Eric Holen

Today, Yvette, her mom and I spent the day hunting down and buying school supplies for one of Yvette’s co-workers. It was interesting for me on two levels. First, last year I spent a day with two young girls getting them school supplies while their mom was away on a trip and their dad was laid up at home due to a cardiac condition. Second, it reminded me of the financial struggles I went through during my first marriage.

Yvette had found out that one of her co-workers, a mother of two, was depressed because she didn’t know how she could afford school supplies for her two children. Yvette took it upon herself that she and I would purchase most of the school supplies for the two children. I didn’t have any augments since we do not have children of our own and after having bought (and reimbursed for) school supplies the previous year, I know how quickly they could add up.

I remember the financial struggles I went through during my first marriage. At that time, our local supermarket would not run your credit card unless you charged more than $25. So my then wife and I would make several passes through the supermarket charging just under the limit to ensure that we had food to feed ourselves and our daughter Megan.

While I have some of the worst buyer’s remorse, I did not have any problems spending money on school supplies. Even Yvette’s mom jumped in and bought some supplies on her limited budget. It was nice to be able to give back and give thanks for what we have been blessed with.

• Yvette and I were in the gym at 4:50 am this morning, the first time in at least a couple of months. It felt great even if my body told me I wasn’t strong enough to do my old dumbbell routine.
• Almost a week and a half with Yvette’s mom staying with us. The transition has been a lot smoother than I originally thought. It will be strange when she heads back to El Paso at the end of July.
• Wanted to go camping with friends this weekend, but it couldn’t happen. Looking forward to our camping trip at Canyon Lake in August.
• Closing in on a year of maintaining my weight at or below 160 lbs. A couple of weeks ago, Yvette finally made me donate the last of my big clothes that I had been holding onto for just in case.
• Had a great time meeting with friends for dinner and drinks last week. Wish we could do it more often.
• Pleased that we paid off another bill this month as we work towards becoming debt free, except for the house. It is a slow process, but Yvette and I are making progress every month.

Sometimes, life’s decisions need a cooling off period. Thinking back to when I was a young adult, there were many decisions, which if given a cooling off period, might have gone differently and hopefully better. Some of the more common decisions that need a cooling off period are purchases.

Just a couple of days ago, and due to the Republic Of Texas Biker Rally in Austin, I was sharing a story at work about how every 2 or 3 years I drag Yvette through a “should I or shouldn’t I” purchase a motorcycle. After 13 years, she has come to expect it and even know the process.

It starts with me mentioning to her that I am thinking about getting a motorcycle. That follows with me researching motorcycles on the Internet, even though it always seems to come back to the Honda Shadow. Then I drag her to see the motorcycle. We discuss finances, insurance and storage, since we would have to pull one of the vehicles out of the garage. Then I look for used motorcycles as an alternative. Finally, a few weeks go by and the whole idea drops off the radar, at least for the next 2 years.

As Yvette will attest, I have the worst buyer’s remorse, but it only occurs when I am buying something for myself. I think that comes from living in a big family and needing to make do with what we were lucky to have. It also came from some of those buying mistakes that I made when I was younger.

Today, I take time to think about a purchasing decision, and really try not to be caught up in the excitement. That helps me actually think about the decision. Yvette says I can sometimes take it to extremes. For example, I will think twice about picking up a $7 video game at Half Price Books, but not about spending $25 for the two of us to go out to dinner.

Are there purchases that you wouldn’t have made if you had taken extra time to think about it?

Yvette and I have been attending softball games at the University of Texas since 2002 and have been season ticket holders since 2003.

This season started differently and ended with even more emotion, at least for us, compared with the previous years. It started off with a phone call from Amy Hooks, our catcher, in the fall of 2009. She was asking if we would be renewing our tickets, which of course we were.

The first game kicked off on February 12 with us playing DePaul, whose assistant coach is Cat Osterman a former UT and Olympic softball pitcher. We won that game and the next 10 straight games before losing our next game to a ranked team.

Our starting pitcher was Blaire Luna, from Austin. Being a local girl, just added to the excitement of the game.

Throughout an incredible season, our girls kept dropping records as they fought to a 43-15 finish. For the season, they hit 88 home runs a new record, with Courtney Craig scoring 13 of those home runs.

In the middle of the season, we managed to upgrade our seats so that we were sitting on the third row. We were so much closer to the action. However, an expected benefit to the move is that we got to meet the players’ parents. We even bought two much coveted t-shirts from one of the parents. In all, we got to talk with 5 or 6 of the girls’ parents. We also met a new group of “softball” friends who were more than happy to share everything they knew about the team.

Meeting the parents and talking with them throughout the second half of the season, got us more emotionally involved in the game. However, that emotional attachment meant that we really felt the final loss in the NCAA regional that prevents us from moving on to the World Series.

It was a wonderful season, and while we were side to see it end so early, Yvette and I are already looking forward to fall ball and the 2011 season.

While trying to track down some pictures for another blog post, I came across these two pictures from when I served on President Clinton’s motorcade in November 1996.

Then President Clinton was making a brief stop in El Paso for a reelection campaign event.  I was a Senior Paramedic at the time.  I and two other paramedics were selected to serve during the event.  Oscar Salazar was the second Senior Paramedic on the detail, but I can’t remember the name of the other paramedic that served with us.

We got there early and staged with the Secret Service and the El Paso Police Department, long before Air Force One had arrived.  It was very interesting to see how the operation unfolded.  While we were scheduled to part of the motorcade, it would only happen if Marine One, the President’s helicopter, was grounded by weather in El Paso or in Las Cruces, where he would speak later in the afternoon.

After the El Paso event finished and the helicopter took off for Las Cruces, it became a little more relaxed.  We had to remain on site and ready in case there were any problems with the helicopter returning.  Once the helicopter was gone, we were allowed to take some pictures.  We all had our pictures take in front of the limousine.  By the way, the seals on the doors are magnets that are applied once the vehicle is in place.  I even took one picture of their staged firepower in the back of one of the SUVs, which I was told quite firmly, not to do again.  Later that evening, we had our picture taken with Air Force One in the background.

As exciting as it was to serve, we spent a lot of time just waiting.  From start to finish, we were there for about 12 hours.  Unfortunately, the weather cooperated and the motorcade never moved.

Since then, I have been a fan of anything related to the U.S. Secret Service and Air Force One.