Weekend Update

I have not posted anything on here in a while.  I feel like I should.  I know that my fans are just dying to here from me.

Things have been going well out here.  Though nothing is perfect.

Sylvia and Josh moved out here a few weeks ago.  Sylvia was a friend of Lauren's in High School and college.  She moved out here with her boyfriend Josh.  It is really interesting for us to sit back and listen to their thought processes and experiences involved in choosing Portland.  They needed to get out of the Berkshires.  They had never been here before.  They decided that they wanted to live in a big city.  They decided they wanted to live near the ocean.  They decided that they did not want to live on the east coast.  They looked at all of the major cities and locations on the west coast.  San Francisco was too expensive.  Northern California did not have the job market.  Southern California was not their style.  Eventually, it boiled down to Seattle and Portland.  They chose Portland for a variety of reasons.  Portland is smaller.  Portland is closer to nature.  Portland has more of a small town feel.  Portland has better public transit.  Portland is cheaper.

The similarities are uncanny.

It is nice to have some folks out here from the home front.  They came over on Friday night to watch the Sox game.  We ordered take out chinese, drank Oregon Pinot, watched the game and had some nice chats.

I have been working for Yahoo! for 2 weeks now.  I am half way through a 4 week training program.  Last week was their annual 'employee appreciation week'.  The entire week was jam packed full of fun events.  We had cornhole, ping pong and guitar hero tournaments.  We had trivia, bingo and 'name that tune'.  We had team projects where everyone built bridges out of popsicle sticks.  The shut the business down on Thursday at 2pm.  We had a talent show.  Yahoo!'s got to show off their stuff.  The winner received a check for $500.  Then we had drinks and snacks.  We had breakfast and lunch served to us free of charge.

It is, overall, a pretty nice place to work.  The cafeteria is nice.  There is a free soda machine.  Unlimited drinks.  We have two large flat screen televisions.  One is always on MSNBC and the other is always on ESPN.  There is a cafe that has espresso, cappuccino, lattes, real frut smoothies and more free of charge.  We have game rooms with an xbox, ping pong, chess, checkers, etc.  They do well for making a semi-crappy job good.  And the pay and benefits are excellent.  I was able to provide Lauren with health insurance.  That might be the best benefit.

But I am worried.  The state of the economy has rumors of layoffs circulating throughout the nation.  My job is based on businesses having money to advertise on the internet.  That is based on people having enough money to shop.

I can only keep on plugging away.

Lauren and I have been attending a church.  http://www.imagodeicommunity.com/

I dig it.  Pastor Rick really knows how to lay down a message.  It is right in our neighborhood.  We ride our bikes there every Sunday.

Today's sermon was about Christmas.  As Pastor Rick jokingly stated, this is because 'we all really hate Halloween."  Imago Dei is a part of Advent Conspiracy.  http://www.adventconspiracy.org/  They are a network of churches that are trying to encourage people to leave the consumerism of Christmas behind.  As Rick said today, 'Consumerism is a relgion'.  And it is one that leaves us perpetually unsatisfied.  The idea behind this program is to get people to buy less, worship more and give more.  Our church will be holding a fundraising event where it encourages people to buy less presents and give more to the community.  The money last year went to building bridges in Africa.  In addition to that, this year they will be focusing of high school dropouts in Portland and our homeless population.  He tried to make the point pretty clear that this is not charity or simply giving.  It is about a change in thought processes regarding Christmas.

We went out to our pumpking patch yesterday.  See Lauren's blog for pictures.  It was the first time that we have done something for a 'second time' in Portland.  Lauren baked a delicious apple pie yesterday and is making some pumpkin pie later in the week.  I strongly encourage anyone that has not had home made pumpkin pie to try it.  It will rock your world.

She just made some fondue.  And I am hungry.  So we will have to continue this another time.

October

I would like to see a Sox/Dodgers World Series.

I want to see Manny Ramirez receive a standing ovation before his first at-bat at Fenway.

Nothing else is respecatable.

After that, all gloves are off.

some bright morning

And because of my anguish I was driven, naturally enough, to fervent though interested prayer.  But after all God does not care if our prayers are interested.  He wants them to be.  Ask and you shall receive.  It is a kind of pride to insist that none of our prayers should ever be petitions for our own needs: for this is only another subtle  way of trying to put ourselves on the same plane as God - acting as if we had no needs, as if we were not creatures, not dependent on Him and dependent, by His will, on material things too.

Election '08

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I have been voting for about 10 years now. I have never voted for a candidate in the two major party's. The one exception to this has always been Senator Ted Kennedy. As a one time, and long time, resident of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts I have always had enormous respect for Senator Kennedy and all he has done for our nation and our state.

However, for the most part, I have stayed clear of the nastiness that goes on in the two major political parties.

In 2000 I voted for Ralph Nader. I did not see any real difference between George Bush and Al Gore. I stick to that decision today. I read Nader's book that he wrote afterwards. It only confirmed my convictions.

In 2004 I was so disgusted with the selection of John Kerry and his subsequent campaign that I voted for Ted Kennedy. If the nation was going to choose a Massachusetts Senator they might as well have chosen the one with a backbone. On a side note, it does seen that Senator Kerry has found his backbone as evidenced in his performance at the Democratic Convention this year. But that is neither here nor there.

For governor of Massachusetts I have voted for both Ted Kennedy and Fidel Castro.

I have not yet voted in Oregon. I will get my first crack at that this November.

This year, in the presidential election, I have decided to do something that I have never done before.

I am voting for a nominee of one of the two major political parties.

I am doing this because:

I believe that John McCain is an absolute threat to this country.
Obama has a far better tax plan.
My taxes would be lower under Obama.
Every single person I know personally would have lower taxes under Obama.
The many people that I know that are uninsured could get health insurance under an Obama administration.
Obama supports ways to make higher education more affordable for working class families.
This has been the number one issue in my life.
McCain had the audacity to propose a spending freeze during the debate.
I find this line of thinking incredibly dangerous.
McCain supports the Ronald Reagan economic philosophy of deregulation that got us into this mess in the first place.
McCain was wrong about Iraq and I do not trust him to be wrong about war again.
I believe that McCain would be much more likely to invade Iran, North Korea and even Russia.
I do not believe that any of these actions would make us safe.
McCain refuses to sit down and talk to hostile foreign nations without preconditions.
I find this policy to be sophomoric and have already seen it fail over the last 8 years.
I do not believe that Senator John McCain will be fit to serve for a full 8 years.
In his absence Alaskan Governor Sarah Pallin would take charge of the country.
She is not smart enough.
She is not educated enough.
She is not on top of the issues.
She is wrong on the issues that she does have some knowledge of.
She would, single handedly, destroy this country.
If McCain did not do it himself.
The only reason Obama might lose this election is because of his race.
I do not intend to see that happen.
The right wing television mediat has made it clear that Obama is 'black'.
I will vote for him because of that.
I respect him.
I respect his background.
As someone that grew up in a poor and broken home I understand.
I respect even more that he did this as a young black man.
I respect that he broke away from a life of drugs.
I respect that he was at the top of his class at Harvard Law.
I want a president that can compete with me intellectually.
I want a president that has one up on me intellectually.
I find John McCain and his running mate Sarah Palin absolutely dangerous for this country.
I am engaged.
I am getting married.
I may children of my own one day.
I do not wish to let them into a world that John McCain and Sarah Palin will help shape.
They might destroy it all.

Random Thoughts Collected at The End

It is my last day of work.



I am bored.


I don't know how much I like the term 'fiance'. I am not sure what etiquette is in regards to an engagement. People that have always known Lauren as 'my girlfriend' now have to know her as 'my fiance'. I think.

How do I refer to her to people that I have known throughout the duration of our relationship? Two weeks ago she was my girlfriend. Now her title has changed.


And don't even get me started about 'Lauren Drury'.



I try to refer to her as simply 'lauren' to anyone that I know. It is more respectful. But the situation does come up.


The Red Sox are in the playoffs. It is nice to see the franchise doing so well lately. I am still very sad to see Manny go. Dustin Pedroia is turning out much more valuable than even his biggest supporters expected. I wonder what the future holds for Varitek. Our pitching staff could use some tweaking next year. I hope we keep Lowrie. It is a better option than spending big money on a Short Stop again. I wonder how our outfield will look next year.



The Bears are 1-2. They very well could be 3-0. A decent team.


I really enjoy sports.


I start my new job Monday. I love 4 day weekends. I am going to miss the bike ride to work. I will be carpooling with a friend for the time being. I might bike to the light rail station again next summer. I am hoping that the job opens up my free time more. I would like to get outside, exercise, ride my bike, go to market, go to church, go out to eat, etc. Before my time was always swallowed up trying to make ends meet. I can not count how many hours I spent applying for jobs over the past year. I can keep my second job working for unions from home. Bit I don't have to kill myself adding an additional 8 hrs on workday when projects come in.


We are breaking our bondage to the cell phone industry. We currently pay a total of $80/month for two cell phones. We have ordered Vonage and will be paying only $14.99/month. Vonage has as many minutes as our cell phone plan and long distance. We will be canceling our cell phones later this week. It is amazing that so many people have become addicted to these things. They are expensive, require very long contracts and can cost alot of money on a per month basis. I survived 21 years without one. It took me along time to be convinced of their necessity even after I had one. I do not know if I was ever fully convinced.


Phone shopping was fun. We spent 20 minutes in Target 'practice answering' phones.



I think we are have friends over on Friday. We are becoming so very popular here in Portland. We are going to have food, White Russians, watch some of the debate and maybe the Big Lebowski.


Someone that Lauren knows from Pittsfield is moving here within the month.



See Stuff White People Like #111 (It is in the book but might not be posted online yet)




I am at work.




It is my last day.

Official Officiant

I like to take the idea of who will marry us seriously.

I do not want to just have some friend or a bum off the street become a certified officiant and perform the ceremony.



I know that this sort of thing, especially the friend option, has become popular as of late. I do not support it.



I have considered the idea of having a Justice of the Peace do it. The idea seems acceptable enough. They are, after all, agents of the state. It is through the state that we are married. It is through the state, or society, that we profess our union. It is through the state, or society, that we receive special benefits and designations that are reserved only for the married.

But I also like to think that there is more than that.


I am open to have a minister or some other member of the church marry us. However, I run into several logistical problems with this. Lauren's family is pretty staunchly Catholic. I do get the impression that the inclusion of other faiths, even Christian ones, would not be warmly accepted. I am not Catholic. I say this despite the fact that I was baptized in the Church as a small baby. It was my last real experience with the Catholic Church.

I can not say that I agree with the Catholic Church on everything. I can say that I disagree with them on much on the surface. Although I do openly admit my ignorance on much of the subject matter.


I do not know how comfortable I am being married in the Catholic Church. I am open to the idea of a Catholic Priest performing the ceremony outside of the Church. But I do not know if we would find a Priest willing.

It is hard because I do not live within 3000 miles of the place where we will be married. And our only familial ties with a church are through the Catholic Church.



It is a decision. That we will have to make.

Work Nervous Sad Funny

I am writing from the call center of Telelanguage, Inc. When I am done I am going to email this to Lauren. She is going to post it for me.

I do not have internet access here. I can use google, craigslist and the Oregon Department of Labor's website. That's about it. The google 'news' feature has saved me on more than one occasion. I can look at the cover page. If an article is from the associated press I can read it in it's entirety. I have Lauren email me articles on current political trends, fantasy sports or anything else that I might find even remotely stimulating.

I get the days edition of 'Pearls before Swine' and 'Get Fuzzy' emailed to me as well.


I answer and dial all day long. Clients, primarily, hospitals call to schedule interpreters. I enter the order in the database. I call the interpreters, independent contractors, and try to fill the appointments.

If an interpreter is late, lazy, stupid or not very good at life the call, and the blame, comes to me. I spend all day on the phone with people that do not want to talk to me. I am an intermediary. I am an intermediary for a task that many people resent. Some members of the hospital staff make no attempts to hide their contempt for non-English speaking patients.

Things I have been told on the phone:

'I would like a Hispanic Interpreter'
'I would like a Mexican Interpreter'
'I don't know what language they speak. Can't you tell by the name?'
'I would like Southeast Asian'
'You know, your oriental interpreters are very lazy'
'I don't know what language they speak. That's your job'
'I would like an African Interpreter'


You can often sense the resentment coming through the telephone line.



Not all are like this however. And I have learned to cope with it much better. I have gotten much better at what I do.



Today is my second to last day. I start at Yahoo! on Monday. I am going to be a Small Business Associate. Through email and incoming telephone calls I will be working with small business that want their company to appear on Yahoo! search results. I will be using Excel to sort data and provide them with keywords and advertising help.


Or something like that.


I will be working 18 miles from my house. I will be making a ton more money. I will have a really great benefits package. I can get Lauren health insurance immediately.




I always get nervous about starting a new job.




I have grand ideas about writing another blog about faith. We'll see how that goes. I need more time. I need to not be at work.


I came across a quote from Mother Theresa the other day declaring that abortion was the greatest evil in the world.


It made me sad. There are things I see on the streets of Portland that are far worse. There are things I see every day that I think would sadden god much more.


I think that the Christian community has gotten the abortion issue wrong. I think the same applies to gay marriage. I think that these two issues, and the position that many prominent Christians have taken on them have done much to damage the body of Christ.


I started thinking along these lines after I started reading the bible.


It saddens me.


But more of that later.



In other news....


Check out www.stuffwhitepeoplelike.com

Funniest stuff I have seen in a while.