PAUL'S BOOTS

As many of you know, one of my best friends in the whole world, M'Lynn, has lived in Australia for the past 18 years. She is certainly the longest running friend in my life. I met M'Lynn 44 years ago (yikes!) at the parachute drop zone in Livermore - I was 22 & she was 25. It is a friendship that has stood the test of time - & then some.

M'Lynn's partner of 17 years, Paul, passed away last year just prior to his 54th birthday. Yes, we both robbed the cradle if you did the math - her more so than me. Back in August of 2009, I traveled to Australia to visit M'Lynn & Paul. They drove for over an hour to pick me up at the airport at 6:10 AM - now that is a real friend & Paul was right there by her side! They welcomed me with open arms & I thoroughly enjoyed their hospitality.

Paul was an avid hiker before his health deteriorated. His dream was to hike the Appalachian Trail. Even though his body wasn't able, his mind was willing & Paul made big plans to accomplish this feat. To help her grieve the loss of her long time life partner M'Lynn came up with a far-fetched idea - she wanted his hiking boots to make the journey if he couldn't.

M'Lynn is nothing if not determined & I'm pretty sure she could move mountains if that is what was needed. Paul's Boots are nearing the end of the Appalachian Trail right now! Here is a link explaining how that all came about: http://blog.rei.com/paulsboots/ 

I encourage you to click on the above link before reading any further to get an idea of what has transpired. If you have an extra 10 minutes, listen to the podcast about M'Lynn's letter to The Dirtbag Diaries - but keep a kleenex handy. I never even knew what a podcast was until I listened to M'Lynn whine about having to listen to Paul's account of every hiking podcast that he insisted on sharing with her.

A few months after Paul's death, as she choked up, M'Lynn told me what she wanted most in the world was to have him listening to yet another podcast in the next room, sharing every detail with her, then quietly bitching about it all to me while he was at the computer finding more information to tell her.

Now, fast forward to today. M'Lynn has had a photographer from REI at her home in Australia this past week filming bits of Paul's life for a documentary that REI is doing on Paul's Boots along the Appalachian Trail! How cool is that?!!?! I saw some beautiful photos taken at a National Park where Paul & M'Lynn hiked often when she first arrived in Australia. One of her best friend's sons & husband (all of whom I was fortunate enough to meet when I was visiting) accompanied the photographer on his quest.

The day after tomorrow, REI is flying M'Lynn & Paul's brother to Maine so they can be present at the end of the Paul's Boots journey! There have been some beautiful stories & photos along the way. It has been an emotional & amazing adventure for everyone involved. REI & The Dirtbag Diaries have done a remarkable job of turning this crazy whim of M'Lynn's into a reality. Thank you all - can't wait to see the documentary!

Because this is M'Lynn's first trip back to the U. S. since leaving 18 years ago, she is flying to Reno for a reunion with her kids, grandkids & 90-something mom before returning to Australia! AND since Reno is 2 hours from where I live, I'm driving up a week from Monday to spend a few hours with my best friend!!

STARBUCKS & CRAIGSLIST

Years ago, like 15 or more, I would occasionally frequent Starbucks for my drink of choice back in the dark ages - a grande, nonfat, decaf mocha - now there are way more choices. At the time, I'd shell out close to $3 or so for this concoction & enjoyed sipping it as I carried around the familiar cup with the Starbucks emblem that showed I was pretty cool.

At the risk of upsetting any Starbucks fanatics, please don't take offense at the following opinion. I hadn't been in a Starbucks in years. At some point it just kind of dawned on me that I really didn't need to spend $4-5 for a calorie-laden drink that tasted good, but certainly wasn't all THAT great....once again, only my opinion, don't yell at me. Hell, I can get a bean burrito & a senior drink at Taco Bell for half that! 

These past couple of days were spent using Starbucks as my office of choice for caregiver interviews for my dad & given the length of the lines, I'm pretty sure my opinion is in the minority. BUT as an "office", the $5 "rent" for an hour of neutral meeting space wasn't a bad deal at all!

There is a Starbucks on every corner it seems so finding one that was convenient was simple. We would agree on a location, I would arrive about 10 minutes early, order a nonfat, decaf mocha, with whipped cream, (gotta have a little fun) & grab a table. To make identification easier, I would text the applicant, "I'm at Starbucks, wearing pink pants & a pink & white floral top. You can't miss me."

As I waited, watching the shear number of patrons, regardless of the time of day, who popped in to each Starbucks was eye-opening. I had no idea how many people frequent Starbucks for all sorts of hot & cold drinks. It seems that there are Starbucks on every corner now but yet everyone I went to was always busy.

Years ago I read an article that stated something like - take a product that most people drink daily, can make at home for pennies or buy for less than a dollar at any number of fast food or convenience stores, then fancy it up a bit & charge triple the price. Does that seem like a sound business model for success? Well, Starbucks has done just that - quite successfully.

All these years later, Starbucks is alive & well STILL doing the exact same thing. I decided a long time ago that my opinions differ from the general public much of the time. The steady stream of customers at every Starbucks where I met potential caregivers kind of confirmed that conclusion. It still amazes me how many people spend a whole lot of money on fancy coffee drinks.

This is my second time around finding a new caregiver for my dad since we moved him to Roseville. Our current caregiver is leaving the end of the month after being with us for 16 months. Finding her was my first foray into using Craigslist (with initial meetings at Starbucks). I've heard the horror stories of transactions gone wrong on Craigslist & was really leery of trying it.

My son pointed out to me that now days everyone uses Craigslist & those headlines are just a few of the millions of postings on Craigslist. "Plus," he added, "You put up flyers with your phone number & email address on them around town. That way people know your real contact info. On Craigslist, the initial responses are all done through the website without anyone knowing your exact info." I had to agree he had a damn good point.

The response was great the first time around giving us several good people from which to choose. This time it was even better with well-qualified, enthusiastic candidates who made my job much easier. I received 32 responses in a little over two days of the ad being live. I'm a believer!

Sure, half of them weren't applicants we were interested in but I replied to each one thanking them for their interest. I interviewed four wonderful people today & three of them are meeting my dad tomorrow. Honestly, I have no front runner so I'm tasking my dad with making the ultimate choice. I expect to have a new caregiver in just a couple of days - four days after putting the ad on Craigslist. Ya gotta love this twenty-first century technology!