19. February 2011 by pat desmond.

The final report from radiology came in late yesterday.

There was a small piece of cancer in my left breast - something unexpected.

So while I am still thinking I may be cancer free because of the bilateral surgery, I know I need to bring more energy to my recovery.

My son is suggesting organic brocoli sprouts. I don’t think it could hurt to try them.

It’s been more than 5 hours since my last pain pill. I’m working towards healing without pain. I think that’s the approach that will work best for me.

I’m opposed to pain. But I know that pain leads to growth.

Truly I think I’ve grown quite enough.

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18. February 2011 by pat desmond.

Read the rest of this entry »

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8. February 2011 by pat desmond.

For the past month I’ve been working to create time in, what has been up to now, my very busy life.

It’s not exactly an option. A week from today I’ll be lying in a hospital bed. I’ve known this day was approaching.

And for the next three weeks I’ll be restricted in my ability to do more than heal. I feel fine today. Most of what I need to do to has been done.

My son will be flying in to Boston from his home in California on the day of my surgery. He’ll be with me for a week.

Then my daughter and her two children will be with me for a few days.

I have a lengthy list of people who have offered to bring soup to my home, or drive me to the doctor’s office, or just stop at the Fruit Center and pick up meals to go.

More information on this simple story will be published soon.

Prayers and well wishes are welcome. But I can’t handle all the emails and phone calls.

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21. January 2011 by pat desmond.

The first ever Milton Times Telephone Book went into delivery mode today…

Many copies were delivered by the USPS. Some were dropped in bulk at Fuller Village and Unquity House. We are having more copies delivered to Milton tomorrow from the press. The business day ran out before we were finished.

So far most of the people who have received the book love it. And so do we.

We are already making plans for the 2012 version.

The book that has been delivered was created in partnership with a company that makes a business out of publishing telephone books in small communities. They have a lot of expertise is producing this sort of product.

Our staff believes we can do an even better job on the 2012 issue if we control all the elements.

So the cover this year shows the Baron Hugo Gazebo with Ken Lodge and his orchestra playing at one of the park department summer concerts. Next year what very Milton photo might we use on the cover? That is still to be decided…

 We have a company that enjoys creating print products.

But we have moved into this decade and we are beginning to work on moving to the mobile web.

Our web site hasn’t been tweaked for mobile visitors. But we are working on it.

Before the end of the year we will have an app of our very own.  It will work on iphones and blackberries. I’ve decided to let the bigger papers lose money on marketing to androids. We will stick with the market that has the numbers.

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9. January 2011 by pat desmond.

The shootings in Arizona immobilized me yesterday.

I know no one who died or was even present when an unstable young white man opened fire with a semi-automatic pistol on a group of people at political event. A 9-year-old child, a federal judge and four other people were murdered. A Congresswoman whose name I’d never heard before was seriously injured.

Why did I sit by me television all afternoon yesterday watching CNN, worrying about where our country was going?

There were 20 people shot by the unstable man. Three people in the crowd are credited with trying to stop the gunman. In fact they succeeded because the spring the second magazine failed.

The bravery of those few people in the crowd makes me feel there is some hope. I search for more evidence of hope.

The Arizona sheriff made a few comments about the tone of political discourse in this country. No one has said the unstable man was connected with a political group.

The Milton Times, from its inception, has had a policy of refusing to print personal attacks. When we first announced the policy there was considerable testing by some people who wanted to use strong words to get their points across.

Over the years there have been a few times when attack words have slipped through the editting process but not many.

We believe that in a small community, like Milton, it is extremely important that our political leaders set an example for our children. How will our children learn to settle their own disputes?

There are people who believe controversy sells and inflammatory words sell even more. Perhaps that is so.

But there is a high cost for all of us if this is the bottom line.

Will this unstable young man’s actions lead to a cry for more civil debate? Will this incident lead to a discussion of whether automatic weapons should be taken off the retail market?  Indeed should someone be able to prove they are stable before buying a gun?

There is much to think about.

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2. January 2011 by pat desmond.

At least once a year, I draw a new plan for the business operation of the Milton Times.

As the year begins I need to look at where we are and where we are going as a newspaper, as a business, as an institution.

The good news is that I am projecting a better year in 2011 than 2010.

This does not mean I expect the advertisters who were spending large amounts in 2008 to be back. Some industries have changed the way they work. So have we.

In the past year the Milton Times created a telephone book. It’s back from the press and will be delivered to Milton residents with the newspaper issue Jan. 20.

We will be putting the list on line using a web site just purchased - www.miltonphonebook.com. The 2011 phone book numbers were purchased by a third party from the telephone company. Obviously cell phones are not included in the listed numbers. But the future may bring a new system for creating the local phone book.

So we have a new product ready for distribution in the beginning days of 2011. And we have plans to add a new web site to our line.

We hope our newspaper will continue to thrive but the best way to ensure our stability is by adding new sources of local information.

People in the news industry are predicting that more advertising money will be spent on APs. Until about six months ago I didn’t know what an AP looked like. Now I’m in the market for one.

The 2012 Milton Phone Book is on our company server already. I think it will be a while before we have an AP ready. But the future will certainly bring new ways of communicating.

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23. December 2010 by pat desmond.

Shaquille O’Neal Conducts the BSO

My son, Timothy Ambrose and his wife of four months, Annie, came to Boston for a few days.

They are already back in California, enjoying the rain, and I’m here in Milton, feeling very chilly.

But I have my memories and they are better than I hoped.

We shared time with my daughter and her two children. June and the kids live in New Hampshire. We don’t often get together as a family any more. The problem is we live in three separate states. Getting all of us in the same location depends on work schedules, school schedules, plane tickets and the weather.

This year we’ve had a few times together.  There was the engagement party in July, the wedding in August and now our pre-Christmas weekend. It took me seven months to coordinate the travel plans so we could all be at the engagement party.

I loved every minute of family time. I get so little of it now that my two children are grown with families of their own.

Monday my son, his wife and I went to the BSO’s Holiday Pops. It was spectacular as the orchestra always is. A show of pomp and circumstance, signifying very much. Christmas music soothes the soul.

And then there was Shaquille O’Neal moving onto center stage in his giant tuxedo. Does anyone know how tall Keith Lockhart might be? He looked about half the size of the hoopster. But both men conducted themselves very well.

Listening to the Pops play “We Are the Champions” just seemed so politically correct. It is the season of love and peace. Shaq and the BSO made Christmas a little merrier for everyone who had the good fortune to be in the audience.

The holiday season is a chance to take time from the rush of life to celebrate the joy of family, friends and simple pleasures. It’s all about the joy.

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13. December 2010 by pat desmond.

The new Congressman from Quincy, who still happens to be the Norfolk County District Attorney, is calling for a federal investigation into the death of Delvonte Tisdale.

Late on the afternoon of Dec. 10, DA William Keating and Milton Police Chief Richard Wells held a press conference to talk about the evidence their teams have put together that indicate the 16-year-old Tisdale fell from an airplane in the sky Nov. 15.

It doesn’t seem conclusive. But then it seems Homeland Security, TSA and all of the people who are making Americans less free ought to be put under the microscope so they can explain how a young man could stow away in a wheel well of a passenger plane.

But the evidence is:

1. Earlier in the day, police personnel from a group of local communities searched the woods near where the body was found. They came up with a shirt and two sneakers, items of clothing that matched the description of Tisdale’s clothes.
2. Grease was found on the young man’s clothes. Tests are underway to see if the grease matches that on the plane.
3. A 737 US Airways plane left Charlotte about 7 p.m. on Nov. 15 and landed at Logan about 9:30. The mutilated body was discovered on Brierbrook Street around 9:30. Brierbrook Street is in the flightpath.
4. Handprints were found in the left wheel well of the plane.
5. The autopsy results were consistent with a fall from a significant height.
6. The autopsy also revealed no sign of death by known weapons.

Is the evidence enough to worry about airport security? Keating thinks so, which is why he said he decided to release the story before conclusive tests were available.

Tisdale lived with his father, Anthony Tisdale, his step-mother and other siblings in North Carolina. He moved there from Baltimore where his mother Jonette Washington and other family members still live. According to news reports from the south, young Tisdale, had run away from home the night before his body was found.

All reports say he hadn’t been in trouble but was unhappy about the family’s relocation.

Meanwhile when Keating goes to Congress next month, he already has some work to look into.

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3. November 2010 by pat desmond.

Results are complete for the town of Milton as 72.3% of the 17,853 registered voters went to the polls.

The Democrats took the entire ballot.

The town said no to all three ballot questions.

What does this mean?

It seems to mean that Milton is satisfied with the way public policy is handled in this state.

Gov. Deval Patrick earned 6,991 votes to 4,708 for Charles Baker and 1,055 for Tim Cahill. The Green Party candidate took 101 votes townwide.

Congressman Stephen Lynch polled 8,891 votes to 2,478 for Vernon Harrison and 741 for Philip Dunklebarger.

Sen. Brian Joyce took 8,201 votes to 4,032 for Robert Burr, the Canton Selectman who spent much time campaigning door to door.

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27. October 2010 by pat desmond.

Jack Potter, the Postmaster General, is continuing to fight for a postage increase in excess of the cost of living.

The Postal Service lost its first round early this month when the Postal Regulatory Commission decided to reject the rate increase.

Postal Service will be filing a petition in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, seeking a review of the PRC decision.

Meanwhile Potter is retiring after many years with the Postal Service. His replacement has already been announced.

I guess the decision to appeal in court will take on a life of its own.

My very small business has been impacted by rising expenses this year. Healthcare insurance costs for my employees rose more than 10% just last month. The increase was one I knew about back in the spring. Payroll taxes have increased - I’m not sure of the percentage.

Looking at a possible increase in postage cost is depressing.

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