The question asked in the poll was how many cousins have worked for UPS. Though there were only 3 votes, you can see where the thinking is. Most people can name a few, but not more than a half-dozen people. Whether the experiences are good, bad, or just a blip on the resume, UPS has employed far too many of our family members.... just kidding.
So here's how the voting came up:
2 people think that 4-6 cousins have worked for UPS
1 person thinks that 7-9 cousins have worked for UPS
And here is the list I have... 9 cousins in all:
- Renee Jaimes: Counter/Office Clerk (still with UPS)
- Lizzy Cook: Counter Clerk (separation due to injury)
- Trina Garcia: Data Clerk (still with UPS)
- Ronny Hernandez: AM Handler (voluntary separation)
- David Esparza: Supervisor (voluntary separation)
- Matt Hernandez: Data Clerk (still with UPS)
- Robert 'Bosco' Cook: PM Handler (voluntary separation)
- Ray Aspuria: Package Driver (cousins by marriage are still cousins; still with UPS)
- Chris Jaimes: Feeder Driver (cousins by marriage are still cousins; still with UPS)
So that's 9 I have. Not to mention all those other people we're related to, and those people who the family knows from way back when. And those we're connected to for weird reasons: like how Dolly dated a guy who's dad dated Gramma Connie, and both guys are related to a guy who works for UPS.
Either our family is too big, or this town is too small. Because this shows that you can't even get a job without bumping into someone you're related to.
Congrats to the person who voted in the '7-9 Cousins' option.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Exodus
I wrote this a while ago. Every time I think of it, I can't help but think of how great a story it is. I also can't help but think how lucky we are to be here, and how lucky we are to have such a great story as part of our own family history. I call this story, "Exodus". Tell me what you think....
Everyone knows the story of Moses. Not everyone, perhaps. But you get the point-- it's a well known story. There's one story in our own family's history that rings a bell just like that one from the Old Testament.
Gramma Connie comes from a town in Mexico, in the state of Michoacan to be exact. It’s a joke these days for Mexican immigrants, when asked where they are from, to respond "Michigan." Yeah, Michoacan and Michigan are the same name, just in different languages. Anyway, Gramma Connie as she is known to us, is an immigrant.
When she was about 6 years old, I believe, the entire family packed up and moved to the United States. They moved to Santa Paula, where there was lots of farm land, especially in the lemon orchards and the lemon packing warehouses. As far as I know, they lived there for a time, until Gramma Connie was about 10 or 12.
Then one of the older brothers came to pick them up in an old car, and brought them to the place we've all called home for all of our lives: Santa Barbara. Some call it Paradise.
When World War II broke out in Europe and the Pacific, just about every able bodied male between the ages of 18 and 28 was being drafted into service to fight the war. Unfortunately, that included Gramma Connie's older brother. Like most young men of the time, her brother was fully prepared to fight for his adopted country. Our Great-Gramma, however, feared for her son's life. She feared, as do the mothers of all soldiers, that she might outlive one of her own children. She did not want him to go.
Loving and respecting his mother more than his adopted country, he fled. You see, a hero would die for his country, but he'd much rather live for it. That young man, our great-uncle, went back to Mexico to live, and dodged the draft. According to the laws of the US, draft dodging is an offense punishable by prison time. So the man stayed. The war ended. And he stayed. Years went by, and he married, had children, began a career. And he stayed. His family here in the US asked for him to come back. The young man became the man, and he missed his mother and his family here in Paradise. But he stayed.
At the age of 43, not enough to have lived a full life, he was dead. When I heard the story for the first time, it was apparent to me that he died of a broken heart.
Moses was the baby who grew up to become the savior of his people, taking them from the clutches of servitude, through the desert, and into the Promised Land-- the land of milk and honey, and the Jews would call it home. But for all his good intentions, for his faith, for his loyalty and his love for his God and his people, Moses never got to see the land of Israel. Sure, he made it there. But he never got to see it. Because Moses had tapped the rock instead of speaking to it, God was angered and made Moses blind. This happened not long before Moses was to finally reach the Holy Land to see it for the first time-- but for his one transgression, he was never able to see the Paradise he brought others to see.
Just like Moses, Florencio brought Gramma Connie and the rest of the family to a land of promise-- to Santa Barbara, and the promise of the American Dream. But he could not stay here, for though he loved his country enough to die for it, that he disobeyed the laws one time landed him in unfavorable terms with this country. Though he made it here and brought his own people with him, his family, he could never see that promise made real. And he died of a broken heart before being allowed to come back.
It is a story of sadness and heartbreak. It is also a story that too few of our family have heard. We don't acknowledge Florencio and what he did-- that his actions alone made it possible for us to partake in this land of promise, this land of the American Dream. It is our own version of Exodus. One book in a volume of our own great stories.
Everyone knows the story of Moses. Not everyone, perhaps. But you get the point-- it's a well known story. There's one story in our own family's history that rings a bell just like that one from the Old Testament.
Gramma Connie comes from a town in Mexico, in the state of Michoacan to be exact. It’s a joke these days for Mexican immigrants, when asked where they are from, to respond "Michigan." Yeah, Michoacan and Michigan are the same name, just in different languages. Anyway, Gramma Connie as she is known to us, is an immigrant.
When she was about 6 years old, I believe, the entire family packed up and moved to the United States. They moved to Santa Paula, where there was lots of farm land, especially in the lemon orchards and the lemon packing warehouses. As far as I know, they lived there for a time, until Gramma Connie was about 10 or 12.
Then one of the older brothers came to pick them up in an old car, and brought them to the place we've all called home for all of our lives: Santa Barbara. Some call it Paradise.
When World War II broke out in Europe and the Pacific, just about every able bodied male between the ages of 18 and 28 was being drafted into service to fight the war. Unfortunately, that included Gramma Connie's older brother. Like most young men of the time, her brother was fully prepared to fight for his adopted country. Our Great-Gramma, however, feared for her son's life. She feared, as do the mothers of all soldiers, that she might outlive one of her own children. She did not want him to go.
Loving and respecting his mother more than his adopted country, he fled. You see, a hero would die for his country, but he'd much rather live for it. That young man, our great-uncle, went back to Mexico to live, and dodged the draft. According to the laws of the US, draft dodging is an offense punishable by prison time. So the man stayed. The war ended. And he stayed. Years went by, and he married, had children, began a career. And he stayed. His family here in the US asked for him to come back. The young man became the man, and he missed his mother and his family here in Paradise. But he stayed.
At the age of 43, not enough to have lived a full life, he was dead. When I heard the story for the first time, it was apparent to me that he died of a broken heart.
Moses was the baby who grew up to become the savior of his people, taking them from the clutches of servitude, through the desert, and into the Promised Land-- the land of milk and honey, and the Jews would call it home. But for all his good intentions, for his faith, for his loyalty and his love for his God and his people, Moses never got to see the land of Israel. Sure, he made it there. But he never got to see it. Because Moses had tapped the rock instead of speaking to it, God was angered and made Moses blind. This happened not long before Moses was to finally reach the Holy Land to see it for the first time-- but for his one transgression, he was never able to see the Paradise he brought others to see.
Just like Moses, Florencio brought Gramma Connie and the rest of the family to a land of promise-- to Santa Barbara, and the promise of the American Dream. But he could not stay here, for though he loved his country enough to die for it, that he disobeyed the laws one time landed him in unfavorable terms with this country. Though he made it here and brought his own people with him, his family, he could never see that promise made real. And he died of a broken heart before being allowed to come back.
It is a story of sadness and heartbreak. It is also a story that too few of our family have heard. We don't acknowledge Florencio and what he did-- that his actions alone made it possible for us to partake in this land of promise, this land of the American Dream. It is our own version of Exodus. One book in a volume of our own great stories.
Nina y Nino
Little Johnny was baptized and dedicated to God this past Saturday morning in Buellton. I don't have any pics, but folks say it was a nice gathering of a few members of the Fam.
And what is a baptism without godparents? Monica and Bill will be Nina and Nino to Johnny. That's nothing to take lightly, and we know they'll be good godparents.
Cheers and congrats!
And what is a baptism without godparents? Monica and Bill will be Nina and Nino to Johnny. That's nothing to take lightly, and we know they'll be good godparents.
Cheers and congrats!
Saturday, September 22, 2007
September Birthdays
Here's what I have, and it's likely a lot less, and not as accurate, as the real thing...
- Danny Hernandez, September 5
- Ronny Hernandez, September 19
- Richard Hernandez (Sr), September 23
- Renee Jaimes, September 25
- Victor Hernandez (Sr), September 30
Apologies to Reina Hernandez, and the twins David and Jessica Gladish: I know your birthdays are in September, I just don't know when! Here's the calendar for September (click on link).
- Danny Hernandez, September 5
- Ronny Hernandez, September 19
- Richard Hernandez (Sr), September 23
- Renee Jaimes, September 25
- Victor Hernandez (Sr), September 30
Apologies to Reina Hernandez, and the twins David and Jessica Gladish: I know your birthdays are in September, I just don't know when! Here's the calendar for September (click on link).
It's on a Thursday... Again
Since 1863, Thanksgiving has been an officially observed holiday in the US, celebrated on a Thursday in November. Since 1939, it has been observed on the 2nd to last Thursday of November. This will be the 144th time the holiday is held on a Thursday. Thursday... Thursday... Thursday. Now that we've cleared that one up...
I know it's all of two months away, and there are probably a handful of birthdays and Halloween in between, but has anyone discussed where we'll be having the main Thanksgiving Dinner this year? Will it be at Twenty-Two-Ten, or Eleven-Nineteen, or perhaps some other familiar address we all recognize? Will it be a trip up to 'Nor Cal' and San Jose?
And, for that matter, who's gonna be cooking? Who will bring the soup-like mashed potatoes (or will they be more like oatmeal this year)? Who will sing about slaving over the opening and microwaving of the canned corn? Who will crack jokes about the shape of the turkey's neck when the innards are being taken out of the internal cavity of the 20 pound bird?
Not I, for one. hehehe
So pass the word around, 'cuz I haven't heard a thing.
Cheers, y'all.
I know it's all of two months away, and there are probably a handful of birthdays and Halloween in between, but has anyone discussed where we'll be having the main Thanksgiving Dinner this year? Will it be at Twenty-Two-Ten, or Eleven-Nineteen, or perhaps some other familiar address we all recognize? Will it be a trip up to 'Nor Cal' and San Jose?
And, for that matter, who's gonna be cooking? Who will bring the soup-like mashed potatoes (or will they be more like oatmeal this year)? Who will sing about slaving over the opening and microwaving of the canned corn? Who will crack jokes about the shape of the turkey's neck when the innards are being taken out of the internal cavity of the 20 pound bird?
Not I, for one. hehehe
So pass the word around, 'cuz I haven't heard a thing.
Cheers, y'all.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Business Weekly Spotlight: Robert's Plumbing
As we all know, plumbers can make good money. It's no surprise, then, that one of our family members would choose to go into that trade for a living.
Bosco, who's real name is Robert in case you forgot, has worked for a number of plumbing companies in recent years. In that time, he has acquired many skills and performed many types of jobs. Repairs and drain cleaning are no problem to Bosco.
In the last week, he has secured a contract with El Patio Gardens, a large apartment-style complex at the north end of Santa Barbara, near Bishop High School and where the old San Marcos Bowling Alley used to be. Already he has a work order for 65 replacements, just about one for every apartment in the development.
Here's to dirty work and making good money.
Robert's Plumbing
Robert Cook, Owner
805-331-5233
And no jokes about 'laying pipe', okay people?
Bosco, who's real name is Robert in case you forgot, has worked for a number of plumbing companies in recent years. In that time, he has acquired many skills and performed many types of jobs. Repairs and drain cleaning are no problem to Bosco.
In the last week, he has secured a contract with El Patio Gardens, a large apartment-style complex at the north end of Santa Barbara, near Bishop High School and where the old San Marcos Bowling Alley used to be. Already he has a work order for 65 replacements, just about one for every apartment in the development.
Here's to dirty work and making good money.
Robert's Plumbing
Robert Cook, Owner
805-331-5233
And no jokes about 'laying pipe', okay people?
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Let Us Pray
Recently, Auntie Marina felt some things that were out of the ordinary. She noticed she was having trouble focusing, her appetite was gone, she had headaches, and her speech was slurred.
When she went to her doctor, she explained her symptoms. She was directed into surgery. The doctor knew her symptoms indicated a swelling of a blood vessel located in her brain-- it was an aneurysm.
The surgery was successful, however, a second aneurysm was located. The doctors have decided not to perform surgery, but they are monitoring this second area of swelling.
Marina has been at home recovering. The Aunties and Uncle Martin have been helping her with the kids, and have taken dinner to the house each night. Ronny Chackel, and Marina's friend James have also been helping with the kids.
Here is a wikipedia article on Cerebral Aneurysms (click for article), including the symptoms, causes, types, and treatment.
Aunties, Uncles, Cousins: Let us pray for Marina, and for her children.
When she went to her doctor, she explained her symptoms. She was directed into surgery. The doctor knew her symptoms indicated a swelling of a blood vessel located in her brain-- it was an aneurysm.
The surgery was successful, however, a second aneurysm was located. The doctors have decided not to perform surgery, but they are monitoring this second area of swelling.
Marina has been at home recovering. The Aunties and Uncle Martin have been helping her with the kids, and have taken dinner to the house each night. Ronny Chackel, and Marina's friend James have also been helping with the kids.
Here is a wikipedia article on Cerebral Aneurysms (click for article), including the symptoms, causes, types, and treatment.
Aunties, Uncles, Cousins: Let us pray for Marina, and for her children.
Third Sunday, Third Saturday
Cousins, your input is needed!
There has been rumblings of a change to the monthly breakfasts we have.
As you should all know by now, we have been meeting once a month for breakfast at the Mesa Cafe. The gatherings are on the third Sunday of each month, and as such, are know as the Third Sunday Breakfasts. We have been meeting every third Sunday at 10am since March, after Uncle Bob went to that big Horsemen's Rendezvous in the sky.
Some have wondered if we could change the burgeoning tradition a little, and make it the Third Saturday Breakfasts instead. It might be easier to get more of the Cousins there on a Saturday morning, so it's something to consider.
And people swear, THEY SWEAR, that it has nothing to do with the drinking and the spending of the money that normally happens on Saturday nights, and the recovery needed on Sunday mornings. They swear! "Swear to God? Say swear to God!"
So, Sunday or Saturday? Let me know. The email address is up there on the right.
There has been rumblings of a change to the monthly breakfasts we have.
As you should all know by now, we have been meeting once a month for breakfast at the Mesa Cafe. The gatherings are on the third Sunday of each month, and as such, are know as the Third Sunday Breakfasts. We have been meeting every third Sunday at 10am since March, after Uncle Bob went to that big Horsemen's Rendezvous in the sky.
Some have wondered if we could change the burgeoning tradition a little, and make it the Third Saturday Breakfasts instead. It might be easier to get more of the Cousins there on a Saturday morning, so it's something to consider.
And people swear, THEY SWEAR, that it has nothing to do with the drinking and the spending of the money that normally happens on Saturday nights, and the recovery needed on Sunday mornings. They swear! "Swear to God? Say swear to God!"
So, Sunday or Saturday? Let me know. The email address is up there on the right.
People In Town
Sure Barack Obama was in town this weekend, along with Stevie Wonder, Sidney Poitier, Forest Whitaker, Chris Rock, Will Smith, Jamie Foxx, Halle Berry, Cindy Crawford, Jimmy Connors, Linda Evans, Dennis Haysbert... all for a little get-together at Oprah's.
But so were Leah and her fiance David. They were looking for places to hold their wedding, some time in the future. No word on the success of the trip, but Santa Barbara's a fun place to be anyway, right?
Happy Hunting, y'all!
But so were Leah and her fiance David. They were looking for places to hold their wedding, some time in the future. No word on the success of the trip, but Santa Barbara's a fun place to be anyway, right?
Happy Hunting, y'all!
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Poll: Working for UPS
In case y'all hadn't noticed, there is a poll on the right.
The newest poll asks how many of our cousins have worked for UPS. You might think this is easy, and can probably name a couple of people right off the bat. I thought the same thing.
Truth be told, it's not that easy. There are too many people to go through. Seriously. I counted 517 people in our family, just from Gramma and Grampa alone.
Hahahahahaha..... just kidding!
There's actually about 105 or so. That includes the Uncles and Aunties, Cousins, and the in-laws (married only). Trying to go down that list and figure out who worked for UPS at one time or another ain't easy. It took me a while, but I've got the answer.
When the poll closes at the end of the month, I'll give you the answer, and the list of people who worked for Big Brown at some point.
The newest poll asks how many of our cousins have worked for UPS. You might think this is easy, and can probably name a couple of people right off the bat. I thought the same thing.
Truth be told, it's not that easy. There are too many people to go through. Seriously. I counted 517 people in our family, just from Gramma and Grampa alone.
Hahahahahaha..... just kidding!
There's actually about 105 or so. That includes the Uncles and Aunties, Cousins, and the in-laws (married only). Trying to go down that list and figure out who worked for UPS at one time or another ain't easy. It took me a while, but I've got the answer.
When the poll closes at the end of the month, I'll give you the answer, and the list of people who worked for Big Brown at some point.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Congratulations Are In Order
I haven't had a chance to get to my email for a bit, but hear is a message I'm sure we'd all like to see:
Well they say that babies come in threes. It has just been officially announced that Papas and Laura are having a baby boy due January 13th 2008.
WOW! Go Papas and Laura!
So, what's the little one going to be called? Another breakfast basic? How do you say "bacon" in Spanish? Kidding!
We can't wait to hear more as the date gets closer! Congrats, to you both!
By the way, who wants to bet the baby boy will be doing this maneuver before he talks? (click for pick)
Well they say that babies come in threes. It has just been officially announced that Papas and Laura are having a baby boy due January 13th 2008.
WOW! Go Papas and Laura!
So, what's the little one going to be called? Another breakfast basic? How do you say "bacon" in Spanish? Kidding!
We can't wait to hear more as the date gets closer! Congrats, to you both!
By the way, who wants to bet the baby boy will be doing this maneuver before he talks? (click for pick)
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