Tough Planet!

Okay first of all yesterday represented the 5 year anniversary of the day Tom Chase was murdered at my old business. Of any date in this world that is by far the toughest. To make it a little tougher Tom and I had a standing deal of him taking me to a bar to watch Monday Night Football anytime the Rams played(which was usually only once sometimes twice a year.) Well yesterday both coincided making the day very tough for me. There are certain events in everyones lives that can have a dramatic effect on them, and this is probably the one with the most profound effect. I never had the best opinion about society as a whole, but this was sort of the icing on the cake. Often I wander how such evil can be found on our planet, but I quickly force myself to think about all the wonderful people who do make this planet a great place. In the same thought I always ponder how your time can come at any minute, therefore it is probably best to live life to the fullest. I decided to use this time to note a few quick lines about the truly important people in my life. While I could easily write a book for each person I decided to name what they represent the most to me. As a disclaimer, I apologize if I miss anyone, and more importantly I hope I don't offend anyone, because by no means is that my intention. And finally before I start this is a completly random order.
I thank my mom for teaching me the value of taking care of others before yourself. She always worked herself to the bone to provide for my brother and myself. She is by far the most giving person anyone could ever meet in their life. I thank my dad for teaching me the value of integrity and respect. He by far has the strongest set of core values I have ever come across.
I thank my ex-wife Jeannette for being an incredible mother. She has been through an incredible amount of misfortune in her life but has always taken great care of my daughter. I thank Lisa Merkel for providing me with great conversation while immediately calling me on anything she knows I truly think otherwise about. She is one of the few people I know who is completely unbiased about each person in my life. I thank my brother for turning out to be such an incredible person as well as father. While in college I constantly worried that he would not turn out okay. Genetically both him and I were given a near perfect set of genes both physically and mentally. To have wasted those would have been a shame. I always hoped he'd turn out to be good as person as myself, however he eclipsed me a long time ago. Considering how he was as a teenager, he turned into a truly special person. I thank Scott Grider for teaching me at an early age exactly what drugs can do to a person. As sad as it sounds it has made dealing with that side of society much easier. I thank Tom Chase for showing how tough mankind can be.
He was probably the toughest person I have ever met. He had the perfect combination of toughness, morals, and protectiveness you will ever meet. Watching and hearing the female clerks talking about how he handled himself was awe inspiring. I finally understood it when I drove by one night and saw him standing out front of my store smoking a cigarette. I felt like my store was so well protected. After being shot, lying in his pool of blood, his last audible words were "has anyone called Rudd?" I can't imagine anyone else on this planet who would have been more protective of myself. Lastly and by far most important to me is my daughter. I think her for being such a wonderful person. I still have never heard her say a bad word)however she will get a sheepish grin when one comes on in a movie or song.) I thank her for trying so hard in everything she does. She has done incredibly well in school, unlike her father. I thank her for being so polite to everyone around her. I thank her for understanding at times when most kids throw a fit. But most importantly I thank her for just being herself.

She Understands!!!!!!!!!

I have stated many times throughout my blogs and at store level one very important thought.
I try to create a environment that inspires happiness, relaxation, spirit, or whatever it takes to make it a pleasurable experience. While everyone has to be treated different, I only hope I am able to make my customers understand what my store is truly about. Some people do get it while many others never have and never will. There is one woman who I think understands my store better than anyone else. Elizabeth Carson. Between her spirit, nature, and general demeanor, she emulates the true Hilton's Haven experience. This became even more evident today when she handed me the following letter copied here in its exact text.
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A Note to Make This World A Better Place!
To those of you who can't find anything nice to say:
I recently moved to the Laurelhurst district from Gresham, and still, every day, I drive to Hilton's Haven to get a Rockstar energy drink. After reading the latest posting on the window, I was VERY compelled to write this. If you don't have anything nice to say, Don't say anything at all! There are a plethera of Seven-Elevens and Plaid Pantry's in Gresham and Portland, but yet you choose Hilton's Haven for a reason. For me it's the friendly service and the price. If you want to complain about something, think before you speak: These guys are working hard so that my life is a little better. Why would you want to give them a hard time? Do you want me to come to your work and complain to you? No! so, please let up on them.
Oh, and on a side note: I am a young female feminist, and "rule #5" makes me laugh. Part of feminism is being proud of being a woman and being proud of your body. Think of it this way: my chest has the power to put men in a trance, now go out and use your female power to do what you please. And if you're a guy, just admit you'd want to see a chicks chest if you had the chance! Friend and Supporter of HH's since 2005!
Elizabeth Carson
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I just wanted to say thanks for understanding what my store is about, but more importantly, thank you for being a part of making it what it is. Without people like you, I would never enjoy coming to work each day. You make it all worthwhile!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just feel like bitching!!!

Every once in a while you just feel like bitching. While I really don't have a lot to complain about, I decided to whine about some of the things that have pissed me off in the last month. There is no rhyme or reason, just random thoughts. First of all, the next girl who offers me a pinky swear runs the risk of losing it. Evidentally the universal definition of a pinky swear does not apply to females. Second of all, I'm sick and tired of people saying, "I haven't seen you in a while, where have you been? I work close to 60 hours a week inside and almost live at the store, to which they reply, "well I moved to the other side of town." I don't know why, but that really chaps my hide. Third, if you are coming in for a job, please don't bring in a irritating, obnoxious, friend with you. NOT SMART!!!!! Fourth, telling me to "keep the change" when it is a penny, "I'm a big tipper," is funny the first time, not every fucking time you buy a cup of coffee, which is every morning, five days a week, four weeks a month, twelve months a year. JOKE OVER!!!! Fifth, no kid should ask for a dum dum the day after trick or treating. Sixth, when I get mad at you for throwing your Black and Mild wrapper in my parking lot at tell you,
"that is real fucking classy, maybe I should throw my trash in your car" please come up with a better excuse than "I'm sorry it's just habit." Seventh, when I ID you in your car, and you don't have it, please don't check your glove department, then your center console, hoping a magic license might appear. In the last 6 years, no one has pulled one out of there, and I don't see it happening anytime soon. Eighth, and I apologize for the insincerity of this one because I understand and feel bad for everyone who has watched prices go through the roof in there life, but please don't tell me what you used to pay for a pack of Chesterfields when you were a kid, because A: I've heard it a billion times. B: I have no control over the prices C: the store owners were also running of a higher margin in "Those Days" and D: It's always a boring conversation. I promise to spare you all a recap of game five of my last tennis match in exchange. Ninth, My desire to have your business greatly diminishes when you tell me" You Have To Drop Your Liggett Prices 30cents(why the hell does my keypad have a dollar sign and not a cents sign. This must be a true sign of our current economy, evidentally cents aren't even worth wasting a key on. However I have NEVER used this funky pointless sign on the #6 key) if you want to keep my business. Sorry about the digression but as I get older I tend to forget what it is I want to say so I have to get it out immediately before it goes away. Tenth and final bitch for this session.
For the love of God, if your ex-girlfriend screwed you over hard and left without giving you any reason, move on.... What the hell good could possibly come out of talking to her. SHE LEFT..SHE LEFT.. SHE LEFT..catch the drift. Anyway I truly enjoy listenening to you whine every day. MOVE ON..MOVE ON..MOVE ON!!!! One final thought. I have been waiting to do this for a while now. ^ Oh that felt good!! Now I understand the value of that key.

My membership is now cancelled!

Fight of the week!

Two nights ago a customer came up to the drive-thru window, ordered HIS smokes and read the stores "rules" while waiting for his change. These rules have been in the window for close to two years with virtually no objection from anyone. Most all my regulars are aware of them especially the infamous rule #5. After four serious rules about no checks, coupons, or alcohol through the window, I threw in rule #5, which states exactly " women must flash in order to receive there change." Let me clarify that this is the only rule that is not strictly enforced. Why? Because it is a joke, a big fat joke. Nothing more than trying to add a little humor a page full of rules inacted to make the store more profitable and the clerks jobs more enjoyable. Anyway some male came inside after reading that and made an absolute scene. In the meantime he almost managed to get his ass kicked Gresham style. He whined about rights to everyone who felt the only rights being violated were him interfering with them trying to buy stuff. I only have one message to him and society in general. Please pick your battles carefully as often the outcame will not make it worthwhile.
Other thoughts for the last few weeks. Thank you to pheasant girl for getting me the giant burrito from Rico Taco. There is no greater feeling than going from a miserable day of working from open to close dwelling on many irritating facts then to having a beautiful young girl come in and chat with you and then go get you lunch. It is truly appreciated and will be recipricated in the future. I sure am glad to have football back on. I don't pull off the whole hunting and cars conversations real well, (and telling most men about the great approach shot I made right before a put away volley just doesn't get that same respect.) Also a special thank you to my regular doubles partner for playing so well this last weekend. We finally won our first tournament together, which was important to both of us. It bothered me that I enjoy playing with him the most, but my results are absolutely fantastic when I play with other partners. In the last two years we are 16-12 together with one tournament win, while I am 12-1 with other partners including two tournament wins. All I know is I would never switch because I enjoy playing with him so much more than anyone else.
Madison has been doing well. She been receiving an amazing amount of homework in Algebra, which keeps her really busy. Our lifelong sheltie, Andrew, was diagnosed with cancer, which has been hard on everyone. He is fifteen dog years old, so it wasn't a huge shock. Otherwise all is well except for the fact my last hire turned out to not be such a good one. Good person, just wrong time of life to be hiring her. MY BAD. One final thought... I am so friggin tired right now, I really wish I could take two days off and disappear only to be found later sleeping in a tree house
with a pile of back issues of any magazine in the world. Nothing in this world has to make sense, it only cuts down on the fustration of explaining things when it does. Good Night!!

BC well represented!

I just finished a tennis tournament earlier this evening, and was reminded why I love this game so much. Although I didn't play consistantly well overall, I truly enjoyed my last match.
The player was from British Columbia and traveled all the way down to play in this tourney.
First of all, I like the fact that when you check the computer for his record, it doesn't show anything. On top of that no one around here has ever played him, so you have no idea what to expect. The first thought that popped into my mind was how cool it is to travel five hours to play in a tourney and have a beautiful girlfriend make the trip with you. What a lucky guy.
As the match progressed I truly enjoyed conversation with him and never once felt a bad call was made. His sportsmanship was immaculate and his behavior was very genuine. He really gave British Columbia a good showing. After he beat me 6-4,6-3 I actually felt really good about my loss. VERY RARE! I realized how much I need to learn to generate pace off a kick serve, as well as on groundstokes. Our final conversation was very refreshing ending up with his encouragement to visit him up in B.C., which I will. Anyway my final thought before he left had switched to what a lucky girl that was to be with such a nice guy. Thank you for a great match and more importantly, thank you for making the game as enjoyable as it is.

Fallen Angel

Approximately two months ago a young girl came into the store and asked if I was hiring. Unfortunately I had literally just hired someone only a few days earlier. We talked for a while and she left an application in case the other person didn't work out. I promised her I would not hire anyone else without talking to her first. I really liked her personality and thought that she would be a great fit for the store. When I got home that night, I was really bummed that I had hired the other person, and proceeded to write an emotional blog concerning my feelings. I noticed the girl had read my blog and even bothered to post a comment.
My blog included a personal promise to her about the hiring and a bunch of info that probably would be better left unsaid considering I had only spent 5 minutes of my life with her. I had formulated so many opinions in such a short time, that I had to question my thought process.
I ended up erasing everything on the thoughts that maybe after a few more times in the store I would have a different opinion about her.
Well I hired her today and I feel so good. While time will only tell if I did good I do know one thing for sure. NO MATTER WHAT LIFE THROWS AT YOU, JUST REMEMBER TO SMILE...
IT'LL MAKE YOUR BUTT CHEEKS TINGLE!

Fouad Kaady and Gerry Spence

Often in life I wonder on whether It's better to fight a battle for the possibility of justice being served, or just swallow a little pride and move forward. Most of these decisions are trivial in the spectrum of life. However some people do have the worst case scenario thrown at them forcing the decision to remain with them forever. I think that is the case with the shooting of Fouad Kaady a little over a year ago. The only reason I am back on this subject is because the family just hired a World Famous, first class, high-powered Lawyer in Gerry Spence. While it is tough to tell the true motive of the filing of the lawsuit, one can assume it is either about the money or about forcing the authorities to be held liable.
While I was not at the scene of the crime, I STRONGLY believed the process in which they had to decide the officers level of guilt, if any, was greatly flawed. I was subpoened to give my statement and answer any questions the jury had regarding what I knew about that day as well as other facts relating to his lifestyle and what he smoked. I realize I was one of many people to testify, and I was a borderline irrelevent witness, but one thing became crystal clear to me as I left the room to go home for the day. There was no way on Earth those officers were going to be found guilty. The only people in the room during my questioning was the jury pool and an attorney(I believe District) for Clackamas County and myself. I don't want to come off sounding jaded over the system because it is the only system to protect me, but it really disturbed me that no one was able to question me who had Fouad Kaady's best interest in mind and the person directing the questioning was working for Clackamas County just like the two officers involved. The economic ramifications for Clackamas County were and still are beyond my comprehension. They were well aware of the size of the Kaadys family as well as the amount of money behind them. Fortunately for the county they had complete jurisdiction over the hearings and were able to dodge a huge bullet. Unfortunately for them I think they just ran into a major brick wall at full speed in that of attorney Gerry Spence. His biography is unblemished. He has not lost a jury trial since 1969, and has more million dollar verdicts than any lawyer in United States history. He also is the author of 13 books.
Anytime you have an Attorney with that strong of a record, virtually untouched in the courtroom, along with an EXTREMELY touchy subject, as well as a lot of ambigous details, it is safe to say a settlement will be offered very quickly. At this point I think the Kaadys were so injustly served by the last hearings that they will fight it to the end, more for the idea of holding someone accountable. All I can say for sure is I can guarantee you the Sandy Police Department and Clackamas Count Sheriffs Department got really quiet upon hearing the news of the new lawyer.

What makes the store what it is

As a few people in this world, and I mean a very few people, know my store is and never will be a normal store. While there is a really fine line with operating a profitable business, a pleasurable business, and a legal business without crossing the lines. I want the world to know if the owner truly cares anything is possible. It is easy to get caught up in the funner parts of the business, unfortunately a balance must remain to keep the doors open. I realize for every girl who flashes me, some drunk will come along and threaten to kill me if I don't sell him a beer. Life goes this way as well. We for the most parts control our destiny as long as we are paying attention to all aspects of life. I am sure one is wondering where I am going with this. I do have a point.
My store is MY HAVEN. It is a place that allows me to provide a future for my daughter, to teach her about life while she is there with me in the morning, a place where I can experience all walks of life in a 1000 square foot radius. It is a place where I can be myself, where I truly don't care what others think of me, a place where all ages can appreciate what I try to make of it. A place where all my inner self can come out. It doesn't have to make sense. It doesn't have to be cool, nor does it have to be politically correct. All it has to do is bring an ounce of joy to someone elses life and it served its purpose. With all this in mind an example of how I operate must be told while it is still fresh.
For the last week or so this girl has been coming in to whom I told a story about how I almost ran over a pheasant walking across the street early in the morning. Evidentally this story brought much joy to her as she always talks and laughs and asks if I hit any pheasants lately. She noticed my endless amount of empty packs on the ceiling and thought it was so cool. The next day she comes in borderline demanding to have one of her packs put up on a special isolated area. WOW back up girl. That is not how this store works Missy. This store works on earning a piece of its soul. Once you do that, then I will make you a special area way more endearing than you would ever come up with. While you have already slowly crept into my heart with your livliness, I have yet to feel that one sign of the fact that you truly understand what this store is about. While your pack might be a trophy to you. For me, it will represent far more. It becomes a special moment whether I ever see you again or whether you become a true regular.
Just so you know someone can earn a place in my stores soul with one minute of there presence, while some may shop here forever and never get it. That is my decision. I know you will get it, I am just not sure you understand what I am asking for. I simple terms I need a little piece of your soul shared with the store. Sorry for getting so esoteric with this one, but like I said earlier,
THIS IS MY HAVEN!!!!!!!!!!!!

Highly Classified Trade Secret!!!!

I will start with something that I am not sure will go over well but as always, do you really think deep down I care? I live with the assumption if my customer does not appreciate my ways than the store will probably be better off without them. With that out of the way it's time to get something off my chest. I can not possibly tell everyone what a pain in the ass cigarette promos are. The vast majority of my customers want them, and most of those want more than they normally buy. With this in mind, I am always on the immediate defense when a new customer comes in and asks "do you have any specials? 99% of the time the answer is no. The main reason to me is I don't have enough to take care of my loyal customers so why should a new customer walk in and make that share even less. Having owned stores on the East side for over 13 years now I have come to get a pretty good read on the "bottom feeders." I named these people this because they drive around town and only shop at a the store with the lowest price. Thrifty, yes. Do I have any desire to have their business. NO. While I know it's still a sale, it takes away from my ability to take care of the people who take care of me rain or shine.
Just an example of how scarce promos can be. Last week, from RJ Reynolds, I received a total of 8 cartons of Buy one get one free(bigif) turkish blends. I can think of probably 15 customers who would buy all 8 cartons. Each carton saving about ten dollars. According to my contract I have to put them on display. Very rarely do these last one business day when I put them all out. This is why I save the majority for my best customers. While there is literally no limit to the # of (BIGIF) cartons I would buy if I had a say, I dream of the day I go a whole week without having to Lie about whether I have any. Years ago there was an abundance of tobacco money, unfortunately due to the lawsuits and government regulations the promos have decreased significantly. Now that everyone is thouroughly bored I want to say If you every get a whole carton of promos from me, you should go home, smile to your kids, and realize you must be doing something right in this world.

The power of Irony!!

Today was actually a very relaxing day. I took my daughter out to Hood River for the afternoon and we just goofed off all day. We had a great time with most of the exitement coming later in the afternoon. We had dinner at a nice restaurant at about 5pm and decided to sit outside to enjoy the warmth and great view. Unfortunately a few yellowjackets shared in the desire to consume our chicken wings as well. I told Madison not to agitate them as it will only make matters worse. She continued to be paranoid about them and then asked me how bad it hurts when they sting you. Being diabetic I told her the shots she gets hurt worse, which may have been a mistake because she has built quite a tolerance for them. We finished and left home when I decided to take the Washington route instead, going out of the way, but seeing more new stuff. While exploring a hill that might possibly have a nice view of the Gorge, a young deer walked right in front of our car. My window was down and he then walked literally 6 feet from my window giving both of us a great shot. Wow. what a great finish to our day.
Upon arriving at home Madison went upstairs and got on the internet. Being hot inside she opened up the sliding door and then came back inside and sat down. The next thing I know she comes running down the stairs freaking out while fighting back tears. She tells me her leg really hurts and shows me some small thing that came out of her leg. I immediately recognize it as a bee stinger and tell her she just got stung on the leg. She shows me her leg and thats exactly what happened. After doctoring her leg up I tell her that at least whatever stung you died shortly after and is probably on the floor in the room. We search for a little bit when I find a dying young yellowjacket. Somehow this doesn't appease her the same way it did me as a child and even still today. I got stung in the neck about a year ago and remember thinking, yeah this hurts but at least I survived the battle.

How Embarassing!!!!!

Wow did I make a complete ass out of myself. One thing I pride myself on while working is trying to go a little extra to make certain customers feel special. 99% of the time it goes real smooth, but boy did I mess up on that 1% this time. One thing I occasionally do is very carefully open a pack of cigarrettes, slide in a note of encouragement or perhaps a joke or whatever I feel will make a difference in that persons day into the pack, and carefully reseal it to its original form. I have gotten so good at this that you would never be able to look at the pack and see that it was doctored. And I don't even touch the cigarettes themselves. After doing so I hide that pack until the person comes in and give it to them acting as if everything is normal, always a complete surprise to them. Well this time, after doctoring the pack I hid it behind a row of cigarettes the we NEVER sell a pack of, knowing they will never be seen. HUGE MISTAKE. The tobacco rep for the slow cigarettes came in checked all the codes on her products, found that pack of Marlboro lights and put it in front of the Marlboro rack causing them to immediately be sold to a random customer. About a month went by of me wondering who the hell got that pack by mistake. Considering the note was borderline pornographic in nature I prayed it did not get into the wrong hands. The original recipient would have laughed hysterically because of the inside joke, however anyone else would probably not know how to take it.
Yesterday a customer came in handing me a coupon for a free pack of smokes. I informed him I don't take coupons when he told me he got it because Philip Morris sent it to him after he mailed my note and the pack of smokes back to the company. He thought the note was put in their at factory level(which I took as a compliment). He seemed shocked and confused when I told him it was me and the pack was meant for someone else. I now have to wander if Philip Morris is doing a internal investigation or if they just threw the note away. Either way I want to apologize for causing them to give away a free pack because of my mistake. Hopefully I didn't hurt their bottom line.

Make that three!

Folks, I have a new record. I just started a blog for the third day in a row. However, I am a little upset with myself because I have a lot of stuff that needs to be taken care of instead of writing this. Oh well. I am just relaxing to a bottle of Green Apple Smirnoff after an extremely busy day. I went down to the store for a short period of time to stock the cooler before the weekend. After finishing I helped a few customers in the window before going home. One of which was a young girl who was having"boyfriend issues." She needed a couple of single cigarettes and was going to go have a drink. Trying to cheer her up I gave her something very special. While she may not realize the actual implications behind my gift, she actually received something I consider close to GOLD. A pink bic lighter. I sell close to a 100 bics a week and actually see a pink lighter maybe 3-4 times a year. They are always saved for a truly special moment. Her eyes told me now was one of those times, hopefully she understands. If not I'll probably come across another one in a few months. Often peoples values are really mixed up because to me giving that 99 cent lighter up was a lot harder than giving up a $100 beer neon or
something else of more value. While I don't even know the nature of the issues I am pretty sure they pale in comparison to most of the problems I deal with everyday. However, a lot of customers have a knack for drama, and seem to know I am always willing to listen and offer support. Good Luck to her and the next 20 customers who will share their problems with me tomorrow. Hopefully I'll find a 99 cent item that soothes my soul as well. Until then I'll just live vicariously through others.

Pearls before Swine

First of all, congradulations to Andre Agassi. At the age of 36 he knocked off the 21 year old 8th seed at the US Open. The majority of society has no comprehension how tough it is to compete at that level of tennis at his age. There is a reason very rarely does a player crack the top twenty in the world after the age of thirty. He won that match with the help of a cortisone shot in the back for his sciatic nerve problem. Tennis tears the joints apart forcing the vast majority of players to retire before the age of thirty. Anyway I am just truly impressed.
On another note my daughter has introduced me to the comic strip "Pearls Before Swine." It is absolutely hysterical. She goes to work with me in the morning and has the funnies out before I can even get the store open. The nice thing is I always know she will bring the newspapers in.
There are many charactors will very distinct personalities. Most of the strips are borderline controversial(right up my alley). I always appreciate someone willing to take a stand. It is definitely worth it to learn the charactors and check out the strip. It's kind of a cross between The Far Side and Calvin and Hobbes.
For anyone wondering my tennis team finally lost in the Pacifac NW Sectional Championships.
We won the first round, but lost the second to the team that eventually won the whole tournament. Kudos to them as they were a great team. We lost 4-1. They then won the finals 5-0. It helped soften the blow a little.(VERY LITTLE). Maybe next year. I am just proud to have advanced the farthest our team ever has in its over twenty year history. Good Luck to the Amy Yee Tennis Center out of Seattle as they play for the National championship in Hawaii.

Good Luck Chris!!

I decided to post one lone blog for Chris. He worked for me for only a short period of time, but managed to touch me in many ways. First I wanted to say I really feel for the situation you are in with the child and your ex. First piece of advice, you have to do what makes you happy only because if you are not happy your daughter won't be either once she figures out how you have really felt. Second of all, the saying "nice guys finish last" could not be more appropriate with you. I'm partially assuming based on your stories, that you have totally been taken advantage of by your ex, and will probably continue back on that path. You need to figure out how to take care of the kid and not feed her manipulation of you. Just remember the picture of how she treats you will always be seen by everyone else leaving you to fight for respect that you should already have for being a responsible parent. Please do your part and make the mother do hers as well. Do not try to overcompensate for her actions as it will only lead to her creating more work for you.
Enough lecturing, now I want to wish you the best of luck in your new career. Life has and will continue to throw you curve balls, you can either learn to him them, or keep trying a new game until one is always easy to handle. I'll miss the chats with you, but I know you will be back. You seem to enjoy driving back and forth so I'll know you won't stay away too long.
Thank you for introducing me to the IPOD. Your help and patience with that was awesome. Thank you for being such a caring individual. Thank you for quickly picking up what Hilton's is really about. Many people and workers never have or did get it, although your mom might have helped you understand it a little earlier than you otherwise would of. She is one person who figured it out quicker than anyone I can remember. Kudos to her as well. Good Luck in Cali.
Be Good, stay caring, but most importantly............LEARN WHEN TO BE TOUGH!!!!!!!!!!

SORRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Finally I got internet up and running at my new place and have so much to share. First and foremost without a second thought, Happy Birthday to my daughter who officially became a teenager today. She had a great bowling party at Rockwood Lanes with a bunch of her friends.
She also had the pleasure of having the principal of her school sing Happy Birthday to her. She has always been bummed because her birthday falls in summer each year. She is a WEB leader at school this year which means she gets to help the new students adapt to the overwhelming introduction to middle school. It's a great program for both the new kids and the kids chosen to represent their school. As always I am so proud of her.
I just finished going one month without either television or the internet at my house. I think next time I'll just choose to go without my liver, as this was a lot harder than I imagined. Boy do I have a lot of make-up work to do. At least now the convenience of having it in my room will cause me to better keep up with all the things I use it for, especially this blog. I know I have a lot of mending to do. I appreciate everyone being so polite about my lack of entries. I debated about whether to start with a huge blog, or a bunch of seperate ones considering there is so many different topics I need to discuss. I chose the latter of the two and promise to add a new one everyday for at least one week straight, including two tonight. Thanks Again!!!!!!

Tennis update

While I know this subject bores the majority of you, there are a few people out there who truly care. The last update mentioned that the team I coach made the playoffs. We were one of 8 teams to qualify for the Nothern Oregon Usta Sectional Championships. For the first time in my clubs history our team actually won the whole tournament. We now go on to play against 5 other teams to decide the Pacifac Northwest Championships. We play Yakima Tennis Club first round and Amy Yee Tennis Center out of Seattle second round. If we win both we play in the finals against either Anchorage Alaskas club, Courthouse in Salem, or Valley Tennis Club out of Washington. The winner of this tournament gets to play for the National Championships in Hawaii. Not an eay task, but anything is possible. One side note. While playing in junior tennis tournaments down in San Diego, I had one player who beat me in four seperate tournaments. It use to drive me crazy seeing his name in the draw, especially in early rounds. I now live a thousand miles away and never heard his name since..... Upon looking up information about the players on the team we play first round, I found out he is the head coach for their club. Small world. It's just nice to be given another chance to get even.

Memories!

This one just might get extremely sappy, but way too many thoughts came into my mind today that needed to be shared. First of all, I had a wonderful day with my daughter. I took her down to the Blues Festival at Waterfront Park and had a great time. While I know she doesn't truly appreciate the artists I know she will remember the event years down the road. One thing that is really funny with her is her ability to remember the most mundane occurances associated with a much larger event. I now find myself wondering what she will remember twenty years later about this day. My guess is feeding the Canadian Geese off the deck and the porto potty trucks coming to empty the bathrooms. She'll probably also remember that we parked on the third floor at the parking garage located on 4th and Columbia. Maybe with the refreshment of the internet she'll be reminded years from now that there were some pretty good artists singing as well.
While watching fireworks with her in the backyard, I couldn't help but think about my favorite 4th of July memory, one that will never be erased. When I was young(unsure of Age) I visited my grandpa in Missouri. He took us to a firework stand and proceeded to buy endless amounts of explosives as if there was no possible way to buy too many. I just remember him feeding off my brothers and my excitement as the more he picked out the more excitement we showed. I later came to believe our excitement at the stand meant way more to him than the expolsions themselves ever would. We went back to his farm and proceeded to blow them up for a real long time. I am not sure any 4th of July will ever match that one.
The point of the two stories was quite clear to me, but one that many people fail to understand. Often in life we try to create memories, carefully executing every last detail. However, most fond memories are created simply by the fact that the people involved were actually together just being themselves. I don't think anything tickled my grandpa more than
seeing my brother and myself happy. Wherever we went he always made sure we were treated as royalty. I have since come to appreciate the amount of effort he went through to make us feel special. If ever there was a person I wish I could of spent a lot more time with he would be the one.

Random Update!

As always it has been a while since my last blog. Therefore, I am going to spew out many random happenings in the last three weeks. First of all Madison has two days of school left until she goes into 8th grade. Her mom and I went to parent teacher conferences last week and left fairly happy. As always she did absolutely great in her schoolwork. We were informed she was chosen among 30 or so other 7th graders to take high school algebra in 8th grade. This will have lots of additional homework hopefully making next year a lot more challenging. Ironically Madison achieved the exact same score on the state science test as at the beginning of the year. Not a good sign of what she learned this year. At least she understands the term going through the motions. This should be the last year she can skate by doing almost nothing.
The tennis team I coach and play on officially made the playoffs. We won our division out of 8 teams and finished seeded second out of the 24 teams in the Northern Oregon section of the USTA. Playoffs start Friday at 7:30 at West Hills Tennis Club. I won my second doubles tournament in a row last weekend, quite possibly the strangest match I ever played. One of the other players through a fit over what he perceived as a bad call. He defaulted the match and walked off the court when we had match point.
My regular doubles partner got married over a week ago in what was possibly the classiest wedding in the history of mankind.( We have played together for almost three years now) ironic sidenote, during this tennis season, he got married and I got divorced. HMMMM.
One thing I realized after my divorce is how much I miss my old animals on a daily basis. Andrew the sheltie hurts the most. He was about as loyal of an animal as you will ever find. I've only seen him a couple of times and I cried both times I left. I never knew how each animal owned a small piece of my heart.
My daughter and I started a couple of planter boxes at the store. One has flowers and the other has herbs. Chocolate mint sure does smell good. It's hard not to rub a little on my fingers every time I walk by. Okay it's starting to get a little too fruity here so I'll throw in a quick thought to change that.
What a stud!!!! Steelers quarterback goes into a windshield, on his motorcycle, without a helmet, spends seven hours in surgery and loses a bunch of teeth. Now that's a real man!!!
or idiot if you ask me.
There now you are somewhat updated.

Thank You:

Earlier today an older gentleman came in and possibly gave me the best compliment I could ask for. I hope there was no sarcasm in the comment, because if there is I am about to make a complete ass of myself. After completing his transaction and thanking him, he told me (paraphrased for lack of memory) that he enjoys shopping at my place and thought my personality added to the experience. In my eyes I very rarely feel people understand how hard I try to make my store a better experience for all who shop here. I feel I do my best to try and make every generation, race and walk of life feel equal. I bend over backwards often at my own expense and go well beyond industry norm to take care of my customers. I could create an endless list of stuff I 've done for customers that would amaze anyone, but by no means is it about me personally. I do what I do to create a better life for everyone who crosses my path. First and foremost is my daughter. There is absolutely nothing in this world that means more to me than her. (yes mom and dad you are both tied for second) While it is very hard to appease society(no thanks to the Bush administration), I firmly believe in doing so one person at a time. In doing so I sometimes forget to take care of myself and that basic needs to keep me healthy.
I stay in shape physically and somewhat mentally, but I don't do a good job of pampering myself. For some unknown reason I hope it will just fall into my lap, like this gentlemans comment today. It's the little things that keep me going. Sometimes you don't realize how much you are missing until you experience it.
After finalizing my divorce a few months ago, I swore to myself I would work on making both my daughters life, my life, and the stores "life" better. One thought I will probably never get over is that my marriage failed. While I received the most beautiful daughter possible from it,
I left with a bunch of guilt. I do know that everyones life who comes across my path will be better from this point on, I do wish I had the last ten years back to try again. Basically the purpose of this blog, even though I digressed, was to thank that certain customer for feeling what it is that I am trying to create. You may be the only one, or there might be many more, but you did a great job of showing it.

"Understand"

One thing or possible theme in my life, is the feeling of not being understood. I don't expect people to, nor am I actually sure there really is something to understand. One thing I do know for sure is I have a certain environment I want my store have. To "create this environment" I go only on my gut instinct. More often than not it may be illogical, but at the same time I know deep down inside whether it is how I truly want it. To maintain this feel along with a respectable level of income derived from it, I must pay close attention to areas of concern. One area which might be the toughest is the hiring of a new employee. This is definitely the area that seems to irritate more customers than I feel is fair. Whenever I lose an employee, I am bombarded with people that want to work here. The problem lies in the fact that no matter who I hire, I am going to get my fair share of "looks" that I don't deserve. Just so everyone knows,
I base my hire on four main factors. While there is no scientific method to guarantee a great employee, I feel I have developed I very good understanding of who will, and who would not work out. So people know my four main factors are as follows:
1. Job history. The type of jobs you work as well as how long you stay with each of them.
2. Responsibility. Do you maintain multiple jobs, drive a nice well maintained car, go to school
and work at the same time, take good care of your child, etc. Or have you lived the same
carefree existance for quite a while without getting any further ahead in life. I've always felt if you have a hard time managing your own life, how are you going to manage mine?
3. Most important and hardest to explain is whether I feel you have the personality to maintain and add to the aura of my store. I believe stongly in chemistry and the fact that one wrong addition can ruin the whole balance. Depending on what I feel is missing determines who my next hire will be. While I chose Jenny over many well qualified applicants, I do not for one second feel I made a mistake. With her I saw spirit, determination, responsibility, and she was looking for a second job. Only time will tell as to whether I was right, but I am very happy with my decision.
4. Last really tiny factor, but worth mentioning, I try to hire people who are not tied to current or ex employees. Often they come in biased or problems seem to arise more often than not. Just history, nothing more.

My Vacation!!

Two weeks ago my daughter and I went on a vacation to Missouri to see my mom, brother, his wife and his two children. First of all they are possibly the two cutest kids I have ever seen. Both mom and dad have a great set of genes, so these should be pretty good peoples. My mom was my mom. She will never change. Thank God! She is possibly the most real person you will ever meet. There is nothing fake about her. I truly appreciate knowing she will always be herself. My brother looked real good as well. I spent most of my younger life worrying he would be a punk, yet he turned out to be an amazing person. He is such a good father. However I can tell you he is about to get the ultimate lesson in patience. As different as we are in lifestyles, deep down I think we both really think the same. As with myself, I truly felt he always thinks of others first and himself last. His wife is an absolute peach. She takes her role as a mother so seriously, which is so important. So few people realize there really is no room for error when it comes to raising a child. My mom's farm really was a great place to get away.(however I am addicted to showers). I enjoyed seeing wild turkey, deer and more varieties of birds than I ever imagined on her property. Her town was very quaint as well. Definitely a few steps back in time. I suppose it wouldn't be fair to only share my positive thoughts, so I must share my negative ones as well. I HATE TICKS!!!!!!!!!! I flew back to Portland and immediately took a nice long hot shower. Guess what I had an effing tick on my back thigh.(he should of at least shared in the cost of the airline TICKet.) Wow where did thst cheesy moment come from.
Next gripe would be the lack of a good beer selection anywhere(Sorry BUSCH). The final thought will probably have severe ramifications for me at some point in life, but it is only my thought so take it with a grain of salt.
My Aunt, uncle, and cousin visited the farm for a few hours while we were there. My aunt is permantly handicapped in a wheelchair and requires constant help from others. She is possibly the sweetest person I have ever met. She made every effort to be a part of the event and I truly enjoyed my conversation with her. One of her daughters came as well. She recently moved to Missouri to help with her mom as well as help herself. She appeared to be near the brink of a breakdown. While I can only imagine what she goes through she is way too young to be going through this. She is absolutely beautiful, intelligent, and young, and has everything going for her if she chooses to fight hard enough. I just worry she will get herself caught in a no win situation which is what it now appears to be. I think she is stuck between the love of her mother and the love of her father while not being able to respect both. The final observation is what is going to hurt. TO ME, my uncle appeared to be very self centered, very much sheltered from everyone else and simply going through the motions. While I understand I have no right to formulate an opinion on such a small amount of time, I do know my uncle is not the type of person who would make my life better by being in it. I know he has been through more than I ever will, but noone ever said life was going to be perfect. I hope he takes a long look at his daughter and her path and realizes, that he is probably the only person on this planet who can help her right now. Personally I will be sick to my stomach if she ends up having a hard time in life because of this. Hopefully she will spend a lot of time with my mom while there. My mom will help her out in so many ways that I'm pretty sure she isn't going to get with her parents. I apologize if this causes any problems but I am only sharing this because I truly care about you all as a family. While I may have issues individually, there is no reason everybody can't be taken care of one way or another. Synopsis. Terry, be strong. Tera, Take care of yourself, for you are an amazing woman, and Johnny, take a good look at what is truly important to you. Love to Everbody!!!!!!!

Hello Again!!

Since it has been so long since last time I am going to post this as a bunch of random thoughts from the last month. First of all it really sucks being shorthanded at the store. Brandon and I are working it all alone. I can handle the hours, it's the lack of quality time with my daughter that really hurts. However I don't think I will ever find enough of that. We did have an absolutely wonderful vacation together, but I am going to save that for an entire blog next.
Like my notes in the window at the store these really serve as a form of entertainment for whomever wishes to read them. I enjoy sharing my thoughts, and especially like receiving feedback good or bad. Today a lady at the store asked me if I was the one who wrote all the notes in the window. I replied yes to which she proceeded to tell me how much she respected me. She then told me to never change and continued with the respect comments a few more times. While I am not sure what exactly struck a chord with her, I'll wager a guess that she was probably in a bad relationship with someone who did not respect her. My natural inclination when someone compliments me excessively is to believe they are probably searching for some themselves. Either way I would really enjoy a conversation with you if you happen to read this.
While on the topic of the notes, I heard one I used to hear everyday and haven't for a while. I forgot just how much it irritated me. "You seem pretty intelligent. What are you doing working here?" Just so everyone knows, I truly enjoy what I do. No glory, but I enjoy going to work everyday. Even the bad days are enjoyable for the most part. Speaking of which. I had to laugh at My God's cruel timing. A few nights ago a couple of women came in and were having a good time on the town. One offered to flash me in exchange for a tobacco pipe. Not being one to turn this down I agreed, but told her she must come inside to do it. She pulled around and came inside. She chose her pipe and was about to lift her shirt when a hispanic male stumbled through the door to get some beer. Beyond drunk I told him he could not have any and that he must leave. He told me it was all good and to not worry about it. Once again I said "sorry man but you got to go". He then started to make lewd comments to the girls causing them extreme discomfort. I raised my voice telling him to leave now, to which he replied, "shut up man I'll fucking kill you." Wow what a mood changer. At this point the girls are real scared, when two Gresham police officers came in imediately arrest him. Obviously he did something elsewhere. Needless to say the girls left promising me some other time. GREAT TIMING!!
My tennis team lost our first match of the year. We were short two of our best players which really hurt. Otherwise we would of never lost that match. We are now in second place with a
3-1 record. Fortunately we are still in the fight for the playoffs. Only 8 out of 24 teams make it and right now we are seeded 5th. It was the first time one of our singles players lost a match all year. I still believe we have the top 2 players in the league out of about 350 players. Even the best lose once in a while.
One last theme I wish to address only because it is bothering me is the amount of good people in bad relationships. I talked to a girl who got off work an hour early only to discover her boyfriend making out on the couch with some other girl. They fought, broke up, and then got back together again a few weeks later. They got in a fight again to which he says in the heat of a verbal war"No wander your dad left you when you were four years old." Wow what a catch!!
The sad thing is she is one of the most beautiful and sweetest people you would ever meet. Very rarely does a day go by that I don't hear one of these stories.
Last of all for know. I spent Saturday at "Saturday Market with my daughter and had an absolutely wonderful time. She would of made my Mom so proud. She ordered Tofu over fried noodles. Inside joke but pretty cool none the less.

What a dump!!!!

Quite possibly the most amazing event in my life. While moving out of our house with a 5:00pm deadline nearing my ex-wife, a friend and myself were franctically throwing endless amounts of trash into the back of a truck to take a load to the dump. I paid little attention to what all was in there as my thoughts were elsewhere. When the truck was full I drove down to the dump and starting pulling out endless bags of trash and other junk. Upon finishing I drove to the scale and proceeded to pay. The clerk tells me $26.50 than pauses while listening to a walkie talkie. She then tells me the workers said I threw food in the pile which is evidentally illegal. I told her I didn't think I did. We politely argued for a few minutes until one of the guys came up and aggressively told me I did. Once again I disagreed. He gave up and left upset. I paid and continued to drive up the hill when I realized my ex cleaned out the fridge and threw it away in a bag. I felt bad , pulled over and walked back to the dump to apologize and pick up all the food. She said thank you and I walked through the mud and trash to pick up my mistake. While doing so the worker came down, got it my face and asked me if I could read. I didn't catch his reference until he mentioned signs at the entrance saying no food. I apologized again saying I didn't realize there was food in there. He got madder and madder saying it could cost him his job and the fines by the state come out of the workers pocket. I asked what more he wanted from me as I already apologized and was obviously taking care of my mistake. He very aggressively started berating me with insults and saying "it's people like you who ruin it for everyone else," by this time I significantly raised my voice and told him " I'm *&%$#% taking care of it so don't worry about it" By this time four other workers came and backed him up as if to fight while he told me to never come back to the dump because I was officially 86ed. WOW, I had to fight to refrain from laughing about how absurd this whole event was. I WAS WRONG, I KNOW THAT. But OH MY GOD! All I can say is God bless his children, for they might have a tough life ahead of them.

Yes, I'm still alive!

Once again I apologize for the lapse between blogs. At least this time I have a better excuse. A lot has happened since my last blog. First of all, my house finally sold, finalizing the last ties to my marriage. I moved in with a friend whom I have known for about ten years. My daughter and I each have our own rooms. It is quite a step down from living in a 4000 sq. ft. house for the last 5 years. I have joint custody with my ex-wife, leaving my daughter with a room in each house. So far it is working out very well. However it hurts really bad when Madison is gone, even though it is only a few days at a time. I am just so thankful she has a really good home to go to. I am not sure how I would handle it if she wasn't in a good environment when not with me. As usual she is doing really good in school. She got straight A's as well as taking a bunch of extracurricular classes. She sure is one smart cookie. I sure do fight with the lonliness aspect late at night. I manage to keep busy until I finally go down. That is when every thought in the world spins through my mind. Fortunately I truly enjoy going to work each morning. I have so many nice customers who I really care about, making it easy to stay positive about everything. I do realize so many people are going through way more than I ever will. As long as my daughter and I are healthy everything else is really secondary to me.
My tennis team won its second match(2-0). We won as a team 4-1. I won my doubles match after possibly the strangest first set I have ever witnessed. My partner who is a very good player could not make a shot for the life of him. Neither of us could figure out what was wrong, but he finally came around in the second set. I can't remember the last time I was that frustrated with a partner. I know he didn't mean to play that way, but I had never seen anyone play so beneath their game. We came back after losing the first set and ended up winning 10-1 in a third set tiebreaker. We have probably our toughest match this weekend.

Great Last Week!

First of all I apologize to anyone out there who noticed how long it has been since I wrote last time. I'll take it as a compliment if anyone did. Since last time I've have had many good times. The weather was great last weekend so I took my daughter on a hike up to the Columbia River Gorge. I figured it had been a while, so we went on a smaller hike to help insure her first time out in a while wasn't to painful. I set this goal with her to hike all the trails on a map of the gorge with her before the end of the year. This map only had the physical description of each trail in distance and by name. I learned that I do not know what a loop is according to the Horsetail Falls Trail. It stated it as a 2.7 mile loop so I figured that would be a perfect start. We started at the Horsetail Falls parking lot and continued up a marked trail. We passed two beautiful waterfalls and came to a mile marker of 1.3 miles. It pointed left to Horsetail Falls trail, and right to another seperate trail. My false sense of logic told me that the trail would LOOP around back the parking lot. WRONG. We kept going up and up and up and up with no more markers for quite a while. I now decided we were racing the sun so we better turn around and head back, not to mention the temperature was dropping fast. We made it back by retracing the trail, but I was still dumbfounded as to where the darn loop was. All in all, our 2.7 mile hike ended up being almost 7 miles. Madison toughed it out but was really tired. The good news was when I researched where we had gone I found out we actually went on three different planned trails. I decided a new way to hike all the gorge trails this year. We printed out a great map of all the trails and highlighted where we went. Once we finish that map, we are going to do the Washington side as well.
My tennis team had our first of seven matches of the season. We beat Mint Valley out of Washington 5-0. We all won in straight sets except for our #1 doubles team. The matches were all closer than the score sounds. My partner and I won at #2 doubles 7-5,6-4. We were actaully down 5-4 in the first set before finally breaking the other guy serve. One down six to go. I just can't say how much I enjoy playing with my doubles partner. Not only is he a really good player, but a really nice guy with a warped sense of humor. I think I understand him as well as he understands me. I know I can be both relaxed and uptight out there and he does a good job of keeping me in check. I wish I could find a mixed doubles partner I enjoyed playing with as much.
My daughters school had another bomb threat, that is two this year, doubling the amount I had in my whole educational experience. However, she gets two thumbs up for making it to the final round of the schools spelling bee. She was the last kid knocked out, on the word WHELK. Silent H's sure are tough if you have never seen the word before. So far about 1 out of fifteen people I have asked have spelled it correctly, so we are all real comfortable on how tough a word it was. Madison did say the kid who won it spelled it immediately without hesitation as if spelling the word DOG. Kudos to him, that is one sharp little cookie. He definitely deserved it.
Today was one of the coldest days we have had in a long time. The winds are just nasty. A customer brought back my Camel sign that blew off my fence at the store and gone almost three blocks down the street. No hiking tomorrow. I think I'll just continue to pack my endless piles of junk. Sure is fun packing. I did it for about four hours yesterday and mentally fought myself half the time. Should I keep this or not? I came the age old conclusion if I have to ask I must still have a need for it somewhere deep down inside. Besides shouldn't everyone have six pocket knives even though I only use them once or twice a year. They sure are neat though. Besides, I occasionally play tennis with Tim Leatherman, the creator and majority owner in Leathermans Tools so I would feel real guilty getting rid of it every time we played. Then again he doesn't shop at my store so should I really care. I digress. Okay I'm back on track. Kind of felt like I was hiking again. I can't think of anything else right now so I think I'll head down. I'm feeling kind of squirrelly(not sure if it is actually a word so if it isn't I'm proclaiming that as the correct spelling) if it is a word I'm too lazy to go find a dictionary right now t spell it correctly. GOOD NIGHT!!!!!!!!

This weeks Ramblings!

I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted to write about so I thought I would share a bunch of current thoughts from the last week or so. First of all it is sad when you you have to ration your daughters telephone time, not because she is talking too much but her mom is only going to be home for half an hour on break from work and it is very important that Madison sees her that whole time. I'm sorry to anyone who calls in that timeframe but hopefully you will understand. One of my favorite shirts is a long sleeve shirt for Blue Moon Ale. Fits perfect, great logo, and the price was right, however I never seem to want more than one of their beers at a time. I got my hair cut today and just want my stylist to know she is quite possibly the coolest person I ever met(that counts all the Black and Mild customers who seem to be pretty damn cool). I just might start shampooing with miracle grow. Possibly the worst thing about being a victim to a crime is everyone seems to think they are the next Sherlock Holmes. My men's tennis team has their first match this weekend. It is sad, but I am quite excited. We have an incredible team, but it creates more pressure to win because all I can think is how could we lose with this much talent on one team. I bought a new jacket at Goodwill and I really like it. My daughter got a certificate for being a top ten student in her school, not sure if they picked her name out of a hat or it's based on academic achievement, but either way I'm always so proud of her. She is in 7th grade and has already got more A's than I got in my life. I'm sorry to see the Seahawks lose, however, as always the fans had something to blame it on. Someday they will lose because they were outplayed by the other team. At least my prediction of no NW championship stays in tact.
Target got a great new brand of Trail Mix called Archer Farms. VERY HAPPY AM I. Much closer than Trader Joes. I just decided I am way too tired to write anymore, so good night Johnboy. Don't ask... One last thought Bud Light won the Superbowl commercials, but you still couldn't pay me to drink one....

MY FRIENDLY REMINDER

While this will appear as a blog its purpose is to remind everyone of my not so popular "rules". Most of my regulars know and respect these, however, many people have come along since signs have been removed. A printed copy of this will be available at the store for everyone.

#1 I do not take coupons, I hate coupons, and I do not appreciate the fact that I make two dollars off a carton of smokes yet the tobacco companies are willing to send you a ten dollar off a carton coupon knowing they don't have to pay me for 4-6 weeks.
#2 We close at 10pm. We were open for 15 hours during the day already, I apologize for you not having a spare five minutes in that window to make it down here, however 10 is 10 is 10 is 10.
#3 I so very greedily add 25cents to every credit card transaction because I want some of MY money back. I pay over 600dollars every month for card fees and get back almost $250.00 from charging this quarter. It is only a dent but it helps mentally.
#4 I do not take checks PERIOD............. I hate them, I got sued for being a nice guy and cashing them, the police don't arrest or look into bad check crimes, I break even if it clears yet I'm out everything if it doesn't and most of all I HATE CHECKS....
#5 If we ask to see your ID for something, we really don't care if you left it at home, or the police took it, or the other guy always sells to me, or the most sad excuse of all" I promise I won't tell anyone" please don't waste our time.
#6 No we can't sell beer through the window.. Why? the same reason we can't sell to minors,
drunks, before 7am or to people who we know are buying for children........because the STATE OF OREGON says so.... Talk to Ted he might make an exception for you.
Rules # 7--248 will follow if these aren't respected.. Thank You!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Life is full of circles!!!

One theme seemed to be stuck in my path this last week. While I'm really stretching a few of these, the thought entered my mind, so that's enough reason to make a entry for it. First of all, my daughters school had a bomb threat earlier this week. All the students were forced to stay in their respective classrooms while the whole situation was investigated. Three months shy of exactly 20 years ago I had a bomb scare at my school as well. All of us students were evacuated and had to stay on the football field for a real long time. It was both scary and exciting, and downright fun having all the kids together cracking their jokes. It sure isn't as funny when it's your childs life at stake however. The second sort of dejavu was playing in different tennis tournaments on back to back weekends. In the first one, I played and easily beat a guy 6-1,6-1 very quickly and without much challenge. The next weekend in a separate tournament in a separate state I somehow had to play him again in the first round. I felt so bad for him because it really hurts playing someone first round who you already know can and has beaten you very recently. This time I won 6-0,6-0 or infamously known as a double bagel, probably the most painful occurance in tennis. He was really down when he went to see his sister and girlfriend after the match. Unfortunately there is nothing anyone can say to make you feel better after an event like that. The only reason I tell this story is because when I played in tennis tournaments as a junior back in California, I constantly got stuck playing and losing to this same kid over and over again. One time I drove over 100 miles to a tournament and immediately felt my heart drop when I saw his name as my first round opponent. I remember there being over 100 kids in that draw and I got him FIRST ROUND. I have to say it feels a lot better being on the other side for once. The last one is sort of silly but oh well. The lease is up on my vehicle and I was just going to turn it in and look for a cheap old used SUV. As I started asking friends if they knew anyone selling theirs, only two people had any ideas. The first one was the EXACT color, year, make and model of a car I owned about ten years ago, and the other was a car I owned about 6 years ago however different color. I just wanted to say this planet is way too big to being repeating itself in this fashion.

As my head spins!

This last weekend I played in a tennis tournament. A common event for me one of which I truly enjoy. There are so many things I want to work on, the most important at this time is my mental game. I let the smallest things bother me and have to remind myself to just play the opponent and nothing else. This tournament had already upset me with numerous cheesy rules.
It really bothered me to play with no-ad scoring. I have never done that since high school and didn't think I would again. Then I had to wait an extra half hour to start while two courts went unused. Then four men played doubles on "center court" while the tournament players were sent down to the lesser courts. While I know one of the players was Brian Parrot, Travis Parrot's dad, or the father of one of the top players in the world, I have always felt if you are going to put on a tournament you can't go cutting all these corners. So I finally went out and played and never could drop my attitude long enough to focus on the game itself. I got crushed and was really upset that I wasted my time on the whole event. I went home gathered my senses and decided to play in the consolation event(AKA losers bracket). My first consolation match was against a really nice Asian guy who used to play in high school and college and was just getting back into it. He had an absolutely beautiful girlfriend who asked if she could sit courtside and watch because it was too hard to see from where she was supposed to sit. My head spun so fast I really wasn't sure the correct answer. First of all, her looks alone were distracting, second the feeling of lonliness and just being uncomfortable with someone on the court didn't seem right, third I wandered if he "planted her as a possible distraction for me," fourth I would feel bad if I crushed him in front of his girlfriend, and last I didn't like being put into the position of being a jerk if I am to say no. I quickly realized this IS the losers bracket and I have always played a lot better with people watching. I enjoy the entertaining aspect as well as the extra reason to play well. I won rather quickly and I think we both had a good time. I just played my usual game, and fortunately he could not handle off speed shots at all. Once he learns to pick those up he will crush me. I want to wish him good luck in the next tournament solely on the fact he had a great desire to build his game. One last complaint, the tournament director handed out used balls for the consolation bracket. I feel I owe him an apology for laughing in his face while making the rude comment, "now that's class." I'm sure the owner of the club gave him a stict budget, and it was beyond his control. For that I apologize. For everything else I just appreciate the other tournaments that much more. And by the way I lost in the consolation finals to a really good player visiting from Guam. At least I couldn't complain about travel time!

Pointless Rant!!

I know this subject is really old to pretty much everyone in the United States, but it really hit me hard today. As I was driving down 223rd Ave. there are a few spots where you can see so much area at the same time. I looked to the left and saw the endless rooftops adorning Fairview Village. When I first moved here I was staring at a huge forest in the same spot. Oh well, what hurt was when I looked right and saw a third big box building being built in the same complex. First Fred Meyer, then Lowe's, and now Kohl's. While the Dog Racing Track was closed down for lack of profitibility, every retailer and their mother have since moved in. Within 2 miles of this location a Target, a Walmart, and two Microchip manufacturing plants have been built and plans are now being submitted for a Costco. Ten years ago all we had was a Thriftway and a Zim's grocery store both which closed down for lack of money only to be eventually swallowed by the big boys. I understand the efficiency created by these businesses, how they help consumers stretch a dollar, and how many jobs they create, however, I remember getting up and driving to work at 6 in the morning seeing a coyote cross the road. I can safely say that will always be a fond memory that won't happen again here in my lifetime. Such is life, unfortunately driving by huge semis dropping off stock in the morning to these companies just isn't the same.

Truly Nice peoples!

Earlier today I stopped off at one of my favorite places to get a sandwich. While waiting for my sandwich to be made a young girl walked in a ordered a sandwich for her as well as her father. She was so well spoken, behaved, and just plain happy. As I watched her I started to feel sad that this was an abnormal sight to myself instead of an everyday occurance. A few minutes later her dad walked in and the girls eyes just lit up. She immediately hugged him and you could feel the love flowing through the room. She started to play with a stuffed animal on the counter, and really got a kick out of it when she found out that by pressing the dogs foot a tune started to play. We all thought for a minute when the owner correctly stated New York New York by Frank Sinatra. I briefly joined in on the conversation but had to go due to time restraints. I wish I could of spent a little more time talking with them because they seemed so genuinely real and happy together. I originally stopped at Grants Philly Cheesesteaks on Sandy as a treat to myself, and came away with much more than the usual great sandwich. Hopefully I will cross their path again in life as I know they were truly good people. You can always tell a child that has come from a caring family, and she definitely did.

Gales Creek Camp

As the parent of a twelve year old girl, I am constantly analyzing the importance or true value of activities my daughter participates in. Sometimes I bite my tongue knowing it's important to her, but will mean nothing in two weeks and other times I have to convince her that she really will enjoy it, even though it may not sound like fun. Over the years I have grown a real fondness for one activity that absolutely means the world to her. For the last 5 years or so she has attended a week long camp every summer. This camp is solely for children who have been diagnosed with Diabetes. This camp has brought so much joy to her life that I could not imagine how I would feel if I found out about it after she was too old. She has made many friends there, but most important she constantly reminds me how normal it makes her feel when she is there. Her current school has over 500 children and she is the only one with diabetes. While she handles it great, there is always times when it is hard to deal with. I truly appreciate Gales Creek Camp for what they do, and what they are about. If ever someone is looking for a great charity they can always use bulk sugar free foods, medical supplies, and items for their craft room. This camp doesn't start until July and we just got the registration packet today and Madison was so excited. I really hope Madison gives back to the camp and works as a councilor when she gets older, as much as she has got from the camp, I know she would get even more from helping younger ones as she gets older. While there may not be a lot of organizations I truly believe in, this one is probably at the top of my list. Ironically as I went to the website to find a few photos to upload for this blog I found one of my daughter so I included it as well. She is in the swimming pool looking as happy as ever. Thank You Gales Creek and we'll see you in July!!!!!!

http://www.galescreekcamp.org/

Game On!

Yesterday I sat down and played video games with my daughter and had an absolutely great time. I fight with whether they are good to play or just a waste of time. As with most of her toys or extra curricular activities I formed the conclusion, as long as all your responsibilities in life are being met, it is only fair that you can choose your activities. We played Megaman 5 on the original nintendo system and had a great time. It was interesting to see how differently we think when it comes to getting through a situation in the game. Every scene has to be handled differently and you will replay it over and over again each time you die. So often she would die quickly and try the same method again. Other times she would alter it so slightly and get right through it. It's great for learning how to adjust your thinking and testing your patience. We have also spent a great deal of time on Sudoku puzzles. She is much faster at thinking logically than I am, but she constantly misses the obvious ones. She often thinks more than necessary in life and actually ends up making things harder for herself. I don't think she actually realizes how smart she really is. I just appreciate how much she wants to learn, and how she knows how to have a good time as well. I learn more from watching her than anywhere else in this world.

Thanks for the honesty!

I just got back from tennis tonight at Vancouver Tennis Center, and had an absolutely great time for a number of reasons. First and foremost I played a couple of sets against a very good player. After the match we talked for a while and he spent a great deal of time diagnosing my game. He watched my set before I played him, so he got a good share of points to base his thoughts on. He was so brutally honest I had no choice but to respect his word. I truly hate coming off a court and hearing people throw compliment after compliment out. In this world we all know what we are good at, however we often are not aware of the flip side. Most tennis players don't seem to receptive to the mentioning of their weaknesses, however we are very quick to jump all over and exploit them while on the court. One of my major weaknesses in doubles is the backhand return on the deuce side. If you serve it 90mph or higher I have no problem at all, however if you take a good deal of speed off it and have a good volleyer at the net it gives me fits. I have a problem with to much time to choose how to play the point. It is easy to compensate for in singles, but you have too many factors in doubles. I am working on this every time I play. The absolute worst part of tennis is when someone figures out your weakness and proceeds to walk all over you because of it. Often in life you can dodge your weaknesses by simply going around it. How many times have you walked a little farther because you didn't want to attempt a parallel park, or by taking a different class instead of speech, just so you wouldn't have to speak in front of a class. The problem in tennis is there are no easy outs to hide a weakness. Good players will exploit it and if you are not careful they will take your confidence with them. He didn't tell me anything I didn't already know, however it was great hearing it from someone else. It turns out he is a elementary school principal, so I'm sure he is use to being blunt. Anyway I always appreciate it. The other highlight was getting to play mixed doubles with a lady who is an absolute sweetheart, but has zero intensity on the court. It is all about fun for her and it's nice to take a step back every once in a while and just play the game for what it is. However I detest doing so with any other partner in the world. To make the night even better I stopped off and got a burrito from my favorite 24hour shack in Vancouver and they even left the salsa fresca off it. I ask every time, but I am really only going through the motions because I know it will be in there anyways. And finally when I got home I cracked open a new beer and it is really good. Naughty Nellies Ale by Pike Brewing Co. in Seattle. The night could not be any better unless I could get this clock to slow down a bit. I have to be up early, but I don't want the night to end.

Random Thoughts!

Tonight's writing's will include a series of small thoughts going through my head, none of which really deserve a whole blog but all to important to not mention them. First of all, thank God the Rams finally fired Mike Martz. Great offensive coordinator but definitely not Head Coach material. Hopefully someone informs him that there is more to the game than just calling plays. Their defense, special teams, and turnover ratio all fell apart under his "control." Second of all, as I sat down to drink three random beers tonight I realized they all had something common, the names, Moose Drool, Elk Rock, and Scapegoat. While this seems strange to me that none sound appetizing I managed to buy a case of each for my store. I always sample one of every beer I have in order to formulate an opinion. FYI Moose Drool is the only one worth a darn. However, don't spread the word until I've sold all the six packs. Third of all, I finally made the big plunge. I bought Sirius radio. Oh my God, is it great. I never can get around all the channels because there are way too many good songs on. I found a great song by Social Distortion my first time around, and it wasn't one of the same three always played on old radio. My reasons for this were two-fold. First the obvious in Howard Stern. Having listened to him for so long, I couldn't imagine not having it. I have to say he is brilliant. This two week hiatis between the changeover has left me with serious withdrawals. The other reason is Portland radio stations absolutely SUCK. I actually get upset while driving because of the lack of one good station. Just one is all I ever asked for. With the exception of Daria O'neill and Mike Chase, this city has not had one good DJ in the last ten years. Sorry everyone but Marconi is great to listen to, but once you've heard ten minutes of his show, you are good to go for the week. The station just replays the same material over and over all week long. Besides his girlfriend(maybe wife, I'm not sure)
is unbearable to listen to. The feeling of sattellite is that to the days when we first got cable. It's incomprehensible going back to the days of three or four channels. Finally, after all the police shootings in Clackamas County, I can Safely say it sure is great living in Multnomah County. Wow I didn't think I would ever say that after the new county tax. Good Night Everyone!!!