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Have mercy. Been ridin’ on the bus all day …

This is Post #2,400 for the ol’ EF’enD. But no time to celebrate boys and girls, cause I got a bus to catch. Tomorrow. Going to Dallas on that ol’ Greyhound. That means a ride from Beaumont->Houston->Dallas–>Catch that ol’ DART Red Line light rail to Arapaho station–>Then catch a ride with my amigo to Frisco. Hot Damn (or not.) What that means is I will be sitting on my ass a lot tomorrow. Start the music boys:

http://youtu.be/MDEHZNirvF0

No infringement is meant here. First and last, if you don’t have this album, go out and get it. I mean the vinyl. Doesn’t matter even if it’s scratched up a little, in fact, that’s the way it should be played. And loud. Make the fine China dance up and down on the dinner table of those pretentious metrosexual assholes upstairs above you.

This song reminds me of my younger days. A long-haired punk riding the bus to the AFEES in Houston for a physical for the Navy and a ride back to Kirbyville where somebody picked us up. Oh I’d be back to that old AFEES, entertain the thought of going AWOL to see Crosby, Stills Nash and Young, but go ahead anyway, crawl in a big yellow taxi for Houston Intercontinental Airport, now known as Bush Intercontinental, for Old Man Bush.

Riding the bus all day or waiting for the bus all day. One kind of blends into another. That’s why this “Waiting for the Bus All Day,” by ZZ Top, which merges effortlessly into “Jesus Just Left Chicago,” is so appropriate for the po’ man traveler. Nowadays, you have to be really broke (which I am at the moment) or you are some kind of nut, and or outlaw, to ride the bus.

ZZ Top’s been with me for 40 years or more. They sing a kind of multi-racial blues that black, white, brown, it doesn’t matter, you know?

So here is to ZZ Top and to that long bus ride tomorrow.

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Beetle and Sarge still at it

It must be all of those naps that keeps one of the Army’s oldest enlisted men going.

Pvt. Beetle Bailey must be going on about 80, we don’t know for sure. He was probably 18 or so when he left home for Rockview College. On March 13, 1950, Beetle enlisted in the Army and, one might say, he has made it his career of it.

In today’s Army Bailey would have been long discharged for his habitual laziness and insubordinate attitude, not to mention his naps, which Bailey takes at quite regular intervals. For that matter, he would have been long gone in many of the day’s Armys in between. Likewise, his longstanding superior Sgt. 1st Class Orville Snorkel, would likely have been a goner as a career non-commissioned officer in some of the various incarnations of the U.S. military. For example, Sarge would have probably been given his walking papers for the first 1,000 or more times he pulverized the slacking Private Bailey.

Pvt. Bailey reporting for duty, sir.
Pvt. Bailey reporting for duty, sir.

Perhaps it is fortunate for both private and sergeant that they possess a love-hate relationship that has kept the two in the service all these years, and on Camp Swampy with some of its dubious military characters rather in combat through six major U.S. wars.

That “Beetle Bailey” the comic strip has persevered all these years is largely due to its creator, Mort Walker. Walker celebrated his 90th birthday last week. Walker was born on Sept. 3, 1923, and his successful strip debuted on Sept. 4, 1950. He served in Army intelligence and as an investigator during World War II. Perhaps it was his Army experience that made Walker see the oxymoron Army and intelligence could often present to both those in the civilian world and those in the service alike.

Although once in awhile Walker can ruffle some military feathers, the strip  has the genius of presenting in a reflective way the absurdity that is inherent in huge bureaucratic entities such as the Army and the Defense Department. His humor isn’t biting and at some times sentimental. Still, the strip has a way of reaching the vast diffuse bunch that is the armed forces. That it is probably why such a diverse group of dignitaries sent Walker well-wishes recently on his 90th birthday. That group ranged from New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to Prince Albert II of Monaco, as well as another famous pair, Dolly Parton.

The strip along with Walker’s “Hi and Lois” — Lois is Beetle’s sister — is a family endeavor that has gone on for years with the creator and his sons helping and is likely to go on past Mort Walker. That is the kind of consistency military people don’t mind having from time-to-time. Beetle will most likely be napping — and probably getting pounded by Sgt. Snorkel for years to come.

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Football is here. A mostly glorious event.

Last night the pro football season began for me. And how glorious it — mostly — was.

My team, a.k.a. the Houston Texans, came back from a deficit of 24 points to beat the San Diego Chargers. Randy Bullock booted a 41-yard field goal for a literal last-second three points.The kicker was drafted by Houston in 2012 but was injured that August with a groin injury. A Klein High School product who played ball and graduated with a petroleum engineering degree from Texas A & M, was given the game ball for what was his first regular season game. Oh, and yes, I was just thinking “ouch.”

It happened that the opening Monday Night Football game of 2013 was a double-header: the Washington Native-American Skins  vs. the Philadelphia Eagles with Houston-San Diego. Since I worked until 8 o’clock, the first game was going when I got home. I wasn’t particularly excited to see that particular game. I mean RGIII is a pretty exciting young quarterback to watch, provided he doesn’t end up on injured reserve after the first game. Less exciting were the two announcers for the game: Jon Gruden and Mike Tirico. And if humanly possible, many Houston fans thought the announcing pair for the second game — Chris Berman and Trent Dilfer — were even less exciting than the first two.

  “Chris Berman’s voice makes me wanna shoot myself in the foot,” Twittered “Lil Poop” to the Houston Chronicle.

Berman could be funny back in the 80s, when more people were stoned. Not so much these days. Trent Dilfer, the former Tampa Bay, Ravens, Seattle Seahawks, Cleveland and 49ers quarterback, is a pretty good NFL analyst, on the radio. Not so much a TV analyst.

I guess the Texans-Chargers game was an exciting contest. But I’d like my team to win like they were supposed to. I would like to see the Houston Texans go to the Super Bowl and, hopefully, win before I become too decrepit to do a limited Happy Dance. No matter how thrilling the game, if you have sleep problems like me, exciting at 12:45 a.m. doesn’t quite cut it.

Nonetheless, Houston seems to have a team better than last season’s. That’s a positive note. And to round out the start of football season, my high school has been at the top on the Associated Press prep polls from the start. My old school is No. 1 in 2A in Texas. Look it up.

An interesting note, a high school friend who still lives in the old hometown became involved in a kerfuffle with a regional sports site. It has been since straightened out last I heard. But Bobby has gotten a considerable number of folks, such as me, who agreed when my friend asked if I would be interested in receiving updates from him by text messaging. I said: Why the hell not? I have free unlimited text that I use. So, during the last two games which were won by old alma mater, I received short and to the point texts. Dick EFD, 2 yd run TD, PAT good. N 16, L 10. No commentary, no funny names. Just , who won, Baby!!! The home team has won three state championships. I saw them win one in person. I ‘d like to see them win another. And see the Texans win the Super Duper Bowl. Even if it’s on TV.

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Tote that laptop, load that Dell, take a little drink and you’ll land in … oh what the hell!

The last few days have been spent in what is now a too-common exercise. That is loading and reloading programs on my computer. Dell sent a repair person on Friday to fix my laptop. That visit included installing a new hard drive and doing whatever they do to repair a problem touch pad.

This type of stuff has been happening increasingly. I don’t know how long it has been, but it seems not a very long time ago that I had to restore my operating system to factory settings. Look, I admit that doing these type of things aren’t an equivalent to neurosurgery. But that makes them no less a pain in the ass. I now have the basic programs I need, but I still require a thousand tasks every time I finish another.

I thought owning a computer would be easier than this. I suppose part of my reason for feeling this way is that I once only used a computer, or PCs, or Macs, at work. Mostly I used Apple products, Mac variations. I don’t know if Apple has less problems than other computers. The first computer I owned was a used Mac and I never had any issues. However, I also never lugged my old Macintosh three or four times a year on flights to here or there. Nor did I take my computer to work with me every day.

My work computer is a tablet/notebook, Lenovo. It seems to be pretty sturdy and it should be because it is made for lugging around and for use in the field on a daily basis. You can’t break it or so it seems. I know if I could stand it up aside a pole and fire away with a Remington 870, that we’d see about that. However, that’s only a dream.

Still, you buy what you can afford if you can’t afford it and that is me to a t, or is it tee? Or if you were a tree, what would you be? Who the hell knows. I am working an evening shift, so I better get dressed.

 

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Do you agree with these Harris respondents about places to live?

Just now I came across an interesting poll, of sorts, by Harris, concerning states and cities where people would most want to live in the U.S. After reading the list, I am left wondering just how these respondents made their decisions for these questions. Let us take in the top states in which those who were asked would most like to live other than in their own state:

1. California

2. Hawaii

3. Florida

4. Texas

5. Colorado

6. New York

7. Arizona

8. North Carolina

9. Oregon

10. Washington

Take a look at the states folks said they would least want to live other than their own state:

1. California

2. Alaska

3. New York

4. Mississippi

5. Florida

6. Michigan

7. Texas

8. Alabama

9. District of Columbia

10. New Jersey

It is kind of funny some of those picked as favorite also land in the least favorable with California topping both lists. My state of Texas makes No. 4 in most and No. 7 in the least. I have lived in Texas for all but the four years I served in the Navy. I spent about 3 of those Navy years in Mississippi and about 4 months in California. The first was divided among about six weeks in Meridian, Miss., for training, and the remainder in Gulfport on shore duty. The rest of my time was spent in Long Beach, Calif. and San Diego in between my deployment on a destroyer to the West and South Pacific. I say that because I have no idea what, if anything, those who were questioned for the poll know about any of the states.

The degree to which those respondents knew from personal experience about those states that they judged would have been fascinating to find out. I knew a little about Mississippi and California, not a lot, but I also found that both states had a lot to offer with their beauty and their people.

Even odder are the choices made by those who were asked similar queries about American cities. Only one Texas city makes the top 15 and guess which one it was? You’re right if you say Austin. As always, I think Austin is a fine city. It has beauty. It is vibrant. Plenty of entertainment, music, a large university and the home for Texas government. But plenty of other Texas cities have much to offer as well. And as much as I hate to say it, Austin has become overrated.

So take a look at the polls and see what you think. I bet some of you are not as enamored about certain states and cities as are those Harris respondent. I suppose those polled are a special breed.