The Schweitzer Clan

Food Traditions

Besides the usual Thanksgiving turkey and Chow Mein or Christmas ham with egg rolls, my family has traditional dinners for each of our birthdays and a special summer party annually. Sometimes you can tell the event by the menu. My wife always wants grilled Salmon. My oldest son wants Teriyaki steak, my middle son wants lasagna, my daughter loves meatloaf with mashed potatoes and gravy and I get Mostacolli salad with garlic chicken pizza. Each year we have a family and friends party with a specific themed pot luck meal. Last year’s Hawai’i theme brought way too many ways to prepare Spam. Teriyaki Spam is not as good as it sounds, and it doesn’t sound good. We also have a fire department BBQ each year at my house with hamburgers, hot dogs and teriyaki chicken and steaks.
The food is an important part of the festivities. No one has any idea why my daughter likes my meatloaf, but we know she’ll be disappointed if we don’t have it on her birthday. I only get Mostacolli salad with garlic chicken pizza on my birthday because it takes two days for my wife to prepare it. Believe me, no person would want to have to wait two years for that glorious feast. Skipping a year is out of the question. I should have put it in our wedding vows. We have steaks, meatloaf, Salmon and lasagna at other times of the year but the birthday meals are always a little more special. We use the good china and silverware for the birthday meals. Then there’s the cake and ice cream.
Many of my in-laws are of Asian descent so we have many Asian recipes for our meals. Fourth-of-July Hambows are the perfect complement to a hot dog. The summer parties are a favorite of mine. We experiment with foods we don’t normally eat. On the first Saturday of August each group has to learn and prepare a recipe in accordance with the theme. We’ve had Thai theme, Indian theme, Central American theme, Austrian theme and Mongolian dinners. We do this to “broaden our pallet” as my father, the originator of this tradition, would say. We also learn about other cultures while we’re researching our summer party recipe. However, I would have to say, after 2009’s party, I’ve had enough Spam for a lifetime.

Firefighters are a Community

Firefighters are an interesting group of people. Although we share a very common goal, we are extremely diverse. Every third day, when I report to work, I join my second family. The fifteen members of my community come from all parts of the state. We come from as close as Mill Creek and as far away as Yakima or the Olympic Peninsula. We come together as a team, support system, friends, brothers or sisters. Very few things can cement a bond between people more than a shared tragedy. We have all seen many. We all share a common concern for the lives and safety of the people we serve.

Though we share a common desire to help, we are all very different people. Among my shift are men and women, hunters, non-hunters, skiers, snowboarders, travelers and home bodies, oil painters and housepainters. Since we only work eight days a month, many have second jobs. Some stay home with their kids, others bank their time off and travel the world.

Firefighters and paramedics experience some very difficult times. These pressures and emotions can often cause friction between people. However, the bond that brings us together is most often much stronger than what may try to pull us apart. Eventually, every one of us will need the support of our ‘brothers or sisters in arms.’ They have always been there for me when I needed them. Finally, when I peer into the blackness, I know that when I go in that door, there is somebody right behind me to make sure I will get out again. That is the definition of a firefighter community.

gmail

I learned something new. You can't get rid of an old gmail account. You can delete it. You can ignore it. But it's always out there somewhere and if you ever start another account it may come back to you. Lesson learned. I figured out when I set up my blog account for English and successfully sent a blog, it reactivated my old account my son had started and abandoned years ago. The next time I signed on it defaulted to the first account and confused me thoroughly. However, problem solved. I may not get credit for the wallet assignment, but at least I was finally able to get it posted. Small successes.

wallet

Like anything observed or studied, my wallet would be subject to observer bias. What an observer would see would be tainted by their personal experiences. Aside from normal demographics from ID cards, personality could only be assumed. What would my wallet tell a stranger about me? It could identify most of my physical traits. Although, the weight documented on my driver’s license it is not accurate and never has been.

A stranger may believe the owner of my wallet to be an overweight, middle-aged, white male. The wallet itself is black, leather and of average to small size. The corners are worn but there is no obvious damage.

There are twenty items in the wallet, five of them pictures. The pictures could indicate the owner was a family man as one of the pictures seems to be a family group shot. He appears to have three children. There are no dates on the pictures however other pictures appear to be the same children at older ages. There is one credit card. A well-worn Alaska Airlines Signature Visa that’s about to expire. What could this say? One card could imply either confidence of not needing more as the balance is low enough to handle what could be purchased. It could be the owner could only qualify for one card. Of course neither is true. There’s an ATM card from Washington Mutual; a bank that doesn’t even exist anymore. Could this be a sign of loyalty or fear of change? There is a single twenty dollar bill. At one time a small amount of money in a wallet could mean a lack of funds. In today’s world, a small amount of cash really isn’t a sign of poverty. This find, in my opinion, has no significance but a stranger may think otherwise.

The owner appears to be a firefighter and a paramedic. There is state and local ID for both and a union card from the International Association of Firefighters. He also has excellent medical insurance as evidenced by his insurance card. The AAA card implies he drives. There is also current college ID from Everett Community College and a library card from Sno-Isle Library. It could be assumed he is a college student.

There really isn’t anything truly unusual in the wallet. It does seem to draw a rather accurate picture of me. But then, I know the whys and whatnots of the contents. I know why there is only one credit card.

problem solving

I hope I figured this out this time.

Vince Evolving

I sat for a long time trying to come up with something to write for the first Blog of my life. It felt like I should come with something profound or poignant to state. I was imagining something along the line of “One Small Step for Man…” or “Veni Vidi Vici.” Maybe something more functional like; “Mister Watson, come here, I need you.” Possibly an ominous statement such as “What hath God wrought?” or frivolous like “Yabba Dabba Doo!” However, nothing comes to mind. Suffice it to say; Here I am Blog-World. Let’s rock.