Monday Musings: February 14. 2011

As always, on Valentine’s Day, I awoke to a soft, warm kiss, hot coffee and a beautiful heartfelt card. I’m a very fortunate woman, with an incredible marriage that has stood the test of time - been there and back through some decidedly hard times - at yet survived. We are better people for our marriage, and we both look forward to more years of the inevitable bickering, surprises, anniversaries, sullen silences, triumphs and flops followed by kisses and coffee.

Not everyone is so fortunate. This morning, I opened the obituary section in the Reno Gazette-Journal on the way to somewhere else in the paper. There was the obituary of our long-time, trusted and admired family attorney, John Lewis. We were stunned into heartsick silence, but not surprised.

We saw John a couple days before years end. He was obviously very, very sick. He told us that his condition had worsened and that the only hope was to make an arduous trek to a clinic in the Ukraine, where stem cell therapy offered some hope. The topic turned to how the United States had lost so much valuable time pursuing stem cell treatments during the Bush years. We left his office wondering if we’d see him again. We didn’t.

John’s wife, Sharon, preceded him in death in 2009. 

If you are sitting there with your love, hug each other a little tighter this Valentine’s Day.

Sunday morning, we happened to catch  John McCain on CBS Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer. For anybody who thinks we might have been better off with McCain as president - his running mate notwithstanding - today’s interview ought to convince them that a yellow dog woulda been better than John McCain.

This man isn’t playing with a full deck. As Schieffer continued to probe for what McCain’s views might be on the recent breathtaking events in Egypt, McCain kept plodding along, living happily back in the 1980’s and the Cold War.  He said that Ronald Reagan would’ve handled this all differently … just how isn’t clear. And he sent a message of caution to Vladimir Putin to be less “cocky in the Kremlin with (my) KGB cronies…” followed by some incoherent blather about Chinese President Hu ( Jintao ) at “his seaside resort”.

WTF? Come in out of the 1980’s ‘Cold’, John, and join us in 2011. The ‘Commies’ are gone. Putin is no longer the President of Russia. President Hu is a legitimate and serious world leader and not a “seaside resort” playboy. There are different players on the stage.

The real problem here, aside from McCain’s alarming disconnect from current world events, is that a strident legacy of Cold Warriors extant, continue to be tenaciously burrowed into powerful positions in Washington. Rather like termites in an old house, they’re tough to get rid of surgically, and their presence is hurting us all during the good times, but especially during the tough times.

We read a surprising Washington Post column by Cold Warrior errand and shoe-shine boy, George Will, this morning. The numbers might be up for argument - a billion here, a billion there - but the bottom line? The United States - still in hot pursuit of evolved Cold War objectives - spends more on ‘defense’ than all other nations combined. In fact, according to Will, our defense budget is on a par with the entire national budget of the Netherlands. WTF?

Yet, Republicans see any decline in defense spending as an America in decline. The ‘logic’ of this makes your head spin, as the lobbyist run (military industrial complex) federal government continues to kick the budgetary can down to the states - where Republican Brian Sandoval and other governors, kick it further down to counties and cities. What’s the solution? The Reno Gazette-Journal has a silly poll asking if Nevada should institute a lottery to pay for education! WTF? Ask California how that’s worked out. Epic FAIL.

At the end of all this, we kick the can down to those who can least afford it. Raising university fees and costs to fund higher education is a tax on the student - who can least afford to pay and will pass/defer the inevitable costs/tax forward through onerous student loan debt. Lotteries to pay for K-12 is merely taxing lower income people who are the ones standing in line to buy lottery tickets, hoping to make the ‘big hit’.

How many ways can you say it? There is no free lunch.

There is however, some awesome ways to spend a relaxing Saturday afternoon and not spend too very much money. I spent about an hour, this Saturday, just up the road from my house at Whispering Vine wine shop at The Grove - corner of Foothill and South Virginia. Haley Stuart is young, vivacious, engaging and knows more about wine than most people almost thrice her age ( like me). Sigh. I’m now finding out what I like and why, and with Haley’s guidance, coming home with bottles that I know are winners for my palate - and this is far better than the usual dart throwing that I’ve done in the other stores. Plus I got to relax at the congenial bar at Whispering Vine, people watch, sip inexpensively and then toddle off up the street to my house.

Not too shabby. In fact, I set up Saturday, April 16th, in the evening at Whispering Vine for our Reno Skeptics in the Pub meeting. It’s at 6:00 p.m. We’ll visit, talk about Skepticism and sip wine and beer. Put the date in your calendar, and I hope you will join us.

We had a great time on this Saturday night - International Darwin Day. Meeting up at the Roundtable Pizza (now I understand why they’re filing bankruptcy) in Sparks, we had a really interesting presentation on Charles Darwin by our professional archaeologist member, Chris Webster(corrected), (“why celebrate Charles Darwin?”)  followed by a showing of the BBC Darwin movie ‘Creation’. There were door prizes awarded, and I came home with a much prized copy of Richard Dawkin’s ‘The Greatest Show on Earth’.

Maven and Mr. Maven are in the back row, left.That there are still those who would not understand ( ‘belief’ isn’t the issue here ) that evolution may be referred to as a Theory - it is a FACT - leaves me profoundly puzzled. The only possible explanations are scientific illiteracy and/or the amazing persistence of arrogant, blissful ignorance called faith. Religion promotes both.

Anyway, a good time was shared by all.

Last night, we had friends over for dinner and, Shelley - my ski buddy - told me the story of his TWO failed ACL replacements. Hmmmm. He says that were he to do over, he simply wouldn’t have - and that with enough rehab and strengthening, you can do quite well without an ACL, thanks. I ski with the man. I think he’s on to something. I think I should get the MRI regardless, to really know for sure. And then perhaps, get the Meniscus cleaned up.

Well, I’ve got the most of it off my chest. The rest of the day will be devoted to cleaning up the mess around Rancho Maven from our horrible wind last night and throughout the day today. Those crappy Rubbermaid ‘sheds’ are worthless. The one is in pieces out in the back of the house.

Later we’re going to try and catch a movie, don’t know which one yet, and then we have reservations at the Stone House for dinner. If the weather isn’t too terrible, I may even wear a dress. I have a red one!

I hope your Valentine’s Day is a warm and loving one, and if you don’t have a somebody special in your life right now - then I’m sending you a Valentine greeting from us!

Cheers!

-maven