Rambling ...

… I haven’t been much for blogging lately …

… Lack of motivation, and inspiration. Perhaps it’s the seasonal affective disorder settling in already … Figures. Since it’s been like 50 degrees and rainy here (it seems) everyday since, oh, Aug. 30 …

… That, and I’ve been crazy busy lately. I joined a gym -- which I looooooove, by the way. Something I’ve long wanted to do to, and the monthly rate is quite a bit cheaper than the YMCA or some of our local community centers. Plus the music is greeaaat! -- so I’m heading there every day after work … I’ve taken up racquetball again, playing at one of the local colleges on Friday evenings with my buddy, Brian … I’m leading the senior high Sunday school class at our church … The barrage of great fall TV has had me glued to the tube most nights …(See Letterman’s “Top 10 Reasons You’re Watching Too Much Television”)

… and when you write for a living every day, sometimes the last thing you want to do when you come home at night is sit in your home office and write some more …

… but I am a writer. Which means I have a stack of Post-it notes, slips of papers, napkins and anything else I could salvage over the last couple weeks when I saw something interesting or had an interesting thought … Except, as I look at most of them now, I can’t remember what spurred me to scribble must of the stuff down in the first place …

* * *

Dream come true last night: I met Ron Santo.

‘The Old Cub’ was at a local sports card shop and I reserved my ticket as soon as I heard … It’s only in the last few years, since moving back into Cubs territory and tuning into WGN radio on many, many summer nights that I’ve begun to understand the legend that is Ron Santo. The way he unabashedly roots for the Cubs, his eternal optimism, the knowledge and history he has with the game, the amusement he shares for simple things, and his battle with diabetes …

You can’t not love the guy …

With my color photo and ticket in hand -- ticket No. 28; I heard they went as high as 150 so I was in luck -- I waited with the 50 or so people filling the shop. According to the owner, Ron, who was coming with his son, was running a little late because of traffic … Finally, from my perch in front of the store’s doors, I watched as their car pulled up and parked. With the help of a store employee and his cane, he slowly rose out of the car and entered the store to a thunderous applause. … My heart fluttered and, as usual, my eyes welled up at the sight of the man -- live! in person! -- walking in and taking his seat behind the signing table …

The line moved swiftly, and in no time I was standing in front of him. Before I could get any words out, he’d politely signed my photo and slid it back to me across the table as I reached out to shake his hand.

“It’s so nice to meet you Ron,” I told him as we shook hands. “I listen to you and Pat every night. I love it! I’m a huge fan!”

“Aw, thanks,” he said, with that eternal gratefulness he seems to have dealing with any fan he comes across or any of the faxes and emails he reads on the air ...

It was a great, great moment. ... God Bless him. Let's get him in the Hall ...

* * *

So I got my hair cut the other night …

It’s trimmed up a bit, but I can‘t seem to give in to the idea of going back to the shorter standard…

You see, I’ve grown my hair out pretty long this summer -- long by my standards anyway. It’s well over my ears, it nearly covers the back of my neck and curls upward at the ends. While I absolutely won’t let it grow past my collar (I hate the itch of it...), I haven’t worn it remotely this long since college …

Earlier this summer, my editor called me to his office and started the conversation by asking,

“What’s with the hair? Are you becoming a hippie or something?”

“Nah,” I laughed. “I just decided to grow it out for a little bit …” And I said something about it not being exactly professional attire. But my balding editor stopped me, “No, I like it and it looks good on you. There’s a lot of things that bug me, but that’s not one of them. In fact I wish I had that kind of hair …”

Nice. … A week or so later he approached me and greeted me with “Hey, Shaggy …”

… My younger brother, also balding, had a similar reaction when we saw each other recently at a wedding …

… And when I met up with some of my police acquaintances a few weeks ago, a couple of whom I’d not seen in some time, the subject came up. “You kind of got a new do going there?” one of them said, sitting down across the table.

“Yeah, he looks like a thug,” said a Captain, a close source of mine over the years and one who seemingly never wastes time inserting the word “thug” into a conversation. … The discusssion eventually came around to the fact that I’d once endured a Taser shot for research purposes and theories of the Taser spurring my new shaggy look …

* * *

… So I was driving near our house and stopped in the east-west lanes of a busy intersection …

… The light for the north-south lanes turned green and I watched as a red sports car, which had been in the right turn lane, sped straight ahead into the intersection and cut off a minivan that was heading straight (legally) across the intersection …

… I looked in just enough time to see the driver of the minivan -- the mayor! -- shaking his head at the dufus who just cut him off …

Never cut off the mayor …

* * *

… We’ve been having power and computer drive issues in our office all week -- never a good thing in our industry …

So it’s about 2:30 in the afternoon Tuesday on a typical, busy news day. Phones are ringing. The office is buzzing with conversation. Dozens of computers are humming. Fingers are pecking away on computer keyboards …

Then, suddenly and without any warning, everything went dark. There was a loud, unison “Ahh!” And then an eerie silence.

It was CRA-zy. In a flash, everything had stopped … Managers were coming around with flashlights and techies were trying to figure out what had gone wrong …

Turns out some power source down the block had malfunctioned, and the hospital and elementary school down the road were out also. The power did come back on about 45 minutes later. But hearing that deafening silence in a newsroom was unforgettable …

* * *

… On Monday morning I had an 8 a.m. assignment on the west side of the city. For once, I had left the house in plenty of time and was on a good pace …

About halfway there, I opted to turn off the main thoroughfare and try taking a side street, thinking it might be faster. It seemed like a smart move at first …

Then I pulled up to a railroad crossing. And a slow moving freight train passing by …

Ugh.

No big deal. So it slows me down a couple minutes. I got time. Good thing my morning radio show was airing a funny and amusing interview with Julia Louis-Dreyfuss to keep me occupied …

Then there’s a loud crash that sounds from the railroad tracks behind the tree line …

… The train rolls to a stop. Remains still for a few moments …

… and then begins to back up!!!

… and I got cars all around me that are staying put, so I’ve got no hope of somehow turning around and finding another way …

… Now I’m officially going to be late to my assignment …

Finally, the engine appears from behind the tree line and inches closer to the crossing. I’m so anxious I’m ready to floor it as soon as the crossing bars go up …

Then the train stops in the middle of the crossing !!!!

Oh. My. Gosh …



It was another two or three minutes -- although it seemed like 22 or 23 -- before the train finally cleared the crossing and the bars went up, allowing what was now a long trail of cars to drive through …

I made it to my assignment about 15 minutes late …

* * *

I was stopped at a downtown intersection the other day and got to watch a gas station attendant tear down and replace the numbers on the roadside sign. He dropped the gas prices to $2.24 …

… It was a great feeling to watch that.