Crammed with Experience.

Today's Tids Issue 4,205

For Longevity:

One of the good things about bad times is that the folks generally wake up to recognize that getting along is better than sneers and scowls. I’m basically a pendulum guy who has seen enough of worldly toils and tears to know that what swings too far will eventually find its way back to a comfortable center with smaller modulations. The fringes will recede to obscurity and cooperation will replace the stagnating resentment.

A noted doctor says that old people’s brains appear slower primarily because they have tucked away so much information gathered over so many decades. It just takes time to sift through it. It’s not unlike how older computers struggle as more stuff is added to their memories, according to Dr. Michael Ramscar. So, I’m wondering where I can buy a couple of additional gigabytes or some kind of external hard drive implant. But then, my head is always in the clouds, so maybe I can just leave a little of it there and retrieve it for later use.

Be yourself. Everybody else is already taken. – Oscar Wilde

There is always a lot more toothpaste left in the tube than you think.

Personally, I define “Health Food” as food that makes you happy. A happy heart and contented mind is great for a long and enjoyable life.

It’s just 2 days before the premier of a new Prime TV series, “Jack Ryan”. I’ll be there watching this hero of so many Tom Clancy novels. I just hope that the TV sensationalists don’t make him too much of an over-the-top hero.

The Question:

--Which four MLB players are in the 3,000 Hit, 300 HR, 200 Steal club?

The Headlines:

--2^nd Q GDP Revised Upward To 4.2%; Consumer Confidence Index Highest In 18 years; Dow Off, Nasdaq and S&P Open Higher.

--Canada Rejoins Nafta Talks.

--Martha McSally Wins Tight Repub Primary Over Ward And Arpaio; Will Face Tough Dem Kyrsten Sinema In Key Senate Race; Scott Wins In Fla To Face Nelson For Senate; Saunders Candidate Andrew Gillum Big Dem Upset In Fla Governor Primary; Trump Man DeSantos Wins To Face Gillum. .

--Jimmy Carter Urges Dems To Forget The “I” Word, Not To impeach Trump.

--California Votes to Eliminate Cash Bail; Non-Violent Suspects Will Be Freed Within 12 Hours.

--Putin Has To Back Off New Pension Program After Backlash From Citizens.

--Sears And Amazon To Expand Partnership.

--On Trump Front: President Asks For Investigation Into Alleged China Pirating Of Hilary Emails; Cohen Info About Trump Knowledge Of Tower Meeting Not True; Lanny recants, CNN Doesn’t.

When you live in tourist town, you have the opportunity to see many people from all walks of life, nations and cultures. That’s great for budding authors who enjoy character development. One thing I have noticed is how many young married couples are walking and typing with heads buried in their phones. Are they hoping to connect with somebody else?

Bias clouds the most brilliant of minds. Maybe bias should have been one of the 7 deadly sins.

The Consumer Confidence Index is at its highest level since the last days of Clinton’s admin. Does it have anything to do with the sexual exploits of Presidents? Or, is it the eternal signal before a crash?

I started a business breeding chickens, but I had trouble making hens meet.

For decades AMD has always been the chip maker that almost made it. There have been off and on publicity fueled spurts for all of those years, but somehow the darling of the moment always fell short. Maybe people were just looking for someone to break Intel. But, now with some problems at Intel, this new opportunity for AMD may be the real thing. Don’ take my word for it. Check it out.

Four car brands led the American Customer Satisfaction List – Volvo, Lexus, Lincoln and Subaru. Over all satisfaction was 82% with Europe first at 82, followed by Japan and Korea t 81 and America at 79. Volvo surged up 4 points to tie Lexus for the lead, 85. Other luxury brands are Audi (83), M-B (82), Caddy (82) and BMW (82). Subaru led the “mass market” brands with  84. Toyota slipped 3 points to 83 and was tied by Honda and followed by Volkswagen (82). Ford (77), Dodge (77) and Chrysler (74) took the bottom three spots.

For some untold reason there has always be an active segment of the population who put all of their energy into concocting ways to to take stuff from other people. The dastardly few probably stole stones from caves just as today they set up serious damaging scams on the internet. I have no sympathy at all for scammers and thieves. Lock em’ up. I may add some to the Tids Capital Punishment list.

There were a couple of good moments on AGT last night, but none that really made me want to standup an cheer. I liked the very unique voice of singer Michael Ketterer and the energy and storytelling of dancing group “Zurcaroh”. Great ending from them. Also, violinist Brian King Joseph’s energetic fiddling had me smiling. Operatic Daniel Emmet was another who was pure quality, and rose to the ocasion. Two magicians tried to amaze, and while Aaron Crow held my attention, his act was much too long with little happening and an ending that was anti-climactic. Rob Lake’s motorcycle and himself disappearance act was mindboggling. I personally enjoyed the UDI, “Black Light” routine, but the judges were lukewarm. Hans the impresario with nothing but energy for talent traipsed through an average glitzy review. The judges went crazy over it. I thought hip-hop dance group The Future Kingz were good, but not that different than others in the same genre. The rest were singers – “Us the Duo” who I enjoyed quite a bit, and big voice singer Christina Wells who was very good, but to me just one more singer. I had enjoyed singer Joseph O’Brien, and he certainly is very talented, but I don’t think he captured the audience tonight. Maybe his innocent smile will get votes. It is unlikely that voters will put through 5 singers. If they do, it’s just “The Voice” all over again. Michael Ketterer should make it. While don’t think either of the magicians are that great, I believe the folks like Crow. I would vote for UDI and Zurcaroh, and probably Violinist Brian King Joseph. Daniel Emmet could make it. We’ll see tonight.

College Football season begins in earnest tomorrow, Thursday, with a game between Central Florida and UConn. All the bigs will be filling grand stadiums Saturday. I’ll be anxious watching my Lehigh U team going up against the US Naval Academy, the favorite team of my youth. Has anybody seen my brown and white pom-poms?

I defined tomorrow as Thursday for older people

The Florida Governor race is shaping up to be a war between a strong conservative and a super (Soros funded) liberal. The super lib, if he wins, could put Florida under if he proposes large taxes on wealthy snowbirds to pay for giveaways. You just never know.

Tiger Woods gave a considered answer to a knucklehead* sports reporter/expert when asked about his relationship with The President. When Tiger didn’t denounce the President of the US and instead said Americans need to respect the office, the crazed reported went on an insane rant. *The reporter was Max Kellerman, and I have always considered him a bit loony, an out of control knucklehead on all of his sports rants. Tiger, as do most thoughtful athletes, live in a world where they see the market for their products as 100% of the population, while ideologues with microphones only want one side of a story to be heard.

The Answer:

One of my favorites, George Brett, is one of the four including Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, and Dave Winfield. Basically, I only asked this question because I like George Brett, who sometimes gets lost when “experts” talk about the greatest players ever.

Every day I try to perform a simple morning chore entirely differently than the way I have done it before. I like doing things the hard way. It stimulates the creativity in your brain. Beware of rote*.

*One of the problems with abusing the concept of rote, is that my golf swing is also different each time. That tends to make the first couple of holes very difficult.

Frankly, the biggest problem of an aging mind is trying to figure out which day it is.