Author: srj641

Sometimes, the best laid plans of men and mice go awry. Exactly one week ago, we stocked the mobile dog house (RV) and tied it to Cirrus, the Ram-mobile for a sojourn to Gulf Shores to meet the kids, with a secondary destination of Grapevine, Texas to spend a few days with our dear condo friends who reside there. Plans were drawn up while at Gulf shores to drive north to the Badlands and then back to the compound. Uh huh….

After setting up at Gulf Shores State Park, among the snakes and alligators, we discovered we had no water. I am a Vietnam veteran, and understand mosquitos, but in the process of hooking up the water, we were bled out by the little bastards. Given my vast mechanical knowledge, I began to trouble shoot the dog house, checking every conceivable connection to and from the vaunted nautilus system adopted by Gran Design. It was late and we turned in without water. The next morning, Sharon remarked it had to be something simple and asked if I had checked the connection to the nautilus. It was my last shot before a mobile tech, and bingo. A 10 cent screen deep in the nautilus was totally stopped up. A new one and presto, we had water. A small consolation, as I broke a tooth while eating…..

Next up, a rapidly developing tropical depression was cooking in the Atlantic and could head our way, but the prognosticators said it was likely to hit Florida’s big bend area. We were safe…….and turned our attention to a 4’ gator sunning himself on a culvert near our site. I engaged a park worker, the original good ole boy, in a conversation about the park. He was a delightful guy, and the head snake catcher for the park, with hundreds of cotton mouth captures to his credit. He assured me that while water moccasins were everywhere, there were few diamond back rattlers around. Comforting! While walking Taz, I came across a road killed rattlesnake. This was day two, and the weather guys were saying the storm may go further west, threatening us with torrential rain. When it rains hard, the snakes get restless said the snake man. Hmmmmm

We made an executive decision, pulled out and headed north, hoping to find a location to park the doghouse for a night before heading up to Vicksburg, Mississippi where I could spend some time second guessing US Grant during the siege that nearly leveled the town. We found a neat little park, right off the highway and pulled across a four lane race track into the rather dark drive, down grade, only to find it was closed and I was downhill with no way to turn around, necessitating backing back out onto a race track, after dark. After spending a few minutes cursing the internet and our dilemma, a nice security lady came to our rescue, opened the gate and we were able to find a parking lot to turn around in and exit. We spent the night in a honor pay, municipal park in Hattiesburg before charging on to a park named Poverty Point, a state run park just inside Louisiana. We checked in and found it to be among the top three parks we have ever used. Immaculate, modern and very reasonable!

After a great nights sleep, I noticed a slow drip of water coming from under the dog house, no where near a water point. The drip was increasing and I engaged a mobile tech, who was prompt and clever. He found the leak after removing drawers in the bedroom, but had no idea what the silver ball was. It was the expansion tank for the instant hot water system. We began calling dealers and were told it would be weeks before anyone could help us. The tank is available only from the manufacturer, so he bypassed the system, and we now had only cold water for the rest of our trip. I was a little aggravated and broke the same tooth again. If you plan to or are an RV’er, you need to know that service on the road is extremely difficult and that parts are nearly non-existent in today’s world.

We broke camp and headed to the safety of the compound, where I am writing this. One week, mosquitos, snakes, alligators, bear scat close to our site, dental problems, a hurricane, balky water system and non existent service and parts. We get it. The signs were there, even Tazzy was questioning our wisdom. RVing is normally a hoot…….normally. We are rethinking the concept…..

Glad to be back home…….

SR

Yesterday, Sharon and I were privileged to join in the celebration of the life of Bill Swineberg. Several folks eulogized Bill, telling the story of a man who first of all would have been incensed that we had gathered in his memory. He was that kind of guy, unpretentious, letting his career speak for itself. You see, Bill was a legendary Captain on Missouri’s State Water Patrol, commanding a district where the absurd was ordinary. He did so with a quiet grace and the confidence of an officer who had seen it all as he lent dignity to impossible scenarios.

Bill was a Marine combat veteran of the Vietnam war, tested on blood stained ground during the peak of the conflict. He used the English language sparingly, with every syllable reflecting something worth remembering. By any and all accounts, Bill was the gift that every new officer should have, quietly delivering lessons that were invaluable in a tough enforcement environment where knowledge was power. There is no doubt his tutelage molded my daughter, Stacey, from the beginning of her career as a water patrol officer until his last breath. He was humorous when humor was necessary, and gloved up, ready to wade into the next bar fight or boat wreck. His ability to judge character and respond accordingly was the stuff text books are written about.

Without delving into the inevitable litany of police war stories, a single event characterized his courage when he was confronted by pure evil in the form of a hardened and armed killer in the Ozark timber. Somehow this killer knew he was overmatched and capitulated to the aura of strength of a lawman who was supremely confident as he engaged. The killer was arrested, cuffed and given sound advice that only a Swineberg could deliver. He was the kind of leader who was always there for his subordinates, calmly pulling on a corncob pipe as he checked on each of his charges, making sure they were in and off the water before he went home, often exhausted but consumed by the need to protect his officers and insure their safety.

Most important, I am proud to be among those who considered Bill a friend. We attended the FBI Academy together, graduating in March of 1987. Bill carefully studied the variety of officers in his class, and could be charming and disarming in the same conversation. His section, within this class, referred to Bill as “the real thing”. Even though terminally ill, Bill took time in his last days to call me and offer encouragement in my challenge of a reticent Veterans Administration reminding me the government was handing out out money to anybody who could navigate a river on the border of Texas. His last words were “get yours, Stevie, you have earned every damned penny”. Although terribly sick, Bill’s concern for a friend was easily more important than his personal circumstance.

On behalf of the folks who came under the spell of this quiet centurion, thanks Bill. If there is water in heaven, you’ll be bumping docks and dispensing wisdom every day, your old pipe smoking and a twinkle in your eye. You left a tremendous wake, a fitting analogy for one hell of an officer. In Stacey’s own words, rest easy 1205.

This week the law enforcement community buried a vibrant, young member of their fraternity, Phylicia Carson, 33. She died in a police pursuit, often referred to by LEO’s as a “chase”. In August of 2015, my agency, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, lost a fine young officer, Tpr. James Bava in eerily similar circumstances . I write today in their memory.

English common law is the genesis of modern police policy related to pursuits. The law stated that officers were under no obligation to suspend the pursuit of a criminal simply because of resistance or threatened resistance. Before I talk about the practicalities of pursuits, numbers must come into play. In a study by the Police Executive Research Forum, it was recommended pursuits be limited to two circumstances:

1. A violent crime has already occurred or

2. There is an immediate risk the suspect will commit another crime.

Great stuff, if the offender has a placard on their vehicle announcing why he/she is running. The fact is, we don’t have any idea why the offender is running in the majority of cases.

A study of pursuits between 2009-2013 revealed that for every 100 pursuits 2 severe and 10 minor injuries occured, with the suspects injured 76% of the time and the officers less than 3% of the time. Non-involved people account for the remaining injuries and deaths. In 2020, fatal crashes in pursuits peaked at 455, the highest number since 2007 when 372 folks died. In plain language, a person is killed every day, on average in a police pursuit, with an officer killed every 11 weeks. The average age of the offender is 26 and usually a male. As you read, it is important to remember that officers initiate arrests and offenders initiate pursuits.

These numbers indicate a continuing problem for police executives who over the past decade have initiated a number of pursuit policies designed to reduce the carnage, from severely restrictive to somewhat reasonable, all of which favor the offenders. These policies fail to account for the adrenaline dump that occurs when an officer begins pursuing a violator. Officers do not take kindly to resisting arrest, and pursuits are a heightened form of this crime. Policies must, as expected, be tailored to the environment, rural or urban. It is safe to assume that pursuits have been around since the beginning of policing, on foot, on horseback and now in vehicles. Officers are expected to curb the overwhelming desire to catch a fleeing violator, ignore the tremendous adrenaline rush that accompanies these events, and respond to department policy. This kind of response is counter to every instinct officers on the streets have, and I speak from experience. Speaking of experience, those of us who were and are in this business know the pursuit of big block motorcycles presents a particular danger, often at exorbitant speeds, and are deserving of a separate writing of their own.

Like a greyhound on the track after the mechanical rabbit, when folks run, officers are going to pursue them and sort out the reasons they ran when the chase is over. The considerations mentioned above place the officer in an extremely perplexing position. Despite various strategies from stop sticks to pit maneuvers, police officers are expected to “run violators to ground”. It is what we do. Chases are a part of the business and may God richly bless the officers now, before us and in the future that protect our world by pursuing and catching violators of every stripe. Officers like Phylicia Carson and James Bava were doing precisely what was expected and fate intervened. We have all been there and are very fortunate to be alive, having escaped their fate by mere inches or a mile an hour or so. Chases are extremely dangerous and often deadly, considerations that officers clearly understand.

It is our business.

Have a great week!

SR

Hang on. We live in a technology oriented world, but I’m betting most folks don’t know just how dependent we are on cell phones and the access to the world they guarantee. Is it any wonder that young people today have no idea how to properly use a spinning or bait casting rig or even know what they are! Doesn’t matter, because there is likely an app for that. Here we go, prepare to be amazed. Imagine my shock and anticipation when Sharon walked into the office and announced ”hot now”. Now that is an app that every man needs, more about that later.

Today there are an estimated 6 billion smart phones users in the world, led by the Chinese, followed by India and then America. 5 billion of these users have access to the internet. In 2021, 100 billion apps were downloaded generating revenues of approximately 6.3 trillion dollars. The average cell phone will have 40 apps on it, the vast majority of which are used just once. There are approximately 325,000 health related apps alone. In 2020, we downloaded about 6 million apps. Gen Z folks are on their phones about 112.6 hours a month and the geriatric crowd around 51.5 hours a month. Well over 95% of the apps in use are free. All of these figures represent both IOS and Android systems. If you have an interest, there is likely an app for it.

These stunning numbers show no sign of slowing down anytime soon. I can remember when an encyclopedia was in every home, providing often dated and very limited information, and young people did in fact understand the art of fishing and did know the difference between a bait casting and spinning rig.

About Sharon’s proclamation she was “hot now”, (at least that is the way I heard it). I jumped up, smiling, prepared for a romantic interlude when she doused my ardor announcing she was referring to the Krispy Kreme app. The damned donuts were hot now, not…..well you get it.

When the other kind of “hot now” app comes out, you can bet I’ll have it, day one.

Have as great week!

SR

Building a good pizza is an exercise in culinary science. Anyone can do it, but few can do it really well. If you like pizza, this writing is for you. If you can enjoy one of the frozen, additive laden pies from the freezer section, please read on, as I am about to turn you pizza world upside down. Forever on, your days of opening a frozen pie, throwing it in the trash and eating the cardboard under it are over.

Sharon, a world class bargain hunter, located two patio heaters in Mountain Home, Arkansas. These tall heaters were marked down from 150.00 to 45.00 each as the boxes were “damaged”. We love northern Arkansas, so saddled up and road tripped to the Home Depot there and loaded up two perfectly good heaters before motoring 10 miles to Gassville to one of our favorite eateries, Nima’s Pizza, a little pizza shop that seats 20 folks, but is known worldwide in pizza circles. You read this correctly, world class pizza made from scratch, and absolutely delectable.

This little mom and pop pizzeria has won world competitions from Las Vegas to Italy and China. Who would have thought it. They make pizzas from 12” to 45” designed for a family of 8. They also make a surprisingly simple but delicious little salad to get things going. We polished off a delectable little “Kitchen Sink” pizza, and salad chased by a fountain coke. So why are these pizza’s this good?

The crust, and there are a couple of kinds, are handmade for each pie. You can actually ENJOY the edges. The sauce is perfectly spicy, not over-riding the other ingredients and their blend of great cheeses will induce terminal salivation. The proportions of each is near perfect, the pies hit the table with bubbling cheese and you leave the table full and smiling. Their many offerings have actually won world bake-offs in Las Vegas, competing against masterful chefs from around the globe. It is our third time here, and of course, we will be back. Gassville is also located in the middle of one of the best trout fisheries in existence, the White River.

When you are road tripping in the beautiful Ozarks, take our advice, and drop in to Nima’s with an appetite. Rick and Jane will not disappoint you and you can say you have enjoyed a world class pie, without taking a single step in Chicago!

Have a great week!

SR

Before this season, I have never watched a WNBA televised game. I began, last year, watching women’s basketball, but only if Iowa was playing. This year is different, with me watching every televised WNBA game, with a season pass, as long as my favorite team is playing. Before I tell you why, a little history is in order.

Women have always been the center of my life. A “well turned ankle” turns my head, and will up until they close the box. I was raised with three sisters, and each of them were achievers, possessing drive and ambition. I am married to a lady, another achiever, that is a perfect combination of intelligence, fire and ice. My primary flight instructor, one Ms Jeanne’ Willerth, commanded my attention on the ground and in the air. She is in my view a “Super Pilot” a distinction that belongs to just one other pilot. As I rose through the ranks of the Patrol, and again in the Gaming business, I was supported by four administrative assistants, who could have easily traded desks with me, and whose counsel I often sought.

A few factoids will help the reader to know where I am going. Attendance at WNBA games is up 156%, filling arenas at 94% capacity. Last year, TV viewership stood at an average of 462,000. Today it is at 1.32 Million, representing a 211% increase. WNBA merchandise sales are up a staggering 756%, HALFWAY through the season. Finally WNBA social channels are seeing an increase of 380% participation over last year. I can’t think of any business that would not drool over such statistics today.

What is different this year? Caitlan Clark is on the hardwood. She is an incomparable blend of speed, grace and brains who also happens to be a ball handler on the level of a wizard. She always gives credit to her team mates and has a passing ability that says “never drop your guard” when on offense. She is that good. She makes me smile, broadly. This round baller, from Iowa, is the epitome of a country girl that is at the top of her game, in her rookie year. If you have not caught a WNBA game, dial up an evening when the Indiana Fever is on the court. You’ll thank me later. Finally, she is graceful and gorgeous off the court, always groomed and in great outfits, accentuating her feminine features. What is not to like?

To all of the women in my life, thank you from the bottom of my heart. I have made room for one more of you, albeit from a distance. She is in a special class, right along side of my gastroenterologist and interventional cardiologist in Cleveland, and Miss Sharon.

Have a great week!

SR

There is always unreasonable hype in the countdown to the Presidential election. The hyperbolic excesses tend to fall on deaf ears as easily 3/4 of the electorate is committed to one candidate or the other. One of the grand projections is wrapped in plain brown paper, guaranteeing this is the most consequential race in the history of our Republic. This time, it may well be.

In an election shaped by blood hatred, we are giving serious consideration to a lady, who 6 months ago was so frightening that the powers chose to lie to us about the mental capacity of the President. They lied because they were deeply concerned about elevating a vacuous lady to the Presidency. There is no need to describe her, as even hardened Democrats know, when the lights are off, just before nodding off, she is a horrible choice that could not and did not survive a traditional primary campaign.

Our electorate is not being gaslighted at the hands of an adoring press and party that loathes the Republican candidate. Gaslighting only works on folks with diminished acumen. The aura surrounding the Democratic candidate is the product of deliberate consideration driven by unprecedented levels of hatred for the opposing candidate. The Democratic Party is willing to risk another incompetent President to maintain occupancy in the White House, even if promoting a candidate who we were laughing at 6 months ago. The Republicans have advanced a man with flaws, however incompetency is not one of them.

Only the most successful country on this planet, with unprecedented wealth is willing to take a chance on a candidate that is desperately hiding from the public with a marked propensity to abandon her long standing beliefs to sway the relatively few intelligent folks who have not professed their political position. Her selection of a running mate defies reason, but then again, she was selected as the running mate for the man thrown out of office. What we are witnessing is the basis for a fictional novel, as only an imaginative novelist could conjure up the current political state of our country. It seems surreal.

In the 11th hour, we denied Hillary Clinton the Presidency. Can we do it again? Will cooler heads prevail? The world is a shaky place today with our enemies joining forces to challenge our dominance. Will we allow the Democratic coup elevate a laughing stock and prevail? I think not, but it is going to take clear headed resolve to step in the booth, abandon your hatred and deny her the Presidency. I sincerely wish that I was among those that don’t care and respond viscerally to today’s circumstance. It would be so much easier. But, I am not.

Have a good week!

SR

By now every one of the 2.8 billion Christians on the face of the earth have had an opportunity to see the opening ceremony of the Olympics which is, this year, located in Paris, France. Of note, Jill Biden, a representative of America, has publicly said she thought the opening was fabulous, setting a standard for ceremonies in the future. Jill is a master of illusion, as evidenced by her wrapping her husband in a cloak of respectability. Soon enough, she’ll have an opportunity to explain to the Master how it is that a drag queen caricature of the Lord’s last supper is worthy of such praise.

John Adams, regarded as the father of the Constitution flatly rejected the notion that religion in America should be tolerated, rather a free exercise of one’s faith irrespective of the religion chosen. Adams wrote that, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people”. Jefferson plainly opposed an infringement on another’s choice of worship or non-worship, believing in the literal interpretation of the First Amendment. He stated that “neither Pagan nor Muslim nor Jew ought to be excluded in the civil rights of the commonwealth”. Adams and Jefferson were understandably concerned with loss of character.

I think it unwise to challenge the authority of the Christian God. I suggest that if the idiots in the caricature were demeaning of the Muslim faith, there would have been a riot on the streets of Paris. In today’s world it has become fashionable to cast the Christian Faith in a bad light. Our forefathers would likely have frowned on the notion that America was not founded on Christian principle, a faith undeserving of the ridiculous parody in the opening ceremony.

Here is the deal. You can worship or paganize whatever entity you choose, but do not slander my faith. Our faith, all 2.8 billion of us, find this parody to be reprehensible. Various heads of Christian denominations have also universally condemned this display of disrespect. This year’s Olympics is dead to me and I add my condemnation to those who see humor or entertainment in this blatant affront to our faith. You may rest assured the Lord has a long memory and eternity is a long time. Jill Biden does not represent me when she praises such a demonstration. Her praise of this caricature is indicative of the casual discard of the Christian Faith.

Have a good week.

SR

Lately, I have come across articles that bemoan the steady breakdown of neighborhood socialization, a consideration fueled by the incredible mobility of our population and giants like Amazon. Gone forever are the family owned businesses that work on our cars, provide our medicines and sell hardware. Instead, in the name of convenience, we never have to shed our pajamas to procure 90% of what we need.

Tellers at banks are becoming extinct. Instead you walk up to an automated screen and talk with someone in the home office who will gladly assist you with your banking needs. Unless absolutely necessary you never talk to the branch manager or other officer in the bank. I mentioned Amazon, a stroke of genius in the business of providing convenience. The transactions are totally impersonal to include the route driver tossing your latest purchase on the porch without a thought. You can, and many do, order your medicines from a giant clearing house and never talk with a pharmacist. Gone is the small hardware store where an experienced employee, often involved in the ownership of the store, offers advice and understands your needs. You can sell your car from the convenience of your living room, have it loaded from your driveway and, if your timing is right, have a new one dropped off in the same spot hours later.

You can earn a degree in your pajamas relying on your IPad and never have a conversation with a learned professor. You can buy your clothes and shoes on line and have them tossed on your porch a day or two after deciding what you think you want from the same chair in the living room. In a final insult and capitulation to convenience in a hurried world, you can consult with your doctor online, thus forgoing the opportunity for the discourse that is sacred and denying him or her the opportunity to look you over. You get your coffee through a damned window and have little idea who the barista is. The grocery store offers a very low percentage chance of meeting and visiting with a friend or neighbor and you check yourself out under the watchful eyes of a clerk who is counting your apples as you face yet another automated screen. The local gun shop is becoming extinct, replaced by box stores and barber shops replaced with stylists in lavish salons. Gun stores and barber shops are where the town’s business was really done. You can even attend church online while enjoying coffee in your living room.

Here is the deal. We have destroyed the concept of neighborhood gathering places. Neighborhood markets have sailed into the sunset and a coffee shop is virtually nonexistent, a huge consideration for police officers who desperately need to mingle with each other and the public. We are killing interaction and raising generations of kids who have no idea what social skill is. They visit on their cell phone even though they are sitting 10 feet from each other.

I am old enough to remember the days when you knew everybody on your street, or maybe the whole town, those were the days when you could conjure up an acquaintance to help with anything from a balky lawnmower to a car that won’t start. I genuinely miss it as folks who know me would certainly add gregarious to a list of expletives to describe me. We have trashed social interaction in the name of convenience and that is sad.

Have a good week

SR

The insanity of the campaign season resulted in our virtually ignoring an important holiday, National French Fry Day. Yesterday, July 12, was set aside to acknowledge yet another of my favorite food groups, the french fry, a delicacy I have enjoyed throughout my life. We had one of those little french fry cutters at home when I was a kid, and mom would squeeze a potato or two through it and drop the square cut delicacies into a pot of hot Crisco to our delight. The french fry is about the only thing that will cause me to abandon my disdain for Catsup even though many eateries are now peddling “french fry sauce”, a concoction that is a favorite at Freddy’s restaurants.

Sharon and I have personally tried nearly every joint in town that serves french fries, and Springfield is blessed with a huge variety of offerings. It is important to note that a good french fry needs to be piping hot and properly seasoned when served, as they degrade quickly if they sit. Here we go.

McDonalds sells about 9 million pounds of french fries a DAY. They promote the beef flavored overtones to their fries which are cut from 4 varieties of potatoes. When fresh, which is a hit or miss proposition, they are a great way to clog your arteries and raise your blood pressure. They are also wonderful, if hot, terrible when they cool down. Most restaurant fries are factory cut, processed, flash frozen and hit the oil out of a bag where they languish for a minute or two before dropped into a grease strainer, salted and delivered. The sitting part is the death knell for good fries. In Springfield, you have a fifty-fifty chance of fresh fries at Mackie-D’s, with some stores doing a great job some not so good. What-A-Burger and Burger King generally serve up average fries, with freshness not being their forte’. Red Robin delivers an excellent fry. Steak & Shake offers an interesting, very thin fry, also good when fresh. Wendy’s is better, but the best fries come from two joints in our opinion. Always fresh, piping hot and seasoned to taste are the fries from Black-Sheep. You can get them seasoned with a variety of spices and we have never been disappointed with their potatoes. A close second are the roost-fries from The Roost, with two locations in town. They are not a normal fry in that they are wedge cut, seasoned to perfection and hit your table too hot to eat.

French fries are an appropriate accompaniment for everything from fish to steak, with hotdogs and burgers reigning supreme. They are also a great go to snack. The bottom line is they are eaten by the billions and under appreciated. Enjoy an order this weekend at your favorite purveyor. Everybody eats french fries…….don’t they?

Have a great week!

SR