Alien Lawn Mound Invades My Yard

The other night I came home and heard some strange sounds coming from our back yard.  I turned on the patio lights and went out onto the patio to see if there was something there.  I couldn't believe my eyes!  There in the lawn was a giant mound rising up higher and higher.  It was easily about 10 feet in diameter and over a foot tall in the center.  AND IT WAS GROWING!  It scared me to death!  When it got about 2-1/2 feet tall it stopped growing and became silent and still.  I walked over to it and put my foot on it to see if I could move it.  It was solid!  I walked up on top of it and it easily supported my weight.

After some checking I realized that it was the result of a leak in a pipe that passed under the lawn.  I turned off the water to the pipe and decided to wait till morning to see where the leak was and how best to fix it.

By morning the alien mound was gone and the yard was peaceful again.  I was able to locate the leak and repair the pipe before nightfall so that the mound would not return.

It was a night that I will never forget.

"Get My Shotgun !!!"

I had a dear friend, named Vern, who recently passed away from cancer.  He was from Yugoslavia and legally immigrated to the US when he was a young man.  Before he died he told me a great story that I will never forget.

One warm summer night, he and his wife were asleep in bed.  Their bedroom was located above their garage on the front of the house.  Two large sliding glass doors opened up to a small balcony just above the entrance to the garage.  Since the night was warm, they had left the sliding doors open to let in the cool air.

In the early morning, Vern was awakened by the sound of the screen door sliding open.  Quietly he opened his eyes to see a man on the balcony preparing to enter his bedroom through the sliding glass door. As the intruder silently parted the curtains to enter the room, Vern yelled at the top of his lungs,

"GET MY SHOTGUN!!!"

The intruder's response was immediate!  He turned around and dashed across the balcony to the railing.  Climbing up on the top of the railing, he jumped about 15 feet to the concrete driveway below, destroying both of his ankles.  The police followed the trail of blood from the compound fractures to some nearby bushes where they arrested the intruder, who was in severe pain and grateful to receive medical care.

Now the interesting part of the story is that Vern did not even own a shotgun.  If he had, I doubt it would have made any difference.  Why did the intruder risk his life by jumping from a second story balcony if he never saw Vern's gun? What frightened him so much that he would crush both his ankles? The answer is simple!

The intruder was simply frightened by the possibility that Vern DID own a gun and that he was prepared to use it to protect his family and his possessions. He was frightened by the possibility that if he entered that room, he would face the destructive force of both barrels of a 12 gage shotgun. It was Vern's legal right to own a gun and the possibility that he had exercised that right that frightened the intruder away.

Would things have been different if the intruder knew that Vern did not own a gun?  Would the outcome have been different if the intruder had known that the US Government had made it illegal for Vern to buy a gun or to buy ammunition?  I think you will agree with me that things would have been very different for Vern and his sweet wife had the intruder known that his life was not in danger as he crept silently into their bedroom.

We must maintain our right to bear arms and to own guns and ammunition, IF FOR NO OTHER REASON THAN TO INSTILL THE FEAR OF DEATH IN THE HEART OF EVERY WOULD BE CRIMINAL WHO EVEN CONSIDERS COMMITTING A CRIME AGAINST THEIR NEIGHBORS.

What Good Are Guns Without Ammunition?

There has been and always will be a heated debate over the possession and the sale of guns in the United States.  Attempts to limit the sale and ownership of firearms are common but have always failed due in great part to the 2nd Amendment to the Constitution.

Recently it appears that the proponents of gun control are trying a new approach.  While they continue their frontal assault on the sale and ownership of firearms, this is only a ploy to distract the public from their flank attack, which is:

“They will let Americans own their guns, but they will make sure that the government controls the sale of ammunition.”

This new method of gun control seems to be gaining a foothold in the United States.  Their tactic is to gradually reduce the availability of ammunition to Americans who own guns.  At first the government said they only wanted to limit the sale of certain kinds of ammunition that could only be used for illegal purposes.  Then the ban expanded to other types of ammunition.  Gun shops were forced to move their stock from the store shelves to behind the counters and then into locked cabinets.  Now laws are being passed to prevent the sale of ammunition through the mail.  Through these gradual changes to the law, it is getting more and more difficult to buy even common varieties of ammunition.

“You can keep your precious guns,” they laugh, “but just try and use them without ammunition.”

Recently some gun and ammunition stores in California have had enough!  They have filed a lawsuit against the government for violating the Commerce Clause of the US Constitution.  They claim that these new laws are limiting their ability to sell guns and specifically ammunition across state lines. 

We will see how successful these brave Americans are as they battle to preserve the right of every citizen to own, AND USE, a gun in the United States of America.    

Confusion Over California's Cell Phone Law

It is currently illegal to use a hand held cell phone in the state of California when you are driving an automobile, car or truck.  

The exact wording of the law is as follows:

“A person shall not drive a motor vehicle while using a wireless telephone unless that telephone is specifically designed and configured to allow hands-free listening and talking, and is used in that manner while driving.”   (Ref. California Vehicle Code 23123)

But what does that mean?  Apparently it is confusing to a lot of people. 

Ever since the law was passed I have seen a dozen new ways to use a cell phone which people apparently believe is legal.

Take for example the women who simply does not put the cell phone to her ear?  She believes that it is legal to use her cell phone if she holds the cell phone in her hand in front of her mouth and not to her ear.  She believes that by putting it on speaker phone mode, it is now configured for hands-free listening and talking.  The basic problem with this technique is that the driver is still using one hand to hold the cell phone.

A variation on that technique is the guy with ear phones in his ears which are attached by a short electrical cord to the cell phone which he holds in his right hand.  Here again, the driver is still using one hand to hold the cell phone.  Also, the driver may not realize that in California it is also illegal to wear ear phones while driving.  My son recently found out about that law when he was visiting from another state.

Still another new hands-free technique is when the passenger holds the cell phone to the driver’s ear so that the driver’s hands remain on the steering wheel.  A problem with this method is that the passenger does always know the correct alignment of the phone to the driver’s ear, and the driver often has to adjust the phone so that he or she can hear.  This requires that the driver remove his or her hand from the steering wheel to make the adjustment, or they may move their head around to achieve the proper position.

Another interesting method I saw recently involved the use of a Bluetooth earpiece that the driver had inserted into their ear.  This allowed the driver to have both hands free to wave and gesture wildly as they talked on the phone.  As I cautiously approached the car from behind, I initially thought they were trying to swat a fly that was loose in the front seat.

Whatever the true interpretation of the law, we may never know because there is little enforcement of the law by local police.  This is evident as you drive on the freeway and see so many people using their cell phones while they drive. 

It seems to me that if the law were enforced, word would quickly spread through local communities by word of mouth about what is and is not allowed.  And I believe it would be safer to drive on our nation’s highways.

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY