Why we wrote these stories Happy holidays, holy-days; Merry Christmas, Christ-mas. Once again, a voice cries out in the wilderness, this time a wilderness of shopping malls and office parties, saying, “Make ready the way …
December 24, 1997
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Stories by Ernie Grimm
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San Diegans who do our dirty work
Junk left by sports junkies at Qualcomm stadium
“When I started here in 1971 as a sweeper,” says building supervisor Rudy Corona, as his flatbed cart zips through the hallways of Qualcomm Stadium, “I made $2.65 an hour. Now I make almost $18.00 …
December 24, 1997
A man in the women's bathroom on Fiesta Island
“The thing I do first,” says John Thomas as he pulls a trash bag out of a can and ties it, “is I go around and grab the bags of trash because the seagulls will …
December 24, 1997
Metro Vacuum in La Mesa cleans abused machines
I would like to sing the praises of Lee Adams as one of “San Diego’s Best” at doing the dirty work. Daily, he cleans the dust, dirt, grime, gook, food, and feces (yes, feces, believe …
December 24, 1997
Alan Jobe's pumps poop out of boats from Chula Vista to Shelter Island
On many boats, the toilet- or marine head, to be technical- empties into a holding tank which eventually fills up and must be emptied, but NOT into the bay. There are pump-out stations for this …
December 24, 1997
When autistic kids don't make progress
Dear Reader, Jennifer Carlisle was a behavioral aide (teacher’s aide) at the San Diego Center for Children School for Autism for 15 months. She started working at the school only a few months after its …
December 24, 1997
UCSD's Dr. Phillip Groves cuts up rats
“My work consists primarily of brain research,” says Dr. Phillip Groves, neuroscientist at UCSD. “The animals that I use mostly are experimental rats, laboratory rats, although I’ve done a number of experiments on different animals …
December 24, 1997
San Diego's dead-animal collector
Mario Lopez, dead-animal collector for the City of San Diego, leads me to his white GMC pickup parked outside the City Environmental Services building in Kearny Mesa. It’s around 11:00 a.m. and he’s been working …
December 24, 1997
17,000 deaths at San Diego County Animal Shelter
“Last year, we dealt with over 31,000 animals in our department alone,” says Lieutenant Jim Wright from behind his desk at the Central County Animal Shelter. “But we don’t have 31,000 people knocking at our …
December 24, 1997
Tennis pro Geoff Griffin, Chargers' Equipment Manager, USD Assistant Basketball Coach, former San Diego Sockers coach, SDSU volleyball coaches, pro bowlers
The last 4 of my parents' 17 children are boys. I am the second to last. Being boys, we loved sports and we did little else but play them. My younger brother Peter and I …
December 18, 1997
What Frank Gagliardi did with $26,000,000 in lottery winnings
When he won, Gagliardi gave his trucking business to his brother — “Hell, who wants to drive a truck when you don’t have to?”—and he left his motorcycle business to his ex-wife after the divorce.
December 11, 1997
Up and down Symphony Towers
“If you have an office building, 1 story, 30 stories, or 80 stories, the owner wants to look forward to a profit. One way, if the economy is good in that market area — you can raise the rents.”
October 2, 1997
Why Caltrans loves ice plant, oleander, and Calif. pepper trees
“Ice plant doesn’t use too much water if you maintain it right. If you want to pump water to it, you can, but it will build up so thick that the roots aren’t even in the ground.”
September 11, 1997
Homes build right on San Diego's Highway 163
"When they were first building these houses, we would go up the freeway and say, 'Who the hell would ever buy a house over there?’ and we ended up buying one," says Patty Williamson of …
July 31, 1997
San Diego apartment owners tell their war stories
"Well, when I started out with the first rental I bought, I was still in college and I had been married two years," Bob Kevane recalls. "I worked at a warehouse downtown. There was one …
June 19, 1997
Inside a genuine 18-wheeler from Bud’s Trucking of Lakeside
They tell Manuel to bring the truck in. Instead of continuing up 805 to Mission Valley, we get off onto 94 east, take it to 125 north, then 8 east through El Cajon, and north on 67, back to Bud’s.
May 1, 1997
Escape from the Chicks and Beer Image: Rush Week at SDSU
“They had anything you could want. Basically it just came down to these were just the coolest guys to hang around with. It just clicked. I was offered a bid last night, and I accepted right away.”
November 21, 1996
Interstate 15 and the prosperity of the ’80s changed Escondido
This is a tale of two cities, both in north San Diego County. One is a small agricultural town surrounded by orange groves and avocado orchards thriving in fertile soil and abundant California sun. Pickup …
October 3, 1996
Golf fanaticism in Rancho Bernardo
Cooper has the Golf Channel in his cable TV package. “It’s golf, golf, golf, 24 hours a day and seven days a week. I always turn it on when I come home to see what they have on.”
August 22, 1996
Reader writer tries to get in the Navy
Al suggested I get into the nuclear field. It required a high score for entry and entailed a lot of training— more than two years — but would translate to a marketable skill in the civilian world.
April 18, 1996
Ocean Beach motor homers – gypsies with sand between their toes
Although Wolfman’s rig is registered, he has no insurance. “I drive real slow and careful.... I don’t even want to talk about it. You talk about the devil, and he’ll be knocking at your door.”
March 14, 1996
Why don't doctors want to take Medi-Cal patients?
“As a rule, Medi-Cal patients are the most demanding as a group of patients. They pay nothing for their services, and they expect everything. They are the group that’s most likely to complain about everything.”
March 7, 1996
San Diego mailmen spends half of their days sorting mail
A letter from San Diego to New York should take three days from the time our letter was dropped in the downtown collection box. Mail from San Diego meets the delivery standard 92 percent of the time.
July 13, 1995