Miscellany

I really laughed at a news story in the local newspaper yesterday.  The Boulder Transit Center, or, the local downtown bus station, was evacuated because someone reported what looked like a pipe bomb was leaning against the building.  One of the investigating officers peeked around the corner at the "device"  and then laughed.  It was a home-made marijuana bong that was made from PVC pipe.  Of course, I'd rather be safe than sorry - but it was around Christmas that the Post Office and the Transit Center (they are catty-corner on two blocks) were evacuated due to a "suspicious package" - it was an empty box with Cyrillic writing on it.  The state of Colorado had approved the use of Medical Marijuana several years ago.  The legal use of marijuana in private was legalized almost 18 months ago - but, apparently some of the street policemen  don't recognize "normal" "home-made" pot paraphernalia.
   Our local news decided to air the cell-phone video of the 50-year-old man being shot in the back while running from a policeman (no longer) in South Carolina.  I can understand an adrenaline rush - I can understand pulling a Taser on a suspect if he's resisting arrest.  I can understand chasing a running suspect.  But I can not get my mind around a good reason to empty an eight-bullet clip into the back of a running man.  The man was stopped for a misdemeanor thing - to let him know that a brake light wasn't working.  I simply can't understand how that minor traffic stop escalated into a man losing his life in a hail of bullets...  Perhaps angry words were exchanged, perhaps names were called - but that still does not mean a man had to lose his life.  I am really becoming sickened by the seeming prevalence of police on citizen crime.
  At least there may be some measure of "closure" for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing.  With the defendant being found guilty on all 30 counts that were brought against him, I understand that the Jury will begin deliberating on the sentencing sometime soon.  The loss of lives, and the horror of seeing one's loved ones being blown apart, is something that no one can ever totally recover from.  I just hope, that once this man is in prison, that the victims, and their families, can get on with their lives.
  We had a thunder storm last night - and my cats didn't appreciate it.  They both disappeared under the bed.  To be fair, we haven't had a thunderstorm since September, and the thunder was very loud, and, seemingly, directly over the apartment.  We also got some rain, which the ground immediately inhaled - just a few traces of dampness on the roadways.  We need a good, light, soaking rain that lasts for about 48 hours, to help our drought.  We were very windy yesterday afternoon, and had a humidity level of 5 % - much too dry, much too soon.
  I know I'm getting older.  The mirror certainly tells me that, as do my aches and pains, but I still am not used to being called "Ma'am."  I still call older ladies by that moniker, and men are "Sirs" - but for some reason it astounded me to have 20+ people greet me as "Ma'am" this morning.  I walked to the bakery to get my whole wheat blueberry bagel, and I passed the usual parade of construction workers on their way to Folsom Field.  Each one called me Ma'am.  I know that I have almost white hair, and I know I have some wrinkles - but I still want to look behind me, and see whom the "Ma'am" is addressed to.  I guess I'll always be in my early teens in my mind....

- Flashback -

Wow, talking about taking me back in time.  Smoking small amounts of marijuana, or cannabis, in private, is now legal in Colorado.  I have watched the media cover this, along with the selling of sales licenses, since the new year, and never really thought much about it.  Today, I stopped inside the local bus station to get a sip of water from the fountain,and was asked something I haven't been asked in years - "Do you have a few extra rolling papers I can have?"  I told the young man that I didn't, and got my water and went back to my pick-up area.  Then I started trying to remember when I had last been approached and asked for "rolling papers"...  and had to admit that the last time I remember that happening, I was at a concert that featured Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and Roger McGuinn at the University of Florida.  In trying to pinpoint the year, the closest I could come was 1976 or 1977 - I know it was before I cut my right index finger off two days before Thanksgiving in 1977...  I know who I went to the concert with, and that we traveled on his motorcycle, and I remember having a wonderful time.  Marijuana never did anything "for" me - it just made me giggle insanely at everything, so I only used it once or twice.
  My Dad was an alcoholic, and, other than trying to drink for a little while, in college, I gave that up, too.  I suffer from migraine headaches, and alcohol brings them on - even though I didn't know it at the time.  All I knew was I always had a "hang over" that lasted a week, and that I'd spend most of the 24 hours after I stopped imbibing in the bathroom - either throwing up or with diarrhea.  Neither was pleasant, so I stopped doing that, also. I have to admit that up until 6 years ago, I occasionally - once or twice a year - had a cocktail.  But I don't really like the taste, and I have an allergic reaction to gin, so I've stopped drinking.
  I never tried LSD, but I did have a good dose of psychedelic mushrooms one night; at least, I was told they were -   The next day my friends told me about all these strange mental experiences they had; while I don't remember a thing out of the ordinary happening to me, mentally or physically....  I figure either I didn't ingest enough to "get high," or that I just didn't react to it for some unknown reason.
   It's possible that I'm just a spoil-sport.  I prefer to observe the world that I live in from a mind that isn't clouded (or enhanced) by psychotropic drugs.  I'd rather see and evaluate things as they actually happen. Maybe that's why I enjoy history so much - it's already happened, so it's cut and dried, other than the perspective.  But, then, I love to read science fiction, fantasy, and fiction, as well - maybe reading is my drug of choice....   I know I'm certainly addicted to it!