These last few years of my life have taken a heavy toll on my mental and physical health. I find myself being forced on a daily basis to recognize, embrace, and be semi-proud(?) of my geriatric condition(s) and vast wisdom which supposedly comes with the elderly years. I am not so sure. There are times and situations that are profoundly humbling and a tad-bit, shall I say, messy? Hence, I’ve been reassessing my point in life right now and have come to the conclusion that… well, I am indeed “old.” I am more frail, more forgetful, more slow, more aware (and certainly respectful) of my bodily functions—my ‘organs’ sometimes have an agenda of their own that doesn’t always agree with mine—and more so when out in public realizing that many people around me are much younger than I.
I Know I’m “Old” When…
…You hear your favorite songs on an elevator. Or when you begin heading to bed around 8:00 or 8:30pm and wake about 4:30 to 5:30am. Geezz.
…Almost everything on or in your body hurts, and what doesn’t hurt stopped working years ago, like your libido and what it used to be (in happy harmony with) and engorge.
…The birthday candles cost more than your cake and were delivered by cargo containers on naval freight ships.
…In the morning you mimic an upside down turtle while trying to get out of bed.
Can I get a push someone?
…On the toilet you pull four rib muscles just turning or maneuvering to wipe yourself. Then you are unable to pull your britches back up. And speaking of the loo/bathroom…
…You can sneeze, cough, pee, and fart all at the same time! WTH? Which by the way, leads to more frequent wearing of “adult diapers.” Exciting, huh?
And then perhaps the most smacking moment that really hits you in the geriatric gut…
…There is nothing else “to learn the hard way” except how to not be lost when you forget where you were going and why.
Live Well – Love Much – Laugh Often – Learn Always – Then Forget It
Why do ICE agents have the need to hide, to cover, to mask, to not be forthcoming in their identity? If one has the absolute moral conviction in their abiding to, the vows by, and for the U.S. Constitution and how its citizens have rights to demonstrate peaceably their grievances against the (Trump) government in all branches (Renee Nicole Good was NOT a threat to any federal agent)… then WHY on Earth would you feel the need to hide your identity? It is a very legitimate question! It is also very telling.
It is not a stretch to argue that IF you think/feel the need to HIDE your facial and personal identity, then it is equally assumed that YOU (the persons hiding their true identity) are involved in, associated with, and/or committing illegal acts… or are an accessory to unconstitutional behaviors and acts. If you are doing nothing wrong and all you do is uphold and abide by the U.S. Constitution for legal residents of the United States, then there is no reason whatsoever to hide your identity. Right?
And yet this is precisely what most all ICE agents do under the authorization of Trump and Trump’s loyalists. Period.
There is something rotten, very evil going on from the White House that is violating all kinds of illegal behavior and actions in this Union of States in (no surprise whatsoever) every city or state that is “Blue” or not aligned with extremist Red Trump authoritarianism. Hitler, Saddam Hussein, Stalin, Kim Jong Un, and a long list of dictators in history that enacted the exact same ‘marshal law’ to wipe out and remove (permanently) their political opposition. This is precisely what Trump and MAGA Repubs are following to a tee in this country.
Wake up American voters, citizens, and true patriots of democracy. Your entire country and federal government have been removed from the core principles our Founding Fathers designed and ratified for this country. This is NOT by any means a legitimate republic democracy of the people, by the people, or for the people. It is slipping away, fast.
Live Well – Love Much – Laugh Often – Learn Always – Remove MAGA
I have been a big fan of Ken Burns and his many exceptional, award-winning historical documentaries on PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) over the last few decades. The biggest reason? He does not skimp or cheat his audiences from historical accuracy, historical facts, historical context, or how history always, always applies today. This is never more true than with modern history—everything after the end of the Middle Ages, c.1500 CE, to the present—and how much we Americans are still living it, in fact, it can never be ignored nor should it be. Ever!
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“To be ignorant of what occurred before you were born is to remain always a child. For what is the worth of human life, unless it is woven into the life of our ancestors by the records of history?”
— Marcus Tullius Cicero, circa 69 BCE
Cicero’s famous oratory as a Roman constitutionalist made him a statesman with no loyalties to either nobility, patrician, or plebian. He was a well-educated citizen for all the people of the empire. His work should echo in Washington, D.C. every single day and as far south as Palm Beach, Florida, and Mar-a-Lago.
Do Americans Know Enough About Their Own National History?
The short answer is no, and the age gaps are very telling: around 40% of older Americans (65+ years old) are able to show proficiency. Sadly, only 19–27% of those under the age of 45 showed proficiency in modern American history [Institute for Citizens & Scholars]. This translates to just 4-in-10 Americans passing basic history and civics tests (2019). And today it is worse, much worse. This has been an American downward trend the last several decades. To say that the United States has been raising and educating ignorant citizens of American history, not teaching their civic origins and/or their present livelihoods, is a gross understatement. “Houston, we have a problem,” a critical event-horizon problem.
“I’m embarrassed that, as a country, we don’t grasp our history. Everyone approaches it from the arrogance of the position of how it turns out. We are all in the grip of the present, but if you point out the parallels, they are dated immediately. People are always trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.”
What Burns, Richardson, Goodwin, Foner, McCullough, and so many other top American expert historians are alarmed about is the same thing, the same alarm I’ve been sounding since at least 2010 not just here on WordPress, but in my school classrooms when I was a Social Studies/History teacher for several years here in Texas. Drawing from the past and present Ken Burns could not be more unambiguous in his current dismay of Americans. The parallels of his newest docuseries, TheAmerican Revolution on PBS, and speaks to current incompetence of our civic knowledge, duties, and privileges and how it applies right now, whether he intended it or not when making the series. He states:
“…President Donald Trump’s romanticising executive order signed earlier this year to remove “revisionist” interpretations in museums and on monuments that question the “unparalleled legacy of advancing liberty, individual rights and human happiness”.
Trump’s Department of Education has forged a partnership with more than 40 rightwing organisations, including the America First Policy Institute, Turning Point USA and the Heritage Foundation — “dedicated to renewing patriotism, strengthening civic knowledge, and advancing a shared understanding of America’s founding principles in schools across the nation” — as part of celebrations of America’s 250th anniversary in July. On the White House’s official America 250 website, Larry Arnn, president of the conservative Hillsdale College, compares Trump to Abraham Lincoln in his desire to make America great again.”
— Ken Burns, ibid.
Burns and most all American history scholars, myself humbly included, label our current buffoon in the White House as “an insult to our [American] history” and its authentic contextual history and verifiable facts. And I feel these words are too polite and obtuse for the fake President.
Should any of you like to revisit or read some of my WordPress blogs on this troubling subject, I recommend the following from older to newest:
There are several more to be listed, but this is just introductory and relative to your interest, time constraints, and possibly much more in-depth education on American history, civic privileges/duties, and an American sociopolitical landscape past and present.
Live Well – Love Much – Laugh Often – Learn Always Your Nation’s History!
One month after my Mom’s passing on November 3rd, 2025, my wife Sandy accidentally fell the morning of (and half asleep going to the bathroom) December 3rd, 2025, and fractured her hip. I was in the kitchen and Mom’s room, separate from our bedroom, and managed to hear her scream for me twice. When I open the door she’s on the floor in obvious pain and cannot get up.
A few hours later after she tried to stick it out and be tough, it was becoming too painful to even get up off the couch to go to the bathroom—she drinks a lot of water daily. I call the EMT’s and ambulance for a “lift assist” to try one more time because Sandy does indeed have a very high pain-threshold. When she was 14 years old her 5th lumbar fell off the spinal column. Back surgery for hours then a body cast for 4-6 months I believe. Then years later her left hip required extensive repair, almost a total replacement. Again, immobile for several weeks. Let me tell you, this woman has the MOST determination, pain tolerance, and sense of humor needed that I’ve ever seen in a woman. It often amazes me how she does it.
Needless to say, Sandy was taken to the ER, x-rays done, then the following day the orthopedic surgeon said she needed repair surgery on her right hip. They scheduled it for the following day. Two and a half hours later, surgery done, she was moved from the O.R. to her surgery recovery floor and room for further treatment and rehab: physical therapy (PT) and occupational therapy (OT). Remarkably she began her PT/OT that same day! And she did very well; the staff was impressed.
Now today she is scheduled to be discharged to the rehab facility next week for further rehab… for a number of weeks—it depends on her progress there. To be determined.
Anyway, I’m letting everyone know here on WordPress that I am going to be out-of-pocket some more dealing with all the hospital stuff such as insurance, Sandy’s recovery, visitations to her, etc., etc., while also still dealing with Mom’s after-events from her death, like Social Security benefits, her estate, her probate, her testamentary, a possible probate attorney for all this due to my psychotic sister and her obsessive demand for money, basically doing my required duties as Mom’s Executor and Trustee. Then of course there is all the other daily, weekly tasks of life that must be done; paying bills, taking care of Dwain(?), and anything else I’m forgetting… which I will forget. 🙄 Therefore, this is also an update of my goings on if anyone is interested.
By the way, Sandy loves cats (header image), but especially black cats with gold eyes, like her “Bob” back in Chattanooga, Tennessee. That’s the purpose of those furry felines. 😉
Until later sometime, again…
Live Well – Love Much – Laugh Often – Learn Always
In addition to 48+ years of drug addiction, specifically crack cocaine and alcohol abuse and eight (8) prior felonies, my sister, Carolyn Louise Miller, has become the most miserable excuse to be an unhappy human on this planet, bent on making this life (and mine) a living hell for everyone, including to her own late Mom.
Now, this is what I received from the Texas Department of Family & Protective Services the other day:
Yes, I will be fighting this bullshit as long as it takes! Our Texas Department of Adult Protective Services (APS) are pursuing my legitimacy as my Mom’s caretaker, Durable Power of Attorney, Medical Power of Attorney, financial accountant, housekeeper, gourmet chef, and toiletry duties for her.
ALL OF THIS LEGAL CRAP (BULLSHIT) WAS INITIATED BY MY PSYCHOTIC, SOCIOPATHIC SISTER! Even Mom’s hospice team, nurses, doctors, techs, etc., are backing me 110%. Why? Because I did nothing wrong. I was only wanting to grant Mom’s final wishes in her last breath.
Therefore my blog-followers, I may be out-of-pocket a bit longer; hell… I might even end up in jail because I was TRYING to fulfill my Mom’s explicit last wishes as to how she wanted to pass away.
FACT: I took extremely good care of Mom between August 2021 until her death. Adult Protective Services of Texas, based out of San Antonio, Texas, see’s everything differently after just TWO 15-minute visits with Mom… when she couldn’t really talk coherently. In fact, most all of my lifetime friends said “Dwain, you have gone WAY BEYOND what most family members would ever do for their Mom and over 4-years and more.“
I will still be absent here on WordPress because I must deal with APS and all their legal accusations against me. Plus, my wife Sandy and I must quickly decide where we will move. My apologies everyone.
Live Well – Love Much – Laugh Often – Learn Always
I have zero expectation that anything I ever say will end someone’s belief in their God. Not my goal or purpose. That alone belongs to the individual. ~ Zoe
'Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it' - Terry Pratchett
The Professor's Convatorium 