Way back in prehistoric times when I was in college, the first thing they taught us in business, marketing and advertising was the old adage that “good will is good business.” The idea was that public relations was easy. You just have to write about all the good works that your… Read full post »

Did you have a nice three-day weekend? Was your house full of friends and family and food and laughter? Mine was. Too bad I wasn’t there for it.

 Because Easter falls on a Sunday, the preceding week is traditionally the busiest week of the year. All holidays are busy food… Read full post »

As a professional meat-cutter, I have been barraged in recent days with a single question that I am sure is echoing across the meat coolers of America.  All day they call on the phone, ring the buzzer and grab my arm as I fill the case to ask in a panicked… Read full post »

When I got your cancellation text, I was already standing at the trailhead filled with misgivings. The wind had a sharp bite, a vicious little nip from winter saying it wasn’t dead yet… Already I could picture a spring day bullied by an ugly wind and temperatures that stubbornly… Read full post »

In most respects I’m a normal guy. I have a lot of interests and hobbies. Besides my career, I read, write, hike, bike, play guitar, fish and kayak. I like to watch movies with my wife and take my dogs for walks. These are all normal things I enjoy and appreciate… Read full post »

One thing I like about New Year’s is the tradition of New Year’s resolutions. Unlike other holidays where the customs are meaningless and weird when you stop to think about it (A pine tree in your living room? Really?), the idea of a fresh start, a mediation of your failings, and… Read full post »

I love to complain about my job. By every measure being a supermarket meat cutter, I have a lot of justification. I’m over-educated, under-employed and underpaid. My job is cold, wet, messy, gross, physically exhausting, mentally frustrating and, throw in customer service on a busy day, you eve… Read full post »

Apparently, I am a radical environmentalist. The journey from mild-mannered, average working class guy who loves the outdoors and believes in conservation to radical political revolutionary was a short one. A journey I wasn’t even aware I was taking.

I’m not quite sure when it ha… Read full post »

I was thinking about turning points today. We’ve all had those fleeting moments of inspiration, epiphany and sudden resolve that echo across the years. Sometimes they are only recognized in hindsight. Others are instantaneous. They are also somehow unpredictable and maddingly random. Sometimes… Read full post »

When I first joined Open Salon over a year ago, I had one objective. I wanted to become a better writer. I was impressed by the quality of writing and range of topics on the site and I figured if I could post there, get some feedback, I’d have some idea… Read full post »

It’s been almost 48 hours since the shooting of Representative Giffords in Tucson and I’m still reeling with the horrific details of the tragedy. Like many I am both saddened and angered by the senseless carnage. Many, including Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik, have immediately jumped… Read full post »

Yes, it’s that time of year when the stores will be a-hustlin’ and a-bustlin’. It’s time to enjoy the merry sounds of the season: telephones a-ringin’, cash registers a-singin’ and, if you listen carefully, the sounds of low-wage employees getting a-whuppin'.&rdquo… Read full post »

1.

 You know that story they told you about Santa Claus? You know, the one about the North Pole, toy-making elves and flying reindeer? Well, I hate to break to you, but…

 Your parents are lying to you.

2.

 North pole?… Read full post »

My cramping hand clutched desperately for the flimsy limb in the top of a forty-foot pine tree, swaying in the first winter gusts of the year. Hanging on for dear life, I uttered a silent prayer that I would survive—preferably with all limbs and head intact. Of course I already had… Read full post »

A few years ago, I decided to smoke our Thanksgiving turkey. Roasted turkey was fine, if a little bland, but the whole process of opening up a bird, plopping it in the pan and sliding it into the oven was a little lacking… Where was the challenge? Where was the culinary… Read full post »

My wife says I complain too much. It seems to her that every time I turn on the news, pick up a newspaper or come home from a day of serving the public, I am ranting about something or another. Enough whining, she says. I need to be thankful for the… Read full post »

Yes, it’s almost election time again when we must grit our teeth and vote for the lesser of two evils. We can vote for the wishy-washy tax-and-spend Democrats or we can vote for the tax-break-and-spend-even-more (we flunked economics) Republicans. Either way we’ll have another pretty face… Read full post »

When I started out in the meat-cutting business almost thirty years ago, I was a business world dropout, a rebel with a degree and, along with moving out West, a job in a little but busy meat shop appealed to the angry nonconformist in me. Back then, though, meat cutting still… Read full post »

1)      Denial: “Huh?” “It’s not my turn!” “I did that yesterday.”  “I already watered the dog. It must’ve drank it all already.” "Yeah, my room's spotless." “Huh?”

2)  &nb… Read full post »

To be honest, my father and I were never close. Mostly I just remember him as a vaguely scary stranger who’d go to work early, come home late, eat dinner and settle into his lazy boy in front of the TV where he was not to be disturbed. Apart from… Read full post »

Sometimes camping sucks. Most people have fond memories of sitting around a campfire, cooking food, roasting marshmallows, telling stories and enjoying the freedom of the night. Sometimes, however, the evening campfire is a solemn time. Exhausted disheartened, doubting your own abilities and decision… Read full post »

Arizona governor Jan Brewer announced today that Arizona will effectively cancel all Cinco de Mayo festivities in that state by officially eliminating the day. Under the new state statute signed into law, the state calendar will now progress from May 4^th directly to May 6^th.

 “As a state… Read full post »

There’s magic out there.

Sometimes you find it in a national park. Often you can get it in the wilderness. Maybe you can find it in a little out-of-the-way state or county park.

You catch glimpses of it at first. A big cat track on a narrow… Read full post »

(It is 7:30 am on Easter Morning in a typical grocery store in a typical town in middle America. A short, plump middle-aged woman and a tall, skinny teenage girl with pink and orange hair approach the meat counter. They ring the service buzzer and a meat-cutter comes out of the… Read full post »