No Funk Here?

Happy Saturday morning. After some seriously slouching off on my walks and exercises the last couple of weeks I am turning a new leaf. Sure, there are excuses galore, but these are all excuses. All except for the crazy high temperatures – we’re not expected to drop below the 90-degree mark with most days in the high 90s. Change supposedly coming this coming Wednesday that is. Arggh, with the infamous ‘feels-like’ it’s been a steady 100+.

Notwithstanding the chronically heat complaining, this morning I am enjoying a hot mug of morning coffee. Does that signify a caffeine addiction?

Last week – I happened to mention that I’d be running out early to help with the pre-game ceremonies of that day’s tournament game between the Mamelodi Sundowns FC (Pretoria – South Africa) vs Borussia Dortmund (Dortmund – Germany) game. It was a really good game, and I declared a winner. Yes, I know that Germany won the actual game. But the tournament winner in the (totally unrecognized) uniform category must be the – drum roll please – the Mamelodi Sundowns from Pretoria. Best uniform I’ve ever seen.

Helen Keller Quote –

“When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.”

As we age many bits and pieces of our lives change, ease up, even begin to slow down, or as Helen Keller would put it; “one [or each] door closes”. These past few weeks I had the good fortune to be pointed to a ‘door’ which had just opened – soccer’s FIFA Club World Cup 2025 was coming. Not only that but our stadium was to be one of 11 to be used across the nation. It was to be the new door that had just opened up.

They needed volunteers and I made an application the day our Adrianne alerted me to this opportunity. All told the event had many thousands of applications, selection was a weeding out process; I got the invite!

Now that it’s all over and that door has closed, what I received was one of those life events to be remembered and remembered. It was epic!

As my daughter Kirstin wrote; “my dad living his best life”.

It really was a proud moment when after the final game (attended by our VP JD Vance) Gianni Infantino, FIFA President visited with our Ceremonies team and asked me forward as the tournament MVV Volunteer by handing me the Official Match Ball of the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 tournament which he signed for me. Being given this token is beyond special.

Afterwards nearly 50 of my compatriots asked to have their photo taken with the ball. What a day!

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The Dayton area – has an active Polynesian community. With that there is a regularly structured group teaching Hawaiian, Samoan, Fijian, as well as Tongan dances. Vai is totally involved and works hard to learn Tongan specific dances.

Anyway, last weekend Marcia and I went to a performance by members of the Ohana Outreach program for a fundraiser. Since all these dances have meanings derived from their traditional island way of life, the meaning of the various dances was explained; dances such as the Luau and Haka war dances.

Plus, as a bonus Vai did a beautiful Tongan dance by herself. Really a lot of fun.

Cheddar Chips – Yesterday Marcia and I went to Good Sam hospital for her semi-annual infusion shot (which has become an excuse to have lunch at the hospital’s cafeteria). It’s really a Seinfeld scene just how my wife loves that cafeteria. Favorite? The Deli section serves hand assembled smoked meat sandwiches with Boar’s Head meats.

Anyway, Marcia added a little bag of Quaker Cheddar Chips – which tasted amazingly good. Reading the ingredients it appears that HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr.’s push for healthier ingredients is well underway. The listing on the rear has whole grain, no artificial ingredients, etc., in other words it’s much healthier.

Amazing – is what the recent successful military effort to ‘silence’ a rogue nation’s effort to make the world dramatically more dangerous. It was a Mr. Ostrovsky who afterwards wished all a very special Shabat.

Another Game? – Now that my total immersion in soccer – for weeks on end – is over, I realized that I’d stumbled into a bit of a funk. Then, yesterday it was Cathy who called. Seems someone at the radio station her show runs on had a pair of extra tickets – could she use them? She advised she couldn’t, but she knew someone who could. So here is what transpired.

I received a pair of tickets for a game at TQL Stadium for tomorrow afternoon. It’s the final contest of a two-match series by the U.S. Womens National Soccer Team (USWNT) against Ireland. It’s a wonderful opportunity to see Cincinnati raised Rose Lavelle (midfielder #16) play. Rose has played on our US Olympic Team and has been nominated as Player of the Year. She’s good, very very good.

What a way to ease out of a funk.

Life is AMAZING!

Dirk
BONUS POINTS:

When was the last cigarette commercial aired on TV?

1) “1968”
2) “1966”
3) “1971”
4) “1977”
5) “1973”
6) “1984”
7) “1980”
8) “1999”
9) “2010”

Where is Starman?

Happy Friday Eve. Posting a little early since tomorrow morning at 6:15AM I’ll be enjoying my coffee in the car while driving to our TQL Stadium. In a short while I’ll be doing my volunteer part on the Pre-Game Ceremonies. Today’s (Saturday) FIFA Club World Cup 2025 game will feature the Mamelodi Sundowns FC (Pretoria – South Africa) vs Borussia Dortmund (Dortmund – Germany) game.

Afterwards Marcia and I will head for Centerville (near Dayton) to watch Vaioleti performing as a dance member for the Ohana Outreach Fundraiser, in their annual Luau! There Vai’ll promote dances from Tonga.

Now does the why for this Friday posting make sense? Thought you’d agree.

Cicada Time – Those pesky every 17 years beasties are back. No, I am not reposting the audio track of our local eatery’, “Snappy Tomato Pizza” notorious 1987 faux advertising jingle: “Snappy Cicada Pizza”. But just how strange an event it is, is clear when viewing this year’s emergence.

Here by our home, we’ve not heard or seen a single lonely one of those ‘red eyed’ bugs. However, drive exactly 9.2 miles away from our home, in Madeira and Milford the ground has become a living, writhing, carpet.

Early on the early emerging Cicadas were viewed a desert snack by other animals. Now, there are so many of the screeching beasties that it’s to a point where even the birds and the dogs are sick of them.

Think I’m kidding? Ha!

A Game / A Storm – Wednesday with temp hovering just over 90 and humidity as high as anyone would want my team and I did our pre-game banner routine. Even with the heat our performance came off flawlessly. Then, armed with lodge seat complimentary game tickets we were truly treated to a world-class game. Playing were CF Pachuca (Mexico) vs RB Salzburg (Austria). ‘Treated’ until shortly after the 2nd half started when Stadium announcers stopped the game and moved everyone under cover. And, yes, it was quite a thunderstorm which blew through.

Safely under cover away from the weather it was the Mexican fans who began to sing and party. I called Marcia to let her know all was OK and see if she was OK on the home front. Let me explain that with all the singing and chanting we couldn’t make out a word either one of us said or heard over the “Pachuca, Pachuca” chants, i.e. fun, fun times!

The Team – I’ve been asked what all this FIFA ‘volunteering’ is about. It’s a bunch of work performed for free. Actually, it’s work without renumeration, but with tons of fulfilling and gratifying good times. Here are a few pictures of the ‘behind the scenes’ stuff and one of ‘Moi’ and my team.

The Pitch

The Team

Rush – Earlier this year Vai and her school band, plus similar bands from 6 other high schools joined forces at Miami University to combine their Steel Drums for a concert of the band Rush’s music.

This, Rush’s “2112 Overture”, was just posted and is a much more professional video than my posting of their “Tom Sawyer” piece. This video of the 2112 Overture is too good to pass up, go full screen or TV and up the sound – ENJOY!

People ask – Dirk, over the years you write constantly about your walks and 5Ks, what gives? Maybe, these words spoken by Dr. Wendy Suzuki provide the best answer:

“We know that as little as 10 minutes of walking can improve your mood, that is getting (your brain) that bubble bath with the dopamine, serotonin, endorphins going, anybody can do that.”
Dr. Wendy Suzuki, neuroscientist, professor at the New York University Center for Neural Science

Life is AMAZING!

Dirk
BONUS POINTS:

Which of the following have served as a form of currency?

1) “Beads”
2) “Stones”
3) “Tulips”
4) “Eels”
5) “Shells”
6) “Salt”
7) “Animal Skins”
8) “Parmigiano cheese”
9) “Whale teeth”

And so, we start a weekend!

Happy Saturday. Earlier this week it was a seriously past due time for the haircut. With dueling cowlicks topside it’s always a bit of a challenge for the person manning the scissors. Having said that, the job got done and Marcia even gave a nod of approval,

Today, after a massively active week, it’s a fine time to just jot a bit for The Ramblings and at the same time savor my mug of coffee, a moment more than usual.

It’s Game Time – Aside of the start of the Club World Cup 2025 matches tomorrow [here in the ‘Naty it’ll be Bayern Munich {Germany} vs Auckland City {New Zealand} streaming at noon on DAZN and other services].

Next, for two Sold Out weekend performances our Great American Ballpark will host the Savannah Bananas. They are the wildly popular, barnstorming, baseball version of the Harlem Globetrotters.

Then, this town also finds it necessary to pay homage to its German heritage for the 159th year (1866) by celebrating Schützenfest annually by the catholic Kolping Society.

Schützenfest’s origins date back to medieval times. “The event commemorates a legendary marksman who saved a child from an eagle attack. Each year, the festival honors this story with a hand-carved eagle perched atop a pole, which marksmen aim to shoot. The marksman who shoots the eagle is crowned the “Schützen König,” or Shooting King, for the year.” Of course, there will be a “Wein & Bier Stube”, and an outdoor Biergarten with a slew of activities beyond just drinking.

Practice – Yesterday I spent 4-hours on the Pitch at TQL Stadium, where the grass is treated as hallowed ground. Although the stadium was empty of screaming fans it was magical. Music from the likes of Queen, and Van Halen and more thumped on the sound system. Hundreds of folks were scurrying around; media, medics, audio & video types, along with security to name but some.

At some point heated cabinets were rolled into our gathering room and a great lunch of Indian food was made available. This was the first time I’d seen these cabinets complete with Sterno canned heat. Lots of chatter in many languages, a little more white-board detailing, and then it was back at it again. The work that must go into these, for international consumption, productions is beyond belief.

PS. see if you can find a hidden — well known to these readers — name on the whiteboard 🙂

what the banners look like spread out on the pitch

My Special Day – Last Thursday, the one that had me on a liquid diet for two days, went better than I’d hoped. I expected I’d be ‘foggy’ till near eleven o’clock. Instead, I was on the way for some breakfast by 8:30. Adrianne and I stopped by a nearby Bagel shop. For Marcia and her it was a breakfast Bagel, I got a still warm one with cream cheese and cold-smoked salmon – my absolute favorite.

I wouldn’t be surprised if I actually gave the doctor (or maybe it was the anesthesiologist) a cheery well wish and that I’d see them on my next visit – 10 years hence.

The results were all good news.

A bit ago, at 6:30AM, an Amazon Prime delivery came to the front door and dropped a package was dropped off. Before I looked back at my morning Ramblings I noticed a Kroger grocery delivering truck driving by. We really have become an active 24-hour a day society, haven’t we?

Life is AMAZING!

Dirk

BONUS POINTS:

What is a ‘blob’ of toothpaste called?

1) “lump”
2) “nurdle”
3) “pellet”
4) “dash”
5) “daub”
6) “smear”
7) “ball”

Prepping for H2O days!

Happy Saturday. And I hope yesterday was your year’s best since it was National Donuts Day. I skipped the celebrations, but that’s probably for the best. At Dunkin’ it’s coffee and donuts as a snack, I went the solo coffee route.

Mentioning yesterday, I learned that if one has the thermostat set on ‘heat’ in June it’s in error. I was on my Zoom exercise cluster when I first noticed that I was dripping sweat on my Yoga mat as if a faucet had turned on. It turned out that exercise coupled with an inside humid temperature of 79 is not a happy combination. Early afternoon all was good (by then I’d also downed over 20oz of water).

Bet you didn’t Know – Now what would that be compadre? Ever heard of Stricker’s Grove? No? It’s an amusement park located outside of Hamilton, OH about 25 miles from our little abode. Started by Henry Stricker in 1924 on 55 acres of property. Henry worked at Procter and Gamble where he allowed his fellow employees over as a picnic spot on weekends.

Stricker’s Grove is a family friendly amusement park where I’ve never been. The reason is simple, it’s only open to the public 4-days a year. It’s still family owned, now starting year 101.

You ask, “How do they stay alive”, simple, it’s a destination place for events, company outings, weddings, and so forth. A quick factoid, years ago it was Ralph Stricker himself who built the Tornado, a full-scale wooden roller coaster as well as a smaller kiddie one..

“Are the rides safe?”— might also be something you wonder about, but don’t worry, the place is checked out by the State. Also, somewhat different, in Ohio it’s the Department of Agriculture which inspects amusement parks. It makes perfect sense. If you understand how a cornstalk snaps, the principle of Coaster snapping applies.

CWC 2025 – Some of you have probably had enough of me babbling on and on about the Club-World-Cup 2025 soccer event which starts this coming week. But it is nothing like what I spotted on BBC Sport: “Men ‘hid in toilet for 27 hours’ to watch Champions League final for free”. This happened in Munich; Click here to read just how they survived their escapade.

But for me, tomorrow I get fitted for my uniform gear and pick up my accreditation pass. Tuesday I am on the University of Cincinnati practice field to perfect the 15-minutes of ‘Rah-Rah’ officially labeled as the “Pre—Match Ceremonies Team” – I must be a slow learner because they have blocked 4-hours for me to learn the 15 minutes of glory.

Included for our team will be the display of the Tournament Brand Banner & Team Crests, then Music & some chorography, Team player walk on, match info, Player announcements, and breakdown of everything on the pitch. Whew! All done in 15 minutes.

A Very Special Visit/Day – Then on Thursday it really kicks in, I have a hospital visit at 7:00AM (my exact procedure requires that I drink an inordinate amount of clear liquid, sans solids).

Then at 5:00PM I’ll be back on the UC practice field to perfect the ‘Rah-Rah’ routine. Thursday should be fun and will certainly be the highlight of the week! Marcia is chortling. Adrianne is driving me around and will probably wonder why she volunteered for that chore. Me? I am a little more sober about the start of the day.

Corner dogs – The corner of Chaos & Mayhem was mostly quiet this week, except for one incident. A lady residing nearby has two dogs and one crazy habit. See, she puts her ‘pets’ on their leash (most times) and then drops the end she should be holding on the ground. Basically, she free-ranges her dogs which roam in about a 40’ or so radius. Mostly it all seems works – except for her picking up any ‘deposits’, which she doesn’t.

This week her lazy habit didn’t fare so well. Another neighbor’s daughter happened to set out to walk another neighbor’s two dogs – hers were properly on leash. The dogs caught sight of one another. Let’s just say that by the time the ruckus died down the daughter was in tears. That very next day the daughter reappeared, now with her upper arm all bandaged up (Ace). Sometime later that same day a city truck marked “Warden” rolled up and the driver went to the lazy dog owner’s home. And so, it goes.

Maybe that lazy woman would be better off heading for the Chinese online shopping site, TEMU where they’d sell her an electronic, peeing, attack dog.

Dayton – Vai and her Olohana’s Polynesian Dance were invited on Dayton’s GoodDay ABC Channel 22 this week. They performed a couple of dance numbers for the live show where Vai represented Tonga. Guess who was all smiles? Vai herself, her mom and dad, and Marcia and me.

Groceries – by now regular readers know that Marcia LOVES on-line grocery shopping. Yesterday morning, at 9:00, the Kroger truck rolled up and the groceries were brought to our front door. That evening Marcia commented that, including our delivery, she had counted 14 Kroger trucks roll by.

Life is AMAZING!

Dirk

BONUS POINTS:

Yesterday was the 81st year of the invasion of Normandy (June 6, 1944). During WWII the allied factories (primarily the USA, UK, & Canada) produced a lot of aircraft – 630,000. Do the math, how much time between each new airplane to be completed and roll off the assembly line.

1) “12-minutes”
2) “1-hour, 12-minutes”
3) “47-minutes”
4) “2-hours”
5) “5-minutes”
6) “1-hour, 47-minutes”
7) “18-minutes”

Schlemiel! Schlimazel!

Happy Saturday. Coffee for a sensation and a disaster:

The disaster: This past weekend, “Cannes is in a total slowdown, meltdown, there’s no coffee anywhere, and I think the town has run out of croissants, so this is like crisis territory,” Australian producer Darren Vukasinovic told Reuters news agency reflecting on the Cannes power outage at the Film Festival.

The Sensation: At this place enjoying a coffee is an almost holy event. Crowned the most beautiful café in the world with its breathtaking feature of eclectic architecture is the 130 year old New York Café in Budapest, Hungary.

Ai – Here is an adaptation of Ai: “Scientists at Caltech, for example, used an AI fluid simulation model to automatically design a better catheter that prevents bacteria from swimming upstream and causing infections”.…..”rather than progress through a long line of progressively better designs”.

what will happen in the near future, years rather than decades, as Ai capability speeds up incrementally? What will happen as Ai begins to think and starts communicating with its own kind in its own language independent of human ‘coders’? Already, just this past month Ai was asked to perform a few simplistic math problems after which it was to stop and shut down. The system easily solved the math, but, then would not quit. Eventually the human engineers had to pull the plug.

Now think of tens of thousands of Ai systems talking with each other, can every plug be pulled?

Former Google CEO, Dr. Eric Schmidt, provides insight into the future – ‘future’, think the next five years. I’ve been following his insights for some time.

Here are two interviews. The first is short and was for a Congressional hearing. The second is with Noema – a magazine published by the Berggruen Institute. Should yo want more, the second interview is fascinating, more detailed and lengthier (about 20-minutes).

Congressional Hearing (short)

Noema Magazine interview (detailed)

Already a number of the large national companies, think Google, Apple, Meta, or Oracle are moving forward fast and furiously. Then, a myriad of start-ups are also joining the fray. Ai is in our future, like it or not we have little choice.

“Today, Oracle has 162 cloud data centers, live and under construction throughout the world. The largest of these data centers is 800 megawatts, and it will contain acres of Nvidia GPU clusters able to train the world’s largest AI models”
Larry Ellison, founder & CEO of Oracle

Dinah’s party – Monday was a glorious time at Cathy and Jason’s home celebrating Dinah’s high school graduation. Cathy’s side of the family (who we don’t often see) were all gathered, Marin was there, as were schoolmates, and a table full of fellow rowers.

Adrianne and Tevita, in Tongan and Polynesian tradition treated Dinah as the “fahu” (leader) and hence Dinah walked around with many necklaces of candy placed on her – later these were then given out to friends by Dinah (at least to many of them). It’s a lovely tradition.

Glorious weather. Great conversation. Bagels with Lox (my favorite), and the thought that I could do one of these each and every week.

Pennies – Having traveled back and forth to Canada for years I’ve watched them operate from before and after they removed the penny from their currency. Seamless! Think, no torn pockets due to the weight of jangling coins. Actually, in Canada’ it’s still torn pocets since they use a ‘Looney’ and ‘Tooney’ coin for their $1 & $2 equivalents, they still have pockets full.

So now it’s our turn, the penny is on the way out. The mint has already stopped making pennies (cost about 5 cents for every penny made). You’re a collector? You better hoard!

Oh, that Highway – Half the time in The Ramblings you’re expecting some incident to have occurred here at The Corner of Chaos & Mayhem, often car related. Not this week.

A few days ago I drove Vai and Vili to near Dayton for practice. About even with Middletown on I-75 all traffic stopped. It was an accident on the south-bound lanes. No idea on the ‘how’ or ‘why’. All I saw was a red minivan laying on its ROOF, balanced dab-smack ON top of the concrete divider. I asked Vai next to me to grab her mobile and take a picture. By the time we got organized the tow truck had cabled the thing off the concrete and there it was, laying on its side. I hope that the occupants came out OK, the vehicle did not.

Aging Specs – Stats can be a wild thing. Even more so when reflecting back over the years – for me, now mostly time-squeezed. Remember back the years? The sweats just asking a girl out for your first date? The time you were allowed to climb behind the wheel and how your foot shook working the (now no longer) third pedal? Sitting in class and opening that empty ‘Blue book’ as finals kicked in? Burying a parent and the extreme sense of loss and the knowledge of how time was slipping?

Yet, at the same time, aging is something magical. Now for us, Baby-Boomers’ or even those close to. Here is what all we’ve experienced:

We were raised during the 1960s, Vietnam and the Summer of Love, all at once. Musically it’s been Jazz, Blues, Crooners, Pop, Rock, and Rap – but the Classical kept us focused.
We’ve shuffled and bungled through eight decades.
Touched two centuries, two millenniums, and one of them reaching back to times earlier than the Civil War, the other stretching into Space and Infinity and Ai.

You’ve got to admit that it’s a special time in our history. As I’ve stated, Life is Amazing!

Life is AMAZING!

Dirk

BONUS POINTS:

Sister Marizele of Brazil got rave reviews on their Catholic TV station playing which instrument?

1) “1/32 size violin”
2) “contrabass saxophone”
3) “Moog synthesizer”
4) “beatbox”
5) “Celtic harp”
6) “Buck dancer clogging shoes”
7) “Melodica”

Will I, Won’t I – Don’t I, Do I

Happy Saturday. And a happy Memorial Day weekend.

Spring is quickly passing into summer. This week summer vacation started for our local school kids. And I experienced my first summer special of the year. At last weekend’s Regatta at East Fork Lake park, I wanted a mid-day pick me up. Asking if anyone else wanted a coffee I was asked to bring an iced coffee. Asking the window person at the Food Truck – if they had cold coffee; and they did. Yes, that one item solidified it, summer has sprung.

The Ceremony – Thursday afternoon I attended Dinah’s graduation ceremony. 400-strong was her class of 2025. With that size the ceremony was held at the University of Cincinnati’s Bearcats basketball arena.

Aside from her athletic scholarship she was also the recipient of a financial grant – proud parents to be sure.

Years ago, two of our kids graduated from Dinah’s school, plus her brother Marin and mother Cathy. It was announced that their school, Walnut Hills High School, this past year was ranked #1 out of the 864 High Schools in the State. Even though a public school an entry exam is required. Each student must take Latin for 3 years.

The net result is that each one of my gang is substantially smarter than me.

Climbing Around – After all of that ceremony stuff, when heading home I couldn’t find my car. OK, has the laughter died down yet? I do know that this was a ‘geezer’ move. The UC campus is TOTALLY different from anything I remember. Several new and expanded buildings have been ‘shoe-horned’ into what is already a tight campus. Add that everything is a series of staircases, both up and down, and a multitude of ramps.

I knew I left the car in one of the 11 multi-level garages on campus. The problem was that we were escorted out of the basketball arena from a different exit than how I entered. Once outside it’s impossible to just turn a corner to retrace your steps in. The sun had set, making it difficult to pick a direction. Ultimately the ‘coup de grâce’ was that when I finally discovered the garage, I was not aware that it was actually two buildings which initially only appeared to be one.

Yes, I know, I know that on my mobile phone a GPS location pin can be placed as an aid. But this is easily not thought of when preoccupied with other matters – such as meeting up with the rest of the family.

After all of this, when I finally got home Marcia was sound asleep.

Old Radio – Driving earlier this week I tuned in to one of our local ‘oldies’ stations. It wasn’t that long ago that it was exclusively “Big Band” sounds and radio comedy or drama from the 1930s ‘40s, and 50s. Now music from the 1960s and ‘70s has entered the “oldies” lineup.

Day dreaming (while driving in traffic is not a good idea) nevertheless, it’s what I was doing. And so, I remembered that back in June of 1985 (I had to look that up later) almost every local radio station ran a series of ads daily. The ads were for an under-construction underground mall – Plummet Mall!

Secretive, coy, hints galore, perfect shopping temperatures, and escalators directly into any store is what the ads promised. In fact, the Chamber of Commerce was upset that they hadn’t been informed of a new mall. The then Cincinnati Gas & Electric Co. pointed out construction couldn’t start because no one had applied for service. Listen to what I enjoyed back in 1985, 2 of the ad spots plus the final one:

You should know that the brainchild of the Plummet Mall spoof was a guy named Jerry Galvin who then had a NPR radio show called Talk Back. Jerry lived nearby in our neighborhood and he and Marcia played sandlot Volleyball together. Fun times!

The Square – Our first home was in the Hyde Park neighborhood of the ‘Nati. Our kids, then little tykes, were all pushed around the place in strollers. One of the ‘go-to’ areas was Hyde Park Square. The quiet, live able, ambiance of the area is what has stuck over the years – till now.

Times are a ‘changing. Out of State developers, big ideas, lots of money, little sense of community other than their version of growth, big-ness, and similarity. All couched in an ’improved’ Connected Cities boondoggle of an idea to increase population density. All coupled with something which magically then begins to look like an every other town designed with similarly planned cheap facades. Bye, bye ambiance.

Currently our city is a one party ‘progressive’ government. No opposition voice to force second looks. In a “follow the money” move the city government ram-rodded the developer’s concept without an ear for the Hyde Park neighborhood counsel’s ear and quick railroaded an approval for the Square redevelopment scheme.

Ah, but there are elections. To get the opposition to the proposal on the November ballot 12,000 signatures were needed. The neighborhood activists wanted 15,000 signatures to allow for ones tossed. Yesterday, the last day to load City Hall with the petitions, they were inundated with 18,340 petitions.

Somewhere in one of those boxes lies a petition which contains my signature.

Oh, that Corner – Don’t forget that we live on the Corner of Chaos & Mayhem. Mid-week, mid-day, we heard a massive Bang. I calmly told Marcia that a truck tire must have blown, explaining that to her at the very moment a second ‘tire’ blew. This convinced me that it was something else.

Looking out the front/side window Police had blocked off the street. Out back five or so houses away I saw the Swat team armored truck and police with their big guns running into a yard. I went outside and talked with the cops blocking traffic. Turns out they were serving a search warrant. Non-compliance required a couple of Flash grenades. Two characters ran and were quickly collared and put in a cruiser. In 15 minutes, Swat left, and all was quiet once again. Once more the Corner was ready for its next adventure.

FIFA – (FIFA, world governing body of association football was founded this past week on May 21st in 1904)

But I digress, the start of the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 soccer tournament is only a few weeks away. As I’ve ‘crowed’ for weeks, I am a volunteer for some of the activities. All instructions and subsequent quizzes have been completed successfully. Tomorrow I’ll join a virtual final role specific training course. In the meantime, I’ve I locked in the games I’ll be working at.

Here is the exciting news. I will a role at the first tournament game held at our TQL stadium in what for me will be a truly massive event. Two of the world’s pre-eminent soccer teams; Fußball-Club Bayern München (Germany) against Auckland City FC (New Zealand). This is too cool!

Understand that last summer a few of my favorite days were in Munich right as soccer fever was raging there. Then, for years, I represented a company headquartered in Auckland. Can you now see why being at TQL stadium with these two teams on the pitch is special to me?

Marcia’s probably Thought – “You can likely judge a person’s character by just how quickly they can break down a cardboard box.”
Did I mention that we had recycling collection this week?

Life is AMAZING!

Dirk

BONUS POINTS:

What term for a broken car was used in a 1960 Volkswagen ad?:

1) “lemon”
2) “rustbucket”
3) “squished bug”
4) “junker”
5) “hooptie”
6) “clunker”
7) “beater”

Lies Told

Happy Saturday. Actually, Happy Friday evening. My rationale is two-fold. Saturday morning I’ll be heading out for Harsha Lake, East Fork State Park outside of Bethel, OH. It’s the Midwest Junior Rowing Championship and it’ll be the final regatta for Dinah on the team. Next on her list will be Syracuse University – which is a little distant to just ‘mosey’ on over for some cheering.

Then, in a couple of hours we’re being promised heavy weather – thundershowers, Hail, possible Tornadoes, and wind gusts of 75mph is the potential. I didn’t want to wake up early in the morning ‘sans’ electricity (while my generator is tucked away at the cabin). Hence, this Friday evening epistle works better – so enjoy.

Now hope that by morning power is still on and my coffee at the ready:

Hillside Initiative – It’s a fairly well-known fact that 19% of the ‘Nati’s corporate area consists of hillsides. Eons (think billions) years old residual pieces of ancient mountains.

What we have we affectionally called ourselves the City of Seven Hills, and it’s for a reason. Cincinnati and its bedrock is unique and world-famous. What ended up here is a trough for escaping ice melt – the Ohio River. Then as “those ancient mountains eroded over time and sank beneath a series of shallow seas teeming with marine life, some as familiar as coral and some extinct like the trilobites. The time period when our Upper Ordovician rocks and fossils were deposited, about 450 million years ago, has been named the Cincinnatian Epoch.” (https://www.cincinnatimagazine.com/top-to-bottom-2021/cincinnatis-geological-bedrock-is-famous/)

When our kids were in grade school, I took them to a construction site atop our highest hillside (Twin-Towers for local readers) where we collected enough fossils of ancient water creatures for each of their classrooms – about a shoe box full.

All of this means that it doesn’t take much of an untoward weather situation and it’s “let the slip sliding begin”. Keeping roads from being unusable with a blanket of mud. Or houses and patios wanting to skid.

Bottom line, as time marches on the increase in regulations and work on the properties built prior to those regulations are still ‘works in progress’ – The Hillside Initiative.

Lies Told – Remember when Trump (45) unleashed “Operation Warp Speed”? It was then assumed that the Covid vaccines were an updated modification of traditional vaccines – wrong! These were a new experimental mRNA biotechnology.

Tuesday evening I joined an EmpowerU class for an evening and listened to Dr. Robert Malone, the originator of mRNA vaccine biotechnology. He discussed exactly how mRNA vaccines differ from traditional vaccines, and what made the COVID vaccines risky. He discussed how early on he voiced his concerns which resulted in him leaving his laboratory ‘baby’.

It was the ‘Fast Track’ which allowed a decade old experimental track fraught with failing to gain traction, especially by Moderna. Being tested for a variety of ailments including Cancer, those still totally untested on humans vaccines gained approval under an Emergency Use Authorization.

Initially assumed that the mRNA would be localized at the injection site, instead it spread, and no one had knowledge exactly where the injection was spreading to and how long the mNRA would last. Remember that testing during the early animal testing phase at Moderna was halted because these were found to be far too dangerous for future testing on humans.

As the rollout took shape hundreds of Docters and scientists such as Dr. Malone who voiced opposition were quickly shut down and their Social Media discussions and their reports erased. A smiling ‘silver tongued’ new ‘god’ had emerged, the nation’s definitive Covid media director; one Dr. Anthony Fauci. He of popularizing a “Trust the Science” lip service. The media swiftly jumped on the adoration bandwagon.

It was a fascinating hour and a half, and at the same time brutal.

FIFA – Last weekend I spent a chunk of the weekend afternoon on an “e-course” — all part of my role during the FIFA Club World Cup journey. Areas such as “Safeguarding”, FIFA’s efforts to turn ‘waste’ into a re-useable, and on ‘disabilities. The latter on how to turn the game experience for people with special needs into a positive experience.

Next on my volunteering platter is a part-specific virtual learning session for my role; “pre-match ceremonies”.

Marcia just shakes her head and is somewhat non-plussed with my obscene(?) level of enthusiasm.

I just smile.

Thought for this week – “If you always do what interests you, at least one person is pleased.“

Katharine Hepburn (1907 – 2003)

WRONG! Cabin Pressure means the worry trying to find a timely ‘window’ to head north to the cabin. I’ve been searching for the right time to head north; trust me, I’ll keep you posted.

Life is AMAZING!

Dirk

BONUS POINTS:

Your tongue is covered in four types of small bumps known as papillae. Five of these detect taste. Which of the following do not a detect taste:

1) “smokiness”
2) “sweet”
3) “salty”
4) “bitter”
5) “umami”
6) “sour”
7) “texture”

80

Happy Saturday. As busy as it was a week ago, it was as quiet this past week. Hence, this week’s Bonus Points at the end of The Ramblings reflect such sought peace. However now, even though dawn has not yet arrived it’s also no longer time to grab some more shut eye – so, its COFFEE Time.

80 – It was May 8, 1945, eighty years ago last Thursday when WWII in Europe ended. Germany’s surrender caused celebrations throughout the western world – V-E Day had arrived. The two Jewish sisters my parents had housed rejoined their family (all of whom survived the many ‘razzias’ and betrayals). The shot down Canadian flyer who we housed for a couple of weeks rejoined his military.

And what I have no memory of other than the visual proof is that I too was a happy little guy celebrating this great day. One picture is flag waving with my dad, waving finally a well-hidden, i.e. “verboten”, Dutch Red-White-Blue flag, the other with neighborhood kids – I’m in the wagon, a kids mini parade.

Thought – Years ago, during my school years it was not uncommon that as a WWII and Holocaust anniversary was celebrated that the phrase; “never again” was commonly heard. Today, when some interviewer heads to a beach where College aged kids are enjoying Spring Break stops them to ask simple questions. Something like “on what continent were most of the Axis WWII battles fought?”
         They can’t answer. They have no clue! But they’ll march blindly with slogans such as “from the River to the Sea” while ignorantly spewing forth a stream of antisemitic gibberish.
                  We’re in trouble!

It’s a SCAM – Last November’s elections brough a massive change, something we have all seen. Our nation’s lifestyle had, over many decades, slipped down onto a one-way path akin to the old ‘boil-the-frog’ apology, a metaphor for a slow demise. And like most every facet of life, a pattern which never reverses and won’t make for ‘a making it better’ outcome; not better always has a downward trajectory.

Now that the change which was brought in last November has taken root it’s become apparent that it’s not just a Party changeover, it’s an attempt for dramatic change of the totality of our way of operating.

One piece targeted for change is the Nation’s health. This past election has two key positions which are now poised to disrupt our negative health trending. A few weeks ago in my Ramblings [April 12th, 2025 “Planning a Pursuit”] I posted a series of graphs detailing the horrific national pattern of increased Type 2 Diabetes, childhood obesity, and Autism. Now there has begun an active effort for possible health change to these and other chronic diseases and to address our nation’s overall health issues.

At the helm is Robert Kennedy, Jr. as Secretary of HHS. Then this week was nominated as our Surgeon General Dr. Casey Means. She is a supporter of RFK Jr. and his Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) agenda. 37 year old Dr. Means is savvy in social media, and is a Stanford educated/trained thoracic surgeon and author (I’ve listened to about 3 hours of discussions and interviews with her and am thoroughly impressed). No longer is it “same old, same old”.

She has strong views on both the pharmaceutical and food companies. Bottom line, the ‘chronic disease’ epidemic is now another bullseye on the national ‘must fix’ targets. She states that RFK, Jr. “has a vision for what I want for my family, future children, and the world.” In other words, as change gets implemented, expect a lot of hate from said global industries and their dollars pushed towards their lobbyists and media friends.

Change is already underway. This week I received an ad for a healthier option on-line grocery store called Thrive Market (I have no connection to this outfit and haven’t used them yet; I just liked what I spotted). But similarily,Thursday I picked up this bag of this pack of a healthier Oatmeal at Costco and yesterday morning had probably the best bowl of hot Oats I can remember.

Question? is this the beginning of the end of a scam known by every K to 12 student as “The Food Pyramid”?

Evil lasts into the generations – the Bible provides numerous examples of generational sin. This week our town dealt with just such an example. Here is what occurred; a teenager, an 18 year old, joined up with friends and stole an auto in Kentucky. They drove the stolen car into Ohio and were spotted in the west side of town. Cornered they all ran. The 18 year old was spotted. Told to stop he turned and pointed a loaded Glock pistol at an Officer. Two shots and the 18 year old lay dead.

The next day, a recently retired much beloved Deputy Sheriff provided street-crossing duty to escort pedestrians to and from the University of Cincinnati for the Graduation ceremonies. While helping there, a car accelerated and aimed directly for this deputy, killing him instantly. Turns out, the driver was the father of the killed 18-year-old. The kid’s father and the grandfather both had rap sheets.

Yesterday, services for the Deputy were held at nearby Xavier University’s Basketball venue, Cintas Center. Police from 7 states and from regional departments, plus citizens attended the service. On TV the procession showed 50 pipers, at least that many motorcycles and a half hour long procession.

All this sadness caused by an; “it was just a car grab joyride moment.” Wrong! It was a long string of failure on a wide array of fronts, beginning with family.

FIFA – Yesterday I received my formal acceptance invitation letter to volunteer at next month’s FIFA, Club World Cup soccer games for the games played here at our TQL Stadium. After submitting an extensive application and after an all-morning training session at Xavier; I am THRILLED!

There are 18 categories where, to make this event a success, volunteers are essential. I was offered for my role to work the pre-match ceremony dealing with the banners and displays for the team’s entrance prior to kick-off.”

To me, at my tender age, this is HUGE. On the pitch amidst the over 25,000 roaring fans is absolutely wild.

Outpost Lodge – Owners and friends Jim and Ann Kehoe sent their newsletter updating the happenings at Jobammageeshig lake (just say ‘Jobam’) a few kilometers to the north of where our little camp is. To any readers who also received the newsletter, my apologies. It’s not so much about anything they wrote about. What it contained was a link to a YouTube of a professionally created Television show for any and all fishing fans, especially fly fishing, and this I wanted to share. As a bonus there are great regional lake and Outpost views. Enjoy the show and the scenery of the Northwoods we continue to love:

Anyway, with this Saturday’s Ramblings I seem to be back on track.

Now, since avid reader Paul reminded me, Monday is Vili’s final concert of the year (school Jazz band and he plays Sax). It’ll be held at The Redmoor which is currently a show venue with bar and food that started as a theater in the 1940s. The Redmoor also happens to be about a block from our first house in Cincinnati. It’s a going home event.

Life is AMAZING!

Dirk

BONUS POINTS:

Ever wake up around 3:00AM wishing that a bit of ‘white’ noise gets you back to sleep? Which of the following are also recognized by noise ‘connoisseur’ Abigail Castel as a background frequency to aid sleep?

1) “red noise”
2) “green noise”
3) “blue noise”
4) “brown noise”
5) “pink noise”
6) “white noise” 

In High Gear

Happy Saturday. At this end it was a non-stop seven days. Seven glorious days! Now, Sunday morning it’s another mug of coffee. Then I’ll update a few of the highlights.

It’s a SCAM – Early in the week our Cathy was the organizer of a “Scan—Proof Seniors” experience. At a nearby church with a large lounge where it was a full house of nearly 180 of us who took part in this event. As an aside, I took along my personal attorney (smile here) and friend, Rosalie, to ask the more serious questions (she’s very good).

The introduction was given by one of the Judges of our Common Pleas Court. That was followed by the head of the State’s Elder Justice unit of the Attorney General’s office. Among the several other presenters were folk from the FBI and U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

Truly a worthwhile time spent especially the morphing of those pesky online scams which are becoming more and more difficult to snag. The critical takeaway – DELETE or HANG UP! Then, if you’re uncertain, call a contact number on the back of your card as your call-back number.

This was all recorded by Radio Station WMKV 89.3FM for later distribution – Welcome to WMKV – 89.3 FM

Asian Food Fest – proved that I could withstand any massive crowd being pushed at me. Vai and her Polynesian Dance group took over one of the stages to cheers from the crowd. And so went the ‘Nati’s annual Asian Food Festival with about 150 differing food stands. It was also time to test some of the normally undiscovered delicacies. Fun time.

Dinah – returned from an invitational Regatta next to New York City. Made it into the finals where they finished fourth. A video tape of the event was made which also gave the opportunity to ‘mic’ the Coxswains up – here is how the event was described:

“Inside the Boat: What Racing is ACTUALLY Like”
“The Kings Crown Rowing Association Regatta brought in top tier junior teams to compete in their 1v, 2v, and 3v eights. The fastest finals of the weekend. Women’s 1V8+: Saugatuck, Row America Rye, Cincinnati Juniors, and Greenwich.”

Fast forward to the 6:52 minute mark for the women’s start (Cincinnati Juniors are in Lane 3).

Where Pigs Run – Flying Pigs that is. The ‘Nati runs a large Marathon race (currently underway). The Flying Pig which has been rated as “The #1 in the Nation”, is an especially massively fun event.

Yesterday they held several of the ancillary events including a 5K. I couldn’t resist and signed up. Pouring rain couldn’t stop the thing. Turns out that I am a (using a horse racing term)  “mudder”. It was a great time to be had with 6,816 entries. The age 80 – 84 category had six of us and I was posted as coming in first. YES!

(be sure to read how the ‘Finish’ line is labeled)

Then a quick hot shower and it was off to the town of Xenia.

A World A’Fair – was also held yesterday at Xenia’s County Fairgrounds, I counted 26 countries represented. With two stages constantly active it was a wonderful opportunity to see native costumes, music, songs, and dances. Should you be wondering, yes, Vai’s dance troupe was also on stage – twice.

For dinner Tevita and the kids had Indian food. Adrianne and I Lebanese Falafel and Hummus. Then for dessert it was Dutch Appelflappen and for me a glass of Grolsch beer (brewed in my birth city of Enschede).

Since yesterday was a 17-hour day, this morning I got a bit of a slow start.

And now, Marcia just announced that a steaming hot bowl of Steel Cut Oats is ready. So, I’ll stop, pour some and add a little drizzle of Molasses. So Good!

Life is AMAZING!

Dirk

BONUS POINTS:

Which of these countries do NOT have an Income Tax?

1) “Finland”
2) “United Arab Emirates”
3) “Vanuatu”
4) “Brunei”
5) “Antigua”

Be this Ramblings “Lector” over morning Coffee

Happy Saturday. For me it’s a bit of a wild weekend and likewise next weekend. Which reminds me. Next weekend I’ll be participating in one of the Flying Pig races. The big full marathon (20,000 strong) will be on Sunday. I’ll be participating in one of the several offshoots next Saturday – a 5K. So, next week’s Ramblings will be on Sunday!

Easter Sunday – for me started with a sunrise service held at Spring Grove Cemetery and Arboretum. A wonderful service and message, and a beautiful sunrise. I did reflect on the fact that I seem to be spending an inordinate amount of time at the place, what with visits, history seeking, races, and now an Easter Service.

Normally we think of the Womb as life’s beginning. But on Easter Sunday listening to scripture where women arrived at Jesus’ Tomb when asked why they were there – the ‘Tomb’ had become the beginning of life. I was at the right place after all.

Coffee – Now, coffee at the ready, I’ll be quick since Jason will be over shortly. We’re picking up some stuff and since I have my senior GPS, I’ve been invited along:

I got myself a seniors’ GPS. Not only does it tell me how to get to my
destination, it tells me why I wanted to
go there in the first place.

Amish help – it was a headline written by a Natalie Sandoval which grabbed my attention: Amish Easily Do What Federal Government Wouldn’t Do For Months.

The article starts playing on the old ‘how many’ joke with the lines:

“How many federal employees does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
Zero. They’ll just wait for the Amish I know to do it for them.”

I seems that for the past 6-months about 2,000 Amish folk from Pennsylvania have, quietly, been rebuilding the town of Chimney Rock, NC, following devastation by Hurricane Helene. These are Amish from the Great Needs Trust. Six months straight ….. rebuilding the town’s homes, businesses, and bridges.

I understand that many other groups have also been involved, from Florida to my state of Ohio, but was unaware of the work this Amish community was performing.

To me this is what America is all about, the roll up your sleeves, pitch in, and get it done attitude. This day and age, all too often, it’s much whine, wail, and gripe.

Actually, if recollection is correct the ‘can do’ attitude dates back big time to the great earthquake of April 18, 1906 in San Francisco which killed 3,000 people and devastated the city. By the time trains with Federal help had been assembled and rumbled into town, rebuilding was already well underway.

What Happens When – you wake up at 1:45 in the morning. No, not a ‘privy’ call, but because moving blue and red lights are playing on the ceiling.

I have no idea how long that had been going on, all I know is that both Marcia and I got up to grab a front and center seat in the sunroom. The corner of ‘Chaos and Mayhem’ was living up to its well-deserved reputation.

Across the street were police, fire, and a smaller well-lit unmarked vehicle with two inspector types. In the mix there sat an OK looking sedan with four open doors as well as open trunk and hood. Many flashlights were playing all over the thing and through bushes and neighboring houses. All of this ‘dance’ was performed in total silence.

Approaching 2:30 a flat-bed tow truck joined the party and began to load the car-of-interest. Ten minutes later all that remained was a newly created parking spot. Marcia and I returned to bed and settled in for a more peaceful rest. And so, it goes here in the corner of …………

Senior Shopping – has become easier and easier. For the past year Marcia has performed the ‘chore’ of grocery shopping online. In part because of her difficulty getting about and in part because she really doesn’t trust me. A lack of trust due to my love for impulse buying and love for exploring what I call; “the exotic”.

This week I watched as she deftly clicked on the site’s presentation of the common stuff she orders. Clicked on coupons she wanted to use. And easily searched out new or different products. Twenty minutes at most and she had the order completed. A bit of a reflection on the best time for Kroger to deliver (she settled for 9:00 – 10:00 am yesterday) and yesterday at exactly 9:01 the truck rolled up (I checked).

Were Marcia to gain access to the ‘winged’ sandals worn by the Roman god Mars, I don’t believe she’d return to the actual chore of cart pushing.

Without Comment – Just a simple chart for you to reflect on. It’s the change in Carbon Emissions (for those who find that study important) by time and by country/region. It’s interesting and worth more than a quick glance.

Now best get ready for Jason to pop on over. Last evening we all gathered at the nearby neighborhood favorite, Gordo’s pub-&-grill for dinner with Jason – who had a birthday mid-week. It was a bit of a mix since Tevita was in Philadelphia for work and Vili was on Andros Island in the Bahamas with his 8th grade class. Nevertheless, we feasted. As you can readily see, it’s the kind of feast which should not be held any more than once a month.

Life is AMAZING!

Dirk

BONUS POINTS:

Which of these jobs have NOT disappeared (as a teenager I actually worked as a ‘pinsetter’)

1) “Leech Collector ”
2) “Gandy Dancer”
3) “Phrenologists”
4) “Linotype operator”
5) “ice cutter”
6) “pinsetter”
7) “Lamplighter”
8) “Lector”
9) “Soda Jerk”