It’s been a while since I’ve blogged in touchy feely mode. Here is a peek into my mental state five months into my Gap Year. It is time to say goodbye to summer, not because the weather has turned (in fact, we’ve enjoyed a string of brilliantly sunny days) but because it could freeze at […]
When Sam and I decided to write a blog together, we spent about five minutes on the logistics of how it would work. It was clear we would both write. It was also clear that I would be the “editor” as well as the tech person responsible for posting new entries. So far it has […]
My last blog post recounted how difficult it was to secure individual insurance through Blue Cross Blue Shield, despite the fact that the company had insured my medical practice for decades as part of a group plan. I concluded by pointing out that if this is the best these commercial enterprises can do, then market force […]
Just before the recent U.S. government shutdown, Obamacare’s Healthcare.gov website launched, then stuttered. Critics from the right pointed to this as evidence of government ineptitude and predicted further problems with signing up the masses for Obamacare. Defenders from the left claimed that unexpectedly high login rates are evidence of the need for broader health care […]
The genesis of our gap year goes back 15 years. Sam and I were having lunch in a restaurant in Washington DC near the big, rambling house in which we raised our three children. It was a Saturday afternoon in April 1998. We were talking vaguely about what our future might look like and whether […]
It is mid-October. I am sitting in my home office in Stonington. I’ve shooed Debbie out of my new space and she has her own office across the way. The indoor temperature is 65 degrees Fahrenheit. The outside temperature is 45. I am wearing a T-shirt (also correctly spelled tee shirt). If I were writing this […]
I now have a hunting license. Let me explain. The prerequisite to obtaining a hunting license is a Firearms Hunter Safety Course. The courses are very popular in Maine and I had to drive an hour away to take mine. After twelve hours of class time and six hours of home study, I passed the test. […]
A wonderful addition to our Gap Year arrived yesterday in the person of Josephine Catherine Harrington. Welcome Josie! She’s the daughter of our son Timothy and his wife Jessica and has a big brother named Cornelius whom you’ve heard about. We haven’t met Josie yet as she was born in Mountain View, CA where Tim moved […]
I’m a little slow sometimes picking up on popular trends. I recently ran across the terms satisficer and maximizer and realized, to my dismay, that I am a full-on maximizer. It drives Sam crazy. Stick with me for a minute. There’s a reason I’m telling you this. The terms satisficer and maximizer were popularized almost a […]
Well sports fans, it has been a long time since I have written. Practical issues have crowded out Gap Year observations. It is now the end of the fourth month and time to reassess. A typical Gap day Trying to organize remains the greatest challenge, both on a daily basis and in terms of blocks […]
