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I *Heart* Mexican Music

For the past month, I’ve been training our new salesman at the box factory, David Gingerich. He’s not a Roth, but he’s darn close. His father and my father grew up together (though Dad was closer to David’s uncle, John). David went to school with my brother, Tony. David and his wife recently returned from …

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For the past few weeks, I’ve been making sales calls with David, my replacement at the box factory. We’re visiting existing customers to explain the transition. Most of my clients know that I’m part-owner in the family business. “Why are you leaving?” they want to know. “What are you going to do now?” “I’m going …

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If there’s one area of our household budget where frugality goes out the window, it’s the birds. There’s a large picture window over our kitchen sink, and I love to spend my Saturday mornings standing with a cup of tea, watching our neighborhood avian community. Or I keep an eye on the flight activity while …

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180 Degrees

It feels so good to finally break through a barrier. Or two. The last week has been awful. I haven’t been able to write. I sit and stare at the computer screen, but nothing comes. “I’ve lost it,” I think. “I’m doomed.” I try to find other things to occupy my time, but all I …

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A Touch of Spring

The birds are happy. After several months of the cold and rain, the weather has begun to turn. Yesterday the sun came out all day, and the temperature climbed to 14 degrees (that’s 57 for those of you in Oregon City). When Kris and I left to run errands, I was wearing long underwear, a …

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Pocket Pairs

This one’s for all my poker-playing friends: Poker’s a game I love to hate. It’s not just about the cards you’re dealt, but how you play them. I don’t do such a good job at playing them.

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I just had a moment of revelation. I know this is probably no big deal to many of you, and that you’ve probably been doing this all along, but it’s new to me. I generally have about fifty open browser tabs. It’s a mess. These tabs are spread over six or seven browser windows. There’s …

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The Laments of an Aging Cat

When Toto was younger, she was an agile hunter. She would fly across the lawn and nab unsuspecting birds in mid-air. At the old house, she would sit beneath the rhododendron, and then make a dash and leap to catch birds at the feeder. At night, she would spring gracefully from the ground to the …

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Hidden Gems

It’s humbling to realize I have gaps in my musical knowledge. I know that’s a strange thing to say, but nowadays it’s rare for me to find songs from the 1970s and 1980s with which I’m completely unfamiliar. Here’s a song I heard recently on XM 49 (which plays rock hits from the 70s and …

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