Middle-Aged Man Winter still seems to be getting about… today we’ve got rain, and lots of it. I awoke a few times during the night to hear bucketsful pouring down… it was quite a deluge. The drive to work reflected that, too: rain has loosened the soil, and there are rocks on the highways this morning. I did not shoot The Narrows on today’s ride, but judging from the fact that 138 and 18-below-Crestline were thoroughly rocked out, I’d guess that The Narrows is probably pretty rough, too. Highway 138’s rocks are most prolific just uphill from the bridge, near the new electric sign that reads nothing… a “usual suspect” place; keep that area in mind anytime that conditions are wet and/or windy. Hwy 18 has its greatest abundance of stones for a couple of miles downhill from Upper Waterman Canyon Road’s exit… there are a lot of rocks, and even a couple of full-on rockslides/mudslides that are in the lanes. I recommend sticking to the left lane this morning, at least through that section of road, and even in the left lane, you should be prepared to use a little bit of slalom action to avoid obstacles.
Fog is out, but it’s only patchy and light. It’s not a big hindrance. Temps in the Crestline area were just below 40 degrees or so… not ice-worthy, but I cannot speak with authority of conditions at higher elevations.
I have a confession: forgive me for having never done so before, but yesterday, I finally tried a burger at “The Habit.” The family and I had considered going to Church’s, or even to Pope-yes, but instead found sanctuary at The Habit. I was a little disappointed: I had assumed that employee uniforms would suggest that of nuns, but this was apparently too unconventional.
I gave the place a kick when I arrived… been trying to do THAT for years. No damage was done: it’s a hard habit to break.
The food was great… but I was a little disappointed that there was no wine available. The mass amount of fries were good… cooked in the friar, obviously. My kid got a salad… quite a few priestes of chicken on it. And… the service was good. I never once fell asleep.
One thing that is weird: As we were dining on our soul food, and the inspiration for this bit of today’s report was washing over me, I was compelled to share these thoughts with my family. My daughter’s eyes seemed to roll a NUMBER of times… her only comment was, “Forgive me Father, for I may be about to commit murder.” Weird. Teenagers. Whatever.
Today is National Pick Strawberries day. I’d like to take this opportunity to point out a couple of interesting things about strawberries: there’s that phrase, “A rose is a rose is a rose by any other name…” Wait… that doesn’t seem exactly right, but it’s something like that. Well, prepare to have your mind blown. Today is National Pick Strawberries day… and, it turns out, strawberries are… roses. They are members of the rose family. So, this is a rose by another name, but it’s still a rose which is a rose by another name… but, heck even sweeter, since you can EAT these things. Who cares what that old saying is… today, we eat roses.
It’s the only fruit that has seeds on the outside of it. Oh, and while it is an angiosperm, those seeds are ovaries. Sort of. Chow down on a ‘sperm AND bunch of ovaries!
So, how ‘bout that F-16 that crashed in Riverside last Thursday? Apparently, it just dropped out of the sky. When the hydraulics on a plane like that become bye-draulics, well, the aircraft becomes a big hunk of metal that Isaac Newton summons earthward very compellingly. Fighter jets that have lost power don’t seem to be masters of gliding in for a gentle and soft landing. Anyhow, the pilot ejected safely, while the unoccupied airplane made its final stop by crashing through a warehouse roof. A few people inside were injured, but none seriously.
A few years ago, I was hiking with the family through the desert, near the site of where a fighter jet had crashed 20 or 30 years before. I’d read about the crash, and knew that the pilot had ejected safely, although given the remoteness and ruggedness of that part of the desert, the elements became just as much of a threat to him as the crash was… but he was eventually rescued, and had no serious problems. Anyhow, my kid actually stumbled across a large section of the cockpit… ejected many years prior. While I get that crash sites are considered sacred to many, the fact that this was ONLY a piece of cockpit, and was located a significant distance from the crash site, it seemed appropriate to take it home, even if under the guise of picking up litter. Besides… this crash had no casualties… I see no argument for this site being sacred in any way. Anyhow, I still have the section of cockpit… I just need to figure out something cool to do with it.
Okay, so it’s also Be a Millionaire day. I’m happy to be one (well, okay, technically, I’m a little short, but I did some calculations, and as long as I continue working for another 45 years, and don’t spend any more money on things like travel, gambling, beer, food, cars, mortgages, electricity, gas, or water, I’ll totally be a millionaire… or a thousandaire, at least.) The idea today is to make some sound financial decisions that will improve your chances of getting to that seven-figure balance… decisions that do not include, casinos, cocaine, safe-cracking, or smash-and-grabs.
I did this a few weeks ago (the responsible ideas, not the criminal ones I just mentioned). I “cleaned up” a few things. I canceled cable… we never watch it, as streaming services are all we need for entertainment, and any live news we might want is available on our phones. I trimmed down the cell phone bill by canceling insurance on older phones, and negotiating some fees out of existence. I paid off quite a significant amount of credit card balances: while a bird in the hand is nice, it’s also a good idea to release a bird that costs me interest of 14.98% every month. I still have a few other things to do, like canceling insurance on a car I never drive, and stopping some things that have automatic payments coming out of my account for stuff I don’t want.
Wait… I just remembered! I AM a millionaire! A few years ago, for my birthday, my dad gave me a million dollars. He isn’t giving me the WHOLE amount, all at once, of course… but he agreed to give me a dollar every year for a million years, so, there’s that…
That’s all for today. Go gitcherself some strawberries… heck, go have a strawberry milkshake at The Habit. I consumed every drop of mine yesterday… until there was nun left.