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COMMUNICATION BREAKDOWN, ONLINE VERSION. CHEERS

April 10, 2026 by

Communication breakdown happens when online behemoths find themselves on the wrong side of a tech case. Tech case? What else do you call instagram and YouTube but marvels of modern technology? One way or another the two of them navigated through competition and mergers and acquisitions so some kid can take an endless scroll to […]

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ONE PFC’S INTERNATIONAL OPINION: NATO

April 6, 2026 by

As an Army veteran from the mid-1970’s I’ve had time to work up an international opinion on NATO. Reading history is one thing; reading history after wearing the uniform is a whole nother level. Racing up the promotional ranks to the heights of private first class brings it home. The low ranks are the gravel […]

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CALDWELL COUNTY BBQ? HOLY COW

April 3, 2026 by

This is Jimmy in the Caldwell County BBQ pit in Gilbert, Arizona. I was waiting for the occupied Men’s Room when we struck up a chat that was more historical than most history classes. He’s been running the show for a few years with the huge smokers, about five of them going full blast. On […]

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MADE IN FOR THE WIN

April 1, 2026 by

Made In cookware made it to my house in a roundabout way. When I called customer service there was nothing roundabout about it. I was left wishing every exchange could be so welcoming. Here’s how it went:

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READING FICTION IN DECLINE?

March 26, 2026 by

Reading fiction has been in decline since the first person put a book down and said, “Not for me. Thanks.” A reader doesn’t finish every book. They don’t go into a library with the goal of reading everything. Maybe read everything one author ever wrote, but not everything from everyone. Which brings up one question:

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PORTLAND PINK DAY

March 20, 2026 by

   

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END OF THE LINE . . . “ARE WE THERE YET”

March 18, 2026 by

It’s one thing to see the end of line, a whole other to drive past the start in Newport, Oregon. If I have a full tank of gas I hit empty after 460 miles. Eight tanks later, give or take, I’d be in Boston. Might take a week of 500 mile freeway days, or two […]

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BIG TIME FOR BIG CITY PORTLAND, AND OREGON

March 11, 2026 by

Big city Portland gets the name for being the biggest city in the state. How big?  The next biggie, Eugene, is three times smaller, rounded up and down for 600k people in one, 200k in the other. (K = 1000)

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LUNAR NEW YEAR AND MORE IN PORTLAND

March 9, 2026 by

My small group of five went to the Lunar New Year Parade in downtown Portland. Yes, that Portland. If you’ve heard about it and wonder, it’s not a smoldering city rocked by insurrection. But it was rocking. After living in bigger cities where most people visit and leave, including Portland, I was thrilled to see […]

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WE DON’T NEED NO EDUCATION, (FOR ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL)

March 8, 2026 by

From twitterX:   I get yelled at for saying this but for many hundreds of years people went to university not to get diplomas or be employable but because immersion in the humanities was considered foundational to a good life, and school must return to its original purpose: the joy of learning.   Doesn’t that […]

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