THE PASSING OF A GREAT MAN

I'm sure Fred Rogers would not have called himself a great man. He probably would have referred to himself as just an average guy. A father, a minister, a neighbor.

Regretfully our number one neighbor has moved on.

Fred Rogers died yesterday at the age of 74.

For me Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood is the anchor to my turbulent memories of childhood. No matter how much trouble I got myself into, or how much the world beat me down, my memories of early childhood are always rooted in a firm sense of wonder and joy at the thought of the hours I spent with Fred.

He lived in the ideal world. A lovely little neighborhood, with friendly people and interesting places. And that was just the stuff in the real world.

His neighborhood also included the wonders of imagination, with King Friday and Trolley I always found myself wisked away to a magical place of wonder and merriment.

Fred never changed his show, no matter what happened in the world he stood true to his simple premise: Respect and truth. No matter what background you come from his message was easy to understand and worth listening to.

The world is a bit lessened with his passing. But it's blessed that he was here with us for so long.

I hope they get to putting Mr. Rogers on DVD. He's the man I want my kids to grow up with on the T.V. And if they can't, then my kids have truly missed out on something special.

ON THE MENTALITY OF THE HERD

Now I'm not hoping to come across as an asshole. But what is it about human's in large groups that make their brains shut down?

I mean, you put a large group of people together and they will fall into a "herd" mentality. A perfect example of this is all those morons in Rhode Island who got hurt and killed in that Nightclub Fire.

Apparently when the fire started, the crowds cheered and applauded the flames. (How about yelling "FIRE!") And then, when it became abundantly clear that all were in peril... EVERYONE tried to escape out of the front door. It's been reported that no one tried to leave out of the multiple doors on the side of the building.

So the herd made for one door, trampling and trapping masses of people in a fiery grave.

Now, if people were better than animals, wouldn't they have taken a look around real quick and made a smart decision and gone out a side door?

I still believe it, we aren't as advanced as we sometimes think.

(Not to mention, that building was woefully inappropriate for indoor pyrotechics.)

Oh well, my heart goes out to those who've lost loved ones. For that I am truly sorry. I just think that the loss was totally senseless.

So today is a beautiful San Diego day, and as I predicted the rains have left us with a lush landscape of greenery. The likes of which we've not seen in these parts for nearly five years.

So here's a little secret.

I stepped on a scale the other day. I couldn't believe it. Well, I could. But I weighed in at a hefty 305lbs.

Somehow or another, even with my finances in the toilet these last couple of months and while living on Ramen and Rice, I've managed to gain 20lbs. and put myself above the 300 mark.

I don't feel that heavy. Not really. My knees do though, and so do my heels. But I don't feel like I'm lumbering about all the time. But still I guess I need to really start doing something about my weight. Being over 300 can't be good for me.

Man, when did I become a fat slob?

Watching "Back To The Future" on DVD. Funny how a movie that's primarily set in the 50's makes me so nostalgic for the 80's.

That's heavy!

It's raining here in San Diego. Not a hard, flooding rain, but a steady almost methodical rain that will saturate the land and inspire the plants to grow.

I've heard a number of people complain about the fact that it's raining. But I look forward to them praising how beautiful and green the area will be in the weeks following this rain.

MOVING IN CAN BE SO HARD TO DO

So I've been in my apartment for a week now. We finally got the cable working yesterday, so I'm finally posting from home again. YAY!

It has been a long move. Not literally, the distance moved is short enough that if I yelled from the old apartment, you might be able to hear me at the new one. But temporally, it was a long move. And I find myself writing to you dear reader, amidst a mountain of un-emptied boxes.

I fear the process of "Moving-In" will take forever. "Moving-Out" always must be done quickly and with great purpose. But the final step of actually "Moving-In" and settling into a new place, well, that it seems can take eons.

So wish me well dear reader, as I start the task of emptying that which I took so long to fill just a short while ago.

MOVING COMPLETED!

And the Lord said unto thee, "Behold the completion of thy move! Behold the wonder of many rooms filled with boxes."

And there was much rejoicing. "Yay."

Yep, three days later we are now done moving.

For the record, 15 bags of trash were carted out of my bedroom alone. For those keeping track.

It was a long process that was frought with peril. (Steve hit his head on a tree branch. Vanessa was frightened by a spider.)

For many the whole weekend brought about much sneezing and wheezing. My apologies go out to Teesa and Kurt who so boldly and courageously, braved their allergies to help our humble cause. I also say, "your welcome" to the allergy medication people. I sent some good business your way in the last couple of days. You can send my royalty check to me immediately. No seriously!

Thus far everyone seems to be in agreement that the new place is a much welcomed improvement over the dark dungeon we've finally been given our freedom from. I don't know what they're talking about...I personally enjoyed the nightly torture and the overall dark and dreary element we've left behind.

But, I guess the added ambient light that comes from elevating one's living quarters further above ground is considered a good thing. Especially on those rare occasions where we venture out of our cocoon to see if the world has come to an end yet or not. The bright glow of the sun at those times can be soothingly reassuring.

So the old place is empty (it looks better that way) and the new place is full of boxes. (It's as though we've created a cardboard model of downtown New York in our living room.) But alas, the apartment complex decided in their ultimate wisdom that releasing our new apartment's keys 14 hours early so that we could move over our T.V.'s was not in their best interest... soooo... we are having to make like 1959 and watch static and "snow" on our T.V.'s until Thursday.

Actually between 3 and 5 on Thursday to be exact. Or not exact. Why can't the cable company just say 3? And mean it? What's with the two hour window? I love the commercials, "we guarantee to be on-time for your hook-up!" Sure, everyone could always be on-time if they could get away with two hour arrival windows.
"Hey Chuck! You gonna make it to my wedding tomorrow?"
"Sure Verne! When is it?"
"Well, we'll start at 4-6!"

Anyway... This may be my last entry until Thursday night... seeing as how the cable is also how I get my internet services. *sigh* Talk to you all soon!