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MADE IN FOR THE WIN

April 1, 2026 by David Gillaspie

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:

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Baby Boomer blogger, Baby Boomers, blogger, boomerpdx, customer service, education, learning, made in, story, wife, writing

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 […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: art paint, artist, Baby Boomer blogger, baby dingo, blog, blogger, bloggers, BOOMER, boomerpdx, cloth, daddy dingo, dewing machine, dingo, hobby, material, PAINTER, story, textile, textile artist, ue, wife, writer, writing

READING FICTION IN DECLINE?

March 26, 2026 by David Gillaspie

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:

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: book, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, challenge, contemporary literary, education, family, fiction, fiction writer, James Joyce, learning, leisure reading, millennials, music, popular fiction, reading, reading fiction, story, well being, wife, William Faulkner, writer, writers, writing

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

March 18, 2026 by David Gillaspie

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 […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: America, American, boomerpdx, Boston, brainwashed life, degraded healthcare, education, end of the line, healthcare, hippie, learning, narrow minded, newport, Oregon, PORTLAND BABY BOOMERS, Portland Oregon, rhode island, selfish, stoner, story, thought-controlled, travel, wife

BORING, TRIVIAL, POINTLESS LIFE? GOOD JOB

March 17, 2026 by David Gillaspie

Doing a good job means what? Following orders and delivering a finished product according to the highest standards of the industry? Let’s not get carried away. How about finishing on time with something that works the way it’s supposed to work? You can do that and your masterpiece at the same time. If you don’t […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: American Dream, american novels, american system, Baby Boomer blogger, Baby Boomers, blog, blogger, boomer blogger, boring, civil rights, due process, enthusiasm, finish, good job, legal rookies, losing, masterpiece, moral tone, pointless, project, story, travel, trivial, vote, voters, voting, winning, work, writer, writers, writing

COLD WET OREGON WITH EXTRA WATER

March 14, 2026 by David Gillaspie

On a cold wet Oregon day the beach was covered as far as the eye could see, and since it’s flat you can see a long way. Jelly fish, man of war, or whatever it was, it was a mass die-off of squishy critters up and down the beach, a purple carpet of goo to […]

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: baby boomer, Baby Boomer blogger, boomer blogger, boomerpdx, family, good old days, Love, MARRIAGE, millennials, newport oregon, Oregon, Oregon Coast aquarium, Portland Oregon, story, travel, wife, writer, writers, writing

DO MORE? LIKE WHAT

March 13, 2026 by David Gillaspie

You need to do more to matter? That’s what you ask yourself when someone says, “You need to do more to matter.” Have you heard that? I still hear it and I’m not some spring chicken pecking my way around the pen. When is enough enough?

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Army, big brother, classic, classic funny, coaching, college, confidence, deployed, do more, education, funny, graduated, judging, losses, opinion, sports, story, unmotivated, wins, writer, writers, writing

BIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY YOU SAY?

March 12, 2026 by David Gillaspie

I just finished reading about one man’s dedication and defense of the biographical essay and thought, ‘blog post?’ Like most writers, he lost me in the digressions. Like most online readers, I scrolled on. But here’s what you need to know:

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: autobiographer, autobiography, Baby Boomer blogger, biographical blogger, biographical essay, blog, blogger, English, English teacher, essay, focused, piece of writing, poem, screenplay, short story, story, structured, wife, writer, writing, writing surface

BIG TIME FOR BIG CITY PORTLAND, AND OREGON

March 11, 2026 by David Gillaspie

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)

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Baby Boomer blogger, big city, big city Portland, big time, boomerpdx, education, gravel road, learning, Oregon, PORTLAND BABY BOOMERS, Portland Oregon, story, travel, writer, writing

NORTH BEND IN THE OREGON HISTORY CENTER

March 10, 2026 by David Gillaspie

This is North Bend in 1940. Something is missing, though. I-5 is missing, but there’s something else. These baby boomers and their memory, you never know what you’re getting.

Filed Under: What's Up Tagged With: Baby Boomer blogger, Baby Boomers, blogger, book, boomerpdx, boomers, family, hwy 101, kids, memory, museums, north bend bridge, North Bend Oregon, Oregon, Oregon Coast, oregon historial society, Oregon History, story