploys include increasingly strict voter laws (photo identif...

  Well, Why driver's licenses?  Between 1905 (New Hampshire) and 1947 (Texas, where else?) every state in the union enacted laws requiring people who drove self-propelled vehicles to have a driver's license.  For most states, this required a relatively simple test of knowledge of local laws, and an on-the-road test of driving ability.  I got my license at age 16 in Michigan 32 years after its law was adopted in 1919.  (Truth in reporting:  I failed the first driving test, but passed the second time around) I was now deemed a safe enough driver not to endanger other, hapless drivers or pedestrians.  To my knowledge, no one in 2020 questions the need for drivers to have driver's licenses, to protect themselves and others.  The right to drive can lead to some tough results:  Vermont has a lot of drivers whose licenses have been suspended or revoked, due to DIU (driving under the influence) offenses.  But, most of Vermont is rural, and with ...

GRUMPY GRANDPA FOUND SOME NICE THINGS ABOUT BETHESDA.  Our world has become more constricted and isolated since the Big C started, but there are a few nice things that have emerged--or maybe just noticed.   First, people do their best to keep a safe distance.  If the dog and I are on the street, others move to the sidewalk, or vice-versa.   Almost the same, though not universal, is behavior in stores.   Second, total strangers now smile and wave as they walk nearby, and drivers wave as they go by.   Third, a sort of informal library system has emerged (or come to light).  At least four homes in the area have small revolving libraries in front of their houses--take one, leave one.  Now that our library, The Davis LIbrary, is closed, it is a real comfort for voracious readers like my wife, Eileen.     Fourth, a sort of "repurposing" system has become quite common.  Members of our area LIstserv announc...