The Way We Were…

…as opposed to the way we are aren’t.

Harbor Beach, Michigan. June 17, 1978.

In the beginning…during our courtship… The Second Mrs. Pennington and I spent a lot of time at this little coffee shop not far from her apartment in Musashi-Koganei (a Tokyo suburb). Like most Tokyo coffee shops at the time, this one had a really excellent, state-of-the art stereo system and a huge collection of albums. Patrons were encouraged, and I mean encouraged…it was almost demanded…to let the owners know their preferences in music. It was customary for the shop to play an entire album side of whichever artist you requested. Early on…within hours, if not minutes…TSMP and I discovered we both had a mutual love and admiration for Neil Young. And the help at “our” coffee shop learned this pretty quickly, as well. From about our third or fourth visit it became standard procedure for the help to put Neil’s “Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere” (side one) on as soon as we walked in, no questions asked. With big smiles all around, especially from us.

So…in celebration of what was, what could have been, and to a much lesser extent, what IS…here’s “Cinnamon Girl” (side one, cut one) from that album.

Lyrics:

I wanna live
with a cinnamon girl
I could be happy
the rest of my life
With a cinnamon girl.

A dreamer of pictures
I run in the night
You see us together,
chasing the moonlight,
My cinnamon girl.

Ten silver saxes,
a bass with a bow
The drummer relaxes
and waits between shows
For his cinnamon girl.

A dreamer of pictures
I run in the night
You see us together,
chasing the moonlight,
My cinnamon girl.

Pa sent me money now
I'm gonna make it somehow
I need another chance
You see your baby loves to dance
Yeah...yeah...yeah.

Happy Anniversary.

(PS: The white tux was her idea, Lou…not mine. Being the wise old man I was (hah!), I protested weakly but gave in. I knew which side my bread was buttered on — then, as now. I have an immediate grasp of the obvious.)

A Very Slow Saturday

So. Here it is, a bit way past noon, and past my self-imposed posting deadline, which also happens to be noon. Arbitrarily so, I might add. But noon seems reasonable for a guy who has no particular place to be at any given time, and absolutely no reason at all to be anywhere other than where I choose. Still and even, one needs structure in one’s life if your principal objective is to retain your sanity. Simply because it all just falls apart without structure. I’ve seen it happen, and it ain’t pretty.

That was a rather long digression from the original thought, which was: I’m late. What’s worse is I have little or nothing to say this morning. But that’s OK, I suppose. Saturdays are low-traffic days— the lowest, actually — as most folks are off doing things that involve real-life on Saturdays rather than reading blogs. I can’t come up with a better rationalization for not having material, Gentle Reader.

But I can, and will, point you to a rather amazing essay in two parts by the inimitable Bill Whittle: “You Are Not Alone.” This is the best thing I’ve read this month—inspirational, powerful, and above all…full of TRUTH. You will not be disappointed.

(h/t: Philmon)

Oh…wait! One more thing. Yesterday I joined a Yahoo group called USAF Radar Sites Veterans; out of former professional interest, ya know. So this morning I received my first e-mail digest of yesterday’s message traffic from/to the group. I found the following message (a part of the digest) quite interesting:

Hello Tom and the rest of the "gang,"

Yes, I remember it well. Before being stationed at Yuma/Vincent('58-'59), I remember deploying there once a year for gunnery. We would fly our F-86D/L's in, bringing our T-Birds for parts pick-up flights and runs to home base. We also brought our motor scooters (most of us had them) because there was not enough transportation at the base to run us back and forth from the motel near down-town where we stayed for the first two weeks. The AF would transport the scooters in for us in a C-124 or C-119.

The deployment was for a month, the first half we lived off-base, the second half on. We really looked forward to shooting on the range (mostly at Delmar targets {chaff filled fiberglass "bombs"}), but the headquarters weenies would come out of the woodwork and try to get on the schedule darned near every day...

The clubs were always jumping! It was a month long party... on weekends we would fly all the aircraft back to home station to visit the wife and kids (except for the few lucky ones that didn't get an aircraft that weekend... There were more pilots than aircraft), who would stay behind and continue the party.

There were lots of runs to Mexico to bring back cheap booze and five gallon cans of pure alcohol. We would get a couple of stock-pots from the mess hall and put fruit in them, pour in the alcohol, put on the lid and wait for a few days. A peach or a slice of watermelon would knock you on your ear. Good stuff!

These days the clubs, especially the O'clubs, are dead as door-nails. NO ONE but the retirees uses them. Everyone is afraid of having one too many and ending their career. No more "stag bars" or "happy hours." Sadly, it is a different Air Force than the one we knew. They don't even speak the same language any longer.

I'm glad I served where and when I did, and Yuma/Vincent, later Tyndall, were among the best. Lots of fond memories...

(Nickname redacted)
(Full name redacted again)
Brig. General, USAF(Ret.)

I’ve removed the general’s name even though this message was sent to over 2,600 members of the USAF Radar Veterans group. The Yahoo group is a members-only organization and has some semblance of privacy and/or exclusivity. Not so with EIP: this is a public forum. I simply cannot imagine a general officer on active duty in the current force waxing nostalgic about great good times that involved mass-quantities of alcohol, non-stop partying, and the like. And more’s the pity. “We work hard and we party hard” used to be a very common expression in all the military services, but those days are long gone. As I told SN1 and SN2 in an e-mail this morning: this is not your father’s Air Force. I agree with the general: I’m glad I served when and where I did, with emphasis on the when. I just don’t think I’d be a good fit in Today’s Air Force.

Once again: more’s the pity.

Today’s Pic: Further evidence of my lack of motivation today…yet another pic from Arches. I thought the rock formation in the background was particularly stunning, rising as it does on the top of a hill. Sort of a geological crowning moment, as it were.

Arches National Park. June 2, 2007.

What I Like About Texas...

Good friend Lori in La-La Land e-mailed the link to this oh-so-excellent video. I HAD to share it with all y'all. The only change I'd have made would have been to substitute Shiner for Lone Star...but that's a nit, ain't it? (BTW: wanna guess which Lone Star reference in the vid is my favorite?)

Thanks, Lori!!

Hockey Awards and Cigars

Yesterday I wrote “…if there’s ANY justice at all in this world, Nick Lidstrom will win his fifth Norris Trophy as the NHL’s best defenseman.” Justice:

TORONTO -- There is little doubt that Detroit’s Nicklas Lidstrom is the best defenseman of his generation and, perhaps, on his way to becoming the best ever.

The 37-year-old won his fifth Norris Trophy, awarded by the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association to the League’s best defenseman, at the 2007 NHL Award Show here at the Elgin Theater on Thursday night.

This time, Lidstrom beat out a pair of Stanley Cup champions in the Anaheim duo of Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger. Niedermayer, who finished second to Lidstrom this year, won the 2004 Norris Trophy to break Lidstrom’s three-year stranglehold on the award. Pronger, meanwhile, has the 2000 Norris Trophy on his resume. That year, Pronger edged out Lidstrom, who was the runner-up.

But, beating quality opposition is nothing new to Lidstrom, who ranked third among all players in ice time this year (27:29), led all defenseman with a plus-40 rating and was fifth among defenseman in scoring with 62 points, including a whopping 49 assists.

Those gaudy numbers leave even his stiffest competitors doffing their helmets to Lidstrom.

I missed the awards show, but I was NOT alone. Millions— well, hundreds of thousands; this is hockey we’re talking about —of US fans also missed the show, and it wasn’t OUR fault. Frickin’ Versus. It’s hard to imagine ESPN screwing things up like that. But in their defense…it was “technical problems” that canceled last night’s live broadcast. That said, Versus could have run a banner across the bottom of the screen telling the legions of NHL fans tuning in that there would be a tape-delay rebroadcast (Film at 11:00!!) of the Awards show. But there wasn’t, ergo: Screw-Up.

Oh, btw: Sid the Kid wins the Hart Trophy (league MVP, as determined by hockey writers), the Pearson Trophy (league MVP, as determined by the players), and the Art Ross Trophy (points leader for the year); Brodeur wins the Vezina (best goalie), Alain Vigneault of the Vancouver Canucks won the Jack Adams (best coach). A list of all the winners is available at nhl.com, natch. Crosby cleaned up, didn’t he? The guy really IS that good. Pittsburgh fans are in for a long run of great hockey, much like Edmonton back in their salad days of the early 80’s. Think “Gretzky.”

Other hockey news…Can a 42-year-old goalie find success and happiness as the league’s oldest goalie in the modern era? Stay tuned this coming year to find out, because The Dominator is BACK. I think that’s pretty danged good news. Oh, Chelios recently signed a one-year deal, too. Get ready for more…much more…BS about Detroit being “old.” Until they win a lot, then it becomes “experience.”

So…Lou and I have had an exchange in the comments to my cigar post— all on the up-and-up and civil, of course — about cigars. The thrust of her comment was her father-in-law smoked cigars, constantly, and he and those around him reeked of cigar smoke. Which set me to thinking. My female acquaintance, whom I recently introduced to the pleasures of a fine cigar, had similar thoughts, i.e., “cigars stink.”

Au contraire, mes amis: cheap cigars stink. Good cigars, of which there are many, are aromatic and shouldn’t drive anyone from the room where they’re being smoked, with the possible exception of allergy sufferers. Cheap cigars— like say White Owls, Phillies Blunts, Swishers, Hav-A-Tampas, and the like—will drive me out of the room, and I love cigars. That said, I take my cigars outdoors. Smoke still fouls the environment, no matter how good it originally smells, by getting into and on every-flippin’-thing. I’m still cleaning residual cigarette smoke off the walls and such in El Casa Móvil De Pennington, and it’s been six months since I gave those nasty little buggers up.

One more thing about cigars…shopping for fine cigars is a wonderful experience. I had my first such experience while living in London in 1980 and stumbled into it quite by accident. The Second Mrs. Pennington and I were strolling down Jermyn Street, indulging our fantasies about bespoke shoes, clothing, expensive jewelry (on her part), and such when we happened by Davidoff’s, which is just off Jermyn Street. A wild hair overcame me and we went in…to a revelation. I’d never, ever, seen a humidor room before. And by room, I mean a glass-enclosed space the size of a small living room or a large master bedroom, filled floor-to-ceiling with cigars…wonderful cigars…most of which were Cuban. You cannot imagine the wonderful, woodsy, spicy aromas that filled that room, unless you’ve experienced it. As I said: revelation.

TSMP and I left the store with a number of cigars (Cuban, of course, there being no embargo in Ol' Blighty), of which she said “You’re not smoking those around me!” She changed her tune after I lit the first one, because, as I said: they smell wonderful. Every time I was in that part of The City after that I stopped in and bought a few cigars, in addition to exploring other, similar shops…of which there are many. I wonder if that’s still true, in this politically correct day and age.

And finally…I found a neat tobacconist in San Antonio when I went there last fall, and I do believe I blogged about it. The shop is a wonderful little store with a modest but adequate humidor room (about the size of a large walk-in closet) and a good selection of my favorite brands. I wish that place were closer to me, but, alas, it isn’t. These days I order my cigars off the internet, but that’s because (a) there aren’t any (real) tobacconists within 150 miles of P-Town and (b) I know what I like/want…so buying isn’t a problem. But I miss being able to “shop” a good humidor room in the company of folks who know and love the product. Who knows what I’m missing?

Today’s Pic: YrHmblScrb, All Dressed Up with Somewhere to Go. Would you believe that everything I needed for 17 days was crammed, stuffed, and otherwise jammed into the two containers you see on the back of the bike? Well, it’s almost true, Gentle Reader. I did ship a box to SN1’s place containing good slacks, dress shoes, a decent shirt and a sport coat…all for the graduation. It just wouldn’t have done to appear at a function like that dressed like this…now would it?

Cache La Poudre river canyon, May 21, 2007.

Update: An interesting essay on the humidification of cigars in Britain...if you're interested. With illustrations!

Flag Day

Old Glory on the stern of the USS Mason (DDG 87), Port Canaveral, Florida.
April, 2003.

I don’t have a “flyable” flag any longer… and no place to really fly one, even if I did… which is a break from long-standing tradition. I still have two flags in my possession, but neither is suitable for display. Or rather, I choose NOT to display them. The first is the flag that draped my father’s casket; the second is a small flag in a shadow box with mementoes from my USAF career. My father’s flag is folded and put away for safe-keeping, the shadow box flag is…well, in the shadow box.

But I AM celebrating Flag Day. I hope you are, too.

I received an e-mail from the Air Force Association this morning announcing the selection of USAF’s Twelve Outstanding Airmen for 2007. Congratulations to:

• SrA Linn Aubrey, Medical Laboratory Journeyman, Lackland AFB, TX, AETC
• SMSgt Tammy L. Brangard-Hern, Personnel Superintendent, Randolph AFB, TX, AFDW
• SMSgt Ronald A. Colaninno, Security Forces Craftsman, McGuire AFB, New Jersey, AFRC
• TSgt Jeremy L. Griffin, Fire Protection Station Chief, Patrick AFB, Florida, AFSPC
• SSgt Matthew J. Hefti, Explosive Ordnance Disposal Craftsman, Hill AFB, Utah, AFMC
• SrA Matthew C. Hulsman, Explosive Ordnance Disposal Apprentice, Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, PACAF
• TSgt Sachiko D. Jones, Lodging Manager, Royal Air Force Alconbury AB, United Kingdom, USAFE
• SSgt Jonathan C. McCoy, Pararescueman, Pope AFB, North Carolina, AFSOC
• SSgt David Orvosh,, Combat Control Journeyman, Pope AFB, North Carolina, AFSOC
• SSgt Richard W. Rose, Jr., Aerial Combat Photographer, Charleston AFB, South Carolina, AMC
• MSgt Lawrence B. Taylor, Air Traffic Controller, Kingsley Field, Oregon, ANG
• SSgt Geoffrey M. Welsh, Military Working Dog Handler, Seymour Johnson AFB, North Carolina, ACC

Each and every year since 1956 AFA selects 12 outstanding enlisted members to represent the “best of the best.” I quote:

“AFA initiated the Outstanding Airman award in 1956 to recognize outstanding enlisted personnel for superior leadership, job performance, community involvement, and personal achievements. AFA honors the Twelve Outstanding Airmen at a special banquet held during our Air & Space Conference in Washington, DC. The Twelve are chosen by an Air Force selection board made up of the Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force, a general officer and selected MajCom Command Chiefs. The Air Force Chief of Staff approves the final selections.”

You can read a short history of the program here. Biographies of this year’s honorees haven’t been released as of yet…I’ll follow up when they are.

Speaking of awards… Don’t miss the 2007 NHL Awards show tonight at 1930 hrs (Eastern) on Versus. It should be a great show, and if there’s ANY justice at all in this world, Nick Lidstrom will win his fifth Norris Trophy as the NHL’s best defenseman.

Short post today. The weather looks like it’s gonna be cooperative, so it’s off to wash, polish, and wax the Green Hornet. I may be back later.

Apropos of Nothing, Part Deux

Happiness is the UPS Guy appearing at your door with a brand-new box of cigars and a free sampler pack containing six of Cigar.com’s house-brand cigars.

I think I just might go outside, sit my ol’ ass down in the gentle (?) breeze, and sample one of the house brands. And the sun is over the yardarm, albeit just barely, so I won’t feel guilty about pouring a suitable libation to go along…

It’s that kinda day. As is every day, come to think on it.

Apropos of Nothing…

Robin over at Chickenhawk Express nails my heretofore unexpressed and unwritten thoughts concerning (About) BDS, BBS (Bush Betrayal Syndrome) and IDS (Immigration Derangement Syndrome).

What she said. We right-of-center folks are eating our own, young and old, and nothing…I repeat: nothing… good is coming out of this. And don’t think the idiots opposition on the Left doesn’t realize it; they’re laughing out loud at our angst. I wish it would STOP. Fat chance.

Hat tip: The Anchoress.

Is It Wednesday? Already?

The “Two-State Solution,” Palestinian style… From the Jerusalem Post:

A sign of Fatah's predicament in the Gaza Strip was illustrated late Monday night when its leaders announced a unilateral cease-fire, only to be snubbed by Hamas. Fatah leaders also made urgent appeals to a number of Arab governments to interfere to stop the fighting, but their calls have fallen on deaf ears. The Egyptians, Saudis and Jordanians - who have, until now, been making huge efforts to end the anarchy in the Palestinian areas - are all fed up with the Palestinians.

Unless the fighting stops in the next day or two, the entire Gaza Strip is likely to fall into the hands of Hamas. All Fatah can do now is vent its anger at the remaining handful of Hamas representatives in the West Bank. The majority of the Hamas leaders in the West Bank are in Israeli jails and the Islamic movement does not have a strong military presence there.

[…]

One of the options facing Abbas is to break up the coalition partnership with Hamas and to officially declare war on the Islamic movement.

Whatever decision Abbas and his Fatah lieutenants take, it will be hard to change the new reality that has been created on the ground, especially in the Gaza Strip. As of today, the Palestinians can boast that they have two entities - one in the Gaza Strip run by Muslim fundamentalists and another one in the West Bank under the control of secular Fatah leaders.

"The two-state solution has finally worked," a Palestinian journalist in the Gaza Strip commented sarcastically. "Today, all our enemies have good reason to celebrate."

There are lots of interesting points in the referenced article, not the least of which is the claim the rest of the Arabs are “fed up” with the Palestinians and appear to be content with letting Gaza slide into full-blown civil war. The second interesting point, to me, is Abbas’ failure to grasp that the issue has already been forced by Hamas. It appears Hamas has absolutely NO intention of trying to compromise with Fatah, and one wonders what alternate reality Abbas is living in if he really thinks he can come to an accommodation with Hamas. And the third interesting point (from my POV, once again) is that the West was fully justified in withholding aid and support from the Hamas-dominated government. One can only imagine what sort of Hell would have eventually erupted if Hamas had had access to funds to more completely arm its militias. It’s obviously bad enough in Gaza, but it’s not too far beyond the pale to imagine the same sort of scenario breaking out in the West Bank, as well. Not that Israel would have let that happen…but the “what-if” scenarios involving a fully-funded Hamas government are numerous and universally bad.

Looks pretty damned bad.

The NYT has more, as does Captain Ed and The Belmont Club.

In today’s “More Preaching to the Choir” department, there’s this from the WSJ’s Opinion Journal: “Terrorists Don’t Like Art.” The lede grafs:

BAGHDAD, Iraq--Among the agonies imposed on Baghdad by tormentors in the guise of self-appointed religious enforcers is the proscription of fun. Novelty, convenience, any kind of post-Quranic ease from hardship infuriates them. Ice cream is an abomination, as is mechanized garbage collection, because such delights didn't exist in the time of the prophet. A story is told that last year, on a road overtaken by jihadis, a DVD purveyor was ordered to close because DVDs didn't exist in the time of the prophet. "Neither did the BMW you drove up in," he responded. "When you come back and tell me again on a camel, then I'll listen." They shot him some days later, for his insolence.

Imagine, therefore, the onus of courage on anyone who dares open an art gallery, let alone keeps it running since January 2006 with 26 shows and as many receptions. Such a place exists: Madarat, the last active gallery in Baghdad, just up a side road next to the Turkish Embassy in the Waziriya district near the city center. Imagine the risks involved for patrons attending an opening--how to get there safely, and then how long to stay en bloc as a provocative target, even how much precious gas to use up for art's sake. We decided to go on a quiet day at the gallery, inconspicuously and with minimal protection, hoping to sneak through town unnoticed. I was accompanied by Karima, a sculptor of ceramics who knew the place. Just to be visible in the back seat of a car with a woman offers provocation enough in many neighborhoods--Karima made the throat-cutting gesture as illustration--so we took a circuitous route to improve our chances.

Good stuff. I think you’ll like it, Gentle Reader.

So. I’ve had this project on the back-burner for nearly a week now, and the weather isn’t cooperating one whit. The project? Restore the Green Hornet to her former glistening, gleaming, pristine state of glossy goodness. Last week I bought a tube of Meguiar’s “Scratch-X” (to take out those annoying swirl marks in the clear-coat), a brand-new tin of Meguiar’s Gold-Class paste wax, and enough fresh new terry toweling and polishing bonnets to completely envelop a two-story building. All for naught, so far. First there was all that rain I alluded to last week and even commented on at length in places. There’s no rain in the forecast today, but the wind is up and airborne dust is anathema to waxing a vehicle…for obvious reasons. After I do the Hornet I plan to do the ‘Zuki, too. Assuming my motivation holds in the face of uncooperative weather. And that’s beginning to look rather dicey, at the moment.

I hate it when this happens.

Today’s Pic: Another shot of SN3, me, and My Favorite Blue Motorized Conveyance. Just prior to taking off for the back roads in Colorado’s beautiful Front Range.

May 20, 2007. Fort Collins, CO.

Anniversaries

A couple of anniversaries today…one universal in nature and one not. The universal:

It was 20 years ago today that President Reagan literally rattled the world, in every sense of the word, when, standing at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate, he implored Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down this wall!” Berliners (and most Germans, East and West) went crazy; the rest of the world, including our own State department…not so much. As a matter of fact, the State Department had tried to remove the “tear down this wall” line and references from the President’s speech, calling them “needlessly provocative,” among other things. Here’s Peter Robinson, the man who wrote the speech, quoted at Power Line:

With three weeks to go before it was delivered, the speech was circulated to the State Department and the National Security Council. Both attempted to suppress it. The draft was naïve. It would raise false hopes. It was clumsy. It was needlessly provocative. State and the NSC submitted their own alternate drafts—my journal records that there were no fewer than seven. In each, the call to tear down the wall was missing.

When in early June the President and his party reached Italy (I remained in Washington), Ken Duberstein, the deputy chief of staff, sat the President down in the garden of the palazzo in which he was staying, then briefed him on the objections to my draft. Reagan asked Duberstein’s advice. Duberstein replied that he thought the line about tearing down the wall sounded good. “But I told him, ‘You’re President, so you get to decide.’ And then,” Duberstein recalls, “he got that wonderful, knowing smile on his face, and he said, ‘Let’s leave it in.’”

The day the President arrived in Berlin, State and NSC submitted yet another alternate draft. Yet in the limousine on the way to the Berlin Wall, the President told Duberstein he was determined to deliver the controversial line. Reagan smiled. “The boys at State are going to kill me,” he said, “but it’s the right thing to do.”

“It’s the right thing to do.” Indeed. And it’s one of the many reasons Ronald Reagan is one of the most beloved presidents of our times…not just here in these United States, but world-wide.

Related, in yesterday’s WSJ Opinion Journal: “Hitting the Wall; Reagan’s Prophetic Berlin Speech, 20 Years Later.”

And that not-so-universal anniversary? The Second Mrs. Pennington is 51 today, which makes today an important day for three or four of us, at the very least. I strongly suspect know there are more.

Happy Birthday, Paula!

So…while I was laying in bed at oh-dark-thirty this morning, trying to decide whether to get up or attempt to go back to sleep, I hear this interesting factoid from one of the talking heads on the WX Channel: only 14% of Americans will take a two-week or longer vacation this year. The other 86% simply add a day or two to their weekends and “make do.” Thinking that the talking head was quoting from some recent article, survey, or some such, I went googling. The best I could come up with was a year-old article in the NYT, which blamed high gas prices and a fear of leaving the workplace for an extended amount of time for Americans’ stay-at-home habits. Excerpt:

SEATTLE, Aug. 19 — In August, when much of the world is hard at work trying to do nothing, Jeff Hopkins and his wife, Denise, usually take a week to chase fish in Olympic National Park — a ferry ride and two tanks of gas from here with a boat in tow. But this year, their summer vacation is dead, a victim of $3-a-gallon gas and job uncertainty.

[…]

“The idea of somebody going away for two weeks is really becoming a thing of the past,” said Mike Pina, a spokesman for AAA, which has nearly 50 million members in North America. “It’s kind of sad, really, that people can’t seem to leave their jobs anymore.”

Shrinking-vacation syndrome has gotten so bad that at least one major American company, the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, has taken to shutting down its entire national operation twice a year to ensure that people stop working — for about 10 days over Christmas, and 5 days or so around the Fourth of July.

And then there was this year-old piece at ABC News, which says essentially the same sort of things: (a) Americans are too insecure to leave the workplace and (b) they don’t want to deal with the “catching up” (e.g., 300+ e-mails in your in-box) required after being away for two weeks or longer.

I can relate, sorta. The two-week vacation was a rarity for me in my working days. I took a few extended vacations, but not many. It wasn’t a matter of money, it was the fact that I was always working on some very important project— corporate life or death stuff —none of which I remember now. That’s how important those projects were in the general scheme of things: they are not remembered by me…or (I strongly suspect) anyone else, for that matter.

Take your vacation: no one ever laid on his death bed wishing he had spent more time at work.

OK…all that said… My “Summer of Profligate Spending” is OVER. I did my usual monthly financial review yesterday, which occurs sometime during the week I download the current month’s credit card statement. It’s not like I didn’t know this was coming, but the realization that I’ve run up back-to-back $2,000.00+ credit card bills sorta smacked me in the face. Like I said: I knew it was coming. Getting outfitted for the new bike (last month) and a two and a half week road trip (this month) ain’t cheap. But it’s time to pull back just a wee bit and return to my normal $500.00 ~ $750.00 per month credit card expenditures for a couple of months. Then we’ll go nuts again in August.

Today’s Pic: The Birthday Girl, taken last month in a bike shop in Fort Collins, CO while we were shopping for bike paraphernalia for SN3. Not bad for 51, eh? Hell, not bad at all, regardless of age. No left-handed compliments here…

She's Whole Again...

Just back from the Big(ger) City^TM… Well, assuming a half-hour ago counts as “just back.” I had to take the ‘Zuki over to the Suzuki store at 0800 this morning for her 3,000 mile check-up and to get that oh-so-expensive piece of plastic replaced. She looks like a sweet young thing once again, now that she’s had cosmetic surgery and a transfusion of fresh oil. I hope to keep her that way…

Lost my ‘net connection sometime last evening (after I went to bed) and it was still out when I left this morning. Thus, there was no surfing and no posting this morning. I’ve yet to make the rounds, but figured I'd put up today’s pic and a short blurb before I do. I may be back later. And I may not.

Today’s Pic: And an explanation. First the pic…a long telephoto “grip and grin” shot of granddaughter Monique receiving her diploma. This may be the only such pic in existence, although I did notice a professional photographer strategically placed during the ceremony.

You’ve been quite kind, Gentle Reader, in not pressing the point about graduation pics. The reason I haven’t posted any is simple: there aren’t any others besides this one. When I said things were hectic at SN1’s house on graduation day I was probably understating the case. There wasn’t time…or time wasn’t made…for cap ‘n’ gown pics. People got right to work.

And now you know the rest of the story…

June 1, 2007. Ogden, Utah.

Après Le Deluge…

(The title being a reference to the stupendous amount of rain we received last night; "buckets" would be an understatement of gigantic proportions. Which is neither here nor there. Well, it IS here... But let's get started.)

Courtesy of the NYT… “The Jihadi’s Guidebook.”

With Islamist violence brewing in various parts of the world, the set of rules that seek to guide and justify the killing that militants do is growing more complex.

This jihad etiquette is not written down, and for good reason. It varies as much in interpretation and practice as extremist groups vary in their goals. But the rules have some general themes that underlie actions ranging from the recent rash of suicide bombings in Algeria and Somalia, to the surge in beheadings and bombings by separatist Muslims in Thailand.

There are rules, according to the authors of this piece, and I find them somewhat interesting, if only for the rationalizations and excuses employed by jihadis when they violate the Koran’s teachings. Other than that? Not so much… Perhaps I should lend a little more credence to the content of this article than I do, but the whole jihad thing still strikes me as a 17^th Century movement based upon barbaric and bankrupt principles.

George Will, writing in the NYT Sunday Book Review (Land of Plenty):

Ever since mass affluence, a phenomenon without precedent in the human story, exploded upon postwar America, social and political theorists have wondered, and worried, about the moral and even the spiritual consequences of material conditions. Putting scarcity behind us has been pleasant, but has it been good for us — meaning good for our souls?

Well, yes. Yes, it has. Whereas Will goes to great length to justify his conclusion, extensively quoting from obscure (to me, at least, but probably not unfamiliar to habitual NYT readers) philosophers and economists, any fool with a passing knowledge of our history and our present circumstances realizes we are clearly much better off than we were, say, 100 years ago. I think 12 million illegal immigrants also make the point quite effectively, as well. Why else would they come here?

Robert McFarlane (Marine officer and former Security Advisor to President Reagan), writing in today’s Opinion Journal:

Thirty-nine years ago, halfway through my second tour in Vietnam, the Tet Offensive was launched by North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces, who were soundly defeated on the battlefield. Two measures of that battle--both relevant to the situation in Iraq today--stand out for me. The first relates to an important lesson U.S. forces had learned after three years of conflict: the vital role of "winning hearts and minds" of the local population. The second concerns the power of the press to affect our ability to sustain violent warfare.

[…]

Today, four years into the war in Iraq, we've come full circle to the point reached 40 years ago--unfortunately in both respects. On the one hand we've found military leaders--men such as Army Gen. David Petraeus and Marine Lt. Gen. Jim Mattis--with a solid grasp of what is needed to turn the military tide, and who are managing that task with early evidence of success. More money is going into winning hearts and minds. More resources are being devoted to quality of life fixes that are visible to Iraqis. Shuttered factories are being opened in a major new program launched by Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England and headed by his subordinate Paul Brinkley. A major agricultural program is about to be launched in Anbar province, again under Pentagon leadership.

The truly good news is that the results are being felt. Sheiks and tribal leaders watching the changes being made in Anbar are coming our way, and offering various kinds of support to help root out al Qaeda and deal with the insurgents. Yet news of these successes is very hard to find in our mainstream media. It's February '68 redux--with far greater consequences I fear.

This is not news…rather it’s a familiar meme that’s appearing more and more often today in places like the WSJ, the Weekly Standard, and other right-of-center publications and blogs. Yet mainstream America, or more accurately, LEFT-wing America, pooh-poohs the notion that the tide is turning and we are beginning to succeed in Iraq. As Mr. McFarlane suggests, the mainstream media is largely responsible for this phenomenon. The media and their ultimate clients, the Democratic Party.

I remember 1968. Mr. McFarlane is spot on: the parallels are both eerie and scary. And the stakes are MUCH higher, this time around.

Today’s Pic: The plane Dubya flew during his stint with the Texas ANG…the venerable F-102, America’s first front-line delta-winged fighter. Its successor, the F-106, is in the back ground.

Hill AFB, last month.

A Desultory Saturday…

If you’re a real hockey fan you’ll want to follow the Adventures of Stanley this summer…

Join hockey's most prized trophy as it parties throughout the summer of 2007. Each member of the Anaheim Ducks assumes possession of the Stanley Cup for 24 hours, and you'll get an insider's view through exclusive stories and photographs as the Stanley Cup visits locations around the globe.

The STANLEY CUP JOURNAL is updated every Tuesday and Friday from the last game of the Stanley Cup Final through to the end of summer. This is followed by additional accounts thereafter up until the official engraving and ring presentation. (Ed: Emphases in original)

The Stanley Cup has made some amazing journeys during its storied history. International travel is not uncommon in this day of star Russian, Finnish, Swedish, etc., etc., NHL players. As an example, the last time the Wings won the Cup it traveled to the Czech Republic, Sweden, and Russia…just to name three countries. There’s a great photo essay of the Cup’s 2002 travels with Red Wings team members here.

One would expect 2007 to be much the same.

Ever the contrarian, Jules Crittenden feels bad for Paris Hilton. Really. Me? Not so much. I haven’t been paying that much attention. I mean, you can’t ignore her…that’s not possible if you have a TeeVee or surf the ‘net. But Mr. Crittenden’s article is about the only one I’ve actually read. And I suppose I’d have to agree that watching a full-grown woman having a total breakdown in public would be a lil bit heart-rending.

General Peter Pace will step down as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs in September. SecDef Robert Gates has nominated Admiral Mike Mullen, the current Chief of Naval Operations, to replace him. The ostensible reason for not re-nominating Gen. Pace for a second term is to avoid a brutal re-confirmation hearing* in the Senate, if you believe the official rationale delivered by Gates yesterday. There’s an awful lot of “what does this mean” talk in the media concerning Gen. Pace’s non-continuation as Chairman…much of it centering around speculation that Pace was “too close” to Rumsfeld, Pace didn’t push back against Rumsfeld enough, Pace was a leading architect of the “failed” Iraq war plans, and that Gates wants “his own man” as Chairman. I even heard one pundit characterize the action as Pace being “fired.” Gen. Pace is the first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs to only serve a single two-year term since 1964; so, yeah, relieving him is highly unusual.

I tend to agree with one pundit, whose name I cannot recall (but it might have been David Brooks on The News Hour), that it’s ironic to have troops in the field dodging bullets, mortar shells and IEDs, yet the JCS Chairman is perceived to be incapable of dodging hard questions from a few senators. I think General Pace would have done just fine at his re-confirmation hearing, based upon the performances I’ve seen him deliver in committee hearings in the past. It’s a shame that such a fine officer with 40 years of dedicated service will retire under a cloud. But that’s Washington, I suppose.

* There’s some truth to this…John F’n Kerry says:

“It is a sad state of affairs when this Administration withdraws a general they believe is qualified simply to avoid having to publicly defend their failed Iraq policy,” Senator Kerry said. “Congress has an obligation to ask tough questions about Iraq, and the architects of this war have an obligation to answer them openly and honestly. We will continue to hold this Administration accountable on Iraq. The next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff must tell Congress and the American people the truth about this war.”

What was that the Jack Nicholson character said about the truth in “A Few Good Men?” Seems to me it applies here…

The cover story in tomorrow’s NYT Magazine is all about pretty-boy presidential candidate John Edwards. And the story is good…very good. Less for its extensive coverage on Edwards than for the author’s rational and pragmatic explanations of the underpinnings of Edwards’ much-publicized “Two Americas” campaign…including brief profiles of past attempts by politicians to address/eliminate poverty in America, beginning with Johnson’s “Great Society” and the accompanying “War on Poverty” (which was a gigantic failure, IMHO). The story is a rather lengthy read, and is written in a remarkably neutral tone, oftentimes descending into what I would call “less than favorable” opinions on Edwards and his views. At any rate I came away with a refreshed and somewhat better appreciation for my own economic views, which are decidedly Reaganesque. I’m also more thoroughly convinced than ever that Edwards’ economic views are wrong. Surprised?

Today’s Pic: More plane pr0n from the Hill Aerospace Museum…this time it’s the nose of a B-17 named “Short Bier.”

Last month…at Hill AFB.

Friday

In The Economist: Lessons From Apple. While the article doesn’t break any new (management theory) ground, it does highlight the basics of Apple’s success. One thing that’s always impressed me about Apple is this:

… Apple illustrates the importance of designing new products around the needs of the user, not the demands of the technology. Too many technology firms think that clever innards are enough to sell their products, resulting in gizmos designed by engineers for engineers. Apple has consistently combined clever technology with simplicity and ease of use. The iPod was not the first digital-music player, but it was the first to make transferring and organising music, and buying it online, easy enough for almost anyone to have a go. Similarly, the iPhone is not the first mobile phone to incorporate a music-player, web browser or e-mail software. But most existing “smartphones” require you to be pretty smart to use them.

Mr. Gates & Co. should pay attention. The PC, in addition to those “smart phones” that require an MS-EE to operate, is way too damned difficult for the “average” user to master. Macs, on the other hand, don’t seem to be all that hard for the average user to operate easily and effectively…and to “do stuff,” creative, useful stuff. Of course, that’s the thrust of Apple’s clever PC vs. Mac ad campaign. There’s serious truth at the heart of all those Mac ads. You know this if you’ve used both platforms; the ad campaign effectively makes the point even if you’ve never used a Mac. And the ads are entertaining, too.

My next PC just might be a Mac. Just sayin’.

Sorta related: Skype-founder and leading European technologist Niklas Zennstroem, on technology and how it will shape our future. Excerpt:

A technology platform that is based on a solid, intellectual, R&D driven culture has the opportunity to thrive among a hungry community that wants life made easier.

I've spent most of my professional life working in the communications industry. I've seen many technologies come and go.

The ones that fail tend to be too hard to use and impenetrable to the average consumer.

And they fail because the benefit is often overshadowed by the hype. Many potentially great technologies disappear because, quite simply, they do not give people what they want.

That's the key to it really. I am passionate about technology but it is not the never-ending quest to make things smaller, faster, lighter or cheaper that gets me motivated. The sort of new technology that I think about isn't usually born in a boardroom, a technology campus, the back of a garage or as a result of thousands of marketing focus groups.

It tends to originate from a simple idea that can be easily explained to anyone who isn't interested in how you make the technology work but more importantly, interested in what it does.

I’m such a sucker for articles like this…

Steeljaw Scribe has moved off Blogger and now has a spiffy WordPress site. Drop on over and give him a shout-out!

I’m liking the look and feel of the WordPress blogs I read…a lot. The thought has occurred to me— more than once —about moving to WordPress, as well. And why not, you may ask? Inertia, Gentle Reader. The bane of my existence.

Another anniversary, of sorts. I noted yesterday that the 40^th anniversary of the Six-Day War had just passed. Today the BBC has an article about the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty that happened during the Six-Day War, and the multiplicity of conspiracy theories surrounding that tragic attack…in which 34 sailors died and another 170 were injured. Do go read the article if you’re not familiar with the Liberty’s story…Hell, go read even if you know all about it. I learned a few new things.

Today’s Pic: Remember I told you I snapped some pictures of the violent t-storms that moved through P-Town this past Tuesday? Well, actually, the storm didn’t hit us… it passed just to the north and east of P-Town. But it sure made for some memorable pictures! Here’s one such, above.

Tuesday, June 5, 2007.

Oversight...Afterthought...Whatever

The Brothers Niedermayer Hoist The Cup

It would be churlish of me to NOT congratulate the Ducks on winning The Stanley Cup. Sooo…

Congratulations, Anaheim. You outplayed the Senators and dominated the series, to put it mildly.

Even though I haven’t blogged about hockey since the Ducks eliminated the Beloved Wings, I HAVE been watching the games. I only missed Game Four of the Finals, and that was because I was on the road this past Saturday. I watched all the rest, including last night’s final game of the 2007 season. There's NOTHING in all of sports to compare with the spectacle of the winning team skating around the rink with The Cup held high. Absolutely NOTHING.

So. What is it? Four and a half months until hockey season? That’s a loooong time…

Photo credit: LA Times.

A Happy Camper...

Another candidate enters the crowded field… David Burge, aka IowaHawk, has announced:

My Fellow Americans:

Today, our nation stands at a crossroads. The direction we take from this point forward is critical for us, and for future generations. Some of the roads we can take may now look like scenic shortcuts, but may lead to long term peril. Other roads may seem covered in potholes, but may in fact lead us to the bright promise of a roadside Stuckey's with clean, well-lit restrooms. The stakes are high, and it is important that we have the right leadership behind the wheel to avoid the geopolitical speed traps and navigate our way to a delicious future of pecan logs for all.

That is why I have taken the first step towards announcing my candidacy for the 2008 presidential campaign. I have officially formed an exploratory committee to advise me on this important decision. This blue ribbon panel includes a number of distinguished public service veterans, including Chuck Helbertson, Supervisor of the Cedar County Pool Maintenance Department, and my brother-in-law Steve Lehr, a part-time Driver's Education professional in the Dubuque public school system and defending Late Model Modifieds champion at Eddyville Speedway.

I have not taken this decision lightly. When considering a run for public office, the first thing a candidate must ask himself is: what can I, as newly elected public servant, expect to get out of this deal? I have researched this question thoroughly, and believe me: being President is a pretty sweet gig. Not only does it pay 400 large, it has plenty of perks including "three hots and a cot," and the world's most fearsome military force at my disposal.

The second thing a candidate must ask is: am I qualified for the position? Let's look at the facts. First, I am a native-born citizen of the United States. Second, I am over 35 years old. Third, I have never had a felony conviction stick beyond the appeals court. And Mister, if that's good enough for the Constitution of the United States, then that's good enough for me. Google it.

Burge lays out his platform at the link. But he had me when I read a piece of his environmental policy, to wit:

To further help reduce the nation's carbon footprint, I will order the Environmental Protection Agency to bulldoze the mansions of Al Gore, John Edwards, John Kerry, and Laurie David, and convert them to more eco-friendly use as free public drag strips. And for all serious environmentalists willing to make the ultimate Green sacrifice, I will offer discounted funerals with hybrid hearses, and framed federal carbon credits for their surviving families and animal companions.

Fred Who?

I missed it. In addition to being the 63^rd anniversary of D-Day, yesterday was also the 40^th anniversary of the Six-Day War. Gerard van der Leun noted the occasion by re-publishing his Letter to the Palestinian People (from the Israeli People). Which, by the way, was picked up and re-published today by the Israel National News. As it is with most everything Gerard writes, the Letter is worth your attention, Gentle Reader. And don’t miss the comments.

I’m a Happy Camper today, ‘net-wise. Last I checked I was getting download speeds of 347 kbps, which is the best speed I’ve ever had with this connection, period. My bitch-piss-and-moan foray down to Yucca Telecom, armed with screen shots of bandwidth tests showing me getting all of 57.7 and 39.5 kbps, was successful. A BIG shout-out, tip o’ the hat and a hearty Thank You VERY Much to Bob Turnbaugh of Yucca’s internet support function. Bob took my complaint seriously and spent quite a bit of time diving into the esoteric details of Yucca’s wireless internet service, eventually pin-pointing the issue as a failure in the dynamic bandwidth allocation mechanism on the tower my modem “shoots” to. It seems the tower continued to accept/maintain connections even when the user load saturated the available bandwidth. The end result was an on-going degradation of connection speeds for all involved.

I can even watch YouTube videos in real-time now, rather than load, hit pause and wait for the entire video to download before playing. It’s good to have a fast(er) connection, true. But I still want my fiber connection!! Which may appear sometime this summer. Sometime.

Today’s Pic: The last of the Moab/Arches pics (one should never over-do a good thing, nu?). This is a view of the Fiery Furnace, with snow-capped mountains in the distance. Just to give you an idea of the scale of this formation: those are large TREES—not bushes—in the foreground and among the rocks.

D-Day

Today is the 63^rd anniversary of D-Day. The folks at Real Clear Politics have published Ronald Reagan’s speech “The Boys of Pointe Du Hoc,” delivered on June 6, 1984 in Normandy, in its entirety. If you’ve never seen, heard, or read the address I recommend you do so now. And remember those heroes from so long ago. Too few of them are left, and those that are left are leaving us at a rapid rate. We owe them so much…

Via blog-buddy Morgan…How NOT to Use Powerpoint. Lord, how I wish this video had been around back in my day! Anyone and everyone who’s in management, be it civilian or military (and I hear the military is QUITE bad, in this respect) has been there and done that…sitting through an interminable PowerPoint presentation where some dolt literally READS all his slides to you, cheerfully ignoring the fact that his audience can read quite well on their own, thankyouverymuch. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. I’m sure you’ll relate, Gentle Reader…

More Politically Correct BS…this time it’s the British Ministry of Defense and the RAF, banning nose art.

In killer heels and little else, they have a definite deadly charm.

But the risque images of women that have decorated warplanes since the First World War have been scrubbed out.

The Ministry of Defence has decreed they could offend the RAF's female personnel.

Officials admitted they had no record of any complaints from the 5,400 women in the RAF.

[…]

Nose art enjoyed another surge in popularity during the 1991 and 2003 Gulf Wars, when risque images appeared on many British warplanes.

The decision to ban the images followed a visit by glamour models to southern Afghanistan before Christmas. During the trip they signed paintings of themselves on RAF aircraft.

Commanders decided the images were sexist and insisted there was no place for them in the modern armed forces.

There was also concern that they could cause offence in a muslim country where until 2001 all women were forced to wear the head-to-toe burkha in public.

Glamour model Lucy Pinder, 23, who visited the RAF detachment at Kandahar last November and signed a painting of herself on a Harrier jet, said such images were only "harmless fun".

No complaints from RAF women, you’ll note… but a fear of offending muslims.

Good grief.

Network issues… You may recall, Gentle Reader, that stopping by Yucca Telecom to get the story on the long-anticipated but yet to be delivered fiber connection was one of the tasks I was going to address yesterday. I got part of the story, which is the fiber still hasn’t been turned up in my part of P-Town. Less clear was why my on-premise equipment hasn’t been installed. I was promised a call-back with an explanation but have yet to receive it.

Coincidentally, my network speed dropped off to dial-up rates last evening and then disappeared altogether this morning after a period of steady degradation. I was dead in the water from about 0700 until 0845 hrs, but the service is still painfully slow. I am NOT a Happy Camper today!

Today’s Pic(s): Are you tired of Arches yet? No? Well…here’s two more…

The first pic was taken at the first viewpoint on the park road, overlooking the Visitors Center (which isn’t visible in this pic). I shot the picture for a couple of reasons; firstly to illustrate the nature of the road, which is wonderfully curvy as it climbs about a thousand feet in a mile or three; and secondly because of the colors in the rocks juxtaposed against the brilliant blue of the sky. Oh yeah, and to get the ‘Zuki in the picture, too.

The second pic is taken from the same vantage point but one can see the Visitors Center far below, as well as the highway leading into Moab. The highway, by the way, runs right on top of the Moab Fault.

As always, click the pics for the larger versions...which are actually 50% of the originals.

Dazed and Confused...

(titled with apologies to Led Zep)

So. While I may be back home, I’m certainly not “back in the groove,” whatever that means. Do I sound confused? Well, yes, I suppose I do. I’m working through this confusion, albeit slowly, and am trying to figure out just what’s up…

Take yesterday. Normally I “make the rounds” (defined as reading my favorite blogs and several news sources) first thing in the morning while working a pot of coffee. I didn’t read a single blog yesterday, and I didn’t look at the NYT, or the WaPo, or The Times (UK), or any of my other usual (news) reads. And I only had three cups out of that pot, throwing the rest away. Simply put: no desire, or rather what desire may have existed was overcome by other priorities, like paying the bills and catching up on mundane chores. I caught up on the blogs this morning but have yet to wade into the news. No desire.

Vacations are supposed to rejuvenate, restore the spirit, rest the body, yadda, yadda, yadda. And this is certainly the result of my latest excursion, in part. Well, except for the “rest the body” bit…ten hours in the saddle on the last day of the trip might better be described as low-level torture to…ahem… “a man of my age.” I still hurt, but only just a lil bit. But I digress…

There seems to be an unintended, unanticipated consequence(s) to my 17-day sojourn and I can’t quite put my finger on it, as yet. Maybe it’s time for a change? But what sort of change? A change in locale? Button up the RV and move on down the road? To where? Change in lifestyle, as in (for example) seek employment, again? Start looking for a new relationship? Is it a case of my senses and sensibilities being over-stimulated these past two and a half weeks? Am I resentful about returning to what I now perceive to be a rather mundane existence? I don’t know…

Sorry for the oh-so-personal bout of introspection. But I want to get it “on the record,” and that’s one of the reasons I blog, ya know.

I’ll whip through the last of the chores today, the first of which involves a jaunt out to the base for a major re-supply run. I’m looking forward to that, as I haven’t driven the Green Hornet in so long I may have forgotten how. I’m sure it will come right back to me…

And the second? That involves stopping into Yucca Telecom and asking just where the Hell my fiber internet connection is, now that it’s JUNE. I was told back in March or April I’d get connected “in May, June at the latest.” I wanna know what the flippin' story is....

Gonna be warm today…hot, even. The forecast says a high of 91 degrees. We had a few anxious moments last evening around sunset as some spectacular t-storms moved through the area, just to the north and east of us. I took some pictures of the cloud formations I’ll post later in the week. Today’s pic will be more from Arches…

Speaking of which: here are two views of Balanced Rock…which may be one of the most photographed formations in all of Arches. It IS breathtaking, on numerous levels.

Saturday, June 2, 2007.

Be It Ever So Humble...

…there’s no place like home. I’m there, and it’s an understatement to say I’m pleased. My own bed. My own PC. My own stuff. Getting away is nice, visiting with friends and family is nicer still, but getting back home? Priceless.

I ended as I began, which is to say I covered a whole lotta ground in one sitting. The first day of the trip saw me riding 577.6 miles in 11 hours flat; yesterday I did 591 miles in ten hours and 21 minutes. The difference? Better weather…much better weather. I dodged a bullet, though…a half hour after I got home the frickin’ bottom dropped out and we were inundated with rain. I held my breath, figuratively speaking, for the last 100 miles of the ride. There were HUGE thunderstorms to the east and the south of me as I closed in on P-Town, and it looked like I was gonna be in for it. The gods smiled on me, though, and although I got a smattering or two of rain, it was nothing serious. Fortune, for once, was on MY side.

Oh. Total mileage for the trip: 2267.7 miles. And not even one close call. That last statement just may be the most amazing thing of all.

I only did three things last evening after I got home: returned SN2’s phone call (he rang while I was on the road), took a long hot shower, and fell into bed. And I slept the sleep of the truly exhausted. This morning I feel fine, well-rested, and refreshed. Now I have to get on with life…unpack, pay the bills, and do other assorted things that have gone undone for the past 17 days. Normal blogging, such as it is, will resume tomorrow. In the meantime…

Today’s Pic: The first of perhaps six or eight pics from Arches National Park. I like this particular photo because it shows the scale of the monoliths, which are absolutely HUGE. Note the road winding into the distance and the small dots that are the cars on said road. Riding among, through and between these formations is an awe-inspiring experience.

Saturday, June 2, 2007.