Grandma
5/31/12

Happy Birthday, Karen!!

I don't have any follow-up info, and don't even know how to maybe check. Police reports, maybe? Are those public? --Gary

Driving home from work yesterday, in a pouring rain, I saw a guy sitting down on the ground by the side of the street. His coat was off and laying on the ground beside him, and he was holding his head in his hands. This was on 13th between C and D. It looked a bit odd, so I stopped, rolled down the window and shouted through the rain and across two lanes of oncoming traffic "Are you ok?" He didn't respond at first and I had to shout several times before he looked up and looked around and said, "No, I need help!"

I drove around the block and came down the alley so I wound up right beside him, facing the street. I rolled down the window again and and asked him what was wrong. He didn't answer; just sat there moving his head around randomly. I suddenly realized he couldn't see. I grabbed my phone and called 911 and while it was ringing I told him I was calling for help. The 911 operator asked for my location, his description (black male, age 25-30, brown shirt, brown pants), and his condition -- I said I couldn't see any injuries but he was holding his head as if in pain, and he seemed disoriented and blind.

By this time the guy had gotten to his feet and was wandering around close to the street; so I yelled at him to come back this way and hold onto my car -- which he did. A police car arrived a few minutes later and a fire truck soon after that, pulling in right in front of my car with all lights flashing. The medics started to help the guy, and I caught the attention of one of the police officers to ask if I should leave now. She said yeah, go ahead and back out. But at that moment some guy pulled up behind me in the narrow alley, and not only did he not get the idea and back up himself, he actually tapped his horn helpfully as if to say "Could we move along here??" The officer looked at me like, "What an idiot!" and then yelled at the other driver, "Back it up, dude!" When he did, I backed up and continued on home.

Earlier when I was putting my phone away I somehow tapped it and without me knowing it called Karen. So she did a call-back and I quickly explained the 911 call and said I would let her know what happened later. So there it is, Karen! :-)

I was in San Francisco when the Bridge turned 50. As they did on the opening day in 1937, they closed the bridge to vehicle traffic that day and opened it to pedestrians. But unlike 1937, more than a quarter of a million people showed up for the occasion, and the entire bridge was wall-to-wall people. (Picture #12 in the photofeature shows that day.) I wasn't at the Bridge that day but was watching it on television, and I remember one of the newsguys saying rather nervously, "You know how the bridge normally bows upward in the middle? Well, look at it now...." And the long shot showed the span practically flat horizontal. Made me very glad I hadn't tried to attend! Though of course nothing bad happened, and no doubt someone had done the math beforehand to make sure it was safe. Still....!

Which is another interesting point. The Bridge was built before computers, before calculators even -- it was designed and built by people using pencils on paper, and guys walking on narrow cables 700 feet above the ocean in the rain and fog. And what's more, it was built during the Great Depression. Wow.

Erika was pretty happy when I got home today. She was looking for a summer job. Put in an application yesterday afternoon, and received a call this afternoon and got the job! It's at Plato's Closet, they buy used (nice, name brand) clothing and resale it. Should be starting in about two weeks.

All the sore spots are slowly getting better, including my back. Not pain-free yet, though -- dang! I'm taking the next two days off just to rest and try to get over everything. Congrats on the new job, Erika! And congrats to you for avoiding the track and field trip. :-) --Gary

I wish yesterday's front page was a picture taken from my house.

I forgot to watch AR Monday. I assume no celebrities were spotted. And two more chances.

Yup, haiku is 17 syllables: 5, 7, 5. --Gary