Category: Uncategorized

Bungee

Episode #841 March 15, 2025 We were new skydivers when Paula and I jumped off the Bridge to Nowhere.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmzdieVSiXM Bungee jumping was one of the things on our bucket list. I asked around and found Bungee America who own the Bridge to Nowhere. It is along the East Fork of the San Gabriel River. The owner gave us cryptic directions to the bridge: “Take Highway 39 north which is Beach Blvd in Orange County. SR 39’s name changes to Azusa Ave, then N San Gabriel Canyon. Turn right on East Fork Road, it will become Camp Bonita Prairie...

Servite

Episode #840 March 8, 2025 The class of 1971 at Servite High School was a parallel of the good, bad, ugly and beautiful of the world.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TSIBmACSbk The good has earned Servite a well deserved reputation.  ° The level of excellence in instruction, discipline and extracurricular activities encouraged positive development.  ° There were few distractions, being an all-boy school with a rigid schedule of classes.  ° Keeping the members of the various class groups (honors, 2s, 3s, 4s and 5s) together helped foster camaraderie among classmates.  ° The open mindedness toward religion and opinions encouraged critical thinking in the...

Roof

Episode #839 March 1, 2025 I bet you could shingle a roof if you set your mind to it. I am fairly certain that I will not.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puM1k-S86nE First of all, I have never been on the roof of most of my houses. I did walk out on the roof of the one in Trabuco Canyon. I tied a rope to my bed and around my waist, then climbed out the window onto a fairly flat part of my roof. There was a small patch of wall that I had to paint. When it was done, I carefully climbed...

Converse

Episode #838 February 22, 2025 The richness of conversation is dependent on every participant.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnzhPprVVU My greatest flaw when engaged in conversation is deference to my interlocutor. When interrupted I switch my focus from what I am saying to what is injected. This, combined with a fading short term memory often results in a lost of my train of thought. Sometimes the interrupter is finishing my sentence. This shocking moment is especially disruptive if the completion isn’t what I was going to say. Mostly, I let the conversation veer off in the direction of my conversational partner. And herein...

Military

Episode #837 February 15, 2025 My father, Bob, volunteered with the Marine Corps. He was sent to Korea as a Sergeant.     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmNXzMw69zI As a child, while retrieving something from my fathers dresser drawer, I chanced on a small box. I opened it to find my father’s uniform decorations, a Purple Heart and the Navy Marine Corps Star. My father was always quiet about his experience in Korea, but when I pressed him about the box of awards he told me this story: Bob’s platoon was a force of 40 marine infantrymen who advanced across the 38th parallel divider...

Family Name

Episode #836 February 8, 2025 My father was born Carroll Jewett. Perhaps the name came from an ancestor, George Carroll Jewett.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlqDf6jOwCk   Carroll did not like his name. It sounded like a girl’s name to him. One day, at age 10, he walked into the living room and told his parents, “I’m Bobby!” “OK Bobby,” said his mother and that was that. Some years later Bobby’s mother remarried to Hans Thues. Bobby took on the new last name and began to introduce himself as Robert Thues. Since he had no birth certificate or any other records bearing the...