Living in Southern California is so different than Ohio. Ohio is, in my friend Andy's words, "The land of Rusty Cars". Lots of precipitation year round, especially in the wintertime. A bizillion tons of salt on the roads just destroys cars in a few short years. Southern California is basically a desert using water stolen from surrounding states. No salt is used anywhere out here so cars last and last. Driving to LAX airport and back is like driving from Cleveland almost to Cincinnati - vast stretches of highways. California is huge, like 4 'Ohios' stacked on top of each other. A few years back, I used to drive from Ventura to Modesto for Copier School. 333 miles door to door, one way. That's 5 hours driving at the speed limit. All freeway, all non-stop. And I didn't even cover half the length of the state. Cars are so necessary out here. And they seem to last forever if you take good care of them. And there are millions of them, old and new. I've never seen so many old cars from the 30's, 40's, 50's and 60's - all in mint condition and used regularly. Tons of late 60's Mustangs. There are also an ungodly amount of expensive and impractical cars on the highways out here.
I see very expensive 4-wheel drive cars on the highways. I've never seen anyone take their $50,000+ new vehicle "4-wheeling" through mud runs or up the mountains so why the hell did they waste all that extra money? Image? I guess. Looking at the Sunday paper ads for new and used cars, I came across a 3 year old Range Rover for only $25,000. Why the hell do freeway drivers buy Land Rovers and Range Rovers? Starting at $36,000 to $65,000 for a 4-wheel vehicle just to drive on the Freeways? Stupid Image to me! I mean, buy a Jag or a Porsche or something. Land Rovers? Yea, if I was Marlin Perkins and Jim Fowler in Wild Kingdom, then I would buy a Land Rover.
You remember those guys, doing the Wild Animal thing in Africa. Marlin Perkins, safely up a tree or in an animal-proof blind while he sends Jim to get strangled by the 26 foot Python or to fight off the Mama Lion protecting her cubs. While Marlin was safely filming from a helicopter above, Jim was getting his Land Rover rammed by a charging Rhino. And Jim always escaped in the Land Rover. Yea! That's what those vehicles are for, not driving your date to a concert at the Staple Center. California car buyers, Get Real!
Monday, October 31, 2011
Monday, October 10, 2011
Goodbye, Dear Friend
I remember following Walter Cronkite and The CBS Evening News for several decades until he retired. There was no one who could replace him. He was called "The most Trusted Man in the world" by most. Yea, he was like an honest and good Grandfather.
One of the continuing stories the CBS Evening News would feature was "On the Road with Charles Kuralt". God how I loved that man. Such a down to earth guy and so lovable. So smart. His stories would make you laugh, cry, think. He once said about America, "A country so rich that it can send people to the moon still has hundreds of thousands of its citizens who can't read. That's terribly troubling to me". He was the original host of "Sunday Morning" which Charlene and I love. We always watch the ending "Nature Scene" of the week. He retired and soon after passed away. What a great loss.
And now, my favorite Curmudgeon, Andy Rooney. He was the reason I always watched "60 Minutes" on Sunday night. I had heard it was coming and then, several weeks ago, Charlene and I watched his final show. I will miss his whiny voice starting his complaint of the week with "Did you ever notice how.......". One of my favorites was him complaining about all the Subscription Cards that are in magazines nowadays. He took a new magazine, held it upside down, shook it and it was snowing cards all over his desk. From that point on, whenever I get a new magazine, I flip through the entire thing, pulling out the cards and anything else that is some thick-card stock ad that forces the magazine to stop flipping. I throw that stuff out without looking at it in honor of Mr. Rooney.
Now, he's 92 and retired, gone from my Sunday Evenings. It's like CBS removing the closing "Nature Scenes" on Sunday Morning. Good bye, Dear Friend, I'll miss you.
One of the continuing stories the CBS Evening News would feature was "On the Road with Charles Kuralt". God how I loved that man. Such a down to earth guy and so lovable. So smart. His stories would make you laugh, cry, think. He once said about America, "A country so rich that it can send people to the moon still has hundreds of thousands of its citizens who can't read. That's terribly troubling to me". He was the original host of "Sunday Morning" which Charlene and I love. We always watch the ending "Nature Scene" of the week. He retired and soon after passed away. What a great loss.
And now, my favorite Curmudgeon, Andy Rooney. He was the reason I always watched "60 Minutes" on Sunday night. I had heard it was coming and then, several weeks ago, Charlene and I watched his final show. I will miss his whiny voice starting his complaint of the week with "Did you ever notice how.......". One of my favorites was him complaining about all the Subscription Cards that are in magazines nowadays. He took a new magazine, held it upside down, shook it and it was snowing cards all over his desk. From that point on, whenever I get a new magazine, I flip through the entire thing, pulling out the cards and anything else that is some thick-card stock ad that forces the magazine to stop flipping. I throw that stuff out without looking at it in honor of Mr. Rooney.
Now, he's 92 and retired, gone from my Sunday Evenings. It's like CBS removing the closing "Nature Scenes" on Sunday Morning. Good bye, Dear Friend, I'll miss you.
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