July 30, 2017

At the Open-All-Night Restaurant...

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... you can have your fill of conversation.

The photo is — like the last few on this blog — from The Fountain Square Hotel Building in Indianapolis. The restaurant is called Smokehouse on Shelby. Here's the view from the other side:

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And, please, if you're doing any on-line shopping, remember to use The Althouse Amazon Portal.

19 comments:

Jim Grey said...

I was in the right place at the right time to photograph this scene in front of this spot:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mobilene/17384303181/

Big Mike said...

You're the wrong Jim Gray. And you don't spell your name correctly, either.

Big Mike said...

Good picture, though.

Humperdink said...

I will share my Wednesday adventure:

I was driving home this past Wednesday afternoon (4 PM) from 60 miles west of my house. Two-lane country road. I started following an older Chevy pickup truck doing 30 mph in a 55 mph zone. The truck had out-of-state license plates. The pickup truck subsequently crossed the double yellow line repeatedly with his left wheels, then swerved back over the white line on the right side. I called 911. They asked the typical questions: my name, cell phone #, location, truck description etc. I stayed on the line with 911 for 5-6 miles as there were no state police troopers nearby.

The 911 operator then transferred me to the state police dispatcher. In the meantime, cars were accumulating behind me due to the slow moving truck. While on the line with state police dispatch, the pickup truck driver decided to completely cross the double yellow line into oncoming traffic (one car). The car bailed out into the grass without making contact. It was a blessing to be travelling a mere 30 mph. The cars behind me, seeing the near miss, backed off in a large way. I advised state police dispatch of the near tragedy. I could hear the dispatcher in the background frantically telling the trooper en route to speed it up.

Finally, SP dispatch advises me there will be a trooper one mile ahead waiting at a somewhat major intersection. As I approach the intersection, I back off to give the trooper room to enter the fray. I was never so happy to see a state trooper with his lights on.

Trooper pulls the truck over. I pull over, 100 yds short the trooper. I watch as a tall, lanky, elderly man exits the pickup. The trooper, staying behind his car door, is yelling at him to get back in the truck. The man eventually complied and I left for home.

Surprisingly, later that night, I received a call from the state police. He thanked me profusely. The trooper told me the driver was 84 years and has dementia. He didn't know where he was or where he going. He has been missing from his (out-of-state) home for 24 hours. His family has been looking for him. The family was coming to the state police barracks to take him home (and take away his driving privileges).

A sweet ending.

Ann Althouse said...

Thanks for telling the story, Humperdink.

Ann Althouse said...

@Jim Cool that you photographed the same restaurant. Fun to catch the tattooed bride and her follow-along groom.

Bay Area Guy said...

You guys ever spend any time in San Diego, CA? Nice beach town, nice Navy town, nice Mexican town - not nearly as sprawling or chaotic as LA. Long weekend here. Working on my tan.

Gahrie said...

Another good episode of GoT.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

San Diego is a great town, but extremely expensive. A guy who lives in the Bay Area might not notice, though :)

Bay Area Guy said...

@ Exile,

They converted the old Navy boot camp base in SD to a real nice little village. Cafes, restaurants, parks, outdoor concerts. They tore down all the old ugly barracks, but kept some of the nicer Buildings. Real impressive way to convert a closed military base. The Marine Recruit base is still there, active, right next door.

chickelit said...

Groovy tile work in the entryway.

grackle said...

For an erudite and scholarly look at transgenderism in the military I highly recommend this commentary.

Dante said...

Ann,

I finally found the Department of Homeland Security statement that has given so much wind to the press Russia Collusion business. I'm having a hard time understanding the words, and was hoping you could help to elucidate them, as you are so good at doing:

The U.S. Intelligence Community (USIC) is confident that the Russian Government directed the recent compromises of e-mails from US persons and institutions, including from US political organizations. The recent disclosures of alleged hacked e-mails on sites like DCLeaks.com and WikiLeaks and by the Guccifer 2.0 online persona are consistent with the methods and motivations of Russian-directed efforts. These thefts and disclosures are intended to interfere with the US election process. Such activity is not new to Moscow—the Russians have used similar tactics and techniques across Europe and Eurasia, for example, to influence public opinion there. We believe, based on the scope and sensitivity of these efforts, that only Russia's senior-most officials could have authorized these activities.

Some of my concerns is the use of the word "Believe", which I usually associate with what is not in evidence.

Also, it is amazing the FBI would concur with this statement, since the FBI has no access to the hacked server.

Also, I'm not certain about the flow of references, either. Does "These Thefts" refer to "methods and motivations of Russian-directed efforts" or is it referring to "alleged hacked e-mails on sites like DCLeaks.com and WikiLeaks and by the Guccifer 2.0"?

If it is referring to "alleged" hacked, doesn't that weaken the entire message?


Finally, what is "these activities"? Does it include "hacking the DNC servers?"

I am having a hard time understanding that message. I know the way the way it is meant to be interpreted, but is that what is in fact stated?

Here is the entire release:

https://www.dhs.gov/news/2016/10/07/joint-statement-department-homeland-security-and-office-director-national


David Baker said...

"The trooper told me the driver was 84 years and has dementia. He didn't know where he was or where he going."

I like to imagine that he knew where he was going when he started out, then lost his way. A last ride before the sunset, before dementia robbed his mind completely.

A lucid moment that got away.

______________

Again from my trucking days (ca. 1960's), I was surprised how few drunks I came across as I drove back and forth across the country. In fact, I can only remember one, as I traveled the loop around Indianapolis. He entered the highway doing 100mph, and for a awhile he managed to keep his souped-up car inside the three eastbound lanes. It was race week, 2:00 in the morning, and fortunately very light traffic.

And it didn't last long, because after two or three erratic miles, he drifted into the wide, grassy center-median going so fast he could no longer control his car. I'll never know why he didn't slow down, and then disappeared as we crossed an underpass - the grass and dirt and debris flying everywhere.

Maybe he survived, but I don't see how.


rehajm said...

More rational analysis from John Cochrane :

Climate Change Isn't the End of the World

Humperdink said...

My father had dementia at the end of his life. When the signs first surfaced, he would not stop driving. So my brother disabled his car. First it was a tire going flat, then the lights were mysteriously left on to kill the battery. To add certainty, the ignition system was disabled. At that point, we convinced my father's doctor to have the "talk" with him. That ended his driving.

Laslo Spatula said...

"Infinite Quisp" (an excerpt)...

After walking several blocks Napken realized that he had no idea where he was going. This was not exactly a surprise: he had taken a New Day pill with his morning coffee. The New Day pill was first developed as an anti-diarrhea medication, but the pharmaceutical wizards quickly realized that it had the side effect of wiping clear up to forty-eight hours of a person's previous memory...

Napken felt clear-headed, free and wonderfully loose-limbed. The sun seemed brighter, warmer, the sky bluer. Quisp blue, even. Of course, with his memory now emptied he could not remember why he took New Day this morning, but he knew it was probably for a good reason. Bad Things had probably happened, it had to be Bad Things, buy Napken felt blissfully unaware...

I am Laslo.

Laslo Spatula said...

"Infinite Quisp" (an excerpt)...

A woman in a yellow dress with small white polka dots passed by Napken, Her nose was bleeding slightly. It was not uncommon now to see people with nosebleeds on the streets, nosebleeds being one of the possible side-effects of the New Day pill. He may have even seen her yesterday, but there was no recognition, of course: New Day would have elided her, and whatever dress she may have wore...

One of the Tells of New Day users -- besides the nosebleeds, of course -- was their wearing the same clothes several days in a row. They were inevitably their favorite clothes, and -- with no memory of wearing them the day before -- the users wore them again and again. Everyone felt good wearing their favorite clothes, it is how they wanted the world to see them, it is how they best saw themselves. Napken hoped that the woman did not bleed onto her favorite yellow polka-dot dress......

I am Laslo.

Laslo Spatula said...

"Infinite Quisp" (an excerpt)...

Napken didn't arrive at Roosevelt Park as much as he simply stopped when he got there. The park was a natural stopping place for many New Day users: the water fountain was a beautiful thing, and the cascading water perhaps even more beautiful without recent memories...

The park was not named after either of the Presidents. Rather, it was named for the High School in Anderson, two hundred miles away. Fifteen years ago a small plane carrying the Roosevelt High football team to the South State Championships had crashed into the gas station that stood here. After the fires were extinguished and the children mourned the town sought a suitable way to commemorate the loss, and a year later Roosevelt Park was born...

I am Laslo.