Again to FOX NEWS, looking at their Ossuaries Story.
http://www.myfoxdc.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail;jsessionid=1C2E55E8B7053A5B0B2D7C953DB380A3?contentId=2506788&version=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=1.1.1
I do not profess to be religious. I do believe that I am somewhat spiritual none the less. I am not Anti-Christian or Anti- Any Other Religion. I hold many of the same tenets to be true.
"Don't lie. Don't cheat. Don't Steal. Do unto others..., Don't sleep with your neighbors wife, What goes around comes around..."
One line that caught my eye in the story is this...
"..., but several scholars derided the claims made in a new documentary as unfounded and contradictory to basic Christian beliefs..." FOX NEWS
I'm very sorry that something would go against the "basic Christian beliefs..." But, that does not in and of itself render something false. Are they 'founded' or 'unfounded'? We don't know. Yet? Maybe never will.
A basic belief is not a proven theory or a proven principal.
I have a lot more work to do on this. Like looking into the people involved with the project. I said in an earlier post that my interest lies with them. With their past and with the reactions of Fundamentalists. MUCH more so than in the actual story.
More nada
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Hmmmm biscuits...
Hot, buttery and loaded with honey. Who cares if they were a little... mutant looking.
Well, I did it. Sent the link out to a bunch of folks. Some that I hadn't set out to send it to yet and I neglected to send it to others yet.
{Wow! I do love the highlight/ delete feature. I just dumped a whole load of whooey. I guess I'm a little whiny.}
Here's another topic. I guess as long as this machine will stay connected I can research it some. There's a volcano going off on an Italian Island. "Stromboli". Not sure where that island is.
We, myself and a few close friends spent a lot of time in Sicily. They much more so than I... So where is "Stromboli"?
OK. It's some 40 miles from Sicily. I found this on-
http://www.myfoxdc.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=2526612&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.9.1
"The situation is absolutely under control," Civil Protection chief Guido Bertolaso told journalists on the island after an aerial survey Wednesday. FOXNEWS
OK... It's just me. My lowly insignificant opinion... but if Guido tells me everything is 'absolutely under control'... I'm gettin' my butt offa that rock!!!
That's not prejudice. It's experience. I lived on the side of Etna for about a year. The "Mayor" and "Paddy-O" were there for many more. I'd bet they concur.
Well, how many loads is that so far today? I don't think I'm done. Actually. We may have made some progress in this one.
Well, I did it. Sent the link out to a bunch of folks. Some that I hadn't set out to send it to yet and I neglected to send it to others yet.
{Wow! I do love the highlight/ delete feature. I just dumped a whole load of whooey. I guess I'm a little whiny.}
Here's another topic. I guess as long as this machine will stay connected I can research it some. There's a volcano going off on an Italian Island. "Stromboli". Not sure where that island is.
We, myself and a few close friends spent a lot of time in Sicily. They much more so than I... So where is "Stromboli"?
OK. It's some 40 miles from Sicily. I found this on-
http://www.myfoxdc.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=2526612&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.9.1
"The situation is absolutely under control," Civil Protection chief Guido Bertolaso told journalists on the island after an aerial survey Wednesday. FOXNEWS
OK... It's just me. My lowly insignificant opinion... but if Guido tells me everything is 'absolutely under control'... I'm gettin' my butt offa that rock!!!
That's not prejudice. It's experience. I lived on the side of Etna for about a year. The "Mayor" and "Paddy-O" were there for many more. I'd bet they concur.
Well, how many loads is that so far today? I don't think I'm done. Actually. We may have made some progress in this one.
Time to test my bravery.
So far very few people are even aware this thing exists.
So, I'm going to send it to a Whole Lotta Folks here in a second. I have tried it before and the machine failed me. (Saved Me?)
For two, I'm really going out on a limb. The authors of pretty much the only two blogs I read regularly. L.G. and B.B.
And, the bunch at the Big Table from the "Dead Rooster B&G". {Dead to me anyway. Cotton-pickin' thing has been around for 60 years or so.]
Here goes nuthin'!
So, I'm going to send it to a Whole Lotta Folks here in a second. I have tried it before and the machine failed me. (Saved Me?)
For two, I'm really going out on a limb. The authors of pretty much the only two blogs I read regularly. L.G. and B.B.
And, the bunch at the Big Table from the "Dead Rooster B&G". {Dead to me anyway. Cotton-pickin' thing has been around for 60 years or so.]
Here goes nuthin'!
WHOA!!!
Here's a question for you?!?!?!
"Do biscuits go bad?"
I barely peeled the paper back and the damn thing EXPLODED!!! Dough all over the kitchen. The kind of mishap that I'll fine evidence of for months, no matter how hard I search or how well I clean.
BOOM!
Lotta palpitations!
"Do biscuits go bad?"
I barely peeled the paper back and the damn thing EXPLODED!!! Dough all over the kitchen. The kind of mishap that I'll fine evidence of for months, no matter how hard I search or how well I clean.
BOOM!
Lotta palpitations!
Will things look up?
The Architect says that, "Only Architects and Hookers look up."
Hmmm... Interesting thought. Although, I have seen some evidence of that. Related to pedestrians of all sorts.
But, I did find an "Arrogant Bastard" idling in the fridge. Wiley S.O.B. never made it to the beer box. (The beautiful Brown-eyed Girl got me the COOLEST beer box!) So things are looking up a little.
As usual, I digress.
I do have a couple of ideas for posts to work on tonight while I'm trapped in Stalag #5...
For some reason, nearly thirty years later, a discovery made in 1980 is making the news here lately. It seems that an Archeologist and Journalist have teamed up with the Discovery Channel to put on display their discovery of several "Bone Boxes". These "Boxes" are supposed to contain the remains of Jesus Christ, His Mother, His Brother and His Son. I, of course have a different sort of curiousity about the discovery. The "Discoverer's" are my focus.
Another idea is this seemingly odd or different Presidential campaign season. Is it just me or are there a whole lot more hats in the ring than usual? Is it sort of like Christmas... Starting earlier and earlier? I'm not even sure I want to tackle this one. Too many to track and research.
One interesting thing I heard yesterday. The Clinton Camp is monitoring Al Gore's weight in an attempt to determine if he will run!
Also, my ongoing fascination with writing. You can tell from the elapsed time between posts that I haven't been inspired lately. I did have one lucid moment yesterday.
"... you can't make up for
love you failed to make.
Sometimes too much too soon
is too little too late
You can't mend a heart
that's bent on break(ing)..." DRS Copyright 2007
Stuck here in a lotta nada. Might be a long night...
Hmmm... Interesting thought. Although, I have seen some evidence of that. Related to pedestrians of all sorts.
But, I did find an "Arrogant Bastard" idling in the fridge. Wiley S.O.B. never made it to the beer box. (The beautiful Brown-eyed Girl got me the COOLEST beer box!) So things are looking up a little.
As usual, I digress.
I do have a couple of ideas for posts to work on tonight while I'm trapped in Stalag #5...
For some reason, nearly thirty years later, a discovery made in 1980 is making the news here lately. It seems that an Archeologist and Journalist have teamed up with the Discovery Channel to put on display their discovery of several "Bone Boxes". These "Boxes" are supposed to contain the remains of Jesus Christ, His Mother, His Brother and His Son. I, of course have a different sort of curiousity about the discovery. The "Discoverer's" are my focus.
Another idea is this seemingly odd or different Presidential campaign season. Is it just me or are there a whole lot more hats in the ring than usual? Is it sort of like Christmas... Starting earlier and earlier? I'm not even sure I want to tackle this one. Too many to track and research.
One interesting thing I heard yesterday. The Clinton Camp is monitoring Al Gore's weight in an attempt to determine if he will run!
Also, my ongoing fascination with writing. You can tell from the elapsed time between posts that I haven't been inspired lately. I did have one lucid moment yesterday.
"... you can't make up for
love you failed to make.
Sometimes too much too soon
is too little too late
You can't mend a heart
that's bent on break(ing)..." DRS Copyright 2007
Stuck here in a lotta nada. Might be a long night...
Puro Maldito...
This has been a day of "Modern (In)Convenience".
Inexplicable debits to my checking account. ABSOLUTE CUSTOMER NO-SERVICE on the part of my bank. (They went immediately into, "Not Our Fault Mode".) Add (Literally) to that incompetance on the part of a service provider. Plus, the reluctance of said provider to correct the mistake. Checkbook is going into the toilet as I (try) to watch it.
Yes. I'm overdoing the parenthesis. Been that kind of day.
I can't stay logged on for more than a few seconds at a time. It has been that way all day long.
The latest development, cell phone cut off. Gee, I wonder why? Could it be due to the spiraling overdraft charges brought on by charges I did not make and others that were premature and for more than double what they were supposed to be?
"...time to switch to whiskey, we been drinkin' beer all night!..." Corb Lund and the Hurtin' Albertans
[Excellent little band outta Canada!!!]
Oh, My people. This is but just the first round of the day....
Inexplicable debits to my checking account. ABSOLUTE CUSTOMER NO-SERVICE on the part of my bank. (They went immediately into, "Not Our Fault Mode".) Add (Literally) to that incompetance on the part of a service provider. Plus, the reluctance of said provider to correct the mistake. Checkbook is going into the toilet as I (try) to watch it.
Yes. I'm overdoing the parenthesis. Been that kind of day.
I can't stay logged on for more than a few seconds at a time. It has been that way all day long.
The latest development, cell phone cut off. Gee, I wonder why? Could it be due to the spiraling overdraft charges brought on by charges I did not make and others that were premature and for more than double what they were supposed to be?
"...time to switch to whiskey, we been drinkin' beer all night!..." Corb Lund and the Hurtin' Albertans
[Excellent little band outta Canada!!!]
Oh, My people. This is but just the first round of the day....
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Just how fast do I care to evolve?
I have decided to post excerpts of some of the things that I write all of the time.
Will I post all of them? Probably not. Everyday? Doubtful. I am going to give it a shot though.
Due to the personal nature of them... due to the fact that only I can hear the rhythm or tune that goes with them... AND due to copyright considerations, I wont post All of Anything in here for now.
A last couple of provisos. Not everything is on the computer to 'cut and paste'. Also the selections will be pretty random for lack of a better word.
Ah one, ah two, ah one, two three four... Here we go.
""~~~
"Ol' Bill and Me"
03/22/06 1120 hrs
Dallas County Texas
Dallas County Alabama
And a long long way back again
Ol' Bill and me watched the wall cloud rain
coming across the plains and the planes
Cherry Point North Carolina
Bernoulli whisked me to Bahrain
Can't the Britt's build a drain?!
Ol' Bill and me watched the wall cloud rain
Coming across the Gulf and the planes
Got detained in Riyhad
Finally made it to Mombasa
Damn it they were outta gin
All alone I watched the wall cloud rain
Coming across the Indian O. and the planes...
~~~
Copyrighted Material. mylottanada.blogspot.com/ 2007""
As with myself and everything I do, this is a work in progress, and based in some sort of truth.
"Old Bill" is (was) a hard case for me. I met him as a young wrench after he had been an A&P for a long time. I learned a lot from him. A lot about the life of an A&P, life, love, kids and the cycles of life. We met at NAS Dallas when I returned to Texas from Alabama. (Yes, Dallas County in both states. He had a long lasting impact on me musically also. He introduced me to the music of Joe Ely!)
We both arrived and departed NAS Dallas at about the same times. From there, he went to Bahrain and I went to the road.
A year later I myself landed in Bahrain. I stayed for a week or so before heading off to Kenya. I can't possibly set the time frames now but I did spend Christmas and New years back in Bahrain.
Bill and I laughed our asses of in a Mexican restaurant XMAS Eve...
'Two boys from Texas eating Christmas dinner in a Mexican restaurant on an island, in the Persian Gulf, being served by a Pakistani waiter, cooked for by a Filipino chef and entertained by a C&W band from Brittan.'
Turns out, that was W. "Old Bill" S. last Christmas anywhere. I am Damn Proud to have shared it with him.
Let's see if we can't find something a little more recent...
""~~~
"Time Enough to See You"
2007
after what I left you
left for you---
to- go- through
I can't blame you
I'll never blame you
I'd never blame you
Because it was all my fault
Due Negligence---
on my----part
I guess I didn't hurt you enough
I guess I didn't love you enough
Enough to back you up...
...I'll never have enough,
enough of any of the stuff
but I do got time
I got nothing but time
I'll live long enough
enough to see you mine..."
~~~
Copyrighted Material. mylottanada.blogspot.com/ 2007""
OK, that was today.
I'm beginning to wonder if there is anything more upbeat...?
""~~~
"Buhdda is My Wing Man"
03/22/06 1055 hrs
Buhdda is my wing man
We fly around Song'tan
OB Sky and Soju
With that kind of fuel
Buddy you'd be flying too
Perched atop the chimney
High atop the "Yong-Chon"
We survey the "Land of the Morning Calm"
Buhdda is my wing man
We fly around Song'tan
OB Sky and Soju
With that kind of fuel
Buddy you'd be flying too
From the "Easy Rider"
To the "Iron Horse Saloon"
Through the 'ville to the "Rock-Z" Room...
~~~
Copyrighted Material. mylottanada.blogspot.com/ 2007""
It may not sound like it, but that was one outrageous trip!!! M.R. "Buhdda" S. is another strong influence. He is the one that encouraged (HELL, he threatened me!) me to write something everyday.
Here is a little different close for a little different post,
"That may be more Nada than I Outta!"
Will I post all of them? Probably not. Everyday? Doubtful. I am going to give it a shot though.
Due to the personal nature of them... due to the fact that only I can hear the rhythm or tune that goes with them... AND due to copyright considerations, I wont post All of Anything in here for now.
A last couple of provisos. Not everything is on the computer to 'cut and paste'. Also the selections will be pretty random for lack of a better word.
Ah one, ah two, ah one, two three four... Here we go.
""~~~
"Ol' Bill and Me"
03/22/06 1120 hrs
Dallas County Texas
Dallas County Alabama
And a long long way back again
Ol' Bill and me watched the wall cloud rain
coming across the plains and the planes
Cherry Point North Carolina
Bernoulli whisked me to Bahrain
Can't the Britt's build a drain?!
Ol' Bill and me watched the wall cloud rain
Coming across the Gulf and the planes
Got detained in Riyhad
Finally made it to Mombasa
Damn it they were outta gin
All alone I watched the wall cloud rain
Coming across the Indian O. and the planes...
~~~
Copyrighted Material. mylottanada.blogspot.com/ 2007""
As with myself and everything I do, this is a work in progress, and based in some sort of truth.
"Old Bill" is (was) a hard case for me. I met him as a young wrench after he had been an A&P for a long time. I learned a lot from him. A lot about the life of an A&P, life, love, kids and the cycles of life. We met at NAS Dallas when I returned to Texas from Alabama. (Yes, Dallas County in both states. He had a long lasting impact on me musically also. He introduced me to the music of Joe Ely!)
We both arrived and departed NAS Dallas at about the same times. From there, he went to Bahrain and I went to the road.
A year later I myself landed in Bahrain. I stayed for a week or so before heading off to Kenya. I can't possibly set the time frames now but I did spend Christmas and New years back in Bahrain.
Bill and I laughed our asses of in a Mexican restaurant XMAS Eve...
'Two boys from Texas eating Christmas dinner in a Mexican restaurant on an island, in the Persian Gulf, being served by a Pakistani waiter, cooked for by a Filipino chef and entertained by a C&W band from Brittan.'
Turns out, that was W. "Old Bill" S. last Christmas anywhere. I am Damn Proud to have shared it with him.
Let's see if we can't find something a little more recent...
""~~~
"Time Enough to See You"
2007
after what I left you
left for you---
to- go- through
I can't blame you
I'll never blame you
I'd never blame you
Because it was all my fault
Due Negligence---
on my----part
I guess I didn't hurt you enough
I guess I didn't love you enough
Enough to back you up...
...I'll never have enough,
enough of any of the stuff
but I do got time
I got nothing but time
I'll live long enough
enough to see you mine..."
~~~
Copyrighted Material. mylottanada.blogspot.com/ 2007""
OK, that was today.
I'm beginning to wonder if there is anything more upbeat...?
""~~~
"Buhdda is My Wing Man"
03/22/06 1055 hrs
Buhdda is my wing man
We fly around Song'tan
OB Sky and Soju
With that kind of fuel
Buddy you'd be flying too
Perched atop the chimney
High atop the "Yong-Chon"
We survey the "Land of the Morning Calm"
Buhdda is my wing man
We fly around Song'tan
OB Sky and Soju
With that kind of fuel
Buddy you'd be flying too
From the "Easy Rider"
To the "Iron Horse Saloon"
Through the 'ville to the "Rock-Z" Room...
~~~
Copyrighted Material. mylottanada.blogspot.com/ 2007""
It may not sound like it, but that was one outrageous trip!!! M.R. "Buhdda" S. is another strong influence. He is the one that encouraged (HELL, he threatened me!) me to write something everyday.
Here is a little different close for a little different post,
"That may be more Nada than I Outta!"
OK, Tonight is...
REALLY "Sunday" night for me. See, I confirmed that very early this morning.
"They" say that stress can do weird stuff to us. I say, "They" are right!!!!!
I woke with a start at 0427 this morning, TV on and alarm going off. That's about a half an hour later than I usually put feet to the floor on a work day. I oriented myself to the 'hour' instead of the 'day' and immediately went into, "Holy Crap! I'm running late!" mode.
"What did I forget to do last night to be prepared for this morning?"
Lunch wasn't ready, coffee pot wasn't set, uniform wasn't laid out.
My Snooze Margin was gone and if I didn't hurry my Drive Margin would evaporate too.
On full after-burner I set out to try to re-coup my "Monday".
I launched out of the drive-way on schedule...
"The trash cans are still out by the road... I'll have to get those when I get home."
Yeah, I'm running long and you already got it anyway. Today is Thursday, I'm off today.
This is a drill, it's ONLY a drill!!!
Luckily I only made it 3 miles up the road.
The backwash to it all is, I did have a quasi-productive day. Went to breakfast at "The Diner". Bought a couple of new tools at the tractor store. Went to the "Superstore", got the stuff and fulfilled a long dangling promise. Rearranged and organized the outside storage. (Downside to that is there is a lot of stuff in the apartment now to be sorted, stored or trashed. at least we can go find something in the shed now.)
Loaded the CD, Los Lonely Boys are up at the moment. Along with Cream, Blues Traveler, Tod Snyder and Tom Petty.
Top Three Things about today:
Talked to "The Beautiful Brown Eyed Girl"!
Fulfilled a promise! At least in part.
Wrote a couple of short pieces. Poems/ Lyrics. Whatever they become, they already are.
More Nada. I know. This thing will evolve soon.
(Personal note on the evolution. Practice really does help. I try to never to forget to run spell check before I post. The yellow highlights a get fewer and fewer all of the time! "Los" was the only hit on this one.)
"They" say that stress can do weird stuff to us. I say, "They" are right!!!!!
I woke with a start at 0427 this morning, TV on and alarm going off. That's about a half an hour later than I usually put feet to the floor on a work day. I oriented myself to the 'hour' instead of the 'day' and immediately went into, "Holy Crap! I'm running late!" mode.
"What did I forget to do last night to be prepared for this morning?"
Lunch wasn't ready, coffee pot wasn't set, uniform wasn't laid out.
My Snooze Margin was gone and if I didn't hurry my Drive Margin would evaporate too.
On full after-burner I set out to try to re-coup my "Monday".
I launched out of the drive-way on schedule...
"The trash cans are still out by the road... I'll have to get those when I get home."
Yeah, I'm running long and you already got it anyway. Today is Thursday, I'm off today.
This is a drill, it's ONLY a drill!!!
Luckily I only made it 3 miles up the road.
The backwash to it all is, I did have a quasi-productive day. Went to breakfast at "The Diner". Bought a couple of new tools at the tractor store. Went to the "Superstore", got the stuff and fulfilled a long dangling promise. Rearranged and organized the outside storage. (Downside to that is there is a lot of stuff in the apartment now to be sorted, stored or trashed. at least we can go find something in the shed now.)
Loaded the CD, Los Lonely Boys are up at the moment. Along with Cream, Blues Traveler, Tod Snyder and Tom Petty.
Top Three Things about today:
Talked to "The Beautiful Brown Eyed Girl"!
Fulfilled a promise! At least in part.
Wrote a couple of short pieces. Poems/ Lyrics. Whatever they become, they already are.
More Nada. I know. This thing will evolve soon.
(Personal note on the evolution. Practice really does help. I try to never to forget to run spell check before I post. The yellow highlights a get fewer and fewer all of the time! "Los" was the only hit on this one.)
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Evolution of a Blog
More precisely, the Evolution of a Blogger.
Decided to post a few ideas for future topics.
One of my greatest peeves is the "Anti-Journalism, Sensationalistic, TV News Magazines" passing for Journalism today.
One of my greatest pastimes is music and writing lyrics. OK maybe just poetry set to the music in my head since none of it has been shared much beyond the very, very innermost circle.
Another is painting. OK maybe just wiping paint on canvas. I don't do landscapes or portraits or still life. They are more surreal and expressive than real depictions. Frankly most of them are disappointments to me but I keep trying. I have a few pieces that I am proud of. Including a set of four that are currently in progress. Two are done.
Of course writing in general. I have a few ideas clanking around and will begin working on them soon. A pair of them are based on anecdotes from my life as an Aircraft Mechanic. I've got some war stories, let me tell you. I've heard as many more. And there are some real characters in this business! Not to leave out some of the hard to imagine decisions made by folks in my world.
That's my morning lotta nada. I just wanted to take a break from housework and errands that must be done before I head out this afternoon.
Decided to post a few ideas for future topics.
One of my greatest peeves is the "Anti-Journalism, Sensationalistic, TV News Magazines" passing for Journalism today.
One of my greatest pastimes is music and writing lyrics. OK maybe just poetry set to the music in my head since none of it has been shared much beyond the very, very innermost circle.
Another is painting. OK maybe just wiping paint on canvas. I don't do landscapes or portraits or still life. They are more surreal and expressive than real depictions. Frankly most of them are disappointments to me but I keep trying. I have a few pieces that I am proud of. Including a set of four that are currently in progress. Two are done.
Of course writing in general. I have a few ideas clanking around and will begin working on them soon. A pair of them are based on anecdotes from my life as an Aircraft Mechanic. I've got some war stories, let me tell you. I've heard as many more. And there are some real characters in this business! Not to leave out some of the hard to imagine decisions made by folks in my world.
That's my morning lotta nada. I just wanted to take a break from housework and errands that must be done before I head out this afternoon.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Sailing on the Sea of Love...
I the ancient mariner. Dis-masted, knocked down, off course and drifting on the currents of the storm.
I'm going to make it through the gale. I know I will. I'm tough, resourceful and determined. I also know that I will be that much the better sailor for it.
All because I am loved.
Because I am loved I know what my true course is, how to keep track of where I am and the corrections I must make to get back on the line.
I've been scouting out the next steps. Looking to San Antonio College for an associates degree for starters. Plan to go on from there but as I was reminded yesterday, "It's going to be a long road." So 63 hours for an associates is a smaller bite to focus on.
The Company actually has a pretty generous allowance available for school. The tricks will be convincing them that an English or Journalism degree benefits them and not selling my soul to them in the process.
Small bites and chew them well.
Yesterday I spent the day with "Mother" and "Poppy". Standing at the kitchen table. (Ooops, I think I left my hat on too... at least I wasn't sitting down to dinner. Although she did force food into me after I stood there for ten hours babbling.) I lined out the new course I am taking. I stated my objectives and goals.
I demonstrated my new enlightenment, "I can't make anyone else happy or proud until I am happy and proud."
"Duh.", they said. Along with the usual 'we tried to tell you that thirty years ago but you wouldn't listen'.
I am a slow learner. Sometimes a little too slow. Sometimes I am the one that laughs last!
I ain't no Genus but I ain't no Dummy neither.
For a while I worked for a man named JK. A loud obnoxious old Navy Chief. One of those guys that ya either love or hate. I miss that guy. When I'd screw something up and the home office got wind of it they'd report my transgression to JK. He'd call me up and in his best Crusty Old Navy Chief Bellow he'd start out, "Goddamn it David!!!" He'd take me to the mast and give the lashes he felt were appropriate. Explain the heinousness of my crime and how I had jeopardized the entire boat with my neglect. He'd demand and explanation AND to know what steps I was going to take to correct my course. Then, in his best paternal voice he'd end with, "David, this is not going to happen again is it?" "Sir, No Sir!", was my reply. And I NEVER made the same mistake twice while under JK's command. I guess that's what makes a Crusty Old Navy Chief a Chief!!!
It doesn't take yelling and cursing either.
Remember when Teacher would put you in the corner to think about what you had done? You Weren't Thinking About What You Did! You were thinking about how much longer you were going to have to stare at the wall or how many furtive glances over your shoulder you could sneak or about how many spit balls were going to be stuck to your back. Back then, you didn't really know HOW to think. You do now though.
So do I.
The entire year it seems has been spent thinking. Actually re-thinking my way of looking at things. Examining what I thought were my dreams and what I thought would ultimately make me happy. I discovered that I was very wrong. I found that what I had was a useless collection of fantasies and daydreams. I now understand that they were only there to distract me from things that are much more important.
I've exercised the gray stuff 'til it's mushy and pliable. Now I'm reshaping it with the 'Knowing now what I wish I knew then'. Analyzing decisions from as far back as the 10th grade. Decisions as recent as yesterday. Weighing the folly and merit of each. I have not been shocked to see the folly out-weigh the merit.
I revert back to the Crusty Old Navy Chief. I will not make the same mistakes again.
I've been sitting here with the windows open. Listening to the sounds of traffic on 181, the hum of the refrigerator and the drone of the computer. Just loaded the CD player and set it to "Stun". First up Tom Petty "Love is a Long Road".
So, that's another loada nada for now. It is still early though!
I'm going to make it through the gale. I know I will. I'm tough, resourceful and determined. I also know that I will be that much the better sailor for it.
All because I am loved.
Because I am loved I know what my true course is, how to keep track of where I am and the corrections I must make to get back on the line.
I've been scouting out the next steps. Looking to San Antonio College for an associates degree for starters. Plan to go on from there but as I was reminded yesterday, "It's going to be a long road." So 63 hours for an associates is a smaller bite to focus on.
The Company actually has a pretty generous allowance available for school. The tricks will be convincing them that an English or Journalism degree benefits them and not selling my soul to them in the process.
Small bites and chew them well.
Yesterday I spent the day with "Mother" and "Poppy". Standing at the kitchen table. (Ooops, I think I left my hat on too... at least I wasn't sitting down to dinner. Although she did force food into me after I stood there for ten hours babbling.) I lined out the new course I am taking. I stated my objectives and goals.
I demonstrated my new enlightenment, "I can't make anyone else happy or proud until I am happy and proud."
"Duh.", they said. Along with the usual 'we tried to tell you that thirty years ago but you wouldn't listen'.
I am a slow learner. Sometimes a little too slow. Sometimes I am the one that laughs last!
I ain't no Genus but I ain't no Dummy neither.
For a while I worked for a man named JK. A loud obnoxious old Navy Chief. One of those guys that ya either love or hate. I miss that guy. When I'd screw something up and the home office got wind of it they'd report my transgression to JK. He'd call me up and in his best Crusty Old Navy Chief Bellow he'd start out, "Goddamn it David!!!" He'd take me to the mast and give the lashes he felt were appropriate. Explain the heinousness of my crime and how I had jeopardized the entire boat with my neglect. He'd demand and explanation AND to know what steps I was going to take to correct my course. Then, in his best paternal voice he'd end with, "David, this is not going to happen again is it?" "Sir, No Sir!", was my reply. And I NEVER made the same mistake twice while under JK's command. I guess that's what makes a Crusty Old Navy Chief a Chief!!!
It doesn't take yelling and cursing either.
Remember when Teacher would put you in the corner to think about what you had done? You Weren't Thinking About What You Did! You were thinking about how much longer you were going to have to stare at the wall or how many furtive glances over your shoulder you could sneak or about how many spit balls were going to be stuck to your back. Back then, you didn't really know HOW to think. You do now though.
So do I.
The entire year it seems has been spent thinking. Actually re-thinking my way of looking at things. Examining what I thought were my dreams and what I thought would ultimately make me happy. I discovered that I was very wrong. I found that what I had was a useless collection of fantasies and daydreams. I now understand that they were only there to distract me from things that are much more important.
I've exercised the gray stuff 'til it's mushy and pliable. Now I'm reshaping it with the 'Knowing now what I wish I knew then'. Analyzing decisions from as far back as the 10th grade. Decisions as recent as yesterday. Weighing the folly and merit of each. I have not been shocked to see the folly out-weigh the merit.
I revert back to the Crusty Old Navy Chief. I will not make the same mistakes again.
I've been sitting here with the windows open. Listening to the sounds of traffic on 181, the hum of the refrigerator and the drone of the computer. Just loaded the CD player and set it to "Stun". First up Tom Petty "Love is a Long Road".
So, that's another loada nada for now. It is still early though!
Thursday, February 15, 2007
"Catharsis"
"Chief of the Watch! What is the word of the day?"
"The word of the day, Sir is 'Catharsis'."
"Thank You Chief."
Catharsis.
How many more times am I going to say it? Until it stops feeling good. Until it stops feeling right.
2007, the Year of Catharsis.
Catharsis and learning. Learning so many things about myself. Learning the "Who, What, When, Where, Why and How" of it all. All about me.
At last finding my course again.
Finding my way back to the beginning of it all. The sources of the bitter taste in my mouth, my bitterness and inability to give what I have and what I need to give. To accept what I have unconditionally been given and accept it unconditionally.
Entirely too cryptic. I know. I apologize. There are two readers that know what I'm talking about and the rest of you are smart enough to realize that 2007 has been a helluva tough year here in Mudville.
I have been Bach'ing it again. Hard to recoup old skills when you've been as spoiled as I have been. I.E. I've got a fresh made pizza waiting for the oven to preheat but apparently I spilled something in the oven and the house is so full of smoke that I need radar to find my way from the bedroom to the kitchen. Even with the windows open and 40 degrees outside.
Living solo is not really the point of learning and catharsis. When the "Beautiful Brown Eyed Girl" and I get past this 'Divide and Conquer' period I'll just be that much stronger and better equipped to carry my weight.
LEARNING... The revelations, epiphanies, epiphan-ettes and startling realizations about myself. About the 5W's of why I am the man I am. More importantly why I have not become the man I should be.
Realizations and decisions. I think it's been said that I wound up an aircraft mechanic by accident. Didn't have a better idea at the time. I didn't have a better idea because by the time I was 23 years old I had already lost sight of what had always been important to me. I spent the next twenty-odd years fortifying myself against what I wanted all along. Make sense? Of Course Not.
I didn't do it consciously but it may still have been deliberate. Something about the way I was raised.
Again, you ask, "Does he HAVE a point?"
Yeah, this time I do. I have seen the light Brothers and Sisters in this cosmic journey!
All I needed was a little sleep deprivation it seems. All at once yesterday things just came flying back. Swarming faster than I could keep up. So I started typing a short note to the Architect. Soon it was clear that the "Beautiful Brown Eyed Girl'' HAD to hear this too.
It boils down to the 5W's. Who, What When, Where, Why and How. THAT's what I studied. That's what I wanted to do. That's part of what I lost sight of. I must have been really deluded by the tri-chloro-ethelyne in the dry cleaners. Maybe that's why I didn't have a better idea. Because I stoned and forgot!!!!
Those of you that have slogged bravely through these sporadic and erratic posts will be aghast at the point of this all.
I want to be a writer when I grow up!!!
That's what I wanted thirty years ago. That and a house in the hills. That and an inside dog. And KIDS and FRIENDS and a WIFE and for all of them to be happy, healthy, successful, proud of themselves and proud of their family. Hell, I even had the PERFECT WOMAN!!! DUH!!! The "Beautiful Brown Eyed Girl"!
I haven't been thrilled with the airplane gig for a long time. I kept looking to other things. Then it hit me, go back to the beginning knuckle-head.
Arrrrghh Charlie Brown. It's time to go back to school. Hold onto the airplane gig. Take advantage of the bene's including school assistance. Keep writing something everyday. Good, Bad or Indifferent, write.
"...their naked ears were tortured... tales of brave blog readers..." My apologies to Mr Clapton.
"The word of the day, Sir is 'Catharsis'."
"Thank You Chief."
Catharsis.
How many more times am I going to say it? Until it stops feeling good. Until it stops feeling right.
2007, the Year of Catharsis.
Catharsis and learning. Learning so many things about myself. Learning the "Who, What, When, Where, Why and How" of it all. All about me.
At last finding my course again.
Finding my way back to the beginning of it all. The sources of the bitter taste in my mouth, my bitterness and inability to give what I have and what I need to give. To accept what I have unconditionally been given and accept it unconditionally.
Entirely too cryptic. I know. I apologize. There are two readers that know what I'm talking about and the rest of you are smart enough to realize that 2007 has been a helluva tough year here in Mudville.
I have been Bach'ing it again. Hard to recoup old skills when you've been as spoiled as I have been. I.E. I've got a fresh made pizza waiting for the oven to preheat but apparently I spilled something in the oven and the house is so full of smoke that I need radar to find my way from the bedroom to the kitchen. Even with the windows open and 40 degrees outside.
Living solo is not really the point of learning and catharsis. When the "Beautiful Brown Eyed Girl" and I get past this 'Divide and Conquer' period I'll just be that much stronger and better equipped to carry my weight.
LEARNING... The revelations, epiphanies, epiphan-ettes and startling realizations about myself. About the 5W's of why I am the man I am. More importantly why I have not become the man I should be.
Realizations and decisions. I think it's been said that I wound up an aircraft mechanic by accident. Didn't have a better idea at the time. I didn't have a better idea because by the time I was 23 years old I had already lost sight of what had always been important to me. I spent the next twenty-odd years fortifying myself against what I wanted all along. Make sense? Of Course Not.
I didn't do it consciously but it may still have been deliberate. Something about the way I was raised.
Again, you ask, "Does he HAVE a point?"
Yeah, this time I do. I have seen the light Brothers and Sisters in this cosmic journey!
All I needed was a little sleep deprivation it seems. All at once yesterday things just came flying back. Swarming faster than I could keep up. So I started typing a short note to the Architect. Soon it was clear that the "Beautiful Brown Eyed Girl'' HAD to hear this too.
It boils down to the 5W's. Who, What When, Where, Why and How. THAT's what I studied. That's what I wanted to do. That's part of what I lost sight of. I must have been really deluded by the tri-chloro-ethelyne in the dry cleaners. Maybe that's why I didn't have a better idea. Because I stoned and forgot!!!!
Those of you that have slogged bravely through these sporadic and erratic posts will be aghast at the point of this all.
I want to be a writer when I grow up!!!
That's what I wanted thirty years ago. That and a house in the hills. That and an inside dog. And KIDS and FRIENDS and a WIFE and for all of them to be happy, healthy, successful, proud of themselves and proud of their family. Hell, I even had the PERFECT WOMAN!!! DUH!!! The "Beautiful Brown Eyed Girl"!
I haven't been thrilled with the airplane gig for a long time. I kept looking to other things. Then it hit me, go back to the beginning knuckle-head.
Arrrrghh Charlie Brown. It's time to go back to school. Hold onto the airplane gig. Take advantage of the bene's including school assistance. Keep writing something everyday. Good, Bad or Indifferent, write.
"...their naked ears were tortured... tales of brave blog readers..." My apologies to Mr Clapton.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Valentines Day 2007...
It's 0425 in the morning. I've been up for two hours battling the dial up access.
I set out to send my special lady Valentines greetings. I wanted them to hit her mail box while she slept and for them to have the February 14Th post mark.
Valentines Day is a tough day for us guys to get a grip on. It can slip up on us before we realize it. Even if we feel we're on top of it, then, what the hell do we do with it? EVERYTHING is cliche'.
This year I thought I was prepared. "HA!", said Life and threw me a fast curve.
M'lady and I are apart. Jobs, careers in different city's. Work schedules in a state of flux. Six kids in three States. Weather closing in...
Yeah, I'm a little whiny at the moment.
Valentines Day can be a little tough on us guys. Especially when we miss our Soul Mates and want nothing more than to feel their heart beats.
Happy Valentines Day! K.M.S.
There's a Load that isn't Nada
I set out to send my special lady Valentines greetings. I wanted them to hit her mail box while she slept and for them to have the February 14Th post mark.
Valentines Day is a tough day for us guys to get a grip on. It can slip up on us before we realize it. Even if we feel we're on top of it, then, what the hell do we do with it? EVERYTHING is cliche'.
This year I thought I was prepared. "HA!", said Life and threw me a fast curve.
M'lady and I are apart. Jobs, careers in different city's. Work schedules in a state of flux. Six kids in three States. Weather closing in...
Yeah, I'm a little whiny at the moment.
Valentines Day can be a little tough on us guys. Especially when we miss our Soul Mates and want nothing more than to feel their heart beats.
Happy Valentines Day! K.M.S.
There's a Load that isn't Nada
Monday, February 12, 2007
It' Saturday in my world...
It' Saturday in my world. The grueling three day work week is done and gone. It was a very rough 'week'. I have the usual post work household chores to do but it's SATURDAY so screw it. CD player is loaded and in sequential mode. Todd Snyder, Meatloaf, Joe Ely, and two Warren Zevon discs. At the moment the neighbors are enjoying Meatloaf "Bat outta Hell" recorded live with a symphony. To me, it's the best version. The "As it should be" version.
But I'm off topic. Have I picked a topic? I'll let you be the judge.
Back to the work week...
The airplanes were tame. No real bites, bumps or bruises.
Traffic was tame. No idiot induced road rage.
Actually, "Rage" is a funny term when applied to me physically. At 5' 6" and 130 lbs on a good day and the curse of boyish cuteness rather than 'handsome'. Rage has been known to strike though. And it aint that pretty at all. And I know it. I guess that's an advantage of getting older. I feel lucky to be able to learn from mistakes when I actually learn from them.
I have a generally quiet demeanor. I generally like to listen as opposed to talk. I know that seems contrary to this blog and my long winded other side but it's true.
Back to the learning. I don't just mean the 'oh, that was a bad idea' kind but the kind that makes me really step back. Step back far and away to get a big frame on whatever just happened. The kind that really makes me rethink my ways of doing things. The kind that makes me look for roots, causes and origins. The kind that makes me go way back to before the event, and I mean Freudian back. The kind of step retracing that can be down right terrifying.
I am difficult though. At times it is virtually impossible to get through my thick skull and one needs a 'brickbat' to get a point across. Sometimes I have to be seriously scared or wounded. Again in the Freudian way. In normally scary situations, instinct takes over.
So, what has weedhopper learned thus far in 2007?
1) "Brickbats" hurt a lot worse as I get older.
2) I wrote a lyric a looonng time ago about a Bell Jar (I don't think it had anything to do with S.P) 'You want to love and protect her keep her from harm' etc. Very simplistic now that I think about it. Not only in lyrical way but in the way of thinking. It's far more complex to realize that, sometimes, trying to protect someone is EXACTLY the wrong tactic.
3) I need to be more aggressive about some things and more patient about others.
There are more lessons and more yet to come. I just hope that I can take to heart the words I gave my son the other night, "You have to do well at these two lessons at this level because you will need them when you get to the next level."
Living to learn and learning to live! There's a belly laugh for my biker buddys!!!
Warren Zevon has made his way around the ol' turntable, "Reconsider Me". It is Saturday after all. I think I'll make a sam'ich.
But I'm off topic. Have I picked a topic? I'll let you be the judge.
Back to the work week...
The airplanes were tame. No real bites, bumps or bruises.
Traffic was tame. No idiot induced road rage.
Actually, "Rage" is a funny term when applied to me physically. At 5' 6" and 130 lbs on a good day and the curse of boyish cuteness rather than 'handsome'. Rage has been known to strike though. And it aint that pretty at all. And I know it. I guess that's an advantage of getting older. I feel lucky to be able to learn from mistakes when I actually learn from them.
I have a generally quiet demeanor. I generally like to listen as opposed to talk. I know that seems contrary to this blog and my long winded other side but it's true.
Back to the learning. I don't just mean the 'oh, that was a bad idea' kind but the kind that makes me really step back. Step back far and away to get a big frame on whatever just happened. The kind that really makes me rethink my ways of doing things. The kind that makes me look for roots, causes and origins. The kind that makes me go way back to before the event, and I mean Freudian back. The kind of step retracing that can be down right terrifying.
I am difficult though. At times it is virtually impossible to get through my thick skull and one needs a 'brickbat' to get a point across. Sometimes I have to be seriously scared or wounded. Again in the Freudian way. In normally scary situations, instinct takes over.
So, what has weedhopper learned thus far in 2007?
1) "Brickbats" hurt a lot worse as I get older.
2) I wrote a lyric a looonng time ago about a Bell Jar (I don't think it had anything to do with S.P) 'You want to love and protect her keep her from harm' etc. Very simplistic now that I think about it. Not only in lyrical way but in the way of thinking. It's far more complex to realize that, sometimes, trying to protect someone is EXACTLY the wrong tactic.
3) I need to be more aggressive about some things and more patient about others.
There are more lessons and more yet to come. I just hope that I can take to heart the words I gave my son the other night, "You have to do well at these two lessons at this level because you will need them when you get to the next level."
Living to learn and learning to live! There's a belly laugh for my biker buddys!!!
Warren Zevon has made his way around the ol' turntable, "Reconsider Me". It is Saturday after all. I think I'll make a sam'ich.
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Not really off to a great start here
Forgive me reader for I have... OK Sorry. I guess that sooner or later everyone that attempts to start a blog will use that line. The others, however, being smarter will delete it.
In my feeble defense (seems to be a lot of that going on lately) it has been a tumultuous week. Week Hell. So far 2007 SUCKS!
OK, with that too out of my system, for now.
There are a couple of lights at the end of the tunnel... cliche not even attempted this time. See, I'm getting smarter!
For one the weather is trying to break. I'm not really up on the South Central weather yet. I have lived here a couple of times before but haven't been here for an entire cycle yet this tour. It has been off and on gorgeous during the week but then turns off crappy on the weekend while I'm working. I hate to work in the cold but were it the other way around it would just be depressing.
A couple of my current goals are showing some promise...
I cut back on the smoking and have come up with a plan. I am NOT the cold turkey type. (I am the worst creature of the worst habits. I am a 'routine freak' about some of the most mundane and ridiculous things. More to come on these topics to be sure!) So, I have decided that I am not going to try to quit smoking. I am just going to try not to have a cigarette right this moment. When the next moment arrives I'll try not to have one then either. When those moments begin to string together sooner or later I'll have a string that I wont want to break. (I am not a competitive person really but I hate to lose or to fail. Worst of all to be a failure at something important to me.)
Another load of nada.
In my feeble defense (seems to be a lot of that going on lately) it has been a tumultuous week. Week Hell. So far 2007 SUCKS!
OK, with that too out of my system, for now.
There are a couple of lights at the end of the tunnel... cliche not even attempted this time. See, I'm getting smarter!
For one the weather is trying to break. I'm not really up on the South Central weather yet. I have lived here a couple of times before but haven't been here for an entire cycle yet this tour. It has been off and on gorgeous during the week but then turns off crappy on the weekend while I'm working. I hate to work in the cold but were it the other way around it would just be depressing.
A couple of my current goals are showing some promise...
I cut back on the smoking and have come up with a plan. I am NOT the cold turkey type. (I am the worst creature of the worst habits. I am a 'routine freak' about some of the most mundane and ridiculous things. More to come on these topics to be sure!) So, I have decided that I am not going to try to quit smoking. I am just going to try not to have a cigarette right this moment. When the next moment arrives I'll try not to have one then either. When those moments begin to string together sooner or later I'll have a string that I wont want to break. (I am not a competitive person really but I hate to lose or to fail. Worst of all to be a failure at something important to me.)
Another load of nada.
Monday, February 5, 2007
Goose Eggs
Not the kind ya might have for breakfast. (?) The kind ya get on your noggin and the kind ya have when ya get skunked in sports. (I am not the jock in the family. That would be "The Preacher".)
I woke up with a 'prop knot' on my head. Maybe that was a wake up call. There have been lots of those coming around lately.
I've been chasing airplanes around the world for most of my adult life. Other things have come and gone but airplanes have been a relative constant.
It may finally be time for a change.
I started my life as an A&P quite by accident. Never aspired to be one. I was working in a dry cleaners in Dallas. Floundering around. (Of course, there's a story for another time as to how I wound up there.) At 24 I was beginning to realize that I was going nowhere. I kept hearing radio ad's for an A&P school. I went to have a look. Took the tour, talked with the Rep (SALESMAN). Investigated tuition and financing. I qualified for ZERO financial aid because at $6 and hour in 1985 in Dallas, TX (Addison! For aficionados) I made toooooo much money! They required $XYZB.00 down payment and $XYZ.00 a month for the fourteen months. "Have a nice life. See ya later." I said.
XMAS was big that year. I got a letter from the school saying Ronald Reagan had signed legislation that allowed me to qualify for student loans.
So it began. The school was a sham. Oh, they were legal. I got what I needed to earn my "License to Learn" as they euphemistically called it. (I better learn it somewhere because you clowns aren't teaching me squat."
There are other ways to earn A&P licenses but the school route, boiled down, requires 1900 some-odd hours of instruction (Documented. We had a time clock.) Then when you pass all of those tests and graduate with the requisite hours you qualify to take the Federal Exams. Thirteen months of full time 'training', 7.5 hours a day, five days a week. Then one month of learning the tests.
My tattered ol' ticket, " License to Learn", says 07/07/88.
It's been a good ride. Great at times. But, sooner or later ya get back to the platform and the guy hits the lever, lifts the bar and it's time to get off of the roller coaster.
Thinking about starting on ongoing post titled, "DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!".
I'll keep ya posted.
Mo Nada
I woke up with a 'prop knot' on my head. Maybe that was a wake up call. There have been lots of those coming around lately.
I've been chasing airplanes around the world for most of my adult life. Other things have come and gone but airplanes have been a relative constant.
It may finally be time for a change.
I started my life as an A&P quite by accident. Never aspired to be one. I was working in a dry cleaners in Dallas. Floundering around. (Of course, there's a story for another time as to how I wound up there.) At 24 I was beginning to realize that I was going nowhere. I kept hearing radio ad's for an A&P school. I went to have a look. Took the tour, talked with the Rep (SALESMAN). Investigated tuition and financing. I qualified for ZERO financial aid because at $6 and hour in 1985 in Dallas, TX (Addison! For aficionados) I made toooooo much money! They required $XYZB.00 down payment and $XYZ.00 a month for the fourteen months. "Have a nice life. See ya later." I said.
XMAS was big that year. I got a letter from the school saying Ronald Reagan had signed legislation that allowed me to qualify for student loans.
So it began. The school was a sham. Oh, they were legal. I got what I needed to earn my "License to Learn" as they euphemistically called it. (I better learn it somewhere because you clowns aren't teaching me squat."
There are other ways to earn A&P licenses but the school route, boiled down, requires 1900 some-odd hours of instruction (Documented. We had a time clock.) Then when you pass all of those tests and graduate with the requisite hours you qualify to take the Federal Exams. Thirteen months of full time 'training', 7.5 hours a day, five days a week. Then one month of learning the tests.
My tattered ol' ticket, " License to Learn", says 07/07/88.
It's been a good ride. Great at times. But, sooner or later ya get back to the platform and the guy hits the lever, lifts the bar and it's time to get off of the roller coaster.
Thinking about starting on ongoing post titled, "DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!".
I'll keep ya posted.
Mo Nada
Friday night to Monday morning
Wow, how did I get from there to here so fast.
Emotional havoc around here. Amongst all of the ongoing 'life maintenance and repairs' I got a voice mail from an out of state friend.
I could tell, first by the fact that she called, then her tone of voice. "David, I need to talk to you. I've got bad news that I think you'd want to hear."
Now, we've been friends for a long while but lately it seems that when she calls it is due to a 'death in the family'. We have mutual friends in their sixties and seventies. Not all are in great health. They are not a bunch of shut ins but the wear and tear takes it's toll. So, my first thought was who?
Many busy signals later, it's not one of the tough old farts but a friend our own age. Carbon monoxide poisoning. Details are sketchy and not really something for this blog.
John Day, another great guy has joined the roster of those that know, "What's next."
I apologize for being so morose on a Monday morning. It happens.
Without listing all of the cliche's I'm going to twist an old one instead...
"Love 'em if ya got 'em."
That's a sad Whole Lotta Nada.
Emotional havoc around here. Amongst all of the ongoing 'life maintenance and repairs' I got a voice mail from an out of state friend.
I could tell, first by the fact that she called, then her tone of voice. "David, I need to talk to you. I've got bad news that I think you'd want to hear."
Now, we've been friends for a long while but lately it seems that when she calls it is due to a 'death in the family'. We have mutual friends in their sixties and seventies. Not all are in great health. They are not a bunch of shut ins but the wear and tear takes it's toll. So, my first thought was who?
Many busy signals later, it's not one of the tough old farts but a friend our own age. Carbon monoxide poisoning. Details are sketchy and not really something for this blog.
John Day, another great guy has joined the roster of those that know, "What's next."
I apologize for being so morose on a Monday morning. It happens.
Without listing all of the cliche's I'm going to twist an old one instead...
"Love 'em if ya got 'em."
That's a sad Whole Lotta Nada.
Sunday, February 4, 2007
Venting while heavily caffienated...
Just fired email to "The Architect". It was long, angry and filled with delicious expletives.
That kind of thing will happen when you drink coffee from 0400 'till 1800 hrs, drive home through construction zones. Then switch from cafe' to barley pop.
Once I stopped gritting my teeth and typing all caps I realized I had a couple of topics to throw out for discussion as well as what started the day off...
"... I walked skull first into the trailing edge of a propellor..."
That sort of thing is going to happen when you spend tooo much time around airplanes. Sure we all try to practice good situational awareness, be cautious, pay attention, etc. And THAT is precisely why you will never see it coming. A stationary propellor will make you see God, from your knees. This morning He looked down at me and said, "Just trying to get your attention." I winced, squeezed my eyes shut and silently counted the hours between me and my first barley pop.
Props aren't the only things that are out there to get ya. Trailing edges of flight controls, landing gear doors, 'mud rudders', fuel vents, tie down rings. Some aircraft bristle with antennae that AREN'T installed on other copies of the same type aircraft!
I don't recall the last time I checked a prop. Kinda scary now that I think about the implications of that! BUT! I do recall the first time... 20 years ago.
I was still in school to (allegedly) learn all I needed to know about working on all sorts of aircraft. There were only a few of us employed by a small shade tree outfit. Someone said that the FAA was coming in. 'Great, I don't even have a license yet and I'm going to lose it!' This place was SHAAAaaaDY.
We commenced to doing housework. I was diligenty sweeping the hangar. Next thing I know my fists are clinched and I'm looking around for the guy that I am fixing to knock the hell out for trying to knock ME out. (I don't even look around much anymore. Once it's too late, I realize what I missed judged, usually.) Of course there wasn't anybody there but a 690 Commander with a 540 cubic inch six cylinder engines. The first plane I ever worked on but I'll save that for another time.
Funniest part was an hour or so later when a pilot waltzed through the hangar and said, "Hey man, you're losing some fluid there. " I looked around, looked back at him and he pointed to his forehead. Yeah, I lost some fluid alright!
FAA never showed.
Well, 20 hours outta the rack and I could still go on for hours but I know I would just degenerate.
Just to toss out some of the other topics from the email... Construction and Idiots, Women, Music and passive agressive people.
I think I'll have a toddy and crawl under a blanket. Maybe the swelling will be down by morning...
Whole lotta nada
That kind of thing will happen when you drink coffee from 0400 'till 1800 hrs, drive home through construction zones. Then switch from cafe' to barley pop.
Once I stopped gritting my teeth and typing all caps I realized I had a couple of topics to throw out for discussion as well as what started the day off...
"... I walked skull first into the trailing edge of a propellor..."
That sort of thing is going to happen when you spend tooo much time around airplanes. Sure we all try to practice good situational awareness, be cautious, pay attention, etc. And THAT is precisely why you will never see it coming. A stationary propellor will make you see God, from your knees. This morning He looked down at me and said, "Just trying to get your attention." I winced, squeezed my eyes shut and silently counted the hours between me and my first barley pop.
Props aren't the only things that are out there to get ya. Trailing edges of flight controls, landing gear doors, 'mud rudders', fuel vents, tie down rings. Some aircraft bristle with antennae that AREN'T installed on other copies of the same type aircraft!
I don't recall the last time I checked a prop. Kinda scary now that I think about the implications of that! BUT! I do recall the first time... 20 years ago.
I was still in school to (allegedly) learn all I needed to know about working on all sorts of aircraft. There were only a few of us employed by a small shade tree outfit. Someone said that the FAA was coming in. 'Great, I don't even have a license yet and I'm going to lose it!' This place was SHAAAaaaDY.
We commenced to doing housework. I was diligenty sweeping the hangar. Next thing I know my fists are clinched and I'm looking around for the guy that I am fixing to knock the hell out for trying to knock ME out. (I don't even look around much anymore. Once it's too late, I realize what I missed judged, usually.) Of course there wasn't anybody there but a 690 Commander with a 540 cubic inch six cylinder engines. The first plane I ever worked on but I'll save that for another time.
Funniest part was an hour or so later when a pilot waltzed through the hangar and said, "Hey man, you're losing some fluid there. " I looked around, looked back at him and he pointed to his forehead. Yeah, I lost some fluid alright!
FAA never showed.
Well, 20 hours outta the rack and I could still go on for hours but I know I would just degenerate.
Just to toss out some of the other topics from the email... Construction and Idiots, Women, Music and passive agressive people.
I think I'll have a toddy and crawl under a blanket. Maybe the swelling will be down by morning...
Whole lotta nada
It's Friday Night!
What? Sunday? Super Bowl Sunday? OK, that clinches it. It must be Sunday. For me tho, it's Friday. Weekend shift ya see. Three action packed days in the hangar. Lately we're lucky that it has been almost all indoor work. I hate cold weather. San Antonio is almost too far North for me.
Just read a post on a blog I read. One of the few. She had several complaints about format problems. I think I've got most or all of them handled. Text and background contrast. Font size. Use of paragraphs. They probably aren't 'correct' paragraphs but it is broken up. If you do have a problem let me know and I will try to fix it.
Colts ponied up and the Bears blew it. Oh well. Maybe in another 25 years or so.
That's a Whole Lotta Nada
Just read a post on a blog I read. One of the few. She had several complaints about format problems. I think I've got most or all of them handled. Text and background contrast. Font size. Use of paragraphs. They probably aren't 'correct' paragraphs but it is broken up. If you do have a problem let me know and I will try to fix it.
Colts ponied up and the Bears blew it. Oh well. Maybe in another 25 years or so.
That's a Whole Lotta Nada
Thursday, February 1, 2007
The Whole Lotta Nada
Both a play on "The Whole Enchilada" and a truth of sorts.
(Sub-titled, He has completely lost it and what's up with the parenthesis's?)
It's a Whole Lotta Nada because I don't really have a topic. I'm not currently doing anything interesting. That doesn't mean I wont go on and on about something!
Those that I've met and those that have had the 'misfortune' of meeting me know that I CAN Ramble, Babble, Repeat myself and generally go on for ever. More than once I've been admonished, "David, Please land the airplane." And, That's the truth. (I think there is supposed to be a raspberry at the end of that line.)
I only very recently stumbled off into this Blogosphere. (Is that the correct term? Did I spell it right? I need all the help I can get here.) It's all due to a fascination with Honduras and a sweet lady there that has been very gracious and tolerant of me. (Yes L.G. Blatant sucking up! I do want to thank you for your kindness though. That goes for you too B.B. Just as well get ya both at the same time and I doubt either will object to the company.)
If I haven't lost you completely already I should introduce myself. (I know that glazed look when I see it.)
My name is David. Currently a resident of San Antonio, TX. Actually, between Elmendorf and Floresville for you aficionado's of the Republic. I consider myself Natch-erlized. That may offend you Natives. My Mother and my oldest child were born here. Had documented kin at the Alamo. I've lived in Texas off and on since escaping (gasp) Oklahoma in 1984. BOOMER SOONER!!! While I'm upsetting Natives! Hey, Ya'll know I mean that in the best of rival ways! I decided a long time ago that I wanted to be in San Antonio if I couldn't be somewhere tropical. I LOVE it here. Food, folks, music. I have a brother here and my parents are right down the road.
I am an A&P mechanic. No, not the grocery A&P. An Airframe and Powerplant mechanic. I spend my work days bending, twisting, bruising, bleeding, contorting within various airplanes to inspect, repair and modify them. Enjoy the flight? Thank a mechanic! Yes, yes YES! Those guys in the front seat with the shiny suits are the best friggin' bus drivers in the world. (OK, Insert provisos here.) I do give them their due. The really good ones can, A. take a joke and B. acknowledge the disparities in prestige and salary. (You guys can have ALL the prestige just gimme the money!!! ;-) Who Me Bitter? No. Not at all. I had the grades and the opportunities to go that direction but as usual I made a short term sorta decision.
Being a wrench has afforded me opportunities that I couldn't have foreseen in Lawton, OK. I've been as far East as Mombasa, Kenya ("Roland aimed his Thompson gun, he didn't say a word" WZ) and as far West as Korea. Lotta points in between. Including three years in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, ("I was gambling in Havana, I took a little risk" WZ) thus the fascination with going back to Honduras.
With the exception of my two children the greatest thing in my life is my Fiance'. (Yes, I said, 'thing'. I do not think of women as things or possession's or chattel. So don't start. Just didn't have a better way to phrase it at the moment.) Anyway. We dated in high school and you can imagine how that worked out. 20 something years later I sent her an apologetic email. (Yeah the break-up was my fault! You didn't guess that already?) Asked her to pass my apology on to her parents as well. HALF AN HOUR LATER! I got a reply. It's been wide open ever since. WFO, as we say.
It is, I'm at a total loss, it's SOOOOOooooo great to be with a woman that grew up in the same town at the same time the same high school, etc, etc, et al! Something comes up, we have similiar perspectives. Not that we see everything exactly the same way. I guess being grounded in the same red clay helps. When I'm wrong, she'll say so. I generally defer. She's way smarter than me. (Better long term decisions. I.E. Bachelors, Master and Associates Degrees. In that order and that, to me is kinda funny for various reasons.) And, she puts up with me! She's the best "Glazer-Over" going! She does it with a smile. Even when I crank up the Zevon, or the Ely, or the Clapton, or the what the hell ever. If it bugs her, she wont hesitate to say so and I defer, see above. I've got a huge Warren Zevon poster hanging in the living room and she helped me find the right spot to hang it. Have I got it GREAT or what?!?! (It is tasteful and B&W and framed.)
Joe Ely, "Live at the Liberty Lunch" on the changer at the moment. If you're still here.
I promise, I'll pick topics and have something to say in the future. May even have some news someday. Let's write this one off to getting acquainted. Ya know, just between the two of us!
"donde esta mi amor... una noche como oy... y si ella lo vi lo mismo cielo que yo" JE
David
The Whole Lotta Nada
I just put several things in the "Labels" line. In the process something hit me. There is something of a family mystery surrounding one relative. ("Too Many Secrets" but one real mystery.) A certain Edwin Henry Riggs, born at FT Sam Houston in about 1914. I told ya I had roots here. Just a thought. It is the www after all.
(Sub-titled, He has completely lost it and what's up with the parenthesis's?)
It's a Whole Lotta Nada because I don't really have a topic. I'm not currently doing anything interesting. That doesn't mean I wont go on and on about something!
Those that I've met and those that have had the 'misfortune' of meeting me know that I CAN Ramble, Babble, Repeat myself and generally go on for ever. More than once I've been admonished, "David, Please land the airplane." And, That's the truth. (I think there is supposed to be a raspberry at the end of that line.)
I only very recently stumbled off into this Blogosphere. (Is that the correct term? Did I spell it right? I need all the help I can get here.) It's all due to a fascination with Honduras and a sweet lady there that has been very gracious and tolerant of me. (Yes L.G. Blatant sucking up! I do want to thank you for your kindness though. That goes for you too B.B. Just as well get ya both at the same time and I doubt either will object to the company.)
If I haven't lost you completely already I should introduce myself. (I know that glazed look when I see it.)
My name is David. Currently a resident of San Antonio, TX. Actually, between Elmendorf and Floresville for you aficionado's of the Republic. I consider myself Natch-erlized. That may offend you Natives. My Mother and my oldest child were born here. Had documented kin at the Alamo. I've lived in Texas off and on since escaping (gasp) Oklahoma in 1984. BOOMER SOONER!!! While I'm upsetting Natives! Hey, Ya'll know I mean that in the best of rival ways! I decided a long time ago that I wanted to be in San Antonio if I couldn't be somewhere tropical. I LOVE it here. Food, folks, music. I have a brother here and my parents are right down the road.
I am an A&P mechanic. No, not the grocery A&P. An Airframe and Powerplant mechanic. I spend my work days bending, twisting, bruising, bleeding, contorting within various airplanes to inspect, repair and modify them. Enjoy the flight? Thank a mechanic! Yes, yes YES! Those guys in the front seat with the shiny suits are the best friggin' bus drivers in the world. (OK, Insert provisos here.) I do give them their due. The really good ones can, A. take a joke and B. acknowledge the disparities in prestige and salary. (You guys can have ALL the prestige just gimme the money!!! ;-) Who Me Bitter? No. Not at all. I had the grades and the opportunities to go that direction but as usual I made a short term sorta decision.
Being a wrench has afforded me opportunities that I couldn't have foreseen in Lawton, OK. I've been as far East as Mombasa, Kenya ("Roland aimed his Thompson gun, he didn't say a word" WZ) and as far West as Korea. Lotta points in between. Including three years in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, ("I was gambling in Havana, I took a little risk" WZ) thus the fascination with going back to Honduras.
With the exception of my two children the greatest thing in my life is my Fiance'. (Yes, I said, 'thing'. I do not think of women as things or possession's or chattel. So don't start. Just didn't have a better way to phrase it at the moment.) Anyway. We dated in high school and you can imagine how that worked out. 20 something years later I sent her an apologetic email. (Yeah the break-up was my fault! You didn't guess that already?) Asked her to pass my apology on to her parents as well. HALF AN HOUR LATER! I got a reply. It's been wide open ever since. WFO, as we say.
It is, I'm at a total loss, it's SOOOOOooooo great to be with a woman that grew up in the same town at the same time the same high school, etc, etc, et al! Something comes up, we have similiar perspectives. Not that we see everything exactly the same way. I guess being grounded in the same red clay helps. When I'm wrong, she'll say so. I generally defer. She's way smarter than me. (Better long term decisions. I.E. Bachelors, Master and Associates Degrees. In that order and that, to me is kinda funny for various reasons.) And, she puts up with me! She's the best "Glazer-Over" going! She does it with a smile. Even when I crank up the Zevon, or the Ely, or the Clapton, or the what the hell ever. If it bugs her, she wont hesitate to say so and I defer, see above. I've got a huge Warren Zevon poster hanging in the living room and she helped me find the right spot to hang it. Have I got it GREAT or what?!?! (It is tasteful and B&W and framed.)
Joe Ely, "Live at the Liberty Lunch" on the changer at the moment. If you're still here.
I promise, I'll pick topics and have something to say in the future. May even have some news someday. Let's write this one off to getting acquainted. Ya know, just between the two of us!
"donde esta mi amor... una noche como oy... y si ella lo vi lo mismo cielo que yo" JE
David
The Whole Lotta Nada
I just put several things in the "Labels" line. In the process something hit me. There is something of a family mystery surrounding one relative. ("Too Many Secrets" but one real mystery.) A certain Edwin Henry Riggs, born at FT Sam Houston in about 1914. I told ya I had roots here. Just a thought. It is the www after all.
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