The ‘Bar Car’ Signs

                There’s a bunch of  ‘Bar Car’ signs piled up in the tunnels that lead away from Grand Central.  They hit the side of the tunnel and fall off.  I bet they fall off near the same spot every time.  The sign itself is just taped to the side of the train to tell you which car is the bar car. 

                The crowd is pretty light today. Not much business on a Friday rush hour home in the summer.  Most people left far earlier in the day, which is not like the winter.  In the winter, it’s a party.  A car full of half strangers, some you don’t know, some you see once in awhile and those you see all the time.  Packed into the bar car to grab a drink on their way home. 

                The winter cars can be loud, especially around New Rochelle, when every one is half way through their first Gin and Tonic or 22oz. Fosters.  Friends who have taken the train together are deep in conversation with one usually talking and the other one nodding their head and replying with short sentence fragments.  Other people are sitting together because they work at the same place and live in the same place and sit together not to seem rude if they don’t actually like each other.  If friends they’re loud and already on their second before Larchmont, if not they just sit in silence with small bursts of conversation over the weather or the recent headlines.

                Couples are usually interesting.  Whether they work together or know each other from where they live, or just coming back early from a day in the city.  The body language or the confidence in the voice or the enthusiastic responses to glib remarks to make the conversation sound interesting is all very fun or very embarrassing.

                The bar signs just cannot be cleaned up.  I would think it’s the combination of factors including difficulty to get to, out of sight so completely ignored, or no one really knows about it.  Whatever the reason, they’re piling up down there.

The Welcoming Sea – Part IV

IV – Todd and Darrell on the Boat

Todd was pissed.  He looked into the darkness all around the boat.  He couldn’t even see the dark outline of land on the horizon anymore.  “Are you sure this is the place, you fucking drunk,” said Todd.

“Yeah, this is the place and don’t call me Shirley,” said Darrell in a slightly slurred voice even though it was far from the place.  He took another drink from the Thermos.  “You want some?”

“This is my fucking chance asshole! If I don’t make this pickup you are so FUCKING DONE”

He kept searching the darkness.  “You fucking drunken, daughter fucking piece of shit!”

“We’re done now”, came an eerily calm reply.

“Fuck” said Todd as he turned to see Darrell holding a small 9mm he had taken from his ankle holster.  Todd wrenched his body over the side.  He heard to sharp cracks and felt as though someone had hit him in the back with a heavy pillow as he fell into the water.

The Welcoming Sea – Part III

III – Jenny and Carol in the Restaurant

“Helloooho…pickup…picking up the food for the customers…food…ready…pickup,” said Charlie in a falsetto voice as he placed the French Toast with bacon on the service station.  Jenny looked up from the counter.  She had been lost in her thoughts.

“Time to go,” she thought as she picked up the order.  The time to go had been weeks ago.  She knew it, but couldn’t build up the nerve.  “Fuck him,” she thought to herself, which made her almost well up with tears.  She took a deep breath.  “Service with a smile,” she thought.

She picked up the greasy dish and brought it to table four.  The woman at the table looked up at Jenny, very happy the dish had arrived hot.  Jenny grabbed on to the good feelings, for a fleeting second.  “Enjoy!” said Jenny with a smile on her face.

“Woo hoo!” thought Carol as she treasured the steam rising off the French Toast with bacon.  Grabbing the maple syrup her smile broadened, if that was possible.  As she looked up to say thank you, she caught and odd look from the waitress. Like she was the last specimen of some exotic animal being observed.  The waitress had a sad look on her face. “Thanks.  Is everything OK?” Carol asked softly.

“Yeah, I’m fine…boyfriend problems.” replied Jenny making a quick wave with her hand.  She had brought her bags with her.  She had left the day before, leaving a letter saying goodbye.  He wouldn’t come after her, even if he was drunk.

It was early so her three to seven shift only had a little to go.  Jenny wished it was busier.  Then she could just be drowned in her work.  Instead it was slow and inching its way by.  She sat back down at the counter and took at her picture.

Her plan was to go to her Aunt’s house.  Though her mom was long gone she knew about her Aunt who lived in Connecticut.  She was just going to show up.  How frightening that was for her as she imagined knocking on the door of house she had never seen.  To an Aunt she had never seen except for and old picture she had.

It was of her mom and her aunt at the seashore.  Both had wide smiles on their faces.  Young women with so much ahead of them.  She wished she had been there, just to watch them.  Watch her mom.

“Better to ask for forgiveness that permission”, she thought to herself.  Her Dad had taught her that.  Jenny imagined her Aunt putting on the exact same smile when she realized who Jenny was.  So wide, inviting and unconditional.  The smile she always pictured on her mom when she looked at the picture.

Between bites, Carol couldn’t help watching the waitress at the counter.  She was looking at a picture and obviously lost in her thoughts.  She didn’t even notice Carol’s stare.  Carol couldn’t see the picture too well.

Carol thought about John.  He had gone running early on the beach as part of his new health kick.  He had never been to the beach and thought he would watch the sunrise while running.  Carol asked about breakfast, but he said he’d grab something when he got back before they went out.

“You go ahead, honey, and enjoy your oatmeal.  On second thought, grab me an apple or two if they have them,” he said as he ran out into the darkness.

“Sure, honey,” she said as she watched his silhouette disappear in the distance.  “Fool,” she thought to herself and wrung her hand diabolically as a wide smile spread across her face.

The Welcoming Sea – Part II

II.  Darrell and Todd

The knock on the door was not unexpected.  Darrell was sitting at his yellow Formica table in his small eat-in-kitchen of his apartment, drinking Jack Daniels and rereading the letter his daughter had left.  The one he had read over and over. He put down his glass, picked up his service revolver from the table and put it back in his holster he had in his hands. Darrell reached back to put it on the kitchen counter by the coffee maker.  He turned back towards the door, slumping in the chair.  There was another knock.  Darrell got up slowly.

Todd could hear sounds from inside the apartment.  He was going to knock again, but he heard the locks.  The doorknob turned and the door opened slightly then stopped.  Todd pushed the door open to see Darrell heading around the corner into the kitchen.

“Hey Darrell.” said Todd as he closed the door behind him.  He looked around at the small two bedroom apartment.  Darrell turned the corner into the kitchen. Todd saw the half empty bottle of Jack Daniels on the kitchen table.  Not a good sign he thought to himself. But half wasn’t bad.  Maybe just a buzz.

“Where’s Jenny?” asked Todd not seeing her in the apartment.

“At her boyfriend’s house,” replied Darrell.  “You want a drink?”

“No thanks.”  Todd walked to the end of the wall dividing the kitchen from the TV room and leaned up against it.

“How bout some coffee?”, asked Darrell.  Todd looked towards the coffee maker.  The coffee maker wasn’t even on. Todd did see Darrell’s revolver lying next to it.  Darrell had always been a mean drunk and was acting way out of character.  But he guessed since it was his first drug pick up, he may be a little nervous.

“You going to be alright for this?  The pickup is in an hour and a half, I don’t want to be out there with some drunk…”

“I’m sorry, what bullshit are you boring me with?”

Todd went quiet as he leaned his shoulder against the wall.   He looked at Darrell putting away his dishes.  They had been friends a long time.  At least acquaintances anyway.  Same small town, same small high school.

“Let’s get going,” Todd said flatly.  He turned around and walked into the living room.

“Sure thing”, said Darrell in an inappropriately upbeat note.  He emerged from the kitchen with a large thermos, took the bottle of Jack and loaded it up.  “Just something to keep the chill off.”  Darrell closed the container and faced Todd, with an odd smirk.

Todd turned around and headed for the door.  He opened it, stepped outside in the hall and turned around as Darrell fumbled for his keys before closing the door.

“You not taking your gun?” asked Todd.

“Nope.  If this is so easy we’re better off without it around”, said Darrell.

“Probably best,” thought Todd feeling a little more relaxed.

The Welcoming Sea – Part I

The Welcoming Sea

I. John’s Walk on the Beach

John had walked on the deserted beach for about 45 minutes.  The sun was just clearing the horizon and full day was coming on.  Looking at the sunrise and squinting his eyes, he scanned the horizon.  The sun’s fiery red circle was almost totally above the sea as if emerging directly from the water.

Further down the beach, something in the surf caught his attention. With the recent storm a lot of debris had washed up, but this was very different that the logs or seaweed he had seen awhile back.  John had rarely seen the ocean, much less when it had something dead floating in it. As he came closer he confirmed his first impression that it was the body of an animal.  Most likely human.  And most definitely dead.

He didn’t even feign running to the object.  He walked up slowly and cautiously.  There was no blood in the water so he wasn’t worried about shark attack.  Nor did he think that was the likely cause of death as it appeared fairly intact.  As John came even with the body, he looked up the beach for something to help fish it out.  The thought of using his hands to drag it to shore was not his first option.  No luck, the beach was pristine…except for the body.

John examined it as it shifted back and forth in the lapping surf.  The arms were slightly waving back and forth.  The skin didn’t appear too damaged or decayed, which would have made the choice of how to get it to shore more difficult.  He’d never really seen a dead body before.  It was a man, somewhere between 20 and 40, with black hair.  He had been in the sea long enough to make pulling it ashore difficult on both a physical and mental level.  The polo shirt on the body was light blue and the khakis light beige.  The two dark stained holes in the back suggested a mode of death.  Apart from what John thought were bullet holes, the clothes seemed well enough intact to keep the body together and provide a way to get it on shore.  He figured he bring it above the high tide line and go back and get help.

“Ugh. Shit”, he grunted while he dragged the body onto the beach.  He let the body go once he thought he had gotten it far enough up the beach and he fell back on the sand.  The body lay in front of him, contorted in ways a normal body wouldn’t.  It had been face down in the water.  As John pulled him ashore, he caught a glimpse of the face.  The expression caught him by surprise. He took a deep breath.  He wondered if he should search the body, but decided against it.  As he turned to go back up down the beach he saw a figure in the distance. Someone was walking down the beach toward him.

“OK, that helps”, thought John.  This guy could stay with the body while he went back for help, thought John.

John started jogging toward the beachcomber. He could tell it was a guy and he was holding something. It looked like a metal detector. As John got closer he noticed the guy wasn’t moving his metal detector back and forth.  He slowed his stride. It struck him as odd.  Maybe he was freaked out by the dead corpse, but something seemed wrong and with a dead person around, why not be a little more on guard.  He looked around the deserted beach and felt very, very alone.

“Hello!” shouted John.

“Hello!” came the reply, “you find something?”  John couldn’t shake the feeling something was wrong

“Yeah, don’t mean to put it so bluntly, but there’s a dead body up the beach. Do you have a cellphone?  If not could you could go back and get help”  John regretted the scenario he had said, he hadn’t thought it through.  Should he have suggested the guy stay so he could get what he wants and split?  But John had seen him and what if he needed time to do what he was going to do.  Any way he thought about it, if the guy was up to no good, it wasn’t going to be pleasant.

The man walked up to him with an odd smirk on his face.  “You’re kidding me.”  The man seemed a little drunk.

“No, really, it’s right over there,” replied John.  John pointed over his shoulder.  The man’s face never left his to look at the body.  They stood there facing each other for a second.

The guy dropped his metal detector and suddenly went for something at his waist on his back. John lunged at the guy grabbing his right arm while planting his shoulder in the guy’s chest and driving with his legs.  The man tried to turn away from John to throw him on the sand but John anticipated this and drove to his right.  They both tumbled over.

John didn’t let his hands off the guy’s right arm keeping it pinned against his body. The man’s hand had grabbed an automatic out of a small holster in his waist.  “Don’t let go…don’t let go” said John to himself over and over.  Everything seemed to be moving slowly.  As John kept his head on the guy’s chest to keep him down something hit his face.  The guy was punching him with his left hand.  John could sense the hits but they felt muted almost like nothing.  As the guy started to gouge at his eyes, John turned his face into the guy’s chest.  John took the opportunity to grab for the gun.

The guy stopped trying to gouge John’s eyes and reached down with his left hand for the gun while bucking his body to get John off of him.  It was too late, John had wrested the gun away.  John spun off him and tried to get some distance between them.  The guy rolled towards him trying to get to his feet.  With the little bit of distance between them John raised the gun and pulled the trigger.  Nothing happened as the trigger would not move.

They guy was just getting to his feet and lunged at John’s legs during the hesitation.  John leapt back just beyond the reach of the guy who stumbled face first into the sand.   John fell forward and brought the gun down on the man’s head.  He kept hitting the guy with the gun.  The man kept trying to get to his feet but with every hit the attempt became less coordinated.  John stood up and began kicking the guy in the head.

“Fuck…you…you… fucking…piece…of…shit!” The body went limp.  A wave of exhaustion overcame him. He staggered back a few feet and flicked the automatic’s safety off.  He felt the trickle of blood coming from his face.  He brought his left hand up to his face and felt blood all over his face.  The pain began to come on.

He looked at the guy lying on the beach.  He walked back over to him and gave him kick in the ribs.  No reaction.  He should just leave, but what if this guy gets up.  He pondered just shooting the guy but decided against it.

“Let’s see who this guy is,” he thought to himself.  John kicked him again in the side of the head.  He squatted down and took out the guy’s wallet.  He’d take it with him to the cops he thought.

“Oh fuck…fuck…fuck,” He whispered to himself.

The badge and police ID stated the bloody body in front of him was Detective Darrell Barnes.

What the?!

“No. This plan is foolproof!” yelled Tony as he looked at Frank quizzically.

“No. This plan is seriously flawed.” noted Frank quite calmly as he caught a glimpse of yellow and brown charging towards them.

“Look, there is NO WAY any guard dog is going to get us. It’s brilliant!”

Tony had hatched this plan when he was working the construction crew for the jeweler’s warehouse. The only way to get into the warehouse was through the front, but at night the courtyard was guarded by dogs, he thought. “Beware of animals!” read the large yellow sign on the outside of the fence that led to the courtyard. But Tony; an electrician and telephone installer, had put 6-gauge wire on the left side wall. While there were plenty other wires feeding electricity and phone service, this one was a good 12 feet off the ground. Perfect enough shuffle across right to the 2nd floor window (the 2nd floor unalarmed window, I might add) of the warehouse.

Three days earlier…

Charlene was putting the last few touches on her new warehouse. All the work had finished and the workmen had left. Everything was almost in place. “Just waiting for one more delivery,” she thought to herself.

Her assistant Emma walked up to her. “Your guard Giraffes have arrived”

“Perfect” she said clapping her hands together.

Parastory: Sam Can’t Wait

His feet made little sound as he slowly walked across the floor. He had opened the front door slowly and quietly, turning the doorknob at a snail’s pace.

“How could she do this to me”, he thought to himself.

He had left the shoes out in the hall.

“Do I really care about this? Is this expected of me?”

He didn’t know even how to react to whatever he might see. He thankfully couldn’t hear anything from the bedroom beyond. He had no evidence but just a feeling. Halfway across the floor he stopped. “What should I do?” the thought to himself again. “You’ll do what you feel.”

He crept closer to the door. It was just slightly ajar. He placed his fingers upon the door and slowly pushed it open…

How an Atheist Views Some Theist Arguments

Just a quick version as to how I view some Theist debating points when they talk about science. Especially when I believe they come from an appeal from ignorance.

It’s the dawn of human history (not assuming YEC). Two cavemen are standing outside their caves. One believes that only natural forces control the universe and the other believes a deity does. Unfortunately both were named Thag, so I’m going call one Atheist Thag (Athag) and Theist Thag (Tthag). As they stand there, a lightening bolt cracks through the sky, striking the tallest tree in the forest.

Athag: Whoa! Did you see that!
Tthag: Wow! God is amazing!
Athag: Here we go. Why do you think god caused that?
Tthag: Well, I believe God causes lightening. It is so unlike anything else, seems to come from nothing and we have no explanation so it has to be from a God.
Athag: Why does it have to be a god? Couldn’t it come from some natural phenomenon?
Tthag: Do you have an explanation for it?
Athag: Well, it could be some shifting when some unknown power source becomes unbalanced.
Tthag: Puh-lease, that is just a lame theory. Do you have a solid explanation or not.
Athag: A one hundred percent sure fire complete explanation…..no.
Tthag: Ah ha! You admit it.
Athag: But do you remember what our grandfathers used to tell us about fire. They used to say it only came from God.
Tthag: Yeah, I do. They used to believe it was delivered by only lightening. And when they needed it there was only one way to get it. Sacrifice a virgin to produce lightening, which would strike a tree and bring fire.
Athag: Well, my Mom discovered you could make fire by rubbing sticks a certain way.
Tthag: Yeah, my grandfather says he had never seen a woman try to break out of the wooden sacrificial pen as hard as she did. Wasn’t that nine months before you were born?
Athag: Yes, moving on. But don’t you see that what people once thought was only from God was actually something they could do because it was a natural phenomenon?  We just didn’t know where it came from.
Tthag: Nice try, heretic, but that was then, this is now. What tree did it hit?
Athag: That tree there. The tallest one.
Tthag: That’s right smart guy, the tallest one. There must be thousands of trees in the forest and the lightening just happen to hit the tallest tree. Do you know the odds of that happening!? In fact, have you ever noticed that it often hits the tallest tree. The odds are incalculable! Can you explain that!
Athag: Well no not in exceedingly technical detail.
Tthag: Well thank you for proving my point. Don’t you think that in our advanced age we would know this stuff by now. Think of it. In the last two generations we’ve discovered how to make fire and the wheel! And even with all our amazing and complex advances, no one understands where lightening comes from. Ergo God. Lightening is just one example, all you have to do is look around to see evidence of God. Its right their in front of your eyes.
Athag: uhg.