Hype

Weren't Apple's launches always overhyped?  I suppose the Fanbois love this stuff, but normal people don't.

―:☺:―

Not hype... the time change is kicking my ass.  I didn't roll out until after 1300 hrs today, which is late even for me.  I'm about halfway in to my second cup and haven't worked my way through the overnight mail yet.  But the good news is the WX is fine (75 degrees!  Yowza!) and it stays light out until well after 1800 hrs.  That means we'll not miss any of the usual, customary, and reasonable verandah time.

―:☺:―

In other news... Flo and I are back together.  Long-time Gentle Readers might remember this from last August:

I Just Got Off the Phone...

... with Flo.  We had a short and VERY pleasing conversation, at least as far as I'm concerned.  Which went something like this:

Flo:  How can I help you today, Mr. Pennington?
Me:  I need to cancel my policy, please.
Flo:  Oh, I'm sorry to hear that... may I ask why you're cancelling?
Me:  Because you wouldn't give me your preferential rate due to bogus "bad credit" information.  I'm with USAA now.

And that was pretty much that, except for minor details.  USAA is charging me MUCH less than half the amount Progressive was bending me over for.  I smiled broadly throughout the entire conversation.

::Chirpy Flo voice:: 
"Discount!"
::/Chirpy Flo voice::

Well... I called up USAA a short while ago to get insurance on El Casa Móvil De Pennington, seein' as how my current policy runs out tomorrow and I KNOW USAA can do better for me when it comes to rates.  So imagine my surprise when the helpful USAA person transferred me to Progressive, which does RV insurance for USAA.  But I was pleased at the quoted rate, which was less than half of my current RV policy.  

 

So:  Me and Flo.  True Love.  Renewed.

Today's Happy Hour Soundtrack...

... featured a couple o' tunes by Jefferson Airplane.  First:

One begins to read between
The pages of a look.
The sound of sleepy music,
And suddenly, you're hooked.
I saw you, I saw you,
Coming back to me.

You came to stay and live my way,
Scatter my love like leaves in the wind.
You always say that you won't go away,
But I know what it always has been,
It always has been.

We'll not go anywhere near there, coz it's the same ol', same-frickin'-ol'.  We get tired o' that crap after a bit.

And then...

Ah... that's more like it.  Both of these tunes were on Surrealistic Pillow but it's the second tune that foretold the creation of Hot Tuna, a group about which I own many more albums than I do of the Airplane or that abominable follow-on band, J.Starship.  For the musicianship that's in it/them, of course.  And since we're talkin' about Hot Tuna, there's this...

...which we didn't hear on Pandora today, but which we own on a couple o' different Hot Tuna albums.  The mind often wanders, and it often wanders into GOOD places.  So good, as a s'matter o' fact, that we shut down Pandora and loaded up three Hot Tuna albums on the stereo for the balance o' Happy Hour.  The WX is cooperating with us today, in that we have our windows and door wide open to take advantage of (a) the mid-70 degree temps and (b) our own music collection.

And a couple o' cigars and three beers.  At last count.

Nuckin' Futs

I've ridden in snow before... but not like this:

There's NO way a bike could beat a car under these conditions, even with studded tires.  Just sayin'.

Linkage

I can't break the habit, like so many others who read Lex every day.  So I still go there even though I know I won't find any more o' the Good Captain's tales o' derring-do, his astute opinions, or his potent dry wit to begin my day.  It's just a habit...

But I found something of value there today, as I did every day for the past eight years or so.  This, from commenter yaJames:

Have you seen this morning’s Sacramento Bee article? http://www.sacbee.com/2012/03/12/4330119/atac-mourns-the-loss-of-capt-carroll.html

The article quotes the CEO of ATAC about the accident, and about tributes to Lex. It’s the first time I’ve seen the funeral arrangements published. (March 27th in San Diego.)

It also links to http://www.atacusa.com. They’ve turned their web-site into a memorial page.

So I went to ATAC and the memorial page they've posted is truly a work of art.  At the very bottom of the page you'll find this:

I had to take two screen shots because all those tributes... they're active links on ATAC's page... don't fit in a single capture.  One small correction: the comments and condolences at Lex's place are up to 1,457 this morning.

The man was loved.

Today's Happy Hour Soundtrack...

... might better be titled "melancholy radio."  We continue to listen to Joni Mitchell radio on Pandora and we've been there all this week, for the sadness that's in it.  And we ARE that: sad -- for a number o' reasons.  I heard that "Paris" song again, which was followed directly by this tune from Carole King...

Sometimes I wonder if I'm ever gonna make it home again
It's so far and out of sight
I really need someone to talk to, and nobody else
Knows how to comfort me tonight

Snow is cold, rain is wet
Chills my soul right to the marrow
I won't be happy till I see you alone again
Till I'm home again and feeling right 

Didn't anyone ever tell Ms. King you can never go home again?

Me Too

Yeah, an hour less of GOP primary BS is a GOOD thing and I also like the extended verandah time.  But that's it.  It's not as bad as it used to be, though... I REALLY hated this Spring-Forward thang when I was gainfully employed.

Still Under the WX

The actual WX matches my mood and state-o'-being... it's cold, gray, and wet outside, with a possibility of snow.  And we need to go out today if we want sumthin' other than corn flakes for dinner.  I'm not looking forward to that expedition...

I went looking for an answer to a comment Darryl made about yesterday's post, specifically where he asks for my guacamole recipe.  More on that in a minute, but in the meantime I stumbled upon this, which concerns yet another post I put up recently, that one bein' about writing on-line dating ads and trolling and stuff.

Blog-buddy Morgan has had admirable success in the realm of on-line dating (see his comment here). Ah, would that I could make the same claim. In those same comments linked in the preceding sentence I gave you the “Reader’s Digest” version of my issues with on-line dating. And now for a short war-story about this sort of social activity…

I was pretty active in the on-line dating game for a few years, most notably in Rochester, NY, and during my two-year sojourn in the Peoples Republic of the Greater San Francisco Bay Area. It was in SFO that I had one of my most traumatic on-line dating experiences…

It started as these things always do…I read her ad, dropped her an e-mail, she responded, we spent a few hours on several consecutive nights in instant messaging conversation, followed by several phone calls. We both decided we should meet, and we did. She turned out to be everything she appeared to be, and I was happy with that. There were distinct possibilities, in other words, for something other than casual dating. In a nutshell: articulate, intelligent, owned her own business, a voracious reader, great conversationalist, and not at all hard to look at. Fetching, if I may go that far.

So. It was on our fourth date, and we’re having coffee and cognac after dinner at one of SFO’s numerous superb restaurants. We don’t have any firm plans for after dinner, and I casually ask “Well, where to now?” She smiles and says “Your place?”

There couldn’t possibly have been a better answer.

We get back to my place and I’ll spare you most of the details, Gentle Reader, save for this one tiny thing. The lights are low, things are getting hot and heavy, we’re in a state of dishabille, and the deal is about to go down. Suddenly, and I DO mean suddenly, she sits up on my couch, pushes me away to arms-length and says with a very serious look on her face “I have something to tell you.”

“Uh, OK,” sez I, thinking “WTF?”

“I have herpes.”

Wow. Talk about mood-killers! So. The lights come back up, I go to the kitchen, freshen our drinks, and return to the couch, where we spend the next hour or so discussing her problem. “There are ways to work around this,” sez she. “Umm-hmm,” sez I, nodding. The bottom line, as she suggests, is that we should both give serious thought to where we’re going and what we should do. I agree. We finish our drinks and I take her home.

And that, save for two subsequent phone conversations wherein I explained myself in great detail, was that. Work-arounds or no, herpes is forever. I wasn’t willing to take the risk. She understood, and we went our separate ways.

I’ll always appreciate the woman’s honesty, if not her timing. I hope she found someone because, with the exception of this one tiny (?) flaw, she could have been a potential mate.

There are eight million stories in the Naked City; this has been one of them. But it’s pretty illustrative of my experiences with on-line dating. I don’t have any good stories to relate, in other words, Gentle Reader, and I have a couple that are worse. Much worse. But let’s not go there.

And now you know why I decided, in part, not to place that ad on Craig's List.

But about the guacamole.  My first reaction was "recipe?  what recipe?"  I do exactly what Darryl sez he does... I mash stuff up.  But I mash stuff up to taste, and I suppose that's the important part,  given that I'll add more onion, or more avocado, or a pinch of salt, or more lime juice, during the mashing process to ensure I get things right.  Here's that post I went looking for:

Today's Happy Hour Soundtrack Project

Two avocados, half a red onion (no Vadalias at the store, dammit) chopped finer than frog hair, half a lime, and about three tablespoons of El Pinto.

Let the flavors marry in the fridge for about an hour or so and then... Happy Hour Bliss!

That's MY recipe... such as it is.

Scrapin' the Bottom o' the Bloggin' Barrel XII

Life is warmer and cozier now that the Brown Truck O' Happiness has come and gone... leaving me with these:

Yes... our tootsies are warm and comfortable, as we speak.  And the old slippers have been disposed of, with a suitable send-off.  They served me well.

Wrong!

Guacamole...

That's pretty cute and clever but one NEVER puts tomatoes in guacamole.  Never.  Ever.

―:☺:―

Wrong on another level... we're slightly under the WX today.  I mentioned in passing that I picked up antibiotics out at the base yesterday to deal with a minor infection.  What I didn't mention were the warnings I received at both my dentist's office and the Cannon Airplane Patch pharmacy, to wit: these antibiotics have side effects, chief among which are nausea and diarrhea.  The side effects kicked in this morning and I am NOT a Happy Camper.

I know: TMI.  Sorry about that.  

―:☺:―

Not wrong:   the 1,147 tributes and condolences (at this writing) in comments at Lex's place.  About which, this:

Well... it's prolly too soon to tell, as I'm not done with my first cup yet. 

That said... I'm still sadder than sad, and just finished reading the 1,128th comment at Lex's place.  Isn't it simply astonishing how much impact this man had on SO many people... women, men, young boys, future chaplains, future pilots, junior officers, senior officers, petty officers, old retired mil-geezers, housewives, Americans, Aussies, Brits, and on and on?  There's a set of common thoughts that run through all the comments, aside from grief and admiration: that of love for a man of honesty and integrity, a guy who made an indelible mark upon all of those he touched.

I'm comforted by the fact I'm far from alone in the way I feel.  There's that, at least.

That's an excerpt from an e-mail conversation I had with a friend this morning, after she asked "How are you doing?"  I've read all of the comments on the Lex tribute post and have kept the thread open in my browser since Wednesday.  I've never seen anything like this on the 'net, ever.  The response to this one man's death is beyond astonishing.  It's unique... in my experience, at least.

Pretty Cool

I don't drink a lotta Bud... well, check that: I don't drink ANY Bud... but I sure would have bought a sixer o' this stuff if I lived in Winnipeg:

Good On Ya, Anheuser-Busch InBev.

h/t: The Usual Hockey Source.

Un-bee-leeb-able

So we're just in from a beer run out to the Class VI Store (with a side-trip to the base pharmacy to pick up some antibiotics to kill yet another one of those gum infections I seem to get every two or three months, Digressions Я Us) and I was shocked.  Shocked, I tell ya.  The Class VI Store had NO Guinness.  Well, no Guinness of the Stout variety; they did have Black Lager, but that ain't Capital-G Guinness.

Now I normally don't drink that swill fine Irish brew, except for a pint or two about every three years in the dead o' winter.  T'was a time when I would drink a lot of that stuff in the winter, but that was back when I lived in Ol' Blighty and the pubs were always a bit on the chilly side, often chillier than the beer in my glass.  But that was then...

This is now.  We went looking for Guinness in honor of our blog-father, for we hear there will be a nationwide get-together to honor Lex at 1700 hrs PST tomorrow.  There will be a physical gathering in San Diego at The Usual Place (a joint called Shakespeare's, so I'm told) and other gatherings are coming together in cities and towns all over this fair land.  The objective is to raise a glass o' Guinness... For Strength!... in honor of Lex.  Yeah, a wake, of sorts.  So now I have a mini-quest to fulfill before 1800 hrs local tomorrow.

I'm thinkin' that shouldn't be too tough of an assignment, no?  But one is left wonderin'... what does the Air Force (or the Cannon Class VI) have against Guinness?  And whatever will I do with the other five bottles?

Back To Normal, Sorta

Sunny's got a new episode...

Heh.  Young S.Fluke ain't a slut, coz she "totally prefers women..."  Heh.

―:☺:― 

A minor milestone:

A quarter of a million visits... and it ONLY took a lil over six and a half years!  We're certainly not the Mickey Dee's of the blogoverse, are we? 

When Life Imitates Art

Or sumthin' like that.  My phone, she doesn't lie:

It really IS dreary, in more ways than one.

Today's Happy Hour Soundtrack...

... is conspicuous by its absence.  There was no Happy Hour today, only a dark and dreary silence punctuated by much sadness.  That doesn't mean that we didn't hoist our glass in tribute or remembrance... far from it.  I'm pretty sure the Good Captain would have wanted it to be so.

I'm at a loss to describe or even explain how the death of a man whom I'd never met and with whom I only rarely communicated is just so PROFOUND.  I've spent the better part of my day reading the tributes posted by other milbloggers, his friends, shipmates, and those folks who "knew him when."  It says something that there are... at last count... 542 comments on the "Farewell" post at his blog.  But the best of all those comments?  A link to this:

That's a screenshot from the USNI blog.  It looks like "Rhythms" may be published, as so many of us had hoped, for so long.  I can't think of a more fitting tribute.

Update:  Memeorandum entry:

UltimaRatioReg / USNI Blog:

A Remarkable Man Has Stepped Into the Clearing; Captain Carroll LeFon USN (Ret.) 1960-2012  —  As the sun's rays broke over the top of the eastern hills this morning, the military blogging community was coming to grips with the loss of a truly remarkable man.

+

Discussion: Outside the Beltway, Questions and Observations, The PJ Tatler and RedState

You don't see that every day.

Tears

Words fail me.

March 7, 2012

I received some sad news earlier today that retired TOPGUN pilot US Navy Capt. Carroll LeFon, better known as Lex of the military blog Neptunus Lex, was killed Tuesday when a jet he was flying crashed at Naval Air Station Fallon in Nevada.

I didn’t have the privilege of knowing Carroll in person like many other bloggers have, but I did chat with him on occasion over e-mail throughout the years and as recently as last year when he won Best U.S. Military Veteran Blog.

He was also one of the first bloggers to appear here on Milblogging.com when and I did a short feature on him back in 2006. 

When I asked him why he started blogging he told me, “I guess you could say I started blogging as a way of sharpening my writing skills. Anyone who`s been to see, or flown fighter aircraft  has stories to tell, and I was interested in getting some of mine out there as well, and seeing what interest there might be. It`s also a sort of on-line diary of thoughts, and reactions to the days events - some of those, looking back, get pretty stale in time - but in doing so you form a kind of community of interest. A fun hobby that lets you interact with other people.”

You can learn more about Carroll on his About page.

His facebook page is here http://www.facebook.com/nep.lex

My prayers go out to the family and friends he left behind.

Here are posts online by other bloggers.

USNI Blog
Susan Katz Keating
Argghhh!!!

I will update this post later in the day with online tributes.

My prayers and condolences go out to Lex's family.  The milblogging community has lost its best and brightest,  the nation has lost a great patriot, and I've lost my blog-father.

RIP, Captain.  Thank you for all you did, for everyone.

Today's Happy Hour Soundtrack...

...isn't available ANYWHERE on these inter-tubes... which is a rare occurrence, to say the very least.  The tune I heard was a new-to-me song by Janis Ian... "Paris In Your Eyes"... and you can hear a brief sample of the song on Amazon, here.  The tune resonated with me (of course) mainly because of the lyrics, some of which, below.

First time I saw Paris in your eyes,
You told me how you loved me,
Under blue, Picasso skies.
We spoke of Michelangelo,
And we solved each other's lives,
The first time I saw Paris in your eyes.

Every time I touched you,
I could taste a breath of spring.
April in Paris is every lover's dream.
Every time I'd call your name,
It would sound so much in tune,
Just like Notre Dame Cathedral at high noon.

Speakin' of...

Some girl I used to know and YrHmblScrb, in Paris.  1980-sumthin'.

Yeah, it resonates.

―:☺:― 

In other news... this is what the WX looked like as I stepped out on to the verandah for Happy Hour:

It's yet another day in the maelstrom but it was bearable.  We can take the wind as long as it's warm outdoors... and it was that.  But I feel like I need a shower right now, for the dust it was fierce, Gentle Reader.  I look like I have an Aruba tan but it's just dirt.

Sue's Day

That's what Gutfeld calls Super Tuesday, about which... this:

I hope Romney sweeps the field, takes all the delegates, and demoralizes the opposition in such a way they all drop out by Friday.  Because then this shit would be over, for all intents and purposes, and we could get on with life until the general election campaign heats up around August or so.  "Get on with life" means not having to miss Red Eye, which is preempted yet again tonight in favor of election coverage... RE-RUNS of election coverage from earlier in the evening, at that.

Which means we'll miss this sorta snappy patter...

That was the half-time report from last night.  Gawd, but I love those guys.

―:☺:― 

A quick note o' thanks to those of you who took time to comment on my "Help Buck Get Laid" post... especially to Lou and Kris... coz wimmen know wimmen better than **I** know wimmen.

So... after sleeping on it last night I'm thinkin' an ad on CL ain't such a good ideer.  My life has zero drama and almost as few complications at the moment.  A woman would change that in ways that would... could... be both good and bad.  I'm not sure I wanna go there.

Yeah, I wanna have my Kate and Edith, too.  Aren't ALL guys like that?

Critique Wanted

So.  I've been mulling over some comments I received in the recent past and am thinkin' o' puttin' this lil blurb up in the Craig's List personals, for what should be obvious reasons.  I haven't pulled the trigger yet and don't really know if I will.  I'm soliciting input, if you'd be so kind.  Here it is, first draft...

 (title) Slightly Damaged, Eminently Serviceable (/title)

I think I'm looking for a woman but I'm not entirely sure.  To begin with... I've been out of a relationship for five years now; the last time I dipped my toe in those waters was unsatisfactory, at best.  To further elaborate, I've been divorced from my wife of 23 years for 14 years... she left me, I didn't leave her (she has her story, I have mine).  That lil catastrophe was the defining event of the last decade of my life.  Or two.  Yes, I have baggage... but I'm open to having my mind made right in this space.  On the other hand, life is pretty good, as far as that goes.  We ARE conflicted.

So.  Here we are.  I'll keep this brief and give ya a thumbnail sketch.  If you like what you see, drop me a line, give me some feedback and/or the particulars of what YOU'RE looking for, and let's talk.  If ya don't like what ya see, well... thanks for reading.

The basics, to start.  I'm nearly 67 (my birthday is later this month).  I'm a retired USAF Master Sergeant (22 years) and retired from a second career in the Information Technology bid'niz.  I'm solvent, which is to say I don't owe anyone anything, except for recurring monthly expenses.  I've been in Portales since 2002, when I arrived for a six month visit with my oldest son, who was stationed at Cannon AFB at the time.  He's long since gone on to bigger and better things; I'm still here.  I like Portales, the place fits my sensibilities and pace of life.

I'm in moderately good health, which is to say I'm drug and disease-free, drink socially (I'm not a drunk), and smoke one cigar a day, sometimes two (I quit cigarettes five years ago).  I stand 5' 8", weigh 125 pounds, have most o' my (red-blond/gray) hair and all my teeth.  I have chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which is in a managed condition but limits stuff I can do.  Other than that, I'm fine from both physical and mental standpoints.

I'm well-traveled, having lived in El-Eh (sorta grew up there), San Francisco (two years prior to arriving in P-Ville), Oklahoma City (two years), Detroit (ten years), Washington DC (two years), Rochester NY (four years), three years in Oregon (coastal and inland), North Dakota (one year, three days, eight hours and ten minutes), Mississippi (a couple o' years, off and on), London (nearly five years), Paris (three years), Tokyo (three years), and more than a few points in between.  I've been around the block and my outlook on life kinda-sorta reflects that.

Stuff I like to do:  Read, but mostly on the internet, i.e., the Wall Street Journal, various other periodicals, and blogs.  I'm a passionate hockey fan; I'm also very passionate about music in all its forms.  I'm not a movie kinda guy but I will watch something interesting.  I'm not much of a teevee guy, either.  I drive a pristine Mazda Miata and love to buzz around with the top down on nice days, and that includes taking day trips (or longer) to just about anywhere.

I keep a blog, Exile in Portales, to which I post daily.  The blog is pretty much the chronicle of my life and my archives go back six and a half years.  There is NO better way to find out more about me, if you wanna. 

What AM I looking for?  I really don't know.  Companionship.  A friend.  Someone to share stuff with.  Sex, as far as that goes, and it might not go all THAT far, given physical constraints.

So.  Interested?  Drop me a line.  I'm in an open state of mind.

Too much?  Too little?  Tone?  Content?  A massive case of The Dumb-Ass, personified?  Enquiring Minds™ wanna know...

Today's Happy Hour Soundtrack

About which: one of those oh-so-rare cases where a cover meets or exceeds the original version.  The Ever-Lovely Alison Krauss:

Here's the original, which is one of my all-time faves and I've mentioned THAT on more than a few occasions.  Ms. Krauss'es version jes might be my new fave, all thangs considered.  Haunting, and with most-excellent guitar accompaniment.

―:☺:― 

In other musical news, of a sort... who IS this man, why is he blinking at me, and why does he appear to be so pained, or resigned, or perplexed, or sumthin' not entirely good?

Oh, I know.  He's thinkin' that the number on his matchbook is old and faded.  Sumtimes it bees that way.

Inflation

First there's this from the Usual Source o' such thangs:

That's not so very funny, izzit?

And then there's this, speakin' o' inflation... a friendly serviceman from our local appliance store just left the premises o' El Casa Inmóvil de Pennington.  He was here to replace... unsuccessfully... the handle on my microwave, which broke off in my hot lil hand as I went to open the door of said nuker last week.  Well, it only broke at the top mount and still remains attached to the door, which is a good thang... mainly coz I'd starve if the nuker went tits-up.  But the serviceman brought the wrong part and the handle that was in bench stock ain't the right one, so it's back to the drawing board for to order a new handle... further repairs to be rescheduled in the near future, one hopes.

But my point is this: the wrong handle had "57.21" marked on the bag and I asked... incredulously... is that the price or the part number for that lil piece o' plastic?  "Price," sez he.  What's worse is the new, improved handle costs 85 Yankee Dollars.  I'm glad this is a warranty repair, otherwise I'd feel a serious need for flowers and chocolates after this experience, if not a lil kiss.

I Ain't Blue

So sez Bonnie on this gorgeous Sunday morning (fer me, prolly afternoon fer you):

All is right with the world today... we're taking our coffee on the verandah clad only in a tee shirt, checkin' out stuff on the laptop, casually smokin' an Isla del Sol Churchill, and gettin' ourselves in a proper frame o' mind to watch the Beloved Wings beat down the insufferable 'Hawks in about ten or fifteen minutes.

It DON'T get no better than this, Gentle Reader.

Another o' Life's Lil Mysteries

I guess I gotta go buy new slippers, eh?

One wonders exactly how thangs like this happen.  By that I mean the left slipper is fallin' right apart, with three MAJOR holes in it, while the right slipper is completely intact, with nothing so much as a tear or anythang.  Lotsa scuffs, though.  I suppose I shouldn't complain, coz these slippers lasted me for well over 20 years.  Seriously.  Here's me wearin' those same slippers, back in 1990:

Christmas, 1990.  Ferndale, Michigan.

I just KNOW I'm not gonna be able to find exactly what I want, once I start lookin'.  I think I'll begin with LL Bean, though... which is where the current slippers came from.

―:☺:― 

Semi-mysterious...  I mentioned this past Thursday that we had the windows and door (singular, there's but one) open yet again on what was another nice day (for winter) here on The High Plains o' New Mexico.  What I didn't mention is the fact I turn the furnace off on these sorts o' days to keep from heating all o' P-Ville while I'm out on the verandah.  So, I mosey over to the thermostat to turn off the heater and what do I see?  The heat is off, already.  And why is this noteworthy?  The last time we had a day like Thursday was the previous Sunday, so that means I went for the better part o' a week without my furnace bein' turned on.  This apartment must be a whole hella lot better-insulated than I give it credit fer bein', mainly coz we dropped into the high 20s on most nights this past week.

The heat is still off, as we speak.  This will do great thangs for the budget.

Update, later that same day.  Well, the design has changed slightly over the last 20+ years and I do believe the price has gone up, too.  But what hasn't?

My tootsies shall be warm and stylish again in three to five days.  Well... warm, anyhoo.

Hunh?

News item:

China, the world’s most populous nation, is the first country in the world to reach 1 billion mobile subscribers. According to the country’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, mobile phone subscriptions in China had reached 997 million by late February, and were expected reach one billion by the end of the month, AllThingsD reported. In 2007, China’s mobile market surpassed 500 million subscribers; if the MIIT’s figures are correct, the market has doubled in the last five years. Out of China’s roughly 1.3 billion citizens, 73.6% of the population own a cell phone. In the United States, cell phone penetration is currently estimated to be approximately 103.9%.

It's not that China has a billion cell phone users... hell, they have 1.3 billion people so having that many cell phone users doesn't stretch credibility.  No, my issue is that 103.9% percent number for the US.  I understand that might mean some people have more than one phone, but still: wouldn't that be 100% penetration and no more?  I used to HATE asshats that told me they wanted a "110% effort" or some other bullshit like that.  You got all o' sumthin'?  That's 100%... you can't get any more than that.

Broadening, Yadda, Yadda XLIII

I did say we're on about Porters of late, didn't I?  Why yes... just yesterday, in fact.  We added a new one to the fridge today: Rogue Brewery's Mocha Porter.  Which looks a lot like this:

The Bros like this one a lot, too, rating the brew "Exceptional."  I'm beginning to think they've yet to meet a Porter they didn't like and there's some small body o' evidence to support that suspicion.  Excerpt:

Just bought a six pack of the stuff, very tasty. I smelled that Rogue aroma from a mile away like a police drug dog sniffing for coke.

Great American porter, nice how they got so close with the chocolate and coffee flavours. I would not mind seeing this beer more often.

Well, we're only half-way through our first one but I tend to agree with Mr. Alström... we'll prolly see more o' this brew as time moves on.  The beer is aptly yclept... that mocha flavor comes shining right through.  Great good stuff, Maynard.

In other beer news... my local beer emporium no longer carries Abita beers and I have complained, mightily.  It turns out that I am NOT alone, as it's not the beer emporium's problem... it's the local distributor who dropped Abita.  Today's beer emporium attendant was very sympathetic as he mentioned that most of the Abita that went out the door was sold to employees... and me.  He added that last to appeal to my vanity, I'm sure, but his point was well-taken.

So... he then says "Well, could I interest you in some Singha?  It's big in Bangkok."  I just smiled and said "I know... but no thanks.  We're into the Porters right now."  As for the knowing... I've prolly put away more Singha, IN Bangkok and the provinces... than that dude's ever seen, given his (relatively) tender years.  But that's one of those "ya hadda be there" kinda stories.

Update, somewhat later:  It occurred to me to question just why the beer guy offered up Singha as an alternative to Abita. I'm wonderin' if it was sumthin' along the lines o' parallelism, especially after I waxed nostalgic about N'Awlins and the great good times I had there in the way-back.  It should be noted that I did NOT wax nostalgic about Bangkok, even though I could have. 

Bangkok and N'Awlins DO have certain similarities... both cities are sultry (as in weather, as well as other areas) sensuous, sinful, friendly, welcoming, and immensely entertaining for the casual visitor, appealing as they do to all five of the senses, not the least of which are the culinary marvels that abound in both places.  The cities could almost be equal, but I'd give the edge to N'Awlins, on two counts: the inherent gentility of the Old South and the architecture.  And Mardi Gras.  Bangkok (and the whole o' Thailand) has its Water Festival, but nuthin' equals Mardi Gras.  I'm not just bein' an America-Firster with that statement... you KNOW, if you've been.

So there's that.  And there's this:

Goring Oxen

An item from the Usual USAF Source:

The Budget Balancing Act at HASC: Of all the items in the Air Force's just-submitted Fiscal 2013 budget proposal, the one that has attracted a bit of heat is the planned cut to the Air National Guard, said Rep. Adam Smith (D-Wash.), House Armed Services Committee ranking member, on Thursday. Smith told reporters in Washington, D.C., that he is having discussions with the Air Force, but has not decided on this issue nor "frankly, many others." Many state governors and adjutants general have already claimed that those cuts to the Air Guard—which would shed force structure and some 5,100 positions—are disproportionately high. Smith said many lawmakers on Capitol Hill are speaking about proposed defense cuts that they don't like, but are also making noise about a $1.3 trillion federal budget deficit. He noted that he's yet to hear anyone on Capitol Hill say, "'Here's where you should cut.'" He added, "That's what we ought to do." (See also Unity Needed and Trading Size for Quality.)

—Marc V. Schanz

Followed by a 'toon from one o' the other Usual Sources:

Hand in glove, no?  Well, not exactly... in that deciding where to cut isn't exactly like continuing to spend, spend, spend.  But it's pretty damned close.  I find it funny that the reflexive reaction o' congressional Dimmocrats is "cut defense" when one is talkin' about trimming the budget but they change their tune when proposed cuts happen in their states or districts.  Republicans, too, for that matter... but at least the GOP doesn't call for wholesale cuts in the DoD budget.

Today's Happy Hour Soundtrack

We returned to our Sensitive Seventies Kinda Guy roots today, what with changin' our station to Joni Mitchell radio... and we were originally thinkin' about posting Lennon's "Watching the Wheels" until we sat down to put this post up and this tune came on...

Halt.  Whoa.  Full-stop.  Van The Man will override anyone, any time, and the fact that this tune... as heard on Pandora... even exists on the Tube O' You was reason enough to change horses in mid-stream.  

So, OK.  This Morrison tune isn't exactly a seventies sorta thang, given it came out in the mid-'80s.  But Van is one of my perennial favorites and the invoker of many, many precious memories.  So there's that.

But that doesn't mean we can't do a two-fer, does it?  So....

People say I'm lazy dreaming my life away
Well they give me all kinds of advice designed to enlighten me
When I tell them that I'm doing fine watching shadows on the wall
Don't you miss the big time boy you're no longer on the ball

I'm just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round
I really love to watch them roll
No longer riding on the merry-go-round
I just had to let it go

And that was what we were really on about today... watching the wheels go round and round.  "Letting go" ain't a piece part o' all this... on the contrary, holding ON to what once was, and shall ever be... is one of our principal objectives.  The watching of wheels is an integral part o' that.

―:☺:―

Another integral part o' wheel-watching... Porters.  We've never posted a post-Happy Hour pic before, opting as we do for the optics of a full glass and such.  But we're changing up today:

I've really been into the Porters of late and pictured above are two of my favorites, both empty, both consumed, both contributing to my overall sense of well-being and satisfaction with our world as it it is today.  Well, that and the 70-degree temps outdoors.  It's another one of those door-and-windows-wide-open sorta days which we're spending, in large part, out on the verandah.

I do believe I'll have another... Beer Me!

MY Kinda Martial Arts!

And I'm just as good... if not better... than these guys.

h/t: Occasional Correspondent Lin.

Today's Happy Hour Soundtrack...

...featured a schlock tune, but it's good (and pertinent) schlock.

I'm thirty three fifty three for a moment
Still the man, but you see I'm of age
A kid on the way
A family on my mind (That was oh-so-true at 53, in my particular case)

{...}

Half time goes by
Suddenly you're wise
Another blink of an eye
Sixty seven is gone
The sun is getting high
We're moving on

Ah, yes.  My 67th turn around the sun will be completed in less than a month's time, but 100?  That's only a pipe dream.  Each breath comes harder than the last and I'll consider it a gift from The Deity At Hand if I see 70, all things considered.  Still and even: there are nice thoughts in this tune.  I'm not immune to schlock, as long as it's good schlock.