These pictures are a few reasons

why we live in HOA/CCR community. Photos below speak for themselves. If your home is one, oops, sorry.

"Honey, are you sure the color chart looked like this?"
Everyone needs dinosaurs in their front yard...

and you can't sell the old vehicles that have such fond memories of . . .

and why would anyone want to control the Bermuda grass ??.

and here is Bonnie & Clyde's car mixed in with red-neck, front-yard-day-care....

This last one must be homeowner who is a frustrated artist with access to leftover material from various job sites he works at. . . He has to be single!

I've seen worse examples, but the puke green house and this last one have been buggin' me. The others I just found while at work and threw them in here.

Thurzday's Thotz

Not to bemuse Flashback Fridays (which I enjoy and is utilized quite effectively by a few great bloggers) I felt the need to cover Thursdays. Hence: Thurzday's Thotz. note ~ after writing this first draft, I decided to google "Thursday's Thoughts" and found it has been taken; already thought of, used by another, as in: "this saying's taken, nyaa nyaaa nyaa nyaa nyaaa nyaaaaa." (If I change the spelling is it plagiarism?) Well, I'll use it for at least for this Thursday, anyway, don't know if I'll continue.
We, (and I include myself) as a society, have become communication connected addicts. Driving around town I see four out of five drivers on their cell phones. (or some are talking to themselves if I don't see a Blue Tooth). I see pedestrians and even kids on skateboards gabbing away. Distractions abound. I wonder how many folks on the other end of their conversations hear the tire skidding, breaking glass, a thunk of metal against body and last words: "Oh, craaaaaap!" One can't stand in line ordering a Rubio's Fish taco without hearing anothers cell phone conversation. More than once I thought someone was talking to me while shopping in Von's, stopping the words of reply from coming out of my mouth just in the nick of time. Heres a thought: as texting gets easier I hope to hear less of these annoying conversations. I'd just rather the drivers don't text while they drive. (did you know the word texting isn't even in spell check yet it's so new?) Why can't Oprah do a show on cell-phone-etiquette? Look what she did for KFC!!

Oh No! Another reason to lose sleep.

Because of this blog (see below) which gave us the terrible news of the closing of yet another local, specialized eatery in our community, I thought I'd seek one of these thing-a-ma-jigs that made it so popular. (umm, if it was so cool, why did it close?) I know Carol and I had been given at least one of these as a wedding gift, but dang if I can find it. I know we never used it but held on to it for all these years, "just in case" but its location remains a mystery. I hate it when that happens.

If you have an unused one and are willing to part with it, a new home or place of storage for it may be available... serious inquiries only please. http://dallachi.blogspot.com/

Anything is possible

with a doughnut in each hand.

Friendly's Doughnuts in Henderson - map above - are best in the valley!

Then there's these two ~ too greasy or too dry, but are still yummy under the right circumstances.

And who can forget Winchell's? The place for cops in the 70's & 80's.

Breakfast: Lunch:

Dinner:
"Okay, boys, let's go to work."

Anyone hungry yet? (not recommended for those on a diet, high cholesterol, dental problems, diabetes, work in an office, don't wear a cop uniform, are concerned with their health, can't eat and drive at the same time, who live near the beach, or are pregnant or are nursing or are on heart medication.)

To blog or not to blog

With the recent passing anniversaries of two noteworthy events in world history, my thoughts went to how easily and effortlessly we blog, twitter, e-mail, correspond, etc and openly put our personal thoughts out there for the world to see. (Well, okay, no one in Budapest is gonna read my blog, but you get my meaning.) I’m talking of D-day, June 6, 1944 during WWII and the famous standoff in Tienanmen Square in 1989. When those 150,000 men stormed Normandy beaches on D-Day under insurmountable odds, and when those thousands of Chinese stood their ground on Tienanmen Square in defiance of their country’s censorship, besides being scared of the unknown, I wonder if any of them shared the same thoughts to the real meanings of their actions? At Normandy, no doubt, most of them thought merely of survival and maybe believed what they were doing was a beginning of the end to war. They were following orders. I have no idea what that lone man thought as he stood his ground in front of tanks in Tienanmen Square, an inspiration to others, hundreds of who were massacred or jailed for their beliefs. Even Cyberspace censorship by the government was imposed, we only know a portion of it all. They were following their consciences driven by hope and desire. Twenty years later they still live under scrutiny and censorship, lives I can’t imagine living, lifestyles and freedoms we take for granted. Since D-Day, some 65 years later, our freedom continues; we’re not speaking German or Russian, and we relish, and some even abuse, the First Amendment.
These two events, being approx fifty years apart, have the same meaning to me: determination and fortitude of the human spirit. My time in Vietnam was selfish. Initially, I wanted to go thinking I was saving democracy. Later when reality set in, I merely wanted to make it back to “the world” as we called it then, and enjoy freedoms and a lifestyle I had taken for granted. I was too young to grasp the reality of it. I just wanted to drive my car anywhere I wanted, eat a hamburger, have a coke with ice in it and live a life full of tomorrows and put this third-world county experience behind me.
The contrast and outcome of these two events cause me to reflect and get on my soapbox, on how easily we blog without fear of retaliation or prosecution, how great our country really is and how some choose not to use this freedom of expression. But, we still have the choice. I can go on about the LDS persecution in the early days of the Church, but that’s a whole different topic. Likewise with personal marriage rights of individuals. I just wanted to rant about our freedom of speech & its formats.
I watched parts of "Saving Private Ryan" the other night, specifically the heart-tugging & thought provoking end. (I’d seen the entire movie a few times before) In the movie, Tom Hanks (who plays the captain), told Private Ryan, “make it count,” referring to his life being saved and the sacrifices and deaths of those who found him and removed him from the war zone. I thought of my life, my family, my career, my fellow bloggers. I thought of Normandy, Tienanmen Square and the countless other countries in the world today who don’t enjoy our freedoms. (tune your imagination to hearing The Battle Hymn of the Republic being played )
We may not all agree with the state of our country but we all agree we have the right to voice our opinions about it. I can't imagine Cyberspace censorship in the USA!!
Blog on, fellow bloggers!

My bucket-list (partial)

In no particular order of importance and not inclusive. . . .

1. Obtain a masters degree in wife-psychology.
2. Hit a hole-in-one.
3. Bicycle across New England in the fall.
4. Be a stunt man in an action adventure movie.
5. Be a philanthropist/create a charity foundation.
6. Attend a New England Patriot’s game.
7. Carol & I take just our grandchildren to Disneyland and the beach.
8. Hang-glide & Sky dive.
9. Ride a unicycle.
10. Publish my book.

Alternate and just as unrealistic, quasi-attainable aspirations :)

11. Be the nice guy Carol’s dogs think I am.
12. Personally, locate Osama Bin Laden.
13. Host and cook a gourmet barbecue dinner.

14. End world hunger, genocide and traffic jams on I-15.

15. Add to this list as prompted.

16. Collect retirement longer than I paid into it.

I realize some of these are unrealistic, but then again, so is life itself sometimes. I kept this list short on purpose as I've seen more years than I will yet see. . .

Save your marriage for $39.95

We all know marriage is no game. Knowing what our partner will say what he/she thinks you'll say is not always easy. But, fortunately, there's no guessing when it comes to protecting your vehicle from theft. Kim G's loss and subsequent blog shows us how vulnerable we all are. I've lost track of the number of stolen cars I'd recovered in my career, sometimes drivable, sometimes not. One good one was when a guy left the keys in the ignition (with engine running) of his classic Cadillac De Ville parked in front of the 7/11 at Maryland Pkwy and Karen. It was never a nice neighborhood that I can remember, but common sense was lacking on his part! Typical job security. He saw it speeding away, called it in and I was one of two cops who were lucky enough to be nearby, and after a short pursuit the driver crashed it into a power pole in an alley off Sierra Vista and Cambridge (another ghetto). I drove back to pick him up a the 7/11 so he can retrieve his car...badly damaged, but drivable. I remember him cussing out the scum bag who took it and in the same breath wondering how he'd tell his wife how it happened!

It could have been worse as I'd found several like this one below. Or, wheels and parts missing.

I never took a stolen car report when an anti theft device was used; like dead bolts on front doors; they're only good if used. Some were just "joy-ridden" and left trash, dirty and missing all the c.d.'s, personal property, tools, check books, coins in the ash tray, etc. At one point the judges became reluctant to severely punish stolen car offenders if they didn't take the car with intent to permanently deprive the owner of it! Hence, a lesser degree of auto theft was added to our state's thousands of laws. I had a few who'd "cold plated" the stolen car... does this show enough intent Your Honor?!! Not always. Oddly enough, my last pursuit before I retired was a stolen Cadillac where it was left running in a home's driveway, to warm up on a cold morning. I found it and followed which soon turned into a pursuit. As he made the right turn at I-95 to Salt Lake City, the driver lost control, skidding sideways. I thought of ramming him, but knew I had too many witnesses. He took advantage of this and drove over the curb, down the hill and crashed the fence in the drainage ditch just missing the homeless, and continued onto the streets below. (where only four-wheeled trucks should go) Other units intercepted it near Jackson and F street and he abandoned it, getting out to run on foot. I ended up following him as he ran down a street yelling, "Look, the white poleeeece are gonna shoot this n_ _ _ _ _ !" I got a conviction in court months later when it was learned he was certified an adult on a prior stolen car arrest. He was 18 when I arrested him. The Cadillac had front end damage, steam bellowing out from the engine area and had two flat tires.

Anyway, anti-theft devices: I used to use one, I think it's in the garage, somewhere. . . . used it when my 4X4 Toyota was new. Hmmm. Anyone believe in Karma? Hope not. Let's hope since school is out, some rambunctious youngn's will not be too bored. Majority of crime is committed by the male, ages between 16 and 26. Disclaimer: no referral to RM's boys :)

Let's be safe out there fellow bloggers and please comment if you have any crime awareness/prevention tips. I could go on and on and on and on.