I know, it was unrealistic to think I would see another one, a week later, with different weather conditions, but ti was still cool to see one last week.

I’ve got a Saturday at the toy store – most Saturday mornings are filled with people coming in for birthday party gifts (usually on their way to the party, because we wrap, which saves them a ton of time and frustration – if the gift is wrapped and sitting at home, some children have been known to unwrap it themselves … ) an then the afternoons are fairly quiet. Afternoons are for recovering the store and learning new things – like reading another book on the shelf, or playing a game so we can let customers know how totally cool the game really is.

Yeah, I’ve had harder jobs – but none quite so fun, rewarding, and full of learning. I think I’m going to like this career.

Chat ya later…

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, don’t buy or breed cats or dogs while homeless pets die (spay, neuter & adopt a pet, one by one, until there are none), Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far away, I used to drive a truck. It was after the era of the Good Buddies, but before so much government regulations you have to have a permit from each state you are thinking about driving through for the next week in order to sneeze. The time when log books were paper and as truthful as a campaign speech.

One fine January morning, having driven all night, I pulled into a truck stop, fueled the truck, grabbed some grub, and jumped back into the seat. As I was pulling back onto the interstate in Kentucky, headed west, the news broke over the radio and the CB – Shuttle Challenger had exploded after launch; all were feared lost.

I was a big fan of the space program. Had been ever since we landed on the moon in ’72, I think – and I didn’t get in trouble for having my little AM radio turned on, listening to the news, in class, while the landing was happening. The teacher had a mixed look on her face – “why you little – what a wonderful learning experience” and she held the radio high so everyone could hear the news. Now that I mention it, I don’t recall seeing that radio after that …

ANYway – out on the road, dead silence on the CB (which was a minor miracle in and of itself), then something happened that probably hasn’t happened freely since – the trucks started forming a procession at the posted speed limit. Wherever they were headed, they would start grouping up and rolling along, lights and flashers on, and talking back and forth about what had happened. Most of us had a crush on Christa – that cute teacher chick that was going to ride to the outer reaches of earth. All of the astronauts were mentioned, talked about, their careers mulled over. Truckers, having a lot of time, tend to be more informed than most people would like to admit. We have hours and hours in which to turn over every detail of a news item, and dissection of the news was a pastime for most. Sports stats? Baby steps. Knowing who is sitting in what capacity in the government, and their decisions? No problem. Following the careers of major players in the space program? Hobby!

As the day turned into evening again, the procession I was in had grown to well over three thousand trucks, according to the news van driving alongside and talking to us on the CB. Now and then trucks would pull off to get fuel, but then would drop back into line in the same procession, even after taking the 45 minutes to an hour to get fueled, paid, fed, and back up to speed. As we approached certain states known for their overzealous application of traffic laws on trucks, we would notice a sudden lack of police anywhere. I think they were afraid of us. The procession kept going, a huge blob of trucks stretching out through several states – and since I”m talking western states (where the counties are bigger than the eastern states) you know I”m talking about a lot of trucks. The second evening, the head of the procession was approaching California. Normally, midweek like this, the scales would have been open and weighing everything that looked like a commercial vehicle – but again, no scales were open, and the only sign of law enforcement were the tail lights of the cruisers as they departed the interstates.

No, we didn’t “accomplish” anything – except to honor those who lost their lives that day, twenty five years ago. And, it seems we scared the punk out of quite a few cops, too. None of them wanted to mess with that many trucks all at once.

Twenty five years. Man, I’m feeling old today.

Chat ya later…

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, don’t buy or breed cats or dogs while homeless pets die (spay, neuter & adopt a pet, one by one, until there are none), Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

Living here in the Valley of the Sun, having grown up in other parts of the United States (where they have four seasons instead of two), there are times when I miss weather related things. For instance, the turning of the leaves in the fall. Around here, even the “deciduous” trees hang on to their leaves most of the year. My two Chinese Elms, in the back yard, do lose their leaves, but if I happen to be doing something else at the time (like, for instance, blinking), I miss the whole changecolordrop series.

I miss waking up to the sound of silence that accompanies a heavy overnight snowfall. The whole world is blanketed in a muffling cover of white, and the only sound is of the furnace kicking on, or, in rougher times, the sound of someone slamming the woodstove shut after throwing another log on the fire.

( side memory – early eighties, Flagstaff, winter, the small cabin the family was renting at the time, home on a winter weekend pass from Pendleton, dressed for cold weather, standing around the ‘stove, lighting the first cigarette of the day off the top of the stove, the smell of pine sap burning and cigarette smoke mingling in the cold air not two feet away from the source of the “heat” …)

Back to missing the snow – this morning, here in my corner of the Valley, it is a “brisk” 46 degrees outside. The news tells me that the East Coast is, again, being slammed by more Global Warming. I miss the thought of snow, sure – but I don’t miss the logistics – keeping the vehicle operational through a dipstick heater, starting the vehicle five minutes before needing to leave so it gets used to working in the cold and so you have time to scrape the night’s frozen remnants off your windshield, dealing with drivers who don’t know how to drive in the snow (hint: having a four wheel drive vehicle does NOT give you immunity from the laws of physics or the right of way), and, of course, the whole shoveling part. There were days when I just said the heck with it and drove the snowmobile to work.

But I sure miss the thought of having snow right outside the door.

Chat ya later…

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, don’t buy or breed cats or dogs while homeless pets die (spay, neuter & adopt a pet, one by one, until there are none), Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

You know your day can’t do anything but get better after you sit through 35 red lights when there are only 29 traffic lights on your route to work.

Ahhhhh …. Wednesday.

I am so looking forward to spending time with family and friends this evening, “exercising” our first amendment right to “freely gather” on “private property” and “worship God” in our “chosen way”.

Side note to the City of Phoenix: This is a private party. You are not invited.

Side note to my regular readers: the quote marks really drive a certain city prosecutor nuts, trying to figure out what i meant by the words in quotes. he’s easily confused that way.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, there are some blackberries calling out to be placed lovingly on top of some cereal and milk, to be consumed with enjoyment. Certain people in my family frown on the consumption of blackberries with cream and sugar, the way God intended them to be consumed, and these same certain members of my family cite concernes about my longevity and my waistline. I see their point, but still …

Chat ya later…

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, don’t buy or breed cats or dogs while homeless pets die (spay, neuter & adopt a pet, one by one, until there are none), Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!