November 2, 1995 Volume 1, No. 2

CAMPING?: If that's what you want to call it...got hooked up Friday afternoon...loaded everyone into the car...only 3 kids on this trip...3 dogs...then the rain started...we headed into the sunset...pourin' rain...a weekend cooped up in our trailer with all this life...how lucky could I be...we got there well after dark...everyone else was set up...drinkin' a brew...havin' some food... we try to get in our usual spot in the circle...this site is a group site...we circle our trailers... kind of like the old days and the covered wagons...gotta keep the Injuns out ya' know...my whole rig starts sliding sideways in the mud...after several tries we finally get it unhooked...set up...fall in bed exhausted...we carved pumpkins...went to a haunted house...built a big fire...enjoyed watching the hour fall back...got up on Sunday...packed it all up...headed home...a lot of work...but at least the hair dryers worked... and the microwave...and the TV.

SURVIVOR GUILT: Have you ever been through a "reduction in force"...one of the ones that remains?...or worse yet have to make a decision about which of these people you know personally has to go?...let me tell ya'...it ain't fun...not that bein' out of a job suddenly is fun...but there are two sides to everything...it's been purty gloomy where I work recently... we were supposed to wear costumes to work on Tuesday but hardly anyone did...the atmosphere has changed...how long does it take to heal?

ON A HAPPIER NOTE: Basketball season starts soon...the boys have signed up...practice starts this week... makes it kind of hard to juggle the schedules...soccer's still in full swing...lot's of night games to make up for the ones that were rained out...cold...windy...then off to basketball practice...then homework...idle hands are the devil's workshop!...they tried to convince me I should referee the basketball games...I ran like a scalded cat!...doin' soccer's all the abuse I wanna take!...at least the folks aren't as close to your calls in soccer.

WEB FAD: Have you noticed how many television programs have web sites now?...or even the movie ads give a home page address for the movie?...of course I've gotta try to do 'em all...there just isn't enough time in the day or enough computing power to see it all...seems like it won't be too long before it all blends together...internet acccess will be through the cable company...television shows will be mpeg productions over the 'net...pay-per-view'll be the same...just another page...what a concept...guess I'll have to trade in my computer...for a pair of tennis shoes or something... I don't know what that meant...it was just a stray thought that wandered in...got put down for posterity...maybe they can write a television show about it.

ER TONIGHT: Good thing my daughter gets off work at 9...or she'd have to find a ride home from someone else... I don't watch too much TV...(I snore through a lot though)...but this is one show I really like...even though it started out so depressing...it's gotten happier...I remember when it first came on it would effect everyone in the department... we'd all sit around...be sad for the poor people on the show...swear never to watch it again!...but the next week we'd all be glued to the set...tissues in hand...ready for a good cry...my kinda TV...kinda reminds me of when we used to go over to my Grandma's house on Sunday evening...watch the Wonderful World of Disney then Bonanza...while eating soup and sandwiches...a 6 ounce bottle of Coke...on TV trays lined up on the couch...my grandfather was a TV fanatic...had the TV Guide memorized... you learned not to get in front of him when he was watching...those were the days.

"The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough."--Rabindranath Tagore, Stray Birds