Monday, April 28, 2008

Happy Birthday .....To Me!

Yeah, right.

It would be great to receive a new SmartCar as a present but I was just sitting in one a former co-worker had just bought.

I think my Saturn Ion and I are destined to spend a few more years together.

But I did learn this birthday year you can receive a Presidential candidate card! Well, not exactly FROM a party leader, but one with his (or her) picture on the front.

My brother handed me this card Sunday and - quite frankly - I'm surprised he didn't get me the other one featuring the candidate closer to my age.

Labels: , , , ,

Friday, April 25, 2008

What's That Up In The Sky???

So I was shopping for a few large items at Sam's Club this afternoon (Sam's doesn't sell small packages of anything) and the place kept shaking with the roar of jets flying over.

Flying really low. Really loud.

Oh yeah, probably the Thunderbirds practicing for the big Air Show on Saturday.

When I pushed my cart out the door, suddenly zooming from my left, right in front of me, the whole flock roared past at about 1,000 miles per hour. They were clustered in a tight formation VERY close together. I think I saw faces in the cockpits. Yikes. That's impressive.


Hung around for a bit but they didn't come back as a group over the Sam's lot. I'm sure they were saving that for a final practice pass low over the air base.

I drove away carefully because shoppers were staring upward, weaving and wandering all around, totally ignoring cars moving slowly past them at .000000001 mach speed.

Labels: , , ,

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

A Sign Of The Times....

This sign is for sale at an arts & crafts store on Rivers Avenue in North Charleston. It caught my eye as I passed by a display yesterday.

It's heavy duty, industrial grade, made of metal and is coated to protect the finish so it can be displayed outside.

Maybe posted outside on the front of a house in nearby Hanahan. Or as a notice on a residence over in Mt. Pleasant.

This little sign could have saved the police about 10 months of VERY intensive investigation.

Labels: , , , , , ,

Monday, April 07, 2008

Southwest Corner item...

Another reason it was fun to be a staff photographer in the 1960s at San Diego's daily newspaper was the opportunity to write and appear in print.

I was finishing up at the University of San Diego, was married, had two kids and working full time as a photographer but was trying out my English major and started submitting short stories to the San Diego Union that appeared opposite the editorials page, in the lower left hand corner.

It was called the SW corner.

The other way to get your name in the paper was through Neil Morgan, a popular Evening Tribune columnist. He enjoyed hearing about offbeat events and happenings and I popped up in his column fairly often.

My wife and I went through a downtown agency to find us a Nanny and, since most came from small towns in Mexico, we worked very, very hard at improving our Spanish. In a few weeks, we were called to come pick up our new helper.

Moira Campbell was fresh from Scotland and spoke more precise English that either of us did. Neil loved it.

(Click on the SW corner story to make it larger).

Labels: , , , , , , ,