Where Can I Go With That?

I finally got around to using a day of vacation. It's been about 10 months now that i've been working for Munns Manufacturing. I never wanted to ask for a day off, cause i felt bad leaving the other guys to work overtime. anyhow. i finally decided that the benefits outweighed my negative feelings of leaving the guys hanging.

So i go to my boss and ask how many days of vacation i had saved up, not having taken any days yet. 10 months of work. if you're in Germany you might be thinking something like 4 weeks. that would be acceptable. if you're from the states, you know that's ridiculous.

30 hours. that's right. just 3 of my normal 10 hour days. not a week or maybe even 2. i MIGHT come out of this whole year of work with a week of vacation. that, i might add, includes working mostly 50 hour weeks.

so what can you do in a week of vacation? sorry folks, but i'm not flying to Germany for a week. i'd rather quit work and make it a 2 month trip. a week is nuts. i'll probably just end up using a couple days to make some long weekends, then a super long weekend to go somewhere further away, like the beach or the mountains, or........ probably to lancaster.

why, you may ask, is this such a big deal? i find myself working and dreaming of what i could do with 5 weeks of vacation. why do we work so much and get so little vacation? why are our lives so overshadowed by this work junk? work so much that your vacation is you trying to get back the lost life/energy that was sucked out of you by work. yeah..... i'm exaggerating. :-) but it kinda does feel like that. between the driving, the unpacking, packing and driving, it feels like such a short time to be and enjoy. no 3 weeks........ more like 3 days.

I found this chart online, which got me thinking about this again. finland: 44 , Germany: 35 , USA: 25. ahhhhhhh, but may i point out that germany's 24 minimum paid vacation days are a definite. no ifs, ands or buts. the USA, however, has a cute little footnote thinger. we have no law that sets a minimum amount of paid vacation. so those 15 days that they're counting are an average for employees "with 10 years of service."

I'm enjoying my extended weekend, but can't ignore that little kick in the gut that reminds me what all this work isn't getting me. or....... i guess i'm not so worried about myself. i'll be ok. but my co-workers, working over time to make ends meet and to enjoy those few hours/days that they get to spend with their kids amidst it all, or waiting for friday to drive to their cabin to soak in every minute of escape that they've fought for. i wish they'd get to have a 5 or even 3 week vacation getaway with their families.

i know i'd see a difference in their eyes when they'd get back.

Ein Jahr.

I've been thinking about this for a while..... i left germany and arrived back in the US one year ago.

time flies by... on the one hand it feels like so much has happened/changed since then, yet it's all still so vivid in my mind. i think about germany all the time, day dream about what i miss, talk to myself in german, and just still feel really connected.

three and a half years. that's a long time to spend somewhere. definitely longer than one year.

ganz sicher.

i was planning to write alot more, but i'm just so tired from work today. :-/

Can't Wait to Hear the Star Spangled Banner.

I'm been working at Munns Manufacturing the past 9 months and most days we listen to the WCYK 99.7, a local country radio station. Besides playing the same songs over and over and over again every day, the station also has a creative way of announcing the lunch hour.

When twelve o'clock rolls around, there's a short pause and then it begins..... The Star Spangled Banner
. An accapella men's vocal arrangement signals that i am free to sit down for the wonderful half hour lunch break.

So whether or not i'm a super patriot....... i look forward to hearing the national anthem every day, hopefully as quickly as possible.

Allergic to....... America?

Growing up in pennsylvania, my allergies usually got really bad twice a year. i'd have several completely miserable days where i'd be sneezing all day long, blowing my nose, wiping snot all over the place,.... you get the picture. it just drains your energy and frustrates you. i'd get the good meds to help me make it through the day.Then i moved to germany. my allergies barely bothered me at all in germany in the 3 and a half years that i was there. i might have had slight sniffles one day, but not even enough to take medication or really be bothered by them. i thought about it and enjoyed the notion of not being tortured twice a year.

.....now i'm back in the US. we're in that spring/summer phase thing with stuff blooming/blossoming and lots of pollen in the air. i don't know what it is, but there's SOMETHING in america that i'm allergic to.

Work today was unbearable. i somehow felt that it would be a rough day, so i took a handkerchief along in my back pocket. i was constantly pulling it out to blow my nose or sneezing all over the place. it was soaked before lunch and i was miserable, wondering if i could go home early because of allergies. i pushed on through the day, wishing it would all be over and wondering what i could get some medication.

Long story short, i called my mom and found out that she had some hidden at home. i'm happy to say that i made it through bible study this evening without snorting loudly, sneezing, or hocking up snot.

i wish i knew exactly what it is that i'm reacting to. or could it just be america?

The Scanning has Begun!!!!

I've been wanting a scanner for a long time and just wasn't able to make a decision about which one to get. right. indecisive. i want to scan all the old pictures that we have laying around, from my immediate family, great great great grandparents, friends and all that good stuff.
long story short, i made a decision and bought a scanner.
I got a Canon Canoscan 4400F online and after receiving it several days ago have started scanning such wonderful pictures as this one.As you can see, being able to put pictures like this online was well worth the investment. i'll be scanning alot more and posting lots online.

Yeah, I'm Movin on Up....

Well folks, my time in Virginia is about to come to an end. As of May 14th, I will be working as a Refugee Case Manager/Social Worker for Lutheran Refugee Services in Lancaster, PA.
I've really really enoyed my time here in virginia with my family, new friends, church and work. when i came back from germany, i figured that i wouldn't stay here very long and didn't make much of an effort of integrating myself or puttin down my roots.
Despite that, I started relaxing in the little amount of time that i wasn't working.
So when the job offer came, the decision was harder than i thought it would be. I didn't give a straight up "yep. i'll take it." it was more like "umm........ i'd like the weekend to think about it."
i had been hoping for a job like this since i got back from germany. i'll be working with refugees, helping them to overcome obstacles to employment, whatever they might be.
i'm really looking forward to starting this new job after spending the last 6 months building steeples and wondering what my next step in life should be. the decision was also hard because i had been toying with the idea of going back to school for a masters in social psychology or international studies. i just don't think i'm the greatest student. :-) change that......... i don't like to study.
my first day of work will be in philadelphia, then it's back to lancaster. it feels strange moving back to lancaster, the place where i spent 20 years of my life.

things have changed. i've changed. i'm shaking just thinking about it.
starting over. again.

oh. did i mention that i wanna buy a house?

Letters of Christmas Past.

Our family has sent out yearly christmas letters for who knows how long. My mom keeps everything. This year she came up with the cool idea to give us each a copy of all the christmas letters from 1984 - 2006. There are lots of memories in there and i thought it'd be cool to share some excerpts. Parts may be difficult to understand without background information, but you'll get it.
enjoy........

1984- Jared's love is nursery school. He can't wait to go on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. He's making lots of friends and enjoying himself. He's also feeling his oats with his brothers and standing his ground. No one pushes him around. Of course, that makes for some fun bouts sometimes.

1985- another highlight of our year was a trip to Disney World in Orlando in July. We sunned on the beaches of St. Petersburg, enjoyed a visit to Kennedy Space Center, and greeted Miceky and friends with a smile.....
Jared started kindergarten this year and loves it. He takes special care of our new hamster "Nibbles".

1988- Jared is a third grader at Quarryville Elementary School. His big thing this year was getting glasses, which he was looking forward to. He now tells everyone, "and now I look like my daddy." To show you how active he is, in a short time he has bent or brokern off 3 arms on his glasses in sporting events......
Jared loves Garfield. In his room you find a complete Garfield library, posters, and stuffed animals.
This seemed to be the "year of the pet" at the Hankee house. Jared started it off with a hamster for his birthday, which died after one week. We still can't figure ou twhat happened. We now have two rabbits which belong to Seth and Tom. They bring them into the house regularly and even want to train them to walk on a leash. (Janet and I might try that with them if it works with the rabbits).

1990- Bruce's father died in September, after a year-long bout with brain cancer.....
In mid-October Tom announced that he was leavning our home, feeling the call to independent living and hte opportunity to "be on his own."

1992- Jared officially announced that Bruce is now the shortest one in the family.

1993- One of the highlights of the year for us was hosting an exchange student from Spain, Miguel Alonzo, for 4 weeks in July. He fit irhgt into the family and we enjoyed taking him with us to Pine Lake Family Camp in Wisconsin.
Jared is an 8th grader at Lancaster Christian and has decided that he will spend his high school years at Lancaster Mennonite High School. Jared played goalie in LCS's soccer team and is currently playing on the basketball team.

1997- Jared, who turned 18 in November and got his braces off as a birthday present, is a senior at Lancaster Mennonite High School. Jared and several of his friends have a "Happy Campers" group. They love to camp out under the stars, even in sub-zero weather. In August, 1996, Jared spent three weeks in Pamplona, Spain, visiting an exchange guest, Miguel Alonzo, that we hosted several times. He works part-time at a local Chinese restaurant and still loveds to play his guitar with friends and at school chapel services.

1998- Jared just completed his first semester at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Va, where he is majoring in Peace, Justice and Conflict Studies and singing in the EMU Chorale.

1999- Jared left for Albania November 31 and will return home August 15,2000. On March 8 Janet's Father, Homer Luckenbill, Jr., suffered a stroke and brain hemmorage that left him critically ill.

2000- After fasting and praying for several months at the end of his mission, the Lord led Jared to move into Lancaster at 362 S. Ann St., Lancaster, PA into a discipleship house with 5 other Christian friends.

2003- This time last year janet, Bruce and Seth celbrated Christmas in Germany while visiting our son, Jared, during his InterMenno mission experience. Jared returned home in August from his year in Germany and Switzerland.

After 21 years as pastor of St. Paul's Church, Quarryville, Bruce has accepted a call to pastor Greenmonte Mennonite Church in Stuarts Draft, VA. The Hand of God has been so evident in this call in so many ways. We sold our house on Friday, November 21, the first day on the market.

2004- Jared is still serving in Germany as the coordinator of the German Mennonite Church's refugee resettlement and asylum ministry.

2006- Jared completed 3 years of mission in Germany, arriving home july 31. he is living with us and has a temporary job building church steeples in waynesboro until he decided what the next step will be. Jared left in early september and completed a seven week cross country road trip to california, putting 10,000 miles on his car. He is enjoying reconnecting with seth and playing guitar on the church's worship team.


I know that i mostly included what was written about me, but it would have been so.............. much. i'm you're intested, i'll tell you what happened to who on what year. There was generally about a paragraph per person each year.

diary entry from Feb 14. 2007

"Well, It's valentines day and the power is out. No wishing anyone a happy V-day by email or anything like that. No Yoko Ono for me.

It's funny, but this is the type of evening that I've been wanting for a while. It feels like switzerland. The lights are all out, the stars are shining like nobody's business, candles are lit, I'm just sitting and relaxing. No TV, no internet, no distractions. Just peace and quiet and time that just welcomes you to be at ease.

It's almost as if i can look across the valley to see the snow shining by moonlight and the farmhouses that dot the hillside. Warm tea in my hand, my hostparents' guitar and just.......... time.

I think there's a big difference in being isolated from the world with your view blocked by trees or mountains so that you can't see anyting... and being isolated with the ability to look out over the world that is quiet and yet distinctly seperate from you. Alone, just being, and nudging the world along and witnessing the small wonders. A cow bell from across the valley. Smoke from a farm house chimney glowing in the night.

Just taking in the world."

thinkin.

so....... i'm sick. i missed 2 days of work, saturday is almost gone and i'm still pretty darn sick. i was hoping to beat this thing over the weekend, but it's looking like that won't happen.
i started housesitting wednesday night for a couple from my church that's out of the country for a couple months. that means i'm sick in a house by myself. the tv isn't working right now, so i've been reading some.
but if being sick is good for anything, it's good for making you think. think about life, family, the past, friends, faith, love, where you're headed, how nasty it is to be sick.
who knows. if i stay sick much longer, i may have it all figured out.

Bruce. The Man. The Legend.

Months ago i wrote on here about my dad's cancer, surgery and recovery. it's odd to think that 3 months ago on my birthday he was laying in the hospital in lancaster. He had a really quick recovery and was blessed to not have all the normal problems that often come with his surgery.
He's been pushing himself hard to get back in shape and to continue to lose weight, doing great on both of those. you wouldn't be able to tell that he had major surgery 3 months ago.
The past week brought around my dad's 57th birthday. the man took it all in stride and shows no signs of slowing down.....
basketball season is coming to an end, but he kept fit with his favorite past time, reffing basketball games. here's a little clip of a game i showed up at.
Another year has passed and i continue to be blessed to have an awesome, loving dad.

my first trip with work.

I've been working at Munns Manufacturing for about 2 months now. We build steeples, which means that we also deliver them so they can be installed. There are several guys that drive for most deliveries.

We'd been working on a steeple for a while that was to go on library in Toms River, New Jersey. This thing took forever. We had to put copper shingles on the top of it, cleaning the copper first, then spraying it with a solution to start the patina process.

Then, we had to take part of the steeple apart to get it out the door and so that it wouldn't be too large to be delivered. This past monday morning 4 of us left with 2 trucks and trailers. It was a 4 day trip with all the driving, re-assembling, and installation.

I had lots of fun with the good company of my co-workers. Oh, i should mention that the steeple went on an old church building that's attached to the library and which will be turned into a coffee shop/cafe.

This is what it looked like when we arrived. Most of the gables and one side were not attached. It took us a full day to re-attach the one side and the gables, all while it was still on the trailer.




I was gonna comment on all this, but it's pretty self-explanatory and i'm tired. We certainly had issues with putting it back together and getting it placed. Ask me if you wanna know.

Before the Cut.

The last time i had had my hair cut was at the beginning of september for brad's wedding. i'd been hearing "about time for a haircut, isn't it?" for a while. so before my sister and law, melissa, cut it at a christmas get-together, i felt the need to document my mane before it got chopped and i shaved off my facial stubble as well.

You can tell that i kinda enjoyed this.

Stuck on the inside.

I was at work saturday morning to help finish a steeple that we needed to get ready to ship to wisconsin. It's not a big steeple, so the inner structure isn't very large. someone needed to climb up inside the steeple, which is lying on it's side, to put some rivets on the inside. the inner structure is a long narrow pyramid, with braces holding it together, making several squares on the inside, getting smaller towards the top.
the 4 of us there started discussing who would fit through the second to last square in the structure, where you would need to rivet the pieces into place. long story short, i tried and just barely fit my upper body through, having to push one arm and shoulder through first, and then the second. it was a really tight fit.
the square was 11' 3/8 inches (29 cm) across. the fun started when i tried to get back out. i pushed an arm back through and started trying to squeeze out. it didn't work. i layed in side for several minutes, trying different angles and techniques.

the thoughts ran through my mind.......... is blood rushing to my muscles, so i can't fit back out....... can i crawl out another way......how would they get me out of here if i'm really stuck........this things would 10s of thousands of dollars....... oh man, how dumb.

I finally found the right angle to get my second shoulder back through the hole. I spent the rest of the day thinking about that hopeless feeling. the bruising on my ribs helped keep the reality of the stupity of my actions, or what could have been, running through my mind.

My shortlived taste of helplessness and fear........

I was listening to a show on public radio on the way home from church the other week and was interested and hit pretty hard by what was on. it was a special on juvenial delinquents. In no other country are youth treated like they are in the US legal system. In certain cases, youth can be charged and sentenced as adults. the craziest part of the program, or of US laws in this area, is a law in the state of Colorado that says that a youth that is involved in acrime where someone is murdered can be sentenced to life in prison without bail. That means..... I'm 15. my friends and I decide to rob a store, but not to hurt anyone. i don't bring a gun, but a friend of mine does and ends up shooting and killing someone................... I, go to jail for the rest of my life.

Crazy stuff. This law just seems crazy to me. I don't understand how we can have laws that are just this brutal. I've never had someone close to me that's been murdered and can't say that i can even begin to know how victims' families feel, but this just seems wrong in so many ways.

I can't imagine going to jail as a 15 year old, knowing that i'll never get back out again. never live a normal life again. that, and the thought of being in jail just scares the bagibits out of me.

I started writing this several weeks ago and haven't been able to get it out of my mind...... take the time to listen to that show if you have a chance.

Doing well.

hi y'all.
just thought i'd give a little update on my dad. he came through surgery fine. The doctor said that there were no other signs of cancer, so that's a good thing. he'll get tests back in about a week to see if there was cancer on his lymph nodes, which they also removed.
I stopped by the hospital today to see him. He looks better than i thought he would, but he's still in pain. He moved to a chair while i was visiting with him and they were going to have him try to walk a little later.
Thank you so much for your prayers and concerns. he'll probably be in the hospital another 2 days, then with friends for a week or so until they remove his catheter.
He was joking around today and definately being himself, so i'm pretty upbeat about his recovery.

oh... and thanks for the birthday greetings. i'm not feeling too old, though my age is starting to scare me.

With a little help from my friends.

Some of you know that my dad found out a few months ago that he has prostate cancer. He's been running back up to lancaster for tests and to talk to his doctors. They gave him a couple options for surgery, explained it all, set a date and well........ it's on friday.

The basic idea is that they're going to go in and remove his prostate, along with some lymph nodes that are close by. It sounds pretty easy, but it's going to be a pretty big surgery. He's been pretty relaxed about it, but I think it's starting to sink in that this is a big deal.

My mom and dad left this evening for lancaster. My dad is going into surgery early friday afternoon (November 10th). it's expected to take a couple hours. After that he'll need to stay in the hospital for 3 days, then another week or so up in lancaster until he's recovered enough to come back down to virginia.

So..... i'm asking that you please pray for my dad, his doctors, my mom and everybody involved. you never expect things to happen, but they sometime do. we just wanna cover this in prayer.

I guess that's all. muchos thankos.

Denison Witmer is gettin old!!!

So i've been listening to Denison Witmer since Lancaster Mennonite High School, where he graduated with my brother and where I would often get to hear him play. I've followed his career and made sure to get to shows.

My German friends might remember seeing him play at Carambolage a couple years ago, or at Kubik NUN Kaffeehaus this year.

Well Denison just turned 30 and decided to reward us all with some great free music. He's done this with a website made specifically for his birthday.
happybirthdaydenison.com

He's recorded a bit lately with a full band or with electric guitar, but those who know him from way back still love the simplicity of just him and his acoustic guitar. That's what he's done for this..... just sat down and recorded himself playing his songs and singing.

I'm so happy that he's done this and love the opportunity to download great classic versions of 33 of his songs.

Cause Ulf asked so nicely.......

Trip facts.

I got back from my trip a couple weeks ago and somehow still haven't done a general rap up of my trip. So here's some general info and numbers about my rampage across the country.
Total mileage- 11190 mi/18008 km (about the distance from karlsruhe,germany to peking, china and back)

Mullah Spent in Gas- $821.35
Gas used- 333.283 gallons/ 1261.6 liters
Average gas price- $2.54/gallon
Average gas useage- 33.6 mpg / 7 liter auf 100 km
Oil Changes- 2
Patched Tires- 1
Speeding Tickets- 1

Nights slept in my tent- 9
Nights slept in my car- 18
Nights in Hostels- 2
Nights "Mennoniting My Way"- 1
Nights staying with friends/family- 13
Number of times woken up by Police- 1

National Parks Visitied- 13 (Rocky Mountain NP, Saguaro NP, Grand Canyon, Glen Canyon NRA, Bryce Canyon NP, Zion NP, Sequoia and Kings Canyon NP, Yosemite NP, Crater Lake NP, Olympic NP, Yellowstone NP, Grand Tetons NP)

States/Provinces visitied- 25 (Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinios, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin)

most of the rest......

I haven't updated my blog in a long while. I was travelling and just didn't feel like sitting for hours in an internet cafe when i should be out hiking around in a national park. It just didn't seem right. So I got to see pretty things, but you've missed out on hearing about it all.
I'm not quite sure how i wanna do this. So much happened and I saw so many beautiful things. It feels wrong to just skim over them and show a picture, but i don't know how else to do it. I'm thinking i'll put some pictures up now, but continue to post about my trip, maybe with a picture and a story every once in a while.
sound like a plan?
Here's a brief run through of the last week or so of my roadtrip.
From Canada, I headed back through the Seattle and down through Montana to Yellowstone National Park. The drive through northern Idaho and Montana was just beautiful.
I slept in my car outside of the west entrance to Yellowstone and woke up to snow the first morning. I slept in the same spot a few days, taking trips into the park during the day. Roads were shut part of the time and they were shutting down the park for the season.i checked out some trails, waterfalls, old faithful, and hot springs. it was just amazing how much wildlife is just roaming around there. it was the "off season" and there were still tons of tourists driving really slow and stopping in the middle of the road to take pictures of stuff. i can't imagine what it would be like in mid summer.From there I drove down past the Grand Tetons. I realized that i should have spent more time down there to hike around the mountains. I ended up only having an afternoon to drive by and take in the view of the peaks. While there, I remembered a little Chapel that faces the mountains and has a great view through the window behind the altar.I stopped in and took tons of pictures, before starting to drive towards Laramie, where my cousin Allison lives. The drive down route 287 was beautiful. The sun was setting behind the Tetons behind me. I kept turning around in my seat for the next 40 minutes to take in the view. They mountains just kept looming over me.
I drove several more hours and decided to sleep in the town of Landers, Wyoming, because i would only have to drive a few hours the next day to get to my cousin's house.I've got a nice story to throw in here. i'll stop and continue with this later. I just realized that i skipped a couple states. I'll have to just write a little bit about that later.
I had a great time visiting my cousin allison and her boyfriend grady in laramie. we just hung out for the evening, and then ate dinner. they love food and cooking. we started thinking about making dinner at 6, decided on making sushi, eggrolls and miso. we went shopping, cooked and ended up eating dinner at 10. it was soooo good!!!After dinner they started to fall asleep on the couch with Dixie Dog. Allison plays fiddle in a bluegrass band and Grady has just learned banjo this year. The next morning I got him to show me clawhammer style banjo and ended up ordering a book online so i can learn.
I left Lamarie the next morning and headed east.......

Lots O' Stuff.

It's been a while since i've wrote. I been movin round pretty good. i'm presently sitting in a cafe in Astoria, Oregon, right across the river from washington. i'll be crossing over as soon as i finish this little update and get something to eat. i've got a craving for chinese food.

so.... real quick. i went to pasadena after vegas. i stayed with these lovely people.dave and rebekka stutzman let me crash at their place and even took me to IKEA for the first time(where this picture was taken). don't ask how i survived 3 years in germany without going, but i did.

we hung out, went out and tried out there fondue set. matt krabill was an accomplice as well.Dave and Matthew are out there studying at Fuller Theological Seminary. I didn't really wanna get near "LA", but the pasadena old town was really nice.

I then headed up into the mountains to see the Giant Sequoia Trees. They were big and camping cost me $20 for the night. not happy about that.
I drove out of the mountains and stopped in tucson for lunch along the way to at least "be there." i figured tacos were a good choice.then back into them to get to yosemite national park. My brother gave me the contact info for dustin smucker. he's a first generation happy camper that's living right outside of yosemite. he hooked me up with a great burrito dinner and my own trailer to sleep in.I headed into Yosemite, though i only really spent a day there. it would be great in the middle of summer when the water fall would be raging, rather than empty.
After yosemite, i headed out of the mountains, drove through sacramento and slept at a rest stop for the night. the next day i had a long drive to get up to crater lake. i picked up karla and we camped there for a couple days, enjoying the cold nights and campfires.i must add....... this was the first time during my trip that i could make a campfire and thus, use brad's hatchet.this is one BLUE lake.just good relaxing time around the camp site, plus a little bit of hiking and cooking on the rim overlooking the lake.

let me tell you bout the bugs. there are some seriously huge bugs in oregon, or at least around crater lake. i cleaned my windshield and a couple hours later it was caked with the streaks of kamakazi insects. seriously. wicked.we then we headed north to portland, where she lives and where we hung out for a couple days. Portland's a beautiful city. lots of culture. i don't really have pictures to put up right now.

i left portland this morning and drove to the coast, stopping at Seaside, Oregon to dip my toes in the waves and search in vain for a cafe with an internet connection. i'm driving up the coast on rt. 101 and plan to get to Olympic National Park tonight, then we'll see what happens.

the VW is still moving along, though making some funny noises..... keep praying.