Opinion

When I was finally ready to "hang 'em up for good" and retire, my family was worried. You see, I had no real hobbies or plans for a third career like everyone in the TV ads. If you watch the commercials those on the verge of retirement are all better looking than I am and seem to have a bucket-load of unfilled desires, but I had none; I was just tired of  the daily grind.  Those who cared for me were concerned that I was going to sit around bored – and worse - drive them crazy.  Luckily, I've found satisfaction in doing small handyman projects around the house.

"It's tough to write a Thanksgiving column when the nation's economy is going so badly and so many of my fellow citizens are hurting. The problem for me is that I don't have the outlook of the politicians, they make their bones by being overly optimistic. I like to believe that I'm a realist, which also makes me a pessimist."  That was the opening of my Thanksgiving message for 2010, and nothing much has changed since. If anything, they have gotten worse.

Every politician wants to rebuild the Hoover Dam – at least metaphorically. At one time the national frustration phrase was, "If we can put a man on the moon why can't we...?" Now the moon is "old cheese" and we're invoking the Hoover Dam, but could we even build it today?

Reader upset about Gavilan board president's response

By Laura Perry

A county employee showed inconceivable neglect by failing to file in-home support services claims for state reimbursements totaling nearly $400,000, but the error points to a larger management problem and a need for officials to establish a more reliable system of checks and balances to ensure another serious misstep doesn't happen again.