“Sweet! Baghdad weather!”
– said by Sean this morning upon seeing the weather forecast in today’s paper, with an expected high of 102 and a “feels like” temperature of 109
Archive for June, 2004
Kids
I’ll elaborate on this at a later date perhaps, but just for the record: It’s amazing to me how utterly different two children from the same parents can be.
A favorite quote
Never underestimate the power of what one man can accomplish when he doesn’t care who gets the credit.
– Ronald Reagan
Give me NEW, or give me nothing
I’m in the market for a new computer. A NEW computer. I could get a REFURBISHED computer direct from Apple, with full warranty and all, at a nice discount over a new machine. But I can’t do it.
I also can’t bring myself to buy a used car. I know there are plenty of good cars available on a Used lot, but I could never bring myself to buy one of them.
And not too long ago, I told Cari that the next time we buy a house, it will be a NEW house, not one that someone else has lived in. We’ve been in our current house for 6 years now, and to this day I still look at various things as belonging to the previous owner.
Anyone got a good psychologist to explain this for me?
Reagan remembered
An old friend from high school (we were in high school together from 82-86) asked the other day what I thought about Reagan dying, saying “I remember you liked him in high school.” His question struck me in two ways:
1. I hadn’t really given much of my own thought to Reagan’s death since it happened. I’ve just been listening and watching some of the coverage when I can, but not really doing any of my own thinking on everything.
2. I don’t remember specifically liking Reagan in high school. Well, I know I liked him — the family was conservative, after all. But I don’t remember ever being so open about it that a high school friend would know that. My high school memories are not of any political discussions with friends, even though I went to a brainiac prep school where that kind of discussion would’ve been very much part and parcel of the education.
Well, having been prompted to do some thinking on Reagan, of course I remember liking him. The reasons are nothing new. I loved the way he talked to us. He could spin a story like no politician I’d seen in my young life. I loved the message. I remember the day he spoke at Pepperdine — to this day, one of my favorite days of college life. He was out of office by this time, and they showed a 10-15 minute video about him and his presidency, and it had most of us in tears, bawling.
Going back a little further, though, puts the Reagan years into perspective for me. I was too young to know or remember much of anything about Nixon and Ford. Jimmy Carter was the first president I was ever aware of as I grew up. The Iran hostage debacle was pretty much my first ‘real-life’ political memory. I knew I didn’t like Carter because he was weak, and he was depressing.
Then along comes Reagan, with his million-dollar smile and great stories to tell, and a vision of strength and direction and, most importantly, PRIDE and OPTIMISM. He had a cheesy, but honest, faith in America and in Americans. He made me proud to be American. He made me realize and understand that I was fortunate to be living in the greatest country on the planet. He was optimistic. He had a plan, and he stuck to it. He made mistakes; he accepted responsibility for them. He was human. He said things he maybe shouldn’t have said, but he said them because he knew he had to. He dealt from a position of strength. I admired all of that. And now that I’ve been prompted to think back … I still do.
Anchors away
Memorial Day 2004 is (finally) over. Our final visiting guest, my wonderful Mom-in-law, left today. It’s been a great week with lots of company visiting. The kids had a good time, the adults had a good time, the food was great, the weather fantastic … just a great holiday overall.
But it was also possibly the last holiday we’ll ever have like this.
The biggest news of the weekend is that my brother-in-law and his family are moving back east soon. When that happens, our nearest relatives will be my other brother-in-law, whose family lives 4-5 hours away in Boise. And when that happens, it’ll be the first time since 1994 that we’ve lived without family in the same town or relatively close — close enough to get together on holidays.
It’s an odd feeling, being all alone. I feel like we have no anchors holding us here anymore. Sure, we both have jobs. But for the first time in a long time, maybe ever, we’re both doing “portable” work — work that can be done anywhere, in any city in any state. When I was in TV, I was tied down. There were so few job openings that you didn’t dare consider moving somewhere because you wanted to. You only moved if you had a new job lined up. Likewise when Cari was in retail — she was tied to moving to cities within the company where openings existed. If we had wanted to move to, say, Seattle, we couldn’t until Cari could get a similar job in her company. No freedom in that.
But I can do web development and SEO for anyone, anywhere. And Cari can get her real estate license in any state. And the kids aren’t tied into a school system just yet. In the little quiet time I had over the holiday, I actually gave serious thought to the idea of moving. Maybe to Pennsylvania to be near my family. Or California to be near Cari’s mom and dad. (Then I shuddered at the memory of the cost of living in California….) Or somewhere else……
