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END PRODUCT IS WHAT PEOPLE CARE ABOUT, NOT PRACTICE

June 7, 2026 by David Gillaspie Leave a Comment

‘End Product’ is another way of saying, “What have you done lately?” We pay to go to concerts, games, and races. We don’t pay to go to practice rooms, weight rooms, or interval track training, the stuff done before the end product. Buy a ticket for an event and you expect a competent performance? Sounds […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, basketball court, being smart, being strong, better, blog, blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, Coos Bay, education, end, end product, keep practicing, marshfield high school, musical instruments, Oregon, organized noise, people care, practice, practicing, product, story, wife, writer, writers, writing

RETIREMENT WARNINGS FOR BOOMERS IN THE FAST LANE

June 3, 2026 by David Gillaspie Leave a Comment

You’re in the fast lane and know it when you pull up on a Waymo car. Waymo has named the Rose City as one of the next locations welcoming its own fleet of self-driving vehicles. As part of the announcement, the company revealed it will start manually operating the cars on Tuesday to “help […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: acid dropping freaks, Baby Boomer blogger, Baby Boomers, blog, blogger, boomerpdx, cars, classic cars, fast lane, hippies, hobbies, life, MARRIAGE, married, mobility, Oldsmobile, Oregon, retire, retirement hobbies, retirement warnings, retirement window, retiring, the future, travel, Waymo, wife, writer, writers, writing

WRITING TOOLS: THE SHORT LIST

May 15, 2026 by David Gillaspie

Writing tools were easy in the beginning. Either write something worth reading. Or, do something worth writing about. Is there more? There’s always more.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Baby Boomer blogger, belief, believe, believer, blog, blogger, boomerpdx, boomers, confidence, family, paint, PAINTER, paris, Picasso, time well spent, wife, writer, writer's confidence, writers, writing, writing habit, writing tools

BASHING CIVIL DISCOURSE TO NEW HEIGHTS

May 13, 2026 by David Gillaspie

How often do you catch yourself in civil discourse and regret what you’ve said? It usually goes something like, ‘this would have been better if I had just stayed on topic.’ That’s the polite self-talk. The other? Not so polite.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Baby Boomer blogger, Baby Boomers, blog, blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, boomers, civil discourse, facebook, journalist, muckraker, next time, ON TOPIC, polite, public figure, public life, reporter, self-talk, Social media, stupid, under educated, writer, writing, young people, youtube

RECLAIMING MY TIME ON SOUTHERN OREGON COLLEGE SIXTY-FIVE YEARS LATER

April 30, 2026 by David Gillaspie

Southern Oregon College Graduating Class of 1960: My dad. He transferred after two years at Central Oregon Community College in Bend. It was a well used path to the first college degree in his family. He was thirty years old, an old 30. Back then thirty was older, fifty was a grandparent. Hit sixty and […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: advanced degree, ashland oregon, baby boomer, blog, blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, davidpdx, education, GI Bill, higher education, historical recreation, learning, Love, Oregon, Oregon shakespeare festival, PORTLAND BABY BOOMERS, Shakespeare, southern oregon college, southern oregon university, travel, wife, writer, writers, writing

MUSIC MUSCLE: USE IT OR LOSE IT

April 26, 2026 by David Gillaspie

Where is the music muscle? In your fingertips? In your ear? In your voice? No wrong answer here. It’s all three, but there’s still something missing. Whether it’s ambient noise, sounds, notes, or whether it’s so important you buy tickets and make travel plans, there’s something about music I still don’t get. On one hand […]

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TO MY DEAR READER, FROM A BLOG

April 18, 2026 by David Gillaspie

Dear reader is plural, but writers are told to focus on just one person, and since I’m the writer around here . . . Hopefully it’s a focus on the right reader? The last thing I need is learning how my posts led a reader astray. From me to you: DO NOT GO ASTRAY. DON’T […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Baby Boomer blogger, blog, blog posts, blogger, boomerpdx, control, davidpdx, dear reader, education, family, good life, let them, let them theory, medicinal, permission, PORTLAND BABY BOOMERS, read, reader, reading, reflection, right stuff, sports, story, under control, writer, writing, wrong stuff

PICK A SIDE AND STAY THERE, OR NOT

April 13, 2026 by David Gillaspie

What’s the problem when you pick a side? You’re stuck. You talked the talk, walked the walk, then something changed. But you’re stuck. Either stay on the bus as it goes off the bridge, or hit your eject button.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Baby Boomer blogger, blog, bloggers, boomerpdx, davidpdx, education, favorite people, greater good, history, Love, MARRIAGE, married, Oregon, pick a side, Portland, PORTLAND BABY BOOMERS, Portland Oregon, readers, subscribe, travel, wife, writer, writers, writing

DAVIDPDX @ boomerpdx, A REGAL OREGON BLOG REVIEW

April 12, 2026 by David Gillaspie

When I look for an Oregon blog I google ‘oregon blogs.’ Does that sound right to you? Good, it should. What isn’t right is the first listing, an unfriendly welcome to sign in and ‘keep up with the topics, feeds, and trends that matter to you.’ In a search for ‘oregon blogs’ the topic is […]

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RETIREMENT TIME OPENS DOOR FOR THINGS AND STUFF

March 29, 2026 by David Gillaspie

Everyone’s’ retirement time is unique, no one matches any other. For some it’s a big party at work with a grand send-off, followed by more parties to celebrate that new freedom. There’s that giant card where everyone you worked over the decades signs with the glee of a high school year book. Or maybe you […]

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