When we went to rent our car at the San Francisco airport, there must have been a thousand people waiting in line. Now, over the years, I have rented many cars at the San Francisco airport and have never seen that many people.

It took me about an hour to get my car. Normally, it is about 15 minutes. So, I suspected that something was happening.

When I got to the counter, I asked the rep about it. He didn’t know of anything and was equally perplexed by the crowd.

When we got to our room and turned on the TV, we discovered that the Music Video Awards are being hosted in San Francisco on Sunday night. I suspect that the MVAs are the reason for the crowds.

Of course, when we fly out on Monday, we will be fighting with the same crowd as they attempt to leave. Rats!!

We had an earth quake last night around 9 PM. It registered 4.0 on the Richter. Not a big event for the Bay area, but it was a quake none the less. We were coming back from supper at the time.

It was not like the quake of 89. I was in the area a week after that one hit. The bay bridge collapsed. The fronts of houses disappeared leaving them looking like doll houses. Hundreds were killed.

Fortunately, the hotel I was staying in at the time was on rollers. The hotel was literally built on rollers so that it would move with the quakes, kind of like a server cart.

I was driving down the interstate when an after shock hit. One minute I was in the right lane and the next, I was three lanes over to the left. Very Spooky!

I hope this doesn’t bode negatively over Katy’s wedding.

Kwame copped a plea.  It kind of sounds like “Horton Hears A Who.”  Who’s going to jail?  You Kwame!

After the initial trial with the Governor, Kwame Kilpatrick, Detroits most famous Irishman, worked out a deal with the Governor.  In exchange for stepping down, the Governor will grant him a light sentence.  This will eliminate the show trial of the Democratic Mayor by the Republican Attorney General.

How ever, I am not sure that the Governor has the authority to commute a sentence that has not yet been given.  Unless she has worked out a deal with the AG, Kwame may still be tried.  And though the eventual sentence may be commuted, the trial will still take place.

Ringling Brothers would have been proud!

We recently had to change planes at the Milwaukee airport. Our next gate was D38. The directions at the terminal pointed us towards gates 20 – 39. No problem. We found gate 20 and proceeded down the corridor. All of a sudden, we reached gate 29 and then the gates ended. What the?

After retracing our steps, we discovered that 20 – 29 were on the left side of the concourse and 30 – 39 were on the right side of the concourse.

Did I mention that Milwaukee is known for its breweries?

Our cable service was down all day Monday. What a bummer. No internet, no TV. So, on Tuesday, I called them.

When I was talking to the service rep, he noted that I did not have Comcast telephone service and that for 39.95 a month I could get unlimited local and long distance plus caller ID. I pointed out to him that if I also had their phone service, I wouldn’t be talking to him now since that too would be down. “Oh” was his reply.

He said that they couldn’t get anyone out there until Thursday but  he would check.  An hour later, the Comcast truck went down the street and my cable service was quickly restored. I really needed to use the internet before our up coming trip.

Kwame Kilpatrick, Detroits most famous Irishman, is back in the news again.  It seems that he is challenging the Governors power to remove him from office.  And, since the Governor is holding a hearing tomorrow, Kwame is suing her.

So, here is how it stands.  If the Democrats in Detroit end up divided by what the Democratic Governor should do about the Democratic Mayor of Detroit, it could cost Obama the election.  And, since the Republican Attorney General plans to try Kwame around the end of October, which would cause bad press just before the elections, the Governor is trying to get rid of Kwame in advance.

If Jerry Springer can’t make it to the hearing, maybe Jeffery Fieger can.

To protest the excessive packaging used by most product manufacturers , the employees at Lush were instructed to show up for work wearing only their aprons. Well, the police department on Nantucket got wind of the Lush protest. And so, they warned the employees that must wear briefs. Anyone exposing their bare butt would be arrested. And so, the employees complied.

Queen Victoria would be proud. Of course, Nantucket boasts that it has 80 miles of nude beaches.  I guess Lush should have been located at one of them.

The sign out side of a Catholic store read “Rosary Pillows”. Now, I am not Catholic so I have no idea what a Rosary Pillow is. I know what a Rosary is and I know what a pillow is but a Rosary Pillow eludes me.

I could envision a home shrine with Jesus on the cross, a candle on either side and a red velvet pillow in front of the cross with a Rosary on it.

Then again, maybe it is a pillow that doubles as a Rosary. That way you can sleep and do penance at the same time.

What will those Catholics think of next, IM for confessions?

Yesterday was nude day a Lush.

It seems that Lush is protesting all of the packaging used on products. So, in a effort to make a statement, Lush asked all of their sales staff to show up for work wearing nothing but their aprons. And apparently, they did.

Now, while their aprons did cover their fronts, most of their butts were exposed. And while I don’t particularly care if there butts were showing, I imagine that there were some mothers with children who did.

I can appreciate Lush’s effort to make a statement, but I think that their method is tacky.

Grayling Mi was once the home of Bear Archery. Now anyone who has ever been to this northern Michigan community will testify that there is not much happening there outside of the tourist trade. So to have a manufacturing facility was a rarity for the community. The only other big operation in Grayling was the National Guard base used for summer camp by the National Guard. And this is where the story begins.

It was one of my first summer camps in Grayling. And I can remember riding by Bear Archery in the back of an army truck. Outside of Bear Archery were picketers. It seems that the workers a Bear were upset over their wages and their Detroit auto union told them to strike. So, there they were, signs in hand, demanding higher wages.

Of course, when you were the only decent paying work place in the area, people were waiting in line to apply for jobs. So, when the workers went on strike, Bear had no problem filling vacant positions. And in spite of the promises of their Detroit auto union, Bear did not settle.

The next year when I went past Bear, the strikers had a trailer parked in front of Bear and were setting up for the long haul. They were determined to win.

The year after that when I went past Bear, the strikers were no longer walking. Instead, they were sitting in lawn chairs with their signs sitting next to them.

The following year when I went past Bear, the trailer was still there and the signs were still there but the strikers were gone. I guess in spite of their Detroit auto union, the workers were giving up.

The next year, the trailer, signs and strikers were all gone.

Eventually, Bear got tired of the unions and moved to a state where unions did not control the right to work.  Lets hear it for the unions!