Cyclovia Videoblog

We took our bicycles downtown Sunday morning to ride in Cyclovia, a twice-yearly ride and street party. We’ve participated in six to date and so far each route’s been different, exposing us to parts of Tucson we don’t normally see. This one started at the old Mexican presidio in the heart of downtown and went […]

The Barter Economy

Last month my friend Ed rode to Bike Week in Daytona, Florida. He goes every year, and since it’s a long ride there and back, things can and do happen. This year’s thing was a medical emergency: a detached retina. Ed started seeing floaters in one eye after arriving at Daytona. The floaters gradually congealed into a circular […]

.999 Fine Copper

Dude laid a tip on me after my tram tour at the air museum. He walked up, said “Thank you for your service,” and stuck his hand out. I shook back and felt a coin pressing against my palm. I glanced down to see what looked like a gold Rand and immediately thought to myself […]

Sunday Bag o’ Tools

Friday morning Donna said she needed a magnetized bowl to keep sewing machine screws and needles in. You get those at Harbor Freight, and since I love tools I went along. I came home with a breaker bar and 19mm socket to carry in one of the Goldwing’s saddlebags, in case I ever have to change a rear […]

Tuesday Whiff o’ Putin

From a blog post I wrote on November 15th, one week after the election: “To the conspiracy theorists: I never thought I’d join you, but something about this election stinks. Along with GOP redistricting, gerrymandering, and voter suppression, there’s more than a whiff of Russian manipulation of electronic vote results in a few key states. […]

Saturday Bag o’ Road Trip

Donna and I are once again scheduling separate spring vacations. She’s going to California in April to visit aunts & uncles, attend the annual Giustina family reunion, and see some friends. Her destinations are all in northern California, from the Bay Area north to Chico. Meanwhile I’m planning a May motorcycle trip with our son Gregory. We were originally going to […]

Hearts & Minds? I’ll Settle for Behavior.

President Truman ordered the integration of the military in 1948. It didn’t happen overnight, but by 1953 and the end of the Korean War it was reality. My dad was Air Force and I grew up going to integrated DoD schools in Germany. My one exposure to official segregation came when we rotated back Stateside […]