Monday, October 31, 2005
Hey, Navy:
It’s October 31st, which is “Hide From the Demon Children Night” at the Moore house. Your seesters and Amanda/Sam got all gussied up and terrorized a bunch of third-graders into giving up their candy. They say they went to houses but we know the truth. YM got the house to herself while I was in class and she got the privilege of listening to Grama Boyce talk to her on the phone, and like the Energizer Bunny, she kept talking and talking and…
President Bush picked a conservative judge as is next nominee to the Supreme Court to totally tilt the bench to the Right for the next twenty years. Remember those choices you used to have as a civilian? Well, don’t get me started.
Another person you probably don’t know said she’s sending you a letter. Hope these things are coming in droves. And I wish I had something exciting to tell you but I’m drawing a blank. How about some strange stuff from the news:
- Woman Pleads Guilty in Scheme to Buy House (AP):A federal grand jury was looking into allegations that a woman had written tens of thousands of dollars of bad checks when investigators got a startling call: She had just bought a house using a $400,000 cashier's check.
- Getting Drunk Part of Australian Identity, Study Finds (Agence France Presse): A National Drug and Alcohol Research Council study of 1,500 Australians found that some 58 percent of people agreed that sometimes having too much to drink was "simply part of the Australian way of life."
- Woman Gets Donkey for 50th Birthday (AP):Former attorney general and governor candidate Heidi Heitkamp, a well-known Democrat, got a surprise birthday president from her brother that fits her politics, though maybe not her yard.
- Pastor Electrocuted While Performing Baptism (AP):A pastor performing a baptism was electrocuted inside his church Sunday morning after adjusting a nearby microphone while standing in water.
- More Britons Believe in Ghosts Than in God (AP): Here's one to ponder on Halloween. A new survey says more people in Britain believe in ghosts than believe in God.
- Hurricane Wilma Claims Latest Victim -- Trick or Treating (AP): Lingering safety concerns a week after Hurricane Wilma struck meant a curtailed Halloween for most South Florida children.
- Inquest Told of Student Catapult Death (The Guardian): A student was killed in a bizarre stunt after he was hurled more than 30m through the air by a human catapult, an inquest heard.
- Dutch Witches Get Tax Break for Studies (AP): Dutch witches were guaranteed a financial treat when the Leeuwarden District Court reaffirmed their legal right to write off the costs of schooling - including in witchcraft - against their tax bills.
All my love,
Air Force
Monday, October 31, 2005
Sunday, October 30, 2005
Trina Letter - Dilbert for Free
Sunday, October 30, 2005
Hey, Navy:
Nice day here in Carson City. It started off right with the time change, so we all got a little rest (hope you got some, too), then YM and I went for breakfast at the Nugget. We then went up to the spiffy new Wal-Mart to get stuff. Lara has a new Jedi poster with that Ewan guy on it and Danielle got a white board.
Then for some silly reason, I climbed C Hill. Dunno why, other than to continue working out and burning calories. I used to climb it a lot when I was a teenager and it was a struggle then, but this climb was pretty much pain-free (going down was another story). Got close to the flag and found it’s all metal welded to a lot more metal. It’ll take a typhoon to blow that thing off the hill. Spent some time meandering around the summit. It’s very peaceful and tranquil up there, well worth the price of admission.
By the way, there wasn’t a single cloud in the sky, so I’m the proud owner of a pretty decent sunburn all over my face. Your mother, on the other hand, managed to get only one side of her face burned at the parade yesterday. Her picture is attached, but you might need a super microscope to see her in the picture. She’s the brown dot at the tip of the arrow.
From the Dilbert Newsletter:
- Our college just completed a new three-story building. While walking down a hall on the 2nd floor, I overheard two students say, "I really like the skylights on the 3rd floor." "Me too," remarked the second student. "I don't know why they didn't just put some on the 2nd floor too."
- My fiddle teacher was teaching a large group class. She showed them her violin and said, "This violin was made in the early 1800s." Someone in the audience raised their hand and asked, "So you got it used?"
- A few years back, I was in high school and we were celebrating Holy Week (the week before Easter) and we were watching a presentation on the last few days of Jesus. The teacher used a clip from the movie "Jesus of Nazareth" to make his point. As we were watching Jesus carry his cross, a girl in my class asked, "Is this live footage?"
Take care of you. Miss you a lot. All my love,
Air Force
Hey, Navy:
Nice day here in Carson City. It started off right with the time change, so we all got a little rest (hope you got some, too), then YM and I went for breakfast at the Nugget. We then went up to the spiffy new Wal-Mart to get stuff. Lara has a new Jedi poster with that Ewan guy on it and Danielle got a white board.
Then for some silly reason, I climbed C Hill. Dunno why, other than to continue working out and burning calories. I used to climb it a lot when I was a teenager and it was a struggle then, but this climb was pretty much pain-free (going down was another story). Got close to the flag and found it’s all metal welded to a lot more metal. It’ll take a typhoon to blow that thing off the hill. Spent some time meandering around the summit. It’s very peaceful and tranquil up there, well worth the price of admission.
By the way, there wasn’t a single cloud in the sky, so I’m the proud owner of a pretty decent sunburn all over my face. Your mother, on the other hand, managed to get only one side of her face burned at the parade yesterday. Her picture is attached, but you might need a super microscope to see her in the picture. She’s the brown dot at the tip of the arrow.
From the Dilbert Newsletter:
- Our college just completed a new three-story building. While walking down a hall on the 2nd floor, I overheard two students say, "I really like the skylights on the 3rd floor." "Me too," remarked the second student. "I don't know why they didn't just put some on the 2nd floor too."
- My fiddle teacher was teaching a large group class. She showed them her violin and said, "This violin was made in the early 1800s." Someone in the audience raised their hand and asked, "So you got it used?"
- A few years back, I was in high school and we were celebrating Holy Week (the week before Easter) and we were watching a presentation on the last few days of Jesus. The teacher used a clip from the movie "Jesus of Nazareth" to make his point. As we were watching Jesus carry his cross, a girl in my class asked, "Is this live footage?"
Take care of you. Miss you a lot. All my love,
Air Force
C Hill
After weeks of working out on Dollar and the equipment at the gym, I decided that it was time for a real workout: climbing C Hill. According to the USGS, the top of C Hill registers at 5,756 feet and Cartoon City is officially at 4,730 feet, so it's a decent ascent for someone who hasn't climbed it since the 1980s. Armed with camera, energy bars, and very little brains, I headed out the door.
And that little digital camera takes some nice pictures. This is the first of the fifty-five pictures I took and it's my favorite. When you click on the image, you'll see there are two smaller hills in front. I started up the right hill (north) and went down the other one (south). For the record, there is a road to the far south that doesn't appear on this picture, but that option is for wimps and four-wheelers.
As indicated, I climbed this hill twenty, twenty-five years ago and fairly frequently, too, but only because there was nothing else to do in this silly town. It used to be covered with the usual Nevada flora, that being tumbleweed, tumbleweed, and even more tumbleweed. Last year's Waterfall Fire cleared that all out and it hasn't returned, yet. In its place is cheatgrass, planted by the government to keep the side of C Hill on the side of C Hill. The black bushes that remained are the hardiest reminders of the fire.
I wasn't a speed demon going up by any stretch of the imagination. I took small, measured steps the entire time, using hiking poles to steady myself, and kept my feet as straight as possible and pointed towards the top. The 17-year-old Bob of long ago didn't have to worry about his knees, but the 44-year-old Bob needs to get out of bed tomorrow.
And before I knew it, I was at the flag. This is the second American flag up there. The first literally blew away. As you can see from the picture, the second one is all metal and riveted to a stainless steel frame that's anchored onto cast iron pipes kept in place by a concrete foundation. It ain't going nowhere.
I called Liz from the flag and she came outside for a picture. That brown spot by the arrow is her. She is waving.
Fifteen minutes later, I was on top of C Hill. The summit of C Hill is actually two ridges and that's the eastern ridge.
The view from the top is amazing. Here's downtown Carson City, and the trees in the middle are at Mills Park.
Looking west, this is about where the Waterfall Fire started. The brown house in the middle is under construction on the site where the first house was lost.
And on the way back, I took a couple of picture of the college with its spanking new baseball field.
The empty brown field next to the road on the far left of the picture is how close the fire got to the college.
The descent was much harder than going up because the different route I chose was a pain. The ground was soft and more prone to slippage, and there was far less cheatgrass and more weeds to scratch a person dumb enough to not to wear proper footgear. Next time, I'm taking more fluids, another pair of socks, and decent hiking boots, especially to support the ankles.
All in all, it was fairly anti-climatic event. The bike ride to Dayton was much harder.
And as I said, I took many more pictures, but this is the most boring blog entry in the world and you've suffered enough. :-)
And that little digital camera takes some nice pictures. This is the first of the fifty-five pictures I took and it's my favorite. When you click on the image, you'll see there are two smaller hills in front. I started up the right hill (north) and went down the other one (south). For the record, there is a road to the far south that doesn't appear on this picture, but that option is for wimps and four-wheelers.
As indicated, I climbed this hill twenty, twenty-five years ago and fairly frequently, too, but only because there was nothing else to do in this silly town. It used to be covered with the usual Nevada flora, that being tumbleweed, tumbleweed, and even more tumbleweed. Last year's Waterfall Fire cleared that all out and it hasn't returned, yet. In its place is cheatgrass, planted by the government to keep the side of C Hill on the side of C Hill. The black bushes that remained are the hardiest reminders of the fire.
I wasn't a speed demon going up by any stretch of the imagination. I took small, measured steps the entire time, using hiking poles to steady myself, and kept my feet as straight as possible and pointed towards the top. The 17-year-old Bob of long ago didn't have to worry about his knees, but the 44-year-old Bob needs to get out of bed tomorrow.
And before I knew it, I was at the flag. This is the second American flag up there. The first literally blew away. As you can see from the picture, the second one is all metal and riveted to a stainless steel frame that's anchored onto cast iron pipes kept in place by a concrete foundation. It ain't going nowhere.
I called Liz from the flag and she came outside for a picture. That brown spot by the arrow is her. She is waving.
Fifteen minutes later, I was on top of C Hill. The summit of C Hill is actually two ridges and that's the eastern ridge.
The view from the top is amazing. Here's downtown Carson City, and the trees in the middle are at Mills Park.
Looking west, this is about where the Waterfall Fire started. The brown house in the middle is under construction on the site where the first house was lost.
And on the way back, I took a couple of picture of the college with its spanking new baseball field.
The empty brown field next to the road on the far left of the picture is how close the fire got to the college.
The descent was much harder than going up because the different route I chose was a pain. The ground was soft and more prone to slippage, and there was far less cheatgrass and more weeds to scratch a person dumb enough to not to wear proper footgear. Next time, I'm taking more fluids, another pair of socks, and decent hiking boots, especially to support the ankles.
All in all, it was fairly anti-climatic event. The bike ride to Dayton was much harder.
And as I said, I took many more pictures, but this is the most boring blog entry in the world and you've suffered enough. :-)
Saturday, October 29, 2005
Trina Letter - Wedding Announcement
Saturday, October 29, 2005
Hey, Navy:
The Nevada Day Parade was today and I missed all of it because I stayed at my desk Saturday morning so I could get to my Saturday labs where nothing happened again, which is good news. YM and Danielle went and took (no exaggeration) 99 pictures with the digital camera. They’re all on the laptop now and YM said she was planning to send you some.
Below is a picture of your uncle Dennis and soon-to-be Aunt Nikki from their wedding web site. They sent us the details of their wedding for next July in beautiful Nevan, Ireland (birthtown of one Pierce Brosnan). If you get to go, there are plenty of local attractions, including twice-weekly greyhound racing. Yes, that actually was on the thing they sent us, along with details about fishing in the nearby River Boyne.
Bumper Sticker of the Week:
IT’S GOD’S JOB TO JUDGE THE TERRORISTS
IT’S OUR JOB TO ARRANGE THE MEETING
UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS
Tomorrow, I will climb C Hill, weather and knees permitting. I haven’t climbed that silly thing since the 1980s, so it should be an interesting time.
All my love,
Air Force
Hey, Navy:
The Nevada Day Parade was today and I missed all of it because I stayed at my desk Saturday morning so I could get to my Saturday labs where nothing happened again, which is good news. YM and Danielle went and took (no exaggeration) 99 pictures with the digital camera. They’re all on the laptop now and YM said she was planning to send you some.
Below is a picture of your uncle Dennis and soon-to-be Aunt Nikki from their wedding web site. They sent us the details of their wedding for next July in beautiful Nevan, Ireland (birthtown of one Pierce Brosnan). If you get to go, there are plenty of local attractions, including twice-weekly greyhound racing. Yes, that actually was on the thing they sent us, along with details about fishing in the nearby River Boyne.
Bumper Sticker of the Week:
IT’S GOD’S JOB TO JUDGE THE TERRORISTS
IT’S OUR JOB TO ARRANGE THE MEETING
UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS
Tomorrow, I will climb C Hill, weather and knees permitting. I haven’t climbed that silly thing since the 1980s, so it should be an interesting time.
All my love,
Air Force
Friday, October 28, 2005
Trina Letter - Police Chasing Pigs
Friday, October 28, 2005
Hey, Navy:
Fall is here and with it is the lazy feeling of watching the leaves change, which is far more interesting than watching the grass grow or paint dry. The kids in the neighborhood don’t run down the street; they huddle into themselves, as if they can force summer to stay within their arms by the sheer force of their will. No one can because the seasons change and we go on.
Biked over to the new Wal-Mart today because it is so keen to have a new store open in town. Barely holding onto my excitement, I wandered through the aisles and discovered it looks exactly like the one down south, except the floors are brown and the signage is a tad more 21st century. And they say nothing happens here in Carson.
This is how much fun we have here: YM and I were discussing the fact that on The Dukes of Hazzard, the Duke boys and Daisy are all cousins to each other, so they do not have a common set of parents, and Jesse is their uncle. YM pointed out there are two more Duke cousins wandering the planet and, again, they don’t have the same parents as Bo, Luke, and Daisy. So not only are they the result of a big family, no one knows what the hell happened to their parents, and we’re talking about quite a few adults (counting the other two cousins, that’d be ten parents becoming corpsified). It must have been some serious food poisoning from the local KFC or BBQ rib place.
BTW, please let me know if the Navy is still making “grinder chicken” jokes.
Watched The Cider House Rules starring Tobey, Charlize, and Mr. Caine, who is such an excellent actor. It was worth the time. And I finished The Time Traveler’s Wife, which turned out far better book than I expected. The common thread between the two is that even though love can hurt, it’s worth it.
Well, that has been an upper of a letter. And then there’s the rampant crime in the world:
- LONDON (Reuters) - The "flying" Ford Anglia used in the Harry Potter films has been stolen from a film studio lot, police said on Friday.
- SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Stealing fake tombstones from a haunted trail in broad daylight isn't a good idea. Particularly if the trail is operated by a Fraternal Order of Police Lodge.
- SEOUL (Reuters) - This wild piggy went to an upmarket hotel. This wild piggy went to a historic palace. And all the wild piggies were chased by South Korean police. Police in the capital have been battling an invasion of wild boars that have come down from the mountains into densely populated areas in and around Seoul foraging for food before the onset of winter. Friday, one turned up at an apartment complex in Kuri, east of Seoul, media reported. Police failed to catch it after a 90-minute chase.
All my love,
Air Force
Hey, Navy:
Fall is here and with it is the lazy feeling of watching the leaves change, which is far more interesting than watching the grass grow or paint dry. The kids in the neighborhood don’t run down the street; they huddle into themselves, as if they can force summer to stay within their arms by the sheer force of their will. No one can because the seasons change and we go on.
Biked over to the new Wal-Mart today because it is so keen to have a new store open in town. Barely holding onto my excitement, I wandered through the aisles and discovered it looks exactly like the one down south, except the floors are brown and the signage is a tad more 21st century. And they say nothing happens here in Carson.
This is how much fun we have here: YM and I were discussing the fact that on The Dukes of Hazzard, the Duke boys and Daisy are all cousins to each other, so they do not have a common set of parents, and Jesse is their uncle. YM pointed out there are two more Duke cousins wandering the planet and, again, they don’t have the same parents as Bo, Luke, and Daisy. So not only are they the result of a big family, no one knows what the hell happened to their parents, and we’re talking about quite a few adults (counting the other two cousins, that’d be ten parents becoming corpsified). It must have been some serious food poisoning from the local KFC or BBQ rib place.
BTW, please let me know if the Navy is still making “grinder chicken” jokes.
Watched The Cider House Rules starring Tobey, Charlize, and Mr. Caine, who is such an excellent actor. It was worth the time. And I finished The Time Traveler’s Wife, which turned out far better book than I expected. The common thread between the two is that even though love can hurt, it’s worth it.
Well, that has been an upper of a letter. And then there’s the rampant crime in the world:
- LONDON (Reuters) - The "flying" Ford Anglia used in the Harry Potter films has been stolen from a film studio lot, police said on Friday.
- SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. - Stealing fake tombstones from a haunted trail in broad daylight isn't a good idea. Particularly if the trail is operated by a Fraternal Order of Police Lodge.
- SEOUL (Reuters) - This wild piggy went to an upmarket hotel. This wild piggy went to a historic palace. And all the wild piggies were chased by South Korean police. Police in the capital have been battling an invasion of wild boars that have come down from the mountains into densely populated areas in and around Seoul foraging for food before the onset of winter. Friday, one turned up at an apartment complex in Kuri, east of Seoul, media reported. Police failed to catch it after a 90-minute chase.
All my love,
Air Force
Just Fade Away
Not much to write about today and will probably be making things up for Trina's letter later. Slept in because there was darn nice sleeping weather out there: cool and light rain first thing in the morning. Graded tests at work then went for a quick ride to the new Wal-Mart via the back way by the college. Got a couple of hiking poles because I'm thinking of climbing C Hill on Sunday for fun.
Every once in a while, I randomly wander through various Bloggers to confirm that everyone is living a far more interesting life than me. There are a lot of happy families, cute babies, and vacation pictures out there. This browsing around reminds me that someone once said (paraphrasing here), "The accepted wisdom is that we lock a thousand monkeys in a room with a thousand typewriters and, in time, one of them will write Hamlet. With the internet, we now know that's no longer true."
Yet every once in a while, a gem emerges. This week's winner is the blog of Sgt. Fay, United States Marine Corps, combat artist in residence at Camp Fallujah, Iraq. That man's got talent and makes me even more proud of our warriors serving near and far. His work will gain nationwide fame in the next couple of years, just you watch.
One sad or reassuring thing is most blogs from writers in my demographic are as nearly vanilla as mine. A vast majority of us don't write about a wide range of things: family problems, religion, eroticism, and other taboo subjects because we know our readership will be made uncomfortable by these insights to the private side of our psyche. It's far easier to praise Aunt Martha's cherry pie than it is to describe one's physical reaction to a hottie, yet for some of us, these feelings and beliefs are what power our passion for life and discovery. It seems something is missing when we set them aside because of good manners and political correctness.
Another sobering thought is my window for making change in the world is shrinking. I once believed that I had the tools and energy to make a difference and to help people, but my life is like Dilbert: work is without meaning or end, and tomorrow unfolds exactly as it did yesterday. Nothing changes and the years are becoming a blur.
Mark today on your calendar: my mid-life crisis has begun. Where's my sporty red Trans Am?
About finished with my stack of books and will be looking for new input. With my mood, it'll probably be a John Irving book.
Distance: 6.7 miles
Time: 33:59 minutes
374 calories burned
Thursday, October 27, 2005
Trina Letter - Getting to the Reuters of the Problem
Thursday, October 27, 2005
Hey, Navy:
Another peaceful night in paradise as I write this (about 10:00 PM). Danielle is already in bed, YM should be going there soon, and the vampiress Lara is at the other PC. It was another early and long day for me, so after work, I took a nap and woke up with a desire for (surprise) pancakes. Went to the Carson Station for the biggest flapjacks I found in town so far and was pleasantly entertained by the house band who was doing a darn good version of Soul Train. The downside of those places is I come home smelling like I took a bath in a carton of cigarettes, so the washer and dryer are turning behind me as I hammer away here.
We got our first official letter from your United States Navy today, the one from the good Captain Moran explaining the Do’s and Don’ts of being a good Navy family (do they still call them Rocks and Shoals?). Your note at the end of the letter was priceless and it felt good that we could touch something that you were touching just a few days ago. YM is keeping the letter on her nightstand so she can read it, of course (but let’s not mention that it spent the afternoon at work with her, too ;)).
We’re still in a bit of a cold spell here with some intermittent rain, the first steady precipitation we’ve had in a while. The long range forecast for RTC is rain on Monday (10/31), then clear weather with highs in the upper 50s and lows near 40 through the week to Thursday (11/03). This is a forecast for me, but will probably be in the past for you by the time you read this. But what the heck? Gives me something to do.
And tomorrow is the beginning of the Nevada Day three-day weekend, but I’ll probably go to work to grade tests.
Helen Miers voluntarily (yeah, right) withdrew her nomination for the US Supreme Court, which the President “regrettably” accepted. Maybe he’ll nominate someone like, you know, a judge.
Some other quick nuggets from the strange side of the news:
- ROME (Reuters) - The city of Rome has banned goldfish bowls, which animal rights activists say are cruel, and has made regular dog-walks mandatory in the Italian capital, the town's council said Tuesday.
- DUBLIN (Reuters) - Rehearsals for an Irish opera met with an unusual hitch after customs officers seized cocaine from a truck delivering theatrical sets to a Dublin theater preparing to stage one of opera's finest works.
- DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) - A Turkish court fined 20 people for using the letters Q and W on placards at a Kurdish new year celebration, under a law banning characters not used in the Turkish alphabet, rights campaigners said Tuesday.
- STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Sweden's prison service may allow babies to live in prison with their fathers, putting men on an equal footing with women in prison parenting, a prison service official said Thursday.
All my love,
Air Force
Hey, Navy:
Another peaceful night in paradise as I write this (about 10:00 PM). Danielle is already in bed, YM should be going there soon, and the vampiress Lara is at the other PC. It was another early and long day for me, so after work, I took a nap and woke up with a desire for (surprise) pancakes. Went to the Carson Station for the biggest flapjacks I found in town so far and was pleasantly entertained by the house band who was doing a darn good version of Soul Train. The downside of those places is I come home smelling like I took a bath in a carton of cigarettes, so the washer and dryer are turning behind me as I hammer away here.
We got our first official letter from your United States Navy today, the one from the good Captain Moran explaining the Do’s and Don’ts of being a good Navy family (do they still call them Rocks and Shoals?). Your note at the end of the letter was priceless and it felt good that we could touch something that you were touching just a few days ago. YM is keeping the letter on her nightstand so she can read it, of course (but let’s not mention that it spent the afternoon at work with her, too ;)).
We’re still in a bit of a cold spell here with some intermittent rain, the first steady precipitation we’ve had in a while. The long range forecast for RTC is rain on Monday (10/31), then clear weather with highs in the upper 50s and lows near 40 through the week to Thursday (11/03). This is a forecast for me, but will probably be in the past for you by the time you read this. But what the heck? Gives me something to do.
And tomorrow is the beginning of the Nevada Day three-day weekend, but I’ll probably go to work to grade tests.
Helen Miers voluntarily (yeah, right) withdrew her nomination for the US Supreme Court, which the President “regrettably” accepted. Maybe he’ll nominate someone like, you know, a judge.
Some other quick nuggets from the strange side of the news:
- ROME (Reuters) - The city of Rome has banned goldfish bowls, which animal rights activists say are cruel, and has made regular dog-walks mandatory in the Italian capital, the town's council said Tuesday.
- DUBLIN (Reuters) - Rehearsals for an Irish opera met with an unusual hitch after customs officers seized cocaine from a truck delivering theatrical sets to a Dublin theater preparing to stage one of opera's finest works.
- DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuters) - A Turkish court fined 20 people for using the letters Q and W on placards at a Kurdish new year celebration, under a law banning characters not used in the Turkish alphabet, rights campaigners said Tuesday.
- STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Sweden's prison service may allow babies to live in prison with their fathers, putting men on an equal footing with women in prison parenting, a prison service official said Thursday.
All my love,
Air Force
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Trina Letter - The British Are Silly
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Hey, Navy:
Looks like I skipped a day of sending you letters there. Sorry. Had a bad couple of days. And nothing really going on here to write to you about. Do you really want to hear about the traffic jams around the new Wal-Mart? Woo-hoo. This is one of the reasons you got out of Carson: nothing happens here.
Just got home from Sparky’s after watching the fourth and final game of the first World Series in the post-steroid era, and you probably know who won (White Sox). This is Chicago’s first World Series since the 1910’s and ends the second of three famous curses in baseball. Last year, the Red Sox buried the Curse of the Bambino and this year saw the end of the Black Sox cheating scandal of so long ago. You already know which one is left: The Billy Goat. Go Cubs!
According to the international media, one of your future husbands had to drop trousers for a military examination. Did you think even I could make up something like this:
LONDON (AFP) - Britain's Prince Harry was forced to drop his trousers during a military parade to prove he did not have his girlfriend's name tattooed on his royal rear, a British newspaper said.
The 21-year-old son of Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, is halfway through his British Army officer training course at the elite Sandhurst academy. The Sun, Britain's biggest-selling daily, said Harry, third in line to the throne, was ordered to bare his bum after rumours spread he had blonde Zimbawean-born girlfriend Chelsy Davy's name inked on.
During a parade, a colour sergeant yelled: "Cadet Wales, drop your pants and show me your backside!"
Harry, apparently oblivious to the rumour, replied: "Are you serious?" before being ordered: "Just get them off, I want to see if it's true", The Sun said.
The prince had his trousers around his knees before the grinning colour sergeant said: "It's OK, Wales, I'll take your word for it!"
Those silly Brits.
All my love,
Air Force
Hey, Navy:
Looks like I skipped a day of sending you letters there. Sorry. Had a bad couple of days. And nothing really going on here to write to you about. Do you really want to hear about the traffic jams around the new Wal-Mart? Woo-hoo. This is one of the reasons you got out of Carson: nothing happens here.
Just got home from Sparky’s after watching the fourth and final game of the first World Series in the post-steroid era, and you probably know who won (White Sox). This is Chicago’s first World Series since the 1910’s and ends the second of three famous curses in baseball. Last year, the Red Sox buried the Curse of the Bambino and this year saw the end of the Black Sox cheating scandal of so long ago. You already know which one is left: The Billy Goat. Go Cubs!
According to the international media, one of your future husbands had to drop trousers for a military examination. Did you think even I could make up something like this:
LONDON (AFP) - Britain's Prince Harry was forced to drop his trousers during a military parade to prove he did not have his girlfriend's name tattooed on his royal rear, a British newspaper said.
The 21-year-old son of Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, is halfway through his British Army officer training course at the elite Sandhurst academy. The Sun, Britain's biggest-selling daily, said Harry, third in line to the throne, was ordered to bare his bum after rumours spread he had blonde Zimbawean-born girlfriend Chelsy Davy's name inked on.
During a parade, a colour sergeant yelled: "Cadet Wales, drop your pants and show me your backside!"
Harry, apparently oblivious to the rumour, replied: "Are you serious?" before being ordered: "Just get them off, I want to see if it's true", The Sun said.
The prince had his trousers around his knees before the grinning colour sergeant said: "It's OK, Wales, I'll take your word for it!"
Those silly Brits.
All my love,
Air Force
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
My Days are Better than Many Folks in the White House
Got a quick buzz on the stationary bike this morning but all of those bikes at the gym make a lot of racket when the seats are set as far back as they can be set. Not much to be done about it because my legs need the extension, so I smile apologetically at my fellow exercisers and crank the volume on my IPod.
Liz and Danielle stayed home today. They probably have a virus and as I write this, both should be back in bed asleep.
Fall is the best season in this part of Nevada. The leaves are changing in our neighborhood and they fall like rain in a good breeze. With the thunderstorm last night, it was positively warm and yummy this morning, and if I didn't have class tonight, I would have biked to work this morning. Maybe tomorrow.
The conservative wing's effort to push down the Miers nomination is gathering steam and their poster boy, the President, is looking more and more lame in his efforts to push it through. Don't get me wrong because I think Miers is the best we're going to get under the circumstances (again), but the longer this thing drags out, the better the chances Ms. Miers will step aside for "health reasons" or some other lame excuse. The next nominee will not be so centrist.
One positive outcome from this mess: the President nominated a qualified replacement for Alan Greenspan.
And the news media is saying White House staffers are walking on eggshells because the grand jury investigating the CIA/Plame leak may issues indictments this week. And key members of the senior Bush administration can't sync up their stories with each other, so they may be seeing federal marshalls with subpoenas in hand very soon. And the Vice President may be one of them.
I guess the White House doesn't have enough to do. Isn't the country fighting a couple of wars, recovering from a series of devastating hurricanes, dealing with local and international terrorists, having trust issues with the current administration, etc. etc. etc....
Distance: 4.2 miles
Time: 15:00 minutes
313 calories burned
Monday, October 24, 2005
Trina Letter - CTIs and Weird News
Monday, October 24, 2005
Hey, Navy:
Another tedious letter from the old man. Hope these do something for you. I won’t get mushy here. Much.
Woke up this morning at 3:30ish AM in a frozen sweat and could not back to sleep. Dunno what it was but it was not fun, so I watched SportsCenter until the dawn broke. Went to work, did that for nine or ten hours, then went to give yet another test, this one to my Monday class. About halfway through, the correctional officers kicked all the teachers out of the prison due to some emergency somewhere. We were not in any danger; I got the sense that it was a drill.
Got my December Bicycling Magazine a few days ago and my November issue today (go figure). There’s a good article about a dude who weighs 195 pounds today and 305 pounds (not a typo) not long ago. So maybe there’s hope for me yet. I was in the 260s when I started seriously biking and am now in the 240s. One day at a time.
On the official Navy website at navy.mil is an article from April 2005 you might find interesting, "Navy Releases Latest Selective Reenlistment Bonus Award Levels". Here’s a nice sentence:
"Also announced in this message is the elevation of the ceiling limit on zone A nuclear ratings, as well as Cryptologic Technicians Interpretive (CTI) holding the 9211, basic Mandarin Chinese linguist, or 9216, basic Arabic linguist, NEC from $45,000 to $60,000."
If that’s what they’re willing to spend today on CTIs who re-enlist, think about six years from now. That’s a frickin’ house, luv. :-)
Here’s some News of the Weird:
"Royalty by Opportunistic Encounter: After a lifelong search, Marty Johnson, a Minnesota mortgage broker, finally located and visited his birth father this year, according to an ABC News report. Dad is John Ogike, who was an exchange student from Nigeria when he had a brief affair with Marty's mother, who gave Marty up for adoption, but today John Ogike is chief of the Aboh village in Nigeria, and Marty will be accepted as the new chief upon his dad's death (but Marty is unsure whether to accept). [ABC News, 6-4-05]"
We had an unexpected rain shower and thunderstorm tonight, though it was nothing compared to what we saw on TV last night during the baseball game. It was a very nice change.
Time change on Sunday. Hope you got an extra hour of sleep.
All my love,
Air Force
Hey, Navy:
Another tedious letter from the old man. Hope these do something for you. I won’t get mushy here. Much.
Woke up this morning at 3:30ish AM in a frozen sweat and could not back to sleep. Dunno what it was but it was not fun, so I watched SportsCenter until the dawn broke. Went to work, did that for nine or ten hours, then went to give yet another test, this one to my Monday class. About halfway through, the correctional officers kicked all the teachers out of the prison due to some emergency somewhere. We were not in any danger; I got the sense that it was a drill.
Got my December Bicycling Magazine a few days ago and my November issue today (go figure). There’s a good article about a dude who weighs 195 pounds today and 305 pounds (not a typo) not long ago. So maybe there’s hope for me yet. I was in the 260s when I started seriously biking and am now in the 240s. One day at a time.
On the official Navy website at navy.mil is an article from April 2005 you might find interesting, "Navy Releases Latest Selective Reenlistment Bonus Award Levels". Here’s a nice sentence:
"Also announced in this message is the elevation of the ceiling limit on zone A nuclear ratings, as well as Cryptologic Technicians Interpretive (CTI) holding the 9211, basic Mandarin Chinese linguist, or 9216, basic Arabic linguist, NEC from $45,000 to $60,000."
If that’s what they’re willing to spend today on CTIs who re-enlist, think about six years from now. That’s a frickin’ house, luv. :-)
Here’s some News of the Weird:
"Royalty by Opportunistic Encounter: After a lifelong search, Marty Johnson, a Minnesota mortgage broker, finally located and visited his birth father this year, according to an ABC News report. Dad is John Ogike, who was an exchange student from Nigeria when he had a brief affair with Marty's mother, who gave Marty up for adoption, but today John Ogike is chief of the Aboh village in Nigeria, and Marty will be accepted as the new chief upon his dad's death (but Marty is unsure whether to accept). [ABC News, 6-4-05]"
We had an unexpected rain shower and thunderstorm tonight, though it was nothing compared to what we saw on TV last night during the baseball game. It was a very nice change.
Time change on Sunday. Hope you got an extra hour of sleep.
All my love,
Air Force
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Another Great Ride
If you're reading my letters to Trina on the other blog, I'm shutting that one down because there's no reason to separate them from this blog. The letters have been copied over and there's a new letter below.
Did another long ride around town this morning and that was what the body needed (plus a hundred crunches in the afternoon). Did the Three Albertsons again, except this time I went counter-clockwise which was a tad easier (or maybe the recumbent work at the gym is helping). Took Deadman's Curve and did not have to stop when I went up the Curry Street hills near Koontz, which is a first. Another big upside is my average speed for the trip was 13.8 MPH (my average speed over 14 rides this month is 11.9 MPH), so the recumbent work is doing something.
About the only downside of the trip is Dollar will not shift into the third spoke without getting all messed up, so the bike is heading back to the shop.
Took some pictures but nothing stunning. The below is from the southeast part of town up looking northwest. The sky was that blue.
And those are old seaplanes parked at the Carson airport. Someone must really love those beat-up old warriors.
Just finished watching Game 2 of the World Series. If you're the Astros, how do you pitch to a guy who has hit zero home runs in the regular season (Podsednik)? And if you're Brad Lidge, how do you face your teammates?
Distance: 17 miles on the dot
Time: 01:13:45 minutes
1076 calories burned
BP: 117/70
Did another long ride around town this morning and that was what the body needed (plus a hundred crunches in the afternoon). Did the Three Albertsons again, except this time I went counter-clockwise which was a tad easier (or maybe the recumbent work at the gym is helping). Took Deadman's Curve and did not have to stop when I went up the Curry Street hills near Koontz, which is a first. Another big upside is my average speed for the trip was 13.8 MPH (my average speed over 14 rides this month is 11.9 MPH), so the recumbent work is doing something.
About the only downside of the trip is Dollar will not shift into the third spoke without getting all messed up, so the bike is heading back to the shop.
Took some pictures but nothing stunning. The below is from the southeast part of town up looking northwest. The sky was that blue.
And those are old seaplanes parked at the Carson airport. Someone must really love those beat-up old warriors.
Just finished watching Game 2 of the World Series. If you're the Astros, how do you pitch to a guy who has hit zero home runs in the regular season (Podsednik)? And if you're Brad Lidge, how do you face your teammates?
Distance: 17 miles on the dot
Time: 01:13:45 minutes
1076 calories burned
BP: 117/70
Trina Letter - Talking Navy Here
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Hey, Navy:
Watching Game 2 of the World Series and there’s some serious rain and cold weather coming down in Chicago, so I’m hoping you're okay. You're no doubt marching and exercising in this weather to get food, training and supplies, and there are few things more miserable than marching in cold rain (thinking back to Keesler in January). The good news is the rain is moving out and you should be having 50-degree weather by the time you read this.
By the way, in case you care, I'm rooting for the White Sox because (a) I hate the Astros (and the Cards and Padres), (b) I want the city of Chicago to get a World Series ring, and (c) Maybe...just maybe...the Cubs will get a clue.
We're hoping that you're done with P-week very soon and we're keeping an eye on the Great Lakes web site for your PIR, which we're thinking is around December 9th, based on the last three PIRs on the web page. It looks like Division 27 would be next:
- Friday, 18 Nov 05: TG 52 13 / Divisions 403 - 414 & 952
- Wednesday, 23 Nov 05: TG 01 9 / Divisions 001 – 008 & 901
- Friday, 2 Dec 05: TG 02 13 / Divisions 009 – 020 & 902
Are there any other CTIs in your division?
Did a little Google Earth on Ship 5 and if it's to be believed, it looks like you're close to the gym, Medical and Dental Clinics, and the indoor firing range, and a few blocks from the main galley and the classrooms. There appears to be a building under construction directly west of your building. Is that another barracks? And you're close to the Chapel. Have you learned that the best quiet time of the week is to become a Christian? :)
Went on a long bike ride this morning and put 17 more miles in the journal. By the way, if you're having troubles with sweat getting in your eyes while you're exercising, get some chapstick and rub some in above your eyebrows (better yet, make a unibrow above the eyebrows). The chapstick will either absorb the sweat or divert it, and the chapstick itself will take up very little room in your locker.
YM and your seesters just got back from seeing the latest Ewan McGregor movie and they walked in the door saying it sucked. They'll probably say more in their letters.
Browsing through the best of Craig's List:
"juror at your trial - m4w
As fate and a juror summons would have it, you entered my life. I was juror #4 at your 2 day trial for drug possession, assault and battery, and resisting arrest at Circuit Court at 26th & California. Unfortunately, I like "bad girls". I am afflicted with "opposites attract" syndrome in the worst way. The mere mention of "26th & California" or that late night call from a raspy, but lovely voice saying, "Hey baby, I'm in jail" warms my heart and brings back fond memories.
I was so captivated by your profile that I could hardly pay attention to what was said; evidence this or that, blah, blah, blah. I love the Snoopy, butterfly, and bunny tattoos on your neck and arms. You had a cute snarl for each witness. As hard as I tried, there was no swaying the verdicts in your favor because lets face it, you were guilty as hell!
Give me a shout out in 2 to 4 years...depending on good behavior. I will assume it's the latter based on your tantrum and the sucker punch to your lawyer. I'll look out for your release date!!!
Good luck and be good,
Juror#4"
All my love,
Air Force
Hey, Navy:
Watching Game 2 of the World Series and there’s some serious rain and cold weather coming down in Chicago, so I’m hoping you're okay. You're no doubt marching and exercising in this weather to get food, training and supplies, and there are few things more miserable than marching in cold rain (thinking back to Keesler in January). The good news is the rain is moving out and you should be having 50-degree weather by the time you read this.
By the way, in case you care, I'm rooting for the White Sox because (a) I hate the Astros (and the Cards and Padres), (b) I want the city of Chicago to get a World Series ring, and (c) Maybe...just maybe...the Cubs will get a clue.
We're hoping that you're done with P-week very soon and we're keeping an eye on the Great Lakes web site for your PIR, which we're thinking is around December 9th, based on the last three PIRs on the web page. It looks like Division 27 would be next:
- Friday, 18 Nov 05: TG 52 13 / Divisions 403 - 414 & 952
- Wednesday, 23 Nov 05: TG 01 9 / Divisions 001 – 008 & 901
- Friday, 2 Dec 05: TG 02 13 / Divisions 009 – 020 & 902
Are there any other CTIs in your division?
Did a little Google Earth on Ship 5 and if it's to be believed, it looks like you're close to the gym, Medical and Dental Clinics, and the indoor firing range, and a few blocks from the main galley and the classrooms. There appears to be a building under construction directly west of your building. Is that another barracks? And you're close to the Chapel. Have you learned that the best quiet time of the week is to become a Christian? :)
Went on a long bike ride this morning and put 17 more miles in the journal. By the way, if you're having troubles with sweat getting in your eyes while you're exercising, get some chapstick and rub some in above your eyebrows (better yet, make a unibrow above the eyebrows). The chapstick will either absorb the sweat or divert it, and the chapstick itself will take up very little room in your locker.
YM and your seesters just got back from seeing the latest Ewan McGregor movie and they walked in the door saying it sucked. They'll probably say more in their letters.
Browsing through the best of Craig's List:
"juror at your trial - m4w
As fate and a juror summons would have it, you entered my life. I was juror #4 at your 2 day trial for drug possession, assault and battery, and resisting arrest at Circuit Court at 26th & California. Unfortunately, I like "bad girls". I am afflicted with "opposites attract" syndrome in the worst way. The mere mention of "26th & California" or that late night call from a raspy, but lovely voice saying, "Hey baby, I'm in jail" warms my heart and brings back fond memories.
I was so captivated by your profile that I could hardly pay attention to what was said; evidence this or that, blah, blah, blah. I love the Snoopy, butterfly, and bunny tattoos on your neck and arms. You had a cute snarl for each witness. As hard as I tried, there was no swaying the verdicts in your favor because lets face it, you were guilty as hell!
Give me a shout out in 2 to 4 years...depending on good behavior. I will assume it's the latter based on your tantrum and the sucker punch to your lawyer. I'll look out for your release date!!!
Good luck and be good,
Juror#4"
All my love,
Air Force
Saturday, October 22, 2005
Trina Letter - Just a low-key letter here...
Saturday, October 22, 2005
Hey, Navy:
Finished with my Saturday lab and am home listening to the World Series (Astros v. White Sox), wishing Tim McCarver would shut up for 10 whole seconds. How the man keeps his job when every professional directly connected to baseball hates his guts, I will never know. One of the authors of that Red Sox diary I was reading last month said, "When Fox [Sports] talks, baseball listens.” It always gets back to money, it seems.
I dropped off your letters this morning at the post office on Highway 50 and hopefully through the miracle of the modern, overpriced, feather-bedded-to-death American postal service, you have five envelopes prior to this one (1 YM, 4 me). We’ve read repeatedly on the Navy chat board that you don’t get to open them until Sunday, so YM and I want to make sure you get your money’s worth. And we know that time is especially precious to you and you won’t have a lot time to write letters, but writing is good for the soul.
I called Great Lakes on Friday afternoon (10/21) to get your address. I have to say I got a small thrill when this petty officer instantly found you in the computer and was able to give me what I needed in a few seconds. The closest analogy that comes to mind is from The Jerk: Steve Martin is ecstatic when he finds his name listed in the phone book. "I’m a real person!” To hear someone in the Navy say that my daughter was on a military installation and she was a Seaman Recruit…well, it was just one of those proud parent moments.
YM is writing her letter at the table at the same time and she’s telling you about the Reno Film Festival and who will be there and how happy L/D were when they heard who was going to be there. YM really enjoys the RFF and the judge counts it as community service, so it’s a win-win for everyone.
L/D are heading up to Virginia City in a few minutes to see Phantom with Lombardos. You’ll probably hear all about it in one of their letters, but you can pretty much expect their reaction: laughter and much derision.
Looking at the weather at Great Lakes, and it looks like you’re heading into a clearing pattern for a few days after 40 percent of showers Sunday night (10/23). Ouch. It says the high will be 40s on Monday and Tuesday. If it hasn’t happened already, your division will probably have daily (sometimes hourly) discussions about precipitation. Not too hard to believe: the Navy is all about water, be it under a keel or coming down from the skies. Weather awareness will become more second nature to you than it was in Carson.
If you need us to send anything, please let us know, but I doubt that’ll happen. Just trying to let you know we’re here for you, that we’re damn proud of you, and we miss you. (Well, I don’t. So don’t believe what YM puts in her letters. I barely notice you’re not here. When did you join the Navy?) (Don’t believe any of that for a second.)
All my love,
Air Force
Hey, Navy:
Finished with my Saturday lab and am home listening to the World Series (Astros v. White Sox), wishing Tim McCarver would shut up for 10 whole seconds. How the man keeps his job when every professional directly connected to baseball hates his guts, I will never know. One of the authors of that Red Sox diary I was reading last month said, "When Fox [Sports] talks, baseball listens.” It always gets back to money, it seems.
I dropped off your letters this morning at the post office on Highway 50 and hopefully through the miracle of the modern, overpriced, feather-bedded-to-death American postal service, you have five envelopes prior to this one (1 YM, 4 me). We’ve read repeatedly on the Navy chat board that you don’t get to open them until Sunday, so YM and I want to make sure you get your money’s worth. And we know that time is especially precious to you and you won’t have a lot time to write letters, but writing is good for the soul.
I called Great Lakes on Friday afternoon (10/21) to get your address. I have to say I got a small thrill when this petty officer instantly found you in the computer and was able to give me what I needed in a few seconds. The closest analogy that comes to mind is from The Jerk: Steve Martin is ecstatic when he finds his name listed in the phone book. "I’m a real person!” To hear someone in the Navy say that my daughter was on a military installation and she was a Seaman Recruit…well, it was just one of those proud parent moments.
YM is writing her letter at the table at the same time and she’s telling you about the Reno Film Festival and who will be there and how happy L/D were when they heard who was going to be there. YM really enjoys the RFF and the judge counts it as community service, so it’s a win-win for everyone.
L/D are heading up to Virginia City in a few minutes to see Phantom with Lombardos. You’ll probably hear all about it in one of their letters, but you can pretty much expect their reaction: laughter and much derision.
Looking at the weather at Great Lakes, and it looks like you’re heading into a clearing pattern for a few days after 40 percent of showers Sunday night (10/23). Ouch. It says the high will be 40s on Monday and Tuesday. If it hasn’t happened already, your division will probably have daily (sometimes hourly) discussions about precipitation. Not too hard to believe: the Navy is all about water, be it under a keel or coming down from the skies. Weather awareness will become more second nature to you than it was in Carson.
If you need us to send anything, please let us know, but I doubt that’ll happen. Just trying to let you know we’re here for you, that we’re damn proud of you, and we miss you. (Well, I don’t. So don’t believe what YM puts in her letters. I barely notice you’re not here. When did you join the Navy?) (Don’t believe any of that for a second.)
All my love,
Air Force
Friday, October 21, 2005
Trina Letter - Just typing along here
Friday, October 21, 2005
Hey, Navy:
Just got out of class and nothing going on. Gave my first test of the semester which is always an adventure in a prison. It’s not that I’m in any danger; it’s just that students/inmates usually have a wide range of reactions to the tests and this one was no exception. I throw in an extra credit question just for fun to see if they’re paying attention. The question this time was, “What is your teacher’s name?” Looking over the answers, everyone got the question and my name, but it was still funny when one of the students raised his hand during the test and asked me my name.
You’re going to get mail from people you’ve never met or even heard of. I told some folks about you and passed out your address, and some responded by saying they’d drop you a line. If you’re irritated, I apologize, but I have my reasons. When I was in boot exactly 24 years ago, I got one letter and that was from my grandparents. YM and I knew each other, but we weren’t even close to the place where we are now. I will always remember how I felt when I got that one letter.
Along those lines, it’s possible a few of your shipmates will not get any letters at all. If you tell me or send me their names, I promise they will get a letter, and not because they’re just in boot camp. Everyone should know that they are appreciated and it’s double-nice when they see it in writing.
As I write this, Lara and Danielle are with Victoria and her family in Reno. Dunno if you remember this, but Victoria’s grandparents are in town. I wouldn’t be surprised if V. sleeps on our couch for a couple of nights.
And now…the news:
- Hurricane Wilma made landfall on the Yucatan Peninsula and wiped clean the eastern portion of Mexico. Yahoo! News actually put this in bold-faced font: Tiki huts swept away.
- Today is the 200th anniversary of the British naval victory over French and Spanish fleets, squashing any chances of invasion by Napoleon and guaranteeing them the freedom of the sea for decades to come. Before the air forces were born, sea power is what made a country a super power. (You’ll hear the name Mahan before long.)
- Doom got thumbs-down from nearly every critic in the world. Nobody cared.
- Wal-Mart heiress and billionaire-in-the-making Elizabeth Paige Laurie has surrendered her USC college degree after a former roommate confessed she had done Ms. Laurie’s school work for three years. Ms. Laurie’s family released a statement pledging their support and promised to buy USC and put them out of business. (Okay, I made the last part up.)
- Hundreds of people flocked to a village in central India near Bhopal Thursday to see if an astrologer who forecast his own death would indeed die as predicted. He lived. THEN the disappointed mob tore him to pieces. (Yeah, that last sentence is mine. He really did live, though.)
- Australian authorities in Sydney have apologized to the family of an elderly man who was given a parking ticket while he lay dead in his car in a suburban shopping center. (I didn’t make that up.)
- Tiny fleas that survive on fungus found under a blanket of snow contain a unique antifreeze that could have implications for farming or transplant surgery, Canadian researchers said Wednesday. After testing is completed, the flies will be shipped to the Great Lakes area for insertion into Navy recruits’ dinners…just because. (I’ll stop now.)
Missing you a lot. Take care of you.
All my love,
Air Force
Hey, Navy:
Just got out of class and nothing going on. Gave my first test of the semester which is always an adventure in a prison. It’s not that I’m in any danger; it’s just that students/inmates usually have a wide range of reactions to the tests and this one was no exception. I throw in an extra credit question just for fun to see if they’re paying attention. The question this time was, “What is your teacher’s name?” Looking over the answers, everyone got the question and my name, but it was still funny when one of the students raised his hand during the test and asked me my name.
You’re going to get mail from people you’ve never met or even heard of. I told some folks about you and passed out your address, and some responded by saying they’d drop you a line. If you’re irritated, I apologize, but I have my reasons. When I was in boot exactly 24 years ago, I got one letter and that was from my grandparents. YM and I knew each other, but we weren’t even close to the place where we are now. I will always remember how I felt when I got that one letter.
Along those lines, it’s possible a few of your shipmates will not get any letters at all. If you tell me or send me their names, I promise they will get a letter, and not because they’re just in boot camp. Everyone should know that they are appreciated and it’s double-nice when they see it in writing.
As I write this, Lara and Danielle are with Victoria and her family in Reno. Dunno if you remember this, but Victoria’s grandparents are in town. I wouldn’t be surprised if V. sleeps on our couch for a couple of nights.
And now…the news:
- Hurricane Wilma made landfall on the Yucatan Peninsula and wiped clean the eastern portion of Mexico. Yahoo! News actually put this in bold-faced font: Tiki huts swept away.
- Today is the 200th anniversary of the British naval victory over French and Spanish fleets, squashing any chances of invasion by Napoleon and guaranteeing them the freedom of the sea for decades to come. Before the air forces were born, sea power is what made a country a super power. (You’ll hear the name Mahan before long.)
- Doom got thumbs-down from nearly every critic in the world. Nobody cared.
- Wal-Mart heiress and billionaire-in-the-making Elizabeth Paige Laurie has surrendered her USC college degree after a former roommate confessed she had done Ms. Laurie’s school work for three years. Ms. Laurie’s family released a statement pledging their support and promised to buy USC and put them out of business. (Okay, I made the last part up.)
- Hundreds of people flocked to a village in central India near Bhopal Thursday to see if an astrologer who forecast his own death would indeed die as predicted. He lived. THEN the disappointed mob tore him to pieces. (Yeah, that last sentence is mine. He really did live, though.)
- Australian authorities in Sydney have apologized to the family of an elderly man who was given a parking ticket while he lay dead in his car in a suburban shopping center. (I didn’t make that up.)
- Tiny fleas that survive on fungus found under a blanket of snow contain a unique antifreeze that could have implications for farming or transplant surgery, Canadian researchers said Wednesday. After testing is completed, the flies will be shipped to the Great Lakes area for insertion into Navy recruits’ dinners…just because. (I’ll stop now.)
Missing you a lot. Take care of you.
All my love,
Air Force
A Little Exercise
This is a quick entry so I can log my exercise. Got to the gym this morning and did a little workout on the recumbent, plus a bunch of leg lifts and a hundred crunches. My legs are sore. More later.
[Later]
Here's her address:
SR Moore, Katrina
Ship 5, Division 027
3610 Illinois Street
Great Lakes, IL 60088-3118
Distance: 3.33 miles
Time: 15:00 minutes
204 calories burned
[Later]
Here's her address:
SR Moore, Katrina
Ship 5, Division 027
3610 Illinois Street
Great Lakes, IL 60088-3118
Distance: 3.33 miles
Time: 15:00 minutes
204 calories burned
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Blather, Rattle On, Ramble, Sputter, Etc.
A real nothing day. I took another slack day from exercising to rest my back. I did soak at the gym and that made things good, so I'm going to try working out some issues in the morning. Did notice there’s a four-pound difference between the home and gym scales. Because I’m a mature adult, I’ll use the weight from the lighter scale. (grin)
Work was busy because folks let my stuff build up while I was gone because I asked them to do. It passed the time. Printed up the first test of the semester for class tomorrow. The students should have no problem with it.
My thoughts today were understandably on the eldest daughter because this is her first full day of the Navy and boot camp. I know that right now the Red Ropes have got her and her shipmates jumping all over the place, pushing them like they’ve never been pushed before. She called last night around 9:00ish to say (literally), “I made it to Boot Camp. I have to go now.” She was on the phone for maybe 10 seconds.
And now youngest is thinking about the military as an option. Oh boy.
Work was busy because folks let my stuff build up while I was gone because I asked them to do. It passed the time. Printed up the first test of the semester for class tomorrow. The students should have no problem with it.
My thoughts today were understandably on the eldest daughter because this is her first full day of the Navy and boot camp. I know that right now the Red Ropes have got her and her shipmates jumping all over the place, pushing them like they’ve never been pushed before. She called last night around 9:00ish to say (literally), “I made it to Boot Camp. I have to go now.” She was on the phone for maybe 10 seconds.
And now youngest is thinking about the military as an option. Oh boy.
Trina Letter - Random Crap
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Hey, Navy:
The challenge with writing a letter every day (or trying to) is I’m quickly running out of things to write about. I’m betting your first letter to us will give us some ideas of what you want to hear, but if it doesn’t, please drop us some hints.
For lack of anything better to write, here come this week’s lecture on Military Survival Techniques:
YM said you got a leadership position at MEPS and while there’s no guarantee this will happen in Boot, it will most certainly happen again by the time you leave the Navy, so here’s a clue what’s expected of you:
The Mission Comes First.
Despite the Navy’s best efforts, you’re going to encounter an amazing variety of slackers (they must all be recruited from the same small town in a faraway state) and these folks will be inwardly focused away from The Mission. It is your job and responsibility to get in their grills, put your bitch on, and correct their little asses. Your bosses will expect it of you and you’ll come to it expect it of yourself.
You will hear the argument that they have other problems or that what’s expected of them is someone else’s job. So what? The fact that they raised their right hand and signed on the dotted line means they promised Uncle Sam, the Navy, and their future shipmates that The Mission comes first. They may not have known it at the time, but that’s why the Navy has Boot Camp.
And what if you’re not leading, but part of the pack? Makes no difference. The slackers are dragging everyone down and it’s still your job to wake them up to reality. If they don’t get the clue, don’t let them pull you down. You give your best GD level best and they’ll get their dose of reality from either you or the chain of command. If their feelings get bruised, too damn bad. You are all volunteers, but y’all volunteered just once. Get over it and get on with The Mission.
The Bottom Line is someone can very easily get hurt if you and your shipmates aren’t totally pulling for each other. The way to avoid that is succeeding at The Mission.
So why am I saying all this, especially the obvious parts you already known? Because I don’t want you to get hurt by these guys, so your best defense is a bitchy offense.
Disengaging lecture mode now.
YM is okay and is missing you much. Lara and Danielle are themselves, and I bet they miss you.
How about some news?
- Hurricane Wilma is going to kick some serious butt in Florida.
- Chicago White Sox and Houston Astros will meet in the World Series. I hate both teams, but am rooting for Chicago because I hope their example will give a certain team an idea.
- Congressman DeLay had to go to Texas to be booked, fingerprinted and photographed. That made me smile.
- Harriet Meirs to the Supreme Court is getting rockier as time passes. In a questionnaire for the Senate committee that will vote on her nomination, she gave one- and two-word answers to essay questions. It totally pissed them off. I’m expecting an announcement any minute now from her saying she is withdrawing “because of her health.”
- A shark attacked at 20-year-old surfer off the coast of California. She fought it off and got away with only two serious puncture wounds, and kept all of her fingers and toes.
- Sylvester Stallone is filming “Rocky 6” (no joke). Rumor has it Rocky has sunk so low, he’s fighting women boxers and Hillary Swank totally hangs him out to dry (heard that on the radio).
- The Colbert Report is funny, but I get the sense he’s trying way too hard.
- Noah Wylie and his wife had a little girl to go along with their three-year-old son.
- The mayor of Henderson announced he’s running for governor. That makes five (2 Dems, 3 Reps).
- I’m running out of things to put in here.
Take care of you.
All my love,
Air Force
Hey, Navy:
The challenge with writing a letter every day (or trying to) is I’m quickly running out of things to write about. I’m betting your first letter to us will give us some ideas of what you want to hear, but if it doesn’t, please drop us some hints.
For lack of anything better to write, here come this week’s lecture on Military Survival Techniques:
YM said you got a leadership position at MEPS and while there’s no guarantee this will happen in Boot, it will most certainly happen again by the time you leave the Navy, so here’s a clue what’s expected of you:
The Mission Comes First.
Despite the Navy’s best efforts, you’re going to encounter an amazing variety of slackers (they must all be recruited from the same small town in a faraway state) and these folks will be inwardly focused away from The Mission. It is your job and responsibility to get in their grills, put your bitch on, and correct their little asses. Your bosses will expect it of you and you’ll come to it expect it of yourself.
You will hear the argument that they have other problems or that what’s expected of them is someone else’s job. So what? The fact that they raised their right hand and signed on the dotted line means they promised Uncle Sam, the Navy, and their future shipmates that The Mission comes first. They may not have known it at the time, but that’s why the Navy has Boot Camp.
And what if you’re not leading, but part of the pack? Makes no difference. The slackers are dragging everyone down and it’s still your job to wake them up to reality. If they don’t get the clue, don’t let them pull you down. You give your best GD level best and they’ll get their dose of reality from either you or the chain of command. If their feelings get bruised, too damn bad. You are all volunteers, but y’all volunteered just once. Get over it and get on with The Mission.
The Bottom Line is someone can very easily get hurt if you and your shipmates aren’t totally pulling for each other. The way to avoid that is succeeding at The Mission.
So why am I saying all this, especially the obvious parts you already known? Because I don’t want you to get hurt by these guys, so your best defense is a bitchy offense.
Disengaging lecture mode now.
YM is okay and is missing you much. Lara and Danielle are themselves, and I bet they miss you.
How about some news?
- Hurricane Wilma is going to kick some serious butt in Florida.
- Chicago White Sox and Houston Astros will meet in the World Series. I hate both teams, but am rooting for Chicago because I hope their example will give a certain team an idea.
- Congressman DeLay had to go to Texas to be booked, fingerprinted and photographed. That made me smile.
- Harriet Meirs to the Supreme Court is getting rockier as time passes. In a questionnaire for the Senate committee that will vote on her nomination, she gave one- and two-word answers to essay questions. It totally pissed them off. I’m expecting an announcement any minute now from her saying she is withdrawing “because of her health.”
- A shark attacked at 20-year-old surfer off the coast of California. She fought it off and got away with only two serious puncture wounds, and kept all of her fingers and toes.
- Sylvester Stallone is filming “Rocky 6” (no joke). Rumor has it Rocky has sunk so low, he’s fighting women boxers and Hillary Swank totally hangs him out to dry (heard that on the radio).
- The Colbert Report is funny, but I get the sense he’s trying way too hard.
- Noah Wylie and his wife had a little girl to go along with their three-year-old son.
- The mayor of Henderson announced he’s running for governor. That makes five (2 Dems, 3 Reps).
- I’m running out of things to put in here.
Take care of you.
All my love,
Air Force
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Trina Letter - She Made It
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Hey, Navy:
Just got home after dropping Lara off and talking to you. Wanted to say again how proud we are of you and that despite it being barely a day since you left, we miss you.
Lara was very, very happy for you when you said you made weight because she said she was worried about you. She was practically dancing in the truck. I went to Danielle’s construction class to tell her, but you probably guessed she was fairly underwhelmed. I suspect it excited her more than she was showing me.
YM and I had a crappy night last night and it’ll be a few days before we get back to resting comfortably, and we’re trying to adjust to our new lifestyle. We haven’t had to think about supporting four people since the Littlest One was born (1987).
A couple of minor changes to the house: I got a new chair for my desk in the entryway because that tiny one wasn’t supporting my back. In fact, I tried another chair and strained my back something good, so I’m probably taking tomorrow off to get things back where they’re supposed to be.
(Isn’t this the most exciting letter ever?)
The other change is I put one of these in the window by the door:
From the American Legion web site:
“A Blue Star Service Banner displayed in the window of a home is an American tradition. The banner lets others know that someone in the home is proudly serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. As Americans do their best to support Operation Iraqi Freedom and the ongoing war on terror, the Blue Star Service Banner tradition reminds us all that war touches every neighborhood in our land.”
Another change in the house: we were watching the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and I was about to start one of my tirades about the current administration when your mother reminded me that I was talking about your boss. Whoops. That’ll probably stop two more times, then I’ll be me and you know how that is.
Speaking of which: you’ll be in “A” school by the time the next election rolls around. You can still vote, of course, and you can still vote as a Carson City resident. YM or I will let you know when the next one is coming up so you can get an absentee ballot in plenty of time.
I’m finishing this up after your voicemail where you said you made it to Chicago. My phone never rang but we were glad to hear you are okay. Keep calling.
Hang in there. And trust me when I say: you’re gonna be just fine.
All my love,
Air Force
Hey, Navy:
Just got home after dropping Lara off and talking to you. Wanted to say again how proud we are of you and that despite it being barely a day since you left, we miss you.
Lara was very, very happy for you when you said you made weight because she said she was worried about you. She was practically dancing in the truck. I went to Danielle’s construction class to tell her, but you probably guessed she was fairly underwhelmed. I suspect it excited her more than she was showing me.
YM and I had a crappy night last night and it’ll be a few days before we get back to resting comfortably, and we’re trying to adjust to our new lifestyle. We haven’t had to think about supporting four people since the Littlest One was born (1987).
A couple of minor changes to the house: I got a new chair for my desk in the entryway because that tiny one wasn’t supporting my back. In fact, I tried another chair and strained my back something good, so I’m probably taking tomorrow off to get things back where they’re supposed to be.
(Isn’t this the most exciting letter ever?)
The other change is I put one of these in the window by the door:
From the American Legion web site:
“A Blue Star Service Banner displayed in the window of a home is an American tradition. The banner lets others know that someone in the home is proudly serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. As Americans do their best to support Operation Iraqi Freedom and the ongoing war on terror, the Blue Star Service Banner tradition reminds us all that war touches every neighborhood in our land.”
Another change in the house: we were watching the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and I was about to start one of my tirades about the current administration when your mother reminded me that I was talking about your boss. Whoops. That’ll probably stop two more times, then I’ll be me and you know how that is.
Speaking of which: you’ll be in “A” school by the time the next election rolls around. You can still vote, of course, and you can still vote as a Carson City resident. YM or I will let you know when the next one is coming up so you can get an absentee ballot in plenty of time.
I’m finishing this up after your voicemail where you said you made it to Chicago. My phone never rang but we were glad to hear you are okay. Keep calling.
Hang in there. And trust me when I say: you’re gonna be just fine.
All my love,
Air Force
Message to Other Navy Dads
[Just posted this on the Navy chat board under Delayed Enlistment Program. Dunno if the moderators will let it through, but it helped me get some stuff out of my system.][Edit: It got posted.]
"Haven't seen too many Navy Dads on these boards, so I thought I'd send a shout-out to my homeboys who have kids in DEP or boot.
My daughter shipped yesterday after five months of DEP and by the time you read this, she'll be in-processing at Great Lakes. I can't believe she's gone and I cannot believe how much I miss her. I don't know if it's a gender thing, but I really wasn't into the DEP thing as much as her mother. Maybe it was denial, but to think that my baby was going out in the Big Grown-UP World known as Our United States Navy was a little difficult to wrap my brain around. Now that she's gone, I can't help but think of all the missed chances I had to talk to her.
Here's a clue, guys, and don't be surprised if your wife prints this out and staple-gun's it to your forehead:
You are the father of a DEPper. That means that your son or daughter has measured up to some very high standards in a stranger's eyes and this stranger has decided that your kid is worthy enough to protect our country and our way of life. You should be glad because that says something about you as a parent.
The bad news is your kid is leaving. Period. And once he/she heads out the door, you will not see that person for months. When it does happen, though, he or she will be a grown-up and probably one of the most responsible people you'll ever meet. Yes, I'm talking about the kid that once had a three-month pizza under their bed.
Whatever you are doing right now at work or on the golf course is not important, so stop doing it. You have a bigger job ahead. You need to be man enough to set aside whatever bad feelings or disagreements you may have recently had with your son and daughter. You need to go talk to him or her and you need to do it right now. You need to tell them about how you dealt with the Real World at their age, especially if you're a veteran yourself. Even if you're not, you've got some life experience they need to hear: how to deal with elevated levels of expectation; how to learn during times of high stress; how to make the mission the most important thing in their lives.
Don't be surprised if they blow you off. Heck, you should expect it. Keep trying. As their shipdate gets closer, they'll start to listen because the weight of their decision will get pretty darn heavy. But don't wait for them to come to you. Keep reaching for them and don't stop. They only need to reach back and grab your hand once for things to work.
Now stop reading and go talk to them right now. They need you. And you may not realize it, but you need them just as bad.
Take care."
"Haven't seen too many Navy Dads on these boards, so I thought I'd send a shout-out to my homeboys who have kids in DEP or boot.
My daughter shipped yesterday after five months of DEP and by the time you read this, she'll be in-processing at Great Lakes. I can't believe she's gone and I cannot believe how much I miss her. I don't know if it's a gender thing, but I really wasn't into the DEP thing as much as her mother. Maybe it was denial, but to think that my baby was going out in the Big Grown-UP World known as Our United States Navy was a little difficult to wrap my brain around. Now that she's gone, I can't help but think of all the missed chances I had to talk to her.
Here's a clue, guys, and don't be surprised if your wife prints this out and staple-gun's it to your forehead:
You are the father of a DEPper. That means that your son or daughter has measured up to some very high standards in a stranger's eyes and this stranger has decided that your kid is worthy enough to protect our country and our way of life. You should be glad because that says something about you as a parent.
The bad news is your kid is leaving. Period. And once he/she heads out the door, you will not see that person for months. When it does happen, though, he or she will be a grown-up and probably one of the most responsible people you'll ever meet. Yes, I'm talking about the kid that once had a three-month pizza under their bed.
Whatever you are doing right now at work or on the golf course is not important, so stop doing it. You have a bigger job ahead. You need to be man enough to set aside whatever bad feelings or disagreements you may have recently had with your son and daughter. You need to go talk to him or her and you need to do it right now. You need to tell them about how you dealt with the Real World at their age, especially if you're a veteran yourself. Even if you're not, you've got some life experience they need to hear: how to deal with elevated levels of expectation; how to learn during times of high stress; how to make the mission the most important thing in their lives.
Don't be surprised if they blow you off. Heck, you should expect it. Keep trying. As their shipdate gets closer, they'll start to listen because the weight of their decision will get pretty darn heavy. But don't wait for them to come to you. Keep reaching for them and don't stop. They only need to reach back and grab your hand once for things to work.
Now stop reading and go talk to them right now. They need you. And you may not realize it, but you need them just as bad.
Take care."
She Made It
Talked to Trina a couple of hours ago and she was very happy to say she made weight and she was finally enlisted in the United States Navy. As I write this, she's on the plane to Chicago from which she'll be taking a two-hour bus trip to Great Lakes, Illinois. This is Navy Boot Camp.
[Edit: We got another call...she made it to Chicago.]
She told Liz that because of her rank upon enlistment (E-3), she got the dubious honor of being the senior recruit at the processing station in Sacramento. Mehinks that is a preview of things to come.
Of the four of us, Liz and I are obviously having the hardest time adjusting, and we weren't honestly sure what we wanted more: for Trina to enlist or for her to come home. It boiled down to what is best for her and joining the Navy won by 51%, but parts of us know that it wasn't even that close.
I yakked my back, again, so I haven't exercised at all for a couple of days and I may take tomorrow off to rest things.
I've started a couple more blogs: one to track my diet and the other are my letters to Trina. You can access them through my profile, but they're boring and will often repeat the same stuff you see here.
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Trina Letter - First Letter
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Hey, Navy:
It’s the first night of your adventure away from Nevada and, as you know, I am historically a terrible letter writer. If it can’t be in an email, then I usually don’t bother, but you’re cut off from such things and you’re special to me (Mr. Obvious here), so I’m going to try.
I started this letter around 10:30 PM on Tuesday night and have been dropping paragraphs here and there between chess and backgammon. YM was reading in bed, but has probably gone to sleep by now. Lara is on the PC in the living room, watching The Scorpion King (she hearts The Rock). Danielle is asleep in your bed. She was writing all night in there with the door locked because, I’m told, she was nekked (ew). I didn’t do much today and will probably do less tomorrow.
In the fourteen hours since we left you at Sam’s office, nothing stupendous or spectacular has changed here in Cartoon City. Maybe I’ll have something in the next letter. The joke of the day in the house is YM and me telling each other not to go to Sam’s office to get you. YM admitted that she almost drove by there when she went to pick up Lara from the college at 11:15ish.
You’re probably very tired of hearing from me in my been-there-done-that mode, so forgive me in doing it again. The most boring part of Basic for me was the classroom lectures and the Navy Boot book was right: it’s impossible to stay awake. Since you’ve done a lot of school, I doubt the material will be a mental challenge, but the constant lectures probably will be, and don’t be surprised if this is another Navy test of your concentration. One way to stay awake is to take notes. Lots of them. And try to keep them forever if you can. I wish I had mine. In fact, I can’t remember a single name of the guys in my flight at Boot, except for Training Instructor TSgt-select (E-6) Robert Riley.
I’m heading to bed and will continue this letter in the morning.
All my Love,
Air Force
Hey, Navy:
It’s the first night of your adventure away from Nevada and, as you know, I am historically a terrible letter writer. If it can’t be in an email, then I usually don’t bother, but you’re cut off from such things and you’re special to me (Mr. Obvious here), so I’m going to try.
I started this letter around 10:30 PM on Tuesday night and have been dropping paragraphs here and there between chess and backgammon. YM was reading in bed, but has probably gone to sleep by now. Lara is on the PC in the living room, watching The Scorpion King (she hearts The Rock). Danielle is asleep in your bed. She was writing all night in there with the door locked because, I’m told, she was nekked (ew). I didn’t do much today and will probably do less tomorrow.
In the fourteen hours since we left you at Sam’s office, nothing stupendous or spectacular has changed here in Cartoon City. Maybe I’ll have something in the next letter. The joke of the day in the house is YM and me telling each other not to go to Sam’s office to get you. YM admitted that she almost drove by there when she went to pick up Lara from the college at 11:15ish.
You’re probably very tired of hearing from me in my been-there-done-that mode, so forgive me in doing it again. The most boring part of Basic for me was the classroom lectures and the Navy Boot book was right: it’s impossible to stay awake. Since you’ve done a lot of school, I doubt the material will be a mental challenge, but the constant lectures probably will be, and don’t be surprised if this is another Navy test of your concentration. One way to stay awake is to take notes. Lots of them. And try to keep them forever if you can. I wish I had mine. In fact, I can’t remember a single name of the guys in my flight at Boot, except for Training Instructor TSgt-select (E-6) Robert Riley.
I’m heading to bed and will continue this letter in the morning.
All my Love,
Air Force
8,143 Days and She Is Out of Here
You close your eyes and you're living the memory of your first walk together: from the delivery room to the nursery down a darkened hall. The nurses and other patients are watching, but you pay them no attention because at that moment, your whole universe is your hands. She is so small and light in your hands, and her blue eyes are so big. A few minutes ago, you were a newlywed couple. This little creature has come along and now you're a family.
The bond you share is stronger than the common bloodline because there's the memories and perspectives you will build together over the next few years. You will sing together, breathe the same air, and generally believe in the same ideas and morals (at first, anyway). There's the shared waiting time in so many different places: the grocery store, the principal’s office, the restaurant's waiting area, and the emergency room, but the passing of time is easier because you’re there together and you are a family.
And intellectually, you know the baby will grow, mature, and will eventually leave you behind, often emotionally at first, but the physical separation will follow because that's Nature's way. You did it to your parents, they did it to theirs, and so on since babies turned couples into families. Honestly, though, you're never prepared, even when you know it's going to happen. You can count down the days and the minutes and steel yourself for the moment, but when it happens, it's still a shock. What's worst, it's a life changer.
So today is the eight thousandth, one hundred, and forty-third day that the three of us lived together, and it is the last. And how painful is it to write those words, much less go back and read them.
I admitted earlier that I haven't been handling these last few days very well. I locked down my feelings, thinking that maybe I could hold back the tide of emotions with some brainless rationalizations. Some of them sounded good at the time, and my favorite is, "This ain't the eighteenth century. When she gets done with boot camp, she'll have access to phones, email, and web cams. So she ain’t really leaving.”
Bullshit.
Got up Saturday morning (10/15) and went to work to grade papers. Had scheduled lab time at the prison, but the idea of being locked up with the dudes when I could be spending time at home was not a tasty thought, so I cancelled labs and headed home as soon as I finished. Trina and I went to a movie in Reno, then tooled around Meadowood Mall and a bookstore before heading home. Really didn’t do much of anything on Sunday or Monday. In fact, except for a bike ride and religiously sticking to my diet, I can’t think of anything I accomplished. Oh yeah: I woke up at 3:00 AM on Sunday morning for no particular reason (yeah, right) and did a lot more of nothing while waiting for the sun to rise. It does that every day, you know.
Liz and Trina spent a lot of time trying to clean her room and get things ready for storage, but I suspect they were in a bit of denial, too, because I just went in Trina’s room and there’s still a lot of packing to do, two hours after she left the house.
Today started pretty much like every day: got up at 6:00 AM, ran to Wal-Mart, and got a DVD that came out new today because there was a slight chance Trina might get to it before she left (she didn’t). Watched the replays of the two games I saw last night and was impressed with the Indy Colts (my homey Edge James scored three TDs) and felt Houston’s pain when they lost the game at the top of the ninth on Albert Pujols’ three-run homer.
Then out of nowhere, it was 9:40 AM. Danielle was already at high school and we dropped Lara off at the college, both of whom handled these events far better than I did. We got to the recruiter’s office, where Petty Officer Sam had bunch of papers for Trina to sign. He said she’d be on the road in a few minutes, would spend Tuesday night at the hotel, would get up early Wednesday for the usual rituals and swearing in, then the Navy would put her on a plane for Illinois at the first opportunity. Having done his job, Sam left us alone.
Liz and I got our last hugs from The Blonde One and we drove away, the three of us no longer.
So now begins a new phase in our family: we get to use the adjectives “extended” and “blue star” to show our love and commitment to our sailor on the other side of the country.
I’d give just about anything to take another walk with her down the hall, though.
Sunday, October 16, 2005
TOC, New Mexico
I've been shying way from the blog because the family is going through another major change this year with Trina leaving and all. I'm not handing it well and folks around here are going through emotional peaks and valleys. I did get out and tool around on Dollar to work off some stress, but there are some things you can't exercise (or exorcise) out on a bike. I'll write more later.
Distance: 5.10 miles
Time: 27:59 minutes
260 calories burned
Day after tomorrow: the USN
Distance: 5.10 miles
Time: 27:59 minutes
260 calories burned
Day after tomorrow: the USN
Friday, October 14, 2005
Still More Fat that Muscle
Tried to do a full-body workout this morning and I ain't nearly in the shape I thought I would be after two months of hard riding. (only two months?!) So I'm going to start alternating between biking and weights. If I'm gonna be half a quarter ton, then it's gonna "mus-kle," as that great philosopher Popeye the sailor man once said.
Today is the last day before I take five days off from work (including the weekend). The break is coming at a good time.
From News of the Weird:
At Northern Ireland's Belfast Zoo in September, Phoebe the chimp and two others managed to climb out of their compound, and armed security guards had to come round them up. In an effort to frighten the animals into submission, they fired shots into the air, and according to the reporter for The Guardian newspaper, the chimps not only became docile at the sound of gunfire, but they put their hands up. [The Guardian (London), 9-8-05]
Four days. Oh boy.
Thursday, October 13, 2005
Geared Up Again
Took Dollar to the shop and they fixed him up. They said the gear shifters on the back wheel needed tightening, but I suspect part of the problem is he was designed for someone in the 150-200 pound range. Nothing much to be done about things other than keep pumping away and hope he doesn't fall apart under me again like he did last night.
It was a very warm Fall night. I biked up Coombs Canyon a bit, then sort of lolly-gagged around the northwest part of Carson. Nothing showy or strenuous, but enough to make it a workout. Got some things worked out of my system, and will do some more this weekend. All is good for the moment.
Distance: 7.20 miles
Time: 40:29 minutes
371 calories burned
Five days until the USN
It was a very warm Fall night. I biked up Coombs Canyon a bit, then sort of lolly-gagged around the northwest part of Carson. Nothing showy or strenuous, but enough to make it a workout. Got some things worked out of my system, and will do some more this weekend. All is good for the moment.
Distance: 7.20 miles
Time: 40:29 minutes
371 calories burned
Five days until the USN
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
A Bit of Perspective
This has been a day for the crapper. Work sucked on so many levels and if I were to vent my feelings here tonight, I'd be on the unemployment line tomorrow. Freedom of speech ain't unlimited, folks. Because of events, I withdrew myself from consideration for the promotion for reasons not to be repeated here. I was really looking forward to working today out of my system.
Man Plans, God Laughs.
I was making a turn near the college, barely breaking a sweat, when Dollar dechained. No big. I fixed it before, except this was a major dechain. The gear switching mechanism on a Trek 800 is a Suntour crank and it uses a Shimano 21-speed for shifting. I have no idea what that means. On the other hand, I could see the shifting gear was making a mess of things. After working and cussing for half an hour, I got Dollar juryrigged to the point where he could pedal in a middle-low gear, so I biked home at a big whopping 10.8 miles an hour.
And that was nearly as frustrating as my day at work! There was a time I was proud of going that "fast" over a long period of time, but now it's a snail's pace. My legs were telling my brain to pick up the pace all the way down Mountain but that wasn't going to happen. In other words, instead of working today out of my system, my frustration doubled with no outlet on hand.
*Deep breath*
I need a heavy dose of perspective. No one I know is (a) dying of cancer, (b) living in Pakistan or the Gulf Coast, and (c) Liz probably won't do a Lorena Bobbitt on me next time I'm in a drunken stupor. The point is things could be terrifically worse in many different ways, but they're not. We got bills up the yin-yang, but if that's as bad as things get for us, we're blessed. And I should know because things have been really bad at times and This is not one of those times.
Something's been bouncing around in the back of brain. Please allow for a little non-fictional literature...
He was an old man and it was an old bench. His body sat down, trying to catch his breath. He failed and he died on that bench.
This was not an ordinary old man. He was a convict at the prison where I'm a part-time teacher. I never knew his name or the crime that sent him to that place and I never will, because his records were probably sealed and duct-taped before his humans remains found their last home. What I do know was the old man was a long-time inmate, so his life was already boxed and regulated by the State long before he died. Like many other inmates, he had no choice in where he slept, what he ate and wore, and when he bled.
Did he know when he sat down that last time, that he would not bodily rise from that old piece of park bench? Another inmate told me the old man been sick for a while, spending more time inside the prison infirmary than outside it. Just maybe he'd been told there was no saving him, so he was allowed to make the final choice. If so, it's possible he asked to be released from his hospital bed because he wanted to die like men should die when they can't touch their loved ones: outside under the open blue sky.
So where is he now? Does he have a grave next to a wife he could visit in life only through reinforced glass? Do his children visit the grave to lay flowers upon it or do they tell their friends he was lost in a faraway accident? Or is he resting in a 21st century potter's grave, with no marker for him or the hundreds of his unwanted peers?
In any case, the bench sits inside the main gate of the prison, a few yards from the outside world. With his last breaths, the old man died there in the sun, in a place that was so tantalizingly close to freedom. I imagine his spirit got up from that old bench and walked out the main gate one last time, and I hope he never looked back.
Distance: 5.5 miles
Time: 30:19 minutes
283 calories burned
Six days until the USN
Man Plans, God Laughs.
I was making a turn near the college, barely breaking a sweat, when Dollar dechained. No big. I fixed it before, except this was a major dechain. The gear switching mechanism on a Trek 800 is a Suntour crank and it uses a Shimano 21-speed for shifting. I have no idea what that means. On the other hand, I could see the shifting gear was making a mess of things. After working and cussing for half an hour, I got Dollar juryrigged to the point where he could pedal in a middle-low gear, so I biked home at a big whopping 10.8 miles an hour.
And that was nearly as frustrating as my day at work! There was a time I was proud of going that "fast" over a long period of time, but now it's a snail's pace. My legs were telling my brain to pick up the pace all the way down Mountain but that wasn't going to happen. In other words, instead of working today out of my system, my frustration doubled with no outlet on hand.
*Deep breath*
I need a heavy dose of perspective. No one I know is (a) dying of cancer, (b) living in Pakistan or the Gulf Coast, and (c) Liz probably won't do a Lorena Bobbitt on me next time I'm in a drunken stupor. The point is things could be terrifically worse in many different ways, but they're not. We got bills up the yin-yang, but if that's as bad as things get for us, we're blessed. And I should know because things have been really bad at times and This is not one of those times.
Something's been bouncing around in the back of brain. Please allow for a little non-fictional literature...
He was an old man and it was an old bench. His body sat down, trying to catch his breath. He failed and he died on that bench.
This was not an ordinary old man. He was a convict at the prison where I'm a part-time teacher. I never knew his name or the crime that sent him to that place and I never will, because his records were probably sealed and duct-taped before his humans remains found their last home. What I do know was the old man was a long-time inmate, so his life was already boxed and regulated by the State long before he died. Like many other inmates, he had no choice in where he slept, what he ate and wore, and when he bled.
Did he know when he sat down that last time, that he would not bodily rise from that old piece of park bench? Another inmate told me the old man been sick for a while, spending more time inside the prison infirmary than outside it. Just maybe he'd been told there was no saving him, so he was allowed to make the final choice. If so, it's possible he asked to be released from his hospital bed because he wanted to die like men should die when they can't touch their loved ones: outside under the open blue sky.
So where is he now? Does he have a grave next to a wife he could visit in life only through reinforced glass? Do his children visit the grave to lay flowers upon it or do they tell their friends he was lost in a faraway accident? Or is he resting in a 21st century potter's grave, with no marker for him or the hundreds of his unwanted peers?
In any case, the bench sits inside the main gate of the prison, a few yards from the outside world. With his last breaths, the old man died there in the sun, in a place that was so tantalizingly close to freedom. I imagine his spirit got up from that old bench and walked out the main gate one last time, and I hope he never looked back.
Distance: 5.5 miles
Time: 30:19 minutes
283 calories burned
Six days until the USN
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Blog Free, As Free As The Wind Blows
Didn't blog yesterday because everything was tired: my brain, my body, my words.
Important rule: do not eat strawberries right before bed because each of those little suckers act like tiny dilithium crystals. I was jazzed and energized, and not laying awake thinking about the daughter who's leaving next week. Nope, not me. I'm a manly man and don't let things like someone leaving for their own life get to me. Nope. (damn allergies)
I am now a fan of the recumbent bikes at the gym or, more accurately, my butt and back loves recumbents. I can jam on the pedals without straining certain unpleasant muscle groups, plus I can go so much faster. I may have to start saving my nickels and dimes for something like this, but this little cutie looks like a lot more fun.
From the internet:
"'Out of the Loop' On Iraq, Almighty Says
Days after the BBC reported that President George W. Bush claimed God told him to invade Iraq, the Almighty held a rare press conference today to say that He was "totally out of the loop" on the March 2003 invasion.
Reporters packed a meeting room at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Washington, D.C. to hear the angry denial of the Supreme Being, who had not held a press conference in over half a year.
Dressed in a white robe and sporting his trademark long, flowing beard, God told a reporter that the president's version of events was "bogus," adding, "Dude, I don't even know the guy."
The King of the Universe then showed reporters detailed phone logs from March 2003 revealing that He had no conversations with President Bush, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, or anyone else involved in the decision to invade Iraq.
While the logs showed no conversation with the president, they did indicate that on March 24 of that year God placed a call to actress Nicole Kidman to congratulate her on winning the Best Actress Oscar for her performance in "The Hours."
In what some saw as a particularly sarcastic rebuke of the president, God offered this possible explanation of Mr. Bush's claim that He had told him to invade Iraq: "Maybe he has me confused with Dick Cheney."
Elsewhere, the Department of Homeland Security said that the recent terror threat to New York City was "specific but non-credible," and that so was the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court."
The Red Sox are gone. Boo.
The Yankees are gone. Yay.
The Braves are gone. Boo.
The Padres are gone. Who?
Cardinals versus Astros. I hate them both.
The A's Killers (Angels) versus the Chicago Junior League Team.
Yuck, Yuck, Yuck. The World Series is gonna be tough to watch this year.
Distance: 5.03 miles
Time: 20:00 minutes
348 calories burned
One week until the USN :...( (damn allergies)
Sunday, October 09, 2005
"Hill Ain't Gonna Take Itself"
Men do foolish things and some men do "damn fool" things, if southern speakers will forgive me. Today counts as a damn fool thing. Even so, I made a memory, and I tested and pushed myself really hard, and I won. Good to go.
Left work around noon and headed east up Fairview to Edmonds, then around the curve down to the Carson River. I wasn't doing too bad at this point because Edmonds and the road to the river are mostly downhill, so I was feeling a little cocky from the first endorphin surge. I wanted to go down to the water, but a dude was there with his two small kids and his dog or, more accurately, a dog was there with his family and he was in full protection mode. There was no point in challenging him so I headed up Pinion Hills Road and the first real hill.
And that was the theme of this trip: endless hills. If/When I go to Hell, the soundtrack will be "I'm a Believer" by the Monkees, and Satan will be chaining me to a bike with flat tires and pointing me to the Alps. The hills in east Carson are nowhere near that scale, but pain is relative and they are my Alps. With my level of physical fitness, the only solution was to crank the bike all the way down and try to keep moving fast enough to climb but not slow enough to fall over. For the record, that would be somewhere between 3.4 and 4.5 mph...a brisk walk...by most senior citizens...in walkers...carrying large oxygen tanks. But as I constantly reminded myself, I was in a marathon, not a sprint. It sounded good at the time.
So I survived the first hill with only one break. By the way, “breaks” are defined as the time it takes for me to stop to get my breathing under control, and relax to the point where I can't hear my heartbeat in my head. I do try to go forward in this state for as long as possible because experience in the gym has taught me that this is when my heart is pumping at the special 10% where I burning calories pretty darn fast. On the other hand, the body does love the oxygen for some reason.
I made it to the top of that hill and the rest of Pinion Hills Drive was a gentle down slope to the uphill Laurel Road. As I was shifting gears, my chain came out of the spokes, so I had to flip Dollar over and rechain him. In all honesty, I'm surprised that doesn't happen more often because I'm constantly changing gears to find a happy medium between speed and available energy. I finished up and saw an older couple whiz by me on a tandem. They looked happy and totally in sync with each other, and they were jamming on their pedals like wolves were chasing them. Assholes.
Hit Deer Run Road and another bitchin' hill, which I took at granny speed (the secondary theme of the day). I made it to the top with no stops and was rewarded with a spectacular view of the ranches that nestle the Carson River. The east side of Carson gets a bad rap because the property values are comparatively low, which attracts all sorts of fun, including gang wars and meth dealers. The far east part of town with the green fields and horses around the river is beautiful, though, and is Carson's hidden secret.
Did some downhill and found the road and bridge were closed for construction. Since it looked like they were repaving only, I weaved through the cones and crossed over, then headed the short distance to the intersection at Highway 50.
And there I sat, thinking things over. Going east on Highway 50 out of Carson takes you up a fairly good hill that runs for miles. The advantage of the route I'd gone was that I was already a third up that silly hill (I thought - wrong!), so I figured, what the heck. This shows how naive I was: I actually said out loud, "Hill ain't gonna take itself."
Silly me.
I clicked down to granny speed, reminded myself that it was only eleven miles to Dayton, and headed up the hill at a speed that would make Myrtle the Turtle very proud. Lord, it was slow going. The nice thing was the city fathers allowed for idiots like myself and put extra-wide bike lanes on 50 all the way to Dayton, so the folks going by at twenty times my speed (no exaggeration) were not in danger if I fell over. Oh yeah: and vice-versa.
That hill did a number on me, but I took far fewer breaks than predicted. There was wind, but at my speed, I sort of was able to go slip through it sideways. The road began to flatten out at turnoff to the city dump and started to go slightly downhill at the Lyon County line. That's when the first "real good" feeling hit me, because I knew the rest of the way to Dayton was mostly downhill. I was actually singing out loud and dancing on the bike as I headed down the very long hill into Dayton because I thought when I got to town, I could call Liz for a ride and would be done with the Hills from Hades.
Blame the endorphins. They made me stupid.
I zoomed into Dayton and pulled into the Chevron/Port of Subs to get a recharge. Called Liz for the ride and found out the Danielle had the phone and she was nowhere near home. The house phone was in use by someone connected to the internet, so I couldn't call for a ride. The choices were simple as I mulled over my Number 7 (roast beef with provolone): be patient and Liz would call eventually, or head back to town. Choice One was the obvious smart option.
Blame the endorphins. They made me stupid.
So I hit the road, energized by the Number 7, Gatorade, and a Snickers. The beginning wasn't too bad, but that hill…oy vey! Granny speed was not getting me anywhere. It seemed like I had to stop every few feet to catch my breathe and kick myself for not being patient. On one stop, I was bent over my handle bars and got to see my calves shrink back to normal size. It was an eerie sight.
I made it to the top of the hill, eventually, and that’s when I heard the phone. Liz said she’d been trying to call for a half an hour (probably the time it took for me to get up the hill) and she wanted to know if I wanted a ride. I said I’d tough it out.
Stupid.
The “top of the hill” was a figure of speech. What I really should have said was I made it to the end of the really steep part of the uphill and had just the normal steep part left to go. Twenty breaks later, I was in Moundhouse and was finally starting to get seriously saddle-sore. I may have not made a lot of smart choices today, but my wardrobe was perfect: shorts, long-sleeved shirt, and a synthetic undershirt that is well-known for keeping the sweat away from the body. It worked perfectly. The only thing I would have added was a bandana, but it wouldn’t have made much difference over time because I was sweating buckets. At least I was smart enough to drink some Gatorade and refill my Oakland A’s water bottle in Dayton.
Oh yeah: forgot to mention that I was exhausted, too. The hills and distances had taken their toll and I couldn’t stop the weaving. I cranked up the gears some and that took care of things a little, but something else helped a lot more: the downhill into Carson. It kicks some serious ass on a bike. New landspeed record: 41 miles per hour, thank you very much, and when your life relies on keeping your bike on the straight and narrow, it’s amazing how quickly that weaving thing disappears.
I kept that momentum going for as long as possible or at least until I pulled into the parking lot of the local bread store, where I bought cranberry and grape juice that was heavy on the sugar. Mixed in with the remaining water in my Oakland A’s bottle, it gave me the last surge I needed to get home.
So here I sit, strong in the legs, but weak in the arms and head (mostly the latter), trying to process today’s little jaunt. It was nearly twice the time and distance as my longest ride in Carson to date. Would I do it again? You betcha…after some time has passed and the memory of those hills has faded a little. The upside is I set new biking records for me, surpassed my personal limits, and rode some serious miles instead of vegging out at home. I also got some food for thought.
After all, it’s only thirty miles to Reno.
Distance: 29.00 miles on the nose (32 miles total today)
Time: 2:55:28 minutes (3:11:38 total)
1328 calories burned (yeah, that's right)(1483 total)
9 days until the USN (wow)
I'm Wearing a Bright Orange Shirt
Well, I was wrong about yesterday. Since this a family blog, I won't go into detail but suffice it to say, yesterday was very memorable.
Went for a quick ride to work to finish grading papers. Rode to the south Wells Fargo via the Fifth Street hill and Deadman's curve, but couldn't do a deposit because they were out of deposit envelopes. Should have seen that coming.
Need to jump on these papers so I can finish my ride.
Distance: 3.00 miles
Time: 16:10 minutes
155 calories burned
9 days until the USN (omg)
Went for a quick ride to work to finish grading papers. Rode to the south Wells Fargo via the Fifth Street hill and Deadman's curve, but couldn't do a deposit because they were out of deposit envelopes. Should have seen that coming.
Need to jump on these papers so I can finish my ride.
Distance: 3.00 miles
Time: 16:10 minutes
155 calories burned
9 days until the USN (omg)
Saturday, October 08, 2005
Nowhere Day
Nothing going on more than usual. Slept in till 6:30ish, did some classwork, went to lab, then came home to do more classwork. I foolishly predicted I would be able to take tomorrow off from work, but there is too much to do and I don't have the software at home I need to finish things up. This day can go in the crapper as nothing done and nothing memorable accomplished.
10 days until the USN
10 days until the USN
Friday, October 07, 2005
First Time For Everything
Wish I could say the day got better. It did in some ways, but mostly didn't, which is how things are. You experience Life, process it, try to rationalize a silver lining into existence if needed, then move on.
The rest of the workday was spent listening to gibes about the mocha spill and I richly deserved every second of it, because I would do the same to them if the situations were reversed. The day ended with a whimper instead of a bang as people left the building early via "flextime." Young Guy and I stayed on until close then headed out our seperate ways. Heard the Red Sox got swept (sad) but the Yankees were getting their butts kicked (11-7 final, glad). It's looking more probable the richest payroll in baseball may not make it to the division series (very glad).
Went to class and had a problem student. He wanted to leave class early. I told him he couldn't and told him to get back to work. He didn't and he refused each time I told him to get back to work, so I called Control to send an officer to class. He sent three of them. I told the officers what happened and informed the student he was done in my class.
Dammit!
I hate losing students for whatever reason. Public colleges generally have pretty liberal withdrawal policies, so students can walk out the door whenever they want. A prison class has a different dynamic. They can still quit the class like "normal" students, but most will try to hold on for as long as possible. On the other hand, some will do something stupid outside the classroom and get thrown in the hole or transferred to Ely (maximum) or some such nonsense. This is the first time I've kicked a prison student out of class, period (did it all the time as a substitute, but that's different). If there was a better way to handle it and still maintain control in room full of felons, I don't know what it is. This will be bothering me for several days and I'll probably hear something about it from the college on Monday.
When I got home, the family was there. Trina and I walked to the Nugget for some father/daughter time and ate way too much food. We talked, and it's good to see she's got her head on straight.
Time for sleep.
Splish Splash, I Took A Bath
This has been a fun day. All the times below are in the A.M.:
5:15ish - Woke up before Liz's alarm (it rings at 5:30 AM for some godforsaken reason) and I just laid there, looking into the darkness, trying to convince myself that the job I interviewed for this week is something I don't want or need. Failing that and thus setting myself up for disappointment later, I got out of bed, worked on the PC, and then dragged myself to the gym via Smiths.
6:15 - Smiths was selling a BIG bowl of strawberries. Yum!
7:00 - Used both a stationary and a recumbent bike because I couldn't get enthusiastic about the thought of exercising. Worked up a small sweat next to Conan the Cross-trainer.
7:30 - Good news of the morning: my favorite pair of jeans won't stay on me unless I wear a belt. Bad news: I forgot to pack a belt, so I went home to get a belt, holding my pants in place the entire time because, despite current trends, nobody gets to see my underwear unless they pay top dollar.
7:55 - Made it to work.
8:20 - Co-worker brings in white mocha with whipped cream.
8:21 - Proceeded to dump all twenty ounces of steamy goodness into my lap and chair, plus all over my desk, papers, keyboard, and my spiffy new desk phone. The spill stained me from mid-chest to my socks.
8:40 - Cleaned up the absolute worst of the mess and head home for another shower. Get to see sick daughter who stayed home from school today. Started the wash before I left the house.
10:00 - Pretty much done cleaning up my area. The keyboard was a total loss so I had to get a new one. I'm left with a sunburned feeling in a place the sun should never shine and complete bafflement in how folks are going to clean up New Orleans. I spilled 20 ounces of sticky, hot mocha and it took me a solid hour to find my desk. Those poor folks were dumped on by an Act of God.
Can I have a do-over?
Distance: 4.24 miles
Time: 20:00 minutes
264 calories burned
11 days until USN
5:15ish - Woke up before Liz's alarm (it rings at 5:30 AM for some godforsaken reason) and I just laid there, looking into the darkness, trying to convince myself that the job I interviewed for this week is something I don't want or need. Failing that and thus setting myself up for disappointment later, I got out of bed, worked on the PC, and then dragged myself to the gym via Smiths.
6:15 - Smiths was selling a BIG bowl of strawberries. Yum!
7:00 - Used both a stationary and a recumbent bike because I couldn't get enthusiastic about the thought of exercising. Worked up a small sweat next to Conan the Cross-trainer.
7:30 - Good news of the morning: my favorite pair of jeans won't stay on me unless I wear a belt. Bad news: I forgot to pack a belt, so I went home to get a belt, holding my pants in place the entire time because, despite current trends, nobody gets to see my underwear unless they pay top dollar.
7:55 - Made it to work.
8:20 - Co-worker brings in white mocha with whipped cream.
8:21 - Proceeded to dump all twenty ounces of steamy goodness into my lap and chair, plus all over my desk, papers, keyboard, and my spiffy new desk phone. The spill stained me from mid-chest to my socks.
8:40 - Cleaned up the absolute worst of the mess and head home for another shower. Get to see sick daughter who stayed home from school today. Started the wash before I left the house.
10:00 - Pretty much done cleaning up my area. The keyboard was a total loss so I had to get a new one. I'm left with a sunburned feeling in a place the sun should never shine and complete bafflement in how folks are going to clean up New Orleans. I spilled 20 ounces of sticky, hot mocha and it took me a solid hour to find my desk. Those poor folks were dumped on by an Act of God.
Can I have a do-over?
Distance: 4.24 miles
Time: 20:00 minutes
264 calories burned
11 days until USN
Thursday, October 06, 2005
Was Frustrated...Now Better
Did a manly ride to get today out of my system. Out Highway 50 to Taco Bell, then up Airport Road, west on College Parkway to Ormsby, up Winnie and around the back way to home.
Trina packed up some clothes for charity. The reality is starting to set in. This is going to be tough, probably much tougher than I thought.
Distance: 9.30 miles
Time: 44:54 minutes
531 calories burned
12 days until USN
A Cheapie
Nothing going on this morning. Didn't ride at all because I was up late with too much energy...which is good...but it took a while for me to wake up...which is good because at least I woke up. The alternative sucks.
Got zero special to write about, so I'll stop wasting your time now. ;-)
12 Days until the USN
Got zero special to write about, so I'll stop wasting your time now. ;-)
12 Days until the USN
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
I'd Rather Have an Elephant's Memory Than His Butt
That image is from Postsecret and there are days (weeks...months) when I know exactly what he means.
Rode to Big 5 Sporting Goods with full saddlebags and wearing just a t-shirt and shorts, the weather being just barely warm enough to to that for one of the last times of the year. Bought a synthetic long-sleeve undershirt for the morning, but, ironically, don't know if I have the cajones for another frozen ride tomorrow. The upside of these kinds of rides, both morning and afternoon, is I can feel my body expending energy for about an hour after I stop riding. The colder it is, the harder the body is working and the longer it burns calories after I stop, so the cold ride in the morning will occupy my mind, and I'll probably spend the next ten hours going back and forth on whether to ride.
And the body is changing. I'm on the last hole on two of my favorite belts and I don't think it's because I'm tightening them under my gut (but we are foolishly myopic on those kinds of things, so who knows). Pants that used to rest in the back of the closet are starting to fit again, and I feel lost in the pants I've been wearing. And my energy level is way higher from before dawn to long after the sun sets. These are changes I can get used to.
A quick comment about Harriet Miers' nomination to the Supreme Court: liberals tolerate her and conservatives were disappointed they didn't get someone more to the right. With Bush weakened by recent events and his polls serving as fish-wrappings, this is probably the right was going to get: a bachelor whose loyalty to Bush is beyond question and has no papertrail to speak of. There are those who complain she's a crony, but ten of the 33 justices nominated in the twentieth century worked for the president who nominated them, including deceased Chief Justice Rehnquist (he was a staffer for Richard Nixon). My prediction: unless there's a serious smoking gun out there (doubtful), she takes her seat on the high court before the end of the year, but she will not get the unanimous Republican consent that Judge Roberts received from the Senate when they voted on his confirmation.
Since we're on the subject, I think the one important right not specifically spelled out in the Ten Amendments is the right to privacy. Once that is gone, the value we hold as a democracy built and defended by individuals will be lost forever. But don't get me wrong. There's no such thing as unlimited rights: you can't yell "fire" in a crowded theater, you can't publish critical military secrets on the front page of your newspaper, and your right to privacy does not supersede the health and welfare of your family, neighbors and friends. Bottom line: don't hurt anybody, don't place anyone in danger, and the government should leave you alone.
And related to nothing else: Bush stopped using hair dye because he's noticeably grayer now. Now if we can get him to button his shirts right, maybe the other world leaders on the playground will stop laughing at him.
About time to go pick up Lara and to spin down a little after today's exercise...
Morning ride:
Distance: 5.70 miles
Time: 33:12 minutes
258 calories burned
Afternoon ride:
Distance: 6.10 miles (11.8 total)
Time: 32.41 minutes (01:05:53 total)
311 calories burned (569 total)
13 Days until the USN
Is It Cold In Here?
Got up at 5:30ish this morning to pull on my spiffy new winter riding clothes. Headed out the door at 6:00ish and the temperature on the bike computer said it was 32 fricking degrees, which we all know is zero degrees celcius (or centigrade).
Went to the south Albertsons via Deadman's Curve (Curry), then to work via Clearview and Roop because I wanted to give the clothes and me a real workout. The verdict: the winter clothes worked. The insulted gloves and pants kept me quite warm, and the balaclava was perfect (still sounds like a Greek dessert to me). My chest and arms were not covered by synthetics and they froze, especially after I went into Albertsons and came out again (frozen sweat...yum). There were some of those shirts at Big 5.
Went to the gym for a shower and weighed myself first. WTF? That ain't right, so the darn thing must have been broken, I said to myself. I went into the shower to give the scale a chance to think about what it told me. Went back...and it said the same damn thing.
249.5 pounds.
That's the only scale I use, but damn thing must be broken because I've been stuck in the 250s forever (September, anyway). I choose to be in denial that I'm below 250. Much safer on one's sanity that way.
In regards to President Bush: the world (or the readers of this blog, anyway) knows I ain't a fan, but credit must be given when credit is due. There are people outside the United States who like him, such as Canadian columnist David Warren:
"There's plenty wrong with America, since you asked. I'm tempted to say that the only difference from Canada is that they have a few things right. That would be unfair, of course — I am often pleased to discover things we still get right.
But one of them would not be disaster preparation. If something happened up here, on the scale of Katrina, we wouldn't even have the resources to arrive late. We would be waiting for the Americans to come save us, the same way the government in Louisiana just waved and pointed at Washington, D.C. The theory being that, when you're in real trouble, that's where the adults live.
And that isn't an exaggeration. Almost everything that has worked in the recovery operation along the U.S. Gulf Coast has been military and National Guard. Within a few days, under several commands, finally consolidated under the remarkable Lt.-Gen. Russel Honore, it was once again the U.S. military efficiently cobbling together a recovery operation on a scale beyond the capacity of any other earthly institution.
We hardly have a military up here. We have elected one feckless government after another that has cut corners until there is nothing substantial left. We don't have the ability even to transport and equip our few soldiers. Should disaster strike at home, on a big scale, we become a Third World country. At which point, our national smugness is of no avail."
Here's the rest of the article. If the tone of this sounds familiar, that's because Gordon Sinclair wrote something similar in 1973. It gained wide recognition and circulation after 9/11/2001. Here's the text of Mr. Sinclair's article.
Bottom Line: we may have been slow in our Hurricane Katrina response, but we were there. And if something like this did happen to other nations, we'd be there, too (remember the tsunami?). In case you didn't know, America is the best country in the history of the world, warts and all. You heard it here first.
Heard a rumor that I gave good interview yesterday. Funny thing is I didn't even try. Maybe that makes all the difference in the world.
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Another Bright Light Goes Out
All purtified up for my interview today: necktie, good shoes, and pants that go almost past my ankles. I'll be set as soon as I find my pocket protector. [Edit: The interview went well, but there should be a law against interviewing at a workcenter where everyone knows you. It was just not comfortable for anyone in the room.]
Finally had a good class last night. Most students have their books and they were getting incredibly annoyed at Microsoft Word instead of me, which is always good because that means they're working on class assignments.
Funny story that needs a little setup. My Monday and Tuesday classes are at Northern Nevada Correctional Center, which loyal readers (both of you) know was the site of a recent prison escape. The inmate convinced a couple of dental technicians to smuggle a cell phone into the prison so he could arrange to be picked up. After the escape, the technicians were fired and arrested for aiding and abetting. Since then, there've been signs posted all over the prison completely forbidding the use and entry of cell phones and other electronic devices into the prison grounds.
Last night, the students are working away on their computers and I'm mulling away on the instructor's PC at the front of the class when I hear an electronic chime that sounds exactly like a cell phone. It did not sound like my phone, but it was enough to make me jump and get my heart pumping pretty darn good. After I peeled myself off the ceiling, it turned out a student found a sound file on one of the computers. After the initial shock, it was pretty funny.
Nipsey Russell passed on. He was an icon for daytime television, especially if you were raised by game shows like me. What people probably didn't know about him was he was field-commissioned to the rank of Army captain in World War II and returned to the States to finish his degree in English.
I mentioned him to a younger co-worker, who said he never heard of him. This is our IM conversation:
- Young Guy: I've got an excuse for the not knowing who that game show person was... the excuse is... I'm out of touch with everything... If I don't hear about it on my drive to and from work... wow... it's bad... I mean what happened to Hurricane Rita? Did it peter out?
- Bob: Rita is heading this way
- Young Guy: did Roberts get the position in the Suprememcourt?
- Bob: he quit law and is now a carnie for Ringling Brothers
- Young Guy: OH NOES!!! whatwillwedo!?!?!?!
- Bob: we've suffered with that other clown in washington dc this long...we can last a little longer
- Young Guy: Rinquest?
Bob: bush
- Young Guy: It's not like we're living on the streets because of him... and I feel safer.
- Young Guy: :D
- Bob: we're not on the streets YET
Hey, Aunt Lily: Carson City is Number One!
Edit: I originally had a publicity photo at the top from The Wiz, but Michael Jackson and Diana Ross are scary to look at, especially before all their plastic surgery.
Monday, October 03, 2005
Keep Smiling (for lack of a better title)
No riding today, not even the stationary bike, because of a general blase feeling (possibly from a cold), and probably won't ride tomorrow because of a job interview. Gotta get all purtified and organized.
Someone from the Nevada Appeal is writing a series of articles on being car-free in Carson City for the month of October (subscription required). Might be worth the price of admission or subscription.
Yet another Serenity Chinese thingy.
This appeared in the Sunday (10/02/2005) Las Vegas Review-Journal. This case generated quite a bit of discussion at the office. If you want details of the discussion, please email me directly.
"WEEK IN REVIEW: Mother sentenced to prison for child neglect
The mother of two girls brutally stabbed in Mesquite was sentenced to four to 12 years in prison for child neglect on Tuesday, meaning she will likely not be reunited with her surviving daughter, Brittney Bergeron, before the girl is on the brink of adulthood.
Tamara Schmidt received the prison sentence from District Judge Donald Mosley shortly after Schmidt apologized for leaving her daughters Brittney, now 13, and Kristyanna Cowan, 3, home alone in January 2003 to face vengeful intruders.
"I made the worst mistake of my life, leaving my girls home alone," Schmidt said during the sentencing hearing.
Authorities said Brittney and Kristyanna were stabbed by a pair of Utah teens, Beau and Monique Maestas, in revenge for a bogus methamphetamine deal orchestrated by Tamara Schmidt and her then-boyfriend Robert Schmidt, now her husband.
Kristyanna was slain and Brittney was paralyzed from the waist down.
"There's not a day that goes by where I don't think about my girls or what they went through because I left them home alone," Tamara Schmidt told the judge.
Robert Schmidt was sentenced to two to 10 years in prison after he, too, apologized for leaving the children alone.
"If I had of known she (Kristyanna) was going to die and Brittney was going to be paralyzed, I would have stayed in that trailer and taken the fall for them," Robert Schmidt said. "I loved them."
The judge said the stabbings and their link to methamphetamine were an example of "how this narcotics thing is destroying our society ... this is a flagrant example of what it can lead to.""
This morning on the way to work, there was this unlocked bike laying on its side in the middle of a parking space. It was beat up but usable. I watched it for a couple of minutes until I saw the owner in the laundromat adjacent to the parking lot. When I asked him if it was his bike, he mumbled some gibberish and glared at me. That's two grouchy strangers in two days. I'm gonna keep plugging away until someone is nice. :-)
Someone from the Nevada Appeal is writing a series of articles on being car-free in Carson City for the month of October (subscription required). Might be worth the price of admission or subscription.
Yet another Serenity Chinese thingy.
This appeared in the Sunday (10/02/2005) Las Vegas Review-Journal. This case generated quite a bit of discussion at the office. If you want details of the discussion, please email me directly.
"WEEK IN REVIEW: Mother sentenced to prison for child neglect
The mother of two girls brutally stabbed in Mesquite was sentenced to four to 12 years in prison for child neglect on Tuesday, meaning she will likely not be reunited with her surviving daughter, Brittney Bergeron, before the girl is on the brink of adulthood.
Tamara Schmidt received the prison sentence from District Judge Donald Mosley shortly after Schmidt apologized for leaving her daughters Brittney, now 13, and Kristyanna Cowan, 3, home alone in January 2003 to face vengeful intruders.
"I made the worst mistake of my life, leaving my girls home alone," Schmidt said during the sentencing hearing.
Authorities said Brittney and Kristyanna were stabbed by a pair of Utah teens, Beau and Monique Maestas, in revenge for a bogus methamphetamine deal orchestrated by Tamara Schmidt and her then-boyfriend Robert Schmidt, now her husband.
Kristyanna was slain and Brittney was paralyzed from the waist down.
"There's not a day that goes by where I don't think about my girls or what they went through because I left them home alone," Tamara Schmidt told the judge.
Robert Schmidt was sentenced to two to 10 years in prison after he, too, apologized for leaving the children alone.
"If I had of known she (Kristyanna) was going to die and Brittney was going to be paralyzed, I would have stayed in that trailer and taken the fall for them," Robert Schmidt said. "I loved them."
The judge said the stabbings and their link to methamphetamine were an example of "how this narcotics thing is destroying our society ... this is a flagrant example of what it can lead to.""
This morning on the way to work, there was this unlocked bike laying on its side in the middle of a parking space. It was beat up but usable. I watched it for a couple of minutes until I saw the owner in the laundromat adjacent to the parking lot. When I asked him if it was his bike, he mumbled some gibberish and glared at me. That's two grouchy strangers in two days. I'm gonna keep plugging away until someone is nice. :-)