The real costs in today’s economy were driven home this past week. Throughout most of my life, I have avoided paying someone to do what I could do for myself. Age and circumstance have reduced the range of everyday considerations that I once was able to tackle with a little guidance and research, to an embarrassingly short list. As an example, working off a ladder is not in my wheelhouse any longer and I never had the aptitude to mess with electricity or anything that water runs through, but could tackle a minor plumbing issue or reset a breaker. This week, I was exposed to the cost of hiring ..read more

This week started out pretty normal for a couple of aging middle Americans enjoying good health and many of the advantages that living in a conservative state offer. There is no evidence of defunding our police and we are free to own whatever appliances and cars we want to, within reason of course. We are not washing our clothes on a flat rock in a creek somewhere and our water comes through a pipe and not out of a cistern or hand dug well. We have however, reached the conclusion the conveniences of modern ordinary Americans is undoubtedly in the hands of a genie, like the Wizard of Oz, sittin ..read more

At 74 YOA, you would think I could be trusted to go out in the world and buy a dozen doughnuts, or God forbid, a washer and dryer. It turns out that I am woefully unqualified for either endeavor, having failed to grasp the nuances of venturing forth in the retail world. These things become apparent when an ordinary buyer, me, marries a consummate shopper, Sharon. I have been schooled, but sincerely doubt I’ll meet the standards for membership in the exclusive group of folks who strike fear in the best sales representatives out there. Let me explain. A week or so ago, in our quest to sample the ..read more

A cup of coffee on a cool morning found me reflecting on the really great things I have been privileged to experience in my lifetime. The cars of the ‘60’s were all about displacement and horsepower. The women about understated sophistication and raw beauty ensconced in denim and exuding warmth and honesty. The cinema relied less on special affects and more on substance with story lines being far more important than computerized imagery. I have been a movie guy from the time I was able to pony up fifty cents at a box office, usually on an Army base, to escape the military routine for an hour o ..read more

I thought my readers, mostly conservatives, would appreciate an encapsulation of the events of the past few weeks down in Georgia. Not since Billie Joe jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge has there been this much excitement. Face it, we all like Cliffs Notes versions of momentous events, so here we go. Fani and Nathan 1. Fani and Nathan, a pair of morally bankrupt attorneys, shack up some years ago. 2. Fani is a District attorney and sets out to nail Donald Trump for election interference relying on a criminal enterprise law normally reserved for organized crime cases. (RICO) 3. Fani hires her ..read more

This week has been a dandy. I have decided to catch folks up on the state of the union on our roads and streets, leaving the train wreck of a SOTU to the pundits who get paid to raise hell about such things. Traffic safety experts are focusing on the causes of our rising death rates on our highways, a consideration I was once paid to mitigate. You might be surprised as to the factors in play today reversing decades of decline in fatal accidents brought about by engineering and safety improvements. The laws of physics at work Where are we? From 30,000 feet, our fatality rate is 3 times that of ..read more

This week a trooper from my old outfit, The Missouri State Highway Patrol, was featured on national television for a Herculean feat of strength. A large, round bale of hay was centered in a lane of one of our highways, and needed to be relocated to the shoulder. After some consideration, Trooper Isaiah Lemasters leaned into this bale, tipped it up and off the roadway. He did this by relying on personal leg strength and, presumably, youth. I could have done that in my day, however; I would have had to shove the damned thing off the road with my cruiser. His amazing performance was captured on h ..read more

On a warm summer evening in 1974, while slipping down US 24 in Lafayette County in my cruiser, I fell in behind an obviously intoxicated driver in an older pickup truck. The stop was uneventful, however, I could see there was serious discord between the intoxicated young driver and his young, pregnant wife. After arresting him, I placed the wife in the back seat of the Patrol car, as she didn’t drive, and off to the county jail we went. So far, no problems. (The jail was also the living quarters for the sheriff in those days, and a kitchen area was between the dispatch area and the drunk tank ..read more

Missouri doesn’t grab the headlines like our east and west coast neighbors, and that is how we like it. This relative anonymity suits us just fine. We have strong agricultural roots, build lots of cars, and are often caricatured as barefoot hillbillies with a corncob pipe and an old coon dog for company. That is, until recently when our NFL football team went on a tear. Predictably, the Kansas City Chiefs ascension into the spotlight has awakened the folks who think we should change their name to the Kansas City (anything) other than something that disparages the American Indian. So far, we ha ..read more

The Supreme Court is hearing the arguments that will establish Donald Trump’s viability as a candidate for the Presidency. This happens later this morning. I thought a summary of the facts would be helpful as we await their consideration and decision. Facts are what is needed, not hyperbole and partisan concern. Mr. Trump, the presumptive nominee is perhaps the most polarizing candidate for this office in our history. Without arguing his successes and failures, he is immensely popular in spite of the legal morass that has enveloped his post Presidency existence. Mr. Biden, the current Presiden ..read more