And I Thought It Was Just Me…

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Among my many flaws is an obsession with Jack Webb. I will not pretend that it’s a scholarly obsession, at least it didn’t start that way. But it is morphing in that direction.

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I plan on writing extensively about Mr. Webb and his programs in the future. Today I’d just like to share this link to a website that is evidently visited by other obsessed, sad, pathetic individuals: people just like me.

Yes, I do things like Google the restaurants that appear in Adam-12. Sad, but it fascinates me how things change over the years. I do this with classic movies as well. Google Streetview and I have a relationship. Don’t tell my wife – it’s getting worse. I’ve turned into an architectural peeping-Tom.

This hunt began with a search for Biff’s restaurant. I found the picture below for your enjoyment. It is taken from modmidmod.com and This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 License. | ModMidMod

Biff's appears in tons of television shows - it was near the studios.

Biff’s appears in tons of television shows – it was near the studios.

I should probably be ashamed. But I find more neat stuff doing this than you would ever imagine.

The internet still amazes me. I hope it never quits.

So, Isn’t It Time You Learned CPR? (ATTENTION TWIN CITIES!)

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Yeah, it’s on the list… etc. I used to be an instructor (about 7 billion years ago) and taught a lot of people how it worked. True story: I was UA (Unauthorized Absence, the Navy equivalent of AWOL) for not teaching a scheduled CPR class when I was stationed in Spain. Somebody forgot to tell the training division that I was kind of busy off the coast of some foreign land. I’d never before, or since, used this defense, but I loved it: “I was out of the country, I can’t tell you where, and you don’t have the need to know. Now tear up the charges.” I hope I never need it again.

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Why do I mention this? Because a charity I believe in is doing some down-and-dirty CPR training in January in the Twin Cities. The poster is right here for you to see. Please consider this as an event to attend with your adult friends. It raises funds for a great cause and they guy teaching it is a super individual. I’d even bet that if you email him he’d work with you to do it in another venue to raise funds some other time – hint, hint, corporate safety people…

This is the best deal going for really learning CPR, and it benefits a great charity.

This is the best deal going for really learning CPR, and it benefits a great charity.

The reason for this event is pretty simple: Haiti has no viable paramedic structure. If you have a heart attack outside of a hospital (and possibly in some of the hospitals) you’re toast without an AED to restart your heart. AEDs are very simple to use and they save lives. Please consider either donating to the cause or attending the training.

Another Item On Stormy’s List.

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Stormy has a long list of things she objects to on a daily basis. Some she truly hates, some she dislikes, some she is afraid of to the degree where she hides out in another room.

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Doctor Stormy.

Doctor Stormy.

We have added another item to the list: snow shoveling.

Last winter she was considered too great a flight risk to be out in the yard without a leash for the first month. After that, we let her out for very short periods and watched her from the doorway. Only come the spring did she get unobserved time in the yard. That meant that she was not loose when I shoveled or blew snow: the gates were opened and closed and she could escape.

This morning, at 05:28, we discovered that she doesn’t like snow shoveling. Rather vocal about it as a matter of fact. It took us a little while to work the issue out, and by the time the back sidewalk was done she was over her anger but firm in her fear. She literally hid behind the tree.

It is time to post the list. I now present, in no particular order, the list of things that Stormy objects to:

snow shoveling
Zamboni machines
vacuum cleaners
snow plows
school buses
garbage trucks
people in her alley
pigeons
sparrows
industrial lawn mowers
jet airplanes
propeller aircraft
helicopters
satellite dishes
cables and power lines (on windy days)
squirrels (really a sore spot)
rabbits
any diesel engine
neighbors in their yards
chickens
neighbors in their garages
Lulu (the neighbor’s dog, possibly an arch-villain in her universe)
electric shavers
wet grass
cold pavement
snow between her paw pads
chihuahuas

The “like list” is much shorter:

food
belly rubs
sleeping on my bed
nibbling
snoring

Get the picture. I sure love that dog.

NERD Alert.

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I just spent an hour in nerd heaven because I’d stumbled upon a television show about the Apollo Navigation Computer.

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Yup. That passes for really rocking entertainment in my world. If you will give me a minute I’ll tell you why that sort of show on The Science Channel makes guys like me smile and jitter with anticipation.

I grew up during the Apollo years. I built little erector set models of the launch tower, ate Space Food Sticks, drank Tang and watched the launches. I never got blase about the program.

I marvel about once a week that my cell phone has more computer capability than the computer that they used on the spaceship. Boggles my mind. It’s so easy to take this stuff for granted – and such a tragedy that we do so.

What piece of technology still amazes you after all the years? And, more importantly, why does it amaze you?

Today We Celebrate The True Meaning Of Christmas: Jesus Christ.

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Each year that I have been blessed enough to portray Saint Nicholas, I’ve taken the responsibility a little more seriously. About three years ago I started thinking about doing a video of Santa talking to the world about what Christmas really means. I had decided to make this the year to do the video.

About a month ago, my friends at KTIS contacted me and asked if I would participate in a video about Christmas. They sent me a script. It was very close to what I had been imagining. I dashed off a revision in about an hour and sent it back. They agreed to every word that I changed.

A week later we were in the studio. The result is below this paragraph. I hope you will watch it and then read the words below. I have a request to make, but I would like you to watch the video first. Here it is:


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