My First Mini-Trip In My New Ride. A Pleasant Day, But Also An Hour Or So When I Was Quite Emotional (for lack of a better word).

Had no idea where I was going when I left home. Decided to head for Suffolk and take Highway 58. It was a tad warm, the temperature in the mid-high 80s.

Tons of traffic (Virginia Beach, Virginia...Saturday). Folks who don't live here coming here and many of us who live here gettin' outta Dodge.

I often go out 58 and then go north on 460 toward Waverly and Wakefield. Today, I went past the 460 turnoff and headed north on a highway the number of which I do not remember.

Then back on 58 and went further west and hopped off on another road headed north.

I then saw a sign: Albert G. Horton, Jr., Memorial Veterans Cemetery, Suffolk, Virginia.

I had never heard of this cemetery and frankly had no preconceived idea about what I would find. Though for some reason, I imagined it would be small and possibly not well-cared for.

I was surely wrong on both accounts. When I made the turn on the street that paralleled the cemetery I was amazed at the number of grave markers. Being a military cemetery they were all the same size and there was line after line of them. It was about three o'clock and I was the only one visiting.

I guess I was just a little overcome with the number of tombstones. I sat on a bench for twenty minutes or so. Hmmm.... Then walked around and took a few photos. I guess I was there at least an hour.

Though, at least intellectually, most of us know we can't reach out to the dead, we often place items at the grave. That's why I took this photo of the flag. I tried to imagine how the person who placed it must of felt.

Many of us get great comfort when we visit where our loved ones are buried.

After I left the cemetery, I had a great late-lunch at Ruby Tuesdays. Perfectly grilled chicken with an interesting and spicy BBQ sauce, baked potato, and steamed broccoli. To add to my dining experience the waitress was a delightful young lady who kept my iced tea topped-up.

All in all a good day. And, yes, I'm glad I visited the cemetery. I think we need to do that from time-to-time. To think about all of the service men and women who were killed in our wars. And, to try to imagine how their friends and loved-ones felt when they learned they had died.

No buyer's remorse (yet). Filled the tank after 135 miles of 50/50...yippee, 33 MPG. My WRX was getting 16/18.

PLEASE NOTE: I just couldn't get these photos aligned properly. I thought it better to have them than not.

Wow, Ain't This Pope Something?

My mom always told me to never make fun of how someone looks. She was right about that as she was about most things. But, dang, this pope...well, if I believed in Demonic possession, that is surely how he looks. Yeah, maybe he could make use of one of his exorcists. I write 55-word stories. And, the story below is exactly 55 words. It is amazing and truly sad that people throw-in with this guy and the Catholic church. Yes, amazing. Look how this guy is decked-out. No telling what it cost the faithful. And, dang is it tacky. Enough of this. My story tells it all.

The Pope Just Returned From Africa

“Excellency, how was your trip?”
“Nice seeing all of my followers, good Catholics.”
 “Sure you know there are reports about the country being devastated by AIDS.”
“Yes, sadly I saw that. Of course, I offered prayers.”
“Condoms?”
“Goes against everything the Church believes.”
“Many will die.”
“Yes, but they’ll enter heaven with a pure soul.”

Yes, I Have a New Car!

Yes, I know, the blue car was just a little over a year old and had less than 4,000 miles. That's 4,000! Obviously, the traveling part of  Blue Highways of Virginia hasn't panned out so far. I hope that by this time next year I will have driven more than 4,000 miles. Time will tell. I'll give this project another chance until it's tossed on the scrap heap of my failed adventures and projects.

Though I may well add more later. Here's the shortened version. I got an OK Internet price from Steve Montgomery. I then asked Steve how much trade-in I would get for the blue car. I described the car and said, No, I don't want to bring it by. 

Yes, mine is orange and I'm sure my life will now be so much better! Photo courtesy Subaru.

Steve turned me over to Chris Brennan. Chris, after receiving the VIN for the blue car immediately made me an offer. It was a heck of an offer. I got to the dealership within an hour or so, Chris drove my car around the lot and said that he would give me what he quoted. Dang! I drove one of their cars a few miles. There was an orange one arriving within a couple days and that's the one I drove away with today.

If you want a Subaru and are reasonably close to RK Subaru in Virginia Beach, take a look at their Website and send Steve a note and tell him what you're interested in. I need to mention that Subaru, as a company, has had huge increases in their sales for several years and RK (or any dealer, for that matter) may well not have exactly what you want in stock. So, keep that in mind. You might have to wait a few days. This sort of sums up my sales experience with RK. Oh, don't want to leave out Jarrett Lawfer. Yes, he's the young man who is the F&I guy who you have to see. He's the person who goes over all the paper work and such. Hey, he might even ask you if want an extended warranty or something. Anyway, he was delightful and surely no hassle and I thoroughly enjoyed spending a few minutes with him.

EDIT: If you buy a car from RK, tell them you want Jarret to process your "paper work."

I Want to be Your Friend....Sure!

I just read on CNN that a man is going to visit his 700-plus friends. Yes, his Facebook friends.
I joined Facebook, I believe May 22nd, a couple of years ago. I learned that someone was soliciting cartoons of Mohammed. Yep, that Mohammed. As I best remember, this was in protest of all of the violent events that happened after a cartoon was published in a Danish (I think) newspaper.

Well, I had to join in-order to see the cartoons, and, yes, I did join.

Pretty soon, as if by magic I'm getting emails and such saying so-and-so wants to be my friend.

No, I'm not naive enough to think they really want to be my friend. You know, the old saying, A friend is someone who will help you move. A "real friend" is someone who will help you bury the bodies. Yes, I knew they didn't want to be that kind of friend.

I don't remember clicking on anything that would make someone my friend; however, the next thing is my Facebook place is being bombarded with photos, notes, and requests to be friends. And, then, I think they started sending out requests to be friends of friends of friends. Dang! Anyway, I am no longer a Facebook kind of guy; in fact, I don't guess that I ever was. I was able to disengage or something, though it didn't seem that I had actually quit. You know, get rid of the site as if I'd never been there. Dang, I think once you sign up they have you forever. Sort of the digital equivalent of making a pact with the Devil.

BTW, the pup you see in the snap is not my friend. In fact, she's an albatross in a dog costume. I often say, the proof that there is a god is this dog. Yep, she's a triflin'- ass mutt that god sent to aggravate me. Of course, she does have her moments when she's pretty nice and tries to be a good pal. Though, admittedly, they are infrequent.

Edit: BTW, I'm the one with the glasses.
                                                                                                             

Yes, Another Go Nowhere Adventure!

Yes, it's amazing. Time flies whether you're having fun or not. This adventure started early 2011 and was short-lived. This video will sort of set the stage, if you will, for my brief adventure with my Casita travel trailer. I drove to Texas and picked-up the trailer from the manufacturer.

Unforgettably, my timing was poor. The first night I spent in the trailer (first time in any trailer) it was well below 20 degrees. And, then the ice storm hit. And, my 28 day adventure began.

                                                              

If you're interested, I have 28 videos about my trip.

Here's a link to the Casita factory. They make really cool trailers. Though this is obviously a small trailer, there is an amazing amount of storage. There are more than a few people who are living in these trailers full-time. And, some with a dog or two. They are light weight, tow easily, and the exterior is basically maintenance free. I would have liked to have had an enclosed shower stall; however, I lived on a boat for about four years with a similar shower arrangement.  There was surely plenty of room for my needs. With two people, you'd better like each other...a lot! Or, bring a bunch of booze along.

If you're interested in more information, give Harald Clemens a call at 1-800-442-9986. He is a delightful and honest gentleman and will not try and sell you stuff you don't need.

A Change of Pace. A Story From a Few Years Ago...........

From time-to-time over the years he thought back to the event that happened some 60 years ago. The event itself was still fixed in his memory, but it was truly a little fuzzy because of the passage of time.

He could remember the chronology of the events that happened that Saturday, though the images were surely not distinct or sharply in focus.

The day started off not any different from many of his Saturdays. He got on the Trailways bus a couple of blocks from his home and soon watched the scenery go by as the bus headed for the city. Forty minutes later, he stepped off the bus and headed to the first motorcycle shop he would visit.

He'd, much to his mother's displeasure, been obsessed with motorcycles since he'd briefly had a motor scooter a year or so before. It was a Sears Allstate model that he'd just about lived on. Riding everywhere, of course this back in the day when no one wore helmets or any kind of protective gear. Kids just jumped on them and rode off. Yes, they got banged-up and bruised but that was the nature of it all. Guess you could say Darwin was monitoring them.

He loved looking at the BSAs, Triumphs, Ariels, AJSs, and Nortons. Occasionally, one of the shop owners would give him a brochure and that would really make his day.

He day-dreamed about when he'd get one and be clothed in black leather. A black leather jacket with a million zippers. Jeans. And, heavy black engineer-type boots. And, most likely some black gloves. 

He grabbed a hot dog, checked the movie schedule and soon was sitting in the darkened theater watching the first of two cowboy movies. Several hours later, after watching two movies, ten cartoons, and several installments of two serials, he came out of the theater blinking in the sun.

At the magazine shop he bought a motorcycle magazine and was soon seated on the bus, browsing the magazine.

He knew someone had sat down next to him but continued reading. As the bus backed out of the bay, he looked to his side and there sat one of the most beautiful women he'd ever seen. And, she was sitting next to him. She had medium-length black hair and her lips were covered with the brightest of red lipstick. At first he felt a little faint, though wasn't sure why.


"Hi. How far are you going?"
"Ahh, well, ahh, I'm going out near the base."
"Good, so am I. It's nice to have some company," she said, as she smiled.

As he came through the front door, his mom said, "Johnny, how was your day?"
"Pretty good, Mom."
"What did you do?"
"Oh, you know, the usual. Went to the motorcycle shops. Wow, there were some great motorcycles and I finally got to see an Ariel Square Four."
His mom, smiled. "How were the movies?"
"Pretty good."
"What did you have for lunch, a hot dog, I guess?"
"Yes, Ma'am, I did have a hot dog."
"Well, sounds like you had a pretty good day."
Johnny perked up, "Oh, yeah. I met the nicest lady on the bus ride home."
"Oh."
"Yeah, she's kinda lonely, you know, her husband's out to sea."
"Hmmm."
"She wants me to come over and watch TV with her."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, look at this," he said, passing his magazine to his mom. "See, she wrote her phone number on my magazine. She didn't have a pen, she had to write it using her lipstick."
"I see," his mom said.

For the next couple of weeks Johnny searched frantically for his magazine. He never did understand how it vanished so quickly.

Edit: Johnny, BTW, was 14 or 15. And, he may still be looking for the magazine.

So-called Dr. Oz, Seemingly Kicked-Off Oprah's Radio Station.

                             

This is amazing.  Here are some quotes from the article.           

"Oz then also claimed that his show is not a medical one. "We very purposely, on the logo, have ‘Oz' as the middle, and the ‘Doctor' is actually up in the little bar for a reason," he said in a TV interview. "I want folks to realize that I'm a doctor, and I'm coming into their lives to be supportive of them. But it's not a medical show." 

Let me see if I understand this. You're a doctor. You have a TV program where you give advice on losing weight, diets, supplements, how to stay healthy, and various types of treatments, but it's not a medical program. Sure, makes sense.

This is what HBO's John Oliver had to say.

"Let’s be clear: The First Amendment protects Americans against government censorship, and that’s it. It does not guarantee you the right to simultaneously hold a faculty position at a prestigious private university and make misleading claims on a TV show.It absolutely protects you to say whatever you like on it, just as it protects my right to say what I think about you on mine, which is this: 

You are the worst person in scrubs who has ever been on television—and I’m including Katherine Heigl in that. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to be worse than Katherine Heigl? You are also the admittedly handsome ringmaster of a middling mid-afternoon snake-oil dispensary and it says something that even when you do a show with seven fake models of human feces, the biggest piece of shit on the stage has his name in the title."

Dang, Mr. Oliver, tell us what you really think.

Here's a link to the article.

EDIT:  Folks, do something good for yourselves. Watch this video by John Oliver. If you watch this video and ever buy another supplement.... Actually, I think I'm wasting my time, here. But anyway, here's the link. It covers not only OZ but our so-called law makers who receive money from the supplement makers and so on. Yes, regular old corruption but this can surely be dangerous to your health. Yes, there's a video on this page.

Who in the Hell Would Want to Takeover Texas!

OK, I'm not going to spend much time on this. Here's some text from a CNN article.  

"Amid unfounded, Internet-fueled rumors that U.S. Special Operations Forces might be trying to take over parts of the southwest, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered Texas State Guard forces under his control to keep an eye on the U.S. military during a large upcoming training exercise.

The exercise is called Jade Helm 15.

"It is important that Texans know their safety, constitutional rights, private property rights and civil liberties will not be infringed," Abbott said in an April 28 letter to Major Gen. Gerald "Jake" Betty, commander of the guard.  

Abbott ordered the guard to "monitor" the eight week-long exercise which begins in July and ends in September, across seven states. In Texas, Utah and New Mexico most of the training will take place on private land. In Arizona, Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi, much of it will take place on military installations."

Here's a link to the CNN article.

Yes, from the state that has given us Ted Cruz and Rick Perry....oh, yeah, almost forgot, and former-president Bush.

Actually, maybe we should consider putting a fence around Texas to keep them all in one place.


EDIT: May 10, 2015. Here are excerpts and here's the complete opinion piece from CNN.

"A suspiciously sane former state lawmaker, Todd Smith, a Republican, wrote the governor to tell him that his "pandering to idiots" had made him "livid." Although Smith served 16 years in the Texas House, he seems to have salvaged a troubling intelligence. He told Gov. Abbott, "I am horrified that I have to choose between the possibility that my governor actually believes this stuff and the possibility that my governor doesn't have the backbone to stand up to those who do. I'm not sure which is worse."

"But be not afraid, America. We are Texans. We will resist logic and intelligence to the very end."

Did You Watch the Big Fight? Mayweather (the wife beater) and Pacquiao? What Did it Cost You?

Yes, I watched it. And, it didn't cost much. Actually, it cost me nothing. Nothing? Yes,

nothing.

I saw an interview of a fellow who he and his son came from South Africa, yes, to see the fight. He paid $88,000 for two tickets. Was mentioned that there was a ticket offered for $300,000. No, I do not know whether it was sold. I think there were several pay-for-for-view options. One was $100. Also, reported that the hotels had raised their rates 500%.

OK, yes, you're on the edge of your seat.... George, how did you watch it for free? I haven't watched TV in years (maybe a topic for another time). OK, I watched the fight on Stopstream. My pal Eddie found this place many years ago. It seems you can watch just about every sporting event in the world. Yes, even the ones that are pay-for-view.

Well, maybe some of the answers.... 
OK, one or two?

Actually, watching on my computer, I'm sure I had a better view of the fight than you folks who jetted to Vegas, paid five times the regular price for a room, and paid no telling how much for a seat.

And, so it goes.......