A Few Thoughts ...Someone Has To Say Them

By Tom Morrow

  Here's a few of my musings ... for whatever they're worth.

  Why are we getting involved in the Syrian mess? Which side are we going to "rescue?" The Syrian dictator in charge is backed by the Russians, Iranians and Hezbolah; the opposing forces are a combination of Al Qaida, and other Islamist factions. All of them hate the U.S., and all other "infidels." We have enough of our troops bleeding in other parts of the Middle East.
  Why must we always be the world's police -- the first responders? Some 190 member countries of the UN voted with us on the so-called "Red Line" issue of Syria using chemical weapons. Other than Britain, I don't see any of them jumping in to help settle this mess.

  ------

  Tell me the logic of having bicyclists ride in the same direction as motor traffic? When I was growing up we were taught to walk and ride our bikes "facing" traffic. At least you had a chance to get out of the way if a car was coming close to hitting you. What numb-skull did away with that logic?

---
  That's enough belly-aching for today...

Stay tuned...there will be more in days to come.
 

Ancient Machine Haunt My Memories

By Tom Morrow

  If there's one thing I can definitely say I learned in high school it was typing. Being able to type got me out of all sorts of nasty, boring details in the Navy, and it has provided me an exciting, mostly pleasant profession and decent living.
  I don't know what would have happened if I hadn't taken a semester of typing my junior year in high school. And, I had to talk my way into the class.
  "Typing is for girls who are planning on going into secretarial work," the teacher told me, with a certain edge to his voice. He thought I was trying to get out of something. Yes, I was -- Algebra. I cinched the entrance to the class by pointing that he knew how to type and he was a male. Someone way back when had to have given him the opportunity to learn how to type. He reluctantly admitted me, but restricted me to only one semester. That's all I needed..
  To give  you some idea of how long ago this was, our school had one (1) electric typewriter in the classroom room. All of the others were mechanical with no letters on the keys. You had to learn the keyboard -- no "hunt 'n' peck." And, to add insult to injury, no boy was allowed to use the electric machine -- only the very top of the class girls could use it.
  Had I known at the time that I would be going into journalism, I would have tried to talk my way into a short-hand class. Of course, anyone perusing my notes from interviews and news events would surmise that I used short-hand. If I waited more than one or two days even I had a hard time reading my chicken scratches.
  I had been in the newspaper business 10 years before I ever had the chance to use an electric typewriter. It was an IBM Selectric. It took me the better part of a month to learn that barely touching the keys would set off a bevy of letters onto the paper. This was at the old (now-defunct) Escondido Times-Advocate. The entire newsroom was equipped with these "modern" day tools -- almost exactly like the one in our high school typing room some 20 years earlier. After I had been there about a year, a strange-looking device was set at the editor's desk. It was a computer with a 12-inch screen. What was the world coming to? Newspapers will never be the same.
  Well, you know the rest -- today nearly every American and most people in the modern world use a keyboard. The educated one (those who took typing) can fly using the keys as they were meant, the greater population, however, just "hunts 'n' pecks" their way through Facebook, E-Mail, Twitter, and an occasional Blog.
  I'll leave you with one story from my ancient days of journalism.
  In 1977, I was bureau chief at the courthouse for a daily Orange County newspaper. There was a big fraud trial involving one of the County Supervisors, which drew a lot of attention from Los Angeles and Long Beach newspapers. One of the attending reporters was an old pro from the LA Herald-Examiner.
  I don't remember his name, but he must have been in his mid- to late-seventies. I was intrigued watching how he worked. He took very few notes. After the trial recessed for that first day, I asked him if he'd like to go to my office and use a typewriter. I had an extra one.
  "No," he replied. "I just need to use a telephone."
  Okay, now you know what's coming -- he dialed the phone and, (I swear he said it), "Give me re-write!" Pat O'Brien probably stole that line for "The Front Page."
  He started dictating his story in veteran fashion. It took him about seven or eight minutes, then he hung up and thanked me. "I'll see ya tomorrow," he said as he left.
  Curious, the next day I picked up a copy of the Herald-Examiner. As near as I can remember, the story read almost word-for-word as this old fella reported it. Later that day, I complimented him and thanked him for allowing me to witness, what, indeed, was a process of a by-gone era.
  "Heck, I ain't no writer," he scoffed. "I'm a reporter -- I report, I don't write!"

Stay tuned...

They Witnessed Unforgettable History

By Tom Morrow

  Monday I taped two of my "Living Legacies" TV programs for Oceanside's KOCT-TV, featuring two more witnesses to dramatic 20th century history. I've got more than 13 years of ordinary and a few not-so-ordinary citizens telling some of the historic events and people they've witness in their lives.

  Suse Shroyer was a six-year-old child, who frequently had to get up in the middle of the night and quickly dress in total darkness, then find her way with her mother and siblings three floors to a cellar as Allied bombers dropped tons of death on Frankfurt, Germany.

 A half-century ago, Bob Neal was a 19-year-old Marine attached to the historic Marine Barracks in Washington, D.C. He was attached to the unit that performed ceremonial duties for the White House, the Capitol, and Arlington Cemetery. Whenever a visiting dignitary or special ceremony was called for, Bob would be part of it. He was a member of the honor guard that escorted President John F. Kennedy's body from the White House to the Capitol rotunda, then back to the National Cathedral, and finally Arlington for burial.

  Now 75, Suse well remembers the many ordeals she and her family endured during the war. The heavy Allied bombing of Frankfurt didn't start until 1944, however there were periodic attacks from 1942 on. American B-17s would bomb by day, and British Lancasters by night.

  "Until the bombing stopped and the Americans came into our small town (Glendenhausen) on the outskirts of Frankfurt, I had never known a day of peace. We were constantly frightened. I never was able to play outside. Each night we would lay out or clothes so we could get into them quickly when the air raid sirens sounded."

  Suse's father, Heinrich, was drafted into the German army in 1940, and became a POW in 1943.

  "My father had been captured and was up against a wall with some comrades and was about to be shot by some Italian underground fighters when the Americans came up and stopped them," she told me. "He was sent to an American POW camp in Texas and was moved frequently from there across the West, ending up in Oregon. He and his comrades worked in the fields, harvesting various crops for farmers and ranchers."

  She said her father didn't want to return to Germany after the war, but tried to stay and eventually bring his family to the U.S. Of course that didn't happen. He came home in 1947.

  Suse's story is much like so many other Germans, who survived the war. Her mother scrambled for food, often benefiting from the kindness of G.I.s, who would smuggle coffee, sugar, flour, and such. Years later, she would marry one of those G.I.s, emigrating to the U.S.

  Bob was from the hills of Kentucky. When he arrived in Washington, D.C., directly from infantry training at Camp Lejune, he had never been to a big city.

  "I was born and raised in Kentucky, but I grew up and became a man in Washington, D.C."

  Indeed. For the first few months of his D.C. duty, Bob served as a member of the honor guard at the White House, was on patrol duty at Camp David, and accompanied President Kennedy to Central America on a diplomatic trip. But, nothing prepared him for what happened the week of Nov. 22, 1963.

  "I was on a work detail when we got the word the President had been shot," Bob recalled. "The next day I was sent over with several other Marines for duty at the White House. A day later we moved the President's body on an Army casson that had carried Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt. We firs went to the Capitol building when it lie in state under the rotunda for a day, then to National Cathedral and Arlington for funeral and burial.

  "I was marching directly in back on the casson on the left. It was a mile's march to the Capitol from the White House, and 10 miles from the Capitol to Arlington, by way of the Cathedral."

  Bob continued as a member of the ceremonial staff well into President Lyndon Johnson's first term.

  "Kennedy had been very friendly, often chatted with us and always waved as he would go by where I was on guard duty at Camp David. Johnson, however, was all business, never showing any sign of acknowledgement," Bob recalled. "But, then again, you wouldn't expect a President to do something like that. That just showed the difference between the two men.

  Bob said as a reward for all his ceremonial service in the nation's capitol, he was transferred to Oceanside's Camp Pendleton, and was soon on his way to Viet Nam.

  "I survived both Viet Nam and Washington without a scratch."

  These two interviews won't be put on the air for a month or so. I'll let you know when they run. KOCT can not only be seen on cable daily in Oceanside, but around the world via streaming on the Internet at www.koct.org.

  Stay tuned...

 

When You Have Absolutely Nothing of Interest to Say!

By Tom Morrow

  For nearly 20 years I wrote a daily newspaper column for coastal readers while at the Blade-Citizen, ala North County Times. Most days I had plenty to write about, and on those days I was scratching for something of substance, I always managed to come up with something. It was amazing how some readers thought particular "trivial" efforts were among their favorites.
  
  Go figure.
  
  Of late, I've been getting compliments from readers on this new effort. I guess I think I still have something to add to society --sometimes I try to get circumspect about absolutely nothing. Today is one of those occasions where I really have a blank mind. Oh, I could throw barbs at San Diego's mayor, but I no longer live in that city, so I'll leave that to better informed scribes.
  Rather than take up more of your time, I'll sign off and try to come up with something you'll want to read in a few days.

  BEFORE I GO -- A few weeks ago I lamented the fact we don't have a local daily newspaper here in our North County community. Well, I'm happy to report that Encinitas-based Coast News is doing yeoman effort in keeping us informed. While it's only once a week, it's well worth your time to pick up a free copy at one of the many news stands.

Stay tuned.

It's A Taxing Life!

By Tom Morrow

  For those you who pay attention to such things, taxation is everywhere and we seldom realize just how much we pay day-to-day, especially here in California.

  Take, for example, our utilities statement. Ever add up all the little pennies we're charged each month? Here's what I pay, and I'll bet most of you do to:
  Gas fees: Public purpose program, .89 cent; State regulatory fee, .01. On electricity, I pay a DWR bond charge (whatever that is), $3.23; Franchise fee, .05 cents; State surcharge, .19 cents; State regulatory fee, .16 cents. Total fees (taxes) on my SDG&E bill: $4.56.
  Now that doesn't seem much, but if that amount holds monthly, it adds up to $54.72 yearly.
  But we're not done. Here's more.
  For those of us on cable for our TV and Internet service, there's all sorts of charges.Cox dings me $3.49 usage fee, (I gotta pay 'em so I can pay 'em?); other taxes, fees and surcharges: $9.73.That's a total of $13.22 in taxes and "fees" monthly, or $158.64 annually.
  There's more.
  Cell phone service is something 95 percent of us use. This is where it really gets good and mysterious. Sprint collects the following from me each month: $2.37 for Federal-Universal service access (non-I.D.); .11 cents for the State PUC user fee; $3 for an "administrative" fee; .80 cents for a regulatory fee. And, while all of that seemed like State and Federal government fees, under a separate section the following is listed for "Government Fees & Taxes: .24 cents for State 9-1-1 tax; .13 cents for State high cost B & Adv fund; .18 cents for State high cost part A; .10 cents for State relay service fund; .07 for "other" State taxes and fees; .27 cents for State Tele charge; and .55 cents for State Universal Lifeline service charge. That amounts to $7.55 monthly or $90.60 yearly.
  I'm now up to $303.96 annually in taxes and fees for utilities, cell phone, and cable.
  Of course we all have varying amounts we pay for State sales taxes, Federal excise taxes, and, of course, the biggie in our lives: the per-gallon state and federal gasoline taxes. You can figure that amount out for yourselves. Gas alone will be a whopping amount.
  Thanks goodness we Californians don't have to pay sales taxes on food. But, give the lawmakers in Sacramento enough time and that could change.
  Needless to say, it costs a lot of money to live in California. Each of us have to decide whether it's worth it. Frankly, I wouldn't live anywhere else, but that doesn't mean I can't "b---h" a little.

  I TOLD YA SO -- Over the years in my newspaper column, and more recently in this corner of the Internet, I pointed out to Oceanside residents the need for primary elections and eventually "districting" for city council officials. Our first attempt (we'll be back) at primaries didn't quite make it, but it would seem that districting will happen whether those "aginers" like it our not. I refer you to two recent articles in the U-T San Diego newspaper about an upcoming law suit in Escondido, and the threat of more in other County cities such as Vista, San Marcos, and Imperial Beach. Can Oceanside be far behind? The most recent article can be found on Page A-5 of Sunday's U-T.

  SHAMELESS PROMOTION -- My latest novel release, "Nebraska Doppelganger," is now available at all Barnes & Noble bookstores, Amazon.com, and online in both paperback and e-book format.
  My wife will appreciate any and all book sales so that I may keep in the lifestyle to which she'd like to become accustomed.

Stay tuned...

The Days of Cheap Phone Service and Free TV

By Tom Morrow

  Do you remember not so long ago when we'd complain if we got a monthly telephone bill more than $25. We all scoffed at such a thing as "Pay TV," saying it never would become a reality. Have you notice how smoothly those expenses have crepe into our everyday lives?
  If you haven't looked lately, most of us have $100 cell-phone bills and if you're on cable, (which most of us are), our monthly TV and Internet charges easily exceed $100. My monthly cell phone bill (two phones) is $160; the cable bill averages $175.
  To be fair, let's break it down. First of all, most cell-phone programs allow us to phone toll-free anywhere in the U.S. (I remember charges of $1 a minute on the old land-line systems). For an additional fee you get Internet service, which allows us to check our e-mail anywhere our phone service works. For those of us who don't like to talk on the phone, "texting" is a neat way to communicate -- just watch what you're doing -- most of us can't walk, text, and chew gum at the same time. And, if you have a so-called "smart phone" or any other device made this century, it comes with a camera. My phone also can serve as a Wi-Fi transmitter. I won't bother explaining that to those still living in the 20th century.
  That phone camera feature is neat when you're traveling and you want to share a sight with friends and family members back home. You don't have to bore them with your slides and photo albums when you get back, you can shoot and send it as it's happening. This gives new meaning to "what I did on my summer vacation." Any smart phone camera is equally as good, often better, than most point-and-shoot cameras. The pictures are brilliant high definition.
  In addition to the monthly cost, our cell phones tend to become (as a friend calls it) a "ball and chain." I've lost track of the number of times I've had to turn around after driving a couple of miles to return home to retrieve my phone. It has become a part of me. I need it as much as I need my belt to hold up my sagging pants.
  Futurists now are talking about one day in the not-too-distant future of having phones and computers embedded inside our bodies. Computer screens in our eyes. Can you imagine the cost of that service? But, 10 years ago, who would have believed what cell phones can do today?
  I'll stop complaining because I get my money's worth out of both my phone and cable services. For $10 to $12 a day I get nearly unlimited communications in my pocket, and can gorge myself on news and movies to my heart's content in front of my flat-screen. It's all far better than those days of party-line telephones and watching a test pattern on the only TV station that occasionally popped onto our 50-foot antenna. If you can remember a time when there was no TV, electricity, and outdoor toilets, you know what I mean.
 
  OUT & ABOUT -- For those of you in town and might be interested, I'll be joining four other Oceanside authors from 1 to 4 p.m., Saturday at the Barnes & Noble bookstore on Vista Way. My new "Nebraska Doppelganger" WWII novel has just been released nationwide by Inkwell Productions, so I'll have a few dozen of those to sign during the afternoon.

  Stay tuned...