Follow up . . .

. . . to the crash.

This is what the driver would have seen as he approached the excavator. It was a bright, clear day. The merge lane is newly and clearly marked.

I can't see how the driver hit this big, yellow/orange piece of equipment.

Seizure? Asleep at the wheel? Who knows. There were no skid marks. He never saw it.

The machine was gone today.

Fatal Crash . . .

. . . in our neighborhood.

Mrs. B and I were on the way to Walmart today, northbound on West Neck Road (picture below). The road has been under repair for the last several months, and just opened for traffic on Friday.

Just south of the area in the picture, we saw a police car helping someone who had pulled off the road and sunk to the axles in the fresh mud and sand on the shoulder.

Further north, marked by the red circle, we saw a half-dozen police cars in the road and clustered around a large excavator parked on the shoulder. Since the roadwork was just completed on Friday, I guess the excavator was waiting for pickup.

When we drove by, we saw that a car had crashed into the back of the excavator. The car was so crushed that the large outrigger pads on the back of the machine had penetrated almost to the windshield.

The police had thrown a tarp over the car to cover the windshield and the driver's side window. That's almost always an indication that the crash was fatal and that the police are waiting for the medical crew to extract the body.

That tarp sent chills up my spine - not only because of the fatality, but because Mrs B had gone off the road into a ditch about 100 yards south of this location. The ditch there is almost eight feet deep. The fire department had to use a ladder to get down to her and help her climb out. The car didn't upset, and she wasn't hurt, thank God.

I took this photo a couple of hours later on the way to the grocery store. Notice that there are absolutely no skid marks. The driver never saw it coming.

The excavator didn't move an inch. a 2,500 lbs. car isn't much of a match for a 44,000 lbs. machine. It was obviously the driver's fault, but it seems a bit irresponsible to leave a machine like that parked next to a fairly well-travelled road - especially with no signs, cones or yellow barrels.

Mindless wanderings. . .

. . . almost literally

Item the first: So, I'm sitting in the little white chair thinking about answering an email when I leaned back a little to compose my thoughts.

Well, more than a little.

The chair went over backwards, my keyboard went up in the air, and the arc of the back of my skull intersected exactly with the edge of the little green bench.

Prime evidence how a seemingly innocent little action can have serious consequences. Luckily, I either have a hard head - or a little luck, and am no worse for the wear.

Item the second: Mrs. B and I decided to tune up the kitchen a bit, so I took several days over the last two weeks to tile the backsplash over the counters. The tile isn't grouted in these photos, but you get the idea.

Item the third: The naval station in Naples definitely wants to hire me. We're now talking money. Cross your fingers.

Item the fourth: A Steven Wright moment.
A member of my staff: "HQ is sure handing us a lot of crap to do lately."
Me: "Yep, they're making our jobs excrementally harder."

Not very productive . . .

. . . but interesting nonetheless.

Meanwhile, my opportunity in Naples is slowly wandering along. There are some glitches, but I'm still hopeful.

Stellar . . .

. . . Advertising?

A company is proposing to use the Moon as a billboard. Through "shadow shaping" by robots, they would product letters on the Moon that could be viewed for the next billion years or so. All this for a measly $36,000.

That got me to thinking. What types of products could be advertised on the Moon and the other planets? Here's my list. Make sure you read the last one out loud.

The Unification Church on the Moon

Ford autos on Mercury

Cosmetics on Venus

Shoes on Earth

Candy bars on Mars

Musical instruments on Jupiter

GM autos on Saturn

Boats on Neptune

Disney movies on Pluto

Preparation H on Uranus

Apparently, no one . . .

. . . is dying of curiosity, so here's the deal.

I am applying for a job rotation with the Navy in Naples, Italy.

My mind is currently boggling about all the planning - get the house ready for sale, sell the house, sell a car, store household goods, move household goods, find a place to live, figure out health insurance, drivers' licenses, visas, bank accounts, ad infinitum.

But, I'm a planner by profession, so it's not really that hard.

Anyway, I'm sure someone else has done this, so maybe I can ask.

Besides, I may not get the job.

No guarantees.

Although, I AM the best qualified applicant.

Just ask me.

More later.

Film at eleven.

How did Michael Jackson . . .

. . . have three white kids?

Someone had it in for him, I guess.

Look, it's not all my fault. Brennig made me do it. Yep, that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.