Dear Old Guy welcomes letters on all subjects, including love, marriage, child rearing, even basic plumbing and medical advice. What he doesn’t know, he is happy to make up. After all, he…
Columns
Sen. Angus King
How do we respect and enhance the freedom of expression enshrined in the First Amendment while protecting the government from being corrupted by the unchecked flow of money to…
Tim Sample: Stories I Never Told You
If you’re one of those people who’ve long harbored a secret desire for a career in the performing arts, you might as well get one thing straight right from the get go: Even if you’re…
Dear Old Guy welcomes letters on all subjects, including love, marriage, child rearing, even basic plumbing and medical advice. What he doesn’t know, he is happy to make up. After all, he…
2014 Camden Windjammer Festival
CAMDEN — The Camden Windjammer Festival is the Midcoast's annual celebration of its maritime heritage. It is all free to visitors and exhibitors, but it takes a community to bring it to life.
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Financially Speaking
To encourage saving for retirement, especially for lower-income workers who have little or nothing set aside, President Obama has ordered the creation of a new ”starter” plan called “myRA.”
…
Focus on Health
See Part I here.
Doctors die differently. When you think about it, that’s not surprising. We have seen a…
There’s a lot to like about Montana. With so much to offer, I’ve returned to the Treasure State for the second time in nine months. Montana is ideal for those…
Opinion: One runner’s perspective
It was not one of my better days. In fact, the area cancer survivors for whom this road race was dedicated might seek support groups for me to attend, rather than allow the storm cloud above my…
Down to the sea
The last article I wrote was about the…
It’s the Sonny Goodwins of the world who turn dreams into realities
The “Super Moon” and the Snow Bowl are in the news and both brought up thoughts about dreaming, vision, and goals. One area that I find small businesses could do better at is having a vision and…
Financially Speaking
Most young people with summer jobs can hold onto more of their earnings. They can escape having federal income tax withheld from their paychecks, as long as they didn’t owe any tax last year and…
Fish Soup
There they sat at two tables pushed together in the center of the dining room of the only breakfast place in Ashton, Idaho.
Ron and I are fishing our way home to Maine from California and we…
Dear Old Guy welcomes letters on all subjects, including love, marriage, child rearing, even basic plumbing and medical advice. What he doesn’t know, he is happy to make up. After all, he…
Tim Sample: Stories I Never Told You
As a native Mainer, I’m embarrassed to admit that it took me 20 years to make my first pilgrimage to Washington County. What can I say? Some of us are just late bloomers. I know, many…
Financially Speaking
Uncle Sam will share our losses in case of disaster, but the rules are more generous for businesses than for individuals.
You can deduct losses resulting from disasters like hurricanes,…
Tim Sample: Stories I Never Told You
Back in 1974, former Beatle John Lennon scored his only U.S. number one hit as a solo artist with an up-tempo tune, the chorus of which proclaimed, “Whatever gets you through the night…
Financially Speaking
When was the last time you checked your credit reports? Did you ever? Did you know that you can check your credit reports free once a year from the three big agencies—Equifax, Experian and…
Dear Old Guy welcomes letters on all subjects, including love, marriage, child rearing, even basic plumbing and medical advice. What he doesn’t know, he is happy to make up. After all, he…
Down to the sea
It was in 1823 that the first steamboat ever entered Camden Harbor, and people were not happy about that. According to Reuel Robinson's History of Camden, they were afraid it would scare…
Haunting calls symbolic of wild lakes, and they have distinct purposes
Anyone who has spent time on Megunticook Lake is familiar with common loons. Their haunting calls are symbolic of wild lakes across the Pine Tree State. Throughout human history, vocalizing…
Financially Speaking
A law enacted last year permits employees to transfer their 401(k) funds directly to the company's Roth 401(k) plan, even if they are too young to take a distribution from the plan. The IRS has…
Focus on Health
One of the most important things my father taught me was also the last thing he taught me. My dad taught me how to die. I hope that I am able to…
Dear Old Guy welcomes letters on all subjects, including love, marriage, child rearing, even basic plumbing and medical advice. What he doesn’t know, he is happy to make up. After all, he…
‘It’s not that I’m against change, just that some things don’t need fixing’
You could see this coming. Having been born in Camden and living in the area my entire life, I struggle with the balance and political issues that come up time and time again. Parking is always on…
Tim Sample: Stories I Never Told You
There’s a good case to be made for the notion that “art” saved my life, or, at the very least, gave me a reason to keep going through the rough patches. Let’s just say that for a…
Financially Speaking
When you set up your IRA, did you specify a beneficiary? Maybe even contingent beneficiaries in case the first beneficiary dies before you do? Most folks do; most custodians ask for it. But there’…
If you've been keeping up with the news lately, you've probably heard a lot about ticks; maybe even more than usual. I know that this time of year everyone is talking about Lyme disease, but this…
It’s right there
I’m not a guy who’s in favor of more laws. Education is the secret to change. Sometimes, people need to be encouraged to be educated and I guess that’s where laws come in. When Jesse was little,…
Financially Speaking
The new estate and gift tax exclusion for 2014 is $5,340,000, up from $5,250,000 last year. (Essentially, this means that most of us will not have to worry about federal estate taxes. But there…
Financially Speaking
Now that the federal government has recognized same-sex marriage, it is changing some tax laws to accommodate the fact. For instance, if a company offers a flexible spending arrangement, the plan…
Industrial arts
On a warm and sunny Saturday evening, surrounded by a harbor calm as a millpond — so calm, in fact, that I overheard somebody observe how the boats weren't even all pointing in the same direction…
Web Tech Buzz
I recently engaged myself into a conversation on Linkedin where the outcome led me to become the "manager" of a Group on Linkedin focused on Concierge and Errand Running "service providers" of the…
Down to the sea
CAMDEN — The large sailing vessels have removed their winter covers, and are beginning another busy season as they leave Camden Harbor for a week at a time. …
Dear Old Guy welcomes letters on all subjects, including love, marriage, child rearing, even basic plumbing and medical advice. What he doesn’t know, he is happy to make up. After all, he…
OK. OK. I admit it. Whenever one of my pieces gets published in the Pilot, I check the “Most Popular” sidebar to see if I made and if I did, where I scored. I learned a long time ago to not expect…
‘Be ever ready to defend your country’
On Memorial Day, we honor veterans of too many wars. But it seems the beginning was the Revolutionary War, …
Financially Speaking
The year an IRA owner turns 70 1/2, he or she must withdraw a specified fraction of the total IRA holdings or face an outrageous penalty of 50 percent of the amount NOT taken out. Yet more than…
Calendar, developments, musings
LINCOLNVILLE — This Thursday, May 22, will be a busy one at the Community Building, 18 Searsmont Road, with an…
Dear Old Guy welcomes letters on all subjects, including love, marriage, child rearing, even basic plumbing and medical advice. What he doesn’t know, he is happy to make up. After all, he…
Life is full of rewards and I’m going to receive a great one this week
May 22 will be a pretty special day for me. I’ll be attending a graduation. Graduations are the norm this time of year and moms and dads, brothers and sisters, grandparents and close family…
Financially Speaking
Time was an employer’s flexible spending arrangement let you set aside a chunk of money to pay for qualified medical expenses not covered by insurance, but there…
Tim Sample: Stories I Never Told You
Recently, I received a rather strange inquiry via social media. A displaced Mainer currently residing in one of those …
Meditations
That oh-so-brief window between winter's last chilly gasp and the leafing out of trees in spring is a…
Down to the sea
Beautiful inner Camden Harbor has all types of boats that fill it from the west side to the east side. It is a harbor with much history in…
Tim Sample: Stories I Never Told You
Friends of mine who recently returned from their annual migration to Florida, invited me to dinner last week at their home in Brunswick. Following a…
Dear Old Guy welcomes letters on all subjects, including love, marriage, child rearing, even basic plumbing and medical advice. What he doesn’t know, he is happy to make up. After all, he…
Starting at 5 a .m., home by 7 p.m.
I’ve mentioned work in a lot of my columns. By the time I graduated from high school, I’d worked at a couple of filling stations, but then I went to work at Marriners. It was something that I had…
Financially Speaking
If you use your car for business, for medical travel, moving, or for charitable purposes, you can deduct the cost from your taxes. The easiest way is to use the mileage rate set by the Internal…
opinion
The recent announcement that Camden Hills Regional High School is one of America’s most challenging and top-performing high schools rings hollow when you read the details. First, let me be…
