A Good Haircut...

...is a thing of beauty!

Many years ago I was flying freight and sleeping in the back of an airplane 5 nights a week. My long(ish) hair was usually a disaster in the morning and I grew tired of messing with it. I asked the gal who was cutting my hair at the time to take it really short...she balked. He boss, a 70 year old hispanic gentleman, came to my rescue. He gave me a flat top.

For about 7 years, that was my hairstyle of choice. Much to my wife's chagrin. She missed running her fingers through my long, blonde hair. So, when I started work at the Forest Service and became too busy or on the road to get my monthly hair cut, I grew it out. In that time I found only two gals who could cut my hair the way I wanted it. "A Number 3 along the sides, short on the top, then blend it."

Simple.

The first gal, Nicki, is a friend of my wifes. She is just getting back into the hair styling business and was using my kids and I as guinea pigs. She did a great job. Took her time. Worked at it.

The next gal was at a salon in Mesa, Arizona. I asked for the same thing and, taking her time, she gave me a great haircut.

(I did, momentarily, go back to a flat top last May. While in Santa Barbara I needed a haircut. So I took some time off and ran down the street. There was a "super cuts" type place and a local joint. The local joint was run by a family of Mexican's...dad, uncle and son. I asked the son if he could do a flat top. "Not a Marine Corp job, just straight up the sides and flat on top."

20 minutes later, I walked out with a dandy flat top.

So, after nearly 5 years, I went back to Louie. He had some time and proceeded to give a flat top. We chatted about this, that and the other as we had in the past and it was like I'd just seen him last month. We talked about "bad haircuts". He said there is no such thing as a bad haircut because most people these days want their hair to look like that. He related a story where one of his collegues said the client wanted a specific hair style. He said, "Louie...I don't know how to do that!" Louie replied, "Just give him a bad haircut." The other barber said he didn't know how to give a bad hair cut. Louie told him, "Sure you do...just do it like you did when you first started!"

The client was happy. Go figure.

My joke, when the stylist has been nervous about the haircut she just gave me, is to tell them, "You know the difference between a good haircut and a bad haircut?"

"What?"

"2 Weeks."

That, and as a male, I can get a flat top or a buzz and start all over!

Now I'm "mostly bald" as I told my wife last night when she commented that I was bald. There is a difference. All bald means there's only one thing to do...go through his pockets and look for loose change!!!



On the other front...had my big meeting with management at Sacramento. One vote, from the Safety Officer, to recommend termination. Management side of the house hasn't decided. The Union Rep says I have good legs to stand on but, without saying so, he made it sound like a 50-50 chance of me keeping my job.

I really want to keep my job. For many reasons. Not just pay but stability for my wife and kids. She finally feels, after 40 years, that she's finally found a home with friends, co-workers...the whole nine yards. My kids have known no other place as home as Redding. I never had that stability growing up and neither did she. I, being ADD, don't mind the moving, the adventure of something new. I like that.

She doesn't. It scares her, stresses her out. I chose to ignore this thinking she would adapt as she always has done in the past. She has chosen not to adapt anymore. This is home. I really need to keep my job. Or find one that allows me to stay in Redding.

Eric