The Grouch Returns!

My new job and life in general has been keeping me so busy I haven't had time to blog for several weeks. That, and the fact that nothing interesting is happening in my life so why bother writing?

But, finally something worth commenting on! As a government employee feeding at the trough of public taxes I had the opportunity today to journey to the Long Beach convention center to attend a police vehicle equipment show on City time. it was an hour's drive to the show and wouldn't you know that I left work too soon and had to kill an hour waiting for the show to open. Darn! The convention center is right near the water (and the aquarium) so I took the opportunity to walk around the yacht harbor and spy on the boats.

The water wasn't really green but the cell phone camera was doing the best it could. I just finished reading "Song of the Siren" by Ernest K. Gann in part of which the author writes about his epic trip across the Pacific in a old steel hulled 3 masted ship that he purchased and renovated. He later sold it to a fellow who turned it into a school ship which was sunk by a white squall and had a movie of the same name made of the incident. This ship reminded me of that book.

In the distance sits the Queen Mary slowly rusting in peace. A newspaper article said recently that the shell plating is so eroded that the ship would never survive a trip in the open sea again. The Grouch children enjoyed touring the old lady several times in years past. The best part (and the creepiest) was seeing one of the massive ship propellers in the water from a special vantage point and contemplating what it would be like to see it actually turning from so close.

The weather was fantastic, sunny and in the high 60s. I couldn't believe I was being paid to play hooky. The police equipment show was interesting but I ended up staying too late and got stuck in traffic; 2.5 hours home at about 5 mph part of the way. At least the Jeep has a/c and satellite radio!