Pawn Shops

Jerry Childers was a guitar picking friend who worked in a pawn shop. One day he decided to leave our band, quit the pawn business, move back to his home town, get married, and become a mailman. As far as I know, that was what he did because I never saw him again.

Before he left town, he sold his Gibson Trini Lopez and introduced me to the owner of the pawn shop and recommended that I take his place. That was the beginning of my pawnbroker career and a steep education curve. I became the local "expert" on musical instruments and cameras.

That is why I enjoy watching "Pawn Stars" and "Cajun Pawn" on the History Channel so much. Actually real life at Doug's Pawn Shop would have made a better TV show because of all of the bazaar things that happened there. I am also pretty sure that these "reality" shows are mellowed out a lot to make them palatable for TV viewers. A television show could never match the real life adventures that happen in places like auctions, pawn shops, and touring rock bands. Most people wouldn't believe it anyway. I know, I've done all those things.

Kansas Wind Turbines

If you think it is windy now....wait until they get things hooked up and turned on.

Actually, with the oil producers scrapping the bottom of the wells and the governor signing a tax bill that will most likely bankrupt the state, the answer may be blowing in the wind. Wind is the major natural resource in Kansas that will never run out or go away.

Some people think they are noisy or they kill birds. I presume that these people have never seen a strip mine or tried to figure out what to do with spent nuclear fuel.

What do you think? Iis wind a good source of energy, especially in wind rich places like Kansas?