Confessions from Costco

Why a white-collar guy took a blue-collar job 

     “Excuse me,” a Costco customer says to me. “Governor Evers?”
“No,” I smiled. “I’m not the Governor.”
At the time, I was working at Costco, and a bit self-conscious about it, given my professional work history. The irony of that misidentification was palpable, when in fact, I would sometimes clean up spills, bring in carts from the parking lot and help load customer purchases into their carts, and sometimes into their vehicles. The task could be anything from helping a disabled guy with a dozen bottles of vodka to watching an infant as she sat in the grocery cart, waiting for mom to bring the car around.
It may seem odd for a UW-Mad grad who has spent his entire professional life in journalism to start working the desk at the local Costco warehouse. It was odd! But my decision to work there wasn’t quite as random as it might seem, as I had a hidden purpose for taking that job. More on my reasoning in just a bit.

Familiar faces
Once at Costco, it seemed I ran into just about everyone I knew, sometimes to my chagrin. What would people think?
“You don’t have to work here, do you?” asked a Rotary friend. Others asked the same question. No, I did not. But did they believe me?
One day, a former CEO I had worked closely with came to the opposite end of the desk where I was standing. I hid! I don’t know what he would have thought, seeing me there. One former coworker I couldn’t escape was my friend Mike, the Sales VP at Dean. The pained look on his face as I loaded his cart, said it all. There was no time to explain anything, really. The fact is I was loading groceries. There’s nothing wrong with that, per se, but it was a very unusual position for me to be in. I could not do this job anonymously.
In fact, the members who approached the desk included a few famous people I had interviewed long ago at Wisconsin Public Radio—a Watergate prosecutor, a renowned chemistry professor, a talk show host, etc. And of course, friends, neighbors, former co-workers and clients. Clients! Ugh…

Time to fly
In January, 2022, I had left the Marketing/Communications Department at Dean Health Plan after nearly eight full-time years. I did wanna work and I did not want to bang on my drum all day. I just preferred transitioning to part-time status. So, I chose to commit to my communications business that I’ve been running part-time for the past 2 decades. Before that, I was writing speeches for the UW System President. Earlier in my career I spent 10 years as the PR Director for the Wisconsin Medical Society and a WPR health and politics reporter for 15 years. I’ve also written and edited books. Not exactly job experience that prepares one for warehouse work!

So why Costco?
How I landed at Costco is connected to why I left Dean Health Plan. The first thing I did after leaving Dean was exhale. I had my fill of the insurance biz and it was wonderful to have total schedule flexibility. I soon loved working part-time. In addition to a small amount of work for my communications business, I started getting into multiple home projects I never had the time to tackle before. After five months, I had completely remodeled the laundry room, installed hardwood flooring (with a friend supervising) in two rooms and a closet, and generally, I just got the house to a higher level of organization and cool. That felt great, but I needed to get back to more formal work.
In July, I still didn’t have as much communications work as I needed to keep busy, so I decided to take a job as quickly as possible and act on a bigger goal, which was to write for a Costco publication. It was then that I recalled something my neighbor Todd said. When he leaves his gig as a health care executive, he said he might just take a job at Costco. We both sort of laughed. But I actually did it, eventually.

A simpler life
At this stage, I had a desire to do something completely different, something relatively simple, compared to the full-time work of the past 37 years. It was the dead of summer and I had free time. I jumped on Costco.com and applied. Within a day or two, I was contacted for an interview. I loved being able to start something quickly, rather than endure the typical, lengthy interview process involved with the jobs I’ve done throughout my life..
“Why do you want to work here?” the first manager asked. Three reasons, I explained. 1. I love Costco. As a customer for about 12 years, I’ve always liked the products and the prices. 2. The employees here always seem happy and friendly. I figured it must be a good place to work. 3. I once read a book that compared Costco to Walmart. It was a night and day comparison for wages, working conditions, benefits and other areas. No wonder the Costco employees were so cheerful.

That response, completely sincere, must have gone over well because the manager said I had made it to the second interview.
“When will that be,” I asked?
“In about 5 minutes,” he replied.
While waiting, a 19-year-old manager-in-training joins to watch the interview. He tells me you can make great money at Costco if you’re willing to work and are ambitious. $70k plus, without a college degree. Not bad. And not working 90-hour weeks, either. Nobody, including managers, must work over 40 hours, unless they want overtime pay.
Manager #2 shows up, asks me two more questions, very similar to the first guy. I told him pretty much the same thing I told the previous manager. Having read that book, he joked, “You know more about the place than I do!” And with that…
“Welcome to Costco,” he says with a smile.
Well, that went pretty well. But we still needed to cover one more important question. What exactly was I going to do at this warehouse?
“What would you like to do?” the third manager asked.
I replied with a question of my own. “What’s available?”
It turns out there’s almost nothing at Costco that I really wanted to do! I hadn’t thought that through. Food service? No. Forklift driver? Hard no. Cashier? I don’t think so. Tires? Don’t know squat about them. Bakery? Uh-uh. Membership? Hold on, there. I can speak nicely to people. And, it pays a dollar more per hour. Woo-hoo!
I would be among the first Costco employees a prospective member meets. It was essentially a sales job, but the fish jump into the boat 95% of the time. Hi, I’d like to become a member, they’d say. It was my job to sign them up and convince them to get the Executive Membership. You learn during orientation that the key to this Costco business model is not selling stuff, as the margins are rather thin. Instead, what is vitally important is collecting that annual membership fee. It funds everything. It seems almost everyone just keeps re-upping each year because the product quality and prices are very good.
The way I was trained to work the front desk was to stand beside an experienced Membership worker and observe how she dealt with new members, and how to address about a million disparate questions that arise from current members. My spouse died; how can I collect his rewards? I’m divorced. How do I get my former spouse off my account? I have a small business. How do I set up a business account? Do you sell this or that specific product? Can I return this TV that I’ve had for a year? It never ended and I was constantly stumped.
I was fielding these questions, frequently having to track down someone more experienced who could actually answer them. While a novice has no institutional history to fall back on, he can offer something in terms of fresh insights. It turns out I was good at communicating the benefits of paying for the higher-level membership. After a few months, managers were starting to pay attention because my sales figures really stood out. My boss said I should concentrate exclusively on sales and not even deal with the returns part of the Membership desk. That’s a whole other story. While taking my break during a shift, I grabbed my lunch and sat down next to a fellow employee I’d never met. We introduced ourselves and exchanged pleasantries. She paused after looking at my badge.
“Hey, you’re that Steve from Membership! Way to go.”
She was among the six managers running the warehouse, and apparently, they pay attention to staff performance (but pay 0 extra for it). I had become the lead sales guy, in no small part because I focused exclusively on membership sign-ups, while fellow co-workers also dealt with time-consuming returns. However, I did approach the work differently. When somebody came in for a membership, I had my spiel down to about 90 seconds, instead of 10-15 minutes! I watched potential members’ eyes glaze over, as an employee imparted way too many nauseating details about Costco for any human brain to actually download and recall. My focused approach was appreciated and was successful.

Bassam Shakhashiri, PhD

Shiftwork
Still, it was an unusual job for me. I hadn’t punched a clock since I worked at a restaurant when I was 15. And Costco can be extremely particular about the timeclock. One time I’m at the Membership desk, ready to start working and my manager says, “Steve, what time is it?”
“A couple minutes before 1,” I replied.
“And what time does your shift start?”
“One o’clock,” I replied.
“Then, you punched in early.”
Damn, they really track labor costs over there! The expectation is to clock in exactly when your shift starts, at least for this manager.
But as successful at sales as I had become, it was not why I was at Costco. There’s a publication called Costco Connection, which I really liked. It’s a magazine that often uses story-telling as a marketing strategy. I loved that approach and thought I’d be perfect to write pieces that spurred interest in products. I had read that Costco only hires for professional-level jobs by promoting those who have worked in the warehouse first. Fine, I thought, I’ll work in the warehouse. That’s really why I was there, but nobody knew it.
Once employed, I tried using my current Membership department status to reach an editor of the publication, but nobody ever bothered to return any of my calls or emails. HR did, but only to say, watch for an opening or contact an editor. What seemed like a brilliant strategy to break through by playing Costco’s game, fell flat.

End game
I knew I had to exit stage right pretty soon, as this gig was going nowhere, in terms of my writing goal. But I genuinely enjoyed at least two things about this experience. For one, the members. Costco customers are the nicest people you can ever imagine. They are so polite, friendly and patient, given the unnecessarily long process for becoming a member. (The technology at Costco is so antiquated it’s embarrassing.) I’m not sure exactly why, but rarely did I encounter a rude person or anyone who gave us grief. Of course, there are exceptions.
This lady approaches me and says she wants to renew her membership. Since she no longer has her membership card, I ask for her driver’s license. Why? We need to verify who is signing up. I also explain it’s the only way to determine if she’s still in the system. Reluctantly, she hands it over. Every question I had regarding her address, phone number, etc., she questioned. “Are you recording me?” She asked. I told her I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about. Then she suggested I was trying to steal her personal information! We got through the whole burdensome process and I just needed to take her photo for the membership card, which she also objected to. When I handed her the card, she eyed me like I was crazy, and walked backward, like I was about to tackle her or something.
Then there was the lady who hands me her license to sign up and I notice her first name is Thursday. I said, “I guess we know what day of the week you were born on.”
“Wednesday,” she deadpans.
“Really?”
She nods, affirmatively.
We then go from the unusual to the explosive. Here’s a membership moment that stays with me. There was this rather tall guy who went absolutely berserk after a staff member asked to see his receipt upon exit, a Costco requirement. He felt the employee disrespected him somehow and ran to the Membership desk screaming. A manager, much smaller in stature, rushed over and spoke to this aggrieved member in almost an inaudible tone to calm this guy down, moving him away from the main desk, talking him off the ledge. Afterwards, I gave the manager an attaboy for diffusing that tense situation. “It’s my job,” he said, never looking away from the computer screen.

Return to sender
You cannot fully appreciate the Costco experience unless you understand human nature, with respect to returns. Costco has the most lenient return policy one can imagine. Are you dissatisfied? Bring it back. That applies to almost everything, and some members, a tiny portion, mercilessly abuse that standard.

One guy returned a rusty fan, clearly many years old, while another brought back beat up luggage. Both said they were dissatisfied and both received full refunds. It’s a crime that so much returned items just get trashed.

 “I know that this stuff goes in the dumpster, because I’m the one who has to do it,” a young manager told me. Any plant that comes back, for instance, even if it’s in a nice ceramic vase, goes straight to the
garbage bin.

Here is the worst, most wasteful one that I heard about from a co-worker.  A lady buys a gigantic, heavy pack of fresh brisket, probably enough for a large party. She pays for it, leaves the store and minutes later, returns to the Membership desk. She wants to return it. Why? She just changed her mind. The staffer explained that if they take it back after it left the store, it will have to be thrown out. She said she didn’t care. Her refund was issued, and ten pounds of hermetically-sealed meat was thrown in the garbage. Once an item like that makes it to the parking lot, it cannot be sold to someone else if it is returned.

Tenacious teammates
Such customers are the exception, though. The members are normally, awesome people, as were my coworkers, most of whom were young women. They were so competent, hardworking and pleasant, they impressed me every day. In addition to excellent gender diversity, Costco also attracts a workforce that looks more like America compared to anywhere I had worked before. There were great employees and leaders with names like Cherd, Ka, Luis and Asia, many of whom were supervisors or managers.
I wasn’t the only male Membership worker there, though. A guy named Guy came on board about the same time I did. He’s an affable, gentleman who I got along with very well. A great salesman, members liked him, too. Oddly, the women staff often called me Guy, despite the fact that Guy and I look nothing like each other. I guess if you’re a white guy over 60, we all look pretty much the same to 20- and 30-year-olds, even if one is bald and a decade older! We worked together during Covid months, always masked, so it wasn’t until after I left the organization and returned as a customer that I really knew what Guy looked like.
On my last day at Costco, the General Manager of the store approached me at the front desk, thanked me, and wished me well. I had never met him before, but he knew who I was and that I was leaving. This was a guy who led by example. On multiple occasions, I saw him pulling in stray carts from the parking lot, mopping up spilled ice or cleaning the tables in the food court. The Costco ethos is to do what’s needed to be done, no matter your rank in the organization. The GM lives it.

Demand for my communications services had come back by the time I had left Costco, so it was a pretty easy decision to end my warehouse career. It presented a stark comparison, too, in terms of work hours and pay. I learned to appreciate my skillset that much more and preferred not working weekends and nights, when I never really needed to do that, anyway. Maureen liked having me around more, too.
My 7-month Costco experiment failed, but it was a good experience, nonetheless. It actually was kind of fun. Plus, it’s fascinating to realize that I can either resemble Governor Evers or a Guy!
I remain an avid Costco shopper and love running into my former coworkers who always greet me warmly, and often ask when I will return to Membership. That's not in the cards, but I still read the Costco Connection, even though the publication remains in desperate need of a new writer.

Which one is Gov. Tony Evers?

Resistance to Electric Cars Common Amid Sloppy Journalism, Personal Bias and Fear of New Technology

With the lousy press electric cars get and the ensuing public confusion, it’s amazing to think that Tesla’s Model Y mid-sized SUV was the top selling vehicle in the world in Quarter 1 of 2023. It actually bumped off the venerable Toyota Corolla from that lofty perch. Yes, an electric car beat out all new vehicles, including gas-powered ones.

            But how can this be? From what I hear there are a million serious issues with electric cars. The battery range is too low. The sticker prices are too high. The build quality is spotty at best. They burst into flames spontaneously! And, they’re not really that great for the environment, anyway! Hold your rotary phone, the world has changed and so have cars. For the better. Despite what you’ve heard or read, you do not need to wait for better e-cars, lower prices or longer battery range. They are all here. Now.

Honest Abe

            Here’s a case in point. We just returned from a trip to Springfield, IL, to visit Lincoln’s Museum, tomb and family home. We charged our 2023 long-range Model Y at home to about 95% and easily made it to the small community of Peru, where there were 20 superchargers in the grocery store parking lot. We plugged it in, used the bathroom and sat down for lunch in the adjoining restaurant. Before our food arrived, I got a text saying the car was charged to the necessary level to reach Springfield! Wow, what an inconvenience this charging is. That took about 15 minutes. Outrageous! Who has time for that?

            The biggest obstacle I see to widespread electric car use is the common assumption that every aspect of an e-car must meet or exceed what is normal for its gas-powered counterpart. Yes, they are both cars but they operate on completely different technologies. Is a bass boat the same as a cruise ship? Hey, they both float!

            The fairer way to look at electric cars is how they stack up overall. On the pro side:

• They don’t use gas, so no pollutants come out of the tail pipe. Well, there is no tail pipe!

• Electricity costs a lot less than gas so your expenses drop noticeably.

• Electric motors last a long time so over the life of car, their carbon footprint is substantially lower than a gas car with its constant polluting.

• Electric cars require little if any maintenance. That’s a point that rarely is discussed but is absolutely true. Bye-bye to the 15,000-mile check, the 25,000, etc. Of course, there are no oil changes, either or a ton of other parts that wear out or break in gas cars.

            But are e-cars really superior in terms of maintenance and reliability? Earlier this year, I brought in one of our gas cars to my mechanic of over 30 years. Knowing I also own 2 electric cars, he told me a tale of woe from one of his customers who bought an electric car. A serious problem. I don’t know. These things might not be ready for prime time. Well, yes an electric car can fail, just as a gas car can. But it’s unusual. Stuff can go wrong. But how often do you blow an engine, have a transmission go kaput or suffer a car fire? Equally catastrophic circumstances can befall an electric car and they are probably about as common.

Taking the plunge

            A friend told me he was interested in buying an electric lawn mower so he went to the lawn mower store. The sales guy asked him if he’d like to see the pile of electric mowers needing repair in the back or the new gas ones? He walked out with a gas-powered mower, scared away about maintenance issues he was unfamiliar with. If you spend your career becoming proficient about everything related to gas mowers, it’s probably very difficult to switch gears to a product you’re less familiar with.

            Well, even if electric motors are reliable and require little maintenance, I need at least 900 miles of battery range before I’m going to dive in. I’ve actually heard that one twice from people I know. When you travel, do your really drive for 700-900 miles before stopping? Please.

Way too expensive

            I just checked tesla.com today and learned you can buy a new 2023 Model 3 sedan for $34,380, including a $7,500 tax credit. (The average non-luxury new car costs about $45,000 and you have to pay for gas!) That specific e-car comes with a 272-mile battery. In our 2019 Model 3, by comparison, we went on trips East, West and South and were able to do pretty well with a 238-mile battery. The Tesla supercharger network is second to none and is extremely reliable and easy to use. In fact, during a trip to Chicago a few months ago, I got stuck in a major snowstorm. Travel on the interstate was down to 20-30 mph. I was headed for a Tesla supercharger when the car notified me that the charging location I was going to was now off-line! I had never heard of that but it must have been storm-related. Although the prospect of running low on battery in a blizzard was initially unnerving, the car simply directed me to another nearby supercharger location that was working. I did not have to drive to the downed site to learn it wasn’t working.

            That experience is not true for other charging systems that are way less advanced. Personally, I would not buy another brand of electric car for cross-country travel. That is one legitimate point the e-car skeptics make. For widespread e-car use to happen, the charging infrastructure must easily accommodate all electric cars so motorists can easily “fill up.” With the federal government creating incentives to bolster electric car use, we will have more charging options and an improved charging system in the future

Charging shock?

            Even so, it’s expensive to use superchargers. A major automotive publication ran a piece that outlined the cost of charging a Tesla exclusively at superchargers and concluded that it’s not much of an economic benefit over gas cars. In reality, most of us Tesla owners charge primarily at home, and that’s relatively inexpensive. It’s only on trips that most Tesla owners would rely on the supercharger network, which is still way cheaper than buying gas.

            But it is possible to use an electric car without accessing a public charging system at all. We do it all the time. In addition to the Model Y, we bought a new 2022 Nissan Leaf, a car that was first developed 10 years ago. We get 215 miles of battery range and use it as an around-town car, which is 99% of what most people use a car for. It’s a fantastic vehicle and cost us under $30,000. If you can charge at home as we do, it cannot be beat for sticker price, cost of driving and charging convenience. For apartment dwellers, however, I agree that always having to charge at public places might be a bridge too far for many people. It would be for me.

            Despite all of this progress, one of my friends recently commented that for the most part, only millionaires can afford Teslas. That was probably true for the early Tesla sedans that cost more than $100,000 ten years ago. As mentioned previously, that’s no longer the case. But new cars aren’t exactly cheap, that’s for sure. There is a huge swath of the car-buying public that never buys a new car because of the high costs, so I wouldn’t expect them to buy a new electric car either, even though they offer better value than new gas cars. The bottom line is that if you can afford a new car, you can afford a new electric car.

            If you do give it a try, you have to accept the idiosyncrasies you haven’t dealt with before. Here’s one we experienced on our last trip. Returning from Springfield, something unexpected happened that required us to make an extra stop to charge. That added another 30 minutes to our ride home, as that charger was a few miles off the interstate. Why did we need to stop again? It was incredibly windy and we were driving straight into the gusts. That’s one of the things about electric cars we have to accept. There are circumstances that affect battery range. If it’s really hot and we’re blasting the AC, that depletes battery. If it’s bone-chilling cold, running that heater a lot also depletes battery, as does especially windy weather. But that can also work in your favor. If the wind is behind you, you get even better battery range! If you are driving down a mountainous road, your battery actually charges.

            Overall, people are slowing starting to figure this out and are getting comfortable with buying electric cars. The upstart Tesla did not produce the best-selling vehicle in the world because there’s no demand. It achieved in relatively short order what Toyota took decades to master with the Corolla. Consumer demand will continue to grow, as will the technology, battery range, production efficiency and vehicle supply.

Wait if you want or need to, but take a good look at the options today and you’ll soon realize that electric cars already have arrived.

Farewell to a Furry Family Member

The Best Dog Ever

The mug we grew to love, usually millimeters from our faces.

Our love affair with a dog came to a sad, abrupt end on Friday, August 5. Goldie was afflicted with cancer, though nobody knew it.

We can be grateful that Goldie was very healthy for the 11 years he was with us, albeit with some aging issues, all the way up until the last 24 hours of his life. I don’t recall him ever being sick, per se, though he suffered allergies and joint problems.

The late afternoon before he passed, Maureen noticed he was not doing well and would not eat. He had joined me as usual on our daily 2.5 mile walk with no trouble whatsoever. By evening, Maureen had considered ER care but thought he’d probably be ok by morning for a regular vet visit. He was not. We carried him to the car and I comforted him in the back seat as Maureen drove to the veterinary ER right down the street. In short order, our Golden Boy was diagnosed with a fatal blood vessel cancer.

We knew it was bad when he was lying on the floor with a port and tubes in his belly. As Maureen and Serena comforted him on the ground, I motioned for the vet to come over and talk to me.

“We’re not taking Goldie home, are we?”

“No, I’m sorry. You’re not.”

“Is he about to pass or…”

“No, we can’t wait for that. It would not be humane.”

And there it was. A few minutes later she had a meeting with us all and informed Serena and Maureen. Ugh…

Caught off guard

The fact that we lost him so suddenly has made it devastating for the whole family. Goldie was well worn into the fabric of our family. He was family. He was also everybody’s best friend, providing regular comic relief in the way he lounged around on our furniture. I especially appreciated his enthusiasm for constant walks with me and going on excursions to a lake for swimming with Serena.

My problem was rooted in my unrealistic expectations. I figured if I kept his heart in good order with regular walks, he’d live another 10 years! He’s a mutt with great genetic diversity. What could go wrong? I had no clue he could go out this soon.

My unexpected emotional reaction to this loss demonstrates how I underestimated my attachment to this dog. For non-pet owners, I can totally understand the wonderment and maybe puzzlement over how involved we can get with these pets. It’s an animal, after all. I now feel a bit guilty for not better appreciating and empathizing with friends and family after they lost beloved animals.

I’ve had many pets since I was a little kid—cats, dogs, fish, birds. But the loss of Goldie is so different. He’s the first dog I owned the entire way through his life cycle. He was here every day and then suddenly. Gone. He was here when the girls were very young, when Maureen got dangerously ill five years ago, when I worked from home for 8 years and through every stage of our family life. The rational part of my brain knows I need to be thankful for all those loving years but the heart is not yet ready to accept the reality.

I was in a mental fog the day this all happened and I’m not a whole lot better now. Oddly, it is hard both to think about him and to try not to think about him. Talking about Golden Boy usually prompts tears and at this writing, I have not even attempted a first walk without him.

How he walked into our lives

When our girls were just ages 5 and 7, we all drove to a Milwaukee shelter to look at available dogs because the ones in Madison were few and not right for us. When we arrived, there were a lot of puppies of breeds we were not drawn to, mostly pit bulls. Then we saw a yellowish mutt who was maybe a year old. He was very friendly, wagging his tail enthusiastically as we approached him. It didn’t take long to conclude as a family, that this would be our dog.

When we brought him home, he was probably a year old and not yet potty trained. He would constantly chew my ankles during walks, too. It was the stuff of a young dog that he quickly grew out of. And the girls grew up along with him. Goldie quickly became everybody’s best friend and unofficial emotional support animal.

Goldie did so many things that were uniquely Goldie. He’d jump on me while in a living room chair, plop his body on my chest and put that long snout millimeters from my nose. I used to call him, “Goldie, the dog with no personal space issues.” When he had enough of me or if I kicked him off, he’d jump down and hop on Maureen’s lap in the same fashion in the next chair over. Goldie could not love or be loved enough.

Goldie was a Foodie
Besides people, Goldie loved eating. Every bowl of dogfood was the most delicious cuisine he’d ever experienced. His approach to dinner was akin to a lion’s. In fact, Serena just reminded me that I once said that the day Goldie refuses to eat is the day we know he’s in trouble. Well, he refused his dish for the first time on the day before he passed.

In line with his favorite passion, he was the greatest opportunist ever. Goldie never begged at the table, but he was always nearby, in a prime location. Anything that fell from the table was in his mouth in nanoseconds. And if you weren’t paying attention, he’d snatch anything he could get his paws on. In fact, he stole 2 pork shops last week! God bless him. He once devoured a neighbor’s plate of lasagna during one of our parties while the teen got up for a drink. More recently, I made a loaf of banana bread and somebody in the family had the first slice, but left it too close to the edge of island. I found the plastic bag on the living room floor. Goldie devoured the entire loaf! I wish we had known his days were numbered, as we would have spoiled him like mad.

But he also loved regular dog food, and had an uncanny ability to know when it was his dinner hour. [He actually cleaned the bowl in about 45 seconds.] It was almost as if he wore a watch, as he’d bark wildly directly at you a few minutes before or after 6.

Food deprivation?
We’ve theorized that his obsessive love for food and eating quickly had something to do with his upbringing. All we know is that his former owners eventually let him go to fend for himself on the streets. We don’t know how he survived for weeks on his own, but strangers must have been feeding him, though he was pretty thin when animal control picked him up.

His photo was on the shelter website and his first family could have easily found him if they were so inclined. The economy was bad then and my ER Vet client at the time told me that people in economic distress sometimes just let their pets go because they can’t afford them. How desperate one must be to do that is beyond my understanding.

The Promised Land
Goldie may have started life under duress but he found his way to heaven on Gray Fox Trail in Madison, Wisconsin. He was adored, lounged on a variety of leather couches, and slept 16+ hours per day. But for everything he was given, he returned it 10 times over in companionship, empathy and love.

Goldie walked the 2.5-mile neighborhood route with me almost every day. He was extremely perceptive and somehow knew when I was getting ready for our walk. Getting my shoes on was a sure sign, as he’d start following me everywhere I went. I had a baseball cap in the garage. He’s there. I needed my headphones for podcasts. He’s in the laundry room.

Goldie loved those walks and was in great shape because of them. Only in the last year or so did he show signs of aging. Last spring, we got as far as a park 2 blocks from our house and he just abruptly sat down. He would not move. No whimpering or signs of distress. But I’m not going anywhere. I had to call Maureen to drive him home. This may have been the undiscovered cancer or orthopedic issues. We’ll never really know. On subsequent walks, he would sometimes stop halfway through and would be willing to go in the opposite direction toward home rather than complete the walk. More often than not in the past year, he made the whole route. He was very stoic, not letting on that he was severely ill. We had no idea and neither did the vet! He got regular care and was on medication for his aches and pains, which we thought were only orthopedic in nature

Wiley coyote
On one of our walks, we encountered a coyote cross the street just 50 feet in front of us in a regular neighborhood on Farmington. Goldie’s tail was straight out and he made not a sound. It was like he instinctively knew the rules of the forest.

He barked like crazy when encountering most leashed dogs, but not always. There was a Chocolate Lab on our route who was penned with an invisible fence. That dog would bark enthusiastically but playfully right up to the sidewalk in his yard as we passed. Goldie completely ignored him, always. He trotted ahead and never even looked that dog’s way. Just very unusual.

Working overtime
In recent years, Serena loved having Goldie in her room as her personal sleep aid. He always started there, cuddled with her until she fell asleep, and then he’d wander back into our bedroom in the middle of the night and sleep on the couch until we all got up. We’d always find him in the morning, oftentimes sleeping on his back, paws up.

Olivia also had a strong connection to him. When she’d arrive home from work or school, she’d always lay on the kitchen floor and cuddle with him in the fetal position. “You’re so gorgeous,” she’d tell him, as she kissed his snout.

Olivia also made special meals for him that looked horrifically gross but were good for him. She’d have these frozen packets that we’d thaw and give him for dinner. For her high school graduation, we enlarged a poster of Olivia with Goldie on the front lawn.

Competition

A few years ago, we added a second dog to our family, a shiatzu name Boot-Boot. Goldie was good to her but was occasionally annoyed when she got attention and he did not. The two became friends, nonetheless, nuzzled each other and generally co-existed just fine. It was especially fun to see them romp around, chasing each other.

Now what?
When a canine companion has been with you for so long, and part of your daily routine, it is hard to embrace the absence, the silence, his stuff strewn around the house, etc.

In the final stages of this life cycle, I made the cremation call today, which also brought back the dreaded moments of last Friday. Then we’ll have to pick up the ashes and create some sort of memorial for him. We’ll also likely do a memorial walk of our route Goldie and I took so many times over the years.

We have all the memories and a million photos, which we will keep close, as we cherish him and other lost loved ones in our lives. Goldie was as much a family member as any other, just in different ways. He earned our devotion and justifies our tears and sadness. When that veil of grief will lift, I don’t know. Hopefully, the shock of it all will fade and we’ll be left with pleasant memories.

We’re not there yet, though.

Margie's Garden a Respite for Kids and Parents

A garden playground as beautiful as it is magical, grew from the terrible loss of a much beloved friend of mine. Margie Kezman was a soft-spoken little girl who grew up across the street from me. Our parents were friends so the five Busalacchi kids all became close with Margie and her siblings. To this day, we are all like family.

When Margie succumbed to an aggressive form of cancer, her husband Tim soon began investigating ways to honor her life. He started with the fact that Margie had two main passions—kids and gardening. On Wednesday, friends and family got a sneak peak at Margie’s Garden, located at Witnall Park near Milwaukee. It is a tribute reminiscent of a Disney theme park. Take a look at the photos and you’ll see what I mean.

Margie would be thrilled to see her community serve kids and parents in this way.

Well done!

More information is available via margiessmile.org.

Podcasting is the answer

We can all learn a few lessons from radio. I spent much of my early communications career producing radio news features for Wisconsin Public Radio and NPR. I quickly came to appreciate the power of voice—tone, clarity, emotion, humor, volume and especially important, memorability. A print quote is great but lacks the aforementioned audio qualities that stick in one’s memory. When I transitioned to public relations more than 20 years ago, I soon realized radio production skills were exactly what were required to produce excellent podcasts, and I’ve been doing them ever since.

Email has become the default communication tool at the office. But it is possible to overuse a good thing. Just glance at your email box and you’ll understand the point. The importance of a message can be lost in that ever-growing pile.

What if there were another, more engaging, creative way to communicate to employees? The answer may well be a periodic, professionally-produced internal communications podcast.

Podcasts are well accepted as smartphone ownership has grown steadily and become ubiquitous. It’s easy and convenient to subscribe and listen to a program as you exercise, walk or drive. No wonder half us are now regular podcast listeners!

Why not bring that accepted innovation into the office? Or better yet, outside the office. Privacy worries are no longer a concern, as internal podcasts can be listened to behind a wall using an app and a simple password.

Why take the plunge? Here’s why:

• Innovate. It’s different and exciting. A podcast creates a personal moment between the listener and the speaker or speakers. It can be a monologue from an executive, an interview or a conversation.

• It’s easy. It doesn’t take much time to produce the content. You just need to know what you want to talk about. Leave the recording and production to a professional who will make it sound great. With an intro, some music and editing skills, it will sound like a radio program.

• Total flexibility. It’s your program. It can be as brief or extensive as necessary. For most podcasts, 15-20 minutes is adequate.

• Timing. Produce a podcast once or twice a month, or more frequently if you have a lot of content to share.

• Recognize employees. Use the forum to honor high performers, those with creative ideas or after the completion of an important project.

• New employee onboarding. Create a program that features employees talking about the company, its culture, and why they are proud to work here, etc. Every new employee can listen to the podcast as part of the orientation training.

Podcasts are affordable and need not replace email or any other communication tool. But they can supplement what you are doing now and in such a way that your employees will better engage with the content.

Let’s talk about the options. 608.698.5298.

Pleasure, Pain and Perspective: Biking Utah’s Magnificent White Rim Trail

Late September rocks for a bike ride in Utah!

While the weather was perfect (sunny 80s) for a 91-mile mountain bike journey through spectacular Canyonlands National Park, a price must be paid for the privilege of witnessing this unique part of the world up close and far from lights or cell coverage.

A friend who competed multiple Ironman Triathlons said part of that race’s allure for him was not really knowing if he was going to be able to complete it. The same could be said for biking the White Rim, but not for me. I was more concerned with survival than personal challenges.

They call this “mountain” biking for a reason. Because you can get through one phase of the ride doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll have the gas necessary for another section somewhere down the rocky or sandy road. Much of the trail is either relatively flat and features enjoyable downhills, while other sections are frighteningly steep and nearly impossible to traverse.

No matter, once you begin this course there is no turning back. You are out in the wilderness now, and your very survival depends on the water and food carried by your guides in their impressively packed truck, as well as your ability to keep moving and not crashing. Our guides, Emily and Dan, are masters at their craft and your biking experience rests with their ability to move the group through this wonderland of gargantuan rock structures, endless vistas and searing heat. With 0 shade on the trail, what would normally be a pleasant day is hot, especially since the sun’s heat doesn’t let up until it fully sets. It’s a landscape devoid of trees so there’s nowhere to hide.

Ready, set…

Thirteen of us joined the Moab-based tour group Escape Adventures. Our fearless leaders are incredibly fit people who lugged and set up all of the camp site equipment, cooked the food, repaired the bikes, took turns riding the trail with us and endlessly fielded questions like, Are we there yet? How many miles to lunch? Is that the last big climb? Have we all lost our minds?

The team, from Wisconsin, New York and Colorado, included four physicians and one psychologist. But all the medical and psychological prowess available doesn’t change the reality of the ride. It’s surprisingly hot in the desert in late September and you must drink regularly to stay alive. The trail is physically demanding, though the rented bikes are first class, light and dependable. And that makes the journey manageable and pretty fun in most circumstances. Ultimately, every rider had to do what was necessary to make it through the four, often grueling days on the trail.

Starting with a downhill

Day 1 began with a short and thrilling downhill. Clutching the brakes for dear life, you let the bike do its thing and try to avoid rocks on the way down. It wasn’t as intimidating as I thought and making the first descent helped build my riding confidence. The giant tires, excellent disc brakes and smooth gear switching seemed to make the bike ready for just about anything. We were headed for the White Rim Plateau, about 1,000 feet below our starting point. I was relieved that there weren’t any scary cliffs to ride off of, as there was plenty of room to stay out of that kind of danger. After a much-needed lunch break, we continued down the path, enjoying incredible red rock views all around us.

When we finally arrived at the gorgeous location where we’d set up our campsite, I was out of breath and not the least bit hungry. Not good signs after exerting that much energy in the heat. The other riders seemed to be doing better, though one doctor decided to drop out and ride the truck. He hurt his leg and didn’t want to risk further injury. Winston never returned to the trail.

I was still in a mental haze from completing that day’s journey when I learned we had to set up our own tents upon arrival. That was not my idea of “first class camping.” Not being a camper, this was the very last thing I needed to do upon completing my first mountain bike ride, in a desert no less. Maureen wanted to get going on tent set-up and couldn’t understand why I was just standing there and not responding to her exhortations to grab this and set up that. I still hadn’t caught my breath from the ride and that uneasy feeling continued throughout the evening and into the morning. Anxiety was now affecting me.

By the time we packed up all the camping gear again, and had breakfast, I felt uneasy but ready for Day 2. Anxiety about what was to come persisted, as our leaders said the route was going to get tougher and “gnarlier.” Great.

Day 2

Once on the bike, my breathing seemed to improve and I was enjoying the ride. Still, there was a sign of trouble. On this leg, I was biking alongside my neighbor Dan when his chain slipped off. I stopped to hold his bike while he reset it and noticed something amiss. The name on his water bottle was Rusty. I said, “Dan, you grabbed the wrong water bottle.” When I looked up, it was actually not Dan at all! I had been conversing with Rusty from New York City the whole time. Clearly, I was not all there after so much time in the sun.

By the time we reached our lunch spot, I was spent. When I rolled in, fellow bikers were telling me I didn’t look well. No kidding. Our guide, Emily, said I was in danger of “bonking.” I didn’t know exactly what she meant by that at the time but apparently it means being on the verge of a total collapse. Again, I was in a daze, and not hungry at all, despite everybody’s insistence that I eat. I must have looked something like Smithers from the Simpson’s, as he and Mr. Burns collapsed their tandem outside of the ER.

An afternoon bike ride now was not in the cards and I joined Winston, the doctor, in the front seat of the truck for the rest of the day. This was the best decision for me, as I was rejuvenated by having time to recover from the previous biking miles I had put in. It’s possible I was feeling the effects of altitude sickness. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a whole lot to do about that with no handy drugs available. On the positive side, the view from the truck was amazing, as you had more time to gaze and photograph. When biking, you need to pay attention to the road or you could be in trouble. That’s why you sometimes miss things you’d normally stop to marvel at.

As we snaked along slowly in the truck, we came to a group of our riders resting on the side of the trail. They were getting ready to attempt a climb known as Murphy’s Hogback. To call it a hill doesn’t do it justice. It’s extremely steep with rocks littered all over it. There is no path, per se, to ride on. As the truck approached this monstrosity, I mouthed to the resting riders—Oh. My. God. How would they ever ascend? They just grimaced.

I later heard only two people actually rode it all the way up. One, an experienced mountain biker named Jay from Colorado, did it in stages, riding and resting, riding and resting, while the other (Peter, also from Colorado) had a magic carpet disguised as an e-bike and managed to make it up to the top. All the rest literally pushed their bike up that monster grade. Never in my life did I have greater admiration for a group of friends than I did for those still pumping away out there. I was both worried for them and amazed that they could keep on going!

Although I am in the truck, I’m a bit worried for us too as the truck must strain to climb this section of the trail. I’m hoping like hell there won’t be some horrific mechanical failure that sends us plummeting to God knows where. Although the truck whined loudly as it mightily fought gravity, it did its job. Dan had driven this trail multiple times before, showing his skill as he carefully and slowly maneuvered the truck up the long climb and around this relatively small path. If even one tire leaves the ground, it could be curtains. Scary as that was, being in the truck beat the hell out of attempting that afternoon bike ride.

By now, we are getting better at setting up the tent but we gratefully accept assistance from our friend Jeanne and fellow rider, Peter. A good night’s rest is essential for all of us, as we’re only halfway home. The nighttime temps are in the 50s so it was good sleeping weather if you have to be in a tent.

Day 3

Refreshed from being in the truck the previous day, I rejoined the others on the bike trail. More big ups and downs, fabulous scenery and hot, hot weather. I’m not too far behind the fast riders but they’re ready to take off again shortly after I arrive at a rest stop. When you’re really winded and anxious about whether you can keep going, it makes enjoying the surroundings secondary. You’re focusing on breathing, drinking and keeping up and not so much on the landscape that dinosaurs roamed 144 million years ago.

Again, it became clear that an afternoon ride for me would be out of the question, so back in the truck with Winston and Dan. I am still witnessing climbs that dumbfound me. Winston and I knowingly look at each other, comfortable in the front seat. As if the trip itself isn’t remarkable enough, Dora from Colorado makes it more exciting than I wanted as we gathered at our latest campsite.

“Where’s Maureen?” Dora asks me.

“Down by the river with Jeanne and Mike,” I replied.

“I was just down there. Maureen isn’t there,” she says.

Crap.

Maureen must have missed the turn to the camping area and was riding off into the desert alone! Dan dropped everything he was doing, hopped in the truck and we roared off in search of her as fast as this lumbering truck could go on this rapidly changing path—sand, curves, hills and cliffs. Dan was sure we were hot on her trail, saying he sees her single bike tread on the road. He knows the bike’s exact tire tread! She’s on this path and we will find her. Luckily, we see some other bikers and ask if they’d seen a woman biker riding alone. Yeah, she’s just down the way! Within minutes we found her sitting on the side of the road, resting before heading in the opposite direction, having realized she missed the sign. She was only three miles away but that’s forever when going up and down, around cliff ledges, through sandy sections of trail, especially after she’d been riding all day.

It is so easy to miss a sign because you are concentrating on the ride, not crashing, pushing through sand, etc. Once we found her, Dan tossed her bike on the truck and we all drove back to camp. Scary situation. Remember, it’s boiling hot, we don’t know the trail and she was visibly upset about the circumstances. Thankfully, we managed to get through day 3 without a disaster.

Day 4

The next morning before taking off, I urged our group, that included Maureen, to really pay attention to the morning’s directions so we don’t have anybody getting lost again.

“I’m sure that was meant for all of us,” deadpans Eric. The whole group erupts in laughter.

It’s supposed to be an easy day but I no longer trust what is supposed to be easy, hard, short or long. My prior experience on the White Rim Trail found all of those words grossly out of whack with respect to what they were describing. The word “relative” never had greater meaning than in Canyonlands National Park. I now only asked how long it would likely take to get from here to there. Miles at home and miles here had no commonality or practical meaning.

Having said all that, I embarked on the last day committed to completing it on the bike. And this time, it was actually a pretty easy ride. It included lots of greenery and nice views of the Green River. We enjoyed fun downhills and fairly easy riding. The last leg of the 13-mile segment, however, included a long uphill to where we’d have our final lunch. Afterward, we’d hop in a van and get released back into society. Before that happened, we needed to make the final trip up the mountain. The road was steep and at this stage of the trip, neither Maureen nor I felt like trying to bike it. We opted for simply walking our bikes up. Most of the others biked halfway and walked the rest, waiting for us at the lunch site.

The White Rim was not what I expected but that doesn’t mean I regretted the experience. Surprisingly, the things I feared most turned out to be non-issues:

• No aching butt from consecutive long days in the saddle. Ass management efforts paid off (standing on the pedals over bumps, wearing fancy bike pants, etc.).

• My legs felt just fine, as did my back. I credit the mountain bikes and the substantial front and back suspension.

• I never came even close to zooming off a ledge into the great abyss.

• I managed to complete the trip without wiping out, even once. Others on the trip were not so fortunate, sporting bloody arms and cool, bruised legs.

• No sunburn, despite being in full sun almost constantly

I still wonder if I might have made the entire route, had it not been for the altitude sickness or possibly dehydration. My mountain biking neighbor, Jon, was mostly right when he predicted success here hinged on aerobic fitness. As a daily walker and generally active person, I do consider myself fit but out in Canyonlands, not quite fit enough. Still, even strong riders can get sick along the way or struggle in other ways. Winston puts in 100-mile road biking weeks back in New York City but this level of mountain biking is not what he signed up for.

Nevertheless, we all emerged dirty, dusty and stinky (no showers) but grateful for having experienced the trip of a lifetime with a wonderful group of people.

I might have done one thing differently had I better understood the reality of the trail: rent an e-bike. If ever there was a valid justification for a little help up a “climb,” it is on the White Rim Trail through Canyonlands National Park.

Cross-Country E-car Trip Exciting but Planning Required

With newly acquired confidence, borne of a COVID-19 vaccine, it was time to escape our pandemic “quarantine” in Madison. Doing so in an electric car made our trip out West more complex but also qualitatively better.

We hopped in our 2019 Tesla Model 3 sedan and hit the road after work on April 29, destined for southern Arizona. No airports, airplanes or dense crowds for us, despite disbelief from my neighbor who said we were crazy to drive so far when direct flights out of Madison are available.

Traveling cross-country in an all-electric car is not crazy. It’s fun, inexpensive and different than doing so in a traditional gas vehicle. It does require more planning, battery monitoring and a sense of adventure. Importantly, the vast, often sweltering wilderness of the West can put you in a precarious or possibly dangerous situation if the car fails, your battery runs out or if extreme weather conditions put you in jeopardy.

Before you leave
Proper planning will help ease one’s nerves when traveling depends on battery power. Unlike gas stations, Tesla “superchargers” are much less common so you have to know where they are on your route before you toss your luggage in the trunk and head out. Thankfully, there are apps that make this easy, as does the car’s navigation system. We used A Better Route Planner, which listed all the supercharger locations along the way, the amount of charging time required at each stop, the driving time duration between charging stations and the electricity cost. It varies by location.

For this trip, the total charging cost was about $170 and included 36 stops. Yes, you’re charging every 90 minutes or so when you’re going 75 MPH, which is the typical speed limit through Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona.

The next step was to find hotels near where the superchargers are located so you can easily charge as you get into town or before you leave the next morning. Tesla positioned these chargers near hotels, restaurants and gas stations off of the interstate system or highways.

Fast charging but…
When it comes to quickly charging an electric car, Tesla rules the road. Superchargers are incredibly fast. The longest charge took about 40 minutes, with other stops taking as little as 15-20 minutes to get enough battery range to reach the next supercharger. Use the bathroom, get a drink, have lunch, walk the dog, etc., and you’re on your way again with a full battery. Doing this is a major back saver, and you don’t get as fatigued while driving.

In a previous trip to Iowa, I was in a rural community that had a much slower charging system in place. I’d have had to charge 8 hours to get to my next destination! Ultimately, I survived that situation by consulting a savvy friend who came up with an unintuitive solution to my problem. I charged just enough at the slow charger to get to a supercharger that was located about an hour away—in the wrong direction! Once there, I was able to quickly charge and complete that trip without a problem. I paid the price in travel time for poor e-car planning. You have to know what you are doing before you leave. On this trip West, I had learned my lesson and my spouse actually did most of the planning.

We knew where all the superchargers were on our route so there were no surprises. Each one typically has about 6-8 charging stalls that look similar to a gas pump. The nozzle at the end of a “hose” fits into the car’s charging port and starts as soon as it is inserted. No credit card required. Tesla automatically charges your account, typically $5-$7 per charge.

We were able to charge immediately upon arrival at each charging location, with one exception. When we arrived in Albuquerque, every slot was filled with mostly Model Y and Model S cars, all of which were white. [Other colors cost $1,000-$2,000 extra.] While waiting about 15 minutes for a charging station to open up, I chatted with an owner who marveled at his smooth and blazing-fast acceleration. His wife chimed in that he passed a truck at 109 MPH! She was not kidding. You can easily go from 75 to 95 in 2 seconds. This I know. It may take another second or so to reach 109.

A different mode of travel
Motoring by electricity, speedy as it can be, means accepting compromises. There are tradeoffs for the performance and the much lower cost of energy. Unlike gas cars, you cannot drive an e-car for 4-5 hours straight without stopping. Electric car batteries are getting better, topping 400 miles on a full charge but they still do not have the range of a gas car. One of my friends said he would not buy an electric car until he could go all the way to Detroit without stopping! While his bladder control must be impressive, that’s simply an unrealistic standard now.

On our Arizona adventure, stopping every one and half to two hours was actually a good pace. Plus, we needed to let the dog out. An e-car makes pet travel easier. Having Tesla’s “dog mode” allowed us to leave our Shih Tzu, Booty, safely in her kennel while we went mountain biking along the Rio Grande River in Albuquerque. You can leave an e-car “running,” so to speak, keeping the temperature cool inside for the dog. On the car’s big LED screen, a huge message tells passersby that the dog is fine and the temperature inside is 75 degrees.

While biking, we checked the app on our phones to confirm the temperature. Had it been too high, we could have called the bike rental outfit, had them run out to the car and rescue the dog while we unlocked it remotely.

Conversations while charging
The side benefit of stopping so frequently is that you meet fellow e-car travelers who are also killing time while “filling up.” One gentleman from Los Angeles recounted his exceptional experience with his Model S, proclaiming that it will be the last car he ever buys. With his deal, he got free supercharging for life. His confidence may not be an exaggeration. Tesla CEO Elon Musk estimates its electric motors will last up to 1 million miles!

We also chatted with a Southerner who was traveling with his spouse and 2 little kids. They drove all over the West during a 6-month trek in their Model Y SUV. Model Y is a new vehicle with a 325-mile battery range. Ours tops out at 228.

“Yeah, but you don’t get all of that when you’re going 75 miles per hour,” the Y owner told me. Excellent point. The faster you go, the more energy you use. Still, that’s a lot of buffer to counter any battery range anxiety you might have.

Range anxiety
To be an e-car owner, you must accept the limitations and, in some cases, risks. As we approached our Arizona destination, we were traveling through vast desolation in very warm temperatures. There is absolutely nothing, save for a few grazing cows, for miles and miles, and in some stretches, barely any vegetation, making dust storms possible.

In fact, we soon saw flashing lights on the interstate, warning us about a possible dust storm that could mean 0 visibility. If it happens, you’re supposed to pull over and turn off your car and all lights. The reason to go dark is that visibility can get so bad in a dust storm, that other cars or trucks might think your tail lights are in the middle of the road when you’re actually on the shoulder! Pile-ups in these parts do happen, much like those chain car accidents in fog or snowy conditions in Wisconsin.

We did see what appeared to be a cloud of material off in the distance but we never actually encountered it. Thankfully, there was low traffic volume and perfect visibility all the way through until we reached civilization.

A more immediate concern was our battery power. It was quite windy with the desert sun bearing down, meaning the car had to use more energy to keep us going and comfortable. You can monitor your battery depletion and adjust some factors accordingly if necessary so you are less likely to run out of juice. Out of caution, we reduced our speed from 75 MPH to 65 MPH, and increased the cabin temperature to 78 from 73. When we arrived at the next supercharger, we had only 14% battery left, which is low. Typically, it’s best not to go below 20%.

The other issue is that many new cars, e cars and gas alike, no longer come with a spare tire. Such is the case with ours. I had daymares of getting stuck in the middle of nowhere, with limited water in very harsh and hot conditions. We have AAA but how long would it take for the cavalry to rescue us? Luckily, no such emergency occurred.

But that doesn’t mean the trip was tension-free. We took another route home by going through Santa Fe, taking the historic Santa Fe Trail for hundreds of miles. It was established 200 years ago for trade between Mexico and the U.S. and for Pony Express mail delivery. The 2-lane highway is in excellent condition but it cuts through barren lands with almost no traffic, villages or any sign of life. I dreaded the thought of breaking down here or getting a flat tire. In some parts, there was no cell service! That was unnerving and I’d never do it again without at least having a spare tire.

Being an ambassador
Other than these concerns, driving an electric car is a real pleasure, especially since it makes you an ambassador for the technology. It’s actually fun to field questions from curious people. We became comfortable with it because a friend shared his vast experience with all things electric and solar. Now it’s our turn to do the same for others. And there’s plenty of opportunity for that. Electric cars draw attention, as they are distinctive and rather Jetsonian.

While charging in New Mexico, a retired guy wearing a cowboy hat called out from his hay-filled pickup. “Is that one of those electric cars?” That turned into a 15-minute conversation about how they work and a chance to interact with an interesting local. We soon heard about bears, bobcats and big horn sheep found in the area.

While exiting a gas station that had chargers, a woman passing in another car called out of her window, “What is that?”

“It’s a Tesla--all electric,” my wife replied.

“Cool,” she says. “I thought it was something like that.”

Destination
Once we arrived at our in-laws’ home in southern Arizona, we plugged into their electrical outlet designed for charging their motor home and its appliances, etc. But it took about 20 hours to reach an 80% charge! Since they live in a mountainous area without supercharger access, my wife’s parents took over driving for all of our activities. In bigger cities, charging is easy and fast, and with our home system set up by an electrician for $500, it takes only 4-5 hours to fully charge our car. We typically do that over night when electricity costs the least.

Having our black car sit idle in the Arizona sun convinced us to lower the windows to promote airflow. But it wasn’t as easy as I had hoped. Tesla offers free downloaded upgrades via WIFI and one of those updates instructs the car to automatically raise the windows upon exit. Nice feature, normally. I called Tesla regarding how to disengage that but 2 reps were unable to figure it out. That’s why it’s wise to belong to the Tesla Owners Facebook group. I posted my dilemma and within a short time a fellow owner showed me exactly how to find the toggle on our monitor to switch off that feature.

These are rolling computers, so it’s no different than learning a new feature on your desktop or laptop.

Aside from matters peculiar to e-cars, traveling during a pandemic was not so unusual. Restaurants were open, but we dined indoors only a couple of times, as the weather was ideal. Stores welcomed shoppers. Hotels received guests. We encountered masked people almost everywhere we went so travelers and residents alike generally were taking the pandemic seriously. In the Old Town section of Albuquerque, replete with shops, almost everybody milling around outside wore masks.

Staying with vaccinated relatives also gave us a measure of confidence as we re-engaged with the world after a long hiatus at home in Madison. Our electric car led us out of the doldrums.

E-cars are the future but they’re also the present. They are clean, reliable and require almost no maintenance. They are available right now. Best of all, they’re getting more affordable with longer battery range.

If you’re like most, once you make the electronic transition, you’ll never buy another gas car. Our trip West sealed the deal for us.

Tesla Model 3 after 2 Years and 50K Miles

Tesla cars are showing up with more frequency in Madison, as people become more comfortable with the brand. Just today, I noticed 3 while running errands on the west side, and another 4 during my hour-long walk with the dogs. One was a Model Y and the rest were Model 3s.

April 2019

Since we’re coming up on the 2-year anniversary of buying our Model 3, I thought it would be a good time to assess our experience as we approach 50,000 miles. Going electric, I wasn’t quite sure about the maintenance costs and long term stability of the car but I am gaining confidence all the time.

In two years, this is the maintenance we had done:

• Squeaky joints replaced (under warranty)

• Door handle adjustment (under warranty)

• Smelly AC addressed with a cleaner (Tesla had to do it) and new cabin filter replaced ($138)

• New tires at 37,000 miles ($856)

That’s the list.

Total cost: $988.

Here’s the deal with the tires. Electric cars are heavy and are harder on tires. Plus, Teslas are very fast and fun to drive, which is also harder on tires. I have tried to be a more conservative driver and get the tires rotated regularly to see if I can get more wear on this set of tires. We’ll see.

In the 2 years of ownership, we’ve been to New York twice and generally use the Model 3 for everything. We’re heading West next month so we’ll see how that goes. We have 2 other cars but we rarely use them. If the M3 is here, it’s taken first. There is 0 chance we will ever buy a gas car again.

Home charging is a snap. We paid an electrician $500 to install a 240 amp plug in our garage, which gives us about 32 miles of range per hour. That mean’s we’re fully charged over night every time. When on the road, Tesla superchargers are all over the interstate, and take about 20 minutes to give us a full charge up to our 238 mile range. But in rural communities, charging is rather spotty.

If you haven’t guessed already, electricity is way cheaper than gas. The most I ever paid to “fill up” was $11 at a store near O’Hare and the least was $1.50 in a small town in Ohio.

We’re nearly 50,000 miles in on this car so I’d say this is a decent test. The car is reliable and there is almost no maintenance required. Elon Musk has said Tesla motors should last 500,000- 1,000,000 miles! But what if we only get 250,000 miles?! Interestingly, I saw our exact version of the M3 (similar miles, too) on sale at cars.com for $38,000. That’s what we paid 2 years ago after credits, etc.

Past the 50,000 mile mark we’ll likely see a diminution of battery range but so far it has been minimal. We go by the 80/20 rule which is supposed to be ideal for getting the most bang from the battery. We only charge over 80% if going on a trip. If you use the energy soon after the full charge it should be fine. But you would not want it fully charged sitting in the garage with nowhere to go.

For the future, I have my eye on the Model Y, as it has nearly twice the interior room of the M3, is all wheel drive and has a much longer battery range. At $50,000 it’s out of our price range but hopefully as e-cars go mainstream, and they will, the costs will come down. Plus, we should have another 200,000 miles to put on this one!

What will also help for the e-car to go mainstream is having a place to test drive one before buying. I just learned a Tesla service center will open in Madison on the west side. If it’s like the one in Milwaukee, they’ll offer test drives there, too. That’s key because once you get in one you soon realize how distinct and superior they are.

No regrets at the 2-year mark.

Exhausting Every Possibility

Who'd even think an exhaust system could be so intriguing?

 I just picked up our Acura, after getting a new tailpipe and muffler. Big deal, says you. Yes, it is, says I!

Why? Because we bought this car new in 2003, and it's the original exhaust system.  Yep, we got 174,228 miles on that muffler!

How is that even possible? For most of my life, I remember getting a new muffler every three or four years. And before I did, those cars sounded like a Harley roaring down the road.

But not in this case.  The Acura engine just didn't sound quite right. Maybe a little lower tone or something. Sure enough, the service guy said the exhaust system was barely even there any more and needed to be replaced pronto. No argument here.

Of course, the cost of a replacement exhaust, at least for an Acura, is way above what I remember with previous cars, Toyotas mostly. Today's repair cost close to $750. The thing may well be made of stainless steel, but I don't know. No matter, though, if it's going to last 174,000 miles, that's the deal of a century. $.005 per mile!

Equally amazing, we replaced the tires on our Subaru Forester at 85,000 last fall. Even the tire place could not fathom how Maureen got 85,000 miles on those tires. Yes, she does almost all highway driving, but still, perplexing. And they weren't even bald. Just close enough, so we replaced them before going into another snow season. I suspect it might have something to do with the inflation system, and I am not talking about economics. Only the dealer can do it and the tires don't leak much of whatever is in there. Apparently, it's not just air.

The tire service guy said it might be just the right kind of tire for this vehicle, combined with the type of driving we do. So to test that theory, we bought exactly the same brand tire that came with it new. It's a Japanese tire--Yokohama. Maybe it was a total fluke, but what the heck, it's worth a try.

I find this small, positive trend quite satisfying, as most car stuff is way more expensive today than in the past. Replacing a starter used to be cheap. Now they're crazy expensive. Same for an air filter. Now new cars even have these really pricing "cabin filters." Spark plugs of the past, nothing. Today, they last forever but are expensive to replace and nearly impossible for a regular Joe to replace at home. Need a new car key? Get out your credit card.  Forget about going to the hardware store and getting it done for a buck or two.

So yeah, it's nice to see at least two areas of car maintenance moving in the opposite direction. Plus, cars generally are way more reliable than the rust buckets of the past. Hence our high mileage good fortune. 

Of course, there is a downside to this auto part longevity. I still have to remember to get a new muffler when the Acura hits 348,456 miles.

The Key to My Happiness?

A mystery solved? It looks like it, thanks to my mechanic from Percy's Service Station on Monroe Street.

For the past six months, I've had trouble starting my 2003 Acura consistently. I'd turn the key, with full power resulting, but the engine would not turn over. No clicking. No sound at all.

I'd turn it off and try again. Voila, it would fire up.

This ritual was getting old and I figured the ignition switch must be failing. Not that I know anything about ignition switches, but I already replaced the starter and a computer part that has something to do with the electrical system, so by process of elimination...

"That doesn't sound like an ignition switch," says Jerry, my 30-year mechanic.

Why not, says I.

Jerry says when ignition switches fail, they fail. They don't work intermittently. So what else could it be?

He says, "Maybe it's the key."

I'm thinking he's referring to the battery powered fob that locks the doors and opens the trunk, but no, he's talking about the key itself that goes into the ignition. He says some now go for $400 or more because of the electrical components in them.

It turns out these electrical parts within the key itself have some connection to the starter, the ignition or something in there. That's why making a duplicate key no longer costs $2 but $50 or $100 plus.

Apparently, these parts don't last forever--at least not 14 years.

Well, that's an easy test. So I switched out the key I had been using. And? I could not get it to fail at all. Five straights starts without incident.

I think Jerry wins the prize.

Farewell Mysteries

My mom's passing on December 13 reminded me of some rather intriguing circumstances regarding the last moments of people's lives. Even our mother surprised my sisters moments before she passed. Unfortunately, I wasn't there on the day she succumbed. 

But let's start with the story of my dad's best buddy, Mellow. He passed away shortly after my dad died nearly 10 years ago. He was in his late eighties. When I went to Mel's funeral, he was lying there in the casket with a smile on his face! It could not be mistaken for anything else. I'd never in my life seen a smile on the face of a deceased person.

I said to my mom, Can you believe this? Did the funeral home somehow do this?  She said, "No. Didn't you hear the story about it?"

It turns out Mel died with a smile on his face! He was getting some sort of non-emergency medical evaluation and died during the procedure at the clinic. But before he passed, Mel said, "I see Angie!" Those were his last words.

Angie was his wife, who preceded him in death. Hmm.

Then there was my parents' other lifelong friend, Phil, who just died a month ago. Phil's wife preceded him in death. His niece told me the story of how Phil was alone in his house shortly after Rosemary passed, when early in the morning he heard something while he was in bed. Phil assumed his daughter came over. But when he got up, he found no daughter and he heard the words, "I'm okay." Then he noticed something like mist, which then dissipated. Hmm.

My friend Kay Heggestad, a physician who has long had an interest in end-of-life care, told me in White Coat Wisdom that, inexplicably, people seemed to have an ability to time the moment of death. She told of multiple examples of how patients waited until loved ones arrived, the beginning of the new year, attendance at a wedding or other event, etc. Once those goals were achieved, the patient would pass. Hmm.

Now my mom's situation. Two of my sisters and two of my mom's grandchildren were with her before she died. Mom had long stopped communicating at this point and was sleeping constantly.

"Her breathing was very sporadic," said my sister Joan, who was there when mom passed. "She opened her eyes for maybe ten seconds. She was looking straight ahead, upward," Joan added. Mom had tears in her eyes.

Naturally, one wonders, What was she looking at? And, why did she open her eyes at that moment when she was no longer conscious?

Hmm.

Countdown to 1,000

They’re lurking everywhere. Ironic names, that is.

In the newspaper. On TV. In radio stories. And of course, on the Internet. A few of my recent favorites are gun rights advocate Amy Hunter, clean energy promoter Jay Cole and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spokesperson Nicole Coffin.

My Wacky News Names book, which is filled with such aptronyms or apt names, came out a few years ago. But that didn’t stop me from collecting. In fact, I’ve found and noted about 260 more names since the book was published and am only four names away from totaling 1,000!

Collecting these names is word play, plain and simple. Many are really obvious like a realtor named Amy Agent or a singer named Eddie Cantor. But sometimes they’re just funny! Dick Bacon was a Milwaukee guy known for sun tanning all year round. R.O. Crapo authored a report on toxic manure. Thank you, Eric Korbitz. Yes, I have observant friends who feed my addiction.

These are all real names, even if some are hard to believe. You just need a little faith. Perhaps visit the congregation led by Pastor Wilfredo De Jesus. If he can’t inspire you, maybe Roger DePriest’s biblical counseling service might do the trick.

When I did an interview with Channel 3 regarding Wacky News Names, anchor Eric Franke mentioned that in his business, some weather broadcasters make up their names. As an example, he told me about the meteorologist Dallas Raines, an obvious fake. I’d never heard of the guy. But after that interview I checked, and sure enough, there is a weather guy by that name. I also found that his relatives detailed their family history to prove that Raines is indeed his real name!

Sure, it’s hard to imagine that Linda Finger became a gynecologist, or that John Grade is an education professor, or that officer Tom Jones arrested David Cassidy. But these people live and breathe, as reported in newspapers and other media every single day.

I’ve even met a few of these folks in person. I was lucky enough to dine with Dr. Frankenstein himself in Sacramento about five years ago. He penned the foreword to my book.

Of course, I wonder if a guy named Ed Wall was destined to become a corrections secretary or whether it is only a coincidence. In the end, it really doesn’t matter. The serendipity of the name discoveries is what makes it so enjoyable for me.

So after about thirty years, I am up to 996 names! The next four may be discovered in a couple of weeks. Maybe sooner or much later. You just never know. Sometimes there’s a drought and I don’t notice any for quite a while.

The only thing I can tell you for sure about this phenomenon is that I am grateful that I’ve never been a patient of vasectomy specialist Richard Chopp.

The Wright Brothers by David McCullough

Read The Wright Brothers by David McCullough not only for the wonderful narrative about the Ohio bike mechanics who invented the airplane, but for the stunning photos that document their achievement.

My personal favorite is the photo of the flying machine over the Statue of Liberty.

But it was the first plane, which Orville flew for 12 seconds near Kitty Hawk, South Carolina, that really is amazing. In the whole scheme of things, air travel is not that old. You can actually go see the original plane at the Air and Space Museum.  

Until reading this book, I didn't realize the pilot was lying on his stomach, using his weight to maneuver the plane.

McCullough, the author who also narrated the Civil War series by film maker Ken Burns, is a talented story-teller in his own Wright (ha-ha). He deftly introduces us to the Wright family, describing how meticulous and dedicated each is to the pursuit of knowledge. That's what led to the first airplane; not a desire for wealth or fame.

I loved the way he concluded the biography, noting that Neil Armstrong was also an Ohio native. To honor the Wrights, Armstrong carried a piece of muslin cloth from the original 1903 flyer when he walked on the moon in 1969.

I have this beautiful silver coin which commemorates the first flight. It means a lot more to me now that I know their story. 

Steve Jobs and Fresh Air

What a fantastic program Fresh Air put on as the new Steve Jobs movie debuts.  It's such a beautiful day for a walk, so I suggest listening to this Fresh Air podcast and hear Steve Jobs explain how he and his buddy Woz created a computer company.

We also hear from Biographer Walter Isaacson, who discusses Jobs and what it was like to work with him. We also hear the Wisconsin connection to Steve Jobs, as both of his biological parents attended UW Madison. The fact that Jobs had met his father at a restaurant a couple of times but did not know the guy was his father is truly mind blowing.

The Isaacson book is fantastic so I am eager to see how Aaron Sorkin developed the screen play for the movie.

Bottled Water--Less than Refreshing Economics

At the Art Fair on the Square earlier this summer, I was struck by a sign. "Soda: $1.50. Water: $2.50."

Interesting that plain old water is making such a splash these days. It is actually in high enough demand to command a higher price than the sugared stuff. That's actually a good, healthy sign. Madison really is a progressive place.

I'm all for the popularity of water drinking over soda, but I am rather amazed at the price points. Over the weekend,  I was twice struck by the sticker price for a small bottle of cool water.

In Illinois, we were at the convention center in Rosemont attending the big coin conference. Olivia was thirsty so we walked up to the refrigerator in the lobby and pulled out a bottle. The clerk rang it up at $3.50! Damn, that's some mighty expensive water. I found the experience rather ironic, given we were in close proximity to one of the largest freshwater lakes on the planet!

Yesterday, we were even closer to that same lake and the price was higher. At Irish Fest on the Summerfest grounds, which is literally on the shores of Lake Michigan on a sweltring afternoon, Olivia again needed something to drink. We went up to a stand and they were selling the same brand of water...for $4.00. Yikes! I once read that it costs about a penny or two for that much water out of the tap.

This time, we glanced around the corner for alternatives before plopping down the cash.. Is that A bubbler?!  What a discovery.

That water was refreshing in more ways than one.

Can We Trust the News? And What is News, Anyway?

A recent Mitch Henck column regarding so-called “a la carte media” really hit a nerve. To compare Rush Limbaugh to Dan Rather, Peter Jennings, Tom Brokaw and AP makes a mockery of journalism. Partisan talk radio doesn’t equal news coverage any more than Fox News equals actual news.

“The good news is nothing is wrong with a la carte media,” argues Henck. I wish. Everything is wrong with partisan media. Political talkers are fast and loose with the facts. Sometimes it appears that they actually make them up, or they just keep saying the same thing over and over again. How many times can Fox News scream Benghazi via its hosts or flashing graphics? Enough times to create many opinions that are far from informed.

Anybody interested in actual journalism should read the Loudest Voice in the Room, by journalist Gabriel Sherman. His well-researched, even account of Roger Ailes convincingly argues that his Fox News empire offers pure propaganda and little resembling journalism. Ailes has an ideological product to sell and millions of like-minded viewers are all too ready to buy. Nothing to worry about, Mitch? Nothing to worry about if you don’t care about facts.

Henck’s main premise, though, is on target. Most of us may well be guilty of what academics call confirmation bias. We watch and listen to people who largely confirm our own views. That’s not good because we shut ourselves off from those who may teach us something not readily in our experience. What’s worse, though, is to declare all mainstream journalism biased and take cover under partisan sources of information, often deeply flawed and or misleading, and claim that is the “other side.” No. A fact is not liberal or conservative. It’s just reality.

Do reporters and news outlets have a political slant? Sure. One of my UW-Madison journalism professors once told our class that, “total objectivity is death.” We are all shaped by our life experience and we all have opinions. This, however, doesn’t mean real journalists go into work with a political agenda. Good reporters work hard to get the facts and present them fairly. For almost a decade, I filed for what Henck considers “liberal” NPR. I can assure you that the editors at NPR are as thorough and professional as any reader or listener would hope. I could never get away with just filing some political diatribe because that happened to be my point of view. To put NPR on the same scale as Fox is less than credible. They are completely different animals. One is a journalism shop; the other is not.

It’s also a mistake to assert that the “a la carte media” simply provide an alternative view. The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal—two great pillars of journalistic excellence—provide a different focus on the content but they actually report news! They come at it from different vantage points but real journalism strives for fairness, thoroughness and accuracy.

Partisan talkers—left and right—, as well as ideological websites and organizations, primarily fan the flames of partisan rancor. They don’t help us learn and allow us to make up our minds based on the facts. With all of the heat “a la carte media” generate, the main thing lost is enlightenment.

So yes, there is a monumental difference between speaking loudly into a microphone and reporting the news.

In Memory of Dr. Phil Dougherty

One of the most compassionate physicians I've been privileged to know has passed away at age 84. Philip Dougherty, MD, of Menominee Falls, was an internist who dedicated himself to educating people about end-of-life planning. He saw too many patients die in a way that went against their own wishes because family members couldn't agree how to proceed.

I've pulled a six-minute segment from an interview I did with Doctor Dougherty back in 2007, when I interviewed him for my book, White Coat Wisdom. He would be thrilled that people learned more about the death process when hearing about his own passing.

Doctor Dougherty died at home on April 2, 2015. His son, Phil, says the family carried out his wishes almost exactly as he prescribed.

End of an Era for Italian-American Family

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In 1907, my dad's father, Steve, sailed through Ellis Island from Sicily on the ship pictured. He settled in Milwaukee where he and his wife, Francesca, raised eight children. Very soon, the last surviving member of that Busalacchi clan will pass on. My Uncle Joe, the baby of the family, is now terminally ill in hospice. He is 92 years old, and according to my cousin Mike, not responsive.

Yes, it's sad but not terribly sad. My late father Sam (88) and his siblings enjoyed extraordinary longevity. Uncle Tony died last August at age 100! The eldest brother, Sebastian, was 99 when he passed away in 2012. The others also enjoyed plenty of years in retirement: Antonia (94), Peter (85), John (83) and Agatha (80). Heart disease was probably the most common cause of death, though cancer struck, as well.

All eight siblings lived through extraordinary times. My remaining uncle, Joe, told me his mom was known as a "Five-Star Mother," having sent five of her six sons to fight in World War II. They all survived that trauma and returned to Milwaukee to start their own families.

Before then, they all lived at 209 N. Jackson Street, Milwaukee, on what it is now the Summerfest Grounds. My dad told me how he used to swim naked in Lake Michigan during the summers. He also told me about living in this childhood house in Milwaukee. His eldest brother had his own room, as did their two sisters. The other five boys shared a single bedroom!

Although their father was a fisherman, and later in Milwaukee, a foundry worker, the sons all pursued different occupations. Mail carrier, plumber, iron worker, factory worker, bar owner and public works director. No radio reporters!

The boys (except my dad) soon tired of Milwaukee's ice cold weather and headed for Florida, although one brother, Uncle John, went west to Las Vegas. I remember deep tans on all of them, especially my Uncle Tony. My dad, on the other hand, stayed put. He loved Milwaukee and took the winters in stride.

My father's family is on a different journey now, soon to be re-united spiritually, after 107 years in this country. My grandfather came here, according to Ellis Island records, with less than $50 in his pocket and could not speak English. My father rightly described him as a pioneer. Indeed he was.

With his youngest son about to pass, it is heart breaking, but incredulous, too. 

Who loves the IRS?

Who loves the IRS? How many hands are raised? OK, I'm no big fan, either. Even so, this is not a rant against the agency. In fact, today was an absolutely extraordinary day for us, in terms of our interaction with our tax collectors.

You get one of these in the mail, and it's, Oh crap..

The saga concluded today but began more than six months ago. The initial letter told us we owed $750 for something related to our nanny from 3 years ago. How could we be that far off? You plug in the numbers and the HR Block software crunches the numbers. But HR Block has an Ironclad guarantee. If you are ever audited, we will be there by your side the whole way.

 Uh-hu. So we called Block and the rep recommended we just pay the $750, avoid any extra interest and then dispute it. If the software was wrong, they'll pay. Right. What are the odds that the frickin software is wrong? Gazillions of parents also have nannies and Block was unaware of any other problems. We're screwed.

So what do you do? You cut a check, because nobody is going to hire a tax attorney regarding $750. But I did at least want an explanation.

Interesting, how the letter says we owe this cash but doesn't say why. So you have to call. After waiting quite a while, Maureen gets an agent who says we need to ask in writing. Why? She explains that the IRS is short-staffed and doesn't have people at the ready to answer questions like this.

So they have people at the ready to say we owe $750 but no people to explain why.

The IRS requested a copy of our tax return for that year, in addition to the form regarding the nanny. I dug it up and sent it in, all the while wondering why the IRS doesn't have this information already. I mean, they examined the return and determined I ripped them off by $750!

We still get no explanation, so we write the letter asking for it. In a couple weeks, we get a response. Thanks for writing, but we're still really busy. We will respond at a later date. I believe we went through another round of letters like that, too. So busy, no time to explain why we needed your $750 so urgently from three years ago.

Look, we knew damn well we weren't going get any of that money back, but geez, we are entitled to an explanation, right? Well, today it came.

Maureen got this letter while I was outside digging up bushes.

"We got a letter from the IRS," She began. "You're not going to believe it."

Here we go. I was expecting it to detail how I screwed up the form somehow and how they have now checked previous years for additional problems and we owe even more.

But it went a completely different direction and I can hardly believe it. I was right and the IRS was wrong. Let me say that one more time: THE IRS WAS WRONG!

Tell me the last time you heard that the IRS admitted it made a mistake and was sending out a check?

Read for yourself, in case you think I'd make this up.

That figure includes interest, by the way...

Winner-Take-All Politics by Jacob S. Hacker & Paul Pierson

The sub-title of Winner-Take-All Politics nicely sums up the content of this fascinating, very readable book about what happened to national politics in the U.S. over the past thirty years: How Washington Made the Rich Richer--And turned Its Back on the Middle Class.

The authors, both political scientists, describe in detail how Republican politics moved much farther to the right with a zeal for tax cuts targeted specifically for the extremely rich. Voters, on the other hand, have not changed that much politically. The authors cite surveys which find much more moderation in the country than in the halls of Congress, though Conservatives have gained more adherents to their philosophy.

They quote Bruce Bartlett, one of the main proponents of Jack Kemp's supply-side economics proposals and an adviser to Ronald Reagan and the first President Bush.

Bartlett says GOP fiscal philosophy has become "so distorted into something that is, frankly, nuts--the ideas that there is no economic problem that cannot be cured with more and bigger tax cuts, that all tax cuts are equally beneficial, and that all tax cuts raise revenue."

The authors report that the top 0.1% grabbed over 20 percent of all after-tax income gains between 1979 and 2005. The bottom 60% got 13.5 percent.

Greed certainly plays a central role in this drama. The Republican Party figured out how to raise massive amounts of money from corporations and Wall Street. These interests demanded their due and they got it in the form of favorable policy that lowered tax rates, especially benefiting those in the top tier of the 1% income earners.

The Democratic Party also caught on and started raising huge funds as well, and since those on Wall Street were constituents of some powerful Democrats, they provided the necessary additional votes to allow deregulation of the financial industry, creating Enron, Worldcom and ultimately a near collapse of the banking system.

Trying to right the ship has been nearly impossible because of the GOP strategy of blocking nearly every initiative brought by the minority party. That's been accomplished by changing the filibuster rules. When the GOP consistently votes in lockstep, it is able to thwart just about anything the President champions, making him and the minority party look weak and ineffectual.

Where this leaves middle class voters is up a creek without a paddle or a boat, for that matter. Unions have been so defeated and organizations representing voters and good government have been so underfunded, relatively speaking, there are few voices to thwart the rapacious appetites of wealthy, well-represented interests groups.

Sadly, government is not functional in Washington today unless you have unimaginable wealth and a cadre of lobbyists to represent you.

As we celebrate the nation's independence, one can only wonder what in the world Jefferson and Adams would think of this.