What Would You Do?

What Would You Do?

Last Tuesday the door of an armored car flew open on I-285 just outside Atlanta.  One hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars in bills scattered along the highway.

https://www.foxnews.com/us/video-shows-drivers-in-georgia-stopping-to-grab-175000-in-flying-cash-on-highway

Dozens of cars pulled over, people poured out and gathered up the bills as fast as they could.

Apparently, the law says that those who scooped up the bills were guilty of theft.  Clearly these people could not be identified, even if their cars could be traced, how could it be proved they took any money, or how much money they grabbed.

More than likely most of the money will not be recovered.  I assume the loss is covered by insurance so the loss will be spread out among owners of the insurance company and maybe increased insurance rates.  Basically no one will be hurt financially very much if at all.

So…what would you do?

Not pull over?

Pull over and gather as much as you can and keep quiet about it?

Pull over, gather money and return it to the police?

Pull over, gather money and return some to the police?

What would you do?

I might have just driven by without stopping.  All those people, all that money on a busy highway, it could be dangerous. 

Maybe I would have pulled over and grabbed the cash.  I’m a pretty honest guy, but come on now!

If I did pull over and grab the cash, I think I would have eventually turned over the money to the police…guilt and all that.  So far people have turned over only $5000 out of $175,000.

Maybe I would have turned over the cash but kept a 10% finders fee. 

I think I could live with that…maybe.

Tell the truth.  What would you do?

Watching Grass Grow

Watching Grass Grow

There is some law of human nature that says if a mode of transportation is developed, there will be races for that mode.

Learn to walk…there will be toddler races and eventually Olympic track and field events.

Nice horse…lets race.

Bike…race

Car…race.

Swim…race.

My family used to race sailboats in the summer.  Racing sailboats was exciting.  Watching a sailboat race, not so much.  My Pop used to say it was like watching grass grow. 

Years later I competed with my pop as a team in the race venue that was even more boring than sailboat racing.

My Dad piloted a small single engine airplane.  The tiny airport where he kept his plane also had glider planes.  They had a glider club of which my Dad became a member.  He flew glider planes, and one weekend he took me as part of a team to a glider race.

I think my job as part of the team was to stay out of the way.  I think Dad was on a radio communicating with the pilot information on wind conditions and stuff.

“How” you ask, “do you race gliders?”

It is somewhat like a sailboat race.  There are specific markers that the glider has to reach and then fly off to the next marker.  There was a course much like in sailboat racing, A triangle course as I recall.

A glider will lose altitude as it glides, so how could it actually race around a triangular course?

The pilot looks for “thermals” upward drafts of air.  When it gets in a thermal, he circles in it gaining enough altitude to glide to the next mark and hopefully another thermal.  The pilot needs to keep finding thermals to keep gaining altitude as he glides around the course.

This particular race that my Pop’s took me to, the conditions were not the best.  The planes in the race all found one thermal, but it was not strong enough to reach an altitude which would let them glide to the next mark. 

For about three hours we watched the gliders, (I do not remember how many probably no more than ten) circle around and around in the only thermal they could find and never got high enough to attempt the next mark.

Three hours of watching gliders in a circle gaining almost no altitude, just gliding around and around in a tight circle.

The race was eventually called and there was no winner.  Conditions just did not allow the gliders to make any progress.  It was like a sailboat race with no wind.

This was the last glider race I ever watched.  I have searched the internet on glider races and found nothing.  Perhaps this was the last attempt at such a competition. I don’t think my Pop participated in any such race again.

Instead, on weekends we would take bets on which blade of grass would grow the most in a day. 

That’s a lie, we could not take that much excitement.

It Gets Hot in Summer

It Gets Hot in Summer

It is a good thing I turned on the news this morning…

“This just in, it is Summer, it gets hot in Summer!” 

And if it isn’t hot enough, we have the “heat humidity index” which tells you that even though the temperature is 88, with the humidity it feels like 127!!

I remember when Summer heat was something we looked forward to.  Running through sprinklers, water balloon fights, sneaking into the country club swimming pool, popsicles, and ice cream.  Apparently, I was lucky to have survived the heat back in those days as today I am warned to

“Stay out of the heat, it is very dangerous!”

But, if you must go outside, here are the TV tips to survive.

1.    Keep hydrated!  At all times have water available, take a sip every five minutes.

2.    Wear light highly breathable clothes, do not wear your winter ski jacket or a rubber suit.

3.    Open windows in cars.  Do not leave a child or pet in a car for even seventeen seconds.

4.    Avoid alcohol.

5.    Stay out of the sun, stay under an umbrella at all times.

6.    Try to limit movement.

7.    Periodically pour ice water over your head.

8.    Sit on a block of ice if possible.

9.    Sweat.

10.  Better yet, stay inside with the air conditioner set to 65 degrees until October.

Enjoy your Summer!