April 13, 2005
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The Daily News
1 I really love Tuesday night TV. It’s always playing in the background when I am doing my writing and reading and planning and all, but you have American Idol followed by House. I’m not sure which character I prefer: Simon, or House. Anyone else out there watching House? If you haven’t, your time has come. Just great stuff.
2 So Thuy Ann and I went i.s.o a place for Senior Picnic on Monday and wound up over at Almaden Lake. It was slightly windy, overcast, but our imaginations let us see that with the playground and the beach, it would probably fare well as a potential picnic spot.
3 Still, the day was semi-overcast, and the water was rippling a little weird. I jokingly mentioned that it was a perfect place for a murder, or for a dead body. Not a great joke, but looking out over the rippling waters, I couldn’t help but feel a little as though I were in a Hitchcock movie.
4 Maybe it was the NewsCenter 4 camera truck, or the Channel 48 camera truck, or just the young mom and her daughter walking along the sandy area, but there was a definite eerieness there, almost a windy presence.
5 We checked out the boating rules, walked along the shore, figured out stuff like where we might set up the picnic, the inflatables, the volleyball, etc. It was difficult picturing anything even resembling a picnic, or barbecue, or balloons or streamers; the day moved on; the water rippled as though portending more foul weather, and we packed it in.
6 I even took a few pictures of different angles so that I could share them with the class. The lake still moved to the top of the list as far as potential picnics, even though it just didn’t feel quite right.
7 Life went on; I went home, had a little dinner, sat to write the DN, and checked e-mails, the usual.
8 On awakening yesterday, I walked out to my driveway, picked up the newspaper, and headed inside for a good morning read, and a nice cup of coffee.
9 I usually find reading the paper a relaxing means of spending my mornings. I read, skim, and comb the paper for DN items. I was in the midst of busying myself with all of that, when I turned to page 3B of the Valley Extra, a special section of the Merc. I read about ESUHSD finance chief Jack Mahrt’s departure, and just shook my head. After a while, all that ESUHSD stuff gets to a guy, so I kept skimming around, when my eyes focused on a chilling headline:
Police pull car from Almaden
Lake; body of 77-year-old
man found in driver’s seat
San Jose police pulled a car from Almaden
Lake Park on Monday morning and found the
body of a 77-year-0ld man in the driver’s seat.
His identity was not released…
10 That’s just eerie.
11 And I’m not one to be overly superstitious, but that sent a cold chill up and down my spine. Evidently the driver was seen entering the lake “with a splash.” The car was found at a dpeth of over 30 feet, and was upside down in the east end of the lake, just opposite the Almaden Expressway.
Here’s a picture I took of the east end of the lake.
12 I’m not really sure what to make of all of that, but it was certainly another in a continuing series of strange and eerie coincidences that have been occurring for several weeks now.
13 I’m going to go to bed now.
14 Before I do, I’d like to wish the Piano students a great big good luck tonight at the Parent Meeting, which begins at 6. Go out there and play like you practiced, and make us all proud. There’s no point in getting nervous, and every point in walking out there like you own the world!
15 Okay then, so long, kids.
16 Go out and make it better.
