Monday Musings - December 10, 2018

1. It is mid-December. There are just two weeks until Christmas Eve! It is hard to believe that the holiday is arriving so quickly.

2. Today I go for the last of my 44 prostate cancer treatments! I am excited. It has become a part of my life and I will miss seeing the team at the treatment center every day. The 63 day journey has been far easier and passed more quickly than I imagined that it would.

3. It seems that our President has a poor sense of people, because he cannot seem to retain a staff. When someone leaves he usually has something bad to say about them. Well, if they are so bad, why did he hire them for the position?

4. We finally decorated our second Christmas tree this weekend. I can say that the Christmas decorations are all up and that the basement remodel project is complete!

5. Family Football results. It was a rough weekend for most of the family teams with three of them losing.

  Ravens (7-6) lost to Chiefs 24-27
  Redskins lost (6-7) Giants 16-40
  Steelers (7-5-1) lost to Raiders 21-24
  Cowboys (8-5) defeated Eagles 29-23

6. There are still leaves that need raking from my yard and the grasses around the pool need to be cut and removed. I certainly hope there is a near 50 degree day coming where I ca get these critical things accomplished. 

7. I am thankful that the big snowstorm missed us yesterday. 

8. Today in History, 1901. The first Nobel Prizes are awarded in Stockholm, Sweden, in the fields of physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, and peace. The ceremony came on the fifth anniversary of the death of Alfred Nobel, the Swedish inventor of dynamite and other high explosives. In his will, Nobel directed that the bulk of his vast fortune be placed in a fund in which the interest would be “annually distributed in the form of prizes to those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind.” Although Nobel offered no public reason for his creation of the prizes, it is widely believed that he did so out of moral regret over the increasingly lethal uses of his inventions in war.

Headlines

Your Apps Know Where You Were Last Night, and They’re Not Keeping It Secret - The New York Times

Wall St. Faces Stomach-Churning Swings as Economic Uncertainty Grows - The New York Times

Russians interacted with at least 14 Trump associates during the campaign and transition - The Washington Post

Macron prepares response to 'yellow vest' protesters as Paris cleans up - Reuters

Ronald Reagan Quote for the Week

Tonight, in millions of American homes, the glow of the Christmas tree is a reflection of the love Jesus taught us. Like the shepherds and wise men of that first Christmas, we Americans have always tried to follow a higher light, a star, if you will. At lonely campfire vigils along the frontier, in the darkest days of the Great Depression, through war and peace, the twin beacons of faith and freedom have brightened the American sky. At times our footsteps may have faltered, but trusting in God's help, we've never lost our way.

   -- Address to there Nation About Christmas and the Situation in Poland, December 23, 1981

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD