Firearms Friday: For Whom Are You Really Voting?

This is how we started the year... how will it look in four years? 

Well, the campaigns are now in full swing and it seems like every other commercial is sponsored by the Clinton campaign (or some associated group). There are also the various campaign spots from local politicians filling the screen as well but that is another topic for another day. Back to the national campaigns… so far I haven’t seen much regarding the qualifications of Hillary Clinton being ‘promoted’ in these advertisements rather they have been going out of their way to attack Donald Trump and some of his statements which have been clearly taken out of context.

Heck, even my wife has been disturbed by this trend. But this shouldn’t really be a surprised for those of us who have put some thought into the presidential race as there are no ‘qualifications’ or ‘accomplishments’ to be found in her record that would, in any way, support her candidacy. After all, an ad buy promoting Obamacare, Benghazi, and private servers wouldn’t really be part of a winning strategy. It is actually rather pathetic the lack of concise information present to support her rather than simply opposing Trump.

However, I digress. What I really want to bring to the fore is what is of utmost importance in this election cycle. It isn’t Obamacare or the economy. It isn’t race relations or military operations. It isn’t international relations or the national debt. While these are all important in their own right they are not of primary concern this time around. In fact, it really isn’t about who is occupying the White House. It’s about the Supreme Court not the Presidency!

In addition to the seat left vacant upon Antonin Scalia’s death this past February, there are likely to be three other appointments which need to be made by the next president. After all, there are currently three associate justices who are 78, 80, and 83 years old respectively. For those of you interested, below is a list of the current court with ages and by which president they were appointed:

John Roberts (Chief Justice), 61, George W. Bush

Anthony Kennedy, 80, Ronald Reagan

Clarence Thomas, 68, George H. W. Bush

Ruth Bader Ginzburg, 83, Bill Clinton

Stephen Breyer, 78, Bill Clinton

Samuel Alito Jr, 66, George W. Bush

Sonia Sotomayor, 62, Barak Obama

Elena Kagan, 56, Barak Obama

The Supreme Court is the body that will determine the direction of this nation not the individual in the oval office. Whomever wins this election and takes office in January will determine the course of this country for the next generation not the next four or eight years. Personally, and I know I am not alone in this thinking, I would prefer a conservative court that upholds our rights (especially the second amendment), limits the power held by those in Washington, and, most importantly, support and defends the Constitution. It is scary to think about the possibility of a court where five of the justices where appointed by a Clinton and two more where appointed by Obama. That is a future that none of us can afford.  

TMI Tuesday: Hey, This Isn’t Camp!

Given the length of time that our son had been away from daycare, my wife and I decided to send him to camp this summer. This chaos that ensued during the spring took him away from the classroom and his friends so we thought it only right that he enjoy a few weeks this summer with others and, more importantly, outside of the house. Of course, it also helps that my wife gets a little respite as she has been caring for him and taking him to various places and get-togethers constantly these last few months and that is a lot to ask of her. There are also a few things that need to be scheduled and having the flexibility during the day is more of a necessity rather than a luxury.

The first few days that we restarted the routine our son seemed a little thrown off but went with it as he is always looking for an excuse to go for a ride in the car. Although he did give me quite the interesting look the first couple of days when I said that he was "going to camp" (see picture above). As he has readjusted to the routine, he is less enthused about possibly going somewhere new and now simply looks forward to “going to camp” every morning. Of course, he does give me a look as if to say, “You’re not fooling me daddy. I know that this isn’t camp. It’s the same school I was going to before.”

And part of this routine is that he is really tired when he gets home at the end of the day. Don’t get me wrong, he still insists on staying up so that he can see daddy but, if he had the choice, he would probably go to bed at around 6:30. But this seems to be getting better as well. The longer that we have had him going, the more that he has adapted to the schedule and he is getting a lot better at staying up at the end of the day.

I guess the important thing to note is that, like countless instances before, we can’t simply fool our son. He knows where he is going, he knows the routine, and he knows the daily schedule. Sometimes he doesn’t like it (especially if he didn’t sleep well the night before) but he, for the most part, accepts it. And, for mommy and daddy, while there are difficult moments, it has allowed us to get a lot more done around the house and has given us, my wife in particular, the flexibility to make some appointments during the day.

Mortgage Monday: Water, Garage Doors, And Security

Last week I spent some time working from home but, just like the days that I decide to “take off”, it was for the simple reason that there was work that needed to be done at the house. Actually, I wasn’t doing any of the work, I was there so that could answer any questions that may come about from the minor projects around the house. Namely, over the two days at the end of the week we had Martin complete an inspection of our filtration system, Shank install the garage doors, and ADT check a few of the sensors that we have had to adjust lately.

Surprisingly, all of these appointments went about as smooth as possible beginning with the garage doors on Thursday. The old doors were exactly that and with the one destroying itself a few months ago, it was something that needed to be done this summer. Now seeing the new doors in place, the features that Shank includes, and hearing how quiet the new motors are, we are really glad that we made room in the budget to get this done. Of course, it helps that the person installing them really knew what they were doing and had the full swap out (doors, motors, tracks, sensors, etc.) done faster than I was expecting.

Friday morning the door bell chimed at about a quarter to eight in the morning. While I am all for being on time or even early to appointments, it isn’t as pleasant when ADT has already screwed up the scheduling (I made the appointment for and confirmed it with customer service at the time for the 12-5 window). This on top of the fact that the technician expects our full attention as we are in the middle of our son’s morning routine. Just one of many issued that we have had with that company so far. After a few unexpected (and without warning) triggers of the alarm and a few moments of puzzled contemplation regarding the use of adhesive, the work was completed and the rest of the morning could begin.

Martin Water was the third and final appointment of the week and as they were the ones who maintained this system previously, it was a pretty straightforward process. And it was great that they took the time to go through the steps that I need to follow to properly maintain the system. I was shown once before when we bought the house exactly what needed to be done but I can’t say that a whole lot of information was retained that chaotic week.

So, it may not be a big dent in our overall plans for the week but we were able to at least get things started while making sure a couple of the other things in the house don’t become future projects. And while ADT may be lacking at times the important thing is that the security system and monitoring are still solid. As for Shank Doors and Martin Water, don’t hesitate for a second if you are in need of their services… their prices and the quality of their work is exceptional. That is all… for now.

Busy Day Off

A day off is never simply a day off anymore. While there are occasions when I have taken some time to travel or go to different events, lately that hasn’t been the case as there are simply too many things that need to get done or appointments that need to be scheduled. Yesterday was a prime example of this new, self-created, reality as I originally took the day off to speak at an event in the afternoon and go to my son’s appointment in the early evening. Well, that isn’t exactly how things ended up working out.

Having slept in an extra thirty minutes on Sunday, I told my wife that I would take care of breakfast for our son in the morning. It is actually pretty fun spending the time with him and he is usually pretty patient with me when it takes a little longer to prepare his meal. By the time he was done eating and I had finished waking up, half of the morning was already gone and the first appointment of the day was about to begin. When I previously said that I needed to get more estimates done for the various projects around the house I wasn’t kidding.

As I discussed all the options and what exactly needed to be done with the garage door company, my wife headed out to a local event as one of the orchards in the area with our son. After my meeting was done and the quote in hand, I got in the car and drove the ten minutes down the road to meet up with them. It was actually pretty interesting watching my son walk along the long rows of strawberries eating all of the fruit out of the small basket almost as soon as my wife put it in there. When we finished picking our pile (pile and a half when accounting for all the ones our son consumed), we got back in our cars and headed home where we finished feeding out son his lunch, played a bit, and put him down for his nap.

Just as we were about to take him upstairs, the doorbell rang and the second appointment of the day began. This time we received a quote for my office doors (and a few ballpark figures for the deck and porch that we would like to add later). Like the first quote of the day, it was much lower than the initial estimates that I received. Unfortunately, that was the end of the estimates as the third appointment had to be rescheduled for next week… honestly, I don’t know if they are going to be able to beat the price I just got from this company but we will have to wait and see.

After taking a short break when I was able to check the mail, send a few emails, and waking up our son for his snack, we got back in the car and headed north to the pediatrician’s office. It was a great checkup that I will write about later and, fortunately, the waiting room wasn’t filled with Gosselins. Like many days away from the office, time seemed to evaporate from by grasp and before we had another moment to catch our breath, the day was winding down and we were planning for the follow day. All of this and I still wasn't able to fit everything into my schedule. And, at the moment, it looks like my next day out of the office will be just as busy next week.

Filling The Planner

It is amazing how fast my daily planner has filled up this year. As soon as I purchased the paper planner at the beginning of the year, I quickly started filling in the events and appointments that I had on hand at the time. This included work, lodge, personal and other reminders of what each day had in store for me. It has also served me well in scheduling different topics for the blog and had come in handing on a number of occasions both as a means to remind me of what I am writing about but, more importantly, of where I can move some topics when another blog needs to be written right away.

While some, many in fact, will see my bound paper planner as an antiquated form of organization, it still remains the most efficient form for me. Not only do I seem to do better when I am able to write things down, cross items off, and budget my time accordingly, it also forces me to slow down and remember what I am putting into my schedule. This is especially true for work engagements as it is too easy to simply accept a calendar invite. By pulling out my planner and recording the meeting, I tend to recall the commitment days earlier rather than fifteen minutes prior.

Of course, the most important part for me is the simplicity of this paper based system. I still enjoy writing many things by hand and editing documents by hand and having this out has allowed me to maintain my tactile focus without the constant windows and websites loading in the background just beyond the word document. It also eliminates the digital clutter that can become commonplace in an industry that relies so heavily on the digital world. Even when crossing off multiple items and shifting appointments around, the physical paper still seems cleaner than the digital jumble.

Another benefit of this ‘old school’ system has been the fact that I am able to schedule anything I need to without having to consult my computer or smart phone. It is a system that still transcends generations and given the frequent communication I have with many older generations, this can be a huge asset. Lastly, there is a sense of permanence and obligation when you write down a meeting in front of someone. The digital divide is still alive and well so appointments change regularly when simply typed into a computer or phone. Write down an appointment in front of someone and they tend to honor that arrangement more regularly.

In the end, I guess I am one of the few remaining that still prefers the physical planner over the digital calendar. In a sense, there is something a little out of touch about this method and I am okay with that. I don’t mind being ‘behind the times’ as it pertains to how I go about my day. There is a calmness to nostalgia and the simpler way of doing things that seems to be lost in most technology. All of these things are designed to make our lives easier but is that really what they are doing? For me, the pendulum swings both ways and sometimes it is nice to swing into the past.

TMI Tuesday: Appointments

It seems that whenever we take our son to the doctor there is always another appointment to be scheduled. Thankfully, he is actually pretty good in the waiting room and even on the examination table so long as we are there and there is plenty of tissue paper to play with. However, the service that we have received from his current pediatrician has fallen far short of the expectations of quality care. The last two appointments are indicative of this level of service.

With our overachieving son deciding to cut about a half dozen teeth at the same time, we have run into a few bumps both during the night and throughout the day. It has interrupted his sleep patterns which have always been pretty good and it has had an impact on his eating. While he is still healthy and generally happy he does have his moments and once things had continued for some time we decided to bring him in to see the doctor. Keep in mind that this was after we called and were told to bring him in to see said doctor if things continued.

While I am not usually a stickler for these things when I make an appointment to see the doctor, especially when acting upon their own advice, don’t give us a hard time making the appointment and make sure that we see the doctor not just someone you call “doctor”. On top of that, it would be nice if this “doctor” would follow the same plan as the actual doctor instead of contradicting almost everything that we have been told and arguing with us each time we said anything.

That was just the first example. The second is the fact that one of the nurses, who too frequently handle the appointments, insisted that we take our son to an Ophthalmologist because he would probably need either glasses or a temporary eye patch. I honestly never noticed a lazy eye but we made the appointment to get it checked out and my wife and I spent some time trying to figure out how to deal with this new situation as we waited for the scheduled day to arrive. A couple of weeks ago, we took our son to see the specialist and it didn’t take but maybe 10 seconds for him to tell us that there was nothing wrong.

It wasn’t even a question… he found nothing. And, while he wasn’t about to say anything directly, we had a little conversation about how we should have probably never been sent there. Nice to have a professional back up the opinion that I have already been forming in my head about the current office. Needless to say, it has not been an easy experience and continued to be a difficult process simply getting someone on the phone at times as well as every time we try to schedule an appointment. Goes to show, sometimes the most well-meaning opinions and advice that you received about a place beforehand are, at the very least, subjective and experience is what really matters.

Changing the Schedule

I try to keep a pretty accurate schedule as there are a lot of things that I have going on at any given time. Events, calls, and appointments are all planned out but I also have to track my hours and keep to my check list throughout each day or things are missed. It is by no means a 100% reliable system but it has worked thus far and it keeps me, more often than not, from having to push things off or reschedule certain tasks. Of course, as I have written about before, sometime I get behind and there is no other alternative than to shift things from one day to the next.

Those moments when I realize that things need to be moved is not a very pleasant one as I know at the very least it is going to ripple across my week if not the entire month. Some things, like taxes, have even been pushed back several months. Even with all of these things that have been transitioned to other dates and times, there have been a few things that have been cancelled altogether. This mostly applies to lodge activities and events but it still opens up my calendar just a little bit so that there is some hope that I can get caught up sooner rather than later.

Lately in particular there has been a lot of shuffling going on in my calendar. Some things are unavoidable as schedules and situations change but, in the end, it all works out. My work, lodge, and personal calendars have all been in flux with events being cancelled, appointments rescheduled, and calls rearranged. Oh well, such is the nature of work, life, and the lodge.

So, as I write this post, I am finally up to date on most things but by the time you read these words I am, most likely, way behind and trying to do whatever I can to catch up. There will have been things moved, rescheduled, and cancelled. I guess this is why I can never give a definitive answer as soon as someone asks if I am free as even when I think I know the answer and that slot may have been open yesterday, it doesn't mean that I am still available to attend or get on the phone.

Thankfully, the adoption of a new phone has been a huge help in keeping things organized as I have been able to sync all of my calendars to a central location/device. I never gave too much thought in the past to the importance of this simplicity but it has made a huge difference in my ability to get things done and accurately plan for future days and weeks. Don’t get me wrong, it is still a bit of a cluster but at least it is a bit more manageable.

Not Just Another Day Out Of The Office

This time last week I left the office in the middle of the day to go to a doctor’s appointment. While the timing was not ideal, it was the only appointment that worked in both our schedules. Fortunately, everyone at my office knows that I only schedule things in the middle of the day if there is no other option available so they were fine with me leaving at two. Honestly, I don’t know how I would have gotten over it if I was not there to see the first pictures of our baby. Yes, you read that correctly, I am going to be a father. Happy wood anniversary to us!

While we had the tests done to confirm the previous week, this first ultrasound was a completely different experience when you see the fast flicker of the heart on the screen. It is an instantaneous bond that most have experienced but no one has been able to accurately express. It is a life changing moment that makes you reconsider your perspective of the world around you. For some, their views change but as for me, to my surprise, that moment solidified every perspective that I have expressed in this blog and in person to many of you. In fact, I am glad that I have continued to write as I want my child to look back and really know who I am (like Michael Keaton in “My Life” except I am not dying anytime soon).

Above all, it is an immense feeling of excitement and fear. I am excited to see our child, teach them about life, share with them the thing that I have learned in my limited years, and make sure that they don’t make the mistakes, of which there are too many to list, that I have in my life. I am also fearful of falling short as a father and for the simple fact that I am now responsible for another human being on this earth and that I must do everything in my power to protect my child and keep them safe. Simply put, I worry that my child will not look at me the same way that I look at my dad.

So, this is the last means of communication in announcing this exciting news. We have seen and heard a wide variety of reactions to this news and we have tried to soak it all up as the experience washed over us like a tsunami. But even though it is sometimes difficult to process moment to moment, it is a time that I will never forget especially when I was able to see my mom’s face when she realized why it would take eight months before her birthday present arrived. And just think, this is only the first of many moments that I will carry with me for the rest of my life.

Inevitable Appointments

For the first time since I can’t remember when, I think it has been about a year, I made time to see the doctor. Actually, I have been to two doctor’s appointments in the past week. I think that is enough at least for a little while. Don’t worry, it is nothing that is to be concerned about, they were just a couple of checkups. The first was with the regular doctor and the second was basically a double check.

Fortunately, I have the flexibility at work to set appointments that are otherwise not possible… this was an issue when I was working hourly and either didn’t have the time or I was just too darn tired during the normal waking hours to get myself to the office. But now, I have the time, and I am able to make sure I get to the checkups. Maybe I should make this a regular thing just to make sure that nothing does come up.

While I am not a fan of how the health insurance industry if forced to operate these days, it still works, and I really don’t know if such appointments would be possible without it. There have certainly been issues lately with coverage, specifically with getting my wife covered, but that has all been taken care of now. Things seem to be back to usual at the moment.

One thing that I have really come to appreciate in the last couple or few years is the importance of having a doctor that works for me. The office I go to is a very small husband and wife team that harkens back to the neighborhood doctor. Actually, my father grew up with him and he, after medical school, took over his father’s practice and bought the house in which he grew up. He can have a bit of an abrupt demeanor at times but it is always with a sense of looking out for what is best for me. On top of that, these days, with referrals a requirement, this office makes the process easy. It truly is the epitome of a family practice.

While these kinds of offices are slowly disappearing, the recent healthcare legislation seems to be speeding up their disappearance at a staggering rate. The family practice and the attention one receives from such offices, will soon be nothing more than a memory. But until that day comes, even with his shortcomings, I will continue to see my family doctor and do my best to listen to what he says. I’ll at least try.