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Gender: male Member Since: March 14, 2006 Last Signed In: September 04, 2008 Profile Views: 7993 Blog Views: 29220 Selective Complaining Selective Complaining It ain't so bad Ludricrous reall IS ludricrous Dark Skies ROCK! The calm during the commute Shiny Objects II My friend, Kenny Leave Exxon out of this! Me 'n the Depot June 06 July 06 August 06 September 06 October 06 November 06 December 06 January 07 February 07 March 07 April 07 May 07 June 07 July 07 August 07 September 07 October 07 November 07 December 07 January 08 February 08 March 08 April 08 May 08 June 08 July 08 August 08 September 08 
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I borrowed this from a friends website. It is so true. So, with my plagiarism disclaimer in hand, I present the nature of the blues..which I love so much!...Mark Blues 101
  This photo epitomizes my life prior to October 22nd, 1990. I was a trainwreck! This particular wreck was at Bealeville in 2004. It was cleaned up in two days. My wreck happened in 1977 and 29 years later, I am still doing clean-up on the mess. Yes. I used to be a drug addict. My drug of choice was meth, but I was game for just about anything. There were things I tried and didn't like(like Angel Dust and 'ludes), but for the most part, I liked it all. My first experience with mind and mood altering substances was with alcohol when I was a freshman. I got really drunk, really sick and then passed out after a six pack of Country Club malt liquor talls. I never drank them again. I never really liked drinking, but I did like being drunk. I drank strictly for effect and never for enjoyment. I was not able to have one beer. I wouldn't stay out all night at bars or with the boys, but if I started drinking after work I would go hjome at a decent hour and continue there. I was not a mean drunk, I was a happy one, which can be more annoying than a mean one. I didn't start crap when I was drinking, but I did things that started crap..Like hitting on your wife or daughter. I got high for the first time in 1974 with some friends in Bakersfield(I grew up in Tehachapi)and did it a few times after that while still in school, but it was never a big thing to me. When I graduated from High School I moved to Bakersfield and went to work where I earned enough money to start buying my own stash and started hanging with the "in" crowd. HA! I remember very clearly telling myself that I was never going to do anything other than smoke weed as my friends began experimienting with coke and stronger stuff. A few months later I was right there with them. Coke, Acid, whites, mushrooms and whatever else came down the pike. I didn't start doing this because I was hiding from anything. I just liked getting high. I went to work for the Railroad in 1979 and that is where I met the guy who turned me on to Meth. I couldn't belive it. It hurt so bad and felt so good. I had found my calling! I wanted to be a speed freak when I grew up! I stopped doing everything else. Coke was out the door immediately. Pot wemt in 1986 because all it did was make me lethargic and confuse my high from speed. I stopped drinking in 1989 because it just wan't my thing and with the speed, I couldn't get drunk anymore. Yeah..Just me and Meth! I was a tweeker of the highest magnitude! My garage was filled with half finished projects, my back yard filled with vintage dirt bikes that didn't, and mostly, never did run. I cleared my backyard of that pesky grass and made an RC racecar off-road track out of it where my speeding friends and I could race till it was time to go to work or to sleep if enough days had passed. My front grass became front dirt because I hadn't the time to care for it. I began to run with some very cool, very exciting and very dangerous people. There was a shooting at one of my favorite connects places over a disagreement on the amount of a bike repair. The guy who was shot(in the leg)was told he would tell the cops HE drew his shotgun first, or this flesh wound would become a mortal headshot. He complied. It was a bizarre world and it was a lot of fun. My music room never shut down. Yes, we played there most days and nights, but I also sold a lot of stuff from there. I made deals that, at one time, filled my house with guitars, guns and gadgets I was certain I couldn't live without. I also believed I couldn't live without all the people around me. My buddies and my mistresses. My girlfriend at the time was merely a footnote as were many of the people in my life. I would drive from Tehachapi to San Marcos to score and think nothing of hauling a pile of meth down the freeway at 90 MPH in my faithful T-bird. Then came October 21st 1990. I did a big, fat line just before work, the last I have ever done. Then the call from my boss that it was my turn to go do a random piss test. EGAD! What to do? I thought of finding someone with clean piss to fill in for me, but I didn't KNOW anyone with clean piss. Not that I could seek help from, at any rate. So I went in a pissed. Then went home and pondered my future. Could I stop? Would I be fired? I moped around the rest of the night, took the next day off and sat around crying then slept fitfully and woke up in a rage the morning of the 23rd. I yelled and screamed. I punched a hole in a wall and broke a window. I threw my Timex against the wall until I was exhausted and it never missed a tick, so with my last ounce of energy, I threw my glasses at the wall and broke them. I sat there for a few minutes then went to the living room and asked a frind who was staying with us if she would call one of "those places", a rehab center. I entered Charter Hospital the next day and emerged 27 days later a new man. Well, the same man with some new prorities and motivation. I immersed myself in AA and NA and started taking my job and my life seriously again. I stayed focused and out of touchy spots. I did what I was supposed to do and I have never looked back. I have no regrets though. Regrets are for losers. I did what I did and it was what it was and it was a lot of fun. Some people say that their worst day clean is better than their best day using or drinking. It is not that way for me. The most horrible times in my life have heppened since I got clean. I had a blast partying. I met some great people and experienced some very exciting times. I had more fun in those years than most people have in a lifetime and I remember it all. I have no blank spots. I realize that I was breaking the law all those years, but whatever. I didn't get caught and I am still alive. I stopped smoking cold turkey in July 1991 and have never looked back on that either. It was actually harder than quitting dope. I was awarded custody of my then nine year old daughter(she is 23 now and expecting my first grandchild)in 1992. She doesn't remember much about how it was when I was getting high. My two younger daughters have never seen me drink, use or smoke. It is hard to watch my kids growing up knowing what is out there waiting on most corners and in all schools for them. If you think your kids are immune because they go to a fancy private or Christian school, think again! It may not be as prevelant, but I promise you, it's there. I have no qualms about talking to my kids about all the dope, booze and smoking. I don't need the commercials on TV to remind me because I lived it and I haven't forgotten. I told my oldest when she was a teen and obviously starting to experiment, "don't start usuing because you will like it. It'll be a blast until the day you wake up and realize your life is a train wreck and train wrecks are very hard to clean up completely. They do a lot of damage which is evident long after the rail cars are moved out and the track repaired. Some is permanent damage, some just takes many years to get back to the way it was. I will tell you this. You NEVER forget a trainwreck, and that is a good thing.  I love science. I also love God and believe that the two are not mutually exclusive. So many men of science and so many men of God try so hard to prove the others are not just wrong, but that they are ignorant and the name calling gets pretty silly sometimes for men of such intellect. I believe God is a scientist and wants us, as men, to search out understanding within His creation. There is a lot to learn, but just how much are we supposed to know? This question was raised in myself last night as I read "A Brief History of Time" by Stephen Hawking. As he talked of the differences between the Theory of general relativity and the theory of quantum mechanics, he said the they could not both be true. General relativity describes how vast sizes and work, quantum mechanics, how vastly small things work. It made me wonder if God didn't create things so that HE would be the only one who understood the universes secrets. We exist here, on a small planet, orbiting a small star in an average galaxy thinking we are the smartest, and in some peoples minds, the ONLY creatures in God's creation and that is arrogant and presumptious. I believe that God's plan is a mystery for a reason I don't believe we are supposed to understand His nature. If we did wouldn't that make us as God, with the power to create at will. Dr. Hawking admittedly tries to reconcile science with God in many of his writings and I think that makes him a better scientist AND a better man of faith. People who not only ignore, but discount one from the other are wasting a whole new way to look at the universe. The secrets of the universe and the secrets of God are many and complex, but they are SUPPOSED to be complex and who are we to believe that we are meant to be able to unlock all of these secrets? We, as men, give ourselves far too much credit, and I imagine, really annoy God with our arrogance! We believe(well..some of us do)that we can affect the climate on a GLOBAL scale, but we can't even make it rain in arid areas! We can't predict a Tornado or an earthquake, but we think we can understand the nature of God and His creation? Dr. Hawking described a theory as something that can be proven through observation and if even one piece of that theory was proven to be wrong or could not be substantiated, that theory is wrong. I would say that puts creation AND evolution in the same basket. Neither are really theories in the true sense of the word, but both are simply systems of faith because the proof of either is spotty at best. In my case, I am just a man of faith on both counts. I do believe that the universe was created billions of years ago in a "Big Bang", but I believe God was the scientist in charge. I believe He can do what He likes when and how He likes, and then can leave us to scurry about searching for answers to questions only HE can answer. I will contemplate these questions because it is fun to do so when I am in tha mood, but I believe, in me heart, that God will answer them for me when I see Him in heaven.
As you can see, there are many new post in Mark's World. No, I did not write them all in one day. They were post from other boards that I copied to this one. Some are older posts and may have information that has changed since then, but that's OK. I am probably the only one who will notice. One thing I DO like about the new board format is that it is much easier to copy and paste to and I can put photos on it. The photo thing may not be so good to those who don't want to gaze upon my features, but hey, It's my place!
 It has been brought to my attention that I bitch too much in my blogs. This is correct! I figured this would be my venting area since I could be fired for it at work and am liable to encounter apathy at home..LOL..So, I will talk of the good things in life.
My family is great! I have three daughters aged 23, 12 qnd 10 who light up my life. My oldest is pregnant with her first child and my first grandchild by blood. She lives in Las Vegas and it just kills me that I can't be there for her all through this, but she is excited , happy and healthy and has insurance! She says she will be coming back to Bakersfield to stay as soon as things settle down after the birth. My two younger daughters live with us and I miss them even when they are just at their Moms for the weekend. There are never too many hugs or "I love yous" from my kids. The oldest is motivated and likes to work and the younger ones do very well in school and give me very little grief. I have a 35 yr old stepdaughter who I coudn't love any more if she were my flesh and blood. We have become very close over the last couple of years. It's amazing how adversity in our lives can bring us together with those we care for and trust. She is also motivated, smart and a hard worker. She has also raised a son and an adopted son pretty much by herself, which brings me to my grandsons. Ryan and Dante..Ryan is Tricia's son and Dante is her adopted son. Both are now 18. Dante just graduated and is headed to Jr. College this fall. He was pretty much left to fend for himself around the age of 12 or 13. He and Ryan were buddies and he just kind of joined the family. Trish was granted guardianship of him when he was 15. He is very smart and does well in school. He played Baseball throughout school and football in his senior year. He did well at both. He is very outspoken, but respectful all the while gaining maturity and realizing the need to look to the future. With all he has gone through it is a wonder he has turned out as balanced as he is, but he never lacked for love around here. We accepted and treated him as our own. Ryan is a mutant. The kid makes the Statue of David look frumpy. He is at once shy and cocky, contemplative and boisterous, distant and loving. His Dad has never been a part of his life. I came along when he was nine and I like to think I was a good male role model for him in what time I was able to spend around him. Once he got to know me(soon after I met him)he started calling me "Pa"(as do Dante, Trish, my nephew, Will and most of their friends)and I love it. He is a stud. Started racing motocross just as I was winding up my years of racing, but football is his real forte. He has played since he was old enough to do youth programs. Only a knee injury kept him from starting on Varsity as a sophomore. Last year, as a junior, he was a starting linebacker and ended the season with 19 sacks, over 1,000 yards rushing. In the the Valley Championship game he ran for 246 yards and six TDs with one sack. He has more colleges kissing his butt than you can shake a stick at! All this and he is still considering a career in law enforcement! My Wife. It's hard to know where to start or where to go in speaking of her. I had know her for many years before we started dating. I never imagined we'd be together.Well, I imagined it, but..ya know. She is smart, educated, motivated, self sufficient...I could run out of adjectives on her. She treats my kids as if they were her own and loves them as much as I love Trish and the boys. She is a huge part of their lives and they love and trust her. This makes that part of my life stress free. Many step parents never accept their spouses kids and it strains relationships. I have no such worries. We don't bird dog each other. I enjoy spending time with my friends playing cards and such. The occasional trip to Vegas with them and she has no problems with it. We have our lives together and we have our lives apart. We don't need to entertain each other or engage in small talk to make the other feel comfortable. We might go all day and not say two words to each other and that is OK too. Sometimes we just chill. When I was racing motocross she went to all the races and took care of all my needs. She had her own dirtbike and we rode together often. Now we both have Harleys and the first one was HER idea! We spend a great deal of time on the bikes and have a blast doing it. We have been together for nine years, married for seven. Yes, the constant passion of a new partner has worn off, but we are still very much in love, still enjoy each others company and are looking forward to our golden years together. While my first two marriages didn't sour me on women in general, they nearly soured me on the institution of marriage or co-habitation. I am glad I didn't give up on it. My life is a more colorful, plentiful and happier place because of it. So..There are just a few of the things I have to be grateful for. These are real, fulfilling things. Yeah, I have agood job and a decent house. A nice car and nice toys, but those are things I could have anyway. I am glad I have people to share them with. Life is good!  I spend a great deal of time driving. Due to the length of my territory and the need for me to be at the OTHER end of it so often, I drive about 800 miles a week. Most of that is on Highway 99 between here and Fresno and a smaller part of it between Fresno and Merced. I believe that the world's worst drivers are regular 99 users and the truck traffic is overwhelming at times. It drives me crazy. It's bad enough that California has it's idiotic 55mph limit for trucks which only causes bottlenecks when they are having a 55 vs. 56mph passing fest and creates such a dangerous disparity in speeds between them and cars(car speed limit is 70 on most sections of 99). I generally drive about 80 and I use my cruise control. That's the thing that makes your car(or truck)go the same speed all the time. It is standard equipment on most cars built after 1984. Why then, are there so many people who so obviously refuse to use it? Escalades, Town Cars, Civics and the rest..I KNOW they have the feature, but you can bet you will pass one at 80 with the cruise on and a mile later it will pass you back..then you'll pass it again, and so on. Or, even worse, are the ones who you catch up with, they wont get out of the passing lane. It's the one on the left. It's not a FAST lane that allows you to drive 100 miles in it because you are going the speed limit! It is a PASSING lane. Anyway, these idiots won't get over so you move into the right lane to go around them and they speed up. Or they slow down when they approach a slower vehicle in the slow lane. Many are chatting happily on their cell phones, some are reading a map or adjusting their kids carseat or some other distracting chore. Some are just assholes and some are just bad drivers not paying attention. If someone comes up behind me, I don't care if I am going 100 mph(my work truck actually cuts off at about 95)I get out of their way. If someone is passing me, my cruise control will assure that I won't speed up as they move by me. I try and stay calm these days because I don't want to get in trouble for running a car off the road or punching some idiot while on duty in the company truck. This is frowned upon. I don't have road rage issues, but I DO understand them. So, the next time you are tooling down the freeway at 65 in the fast lane and somebody comes up behind you, kindly pull over. Better yet, don't stay in the fast lane. Please use your cruise control when possible so you don't vary your speed when you are changing CDs or lighting a smoke. Driving is a privilege, not a right. That means you do NOT have the right to drive any way you like, but rather, you are obligated to do the right things on the road..Like getting out of MY way!
 Above is a pic of the Far East Cafe on 18th St. next to the Harley shop. I have never eaten there because I don't like Chinese food and it has been closed since who knows when! I used the pic because it was the only one I had of a local eatery, thus going along with the point of this blog. I eat out a lot. Breakfast and lunch almost every day and dinner a couple of times a week. I consider myself a connoisseur of regional beaneries, so what better place to voice my opinions of them! Best Breakfasts: Tina's in Maricopa..Great homecooked food. The place is a dive, but Tina's personality makes it pretty inside and her cooking makes the trip worth it. The Red Wagon in Shafter..It's WAY too small, but worth the squeeze. Absolutely the best Chorizo and eggs around here. Everything else is good too and they are not skimpy with the portions. La Cabana on Golden State..Very good food at the best prices in Bakersfield. Very clean, but the booths are too cramped for guys my size. Worst Breakfasts: Knotty Pine Cafe...On average, the worst food I have ever had. Everything is over cooked including the coffee and the prices are outrageous. Pappy's..It's hard to dog the place because the staff is so awesome, but the food is just way sub par. I guess it doesn't take much to impress the Oil crowd!..(sorry Dad) Kelly's..It started out with so much promise, but has simply reverted to the grease pit it was in the old days. I have seen bugs on the tables and unidentified stuff in the food. Not somewhere I'll go again. Good Breakfasts: Milt's...J&Ms Rosedale Cafe...Tina Maries...Alex's Best Lunches: 34th St. Cafe...The best cheeseburgers on earth! Bar none! Sinaloa...Great Mexican food and the best rice in town. Seabreeze..The best fish in town. Worst Lunches: Knotty Pine Cafe...Pastrami is supposed to be thinly sliced and boiled, not thick and fried..YUK! Again with the overcooking. The BBQ Factory: It used to be pretty good, but after the Highland folks bought it, it lost the flavor of both the Factory AND the Highland. Good Lunches: Tommies in Oildale, Woody's, El Sombrero, The Roadhouse Best Dinners: Sorella Italian...I am full right now and thinking of this place makes me want to eat! The best Italian food in town and a great atmosphere. You even get campy karaoke from one of the employees on weekends! Tahoe Joes...Great food even if it is a bit pricey. You get what you pay for! Staeks always cooked to perfection. Worst Dinners: Macaroni Grill...as with Olive Garden, It should be illegal to have chain Italian restaurants. They have nothing I like. Any Chinese buffet...You get the picture Best atmophere..any meal...The Old Corral Cafe. You have to be there! Best staff..any meal..Pappy's. Everyone is upbeat and friendly. The owner takes time to go talk to the folks and doesn't just say hi. Don't get him started on the Cowboys! Best looking waitresses...It varies, but Pappy's has consistently had nice looking gals. I don't care for male waiters so that puts anyplace who has them on my shitlist! There you have it. My picks and pans. Let me know what you think  Ok..I officially hate technology. Not because it is a bad thing, but because I am too lazy or stupid to spend any time figuring any of it out! The pic above is relevant because it is of me at my puter, which crashed last week and needed cleaning almost as badly as a Taliban robe. Almost! My puter expert son-in-law was able to salvage most of my files on disc. I upgraded from Widows 2000 to XP. I figured that would be a big help. So far all it has done is make it difficult for me to access many of my old files. Like every poem I have put to hard drive. It took me hours to figure out just how to get the stuff off the discs back to the places I had them before, and now that they are there, I can't use many of them. I will, of course, sick the SIL on it and he will whip it out for me then give me that "you stupid ass" look. But that's OK. I can deal with it as long as I get what I need out of the deal. I fought getting a puter until 1999(I dont count the Commodore 64 I had in the 80s) and I fought getting a cell phone till about the same time. We just started using hand held PC's at work and those are proving to be a real pain in the ass. I know that in a short time I will wonder how I ever got along without the handheld at work just as I wonder how I survived without a cell phone and what I did for entertainment before my puter. I will acclimate to XP and figure out or be shown how to operate within its intricacies. I suppose I am a creature of comfort and routine in some areas of my life and technology is one at first glance, but I know I need to have the latest stuff so I can keep up with my friends who love the changes. So, it's easy to say "Computers..pffff..who needs 'em" right now, but I'll be on here for quite some time and would go nuts if I didn't have one at all.
 We just found out that our grandson, Ryan,(pictured here) is ranked 98th in the High School football players overall in Calif. and is in the top 500 in the nation. He will be a senior at West this year and will certainly be their star player. He ran for over 1,000 yards last year backing up Princeton McCarty and his starting position was outside Linebacker. He had 19 sacks last year also. In the Valley Div. II Championship game against Tulare Union he ran for 246 yards and six TDs with one sack. He has letters from a dozen universities and two full ride offers(Colorado State and Arizona State)and he hasn't started his senior year. He realizes the slim chances of making it to the NFL even as good as he is and is trying to stay focused on his education so that should things not work out he will be in a position to make a good living. He is interested in Law enforcement at this time so he may study Criminal Justice..He has awhile to think about that though. We, as his family, simply encourage him to give 100% to whatever he is doing and make the best of the chances he is given. We are very proud of him and will be no matter what direction he takes in life..Here's to Ryan..our little(6'0" 200 pounds)"Buggie"..We love you Boy! The first place I remember living was 6816 Claude Ave. Claude Ave was named for my Great-grandfather, Claude Ellis, and is just off Wear Dr. and Rosedale Hwy. It was in the community of Fruitvale, but is know today as Rosedale. I suppose that as the city expandes realtors decided to just call everything on Rosedale Hwy west of 99 "Rosedale" so as not confuse people moving here from other places. A generic name for a generic suburb of a growing city. Progress can be good, but it can also consume history without leaving a trace of what once was. When I was a kid, the area from 99 to the Landco Branch crossing on Rosedale Hwy. was known as "Fairhaven" The area west to Fruitvale Ave and north to Olive Dr. was an oilfield vacant of homes and was called "Jackrabbit". "Fruitvale" was the area from Fruitvale Ave. to Coffee Rd. "Greenacres" went from about where Main Plaza Dr. is today to the Santa Fe tracks at Jewetta(there was no bridge across the tracks back then). "Rosedale" went from Jewetta to about Jenkins Rd. After that was "Greely" and it went out to around Pioneer St. The next place was "Rio Bravo" out at Enos Ln. Each of these communities were vibrant and had individual identities. They had their own schools(except for Fairhaven. Those kids went to Fruitvale and Greenacres schools), stores and histories. All had families everyone knew. The Bakers, the The Mills', The Froelichs, The Nord's, etc. Fruitvale School(which is now Vista West High) had Kindergarten and gardes 4-8 and Greenacres School(which is now Fruitvale Jr. High) was grades 1-3. Rosedale had all grades K-8. There were no Jr. Highs in the area. Kids from Fruitvale went to BHS, Greenacres to North and Rosedale on out BHS. Rosedale and Fruitvale were bitter rivals, but during the summer we all played on the same Little League teams at the Greenacres nightime recreation behind Greenacres school. Fruitvale School had a killer swimming pool with 3ft. and 10ft. high diving boards. Everyone from all the communities went there to keep cool in the summer. The pool is just a concrete pad today. Hudson's Market was right across Wedding Ln from the school and was packed with kids all summer. They had cold soda and a great candy selection and a meat counter. They sold Sunland gas and the Hudson family lived in an attatched house, the living room of which could be seen from inside the store. Old snuff dippin' Lena had a fruitstand about where A-1 Battery is today and you could get a soda(16oz bottle)and a pound of peanuts for 50 cents! It was locked at night only with a framed chicken wire front and a small hasp. There was Woody' Liquor on Henry and Rosedale where Dad got beer if Hudson's was closed. In the inter-community gap sat The Milk Jug drive through where you could get Milk and juices in glass bottles. It was just west of Coffee Rd about where the Jack In The Box is today. Greenacres had Pete Clem's Market where all the area families had credit so our Moms could send the kids to get milk or whatever they needed. There was Perry's Drive in(still there today as Greenacres Drive in). The Greenacres Market is a Fastrip(or something like that) today, but used to be a full service market and you knew everyone who worked there. Dave Bileyu had a barber shop and photography studio west of the fire station where my Grandad used to take me to get haircuts. I'd cry if I didn't get enough "butchwax" to make the front of my hair(I really used to have some there!)stand up. All these communities are gone today. Swallowed up piece by piece by Bakersfields growth. A person moving here from LA or the Bay Area would never know that Vista West was ever anything but an extension school or that the Bennet family ran a Honey House and bee farm where the Party rental place is today or that The Mills Dairy(who marketed "Milk Jug" products)stood about where Centennial High is today. They woudn't know that we had a maze of underground forts at Delbert and Rosedale wher Abate-a-weed stands today or know that Glen's Country Boy was the first metal "Butler" building many of us had ever seen as kids. How could they know about the countless wodden and steel "Standard" oil derricks that dotted the landscape or the alfalfe fields that went from Cofee Rd to the fire station and south to the tracks on the east side of Coffee Rd? No, nobody would know, But I remember it all vividly. PS..This is not as good or comprehensive as the piece I lost...:o(
I spent an hour earlier today writing a post about the demise of the local communities west of 99 due to the citys expansion. It was a great piece that I put a lot of thought into. When I went to post it, I was kicked off the site and returned to the sign in page. It's typical. The Californian can't seem to get anything right from it's web pages to it's special interest stories. A couple of years ago they ran a story about a poor down and out family at Christmas. Ahhh..I could just see the bleeding hearts heartstrings being pulled as tight as a piano string. They had no money..no place to go, but they were going to perservere with the help of the community. The problem was that the writer did no research and just took these losers at their word. They were the very same people who had left my Mom's rental in Tehachapi with thousands of dollars in damage and were evicted owing many thousands in rent. They were dopeheads, drinkers and smokers. They had enough to support THOSE habits, but not enough for food or housing. PFFFT! I guess I should say that the Californian isn't the only bastion of journalistic mediocrity to make the same mistakes, they just happen to be the only one I ever read. So..To all you bleeding hearts and do-gooders..Don't always believe what you read even when it is somethiong you think is worthwhile. To the Californian..Your new blog site stinks! Your webpage stinks, yada yada...
The future of another iconic skyline feature will soon be decided. I am speaking of the old PG&E Power Plant ant the corner of Coffee and Rosedale. It, too, has been there since I can remember, It was built in the mid 1950s and it's purpose was much clearer than that od the now missing gantry I spoke of in my last post. I remember being at Fruitvale School(which is now Vista West) and Greenacres Primary Scholl(which is now Fruitvale Jr. High) and seeing all the steam puffing off the cooling towers and making huge clouds above the plant. I can remember when I lived in the Gaslight Trailer Park on the Fruitvale Extension in 1977-78 and they were refurbishing the cooling towers at the plant. Who would have thought that just a few years later it would be shut down. It was one of those brytally beautiful places. It was always lit up at night and making the noises a plant of such proportions makes. Standing as a sentinel over the surrounding alfalfa fields, the Friant-Kern Canal and the Milk Jug drive through just across Rosedale Highway. It wasn't quite the imposing figure the old gantry was, but it was just as cool to a kid(and now a man)who thought such things fascinating. It is another of the places I always wanted to try and get a tour of, but never did. When PG&E sold the plant to a private power comany during the power crisis debacle of the late Davis era, I really hoped they would refurbish and re-fire the plant. The crisis ended as quickly as it started and the new owners were stuck with a multi-million dollar albatross that would cost them more than they would ever make to do anything with. It's future is really not uncertain. It's not a matter of whether it will be dismantled, but rather, when. It will be gone and, once the haz mat cleanup is finished, be replaced by another batch of superstores and beaneries that will rival the one that already sits across the street and I will be the benefactor of the traffic increase that brings as I live within spitting distance of the whole mess. It sure would be nice if they replaced it with an alfalfa field, but modern Bakersfield just doesn't have a place for those any longer. Too Bad.
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