When talking offline on here last week with the "tour guide", I told him that I had never been to Colorado or New Orleans and he has never been to El Paso. Before I go on......"tour guide?" I know what Mark is thinking, but discretion isn't necessary. The people on this site knows by now what is going on here. I am sure Mark's inbox was as full as mine this morning.
I left with a better experience from Friday night's dinner than "bottled water." An excellent filet mignon, lobster and this strange appetizer called "Rocky Mountain Oysters." I did not know what these were until after I ate them. They are actually "bull testicles." I know it sounds disgusting, but they taste like breaded venison heart.
The two best meals I had this weekend were both days of breakfast I had. Saturday morning, Mark made me a homemade breakfast of pan fried rainbow trout, eggs benedict and spicy creamy grits. I will never doubt that Mark wasn't a chef at one time. Sunday's breakfast I will tell you about later.
We did do a lot of driving throughout the state. We visited Aspen, which by the way, still has snow on the ground. Most people I know like to go away to somewhere tropical. But I think its a true luxury to see snow and even the cold. If you don't expose yourself to the winterlike weather, you forget how to enjoy the respite of the Texas desert. Climatic variation spices up your life and energizes your soul.
We visited an old mining town called Leadville and then headed back towards Denver where I got to visit my first synagogue service. This was different than the church services that I go to. What we call sermons, they call "dvars." The rabbi preaches his message and then the congregants can actually raise their hand and ask questions after the dvar - actually challenging the rabbi.
My best experience came Sunday morning. We both decided that I should visit a synagogue and Mark should visit a church. He said he had a very special place picked out and that I would enjoy it. I think Mark hit the jackpot.
We drove down to Monument to a place called the Flying W Ranch. This place is mainly a working dude ranch, but it also has a church on the property and during the summertime it is used as a summer camp. They had a Mother's Day Meeting at this place. This was the one time I actually broke down and cried because I wish I could have shared this with my mom.
They had an outside Western style breakfast buffet that was cooked or barbecued outside underneath a very blue sky that day. There were mountains of pancakes, piles of "ranch eggs" (scrambled eggs with cheese and ham inside), a lot of "sausage pie" (sausage, egg, cheese and green onion covered in a Bisquick like shell), too much "Flying W" breakfast casserole - eggs, sausage, green onion, mustard and worcestershire sauce.) Plus a lot of homemade apple dumplings. I have lost the calorie count by now.
Afterwards, they had a Mother's Day Service at the church on their property. The musical entertainment was defintely not my taste in music - old western music that was designed for a much older crowd but it fit the atmosphere of this Christian dude ranch.
This ranch has a website - http://www.coloradowranglers.com/. There aren't many pictures on there, but it gives a small sampling of the place.
The ranch has actual cattle drives and free horseback riding on the many acres of this ranch. You can see the blue majestic mountains to the west or the rising red rocks to the east. I think I have done enough horseback riding to last me for the rest of the year. They have a lot of roaming livestock that are used to seeing visitors. I think Mark picked this place because a lot of lambs are wandering around. Lambs are my favorite critters.
This is my first trip to Colorado and I saw something that Mark thought was ordinary. There was this large field of columbine flowers and in the middle were two fawns grazing. Mark said that this simple thing was a highlight moment because he said he loved my wide-eyed expression. I had never seen anything like before.
Maybe someday, I can show Mark some of the wonderful places near El Paso. Nothing would make me happier than to see his wide-eyed expression.
I am writing this blog ahead of time because I probably won't be on here for a few days. Because, May 11th is Mother's Day and I when I talked to mom today she told me that I needed to follow my heart even if it means being broken. I will be on a plane to Colorado next weekend. The picture above was taken in 2001 by my mom. That larger goat was named Snugglebunny and the kids (male baby lambs for you city folks) were named Mikey and Marcus after our family DVM and his brother. I always loved this pic because it made me smile. My mom felt a twinge of guilt because when she took this pic she thought she should have helped Snugglebunny out. But you never know what you are going to find during lambing season.
Sometimes it is something wonderful and sometimes it's just the opposite. And sometimes it's both. The morning of the bucket photo it was both. Rosebud was standing in the small fenced area attached to the barn, busily cleaning up a set of newborn twin kids. Snugglebunny was laying in the hay a few feet away with a lamb sticking halfway out of her--and it was the wrong half sticking out. The lamb was dead. It was also stuck. I carefully pulled the lamb the rest of the way out, and made sure Snugglebunny was alright. Thankfully she was.
Next I turned my attention to the new twins. They had become tired of being licked clean by Rosebud and were getting antsy. They wanted breakfast. Rosebud wanted to clean them up some more. A little commotion ensued as the three of them scrambled around and around and around. The bigger lamb succeeded in getting a drink, but the smaller one didn't. To make sure she had enough energy to keep trying to eat, I gave her a small starter bottle of milk. It's amazing how much of a difference a couple of sips of milk can make to a struggling newborn lamb.
Meanwhile Snugglebunny, who would have to be penned up in the barn so she could be milked and dried out, was searching for the baby she knew she'd just had. And as I stood there watching the four of them, I realized that I could take this situation and use it to my advantage.
When Snugglebunny called out to her lamb, I plunked the smaller twin down in front of her and said, "Here she is Snugglebunny. Here's your baby right here."
There are all sorts of ways the sheep books and sheep experts tell you that you can "graft" a lamb, usually an orphan, onto another mother, usually one who has just lost her lamb. Methods include everything from a complicated way of tying up the ewe in a pen so that she can't reach her head back and butt the lamb away from the milk bar, to using special sprays that mask the "wrong" scent of the new baby. A friend who raises sheep told me that when she was growing up, sometimes they would put Vick's Vapor Rub on the nose of the ewe and the tail of the lamb. The old way of doing it was to take the skin from the dead lamb and place it over the orphan lamb like a little coat.
The longer I lived in a rural area in my late teen years, the more I came to realize that what may often be perceived by some as the "lazy way" is actually the "now you're finally getting it!" way. The secret is to stop fighting Mother Nature because you are never going to win. When you find yourself at dusk, racing around a field and screaming madly at the sheep to GET IN THE @#$%! BARN while they munch away, calmly ignoring you, it's time to step back from the situation. Wait 10 or 15 minutes, and chances are the sheep, who know that dangerous predators come out at night and that the only truly safe place to sleep is in the barn, will eventually tuck themselves in. Call me lazy, but at least I've saved some of my sanity--and my voice.
I skipped the rope, the spray, and the Vick's Vapor Rub and simply crowded all four of them into a bonding suite. Then I stood back and left them alone.
I didn't have high hopes, but I also had nothing to lose. I wasn't dealing with an orphan lamb, just an eager mother and a mom with a spare baby she might be willing to give up. I figured the worst that would happen would be that Snugglebunny wouldn't be interested, or Rosebud wouldn't part with one of her twins, and I'd have to move Snugglebunny into a separate pen to dry out as originally planned.
It took a couple of days. At first the twins were confused. They would each try to nurse from both mothers, but the smaller lamb didn't seem to be getting much milk. I fed her Snugglebunny's milk from a bottle, while Snugglebunny murmured secret mommy talk in her ear, because she had no doubt at all that lamb was hers. And as Snugglebunny became more and more protective of her baby, Rosebud gently pushed that baby away.
Does Snugglebunny know what really happened that morning? Does Marcus remember? And what about Rosebud? I'll never know for sure. But it doesn't matter.....What matters is that this happy, healthy lamb has a wonderful mother who loves her very, very much. End of story.
Happy Mother's day to all of the mothers on this site! :)
The warm sunshine woke me up this morning as last night was a perfect night to leave the windows open while I slept. My mom and I are still doing well but isn't able to go to church with me yet. It used to bother me in a sense going to church alone when I would sit behind a couple holding hands but I have gotten over that. I have since met other single friends at the church and I always feel a supernatural recharge when surrounded by like-minded people who love Jesus.
This may not be postal related by this is about fellow union workers and their families. Some of you reading this blog probably didn't hear about the protest action against the closing of the General Motors plant in El Paso. It wasn't on the front page of the daily paper, nor on the TV news. The media motto, "If it bleeds, it leads," pretty well explains why. There were no riot police here, firing rubber bullets or tear gas canisters into the crowd. Participants did not get dragged into police wagons or collapse to the ground in agony. Incredibly, the UAW's rally -- which drew tens of thousands of trade unionists and supporters, including me -- was considered a non-event.
The UAW held this rally in the Sun Bowl Stadium. Outside, speakers were blasting out tunes by John Mellencamp. Inside, an exuberant crowd displayed a very tangible sense of collective pride and solidarity: the bonding of people gathered together in support of a common cause. The stadium was an undulating mass of banners, placards, and every color of the rainbow. Many protesters were wearing rain capes in hues of blue, bright yellow or day-glo orange, with slogans like "Protest of the Century." And the rally didn't just bring in labor groups. There was very visible support from other groups and seniors. The Raging Grannies were also there, dressed in their familiar flowered hats. What I find disappointing is that the media in general failed to provide information about the reasons why the UAW rally galvanized people from such a cross-section of society and across political boundaries, obviously there's more to this issue than what met the media's eye.
Inside of the struggle are the 7,800 workers at the GM plant in El Paso that will lose their jobs. They won't have the benefit of transferring or being "excessed" to another plant. For those that can partially retire, they will lose all of their health care benefits and 50% of their pension. Meanwhile, their sister plant across the river in Juarez Mexico is running at full production churning out SUVs with plenty of overtime to its workers. The only mention of this story came from a soundbyte from John McCain's visit here that day. The reporter asked him about the plant closing down and about NAFTA and the economy. "Trade and national security are interconnected with each other," McCain says, "So, we shouldn't think about renegotiating NAFTA because Canada has 2500 troops in Afghanistan?" That's why they call him Insane McCain. I know the guy claims not to understand economics, but I had no idea he really just didn't get it at all. The reporter asked about the GM plant closing down and that was his response. I can think of 15 errors with that response - some more obvious than others.
NAFTA was a bad idea laced with good intentions. Instead of wasting time with this agreement, it would have been more productive to cut tarriffs and quotas and abolish many of the monopolistic trade restrictions that injure hard working American consumers and coddle inefficient producers. I suppose I should be used to that idea because I work for a management that coddles inefficient producers.
I should have remained on my original subject of a beautiful Sunday morning. I will end this and enjoy the rest of my day outside. The weather is perfect today to let me know that God had a hand on what's store for today - and tommorrow.
I have had my hands full with taking care of my dying mom, adjusting to a new job (although it is much like working in Raleigh NC) and becoming more involved in the Texas NRLCA.
On a positive note, Socorro TX is a much better place to work than Raleigh in spite of being at the lowest spot on the Rural Carrier list. Even as the new employee and "trouble-making" steward - my station manager has "somewhat" of an open mind on concerning grievances. We basically agree to disagree. There is a seven month backlog on grievances in all of El Paso. In my opinion, some are "frivolous" and some are not. In my young mind, I am perceiving the "frivolous" grievances written by a 28 year old co-worker who has filed 85% of the backlog. In his mind, he is being discriminated against because he is Korean. In his mind, he is being discriminated against because he sleeps on the job and needs the assistance of other RCA's to complete his route. The other 15% are interesting grievances which I AM determined to resolve because they truly have merit. My state NRLCA president advised me that I should stand up for my Korean co-worker who filed the 84 of the 99 unresolved grievances because he is a dues-paying member. I personally phoned our state president and told him that I TOTALLY disagree and that co-workers like him give our unions a bad name. Isn't this a red flag to anyone that 84 grievances in less than ONE year is slightly excessive? Perhaps, that is why my predecessor quit being a steward!
The NRLCA (as well as the NALC and the APWU) have true and deep issues that go way beyond "my boss told me that I have to work for my paycheck." The truly real and resolvable issues are easily supported by co-worker's handwritten statements and witnesses.
P.S.: The wisest counsel came from from a blogger on this website and I wish to end with one of his last words on another blog - "Losers and cry-babies focus on what they are going through while real stewards and winners focus on what they are going to do."
It is my natural tendency not to make ripples in the postal pond and to get along with everybody. My initial perception of a union steward was an arrogant loud-mouthed individual who had no qualms of yelling into management's face and being viewed as a troublemaker. In my short time as an RCA, my views are totally different. Before moving to El Paso, I worked in Raleigh, NC. where I witnessed stewards who claimed to be fighting for my rights eventually slithering into postal management. Watching these occurences, my respect for stewards began to wain as I watched them use their influence for self-centered interests. Is there anyone on here that know of steward who eventually became your supervisor? I am raising MY hand!
The current situation where I work we have only TWO union activists for ALL of El Paso. Our local President Bill Heath is a good man and saddled with the responsibility as President and Secretary/Treasurer. The other person who I will not name acts as a steward. The operative word is "acts." Bill Heath and a good friend helped me with my transfer out here and we have discussed many of the problems effecting rural carriers.
The biggest one looming for now is the "Mail Count of 2008." Most rural routes in El Paso were evaluated significantly lower from the 2006 mail count despite the fact that El Paso gained 9,700 residents in that same two year period. After reading the USPS rules from handbook PO-603, I read in section 534 that "when a rural route receives an unprecedented drop in the volume of mail, the USPS has the right to amend the mail count." Because it saves them money, management decided not to act upon their own rules.
To keep this blog short, I will not delve into the many questions racing through my mind that effect our futures. My choice to become a steward is not to abuse the position as a training ground to go into management. As a steward, I am YOUR link to the union agenda. Advising co-workers of their negotiated rights is not considered in the realm of a troublemaker. I AM a good listener and I want to respond to people in trouble. The word "steward" sounds intimidating to some because it sounds like you need years of experience. "It isn't always WHAT you know, but WHERE to find it." My dear friend Mark gave me solid advice.
I see becoming a steward as a way of making my job more interesting, challenging and useful. I feel like I will be more productive as the most junior RCA (the least of the least) and I will grow in learning and have the chance to be creative and even mischievious while helping out other people.
Daniel 6:5 says "Then said these men, we shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God." Daniel's enemies could not find any fault against him and they knew his obedience was strong no matter the personal cost.
What a bright world this would be if we felt as strong as Daniel about those whom others consider "lost souls." If I can be as faithful as Daniel, I could have some kind of impact on at least one "lost soul" of the Postal Service.
