I missed the crack o' dawn this morning by 14 minutes. The sun rose at 0546 hrs this morning according to WeatherUnderground; I arose at precisely 0600 hrs. I know this because the very first thing I do when my eyes open is check my phone to see what time it is... it's a game I play with myself. My sense o' time is... or was... extraordinarily accurate; I estimate the time when I awake and check my phone to see how close I am. I'm usually within ten or 15 minutes of the actual time; this morning's estimate: 0615.
It was another night on the couch. I fell asleep watching the teevee... a documentary about building the world's largest cruise ship (at the time), the Freedom of the Seas. It WAS interesting, don't get me wrong, but it also put me to sleep within a half hour. I awoke sometime after midnight but said "Screw it" (a more common variation of that phrase, actually), turned off the teevee, rolled over, and went back to sleep. So... we woke up at 0600 hrs, fully rested and ready to begin our day.
This sorta thing happens whenever I forgo my afternoon nap, which we did yesterday. I think I see a nap in my future today, though.
So, with the demise o' Google Reader I picked up Feedly on Loosy-Anna Andy's recommendation. I don't like it. It's OK, it works as designed, and it imported all my Google Reader feeds seamlessly. So why don't I like it? Just this: Feedly's not nearly as handy or as user-friendly as the Google Reader widget I had integrated into my iGoogle page. Which only reenforces just HOW much I'm gonna miss iGoogle when it goes away. "Don't be evil," HA!
I was out to Cannon Airplane Patch yesterday doin' the usual first o' the month errands, i.e., pick up meds from the pharmacy and do a lil light shopping at the Class VI store. I was kinda disappointed in the beer selection at the Class VI in that I didn't see anything new or noteworthy, read as "something I'd like to try." Oh, well. The Usual Suspects... in this case a sixer o' Shiner Ruby Red and a sixer o' Franizkaner... serve me well.
On another note... concerning Cannon's gate guards. Lately the gate has been manned with active duty Security Police, before that the gates were manned with rent-a-cops, i.e., civilian security officers. Sometimes we get Army MPs... reservists... manning the gates, but only rarely. I'm wonderin' if the current budget woes have anything to do with this.
The USAF SPs and the rent-a-cops always address me as "Mr. Pennington" when they hand my ID card back to me, as in "Have a nice day, Mr. Pennington." The Army guys, on the other hand would always, without fail, hand me my ID card back and say "Thank you, Master Sergeant. Have a nice day." I prefer the latter of the two forms of address. Don't ask me why, I just do.
Back to yesterday. So I pull up to the gate, hand my ID card to the young two-striper standing guard, who scans it, hands it back to me and sez "Just out of curiosity, sir, what kind o' car is this?" I tell him and he replies "This is a BEAUTIFUL car, Mr. Pennington. Have a nice day." "Why, thank you," sez I, "and you have a nice day, too, Airman."
That made me feel pretty good.
This sorta thing happens whenever I forgo my afternoon nap, which we did yesterday. I think I see a nap in my future today, though.
―:☺:―
So, with the demise o' Google Reader I picked up Feedly on Loosy-Anna Andy's recommendation. I don't like it. It's OK, it works as designed, and it imported all my Google Reader feeds seamlessly. So why don't I like it? Just this: Feedly's not nearly as handy or as user-friendly as the Google Reader widget I had integrated into my iGoogle page. Which only reenforces just HOW much I'm gonna miss iGoogle when it goes away. "Don't be evil," HA!
―:☺:―
I was out to Cannon Airplane Patch yesterday doin' the usual first o' the month errands, i.e., pick up meds from the pharmacy and do a lil light shopping at the Class VI store. I was kinda disappointed in the beer selection at the Class VI in that I didn't see anything new or noteworthy, read as "something I'd like to try." Oh, well. The Usual Suspects... in this case a sixer o' Shiner Ruby Red and a sixer o' Franizkaner... serve me well.
On another note... concerning Cannon's gate guards. Lately the gate has been manned with active duty Security Police, before that the gates were manned with rent-a-cops, i.e., civilian security officers. Sometimes we get Army MPs... reservists... manning the gates, but only rarely. I'm wonderin' if the current budget woes have anything to do with this.
The USAF SPs and the rent-a-cops always address me as "Mr. Pennington" when they hand my ID card back to me, as in "Have a nice day, Mr. Pennington." The Army guys, on the other hand would always, without fail, hand me my ID card back and say "Thank you, Master Sergeant. Have a nice day." I prefer the latter of the two forms of address. Don't ask me why, I just do.
Back to yesterday. So I pull up to the gate, hand my ID card to the young two-striper standing guard, who scans it, hands it back to me and sez "Just out of curiosity, sir, what kind o' car is this?" I tell him and he replies "This is a BEAUTIFUL car, Mr. Pennington. Have a nice day." "Why, thank you," sez I, "and you have a nice day, too, Airman."
That made me feel pretty good.
I will nearly always correct people who call me "Mister". Buck, we earned that title of "Master Sergeant" and we should hear it more often. FWIW, when we have actual sailors at the gates here, they usually call me "Master Sergeant" or "Sir" (grumble, but it's better than "Mister"!) Actually had a Rent-A-Cop on the gate last week who must have been retired military, he said "Have a great day Master Sergeant!" I really liked that.
ReplyDelete...they usually call me "Master Sergeant" or "Sir" (grumble, but it's better than "Mister"!)
DeleteI've gotten used to the "Sir" honorific over the past ten years or so. It used to grate on me, especially when used by Sweet Young Thangs about which I MIGHT could entertaining thoughts that could be described as "less than pure." But, Hell... it is what it is. We're old and we've come to accept that, albeit grudgingly.
But... you're right. The military guys should most definitely use your rank when addressing you. That's only right.
Not to go all VX with multiple separate line comments, but...
ReplyDeleteWhen I first saw that photo I thought it was your breakfast, then I did a quick WTF. Then I read the title of the post.
No one ever said I was mentally quick...
So I have a general question about the "sir" thing as it relates to the military.
ReplyDeleteI'm non-military and unless you told me you were a Master Sergeant I'd never know; can't read insignias and unless it's printed out for me I'm clueless. So why the offense? As a civilian I use it as a sign of respect - I know you are military but I don't know your rank; I'd rather err on the side of "sir" than flub something spectacularly.
Good question, Kris, and there are several possible answers. First of all, those gate guards know Chris's and my rank: they just looked at our ID cards. So when they use a generic "sir" rather than our rank, it irritates. Second, Chris might feel the same way about "sir" as I do, i.e., I'm not that gotdamned old, OK?" But the fact is I AM that old, ergo my statement about having gotten used to that. You're correct that it's never improper to use that particular honorific... I call everyone "sir" or "ma'am." I was just raised that way.
Delete