He's baaack!

After a successful 2 1/2 week trip to California I'm back in Michigan and ready to resume blogging - and yes I know I could have done it remotely, but I left my computer and inspiration at home.

Anyway, thanks to all my wonderful hosts, which included my cousin Cynthia, my sons William and Timothy, my granddaughter, Brittany, even my ex-wife, Christine, was helpful in snagging Timothy and I a great - and inexpensive - condo for a two night stay near Santa Rosa. Thanks also to Atherton Police Lt. Glenn Nielsen for arranging a reunion lunch for me and some retired cop buddies and for a ride-along with a young officer.

A special thanks to my old cop buddy, Kenny, who let me stay in his El Dorado Hills mansion for a night. It was good to reconnect with Kenny and another old police friend, Steve.

For a time it seemed I would have to rearrange to travel home on an ark with all the rain (and boy did it rain while I was there) but American Airlines did a wonderful job getting me back to Michigan. Getting to California was not so easy, but wasn't the airlines fault. Mother Nature was to blame for that.

Thank goodness for unlimited rental car mileage as I logged about 2,400 miles on my Alamo rented Impala. (This shameless plug is my attempt to show how blogging could one day be profitable).

Anyway I returned from pouring rain to dreary overcast skies so not much changed in the 2,400 mile trip home.

Before I formally resume my newspaper bashing here's a couple great jokes I heard while on the trip.

A guy calls in sick to work and tells his boss he has contracted "anal glaucoma." When his boss inquires about the disease the man retorts: "It means I can't see my ass coming to work today!"

A pirate walks into a pirate bar (I guess they had those) and sees another pirate with a wooden leg, a hook for a hand and an eye patch. He asked how the pirate had met with such misfortune.

"Well (insert aaaargh here) I fell overboard and a shark took me leg," the pirate says. And the hand?, the pirate asks.
"Lost it in a sword fight (another aaaaaargh here) with another pirate," the pirate says.
"And the eye matey?," the other pirate asks.
"Aye, the eye, I was looking up at the sky and a seagull pooped in me eye," the pirate says.
"How would poop have taken your eye?," the inquiring pirate asked.
"First day with me new hook," the disabled pirate asks. (Insert laughing here).

Again, thanks to all (and a few new fans of the blog) for your kind hospitality. If I get a chance I'll do a little more show and tell about the California trip. For now I must unpack and begin to look for part-time work.