Category Archives: Uncategorized

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Another hurdle cleared on path toward retirement

This is the latest in an occasional series of blog posts commenting on impending retirement.

We knew we could do it. We knew we could hitch up our shiny new fifth wheel to our nearly as shiny new 3/4-ton pickup and take it on the road.

What we didn’t know is that we’re getting pretty good at it. Are we “seasoned” RV travelers, equipped to handle any challenge that’s thrust in front of us? Well, I don’t know. I’ll let you know when we think we’ve mastered the ultimate challenge, whatever that might be.

Our three-night excursion took us to Albuquerque. We spent two glorious days of fellowship with good friends, Ed and Caroline. On the first day, the two of them took us to the city’s famed botanical gardens, then to the zoo and finally to the aquarium. On the second day, Ed arrived at the RV park we called home for three nights and we scurried about 50 miles west to an astonishing pueblo occupied by members of the Acoma Indian tribe. We parked our vehicle and rode a shuttle to the top of a mesa overlooking a spectacularly beautiful valley — and where Acoma residents live with no running water, plumbing or electricity.

We toured the pueblo and heard the tale of how the Acoma arrived in that region in 1150 and endured purely unimaginable hardship. They were persecuted for worshiping their native religion and essentially forced to become Catholics, thanks to the Spanish settlers with whom they fought.

At the end of both wonderful days with our friends, we went routinely back to the RV camp and enjoyed the evening in our travel vehicle.

I guess the most surprising element here is the ease with which we are able to get hooked up, to get on our way down the highway, to unhook the assembly and then rehook it up for the return trip home.

To those who have done this before, I likely am preaching to the proverbial choir. Or, perhaps you’re thinking: “What a weenie. Of course it’s simple. It ain’t rocket science, bub. What did you expect?”

It is a big deal for two people who are discovering the joys of a new world that still awaits. We’ve worked pretty damn hard for many decades and we’re getting set to enjoy some time exploring the North American continent.

It’s starting to come together.

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Cruz loves sound of his own voice

I applauded Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., some months back for actually filibustering the nomination of CIA Director John Brennan, not because I approved of his reasons, but because he actually took to the U.S. Senate floor and talked until he ran out of verbal gas.

Now another tea party golden boy, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, is blabbering his brains out as I post this blog item. I have to hand it to Ted the Tattler: He, too, is yapping about this and that in an effort to derail the Affordable Care Act. Again, I disapprove of his reasons, but I have to hand it to the guy for actually filibustering.

http://news.msn.com/us/senate-moves-toward-test-vote-on-obamacare

The filibuster has become a misused instrument. Senators can “filibuster” something simply by lodging an objection. They object to a bill and then go about their business. Paul and Cruz have restored some form of “integrity” to the process.

Here, though, is where I get rankled at Ted Cruz. The new guy loves the sound of his own voice. Of that I am utterly convinced. I truly wonder whether he is motivated by something other than listening to himself talk in front of a national audience.

Do you remember when he denigrated the character of Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel? He questioned whether Hagel, a Vietnam War combat veteran, had become an agent of foreign governments hostile to the United States? Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., called Cruz down on the spot and said he never should question the character of someone such as Hagel, with whom McCain served in the Senate. McCain’s admonition went in one of Cruz’s ears and out the other. Cruz hasn’t shut his mouth … yet.

I’ve already wondered out loud why some members of Congress get so much air time on TV. Cruz, so new to the national spotlight, is basking in that limelight a little too comfortably to suit me. I’m wondering now if someone in the Senate is going to challenge this guy’s blustering and loudmouthed actions publicly.

He’s been in national office all of nine months and I’m sick of the sound of his voice already.

Then again, maybe that’s just me.

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Raise the debt ceiling

The debt ceiling battle is about to be joined once more in Congress.

It’s a fight Congress and the White House shouldn’t wage. It threatens the nation’s credit rating, which already has been bumped downward and it poses an extreme threat to our economic health — not to mention the retirement accounts of many tens of millions of Americans who are fed up to here with the foolish games being played.

I am one of those fed up Americans.

http://www.fixthedebt.org/blog/no-putting-a-lid-on-the-debt-ceiling_1#.UkHMCUoo6t8

Congressional Republicans, led by the tea party yahoos, are posing a serious threat to our well-being. They say the debt ceiling shouldn’t be increased, claiming some specious notion that federal spending must be brought under control. It is true the government spends too much. It also is true that if we do not honor our financial obligations — such as paying our bills — the consequences are going to eclipse the petty arguments that might lead us to default on those obligations.

The GOP’s tea party cabal keeps invoking the name of their patron saint, President Ronald Reagan, when discussing these fiscal matters. Here’s a flash: President Reagan, working with a Democratic-led Congress, boosted the debt ceiling 18 times during his two terms in the White House. No muss no fuss. No one griped openly about government “spending too much,” even though the deficit increased during President Reagan’s time in office.

Congressional Republicans are playing with fire if they take us down this road. Mark my words, they will suffer some grievous political burns if they fail to allow the United States to meet its financial obligations.

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NM knows how to build highways

Albuquerque, N.M., along with the New Mexico Department of Transportation, ought to market themselves as the highway interchange construction champions of the nation.

They know how to do it.

Albuquerque is home to what the locals call the Big I, which is shorthand for the Interstate 40/25 interchange in the middle of the city. The state rebuilt the Big I over the course of many years. My wife and I drove through it a couple of times when it was under reconstruction. The experience was harrowing to say the least.

It’s done now and the Big I actually is a thing of beauty, if you consider highway projects to be works of art.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:I-40_approaching_the_Big_I.jpg

The link here really doesn’t do the Big I justice. Suffice to say, though, that NMDOT has done a fabulous job of creating a piece of civil engineering that is quite pleasing to the eye.

The landscaping is quite spectacular, featuring native flora — desert cactus and other plants that require little irrigation. One overpass on I-40, just a big west of the Big I, actually has multi-colored indirect lighting that glows at night.

I bring all this up because the major interchange in Amarillo, where we live, is far less appealing aesthetically than the one in Albuquerque. I’ve heard complaints from Amarillo residents over many years who say, in effect, that the I-40/27 interchange — which also was rebuilt some years ago — as in “eyesore” to motorists passing through the city.

One friend, a local lawyer, once griped to me about the terrible impression the Amarillo interchange leaves on motorists who may never come back through the city again.

I happen to agree with him.

Albuquerque has done it the right way.

Other cities should take note and follow the Albuquerque’s lead.

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Leave health care act alone, poll says

Would it surprise you to learn that a new poll says that Americans do not want Congress to defund the Affordable Care Act, aka “Obamacare”?

It surprised me.

http://www.nbcnews.com/business/most-americans-against-defunding-obamacare-cnbc-survey-4B11231267?ocid=msnhp&pos=7

CNBC’s latest survey suggests, therefore, that congressional Republicans are playing with fire in their attempt to gut a law that Congress approved, President Obama signed and the Supreme Court affirmed.

They contend the law is “failed.” How they know that is beyond me, given that it hasn’t even been implemented yet. Those all-knowing GOP lawmakers, though, are prescient enough to predict what they do not yet know.

The stakes in this game are getting a bit too rich for my stomach. The House has approved a spending measure that takes money away from Obamacare. The president will have none of it. Neither will the Democrats who run the Senate. Failure to approve the spending measure, thus, means the government could shut down.

All this is a precursor to an even bigger battle over whether to boost the nation’s debt ceiling. The tea party goofballs within the GOP don’t want to do that. Never mind that their patron saint, President Reagan, raised the debt ceiling 18 times during his two terms in office (1981-89).

Yep, Republicans are playing with fire, which is going to burn them. I don’t care about that. I do care about suffering the damage myself, especially if my retirement income starts flying out the window.

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Talk to us, Mr. President … but not to me

This is what I’m talking about.

House Speaker John Boehner recently criticized President Obama for negotiating with the Russians over how to rid Syria of its chemical weapons while stiffing congressional Republicans in the building federal budget debate. I called such criticism utterly without merit, given that Boehner already had declared he wouldn’t talk to Obama personally about budget matters.

Then he reiterated his no-negotiation line just this past weekend. The government might shut down over a dispute regarding the Affordable Care Act. And still, Speaker Boehner won’t talk to the president?

http://thehill.com/homenews/house/323381-boehner-obama-should-negotiate-but-not-with-me

Ridiculous. And by that I mean precisely that Boehner has subjected himself correctly to a torrent or ridicule.

The speaker of the House second in line to presidential succession after the vice president. That means he or she is very important person regarding any matter dealing with the federal government. Whoever is speaker ought to be at the center of every discussion, every negotiation, every major or minor detail.

So why is Boehner — who seems to have lost control of his House Republican caucus to the tea party wing of the GOP — now standing aside while others seek to work out some kind of deal with the White House?

Does he not understand the ridicule to which he is subjecting himself and the high office he occupies?

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This lawsuit might have legs

There was something quite unsurprising the other day about news that the family of a deceased Potter County commissioner had filed a wrongful death suit against the Amarillo hospital that cared for him.

Precinct 2 County Commissioner Manny Perez died in October 2011 after what was thought to be a fairly “routine” surgical procedure on his neck. Perez’s death stunned the community and I heard from more than one individual who questioned the circumstances of his passing.

I’ll need to stipulate that I have no inside knowledge of this case. It just strikes me as not surprising that Perez’s family would take this action. Where it goes from here is anyone’s guess.

The suit, filed in the 108th State District Court, alleges Northwest Texas Hospital employees failed to notify Perez’s surgical team of changes in the commissioner’s medical condition after the surgery. Perez reportedly complained of difficulty swallowing. Perez’s condition worsened and he died several days after the surgery.

My heart, of course, was broken for Perez’s family when he died. I knew Perez quite well from my years covering his service for Potter County. We had our run-ins on occasion over those many years, but we were on good terms when he passed away.

I’ll await the outcome of this case, whether it goes to court or whether the hospital settles it with the family. A lawyer friend of mine with some knowledge of the situation told me the other day he thinks NWTH would be wise to settle. I am not qualified to make such an assertion.

I do believe I am qualified, though, to declare my lack of surprise that Manny Perez’s family would sue the hospital.

Let’s all stay tuned.

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Integrity took a brief holiday

I feel like venting, but only for a moment or two.

You’ve heard the story — yes? — about the homeless man in Boston who turned in the back pack containing $42,000. The authorities put the word out about the fellow and citizens around the world have responded with donations to help the guy out. Last I heard they’d received more than $125,000.

Honesty pays.

Well, something not quite so noble happened to yours truly in the past 24 hours.

I left a money clip at the health club where I work out each Monday through Friday morning. I left it in the locker where I store my stuff while I get my heart pumping and lift a few weights. I showered, got dressed and scurried out of the place.

The clip was left in the locker. It had about $7 or $8 in cash attached to it.

I thought the clip was lost. I went back to the health club, asked if anyone had turned it in. I went into the locker room but the locker was in use. I went back to the place later in the day to search the locker. Nothing there. I went to work.

Just before I got off work, my cell phone rang. It was my wife. “Do you want to stop by the health club on your way home to pick up your money clip?” she said. I did. One of the managers had received the money clip the previous day from someone who turned it in — without the dough. “The guy just said ‘I found this clip,'” the young manager told me this afternoon. He didn’t inquire about the cash that was with it.

Hmmm, I thought. Who could it have been? I told the manager I would love to know the identity of the “Good Samaritan.” Then again, another part of me thought otherwise. What if it’s someone I know?

Hey, the money isn’t important. It’s the principle of the thing, as they say — as if the guy who returned the clip would understand anything about principle.

There. I’m done venting.

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City ponders rail depot purchase

As a big supporter of Amarillo’s effort to revive its downtown district, I am intrigued by the city’s consideration of purchasing the Santa Fe Depot across the street from the Civic Center.

The City Commission will consider this purchase at its next meeting, on Tuesday. The city might plunk down $2.6 million for the deal.

Then what? That’s the big question.

http://amarillo.com/news/local-news/2013-09-20/city-considers-buying-santa-fe-depot

I was most intrigued by the quotes attributed to City Commissioner Lilia Escajeda, who seems to be suggesting something different from her colleagues. Commissioner Ellen Green noted the building’s historical significance and said that Amtrak might want to use the depot to bring passenger train service back to Amarillo.

Escajeda, though, said the depot’s purchase would make it easier for the city expand its Civic Center in the future. Is she suggesting the city could, um, knock down the depot — since it might own the property — to make room for a Civic Center expansion? I hope that’s not what she’s saying.

My own sense is that the city purchasing the depot has the potential for contributing to a successful downtown revival. My hope would be for the city to pull out all the stops to find a suitable — and successful — tenant who could put the building to the kind of use that would attract visitors to the downtown district.

Who or what would that entail? Well, I’m not a commercial real estate marketing genius, so I’ll leave that discussion to the experts. What’s more, the city has no shortage of resources to find someone who knows something about marketing buildings such as the Santa Fe Depot.

The building is beautiful and has at least as much potential as the “other” Santa Fe Building downtown, the one that Potter County transformed from a rotting hulk into a glorious office structure.

Go for it, City Hall.

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Insanity tightens its grip on House GOP

Insane.

That’s the only word I have to describe what congressional Republicans have just done. They’ve approved a spending measure that includes defunding the Affordable Care Act, Barack Obama’s signature achievement so far in his presidency.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/house-passes-gop-spending-plan-that-defunds-obamacare/2013/09/20/4019117c-21fe-11e3-b73c-aab60bf735d0_story.html

The president and his Democratic allies in the Senate have said categorically they will have none of that. They’ve been joined by sensible Senate Republicans who say that defunding “Obamacare” is the wrong approach to deal with this issue.

All this sets up a possible — some might say probable — shutting down of the federal government in 10 days.

House Speaker John Boehner is declaring victory because, he said, the House has approved a continuing resolution to fund the government while taking money away from “Obamacare,” which he has called a “failed policy.” Failed? How does he know that? It hasn’t even been implemented fully yet.

This targeting of a law approved by Congress, signed by the president and affirmed by the Supreme Court simply astounds me.

The consequences of this fight are even more mind-boggling. Suppose the government shuts down — except for “essential” services. Parks will close. Services the people expect will cease. The anger that this tactic will produce seems almost incalculable at the moment. Who will pay for this? The Republican Party leadership in the House of Representatives.

That doesn’t matter to the tea party wing, the insane wing of the GOP, most of whose members were not around when the GOP tried this before. Voters rose up and slapped them bald-headed at the next election.

The worst news of all is that this round of haggling is merely a prelim to the main event, the upcoming fight over whether to raise the debt ceiling. If Congress chokes on that one, then the hurting really starts.

It’s insane, I’m telling you. Insane.