Pressurized

Shortly after getting home, my wife called, "Can you go down to the drug store and pick up the prescription I just phoned in?" "Sure," I said as I grabbed my keys and beat feet out the door. Once there, I had to wait around for them to get filled. Bored with walking around the …

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Rented Danger versus my Dented Ranger

Because she needed her car as she didn't have a ride home from work, and I didn't have a way to deliver newspapers, my wife did the deed, renting a vehicle for me. Since I usually drive a 1998 Ford Ranger, she got a 2022 Ford Ranger. While they call it a mid-sized truck, the …

Seeing Yellow

Since the sun rises earlier during these days, it has become easy to see the many large-sized skidmarks left on the asphalt from semi-trucks, most loaded with rock, gravel, or dirt, as the drivers of these trucks must brake hard to prevent running a red light. I'm not talking about one or two, but several …

Podcast Update

"Guilty as charged, your Honor," I said as I pointed an accusing finger at myself. For this, I am the Judge, jury, executioner, and defendant. Okay, so I'm blowing everything out of proportion, but what is a little exaggeration amongst friends? Since mid-April, I have not recorded a podcast. But I do have my reason …

Keycarded

It finally happened. And I was not only mad at myself for it, but I felt pretty stupid for having done it. I drove thirty minutes from home to the radio station and forgot my key card to gain entry to the building. What makes this so bad is I raced home to get the …

The Day Long

Work, eat and sleep. Those are the three ingredients that make up my life at present. It's not a complaint but a statement of fact. I'm up by 4 a.m. and out of the house thirty minutes later, heading for the radio station. Two stops an hour to present, first the traffic report and then …

Bogged

Something tells me that I might best return to writing fiction stories rather than churning out little diatribes about daily life. Not even poetry, or what supposedly passes for poetry in my mind, seems to be attractive to you. It is a case of being caught between a rock and a hard place. I thought …

Untitled Haiku

Overcast morning listen to the croaking frog under thorny bush

Broken Arm

Whose arm is that? I think I know. Its owner is quite sad, though. It is a tale of woe, They watch him frown. She cries hello. He gives his arm a shake, And sobs until the tears make. The only other sound's the break, Distant cars and birds awake. The arm is broken, swollen, …

Cake

There once was a lass who liked cake. She said, "See the lovely bake!" It was unusually flat, Round but not very fat, And ate it for goodness sake.

Cunning

Pay attention to the Ukrainian fighters, The Ukrainian leadership is the most cunning non-revolutionary master of all. "Silence." said the Ukrainian government, And "silence" then "silence" again.

Diner

The empty passenger cars joined by the rotting diner. It too is empty, bare and abandoned, desiccating In hot summer sun. It is of that one greater generation gone, How I mourned the awful sight. Down, down, down into the darkness of memory's tunnel, Quickly it goes by, obscured, forgotten, a shadow. Pay attention to …

Tin Roof

a tiny roof, however hard it tries, will always be overhead. are you upset by how noisy it is? does it tear you apart to see the tiny roof so warped?

Boardwalks

many people walk antiquated wood boardwalks because of the slope

Cry

past the midday heat the tiny black crickets cry under old tin roof

Comme Ci, Comme Ça

Update on my arm -- upper left radial and lower humorous adjacent to the elbow. Damn, it hurts! Since I cannot type with one hand, I thought it would be okay to remove my sling and the forearm supported by my desk and set to work banging out four-thousand words in various news stories. It …

Glitch

Recently, I encountered a mountain lion as I was leaving the print shop one late night. Then the fed's trapped one near Genoa, some 30 miles southwest of Virginia City. While we don't know if it is that cat, we did do some speculating that it could be. A news story about the capture and …

Friggatriskaideka

Yes, Friggatriskaidekaphobia is real. For me, the date and day usually hold good things. The last Friggatriskaideka was no exception, but my good fortune did not come to me in the usual way. While delivering newspapers, it is often hard to find a parking spot. Visitors and business owners tend to take up the available …

The Power of the Christian Hypocrite

Weeks back, I attended church with my son and daughter-in-law. It was a 'Share Your Testimony' Sunday, and being moved by the Holy Spirit, I did. Unbeknownst to me, the entire service was video recorded for later Internet streaming. Anyway, I expressed how God talks to me like a drill sergeant would a Marine recruit, …

My Cousin Elmo says, "They call it May because is may be be sunny, it may snow, it may be 20 degrees or it may be 90."

Shifting Places

While I survived changing a tire without hurting my back, I did manage to trip over our front porch steps with both feet and fall. Fortunately, I did not break the arm I extended during the tumble. And I'm unashamed to say that I lay on the cement for a few minutes than needed, enjoying …

Pliers

It is nice when I can find some humor in a situation I don't particularly like. Namely, I had to help my daughter-in-law change a flat tire on her already wrecked car. And as usual, it did not go smoothly for me. First, I have to take care not to hurt my already fragile back …

My Cousin Elmo says, "It took '2000 Mules' to install one jackass."

Robert ‘Robby’ Van Dusen, 1962-2022

His last words to me were, "Very. Fung. Shway." It was a comment from Robby on a painting I had finished and posted to my social media site. Like everyone else, I had no idea it would be the final time I'd hear from him. Before I get there, let me go here. Fifty years …

Jus’ the Fax, Ma’am

It was another late night of printing the newspaper. It took about seven hours to finish up, meaning it was about 11 p.m. as I headed to the car and home. Yes, I am still having my truck worked on. Once the price tag had reached the five thousand dollar mark, I decided I may …

You Can’t Debride Some Memories

While in the Air Force, before the Marine Corps, I was called up by my squadron commander, Capt. Smith to help out at Brooke Army Medical Center because I had paramedic training. They had received a fight from Okinawa of 20 or 25 Marines severely burned in a JP4 fuel fire. Between studies and drills, …

Root Word

Ever since moving to Nevada and learning who Alfred Doten is, I have been an admirer of his. Known for his diary, Doten chronicles life in Nevada in general and the Comstock in particular from when he arrived around 1849 till his death in 1903. With all that said, I have kept a journal since …

Morning Show

Since beginning my so-called radio career in 1976, I've never been "good enough" to do a morning show. Sadly, my ego has always been at odds with that. Finally, after 46-years, I am doing a morning show and doing it solo, meaning I have no one else in the studio with me. All I am …

Gaslit: Match is Struck

Having come home, I found the chip bag and the dip container on the kitchen counter and the missus with her arms folded beside them in the most menacing style. Thankfully, she does not own a rolling pin. Our next-door neighbor saw me put trash in her garbage can sitting at the curb in the …

From Dead to Killed

Decided that I needed a new electric razor. You know your razor has turned to the dark side when it begins nicking you to the point you bleed. "I am your razor, Tom!" "Nooooo!" Okay, enough with the Star Wars-like dialogue. Spent twenty bucks on one that I believed would last me at least a …