Saturday morning and finally the Google Street View camera car moved on. Earlier this week it kept passing in front of our house several times over. I thought it over and, finally told Marcia we should get away from the window so that they could get a proper photo. Something they were apparently looking for.

“I can be Googled, therefore I am” ~ The Descartes of the Internet Generation – Herb Firestone

Now a bit of hot morning coffee, and, good morning to all!

Clean Slate – This past week we commemorated what is probably the single most unifying event in the history of our nation. The event which had this most impactful occurrence on our nation was the completion of the Trans Continental railroad. It was 150 years ago in a remote piece of Utah on May 10th, 1869 which literally brought our country together.

It is said that every 100 years the ‘slate’ is swept clean. Fast forward 100 years to 1969 and we saw Apollo 11 mission to the moon. Remember that, even 30+ years after the completion of the Trans Continental Railroad you’d still get a speeding ticket for doing 10mph in your ‘horseless’ carriage (car).

Now looking ‘way back’ to 1969; a time when we weren’t driving on Radial tires; everyone had to be fully prepared that on a 300 mile vacation trip you’d be faced with at least one flat tire. There was no GPS or mobile telephone. Overnight delivery was a dream. People whose names were on everyone’s lips back in 1969 are non-entities to today’s teenagers; think Don Rickles, or Twiggy. Terms like ‘duck-tail’, “headbanging” (invented during Led Zeppelin’s 1969 tour of the US), the ‘B’ side, trip-ticks, “load the camera”, or ‘Fritz the Cat’ are complete unknowns. With all of this, can you even begin to comprehend life in 2069 – a year almost just around the corner?

So, maybe a ‘clean slate’ every hundred years is actually a good thing.

Boxers – In many respects I am a-typical; in others very typical. Marcia advised me that my “head for Northern Comfort” clothing stash required new underwear.

Now, I can truthfully say that I’ve never gotten up thinking; ”goody, today I’m going to buy underwear”. The very last time I gave those garments any real thought was as a kid, shortly after the war, having to wear woolen underpants knitted by my mother. Horrid!

So, it was with bug-eyes that mid-week I stood in Target’s at the men’s rack. There had to be at least twenty different types/styles, each in a wild array of sizes and colors. There were hundreds. Finally, somewhat confused, I just grabbed a pack, tossed it into the basket, and headed for the registers.

So, here is what I got – and I am still amazed. Legs which don’t ride up, ‘soft’ with something they call ‘dual defense’, tag free, a waist band which won’t pinch, a ‘cool-zone’ mesh fly with a supporting cup (in other words these are ‘breathable’).

I am now certain that I’ll just hate them.

Heard a spot on the radio about men’s underwear. Announcer said “you spend 90% of your time” wearing underwear. Do a lot of dudes really spend 10% of their time not wearing underwear? ~ Jonah Goldberg

On the car scene – I have discovered the exact spot between the ‘Railroad Tracks’, that spot where the right side and the wrong side of the tracks come together.

This week I joined a group of others for a Power Cleanup, where we went around with trash bags and trash-grabbers cleaning up curbside on various streets. On one street I spotted this car and it was parked on the exact crossover spot; bad enough where no-one is concerned that a major car overhaul was taking place in the street. Yet, upscale enough where the car was a Mercedes Benz. I commemorated the spot with a photo.

Talking cars, this week Marcia was totally befuddled when my new Paintless Dent Removal kit arrived. It’s a piece of what my Canadian friends would call; a summer “pro-ject”.

Finis – A happy Mother’s Day to all you ladies and especially to the one’s in my family; Marcia, Kirstin, Cathy, and Adrianne.

Just think, for some of our gang this is the final week of school – summer vacation is almost here! A week from this Thursday Dinah will graduate into Middle school and head to Walnut Hills and join her brother there.      

Yesterday Marcia spotted a car pulled in front of our place.  Three young ladies, very much of the ‘night’ variety, piled out. They claimed to be visiting someone down the street a ways. Without much detail; I communicated a bit with them and that plus a photograph of their vehicle and license place prompted the driver to skedaddle. Bye, Bye.

Do well and make it a safe week.
Ciao
Dirk