Each month, the President of CMERA, Chuck Cullen, publishes his account of the universe we live in. His post may include information, news of interest to retirees, and/or opinions of the world around us.
Contents of The President’s Perspective are those of Chuck Cullen solely, and may or may not reflect the views of the Governing Board.
President’s Perspective – October 2026
General Meeting
October 10th is nearly here! Only a few days until the fall general meeting of CMERA. By this time, you should have received your newsletter informing you of the agenda for the meeting. Coffee and donuts will be served from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. when the business meeting starts. This is also a great time to join CMERA, renew your membership, or update your contact information. Stop by the First Unitarian Church of Cincinnati located at the corner of Reading Road and Linton on October 10th.
If you cannot attend, we hope to have the meeting recorded and posted to our website afterwards. The newsletter has a membership renewal form for your use. Just mail the form with your dues (and possibly a donation).
My Mistake
A few of you noticed an error in the fall newsletter The date for the first meeting of 2027 was printed as Saturday May 10th. It should be Saturday May 9th. I take full responsibility for the mistake. I also want to thank those who read the newsletter, particularly those who noticed and reported the error.
Personal Reflections on 9/11 #1
I was scheduled to arrive on the evening of September 10, 2001 to begin a new consulting assignment in Hoboken, New Jersey. I was to meet a colleague from the Chicago office that morning for a get-acquainted session with Hoboken officials. A family matter forced me to delay my arrival until the evening of the eleventh. That morning, however, I heard on the car radio about the terrorist attack in New York, across the river from Hoboken. A few hours later, the airports were closed. My colleague called me and told me not to come. The assignment would be rescheduled. He could view the smoke from the Twin Towers. I informed him that the airports were closed nationwide so he could not fly back to Chicago. He went to the Newark airport anyway, rented a car, and drove it home. On this anniversary of 9/11, I recalled my colleague who has since passed away and my family matter that kept me from the area on that day.
Personal Reflections on 9/11 #2
The NFL opened the season this year with remembrances of 9/11 before every game. The National Anthem was sung prior to those games I saw on TV. As the Anthem was sung, nearly everyone stood in silence. A few mouthed the words. This was in stark contrast to the crowd at the game in Melborn Australia. They played the U.S. National Anthem, then they played the Australian National Anthem. Wow! Many in the crowd of nearly 100,000 sang the words of their county’s anthem. No further comment.
Personal Reflections on 9/11 #3
On 9/11, there was a national broadcast of a memorial service in New York City. Behing the soft stings of a musician, people would take turns citing the names of victims of the attack. The event was intended to be solemn, and it was, except for my new personal hero, Terry Strada. She is the widow of Tom Strada who died in the World Trade Center. After she read the name of her husband, she pleaded for the release of documents that she claimed connected the Saudi Arabia government to the terrorist. Her plea was made not only in front millions of TV viewers, but also in front of former Presidents Clinton, Bush, Obama, and Vice President Vance. That took balls!. I don’t know if her claims of Saudi influence is true, but her conviction is certainly true. She is my new personal hero.
Personal Reflections on 9/11 #4
We all, on occasions, dislike some policy or action of the government. But we are able to speak out, peacefully, to protest. Terry Strada exercised that right proving that, despite its faults, we live in a great nation. God bless the USA. Let’s sing our National Anthem more!
A Visit From Thor, God of Thunder
After my morning shower, I removed my cell phone from its charging stand. The battery icon indicated only a 78% charge, not 100%. I placed the phone back against the charger and it failed to charge. I then connected my phone to a standard charging cable and it began charging. So, I decided to shop for a new charging station that day. I began by performing a Google search but the app failed to locate any websites matching my search criteria. All I observed was a pulsating circle. The phone was unable to locate an internet signal. I then checked my email. Again, no internet. I tried using my desktop computer. No difference there – still no internet. I picked up my landline phone to call Cincinnati Bell but there was no dial tone. So, now I realized all my services from Cincinnati Bell were not working. Using my cell phone, I called Cincinnati Bell. They informed me that there was no service outages in my area. The person then asked me to perform a few simple tests. That required me to open the garage door and look outside at the fiber line utility box. Still no internet or dial tone. This resulted in scheduling a service call for the next day. I then pressed the wall button to lower my garage door. It started downward then jerked up immediately. Every time I tried to lower the garage door, it would only lower a foot then raise back up. I assumed there was some dust on the door safety beam so I dusted the lenses. No luck. The springs and cables looked good. Still no luck. That generated another service call.
Now before lunch, I had a trusted handyman stop by to give me an estimate on extending an outdoor drainpipe. During recent and repeated heavy rains, I could see the drain was not working. It seems lots of sediment had blocked the end of that drainpipe. The solution was to extend the drain to prevent future sediment accumulation. He measured, observed, asked questions, and then left to prepare a quote.
With the handyman now gone, I decided to continue my quest for a phone charger. I manually raised the garage door and drove my car into the driveway. Then, I manually lowered the door. Off to Best Buy to buy a phone charging stand. Now, it was after 12:30 p.m. and Bob Evans was adjacent to Best Buy so that became my lunch spot. It was over a chicken salad sandwich that I was overcome with an urge to shop and spend money. Maybe this is what people refer to as retail therapy. I finished my lunch and headed down the street to Furniture Fair. About an hour later, my therapy session was over. I had a new loveseat and two power glider recliners with adjustable headrest. Oh, I even got two color-coordinated pillows (The pillows came with the loveseat. They said “no” when I asked if they could exclude the pillows and give me a $25 credit.)
On Friday night I watched a couple of DVDs while I visited some old friends, Mr. Bacardi and Mr. Coke. By the end of the second drink, I began to realize that the retail therapy session that day was expensive but it did make me feel better.
Follow Up
That same Friday, I removed the new phone charger from its box and plugged it in. It worked.
The technician from Cincinnati Bell arrived on schedule the next day. He quickly diagnosed the problem and replaced the faulty power adapter (brick). Internet and phone service is now fully functional. It seems some mysterious force created an electrical short in the power unit.
On the following Monday, the garage door technician arrived and replaced the door safety sensor units. The door now works. Again, something caused a short in the units.
It was then I realized these electronic components were harmed by a nearby lightning strike from the storm Thursday evening. I recalled the very loud boom – a greeting from Thor. Just when I believed everything was functioning as normal, my computer failed to print. Fortunately, the problem was a USB printer cable that suddenly failed due to the same power surge. Luckily, I had a replacement cable.
Al least I will soon enjoy my new furniture.
Vote Vote Vote
November 3rd is Election Day. No election is unimportant!
Until next month…