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Grinning, I worked the levers and lowered my bucket. Drawing the teeth down and back, I chewed my first hole in the soil of Las Vegas, one of several I would dig over the next 90 minutes. Operating the 315CL Caterpillar Hydraulic Excavator at the Heavy Equipment Playground set me…
Read moreAs a child he witnessed magic. Among the spires of orange and russet rock, in the shadows of parapets ribboned with plum colored bands left by long receded seas, he watched as the Hopi medicine man placed the tip of an eagle feather against his mother’s neck and sang. His…
Read moreMy brother Curt and I were sitting in the dining room of the Little America Hotel in Flagstaff, AZ after our ski trip to Telluride when I said, “Look something up on your phone, will you? See if you can find out the steepest pitch a person can ski without…
Read moreWhen I was eight, I saw a vision of my future. According to Argosy magazine, by the time I was thirty I would be getting around with a jet pack. I would be rocketing off to work with 500 pounds of thrust on my back. At night I would be…
Read moreIt was awful, one of the most disgraceful examples of urban blight imaginable. Block after block of gorgeous buildings gone to seed, paint peeling, plaster crumbling, porches sagging, weeds, filth and decay. And there on the porches impoverished retirees clinging to the last vestiges of life, sick, dying, tubes sticking…
Read moreWhen the squadron leader gave the signal, we hurried forward, crouching and firing, trying to get to an overturned cable spool where we could find cover. Or I should say they were firing, the other guys on my team. They were plugging away, spraying the field with ordinance, taking no…
Read moreHere’s a tip for any would-be hikers out there. Don’t trust the Internet. The trouble is anyone can post anything on the Internet, and if it meets the criteria of Google’s algorithm it can be driven to the top of the search engine rankings, laying in wait like a coiled…
Read moreWhen I was a boy of about nine I had a sexual awakening. A friend and I were wandering along a rural road, kicking cans, throwing stones and inspecting the debris along the roadside, when we came upon a pile of discarded magazines. It was quite a find. Those magazines…
Read moreI like to watch the Amazing Race. It’s one of my favorite shows. With each new episode the show’s producers must find interesting and compelling new challenges for the race’s contestants, tests of grit and fortitude that have included everything from diving off a 30-foot platform into frigid water to…
Read moreSome warning labels are ridiculous. A warning label on a chainsaw says: Do not attempt to stop chain with hands. A warning label on a wheelbarrow says: Not intended for highway use. A warning label on a mattress says: Do not attempt to swallow. The lengths we go to prevent…
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