Bracing for Retirement, Part 2

Special Whimsical WED Edition on SAT 3/4 

For those of you who have been breathlessly waiting for me to keep my promise, I am deeply sorry. In my last entry on WED 3/1, I promised a Part 2 the very next day. I was unable to keep my promise, because my daughter’s Internet provider is deplorable. My understanding is that there has been a plethora of complaints to my CSBCT *. It’s not their fault!

* Cornhusker State Blog Consulting Team **

** Just for the record, we haven’t received a single complaint. CSBCT 

Retirement Odyssey Day 3

• Although it is Retirement Odyssey, Day 4, I am typing this at my daughter Sarah’s in Lincoln on FRI 3/3, Retirement Day 3. It is cold again this morning. When I took the girls to school, the outside temperature was 26 degrees.
• Day 3 doesn’t seem much different than Days 1 & 2. I’m feeling grumpy because of the temperature this morning, but I suspect that it has nothing to do with retirement. *
• Yesterday [THU 3/2] I was privileged to have lunch in Lincoln at DeLeon’s w/two of my best friends, Steve & Tim. Good choice, Steve! We enjoyed good food & fellowship. Did they notice that I was uncharacteristically quiet? That was perhaps my best contribution to the conversation. I had fajitas, which was an excellent choice, & brought back leftovers, which I will enjoy for lunch.
• The annual mtg of the Lutheran High School Association of Northeast Nebraska is tomorrow,  SUN 3/5, & a reception is graciously being held for me at the conclusion of the mtg. I’ve been invited to say a few words. A few words? Me? This could prove very interesting. This reception may seem somewhat anti-climatic, given that I haven’t served at LHNE since NOV 2014. However, that’s when I began my long-term medical disability, so it was to my financial advantage NOT to take retirement until now.
• This is NOT my personal invitation to this reception.

*Trust us. It has nothing to do with his retirement. CSBCT 

Bracing for Retirement

I’ve mentioned a few * times that I may need some additional income to supplement my retirement benefits. As I was listening to LNK in the Morning on 1400 KLIN this morning [FRI 3/3] after dropping the girls off at school, I heard a commercial for a lab here in town that’s looking for people they can use for experimental treatments. It pays $250/day. I’m in Lincoln 2.5 days per week. Unfortunately, it may require overnight stays, so this is NOT a viable option.

*A few? CSBCT 

There Is No Place Like Nebraska!

I think I mentioned the other day that my official retirement date coincided with the 150^th birthday of Nebraska. The Lincoln Journal Star (3/1) published a full page feature entitled “Top 10 Notable Nebraskans.” Here is the list, followed by my comments.

1. Willa Cather, author
2. Standing Bear, native leader
3. Johnny Carson, talk show host
4. George Norris, politician
5. William Jennings Bryan, politician
6. John Neihardt, poet
7. Warren Buffett, businessman
8. William F. Cody, entertainer
9. Charles Dawes, vice-president
10. Ted Sorensen, presidential advisor

MY COMMENTS:

• I read Willa Cather’s My Antonia in college, I think for my Modern Novel class. I seem to remember that I liked it. We lived in Nebraska from 1980-1993; and again since 1997. Sadly, I haven’t read any of her other books.
• My dad & mom wouldn’t let us stay up & watch JC. They considered him to be too “racy.” What would they think of today’s late night talk show hosts?
• “Norris served 5 terms in the U.S. House of Representatives & 5 terms in the U.S. Senate, all save the final term as a Republican.” However, he is also described as “the very perfect, gentle knight of American progressive ideals by President FDR.”
• WJB was “a famed orator & leader of the populist wing of the Democratic Party. Bryan was the Democratic presidential nominee 3 times. He served 2 terms in Congress from NE & was Secretary of State under Woodrow Wilson.”
• I listened to JN’s epic work, “Black Elk Speaks,” on a CD when I was on a road trip. Interesting but filled w/imagery of mystical Native American religion.
• Warren Buffett is a big-time supporter of Planned Parenthood & an acknowledged liberal.
• Buffalo Bill Cody was way more that an “entertainer.” He was a genuine hero of the Wild West.
• Charles Dawes “won the Nobel Peace Prize while serving as Calvin Coolidge’s vice president.”
• Ted Sorensen “became chief legislative aide for Sen. JFK &, after the 1960 election, became JFK’s chief aide & speechwriter.”
• In case you’re keeping score, this Top 10 list includes 5 liberal or progressive icons, compared to just 1 conservative. What, they couldn’t have included Tom Osborne, who served one term as a congressman from NE? Mike Johanns? Ben Sasse or Deb Fischer, our current senators?
• Speaking of FB icons, how could Tom Osborne & Bob Devaney be omitted from the Top 10 list?

Food for Thought

• When we lived in Chicago from 1975 to 1980, Lois & I developed a taste for ethnic food. Our list of ethnic restaurants included [in no order of preference] German, Polish, Italian, Greek, Armenian, & several types of Chinese. We expanded our list in both Nebraska & Hawaii to include Filipino, Thai, Vietnamese, Persian, & Nebraskan (Runza). Although it wasn’t a restaurant, I was introduced to Sudanese cuisine at a mtg of the NE District LCMS Board of Directors at the location of our Sudanese mission in Omaha. And Lois’ brother David & wife [also my cousin] Carmen introduced us to a Japanese steakhouse in Wichita Falls, TX.
• We’ve never made it to a Czech Restaurant. The famous Bohemian Café in Omaha closed recently. We had driven by it many times & always remarked that we needed to stop there some time. Too late! However, I clipped & saved an article from the Omaha World Herald, “Serving up plate of small-town Nebraska.” The article focused on “Sharon Nemec & her sister Janet, (who) run Cy’s Café (in Dwight, NE). Their parents . . . started the café in 1961, & the sisters continue to serve home-style Czech food, including the WED lunch special of roast pork, dumplings & sauerkraut."
• Dwight is a dinky town that is just off a highway that we take to Lincoln. Czech cuisine will soon be added to our list!