People's personal stories fascinate me. I'm particularly amazed by immigrants stories, and more specifically those who struggled along the way and found themselves in The States for a better life. My wife's own family who didn't have a bad life in The Philippines but wanted to come to the United States because the promise of freedom and hope loomed everlasting. The struggles of a Mexican family who came to this country in search of menial task labor because that labor promised so much more than what they had in their home country still sticks in my mind. How about a Tibetan family, forced from their country by the communist Chinese, who landed in Nepal? Their daughter was born there (Nepal) and raised in India. Subsequently, she found herself in the United States going to college in search of the elusive dream. Perhaps you would like to read about my Polish friend whose family fled the persecution of Hitler's Nazis, and whose family landed in New York City hoping to make a good life in a new land?
Then there's my good friend who was born in the U.S., raised part time in Jamaica then moved to Guyana for her secondary education? How intelligent she is! I recall a friend from Thailand whose family was still poor by American standards, but they were thankful every day for what little they had. My Native American friend and spiritual advisor who has faced death on such a level that most grown men would have broken down long ago. Still, his outlook for humanity is so positive and his love affair with this Earth is insurmountable!
I have met so many people from all over the world and each has blessed me by being a part of my life and for allowing me to be a part of theirs. And I'm reminded each day how spoiled we are here and how much we take for granted--it's simply amazing.
But in keeping with my title, I consider myself an individual attuned to the heartbeat of the individual. Perhaps my worldly perspective is skewed tremendously, but on the human level I am all ears because your story (whoever you are) captivates me.
I was touched by the words a recent widow wrote about her deceased husband; the simplicity of her statement touched me to the core when she reminisced about moving to the west with her husband almost two decades ago, and the cool, crisp days spent on their farm together. They didn't have indoor plumbing at the time but their life was perfect.
Not long ago I spent an afternoon fishing with a man who barely had a high school education. His learnings came through hard knocks and life lessons. I walked away with a few fish for the freezer and a whole new respect for a self-made man. He now owns his own company and is on the verge of retirement. What an inspiration!
There's the story of a man I knew who fought in three different wars and was decorated beyond belief for his service to our country. This man was a full blooded Native American and had the right to hate everything about this country and its leadership because of the way his people were treated a generation earlier; rather, he embraced and risked his life for this land. I'm still in awe of this man.
We all have stories, some funny, some surreal and some very simple. What's important is that we understand perspective, origins and desire. Once this happens we can all be happier people.
Monday, August 20, 2012
Saturday, August 18, 2012
A little sanity in an insane place
Let me be perfectly clear, I'm not an east coast kinda guy. The pace of life there drives me crazy, most especially in the New York City metro area. Northern New Jersey is New York City overflow, so it is easily quantified as NYC, which means it's not my cup of tea either. Aside from getting to see my oldest daughter (affectionately known as "Boop" by her daddy), I don't look forward to travel to that region of the country. People are generally seen as very rude, which may not be the case entirely, as I've found people in the metro area are typically always on the defensive, or in survival mode. As a result, outsiders see them as rude.
So, it was with some reservation that I left Chicago's O'Hare airport this past Monday and found myself landing at Newark's Liberty International. I grabbed my checked luggage from the carousel, hopped the air train to the P4 lot and purchased my rental car. I drove the car onto Route 78 then turned onto the New Jersey Turnpike and finished this leg of my journey in Hasbrouck Heights where my hotel stood. I booked a hotel close to Boop's town so she could easily drive to see me on her day off work. My hotel was very close to "The City," as everyone calls it who live in the area, but I had no desire to head over there; who wants to pay forty or fifty dollars to park after paying a twelve dollar toll to get into the city? Who wants to wait in line and get crammed into a train or bus to take mass transit to 41st Street, then be forced to file into a sardine can, aka the subway, to pay for overpriced food and items? Not this guy! I ordered food from the hotel restaurant, ate and turned in for the evening. Boop called to tell me she would see me Wednesday night; this was perfect, as I wouldn't have to travel into the city at all, nor would I have to spend a lot of time in traffic other than driving to/from my class!
Tuesday came, and after an insomnia filled night, I found myself sitting in my training class in East Hanover, New Jersey (if you've ever watched The Sopranos, you'll be excited to know the vast majority of the show was filmed in this town). Jeff, a guy I work with in Chicago, was in class with me, announced later in the day that he had scored a couple of tickets to the night's Yankee's game and wanted me to go with him. By going with him, he wanted me to drive because he knew I was familiar with the area. Ugh. The Bronx, home of violence, attitude and a massive amount of traffic. The upside--Yankee's Stadium. I weighed the pros and cons and agreed to drive into the city for an evening of baseball bliss and obnoxious Yankee's fans. And oh, I was not disappointed!
We found our seats in the bleachers--that's right, we were Bleacher Creatures for a night. The one thing I knew about Yankee's Stadium and the bleachers was I better be representing the home team. As a result, I purchased a Yankee's hat and put it on my head (it burned a little bit). The hardcore fans behind us wanted to know who we were, so Jeff explained to them he had gotten the tickets from a work colleague. These fans are lifetime ticket holders much like the Red Sox fans portrayed in the Jimmy Fallon movie Fever Pitch, which, ironically, was funny because Jimmy Fallon was present at the game Tuesday night cheering on the Yanks.
Our conversation wafted from how much they hated Red Sox fans to how much they wanted the current president out of office. I laughed whole heartedly in agreement with them. They told me about the good times they had at the old Yankees Stadium and how fights would break out between fan bases. This brought on hearty laughs by the Yankees fans. I laughed when they added sound effects to the punches being levied on the "other guys." We talked about gun control and I told them about being able to walk out in my back yard in Alabama and shoot a gun if I wanted to because I didn't live in the city limits. His response? "Thank God for the Alabama's of this country."
Nick Swisher hit a two run home run against the Texas Rangers pitcher but I missed it because I was engaged in conversation. I didn't care, I was having a great time talking to these folks.
The Yankee's wound up winning the game 3-0, but more importantly, I walked away with a few new friends and a new appreciation for New Yorkers (a few of them anyway).
So, it was with some reservation that I left Chicago's O'Hare airport this past Monday and found myself landing at Newark's Liberty International. I grabbed my checked luggage from the carousel, hopped the air train to the P4 lot and purchased my rental car. I drove the car onto Route 78 then turned onto the New Jersey Turnpike and finished this leg of my journey in Hasbrouck Heights where my hotel stood. I booked a hotel close to Boop's town so she could easily drive to see me on her day off work. My hotel was very close to "The City," as everyone calls it who live in the area, but I had no desire to head over there; who wants to pay forty or fifty dollars to park after paying a twelve dollar toll to get into the city? Who wants to wait in line and get crammed into a train or bus to take mass transit to 41st Street, then be forced to file into a sardine can, aka the subway, to pay for overpriced food and items? Not this guy! I ordered food from the hotel restaurant, ate and turned in for the evening. Boop called to tell me she would see me Wednesday night; this was perfect, as I wouldn't have to travel into the city at all, nor would I have to spend a lot of time in traffic other than driving to/from my class!
Tuesday came, and after an insomnia filled night, I found myself sitting in my training class in East Hanover, New Jersey (if you've ever watched The Sopranos, you'll be excited to know the vast majority of the show was filmed in this town). Jeff, a guy I work with in Chicago, was in class with me, announced later in the day that he had scored a couple of tickets to the night's Yankee's game and wanted me to go with him. By going with him, he wanted me to drive because he knew I was familiar with the area. Ugh. The Bronx, home of violence, attitude and a massive amount of traffic. The upside--Yankee's Stadium. I weighed the pros and cons and agreed to drive into the city for an evening of baseball bliss and obnoxious Yankee's fans. And oh, I was not disappointed!
We found our seats in the bleachers--that's right, we were Bleacher Creatures for a night. The one thing I knew about Yankee's Stadium and the bleachers was I better be representing the home team. As a result, I purchased a Yankee's hat and put it on my head (it burned a little bit). The hardcore fans behind us wanted to know who we were, so Jeff explained to them he had gotten the tickets from a work colleague. These fans are lifetime ticket holders much like the Red Sox fans portrayed in the Jimmy Fallon movie Fever Pitch, which, ironically, was funny because Jimmy Fallon was present at the game Tuesday night cheering on the Yanks. Our conversation wafted from how much they hated Red Sox fans to how much they wanted the current president out of office. I laughed whole heartedly in agreement with them. They told me about the good times they had at the old Yankees Stadium and how fights would break out between fan bases. This brought on hearty laughs by the Yankees fans. I laughed when they added sound effects to the punches being levied on the "other guys." We talked about gun control and I told them about being able to walk out in my back yard in Alabama and shoot a gun if I wanted to because I didn't live in the city limits. His response? "Thank God for the Alabama's of this country."
Nick Swisher hit a two run home run against the Texas Rangers pitcher but I missed it because I was engaged in conversation. I didn't care, I was having a great time talking to these folks.
The Yankee's wound up winning the game 3-0, but more importantly, I walked away with a few new friends and a new appreciation for New Yorkers (a few of them anyway).
Sunday, August 12, 2012
2016 (warning: politically motivated post)
Having recently returned from a local movie theater featuring the documentary 2016: Obama's America, I cannot stress enough the importance placed upon every American to see this film. Describing and detailing who Barrack Hussein Obama truly is as a man, a person and a president, this eye-opening documentary will leave you scared and cringing in your seat. Without giving away too much of the film, I would like to point out a few things instrumental in Obama's desire to move the United States of America into financial ruin and moral decay:
I must admit a high degree of nervousness about the upcoming election and hope everyone makes an informed decision before casting a vote. Click here for more information------>2016: Obama's America
- Obama's father, BHO, Sr. and his mother were both anti-colonialization patriarchs.
- Obama's idea of America is we are ALL part of the 1 percent he so much detests (even our poor are rich by third world standards). As a result, he wants to displace money and power from America to developing nations.
- Because he never had his biological father in his life, he idealized and idolized his dad in his own mind. Wanting to make his dad proud, post-mortem, he continues down the path of destroying the United States from the inside out.
- He delays drilling for oil domestically but sends millions of tax payer dollars overseas to drill for their oil, thereby forcing oil/gas prices up domestically and simultaneously driving up unemployment in the private sector.
- He's removing America's nuclear position in the world yet takes no action against Iran's ambition to secure nuclear weapons.
- He supported Egypt and Libya's violent Arab Spring overthrow of government, but took no action against Syria's revolt that has seen massive genocide on a monumental level.
I must admit a high degree of nervousness about the upcoming election and hope everyone makes an informed decision before casting a vote. Click here for more information------>2016: Obama's America
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
a homeowner's dilema
My wife and I live in a very nice suburban Chicago town, free of hardcore crime (I do occasionally run a random stop sign and speed through yellow traffic lights) and most of the stress that comes from living in a large downtown city. Our town falls within the realm of the Chicago-land metropolitan area, but it's far enough away from downtown to be considered its own town, has its own mayor and police force and is generally a pretty conservative area in stark contrast to the land de la Rahm.
Our neighborhood is a part of a homeowners association. For those of you who've never had the pleasure of belonging to a homeowners association, let me enlighten you! In restricted neighborhoods, there is a voluntary group of home nazis who are charged with enforcing covenants and restrictions put in place at the time the neighborhood was created. They also deal with some of the most petty, ridiculous things one could imagine. I know this because I currently hold the neighborhood's head nazi position; I am the HOA (homeowners association) president. We have neighbors who so utterly detest the person they live next to, they will stop at nothing to irritate them. One guy in particular piles broken tree limbs and leaves up on the property line dividing his yard and his neighbor's yard. This so incenses his next door neighbor that he feels the need to contact me to mediate the issue.
A group of neighbors didn't like the fact that one family wanted to put an above ground pool in their back yard. So infuriated they became, a petition drive was formed to stop the pool from being erected, a large group of homeowners met with the board to discuss how the pool would deflate home values and would be a general neighborhood nuisance; all around disdain was forced upon the poor homeowners who simply wanted a pool for their kids.
Recently, a couple put their home up for sale. A real estate sign was placed in the front yard and one was placed in the back yard, which butts up against a fairly well traveled road in town. A neighbor didn't like the sign in the back yard and e-mailed the homeowner to remove it, as the sign, he purported, violated both the covenants and restrictions AND local city code. Laughingly, the seller responded to the complainer that the sign most certainly did not violate the covenants and restrictions, and upon further discussion with the city, confirmed there was no violation of local code.
As you can imagine, the complaining homeowner didn't take this lying down and notified the city of his intent to appeal what he felt like was a blatant violation of city code (two signs at one residence, he stated, violated a city code) and the code enforcement office lack of jurisprudence in rendering their decision to allow the homeowner to have his two signs. Oh, the injustice of it all!
So now I have to go to a code enforcement meeting because, as you may have guessed, I am the homeowner with two signs in his yard. Had my idiotic neighbor been a little nicer about his discontent for the second sign I might have removed it, but as it is, I will refuse until told differently by the city. I look forward to my day in code enforcement court, which is tonight by the way. And if I ever see this complaining neighbor, who obviously needs a hobby or a girlfriend, I'll be certain to wave to him, one lone finger flown as a greeting!
Our neighborhood is a part of a homeowners association. For those of you who've never had the pleasure of belonging to a homeowners association, let me enlighten you! In restricted neighborhoods, there is a voluntary group of home nazis who are charged with enforcing covenants and restrictions put in place at the time the neighborhood was created. They also deal with some of the most petty, ridiculous things one could imagine. I know this because I currently hold the neighborhood's head nazi position; I am the HOA (homeowners association) president. We have neighbors who so utterly detest the person they live next to, they will stop at nothing to irritate them. One guy in particular piles broken tree limbs and leaves up on the property line dividing his yard and his neighbor's yard. This so incenses his next door neighbor that he feels the need to contact me to mediate the issue.
A group of neighbors didn't like the fact that one family wanted to put an above ground pool in their back yard. So infuriated they became, a petition drive was formed to stop the pool from being erected, a large group of homeowners met with the board to discuss how the pool would deflate home values and would be a general neighborhood nuisance; all around disdain was forced upon the poor homeowners who simply wanted a pool for their kids.
Recently, a couple put their home up for sale. A real estate sign was placed in the front yard and one was placed in the back yard, which butts up against a fairly well traveled road in town. A neighbor didn't like the sign in the back yard and e-mailed the homeowner to remove it, as the sign, he purported, violated both the covenants and restrictions AND local city code. Laughingly, the seller responded to the complainer that the sign most certainly did not violate the covenants and restrictions, and upon further discussion with the city, confirmed there was no violation of local code.
As you can imagine, the complaining homeowner didn't take this lying down and notified the city of his intent to appeal what he felt like was a blatant violation of city code (two signs at one residence, he stated, violated a city code) and the code enforcement office lack of jurisprudence in rendering their decision to allow the homeowner to have his two signs. Oh, the injustice of it all!
So now I have to go to a code enforcement meeting because, as you may have guessed, I am the homeowner with two signs in his yard. Had my idiotic neighbor been a little nicer about his discontent for the second sign I might have removed it, but as it is, I will refuse until told differently by the city. I look forward to my day in code enforcement court, which is tonight by the way. And if I ever see this complaining neighbor, who obviously needs a hobby or a girlfriend, I'll be certain to wave to him, one lone finger flown as a greeting!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)