Author: Nuttygrass

I'm a nut and grass farmer, EMT, Firefighter, and world traveler. I love a good laugh and a great adventure!

Unfortunately it’s not a YES on Measure 84

Well today won’t be wordless, but it won’t be long either.  Unfortunately Measure 84 that would phase out the death tax that hurts so many family and small businesses in Oregon did not pass.  I would be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed or frustrated by what has come to be for now.  But I will also say that this issue will not go away and there will always be people fighting for getting rid of this double tax!

Thank you so much for everyone who supported this measure and did their best to let people know what this issue is all about!  I appreciate everyone who has reached out to either find more information or share their stories with those who don’t quite understand the whole issue.  And for everyone who has supported me personally through this, it’s meant a great deal, and I learned so much through this process!  Like I said, this fight isn’t over…I guess until the fat lady sings, dies, and doesn’t have to pay a death tax (haha!).

Hope everyone has a great rest of their week, I’m off to fight more slugs today (more on this glamorous sounding job on Monday!)

Why Bother Voting?

For those of you who aren’t too interested politics, I’m sorry, but I do have to say that elections are just about here, and soon I won’t have any Measure 84’s to write about or rants on why I think certain things on the ballot this year are very important to me and my family.  But I have to say that just one more time I’m going to blog about voting.

I recently heard a story that one of my relatives was in a college class and her professor told them that if they didn’t know what the issues were this year, to not vote.  I heard this story a few days ago and it still gets m very worked up, for many reasons!

First of all, I”m pretty sure that same teacher, if they was giving an exam to their class wouldn’t say, “Well if you don’t know the material, don’t bother with the exam, it doesn’t matter anyway.”  The reality is that they would tell them to study for the exam, to take the time and be diligent, to strive to understand the material so that they could be successful in the exam.  The part that is so ironic, is that by voting you can actually make a a huge difference, probably much more of a difference than one exam would make in a college student’s life to come.

Secondly, I don’t think it’s fair to tell people to be lazy and just not bother voting!  I was watching a CBS evening newscast tonight about students in China.  They are following the US elections very closely, and most of them said because it’s so interesting for them to watch such a transparent election.  In China their elections are done from only the communist party and with secret ballots, zero transparency.  One said that hopefully someday they will get to vote, but that it’s going to take a very, very long time.

People have worked for a very long time to allow us this right, so why do people shy away or get lazy about it?  Many times I hear that they don’t feel like it makes a difference, with the electoral college system, the state will vote for who they vote for, individuals don’t matter.  And there is some truth to that, but the stronger truth is that local issues, state or even county issues, they will effect you.  Or at least they will effect businesses and companies that operate around you, resources that you depend on, things that make our state great, that you also get to vote on!!  It’s not just about Mitt or Obama my friends, voting is so much more than that!

I’m very proud of my cousin, she ended up voting and doing her due diligence! So yes go out and vote!  Don’t just say that you don’t know the issues and use that as an excuse to be lazy about it.  Read your voters pamphlet, ask questions from people who you know that might know more on the issues than you, don’t just do nothing!!  The students in China would love to be where we are today, voting freely, getting our voice to be heard.  So you Professor, who tells students that they shouldn’t vote for the first time if they don’t know the issues, shame on you!  I would suggest a very pertinent class time where you could go over the issues, both sides, and encourage your students to have an active role in their society, starting with voting day!

My best Halloween Story…

Since today is Halloween I thought I would add my best Halloween costume story….Enjoy!

It was a few years after I had graduated from Loyola.  I was heading home on Halloween after a very busy weekend of celebrating this crazy holiday down in LA with all my college buds.  I was dared the night before, since I would be traveling on Halloween, to wear my costume to LAX and fly home to Portland with it on.  Now you have to realize that I may have been slightly not very good at making sound decisions at this point, but I shook a hand, and that was that.  So I got up the next day…threw on my costume with the utmost confidence and headed out.

My costume…a giant chicken!  Now you have to realize that I fully expected to not be the only one dressed up.  The airport is full of weirdly dressed people all the time, surely on October 31st the place would be teaming with pirates, sailors, nerds, and suitably dressed Fred Flinstone characters…right?!  WRONG…oh so wrong!  I am pretty sure the entire airport and everyone in it had no idea what day it was, to them it was Sunday and I was dressed like a chicken, on a Sunday at Los Angeles International Airport.

It started off with a strange look from my cab driver, he clearly didn’t celebrate this day whatsoever!  Then we make it to the airport, the line at the counter was epically long, torturous really.  I mean it’s not a spoken rule but I was pretty sure that someone dressed like a chicken would either get really good service right off the bat, or arrested for being insane.  Instead I stood in line with all the other normal people (did I mention I’m still dressed like a life size chicken?!)  I get to the front, and the man behind the computer stares at me and chuckles while taking my information down.  Then he looks back up, clearly trying to be serious, I tell him to rest assured I was hoping people would laugh at me, because I’m not trying to be serious here while standing in an airport dressed like a freaking chicken!!  So he lets loose with a huge laugh, oddly for the first time that day I feel at ease.  Once he gains his composer again, he says there is good and bad news with my flight.  “The bad news” he begins, “…it has been cancelled.  The good news…there is another flight!  Oh wait, one more bad news…it leaves in 20 minutes,” deep breath, “you’re going to have to run…”  I look at him realizing the end of this sentence is just too hilarious to even mutter…”through the extremely crowded airport, dressed like a chicken!”

So I take off…running…probably resembling a chicken more than ever now!  I call my mom, out of breath I’m telling her I will be in early and I’m running to a new flight.  Her only response, “Oh dear, are you really wearing the chicken costume?!”  I hang up and keep sprinting!  Through security, lucky I wasn’t a pirate, I heard one did come through earlier and they had a heck of a time with all the jewelry and metal that is required for that get up!  I fly into the gate area just in time to jump behind the last few people boarding the plane.

I am trying to compose myself and look as cool as possible, like “I know you’re all jealous that I am so brave to be dressed up like this” When inside I’m dying of embarrassment!  Then it happened…the older gentleman in front of me in line, looks at me and says, “Well not to be forward or anything, but you’re the best looking chick I’ve seen all day!”  Out of breath from the run I can hardly respond before the flight attendant turns toward us and says, “Honey if this man is bothering you, just tell him to cluck off!”  That my friends made the whole, terrifying, hilarious, chicken costume experience all worth it!

Happy Halloween from this chick!