Geocaching keeps this retiree pretty busy
He looked up. He looked down. He looked all around. And he seemed a bit confused. I figured he must have spotted a baby bird or some other small creature, then lost track of it. Wrong....
Author: David Berkowitz
Daughter ready to step up to help with Alzheimer’s
“When I left for Japan in 2011, he seemed mostly normal. Maybe a few forgetful things, but I kind of chalked it up to age. Then when I came back to visit in 2013, he was...
Anime, manga lover at peace with her ‘weirdness’
“I’m more accepting of my own weirdness these days. That wasn’t the case when I was younger. “When I was a kid, no one talked about watching anime. No one talked about the video games I...
Early interest in Japanese leads to teaching abroad
“I always wanted to learn languages, ever since I was a kid. This is embarrassing, but I used to pretend I could speak Spanish. I’d watch Telemundo and be like, ‘Oh, I understand.’ I just really...
‘They were going to have to pay me to go to college’
Jennifer Challenger set a goal of studying Japanese. To get there, she needed to earn enough scholarships and grants to pay her way to University of Texas. Related: Early interest in Japanese leads to teaching...
Tough to stay positive amid personal struggles
“I put in 10 years in the military and eight years in civilian service. If you had told me that one day I’d be homeless, I would have said that you’re full of crap. But after...
Decision to act ‘was the end of my career’
Robert Ortiz was a federal cop in California when he reported his superiors for strong-arming military families. “I knew the minute I opened my mouth, that was the end of my career.” Related: Jobs scarce...
Jobs scarce after ‘ratting out’ corrupt cops
“When I got out of the Marines, I was a federal cop in Hawaii and California. We worked on military installations as federal civilians. We did the policing on the bases so that the MPs could...
Marine’s plan to focus on his family falls apart
“I took a year break after graduating high school before joining the Marines. I served about 10 years. I was stationed in California and deployed twice to Iraq. “My son was born just before my second...
Teen health issues lead to career in nutrition
“I got pretty sick when I was 17. I lost a bunch of weight, like 23 pounds, within a span of seven to 10 days. Nobody could figure out what was going on. I saw multiple...
