Odds and Ends, 12/30/11

Effective at the stroke of midnight tomorrow, Pacific Standard Time, California will have 725 new laws on the books.  That's right......725!  Texas?  Only seven new laws.

You can read more about this in the link below (which I found interesting).

(This is the link below)

* * * * * * *

I spent Christmas here in Tucson, and not in San Jose.  One reason for going up to San Jose for Thanksgiving was that I wasn't sure if I'd be working over the holidaze or not.  We have a lot to do there and when I return to work on the 3rd of January I'm going to have to hit the ground running and put in some long hours.  My supervisor didn't want anyone coming in over the holidaze.  She told me she wanted all her people to take time off and to come back re-charged.  So, I've been off re-charging.

* * * * * * *

Another reason for not going to San Jose:  I fell on the 17th and dislocated my middle finger on my right hand.  This meant a visit to the ER at St Joe's Hospital, where my finger was re-set and then splinted.  That first splint was unwieldy and driving was difficult.

No, it wasn't the stick that was giving me the problem.

I couldn't turn the key with my right hand, nor was I able to release the parking brake with my right hand, and both of those operations are done to the right of my steering wheel.  Plus, I was in a moderate amount of pain for two days, and I figured I shouldn't be driving a long distance.

I have since been re-splinted and the new one is better.  I can type and I can write.

However, the Christmas cards will be late this year, and I still haven't done them all.  I can only do a few of them at a time before I have to rest the hand.

* * * * * * *

To be honest, I haven't thought very much about the New Year that's almost upon us.  I was up at Todd's two days ago and we decided that we want to get in some hunting, and some fishing.  Neither one of us has been duck hunting here in Arizona, and both of us want to get back into it.

I think our first fishing trip will be at Roosevelt Lake, which is, according to the Arizona Game & Fish website, a good duck hunting spot.  While we're trying to land some trout we'll also be scouting out where we can set up to find some ducks.

I don't know when we'll be out there but once my finger is done healing (I have six more weeks) I'll be feeling the itch.

* * * * * * *

That's going to be it for now.

Make sure that you pet a dog or a cat as many times as you can next year.  Make that your New Year's resolution.  It will lower your blood pressure, make you feel good, and the dog or cat will enjoy it too.

Surviving An Armed Robbery

One of my readers in Ill Annoy, excuse me, Illinois, saw my posting from last June where I mentioned having once been in an armed robbery.  She asked me about that, and at that time I wasn't sure that I had the time to tell her that story in sufficient detail as to pass along what it was really like.  She may have put the bug in my ear to devote a blog posting to that event, or I might have thought it up to post here about it......I can't remember.

I do remember the robbery very well.  It was over thirty years ago.  I also don't think about it very much.  It may come up in a conversation once every five years or so.  My mother mentioned it to me during a Christmas visit a few years back when she remarked that I have had an interesting life, and aside from mentioning twice here in passing, maybe three times, it isn't something I think about on a regular basis.  I did write down on a sheet of paper what happened when I got home because I was anticipating testifying in court against the robber, but it never got to that.  I also committed to memory the details about this and the face of the robber.  Even though it's been over thirty years since I have seen him I would have no trouble recognizing him today.

This robbery took place shortly after midnight on or about the 22nd of December, 1978.  I may be off by a day here; it may have been the early morning hours of the 23rd.  I know I can search thru my papers here and determine the exact date but that's of little significance.  The point I'm trying to make here is that this is something that happened shortly before Christmas.

At that time, I was working at a Jack-in-the-Box in San Jose, California.  This was the one at Blossom Hill and Snell if you happen to be in San Jose and want to drive by it sometime, but it doesn't look the same now as it did then as that it was remodeled a long time ago.  In those days, Jack was open 24 hours a day, only closing on Christmas Day.  I had been there for a year, save for a two month hiatus, and needing some money I had gone back to work for them.

During the time that I worked there, I had a feeling all along that the place would be robbed one night and I would be there.  The manager, Clayton, stressed that in the event of the robbery, give the robber the money.  Don't try to be a hero.  He also stressed that no more than $60 was to be kept in the till, with the rest being dropped in the safe.  The store had robbery insurance, but would only cover a loss of $60.  Anything after that came out of Jack's profits.  While on a trip to Nebraska that summer, the place was robbed, but I still had this feeling that it would happen again, and that I would be there.

About two or three days after I resumed working there, it happened.

Here's how it went down.

Jack was open 24/7 in those days, but the dining room would be closed at 11:00 PMish.  The drive-thru was open.  That night I had the 8:00 PM to 4:00 AM shift, and was working "backup", meaning that I was bagging the orders and handing them over to the cashier who would then hand them out to the car.  It was fast paced, not the best of work, but when you're a college kid you like having whatever money you can get your hands on.

Shortly after midnight, a black man showed up at the front door.  He was wearing a well-used denim jacket and denim jeans.  Underneath the denim jacket was a white T-shirt.  He was about my height, and 30ish.  Milton, the first assistant manager, was on duty that night, and he went to greet this guy at the door.  We thought he was a friend of Milton's as that Milton is black, and Milton had opened the door to talk to him.  They were chatting for about five minutes or so and the rest of us weren't paying very much notice.  I was bagging orders, Elizabeth was handing them out, and we had others who were making the hamburgers, tacos and french fries.

After about five minutes, Milton and his "friend" slowly walked up to the counter, still in conversation.  OK, Milton is letting his friend in as a special favor, and the two of them are going to have a nice visit in the now-closed dining room over a late supper.  You get to do things like that if you have a manager friend at Jack-in-the-Box; it wasn't unprecedented.  A few times Hal would come visit me, sometimes still in his McDonald's uniform, where he worked.

It was when Milton and his "friend" were at the counter where things changed.  Milton said to the cashier, "Elizabeth, can you reach down and hand a 'six' bag over to us?"  I thought "what the, oh crap, the place is being robbed!"  Elizabeth didn't either hear or get what was about to go down, so I reached down, got the six bag, and handed it over to Milton.

Then Milton said "now everybody, be cool.  Be real cool.  Elizabeth, reach into the till, and hand over the money".  The robber at that point was displaying his gun to let us know that we were being knocked over, and he stated that he also wanted the rolled coin.  Milton also asked him if he wanted the loose coins, and the robber said, "no, I don't want no change!".  The robber then noticed that there was another register there for dining room service, and upon demanding that we open it for his inspection he was frustrated that there wasn't so much as a cash drawer.  It had long been taken upstairs where another assistant manager was there, taking care of some paperwork.

At that point, the crew in the back noticed that we were all standing still at the front.  One of them went upstairs to notify Mike T, the swing manager, that a robbery was taking place.  Mike got on the phone to summon help.  A couple of others snuck out the back door.  The robber saw that, didn't like it, and wanted them back.  Milton yelled for them to come back, but they didn't.....and for good reason I might add.   It was at that point that the longest minutes of my life started.

What had then developed was a hostage situation.  The robber had the gun out.  It was a small .25 caliber semiauto; I'd guess a Jennings/Bryco.  He had a bag with $92 of currency and several rolls of coin.  He had five or six of us there, and he was not happy.  What he was lacking was a getaway car.  He wanted someone to hand over the keys so that he could drive away.

At that point the thought of handing him the car keys very quickly crossed my mind but as instantly as that thought arrived I dismissed it.  What was to stop him from killing me once he got the keys?  What was to stop him from taking me along for the ride?  At this point he's committing a felony.  What was to stop him from committing another?

He repeated his demand that someone turn a car over to him.  No one budged.  He became more frustrated. And me, I'm praying fervently.  I wasn't ready to meet my Maker that night.  I was begging God to get me out of this somehow.  The minutes seemed to drag on.  How long was this going to go on?  Why won't he leave? Where are the cops?  And while this was going on, I was studying the robber's face in minute detail.  I was memorizing that scar on his nose.  I was getting as good of a look as I could at him.  It was occurring to me that I might be having the opportunity to identify this guy in a courtroom, and I was going to make sure that I was making sure.  I was engraving his image into my mind, for storage and later retrieval.

The next few minutes seemed to really take a long time to pass.  The robber stated that if someone didn't give him a car, that he would shoot the manager.  Then he would shoot the men, and then shoot the ladies.  He said "Usually it's the ladies first.  This time it's going to be the men first!"  He then interrogated us, one by one.

Everyone in there got the gun pointed at them.  The robber went from his left to his right, asking us each time, how we got to work.  I was the third person asked.  I said that I walked to work.  I had that gun pointed at me, and I'm lying about how I got to work that night.  I did have some incriminating evidence in my pocket, which were the keys to the family station wagon, on its own Chevrolet key fob.....though that wouldn't have done the robber any good as that I drove the Volkswagen into work that night instead.

The interrogation continued.  I heard a variety of excuses.  "My mom drove me in".  "I rode my bicycle".  "My friend dropped me off".  And I'm thinking, how much longer is this going to go on?  Where are the cops?  Lord God, will you please get me out of this mess?  I'll repent!  Please get me out of this!.

Still without a car, the robber got frustrated.  He said "now I happen to know that not everyone of you here got here by using the bus!"  He was going to continue the interrogation.  

It was at that moment that I saw a motion outside, from the drive-thru, to my right.  I turned my head to look at whatever it was that was going on there.  I saw a San Jose police officer with his .357 magnum service revolver out.  He was pointing it at the robber's head from outside, and I'd say he had about four feet to his target.

My looking over there caused the others to look.  All of a sudden, everyone wanted to know what I had seen.  At this moment, the robber was distracted.  Milton grabbed his gun arm and brought it forward.  The rest of ran.  I ran towards the back, halfway expecting the gun to fire and the bullet landing in to my back.  Mike C and I ran upstairs, to the roof....yeah, that was a dumb thing to do, but that was where we went.  I mentioned to Mike that I had turned twenty years old not even a week earlier, and that I was too young to die.  He said he was 18 I think, and was in agreement.  We then looked over the roof edge.

Down in the parking lot, there were at least four, maybe six, cruisers belonging to the San Jose Police Department.  They had silently approached, but the lights were turned on.  We saw several officers down there.  We shouted down, wanting to know if it was safe to come down.  It was, so we came down.

I ended up giving one of the officers a statement about what happened.  I got a chance to talk to the cop who had his revolver out.  He told me he was going to kill the robber.....it was a life threatening situation and the policy was to take the bad guy out.  He held fire when he observed the motion that I had kicked off by simply turning my head.  I didn't know it at the time, but I had unwittingly saved the robber's life by doing that.

After talking to the police, one of them remarked that "you've now got an interesting story to tell your friends!"  I was all smiles.  The officer also told me that these kinds of crimes tend to spike during the holidays.  I didn't see the robber or anything; I presumed that he was handcuffed and going on a ride downtown to be in the company of other felons.

I had quite the story for my parents and my friends the next day.  Three weeks later, I found another job.  I had had enough of Jack-in-the-Box and fast food.  I was hired by Pay Less Super Drug Stores, down the road at Almaden and Blossom Hill.  I didn't think much about the robbery after that, except to ask my former co-workers at Jack-in-the-Box what had happened.

The case was plea-bargained down to attempted armed robbery.  There were no action on other charges that could have been filed, such as carrying a concealed weapon without a permit or possessing a loaded firearm within the limits of an incorporated city, which California outlawed in 1923.  In the years I lived in that state, I never heard of a criminal being charged with carrying a concealed weapon without a permit, but the authorities did diligently prosecute a nurse for that offense since some of her co-workers were being raped in the parking lot of the hospital in San Francisco where she worked at, and the serial rapist was still at large.

I have no idea what happened to the robber.  I have once in a great while thought about contacting the San Jose Police to see if I can still get a copy of their report after all these years, but I've never followed up on that.  If I were to get that report, I might google the robber to see if he ever made it to San Quentin.

One of the girls there, Patricia, did have nightmares about the robbery for six months afterward.  She was an emotional person but yet remained calm during the duration.  Me, I was also focused on being calm in the midst of all my thoughts and prayers.  I knew that I wasn't going to do anything stupid, but I also remember being very concerned about one of my co-workers doing something stupid and that I had no control over that.

After the cops had left, Mike, the shift manager, remarked that what had happened to us should happen to everybody, just to give them a lesson about how fragile life is.

My thoughts at that time were mixed.  It had been a harrowing experience, and here's this guy flippantly remarking about how this ought to happen to everybody just to teach them a lesson.

I didn't know whether to shake his hand or to punch him the mouth.

I Got My Kicks on Route 66!

Three days ago I left my parents' house in San Jose to start the drive home.  Yep, I spent Thankgsiving Week up there with them, but chose not to advertise here that I was away from home.....even though I have a housesitter and two sets of neighbors who will shoot first and call 911 later.  It was a good visit, getting to spend time with my folks, family, and some close friends that I've known for several years.

On Tuesday, I decided to start the drive back.  I knew before this trip that I was going to budget three days of drive so that I could accommodate a stretch of the old US Route 66.  I've been fascinated with highway history for some time, and of course the Mother Road was part of that fascination.  I had paralleled it before on previous trips via I-40 and I-15.  This time I wanted to be on the Main Street of America.

I arrived in Victorville Tuesday evening.  I drove up and down 7th Street that evening, which was once signed as US 66.  After dinner and a night of rest I set out the next morning, determined to take as much of 66 from there to Needles.

Victorville is home to a Route 66 museum, but they were closed on Wednesday.  (I had to leave San Jose on Tuesday morning as that California's San Joaquin Valley had a wind advisory forecast the following day).  From the outside the museum did not look all that large but I'm sure that it would have made for an interesting stop.  I took some photos of 7th Street before leaving on National Trails Highway, which is what the former US 66 is now called in California.

It was pretty much a smooth ride all the way up to Barstow.  South of Helendale, I encountered my first abandoned gas station, and across the street from there someone filled their large front yard with sculptures that had bottles intermixed with metal frames.  Route 66 was known for interesting roadside attractions, and this was one of them.  Further up the road past Helendale, I encountered an abandoned structure on a remote stretch.  What was it?  It may have been a roadside store or maybe someone's house.  I don't know, but I took several photographs of it before moving on to Barstow.

Near Barstow, to the east, Route 66 is interrupted by a Marine base, and you have no choice but to get on I-40 for a few miles.  I encountered an exit near that base after I was past it, and so I rejoined the old highway for the next several miles.  On the north side was another abandoned gas station.....a large one at that.....an old truck stop?  There were several bays where at one time gasoline was dispensed, and two large parking lots.  This was not behind a chain link fence so I was able to wander around there for a bit before resuming my journey.

The road continued on past that, and right next to I-40 where there was an exit there was another abandoned gas station.  The sign indicated regular for $3.19 per gallon so this one was a more recent closure.  The brand of gasoline was Spirit, and most of the property itself was behind a chain link fence.  I'd guess that this one was in commission before I-40 was built, and managed to hang on several years afterward before joining the ranks of those structures that will be regarded as relics twenty years from now.

After that stop, I continued on.  The sun was out, the skies blue with only intermittent interruptions from the clouds, the temperature about 70 degrees, and I had Bachman & Turner playing in the truck.  I was really enjoying it!  That is, for only the next ten miles or so!  At that point, Route 66 was a frontage road to I-40, paralleling it, and in very rough condition.  I had to slow down to 25 mph at that point and it was still a rough ride.  I finally took to driving on the shoulder which was smoother than driving on the road surface.  A few might argue that 66 was still driveable at that point but I wasn't enjoying it.  I rejoined I-40 at Hector Road and continued on I-40 until Ludlow.

From Hector Road to Ludlow, Route 66 appeared to be a frontage road in a state of disrepair.  In one way I was wondering why no one was taking care of it, but in another way I knew why.  No one uses a frontage road when there's an interstate where you can go 70, especially in that remote part of San Bernardino County.  The old 66 was to the south of I-40 and then to the north of I-40.  At the Ludlow exit, it crosses I-40 again, and at that point it veers off to the south, being separated from the interstate by several miles.

After gassing up in Ludlow, I resumed using the Mother Road.  I encountered some interesting ruins at Bagdad. There was what used to be a restaurant (the sign is still there) and a motel.  I was able to wander inside a few of the rooms and I took several photos there.  I was envisioning where the bed used to be and what it must have been like to have stayed there.  There was some trash along the floor which I did not pick thru, and an old chair lying in ruin in one of the rooms.  The ghosts of the past that were there were not talking to me, as that they were instead presenting a visual record that only filled in some of the blanks and beckoning my imagination to fill in the rest.  What kind of conversations took place there?  How many now-valuable silver coins were carried into there and then out?  Did somebody famous stay in there before they became famous?  These were some of the things I was wondering about.

From then on, the condition of the road was much better.  It wasn't quite up to snuff as I would have liked, but I also could comfortably drive 55 or 60 and not worry about engine parts falling out of my truck.  I saw some more abandoned structures, the Amboy Crater, lava fields, and occasionally I would encounter a few other Route 66 buffs.  At Amboy, I entered another open abandoned motel room and again wondered what kind of stories that room would have told me if only it could have talked.  After that was Chambless, Essex, more abandoned structures, and yes, I took several more photographs.

At Goffs Road the older pre-1931 alignment continues, but the post-1931 alignment of the route takes you to I-40.  From what little research I've done, I-40 overlaid Route 66, and does so until you're a few miles outside of Needles.  From there you can exit the interstate and drive down the historic 66, which is Main Street, and yes, I drove most of that stretch.  I stayed on that, taking US95 south, which is concurrent to the old 66 until you're about five miles south of Needles.  US95 was under construction at that point and had I known that I might have jumped on I-40 and taken that to Kingman.  Oh well.

As for the drive itself......as for what I saw......I had a blast!  Sure, it added one day to the return trip home, but it was worth it.  To be honest, I want to repeat that drive again someday.  All along that way I kept thinking about how what I was driving on used to be one of the more important federal highways that millions of people once traveled on.  In its prime, people chased dreams, caught their dreams, lost their dreams and died, and who knows what else.  I'm convinced that this road spawned the motel industry as some enterprising folks early on set up roadside rooms where the weary traveler could zonk out for the night before resuming his quest for whatever it is that he was thirsting for the next day.

I'm sure that many of you have heard that famous song about getting your kicks on Route 66.

Well, you can still get them, as I found out just two days ago.

My only regret is that I can not go back in time and see Route 66 in its prime.

Here Comes Black Friday

One of the busiest days in retail is "Black Friday".  It's been that way for over thirty years, though thirty years ago when I was working in retail it didn't have that nickname.  I do know that the Pay Less Super Drug Store in San Jose where I was working at when I was in college would open at 7:00 AM and the crowds would come rushing in.  I was never assigned to work during the opening but I would come in the afternoon after the big rush was gone and hear one of my co-workers tell me how busy it was.

Black Friday continues to remain busy, and seems to be getting a lot of media attention these past few years whenever it comes up.  You hear stories about how people are camping outside of Best Buy the night before, joining this long line of people out there in the cold night waiting for the store to open at 5:00 AM or 7:00 AM or whenever.  In Tucson, I'm hearing that Toys R Us is opening at midnight.  When I was driving past their Broadway location on the way home from Todd's last year at 10:30 PMish there was a long line.  I thought OK, at least they're not out robbing liquor stores, but at the same time I'm failing to understand why going to a Toys R Us at midnight is such a high priority.

And from what I'm hearing, this year Target is opening up early.....I can't remember if it's 10:00 PM on Thursday or at midnight.  Headlines recently posted on the Drudge Report tell me of some employees protesting this action.  Last year I saw in the letters to the editor complaints that the major retailers are "taking people's time away from their families".  I got the sense that some of those letter writers were those who felt compelled to go shopping on Black Friday, and were upset that this was eating into their time on Thanksgiving Day since they would have to leave right after dinner to go shopping instead of enjoying a glass of wine that evening with their loved ones. 

I think there are some things that need to be pointed out here.  This is coming from someone who doesn't do Black Friday and doesn't want any part of it.

First of all, no retailer out there is holding a gun to your head to make you go out on Black Friday.  I'll grant that there might be a major deal on some laptop or flat screen TV that you can only get on that day.  But ask yourself......do you really have to have that laptop?  Do you really have to have that big screen TV taking up 50% of your living room wall?  Yes, they're nice to have, but does not having one of these items take twenty years off of your life expectancy?  I guess if you're the type of person who stews over not having the item then it might really shorten your life, but me, I can do without them if I have to.

What I'm saying here that it isn't the retailer's fault for taking you away from your family if you go out to camp in the long line right when you're done with your Thanksgiving dinner.  You have the choice to stay home that evening or to go out.  No one is "making" you go out to sleep outside of Best Buy that night.

Second......I'm going to admit that I have a problem with the "mob" mentality that a lot of the human race seems to suffer from.  I saw this in those three years that I worked for Payless.  I swore that when I got out of college with my degree, I was going to have no part of it.  I don't go out shopping when the Sunday sale breaks and I especially don't go out shopping on Black Friday.  In fact, I hate shopping.  I'm a guy.  The only time I enjoy going to the store is when I'm picking up some steaks or chicken to throw on the BBQ.  But don't ask me to do Black Friday.  I get that day off, and I just might want to stay home and listen to some Bachman-Turner Overdrive instead.

To be honest, I don't like it when the retailers exploit the herd mentality of the consumer.  A year ago, or maybe it was two years ago, a Walmart employee in New York who was opening the front door on Black Friday was trampled to death by the mad stampede of the mob.  This suggests that hundreds of people that morning valued the laptop much more so than they valued the life of a human being who was only trying to let them in.  Is Walmart responsible for that?  Or were the stampeders responsible?  I don't think anyone knew beforehand that this was going to happen, but would foreknowledge of this have made the crowd act responsibly?  Based on the three years I put in at Pay Less, I have to say that the overall consensus of those shoppers would have been "well he shouldn't have been in our way". 

And again on a Black Friday, we had a shooting in a Palm Springs retail outlet.  I can't remember which one but two shoppers were after the same item and the one who "lost" drew a gun out and used it. 

What does that say about the mentality of your average Black Friday shopper?  Are there really a lot of Black Friday shoppers who would have no qualms about shooting another shopper or trampling someone to death in order to get that last toy or that last laptop? 

Now to be fair, that shooting in Palm Springs is the only Black Friday homicide that I have ever heard of.  And as far as I know, that one Walmart employee is the only fatality of a worker who was stampeded to death.  We've had years of Black Fridays.  I'm sure that there are some fistfights going on that we won't hear about on the national news.  But when a worker is trampled to death and a shopper shoots another shopper over a toy, it doesn't make the average Black Friday shopper look good.......a stereotype becomes very easy to apply here.

I'll admit one more thing.  After I heard about that Palm Springs shooting I facetiously said to someone, "you know, what they oughtta do is this:  they should give the first 200 shoppers at the door a gun and ten rounds of ammunition, and tell them to go ahead and shoot each other so that they can be the one who "wins".  The district attorney should declare beforehand that no one will be prosecuted.  Let the shoppers take each other out, and let the retailers enjoy more carnage than they've ever had before."  And, I said pretty much the same thing when I was talking to Mark a couple of days ago about Black Friday. 

This pretty much suggests that I don't like Black Friday, and maybe deep down inside I really don't.  It reminds me of this one episode on Star Trek, The Return of the Archons.  That's the episode where Kirk and company stumble across that world run by Landru, and that there's this "festival" where everyone goes out and gets their inner rage out of their systems.  They set fires, destroy windows, attack women, and make your average San Francisco peace "protest" ("riot" is a more accurate word) look like a cakewalk.

But as far as Black Friday goes, I don't know who to think less of sometimes:  the greedy retailers, or the shoppers with that mob mentality that so often seems to rise to the surface; making you think that maybe man really is evolving into ape. 

Well, it is what it is, and one more thing for me to be thankful for this week is that I don't have to be a part of Black Friday. 

I guess the upshot here is that the retailers and the Black Friday shoppers deserve each other.

* * * * * * *

I am taking this week and next week off of work, and catching up on a few things.  This gives me the chance to catch up on some reading.  And, some blog commentary.

Don't forget to pet a dog or a cat.

The Ides of November Plus One

The 15th of March is often referred to as the "Ides of March".  So does that mean that the 15th of November is the "Ides of November"?  If that's the case, then we're one day past that, thus the title of this evening's post.  Besides, I don't want to use a title that I've used before.

* * * * * * *

As for what I've been up to lately, I continue to remain busy.  Some days I'm putting in long hours and other days I'm not.  On those days where I am not, I sometimes don't feel like being in front of a computer.  I've been getting in some reading, and in watching Season Three of Hawaii Five-O on DVD.

I probably should be out dating, but these days there's no lady in my life.  That's largely been by my choice but maybe I should be re-thinking that.

* * * * * * *

I am currently reading "Airframe" by Michael Crichton.  I've had this one for several years, but it's been on the shelf.  I can't remember which airport I bought this one at, but I do remember buying it at an airport.  I had to fly out to Waco, Texas, for a three week job.  I can't remember if I bought this in San Jose or in Dallas.

As is usually the case with a Michael Crichton novel, I'm finding it very fascinating.  Knowing a few things about aerospace engineering gives me a perspective that most other readers do not share.  Although Dr. Crichton was quite knowledgable in a lot of things, I did spot one minor error when the DC-10 comes up in a fictional conversation.  One of the characters stated that McDonnell-Douglas did not sell a single one after the crash of a DC-10 in Chicago in May 1979.  My online research into this last night suggests that it was in production after that.

Still, it's a good read, and I'll have to admit I'm practically cheering the way in which he is characterizing this one so-called "investigative journalist".

If you happen to think that "investigative journalism" can be reliably trusted, then I think you should do some research on NBC's "Dateline" program and what they did to "prove" that GM cars exlpode on impact.

* * * * * * *

I am also reading a collection of short stories by Edgar Allan Poe.  I didn't know this (or maybe that was mentioned back in junior high by one of my teachers but I forgot) but Edgar Allan Poe is credited with creating the detective story, with "The Murders in the Rue Morgue".

I've since read "The Purloined Letter" and "The Tell-Tale Heart".  The latter was something of a thriller.

After I'm done with Edgar Allan Poe, I'm going to read some Sherlock Holmes stories.

* * * * * * *

I could devote several postings concerning the Republican candidates for President.  I do have a favorite amongst them, but that person is not the choice of the Republican Establishment.

The Republican Establishment has already made their minds up that Mitt Romney will be the nominee, and to hell with the wishes of the rank and file.  Newt Gingrich is their plan B, but they'll sell their own children into slavery if they think that will get them Romney.

I don't trust Mitt Romney.

Let me re-phrase that.

I trust Mitt Romney almost half as far as I can throw my house.

As for the Republican National Committee, I'll say this.

Anyone who sends them a check is committing an act of treason against the United States of America.

Before you Democrats get too smug about what you just read, I feel much the same way about the Democratic National Committee.

As Tom Petty once sang in a song a long time ago; "I can't decide which is worse".

* * * * * * *

I think I now need to sign off, pet my cats, and then get some supper.

Happy Birthday to Brian Greenway!

Brian Greenway, best known for being a guitarist and mainstay of April Wine, is 60 years old today!  I've had the pleasure of meeting him once.....he's really quite the gentleman.  I've since exchanged messages with him on the April Wine forum on their official website.  He's well liked and he's got lots of greetings to catch up on when he next logs on.

He's in Kitchener, Ontario tonight, where April Wine is playing.

Here are two YouTube links that feature him.

The first is a live performance of the leadoff track for the solo CD that he released in 1988.  The CD is titled Serious Business and is extremely rare; expect to pay $85 for it if you ever find it.

In the Danger Zone

The second track is from April Wine's 2001 CD Back to the Mansion.  Track #4 is a song that Brian wrote and sang the lead vocals on.

I think it's the best song he's ever written.

Holiday

Happy Birthday, Brian!  We are lifting a glass of Moosehead in the direction of Kitchener this evening in your honor!

Happy Birthday, Randy!

Randy Bachman of BTO and Guess Who fame is 68 years young today!  Those of us who are regulars on his "Vinyl Tap" website have posted birthday greetings, which I'm sure he has read.  He's a busy guy and doesn't post very often to his website.  He's out with Fred Turner this week touring Canada, and no doubt has already penned some tunes to what we hope will be a new Bachman & Turner CD.

I'm going to post YouTube link to two songs that he released on his 1978 solo album Survivor.  The first song is the leadoff track, "Just a Kid", where he is reminiscing about his then 34 years on the planet.  The second song is "One Hand Clapping", with a guest appearance on piano by Burton Cummings of Guess Who fame.

These are the best two tracks on the album, and I think, way ahead of the others on that album.

Here ya go!  You'll have to hit the "back" button if you want to come back to this blog........!

Just A Kid

One Hand Clapping

I hope you enjoy these songs as much as I do!

* * * * * * *

OK, so where have I been?  What have I been up to?

I've been a busy guy too.  I have seen some long hours on the job these past few weeks as I am split between two different projects that reside within the same product line.  One project is going to take me until January to complete, as that I am responsible for three tasks within it, and I may have to take on two additional tasks.

Another project has short term tasks, and there are a lot of those kinds of fires to put out.  I frequently think that these are two full time jobs that I am doing, but as it is I have to be innovative in keeping the "Must Get Done" list down to a manageable level.  That assignment came close to having me in Amsterdam this week but someone else got drafted to put out that fire, and I am here in Tucson putting one of his fires that he couldn't get to.

It's frantic, it's busy, it's a snake ranch, but I'm having fun.  With that and the classes I am taking on Thursday nights I don't have very much in the way of spare time.

Eventually I will have to figure out how to get my social life going again, but that's on hold for the time being.

I think I'm also going to have to call up Todd and go rabbit hunting before long, now that the monsoon season is showing signs of winding down.

* * * * * * *

Yep, monsoon season is winding down.  Or is it?  We're usually done by mid-September, but we had some sprinkles this afternoon.

Two Thursdays ago we really had a pounding in the afternoon.  Session Number One started around 1:00 PM, and brought us half inch size hail along with the bullet rain.  I've seen quarter inch hail before on occasion here, but this one, well we got some bigger stones.  Then it ended and I thought we were done.

Session Number Two then kicked up around 2:00.  We had bullet rain like we did with the first round, but we got hail again!  This time they were quarter-inchers.  It was something, but we weren't done yet.

Session Number Three kicked in around 3:15.  More bullet rain, and more hail!  Three hailstorms in one afternoon!  These were quarter-inchers as well.

I had never seen hail twice in one day before here, let alone three times.  I ended up leaving work at 4:00 when it subsided but had trouble getting home as that half the roads near where I work were closed due to flooding.

After that I thought it was the season finale, but as I said, we had sprinkles today, and we may have a few more of those before we're all said and done.

* * * * * * 

I think I'm done here for tonight.  Just two more thoughts.

One.....don't forget to pet a dog or a cat.  It will do you more good than it does the dog or cat, although the dog or cat will think otherwise.

Two.....don't do anything to make the fire department come after you.

Good night!

It's been a busy month.....

I've got some catching up to do.  In some ways it seems like there really isn't a whole lot to report but in other ways there are.  I have started down that path that my own burning bush called me to do, and although I started with a sense of trepidation and wondering if I was really doing the right thing or was even up to it in the first place, I find myself glad to have started this.  I have a sense of peace and well-being about it that I can't describe.

I won't get any more specific about this.  It's an interesting situation and I'll leave it at that.

* * * * * * *

Things on the work front are also turning out to be interesting.  It took a few weeks to settle in to this new assignment and to feel comfortable at it, but I find that I am enjoying it a great deal more than I thought I would.  I'm not used to a project being run in the way that this one is.  No, that is not a reflection of management, it's instead the nature of the project itself that has it set up this way.

I can honestly say that I've been blessed with a great selection of co-workers.

It's one thing to have a job.

It's another thing to have a job where you enjoy having the right people on the team.

* * * * * * *

I am still slowly going thru that box of nickels that I bought back in early June.  I'm not even at the halfway point.  So far, two of the sought-after 2009D nickels have turned up.  I hope to get lucky and score several more.  

* * * * * * *

Speaking of coins, I have an amusing anecdote to pass along.

I purchased some $80 worth of half dollars at one of the Wells Fargo branches here.  No, I didn't score any silver (I hardly ever do), but no big deal.  I like spending them, and I also sell several of them to a manager at one of the Quik Trips here in Tucson (he also buys $2 bills off of me).

Anyway, I forgot to sell him my half dollars my last time there, but again, no big deal.  They're legal tender, and can be used as such as long as a vending machine isn't involved.  I was on my way to the swap meet to visit a longtime friend of mine who owns a business there, and I decided to stop off at a Chevron nearby to get a cold soda.

I decided to ditch two of these half dollars in the transaction, along with other change.  The young lady behind the counter stared at the half dollars for a second, and then asked me, "are these the fifty cent quarters?"

I said yes, and left it at that.

I figured that would take a lot less time than in correcting her as what the coins really were, and how many of them it would take to make a dollar.

* * * * * * *

At the swap meet, my friend Mercury showed me a counterfeit ten dollar bill that had been passed in his store the night before.  A lady had come in before closing, the lights were turned off, and she used this in her purchase.  It wasn't after she was long gone that Mercury and his wife Michelle had learned that they had been stuck with a counterfeit.

The bill almost fooled me; it was that well done.  It was colorized like the real latest issue ten dollar bills are.  However, there was nothing in the watermark area, and the microprinting was a bit fuzzy.  Also, the back was  a bit fuzzy if you looked close up at it.

It's probably no surprise to the Secret Service that the counterfeiters are keeping up with technology.  I have seen fake bills before, and this one was one of the best.

* * * * * * *

That's all I have for this evening.  Have a safe Labor Day weekend!

Don't forget to pet a dog or a cat!

Happy Birthday Blair Thornton!

Blair Thornton, gutiarist for Bachman-Turner Overdrive is 61 years old today.  I suspect that he still looks 20+ years younger than he is.  I've met him on a few occasions and is approachable.  However, he was never one to seek the spotlight during his time with BTO and we know very little about him.

We do know that he still lives in the same neighborhood in west Vancouver where he grew up.  He's an avid golfer, and I'd guess that he's a fixture on one of the golf courses in the Vancouver area.  His guitars of choice in the 70s were the Gibson models, particularly the SG and the Les Pauls.  Later on he switched to a customized Fender Strat.  When I asked him why he switched, he told me that the Gibsons weren't holding up on the road as well as he would have liked, and that he had a couple of them break on him.  He then went into a detailed technical description of the how he had his Strat customized.

Any BTO fan will readily acknowledge that he's one of the top guitarists, and I can personally attest to that.  One time when he was playing in Tucson, he was ripping out the solo for the song "Gimme Your Money Please" and he broke a string.  He never broke stride, he stayed true to that solo (which I'd seen him do before) and did NOT miss a note.  It was like he didn't need that string after all.  After the song guitarist Randy Murray loaned him one of his guitars, and Randy played his backup while Blair did the next song with Randy's #1 guitar.  Then with the song after that, one of the techs handed back Blair the strat with the string replaced.

One other anecdote is worthy of passing along.

After a show that they did in Las Vegas, I was hanging around the band after their "meet and greet".  They were delighted that three of us had come all the way up from Tucson to see them, and we were invited to stay and chat with them a while.  I was telling Blair that a song that he co-wrote, "Four Wheel Drive", was the first song that I played in my truck when I got my CD player put in....after all, it's a 4WD truck and I felt that no other song could be the first one played in it.

He liked hearing that, and as we were conversing a drunken fan then came up to us.

This drunken fan had mistaken *me* for a member of BTO!  He started shaking my hand, telling me that I had played really well that night, and that he had followed us for a long time.  Ole Blair went right along with that, saying "Oh yeah.....I haven't heard him play that good for several years now.  He hasn't played that well since 1997".  The fan thanked me again, and left, and probably was bragging to his friends the next day that he had gotten to shake hands with one of the guitarists from Bachman-Turner Overdrive.

So......can I say that for a brief moment, that I was a member of BTO?

Happy Birthday, Blair!  And thanks for memories that will last me a lifetime!

Here's a YouTube video of "Four Wheel Drive", live in 2004.  Blair's the one with the sunglasses.

Four Wheel Drive

Some catching up to do.......

Life had been something of a whirlwind during the first ten days of this month.  When things slowed down I did some much-needed goofing off, or maybe I should say that I decided that I needed some "down" time.  Well, I've had my down time, but I am behind in my emails and there are a few folks out there who I need to call.  I also realized that I needed to catch up here, so I'm here.

Let's get started.

* * * * * * *

I was not the only one who came across the burning bush last month.  After seeking out some counsel and asking lots of questions, I decided to respond to the call.  What this means is that I am going to be giving up some free time, but I feel that the need that I'm being asked to fill is important.  And, I'm not going in this alone.  Ten of us are getting involved and we'll be helping some people out, behind the scenes, who need the help.

That's all I'm going to say for now on this.

* * * * * * *

Things are changing for me at work.  When I returned to work after an extended weekend from the Fourth, well, I was made aware that things were going to change soon.  All I can say is that another project pulled some strings, and I was more or less encouraged to take this new assignment.

No, I'm in no way bitter about this.  It's just the nature of the business.

And seeing as how this is about work, that's all I'm going to say for now on this one as well.

* * * * * * *

Here at home, I've been experimenting a lot with the barbecue.  I had a pair of hamburgers for the evening meal, but this time I did them differently.

I had them rubbed down with olive oil (that's now a standard procedure here), and after the olive oil I sprinkled some Thai seasoning on them.  I then cooked them as I usually do, but in the final five minutes of cooking I put some Thai chili paste on them.

I was really pleased with how they turned out!  The side effect that I may suffer from later on could come in the form of some absurd dreams or possibly nightmares.  We'll see.

I do know from an experience several years ago that spicy Montreal steak seasoning on hamburgers will give you nightmares!  Back when I was in the townhouse I made generous use of that seasoning; going on to blacken those burgers like I was some sort Cajun cook.

They were tasty, but later on that night I paid for it.

I still use McCormick's spicy Montreal steak seasoning in cooking, but not like that anymore.

By the way, I did some research on that Montreal steak seasoning.

People in Montreal didn't come up with it.

Instead, someone at McCormick came up with a blend of spices, and since they wanted to sell a lot of it, they called it Montreal seasoning.  There's more than one variety of Montreal seasoning that you can get, and I'm partial to their spicy steak seasoning.  It does go good on a ribeye, and on hamburgers if you don't overdo it.

* * * * * *

I need to catch up on some other things here, so I'm going to sign.

Don't forget to pet a dog or a cat!

Is that a burning bush in front of me?

Yesterday I was approached by someone whose wisdom and counsel that I have respected for many years.  He asked me to consider volunteering for something specific that I will not pass along at this time.  I will not identify this individual; I will confirm that he was a great member of my support network when I was struggling with those dark days earlier this year from February thru early April.

His approaching me reminded me of one of the early Bible stories that I learned when I was a child.  That story concerns Moses, when he went to investigate a burning bush that would not burn up.  It was a strange sight, and his going over to it set in course a chain of events that would affect the lives of the people from which he came.  God told Moses to return to Egypt, and to lead the Hebrews out of Egypt.

Let's stop for a moment and consider a few things.

Moses was brought up in the court of Pharaoh, and had a position of power within Egypt.  He was enjoying the good life, until one day he saw an Egyptian mistreating a Hebrew, and Moses killed the Egyptian and hid the body in the sand.  Moses had committed an act of murder.  He had killed someone.

Once Moses learned that his crime was known to others, he became a fugitive.  I re-read the account in Exodus earlier this evening and what Moses did was not only known to two Hebrews who were arguing, Pharaoh knew about it too.  Pharoah, or rather, the person was then Pharoah, wanted to kill Moses.  We can infer from this that murder was a capital offense in Egypt at the time, and Moses knew what the punishment was.  He didn't run at first, thinking that maybe he had gotten away with it.  He fled once he became aware that he was a wanted man.  The crime of murder angers a lot of people today, as it did back then.  Moses went on the lam, and entered into fugitive flight.  He found a new life in Midian, married, and started raising a family.  We don't know if he struggled with guilt for all those years, but we do know that when God told Moses to return to Egypt, that God later assured Moses, after he agreed to go back, that those who wanted to kill him were dead.

Anyway, being approached yesterday, for some reason, reminded me of this story.  To be quite honest, I feel that I am more qualified to be the recipient of the help that I'm being asked to give.  No, I am not a fugitive in any criminal sense, but I am feeling the need of wanting the events from February/March/early April to be behind me once and for all.  I have the sense that I am healing from this, and that it will be easier to recover from the adverse circumstances that preceded my arrival in Arizona.

Yes, I am reluctant to say yes to this.  For one, I wasn't sure if I really had a future in Tucson.  I even went so far as to approach hiring managers in Colorado, and the one position that I phone-interviewed for won't be offered to me until October, if at all, and as I write this I do have something lined up here in Tucson that begins in October.  I guess I can infer that the Good Lord is going to keep me here in Tucson, even if the circumstances right now are not as good as they were two years ago.

Secondly, this isn't something I can say yes to right away.  My present assignment has with it a need to put in some long hours at times.  The effort that I am supporting is damned important to my employer and it's something that I'm actually enjoying being a part of.  I plan to ride this train until its course is run, and my gut is telling me it's going to be a few more weeks.  After that, I can return to a previous assignment as that last Friday my old supervisor told me he wanted me back and to give him a call once I'm done doing what I'm doing right now.  I said that I would like to take a vacation between jobs and he has no problem with that.

Third, the individual who approached me is well familiar with my current situation, and he knows that I can't give an answer right away.  I personally think that I'm going to need three weeks to mull this over, and to assess if I have the amount of time availalbe for this.

But it is funny in a way, of how this emerged yesterday.

One question that I have asked myself a lot lately is, have I made a difference?  I mean, I came to Arizona in early 1999, knowing it was what I had to do at the time, but not sure if I understood in the 100% sense of why I was being brought to Arizona.  Those close friends who I have shared this with, and this includes the person who approached me, have told me that I have indeed made a difference.   I mean, I'm sure that I have in some ways, but did I make a difference as to where it really counted?  Should I even know if I have?

A few other observations.

I have survived an armed robbery, an earthquake with fatalities, one traffic accident, and a front wheel coming off at 70 miles per hour.

By all rights I shouldn't even be here.

I have also had two biopsies for cancer, the most recent one being last month.  Both came back negative.  For some reason I am still here.  I sometimes ask myself why.

I mean, what is there left for me to do?

I've gotten to meet the members of Bachman-Turner Overdrive and April Wine, who are among the people that I most wanted to meet.  I've walked where Caesar once walked and I've had one night in a luxury suite at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo.

And more importantly, I have been blessed with the greatest collection of family and friends that anyone could ever hope to have.

What is there left for me to do?

I was thinking about this as recently as a few days ago, and before that I was wondering if maybe I shouldn't be taking up some volunteer work of some kind.  I went so far as to explore one local charity, only to discover that I could not make the type of time/talent commitment that they were looking for.  I was giving some thought to something else, but then shelved that too as I returned to that one question about what's there that's left for me to do.

I'm sure that there are some things left to do while I'm still kicking.  Even before yesterday, I was soul-searching about some other things on my mind, and trying to figure out what's ahead, as if I can really do that.

Now I've been approached, and that has now entered the mix of what's on my mind.  And in the process, I am thinking about that strange sight that Moses once saw, and wondering........

......is that a burning bush that's in front of me?

Beef Ribs! Yeah!

Temperatures in Tucson have broken the triple digit barrier.  One weather forecast said this would happen by Memorial Day and another had it yesterday or maybe it was today.  Anyway, it's hot out, and I'm not hanging out in the man cave (the garage, that is) as much as I used to.

I am making some more frequent use of the BBQ grill.  Safeway keeps having beef ribs marked down, and I keep buying them.  I think this is going to be the fifth consecutive Sunday where I've had them on the grill.  Thing of it is, is that the ribs have been previously frozen, so re-freezing them really isn't an option.  So what do you do?

If you live in Tucson, you fire up the grill.

* * * * * * *

One advantage to living in southern Arizona is that you can fire up the grill at practically any time of year that you want to.  I don't view barbecuing as a summer activity, so to speak.  If I feel like firing it up on Christmas Day, then I'll fire it up on Christmas Day.

That must run in the family.  I've seen my dad fire up the grill on Christmas Day.  Hey, why not?  Who says a Christmas dinner has to be turkey?  Why can't it be ribs, or salmon, or tri-tip?

* * * * * * *

My beef ribs recipe evolved over several years, and I think it's still evolving.  There was a period of time ten years ago when I was "done" with the recipe.  I would season the things overnight with a rub recipe that I stole from the Weber website.  They called it a Kansas City rub.  I don't think it was a true Kansas City rub as that other KC rub mixes call for brown sugar and this one didn't.

However, the Weber KC rub was mighty tasty!  A friend of mine from Texas who so much liked the way I did beef ribs once offered to buy them for me if I would just only cook them.  That's a real compliment when you stop to think about it.  I think when a Texas native compliments you on your BBQ skills, that's just as good as a manager in a Japanese company telling you in a written letter that the test procedure you sent his company was "completely correct and easy to follow".  I still have that letter, and I should fish it out sometime and frame it.

* * * * * * *

Getting back to beef ribs, one change I made was in the cooking time.  I used to slow-cook them for ninety minutes but I recently changed that to two hours.  I have not noticed any change to them except that the meat is more tender.

Also, I've been using maple chips for smoking.  I very much believe in the use of smoking chips whenever I'm slow-cooking something.  In the past I've used hickory, mesquite, applewood, or a random combination of two woods.  I've soaked them in cheap red wine for two hours, and every twenty minutes while the ribs were cooking I'd chuck some of those chips onto the coals and then put the lid to my Weber kettle back on.

Then a few moments later, that smoke starts coming out of the top vent.  It smells good.  It smells really good.

It's probably not legal for something to smell that good.

* * * * * * *

I recently discovered somewhere, and I can't remember where, some maple chips.  Maple?  Hey, what the hey.  Maple's used for curing bacon.  Why not ribs?

I didn't want to mask the flavor so I used water instead of wine for the maple chips.  I was pleased with the results too.  That was "recipe" for what I was soaking the chips in, but one week later that changed too.

I had had, for over twenty years, this 1.75 liter bottle of dark Bacardi rum.  It had been taking up space for all this time, and the problem, or maybe it's not a problem, is that I wasn't drinking it.  I mean, I might have a shot of tequila if it's a premium reposado, but Bacardi is not tequila and I don't think it was intended for shots in the first place.

So, what to do?

I started soaking my chips in a mixture of water and Bacardi.  I liked the results!  The smell that the Bacardi imparted to the chips while they were soaking is probably also not legal.

* * * * * * *

That bottle of Bacardi was finally emptied last week, and was carried off for recycling shortly thereafter.

Now I don't have any rum.

Should I now pick up a bottle of Myers spiced rum?  Or should I pick up some Captain Morgan?

If I pick up the Captain Morgan, then I'm going to have to hold one of my legs at an angle  If someone sees me doing that, they might think that I'm weird.  I might be weird for all that I know, but I don't think I should go out in public and confirm that for anyone.

Well.....Todd knows about rum.  He knows how to make some killer drinks.  I think he's using some premium brand of rum that I never heard of before.  Whatever it is, it's great stuff.

My problem is, is that I'm not one to consume rum on a regular basis.  I might remember on New Year's Eve to make myself a Cuba Libre, but even then I don't always remember to make one on New Year's Eve.

I'll hold off on buying some rum for now.

I do know that I won't get a 1.75 liter bottle of it next time.

I might not live long enough to see it emptied, and I might get to the grave a little early if I do try to empty it quickly.

* * * * * * *

Getting this back to beef ribs, and to smoking chips, but not leaving the topic of spirits, did you know that Jack Daniels is in the smoking chip business too?

I have two bags of JD chips, from oak barrels that they used to age their whiskey in.  Some barrels get shipped off to Scotland where one of the distilleries uses them to age their whiskey.  (Or is that "whisky" in Scotland?).  Other barrels get chopped up and sold to BBQ enthusiasts such as myself.

If you're going to use the JD chips, you absolutely postively should never soak them in wine.  I don't think soaking them in wine is legal, and if it isn't illegal then it should be.

Soak them in water.  You don't want to mask that smoky flavor that it will impart to the meat that you're cooking.

If you don't believe me, then use these JD chips on a tri-tip sometime.  It'll be a tri-tip that you'll remmeber.

Ask Ken & Gillian and their children.

I'll bet that they remember that tri-tip I made for them a few years back when they were down here!

* * * * * * *

I forgot to mention that whenever you're slow-cooking ribs on the grill, you should have a drip pan underneath them.  This drip pan should have some cheap beer poured into it.  The beer will steam the meat, and impart some flavor to it.  Try this sometime.

DO NOT USE a premium imported beer for this!  Use some Budweiser instead.

The Budweiser folks will not be insulted by using Budweiser for cooking.  They don't care what you use Bud for.

But if you're going to use Moosehead or some microbrew for cooking, then you've either got more money than you have sense. or you probably shouldn't be allowed to play with matches even if you're going to use those matches on charcoal briquets.

* * * * * * *

I just realized that I should point out that what I've told you about cooking beef ribs assumes that you're using charcoal like I do.

I have nothing against gas grills; you can get some good steaks or burgers off of those.

But me, I'm a purist when it comes to BBQ, and it ain't BBQ if you ain't using charcoal.

* * * * * * *

Is it legal for me to use the word "ain't"?

Dang if I know.  Ain't like I'm going to care much about it anyway.

* * * * * * *

Don't forget to pet a dog or a cat!

An Old Memory, and Other Odds and Ends

Back when I was in elementary school in the 4th grade, in Titusville Florida, I had a morning teacher and I had an afternoon teacher.  The morning teacher was Mrs. Tague and the afternoon teacher was Mrs. Allen.  I don't know why it was set up that way but it was.  I can't remember what each one of them taught aside from Mrs. Allen teaching English.

All classes were in a portable building.  Oak Park Elementary School was a bit on the overcrowded side.  Titusville's population had boomed from 6000 to 29000, largely due to the space program at Cape Canaveral.  My dad worked on the Apollo program as did several other fathers, and Brevard County had to build new schools to accommodate what was then a growing population.  Oak Park Elementary School was a recent construction; Madison Junior High School was built right next to it and it too was a little on the packed side.  In Madison's first year they had to take in the sixth graders; the year before that Titusville High School was so packed that they had a morning session for one group of students and an afternoon session for another.

Anyway, for some reason I got to thinking about this one song from that time period.  Mrs. Tague taught PE (Physical Education, that is) in the afternoons and on most afternoons there was a record player going round and round and this one song that I remembered was played a lot.  My thinking was that it went "Mary Mary, quite contrary" and it had a real catchy hook to it carried by the bass line.  The girls enjoyed dancing to that one.  I would look up from my desk in Mrs. Allen's class and see that, and wonder why Mrs. Tague's afternoon class was out there having fun while I was in this portable having to do other stuff.

Well, for some reason, I got to thinking about that song a few months back.  A Google search failed to turn up who did that song.  I would think about it every now and then.....for some reason that hook must have really grabbed on to me.

While driving back from Todd's house this morning (I went up there yesterday and stayed the night) I got to thinking about that song again.  Who could that have been by?  I got to thinking it must have been done by the Monkees.  They were really big on TV back then, it seemed as if all my classmates watched that, while me, my favorite TV show was "The Invaders".

Anyway, once I got back home, I decided to do a YouTube search on that.  First I brought up Michael Nesmith's "Cruisin'"......that one had a catchy hook to it too.  A search of Wickedpedia (can't resist calling it that sometimes!) brought up that Mr. Nesmith wrote some songs for the Monkees in an effort to be taken seriously as artists.  And then I tried a YouTube search on that "Mary" song.

For the first time since 1968, I listened to it!  Another childhood memory!  This time around, I learned how the memory distorts things after a few decades.  I thought that bass line was really heavy, but it wasn't.  Also, the song didn't say "Mary Mary, quite contrary".  It instead said "Mary Mary, where you goin' to?".  As I was listening to it for the first time in 40+ years, I'm thinking, is one of those verses going to say "quite contrary"?

Nope.  That never came up.

I also seemed to remember that the music would stop during that song, and then start up again.  It didn't do that either.  OK, if I had been the record producer back then I might have had the band do it that way, but that's not how it happened.  I always thought it would be neat to be a record producer and I think being a record producer would be a better job than being an engineer, but those weren't the cards that I drew.

But getting back to that song, I've found myself re-listening to it some more.  It apparently wasn't the best known song by the Monkees; two more got way ahead of that one in terms of public recognition.  Still, I think it's a good song, very 60ish, and I still like that hook!

The link below has this song.  If you wish to listen to it, click on hit, but if you want to come  back to this blog you'll have to hit the "back" button unless you have a creative way of opening up a new tab or a window.

Mary, Mary

* * * * * * *

I wanted to post last weekend about Harold Camping's rapture prediction.  No, I didn't think for one minute that there would be a rapture, though I couldn't resist jokingly posting a comment on one forum that "Harold Camping seems to have disappeared".

This isn't the first time that Dr. Camping has made a rapture prediction.  Back in 1994, he said it would happen that year, and when it didn't he became aware of a "math error" that he had made.  When it didn't happen last weekend, I read conflicting posts on what he had to say about it not happening, but my understanding is that Judgement Day is now on for the 21st of October.

Anyway, what I would have said is that Harold Camping, for as many years as he's studied the Bible, should know better about making these kinds of predictions.  Christ himself told us that He didn't know, and neither did the angels of heaven.  So what can Harold Camping know that Christ can't?

* * * * * * *

Yep, I drove up to see Todd, Annette and Amber yesterday.  It was a good visit as always, and Annette continues to display her talented culinary skills.  As long as I've known Annette I've known her to be a great cook, in addition to being intelligent.

This morning we were chatting on the back patio.  She told me that I've changed, and for the better.  That was an interesting comment, and I think she's right that I changed.  For the better?  I would hope so.

I didn't ask her just how recent this change was, but it must have been over the past year and a half.  I have noticed that I don't get as stressed out about traffic and left lane hogs like I used to.  At least, I haven't recently opined to anyone that left lane hogs should be beaten as I've been known to do in the past.

* * * * * * *

I'm going to call it a post right now.  I really thought I was going to write more but I feel the urge to take care of a few other things.  I'm going to have to fire up the BBQ grill before too long; beef ribs were prepped a few hours ago and I'm going to give these guys two hours of cooking time.

Don't forget to pet a dog or a cat.

Good News, for a Change

Like a lot of people today, I woke up this morning to learn that Osama bin Laden is no longer with us.  He was taken out of commission by the Navy Seals, in a mission that was greenlighted by the White House.  Although I am no fan in any way of the current White House occupant, I will give him kudos on this one and I hope that it's an indication that he will approve similar missions in the future as the need arises.

Kudos also go to the Navy Seals for a job well done.  I haven't had much of a chance to digest all of the information that's out there, and I'm sure that more information will emerge, but I am really grateful that we have these kind of people on our side.

I am going to say this:  we, as a nation, need to be prepared to fight terrorism as long as we are a nation.  We have two choices.  We either fight terrorism until the world comes to an end, or we surrender.  Surrender is not an option.  Also, relaxing the fight against terrorism is not an option either.  It was this way before yesterday so the killing of bin Laden doesn't really change anything as far as the war on terrorism goes.  We fight this war one day at a time.  We keep our guard up one day at a time.  We don't consider the war "won".  We instead resolve each and every day to never give up our fight for our freedom.

* * * * * * *

Some other good news to report.

I came in to work one week ago to learn that I was being assigned to a new business effort.  This will continue for several weeks, provided that this new effort is funded by upper management.  I am also challenged with keeping a new boss happy and the feedback I've gotten from him so far is very encouraging.

The project itself has its own unique set of challenges, but to be honest, I actually welcome these kinds of challenges.    I'm learning quite a bit and I've had to use some brain cells to figure out a new type of system, that is, new to me, and what really makes it tick.

I'm having fun.

I really am.

* * * * * * *

Spring has arrived in southern Arizona, and I'm seeing a lot of cacti in bloom.....that is, the cacti that are out in the desert.  The only cacti in my yard that has bloomed are the prickly pear in the back yard, which have reliably sprouted new pads each spring.  The prickly pear that's on the other side of my back wall not only sprouts new pads but also blesses us with the appearance of yellow flowers.  That prickly pear is much more mature.  I don't know how old a prickly pear has to be before it blooms with flowers, but I can tell you that a saguaro won't bloom until it's about fifty years of age.

* * * * * * *

I have finished reading what a lot of people call the "Second Foundation Trilogy".  That's the three novels written about the Foundation that Isaac Asimov first wrote about.  I didn't think very much of Foundation's Fear by Gregory Benford, but Foundation's Chaos and Foundation's Triumph by Greg Bear and David Brin, respectively, were both good reads.  Both fill in a lot of backstory with the latter doing an excellent job of tying in not only the Galactic Empire series of novels by Asimov, but also the "Caliban Trilogy" authored by Roger MacBride Allen.

One minor criticism of Foundation's Triumph:  it pre-supposes that you've already read the original Foundation trilogy as that premonitions of the events covered by them are introduced.  I'm not sure that the author should have done this, but with the original Foundation trilogy having been in print for nearly forty years it's not like there are a lot of readers who will read the second trilogy ahead of the first.

* * * * * * *

That's going to be it for now.

Don't forget to pet a dog or a cat.

Where Are We Going, And Why Are We in This Handbasket?

One of the more pressing challenges these days to is be reading the news headlines on a daily basis and to not feel depressed.  As I write this, the Drudge Report is saying that oil went up 2% today.  A check of the precious metals markets shows gold at a record high and silver is over $40 an ounce for the first time since 1980.  Higher energy prices translates to higher food costs, and in an economy where no one is getting a pay raise of any significance (if they get one at all) I can sense that a lot of people are feeling squeezed right now.

I have one close friend who is thinking about pulling funds out of his 401K and paying off his house.  He knows he'll be penalized for an early withdrawal but his thinking is that the money that's in his 401K right now will not be worth anything when he retires and so he may as well spend it while he can and not have to worry about a house payment.  I have to add that there seems to be some rationale to that thinking; if my house were paid off all I'd have to worry about is the property tax and medical.  However, that of course does not mitigate any concerns about inflation, and the question I wonder about the most as far as inflation goes is, are we headed for a Zimbabwe type of situation?

There are some cold harsh realities to contend with.  The entire global economy, when you stop to think about it, is nothing but a big giant numbers game.  That's all it is.  I don't know of anyone who is being paid in gold and silver, which at one time functioned as money.  For several years of our nation's existence the dollar was pegged to gold and the rate was $20.67 per ounce.  FDR changed that in the 1930s with a devaluation that resulted in $35 per ounce, and private citizens were no longer allowed to own gold.  I realize that there are some who will make the argument that this was a necessary step in a series of steps to save the economy, but I'm not sure that this really did anything but to help get us in the mess we are in today.  The instant creation of more dollars can give the illusion of a stronger economy, but if the dollars aren't worth as much as they used to be then all you've done is change the numbers.

Still not convinced it's a numbers game?  Then ponder this.

In 1972 the Dow Jones Industrial Average broke the 1000 barrier for the first time in history.  I remember that day; I was in junior high school and I remember it being the lead news story for that day.  My recollection is that the economists and politicians were happy about that.....I mean that barrier had been broken, and that meant that things were good, right?

Well what do you think the sense would be right now if the Dow was at 1000?  It's at 12380 as I write this.  The economists aren't going to like it if it's below 10000, which is ten times the amount of the 1972 barrier.  We have this number and we want it to go up.  It makes us all feel good and rich and we think we'll be on Easy Street when we retire.  We cheer when the 10000 barrier is broken going up, and get upset when it is breached going down.  Hello?  That wealth was on paper all the time in the first place.  It's an illusion.

The problem with the illusion is, is that once it's recognized for what it was, panic and chaos can set in.  The dollar is accepted as payment because it is legal tender and the most convenient medium of exchange in a transaction.  It is worth something as long as the buyer and seller think it's worth something, and how much commodity it can purchase is again driven by the perception of how much that commodity is worth.  With record deficits and the debt ceiling about to be hit again, and a government that's promised everything to everybody without having figured out how to pay for it, the perception on the world financial markets is that the dollar is deteriorating into Monopoly Money, when it's been Monopoly Money since it was decoupled from gold.

How much longer can the illusion go unrecognized?

I don't know.  The collapse of the economy has been predicted by the doom-and-gloomers for decades now.    I'm sure that when President Nixon severed the link between the dollar and gold, that set off a lot of Chicken Littles and created some survivalists.

One thing I have observed.

If there's a sense of optimism, then the economy picks up, people go back to work, and life goes on.  I don't sense a whole lot of optimism out there and that has me concerned about the future.  My own job situation is not resolved and I'm now talking to hiring managers in Colorado where I'm told there is some work in my field.  You're not going to see me running out to a car dealer anytime soon to buy a new truck.

Even if we do regain optimism, some other harsh realities have to be dealt with.  We can't keep printing money like we have been.  The government has to stop its drunken spending spree.  We can't provide state of the art health care to everyone who wants it.  We can't have 12 million illegal aliens here straining the fiscal infrastructure.  We can't be fighting three wars at once.

The entitlement mentality that many of our politicians have foisted upon us can not be sustained for very much longer.

"Comin' Right Down on Top of Me"

This was not intentional, but for the second consecutive time a title of an April Wine song seems to be the most fitting way to describe what's going on.

The job situation remains unresolved, and I don't see it getting any better.  I interviewed for a position where my boss and employer would be based back east, but I would be resident in Tucson and doing one of the things I love to do most:  I'd be back into doing what I call "circuit card engineering".  I got to do some of that on two occasions in my career, and the interviewer kept remarking about how he wish he'd known about me last January.

I don't know if I'm going to be hired or not.  As a person of faith, I have repeatedly prayed that I would get this position.  It would solve a multitude of problems, and would allow me to continue living in Tucson.

* * * * * * *

I am not an expert in Christianity to the extent to where I would qualify for the lay ministry.  What I have learned is that there are varying beliefs about some doctrinal matters.  An example is whether or not there is a rapture, or how one is converted.  Does one decide on his own, or has that decision been made by God?

What I do know is that if you are in the faith, you are not exempt from life's trials and tribulations.  Christ Himself told us that.  I don't have the location memorized, but there is a Bible verse where He said, "in this life you will have troubles".  Folks, I've been having them for the past few months, going all the way back to last summer where the position in life that I was so grateful for started crumbling.  I lost Lynette, lost two assignments at work, am in one now that I am just squeaking by on, and rumors of layoffs are simply too big to ignore.  I look back and see that a blessed life has gotten away from me.  If I get out a balance sheet of what has happened, I'd be in the red.  Lynette, the wreck, the job.

* * * * * * *

I remember listening to a sermon on shortwave radio back in 1980.  I was trying to tune in some Pacific island, where Adventist World Radio had a shortwave station and I wanted to be able to claim that I had heard a new country.  If memory is serving me correctly, it was their station in the Seychelles Islands.  That meant being up at 2:00 AM, or maybe at 5:00 AM....I can't remember which.  The hobbies I choose have a way of making me do things that no normal person would do, and there were several occasions when I got up early so that I could bag some station in Malaysia or Indonesia or some such similar location.

Anyway, AWR had this pastor preaching the need for repentance.  Fine, I can agree with that teaching.  But he said some other things.  That if you came to Jesus, you would be healed of infirmities.  Your life would be blessed.  You wouldn't be sick, you'd be well off economically, and that God would reward you.

In those days, I had my belief in God, but I wasn't walking with the Lord.  I was bound and determined to work out my problems on my own.  So that's what I did.  In 1980 no one was looking out for me except for me.  I enjoyed that arrangement, but as the fall approached, there were cracks in that big giant wall of resolve that I had that were starting to form.

But to get back to what that preacher said, I didn't believe then, nor do I believe now, that coming to repentance is going to solve all of your financial problems or your medical problems.  If that were the case, wouldn't people be going to church instead of standing in the welfare line or trying to make it on their own?

* * * * * * *

My coming to repentance happened one evening in January 1981.  I probably ought to tell that story sometime but now is not going to be the time.  Suffice it say that my method wasn't working out for me.  Sure, I was trying to better myself, and I was reaching for some mighty high dreams.  I wanted badly to be an electrical engineer.  I wanted that degree.  The odds of getting it were not in my favor, but in that month there were some other things going on.

My search for the answers was not found in the Philosophy class that I took in the fall of 1980.  I took that class to fulfill a requirement, but more importantly, I was looking for some answers and that class, I figured, was a way of killing two birds with one stone.  I would fulfill a graduation requirement in some sort of other studies and I would get some answers.

I didn't get the answers I was looking for.  What I got instead was a different answer.  All of sudden, the definition of "justice" was no longer relevant.  It didn't mean squat....at least not to me.  I found something more important, and I realized that I needed to stop fighting God and to instead submit.

* * * * * * *

Looking back, my friends Mark and Hal were also on some sort of quest.  Mark wasn't public about his but I know that he was pursuing some answers due to some changes that he had made as far as his church attendance went.  He made his changes one year later.

Hal was also looking for answers.  I remember trying to convince him that I had found the answer.  I told him that he needed to repent and to turn to God, to have faith in God.

Hal believed in God, although he had started out as an agnostic.  He had come to reason that the Universe was constructed by a God, and that it was a God who had cared.  This God displayed a great amount of handiwork in the construction of the Universe, and so it reasoned that God would have wanted to communicate with humanity somehow to let us know that He was there and that He cared for us.

A lot of people will believe in that.  Ask the Freemasons.  They will tell you that there is a God, and they refer to Him as "the Great Architect of the Universe".

Some other people will tell you there is a God.  Ask any Muslim.  Ask a practicing Jew.  Ask any Mormon or any Jehovah's Witness.

They will tell you that there is a God.

The disagreements, I think, begin where we try to answer the question of how God reveals Himself to us, and just who exactly Jesus Christ is/was.

* * * * * * *

I was not able to convince Hal that I had the answers.  (I know, I seem to be writing a lot about Hal lately, but to be honest I don't tend to think of him until I start reminiscing about those times back in San Jose).  Hal felt that he could make his decision after he died, about whether or not he was going to accept God's choice of going to heaven, or going to hell.

Within four months Hal died due to accidental causes.  That was my first "trial" as a Christian.  I had lost a good friend, but I would have taken that much much harder if I had not told Hal that I found the answer.

Hal rejected my answer, and if he had somehow came to accept it in his final weekend on earth, I have no way of knowing.  

I am at peace with having made the effort to tell Hal what I had found.

I cringe when I think of how I would have felt if I hadn't.

* * * * * * *

I have had other trials since then.  There were some adverse conditions on the job front in the 1994 timeframe.  I struggled with depression.  No, not with the clinical kind or anything like that, but when you see 50% of the workforce laid off gradually over a five year period and you're still left, you're pretty demoralized.

It's hard going to work.  You don't care anymore.  And the quality of work suffers.

* * * * * * *

OK, there's a trial going on right now.

I have interviewed for a job that I'm an obvious match for.  There is no one who they ever interviewed for that job that is better qualified.  They did hire someone in January, and that person is still coming to speed.

For me, there wouldn't be much of a learning curve.  I would have to go back east to get trained on how to operate an automated test station.  I've already been to that factory where that testing is going on.  In that capacity, I was specifying what needed to be tested on four circuit cards that we were buying from them.   I learned about the limitations of their test equipment, and I also learned how to write test requirements that were not as open to ambiguity as they otherwise would have been.

If I get this job, I jump over to their side of the fence, keep my residence in Tucson, and then work with the people here on this side of the fence to help smooth out things.

* * * * * * *

I have not heard anything.  I may not get the job.  I may instead be walked out the door in a matter of days, and thus the nature of this blog post, a mentioning of the trial that's going on right now.

This would present me with the prospect of being unemployed for several months.  The economy is down right now, and while we have turmoil in Japan and Libya our President is instead partying in Rio and more interested in college basketball picks than he is in providing leadership.  What that pastor said on the radio back in 1980 is not going to come true, that if I come to repentance, that things will start working out.  That's fine, I didn't believe him then, and I don't believe him now.

Repentance does not guarantee you an exemption of trials and hard times.  It does not.

I do believe though that God will give you strength if you ask Him to.

I've been asking for plenty of strength lately.

I'm growing weary of having to ask for that strength.

I keep wanting to ask "why?"

I may never be wise enough to know the answer.  I may not care about the answer once the good times return.

All I know is that when it rains, all of us will get wet regardless of what we believe.  And when the sun shines, it shines for all of us.

Perhaps we're meant to find the joy in both rain and sunshine.

I don't think it's meant to be easy, but that's likely how we grow.

* * * * * * *

Yes, it's coming right down on top of me.  Just like in the song.  It's not the first time it's come down on top of me, and I don't think it will be the last.

The song itself does not attempt to answer the question why.  It instead is a statement of fact, and the singer pleads "won't someone set me free?"

It's not a depressing song, but I think that it is one that everyone gets to identify with at various times in life.

* * * * * * *

I have stated on a previous occasion that this blog was not meant to be a dialog on my personal problems.  I really don't like making entries of this nature.

But what this blog is, is a means for me to vent on those occasions where I need to vent, and I'm doing some of that right now.

If you are someone who prays, please remember me in your prayers.

And if you are not that type of person, I don't honestly know what to say.  I guess all I can tell you is that I did not come to repentance to be blessed with a smooth life here on earth.

I guess instead, all I can tell you is that it is a source of strength for me.

* * * * * * *

If you wish to listen to the song, click on the link below, where it says "LINK".  You'll have to hit the back button if you want to come back to this blog.

LINK

* * * * * * *

Don't forget to pet a dog or a cat.  My cats, I think, have been good for my mental health.

"The Whole World's Goin' Crazy"

Today's blog post title is also the title of a song and an album that April Wine released in 1976.  That album, I think, is one of their best, and the song itself is a whimsical light hearted commentary.  "The whole world's goin' crazy........hey baby would you like to go crazy with me?"

As I write this posting this evening, it seems as if things are going crazy both at the personal level and on the world stage.

* * * * * * *

I don't want to get into what's going on at work.  All I will say is that the future is very uncertain.  Changing job conditions may or may not be forcing me into a relocation somewhere down the road.  I don't know what's going to happen.  It's too early to tell.  But I've had to devote a lot of mental energy lately to wondering about some changes that could (or could not) be happening for me.

* * * * * * *

Over in Egypt we recently saw mass demonstrations force longtime president Hosni Mubarak from power.  Over in Libya, we see Moammar Khadafy (or however that's spelled) on the brink of being forced from office.  There is unrest in Bahrain and in Yemen, and over in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia the royal family is very concerned about things right now.

I'm no fan, of course of Khadafy.  There is concern though about his eventual successor.  My best guess is that once Moammar is gone, there will be a lot of celebrating in Tripoli, but I think we'll also see a lot of turmoil as those near the top fight for "King of the Mountain".  The new guy may not be the improvement that we hope he is.

This could have serious repercussions on the economy.  For good or bad, oil is the lifeblood of the world economy, and rising oil prices are being seen here at the gas pumps and also where you are.  The cost of energy gets folded into the prices of all commodities as that petroleum is used to get that food to your supermarket.  And in an economy where anyone who is not a CEO gets a 2% pay raise (if they get one at all), it seems as if the vise that's squeezing you is going to be squeezing you a bit more this year.

At the White House, I'm reading where the President is partying up a storm about celebrating Motown, while Detroit is closing half of its public schools.  The White House is also issuing pronouncements that they are not going to defend or uphold legislation that they don't like.

Seems as if the whole world is going crazy.

* * * * * * * 

In Wisconsin we have an interesting legislative battle going on.  The new governor and the new legislature, all controlled by Republicans, is trying to get some budget legislation that will be taking aim at the public sector unions.  It has led to several of their Democrat senators fleeing the state.  Democrat legislators have also fled Indiana, and I expect that we'll see a similar occurrence in Ohio.

In a sick way, this is amusing.  The Democrats for the past few years have enjoyed labelling the Republicans as the party of "No".   As these Democrats flee their job duties, I can't help but ask, who's the party of "No" now?

Don't get me wrong.  I favor the currrent filibuster rules in the U.S. Senate.  And if a bunch of Democrat state legislators want to flee their state (and the people they represent), let them.  Really.....I'm all for it.

I will never stand in the way of legislators or a party that wishes to make themselves look stupid.  The more they do that, the greater the chances of them being remembered at the ballot box.

And if you don't mind, I'm going to remind you that I'm a registered independent and I have issues with both Republicans and Democrats.  My own view is that the established leaders of both parties need to be run out of town on a rail, so that some average Joes from the real world can rise up and take over, and start making some fixes.

* * * * * * *

If in the event you happen to be someone who prays, I'm going to ask that you remember the following people in your prayers:

1.  Robin W of Tennessee, who has some medical issues that I can't disclose, nor could I since I don't know what they are.  She's been an angel of mercy to a great many people, incluing me.  It's time for those of us she's prayed for to return the favor.

2.  Karin F of Colorado, another angel of mercy, who has been a big help in encouraging me thru the latest series of setbacks that I've had lately.  She's been trying to find some gainful employment in her field for over a year now, and her good spirits never cease to amaze me.  Please pray for her.

3.  Marge M and Karen M of Tucson.  Marge is the mother of Karen, and Marge's son who is in another state is undergoing some difficulties that I won't make public here.  This has to be a strain on both of them, and I ask that you remember them.

* * * * * * *

Yep, I think it's really easy to say these days, that the whole world is going crazy.

But someone else also said, centuries ago, that "there is nothing new under the sun".

Don't forget to pet a dog or a cat.