My Ramblings

A number of months back I decided I wanted to write a book about my years as a probation worker in Santa Clara County. I started off strong and then lost interest. I don't know if I will ever finish the book but I already have too many interesting things written down to not share them with others. As a result, I have decided to post some of those chapters here on the blog. The working title of the book is “Diary of a Probation Officer.” Following is the beginning of the book: And So It Begins - Part One Working in Juvenile Hall This book is a memoir of my years working for the Santa Clara County Probation Department. My tenure ran from October 1984 to April 2011 and I held a number of job titles and assignments during those years. The book is a true account of my work experiences and observations at the Department. Only some names of my former coworkers have been changed in order to protect their privacy. Those whose true names are used gave me permission to do so. All ...

I started this post a few days ago and was unable to finish it because my thoughts were pretty jumbled that day. I just didn’t know what I was wanting to get across. Today, as I go back to it again, I still don’t know what I want to say so I’l probably  just leave it as is.  Forty-five years ago today, on November 20, 1968, my father passed away. I always think about him on this date as well as a few other days of the year. I guess it’s only natural that, as the years go by, I think of him less and less. But I always seem to remember him on this date. Over the years, I have compared myself as a father to my own father. We are very different men. Whereas he taught me to fight at the drop of a hat and defend the Faddis name, I did not do that with my son. One way in which we are the same is that we both held steady jobs and provided for our families. As I have written here before, my dad spent very little time with his family because he was either at work or out chasing aro...

I posted this on Facebook yesterday: I often tell my wife, Linda, how much I appreciate her. Today, I want to make my praise public here on FB because she deserves the recognition. I call her Iron Woman because of how hard she works. The degree of help and compassion she has for others is immeasurable. Linda works in our church office 11-16 hours a week, she leads two weekly women’s Bible studies, takes care of me (which is a full-time job) and is the BEST mother and grandmother that there is. She is always ready and willing to help those in need and has become a pillar for several women in our church. Today she spent hours at church helping out with a memorial service, feeding the attendees and then helped clean up. I couldn’t be more proud of her. She fits the below description to a T. Proverbs 31: 25-30 25 She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come. 26 She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. 27 She watches over t...

I got a  text message today from Brad Dack, a former San Jose Bible College classmate, asking me to call him. We have not spoken to one another in approximately 30 years since we were on staff at Heavenly Hill Christian Camp. The text was a surprise and I quickly called him. I didn’t ask, but I presume he got my number from another classmate, Lee Roberts. Brad explained he is going up to Yosemite this coming weekend with three men he knew at SJBC and he wants to park his car at my house on Friday while he’s gone. He said Lee would pick him up here to continue the journey. He stated that he gets tired easily because he has pancreatic cancer. Brad said, “Finding out I have cancer was as surprising as an earthquake.”  We chatted for a bit about this and that. I asked him if he had heard about the “surprising” event that Linda and I had in June 2012 when Daniel died. He said he had not and expressed his sympathy.  He then related that he had also lost his son to Muscula...

One of my favorite bands is DeGarmo and Key who was very popular in the 1980's. Dana Key has since gone on to be with the Lord but the message of the song is still alive. Today, I was listening to their song "I'm Accepted" and it caused me to cry with thankfulness. The song's message is that GOD, the Creator, Savior, King of Kings and Lord of Lords loves and accepts me even though I am not acceptable by the world's standards. Thank you, Jesus! I have included the lyrics as well as a link to the song on youTube. Take a minute to listen. It will bless and give you hope. I may not be rich Don't wear fashion clothes Don't live in a mansion Don't have much that shows Never won a contest in popularity Don't have much to offer But Jesus loves me I'm accepted, accepted I'm accepted by the One who matters most Never set a record in sports agility Never was magnetic in personality That don't really matter I'll do the best I can 'Cau...

After retiring about 31 months ago from the Santa Clara County Probation Department, the monotony of doing not much of anything has really gotten under my skin. My days have been filled with too much TV, sleeping, web surfing and reading. It was satisfactory for awhile but no more!  TV has been my biggest vice To give you an example of how much time I have wasted... I have watched every episode of Mad Men, The Walking Dead, Sons of Anarchy, Justified, Revolution, Person of Interest, Boardwalk Empire, The Americans, Homeland, Southland, Brooklyn 99, Chicago Fire, The Blacklist and Duck Dynasty to name a few. I also admit to watching The Ellen Show, 287 episodes of The Andy Griffith Show and countless old westerns on TMC.  I also spend as much time as possible with our five, soon to be six grandchildren. I’m involved with my church and I write quite a lot for this blog and what will (hopefully) be a book of my memoirs someday.  But I now need something new to take up t...

I’ve been thinking lately about a couple I came to know when I was 13 years old. Mike and Karen White were youth sponsors for our church youth group. The story about them is bittersweet. First, the sweet part.   The White’s were so influential to me and the other kids in our youth group. Mike was a big man who sported a bushy beard and reminded us of a mountain man. He had a laugh to go with his size and he was magnetic. The Whites had two sons, Eddie, who we called Little Mike and Todd, who were a few years younger than those of us in the group and they were like little brothers to us. We spent many hours at the White’s house doing Bible studies, playing games and just hanging out. I recall one time when Mike brought out a five gallon ceramic crock, filled it with water, dumped in a small bottle of sarsaparilla concentrate and added a big chunk of dry ice. In no time we had a five gallon batch of ice cold root beer that we drank until we were sick.  Once, our you...