Just an elderly retired aerospace engineering manager who has lived for 83 years so far. I grew up as a military brat, my father was in the military (US Navy Seabees) during WWII and again enlisted a couple of years afterward into the Army Air Corps which became, in 1947, the United States Air Force. Of course, with that childhood rearing, I enlisted out of high school and spent my early years as a member of the U.S. Air Force and the Strategic Air Command. I wore that uniform proudly for many years, both in peace time assignments as well as deployment to places like Vietnam and other not so peaceful places. The Air Force did enable me to complete my higher education classes and earn collegiate degrees.

I left the military behind and joined the corporate world of laboring folks. Spent my first couple of years working in a chemical plant that was in the business of producing products extracted from an extinct “dry” lake on the California desert. I was initially employed there in the production units but then progressed to the analytical labs when my previous chemistry training was discovered. The company management then sent me off to school to learn how to support the computer systems they were acquiring. This was in the early years of our computer systems, far from the systems we see today. And that tenure, following that company sponsored technical education, provided me with my long career in the information technology industry.

From business computers to scientific laboratories, into the higher education environment and finally to the aerospace world. That was where I spent my final working years as the manager of a group of super smart and highly educated men and women as we designed the various components to support and enhance the NASA manned space programs. Our efforts in that time was focused on design and development of spacecraft command and control system units. A most interesting and exciting way to complete a long career. I have now been retired slightly over 12 years and pretty much enjoy these retirement years.

I am married in a second marriage, having fathered, in my first marriage, three children, one daughter and two sons. My middle child, eldest son passed away from Meningococcal Disease (Bacterial Meningitis) in 2009 at age 44. My youngest son is the father of my four angelic granddaughters. My daughter is the eldest of the three, and is a senior manager at a major defense contractor having earned her masters degree at a university in Florida. My kids, all three, were decent children during their growing years, they were not involved in trouble making activities, did not give their parents anxiety attacks and grew into responsible, caring and compassionate adults. So, I am so very proud of them and their lives. Of course, I grieve daily on the loss of my middle child, my son, his sudden death was a devastating happening in our lives.

I have seen and experienced a lot of things in my more than 80 years, lived in a large number of these United States and internationally. I also have watched this nation experience a political change and wondered at the ignorance of so many of our citizens when they make such stupid choices at the ballot box. We have had good and great presidents from both parties, and have had real stinkers, con artists and grifters who were voted into our political offices.

Thankfully, for us as citizens, the majority of our elected officials at the federal level at least, were helpful in keeping our nation strong, and maintaining the Founding Fathers dream of a nation imbued with democracy, individual rights and the ability to worship or not as we pleased. I do worry mightily that those days may be coming to a close. Unless our citizens wake up to the dangers of the creeping invasion of Christo-Fascist ideologies and the supporters of that dark society our democracy will die and be replaced by a dictatorial government where our individual rights are eliminated.

I am in reasonable shape health wise. Typical claptrap that besets the aged as they migrate from young person to elderly statesperson. Recently diagnosed with Cancer, but holding my own in that fight. I have a great Cancer medical team who fight with me against this insidious disease, which has claimed so many of my relatives and friends. Frankly, the word Cancer scares the hell out of this old man and each visit to my oncologist is filled with treprediation. Luckily, during my last visit, the oncologist said he was pleased to see my numbers were looking slightly better. Not good, but better, YEA ME!

In my case, as I am Octogenarian, been around long enough to have lived with the world at war, then the peace that followed, a couple of decades of growth and prosperity, more wars and now, into an environment of angry people, groups whose aim is to replace our current democracy with something very dark.

Through the facility of this blog, I intend to write about my opinions, thoughts, experiences and ideas of our nation’s health care system, political idiocy and wonder. There may come a time where I feel the urge to present some differing observations, opinions and feelings of joy. These instances may be few and far between, or they may become more prevalent. Writing about political claptrap does not a settle mind establish.

Come along if you wish, but simply remember that this blog is for my enjoyment of putting down my octogenarian musings and some extracts of factual information sources. Like them or not, your decision and problem. Certainly not my problem. Most of your reply comments will be published, but those that I deem to be from rabid right wing trolls will be consigned to the trash can. However, I do greatly enjoy and hope to hear from anyone who reads these words. That is, if anyone is actually viewing these comments/opinions.