The call

I interrupt phone calls for very few reasons. I don' t like call waiting, and only in the last two years have I actually had possession of devices that permit such a thing.

If I'm on a call that isn't particularly interesting or I have to get going and I get a call from, say, high elected officials in the state, or their respective offices, I bag the call I'm all and go for that one coming in. Don't be offended if it has happened to you, these are typically urgent calls.

Even those calls have the ultimate call-waiting trump card.

The elementary school.

I had to pull the plug on one today for the dreaded elementary school call.

These can be anything from "thanks for thus and that", "your daughter is in the sick room", "snow day", anything whatsoever.

But I wasn't greeted with an adult voice on this one, and that is weird.

It was the eldest.

Through her sad, oh so sad phone whispering voice (note to self: tell her to speak up on the phone), I was able to discern that she was sad. That's about it.

I then used 'gentle dad' voice to ask her when lunch happens, and told her that I could come back to school and give her a hug.

That was acceptable to her, and she got off the phone.

I walked back up to school and gave her the hug moments before lunch.

Not to Count Chickens or Anything

It's ALL speculation.

Every.

Last.

Bit.

But PE (potential employer) indicated that if everything goes through, there a possibility of maybe there being a certain device that I use for my possible job that might occur should it all fall into place.

Vague enough?

Disappointed

There was a series of Christmas week vandalism in our little neighborhood.

You know, car dented and spray painted upon, garbage dumped near people's garages ... cases of beer stolen from front porches.

I walked past a young man and his dad patching up some tail lights the other day.

My comments were about the string of vandalism plaguing a few blocks.

"You should probably report it." I said.

"What good would that do?"

"Well, it lets them know it happened."

I was disappointed at the "what good would that do?" comment.

It's not like it'll DO anything. The bad guy probably won't get caught and won't be forced to pay th $100 to fix the taillights. It DOES help in seeing vandalism trends in the neighborhood ... something that your police department pays attention to when assigning community liaison officers ... beat officers ... and other resources.

But it's beyond that, the tone was very much ... hopeless. Very hopeless. Like there was no ownership in the place where this occurred. He had a key to the house, so either he lived there, or his parents did. I'd assume that's enough ownership. Maybe it isn't.

We live in communities. The communities are ours, at the block, neighborhood and city level ... county, state, regional and national. We are all a part of it. It is OURS, it's not 'theirs'. We each own a bit of all of it.

So what good does it do?

You're empowered to make change, the first step is thinking you can, and you will.

I *heart* a corporation

I'm big on buy local. State, community, regional ... whatever the case. National is in a few instances is okay. Take Costco. Treats employees decently, the CEO caps his salary at a percentage of the highest-paid manager (which keeps him at about 300-400K per year).

So I buy some organic milk at the local Costco. One of the 3 1/2 gallons gets stuck to the bottom of the box when I'm at home, and leaks all over the place. I call, they say to come back with the receipt and the box, they'll refund the money.

On my way back to do the return (about 2 weeks later), I prep myself with 'the story.' You know, running the facts through my mind and out my mouth so it's easier when the task is performed. I do this often. Yes, I'm the guy talking to himself at the stop light, practicing gestures and flow. Very often the kids will say, "Daddy, who are you talking to?", I tell them I am practicing.

Story ready along with the boxes requested (a second 1/2 gallon went bad, so I assume there was a packaging error) and the receipt, I wait in line. When I get to our turn. He scans the my card, scans the receipt, scans the milk ... hands me my money.

No story. Just me saying, "here", him saying, "card?". Then me saying "thank you".

Wow.

*******

Oh, from time to time I question my heritage. Maybe or maybe not Norwegian (some divorces and stuff a generation or two ago plus adoptions ...) but today lunch determined that I probably am. What did I have? Pickled herring on crackers with some cheese.

I think that cinches it.

Nice weather for music search

On one of the regular intertubes filters I view, there was a link to SeeqPod Music.

Not only can you search, but you can build a playlist right on the main page.

It'll probably be killed by those fools at RIAA (those that think they can kill creativity and take on 1 billion + users of international networking ... they should read up on Napoleon). But, please enjoy it while it lasts.

Oh, and it links to videos. Here's a family favorite:

The results

Borscht: Rave reviews from the friend whose parents immigrated to the US from Belarus in the early 1900s. Family also enjoyed. Must be something about there being a pound and 1/2 of butter in the recipe (I held back on that one).

Ham: It was ham, and it was appreciated.

Prime Rib: Excellent reviews for my first time out. The biggest challenge for me is paying attention to the muscle grains to be sure to cut against it. Only a few slices were in error. Today, wonderful sandwiches. I need to take better watch of the time and temperature of the center in the future.

Potatoes: Great reviews. Secret: like apple pie, the key is diversity in species of potatoes, usually three different types ... butter and cream (not milk, but cream). I also use Kosher salt in my cooking, but I don't know if that makes a difference.

There you go. A good small dinner party of about 11 people, and all went well.

Oh, and the pumpkin bread worked out great as gifts and something to have around.

Christmas memory

It's been seared into my memory, and this is the voice I hear when I read the KJV of the Christmas story.



My gift to you this Christmas Eve day.

Merry Christmas, everyone!