Last Call For Greenshields

I read today that Greenshields is closing. It’s been closed since last August, when a fire broke out. Seven months without an insurance settlement process has put the cap on any chance of reopening.

Greenshields was one of the first bars I went to when I was new to Raleigh. My first week at Pioneer Software, a group invited me out and we went to Greenshields. It was before most of the brewing tanks were installed. We sat at fold-up tables in a large, white room.

As the brewery expanded and jazzed up its furnishings, it became a choice spot for watching basketball games. There was a always good chance of getting a good seat in front of the big-screen TV on game day.

The beer Greenshields served was good, but never great. And the food wasn’t the best, either. Still, Greenshields provided a nice, comfortable place to meet friends downtown.

I’m sorry to see it go.

The Sgrena-Calipari Shooting

As you are all aware, US troops opened fire on the car of recently-rescued Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena, killing Italian secret service agent Nicola Calipari. The claim from Washington is that the car was traveling at a high rate of speed and refused to stop.

Sgrena maintains the car was traveling slowly and no signals were to be seen. In fact, she says there was no checkpoint. Now the U.S. side is calling the checkpoint “temporary”.

Uh-huh.

There are two sides to every story, and the truth is often somewhere in between. Everybody knows that Sgrena has an axe to grind, so you have to take what she says witha grain of salt. Still, I’m curious now after seeing photos of Sgrena’s car. That car doesn’t look like a hail of bullets hit it. It looks like very precisely-aimed shots were fired at it. Note the one shot at the edge of the rear window. Was this simply an errant shot, or were the rear passengers targeted? You don’t stop a car by shooting into the back of it.

I look forward to full, thorough investigation. I’m not holding my breath, though.

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Sniffle Sniffle

I went to the doctor earlier this week to address a persistent sinus issue I’ve had since New Year’s. After asking a bunch of questions regarding my symptoms, the doctor declared it to be allergies.

Uh, no. Thanks, Doc, for not listening. My parting gift is a bottle of Flonase to go with my still-lingering sinus issue.

I swear some doctors don’t want to be bothered by patients. Write a prescription and move on to the next one. I should have insisted on seeing my usual doctor instead of taking whomever was available.

But hey, we’ve got the greatest healthcare system in the world, right?
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