"Know when to hold - and when to fold"

'YOU GOTTA KNOW WHEN TO HOLD - AND WHEN TO FOLD".

Great song by Kenny Rogers. But how do we know when that is?

Always a puzzle for me to solve when the question involves personal investments. Let's just say
I wouldn't be all that anxious to tally up my score on Facebook.

However, based on the ever increasing almost daily swings before the bell rings at closing time, it would appear I'm not alone. Many folks have struggled with the conumdrum  posed by Kenny.

Failing to fold at the right time is not limited to the market either. Folks have won and lost fortunes after debating their final choice at the betting window. Quite often they've backed the wrong horse  and spent a lot of time searching for someone else's tickets strewing the grandstand floor.

Decisions - Decisions- Decisions.

Some of these challenges we pass on to our thoughtful kids, especially when Hallmark or personal calendars suggest to them it's time to buy Dad that "just right" gift for the appropriate (?) occasion.

.The thing is that - at a certain age for most of us middle class guys - we basically have all the creature comforts necessary to enjoy retirement, and thus present  a tough target to hit..

My answer is either, "don't need anything but much appreciate the thought", "put it on your kid's student loans" etc.

One response that appears to be workable for both parties is:"Hey, I can always use a gift certificate for  Amazon."

The thinking here is that although there is nothing on my gift bucket list, maybe that will change.

Perhaps down the road while sitting in the recliner and attempting unsuccessfully to turn on CNN and NOT get a commercial immediately, I may spot something there I can't possibly do without.

Could be I'll feel a sudden and possibly irrational desire to get one of those robot sweepers that picks up marbles before docking itself and awaits you to mosey over with an outstretched hand and stroke the head of the sweeper in a well deserved display of gratitude.

Then, possibly, as a feel good confirming follow-up, I'll mutter something totally indiscernible like:  "Looks like our work is done here, Tonto.".

So, let's sum this up and possibly reach a conclusion to our search - one that in my case is usually accompanied by gazing deeply into the bathroom mirror for a heart to heart talk with myself:.

"Let's see - you're semi-comfortable financially, you've learned your lessons on picking stocks that
immediately fell off the grid, your floors are relatively clean, you've satisfied a comfy need for both you and your kids, and you're turning into a Liberal after over 60 years of voting Republican?"

Hmmm, maybe you Have mastered that whole "hold and fold" thing.

Thank you Donald.

MORE RAMBLINGS

JUST WONDERING:

HOW DID ALL OF THOSE LONELY RUSSIAN WOMEN GET MY EMAIL ADDRESS?

LOT'S OF QUESTIONS FOR THIS OLD OCTOGENARIAN TRYING TO MAKE SENSE OF TODAY'S MORES.

WHAT IS THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS (IN YEARS) FOR OUR FOOLISH JUVENILE
BEHAVIOR?  (OR, DOES WEARING BLACK FACE HAVE NONE?)

A CONFESSION: I  ONCE PARTICIPATED IN A MINSTREL SHOW.

NOW, I DIDN'T WEAR BLACK FACE ONLY BECAUSE I WAS MR. INTERLOCUTER- THE SINGING WHITE MASTER OF CEREMONIES FOR THE REST OF THE WHITE CUB SCOUTS WHO DID WEAR BLACKFACE. THIS LATTER CHOICE WAS OBVIOUSLY DUE TO THE  INSISTANCE OF OUR BIGOTTED WHITE DEN MOTHER MRS. BASH.

(SHE NEVER APOLOGIZED FOR HER ACTIONS  - WHICH I THOUGHT AT THE TIME WAS VERY WHITE OF HER)

WILL MY MOURNFUL CHILD SOPRANO RENDITION OF THE SONG "CHLOE" COME BACK TO HAUNT ME?

IS CHIEF WAHOO ROLLING AROUND IN HIS GRAVE NOW THAT HIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SOCIALLY BANNED? SEEMS LIKE A CRUDE TRICK TO DO TO SOMEONE WHO WARMED MY HEART AS A CHILD POURING OVER THE OLD STEVE ROPER COMIC STRIP WHERE THE TWO INTERACTED - UNAWARE OF THEIR BOORISH BEHAVIOR.

 DID THE LONE RANGER REALLY SEND TONTO INTO TOWN TO GATHER NEEDED INFORMATION DESPITE HIS KNOWLEDGE THAT MEANT TONTO WOULD SURELY GET BEAT UP BY THE TOWN FOLKS?

WHY  DID HE  REFUSES TO TAKE THE SAME OPPORTUNITY TO MEET AND GREET THE LOCALS? WAS IT DUE TO HIS AWARENESS OF POSSIBLY EXPOSING HIMSELF TO THE IDENTICAL FATE?

ACCORDING TO BILL COSBY THAT BEHAVIOR CONTINUED UNTIL TONTO FINALLY  SAID "ENOUGH - KEMO SABE!" - FORCING "KEMO" TO ADOPT THE OLD PROSPECTOR DISGUISE AND DO THE DIRTY DEED HIMSELF.

AND WHO IS GOING TO REFUSE TO BELIEVE COSBY?

(AND, OF COURSE, I ASSUME THAT MEANS  I AM ALSO A BIGOT.)

WELL, SO MUCH FOR TONTO SAVING THE RANGERS LIFE AS THE SOLE SURVIVOR AFTER THE AMBUSH BY THE EVIL BUTCH CAVENDISH GANG. TALK ABOUT A LACK OF WHITE MAN'S GRATITUDE..

AND WHY DID "LONE"' GET TO RIDE A BEAUTIFUL WHITE STALLION WHILE TONTO WAS STUCK WITH SOME MIXED BREED CALLED "PAINT?

WASN'T THAT ENOUGH TO CAUSE US TO BE SUSPICIOUS OF CREATOR FRAN STRYKER'S TRUE HIDDEN BIAS?.

MAKES YOU WONDER. RATHER THAN CHASING WHITE WOMEN - DID THE DUO SIT ALONE AROUND THE CAMPFIRE AT NIGHT DISCUSSING THE CURRENT STATUS OF RACIAL BEHAVIOR IN THE OLD WEST - OR PLAYING  A VERSION OF "OLD MAID"
FOR STAKES OF SILVER BULLETS?

WHILE I MIGHT ALSO QUESTION THE DATING HABITS OF THE TWO  -THAT OPENS ANOTHER WHOLE BAG OF INSENSITIVITY. SO LET'S GO ON.

WERE GENERAL CUSTER AND HIS TROOPS MASSACRED SIMPLY BECAUSE HE WAS PERCEIVED BY THE "INJUNS" TO BE A DETESTED BIGOT?

WERE THE OWNERS OF THE SPORT TEAMS IN CHICAGO, CLEVELAND  ATLANTA, WASHINGTON DC , BOSTON, ETC CLEVERLY HIDING THEIR RACIAL BIAS BY NAMING THEIR OFTEN DEFICIENT MAJOR LEAGUE SPORTS TEAMS AFTER OUR NATIVE AMERICANS?

WILL WE NOW BE P.C SENSITIVE  BY NO LONGER CONTINUING TO REFER TO ALL THOSE SECOND SALE TICKET FOLKS OUT THERE AS "SCALPERS".  

AND AFTER LISTENING AT THE FOOT OF OUR HUGE PHILCO FLOOR RADIO, EAGERLY ANTICIPATING EACH ADVENTURE WITH A MIX OF CHILDISH ENTHUSIASM AND CURIOSITY  - WAS I RIGHT TO WONDER WHY NEITHER OF MY HEROS EVER HAD TO GO TO THE BATHROOM?

SHOULD WE EXHUME MY FIRST GRADE TEACHER MISS DUERR FROM HER GRAVE BECAUSE ONE OF THE  PREFERRED READING CHOICES AT ATLANTIC AVENUE ELEMENTARY WAS THE STORY OF "LITTLE BLACK SAMBO" (REPLETE WITH ILLUSTRATIVE DRAWINGS THAT INCLUDED A VAT OF BUTTER?)

WHAT DID AMOS, ANDY, AND THE KINGFISH REALLY THINK ABOUT AL JOLSON?

ALAS, SO MANY QUESTIONS - SO LITTLE TIME.

(the use of all caps was for the purpose of emphasizing the gravity of the subject matter.)

DIS N DAT

THE GREAT AWAKENING

Did you hear about "the awakening"? It's been in all the papers.

The message is in part: "no longer are women to be treated as serfs!"

Some refer to it as "the women's movement" - as if, prior to this time, they were "stuck" to the kitchen floor - but now are allowed to relocate themselves to the one in the bathroom..

What has escaped many folks - particularly we men - is that women no longer are limited to menstruation, conjugation, procreation, and subjugation

Obviously this new freedom no longer is limited to previous descripted polysyllabic terms, but reflects a combination of awakening and opportunity..

The new studies proclaim women now have a brain and are even free and encouraged to run for office. While one might conclude that is an oxymoron - most of us choose to look at it as progress.

This is not the first time that strong women have demonstrated their combined strength.

There are some out there who, to this day, claim that the "straw that broke the Irish males back" in sectional divided  Ireland - was the Irish mothers and wives who were simply tired of all of the dying and took a stand that resulted in resolution ( apparently a bipartisan effort - seldom seen)

Simply put, the new awakening is long overdue and may have been resuscitated in an effort to emphasize the truisms contained in  Maltuse's Theory on food supply and population

A decision was made by some/many to increase (and improve?)  the "food supply'' to compensate for the increased population in this country - both legal and illegal..

This satisfies this old blogger and resolves my age old curiosity as to why back in high school the women (no longer girls) - by group measurement - had the highest grades but were less likely to pursue higher education than the males. They were also limited post-high school to their choice of acceptable professions. That enigma thankfully has been reversed dramatically.

Our modern day suffrage is back and not unlike the old Hollywood headline post WWII - "Gable's back and Garson's got him"  - there is a hint that "possession" is now officially 9/10's  of the law for women as well as men...
:
 WARNING: No longer are we men to use terms such as "the weaker sex" - the "distaff side" or my favorite "The little woman" (apologies to Louisa May Alcott).

We all know that most plants comes from a tiny seed.

Therefore, one can realistically posit that perhaps the women's movement started long ago, back when I first received the following anonymous piece written to a woman who was going through her own personal "awakening:

 " After a while, you learn the subtle difference between holding a hand and chaining a soul.
   And you learn that love doesn't mean leaning and company doesn't mean security. And you
    begin to understand that kisses aren't contracts and presents aren't promises. And you begin to
    accept your defeats with your head held high and your eyes wide open, with the grace of a
    woman and not the grief of a child. You learn to build your roads on today, because
    tomorrow's ground is too uncertain and futures have a way of falling down in mid-flight.
    After a while you learn that sunshine burns if you get too much. So you plant your own
    garden and decorate your own soul, instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.
    And you learn that you really can ENDURE, that you really are STRONG. And that you really
    do  have WORTH and that you keep learning. With every goodbye - you LEARN.

Now we're all learning.

RAMBLINGS

Was re-reading some of my old blogs recently.

 My goal- was to see where my mind was back then - but, also to see just how far it has slipped since 2008, when the personal blogs began..

So, what was learned? Quite a bit, I'd say and  - a reminder that it wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer 10 or 11 years ago either..

Then, why keep writing them?  Not that hard to answer.

We're a mobile society - particularly if we desire promotions, more money, a larger home and a real awareness of  whether we really wanted to attend all of those future high school reunions.

The mobility experience has often been conducive in conquering some of the desired perks; but it's not without it's potential impact on family relationships.

It's one thing to see your new born grandchild on Skype. It's a whole different experience to be close by and that day hold them against your face while taking in that unique new baby smell. (the good one - that is)

Some might suggest that keeping family close is a real plus. Others, not so much

One memory from a good friend, who unfortunately passed away much too young, was his frequent retelling of how his parents journey in life, including their home locations, consistently reflected the geographical destination that accompanied his latest promotion..

Sort of a "Groundhog Day" image of  "Everybody Loves Raymond".

Now retired, my highlight film would have to include being with family while vacationing for 4 to 6 six months a year in Pennsylvania , avoiding that Florida summer heat and pollen count and enjoying the comfort of a furnished apartment located three hours away from their Pennsylvania residences.

A photo of me right now would accompany my memory of the many happy family gatherings witnessed in person  as well as the smile that is splattered over this retirees craggy Irish face.

So, why write blogs?

It's a connection - (with perhaps an occasional thought about legacy thrown into the mix.)

.