Pops turned 70

Summers in Arkansas were in the 1980's with my grandparents.  I loved that time in my life.  Is my pops really an old man?  Wow, confusing to me at best.  But my memories as a child don't correlate the same as my own father.  Pops is sprier than Hans and Maxine in the 80's. This whole thing sucks because I love him and his wife so much I don't want to lose them.  I hope he sees 80 the way he is 70 now, if for anything my own selfish reasoning.
Eric

Jim Adams

The anonymity that our daily lives have prove that people among us don't truly know our life's stories.  Jim Adams is that perfect example.  A good business man who knew when to snatch opportunity from the situation.  This, hopefully monthly piece in the newsletter, will try at best to capture and share the sometimes unknown portion of our fellow elks' lives.  Jim to me is remarkable as a person because of his humble, yet willingness, to share his life story to me.  I do not know him well, but he opened up to me and told me his anonymity in life.  Jim has a love of motorcycles, and his life has followed an interesting path.  Jim joined the Merchant Marines during the war period, and even before that at the age of 14 had a motorcycle interest.  Taking the usual path of career, he hid his interest from colleagues in order to prevent himself from the stigmatization of society.  Jim's opportunities in his career led him all over the Midwest and, at an early age, a unique event.  Jim was a service technician in Sturgis in 1947, the first year after the war that the bike rally was started back up by the local Indian dealer named Pappi Hoyle.  Jim progressed in his career but motorcycles were his backbone in life.  In 1974 he made a decision that changed his life again, and it had nothing to do with Harley, it was Honda.  Jim related to me that Honda removed the stigmatization of motorcycle riders.  In his words "Harley left their mark"  meaning Harley's leaked oil and Honda was cheap, reliable, and more acceptable by the general public.  He left his career behind to follow his passion with his family.  The rest is more documented, from buying an Ames Honda motorcycle dealer to building it into having every brand of motorcycle available in the country.  His ingenuity expanding into a trucking business, based around motorcycles, that rivaled in some ways the dealership business.  Jim serves as an example that without asking  or talking to fellow Elks, you may never know the history or background of somebody sitting next to you.

Dear John

Lost connections happen in everybody's lives.  Like a childhood friend that you wonder what happened to them or even a guy you liked working with that you wonder where they are now.  I have plenty of those and facebook isn't the answer for me.  As much as I would like to know what happened to Adam, Jim, Mike, or especially Jessica, I'll probably never really know.  What sucks is seeing a Dear John letter, not literally but figuratively.  What happened to me in 2008/09 (unsure) doesn't concern me much but the way it happened does.  Imagine a woman who has lived with you for 2 years decides to leave by trying to move out unexpectedly on a rare workday Sunday.  I beat her to the assumed note that would have been left.  Why,  as a carpenter I stepped in puddle of thawing snow and needed to go home to change socks.  I found my home upside down with a woman in the midst of a dear john, yet not that far.  The dear john never came, but it might have been worse.  She took the cat too.  The cat hated her and returned it the next day.  The point is I would much rather have a clean decided break, than interfered with one-sided way that I interrupted.  Most of my past relationships with people have always had a reason and a clear cut reasons to cease interactions.  To interrupt a dear john is weird at best, and emotionally difficult at worst.  To lose a friend or acquaintance over time is acceptable, to lose one immediately and in the middle of a move out with cat in hand, is disturbing.

Cat is good and living well (lasted one day on the other side)
whoisamerica

The Liar

The Liar is an attorney that I faced off with years ago on the witness stand, but it still bugs me to this day.  He is now disbarred for stealing, and although I don't know the complete circumstances, I can speculate in my own head.  He stole from the company I work for because he would not own up to his mistakes for the sake of saving face to his wife.  He blamed me on the stand for his own perilous problems that he created and was determined to disrespect me and my company for his own mistakes.  I regret not being as aggressive as him in calling him a flat out liar, instead only being tactful in calling him dis-honest.  He didn't call me dis-honest, he called me a liar and not of good character.  Liar, bad, not of good character, worse.  He played the lie he told his wife of destroying her antique furniture on me.  All the while complaining to me that his wife will kill him for leaving that furniture exposed to the elements.  I should not have displayed the tact that I thought the courtroom deserved.  I should have called that liar out right then and there.  But I respectfully said yes/no and your wrong with no outburst that should have happened.  For the record he lost the case, but won an arbitrary  settlement for his wife's antiques.  We won, but he stole half back on lying and my courtroom tact.  If I ever step back into another courtroom, I hope I don't, I won't be nice, I learned that from an asshole attorney that cried in later statements about antiques to the judge.  When the roof is off the house, literally with antiques inside. don't trust a frugal lying lawyer that will later be disbarred for stealing.
Its been on my mind for a while, and still makes me irate to this day.
Whoisamerica,
Tact in America is lost

The incredible secret

Back when I was a naive and potentially persuaded individual (2006), I applied for a new job. I know that is crazy to me, as I'm about the only 1 to read this, but it's true. What was it I ask? I know the answer, I applied for the CIA. It was an interesting process actually. I found that the secrecy involved made me paranoid. Believe it or not I restrained from telling my pops. When I told my girlfriend at the time, I received a call the next day. Secrecy is important, and scary. To this day I am proud of how far I made it in their selection process. (1 step shy) I have yet to this day to receive mail in my box that does not have a post mark. I have scurried away all these documents and correspondences for my own self importance. Thank god that the CIA is selective and the dog walkers in front of my house are no longer CIA recruiters. But is that guy with the great dane a spy? Boy was I/am paranoid about this. whoisamerica.blogspot.com Eric P.S. The story is completely true, except for the great dane being a spy.

6 month guarantee

Match.com sucks. I want a woman in my life, this 6 month thing finds me wanting it even more. Why? Because they bet/promised me that that would happen, I fell for it. Now I am forced to save face and view/email random woman that I have no intention to see or date, in order win over match.com. I went from a idealistic opportunist to a incredibly naive bachelor that I started out as. I still don't want the match.com bet to go away, yet has match.com lived up to their bargain in this. I now am relegated to creating emails to women for the sake of beating match.com in their requirements. I emailed several women that I thought would email in return. Were they not interested, or were they complicit in the scheme? Now my matches all resemble hideous unicorns in half shell costumes of Igor-esk creatures.

crossward pussles?

Is it just me, or am I the lone individual that loves crossword puzzles that is less than 80 years old? Or I don't have a life? I love the intellectual stimulation and sarcasm that usually comes with this. What I hate is the misspelling of words that ultimately confuses me. The hole point of a crossword pussle is to expand the mind and vocabulary of the solver. How is it that the crossword makers now neglect spelling errors? When an I is an i don't give me an eye. Or a Aye. If you don't get it your a whole in the grind. whoisamerica.blogspot.com Eric funny how that blog spot is spelled wrong yet this is not (not a complete sentence) Who is America dot blog spot dot com (notacompletesentence)