My View
BY DON SORCHYCH | JANUARY 8, 2014
• Janey’s racket
• Animal care
Wednesday Jan. 1, 2014 was a nice day to reflect on hopes for the New Year.
Dec. 31, 2013 however was a disaster. We were on a shortened week, as we were on Christmas, had to have everything to our printer by 6 p.m. and were in a rush. The process is an intellectual one and mistakes happen more often when there are distractions.
Janey’s joint to our west decided to have a shindig with outside music. The sound was deafening, the music was coarse and the bass paced hearts in the building. I called to complain and the woman who answered hung up.
Our accountant/systems guru, David, went to the west end of our building (6702 East Cave Creek Road) after downloading a cell phone app that measures sound. It was 93 decibels! The town code limits it to 75 db. Furthermore the town used to require a special use permit for outside music. The permit requirement has since been struck down.
I learned Town Marshal Adam Stein had left at 11 a.m. and J.P. Maldonado wasn’t on duty so I called the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office. They sent a deputy who asked the owners to reduce the noise. I showed the deputy it was still too loud and he apparently talked to someone from Janey’s again.
A man who professed he was a part owner of the noise-making enterprise said they would tone it down. I told him I planned to go to town hall and file a complaint on Thursday. When I asked him if he was going to continue outside music, he said he would since other businesses do.
Later he returned and asked if was still too loud. My answer was, “Sit in this chair and listen.” He said they would reduce the noise.
David returned to the west end of the building and measured the noise level at 3:15 p.m. It was 91 db.
At that point everyone decided to leave as soon as the pages were sent to the printer.
Thanks for being such a good neighbor, Janey’s!
So, I went to town hall and requested a complaint form on Thursday. I still think the complaint driven system rather than having an enforcement officer makes sense. Apparently town hall had decided to leave early on Dec. 31 since we tried six numbers with no answer.
Oh, for the return of Cave Creek Coffee Company! They had the best coffee, best service, most comfort, Southwest Eggs Benedict to die for, mellow entertainment, great food and they were a faithful advertiser. All the others should strive for that level of achievement.
Hogs and Horses
I wonder when PETA will discover Hogs and Horses? Normally I am not a supporter of PETA and Conservative Rocker Ted Nugent’s joke that the acronym stands for People Eating Tasty Animals was a good foil for their decidedly libtard base and the extreme measures they use to get their way.
I agree that animals should be treated with respect and cruelty to animals should be stopped.
My first experience with T.C. Thorstensen was when this building was built. Thorstensen is a good friend of building owner Dave Daiss, our landlord. Thorstensen was famous for his trained buffalo named Harvey Wallbanger. Harvey showed up for the Grand Opening of the building with Thorstensen on his back and entered all the suites. The buffalo with seated rider are tall and to get the buffalo into the suites the rider tightened the bit, which resembled a bear trap. The animal winced, showing his pain and bent down. I still wish I had objected.
Now though, the successor to Harvey Wallbanger has been trained and I am told Thorstensen imprinted himself on the animal at birth. I don’t know how many buffalos and cattle he has at his new town ranch or how well he treats them but customers should open their eyes to the venue and assure the animals are well treated, trained without painful methods, adequately fed and cared for.
What a number of citizens have complained about already is the buffalo on top of a trailer. On the east end of Hogs and Horses, I assume for advertising purposes, a buffalo stands on top of a trailer. It walks up a narrow ramp to get on top; the food is up there. I am told the buffalo falls off getting up there sometimes. I noticed an emaciated long horn steer up on the trailer roof the other day, so I asked around and am told a steer and buffalo alternate on the roof top. It is also rumored a steer fell off the ramp and broke a leg. The town has received complaints that drivers slow down or stop on the road to see the animals on top of the trailer and have caused near accidents.
In any case, that is not a way to treat animals. In my hunting days I killed the lead buffalo herd bull on the Lakota Indian Reservation in South Dakota. I had said I would never kill a buffalo, but the reservation was going to kill the herd off and bring in elk, which were more profitable.
I am not against hunting, but my hunting days are over except for an occasional rattlesnake. What changed my personal attitude was living for 13 years on our ten acre ranch and watching wildlife daily. How birds and animals treat their young is fascinating as is their family life.
Doves and quail nest on our property. We see coyotes, deer, rabbits and javelina on an almost daily basis. On occasion bobcats, gila monsters and fox visit.
We have arranged things so our last remaining dog, Emily Esther Marie, is safe from predators and attempt to keep her in the house when wildlife visits so they will continue to come and be observed. There is nothing more heart warming than to be greeted by your dog with her tail wagging when you return home. And when she decides to lie near my chair so I can touch and pet her, I know she is and always has been a family member. Increasingly, I feel that way about all the critters that surround us.
