January 16, 2015
Some observations about our trip to the far East (I just realized that is very Euro-centric, so, to us is it the far West?): I haven't seen a full service gas station in the U.S. in a couple decades. There were a couple down in Phoenix still trying to utilize pump jockeys but they have long since disappeared. On the interstates, everything is SELF SERVICE. It's normal to think that this is somehow a world wide trend, but here's the deal in Thailand. They not only still have full service, but the attendants wear uniforms, just like we did on Route 66, back in the day Check this out:
Full service attendants at a Shell station in Chiang Mai, Thailand
Yes, it's a woman attendant with a uniform and her name over her heart actually washing our windshield! Shades of 1962!
I've been back from Thailand a week now and I've still got jet lag! Crazy. Can't seem to get back on schedule, super tired, still waking up at 2:30 in the morning, a burning behind they eyes, the Zombie stare, I run out of gas in the middle of the day. Now that I run through the symptons, I hope it's just jet lag and not the new normal for a 68-year-old guy!
I had a lunch time book signing and talk yesterday for "The 66 Kid" in Wickenburg, which is a one hour, 55-mile run from Cave Creek. Sold a bunch of books. Great crowd.
A Comment On The Sorry State of Editorial Cartooning In The U.S.
"I heard on PBS Newshour last week that more political cartoonists were killed in France on the 7th than are employed in the US by dailies."
—Scott H. O'Connor
