18
january
vernonia’s
voice
community
2009
Getting Old – Forget That
By S. Mel le Katte
A friend told me that as long as I was unemployed, I should write a book. After all, it’s what career
criminals/politicians do, sitting around all those months in jail/out of office. She said I could write
about getting old and how life sucks. Well, I’m not getting old, and life doesn’t suck, so forget that.
But she might be right about the first part– I could write. I could tell everyone about all the wisdom
I’ve accumulated over the years, and how tough it was to live through all that crap that teaches you
stuff. About the girl who broke my heart, my first car that never ran, how far I had to walk in the snow,
blah, blah, blah. One of my earliest memories is of old people telling me how hard they had it when
they were young, so forget that.
I could write about my profession, computer science, and about all the changes I’ve seen as the indus-
try has grown up: the rise and decline of IBM, the creation of home computing and the internet, the
rise and impending decline of Microsoft, the looming emergence of Linux. But my career basically
ended when the tech-bubble burst and has been dying a lingering death ever since. So forget that.
I could talk about my search for someone to represent my particular, individual, political beliefs. How
Democrats cannot seem to satisfy my need for order, and Republicans cannot meet my standards for
tolerance. Which seems to make me intolerant, so forget that.
I could write about the great loves of my life and how each affected me, how each added to the be-
ing that I have become and that I will be. How each took something from me to add to themselves
and gave more in return to keep within me. How the sharing of life is true magic. But I’m getting
divorced, so forget that.
I could write about the passage of time and the changes that it brings, how, over time, one comes to
realize that they shouldn’t have pursued their chosen profession with all its challenges and rewards
and costs, but should instead have been either a rock star or a secret agent. Yeah, well, too late now.
Forget that.
The biggest problem has been choosing a topic about which I have something to say, that someone
else is going to want to read. Every life is filled with experience, learning, suffering, joy-- but how
much of that is interesting to someone else, whose pain and happiness are different? Does anyone re-
ally want to hear about my personal, spiritual journey? Does anyone care that I should have married
some girl, but didn’t? That I wrote some great piece of software that helped change the technological
world? That I am blessed with friends of extraordinary wit and intelligence and compassion? That I
am now descending into physical degeneration and mental instability and emotional dependence? I
can hear the thought reactions of everyone out there:
Forget that.
Two Major Changes Occur
With Bottle Bill
The Oregon Liquor Control Commission reminds customers that Oregon’s Bottle
Bill expansion went into effect Jan. 1, 2009. The bottle bill expansion, Senate Bill
707, includes two major changes that affect both consumers and retailers.
The first change is that water and flavored water will be added to the list of contain-
ers that can be redeemed for a 5¢ deposit. As of Jan. 1, the kinds (types) of contain-
ers that will be included in Oregon’s Bottle Bill are: Water/flavored water, beer/malt
beverages, soda water/mineral water, carbonated soft drinks
All redeemable containers must be labeled with the OR 5¢ deposit on the label.
Only containers purchased in Oregon are eligible for a 5¢ redemption.
The second change is that larger retail outlets of 5,000 square feet or more will
be required to take back bottle and can returns of all brands and sizes of beverage
containers for each kind (type) they sell.
For example, if a store that is 5,000 square feet or more sells water and soft drinks,
then they are required to accept bottle returns of all brands and sizes of water and
soft drinks – even brands that they don’t carry in their stores. However, they would
not be required to accept beer containers, because they do not sell that kind (type)
of product.
This change does not affect retailers under 5,000 square feet as they may continue
to accept back only containers of the same brand and size that they sell.
Retail stores can limit how many containers can be redeemed per person per day.
Consumers may be limited to a maximum of 144 containers per person per day at
retailers 5,000 square feet or more. At retailers under 5,000 square feet, the maxi-
mum may be set at 50 containers per person per day.
In anticipation of increased call volume, the OLCC has set up a temporary phone
line dedicated to the bottle bill expansion. Consumers and retailers with bottle bill
questions can call 1888-h2o-2009 (1888-426-2009) Monday through Friday from
8:00 AM to 5:00 PM January1 through mid-February.
For more information about the bottle bill, please visit the OLCC’s web site at
http://www.oregon.gov/OLCC/bottle_bill.shtml
An Opinion: Do You Really Need That Right Now?
By Scott Laird
During the recent snowstorms and bad weather here in Vernonia--weather that lasted
over two weeks and included power outages all of Christmas Day and Christmas Eve--many
of us were highly inconvenienced. Roads were unsafe to travel, packages and mail didn’t
arrive, we had to wait in line to shop in the market while there was no power, school was
closed, people ahead of us drove much slower than we liked, businesses were closed when
we needed them, garbage didn’t get picked up, streets didn’t get plowed, walks didn’t get
shoveled. (Sorry to bring all this up again!) The list goes on and on and on.
In the couple of pieces I’ve written about this year’s emergency, I have been compli-
mentary of the way Vernonians pulled together, worked together and looked out for each
other. Many people stepped up and went out of their way to be of service to their community.
But there is something else that’s been bugging me about how Vernonians handled this situ-
ation, and I feel I need to get it off my chest.
This was supposedly the worst storm in forty years. When I hear words like “worst in”
and “forty years” in the same sentence, I start thinking I might be inconvenienced somewhat.
And I expect that the services and the level of services I’m used to, might be diminished
somewhat. Services like electricity, availability of groceries and supplies, mail and package
delivery, garbage pick up. Yes, I had to haul my garbage can out to the street, and then haul
it back again-- still full. But you know, it wasn’t the end of the world.
In my travels, I’ve heard various and numerous complaints about services that were late, that
didn’t arrive, or that didn’t live up to expectations-- from complaints about snow from plowed
streets blocking driveways, to late mail delivery, to no bread at the market. There were even
complaints when the city tried to inform citizens that a flood warning had been issued for the
Nehalem River by the National Weather Service, and what citizens should do in the event that we
experienced another flood. Last year, the criticism was that the city didn’t give enough warning!
This year, they were stirring up anxiety unnecessarily. Sometimes you just can’t win!
Now, I know it was Christmas and people get worked up emotionally around the holi-
days, anyway. Throw in a bunch of snow, poor-to-impassable road conditions, and no power
for days and days, and people are going to get wound up a little tight. But I think some folks
forgot about that Vernonia Resiliency we’re all so proud of.
(I want to take a moment here to acknowledge the people outside of town who suffered
without power, with no heat and the inability to cook for at least a couple of weeks. These
folks are a special case, and I understand and sympathize with your situations. You folks are
the picture of resiliency, and our hats are off to you and all you suffered through.)
But back to those of us in town. When the snowplow piles snow up in front of your
driveway, it’s your responsibility to get it clear-- no one from the city is going to come and
do that for you. That’s not just in Vernonia-- that’s the way it is everywhere in the country.
Did you know that the Postal Service is not required to deliver your mail if there is not a clear
path to your mailbox? It’s your responsibility to clear it-- and yet I know the postal carriers
trudged through piles of snow anyway to get your cards and packages to you. Even parts of
the routes that are normally driven had to be walked, because the roads weren’t safe. Did you
know that our mail arrives in Vernonia by way of the Scappoose-Vernonia Highway-- a road
that was so treacherous at times that the delivery truck had to go south through Banks to find
a safe route to get to Scappoose? When air traffic from all over the country gets canceled or
delayed, that also effects Fed Ex and UPS deliveries-- meaning Johnny may not have gotten
the BB gun you ordered in time for Christmas this year. (I know, it was actually probably
some Wii game!) Did you know that workers at the Sentry had to stay and unload supplies
from a delivery truck that was nine hours late arriving? Nine hours!
Now can you see why your mail might have been late arriving at your box, or why
Sentry might not have had the brand of cereal you like? In a small rural community we have
limited resources, which may limit the level of services we receive when we are experiencing
the worst snowstorm in a hundred years, or whatever it was.
Sometimes it takes a little extra thought during emergencies. Do I really need that thing
today? Right now? Here’s another example. The Sentry Market had no power on Christmas
Eve, yet remained open with personal shoppers who walked you through the store and wrote
down what you purchased, which had to be paid for in cash. An inconvenience for the cus-
tomers, but also a big pain in the you-know-what for staff. One guy went in and made some
worker follow him over so he could get a bag of tortilla chips to go with the nacho cheese
he was planning to eat for the holiday. And then he complained (a little) because they didn’t
have the brand he wanted. Can you believe it! Well, believe it-- because that guy was me,
and after having it pointed out to me later, I’ll think twice next time about what I really need
in an emergency, and what it actually takes to provide it for me when I want it.
The flip-side of all this is that businesses need to remember that the customer is still
the customer, and they are paying for your service. Yes, you and your workers are incon-
venienced-- you all have to work longer than you wanted or expected. Employees can’t get
to work. Equipment gets damaged. Utilities don’t work. Logistics for deliveries, and just
about everything else are thrown out the window. Emergencies are tough on businesses and
services. And yet-- those are still your customers out there. And as hard as it is to consider,
you still might owe them an explanation about why their service wasn’t up to standards--
even during the worst snowstorm of the century.
Waste Management made automatic phone calls to customers explaining when and why
their service wouldn’t be able to reach cus-
tomers. For me, that went a long way to-
wards easing my pain as I remembered car-
rying that trashcan back from the curb. Yes,
The fashionable looks you love…
it was the worst snowstorm ever-- (and we all
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know years ago Prohaska would have been
there for us), but an apology or a sympathetic
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ear can still go a long way.
Guarantee you can trust…
In an emergency, we all need to re-
Our fantastic catalog and
member that patience is a virtue, one that
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often gets lost when we think we really need
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something or are expecting a certain level
of service. Looking out for ourselves and
And, it couldn’t be easier
each other and resiliency are a couple more
to host a Show!
skills that some of us can improve on. Grab
a shovel, get out there, and take care of it!
To learn more, contact me TODAY!
And if you’re able-- take care of it for your
Lisa Smith, Independent Sales Advisor
neighbors who might not be capable of doing
503-429-4950
it themselves. And, for you managers and
www.liasophia.com/girlsnightout4u
businesses owners, don’t forget-- we’re still
the customer. And as hard as it is to remem-
ber in certain situations-- the customer still
always comes first.
lia sophia
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