The Hole in the Hourglass of Life

One of the common metaphors for a person’s life is the hourglass. The sand starts in the top, birth, and runs out into the bottom, death. I like this idea because it gives the sense that although there is a finite time for living, the pace is controlled by the hole in the middle. But unlike a real hourglass, the pace isn’t a constant. The problem is that individual behavior and luck operate together to change the damn hole size. For instance, you can have half the sand in the top and be killed by a bus. Giant hole, all the sand moves south at once. Or, you can exercise, eat right, get plenty of sleep and water and maybe tighten the hole a bit.
So, life is viewed as a finite resource with a variable consumption component. The real bitch, though, is looking at the glass as time passes and noticing the inexorable flow out of the top into the bottom. At some point, most people would give almost anything to be able to turn the glass and keep going. Not bloody likely. On the other hand, a life well lived is enough for most of us. As the sand shifts south we all gradually shift south ourselves. We slow down, get weaker, get shorter, get more philosophical and less radical, and, yes, usually get somewhat rounder.
I hate that the sand will run out someday, and I hate knowing that the sand is more in the bottom than the top, and I hate that I can’t just turn the glass. But I love the life already lived, downs as well as ups. I love the idea of life and look forward, however long the sand will last, to more of a life well lived. Bring on the wine, food, adventure and love. Simon and Garfunkel said it best: “Life I Love You – All is Groovy”.(1) What’s not to love?
1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KZi-aV0VTk
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Could you live on a total of $10,000 a year?

Social Security: Why is it in Trouble?
There are basically 2 answers to this question. The first is purely demographic. More people are collecting benefits (more money goes out) than people are paying into benefit programs (money coming in). Over time, the amount of money collected will not be sufficient to cover future payouts, and the future amounts collected will not cover the future liability.
The second answer is a bit slipperier. In 2011, so far, the trust fund held 2.5 trillion dollars, all in government backed securities. The problem is this: when the fund needs more money to pay out than money that comes in, it has to sell the securities. And if the markets for the government borrowing money to redeem the securities are weak or gone, the trust fund is in deficit.
Insolvency will occur if all the bonds are redeemed and not enough money comes in to pay current recipients. This date is somewhere between 25 and 75 years in the future. To fix it the congress must either cut benefits and/or raise the payroll tax to produce more income.
I started hearing about this problem TWENTY FIVE YEARS AGO!!! Since then, a few minor fixes have been done, but congress has kicked the can down the road. Now it is a budget/political issue. The government must buy the bonds it sold to the trust funds so the funds can pay their bills. The government is in a deficit mode now, so money for something must be borrowed.
The poor of the nation are the easiest target and the least likely to win a court battle. So answer me this: How would you like to try to live on ten or fifteen thousand dollars a year, total income? Including paying for health care, food, housing, etc. How big a cut would you be able to take and still eat, get medicine and have a roof over your head? Oh yeah, I forgot. Medicare will take care of your health. Not.
Image: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zMSMQXhHoQY/TaOIQWiRWUI/AAAAAAAAF9U/yGUt1Di9pqo

Just a Ghost.

If you read “Clan of the Cave Bear” you know about the custom of cursing someone with death, and in that culture the curse made them dead. Naturally they weren’t really dead, but because everyone believed them to actually be dead, the people ignored them completely as they wandered around. After some time, the “dead” just walked away, because they thought they were dead, too.

Leaving a place of work/play/involvement after 25 years can be something like that. You leave and then return and you are a kind of ghost. You wander around not really in and not really out. Then one day you just wander away and don’t return. The big difference in this example is that no one is dead. Just gone.
Image: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3570/3382035628_6cff9d112d_o.jpg

Pain at the pumps? Count your blessings!

I pulled up my diesel Hyundai to the pump. Nice little car. Four doors, leg room, sound system, AC and nicely suspended. Fun to drive on mountain roads. Anyway, it took 30 liters to fill (that is roughly 8.1 gallons). Not bad. Economical too. The cost was a whopping 49.5 Euros. In dollars that is roughly SEVENTY ONE. You read right: $71 for 8 gallons of fuel. Do the math and you get $8.8 per gallon. Now, brothers and sisters, THAT is “Pain at the Pumps.” That is also what every European pays for fuel every day, and gasoline is more expensive than diesel.
Yesterday I filled up my Dodge Ram: 18 gallons at $3.59. Sixty four bucks, roughly. I thought about the price in France and figured I got a bargain. In Europe that fill-up would have cost about $158!! The amazing thing is there are some American cars and trucks over there.
My point is this: the next time you fill’er up and think you are feeling pain, think again. The next time you think we pay too much in taxes, think again. You don’t have any idea what “Pain at the Pumps” really is, now, do you?
Image: http://images.huffingtonpost.com/2008-06-08-highgaspricesaffectingeconomyimage.jpg

Kayaking on the Tarn.

We got up early by our French standards and were on the road by 8:30, off to the kayak rental beach on the River Tarn. This is about a 2+ hour trip. We had some good bread, saucisson and jambon, and some drinks for lunch. Sal and I were the neophytes; the rest had at least some river experience. Now for starters, the photo below is not on the part of the Tarn we floated, but I liked the look of it. No, our section of the river had lower “rapids” and we all got through without a spill. Didn’t even require helmets.

A 10k paddle was filled with great scenery, clear water and a steady wind blowing up the gorge. We couldn’t decide who should steer, so we both did. The result was a 10k trip became a 15k trip by the time you figure all the side to side travel. The wind in the bow (do kayaks have a bow?) made steering even more difficult, but we made it to the end. A few moments of heightened anxiety when we went over a small damn, and when we got caught against a rock by the hydrostatic pressure of the water, but all in all a brilliant day.

I wore long sleeves, long pants, Tevas with sunscreen, a broad brimmed hat and sunscreen on face, neck and ears. Sal didn’t cover as much. The good news is everybody else got some sunburn, and we - - nya nya - - didn’t.
It was a tiring day full of fun and companionship. Lots of teens in the crowd to liven things up, and good food too. Plenty of wine when we got home took away the soreness from arms until morning. Then Ibuprofen took over.
Image: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSWinGr7lQVxJ1q08b_a0en3QrS0uKtcGjFs5bcNGz3ihvsUxgcb6qwNSVSX8VhlaPATI513JHj-tYN-x-lYNKMVv4VhlLiGO1xIIvTwRvo3J00walAGgQTtq9ZRhV6_r3YecslTRu29Bz/s1600/DSC_0032.JPG

Food Adventures in France Three: Cheval et Âne

One morning we went to a “market” to shop for food and other things. This kind of market is unlike any I have ever seen in the U.S. Many vendors travel from town to town on a regular route to sell their specialties. Now don’t get the word “specialties” confused with something extraordinary. I mean there are vendors for cheese, meats, sausage, hats, olives, seafood, veggies, fruits, breads, pastries, shoes, kitchen wares, toys, table clothes, and many, many other things. These are like little stores on wheels. Some sell hot items like rotisserie chickens (order in advance or go away without a chook) or pizza. Some give away samples, some don’t. They arrive early in the morning and usually leave by 12 or so. Nearby towns have “markets” on different days so if you know where they are, you always have a source of fresh food. The prices are not cheap, but neither are they outrageous.
At a market in St. Antonin-Noble-Val I noticed a horse decal on the back of a butcher’s truck. And sure enough he had lots of nice lean cuts of horse meat. The filet mignon du cheval looked particularly tasty. Dark and not very fatty. Big. But wow, the price!! Twice that for filet mignon du boef. I mentioned to Sal that I though some Cheval would make a great dinner treat, especially for those with us that loved, cared for and rode horses. She vetoed that. I said I would cook it but not tell anyone what it was. She vetoed that, too. I said “Yes Dear” and moved on. I know when to hold’em and when to fold’em.
Later in the same market, I spotted some saucisson made out of Donkey. Saucisson is a kind of thick, dry sausage common to the region. I didn’t get that either.

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"No Compromise"?

Time for a breather. The President just talked about “compromise” and a news commentator listed all the areas where compromise between the parties would/could occur. The budget/debt crises I am talking about here. Sure Boehner and Obama agreed on a 4.something trillion deficit reduction and the house Republicans killed it by “No Compromise”. The gang of six, and the joint committee earlier both proposed compromises and the house Republicans killed each by “No Compromise”. Many tea partyers went on record saying essentially “let the wheels come off” (don’t extend the debt ceiling). And, oft heard from the Republican side of the isle was “No Compromise on revenue increase.”
So “No Compromise” comes from the Right, while the Left has compromised over and over again. Yes, I know there are hardasses on both sides and ideologues on both sides, but come on now. Every one of you knows that the intransigence of the Right led to the 11th hour “compromise” (read that “Right got 98% of what it wanted” quoting John Boehner, which also means that the Left didn’t get much in the way of compromise, did it?).
And that 11th hour 2.something trillion reduction wasn’t enough. And the process was completely one-sided. Even Boehner was dissed by the Right. How’s that for compromise?
The Tea Party (not a grassroots group at all, but financed quietly by the Koch brothers and other ultra-right billionaires) says that the government should/must be run like a business. I agree. Every business I know focuses on two aspects of operation: One, cut production costs by increasing efficiency and Two, INCREASE REVENUE. So how come the Tea Partyers say “No Compromise” to increasing any revenue at all? Not “One thin Dime”. Huh? Huh? Compromise when I was growing up meant “Give and Take”. Looks to me like the far side of the Right is only interesting in the “Take” part, with “No Compromise” for the “Give”.
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Terrified in Ax-les-Thermes

I admit it. I am very uncomfortable on high places, near an edge. I don’t like to stand close to the guard rail at canyons, or on tall buildings. Forget tall bridges. Several years ago I walked up the steps to the top of the Pont-du-Gard, pictured above and started out on the top, also pictured above, to walk across. Never made it. Ended up crouched in the middle, slinking back to the steps. Don’t like HEIGHTS!!!



So, In Ax-les-Thermes there is a ski resort that in the summer caters to sight-seers and mountain bikers. Two lifts take you way, way up the mountain. The first is a closed gondola and the second is a bench with 6 seats and a movable bar to hold you in. No cage, no belts: just a seat, bar and the air. Sally talked me into going up. First ride not too bad. Gondola. Then we realized the second ride would be in an open lift chair. I watched a few people get on and go up, and decided to suck it up and go. The operator spoke only French. So, we waited our turn and watched what to do. We got on the seats and started to pull the bar down when the operator said something loudly. “Pardon?” I pulled the bar down. The footrests immediately got stuck on the edge of the platform and as the chair moved forward, inexorably, the chair began to tip forward, the foot rest being firmly stuck on the platform. The operator screamed something: “Pardon?” She pushed the emergency stop button. The cable stopped, gave a small shudder, and the chair popped lose. We hung there for a minute or so while the operator inspected for damage, then got going.
Suddenly we were flying up the mountain and then, crap!!! we started to go over a deep ravine. The ground was already 50 feet away, and then about 150 feet away. Breathe. Calm. Calm. I loosened my death-grip on the bar, looked straight ahead and around, and began to enjoy the trip. Going back down was fun, and now I look forward to another trip. I also know when and when not to pull down the damn bar.

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http://www.desktops4wallpaper.com/image_gallery/nature_wallpaper_30/city_town_wallpapers_46/france-
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