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….

Saving the Day

Saving the day

If you have followed my blog, you are aware that I like to delve into The good ole days of the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, etc., etc.  The best and fastest way is to travel back in time is by using my mind which has lived through the times, and it remains vividly fresh in my mind.  One popular saying is that the mind is a terrible thing to waste.  Well, in my case it would be like throwing out a 2 terabyte hard drive, without first saving or transferring its’ contents.  I’ve always felt that better things were ahead for us as a nation, and I still believe that, but I must admit it is requiring a lot more faith and prayer to see through the haze.

It seems that historically every time that this wonderful country of ours has taken a step backwards (setback) we manage to come out two steps ahead by the time the smoke clears.  In recent years I’ve noticed that we haven’t been bouncing back as well as we are used to.  It doesn’t really matter what your political affiliation is or the color of your skin, it used to be that whatever your shortcomings (weaknesses), our country would always be a place where you could come out ahead.

If you were willing to work hard, and smart (not necessarily in that order) there was room for you to succeed and leave your family better off than you ever attained.  As an example my parents were much better off than their parents (not just financially, but also emotionally, physically, education, etc.).  My wife and I are better off than our parents in every sense including health and relationship.  My children are already bypassing our level of accomplishment in almost all levels, but they are still young and they will recover from some of their weak areas.

Their weaknesses are not insurmountable, but I can see that their weaknesses are in part a product of society, government intervention (I’m referring to government regulation in most areas of our lives, and other intrusions where they have no business getting involved)

One perfect example comes to mind in the area of communications.  Remember when the government decided that Ma Bell was too big and had to be split?  Life was supposed to be improved for the consumer after the government intervened.  You have the answer if you lived through that time; how large is your phone bill now?  How much privacy do you have for your communications?

For those of us that have been paying for our own health insurance for years, how much money have you saved on your premiums and copays in the last two or three years? With regard to politics, it used to be that there was an acceptable code of conduct for the presidential candidates, do you even recognize what is passing for political campaigning?  Remember, I’m not claiming to be on one side or the other.

I don’t care who wins at this point (I may have to settle for the best of the worst), we may have a difficult time recognizing this country in three or four years.  It used to be that you had to have a level of acceptable decency but unless something changes quickly, or someone comes forth to save the day the road to recovery is going to be a long one.

The media used to be like a spotlight on cockroaches, (when the light came on the cockroaches ran for the cover of darkness.  Today the media is an instigator and most often a cheerleader for those they support and bully to what they consider their opposition.

It could well be that we need to hurry up and complete work on the time machine for those of us looking to escape to better times.  The best is yet to come….

Decreasing Value

Decreasing Value

Another great title for this post could be Disappearing Middle Class.  For some of us that have had a wonderful run in the workforce, and are now retired.  If we prepared adequately (education or training) and either saved money or invested wisely, and had a big helping of good luck.  By good luck I mean not have 80 to 100% of your investments in the stock market around the time of the market collapsed.  For those of us; we are surviving with our heads above water where the finances are concerned.  We don’t even notice our declining finances because we have been adjusting our extracurricular activities.  Examples:  Stop taking the annual vacation to fancy resorts in or out of the country, dropped the Golf Membership at the Country Club, stopped driving the expensive SUV (gas guzzler) and moved into a more economical sedan, Cut down eating out from twice weekly to twice monthly (entertaining more at home), etc., etc.

When my wife and I first got married and even now we like to guess how much our groceries are going to cost while the cashier is processing our groceries.  We like to see how sharp we are at guessing and see who comes the closest to the total cost.  The only prize is the honor of guessing the closest and show off our mathematical genius.  It used to be that a rule of thumb was on average $10 per bag of groceries.

Like everything else the prices have gone up and the size of the bags have gotten smaller.  Coincidence, I don’t think so.  Just like the size of a candy bar got smaller and the price stayed the same for about a year and then they totally lost their shame and raised the prices anyway (have you noticed that the size of a case of pop is now 20 cans instead of 24, yet the price stayed the same or went up).  Earlier this week I was sent out on a grocery run and as often happens, I was in the mood for reflection.  As has been typical since the drought broke in the Northwest, it was a rainy evening.  

After rushing into my car to avoid getting soaked, I noticed that I only carried out two small bags of groceries, and a couple of lose items that were too heavy for the flimsy paper bags with handles that they now sell you for five cents each.  The paper handles on the bags break long before you get home.  Total paid for the few items I purchased was over $50.  That is an average of 25 dollars per bag.  The few items that I carried unbagged were a gallon of milk, ½ gallon of orange juice, and a two liter bottle of pop.

It wasn’t that long ago that I remember buying a five pound sleeve of ground beef for $4.39 today in some stores that’s the price per pound, even more if you buy the 93% fat free.  Today’s price of the cheapest cut of beef (Chuck Roast) is $6.99 per pound.  That used to be the price of Top Sirloin.  The saddest thing is that, the market place ratchets the screws on our budgets so much and so high that when they finally have a sale to draw you into the store, and we are so grateful and reward them with our budget dollars.

I remember that growing up my parents used to look at the weekly sales (printed on paper flyers) and would actually shop the different stores to buy the advertised sales leaders.  I do believe I see those day coming back.  The reason for the high prices is often blamed on the cost of oil (transportation), the drought (lack of irrigation water for agriculture), Global Warming (according to politicians, what happens in Timbuktu affects Cucamonga, California, etc., etc.). 

There will have to be at least two more posts on the subject of what’s making the Middle Class disappear.  I don’t care about all the excuses (reasons) I hear; the number one reason for the high prices is greed and crooked corporations (they raise prices because they can – 200% plus increase in CEO compensation over the last 2 or 3 years).  We can return our country (world) to greatness, but we need to get involved or at least be aware.  The best is yet to come…….

Live and Learn

Live and Learn

At my age I would think, that I would have mastered life’s basic fundamentals for survival.  I still, however, manage to surprise myself now and again.

I pride myself in doing what it takes for self-preservation.  I have an excellent health care team.  The latest computer technology is applied to make sure that my healthcare needs are tracked for best possible results.  I’ve actually had my personal physicians send me an email while vacationing in Florida, because she didn’t like a test result and wanted me to take immediate action to change the outcome.  From my perspective it was something minor:  ever so slight increase in my cholesterol reading.  She said to me in the email:  “Mister, I don’t know what you’ve done different in the last 6 months but I want you to reverse it and watch what you eat so you can reverse the last cholesterol report outcome.  I will have you run some lab work in 60 days to see where you are at.”

I can honestly say that my own mother never paid that much attention to my well-being. While I am extremely pleased with the personal service from my health care team, this post is not about that.

Among other things that I do for self-preservation I visit a chiropractor once or twice a month for the periodic body adjustment, almost always followed by a one hour therapeutic massage.  Please don’t imagine for a moment some shady massage office on the wrong side out of town.  This particular service that I avail myself to is located in my doctor’s office just down the hall.

I’ve been known to ask my doctor, how much would rent cost me to for two or three hours of very relaxing sleep in the massage room.  The ambiance is always perfect, soothing music, nice warm and toasty massage table mattress/pad.  I actually have to try extra hard to stay awake even beyond the punishing deep tissue massage.

Well the point to this lengthy lead up, is that my wife has been complaining lately of lower back pain (she doesn’t tolerate massage therapy).  So since I love her so much, I was trying to find a way to treat her to the relaxation that I experience during massage.  I talked to the masseuse, and she recommended that I go to a specific store, where for much less than $100, I could buy a mattress heated pad with dual controls.

Well, I immediately went shopping and surprised her with my purchase.  She didn’t resist the idea, and has been sleeping comfortably and waking up without the lower back problem.  For some reason, I am disappointed that I had not taken this step long before.  I have received the benefit of chiropractor and massage treatment for at least 25 years and I never thought to replicate the environment from the massage room to my very own home.

If you haven’t thought about it, I would highly recommend that you give it a try.  I know that many people will go out and spend $30 dollars or more for a heating pad or a hot water bottle.  Yet the cost for the mattress heating pad is only a few dollars more.  

This mattress heating pad should come with an extra cautionary warning that I didn’t see anywhere in the box or manual:  You will have the possible danger of wanting to stay in bed all day long, especially during the winter months.  The best is yet to come……..

To P or not to P

To P or not to P

I was on the freeway recently driving and listening to the news on the radio (which I almost never do anymore).  Ever since digital music came along and I can take a large playlist with me, the radio has become obsolete, for me anyway. 

Amongst many topics being discussed there was a discussion on the subject of aggressive panhandling by the homeless population of a city in the State of Washington.  I won’t mention the city but I will say that it wasn’t Seattle.  Don’t get me wrong, Seattle has many problems including a large population of homeless people.  The topic was news worthy because the administration of the particular city was taking steps to deal with the aggressive panhandlers that was driving customers away from the downtown area.

An audio clip of a public hearing was played and a (obvious) homeless activist raised his voice above all others to make the point that there was no restrooms available for the homeless to take care of business.  He pointed out that the merchants didn’t allow non-customers to use their facilities.

I could easily advocate for both sides of the argument.  I have seen the mess that can be left behind when a homeless person uses a merchant’s facility to give themselves a sponge bath and a shave.  I have also seen a merchant threaten to call the police when a couple of men or more locked themselves in a restaurant restroom and leave only after the police threat while leaving behind needles and other drug paraphernalia.

That short radio broadcast got me to thinking about a different scenario.  For those of us that can afford to take in the occasional sporting event costing $150 plus or perhaps a rock concert.  We are pretty confident and comfortable that we can take care of ourselves if Mother Nature should call unexpectedly while we are out and about.

What would be the outcome if we are in a large city (15k population or much larger) and our car gets stolen with our wallet and cell phone in it.  Perhaps we get mugged or pick pocketed and we find ourselves without our precious credit cards and identification.  If you are anything like me, I seldom carry paper money on me (mostly because I have children and grandchildren).

In the case of a scenario like the one described, we are not much better than a homeless person.  I am so dependent on my cellular telephone that I don’t know anyone’s phone number not even my wife or children’s numbers.  I’m not sure that I could tell you what my phone number is.  Even if we did have phone numbers, you can no longer go to the corner pay phone in most cities.

Imagine if you found yourself in downtown Seattle of San Francisco and you wanted to do #1 or worst yet #2, but you don’t have money to buy even a pop or a cup of tea.  You could end up under arrest for relieving yourself at some street corner or even alley.  I realize that I just created a problem out of the blue for me and you.  However, that is an everyday problem for the homeless population in larger cities.  I keep mentioning larger cities because the smaller towns don’t have the homeless population associated with the cities, and besides pretty much any merchant in a small town would offer you the use of their facility, or even offer you a free meal.

I’m sorry to say that I am not offering a solution, just a possible problem.  One solution might be to try to remember a handful of important telephone numbers.  As for Mother Nature calling, Depends (no pun intended).  The best is yet to come……

Your Money’s Worth

Is it even copper anymore?

It used to be acceptable and almost a compliment to have someone say to you, “A penny for your thoughts?”  Of course that was back when you could buy something for a penny.  While it wasn’t much of a value, it was more value than it is today.  I used to frequently go to a store and if the total of my bill was say $9.56, I would regularly pay with a ten dollar bill and say keep the change and walk away.

That was my way of keeping change out of my pockets that were of questionable value and mostly served to wear out my pockets.  That was my habit, until one day when I ran into the cashier from hell that change me forever.  I was six cents short for the purchase I was making, and I wasn’t allowed to take the product.  Since that time, I must have filled about four - five gallon clear plastic refill drinking water bottles (the kind that you place inverted on your water cooler).  The copper coins go to good use, I allow my granddaughters to share my treasure.

The following is a little lesson about our U.S. Mint and the coins we mostly take for granted, especially with the use of the debit card.

·       The U.S. Mint cut the cost of making the penny by nearly a third over the past two years, but the little copper-coated coin still costs more than a cent to produce.  A new report shows the cost to produce a penny was 1.7 cents in the 2014 fiscal year. That’s down from 2.4 cents in 2011 but still more than face value.  “There are no alternative metal compositions that reduce the manufacturing unit cost of the penny below its face value,” the biennial report to Congress said.

·       The nickel, too, is dead weight for taxpayers. Production costs stood at 8 cents last year, down from 11 cents. The lower cost per coin is largely a result of rising production and reduced metal costs.

·       Other coins turn a profit. A dime costs 3.9 cents to make, and a quarter 9 cents. All together, the Mint made $289.1 million on seigniorage–the difference between the value of the coin and the cost to make it–despite a $90.5 million drag from the penny and nickel.

·       The Mint estimates that switching up the metallic content of coins could save taxpayers $5 million to $57 million a year, though vending, amusement, laundry and other groups with coin operated machines warn that it could cost them billions to reconfigure machinery and make other adjustments needed to accept altered specie, the Mint said. ~ Wall Street Journal – By JEFFREY SPARSHOTT

I realize that what I am about to relate will sound a bit like science fiction, but once upon a time not all that long ago, you could buy a gallon of gasoline by simply putting together 13 of those little copper coins.  You could also buy a McDonald’s Hamburger for 12 pennies, or a Taco Bell crunchy taco for 11 pennies even a 12 ounce pop for 5 pennies.  You could run up a hefty dental bill by over indulging on penny candy.  In the State of Texas you could buy a Texas famous sweet and juicy orange for a penny a piece.  That’s right one hundred for a dollar.  I could go on forever with the value that a penny could add to your life back then.  The best is yet to come…………..