Putin’s Goal

Like many of you my loyal readers, I have an opinion of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin. To say the least I don’t like him, never have, never will.

Apparently Biden doesn’t like him either and sees the latest crisis in the Ukraine as something akin to empire expansion. But apparently Biden doesn’t appreciate Russian History enough to understand not just where Putin is coming from, but what the Russians themselves truly believe is their goal of preservation by creating a buffer from European incursions. They need a buffer in their minds because history after all ends up repeating itself.

Buffer from the west could lead ultimately to his downfall.

Like it or not, Kiev is the ancient capital of Ukrainians, but also of the Russians. Furthermore, the Russians hold that Ukrainians and Russians are one people* as Putin himself elaborated on at length this summer. You are free not to like this, but it doesn’t change what the Russians sincerely feel.

From https://anti-empire.com/can-russia-offer-more-than-its-ancient-capital-as-a-buffer-zone/

Now, a quick history lesson into Russia’s past. I understand where Putin is coming from because he is after all is said and done a preservationist. I took a class in Russian and Soviet History in high school so that I could understand better their mindset. Why are the Russians the way they are? And why are they so big in the geographic sense?

The answer is simple. The Mongol horde that invaded from the east was why. The Mongols saw fit to invade and destroy, rape and pillage the Russians’ ancient capital, Kiev and what is now called Moscow. When they left the Russians benefited by expanding their territories east. Now they were protected against those countries over there.

From https://www.theworldbriefly.com/buffer-borders-russia-s-security-policy-explained/

When Peter the Great came on the scene he sought to make Russia a great empire that rivaled the super powers of that time, France, Spain and Britain. He not only modernized the Russian Army and created a navy, he also expanded westwardly, offering more security for its capital. In hindsight it was almost prophetic in that two events occurred later that seemingly fitted his “greatness.”

Firstly, there was the Swedish invasion led by Christian XII. The vastness of Russia wore down the invaders who were eventually defeated at Poltava. Secondly, Napoleon’s failure was possible, in part, because Kutuzov had room to retreat, wearing down the superior French army.

From: https://www.theworldbriefly.com/buffer-borders-russia-s-security-policy-explained/

Of course, the Nazi invasion in 1941 in which Hitler only learned one thing that Napoleon did not possess, Armor and aircraft which he was only partially successful, but once again, the Russian winter proved a fatal flaw in Hitler’s calculations.

This made it obvious that the buffer zone need be big. Consequently, the states of East-Central Europe would end-up paying the price. They became satellites of the Soviet Union. If the West would ever try to invade the heartland again, there would be plenty of time to mobilize.

From: https://www.theworldbriefly.com/buffer-borders-russia-s-security-policy-explained/

To the issue facing us now. Once again, just as after World War One, their buffer has shrunk. The former Warsaw Pact, dissolved and deserted to NATO, a geo-political rival, and the only thing standing in the way of them invading Russia is Ukraine.

It’s seems a bit oxymoronic because most every European nation has put most of their military eggs into one basket, a nuclear arsenal that recognizes no buffers or borders should it come to this conclusion. It is also a sobering reminder to everyone involved in this crisis that if Putin is pushed, he wouldn’t hesitate to use his nuclear arsenal.

Last week, Russia sent the United States a list of its demands for defusing the crisis: a binding promise that Ukraine will never become a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, plus the removal of all NATO troops and weapons from 14 Eastern European countries that have joined the alliance since 1997.

Is it unreasonable? Not to Putin and most every Russian citizen who looks westward with a certain degree of apprehension. If the shoe was on our foot, how would we react if say, Canada or Mexico had as much military and economic power as us and became if not belligerent than downright uncompromising in making certain demands on us, including possible invasion of our borders. We too would want a buffer to protect ourselves from their influences.

While I don’t particularly like Putin, but from the lessons of history, I see where he is coming from. Biden needs to respect this as well, even if it means allowing Ukraine back into the arms of Mother Russia.

Selling My Brand

My Writers’ Guild coordinator emailed me the other day about something I had done last month for our last meet up. It was the essay I wrote called The Gully that I submitted for you my loyal readers to enjoy. She asked me if this was a blog because this month’s meet up discussion topic is blogging.

I replied to her query with an affirmative and then explained to her that unlike most authors who write about what they are doing in regard to a project that they are either presently working on or promoting as a recently published book, I have gone a slightly different route by trying to promote my writing for all of you to see and appreciate.

On occasion I do the promoting of a new book that I had recently published, but I also do other things which many of you know is a goulash of various topics that I find interesting and put into writing. I have a number of other writers through word press and twitter who do the same thing. They self-promote but then they also write about current events that is shaping our lives, a person of notoriety who for good or ill has become a catalyst in our lives, or a political topic that I believe is an important issue for discussion. I have also written whimsical narrative to give you a fresh eye on my abilities as a writer.

I hope that what ever she thinks a blog should, I don’t believe it should only be about selling the book I wrote or the project I am about to embark on. I believe selling my brand as an author is just as important if not more so.

I’m wrong. I need to sell my books as a marketing ploy and not sell myself as a writer. I don’t know if that would sell more of my books or not. What is that saying six of one, half dozen of another? Should I focus solely on selling books or selling my brand through creative writing? I guess you the reader out there are the best judges for that.

A 2 Z

Like most places we are getting our fair share of attendance issues at work due to either COVID or a persistent attitude that work isn’t all that important anymore for the average worker. I came to work last Thursday and was informed that a team member, actually two team members no longer worked here.

I’ll call her Amy and she was a bright and pretty 20 something, single and coy. She never shied away from teasing the other male team members, including me though everyone knew it was all in fun. Zeke was also 20 something and had that kind of ear piercing that looked like he used an auger to drill out the holes in his ear lobes. I guess it’s a fashion statement for this new generation. At any rate he too liked to tease and enjoyed Amy’s company. They were both in the same department and were always within ear shot of each other. I talked with them whenever I was in the lobby and whenever there was a slight pause in the day.

I talked with their fellow team member Thursday and she informed me that Amy and Zeke no longer worked here. I gave her surprised and probably curious expression. “Really?” I asked.

“Yeah, I don’t know what really happened but there is a time and place for certain things and this wasn’t and they got caught doing something they weren’t supposed to.”

Well, she is probably pretty close to my age and gave me a wry smile as if what they were caught doing was naughty and sinful, but she didn’t publicly state exactly what they were caught doing.

I didn’t need a boulder falling on my head to get an idea of what she was talking about. I left the issue alone as she had to assist a guest with his luggage.

I talked to Amy some weeks ago and she was upset with another team member along with her direct supervisor. She admitted then that she was looking for a way out. I guess she got that plus fringe benefits with Zeke. I don’t know if that was his plan.

So now this particular department is short staffed. We have two restaurants that are closed due to staffing shortages, and my department, which normally is barely hanging on, now is in critical mass because of people we either had to let go or chose to go somewhere else.

Of course, I thought I had made that decision over nine months ago, but then I had to return. I honestly have never experienced a situation like this. It’s as if this pandemic has released a genie from its bottle and it isn’t about to go back. For once the workers actually control the nuts and bolts of this economy. It’s both exciting and scary.

Happy New Year, Maybe?

Well, 2021 is about to become history and what a year this has been, globally, nationally and personally. What is 2022 going to conjure up? It’s hard to say, though with Putin amassing his troops at the Ukrainian border, war seems likely unless someone other than Joe Biden can come up with a last minute solution to this crisis. And what about COVID? How many more thousands are going to die this next year because it’s their god given right to choose?

I saw on the news that we lost a lot of celebrities and politicians and other public figures such as Bob Dole, Harry Reid, Hank Aaron, Charlie Watts and ZZ Top’s Dusty Hill. Most lately John Madden and just today, Betty White passed too. They will be missed and were considered legendary in what they did. Who in 2022 will go to that great beyond?

Personally, I thought I was going into early retirement and move to Southern Idaho and see just how Red that state is. I lived there nearly six months before Tom, Lillie’s husband asked me to either pay rent or leave. Work equity or sweat equity wasn’t helping pay the power bill. I returned and discovered I lost a close co-worker, who died from COVID. So yes, I too was touched by that horrible disease, and another who died from cancer, also a horrible disease that needs a cure.

Corona virus did a number on my book sales too; abysmal best described how well received A Man’s Passion was, even though I poured a dear amount into marketing and unfortunately nothing came of it. I had hoped to at least break even and reinvest what I earned into my other two projects that at this point are in a state of limbo. Not just the marketing but the bread and butter of an author, book signings. I couldn’t get any book store here or down in Idaho to hold a signing so long as there was a potential for the virus to rear its ugly head.

So, good night to 2021 and good morning to 2022. I hope this is the year that we see the end of COVID once and for all, some pieces of the Make America Better gets passed in the Senate, and we can for once coexist on this our planet without bias, hate and want muddying up the waters of next year.

“Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne!”

Cat Fishing

Rule number one, if someone wants to be your friend on Facebook, make sure you know them. I almost became a victim of a cat Fisher woman. I saw the friend request and just thought it was someone from the casino. I was wrong. It turned out to be a woman who apparently resides somewhere in Florida, though that too might be a lie.

At any rate, later that afternoon my cell phone and tablet are going off like crazy and she wants to do a video call. Number one, I don’t know her and number two I am not techno-savvy enough to figure out how to do this without some added assistance.

At first I tried declining the request by just ignoring it, but she was persistent and we ended up text chatting on Messenger instead. We talked and talked and talked for a good three hours while I was busy revising one of my manuscripts.

I then told her I had an appointment and need to leave and I figured that was the end of that nonsense. I was wrong. She is wanting to chat some more and asks me if I’m on one of those other chat things I think it was Whats App and the other, hangouts. I vaguely remember the first and knew nothing of the latter, but down loaded the apps anyway, then told her I couldn’t get through. At any rate, I’m here in Washington, presumably thinking she is three hours away in Florida, though I don’t know that for sure. We exchange pictures then she tells me her son’s birthday is coming up soon. I think to myself, so what?

But then she asks if there is something I could do for him and I remarked, “Happy Birthday and Merry Xmas.”

“No, I mean can you give him present?”
Now is when it becomes obvious that either this person isn’t the same person I talked to earlier or she has like a split personality disorder because she didn’t text me sounding like she was from some foreign country. Everything about this conversation was off and I knew it.

“I don’t know you and you definitely don’t know who am because if you did you would know I don’t even send my three nieces birthday presents, and I’m not about to start with you now. And if you think I’m going to give you money then you are truly delusional. I don’t give anyone I don’t know money.”

“Oh, but poor son is sad now.”
Not my problem I said to myself.
Then she replied okay, and that was the end of that conversation and I haven’t heard back from her since.

Pushing the Envelope

I’m told I sometimes have a temper and I push the envelope on occasion. There is usually a good reason for that and yesterday morning was no small exception. Since I’ve moved back up here wonderful wife has gone out of her way to push her own envelope when it comes to patience. My patience that is.

Friday afternoon she informed me via text messaging that she borrowed some money from my checking. I wouldn’t had been so bothered if she had asked but this time she just went ahead and did it, justifying her behavior by telling me she and her mother needed groceries and to help pay some bills. Again, all she had to do was ask.

Rather than confront her, I allowed it to stew inside my brain overnight. In reply I kindly asked her about her son, Terry because before I left, he was giving her money for rent and groceries. I got her reply that told me the opposite was true, that he was using his money to buy drugs, again, rather than be responsible and do the right thing.

I read her reply after getting out of bed and that set off a chain of events that culminated in me cussing and screaming at a box of Kleenex tissue and storming out of my house in a snowstorm, and going to work, forgetting to grab my employee badge and work keys.

Once I realized what I had done, I had to go back to the house I rented and grab those items, which meant clocking out then clocking back in upon my return. My day for all intents and purposes was shot, and I didn’t actually recover until after I got home that evening.

I sometimes wonder how some seemingly rational minded people suddenly go berserk and kill total and innocent strangers in a random fit of rage, but now I can see why such tragedies occur in our society. It comes down to respect and the Golden Rule.

Where Things Stand

As many of my loyal readers, friends and family know, I generally don’t do a lot of political blog posts unless I feel it is absolutely necessary, or I’m so frustrated by whomever opens their pie-hole that feel compelled to do just that, express myself.

I read an article in the Twin Falls newspaper recently that pretty much describes the dysfunction of the Republican party these days. In this article were two Republicans who see their party in completely opposite poles. One, is a long-time political hack in his seventies, who has served in Idaho politics in one form or another for over 40 years. The other is a relative newcomer who was a US Congressman but lost the recent gubernatorial primary to the present governor, Brad Little. His name is Raul Labrador.

The politics of Idaho pretty much mirrors the politics of most states where the Republican Party is the Party in power and the problem as this article demonstrated was that one side is pragmatic and wants to work at problem solving while the other side is ideologically driven and believes one must demonstrate fidelity to one man who at present is seemingly holding them to be absolutely loyal to him.

It’s seemingly the same problem the Democrats have as well, one faction that wants to get things done and another that has gone so far left that I don’t recognize them anymore and consider their brand as socialism not democracy.

I’m the first to admit that I am not Conservative in political ideology, rather a liberally leaning moderate, which most of my loyal friends and family generally are not. They tend to gravitate with the former. But, as I read this article it became obvious that the Republican Party has strayed too far right for even most Republican standards and there lies in a fear among many that proving your credentials just to be a Republican is not just bad for the Party, but dangerous for the country. I agree.

The last Party that I know of that required one’s complete and utter loyalty, and still do was the Nazi Party and Adolf Hitler. We all know how that ended. If this certain faction so genuinely believes in this mere man, than they probably should form their own party and leave the Republican Party alone. The same goes with the far-left fringe who call themselves Democrats. They aren’t by the way. They are socialists and they too are dangerous for this country and must be stopped. Like that old Republican Party hack, I want my elected office holders to do their job, not declare themselves ideologically pure and do nothing for four years except incite fear and rage.

First Impressions

I’m off work and just get ahead of a red Honda Civic of early 2000s vintage and am behind a cargo van that has a sign stating Llamas on board when I see a bunch of cars parked along Balmer Road, including a van from the Sheriff’s Department.

Odd, I say to myself. I then had to hit my brakes because that cargo van in front slowed down suddenly. What’s going on? I see several more cars parked alongside Hayford Road. A Honda Odyssey is parked off the road its nose facing toward Hayford Road and a number of people and sheriff’s deputies are around the vehicle as if looking for something. What could they be looking for?

I saw to the right of the van and some distance back a lone gurney with a covered body laying on top apparently waiting to be taken to the County’s mortuary at Deaconess Hospital. It’s apparent this once alive person is in no hurry to get to his or hers next location. Whatever troubles or worries this person experienced before today are no longer at the forefront. It kinda reminded me of a country western song I believe George Jones sang, “He Stopped Loving Her Today.”

As I drove on from the scene I had to wonder how and why this person came to that place to cash in his chips, a quarter mile from Northern Quest Resort and Casino. Was it suicide? Was it murder? Was it something more medically induced?

Did he or she have a spouse? Or children. Or was this person living alone in a quiet and restless melancholy? Should I be sad for this person? Or should I revel that he or she might be in a better place away from the demons that haunted him or her?

Obviously, that wasn’t the first body I ever saw. The first one was a couple of weeks after I started working as a dietary janitor at Kadlec Hospital in Richland, Washington where I once resided. I was 18 then and I had delivered a food cart filled with delicious food and was heading down the service elevator, when a door opened and there was this charming looking older man with pleasant smile, and in front of him was a gurney where a deceased person laid. Needless to say, it gave me a queer feeling having to share an elevator ride down to the first floor with this blanket covered body with Einan’s Funeral Home embroidered as the pleasant older man and the dearly departed left the elevator and I went back to the main kitchen to fetch another food cart.

I also saw my share of dearly departed friends as they laid in repose at the same named funeral home I just mentioned. I know it is a fitting way to say goodbye, but it’s not for me. I got this empty and forlorn feeling inside and it was more sadness than just saying so long to an old friend. One wasn’t even old, but quite young. He was shot by his girlfriend.

The story as she told it, they had a bit of a fight and he broke into her apartment and she shot him in self-defense. The police apparently believed her and she was never accused of any crime.

Then of course the day I saw Mom. We had to go and see her following the meeting with her pastor. As I mentioned in previous posts, she was killed in a head on collision back in 2009. To this day it’s still hard to write this, but when I saw her laying there in a cardboard container at the crematorium where she would eventually be cremated, I had the impression that she was merely asleep as we walked up to her still form. The shock brought instant sadness and grief to me and I cried out to her. We all reacted with tears, sobs and hugs. I saw her face. Aside from a superficial cut and bruise to her cheek she looked fine. Her eyes were sewn shut because she requested her eyes be donated.

It is hard to see a dead person and maybe it is because we chose to live a superficial and sanitized environment where we don’t see dead people as readily as we used to some 80 to 100 plus years ago. With this pandemic, maybe we have turned full circle and realized our own mortality for what it is, a natural evolution of life we must someday experience just as that person did today.

The Gulley

It’s a place in my previous life in East Wenatchee I knew all too well. A cavernous gulley that for some mysterious reason happened to be on top of a hilltop. I don’t to this day know what geologic forces played a role in its development but suffice to say it was a magical and adventurous place for a young boy and his dog to explore.

From the moment I happened to discover this place was where Prince and I, later Heidi the dachshund, and Sammy her son, walked the entire length of the miniature canyon. It was what made the drudgery of walking the dogs more exciting and adventurous. It wasn’t a short walk either. By the time I came home on weekends, though I did walk it after school on occasion, a good portion of the day was gone.

This wasn’t really a time of innocence. After all, it was the end of the 60s And the beginning of the 70s with its own complexities that was a stark reminder that simpler times are more in the eyes of the beholder than in truth or fact. Vietnam and as a counter point the anti-war rallies, the hippy, free love, drugs and rock n roll movement, not to mention the Black movement that culminated in race riots and calls for equality sounded out across the television airwaves each night with Walter Cronkite.

I liked to believe that that out there was just it and I was in absolute freedom, away from all the complexities of adult life in general. I didn’t have to worry about my job, making ends meet and keeping a roof over my head. Instead, I had the adventure of taking Prince, Heidi and Sammy down the gulley where I pretended to explore strange new wonders.

One time I took my friends from Methow there. They didn’t see the fun of the adventure, especially Dori, Greg’s sister who thought we were most certainly lost. They took off on their own back to the house, which come to find out later, they had no idea where my house was. Ross, the younger brother of the two and I came home and the parents all asked the same question that we asked, “Where’s Greg and Dori?”

Dad, Pete and I found them a couple of blocks and a full neighborhood away, knocking on doors and asking complete strangers if they know where the Schellhammers live. They probably forgotten that Thanksgiving day over 50 years ago, but it’s still fresh in my mind.

There are more adventures to follow, more lessons learned as I continue along this deep wadi. It was a place that allowed me opportunities to think which I wasn’t really allowed to do with my parents, my teachers, and my friends. Thinking required creativity and imagination which I discovered early on was taboo for the most part. I could think but only within the confines of conformity and conservatism.

It was down in this wadi that I became more attuned with nature, long before I was exposed to Thoreau or Emerson. I was a romantic in the strictest sense, but I never told anyone about that, fearing that they would forbid me from ever venturing down there again.

It wasn’t a woodland or even an idyllic paradise in any stretch of the imagination. It was mostly desert grass, whose seeds stuck to my socks, sagebrush and what I thought were cattails but I’m sure there was another name for it, that to this day I’m not familiar with.

I kept it a secret until one day Cathy, my sister wanted to come with me and take Prince for a walk. It was then that I allowed her to see my secret place and tell her my own beliefs and what I wanted in my ideal world We walked and talked about stuff that a twelve-year-old and his seven-year old sister could only understand. After we left the gulley, we found a road that continued north that I had never dared take before.

Cathy gave me a careful, if not frightened expression as I led her out from the gulley and slowly up this small hill. At the top was a graveyard from the old days, whose grave stones gave out birth and death dates from the 1800s. The most recent was 1927 to 1943. It was a white head stone which I later learned was reserved for those who died in war for our country. There are others like it but long ago, going back to Civil War and World War One.

We were awed by the whole experience as we saw stones of enfant children not even a year old buried next to siblings and parents who passed much later.

There are many lessons one learns from just taking a walk on a road less traveled or down a winding trail that leads into a gulch that no one pays much attention to. I didn’t learn about myself from reading a book, I learned about myself walking my dogs with my friends and my sister away from the concerns out there that we cannot control.

Recuperating

Sunday, I threw my back out somehow. I’m going to see my doctor, Cyndi at the Kaiser Permanente clinic this afternoon. I’m in pain but semi-functional as I inform you my loyal readers that I had some not-so-great news from my publisher in regard to the royalty payment I’ve waited since August for.

They say all calamities comes in threes so I guess my back issue is number three after my unforeseen eviction from my mother’s in law and this royalty business. I had high hopes that the book would sell better than it did. The payment was chicken scratch for all intents and purposes. I’ll just have to get more marketing done so my book is out there for the masses to see, buy and read, then word of mouth usually takes care of itself after that.

I had a feeling that the back issue would be something like a foreboding since about July. It was then I started noticing my left foot turning outward whenever I walked. I blamed it on the uneven ground and the fact that Lillian insisted no shoes be worn inside the house. I thought after I bought a newer pair of shoes this would stop, and it did to a point, but every once in awhile it periodically became an issue again and I concentrated on repositioning my left foot so it wouldn’t turn.

Since I moved up here and started working at the casino again, the problem resurfaced, only this time it happened more as a result of my left foot doing this after four or five days of work. On Sunday it became so bad that it was affecting my back and I fear I might have pulled a muscle. I told the nurse who took the call this morning that I had a stroke going on 19 years and haven’t used an AFO in ten because I felt I had outgrown that orthopedic device. Now I’m thinking I may need to wear it again.

So, this afternoon I get to see her and see about getting fitted with a new AFO and hopefully the back issue will resolve itself.