November Poll Closed

The Poll for November closed last week. This poll had the highest response rate yet-- 8 people voted!

So, that might not even get to 10% of our family, but it's still the highest yet. I expect December's Poll to have more responses.

Th question was, "How many times have you traveled outside of California?" This isn't just a random question. Rather, it goes to the heart of one of the defining characteristics about who we are as a family. That is, we don't travel, we don't get out much.

It has been said that any person's best quality is also their worst flaw. Viewing the motivation for the Poll and results of the Poll under the guise of that statement, what can we say about our Family?

You may come to your own conclusions, and perhaps you had an opinion established beforehand, but my conclusion is as follows:

We are a close, tight-knit family. It is nothing for us to show up at any other's house on a random Tuesday, or even a Sunday. It doesn't take a birthday or wedding to get several dozen of us gathered for coffee, dinner, or just to sit and talk. And we happen to live in a city and in a state that together have some of the most beautiful views and weather in the world.

Now, on the flip side of things, this is also what keeps us close to home and most-often within our own family circle. Who needs friends when you have such a big family? Why travel when we live in such a beautiful place? Our familiarity (pardon the pun) is our security blanket, comforting and warm, and always nearby.

This isn't to say that it's a bad thing-- not at all. We are close as a family, and we extend this to anyone who enters the circle, whether they are friends or significant others. Every in-law, boyfriend and girlfriend, cousin Wolf and Uncle Larry (Bob's brother) are a testament to that.

It is not all of these positives about us that are at issue. The issue is whether the comfort of the circle keeps us from doing things-- from travel, from trying new things, from meeting new people, from doing anything that might fall outside of what the Family considers normal or usual.

This is food for thought, to be sure. But that's all it should be. Do not take offense. This isn't an indictment, it is merely a topic for consideration. And after such consideration, no doubt we will get back to those things that make our family so great, and so rich with kindness.

Out of 8 responses, 3 have traveled outside of California 1-5 times, 2 have traveled outside of the state 6-10 times, 2 chose 11-15 times, and one 16 or more times. The votes are leaning toward staying close to home.

Now, you discuss.

New Poll

How's things, y'all?

There's a new poll up on the right. It asks:

How many times have you traveled outside of California?

I'm not counting Las Vegas because it's like going to Canada and saying you've been to a foreign country-- it's really not that out-of-the-way.

I'm trying to gauge our level of travel, to see if it's true that, as a whole, we tend to stay at home where things are nice and cozy.

If we took it back to early man on the plains of the Serengeti, back when we were hunter-gatherers living on piles of grass, we wouldn't be the ones to look out over the horizon and wonder "What's over there?" We'd have thrown some more grass on the pile, picked a root to gnaw on, and lounged under a tree until the sun went down. Then we would have gone to sleep, to have the energy to do it all over again the next day.

Just kidding, folks.

Cheers!

New Poll

Y'all... how's things?

There's a new poll up on the right. I asked about this, but didn't get much feedback, so I figured to just put it up to a vote.

Some have asked about switching the 'Third Sunday' breakfasts to a 'Third Saturday' thing. There doesn't seem to be any problem with it, and no one is beholden to Sundays. So, hit up the poll and tell everyone what you think.

And tell others to come and vote. Democracy in action, folks. The poll may decide the day for the Cousins.

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.