Dale Says

For more than 20 years I’ve been writing summaries of what’s going on in my life and in the world around me on my birthday. Here’s an excerpt from 1993 …

April 24, 1993

On my birthday I’m 42 years old.

While I’ve become accustomed to the idea of being in my 40s I haven’t fully accepted it. I still feel like a 30-year-old, at least most days. Right now, however, I’m hobbled from knee surgery, and that has curtailed my activities somewhat. Is this a preview of what I will feel like in my 60s?

I’ve observed that I’m getting to be more like my father each year. That’s not all bad; my father is, afterall, a great guy. He’s led a very full, complete, and honest life. Unfortunately, along with some of his good qualities I seem to have also inherited his male pattern baldness.

There has been a very positive change in my relationship with Patty. We’ve now been together five years and I feel better about her all the time. I now believe I can accept her the way she is (she’s pretty wonderful the way she is) and I’ve come to realize how lucky I am to have her in my life. She has added another dimension to my personality that involves exploring new ideas and being open to meeting new people and situations.

Much of the news involves our new president, Bill Clinton. He’s been in the White House for about 100 days, and has found out it’s a lot easier to be a candidate than president. He just lost his first big battle with Congress, which killed an economic stimulus program he spearheaded. Bill is now shaking his head and wondering how he so badly misjudged Congress.

Bill’s wife, Hillary, is in charge of health care reform, and she’s getting close to proposing a semi-national health care insurance. Under her plan, employers would have to buy health insurance for all employees from giant insurance pools, which would be partially subsidized by the Federal Government. Groups are lining up on each side of the issue, with labor on Hillary’s side and business against her.

An interesting story is going around about the Clinton’s daughter, Chelsea. It seems that Chelsea arrived at school with a headache. Before giving her an aspirin, the school nurse wanted to check with her parents, to get their approval. Chelsea told the nurse, “You’d better call my dad, because my mother is too busy.”

After holding off the FBI and other law enforcement agents for nearly two months, more than 80 members of the Branch Davidian religious group are dead in Waco, Texas as a result of a mass suicide. The FBI used tanks to ram the gates of the group’s compound, then injected tear gas. Shortly afterwards a fire started that incinerated all but a few of the group inside. The FBI says the cult staretd the fire; the survivors say the FBI started it by knocking over gas lanterns. It’s a strange and very sad story.

Much of the world is in a recession. Russia, the U.K., and Scandavian countries have it the worst, and nearly all countries are devaluing their currencies and bracing for several years of slow growth. Russia seems to be in very bad shape. They are to vote tomorrow on whether to keep Boris Yeltsin as President. The U.S. has pledged billions of dollars in aid to Russia and our allies are being encouraged to do the same. It looks like it’s going to be a long and hard struggle for that country.

Social consciousness is alive and well. Hundreds of thousands of gay men and women are in Washington to march for equal rights and Clinton has vowed to eliminate discrimination against homosexuals in the military. Abortion is a sensitive issue, and there are protests and fighting on both sides. Sexual harassment is not only a hot topic, it’s now trendy to file a sexual harassment lawsuit against current or former employers. Nearly every newspaper has at least one account of a suit against a politican, athlete, or musician. The “Tailhook” case is very publicized now. In this instance, a group of navy pilots had a wild party and several female members have claimed they were sexually mistreated. Several high-ranking Navy officers have lost their jobs as a result, and it isn’t over yet.

Cesar Chvez is dead at age 66. He spent most of his life fighting for better working conditions and higher pay for immigrant workers in the U.S.

Arnold Batliner is dead at age 88. Arnold was the coin washer at the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco for the past 30 years. His death leaves a vacancy that probably won’t be filled.