Tag: Thanksgiving

November 19, 2024 – Preparations for Travel

November 19, 2024 /

We are going on our first ever Thanksgiving road trip. This year, we are headed to Montana for a week. The way the weather is shaping up, this could be a miserable doozy of a trip. It is a long way to go in winter weather and we are expecting feet of snow at the higher elevations this week.

The problem with cold weather is all the additional gear you need. Add to that a dog and two extra passengers, we will be pushing our space even in a full sized Navigator. I had to break out the car carrier for the first time in quite a while. This thing is great for extra space, but it also adds a lot of extra height to an already high vehicle.

At the hospital, we already hit the 6’7″ bar warning that a crash is eminent. I happen to know after years of experience that I am just fine. But, I don’t know how fine I am. So, I don’t push it and keep in mind that I may be a bounce away from some very expensive body work. I can say that my wife has tried to drive into our garage Fortunately, I was outside to stop her. The carrier stays on only as long as it has to be on.

A smart man would have gotten the car to a mechanic before we leave. I really didn’t give it a thought until last weekend. By then, it was pretty much too late. That is not to say that I have done nothing. Recently I started getting a ‘Tire Pressure Fault’. I have checked the tire pressure multiple times and chalked it up to more electronic gremlins that have been plaguing this vehicle its whole life.

But, I wanted to check on chains for our upcoming travel. My wife had been told that chains would not fit on the vehicle due to wheel clearance concerns. So, I asked about the tire sensor. I was educated that it was probably a battery. Who knew, inside the wheel has a sensor that communicated with the computer. After fourteen years, two of the sensors are dead. I always wondered how that was done.

All this being said, I would think that this would be something the tire shop would do with new tires. It turns out, no. Now, I have to break down each wheel and replace the batteries. It was suggested that we could wait until new tires are due, but with the Navigator’s reduced role, it could be years at this point. The best motivation is that my wife want’s it done.

Besides the obvious luggage for a week long stay, it would be good to take some extra precautions. The first is be prepared for extra time. The highway’s may be closed until the storm blows through and the snow plows do their jobs. This can effect the start time and the return time and there is absolutely nothing that you can do. Keep your schedule flexible.

Part and parcel with keeping your schedule flexible, make sure your vehicle is stocked with food and drink. You could spend significant time in slow traffic following a plow, an RV or in a snowbank waiting for a wrecker. If something does happen, stay with the vehicle. Leave a plan with someone you know so that they know where to look for you and having food, water and shelter significantly increases your survival odds.

There is all kinds of recovery gear you might want to have. But, if you don’t have it and likely have never used it, probably best to skip. That being said, stick to major roads for safety purposes. These will be the best plowed and most travelled roads anyway. A much better chance to be found or get help if you need it.

I am going to bring a portable CB. I am not expecting a whole lot but it gives a possible way for secondary communications. My past experiences have been pretty ho-hum, If things get ‘western’ than maybe it will be an option to get ahold of a trucker. Plus, it gives a little more experience on the road with a potential tool. It would be better if I had a permanent mount.

End Your Programming Routine: This is supposed to be fun. It is a week of vacation for me and the first whole week this year. I’ll admit that I have a few doubts but it should be alright. I would much rather gear up and not need it, than need it and not have it. But, you have to go through these what if situations and test them to really be ready for the situations.

November 23, 2023 – Happy Thanksgiving

November 23, 2023 /

No opinions, BS or anything else today. There is something to be thankful for. I wish everyone a wonderful holiday. This one by far exceeds Christmas for me and I am enjoying what it is all about: cooking, eating and enjoying the fruits of you labor all year.

Despite the fact that most of my daily’s are queued in advance, you don’t need to be spending your holiday reading this. I will be back tomorrow with more Anthem by Ayn Rand.

November 22, 2023 – Let Us Give Thanks

November 22, 2023 /

I will not have much to say tomorrow. In fact, it is only a post wishing you Happy Thanksgiving. I don’t think that it is right to not acknowledge the things that happened over the last year. Part of humility needs say thanks to the good things in life. I want to do that today.

  1. Adults that mentor and volunteer their time. I have so many examples of this year. It is humbling that others would take interest in my kids and provide a leg up. Mr. Moore the middle school teacher who stepped in as the adult for this year’s Chess In the Park. Mr. Mosier who worked with my son to achieve his Life Scout rank (currently the highest in the troop) so that he would be in good position to obtain Eagle rank when he gets back from Taiwan next year. The many Rotarians to make exchange possible for my kids this year. Ms. Graham that donated airfare funds to allow my son’s FBLA trip to Atlanta this year. The list goes on to teachers and counselors and doctors.
  2. It has been quite a year on the career front. My former co-workers were so kind when I announced that I was leaving my job in August. I got emails and thanks and even job offers. It is nice to know that integrity and honesty is valued and recognized even if I had to leave to hear it. I have really tried hard to deliver my opinion more tactfully even when I thought that things were going in the wrong direction. Truth is not always welcome, how it is delivered matters. I hope that I am making strides to improve that.
  3. Parenting has been really hard on my marital relationship. I do mean really hard. Other that our agreement on the expected outcome, nothing is smooth or easy. We don’t agree on our approaches and I certainly don’t agree that I should have to defend my actions when I have the best intent. That never give up attitude is a double edged sword and my wife doesn’t give up on us either. I am thankful that she keeps fighting for us because I don’t know that I would.
  4. I am thankful that people cared enough for us to help pull off my re-proposal. My niece Jasmine was the mastermind and to be honest, without her it probably wouldn’t have happened. She coordinated with my nephew on how to spring the event and worked with a designer on making the moment special. A romantic deficient could have never pulled off such a special moment alone.
  5. I was listening to a podcast recently that was titled “Learn to Love Where you Live”. Talk about first world problems… With all the chaos in Gaza and so many other parts of the world, how can it possibly matter whether we have a local Starbucks? For all of the things I wish were different, I am thankful for relative stability and prosperity compared to what it could be.
  6. I don’t want to sound cliche but I am thankful for redemption and salvation. It takes the pressure off of guilt. As long as I continue to do my part in trying and asking for forgiveness, life should take care of itself. There is nothing more to worry about when eternity is handled.

That completes my list for the year but I have one more thing to say. As I write this, my maternal grandmother is dying. I don’t really feel much about it to be honest. It is a complicated situation. Not so much for me but for her.

My grandparents divorced in the late 1960s. The kids were nearly grown. My uncle graduated, my mom and sister were in high school and the youngest was in grade school. My grandfather was a devout Catholic and it took 40 years before he forgave himself for the divorce, it crushed him. But, my grandmother was a lesbian.

Because of the era, it drove her into seclusion and isolation. We have always had a cordial and pleasant relationship but it has always been at arms length. I suspect that she has carried shame and regret her whole life. In this modern era, her and her partner haven’t married. As far as I remember they have ‘separate’ bedrooms and I don’t even want to go any farther.

My grandmother worked for the school district at least long enough to get a retirement. Her partner worked for the US Forest Service. They have been retired almost as long as I can remember. Certainly, I was living as a ward of my parents when they moved three hours away. That made routine visits extremely infrequent. I think that they lived at the Oregon Coast for twenty years before moving closer. By that point, we (the kids) had moved on in life. We have a grandmother that we rarely see and don’t know.

My grandfather wanted to know us. This is why he paid us to spend time with him ‘working’. I wouldn’t trade that time for anything because it had such an influence, it made me who I am. My grandmother I suspect struggled with her own regret and demons. She has stories, no doubt about it. I know from my mom that there is some mystery and intrigue. She is a Gamble a generation removed from Proctor & Gamble but I don’t know the schism.

This relates to being thankful because I am thankful that people can be more accepted for who they are. Her partner was never married and has always been exceptionally nice. I wish that my grandmother had embraced who she was and who she is. She might have led herself astray trying to be ‘normal’, but that isn’t a reason to never have a relationship. Honestly, I hope this is peace.

End Your Programming Routine: Thankfulness is a habit that I should practice more frequently. The antithesis of thankfulness is pride. Pride sparks fear which prevents us from being more open. Fear keeps us from developing and fostering relationships and puts us at distance from people that we care about. I see that and identify with it, don’t be me. I am who I am; I am also a product of biology and experience. Let us learn from this and strive to do better.

December 13, 2022 – Better Late Than Never

December 13, 2022 /

I know Thanksgiving is over by a long way but Christmas is coming up and this strategy works no matter whether it is a holiday or not. I am talking about repurposing leftovers.

I find it particularly troublesome when there is leftover stuffing/dressing but the turkey is all gone. So, we need a way to get everything over with at the same time. Here is what I did.

Day Zero: After boning out all of the carcass, it went back into the stock pot. This was really just a waste elimination maneuver. I made turkey stock that a portion became Tortilla soup. But ultimately, it can be used interchangeably with chicken stock throughout the year so the balance went into the freezer.

Day One: It was Thanksgiving dinner again for lunch, we had the Tortilla Soup for dinner.

Day Two: Leftover rolls, cranberry sauce, turkey, stuffing, etc were turned into Thanksgiving sliders. This was a big day for college football so the sliders accompanied a litany of dips and other appetizers. A key note as well, this wasn’t just a reassembly of Thanksgiving but other flavors were added like mustard mixed into the cranberry sauce and a glaze over the whole thing. I chose not to add cheese but something like Havarti would have been appropriate as well.

Day Four: Cleaning up the rest of things, we were out of Turkey so I made a casserole. I bought a rotisserie chicken at the store, used some frozen green beans and mixed some mushroom soup with the beans and chicken. The whole thing was topped with the remaining stuffing and we were done with leftovers.

For Christmas, we are planning a prime rib. Meat is the easiest thing to reuse because as long as it isn’t overly sauced or seasoned, it can simply be thrown into casserole or sandwich or tacos etc. Who knows how much if any leftover we will have, I will try to be more timely if I have as large of a stack as I did with Thanksgiving.

If you are really stuck on things, I find that you can do an internet search like ‘what to do with…’ or ‘recipe ideas using…’ often times use some sort of stimulating results. You may not want to make the suggestions but from the search you can start getting ideas about where you may want to go instead.

End Your Programming Routine: I heard on the radio that Thanksgiving officially expired on Monday after the holiday. I find this to be bunk to be honest. How old is that turkey really? Use your eyes, nose and common sense here but re-cooking things also extend the shelf life. Of course, you could also just pre-portion meals and freeze for later just like you own hungry man.

November 21, 2022 – Holiday Hate

November 21, 2022 /

Through the years, I have grown less enamored with Christmas much preferring Thanksgiving. I am not going to give away my podcast secrets here, you will have to listen to find out what is driving this.

The name of this podcast is inspired by George Orwell’s concept of ‘Hate Week’. This is whipping everyone up into moving into the same direction. I am getting everyone ready for the holiday season with this podcast.

End Your Programming Routine: I guess my desire is to change the course of my history. I just realized that the days my family will all be home is limited. We can go back to old traditions or start new ones or let things be the way they are. But, let us feel free to make them what we want and not feel trapped by life just passing us by.

November 29, 2021 – Lessons From the Road, Part 1

November 29, 2021 /

Never having done anything quite like this before, some things sound like a better idea then before you try it.  This was a two pronged approach to getting from our place to Texas.  The first one was that it would save us some money ultimately.  The second one was that it would be a family adventure.

There is no doubt that we have accomplished both but I also think that there are some lessons learned this trip, this time and this approach.  The original plan was to drive 36 hours straight from our house to Texas, hot swapping drivers along the way.

  • We didn’t actually rotate amongst all the drivers.  Adding additional drivers raised the overall price of the rental significantly to where we were starting to lose some of the cost advantage of driving over flying.  All of the driving was done by my wife and I, with me doing most of it.
  • Starting our trip on Friday evening was a good way to getting started from a time perspective but we were already starting to feel the fatigue Saturday morning from being up all night.  We haven’t solidified our trip home plans yet but it might be better to not start through the night and make the first day longer.
  • We only made 21 hours on the first day.  We had planned to go to El Paso but we only made it to Tucson.  That is where we stopped for dinner.  The thought of four more hours and arriving at a hotel at one in the morning to leave by seven was too much at that point.  
  • Thirty-six hours in a van is a long time.  I would give it a slight edge over an airplane from a leg and elbow room standpoint.  Of course the ability to stop and stretch was an advantage, but it was also a disadvantage that I will talk about next.
  • To think that nine other people were going to have the same dedication to the schedule and forethought about when and where to stop was a mistake.  We rarely went more than 100 miles without stopping.  And when we did, it was an event to get everyone back in the van quickly.  Out of our 19 hours traveling yesterday, over three of it was out of the car.
  • I never realized that my wrists and hands would be sore from driving.  There were very strong winds most of the day which required tight control of the steering wheel for a high-standing van blowing all over the road at any moment.   By late last night, my wrists were aching.  
  • Cell phone service coverage made the drive largely peaceful.  I am generally not a fan of the kids incessant use of the phone, however there was almost no fighting or complaining for the duration of the trip.  Between fatigue and phones the kids did a great job getting along.
  • Starting the trip with two cases of water and a tote worth of snacks was a good idea.  I think that it helped stave off some of the complaining along the way as well.  It also may have contributed to extra stoppage however.  

Getting in at 1AM and starting work at 7AM is less than ideal after a twenty hour drive.  We did also lose two hours (time zone change) by heading east.  That time is important when schedule is driving behavior.  

End Your Programming Routine:  I will definitely have a final opinion and recommendations in part 2 tomorrow.  We are still on the road as I write this.  That will be part of the story.

November 25, 2021 – Happy Thanksgiving

November 25, 2021 /

I don’t often wear my Christianity on my sleeve but today I want to put it out there. We can be thankful for all the things we have and have done but I believe in putting the praise to my creator and savior. 

This has been a year of transition. I have been employed all year, some of it with Amazon and the majority with Cognizant. While I am not completely happy with what I am doing, I am grateful that I have a degree of stability and a solid income.

I am happy that my family is thriving. My wife continues to move beyond her health problems of ten years ago. Each one of my kids are becoming their own individuals and in a few short years will become independent. This trip to Texas is part of getting in our last bits of childhood and family as we know it.

I am happy to have this forum. While I haven’t done all the things I have hoped to have done, I find writing cathartic and a form of therapy. In some ways, I don’t know if I would enjoy podcasting as much. I do think that I will make an effort to try next year. While blogging may now be passé, I enjoy it. In some ways, I like the fact that there are few regular readers because it is like my own public journal. Don’t get me wrong, I am pretty sure that I would like making this my full time endeavor, it is little steps at time.

There is a phrase that says stability breeds complacency.  I know that to be true.  I was happier when I was free (read: unemployed) but I was scared and still am to a degree about the future.  I guess when I get to the end, I will know for sure whether I made the right decision.  My retirement account was drained to get us through those two years.  Now, I need to not only build it up but also make up for lost time. 

Was it worth it to essentially end up at the same place?  My going in plan was to build a business that could earn an income such that I could compensate for my future plans, more like passive income.  Since I have not exactly done that, there is a degree of uncertainty that follows me around.  I think that leads directly my next item to be thankful for.

Hopefully, we all continue to grow and I think this year my spirituality has grown. I have had a more intimate relationship where I have ‘heard’ things that I never had.  I always thought that I was open, but this year I have made attempts to reconcile and seek answers with prayer.  It feels right.

End Your Programming Routine:  I don’t know if this is true or not.  It was said that the pilgrims took a break to celebrate and praise God before the long New England winter.  They didn’t know if they would make it to the next year or not but they did what they could and hoped for the best, knowing that this life is only a vessel to the next.  That is Thanksgiving.  

November 22, 2021 – On the Road Again

November 22, 2021 /

This is new. It has been a long time since we have lived significantly apart from close relatives. We are on a big family road-trip from Oregon to Texas so that we can spend Thanksgiving with my wife’s mother. Our family has done some long trips, but we rented a van and we are also going with my sister-in-law’s family.

When you start to look at the economics of the situation, nine tickets costs roughly $3600. We plan on spending half by hot switching drivers and bee lining to Texas. Granted, we will lose time but this is an adventure. We may never do this again but it is something to try.

There are definitely risks. Weather and crossing the Rockies leave uncertainty in the trip. Looking at the weather mid-last week, it was looking clear for the shortest direction, due southeast. The actual decision for the travel route was decided right before we left.  We travelled the Southwest route which was nice because I had never been on that particular freeway.

Being new at my job, I barely have any time off. So, I plan to working a couple of days as well. It kind of sucks, but the real point of the trip is to provide the family with an adventure. I have stubbed out a couple articles for the week, so we will see if I can keep it up this week.

This is the culmination of a difficult fall. My in-laws originally went to Texas in the early summer to seek treatment for my mother-in-law. Between my father-in-law dying and my wife trying to maintain a job and manage treatment at the same time, hopefully this is a celebration of a new season. Because her prognosis is not positive, this may be our last Thanksgiving and so we are pulling out the stops to make it happen.

I am going to write more about this evolving situation, but not now. It is real, it is raw and it is personal. While everyone has the right to manage their own affairs and control information as they see fit, it doesn’t mean that those decisions don’t have a billiard ball effect. One person may be at peace with the situation while others may have different feelings. It may ultimately be your decision and your outcome but those decisions have consequences. We all have a responsibility to handle them in an appropriate fashion even if we perceive them as ‘not what we would do’ particularly when we are observers. That is so difficult.

Most of the post was written before the trip.  I am in Houston now and I will summarize some lessons learned next week.  I already have all of the posts for this week planned out since it was a holiday week and we were on the road I wanted to get a jumpstart on everything.

End Your Programming Routine: The kids are out of school all week, it is a holiday week so why not? Even though we have done similar things, my sister-in-laws family has not.  

After arriving last night at 1 AM, there are definitely things I learned about our choices that I will share.    For now, going to enjoy a little warmer weather and hopefully get a chance to see some new sights and enjoy some family time this week.

November 25, 2020 – You Have To Want It… Being Thankful

November 25, 2020 /

This is the last time that I will write on this, for a while anyway. It got three days because it obviously struck a nerve with me. Since tomorrow is Thanksgiving, most Americans give a topical examination what we think that we should be thankful for.

I have heard time and time again that people can’t wait for 2020 to be over. We all know what is going on between politics, pandemic and such as if the calendar is going to change those things. Are we as a people going to put our faith into the the number of the year or are we going to thrive despite that?

Thanksgiving brings out stories and lore as the birth of the United States of America. A small group of people left the Netherlands to seek religious freedom and a great unknown. The celebration was the end of the harvest season, one last time to celebrate and hope they did enough before things got really bad – winter.

Thanksgiving is a romanticized holiday that we have put a silver lining on a dark time much like our own. The very event that we celebrate was a time where many people starved to death or succumbed to illness. The native population was decimated by European disease and changed the landscape of the world forever. I bring all of this up to say that maybe 2020 will have a new perspective two or three hundred years down the road.

So again, I am writing about being thankful because I need to remind myself to make my world better. For me, 2020 wasn’t so bad. Yes it didn’t go exactly the way that I wanted it to go. Yes it will require new ways of thinking to thrive. No I didn’t get many of the things that I wanted. But, there is a lot to be thankful for here are many of the big ones.

  • No one in my immediate family or even extended family has suffered from the effects of COVID or any other major illness for that matter this year.
  • We rang in the New Year on a family vacation in Southern California visiting Hollywood, Disney, Universal Studios and the beach!
  • I completed a whole new set of pantry cabinets in a woodworking project that used lumber milled from this property
  • We spent three months developing a relationship with our exchange student.
  • I completely remodeled our little rental house, hopefully giving it another 20 years of useful service.
  • We replaced our beloved ‘Snow Dog’ with a handful of puppy Raya.
  • I got this site going after talking about it for a year and thinking about it four years. I am learning many new skills as a result.
  • I got the freedom to pursue interests and desires, testing entrepreneurship and creativity.
  • I have forged a stronger bond in faith and built techniques into my routines to continue to improve and be successful.
  • I have some steadier work work delivering packages and still have time to keep going.

If anything 2019 was a worse year for me. I was burned out and bitter beyond belief. I was at a point that I went out into the unknown and try to do better just like the pilgrims. I know that from a financial risk standpoint, it is a terrible decision to up and quit your job. But, there are times when you just have to do something different than what you are doing.

For me, 2021 is going to be a better year because of all the things that were done in 2020 to do so. And, it is not going to be better because the calendar changed. With that, I hope that you have a great Thanksgiving holiday. I thank you for reading and I hope that you consider the things that you should be thankful for.