All I want for Christmas

Christmas has come and gone but the tree is still up. It's the Saturday morning of the 29th and little Christmas cheer is left. The point of the holiday has escaped me altogether and what is left but the feeling that this time of year is supposed to be of great joy and thanksgiving. I am thankful for the things that make my life as comfortable as it is but the feeling doesn't come as easily as one would hope. And the joy that accompanies is in someone elses company. These feelings are easy when you're a child, the responsibility of making sure everyone got their gifts and working extra hours in the cold to make sure we can afford them is joyless. As a child the thrill and excitement of presents made the holiday, I felt as if my family knew what I wanted and loved me enough to get if for me. Granted I had told them explicitly what I wanted so that I would not to have to return it, exchange it, or feign gratitude but the feeling of love was still there. I'm 26 now and the wife and I knew what we wanted months in advance. So, come late October we decide we can afford to get each other the Garmin Rino GPS/2-way radios that we desired so much and bought them. It takes a bit of fun out of Christmas morning when there is one present under the tree and the rest are either opened already, or take the form of cash money. Was this a terrible holiday, not entirely... I got to spend it with my darling wife that I adore spending time with, and we got a fun little camcorder from my father-in-law. But when it comes down to it I miss the childhood Christmas that I once had. Perhaps next year Santa will bring me a bit of the old days. Or maybe I need to not be such a spoiled brat about the whole thing and makes someone elses holiday a little brighter.
On a side-note I wish I were a student or teacher so I didn't have to work so much during Christmas break.

Thanksgiving with Family

Jessica and I took a trip down to Coos Bay for Thanksgiving and in some free time we decided to do a bit of caching. I found myself explaining exactly what geocaching is a few times and trying to justify why it is a viable hobby. I think I got my father hooked on it when we went to Charleston and found a couple caches. The funny part about our adventure was my mistake in entering the coordinates in the GPS. When we got back home we discovered the reason why the compass was directing us 200 ft. past the end of a floating dock. Oops, I'm learning slowly. Next time we'll show them how geocaching can be when human error isn't involved.

daily ritual

I am a bus rider... in Portland this puts me in a position to witness a cacophony of strange things and perplexing events. Most people are normal and just try to get from one place to another without being harassed. Others are sometimes the ones doing the harassing. Every morning I catch the same bus and see many of the same people; the older lady with her cup of coffee, the group of junior high students going to school, the smelly older gentleman who gets off at the MAX train station, and the security guard who gets on there. They are my community in a very real sense but I know little to nothing about them. I can only assume. This is how a large portion of my day is spent, observing the populus and fabricating the backstory of others lives. Perhaps they do the same to me, perhaps they don't care at all. I feel as though I should be writing a novel about the rediculous lives of fiction that I create. Maybe I will find the time, make the time, and sit down and be inspired.

I've been repeatedly astounded at the spending that goes into a religious institution. My wife and I live across the street from the Apostolic Faith Church in Portland and they own three pieces of property which line both sides of duke street from 52nd Ave. to 56th Ave. Across 52nd Ave there is the Apostolic Faith Headquarters. The church building where services are held is a monument to the kind of over the top structures that religious institiutions believe are necessary in order for numbers to grow. The church is taking over the community and building RV parking at the back of the bible camp. I've lived in this community for over a year and I have never met anyone from that church. I wonder if they even care what their neighbors think about them... Oh well, it doesn't really matter that much to me, I was just considering the churches role in the distribution of wealth and what scripture might have to say about it.

time keeps on slippin' into the future...

As I get older it would appear that holidays hold less importance than they did before. This year Halloween is apparently going to slip by me without even letting me know that it had showed up in the first place. The wife and I have been so busy that we neglected to get pumpkins to carve. I've definately decided that we are too old to go trick or treating. Not that we did such things even a couple of years ago. But we did go Trick-or-canning. Instead of collecting candy for ourselves we decided in college to dress up in costume and collect canned food for the Portland Rescue Mission, and perhaps obtain some candy at the same time. We had oodles of fun and felt good about it. But, alas! We are getting up in years and cannot walk around in the bitter cold so I petition those who read this blog, as few of you as may be, to encourage young ones to take the opportunity of going door to door to do something noble and good. Regretably, Jessica and I were not able to go to TLC this year because she felt ill. Our food donation will have to go through other channels; perhaps a young person will visit my door on halloween to collect it.
And the big news with us is that we got each other our Christmas presents already. We each have a Garmin Rino GPS/2-way Radio so we can go Geo-caching as much as we like. And hopefully not get lost in the process. We're big nerds.

Bot Fly

I seem to have a strange fascination with gross and wierd things. I saw this video when I was in North Carolina and now you have to see it too.

My other reality

I doubt if I'm the only one who day dreams. But it is possible I am losing it. I seem to have this one image while I'm driving of me using a spin maneuver on a driver who fails to use their turn signal and I get out of the car and punch them right in the ear through their window. I know that some people are not from around here or they just forget but it happens all the time. On the other hand... some people actually deserve to be drilled in the side of the head. The other day dream I have regularly is me riding a motorcycle to work. I've been wanting a motorcycle for a long time but it doesn't seem like that's going to happen anytime soon. Have you ever thought that it would be interesting to be an international spy? Ever follow a stranger for a few blocks through town, watch to see if anyone is following your car in the rear view mirror? Ever look around a room making sure you know where all the exits are...? I do. Maybe I've seen too many movies, maybe I'm just bored, but my imagination lets me deal out justice and take risks that normal people just don't do. The positive side of being boring is the fact that I can look myself in the mirror and sleep like a baby with a clear conscience. Speaking of sleep... zzzzzzzzzzz ...................zzzzzzzzzzzz
Whoops! Goodnight.