Thriller

Last night was almost TOO much excitement... and El Casa Móvil De Pennington was literally rockin'.  We got off to a rocky start last evening, given the bizarre and arcane scheduling that is Versus in these play-offs.  NO ONE... save fans of the Flightless Birds and that team from Ottawa... could have been pleased with Versus last evening.  Which is to say we got to watch the entire Pittsburgh - Ottawa game and then piece parts of Chicago - Nashville, NONE of the Dee-troit game (more about which follows) and only the last half of the third period and the OT of the Fish v. the Dive.  We were simply astounded that the Wings' game on Versus was blacked out in its entirety here in P-Ville, but our astonishment was overcome due to the fact we have Fox Sports Arizona (hunh?) on our local Comcast Cable System... which is the reason for the Versus black-out.  So... all was well.  

Buck beat feet over to our place after a quick phone call and we settled down to watch the game.  Which turned out to be one of those heart-stopping, up and back, run and gun games with the lead changing hands faster than Elizabeth Taylor changed husbands in her prime.  Highlights:

There were five goals in slightly less than four minutes in the second period, which is the third highest number of goals in that time frame EVER.  The mood swings we experienced during that time would have put ANY menopausal woman to shame... or just when one thought it was time for a sigh of relief those Feral Dogs would even it up.  Again and again.  "Excitement" isn't quite the word to describe the experience.

But.  Not to worry.  The Wings' special teams got back on track, blanking the Feral Dogs on all four of their man-advantages while scoring on two of three Dee-troit power plays.  We also think Phoenix learned they can't play "run and gun" with these Wings... which was truly a recipe for disaster last evening.  For Phoenix.

Finally... you'll notice at the end of the video above Zetterberg got a hat-trick with his empty-netter at the end of the third.  What's not shown is that it took about three minutes to sweep up all the hats that rained down on the ice in Jobing.com Arena, otherwise known as Joe Louis West.  There's not another team in the league that can count on nearly a hundred hats (my best guess) being thrown on the ice at their opponent's home barn.  To quote ZZ Top:  "We're bad... we're nationwide."  Yup.

Game Three tomorrow in Dee-troit.  And I'm sticking with the "Wings in five" prediction.

The BEST Stanley Cup Playoff Moment(s)...

... so far:

I saw only teeny-tiny bits of Vancouver's Green Men last night but what little I DID see made me laugh.  OK, hats off to the Canucks fans that came up with this bit o' madness.  Too cool.  There's more on the Green Men at Puck Daddy.

By the way... last night's El-Eh - Vancouver game was magnificent, one of two great outings in the early going. LA lost to the Canucks in OT, just like the Caps lost to the Habs.  BOTH games were superlative... the only difference being one team deserved to lose (the Caps) and the other most definitely didn't.  I was rooting for LA (believe it or don't) and I think Drew Doughty is about as impressive a D-Man as there is in these playoffs.   I also think both of these series are gonna go a lot longer than most people expected.

Happy After-Tax Day

I thought the above is quite appropriate for the day, eh?  I did my taxes last week in an effort to avoid the rush... as I usually do.  But I always wait until nearly the last minute as I always owe My Favorite Uncle a small piece o' change.  In odd numbered years, anyhoo.  I get a small amount of my contribution to the Federal Fisc back in even-numbered years, given The Second Mrs. Pennington and I share the sole remaining child exemption... she's odd, I'm even.  There's additional truth in that last statement... of a sort.

Today's Happy Hour Soundtrack

The Goo Goo Dolls from Former Happy Days...

Do you wake up on your own
And wonder where you are?
You live with all your faults

I wanna wake up where you are
I won't say anything at all
So why don't you slide

Yeah, I'm gonna let it slide

Yeah.  Slide.  And now it's back outside, yadda yadda yadda...

Beautiful?

Well... in Russian eyes.  We're speaking of this:

We got a significant amount of rain last evening (like all freakin' night, to be exact) and the overnight result is what you see above, to wit: HUGE numbers of bright yellow dandelions visible everywhere within the confines of Beautiful La Hacienda Trailer Park.  

This is a sight that would drive me to tears in my previous lives... speaking of those times when we lived in various suburban enclaves in this fine, fine country of ours.  Which was where the sight of a single dandelion with the temerity to raise it's bright yellow head in untold acres of verdant green Kentucky Blue Grass or similar would be cause for much gnashing and thrashing... if not within YOU, then most certainly among your neighbors who feared airborne contamination of their green space from the seed that would follow.  We simply did NOT tolerate dandelions and went to great lengths to eradicate them, with quite a bit of success too, not to mention expense.  And labor.

So... I carried that mindset to the former Evil Empire when I went there on bid'niz in the Spring of 1995 or thereabouts (actual dates fail me).  I was amazed at the carpets of dandelions seemingly everywhere... in the parks, in lawns in front of buildings modest and grand, apartment buildings, everywhere... Moscow was overrun with the damned things.   My Russian hosts laughed at my shock and said "Aren't they beautiful?  The dandelions announce the arrival of Spring, and we LOVE them!"

Well, OK.  It's hard to accept diversity sometimes, in even the smallest of things.  We struggle with the concept of dandelions even today.

―:☺:―

I'd go on about last night's hockey games but I'm just not in the mood.  My Beloved Wings did NOT show up last night in Phoenix and lost... 3 - 2 ... a game that they should have won.  To say Detroit's penalty kill was abysmal is understating things in an otherworldly way, as all three Feral Desert Dog goals came on the power play and that is disgraceful.  NOT a good beginning.

But I am not alone in my misery today.  The Senators beat down the Flightless Birds (a GOOD thing and oh-so-gratifying to watch), the Devils lost to the "we barely made the playoffs and squeaked in on the last day with only 88 miserable points" Flyers, and the Avs embarrassed the Number One seed in the West, winning with but 46 ticks left in regulation.  So there's plenty of misery among certain classes of puckheads today.  But.  It IS early and we've only just begun.  There's much more agony and ecstasy ahead. 

As Seen On Red Eye (Part II, I Think)

As Gutfeld noted... that was a BOY.  Draw your own conclusions.  (We've decided to be sexist rather than racist... for a while, anyhoo.)

Tonight's the Night

Tonight we begin what will hopefully turn out to be a long and deep run in the playoffs.  I say that every year, of course.  And Dee-troit's run has been deep indeed these last two years, with a Cup in 2008 and a SCF loss in seven games to an undeserving team last year.  This year marks the Wings' 19th consecutive appearance in the playoffs... the longest such streak in professional sports... and the first time since 1991 that the Wings open the playoffs on the road.

We're hopeful again this year, what with the Wings being the league's hottest team since the Olympics break... going 16-3-2.  But... our first round opponent is the league's second hottest team since the Olympics... the Phoenix Desert Dogs (13-4-2).  And strange things happen in the playoffs, especially when the Wings run into a team with a hot goalie.  We don't wanna even think about a first round exit.  So we won't.

That said, nearly everyone predicts a first-round win for the Wings.  Here's what the ESPN guys think:

And the homer columnists in Dee-troit all agree, Detroit will prevail in the first round.  After the first round?  The Freep sports guys are strangely pessimistic, with Albom predicting a second round exit, Sharp and Rosenberg predicting a loss in the West Final, Sipple with a loss in the SCF, and the eternally-optimistic Helene St. James (bless her heart!) predicting Detroit's 12th Stanley Cup.  I'll go on the record as Wings in five.  Me and Buccigross.

As for tonight?  We will be in front of the teevee over at Buck's house this evening precisely at 2000 hrs (MDT), wearing our Wings jersey with beer in hand.  And that might be the BEST part of these 2010 playoffs... Buck and I will get to see at least two games together this year.  Good stuff.

A Worthy Cause

I received an e-mail from the good folks at the MLK Memorial organization asking if I'd be kind enough to publicize fund-raising to establish the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the National Mall in DeeSee.  Why, yes... yes I would.  Here's some verbiage from the web site:

The Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial will be the first on the National Mall to recognize a person of color and a man of peace, not a president or a veteran of war. In 1996 Congress authorized the Memorial Foundation to raise funds to establish a national memorial to honor the legacy of Dr. King on the National Mall. The memorial’s very existence signifies that we as a people believe Dr. King and his legacy deserve this esteemed placement in what can be considered America’s “Hall of Fame.”

As my title sez... a worthy cause.

Yet More Thievery

Thanks, Phlegmmy.  My new favorite song:

Polly Jean has it right.  I want a woman who thinks of me like this.  And vice versa...

I can't believe that life's so complex
When I just want to sit here and watch you undress
I can't believe that life's so complex
When I just want to sit here and watch you undress

This is love, this is love
That I'm feeling
This is love, this is love
That I'm feeling
This is love
That I'm feeling

Does it have to be a life full of dread
I wanna chase you round the table, I wanna touch your head
Does it have to be a life full of dread
I wanna chase you round the table, I wanna touch your head

OK, there's more to love than chasing your beloved around the table.   But that's the way it begins and that's one of... if not THE... biggest parts of it.  I'm not going to wax philosophical on only a single cup o' coffee but I will say this:  the reason I remain unattached is I haven't found another woman who inspires this sort of feeling in me.

Side Effects

I've always found the imagery in this ad bizarre if not downright creepy:

The very idea of a luminescent butterfly flitting about the bedroom is disturbing but that's just the beginning of it.  The ad above is old and I can't find the current ad anywhere on these inter-tubes.  The thing that gets me is the current ad's litany of side-effects, which are considerable.  Here are some I found (embedded links in text removed):

These include, but are not limited to:

• Chest pain
• Anxiety or nervousness
• Suicidal thoughts (see Suicide by Lunesta)
• Confusion
• More outgoing or aggressive behavior than normal
• Strange behavior
• Depression (see Lunesta and Depression)
• Hallucinations (seeing, hearing, or feeling things that are not really there)
• Signs of an allergic reaction, including unexplained rash, itching, hives, wheezing or trouble breathing, or unexplained swelling.

I understand the FDA's mandate for listing side-effects and I also understand these things occur in a very small percentage of subjects in clinical trials.  Still and even... I damned sure wouldn't take any drug that might include the highlighted effects, however small that possibility may be.  

The current ad also mentions somnambulism as a problem, including driving while on Lunesta and not remembering you did so.  Yikes!  The caution about not mixing alcohol and Lunesta would be kinda problematic for YrHmblScrb, as well.  And there's always that damned luminescent butterfly.  Which is not a problem according to some people, or it shouldn't be...

Heh.

Today's Happy Hour Soundtrack

This song has been covered by lots and lots of folks... Bonnie Raitt does it better than most:

But the version we heard while sitting our Old Ass outside some minutes ago was this one:

Ah... Ol' Joe is brilliant on this tune.  I loves me some Joe Cocker -- he's done some positively brilliant work over the years and might possibly be an acquired taste... like fine single-malt.  That said, there's too much extraneous chat in the clip above.  Less chat and more music is where we're at today.  And now... all that said... here's the original:

Blind Faith's take... being the original... is arguably still the best version of this tune.  We break this song out whenever we're feeling philosophical and today is just that sort of day... given our skies are gray (both literally and metaphorically) and spitting rain on our parade.  So here we be... just inside, slightly wet, half-wasted, and wonderin' if we shall ever "find our way home..."  

I doubt it.

Fingers Crossed

We haven't had a computer event in over 30 hours now and we think we may have fixed our issue.  Windows, as everyone knows (and NO comments... please... from Apple Fan-bois or Linux geeks), is subject to the occasional crash every now and then.  But we've been cruisin' along fat, dumb, and happy until the last three or four days.  Witness:

One thing I really like about Vista is the improved on-board diagnostics compared to previous editions of Windows, where such tools were largely non-existent or completely user-UNfriendly.  Us run-of-the-mill and somewhat clue-impaired users were largely left out in the cold.  Or in the dark.. you choose.  But back to our Tale O' Woe.  After much searching and googling of obscurely-worded error messages we noticed that this lil event occurred every single time our box puked:

"SideBySide" is an adware application that sneaky-assed web sites deposit on your 'puter without either your knowledge or your permission.  And Norton...bless their black lil hearts... allows this app to be installed.  Yesterday we removed SideBySide from our box and we have had no subsequent crashes.

Thus: fingers crossed.

Today's Happy Hour Soundtrack

A broom is drearily sweeping
Up the broken pieces of yesterday’s life
Somewhere a queen is weeping
Somewhere a king has no wife
And the wind, it cries Mary 

The wind doubtless cries many more names than "Mary."  We have a name in mind, Gentle Reader... but we shall let that pass.  We're listening to Pandora's "Rolling Stones" station this afternoon... and here's a sample of what we've heard in the past six minutes or so:

It's SUCH a nice day here on The High Plains of New Mexico...  79 degrees, a crystal-clear blue sky, and the gentlest of gentle breezes.  Our awning is down, the beer is cool,  the music is great, and we're enjoying a shady afternoon outdoors on the verandah.  And so it's back outside to continue as we've begun...  I hope your Saturday is as good as ours.

Our "New" Nuclear Deterrent

Excerpts from some recent Air Force Association Daily Reports on this subject:

DeMIRVing: The United States will reduce the nuclear payload on each of its Minuteman III ICBMs down "to a single warhead" under the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with Russia, says Marine Corps Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. This will happen "over the life of the treaty," he said Tuesday in the Pentagon during a press briefing on the Obama Administration's newly issued nuclear posture review. Minuteman IIIs can carry up to three warheads. ... Once in force, each side has seven years to reduce its arsenal to 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads, 700 deployed launchers, and 800 total launchers, including non-deployed assets. (NPR full document; caution, large file.) (Transcript of NPR press briefing with Cartwright)

And these:

Less Ambiguous: The United States will not use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapons states that are party to the Non-Proliferation Treaty and in compliance with it, Defense Secretary Robert Gates told reporters Tuesday in the Pentagon on the release of the Obama Administration's nuclear posture review. Removing some of the calculated ambiguity from US declaratory policy is one of the "significant changes to the US nuclear posture" that this document encapsulates, he said. Nonetheless, Gates said "all options are on the table" for dealing with states like Iran and North Korea that do not abide by international rules. Among its highlights, preventing nuclear terrorism and proliferation is the top US nuclear policy goal—a first for US nuclear posture. The NPR also places more emphasis on the nation's "unsurpassed conventional military capabilities" and missile defenses for security. And, it says the US will not pursue new nuclear weapons. (NPR full document) (Obama statement)

No New Nukes: The United States will not develop new nuclear warheads, according to the Obama Administration's nuclear policy review issued Tuesday. So say goodbye to a new design that Pentagon leaders have advocated in the past to assure the safety, security, and reliability of the stockpile. Further, the NPR states that any life-extension programs to existing warheads "will use only nuclear components based on previously tested designs" and "will not support new military missions or provide for new military capabilities." Life-extension options will be explored on a case-by-case basis. The US "will give strong preference" to options for refurbishment of existing warheads or reuse of nuclear components from different warheads, it states. Outright replacement of nuclear components would only be undertaken if the other options aren't viable and would require Presidential authorization and Congressional approval, according to the review. (See Less Ambiguous above) (NPR full document)

There are a LOT of things not to like about this new treaty... but the highlighted bits above are what should concern all of us the most. Our nuclear warheads are old and "old" doesn't equate to reliability in any other area of life I'm aware of.  An unreliable deterrent isn't much of a deterrent at all, and don't think our enemies aren't aware of this fact.  It's just too damned bad Obama doesn't realize this... it should be obvious to a Commander in Chief... any CinC.  Or so one would think.

Just Wonderin'

So... we just got back from the mail kiosk a few minutes ago... and here's what we found in today's mail:

We've been absolutely inundated with this crap for at least three weeks now, or ever since about a week before our birthday.  Which makes us wonder why everyone is SO upset about filling out the census form.  Hell, everybody and their Mom already knows most everything there is to know about us anyway, as you can plainly see.  Privacy?  There ain't none such.

But what irritates me is that none of these asshats even had the common courtesy to wish me a Happy Birthday before trying to get to my wallet.  Needless to say:  this stuff goes into the trash unopened.

Linkage

Most of the "12 Greatest Geek Tattoos" aren't all that funny... but this one made me smile (click for larger):

Yeah.  I'd think twice.  At the VERY least.

Ominous

We've had a rash of computer "events" over the past 48 hours... in the form of sudden, no-warning, complete and total shut downs.  One moment we're puttering along normally and then... nothing.  We had three such this morning and can find nothing in the event logs, which is to say there are no "critical" events and very few minor incidents that would give us a clue as to what is going on.  The weird thing is the computer behaves normally after I power it back up... and the complete lack of error messages in the Event Log is MOST troubling.  I hate it when this sorta thing happens...

―:☺:―

Generation gap...   SN1 and I had a brief discussion about life at Kandahar last evening, based on Gen. McChrystal's recent banning of all fast-food at the Afghanistan MOBs.  Just to summarize... I said I supported the ban and agreed with the Good General in that there ain't no room for Pizza Hut in a war-zone.  Buck said it was bad for morale, given that Kandahar serves as a sort of in-country R&R point for troops out in the field (believe it or don't) and taking away something that exists is generally bad form.  I can see Buck's point, but I still side with McChrystal... if only for the lighter load on the logistics system.  We agreed to disagree.

I then proceeded to shoot off my mouth that all concerned would be better off if "certain aspects" of General Order Number One were revoked (yup: beer), commenting that SN1's war and mine were radically different in this regard... and his was much the worse for it.  (Full disclosure: I was never in the AOR during Vietnam... just on the edges of it.)  More disagreement ensued, with Buck in favor of the "no alcohol" policy.  His position is that EVERYONE is armed in The Af and beer and firearms don't mix well, if at all.  Point taken, I admitted.  OTOH, an absolute ban eliminates a stress relief mechanism while giving a disinterested observer the impression the command doesn't trust the troops to behave responsibly.  There certainly should be some middle ground between prohibition and daily drunken orgies.  But... it is what it is and I don't think the policy is gonna change.  But our NATO allies seem to be doing fairly well WITH alcohol, no? 

―:☺:―

We tried to watch a little of the Frozen Four yesterday afternoon but gave it up once RIT went down to Wisconsin by a score of 4 - 0... or shortly after the second period began.  Poor ol' RIT was just outclassed; the final score was 8 - 1.  Once we realized the game was gonna be a blow-out we headed outside for a beer and a cigar before moseying over to Buck's place for dinner.

We got home fairly early last evening and were pleased to find the second semi-final game was still in progress on the tube.  Alas, this too was a blow-out.  Boston College spanked number one seed Miami (OH) by the final score of  7 - 1.  It was sorta close when I tuned in at the end of the second period, what with BC having a not insurmountable 3 - 0 lead.  Miami scored early in the third and it looked like we might have a game... but it was ALL over midway in the third when BC scored THREE times within a minute and a half.  Turn out the lights...

I'm hoping Saturday's final is better.  It should be...

Mission Accomplished

Beer?  Check.

Cigars?  Check.  Multiple.

Single-malt?  Check.  Multiples thereof, too.  But not to excess, of course.   We were safe to drive home.

War stories?  You bet... but mostly of the leadership/management sort, given and received.  That would be a function of age, yanno?

Earlier this evening:

Buck and His Beloved.

Buck and Dad, just in from the smoking lounge.  Note the bag at left.  Heh.

"This Ain't No Tea Party"

You can say THAT again.  Witness:

And these asshats are Americans?  Thank The Deity At Hand these people are in the minority... a VERY small minority.

From Accuracy In Media, via Hot Air.  And like the good folks at AIM and Hot Air... I wonder where the MSM was when this crap went down?

Homecoming

Tonite's the night our Intrepid Flyboy returns to The High Plains of New Mexico.  Rest assured there WILL be beer-drinkin' and cigar-smokin' as I indicated a couple o' few days ago.  We'll probably break out the single-malt, too.

Sooo... I thought I'd put up a re-run from more than a few years back in Buck's honor:

Flightline, Cannon AFB, NM. Left to Right: Major (now Lt Col) Heatherington, pilot , 1Lt (now Capt. Major) Ivan (Buck) Pennington, and Your Humble Scribe (still a retired MSgt). Number One Son isn't a pilot, he was honored as Cannon AFB's Junior Officer of the Year Quarter (see the comments) back in 2003, and an F-16 incentive flight was part of the award package. This was his second incentive flight, the first was in an F-111 while he was stationed at RAF Lakenheath, UK.

Two flights in a front-line combat aircraft. Jeez, I'm jealous! I spent 22 years in the USAF and the only aircraft I flew in were the C-47, C-130, and the C-141. What's that you say? C-47? Yep, C-47. We had a few left in the inventory during my early days. I'm old, ya know.

There's something of a back-story associated with this event but we won't tell tales out of school.  (insert big-ass grin here)

Update:  The above is a "before" shot to complement the "after" of Col. Heatherington and Buck after their flight.

Today

A couple o' weeks ago I mentioned I was kinda-sorta worried about finding a doctor who would accept Medicare now that (a) I'm of a certain age and have been forcefully enrolled in that fine gub'mint program and (b) the USAF will only provide me with medical care on a "space available" basis.  Well I needn't have worried as it turns out, at least as far as (a) is concerned.  I'm still mightily displeased with (b), but it is what it is.  I rang up the clinic here in Portales, which is attached to the very fine looking and generally impressive Roosevelt County General Hospital (most impressive because they have a steel-enclosed "safe room" that I use when tornadoes are in the immediate area) and found there were several doctors accepting new Medicare patients... no problema!  

So... there we were... making our inquiries.  The kind administrative lady on the other end of the phone rattled off several names to me... two of which were female... asking if I had any preference.  She also took the time to explain to me that the doctors with the Christian names of "Janet" and "Barbara" were women... and might I have a problem with that?  Not really... both names were fine with me and who among us gets to choose their first name, anyway?  (I didn't really say that.)  I answered in the negative and suggested she assign me to whichever doctor had the lightest patient load, which would only make sense from my point of view and that of the doctor, I'm sure.  And so the deal was done.

I'm off for my "get acquainted" appointment in about an hour and my new doctor is male, by the way.  I might have made a mistake here now that I think about it.  I've more than likely blown my only opportunity to get naked in front of a woman again, ever.  Damn.

Awards and Decs

I spent a good long time on the phone with SN1 last evening and am pleased to report he's back on US soil, safe and sound.  He'll be doin' those things one usually does at the end of a deployment today and tomorrow and then he flies into P-Ville (well, Lubbock, actually) Wednesday afternoon for a brief two-day leave.  Rest assured there will be celebratory beer-drinkin' and cigar smokin' in the near future.

So... part and parcel of our discussions last evening revolved around the award of decorations and medals for war-zone tours these days.  I won't go into detail in this space as far as Buck is concerned, except to say his commander is on a personal sort of mission to reverse the medal-creep trend which is polluting the Air Force.  This is a Great Good Thing in the macro sense yet has obvious impact on the troops in the Good Colonel's charge.  Which is to say that ALL commanders need to sign on to the effort, not just some... if stopping the medal-creep is worthwhile.  And it is.

Which brings up a war story, of sorts, that I related to Buck last evening.  It was usual and customary back in the day...we're talking over 25 years ago... to receive an award upon completing a tour of duty and moving on to one's next assignment... assuming, of course, that you'd actually done something to merit an award.  And that's still the practice in Today's Modern Air Force, which is why the subject of awards and decs came up last evening.  

So... there I was... winding down my penultimate USAF assignment at lovely RAF Uxbridge, with orders in hand for Tinker AFB, OK.  My commander told me he was putting me in for a Meritorious Service Medal (MSM) and needed the usual, customary, and reasonable write-up concerning my glorious achievements... such as they were... while serving as his Chief of Programs.  I told him I would get right on it and had a one page list of about 12 bullet points on his desk in about an hour's time.

"Not good enough" sez the Good Major.

"What do you want?" sez I, in reply.

"I want the citation write-up... the whole nine yards" sez he.

"Ummm... isn't that YOUR job?" sez I.

"Not if you want the medal" sez he.

Well.  To cut to the chase:  I didn't want it that bad and I never provided the citation.  I also didn't get the medal.  As a matter of fact I didn't get any-goddamned-thing out of that assignment, which pissed me off no small amount.  My point was this:  I was still naïve enough to think gentlemen did NOT toot their own horn, ever.  And I stood by my principles.

Fast forward about six or eight months... I'm at my new assignment at Tinker AFB and was called into the Chief's office for a little chat.  "So tell me, Buck... why didn't you get a medal out of Uxbridge?"  I related the whole ugly story to the Chief who sat there and listened politely.  When I was finished he looked at me and said "You dumb-ass.  You might as well put your papers in, you're done."  This coming just after I had been passed over for SMSgt (E-8) for the first time... and which the Chief believed was, in part, because of no dec out of my last assignment.  I mulled that lil conversation over for a while and submitted my retirement papers a few months later.  The Chief was right:  I was done.

So.  Buck got a good laugh out of the story and noted that things hadn't changed one bit in the intervening 25 years or so.  As for me... I learned that lesson and NEVER missed an opportunity to toot my own horn during my civilian career.  When asked and when required, of course.  There ARE limits.

Oh.  I did get my MSM eventually... when I retired.

I didn't write the citation, either.

Happy Easter

1 Peter 1:3

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead...

Image: Sistine Chapel. Hendrick van den Broeck (1519-1597) — Scenes from the Life of Christ: The Resurrection of Christ (H).
 
(Yes... it's the same thing I posted last year. Some things cannot be improved upon.)

Tired. Kinda Sorta. Mostly.

I'm fortunate enough to have a couple o' friends who have been with me since Day One here at EIP (not counting The Boys who read mostly as a function of filial duty and obligation, Bless Their Hearts), a few other friends who have been with me for a couple o' three years, and a contingent who are relatively new.  Now is a good time to say thank you to the "Old Hands" as well as express my appreciation to those of you who recently stumbled in here for one reason or another.  And keep coming back, for reasons The Deity At Hand only knows why.  I look forward to your visits and the comments you leave, for you are the biggest part of my "social life."  (I use scare quotes for what should be obvious reasons.)

Now is also an appropriate time to apologize to the Old Hands, for we have changed and not for the better.  I noticed this decline in quality as I was searching (fruitlessly, as it were) the back pages yesterday for pics of Portales.  A couple o' three years ago we had much more of an edge and never lacked for an opinion on the day's doin's, both large and small.  We were one helluva lot more political, too... especially during the run-up to the last presidential election.  Obsessed, even.  These days?  Not so much.  Not at all, hardly, beyond the occasional political cartoon.  The main reason for that is I'm just sick to frickin' death of Obama and his asshat sycophants.  Sick to the point of turning it right the Hell off; sick to the point I can't even muster comment on other peoples' outrage much beyond a weak-ass "me too."

I'm tired.  Kinda like this guy... who's been linked and e-mailed around these intertubes hundreds of thousands of times during the last year (I've received it via e-mail at least three times myownself).  Who begins with...

I’ll be 63 soon. Except for one semester in college when jobs were scarce, and a six-month period when I was between jobs, but job-hunting every day, I’ve worked, hard, since I was 18. Despite some health challenges, I still put in 50-hour weeks, and haven’t called in sick in seven or eight years. I make a good salary, but I didn’t inherit my job or my income, and I worked to get where I am. Given the economy, there’s no retirement in sight, and I’m tired. Very tired.

It's a classic rant and one which I kinda-sorta identify with, except for the fact I'm (a) older and (b) actually retired.  And (c):  I don't have the motivation left to itemize and categorize the shit I'm tired of.  But I will say this: I'm tired of the vitriol on both the left and right, but especially on the right.  Sick to fucking death of it, actually.  I've tuned out all but a few of the right-wing ranters I used to read and am perilously close to abandoning those who remain.  I continue to "read" (or read at) those people out of a sense of loyalty, but even that emotion is being sorely tested of late.  One can only take so much of this "I'm right, you're wrong" bullshit and I'm speaking specifically of people who make this their stock in trade, NOT those who vent occasionally.  It does get wearisome.  Which, if you're still with me, is the MAIN reason I've given up a lot of my pontificating.  I'm just tired of it.  The thought also occurred to me that giving up on the pontificating also means I've lost what little edge I once had.  So... I apologize.

Sigh.  Mebbe we just need to drink more.  That works.  Sometimes.

A Re-Run

So... a friend e-mailed me to inquire if I'd ever posted any pics of P-Ville in the daylight.  I think she was just being subtle and prolly thinks I'm really a vampire... which isn't too far from the truth if one takes my bizarre sleeping habits into account.  But we digress.  I only make very limited use of Blogger's tag feature so finding pics or posts about certain subjects can be time consuming, if I let it be.  It's way too late at this point to go back over 2800+ posts and categorize each and every one (sigh).

But... that said... I stayed up way too late last night and only just poured my second cup.  Which is a left-handed way of saying "I got nuthin'."  At the moment, anyhoo.  But... in searching for daytime P-Ville pics I came across this lil blurb of a war story you may or may not find interesting.  I added the pics... there was a time when we were short on visuals here at EIP.

Just a little quirky thing I meant to blog, but forgot until just now. My new bike (ed: That would be The Zuki... at right... and since replaced ) doesn’t have a petcock on its gas tank. This is the very first bike I’ve owned without one, and that fact drove me nuts the day I took delivery…I looked all over the bike for the danged thing and came to the conclusion that it just wasn’t there. The bike does have a gas gauge, though. Petcocks have become an anachronism, I suppose. I’m not sure if this is a good thing, or a bad thing. Oh, and another thing…the bike is fuel-injected. Another first, for me.

While I’m on the subject…taking delivery of the bike was an “interesting” experience. After signing all the paperwork I was accompanied to the service area by the sales manager. She attached the temporary plate to the bike and then watched as I did my walk-around. I checked various nuts and bolts for tightness, inspected the oil filter area for leaks (and tightness), eyeballed the wheel alignment, checked the chain tension…and, to keep the litany down to a manageable level, just performed a general inspection. I only asked one question: “How do I open the seat?” The answer wasn’t obvious, and the sales lady didn’t know. I figured it out, noticing there was a key receptacle just below the tail light. Insert key, twist, seat pops up. Simple. The sales lady thanked me once again for my business and walked away after that, leaving me and my new bike alone together for the first time. I suited up and rode off…

I couldn’t help but contrast this non-ritual with the most amazing delivery experience I ever had, and one that’s not been matched since. That most amazing experience was at BMW’s Delivery Center in Munich. The Second Mrs. Pennington and I took delivery of a 1983 320i there in the fall of 1982. In Baltic Blue…just like the one at left. Yeah, it looks gray. I thought so, too. But if you've ever seen the Baltic Sea, you understand. Most accurate, those Teutons!

After presenting ourselves at the front desk of the delivery center (where we were signed in), we were escorted into an office where a BMW employee… fluent in English… walked around from behind his desk, introduced himself, and then sat back down behind his desk after we were seated. He verified our identities (passports and other assorted sales and delivery-related papers) and finished processing our paper work. This took all of about 15 minutes and was quite pleasant and efficient. The signing of the paper was concluded with a crisp “So, are you ready to take your new car?” Hell, Yes! Let’s GO!

We were escorted out of his small office and across a rather large area resembling a showroom, with various Beemers sitting around in all their glory. On the far side of the showroom were two sliding glass doors that opened into a spotlessly clean garage area, where our new baby was sitting, along with several other cars. We were met at the door by a middle aged man in a white lab coat. The paper processor introduced us, by name, and informed us Mr. Herr I-Forget-His-Name was going to “introduce” us to our new car.

And introduce us he did. He demonstrated every feature on that car, and I mean every single one…including popping both hood and trunk, showing us where the dipstick was, just to cite one example… demonstrating the oil level was indeed full, in the process. He showed us the fuse box. He showed us the spare, and the jack, and demonstrated how to remove and replace each. He showed us how to tune the flippin’ radio, how to operate the sun roof, adjust the seats…in short, everything imaginable. And then he asked if we had any questions. I had none: the briefing and walk-around, which lasted the better part of 45 minutes, had been more comprehensive than any I’d ever had, before or since. TSMP, honor-bound as she was to never let an opportunity to ask questions pass her by, had a few which were handled politely and with aplomb, even the one or two eye-rollers (on my part and my part alone).

The ritual ended with the signing of a delivery form, we were handed maps and detailed instructions on how to reach the autobahn (after being discreetly asked if we were leaving Munich right away), and we were out the door. Literally, accompanied by hand waves of good-bye and shouted exhortations to “Enjoy your new Beh-Emm-Vay!!” And we did…from that moment on and for ten years hence.

I marveled about that experience for months, if not years. It was extraordinary. And that was for a bottom-of-the-line Beemer. Lord only knows what hoops they jump through if you buy an expensive one… It’s been a while since I thought about that experience, but taking delivery of my bike brought it back into focus. Bright, sharp focus.

Well... I said you MIGHT find this interesting, didn't I? 

Apropos of nuthin'... Blogger has pissed itself again.  I began attempting to post this at 1215 hrs (it's 1255 1318 hrs as I type) only to get multiple error messages.  I also find I cannot comment at my Daily Reads that use Blogger.  Frustrating.

We Broke the Seal...

... on the air conditioning.  It is NOT a nice day here on The High Plains of New Mexico:

Note the gusts:  almost 54 mph.  Sucks, it does.  The air is laden with dust, to be just slightly understated about things.

Update 1548 hrs:  The three o'clock report from CAFB: 

"Blowing Widespread Dust."  Yup.  Note the humidity... one reason why it's so damned dusty.  We're hunkered down with beer and a ceegar while watching the tumbleweeds blow right on by.  This too shall pass.

New To Me

Google has a new feature in its image search function... Image Swirl.  Here's what a search on Jaguar looks like, in two parts:

The first screen:

And here's what the second screen looks like:

Too cool, eh?

Down On Main Street

Three shots of Main Street Portales and one of our courthouse, taken about an hour ago.

It was fairly breezy out... the net effect being the blossoms on the trees are rather blurry (my shutter speed varied between eight and 20 seconds).  I also couldn't seem to get the color correction quite right as you can see, even after messing around with the various white balance settings.  These are four of the 40 pics I took.

I think I'm gonna go to bed now.