“Shilly Shally”

Happy Saturday Morning – So, last week we ran out of Peet’s coffee. Then out of the clear blue a couple of pounds of Starbucks Pike Place medium roast was delivered to our front door. What a delight!

Thanks a lot M & D (not to be confused with D & M).

Now some breakfast.

Today is Vili’s birthday and this afternoon we’ll join the gathering. Happy birthday guy. Remember this Japanese proverb: “The soul of a 3-year-old stays with them until they are 100”.

This week’s been a bit of a shilly shally business, did much of what I expected to accomplish, but nothing in a straight line. I keep hearing comments regarding the disarray of my little office. OK, it’s not complete but, at least to my eyes, serious efforts at a cleanup have begun.

Following instructions, I’ll quickly clip a few of the blooming Iris in our front yard. We’re supposed to get some rain and wind over the next few hours. Marcia wanted me to snip some and I’d let it slip. Amazing what a weather report can do for a ‘memory’ lapse.

Spotting Watches – Thursday evening Jason spent a little time with Marcia while I made a dash out. A bit earlier I had tuned in on the “Ronde van Vlaanderen” (Tour de Flanders). It’s a very prestigious 278KM (172 miles) bicycle race, stretches are on cobblestones and climbs approaching 20-degrees (the Koppenberg actually has a short 22-degree climb). This year’s race had the winner, Croatian Tadej Pogacar. Me? I was rooting for the Dutch rider, Mathieu van der Poel who came in 2nd and had won this race in 2024.

That is when Jason arrived and when I had to leave for a bit. Jason loves watches. Jason collects watches of specific note and interest.

These major bicycle races have a number of motorcycles, each with a videographer sitting on back. They swarm around, in and out, and between the riders. This is where Jason, our watch guy, spotted what one of these motorbikes caught; a closeup of van der Poel’s wrist and hand on the handlebars of his bike. It also caught a very clear closeup of the watch he was wearing.

When I returned, I asked for a race update. Instead I got a bit of a history on the watch van der Poel was wearing. I forgot the name Jason told me (it was not a Rolex), but I do remember the price of the thing. Jason had already scoured the internet found it. This rider, van der Poel, was in the thick of a 278KM race complete with many crashes and tumbles by riders all around him including a big group in the 175-rider peloton and he was wearing a $300,000 US dollar watch!

Did you catch that, $300,000!

Dinner – Well, not so much the dinner but food in general especially when preoccupied with just how good it tastes. I enjoy gherkins as a snack. You’ll see what I mean.

Marcia says there is no such thing as a ‘gherkin’: “they are just small pickles which I dislike and can’t eat.”

Now comes the dinner. Mid-week I prepared a Tuna salad placed on a bed of fresh Power greens along with wedges of 21-grain toast. Aside from a couple of dollops of mayonnaise my Tuna concoction included turmeric, mustard powder, cayenne, a dash of wood-barrel aged soy sauce, finely chopped onion, and are you ready? Included were several finely chopped gherkins.

Marcia LOVED our dinner!

Liminal: her Word of the day; Her expression showed a liminal hint of doubt before she answered as she was asked how she liked dinner.

Hereis a picture from Vai’s Steel Band concert at Eden Park last weekend (I’ve shared it with some family members – so pardon the duplicates).

You should possibly take note that yesterday was End ALZ Day.

Life is AMAZING!

Dirk

BONUS POINTS:

This week I mentioned that our Jason collects watches. Building on the collecting theme, did you know that the Actor Tom Hanks collects typewriters? So, just how large is his collection? One answer is correct

1. 33
2. 250
3. 67
4. 118
5. 341

Last week answer – #3

“Not dead yet”

Happy Saturday Morning – The last of our Peets coffee beans went through the grinder yesterday. Plenty for a while so no worry.

Post surgery, Marcia is still getting stronger by the day and is back to eating heartily. Since the weather has turned it’s now a daily walk around the building. She has also persevered by walking from our place to Adrianne and Tevita’s, worked with Adrianne potting flowers, and then walked home.

And I should add that there is a daily up and down 15 times on the first step in our hallway. If she keeps it up, she’ll soon be a member of my Zoom exercise class.

These days, being home is the norm. As part of that, Marcia and I – as mentioned last week – are watching a lot of sports. This week it was both women’s and men’s bicycling, especially the Tour de Flanders. Having done a fair bit of bicycle touring during my early years on rides such as Michigan’s DALMAC and Indiana’s Hilly Hundred, I am stunned with these racers standing on the pedals and managing slopes as steep as 20-degrees. Oh, did I mention that much of the Flander’s race is on cobblestone roadways?

Then track and field events are fun, especially the short fast races, High Jumps, and the Steeplechase events with hurdles and water jumps. Yup, great viewing.

But we have a winner! Marcia and I are totally hooked on an event held in the UK. These are the Pre-War Vintage Roadster automobile races. Track used is F1 style complete with corners, chicanes, and straight runs, even with a mandatory pit stop and driver change. Just watching these sputtering old machines rumble and roar, running on skinny tires and sliding through the turns – it’s LOVELY!.

Bitcoin – I should ‘fess up in that this is not really a dissertation (Rambling) about bitcoin, it’s more a lead-in to the wonderful cartoon below.

Having said that, last week I read that investigative journalist John Carreyrou, whose previous reporting led to the downfall of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, might have uncovered the person behind the search for the identity of Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto (the name is believed to be a pseudonym).

Carreyrou spent 18 months digging through thousands of decades-old internet postings in search of Bitcoin’s creator and now suggests that – drum roll please – prominent Cypherpunk movement figure from the 1980s Adam Black as being the person behind Bitcoin.

Artemis II – With Marcia climbing in the ‘sack’ early on I had the opportunity to watch the return and splashdown of Artemis II. The whole event was pretty awesome.

I got a bit of a chuckle when the radio signal wasn’t cooperating and so the recovery ship couldn’t spot them. Awesome, travel for hundreds of thousands of miles without a hiccup to then be stymied when within the distance of a ‘stones’ throw. No worry, it all worked out.

A Perfect Quotation – Artemis II pilot Victor Glover responding to a reporter asking about skin color “I hope we push that one day…it’s about human history, humanity, NOT ‘black history,’ not ‘women’s history,’ but that it becomes human history!“

Sasse – Ben Sasse, age 54, University President, father of three, church involved, historian, taught at Yale, 2-term US Senator from Nebraska, stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer patient, partaker in a protocol at MD Anderson in Houston, and a prognosis of having three or four months of life; “Thanks for having me.”

This week in the New York Times I ran across a long-form interview between interviewer Ross Douthat and Ben Sasse which I couldn’t put down – I devoured it. Sasse, as a human being and as he showed during his time in the US Senate, presents as an absolute quality person. His views on life and death, politics and religion, marriage and children, and the passage throughout this fragile period we call ‘life’ are deep and insightful. All of this presented without being morbid.

As President of the University of Florida he set in motion a program, the Hamilton Center, which strives to again make Liberal Arts rigorous, useful, and an integral part of the academic experience.

Quotation from Ben Sasse reason for the Hamilton Center: ”We should be preparing the mind and the character for all of the various vocations and callings in life — and to be prepared for the first job, but also for the third job in an industry that doesn’t even exist yet and won’t for 15 or 20 years.
“So, we need a lot more rigor. We need a lot more both/and.”

Vaioleti – how time flies. In a month she’ll be graduating from Highschool and start preparations to begin studies at the University of Cincinnati. Meanwhile, her weekends are busy with her job at the Cincinnati Zoo.

In the meantime, since it’ll also be the end of her four years as a member of the Clark Montessori High school’s Steel Drum Band, the band with the seniors still part will be performing a final time this Sunday. Any readers who are local and are interested? The performance will be in Mt. Adam’s Eden Park at the Seasongood Pavilion which hosts outdoor concerts tomorrow – Sunday afternoon.

Life is AMAZING!

Dirk

BONUS POINTS:

Last evening Artemis II returned safely with its crew of four. Question, with swings around the earth to then ‘slingshot’ past the moon, loop the moon a bit and return to earth. Question, which of the following are the miles flown NASA claims as being correct? One the correct.

1. 695,082 miles
2. 252,756 miles
3. 694,481 miles
4. 1,107,582 miles
5. 549,441 miles

Last week answer – #1

Ranka

Happy Saturday Morning – Last night Marcia and I had a delightful hand-folded Potsticker dinner with a choice of two sauces, Yee-mama’s: Scallion Sweet Soy or Garlic Sweet Soy. The whole ‘kit-and-kaboodle’ I purchased at Findlay Market last Sunday. As a bonus Marcia got a dish of French with real-vanilla ice cream for dessert. The net result being that she was in bed well before 7.

This allowed me to watch a little TV along with some Tortilla Chips and chunky Salsa.

All the above set the stage for a solid and restful sleep. So now this morning, I am looking forward to the coffee to finish brewing even more than usual. Let’s get started!

Another reason I’m glad to be in a condo.

The War – is chugging along. Competing with NASA‘s Artemis II manned moon mission launched early Wednesday evening was a Nation-Wide address by President Trump on the status of the Iran war.

Sometime during last month I read a description of a wartime fistfight which, at least for a while, brough both battling sides to a complete standstill. Here are the details in short form.

The Confederate and Union Armies were ‘duking’ it out at the Battle of the Wilderness on May 5, 1864, in Saunders Field, Virginia. To avoid the flying bullets, a Union and a Confederate soldier had both jumped into a gully.

These two guys, alone together got to argue as to who had captured the other. Soon ‘words’ were exchanged and it was decided to go onto the open road and hold a “regular fist and skull fight” — a hand-to-hand duel where the winner would take the loser prisoner.

Next thing you know, all fighting ceased, guns stopped, and nearby men from the Union and Confederate army gathered to watch. HistoryFacts reports that; “According to Confederate soldier John H. Worsham’s account, the Confederate soldier quickly subdued the Union man, who then surrendered as agreed.”

US Grant at the Battle of the Wilderness

HistoryFacts also report that Worsham who reported the ‘mini-truce’ much later while giving a talk, was a Confederate.

I believe it would have been a hoot had President Trump inserted this 1864 bit of fighting war history into the current Iranian fracas speech.

April Fools Quotation – “The first of April is the day we remember what we are the other 364 days of the year.” Mark Twain, from “Pudd’nhead Wilson and Other Tales”

Ranka – I got reminded what a wonderful thing the mind is. While the kids stayed the early evening with Marcia and I had the opportunity to head out for a three or so mile hike.
Cutting through neighboring St. Bernard I spotted a young family enjoying a children’s playground park, mom, dad, a couple of ‘kiddos’, and a dog.

It was the dog!

In a nano second, I was transported to my years as a toddler in the Netherlands. Neighbors had a dog (not many around due to the war years) which fascinated me. It was what I now know was a Welsh Wire-Haired Terrier they called “Ranka”.

For many years, oh say seventy or more, the name ‘Ranka’ hadn’t crossed my mind. Now here in little St. Bernard, there playing was a rust-red with black Welsh Terrier and ‘WHAMO’, the name Ranka sat front and center. As I said, the mind is a wondrous thing.

Black Box Theater – is alive and well here in the ‘Nati. For 28 seasons Know Theater of Cincinnati has existed, founded by a troupe called the Tribe. The performances located in a theater in the heart of the Over the Rhine area have brought original, cutting edge, theater to life.

Last weekend Kirstin was in town. It also happened that the Know Theater was introducing original World Premiere by Derek J. Snow called; The Ravenside Occurrence. What made this even more interesting is the fact that Derek Snow happens to be the father of a 10# ‘child’ named ‘Spud’ and that our Kirstin was the mom.

What?!

Here’s the story. Snow and Kirstin were classmates at the city’s School for the Creative and Performing Arts (SCPA). I believe it was in economics class at SCPA where the idea of experiencing what all it takes to raise and manage a family took place. Students formed pairs, had to buy a 10# bag of potatoes, decorated this ‘baby’ in swaddling clothes and cart it around for an extended period of time while recording all of it.

Hence, we have Derek and Kirstin the parents of ‘Spud’. Now around 30 years later, whenever these two catch up the first question asked is “how’s Spud?”

You might be asking two things. First, was the play any good? Yes, it was wonderful. Set in late 1800s in a village outside of London. It revolves around four women, escapees from a facility called Bedlam who hole up in an old, abandoned gathering place remembered by one of them. It’s a gripping tale of hauntings and family.

Second, did Spud’s ‘parents’ get to meet again? No, they did not. Our decision to go was at the last minute and Snow was at another event. What actually did happen was some busy and fun back and forth texting between those two.

Me, in the role of Spud’s grandfather had a lovely evening at the Theater. We also brought Spud’s uncle Jason, while aunty Cathy stayed at the condo for a chat-up evening with Marcia.

Dinah Update – The Syracuse University’s Rowing program has a total of 48 women athletes in their program. This past weekend Dinah was on one of the three 8-crew boats sent to the invitational regatta at Rutgers in New Jersey. They came second to Rutgers.

But, here is what’s new. Syracuse’s nationwide coaches’ rankings just moved the program from being ranked 12th nationally to 9th place. Second, it was suggested to Dinah that she boost her daily caloric intake to 6,000 calories. Not an easy task for a vegetarian.

Good grief!

Life is AMAZING!

Dirk

BONUS POINTS:

Probably beginning with a game you received when you were just entering Kindergarten had you play a game which contained dice. It appears that the idea of and subsequent creation of dice goes back a long way. Which is the correct answer?

1. Indigenous people in US invented dice over 12,000 years ago
2. Vikings, dice were found tucked in a sunken Viking long-boat.
3. China, archeologists found dice by a watchtower at the great wall.
4. Uncovered graves of sacrificed children in Tenochtitlán, Mexico contained dice
5. A trove of fancy Dice is kept at Versailles, France.

Last week answer – #4

the Long and the Short

Happy Saturday – Me coming straight out of the gate; “please don’t ever get me a coffee mug like this one!”

Thanks.

Ok, let the Ramblings get started.

It’ll be a bit short due to a short/quiet week, and today I’ll be running around.

Never before – Yesterday afternoon I got involved in an absolute, without question, very first.
Kirstin was scheduled to arrive in town on a 3:47 arrival time flight.

I left for the airport at 2:50 and the 20-25 or so minute drive to the place. As one who enjoys seeing aircraft this would allow me to park at a ‘nearly’ secret spot almost exactly alongside the main runway immediately across from the spot where the landing gear touches down and watch for a bit. Perfect!

Here is what really happened. Just past the exit where I-74 peels away from I-75 all the lanes ground to a halt. I mean, complete stop, with an every so often inch or two forward.

But hey, I live in the 21st century and I have GPS. The GPS advised that sitting in traffic where I was was still the quickest route to the airport, 31 minutes.

I believed the GPS, even when it moved the ‘needle’ from 31 minutes to 37.

Reaching a point where it would be impossible to try and get off I-75 to find an alternate route and a subsequent river crossing would be even more problematic. I was left with little to no choice.

Without milking this story any further, let me just blurt out that the drive to the airport took exactly TWO HOURS! Much of it sitting dead still in six lanes of traffic. Never saw a reason for it other than too many vehicles on too few lanes. TWO HOURS is now my fifty year’s first and absolute record for airport travel.

Could it be that everyone experiencing the higher priced gas now wanted to check as to the exact dollar difference this was making?

Opening Day – Last Thursday was our unofficial city holiday, Red’s Opening Day. But that’s not what I wanted to mention, it was the weather. Opening day was 81 degrees with blue skies and perfect sunshine.

This day was ‘bookended’ by 40 degree windchilled days.

All of this is so typical of our Springtime weather patterns. In fact, we are the weather equivalent of what the Bering Sea is to open ocean sailing.

Quotation – “The earth is rude, silent, incomprehensible at first, Nature is rude and incomprehensible at first,
Be not discouraged, keep on, there are divine things well envelop’d.” Walt Whitman, Poet (who died March 26, 1892)

d’Artagnan – A stone’s throw from home is Xavier University. The mascot for the University whose teams are referred to as ‘The Musketeers’ is one of the three musketeers, d’Artagnan All made popular by Alexandre Dumas’ 1844 novel “The Three Musketeers.” In fact, in front of the school’s arena, Cintas Center, stands a life-sized statue of d’Artagnan.

Now it seems that possibly the remains of d’Artagnan (whose birth name was; Charles de Batz de Castelmore), and who was a member of France’s Kings Louis XIII and Louis XIV royal bodyguard has been found. He served before being killed in the 1673 siege of Maastricht in the Netherlands.

Recently during a church renovation in Maastricht was found a skeleton under what had been the altar. Everything points to d’Artagnan including the chest-high markings of a bullet wound. Currently a DNA analysis is happening.

I’ve loved the Dumas book, live near the home of the ‘Musketeers’, and have serious Dutch roots, so yes this whole bit interests me.

Quotation on Home Life – Marcia can make “Oh Dirk, can you come here please?” sound absolutely terrifying.

Starting the Day – Not long after breakfast I’ll get going on a grocery shopping venture. Then at 11 I’ll be meeting up with Cathy at Findlay Market for fresh fruit and veggies, plus fresh (still warm) fancy bread and maybe some cheese.

While I am doing that Marcia will get ‘coiffured’ by Kirstin.

The weekend is off to a good start.

Life is AMAZING!

Dirk

BONUS POINTS:

The spotlight this week in Bonus Points mentions several women in US history who helped expand the idea of participation in civic life. One should not be on the list

1. Sojourner Truth
2. Abigail Adams
3. Eleanor Roosevelt
4. Florence Welch
5. Carrie Nation
6. Rosa Parks

Last week answer – #5

Chicane

Happy Saturday – I might as well admit that after watching Shaun, I am still snorting in my coffee.

For years I’ve had a thing for Shaun-the-Sheep animation videos – LOVE them! Once again, I just had to watch Shaun as he spotted an opportunity to do an Irish Dance. It was St. Patrick’s Day after all. Here is a snippet:

Chicane – In reality, my week was one strong (i.e. uneventful) straight line. Marcia, physically, is getting stronger. We’ve had daily walks around the building, and we’ve also started heading towards the nearby side street. Having said that, I felt that I had to get started on adding a curve or two onto that ‘straight’ line.

Add, that our pantry was getting low on food stuff, and that as yet I can’t leave Marcia to her own wiles. It was Adrianne who came up with the idea. Marcia loves Aldi’s as her go to grocery place. Soooo, yesterday I quickly set up an Aldi account. She and I worked on a list of grocery items. I placed the order and selected a two hour out pick-up time window.

With a little cajoling I managed to talk Marcia to join and take a grocery pick-up drive with me. The drive magically included a few twists and turns through a couple of nearby neighborhoods and then ended up at the local Aldi. Minutes later they loaded the groceries in the car and home we went.

By 7:00pm last night she was in bed. The ‘adventure’ tired her out and that was a good thing.

Afroman – This week in the rural county adjacent to ours, Adams County, a trial was settled. Settled in favor of free speech and the right to mock. The whole business blew across the ‘media-sphere’. From CNN to NPR, from the NY Times to the LA Times, it was all wild times. Our radio was filled with an Afroman rap called; “Moma’s Pound Cake” featuring a leering Deputy in on the Police raid on Afroman’s home eyeing the glass covered Moma’s Pound Cake that was sitting on the kitchen table, all while carrying an AK style rifle.

Rapper Afroman said this after winning the Police Deputies’ lawsuit; “I got the right to kick a can in my backyard, use my freedom of speech, turn my bad times into a good time yes, I do, and I think I’m a sport for doing so, because I don’t go to their house, kick down their doors, flip them off on their surveillance cameras, then try to play the victim and sue them.”

Fun times. A massive ‘thank-you-very-much’ for Free Speech!

Racing – I’ve mentioned that my week was quite linear and that I needed a chicane to break up the time.

So, instead of only watching a long line of British vintage, sports, and touring car races, and Paris to Nice bicycle races, which I did, I watched some races held at the Goodwood Festival in West Sussex, England.

Among the races held at Goodwood was one comprised of over thirty early MG-B sports cars. Many years ago, I owned one. My MG-B I never fully restored but got running well enough to drive back and forth the 100 miles to Louisville and back a few times when I was working on my degree.

Aah, for the memories, memories of throwing that little shifter and punching the accelerator, cleaning the spoke wheels, messing with the dual Stromberg carburetors, even pulling the clutch successfully. The electric fuel pump though was a piece of misery.

Quotation on Time – “Time is what happens when nothing else happens” Richard Feynman (1918 – 1988) American theoretical physicist known for pioneering work in quantum electrodynamics.

But, there had to be more than just watching vintage car races. With that in mind I started on some of the thinking of one Dr. Jim Al-Khalili (Sep 20, 1962) Iraqi-British theoretical physicist on the subject of Time. It’s not that I am some sort of a nerd that I came across his thinking. It’s just that Al-Khalili is frequently seen as a broadcaster in the UK on a subject I find interesting.

Also, he’s got a number of YouTubes and an uncanny ability to make the difficult sensible to a ‘bloke’ such as me. I’ve attached an interview I thought you might find interesting (be prepared, it’s a solid hour plus long).

Irish goodbye – Mid week it was the day where most everyone became Irish for the day. Is it just me or am I correct in that we in the USA have the uncanny ability to take any type of event, historical, religious, or one the English and Canadians refer to as “Bank Holiday” and turn it into a major money grab. Anyway, hope you had a fine St. Patrick’s Day.

Life is AMAZING!

Dirk

BONUS POINTS:

The Secret Service has a fascination with the use of code names when referring to the president, vice president, their family members. The following names are the code names of several first ladies. All are correct except for one. Which name was never used as a Secret Service code name for a first lady.

1. Muse
2. Dancer
3. Rover
4. Sunnyside
5. Auntie
6. Lace

Last week answer – #5

‘Para..….’ whatever?

Happy Saturday – glad Friday the thirteenth is in the rearview mirror? Were you aware that in Italy, Friday the seventh holds a similar status (and most Italians did just fine the last time that day flew by).

Just in case you need to know. Friday the 13th worry even has a name; paraskevidekatriaphobia. Feel wiser yet?

But now, Saturday morning, we’re back into a bit of a temperature dip as our Spring creeps along. The Bradford pear trees lining our side street have begun to bloom. By mid-week it’ll look like this as in the photo I took last year.

OK, the coffee pot just got louder alerting me to the fact that all is ready in the kitchen. First mug of Peets roast is coming up.

The Corner – seems active 24/7. Early this week Marcia needed to get up in the middle of the night – 2:15am to be exact. Once she got settled again, I walked about the living room to stretch my legs more than anything else. That was the exact time that, without any sirens, a Fire Truck and EMT ambulance rolled on by. They pulled over about two buildings down. The angle wasn’t great and I wasn’t about to head on out to check on things. All I know is that after 15 to 20 minutes the mini caravan of emergency equipment headed on out.

All of this made me wonder what else goes on during the ‘wee’ hours?

National Pi Day – since I’ve been a bit on a nerdy bend, please be advised that today, March (3rd month), the 14th is officially Pi Day. It celebrates the, (pause here and say “ahem”) “the mathematical constant ? (pi), which represents the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter” – 3.14. It gets better. Hence, if you’re so inclined, celebrate Pi Day at exactly 1:59pm to mark the next three digits of the ratio – 3.14159.

There is more – Last week I shared the story of ‘Science Girl’ Dianna Cowern, her trials, and her description of the Neutrino. What I was trying to convey was how our world, solar system, and the Universe itself is beyond comprehension.

Today, here for those who still weren’t convinced, is another fragment that will amaze you. To a weak-minded character such as myself all of this provides proof that none of this can come about as happenstance. With all the magnificence around us there is no doubt that this cannot be a mere collection of ‘stuff’. There has to be order. There has to be purpose. There must be premeditation in the design of it all.

Enjoy watching the stunning life cycle of the Monarch Butterfly and then reflect on the preceding paragraph while you wrap your mind around what you’re seeing on screen:

Irish goodbye – with many celebrating St. Patrick’s Day this week (here in town we’re all Irish during the week and a large St. Patrick Day parade is held) I’ll close this week’s Ramblings with a warm and friendly Irish goodbye, “craic”.

Life is AMAZING!

Dirk

BONUS POINTS:

This week Marcia had a doctor’s appointment. It struck me that he wasn’t wearing a white coat. He entered the exam room in kaki slacks and a polo shirt, hmmmm, the time’s they are a-changing. Which leads me to ask the question; what year was the modern Hippocratic oath written?

1. 1908
2. 1953
3. 1877
4. 1923
5. 1964
6. 1857

Last week answer – #6

What me Know?

Happy Saturday – and even though, on occasion, it might seem like I’m standing in my own dung – you would be very wrong.
Opinionated, yes.
Stubborn, yes.
Doctrinaire, yes!
Even Cocksure, yes!
And on occasion, Pigheaded, yes!

But standing in dung, NO!

There, now that is out of the way I’ll take a moment, head for the kitchen, and pour my first mug of coffee. I suggest you do likewise (but do come back to enjoy these Ramblings).

National Anthem Day – is a minorly celebrated day, celebrated last Tuesday March 3rd. Nevertheless, for many of us it is an important day.

About six years ago U.S. Marine Master Gunnery Sergeant violinist Peter Wilson (of “The President’s Own” U.S. Marine Band) played the anthem at the start of a university basketball game. His rendition is stunningly beautiful! I immediately locked in on this rendition because of its beauty by only using the violin. I too took violin lessons as a kid. And although I loved ‘playing’ the instrument it never took hold, sadly.

WOW, what a Universe – Part 1 (Dianna Cowern story)
Quite a while ago I began watching a YouTube show narrated by an outgoing, vivacious young woman who seemed to have amazing insight into many things touching on physics. The show? ‘Physics Girl’ begun, developed, and content created by Dianna Cowern.

Dianna is a grad from MIT (2011) and “a research fellow at the Harvard–Smithsonian Center forAstrophysics.” It wasn’t that long before awards and top prizes in video creation began pouring in. That was about the time I made her video output part of my regular fare. Even her early works are both a joy to watch as well as a serious learning experience – I’d urge you to look them up.

Fast forward to that horrible bug-a-boo, Covid.

In July 2022, Cowern developed long COVID. She was “hospitalized in March 2023 as her symptoms, similar to ‘myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome’, continued to worsen.” Bottom line, she was bedridden for 2 years.

July 2025, her health again declined, leading to her being bedridden again. As of January 2026, she has improved somewhat, and hallelujah, again was able to produce wonderfully her first new science video for 2026. Below you’ll find her first release.

WOW, what a Universe – Part 2 (what is a Neutrino?)
We are so smart. Especially during the last 75 years the acceleration of our knowledge universe has blossomed. It’s almost to a point where we believe we understand every nook and cranny of our world, our solar system, our Milky Way, and the universe in its totality. Not just all of that, but we’re ‘uppity’ enough to believe we understand it all, from the bottom of the ocean to the smallest particle of grey matter inside our skull.

Let me posit that in the grand scheme of things we’ve hardly scratched the surface of all of that which is under, in, and above us; billions of years, trillions of stars, our body’s cell count almost too numerous to count, and it goes on and on. Even with tools such as Lasers, space-based observatories, management of plant life, Ai, and self-driving vehicles to name a few we’re not yet on the cusp of truly grasping and understanding all that is about us.

Ever heard of something called a neutrino? It’s a recently identified particle a billion of which pass through an area the size of a fingernail every second. Watch Dianna Cowern explain and whet your appetite for more.

Life is AMAZING!

Dirk

BONUS POINTS:

Tomorrow morning our clocks will adjust for summertime – Daylight Savings Time. Much water cooler discussion will take place on Monday morning with complaints about the loss of sleep. However, one location will adjust their time for the last time. After the time change tomorrow morning they’ll stay at that new time forward. Which one location has said, “enough” and will be done with this twice a year event.

1. Luxemburg
2. Monaco
3. Nepal
4. Prince Edward Island
5. Croatia
6. British Columbia

Last week answer – #1

Lessons

Happy Saturday – Actually it’s been a quiet week. Quiet, except for the fact that I took our little Corolla ‘beater’ in the have the resonator piping replaced, and that on my birthday no less. It must be that old cars and old guys’ ‘resonator’ piping suffer a similar issue – loudness, especially in public.

The other aging phenomena is the reappearance of kindergarten aged fart jokes and the like.

So, here is a resultant juvenile limerick, one of many.

When you enter your eighties – life takes on a different format:

An irritable person is Dirk the faultfinder.
A legit and professional griper.
People had no idea why he had the blues.
Turns out he had a full diaper.
They quickly got a nose full of clues.

It’s still early and still dark, so back to my coffee.

Presidents Day – Here is a quick question regarding last Monday. Who of you all actually spent a nano-second reflecting on even one of our Presidents last Monday as we celebrated our 147th Presidents Day (1879)?

I would guess that topping the list would be critical events such as mistakenly putting out the garbage a day early. Or checking the mailbox forgetting that there was no delivery that day.

Was your bank open, did you buy a piece of furniture or a mattress at the weekend’s onslaught of sales? Any of you care to share your favorite screw-up?

Cathy on the air – Tomorrow is the start of an important week, especially for us, the elderly. National Consumer Protection Week (NCPW). It runs from March 1 to 7, 2026, with March 5 designated as National “Slam the Scam” Day to focus on government imposter scams.

Our Cathy at Cincinnati’s Pro Seniors heads up the organization’s Statewide Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) sector. Quoting their stats; “In 2024, the 54 SMP projects had a total of 5,643 active team members who conducted a total of 22,752 group outreach and education events, contributing to $35.1 million in expected Medicare recoveries.”

Last evening, using Roku’s Live Streaming setup I listened to a wonderful show on WMKV – 89.3FM where the station hosted Cathy representing Senior Medicare Patrol and a representative from the Better Business Bureau (BBB) to alert listeners to the myriad and ever more sophisticated onslaught of scams – over 200% increase in about a year.

This week especially, be alert, verify and incoming calls and requests. If the ‘pitch’ sounds too good to be true, most likely it is!

A tale of two women – is proof that it’s not just by being from a group, a culture, a gender, a religion that becomes the criteria by which to judge a person. All this was brought home to me when I spotted the antics and untoward attitude expressed by one representative, Ilhan Omar during this week’s State of the Union presentation.

The tale of the two women is made oh so clear when we look at Representative Ilhan Omar who is little more than a grifter, a masterful and successful grifter at that. A grifter who constantly caps on America and openly expressing a deep-seated hate for Jewish people.

The other is Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Ayaan same country of origin endured female genital mutilation as a child and fled an arranged marriage. Ended up In the Netherlands, exposed Islamic misogyny through her writings and the film *Submission* with Theo van Gogh, which critiqued the oppression of women under fundamentalist Islam (van Gogh was assassinated by an Islamist in 2004).

Hirsi Ali received death threats, moved to the United States and has been living under protection. She is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University where she champions our values, freedom, tolerance, and women’s rights. She embraces a gratitude toward the nations that sheltered her. She is a hero.

The plan today is that our Cincinnati family meet up for brunch. Assuming Marcia is up for it we’ll head for one of my favorite coffee/sandwich shops; “Mom ‘n Em”. No better Avocado or Anchovy toasties anywhere!

Then proud congratulations to Derek who the day after his birthday showed up an Austin courthouse to report for jury duty. He survived ‘voir dire’! Was seated, then on Thursday at 6:30pm, after a two-hours of deliberation, the jury of twelve came to a verdict. He faced his civic duty with aplomb and performed well.

Life is AMAZING!

Dirk

BONUS POINTS:

How many iterations of the American flag have been made? Hint, the United States holds the world record for the most changes to a national flag.

1. 27
2. 13
3. 6
4. 29
5. 18
6. 21
7. 17

Last week answer – #2

here a ‘D’ there a “D’

Happy Saturday – Last week I mentioned the almost open neighborhood Dairy Queen as our forerunner of Spring. Now it can be safely said that Spring is exactly one month away.

And after this winter I am beyond ready.

The other day I came across a news view of a Barge heading up-river through broken up ice. Considering I worked late summer’s River Roots Festival and watched the Riverboats cruise up and down the river with Calliope’s playing merry tunes, this view was a far cry from those jolly days.

Let’s pretend that I am enjoying a celebratory mug of Peets coffee [Peet’s just IPO’d at $17Billion] this very morning as I sip and look towards Spring, one month into the future. Better yet, in the meantime ease back and celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year, the year of the Fire Horse.

Pressure? – With all the happenings (turmoil?) this winter I am completely out of sync with any prep work for proceeding with some of the 5Ks I’ve participated in over the past several years.

Now this! A week ago a gentleman by the name of Gary Patton NYRR’s Night at the Races #5 held at The Armory in New York City, saw 80 year-old Gary Patton run 6:38.10 setting a new world record for 80-84 year-olds for an indoor mile run!
Really?
OK, now the pressure is really on!

A short while ago – So many things and capabilities we take for granted were brand spanking new just a handful of years ago. When I talk with my grandkids and as they describe some work requirement for school done on-line during the evening, submitted as homework, and graded by the start of the next morning’s class as the forever norm. That ‘norm’ as many others were barely thought of just a short while ago.

Think of YouTube, we almost live on YouTube. Need to look anything from music, science, repair, and on and on. All can be readily found among the multi-millions of clips online. You’d think that all this availability dates back many decades earlier.

Well, here is an eye opener.

London’s Victoria and Albert Museum is now offering visitors a new landmark display. featuring the first video ever uploaded to the site (waaaay back in 2005): Jawed Karim’s “Me at the zoo“.

The video shows a young software engineer, Jawed Karim, co-founder of YouTube, on the first up-loaded video in 2005. A year later Google purchased the technology, and thus it all began.

Presidents Day – Here is a quick question. Who of you all actually spent a nano-second reflecting on even one of our Presidents last Monday as we celebrated the 147th Presidents Day (1879).

I would guess that topping the list would be critical events such as mistakenly putting out the garbage a day early. Or checking the mailbox forgetting that there was no delivery that day.

Was your bank open, did you buy a piece of furniture or a mattress? Any of you care to share your favorite screw-up?

Where is the joke? – this two-week period sees an array of birthdays in my circle; and three of them have names starting with the letter ‘D’. I mention this not as a joke since I consider all three as being ‘A’.

Life is AMAZING!

Dirk

BONUS POINTS:

How often do we watch a spot on the evening News that another satellite was launched. Actually, what has recently been proposed by SpaceX is an application with the US Federal Communications Commission for a megaconstellation of up to one million satellites to power data centers in space. As of this month approximately how many satellites are currently in low earth orbit? One number is correct.

1. 875
2. 14,000
3. 1,400
4. 900
5. 125,000
6. 1,850
7. 692,000

Last week answer – #5

2 – Weeks Till …..

Happy Saturday – Really Happy! Do you realize that in just two short weeks our nearby harbinger of Spring will open. March 1, 2026, our Dairy Queen will start serving their ‘Blizzard’ complete with sprinkles. As the Duch would yell out; “hiep, hiep hoera” (hippity, hip hoorah).

Pressure? – In short order, it’s like we’re being slapped on one cheek and then the other. Yesterday it was that always worrisome (if you so believe) day of potential mishaps – Friday the 13th style.

Then today’s Valentine Day ballyhoo as so advanced by the dear people of Hallmark. As a ‘just leave me to get along by myself’ kind of guy it becomes more and more difficult to stay out of trouble. Happy Valentine’s Day.

C of C & M – you guessed correctly, the C of C & M does stand for ‘Corner of Chaos and Mayhem’. And, two days ago, the “nom de guerre” of our dear corner once again earned its name. Thursday Marcia had a ‘Lady sitter’ for me to run out to take care of some much-needed stuff. Heading home from Costco I got a call. The gist was that our street was closed since three Ambulances, seven Fire trucks, plus Police were scattered about the corner – seems that the third floor of our neighboring building was on fire.

I did manage to sneak on the back side of our drive and an hour later everything was back to normal. Fire had been called quickly, and they managed to contain the fire. Nice going and kudos to the folk professionals staffing our nation’s very first professional fire brigade.

And the Winner is – I am talking about the current Winter Olympics of course. No, not about any spectacular speed, loop, turn, half loop, or even a win which brought tears to the eyes of all those ever present experts.

I am talking about the winner of the best creative uniform for an athlete. First let it be said that Haiti only has two entries. These two won my ‘best of costume’ award for their kit, hands down.

What makes them even more special is that these outfits were hand painted, as stated in an on-line article, “hand painted by artisans with designs rooted in the nation’s heritage. Displaying symbols of resistance, even keeping the iconic image of the riderless red horse at the center.”

It was great – I am talking about last Sunday’s “Jazz@First” concert. The concert focused on the amazing (and amazingly long) career of Pat Metheny, and his long-term collaborator, Lyle Mays.

These concerts with the Phil deGreg trio are formed from players/instructors at the University of Cincinnati’s Conservatory of Music (CCM). Being teachers as well as performers means that their audience is handed a double ‘whammy’ – a great performance, and teaching moments with some wonderful background insights.

So, I learned that while Metheny is known mostly for ‘smooth’ jazz, it is his being raised and exposed to the music found in Kansas City (his hometown). Working with this prevalence of western and country music had him incorporate those sounds into his music. So, it’s not surprising that the sounds of bands such as Steely Dan can be found in his works.

At the concert, I recorded a piece written by Metheny, Bright Size Life, where this influence is clear. Enjoy a listen:

Marcia – had what can only be describes as her own “Hippity Hip Hoorah” moment when her Physical Therapist assessed the gains Marcia had made. Closing out her P.T. cycle it came time for Marcia to strut her stuff. The result being that Laura the therapist had Marcia park her walker and prance away using her cane. She did great!

Life is AMAZING!

Dirk

BONUS POINTS:

Seniors are currently strategizing their final college selection. Our Presidents too went through that same cycle. Some became our POTUS with unlikely majors to prepare them for the role of Chief Executive. Which of these early career paths were taken by a President, 6 are correct, one is wrong.

1. Nuclear Physics
2. Teaching
3. Geology
4. Hebrew
5. Mortuary Science 1978
6. No Formal Education 1993
7. Mathematics

Last week answer – #5 -1978 & #6 – 1993