All Creatures Great and Small

Baby Boomers 1946 - 1964

According to the dates, Baby Boomers extend through 1964 which I think is a bit too far as the whole notion of baby boomers refers to that time right after WWII  (1946) when the males returned home from the war and started making babies.  But, the historians classify the Baby Boomer with the increase in birth rates which continued up until 1964...  I suppose... even though one might suspect that making babies would last about 10 years not 18 years.

If we take these years as factual and reliable then the Baby Boomers will not officially or theoretically be out of the work place until the 1964 births turn 67...  and, I say theoretically because Baby Boomers are working longer on average...   so, the final retirement year is 2031...  or 11 years from now...

Personally, I think the Baby Boomers should end in 1956 or 3 years after the Korean War ended which means the Baby Boomers should have all retired by 2023 or 3 years from now...

In any event, the Baby Boomers is the largest group of Americans and as they retired from 2020 through 2031, the strain on the Social Security System will be enormous and will either force cuts in the Social Security payout numbers or force the Government to raise taxes...

It would be my guess that CUTS will not take place...  at least not yet...  and that an increase in taxes is more along the lines of what should be expected; although, with this recent stimulus package for COVID-19 layoffs, our debt structure in the US has reached an all time high and at some point-in-time, Congress will have no choice but to cut entitlement spending as well as increase taxes.  I don't envy those politicians.

Something from Nothing

According to SCIENTIST, our universe was created by the BIG BANG and the theory of EXPANSION cause it to become as big as it is today...   and, since the universe is still expanding, the Theory of Expansion must still be working.  

This scientific approach leaves me with two questions:

First - where did the particles come from that caused the BIG BANG to take place?

Second - into what is the universe expanding?

According to RELIGION and Religious Scholars, God created the universe which also leaves me with two questions:

First - Why did God create the universe?

Second - Who created God?

FOR ME, it would then be logical to ASSUME that GOD created the BIG BANG...   of course, when one assumes, one makes an ASS out of U and ME...  or so the clever saying goes.

Scientists cannot yet PROVE that the BIG BANG created the 

universe nor can Religion/Religious Scholars prove that GOD 

actually exists...   on the other side of the coin, they cannot 

DISPROVE it either, so it is now a matter of what you choose to 

believe...   although, according the Bayes Mathematical 

Probability Theory and Theorems:  there is a greater probability 

that GOD exists than there is that GOD does not exist...

INTERMISSION III

Planning Reassurance

Every other week or so, I make some calculations in my composition booklet in which I also write my daily thoughts and feelings, about our financial situation.  I first make sure that I am aware of exactly how much we have in savings even though it changes not from one calculation to another yet it does from one year to the next.  Next, I make sure I record the value of our home if we were to sell it, minus commission.  With that figure in mind, I estimate future income  from sources like cancer insurance and a dwindling Trust given to us by our parents....  all things must eventually come to an end which is the law of entropy at its best...  that states everything must decay over time.

Armed with these calculations, I first determine how much my wife would need each month, each year, each decade if I were to die today and she were to live to 97.  It is financially reassuring to me that if I were to die today, we have enough assets saved to pay her basic bills for the rest of her life, including a 3% increase in expenses each year which is not actually happening.

Once this is done, I calculate the state of our finances estimating the end of the Trust and look at our financial situation if I were to somehow live until I was 97 years old or another 25 years.  Actually, our Trust will end in about 5-6 years and in either scenario, we have enough funds to cover our basic expenses including some unexpected outlays of money which is not going to involve that much since we have a new roof and a new heat pump and 5 year old vehicles with less than 75,000 miles on them.

WHY DO I DO THIS?

To make sure that next year's budget reflects any negative changes in our finances.  For example, if our monthly expenses increase dramatically, our first line of defense is to reduce the amount of money we have budgeted for vacations rather than try to cut back on expenses.

I am trying as best as I can to make sure there are no surprises...  although, life itself is full of surprises.

Painting by Bob Ross

Would You Like To Go For A Ride Hon?

Math and Bob Ross

SCOTLAND

You're Something Special

Into the Forest

I can remember a time when I was but a young lad of 10 or 12, going into the wooded area on either side of our community before it was developed and wandering around as if I were some kind of explorer by myself...  it was a solemn time for me as I recall, not needed anyone but myself and nature as I took in the majesty of the old trees and the new ones just sprouting out of the ground.  I would walk around for hours with no direction in mind and no worries about making sure I got home a any specific time although I knew that I was never to be late for dinner.

I had a canteen full of kool aid, a pocket knife, and a small magnifying glass that I had gotten out of a box of cereal that I did not like and my parents had to finish eating it because they did not like to waste food...  and, that was the last time Mom brought home cereal with a prize inside.

I did not think about snakes or insects or bugs of any kind as I walked through the trees bending and pushing low hanging limbs out of the way.  I was making my own path through the woods...  a path that was later used by a group of us as we ventured back in these woods to build a tree house and an underground shelter.

Throughout my entire lifetime, I have always liked and desired walking through the woods mostly on an already worn path but sometimes venturing out to create my own new path...  Wooded areas, as I have gotten older, seem to have gotten smaller in diameter although the length of the path might be as much as 2-3 miles or more.  Bugs and insects seem to bother me more as well the older I get and I am not sure what I would actually do if I came in contact with a snake...  probably run in the opposite direction.

DE-unification of America

The last time the USA (America) was TOTALLY UNIFIED was WWII which ended in 1945 or 75 years ago...

Does that shock you?

It should...  because the concept of AMERICA is Unification hence The United States of America...  and, it is important to refer to USA as the USA instead of America is the simple historical fact that there are THREE AMERICAS:

• North America (which includes the USA and Canada)
• Central America
• South America

SO...   when someone refers to America, it could actually refer to any one of those 3 entities...

BUT...  back to unification...

Why are we no longer UNIFIED?

Because of our FREEDOMS...

FREEDOM allows us and actually enables us to be NOT UNIFIED because of our ability and freedom to believe differently than everyone else.

AS A MATTER OF FACT, our freedom has the ability for us to decide that we no longer need our freedoms...

THINK ABOUT THAT for a minute or two.

FREEDOM and DEMOCRACY gives the general public to decide that we no longer need to be a Democracy or need all/any of our freedoms.

How does a country maintain UNITY with this kind of freedom?

Sunday Funnies

AMERICA IS DIVIDED

Whether we   want to admit it or not,  AMERICA IS DIVIDED...

We can see this division in the following areas:

1. Wealth Inequality
2. Gender Inequality
3. Religious Beliefs
4. Education Levels
5. Physical Abilities
6. Mental Abilities
7. Attractiveness
8. Political Ideologies
9. Gun Control
10. Abortion
11. Immigration
12. Justice Inequality
13. Racial Inequalities
14. Cultural Inequalities
15. Legalization of Marijuana
16. States vs Federal Rights
17. Demographics
18. Police Brutality
19. Tax Rates
20. Human Rights

Most of these differences, if not all of the differences, will continue to be around because everyone is different and fortunately for us, does not think or act alike...

We are all AMERICANS but that is where the similarities END as far as our ENTIRE POPULATION is concerned.

We must have police

We must have congress

We must have a military

We must have educators

We must have managers

We must have supervisors

We must have workers

We must have clergy

I AM GLAD THAT I DON'T THINK, DRESS, EAT, BELIEVE, OR ACT LIKE YOU...

Our FBI

In America

If you are a White American, you are a RACIST

If you are a Black American, you are a RACIST

If you are a Native American, you are a RACIST

If you are a Hispanic American, you are a RACIST

If you are a Mexican American, you are a RACIST

If you are a European American, you are a RACIST

We are ALL AMERICANS regardless of COLOR, HERITAGE, TRADITIONS, or CULTURE...  We were either BORN in AMERICA or we became AMERICAN CITIZENS...

We might live in the SOUTH, in the North, in the East, in the West, or in the Middle but we are AMERICANS nonetheless and we will remain AMERICANS until we DIE...



This might PISS PEOPLE OFF but it is the truth and a fact of life...

• We TALK differently
• We LOOK differently
• We DRESS differently
• We THINK differently
• We BELIEVE differently
• We WORSHIP differently
• We LOVE differently
• We WORK differently
• We RELAX differently
• We EAT differently

BUT WE ARE STILL ALL AMERICANS...

UNFORTUNATELY...

AMERICAN FREEDOM OF SPEECH...

ALLOWS US TO BE:

RACIST and FULL OF HATE

UNFORTUNATELY...

AMERICAN FREEDOM...

ALLOWS US TO BE:

WEALTHY and POOR

UNFORTUNATELY...

AMERICAN FREEDOM...

ALLOWS US TO BE:

DEMOCRATIC or REPUBLICAN

UNFORTUNATELY...

AMERICAN FREEDOM...

ALLOWS US TO BE:

LIBERAL or CONSERVATIVE

UNFORTUNATELY...

AMERICAN FREEDOM...

ALLOWS US TO BE:

SMART or STUPID

UNFORTUNATELY...

AMERICAN FREEDOM...

ALLOWS US TO BE:

WORSHIPERS or ATHEISTS

UNFORTUNATELY...

AMERICAN FREEDOM...

ALLOWS US TO BE:

DOERS or LAZY

UNFORTUNATELY...

AMERICAN FREEDOM OF SPEECH...

ALLOWS US TO BE:

MONEY SAVERS or MONEY SPENDERS

UNFORTUNATELY...

AMERICAN FREEDOM OF SPEECH...

ALLOWS US TO BE:

PATRIOTIC or NOT PATRIOTIC

BUT WE ARE STILL ALL AMERICANS...

ONE DAY
        we will return
                 to our values and integrity
                                    and remember how to COMPROMISE....  but, until then we will remain separate and divided and continue to fight each other on the uncommon ground of our differences, forgetting our similarities and that we are all AMERICANS until we die which is exactly how the rest of the world sees us...  and, very much desires to have what we have and what we are now TAKING FOR GRANTED...

THIS and THAT