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HONOR CODE FOR WHEN YOU ‘KNOW BETTER’

February 2, 2026 by David Gillaspie

An ‘honor code’ has always sounded like a ‘pinky promise.’ That’s when someone tells a secret and you hook pinkies to never tell. Ever. Is a pinky promise bigger and more important than an honor code? Hmmmmm?

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REAL PEOPLE FROM HISTORY

February 1, 2026 by David Gillaspie

Real history gets more realistic when granddaughters tell about their family. I’ve got grandkids. Maybe you’ve got grandkids, too? Imagine them in the future, telling your story. What would it sound like? This comes from a comment on Stumbling Stones Of Harsh History:

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Baby Boomer blogger, Baby Boomers, blessing, civil service, crime, deported, education, Family history, firing squad, germany, grade school, historian, history, history book, holocaust, illegal arrests, leadership, learning, memories, people, read history, real history, real people, Stolpersteines, stumbling stones, writer, writers, writing, WWII, wwii history

BEING DOG WALKED? HOW TO KNOW

January 23, 2026 by David Gillaspie

What’s it mean to be dog walked? “Time to get the leash. The slang dog walk is “to overpower” or “outsmart” someone, as if in utter control of them, as when walking a dog.” When does it happen? There are clues, such as:

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: activist, America, baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, boomers, common culture, culture, culture leader, dog, dog walked, dog walking, education, leadership, leadership responsibilities, learning, Love, Portland Oregon, responsibilities, right and wrong, roll over, stand guard, story, writer, writers, writing, WWII

TO MY 715 ‘READERS’ IN CHINA, WITH LOVE

January 21, 2026 by David Gillaspie

A recent tally indicates 715 readers in China. Nothing about the sort of readers, whether bots, or AI, if those are separate elements. Bots means robots, if I’m not mistaken. Taking out the ‘r’ and the ‘o’ , of ro-bot is so much more convenient. Who do I thank? Let’s start with 715 thank-yous to […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: America, American, American experience, Baby Boomer blogger, blog, blogger, boomerpdx, china, education, freedom, historical distortion, justice, leadership, learning, Love, made in china, national archives, readers, readers in china, store, story, tank man, writer, writers, writing

EMPATHY HAPPENS, EVENTUALLY

December 15, 2025 by David Gillaspie

The man in the tap house said, “Empathy happens,” and he reminded me of how important it is to stop in for a beer when the occasion calls. I’ve known him for years, just not the way my wife knows people. She’s knows people like no one I know, so she asks questions that she […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: America, Baby Boomer blogger, blog, blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, citizenship, education, empathy, empathy happens, family, good person, history, leadership, learning, Maslow's hierarchy, needs, Oregon Ducks, safety needs, writer, writers, writing

LEADER PREPARATION TRAINING PROGRAM 2025

November 17, 2025 by David Gillaspie

This is my claim to leader preparation, not leader, but ready to lead. I lean on the Fort Ord Leadership Academy when I need to tighten things up. I’d like to thank the academy for the training? Thank you, but during the supposed twenty-one hours of training we were all so sleep-deprived we could barely […]

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HOW TO STAY SHARP

November 14, 2025 by David Gillaspie

You stay sharp by asking questions, by hanging around people working on answers. But you know that. I know you know based on analytics, which says we can’t all be morons. Statistically speaking, of course. Take smoking cigarettes for example.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: America, analytics, asking questions, baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, Baby Boomers, blog, blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, hanging around, leadership, leading, leading cause, morons, writer, writing

SEPARATION DAY, EVERY VETERAN’S DAY

November 12, 2025 by David Gillaspie

Separation day is the day you become a veteran. You get your papers and hit the road. My veteran road began in New Jersey, Fort Dix to be specific, which has a new role to play. The Army road began in Fort Ord, which also has a new role. From one September to another two […]

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COMMUNITY STORYTELLING: U.S. ARMY 1974-1976

September 30, 2025 by David Gillaspie

The definition of community for Community Storytelling from Oregon Humanities: When we say “community,” we mean any group of people who share a common experience thanks to where they live, the language they speak, their race, their religion, their age, or some other attribute. When we say “storytelling,” we mean nonfiction stories conveyed through […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: admirals, Army, Authority, baby boomer, blogger, boomerpdx, chain of command, community, community storytelling, cultural, culture, education, family, generals, history, leadership, millennials, Oregon, Portland, Portland Oregon, revival, soldiers, story, storytelling, travel, veteran, vietnam era, Vietnam War, Vietnam-Era Veteran, writer

LEADERSHIP QUALITIES? KNOW THEM WHEN YOU SEE THEM

August 2, 2025 by David Gillaspie

The first time I saw leadership qualities was with the Boy Scouts. Scout Master Jones led the troop right up until he took all the gear and left town. If a scout master isn’t a leader of young men then I don’t know who is. That’s when we got the new leader and things got […]

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