Aaron Ewer
Aaron Ewers thoughts about everything

Last night I covered a carrier route for someone who had an emergency and couldn’t report to work. It was an interesting experience to be driving around the neighborhoods in the “Land of Excess.” I have to say that you can learn quite a bit about people by observing their homes at 4:00 am when they are sleeping or away.

This time of year one of the hard parts of a carrier’s job is keeping track of who has gone away on vacation and who has come back. I had to start a chart on a white board to keep up with all these wealthy travelers.

The hardest part of this job for someone new to the route is hunting and finding the right houses and driveways. Even in this “Land of Excess” there are people who use the cheapest stick on numbers they can find to put their house number on their mailbox, and it is interesting to see over the course of a few weeks which numbers fall off and which homeowners care not to replace the numbers.

Many mailboxes, the primary way to determine a home’s address, have vines and flowers growing up and over the the post and the box which completely cover or obstruct the numbers. Some boxes have no numbers at all - the homeowner has chosen to nail individual brass or painted numbers onto their garage door or adjacent to the entrance door. Try finding those numbers from the street in the dark and in the rain!

The state needs to pass a law requiring all buildings to be located on a named street or road (not just a highway route number) and to display their numbered address in a manner that will be visible from the road, in the dark and in the rain. The numbers need to be large, bright, reflective and easy to see by a driver coming from both directions of the road. In case of an emergency, this could easily save lives.

With both sides of my family ancestors from England, I have hundreds of cousins in the U.K. Thanks to the internet I’ve actually corresponded with about 2 dozen of them, exchanging emails and reading each other’s blogs or web sites. So I stay on top of all thing U.K. with the thought that we’ll go over to visit when my youngest is ready for that kind of extended travel.

Cousin Harold has mentioned on his blog that he was in an accident recently and missed a lot of work due to the hospital stay and recovery period for his injuries. Over here in the U.S. we would search out a personal injury attorney to help negotiate a settlement with the other party’s insurance company or possibly represent us in court. In the U.K., they retain a personal injury claims management company for help settling traffic accidents, accidents at work, and other injuries.

One of the leading personal injury claims companies in the U.K. is the Claims Squad, where Harold went as soon as he got out of the hospital. Harold likes their No Win No Fee Solicitors reputation for winning large awards.

Over the weekend I had heard a news item about Senator Kennedy having a seizure and transported to a hospital in Boston. This morning I learned that he has been diagnosed with a malignant tumor in the brain. This was quite a shock and very sad news. Our thoughts are prayers go out to him and his family.

I remember when he first took office. Back in 1962, when his brother John F. Kennedy was elected President, his vacant seat in the Senate was filled by Edward Kennedy. He’s held that seat ever since, making Sen. Edward Kennedy the second longest serving member of the Senate.

Although I don’t always agree with his stand on certain issues, there’s no denying he has been a powerful force in our Government for over 45 years.

When I was just a kid I learned a powerful lesson in a podunk courtroom: don’t ever go to court without an attorney. No matter how smart you THINK you are, no matter how innocent you think you are, no matter how obviously you’ve been wronged getting that ticket or charge, if you’ve been charged with a crime do NOT go to court without a good attorney.

Thank goodness the internet can help people find a good attorney much easier than the old days of asking friends or reading through all the expensive ad in the phone book, especially if you have trouble in a part of the country where you don’t already know any good attorneys. In the “old days” people actually had “my attorney” along with “my banker” and “my accountant.” I wonder how many in today’s world could actually name those life partners and have their phone numbers at hand in case of a problem?

Los Angeles Criminal Defense Attorneys | California Felony and Misdemeanor Defense Lawyers

People in Southern California have a top notch firm to help with any criminal charges. Just reading the website of Kestenbaum, Eisner & Gorin is a handbook on legal tips and advice. This firm’s senior partners are all former prosecutors and they have a reputation for aggressively fighting for their client. Their success list is really impressive, and I like reading their blog - it was full of insights into fighting the system. So if you’ve wanted to have “my attorney” you should bookmark their page and put their phone number into your cell phone’s address book because you can call them 24/7 if you are ever in trouble in Southern California. This is Dimitry Gorin, one of the partners who does the heavy duty criminal defense cases:

If you are serious about outdoor sports, like hunting and fishing, you will look for the best gear to take with you. For me, even running about town on errands I take a good knife with me, and if I’m out in the woods or on the lake, I most certainly want a good knife on my belt. With an emphasis on “good.”

Finding a good knife isn’t hard if you shop where the military and law enforcement pros shop for their gear. I like the Ka-Bar knives and found the best selection on the Brigade QM website. At BrigadeQM, all the products are high quality and by the better known brands. Everything has a money-back guarantee, but I’ve never had to use that service - my gear is exactly what I wanted and what I expected and with me taking good care of it, it should last for many years to come. But then again, it is nice to know that if I have a problem, the place I bought is willing to stand behind it.