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)

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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".

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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!

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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!