Mr. Garner Goes To Washington

Dragnet was on television before I was born. Its first season aired in 1967. Since then, other reboots and a movie attempted to keep the character Joe Friday alive. For me, Joe Friday is Jack Webb. An actor and producer, Webb wanted the show to have realism and unpretentious acting. The show captured the boredom and drudgery of police work along with the danger and heroism. It also helped improve public opinion of police officers.

70 years ago, an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima after Japan refused unconditional surrender in World War II. This decision was also made because more American lives (two or three times more than killed from the bomb) would be lost in an assault on Japan.  Seeing protests about this makes me shake me head. Protesters have that freedom because of the atomic bomb and the one that followed a few days later. Also, that freedom exists because so many soldiers paid for it in their blood.

I have a problem. Yeah, it's pretty much an addiction. The flame lures me in every time regardless of the cuisine. Hi, my name is Rick. I love extreme spice. I'm uncertain when it began but mom mentioned more than once my younger self's delight with spicy sausage patties. An after-school treat was popcorn loaded with generous amounts of cayenne pepper. Soups and other dishes were more-than-dashed with hot sauce or whatever spice on hand. Perhaps I'm part Cajun or merely a glutton for punishment. One of my best buds said more than once that my cast-iron stomach would give out one day. Thankfully, that day hasn't come.

Social media and I have a love-hate relationship. I've had to adjust my consumption of Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ over the years out of necessity. There's only so much content one can consume! While designed to connect us more, social media seems to have divided us as well...both from engaging with each other in person and over petty issues. Recently, for example, someone unfriended and blocked me for trying to support a friend going through a tough time. But without Facebook, I wouldn't have learned that a college friend was dead from cancer.

It's always healthy to do some personal maintenance. To look back over the course of your life, vocation, or other aspects and consider if you're on the best path. Recently, I started reading my blog from the beginning. I was surprised that I'd forgotten certain details or emotions of some recorded moments. This is the beauty of journaling  or blogging: capturing moments for history. When I started this blog, it was actually a Yahoo Group called "Mr. Garner Goes To Washington." Blogs weren't such the rage in 2004 but they soon would be. My posts focused my experiences as one who'd never lived outside of Mississippi moving to the DC metro area. All the Yahoo Group's posts became the foundation for this blog, and I continued blogging about life in this faster-paced area.

Scripture refers to how the last shall be first. I love how God likes to turn on its head what we think is right or the way things should be. Jesus, from His foretold arrival, birth, ministry, and to His death was the personification of this. It doesn't surprise me when I read reports about how Mississippi is last in this and backwards at that. Reports likely written by folks who've never been to the Magnolia State. On paper, Mississippi may seem like a lost cause or a worthless investment. Too hot, too unstable, and too backwards to be worth taking a second look. She's so much more.

Leonard Nimoy, the multi-talented man who simply was Mr. Spock, is dead at 83. In many respects, one cannot think of Star Trek without thinking of Spock. His character was somewhat replicated in other series such as Voyager and Enterprise but no one could compare to the original Vulcan.

Valentine's Day 2015 was a bit different than most. It was the first Valentine's Day that I recall being apart from my Valentine, Kim. Georgia has had a stomach bug for a few days, so she wasn't feeling up to a daddy-daughter date. And to cap it off, Georgia and I got stranded on an icy road.

There's been a string of emotionally tough weeks. Perhaps you can understand what it feels like to have products you've worked on for nearly 7 years kicked to the curb. The feeling can't be far from what a shipbuilder feels seeing a vessel they spent months and years hammering rivets and welding sink or be destroyed. "I built that and now it's gone." Or how a construction worker must feel seeing a building they spent months or years hammering nails, framing, or pouring concrete demolished to rumble in seconds.