High School

Posted on October 10, 2022 by billtoner1960

You know how it is when you’ve worked really hard to achieve something and then you feel this immense sense of accomplishment that you’ve reached the finish line? Yeah, that wasn’t my high school experience.

I literally skated for 4 years wondering what the big deal was with this place. We aren’t doing anything that challenges me in a way that makes me feel like I’ve accomplished anything. This isn’t a huge surprise since I subscribed to a strategy of taking the easiest classes available and being satisfied with a GPA that was anything north of 3.0. I was able to do that pretty much in my sleep.

Not every class was a cakewalk for me. I’m not trying to say I was too smart for the place, far from it. I don’t know what my ranking number was at the end of senior year but it couldn’t have been very high with a 3.1

That was by design though. I went in with a goal to get a 3.1 which was just high enough to keep the parental alligators at bay and also good enough to get into the JC I aspired to go to next. Mission accomplished with very little effort. I always felt like committing to a 4 year school and getting ready for SATs was just too much. After all, I really just wanted a living wage job and to go to work, come home and be able to do the things that I like to do. I never dreamed of being rich or a doctor or anything that ambitious.

I knew from just looking at the job market that the diploma itself was pretty much worthless. There was no career path ahead by just accomplishing getting out of Centennial High School with a diploma and I knew it. It was going to take at least 2 years at a JC to get a living wage job and for sure I’ll apply myself there when the time comes.

So it’s not a surprise that when graduation day came around I was ambivalent about the festivities and decided not to go. I went and played 18 holes at Glendoveer instead. I was finding it hard to put on a fake face for even one day to pretend I had actually accomplished something when in reality I hadn’t done much of anything. Let’s have a celebration after I’ve actually accomplished something hard.

I did take an interest in a challenging series of English classes my senior year because they offered college credit for them. Writing 121, 122, and 123. I admit to applying myself to those classes for sure and aced them all (took some serious effort), but only because it was going to help me the following year at Mt. Hood Community College.

By senior year I had enough credits to get away with taking a 1/2 day of classes (3) for my entire senior year. Additional classes were available but I took a hard pass. Half days are just what I had in mind to complete my 4 years of showing up. Now please hand me my participation trophy.

Another factor was I had a long term girlfriend from another school in town which affected the amount of extra curricular activities I engaged in. I probably should have spent more time in these and been more connected to my school, but that’s not how it played out.

So congratulations, you jumped through the hoops and earned a high school diploma. BFD.

One might wonder if this obvious lack of motivation hurt me at the next level. The answer is, maybe just a touch. The math classes had students in them that were ahead of me on day 1, but not necessarily at the end of the term. I had to buckle down a little bit to get through 4 terms of calculus and the courses leading up to them, but it wasn’t rocket science. I think it affected the amount of studying I had to do but not the grades I got in the end.

My college level approach to GPA was very similar to high school. I’m a lifetime 3.1 student and proud of it. Yes, I could have worked harder. No, I didn’t want to. And I was gainfully employed for 42 years as an engineer so maybe it wasn’t a horrible strategy.

But hey, kids, don’t do what I did. Find some balance with studying and having a healthy social life. Create some memories. I didn’t do that, and when I look at Facebook and see old high school acquaintances, I find it really hard to relate. For some reason it’s almost required to be a Trump supporter to be with the cool kids these days. Hard pass. I’ve never understood that, but that’s apparently how it is in SE Portland Oregon these days. Go figure.

My best advice would be to educate yourself to the point of understanding enough about The New Deal to realize it’s absolute lunacy to join the republican party. They won’t be happy until they’ve unraveled the entire safety net FDR and his democratic successors created. At least then you won’t be voting against your own self interests.

The Year That Was 2021

Posted on December 23, 2021 by billtoner1960

Season’s Greetings friends and family,

‘Tis the season for getting Christmas cards and I always feel like I should write back in some fashion. Also there’s a chance I could reach > 10 blog followers. So here it is.

Donna has had an eventful year to say the least. She completed her final stint at Cambia Healthcare in May and went out in style. She really misses the hectic pace, being on the front line of the massive corporate battles and regrets retiring in the worst way. Just kidding. It would take a horse and 4 strong men to drag her back to work.

On a much more serious note, Donna’s victory lap of retirement was rudely interrupted in June by a breast cancer diagnosis. To put it mildly, it was a shock to both of us but we made the necessary adjustments and carried on with our new 2021 plan — get Donna well. She had successful surgery in September, a round of radiation treatments in November and is just now getting back to her usual bubbly self. Her future looks great because they caught it early. We have so many friends and family to thank for your support. You know who you are. It has been amazing and means so much.

I’ve mostly been a slave to my job but I did get out for an exciting fishing trip with my son Danny, and grandsons Kaden and Karter in May. We participated in catch and release and caught a boat record 23 sturgeon on the Willamette river. That was really something, let me tell ‘ya. The average fish size was north of 4′ and some were close to 5’. Apart from that one fishing excursion and with Covid I didn’t get out too much and therein lies a problem. I’ve been sitting in this chair too much so I have made the decision that after almost 42 years of service to corporate America I will be retiring in March of next year. The theme for 2022 is going to be about movement. That is to say, more of it.

We welcomed Eloise Madeline Toner to the tribe in November and she’s as cute as can be and Gwennie looks to be overjoyed to be a big sister. With that I’ll leave you with a few pictures and some best wishes for 2022.

Donna a few weeks post surgery looking fabulous

Karter with the biggest fish of the day, a 56″ sturgeon. In fact too big for him to hold.

I’m not sure if Mike is rooting for me to catch this fish or not

I designed this myself and had some made

Nextdoor App

Posted on September 12, 2021 by billtoner1960

I’ve bought and sold a few things with the Nextdoor Neighbor app and it’s great to find out what some of the local issues are but perhaps the most entertaining thing I get from being a user comes from learning which neighbors are picking up their dog shit vs. not. Complete with pictures. You’re busted!

Global Warming, PDX Ice Misery and the Offensive Coordinator

Posted on February 20, 2021 by billtoner1960

Stuff happens as they say. Especially with the increased frequency of severe weather storms that seem to be coming our way, even in the cozy confines of Portland, OR. It could very well be due to global warming. I’m not a climate scientist so I don’t know for sure, but one can’t deny the increased frequency of severe weather hitting the country, hot and cold.

Last Labor Day the western half of Oregon was on fire. People in cities with tens of thousands of people were evacuating. For a brief moment I packed a suitcase and started taking videos of my belongings incase of an eventual insurance claim. Just after Valentines Day a polar vortex caused a snow and ice storm that took down trees everywhere because of the dense ice accumulation.

When severe weather hits Portland, the city all but shuts down. The buses don’t run, the power is off, the grocery stores don’t have food, anything you had planned to do has been canceled and it’s probably just as well because you can’t drive safely anywhere on sheets of ice. If it were just dry snow, people could adapt. 4WD is no match for a 4″ layer of wet ice on the road. To make matters worse, it’ll get up to 36 degrees the next day, rain like crazy and melt some of the ice, only to be frozen again overnight as a layer thicker than the day before.

All of this inspired me to share my strategy for dealing with another unforeseen consequence of Global Warming: more time chatting with Comcast Support. Notice I didn’t say “on the phone” with Comcast Support. That’s because you can never in your wildest dreams talk to a human being with Comcast Support.

The internet has afforded many of us the opportunity to work from home. I have personally worked from my home office since 2012. It’s been great – except when there’s no power. It’s pretty hard to contribute in a meaningful way when your internet access is cut off. With celular service now, it’s actually possible to get some work done even if the power is off by setting up a hot-spot on the cell phone. But it’s less than ideal. The real challenge is how to figure out how to get ahold of those pesky Comcast Technicians to come out to the house and fix the unique problem I have – a tree branch took down my cable line and cut off both TV and Internet.

Comcast has all sorts of automation informing me of how they are dealing with the outages. I can check my area and see if service is restored. That’s great, but that doesn’t help get my line hooked back up, which is 20 feet up a power pole in close proximity to the power company’s 220v feeder lines. I ain’t climbing up there. Meanwhile I keep getting texts from Comcast saying “We fixed it! We fixed it! Check your service.” I did check my service and I can still see the coax cable coiled up in my driveway. Sorry dudes, it ain’t fixed for me yet.

So 3 days of no work due to no power in the house. That finally gets restored so now it’s time to attack the internet connection issue.

I use the offensive coordinator analogy in my description of the events ahead because experience tells me it’s an absolute necessity to adopt the mindset of a strategic thinker, trying to get past the layers of defense in front of me in search of a victory. Nothing less than a touchdown will suffice.

The first lesson for an offensive coordinator to know when trying to get Comcast Service restored is to understand the defense. The first layer of defense is the infinite phone menu loop with no option to get me in touch with the person I need to talk to – the scheduler. Round and round you go with all sorts of helpful suggestions about how to check the status of your service via their website except um, I can’t reach your website right now because I don’t have internet service. Well, only partially true. I can get spotty access to it via my cell phone with Wireless turned off, but it’s painful and slow.

Back in the good old days – about 5 years ago, you used to be able to penetrate the phone menus by repeating the word “representative” over and over again until the automated system would reply “Alright, let me get you in touch with a representative”, followed by – you’re number 26 in the queue. It might cost me a half hour but at least I could get to a resolution. Not anymore. You can scream “REPRESENTATIVE! REPRESENTATIVE! all day long and you’ll just get asked if you want to hear the main menu options again. So forget about the phone system and talking to a representative, it ain’t happening. Lesson 1: Skip the phone menu.

The second lesson an offensive coordinator needs to know is how to break through the second layer of defense – the chatbots. Comcast has all sorts of chatbots that are basically automated responders that mimic the same options you hear on the phone system, so they are basically useless for what I need. The trick is, when presented with options to chat about “Billing, Tech Support, New Service, or “Other“, choose the “Other” option. The “Other” option led me to the eventually chatting with a real person. Not talking to mind you, chatting, while entering about 10 words per minute with my thumb on my cell phone. Baby steps, but I’m happier at this point because now I can explain that my situation doesn’t fit into one of their predefined scripts.

Over the next hour I chatted/texted with several people who, based on their names were all from India, which isn’t an issue unless you have a non-standard problem — because clearly they are reading and typing from a script. In some ways I prefer typing instead of talking because I have a heckuva time understanding the accents anyway. God bless ’em for doing the needful but I can’t help but register how sub-optimal this experience is.

Before the odyssey was over I was transferred in chat twice, so I had chatted with 3 different departments about my service disruption. 60 minutes into it I felt like I had penetrated the defense and gotten down inside the red zone when I finally achieved a message back from Praveena that “someone from scheduling” would call me back in the next 24 hours and I had a real honest to goodness ticket number! Yay. Almost done.

I was holding my plans for a celebration until I had some actual results because in a previous call I had been given a ticket number and the promise of a call and hadn’t heard anything. At this point, I’m sorry but I’m from Missouri and you’re going to have to show me. Stopping here felt a little like settling for a field goal. Hold my beer, I’m going for the end zone.

That’s when I decided to send in my flee-flicker play and express my dissatisfaction with the process in the hopes of REALLY getting some service around here. And it worked.

Praveena thought she was done with me and asked if I had any additional questions. Yes as a matter of fact I do, Praveena. Could you please see to it that my account is credited for time with no service? I wanted to motivate them in some small way to make my appointment sooner rather than later by letting them know I had no plans of paying for services not rendered. Sure Mr. Toner, I can help you with that. I can refund you for 2 days. Um, but I’ve been down for 5 days and it will be at least 7 days before I have service restored. Are you sure your math is correct?

“The system will only allow me to offer you 2 days because it thinks the outage was 2 days.” Great, but MY outage will be closer to a week. Offer denied. You can either offer me 7 days credit, show up here by Monday or else I call Century Link.

Mr. Toner, I just remembered, I can hook you up with our billing department. They can take care of you. 75 minutes into the experience the next chat representative, Subu from billing, was excited to offer crediting my account with $20 for my inconvenience. Let’s see Subu, I pay $200/month and I’m going to be out for about a fourth of that. My math tells me you’ll need to credit me more like $50.

“I’m sorry but my system will only allow me offer you up to $20.”

Thinks to self: Okay that’s it, Subu, you disappoint me. Century Link coming back into the conversation….

That just won’t do, Subu. Either you fix the billing and I get turned back on by Monday or else I’m going to cancel on Monday and sign up with Century Link — and I won’t be paying beyond Feb. 14th.

Mr. Toner I just realized, I can put you in touch DIRECTLY with the scheduling department. I am so sorry for your inconvenience. 90 minutes into it, I have an appointment scheduled for a real live human being to arrive at my home this coming Monday, 4-6pm. Touchdown. I penetrated the entire defense, got the ball in the end-zone and should be due a healthy credit because there’s a note attached to my account that I’m due 7 days credit.

Climate Change is real and has many negative side effects. Plan accordingly.

The curse of Jack

Posted on April 4, 2020 by billtoner1960

I want I want. There aren’t enough hours in the day to satisfy my endless list of wants. And it’s not getting any easier as I go through mid-life. Fortunately, the list doesn’t include much in the way of material things. Instead, I suffer from a bad case of too many interests which results in a daily tug-of-war over how I should spend my time.

Wikipedia defines “Jack of all trades, master of none” as “a figure of speech used in reference to a person who is competent with many skills but is not outstanding in anyone.” That would be me. On the plus side, I consider myself to be a well rounded, versatile sort, conversant on a variety of subjects. On the downside, I meander through life unfocused, never rising above mediocrity. Alas, the value of the multi-tasking Ninja is suspect. It’s an illusion. True accomplishment and fulfillment remain a big tease. I learn to play the signature riff but never finish the whole song. I add the book to my shelf, but never master the subject. I wear the fashionable jacket with the letter, but remain hopelessly stranded on J.V. I torture myself in a long buffet line of great smelling food while holding a small salad plate and no idea where the forks are.

Oh, how I envy those who figure out their life’s purpose at an early age. How nice it must be to employ the talents each of us has been given, engaging in fulfilling endeavors with no regrets about how the time was spent.

In an ideal world, parents would expose kids to a wide variety of experiences; let them see for themselves which ones they are good at, and sit back and watch nature take its course while they narrow the list down. Hopefully, by the time they reach college age, they will see a good fit between their natural talents and a major field of study and a hobby or two they really enjoy. My problem is, I gained a wide variety of experiences in spades, but nothing ever dropped off the list. It’s a cruel form of nature that prunes my list, only because I’ve learned the hard way that I don’t function very well on less than 8 hours of sleep.

I want to play guitar like Carlos Santana, the piano like Billy Joel, write op-ed pieces for the NY Times and be the local movie buff with instant recall of movie trivia. I want to run a marathon, hit the slopes on weekends, do Cycle Oregon and hike around the Mt. Hood trail. I want to collect Beatles memorabilia, do amazing stunts on water skis, and go sailing every year in the San Juan’s. I want to trade stocks and make people wonder if I’m clairvoyant.

I want to start a side business, coach youth soccer, build furniture and travel to Italy. I want to get my handicap down to 5, fly fish in southern Oregon, read all the important novels and volunteer down at the Oregon Foodbank. I want season tickets to Oregon football and to visit all of the Pac 10 stadiums with my sons. I want to be considered an expert level Perl programmer, a UNIX guru, and tech whiz. I want to be a great Dad, Granddad, and all-around family guy, with kids who are independent, self-sufficient, thoughtful and considerate adults.

It’s frustrating because I now require a large house, a three-car garage, and a storage unit to store all of this stuff that I use maybe once a year (not to mention the cost of purchasing it all). The worst part is, I’ve spread my time so thinly across these activities that I’m not really very good at any of them. I’m just thankful that I wasn’t exposed to scuba diving because that gear looks really expensive.

This year, instead of recycling my list of New Year’s resolutions, I’m determined to simplify down to a single want: an ah-ha moment. An awakening. An epiphany. A vision that clues me in as to which of these minuscule talents to focus on. Surely this knowledge will lead me down the path to enlightenment. Then I promise to let go of all the other forms of mediocrity that I engage in, have a huge garage sale and focus on whatever it is until someone says “Hey, you’re really good at that.”

Tim and Jim

Posted on April 4, 2020 by billtoner1960

(This was an article I wrote in 2007 if memory serves. The Tualatin times afforded me the opportunity to write a piece for their Living Section and this article was featured).

TimJim1 copy

Sometimes a last name isn’t necessary — Elvis, Elton, Jimi, Mick.

Around Tualatin, the phrase “Tim and Jim” is synonymous with local legends Tim Ellis and Jim Walker, who bring their unique style of entertainment to Hayden’s Lakefront Grill Lounge most Friday and Saturday nights.

On the surface, the idea of an acoustic guitar duo in a hotel lounge may not conjure up images of an evening you’ll want to immediately go text your friends about, but Ellis and Walker are anything but your typical lounge lizard act. They have branded their own style of performance.

It would be hard to categorize their eclectic range of material into a single genre. From Irish Folk Ballads to Simon and Garfunkel, Led Zeppelin to The Beatles’ “Helter Skelter”, they’ve got the bases covered. “Versatility has always been important to us” explains Ellis.

What’s different about Ellis and Walker is the improvisational aspect of the performance. “There is no setlist”, said Ellis. “Everything is very dynamic.”

They are likely to start a marathon medley of songs at 7:30pm and not come up for air until 10pm. As if joined at the hip, they execute seamless song transitions with little more than a head nod or a whisper.

“It’s a balanced attack on chaos”, added Walker. If we’re in a particular rhythm, one of us will think of a song that will either maintain the flow or at least be in a similar key.”

Whatever the formula, it appears to be working. The energy coming from the stage is utterly contagious.

In the greater Portland area journeymen, Ellis and Walker need no introduction. Both have well-established careers in the music business. Ellis has shared the stage with ‘A-List’ performers such as Tom Petty, Robben Ford, and Michael MacDonald. Walker has opened for Little Feat, Karla Bonoff, and Boz Scaggs to name a few.

Considered by his peers to be in that elite class of guitar players, Ellis brings incredible musicianship to the stage and will occasionally take the lead singer role.

Walker is the singer/songwriter of the pair and does most of the lead vocals.

Besides the basic ingredients of impressive musicianship and vocals, Ellis and Walker differentiate themselves from the field with their unique arrangements. When going to see Tim and Jim, expect the unexpected.

Halfway through Loggins and Messina’s “You Need a Man”, they may take a hard left into the signature riff of “Smoke on the Water” which completely catches you off guard, and then return to where they left off on “You Need a Man.” Right about the time you’re saying to the person sitting next to you “Now that was cool”, they do it again, only this time with “Stairway to Heaven.”

It completely disrupts any attempt you were having at a conversation because you feel compelled to pay attention for fear of missing what’s coming next.

Customers appreciate the way Ellis and Walker complement each other. Wayne Wischman, a regular at Haydens who estimates he’s seen Tim and Jim 50 times comments, “The chemistry just works and the sound is great. Jim gets to focus on his strong suit – singing, and Tim gets to let loose with free reign on creative guitar solos.”

Scattered throughout the evening they will perform a smattering of Walker’s originals, which in many cases are just as familiar to the regulars as the cover songs.

Walker’s lyrics are full of imagery. Sometimes dark, at times irreverent, and occasionally humorous, his songs succeed at connecting with a feeling or memory, often bringing back that anti-establishment sentiment from the ’60s.

Explains Walker, “I try to put you in a mood when I write. The imagery is to help my songs be like a cool movie you remember. The irreverence comes from childhood experiences and growing up questioning authority.”

Walker is indifferent to commercial success with his songwriting, though singles like “Empty Emily” and “Feet in my Shoes” are crowd favorites at Hayden’s and have done well by word of mouth and exposure on the Internet.

Ellis stands out as an accomplished guitar player in performance but is perhaps better known around Portland as the guy you go to if you want a top studio musician on your CD. As co-owner of Kung Fu Bakery Recording Studio, he’s well-positioned to tap into his strong suit — recording.

Walker notes, “The best thing about working with Tim in the studio is that he can hear a song once and nail the second guitar part on the first or second take. He has a gift for hear it, play it.”

Ellis frequently records and performs with other well known Portland area musicians such as Craig Carothers, Tom Grant, Mary Kadderly, Michael Allen Harrison, and John Nilsen.

While completely content with what they are doing now, Ellis and Walker confess their dream project would be to get involved with “a cool film with a real budget.” Both grew up in Los Angeles and have connections with the movie industry.

For those who have experienced the cozy confines of Hayden’s, it’s easy to understand why the duo’s popularity creates a bit of a challenge for the staff. The lounge is frequently jam-packed from start to finish on Friday and Saturday evenings.

“Our phones start ringing about Wednesday with calls from customers wondering if Tim and Jim will be performing this weekend”, said General Manager Jeff Munden.

For Walker and Ellis, the appeal is the freedom to be creative in a live setting and the free reign owner Bill Hayden gives them. “It’s very collaborative”, said Ellis. “We work with Bill, not for him. Our interests run parallel. We understand the goal is to provide a great experience for customers.”

Munden points out, “The advantage of Hayden’s is that it provides top talent in the suburbs in a smoke-free environment with no cover charge.”

For local residents, let’s face it we’re spoiled. The talent to play much bigger venues exists.

“I’ve never liked being under the microscope” admits Walker. “Somehow hanging out with big names separates you from the people you really want to be close to.”

“I just want to get up every morning and be excited about what’s on the schedule for today”, added Ellis.

For now, Tualatin area residents can take advantage of some extraordinary live music close to home, but it does beg the question from a familiar Billy Joel tune:

“… they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar

And say, man, what are you doin’ here?”

Some thoughts on homelessness

Posted on January 4, 2020 by billtoner1960

I was struck by a thread of conversation nextdoor.com titled “Homeless people in LO.” The author had really good intentions and was asking for compassion and understanding towards the homeless. Reading the author’s bio I wasn’t sure if the post was a troll or not. After-all, wouldn’t it be somewhat predictable to expect the people of this relatively affluent burb to vigorously attack behaviors that might attract more homeless people to the confines of Lake Oswego? What better way to get under their skin than to start a thread on how we can engage in behaviors that would result in more homeless people in the city with its own private lake.

homeless-1

As I read through the comment section I was very pleased to learn that Lake Oswego residents have opinions on both sides of this issue. It wouldn’t be fair to stereotype an entire community as stodgy old rich people who don’t give a hoot about the poor. There were some heartless souls chiming in, but just as many people who understood this is a complex issue, thankfully.

Several root causes were asserted in this thread. Mental illness, drug addiction, the cost of housing, lack of morals. All factors to be sure. That’s why it’s a complex issue that can’t be solved by simply saying “Don’t tread on me, move your tent to someone else’s burb!”

I don’t think it’s a surprise to anyone that the homelessness issue is getting worse. As of 2017 about 2% of Portland’s population was homeless, or about 38,000 people. It’s real and all it takes is a check on our senses of sight and smell to understand we need to collectively do something. We aren’t going to wish this problem away.

Everyone wants clean cities that they can be proud of that they can show off to out-of -towners. I read an article not long ago of a guy who had fond memories of riding the Springwater trail during his time in Portland, but then got married and moved to Bend. When his kids got to be bike riding age he tried to take the family back to Portland to experience the Springwater trail for themselves and it was quite simply, not a place you would ever want to take your family.

I don’t claim to be a subject matter expert on homelessness, but I’ll share my take on it because I think it’s a perspective worth considering.

My main point is, the problem isn’t going to be resolved for free. I don’t have the statistics in front of me but I have a sister who worked as a mental health nursing supervisor and I recall her telling me back in the 1980’s about how the drastic funding cuts to mental healthcare were going to result in what we are seeing today. Often times there simply isn’t any place for the mentally ill to go.

Everyone wants lower taxes including me. I sometimes wonder what they do with all that money they collect every year off my property taxes. How the government spends the money they collect is a valid issue, but in my opinion should be treated separately from addressing the crisis of homelessness now.

The problem is we want it both ways. We want beautiful, clean cities we can be proud of but we don’t want to provide funds to adequately take care of the mentally ill among us. In retrospect it was very naive to think that we’d be able to cut those funds with no consequences.

The second point I want to make is, this is a problem that belongs in the hands of professionals. It’s incredibly naive to think the Portland police or you and I can do anything about this issue. I remember standing at a bus stop on Naito a couple of years ago and witnessed first hand a mentally ill person yielding a sword out in the middle of traffic. I was concerned for his safety so I called the Police. I didn’t have high expectations for what could be done, but my suspicions were confirmed when the officer told me “We get 20 calls like this a day. We can’t commit to coming out to each one, we just don’t have the resources.” They can’t lock them all up unless they are a threat to others. Since the guy was just waving his sword around randomly and not at anyone, they couldn’t come. Okay man, I’ll call ‘ya back when he starts waving it at me.

The good news is this is sort of a self correcting problem. We already have businesses that are choosing not to locate downtown because of the homeless issue. They simply don’t want to subject their workers to the ugliness that comes with having to wade through camps of homeless people to get to the food cart to grab a bite.

When the problem gets bad enough and enough businesses leave the city, tents and blue tarp start showing up in Dunthorpe, all of our house values decline and Portland loses its luster as a destination city… in other words, when it starts to cost real money, something will be done. That’s when the voters will approve a ballot measure that adequately funds the mentally ill.

With the advantages afforded me, I personally was born on at least 2nd base. I try to remember that because I can easily envision scenarios where most of us are all one or two bad breaks away from setting up camp.

2019 – No yawning allowed

Posted on December 21, 2019 by billtoner1960

It’s late December so it must be time for the annual humble-brag. My followers here at pdx-i.net insisted. Both of them.

One thing 2019 was not was boring. It felt full-throttle from start to finish. We managed several home improvement projects inside and out from a new fence, 2 sheds, painted almost every room inside, painted the exterior, several significant landscaping changes, and a garage remodel. So many contractors were in and out it felt like visiting Jackie and Rich’s house. What were we thinking? I think it was “let’s get this over with so we can enjoy the place.” Thankfully things have settled down in large part because we blew through the budget and literally have just enough money left over to buy a couple of Americanos.

May and June were also not boring. We welcomed Emilia Susanne Toner (Millie) and Gwendolyn Lucille Toner (Gwennie) into the world about 6 weeks apart. I’m at a loss for words for how grateful we are that we added 2 new grandchildren who are healthy, happy and well cared for. The pictures tell the story. Their cousins Kaden and Karter keep the family entertained with their observations about school, sports, and life in general. High marks for being very nice young gentleman.

August was not boring. Donna turned 60 and we threw a backyard party for friends, family, and neighbors. Seymour and Smith brought the good times along with the classic rock. We got several compliments about how awesome the music was, but the main thing was the good vibe and Donna got to share her special day with many of you.

Also in August Donna and I met up with my cousin Jim in San Francisco to see the Giants and toured the city over a long weekend. Then off on a train ride to Seattle to see the Mariners as well as attend the annual family reunion at Lake Margaret.

Sadly, the cycle of life took our beloved Verda Ann Toner from us this year. She was a special lady and an extremely talented bridge player. We miss you, Verda.

In spite of some challenging kidney stone episodes in the Spring, Donna continues to not have a middle gear. It’s either full bore or plop. No rest for the weary. She’s still in the heat of the battle at Cambia, and rolls up her sleeves and kicks butt inside and out when she gets home. She’s loving the new yard. I’m not sure the neighbors are so sure because of all the shrubs that got taken out and my constant trailer loads to S&H logging, but she’s got the vision and a plan. Give it 3 years, it will be stunning. Now that we have our arms around the situation a little better with the house and yard, I fully expect some serious activity in the watercolor area plus her metal shop downstairs.

I managed to remain employed throughout the year, but I switched jobs twice. At the tail end of my career, I’ve come to the realization that I don’t like to be bossed around. It’s my new requirement. Don’t boss me around and we’ll be fine. I’m currently contracting with Venmo based out of San Francisco, but most of my peers are in New York City. They are all very young and super smart and I’m, … a contractor.

When I’m not working I try to sneak in guitar lessons, record music and play fantasy baseball. With some success the past couple of years I might humble-brag. Can you say back-to-back championships for the Cogswell Cogs?

Now and again I drop new tunes on my youtube channel. I’m not exactly sure why. I think I have the same two followers there.

Pickles loves her back yard and the critters out there. She likes to pick them up and give them a fling. She’s slowing down a bit which is good because I don’t think I could find her if she wandered off into the woods.

Donna and I are counting down to retirement, currently shooting for May of 2021. We could retire now if we wanted to but we’d have to live in the car and Donna doesn’t want to. We love the new (old) home, really enjoy living by the college and frequently take in activities over there.

We are both doing less Facebook and more Twitter. We’re not sure why because it raises our blood pressure.

Another thing that raises my blood pressure (but in a good way) is the Oregon Ducks. Bring on Wisconson. Why, we should be able to beat them. They don’t even know how to vote!

We hope this missive finds you in good health and surrounded by people that love you.

Donna meets Milly

Gwennie loves outdoors

Milly and Santa

Gwennie is well traveled

Milly and Kelli

Lucky Grandpa

Another home game

Donna’s she shed

Under Constructions

The he shed

Dress up the door

San Fran agrees with D

Boat ride

San Fran Cruise

Mariners v. Tigers

Cheers from Safeco

Back to Back!

Pickles takes a walk

‘The Talk’

Posted on September 19, 2019 by billtoner1960

About my sophomore year in high school, I had developed a pretty bad attidude. I don’t remember exactly why I was so negative but I do remember the mindset of being anti-establishment on any/every issue whether it made sense or not, and the ultimate goal was to get away with being as lazy as possible. Then I got a lecture from Mr. Cramer.

Actually it wasn’t just me that got the lecture, it was the whole class, but it was because of a lame comment I had made in class – something to the effect of “what’s the point of doing this?”

Mr. Cramer was just trying to teach Algebra II and I was getting in his way a little bit. What happened next is something I’ve remembered for over 40 years, so he must have felt this was the time to seize the opportunity.

We were only about 5 minutes into a 45 minute class when I shared my unwelcome question. I remember Cramer then stopped writing on the board and turned around and said “Well, let’s talk about that.” From that point on there was no math lesson that day, just talk, mostly him. He pulled up a stool and abandoned the chalk board.

In a very calm manner he talked about attitudes that lead to success in life. How he was coaching his own kids along these lines. What he said was basically, put your mind in this place. Think about doing what you’re asked to do plus a little extra. People are impressed by that. If your mom asks you to take out the garbage, take out the garbage and sweep the patio. If your dad is expecting you to mow the lawn by Saturday, mow it by Thursday and pull a few weeds too. Do a little more than asked.

He spent the next 40 minutes ditching his entire lesson to talk about life and attitude and what will get you ahead vs. what will not. And he did it in such a calm manner that was basically a discussion with us. He didn’t preach. I was captivated and probably a little embarrassed in the moment, but I always remembered that he seized that moment and felt it was a good use of time to get our minds straight at the expense of a day’s lesson. In retrospect, that was pretty visionary of him because I remember nothing else about that class. Just that one day when he was willing to reach out and try to touch our mindset and appeal to our inner good. He was also intelligent enough to know that if he had yelled or taken a different approach to the discussion he would have lost me.

I not only remember that ‘lecture’ that day, I’ve tried very hard to apply it to my own life throughout the years. I can site several examples where it has helped me tremendously at work and set me apart from peers.

Thank you Mr. Cramer. That was one great math lesson.

It’s Time to Shun

Posted on September 13, 2019 by billtoner1960

First, I’d like to differentiate between republicans who may have voted for Trump vs. members of the Trump cult. There is a difference. That latter group, despite 3 years of hard evidence of corruption, incompetence, racism, misogyny, and lies that are demonstrably false on a daily basis, continue to support him. It’s Bhagwan-esque.

I have several friends in the first group and we clearly disagree but remain friends. The Trump cult members however, are beyond any kind of redemption. Nothing gets through. He literally could shoot someone on 5th Ave. and they would continue to support him because that’s what cult members do.

The one and only way to deal with cult members is a total shun. It gave me great pleasure to read about Alan Dershowitz complaining “I can’t go to parties anymore. Nobody will talk to me!” Right, Alan. You’re being shunned. And it’s well deserved.

This is my strategy moving forward. I recently unfriended a Trump cultist on Facebook for the offense of being a Trump cultist. When it comes to social media, for me it’s quality not quantity. Nothing sends the message better than telling someone to go affiliate with their other cult members and GTFO.

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Category Archives: Life