Happy New Year - 2017

Well!

It's 2017.  A lot has transpired between now and my last post.  So much so that I don't believe I could even try to catch up.  Suffice it so say that I'm a hell of a lot older but not any wiser.  I think once you get into your sixties, you don't acquire any more wisdom.

It's snowing outside and even with  different feeders, the cardinals are all bickering for seed while the other birds seem do just fine.  Even the woodpeckers (3 different types) don't bother each other.  They just settle in next to each other and feast on their suet.  Watching them reminds me of people.  Some folks just can't get along, they're greedy, they want it all for themselves.  Others are quite agreeable and know how to share or at least take turns.

Last year we went to Costa Rica.  First time I've ever been out of the US that wasn't affiliated with work.  We had a blast.  Manuel Antonio is a great spot on the Pacific; I highly recommend it.  I guess in 2018, we're going to Cancun with my nephews - it should be fantastic because they've been there several times and know all the ins and outs.

My little sister is dying of Frontal Temporal Dementia (FTD).  Your frontal temporal lobes of your brain just atrophy until they are gone.  There's nothing that can be done.  She's only 59.

Guess I'm done for today.

I'm Back....(I think)

It's been a long time since I posted to this blog.  When Google bought up Blogger, it seemed to break my blog. I think I have things right again, so I will start posting to my blog again.

What's new? What's not! My daughter is married to an Airman and they live in Texas; I have three wonderful grandchildren in my life who I never see enough of who live with their Dad in Nebraska (he's an Air Force NCO now).

The world keeps spinning and my spouse, my family, and my friends just keep getting older and hopefully wiser; but our culture seems bizarre now when compared to just 20 years ago. Upon reflection, I would bet that every generation probably believes that but morals have changed now and not for the better.  I think we are heading down a dark tunnel of moral and spiritual decay which is going to result in some rough times for future generations.  It's happened in the past; humanity never learns from past mistakes.

Well, That Was Interesting

I was sitting in the airport in Gulf Port, Mississippi (they just announced that my flight is overbooked - imagine that!) having just completed mandatory certification training called CompTIA Security +.  It's for IT professionals who either manage computer networks or manage the people who manage the networks.  I'm in the latter category.  This was one of the most intense crash course I have ever attended.  They crammed a three week course into 56.5 classroom hours and then topped it off with an insane test which had a possible score of 900 points with 750 being the minimum.  Now I didn't know diddly about this subject going in, so you can imagine that I burned a multitude of aging brain cells that I would have preferred to have retained.  I could have killed them off with alcohol and had a hoop of fun doing it rather than torturing them to death trying to make them learn and retain concepts and facts regarding data encryption and security policies. I learned about penetration testing (sounds kind of dirty doesn't it?) and  protocol scanning and hashing and all kinds of stuff that will probably vacate my mind within six months; hey - I've got my certificate - it doesn't matter.



A cool thing was this training was held at Keesler Air Force Base, MS which is part and parcel to Biloxi, MS (remember Matthew Broderick in Biloxi Blues?).  Mississippi in early May is quite nice although I think this is the only part of the state that is not flooding right now (the weather really bites this year doesn't it?).  You can tell where Hurricane Katrina hit along the coast, the buildings are all gone!  How long ago was that?  They are still rebuilding and many folks have chosen not to; you just see foundations and really nice wrought iron fences on great lots overlooking the Gulf of Mexico.  Kind of sad but what would you expect when you are two hundred yards from the water (if that).



The folks down here are quite pleasant, at first I thought they must all be transplants because I didn't hear one Deep South accent - not one.  Then one day I was in a restaurant and I thought maybe I was listening to "O Brother Where Art Thou?" or "Smokey And The Bandit."  Damn I had a hard time understanding them.  I tried to get a mint julep but was told I needed to go to Kentucky for that - I was in the wrong state.

Anticipation

Today is another run-of-the-mill day but this weekend........that's a different story. By 0900, Saturday, I will be at the Celtic Festival of Southern Maryland which is held on the last Saturday of April, rain or shine. Once there I will set up camp in such a fashion as to be situated so that we are near the open field where the behemoths engage in the Highland Games, a purveyor of imported Scottish Ales has ice cold bottles of goodness waiting for my thirsty palate, and the Pub Stage is resonating with Celtic music of all types played on different instruments by various local and far-flung musicians and singers. The skirl of the bagpipes accompanied by the staccato of the snares is a constant the entire day as the various pipe bands compete.

Occasionally I will get up from my comfortable temporary dwelling to trundle my overweight carcass to the different food booths for the Scotch Eggs; Haggis; Shepherd's Pie; Steak, Ale and Kidney Pie; etc, etc, etc, and to attend the Sessions where various musicians gather to play all the familiar and unfamiliar Scottish, Irish, and English tunes. There will be fiddlers, guitarists, tin whistles, penny whistles, Irish Harps, button accordions tuned dry and concertinas tuned the same. The music will be phenomenal and I will sit there and soak it all in.

Tomorrow, Sunday, at 1030, I and my spouse of 10 years will go to church. At 1400 in the afternoon we will be attending the opening game of the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs at the Regency Furniture Stadium.  Lame you say - I think not!  These games are much more fun than attending the Major League games at a fraction of the cost.  The food is excellent, the beer is even better and we have Pinch, our fat Blue Crab mascot  who can do the worm better than any living creature - human or not.  It doesn't get any better than this! After the game (which is always entertaining) there will be fireworks as good as seen at any Fourth of July celebration complements of our host Brooks Robinson, team owner.  If you want some good family fun, at a great price, attend AAA ball at your local ball park.

The Ninth Anniversary of the La Plata Tornado (April 28, 2002)

Nine years ago today, my son Ian and I were fishing at Myrtle Grove Wildlife Management Area (WMA) having a great  time.  We weren't catching diddly (maybe small Bluegill or Sun Perch).  My ex-wife drove up just to hang out with us. I walked over to where she was smoking a cigarette and we were watching our son who was fishing away in bliss.

The sky started to darken and clouds came rolling in - it looked like one heck of a thunderstorm brewing up.  My ex exclaimed, "look at all the fish jumping out in the lake!" I looked and saw that those weren't fish, those were lemon-sized hailstones

hitting the water. I yelled to my ex to move her car under the trees and yelled for Ian who chucked his pole and dove into the car hiding under the dash (I didn't know you could scrunch up that small).  We drove into the bushes under big oaks and poplars to try to avoid the hail.  The storm blew by in less than 90 seconds.

Afterwards we backed our cars out into the parking lot and played with hailstones, having a great time.  My ex decided she needed to go so she left.  About two minutes later she called on her cell phone and told me that La Plata was pretty much gone - a tornado had taken out the town and the streets were covered with debris - she was going to have to go around the town.  Turns out the tornado had missed us by about a quarter of a mile, we never even knew it was there.

God is good all the time!

I am putting a couple of links in, if you are interested.  The La Plata Tornado Link 1  The La Plata Tornado Link 2

Life is Strange

Yesterday, 27 Apr 11, a very sweet woman who chose  to serve her country and worked just down the hall from me was gunned down in Kabul, Afghanistan by a despondent former pilot of the Afghan Air Force.  He was allegedly distressed because he was bankrupt.  She was in his country to help train the faltering Afghan military. She happened to be in the same area as he when he got into an argument with someone and blew a fuse.  His fuse blew so completely, that he just opened up with a weapon and killed the very people trying to bring his backwards military into the 21st century.

At the same time this is happening, another comrade in arms, a man I have known for more than twenty years is dying of cancer and there is no chance of even staving off that death even if he wanted to. He is "a man of infinite jest" and beloved by all that know him. The thought of this wonderful man wasting away in his bed is gut-wrenching to me.

When we were told to stand by for an announcement after the normal work day was to be done, I knew that we had a KIA or possibly Mr. A had passed away.  I was hoping it was the latter, not the former but that was not to be.

If We Would Just Follow This Advice - We'd Probably Be In Good Shape As A Nation