An early 30

          Good evening, 919 Gang. An early deadline tonight because I need a very early start tomorrow.

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          REBER: The San Diego Press Club awards have been announced, and the 919 Gang is well-represented.

http://sdpressclub.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/2018-San-Diego-Press-Club-FINAL-Winners-Announced.pdf

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          CRAIG ROSE writes:

          To Jack: I always found you to be good-natured colleague and I'm certainly grateful for your work on this blog. But perhaps your house fire caused trauma because your comments regarding Robert E. Lee are reprehensible, insensitive and wrong.

          I have no idea what has caused you to forget that Lee and others led an insurrection against this country for the prime purpose of maintaining slavery. And that wasn't slavery in ancient Rome, it was slavery at a time when most of humankind recognized slavery for the barbarous and horrific institution that it was.

          In my book, there's no honor in fighting for injustice. An individual might be misguided, sure, but that shouldn't be construed as anything but sad for the fact they've been blinded to injustice. And we are all still accountable for our actions.

          Advocates for confederacy and its leadership, however, with Lee, of course included, knew full well what they were doing and deserve nothing but ignominy.

          For the moment, I'm trying to assume you've taken a desire to be evenhanded way too far, to a fault that has blinded you to historical realities.

          No matter what, I sincerely hope you reconsider your comments.

          BRIAN CLARK writes:

          I, too, have relatives who fought on both sides of the Civil War. And I’m related to Stonewall Jackson’s first wife, who died in childbirth.

          But I’m puzzled by why you consider Robert E. Lee a “true American hero.” Please explain. An excellent general against incompetent Union foes, but a hero? For the whole country?

          REBER: I’m betting there are lot of people in this group interested in the Civil War. I recommend a book called “1858” by Bruce Chadwick. He has interesting profiles on Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, Ulysses S. Grant, Stephen Douglas, John Brown and others as they moved steadily, if unwittingly, toward war. The only person who comes off very badly in this book is President James Buchanan. He didn’t see slavery as a major issue, it was an annoying topic that, in his mind, would wither and evaporate. At a time when compromise and a peaceful, if gradual, end to slavery might have been possible and should have been pursued, the president was busy with his political goals and vendettas against his foes. It is interesting reading.

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          REBER: Last night Walt Baranger asked if anyone could interpret this license plate:

          WELTON JONES writes:

          “NYNYT,” Walt?

          Not Your New York Times?

          MICHAEL GRANT writes:

          My flash reaction to Walt Baranger’s license plate was to remember a kind of false chortle emitted by the Three Stooges.

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          RAY HUARD writes:
          Wow, Jack. What were you cooking? We had an oven fire once, but nothing as dramatic. Our older daughter, a graduate of culinary school, managed to set a pan of brownies on fire while she was baking them. We watched through the glass window in the oven door. Very entertaining.

          REBER: The 5-year-old who lives down the road suggested that this was the most interesting thing that has ever happened at our house.

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          REBER: I forgot to wind my sun dial, and I missed wishing a Happy Birthday to Charlie Starr and Kelly Thornton on Oct. 31.

Jack J. Reber

P.O. Box 2239

Ramona, CA 92065

U.S.A.

2reberjack@gmail.com

Hot stuff

          Good evening, 919 Gang. Three fire engines, two fire department sedans, two sheriff’s cars and one ambulance. Do the Rebers know how to throw a party or what?

          We had an oven fire. When I opened the oven door to see what the smoke was about, flames jumped two feet above the stove. I lost some already scarce hair and an eyebrow, but was unhurt. The ambulance guys were concerned because Mary’s blood pressure zoomed past Saturn. They took her to Pomerado Hospital. After much poking and other testing, she was allowed to return home. Everything’s fine here, except we need to buy a new stove tomorrow, and there is a lingering odor in the house.

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          DAVID FARMER writes:

          A Washington Post opinion columnist opined a few days ago that several U.S. military installations are named for "traitors." After the War of Northern Aggression (the Civil War as seen from the South) the U.S. Army attached Confederate names to some of its most prestigious structures.

          Most of the 10 installations are forts: Bragg, Benning, Gordon, Hill, Hood, Lee, Pickett, Polk and Rucker. Only one is a camp: Beauregard. Fort Lee, in Virginia, is unsurprisingly named after Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. In this colorized pic, Ole R.E. seems like a nice enough guy:

          One present-day general explained that the forts were named for soldiers, not for causes.

          Top brass is aware of recurring anti-Reb sentiment, but they're not about to make a switch. Politico reported: "One defense official pointed out that public schools, parks, veterans hospitals and countless other government facilities are also named after Confederate leaders."

          In fact, a small number of public schools have realized they're named after heroes of the War of Southern Rebellion (the Civil War as seen from the North). Some of those schools have taken steps to remove the names.

          The official quoted above said the military is likely to defer to Congress on the question of changing names. Good luck with that, haters. Try to imagine what would happen to a Southern member of Congress who dared to strip a home-state military base of its Johnny Reb name. Statues have not always been so lucky:

          You kinda have to admire that mid-air officer for keeping his dignity in a trying situation.

          Meanwhile, one civil rights leader observed: “There are no bases in Germany named for Hitler or Goering,” said the Rev. Jesse Jackson.

          Oh yeah? Tell it to the Marines. (But since they're a subset of the Navy, that won't make much difference.)

          REBER: I don’t like it that some people wave the Stars and Bars to signal their white supremacy prejudices. And I am just as disturbed by people who vilify true American heroes such as Robert E. Lee. I have relatives who died on both sides in the Civil War. I am guessing they died while patriotically serving their homeland and while defending ideas crammed into them by their parents, friends, teachers and religious and governmental leaders. In fact, there are American soldiers dying now for those same reasons. The main problem with my Confederate relatives is they lived too soon. If they had lived 150 years later they could have been as smugly confident of their intellectual superiority as we are.

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          WALT BARANGER writes:

          Michele Davis’s advice to use AAA instead of DMV arrived a few hours after I did just that. By good fortune, when I dropped by AAA to buy a Fastrak express lanes pass, I mentioned that I was going to DMV to buy personalized plates. So they took care of that, too.

          (The AAA in Connecticut lost most of their DMV functionality a few years ago, which essentially turned them into an insurance agency. Nice to see the Automobile Club of Southern California can still do DMV stuff.)

          Anyway, I ordered plates that only a few newsroom veterans can appreciate, perhaps including Jack Reber. Anyone care to guess at the specific meaning?

          MICHELE DAVIS writes:

          Jack you can get the info found in the DMV books on line. They even have practice tests for you to take. Until I got my notice in the mail from DMV, I was not sure if I had to take a written test so I went online and took the practice tests many, many times. My notice showed I only needed an eye test. By the time I got the notice from DMV regarding my expiring license, it was too late to get an appt in time. I did find an available appt in Palm Springs, thus my trip to Chula Vista without an appt.

Jack J. Reber

P.O. Box 2239

Ramona, CA 92065

U.S.A.

2reberjack@gmail.com

If it's Tuesday ...

          Good evening, 919 Gang. I showed Mary Gina Lubrano’s post about the trip she, Nancy Wyld, Susan Gembrowski and Alison DaRosa took to Italy. Mary admired the photos, and commented, “They did it right.” She was referring to the fact that they took a month to explore.

          I remember a conversation with a frequent traveler from Toledo (the Ohio kind of Toledo) when he commented he was out of places to go. He had, he said, been everywhere. I asked, “How about South America?” He replied, “Oh, I went to South America for two weeks last summer.” One continent in two weeks? That is not the right way to do it.

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          MICHAEL CAVNA writes:

          A tragedy like the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting touches us all.

          About a decade ago, I helped hire a young writer as a Style contributor — a thoughtful and upbeat Post colleague to this day. On Monday morning, I learned that her grandfather’s brother was killed in the Squirrel Hill massacre.

          His name was Melvin Wax, if you have a prayer or kind thought to spare. Here is how he is remembered:

http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2018/10/28/Mass-shooting-victim-Melvin-Wax-shabbat-Tree-of-Life-Pittsburgh-synagogue/stories/201810280218

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          DAVID FARMER writes:

          As Kelly Thornton demonstrated recently, it's not a good idea to become too proficient at bike-riding. It can be dangerous to life, limb and lips.

          My wife and I have friends who are retired in Denver. Carol and Ken, both around 70, ride their bikes on strenuous cross-country trips in the US and overseas. They take vacations to Europe about twice a year, always built around a week or 10 days of cycling.

          Serious bikers are not just pedal-pushers; they're pedal-pullers too. They often wear a special shoe with a cleat under the toe portion. This fits into a slot in the pedal, allowing one foot to pull up while the other is pushing down. Much more energy gets transmitted to the drive train that way.

           Some others wear shoes with toes that fit into little cages on the pedals.

          Being semi-fastened to your pedals has the advantage described above, but it also carries risk. If you discover you're going to fall, you have to extricate your shoe from the pedal quickly. Otherwise, what happened to Carol might happen to you: she couldn't get her foot loose fast enough to break her fall with her leg, so she landed with her weight on her left hand and wrist.

          Not surprisingly, she broke a bone in her wrist and had to wear a cast for a while. I don't think it prevented her from biking, but it sure kept her from wearing those funny shoes for the duration.

          Which is why I say bikes are for larking about, not for serious travel. In my day, Schwinns with big, fat tires, one gear ahead and handle bars at elbow level were perfect. The sit-up-straight position was ideal for throwing newspapers on roofs. I grant you that this duo is to paper-tossing as a Gatling gun is to a pistol:

           You say you're too cool to ride a one-speed cycle? Well, don't come to me, asking for casts on all your joints.

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          MICHELE DAVIS writes:

          Question for Walt Baranger: Why are you doubling your efforts? You can get a license plate for your car while you are at AAA. They can perform most of the paperwork that can be done at the DMV. I get my renewal tags there all the time. When I get a license plate through the mail from DMV I will promptly to go to my nearest AAA and switch that plate for a handicapped plate. They handle registrations, car sales, etc. They do not handle eye tests or driving tests for the DMV.

          BTW, I had to go into a DMV to take an eye test as my license was expiring. The state will only renew your license by mail twice in a row so I did not qualify for that. I could not get an appt in time before my license expires so I went to the Chula Vista DMV. They open at 7 a.m. I showed up at 6:15 a.m. with eight folks ahead of me. The DMV opened their doors at 6:35 a.m.! I filled out paperwork (in addition to what you have to fill out prior to going to the DMV) and was out of there at 7:30 a.m.!

          REBER: That Chula Vista experience sounds good to me. Among the things I don’t understand: A few years ago, we stopped at the DMV office in Escondido to pick up a booklet. The place was jammed; lines extended out the front door. Obviously, there was great demand for those DMV services. Now, that office has been closed, and Escondido drivers have to go to Poway or San Marcos. Why wouldn’t there be an Escondido office? Of course, there is an AAA office in Escondido, so folks could just follow Michele’s suggestion.

Jack J. Reber

P.O. Box 2239

Ramona, CA 92065

U.S.A.

2reberjack@gmail.com