I AM A PUBLIC NUISANCE

I have the documents to prove it. I am a public nuisance. I had stuff stored in my carport that was: "Trash" ...which meant..." any refuse, litter, ashes, debris, paper, combustible materials, rubbish, offal or waste, or matter of any kind or form which is uncared for, discarded, or abandoned."

I also had items stored in my carport in sealed plastic containers , however... anything that is not designed for outdoor use, for a residential area, can not be stored outside....the containers did not fit this definition.

In addition I had a ....unlawful and an offense for any person to park, store, leave, or permit the parking, storing, or leaving of any vehicle of any kind which is in an abandoned, wrecked, dismantled, inoperative, rusted, junked, or partially dismantled condition whether attended or not, upon any public or private property within the City for a period of time in excess of 72 hours. The presence of an abandoned, wrecked, dismantled, inoperative, rusted, junked or partially dismantled vehicle or parts thereof on private or public property is hereby declared a public nuisance which may be abated as such in accordance with the provisions of this article. That would be my 1982 Volkswagen Vanagon with the 924 Porche engine in it that was last licensed in 2002. Further more I had sinned once more by storing some of those plastic containers inside the Vanagon. So I was out of compliance with the Neighborhood Service Department Codes.

Now I did have 30 years accumulation of "stuff" but to call it junk, or trash, or worse "Offal" was an exaggeration. But then again as I have said I am poor white trash and it became obvious even though I had lived in the neighborhood longer than damn near anybody else, my quality of premises was not up to the standards of my current neighbors. You see, the Stealth Code Officers of the Neighborhood Stasi do not visit you unless someone has complained.

Now anyone can complain. Any single person can complain. One annal a-hole with a corn cob........ can bring out the enforcers.

We have been recently blessed with a new alignment of neighborhood associations in my fair city. So there are new people and new elected officers etc. and some of them have decided to clean up the neighborhood.

Bless them, they included me and mine in their projects.

So I'm going out to get in my truck to go buy some stuff at the lumberyard when I see this Pink paper taped to my VW with a bright orange sticker. That started it all. Never saw the environmental code officer. No one knocked at my door. So I called and was told that the officer I had asked for by name was on vacation. I informed the person talking that I didn't think so in that she had given me a citation less that two hours ago. After a few minutes I am talking to said officer.

She tells me that I have to get rid of my Vanagon and clean up my carport. I have ten working days. OK, says I, so I don't count the days over the Labor Day weekend coming up in three days. She says no you don't. She's being helpful so she says , look, I put the re-inspection after BIG JUNK pickup day which is the 12th, so how about Monday the 17th. Great says I. She says she will be on vacation until the 17th so that works out for her.

So we start the process of donating the Vanagon and moving the stored items and offal. Then we get a letter. Instead of one violation that I heard on the phone I have two with multiple sub-sets to boot. It is not my "car-port" cited but my premises.

The date is not the 17th, it is the 10th two days before the trash guys will pick up the stuff, and while Ms. Officer will be on vacation. So that means some other "officer" will inspect. Someone who will inspect the "Premises" the whole carport and yard. Well now my premises even though behind fences would certainly not meet compliance of the codes I had looked up. Screwed I guess.

Family conference.

Everything goes, the grown kids will come over to help us, and we will be ruthless.

Now we can't begin to pile stuff out to the curb for BIG JUNK pickup until the Sunday before the Wednesday that the BIG JUNK pickup will happen or we will be in violation of the Sanitation Departments rules.

I'm getting exhausted just thinking about all of this.

We pile the junk up. Give away countless things. Donate my VW and even tear down the damn carport (once the stuff was out of it, it became a obvious non-compliance item itself.).

As an aside it is amazing how much of my "junk" was taken off of my BIG JUNK pickup pile by people passing by. They agreed with me that it wasn't junk at all.

Come inspection day. Nobody comes.

Two weeks later, ain't seen nobody, aint heard nothin, ain't got no letter.

Am I abated, or still screwed.

I should call? No way!

I will wait and see what's next.

The BIG JUNK pickup people were not happy about the size of my pile. The took down my address and filled out some paper work as I watched from the window. Now what the hell does that mean?

THE REAL THING U.P. LOCOMOTIVE 844 IN OKLAHOMA

An example of how high the wheels on the locomotive are.

The Story:
The Union Pacific Railroads Steam Engine #844 and VIP train rolled across Oklahoma to help the State celebrate its 100th birthday. We went out to see it on two different days. I have ridden many many steam locomotives over time, but the the UP 844 (formerly known as #8444) is my favorite. I simply love to stand by the track and let her go by. Here is an article written by a reporter Marie Watkins of the New Haven (Missouri) Leader. She wrote a column for her newspaper after experiencing Union Pacific 8444 (now UP 844) passing through her small town on a winter's day:



Outside El Reno, Oklahoma.


UP #8444 In 1974


"It snowed on Monday, March 12, the wind was biting and the day was dull, dull and gray. We remembered about old No. 8444 and shuffled up to the crossing to wait for the old steam engine...just out of respect for the past.
"The cold quickly stung our toes with pain, and the people who strung along the track wandered here and there and stomped their feet. A train or two passed, but there was no sign of the old steam engine with the cow catcher.
"We milled about, that half-hearted gathering of the cold and the curious. Over there was Mr. Williams...wait...
"A hoarse whistle moaned...Lord! MERCY! It was unbelievable! ""Old" 8444 exploded across the Front Street track like a page from Armageddon. It would be inappropriate to say the old geezer was smoking - she was breathing fury like a black demon. You'd a thought she was mad at somebody. And m-o-v-i-n-g? That iron monster never heard of chug-a-chug. She hit with such blithering force that it caused terror to rise up and go forth. Black thunder swept all breath away and the air roared with mocking anger.
"A hunnert miles and hour! A hunnert miles an hour!" the people would say later with disbelief, for the wind from 8444 blew one onlooker right off the railroad crossing."Before she even got here, No. 8444 was gone!It was awesome, just awesome."
- Marie Watkins



Under an overpass at Chickasha, Oklahoma.





At a crossing in Concho, Oklahoma.



And away she goes.

Roaring Past Concho, Oklahoma in 2007
Yes, It Is The Tingle!

The Rio Grande Senic Railroad

SO THIS IS THE TRAIN

WHY WAIT IN A COW PASTURE FOR A LOCOMOTIVE TO GO BY?
For the tingle.

Want to take a ride ? Check it out at: http://www.alamosatrain.com/

Till The Cows Come Home

The thing to understand about Ferroequinologist is that they will stand by the empty rail road track for a very long time waiting for the train.

Out in La Veta Colorado this summer I did exactly that. There was a tourist train due to come into town at 12:00 noon.

So I went out to the west of town found me a spot over the tracks near a dairy farm and waited. Knowing that the train didn't keep a good schedual, I wasn't worried that it didn't show on time. My wife was patient and started her a nap in the car.

Two hours later, my wife's nap and patience were both over.

Then I noticed that the dairy cows that had been all over the pasture had formed themselves into a line and were headed down the hill to the barn below me.

I had waited for the train, "until the cows came home."

Even I thought , "that's enough".

The train, I found out later, had been cancelled for that day.

Don't Drink The Water

By BEN FELLER, Associated Press Writer Sun Sep 9, 9:13 PM ET
WASHINGTON - Seemingly taunting Osama bin Laden, President Bush's homeland security adviser said Sunday the fugitive al-Qaida leader is "virtually impotent" beyond his ability to hide away and spread anti-American propaganda.
The provocative characterization came just days after bin Laden attracted international attention with the release of a video in which he ridicules President Bush about the Iraq war and reminds the world that he not been captured.
Ahead of the sixth anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist strikes, White House aide Frances Fragos Townsend made a clear attempt to diminish the influence — or the perception — of the man who masterminded those attacks.
"This is about the best he can do," Townsend said of bin Laden. "This is a man on a run, from a cave, who's virtually impotent other than these tapes."
In appearance on two Sunday talk shows, she used the "virtually impotent" reference both times, suggesting the language was chosen with careful purpose..............

So Bush is pissing on rattle snakes again.
This is totally nuts.
I hear that the old water pipes in Washington D.C. are carrying large quanities of lead to the water drinkers.
How long do you have to drink the water before you have
1. a American woman
2.tell a Saudi muslem man (with a dyed beard to show his virility)
3. your are impotent
4. on National TV
5. on a Sunday
6. Twice
???????

Are they trying to provke an attack by Osama?
Are they trying to provoke an attack by others defending Osama's good Muslem Male Name?
Is the President just scratching his balls?
Or, are they just drinking the water?

I think they need to call the Culligan Man.


The full article came be found at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/10/us/10prison.html?th&emc=th

INVOKED OR NOT INVOKED

"Vocatus Atque Non Vocatus, Deus Aderit"

--Erasmus

The inscription on Karl Jung's tomb.

The inscription over my fireplace.

Translations:

"Bidden Or Not Bidden, God Is Present."

"Called Or Uncalled, God Is Present."

"Invoked Or Not Invoked, God Is Here"

"Summoned Or Not Summoned. God is Present."

All those shades of meaning from one little five word saying when translated from the Latin. What chance is there that we can ever understand one another?