Farflung

I did find a few interesting images of women doing pretty hefty work around the turn of the century which may dispel the delicate blooms which have been portrayed by Hollywood westerns. Who am I kidding, no they won’t. Ninety percent of what Americans know comes straight from the TV. Sorry about that, I had a weak moment. Women were driving oxen (cows for the suburbanites), horses, carriages and cargo all over the west. But I could not find one that had a woman, driving Clydesdales, four abreast, in Washington, pulling a sulky, on a Saturday, who had a Reuben for lunch, had a dog named Terrible Herbst and was a Druid. So ‘Katy’ (Bernie’s wife) could be telling the truth. However there are no extra monkeys in my home.

Another fact reflecting honesty and intelligence was also from 6 April 2011: “Katy Watson, aka Bernie's ex, ran the Ititerod, was the first female to drive four Clydesdales abreast…” I’m not real quick on the uptake on so many things (code for everything) that I find myself frequently researching stuff that most would consider boring and arcane. Like this governing body that records the people who were first to drive draft animals of various quantities. If ‘Katy’ is in her 80’s that would put her birth year in the 20’s or 30’s which was deep within the industrial revolution. I would assume (assume that is) that long before that time many women had handled draft animals of numbers far greater than four. Obviously this would not be a configuration for road travel (laughs) but something associated with a farm implement (plows for all you suburban pukes, just like all cattle are called cows). Sure enough women were bringing in the hay (or should I say sheaves? (laughs even more)) by completing work while men folk were at war, bucking hay or recovering from a farm related injury. I don’t think the first woman to drive Clydesdales four abreast was born in the twentieth century but the sophisticates populating the twenty first century will likely gobble it up like oats at the bottom of the bag. Of course I could be wrong on this subject, which is why I will spend some time searching for a service that will catch the monkeys flying out of my butt if that is the case.

RobertMBLevins accurately says of himself: “And I am not the one around here who calls people liars…” Hmmmmm….. guess I’ll have to take your awesome word for that. 19 June 2011 –“You mean Bernie. He is a proven liar. Liars only have a rep for being liars…” 9 June 2011 –“Geestman will boomerang on you - he already has. He's already been caught in more lies than Pinnochio.” 3 June 2011 – “Bernie is a liar.” 8 April 2011 –“The only thing positive about Bernie is that he is a very good liar.” 6 April 2011 – “Bernie is a liar, and I have proved that beyond a doubt…” 19 March 2011 – “Bernie once told them he hardly knew Kenny and thought he was a dishwasher. Lie. He said he was gone to sea ten to eleven months at a time for Foss Tugs in Seattle. Lies and more lies.” 26 Jan 2011 –“Then I catch him in a bunch of frickin' lies.”

It has a sort of spirit that I can’t quite put my finger on….. hmmmmmm.

This is the sort of stuff that I hoped still existed somewhere besides my wildest fantasies (not what you’re thinking). http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/44499884 By the way, I was not referring to the flaming crash but the assortment of fast thinkers that were able to assemble, analyze and act as one; then dissolve back to being ‘ordinary citizens’.

Mr Green ignominiously opines: “and JT, show some kahunas and provide us with the phonecall audio.” This reminds me of the immortal words of Mr C. A. Jones who said: “I thought I was wrong once, but I was mistaken.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJxP38dnoMM&feature=related Well at least this is actually meant to appear as dimwitted, self indulgent and preposterous. Wonder if they knew it would be prophetic as well? A documentary was made called ‘Vernon, Florida’ which was about a bizarre cluster of insurance claims where people had suffered the loss of limbs. Once the word got out the director was trying to expose insurance fraud, he became the target of a few threats and changed his subject to the quirky locals that lived in this hamlet. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZtK3ahEqe0&feature=related I think the residents of Vernon, Florida managed to save their dignity by preventing the study of those willing to mutilate themselves for an insurance payment. Some may see this as lacking proportionality since the opposable digit on our hand is what separates us from the balance of the animal kingdom; I say ‘righteous bucks’. Proportionality has never been a part of the American collective thought process and is lacking now more than ever. In order to improve efficiency the US Postal Service has decided to remove drop boxes and close offices rather than reduce collection frequency and operating hours as a way to amortize unit expenses to a lower liability (ya know like the private sector?). But I’ve never expected too much from any government body until I read about yet another Vernon. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/30/vernon-california-disincorporation_n_941828.html That’s right, Vernon, California which boasts a population of 112 people is the smallest of incorporated cities in the Golden State. That’s so cute and adorable. The mayor of Vernon must be the finest of all politicians in the USA since his salary is $600,000 per year which averages over $5,200 of tax burden per citizen in the city. That’s not entirely true since the former mayor who is coincidently the present mayor’s father is receiving over $450,000 in retirement benefits per year. With this sort if fiscal genius laying the groundwork, the recession has to be running scared. It will be over very soon and without any further downstream ramifications which no one has considered. (Source: I really, really, really want it that way)

Considering the ongoing recession and national resistance to using the ‘D’ word for the sake of being politically correct while avoiding stepping into the shoes once filled by Herbert Hoover, some unusual things are coming home to roost. I have to wonder if we (collective humanity we) will ever learn. A few years ago I was being all ‘metro’ and sipping a double latte with organic cream and cinnamon prepared by a barista named Sunshine. I was seated in some San Francisco greenery named Levi’s Plaza Park after the famous maker of blue jeans, which feature two big asses which can’t destroy them. Again the irony of the original label’s intent when compared to modern times is absolutely exquisite. This makes me want to take fiddling lessons for some reason. As history would have it and others prefer to deny, that pleasant little park was the former site of a bread line called the ‘White Angel Jungle’ where a small group of people began to cook meals for some of the unemployed men which approached 25% of the workforce at the Great Depression’s zenith. Now this piece of land which served those who were in truly dire conditions with a source of food fell victim to the blandification of America. Oh sure, this property has some of the most agreeable weather on the planet and could easily support the growth of apple, cherry, apricot and even peach and most food producing trees but why do that on this location? Historically it’s only known for abating the pangs of hunger and such conditions won’t occur again in such a complex economy. Or so the nameless experts have said. Yesterday I purchased some Levi jeans and thought that would be a small contribution towards the cash starved economy with this American fashion icon. When I got home and checked the label, I was stunned to find the country of manufacture to be Lesotho. Really Levi Strauss…. Lesotho? That should help even the trade imbalance. After some visions of Texan cotton being harvested then milled in China to be shipped to Lesotho for stitching, then transported back to the US while gasoline remains at $4 a gallon with the former bread line park planted with delicious pine trees and 12% unemployment, I think I had a tiny cerebral aneurism. At minimum this real world activity actually lent some plausibility to some of the DB Cooper theories or at least offered some explanation as to their origins. When in Crazytown do as…… I suppose it is part of the human condition to cry for more information or words from people with lofty titles so we can continue to data mine while using confirmation bias. The economy will recover once we get people back making jeans, cars, TV sets and umm….. hold on… oh yeah once we get people back into the service economy like banking, insurance and real estate; then things will get better. Once someone tells another who Cooper is then they can be quoted as knowledgeable and as doing a good job investigating without all that sloppy evidence to mire the discussion. As far as peaches, I like ‘em firm and fresh and have no problem with picking them myself. Yet another selfless task I’m willing to complete. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=068AFYvd58E

One of the many things that resonated with me after the 9/11 hijackings was the incongruous use of the title - Air Traffic Controller. There was clearly nothing being controlled and this weakness was utterly exploited and that presumably after the likes of the Rand Corporation had already modeled such a situation. We appear to pay an odd homage to titles and use them to transfer common sense or project some other insecurity. Webmasters, Chief Executives and Senior Whatevers all advertise their innate wisdom and rank but somehow manage to testify in court that they really didn’t know what was going on in the company much like Ken Lay of Enron or Dennis Kozlowski of Tyco. Yet it continues for reasons I can’t understand and others won’t explain. Kozlowski was sentenced to 8 to 25 years in prison for fraud but most would agree that a greater crime was committed (3:02 – 3:52) when middle aged white people dance. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KTaloE-3FM&feature=related If you think that Kozlowski’s voice sounds familiar: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkd5dJIVjgM Oh well, I guess history will repeat in that the crimes get bigger because we build bigger walls which require a more complex and destructive solution to breach. Airport security has changed drastically in a display of responsiveness while the title Air Traffic Controller is still the same a decade later.

When the Social Security Act of 1935 was passed the life expectancy for an American was 61.7 years with a benefit collection age beginning at 62. I realize these are statistics. In WWII the Army Air Forces were experiencing attrition rates (getting shot down) of 4% per mission. In order to offer an incentive to combat crews, the military allowed those with 25 combat missions to rotate back home. Statistically after they had a 100% chance of getting shot down. This is like giving a tire a warranty until the first flat. It sounds good as long as you don’t think about it too much. So the very first person to receive a Social Security check was one Ida May Fuller at the tender age of 65 which was 2.1 years past the average life expectancy for a person in 1940. Wow, that really creams the government’s wealth of vital statistics. She really stuck it to ‘The Man’ by outliving this generous program which starts payments years after your anticipated demise. But Ida wasn’t content to sit and worry about when the government said she should expire and soldiered on to die at the premature age of 100. Really, who could make this up? The first person to receive such an entitlement lived to that ripe and fermented age without an adjustment to the qualification age when monies are distributed is the purest of raw material that makes irony appear ironic. I sent the Social Security Administration an email suggesting their HQ be named the ‘Ida May Fuller Building’ in honor of this first fiscal feat by an average citizen. As of today and the last six years, my correspondence has remained inexplicably unanswered.

“Once a newspaper touches a story, the facts are lost forever, even to the protagonists.” Norman Mailer “You may have read that I went to M.I.T. In 1982 I filled out a Who's Who survey with joking responses, and they never bothered to check the facts.” Chevy Chase “Never give up. And never, under any circumstances, face the facts.” Ruth Gordon “The very fact that the government claims issuing 60 million Social Security checks every month in a nation with 310 million total population should be enough information, but it isn’t.” Farflung

Skyjack71 wrote: “I had remarried and moved - I am a clean clean type of person and since I remarried had kept only what I could put in a suitcase in a hot humid Florida attic.” I’m not able to deconstruct this sentence into something that is coherent and this makes me a little bit cry. “I had remarried and moved…” Somehow getting married and moving are related in some fashion or getting remarried was viewed as a mistake upon which one moved. Either way there is additional marrying occurring with some sort of movement following with or without the new or old spouse since you could have ‘remarried’ the same person. “I am a clean clean type of person…” OK, here I’m thinking a sterile wedding ceremony in a room with a positive pressure override which explains the double clean inference. Fascinating no matter the context. “…and since I remarried had kept only what I could put in a suitcase…” This is news to me. No wonder the Gay marriages are having such a difficult time in congress when there is a requirement that a person can only keep what will fit in a suitcase should they remarry. I don’t think this is fair and makes the government appear equally sinister and stupid with such a levy against a person who is already faced with the prospect of moving. “…in a hot humid Florida attic.” How on Earth is anyone supposed to know what things to put in a hot humid attic? The law has crossed a line with only letting you have a single suitcase in the first place but adding the condition of putting it in a humid Floridian attic is simply too much. What exactly would a person fill such a suitcase with? Shiitake spores are the obvious answer combined with some sort of bat aviary or termite farm. I’ll just celebrate the simple life I lead with ample closet space for an extra suitcase no matter the contents. I’ll sure avoid that getting remarried notion since the costs are simply too high.

Georger, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWtCittJyr0 Why not elevate us to the upper division of transport or conveyed in regards to how a mass would be moved down (presumably) a river? I have been able to follow your thought process thus far and would like to read some more that is not laced with Voodoo science certified with Zombie logic. Clearly, anyone in possession of a dollar bill and a sink with a stopper could determine that floating is unlikely. Since I don’t have a dollar, a sink or an Airstream window to throw them out of, I have to depend upon empirical data from others. So help a brother out and continue your thesis on the plausible methods of bulk monetary transport. I would make a call to the Fazio’s to find where the money came from but all the old timers would get mad when I walked to that venue and collected the remaining $194,000. So I hide out in the weeds and just watch and listen and read.

It’s obvious that Bruce Smith is now officially an ‘Investigative Reporter’ as is stated in the Daily News of New York. For all of you who bathe in name dropping and puffing, here are some facts about the fifth largest newspaper in the United States of America. It has won ten Pulitzer Prizes and that is very important to writers because the average person does not know and does not care about this distinction. But it is used as a form of validation and the Daily News has ten of them and that is a lot. Since there isn’t an ‘Investigative Reporter’ certifying body or license, a newspaper which publishes stories from live people is like graduating from an Ivy League institution. There simply is no argument here. Bruce Smith got some national media coverage with his story about Tina which should validate his credentials and ability as a journalist. Yet something tells me there will be amendments and sour grapes associated with this subject. I base this on the conduct from the preceding thousand pages of comments. Apparently there is some sort of tacit inference that because a story gets a certain number of hits, is on some nebulous list or Amazon ranking that there is an inherent quality to that data point. There is a book that was published in 1998 which ranks consistently high and has over 180 reviews, 690 pages and would qualify as a must read to those who subscribe to this viewpoint. Perhaps others would learn a great deal from ‘Mein Kampf’ and the ultimate value of group think (Arbeit macht frei). I think those reading ‘Mein Kampf’ and associating page hits or ranking with quality would be deserving of an ‘Irony Cross’. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Cross

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvQY6b-VXu8 That flight that took off from Seattle….. And try to change the facts when; you are through…. That flight, that flight, won’t change what they went through…… Because, because, what, what, you dooooooo……. It’s wrong to say, how fast that they flew……. Cause when they say these things, it makes them all come true……. Give me one source and I’ll be happy…… Just, just to see you can do…… Give me, give me, a chance not to fear you…. Because, because, I, I, I dooooooooo…….. (interlude) Just make a post that is coherent…… Just, just to see what you do……. Give me, give me, a chance not to fear you…… Because, because, I, I, I doooooooo…….. Because, because, I, I, I doooooooo….. Awwww, that’s kind of a sweet song. Doncha think?

Way back on page 1053 (one million years BC, DBC Thread time) a source type was posted where a person calls for another’s ‘credentials’: “5. What are your qualifications? Among the most disingenuous queries as there is not interest in the qualifications or if you are qualified. This is a call to publish a resume which will ALWAYS exceed your previously stated experience. This is a Tar-baby which will devolve beyond name dropping and braggadocio to quantifications of discussions and meetings which produced nothing. This should be avoided at all costs but the desire to talk about one's penis is simply too great thus insuring continued practice.” Wanna know how Madoff managed to steal over 50 billion dollars? I’m thinking that a bunch of people were yaking about how he was the Chairman of the NASDAQ and the CEO of his own company and that suppressed the emergence of any genuine investigations or discoveries. Hmmmmm…… it only this could serve as some sort of case study to other activities in day to day life. Oh well, that’s too much to ask for.

The Sky Chef(s) question has brought up another brilliantly analyzed theory on who may be DB Cooper. I knew that answer had to be as plain as the nose on my face if only I could pick it correctly. What was Cooper waiting for at the end of those stairs for nearly twenty minutes before jumping? Beacon or radio signal from an accomplice, hardly (laughs), he was testing the air. It is a ‘known fact’ that the winds were out of the southeast at some nominal velocity. So Cooper simply followed his nose to his drop zone. It has been proven from Gray’s book (no further source needed) that Cooper had a book of Sky Chef Matches. Using the aft stairs was none other than cleaning and food service crews previously. That’s right; I got the same tingly feeling too. They would restock the aircraft and have time to hide whatever in the lavatory to assist in their escape. There is no argument here as this is all common knowledge. The execution. Much, too much has been made about Cooper looking through the clouds. Not necessary for an employee from Sky Chef(s, whatever) as they have a sense that can penetrate the thickest of cloud decks. I am of course referring to their olfactory receptors. Unlike the frail senses of sight or hearing which are fleeting by design, smell is something that can linger for hours as anyone knows who has blundered into a Hometown Buffett restroom at 2:30 in the afternoon after a ‘Senior’s Special’. Yet you can get a ticket and be fined for a loud exhaust. Once Cooper picked up the aroma of the massive commercial kitchen which used forced make up air exhaust to ventilate the facility, he jumped and followed the plume with his trained chefy sniffer. Is it a coincidence that the Sky Chefs kitchen is in V-23’s approved corridor? Of course not, only a fool would think that. What’s more, it is next to a golf course. That’s right, a perfectly manicured piece of land free of lights and other obstacles. Ever seen a security guard at a golf course? Don’t be absurd. If you think money is a factor in this crime, then who makes less than a cook for a commercial kitchen that supplies airlines? Add to that the grudge he carried about the endless stream of airline food jokes on national television and you have a recipe for a skyjacking, sky chef slicing through the air like a Ginsu Knife through a room temperature cherry cheesecake on a catering table at a Lane Bryant factory outlet store where…. ummm… I think I got lost in my own allegory here. Anyway it would happen quickly. Did the FBI question anyone that worked for Sky Che(f)? No. Was the golf course searched? No. Were any food service employees proven not to be Cooper? Again the answer is no. How much longer will these people go undetected? Well, you read it here first.

This is why I believe half of what I see and nothing that I read. I was some extra weight onboard (PAX) on a flight from the Mediterranean to the maintenance hangar. On approach the Navigator was on his belly in the cockpit and looking through a sight glass on the floor. This is rarely good news. The engines spool up and the guy grabs a couple Johnson bars, opens another hatch on the floor and starts to pump the manual hydraulic system. I know this means we will land after happy hours. Emergency procedures should not dampen one’s eye for value. This goes on for an inordinate amount of time so the human ballast walks up front to offer assistance. The guy is exhausted and has someone check the alignment stripes for the nose gear. They are indeed off and the locked light is burning brightly off. How hard can this be? Everyone takes turns with this five foot long bar and jacking the pump for what seemed like an eternity but realistically was probably no more than a month. Until the Co-pilot said he had a green the same time the Nav said you’re aligned. The instructions were spot on when it came to describing the use of the system except they could have added one small advisory. Warning: Manual lowering of the landing gear is a royal bitch. Why did they keep this a secret? Oh thanks bunches Boeing technical writers, thanks loads and loads. Glad you saved that ink. Like another dozen words would have just killed you, this page intentionally left ’blank’. Well the same won’t be said about the chamber in my revolver if we ever meet. I love you guys for that, just luuuuuuuvvv ya! Muah, muah, kissy kissy. It has been almost 30 years but I remember, I still remember. We all had to know which way to rotate to exit handle and with how many pounds of force but don’t you worry about nose gear extension and what it takes to move a pair of red indices about an eighth of an inch. I feel better now, thank you. By the way Robert99 and 377 are both correct in that I have used tanked O2 that would give 100 PAX enough air to make a safe descent to lower altitudes but not much more. I’ve also seen the more modular O2 generators which can live above your head with much less plumbing and complexity. It is a good system with the one notable drawback of potentially causing a fire while getting you out of the frying pan.

377 asks with evil (but funny) intent: “If Marla had waited until Sept to unveil her LDC=DBC theorem do you think we'd have some Sky Chef matches in the tale?” Not only yes, but HELL YES. Every author searching for the truth appears to have the virtues of Diogenes, the sensory perception of Helen Keller and all the subtly of a sticky gasoline pump handle. The story will evolve (by someone) into a relative that is obsessed with Dan Cooper comics, who smoked those cigarettes they can’t quite remember, but they had coupons; like every other brand from the 70’s. Kinda like describing a Chuck Norris movie with it being the one where he used martial arts. Oh, and they will add how his favorite restaurant in the world was the Airport ‘Sky Chef’ where he had this habit of filling his pockets with matchbooks at the cashier’s station and using the aft door of the restaurant to exit.

Now that Gray’s book is quoted regarding these mystery matches I have been made aware of some previous discussion on the subject with Special Agent Carr’s input from pages 72 and 73 of this thread. Once again I think a person should decide for themselves when provided the courtesy of source information (Thanks again, snowmman). In May of 2008, the previous telling has Tina lighting a smoke for Cooper in a much less dramatic but more realistic description. Although I would not have been opposed to reading about some Stewardess lighting a match with a steady hand which concealed her heaving chest which strained the very fasteners holding her blouse closed. I just don’t know where that sort of information would be contained in an FBI report. Thus the third generation removal via quoting Gray’s book since that may prop the next pre-plotted theory up. Attached is another version, decide for yourself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sy_JXPixTRA (Don’t worry smokin99 this won’t stick in your head like Brady Bunch or Spongebob themes….. or will it?) Since authors have somehow become instant experts on a subject. I say this since authors are now quoted rather than the origin of their data (weird). Gray’s book has become the latest ‘grail’ a source in and of itself, a sort of Maoist Red Book for some people. In historical text, the author should not be part of the story. I want to know what accurately happened to Custer at Little Big Horn, not how the author drove to the library. There could be an alternative to Tina striking a bunch of matches around sticks of dynamite with the blazing torch being passed to none other than Captain Scott. Quote from ‘Into the Blast’: “Scott left the cockpit himself and headed to the rear of the plane to speak with Cooper. Several passengers turned their heads as he walked past. Scott pretended he was going to speak to a friend, so as not to alarm everyone. Taking a seat next to Cooper, he said quietly, “What’s this about a bomb?” Transition to Gray’s ‘Skyjack’ with: "HE (Captain Scott, my inference) offers to light the cigarette for him. The matchbook he has is blue. The words Sky Chef are on the cover. He leans in close as HE flicks the cardboard stick against the strike pad and watches the sulfur fizzle into flame." "Want one?" He holds out the pack. Why not?" Now the gender confusion is solved (with two minor corrections) by combining the two most authoritative documents produced on DB Cooper this century. Whew that was close, now we have even more irrefutable proof that Duane was Cooper.

No faster had I posted the latest when I received an image from snowmman with the ‘Sky Chefs’ logo matching the ‘Sky Chef’ logo. Which is the one from 1971? Since Sky Chefs serves virtually all airlines and airports, I would assume that Sky Chefs matchbooks would be more common than the airlines various versions. But that is just an assumption. Just like Sky Chefs matches being available in airport restaurants, bars and stores as they may have supplied consumables to those establishments as well. Again just an assumption.

Orange1 the image is from an eBay auction and simply says ‘1970s Matchbook Sky Chef’s’ Just to add to the stew of fear and discourse, I found a ‘Sky Chef’ (singular, without an S) matchbook with no provenance. That’s all I got.

Robert99 triggered my memory of those junior smoker ‘starter kits’ given away in airlines, restaurants and school restrooms. Attached are some images of those very things which were so very common place from yester year. Their legacy does live on in that I’m told heroin dealers usually give away a few samples to new ‘clients’ as a way to develop brand loyalty. I still want to see a “SKY CHEF” matchbook. I know someone will come up with a photo or an excuse, it’s just a matter of time.

RobertMBlevins stated without the benefit of a source: “Sky Chef is a major player in the in-flight meal trade with outlets all over the globe.” Thanks for the education, did you see the title of the post you were responding to? “Sky Chef (singular)” That was a clue so this would not turn into another Dan Cooper comic or Captain Scott talking to Cooper fiasco again. Would it be too much for you to provide a link or URL to this company which is a ‘major player’ called SKY CHEF? What is more common place, SKY CHEF matches or airline matches?