What is the true meaning of Christmas????

It's that time of the year again. Just when you finally got all the lights down off the house and the decorations from last year put away, it's time to start dragging them out again. Now is the time that all the fun begins....planning parties, mailing cards, drawing names, checking each and every bulb on 250 strands of lights, baking fruit cake that never gets ate, fighting a sea of violent shoppers for the best bargin......the list goes on and on. For all the effort that goes into the whole season, it seems to end in an almost anticlimactic event. The kids wake up Christmas morning and are soon lost in their new toys, the big dinner usually takes less than 20 minutes to consume. Before long, hordes of guests are leaving you to the largest kitchen mess of the year (besides Thanksgiving) that will take close to a week to clean up. When it's all over, you sit back in your easy chair and stare blindly off into space and ask yourself why anybody would want to go through all the hassle. 

Every year at this time I hear lots of comments about Christmas, some hate it while others love it. Amongst those that hate the holiday, it's not that they're Grinch's or Scrooge's, it's just that the previous paragraph perfectly describes their hectic and stressful holiday schedule. I hear comments from people that Christmas is overly commercialized, extremely stressful, depressing. For those of you that fit into that category, I offer this to you, the true meaning of Christmas is....whatever you want it to be.

Remember this, nobody can force you to do anything on Christmas. Nobody can force you to load your credit cards, spend hours in the kitchen, risk your life climbing on the roof. There are few things in life that are certain, but I can assure that the harder you try to make things perfect, the more you will be certainly disappointed at the outcome. You cannot put peace, joy and happiness on a schedule and you cannot create fond memories by trying too hard.

This year, I would encourage you to try something different. Question all of your holiday traditions. Is a tradition something you do because it brings joy to everybody (including yourself) or is it something you do because it's always been done that way? Time to throw out some of your old traditions and take a fresh look at how you approach the holiday season.

First off, ask yourself the simple question; What is the true meaning of Christmas?

I won't try to answer that for you, that is up to you to decide. Once you decide what the meaning of Christmas is, take a look at everything you do for the holidays and ask yourself if it really supports that idea. Do you really need the Fine China for Christmas dinner or will it work with paper plates and Dixie cups? Do you really need to stress over small details or can the idea of Christmas be supported by simply going with the flow and letting the season play out without your careful choreography?

Take this year and make things different. Throw out at least one long held tradition. Allow the Christmas season to one of enjoying family and friends and stop trying to create a memory making environment. Once you decide to kick back and relax and stop trying to control everything, only then will you discover the true meaning of Christmas.

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to all!!!
-Red-

My hand in the hornets nest........

I am generally a fairly affable guy, not much to argue, would rather tell a joke. I'm neither democrat or republican, religious or non religious. I was never part of the debate team in school and I don't have a law degree. However, there comes a time in every persons life when they feel the need to present a different point of view to a situation. For me, that time has  come.

Anybody that has been anywhere near a TV or radio in the past few weeks has probably been overloaded with information about the Casey Anthony trial. Once the verdict was read, there was an emotional outcry across the nation. To say the least, people were livid with a capital L! A young mother took her own daughters life and the whole world just watched a corrupt justice system allow her to walk free.

My sentiments on the situation..... Well, lets just say this is where I stick my hand in the hornets nest!

I know that we live in a country that is not immune to corruption. In any situation where you have a group of people with a common agenda, you are going to have corruption. On the flip side of that, I also feel that a verdict handed down by 12 of your peers is the purest and safest form of justice that you could possibly have. 12 people, picked at random from a pool of candidates that encompasses your entire community. Yes, jurors can be dismissed and replaced, but this option is given to both the prosecution and the defense and it is not an unlimited power of veto. When those 12 people are presented with the evidence, arguments and testimony, they are tasked with the responsibility to make a decision from a neutral starting point. That starting point, they bear no affiliations with either the prosecution or the defense, nor do they bear any bias's.

There are many countries around the world that hand down justice from a single person that is appointed to do so. All too often, these people are tainted and swayed by either political or religious agenda's. the authority to convict and condemn trusted with one person or a board of provincial leaders will always lead to wrong convictions for the wrong reasons. Those people have careers to protect and a constituency to please. This is why having 12 people chosen at random from the community in which you live is the safest, purest and most unadulterated decision you could have. If you are ever in unfortunate position of having to sit in the defendants chair, you'll be most thankful that your fate does not rest in the hands of someone trying to win votes or defend their religious beliefs.

I support our jury system 100%. In doing so, I support the decision they make. whether I agree or not is irrelevant, I was not sitting on that jury and the decision did not rest in my hands. I will say that I am horrified that a young girl lost her life and I do wish we could hold somebody accountable for it. At the same time, I am also thankful that I did not have to sit on the jury.

I would like to encourage people to set down your gavel and slowly back away from it. It's all too easy to become enraged and jump on the bandwagon with all the other enraged people. When people get enraged they feel like they're crying out for change and making a difference. There is a different bandwagon rolling by and it's population is pretty sparse, this is the bandwagon of compassion, grace & mercy. The ride is much smoother if you give up your gavel before hoping on board.

Gavel free and loving it!!!
-Red-

From little girl to young lady

There are few things in this life that will grip a person's heart like the birth of their child. To have the privilege of witnessing the miracle of life being welcomed into this world and knowing you're responsible for helping create this life, just amazing. Almost 12 years after that life changing event, I still drift back to that moment and remember the first time I met my daughter face to face. This powerful moment from the past still has the ability to command my emotions in a way that most men would deny possible.

And then....as life progresses...
Those of you that have kids all know that not every moment of their precious lives will evoke sweet emotions. There are times when being a parent made me very sad, angry, scared, apologetic, hurt, defensive...the list goes on. My daughter has somehow honed the fine art of bringing out the best and worst in me. Further, people that interact with my daughter will also cause these extreme peaks, depending on how they treat her. But, for every emotion that I feel from being a father, there is one that stands out above all other - LOVE!

I've always said that this photo makes me feel like a father

Bekah holdin her own

On Wednesday of this week Bekah attended her last day of Elementary School. It's hard to realize that time has gone by this quick and my little baby is now a Jr High Schooler. Long gone are the days when I would toss her up in the air and catch her while she's yelling "FLY DADDY FLY". The little girl that I once held in my arms has already started the natural gravitation towards friends. I'm alright with her growing up, it's my job as a parent to facilitate that. But, I can't help but think that those moments that you treasure go by just a little quicker than expected.

You mess with my girl, this is the least of your worries!

Bekah with her teacher on last day of Elementary School

A video that I made several years ago, it ends with her first day of Preschool

So, if you all were wondering what I might request for Fathers Day. The answer is simple; I already got it!

-Red-

Tales from the archives

In an effort to entertain, I decided to post an old story that I wrote back in the 90's. Yes, the whole thing is 100% true.

This story is completely true; I’m not even going to change the names to protect the innocent.

Back in the year of 1997 on the opening day of trout season some friends and I were headed up to the Cascade Lakes to try our hand at relieving the over population of farm fresh fish that had been recently been planted in many strategic locations through out the region. To assist us in our efforts I had secured the use of my Dad’s boat. The boat had not been on the water in over two years and Dad was just happy to see that it was getting some use.

As we neared our destination we decided to stop and eyeball some of the smaller lakes. It was then suggested by Eric, Greg and Eddie that maybe would should forgo launching the boat and just try to do some shore fishing. To this suggestion I offered a great protest. I had just hauled a boat over a 100 miles and come hell or high water (preferably high water) I’m going to get this machine afloat.

We soon arrived at or intended location and were quite surprised to find that every other boat owner the great State of Oregon was also there. We got the boat in the water and I had to drive the truck about a half mile up a skinny one lane dirt road to find a place to park. While driving up this road I got to thinkin’ “ I wonder if I’ll ever find a place to turn around or will I have to back up all the way to the boat ramp”? Well, no need to worry about matters that currently hold such little relevancy, right now I have fish to catch.

Back at the boat, I got it fired up and tooled out just a few hundred feet from our point of entry. We threw out the anchor and threw out our lines and assumed we were just minutes away from landing the big one.

A few short moments after we started fishing I noticed that the live bait well was starting to float up out of the bottom of the boat. I found this a little odd since I had never seen the bait well behave in such a manner before so I decided to investigate. I pulled open the lid and lifted the plastic tub out which revealed about 3 inches of water underneath. I figured now would be a good time to further my investigation so I calmly walked to the back of the boat and lifted the cover off the inboard engine. It was at this point that a little panic had set in. To offer a little lesson in boat construction, when you have an inboard motor you also have a large hole in the back of the boat to connect the motor to the outdrive. In between the outdrive and boat is a large rubber seal. This is the main element that protects you from an unintended swim and in our case that element had failed.

In an effort to protect my friends from great alarm I calmly told them to real in their lines because we have a small leak. I could see that they were completely unresponsive to my concerns about their personal safety so the second time I yelled “pull in your lines, WE ARE SINKING”.

I then fired up the boat and started heading toward the shore. With 305 cubic inches of Chevy small block working hard at the back of the boat I figured we could be at the boat ramp in less than half a minute. However, the boat was barley moving. I took a guess at what was impeding our travels and I had to assume that it was because the boat weighted too much from taking on so much water. As my mind started to race with the ways I could explain this to my Dad I slammed the throttle to full and hoped for the best. We were still unable to break 5 mph but luckily the boat ramp was not far away. As we arrived at the ramp one of my mates made the discovery that we had dragged the anchor the whole way. Hmm, good thing we didn’t hit any serious snags. But no time to reflect on that error right now, I need to go get the truck and the faster the better at this point.

I took off running up the road huffing and puffing hoping that the heart attack I was about to have could wait until the boat was safely on land. I then got to thinkin’ “ I wonder if I’ll ever find a place to turn around or will I have to back up all the way to the boat ramp”?  I did not have the benefit of time right now so in haste I made the decision to drive up the road and find a place to turn around. Luck was on my side a few times that day and this was one of those times. I got the truck turned around and made my way back to the ramp. As we tried to winch the boat up on the trailer it soon became apparent that the boat was much heavier now and we were not going to get it onto the trailer without an alternative plan. It was at this time that somebody suggested that I back the trailer much deeper into the water. I knew this was a bad idea because the ramp was soft gravel and the truck was only 2 wheel drive. Lacking any better options I decided to give it a try and well you guessed it, we got the boat on the trailer and then proceeded to get the truck stuck on the ramp There happened to be a guy at the ramp that had a winch on his truck and he was able to help me get the truck out but because of the lack of space he was only able to pull me up about five feet. With the boat still positioned directly behind the hole that I dug with truck it was suggested to me that I need to come up out of there pretty quick or the boat will get suck in the same hole. I agreed with the analysis of the situation and headed up the ramp like I was being shot out of a cannon. When the tire on the boat trailer hit the hole I felt and heard a jerk and at that point I felt we had surely traumatized some piece of already abused equipment. After stopping several feet away from the drink, I got out to do a damage assessment. It was at that time that I noticed that the axel on the trailer had slid back about three inches on the right side.

Lacking tools we had no way to fix the trailer so we decided on the next best course of action. I’ll haul the boat to my parent’s cabin since we are only 40 miles away. All the way there the boat was riding on the shoulder while I drove the truck down the center of the highway.

After we got rid of the boat we went back to one of the smaller lakes that we had looked at earlier. We all caught our limit fishing from the shore.

Goonies never say die

My new job will start on Tuesday right after Memorial Day weekend. I remain very hopeful that this job will signal the end of my bouncing around trying to find myself. I can't honestly say I'm not any closer to finding myself now than I was a year ago. What I do know, I need a job. I can always look for myself when I have a regular paycheck and can afford the search. In the last weekend before going back to work, it seemed only prudent to spend the last two dimes I was rubbing together on a little fun. So, in the spirit of frivolous spending, we packed up the steel steed and headed out to Astoria for the day on Saturday.

We enjoyed this day with my Dad and his Wife and my step sister. For those of you that read my parent's blog,  http://therapytravels.blogspot.com/ and are now trying to figure out my lineage, just sing to yourself the theme song from the Brady Bunch and will have the jest of the story. That said, the Dad portrayed in this post is not the same Dad you met in the Therapytravel blog. At any rate, we were also briefly joined on this adventure by my Sister, her Husband and my Niece.

For those of you that are not familiar with Pacific Northwest geography, Astoria is located far up in the Northwest point of Oregon where the Columbia river spills into the Pacific Ocean. It is area that is rich in history and wonderful sights. If you ever get the chance, it is a must visit destination where you can learn many things about Lewis and Clark, river transportation and military history. As for us, our fascination with the region always seems to lean a little more towards more recent movie history.

Kari re-enacting the jail break

 Back in 1984, Goonies was filmed in Astoria. in the 26 years since it was released, it has gained a cult following that keeps a steady stream of "Goonies" making a pilgrimage to all the filming locations in and around the city. The jail in the film was recently converted to a film museum that pays homage to the many films that used Oregon as a backdrop to their stories. We had to revisit some of our favorite sites and also make vain attempts at re-enacting some of the most memorable scenes.

We also had the pleasure of stumbling across a new restaurant, Cecil's Trolley Stop Grill that was on it's second day of being open. They were doing a soft opening and not yet doing any advertising. As you can imagine, We had most of the place and the staff to ourselves. They treated us like old friends and we were even paid a visit from the chef. Food was great at an affordable price with a view of the Columbia River that was just amazing. I look forward to visiting Cecil's again the next time I'm in town.

Bekah in front of the Goonie House. She refused to do the Truffle Shuffle!

The view from Cecil's Trolley Stop Grill

After visiting several other sights in Astoria, including a terrifying 144 step climb to the top of the Astoria Column, we decided to head south to Tillamook to visit the birth place of our favorite cheese. Yes, I'll admit, we are a strange crew. In an area that is so overly abundant with history and scenery, we seemed obsessed with our movies and our cheese.

Headin into the Cheese Factory

As luck would have it, Joni's Mom and Aunt were in Tillamook for the day from Eugene. We hooked up with them at the cheese factory and Joni got to spend some time visiting. We also loaded up on all our favorite cheeses and some ice cream.

Joni with her Mom and Aunt

Since my Dad, his Wife and my step Sister are all recent transplants from Southern California, we are hoping that we have many chances this summer to visit new places to show our recently inducted Oregonians all the beauty this place has to offer. In my opinion, you could spend a lifetime exploring the great Northwest and never take in all it has to offer. I am excited about starting my new job on Tuesday and hopefully having a little more money to spend on enjoying site seeing.

More soon
-Red-

Enjoying the ride

Last June when I was laid off from the Federal Reserve Bank, I had accepted the idea that my days of working in any bank were most likely over. Most of the experience that I had in banks all revolved around checks. With the onset of online bill pay and debit cards, checks have taken on the same status as typewriters and home phones. Just as kids these days would quizzically look at an IBM Selectric or wonder what that funny looking dial is on top of the old phone on great-grandma's desk, I figured that my career was also doomed to the archives of the way things used to be. No matter, I was OK with this, it was time for a change and now I had the power to choose the direction of my future. It was all in my hands and now I was going to have the chance to live life on my terms......yeah, right!

I started this blog with a quote from a favorite singer/song writer of mine. John Lennon in a song he wrote to his son said "life is what happens when you're busy making other plans". I don't think I could find a better quote to describe the past year of my life. The twists and turns, ups and downs that I've experienced in this past year would have most frequent flyers grabbing the little white bag conveniently provided in the seat pocket in front of them. Through it all, stayed on the ride mostly because I was curious about what may be around the next corner. Unpredictability in life isn't always fun but it certainly is entertaining. It's hard to lose interest when you're always saying "gosh, I wonder what will happen tomorrow".

So, I briefly owned a photo studio, went to truck driving school, briefly drove trucks, submitted hundreds of resumes to every company in town, crawled into pizza ovens, sent out a couple hundred more resumes, went fishing, rode my motorcycle, spent  time creating culinary masterpieces, decided to pursue being an electrician, studied math...you get the picture. I also spent a lot of time in between each step being stressed out and worried about how I will pay the mortgage next month. All this time I never  did settle into a comfort zone that I felt would provide the stability that I was seeking. In fact, I'm not entirely sure I knew what I was seeking. I thought I wanted change but I had no idea about the trials that path would lead me down.

On Wednesday of last week I posted a comment on facebook about applying for a job with Staples. Underneath that, a former co-worker of mine told me to contact her for info about a staffing company that got her and several other former co-workers jobs at Wells Fargo. On Thursday I made a call to the staffing company and was set up for an interview on Friday. By the end of the 10 minute interview, the gal was offering me a job. She told me that she just fired somebody and needed to fill a position ASAP! As of right now, I have started the process for the background check. As soon as the background check reveals that I don't even know what handcuffs look like, I will be heading off to work for Wells Fargo. Which I must say, this is also in the best interest of Wells Fargo since they are the ones that hold my mortgage. All this seem like I'm going right back to where I started from, heading right back to the pit that I was so desperate to escape from a year ago. Well, I'm OK with that, it's a familiar pit and hopefully a stable one.

What happens next....not sure I should make any plans. I'm just along for ride and will allow life to happen.

Enjoy the ride!
Red

Out of the frying pan and into the boiler

It's been almost a month since my last blog update, not that I have forgotten that my life bears slight interest to my adoring fans, I just felt there was nothing of any real interest happening in my life. I am happy to report that there have been some new developments that add great fodder to a blog writers repertoire.

As of the writing my last entry, I was attempting to teach myself algebra so I could qualify for an electrician apprenticeship. I made some great progress on the things I was able to learn but as things started to get more complicated, I came to some road blocks that I was not able to overcome. Since then, I have signed up with an online course offered through the National Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee. Completion of this course will satisfy all math requirements for the apprenticeship program. I am currently working through that course and still hope to one day become a "sparky".

Not all ingredients shown, that is top secret

Meanwhile, I also started applying for as many jobs as I could locate and also spent some spare time experimenting with some new recipes. As much as I love to cook, I have never in my life attempted a potato salad. After looking at several recipes, I was able to develop my own ideas of what I wanted my salad to taste like and what I was going to put in it. I am happy to report that the potato salad was a major success and tasted the way I hoped it would. I also made an attempt at a broccoli salad and a pasta salad. Again, the results were favorable and will be rolling out of my kitchen for years to come.

The pasta creation, very tasty!!

In the midst of all my cooking, studying, job hunting I was able to hook up with an old friend, Matt on facebook that I hadn't seen in about 13 years. We met for breakfast one day and after talking a little about my situation, he started telling me about one of his part time jobs with a friend of his. He climbs into boilers in mills and power plants to do inspections. He logs data about things that he finds so that the boilermakers know where to go to make repairs. Most of these mills and power plants shut down for a few weeks a year to do maintenance and they always shut down on the spring and fall. Matt told me that he would pass on my name to his friend and see if he needed any help. Well, I ended up getting a call from Brian on the afternoon of Sunday, May 1st telling me he needed me in Chehalis WA (about 90 miles north of me) at 7am the next morning. I told him that I would be happy to show. I quickly washed some clothes, packed my bags and headed out for Chehalis that night, not at all sure what I was getting myself in to.

I was faced with an opportunity but I hadn't the slightest idea what I would be doing. I set out with a small crew at the power plant and we went up to the 10th floor of the boiler. As we approached the boiler I noticed these small doors that were about 2' X 2' that looked like something you would stick a pizza in, not a person. Starting to feel a little anxious, I asked if I would be going through one of those doors. I was told that some of the ingresses are smaller than that. It suddenly brings to mind all the time I might have complained about working in a boring, air conditioned office thinking that I needed to do some outside work. Turns out, those complaints were born from lack of other knowledge. I was now in line to receive a quick lesson about why you should not complain about your job. After climbing in and out of pizza ovens for several days, I found that I was able to overcome or at least learn to deal with my fears of claustrophobia. Maybe, it was just more overcome with the greater fear of homelessness or worse yet, not being able to afford internet connection!!!!

Me in front of one of the pizza ovens. Yes, I do fit in there.

After learning a little more about the job, I found that this could be a good deal for some people. Because of the limited shut down season, the work weeks are usually 60 plus hours. The upside to that, you make great money in a short amount of time. Most of the guys I worked with only do this 6 or 7 months a year. The rest of the year, they don't have other jobs. Are you kidding me???? 6 months of vacation time every year???? All the sudden, cramming myself into pizza ovens doesn't seem all that bad. I'm still not 100% convinced that this will be a long term choice for me. For now, it is decent money and helping me preserve my indoor living conditions just a little longer. Should I choose to stick with this, I will be spending long stretches away from home but I will also get even longer stretches at home.

Life is all about learning. Myself, I'm learning a lot about what I can or cannot do, what I can overcome and what I am willing to do. No matter what happens, these are valuable lessons that I will carry with me for the rest of my life.
-Red-