Class Evaluations

The class went well for me. I love to write so the class was right up my alley. I enjoyed researching my community and learning how to put an interview together. I really enjoyed and appreciated the free book and the fact there were no extra costs associated with the class. If I had one comment or addition it would be have more writing and maybe even more creative writing. Otherwise it was a great class.

The Every Morning Dilemma

Preface..This isn't "newsworthy" but it's where I was at when I wrote the assignment. "Sorry" or "your welcome" depending on your reaction.

It never fails. Every time I finish working out I tell myself, "Ya know, I'd be even more better off(more better?!?!?) if I changed my diet a little. Cut out the one can of soda I drink everyday or eat more veggies. Maybe don't have a bowl of "Double Hot Fudge Triple Caramel Delight" ice cream before bedtime. The list goes on but you get the idea.
The same thing goes for this morning. I get up, go get my son, place him in his high chair for breakfast, and give him his oatmeal to eat. I then continue on...go get my paper and start my morning coffee. This is where I go left instead of right every morning. Instead of having a banana and granola or even the same oatmeal my son eats everyday I go to the cereal pantry. We currently have three kinds of cereal in my houshold. Lucky Charms, Frosted Mini Wheats(the real ones), and the new Blueberry Special K. You'd think that Special K would be a healthy choice and still allow me to have what I truely want anyway...cereal. That makes sense right? Instead I reach for the Frosted Mini-Wheats. Now before I go on I should explain just how I like my cereal or more specifically HOW MUCH cereal I like to eat in one sitting.
I like my cereal in a big bowl. I like to fill said bowl to the top. Filling to the point where cereal sometimes spills out onto the floor after the addition of milk. My guess is it works out to about 3 1/2 to 4 servings when all is said and done. Anyway, so like I said, I reach for the Mini-Wheats and realize there is not enough to satisfy my craving at that moment. I then reach for the next logical option...Lucky Charms. Unfortunately the same issues lie at the bottom of the Lucky Charms box. Not enough marshmellowy goodness to satisfy this hunger. It was at this point when the Special K option briefly crosses my mind again. I ponder it ever so quickly and dismiss the idea with slightly audible, "yeah right." and move on to the obvious conclusion. Combine the Lucky Charms and the Mini-Wheats into one mega bowl of sensual taste delights this world only dare dream of. Great, fantastic idea!!!
Now, should I opt to put the Mini-Wheats in first? Or should I put the Purple Hearts, Green Horseshoes, and Yellow Moons in first, thus putting them on the bottom? Both have their advantages obviously and should be considered with careful uhhh.....consideration. My choice? I took a box in each hand and poured simultaniously into the bowl creating a wonderful blend of lightly frosted shredded wheat and complete unadulterated sugar packed into tiny marshmellows. It was everything I thought it would be and more. My tongue felt like the circus had come to town, set up tents, and stayed for a month. I even took bites with my eyes closed just so I wouldn't know what taste i was going to get. The fiber in the Mini-Wheats successfully kept me regular today and the sugar in the Lucky Charms allowed me to persevere through a complete cleaning of the entire house. Talk about win/win.
So, in the end, not only did I ignore my advice to change my diet(again) but I once again encouraged the devil on my left shoulder and casually picked the angel off of my right, gave him the finger, spat in his face, put him in the empty Lucky Charms box, and tossed him in the trash. Breakfast Cereal - 2,568 Ryan - 0 Evil temptress that cereal.

Ham Lake- Weathering the Storm

I tried to contact the Mayor of Ham Lake, Paul Meunier, to get his thoughts on our community here in Ham lake. Unfortunately I was only able to leave him a message. I then turned my attention to Councilmember Tom Johnson. http://www.ci.ham-lake.mn.us/gov/council/council_profile.asp?ID=3

Much to my suprise he personally answered his phone and was more than happy to chat with me about Ham Lake and it's primary concerns from a community standpoint.



I asked him what the biggest concern was in Ham Lake and he replied, "The budget." He went on to say that their budget is being cut 4.5% this year. I asked him what kind of things were in danger of being affected due to the budget cuts and he said, "Ham Lake has always been fiscally tight. So I think that leaves us in better shape than some other municipalities. We aren't in debt so that has allowed us to weather this economic storm better than some other places." He went on to say that some city employees, however, have had their hours cut and in some cases have seen their pay rate decrease. He was quick to point out that this is happening all over and not just in Ham Lake.



Councilmember Tom Johnson also serves on the Law Enforcement Committee so I asked him if there were any primary concerns from a crime standpoint. He said that he "hasn't really done much with that committee". I did learn that Ham Lake contract their services through Anoka County. I guess that's why I always see the Anoka County Sheriff cars as oppossed to a Ham Lake squad car.



I guess I was a little surprised that the main concern was the budget. I shouldn't be though, it's everyone's main concern. From the Federal Government to state, local, and to the everyday family, making an increasingly smaller budget go further is always a daunting task. Perhaps Councilmember Johnson is right, maybe it's all about having no debt, making some cuts here and there, and just plain weathering the storm. Perhaps the Feds should use Ham Lake as a template.

Health Care is a topic that is rather near and not so dear to my heart. Seeing as I am currently unemployed I have no health insurance. I have two sons and a wife. They are covered under her insurance but seeing as her health care plan is a little sub-par the cost is hitting us directly in the pocket book.
We have looked into private insurance but that too is very expensive. My youngest son is under three months of age so there isn’t one insurance company that will cover him. I guess that is one of the reasons I support a government run health care plan. No, it doesn’t mean we are turning into a socialist country. All it means is that it will provide an affordable plan for folks in our position.
I’m tired of insurance companies telling me which doctor I can see and which ones I can’t because they “aren’t in your network”. Shouldn’t that be my choice? I’m tired of not being able to see a chiropractor because the company doesn’t cover that kind of service. All I want for and my family are affordable options that will cover us in the event of the unthinkable. Is that too much to ask for?

Poker, Pulltabs, and a Bartender named Rob

I like to play poker. I play whenever I get the chance to. Since the birth of my two kids, however, I rarely get the chance to play anymore. So when my dad asked if I wanted to go to the local VFW to play Texas Hold’Em I jumped at the chance. I figured I can play some cards, and do some research for this assignment. It’s a win, win situation right? I cleared it with the boss (my wife), and off to play cards, ummm, I mean do research I went.

The game started at 7 so I told my dad to meet me there at 6:30. I went a tad earlier just to hang out, observe and see just what the folks at a VFW sit and chat about. When I walked in the first thing I noticed is how dark it was in there. I would come to find the lighting matched the over all feel of the room. The bar area was large with a room full of tables, a pull-tab desk off to the right of the front door, and hundreds of military photos and memorabilia hanging on the wall. The walls were finished in cheap, dark wood paneling and it smelled of years of cigarette smoke that used to fill that place before the ban took effect. Despite the room of open tables the 25-30 folks that occupied the place all were saddled up at the bar, drink in hand and a stack of ones ready to pay for the next round. Most of the folks there were men, older in age, looking like they have done two life-times of hard labor and were gearing up for another life-time of even harder work. Some sat alone staring at one of the two flat-screen TVs tuned to Sports Center, and others sat in a row of two to four chatting about various different topics. So under my breathe I say, “When in Rome”, found a place at the bar, ordered a drink, and sat and waited for my dad to arrive.

Across the bar from me was a group of four guys. They had matching hats on from some local electrical company so I figured this is where they go from time to time after work to unwind and get some things off of their chest. The topic of conversation was Obama. The guy that dominated the conversation was probably in his sixties, had weathered hands and a haggard face that only years of work in a Minnesota winter will give you.
He was quite adamant that Obama was turning our nation into a socialist society. He was opposed to a government run health care system; thought Obama spent too much time on The Jay Leno Show, and thought the economy was too slow in turning around. I disagreed with just about everything he said but I was not here for a political debate. The rest of the guys in the group mostly nodded to the things he said except for one of the younger guys who mostly just said things like, “we’ll see” and “hopefully things will turn around because it really can’t get much worse than the previous eight years.” That, I agreed with.

From there I turned my attention to two guys sitting right next to me. They were in their forties and each had some sort of Viking gear on. I think one guy actually had a pair of Zubaz on as well. They had their eyes glued to the TVs and were discussing who they were going to start on their fantasy football team this week. I love football but I don’t get involved in fantasy football. It seems like “Dungeons and Dragons” for the sports geek. Anyway, they went back and forth about whom to start at wide receiver and running back and took turns buying rounds of the cheap beer for each other. Occasionally the talk would turn to work and how things were. There were never really any details, just comments like, “I’m just lucky to have a job right now.” and “OSHA was in the other day.” It was at this time when my dad walked in and took a seat next to me at the bar.

The first thing my dad says is, “Can I buy you a drink?” The answer of course was, “yes”. So he hails the bartender who makes his way over and says, “Hey Butch (my dad’s name), what can I get you, Coors?” To that my dad replies, “How you doing Rob? Yeah, give me a Coors Light and a Windsor/Coke for my son here.” That was a very telling sign of how things were here. Everyone was a regular and knew the bartender’s name and the bartender in turn knew them and pretty much what they drank. I had a few rounds with my dad, talked about family stuff, and waited to sign up for the poker tournament.

Through out the night, in-between poker hands I kept watching the cliental and it seemed like they all knew each other. Topics ranged from their kids and what sports they were playing to winterizing the cabin to how it felt to have Brett Favre as a Minnesota Viking. The topics were very surface and other than the Obama discussion, didn’t go very deep. Kind of like a “don’t disturb the herd” mentality. It was an unspoken rule here that any topic that had a chance of causing friction was off limits and even though the folks were there to have fun the atmosphere seemed pretty dim and hopeless. There weren’t a lot of genuine laughs, just insincere chuckles and forced smiles. It almost seemed like they knew that this night was fleeting and tomorrow they would be back at jobs they hated, doing hard work for less than ideal wages, and waiting for next Thursday where they will all meet here again for drinks and free poker. It’s a revolving scenario that’s been going on for quite some time.

I'd like to think that the VFW is not an accurate cross section of my community. At least I hope it’s not. I think that it’s just a slice of a smaller group of people that have worked extremely hard their whole lives and have seen a lot of dreams go unfulfilled. They feel betrayed by their government, they work hard, take that one week vacation every year, watch the local sports teams, do their best to make ends meet, and come here every Thursday for just a little time away from it all. Maybe that’s why the talk doesn’t touch on very heavy topics most of the time. They get enough of it in their everyday lives. In my opinion the VFW is like comfort food to them and in the words of a famous theme song, “sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name.”

Ham Lake-1 Wal-Mart-0

I recently moved out of urban Minneapolis to the more rural Ham Lake. I did not take a very active role in my community while I lived in Minneapolis. I attended no block parties, attended zero town hall meetings, and didn’t bring homemade cookies to my neighbors. For various reasons I guess I just wasn’t interested in doing so. Now that I’m in Ham Lake I find myself more interested in what’s going on in my community. I joined the local YMCA, I took the wife and kids to the near-by Andover Street Fest, and even joined a independently owned video store instead of Blockbuster. But what got me interested in Ham Lake’s community was a movie I watched long before I even relocated to the northern suburb.

The documentary was called “Wal-Mart:The High Cost of Low Price”.
WAL-MART: The High Cost of Low Price I won’t go into much detail about the film except I’ll say it did not paint a favorable picture about Wal-Mart, it’s practices, or it’s CEO. Rent it, or click the link to learn more about this film.

Many of you know that Wal-Mart is the biggest retailer in the U.S. and it’s used to getting its way. In March of 2005 the Ham Lake city council considered a proposal from Wal-Mart to rezone 7 acres of land from residential to commercial. This is near Crosstown Blvd. and Hwy 65, literally 2 miles from where I now live. The City Council unanimously turned down this proposal for rezoning. Ham Lake Mayor Gary Kirkeide said that a 203,000 sq. ft Wal-Mart would be “too intense for that property”. I agree. Trees, country roads, and locally owned and operated businesses surround the property in question. Putting a Wal-Mart there would be like having The Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade run through an elementary school parking lot. It just wouldn’t fit and it would change the landscape dramatically.

One reason my wife and I moved to Ham Lake was because it gave us the sense of being out in the country. Although it’s a short drive to Blaine for your Targets and Home Depots it’s still very much like a small town community. The guy that rents me my movies always asks how my kids are, the guy that runs the local auto repair shop checked out my car for free where as other “bigger” shops would have charged me $100.00 just to have it looked at. The folks here in Ham Lake are down to earth and easy going. We like things simple and uncomplicated. Wal-Mart would have compromised, not only the small businesses in the area, but our way of life. Having that land rezoned would have meant the nearby park system would not have been able to be expanded in the future. That’s a good example of what the folks here consider important. It isn’t the big retailers, it’s the parks, it’s the small businesses run by our neighbors, it’s knowing that when the guy at Ham Lake Hardware shakes your hand and says your lawn mower is fixed he means it. And if it isn’t he’ll fix it again without a bunch of red tape and warranty crap.

Some skeptics will say that this kind of sprawl development is inevitable, and that citizen opposition isn’t worth it because the big bully always wins. But in this case, where the community and the public officials understand the simple concept of small town ethics, how to preserve those ethics, and realize they do not have to rezone land for any developer, no matter how big and bad they are, the truth is Wal-Mart was defeated in a very simple manner. For now the playground bully will have to get his lunch money from some other kid.

I would like to think that a blog is somewhat of a stream of consciousness. Maybe a random thought that passes through ones head on the way to never never land(not MJ's old place). Maybe a gripe or some well deserving praise to that polite barista who made your latte this morning. Although they can be thought out I tend to feel that blogs need some spontaneity to them. Almost like a random discussion with a friend about whatever the topic may be. Columns are the place reserved for well thought out arguments and such. Blogging allows the blue collar man/woman the freedom to bask in the world of journalism without the degree or the editor that will just trash and rewrite your work anyway. It's freedom of thought taken one step further allowing your thoughts and words to reach an audience that a few years prior you would have never reached without a paper or magazine sponsoring you.
The thing about blogging that is attractive to me is the anonymity that exists. You can almost become another person if you wish. Thoughts that might not suit the discussion at the Thanksgiving table are ok in the bloggisphere. Taboo subjects like politics and religion, which I rarely engage in face to face, are fair game in the bloggisphere. We live in a mostly polite, "don't rock the boat" society. Blogging allows you to, not only rock the boat, but tip the damn thing over if you want to. Now some abuse and hide in the blogging shadows. Using it as a forum to spew hate messages and such without consequence. This is unfortunate but those jesters are the minority and hopefully it'll stay that way allowing the responsible, respectful bloggers to rule the blogging kingdom. I just enjoy the fact that I can rant and rave and I don't have someone telling me I can't. Lovely.
The challenges that come with blogging is that writing is literary crack for me. I love to write and sometimes have to have that fix. Blogging should be concise and to the point but if I go on a writing binge it's hard for me to stop. My blog site is the dealer, my hands the lighter, my thoughts the crack, and it's infinite in supply. Not a good thing for a writing or blogging junkie. Things could be worse I guess.