A Couple of Observations

A couple of things caught my eye Monday evening. First of all, if the local mall is any indication of the economy in general, we're in big trouble. Although it was a little busier than an average Monday night, it was nothing like what I would have expected just a week before Christmas. One store owner told me he was down about 20% for the Christmas season so far and I'd believe it.

Secondly, when I turned on the news we had another one of our classic Los Angeles police pursuits underway. Some numbskull in a full sized pickup truck had been leading the cops on an start-and-stop chase all around the San Gabriel Valley. He effectively messed up traffic on several major freeways while the cops dutifully followed him around and the local police and media air force hovered overhead.

This one ended well, though. The wayward trucker decided to take a two lane mountain road that leads up out of Azusa. Several miles up the hill he was taking a long left-hander when he either spun due to speed or lost his right rear tire. Either way the truck whipped around and nosed straight into the sheer rock wall on one side of the road, rolled over violently and finally ended up back on its tires. The driver staggered out and collapsed on the road. I don't think he was wearing his seat belt when he crashed so he probably took the air bag/steering wheel combo right in the chest. For a moment I was hoping this pursuit would end without the necessity of a trial.

Sadly, he appears to have survived.

I've long been a proponent of the idea that if you run from the cops they should get one free shot at you when they finally catch you. You're clearly too stupid to stay in the genepool.

Oh well...