One Amongst Many

05/29/2017 - 11/22/1963

John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), commonly referred to by his initials JFK, was an American politician who served as the 35thPresident of the United States from January 1961 until his assassination in November 1963. ~Wikipedia

• Kennedy was the youngest man ever elected to the presidency, succeeding the man who, at the time, was the oldest. He symbolized—as he well realized—a new generation and its coming-of-age. He was the first president born in the 20th century, the first young veteran of World War II to reach the White House. John Hersey’s powerful account of Kennedy’s wartime bravery, published in The New Yorker in 1944, helped him launch his political career.

• In shaping his legend, Kennedy’s personal charm helped. A witty and articulate speaker, he seemed built for the age of television. To watch him on film today is to be struck by the power of his presence and the wit and elegance of his oratory. His celebrated inaugural address was filled with phrases that seemed designed to be carved in stone, as many of them have been. Borrowing a motto from his prep-school days, putting your country in place of Choate, he exhorted Americans: “Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.” ~ ALAN BRINKLEY

I am committed to writing about this very special man every opportunity I have for the purpose of keeping his memory alive so that we can at the same time maintain a point of focus for the sake of comparison.  We must never forget what a great and civil society we once were.  Because as long as we remember, we may be able to find our way back.  The best is yet to come……….

Vocabulary Expansion

Vocabulary Expansion

Just when I think that I am at a point where I believe, I’ve seen it all and am coming close to knowing a lot, if not all.  Guess what?  Something new is added to my vocabulary for starters.

I want to share this new experience because it’s always better to be forewarned.  We live in a nice development, considered until recently very safe, but crime has come calling and touched our lives directly.

Up until a couple of days ago, I used to be impressed by someone riding a bike or going for a walk late at night (sometime between 11pm to 4am).  I used to tell myself that I was impressed to their commitment to staying healthy.  Well, for sure not everyone out late at night is doing the same thing, BUT most recently thanks to my security cameras, I came face to face with reality.

A woman in her late 20’s to early 30’s was caught on camera, breaking into one of my vehicles and stealing a second one right from my driveway around midnight.  The security cameras are HD so the police were able to ID the person, someone that failed to show up in court for sentencing for a similar offense.  He referred to her as a well-known “tweaker.”

Thus my vocabulary expansion:

tweaker

• Also: tweeker.
  
  1. Person who constantly stays up cleaning, washing, organizing, power tooling, sorting or otherwise keeping themselves busy doing menial tasks.
  2. Someone who constantly makes slight alterations on (usually a very specific) object, i.e. computer, software, automobile, etc.
  3. A compulsive liar, thief, or both.
  4. A methamphetamine ("tweak"), or other form of speed, addict (who displays all of the above in an obsessive-compulsive manner).

Don’t you just hate it when you think you’ve seen it all, and BAM, it comes knocking into your life.  You don’t have to live in a bad neighborhood to experience criminal activity, the tweakers go out at night to case vehicles and houses for plundering.

The perpetrator hasn’t been caught yet nor has the vehicle been recovered as of this writing, but time is running out for this individual.  When she does get caught, the price she pays will be a double whammy, she will do time behind bars, but the worst penalty will be the withdrawals she will suffer not being able to feed her addiction.  For the rest of us, the best is yet to come……………..

A Life Well Lived

I still remember like if it was yesterday, how incredibly nice and empowering it is to

be young and have things going your way.  I was in my early twenties starting a family studying and held a job in mid management.  Among my passions, I lived for driving my muscle cars which I upgraded on average every 18 months.

Looking back from a fiscal point of view, I could be a very wealthy person if only I had taken a different tactic to fiscal responsibility.  As it is I am working on my third million!  I forgot to mention that I gave up on the first and second (LOL)!  No regrets, the lord took care of me despite my shortcomings.  At the same time, I harken back to all the wonderful times that I experienced being amongst the first handful of people in my city to drive the first of the new muscle cars for new year model.  Imagine driving the new models such as: 1967 Cadillac Coupe de Ville, 1968 Plymouth Road Runner, 1969 American Motors AMX, 1970 Dodge Charger, 1971 Dodge Challenger, etc.

All during this time I maintained a normal everyday work car (at different times), such as a 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air, 1956 Ford Victoria, 1958 Chevrolet Nomad Station Wagon.  In looking back, I cringe at the very thought of referring to these gorgeous classics as “everyday work car.”

I started out thinking Cadillac was going to be the level of class that I aspired to, but I quickly learned that it made me appear older than my age so I change direction and went to muscle cars. Gasoline prices being what they were during the era of the muscle cars, I still caught myself stopping at gas stations and asking for a couple of dollars’ worth of gas and check the oil please.  

The other passion that rivaled my passion for powerful and very exciting cars (looks and power), was my love/passion for music systems.  Top of the line 8-track stereo system with 4 speakers (my AMX had a 7 speaker system) surround sound.  That my friends was the life.

Full disclosure:  I wasn’t the kind of person that had all his money invested in cars, the house had to be nice and nicely furnished because as important as my car passion was, the family was even more important.  The best is yet to come……..

Many Years Ago

Many Years Ago

Many, many, many years ago in what now seems like a Galaxy far, far away, exactly on this date I married the most beautiful young lady after only knowing her for two weeks.  If love at first sight ever applied this was the perfect proof of it.  Better yet, after all these years, four beautiful children and presently four gorgeous grandchildren I love her even more today than yesterday.

I’ve said in many previous posts that I am blessed beyond what any one person deserves, and she is the foundation of all my blessings.

One of the best things that I can wish on anyone is to live in a relationship like ours.  Our life hasn’t been without it’s peaks and valleys, but our relationship has always been powerfully strong and healthy.  I’ve always known that someone had my back and that someone was my sweetheart.

I can best tell her of my love for her by sharing with anyone that will take the time to read or listen of my love and devotion for her.  I wish you all love and good fortune!  The best is yet to come………

Life of Leisure

Life of Leisure

This morning while driving the first of my two granddaughters to school (which I do strictly of my own volition).  We engaged in conversation as we always do, except that this time it took a very different direction.  Our typical conversation is about the weather, upcoming events at her school or in the family.  This morning she started off by saying that she really didn’t feel like going to school.  My response was that there are many things, I would rather not do.  Some of those “things” have some flexibility where I can decide to do or not to do, and some that I have a commitment to and must do.

Of the two granddaughters that I drive to school, one is 10 years old and the other is 6.  The granddaughter that sparked the conversation and this Blog post is the 10-year-old.  Her response to me was (innocently), “you are so lucky that you can just go home and do nothing or only what you want to do.”  Before I continue, I want to make sure that we all have the same definition of Leisure.

Leisure

Noun

1. freedom from the demands of work or duty: She looked forward to retirement and a life of leisure.
2. time free from the demands of work or duty, when one can rest, enjoy hobbies or sports, etc.:
3. Most evenings he had the leisure in which to follow his interests.
4. unhurried ease: a work written with leisure and grace.

I retired early with a comfortable pension to avoid unnecessary work stress, and hopefully maintain a life of leisure and in great health (so far so good on only one of those two goals, health).  The leisure part I have yet to realize.

It was so much easier to schedule a day or even half day away from work to play golf or go fishing, than it is to take time away from my granddaughters and grandson.  I am not complaining and the difficulty in getting away is my sense of responsibility to them (the children) not to their parents.

I presently take my two granddaughters to school in two different but adjoining cities (thankfully different start times to accommodate the travel time).  I also pick them up at end of school day.

The last time that I took a vacation out of State by myself the grandkids cried and missed me so much that I couldn’t really enjoy my time away.  I felt a deep guilt as if I had abandoned them.  Fortunately, this year’s vacation is all about them and will include a stop to visit the happiest place in the world (Disney).

I explained to my 10-year-old granddaughter that I officially started working at age 12 (I was raised on the farm) following the end of the school year.  Keep in mind that the first six or so years where Summer jobs.  Nonetheless I logged a total of 50 years in the work force.  My explanation was meant to justify what she perceived as being my life of leisure.  The best is yet to come………

A Family Record

A Family Record

• A growing number of people have decided to write a life story, autobiography, memoir or personal history. And more are thinking about it. But writing my life story was not a decision I arrived at overnight. Most of us don’t suddenly have an epiphany that our stories must be told. However, once you conclude it is important to preserve your story you are faced with a host of questions, such as how to get started, what the finished product will be, how much will it cost and who will do the work. ~ Tom Gilbert

One of my sons gave me an Apple iPad five years ago but not without a condition.  I was supposed to use it to write my life story.  My excuse had been that I didn’t spend enough time near a computer and I didn’t like working on a laptop (for whatever reason I hate the keyboard on a laptop).  My son explained and proved to me that my laptop keyboard is regulation size, comparable to my desktop keyboard.  However once my mind is made up I won’t be swayed.

Surprisingly enough, the iPad became an extension of my body, and I would write everywhere and anywhere, especially at bedtime for two to three hours.  I’ve written enough material for two books, and I hear that, it could be a good thing. 

My wife has pretty much convinced me to write two or three smaller books instead of one large one that even family members would be intimidated by.  Some family members have been given the opportunity to read a chapter here and there.  Even those closest to me are amazed at the depth of my life history and the history of my parents and grandparents.  I’ve had some of my own children say that they didn’t know as much about me and the family as they thought they knew.

Writing a book (biography) is very important for family value and sake.  Your life history as told from the first person perspective is something that no one else will be able to do once we (you become feeble - incapacitated).  You may think you don’t have the writing skills, but there are many people like me that would help you, and others that do it for money.

Your book doesn’t have to be a best seller quality.  To your family it could be as valuable as any legacy you can leave.  Even if your book ended up being more like a journal or short story.  Imagine a great grandchild getting his or her hands on your works many, many years down the road.  With today’s internet, you can even self-publish if you felt that a publishing company wouldn’t be interested in your project.  Keep in mind that you only need enough copies for your family, unless you feel that your book might have a wider reaching public interest. The best is yet to come……

Family Transitions

1950's City Living

Family Transitions

My original upbringing was city type.  My father had a university education, and my mother was a stay at home mother.  I wasn’t able to judge if we were well-off or poor, but I know that I had everything I needed, and just about everything I wanted.  Then one day at the age of seven, my parents separated and eventually divorced.  My parents were so private with their lives where I was concerned that I never saw the separation coming.

Off to Texas

One day my mother packed our belongings (three of us: mother, sister - 7 years older than me, and me) and we moved to Texas leaving my father in California.  For four years my mother held as many as three jobs to make sure that we had a nice comfortable, and safe house in the best neighborhood she could afford.  So it was, that even after the separation all our needs and many of our wants were being met by the most wonderful and hard working mother that ever lived.

Four years after the divorce, and in order to be able to adopt a newborn baby girl, my mother remarried so that she could stay home and be a full time mother (a marriage that lasted just over 24 years).  The man that my mother married worked for the city water works, but moved us to the Pacific Northwest to pursue a job offer as a general foreman of a ten-thousand-acre farm that paid in one week what he earned in a month and a half working for the city.  My life changed once again overnight and I became a country boy that learned to work on the farm and in the open air.  Work was very hard and the hours were long, but it was the foundation of the hardworking man that I eventually became.

Plenty of fresh air

Who would imagine that something as basic as the mere act of performing the ritual of providing for your family’s existence (survival), could have such far reaching effects beyond the obvious.  In the fifties while living in Texas I knew many families that would leave their homes to travel around the country in search of work (migrant-agricultural work).  I knew this because many of my friends and their families would disappear from the neighborhood for months at a time.  Then one day I would be in school and out of the blue my friends would walk into the classroom, having just returned from their yearly travels following the migrant stream from state to state. While they owned their homes they were gone approximately 6 or more months out of the year.  They always returned back to base with plenty of money to carry them for the remainder of the year plus. 

Stoop Labor

Many of the children of those families would eventually grow up and settle down to raise a family in States where their parents (whole family) once visited as migrant workers.  Many of the young children of migrant workers that I had met in school, would grow up to be lawyers, doctors, nurses, teachers, and first responders with the Fire Department, and various law enforcement jurisdictions.  Hard long hours on the agricultural fields was the foundation but education was the way out and up to an easier life.

Given the opportunity to progress out of migrant work, I can’t imagine anyone choosing one of the hardest ways that I know to make a living.  I know because somewhere along the way I experienced what it takes.  Believe me when I tell you that the very thought of doing that for a living into old age made me work harder on my school subjects.  Because I know first-hand what it takes to survive field work (agriculture), those people that have done it and those that are still doing it have my highest appreciation and respect.  The best is yet to come……

The Flipside

Information source (pre-internet)

The Flipside

I make no secret of the fact that I enjoy writing, make that love writing.  My very profile to this blog states it.  To my way of reasoning it would make sense that I also love reading on many different levels.  Once upon a time (70’s and 80’s) I used to subscribe to up to three different newspapers (all at once).  My biggest justification is that every newspaper from different parts of the country influences a news story with a slightly different perspective. 

Definitive favorites, there was the Wall Street Journal, Seattle Times, La Opinion (Spanish Language Los Angeles Paper), The San Jose Mercury.  Let’s not forget my favorite Magazines: Time, U.S News and World Reports, People, Consumer Reports, plus others (Playboy strictly for the articles).  The bottom line is that I simply couldn’t get enough knowledge about various current and world events, and social goings on (pre-internet). 

Amongst my book reading, here are some of my memorable readings: The Great Gatsby, MobyDick, 1984, Adventures of Huckleberry Fin, The Lord of the Rings, Don Quixote, and many more.  I especially appreciate good suspense authors like: Stephen King, Dean Koontz.

I’ve often thought what could be or might have been, if only some event or conversation in the past had not taken place.  However, being of very upbeat and positive attitude, I always see possible changes in history (outcomes) as ending with improvement.

As an example: if my mother had fixed my father a lunch that one fateful day in 1955, my father would not have had reason to walk into a small restaurant near his work, where he met a cute young waitress. My mother and father eventually divorced over my father’s involvement with the cute young waitress.  Or, perhaps if the waitress had missed her ride to work, or had the flu, my father would never had met the waitress.  In my mind the many scenarios of outcomes, all had different but happy endings.

I’ve never given a second thought at how life could have been different in a negative way.  Most recently I’ve read a novel that has started me thinking about possible negative outcomes. I am not convinced that this new exposure doesn’t bring out a negative (darker) side of me, that I didn’t realize dwelled in the recesses of my mind.  My next post, “A Kindle, Kind of Man,” will further explore this thought.  The best is yet to come…….

Coming Out of a Coma

Coming Out of a Coma

Despite all the progressive changes in our wonderful United States from one day to the next, not to mention from one year to the next and especially from one decade to the next.  Life in this country can still be taken in stride.  Understanding our society progression and history we can assume that big progressive strides are in our future and even expect positive changes.

But if you were to be coming out of coma after 6 to 12 months, you would not recognize the changes that have occurred in the political landscape.  I am making reference in particular to Campaign 2016.  Unless something changes to return us to more familiar times, I can’t begin to predict where our society is headed.   Not a good thing to be sure.

Historically, I’ve felt that “political correctness,” had been taken too far, but now I can clearly see, what the extreme to that statement is.  Common sense can balance extremes; unfortunately, common sense is in short supply as of late.

Please take care of your health, take your vitamins, and say your prayers, because we are in for a rough ride ahead and we will need our strength.  The best is yet to come….

Ignorance is Bliss

Ignorance is Bliss

Ignorance is bliss definition

• Not knowing something is often more comfortable than knowing it.                                   
• Note: This proverb resembles “What you don't know cannot hurt you.” It figures in a passage from “On a Distant Prospect of Eton College,” by the eighteenth-century English poet Thomas Gray: “Where ignorance is bliss, / ‘Tis folly to be wise.’”

As I catch campaign 2016 commercials on the television’s various networks, I harken back to the good old days when politicians had a touch of class and decency (sorry for the use of an oxymoron).

Nothing happens today especially on the campaign trail that doesn’t get immediate exposure on the internet.  Even television networks find themselves leading from behind because everyone is tweeting, and otherwise posting to the social media (Facebook).

Back in the days before the internet, an illegal activity could be taking place in the next block from your residence and you might never hear of it, except for maybe a nosey neighbor that might be known for spreading gossip.  Regularly cases were exposed where a husband or wife might be having an affair on the opposite side of town (population 15,000 and bigger) and no one would be the wiser, they might even live in total bliss not knowing of the betrayal.

I recall that when I was involved in my career (28 years), my office would be on the West Side of the State, and my area of responsibility was on the East Side of the State.  I was on the road on average 2500 miles per month, and was away from home anywhere from 3 to 4 days, and sometimes the whole week.  One unscrupulous individual in my office that didn’t travel, asked me if I had a second family going on while I was away.

In the course of my business I met many individuals that were well off and traveled in their business, and while not everyone was doing it I knew a number of individuals that traveled with mistresses.  One that comes to mind was married to a beautiful wife that had been a professional model, and even after having 3 children and in her late 20’s still looked like the famous model that my friend had met and married.

This story was conveyed by my friend as we chatted over a couple of drinks in his newly decorated bachelor apartment.  It was a Friday night when his wife received a call from one of her friends who was on vacation.  She asked her friend where is Ben (the name has been changed to protect the guilty), and her answer was he is attending a trade convention in Atlanta, Georgia.  Her friend responded, I’m not doing this to hurt you but as a friend, to help you.  My husband and I are at a resort in Hawaii and Ben just came into the lounge with a young brunette on his arm, and they are acting like honeymooners.  She sent a video of the two hugging and kissing in a booth.

By the time my friend got home most of his clothes were packed and near the front entrance of his palatial home.  She had contacted an attorney over the weekend and began the process of divorce, and division of property.  My friend was in the land development business, and owned commercial properties, undeveloped land, an exclusive golf course (Country Club), one of the largest and very popular furniture stores in town (established by his father in the mid 1950’s).  By the time his wife was done with him he was near bankruptcy, and had lost most of the inheritance his parents had left him.  The times when “Ignorance is Bliss,’ applied, went out when the smart phones with cameras and videos, and social media came in.

I am a very happily married man, because I love my family and they love me.  It doesn’t hurt that in my relationship I always get the last word.  Unfortunately, it’s almost always, “yes dear!”  The best is yet to come….