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

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Yours Truly Fire Surfing and other things

Our Friend sent pictures via the Facebook that she took last weekend.
I got mugged by another friend's wife while fire surfing! I did not spill a drop of my Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, either!
There is one at the end of Sunday when the weather was much nicer. All I did was watch my grand daughter ride a small four wheeler most of the afternoon.
Suzann mugging me



Good Grief! I look almost intelligent!


Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Ex-USS Iowa arrives off San Pedro

She was towed from Richmond CA by a 7,000 hp tug boat named "Warrior"
Appropriate, I would say.
http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-uss-iowa-california,0,5890531.story
http://nextnavy.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/USS-IOWA.jpg
The above is of Iowa at Suisun Bay inactive ship facility. It is going to a better home, if ya ask me!

Monday, May 28, 2012

Neptunus Lex is back up!

Lex's youngest daughter, Kat has it going again.
Same address as always.
Bless that young lady.
http://www.neptunuslex.com/
I get to keep reading Rhythms!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Memorial Day

From Buck at Exile In Portales. Nuff said.

 http://exileinportales.blogspot.com/2012/05/memorial-day.html

This Memorial Day

America's Sergeant Major had this one up today. I really do not think that I could do any better.
I will add these names as they are the ones in the family who are gone now who served.
Dad, Grandpa Turner, Uncle George, Uncle Philip, Great Uncle Dan and Great Uncle Bud.
The rest I leave to the Sergeant Major.
http://castrapraetoria1.blogspot.com/2012/05/this-memorial-day.html

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Desert Weekend

We spent part of yesterday and today at The Dove Springs OHV Area about twenty five miles from the house, north.
The Grand Daughter is here for a fair chunk of the summer. She had a blast today. Yesterday degenerated due to the WIND and COLD! We were at about 3,100 feet elevation.

Bailee

Karl and Summer Morgan



Billy Beach.

Bailee sliding down the hill

Flying Ambulance orbiting due to an accident near where we were

Billy is Fire Surfing!

Suzanne Rainone mugged me while I was Fire Surfing!

Joshua Tree on a hill top

The sign says it all

Life in The High Desert

Bailee on a sand drift

Leaving foot prints

Bailee

Bailee and new friends

Christina Rainone in the middle

Bailee on a four wheeler





Karl working on a Coors Light.

Bailee riding like a pro!








Desert Moon, directly overhead

Desert Sunset

Saturday, May 26, 2012

TCOTS Six Days of Cheesecake-Wednesday

Bob Belvedere has done it again. This is a sample of what he has going. Go on over and check it out and the entire six days as well.
http://thecampofthesaints.org/2012/05/16/the-tcots-six-days-of-cheesecake-wednesday-2/


Rule Five for a Saturday

From Guns and Bikinis!!!!!!!
Malibu Babe!!!!!!!!!!!
http://gunsandbikinis.blogspot.com/2012/05/fridays-rule-5-offering-malibu-babe.html

Good one here from Kanani at Kitchen Dispatch

This is at the Kitchen Dispatch. The proprietor of this most excellent blog is Kanani Fong. I might add that she is a Lexican of the highest order.
So hit the link and have a read. The Old Retired Petty Officer would appreciate it and I am sure that Kanani would as well.
BTW, Kitchen Dispatch is on the blog roll here.
http://kitchendispatch.blogspot.com/2012/05/high-ground-help-on-rivers-journey.html


Friday, May 25, 2012

Nevada Ghosts: Rare Photos From an A-Bomb Test

I was at Yahoo to check my email and this was on the headline ticker thing they have.
It is interesting to say the least.

"........In the spring of 1955, as the Cold War intensified and the arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union escalated at a shocking pace, America — as it had many times before — detonated an atomic weapon in the Nevada desert. The test was not especially noteworthy. The weapon’s “yield” was not dramatically larger or smaller than that of previous A-bombs; the brighter-than-the-sun flash of light, the mushroom cloud and the staggering power unleashed by the weapon were all byproducts familiar to anyone who had either witnessed or paid attention to coverage of earlier tests......."
There are 21 photos at the link. 
They speak volumes and I cannot add any comment worth any salt at all.

Read more: http://life.time.com/history/atomic-testing-photos-life-magazine/#ixzz1vwtXQfhn

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Some Random Train Pr0n

I was going through the Railpictures.net site and found this beauty.
It is at Maryhill, Washington on the North side of the Columbia River.
The Scenery is Awesome in The Columbia Gorge. I did Maryhill to almost Roosevelt where the Garbage Trains go. The line is an old Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway line which was jointly owned by the Great Northern and Northern Pacific.
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=392851&nseq=25

 
Hit the link for a larger view.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

WTF Wednesday: Japanese mini trucks

This one was over at The Throttle. It is part of The Chive series of sites. This one is for those who like cars, trucks and motorcycles. There are a few shots of rather attractive and scantily clad young ladies as well.
Keep Calm and Chive On.
http://thethrottle.thechive.com/2012/05/22/wtf-wednesday-japanese-mini-trucks-51-photos/



WTF-mini-trucks-500-42

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Royal Canadian Navy


I found this site while looking about.
It is full of pictures of men who served in The Royal Canadian Navy.
Royal Canadian Navy : HMCS Qu'Appelle, HMCS Saskatchewan.
Above is HMCS Qu'Appelle and HMCS Saskatchewan at Sand Island in Midway April 1968.
It is interesting too say the least.
Full of photos of days gone by.
Traditions are there as in all Sea Services.
http://freepages.military.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cdobie/

HMCS Ste Therese
HMCS ST. Therese

So hit the link above and have a look see.
For my Canadian Brethren, Ready, Aye, Ready!



Saturday, May 19, 2012

Happy Birthday, Dad

He would have been 80 today.
Dad, Warrior, Cowboy, Teacher, Mentor.
Did things and saw things still not available to the family.............
http://prairiecat55kc.wordpress.com/2012/05/19/happy-birthday-dad-2/

He passed on Armistice Day, Remembrance Day or Veteran's Day of 1991 depending on where you may live and what your sense of history is.
Korea, Quemoy and Vietnam before we were "in" Vietnam.

Friday, May 18, 2012

Can’t Let This Slip By

Courtesy of Blog Bud Extraordinaire, MSGT Buck Pennington at The Lexicans. You know, that place for us all.
The Centennial of Marine Aviation is this year.
Buck is giving the Gyrenes a Salute!
http://thelexicans.wordpress.com/2012/05/18/cant-let-this-slip-by-3/

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Communism vs. Capitalism : See The DifferenceYou can argue until you’re blue in the face but sometimes a picture is worth much more than a thousand words. These photos are a stunning punch-in-the-gut example to people on the left attacking consumerism and capitalism; THIS is the difference that economic systems make. The work is by photographer Stefan Koppelkamm and were featured in an article in Der Speigel called A Massive Facelift for Eastern Germany. The before pictures show the scenery from the communist days and were taken in the early 1990s. The after pictures are today after unification.You can argue until you’re blue in the face but sometimes a picture is worth much more than a thousand words. These photos are a stunning punch-in-the-gut example to people on the left attacking consumerism and capitalism; THIS is the difference that economic systems make. The work is by photographer Stefan Koppelkamm and were featured in an article in Der Speigel called A Massive Facelift for Eastern Germany. The before pictures show the scenery from the communist days and were taken in the early 1990s. The after pictures are today after unification.

I was on Facebook and came across this.
It is a comparison of things relative to the Communist Era in the former East Germany(DDR)
Some very stark contrasts in the essay.
I have never heard of Lee Stranahan before but I am going to put his link here based on this article alone.
http://leestranahan.com/communism-vs-capitalism-see-the-difference

Samples below of before and after. Interesting to say the least.







Sunday, May 13, 2012

My Uncle Denis, pilot of the plane time forgot: First pictures of the man who crash-landed his plane in the Sahara and then walked off across the sands to his death

This is a follow up to the post of the other day. There are pictures of Flight Sergeant Copping here. A face to the name.

  • The Mail On Sunday has found the nephew of Kittyhawk P-40 pilot who is thought to have survived crash but died trying to escape the desert on foot
  • Pictures from the family collection show a proud 24-year-old Flight Sergeant Denis Copping just days before crash
  • Aircraft was found almost perfectly preserved, unseen and untouched, after it came down in 1942
  • Historian describes find as 'an incredible time capsule' and 'the aviation equivalent of Tutankhamun's Tomb'
  •  Reading for combat: Flt Sgt Copping proudly looks down from the cockpit of his Kittyhawk P-40
     Flight Sergeant Copping in his P-40 Kittyhawk.
     

    Happy Mother's Day

    To all the Mothers who show up and check out this humble blog,
    I wish you a Splendid Mother's Day with your loved ones.

    Thursday, May 10, 2012

    Frozen in the sands of time: Eerie Second World War plane discovered in the Sahara desert... 70 years after it crashed

  • Pilot of the Kittyhawk P-40 was thought to have survived crash, but died trying to walk out of the desert
  • Aircraft was found almost perfectly preserved, unseen and untouched, after it came down in 1942
  • Historian describes find as 'an incredible time capsule' and 'the aviation equivalent of Tutankhamun's Tomb'

  •  This was at Barking Moonbat Early Warning System linked to the Daily Mail article. The Desert is conducive to preservation.
    I hope that the remains of Flight Sergeant Copping are found and returned to surviving family for internment with full Militay Honours.
    Heading home: The RAF Museum at Hendon, north London, has been made aware of the discovery and plans are underway to recover the aircraft for exhibition in the future
     
     The Kittyhawk factory stamp
    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)