Sunday morning in post-apocalyptic downtown Redlands

This morning I spent a few hours writing about a soccer player, then headed out to blow off some steam. Let me rephrase that – I left to acquire some necessities, thank you Gov. Newsom.

Rage Against the Machine went with me and Zack de la Rocha’s vocals and Tom Morello’s searing guitar provided the backdrop for my drive.

At the AM-PM in Highland near the 210, I filled my tank and picked up a large coffee. The woman clerk reached out for my $2 with a gloved hand, as if I had leprosy. The novel coronavirus has everyone spooked.

I should have driven west on Base Line and headed home, but I took a left turn onto the 210 and headed for downtown Redlands. After four straight days cooped up, I needed to get out.

So I motored across the wash and took the Orange Street exit and pulled into the parking lot behind Starbucks. I thought about days past, seeing Jim Walker and his football staff and fellow media guy Pep Fernandez there. Now there was nobody and the tables and chairs in front of Rubio’s Coastal Grill and Starbucks were stacked up. Weird.

Caddy corner from Starbucks sits the other caffeine merchant, the Coffee Bean. I found more unused tables and chairs in the patio there — though this establishment (like Starbucks) was open on a take-out basis.

“Not scared of the pandemic?” I said to customer Scott Baker of Redlands as he maneuvered a tan latte in his hand.

“I think it just comes down to common sense,” he said. “I wash, I shower and I avoid crowds. I’m working 18-hour shifts and I need to keep going. I work security for my company and we handle cleaning supplies and toilet paper. The Lojack system on our trucks is all computerized and I have to keep an eye on it.”

I only vaguely knew what he was talking about, but he seemed sincere. And my ears perked up when he said law enforcement types were doing compliance checks in Victorville and Loma Linda, pulling over drivers to make sure they weren’t out joyriding.

Knowledge received, I bid Baker good-bye, adding that I would not shake his hand. He looked relieved.

Hiking across the parking lot to Trader Joe’s, I got an eyeful. There was a line of 40-50 ashen-faced souls, waiting to enter the building in groups of four. The people were silent, like they were being led to the gallows. It was all very post apocalyptic.

Having seen enough, I then returned to my car. I revved up the motor and the “Rage” once again filled my car with its grim rap metal.

“We’ve got to take the power back!” lead singer de la Rocha wailed. “We’ve got to take the power back!”

But how?

Fast Times at San Francisco State

Now at, gulp, 46 years as a journalist, it’s reasonable to assume I majored in journalism.

Actually, I took something called “Recreation and Leisure Studies” at San Francisco State. OK, stop laughing. I got a diploma for it.   

This deal called “New Games” was all the rage back then – cooperative games where neither team won, like pushing the Earth Ball around a big field. Yeah, I did that. I also learned how to whittle in an art class and gave a demonstration speech on how to make a gin fizz. The speech wasn’t that good, but I got an A.  

My cousin, Joe Faulkner, was in some of those classes. He was already living on his own, working part-time and was on the “eight-year” college plan, as he put it.

We sat in the back of the class and cracked wise. We had a professor named Johnson who had a nervous tick of saying “and what-not.” So we’d pass the time by counting his what-nots … 42, 43, 44. Seemed funny at the time.

We also delivered a pizza to a class years before Jeff Spicoli pulled off a similar feat in “Fast Times at Ridgemont High.” My cousin was there and can back me up on that –as can the guy we delivered it to except, well, he’s in prison. Separate blog.

Four decades-plus later, I’d have done things differently — would have gone to San Jose State and majored in journalism. But then I wouldn’t know how to whittle, an underrated skill in these uncertain times.

Toilet paper at last

I finished my shift at the elementary school Monday and headed south for Base Line Street in Highland. There I turned into the Family General Store and headed in. I was thinking Hershey’s bar, but the lines were too long so I left.

That’s when I ran into Highland newcomer Felicia Woods who was wearing a red, white and blue Linus blouse and clutching two packs of toilet paper and two oversized bottles of water. Intrigued, I asked if I could take her photo and she said, “You can if you tell my story.”

Hmmm, “Let’s Make a Deal.” OK, what the heck …     

“I had a migraine about a week ago that lasted for like seven days and I didn’t know what was going on around the world,” Woods said. “By the time I found out, I couldn’t find any toilet paper until today.”

Woods displayed her bounty which included 24 rolls of TP, a marked improvement over the two she had the previous week.  

The Highland newcomer went away happy. Sort of. She also floated a conspiracy theory.

“I called the corporate office and they should call me back,” she said. “It’s OK to ration toilet paper – it’s actually a great idea right now, but it’s not OK to hold it in your back warehouse when people desperately need it.”

Hmmm, I don’t know about all that. But I’m glad she got her TP.

Rose O’Reilly, you gotta love her

By John Murphy

Mention St. Patrick’s Day and my hometown of San Bruno in the same breath and one name pops up: Rose O’Reilly. I smile just thinking about her.

I glance at her and the hubby John on Facebook and I get a warm, fuzzy feeling  – Rose with that mop of red hair and John with his Donegal Handwoven lid.

Besides their Irish good looks (too much blarney, folks?) John and Rose had lovely brogues and sweet dispositions – not to mention the good sense to send their boys Sean, Philip and Michael across the street to play sports for me at John Muir Playground. Actually, I was the winner on that one and it was fun having their little sister Denise along for the ride too.

Oh, and I can’t forget Rose’s “adopted” son, Jimmy Doyle, a Leif Garrett lookalike who lived across the street from the O’Reillys. He mostly ran amok, doing wild jumps on his bike all over town. Jimmy now goes by James and lives in Murrieta, is a retired Naval Chief Petty Officer and, gulp, a grandfather. Where does the time go?  

Asked about Mrs. O, James said, “Beautiful mother in every sense of the word – to her three boys who are now men, to her daughter and to a wayward boy who lived just across the street. Strict, yet loving, and a heart bigger than most. Nothing but fond memories.”

Memories? I have a few. Like the time Mrs. O, thankful for my work on the playground, sent a sack lunch over to me while I was working. The contents? Sandwich, potato chips, apple … and a beer! I’m sure I saved the suds for a special occasion.

Or the time I ate dinner at their house and was just about to cut into a pork chop when Mrs. O grabbed my arm and said, “Morphy (that’s what she called me) pick it up with your own two hands, or the boys’ll be getting’ the wrong idea of ya!”

Rose O’Reilly – you gotta love her. I know I do.  

Notes: Sean O’Reilly ran cross-country and played guitar at St. Ignatius College Prep and Philip and Michael played football … Denise (O’Reilly) Thompson has two sons, Reilly and Charles, who play sports at Serra High … Mills High basketball coach Rick Hanson lived next to the O’Reillys until fourth grade when the family moved.

Easy money

By John Murphy

So I was working four years ago in the Bay Area, where everyone has three jobs to afford their rent.

Then I left one job and began looking for a new one.

“Bagger at Safeway,” I thought. That could nicely augment my job as the sports guy at the Half Moon Bay Review where I was filling in for the ailing Mark Foyer.

So I tooled down Main Street in Half Moon Bay toward the big “S” and, long story short, got the job.

Five days or so later I reported for duty, shown around by a very pleasant woman, Graciela.

Well, maybe it was the thought of bagging groceries of peeps I knew, or perhaps it was the knowledge I also had to clean up barf and other such ickiness (“Cleanup on aisle 2”) that had me reconsidering.

The moment Graciela mentioned “solvents” my mind was made up. I paused a moment, swallowed hard and said, “Graciela, I don’t think I can do this. I’m really sorry, but … ”

That was my first union job and I got paid like $1.98 for my 15-minute stint. My girlfriend got quite the kick out of it.

Some time later I had made the curious decision to move from heaven on Earth (Half Moon Bay) to Hanford in the Central Valley, once home to Slim Pickens.

Imagine my surprise when I opened my mail in Hanford to learn someone was suing Safeway on behalf of the workers and I was entitled to make a claim. I did and — ta-da — yesterday received a check from Commerce West Bank in Irvine. Cha-ching!

It’s not a big check, but it’s something. And I don’t have to clean up any barf.

Introduce Yourself (Example Post)

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

  • Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
  • Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

  • Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
  • What topics do you think you’ll write about?
  • Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
  • If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.

Introduce Yourself (Example Post)

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

  • Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
  • Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

  • Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
  • What topics do you think you’ll write about?
  • Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
  • If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.

Introduce Yourself (Example Post)

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

  • Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
  • Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

  • Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
  • What topics do you think you’ll write about?
  • Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
  • If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.