Chuck: Great Story! Steve
Date: Sun, 6 Nov 2011 14:37:41 -0700 From: chuck.hards@gmail.com To: utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Jupiter transit and GRS, Thurs Nov. 3 and Fri Nov. 5
On 11/6/11, erikhansen@thebluezone.net <erikhansen@thebluezone.net> wrote:
Anything to do with an establishment called the "Acropolis"?
One day I'll tell you about the afternoon I spent in the Astoria jail in 1980...
Sorry Erik, no. It's wholesome. Sort-of. I promise.
I met a young lady about '78 or '79, and fell in love. I was about 20 at the time, she was 16. I asked her to marry me in short order. Well, she was too young, in hindsight I see that clearly now. Also I was not of her faith, yet both of her parents loved me and urged her to marry me. Alas, the parental approval was probably the final nail in that coffin, lol. Anyway, we dated for a while, then her family moved to Washington state, just across the Columbia river from Astoria, Oregon. I had just bought a brand-new Mazda RX-7 (some of you know that I am a "rotorhead", a rotary-engine enthusiast) and decided to drive up there to visit her one long weekend. I had been working all night and all day before departing, but being 22 years old or so, was of course immortal, capable of mighty feats, and drove straight-through to see the girl of my dreams. Somewhere this side of Astoria, I passed an Oregon trooper who got me on radar doing about 74. With too little sleep, I gunned it. I didn't see that trooper again in my rear-view mirror for a while. He had four times my horsepower, but couldn't take those curvy mountain roads as well as the trusty little Mazda. About an hour later, there was the road-block. The chase was over. I pulled-over, got out, was handcuffed and driven to the Astoria jail. My car was impounded in another town about 30 miles away. The jail was full that Friday, so I didn't even get an orange jump suit. I was set on a bench in my own clothes, still in handcuffs, and told to wait for the judge. Back then, a circuit judge came through Astoria only once every two or three weeks. I just happened to get arrested on the day he was in town! While waiting for my case to come up, the local cops were laughing at my exploit. Seems nobody had EVER out-run that particular trooper, and since the local cops were basicaly hippies, with no love lost on the state troopers, they took great delight in the fact that a kid from Utah had outrun old what's-his-name. I had jail-hero status. :-) When my case came up, I was charged with attempting to evade, and speeding. Those were the days of the 55-mph speed limit, so I was 19mph over. One more mph would have added to my charges, but even though I was doing well over 130 at times, he only clocked me at 74. Hehehehe... The judge asked me what I was possibly thinking and where was I going. I told him about my trek to see the girl I loved, that I had not slept in 36 hours, was very sorry and didn't mean to cause so much trouble. He then asked me how much money I had. I still had $500 on me. He took a "boys will be boys" attitude, and fined me $400, saying "I'll leave you enough gas money to get back to Utah, and get your car out of impound. And don't EVER get arrested in my jurisdiction again." Yes, sir! So, I spent a grand total of about 4 hours in the Astoria jail and courtroom, and still got to my GF's house late that night after a cab ride to pick up my impounded car. I was very lucky. The same offense today wouldn't be taken so lightly by any judge.
2 years later, I got a letter from the state of Oregon, telling me that I was again elligible to hold an Oregon driver's license. LOL.
What happened to the girl?
Well, I made one more trip to Washington some months later, but after that we drifted apart. For 30 years.
She is now living with me, having miraculously found me on the internet shortly after my divorce (thanks to the astronomy-related hits, no lie!). She had endured 2 failed marriages in the interrim. You met her at the Liver and Onions meeting. It's also weird that I had a rotary-engine car when we separated, and I had one when we reconnected. I hadn't owned a car with a Wankel engine in all the time in-between.
My now 33-year-old offer to her still stands. I think she's getting close to a decision. :-)
Note to the kids: DON'T do what I did. Judges and state troopers today don't take the "boys will be boys" approach to anything anymore. It was another time, another reality, long, long ago. Those days are gone forever.
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