My wife and I were watching an old rerun of one of NCIS New Orleans shows. Well, let me correct myself. She was watching it. I was writing and occasionally, a few of the words from the show penetrated my attention. She started getting upset with the show so I terminated it.

An old memory came to mind. Many years ago, I watched a show that was on PBS, Foyle’s War. It was one of the few shows that PBS had that was really good in many ways. When I looked it up on the internet, I saw that Amazon had the first episode free. I clicked on the button, “watch free.” In seconds, and I mean seconds, the opening scene popped up on the computer screen.

In minutes, my thoughts were, why don’t they make shows like that anymore. Nowadays, they don’t sell plots, they sell sex and gore. Well, occasionally they have something of a plot snuck in there. I am even disappointed with the original NCIS show these days.

At any rate, as they advertised, it was free and worth every penny. Even more, there were no station breaks, as they like to call it. As I eluded to, I saw it years ago and I enjoyed then too. However, I had forgotten many of the little things that I saw that made it such a good show. It wasn’t just the main plot that made it so good but all the little sub-plots woven in.

The show opens in England at the time that WWII is just starting and it brings to mind many of the nuances that we don’t normally consider, such as the problems that they had with Germans, good and bad living throughout island nation. Unlike as with the US, they did not have the option of deciding whether or not to incarcerate people of a suspicious background. If they had a German background, they were imprisoned. The survival of the nation was at hand and little mistakes could not be afforded. It also brought out the way people in high places were taking advantage of the of war, using it to make their fortune.

There was another important aspect that the show presented. While the vast efforts had to be put into their national defense, they still needed police as there were still those that broke the law. Then too, it was a country that was emersed in traditions, in royalty and in day-to-day-life that was being turned into a nation of nightmares and daily disasters and interruptions in daily life.

I wouldn’t say it was an eyeopener. I was aware of it all. However, it was somewhat different, in a way to see it, as reality opening up before me, forcing me to see what can happen when men seek power. It is the greed and power hunger, not only of Hitler and his minions, but also of the person down the street who will still rob you blind given the chance. Indeed they will even take advantage of the war to take from his fellow man. Then there are those in the government who sought the positions of power and abused that power.

In a way, it was as looking in a mirror. The same thing happened in the US. There were and are those who would like to take advantage of great danger to take that which is ours from us, even our very freedom as well as our security for their personal benefit.

I guess wars do bring out the best and the worst in all of us. It just is, the power hungry always win the vote. We want peace, they want war. They always get the war and we are not permitted to object. It would seem all we need is one greedy man to disrupt the lives of millions. Well, of course, it would seem they never seem to have any problem building their help. It was only in a few short years that took a nation from the shambles of WWI to a nations that took over virtually all of Europe to and threatened the most powerful country on earth. When you look back over it, if it weren’t for just a few key battles, a few desperate measures, Britain would be no more.

Nowadays, we don’t think about it much. We may go months without thinking how close it really was. It is all taken for granted, not realizing that we are really even today in even more danger than they were back then. We now, as then, go about our daily lives not thinking how fast our lives might be disrupted so quickly by power seekers, both within and without of our country. You don’t think it can happen. many of those that were in the towers that were destroyed didn’t think it would happen either. In a few short minutes, the live of people were destroyed. The city would go through years recovering from the disruption. Even the nation was set back on its heels. And even now, we can’t board a plane without being reminded of it.

It does make me wonder, just what must happen to make us aware that there are those on this earth, even just down the street who seek power for their benefit, and they will take from us whatever they want, even the lives of family and friends.

Considering all the help Kamala has, she must be going up a steep hill. if she were on level ground, she’d be going the speed of sound and Trump would be left far behind. But she’s barely out of the staring gate and she is barely ahead in the polls. She must be gong up hill on a slippery slope.

I suspect without so much lies from the press, she would be going backward.

I can’t help it. Kamala keeps bringing old songs to mind. As she decides that she wants to go this way and that way, it reminds me of the old children’s song. Did you ever see a lassie go this way and that way. Go this way and that way. Go this way and that.

There is another verse using laddie instead of lassie. It is something of a stretch but we might manage to wrap that one around her running mate. However, most Walz goes the one way, the wrong way.

Well, I’ll let you decide, does it apply or not.

Heard an advertisement by a business south the Mississippi/Tennessee line. Part of his pitch was that they would be able to deal in safety. Now let me see. Is that the meaning of audacity?

As I thought it over, I must admit it was a good idea. Maybe all of our businesses need to start doing it. It just might help to drop our sales tax a point or two. I like it.

As a side note, I looked up the meaning of the word audacity and found an ap that allows editing of audio. I don’t know if it is any good, but it says it’s free. It might be worth a try. I’m always wanting to modify some of my files. Some are not loud enough; some are monaural. A few have too much base, which can get a little distracting.

Now that’s a mouth full. I suppose to some degree, I suffer from it. Whenever I have to go to a big gathering, I generally look for a corner to hide in. Even so, it is not so bad that I become froze. I can carry on normal activities and conversations. I am just uncomfortable when I am around more than a dozen or so people.

Now, on the other hand, it would appear Kamala can’t deal with crowds at all. She clearly doesn’t like to face a dozen or so members of the media. That’s saying something clearly. To her, the media is on her side.

Well, maybe I chose the wrong phobia. Is there a word for fear of saying something embarrassing? Well, I guess there is an informal one. Many call it hoof and mouth phobia. That is when a person is fears inserting a foot in his mouth. Just maybe she is afraid of doing that so she just hides in the basement.

Then again, maybe she’s afraid she’ll just do some of that cackling. That would be enough to even drive the dems away.

Well, there is a possibility that she is doing something smart. She might have hired someone that will teach her how to speak without irritating all around. I really doubt she is doing that, but one can always hope.

Walz said that the weapon that he carried into war should not be legal for civilians, or something like that anyway. The weapon he had, if he had a rifle was likely an M-16, which is capable of fully automatic. I know. I did carry one with me virtually everywhere I went in Vietnam. Also, I qualified with it.

Here’s the news. It is illegal for civilians unless the holder has a special federal license. There is a civilian rifle which resembles the M-16 and it is called the AR-15. It is strictly simi automatic. That is it is designed to fire one shot for each time the trigger is pulled. In general, they both shoot the same ammo. However, the AR-15 can be configured for other ammo.

My guess is that any sgt. maj. or equivalent would know that. If Walz doesn’t, shame on him.

On the other hand, most E-6s and above don’t carry rifles, but rather a sidearm. When I was in the Marines, that was a .45 semi-automatic pistol. It, in some form has been available to just about anyone since the early 1900s. If that is the weapon he was referring to, that is even more sad.

It is a display of ignorance or deceit… maybe both.

They needed good leaders in Iraq, not the guys who turn at the first hint of shooting, or even before. Kind of glad he opted out. As an aside, it would also be good to have leaders who know the boys from girls.

We’ve all heard it a thousand times, maybe a thousand and two. When it is said a tire is flat, someone else says, “Only on the bottom.” I guess that makes it not only an old joke but an old tire(d) joke.

I do find it interesting that after over a hundred years of building cars, they have improved the reliability of about everything but the tires. To wit, when a nail punctures a tire, it flatens. Actually, it’s not just nails that will do it. The last flat I had was due to a piece of rebar that was sticking up out of the parking lot. What really hurts is that I saw it. I just forgot it was there. That little slip of memory cost me about $60.

I find it interesting as I think back over the decades. Tires have changed a lot and the way we deal with them. The first time I replaced tires, they cost me $20 each for 2 and that included mounting. That was a long time ago.

Way back when, they had tires that had tubes in them. When they had a flat, they took them off, put a patch on the tubes and put them back on the car. It generally took a little over an hour because of the time to put the patch on. As far as I know, it lasted just fine.

On the other hand, if the tube couldn’t be patched, they replaced it. Much less expensive than replacing the whole tire. The fact that the tire had a hole in it was not even considered. It didn’t have to be airtight.

I guess on or around 1950, they came out with the tubeless tire. They tell me that they have many advantages. My guess is that the one of the biggest advantages was for the ones selling them. For a while, they still sold tubes for the tire that had a hole in it. It was the fast and inexpensive fix. Don’t have a clue as to why, but they stopped doing that. At first, they tried fixing the tires. That kind of went the way of the dinosaur when they came out with steel belted radials. I’m told they can’t do that anymore.

So, as you go down the road and that front tire sets that nail up strait and the rear tire rolls over it, it’s going to cost you some money. No patches. No tubes. You will have to take the wheel in and get a new tire mounted on it. If you have a regular car, it’s going to be about $60. If you have a big pickup, you’re going to have to shell out about $160.

I think it is a conspiracy. Why can’t we go back to the $20 tires. Okay. They don’t stop as good and they don’t corner as good. Generally, the new ones do last longer, unless you poke a hole in them. Sorry. Even if the tire is one day old, it will have to be replaced

Until recently, when you bought a new car, you got a spare tire with it. It was the same as the other four. The neat part was that if you included it in the tire rotation, your tires lasted longer. Sorry. Can’t do that with radials.

Those that made the cars decided to change things. Their logic was that the spare tire on the vast majority of cars never touch the road. That was how they explained it to me. So, instead of a real wheel for a spare, the put a toy wheel in the trunk. It works good, but the driver is warned to watch the speed and range. It is, so to speak, an emergency spare. It is designed only to hold up long enough to get a real tire.

When I bought my Nissan EV, I figured that it was what was in the trunk. It did make sense to me. Well, a few months after I bought the car, I was poking my nose around in the trunk and discovered, there was no spare. There wasn’t even one of the toys.

Now that was a surprise. It was also pretty disappointing. I even thought about taking the car back to the dealer and demand a spare, even if I have to pay for it. I still might do that. Fact is, I don’t even know if they have them. I might have to pay for a full extra wheel and tire.

Then, after I got to looking around in the trunk some more. I found a pump that could be plugged into the cigarette lighter.” In addition, there was a small bottle. The instructions were, “put the bottle in a hole in the pump and turn the pump on.” The liquid would, hopefully seal the tire good enough to last until the tire could be replace.

Now that was a surprise. I got to thinking about it and I guess it does have an advantage. I am 76. Those wheels are big. I actually might need help lift the things. I mean, when I was a 22-year-old marine, no problem. Not so much now.

Suddenly, just hooking up the pump and sealer to the wheel started sounding much better.

Then, on the other hand, the big question, what do I do if I am out on some lonely road and the sealer fails to seal? Those old tubes are starting to look really good. Even if they would not be a long range solution, it might get me home.