I didn't know him but was still struck by the sense of loss of life and this collection of tributes left by those who did know him. Candles, flowers, stuffed animals, messages on the asphalt scribbled with chalk, beverage cans, cigarettes, drug paraphanelia, messages from friends, the homicide detective's business card, photos....

Boys will Be Boys!!!

Once in a blue moon, I substitute teach at the Team Kess Academy. The last time was in February. We took a break for the really important lessons in life. I took a back seat and learned a thing or two myself.


Kind of looks like an impersonation inspired by Master Po now that I think about it.

Warranties

I usually don't advocate purchasing extended warranties on things. It's like rebates - they should just offer the product for free or cheaper rather than make us jump through hoops. They bank on people not filling in rebate forms and sending them in. I get a whole $10 back on a camera lens because I met the submission deadline yesterday.

What good is a product if it does not hold up and has to be backed with an extended warranty beyond the standard warranty? (a la Tommy Boy and the fancy guarantee). I recently sent in a Targus laptop bag with a bad zipper. They replaced it with a new one free of charge under the Lifetime Warranty - gotta love that. I was convinced to buy an extended warranty on the Toyota pickup. So far I've had a cable related to the air bag go bad, the alarm had some issue that caused it not to arm and both horns (high & low pitch) shorted out and had to be replaced. I don't know if I want to get my money's worth on the purchase of the warranty or not but I'm well on my way.....

BTW, not having a horn takes all the fun out of road rage. Last night someone entered the freeway, drove alongside me and then decided to creep into my lane without signaling and seemed to not notice I was there. I hit the horn and remembered new ones were being sent overnight from L.A. I was forced to resort to giving a mean stare and swerving eradically to get the driver's attention. RRRRrrr!

Kaleefornia Education is in Crisis!!

An honest mistake. Apparently, the kids hadn't had their coffee yet this morning when they raised the flags. This inverted California flag caught my eye. ESPN is shooting Tony Hawk on location this week for an upcoming episode of "Homecoming". A minor oversight with all that's going on.

Wow!

I was blown away by something today. I saw a bicyclist pedaling with one leg. His left pedal was missing as was the majority of his leg on that side. Wow! That was inspiring.

Swedish Royal Bakery

I had the air bag light come on in the pickup last night and had to return to Poway Toyota today to get the problem remedied before my roadtrip to Porterville Tuesday night. I was told that the extended warranty I was buying into would allow me to take my truck to any Toyota dealer for work. The dealer in Mission Valley saw it another way and gave me the option of signing on for a possible charge of $45 to have the problem checked or go to Poway. The service tech said I could be charged the $45 plus the cost of repair if Poway Toyota didn't reimburse him, yada, yada, yada. I didn't have time to argue so off to Poway I went. Spent 4.5 hours there and the result was good - problem solved - under warranty. On the way back I stumbled upon the Swedish Royal Bakery and John made everything right and made me forget about the 4.5 hours I had just spent, well, doing nothing. I would highly recommend it!

The colors of the Swedish flag on the sign stood out and called my name. John gave me a lesson in Swedish food, culture and language. I told him though I may have never been to the homeland, couldn't speak the mother tongue, and may have never seen some of these things he had created, eating them was like eating soul food. The food I was served by my parents and their parents were influenced by the food from the old world. Eating homecooked meals just makes something click inside me. I can eat these Swedish baked goods or a meal at Kaiserhof Restaurant and its like the stars are aligned and everything is right in the world for a brief moment in time.

I picked up a variety of items. I won't even start to describe them because words cannot do them justice. The items that are behind the glass case are real and they are edible. Don't be fooled. They are works of art as much as they are food made to satisfy your sweet tooth.

I should note, too, that I've been to Poway twice recently for truck related matters and I'm convinced there must be something in the water out there. Everyone, or at least 95% of the people I encountered, are über nice. Too bad we had to close our Nazarene church in Poway. :(

New twist on the Golden Rule....

You say potato, I say po-tah-to; you say onto I say unto. Speaking of po, this fortune must have been written by Master Po.


Please spare me the trouble and let's make a pact, Grasshopper. I won't do anything onto you if you promise not to do anything onto me.

Give a hoot, don't pollute!

I picked up a new (used) Toyota truck over the weekend. It was officially initiated today as the community's garbage can and I remembered one of the drawbacks to having a pickup truck. Someone threw two, empty mini bottles of Smirnoff's in the truck bed. This will also be my alibi if I get pulled over and forget to take them out and trash them. (It's documented.)

I met another Deron this evening. I was downtown where we serve a meal on Tuesday nights. I saw a man had fallen out of his wheelchair and another guy helping him. I pulled over to see if any help was needed. We made introductions. The fella who fell out of his chair was Eric and his helper, Deron. I said how do you spell that, I spell mine DERON. He said DERON. I thought he was just repeating what I had said so I asked again and he spelled it the same way. How about that!

FORD - Found On Road Dead

The 1999 Ford Explorer, affectionately known as my Ford Exploder, became deathly ill last night and had to be transported by tow truck to the Unocal 76 station on West Pt. Loma Blvd. in San Diego, CA where she was placed on life support overnight. She was pronounced dead by my mechanic at 12:16 p.m. today. She succumbed to a long list of ailments, not the least of which was a broken transmission, ironically replaced 3 years ago on March 17th. The 3 year warranty expired yesterday but the 36,000 miles have long since been exceeded. I adopted her in 2001 at 60,000 miles and in the end she amassed an impressive (for a Ford) 181,600 miles.

She was a faithful truck taking me to and fro on any adventure I thought up. Someone threatened to cut her down in her prime by bowling a mounted tire onto the freeway. Left with no choice, she protected me by driving over it, sustaining a great deal of damage to her undercarriage but remaining upright. The insurance company helped to heal her and get her back on the road again.

She is survived by a couple operable bicycles and a bus pass. A service will not be held, but feel free to share any pictures or favorite memories you have of her. In lieu of sending flowers, I ask that you use the money to get your transmission fluid changed. Your car will thank you for it.

Yesterday Shorty brought his computer to me to be healed. This has become a part of the pastoral duties..... someway..... somehow?? It wouldn't come on, no flashing lights, no beeps, nothing. I yanked the power supply and took it to Fry's. I had one go out on an HP before. I was sitting 4' from it at the time and heard an explosion similar to that produced by a lady finger firecracker ... Pow! , and then the smoke and awful smell of burning electronics. We weren't 100% sure on this one so I had it tested. The results: "She's dead." "Dead?" "Dead."

I feel like I'm in need of a personal power supply replacement this morning. I wish it were that easy; just slap in a new power supply. For now a Starbuck's Venti Carmel Frappuccino will have to do.

Peoria Sports Complex - Padres vs. Dodgers

So yesterday we saw my Cubbies go down 9-1. I say my Cubbies only b/c I lived in the Chicago area about 8 years of my life & have been a fan part of that time. As they say, "Once a Cubs fan, always a Cubs fan." I was remembering that I used to have a Cubs sticker on my bedroom window next to the one with the firefighter on it telling them there's a kid in that room. I guess I was trying to stack the odds of being rescued in my favor, telling the firefighters that not only was there a kid in my room but that I was a Cubs fan!


Today we arrived early at the PSC, a Complex shared by the Padres and Mariners. It's a great facility. The practice fields are very accessible to the fans. We spent a lot of time milling around the fields, batting and pitching cages getting autographs. It's an interesting concept, the whole idea of autographs. There are some in it to make money and some purists who just enjoy the encounter you can have with a player. Not much else will get you that close with a player and allow you to talk with them. I have a couple friends who won a contest and had one of them over to their house 2 seasons ago. They're on a first name basis. He'll sign anything they throw at him when they see each other. He's nice to everyone, but he'll make a special effort to say hi to them and sign whatever they pass on. I was on vacation when he came over that time to their house but I've mentioned it to him and ride on their coattails. He was there. (I dropped your names and said hi for you, but he would have been glad to sign for us anyway.)


We walked over to one field where they were taking batting practice and giving outfielders some practice with pop-ups. The Boys with Their Toys were goofing around. The GM - Kevin Towers, the Skipper - Bud Black and several of the coaches were standing around the pitching machine. This was probably a special, larger machine for the pop-ups. They were seeing how far it would throw and if it could make a home run over the fence. Then they aimed it straight up. One by one, they popped up four or five, really high, that fell behind the fence into the area where we were standing. Each time everyone yelled, "HEADS UP! HEADS UP!". I was trying to get my glove out of my backpack and couldn't in time plus the sun was right there where it was blinding us from seeing the trajectory of the ball as it fell. The fourth one landed about 1 foot to the left of Jordan - could have killed him. He said it hit him on the elbow after it bounced. Phew!! That was enough for them and they quit when they saw that.

The gates to the stadium were beginning to open so we migrated that way. There were more player encounters, watching more b.p. and warm-ups. Tommy Lasorda was there in full baseball regalia.

Unfortunately, L.A. dodged the Padres and beat us 5-4.

Hohokam Ball Park - Chicago Cubs vs. Arizona Diamondbacks

Ahhh! The pop of the glove, the crack of the bat, the smell of hot dogs & eating sunflower seeds. Baseball's back!

Today we went to Hohokam Ball Park to see the Chicago Cubs take on the Arizona Diamondbacks. We celebrated with Jordan. He was picked before the game to be the Culver Fan of the Day. They took his picture and put it up on the scoreboard just before the start of the game. He was given a Cubs cap and T-shirt. I grew up with Culver's in Wisconsin. I'm glad to see they've branched out so much. It brings back memories of their frozen custard and fried cheese curds. MMMmmmmm!!



El alerted me that Rollie Fingers was signing autographs - raising money for juvenile diabetes. Then I remembered that I had a Brewers cap on so I sought him out and had him sign it. I also bought a ball that he had signed. As a kid, I watched him play 1 mile from my house.

This was a fun park to see a game in. I had to sample the local fare. Let me introduce you to the Mesa Super Nacho Dog. There's a hot dog in there somewhere. It's got chili, cheese, fritos and jalapenos on it. Extra napkins and a fork are a must when eating this thing. I ended up with chili/cheese all over the place; my shirt, sunglasses, cap (when I removed it for the Star Spangled Banner) and on the camera (a loaner, Ooops!)



We met up with some of the players after the game for autographs. On the way driving back to the room we saw this cool light in the middle of the sky. It reminded me of a rainbow but it didn't have all the colors represented and it was just a small ray. We couldn't think of what it's called. Anyone?

On Vacation!

We rolled out today and headed for AZ - on vacation! I can probably count on my hands and feet the amount of times I've not attended church on a Sunday in my life. One big marker for me though of a good vacation is that I easily forget what day it is. Already this doesn't seem like a Sunday. The sun is brighter and the mood lighter. Already, it is a true Sabbath for someone used to working on Sunday.

We're off! I have the privilege of going with Team Kess to Arizona for baseball spring training, relaxation and seeing the sights.

The trip to Phoenix was fun. Stopping in Yuma for lunch, we continued on and met El and Nancy Kessler at our destination - the Marriott Canyon Villas. It's going to be hard not to relax here. A dip in the pool and hot tub were the order for the evening.

serendipitous??

The writing's on the wall...or as was the case tonight, on the fortune. I'll find out tomorrow morning.

Whatever.

Enjoying a good day off. I had lunch with the venerable Andrew Layman today. He and Dana have moved back to the area. Yay!! He's working in Point Loma. It was fun to meet in the old hood again where we were roommates. I was asked yesterday to contribute information for a PLNU Yearbook writeup on the Bread of Life Student Ministry. Chatted with Phil Barron today to get some background on its genesis and he reminded me that a friend of his helped him start it, Andrew Layman. Oh that's right, how ironic as we were getting together! That would be the reason I got involved and have been ever since. I reminded Phil of the time we raced from the PLNU dorm kitchen to the lot downtown in his Cobra going 90 mph down Pacific Highway with food in tow. He said we were going more like 100. I said I know, that's what I typed at first and then cut you some slack. :)

Thanks to Starbucks for the two hours free wifi. Membership has its privileges and I've joined the ranks of the Starbucks Gold Card members. Just doing my part to boost the economy. Sorry if *bucks is not your thing. I enjoy coffee at the non-chain places too but there's something to be said for consistency and in a variety of locations. Having worked in various food service jobs, it's enjoyable to see other people having to do the closing procedures for once. As for their social consciousness, I'm satisfied with their umpteen page brochure on social responsibility, though I haven't taken the time to read it. Their critics can be happy today too b/c they've announced they're closing more stores.

Matt & Holly, we could meet here sometime if you'd like - probably centrally located for us. I can ride a bike here from home which is kind of cool. Besides the mountain bike you gave me, I've recently added three classic Schwinns to the arsenal - two cruisers and a 10 speed road bike. All are in some need of repair so I've acquired a new hobby where my mechanical & restoration skills will be tested once again. El, I might pick your brain from time to time for bike repair tips.

Ewwww!

O.K. - I'm generally down on big government, erring on the side of free will, but in this case there aught to be a law. I shouldn't have to be subjected to this - especially this early in the morning. But I guess "my rights end where someone else's rights begin."

Pops is in the house.

Pops came to visit today. We hadn't seen him for maybe two years and weren't sure if he was still kicking. He sure is. Good to see you Pops!

Yuck!!

Life is full of road bumps. It's never easy having to call 9-1-1 on a friend. I pray it doesn't ever become easy or routine. I have had to call it more in the last 10 years than I care to remember. Suicide attempts, motor vehicle/motorcycle accidents, car fires, hit-n-runs, injuries/illness, fights, threats against me and on and on ....

I'm thankful tonight that the Lord caused us to cross paths when we did. He asked me to take him to the hospital. It was quickly evident that he had a self-inflicted injury. "Let me see, turn your head". "No I'm calling 9-1-1." The emotional pain rose to the surface once again and the wound was too deep.

So, we cheated death again today.... I hope and pray.

MARANATHA!!!

Ill-Gotten Booty

Happy New Year! Heretofore, I have had blogger's cramp in '09. It's time for me to get with it. Something came up today which lends itself to storytelling. Nothing much, but it will serve to inspire me to start writing again. Sure I could have blogged about the Chargers, but what more can be said. They're the best! No doubt, I need to catch up on some things from '08 that I haven't written about yet. Stay tuned.....

Hats Off To Office Depot Customer Service

Some punk needs to resign from the gene pool. They're giving we humans a bad name. Late in '08 I purchased some HP ink for a church printer - a black & white cartridge/color cartridge combo. It weighs in at around $64. Today the printer called for ink. I ripped open the box only to find that he/she had carefully opened it, wrapped two old empty, unrelated, smaller cartridges in it, stuffed extra paper in the box so they wouldn't rattle around, glued it shut and returned it to Office Depot where it sat on the shelf until I came along and bought it. Fearing the worst, I returned it today. They were kind enough to feel my pain and replace it. Thanks! I was told that printer ink is their #1 most stolen item - hands down. It's stolen and in turn sold on the 21st Century black market - eBay. I don't blame eBay, just more of those reprobates that make our gene pool a cess pool and give a preacher some job security.

For my Green Bay Packers adherent-friends. Spotted this the other day: