7/31/2019 Stress is Driving Me Crazy

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Stress is part of life,proba-

bly more so todaythan

ever before. It comes in all

sizes from small to XXX-large.

Sometimes its created for us by

others, while most ofthe timewe cre-

ate it ourselves. It can ruin our day,

week, month, lifefor thatmatter.

Stress can happen in a nano sec-

ond.Yourerunninglate foran impor-

tant meeting andare racingdown the

highway but youre hitting every red

light. Then at the left turn green

arrow the lead vehicle is not moving

(probably texting,reading email) and

youre sixcar lengths back andhe or

shecant hear your horn.

Does this sound familiar? Weve

allbeen there andsaid wed never let

it happen again. Being prepared and

leaving early does help, but there are

still going to be times that are out of

our control when we have to calm

down andgo with theflow. Stressing

out can come from work, fear, fami-

ly, illness, school, multi tasking,

being a yes person, not getting

enough rest, yelling at inanimate

objects (people yell at computers?),

well, the list goes on.

De-stressing can be difficult. One

of the most de-stressing elements in

my lifetime has been the Andy

GriffithShow. I rememberas a young

man being ill andbehind in mywork

andturning onAndy andcompletely

chilling out. Throughout life I have

searched Andy on TV and cable

when I was wearing the X large orstronger version of stress. I always

felt peace, love, compassion, relax-

ation andcomfort when watching his

show.

I related toAuntBea, sheremind-

edmeofmygrandmotherwho raised

me, baking pies, cakes, and always

making sure my hair was combed

and there was no chocolate on my

face when I left to go back to school

after lunch break. Floyd the barber

was another that I found great peace

in. A man that wasnt real smart, but

cared about his friends dearly.

Goober and Gomer had personalities

you had to love. They were always

willing to help and go the extra mile

for everyone in Mayberry. And who

could forget Barney Fife (the

deputy). Hewasall of usat one time

or another in our lives. Facingdanger

and shaking like a leaf, chasing after

the girls but never sure of himself,

givingtickets and acting likeMr. Big

but you knew deep down he was

scared to death.

Andthen there was Andy, theone

every kid wanted for a father. Kind,

compassionate with time to share

down at the old fishing hole. Right

now Im in Defiance, Ohio with

Lucys mom and sister and the stress

is about 2X.

Im trying to write this column

during multiple arguments between

Momand Lucys sister, Barb. Moms

hearing isalmost gone andher vision

is no more than six inches, so shes

very difficult to communicate with.

We have multiple tasks to complete

in the nextfour hours beforewe head

home, so Im in dire need of a half

hour ofAndy to calm down.

Stress comes in waves like the

ocean,calmseas then thewindpicks

up and the sea starts rising, then the

white caps begin breaking and dan-

gerlooms . Rightnowthe whitecaps

arebreakingagainstthe seawallhere

in Defiance butit looks likethe wind

could be dying down shortly. My

sanity sure hopes so.

When we drove up here on

Sunday afterchurch,wenoticedmul-

tiple barns totally destroyed by

Fridays storm from two weeks ago.

We counted at least 10 huge barns

and several smaller onesripped apart

along Route 115from north of Lima

through Kalida and Route 15 into

Defiance.Wehadonepeartreein our

front yard blown right out of the

ground while we were looking out

our frontpicturewindow.

Next Tuesday at North Park, its

the Kim Kelly Orchestra playinghits

from the 40s through today. Plan on

arriving early for good seating and

remember to bring a lawn chair. The

show starts at 7 p.m. promptly. The

first concert on July 3 featuring

Ticket to Ride the Beatles cover

band dida great jobplaying the great

hits from the60s and70s bythe Fab

Four. A costume change at the mid

point brought out Sgt Peppers

Lonely Hearts Club band forthe sec-

ond half of the show as many came

downto thedance area infrontof thestage to dance and enjoy themselves

and it was hot with temps in the mid

90s. I thinkthe band was soaking wet

by the end of the show. Those cos-

tumes didnt look air conditioned to

me.Greatjob by a great bandhigh

fives to a Ticket to Ride. Hope to

have youback in the near future.

One final comment, a friend in

church came up to me and said he

read this columnlastweekand really

enjoyed it. Hethen asked ifI wrote a

column often and if I had written

many. I told him weekly and 18

years. He doesnt live in Springboro

but said hes here often and will def-

initely pick up a paper from now on

every Thursday. I want to thank allmy readers that have been faithful

over the last 18 yearsfor your contin-

ued support. Its normally a moment

of peace and quiet and great enjoy-

ment to visit with you every week.

Thank you all.

mergewright@yahoo.com

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This newspaper is environmentally friendly. Itis printed in recycled fibers and soy-basedinks, with the exception of some supplements.

If you wantto catch up withPaulLockhart,

PhD, history professorat Wright State Univer-

sity, author mostrecently of popularhistory

volumeson Revolutionary times, andbusyfather of a

six-year-old son, you haveto tryto catch him when

you cansee thewhites of his eyes.Andthats just a

gentle playon thetitleof his2011volumeon the Bat-

tleof Bunker Hill.Thebooks full title is TheWhites ofTheir Eyes:

Bunker Hill, theFirstAmericanArmy, and theEmer-

gence of GeorgeWashington.

On a recent warmday theeffervescentprofessor

stopped bywithhis charming sonAlex intowto tell a

bit abouthis writing,his hopes,and why thefounding

years of ourcountry are especiallyrelevant today and

notmerecuriosities onthe dustyshelves of a time

goneby.Hes beenteaching at Wright State for more

than 20 yearsand, inthe current academicfashion,be-

ganwritingabout one of hisspecial interests, Scandi-

navian history. But he wanted tosellhis work,too,and

agents toldhim Americans werent enthralled with de-

tails of the Danish kingseventhoughtheywerequite

remarkable.

That ledto years of research andwritingon The

Drillmasterof Valley Forge:The Baron de Steuben

andtheMaking of theAmericanArmy.And itsnicereceptionled totwoyearsof labor on BunkerHill. He

hasfourgrown children,but his secondwifedied

whenAlex was an infant, andhe married againlast

August while vowing thatsomehow hisresearches

wont take him awayfromfamily life so much.He

wants to write on the17thcenturyJamestown years

after Pocahontas actually thecrucial foundingyears

ofAmerica, he believes, andtimes largelyignored.

We should belooking forward tothatworkwith

lesstime awayfromhis familyandclasses because,

Dr. Lockhart says, theinternetnow enablesmuchre-

searchto bedone from a computer. Itisnt a perfect in-

strument, butit canpoint the way toprecise pointsof

interestor documents. Thatcontrasts with hisexplo-

rationof the Bunker Hillstoryalthough he hadthe ad-

vantageof a brother in Boston, Keith Lockhart,con-

ductorof theBoston Pops.He notonly gaveme a

placeto stay, theprofessor says,butgave meentretosources I wouldhave been hard toreachotherwise.

Perhapsthat explainswhy thisaccountof Bunker

Hill getsbeyondthe stereotypes of thehistorical char-

actersinvolvedand gives us a better really more hu-

man picture of alltheir plusesand minuses.Artemus

Ward, especially, is brought intohis own as thef irst

general of themilitia armyaroundBoston, painstak-

ingly turningit from notmuchmorethanan angry

rabble into a semblance of a military force.Andthis

wasdespitechronicillness, no experience in military

strategy andtheoften feuding personalitiesbetween

patriot firebrandsand town, countyand coloniallead-

ers. Heshows as wellthatGov. ThomasGageon the

Britishsidewas badly misunderstoodby hisowngov-

ernment and thenby many historians.

Bunker Hill wastechnically a defeat for thepatriots

inJune of 1775,but itwas a crucial turning point

when colonialprotests andminutemen firefights

turned intoa full-blownwar for independence.

GeorgeWashington arrived afterthe battle to take

reluctant command of many reluctant fighters to be

ledby menexhibitingcharacteristics wecanrecognize

aroundus today. Theauthor callsmanyof them tal-

ented menputtingpersonalgain andpetty hubris over

the needs of theCause.

Still theCause somehowprevailedand enabled

Daniel Websterto giveone of hisfinest speeches at

the50th anniversary of thebattle whenthe corner-

stonefor a monumentwaslaid.

Thepart quoted byDr. Lockhart is particularlyap-

propriatein this IndependenceDayseason. Andlet

thesacred obligationswhichhave devolved on this

generation, andon us, sinkdeep intoour hearts, Web-

ster said. We canwin no laurels fora war of inde-

pendence.Earlierand worthierhands havegathered

themall . But there remains tous a greatduty of

defence andpreservation . Let ourobject be,our

country, our whole country, andnothingbut ourcoun-

try.And bythe blessing of God,maythatcountryitself

becomea vast andsplendid monument, notof oppres-

sion andterror,but ofWisdom,of Peace, andof Liber-

ty, uponwhichtheworld may gazewith admiration

forever.

The U.S. Supreme Court

upheld the Affordable

CareAct inone of their

landmarkdecisions. Locally, Ohio

now faces a decision on the im-

plementationof statebasedinsur-

anceexchanges.The lawrequires

the exchanges to be running by2014, andstatescan chooseto es-

tablish and operate their own ex-

change or accept a default feder-

ally-run exchange.

LieutenantGovernor andOhio

Department of Insurance Com-

missioner MaryTaylorhas signaled

Ohiois leaning against establish-

ingits own exchange.

The idea of an exchange isfar

fromcontroversialand hasbeenin-

cludednotonlyin theACA,butput

forth by conservative think tank

Heritage Foundation and former

Minnesota Governor Tim Paw-

lenty.

Healthinsurance

exchangesare meantto function as

a health insurance marketplace

where consumers can more easi-

lycompareandpurchaseinsurance

policies. Unfortunately, there are

concerns federal regulation in-

cludedintheACAwillhamperany

health insurancemarketplace that

might formin theexchanges.

Flexibility and cost are two

major concerns. The Heritage

Foundation claims theexchanges

undertheACAincludefederalreg-

ulationsthatlimit consumerchoice.

The exchanges would effec-

tivelyputhealthinsuranceandthe

deliveryof careunderthe control

ofthe feds,whowoulddictatewhat

policies wouldlook like andhow

doctors would treat patients with

exchange-provided coverage.

Cost willalsobe a major con-sideration asthe costof establish-

inga statebased exchange would

be considerable.Thecost in Ohio

is expected to be $43million an-

nuallyif Ohiowereto operate its

own exchange.In contrast, a fed-

erally run exchange would cost

Ohio $1.6 million a year.

Consumers would also face

additional costsunderthenew ex-

changes. The Massachusetts ex-

change, often compared to the

federal healthcare overhaul, pro-

vides an example of thepotential

experience undertheACA. Mas-

sachusettshasperformedpoorlyin

controllingcostwithprivatehealth

insurance premiums rising $284

peryear by 2009 fora singleper-

son, and$2,504 peryear forfam-

ilies.The increases in health care

costs hit individuals and busi-

nessesthe hardest, with 60%of the

newcostsfallingon thatgroup.Thestate andfederalgovernmentshoul-

dered therest.

Statebasedexchanges aregood

ideas iftheyare left alonewithout

heavy regulation that removes

flexibilitycausingincreasedcosts.

N N N

Rob Scott isa Ketteringresident

and councilmanand a practicing

attorney at Oldham& Deitering,

LLC. Scottis theChairman ofthe

Montgomery County Republican

Party andthe founder ofthe Day-

tonTea Party.He canbe contact-

edat rob@oldhamdeitering.comor

www.gemcitylaw.com.

Theres been, and will con-

tinue to be, much chatter

about the recent U.S.

Supreme Court ruling on

Obamacare. Were in the middle ofone of the most contentious

Presidential campaigns I can

remember.

Record numbers of Americans

are still without gainful employ-

ment.

Gas prices are still on their roller

coaster ride.

Your home may not be worth

anywhere near what you hoped it

would be at this stage in your life.

And the new reality is most of

us will be working into our 70s.

Those issues can really get us

down thinking about them.

While they are critical, one fact

remains indisputable in my eyes;

this is still the greatest nation onthis planet!

We just celebrated our freedom,

our pride and our unwavering love

for this great republic.

Independence Day is the one

day each year we need to put all

our complaints, dislikes and dis-

agreements about the system on

hold and just focus on this; the

very fact that we can express our

differences sets us apart from most

of the billions who share this plan-

et with us.

No matter the challenges we

face, we will survive them. No

matter how gloomy a new law or

ruling seems, our lives are still

amazingly better than others

around the world.

So as you took in the fireworks

displays, grilled out in the back

yard or went for a cooling dip in

the pool I hope you took a moment

to thank God that you were fortu-

nate enough to be born in a nation

(or have adopted this nation) where

freedom is the cornerstone on

which all else that makes us great

is built and sustained.

This is our Independence Day,and my prayer is that the genera-

tions that follow will appreciate,

and fully comprehend, the sacrifice

and love poured out by so many

who came before them. Those are

the sacrifices that allow those very

freedoms, which so many from

other nations can only find in their

dreams. The hope is they will also

realize July 4th is more than a day

to check out a 4th of July furniture

sale.

God Bless this great United

States of America!

N N N

Mike Scinto is a 35 year veteran

talk show host serving locally,

statewide and nationally behindthe microphone. For the past dozen

years he has authored this award-

winning column. Friend Mike at

facebook.com/mikescintoshow or

visit mikescinto-

columns.blogspot.com

The legends from my

childhood are dying. Iknow, when you get to

be my age, those you watched on

TV or listened to on the radio be-

gin to pass away. But it is getting

to be happening at a rather rapid

rate.

When Ernest Borgnine died of

kidney failure on July 8, it was

just the latest that rocked my

world. Borgnine was 95.

McHales Navy was always

popular in our house as my fa-

ther was in the Navy during

World War II and said he served

with a lot of guys as goofy as

those on the show.

My kids became familiar with

Borgnines recognizable voice

with his role as Mermaid Man on

the cartoon Spongebob

Squarepants.

Just a few days prior to Borg-

nines death, a true entertainer in

Andy Griffith died at the age of

86.

His portrayal of Sheriff Andy

Taylor of the idyllic small North

Carolina town of Mayberry will

be forever ingrained in television

history.

His homespun fatherly advice

helped a generation of dads, Im

sure.

He returned to television in

1986 as Matlock, an Atlanta

attorney that took on and won the

tough cases for those who need-

ed his help the most.The legal drama proved to be

very popular among Americas

older population a point that

is often made fun of on todays

situation comedies.

But he was more than just

Andy Taylor and Ben Matlock.

He was a comedian, a folk and

gospel singer and a writer. His

comedic take on Shakespeare,

ballet and even football are clas-

sic.And dont forget the passing

of Don Grady, who is probably

better known as Robbie Douglas

on My Three Sons.

Grady, who also was a musi-

cian, died June 27 at the age of

68 after a long battle with cancer.

I will miss those actors and

will watch whenever a rerun of

their shows may hit the air

waves. But it makes me worry

about whos next.

Another of my favorites who

is getting on in age is Dick Van

Dyke. His TV show was one of

the funniest, maybe ever.

Van Dyke, 86, was also a

movie star after his roles in Bye

Bye Birdie and Chitty Chitty

Bang Bang. And dont forget he

was the chimney sweep in Mary

Poppins.

Adam West, who for many is

the one and only Batman, was

also a favorite during my youth. I

would never miss an episode of

the show and would always make

sure to tune in same bat time,

same bat channel.

At 83, West has becomeknown to a younger generation

playing himself as the mayor of

Quahog, Rhode Island, on the an-

imated series Family Guy.

Movie giant Clint Eastwood,

now 83, was also a long-time TV

favorite as I watched his early

role as Rowdy Yates in the west-

ern Rawhide.

Even my music heroes are get-

ting to that age. Paul McCartney

is 70. Mick Jaggar is 68, as is

Roger Daltrey of The Who.

Remember Crosby, Stills,

Nash and Young? Theyre now

70, 67, 70 and 66 respectively.

Baseball star who

SHOULD be in the Hall of Fame

Pete Rose is 71. Hank Aaron

is 78.

And even basketball star Ka-

reemAbdul Jabbar is 65.

I guess Im just getting old,

too.

I know the passing of our fa-

vorites from years gone by is a

natural. But I just wish the pass-

ings wouldnt come in a group.

COMMENTARY

By William H.

Wild

Times

Columnist

Lockharts BunkerHill history offersmany thoughtfullessons for today

Were losing our legendsCOMMENTARY

By Bill

Duffield

Times

Editor

COMMENTARY

By Mike

Scinto

Times

Columnist

Its more than a furniture sale

COMMENTARY

By Rob

Scott

Times

Columnist

Ohio faces health exchange choice

Stress is driving me crazyMERGE WRIGHT

B

y Don Wright

Times

Columnist

4 Thursday, July 12, 2012

Springboro Sun