Why Do I Bother?

Vacations can be a lot of fun; a plane trip to a far away place, spending quality time with friends and loved ones, lounging on the beach or around a pool, seeing the sights, trying new foods at expensive restaurants. Or … vacations can be something altogether different.

Mel and I had planned a trip to Florida to visit my good friend John who I only get to see once a year near his birthday. He moved to Florida several years ago and the only year I have missed visiting is the year Mel and I got married. Our trip was scheduled to start this week, actually. We would be on a flight headed to Orlando in just a few days. We had tickets purchased and a rental car reserved, a convertible even. Everything was planned. Everything but the vacation time that is.

I have to bid for my vacation time for the whole year in March each year. It can be very difficult to plan, especially when you have to coordinate with your wife’s work schedule. Add to that the fact that I can’t even remember what I had for breakfast most days and you can probably imagine the disaster that I’m about to describe.

Like I said, my vacation was scheduled for next week … my vacation time scheduled for this week. I did manage to get the plane tickets canceled, but not refunded. We’ll have to plan a trip within the next year to use our $1100 credit with Southwest Airlines.

I’ll write another post later today or tomorrow to tell you what I actually did with the time off. That’s another story.

Technorati Tags: Vacations, vacation

Tags: Friends, Vacation, Work by Jeffrey
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It has been a long week. and it just got started. I usually get about 3 or 4 posts out during the week, but I seem to be slacking a bit this week. Let me tell you what happened.

Monday morning, Bryan and I went to the casino in Grande Ronde. We had to leave town about 8 in the morning because each of us had committments later in the afternoon. The place was surprisingly crowded for that time of day. I’ve never been out there so early, I expected less. We headed straight to the blackjack table as we usually do, but were dissapointed to find that the non smoking tables were not available yet. It seemed to work out for the best though since Bryan and I both walked away quite a bit ahead of where we started. I won $280 over my initial “investment”. Bryan won even more. Nice way to start the day.

blackjack

Monday afternoon I went to Bend to visit my mentee. Luckily my favorite person was able to come along with me to keep me company on the ride. The young man I am a mentor for wasn’t expecting me. I wish I could use his name here so the relationship didn’t sound so sterile, it really isn’t. It was nice to see him and he was pleasantly surprised. We had lunch together and walked around for a while talking about his plans for the future. He’s making responsible choices for the most part. They aren’t choices that I would make, but they aren’t my choices to make so that’s ok. It’s great to hear him talking about the future with hope.

Tuesday Mel left for a job out of town for 2 days. We had to say goodbye in the morning when she left for work. I hate it when she’s out of town. It’s hard for me to sleep well without her. She comes back today, but leaves again to visit her mother and sister this weekend. I have to remember that one of the things I love about her so much is her independence. I still miss her when she’s gone though.

I also learned that the financial aid applications that I had filled out had to be done again. I spent Tuesday morning trying to get that done as well. It seems silly, but here’s what happened. When I filled out the forms there were two options given on the web site. (I was going to use a semi-colon there, but I remembered Vonnegut’s advice) I was asked to choose between the 2005-2006 school year and the 2006-2007 school year. This is 2006, right? So I chose 2006-2007 and filled out the lengthy application that required me gathering all of our tax information and bank account info for 2005. Have you already figured out where I screwed up? I start school in May. The 2006-2007 school year doesn’t start until June. I would have had to fill out both forms anyway, but it was a bit frustrating. I hate to be in a rush to get things done.

Because of my difficulty sleeping alone combined with the start of allergy season, I haven’t been getting enough rest. That leaves me tired and cranky sometimes. I was able to sleep in a bit this morning until almost 8:30 which is unheard of for me. I think it is just exhaustion rather than being restful. At any rate, I feel a bit better today.

So that’s where I’ve been if you noticed that I was even away. What have you been up to?

Technorati Tags: casino, Grande Ronde, blackjack, mentor, sleep, financial aid, allergy

Tags: Friends, Love and Marriage, Mentoring, School by Jeffrey
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Today was a great day! I traveled to Bend today for a training and a Mentor/Mentee Match Ceremony. You may remember me talking about the mentor program I was going to be a part of? The young man (I won’t name him here) I was telling you about is about 6 1/2 weeks into his program and we finally got to get together for a matching ceremony to officially begin our mentor/metee relationship. He looked great and seemed so proud of himself for what he has accomplished already. I am very proud of him too, and I told him so.

I have been looking forward to this for a long time. It was a great feeling to hear him talking about his school, and his future plans with hope. I will do my best to live up to his expectations of me, he has already lived up to mine.

The hardest part about today was getting up at 4:00 in the morning to get ready for a 3 1/2 hour drive to central Oregon. I gave myself about an hour of extra time because I wasn’t sure how bad the pass would be. It turns out the pass was just fine and it only took 2 1/2 hours to get there.

For pictures and movies of the event, look here.

Technorati Tags: Mentor, ceremony, school, future, hope, drive

Tags: Friends, Mentoring by Jeffrey
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Tuesday night Bryan, Chris, and I went to Spirit Mountain Casino to blow some money. Actually, we went to win some money, but it didn’t work out that way.

I think that I am ahead overall, if you add up all the times we have gone. It’s probably that belief that keeps me going back. The sad part is that belief is probably wrong. The last couple trips have been expensive, and this trip fits right in with the latest trend. I took home $100, but I went in with $300.

Christmas is a bad time of year to be throwing away $200. I feel a little guilty. It’s not that we don’t have the money, it’s just that there are so many things we could have done with $200.

So there’s a lesson learned. I sure won’t do that again. I have finally learned the value of a dollar. From now on, it’s responsible choices for me, buddy.

… until I get another itch …

Oh well, it’s only money, right?

Tags: Family, Friends, Just For Fun by Jeffrey
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Just a quick follow-up to my previous post on mentoring. It’s official, the young man I was talking about was accepted into his alternative school and I was selected as his mentor. Apparently he was required to have 2 mentors apply for the program, but I was chosen.

So my new adventure begins in January. I spoke to him this morning and he seems excited about it. Well … as excited as 16 year olds ever sound about anything.

I’ll keep you posted.

Tags: Friends, Mentoring by Jeffrey
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I got a call at work the other night from a friend I hadn’t talked to in a while. Mostly we haven’t talked in a while because I haven’t been very good at maintaining our friendship, but as he says, the phone goes both ways. He and I used to work together here at MacLaren, but he left for another job. For his privacy, I won’t tell you his name.

His son has been having some trouble in school for a while now. The most recent incident was chewing tobacco, but it’s kind of the last straw I think. He has been suspended for 9 weeks. He’s really a great kid, but he’s got a reputation at school for bad behavior and bad friends and I’m not sure he could succeed now if he tried. Not because he’s incapable, mind you, but because his teachers only see what they expect to see from him. I try not to judge them too harshly, I know how hard it can be to work with guys like him, but I think teachers have a duty to keep trying.

So my friend called me to tell me about his son’s recent troubles and to tell me that he was being enrolled in a special alternative school at the beginning of the year. It’s a military model, like a boot camp. Part of the program requires that he have a mentor that is willing to commit to a year of contact once a week. My friend asked me to be a mentor for his son. It was a hard thing for him to do, he was embarrassed a bit I think. But he didn’t realize how honored I was to be asked.

I am happy to be able to help him in this way. I am also thrilled to have the chance to spend some time with his son. Like I said, he’s a great kid, he’s just a little lost.

So, wish me luck. Maybe you should be wishing the boy some luck as well.

Tags: Friends, Mentoring, Work by Jeffrey
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