Thoughts on Christmas '08

As I sit at home today, alone on Christmas, a victim of the recent and on-going ‘snowpocalypse’ I still can’t be mad.

I freakin’ love snow!

It’s now been over a week since I was last behind the wheel of my car. Truthfully, I have been a bit stir-crazy.

However, the time alone has given me the chance to evaluate life and the holidays.

The isolation and simple work it takes to get out and about only makes the opportunities to spend time with people even sweeter.

See, my family never did a ‘Big Family Christmas” as all of our extended family is back east. So I was never privy to the aunts, uncles, grandparents and cousins crowding around the dinner table that are a staple of the ‘traditional’ Christmas.

So my extended family has become close friends. And as I’ve come to appreciate this year, my extended family is pretty damn big.

I am one lucky SOB.

I could go about naming names, but being me, I am sure I’d mistakenly omit a name or two and the last thing I want is to slight anyone. So if you think you may be on my list…rest assured, you are.

In these dark economic times, it’s easy to focus on the glass being half-empty. (To be honest, it’s my nature to view things in such a way.)

But I think Christmas is there to allow us to see the glass as being half-full.

Very few holidays being people together like Christmas. What better time to realize what you have going for you?

Family, friends, health…all of which are taken for granted most of the time.

Just do me a favor while sitting down to dinner tonight, as you fill your wine glass or open your beer, take a mental snapshot of the thoughts running through your head. I bet there’s nothing about mortgages, job security, etc.

They most likely will be thoughts of family, friends and fun.

These are the things that matter. Remember that.

And while I am a lil too broke to give any gifts this year, I can offer something I’ve found to be of much greater value when given to me, friendship.

Merry Christmas to you.

Being better-off

While on my (what is becoming the usual) Saturday morning stroll to pick-up my car after a night of excess, I was reminded of something.

Something that bothers me. Something that deserves more attention.

See, my route takes me past a local church and food bank.

And sure enough, I’ve noticed it while driving by in my car.

But actually walking past the folks in-line, making eye-contact and speaking with them really brought the issue home to me.

These are people just like me.

And the most shocking/disheartening realization was that the vast majority of people standing in-line, in near-freezing temperatures were elderly.

Social Security has gotten a bad wrap in politics, especially with young folks like myself. I don’t expect it to be around when I am ready to retire (which is now) or when I turn 70.

But as I saw small women, hunched-over on canes waiting their turn to receive a box of veggies that are a day away from being inedible and a loaf of 3-day-old bread, I realized Social Security is not only needed…it is obviously inadequate.

The elderly deserve better than their lot in American Society.

This epiphany led me to think of my own father.

Not because he is either broke or elderly, but because he devoted the entirety of my lifetime (and then some) to actually doing something about it.

I’ve never thought of my Dad as a particularly charitable guy. He’s a rather Joe Friday kinda fella, “Just the facts, ma’am.” So I am not sure that his intentions were so philanthropic when he signed-on to be a delivery driver for Senior Services of King County’s new Meals-on-Wheels program back in the ‘70s.

But whatever his motivation, the program grew under his management and hundreds if not thousands of King County’s Elderly are better-off as a result.

I long for an opportunity to better the world I live in the way Pops did. But I also would like to keep food on my own table. It’s an interesting balance, but Pops is proof, you can make it happen.

So until that world-changing, decent-paying job comes about for me all I can do is raise awareness and maybe inspire a difference-maker.

I’ll tell ya one thing, I think I am gonna volunteer at the Food Bank in the meantime.

I mean, I’m there already…it’s on the way to my car.

A tough Good-Bye.

It’s now been (sigh) over 10 years since I last roamed the halls of my high school. But recent news has brought my alma mater to the forefront of many discussions here in Seattle.

I was born and raised in Rainier Beach. I graduated from Rainer Beach High School in 1997. As such, I have a special affection for the school. High school was the first time I was allowed to go to a Seattle school. I attended elementary and middle schools in a nearby district as my parents thought they were better options. Yet, come high school, I was allowed to go to RB, which was sweet as I finally got to go to school with all my friends from the neighborhood.

After four years, I graduated with a decent GPA, having lettered in a couple sports and being about as extracurricularly active as one can ask for. I participated in Student Government and even got to meet John Stanford, still one of the most impressive men I’ve ever had the chance to shake hands with.

I loved/love RB. Which is why the next sentence is one of the hardest ones I’ve ever tapped-out on a keyboard.

It’s time for RB to go.

During my time at RB there was somewhere in the neighborhood of 700-800 registered students. If 75% of those kids showed-up regularly, I’d be shocked. And now, per the Seattle Times, RB enrollment in 2007 had dropped to 455.

Even back when I was a student there was talk of combining Cleveland High and RB. We actually had a joint-wrestling team as neither school was big enough to field a full team on their own.

It simply makes no sense to keep RB open.

Being a lifetime resident of Rainier Beach, I understand what the school means to the community. But what is a poorly functioning school really doing for the community? I remember my math teacher having to work-out a trade (maybe just steal) text books for my Pre-Calculus (one of the few AP-level) class. How is it fair to ask students/teachers to show-up to school with a broken-down crutch, when other schools in the district have powered wheelchairs?

I now live in the Central District, just blocks from the newly renovated Garfield High School. And the place looks amazing! My younger brother works for the Seattle School District and played quite a role in rolling-out the high-tech remodel of Roosevelt High School in North Seattle. So I got an insider’s tour of the wi-fi hot-spots and interactive touch-screen whiteboards introduced at Roosevelt. The Roosevelt remodel followed the highly publicized renovation of Ballard High School. All are great examples of the Seattle School District upgrading to stay with the times to offer students the best possible opportunities to learn.

By comparison, RB got a new Sports Complex.

What kind of message does that send to the community?

While the Sports Complex is very nice, where are the wi-fi hot spots? Where are the new computer labs? Where are (at the very least) the textbooks?

It’s long been a gripe that the N. End schools- Ballard, Roosevelt (read: well-off, white) were treated better than those on the S. End- Cleveland, RB (read: poor, minority). The vast discrepancies in services/upgrades seem to corroborate that fact. *Cleveland just did receive a remodel itself, to be fair.

N. End schools, get upgrades that prepare students for college. While S. End schools get upgrades that prepare student athletes for college sports.

Some might say, “Hey if you are being prepped for college sports, at least you are going to college.”

But, far too few students benefit scholastically from an athlete factory. RB has always had an athletically gifted student body: perennial powers in Track and Basketball, producing College-level athletes in numerous sports. But what about the kids like me, whose future (like 99% of students) doesn’t lie in College Athletics? Where are the resources for them?

The question of whether RB must be closed is moot.

What should be asked is: How did RB get to the point that it must be closed? How/why was it allowed to fail?

There are a modicum of factors that go into answering that question: Cultural nuances, changing demographics and simple finances. And I am not going to presume to have an answer.

However, it is critical to ponder those questions as to prevent a similar failure at Cleveland after merging the two.

It makes no sense to keep RB open as Cleveland was recently renovated and is simply a bigger and more up-to-date facility. The money has been spent and in times like these, stretching a dollar is the only way to go.

Will I be sad to see RB close? Yes.

Instead of (understandably) focusing on anger and spite to keep RB open, people must focus on strengthening Cleveland. To prevent the same missteps that caused RB to be shuttered.

As much as this is about a community losing one of the few positive anchors, it is more important to think about the current RB students who deserve better.

Here are some links to stories about RB:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008471680_rainier05m0.html
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2008467004_schoolclosure04m.html
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2008467126_webschoolclosure03m.html
*I recommend reading some of the comments. It’s interesting to see how prevalent stereotypes still are. Maybe we aren’t as far along in race relations as Obama’s election would make people think.

1-11 never sounded so good.

So I recently read an update about the-team-formerly-known-as the Seattle Supersonics. As I saw their record was 1-11, it dawned on me, I still care.

Not about the team or the season. I was just happy to see that they are so terrible.

It’s petty, but it’s how I feel. Seeing the horrible record is like hearing that an ex is dating a fat dude, sweet vindication.

See, I view the loss of the Sonics as a bad break-up where I got dumped. The Sonics have moved-on, with a new suitor who they deemed superior to me.

So I did the Sonics, the way I do ladies who’ve deemed me unworthy, I swore-off all contact. Why maintain a relationship that does lil more than remind you of what you’ve lost?

Any highlights flashed on TV prompt a change of the channel. I don’t even peek at the scores in the paper. I can’t even name their starting five.

I toyed with the idea of boycotting the NBA altogether. But that was too extreme. I love basketball too much. That’d be like swearing-off all women, just because it didn’t work-out with one.

So Go Celtics! (And secretly, Go Blazers!)

Am I happy to hear the-team-formerly-known-as the Sonics are 1-11? Hell yes.

Am I happy to hear they got booed? Yup.

Do I wish them any future success? No freakin way!

I made it to one Sonics game last season. We showed-up late and the ticket-taker was kind enough to note: “We’re down by 22, just so you know.” I only got to stick around for a quarter before my friends decided they were bored…I didn’t want to leave.

I mention the story, to illustrate a point.

Seattle loved the Sonics. I didn’t hear any boos at that game or any others. No matter how dark times got, we were in. Even though *we were down 22 points, I still wanted to be there. To support MY team.

I previously wrote that should the Sonics leave, the NBA probably wouldn’t return to Seattle. I was wrong. The NBA will return. Seattle is too big and a gateway to Asia. Meaning there is too much money to be made for a re-branded Sonics (Seattle got to keep the name) franchise to lie dormant.

So much like dating, there are other fish in the sea. I just hope that when the NBA does make its way back to town, that The Sonics will beat the crap out of the team-formerly-known-as.

*Please note, I still use ‘we’ in reference to a team that no longer exists.

Baby steps to getting green IV

It’s been a lil while since the last incarnation of my (self-proclaimed, yet unable to keep to the schedule) monthly series. But that doesn’t mean the getting green has ceased.

While I am starting to run short on ideas, (hint, hint- post comments with ideas) I do still have one more to toss-out in this edition.

This month’s step is: Changing to green cleaning products and ceasing to use anti-bacterial cleaners.

This is a big personal step. As I am a certified Neat Freak. I am willing to admit that the cleaning aisle of the store is more exciting for me than it should be.

But as I have done some research, I see the importance of using biodegradable products. And these products do just as good a job as the non-green products. In fact, most anti-bacterial products are no more effective at “anti-bacterializing” than regular cleaners. *This is due mostly to improper use and unreasonable expectations for use…who keeps their counter wet with cleaner for 60 seconds? The cleaner evaporates faster than that. All these anti-bacterial cleaners do, is give the illusion of cleanliness, which is pretty pointless. I give the illusion of being cool, but you see what that’s worth.

While green cleaners may cost a little more, think about the last time you bought glass cleaner…I’ll give you a sec…You can’t remember, can you? So what’s an extra $1-2, for something you buy once every blue moon?

I am also looking into a steam mop to replace my Swiffer Wet Jet. As the Swiffer, while good at its job, is pretty darn wasteful. Steam is a natural, highly effective cleaner, it both disinfects and cleans. And water is a hell of a lot cheaper than the Swiffer cleaning fluid.

*One caveat: I will still use Lysol in the bathroom. Just has to be done. (These are baby steps after all.)

The lesser of two evils

As another election season comes to a close I can’t help but reflect on the past couple of years and say: Thank God it’s over!

Being a political junky you’d think I look forward to election season in the same way a fat kid looks forward to dessert, or dinner, for that matter.

But I don’t.

I have become so disillusioned by the process that I nearly don’t vote. (Living in a Blue state like Washington means my vote is pretty worthless anyway.)

I trace it back to the 2000 election. And no, this isn’t going to be a Bush-bashing-if-only-Gore-had-won column. It’s going to be a "this process has hosed me ever since I cast my first vote" rant.

Being 21 in the year 2000, it was the first Presidential election I could vote in. I was stoked. We were that the end of the Clinton Administration, the economy was doing well, 9/11 hadn’t happened and I was looking forward to keeping the good times rolling by electing Al Gore…pre-An Inconvenient Truth Al Gore.

Truth be told, I didn’t dislike G.W. at this point, in fact I said he’s a guy I’d never vote for, but would love to have beers with.

Then came election night. I cast my ballot for the Gore camp and headed home to watch the landslide. States turned blue and I felt a part of something.

Then things changed, states started turning Red and I began to be confused. How can this happen?

By then end of it all, I had cast a vote for the winner of the popular vote, yet somehow the other candidate was President-elect.

Not a great first experience.

Then came 2004, and after my experience in 2000 and Bush’s handling of 9/11, Afghanistan and Iraq, I was ready to vote the bum out of office.

This was the first presidential campaign I paid close attention to. And I was shocked by the ferocity of the campaign ads. From Swift boats to Flip-flopping to national security, instead of candidates explaining who was better for the job, they focused on why the other candidate wasn’t.

I couldn’t fathom how anyone could vote for G.W. a second time, but again I was forced to sit in front of a TV and watch just enough states turn red to give Bush a return trip to the White House.

Burned yet again.

Being a student of politics, I knew beating an incumbent was a long-shot. But what really stuck with me were those campaign ads, from both sides. The same can be said for the ads used during the hotly contested Gubernatorial race here in Washington that year.

I guess ads like these are as much a commentary on the American public as the folks who produce them. I mean, if they didn’t get results, they wouldn’t get made.

Sadly this election process has been boiled-down to winning at all costs proposition. As opposed to a refined exposition of why a candidate is qualified for the position and why they are the best one for the job.

To put this in real terms, when interviewing for a job, you don’t slander other candidates to better your chances. You simply present your case as to why you are the best option for the position.

It’s too bad the same precedent doesn’t apply to the election process.

Instead of keeping things positive, and focusing on their strong points, candidates rely on spin and extort the truth to paint opponents in a bad light. Granted, this is an effective tool for winning an election, but my question is: Does doing so benefit Americans?

Coming out of the battle for the Democratic nomination both Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton had gone so negative against a fellow Democrat that some feared the party was permanently fractured. Fueling fears that Clinton supports would not support Obama as the Democratic nominee for President. Sure, Obama had won, but at what cost?

Folks feared Clinton supporters would jump ship and vote for McCain out of spite.

This game of division, perfected with great success by the Republicans and operatives like Dick Morris in the early 90’s and more recently Karl Rove, must stop. To be fair, Morris was hired as a consultant during Bill Clinton’s presidency, so Republicans aren’t alone in my criticism. All sides are guilty.

I am no longer interested in hearing a candidate speak more about their opponent than themselves. Both McCain and Obama seemed to spend more time paraphrasing each other than actually hitting their own talking points.

Attack ads also should be curbed. Democracy is a special animal and the current trends in campaign strategies only cheapen a noble tradition. It got so bad this Sunday that I turned-off the TV during Football, yes Football, because I could no longer tolerate the vicious attack ads.

So as a reforming political junkie, I will say this. Think about this past election season and how your candidate campaigned. Then consider if they warrant your vote.

I am tired of voting for the lesser of two evils. I look forward to the day I can vote for the best person for the job. Sadly, I don’t see that being an option for a long, long time.

Stop reading this and go vote!

Get out and vote today.

I don’t care which way you vote, just do it.

If you don’t, you have no right to complain.

It's just that simple.

TGIF?

As you can see in my ‘About me’ section, I work in mortgage. And I am not sure if you’ve seen the news, but times are getting a lil tough.

As such, many of my co-workers have more free-time on their hands during the course of the day. And, as is commonly the case, that means forwards.

I was recently forwarded a joke from a pretty darn good blog.

(Read the joke or this rant may make little sense.)

For the lazy who didn’t click the link: It’s a gay joke, basically a newly damned person is lamenting being sent to Hell and Satan is trying to improve his spirits. Satan notes that all of the stuff that was ‘bad’ in life was A-OK in Hell. With the punch line adding that Fridays are gonna be kinda tough.

While I laughed at the joke, it raised an interesting question for me.

Why is this joke equating being gay to being a sin?

When I raised this question to the person who forwarded it, they were surprised.

“How did you come to be so OK with the issue?”

Being a straight fella myself, I had the usual gay-phobia in my younger years. It gets to be a catch-22. You know little-to-nothing of gay men, yet you are unwilling to interact with them, so your phobia feeds on itself.

I prided myself on being very culturally sensitive and diverse, yet failed to include gay/lesbian people in my life. After much thought, I decided my stance was hypocritical and worked on changing my ways.

Then I started working in mortgage.

Not sure if this rings true for every mortgage company, but many of the places I have worked with have been pretty gay-friendly.

Any gay issues I may have had were tossed-out the window as I realized these guys were just that, guys…Who just so happened to like other guys.

(Luckily for me, gay men find me as attractive as straight women do, so there were no awkward situations/advances.)

Which brings me back to the joke.

Is being gay a sin?

Folks will say that the Bible clearly says being Gay is a sin.

While that may be true, I am not a fan of literal interpretations of the Bible.

If the Bible were meant to be interpreted literally, there would be no need for Pastors to sermonize. Church service would simply be a 1-hour weekly reading session.

The Bible is not the ‘Word of God.’ It is man’s (and woman’s) take on God’s word. It is full of stories and parables that are meant to fuel thought and nurture contemplation.

Eye for an eye, is a euphemism, not a rule.

So is being gay a sin?

I just don’t know. And since I don’t know, I cannot damn a person for being gay.

There are two big issues that arise when thinking about the issue.

Is being gay a nature or nurture thing?

I lean pretty heavily towards folks being born gay. It’s a natural thing. I have met too many folks who had terrible times growing-up or simply living, while trying to ‘fit the mold’ with regards to ‘normal’ sexuality for me to think it’s a lifestyle choice.

If someone is simply being who they were born as, how can they be damned?

Then there is the question of big sins versus little sins.

Is one sin worse than the next?

Is murdering someone worse than lying? Is adultery worse than stealing? Is being gay worse than being a drunk?

To be honest, I do think of some sins as being worse than others…If you are a murderer, I am gonna think far less of you than most folks, who I know have told a lie at some point.

Am I right? Probably not.

A sin is a sin. So why make gay men out to be the devil, when everyone else has a laundry list of sins to account for themselves?

Is being gay a sin?

I don’t think it is.

But the bigger point is that it simply doesn’t matter. Because we are all sinners.

Like Jesus said, “Let those who are without sin cast the first stone.”

So until someone can come to God with a clean slate this whole finger-pointing exercise is moot. More time should be spent tending to your own house before broadcasting the short-comings of your neighbor.

Wow, all that from a joke. I really need to lighten up.

Putting the cards on the table...

Well folks, here they are.

Homer’s Odyssey 2008 Election Endorsements.

Prop 1- Yes.
For far too long the status quo in Washington state politics has been to sit on our hands. Dating back to the early 1900’s the sentiment of “this plan isn’t good enough” has retarded any real evolution towards a comprehensive mass transit solution for the region.

So here we are in 2008 with a plan on the table, why wait longer, allow the need to worsen and costs to increase?

This may not be the perfect plan, but it is a start and something to build from. The roads are still crowded and more busses alone are not the solution.

What is needed is forward thinking and proactive planning. I am not a fan of sales tax in general, but a .5% increase in the sales tax is tolerable.

The time has come to bite the bullet and make it happen.

Prop 1000- Yes.
This initiative is similar to Oregon’s right-to-die law.

While I am no advocate of suicide, I am a staunch advocate of personal liberty and dignity.

This law requires 2 of 3 doctors to approve of the action. Which is enough of a ‘safe guard’ for me.

I hope no one ever has to make use of the law, but that’s wishful thinking. Recent personal experiences have only strengthened my support for this type of law.

No one thinks twice of putting an animal out of its misery when terminally ill or its quality of life is severely limited.

Shouldn’t we extend the same compassion to a fellow human?

I-985- No.
Tim Eyman. Enough said.

Eyman wants to reduce the hours of HOV lane restriction to 3 hours in the morning and 3 hours at night.

Not sure where he’s driving, but rush hour lasts far longer than that. And it’s obvious that adding another lane to traffic does little to solve the traffic mess.

Just another ill-conceived Eyman brain child.

Governor- Christine Gregoire-D
I voted for Dino Rossi last election. I don’t say this often, but I was wrong.

I questioned Gregoire’s character in that first election. But after 4 years, we are not worse off, in some very trying times.

Gregoire has also increased support for social programs which I find very important.

Budgets are hard to manage, especially as tax revenues dwindle, so I don’t knock her there.

But back to character, I simply don’t trust Dino Rossi. His “Don’t let King County steal the Election” billboards which are plastered all over the state speak volumes about his character…or should I say lack there of. We don’t need a divider in Olympia, especially a divider who wants to lower the minimum wage.

President- Barack Obama-D
No shocker here. He’s unproven, yes. And yes, he speaks in broad terms. But when he speaks, he says what I want to hear from my president.

He represents a change from the status quo. Now I am willing to say, change is not always a good thing…But I am willing to take a chance.

He understands that there is a world outside of our borders and our reputation is severely tarnished. And he appears open to the idea of working with other countries to restore America’s previous luster.

He also understands the plight of the working poor. Sure we need jobs, but taxing those who can afford it just makes sense.

His ideas on modernizing our economy and educating ourselves to make the American workforce an actual commodity on the world market again, just makes sense.

I will admit Obama has lost some luster during this campaign, but he remains the far superior choice.

Time keeps on slippin...

I recently came to a realization.

While on my morning stroll from my parking spot to the bus stop, it dawned on me.

Time isn’t my enemy.

I have always been one to be punctual. Maybe it had something to do with my Dad being a military man, but I’ve always doted-on being on-time.

It’s a respect thing for me. If I agree to meet you at a certain time, I better damn well be there. As you are taking time-out of your day for me. Being late just infuriates me...even if it doesn’t bother the person I am meeting.

More precisely, I should say it infuriated me. In an attempt to relax and simply life, I have decided to take a little pressure off of myself.

During my walk, I asked myself this question: What is going to happen if I miss this bus and take the next one?

And the only answer I came-up with was: Nothing.

I’ve never looked at time as an ally. It was always an obstacle, something to be dealt with or worked around. It was always something there never seemed to be enough of and was a great source of stress for me.

Ironically, in my life-long attempt for punctual perfection, I was actually robbing myself of time. Stress isn’t healthy. In fact, it could cause conditions that would shorten my life.

When looking at it from that perspective, what is 5, 10 or even 15 minutes in the grand scheme of things?

In the past, I’d run to catch the bus while getting a lil flustered in the process.

Which brought back bad memories of 5th Period Spanish class from high school…See 5th period was the class after gym class and being a rather portly fella, I was that “sweaty guy” in class who no one wanted to sit next to. The same phenomena rang true recently on the bus.

So it would seem appropriate that this whole time realization came about as I was deciding if I needed to run for the bus or not.

I’ve decided against running. I just leave myself time in the morning to miss the bus if I want. And it’s actually pretty nice to just stroll at my own pace and enjoy being outside.

So, do I still fret about time? Oh yeah. I watch the clock like a hawk at work. But that’s more a commentary on my occupation than my pre-occupation with punctuality.

I am just more willing to put myself ahead of time. To decide if what I am doing at the moment is worth stopping because I am supposed to be somewhere. (A lot of the time, it’s really not.)

I actually think punctuality is becoming antiquated, with cell phones, email and text messaging re-scheduling can be done in a matter of seconds.

I remember the days before pagers and cell phones and making plans called for punctuality as neither party could easily communicate otherwise. That no longer applies.

Does all this mean I am throwing my devotion to punctuality out of the window?

Heck no. I am just not going to let it give me gray hair.

Gotta go, time to catch my bus.

Dude, time to bail.

Well here it is, JR. chimes-in on the “bail-out.”

This is a more elaborate version of a comment I left on a fellow mortgage monkey and part-time blogger’s site.

I teeter back and forth on this topic. On one side, I can easily go Tyler Durden from Fight Club and say “Burn it all to the ground.” But from the other side, I say we need to fix this issue to save/stabilize the world economy and I honestly believe that.

However, I am really, really against the Gov’t. taking everything over.

But that being said, we see what happens when the free market regulates itself. Take that Republicans.

The blame starts at the top, with the Gov’t. As the Fed lowered interest rates to perpetuate lending and keep money flowing to “grow” the economy, it was actually creating artificially high real estate values. Instead of looking ahead at the potential consequences of “a house for everyone” policies, they just kept forcing money back into the primary mortgage market and pleaded with banks to come-up with more exotic ways to qualify and approve borrowers.

Which brings us to the banks. Yes, the poor, poor banks (sarcasm) who were forced to oblige the Gov’t. and craft “innovative” and “dynamic” niche loan programs that allowed anyone with a credit score and a pulse to qualify for a home loan. Not to mention drafting programs/guidelines that dismissed normal safeguards to loan qualifying by no longer verifying common sense things like: Income, Assets or even Employment.

Then there is what I truly believe is the biggest issue with the industry, the uneducated and still far too unregulated loan originators. Having been an LO myself, I have seen how little training goes into the job and how little oversight there is once taking loan applications. There was far too much money to be made by placing borrowers into short-term high-paying loan programs with too little oversight as to whether closing the transaction was actually in the borrower’s best interest.

This old system of paying more for placing borrowers into higher rate programs needs to stop. As it is rewarding everyone for placing borrowers into loans that are not beneficial to them. This applies to the wholesale (LO to bank) and Secondary (bank to bigger bank/Wall St) mortgage markets.

Then there are the borrowers themselves. People threw common sense to the wind as they were offered astronomical sums of money with little documentation and no money down. Who wouldn’t take that deal? The only issue was that people no longer bought what they could afford, they bought what they wanted. Which sounds like a good deal, until you can’t pay your bills and get foreclosed upon.

I don’t feel bad for homeowners.

Sure some people probably got duped, but not as many as are being claimed…I’ll put it like this, when I went car shopping I didn’t go to a Bentley dealer. I rolled to a used car lot, because that was in my price range…people should have applied the same reasoning to buying a home, but obviously, they didn’t.

So who fixes it? I think everyone should. As no one is without blame.

I didn’t like the first incarnation of the bail-out as it didn’t do anything for the average homeowner, who is stuck with devaluing property and payments they can’t afford. While the Lenders and Wall Street investors who made ridiculous sums of money securitizing and selling bad loans get off scott-free.

Gov’t. is a stop-gap, not a solution. Simply wiping the slate clean is a terrible idea as there are no consequences to learn from. There were huge amounts of money made from this debacle (See former WAMU CEO Kerry Killinger’s $16.5 million severance package) and these companies should be held responsible for their careless actions.

The real solution is better gov’t. regulation, not a takeover, which should ensure smarter lending practices by the (few remaining) banks.

Time-Out!

I gotta admit, I was impressed this week.

As this election has dropped lower and lower on the respectability scale, I was happy to see one candidate put politics aside and put the American people first.

I applaud John McCain for stepping-up, suspending his campaign, putting-off the Presidential debate and returning to Washington to address “the greatest financial disaster since The Great Depression,” and broker/vote-on a bail-out plan.

Wait, isn’t that his job?

Oh right, it is.

Where’s the news coverage when I get up in the morning and slog myself into the office?

How can someone, who is running for President think asking for a ‘time-out’ is a smart political move?

What happens if (please God don’t let it happen) future-President McCain is signing a bill at his desk and the phone rings?

Will he forget what he’s doing?

Will the bill get signed?

Can someone actually call the Oval Office directly?

I can see the sentiment: Put the American people first. I just doubt the sincerity.

The move looks to be more of a political ploy than anything else, especially given the actions of GOP operatives in the state of Michigan, a crucial swing state.

I was recently forwarded this story, which outlines moves by GOP operatives to invalidate many Michigan voters because they have been foreclosed upon. It is gerrymandering plain and simple, as many of the voters being targeted are presumed to be Barack Obama supporters.

Hmmm, McCain suspends campaign to resolve the financial crisis, while the GOP attempts to prey upon foreclosure victims to better his chances of winning in Michigan.

Will the Real John McCain please stand-up?

With his return to Washington to pass a bail-out plan that does nothing to better the situation of the average homeowner facing foreclosure, but benefits the large investment firms on Wall Street who made millions getting everyone into this mess…

I think the real one has.

But back to the ‘time-out’ McCain requested with regards to the debate.

The President, whoever it is, will face numerous tough situations and decisions. And sorry Senator McCain, but they don’t come one at a time.

Asking for the delayed debate shows nothing but weakness and a bit of “Uh, what’s going on?” cluelessness.

Does the issue need to be addressed? Most Def.

Is it McCain and Obama’s job to vote on this bill? Yup.

But both are running for President and both have missed numerous Senate votes during this election season.

I appreciate Obama’s ‘deal with things as they come’ approach.

It’s the response I’d hope to get from a President.

What IPA taught me about the ladies.

I was recently IMing with a buddy of mine at work…as I often do.

Lamenting my poor memory, which I attribute almost directly to overconsumption of beer.

I typed something to the effect of: “Damn beer! Though I could never stay mad at you.”

And it got me to thinking…Beer is a lot like women:

- Both are expensive and I can easily spend a lot of money on them.
- There are numerous options, but you usually end-up choosing just one.
- Very little in this world is more flummoxing than trying to open a stubborn bottle of beer or approaching a lady for the first time.
- Little is more satisfying than the first sip of beer or realizing you are ‘in.’
- Both can make you look like an ass. And though you swear you’ll never do it again, you know you will.
- Hair of the dog is the best way to get over a hang-over…and the best way to get over an ‘Ex’ is to get a new ‘Current.’

This list could go on for awhile, so I'll end it here, but feel free to add more in the comments section.

Just when I thought beer was one of the few simple pleasures in this chaotic sea of life, I come to realize its beguiling and complex nature.

Which is not to say that beer is as complex or beguiling as a lady (and really, what is?), but there’s more than meets the eye for sure.

Therein lies the beauty of each. And the lesson to be learned.

I am a results-oriented problem-solving kinda guy. So my entire dating life, I’ve been trying to figure women-out, like some sort of puzzle. While I’ve approached beer from a totally different perspective.

I don’t go to the bar to learn the chemical make-up of beer, I go out to drink the stuff.

Instead of looking at women as a puzzle to be solved, I am much better served meeting new folks, enjoying their company and letting their complexities reveal themselves.

*K.I.S.S.- Keep it simple stupid.

So who’da thought? Beer can (no pun intended), teach me about women.

So in the interest of self-betterment, I think I need to crack another cold one…

I’ve got a lot more to learn.



*Shout-out to Mr. Collins, my HS science teacher who taught me the phrase.

Baby Steps to Getting Green- Sep 08

It’s looking like the end of an era…

No, I am not talking about the once high and mighty Seahawks coming back down to earth, I am talking about myself, getting a bus pass.

Yes I, the bastion of: “I have a car and I’m gonna use it,” Seattleite sentiment, am breaking-down and giving mass transit a try.

Starting in October, I’ll be a bus commuter.

I am entering this as a “Baby step to getting Green” post, but this is no small step for me.

To be honest, this is not totally my doing. Though I have been toying with the idea for months, it was my employer who stepped-up and offered a bus pass instead of a parking permit.

I simply took them up on the offer.

The mass transit debate had been raging in my mind for the past couple months…It didn’t help that I saw the same bus route multiple times a day as I commute to and from work. Begging the question in my mind; “Why the hell am I not taking this bus to work?”

After a bit of research, I found that bus passes were $90 a month. Which given my love of my car, was not enough of a financial savings to justify leaving the ride at home. But when the office offered to pick-up the tab, I figured I only had one choice.

We’ll see how it works-out…I did make sure I could trade back should bussing not work-out. But I hope that once I get on the schedule, I’ll be hooked.

I am looking forward to relaxing on the commute home instead of getting flustered. Yet another win-win (I seem to be finding a lot of those lately) as I am lowering my carbon footprint as well as my personal stress level.

Check back in November to see if I renewed my pass…

Note:
I saw this story on MSN that was pretty interesting:
http://www.slate.com/id/2200158/?GT1=38001
I am still firmly in the re-useable mug camp, but the story does get you to thinking about your actions. For the record, I just rinse my coffee cup in the morning with cold water and wash it on Friday before I head home.

I've tried God, and it's a lot like chicken

For many people religion is a “savior,” but for far too many people religion has proven to be a divider.

Whether it’s: gays, abortion, Blacks, Jews or Muslims, many an argument against any/all of those parties have been based on religion.

For the most part, when I say “religion” I mean Christianity, the overwhelming favorite of western spiritual thought.

I didn’t rail on the Christian right in my last post, but they are gonna take a beating in this one. As I blame Iraq, hate crimes and the shame that every woman has to endure by simply walking into a Planned Parenthood on the Pat Robertson’s and Pat Buchannan’s of the world.

On the whole, conservative Christians got it wrong. They make me embarrassed to admit that I am a Christian. In my mind, they are as bad as the Taliban in their strict, self-serving and erroneous interpretation of religion.

They aren’t right. And they have no right to proclaim that they are.

Quite frankly, the average white picket fence having, we-are-all-welcoming-as-long-as-you-conform-to-our-narrow-perception-of-the-Bible-Christian disgusts me. In much the same way a “you are all Western Infidels” radical Muslims disgust me. At least Muslims will offer a visitor tea. You are lucky to get anything more than a look down the nose from the average conservative house wife, if you don't "fit the mold.".

Some of you may be thinking, Disgust? Really? Isn’t that a strong word?

Not at all.

These people disgust me because they are judging, damning and killing each other (all religions guilty here) in the name of a God that we all have in common.

For me, it’s pretty simple.

God is like chicken.

We’ve all heard the joke and the punch line is: “It tastes like chicken.”

So why, would anyone expect a world as diverse and unique as ours to be held to one set of standards, one set of ideals and one version of God?

Just look at chicken, in the American heartland, Chicken Pot Pie looks a lot different from Hoisin Chicken in China or Tagine in Morocco. Though it is all derived from the same base to serve the same purpose…

Sustenance.

Chicken sustains the body and God sustains the soul. (I know, I sound like that book series here.)

Is this an oversimplification? Perhaps.

But we’ve had thousands of years to complicate the matter. So I figure a little simplification is due.

Chicken, much like God, is something that all people can identify with.

And who’s to say that the God of Islam is any different from the God of Christianity or Buddhism?

I am saying that they aren’t.

In much the same way cuisine, in this case chicken, carries regional/cultural nuances, it only follows that perceptions of God would do the same.

The idea that every person in the world has to follow one set of ideals set forth by one God just isn’t feasible or even culturally astute.

God made man is all shades, interests and even multiple sexes. So why dumb-down such an obviously complex being to “My way or the highway” thinking?

If people could get their head around the idea that God really is one being, perceived is different ways, I think the world would be a much better place. A lot of differences might be quelled. The main tenets of all major religions share the same basic ideals, only strengthening the concept that God is one being, read many ways.

But sadly, religion of division, my main issue with organized religion, will continue on. As men and their misinterpretations/pride/unwillingness to change will keep everyone mired in the “us versus them” rhetoric that keeps the pews filled, tithes coming-in and guns aimed at each other.

All the while, I can only imagine God looking down at us head-shaking, thinking:

“Is it really all that difficult? Why can’t they get this right?”

Baby steps to getting green II

It’s time for yet another installment of my monthly series: Baby steps to getting green.

This month’s change wasn’t a very conscious one, so it’s shouldn’t be too hard to adopt.

I’m a neat-freak so it isn’t a surprise that this post will address cleaning or more expressly laundry.

I’ve changed my brand of detergent to Arm & Hammer Essentials. It’s a supposedly green version of the Arm & Hammer brand that I have been using for years. I said the change was an unconscious one because I bought the detergent because it was on sale, I only noticed it was green after I got it home.

I did some research (by research, I mean Googled it) and found that it is actually Phosphate-free and plant-derived, in the good way, not just for marketing reasons. It’s also double concentrated, so there is more product with less packaging. And they make a dye/scent-free version, for those who are sensitive to that…I found a lot of eco-freaks were really sensitive to dye/fragrances (wussies).

And to answer the common question, “Yeah, it’s green, but is it AS good?”

I can assure you that it is.

And here’s the kicker, it even works well in cold water. Which is the bigger change I have made with regards to laundry. I have quit using hot or even warm water, short of 1-2 loads a month (when using bleach on whites).

Something like 90% of the energy consumed by washing clothes is used in heating the water. I’ve been “going cold” for the past couple months and see no difference in the cleanliness of my clothes. So it makes no practical sense to use the heated water.

Again, I am not going to save the world by myself or by making these small steps. But every little bit helps, especially if we all begin making these changes.

*In that vein, I want to give a shout-out to one of my readers, who actually went out and bought a recycle mug after my last “baby steps” post. Thanks for reading and making the world a lil better place.

As always if you have any ideas or stories to share, please feel free to leave a comment.

Here’s a link of 10 Free Ways to Save Energy on Laundry.

Dogma had alot of stuff right.

This was going to be one of my patented rants about so-called “Bible Thumpers.” You know who they are: The Jesus-fish bumper-sticker having, “God Bless You” phone call ending, uber-judgmental types, who “really figured life out” once they started going to church…

But I am not gonna do it.

If someone has found a place in life that they are ok with their relationship with whatever God they believe in, I am not going to knock it. I will just say, “Good for you…but it ain’t for me.”

What I am gonna do is explain why I’ll never be one of them.

For the most part, I am not a fan of organized religion. I love the idea, but I think on the whole it is too easily corrupted by human influence.

Chris Rock, playing the 13th Apostle Rufus, had a line in the movie Dogma that really illustrates my point:

“He (referring to Jesus Christ) still digs humanity, but it bothers Him to see the shit that gets carried out in His name - wars, bigotry, but especially the factioning of all the religions. He said humanity took a good idea and, like always, built a belief structure on it…I think it's better to have ideas. You can change an idea. Changing a belief is trickier. Life should malleable and progressive; working from idea to idea permits that. Beliefs anchor you to certain points and limit growth; new ideas can't generate. Life becomes stagnant.”

I have always thought of religion as a just-in-case scenario. I’d have to classify myself as an Pseudo-Agnostic: One who believes that it is impossible to know whether there is a God…to that end, I also believe it is impossible to know that there isn’t a God.

So, just-in-case God exists, I better get on-board with this religion thing.

My first memories of church where like many others, unquestionably believing whatever was told to me a Sunday School or in the parts of sermons I wasn’t sleeping through. I then attended college where I stopped attending church and came to my Agnostic realization. But since graduating and dealing with the real world, I have moved away from my Agnostic stance and back to Christianity. There is simply too much amazing stuff in this world for everything to be hap-hazard and random. And really, if you live your life by the standards laid-out by Christianity (or any other major religion) you end-up living life as a pretty alright guy.

Really there's nothing to lose. Not a bad situation.

My background explained, I’ll get into my concept of religion and why organized religion is not for me.

I see religion as a very individualistic situation. It’s your mind, your soul, your decisions. So what does meeting with people once a week for an hour really do for you?

I understand the sharing of ideas and attempting to gain a greater understanding of whatever religion/religious text, but when it comes down to it, when you die and face judgment, You are all-by-your-lonesome.

No Pastor to back you up, no Mom to take blame, no church members to share burden.

That being said, I think it’s important to ponder religion. Religion came about as an attempt by man to explain: The “hows” and “whys” of the world.

I am not advocating living willy-nilly and throwing religion and morals to the wind. I am just not sure that paying tithes and being preached-at for an hour a week makes you a better candidate for the afterlife.

It’s what you do that really matters.

For most people church is misunderstood. Going to church regularly doesn’t automatically make you a good person. Being a good person does. And it is possible to be a good person without ever having heard of Jesus, Abraham or Mohammed. Religion is an active, not passive endeavor. It requires research, thought and contemplation...please note that nowhere listed there was the word judgment.

My issue with church comes from those church-goers who think they have accomplished something special by going to church. The air-of-superiority that comes along with being “saved,” is my biggest gripe with organized religion. Being judgmental is so counter to the major tenets of Christianity that is amazes me people don’t see their hypocrisy.

I was raised in the church, and am a better person for it. But when I strayed away from the church, I luckily ended-up surrounded by good people who were educated and religious. We ended-up sharing/debating our ideals, in much the same way a Pastor would sermonize their beliefs.

What I came away with was a better understanding of religion and myself. The overwhelming concept that I garnered from these conversations was that “no one has it figured-out.” That realization really wrecked the house of cards that had been built around religion for me. My Pastor, although very smart and learned in religion, was still just a man, like me, and therefore was fallible. He was the exception to the rule in that he never purported himself to be anything more that a man who was called to God, who was trying to figure the world out just like everyone else.

Which is really what it is all about.

Being religious isn’t about tithing more, or baking the most cookies for the bake sale so that you can note the good deed in the yearly Christmas letter, while noting how good God was to you this year as a(n implied) result.

It’s about living a good, honest, pious life. Religion can offer a roadmap of how to get there, but the onus is on you to make the journey. One great thing is that there is assistance along the way, (churches, books, people) but it’s important to remember these can be distractions as much as aid.

All-in-all the journey is yours alone and no one but God can meet you at the goal.

The Fuddy-duddy effect

I came across a piece last week by syndicated columnist George F. Will that got me a little riled-up.

Here’s a link: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/373230_will03.html

While Will does raise a couple of good points, I think this piece exemplifies why so many older folks are uncomfortable with the idea of electing Barack Obama.

I remember having a discussion with a Hilary Clinton supporter debating the merits of each candidate. And the discussion about Obama kept coming back to one question: “Change, just what does that mean?”

At the time, I couldn’t answer that question to either the Clinton-supporter’s or my satisfaction.

After a bit of reflection I am still trying to come-up with a solid definition, but here’s my working definition.

Change:
- In politics as usual.
- In how America, views/interacts with the rest of the world.
- In what Americans expect from their government.
- Anything but George Bush.

Thank goodness for term limits, the rule hosed us by forcing Clinton from office, but we all win this time around when Bush gets sent packing.

My definition of change seems to really scare older, I mean, more experienced-voters. As evidenced by this snip-it from Will’s column: ”Swift and sweeping changes are almost always calamitous consequences of calamities,”

Change is scary, so I understand the knee-jerk “sky-is-falling” reaction to anything new. But I cannot comprehend how someone as intelligent as Will can insinuate that an Obama presidency will be a “calamitous consequences of calamities” when you look at the last eight years and consider his predecessor.

The sentiment is that with anyone but Obama, you are getting a known quantity, which I am willing to concede. John McCain, once the maverick of the Senate, has now fallen into line with the status-quo republican election machine and now looks to be G.W. 2.0. What’s really scary about this new McCain is that he seems to have a bit of a Napoleon Complex. As in, he needs to prove that he is not just a replacement for G.W., but that he’s even tougher on terrorism. I am absolutely terrified to see what “calamity” will come from that.

America has never had its hands clean when it comes to foreign policy. As I’ve noted before, America has been bully to the world. And regardless of the President, democrat or republican, has steadfastly acted in ways that bettered American interests abroad regardless of consequences.

The time has come for that to change.

This is an example of the change that Obama supporters like me are talking about. Obama is willing to talk with other countries. I am encouraged by that. My foreign policy experience is a bit thin, but last time I checked, it’s hard to negotiate when one party has the barrel of a gun in their mouth.

Who knows what will happen if Obama and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad or Hugo Chavez sit-down for brandy and cigars at Camp David. But I am worried where we’ll end-up if they don’t. Just the idea that some of these politically marginalized countries may have a seat at the table will be enough to ease tensions and start a dialogue that will lead away from worrisome rhetoric and possible military action.

Will’s argument seems to be based on the sentiment that the world is too big and one man is too insignificant to make any real change. Perhaps that is experience speaking to my youthful ambition. Or perhaps that is just the cynicism of the elderly looking back on their own wasted life.

Just because you’ve been there and done that, doesn’t mean it’s the only way it can be done. America can elect its oldest President ever and maintain the status quo. Or America can roll the dice on change and elect Obama.

Honestly, I can’t see anyone doing worse than the guy who’d been in office the past eight years. But I’d hate to give McCain a chance to surprise me…

Baby steps to getting green

I normally post some long-winded rant or frilly epiphany that I have come to recently.

This is not going to be one of those posts.

I am going to start a monthly series: Baby Steps to getting green.

It's pretty simple.

I post (at least) one change I've made this month in an effort to be a little greener.

Hopefully you'll join me and post your changes as comments so that we can all encourage/educate each other in an effort to lessen all of our foot prints.

I wrote a previous post in this vein, but seeing as there is always room for improvement, I thought this would be a beneficial exercise.

This months "geenery" is: Buying a reusable travel coffee cup.

I go to Starbucks everyday for lunch. Using a paper cup, one of those "don't-burn-your-hand" sleeves and a plastic top. Seeing as I eat lunch 5 days a week, that equates to alot of paper cups, save-the-hand sleeves and plastic lids that go straight into the trash.

Buying this reusable cup will lessen my lunch-associated waste to nearly zero. Which is pretty cool. And a darn good return on my $10 investment.

See, it doesn't have to be anything too big, but every little bit helps.

Please pass along your ideas. Let's keep this going!

Tis the season.

Seeing as we are in the throes of yet another summer wedding season, I have been pondering just that issue: Marriage.
*Not that it’s even a remote possibility for me at the moment. But heading to a wedding every other week, tends to get a dude to thinking.

In my first draft, I tome’d about how I find marriage to be an illogical decision and a poor financial move on top of that. I also questioned why people needed a stamp from the government, their religion and/or their friends for their relationship to be recognized.

Surprisingly these weren’t simply the rants of a perpetually-single, seemingly-chauvinist guy like myself, but sentiments shared by my married/co-habitating friends both male and female.

Then, this past weekend, I actually headed to my first wedding of the season. And I remembered why marriage is such a big deal.

So here’s my newly amended take on Weddings/Marriage:

The wedding is a chance for two people to share their relationship with those they care about. It’s a chance to peek into a one-on-one relationship and see just why each party is so gonzo for each other.

The marriage, while a one-on-one commitment, does take maintenance and having a few folks around to remind the wedded parties why they tied-the-knot in the first place is never a bad thing.

I don’t discount marriage, it’s a great, if not antiquainted, institution. But logical, it isn’t.

That logic point was big hurdle in my mind. But what this weekend hammered home for me was that logic doesn’t always reign supreme. Logic may always be right…but that doesn’t always equate to fun.

For example, logic (my train of thought) would note that marriage is a 50/50 proposition at best which are not very good odds. And the cynic (being me) would note that American society does not foster an environment that rewards long-term commitments of any sort.

Sadly, in this society, marriage is about like buying a car: Enjoyed at first, but easily traded-in once the initial euphoria has worn-off and real costs of the investment are realized.

Despite all of the above, people still get married. And with that there is hope. There are many an upside to tying-the-knot. In marriage, a person is banking-on the best in their partner.

I don’t want to live in an unfeeling world governed by logic. Logic can mitigate risk, but without risk there are no rewards. I had forgotten that.

The wedding this weekend was a much appreciated eye-opener.

So to those of you newly- or soon-to-be weds, I say “Thanks for the invite and Good Luck.”

You need a Kleenex?

“When I hear somebody sigh, ‘Life is hard,’ I am always tempted to ask, ‘Compared to what?’”
- Sydney J. Harris

I came across that quote this morning and it seems to encapsulate the sentiment of this post.

The economy looks to be in the toilet.

Seemingly everywhere you turn there is more bad news.

Housing prices are falling (glad I own a home), unemployment is up (at least it’s not me this time) and Starbucks is closing stores!

I am pretty sure that Starbucks closing stores is one of the 7 signs of the apocalypse, but I need to double-check Revelations.

I only half-heartedly pay attention to the talking heads on TV as they report on the worsening economy. It’s not until my life is affected that I begin to take note. (I’ve never said that I am NOT a selfish S.O.B.)

So it’s as my friends and I begin to ratchet-back spending, that I take note. Happy hour isn’t a daily occurrence anymore. After attending 15+ Mariners games last season, I’ve been to 2 this season. Most importantly, I am bringing my lunch to work, I’ve never done that…even in elementary school.

Apparently this is life in a recession. And yes, folks, we are in a recession.

I feel partially responsible for this financial quagmire, having been a part of the over-heated real estate/mortgage market that inflated housing prices which lead to the weakening of the dollar.

But I am not losing too much sleep over it, I was a small cog in a much bigger and supremely dysfunctional industry. Besides, I am too busy worrying about how I am going to make my next mortgage payment.

Somehow I am staying afloat, even though I am making less now as a working stiff, than when I was an unemployed bum. So I can sympathize with friends as they lament their current financial situations…to a point.

I am single, the last of a dying breed, among my friends. As such, I am the sole bread winner. I get to pay all bills on my own.

So when married/co-habitating friends being to whine about how hard it is to make ends-meet I say “Buck up.” You are crying to the wrong person.

Not to discredit the financial woes of anyone, but complaining to me about money when two people are putting pennies in the piggy bank, seems a little oblivious.

I feel for you to a point, but am amazed at how unaware of the audience you are.

Everyone needs a sounding board. And I’d imagine that discussing finances with a significant other can raise more issues than are resolved. So feel free to share your dilemmas, but keep my (and all single people’s) situation(s) in mind…Single folks are in the game with one had tied behind their back relative to couples. So if I seem a little hardcore or uncaring, I’m sorry.

I’ll admit, two people do still incur expenses, but the major ones: Rent/Mortgage, Utilities, Groceries, etc. are shared. As such, the are effectively halved when in a (fair) relationship. So when I look at the situation(s) from the outside it’s shocking that finances are a problem.

It’s not easy, but I have been able to make my finances work. So when I hear complaints, one question pops into my head: How can two people, two minds, two incomes have it that much harder than me?

I guess it could be that I am a financial wiz. But I doubt it.

Just had to get that off my chest.

Anybody got a fire extinguisher?

(This is a slightly edited repost from an article I originally wrote 01/29/02 for The Western Front)


It's funny how a little thing like a house fire can put things in perspective.

Well that's just what happened to me last week. A house fire, in which the cause was not determined.

Nothing too big, just five fire engines, an ambulance and the battalion commander.

I kept the whole sight of firefighters strolling into my humble abode, pick-axes and chainsaws in hand, at bay by focusing on the real tragedy.

The tacos.

My roommate came home earlier that night and decided to fix dinner for the roommates, a rare, but nice event.

Just as we began to sit down to our delectable Tex-Mex feast, we realized that the smoke in the house wasn't from the carbonized taco shells left in the oven.

An hour or so later, the fire department deemed the structure relatively safe and we returned to our home, minus a front porch.

But most of all we returned to our waiting, yet very cold, tacos.

At first I was weirded-out, but then I realized it really wasn't that bad.

You've gotta love your life when the biggest tragedy you can imagine is letting your tacos get cold.

The important thing was that no one was hurt.

Keeping things in perspective can be a daunting task. Especially for students who are getting their first taste of independence in the somewhat real world.

It's a good thing this happened to me right now.

Not because I want to give even more of my hard-earned money to the landlord, but because I'm graduating and getting ready to move into a world that isn't underwritten by financial aid.

It may seem odd for the guy who argued for Abercrombie and Fitch downtown, against Martin Luther King Day and is a self-proclaimed wise-ass to discuss the merits of all things immaterial, but I am.

Call me crazy, almost having your house burn down tends to make one a little introspective.

I began to think about what would happen if I had lost all of my stuff and the stuff I had worked so hard to accumulate over the past few years. The resounding answer I found myself uttering was, "Nothing."

It's easy to get wrapped-up in all things unimportant.

When we are engrossed in trivial matters it becomes easy to see how little things can be blown out of proportion.

The success of shows like "Friends" and "Seinfield," illustrate this point.

The real world will always be there. Don't be in such a hurry to be a grown-up.

Take time to smell the roses and play a couple rounds of Frisbee golf. You've got the rest of your life to fret over bills, work and how the kids are getting home from soccer practice.

Enjoy freedom while you can.

Nonetheless, the real world cometh and the high-and-mighty Western Front columnist must leave his throne and bid his home and homies adieu.

A friend of mine in high school had a senior quote that read, "Five years are better than four."


There's some truth to that.

It's a little disconcerting when the department secretary and numerous professors see you and ask, "Are you still here?" But when weighed against parking cars for a living or working at Haggen, school is pretty damn cool.

So I continue on the odyssey of the one who is Homer having had a few revelations.

God bless The Beaver Inn. Downtown is even more worthless than Valentine's Day. President Bush is a moron and buses rule.

I leave you with these parting words, borrowed from Adam Sandler in "Billy Madison":
"Stay here. Stay as long as you can. For the love of God, cherish it."


Note: There may be an updated version of this commentary in the mix. But I was reminded of the column this morning as I was sitting on the sidewalk during not one, but two false fire alarms at 3 and 4 AM. The sentiment rang as true this morning as it did six years ago...I used to be smart or something.

Tuning-out to tune-in

I did something rather out of the ordinary on my way into work this morning.

I turned-off my radio.

I just rolled along in silence.

It was nice.

I can’t remember the last time I totally unplugged and just took some time to think.

I listened to the sounds of tires bounding against the pavement, wind whistling through the cabin of my car and the general nothingness that comes along with driving across I-90 in the morning.

It was refreshing.

Sans the talking heads on the radio, I was able to ponder life. I was able to tackle issues one at a time and contemplate where I stood or how-to resolve each one.

Doing so may seem simple or even trivial, but it hammered home a sad reality to me. I am too distracted and I don't unplug often enough.

And I don’t think I am alone.

In this super-connected world of cell phones, text messages and IMs, it is easy for someone to be caught-up in constant communication. Just look around as you walk on the sidewalk or are driving home, I am willing to bet you see more than one person chatting away or typing feverishly on a cell phone.

Now I admit, I am one of those people. I take after one of my good friends and call people while I am stuck in traffic to pass the time. But I fear that as people become more and more connected they are losing the ability to be alone.

I wouldn’t dream of leaving my house with out my cell phone. I actually feel naked without it. And that needs to change.

I can remember the time before cell phones/texts/email and somehow the world got along. In fact, I remember those times fondly. They were fun…and relaxing.

Perhaps all of this connectivity is good, it cures boredom and offers folks an opportunity to contact people they normally would communicate with. But when you can’t even enjoy a cup of coffee without checking your cell phone at least once, it’s gone too far.

And some of these newer communication mediums are also so impersonal. IMing is not the same as talking face-to-face and text messages seem to have been invented to be mis-read. Seeing people rely so heavily on these forms of communication, I fear the art of the face-to-face conversation may be disappearing.

As a writer and observer, stimulus is needed, it inspires me. But without due time alone to process what I have experienced or formulate an opinion, all is for not.

I worry that people are so intent on keeping themselves occupied, they are missing-out life. I can understand the drive to check the cell phone, as I do it more than I’d like. But I suggest turning the phone/computer/iPod off for a day and taking walk.

Take the time to enjoy the moment, appreciate what you see and think. Let your mind wander and see where it ends-up. I was delightfully surprised by what crossed my mind this morning.

Perhaps you will be as well.

But be careful, after turning everything off, you may never want to turn anything back on.

Proud to be an American?

Now that July 4th has come and gone, I thought I’d chime-in on Independence Day.

It, like most holidays, lacks any real significance, other than a day off.

Much the same way Christmas means shopping and egg-nog more than reflecting on religion.

Friday came and went, and my big worries were:
- Getting coffee.
- Getting to Whidbey Island (where I was spending the day).
- Getting beer.

Apart from those “great concerns” the day was care-free and not one moment of thought was given to what the day represents, or what it means to be an American.

And I think in some ways, that is the best illustration of what it truly means to be an American; Having the luxury to do whatever you like and not having to worry about your actions.

We are lucky to have such freedom and ability here in America. This realization is re-enforced when compared to the people of China. As the Olympics loom, the realities of an oppressive communist system are being broadcast to a world stage. And although I feel for the people of China, I can’t help but see their plight and count my blessings as I ramble-on, free to share my thoughts and opinions online.

I’ve never been one to hop-on the I-hate-America bandwagon. Although I am a bleeding-heart liberal, I never agreed with the hatred spouted by those who intertwined America and George W. Bush. While I will agree that the rest of the world sees G.W. as America and everything that is wrong with it. I will note that if you talk to individuals abroad, they will express a genuine respect for America and its ideals.

But as that last couple sentences illustrate, actions speak louder than words.

So the question remains; What does it mean to be American?

Does it mean we are war-mongering bullies who impose our will on anyone who gets in our way ala G.W.’s “Cowboy Diplomacy” or are we a country that values diversity and the pursuit of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?

I think that any American you speak to will go with the latter, but I am afraid that the fear machine created by the Bush-Cheney Administration after 9/11 has perverted the definition of American. Somehow Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness became intertwined with “The American Way,” which I find troublesome.

On the face, those items seem synonymous. But by replacing the neutral: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness with The American Way, you are driving a wedge between America and the rest of the world. In doing so, it becomes easy to justify imposing American agendas under the guise of patriotism. When in reality all that is happening is that America is being a bully.

No one likes a bully.

I hope we can get back on course as a country and return to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness without needing to enforce The American Way.

I am not saying doing so will be easy. But I am saying that the quality of life in other parts of the world should be taken into consideration when looking at what being an American really means.

Since WWII, America has dubbed itself a superpower. By orchestrating the creation of the United Nations, America initiated a big step towards modern globalization. Yet America has acted as though it were a separate entity, like it is above the fray. It put American interests above global interests.

Such actions create the perception of America as an aging, selfish out-of-touch superpower on the decline. And I agree.

So what does it mean to be an American? I am not sure that I want to answer that…It’s too depressing.

But the good thing is that we have time to correct the mistakes of the past and restore America to its previous luster. It’s time for America to grow-up and realize they are a part of the world stage, not the MC. It’s time to rededicate ourselves to the ideals that made America great.

Doing so may require some sacrifice, but then again no one said being a world leader was easy.

It’s official.

The Seattle Supersonics are no more.

I’d like to say this loss is affecting me less than when I heard of Tim Russert’s passing, but I can’t.

That’d be a lie.

Not to belittle the memory of Russert, he was a great man and an idol to a coulda-woulda-shoulda journalist like myself. But his passing was more of an intellectual loss. I know I should feel bad in my head, but I didn’t feel the loss in my heart.

As I read the headline in today’s Seattle P-I “Hoopless” I definitely felt the loss in my heart.

Along with the Sonics goes my a bit of my childhood; watching the Sonics play in the Kingdome, trying to perfect the X-Man’s fade-away jumper (I never did, BTW) and coming of age during a golden age in the NBA and watching legends like Gary Payton feed the Rain-Man into the NBA finals.

When I think of the Sonics, I think of happy times.

Maybe it’s a good thing the team has moved away. Even if they were “forced” to play the next 2 years at the Key Arena I am sure those happy memories would be further tarnished as the less-than-hospitable relationship between the City of Seattle and Clay Bennett had two more years to make the low-light reel.

Basketball is a business, my head knows this. The Sonics are a good, which can be bought and sold…and moved, at the discretion of the owner. As a firm believer in free market economics and the right of private property I support the move.

As a fan and someone the Sonics/NBA have profited from, I feel disregarded. I feel cheated. I feel insignificant.

For something that doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things, sports seem to be a big part of American life. Sure enough, Seattleites took the luxury of having an NBA team for granted and we lost it.

But on the flip-side, where is the sense of social responsibility on the part of the Sonics?

Even if you take the fact that they are a sports franchise out of the equation, doesn’t any business, owe the community it has thrived in (especially for 40+ years) some semblance of respect? The Sonics apparently thought not.

I agree that sports bring an intangible benefit to the cities lucky enough to host them. A civic pride, a sense of unity, a rallying point. Which is now gone.

I agree with civic officials who stood their ground with regards to using public funds to refurbish/build a new arena so that the NBA/Sonics owners could make more money. I find it ridiculous that Clay Bennett and David Stern would claim the Key Arena was not up to “NBA Standards.” It’s childish to hold the team hostage and threaten to move anytime the NBA doesn’t get it’s way.

If the venue was is so bad, why doesn’t the uber-profitable NBA put-up some money to build venues that are indeed “up to their standards?”

As an avid basketball player and fan, I am now at a crossroads.

Do I turn my back and boycott based on the blatant disregard shown to the City of Seattle by the NBA?

Or do I keep watching a league I no longer have a vested interest in?

Luckily I have a few months to ponder such a deep issue.

I think it’ll take a few beers and bar conversations to get my mind right.

But for the here and now, I am in mourning.

So long Seattle Supersonics, thanks for the memories.

Last of a dying breed.

As I sit here reading my Sunday paper, per my Sunday ritual, I am bothered by a statement that I heard yesterday in reference to newspapers:

“They’re kinda dying anyways, so who cares?”

As a trained/wanna-be journalist, hearing such things cuts me to the core.

And although I am not going to argue the point, as I agree that newspapers are dying, I wanted to give newspapers and journalism their due.

I also realize that as a blogger I am part of the perceived “problem.” But I think of electronic journalism as the grandson of newspapers.

The printing press represents the grandfather, as it was the first real-step toward mass communication and wide-spread newspaper distribution. The father was the wire service(s), allowing newspapers to spread/share information at speeds previously unfathomed. The wire(s) allowed newspapers to share information from all around the world, making newspapers national/global in scope. And we’ve now arrived that the electronic age, probably the greatest step away from “traditional” journalism. The e-movement had banished newspaperman staples like typewriters, 35mm cameras and in some cases, even pen and paper.

While newspaper subscriptions and readerships rates may be declining, online readership is up. And I see that as hopeful, not a woeful indication of a slow and painful death.

This is because the move to electronic journalism is simply evolution. Much the way newspaper production has gone electronic, it only follows that consumption will follow the same route.

The newspaper will never die. The journalistic tradition of sharing information is the guiding light of all journalists- From Bob Woodward to Perez Hilton…yeah it pains me to say that.

While objectivity and grammar make take a bit of a hit as anyone with something to say and a connection to the internet can post their rants to the tubes, I am offering that the press is freer now than in its hey-day. The important distinction to make is between well-meaning journalists and people with an axe to grind. Which is not to say that all journalists are objective or that all bloggers are crack pots, it just means that consumers must be savvy when reading what is posted online.

I think the current incarnation of the Iraq War has taught Americans that the day of pre-packaged, edited and safe for consumption news is over. The new frontier of news is one of an educated populace as well as an educated journalist.

Early newspapers were expensive to produce and the barriers to creating/distributing them were great. Another little known aspect of early American newspapers is that they were decidedly partisan. They were not objective. These newspapers were produced to serve a finite purpose…not to be the 4th branch of government, but to further some political/financial goal of the producer.

The blessing and the curse of online journalism is that anyone can share their ideas as the barriers are considerably lessened. Nearly anyone can stroll into a library, hop online and blog. This is far closer to the idea of free press than the founding fathers or early newspaper tycoons could have comprehended. In much the same way newspapers evolved from self-interested soapboxes to objective watchdogs, electronic journalism, if allowed to mature, will go the same route.

Sadly newspapers are dying. But they have laid the foundation for the next generation of journalists. Who will not only carry-on a legacy but learn from previous missteps.

So don’t dismiss the newspaper sitting on the table next to you at the coffee shop. See it for what it is; a paradigm-shifting medium that has changed the way people communicate with each other, that is still so relevant that it’s shaping its replacement.

Thank you for smoking (that's sarcasm)

Normally I am not a fan of negative liberty.

For those who didn’t waste thousands of dollars on Political Science classes, Negative Liberty is where a person’s rights are imposed upon by another person. Laws are an example of negative liberty, though some laws are good, they do impose restrictions on a person’s actions.

Outlawing smoking is an example of negative liberty.

I like to think of myself as a Libertarian, one who believes in personal liberty and power of choice. I don’t like the idea of government stepping-in on personal matters, which is why I am pro-choice and believe Gay marriage should be legal.

But in some cases negative liberties work-out. And the indoor smoking ban is a great example of this.

And smoking just happens to be the perfect example as it is the topic of this rant.

I HATE SMOKING.

Not that I am opposed to the health risks, I have plenty of bad habits myself, but I just don’t like it. Smoking seems to have no upside.

It’s dirty, and for those who know me, that is a BIG issue for me. It’s expensive, again another issue for a cheap-ass like myself. And it imposes on anyone around you.

At least the act of drinking too much doesn’t affect anyone around you, that is, unless you spill your drink or puke on someone.

But to me smoking is one of the most self-centered acts a person can take part in. Especially when smoking indoors, second hand smoke is proven to harm non-smokers and the sentiment before the smoking ban was “you can go somewhere else.”

Granted the indoor ban has swung the pendulum to the other end of the spectrum, with non-smokers imposing their desire to be smoke-free on smokers. And I do realize it is still an imposition of one’s desires over another’s.

I am not sure which is right. Though I am pretty sure that most everyone is better-off health-wise as a result of the ban. So I am leaning towards the ban.

But even as I was walking across the street I was bombarded with smoke bellowed-out by the guy standing next to me. Which really pissed me off.

I think that smokers should be more aware of their surroundings. Much like driving a car, smoking is a luxury, not a right. If someone drove around willy-nilly with no respect for other cars or pedestrians, they would quickly lose the ability to drive. I think the same restraint should be expressed by smokers.

I do smoke the occasional cigar. And I know they freaking stink. So when I do light-up, I make sure everyone around me is OK with it. I’ve even gone so far as to cross the street if I see a group of people approaching as to be respectful.

I'm just asking for the same respect from smokers. It doesn't seem too hard.

SUVs aren't they Awesome!

I’ve said before that I am excited by the effect that higher gas prices are having on America.

Prices are finally high enough that Americans are re-thinking their driving habits/fuel consumption and auto-makers seem to be taking fuel efficiency seriously.

In light of that explanation, here is the part of the post that I begin to rant about folks who are complaining about the high price of gas.

I heard a story on NPR’s Morning Edition this week that really got me steamed.

The host was talking to a father with multiple children from Ohio. The father was lamenting the high fuel costs and how it was adversely affecting the quality of life for his children. The father noted that he had to remove his children from after school activities as he couldn’t afford to drive them around anymore.

The father’s sentiments could be summed-up as such:
- He “had to” have an SUV, to accommodate all of his kids.
- He couldn’t ponder driving one of those small hybrid things.
- The high gas prices were adversely affecting the quality of life for his kids.

This represents what is wrong with America when it comes to being green.

First the obvious statement: Very few families “need” an SUV.

I remember back in college, 5 grown men could pile into a 1984 Honda Accord with enough gear to last a 2-week Christmas break with no real issues. It was a bit uncomfortable, yes. But not unreasonably so.

So when this father from Ohio starts singing the praises of his SUV, I seriously question the necessity of the rolling monstrosity. Now if this father had admitted that he really enjoys the SUV as it allows him to toss his kids in the back- out of earshot, I wouldn’t be upset. It’s not a green choice, but an understandable one. But trying to say the SUV improves the quality of life for his kids is simply a joke.

If it has wheels and has a back seat, you can cart the lil bastards around with no problem. DVD players, 4 rows of seats and stow-and-go compartments aren’t “must-haves.”

America seems to have mistaken luxury with necessity. An SUV is a luxury, and should be treated as such. There is a luxury tax associated with SUVs. That anyone who bought an SUV was well aware of when they purchased it…It’s called bad mileage.

Owning an SUV and complaining about fuel costs now is like being a person who eats 12 doughnuts a day and complains about being fat.

It’s freaking obvious. And you did it to yourself.

Driving itself is a luxury. I think most folks tend to overlook that.


I could take the bus to work. There is almost door-to-door bus service. But I enjoy the luxury of leaving when I want and saving the 40 minutes of commute in the morning. In recognizing that my 20 minute commute is a luxury, I don’t complain about gas prices. It’s the price I pay for the choice I’ve made.

I just wish the “Father’s from Ohio” of the world, would acknowledge that they chose to have kids and carting them around is the cost of doing business. Perhaps if they were a bit less selfish or more accommodating they could downgrade from the Expedition to a Focus. But something tells me they just aren't going to be able to make that "sacrifice." Because they really don't like the SUV, it's for the kids, you know...

Read this before you buy that.

I am not a big fan of Michael Moore. I find his documentary style to be a little over-the-top. Being a “trained” journalist myself, I think he is a little heavy on the drama and light on objectivity. In his defense, he’s never purported himself to be anything more than a guy with an agenda. Of course, in his mind, the stories he tells are the truth.

As a blogger who does nothing but rant on what other real journalists have reported, one would think I idolize a fella like Michael Moore. And to be honest, I kinda do. If only because I appreciate the way he uses his fame to make the world a better place. Even if it is his perception of a better place.

But enough about Michael Moore, what got me thinking about Moore was another later-day docu-cause-ist, Morgan Spurlock. He’s the guy who brought the world ‘Super Size Me’ the documentary where he lives on nothing but McDonald’s food for 30-days straight. Spurlock nearly killed himself in the process, but he wanted to illustrate, how corporate interests can cause the well-being of average Americans to take a backseat to profits. I caught some of the movie and found it interesting in much the same way you slow down to check-out an accident on the side of the freeway…morbidly interesting, but not entertaining.

That being said, I was underwhelmed when I heard Spurlock had adapted the 30-day concept into a TV show for the FX network.

That is, until I saw an episode a few weeks back.

In the show, Spurlock returns to the ‘Super Size Me’ concept and tries something different for 30 Days. In the episode I caught, Spurlock spent 30-days as a minimum wage worker. And it really opened my eyes.

I have been lucky. In that I have only worked for minimum wage a few times in my life. And I have always had enough to get by.

Watching Spurlock’s experience and seeing the plight of people he met during the show, really hit home with me.

I grew-up in a less-than-affluent family, which I am proud of. But my family did own their own home and though some bills rolled every now and again we always got by. I was cared-for.

Thinking back to my Mom while fretting over which bills were going to roll to next month and another question pops into my head; Do people stuck in minimum wage jobs have time to think about the future or is the-here-and-now too demanding?

Which is not to say that I am now drinking from a golden chalice. But I am secure in my position in life. And as such, I worry more about where I am headed this weekend than the lights being turned-off.

All of this got me to thinking about the American Dream and the concept of the “Haves” versus the “Have-nots.” I think this is an overlooked concept in America. Personal successes are always measured against others. In order for you be doing well, there has to be someone who is worse-off. The American Dream may be open to all people, in theory. But there seems to be quite a paradox inherent in it.

Some politicians have called for an increase in the minimum wage to remedy the problem. I disagree. Throwing more of an already deflating currency at poor folks isn’t going to fix anything. Paying real wages and fair prices for goods and services is.

Do you really think that $5 sub sandwich or $1 burger is supporting a living wage for the person making it?

Americans, including myself, seem to have a disconnect between what they are willing to pay and what things really cost.

For example, someone has to make those shoes, so why is it ok to pay someone in Italy $500/pair and someone in Indonesia $2/pair? (I do acknowledge the differences in cost-of-living, but the sentiment of fair compensation for fair labor is what I am getting at here.)

Consumers aren’t the only ones at fault, as big bad Corporate America does make a pretty sizeable profit on those $2 shoes, none of which ever makes it back to the laborers who made them.

I am just as guilty as the next. I shop the sales and don’t make sure that my coffee is fair trade. But becoming more aware of how little actions like going to lunch or buying a pair of shoes affects those laboring to bring them to us can mean a world of difference.

If you took half the time to research/source what you are buying as you spend looking for a good deal online, you might improve a bottom line other than your own.

STAT

For as long as I can remember I’ve been one to play it safe.

Even as a kid, I was the naysayer or the one questioning whether something was a good idea.

As much as I hate to say it, I was “Chunk” from “The Goonies.”

But even as I begrudgingly took part in an activity, usually ending-up with me getting hurt, I never had a fear of death.

It is true, kids think they are invincible. But I am willing to take that assertion one-step further: Adults think they are invincible, too.

Just look act how people act; It’s the whole premise behind credit or working for that promotion or justifying an unenjoyable experience by thinking “There’s always tomorrow.”

I recently have had a few friends battle cancer and truly have to grapple with their own mortality. But even in talking with them, I still headed home every night expecting full well to wake-up the next day. Never once in my life had I pondered the idea that at some point, there won’t be a tomorrow.

Until Monday, that is.

It was a normal day, I had gone to work and was out playing tennis. While hitting around, I noticed that I was unable to see out of one eye. It was a constant starry blur, like I had looked into the sun for too long, that persisted for over an hour. I thought it was odd, but played through it. It wasn’t until later that I really got worried. While in the shower, I noticed that my left hand had gone numb and felt like it weighed a ton. As I went to rinse-off my head and face, I noticed that my lower lip had gone numb as well. I then thought to myself, “So, this is a heart attack.” After freaking-out for a few minutes I began to try to remedy my situation. After shaking my hands and flailing a bit, the numbness subsided, I dried-off and tried to forget the experience.

Did I go to the doctor, like any normal person would have? Nope.

Truth be told, I was scared and like most guys didn’t want to admit anything had gotten under my skin. I was also afraid to learn what might be wrong. It sounds stupid, but ignorance is bliss. Instead, I headed to my buddy’s for a BBQ and pushed the experience to the back of my mind.

Only after chatting with my boss the next day and his ordering me to get checked-out, did I get to the doctor’s office.

Monday night was spent trying to forget about the experience and Tuesday night was full of the possibilities of what caused it. My first thought was a heart attack or stroke, then the mind wandered to tumors or blood clots.

Needless to say, I was no longer invincible.

Wednesday morning I met with the doctor, who was not too good at hiding the “Oh crap!” in her voice and facial expression as I recounted Monday night. The next thing I knew the hospital was bumping people with appointments to get me in for scans and blood tests. Everything I saw was marked STAT. Which I think is a pretty big deal, but I am only basing that on the fact they yell it a lot on ‘ER.’

Five hours later, I left the hospital with a clean bill of health. (Knock on wood.)

I was relieved, but my sense of invincibility had been forever shaken. Now I am not comparing my scare to the cancer ordeals my friends recently endured, but I now have a better understanding of the loss of control, the uselessness you feel when your body decides to stop working right.

Things like life insurance and retirement plans now make a little more sense to me.

There isn’t always going to be a tomorrow.

There is truth to the old saying “There are only two certainties in life: Death and Taxes.”

Does that mean I am going to drive slower and live in a constant state of fear?

No way.

It does mean that I am no longer going to take for granted the precious little time we have on this planet. I have lived the past 29 years cautiously and I have many regrets as a result. I want to take an active stance towards life rather than a reactive one.

For example, I pondered heading back to work right after my doctor’s appointment. But given my new perspective, why rush back? I had been offered free tickets to a Mariner’s game that afternoon and really, which is more memorable? Sitting in a cube or enjoying a beer from seats so good that you could see each sunflower seed hit the dirt as the first basemen spits them out?

I chose the game.

Life is meant to be enjoyed. And just like a great desert, slow down and savor each bit of it.

I am not advocating quitting your job and travelling the world. I am just saying to take note of life’s many little pleasures: The first sip of coffee in the morning or the patch of blue sky amongst menacing grey clouds or the smell of the first rain as it hits a warm sidewalk. I counted myself blessed as I sat at the game sipping my beer in the sun, when just hours earlier I was in an MRI machine pondering what could be wrong with me and how much time I had left.

I got lucky. This was a false alarm. But that doesn’t mean I am coming away from it any less grateful for my health than my cancer-surviving friends. I just wanted to share the lesson learned, as I hope no more of my friends have to learn it the hard way…