Forgiveness

 One of our bridge players got mad at me on the phone and hung up on me.  This was a few years ago now.

Since then, I have had to play cards with her several times. I never forgot and I never let it go.  But, I was always civil to her but, I admit, I was still pissed.

Next week, my bridge partner and I are scheduled to play with her again and this time, we are going out to lunch first. I was not consulted about this plan. I'm not happy about it. 

I've been thinking about it and how I might minimize my time spent with this woman.  Playing bridge is one thing, visiting over lunch? That's a stretch.

Because the bridge match will happen out of town, it would be hard to get out of riding together.

I have a couple of weeks to mull it over. 

Today I saw this quote.

So, I think I need to forgive the rude behavior, because it is in the past, & cannot be changed. Do I wish she had apologized to me? Sure, but I am guessing that she forgot about this long time ago.  

I'll give it a try. 

Do I want to sit in a car for an hour, eat lunch and play cards with her, no.

Hail storm damage is finally completed

 A hail storm hit my house in July of 2023.  

The roof and 1/2 of the siding were replaced. The decks were in rough shape and needed some carpentry before the power wash & stain.  I hired a young handy man from Cheek and today the last of the staining was completed.

My wooden decks had been in need desperate of stain, so obvious in the before and after photos.  I had stopped noticing. The power of before and after photos. 

After the lumber was replaced, the decks were power washed.

Finally, a new cost of stain. 

I still have touch up to do between the deck boards, but the bulk of the work is done. 

Ya, that's better. 

Still some work to do, but it feels good to have it at this stage.  It also feels good to be done dealing with insurance company, contactor and handyman.  I kind of hate that kind of stuff. 

💰💰💰

It is National Register to Vote Day. 

Check your registration, make a plan to vote.

50 days until we vote

If you don't like gay marriage, don't get gay married 

If you don't like gender-affirming care, don't have any 

If you don't believe in abortion, don't get one 

If you don't think your kid should read a certain book, stop them 

But do not tell others how to live their lives.

50 days until we vote.

Mail & Coors

 It's nice to get mail, 

even when you have to go to the post office and pay the postage due, 😉.

My friend Al came to work at Coors in the '90s. He had worked at Gatorade before coming to Coors and we became instant pals. I was assigned to help orient him on his first day and we hit it off. It wasn't long before I got to know his wife Beth and his daughters Antonia and Kayla. 

While we were still working, Al was very vocal about being a Democrat and I was just the opposite. The environment at Coors was primarily Republican as the Coors family was very conservative and evangelical. I never felt pressured to vote one way, or the other, while working at Coors. We were encouraged to give to a PAC fund, but I never did.  The Coors family took politics seriously, and for a number of years Joe Coors sat in Reagan's kitchen cabinet.  The year that Pete Coors ran for Senator was the hardest for me because most of my colleagues were excited to vote for Pete but I knew that I would not.  I had huge respect for Pete Coors and thought he was a very nice person but I didn't agree with his conservative viewpoints. 

Pete Coors came to my retirement party. 2008

I had always heard that the Coors family is one of the big financial supporters of the Heritage Foundation. This is not a fact that makes me particularly proud but my work at Coors was pretty apolitical. I tried to consider that how the Coors family spent their personal money was their business.  There was never any hate or animosity and there were some good discussions. I never saw the hate that I see now in the voices of the supporters of Miracle Ear.  Back then, I never felt threatened just because I believe in Choice. 

Wanda working the kettles. ~1986

In today's heated political climate, I find it a little harder to look past the role of the Heritage Foundation in the project 2025. It makes me sad to think that the Coors family is pushing that agenda. I have seen social media postings urging for the boycotting of Coors products because of this linkage. I have to separate myself from that message because I am living on a pension that comes from the Coors Brewing Company; boycotting their products does not make sense for me personally. I am, of course, very disappointed in Coors for any role that they are playing in the Project 2025 implementation and the re-election of Miracle-Ear.

I have become more involved in politics living here in Rice Lake. Our local Democratic party is working very hard to elect good people up and down the ballot. My roll is to post information to the social media accounts on both Facebook & Threads.  It has proven to be a fun gig, especially during the Democratic National Convention & the more recent, Presidential Debate.  I also encourage the local county party to use my property for signage.  My land borders a very busy county highway and has good visibility.  

I've had conversations with Al about how he inspired me to get involved. Today, I got this card from Al and I'm not sure you can tell from the photo, but it is a quilled card. It's very artistic and 3D. In Al's note to me, he called it the White House, but I'm pretty sure it's the US capital. Either way, he and I have agreed, that today is a good day to be a Democrat.

Retirement golf outing.
John Mueller, Rick Paine, Wanda, Mark Dujardin, Al Ramirez, & Peter Coors jr
Applewood Golf Course, Colorado 
2008

Hopefully, I will be calling Al on the evening of November 5th to celebrate that it is another good day to be a Democrat.

This

 This is the most important thing a politician has ever said, in my lifetime.

10 years

 Today, marks 10 years since Ev suffered a massive stroke.  Just the weekend before, she had hosted a gathering with her kids to hand out some old photographers that I had helped her get printed.  In 7 days, she would be gone.  

For more than 25 years she had been Dad's one and only.  

I have many fond memories of Ev.

Ev loved staying at Gus & Lois's cabin all summer.
It was her happy place.

❤️❤️❤️

Great niece Stella is now a Badger!  She is moved into the dorm and was at Friday nights football game.   She celebrated her 18th birthday in Madtown.

Photo copied from Instagram 

I got a nice thank you note from Stella for her graduation gifts.  We will miss her, but it is a fantastic time in history to be an intelligent young woman like Stella, and it is her time to explore her way forward.

I look forward to hearing about her adventures.

65

 The Miracle Ear keeps calling Tim Walz and, Tampon Tim. Name calling is so juvenile.  I'm this case, I think it is quite the badge of honor. Governor Walz signed a bill in Minnesota that provides period products in school restrooms.  

I see this as an act of compassion & understanding. Anyone who has been in the situation of needing those supplies knows what a relief it would be to have a free supply available. 

 

I had noticed a tray in the bathroom of our public library with a few free tampons and asked in the library who was supplying those products. Turns out the library staff was taking turns buying and stocking the trays with these products. I ordered a case of tampons and a case of pads and delivered them to the library. I told them to let me know when the supply gets low, I'll bring more.

Thanks Tim for giving me the idea. 

(And if I wrote about this once before, oops.)

65 days will go fast, make a plan to vote, check your voter registration status, encourage people you know to vote. 

VOTE!