Friday, December 20, 2013
Thursday, September 26, 2013
The Clinch: Green Collar Back to Back
I was only in California four days before I couldn't take it any longer. I had to go to an A's game. It was a good thing I had the day off because it was the season home finale on Sunday. While watching Stanford win on Saturday, I kept close tabs on the A's game as they had a chance to clinch the division for the second straight year with a win and a Texas loss. It just so happens that did not happen. Even though the A's took care of business, so did the Rangers.
So I couldn't ask for a better opportunity. The A's were playing a Sunday afternoon contest in mid-September, the last game of the season at home, the A's could clinch the division with either a win or a Rangers loss and Sonny Gray was pitching so I got to see him pitch after missing him in AAA at Colorado Springs. I got my value deck ticket ($16 but included a $6 concessions/merchandise voucher) and headed across the bay to Oak town.
The Rangers game started earlier in the day so everyone among the 30,000 in attendance was keeping a close eye on the scoreboard along with their cell phones leading up to the game. When the first pitch occurred for the A's it was scoreless between KC and Texas.
The situation took an early toll on my finger nails. The Twins took a 1-0 lead over the A's in the first inning thanks to an Oakland error and then the A's went three and out. Meanwhile it was still 0-0 in the late innings in Kansas City. The next inning made me feel much better. The A's put a six spot on the board in the bottom of the second, all coming with two outs. The nerdman Eric Sogard blooped a two-run single, cereal lover Coco Crisp jacked a three-run shot to right and MVP Josh Donaldson doubled in a run. Crisp and Donaldson have been red hot and a big reason for the A's excellent September. Now I am feeling much better.
The next thing you know the crowd is going crazy in the top of the third. Not because the A's are up 6-1 but because Justin Maxwell hit a two-out grand slam in the bottom of the 10th to lift Kansas City past Texas. This lead to the A's owning the West for the second consecutive season. Between the top and bottom half of the inning the Umpires let a small delay occur while they put the K.C. score on the manual scoreboard and show the grand slam on the video board. The crowd was going nuts. Flat out awesome!!!
With the division in hand, Oakland's offense rolled to an 11-7 victory. Highlights included a Daric Barton home run, a Jed Lowrie dinger and Josh Reddick gunning out two runners at first base. Barton has secured a spot on the postseason roster after playing tremendous since being called up to the big club. Lowrie was a great pick up in the offseason and has been consistently good. Reddick is one of the best throwing outfielders and continues to amaze with his accuracy and arm strength.
A two-run single in the ninth brought the Twins a little closer but Evan Scribner tossed three straight strikes to K Josmil Pinto and end the game. Bring on the celebration.
It was great to see one of these celebrations live for the first time after seeing them happen so many times on TV. It takes me back to storming the court after our Duke guys won the national championship in 2010. That was my favorite moment in sports for sure but this one was pretty special too.
After a quick trip to the locker room the fun really began. Players started coming out with champaign and beer bottles. Sure they put tarps up in the locker room and did that whole thing but then in typical A's fashion they paid tribute to the fans. One player ran to the bullpen and showered the fans in the first couple of rows. Several players followed in running around the stadium and spraying fans. All three outfielders in Coco, Yoenis Cespedes and Josh Reddick went around the outfield and waved to their cheering sections. The best was Reddick who came out in his Georgia helmet with two bottles, went to right field, sprayed both bottles up in the air and pointed to the rowdy fans who have been his biggest supporters. The entire thing was awesome. I was up so high I couldn't even smell the liquor but I was rocking my Stairway to Blevins t-shirt and loving every minute.
The 2013 clinch was amazing and now I can't wait to get tickets to the ALDS and watch the A's win in the playoffs. Green Collar all day long.
So I couldn't ask for a better opportunity. The A's were playing a Sunday afternoon contest in mid-September, the last game of the season at home, the A's could clinch the division with either a win or a Rangers loss and Sonny Gray was pitching so I got to see him pitch after missing him in AAA at Colorado Springs. I got my value deck ticket ($16 but included a $6 concessions/merchandise voucher) and headed across the bay to Oak town.
The Rangers game started earlier in the day so everyone among the 30,000 in attendance was keeping a close eye on the scoreboard along with their cell phones leading up to the game. When the first pitch occurred for the A's it was scoreless between KC and Texas.
The situation took an early toll on my finger nails. The Twins took a 1-0 lead over the A's in the first inning thanks to an Oakland error and then the A's went three and out. Meanwhile it was still 0-0 in the late innings in Kansas City. The next inning made me feel much better. The A's put a six spot on the board in the bottom of the second, all coming with two outs. The nerdman Eric Sogard blooped a two-run single, cereal lover Coco Crisp jacked a three-run shot to right and MVP Josh Donaldson doubled in a run. Crisp and Donaldson have been red hot and a big reason for the A's excellent September. Now I am feeling much better.
The next thing you know the crowd is going crazy in the top of the third. Not because the A's are up 6-1 but because Justin Maxwell hit a two-out grand slam in the bottom of the 10th to lift Kansas City past Texas. This lead to the A's owning the West for the second consecutive season. Between the top and bottom half of the inning the Umpires let a small delay occur while they put the K.C. score on the manual scoreboard and show the grand slam on the video board. The crowd was going nuts. Flat out awesome!!!
With the division in hand, Oakland's offense rolled to an 11-7 victory. Highlights included a Daric Barton home run, a Jed Lowrie dinger and Josh Reddick gunning out two runners at first base. Barton has secured a spot on the postseason roster after playing tremendous since being called up to the big club. Lowrie was a great pick up in the offseason and has been consistently good. Reddick is one of the best throwing outfielders and continues to amaze with his accuracy and arm strength.
A two-run single in the ninth brought the Twins a little closer but Evan Scribner tossed three straight strikes to K Josmil Pinto and end the game. Bring on the celebration.
It was great to see one of these celebrations live for the first time after seeing them happen so many times on TV. It takes me back to storming the court after our Duke guys won the national championship in 2010. That was my favorite moment in sports for sure but this one was pretty special too.
After a quick trip to the locker room the fun really began. Players started coming out with champaign and beer bottles. Sure they put tarps up in the locker room and did that whole thing but then in typical A's fashion they paid tribute to the fans. One player ran to the bullpen and showered the fans in the first couple of rows. Several players followed in running around the stadium and spraying fans. All three outfielders in Coco, Yoenis Cespedes and Josh Reddick went around the outfield and waved to their cheering sections. The best was Reddick who came out in his Georgia helmet with two bottles, went to right field, sprayed both bottles up in the air and pointed to the rowdy fans who have been his biggest supporters. The entire thing was awesome. I was up so high I couldn't even smell the liquor but I was rocking my Stairway to Blevins t-shirt and loving every minute.
The 2013 clinch was amazing and now I can't wait to get tickets to the ALDS and watch the A's win in the playoffs. Green Collar all day long.
Monday, September 16, 2013
I'm going, going, back, back, to Cali, Cali
I am happy to announce that I have accepted a position working with my former boss at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. I may not be notorious but I'm going, going, back, back, to Cali, Cali!
Ten months ago I made a life decision and chose to quit my job at the University of Texas. A change in job duties, constant stress, unhappy workplace and some family health issues created a situation that called for me getting out of college athletics and returning home to Colorado to be near my family.
I took a month off to relax and spend Christmas with my family, to attend my grandfather's funeral and along with my dad, haul my grandmother off to Idaho to spend a week with her sister and other family members. After the month-long break I began to look for jobs in Colorado. My focus was on trying to find something close to my sister South of Denver in Parker or Castle Rock. I was open to trying a new career and hoping to land a nice 40-hour per week gig so I could work on some new interests such as fixing up a '49 Studebaker pickup or woodworking.
Well a couple of months went by with a couple of interviews. I was called in for an interview to manage a mattress store and when I got there I found out I was one of 20 interviewing at the same time and one of probably hundreds being asked questions that day. Shockingly I did not get a call back but sales is not an ideal position for me anyway. I also interviewed to work at a marketing/sales firm but hated the cheesy, Justin Timberlake suit and tie b.s.ers that greeted me at the door and talked to me. If I wanted to sell used cars I would go work for Ashley Schaeffer and hire Kenny Powers for promotions.
The other interview I got was not really an interview buy an outright dream job offer. When I was in middle school I dreamed of working for the United States Postal Service. I have no idea why I wanted to do this back then but delivering mail always appealed to me. Maybe it was because I like to receive mail, I don't know. Anyways I was offered a job as a part-time delivery guy in Manitou Springs, Colorado. However, after weighing the options I determined the pay was not enough to live in the city and benefits were non-existent for part-time employees. Thus I let me dream job slip away like a ship in a bottle going out to sea. Who knows what could have happened if I had taken the job but since then a huge fire occurred where I would have lived and a huge flood where I would have worked so I guess I made the right choice. I could have been the next Newman!
So after applying for a lot of jobs with no success, watching Duke basketball games on TV, going out to Las Vegas for the PAC-12 basketball tournament and doing some part-time internet work for the ACC I decided that I wanted to return to working in college athletics. Although I would have loved to stay in Colorado I knew that getting back to being a SID was what I was good at and what I wanted to do. I had a phone interview with North Georgia that apparently did not go well, but it was a smaller school and was really just the first place I saw that fit the location and city demographics I was interested in.
A while later I was a finalist for a job at Purdue. Through help of former co-workers I made the on-campus interview process along with one other person. Several weeks later and several emails saying they had not been able to get everyone together to make a decision and then I got a call from someone in HR (who I never talked to during entire process) saying they hired someone else. I really liked the place but wouldn't recommend it after seeing how they operate in the hiring process.
A couple more months went by and several applications later I had phone interviews with Penn State and Bowling Green. Neither matriculated into anything after the phone calls but luckily an email I sent as a joke turned into a great opportunity. I sent a casual email to my old boss, Kurt, (who is now at Stanford) asking if he could hire me and then a couple of weeks later he called to say he pulled some strings and was able to create a spot for me to come in and work temporarily. I didn't jump at it right away but after a day or two I decided I probably wouldn't get an on-campus interview with the other two schools so Stanford would be a great place for me to go. Plus I really wanted to reunite with my former boss and another friend of mine who I worked with at Duke and is now there.
All in all I applied for 65 jobs in the last nine months and only interviewed with the ones I listed earlier. I did not get a response from most of them and the ones I went to in person told me I had to apply on the internet instead of doing it right then and there. It was a miserable, frustrating, monotonous process that I would hate to go through again. The funny thing is I applied for 60 jobs coming out of college and Kurt gave me a shot at an internship in New Hampshire and now he is giving me a foot in the door after I was denied 65 times.
I couldn't be more excited to be heading to California to do whatever I can to help Kurt and Stanford Athletics out. I am refreshed and reenergized so I know the future will be great. I am grateful for the opportunity that lies ahead and all the assistance my former bosses and co-workers gave me in trying to get back on my feet. For the second time in three years I will be moving to a new city on my birthday. Circumstances are a lot different than when I went to Texas but I feel 100 times better about the future and have zero regrets about leaving that situation I was in.
Even though I was very frustrated throughout the job-hunting process I did love being back near family and friends. Seeing my parents and sister every day was pretty awesome. I was fed some great meals a lot and my dad and stepmom gave me a room to crash in for about eight months longer than I intended. I enjoyed seeing my grandparents all the time also, especially having an occasional 3 p.m. Happy Hour consisting of Canadian Whiskey and mountain dew with my grandpa. After missing out on most of my nieces lives I thought it was great to spend a weekend here and there with them and my older sister. I got to see Sidney dance at sporting events and perform in a musical. Those are moments I treasure that I have missed out on for the past 14 years through college and work life.
I can't say enough about what my parents did for me, but it was also outstanding to be back with my best friend, Allen, and his family. His kids grew up a lot also and it was a blast to go watch some t-ball games or buy some girl scout cookies from them. Allen and Chrystal now have five kids after they had a baby boy, Brentley, three months ago. They are all like family to me and the little kids call me Uncle Ben which doesn't seem unnatural at all.
Allen also gave me plenty of opportunities to get out of the house. I liked getting outside and doing some work so any chance I could help him move some heavy stuff, feed cows, brand cows (not that much fun haha), take a drive or especially help him build an addition on his house. I am not very knowledgable when it comes to construction but he taught me framing, plumbing and siding among other things. I hope it helped him out having me around but no matter how much I did I couldn't pay him back for letting me store all of my belongings in one of his buildings all the time I have been back home. He also provided many a beer while we were working :)
I will definitely miss my family and friends but maybe my career will lead me back this area down the road. Until then I will try to make them proud by working my way back up the ladder.
Ten months ago I made a life decision and chose to quit my job at the University of Texas. A change in job duties, constant stress, unhappy workplace and some family health issues created a situation that called for me getting out of college athletics and returning home to Colorado to be near my family.
I took a month off to relax and spend Christmas with my family, to attend my grandfather's funeral and along with my dad, haul my grandmother off to Idaho to spend a week with her sister and other family members. After the month-long break I began to look for jobs in Colorado. My focus was on trying to find something close to my sister South of Denver in Parker or Castle Rock. I was open to trying a new career and hoping to land a nice 40-hour per week gig so I could work on some new interests such as fixing up a '49 Studebaker pickup or woodworking.
Well a couple of months went by with a couple of interviews. I was called in for an interview to manage a mattress store and when I got there I found out I was one of 20 interviewing at the same time and one of probably hundreds being asked questions that day. Shockingly I did not get a call back but sales is not an ideal position for me anyway. I also interviewed to work at a marketing/sales firm but hated the cheesy, Justin Timberlake suit and tie b.s.ers that greeted me at the door and talked to me. If I wanted to sell used cars I would go work for Ashley Schaeffer and hire Kenny Powers for promotions.
The other interview I got was not really an interview buy an outright dream job offer. When I was in middle school I dreamed of working for the United States Postal Service. I have no idea why I wanted to do this back then but delivering mail always appealed to me. Maybe it was because I like to receive mail, I don't know. Anyways I was offered a job as a part-time delivery guy in Manitou Springs, Colorado. However, after weighing the options I determined the pay was not enough to live in the city and benefits were non-existent for part-time employees. Thus I let me dream job slip away like a ship in a bottle going out to sea. Who knows what could have happened if I had taken the job but since then a huge fire occurred where I would have lived and a huge flood where I would have worked so I guess I made the right choice. I could have been the next Newman!
So after applying for a lot of jobs with no success, watching Duke basketball games on TV, going out to Las Vegas for the PAC-12 basketball tournament and doing some part-time internet work for the ACC I decided that I wanted to return to working in college athletics. Although I would have loved to stay in Colorado I knew that getting back to being a SID was what I was good at and what I wanted to do. I had a phone interview with North Georgia that apparently did not go well, but it was a smaller school and was really just the first place I saw that fit the location and city demographics I was interested in.
A while later I was a finalist for a job at Purdue. Through help of former co-workers I made the on-campus interview process along with one other person. Several weeks later and several emails saying they had not been able to get everyone together to make a decision and then I got a call from someone in HR (who I never talked to during entire process) saying they hired someone else. I really liked the place but wouldn't recommend it after seeing how they operate in the hiring process.
A couple more months went by and several applications later I had phone interviews with Penn State and Bowling Green. Neither matriculated into anything after the phone calls but luckily an email I sent as a joke turned into a great opportunity. I sent a casual email to my old boss, Kurt, (who is now at Stanford) asking if he could hire me and then a couple of weeks later he called to say he pulled some strings and was able to create a spot for me to come in and work temporarily. I didn't jump at it right away but after a day or two I decided I probably wouldn't get an on-campus interview with the other two schools so Stanford would be a great place for me to go. Plus I really wanted to reunite with my former boss and another friend of mine who I worked with at Duke and is now there.
All in all I applied for 65 jobs in the last nine months and only interviewed with the ones I listed earlier. I did not get a response from most of them and the ones I went to in person told me I had to apply on the internet instead of doing it right then and there. It was a miserable, frustrating, monotonous process that I would hate to go through again. The funny thing is I applied for 60 jobs coming out of college and Kurt gave me a shot at an internship in New Hampshire and now he is giving me a foot in the door after I was denied 65 times.
I couldn't be more excited to be heading to California to do whatever I can to help Kurt and Stanford Athletics out. I am refreshed and reenergized so I know the future will be great. I am grateful for the opportunity that lies ahead and all the assistance my former bosses and co-workers gave me in trying to get back on my feet. For the second time in three years I will be moving to a new city on my birthday. Circumstances are a lot different than when I went to Texas but I feel 100 times better about the future and have zero regrets about leaving that situation I was in.
Even though I was very frustrated throughout the job-hunting process I did love being back near family and friends. Seeing my parents and sister every day was pretty awesome. I was fed some great meals a lot and my dad and stepmom gave me a room to crash in for about eight months longer than I intended. I enjoyed seeing my grandparents all the time also, especially having an occasional 3 p.m. Happy Hour consisting of Canadian Whiskey and mountain dew with my grandpa. After missing out on most of my nieces lives I thought it was great to spend a weekend here and there with them and my older sister. I got to see Sidney dance at sporting events and perform in a musical. Those are moments I treasure that I have missed out on for the past 14 years through college and work life.
I can't say enough about what my parents did for me, but it was also outstanding to be back with my best friend, Allen, and his family. His kids grew up a lot also and it was a blast to go watch some t-ball games or buy some girl scout cookies from them. Allen and Chrystal now have five kids after they had a baby boy, Brentley, three months ago. They are all like family to me and the little kids call me Uncle Ben which doesn't seem unnatural at all.
Allen also gave me plenty of opportunities to get out of the house. I liked getting outside and doing some work so any chance I could help him move some heavy stuff, feed cows, brand cows (not that much fun haha), take a drive or especially help him build an addition on his house. I am not very knowledgable when it comes to construction but he taught me framing, plumbing and siding among other things. I hope it helped him out having me around but no matter how much I did I couldn't pay him back for letting me store all of my belongings in one of his buildings all the time I have been back home. He also provided many a beer while we were working :)
I will definitely miss my family and friends but maybe my career will lead me back this area down the road. Until then I will try to make them proud by working my way back up the ladder.
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Retirement Becomes Poor Fund
A little over 10 years ago I bought a large plastic bud light bottle full of popcorn while I was working at K-Mart. Those were the good old days when I was making around $7 an hour which was just about the same hourly wage I was getting if you averaged out my salary and number of hours worked in the eight years since college.
Any who ... after I ate the stale popcorn I had a decision to make. Throw the large plastic bottle away or keep it for decoration. Like most college kids any form of alcohol decor is a good thing so I put it on top of my entertainment center. This bottle as it turned out had a slit in the cap like it was a piggy bank for drunks so I started using it as such. Thankfully back then there was such a thing as 25 cent beer night at Washington's Bar and Grill in Fort Collins so for every beer I drank I usually came home with 50 cents in change (I was a big tipper back then). That usually added up to around $5 so my drunken piggy started adding up fast.
My bar change gave me a great idea. I never use change to pay for anything and hate it lying around so whenever I got change I would just throw it in the bottle. I decided that I would let the bottle fill up and then cash it out and put it into my savings as a sort of retirement fund built strictly off change. I was always taught growing up to save money.
That brings me to today. My plans haven't exactly worked out the way I envisioned them 10 years ago. I have stuck with my bottle all this time, putting change in whenever I acquired it. The problem I face now is I have been self-imposed unemployed for eight months and my savings is starting to run dry. Apparently bill collectors don't understand that when you aren't making any money you shouldn't have to pay off your car payments or your cell phone bills. Thus I decided to prematurely cash in my drunken piggy before it was all the way filled in order to have a little extra money for my bills.
When I was in elementary school I remember my teacher used to bring in a jar full of jelly beans and the student in the class that guessed closest to the number of jelly beans in the jar would win a cool prize. I thought I would do the same so I polled a few family members close by and offered up a free Frosty from Wendy's to the person who came closest to the change in the bottle. I started the guessing with an estimate (or hope really) that there was $250. My family members were even more optimistic than me as I was the low end of the spectrum. Here are the guesses.
Ben - $250
My dad - $270
My grandma - $300
My sister - $340
My mom - $400
My stepmom - $423
The next step to my process was to carry it over to my mom's house where I was going to roll the change. Luckily she is a bank teller and has access to plenty of the little coin papers. I noticed that over the years this bottle has gotten a lot heavier than it was when it contained some old popcorn. So when I hauled it over I threw it on the bathroom scale to see how much it weighed. The result was 46 pounds. I may have needed to start taking PED's to move it if I let it fill all the way to the top.
I thought there was a lot of change in the bottle but once I dumped it out on the card table it looked like a lot more. I put a $20 bill on the table to show the size of the pile. Yes I did have a 20 spot even though I am broke but only because I have saved it from the $90 I made working part time in the month of June. That is a monthly salary comparable to the stories of wages when my grandparents were my age. Only then it would buy a couple of oxen, a wagon tongue, some salt beef and ammunition to hunt buffalo on the Oregon Trail.
Well luckily I was wrapping these coins in the afternoon so I had a chance to watch Around the Horn and PTI on ESPN (which ironically are the same topics that are included in hot clicks each day on SI.com) and Seinfeld on TBS. This helped the coin wrapping go a lot faster as it would take me about four hours to sort while my mom would wrap the coins. In the end I was very ecstatic with the results.
Here is what I ended up with ...
55 rolls and 11 loose pennies for $27.61
13 rolls of nickles for $26.00
18 rolls of dimes for $90.00
32 rolls and five loose quarters for $321.25
4 50 cent pieces
2 gold dollar coins
For a grand total of ........ $468.86
It looks like I will be able to make my car payments for two more months now. And luckily I have since acquired approximately 99 cents in my bottle so I can make good on the Frosty I owe my step mom. My retirement fund will have to start over again once someone finally hires me.
Any who ... after I ate the stale popcorn I had a decision to make. Throw the large plastic bottle away or keep it for decoration. Like most college kids any form of alcohol decor is a good thing so I put it on top of my entertainment center. This bottle as it turned out had a slit in the cap like it was a piggy bank for drunks so I started using it as such. Thankfully back then there was such a thing as 25 cent beer night at Washington's Bar and Grill in Fort Collins so for every beer I drank I usually came home with 50 cents in change (I was a big tipper back then). That usually added up to around $5 so my drunken piggy started adding up fast.
My bar change gave me a great idea. I never use change to pay for anything and hate it lying around so whenever I got change I would just throw it in the bottle. I decided that I would let the bottle fill up and then cash it out and put it into my savings as a sort of retirement fund built strictly off change. I was always taught growing up to save money.
That brings me to today. My plans haven't exactly worked out the way I envisioned them 10 years ago. I have stuck with my bottle all this time, putting change in whenever I acquired it. The problem I face now is I have been self-imposed unemployed for eight months and my savings is starting to run dry. Apparently bill collectors don't understand that when you aren't making any money you shouldn't have to pay off your car payments or your cell phone bills. Thus I decided to prematurely cash in my drunken piggy before it was all the way filled in order to have a little extra money for my bills.
When I was in elementary school I remember my teacher used to bring in a jar full of jelly beans and the student in the class that guessed closest to the number of jelly beans in the jar would win a cool prize. I thought I would do the same so I polled a few family members close by and offered up a free Frosty from Wendy's to the person who came closest to the change in the bottle. I started the guessing with an estimate (or hope really) that there was $250. My family members were even more optimistic than me as I was the low end of the spectrum. Here are the guesses.
Ben - $250
My dad - $270
My grandma - $300
My sister - $340
My mom - $400
My stepmom - $423
The next step to my process was to carry it over to my mom's house where I was going to roll the change. Luckily she is a bank teller and has access to plenty of the little coin papers. I noticed that over the years this bottle has gotten a lot heavier than it was when it contained some old popcorn. So when I hauled it over I threw it on the bathroom scale to see how much it weighed. The result was 46 pounds. I may have needed to start taking PED's to move it if I let it fill all the way to the top.
I thought there was a lot of change in the bottle but once I dumped it out on the card table it looked like a lot more. I put a $20 bill on the table to show the size of the pile. Yes I did have a 20 spot even though I am broke but only because I have saved it from the $90 I made working part time in the month of June. That is a monthly salary comparable to the stories of wages when my grandparents were my age. Only then it would buy a couple of oxen, a wagon tongue, some salt beef and ammunition to hunt buffalo on the Oregon Trail.
Well luckily I was wrapping these coins in the afternoon so I had a chance to watch Around the Horn and PTI on ESPN (which ironically are the same topics that are included in hot clicks each day on SI.com) and Seinfeld on TBS. This helped the coin wrapping go a lot faster as it would take me about four hours to sort while my mom would wrap the coins. In the end I was very ecstatic with the results.
Here is what I ended up with ...
55 rolls and 11 loose pennies for $27.61
13 rolls of nickles for $26.00
18 rolls of dimes for $90.00
32 rolls and five loose quarters for $321.25
4 50 cent pieces
2 gold dollar coins
For a grand total of ........ $468.86
It looks like I will be able to make my car payments for two more months now. And luckily I have since acquired approximately 99 cents in my bottle so I can make good on the Frosty I owe my step mom. My retirement fund will have to start over again once someone finally hires me.
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Age Milestones
This past week my family celebrated two milestones with my grandparents reaching their 60th wedding anniversary and my great grandmother turning 102 years old. To me these are both numbers you don't see that often anymore.
Last Wednesday we had a small get together at my grandparents' house, consisting of happy hour drinks, cheese and crackers and cake. My grandparents have never really liked receiving gifts so we had a card shower for them. The community and friends/family supplied a large stack of cards wishing them well on their accomplishment. This was a perfect party because my Grandpa Don likes happy hour and it was just a handful of people joking around so they had fun. I don't like buying greeting cards so I made one with my limited resources. I did find this cool picture of them when they were younger.
My Grandpa Don told a story of how he promised my Grandma Joyce when they got together that they would be together 60 years. He was proud of this story but we all joked about which one had their bags packed first to get away from the other one after they reached that promise. Truthfully though they have never had a lot but they made the most of what they did have and were great to all of us around them.
I feel very fortunate that both my sets of grandparents were married for at least 60 years. I am now sure if that happens very often or will ever happen again the way people divorce nowadays. My other grandparents were married 65 years and were a few weeks from 66 when my Grandpa passed away in December.
The second milestone we celebrated was my Great Grandmother Edrie hitting 102. The last two years I have been in North Carolina and Texas when she had parties for 100 and 101 so I was ecstatic that I was able to join her for 102. She is a special lady. She still cooks, cleans and does the laundry although she doesn't move as fast as she used to. She still looks great and still loves the Chicago Cubs and watches them all the time (god bless her).
Last Wednesday we had a small get together at my grandparents' house, consisting of happy hour drinks, cheese and crackers and cake. My grandparents have never really liked receiving gifts so we had a card shower for them. The community and friends/family supplied a large stack of cards wishing them well on their accomplishment. This was a perfect party because my Grandpa Don likes happy hour and it was just a handful of people joking around so they had fun. I don't like buying greeting cards so I made one with my limited resources. I did find this cool picture of them when they were younger.
My Grandpa Don told a story of how he promised my Grandma Joyce when they got together that they would be together 60 years. He was proud of this story but we all joked about which one had their bags packed first to get away from the other one after they reached that promise. Truthfully though they have never had a lot but they made the most of what they did have and were great to all of us around them.
I feel very fortunate that both my sets of grandparents were married for at least 60 years. I am now sure if that happens very often or will ever happen again the way people divorce nowadays. My other grandparents were married 65 years and were a few weeks from 66 when my Grandpa passed away in December.
The second milestone we celebrated was my Great Grandmother Edrie hitting 102. The last two years I have been in North Carolina and Texas when she had parties for 100 and 101 so I was ecstatic that I was able to join her for 102. She is a special lady. She still cooks, cleans and does the laundry although she doesn't move as fast as she used to. She still looks great and still loves the Chicago Cubs and watches them all the time (god bless her).
We had a family gathering at the train depot in town with a potluck lunch to celebrate. Then we opened up the party to the town so many others who have enjoyed her cinnamon rolls over the years could come say hello. She was a cook at the school for a long time and also at a restaurant in town. Her doughnuts are the most amazing thing I have ever tasted in my 31 years.
Hitting the century mark is quite an accomplishment and is probably the number one age milestone in my opinion. She has gone two years past that and isn't slowing down a bit. This made me think of what some of the other age milestones are so I did my list of top 10 age milestones and here it is.
#1: 100
To me reaching 100 is the top milestone. So few people hit this mark so by difficulty alone it earns the top spot. When you think about the United States only existing for less than 250 years than being alive for 40 percent of that is pretty impressive.
#2: 16
After 100 there could be some debate for what is the next best milestone but for me it is 16. Cars are such an integral part of our everyday life that I have a hard time imagining what it was like before I turned 16 and could drive. The excitement of finally being legal to get behind the wheel of the car was something I will never forget. Plus it gave MTV a couple of shows to fill their nonsense programming (My Super Sweet 16, 16 and Pregnant).
#3: 21
Many people would put 21 at No. 2 or even No. 1 but I am not an alcoholic so I don't think it was as big of a deal. I enjoy a cold beverage every now and again but I didn't even get drunk when I turned 21. I did the unthinkable and went with my ex-girlfriend to the ESPN Zone in Denver for dinner. Then bought some beer and went back to my apartment. I didn't think getting sick on my birthday sounded like a good time. Silly me! More importantly than being able to drink though is being able to gamble. I do love me some Las Vegas.
#4: 18
Two big things happen when you turn 18 years old. Yes you are more than likely finished or are just finishing high school and starting a new chapter in your life but I am talking about becoming eligible to utilize your right to vote and being able to buy cigarettes. You feel like such a rebel when you can walk in for the first time and purchase something people have been telling you for years aren't good for you. I never have smoked cigarettes but a good cigar with a few buddies is nice every now and again.
#5: 65
After being around my family for awhile now I have moved 65 up the list. What other age do you hit and start receiving a paycheck for it. Once you reach 65 you are eligible to start receiving Social Security checks. Of course you have been paying into the national Social Security fund for 50 years at this point but isn't it nice to get some extra cash flowing in each month. Of course when I turn 65, all the money I have put in will be gone and I will have to drop 65 off my top 10. Also you can start using medicare benefits which can be either a good or bad thing depending on how you look at it.
#6: 25
Turning 25 might not seem like a big deal but it has another added benefit to it. You can rent a car when you turn 25. I am not sure how people came to choosing 25 as the limit for renting cars but if you travel a lot this is sure handy.
#7: 40
Any time you creep into a new decade of life it will have meaning. Most people regret having their age start with a new number like going from your 20's to 30's or 30's to 40's. To me 40 has the most meaning of any of these decade transitions because it allows you to do some crazy stuff and call it a mid-life crisis. When I turn 40 I will probably get a drop top convertible, dye my hair blond with highlights and have some 20 year old hanging out with me. The 20 year old will probably be my niece Jordan keeping me company because she is the only one who laughs at my goofiness.
#8: 1
Well sure being one year old is a special time for the parents and grandparents but to you it is a meaningless birthday. You have no idea what is going on at that age. You don't know what presents are and are wondering why someone is putting fire on a stick on your cake you can't even eat yet. It does mean your parents are probably not incompetent to the point where they killed you the first year so that is good.
#9: 2
You still don't understand a ton by your second birthday but two years old is one of the few ages that have garnered their own nickname. When you hit two years old people remark "oh the terrible twos." Sweet 16 is the other one with a nickname I could think of. You don't hear people say you are in the eager elevens or the fly fifteens so that puts No. 2 in my top 10.
#10: 30
For me 30 is my 10th most important age milestone. I don't have any significant reason other than I know my life changed a lot at 30 and my sister freaked out when she reached that age. I moved to Texas on my 30th birthday and nothing has gone right for me since then. Yes I blame it all on Texas because I have not had anything good come from being in that awful state haha. For my sister I am not sure why she hated turning 30 so much but I guess it makes you feel more like an adult and realize your party days may be mostly behind you.
Monday, May 6, 2013
Small Town Car Wave
Here in small town USA a simple movement of a person's hand can make a person feel good inside. This simple movement is a wave of a hand. As you drive along in your family car or farm pickup you wave to passing cars or to people out working in their yard. It is something that doesn't take much thought or effort, but is a common occurrence. It is a friendly gesture to another human being. Whether you like the person or not you wave to be nice. Most of the time you don't even know who is in the other car but you put your hand up to acknowledge their presence. I am surprised they don't include it on the driving test when you turn 16 years old. "That will be a point deduction for failing to wave at oncoming vehicle."
Most of us in small towns have driven a car before we were 10 years old anyway and know all about the hand wave. However, it is a habit that is broken when these patrons leave the friendly confines of the 800-person metropolis. I am just now getting back to it after being away for so long.
As you progress through the years you tend to develop your own type of wave. There are many kinds out there and here is what I refer to them as.
The most common is the simple straight hand wave I call "High Five" or "Indian How".
Another popular choice is to have your hand at the 12 o'clock position and raise your index finger. This one I refer to as "Lazy Bird" or "Solo Point"
Similar to the last one is the two finger wave from atop the steering wheel known as the "Deuce Hello" or "Boy Scout Salute"
A second two-finger option is the peace sign that I refer to as "Hippie Wave" or "Left-Handed Scissors"
For the exuberant personality you get the fast side to side wave with a big smile known as the "Happy Happy Happy" or "Fool's Gesture"
Of course their is always the rude middle finger gesture but that is a more popular wave in New York City and not used to say hello in small towns.
Those are the most common types of car waves. Some people develop their own wave such as myself. I wanted to put my own stamp on my car wave. What I do is start at the 10 o'clock position and with my index and middle finger on my right hand I do a sweep motion across the top of the steering wheel to the 2 o'clock position.
Now I know people in the city can't even fathom why someone would want to wave to a complete stranger but maybe that is one reason why our world is being flushed down the toilet. People being friendly to one another through a wave of a hand or shout of good morning is how people should treat each other. I once did my car wave in North Carolina and got a stare from the passerby like I was an alien who just rode a meteor from Mars and landed in the street. I believe people should act this way just as they should wave to someone who lets them in front of them during heavy traffic or someone who stops and lets them walk across the street.
Most of us in small towns have driven a car before we were 10 years old anyway and know all about the hand wave. However, it is a habit that is broken when these patrons leave the friendly confines of the 800-person metropolis. I am just now getting back to it after being away for so long.
As you progress through the years you tend to develop your own type of wave. There are many kinds out there and here is what I refer to them as.
The most common is the simple straight hand wave I call "High Five" or "Indian How".
Another popular choice is to have your hand at the 12 o'clock position and raise your index finger. This one I refer to as "Lazy Bird" or "Solo Point"
"Giant bling not included for most people"
Similar to the last one is the two finger wave from atop the steering wheel known as the "Deuce Hello" or "Boy Scout Salute"
For the exuberant personality you get the fast side to side wave with a big smile known as the "Happy Happy Happy" or "Fool's Gesture"
Of course their is always the rude middle finger gesture but that is a more popular wave in New York City and not used to say hello in small towns.
Those are the most common types of car waves. Some people develop their own wave such as myself. I wanted to put my own stamp on my car wave. What I do is start at the 10 o'clock position and with my index and middle finger on my right hand I do a sweep motion across the top of the steering wheel to the 2 o'clock position.
Now I know people in the city can't even fathom why someone would want to wave to a complete stranger but maybe that is one reason why our world is being flushed down the toilet. People being friendly to one another through a wave of a hand or shout of good morning is how people should treat each other. I once did my car wave in North Carolina and got a stare from the passerby like I was an alien who just rode a meteor from Mars and landed in the street. I believe people should act this way just as they should wave to someone who lets them in front of them during heavy traffic or someone who stops and lets them walk across the street.
Monday, December 17, 2012
Roy to the World
On Saturday at around 4 a.m. my grandfather, Roy Wayne Blevins, passed away in a hospital in Aurora, CO. He was 89 years old.
We knew he was in grave condition in the hours leading up to his death and this was extremely hard for me as I was 1,000 miles away in Texas and had my dad and stepmom with me. It was the night before I was leaving Austin to move back home to Colorado. The main reason - to be able to spend more time with family, especially my grandparents. I never got that extra time I was hoping for with my Grandpa but nonetheless a big part of who I am is because of the kind of man he was. This blog titled "Roy to the World" is about the man he was as a husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather, uncle, cousin and friend in the 32 years I was able to be around him.
I have so many fond memories of my grandfather and it would take forever to describe all of them but hopefully these few short stories will help sum up my feelings.
On the exterior he could come across rough to people who didn't know him. He had a tendency to speak his mind no matter what the situation. He did not like being around big crowds of people and was not much of a socializer. One of the funniest stories was he was sitting on a bench in the mall and a lady asked him to move because the bench was reserved for the children who were waiting to see Santa Claus. My grandpa abruptly replied "you can kiss my ass!" While that was him being honest in that situation, for most of the time he was as caring as could be.
There were numerous people throughout the years that he helped out. Despite being in his 60's and 70's he would shovel snow for the elderly neighbors next door, fix things at their house, take care of animals, take them goodies my grandma made and pretty much do anything to help them out. I saw him do this extensively with the Oldhams, Ms. Poole and his brother Bruce who was never in good shape after surviving a plane crash. He never accepted anything in return. He was just doing what he thought was the right thing to do. This is something I have seen a lot from my dad and grandma as well and led me to volunteer my time at Children's Hospitals.
He was also a very loving husband to my grandma Juanita. The two were just a few weeks from celebrating their 66th anniversary. That is an unreachable number for my generation with so many people rushing into marriage for a variety of different reasons and then divorcing at the slightest sign of trouble. My grandparents loved each other and made it work even though things weren't always perfect. Some examples of this love is my grandpa telling my grandma she was still pretty after all those years in the hospital last week. He set aside some money without her knowing about it in case he passed away first so that she would be taken care of financially. He also taught me manners and how to treat a lady. One time we were walking down the street in a neighboring town of their home and he told me "When you are walking on the sidewalk with your girlfriend or wife you should always walk closest to the street." I asked why and he said "If a car drives by and splashes a puddle then her pretty little dress wouldn't get ruined." I have never to this day heard anybody else talk about doing this but my grandma says he always walked closest to the street in the 65 years they were married.
When I was little and with my grandparents, I always wanted to be with my grandpa no matter what he was doing. He was very smart and really interested in finding out how things worked so he would tear apart fans, clocks and other things to try and fix them if they were broken. I had no clue what was happening but I would stand by him in his shop the entire time and watch him. If he was laying on the carpet taking a nap, I would lay down next to him. When he was working as a locksmith I would go spend an afternoon with him at work and watch him make keys. I am not a cowboy at all but my grandpa loved watching western movies and it made me as happy as can be to this day to sit with him and watch westerns because all I wanted to do was be with him.
Camping trips were some of my favorite times with my grandpa and dad. We would find sticks and turn them into walking sticks. My grandpa would make toast and jelly on the camping stove which I still love to make at home. He always tried to scare us or probably warn us about bears in the mountains. The best memory I have is when it was just me and my grandma and grandpa and we went to a cabin on a lake. We were sitting outside on the porch steps and he taught me how to play the game mumbley peg. It is a simple game played with a pocket knife but I loved playing it with him and I probably asked him to play that entire trip after he showed me.
Growing up I loved sports. Most of my family was not really into it very much but my grandpa liked to watch football, especially the Broncos, with me. He would also go in to the backyard and play with me as much as he could. He would throw the football to me and let me make diving catches or hit pop flys with a wiffle ball bat so I could pretend like I was an outfielder. I didn't have any brothers but my grandpa would always come out and play with me in the yard.
With my grandpa passing at this time of year it is especially tough because he loved Christmas. He always told me that the two of us were going to try and catch Santa Claus when he showed up at the house. We slept next to the tree the night before Christmas with cookies as bait. Although sometimes I would wake up in the middle of the night and think I heard something we never did catch him but it was something we did for a long time. My grandpa really loved opening gifts too. He would shake and rattle them to try and guess what he was getting. He never really wanted much but he sure did love anything he got. I don't know how Christmas is going to be without him but it just won't be the same that is for sure.
My grandpa enjoyed drinking his coffee, old instrumental music (he did not like music with people singing), reading and watching westerns, having a nice yard, a good chocolate milkshake, building and fixing things in his shop, the local news, my grandma's cooking (like me he loved pancakes) and helping out neighbors and family. For anybody who knew my grandpa like I did, he was one of the sweetest, most caring men there is and will be greatly missed.
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