My son Flew the coupe

Well my son turned 21 in March, he left for Arizona about a week ago.
Man do I miss him.
I know he will be OK. He is a smart man and is a go getter (at times).
Really though, it is cool to have raised a fine young man. We are proud of him and all he accomplished growing up. From football to graduating with honers. Now that was cool. My son with a 4.0 and dad with a 0.4. ( I did’nt finish school)
He has allways wanted to leave Alaska, not to much here to do.
What will be a wonder is how he will adjust to the heat. Here in Alaska the temp tops out at maybe 65 – 75, but there the temp can top out at 100 and more.
Well I’m sure what ever the temp is he’ll be happy there.

Chow for Now.

See Ya Ted Stevens

Well after 40 years of up holding Alaska’s values and best interests it is time to say Good bye.
There are many mixed feeling towards Ted Stevens.
Some were surprised when they found out that his house came about from the help of VECO  and other companies, and $250,000 my not seem alot but think of the folks out there who have to deal with everyday life. They did not see any thing from Ted Stevens that others did.
Money was put to other things then what was needed at the time.

Now we will have a new government soon. This will be a mark for history.
You see the goverment has always been to me a bunch of people who sit around and talk about what should be done and then make promises to each other, just to help some others in there politacal life.
Yet the American worker is left with higher food, gas, electric, house payments and so on.
This new government that has come about will have to deal with what the over 200 years of known political ways were lived by and for some died by.
I really hope this new goverment will be able to fix this mess we are in.
Chow for Now

Was Portage Glacier / Now Portage Lake

It wasn’t but 30 years ago we use to go to Portage Glacier a well known place to visit and see the glacier up close. There we would get our coolers and pack it with glacier ice, it was awesome for packing the camping goods.
Tourist would come from all over the world just to be able to see if not touch the historic glacier.
Now we have a visitor center and it shows how the glacier has disappeared threw out the years.
I have seen this in other glaciers from around the world and it is sad, we as man kind have now only begun to understand the impact the has been created from years of unknowing / uncaring uses of different chemicals and gases.
Even with this, I am still amazed on how many people view this as normal, when the only normal thing is the result from our learning and evolution to were we are today.
Look if we knew this 20 or 30 years ago we would still be in the ages of the 70’s.
That is, we would be looking to figure a way to have energy with the lowest impact on earth.
Yet in the 70’s we were told of these things and it is ironic to have come from many folks from a time of free love and wanting peace. You know who you are and for the ones who have past on, well this is for you. You told us this was going to happen if we did not start looking into ways to reduce our need for oil and other forms of problems that we face due to man kinds goofs.

Chow

Not about religion

Life is how you see it and should not be how others want you to see it.

I say this cause it seems that when ever any one talks about life or death people often bring up God.

My last post “A way to see life” there were some  comments that were made about religion, well I hate to break it to you all but the post was not about God or religion. It was about how society and civilization has used some sort of believing to get were we are today.
If one chooses to have God as a faith, or even a butterfly for that matter then it should not be brought up that there is evil in our life and we need to repent and ask the lord to forgive us every day.

I was brought up with going to church and all that it really taught me was to be nice to others, by the way it was a Baptist church I have also attended a Catholic and Jehovah services. They all had the same message in one form or another.
Nobody should ever try and push a belief or religion on anyone, doing this is just wrong.
If you believe in God or whatever then great, but don’t think that just cause someone writes about “life” or “death” that they need to be saved. Your just pushing your belief or religion in hopes that they will see it your way, well sorry but life does not work that way.

Chow

A way to see life

Many ask why we are here yet know one really knows, or do we?
The way I see it is we are nothing more then a bio compound with many different parts to create what we call a human or animal. What that means to me is we only exist to survive.
Humans and animals all have the same ending, we die. Nothing more nothing less.
We as a civilization have existed only on belief. Whether it was a gold statue or a goat or God above.
It all came down to a belief.
When I think of this I start to wonder what if society , civilization human or whatever did not have a belief. How would that have effected or impacted the world today?
It took a belief in something to get where we are today, yet we all know deeply we are all not here for really any reason other then to survive.
Belief is a good thing to have cause without some kind of belief I don’t think we would be here.
It is a real bummer to have to die, and there is really nothing we can do to stop it, so I guess then the best way to die is to believe we were here for something.

Chow

Summer Vacation brings Summer Vandals

Well now it is summer vacation for the schools and the last days for seniors. You see more and more hanging out everywhere. Some for fun and a few for wrong doings.
While driving to work I would see windows smashed and think how it must be a bummer to come out in the early morning to find a window broke, and only hope that no one else got hit, of course that would prove to be a thought only to see that a few more on the same road had windows broke.
Yet at 2am to 5am there is not a lot to do and roaming the roads always brings some sort of event. Most not of the wise decisions.
Now more and more you are see people using there web cams to catch these folks. With free software to maintain surveillance of your home or office.

Never enough time

WOW…. My oldest is 20 years old. That is half my age. Where has the time gone?
One day he is learning to walk {which i was at work} ride a bike, {work} going to kindergarten, {work} having plays at school, {work}, work, work, work…. There was never enough time to be able to sit down and watch my son grow. I will all ways have to live with that. Even if he understands and tells me not to let it bother me. I wish it wouldn’t, but it does.
I have all ways had to go to work on some of the most important times it seems. Either birthdays or holiday’s, I would all ways be asked to work. My family was very understanding and yet I still feel guilty.
Even with pay raises and benefits it still seems like i am having to work even more. Now I have also a 17 soon 18 year old daughter and a 11 year old son. I have had to go through some mass hard and trying times, and yet I would do it all again. {just change a few times a bit}
A father learning to be a dad, what a concept. Seems to be working. There not in jail or having kids, so I guess I must be doing somthing right. Just wish I knew so I could make more time to watch them grow.

Chow

The Kids

I have always wanted to provide for my family the best that I can but I am not the sharpest tool in the shed at times, I seem to keep trying yet to end up just loosing out on all the ways to advance in life from school, jobs, Boy Scouts, and all around general folks. I sometimes wonder…
We had our first son when my wife was sixteen, eighteen with our daughter and then about six years later after my wife and son were in a head on collision, we found out be were blessed with our last son. {she got tied after that}
In those time periods we really learned what our moms had to go through when we were young. {man do I ever know how my mom felt.}
Our oldest son was a big kid {now a big dude 310 lbs at six foot two and still at home} and sometimes would show anger in the wrong manner, so we thought it was best to get a sport that support that issue and football was the key. He started in Boys and Girls Club at age ten and ended up on a stretcher headed to the hospital due to a helmet to helmet with a team mate on the first game. Yet that didn’t stop him, he went on to go all the way through high school with a high passion of football.
Our daughter is the creative one in the family, and a kind of a “her own style” person she likes having things different, from her hair to wanting a lip ring, which mom and dad did not allow to happen, but did allow a fake one. She says when she turns eighteen she is getting to get a tattoo, I said that when she does I would go with her, she liked that. From playing multiple interments like orchestra bass, drums, keyboards, bass guitar and others also is a great artist she did the banner above and the one on Time for Alaska. She has great views on life but wants it to happen to fast, and is one that wants to be independent first. She is talking of becoming a Canadian citizen. Who knows why. We will support her all we can though.
Our youngest is ten and is at the age of video games and rap music. He does well at school he just has a brain that runs at a hundred miles a second and sometimes reacts before he thinks. Were looking for a sport for him now.
All three of our kids are let’s say on the large size not so much as fat but muscles as well, yet each holds there size well, they all have friends. I know all to well what being large at a young age is all about and let me tell ya they have far more friends then I ever did at there ages.
When they were young they went to church, so they have the value of good, bad and whats right and what is wrong, be nice and give what you can and when you can to help others.
All we can do as parents is hope they take these values when there out and about.

Chow

Growing and Learning

Now I can’t say that it has all been easy, yet it has not been to hard just new.
You see I met my wife when she was thirteen and I was around 18. I was dating someone and never even gave her a look. Just was not my type. (so I thought) 
She was into Ozzy and other metal music, I was into Neil Young and classic rock.
I had gone to Florida for this girl I thought was my sole mate. Man was I dumb. Then maybe not, you see when I was in Florida the girl dumped me for some other guy. Young Dumb and full of {you know the rest}…
I did learn a lot there, I was turning eighteen and was in a state that was thousands of miles from anyone I knew or even knew me. A real eye opener to how the real world works when you don’t know anybody. Plus now having to find a place to live and work.
I did find work and got a trailer for a real deal. So I was off to a good start.
I met this lady and I say lady cause she was thirty five and pure Italian. I felt like I was on top of the world, just turning eighteen and with a real lovely Italian who was seventeen years older and looked twenty. For close to ten months we hit it off great, It grew into much, much more then just two people talking, then I find out she had a husband in prison and was getting out soon so bye bye. Thus lead me to have to leave. When I got back a friend picked me up at the airport. He had his girlfriend and so I had to get in the back with this girl I didn’t know. So I thought. After my friend told me her name I remembered her. We paled around for awhile and one day I gave her this jolly rancher candy I was sucking on. {Don’t ask}
later that night her friend come running to my room and said that her friend thinks I’m a sweet kisser then ran away. I sat there dazed, alone, then asking myself what I just got myself into. Twenty one years later with three kids two dogs and two turtles plus more bills then we know what to do with.
Wow… sometimes I have to look back and ask what if I didn’t go to Florida and I stayed here?

Chow

In Our Beginning

My wife and I were real young when the magic happen. Now three kids and 21 years later with more bills then we know what to do with, I would have to say I would not have traded it for anything.
We have two dogs Rusty and Jeopardy and a turtle named Lucy Luv.

I guess this blog is about a lot of what I as a dad have done and maybe should / could have done while trying to learn how to raise my kids. You see I was adopted and was raised mostly by my adoptive mom, but that’s another blog for another day.
Growing up has not stopped for me, I am 41 and in my mind still fell like I’m 17 – 25.
Now if my body could fell the same way I would have it made.

My wife also was raised by her mom, yet in our lives as growing up it was a different style but same values of the old days. Both our parents were of the 20s and 40s era. There values were like a tree and the roots were long and deep, with limbs reaching for the sun.
After we both lost our parents, the values were there but the roots of the tree had died with our parents. We do our best to show our kids these values and hope the someday we can start our own tree and have deep roots with limbs reaching for the heavens.

Chow