Newspaper Boy No More

I have finally decided to give up my dream of being a paperboy.  The dream lasted a good seven months and after trudging through two separate neighborhoods delivering the news, I am finally calling it quits. Maybe it was the encounters with skunks, bats, cats, dogs, deer, and raccoons that finally put me over the top. Or maybe it was delivering the news in seven degree weather, snow, windblown snowy mornings, pouring down rain, freeze-your-finger off times that  made me want to stop, or maybe it was the getting up at 3:45 AM! every morning that made me want to quit. Or maybe it was a combination of it all. At any rate, the Tribune has found someone to replace me.  I have to train this someone for three days and then it is sleep-in bliss. 

The only down side and I learned this recently, was when I told my son that I was quitting, his reply was, “Why?, Now we won’t hear any more of your stories.”  Those stories would be my encounters with skunks, bats, cats, dogs, deer and raccoons as well as strange people walking at FOUR IN THE MORNING!!!

Will I miss being a paperboy?  Oh only for the moments of exercise for one hour. The hour it took to deliver 80 newspapers during the week and the 88 newspapers I delivered on Sundays.  I won’t miss seeing the alarm clock saying, “3:45 a.m.”  I mean, for crying out loud, I have a college education.  Delivering newspapers has been quite a humbling experience, let me tell you!  If your one of my avid readers and will miss my newspaper delivery stories, well I am sure I will stumble upon some other fancy whereas I can report my insights on. 

For now though, its time to start thinking about retiring from being a newspaper boy. Ahhhhhh! And please no one feel tempted to call me at say 3:45 a.m.

American Idol

Write American Idol in your blog and I am pretty certain I will get more than the average amount of hits on my blogspot.  Just a thought I had tonight. I am pretty tired of American Idol but I still watch. Not much at the beginning, but as they pare it down to the final 12 or 10.  I find it funny that people still think they can sing even after watching eight years of AI.  Weird.  I mean, some people actually think they can honestly sing. I sing better than some of these. My kids love my singing. Really. 

I am much more interested in the Super Bowl and sports in general than I am in whether-or-not someone can sing. I once sang in a choir that sang the National Anthem at a couple of Seattle Sonics games. That was pretty cool.  So, are you an American Idol fan?

Front page quote

Well tonight I did it, I was the featured quote on the front page of ESPN.com. I wrote, “Does Boston feel obligated to pitch Wakefield?”  And they put it on the front page. I was referencing the ALCS game tonight where its Boston vs. Tampa Bay and Tampa Bay starting knocking the ball out of the park right away.  It even showed my picture.  I’ve cut and pasted it into my post below.  I have a little history being quoted in media. A few years ago I was quoted in the Seattle Post Intelligencer and of course in their sports page. Any way, I thought I would share my 15 minutes of fame.  I guess that’s what you call it. 

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Does Boston feel obligated to pitch Wakefield?

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100 Days

Well I did it. I have stopped being a newspaper delivery guy.  It was fun while it lasted. Only good memories. Seeing lots of wildlife. Like deer, skunks, and raccoons.  I am a pretty trivial guy so I counted how many days I actually delivered the newspaper.  It was all of July (31 days). All of August (31 days). All but one day of September (29 days).  Eight days in October, and my actual start day was June 30th.  I am pretty bad at math. Did I add up the days right? Imagine that. Exactly one hundred days.  One hundred dark mornings waking up sometimes as early as 2:45 a.m. Driving down to the Dairy Mart, one mile away from my house. Picking up as many as 95 papers and as few as 82 papers.  Putting them into my car and driving to my first stop. The hospital. One hundred days. Not in a row. But almost. I had my brother Kevin and his daughter Audrey fill in for me one day while I attended a campout with my son Isaac.  Have you ever knowingly did something for at least one hundred days straight?  I am told, and you will likely concur, that a habit takes 21 days to form.  Give or take a few days, I’ve heard.  Well this was a good habit and I can really vouch that it had become a habit. I could deliver a paper to one house and almost automatically just go to the next house and then the next house and then the next house. It was weird. If there was a day that I had to do it different, my body would turn the wrong way which was actually the right way, but wrong on the days I had to do the route differently. Suchas Sundays when I drove most of the route or on Wednesday’s when the papers are too large to carry more than 40 at a time. Then I would drive part of it and then walk and this meant doing the route differently.  I think I sound like a teacher.  If Johnny delivered 31 papers and Betsy delivered 29 papers and Stevie delivered 31 papers, how many papers did Ivan deliver?  You know what I mean.

Well I don’t plan on delivering papers anymore. But never say never. I am keeping my carrier bag. Who knows, maybe I will use it as a prop in a skit for a sermon in the future. At any rate, I hope you enjoyed the newspaper delivery stories.

Amazing Race Starts Tonight

I’ve been a big Amazing Race (shown on CBS) fan since its beginnings. I’ve only missed a season and a half and I am looking forward to tonights episode where the new season kicks off. I enjoy it because I’ve travelled around the world and have experienced some of the things the travellers have experienced.  Late flights, long waits in the airports, and eating the native countries food. Earlier this summer I googled the Amazing Race and found someone who did an ongoing search to look for production of this years race. If you are a real fan you always want to know things like where will it end?, who’s in the final three teams?, where do they travel? and other cool things.  I’ve heard where it ends, but will keep it a secret since my source may end up being unreliable.  I may end up giving some updates in here, if I feel so compelled.  I’ve had my own events in my life that would add up to being part amazing and sometimes a race and sometimes not a race.  I can tell you this, I’ve been to as many foreign countries as I have been to States in the United States.  Sixteen.  Check back and I will give you some stories about where I’ve been and what amazingly happened. Like when I played basketball against the Cambodian National Team.  See you soon.

One for the 1000

I am sure you all have a bunch of things you want to do before you ever die.  Well here is my latest addition to that list. I am delivering newspapers.  I can honestly say its partly out of making some extra money and partly the fact that it gets me out of bed early. As in 3:45 a.m. EVERY DAY.  I walk most of the route. I have 85 papers.  93 on Sundays.  My sister and brother-in-law and their two high school students have paper routes. I actually took this one over from one of my sister-in-laws.  The best thing about this particular paper route is that I get to see an awesome view of the Snake River and the interstate bridge that connects Idaho and Washington.  I hear lots of doves cooing in the morning.  I see many squirrels. And I found out that the city of Lewiston is infested with cats. At least in my tiny little corner of the city. 

Two things that are also pretty cool. I deliver a paper to the hospital that I was born in. How many can say they get or got to do that? (Some of you are thinking, “Being a newspaper boy/girl would never show up on my list).  Secondly, right around the corner, literally,  from the hospital is the church that I grew up in.  Its a different church now, but still the same building and I pass by it every morning.  I think its pretty cool to see that.  Just looking at the building, which is right next to  a city park that I played in often as a kid, brings back cool memories.  Just today I got a new customer that bought the house of some long time friends who’s kids I grew up with.  Now I deliver to the door of a house I used to visit regularly almost 40 years ago. I really thought about that as I walked up the sidewalk to the front door.  Well I am sure I will have many cool stories to share about my life as a newspaper boy.  Just check them out under the heading “Newspaper delivery stories.”  Oh, yeah, what’s on your list?