Highway Patrol

Yup, Wisconsin State Patrol pays a visit; again.

This time with a 1956 Chevrolet 210 4-door sedan including dark blue on white paint and the still-familiar door badge.  In the 1950s Wisconsin was transitioning from motorcycles and under powered patrol cars to V8-driven high speed patrol and pursuit vehicles.  Chevrolet was a natural fit as a consequence of their reliable small block V8 motors, availability of a statewide maintenance network and a lower fleet cost than Chrysler or Ford.  

click on image for a closer look

This vehicle was identical in virtually all respects with the Chevy Bel Air; hosting the same drive train (engines and transmissions) chassis and suspension.  As a trim line the Bel Air sported costlier chrome and flashier trim.  Police agencies eschewed such extravagance and opted for the less-ostentatious utilitarian appearance of the 150 and 210 models.  

Our State Patrol rolled courtesy of a 265 cu. in. V8 equipped with a 2-barrel carburetor rated at 170 HP.  A few vehicles in the fleet were upgraded to the 4-barrel Power Pack 205 HP model.  A 3-speed manual transmission was standard for patrol duty.  Naturally, this was a vehicle with rear-wheel drive and equipped with fleet specification rear axles, heavy duty springs, shocks and reinforced frames.

Standard equipment included a single rotating red gumball roof beacon, a driver's side spotlight, a roof-mounted whip radio antenna, hi-output fender-mounted siren and painted steel wheels including dog-dish hubcaps.

Notable in this photo is the absence of the trooper's ubiquitous Smokey Bear hat.  That's because he is outfitted in winter kit including a cold weather fur service cap and his Sam Browne belt. 

You're probably wondering if there was a Motorola radio lurking in that cruiser.  The answer is of-course.  By the mid-1950s Motorola enjoyed a virtual monopoly on law-enforcement radio contracts.  Motorola radio technology enjoyed operability across agencies, exceedingly reliable rural coverage and factory support based in Chicago and other major population centers.  By the time 19655-56 rolled-around, virtually all state patrol sedans nationwide were equipped with Motorola radios.

And if you're a bad guy fleeing the long arm of the law you may have a fast set of wheels; but you can't outrun Motorola.... 

1955 Chevy in LAPD Livery

 

New Species!

We're excited to share about a new exotic species that now calls the the Great Lakes system home.  

The rare spotted catfish is genuinely one of a kind. This elusive freshwater creature has never been seen by most, some even argue its existence.

Spotted catfish tend to have a docile temperament until you try to touch them, which is when they will bite you and swim away with a smug demeanor.  They have been known to eat other fish and will chase bright, shiny lights in the water.

 

Bedtime

Just back from taking doggo out to tinkle before bedtime.

 

It’s quiet here in flyover country; yet now that the solstice is past things are coming to life.  Yes, even when you live halfway between the equator and the North Pole.

The Pink Moon is almost full.  The ducks are chuckling and quacking down at the big pond.

And we heard the first plaintive peents from the returning timber doodles.

Spring peepers are defrosting in the on deck circle…..
 

April Astronomy

If you are reading this you have ample notice about tomorrows' full moon - called the Pink Moon. 

The term ‘Pink Moon’ actually does not imply that the moon is pink.  The term derives from the spring appearance of native ground phlox and their pink blooms that coincides with the April full moon.  I recommend that if viewing conditions are good tomorrow night that you step outside around 9 PM so you can witness the moon at its largest.  

The April full moon is also known as the Sprouting Grass Moon, the Egg Moon and the Fish Moon.  The Algonquin people knew this as the Breaking Ice Moon while the Dakota identify this as the When The Ducks Come Back Moon.  These native tribal names ring true around here.

More here from the Old Farmer's Almanac... 

A Day In The Life Of A Retired Guy

 

Started my day with making the dough.  

Easy peasy.

Braised and deboned a couple wild turkey hindquarters for soup, assembled a batch of Lenten tuna salad, prepped for Wednesday’s class and closed with that dough.

Daily Bread!

Entirely possible my kitchen likely smells better than yours...

American Culinary Dominance

The TV dinner represents a major shift in our 20th Century lifestyle - the moon shot  moment the aluminum-plated frozen meal met the living room.  To be clear, I haven't had a TV dinner in more than five decades; however eating in the living room persists as a cultural shift.

Believe it or not, this uniquely American gastronomical contribution to our rich culture heritage has an origin story involving C.A. Swanson & Sons.  Seems that following Thanksgiving in 1953, the company found itself with 260 tons of unsold frozen turkey sitting in ten refrigerated rail cars.  

Gerry Thomas, a Swanson salesman, inspired by the tiered aluminum trays used by airline commissaries envisioned a complete frozen meal that could be heated and consumed smack dab in front of a television.  In 1954 Swanson launched the TV Dinner and sold 10 million turkey dinners that year.  The original price was 98 cents. 

Naturally, this coincided with the launch of the space race and all things aluminum and before too long menu offerings included entrees like fried chicken, Salisbury steak, meatloaf and eventually a fourth compartment featuring a dessert such as a brownie or fruit cobbler.  Swanson ditched the 'TV Dinner' name from their packaging by 1962; nevertheless, just like Kleenex tissues the name stuck as part of our vast genericized American cultural lexicon.

With the proliferation of microwave ovens, by the mid 1980s plastic and paperboard packaging conspired to deliver your frozen gourmet feast in less than ten minutes!  

Sure, I'm being modestly snarky because I'm a food snob but I admit that this mash-up of industrialization and frozen food technology was a boon to working families struggling to get dinner on time and on the table.  Trust me, I've eaten my share of frozen Banquet turkey pot pies served at the temperature of molten lava on the surface of the planet Mercury.   You might have too.

Anyway, the Chopped Sirloin of Beef (hamburger) swimming in a ubiquitous brown gravy highlighted a partnership between Swanson and Pepperidge Farm featuring a blueberry muffin in the fourth compartment thus elevating the culinary experience to the level of festive celebration.  Mad Men advertising brilliance!

Between you and me the inclusion of crinkle-cut fries and buttered peas is a monument to the pinnacle of American industrial processed food know-how, sodium content and poor food pairings.  The birthday candle and even the smiling cat screams domestic tranquility.

Dammit; this is the Right Stuff.  This is what Made America Great!  

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Happy Endings All-Around

Some of you readers may recall my experience with applying for Medicare the summer of 2020.  My application for coverage was denied.

Yup.  This was a consequence of my being born in another country; Germany in-fact.  No matter that both my parents were American citizens.  No matter that I have been paying into the system forever and held a valid US passport. The Social Security Administration had me classified as an undocumented non-citizen and therefore ineligible.  My application was rejected.  If anyone tells you that illegal immigrants are lining-up to collect Medicare and Social Security benefits I am living proof that they are either lying to your face or ignorant.  But I digress.

I can only speculate; but this was likely a bureaucratic record-keeping holdover traced to my registration for the draft in the very early 1970s.  The local draft board was somehow convinced that because I held both a US Army birth certificate and a German birth certificate my dual citizenship status would entice me to flee the country and thereby circumvent any attempt at conscription and a all-expense-paid trip to Vietnam. The fix was I had to renounce any claim to German citizenship.  

There was paperwork and a trip to the federal office building.  And after I raised my right hand and swore an oath to 'absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen'.  I was issued a Certificate of Naturalization and as a sole citizen of the United States of America my draft-dodging moment was over.  

The people over at the Social Security Administration eventually cleared-up any confusion over my citizenship status and I am covered by both Medicare and Social Security.  A happy ending to a stressful three months.

The other happy ending was on January 23, 1973.  The year of my high school graduation  Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird announced an end to the military draft and move to an all-volunteer military.  POOF!  Any chance of conscription vanished.  

After I retired, I was moving some personal files, and found this precious piece of history... 

My draft card; a bit worn and dogeared, but basically intact.  

Throughout most of our country's 250 year history the draft has come and gone.  General George Washington groused about the unsoldierly quality of state militias during the revolution against Great Britain and pushed for universal conscription.  Congress put the kibosh on the entire notion.  

During the war between the states both the Union and Confederacy enacted drafts.  The Union's Enrollment Act of 1863 was particularly controversial inasmuch as it allowed wealthier individuals to pay a $300 fee or hire a surrogate to avoid serving in the military. 

World War One and the Selective Service Act of 1917 created local draft boards to determine exemptions emphasizing 'selective' service based on agricultural and industrial manpower needs.

During the Second World War the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 instituted the first peacetime draft in history.  At its peak it processed millions of men necessary to meet the unprecedented manpower needs for fighting a war on two fronts.  

Conscription continued at the close of hostilities as a consequence of the Cold War and need for a standing army.  Nevertheless, by the time the Vietnam war peaked the draft had become a source of increasing social unrest largely because of the inequities resulting from student deferments and the lottery system.  The recommendations of the Gates Commission led to the demise of the draft and transition to an all-volunteer military. 

Even though the draft is not active, in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan President Carter resumed registration in 1980 requiring men born in 1960 or later to register with the Selective Service System as a contingency addressing any extreme national emergency.

The all-volunteer shift has changed the military from a temporary obligation for many to a professional career path with higher retention rates than a conscript force.  When a service member sticks-around for one or more decades the military retains the institutional knowledge and technical expertise that would otherwise be lost when a draftee rotates out after a couple of years.

Volunteers require higher pay and benefits allowing the military to set higher standards for aptitude resulting in higher education, morale and better discipline.  It should come as no surprise that the military enjoys higher education levels than the general public.  The quality of the military has not suffered.

In a letter to James Monroe in 1813, Thomas Jefferson wrote of; 'The necessity of obliging every citizen to be a soldier.  We must train...our citizens and make military instruction a regular part of collegiate education.  We can never be safe until this is done'.

Jefferson's vision of mandatory service is certainly noble; and most families nowadays no longer have a member in the service.  Yet the volunteer force is the best trained, best educated and best-equipped ever.  And among my own circle of friends, neighbors and acquaintances I don't have to cast my net very far to locate somebody who has voluntarily served or is presently serving.

On a personal note, in 1980 I graduated with a Masters Degree in Education and after three years as a classroom teacher promptly lost my job. With a newborn daughter and a world of declining student enrollments and school closures my teaching career was looking a bit bleak.  Maybe even grim.  Only 25 years old a career change had a high probability of success.  Figuring I should leave no stone unturned as to options I spoke with a recruiter.  A Navy recruiter.  The Navy was as interested as I was having a deeper discussion with a 25 year-old with a couple of college degrees.  My spouse at that point in time put the kibosh on any further discussions.  Same for relocating.  That spouse is now a long-gone former spouse.  The newborn has a family of her own.  I pursued a wildly-successful business career and am married to the best spouse on the planet.  Happy endings all-around for everyone involved; including the former spouse.  Nevertheless, with more than a wee bit of wistfulness, I wonder some days how a career in the military might have turned-out.

Raising a toast to all who have served our nation and continue to do so.

Cheers!