Bisbee Arizona

Our writers chapter went there to have a retreat.  We stayed at the Gym Club and Suites, up the street from the Copper Queen Hotel and the Museum.    (Use the Gym Club Link for links to Bisbee landmarks and activities).

Some of us were there just for a quiet place to write.  Others were looking to brainstorm ideas.

This is not unique.  If you read Robert Massie’s biography of Peter the Great, when Peter visited the London of 1698, it was full of coffeehouses.  Lloyds of London, for example, began in a coffee house where Maritime Insurance was discussed.  In other coffeehouses writers worked out plots and dilemmas, which is what we were doing.

Bisbee is fun and quirky.   Differences are tolerated.  It is a 100 minute drive from my home in Central Tucson.    It is a half hour South of  Tombstone.  I would not want to live there.  Too far from what I do.

Lunch Friday was @ the Copper Queen Hotel, according to Google Maps, 242 feet from our hotel, downhill.  We passed the 105 year old Presbyterian church which on its sign had a great phrase.  “Visitors Expected.”

Dinner was for fourteen of us farther down the street at a Mexican restaurant called Santiago’s  The food is great, but next year, we will make sure to make reservations.  According to Google, Santiago’s is 217 feet from the hotel.

Durning the day, waked Main Street, the Honey Store is an interesting place with a chatty, funny owner.  The library is above the post office.  The hills surrounding the town have some unique houses on them, and some of the Linden trees growing there give a feeling of Tuscany.

Definitely plan to return.

A Cilantro Free Zone.

Several of us went out to dinner at one of the El Charro locations.  El Charro is the home of a Tucson invention, the Chimichanga.    We discovered one of our friends does not like Cilantro.

Why is this a problem?  Cilantro is also C oriander, used throughout the world for flavoring.  In Mexican cooking, it is heavily used in Salsa and Guacamole.

There is no faster way to get a Mexican waiter to raise his eyebrows than to say, “I don’t like Cilantro!”

It is unnerving when the wait staff has to draw straws to see who goes back to the kitchen to tell the cook, do not put Cilantro in at Table 15.

There is a Monty Python skit with a fancy French restaurant and John Cleese as the deranged chef.

Everyone looks on in sheer terror as the Chef slams his cleaver down the middle of the table with the manager crying, “Alejandro,

¡nunca mate a un cliente! (never kill a customer).

And now the punchline.  I’m glad I like mole!

Governor Janet,

This refers to outgoing Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, who is leaving to become Barack Obama’s head of Homeland Security.

A great choice.  We in Arizona have to live with it.  She was Governor when I moved here.   I wish her the best in her duties.

North American Union.

I have been reading a lot about this lately.  Someone’s idea of one North American currency called the Amero.  Former Mexican President Vincente Fox giving a speech at Wayne State Univ. in Detroit on this topic.

If I thought for a minute it was benefit the people of the United States, I would be all for it.  Something tells me this is not going to be beneficial to us and once it happens, can it be undone?

There are some days of the week, when hunkering down in my beloved Sonoran Desert is looking better and better.

Tucson Citizen Police Academy, A Little Silliness.

My friend Cori on Palin’s Travels threw has been writing this just to have some fun.
In our last episode:

CSI: Tuscon

crime lab technician: “Hey Grissom — I mean, Tuscon, you’re gonna want to see this…”

[Silhouetted figure appears, blaring desert sun behind him, heat waves rising, until the solemn face of TusconMike becomes visible. He stops one step short of crime scene.]

[crime lab tech holds up a clump of something in her long tweezers]

crime lab tech: “It’s another…furball.”

TusconMike: “He’s toying with us.”

to be continued…

***

CSI: Tuscon
Act II

[techno music plays as lab tech runs various tests on suspect furball. TusconMike enters, leans in doorway.]

TusconMike: Got those results for me?

lab tech: Yeah, Gris – I mean, Tuscon. Full spectrum analysis reveals an anomaly in the DNA. The suspect, it seems, is predisposed to…

TusconMike: Yeah? Out with it, man!

lab tech: …well…it’s so rare, it’s uncanny. The condition known as Borderline Yerbicitis Neurosis.

TusconMike: A YERBIE?

[TusconMike rushes away from lab, speed-walks down the hall, hits a speed dial button on his cell, frantic. After a 3rd ring...]

TusconMike: C’mon, COME ON, answer!

[voice of Katherine over the line]: Willows here. Hey, Gris – I mean – Tuscon, you wouldn’t believe what Sara and I found, it’s…

TusconMike: There’s no time! Get out NOW.

[Scene change to cellar of suburban desert home. Katherine inadvertently aims her blue light at Sara. Katherine is frozen and her eyes grow wide.]

Sara: ‘You smell that? What the…

[cut to black screen, sound of tool kit smashing to floor]

to be continued…

Need to upload a picture of the small cat better knowns as Yerbie.

Tucson Citizen Police Academy, September 17th, 2008

     I was so into this, I forgot my sister’s birthday.  She is on Long Island, so three hours ahead of me, I will call her over the weekend.  Three kids and a 120 mile round trip commute make for a busy life.

     I will begin this post with the first time I ever heard of Tucson.  There was a prolific Belgian mystery writer named Georges Simenon.  He had many novels about a Paris police detective named Maigret.  One of these, Maigret at the Coroner takes place in Tucson in 1950.  So it is funny how parts of one life converge, Police in Tucson, Arizona.

     Last night, we learned about police high speed pursuit driving.  Forget about shows like Cops, where we were told, many of the cops are violating rules like mad.  When do you break off a chase to not risk lives?  How do you keep from being so pumped up, you cannot turn the adrenaline off?  You are not just driving after someone, you have to be on the radio, describe the vehicle, get a license plate and stay with the chase safely.  In other words, multitasking on a major level. 

     First, we got to go in police cars with an instructor driving the course at the Police Academy.  The police cars have been taken out of active duty and are driving at the academy until they are dead.

     The course has 2000 cones, a skid patch and a NASCAR style curve.  You have to drive the course in under a minute thirty.  The record is a minute seventeen.  You are thrown all over the place.  I do not normally get carsick, but I was queasy.

     I tried out the police simulator.  It was adrenaline pumping, that is for sure.  You have to control the adrenaline to stay in control of the situation.  It is like playing American Football.  You have to be willing to “calm down” when the referee whistles the play dead.    If you are chasing someone, your gut is “when I catch this so and so…”.  You can’t do that.  You have to remain in control the entire time.

     I can safely say I have an understanding.   As corny as it sounds, I salute you folks.  I am glad you excel at this and you are out there protecting us.

The Presidential Candidates Dealing with Putin.

     I’ll start with the Democrats.  Putin will just write Biden off as a bore and send him packing.  Senator Obama will open with, “Let’s talk.”  Putin will agree with the smile like the wolf in bed instead of Granny greeting Little Red Riding Hood.  The Russia will be rude, crude and run roughshod.

     Senator McCain and Governor Palin will go in there as bad cop and worse cop.  Senator McCain will pound his fist on the table after matching Putin vodka shot for vodka shot.  “Listen, you Russki son of a bitch.  I fought and was a victim of your surrogates in Vietnam.  You wil do as you are told.”

    “Boss, you want me to shoot him”, Governor Palin smiles, brandishing the 30.06.     Putin uses his martial arts, disarms her, has McCain as his prisoner.

     Now what?  Anyone who wants can play with this.  I am silly, still having my coffee.  I am also grumpy etc.

Magic Bus Post, Kingman Arizona

I posted this on Jon Kelly’s blog on BBC.  He met some motorcycle riders in Kingman, Arizona.

Jon, that is true.  One of the great joys of living in Arizona IS the open space, whether hiking, on a motorcycle or just driving with the windows down.  I have been in England and yes much of it is crowded.
Obamasmama’s you are right about living in New York.  Brooklyn is where I grew up.  I now have a completely different world view from my mother and two sisters.  New Yorkers are internationalist and provincial in the same breath (ask me how that is possible).  On the other hand, my mother’s cousin in San Antonio is married to someone who is a friend of Senator McCain.  I am closer to my cousins in some ways.  You know who they are supporting.
To understand WHY Senator McCain chose Governor Palin (no, not Michael LOL, and you should see the comments on Palin’s Travels), read Deerhunting with Jesus by Joe Bageant.  Easy fun quick read.  You will get a real understanding.  For those of you who saw Governor Palin’s interview with Charlie Gibson, no question he did not like her and was looking down on her.  If the mainstream media is smart strategically, they will NOT interview her.  Why?  Because much of Middle America will just see it as the “Elite Media” coming down on one of their own.  You notice, ever since Senator McCain chose Governor Palin, she is the one being paid attention to.  The Obama camp attacks the Senator, but not her.
I was reading a New Europe article about the choice of Governor Palin.  Like them, at first, I thought Senator McCain had lost his mind.  (Friends of mine who are lifelong Arizonans say he is slipping).  Now, it is proving to be a clever if flippant move in some ways.
OldSouth, I like the way those guys protected the funeral home.  I work with bikers.  I like the bikers I work with.
Abiquiu, my Canadian Toastmasters friends are telling me about the mess you guys are having.
Ninjalinz, I remember Hells Angels HQ and CBGB well.
Buckeyeman, it is true, buying the motorcycle is not cheap, but you certainly save on gas.  And yes, I like Governor Janet.
Some Republicans in Arizona may cross over to Senator Obama or vote for the Libertarian Party.  Why?  A South Carolina and an Arizona Republican have issues they do not agree on.  Arizona Republicans fall into two types (as a very general rule).
1.  Economic Conservatives in Maricopa County.
2.  People who are really Libertarians.  They will not want Governor Palin telling them how to live.
I was supporting Senator McCain until he chose Governor Palin.  Now I am not so sure.
If you live in Arizona, Washington is VERY removed.  Geographically, we are closer to Mexico City, just to give you an idea.
Having said that, much of the land here is owned by some level of government.
I know what I want for me.  Bluntly, I am not happy with either candidate and I am a little afraid for the future.
Newsweek had an article about  Senator Obama making a stop at a diner in the Ozarks.  Some of these people will vote for the Democrats if they feel they are not being “talked down to.”  You have to read Deerhunting for Jesus for more detail.;-)
Much of what people in Europe do not understand about why our elections are going a certain way need to read some more detailed American History.  Guys like Andrew Jackson.  The people whose ancestors originated in Jon’s region, Southern Scotland and the Borders.  Read the Border Reviers by the late George MacDonald Fraser and you will get some idea.
Aw shucks, Rainlawrence, you didn’t think I would leave YOU out, did you?
To paraphrase Monty Python, are you a Chartered Accountant, planning to become a Lion Tamer?;-)  Do some more reading about us.  Much of our history is great, much is not.  I am not going to defend everything about us.  Don’t you want to know about your friends the Americans?  I like learning things about MY friends, the Brits.
This election is the most important in eighty years (because for that long, it is the first time with no incumbent).  Also we have a lot to overcome.   There are others I wanted to be President, but my opinion was not asked for.:-)  BBC actually has a story about what it takes to be President.  You tell me who is up to the way the job has evolved.
The Libertarian streak in me is growing, but we are going to need some government interference in the near future.

Jon, I have been putting comments about the bus trip on my blog and also lampooning the campaign.
http://www.tucsonmike.wordpress.com
Thank you for letting me share.

I am Afraid for My Country.

I originally posted this on Palin’s Travels.  We have a thread called Palin for President.  For a (welcome) change, I am not being silly and tongue in cheek.

It is especially poingnant I am writing this on September 11th. 

 

 Look, in past years, I might vote for the lesser of two evils. This year, I am voting for who will HARM me the least.

In the past, we may not have been happy with who won, but the country moved on.

This time, no matter who wins, we are going into uncharted waters. I’ll start with the Republicans, since I have been having the most fun with Sarah Palin on my blog.

Like my mother and sisters, I was leaning toward McCain (I was more grudging than the three mentioned ladies). I’ve said this before, John McCain is my Senator and I have always supported him. As President though, he really does not understand the economy, and on Foreign Policy, on the one hand, I would feel safer, because the schoolyard bullies of the world would be less likely to mess with him. (Like with Reagan, they may think McCain too crazy to cross LOL)! On the other hand, his Foreign Policy experience is Cold War, and that is what got us into Iraq. Sarah Palin is the only executive of the four, but I don’t want religion forced down my throat and I have read disturbing things about her bigotry.

Now the Democrats. My hope is Joe Biden can keep Obama grounded. Again, I am voting Democratic out of nowhere else to go, like my sisters. I think my mother is going to stay home. My favorite cousin is still voting for McCain as is a close friend.
Obama is good with groups and listening on a grassroots level. I do not think he has a real grasp of our problems. I think the Intl schoolyard bullies will see Obama as an easy mark.

I am genuinely afraid of the future for the first time. This election is splitting families and friends and raising all sorts of rancor. I really do fear for my country.

Passenger Rail in the United States

     Most of us know the sorry state of Amtrak.  There are now many Americans who have never been on a passenger train.  For many, trains are just the long freight trains they see as they drive down I-10 or that hold them up at the grade crossing.

     With gas prices skyrocketing, train use is up.  Trains are the most efficient way to move people.  It is time for real subsidized train service as in Europe.

    Normally, I do not like government inteference, but the railroads orgininally got land grants for their rights of way.  The government should call in the land grants.  The railroads would provide the service again.  I’ll bet they would make money if it is done right.  Some things are a national emergency and this is one of them.