Henry Dassbach:  

Life Hi, I'm an Associate Professor of Sociology and STS at Michigan Tech in the scenic and snowy Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I have an 18 yr.old daughter, Paula. UPDATE - My daughter is now 20, a sophomore studying math at the Univ. of Minnesota in Minneapolis with the intentions of obtaining a Ph.D and teaching at the Univ. level. I, on the other hand, am getting older. Whew... who would have ever thought that would happen to me (us). Pretty soon, Social Security. I plan on spending at least 6 months of the year on the beach or in the mountains of a Third World country, that is, if there are any left and the bottom has not dropped out of the dollar. UPDATE - 11/1/08 - given the fact the bottom has dropped out of the stockmarket, I may never retire!!! UPDATE - 2/14/09 - what a brutal winter!! 290 inches of snow and still 6 or more weeks to go. UPDATE - 8/29/09 - After years of pondering, I have finally come up with a motto - "All things to excess" - now if I could only figure out how to say it in Latin. School starts next Monday and I am teaching three courses (I used to teach two a semester but the "management" said that given the fact I was doing nothing of note, I would be assigned another course.) The summer has been cold and nasty in the UP. In fact, we did not have a summer. Fortunately, I sold my boat last year but acquired a BMW K75 RT this year. Of course, with the rotten weather I could not do much riding. I did ride it back from Sault St. Marie and it handled beautifully at 100+ mph which reminded me how nice all things German behave on the highway so I traded my 2007 Civic Coupe for a VW GTI. A true rocket - if I let it "run" by the time I get to 6th gear I am doing 120. Drove it to NY State for the URPE (Union of Radical Political Economists) Conference, averaged 29 mpg and was able to run long stretches at and above 100 mph. Given that this is the lowest tier German uber-car, I can't figure out how anyone can drive a hotter German car in America and not get a slew of tickets. The leaves are turning red and falling from the trees - Fall comes early in the UP and winter will probably (again) be long and hard. UPDATE - 1/27/2010 - Happy New Year. One decade into the 21st c. - sure does not look like the sci-fi movies I watched as a kid. Things keep spiraling downward - corporations can now buy candidates, universal health care is unlikely, a President who campaigned on promises of "hope" and "change" merely proves to be the "same ole, same ole." We are still involved in futile wars, trying to impose "democracy" on people who have no interest in democracy, still supporting the terrorist state of Israel and still catering to the rich and powerful. UPDATE - 11/07/2010 - I turned 62 a few days ago. My new motto: "Never trust any of the following: people under 50," a tea-partier, a repugnican, a democrat or a conservative." America is in decline and the rise of conservatism and its more extreme variants are the surest sign of this decline. The middle class is under a sustained attack - the rich get richer, the poor get poorer and the middle class is disappearing. I have just returned from 3 months in Germany. I was taking care of my mother and I relocated her into a senior residence. The dollar is in the toilet and continues to sink. I look forward to one thing: retiring and spending the majority of the winter on a beach in a warm, 3rd world country (hopefully, my belief that the only place to live on a 1st world retirement is a 3rd world country is still true but who can tell if the dollar continues its downward spiral - going first one-to-one with the yuan and then one-to-one with the rupee). Did manage to spend a few days in Amsterdam - perhaps the most civilized city in the world and the Dutch are some of the most pleasant people in the world. American would profit to learn from them but it will never happen! My daughter is now 22 and working on a Ph.D in math at the University of Minnesota. I am very proud of her but I caution her about academia - its a snake pit, rat hole. Having spent the last 20 years as a University professor, I can safely say: I always wanted to be an academic until I got to know them. Update - 1/5/2012 - I retired from 22 years at Michigan Tech. I could not get out of there fast enough. Time to live. I can't believe how quickly the time goes. The days seem to fly by. For a long time I thought I would spend my winters in a warm 3rd world country but my inability to get health insurance quickly changed my mind. So, now it becomes the question of where is it warm, tropical and Medicare works? My best answer: Puerto Rico. I plan to go there next month and see if I can find a casita near a beach. I especially like the Cabo Rojo area - Playa Sucia is fantastic. Fortunately, houses outside of San Juan appear to be reasonable as long as you don't need a MacMansion (and I certainly don't). Since entering the end stretch of life (who knows how many years are left), I am firmly committed to devoting myself to EVERY possible form of sensual indulgence. Anyone else want to party? My daughter is making excellent progress in her graduate studies and I am very happy. Her future looks promising. UPDATE - 7/16/2012 - PR did not work out so I bought a condo in (shudder) Naples FL with the rest of the old people. UPDATE - 8/20/13 - Naples is paradise (except in the summer). But from October to June you could not ask for better weather: clear, sunny, low humidity, around 80 during the day and cool enough to sleep well at night. Living in a condo in a gated community has it advantages: no outside maintenance of any sort, house, roof, garden, etc; pools and hot tub; tennis courts, natural 56 acres lake in the middle, landscaped like a tropical garden, pleasant neighbors and, in my case, a very secluded location. Also has disadvantages: restrictions on what you can do to the outside of your house, a potential for crazy neighbors (mine are absolutely great), limited storage space, rather small one car garage so I am forced to keep my road car - a 2012 Mazda 3( a quite fantastic car) outside and the other, my Miata, in the garage. I also discovered that Naples is the wealthiest community in FL which also has an upside and a downside: upside, my taxes are quite low and my utilities are cheap and there are more stores than in the entire UP of MI. Downside: almost everything in Naples is more expensive than elsewhere. All in all, I still consider the best decision I have made in my life. I will be eligible for Medicare in November. At least, I can stop paying $800 a month for health insurance. I don't suspect that Medicare patients get treated any differently but who knows. After looking at various supplemental plans long and hard, I have decided to go with a Medicare Advantage plan, probably from Humana. You would have to be stupid or anticipate very large medical bills not to go with an Advantage plan. I read they cost the government about $850 a month per subscriber and BO has talked about ending them. But then again, I have nothing good to say about BO or any other American politician for that matter. The American empire is crumbling - not with a bang but with a whimper - and when empires crumble it is the regular people that suffer. No politician of any stripe - is there any difference between them? - can reverse a long term structural decline. Presently back in Houghton teaching a few courses at my old U to make a few bucks and escape the FL summer. I will not be back in Naples until about Oct 1. I am planning to take about a month getting there and traveling through VT, maybe Maine and then down the east coast. Tempus fugit!!! UPDATE - 2/04/14 - The second winter in Naples has not nearly been as pleasant as the 1st. It has been much cooler and rained more frequently. I asked my neighbors which type of winter is typical and they don't know. I maintain that people have no long term weather memory. That's the only way to explain why people continue to live in the most inhospitable places on Earth. Time to plan for the summer. I may do one of three things: go back to MI to teach (but I doubt if the enrollment will be adequate), go to Ecuador for the summer or go to China. One thing is sure: I will not stay in Fl. I joined the ranks of the Medicare recipients and it has proved to be an OK experience. I joined an Advantage plan and in FL, they are great. Excellent coverage, no monthly charges and low co-payments. How long the US can keep this up is another question. Americans want everything from their government but they are unwilling to pay the taxes which pay for the things they get from government. In the long run, that does not work (but, as Keynes said "In the long run, we are all dead."). I have been divorced for over 10 years but still without a female companion. Sure, some temporary liaisons but nothing enduring. It seems to be so much harder as I get older mainly, because you quickly become aware of potential incompatibilities and know, from experie...Expand for more