Tag Archives: Yosemite

Attempted Murder?

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Stalking Raven

Stalking Raven

It was near the end of the day. It had been a busy one. We had done a lot of walking that day and I was feeling a wee bit tired. We had been on the road for almost two weeks. I was sitting in the atrium of Yosemite Lodge, on the edge of the little amphitheater there. I had my head down, because I was playing with my phone, trying to get a blog post published using an uncertain Wi-Fi connection. Anne had gone to the restroom, but when she returned she quickly alerted me that I was being stalked. I turned around and this guy was right behind me. It had been sneaking up behind me, probably motivated by the smell of the food in my bag. Since it was a raven and not a crow, I guess that murder wasn’t exactly on its mind, at least I hope so, just some nameless unkindness.

The Gunfighter

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“The Gunfighter” is a 9-minute award-winning western comedy. The title character steps into a bar, which sounds like the lead-in to a joke. We hear the narrator telling us what is happening. However, he is not only telling us as the people inside the bar can also hear what he says. The film is raunchy at times, but all so funny with how it twists this classic genre.

People Ride in a Hole in the Ground

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Passing Subway Car Flashing Across the Tracks

Passing Subway Car Flashing Across the Tracks

New York, New York, it’s a wonderful town,
The Bronx is up and the Battery’s down,
The people ride in a hole in the ground,
New York, New York, it’s a wonderful town.
– “New York, New York” by Leonard Bernstein

I was surprised by this, but 50 people were killed by the New York subway last year. The warning signs seemed to imply that being hit by a train in the station was the primary source of mortality and not crime. This sounds like a lot of people, but if you consider the millions of riders that use the subway each year, then this number of traffic deaths doesn’t seem as horrific as at first blush. If then you compare these fifty fatalities to the number of annual automotive deaths that occur in the city, then the subway appears to be quite safe. When we first arrived in New York, with the rent-a-truck, we took the Holland Tunnel into Manhattan. It was midmorning when we crossed the island and it was a holiday, Rosh Hashanah, so traffic then was much reduced from normal, but the traffic there was still pretty hairy. It was the best that we could do just to cope and inch slowly ahead. By comparison riding the subway was pain-free.

Pokémon Go players, please stay behind the yellow line!

I mentioned this, because I had my own little hole in the ground incident today. My sewer main had backed up, again. There is still 40’ of original pipe, between the house and the main and that’s what was clogged. I had Cordia Plumbing out again. They are the outfit that did such an excellent job replacing all of the line inside the house. They did another fine job today and got ‘things’ flowing again. The Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD) is scheduled to tear up the street this year, but that’s just to put in a new storm sewer. They don’t plan on doing any work on my lateral, I asked. The 40’ that is still original is insured under a county program, but coverage only takes effect if the line collapses. Maybe, I can get a MSD bulldozer to do a little back-and-forth over my front yard? I know that it sounds kind of scorched earth, but you should see it now. A summer of neglect has not been pretty. I’ll have to rebuild the lawn this winter. I’ll probably go with Scotts, but I heard on the business news that Miracle Grow is doing a blooming business these days. 😉

A Day on the Town

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Uncle Bill’s Pancakes
Science Center
Art Museum
Chris’s Spanish Doors

Yesterday, Anne and Dave picked me up at the airport. We went out to dinner, to the Greek place, the Olympia and celebrated Dave’s birthday. All too soon though he had to head back to Purdue. Those chinchillas can be demanding rodents. Afterwards, Rene, Alice and Chris’s son and his friend Ed arrived. Rene is moving to New Mexico, where he has a civilian job with the Air Force. They both were pretty beat after their long drive from Rochester and soon went to bed, which was fine with me, because I was beat too.

Today, Anne played hooky and together we squired our guests around town. We started off with breakfast at Uncle Bill’s. Next, we cruised by Rene’s old house on Flora. It took us a while, because of the Kingshighway closure, but we made it to the Science Center in Forest Park. It really is much easier on a bike. The original plan was to do both the Science Center and the City Museum, but unfortunately, the City Museum is closed on Tuesdays. That was fine though, because we just spent more time at the Science Center. They’ve taken down the old inflatable Quonset hut out back and erected a new permanent exhibit called Grow, which is dedicated to farming in Missouri. Then we cruised over to Blueberry Hill for lunch. Our final stop was the art museum. I don’t know how much rest they both got on this their layover day, but they sure had fun.