August 5th. 2026
“ Dobroho ranku”, or “Good Morning!” in Ukrainian, an Eastern Slavic language spoken mainly in Ukraine. I have decided that the UJT will remain focused on Ukraine until we can all rejoice in the end of hostilities. It has been 1.558* days since Russia invaded Ukraine. (* Some how my calculations got way skewed over the past couple of publications of the UGT please accept my apology and according to Google it’s been 1558 days. ) OK
Since it’s taking me longer to get these things out than he used to, my subject matter is gonna vary quite a bit I think. This time I like to talk about happiness. How many times have you said, “all I want is for you to be happy. “The fact of the matter is no matter how hard we wish no matter how much we try really cannot make anyone else happy you can do the best we can to create. The situations for happiness will occur, but it’s up to them. It’s a choice like any other choice sort of. But there’s nothing you can do to make anyone happy that is determined not to be happy, I’m sure that actually makes no difference because you’re gonna do whatever you can to make whoever you want to be happy as happy as they can be. I think it’s hardwired in us. Children parents doesn’t matter who spouse it’s all about doing your best in ways that you think they will get happiness. But in case you haven’t noticed, happiness is fleeting. I find myself happy for no reason often – watching Gandolf our cat go into the pantry just supervise selection of his food makes me smile unhappy. – Seen a hummingbird feeding on my hibiscus next to the pond makes me happy. Listening to my grandchildren and children’s laugh together makes me happy but the grandchildren go back to Texas real world roaches on your daily lives the laughter goes away as does the happiness from it. Music makes me happy sometimes I can cry. I’m so happy when I hear a song. Does that ever happen to you? I’m so grateful it does to me many times it’s songs that I’ve seen the musicians play and I remember that young man in that moment, sharing that moment with the band on the on the stage at any time the song comes up I get to relive that moment. I look for things to make me happy every day I stir up into the sky. I listen to the birds play music every day. I think I read and watch good stories. I pay attention to the people. I love around me as best I can hoping to get another one of those free bees they come as you get pay attention. I may not find happiness everywhere. I look certainly not on the news. It’s hard for me to watch a dog playing and not be happy. They just are so focused on being happy that it’s a contagious thing. Cats too, but not as much Wi-Fi what makes you happy?
We got some tough news this week at home. It’s not my news so I won’t tell you the details. Let’s just say that everyone in the family felt it. We’re on “Gerding, our loins” for the challenges ahead. I’ve never found a situation that allow me to use that term so I had to go for it when I found it forgive me. See the thing about being human is the other shoes always going to drop – no one gets out of here alive. Knowing this fact, can set you free if you’re a mine too, let it. You can use it to stop caring about what everyone else thinks in your true self or you can find reasons to complain and wish the things were different but the choice is yours. If you choose one way you lift everyone up if you choose another way, you make it harder for everyone and the inevitability remains constant.
A good friend of mine had surgery I think this week to remove a tennis ball size tumor, and the rest of his kidney from his body. Our bodies are amazing and the fact that they come with spare parts most of the time if one kidney crafts out the other ones there to pick up the load it’s true for most things except for heart, liver, pancreas, and prostate to have a few. Anyway, keep a good thought for an old friend a friend as he faces very human challenge with his family.
While my granddaughter was here, she helped me complete the application to donate my body to the university of California San Diego medical school. When you go through that you end up, thinking about a lot of things about your death about what to do. With my donation to my body to science we don’t have to worry about embalming or funeral expenses are all that kind of stuff it just sort of happens and a bunch of medical school students get to whittle on me, which is fine by me in fact, I think it’s a good idea. Talking over with my son we got to talking about a lot of things to do with my passing and what I wanted and we tried to cover it in our family trust but I don’t know if I got it done right but I just want to have a party and everybody have a good time. Try to remember some of the funnier dumbest things I did during my time on the planet one of the things I ask him to do though is make sure he plays a song by Warren Zevon that I came to love when Warren was passing. I’ve included this week. I hope you enjoy it.
Now for the Monday: grandpa mush is the bomb! My mornings are perkier and happier now that I’ve discovered my own recipe for breakfast joy.; Living with a need for oxygen is challenging. If your need for O2 is slight there are many remedies available and they’re fairly easy to cope with. But as time goes on the efficiency of your damaged, lungs continues to decline and your need for extra oxygen becomes greater once you go over 6 L things change. There are no portable O2 concentrator that will provide a full 6 L of oxygen to a patient. That means to get 6 L of oxygen you must have either plugged in oxygen concentrator or oxygen tanks were both we started out with a high volume icing and concentrator in my bedroom and five bottles of O2 on the porch trying to maintain my oxygen saturation with this configuration with disasters. We increased the weekly order to 15 bottles a week but tugging those tanks around while I water the plants or feed the fish or cook dinner. It’s just more challenged than I’m interested in. So being me, I designed an alternative. I now have 50 foot of oxygen tubing CA getting down my stairs and another 50 foot of tubing, waiting at the bottom to reconnected. This is me to reach every part of the first floor of the house, including all parts of the garage as well as the backyard front yard and mailbox. It is less cumbersome, but not painless. I’m constantly getting my oxygen to being caught underneath the chair or something and we’re learning how cathartic cussing can be but I digress. The good news is I’m maintaining an oxygen concentration level inside my blood of over 90 to 95% almost constantly semi. I can have my 6 L of oxygen with me and everything I can do in an outside of my house. The bad news is to go to the gym or anywhere else. Basically I have to tell a bottle which is less than idyllic, but I still get to see the beautiful sky and the Jacaranda trees and my fellow human screwing around in their native habitat. I learned that carbonated beverages such as my current favorites (tonic water with rhyme and Ginger ale zero) result in my whole body producing a great deal more gas that is necessary for combustion or propulsion. So I’m enjoying my tea with lemon these days and water of course.
Our homepage quote this time comes from, Mickey Mantle. Mickey Man was one of my boyhood, heroes and life lessons I think. He said,”If I’d known I was gonna live this long I had taken better care of myself.”
The UJT radio selections are as follows:
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- Shane Smith, and the Saints – Coast. – I began listening a lot more to my daughters selection of music as well as that of my grandson. But my daughter played something very similar to the way Shane Smith and the Saints played, and I wanted her to hear some of their music because I think she like it. Pretty sure my grandson would be offended if I thought he might like this music.
- Shane Smith, and the Saints – dance the night away – above, you read about music that makes me smile and happy. This is one of those songs it just connects to me. I hope you enjoy it too.
- Tab Benoit – Medicine – recently I’ve been binging a lot on Jesse Stone stories by Robert B Parker. If you haven’t read any of Jesse Stone stories or seen them on TV, easy flawed, but principal, small town sheriff in Massachusetts who has a serious drinking problem for most of his life. I’ve never been a small town police chief but I have struggle with alcohol from time to time so it’s cathartic to me to read about his challenges and the way he’s succeeded and failed and all that stuff. Tab. Benoit. Seems to know a bit about this phenomena that flawed but principal and men seem to take too fairly easily. This is his tribute to it.
- The Thorns – I can’t remember – faithful UT radio fans will remember what a huge place. I have in my heart for wonderful harmony. These boys do it pretty well right up there with the Eagles Venice, and several others. This is kind of a sad song with the harmony or magnificent.
- Tom Leher – Br Prepared – I would suspect it most of you have not heard Tom Lehrer before or of him. Tom layer was a mathematics professor I think at Harvard in the 60s and during the summers he used to tour around the various college towns, singing and playing piano and generally making fun of everything sacred in the United States at the time. My mother was the first person to tell me about Tom much to her chagrin. For my third grade Chantel, I stood up in front of my class mates and teacher and sang this song is the top of my lungs. My mother had a rather uncomfortable meeting with the teacher and principal shortly there after. I hope you find it as funny as I did.
- Toto – Africa – Toto IV is one of those records you can put on and listen to all the way through without hesitation. Africa was never released as a single. I don’t think, but it captured my soul when I listen to it to the first time and every time I sense I hope you enjoy as well. 45.
- Warren Zevon keep me in your heart for a while I enjoyed every moment of Warren’s career and laughed along with him and others as he sang us his happy dive. When it was time for him to go, I thought he might have something important to say, and I think he did I hope you find this is the sweet and loving us I did.
That’s it… Do the best you can; Laugh every chance you get; Always remember… The best is yet to come! As always, thank you for being my friend!