The Beginning of the End

My working life started shortly after my 16th birthday, and I went full-time immediately upon graduation from college 40 years ago. I’ve been with my present employer for the past 36 years, and one month from today I shall be a retired April Fool.

Fortunately my health is fine and I’m jumping out of the workplace door, rather than being pushed, as has happened to many technology workers of my generation. I had long been thinking about taking early retirement a year from now anyway, so I’m really not moving the schedule up by all that much.

And yet deciding to call it quits was a very long and difficult process, and none of the reasons behind it are happy ones, so I will not be celebrating the event. Any doubts I had about my decision vanished when my father’s health declined suddenly and he needed to be placed in assisted living. Flying back and forth to Phoenix to deal with this crisis has been a job in itself.

What will I do with my time after the situation with my father settles down? Honestly, I don’t know yet, but as this blog has shown I have a lot of varied (albeit nerdy) interests, and I’ll find ways to have some fun.

Hypocrite in Chief

He’s an habitually lying hypocrite, and I don’t see how he can last the full four years; but, then, I didn’t see how he could possibly be elected.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/trump-familys-elaborate-lifestyle-a-logistical-nightmare–at-taxpayer-expense/2017/02/16/763cce8e-f2ce-11e6-a9b0-ecee7ce475fc_story.html

For Trump, the costs come with an additional perk: Some of the money flows into his own pocket. While Trump has removed himself from managing his company, he has refused to divest his ownership, meaning that he benefits from corporate successes such as government contracts.

Trump’s frequent travel belies his repeated criticism of Obama as a “habitual vacationer” enjoying taxpayer-funded golf getaways. It also comes after his own promises: He told the Hill newspaper in 2015, “I would rarely leave the White House because there’s so much work to be done.”

Hello Again, One Last Time

Herb Oscar Anderson passed away this morning. In the 1960’s HOA was the Morning Mayor of New York on 77 WABC, the legendary radio station that inspired me to get into the business.

Herb didn’t share an appreciation of Sixties youth culture and music with his fellow WABC jocks, in particular Cousin Brucie and Dan Ingram. His taste ran more to Lawrence Welk, but being a fan of the Lennon Sisters myself that’s fine with me, and I enjoyed hearing HOA every morning while getting ready for school.

Herb was the #1 morning DJ in New York when he decided to leave WABC in September, 1968. Harry Harrison was hired away from WMCA to take over the highly-coveted shift, and a month later my family moved from Connecticut to Massachusetts.