What We Bring Back From the Campground
Aside from wonderful memories of Lake Marie on our 9th annual visit to
the coast, we are bringing back a new cat, Umpqua (or "Umpqua
Lighthouse State Cat").
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First Football Game
Things really got going at the game. While I'm spending most of my
time managing computers in the back rooms, I've been mixing with the
crowd as I move around. It's wild to see the spirit and enthusiasm
rampant at the game.
- Comment by Dave'ola - 9/6/2008 4:26 pm
I conceptually had no idea there were that many people at a local football game. Obviously, I haven't been to a game since high school. I'm not sure if I should be impressed at the fanatical dedication or concerned...
Go Ducks!
Today, I'm helping supervise the Duck Football game's concession
inventory and cash system. Never been to a football game before... I
brought some books just in case. 
- Comment by tvindy - 11/2/2008 12:18 am
So that's what the inside of that building looks like. I've never been in there, but I recognized it instantly from the window configuration.
Two Week Vacation
I decided to give myself 2 weeks off. "Off what? You're unemployed", you might ask. Well, I've been meeting a lot of people in "networking" to find my next employer and to help Anne Marie with her new practice, and working on the very beginnings of a medium sized project for the U of O. I'm keeping up this business work enough that it's encroaching on my expanded Summer fathering time and seasonal projects on the farm, etc. Encroaching! Enough that I decided to take a break until Lauren is back in school after Labor Day!
2 weeks of relaxation! Except for the day of work at the U tomorrow. And the handful of letters I've sent for job stuff. And the 3 meetings I had already kind of arranged. I'm just not that good at taking time off to vacation from the parade of projects!
Learning to give myself a vacation is a priority for me! Not like a european vacation. I mean a chance to set aside the concerns in front of me and really be here and enjoy the moment. I think I'll have to start small. Maybe a 3 hour vacation? Or a day? Maybe 15 minutes is a good start...
I'm being cynical, of course. My real goal is to be on permanent vacation, with not too much trouble on the farm, the family in good spirits, and interesting new work. I can enjoy every moment and achieve more if I get that "permanent vacation" feeling and bring it to my interests, my chores, my work, and other stops on the tour bus of life. I long shot, but...
I still have 10 days of "vacation" to try and get there!
After 20 years...
I lost my job with CSNW a month ago today, after working for them for 20 years. Readers with a memory of two and a half years will understand that I was not surprised by being let go, since I started the process of hiring my own replacements quite a while ago, in the hopes that I could move to more programming and project management work. The process took almost two years longer than I expected, since the first replacement didn't work out. Now that a second new IT director is having greater success and I have finished training him and members of the new IT department, I was not at all surprised that they did not want to retain me for software architecture and project management. I'm excited to have a chance to move on to a new career with a company that understands investment in software and systems design.
Since I've been out of work, I've just been lounging around. HA! Actually, as both of you know (sorry, bad blog humor), I always have a zillion projects going. Between spending time with Lauren on her Summer vacation, helping Anne Marie with her new business, and beginning the process of networking with colleagues, friends and local software company contacts to choose my next work, I've felt busier than ever in unemployment. Truly, since this will probably be the only time between ages 16 and 60 that I am not employed, I have decided to slow things down now and experience a bit more pure relaxation before I embark on my new career sometime in the coming year. Towards that end, I spent 3 hours this morning tuning an autoharp and learning to play "Home on the Range". Totally frivolous!
The other pleasant side effect of being away from CSNW is that it will be much easier for me to resume blogging. In early 2006, the company asked me not to write about work-related thoughts, even though I had been very careful never to disclose anything sensitive. Especially in my last 2 years of employment, my work and my efforts to move the company and myself in a new direction have represented a lot of the contents of my mind. So, it was hard to write here without mentioning work, and posts have been very slim in the last two years. I am hoping that having a blank check to write about my cares now will make it much easier to write more. I wanted to wait a month to be sure that I had completed any consulting work with CSNW... now stand back and prepare to read!
There is so much more to say... how disappointing CSNW's method of terminating me was, how Lauren and I had the most wonderful repeat of the day sleeping we did two years ago, how we are making up 75% of my salary while I'm out of work, about my perfect scores in testing at the University, about camping, and so much more. Stay Tuned!
- Comment by Dave'ola - 8/1/2008 3:16 pm
Given your musical pursuit this morning, perhaps you can now answer this burning question in my mind then: When our 3rd grade teacher's substitute, who was known for playing her autoharp for all of us, told us the story about the kids who played music and attracted UFO's from the vibrations of the musical instruments, and then said she would finish the rest of the story for us when she came back the next time, and then never came back... how does the story end?!
(At least, I recall it was an autoharp. The coincidence may merely be insanity on my part).
- Comment by Michael - 8/1/2008 3:54 pm
I think that story ends with me forgetting about it until you mention it 30 years later. With my mind's efficient freshness dating, that story was probably forgotten 29 years, 4 months ago. Nonetheless, you WILL be serenaded with autoharp at our next dinner party!
- Comment by Dave'ola - 8/9/2008 11:40 am
Hey, where's the rest of the exciting story? All two of us are sitting on the edge of our seats!
Pool Day
It's our first "Family Swim" of the Summer and as you can see from the view from my pool chair, the 90 degree weather has brought the crowds. In fact, a family just asked if they could settle in the last patch of grass at our feet. Ah, relaxation!
How Lauren Swings
Creative, eh? We're just enjoying the back yard after a busy day and before dinner.
Foxy Cam
Now, with that post title, I should get some interesting visitors. But, seriously, our newer horse, Foxy, is going to be having a foal later this month. To show we've evolved beyond sleeping in the barn to monitor our pregnant horse, we have borrowed a wireless web camera to watch her. (Thanks, David!)
So, here is Foxy Cam!
- Comment by tvindy - 3/12/2008 9:37 pm
First comment!
- Comment by tvindy - 3/22/2008 11:37 am
Darn! The camera is offline. I Guess Foxy wanted some privacy.
- Comment by tvindy - 3/29/2008 7:52 pm
Hey! Baby horsey!!!
- Comment by Dave'ola - 5/17/2008 8:01 am
It has been an honor to watch the entire process. Beats the Animal Planet channel anytime! Oh yes: What, no cigars at the end?!
Bloody Doll
Today, I went to the Gingerbread Village Restaurant with my parents. I was eating and I sprayed ketchup all over one of my dolls when I meant to put it on my place. Before my mom washed her, she looked like she was bleeding all over really badly.
Before going to the restaurant, we went for a hike at a park. One park ranger told us to stop at post number 9 because there were angry bees on the trail. It was really fun.
Memorial Day
This weekend, Anne Marie, Lauren and I went to the coast, found a campground, camped in our tents, and enjoyed a campfire... but not in that order.
We did enjoy our campground and campfire, pictured to the right, where we roasted hot dogs and s'mores over the fire, relaxed and read in our camping chairs, enjoyed drinks, and played a game of Go Fish before sleeping in the rather chilly night air.
However, as you can see from the reverse-angle picture below, our campsite was less than 20 feet from our house. I also added a Lauren close-up below, because it's so cute.
The next morning, we "broke camp" to the comfort of our home, then took a short trip to Florence, where we happened to stop at a state park campground to use their restroom (without paying the $5 day use fee, heh heh).
Aside from the very low temperatures, our camping excursion was a lot of fun, and gave us a chance to burn our scrap wood and downed limbs, so we'll probably make it a "lazy camping" tradition in nice weather.
- Comment by tvindy - 5/28/2007 10:41 pm
I had to read through that about ten times before it finally made sense to me.
Also, your house doesn't look like a geodesic dome when seen from that angle, but I suppose it could be.
The Worms
Here I am with a worm collection that I made and a worm house I made with yellow and white paper.
I got the worms in our back yard where our horses poop. I live on a farm and put rocks, dirt and grass from our farm in for the worms.
I was trying to make a worm castle, but it turned into a house. I tried to find a worm from the collection to try the worm house, but there were no worms in sight. My dad thinks they are resting comfortably in their dirt.
- Comment by Dave'ola - 5/15/2007 8:41 pm
Did she actually say the phrase, "resting comfortably"? An advanced intellect, no doubt!
- Comment by tvindy - 5/15/2007 10:29 pm
I remember we did something like that in kindergarten in a large mayonnaise jar. The teacher wrapped black construction paper around the outside. A few days later, she removed the paper, and the worms had created a network of tunnels against the inside off the glass, and you could see them in there. Apparently, if you don't darken the outside, the worms will flee the light, and you will never see them.
- Comment by Sally - 5/16/2007 2:03 pm
Dear Lauren: I really enjoyed your "Following Edge" stories. Please tell us more interesting tales soon.
Oma Sally - Comment by Lauren - 5/20/2007 5:40 pm
Dave'ola, you're so silly. My dad thought they were resting comfortably, not me. Worms don't rest comfortably, they work making poop that our horses poo into dirt and they help the earth. This is Lauren.
Twelve Dinners
This is my dad at a place called Dinners Done Right. He cooks 12 dinners in 2 hours and takes them home to keep them in a freezer in our back yard. Then, we eat them. I like the bread sticks. They are my favorite food. Dad likes that a whole meal for the family costs only about $12 and takes only 15 minutes to cook at home. I'm always happy when my dad says we're going to eat one of the 12 dinners.
'ello crazy critters
These are me and my dad's set up toys. The one with 3 people dancing under a flag is mine. The one that's sitting down behind a desk is my dad's. We used the ello construction set to build them. My favorite part was the fun building them. My dad likes the crazy way the characters look. Mother likes that they are bright and colorful. It took a short while to build them. We showed them in our kitchen for weeks.
Side Kick
This is me at home trying on my Tae Kwon Do sparring gear and doing a side kick, which is my favorite kick.
Today my dad and I tested to be yellow belt instructors. My next test may be for green belt. I always think about the 5 tenets of Tae Kwon Do: courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self control, and indomitable spirit. I like Tae Kwon Do a lot.
Unworried
I didn't tell everyone, but, in January, I felt like I'd reached the best point in my life. Between being mostly relaxed about work while accomplishing good things, getting things done around the house at a mostly relaxed pace, taking time off work and household chores to spend more relaxed time with Lauren, how could things be better?
Perhaps I could say that I am only mostly through my 18 month (or more) journey in making my life less anxious and depressed, in getting closer to people and things that I love (like this horse riding picture from this fall), and in focusing on what's good for me. I could say that I can still be a bit more relaxed about things, that I could be better connected to the people I love, that Anne Marie and I could be even further along with our goals, and that I could be even more exactly where I want to be. But, who wants to be at the end of the journey?
Now, especially after my first trip to Hawaii reminded me not to worry about things when there is no problem (a'one he pilikia, again), I could barely be happier and I can only look forward to the ever-improving future, even if there could be financial trouble, hard work, and unending chores ahead. It's all in how you look at it.
And no, you skeptics, I'm not high... at the moment. Just pleased and mostly relaxed.
My focus on relaxation has cut out some of my time writing here. I'm kind of enjoying that my recent 6-month blog sabbatical has served to take some of the "audience pressure" away. Now I'll continue to find my motivation for writing without that pressure. Stay tuned.
- Comment by Sally - 3/12/2007 6:55 am
Nice horse.
- Comment by phill - 7/7/2008 11:03 am
Hi this is great stuff and very intresting to read I am from the uk and just started a great online shop called egg incubators do you think you guys could have a look please and see what you think.
I can't ship to you over there in the USA however its always good to ask people of the countryside what they like.
how long have you been rideing then?
do you keep chickens or have any use for egg incubators?
- Comment by phill - 7/7/2008 11:05 am
well how de do over ther in the usa do you want to let me know how I can best get feed back from you guys?
Back to reality?
Even though our return trip from Hawaii was a breeze, including a farewell (or Aloha) trip to the beach before our flight, we were feeling so good that we decided to finish the drive all the way home instead of camping near Portland. Hence, we got to bed at 2:30 in the morning, and that itself required a day or two to recover.
Beyond that, the real world of work and household chores is a lot more complex than relaxing in Hawaii. Even so, I feel like a changed person. In the last year and a half, I've been working on taking things easy and getting as much done as possible at work and at home without destroying myself at the same time. As well as I've been doing with that effort, my visit to Hawaii was really an eye opener... I don't need to worry about as many things as I usually do... You know, "A'one he pilikia".
Since returning, I really have been able to hold on to my "Aloha" attitude even while I take care of Lauren, do taxes, pay bills, go shopping, ship books, adjust scripts, send emails, maintain sites, etc, etc. The trick, which I had figured out intellectually, is to do what you can, organize things so that you don't have to worry about them, and don't worry about the things that aren't in front of you (or at the top of your list). The vacation to Hawaii really gave me the extra piece of relax-expertise that I needed. I'm going to hang onto that philosophy... I swear!
To our beds...
The remaining day of our trip, spent mostly in Bend, was practically without event, compared to the rest of the trip so far.
After staying overnight at Tumalo State Park, near Bend, we enjoyed two museums before
returning through Eugene and home.
Our stop at the High Desert Museum was surprisingly interesting. I don't usually get a great kick out of these nature and history museums, but this one had some great historic displays and recreations... plus a Bobcat and Lynx and other animals that Anne Marie thought were cute.
After that, we visited Bend's Old Mill District, which is quite a fancy shopping area, underscoring Bend's grown and gentrification. After lunch, we visited the Working Wonders Children's Museum, which is really more of a learning/play place than a museum, but well organized and obviously loved by many local families.
Arriving home, I feel a great sense of accomplishment for having our new truck and camper where it belongs, and having enough experience with it to know that it's going to work out great for us.