Some Friends

An accomplished welder in Colorado built an armored bulldozer for himself, then plowed through several businesses, then killed himself. Apparently he was angry over a zoning dispute. Look at the picture of what he built:


If you're wondering how he could see out of that thing, he did so via the three monitors that he had linked to television cameras mounted on the outside.

Now it's fascinating enough that he went to all that trouble. But what caught my eye were the comments made by "friends" of his:

A friend, Pete Mitchell, said Heemeyer was probably smiling when the vehicle, equipped with a TV camera for guidance, busted out of the side of a garage.

'That's the kind of guy he was,' Mitchell said, calling his friend 'vindictive.'

Another story found some other "friends" willing to go on the record:

While many people described Heemeyer as a likeable guy, others said he was not someone to cross. Christie Baker told the Denver Post that Heemeyer threatened her husband after he refused to pay for some muffler work.

Granby resident Nancy Healey had a friend who dated Heemeyer. "He did have a temper," she told the Post.

Yes, indeed. Usually temperamental people blow off some steam and then move on with their lives. I can't think of another example where an act of temper was pursued with such prolonged dedication.

Having grown up in the South, let me coin an expression: He was such an ornery ole cuss, even his friends didn't like him.