Popular Categories

No categories found.

On a ramble


When I used the word “ramble” the other day someone told me the word was unfamiliar to most people, or that if they knew it, they thought it had to do with a “rambling” conversation where someone refuses to shut up.

The actual meaning of the word is to walk without much purpose, sometimes purely for pleasure. The definition that includes a rambling conversation was added a bit later.

“In my day,” I’m going to say—like some wizened codger who talks about how he grew up in a shoebox, walked 30 miles to school through a glacier and ate prairie dog scat for breakfast every morning—everybody knew about “rambling” and “roving” reporters. Shoot, there was even a car called The Rambler. You can probably see one at Cruisin’ Grand.

June Gloom

June Gloom. Bring it. I know it’s fashionable in our sun worshipping Southern California milieu to bewail the appearance of the overcast. I love June gloom. Gimme July and August gloom! I’ve actually been in raptures for the most of this year because of the wonderful weather, including the more than 100-year flood.  I know that sooner or later my hopes will be beaten into that corner of despair known as summer. But in the meantime, I’ll revel in it.

Memories of parades past

Escondido councilman Ed Gallo is always good for an historical remembrance. I seem to recall him reminiscing recently about his days as the close pal of Father Junipero Serra, but I may have gotten that one wrong.

Anyway, here’s an email I got from the councilman this week: “Since you liked my rodeo remembrance you might get a kick out of this one.  As you may be aware, Greg Allman (Allman Bros Band) died last week.  In the late ’70’s or early ’80 Greg appeared in the Escondido Jaycees Christmas Parade.

“I was announcing opposite the Chamber and I noticed a black ‘30’s something sedan with no parade number displayed.  Now since I did the lineup I knew every entry.  It was relayed to me that Greg Allman was in that car waving to cheering fans.  The word was spreading quickly along the route.  He was visiting a friend in Escondido and they decided to get into the parade.  I don’t know how they snuck in but they did and I did in fact announce his presence and a good time was had by all.”

More comments about lawsuit settlement

Last week Mayor Sam Abed commented in another publication about the $550,000 settlement the city agreed to pay to the local chapter of ACLU sued the city over its refusal in 2014 to grant approval of a shelter for illegal alien children.

Both the ACLU and Mayor Abed claimed victory. Abed was quoted as calling the settlement, “a victory for the City of Escondido.”

Councilmember Olga Diaz disagrees. She told The Times-Advocate: “Sam’s interpretation is odd.  Normally when anyone wins a lawsuit, they don’t have to pay over half a million dollars.  He’s arguing that we won because we settled for an amount less than our maximum exposure.  Regardless, it’s one of several settlements with the ACLU over the past 10 years.  Many of which are a direct result of his public comments and actions. At this point, I think the cost of ‘doing business’ with Abed as Mayor is a burden Escondido cannot continue to afford.”

We asked Diaz if that comment is an early declaration of candidacy for Abed’s job.

She answered, “No.  I am not running for Mayor. However, I will continue to have high expectations of anyone who does hold that post.”

Happy Graduation

And, finally Sierra Rhoades of Escondido graduated May 13 from Clarkson University. She received a bachelor of science degree in global supply chain management, project management minor. Clarkson is located in New York state, with its main campus s located in Potsdam, N.Y.

*Note: Opinions expressed by columnists and letter writers are those of the writers and not necessarily those of the newspaper.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *