retirement tagged posts

PLASTICVILLE-USA

A QUIET GOOD-BYE…

On October 29^th TV daily newspaper The Villages Daily Sun announced the passing of Gary Morse. Within the story it was noted that the Morse family would not be releasing the cause of death and that there would be no public memorial service. The Daily Sun acted as the clearing house for the Morse family for all the press contacts when other media outlets came calling. So unless an enterprising reporter wanted to do a little digging and expanding, the story in the Daily Sun was pretty much the same story you saw or heard whether you lived in Birmingham, Binghamton or Boise.

Some reporters did do some digging and some pieces of circumstantial evidence have arisen that indicate that Gary might not have been a well man for some time...

PLASTICVILLE-USA

A SURE SIGN YOU’VE GOT TOO MUCH MONEY…

If you drive anywhere in TV on any Monday-Friday you will swear that TV is under siege by the International Brotherhood Of Building Trades. Virtually everywhere you go you will find vans and trucks belonging to plumbers, electricians, carpenters, stone masons, brick layers & flooring installers.

Now if you happen to be in the far southern sections of TV this makes sense because the southern end is in the process of being built-out. New homes are jumping up out of the ground like dandelions. But once you make your way back north the scene doesn’t change much except you don’t see quite as many bulldozers, cranes or cement trucks. What is going on?

Villages residents seem to be obsessed with renovations...

PLASTICVILLE-USA

ARE THE ELDERLY STUPID?

No..this is not some snarky diatribe about old people. It’s a question that comes from events over the past several weeks.

I was lucky enough not only to know both sets of my grandparents, but I was able to grow up with them since they all lived within a few miles of us. At no time..not even when I was a teen-ager and we all know that when you’re a teen you know virtually EVERYTHING..did I ever think my grandparents were stupid.

What they were was trusting. Today that might possibly be considered stupid, but for them it was part of their generation. They held someone’s position and office in respect. For example if they were told something by a doctor or minister they took these men at their word. They respected their position...

PLASTICVILLE-USA

THE NIGHT RIDER…

A little over a year ago we became the keepers of a full-blood female English Mastiff. In terms of size and weight the English Mastiff is the world’s largest dog breed. While they are as big as a small pony and have the strength of a Percheron draft horse they are the gentlest of dogs who are wonderful with small children and other animals.

While they are very friendly if correctly socialized, they are also very protective of their humans. When someone comes to the door or walks onto “their” property they will alert with a deep “WOOF!!!”. Now if you open the door and let the trespasser in they will immediately try to make friends. Of course if said interloper makes entry in a non-traditional manner, then your gentle giant will not be so gentle...

PLASTICVILLE-USA

THE PIPE DREAMS OF YOUNGER VILLAGERS GO UP IN SMOKE…

On Tuesday November 4^th a number of younger Villagers saw their hopes and dreams of full access to marijuana go up in smoke as Florida voters turned down a referendum on legalized so-called “medical” marijuana.

It wouldn’t have been so long ago in TV that you couldn’t have found enough “yes” votes for a thing like this to even count on one hand. But as the Bob Dylan song goes..”The times they are a changin’..”. The newest flood of Villagers are those who are very much younger...

PLASTICVILLE-USA

THE MYSTERY OF CRACKER BAY…

There’s an old saying that says you know you’re old when the first page you read in the daily newspaper is the obituary column. Well..I guess I’m old. I started the practice of reading the obit page in my hometown newspaper a few years ago. I did it primarily to see if there were people my parents knew from their church or work who might have passed away and they would like to know about it. Over time I began to find names of people of my own age who were listed there. Never a good sign.

As you read the notices you can almost always tell how the person passed away. There are various clues whether it’s a request to donate to a specific medical organization or simply how the cause of death is spelled out...

PLASTICVILLE-USA

THE UTTERLY WRONG WAY TO SHOW RESPECT…

Like many people I was quite surprised to learn of yesterday’s death of Plasticville’s senior Wizard of Oz..Gary Morse.

While I never met the man, I admired him, thought that he was a genius, and would have loved to have had the opportunity to meet him and spend a half hour or more talking with him. I’m sure I could have learned a lot.

Without a doubt it is proper to show respect and honor on this man’s passing. However, I am OUTRAGED that the Morse organization has ordered the lowering of the American flag to half-staff on Villages property!

I’m sure someone meant well, and Gary was certainly a giant in a land of pygmies..but it is absolutely WRONG to lower the American flag on Gary’s passing.

This morning I had erra...

PLASTICVILLE-USA

R.I.P. GARY MORSE

Yesterday..Wednesday October 29^th was the end of an era. H. Gary Morse the true vision behind what is now the sprawling colossus known as TV passed into history. He was 77 and for all available information had been in good health. However, Gary was an extremely private person and very little personal information about him ever circulated so it is possible that something was not right. All current published reports do not indicate a cause of death.

Gary was predeceased by his wife Sharon several years ago due to cancer. It was her death that led Morse to endow the Sharon Morse Cancer Center at The Villages Regional Hospital. It was also said that he was never quite the same after her passing...

PLASTICVILLE-USA

THE VILLAGES THAT COULDN’T…

There are quite a number of 55+ adult communities in the sunshine state. Few are on the grand scale of TV, most of them resemble or are directly related to the Del Webb empire, and have populations that range from 4,000-10,000 residents. The vast majority of these retirement communities are located near larger cities such as Tampa, Ft. Myers, Miami or Jacksonville. TV and its various local cousins buck that trend by essentially being near NOTHING.

Back when Harold Schwartz went in search of Florida land to buy he picked an area in central Florida that had far more cattle and horses than people. This was land for grazing and growing oranges and watermelons...

PLASTICVILLE-USA

YOU JUST MIGHT BE A VILLAGER…

If you live outside of TV and you want to get a real idea of just what kind of creatures inhabit “America’s Friendliest Hometown” you owe it to yourself to spend some time reading the website Talk Of The Villages. TOTV is NOT affiliated in any way with Gary Morse or TV organization, and there are times when I am surprised that Morse & Co. doesn’t find some way to have the plug pulled on this little enterprise since it showcases what TV is REALLY all about, and what kinds of people REALLY inhabit adult Disneyland. It isn’t pretty.

The web-board is run by an independent company that operates a number of for-profit websites and unless you are a bona fide advertiser it’s a little difficult to actually try and find the people who run...