Bag of Randomness for Thursday, April 6, 2017

  • Here’s a picture of my father during is Army days, he’s on the right.
  • Last night’s ‘Diff’rent Strokes’ was a jam-packed one. Mr. Drummund asked the Dixie Carter character to marry him, the redheaded kid, Sam, was introduced, and they took a trip to Universal Studios where Arnold and Dudley got to meet David Hasselhoff and KITT.
  • Before I go to bed, I always walk around the house and make sure all the doors are locked. I bet there’s a good amount of folks out there in which that doesn’t even cross their minds.
  • I also tend to lock the car twice, just to make sure. I did this even before car remotes, pressing the lock button twice, and now I press the lock button twice on the car remote.
  • As a kid, I watched an ‘Unsolved Mysteries’ in which someone got into a car at night and didn’t know someone was hiding in the backseat. So even as an adult, when I enter my vehicle at night, I always take a quick look at the back seat area before getting in.
  • My father taught me to pat my wallet every now and then when out in public to make sure it’s on my person. I still do that today, probably more than needed. However, I no longer place my wallet in my back pocket but my front pocket and it’s easier to notice.
  • Without fail, I will always check the remaining amount of toilet paper on the roll before I sit down on that sanitation receptacle.
  • The kids have been playing at a neighbor’s house but mentioned they know there’s a handgun in the parents’ room where the video game system is. The kids won’t be playing there anymore until I speak to one of the parents and assured the gun is safely and securely out of reach of the kids and everything else that coincides. I respect anyone’s right to own a firearm, I just want them to be responsible, and I don’t want to go off the details the kids are telling me. You know, kids can distort facts.
  • If at all possible, you’ll never see me seated at a restaurant with my back towards the door, I perpetually scan the restaurant and who’s coming in and out.
  • My father taught me never to lean on a car because the buttons, especially the metal rivets on jeans, could scratch the paint. He also taught me to never put my feet on furniture if I was wearing shoes. For the most part, I still follow those commands, but when I don’t, I hear him cursing at me or I imagine him shaking his head.
  • Rarely do I ever let the amount of gas in the car be less than a quarter of a tank. In case there’s an emergency and I need to get somewhere in the middle of the night, I want to be assured I can get there without having to stop for gas. When there’s only a quarter tank left, that means I fill it up as soon as I can.
  • While reading from my book about the relationships amongst presidents, I was surprised to read that after the debacle of the Bay of Pigs, which was within the 100 days of the new presidency, Kennedy actually invited Nixon to the White House and sought his counsel. Think about that, he invited and sought counsel from his opponent he narrowly defeated. Kennedy, as I’m sure most of you already know, also got a lot of advice from Ike at Camp David. And by advice, I mean an ass chewing. But from that meeting admiration grew, and its’ one reason Camp David kept its name. FDR named it Shangra La, Ike changed it, and Kennedy could have changed it again, but kept the name as a thank you to Ike.
    • A piece of advice from Ike I found interesting because it helps eliminate being influenced by the last thing you hear:
      • The only way to guarantee smart decisions, Ike believed, was to bring all the responsible parties together and have them fight it out. “I do not believe in bringing them in one at a time and therefore being more impressed by the most recent one you hear,” he said later. “You must get courageous men,  men of strong views and let them debate and argue with each other.”
      • Ike’s assessment of Russia rings true today. He believed anytime we showed weakness, that was the time for them to press the U.S. hardest. But since they admired strength and cold calculated self-interest, that’s when they get cagey. And with that, I have a better understanding of why Reagan bluntly told Gorbachev to tear down that wall.
    • One thing I did admire about Kennedy regarding this failure, he took responsibility for it and apologized. I think that’s a trait helpful to presidents. And if I recall correctly, it helped Reagan when he addressed the nation about Iran/Contra.
    • Ike also said he believed success over secrecy. It seems like Trump may be taking that approach.
  • Kentucky Coal Mining Museum converts to solar power
  • Colbert widens ratings lead over Fallon
    • “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” beat “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” for the ninth consecutive week and by the biggest margin yet, according to Nielsen ratings. Colbert’s CBS show averaged 2.99 million viewers during the week of March 27, about 400,000 ahead of Fallon. NBC’s “Tonight Show” won the key demographic of viewers ages 18 to 49, but Colbert is closing that gap, too.
  • One of these kids will be doing regular segments for ’60 Minutes’ in the future – Kansas high school journalists investigated a new principal’s credentials. Days later, she resigned.
    • The student journalists had begun researching Robertson, and quickly found some discrepancies in her education credentials. For one, when they researched Corllins University, the private university where Robertson said she got her master’s and doctorate degrees years ago, the website didn’t work. They found no evidence that it was an accredited university.
    • “Everybody kept telling them, ‘stop poking your nose where it doesn’t belong,’” newspaper adviser Emily Smith told The Post. But with the encouragement of the superintendent, the students persisted.
  • I take it he’s not much into the history of the game – Yankees Prospect Clint Frazier Reportedly Asked If He Could Wear Mickey Mantle’s Number
  • David Letterman to induct Pearl Jam at Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremonyNeil Young was originally scheduled to pay tribute to the band, but he had to back out due to illness.
  • Britney Spears gig forces Israeli Labour party to delay leadership contestSecurity cited as July election event in Tel Aviv conference centre is moved back 24 hours to avoid clash with pop star’s concert
  • Taser is being renamed and offering US police a free trial of body cameras
    • the company announced it would be renamed after its line of police-worn body cameras, Axon, and that it would offer any interested law enforcement agency a one-year trial of its equipment. That includes a camera for every officer on the force and use of Evidence.com, the company’s website for tracking body camera videos and other media.
  • When I posted about Chuck Norris officially being recognized as a Texan by the state senate, I can’t believe I forgot to post the greatest moment in ‘Walker Texas Ranger’ history.

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4 Responses to Bag of Randomness for Thursday, April 6, 2017

  1. David Bryant says:

    My father always says "It is better to get gas when it is convenient, than to have to get gas when it is convenient". As I age I have found that logic also applies to stopping in a restroom…

  2. JayF says:

    Same on locking the doors at night, same on locking car 2x. If I ever leave the garage door up for an extended time I will check the backseat of the wifes car that's in the garage (Don't want any bad guys in there). Never sit with your back to the door at a restaurant (seen too many mafia movies). What the heck was the Yankee prospect thinking??

  3. Ben W. says:

    As the last one up every night, I check the doors, too. I also give the back seat a quick glance, especially if I've parked in a public parking garage. Those places give me the creeps.

    Before I leave the house (or work, or a restaurant, or wherever I've been for a while), I pat my pockets to make sure I have three things: wallet, keys, and phone. My wife gently pokes fun at me about it and calls it the "Ben Patdown," but [knock wood] I haven't lost/forgotten any of those three items in years. I also keep my wallet in my front pocket – safer, more convenient, and better for the back.

    Checking the TP? That's just smart, self preservation.

    Never lean on a car? Good advice. Not only do you protect the car, but who wants dirt on their clothes? (Of course, maybe my car is just dirty than most people's.)

    I would have to have a strong, long-term, comfortable relationship with that neighbor before I'd let my kids in that house again. I'm not casting stones at the neighbor – in all likelihood he is a responsible, sober-minded gun owner who has taken every precaution to ensure that the gun can't be accessed by the children, that it is not loaded or easily loaded, and that it can't be fired by the children. The vast majority of gun owners are exactly this way. But what if he's not? I wouldn't dare take that chance unless I was absolutely, 100% sure. And do not be afraid to have that conversation. If he's the type that gets offended (as opposed to respecting you) because you asked the question, that's a red flag that he doesn't adequately respect the safety measures necessary, and your kids don't need to be there. [And I'm certain you know all of this, but this topic burns into the core of my soul.]

  4. Bryan says:

    When I go to lunch with coworker, we often race to get the seats at the table that face the door.

    I would be concerned about the handgun issue with the kids as well. My handgun is typically secure in the house and I would not put myself in a situation where neighbor kids playing in my house would know where it is.

    Walker telling the kid he has AIDS is beyond bizarre. Especially since the scene you linked to cuts off immediately and you find out nothing more about the context.

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