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BUSY LIFE IN THE FAST LANE, PASSING LANE, OR . . .

March 28, 2026 by David Gillaspie Leave a Comment

A busy life means making a difference to someone, to something, to somewhere. Take your pick. Pick more than one. What you can’t pick is anyone else’s priorities for their busy life. You can try, but why?

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, beer, blogger, boomerpdx, busy group, busy life, busy people, cigarettes, do your part, dui, fast lane, good health, grandkids, health, kids, life, Love, love train, passing lane, wife, writer, writing

FIGURE THINGS OUT BY WRITING THEM DOWN? OKAY BOOMER

February 6, 2026 by David Gillaspie

Is it true you can figure things out by writing them down, or is there more to it? Who said, “I don’t know what I think until I write it down?” Who? Don’t panic, it was Joan Didion. I know questions make some people nervous. (Me) From National Public Radio:

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ORDINARY MEN: RESERVE POLICE BATTALION 101 REVIEW

January 28, 2026 by David Gillaspie

After watching a portion of a documentary on German Reserve Police Battalion 101 I’m left with concerns. As the story is told on Netflix, ordinary men were recruited into police work. The idea of joining a police staff was better than going to the front. The guys selected got some extra training, then loaded up […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Alex pretti, America, americans, baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, Constitution, Death, die, dog song, due process, education, father, fellow citizens, following, following orders, friends, government, history, holocaust, killing, learning, liberty, life, mass killing, mother, murderers, neighbors, orders, ordinary men, police battalion 101, property, sing, singing, true americans, writer, writers, writing, WWII

WHEN ALCOHOL HITS DIFFERENT(LY)

December 8, 2025 by David Gillaspie

Alcohol hits everyone differently. Like any disruptive element, you need to find the boundaries. Saying “Let’s get a beer” to a pal who keeps going until you get a phone call from a thousand miles away should only happen once. They need to set their boundaries. But what about you?

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: alcohol, alcohol hits, baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, Baby Boomers, blog, blogger, boomer blogger, boomer boozer, booze, drinking booze, education, expensive gifts, fitness, gin and tonic, learning, life, lime, Love, MARRIAGE, older people, sad, urgent issue, vulnerable, wife, writer, writing, youth

LIFE LESSONS START EARLY FOR OLD MEN

November 19, 2025 by David Gillaspie

As a middle child myself for fourteen years, life lessons were important. We learned early to share with smaller kids, and not whine too much when older kids didn’t. Was there a learning curve? There’s always a learning curve when learning is involved. It’s not for everyone, to say the least, but . . .

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: aging, America, baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, blog, blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, education, family, fitness, history, kids, learning, lesson, lessons, life, life lesson, life lessons, MARRIAGE, married, men, millennials, North Bend, old men, women, writer, writing

A CURATED LIFE OF MUSEUM QUALITY

October 16, 2025 by David Gillaspie

Who wouldn’t want a curated life? Curated: carefully chosen and thoughtfully organized or presented We’d get to skip all of the confusion and misunderstandings and go right to the good stuff. Sounds good to me, except for a small part. You know that small part?

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: blog, blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, boomers, crime, cultural, cultural crime, curated, curated life, education, investments grandkids, life, millennials, museum, museum quality, Oregon, Portland, PORTLAND BABY BOOMERS, Portland Oregon, quality, readers, retirement, tagged topics, vacation, writer, writing

BE SOMEBODY YOU’D LIKE SPENDING TIME WITH

October 15, 2025 by David Gillaspie

Be somebody when it matters is the challenge, and it’s personal. If you’re a baby boomer living in that world, you know how it works. Someone has come to your rescue, and you’ve probably been on a rescue mission of some kind. Looking back at the times my old man wrote a note and sent […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, Baby Boomers, be somebody, blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, getting married, girls day, good wife, husband life, incompetent, kindness, life, relationship, relationship work, somebody, spending time, staying married, time, wife, writer, writing

LIFE STACK GETTING HEAVY? THEN WHAT

September 2, 2025 by David Gillaspie

I call it the life stack, all the stuff you look at every day, all the crap that just sits there. You look at it in passing. It’s not crowding you, not taking space better used for something else, but it carries reminders. Eventually you sound like someone who said, “I’ve had this hanging on […]

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LIFE CHOICE MAKES YOU GREAT

July 26, 2025 by David Gillaspie

One life choice can make all the difference. Things were tough on the Oregon Trail and people needed a break. The Donner Party started with a little known shortcut through the mountains. If you don’t know the story, click here. It turned out to be the wrong choice.

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LIFE LONG LEARNING STARTS WITH A CALL

July 8, 2025 by David Gillaspie

Life long learning doesn’t end with the last school day, the last class, the last good-bye. It doesn’t end with a diploma, a certificate, or a license. Those indicate the culmination of a training sequence, but the learning is just starting. Now you find out what you need to know, which is . . . […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Afghanistan war, aging, baby boomer, BOOMER, business, city, etiquette, feelings, felon, helpful advice, high school, improvement, learning, life, life long, life long learning, livability, manners, message, North Bend, small town, turkey neck, Vietnam War, young people