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BIRTHDAY WEEK? DIFFERENT THAN DOG YEARS?

Does birthday week add extra years? A seven day celebration adds seven extra years? Maybe it should to discourage people from extending the party. At least until it’s your birthday. Or mine. Unfortunately, since we don’t get to erase a year for every ignored birthday, adding years never happens either. But what does happen is […]

DOWNSIZING GUIDE: FROM A PASSED PORTLAND GENERATION

They didn’t have a downsizing guide when they decided to move. All they knew was that 12,000 square feet over four floors was a little large for two people. Their house was a museum of their lives together. Now all the books, dishes, and furniture, enough for three households, were moving. It had been a […]

AGE APPROPRIATE FOR BOOMERS GROWING OLDER AND HEARING ABOUT IT

What is or isn’t age appropriate for boomers depends on who makes the call. And when. Because if it’s a matter of TIMING, a judgement on aging is just another opinion. Probably an expert opinion. One response to critiques at an inconvenient time is, “It’s time to shut up.” Since this is a polite blog […]

PORTLAND TREND OR OREGON’S FUTURE ON A NEW TRAIL

While I usually drag on about other things, I sense a Portland trend here: @Oregonian Portland’s police chief and mayor are set to announce Tuesday that city police will no longer stop motorists for low-level infractions, such as equipment failures or expired plates, to reduce disproportionate stops of people of color. Fewer tickets for minor […]

BLOG WORK BEHIND THE CURTAINS: WHAT TO EXPECT

One of the cruel joys of blog work comes at the start: Either figure out how to start, how to build a site, or hire someone else to do it. While I’m happy for folks who go either way, which is better in the long run? The bottom line is spending the time to learn […]

EFFECTIVE LEADERS KNOW THEIR AUDIENCE’S WEAKNESS

Effective leaders know the rules, the leadership drill, and when to move off script. Ten skills could be a hundred, but a top ten works best. More important, leaders know their audience and what they need from them. How do leaders stay relevant? What do they need from their audience? What does the audience need […]

OREGON DRUGS: MEASURE 110 EXPERIMENTS WITH NEW IDEAS

Oregon drugs were put to the vote last November and the results were clear. Last fall Oregon voters decriminalized possession of small amounts of almost all hard drugs, taking a groundbreaking step away from the arrest, charge and jail model for possession that’s been a centerpiece of American drug policy. Arrest. Charge. Jail. The new […]

DAD ANALYSIS: DO IT LIKE THIS NOT LIKE THAT

Dad analysis needs to be a new science aimed directly at them. Like all science new and old, it will need data to back up wild claims. On Father’s Day, the claim is Greatest Dad Ever. How many can there really be? What is the criteria?

FATHER TIME ON THE MARCH EVERY DAY, EVEN FATHER’S DAY

When I was a kid, Father Time looked like my Grandpa. It helped that my Grandpa looked like President “I Like Ike” Eisenhower. I was six years old in 1960 when things changed. The new president looked more my dad’s age. The big job went from the Supreme Allied Commander Europe five star Army general, […]

FATHER’S DAY FROM OLD DAD TO NEW DAD ALL TOGETHER

Father’s Day comes every year, but that first one is something else. A new dad on his day lays the groundwork of tradition for every Father’s Day for the next fifty years. Will it be like a birthday? Christmas? Or eventually just another day on the calendar? The easy answer: It depends on the kids. […]