Insult to my eye

It's a small thing. See it, right there, in the first word. An apostrophe.

There are many things which insult this old copy editor's eye. The worst of all of them is the incorrect use of our friend, the Apostrophe.

Folks, apostrophes are not used to indicate plurals. Please don't insert an apostrophe between the terminal consonant at the end of a noun and the "s" indicating a plural.

It's just wrong. Stop doing it. Now.

So far I've use the word "It's" twice in this post. Correctly. When you want to say "It's" and you mean "It is," use the apostrophe. When you want to write "its" to indicate a possessive, DON'T.

It's awe-inspiring to see the way a mother bear protects its cubs.

I feel better now.

Am I a Jerk?

Yesterday I was waiting for a bus. I like Alameda because it has a small-town feeling. Graffiti is still present, but I don't get the feeling I've stumbled onto a location set for a rap video, as I did when I was living in Oakland.

A young mother was seated inside the shelter, waiting for the bus. I greeted her, "Happy New Year!" and she smiled and said "Happy New Year." From her accent, I guessed she was far from the place of her birth, somewhere in Mexico or Central America. [I mention the ethnic difference not to be a bigot; I have scolded white parents on a field trip when the charges were fooling around less than 6 inches from the edge of the BART platform.)

Her two girls, 4 and 6, were close by playing on the handicap railings. I caught the mother's eyes and nodded towards the daughters. She smiled, but didn't look. She could hear them. She didn't have anything to read and didn't wear a Bluetooth, but was content her children were safe.

I wasn't. They were hanging off the railings. The older one, the one in the pink hooded jacket, was hanging from her arms and legs, at least two feet off the concrete. The younger one was hanging from a nearby railing holding on with her arms, but with her knees bent. "Be careful!" I said in a cheerful voice.

The mother glanced over, noted that I was at least three feet away from her daughters, then turned away, unconcerned with the possibility of injury. She was only concerned about me. Once satisfied I wasn't going to abscond with her daughters, she turned back, blissfully unaware that her two daughters were risking injury by hanging upside down on a handicapped railing with nothing but unpadded, bare cancrete below.

A couple of minutes went by, and she did nothing to call them to sit with her or at the least, not use the railings as playground equipment. So I said, "Be careful," in a soft voice, with less smile in my voice, but still polite. As a taxpayer in the State of California and the San Francisco Bay Area, one of the regions with the highest per capita concentration of personal injury lawyers in the world, I was concerned that the mother's neglect would lead to a 5-figure settlement which I and my fellow taxpayers would be forced to pay in return for her obvious neglect.

I wasn't thinking. Did the children understand English? They didn't respond to my polite -- and I must emphasize polite -- pleas to have them not behave recklessly.

On reflection, I should have taken out my mobile and snapped some pictures of them, with mother not paying attention. Or maybe I should have used a more menacing look. I was very careful to keep a smile in my eyes.

Instead, I tried once again. "Please, please, be careful." Finally the mother paid attention. Instead of cautioning her children to not behave recklessly, she scolded me. "...my children." I didn't understand the rest. Her face told me she wasn't concerned at all with the safety and health of her children; she was more concerned that this meddler was trying to give her parenting lessons.

Your call: Bigot, jerk, or concerned taxpayer?

Happy New Year

Here I am again. I hope all of you a very Happy New Year.

--30--

Starting over

AFter a few months away, I'm starting over. Stay tuned. Or not.

#88 Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in the Coca-Cola 600 Live Blog

Remember:

• Race Length: 600 miles
• Laps: 400 - 1.5 mile laps
• Configuration: quad-oval
• Banking: turns: 24°, straightaways: 5°
• Pit Road Speed Limit: 45 mph
• Pace Car Speed: 55 mph

Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

• #88 National Guard/AMP Energy Drink Chevrolet
• Hendrick Motorsports
• Crew Chief: Tony Eury, Junior
• Spotter: T. J. Majors
• Fueler: Chris Fakula
• Jack: Rick Pigeon
• Front Tire Changer: Adam Emmert
• Front Tire Carrier: Ben Fischbeck
• Rear Tire Changer: D. J. Richardson
• Rear Tire Carrier: Matt Meyers
• Catch Can: Jason Dalrymple

Read from start (scrolling upwards)

IF ANYONE IS STILL READING THIS, I'M SORRY, BUT I'M STOPPING NOW.

329) YELLOW.

320) Still 20th.

308) 20th. Lots of damage, but Tony and Jr. say they're repaired.

304) Green flag, YELLOW. On the restart, the 01. Good for Junior, he can go back into the pits for more body work.

300) Junior sounds pretty calm for someone who just lost the race. He's making brief pit stops so he can stay on the lead lap. In between, he's calling out repair instructions to each member of the pit crew. Amazing.

298) JUNIOR HITS THE WALL! Not enough to end the day, but certainly puts the squadoosh on all the fans wearing a blue 88. YELLOW

294) Junior still leading, Stewart 2nd, Kahne 3rd. Getting very close to a green flag pit stop for Junior.

279) Junior still leads. Tony Stewart 2nd. This long green flag stretch gives me a chance to hit pit road and then grab a plateful of veggies. Forgot to go out and get Nacho fixin's and sausage to barbecue.

263) JR: The car is neutral.

260) Junior passes The Anti-Christ in Turn 2 to take the lead.

255) 2nd. no change.

253) 2nd. passed Tony Stewart for second. The Anti-Christ leads.

250) 3rd, passing Jeff Burton like he was standing still.

245) Went in the leader, came out 6th. Took 2 tires and fuel, and the ones ahead only got fuel.

244) 2 tires and fuel.

243) YELLOW

240) First, then Jeff Burton, Kasey Kahne, Elliot Sadler.

235) Still the leader. 19, 31, 9, 6. Sadler, Jeff Burton, Kahne, Ragan.

228) GREEN, GREEN, GREEN. Junior leads them back into the race. Gordon got the Lucky Dog.

224) TONY: tires and fuel.

222) YELLOW. Debris.

215) 2nd behind Kasey.

210) 2nd behind Kasey.

206) Kahne passes for the lead. Jr. 2nd.

200) HALFWAY. Junior leads. Most of the track in shadow now, Junior pulls the shaded tear-off from his visor.

196) GREEN GREEN GREEN. Gordon is the first of the lap-down cars on the inside. Jr. pulls off to a 6 lap lead.

192) YELLOW again, 00 McDowell hit the outside wall before half a lap.

191) GREEN GREEN GREEN Junior leads the race out of the caution!

186) Pit. Splash. Beat the leader -- 9-Kahne -- off pit road for the lead.

185) YELLOW. 83 blew a right rear, went into the wall.

180) No change. 3rd.

179) JR: Thanks for improving it. TONY: We'll let you get a little rest with your arms. [Because a loose car requires him to turn to the outside (right) while the car is turning left, so he's fighting the car. A tight car means you're turning more towards the inside (left) which is where you'd be turning anyway.]

177) JR: Too tight now.

175) TJ: Ready, get ready... GREEN GREEN GREEN.

168) YELLOW: 42 on the re-start.

167) TJ: GREEN GREEN GREEN

164) Back out. 12.5, excellent pit stop. Plus 1 position. 3rd.

163) TONY JR: 4 tires and fuel. Nice and smooth, let's make up for the last time.

162) YELLOW. 2-car went into the wall.

160) 4th, no change.

155) no change. 4th. Only 16 cars on the lead lap. 

150) 4th. 83, 2, 48, 88

145) 5th unchanged.

140) 5th, unchanged. During the last pit-stop, the front tire changer had a problem with his gun. A lug got stuck in the barrel, normally should have ejected. Then he goes to the next lug, and it wouldn't load. So he hits the barrel against the ground to dislodge the stuck one, and it changed direction so he took the next one off instead of tightening it. Explanation courtesy of Hot Pass. Man, if you don't have DirecTV Hot Pass, why not?

135) 5th. 2, 83, The Anti-Christ, 48, 88

132) passes Biff for 5th.

131) JR: Real, real, loose there.

130) 6th

125) 5th after cycling through the pit stops.

122) JR. FUCKING LOOSE. YOU DO THIS TO ME EVERY RACE. TONY: I just added 2 lbs. all around. JR: That's too much, I reckon (calmer). TONY: Sorry about that stuff on the pit stop. But you're 8th now, just keep digging.

120) 10th after the pit stops, but still cycling through the leaders.

119) VERY SLOW PIT STOP, 20 PLUS SECONDS. dropped lug nuts on right front.

116) TONY: Gonna pit next time, 4 tires and fuel.

115) 2nd behind the 2. Five seconds back to the Anti-Christ.

113) TONY: Same issues with your car, loose in, loose out? JR: No, it's fine. TONY: 10-4

110) 2nd. Coming up on pit window. Last stop was a splash’n’go at 62.

105) passes Vickers for 2nd. TONY: Last lap was awesome. JR: Running out of brakes, though. TONY: Got your brake fans on? JR: Yes.

103) JR: 220 on water, 250 on oil. TONY: 10-4

100) [ONE-QUARTER RACE IS OVER] 3rd, lots of lapped traffic. Kurt, Brian, Jr.

95) 3rd. No change.

92) 3rd. Vickers passes JR like he’s got a jalapeño up his ass and running to toilet.

90) 2nd behind Anti-Christ's brother. Then Vickers 3rd, and the demon himself, 4th.

89) JR: Little free in, little free off. Just a small bit. TONY: 10-4

80) 3rd. No change. 30+ to next scheduled green-flag stop.

79) No change. JR running the high line since the start of the race, close to the wall most of the way. Middle at S/F, then high through 1, 2, back straightaway, 3rd, 4th, exits toward middle.

75) 3rd, behind Kurt and his brother, The Anti-Christ.

73) Dark from Start/Finish to middle of Turn 2/3, light until near exit of Turn 4.

70) 2nd, no change.

68) 2nd. 2, 88, The Anti-Christ.

66) GREEN. 3rd. 2, 48

63) YELLOW. 4th. 5, 48, Anti-Christ's brother, 88.

62) YELLOW. Back in pits for a splash ’n’ go. IN 2nd out 5th.

60) completed pass on 82 for 2nd.

58) 3rd, 3-5 car lengths behind the 83, running 1-2 mph faster.

55) 3rd. 48, 83, 88, and all 3 have pitted.

54) 3rd, everyone making green flag pits stops..

53) Pit. 13.3 seconds. In 3rd, out 5th

51) 3rd. TONY: Pit next time by. 4 tires and fuel.

50) 4TH, 48, 2, 6, 88

48) 4th, TONY: "Doing awesome."

47)Coming up on fuel window, TONY: "Got about 8 laps, June Bug"

45)  4th

44) JR: "Car is really nice on long runs, Tony Jr." TONY: "Alright"

40) 4th. Anti-Christ fell back at Lap 38, now behind the 88. 83, 48, 2, 88, 31, 18

36) Coming out of Turn 4, the 48 went low with Jr. behind by 4, two wide with the 2, but Jr. couldn't follow. 48 passed Kurt, then Kyle, and is #2 behind Brian Vickers.

35) 5th, passed by teammate Jimmie Johnson.

30) 4th, behind The Anti-Christ, Brian Vickers, and Brother of The Anti-Christ.

25: 3rd. Junior stares into the sun as he hits the middle of Turn 3 and 4. Start/Finish currently in shadow from the grandstands at 6:05 PM local time. 

20: 3rd

15: 4th

Lap 10: 4th

Lap 5: Up to 5th

Lap 1: Junior starts from Row 3, outside

GREEN FLAG