You know, there are a lot of things I like having the number 3 associated with, but number of lockdowns are not one of them. And yet, here we are again.
With everything COVID-19-related going on, it’s been a busy week for those of us in the communications business. Due to some pre-webinar festivities, I was actually on campus at King’s for a little while on Wednesday. It was great to see some of the King’s Communications team, including three I had never actually met in person before. While I was waiting for this (socially-distanced and fully masked) gathering to take place, I saw at least a half-dozen people I knew so it was a bit of “Ol’ Home Week.”
One thing I do like associating the number 3 with is three-day weekends. I decided that this weekend was going to be my “Spring Cleaning Weekend.” I got my “downstairs office” re-arranged and while I still have a lot to do, I’ve also made some real progress. You know me and my To Do lists, they’re never really close to being completed.
NASCAR is off this week but I’ve been watching the odd race on YouTube (watched the 2011 Southern 500 from Darlington and the 2015 Truck race from Talladega) as well as some WKRP in Cincinnati episodes on the ‘Tube as well. I was going to see if YouTube had all of the 1999 reboot on there somewhere but maybe that’s a Sunday task for me.
I did something this week that I don’t normally do and that’s buy something off Facebook Marketplace. A seller in London was offering some Earnhardt cars (1:64) at $5 a pop and one of the cars he had for sale was a very rare car: a green Lowe’s Food Busch series Pontiac that Earnhardt raced at Daytona in 1989. It’s rare because (a) Earnhardt ran Chevys not Pontiacs, (b) Lowe’s Foods was not one of Earnhardt’s regular sponsors and (c) the car is green, not Earnhardt’s traditional black. I did some research and it turns out Earnhardt wrecked his primary car on the last lap of qualifying – he actually ran one more lap after the red flag came out to end practice, slid in some oil and wrecked. My guess is he tracked down some driver that didn’t make the field and bought the car off him. He finished fourth in the race to Darrell Waltrip. (Still don’t like the idea of Cup drivers racing in what is now Xfinity, even when it’s drivers like Earnhardt and Waltrip.)
Anyways, the guy was selling off much of his collection of NASCAR diecasts so I ended up buying quite a few. I now have five of the six Darrell Waltrip 25th Anniversary Series and a few more of the Earnhardt Winner’s Circle Lifetime Series. (I have to see how many of those cars I have and how many I need.)
So, I will shut up about a lot of things (and believe me, it’s safer for someone like me to do so in most cases) but I have to say my piece about the news that the “Holy Roller” tank in London’s Victoria Park was vandalized.
Now I am sure that there will be those whose political and world views will find justification in the actions of this vandal (or “these vandals” as the case my be). And I used the term “vandals,” (and notice there are no other four-letter words preceding it) rather than “activist” or “protestor” or any other terms that people label themselves when they think they’re going to do something that’s going to change the world.
I’m sorry to break it you but spray-painting some (mostly illegible) slogan on a memorial to those men and women who sacrificed so we could enjoy freedom for three-quarters of a century is not a courageous act against whatever internet-popular buzzword we’re all supposed to be fighting against today.
This is vandalism. Pure and simple. So simple that it doesn’t even need to be muddled by arguments over which ideology is behind all of this. Wrong is wrong, no matter who you vote for.
Whoever did this should not be lauded. They should be ashamed. Anybody who supports this should be ashamed and perhaps really think about their beliefs and values.
Sorry for “the rant” as some might call it, but while I may keep my mouth shut about a lot, this is one issue I am willing to speak up about.
Until next time, stay safe and stay healthy,
johnmilner.ca 