The Crazy Driver

Hey guys. I am just going to put it out there, my father is a peculiar man. He often does things that make me raise an eyebrow and question his motives. Heck, occasionally I even question if he has good intentions. But occasionally, I get a glimpse into his mind at the oddest of times, and it makes me rethink everything I know about something or other. Today I had one such instance.

                Me and my father work for the same company, at the same location. Both of us run ourselves into the ground every day there, and we are each more likely to get off late than on time. Occasionally, we get off at about the same time, and are both on our way to the area when we live. In these instances, I follow behind him. Today was one of those times. We both got off just over 35 minutes late, and agreed to go get some Mexican food as opposed to cooking this evening.

I was following him, and very early in the drive we got separated by probably a dozen or more cars. Of course, I knew the way to where we were going, so it wasn’t like I was following him to get to where I was going, but up ahead, on the road we had turned on to, his truck was sitting in the dirt on the side. This was a valid head scratching moment, if, that is, I hadn’t been driving a nice old sports car at the time. I thought to myself Why? And in that word, was so many questions. Why are you being so overprotective? Don’t you know that I know this route better than you probably do? Why do you insist on treating me like a child? Then it hit me, not another car, but a realization. I saw as my father’s true intentions. Me and my dad have become increasingly distant as I age, not because of fondness for one another, or compatibility of our personalities, but because of time. We hardly even see each other lately. Yes, we work at the same place, but he is in the offices, a pencil pusher if you will. I spend my days in the warehouse, doing blue collar type work. Both of us hold our half of the company together. After work, well, I am rarely at the house he is at. When I am, it tends to be after 11 in the evening when I walk in, and I am out the door before he is so I can get to the gym before work. I realized, although our drives aren’t as face to face as I would like, it is still time that we get to spend together, in a way. I still look forward and see my dad, not just a silver Chevy. He still looks back at the blue Firebird and sees his son. It is time spent, father and son. Family. So, him pulling off to the side to wait for me was so we could have a little more time together.

It doesn’t matter how you spend time with your loved ones, or even if you talk while you are together, if you have those experiences together, and you have those reminders that you are still in each other’s lives, and are always there to help, support, and advise each other. I want to remind you all that it is truly a 2-way street. No matter how dominant of a role you play in a relationship, be it family, friend, romantic or otherwise, you still need to be cared for and given advice from the other person. No one can do it all on their own, or make the right decisions without the input of those they love. I challenge you to spend more time with someone you are growing distant with, and to try to find the middle ground between taking advice and giving it.

Dad, you are off your rocker, and you need to take more advice from those around you, especially those who say that you need to take a break more than once every few months. But when it comes down to it, your heart is always in the right place, and you are doing your best in all aspects of your life. Thank you for all you have done and all you have taught me.

See ya and allons-y.

Kindness

This joke about naming a knife kindness and killing people with kindness has been removed out of respect for all of the school violence that has come up as of late. It is a sad day when one feels it necessary to remove an amusing pun from a post made a good while ago out of respect for those who have lost everything from children to friends to peace of mind due to an increase in violence. I don't want to be in any way encouraging of this horrible behavior. I can be funny and speak my mind while avoiding certain topics. This is a statement about how we can not take anything as a joke anymore, and even I know when it is not a time to be funny, the rest of the post will remain untouched. But I want everyone to know, that I feel horrible for what this world has become, and am here for anyone going through tough times. Just fill out the Contact the Geek! form on the right of this site and I will get back to you as soon as humanly possible.

Hey guys! What has been on my mind lately is kindness. Partially because some places in my life are a little short on it as of late, but mostly on accounts of the surplus of it most places in my life as of late. As some of you know, I crew for a hot air balloon. Well, this past  my pilot lacked paid passengers on a day it was good enough to fly. He proceeded to do what we call "hops". This is when he goes up for 15-20 minutes and then touches down to switch passengers. In return for our services, the whole crew got to go up. Also, as I work for piece rate, a coworker of mine who is hourly took set up the scales, etc. for me a few times yesterday, once before I came to work, and once while I ate lunch. He also shared with me his breakfast, which was a leftover egg and cheese biscuit thing with hot sauce that his mom made him when he visited last weekend. Sometimes he will also share some of his lunch. My buddy Eli wrote the topic proposal for Wolter on Our View when Wolter was unable to. The point is, I have been surrounded by kindness as of late, and would like to ask you all to be the kindness to the people in your lives. Go out there, and make someone smile. See ya and allons-y.

Balloons!!!

Hey guys! Lately what has been on my mind is sleep, and let me tell you why. I crew for a hot air balloon, which is always a great time, of course. The problem is that you have to wake up at 4 in the morning to go out on a field, and hope that the wind will be below between 5 and 10 miles per hour on the ground, depending on how our pilot feels. This just tends to mean a nap midday, after tailgating on the field, or an early sleep that night. This, however, is not an option when you are at a balloon rally. A balloon rally is a time when every moment of your time is occupied, getting all the balloons in the air, enjoying the events, and doing as the pilots tell you. This is the story of my weekend. I had Friday off work, so my family and myself left home in the early evening on our way to Casper, Wyoming. We arrived at our hotel just after midnight, running into 2 more members of our crew, close friends. After a brief conversation about the drive and how tired we were, we retired to our rooms. We then found ourselves walking, groaning a little bit, back to the front desk. A family of 4 needs at least 2 queen beds, 1 king is not sufficient. Thanks to the rally, they were sold out, all they had was 1 more room with a king bed, reserved for someone else, but that they gave to us for the night. The kids in one room, the adults in another, 4 floors and several rooms apart. In the morning, we checked out of the hotel room, and departed to go ballooning. This day was all about the local media. The wind was high enough that our pilot, the balloon miester of the event, who we shall call Mickey told the pilots gathered "You could fly if you want, but the landing is sure to be...sporty" Only one balloon flew, and they only did it for the TV publicity.  We went garage sale shopping, because we knew that this was our only day for personal time, for relaxing time. I purchased a short sword for $10 to go on my wall. We napped for 4 hours, which, when combined with the previous night's sleep, we still didn't get 8 hours of precious sleep. We awoke to go to the pilot exclusive dinner. We were invited because of the invitation of the balloon miester, the ultimate authority. spaghetti and conversation, as well as brownies that were good enough to make me believe that someone sold their soul for the recipe. They did us all a service in the process. We swam in the hotel's indoor pool for a short while, enjoying the feel of water. That night gave us about 6 hours of sleep. We arose once again at the crack of dawn to go ballooning, but again we weathered out, no balloons even setting up. We proceeded to join a family friend, Daniel, for a large-scale float down the river, for any balloonists and crew that wanted to. It was tranquil and scenic, and then we hit the rapids, I almost flipped once, just at the end of the last rapid, but I stayed in. During this time, we got a brief history of a conservation project in the area from a local pilot. After the float, we  rushed back the the hotel room to get dressed in full Mardis Gras garb, for a themed pilot party. The crayfish boil was delicious and there was more than enough. After the party, we went straight downtown to candlestick. This is when we set up the baskets without the envelopes and send flames high into the sky. I attended the burner for a while, as children teens and adults came in and out of the balloon, pulling the burner for fun. There was even a pair of blonde twins my age that each stood on a side of me and pulled a burner for a photograph. I was made fun of for that for sure, as I was single, and one left a piece of hair behind stuck on my shoulder by accident. I was also caught off guard that evening when, as I was passing out ballooning cards and pamphlets a girl (who was too young for me, probably about my sisters age) points at me as I am giving her family their stuff, and exclaims in a bit of a fast shriek "OMG he is adorable" Or something along those lines. Neither me or her parents new how to react. I essentially ignored it and politely directed them over to our basket, so they could pull the burner. A late night, and minimal sleep, plagued us again, and I hoped that sleeping on the floor this many nights was not hurting my back. We woke, and finally, we flew. It was a beautiful flight, and the man inside the flight proposed to his girlfriend(lovely people). I was on the ground, of course, chasing the balloon. But not before I could take some pictures of a balloon. I had been commissioned to take these photos at my last rally in Frederick, Colorado. At that rally, I could not get the pictures I needed to give my client the options he required and deserved. Saturday, I got the photo that will go on the side of his trailer for all to see, with my name right by it. We departed, and the drive home was long, but enjoyable, as we were all listening to the 39 clues, and I spent a bit of the ride writing this blog entry. Well, I guess that is all for this time. See ya and allons-y!

Sounds important

Hey guys. As you can most certainly not tell by the title of this post, what has been on my mind lately is communicating, the importance of doing it clearly, and the benifits of it. Yesterday, I was supposed to be helping organize a trip to my local lake with some friends of mine. When weather went south, I was forced to call it off, this is about the time that things began to go south. I didn't have everyone's numbers, and even using chain messages through the people I did have the contact info of, it did not get to the right people, especially those that were most important to get the info to(my fellow organizers). It was successfully postponed and the evening saved, but I realized that this was pure luck, and I had to be better prepared. I have since made sure that contact info was better spread, and will word my needs differently in the future. Also, as some of you may know, I recently started a job at a tech company in my area, and so far it's been great, working on computers, chatting with my co-worker(who started the same day as me), and having an overall wonderful time. Today was great as well, but my co-worker was in a less-chatty mood than normal for her. The day seemed to move physically slower, and boredom threatened to sink in and take me over(repetitive work). I'm sure everything will work out fantastically, but I never realized that communication, even worthless chatting, can be a very effective form of entertainment and motivation. That is what I call a large-scale benefit of communication(and having friends wherever you may be). So I charge each of you, to go out, re-connect with an old friend, make a new one, or make plans to hang out with one you don't see enough. I also charge you with the task of being kind to all who you see, you may be surprised who will come back later in your life, and remember the little things you did, even if you just sold them coffee or something. You will thank yourself for doing what I have set forth for you to do. It may even change your life, always for the better. See ya and allons-y

Changes!

Hey guys, as you can see, both blogs have gone through some changes, especially this one. The reason behind this is that I am in a mood for change. Goodbye white background! Goodbye Photoshopped Matt Smith logo! Goodbye default Favicon! Hello new. What got me in the mood for change is a recent change in my family. My oldest step-brother had a daughter. We get to help raise it. I may not be a father, but I am an uncle, and as you are aware, I think that is better. If you haven't read that post, here is the link The Joy of Children. Children at all ages have their upsides, as far as care-giving goes, and all is rewarding. I am going to have the pleasure of being their for my little niece Amaya through every stage of her life, and yet won't have to be there all the time, for all of the bad. It is not right for everyone, but I will love it. It is an indescribable feeling, to see a newborn, know that it is of your own family, and know how big of a part of it's life you will be, almost to the letter. I know that feeling now. I hope that this new addition to the family will like me half as much as I like her already. I hope you guys like the changes to the blog, but don't worry, I am still going to keep up my spastic posting schedule, and keep each blog to the same themes I began with. I would also like to announce a contest. My google plus page needs a cover, and I want one that is fan made. Every entry will be featured on the blog of your choice, and my favorite will go up on the page. Send all entries to bibobottrell@gmail.com See ya and allons-y.

Always be Prepared!

Hey guys! So what is on my mind right now is preparedness. This is partly because, of course, I am a scout. The other reason, which is more the leading case in point, is that just yesterday, the perfect storm arrived while I was downtown. Me and my family were driving when we blew a tire. Not a problem right? Even after driving a mile on a flat to a parking space, just replace with the spare. It is when you take the jack and tools out of the vehicle that it gets tricky. Even then one can walk to a shop or flag someone down to borrow their tools. The big thing that became the issue was we had recently taken the glove box out to do some wiring work in the dash, and the tire lock was inside. DON'T FORGET YOUR GLOVE BOX AT HOME is the new phrase for preparedness. See ya and allons-y.

The Joy of Children

नमस्ते(Namaste) guys! That is right, we have added India to our list of countries, on this blog and not the other one! I am pretty happy about this and I hope you are too. I will post randomly on both blogs from now on, until I can manage more time to write. Today, I wanted to write about the joy that children can bring. I have been helping with a cub scout pack for a few months now and it is one of the best things I have ever done. I spend most of my time with the tigers, which are first graders. Kids, no matter how badly they behave, will bring a smile to your face and pride to your heart every time they do something right, and sometimes by doing nothing at all. Tonight I am helping the whole pack, made of 1st through 5th graders, with going to a Boondocks to play games and laser tag. They do outings like this from time to time. But, more than anything, I am exited to see the kids. I feel like having them full time may get on my nerves, and I would get tired of them, but I would be glad to work with them more than I do now. I am not advising anyone to have kids, but I am advising everyone to spend some time with them, on a volunteer basis. Nothing is more worth your while. See ya and Allons-y.