RIP Ken Osmond

RIP Ken Osmond

Ken Osmond passed away today.  He was 76.

 

You probably don’t know who Ken Osmond was.  Neither did I.  As a big fan of the TV show “Leave it to Beaver” I did know who Eddie Haskell was.

Eddie was polite talking to grown-ups, but behind the grown-up’s back he was the pain in the ass kid who was Wally Cleaver’s friend.  If you have had teenage children, you probably knew an Eddie Haskell.

Turns out Ken (Eddie) was an interesting person.  It seems like most child actor stars turn out to be drug addicted ass-hats;  not Ken.  Come to think of it, none of the child actors on the show turned out bad.  Perhaps it was because the Cleaver father, Ward, was a Pastor in his real life.

Anyway.

Ken had a few roles after “Beaver,” but he was type cast because of Eddie Haskell and had trouble finding work.

 

Ken was married with two children and became a police officer in Los Angeles,  a motorcycle cop.

In 1980 during a chase, he was hit by five bullets.  Four hit his bullet-proof vest, one his belt buckle.  He retired in 1988.  

Unlike many in Hollywood, his marriage lasted, and by all accounts Ken was an excellent father and a stand-up guy.

I can’t say I will miss Ken, I only know him as Eddie Haskell and Eddie will live forever along with the re-runs of the show.

I kind of wish I had known the real Eddie Haskell, Ken Osmond.

What Have You Been Doing?

What Have You Been Doing?

Starting around the middle of March, before mandatory stay at home advise,  is it advise or mandatory?  I mean if I visit a friend, will I be arrested? Sorry I digressed.  Advise or mandatory, I have taken it serious and stayed at home since middle of March.

Hell; I’m old.  I’m in that watch-your-step group.  So in two months, except for a ½ mile walk getting the mail most every day, where I see maybe oh, NO ONE, I have left the house twice.  Once I went shopping with Mrs. C, and once I went the liquor store and bought some wine.  Mrs. C has left the house for maybe two or three more chores.

Two months of house arrest.  Heck, I think people have spent less time for colluding with the Russians.  No golf, no gym, no bowling, no trips to the store.

 

What have I been doing?

I have been watching TV, playing guitar, and exercising.  Oh, and napping, and some quality time with Mrs. C.  Mostly watching TV.

 

I can watch TV and practice the guitar.  Have I improved, hell yes, I am now almost only awful.  Plus I have callouses on my fingers that are thicker than an elephant’s skin, assuming elephants have thick skin… I think they do…anyway.

So the rest of the time I’m working out.  Now I know why some people come out of prison all jacked.  Hell there is nothing to do but push-ups, sit-ups, and reps on the Total Gym.

Along with working out, we no longer go out to dinner.  We used to eat out three or more times a week, now we do one take out a week.  Because I don’t want to have to shop, half my meals are protein drink powder concoctions.  I’m down eleven pounds.  In another month I will be at my 21 year old weight.

If this thing does go another month or more, I am going to come out of it like an angry off David Banner without the green skin and without being angry.

I wonder if all us old people are going through the same prison type boot camp.

If so, this summer, muggers who usually prey on seniors are going to have to stay away from hordes of old farts tearing up phone books and flipping truck tires.

“You talking to me?”

Citizen’s Arrest

Citizen’s Arrest

The first and practically only time I ever heard of “Citizen’s Arrest” was from the old Andy Griffith show.  I don’t remember the context, but I  remember Gomer chasing after Barnie Fife for not stopping at a stop sign or something minor and yelling in that Gomer twang, “Citizens arrest, citizen’s arrest.”

It was very funny.

Nothing funny about citizens arrest when someone is killed.  

Someone killed because maybe he was involved in a crime, maybe I think he looked like maybe someone.  Maybe someone was killed from a citizen's arrest because he didn’t look like someone that typically might live in the neighborhood.  

Maybe.

Citizen's arrest in this day of cell phones and cameras everywhere, should not exist.

 

OK, maybe if someone is holding you up, and he drops his gun and you are able to kick his ass, you could hold him until the police arrive as a “citizen’s arrest.”

Maybe if someone yelled “stop thief” and you saw another person running from a little old lady while he was carrying a pocketbook, maybe you could  stick out a foot, trip him and hold him for the police.

Maybe.

Otherwise, citizen’s arrest is stupid.

 

Driving around a park with a shotgun and a pistol, chasing after someone you think might be a thief, is not a citizen’s arrest, that is vigilante bull shit.

I’ve seen the video, maybe there is more to the story, but I have seen the video.  I know the difference from someone running away from a crime, and a jogger.

This person killed during a citizen's arrest was a jogger.  Trotting down the middle of a park road and not racing full speed through the bushes and trees on either side of the road is a jogger, not a thief.

Can you resist a “Citizen's Arrest?”

Not only can you, but you probably should.

Two nasty looking dudes in a truck, one with a shotgun the other a pistol tell you to stop while you are jogging.  Running away or fighting back is not resisting citizen's arrest, it is fighting for your life.

I don’t always trust the police.  If someone flashes a badge at you while driving down the road, are you being arrested by the police, or carjacked by an ass-hat with a fake plastic badge?

Citizen's arrest is bull shit.  If someone is killed during a citizen's arrest, that is citizen’s murder.

OK, I don’t know all the facts or details of this case, but it sure does not look good.  I’m sure these yahoos will now get a fair trial.

 

A fair trial is not something someone killed during a citizen’s arrest ever gets.