Karen Etsuko Tachiki (Savel)

George, you may get the grand prize award from Bruce.

Karen Etsuko Tachiki (Savel)

One other thing I forgot to mention, riding public transportation in Guatemala included sharing space with chickens and little pigs. No chickens or pigs in the airplane cabins but always on the buses. And to maximize capacity, the bench seats on the buses were pulled up and moved to the center aisle so that one additional passenger could fit in each row in the aisle, splitting themselves on a small portion of the seats on each side of the bus..And stopping for a restroom break meant that the bus stopped on the road and people hurried out to the field, rested and returned to the bus. No public restrooms on long bus rides.

Bruce Wilson

Why yes, I am George's straight man.  I knew he would find it all along. He'll be along with photos of Jacobsons (which incidentally originated in my mom and dad's home state of Michigan) shortly.

We (George and I) are thinking of assembling an old-timers College Bowl team, but we need two or three more players. As I recall, the closest CV has come is when Marilyn Eldridge's boyfriend captained the team at SDSC BITD (before 1970, maybe 1966-67).

I'll take CV trivia for $500 and hope I stay out of double Jeopardy.

.

Back to Sports:

CV Park View won (5-0) with a strong pitching performance by Lizarraga.

Anyone remember The Star News?

http://www.thestarnews.com/sports/park-view-little-league-hopes-to-come-up-big-in-little-league-world-series-elimination-game/

... and we were all still in high school when the Brasilian National Anthem became famous:

Didn't that tall girl remind us all of Christine Macevicz?

Linda L. Keating (Keating)

-.- August 22, 2016 Dear Computer/Internet Wizard Kings, etc., (a.k.a. Bruce & George, etc.),,Thank you! Thank you for posting: (August 21, 2016 #2268) Stan Getz & A. Gilberto beautiful song/video, "The Girl From Ipanema",. & plus pictures of Kennedy's visit to Downtown San Diego during the 60's, & every other speck of Message Forum wonderfulness that any/ALL of you amazing Lancers have posted,, Wow,, really super, great work.. Appreciate ALL/EVERYONE'S comments & posts & photo's very much, as always. So good seeing you all @ Rosie's to celebrate 70th! Thank you one & all again for everything! Please let us know how/ where/when to sign up for Bowling League! What a blast it would be to bowl again. Let's bowl! - All the best, LLK -.-

Bruce Wilson

Karen T:

Were those pigs and chickens "containerized" or free ranging? Did  they get to ride free if they sat in someone's lap?

Even Idler curiousity, but do you have any recollection of the cost?

I'm not positive, but I think this is the same bus I used to ride to CPJHS.

I would wager that there were significant discounts for hangers on.

Whoops, lost the photo. This will have to be aplace holder.

Bruce Wilson

OK, one more because it's on topic and that's the way it was or maybe still is.

Loading the chicken bus. Many of the market-day vendors and customers arrived on these garishly painted vehicles. Some years back, enterprising Guatemalans went to the US and bought up obsolete school buses, drove them down, and turned them into intercity buses. The new owners painted them in multiple bright colors, layered on chrome wherever they could, and gave them fancy names. The bus above has a chrome luggage rack on the top where an assistant called a brocha (brush) sits while the bus does pickups. The brocha loads luggage, collects fares, and herds the passengers on when the bus is ready to leave. On the road, the drivers tend to be--how can I say it generously--overly daring. Once, while on a blind and precarious mountain curve, two chicken buses traveling bumper-to-bumper passed our tour bus going flat-out, obviously in a race. Jorge, our tour director, shook his head and mumbled under his breath. The wise put their affairs in order before spending much time on such buses. Why are they called chicken buses? Because, generally, no livestock is allowed in the passenger compartment, unless it is small enough to fit on one's lap. According to Jorge, the chicken buses will be phased out in the next few years in favor of a more modern transportation system.

Chicken Bus (lowest of three levels of bus transport) loaded and ready to go.

It’s called a Chicken Bus because of the likelihood of encountering some type of animal while riding the bus.  One man reported that he witnessed two goats on a Chicken Bus tethered to the roof rack.  Your most common traveling livestock will be some form of poultry contained in a basket and carried upon the lap or in the overhead rack above it’s owner’s seat. 

Bruce Wilson

Karen opened a whole new can of  chicken soup so to speak.

I couldn't pass this one up.

John Carleton Cowherd

When I was in Guatemala last month, we had our own private cicken bus (without the chickens).  My favorite memory of following a chicken bus involved a bicycle.  The guy on top passed the bicycle down to a guy in the door who placed it on the ground and held it upright. The bicycles owner then climbed onto the bike, and rode off.  The bus never stopped.

Bruce Wilson

Good one John. Is it on Youtube? Apparently not yet. Here's the best I can do on short notice.

Here's 28 minutes worth if you've got spare time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FfMyEUyqHM

Karen Etsuko Tachiki (Savel)

I do not remember the cost of a bus trip but I would guess it was very inexpensive. I was on a shoestring budget, managing the cost of travel by staying with an American friend who was living there at the time. I remember buying tortillas at the open market, cents for a dozen. I imagine life in Guatemala is a little different today, glad to see those buses still exist. I would also guess although things are different it remains a third world country. Maybe the restrooms are structures not just open fields.  Where were you located John? and did you go to Tikal. Tourists most likely do not fly in DC3's and land on fields? 

Bruce Wilson

Ask Lochte about restrooms in the Southern hemisphere. He lost all his endorsement contracts.

Anyway, a number of us misbehaved in Mexico. We paid our "fines" when we had to, came home and cried crocodile tears over our lost money, but we didn't report being robbed.

John Carleton Cowherd

Karen:  Most of my trips were around Lake Atitlan or other towns in the western highlands.  My last trip was to Huehuetenango, which is Northwest of the lake.  See my post several pages back about our Mission group "Living Water World Missions.  We have a website and a Facebook page.  I have not been to Tikal, but have seen the ruins at Tecpan.

Bruce:  I enjoyed the video of the trip between Sololala and Antigua.  I have done that trip many (12) times.  I was in that marketplace in Antigua last month.

Bruce Wilson

John:

I'm glad to see you posting here. I'm proud of your volunteer work and welcome the  added perspective you bring. Likewise, Karen.

Not from HHS. From the Southern Hemisphere. Very famous. I met him.

Karen Etsuko Tachiki (Savel)

Some of the chickens were contained in crates, kind of rickety but sufficient to contain them. I think the little pigs were in some kind of burlap bags. The bags were kept under the seats and I think the little critters had fleas because I seemed to have had a lot of flea bites during the ride.No baby chicks scattering around the buses, I imagine that would have been quite a scene. And that video had a couple of shots of people sitting in the aisle just as I remember it was in our buses. The people on either end of the bench seat had a slightly uncomfortable ride but better than standing for a couple of hours. The experience might be described as packed like sardines and possibly as frangrant as sardines. I have to say that the buses in the video were not as crowded as the ones we rode in, so maybe buses are bigger or times are better and more people have their own vehicles/motorcycles for transportation. 

John, my friend lived in Antigua when I visited but had previously lived in Huehuetenango. I did not get to visit Huehuetenango. We did visit some of the villages around Antigua and she had a car, a giant American station wagon. But when we traveled further away we took the famous chicken buses. Hope you get to Tikal in a future trip, the ruins are incredible. The video reminded me of a great travel experience. Thanks Bruce.

Bruce Wilson

I can't recall any chickens in Hilltop Circle, but there was a mean rooster on Second Ave where Xavier Urbina was living which chased me up a set and stairs and wouldn't let me back down. I can't remember how I escaped.

I discovered today that the Fernandez family Frank & Vera were listed at #236 Hilltop Circle in 1952. Phil Bryant's family was @ #145. Fernandez was in the court near the school and closer to the store. I wonder when they moved. 

Interestingly some folks got an occupation listed in the phone book in those days. Some generic like "USN", others more specific e.g. "bartndr Silver Dollar".

Bruce Wilson

Can't seem to get away from those buses. "Pig" Bus (not Guatemala).

Bruce Wilson

There are still some lemon trees in CV besides Rosie's.

We have not completed our survey yet, but the preliminary research found these. The one on your left is unusual to say the least. 

Bruce Wilson

LLWS

In a battle between two closely matched squads, the Park View Alligators* (CV all-star boys) lost a hearbreaker. It was a very good game to watch.

Daniel Leon and Joshua Bruce.

*NOT really. When we won the CV Little League Championship we were the McAllister Mortuary Yankees, but I guess the custom of naming teams has vanished along with those lemon orchards.  By an odd quirk CV beat Texas' McAllister Park last Saturday.

Bruce Wilson

And ... 

Proposed Pot Tax Would Generate $22M For San Diego In First Year, City Says

Will pot merchants soon come to dominate local city councils? Getting support for tearing down condominiums and replacing them with marijuana fields? 

La cucaracha, la cucaracha,

ya no puede caminar

porque le falta, porque no tiene

marihuana pa' fumar.

 

Ya murió la cucaracha

ya la llevan a enterrar

entre cuatro zopilotes

y un ratón de sacristán.

http://www.kpbs.org/news/2016/aug/23/san-diego-measure-to-tax-marijuana-would-generate/

Rosalee May (Rosie) O'Day (Mason)

Great pictures, Karen.  Thank you so much for posting them and for Steve taking them.  I've decided I like aprons  --  they cover a multitude of sins.

Nancy, Ward Lannom went to high school with our son Blake Mason.  Is he your son-in-law or son?

Barbara Sindelar (Seagren)

Andie mentioned my involvement with PowPAC, Poway's Community Theatre, and suggested a road trip to see a play. If there's interest, we could meet for a pre-supper. Or, even better, John and I would be happy to host a post-show reception, either at our home or at the theatre. Visit powpac.org to see our 2016-17 season.

Secondly, would anyone like my Mom's copy (excellent shape) of "Images of Ameria - Chula Vista" by Frank M Roseman and Peter J Watry Jr.? It's got zillions of captioned photos.

Thanks to everyone who posted photos of the 70th birthday gathering. We may have gone over the hill, but that just means we're picking up speed!!!

Bruce Wilson

Here's looking at you kids.

More readable version for fellow cataract sufferers.

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/08/05/15/article-3725089-36E84BFC00000578-38_964x427.jpg

Bruce Wilson

We have  been bothered by "noseeums" this Summer.

Not badly enough for this though:

Bruce Wilson

I started looking at the NASA site a number of years back.

It's become intermittent.

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap070205.html

Rosalee May (Rosie) O'Day (Mason)

Hey Everyone,

Linda Keating came up with a wonderful idea!  Dennis and I and Linda are meeting on Thursday, September 1, at the Balboa Park Organ Pavillion for the free concert.  "The Legends" will be playing oldies, and it sounds like a hoot!  We are going to bring chairs and some burritos for our dinner and there is probably going to be a plate of goodies for dessert. 

We want to invite all of you! 

We are meeting at around 6:30 pm in the back along the wall.  If you haven't been to the free concerts, they are usually wonderful (and you can't beat free).  No prior commitment necessary.  Just join us if you are so inclined.  Bring your chair and your own food it you like (or goodies to share). All food optional.  Just come!  We'd love to see you! 

Rosie