Miscellanea

The 1099s are beginning to roll in; I've received two from My Favorite Uncle (the USAF one and the Social InSecurity one) already.  Private industry, which is supposed to be SO much more efficient and timely than the gub'mint, hasn't seen fit to send me their 1099s as yet... but they have until the end o' this month, right?  And I'm thinkin' they'll use every last day of the available time, too.

I'm also thinkin' I MIGHT do my taxes before the very last minute this year, on the off-chance I may get some money back.  That's because this is my year to take the one remaining child exemption I share with The Second Mrs. Pennington, which usually results in a modest refund rather than me writing a check to the Infernal Revenoo Service.  "Service?"  My ass...

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Did that sound bitchy?  I didn't mean to sound that way, if so.  Wait.  Mebbe I DID.  But, as long as we're bein' bitchy, there's this: I don't like Blogger's new default comment form, which takes ya to the bottom of the comments page.  Which means ya have to scroll back up to read previous comments (which I always do, so's I don't repeat what someone else said and look stoopid or redundant or both) and then scroll back DOWN to make your Astute Observation™.  Unless you're the first to comment, which is almost never the case for me, given that I lay around in bed until the crack o' noon.  Or thereabouts.  On most days, anyhoo.

WHY do coders feel compelled to fix shit that ain't broke?  That's one o' life's small yet enduring mysteries.

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This is interesting...

Air Force photo by A1C Ericka Engblom

F-15E Reaches 10,000 Flight Hours: An F-15E operating from Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, became the first Air Force F-15 of any type to reach 10,000 flying hours, according to airmen at Bagram. The Strike Eagle, No. 89-0487, achieved the milestone on Jan. 13. A crew from Seymour Johnson AFB, N.C., flew the aircraft on the historic mission. The F-15E, assigned to Seymour Johnson's 335th Fighter Squadron, has been flying for more than 21 years and is a veteran of combat going back to Operation Desert Storm. "It has taken more than 21 years of qualified maintenance technicians performing more than one million hours of inspections and repairs in all types of environments . . . to ensure aircraft #89-0487 was available," said CMSgt. John Parrott, superintendent of Bagram's 335th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Unit. He also credited all the other airmen, like weapons loaders, involved in keeping the aircraft operating. (Bagram report by TSgt. Vernon Cunningham)

That's from the Usual USAF Source, of course.  I wonder about the veracity of that claim, though.  I suppose it's true when one only considers the F-15, but I'm pretty damned sure each and every B-52 has at least 10,000 flight hours on the airframe, given the fact the BUFF has been in service for-frickin'-evah (read as: since 1954, the newest BUFF bein' procured in FY62).  The same could be said for the KC-135, the C-130, and god-only-knows how many other front-line airframes.  They're gonna be around a LOT longer, too, from the looks o' the budget situation.