"Showtime."

The video below is about a couple dealing with dementia. Husband Jason is a medically retired Air Force Officer who was involved in an IED incident. His brain injury MAY be part of why he is now experiencing symptoms of dementia. Until recently it was thought his memory problems were caused by "Lewy Body" dementia, the same disease we now think is affecting Sara Jean.
But tests now are casting doubt on Jason's Lewy Body diagnosis so he and wife Leslie, (a Registered Nurse now retired so she can devote 24/7 attention to Jason) are trying to figure out what Jason's problem really is.
In the video you get a solid feeling for the frustrations Leslie feels dealing with the disease. 'Til recently, anytime Leslie turned on the camera Jason "turned on the charm" to appear funny and normal. They call it "Showtime".
...Not so much in this video.

Leslie talks about her loneliness because she's losing her lifetime partner. This, so far, is NOT my problem with Sara Jean. She has always been a "talker". And when I am home she has always wanted to be in the same space I occupy.
Leslie talks about every dementia case being different, so I'm left to wonder how my/our lives will unfold as Sara Jean's disease progresses.

Yesterday morning I filled both our coffee cups, handed hers to her, and sat down to watch the morning news. Five minutes later she asked, "Do you need coffee?" Then realizing her memory has failed her she's embarrassed.
I fear she'll no longer be embarrassed soon.

Pray for us and ALL suffering from the different forms of this disease, please.

 

The "Titan" Submersible.

I'm fishing for information from someone who knows more than I do.
The "Titan" apparently imploded on its way to visit the Titanic last week, killing its occupants in about .11 seconds.
That fact means they likely didn't even have the time to THINK "uh-oh" before they were vaporized.
My question is about "carbon fiber", stuff about which I need an education. I know it is VERY strong. I know it is light compared to other materials. And I know it is expensive, (but not as expensive as say, titanium, a fact that may enter into the cause of death of those five souls.)

Here's my query:
Compression/expansion-
The pressure vessel on that sub was being subjected to MASSIVE compression forces. I think that carbon fiber hull would have been much stronger in the other direction- expansion from inside to out.
Seems to me strength against compression in this case is the wrong application of the material.

Discussion, please.

Mailbox Baseball !

Some years ago our mailbox and ALL the mailboxes on our street were destroyed by someone, (probably exuberant youths). Since this was the second time this had happened I was exasperated. To replace our box I bought a box made of very heavy-duty plastic that snapped together like a kit.

That box lasted undamaged until today when my wife returned from an errand and asked, "Have you seen our mailbox?"
I had not. It was in several pieces alongside our road.

I just returned from snapping our "kit" mailbox back together.

"I just published a post supporting President Trump on my FaceBook page" says she. "I'm sure that's the reason someone did this to us", says she.
"Paranoid", thinks me, (but wanting to maintain peace in our household I kept my thoughts to myself.)

But isn't it a shame that that thought even occurs to us? And it certainly falls within the realm of possibility.

Today you cannot put a conservative bumper sticker on your car without having to worry about your vehicle being keyed! I'm no longer comfortable with my world. Heck, I'm no longer comfortable in my own neighborhood.

I'm ready for the "reset", even though that will be ugly.

Cadillac At Le Mans-

The "24 Hours of Le Mans" is being run today. As a BIG racing fan this is an important day for me. "Motor Trend TV" is broadcasting the race in its entirety.
The wonderful unfolding stories during this endurance race interest me.
"Racing improves the breed" has always been the mantra, and it's certainly true. For years enthusiasts have pointed to Ray Haroun's use of a rear-view mirror in the first Indy 500.

The photo above depicts two Cadillacs that were campaigned in the 1950 Le Mans race by a sportsman named Briggs Cunningham. The strange looking beast was aptly nicknamed "Le Monstre" by the locals and, with special aerodynamic alterations to the body, was purposely designed to just go FAST. The other was a relatively stock 1950 "Series 61" Cadillac Sedan.
And the "unfolding stories" I referred to?
Cunningham crashed "Le Monstre" and retired it from the event.
The old Cadillac Sedan soldiered on, and "Grandpa's car" finished 10th overall ahead of the specialty-for-the-race built "Le Monstre" which came in 11th.

For differential speed and safety reasons, there basically are three classes of cars that now race at Le Mans.
Yes, it makes the race safer.
But does it make the event more interesting?
Not to me.

Sanctuary-

I just want to be up front... right here... right now-
I THANK GOD for California, New York, and right here in Illinois... Chicago for being "Sanctuaries".
While our country tries to figure out if it wants to be a "Sovereign", those sanctuaries are taking it in the third point of contact.
(And maybe you have to be military... maybe even ARMY to understand that reference. Look it up.)

Damn I'm glad I live downstate in "MAGA" country!

Just Visiting?

We ate a free breakfast this morning in the La Quinta Inn in Miramar Beach, Florida, after a week's stay here. Our stay here has been "as usual" for June...
Great weather. One of the most beautiful beaches in the world. HORRIBLE traffic, because Destin is no longer a "best kept secret". Road construction in several areas cannot keep up with the number of people coming here to stay.
This hotel is full.
No one eating breakfast with us is speaking English.

Me: "When we were in Greece I wonder how the Greeks felt about all the folks there speaking English?"
She: "We weren't there to STAY."

Another brilliant insight from my better half.

Do You Feel A Draft?

In May of 1966 Uncle Sam decided my services were desperately needed to insure the U.S. Army could continue to do the good work it was doing all around the world.
"Greetings!", the letter said.
It then detailed when and where I was to report for duty.
Born into a family where virtually all my Uncles served, any thought of avoiding the draft by running to Canada never entered my mind. So I reported to the recruiting center in Indianapolis at the designated time and date.

Although I resented being enslaved by my government I decided to make "lemonade out of lemons" whenever I could. And having heard my Father at age 39 say, "If I had stayed in the ARMY I'd be retiring now with a nice pension", I also decided unless I absolutely HATED the ARMY I would stick it out.
I retired after serving 22+ years. I felt my service made the world a better place and I respected my superiors and my fellow warriors.

The news these days is reporting that all branches of the military are falling short of their recruitment numbers. The recruits that DO volunteer frequently cannot meet military standards due to obesity or other physical deficiencies.
Briefed by the folks in charge of the Officer's Candidate School at Ft. Benning, (now Ft. Moore), we were told that the main reason prospective Officers fail to graduate is because of bone structure injuries.
(Too much time playing video games?)
This ain't my Father's military.

How do we fill the shortfall we're now experiencing?
I know one way to do it.
But there WILL be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Is Worry Wasted?

People pass through your life. Some make an impact. Others? Meh.
One of the folks that made me take notice some years ago was one of my Flight Paramedics.
Smart. Quick witted. Compassionate.
He was one of those that if I had been involved in an accident and I woke in the back of the helicopter to find he was part of the crew caring for me, I'd have relaxed.

He met and fell in love with two boys and wanted to adopt them, but there was a problem.
He'd been arrested a year or so before because he had gotten "out of control" after overdosing on "uppers".
It was an "out of the ordinary" situation, he said.
I believed him, and wrote a letter testifying to his good character, signing it with my signature as a retired field grade military officer.
Whether or not that made a difference can be argued. The adoption was approved. Two years later his wife divorced him and he took sole custody of his two sons.
That was several years ago.

He's been a great Father. The two boys have thrived. I've watched their lives unfold via FaceBook. He's made me proud of the fact I stuck my neck out a little to vouch for him when he wanted to assume responsibility for the boys.

But now he's gone dark on FaceBook.
My attempts to contact him there are going unanswered. And I'm worried.

We are told there is a thin line between genius and mental illness.
I don't know how to contact him with no FaceBook link.

I hope he, and the boys, are okay.

Lies and Deceit

The "Durham Report" has been released.
It points out the way the Hillary Clinton campaign conspired with the FBI, the CIA, and our major news media to put out disinformation about Donald Trump and help defeat him in the 2016 presidential election.
And it worked.

Now we have a committee reviewing the report, headed by Richard Blumenthal, U.S. Senator from Connecticut.
He's the miscreant that lied to us about being a Viet Nam Veteran.

How can we get to the truth of any matter re: our government when our govt. officials are liars?

Combat Veterans-

I've been called "Hero" because of my military service to the Nation.
I'm uncomfortable with the label for many reasons.
When I was drafted, the Viet Nam conflict was beginning to explode and I was scared to death about what my future held .
I decided to do whatever I needed to do to delay any trip to Southeast Asia. That included signing up for any school that would use up time, hoping the folks trying to bring an end to the conflict could come to an agreement.
So I attended Officer's Candidate School: Six months.
Then the "Rotary Wing Aviator Course" used up another nine months. And still the negotiating continued as too much human treasure was sacrificed in Viet Nam.
And then the morning came when I woke and thought to myself- "Soon, people who don't agree with me  politically will be trying to kill me".
And some of the natives of Viet Nam did just that.

A few years ago I organized a reunion of Soldiers who had attended Armor Officer's Candidate School at Ft. Knox, Kentucky. At this reunion and others I have attended, there is a "Vibe" between men who served in Viet Nam and those that served elsewhere... for Armor Second Lieutenants that mostly was Germany. These reunions have made me realize how FORTUNATE I was to serve in, and survive, my experience as a helicopter gunship pilot in the Viet Nam conflict.

Addressing this gathered group of heroes I expressed my genuine thoughts:
ANYONE that signed up to attend OCS during this time, (1965-1968) knew fully their attendance might mean service where someone who disagreed politically with them might shoot live ammunition at them.
Only a few of us were chosen to serve there.
And it seems SO odd-

I signed up to attend OCS hoping that schooling would take long enough to eliminate any chance I would go to Viet Nam. But OCS and EVERYTHING that followed opened doors for me I could never have imagined when, at age 19, I signed that application.

I was drafted. If I'd had the chance to avoid my ARMY experience, I'd have jumped at the chance.
I ain't no hero.
But all those signing that "Blank Check" back then, and those signing it today?
They ARE.

Thanking them "For their service" may seem like a throw-away comment to them.
Thank them anyway.

The Border Situation

Four years ago we cruised across the Atlantic from New York to Lisbon, Portugal with a few stops along the way.
Neat trip.

We departed Lisbon to drive to Gibraltar. I was surprised to find the border between Portugal and Spain was unmanned. If you weren't paying close attention you wouldn't notice you had crossed from a Portuguese speaking country to one speaking Spanish. No lines. No mass of people.

I've been thinking about why there are thousands and thousands of people amassed at our Southern border desperate to enter the U.S.A., and the most obvious reason is economic.
People are leaving "garbage" countries to come where there is more money and a better quality of life.

I think the quality of life in Portugal and Spain is relatively equal, so there's no reason to leave one for the other.
And that points out how to resolve our problem here-
Equalize everything about the U.S. and the countries these folks are fleeing.

So as soon as the U.S. is equal to Venezuela, and we become a garbage country, the rush to cross our border will cease.
With the amount of traffic down there now that should happen pretty quickly.

Estar Preparado.

I HATE "Can't".

In our little community I had this friend named Dennis. He was a couple years older than me.
Dennis had a problem... he had a newspaper route. His family was moving, and he had to find someone to take the route from him.

I had tagged along with Dennis on the paper route a couple times. Dennis was a generous kid...
He always had a "jingle in his pockets" and when I accompanied him delivering papers he always bought me a candy bar and a soda.
I liked that.
I wanted to be Dennis.

"Can I take Dennis's paper route?" I asked my parents.
I was 10. They were worried. The Regional Manager of the Newspaper was unsure.
No question, I could remember where the customers were and deliver their newspapers. BUT... what about the money side of things?
When collecting for a week's worth of newspapers, could I make change without making mistakes?
I proved I could. I delivered "The Indianapolis News" (which no longer exists) for four years.
And always had a "jingle" in my pockets.
I even saved enough along the way to buy my first motor scooter when I was 12. (Law Enforcement in our area ignored the 12 year old delivering newspapers on a motor vehicle!)

My parents encouraged me.
The Regional Manager encouraged me.
And that set me on the "Positive Mental Attitude" (PMA) course.

Thomas Edison failed a LOT.
And in failure he learned what DID NOT work. Using that knowledge, he kept moving, trying, failing, until he began to see things that worked better and better until he succeeded.

Looking at the world today I am dismayed. I think we are more and more fearful of failure.
"That won't work."
"I can't do that."
If you tell yourself you can't, you won't even start, and therefore you're right- YOU CAN'T!

It's the Elon Musk's of today that are succeeding and getting rich.
Try. Fail. Try again.
If you fail, learn from they experience. Learning is a good thing. Like Elon, try again and again until you succeed.
Your PMA will rub off on others, making their world AND YOURS a better place.

Be Elon Musk.
And surround yourself by people with "PMA".
You'll be richer... maybe even beyond your wildest dreams.

Military Reunions II

Where do I start?
Let's start here-

For YEARS I thought I was unaffected by my Viet Nam experience. Heck, I had returned to "Life in the World" with few complications
(I thought). And then in '95 one of my Huey Crew Chiefs called and asked me to come to a Unit reunion. I hesitated. "I don't want to spend time with a bunch of guys crying in their beer, still living in 1969."
"No... you'll enjoy it, I PROMISE" says he. It was in Dallas. I have family there, so I figured if I was upset with what was going on I could just spend time with my kin.
But I was surprised. We had a great time. We laughed. We listened. And I must admit, we cried a little.
All good.

My wife, 10 years my junior, learned much about her husband (also her older brother who was a Marine VN Veteran).
Good too.

I mostly let my buddies talk. She also sat quietly and listened to the stories my fellow Vets were telling.
She heard, "You mean he's still alive?! His legs were gone when we loaded him onto the helicopter!"
This kind of conversation is why these reunions are so important.
It is THERAPY of the best sort... at little cost.

And now our Viet Nam Vets are dying at a similar rate to what we heard about our WWII Veterans 20 or so years ago. Which means these reunions are doubly important for those of us still healthy enough to attend, (and some NOT so healthy).

IF you are a Combat Veteran, DO get together with your fellow Warriors, even if you are reluctant.
You may not think you need the therapy, but you may be wrong.
And remember there are others that need someone to listen to what they experienced.
Your attentive listening may prevent a tragedy.

That's Doc Greybeard's advice.
No charge.

Military Reunions

 I'm writing this from Columbus, Georgia where I'm attending a reunion of graduates of Officer's Candidate School. These reunions are therapy for me. I'm surrounded by like-minded people who had similar life experiences 50+ years ago. We're VERY comfortable with one another so conversation flows freely, and is sometimes compelling.

To get here I entered the address of the hotel into the GPS and followed "Carmen the Garmin's" instructions. She did a great job.
Some several miles North of Columbus I ruefully smiled:
"Columbus, Ft. Benning... next exit."
With our new social conscience that sign, and MANY others around Columbus will be changed.
Fort Bragg. Fort Rucker. Fort Lee. Fort Hood. And how many other BIG road signs will be coming down?
At what cost?

But we'll all feel better, right?
RIGHT?

Well, It's a Good START To Your Collection:

 

The Coming Democrat Primary:

"But whatever you say about RFK Jr., he never drowned a woman, like his uncle. He never crippled one, like his brother. He never raped an underage babysitter, like another of his brothers. He’s never been accused of raping a woman, like one of his cousins, or beating a teenaged neighbor girl to death with a golf club, like another of his cousins.

Come to think of it, his opponent for the Democratic nomination, Joe Biden, has been accused of rape, by his former aide Tara Reade. And unlike Biden, none of Bobby’s daughters have ever written in their diaries that Daddy used to take long showers with them when they were 11 years old."
Howie Carr

This campaign will be mighty rough for "Average Joe". Republicans will enjoy it; democrats will squirm.

Pop the popcorn.

Anheuser Busch's Dilemma

 

I moved to St. Louis, Missouri in 1974. The guy that lived in the apartment above mine owned the roofing company that had re-roofed the Anheuser-Busch brewery.
"Hey Greybeard... Come with me. I'm gonna inspect the work my crews have done at the brewery and we can drink all the beer we want while we're there."
At that time, (no longer), there were coolers of draft beer strategically placed throughout the brewery and workers could drink all the cold beer they wanted. Contractors could too.
We became "tipsy" roof inspectors.

We met one of the brewmasters and I got to ask a question I had been curious about-
"How do you make 'Light Beer?'"

"Basically we just add distilled water to it" was his response.
I stopped drinking Light Beer at that point. If I want Light Beer I'll add my own water, thank you.

This kerfuffle about the brand will be interesting to watch.
In my opinion, A/B has backed themselves into a corner with their customers-
Can they apologize? If they don't, they're gonna take a huge hit in sales. (Just ask "Kid Rock"!)
If they do, they'll lose the Trans community, and the apology probably will now fall on deaf ears to the customers that have been loyal to the brand.

Coca Cola realized their mistake with "New Coke" and changed course.
I don't think that will be possible for Anheuser Busch.

Once Upon A Time, This Was Farce:

I'm now surprised that it's still available on YouTube !

Jacoby

My wife was born and raised in Chicago. Her family still lives there... NOT actually in the City, but in various suburbs. When we chat with them they assure us they feel safe in their cocoons.
"Nimby" stuff.
A dozen or so kids die in the city every weekend. "Not my problem... all that stuff is happening several miles away"... in The Zoo-
Chicago's Southside.

And then comes the mass shooting in Nashville, and those same people get all up in arms about gun problems.
And I shake my head.
Yes, there is a problem. But the reason these kids are dying goes WAY deeper than just guns.
And government is at the heart of the trouble.

We don't have the time to discuss ALL the "Whys".
And we probably wouldn't agree anyway. Lefties "have my mind made up. Don't confuse me with facts."
SEVENTY PERCENT of Black babies are born to single Mothers. So those kids have no Father figure in their lives ready to tie a knot in their ass when they misbehave while growing up. They go out and find a "family" gang and that group establishes their value system.
And why does this problem exist? Our Government pays these Mothers to have babies!

We already know this 28-year old in Tennessee had a confused upbringing.
Just how "confused"? We'll find out when we learn more about the manifesto She/He left before killing a bunch of innocent Christians.
But still there is now outrage because our legislators are doing nothing about "assault weapons".
And "Jacoby" in Chicago will go out this weekend and shoot up a bunch of Chicago Southsiders.

How did Jacoby get his gun?
If you take Jacoby's gun away from him, how long will it take for him to find another?
What legislation would stop Jacoby from being an angry thug, capable of killing his fellow man at the drop of a hat?

Our world is angry.
Can we find a way to fix that?
I have an idea the left WILL NOT LIKE-
WWJD?
Let's learn.

Gun Violence Solution-

My bride is not only "movie star beautiful", she is also smart.
She has a solution to all this gun control controversy...
At birth, cut off baby's thumbs.
With no thumbs, no gun or rifle can be cradled with enough force to pull a trigger.
(Or just abort 'em. Aborted babies don't kill people.)

No charge for this "think tank" brilliance, folks.