Well That's Weird!

Have you seen the bumper sticker that says "Keep Portland Weird". I don't know what that means exactly but let me tell you about what happened to me on Friday, September 25, 2009.

I showed up to work as normal and the day went just as expected till break time. That would have been about 10:00 am or perhaps a bit after that. Anyway,I had just decided to go on break and had let my helper go for a bit and all of a sudden the fire alarm went off. I thought, "Great timing!", but decided to follow normal procedure and head out into the parking lot and find the place where I am supposed to show up in a fire drill. Suddenly, something happened which was totally unexpected. (You might say it was weird!) The supervisors who would normally have been out in the parking lot with us came to the doors of the building and indicated that it was imperative that we immediately re-enter the building and go to the break room which is located in the center of the building. Hmmm, interesting! Apparently, someone was breaking the windows at the front of the building and the safe place to be was somewhere in the middle of the building away from all exits and windows. Whatever! I complied with their wishes and went to the break room. After what seemed like an eternity, the alarm quit sounding and we were allowed to exit the break room. I, along with a couple of other curious parties, decided to investigate. We had heard that someone had broken a bunch of windows via a baseball bat or throwing rocks. To tell you the truth, I still haven't heard what he actually used but nevertheless, the windows were broken, people were frightened, and work was halted for perhaps a half hour or maybe even more.

When the "all clear" was sounded, I went to the front of the building to get a first hand view of what had actually gone on. What I saw was approximately, eight broken panes of 1/4 inch plate glass, a police cruiser with an aledged perpretrator inside, and cops and Providence security officers, and various other Providence employees milling around and checking out the damage.

Aparently, the perp was someone with whom the authorities were familiar. Astonishingly, he chose to hang around and wait for the cops to show up and arrest him. That sounds pretty weird to me. You know what? I don't like the idea of keeping Portland weird. Let's just put all of the weirdos in jail or dispatch them some other way and let Portland remain normal. I don't think I like weird. I heard that the quote to replace the glass was several thousand dollars. Some knucklehead like I saw in the squad car is not likely to have anywhere near that kind of money.

Once again, the victim is the one who will bear the brunt of the cost of the crime that was perpretrated against them. No matter how one reviews this event, the victim is the party carrying the greater liability.

I don't know if Providence Health Systems is rich or not. I doesn't really matter. The victim should never be the recipient of the greater portion of penalty. A perpretator who can not pay for his crime should be required to pay in sweat. Let him work it off!

Ok, let me cool down a bit. Society is never going to require retribution. I guess that is why this society is failing. Perhaps when the last victim falls and all that is left is perpretrators, we will finally get the picture. Unfortunely, by that time, it will be too late to get the appropriate measures accomplished.

Today is the First Day of the Rest of Your Life or Maybe the Last

It is funny how the mind works. This week I've been tuned in a little to my own mortality. Last week a young relative of mine nearly choked on a piece of chicken. Earlier this week, a man who I didn't really know but I had had contact with him and his family, was killed by a hit and run driver up in Vancouver, WA. I am fairly confident that he died a child of God because of some of the things that I know about him and his family. It is interesting to ponder why the Lord sometimes calls his own home at an earlier date than we might wish or expect. There are some, as in my first example, whom He allows to remain alive and vibrant, and there are others who might have been equally as alive today but for some reason beyond our ability to comprehend, He has chosen to remove from life as we know it here. It probably makes no sense to wonder why because after all, who can know the mind of God.

On the other hand it always makes sense to continually consider the fact that we are each fragily mortal and need to live our lives aware that our last breath is not in our hands but in His alone. There may be those of you out there who read this blog regularly and may have forgotten or chosen to ignore what I believe is a fact, that each breath is a gift from the creator and your time here on earth is your only opportunity to choose to spend eternity in His presence. If you choose to live your life separated from Him, He will not require that you spend eternity with Him. It is now, while He allows you breath, that you must choose. In the words of the noted philosopher and author of many classic books C. S. Lewis, "There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, "All right, then, have it your way."

Along a similar note, tomorrow is a date that for the greater portion of my life and I guess even today was, and is, a celebrated anniversary.

It was my mother's birthday. We lost her a few years ago and I don't want to let her memory fade just yet. She contributed countless hours and prayers to what I have become today. Much of what I think was molded from her instruction and example. She left a fine legacy in both children and grandchildren. I, for one, will always remember September 20 as a special day full memories and respect for a woman who helped mold me into the person that I am today. The good stuff was from her, the bad stuff is mine. Happy Birthday, Mom!

And though perhaps she wouldn't have found it appropriate, today I raise a glass in her honor!

I was sooo disapointed with Ebay yesterday! I know they are a big company and feel that they need to be politically correct in their policies but when their policies aren't even logically consistant it is hard to not be angry with them.

I had this auction that was doing really well for me and Ebay allowed it to go all week and then about two hours before it was scheduled to end, they cancelled it and said it violated Ebay's listing rules.
Ok, they've done that to me before with other types of items and I have been able to live with it but in this case, all of the auctions that I am current running have one thing in common. They are all steel leg-hold animal traps. They are designed to catch and hold animals so that they can be harvested for their fur and/or any other parts that may have a commercial value. They didn't cancel any of the others. They only chose to cancel the one that was making a lot of money. Nobody is going to spend the amount of money that had been bid, and I suspect someone was going to bid a lot more, perhaps two or three times as much, to put this item out in the woods to catch an animal. This was a collector piece, something for decoration or to appreciate for its own intrensic value. Can you guess why it was cancelled? Because it was bigger than 5 1/2 inches and had teeth. I think the teeth thing is irrelevent because teeth or not, the trap will hold its intended prey. The 5 1/2 inch thing is completely void of sound reasoning. Does this kind of logic mean that is ok to catch small animals in a leg hold trap but not larger animals? This kind of thinking is not only wrong, but it is illogical. Why would it be ok to catch small animals but not large animals? Do large animals have more rights or do they feel sensations differently than smaller animals? What kind of moron thinks like this?

Now I need to rethink how to sell it. I generally like Ebay because it is a venue that reaches a wide domestic and even international audience. I may still use them but I need to figure out how I can do it without their knowing what I am doing. I have done that before with items that I knew had special collector value, were legal and moral, but fell into a politically incorrect category. I think I will spend a little time thinking about how to beat them at their own game.

Oh Dude! Can I change the subject? Of course I can! This is my blog! This is about me and what I think! Read it, like it, or ignore it but this is about me! I hope you'll enjoy it but I'm not asking for your permission! Hope you don't mind but this part of this post is about food again. I think everyone should be interested in food. Ok maybe not, but if they tried even a little, there should be some particle of interest in food in everybody. I mean, everyone needs to eat don't they? Whatever! Look at what I made the other day! The menu came from Martha Stewart's web site. (Let me let you in on a little secret. I don't care what anyone thinks about Martha Stewart, I like her and I respect her opinion on food, decorating, and business. I read "The Martha Stewart Rules" and I believe with all of my heart that if a person wants to be an entrenpreneur, they should read that book. Believe whatever you want about her, she understands business and what it takes to be successful in the business world).

The menu came from Martha Stewart. Click Mediterranean Chicken Menu

It was kind of exotic, tasty, and worth of another visit, perhaps with guests. The menu included Mediterranean Chicken, Herb-Feta Salad, and Rice Pilaf. I totally enjoyed it. Granted, I am not always friends with olives but these were called Kalamata and had been marinated in red wine and were not bad to say the least. Anyway, the menu was delightful and each of the three courses was both sensational and worth another visit.

What A Whirlwind of a Day!

Oh wow! It has been over a week since I've posted. Well, I'm busy! I'm busy at work, I'm busy at home, and... oh man, I need to take a day off. No good! Today was a day off and I was busy!

First of all I posted an auction on Ebay. Next we had to take Jonathan's friend to meet his mother. He'd been spending the weekend here and it was time to go home. After that we went over to Monticello and fix up our space a bit. There is a special event going on over there and so we are continually replacing items that have been sold or just straightening the place up. Every day it looks like we've been sacked.

Somewhere in here I got the oil changed in the car because the "idiot light" came on because, well, I'm an idiot! We also delivered Jonathan to Clackamas to meet up with some of his friends. Whew! The next thing we had to do was run back to an estate sale that we visited this weekend to pick up some animal traps that we decided to purchase.The goal is to get them listed on Ebay as soon as possible. That leads me to my next project of the day.

I sorted through three wooden crates full of various styles, sizes, and shapes.

As it turned out, there were over a hundred of them. It looks like I bought some guy's whole darn trapline. Anyway, it was fun and I enjoyed playing with them. I set and snapped a number of them and didn't get caught a single time.

I always wanted to be a mountain man. Oh well, born a hundred and fifty years too late!

I got four auctions listed and the one that I thought was particularly special is already paying the bills. Hurray! In the words of Hannibal Smith of the A-Team "I love it when a plan comes together!"

Oh my goodness! Look at the clock! I have to go to bed. Tomorrow I have to go back to work. Maybe I can get some rest there!