Happy Hour

"IF A LIFETIME CAN BE LIKENED TO A DAY, THEN THIS IS HAPPY HOUR!"
BUCK PENNINGTON

Mother, Mother Ocean

Mother, Mother Ocean, I've heard you call
Wanted to sail upon your waters since I was three feet tall
You've seen it all, you've seen it all
Watched the men who rode you, switch from sails to steam
In your belly you hold the treasures, few have ever seen
Most of 'em dream, most of 'em dream
Yes, I am a pirate, two hundred year's too late
The cannons don't thunder, there's nothin' to plunder
I'm an over-forty victim of fate
Arriving too late, arriving too late

Yoda

"Size matters not. Look at me. Judge me by my size, do you? Hmm? Hmm. And well you should not. For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is."
―Yoda, to Luke Skywalker

Counted the Stars

Counted the stars on the 4th of July
Wishing we were rockets bursting in the sky
Talking about redemption and leaving things behind
I have these pictures and I keep these photographs
To remind me of a time
These pictures and these photographs
Let me know I'm doin' fine
We used to be so happy once upon a time
Once upon a time
But the sun sank west of the Mendocino County Line
And the sun sank west of the Mendocino County Line


""SOME SEE A GLASS AS HALF FULL, SOME SEE IT AS HALF EMPTY, I JUST WANT TO KNOW WHO’S DRINKING MY RUM."
Rumbear

Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Happy New Year......................Tempered

Nutshell
Good year it was.
My niece married the man of her dreams.
I got to spend a day aboard USS Ronald Reagan CVN-76 with OldAFSarge and The WSO on Mother Ocean.
I managed to roll 60 without any major complications.
There was the loss, however of a couple of dear friends.........................................
Buck Pennington aka The Exile In Portales...............One of the first bloggers I connected with on a more personal level.........................
Lionel Gendron, LTC, Armee' d'le Air, Retired
Member of a Facebook Group all about Flying Machines and Bikinis.........................
He was also a bit of an authority on the war in French Indochina..............................I learned a lot from him about that..................

Monday, December 29, 2014

Sigh......................Another Old Friend.........................

Ranger...........the second ship I served aboard...................
She is going away.
The Good Ship Ranger on 5 May 1981 returning to NAS North Island CA completing a deployment to the Western Pacific and Indian Ocean that began on 10 September 1980. I was in Attack Squadron 145 in Carrier Air Wing 2.

A port quarter view of the aircraft carrier USS RANGER (CV-61) approaching port at Yokosuka on its last visit to Japan. The RANGER is on its final deployment prior to decommissioning.
A port quarter view of the aircraft carrier USS RANGER (CV-61) approaching port at Yokosuka on its last visit to Japan in 1992. The RANGER was on its final deployment prior to decommissioning. (PH2 STEVEN COOKE – ID:DN-ST-93-05530 / Service Depicted: Navy – via Wikipedia)


Sunday, December 28, 2014

San Luis Harbor, Firestone Walkerin Paso Robles and James Dean

We came home today from the Central Coast. We did however make a few short stops on the way...........................
First Up was Avila Beach and San Luis Harbor.
This fish has blue meat!






We are going to take one of these next summer.

Seals Chillin






















Some of these guys are HUGE!







The nice lady we asked to take this actually made us set up for this shot!






Firestone Walker................A New Flavor was procured!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It is so very, very yummy. I am saddened that I never got to share something like this with Buck.


James Dean
Little James Dean, up on the screen 
Wond'rin' who he might be 
Along came a Spyder and picked up a rider 
And took him down the road to eternity 

James Dean, James Dean, you bought it sight unseen 

You were too fast to live, too young to die, bye-bye 
You were to fast to live, too young to die, bye-bye 
Bye-bye, Bye-bye, Bye-bye, Bye, bye






I will not go down and tell my children I didn't have the courage, the conviction, the commitment or the character to fight for this country...Don't go home and let your children down~~ LTC Allen West

Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus

‎"Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum.("Therefore, he who desires peace, let him prepare for war")" from "Epitoma Rei Militaris," by Vegetius (Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus)