And on my last day of work, I would…

This article originally appeared in the Chicago Tribune November 7, 2017 The Twitterverse, indeed the entire online community, was abuzz last week with news that a still unidentified rogue Twitter employee, on his or her last day of employment at the social networking giant, briefly shut down President Donald Trump’s account. For 11 minutes, an eternity for Trump’s 41 million…

Hey Amazon Driver! Come Live with Me

This column originally appeared in the Chicago Tribune Oct 31, 2017 The Schwem family has often entertained the idea of hosting a foreign exchange student for a semester or, if the student can tolerate us, an entire year. That could prove difficult given the attitude foreigners have toward our country’s residents right now. “Mama, Papa,…

i’m Ready to Move to Mars

Four years ago, I became intrigued with, and wrote about, Mars One, a space exploration project that seeks to establish a permanent human settlement on the Red Planet. Anyone can apply to be an astronaut, providing they are OK with never returning to Earth. That’s right — the Mars One journey is a one-way ticket.…

The Marijuana Farm Next Door

Seven years ago, my wife and I purchased a half-acre tract of land adjacent to our house, entering the topsy-turvy world of real estate investment. It was never our intention to build anything on the property, despite our neighbors’ suggestions that one or more recreational entities would look simply smashing on it, provided they were…