A few days ago I built the rabbit trap I'd heard about, just a piece of big pipe with one end barred (in my case, with the grill part of my smoking grill). I put a big pad of spineless prickly pear in it, but no takers yet. The idea is that, once they go in, they don't know how to back out.
Went to Deming today, and had the chance I'd been practicing for at the Border Patrol checkpoint. The agent, a smiling cherubic-faced guy with a Spanish accent, asked me if I were a US citizen. What follows is pretty much verbatim, typed into my iPod Touch just moments after the incident: "Yes, I am". "Where are you going?" he asked. "Deming", I said, not fully on guard at that point. No matter, it was obvious where I was going anyway... no harm done. "What are you doing there?" he responded, as he was walking towards the back of the bus, making sure there were no illegals hiding under the seats. "That's not your business", I stated calmly. "What did you say, sir?" he said as he walked back towards me. "That's not your business, and you know it", I continued without raising my voice, and looking him straight in the eyes. Smiling as he exited the bus, he said "Just asking", as if it were a joke. Or a game, a game of "let's see how much I can abuse my authority without someone questioning me". Let me tell you, it felt really good. More of us need to put these arrogant assholes in their place, more often.
As I was sitting in the park in downtown Columbus waiting for the bus, I tasted what I thought was "pepper grass", a local "weed" related to mustard. Mustard, all right! Excellent strong taste. I ought to find a way to grind this stuff into wasabi, and serve rattlesnake sashimi at my shebeen.
last updated 2009-05-21 10:12:55. served from tektonic.jcomeau.com