Thinking of War. Going to War.

The thought of going to war is exciting.
You train. You become an expert at using your equipment. Using your tool becomes comfortable as putting on an old pair of slippers. You and your buddies, training together, take pride in how well you can do your jobs together. Pride builds in your unit, your division, your country.
You eat, sleep, and share activities like playing cards together. It's all a game, and fun.

And then you go to war.
And you look at your buddy's aircraft burning on the ground. You had breakfast with him this morning.
Now he and his crew chief are burned over much of their bodies. His gunner's body remains in the burning scout bird. That man is dead. REALLY dead.
And that could be you.

It ain't fun anymore.

Dogfarts !

It's one of my favorite stories from years ago, written by Brit Veterinarian James Herriot-
An "Upper class" lady called him to put her Boxer to sleep. She had tried everything possible to remedy the problem, but the dog continued to pass gas and embarrass her at her Tea Parties.
The dog was a beautiful, purebred animal, and Herriot asked her if she'd give him time to find a solution to her problem.

After leaving her home he visited an elderly client who was a Veteran of "The Great War". The old Vet owned a really old Irish Setter, eaten up by Cancer. Herriot euthanized the old dog, knowing the impact the dog's death would have on the old man.
And then it struck him-
"Would you consider adopting a pureblooded Boxer, free of charge?"
And the old man agreed to take the dog on a trial basis.
The dog was placed in his new home with hope the change would be good for both man and beast.

Two weeks passed and Herriot decided to pay the old WWI Vet a visit to see how the relationship was faring.
"How's the Boxer doing?"
"Oh Dr. Herriot, he's wonderful! Such great company. I don't know how to thank you!"

And at this point Herriot revealed why the adoption happened in the first place, which elicits wild laughter from the old man...
"You see Doctor, in the war I was involved in a tremendous battle. My eardrums suffered damage as you know because you have to shout at me to be heard. But what you don't know is that I also experienced a "Mustard Gas" attack which permanently damaged my sense of smell.
I cannot hear OR smell this dog's flatulence!"

A PERFECT match.

Now I need your help.
We have adopted a "mostly Chihuahua". He's filling a void in our lives left by the death of our little Lucy.
He's a GOOD BOY, but...
He is gassier than me. The smell of his flatulence would peel paint off walls if he was in close proximity.
I've looked online for help and find nothing. Everything there just says insure he isn't eating trash or anything else he might pick up outside, or a change in his food is suggested.
But he's a really PICKY eater. He's older and his teeth are bad, so we have to feed him canned dog foot. And believe it or not, he turns his nose up at chicken.

I'm hoping one of you has a miracle cure.
I'm NOT deaf. And my sense of smell is still reasonably good.
He absolutely GAGS me about once an hour.

Is there a secret anti-gas fix we can apply?

"Hey! Remember me?"

When I got the email I didn't recognize the name...
"Hey ****, it's Suzie. Remember me?"
And THAT presents a problem. During my High School years I enjoyed dating two "Suzies". Which Suzie IS this? So I have to play a game and hope for clues.

Both girls were cute as bugs. One had the BIG eyes of a Doe.
As it turned out, "Doe eyes" was the Suzie emailing me.
We corresponded off and on for a while, then set up a reunion with other classmates.

The reunion happened in her home. Ten classmates showed up... most of 'em
I had not seen in almost 40 years. I graduated in a class of 140, and had attended the same school with 70 of those for all 12 years of elementary/High School. We were a close group.
But WOW, how my classmates had changed in 40 years!

Friends are important to me. I LOVE staying in touch with them, knowing what's going on in their lives.
But time ticks away... tick, tick, TOCK.
And when you've not seen someone in a long time, you MUST prepare yourself for what time has wrought.

"Doe Eyes" was now a 65 year old woman, looking NOTHING like I remembered. But the reunion was great, and it took all of 15 minutes for all of us to be perfectly comfortable with one another again.
We've had several reunions since.
And that's the only way for the passage of time to not be a shock.
I recommend LOTS of reunions.

EV's

Electric vehicles.
Lots of controversy about 'em now. I think my fear about buying one is similar to most- Range.
I now get into our car/truck and drive 700 miles+- to Destin, FL. Along the way I'll stop to get fuel at any of a thousand places that can provide it along the route.

EV range IS improving. I think Toyota is now claiming some of their vehicles can almost make that trip.
But "almost" is... almost, not quite, damned near. IF I could stop somewhere along the way and do a simple battery swap in a few minutes, then continue my journey... I'd sure consider buying an EV.
(Unless I lived in California where apparently they'll not be able to recharge their EV's this summer because of their energy shortage. :) )

Battery technology is a hot subject right now. I just heard of something called "Niobium" for the first time.
Exciting stuff.
Do your research.

"Morning Person?" HA!

For YEARS I got outta bed in the morning, drove 90 minutes to work, and did my job.
And HATED having to wake to an alarm.

And then the guy on the "Lead Pilot's" shift got hurt and had to quit. And I volunteered to take his place.
I started working straight nights. My shift started at 1900 hours and ended at 0700 hours. This meant I didn't need to set an alarm clock to go to work. I woke, had a couple cups of coffee, and drove into work.
At work, I practiced "EMS"...
I "Earned Money Sleeping". (And sometimes I was paid for doing more than sleeping.) :)
I LOVED my job. I still miss it like crazy.
I retired in 2013. At first I enjoyed the idle time. But WOW... that gets old in a hurry.
I mostly missed the feeling of helping others.

Here in our little 'burg we have a government-subsidized program similar to the "Meals on Wheels" program.
Three Buses depart the base in the A.M. and go out to retrieve elderly people and bring them back to the base for "Day Care", where they play games, eat a balanced diet, and sometimes go out on field trips.
While these folks are enjoying the time at the base, drivers carry meals out to those in need in remote areas of the county.

Today I took a test to prove I can safely drive one of the Buses that carry elderly passengers to/from the Day Care Center, and transport meals out to folks that need those meals.
I passed the exam.

It fills a niche for me. Delivering these meals once again proves to me how absolutely blessed we are.
Many of these needy people now are younger than me.

So I smile.
I drive.
And I give folks something they need.

I AM BLESSED, and thankful for my blessings!
But MAN... I hate this early morning crap!

Picasso. Dali. Grandma Moses.

Art.
I'm NO art expert, but I know what I like when I see it.
I've always found Salvador Dali's work interesting.
Picasso? I can do that crap myself.
And the stuff the experts turn up their noses at?
Like Norman Rockwell...
I sure wish I had bought a ton of his work while "experts" were ridiculing it!

Turning a "House" Into a "Home"-

The "bathtub ring"... at Lakes Mead and Powell.  If you're not familiar with the situation there, you should do the necessary research. MILLIONS of people's lives will be impacted by water resources in our Southwest region. And I'm  once again realizing the truth in the saying "That which cannot continue... won't".
Our Western States are running out of water. It's a question of when, not IF, water will begin to be rationed in Denver, Phoenix, Tucson, L.A., San Diego, and other Southwest cities.

Real Estate prices in Phoenix were crazy. We discussed the water situation with our son and convinced him that NOW would be a great time for the rats to flee the sinking ship.
He sold his home in the Phoenix suburb, put a lump of money in his pocket, and came East to find a new home in the Nashville, TN area where taxes are low, water is plentiful, and aging Mom and Dad are an easy drive away.
Dad is in surprisingly good shape for a 75-yr old man, but Mother is showing early signs of one of those exotic diseases... "Lewy Body Dementia". All things considered, it was a good time for him to move closer to home.

Equity from the sale of  his Arizona home gave him the luxury to find a beautiful home in a Nashville suburb big enough for he AND his parents to be comfortable. The home is in a military (Ft. Campbell) community... five bedrooms/3-1/2 baths. We can all live and not draw knives against one another.

A big, empty house needs filling. This Tennessee home is considerably bigger than was his Arizona home where we spent a wonderful six Winters. He/we sold much of the Arizona furniture rather than move it in  a big truck halfway across the country. Now we find ourselves shopping for the furniture and accessories that turns a house into a home.

Consignment shops; Goodwill stores; Salvation Army stores; and furniture stores too...
We shop together and try to agree on things we all can live with in the future. (I'm fine. Give me a recliner and a BIG TV, a good coffee pot, and a comfortable place to sleep!) We're getting "there". The big pieces are all in place. Now? Sara Jean and Big Bubba are skirmishing about wall coverings and minor stuff like that.

And I'm in my recliner, Scotch and water at arm's length, watching the "History Channel".
Life is grand.

PC

"PC" means "Politically Correct".

More of my 0300-hr random/scattered thinking this morning about acronyms:

PCB- Panama City Beach.
PCH- Pacific Coast Highway.
PCP- Angel Dust.
PCS- Permanent change of duty station for military personnel.
PCV- Positive Crankcase Ventilation.

This business of waking and lying in bed thinking of crap like this needs to stop!

"Classic TV" On Roku-

Tired of the "same old-same old" that irritates me on the news, we have fallen back on reserve forces-
Our "Roku" device.
Many of the TV offerings that I mentioned in that earlier post have "Classic TV" offerings:
"Twilight Zone". "Alfred Hitchcock", (both his original show and the later hour-long offering of shows that SHOULD have been limited to 30 minutes.) "Thriller". "Route 66". "Naked City". "The Fugitive".
And MORE.

It's such fun to watch these old shows I sometimes watched when I was a kid.
First... incidental cars that pass in the background as the stories unfold. Lots of old Coupes that make me drool. (How wonderful it would be to own one with modern underpinnings!)
A surprising  number of Studebakers. And I didn't realize Police Departments used that many "Nash" automobiles back in the 50's. (Wow... those bathtubs were really UGLY!)

Secondly... some of the "bit" players in these old shows are REALLY familiar. I continually find myself asking Sara Jean... "who is that?", then waiting for the credits to roll to reveal it's someone that got famous later.

And sadly-
David Jannsen, playing "Richard Kimble" frequently puts a match to a cigarette during "The Fugitive".
He died at age 48 of lung cancer.

James Franciscus is COOL when he offers nearby actors a cigarette, then lights one up for himself.
He was 57 when he died of emphysema

And the one that really stabs me through the heart:
Rod Serling- (Real name "John Phillips"), a WWII paratrooper, was a chain smoker. Born on Christmas Day of 1924 he collapsed while mowing his lawn in 1975 and died during coronary bypass surgery at age 49.

All of the old stuff we're watching is telecast in black and white. And I am reminded how "normal" smoking was during prior to about 1970. It was the cool, macho thing to do,wasn't it? Just like "Vaping" today!

A couple other things we are noticing:
There are NO new story ideas for dramas. Everything is recycled from back when, and-
Actors are better at their craft today, even though unfortunately, they're regurgitating those old stories.

Roku... doo doo doo doo.

We bought this "Roku" device. To use it you MUST have an internet connection. Our internet connection is marginal, and we frequently find ourselves watching the "circling the toilet" symbol while the video we are watching buffers and tries desperately to catch up with us.
Yes, it's irritating. But...

There is stuff on this system that is nothing short of amazing.
Our son gave us access to "Plex". On it he has, literally, a library of over a thousand movies and TV content. A month ago I wrote and asked him to download Ken Burns' "Country Music" miniseries. A day later he wrote me... "Done". 
Sixteen hours of country music history, and we binged. Done watching in five nights, we yearned for more.

Another friend gave us (legal) access to his "Sling" account. It's impossible to tell you all that's available there. On it we watch "Fox News", "Fox Business News", "TCM", "Circle", and several other networks important to us.

There's other content on Roku available:
"The Roku Channel" has stuff I cannot even talk about intelligently.
"Stirr"? Same. "Pluto TV"? Ditto.
And more.

All good stuff.
I'm the sort that enjoys being educated and entertained at the same time. But this stuff is cutting DRASTICALLY into my book reading time.
Is that a good thing?

What are you spending time watching?

Kum By Ya, Me Loh!

Let's avoid creating a bunch of trash and mutilated human flesh in Ukraine.
My solution to this problem?
Send a Ukrainian to the ISS, (International Space Station).
There, the Ukrainian and Russian Astronauts can engage in fisticuffs, or arm wrestle, or play a game of "Killer Chess".
Winner of the contest gets to determine what happens in Ukraine, and a BUNCH of lives and equipment don't get wasted stupidly.

Making History!

"Judged by the content of character, NOT by the color of their skin."

Biden will make history by nominating a Black woman to the Supreme Court.
NOT... the most qualified for the job.
But a historical first.

Until we stop doing "virtue signalling" stuff, our country will continue to die.
I fear we're already beyond the tipping point.

I hope the Black "woman" he nominates is transgender.
THAT would be historical!

Names Changed to Protect The Innocent?

NONE of this is true. (Maybe):

Our neighbors became guardians of a little girl a couple years ago. Her actual parents care more about chemical substances than they do about the mental and physical health of this little girl, so our neighbors have taken her into their own home.
She's a delightful, smart, active little girl.
She's now FIVE.

Trying to give our neighbors a "now and then break", we've invited this little girl to visit us on Friday nights so our neighbors can go out to eat and enjoy one another's company. The five year old can pretty much wear us out in a few hours. She loves us both, and literally WALLOWS all over us to get our full attention.
We love her to pieces.

Saturday morning after our normal Friday night "Babysitting" job our neighbors called to say they had tested positive for Covid. Is this one of those cases where "No good deed goes unpunished"?
Our plans to head South to spend a few days with our son are postponed for at least five days.

IF... this was a true story we'd be mighty grateful that Sara Jean and I both seem to be immune to most "gallopin' gump" types of infections.

Good thing this is NOT a true story, right? :>)

Aviation Kills!

Wife and I have been discussing the number of "celebrities" that have been killed in Aviation accidents.
The first one I think of in my limited memory of history is Knute Rockne.
Will Rodgers.
Carole Lombard.
And the list goes on from there.
Glenn Miller.
Buddy Holly, Richie Valenzuela, J.P. Richardson.
Ricky Nelson.
Stevie Ray Vaughn.

The above list may not be in proper "timeline" order. But most of 'em were due to stupid Pilot error.
Can you think of, and enumerate, others?

One Owner. Low Miles. Like New!

 In July of 1969 I walked outside my hooch in Chu Lai, Viet Nam, looked up at the moon and marveled, knowing Neal Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were looking back at me from there.
In the '70's the Apollo missions included "cars" for our Astronauts to use like the one above so they could explore more of the moon's surface while there. Three of 'em... from Apollo 15, 16, and 17 are still up there.
"Been there, done that"... we began to take these missions for granted and wondered how long it would be before regular service to the moon would be established for us all.
And then? We lost vision. We started looking at costs, and sorta forgot about the cost/benefit analysis.
How would our lives be different today had we not had an Apollo program?

But exciting things are happening today.
Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are blazing new trails.
The moon? Mars? Beyond?
It's been 50 years since anything this wonderful has been considered.

I want to go back to the moon and establish a permanent base there. From the moon we can explore asteroids and mine exotic stuff. From the moon we can more easily get to Mars.

And those three "Rovers" are sitting there... not corroding 'cause there's no atmosphere, just waiting for someone to recharge their batteries and take a spin on that surface.
Bring one back home, please.
You'll be the center of attention at any "Classic Car" show!

Google-y-Moogle-y !

Freshly divorced, I needed an escape.
Sister was serving in Key West with the Navy. I owned a Cessna 182 that needed the exercise. My Mother and pilot Father were up for the trip. If anyone would have understood I'd have shouted "Air Trip"!
It was a few days before Christmas, 1976.

I can remember that the weather cooperated during the flight down, during our stay, and during the flight back to the MidWest. Sitting on the beach outside a bar with my Brother-in-law, drinking enough Scotch and Water on the rocks to get a nice buzz while listening to halyards bang against the mast of a dozen Hobie Cats pulled up in the sand is one of my fondest memories.

Another memory... fond, but maybe troubling now, was that my Sister and her husband got an Atari 2600 for Christmas that year.
All were fascinated with it. One or the other of us would sit until the wee hours of the morning playing "Space Invaders" on the game. At some point there would be a "bonus point" target zip across the top of the screen and my Mother would shout "get that 'Googly-Moogly!"

Great fun.
But with the benefit of hindsight I can see-
This was the start of our addiction to playing games instead of going outside to play... whatever.

We have kids in homes all around us here at "Casa Greybeard".
When I was a kid you'd hear us shouting, screaming, laughing while we played in the out of doors.
I hear NONE of that now...
Because kids are indoors shooting Great Googly Mooglies-
And the only part of their bodies getting exercise is their thumbs.

Make You LOL?

I heard a (clean) joke that made me laugh this A.M. and wanted to share-

"A Priest, Rabbit, and Baptist minister walk into a bar. The bartender asks, 'What can I get for y'all?'
The Rabbit responds, 'Don't ask me... I'm only here because of autocorrect!'"

Buh-dump-bump!

Ancestry

Sara Jean's Father had no idea who his Father was. He even questioned if the woman that raised him was his real Mother. So SJ's lineage is REALLY foggy.
Just before Christmas she had mentioned wanting to do a DNA test to better determine where she came from, heritage-wise. So for Christmas I sent off for one of those kits where you use a swab on the inside of your cheek and send it in for analysis.
The kit arrives tomorrow. I have no idea how long it will take to get results once we send 'em the swab.

My Father's name is a not-uncommon English name.
My Mother's maiden name was VERY German.

My chromosomes are at war with one another, I believe.

"Neat Old Truck!"

 

I'm surprised every time it happens-
"That's a neat old truck."
I guess it does look different than the newer Dodge trucks. But is it THAT different?

I bought it because of what ya see here-
3/4 ton. Extended Cab. Two-wheel drive. And powered by the Cummins Diesel built near my boyhood home in Indiana.

The odometer in my truck now registers 260,000 miles+. It still runs strong, burns NO oil, and gets 21 mpg on our Interstate trips. My only complaint with the truck has nothing to do with the truck itself-
It's with the fuel.
Why in the world is Diesel fuel, which takes less trouble to refine than gasoline, more expensive than gasoline?
(Spoiler answer: Taxing Diesel fuel is a simple way for government to pass on expenses to ALL consumers via the amount of it used by 18-wheelers.)

Well, fuel cost is NOT my only complaint about the truck...
When I pull into the drive-up window at a fast food restaurant, our truck is SO noisy I have to turn the engine off for the person in the speaker to hear my order. I HATE drive-up windows!

But I'm still surprised at how many truck lovers notice and comment on my truck.
I've owned it now over 10 years and last week found the email address of the guy I bought it from.
He sold it because it would no longer pass California's strict emission restrictions. I benefited from his problem.
Because of the sound it makes, I named him "GRUMPY".
And I intend to hang on to Grumpy for quite a while.

Can I Please Have Some More Cheese?

We're all watching cable or satellite TV now, so I'm not sure if this happens today-
In my young TV watching days if a network came out with a show that garnered good ratings, the other networks would soon come out with their own imitations.
77 Sunset Strip/Surfside 6/Hawaiian Eye.
Bewitched/I Dream of Jeannie.
The Munsters/The Addams Family.

As a kid, "Lassie" was one of my favorite shows. And I've often wondered-
Did the writers of "Fury", a show with a smart, amazing horse, and "Flipper", a show with a smart, amazing porpoise, watch "Lassie" and simply adjust their scripts to allow their amazing animals to imitate what the amazing Collie did?

Imitation is the most genuine form of flattery, right?