The Chinese face-reading workshop listed on page 27 in the July 31 print issue has been rescheduled from Saturday, Aug. 2, to Saturday, Aug. 9.

The complete info is as follows:

Eric Cuestas-Thompson and Michael Bamba explore the benefits of Chinese face-reading in a workshop from 2 to 4 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 9. Free. Guests must be age 16 or older. Call 245-6057 or visit www.thosefengshuiguys.com for info. Held at In Balance Counseling, 6107 E. Grant Road.

I'm so glad we decided to take a road trip this past week for our summer vacation. It was good for our souls, and made us happy to drive back into Tucson.

Our trip took us through Palm Springs (stopping at Hadley's for a banana-date shake of course), then LA. (Anyone seen a movie at the Arclight Hollywood at the Cinerama Dome? Mr. Grimm should have seen Mamma Mia! there.) Finally, we headed to San Diego (beaches and Comic-Con). What I like about road trips most is we spend most of the week laughing. It's the best gift I think we give each other every holiday.

Considering there are two more weeks before the TUSD school-year begins, if you have kids (and even if you don't) go west. Here are a couple of experiences for you to consider before taking a drive westward.

Do not stop at the little motel in Tonopah, Arizona, even if it is Friday at 1 a.m., and you've worked all day. It's the only motel. Keep driving to Quartzsite. The proprietor has about three kittens on the property that ran up to us as we unpacked the car and headed into our hot room. The next day, we discovered that one of the kittens spent the night in our car. I grabbed the kitten and showed everyone the stow-away. The proprietor ran out of his office and yelled that we did not tell him we had pets. See, there's a sign in his office that says he will charge you $25 if you do not tell him you have pets. As we told him the kitten was his, he ran back to his office. We looked at our account: He charged us $25.

Remember the huge dinosaur statues off the interstate between Palm Springs and LA in Pee Wee Herman's Big Adventure? They are still there, and now open to the public, along with a group of other small dino statutes at what's billed as a dino museum. We have a 7-year-old dino nut, and it's one of those roadside attractions you are required to stop at when on a road trip (it's before Hadley's, so prepare to stop again for shakes). We went in not really paying attention to signs at the entrance, but when we saw a statue of a crusader fighting a T-Rex, it seemed odd. Then the statutes of the lion lying with a lamb made a few messianic alarm bells go off.

Above is a picture of one of the signs kinda asking us to consider ... intelligent design. My son didn't care.

Because the new Weekly is online and ready for readers! Feel free to comment on its contents here.

And here's a YouTube Ask a Mexican! for your entertainment and enlightenment.

Today's Aveda Institute Open House at 845 N. Park Ave., as listed on page 25 in our July 24 print issue, has been postponed. The event has been rescheduled for Thursday, Aug. 21, at 8 p.m.

Talk about vanishing Tucson: Tonight is the last Thirsty Thursday at Tucson Electric Park.

I can remember when Thirsty Thursday involved beers for a quarter for the Tucson Toros games back at Hi Corbett Field. Of course, the beers were in tiny cups the size of shot glasses--or at least that's my hazy recollection--and you'd guzzle 'em both in two sips. That meant long lines at the concession stands and very little time watching the game from the stands.

Mike Feder, who was GM of the Toros back then, was smart enough to raise the price but enlarge the cup. Somewhere along the line, we started calling it buck-beer night.

The Toros eventually became the Sidewinders and moved out south to TEP. Feder left town (he's since come back and is involved in the effort to save Spring Training baseball) and, somewhere along the line, I stopped heading out the ballpark as much. Evidently, so did too many other fans, since now we're losing the Sidewinders to Reno.

But I'll be out tonight, along the third-base line, for the end of the buck-beer era--just as long as the game doesn't rain out. See you there?

The new issue of the Weekly is online and ready to be devoured--and this is our Yum! summer dining guide, so it's extra tasty!

No YouTube Ask a Mexican! has arrived yet, so, well, you'll just have to wait for that, darn it.

Anyhoo, comment on this week's issue here.

New at ScrambleWatch ’08:

• Republican Tim Bee's campaign has released poll numbers in his race against Democratic Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords that put him "within striking distance."

• Interviews with candidates Ann Day, Joe Higgins, Frank Antenori and Marilyn Zerull.

• More clips from Stephen Colbert's "Make McCain Exciting" Green Screen Challenge!

You get a new issue of the Weekly to read! It's online and ready for your loving eyes.

Feel free--no, feel COMPELLED--to comment on its contents here.

And here's a YouTube Ask a Mexican!

This was received too late to put in Noshing Around:

On July 18 and 19, Waverly’s Coffee and Espresso to Go! will donate 25% of their sales to benefit breast cancer research through the Southern Arizona Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Waverly’s hopes to raise funds and keep this cause in the minds and hearts of Tucsonans more than once a year.

“We wanted to have our grand opening be more than a party to showcase our menu and service. We wanted to demonstrate to Tucson that even as a small business, we believe one important aspect of business leadership is to give back to the community”, said Janet Stumps, one of the business partners. “Almost everyone knows someone whose lives have been touched by breast cancer. This pernicious disease would be even more deadly were it not for the Susan G Komen organization and we are honored to help raise awareness and funds for them with this event”.

The event begins at 6 a.m. on Friday, July 18 and ends at 7 p.m. on Saturday, July 19 with a chance to win a $300 gift card drawing open to anyone who has entered up until that time. You do not need to be present to win.

The Waverly’s drive-thru menu includes beverages for all ages and tastes, so everyone is welcome.

Waverly's Coffee and Espresso To Go!

5775 E Broadway Blvd - (across from Park Place Mall/See's Candy)

We reported last week that attorney Bill Risner had unveiled an affidavit from Zbigniew Osmolski, a former county employee who said under oath that Bryan Crane, a programmer in the county's elections division, confessed to him that he has flipped the 2006 Regional Transportation Authority election at the order of his bosses.

Osmolski said in his sworn statement that the alleged exchange took place at the Boondocks Lounge on Sunday, Jan. 27, 2008.

We haven't been able to get a hold of Osmolski--he hasn't returned our phone call--but through a public-records request, we did get a hold of his county personnel file, which shows he could be quite a character when he was working for the county.

Osmolski was fired in 2002 for insubordination after he was busted drinking on the job. Among the details in the file:

• Osmolski refused to take a blood-alcohol test after his supervisor believed she smelled alcohol on his breath. She was checking on Osmolski after hearing that he smelled of booze and had grabbed the hand of a co-worker in the elevator because "he liked" to hold her hand.

Osmolski's notice of dismissal notes that his supervisor “had verbally counseled you to not drink before coming to the office or any public meeting where you represented the county. She stated that citizens had complained to her that you attended meetings reeking of alcohol and were obnoxious and belligerent in meetings.”

• Osmolski tried to explain his intoxicated state by claiming that he was taking prescription pills and wearing cologne with an aroma of alcohol. Osmolski could not produce a prescription or a sample of his eau de booze in a subsequent investigation.

• Osmolski had been reprimanded in 1995 for losing a county-issued car in the parking lot of the Desert Diamond Casino. The car ended up getting towed to the Sheriff’s Department.

In that case, Tony Paez, who was then director of the county’s transportation department, reduced a two-week suspension to a written reprimand because of Osmolski’s “outstanding performance and significant contributions to this department.”

• Osmolski was reprimanded in 1992 for asking for a date from a engineering consultant who complained that she felt sexually harassed by the invitation. The engineer said that Osmolski told her a breakfast, lunch or dinner date could mean “lots of money.”

In the personnel file, Osmolski complained that “this matter was improperly investigated.”

Whatever Osmolski’s history—Risner said last week that Osmolski lost his county job because he was a whistleblower in a story about fixed engineering contracts—Risner hopes the affidavit is enough evidence of potential criminal wrongdoing that Goddard will send an investigator down to Tucson and ask a judge to order the ballots to be recounted as part of a criminal investigation.

In a letter to Goddard this week, Risner says a recount could put the matter to rest.

"Whether or not a crime has occurred can be simply and definitely determined through an examination of the ballots," Risner wrote. "We ask for you to personally direct that the current investigation be conducted in such a manner as to arrive at an answer that the people of Pima County can accept."