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Teachings of My Father
My Father was a consummate learner and as such was a great teacher. During his lunch hours, siting outside on the sidewalk on Amador, he once watched as masons built a brick fence for a new business across the street. He would go over and ask questions about how to set brick and how to…
Read MoreTo Split With Reckless Abandon
Sometime after my father returned from WWII with his two purple hearts, he was helping his father to split eucalyptus for firewood. A couple of things to understand about eucalyptus wood: The hydraulic log splitter had yet to be developed Eucalyptus wood is nearly impossible to split due to the fibrous nature of the grain…
Read MoreDriving Grandmothers
My paternal grandmother became blind before I was born. She had gone through all the emotional stages when one has a disability thrown at them. So, my first childhood memories are filled with a productive, coping, loving blind grandmother. On one occasion she turned to me with a cookie in her hand projecting in my…
Read MorePhysical Handicaps to Overcome
The following excerpt is my personal philosophy based on my own life experiences. As I point out, this is a highly charged subject and I will not solve the world’s problems in regards to education and development of handicapped children. Few things are as emotionally charged as bringing forth a child that has a physical…
Read MoreBuilding Things
Reflecting on (now) 70 years of life, I realize that I have been witness to the building of many things. Over a period of several years as a child, I helped my grandfather build houses for 2,600 mating pairs of pigeon’s. Later, I got to feed them and to dig out the manure from underneath…
Read MoreOld Friends
Many years ago, I was leading a group of Boy Scouts out of the back country near Lillian Lake when we came upon another group of Scouts hiking in. They were resting, so we decided to rest also. After dropping off my back pack, I went over to talk with the “other” Scoutmaster. He had…
Read MoreKaren Picks A Plan
Karen was very anxious about her decision of what dental plan to sign up for. Which plan is best? What are the monthly costs? Which services will be covered? Which one’s will not? What does “yearly maximum” mean? Traditional, PPO’s, Company plans, Individual plans are just a few of her choices. Little did Karen know…
Read MoreThe Good Samaritan
The past couple of weeks has given me time to pause in amazement. I went into the grocery store to buy my wife a jar of lemon juice. As I waited in line, the lady in front of me saw that I had only one item to buy and kindly allowed me go ahead of…
Read MoreInsurance – Episode Three
In episodes One and Two, I discussed the history and the current trends in the business of dental insurance. I referred to these as the “dark side of the force.” Here, I would like to discuss the alternative, or the “light side of the force.” This is a membership plan. Patients pay a monthly fee…
Read MoreInsurance – Episode Two
In you missed Episode One, you can get caught up here. In the 1960’s a group of dentists here in California formed a dental insurance company named California Dental Service, otherwise known as the CDS. The dollar amount of payments was $1,000.00 per year. I remember the price of gasoline at that time being 28…
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