Blog World Expo 2009

If you are looking to take your blog to the proverbial next level, you need to attend Blog World Expo in Las Vegas (check it out at www.blogworldexpo.com).  It is an opportunity to listen to and learn from the most experienced and successful bloggers around.  It is a chance to network with literally hundreds of others who are as passionate with the world of blogging as you are-sorry, I don’t like the term blogosphere.  It is a time to review services and new products from dozens of vendors, products that can improve the quality of your blog, help you attract new visitors to your blog and track all of your visitors too.  No question, the Blog World Expo in Las Vegas is the perfect setting to renew your enthusiasm for what can become a grind, posting to your blog day after day after day.

 

I am a writer.  I can produce great copy, especially in my niche.  I am computer literate, but I am technically inept.  Actually, calling me technically inept is somewhat of a compliment. I barely talk the talk; I need to be able to walk the walk.  I want to add bells and whistles to my blog.  Actually, I would settle for learning how to add video and podcasts, and an occasional plug-in too.  Blog World Expo is the place I need to be next weekend.  Unfortunately, instead of walking from the Las Vegas Hilton to the convention center-been there, done that in hot weather and would rather ride the monorail-I will be sitting at home in Nebraska, envious of those who are making the trek.

 

I did plan on attending this year’s Blog World Expo.  I had researched flights, and knew I would stay at the Hilton, as the conference room rate was super.  Unfortunately, as the deadline date neared, my wife came home with news that trumped my desire to attend the Expo.  She was losing her job, the job she had put much of her heart and soul into since 1989.  Her office will close October 31^st.  Actually, Jane told me to make the trip to Las Vegas anyway, that I needed to gain all the knowledge the Blog World Expo was sure to provide.  It was my decision to stay home.

 

So, I won’t be listening to Blog World Expo Keynote Speakers like Chris Brogan and Guy Kawasaki.  Instead of a tune up from blogging dynamo Robert Scoble, I will be taking my snow blower to the hardware store for a tune-up.  And, I won’t be meeting my blogging hero Darren Rowse, I’ll be eating potato chips and drinking Diet Coke while watching the University of Nebraska play football on TV.  OK, I admit the last comment was a little suck up for the contest, but much of what I have learned of blogging I credit to Pro Blogger and Darren.  And I know that if it hadn’t been for Darren I would not have 36,200 Twitter followers, or 4,300 Facebook friends.  And that is not a suck up comment.

 

If there is any positive from me not going to the Blog World Expo, it is that the last time I went to Las Vegas I got food poisoning.  I had not been that sick in years, and really ate nothing that should have made me sick.  Just hours before I was scheduled to leave for home, I was in the hotel bathroom—well, you don’t want to know more.  I am not sure how I made it through airport security.  I looked a mess.  Even though I had a coach class ticket, a kindly officer saw my plight and let me pass quickly through first class security.  And, praise be to Pepto-Bismol, sold at an airport newsstand. Without it I wouldn’t have had the strength to get on my plane.

 

Call me crazy, but I would be willing to risk food poisoning again, if the reward was an opportunity to take part in the 2009 Blog World Expo.  I work very hard on my blog.  Actually, my website www.therestofthedirt.com has three blogs-The Rest of the Dirt, which is a niche blog for auto racing enthusiasts; Ron Speaks Out-about anything from silky terriers to Sarah Palin; and, Stepping up To the Plate, writing of my love for baseball, and my efforts to lose weight. Anyway, I do work hard on the blogs, and want to make them more successful than they already are.  I might fly Southwest Airlines to Las Vegas, but I would fly the Expo to the success my blogs deserve.

 

Thanks for stopping by. And be sure to check out www.blogworldexpo.com.

Kahlua, Sophie, and Good Cheer

My grand-puppies Kahlua and Sophie go to doggie daycare on Wednesdays and Fridays.  Both must have some type of inner clock that goes off on just those days, because they absolutely know when they are going to Mark and Leanne’s.  It must be a riot with upwards of a dozen or more small dogs taking over the place.  Really, it must be, as both come home exhausted from a fun day playing with their friends.

 

The weather is definitely autumnal in Nebraska.  Temperatures were in the low 30’s this morning, and highs today are only supposed to be in the 40’s. Mark and Leanne put coats on the girls when they went out to play this morning, a hooded coat for tiny Kahlua, and a “regular” coat for Sophie.  Kahlua, always the diva, loved the fashion statement, but Sophie felt the coat was impinging on her freedom and was working on ways to get it off.  The two silky terriers love each other when no adults are around, but they have totally different personalities. Both have managed to accomplish what no other dog has done-they have me spoiling them.

 

Sophie-who owns my daughter Amanda, has a birthday coming up later this month.  Amanda is planning a sleep over for Kahlua, and has found a store that sells carib cake mix for doggie birthday cakes.  I would say I have heard it all now, but I know I haven’t.  Anyway, Amanda intends to bake doggie cup cakes for the girls to celebrate Sophie’s third birthday.  For that night at least both dogs won’t run to my dining room chair and stand by me with front paws on my leg, begging for some people food.

 

That does create quite a quandary for me.  My son Matt yells at me if I feed Kahlua and Amanda becomes irate if I feed Sophie.  I know I am not supposed to feed them. But both puppies look at me with soulful eyes, and all but ask ‘how can you resist something so cute?” I can’t, and incur the wrath of my children. 

 

Anyway, I really needed a smile today, and hearing about the doggie coats gave me one.  Both puppies are always good for a laugh or a smile.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

Oral History Of Our Nation’s Conflicts

For years a concerted effort has been made to record the World War II memories of individual veterans.  We are losing hundreds of these veterans everyday, and without such an effort, a priceless oral history of the war would be lost.  I know my Dad was reluctant to discuss his time on Guam, and if asked would downplay what he did.  I wish we had been more forceful in getting him to relate his story before he passed.

 

If I have thought of it, I am sure others more capable have too, but I would hope that oral histories are being taken from Korean War veterans too.  These men and women aren’t much younger than our WWII veterans.  Someone who was 20 in 1952 is now 77 years old.  Perhaps the dark humor of the movie and TV show M*A*S*H allows us a sense of what happened, but stories of our front-line fighters are just as important as those of doctors and nurses who helped heal them.

 

While 50 may be the new 30, Vietnam era veterans are aging like all baby-boomers.  Maybe this is a war we would like to forget, but maybe, just maybe it is the one we should remember most.  Again, if I thought of it, I am sure someone more capable has thought of a way to give Vietnam vets and outlet to share their memories. Never has a conflict so divided our nation.  I have read plenty of what war protesters had to say-I was a part of it.  I have read of what our political leaders have said.  I would like to hear what a Marine at Khe Sanh or Hue has to say.  Or the recollections of a helicopter crew member flying from Saigon just before it was overrun.  Yes, I know, you can find almost anything on the internet.  I guess I am a hard copy, book sort of guy, and maybe I haven’t been looking hard enough.

 

At some point in time the memories of veterans of Iraq 1 and 2 and Afghanistan need to be recorded too.  We have more than enough biographies of war time Generals; we need to learn more of what the “little guy” suffered through. The old cliché about “if we don’t learn from history, we are doomed to repeat it” could more apt than evermore in Afghanistan. 

 

Thanks for stopping by.

Palin, Beck, Teddy Roosevelt, Sushi, Roller Coasters, Dancing With The Stars, Survivor, and National Parks.

I see Sarah Palin has finished her memoirs.  I am overwhelmed with possible smart comments on this.  My daughter figures that some author will provide and accompanying text titled “Educated Person’s Guide To Sarah Palin Writings.”  Accompanying text or not, this memoir goes into my “won’t ever do it file.”

 

One politician I do plan on learning more about though is Theodore Roosevelt.  After watching the first two nights of the PBS film “National Parks,” I am amazed by all this President did for our park system.  He was quite eloquent as well, and while the Rough Rider persona is intriguing, a President sleeping under the stars in Yosemite sans entourage is totally fascinating to me.  I really can’t picture George W. Bush doing this.  To be fair, I can’t see Bill Clinton doing that either.  Al Gore, maybe, but not Bill Clinton.  Barack Obama would do it because someone would say he wouldn’t.  Actually, the Secret Service wouldn’t let any of them do such a thing-how could they do background checks on all the bears in the forest?

 

I see Glen Beck has a book out now.  Is it called “Stupid Sayings From A Real Jerk?”  I would be more likely to read Sarah Palin’s memoirs than anything from this person, and I have already said I won’t be reading Palin’s book.  I would be more likely to eat sushi than to read anything by Beck.  I would be more likely to ride a roller coaster than to read anything by this Fox fraud.  I would be more likely to eat sushi on a roller coaster than to rediscover what I already know-Glen Beck has nothing to contribute to a national dialogue.

 

OK, I am reading Teddy Roosevelt.  I am not reading Glen Beck or Sarah Palin.  I am not eating sushi or riding a roller coaster.  I am not bungee jumping, nor will I parachute from a plane.  Maybe Glen Beck could bungee jump.  I am not going to appear on the TV show Survivor.  I wish they had a TV show called “Dancing With Bloggers.”  Or that my blog would make me famous enough to go on “Dancing With The Stars.”  Yeah, I would embarrass myself in front of millions, but dancing with Edyta for weeks before the first show would certainly be worth the humiliation.

 

I am not going to live in New York City.  I would live in San Francisco.  I would love to live in San Francisco.  I would love to retire in San Francisco.  I would love to be able to retire, but the past few years make that act seem far away.  Maybe I could retire sooner if someone offered me millions to parachute from a plane, or appear on the Glen Beck show and tell him I think he is intelligent.  Nah, some things I just won’t do.

 

Three years ago I would never have said “I want a dog.”  Now with my two grandpuppies Kahlua and Sophie I wish I had a few more silky terriers running around the house.  Actually I wish I could have both cloned.  The diva and the lover who always get treats from me when they even look like they are going to beg.  Actually, I really do want grandchildren too, preferably at an age when I can still enjoy them. 

 

So, here is the score card on this post.  Sophie and Kahlua are smarter than Sarah Palin and Glen Beck, and can live with me in San Francisco.  I will not be serving sushi in my San Francisco home, though beef isn’t that great there. Anyway, my Asian daughter says that sushi refers to rice, not raw fish.  Raw fish is sashimi. Glen Beck and Sarah Palin can parachute from an airplane. And eat sashimi when they land.  Either could appear on Survivor, but neither should appear on Dancing With The Stars-Tom DeLay has more than covered the right wingers dancing party.  I have added Yosemite, Grand Canyon, and Yellowstone National Parks to my bucket list.  I would even camp out with Al Gore at Yosemite. I would love to go to the bottom of Grand Canyon, but wouldn’t want to ride a mule to get there and figure that hiking to the bottom would be hell on me, and don’t even want to think about what climbing back out would be.  And finally, maybe I could interview Edyta from Dancing With The Stars for my blog.

 

That pretty much covers how my mind has been working today.  Oh, wait.  Another reason I want to learn more about Teddy Roosevelt is because while waiting to board a plane in the Milwaukee airport, someone told me I looked like Roosevelt-Teddy, not Franklin.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

Liars, Muggers, And Thieves-AKA Health Care Industry CEO’s

It has been awhile since I spoke out.  However, I continue to be amazed by people who let television pundits or silly commercials sway their thinking regarding health care reform.  To me the pundits lose any credibility when they start talking about miniscule health care industry profits.  I keep hearing that the health insurance industry is only making a 2% profit.  These same “experts” say nothing about health industry donations to our elected officials that run into hundreds of millions of dollars, nor do they mention Washington lobbyists that the health care industry spends even more on.  And who do you think is spending $1.5 million a day on “scare tactic” commercials?  If you did not answer “the health care industry” you need to study this issue much closer.

 

I don’t trust politicians.  Republican politicians are like dummies for the ventriloquists Beck and Limbaugh.  I take what Democrats say with more than a few grains of salt.  However, if the CEO of a health insurance company told me the sun rises in the east, I would want more proof.  Why anyone would believe anything these liars, muggers, and thieves say is beyond me.  If you haven’t had an insurance claim turned down, you have to know someone who has.  Newscasts often talk of patients-human beings, not numbers, who are in dire need of treatment that insurance companies refuse to pay for, yet we read of CEO’s of these companies making as much as $24,000,000 a year.  When I grew up history books told of robber barons of the late 1800’s in the oil and railroad industries.  While there may be no history books to read in the future, my grandchildren will be learning of robber barons in the insurance and pharmaceutical industries. These people deserve a jail term, not the opportunity to influence anyone about health care reform.

 

Now that I working on a “big angry,”  I better take a blood pressure pill-you know, the patent protected drug that costs double or more in the U.S. than anywhere else in the world.  No, we don’t need a change.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

Not On MY Bucket List

I’ve talked about my sports fantasy if I ever won the Powerball lottery, but there are numerous events I wouldn’t want to attend no matter how much money I had in my bank account. Start with the Super Bowl.

 

Like everyone else, I do watch the most hyped sporting event of the year. However, when the game gets boring, and better than half the time it does, if I am watching on TV I can walk away, read a book, play a computer game.  Truth be known, even if I had millions in my bank account, I would not be a fat cat, just fat.  I would rather go to the San Francisco Bowl and see two mediocre college teams play in the rain on a field not designed for football.

 

The Masters is another event I can’t generate a lot of enthusiasm over.  Honestly, I would rather go to the Skins Game.  I would love to go to the President’s Cup, and a journey to a Ryder Cup competition would be a trip of a lifetime, but the Masters, nah, don’t bother.

 

I’ll pass on the NCAA Final Four too.  Something about playing basketball in a domed football stadium just doesn’t feel right.  I’ve been to 1^st and 2^nd round NCAA tournament games and they are great.  I would see them again if I could get a ticket.  Better yet would be the ACC tournament in a basketball arena.

 

I am not much of a fan of Indy Car racing, so a pilgrimage to the famed speedway in Indianapolis just isn’t going to happen in this life.  I would however watch the same cars at a race at Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa.  Go figure.

 

All major sports All-Star games are a no go on my part.  I would go to any game at Wrigley Field before going to the MLB All-Star game, even a Cubs vs. Nationals game.

Same with the NFL, only substitute Lambeau Field for Wrigley Field.  I would go to a December game in Green Bay, but wouldn’t fly to somewhere warm in early February to watch the NFL All-Star game.  Years and years ago I was a hockey fan.  If you want to know when, check out when the Omaha Knights were a Central Hockey League farm club of the New York Rangers.  The Rangers left, I became interested in other things, and I don’t think I would go to any NHL game anymore, including the league’s All-Star game.  I love college basketball, don’t much care for the pro game, and truly have no desire to go to the NBA All-Star game, not even for the dunk and three point contests.  I do like LeBron James, and wouldn’t mind sitting my Jack Nicholson at a Lakers vs. Cavalier contest.

 

I call any NASCAR race at Pocono, Dover, or New Hampshire nap time.  I would not walk across the street to get in free to any of these races. I would rather spend time reading about Jeremy Mayfield’s foibles than go to a race at those tracks.  I would however go to watch NASCAR stars race on dirt in the Prelude to the Dream, which just happens to be on HBO PPV tonight.  Look it up, you won’t regret it.

 

Obviously being a Nebraskan, I am a big Husker fan.  My son and I have season tickets to UNL home games, and take a road trip occasionally.  Two places I would not go to watch the Huskers play are Boulder and Columbia.  To call fans of the Buffs and Tigers rude would be to stretch the truth greatly.  I’ve been through both towns and I would like to leave it at that.

 

I will end on an event I would like to see.  I would love to see and OSU vs. Michigan game in Columbus.  I have always liked Ohio State and disliked everything about Michigan from their uniforms to their fight song to their stadium.  And that is the truth; I am not just saying that to suck up to readers in Ohio.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

Woodstock IV, Well, Sort Of

 

Rarely do I use the same post in The Rest of the Dirt and Ron Speaks Out.  Normally the topic in one just doesn’t seem to fit my concept of the other.  Today though The Rest of the Dirt is more about an event than a race, and it seems like I can use the post in Ron Speaks Out, too.

 

I came upon a child of God,

He was walking along the road.

I asked him where was he going,

This he told me.

-Woodstock, written by Joni Mitchell

 

Well, the answer in the song was “Yasgur’s farm,” not America’s Home Track, but last night Eagle Raceway definitely had the air of a mini-Woodstock.  It was a free show.  Traffic was backed up on the highways for miles.  People parked their cars by the highway and walked to the track.  And it was the biggest crowd at a Nebraska race track in years, maybe scores of years.

Ancient race historian Lee Ackerman would remember more about large crowds than I do, but most Nebraska tracks were built for just a few thousand people to watch racing.  I seem to recall an Ackerman missive about a wood track built near Carter Lake, Iowa-Carter Lake being on the Nebraska side of the Missouri River due to constant shifting of the old Missouri River channel-and at least one race held there was watched by 50,000 people.  There were well more than 10,000 people at Eagle last night, and that is certainly a modern day record.

Matt and I left home at 4:00 p.m., just like we always do when going to Eagle.  Unfortunately for us, people started arriving at the track at 1:00 p.m., and by the time we pulled into the gates, the lower grandstands were nearly full.  Good for us, we happen to know people in low and high places, and were able to watch the races from the announcer’s booth.  And we watched the prelims too, mostly as car after car after car made the turn from Highway 34 to the grounds of Eagle Raceway.  Not long after we arrived traffic was backed up in both directions on Highway 34, and on Highway 64 coming from the north and I-80.

And people kept coming.  Cars were parked across the road from the track parking lot.  And then, cars were parked north of the pit area, something never done before.  And cars continued to arrive.  Finally Cass County’s finest made the scene, and apparently were not as impressed by the happening as me.  I think there was some discussion with track officials then the county polizei blocked off the entrance to the track and did not allow any additional cars to enter.  It was just a rumor, but I heard that the gendarmes were writing tickets to all cars parked along public roads. I guess that was supposed to be a quick way to add to ailing county coffers.  From my vantage point it seemed like additional police vehicles were arriving every minute, so most of Cass County must have been unprotected last night, though all the fans at Eagle were quite safe.  I do understand that the parked cars along the highway were somewhat of a safety hazard, but issuing tickets was definitely a chicken shit move in my opinion. The editor of my blog, me, said I could use that word one time only.

Basically a party was happening, and races just happened to break out.  The band ‘Booby Trap’ played before and after the races.  NASCAR great Ken Schrader was on hand to race and sign autographs.  Former Nebraska football players were on hand, and they even brought along a few current Huskers as their guests.  Matt took a cell phone photo of him and wide receiver Niles Paul to send to his wife to show who he was hanging with. People were ready to have a good time, and that they did.  There is always some standing at the track-sprint car fans are strange that way-even when there is plenty of seating available.  Last night there was no seating available for the throng of fans along the concourse.

Promoter Roger Hadan discovered that the track’s best promoters were its drivers, sponsors, and employees.  They handed out thousands of free tickets to the Eagle Shoot Out.  I talked to Roger several days before the event, and he had been told that he could expect less than 1/3^rd of the tickets to actually be redeemed.  Apparently the prognosticators didn’t take into consideration it was a dirt track handing out the tickets, and it was for a holiday race.  Far more than 1/3^rd of the tickets were actually redeemed.

Hadan probably thought the best line of the night was the long, make that LONG line, at the concession stands that never seemed to grow shorter.  I was amazed by the line of people waiting to use the men’s restroom.  I am pretty sure there was a direct correlation to that line and the line at the beer stand.  Actually, the best line of the night came from my son Matt.  Now Matt takes an early morning boot camp like work out course in Omaha.  It includes plenty of lifting, and he also lifts at the Wellness Center at the YMCA in Fremont.  He does have strong arms.  Apparently he was comparing biceps with Nebraska speedy wide receiver Niles Paul, and said Paul’s upper arms didn’t look much stronger than his.  Then he said “I guess he probably has a few more fast twitch muscles than I do.”  Yeah Matt, I am pretty sure he has just a few more fast twitch muscles than you.

I almost forgot that a new world’s record was set last night at Eagle.  Oriental Trading Company sponsored the Eagle Shoot Out, and provided whoopy cushions for the first 8,500 people to enter the gates.  Right after the final hobby stock heat race, announcer Stan Cisar had everyone blow up their whoopy cushion.  The track videographer taped all the people in the grandstands holding their whoopy cushions aloft to document the event.  Everyone placed their whoopy cushion on their seat, and when the flag man waved his green flag, they all sat on the cushions, setting a new world’s record.  It is kind of difficult to describe the exact sound, and I will leave that to your imagination. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I happen to love the humor of The Three Stooges, so this was certainly my kind of entertainment.

Matt and I decided to leave during intermission, mainly because we knew it was going to be beyond a mess getting out when the races ended.  Still, it was a fun time, and I hope the track will host a Shoot Out again next Labor Day weekend.  Cass County sheriffs may think otherwise, but it was a great evening for Nebraska racing.

We did not go to I-80 raceway as we had discussed previously.  The races were still going on, and though it was almost impossible to see the crowd from Highway 64 because of the track lights, I am pretty sure the crowd at Eagle’s neighbor to the north was not as large as at America’s Home Track.

And I still think that the Fremont contestant for Miss Nebraska Cup should be selected.

Thanks for stopping by.

A Quick Trip To The City By The Bay

After the past few months I have had, I was hoping for a vacation.  My plan was to spend a few days in San Francisco with Jane and Amanda, and when they went home, go to Las Vegas for the Blog World Expo.  It doesn’t look like either is going to happen as Jane’s job is more than a little in peril.  So, I guess I will just have to blog about what I would have done.

 

Jane and I may be tired by the flights from Omaha to San Francisco, but Amanda never is, and she seems to get her dad to get in action right away.  I suspect we would have stayed at the Argonaut Hotel in the Cannery.  We enjoy the Washington Square Inn, but no elevator, too many steps, and four tired knees rule it out. A trip to Washington Square probably would have been a first afternoon outing for Amanda and I, while Jane relaxed at the hotel.  A bus ride, lots of people watching at Washington Square, and a short walk to City Lights Bookstore would have been plenty of activity for me.

 

Lou’s Pier 47 is a nice restaurant/blues club.  We’ve ate there several times before, the food is good, and though the blues club is on the second floor and the restaurant is on the first floor, you can still hear the music performed by good local blues bands.  Follow that up with a walk to Walgreens to pick up items we always seem to forget, maybe walk through some of the shops at the Cannery, stop for an ice cream cone, then back to the hotel and some much needed rest.

 

Joanie’s Happy Day Diner may sound like a silly name for a restaurant, but it is a nice diner with good, reasonably priced food.  The food is better than any hotel food and cheaper too. Follow a block walk to Starbucks to pick up a New York Times, walk another block and cross the street to Joanie’s.  You can eat outside, but San Francisco mornings anytime of the year are cool enough that I would rather eat inside the diner. 

 

My Korean daughter has a fascination with all things Japanese for some reason, so while Jane stayed at the hotel taking a spa treatment, Amanda and I would take a taxi to Japantown.  Coming back to the hotel, lunch might be a bag of In & Out Hamburgers, a fast food restaurant a block from the hotel.  Amanda and I would play tacky tourists-we do that well-wandering around Fisherman’s Wharf in the afternoon.  That night we would take a taxi to North Beach and eat at The Stinking Rose, where the motto is “we season our garlic with food.”  Several years ago we ate there and Amanda had 40 clove garlic chicken.  Jane had a garlic braised pork chop, and I had garlic crusted prime rib, which happened to be the best beef I have ever had outside of Nebraska.  After dinner, Club Fugazi is just a two block walk.  Club Fugazi hosts Beach Blanket Babylon a whacky musical satire that is absolutely hilarious.  That seems like a plenty for one day.

 

The last day of our stay in San Francisco, Amanda and I always get up early and walk out on the pier by Aquatic Park.  Few people are up and about when we make this hike, and though is always chilly, the sights, sounds, and smells more than make up for the cold.  Several times we have walked in fog, which is fascinating.  The Golden Gate Bridge is only a few miles away, and the fog constantly shifts.  One moment you might see part of one tower, the next moment part of the other tower.  The entire bridge might come into view for a minute then be totally blocked by the fog.  Once an ocean going cargo ship came sailed out of the fog for a few seconds, then slipped back into it like a ghost ship.  This walk is always our pledge to return to the city by the bay.

 

After breakfast at Joanie’s, a visit to the Asian Art Museum would be in order.  Artifacts thousands of years old are part of this huge collection.  After a few hours at the museum, a taxi ride to North Beach and lunch would fit the bill.  Amanda loves the chicken at Il Pollaio-and with a name like that the chicken has to be good-so lunch at Il Pollaio.  A few blocks walk up and down Columbus Avenue is a good choice after a big lunch, and so is a stop at Washington Square for more people watching.  The afternoon would include a ride downtown on the cable cars then back to the cable car turn around, just a block away from the Argonaut Hotel.  The wait to get aboard one of the cable cars is often longer than the ride, but the ride is well worth the wait.

 

I love North Beach pizza, and insist on it being a meal at least once every time we are in San Francisco.  North Beach pizza and an in-room movie serve as fairly cheap entertainment.  Amanda and I might take a final walk around Fisherman’s Wharf as Jane packs for our early morning flight. 

 

The last bit of excitement on our San Francisco trips comes on our drive to the airport.  No, not driving under the Bay Bridge, as interesting as that may be.  No, not the already busy freeway.  What is exciting is whether or not I make the right turn to the airport to take the rental car back.  Two out of our last three trips I have not made the correct turn, and I have heard about it plenty.

 

Well, it was fun thinking about a quick trip to my favorite city, but instead of taking the place of a vacation, it only made me want to go even more.  Darn.  Thanks for stopping by.

A Good Man

I saw a Twitter post today that linked to “101 Ways To Irritate Someone.”  I was going to check it out when I realized I already know thousands of ways to irritate people and have been practicing my craft for over 50 years.  This is one case I could be the teacher and not the pupil.

I was amazed time and again by the personal stories our leaders told of Ted Kennedy since his passing..  No question he was a great Senator, certainly the greatest of recent time, and maybe of all time.  But the genuine compassion of Kennedy to others was astounding.  It was not to cultivate political gain like so many of our “leaders” might practice, it was real.  No question Kennedy had many faults, but who among us doesn’t?  I could start a blog titled “My Faults,” and relate one a day for weeks, months, maybe years. 

Kennedy will be judged by history in all that he accomplished in the limelight of Washington politics, and it is society’s loss that this great mediator died when his talents were so terribly needed in an age when partisan politics seems to rise about the needs of our country.  Still, the measure of this man may be all we do not know about him, that he did simply because it was the right thing to do.

I wonder who among our Senators and Congressmen can rise to the occasion and bring about needed health care reform that the majority of Americans can agree on. I am afraid we have no such leader. I have watched some pander to constituents, fueling resentments, not leading as they were elected to do.  They will be forgotten when they are defeated after a term or two in office when voters understood they are nothing but photo op facades.

How many people could claim Senators Hatch and McCain as friends, and also claim President Obama and Vice President Biden?  I will miss Senator Kennedy.  We all will.

Thanks for stopping by.

A Profile Of Courage

 

The Rest of the Dirt blog post I did on talented young IMCA modified driver Chase Hanson from Utah had an unexpected result.  Several of Chase’s fans read the post and one wrote me about another Utah driver with quite a story, Harvey Howard.  Harvey’s family owns Desert Thunder Raceway in Price, Utah.  He used to drive a late model, but now races an IMCA modified.  In addition to racing for weekly points, Harvey runs in the Wild West Northern Series as well.  The series consists of seven two days shows in New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Idaho, and Nevada, then finishes with the 4 day Las Vegas event in November.  Harvey is currently 13^th in tour points, and finished 6^th in the tour in 2007.

 

Until he was 16 Harvey raced motocross. At that very young age a motocross accident left him paralyzed from the waist down. His story is quite a story, and one I never knew about.  Neither did the publishers of Dirt Modified Magazine, but he wants me to do Harvey’s story for the magazine.

 

Harvey Howard is a perfect example of why I have practically begged people to let me know about drivers I can write of on my blog.  Every driver is worthy of having his story told.  I don’t care if the driver has never won a race and never will.  There is something about everyone that will make the story a good one.  I can’t tell you how many “Holy Shit, that is really good,” moments I have had interviewing drivers since 2003.  A bunch is as close as I can figure. I thank Angela Cooper for letting me know of the Harvey Howard story, and hope others will write me about drivers, promoters, officials and yes, even fans.

 

As I was writing the above for today’s Rest of the Dirt blog it hit me that I just like writing about people.  There used to be a segment on one of the TV weekend news shows where the host turned his back to a map of the United States and tossed a dart at the map.  Whatever town the dart stuck in he went to.  The next scene showed him holding a local phone book, closing his eyes, opening the book, and pointing to a name.  He did a story on that person, and invariably it was a good one. 

 

I would love to do a cheaper version of that on my Ron Speaks Out blog.  I get tired of writing about politics, big oil, big insurance, and big drug companies.  Most days writing about the economy is as much fun as having a root canal.  I haven’t flown anywhere in a few months, so none of the airlines has irritated me.  I am even getting tired of ridiculing Sarah Palin.  OK, the last sentence was a lie, but the rest are facts.  I need to write about something that feels good.

 

Why not do some profiles?  I keep saying everyone has a story that deserves to be told.  Most people wouldn’t have thought that Tim Russert’s father would make much of a story, but Russert’s “Big Russ” memoir became a best seller.  There are 250,000,000 stories in America that are just as good as the story of Big Russ.  I would love to tell a few of them on my blog.  So email me (brutonnb@yahoo.com) and tell me about your mom or dad, brother or sister, aunt or uncle, neighbor, coach, preacher, yes, your garbage collector.  I would love to tell their story.  And, I am not against guest bloggers either.  If you want to tell a story about someone I would gladly provide you the opportunity.

 

I didn’t write much from April-July.  I had my shoulder surgery in April, my Dad went to the hospital in mid-May and that was a 40 day ordeal.  His passing left me not wanting to do much of anything, including writing.  Now I am finding writing is good and relatively cheap therapy, and there are many more stories I want to tell. So send me some names.

 

Thanks for stopping by.