I'm a Gunslinger for the County

My job is so strange. 8 to 12 hours a day I drive around to various places on the County's light rail system and make sure everything is okay. I visit a lot of stations each day, make sure the un-armed protective officers are doing their jobs, document any deficiencies I see, take pictures of any damage to the rail system, interview witnesses to criminal conduct, and deal with mentally ill/emotionally disturbed/substance addicted people at the stations or on the vehicles.

I carry a bunch of different weapons but have ABSOLUTELY NO INTENTION OF USING THEM. Why? Because, so far, all of the people I have to deal with are not criminal as much as they are sick, like the man I had to deal with tonight. He took off all his cothes on a train, and I had rush from one side of the county to the other to meet the train and convince him to put his clothes back on. Was he committing a crime? Absolutely, he was. Being naked in public is a violation of the California penal code. But he is crazy. Totally crazy. I could have arrested him. And he is a drug addict, and an alcoholic, and diabetic and, it smells like, he has gangrene in his leg. Oh, and the open wound on his abdomen and the swollen testes! I am sure he will be dead soon. So, I did not arrest him. I asked him if he wanted medical help. He said he did not want mediacal help. I asked him if he could get dressed. He swore at me for a couple of minutes but put his pants and shirt back on.

I asked him, "Are you going to behave?" He spewed some more profanity at me but said he would behave. The other passengers seemed relieved. I walked up to the front of the train and told the operator that the subject was dressed now but I would meet the train at the next two stations, and he should to call me on the radio if there was a problem. So that is my job. I never thought I would be doing a job like this. All I can think is life is weird.

In other news: My son, Anselm Samuel told me that his wife is pregnant with their second child and my youngest son, Basil Wenceslas told me he is in the running for a summer internship with the a company named Quarter Master Logistics in Florida. I hope he gets the internship.

Oh, should metntion that my wife, Kathleen is still working on her masters degree in counseling and will be finished with it in December of this year. It looks like she will immediately transition from being a teacher into being a counselor. Also, I am still taking classes in water resources management. I have been on a few job interviews in that field and all the other people are in their mid-20s to early-30s and I have had no call backs. Therefore, I do not suppose I will ever work in that field. I think I have enough resources for to buy a few acres and raise cattle and chickens. I hope I can do that for a few years before I die.

So Much Is New

Well, in December 2024 I resigned my job as a teacher. I thought I could make more money as a home improvement salesman for a really good company. I got my license went to work for them, and for a few months I did pretty well. Until March. That is when the layoffs started. It was brutal here in Silicon Valley. Apple, Intel, AMD and many others started letting people go. About 24,000 people lost their jobs, and that scared everyone else. No one was spending money on home improvements, at least not the ones I was selling (e.g. HVAC, windows, roofs, doors, and solar systems.) To survive I went back to working part-time at Bass Pro Shops. I liked it and was good at it but they do not pay commissions. So now motter how much I sold, and I sold a lot of very expensive guns, my income from that job was meager. About the only good thing other than my hourly wage, was that they paid for me to become a California-licensed firearms safety instructor. That got me to thinking: Maybe there is a gun-related career I could make money at for the last 10 years of my working life. I started looking for something else. I looked at a lot of things: bounty hunter, private investigator, repo agent, etc. But I settled on armed security guard.

I took the required state training, did the psych exam, qualified on a bunch of diferent guns, and got a job doing armed patrols for the Valley Transportation Authority. So far, I like it. Mainly, I drive around (Almost no standing and walking, which my knees and feet can not take.)and help distressed and mentaly ill people stay out of trouble.

Not often do I have do deal with the truely criminal, but almost every day I have to deescalate situations that could result in the county's sheriff's deputies hauling someone off to jail or the psych hospital. So far, I've been able to talk several mentally disturbed or intoxicated paeople into following my instructions (I always start by saying, "Hey, I'm going to be in a lot of trouble if you don't leave this train (or platform, or bus)and I know you don't want me to get into trouble...") and avoiding serious repercussions. Tonight, I did have to take out my handcuffs (A poor crazy woman had caused all kinds of problems on a train platform. As I was approaching the subject she lifted her denim skirt, squated, and urinated on the train platrform.) but just as I was about to cuff the subject (I need to remember to buy some latex gloves.) the sheriff's deputies arrived and took her. I've never had to touch my gun. I hope I never have to.

Well, that is what I do for a living now. I am 57 so I suppose this will be the last job I have before I retire, if I can retire.

I barely ever talk with my son Anselm. He knows I diapprove of his decision to raise his son Oliver as a Roman Catholic but I still love them both, and Tiffany my son's wife. I started something I call Granfather's Book of the Month Club. Each month I send Oliver a book. I expect that Anselm or Tiffany will read the book to him. Back a couple of months ago I sent Oliver all the Christmas books I read to Anselm when he was little, but there are very many more books besides the Christmas books. Just before she divorced me Athanasia gave away all our kid's books to the Lucille Packard Childrens Hospital Thrift Store but I am buying all those books new to send to Oliver. (Thankfully, she did not give away Anselm's first prayer book so in a couple of years, when Oliver is reading on his own, I will be able to send him his Dad's prayer book.)

Basil (AKA son # 4) is still doing well at the California Maritime Academy. He secured an internship at Panda Game Manufacturing, and travels around northern California promoting their services to game inventors. A couple of days ago he told me that after he gets his B.A. in December of 2026 he wants to do something to grow in the Orthodox Faith. I recommended that he go to a monastery for a year or to St. Tikhon Seminary. But tonight I remembered St. Herman Seminary in Kodiak, Alaska. They have a one year reader program. Also, they might be able to use my son's accounting skills. I'll talk to Basil about it when I see him on Holy Saturday. (I have to work most of that day so I can't go to church, but Basil is coming by to pick up his Pascha basket to ttake to church.)

Speaking of Holy Saturday.... This hear I was able to go to the first two nights of Bridegroom Matins. OH MY GOSH!!! It was so beautiful!!!! Because of the work I do the next service I will be able to go to is Agape Vespers, but, wow, I am so happy I was able to go to the first two nights of Bridegroom Matins. It is so funny to me that some people think that all Orthodox services are the same; Even the the Sunday Divine Liturgy, the most unchanging service in our Church, has parts that change every week. I am always floored and amazed by the words I hear at every service.


I saw my sister and her husband a couple of days ago. It made me so happy. I do not know why I do not see them more often. I do not know how long you have been reading this blog but if you were reading 10 or 13 years ago you know they gave me a place to live when my wife, Athanasia divorced me and had me evicted from our our house. (I hate California's laws. I do mean HATE.) My sister and her husband have a moderately-sized house but have always made their guest-bedroom available to the needy. In the last 30 years, I don't think,that guest bedroom has been vacant more than 3 weeks. I pray God blesses my sister and her husband.

Pascha and feeling better

I have been sick. I missed three weeks of work and four weeks of church. Yesterday, Holy Saturday was my first Communion since I got sick. I finally tested negative 5 days ago and I'll go back to work tomorrow morning. I'm not sure how that is going to work since my voice has not healed, but I need to make money.

Because I was so sick I did not make paskha and kulich this year. This is the first Pascha in decades that I have not had paskha and kulich for breakfast on Pascha morning.

I did make something to take to the feast after Agape Vespers later today: I boiled a corned beef brisket this morning, and together with, rye bread, saurkraut, and mustard shall turn it into urn it into sanwiches for the feast. I hope my fellow parishoners enjoy them.

Christ is risen! Indeed he is risen!

My New Job.

I dont think I've said anything on this blog about my new job. I quit being a teacher during the Christmas break. I am now a salesman for Quality First. It is such a good change. The work is fun and I am making twice the money I made in as a teacher. I think a lot of people do not understand the role of a salesman. Essentially, this is what my job is: I keep tradesmen employd, I keep factory workers employed, I improve the comfort of homeowners, I increse the value of houses, I make the world more aestheically pleasing. And that is why I am paid as much as I am paid. But, you may ask, how do I keep involved in the world of history, government, and economics? My wife still teaches all those subjects, and I write her tests. Its the best of both worlds.

Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss

In 1971 the British rock band, The Who had a big hit with their song Won't Get Fooled Again. It reminds me of the words I sing in church every week, "put not your faith in princes or sons of men, in whom there is no salvation. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; In that very day his thoughts perish." Today Donald J. Trump took over as President of the United States.

I was in a meeting when he swore the oath and when one of the men in the meeting (he was listening to a device in his ear) announced that we had a new Prsident the other 60 people in the room began clapping and cheering. (About the meeting: I quit my job as a teacher after last semester and took a job a a salesman for a general contractor. I sell roofs, windows, doors, concrete, solar energy systems, and insulation now. Much more money than teaching.) I am glad Trump is our President but I don't for a minute think he is going to usher in an age of justice and prosperity. I think he'll do less damage to us that Biden did but that is all.

I haven't been excited about a presidential candidate since Ron Paul ran for President. Although, I must admit that the last time Trump was President he did appint good judges to the U.S. courts, but I think that is mainly because he didn't have strong opinions about judges, and just asked the Federalist Society who they want him to appoint. Admittedly, that is a pretty good way to pick people to be federal judges. Gosh, It was fun campaigning for Ron Paul. It's too bad he didn't win.

Boxing, a Wreath and More Fruitcakes

Last night after work I went to a boxing tournament one of my students was competing in. I was ringside, and it was a tremendous amount of fun. I hadn't seen live boxing since 1989. I don't know why but his parents weren't there. I wonder if he has parents.

We have a wreath over our front door now, and Kathleen and I made twelve more fruit cakes this morning. It has been a pleasent, quiet day.

I love the holidays.

Thanksgiving I met my son's in-laws. On the way down to Oceanside, where they live, we passed several things I had never seen before and some things I hadn't seen since I was 8 years old. I saw Biola University, my teenage dream school. We passed by Mission San Juan Capistrano, Which I read about when I was in the fourth grade, but remember mostly from watching this cartoon. At one point I saw an exit from the freemay that said Basilone Dr. I was like, No Way! so I googled it to see if I was right. Yes, it was named for John Basilone. Almost as exciting was a few minutes later when I saw Camp Pendleton off to my left; the place where Gomer Pyle lived.

When we got to our destination I immediately loved my son's in-laws. My daughter-in-law's grandmother lives there. She is a widow and has an intese prayer rule. She prays the Caplet of Divine Mercy (Which I learned many years ago from watching Mother Angelica's TV network, 50 rosaries and a bunch of other prayers every day. Her daughter, my son's mother-in-law is Mexican so the food was out of this world: Tamales, birria, chocolate mole served over shredded chicken, plus the ham, turkey, tortilla, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, pies (including my cranberry walnut pie and pecan pie), cheese cake, and so much other stuff I didn't even taste it all. They had me pray at so many meals I was starting to feel like a priest!

The funeral of my sister's father-in-law was two days ago. He was a sailor; a tail-gunner who flew off of the U.S.S. Hornet at the Battle of Miday and several other battles. After the war he became a pastor and a Christian school administrator. Even in his 90s he was active in helping organize Christian colleges. He is an amazing man. Sadly, I could not be at the funeral so I could only send flowers, But, maybe, you can jon me in praying for Charles.

I think I might have mentinoed that I have about 20 different Christmas theme ties. I wear a different one every day and kids who aren,t even in my classes come in to see the tie of the day. One of my favorite things is that I play a Christmas Carol at the start of each period. So far they have heard O Tannenbaum (One of my Vietnamese students asked "Mr. Karnes, what do Christmas Trees Mean" Wow! What an opening! In 3 minutes I told them about St. Bonifice, an ancient Icon depicting Mary, Jesus, and a pine tree decorated with litte loaves of bread, and martin luther using a pine tree to represent the tree of life in plays he staged at Christmas.), The Holly and the Ivy (Not the sermon but only the music starting at about 5:30), Today they heard Il est ne, le divin Enfant. A student of mine from Romania asked me to play a Romanian Cristmas song tomorrow, so we'll all hear Open the Door, Christian. Also, I bought a Christmas tree for my classroom today and invited all the students to bring an ornament to hang on it.

Tonight I drove the chocolate coins and a fruit cake to my godchildren in San Francisco; tomorrow is St. Nicholas day. On the way to their hous I saw a woman step into traffic and get run over by a pick up truck. The driver of the pick up truck leaped out of his truck and went to the womans aid. Her leg was bent in the wrong direction and she was screaming. I pulled over and called 911, told them what I saw, and waited for the paramdeics and police. When the police got there I told them what happened, then went on to deliver the chocolate and the fruitcake. The woman was taken away in an ambulance. It has been an eventful day. Good night.

Pheasants and an injured hip

Today is Monday. On Saturday morning Basil (son #4) and I went pheasant hunting. (I am a member of a hunting club in Birds Landing and it is a lot of fun.) The dog flushed a bird within 10 minutes but Basil missed and I couldn't shoot at it because Basil was standing between me and the bird. The next bird the dog flushed Basil shot at about 30 yards. Then the dog got distracted by something and rand off. I was whistling and calling and it was gone, chasing something. Then I stepped in a hole. It wasn't too deep, only about 5 or 6 inches, but it made me fall and hurt my hip. Agony. I could barely stand. I spent the rest of Saturday and all of Sunday in bed. I went to work today but evey step hurts. Even sitting in a chair hurts. I hope it heals quickly.

In other news, I am writing a new course based on a book titled Unhumans. I'll pitch it to the headmaster later this week.

I am enjoying the Nativity Fast. Tonight's dinner: A roasted butternut squash.

Campaign news and other things

The election is exactly 1 month from today. I have done two candidate forums (one for the League of Women Voters and another for a coalition of community activists and charter schools.) I have a couple of parent volunteers going door to door for me. The county GOP gave me a list of frequent voters so I am calling them and going door to door to visit them. Somone who works in one of the schools called me and told me she is supporting me but is afraid to help publically because the union might retaliate. Tomorrow I am visiting a bunch of churches in my district and leaving flyers under the windshilds of the cars in their parking lot.

Basil, my youngest son developed an abcess on his arm last week. He saw the nurse at the Maritime Academy and she sent him to a physician. The physician said it is too big to heal on its own so next week Basil will undergo surgery. He is doing well, otherwise. He especially enjoys his accounting class.

Anselm lives in Maine now. He and his wife were moved by the Navy to Maine. He isn't on a new boat, the U.S.S. Hampton has been transfered from the Pacific Fleet to the Atlantic Feet for maintenance and retro fitting. He will be there for the next three years getting sea pay but only going to sea for a few days or a couple of weeks per month to test repairs and upgrades. This means he gets to be home with his wife while still getting sea pay and the submarine bonus. (I'm expecting grandchildren within the year.)

Anselm and Tiffany have on-base housing and he says it is really nice. Rank has privileges. Sadly, a couple of nights ago he was expewriencing horrible abdominal pain and his wife took him to the emegency room. Out came the appendix.

At my job things are going well. In my world history class I have my students read lots of stuff, for example, when learning about Sumer I have them read the Baal Cycle from the Ugaritic texts. I have them read Hesiod's Theogony and part of Works and Days. I have them read contemporary accounts of life in Sparta and Athens. I have them read Demosthenes' Against Naeara so they can see the cruelty of the ancient world toward women. I have them read parts of Julius Caesar's account of the conquest of Gaul so they can see how conquored people were treated. I have them read accounts of Romulus and Remus and Horatius at the bridge, the rape of Lucrece, and the death of Camila so they can see the hard heartedness of the Romans.

On Monday and Tuesday of this week I gave them a lecture on the Julio-Claudian dynasty, detailing the depravity of those emperors, but pointing out that whn Augustus was emperor Jesus was born, and that when Tiberius was emperor Jesus was crucified and rose from the dead.

On Wednesday I explaind that something happened in the Roman Empire that changed it, that Jesus' teaching began to spread. And I showed my students how St. Andrew carried the Gospel into Armenia and Georgia and Persia. How St. Thomas took the Gospel to India. How St. Paul took the Gospel to Turkey and Greece. How St. Matthew took the Gospel to Africa. Then on Thursday I explaind what a gospel is, that it is announcement of a new king's policies, and we began reading the Gospel of Luke aloud in class.

Every few versus I have to ask, "What would a Roman think of this?" or "What would a slave in Corith think of this?" "How would a temple Prostutute in Ephesus reasond to this story?" "Why might the centurian behave like this?" "Do you think the Roman Empire is going to tolerate this Jewish man commanding the wind to die down when their chief god Jupiter is the sky god?" And then on Mount Tabor when the Father speaks of Jesus as his Son, one of my students, a very bright 13 year old Chinese girl said, "Mr. Karnes! This is the opposite of Baal overthrowing El and Zeus overthrowing Chronos and Jupiter overthrowing Saturn!" So I didn't have to even ask a question.

And my students ask me question's too. "How do we know this is true?" I answer "What did Thucydides rely on?" And my students call out, "Texts and living memory!" and I say, "Yes, that is what Luke relied on, too. He knew Peter and he knew Mary."

"Did he really do that?", they ask at least once on every page. All I say is "We only know what the text says" And they ask "Why did he do that?" And I say "We'll have to keep reading."

And now I covid.

Seriously, I'm teaching 7 different subjects(Econ, U.S. hist, world hist, current events, college prep, and entrepreneurship, shotgun team), taking one class, and running a political campaign. And I have Covid. I am falling behind. Uggh.

Move-in Day

Basil (Son #4) moved into the dorms at Cal Maritime today.

I found out today that the reason the Secretary of State's office has been rejecting (3 times!) a form I have to file in order to spend money for my campaign is that I have been using an old version of the form. (Question: Why would the Secretary of State have the old version of the form on her website?) Oh, well, I now have the latest version of the form and am mailing it to her today.

Work is going well. I am teaching a new course: Entreprenrurship. I don't know much about it (The only time I attempted start a business, back in the early 90s, I had to shut it down because I received a letter from the District Attorney telling me that my business was illegal.) so I am signing up for an on-line course on entrepreneurship at a community college and will be teaching it to my students as I am learning it.

I haven't mentioned this very sad news yet because my oldest brother is a more private person than I am, but he has cancer and is dying. If you have an opportunity, please, pray for my brother Kenneth, his wife, children, and grandchildren.

Summer School, Pentecost, Independence Day, and more.

I finished teaching summer school on July 3. I was mainly working on the period from the War of 1812 through Lee's surrender to Grant at Appomatox. It was much time and many people and events to cover in 4 weeks but we did it. The highest grade in the class was a B- while the lowest grade was a C-. I also supervised some ESL students from Vietnam who had to read They Shoot Canoes, Don't They? and write responsive essays.

On Pentecost Kathleen and I went to the Festal Vigil at the Cathedral in San Francisco. It was good to be in service with Archbishop Benjamin again. Pentecost was his last time to preside at the Divine Liturgy. He is too ill to continue. The next morning Basil and a friend went there for Divine Liturgy. Basil said it was sad to see Archbishop Benjamin, who Baptized Basil, take off his miter and give it to someone else.

On Independence Day, Kathleen, Maximo, Basil, and I were going to go to a minor league baseball game and see fireworks after. When we arrived at the stadium we learned that the baseball game was the day before. It was a good fireworks show though. They set the outfield on fire.

Today, for the shared meal after the Divine Liturgy, I made Texas Caviar but I subtituted one can of corn for one of the cans of black-eyed peas. I thought it would be nice with a little bit of sweetness. It was. I've been a member of the American Legion for years but until today had never been to a local post (my membership was only with the national organization). Today, after church I transfered my membership to the Post in my neighbrhood, Post 791, the oldest American Legion post in the Bay Area. Then, Kathleen and I visited it and really enjoyed meeting all the people there. Kathleen is already calling it "our new hang out."

A Skillet

My 3rd son, the little boy, came home from the North Pole last week. He eloped with his fiance (I think there must have been some pressure from her side of the family about how/where to have a wedding.) and is now a married man. He brought his wife up to visit. I gave them Fr. Lawrence Farley's book about marriage and the square cast iron skillet my grandmother gave my mother on her wedding day. On Saturday we went to dinner at Flemmings (It's not very good. What crazy person puts sugar in Brussel's sprouts?)) with him, Basil, Athanasia, and his new wife Tiffany. On Monday Anselm and Tiffany went golfing with my wife and her son. I had to work. Anselm and Tiffany are going back to San Diego today.

This and That and getting ready for Christmas.

Since August of 2022 I've been teaching U.S. history, world history, economics, and U.S. government at Cambrian Academy in San Jose, California. (I'm also the coach of the clay target team.) It is, I think, only because of God that I was given this job just a few weeks after I wrote this.

I have almost finished buying Christmas presents. I have only two more people to buy for.

Basil has had the flu for the past week but as soon as he has recovered he and I will begin making the fruitcakes and the Christmas sausage. Hopefully, this week.

This was the first year in many that I did not go to Farmer Bob's to get pumpkins.

Oktoberfest

One of the fun things I do at work is that I play a little jodel (I know, it's swiss but they wear lederhosen and dirndle. on the screen for my students every morninng in October and give them a few extra credit points if they show me they've learned to jodel by the end of the the month.) Tey seem to enjoy it and some of them desperately need the points by the end of October, when the midterm exams happen.

Today, Kathleen and I shared a guest lecturer from F.E.E.. First he came to my school and spoke to my two classes of economice on business ethics, a lecture I would have titled The Beauty of Profit. It was truely was beautiful. I wish I had recorded it. After the presentation, when the guest lecturer had left to go to Kathleen's school, one of my students said, "It was like having Henry Hazlitt talk to us", and she was right.

At the end of the School day we took the lecturerer from F.E.E. out to dinner at Teske's Germania, a resturaunt in San Jose. (I was there once before, when I was 26 years old, that was more than half my life ago.) Kathleen ordered the Schweinshaxe. I ordered the Jagerschnitzel. When the dishes came to the table she was grossed out and didn't want to eat what she had ordered. So we traded dishes and, wow, I am glad we did! I have a new favorite food. When I came home I looked up the recipe online and it looks pretty easy to make. I am sure I will be able to convince her that it is good.

In other news, Son #3 called me from Peru. His submarine has been at sea for a couple of weeks, and i knew he was headed south, but I didn't know he was going to be stopping in at Peru. It sounds like he is working hard but having fun.

Son #4 is applying to universities. I think the four on his list are Hillsdale College (In America the words University and college are, mostly, interchageable.) California Maritime Academy, Montana State University, and San Jose State University. Personally, I wish he were not considering San Jose State but, I think he wants to live with his mother and save money on room and board. I'm much prefer he go to Hillsdale or Montana state where there are very active OCF chapters, or to Cal Maritime where the gradutes have the highest average starting salaries of any college in California, but I think he just sees the expense of room and board and wants to avoid it.

And finally, the highschool clay target shooting team I coach is in second place in our conference this season. That is much improved from #39 out of 54 that we placed last season. The team is really working hard and it shows.

Honeymoon and Covid

We went on a cruise to Alaska. We flew from San Jose to Seattle, where we got on the ship, the M.S. Westerdam. Our first stop was in Juneau where we visted St Nicholas Orthodox Church (They currenty do not have a rector and are surviving on reader services and occasional clergy visits), and then Glacier Bay, then Sitka where we visted St Michal Orthodox Church and were blessed to venerate a relic of St Herman. The ships next stop was Ketchican, where we went fishing.

We caught amazing number of fish, and Kathleen caught the largest one, a 34" Silver Coho.

We had 180 pounds of various species of salmon flash frozen and shipped to us, even one chum salmon which we will feed to the dog.

The next stop was Victoria, BC but we did not get off the ship. That was the night Kathleen started coughing. The next morning we got off the ship in Seattle and Kathleen had a fever. Our hotel, the Mayflower Park Hotel was very comfortable and the staff was very helpful. As soon as I told them my wife was sick they had a room ready for us, letting us check in 7 hours early.

Kathleen spent a miserable night. I walked to a nearby drug sstore to get her medicine but it did not do much. The next morning I was coughing too. By the time Basil Wenceslas picked us up at the airport in San Jose on the 31st of June we both had fevers. When we got home we went strait to bed. The next morning we both tested positive for covid. Then the next day Basil tested positive. All three of us got perscriptions for paxlovid that day. As of Sunday (today is Tuesday the 8th of August.) we are both testing negative and Kathleen says she is 80% recovered. She began teaching her fall semester yesterday. Today was the first day I was able to get out of bed. I can't taste anything except for salt and citrus, or smell anything except for what I think is a hallucination (burning wood), and my sense of balance is off, and I am partially deaf. Hopefully, that all corrects soon. I go back to work tomorrow so today I spent writing my course syllabi. Basil is doing worse than Kathleen and I. This is his third time to have covid.

A wedding and other things

Kathleen and I got the wedding license last week. The service has been scheduled for July 16. My boss asked me to stay on for another year and teach the same subjects. Anselm recieved his dolphins and got promoted to Petty Officer 3rd Class. Basil is still going to Evergreen Valley Community College and is gtting his documents ready to apply next month to Hillsdale College and Cal Maritime for Fall 2024.

Kathleen and Basil and I wanted to go to a San Jose Giants baseball game on July 4 but this is their year to play in Fresno. o, after looking around at all the parades and concerts and fire works shows we decided to see the San Francisco Symphony and fireworks at Shoreline Amphitheater. It was utterly beautiful.

Radio, Shotguns, and Marriage

I read yesterday that car makers are going to stop putting A.M. radios in cars because the electric motors interfere with reception. I think I dislike electric cars even more now than I already did.

Speaking of radio, I really miss the days when I was a teenager in Florida. I used to lie on the floor doing my school work and listen to WCIE (Where Christ is Everything) out of Lakeland. I'd hear preachers such as Chuck Swindoll, J. Vernon McGee, Karl Strader, and late in the night I'd listen to the music program, The Haven of Rest with Ray Ortland. One of my favorite shows on WCIE was James Dobson's Focus on the Famly and others.

I haven't been listening to radio much for the last few years. I tried to listen to KQED, the local NPR affiliate but it has become nothing but filth. I did an expiriment to see if I could drive from home to work or from work to home without hearing a story promoting drag queens, homosexuality, abortion, or or the mutilation of childrens sex organs (they call it gender affirming care). The drive between work and home is about 15 minutes one way. Every morning and every afternoon I heard of of the vile promotions. On some drives I'd hear two or three. Gone are the days of listening to KQED and hearing Linda Worthheimer, Cokie Roberts, Nina Totenberg, Garison Keilor, Bob Edwards, Click and Clack, and To The Best of Our Knowledge with Steve Paulson and Anne Strainchamps. At least, KQED still has TechNation with Moira Gunn.

I've tried listening to KSFO an conservative talk station but they are so angry and I don't see Conservativeism that way. We are happy becuse we know the truth and see a path to a bright future. I just don't dig the negativity.

And there is no country music anymore.

Kathleen, Fr. Basil and I have set the wedding date for July 16. I'll be a married man again soon. And Anslem Samuel told me he is going to ask his girlfried to marry him.

My school's shotgun team had the last shoot of the season today. We finished 39 out of 51. I am very proud of them.

The Clay Target Team

I don't think I've mentioned this before: I'm the coach of my school's clay target team. Late last month Basil went with me to Nevada to buy ammo and we got stuck in a giant record-breaking snowstorm. It took us 19 hours to get from Reno to San Jose, a drive that normally takes 5 or 6 hours.

Yesterday was the team's first practice. They did better than I expected and they had a lot of fun.

In other news: Anselm Samuel's submarine put into port in Guam a couple of days ago. They were not there long. Only about 30 hours; just long enough to load up on food and head back out to sea. I spoke to him briefly. He sounded very tired.

The Sixth Day of Christmas

The festivities have been beautiful. We missed Royal hours on Friday but Vigil on Saturday and Divine Liturgy on Sunday were greatly joyful. A fun thing is that our friend Rowan from church joined us for Christmas dinner. It was just Kathleen, Basil, Rowan, and I for Christmas dinner. And the dinner itself was simple compared to past Christmas dinners: Turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, peanut butter pie, cranberry walnut pie, fruitcake, au gratin potatoes, and Brussels sprouts, a port wine cheese ball, and pheasant pâté made from pheasants we shot.

On the second day of Christmas Kathleen and I went to Lake Pillsbury in the Mendocino National Forest to shoot wood ducks. But we saw no wood ducks but we saw tule elk. One bull had a harem of more than sixty cows and a huge set of antlers. No, we didn't shoot any of the elk. They are protected and rare. We stayed at lake Pillsbury three nights. There was lots and lots of rain.

Now we are back in San Jose and are preparing for the next semester. It will by my first time teaching economics. I'm excited.