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BEST BUY TACTICAL COMMANDO

I made a birthday run to Best Buy for my wife’s birthday.
Married people do this all the time. Maybe just husbands?
The difference was, my trip was on the birthday, which some people call irresponsible, tactless, whatever.
But I knew what I wanted and where to get it. And I knew the timeline.
How was I so well informed? My wife told me.
What I didn’t expect to see in Beaverton Best Buy was a greeter in a full tactical commando rig.
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MY TOP JULY FOURTH: 1976

In 1976 July Fourth found me living in Philadelphia, of all places.
I was standing in the audience listening to President Ford address the nation from the Liberty Bell.
I was a regular Army private two months from being discharged after two years.
My uncle, a career Marine, was with me.
It felt different than July 4, 2026.
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PIECES OF A LIFE TOGETHER, AND ‘THE PAST’

If you spend enough time with someone you may eventually get the feeling of living a life, of sharing a life, together.
With that in mind, why wait until the last minute to get, or give, the flowers.
Is there a plan for how to do that?
How do two people put those pieces together?
I’m glad to tell you:
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THE CUVEE PROM PLAN: TUXEDO REQURIED

The Cuvee prom plan works when the star align:
A birthday? An anniversary? A retirement?
Combine all three and it’s time to break out the tuxedo?
Yes, it’s time.

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WALK THAT LONESOME VALLEY, OR BABY SHARK, PICK ONE

You know you’ve got to walk that lonesome valley. That’s just how it is.
The part about walking it by yourself? I’m not so sure about that.
I tried walking it by myself and got pretty far, even though I wasn’t alone.
Technically.
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toughen up

RADIATION, HYDRATION, SATURATION, REPEAT

      From cancercenter.com Because radiation is used on and in their bodies, some patients mistakenly worry that this automatically means their bodies become “radioactive” after they treatment. Most patients just want to finish radiation and don’t care about the baggage. That comes later. If they beat cancer, they accept the side effects. Once […]

LIFE STAGES WITH ELISABETH KUBLER-ROSS

    Instead of death and dying, use the same grief progression for living and life stages. It fits just as well, after all no one said life was easy. Sometimes living is a downer until we find something to live for.   Life stages go beyond the chronographic scale, like the Terrible Twenties, the […]

MICHAEL BECKER WALKS WITH PURPOSE

I like people who channel their problems constructively. They’re effective in making me feel like the whiner I’ve always taken pride in.   Michael Becker channels his problems constructively, and he’s a big boost. I found him in a search of cancer memoirs. We’ve exchanged pleasant emails. Have I told him I’m scouting for my […]

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boomer years

SEX, DRUGS, AND ROCK AND ROLL. OR JUST DRUGS

How To Live Next To A Heroin House. A move to the suburbs in most cities means a move away from drugs and crime. Not Portland, Oregon. My inner eastside apartment was too dangerous for a young family. Houses had metal barred windows and bad yards. The juice was never changing. It was a bad […]

MARRIED LANDSCAPE WINNING TACTICS

    We play a game at my house called, “I’ll hire the ___ if you can’t do it.”   I like to think it comes with being married to the right person, a visionary.   Fill in the blank with electrician, plumber, carpenter, landscape crew. As long as husband isn’t on the list there’s […]

OHS Shows ‘What They Did’

On a wicked cold December night a man lectured from the stage of the First Congregational Church in downtown Portland. James Swanson spoke to a full house, breaking down the Kennedy assassination moment by moment from his book ‘END OF DAYS, The Assassination of John F. Kennedy.’ Swanson followed the characters and events from fifty […]

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buckle up

SHOW UP LATE? APOLOGIZE AND PROMISE TO JUMP

      I’m sorry I’m late.  

PORTLAND MOVEABLE FEAST: COMMUNITY

    “If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.” Would Hemingway say the same about a Portland moveable feast? He would if he booked Eastburn for dinner. Try […]

Pride Parade NW Boomer Style

You Know You’ve Arrived When:   A string of parades hit town recently. The big three were the Starlight, the Rose, and the Pride Parade. Each one has it’s Portland vibe.

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