Archive: October, 2012 - Gary Borders

Our Youngest Daughter Turns 15

We first met on a springtime Saturday for lunch at Pizza King in Longview, home to my favorite pie — the vegetarian with extra jalapeños. She had the cheese pizza. She wore her blonde hair in a ponytail, framing her blue eyes and flawless porcelain skin. I can’t remember what she was wearing, but I recall she was reading a Harry Potter book. It was March 2008. Abbie was 10 at the time. She is the daughter of the woman I fell in love with when I saw her crossing the alley at Green Street, heading to the now-closed coffee shop to make my acquaintance. She was wearing a red raincoat, brown...

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The Dark Side of The Wired World

A 15-year-old Canadian girl committed suicide on Oct. 10, driven to despair by cyber-bullying online through Facebook and emails, and in person as well. Amanda Todd made the sad mistake of sending a semi-nude photo of herself to a man a few years ago. To summarize, he posted the photo online. The bullying made her life a living hell to the point that, after several attempts, she killed herself last week. I hope the creep who started all this is found and goes to prison. As for the cruelty that resulted, well as Springsteen once sang, “I guess there is just a meanness in this world.” It is just...

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The Deer on the Trail Will Remind Me of Archie

Rosie the Wonder Dog and I stopped in the post-dawn the other day. The sun barely peeked over the trees that line the power line right-of-way that cuts along the walking trail. A doe and two fawns grazed about 50 feet away, unaware of our presence. Rosie sat quietly and watched. She is not a barking dog, for which I am grateful. Obedience school worked. She was an A- student. After a few moments we left the deer in peace, enjoying the cool air, the glistening dew, the leaves beginning to turn color. At least I was. Rosie wasn’t saying much. I last saw the deer on the trail several weeks earlier....

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Driverless Cars Already Common Here

California is once again on the bleeding edge of technology. Gov. Jerry Brown signed a law making it legal for driverless cars to ramble down highways, the caveat being for now that somebody has to be in the driver’s seat in case something goes awry. This allows companies such as Google and others to continue to do research on self-driving cars. Apparently states such as California see this as the Next Big Thing in automotive technology. This would free up people work on their laptops while commuting to work, cut down on accidents since all these driverless vehicles would presumably communicate...

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