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Tuesday, July 1, 2008
I like staying in a rural areas near or even in a small town/city. A very good example is La Grande, Oregon. La Grande is a really nice small city with most of the basic services available. And a very beautiful setting as it is nestled in a tea cup type of valley with scenic mountains in every direction.
As much as I love being here I have found myself already falling into a routine. For me this is usually the first step on the way to my getting bored and my feet starting to itch. This has been a life long state of mind for me. I guess it helps to explain why I spent nearly 30 years in the Navy. Where else can a person work for the same "company" all that many years, yet work in a different geographical location every 3 or 4 years. I have long faced the fact that I am a gypsy. I don't think I have gypsy blood but I sure have the soul of a gypsy.
Let me give you an example of what my daily routine has become. Most mornings I go for coffee first thing. The only shortfall I have really felt here in La Grande is the lack of coffee shops. I don't mean places to get coffee. There are plenty of drive thru coffee shops and even a Starbucks. But a true local "Mom and Pop" owned coffee shop where people can gather and socialize over coffee and a bagel.
I have found only one here in La Grande and it is the Highway 30 Eatery and Coffee Shop. The owners, a young couple, work very hard to make their coffee shop a success. They have the right work ethic and I feel they are going to succeed. The Highway 30 Eatery and Coffee Shop has a personality and is well laid out. They have free WiFi, a computer you can use for checking email etc. and an upstairs with a booth and tables. Additionally, on some Saturday evenings they have a dinner and show which I understand sells out most of the time.
Any way, I go for coffee and read some trade magazines, the daily comics from the newspaper such as Pickles (my favorite), Lola, Beetle Bailey, Sad Sack, Blondie, Dilbert and a few others. To be honest that is the only thing I read in the paper. And if I am any example of main stream America, and I usually am not, I can see why local or even regional newspapers are having such a hard time selling their papers. The local paper here is the La Grande Observer and the regional paper is the Oregonian.
On days I don't go for coffee I stay at my RV and make a pot of coffee. I usually set back and read a book of comics. I have a book of Superman dailies which ran in the newspapers from Superman's beginning in 1939 by Jerry Siegal and Joe Shuster who created the character.
On Tuesday 24 June 2008, it finally happed, I ran into an Imbler school classmate at The Highway 30 Eatery and Coffee Shop. On this morning, I ran into Lynn Henderson who was a few years behind me at Imbler. His sister Durenda Henderson was in my class. What really amazed me was he remembered my name. As soon as I said my name was Plumlee he said I must be Ray. I was not expecting to meet anyone I went to school with over 40 years ago. The odds were plenty slim as most of my classmates quickly moved away to other places.
Before going back to my daily routine let me mention I got a haircut. Not just any haircut but a flat top. Every few years I get tired of combing my hair and that time came this week.
Back to my routine. After coffee in the morning is crunch time. Do I feel like working or do I feel like playing hookie?
If I feel like playing hookie I go to the matinee show at the Granada Theater. So far I have seen Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull twice. I have also see the new Hulk move. This week I was considering watching Get Smart but so far haven't felt like playing hookie.
If I feel motivated and want to get some work done, I do. During the summer, and I can say this has been true for the past 12 years, I have had my online business, business slows way down. Last summer I just vegetated and did not get much work done. I decided that this summer I wasn't going to let that happen.
I am in the process of re-focusing my business model from a pay by the hour programmer to an affiliate marketer. Which means I need to invest a lot of up front time in converting my main business web site into an affiliate marketing driven web site. In a later posting I will explain why this shift in my business model and how I plan to accomplish it.
To summarize my daily routine here in La Grande, I either hit the decks a running and work all day or I go to a movie or take a 2 hour siesta or I just lay around taking it easy. Lazy me. I am not saying that it is just my bio rhythm cycle at work here but more some other external force. Not necessarily the stars, but something.
So, In my own way, within what is loosely a daily routine, I have found ways to mix up my days.
My son Ray called and he, his wife Jennifer and my granddaughter Ellery will be passing through La Grande, Oregon on their way to the Oregon coast for their vacation next Sunday 6 July. Since I live in an RV I don't have a spare bedroom so what I do when I have guests is rent them a room at a local motel. As often as this happens it is not a problem at all.
When Ray called and said they were on their way to the Oregon coast for their vacation next week I figured I would have a devil of a time getting them in a room on the 4th of July weekend. Well that was not the case. The La Grande Inn is right across Island City Drive from where I am staying. They didn't even bat an eye when I made the reservation. That brings to mind a whole new discussion I can have about the price of gas and how it is effecting me and the country as a whole. Perhaps I will in a later posting.
As much as I love being here I have found myself already falling into a routine. For me this is usually the first step on the way to my getting bored and my feet starting to itch. This has been a life long state of mind for me. I guess it helps to explain why I spent nearly 30 years in the Navy. Where else can a person work for the same "company" all that many years, yet work in a different geographical location every 3 or 4 years. I have long faced the fact that I am a gypsy. I don't think I have gypsy blood but I sure have the soul of a gypsy.
Let me give you an example of what my daily routine has become. Most mornings I go for coffee first thing. The only shortfall I have really felt here in La Grande is the lack of coffee shops. I don't mean places to get coffee. There are plenty of drive thru coffee shops and even a Starbucks. But a true local "Mom and Pop" owned coffee shop where people can gather and socialize over coffee and a bagel.
I have found only one here in La Grande and it is the Highway 30 Eatery and Coffee Shop. The owners, a young couple, work very hard to make their coffee shop a success. They have the right work ethic and I feel they are going to succeed. The Highway 30 Eatery and Coffee Shop has a personality and is well laid out. They have free WiFi, a computer you can use for checking email etc. and an upstairs with a booth and tables. Additionally, on some Saturday evenings they have a dinner and show which I understand sells out most of the time.
Any way, I go for coffee and read some trade magazines, the daily comics from the newspaper such as Pickles (my favorite), Lola, Beetle Bailey, Sad Sack, Blondie, Dilbert and a few others. To be honest that is the only thing I read in the paper. And if I am any example of main stream America, and I usually am not, I can see why local or even regional newspapers are having such a hard time selling their papers. The local paper here is the La Grande Observer and the regional paper is the Oregonian.
On days I don't go for coffee I stay at my RV and make a pot of coffee. I usually set back and read a book of comics. I have a book of Superman dailies which ran in the newspapers from Superman's beginning in 1939 by Jerry Siegal and Joe Shuster who created the character.
On Tuesday 24 June 2008, it finally happed, I ran into an Imbler school classmate at The Highway 30 Eatery and Coffee Shop. On this morning, I ran into Lynn Henderson who was a few years behind me at Imbler. His sister Durenda Henderson was in my class. What really amazed me was he remembered my name. As soon as I said my name was Plumlee he said I must be Ray. I was not expecting to meet anyone I went to school with over 40 years ago. The odds were plenty slim as most of my classmates quickly moved away to other places.
Before going back to my daily routine let me mention I got a haircut. Not just any haircut but a flat top. Every few years I get tired of combing my hair and that time came this week.
Back to my routine. After coffee in the morning is crunch time. Do I feel like working or do I feel like playing hookie?
If I feel like playing hookie I go to the matinee show at the Granada Theater. So far I have seen Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull twice. I have also see the new Hulk move. This week I was considering watching Get Smart but so far haven't felt like playing hookie.
If I feel motivated and want to get some work done, I do. During the summer, and I can say this has been true for the past 12 years, I have had my online business, business slows way down. Last summer I just vegetated and did not get much work done. I decided that this summer I wasn't going to let that happen.
I am in the process of re-focusing my business model from a pay by the hour programmer to an affiliate marketer. Which means I need to invest a lot of up front time in converting my main business web site into an affiliate marketing driven web site. In a later posting I will explain why this shift in my business model and how I plan to accomplish it.
To summarize my daily routine here in La Grande, I either hit the decks a running and work all day or I go to a movie or take a 2 hour siesta or I just lay around taking it easy. Lazy me. I am not saying that it is just my bio rhythm cycle at work here but more some other external force. Not necessarily the stars, but something.
So, In my own way, within what is loosely a daily routine, I have found ways to mix up my days.
My son Ray called and he, his wife Jennifer and my granddaughter Ellery will be passing through La Grande, Oregon on their way to the Oregon coast for their vacation next Sunday 6 July. Since I live in an RV I don't have a spare bedroom so what I do when I have guests is rent them a room at a local motel. As often as this happens it is not a problem at all.
When Ray called and said they were on their way to the Oregon coast for their vacation next week I figured I would have a devil of a time getting them in a room on the 4th of July weekend. Well that was not the case. The La Grande Inn is right across Island City Drive from where I am staying. They didn't even bat an eye when I made the reservation. That brings to mind a whole new discussion I can have about the price of gas and how it is effecting me and the country as a whole. Perhaps I will in a later posting.
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