Flexibility, adaptability and sensitivity are the absolute requirements to survive today even though it is exhausting! 

Yep, I have to adapt to the fact that youth in the NFL means having to occasionally give way to the sweetness of seniority.

My friends and I who have so loyally supported Coach Andy Reid and the Kansas City Chiefs over the past few years got a demonstration of the benefits of experience last weekend in the Super Bowl versus that octogenarian (?)Tom Brady and Bruce Arians, the oldest coach to win a Super Bowl.  Advertisers for the first Super Bowl played in by Tom Brady included Radio Shack and BlockBusters. They are gone. Why is he here? I remain relegated to the screech of the loser, “Wait ‘til next year!”

Last week’s column had substantial information on the AARP Tax Assistance program. 

I can assure you that many folks have been scheduled. Not surprisingly the Jefferson County program was suspended and then reinstated. You probably didn’t even know about this need for flexibility since it happened so fast. Clallam County has not been so fortunate because their COVID metrics are not as good as Jefferson County’s. Wait a minute, their metrics are better! Figure that one out. 

One thing we know for sure: we need to maintain flexibility. 

There are a few anecdotes concerning the sensitivity, awareness and generosity of the wonderful folks providing “the shot” of COVID vaccine. 

As you may know the vaccine has a limited shelf life, like a day. As a result, if a given vaccination provider has several appointment “no-shows” on a given day, they may have leftover vaccine that has to be disposed of. They then may contact folks they know of who are great candidates to get the shot due to their age or other qualifier. If they are able to vaccinate a few more patients they have reduced the need for those folks to get a shot in the future and other folks can get their shot sooner. 

It may be a small difference but anything helps these days.   

BJ met up with our daughter at Bloedel Reserve the other day to enjoy the walk around the park. 

Due to the pandemic, attendance is on a reservation basis and the number of patrons in the gift shop is limited. I told BJ it reminded me of Pane d’Amore where only one customer at a time can enter the shop. 

How about we count on a year from now for things to get back to normal, if they ever get back to normal.

Unless you keep your car inside and covered all winter, it is really hard to keep it clean. You see, the weather is really not warm enough to wash it yourself. You can run it through the car wash but if you have much of a distance to drive it will get dirty again on the way home. So, I decided to drive it dirty all winter. 

That is until last week when I experienced a flock of at least 1,000 seagulls deciding to use my car for target practice and change the color from dark green to off white! These extreme circumstances demanded I run it through the car wash.  

A friend told me that he was constantly in trouble when he was younger due to skipping school and smoking pot. He observed that today’s kids are living the dream as school is closed and weed is legal. BJ reminds me that weed is not legal for kids.

Love a curmudgeon, wear a mask and Happy Valentines Day! 

(Ned Luce is a retired IBM executive and a proud member of Chiefs Nation who lives in Port Ludlow. Email him at ned@ptleader.com.)