I'll Never Be THIS Technical Nerdy

Coz I don't wanna.  OK, I'll admit some of these capabilities are cool, like the voice-to-text function.  Sayin' that took a lot.

He Did the Right Thing

The knee-jerk right-wing blogs don't think so, though.  I read a few of the Usual Suspects in that space yesterday and there's much wailing and rending of garments in those places, along with not a little bit of defeatism... and by that I mean they're sayin' "It'll be 2008 all over again."  Me?  Santorum's exit was the best thang I've heard, read, or seen lately.

Interesting

From the Usual USAF Source:

Order of the Sword for Flowers: Air Education and Training Command's enlisted corps inducted retired Maj. Gen. Alfred Flowers into the Order of the Sword—the highest honor the enlisted force can bestow on an officer—during a ceremony at JBSA-Randolph, Tex. "Without question, what General Flowers has contributed to the enlisted force throughout his career, specifically for us in AETC, as the 2nd Air Force commander, and then as he moved on to be the Air Force [financial manager], has certainly furthered [airmen's] development, furthered their ability to meet the demands and needs of our nation," said CMSgt. James Cody, AETC command chief. Flowers, inducted on April 6, last served as the Air Force's deputy assistant secretary for budget. Before his retirement on Jan. 1, he was the longest serving airman in the Air Force's history, with 46 years on active duty, including 13 years as an enlisted airman. "I'm humbled by the experience. This is as good as it gets," said Flowers at the ceremony. He added, "It's the men and women that surrounded me that made me as successful as I became." (San Antonio report by SSgt. Clinton Atkins)

Forty-six years is a long time to serve!  I'm very impressed with General Flowers service and can't imagine me being in the Air Force for that length of time.  OTOH, mebbe I could... because of this:

Anyone retiring after January 1, 2007 with more than 30 years of total active service will receive credit for service over 30 years. For example, a member who served 32 years will receive 80 percent of their retired pay base and a member who has served 42 years will receive 105 percent of their retired pay base. In most cases, there is no longer a cap on the percentage multiplier to be utilized in the computation of retired pay.  (Excerpted from a Military.com article on retired pay)

That means Gen. Flowers draws over $14,000.00 a month in retirement pay.  I don't have any issues with that at all... he earned it.  But I will admit to bein' just a tad envious.

(Current and past military pay scales here)

Making the Rounds With Wings Fans

Yup... 20 straight seasons, as long as he's been in the NHL (we don't count the lockout year).

Hate Texting on Tiny Lil Keyboards?

There's an app for that...

Morse code ain't dead, eh?

―:☺:―

So.  We're home, arriving back in P-Ville around 1300 hrs yesterday.  We unpacked, took a shower (coz you know how dirty ya get after a day on the dusty trail), took a nap, took two beers on the verandah, took a trip to Mickey Dee's, and then called it a day.  We did read all y'all's comments but weren't feelin' chipper enough to answer them yesterday.  We shall correct that shortly.

It was a good trip.  I broke the return leg into two segments, spending Saturday night with friends in Oklahoma and returning yesterday.  That made things more reasonable... one seven hour leg, one five hour leg.  I found out last week the fact I CAN do an 11 hour stretch in the car doesn't mean I SHOULD do 11 hours straight.  I was one whipped puppy old dog when I pulled into Leavenworth last Saturday.  I was one whipped old dog when I pulled into P-Ville yesterday, too... but not nearly as much.  Does that make sense?  Trust me... it does.

In other travel news... my noise abatement plan (driving with my top down) didn't work out on the return trip.  That was because of the WX, which was frickin' miserable, as in rain, rain, and more rain.  "Cow pissing on a flat rock" rain.  Monsoon rain.  Torrential rain.  I did about 430 miles Saturday and at least 375 of those miles were done in the rain.  So we were loud AND wet, given our top isn't exactly water-tight.  "Wet" is relative, of course, given that only about a half pint of water got into the cabin in seven hours.  That's enough to piss ya off, though.

All that said: it's GOOD to be home. 

Off the Grid

Today's a travel day.  Tomorrow will be, too... and we'll be viewing life on or through a different sorta screen for the next couple o' few as a result.  Y'all be good and don't break anythang while I'm gone.

Heh. And Another Thang.

From the Usual Source of such thangs...

I'm sure Ms. Benson drew her inspiration from this Ol' Thang that made the rounds long ago:

It's the bird concept we're on about and that's pretty true in the most recent Obama silliness.  The above is always true in  hierarchies, but the three branches of Federal gub'mint are co-equal, right?  Don't most... ahem... "law professors" know this?

―:☺:―

Old Post Chapel.

Detail of the outdoor display.

I forgot to post these two pictures as part of my "Leavenworth" pictorial.  I think my oversight was fortuitous, seein' as how today is Good Friday.   SN1 has been inside the chapel and he says it reminds him of some of the old churches we both visited in England.  That's a high compliment.

At the Game

Blog-Bud Darryl e-mailed me this pic today...

Darryl found the photo on Yahoo!'s NHL page.

A Brief AAR

It was the best of all possible worlds... seats on the glass (just slightly in front of the St. Louis net for periods one and three), a 0-0 game for two periods, a 2-0 St. Louis lead in the third, a Wings comeback to tie late in the third, overtime that didn't resolve the issue, and the Wings win in a shoot-out.  YES!

So.  I have a slight hangover this morning, mainly because I drank crappy beer... Bud Select... nearly all night.  But yanno whut?  When you put the word "free" in front of Bud Select the beer suddenly becomes acceptable.  Good, even.  So good you drink one whole helluva lot more of that swill than you normally would.  "Free" changes everything.

I should explain.

Apparently our tickets also included access to The Blue Note Lounge, which is a club/bar on the mezzanine level of the Scottrade Center.  We kinda-sorta stumbled in to The Blue Note by accident, Buck and I, and we had to have the drill explained to us by the guy who checked us in: free buffet (a great layout of food) for an hour before the game, free drinks for an hour before the game, during the game, an hour after the game, AND you could could carry TWO drinks out of the bar to your seat.

Well.  Bud Select?  OK.  Beer Me!

The kicker: our hotel... the Sheraton City Center... was 500 feet from the Scottrade Center so there were no worries about drinking and driving.  The only worry we had was remaining upright, and even that wasn't a big concern, mainly coz we could have crawled home if pressed.

So... it was a great night.  We hooked up with some other Wings fans who were also staying at the Sheraton and continued the party in the hotel bar after the game.  We Wings fans have this saying: "EVERY game's a home game."  That's because you'll see a huge number of Red Wings jerseys in the crowd at every hockey game, everywhere.  It doesn't matter where the game is... Dallas, El-Eh, Chicago, NooYawk, St. Louis, or on the freakin' moon (Denver)... there will be a large contingent of Wings fans at the game when the Wings are in town.  And so it was last night.  But you know what the best part was?  Drinkin' the enemy's FREE beer in THEIR club after the Wings won.

Sweet.

And now I have to go find coffee, as the Sheraton staff took the coffee out of the Club Lounge a half-hour ago.  The inconsiderate bastards!

On Fort Leavenworth

SN1 gave me the nickel tour of Fort Leavenworth on Tuesday and I was impressed.  The post is large, well maintained, and is about as beautiful as a military base gets.  One shouldn't skip over that "well maintained" bit, mainly because a lot of the buildings date back to the mid- and late 19th century.  There are also some very impressive new facilities, some of which house the Army's Command and General Staff College (CGSC)... where SN1 has been studying for most of the past year.  The Lewis and Clark Center is the main building on the CGSC campus and that's where SN1 began our tour.  A few photos... as always, click for bigger:

The CGSC foyer and reception area, which features dramatic lighting, both natural and artificial.

A view of the Army's Divisional Flags that overhang the reception area.

One of two stained glass windows in the HUGE foyer.

The second of two stained glass windows, both of which were gifts from the CGSC classes of 1976.

And then there's this...

That's looking into the rather small MacArthur Room... which has one of General MacArthur's original desks and chair, along with a five-star flag and a very impressive portrait.  And who knew the general used a PC?  Not me...

SN1 also took me into one of the CGSC classrooms and I was duly impressed with the amount of technology being used... from humongous flat-screen monitors that are multi-purposed, capable of showing briefings, cable teevee, and  video conferencing... to individual desks that feature dual flat-screen monitors with access to both classified and unclassified networks as well as various and sundry applications.  There's also extensive use of closed-circuit, two-way video that allows multiple classrooms to conference with each other.  VERY impressive, state-of-the-art stuff.  I drooled a lot, but I didn't take pictures there.

We walked around a bit and I was most impressed with the military history on display.  I could have spent hours and hours in there but SN1 had an appointment elsewhere on the post so we only had about an hour before we had to leave.  I might wrangle an invitation to go back.

So... SN1 went to his appointment and then we drove around the base for a bit.  Spring might be the best time to visit Fort Leavenworth, mainly because the post is a very leafy place.  Some evidence of that:

That's a view of some of the field grade officer housing... mostly colonels.  The housing looks pretty old, doesn't it?  And that's only because it IS.  Two examples:

I strongly suspect this is a general officer's house.

The Waddington family's quarters.  Note the Union Jack... CGSC hosts a lot of foreign students.  AND foreign faculty.

Detail from the photo of the Waddington family's quarters.

The architecture is just way, way cool.  And recall what I said above about "well-maintained;" I think it's remarkable that the Waddington family lives in such an old and historic house.  The photos above are just a very small sample of the beautiful old buildings that abound on Ft. Leavenworth.  I have to hand it to the Army: they know how to preserve their heritage.  Ft. Leavenworth just reeks of history.

And then you have the post below, wherein SN1 and I went to the old Disciplinary Barracks and had a beer.  All in all... a great day out.

And tonight it's HOCKEY... Red Wings hockey!!

I Was Briefly Incarcerated...

... at the (old) US Disciplinary Barracks today.  But it was a voluntary sort of incarceration.  Note:

The 12th Brick Grille is a bar/sandwich shop which is literally within the walls of the military prison.  The 12th Brick gets its name from the fact the US Military Prison used to have a brick factory on the premises, with military convicts providing the labor.  Every 12th brick was stamped "USMP"... thus the name.  They serve great beer there, too.  I had a Boulevard Pale Ale and SN1 had a Boulevard Wheat.

Good stuff, Maynard.

What? Politics? Again?

Yeah, again.  But we'll keep it down to the bare minimum amount o' commentary, associated boosterism and/or campaigning for one certain former gub'nor, as well as casting aspersions on the remaining GOP candidates who have the proverbial snowball's chance in Hell of winning either the GOP nomination OR the general election.  Speakin' o' the general...

Heh.  I think 50:1 is about right.

Heh

I like the flavor of this one...

Mainly coz it's where I happen to be at the moment.

―:☺:―

Structure... it's what's for breakfast.  And dinner.   Putting myself down in the middle of a functioning nuclear family has been good for me.  I've gone to bed at a decent hour (for me) for the last two nights and have arisen at the same sort of "decent," aka "normal" hour for two days straight now.  This feels pretty good.

Leavenworth is a pretty nice place from what little I've seen so far.  SN1's house sits at the top of a hill in a nice lil subdivision... and the view from the back deck is great.  I'm sitting on the deck composing this post as we speak and I'm still amazed at all the greenery and rolling hills within my view every time I look up from my screen.  This is quite the change after after the flat, dry, arid, and semi-desolate environment that is Portales.  Change is good.  Well, except for humidity.  But we won't go there at the moment coz the WX has been mild... so far.

Time for a re-fill.

Wrong, Dorothy. We ARE in Kansas. And Don't Call Me Toto.

We'll open with a minor bitch, for starters.  Loosy-Anna Andy said this in comments to my Car Pr0n post:

"Why would ANYBODY have wet dreams about a Gubmit Motors Caddy when they have a sweet little thing like that?"  

The answer is... comfort.  Of the Quiet Kind.  I love The Green Hornet to death, don't get me wrong, but I'm lucky to have anythang resembling normal hearing after spending 11 hours and 21 minutes in her cockpit yesterday.  The main issue is wind noise at higher speeds (anythang over 60 mph is loud, and it gets REALLY loud when you're over 75); the replacement top doesn't fit as well as the original manufacturer's and the resulting small gaps around the windows make for significant noise.  Those gaps also make for a rather moist experience INSIDE the car when doing thangs like... oh... goin' thru the car wash or driving in the rain.  THAT'S why we have wet dreams about Cadillacs.  TGH is very, very good at what she does best... like tearing up a twisty-turny back road or stylin' and profilin' on Main with her top down... but she ain't as good as she once was for those long-hauls on the super-slab.

So.  We ARE in Kansas.  I left P-Ville at 0700 hrs (MDT) yesterday morning and got into Leavenworth just after 1900 hrs (CDT).  DIL Erma had dinner ready (yum!), the beer was cold, and the back deck was a great place to smoke cigars and catch up on stuff... coz it has been about two weeks since we've seen each other, no?   

We then took a short walk to the house of one of SN1's classmates where we continued to drink beer... GREAT beer... and ended up the night with a couple o' Moscow Mules.  There's a significant deviation between Buck's friend Buck's recipe and the one I linked... which is the addition of fresh mint.  MUCH better, that.  Didja notice... "Buck's friend Buck?"  Yes: Buck.  There were three Bucks in the same place at the same time last evening, all drinking, all tellin' war stories, and the planet didn't even wobble on its axis, much less explode.  We... humanity... all survived, somehow.  We... the four of us gathered together last night... were also pretty damned ecumenical, too.  Buck and his housemate are both Army helicopter pilots, and you know SN1 and his father are both Zoomies of the non-flyin' type.  And then there was this:

That's Bob, Buck's housemate, and YrHmblScrb in a very dark cellphone pic.  The VERY first words out of Bob's mouth when greeting me last evening were "Oh, NO!" while pointing at the Wings logo on my sweater.  So, see?  Ecumenical.   Army and Air Force.  Rated and non-rated.  O's and E's.  And a Sabres fan!

I'm No Longer On the Fence

Look at my sidebar.  The thing that turned me?  This:

And there's this from Fox News:

Rep. Paul Ryan threw his support behind Mitt Romney on Friday, hailing him as the “best person to beat the president” and warning that the Republican primary needs to come to an end soon.

“Who will make the best president? And who has the best chance of defeating Barack Obama? … In my opinion, Mitt Romney is clearly that person,” Ryan said on “Fox & Friends.” “I am convinced that Mitt Romney has the skills, the tenacity, the principles, the courage and the integrity to do what it takes to get America back on track.”

The chairman of the House Budget Committee continued, “I think this primary has been productive — I think it’s been constructive up ‘til now — I think it’s made the candidates better, but I think we’re entering a phase where it could become counterproductive if this drags on much longer and so that’s why I think we need to coalesce as conservatives around Mitt Romney and focus on the big task at hand, which is defeating Barack Obama in the fall.”

Yup.  We've seen and heard enough.  It's time to get behind our nominee, and that nominee will be Governor Romney... for better or worse.

Today's Happy Hour Soundtrack...

... is VERY retro, in that we're doin' an all-Beatles Friday... listening to Abbey Road, the White Album, and Revolver.  The thang that amazes me is the fact I remember ALL the lyrics to the songs on these albums, even though the music is more than 40 years old.  Which just might could explain why I can't remember what I had for dinner last night (among other thangs), seein' as how my brain is all clogged up with lyrics from songs that are older than my kids and a lot o' my friends.

So.  What to choose from all this?  Wait no more.  From Abbey Road:

One sweet dream
Pick up the bags and get in the limousine
Soon we'll be away from here
Step on the gas and wipe that tear away
One sweet dream came true today

Yeah... soon we'll be away from here, stepping on the gas and all that. 

From the White Album:

You know I'd give you everything I've got
for a little peace of mind
I'd give you everything I've got for a little peace of mind
I'd give you everything I've got for a little peace of mind

Heh.  Well, there IS that...

And from Revolver:

But if I seem to act unkind
It's only me, it's not my mind
That is confusing things.

I want to tell you
I feel hung up but I don't know why,
I don't mind
I could wait forever, I've got time

Yeah, well... right.  I think the interesting thang about the Beatles' music is how timeless they really are.  Thangs that were relevant all these years ago are still relevant today, albeit for entirely different reasons.

Plane Pr0n

First, from the Usual USAF Source...

Air Frame: A B-1B Lancer from the 337th Test and Evaluation Squadron at Dyess AFB, Tex., stands by as another Lancer from the unit connects with a KC-135 Stratotanker to refuel during a mission over the Gulf of Mexico near Eglin AFB, Fla., March 26, 2012. (Courtesy photo by Jake Melampy) (Click on image above to reach wallpaper version.)

And then there's this...

Heh.  I think 12 Yankee Dollars is under-priced, meself.

I Hope This Ain't ME Later On Next Month

This must be an old ad... I don't know why there would be a guy wearing a Flyers sweater in this.  Jets, Leafs, Habs... no doubt.  But the Flyers?  Oh, Snap!  The 2010 SCF Final...

h/t: The Usual Hockey Source.

Car Pr0n

We're just back from The Big(ger) City™ where we spent the morning sitting in a waiting room at the Automotive Spa... specifically: Ironhorse Detail Shop... waiting for The Green Hornet to get all cleaned up, tarted up, and made beautiful.  This, of course, is in preparation for our impending road-trip up to Leavenworth and points east.  Coz we ALL know a clean pristine car rides better than a dirty one.  And she most certainly is pristine.  Witness:

She smells real nice, too, what with having her interior rubbed down with fragrant mink oil (the leather bits), her carpets freshly shampooed, and her glass all washed down.  I think the Ol' Girl cleans up rather nicely, don't you?  The guys at Ironhorse thought so... as I was told repeatedly "Man, that's a sweeeet ride ya got there!"  They're right.

Today's Happy Hour Soundtrack...

... is mostly Joni Mitchell and Kate Bush.  Well... all of it, in fact, but more Kate than Joni.  We know that Ms. Bush is... umm... an "acquired taste," but I acquired my taste for the lovely Kate about 30 years ago, back in Former Happy Days when we lived in her native land.  That taste has never left me and we pull her albums out every so often just for the joy that's in it.  And, truth be told, to recall Former Happy Days... because we're like that.  So here are a couple o' items from today's soundtrack...

I could have been anyone.
You could have been anyone's dream.
Why did you have to choose our moment?
Why did you have to make me feel that?
Why did you make it so unreal?

Oh! To be in love,
And never get out again.
Oh! To be in love,
And never get out again.
Oh! To be in love,
And never get out again.

I don't think Kate thought that one through... mainly because there just MIGHT could be a time when one would want to "get out again."  Just sayin', yanno?

And then there's this about that:

"If I only could, I'd be running up that hill.
If I only could, I'd be running up that hill."

It doesn't hurt me.
Do you want to feel how it feels?
Do you want to know that it doesn't hurt me?
Do you want to hear about the deal that I'm making?
You, it's you and me.

And if I only could,
I'd make a deal with God,
And I'd get him to swap our places,
Be running up that road,
Be running up that hill,
Be running up that building.
If I only could, oh...

You don't want to hurt me,
But see how deep the bullet lies.
Unaware I'm tearing you asunder.
Ooh, there is thunder in our hearts.

I sure do love this woman.  I mean, aside from bein' oh-so-lovely, she touches me in places few others can.  Of course there's also the fact her music was once a shared experience with someone near and dear.  But let's not go there... any more than we already have.