WT> Hell, I -=LIVE=- in the middle of the San Joaquin valley, and I
WT> have NO IDEA WHATSOEVER what they mean by "San Joaquin Valley
WT> Soil".
JOŻ (209) I thought that area code looked familiar. Fresno? I lived
JOŻ in Bakersfield for 12 years.
WT> Kinda' close.  Stockton actually.  About 120mi North of Fresno
WT> on Highway 99.
Getting up more toward Sacramento, huh? I lived in Sac'to one year.
In retrospect, I wish I'd been listening to Rush, because I was there
when he was on the local station.
JOŻ Now, I don't know what *THEY* mean by San Joaquin Soil, but I
JOŻ know that it's "special soil"! It's so special it's the only
JOŻ soil you can get San Joaquin Valley Fever from.
WT> Yep, that's something ELSE San Joaquin Valley Soil is "famous"
WT> for besides being great for growing stuff in.  We're really
WT> "blessed" in the disease department, as we also have
WT> "Tularemia" named after Tulare, Ca. also known as "Rabbit
WT> Fever" or "San Joaquin Valley Spotted Fever".
Oh right! I almost forgot about Rabbit Fever! And I don't know what
is in the air in Chico (except the soybeans) but I ended up in the
emergency room there once with the worst allergic reaction of my
life. Even after the shots, I still had to leave the area--fast!
WT> Living in an area that has not one, but TWO diseases named
WT> after it has GOT to mean something.  Exactly what, I'm not sure
WT> of...
JOŻ Yippee! Did you ever hear the legend that the spores are from
JOŻ dust of the bones from American Indians that had their burial
JOŻ grounds disturbed?  Shades of Poltergeist! ;)
WT> As a matter of fact, I HADN'T heard that!  Thanks for the
WT> info!!!
I have a couple of friends who are teachers in Bakersfield. Next time
I talk to either of them I'll see if they remember more about the
legend. One of them lives in a Uranchia cult commune though, and I
don't know if they ever got a phone. I just hope they finally got
indoor plumbing! 
JOŻ I don't know how true that is, but every time there was a dust
JOŻ storm I'd have a bad allergy attack, and almost all the major
JOŻ outbreaks of Valley Fever follow a dust storm. Weird, huh?
WT> Well, the spores that cause valley fever live in the ground,
WT> and it's not uncommon to have outbreaks after a dust storm.
WT> The last really bad dust storm we had here was about six years
WT> ago, and there were a couple dozen reported cases of fever, and
WT> a couple of deaths.
That probably would have been enough to put me back in the hospital.
Every time there was a big dust storm I'd have to go to the doctor
and get a big shot of cortisone before my eyes swelled shut. 
JOŻ I never had an allergy in my life until I moved there 18 years
JOŻ ago, and I still have them.
WT> The odd thing is that I was born here in Stockton, and up until
WT> I went into the Army in 1969 I NEVER had any kind of an
WT> allergy. After being out of the valley for four-years and a few
WT> odd months I came back and now I'm ALLERGIC to EVERYTHING!!!
WT> Sometime I think that I'm the guy who's keeping the "Actifed"
WT> company solvent...
Wow, I bet you had some kind of immunity from being born there, but
you lost it from being gone for so long! Although, you'd think you
would have built it back up by now, but maybe it doesn't work that
way...once you lose them maybe they're gone.
JOŻ You know, I work security at a plant that actually molds bricks
JOŻ to *look* like that. They call it Kern Whiteriver Rocks. I
JOŻ guess it beats hauling the real thing half across the US.
WT> That sounds very reasonable to me.  There's an outfit up in the
WT> Sierras about an hours drive away from here that quarries a
WT> dusty-rose colored granite.  They saw it into sheets about an
[snip
WT> I know the guy that started the company, and even HE can't
Say, I think I've heard of that. What's the closest town? I've 
probably stayed around there. My ex and I travelled CA a lot.
WT> believe year, mostly to high-end interior decorators and the
WT> like.  Now he is an exporter doing millions of dollars worth of
WT> business every year, and has single-handedly SAVED the
WT> community he lives in by starting a company that hires a lot of
WT> people to do a whole lot of different things, pays a fair wage,
WT> and tries to do right by the folks he has working for him.  In
WT> other words, a "typical `hippie' entrepreneur", and I mean that
WT> in the BEST possible way...
That is fantastic. I knew a lot of people in CA like that, and I know
what you mean. 
WT> Ain't America WONDERFUL???
Ain't it though??
WT> * Ż NRA Life Member, 1972 ® *
WT> JOŻ So, are you an "extremist" too? 
WT> Yep...  Every time I get a "Beg" letter from the NRA, I return
WT> it to their main headquarters with a cover note saying "I Will
WT> will start contributing to you again when you start
WT> representing me again".
Alright! You *are* another "extremist"! Very pleased to know you! I
do hope you remember(ed) to vote in this election. The ballot is in
the March NRA issues and due by May 15th. BTW, I have a list of the
"extremists" who have been targeted to "be expunged" by Mr Heston and
crew if you need it. Did you hear about Heston being one of the
people behind gun control in 68? He was doing pretty much the same
thing he does now, but for the other side. And now he wants to be NRA
President?? I think he's a mole, and so do a lot of other NRA board
members. At the very least, he's a danged bandwagon jumper.
WT> All of my 2nd Amendment contributions now are evenly split
WT> between GOA and JPFO (both of which I've joined as a yearly
Say, that's what I've been doing! It's also what I recommend people
to do if they aren't already a 5+ year (thus voting) member of the
NRA. Otherwise, I say dig in and fight to get it back by voting.
WT> I know that my threat to the NRA won't mean much, all they have
WT> to do is check my contribution records, and they'll see that my
WT> yearly donations rarely exceeded $500.00 a year (and some years
Actually, you might be surprised, especially since there are MANY
people who are doing the very same thing now! If you have internet
access you should subscribe to PRNet and see the letters the people
are sending in...as well as see what many of the board members are
talking about. One of them (who *used* to be my friend) has Tanya's
ear, so what we say is also passed along to her.
WT> much less than that).  HOWEVER, both GOA, and JPFO are really
WT> happy to see my donations of an occasional $25.00 or $50.00.
WT> BOTH of those organizations have sent me thank-you notes.
WT> Something that the NRA NEVER bothered to do...
Yep, that sounds exactly as I'd expect. One of the GOA directors
e-mailed me and thanked me profusely for just saying some nice things
about them on my web page. OTOH, the NRA will sue you if you use the
logo improperly...another thing being discussed heavily in PRNet.
... Happiness: Unlimited Firepower...and a Guy to clean my Guns.
___ Blue Wave/QWK v2.12
* LAKOTA v1.5
--- Alexi/Mail 2.02b (#10000)
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