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MAKING THE CANCER CALL 2026

Ten years ago I got the cancer call.
Me: Hello.
Doc: Are you sitting down?
Me: Yes. (I was in the bathroom.)
Doc: The tests came back. You have cancer.
Me: That’s not good.
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OPENING NIGHT AT THE ROSE GARDEN

I watched the Rose Garden, home to your Portland Trail Blazers, rise up on the Northeast bank of the mighty Willamette River.
From opening night until now it’s been . . . thirty-one years?
As long as the Memorial Coliseum stands, the Rose Garden will always be the new kid on the block.
And now it’s old and tired?
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A LIFE CELEBRATION

Remember the guy who took shooting pool to a whole ‘nother level?
Who knew where to find a good table and fifty cent beers?
That was Rob Brown in Eugene when we went to UofO.
While he had a drive to succeed, he knew how to take a break.
In that sense he was a host who understood how to pull people together.
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RETIREMENT WARNINGS FOR BOOMERS IN THE FAST LANE

You’re in the fast lane and know it when you pull up on a Waymo car.

 

Waymo has named the Rose City as one of the next locations welcoming its own fleet of self-driving vehicles.
As part of the announcement, the company revealed it will start manually operating the cars on Tuesday to “help familiarize the Waymo Driver with Portland’s distinct streetscapes — from its iconic bridges to its bustling, rain-slicked corridors.”

 

I saw this rig in town and thought, ‘The future has arrived.’
Who is ready for the future? Baby boomers are ready.
Sort of?
[Read More…]

ACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOR REMINDER FROM VETERANS ADMINISTRATION MAILER

As a veteran of the President Gerald Ford Army of 1974-76, I feel I know what acceptable behavior is without a reminder from the Veteran’s Administration in 2026.
I knew the program way before joining the Army.
Where did I gain such valuable information? The Boy Scouts.
This all rings true from Acceptable Behaviors listed on the mailer:
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toughen up

HELPING THE EMERGENCY RESCUE

Or, How To Tell The Difference Between Yoga And A Case For Emergency Rescue. The gym I belong to is full of classes. Usually they happen in a dance studio with window walls on one side and mirrors on the other. It’s the usual schedule of jumping around with a wired up instructor, lifting Styrofoam […]

Wellness Luxury: Feeling Good For Doing Good Again

To do good you don’t have to feel good. If you do it’s a wellness luxury, an expression I just made up. Google wellness luxury. This isn’t that sort of post.   Take mental health for example. Nothing makes any difference to you? No one cares about you? Feeling earful about the future? Feeling sad […]

GUN WORLD SURROUNDS YOU? What’s It Mean When You Don’t Notice

  A gun world is all around us in America. Start a casual conversation and you might learn the mild mannered person you’re talking to owns thirty guns.   Since it’s so long ago, I like reflecting on my days as an Army medic. It comes in handy helping me pretend not be as grossed […]

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boomer years

THE TICKING BABY BOOMERS

We didn’t start the fire? Maybe, but ticking baby boomers sure throw on the logs. A recent statement about relationships explains how you should never let others know what makes you tick. Why? If they know how you tick, they’ll wind you up on their schedule. Sounds stressful, like a hidden life with those who […]

GILLASPIE LOVESEAT TO HONOR AMERICA. IT’S FRAGILE

    Who hasn’t been accused of making last minute presents? My specialty is carving names in oak with a router.   It takes practice, at least more than a last minute panic to produce something meaningful on Christmas morning.   I’ve been the object of such accusations, and while correct, there is a bigger […]

PICKING UP CO-EDS 70’S STYLE

Which One Was You? Before social media, meeting co-eds at college meant leaving the basement. Starbucks moved into the space on the opposite end of the block from the U of O bookstore. It the seventies it was a college bar, the best place on the street for 21 and over students. And everyone else. […]

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buckle up

Fighting Chuck Palahniuk, And Portland Inertia

    I didn’t have anything to prove by fighting Chuck Palaniuk, but I did with the fight against inertia on a Sunday where the NFL was on TV and Wordstock was happening on the park blocks. It was a good day to do nothing and there was plenty to back up doing it.   […]

OREGON v ARIZONA PT 1: STATE FACE OFF SERIES

Despite news fakery to the contrary, the sun does shine in Oregon. It’s an elusive beam natives flock to like mosquitoes to a zapper. Not the same in Arizona where people hide in shade half the year, and no mosquitoes. The trade off is a raincoat or sunscreen, the smart gear every Snowbird packs in […]

Continental Divide: A Place Not An Attitude

  Since I was in the neighborhood I kept a look out for this sign: Continental Divide.   It goes one way or the other. Water follows the path of least resistance? That’s the story.   One side drains to the east, the other to the west. That’s lots of drainage and it starts with […]

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