Christmas Letter for the Pacific Northwest 2009

December 12th, 2009

BEJARANA CHRISTMAS LETTER 2009

Do the years go faster, or is it just me?  Where did 2009 go?

I lost my calendar half way thru the year, so can’t remember details from the first half of the year.  (Guess that’s a senior moment!)  Let’s see what I do remember!

untitledChristmas 2008 found us snowed in!  My brother and sister-in-law arrived from Salem before the Christmas storm, stayed for a few days, and friends from nearby came over for Christmas dinner.  We enjoyed watching the storm from inside our cozy home, ate wonderful food, played games and took lots of pictures!

Ed continues to play with the band at church.  I volunteer once a month to make coffee for Sunday morning services (13 pots), and we’ve joined a small bible study group which meets twice a month.

Kenny, grandson from New Mexico, flew out twice this spring.  He is a great traveler and we enjoyed going here and there sightseeing.  Because he was home-schooled, it allowed for any-time visits.  This September, his folks elected to put him in public school, which will make it more difficult for future visits to Grandma & Grandpa’s house.

I flew to New Mexico in October and spent two weeks with Sue, Bill and Kenny.  Visited the Durango, CO area.  Very pretty and fun!

FamilyPicIn July we had another annual family camping trip (Kay’s family).   15 of us gathered in Bandon Beach State Park, near Coos Bay on the Southern Oregon Coast, for a week of camping, boating, and sight seeing.  We love to cook out and play games!  As we disbursed from camping, Ed & I drove our motor home on down to Santa Cruz, CA, caravanning with Dan & his family.  Our destination was Dan’s “compound” (tow yard) in Santa Cruz.  Made it to Hwy 17 between Los Gatos and Santa Cruz where our motor home broke down!  Breaking down at night on a turn on Hwy 17 is quite an experience…we couldn’t get off the highway and had 30 minutes of cars coming around the bend to find us blocking the right lane!  Thank goodness for Dan and his family!  He helped with our 911 call, tow truck retrieval, our transfer to his motor home (with two grandsons and two dogs), and towing our rig down to his yard.  Turned out to be a fuse which was easily fixed.

After a week stay in CA, we left our motor home at Dan’s yard in Santa Cruz, and drove home in the car.  We have since made two more trips to Santa Cruz, to see our grandsons (Wesley and Zachery)  play football.  Ed has been expanding business contacts in the Santa Cruz area.  We plan another trip down in January, and will be returning to Santa Cruz in June for our grandson Wesley’s high school graduation.

Ed has diversified his business more this past year.  Along with selling trade show displays and internet marketing, he also develops websites.  This area has taken off, and he is busier every month.  At the beginning of the year, he brought me on board as “Office Manager) to help out (bookkeeping – right up my alley) and to help keep him on track with organizing his files, scheduling, answering the phone.  It is nice to work from home, and I spend just a few hours a day.  We now have two computers.  Ed has moved his desk and office into the living room, leaving me the computer in the family room.  Works out well with us as he has clients to the house several times a week.

Kay is out many days “playing” with her “Red Hat Ladies”.   Kay and good friend, Donna, are the “activities coords” for the Fairview Red Hat group.  We come up with ideas and plan and organize trips to different fun places, parties, and of course eating out!  We also belong to the Gresham Red Hat group.  We visit local places of interest, go to movies, have picnics, and of course have lunch wherever we go!  We had our second Luau this summer in our back yard.  The Christmas party will be hosted at Donna’s house next week.  We’ve had a busy year and enjoy our fun groups. We are also in a Bunco group which meets once a month.  Love retirement!

Ed and I feel God has blessed us this year.  We are healthy, happy, and on a steady increase in our business.  We love Portland!  Love hearing from you all, and always have a spare room for visits.    MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OF YOU!!

Kay & Ed

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Where’s the beef?

October 1st, 2009

Mme Roth with NAAO said on O’Reily this evening that is should be against the law to eat unhealthy food.  My question is who gets to determine what constitutes unhealthy food?

Will I have to stop eating beef or just cut down my helping to less than a 1/4 side?

I know others are discouraged by the apparent effort to take away freedoms, but why are so few speaking out?  When the government took over GM and fired the CEO some said is was the right of government to take such action because they were representing the people’s investment.

This is called a slippery slope.  The government can not run the daily life’s of Americans–otherwise we will no longer be America.  Stand up, go to the mic, and scream STOP!

The elected politicians will yield to the majority.  A majority is only visible when more people speak up and vote.  Don’t wait for the next election to raise your voice.  Tell your elected officials to stop trying to change America.

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Mr President, I’m not wrong just because I disagree with you

September 9th, 2009

I was unable to listen to the President’s speech live and instead had to find it online this evening.  I wish, sir, you would hear our words and at the very least represent them correctly.  I do not disagree that changes are needed, I just disagree with the idea of the government providing medical care.

Sir, in my live time of 42 years, I’ve not seen a single program thought up by the government or run by the government that was delivered on budget or with any sort of sanity.  Amtrak is a mess, the Post Office can not make ends meet, Medicare and Medicade is broke, and the list goes on.  If only there was ONE program managed by the government that we could point to and claim success!  Maybe, sir, we would feel more comfortable with the notion that the government could run healthcare.

The motto of the military is hurry-up and wait, the lines at the DMV are always long, the FDA requires drug companies to jump through multiple hoops, and the environmental protection act forces business to spend mass amounts of money on land surveys to save rodents.

Social security is broke, the treasury department prints dollars to pay for federal treasury notes, the military over spends for toilet seats and the congressional budget committee has yet to publish a budget project that does not require multiple updates and changes.

Mr President, it is not that we don’t want to fix the medical insurance industry, we just don’t think the American government is up to the task.

Why not let insurance companies sell insurance across state lines?

Why not set limits on what lawyers can make from medical malpractice suits?

Why are these ideas not being considered?  Tonight was the first time you said you would “entertain” the republican ideas; sir, this is not entertaining, this is about people’s lives.  How about you incorporate republican ideas into the plan?

If you want to restrict the income of insurance executives, then why not take that same model and apply it across the board?  Is it reasonable to say no executive in America is allowed to make more than a certain amount?  What is that amount?  $1 million, $2 million?  Who sets the limit?

Mr. President, I want you to succeed in helping make American a better place after you leave office than when you got there…But, sir, I don’t believe the government is up to the challenge is providing medical coverage for 300+ million people.

All the best,

Ed Bejarana
Fairview, OR

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A Question From America

August 24th, 2009

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Government Stimulus History

August 24th, 2009

2009 – Cash for Clunkers
2010 – Cash for Refigerators
2011 – Cash for Guns
2012 – Cash for Plasma TVs
2013 – Cash for Gold
2014 – Cash for Jewelry
2015 – Will work for food!

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Dew Tour Returns to Portland – I Am A BIG FAN!!!

August 14th, 2009

Skate-Vert-Portland-Dew-Tour-2009I’ve been watching action sports since they started some 17 years ago!  The last two years I have attended the Dew Tour events in Portland, OR.  This week, the tour is in town!  Here is a photo of the vert ramp in the Rose Garden.

I’ve always been disappointed with the TV coverage of sporting events.  They NEVER show the up and coming athletes.  Last night I saw 24 skaters rip up skate park and 17 tear up the vert ramp.  Usually, I only get to see seven or eight of the top ten.

Being a die hard fan, I will have my butt planted in the seat at every event today, Saturday and Sunday.  Stay Tuned for more pictures.

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Not Necessarily Representative of America? Are You Kidding?

August 12th, 2009

Senator Specter, please take heart over what I’m about to write.  All debate in America is American.  It is unpatriotic for you to doubt the intentions of citizens.

It has been the common tactic by liberals who protest by disruption.  In Portland, Oregon for example, a group of Animal right’s activists protested in front of a fur store in Downtown Portland for months harassing the shoppers and driving the business out of business.   That sir is un-American.

How about Code Pick launching into frequent yelling strikes at congressional and administrative meetings every month for the last eight years?  Isn’t that un-American too?  Based on your current standard, if the protest is not quite and hidden, then it must be un-American.

How about we look back to 1776 and ask if those protests were un-American?  They certainly were not quite?  Would you prefer us conservative American’s take the route of our fore-fathers?  Or are you ok with hearing our loud voices during your public town hall gatherings?

Source of my frustration:  Specter: Protests not ‘representative of America’

Ed Bejarana

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