Monthly Archives: June 2006
But, then again…
Sonuvabitch. I just got done writing about how the greater Antelope area isn’t so bad after all, and then I read this:
Arrests made in Antelope homicide
Another homicide on Saturday morning, one of three in the Sacramento area that day.
Business as usual in the ‘Lope.
It’s not all bad
Life in the ‘Lope isn’t all bad.
On Saturday, The Bee ran this story about a boy trying to raise funds for his recently-deceased father’s funeral:
Eddie Mendez Jr. died a week ago with his 15-year-old son giving him CPR as his wife held the phone and called out the instructions from a 911 operator.
The 38-year-old Rio Linda tree trimmer was a poor man, which became all too clear by the order of things in the days after he inexplicably stopped breathing. [...]
Today is the car wash. That’s how the Mendez family hopes to pay for everything.
Nicholas Mendez, the son who tried to keep his father alive with chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, is the force behind the event.
The car wash begins at 9 a.m. in the parking lot of Original Granite’s restaurant, 6749 Rio Linda Blvd., in Rio Linda.
“I’m going to look at it like it’s helping my family out. I wanted to have a good funeral for my dad,” Nick Mendez said. “He didn’t want to be cremated. I really respect him and love him and I want to give him what he wanted. “
The Mendez family borrowed from relatives and “everybody we can think of” to pay for the funeral, said Dawn Mendez, Eddie’s wife.
She is intent on paying everyone back. [...]
Yesterday, they ran a followup story about the overwhelming response from the community:
By the time 15-year-old Nicholas Mendez arrived with pails and soap to begin washing cars Saturday morning, the line of well-wishers was stretching down Rio Linda Boulevard.
All day long they kept coming, forming a steady stream of minivans and pickups and luxury cars, each one touched by the story of the boy who tried to resuscitate his dying father and who is now trying to pay for his funeral.
“It’s just not right,” said Jerry Bergen, who lives in Fair Oaks but steered his Mercedes-Benz to Rio Linda to donate his Saturday golf winnings to the Mendez family. “This kid probably hasn’t had many breaks in his life to begin with.” [...]
The modest funeral on Friday cost $6,000, far more than the tree trimmer’s family could afford. They borrowed what they could from friends and acquaintances. [...]
When family members arrived at 9 a.m. to begin washing cars, they saw a line of waiting clients and a stranger who handed them a fistful of donations she had collected from people who had already come and gone.
“People washed their own cars and gave us donations,” said an incredulous Dawn Mendez, Eddie’s widow.
Many of the donors didn’t bother with the car wash, but wound their way through the crowd to tuck a $20 into Nick’s hand. They recognized him, and his mop of blond hair, from the newspaper photograph. Many of them gave him a hug and handshake, too.
“One lady came up to me, and she was crying on my shoulder,” said Kaitlyn Mendez, 12, Eddie’s daughter.
By the time Mark Granite arrived at 10 a.m. to open his Original Granite hamburger stand, there were about 40 cars waiting to be scrubbed in his parking lot.
“It shows there are good people,” he said. “Some people gave $100 or $200 without even washing the car.” [...]
A stranger approached the boy before noon with an envelope.
“He said, ‘Count it after I leave. I hope it helps,’ ” Sublett said. It contained about $3,700 in cash.
A group of firefighters from Rio Linda pulled up on an engine with a $1,000 donation. Mel Rapton, a Honda dealer, drove up with a check for $500.
A man from the Pomo Indians tribe brought a $5,000 donation.
James Thompson came before noon with his children to help wash.
He didn’t know the Mendez family but was moved by their plight.
“It wasn’t my payroll weekend, so I didn’t have money to give, but I figured I could help out,” said Thompson, who spent more than five hours on the job, proud that his 8- and 14-year-old daughters refused to stop washing cars and go home.
As much as I rag on Antelope (stolen cars, gun shots, the constant presence of ghetto birds), it’s not that bad of a place. The people we’ve met are all extremely friendly, and reading about an event like this confirms that they have good hearts.
What a great kid. I wish him the best of luck.
(I know that it’s technically not Antelope that the story is talking about, but it’s close enough.)
Wakeboarding
Heather was nice enough to take us out on her boat today. She, Kelly, Rajiv (see pic), and me had an awesome time out on the Sacramento River. The weatherman said it was supposed to be 114 today. I don’t know what the actual temp was, but it was bloody oppressive. Out on the water, though, it was perfect.
Guess what happens next?
Gotta give another shout out to Japanese TV
Futurama is back!
Comedy Central will air 13 new episodes in 2008.
This is great. I never actually watched Futurama until it started airing on Adult Swim, but it is a quirky, ridiculous, and very entertaining show.
Anyway, welcome back, Futurama!
Somewhat Surreal Moment of the Day
A couple of years ago, I donated my old truck to the Susan G Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. I’d like to sit here and tell you I did it out of the goodness of my heart, but, really, it was because 2004 was the last year you could write off vehicle donations at a reasonable blue book value.
I got that truck for my 17th birthday. As a reward for staying off of drugs and alcohol until then, my parents told my sister and me that we could have the cars of our choice, within reason. My dream vehicle was a 4×4 truck.
One day I came home from baseball practice, and my mom kept nagging me to take out the garbage. I kept refusing. Finally, after she resorted to some now-forgotten threats, I relented and, with much surly huffing and puffing and sighing, I took the trash out to the Toter by way of the garage.
In the garage, occupying the spot where my mom’s truck normally sat, was a nice, big, blue GMC Sierra K1500 4×4. Right next to it was my dad’s camcorder on its tripod, red light beaming, recording every expression on my face. The wheels in my head turned very slowly, so it took me a couple of seconds to realize what was going on, but suffice it to say, I was one happy 17 year-old kid.* It was mine. All mine.
Throughout the rest of high school, this truck was my baby. I washed her once or twice a week and kept the interior spotless. I upgraded the stereo system from stock to a $3k, custom dual-12″ woofer setup with a 6-disc changer and 160Wx4 amp. It was AWESOME. I had a lot of great times in that truck.
Fast forward to October 2004. The truck was still in good running condition, though it had enough minor annoyances to cause me to relegate it to Step-Child status: it was still part of the family, though not quite as loved. Wanting something that “just worked,” I bought a used Toyota Tacoma from my friend Paul. You know the rest of the story as far as the Step-Child is concerned.
Fast foward to today. As I was driving south on Watt, I was stopped at a stoplight just over I-80. As I was sitting there waiting for the light to turn green, a blue truck going through the intersection caught my eye. Spiral rims. BF Goodrich tires. Diamond plate toolbox and trim. Holy ***! It was my Baby! I couldn’t believe it!
She looked like she was still in good shape. I didn’t get a good look at the guy driving, though I did see he had a lawn mower in the back. All I can say is that if the SGKBCF didn’t strip the stereo before they sold it, the new owner has one heck of a work truck.
Anywho, thanks for indulging my stroll down memory lane. That random sighting made my morning.
* Okay, only 16.5, but they got such a good deal on the truck, they bought it for me 6 months early.
Bear in tree + trampoline * tranquilizer gun = comedy
This is hilarious (though I do feel bad that the poor guy landed on his noggin)
Finally – a diet I can live with
17 beers a day keep prostate cancer away
Theoretically, anyway, especially when taken with pizza with tomato sauce
An ingredient in beer seems to help prevent prostate cancer, at least in lab experiments.
The trouble is you’d theoretically have to drink about 17 beers a day for any potential benefit.
Woo hoo!
And no one’s advising that.
<snip>
“It’s every man’s dream to hear that beer and pizza can prevent cancer,” he said. “However, the 17 beers and four large pizzas needed to get enough xanthohumol and lycopene to help prevent prostate cancer is unfortunately not advised.”
Awwwwwwwww! Damnit!
Maybe I can selectively cull the best information from the article and present the “evidence” to Kelly in support of an all pizza and beer diet. It’s science, right? And it’s all in the name of cancer prevention, right?
That’s it, Jon. Lie to your wife. What could possibly go wrong?
Edit: Wow, this blog’s formatting sucks. Sorry about that.