Interesting Characters that pass through our lives

Living in Colorado back in the mid-70's through the early 80's.  was a lot of fun..
I moved out there in the spring of 1976  young and dumb, but full of piss and vinegar..
ready for an adventure..   after growing up in a sheltered life in Minnesota.
While out there I learned a lot about life working in the Oil Fields of Colorado and Kansas.
Met a lot of interesting people out there.. and a lot of ex-cons, and some that left you wondering how they managed to live that long being that stupid..
The guy who taught me how to drive a truck was a character and a half.
 Shorty Wilson was his name,  I met him a year earlier out on a drilling rig when delivering pipe.
At that point I was just a "swamper"  I'd ride along just to help the driver load and unload the trailer.
But the first time I met Shorty we were on the middle of a ranch in eastern Colorado..
about 5 or so miles down a cow path off the main road, was the drilling rig.
but it was the middle of summer and hot,  and there was Shorty standing out on the drilling platform
in his tidy whities and cowboy boots and cowboy hat..  
I remember the driver I was with just had a fit about this...  but this driver didn't like Shorty..
We got the pipe unloaded and headed back to Ft Lupton CO and I remember the driver pissed and
moaned about Shorty's attire all the way back..
A few months later Shorty moved into the shop at Ft Lupton and that caused the driver I worked with to quit, he just couldn't stand being around Shorty..
So let me talk a little about Shorty..
Shorty was a Korean War Vet, who had a rough/sloppy exterior,  but he liked you, he'd do just about anything for you.
Shorty was 5 foot tall, wore his western shirts about half open, and had a belly..
and he chain smoked and burned them down to the filter..   and drank a lot..
Soon after Shorty moved to the shop, I swamped for him, and he taught me a lot..
at that time I was 20yrs old,  and Colorado is a 21yr old state..
Shorty liked his beer.. and drinking and driving was something Shorty did..
Drunk driving was also something Shorty did regularly.
We went through one small town on the eastern slope of Colorado and Shorty gave me $5 to buy a 6-pack,  said he would drop me off at this liquor store and circle around and pick me up.
Well, the guy in the liquor store carded me... DOH!
So I came out, Shorty was coming down the block, went jumped back in the truck,
I explained what happened..  he stopped he truck right there, marched into that liquor store
and chewed this guy out!  bought his beer and left..   LOL
We went on down the road drinking beer and laughing about what happened..
You couldn't get away with that now..
Shorty taught me a lot of things about life..  he taught me how to drive a truck with a two stick
transmission.. that's an education in its self, he took the time to work with me on how to back up a trailer,  and for some it comes natural, and some it doesn't,  I got it figured out and what Shorty taught me back then still sticks with me today.
One of the things I remember when I was trucking with Shorty was, going through a weight station near Lamar Colorado,  you had to stop and go in and get a paper stamped to prove you did stop at the
weight station, as the swamper,  while Shorty was weighing the rig, I went in to get our stamped paper.and the Cop told me "good luck working with Shorty"  he knew Shorty pretty well.
in the middle of Summer of '77 I left Shorty's company and followed a drilling rig to Kansas..
Where I learned more of life's lessons..   but in mid-December of 1977 Shorty was killed in a pickup truck accident..  Shorty was at the Ft Lupton yard waiting on another driver,
while waiting, Shorty was drinking..  and word has it was pretty drunk,  at some point Shorty got in his pickup and drove off,  he ran off the road and rolled his pickup truck and he was ejected from the
truck since he wasnt wearing a seat belt.. (back then nobody wore one) he would have survived the accident, but the truck rolled back over on top of him and crushed him.
I guess he used up his nine lives..
In the short amount of time I knew Shorty Wilson, he left a strong impression on my life.
That I never want or can't forget..
I just hope that somewhere along the line, I have touched someone's life and 40yrs from now they
will look back and say that I left a strong lasting impression on them that helped them with their life.

Has the Left lost their minds?

The election is over and the "Anointed One"  Hillary Clinton did not get elected no matter
how hard the main stream media worked to get her elected,
and now the left is in full on panic mode.
Funny thing is, I remember the media talking heads kept reminding us (or lecturing us)
that even though Trump could win the popular vote,  Hillary could will the electoral vote.
They never said it the other way..
But then again, most of the media outlets were in the Clinton camp.
There were even reports the week before the election the Clinton Campaign has reserved
a barge in NYC Harbor and scheduled a fireworks show celebrating Hillary's win
for 10p EST the night of the election.  so much for that celebration.
But the media should have warned the left that Hillary could win the popular vote
but lose the electoral vote.
Now the left is protesting, burning, looting and showing their tolerance..
I love how the left is the party of tolerance as long as you agree with them.
if you think differently they go after you.. call you all kinds of names,
When Obama won the first time,  the left told us if we don't vote for Obama we were
racist.  if we didn't agree with everything Obama wanted to do were hated him because
he is black,   we weren't allowed to disagree with him..
But I digress..
The election is over, we have protests in the streets,  turned out according to some media reports
that over 50% of those protesting in Portland Oregon didnt even vote!
Schools and Colleges had to call in Crisis Teams to help the students and the staff deal
with Hillary's loss.  I do know of a High School in Richfield MN that brought in a Crisis Team for
the students and the staff right after the election..  what the hell?!
There have been reports of bringing puppies for these people to help them cope..  WTF??
The main stream media is now casting false headline out on Trump,
Reporting that he is having trouble with building a transition team,
He is appointing a known Racist/White Nationalist to his staff..  
Trump will be raising your taxes in his first 100 days..
Some of the headlines have actually had been put out there just to get you to read
their lame ass articles that haven't had anything to do with Trump or his policies.
Has the left has lost their collective minds!
Personally, they need to step back and take a collective breath and give Trump a chance..
 We put up with 8yrs of Obama and them pushing the train wreck call obamacare
that was pushed the American people without any say.
I do like Trump's slogan,  "its time to drain the swamp"
Let see if he can really get things done in DC and get rid of some of the lifers who
care less about the American People and more about making a large bank account.


 

Son dies robbing a Pizza Hut and Mom wants Employee who killed him charged

I know losing your child is a pain no parent should have to go through,
whether your child is a kid or an adult,
But sometimes out children make some bad choices and pay the ultimate penalty.
I'm just glad non of mine did..  and I have made plenty!
But I have never pointed a gun at anyone and tried to rob them.
But in a recent story in the Washington Post.. there is a story about a Mother
who's son seem to make alot of bad choices,  first to make a couple of babies
with some woman and not have a way to be a man and pay for these children.
Yes, another one of those stories of some idiot making babies and not being responsible
for them,
But according to the story Michael Grace Jr, had held several menial jobs and was fired from
a Pizza Hut,  which led him down the path to his demise..
The don't say why his was fired, but his employment was termed..
But this genius decided that he needed money..  so he and two other decided they
would rob this Pizza Hut..  what I find interesting in this story is the writer says Mr Grace had
a pair of Air Jordans that he wore to this robbery..
Now, I dont know how he came to own a pair of them,  but I am going to assume he purchased them.
But if you are about homeless, you can't hold a job, and you have two children you should be
supporting,  how does one afford a pair of Air Jordan's?  but I digress,,
Mr Grace and his two friend enter the Pizza Hut he used to work and a gun was pointed
at the employee's at this Pizza Hut,  unfortunately, Mr Grace and his buddies weren't expecting
one of these employee's to point one back at them and actually use it!  Oh SNAP!
Mr Grace caught a bullet from this employee's gun.
What the story doesn't tell is if the Pizza Hut employee has a conceal carry permit.
Chances are the employee does..   but normally the left leaning media likes to jump all over that
and paint them as the bad person. but again I digress.
Mr Grace died right then and there..   no second, third or fiftieth chance for Mr Grace to
turn his life around.. its over for him.
Pizza Hut Company Policy according to this story is, the employee's are not allow to have a firearm
on the premise. so the employee who shot and killed Mr Grace may lose his job,
But at least he and his co-workers have their lives.
But now Mr Grace's mother, who is in pain for losing her son, wants the person who killed
her son in the commission of a crime charged with murder.
Her son needed help, not killing..    he need to go to prison,  not to the cemetery.
I understand her pain, she lost her son.. someone she gave birth to and loved...
But lady.. how would you feel if your son killed that employee?  or as long as it's not your child
its ok?
I guess in my world,  you pull a gun and point it at another human, you are meaning to use it
and that means the person has a right to defend them self.
Maybe Mr Grace's  mom did everything she could to raise him up right,
But Mr Grace decided to take and follow another path, and unfortunately this path
led to his demise..
Her son died robbing a Pizza Hut

Technology (Nerd Alert!)

As I read another story about Samsung Smart phones and their next phone would not have usb-c
built into it, but the port would be water proof with out a little rubber flap to seal the port (and eventually fall off)  the new Samsung phone was going to water proof..
Thus protecting those people who seem to pour liquids over their phones, or keep in places
that could be subjected to a bath.
But it got me thinking about how far technology and cell phone have come in the past 10yrs.
Back in the mid-90's I worked for a paging company that as a small division of Ameritech,
and there were meetings about the future of the telephone and what we know today
is the Land Line..
And they were talking to us as if the world as we knew it was coming to an end..
That the day was going to come where we wouldn't need an answering machine,
because we could take our home phones with us and we could even get phone calls
from our cordless house phones in our cars miles away!   WHAT?!  no way!
That was just crazy talk!   lol  what else could happen? flying cars?
Well, that was around 1995, about that time I got my first Motorola Flip phone.
with 100 mins for $30 a month, and long distance was another $10 month.
But roaming charges were brutal!  but yet, I could get that phone call in my car,
away from the house, in any major city!
By 2005 it was decided to eliminate the land line in my house.
Nobody called it, the only calls we got on it were from solicitors..
and the extra taxes we paid for that line..  it had to go.
But being raised with a land line,  it was hard to cut the cord!
My wife and both had grown up with one, and even though it wasn't being used.
it took some time to mentally prepare to get rid of it..
Today I have a wall jack in my kitchen and the Grandkids have asked what that was for?
If you look around, there are no pay phones on street corners any longer.
They have been removed from everywhere..  I was in a rest area in South Dakota
and the bank of pay phones were gone, the sitting area for them was still there, but the phones
were gone,   another change with cellular phone..
But now look at our cell phones,  they are more than just a phone to make calls on,
they are mini computers all in the palm of our hands..
We can check weather, sports, news,  banking, my friend Todd and me used them the fall of 2012
to look at motels on TripAdvisor.com while on a motorcycle trip.
They have build in GPS, they are mp3 players or you can stream music on it,
take pictures and instantly share them on line or text them to people all over the world!
With in minutes people on the other side of the world can see a picture you sent them.
all on a device we call a phone does so much more..
But even our desk phones at work have changed..
We can be assigned a phone number and log into any phone in the office
and receive phone calls as if were sitting at our assigned desk.
With the power of the new fangled IP Phones,    you can unplug it and take it across
the country to another office in the network and receive your phone calls.
there a software for your computer and a headset and you can answer your phone through
the computer.
The phone has come a long way since Bell said over a line "Watson come in here"
And I doubt anyone could have imagined what would transpire from the simple phone
Even Martin Cooper the first person to make a cell phone call on a device he developed,
couldn't have imagined how that device would change the world as we know it
So as you pick up that Android or iPhone and make a call or send a text,
stop and think about all the power you hold in your hand.. you hold more power
in the palm of your hand than the Apollo Astronauts had when they took fligh
and landed on the moon!
Crazy stuff isnt it?