Playing With (120mm Smooth-Bore) Fire:

I graduated Officer's Candidate School at Ft. Knox, KY as a Second Lieutenant with the title "Small Unit Tank Commander". Then I attended the ARMY'S "Rotary Wing Flight School" as a Commissioned Officer.
I know just enough about the Armored Beast pictured above to be dangerous.
Brandon, our Fearless Leader, is sending 31 of those to Ukraine to kill Russians. They are, arguably, the "top of the food chain" in the world of tanks.
Thinking the U.S. had weak leadership, Putin assembled his troops on the border and invaded Ukraine almost two years ago. Lots of lives on both sides have been snuffed out since. Many innocent non-combatants in Ukraine have died.
It would be nice if PEACE would break out there. Will the addition of Abrams and (German) Leopard tanks there help that happen?
I don't know. I'm frightened.

I DO know this-
Putin WILL NOT give up Crimea. To do so would be a loss of face the "little man" cannot stomach.
In my opinion, this addition to Ukraine's combat capabilities is literally.... Poking the Bear.

How does this conflict end?
I'm not clued into any intelligence information. I hope those folks who are know what they are doing.
But it sure seems to me the way this comes to an end will be similar to the conclusion of our effort in Viet Nam and Russia's Afghanistan experience-
It will become politically untenable.
It seems to me that's the only way Putin backs down. (And is replaced?)

We are playing with fire.
I think the Russian people are the key to ending this tragedy.
I hope they're getting enough "News" to understand that.
And "sooner" would also be nice.
Please.

How Often Have I Said This?

(But he's MUCH more clear.)

Brilliant.

Water- The Good. The Bad. The UGLY.

We came home the day after Christmas to Niagara Falls in three of our downstairs rooms.
(If you don't know what I'm talking about, drop down a couple posts and catch up, you slaggard!)
I slogged underneath the house and got the water (mostly) shut off, then called our insurance company-
(Take into account... this was the day after Christmas at 2000 hours.)
"All our agents are busy. Your call is important to us and will be answered in the order it was received."
90 minutes transpire. And when I actually got a chance to chat with a real human being she was professional, nice, and sympathetic to our situation. We discussed our dilemma for an hour.

Next morning, trying to get in touch with a plumber I called DOZENS-
"This is (blah, blah, blah) plumbing. We are out of the office until January 4th. Merry Christmas and HAPPY NEW YEAR!"
I knew these facts:
The temperature in our area had dropped WELL below zero. The likelihood that many (hundreds) in our area were dealing with the same problem we had was not gonna be in our favor.
We had no water for 48 hours. I suspect we've all been in this position...
Coffee! Go to the faucet with carafe in hand and reach for the faucet only to realize that's a futile effort.
This happened SEVERAL times before I went to (evil) Wally World and bought a few gallons of distilled water.

We don't realize how spoiled we are until we are deprived of certain things-
Flip the switch and illuminate the room so you don't bust your derriere.
Push the lever down to make that bad smelling stuff you just sat down and deposited go away.
(I won't sicken you and tell you what we reduced ourselves to doing while we had no water.)
Fortunate- we had a pro plumber show up about two days after our incident. And he didn't charge us an arm and leg to find and fix our problem. He even crawled beneath our house twice!

And how odd it felt... looking at the damage to three rooms in our (formerly comfortable) home, knowing what the future held with having to tear the place apart in order to get back to something like "normal".
But... we could take the carafe to the tap, turn the handle, and make coffee.

Thinking of folks long ago who had to make coffee over an open campfire after they fetched water from a "crick"...
I said a prayer and thanked GOD for my many blessings.

Silly Question?

Like Forrest Gump, I know "I am NOT a smart man".
So I need an answer to my silly(?) question.
Thousands and thousands of "undocumented future democrats" are crossing our Southern border on a daily basis. I've been watching the videos of this chaos/fiasco, and it seems to me most of those crossing are solo, young, (military age) males. Here's my question:
If they are coming to the U.S. because they are dissatisfied with the conditions in their own country... instead of risking their lives to make the terrible, life-threatening, several thousand-mile journey here, why don't these healthy young males use their energies to CHANGE the conditions in their own homes?
Instead of making life better for themselves, that action would make life better for THOUSANDS of their countrymen.

It's a puzzle to me.
But I am not a smart man.

WWII Progaganda

 We are BIG fans of old movies. The old Black and Whites are by far our favorites. In our opinion they get no better than "Mrs. Miniver", "The Best Years of Our Lives", "The Mortal Storm",  "Watch On The Rhine", "Casablanca"... I could go on. If you are nodding your head and have not seen any of those I've listed you'll do well to look 'em up. (And if you have a favorite please mention it in the comments.) They reinforce the fact the country USED to be patriotic and is... different today.
(As if you needed proof, huh?)

Last week, after a "Feature" we watched, TCM played this "Short" starring James Cagney, Ann Sothern, and Margaret O'Brien.
Little Miss O'Brien has been a favorite of ours for years and I was thrilled to see her in this piece. As always, she's wonderful in it.

A little over 10 minutes in length, I think it's worth your time.
Your environment may even get a little dusty, so keep the tissues handy.
And remember how "we used to be".

"Bomb Cyclone"

The plan to head South to spend Christmas with our son had been in place for weeks. Our day of departure, (Thursday), weather was certainly a factor. I had to deliver meals in the morning and the forecast was for it to get "ugly with a capital 'U'" after Noon. Temps were forecast to drop almost 40 degrees in 12 hours with a rain/freezing rain/snow situation a possibility. I luckily finished delivering meals to our clients by 1000 hours and rushed home to "get outta Dodge" as soon as possible.


Knowing the situation our home would be facing during our absence I opened the doors to all the cabinets/sinks on outside walls and left the furnace set at 55 degrees to keep the house at a threshold temperature to avoid freezing. I considered leaving the most distant faucet trickling, but we were gonna be away for five days... did I want to leave water running that long?
No. (Don't get ahead of me here.)
Our trip South was uneventful. The car's thermometer read 34 degrees as we pointed our noses South, and temps rose to 45 degrees by the time we arrived in Northern Tennessee. Traffic was light.

Friday morning we got a call from a neighbor-
"My water pipes are frozen."
Uh-Oh.
Niggling worries began. But the guy with the keys to our home that I depend on to insure our house is okay was sick as a dog and I didn't want to bother him. Temps rose the next day and our "pipes frozen" neighbor reported that his water began to flow again.
I relaxed some.
Four days passed. We drove home in "still below freezing" temperatures.

We arrived home, opened the door, and Sara Jean exclaimed, "Water is running somewhere."
It was raining in my office. Raining in our downstairs bathroom.
Damn!
Quickly as possible I entered the crawlspace beneath our house. I had to crawl through snow to get there. It was raining under there too. I crawled 20 feet through two inches of water-soaked mud to reach the main shut-off valve.

The indoor rain continued for an hour. I realized there was a problem... the shutoff valve had NOT shut the water supply off. I crawled back under the house and forced the valve to close farther than I was really comfortable twisting it.
That act slowed the flow of water in my office to a "drip, drip, drip".
We deployed buckets to catch drips. I went to our outbuilding and grabbed the "wet-or-dry" vacuum.We sucked as much water up as we could and I got onto the phone to our insurance company.

Trying to contact a plumber after an event like this is disheartening-
"I have a week's worth of work ahead of you. I'll put you on my list and get to ya as soon as I can."

Today marks two days since we got home to find it raining indoors.
One of the plumbers we left a message with arrived this morning and started pulling out drywall. After "tearing up Ned" for an hour he found and repaired the leak.
We can once again bathe, brush our teeth, do laundry, run the dishwasher, and flush toilets.
We don't realize how much we take electricity and water for granted until they are gone, do we?

The process of returning to normal has begun. Being able to turn on the water tap is about 40% of that process.
Now the drywall, carpeting, fixing/replacing electronics, etc., process begins.

And thinking of those sleeping in the cold we once again realize how BLESSED we are.

"I Wanta Dance With Somebody"

We saw the Whitney Houston movie last night.
It was good, but succeeded in making me very sad.
Why do all these talented celebrities think "I can ingest that and the thing that has happened to SO MANY people before me won't RUIN my life!"?

She "danced" with Bobby Brown.
Bad choice of partners.

Yukon Cornelius!

Just to show you how STUPID our "Woke" world has become-
We arrived here in Tennessee Thursday night. After we had unloaded the car, grabbed a bite to eat and settled in, our son said, "Let's go watch a movie". He has a "media room" in his home here, complete with an 85-inch television and great sound system. I leaned back in my recliner and he punched the "Play" button, and I was surprised to see the credits for "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" roll.
"What the heck?" I thought. I have never seen the movie all the way through and it will help me get into the Christmas spirit!
The movie is about an hour long and is for kids... cute, but because you've heard the basic story via the old Gene Autry song over a million times, it's kinda boring.

Our son had purchased tickets to a "special event" at the "Gaylord Events Center" and wouldn't tell us anything about what we were gonna experience other than to say, "Dress WARMLY!"

We arrived at the Gaylord complex and entered the Events Center and found "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" in ice sculpture was what we would see.
And it was amazing. The big facility was cooled to 9 degrees, obviously to keep the sculptures from melting, so all attendees were issued parkas for comfort. As you walk the pathway, the story of the old movie unfolds with help from signs in front of the characters.

And I noticed something odd-
The "Yukon Cornelius" ice character had no revolver tucked into his belt!
The Snowflakes that put this display together had disarmed Yukon, (I'm sure his piece in the movie was AT LEAST a .44 Magnum!) leaving him totally vulnerable to Polar Bears and "Bumble" Abominable Snowmen!
How cruel!

I asked several of the attendants about the oversight, (average age amongst 'em was about 22 I think), and they all just shrugged their shoulders. (I'm sure most of them have never seen the old animated feature.)

But you and I know what this is all about.
Carrying a gun is bad, ya know?

Being eaten by a white bear is preferable.

The Sky is Falling!

In Tennessee.
We "got outta town" up North just in time to miss the dangerous driving conditions. It was 34 degrees with light drizzle when we left home, and the car's thermometer steadily increased to 45 as we ventured South in light traffic. We encountered ONE slowdown along the way, but even that was just an irritation... never came to a complete stop.

We got word yesterday that a couple (relatives) back home have tested positive for the Wuhan Flu. One was the recipient of a new kidney some years back. Both are multi-vaccinated and multi-boosted. This is the second battle with the virus for both of them. He very obviously has a right to be concerned about his future, but I wonder-
What good did it do the two of them to get stabbed all those times? Sara Jean and I both have also tested positive for the disease and had cold/flu-like mild symptoms. She has now been battling a coughing/snotty bug for three weeks. Is she uncomfortable ? You bet. She has tested negative twice during this three week period, so she probably will not die from this.

There are people around us that LOVE being frightened. It's the reason Halloween Horror Houses and scary movies make money. And there are some EVERYWHERE that are secretly enjoying being frightened that death is just around the corner because of this disease:
"Wear your (useless paper) mask! And two of 'em are better than one!"

Don't get me wrong- There ARE people who must be concerned about this bug. I sure as Hell hope they have access to and wear an N95 mask because anything else will likely do more damage than good.
But at what point will we realize that lots of people are afraid someone will jump out from behind a bush and shout BOO! at them?

As I recall, the chance of dying from this disease- rounded to the nearest whole number, is ZERO.

Men Are Stupid

"...ain't nothin' in the world
Like a big-eyed girl
That makes me act so funny
Make me spend my money
Make me feel real loose, like a long necked goose
Like a girl, oh baby, that's what I like!"

I'm a VERY happily married man.
But I ain't blind.
Let some cute/beautiful female flutter her eyes at me and I'm reduced to jelly.
"Can you do THIS for me?"
And I'm not the only living thing with XY chromosomes for which that's true.
My problem? OUR problem?
The humans with XX chromosomes know how to manipulate us. And they're smarter than we are.
Do I/we mind?
Not really.
"As it was, and forever shall be."

Ain't nothin' in the world like a BIG EYED girl!

"Toxic Masculinity"

"It's better to be a WARRIOR in a garden, than a GARDENER in a war."
Jordan Peterson

Thank You Dr. Peterson.

There are people in this world who think in a different realm than most of us.
Michelangelo was one.
Dr. Jordan Peterson is another, opening my eyes to this comparison:

Same As It Ever Was.

 Nixon was more honest.

Home For The Holidays?

We're back home in "The Great White North" after our 30-day stay in Destin. Our visit there this go-round was not the best... the condo we stayed in was newly remodeled and we were the Guinea Pigs that had to find all the little glitches and call to get them fixed. (Ground floor condo with NO window coverings when we arrived? Sheesh.)
Weather too was a bit of a disappointment this year. Cold, rainy, and blustery, the guests we invited to spend time with us were not, I fear, very impressed with the Florida Panhandle.

One of the great mysteries of life-
Try as hard as we might, I always have trouble jamming all the STUFF we have accrued into the truck for our trip home. Junk that can be damaged in rain always goes into the Extended Cab while impervious stuff can reside in the bed.
Not this time. Too much to fit in the Cab.
I bought "contractor strength" garbage bags and many items went into the bed this trip.
Contractor bags? We learned the lesson the hard way some years ago. Normal trash bags blowing in the wind back there fatigue and get holes in 'em pretty quickly. These heavier-duty bags fared quite well.

Driving-
I like to drive. "Back when", road trips of 10+ hours were no problem. That's no longer true. Part of the reason for that, I'm sure, is the vehicle- Our 25 yr-old 3/4 ton Dodge Cummins diesel is... a TRUCK.
Noisy. And it rides, even when pretty heavily loaded, like an old log wagon.
First "leg" home, picking up the dog from my Sister's in Pensacola then pointing the truck Northbound to our son's home, was 12 hours. (Rest areas, fuel stops, restaurants.)
I can't do that trip length anymore. Future trips will require overnites after 6-7 hours or so.

Our final leg home was 3 hours.
Exhausted, we went right to bed. Next day we continued to spend lounging around, mostly watching TV, trying to recharge our batteries.
Feeling better today, we can start the unpacking/organizing stage of our arrival home.

"Be it ever so humble..."
It's wonderful to be safely home.

Climate Cooling... Err, Warming... Err, "Change"-

 Our "betters" want us to ride our bicycles to work.
They care enough about the issue that they flew their private jets many miles to a conference to emphasize that fact.

I could be convinced the climate may be changing. My question to the statement is always, "When in our history has the climate NOT changed?"
"Climate change people" aren't really stupid, so they have no answer to my question.

But the more frustrating questions?
What's the population of the U.S.?
What's the population of China?
What's the population of India?
What are those countries, (orders of magnitude in population BIGGER than ours) doing to lessen their impact on poor Gaia's climate?

We are stupid.
Beyond belief.
And we are deserving of the screwing we are receiving.

Call It "Mental Illness". I Won't Argue-

 (That ain't him, but it sure might be a close relative!)

We leave Destin tomorrow morning after a stay of 30 days. Weather, (as usual in the Florida Panhandle), has been UP/DOWN. We've experienced SUN, rain, and temps ranging from 40-ish nights to 85 degree days. There's no question of Season change here. We've had a nice stay... except...

We made our reservation for this Condo February of this year. That was about the same time the little Chihuahua-mix dog that looks like the above photo decided we were HIS. We gave no thought at all to the fact our reservation here was in a "No Pet" accommodation.

As the date for our stay here approached it hit the two of us like a ton of bricks-
"We have to figure out what we're gonna do with Chico."
Boarding at a Kennel? Expen$ive. And how would he react to being with strangers for 30 days?
So that option was dismissed.

My Sister lives in Pensacola, about an hour's drive from Destin-
"Sis, we have a little problem..."
She has three adopted canines of her own.
"Of course he can stay here!"
And so we relaxed, knowing he'd be loved, fed, and comfortable.
What we did not consider was how accustomed to him being a part of our lives had become.
I've missed him lying next to me in my recliner. But Sara Jean? She's actually been in tears more than once missing the little guy.

So the trip tomorrow will be Destin-> Pensacola-> Northbound.
We're excited by the thought of having the ENTIRE family reunited.

Much of the world thinks we're crazy to get so emotionally involved with our pets
Crazy?
The way we have felt without his presence here?
They may be correct.

Come Fly This Thing!

Doin' a lot of reflecting on my life in retirement I'm acknowledging how blessed I have been.
Fifty-two years of looking up through a spinning wing. Fifty of those years trying to teach others to control that nearly uncontrollable machine and survive the experience.
The people who were not only interested in what I had to teach but also had the wherewithal to afford my services were... often interesting.

One of the guys that came to me wanting to learn to fly a helicopter was a man that owned his own "Learn to Fly" business. He owned several Cessna 172's and had a staff of instructors to teach people in them.
He also owned an FBO... a place on an airport where pilots could land and expect to refuel and get other services... charts, refreshments, a phone to call for weather and file a flight plan, and other incidental things.
A Certified Flight Instructor in Airplanes himself, he was a few years older than me with a LOT more letters following the "CFI" on his pilot's license.

Done with my "lesson/torture session" we had landed the helicopter and finished debriefing the lesson when one of his mechanics approached- "'***', the Hawker needs a post-maintenance test flight".
My student was the only person in the county qualified and current to fly the airplane so his services were required ASAP.
"Hey Greybeard, how'd you like to fly the Hawker?"
It took a fraction of a second for me to respond!

Checklist followed. Taxi to (and hold short) of the runway...
"I have to start the takeoff roll because I have directional control of the airplane with this little steering wheel until the rudder becomes effective. After that... YOU HAVE THE AIRPLANE!"

Your humble helicopter CFI did (most of) the takeoff, the climbout, and the level-off procedure. My student impressed me by demonstrating how this powerful airplane would press you against the seat when the throttles were pushed forward. (And my mind boggles at the power Fighter Pilots must feel!)
Test Flight complete, my student gave me hints about not killing the two of us as I landed the airplane, with him once again controlling the nose-wheel with his little steering wheel when I no longer had positive rudder control.

Yeah, it's a great memory... another in my book of reflections.
And after my student passed his Private Pilot Helicopter practical test he admitted-
"There is NO FLYING more fun than flying a helicopter."

I'm pleased to have flown that Hawker.
But I sure would not have wanted to fly one for a living.

Mastadon?

Twitter.
Snapchat.
Instagram.
Parler.
I know I'm probably missing several Social Media venues.
I use NONE of the above.
Hearing that I'd be able to reconnect with lots of old acquaintances I signed up on FaceBook, and that experience has been...
amusing and useful in many ways. It HAS been pleasant to get back in touch with old friends, schoolmates and military associates. But being warned my comment "doesn't meet our community standards" for a thought I considered to be pretty harmless has been simultaneously humorous and irritating.

Now a thing called "Mastadon" is in the news. I guess it's a sort of "Quiet Room" for snowflakes that have their knickers in a knot over the fact  Elon Musk is allowing comments on Twitter pointing out the Emperor has no clothes.

I've never Tweeted in my life.
I don't think I'm interested in Masticating either.

We Need The Reminder Now And Then:

A former (M.D.) student called.
"'Greybeard', Les ****** is dead."
Les was an overachiever in life-
Eagle Scout. Boy Scout leader. NRA instructor. Volunteer Policeman. Scuba diver. Teacher of other medical personnel.
And in addition to many other things, MY STUDENT... and Private Pilot (Helicopter).
Ten years my junior.
Boy, do I suddenly feel old.

A VERY SMART nurse, member of my flight crew once told me:
"If you want to avoid cardiac problems, pick your parents carefully."
Put that quote in your memory book.
R.I.P. Les. You made my life better.

Agent Orange, or "C Rations"?

On advice from friends because of possible Agent Orange exposure
I registered with the Veteran's Administration a few years back.
Now I get a pretty detailed semi-annual  physical... pee in the bottle, blood work, and "lemme have a close look in those eyeballs". The close watch on what's happening to my body is comforting.

On Facebook I've signed up for a couple Viet Nam Veteran sites-
A UH-1 Crew Chief/Door Gunner/Pilot site, and a Viet Nam Veteran site. On both there is considerable discussion about all the problems my VN Vet brethren are experiencing due to Agent Orange. Seems Agent Orange is the cause of ALL problems my 75-85 year old brothers are having.
Sigh.

Not wanting to "stir the pot", I DO NOT voice my concerns there-
Those of us old enough to remember "C Rations" will remember that the "accessory pack" included a little four-cigarette pack of cancer sticks. Since I was a non-smoker I always donated my cigs to a smoking friend. MOST of my friends smoked. It was easy to find someone that wanted my gift.
It's surprising now to realize my government was supporting the addiction of many servicemen.

But to me it sure clouds the issue.
How can we determine how many cancers and other illnesses were actually caused by Agent Orange since so many (MOST, probably) VN Vets would respond to the call "Smoke 'em if ya got 'em"?

Agent Orange was a toxic substance and I have no doubt many people are now suffering because they were exposed to it.
But nicotine and tar didn't make anyone healthier.