My final memory of that training day – Saturday, May 26, 1979 – was Jim Shoffner handing me a fat three-ring binder to study. It was the instruction manual for the ECRM 7600 (today they’re in PDF form online and… READ MORE
Image courtesy of Roger Brown at Pexels. https://www.pexels.com/@roger-brown-3435524/
I got up this morning about 3:30 to use the bathroom. When I turned on the light I saw something move. There, on the bathroom floor, stood a cockroach – not one of the cute TV commercial cartoon roaches that… READ MORE
Last night I was talking to Mom about my visit today with Dr. Norman Friedman, a local dermatologist. I had several objects on my face I wanted removed, plus my family doctor recommended I have him look at a mole… READ MORE
Life has changed dramatically since I was a boy, so dramatically I sometimes must remind myself I’m the same person who got up to change the TV channel, then tune the correct color balance. The world of my childhood was… READ MORE
“Attention grocery store shoppers: Mr. Stone has found the one item he intends to purchase and is heading to the front of the store. Drop what you are doing and RUN for the cash registers, NOW! Stampede if you must,… READ MORE
Two TWA 707s sit on the tarmac at the Torejon flightline in Madrid, Spain in 1963. One of these planes would take me and my family back to the United States. Image by Del Stone Sr.
My flying days are behind me. I remember the exact moment I discovered my fear of flying – it was on a trip to visit my sister and her husband in Dearborn, Mich. I was 14 and traveling alone for… READ MORE
Image courtesy of Pics4free by way of a Creative Commons license.
I’ve never been to a high school reunion and I likely never will. No, I wasn’t picked on – no more than anybody else. There are fates worse than being picked on. I was ignored. I wasn’t good looking. I… READ MORE
Image courtesy of the St. Louis Circuit Attorney's Office
I’ve been a gun owner for many years. I believe a gun is a tool, and like any tool it can be used for good or for ill. But I wonder if the time has come when maybe we should… READ MORE
Image courtesy of Flickr user Alvin Trusty by way of a Creative Commons license. https://www.flickr.com/photos/trustypics/
Do you know how to drive a stick shift? I received an unnerving introduction to stick shifts when I was 14. My dad and I had been out hunting that day. When we got back to the truck, he climbed… READ MORE
The author at the '94 San Diego Comicon. Image courtesy of Lurene Haines
In the summer of 1994 I participated in the San Diego Comicon as a guest. It was to be my first and last visit. My credentials hardly qualified me as a “guest.” I went there largely on the coattails of… READ MORE