Sunday

Earlier this afternoon, a car came flying down our little dead-end street. I heard it from out in back of the house where we were busy playing with CP. We're accustomed to this sort of thing, so I cursed as I usually do and we went about playing. A few minutes later the LW heard something in the yard next door at the apartments. There were two people running through the yard and hopping the fence. There was also someone who ran through the alley on the other side of the house.....now, this seemed a bit odd. We ran out front and found a car parked in our neighbor's driveway. The neighbors had evidently come out of the house to see what the people in the car were up to and they just took off. I hopped on my bike and rode down the street to find a guy and a girl walking toward the main street and looking around...a lot. They saw me coming and started quickly walking the other way.

I rode back home and got the car...and my phone...and went back out sightseeing. On my way out of the neighborhood, the LW said that a car drove down the street and then backed it's way out. I found this car at the flower shop. The guy had been hit by the people who parked their car at the neighbor's house and ran. He had chased them across town. I found the runners out by 22nd street and called it in to the folks at Tucson Police Department. In a half hour or so, the TPD showed up and after descriptions were discussed, they went out searching for the runners. It's no surprise that they didn't find anything. They may as well have big neon signs on their cars.

A little while later, the owner of the car that had been used in the hit and run by the runners showed up and told TPD that she had loaned her car to a black guy so that "he could go to the Circle K". Oh, she didn't know his last name. She had come down the street earlier and lied about it not being her car. Just a few minutes ago, they let her have her car back. I found out that the guy has been doing "till picking" around town. (when the register opens, cash is grabbed) Sooooooo...... you loan your car out to someone and they use it for robberies and are involved in a hit and run. I guess that a hit and run is a class 3 misdemeanor roughly equivalent to stealing a pack of chewing gum.

As she drove her car away, I yelled "STAY THE #@$* OUT". She slowed down like she was going to stop, but then probably thought better of it. I was pretty bent. The TPD officer advised me that she'd probably file a complaint against him because I was standing next to his car when I yelled at her. I advised him to have his supervisors give me a call if anything was filed.

Tomorrow I'm off to find shotgun shells....and I'm reconsidering that handgun offer from my father-in-law.

Toys

We dropped by Tiggy-Winkles last night to see about picking up something for my wonderful niece who turns 8 this weekend. Yes, I know that my gifts are always late..... So I'm walking through the isles and see some funky little backpacks. The girl in the store comes over and starts telling me all of the neat things about them, which was nice, but then we saw the price tag. The one that I happened to be looking at was in the $130 price range. The girl goes on to tell me about the company and how it's a small US company and how well designed the products are. At this point, I'm figuring that the bags must be made in the US and that the high price of the bags is because they are made by US workers...right?.........ERRRRRRRRRRRRR. There's nothing on the tags at all that mentions where the bags are made, but down inside the bag is a small white tag: Made in China. WTH?! I showed it to the store girl and she went on to tell me the percentage of toys in the store that were made in China...blahblahblah. $130 for a bag that's made by folks that get a living wage and benefits here in the US is one thing, $130 for a bag that's made for $10 in material and $0.13 in labor....well, they can kiss my a$$.

Shorty Stubbs

Just got home from work and walked in to find this on the computer. Evidently the LW had been reading it. I just can't believe it. Shorty was the kind of radio personality that you dream of having in your town and now he's gone.

Shortly after the LW and I got to this town, we noticed the dearth of radio stations other than unclear channel and jbg. The shining spot on the radio was and has been KXCI. The LW has her favorite programs and so do I, but sometimes they overlap. Shorty's "Country Fringe" program on Twangin' Tuesday is one of those programs. You just never know what you're going to hear, but it's guaranteed to be good. The music he played sometimes reminded me of the old stuff my grandparents used to listen to when I was a kid....real twangy stuff that wouldn't pass for jack s#*@ in corporate Nashville these days.

A few years of listening to Shorty on Tuesday nights just wasn't enough. Knowing that he's gone is enough to knock the wind out of your sails.

Mahna Mahna

It's a little clip on youtube from Sesame Street and it has a catchy little song. So catchy that CP can't get enough of it. She seems to think that the sole purpose of our computers is to show her this little video. It makes things interesting sometimes. I'm just about tired of hearing it.

The LW and Auntie M. did really well on the EuroFresh ride this past weekend. The LW teamed up with a gal from Willcox that really helped her with paceline tips and she really enjoyed it. On the way back they dealt with a headwind....for 22 miles. Auntie M. was pretty well beaten, but still had a great time. It was an accomplishment for them both and I was impressed. CP seemed to really enjoy being out and about for the day.

It's getting tougher these days to keep CP inside. I just turned around and she was up on top of the dining room table. She's a climber. She's also begun to mimic things that people say, which in my case, could cause problems. She'll even start the ABC song, but she trails off into mumbles and smiles. I had planned to finish this post, then head to the Y, but CP got really whiney about not being allowed to scramble everything on the desk and then fell asleep in my arms. We'll go later, I hope.

I got word from my brother yesterday that his first trip to CO, one that I've wanted to be a part of for years, was ruined by poor trail selection and bad decisions. What a nightmare. I've tried to get him out to CO since we lived there about four years ago or so and there was always some excuse for him not to go. Now, he has another excuse...this trip not only cost him time and money to get there, it cost him bike parts as well - busted graphics (brand new) and a bent/broken chain guide that'll probably need a little TIG work. I can't for the life of me, understand why a local would take people out on front range trails (other than the easy stuff at Rampart) that are of the hike-a-bike variety or are illegal when you don't have street plates. Why not just head to Canyon City for a warm up on the Tanner Peak Trail, then on to Salida or Sargents for some fun trail running in the wide open spaces? It'll just be twice as hard now to get him to come to AZ to ride.

in other news: Who needs a manufactured distraction to keep the heat off of the new Gonzales than a little bit of O.J. Simpson craziness? Links aren't really needed for this one, now are they?

Tubes and Tomatoes

The LW has been a bit under the weather for a few days. We both think that it's a bit too much regular coffee, but we don't really know for sure. She's gone rounds with these symptoms before and the last time our doc had to give her some belladonna to calm her gut. She's in the back sleeping right now.

This weekend Auntie M. and the LW are doing the EuroFresh Ride. They'll do 22 miles out to the EuroFresh facility for a tour and then 22 miles back to where they started. I'll be running a personal sag stop with CP. We'll take the chariot so they can hitch her up and let her ride too, but the superjetta will be the backup. I just finished putting super-thick tubes from Pima Street Bikes in both of her tires.

Seeds and Change

Tried to do the click-n-ship thing with the complete order that I'm sending back to gurney's - get this - when you punch their return address into the USPS site, it tells you that the address isn't good and won't let you print a label. So, I'll be off to Choates this coming week to send their junk back. Thanks to Chile for this article.

Made DVDs for the family today. Auntie M. rode out to the mountain with the LW this morning and has spent the day with us. It's just amazing what another set of hands can do when there's a 16 month old little person running around getting into everything. Anyway, the slack created by having Auntie M. here allowed me to put together videos for most of the spring and summer movies, so they should be shipping out soon. It's pretty funny to see how much CP has changed in just a few months.

I came across this blog today (mmmmm...technorati) linked to a garden blog that I help run. It looks like an interesting read and it's interesting to see how gardening hooks people and reels them in.

Season 2

We picked up the first Muppets Season II DVD the other day at Casa Video. We're on the episode with George Burns right now. CP seems to like them, but they don't hold her attention for too long. The LW and I however are really enjoying them.

Our swampy has been working better now that the humidity dropped below 30% and the promise of a cooler fall season is right around the corner. The LW even had to turn the thing off this morning because it was only 75 degrees outside. That's a nice change.

Auntie M. came over this long weekend and played with CP a bit. We took quite a few pictures and I'll post them up on the flickr site soon. Last night was a trip to Lakeside Park. CP really liked the idea of a lake with ducks and she conquered the slide in no time.

I'm still waiting on my order from Gurney's (ordered seeds and strawberries Aug 18th) and I sent them a note to let them know that I didn't appreciate them second-guessing my order dates. Hopefully the "customer service" person will write back with the president's name and address soon so that I can let him know about what I think of his delayed shipping scheme.