Keep the heart racing

I think I may require a bit more stimulation than is normal.  Or perhaps I am the normal one and the reset of the world is being entirely too passive.  Perhaps it is related to my work.











Work pays the bills and is stimulating on occasion but also quite depressing.  I am a claims manager and an attorney.  I deal in death and destruction.  We might insure the drunk  who mows down a pedestrian.  We might insure a fancy ceramic barrel table that someone decides to place in their shower.  Their husband somehow falls on it and bleeds to death.   Five hundred cases in my inventory. These claims are resolved through negotiations or court. 


What we cannot do is reverse time and make that injury or death go away. 




The lesson from all of this:  enjoy your life, it may be shorter than you anticipate. 





















My need for stimulation was recently sated. 

A Man called Ove may have been from Minnesota

I do not often do book reviews.  I recommend this one.


Curmudgeons can be wise and interesting.  Or not.




A Man Called Ove, is about a Scandinavian curmudgeon  Minnesota (my people) has many Scandinavians and some curmudgeons as well. 




Ove was "from a generation in which one was what one did, not what one talked about."
“Men are what they are because of what they do. Not what they say.”  


True words.  Talk can be cheap, promises can be broken.  There is something very noble in those solid individuals who are honest, quiet, self reliant, and competent.


"Men who required only a few simple things from life, she said.  A roof over their heads, a quiet street, the right make of car, and a woman to be faithful to.  A job where you had a proper function.  A house where things broke at regular intervals, so you always had something to tinker with."




Good analysis. Yet life is more than that.  “He was a man of black and white. And she was color. All the color he had.”  




Lack of color makes for an unpleasant curmudgeon.




Ove reminded me a bit of my father.

Day 14

It was good seeing old friends in Wisconsin.  10 hours in the saddle to get home.  Nothing particularly interesting in Illinois and Indiana.  Just point and go.


The end of my journey lacked any sort of dramatic flourish that I had imagined along the way.


I had imagined that my girlfriend would want to see me.  Perhaps I would stop by her home on the way to my house to receive her welcome.


She had made other plans.


The journey was an act of independence.  A challenge to myself.


Challenge accepted.


I wrote the account to remember the moments of the adventure.  The hot, the uncomfortable, the beauty, the failures and the excitement.  It gave me a chance to ponder and write in my own clumsy way.


The relationship with Barb would end in less than six months.  I found someone in her that was more independent than myself. 


She had other plans.

In the moment

Sometimes it is good to not overthink

Motorcycles assist in this process.  The focus is the moment.

On a long stretch the mind does wander.  Sometimes it may take a whole tank

Nothing in this life is permanent

So it goes 

Working for the man

The silly season is upon Liberty Mutual again.

Their goal is to make it to the top 100 places to work.  It ain't happening. 

Time to reorganize.  That should help.

Apparently the SVP in charge of claims did not like it and bailed.

More productivity, cheaper employees.  They have discovered that people will do my job at a pay grade lower.  Saving money for the stockholders, oh wait, we have no stockholders.  Perhaps the dividends will go up? Oh, they do not pay dividends.  Perhaps the corporate suite can buy another jet or invest in a new country. 

My 6th reorganization in 30 years. 

Stay tuned.....

A Nietzsche thought

"It is precisely we solitary ones that require love and companions in whose presence we may be open and simple."  Nietzsche


Relief, acceptance, to be open and accepted. 


Nietzsche, a philosopher and perhaps a loner.  A man who would rather dance than think..  ""I would not know what the spirit of a philosopher might wish more to be than a good dancer."  But alas, that may be the curse of a rational mind. 


To dance, to be open.  To have that simple acceptance.  Somewhere to share my crazy thoughts as well as the simple ones.


Let's not overthink this.  SWM seeking love and companionship where we might be have fun, be open, and be simple.


I think I may be in a good place with my latest companion. 

Thought for the day

The Onion strikes my health again

No good deed goes unpunished.  My cholesterol is down.  My weight is down.  Eating better.  Getting regular exercise.  As James Brown would say, I feel good.

This has resulted in another trip to the hospital.   Had another stent and they used some balloons and razors to clear up another blockage

Man’s Genetic Predisposition For Heart Disease No Match For 10 Half-Assed Push-Ups He Does Couple Times A Week

CHICAGO—Despite afflicting his father and numerous members of his extended family, local man Josh McCalister’s genetic predisposition for heart disease was no match for the 10 half-assed push-ups he does a couple of times a week, sources said Wednesday. “Three...four—ah, Christ—five,” McCalister, 38, said to himself, counting off the short set of poorly executed push-ups that were swiftly undoing the susceptibility to coronary artery disease and arrhythmia that was encoded in his very DNA. “Nine...almost there...nine and a half—agh, close enough—10!” Although the push-ups he currently performed already ensured that he would be spared the deadly disease that had been passed down unimpeded for generations, McCalister had reportedly vowed to get to 20 within the next six months

The joy of dating- The truth about being single

https://youtu.be/fmE4NU4ljUg


Too true!

Grab them by the pussy

Well it happened. 

We have President Trump. The classic oxymoron.  Those two words, President and Trump,  do not belong together. 

I watched a bit of the inauguration.  I said I would not, but it was my lunch hour.  Who can resist a great car crash?

I noticed the crowd was much smaller. 

Last I checked, I qualify as a people. Somehow, I do not feel I am a ruler in this nation.  I exercise very little control.  When I write my favorite politician, I get a form letter in reply.  The best I can hope for is that someone is tabulating the complaints.

Am I forgotten?  Who will listen?  I am not quite sure the middle-class is as dead as he seems to think,  The last 20 years have generally been good to me. The Midwest is not quite ready to rust away. 

A man with questionable morals claims that God will protect us.  I think he has been drinking the Pence Kool-Aid. 

Some memorable quotes:

"What truly matters is not which party controls our government, but whether our government is controlled by the people.

January 20th 2017, will be remembered as the day the people became the rulers of this nation again.

The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer.

Everyone is listening to you now.

I will fight for you with every breath in my body – and I will never, ever let you down.

There should be no fear – we are protected, and we will always be protected.

We will be protected by the great men and women of our military and law enforcement and, most importantly, we are protected by God.

You will never be ignored again."

Some words about women, I need some savin

Well, I'm running down the road
tryin' to loosen my load
I've got seven women on
my mind,
Four that wanna own me,
Two that wanna stone me,
One says she's a friend of mine
Take It easy, take it easy
Don't let the sound of your own wheels
drive you crazy
Lighten up while you still can
don't even try to understand
Just find a place to make your stand
and take it easy
Well, I'm a standing on a corner
in Winslow, Arizona
and such a fine sight to see
It's a girl, my Lord, in a flatbed
Ford slowin' down to take a look at me
Come on, baby, don't say maybe
I gotta know if your sweet love is
gonna save me

A New Year

A year older and possibly a bit wiser.  The years go by more quickly now.


I reflect on what is good.  There is much to be grateful for.


I am healthy.  My sons are healthy.  My loyal dog is doing well.


I met a gal....


Some good trips.  Lots of sunshine on my face. 


No big resolutions to keep or to break. 


I now own a condo on the beach.


I am still collecting quotes music and memes.


I still think too much


Insert beach picture here