Geezer

There are 384 posts filed in Geezer (this is page 34 of 39).

The peculiar siren song of coffee

I’ve always had a love-hate relationship with coffee. During my Navy days I would drink multiple cups a day, which usually led to my being agitated. I often point to my coffee-drinking friends’ near-homicidal behavior during Hurricane Fran as reason enough to give up coffee.

I’ve mostly given up drinking caffeinated coffee. I’ve speculated to myself that the years of drinking coffee have carved canyons through my brain which can only be filled by the next cup of Joe. As with any addiction, each cup never seems to reach the level the prior one did.
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What’s making Americans fat

My friend and fellow veteran Grier Martin pointed me to a story in the Army Times that warns that most American kids are too out of shape to serve in the military.

My wife Kelly thinks she knows why kids are getting fatter: the drink sizes offered with fast food have become supersized. The same sized soft drink that used to be considered a large is now the “small” size. It’s crazy.

What to do about it, though? Isn’t the restaurant just giving its customers what they want, regardless of whether or not it’s what they need? If everyone chooses to pig out, landing in the hospital with heart disease; diabetes; and other serious illnesses, the treatment of which will be paid for through my insurance premiums, is that simply free enterprise at work? Or should society try to set a better example?
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The sailor’s ring

Flickr image by Amy Palko

In 1990 I was in the Navy and homeported on a ship at San Diego Naval Station. One Sunday afternoon I was riding the San Diego Trolley back to base after a day spent downtown when the woman next to me struck up a conversation. By then I had been in town long enough to become attuned to those mentally ill people who occasionally rode the trolley and sometimes caused disturbances. At first I thought this woman was one of those sadly disturbed individuals but she was somehow different. A elderly Japanese woman who spoke broken English, she seemed friendly. Certainly harmless enough.

She struck up a conversation, asking if I was in the Navy and I responded yes. With this she gave an even bigger smile.

“My husband NAVY!” she beamed.
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Graffiti delete-y?

Since my blog posting about the Beltline graffiti attracted so much attention, I thought it only right that I publicly thank the N.C. DOT for being on the case. I sent this email to them this past Thursday:

From: Mark Turner
Sent: Thursday, June 24, 2010 2:56 PM
To: Jones, Brandon H
Cc: Jernigan, Hannah; Halsey, Steven M; Holmes, Jason M; Elmore, Thomas R; Bowman, John W; Hopkins, Joey
Subject: Re: Graffiti

Mr. Jones,

I see that graffiti around the I-440 Beltline is being painted over. Thanks to you and the NCDOT for your prompt service in addressing this. Already it has made a huge difference in Raleigh’s appearance. I do appreciate it!

Regards,

Mark Turner

This drew this prompt response from Mr. Brandon Jones:
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Graffiti gets attention

I took a look around Raleigh’s I-440 Beltline yesterday and was happy to see the graffiti I complained about is finally getting cleaned up. There were a few spots that remained, like the overhead sign at the Crabtree exit and the spots on the noise wall near the Six Forks Rd exit, but most of the egregious stuff has been painted over. Also, DOT is painting over it with brick-colored paint, rather than the gray stuff that was used in other cleanups.

Thanks to the N.C. DOT for knocking this out, and thanks to WTVD for help getting the word out. It’s looking better already!

Cheap thoughts: Sound museum

A few weekends ago I was visiting my parents when I thought to look for one of the 1970s-era telephones they had in storage. I had recently realized that my kids had never heard the sound of a real ringing telephone and I thought that was a shame. Modern phones all come with electronic ringers, which pale in comparison to the urgency that a bell provides. The closest they could get to hearing the sound of a ringing bell is a ringtone on an iPhone. I found the old phone I was looking for and made it ring a few times for the kids’ sake (and ok, for mine too). What a contrast it provided to today’s phones.
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Father’s Day

I’m putting the finishing touches on a pretty fun Father’s Day weekend. There was dancing and clowning around at Music on the Porch Friday night; puttering around the house and playground fun at Lions Park Saturday; a friend’s birthday party Saturday night; and projects with the kids, a seafood lunch, and pool time today. It’s been a hot, dry weekend but still my body is feeling pretty happy now.

This evening after the kids went to bed Kelly and I were chatting. “Parenthood is going by fast,” I exclaimed, following it with “ is going by fast!” I will never have another Father’s Day when our daughter is eight and our son is 5-and-a-half. Those events of the past 48 hours that just moments ago filled my senses are now only memories. Happy ones, but memories still: in the book, closed out, and never to be lived again.

The question to be asked at the end of each day is “did I live this day to its fullest?” For today, the answer is yes. I hope that holds true for the rest of my days.

Return to Carowinds, part 2

Hallie and I met up with Kelly and Travis after Hallie and I got off Thunder Road. We then headed back to our car to eat lunch. We thought we might go from there to the water side of the park (Boomerang Bay) but decided there were a few more coasters to be ridden before that. So we left our swimwear in the car and went back into the park.

Our first order of business was to cool off! It was now after 1 PM and the low overcast skies had now given way to hot sun. Thinking we could cool off at Rip Roarin’ Rapids, we reached the ride entrance only to find out it would be an hour wait. I smirked at this, as this has been the case with Rip Roarin’ Rapids since the first summer it opened. Some things never change. Rather than waste an hour for this ride, we split up again. This time Hallie would take Kelly on Thunder Road while I went with Travis to ride the “helicopters,” also known as Woodstock’s Whirly Birds.
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Return to Carowinds

Arriving at Carowinds

As much as I like roller coasters, and for all the fun I had working at Carowinds in 1985, you would think I would’ve found time to make the drive from Raleigh to Charlotte for a weekend of fun at the park. For whatever reason, though, I’d never done it. My last visit was in 1994, two years after I moved to Raleigh. Though it went largely unfulfilled, my love for coasters lived on. Now that I’ve got a wife and kids who are old enough to appreciate it I figured it was a good time to make the pilgrimage.

We hit the road a little around 6:45 this morning for the three-hour drive to the park. Traffic was light and the ride was easy. We got there right on time, rolling into the Carowinds lot minutes after the park opened at 10. After some thorough applications of sunscreen we headed for the South Gate, with the new Intimidator ride looming over us.

Carowinds now searches bags and runs its visitors through metal detectors. This was a sign of the times but quite effortless. We handed the attendant our preprinted tickets and made it through the gate with no problems.
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Raleigh Speedway

Raleigh Speedway in 1965

Did you know Raleigh once had its own NASCAR track? It’s true, though you’d never know it today. The site is now a quiet industrial park that sits next to an equally quiet neighborhood north of the Raleigh Beltline. Back in the 1950s, though, the air was filled with smoke and the sound of revving engines at this track once located a mile outside the city limits.

Raleigh Speedway opened in 1952 as the Southland Speedway (or the Dixie Speedway), when it hosted an IndyCar event. It went on to host major NASCAR events, including Grand National events every Fourth of July. Raleigh Speedway was notable in that it was the first track NASCAR sanctioned for night races.
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