Not Exactly Broadening...

... but a seasonal tasting and comparison.  Which is to say this:

That would be a Shiner Oktoberfest, back-to-back with a Sammy Adams Octoberfest brew.  My go-to guys, when it comes to beer, have this to say...

About the Shiner:

Extremely clean and very drinkable. Just as smooth as it is crisp. Well balanced from malt sweetness to toasted flavors to bittering hops. A happy brew to knock back.

And about Sammy Adams' brew:

A tasty choice this year, its good to have a fresh O-fest rather than getting burned by a stale imported O-fest that has been sitting around since last year. A great contrast to some crab cakes with some homemade spicy remoulade sauce.

Well, we're decidedly lacking in the crab cakes department but we have us a good supply of both these brews. The Bros rate both of these beers as "Good," and there's precious little difference between either beer when it comes to the scores.  As fer me?  I prefer the Shiner.  That said, I'm glad I'm able to partake of both these brews, which are VERY worthy.

Our soundtrack today is Pandora's Don Henley station.  I find it very strange that I didn't record one single Eagles album before I shipped the vinyl off to SN2 for safe keeping back in 1999.  We've been listening to Henley a lot during the past 48 hours and enjoying the Hell out of it, too.  Mebbe we'll put a vid up later, but in the meantime it's back outdoors to continue as we've begun.

Can You Say "Industrial Espionage?"

Sure ya can... from the Usual USAF Source:

China's Raptor Lookalike: Clearer photos of China's second stealthy-looking fighter design emerged on the Internet as Defense Secretary Leon Panetta kicked off his diplomatic visit to Beijing last week. The Shenyang F-60—also called the J-21 or J-31—resembles the F-22, but with the intakes of an F-35 strike fighter. The F-60 appears to lack the Raptor's stealthy thrust-vectoring engines, and there appear to be no attempts at a reduced radar cross section with the engines currently installed in the airplane. The F-60's canopy, nose, and planform seem to be nearly identical to that of the F-22, and the airplane appears to be not too much different in size from the F-22. The photos seem to show internal weapon bays arranged similarly to the F-22's, as well as a ruggedized undercarriage potentially suited to carrier-deck operations. Photos earlier this year of a heavily shrouded F-60, partially disassembled en route to testing, revealed that the aircraft is smaller than the Chengdu J-20, which the Chinese unveiled at the end of 2010, but little else. While the larger J-20 is likely designed for longer range strike, the F-60 may be optimized for an air superiority role similar to the F-22's.

—Arie Church And John A. Tirpak

Photo from an inner-tubes search.

Simply Beautiful

Occasional Correspondent Lin sends this along... and be sure to stay for the end:



I've never been a fan of opera vocals but I really like the music here... a most excellent accompaniment to a graceful display.

Whatcha Been Smokin' Lately, Buck?

Well, funny you should ask.  Here are a few brands that have made their way into El Casa Inmóvil de Pennington of late.  (click for larger, as usual)

This, of course, would be yet another installment o' "cigar art."  You'll note these bands are somewhat less than artistic and I believe that's because the established mainstream brands (like Punch, Partagas, Romeo y Julieta, Macanudo, and Montecristo) rely more on their name than trying to impress with art work on their bands.  All of these were pretty damned good, with the exception of the Romeo y Julieta Reserva Real... which was wrapped so tight as to be impossible to smoke.  The rest gave us hours and hours o' pure pleasure.

―:☺:―

In other news... we went and got our stitches removed today and my suspicions were confirmed: we're healing much more slowly this time around than last.  I still have a few "sensitive" areas in my mouth... but not so sensitive as to require more than OTC Aleve and Tylenol to relieve the "sensitivity."  I'm thanking The Deity At Hand for small favors.

Plane Pr0n

From the Usual USAF Source...

Air Frame: An F-35A Lightning II (top) from the 33rd Fighter Wing at Eglin AFB, Fla., and an F-22A Raptor from the 325th FW at Tyndall AFB, Fla., soar over the coast of northwest Florida, Sept. 19, 2012. This was the first time the Air Force's two fifth generation fighters have flown together, according to Eglin officials. (Air Force photo by MSgt. Jeremy T. Lock) (Click on image above to reach larger version.)

Hey, Ed... isn't that yer house at lower left?

―:☺:―

In other news... it was déjà vu all over again. Windows Update successfully downloaded and installed the latest update from Microsnot overnight... the one that FAILED Saturday night, causing me all that angst.  I have NO ideer why the initial updates fail... and it's NOT a good sign when yer 'puter starts acting weird.

Tonight's ADWH Soundtrack

It's pretty nice outside, so we opened up the windows and door and loaded a few CDs into the CD player for tonight's soundtrack... one o' which is Don Henley's "Building the Perfect Beast."  We usually set our CD player on "random" and did so this evening... So guess which track came up first?  This:

She passed on your passion and stepped on your pride
Turns out you ain't quite so tough
Cause you still wanna hold her
You must not be drinkin' enough 

Shut UP, Don... I think I'm drinkin' enough.

Don't panic... that's well over a month's worth o' consumption.

Today's Happy Hour Soundtrack

I always thought this tune would make the perfect soundtrack for that mo'sickle racing video I never made...



And I SHOULDA made that video... except for one small thang:  there was no such thang as cheap, hand-held video cams back when I was doing that racing thang, which is to say c. '68 - '72.  Which is just a weak excuse to post photos I've previously posted.  To wit:

YrHmblScrb is second from the right

YrHmblScrb is second from the left

That's The First Mrs. Pennington directly behind #48, which would be me

These three photos are all that remain of the racing archives, the great majority o' which were lost in the Great Divorce Debacle o' 1999.  But... back to the tune... I always visualized the opening 30 seconds of "Jingo" as panning up and down the starting line, and the rest of the tune devoted to action shots of a race, culminating in the finish.  YrHmblScrb would be the star of this extravaganza, of course, ignoring the fact that my racing career was less than... ummm... stellar.  But, Hey!  We had us a great good time.

Ah, missed opportunities and the wistful remembrances of an old man...

We Are Concerned

For the second time in ten days, and a second consecutive failure of Windows Update, I got a Blue Screen O' Death when my computer went to reboot following the download of an "Important" MS patch.  Like this:

I suppose all's well that ends well, in that I was able to restore the computer to its previous state using System Restore.  But twice in a row?  This doesn't foster warm and fuzzy feelings in YrHmblScrb... especially since I've never experienced these sorts of failures before.  Not once.

WTF!?!

So there I was, getting ready to watch Notre Dame kick the Hell outta Michigan... in South Bend... and I pulled the teevee guide up to make sure I had the right channel.  And got THIS:

WTF, KAMR?  WHAT THE FUCK are you THINKING!?!  West Texas A&M?  Incarnate WORD?  What the Hell is that, some sorta religious experience?  The only religious experience I want right now is to see Touchdown Jesus smilin' down on the Irish.

Save me.

I THOUGHT I Was Gonna Be Broadenin' My Horizons This Afternoon...

... but, no.  Coz it was just about this time last year when we did this:

Broadening Our Horizons XXXII

I'm pretty sure I've never had a Shiner Oktoberfest and I'm semi-amazed at the oversight, mainly coz we loves us some beer from that lil ol' brewery in Spoetzl, Tejas.  Ain't it loverly?

My go-to guys for beer give Oktoberfest a B- and I think that's pretty harsh.  I'd give the brew a B+ if not an A-.  This beer is eminently drinkable.  Oktoberfest tastes superb... which is to say clean, slightly hoppy, with a very interesting and complex combination of flavors... and it goes down easy, almost too easy.  I'll have to be careful this afternoon.

Sigh.  There's hardly anythang really NEW happenin' in my world these days.  We were lookin' for a pumpkin ale when we went beer shoppin' this afternoon... mainly because of the comments on this post by the Beer and Whiskey Bros.  Pumpkin ales apparently don't go down well here on The High Plains o' New Mexico, coz there was nary an example of such to be found at my local beer emporium.  But that's OK... coz I'd hate to spend good money on sumthin' I may or may NOT enjoy.

Saturday. Suck It Up, Fanbois.

It's the dialog... the dialog, Gentle Reader:



Spot-freakin'-on, in all respects.  Well, except for the lawsuit(s), mebbe.

Eastwooded

A play on a story from last week about The One skipping his security briefings.  Empty chair, indeed... sometimes stuff comes back to bite ya.  Right where it hurts.

New and Different

From the Usual USAF Source...

MC-27J concept

Spooky Even in Daylight: AC-130 gunships recently began daylight missions for the first time, providing fire support to coalition ground forces in Afghanistan thanks to a new high-definition sensor suite, said Air Force Special Operations Command boss Lt. Gen. Eric Fiel. "We have not flown gunships during the day before, but they are currently flying during the day" there, said Fiel during the four-star forum at AFA's Air & Space Conference outside of Washington, D.C., on Sept. 19. The sensors "allow us a longer standoff range, which caused a little problem since the weapons can't engage targets at that range," he said, noting that AFSOC is working to fix that. AFSOC has also integrated small diameter bombs onto AC-130W gunships, providing standoff precision attack capability. Stinger gunships in Afghanistan currently carry eight SDBs—four under each wing—as well as "internal precision-guided munitions," detailed Fiel. Next month, AFSOC plans to test Hellfire air-to-ground missiles on the AC-130, he said.

That's pretty interesting.  We're used to seeing Cannon's C-130s (of one stripe or another) orbiting the night skies over P-Ville but see them only rarely during daylight hours... so perhaps that'll change in the near future.  It's the highlighted bits in the blurb above that got my attention, though.  I was under the impression that the Stinger gunship proposal was dead, yet here's the head of AFSOC talking about Stingers carrying the SDB in Afghanistan.  What's up with that, I wonder?

Porn Names

So it came to pass in comments to yesterday's "Your Pirate Name" post that Loosy-Anna Andy brought up the subject of stripper/porn names.  And, according to the rules laid down by Andy, my porn name would be: "Mustapha Pete Rue Mozart."

Well, that's all well and good, I suppose... but we weren't all THAT keen on it.  So we tried another name generator, and came up with this: Uncle Peachybutt.

I think I'll stick with Mustapha Mozart, electing to drop my middle names.  Here's Ol' Mustapha Mozart with one of his favorite co-stars back when he was in his prime.

The boy has since retired from films and doesn't even know his former co-star any longer.

Victims

Gov. Romney was right and you know he's right if you watched any of the pathetic speeches given at the Dims' convention.  You also know why.

The Difference Between Drinking Beer In the UK and In the US...

...illustrated:

The point bein' that you would have consumed three US beers by the time you finished your second pint at the pub.  That's a 12-ounce beer (an Abita Turbodog, in case you was wonderin') poured into my sole remaining pint mug.  When I left Ol' Blighty nearly 30 years ago I had at least a dozen pint glasses and mugs.  But, alas... they all got broken along the way except for the one you see above.  You'll note that there's a logo on that mug and I've chosen NOT to display same.  Mainly for the embarrassment that would be in it.

In Honor o' the Day...

Quite a few o' my blog-buds are talking like pirates today, and some of those same few have even gone out and got a pirate name.  Well.  We shall NOT be left behind in this space, ergo:

Gitcher's here.

SOF

A couple o' items from the Usual USAF Source...

Demand for SOF Outpacing Growth: US Special Operations Command has grown from about 45,000 people in 2001 to about 68,000 today, and it has plans to continue that growth to 71,000 through Fiscal 2018, said Garry Reid, principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict. Speaking at AFA's Air & Space Conference in National Harbor, Md., Sept. 18, Reid said SOF capacity also has increased about 25 percent during that time. However, even such steady growth has not been able to mitigate the incredibly high operational tempo endured by special operators over the last 11 years. In fact, USSOCOM operational tempo is nine times greater than it was prior to that growth, with many operators racking up 20 to 30 deployments just to Iraq and Afghanistan. "From a command and leadership perspective, we have to start thinking about sustainment and how that goes in the long-term," said Reid. Although the US has pulled out of Iraq and plans are in place for a 2014 withdrawal from Afghanistan, that op tempo is not expected to change any time soon, he said. US special operators operate from about 200 different countries throughout the course of a year and are in 70 to 80 countries on any given day.
—Amy McCullough
 

It's All About Adaptability, Agility: More than 80 percent of all of US special operations missions are conducted in the US Central Command area of responsibility, so the majority of SOF assets have been optimized for the hot, mountainous, desert region, said Garry Reid, principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for special operations and low intensity conflict, during AFA's Air & Space Conference Sept. 18. But, as the US prepares to withdraw from Afghanistan senior military leaders now must figure out how to rework those same systems so they will remain fully capable in other contingencies around the globe. "We have to think about that on a global level and make sure we have everything in place," said Reid. USAF Brig. Gen. Marshall Webb, assistant commanding general at Joint Special Operations Command headquarters, said Air Force Special Operations Command is paying particular attention to that as it looks to upgrade most of its airframes. "It's about adaptability and agility," said Webb during an air commando forum Sept. 18. He added, "We are working closely with our partners to discuss the right types of sensors, mobility platforms, and weapons we will need and then to adopt them to the right airframes so we can sustain that in different environments other than the desert."

The first thing that struck me is the OpTempo for our special operators, the second thing was the number of different countries they operate in.  Your average American would be hard-pressed to even NAME 70 to 80 countries, let alone deploy to one of 'em.  As far as OpTempo goes... that's a LOT o' deployments, but all deployments are not equal; you can deploy for as little as a week or two, or for more than a year.  That said, I'm thinkin' ANY SpecOps deployment ain't a piece o' cake.  My hat is off to those guys.

And then there's the bit about SOF assets being "optimized for hot, mountainous, desert regions."  Now you know why the 27th Special Operations Wing is at Cannon.  In part.

Headline...

... in The Daily Mail:

Pakistani man dies after inhaling fumes from burning American flags at anti-Islam film rally

Heh.  Congrats to the manufacturer of that poisonous US flag... may we have another lots more, please?

Happy Birthday to Us

From the Usual USAF Source:

Happy Birthday, Air Force!: Sept. 18 marks the 65th anniversary of the Air Force's founding. "As we celebrate the United States Air Force's 65th birthday, we salute all of the dedicated airmen who serve or have served in our nation's youngest and most innovative service," write Air Force Secretary Michael Donley, Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh, and CMSAF James Roy in a message to airmen. They continue, "Throughout our proud history, the Air Force has embraced the technology that continues to revolutionize our capabilities in air, space, and cyberspace. We owe an enormous debt to the ground-breaking visionaries and engineering pioneers who brought the technology of flight to life, and to the professional strategists and tacticians who imagined the military possibilities of these new technologies and propelled the science, theory, and application forward." Today, as in the past, however, airmen remain "the living engine" of the Air Force, they state, adding, "Happy birthday, Air Force! Aim High! . . . . Fly! Fight! Win!"

Wait.  That means I'M older than my service.  That can't be right.

My Second Grade Class Photo

Guess which one is me.

h/t: My Buddy Ed In Florida.

Not So Stoic This Time

There's this, for starters:

sto·i·cism

n.

1. Indifference to pleasure or pain; impassiveness.

2. Stoicism The doctrines or philosophy of the Stoics.

I've never been indifferent to pleasure (see: epicurean and I'm really surprised there ain't a portrait of me there, just for illustrative purposes.  Wait.  What?) but when it comes to pain I've always kinda-sorta grinned and bore it.  I'm not so damned stoic this time around, however.  We're ten days removed from our latest episode of Adventures In Modern Dentistry and I'm sick to death of (a) pain and (b) soft food.  Where (a) is concerned: we're nearly at the bottom of our Industrial Strength Pain Relivers, so much so that we're rationing them to make the supply last as long as possible (read as: nighttime use only).  Also where (a) is concerned: OTC Aleve and Tylenol ain't cuttin' the mustard.  Further to (a): we shall request refills on the Industrial Strength stuff when we go in to have our stitches removed in three days time.

And then there's (b).  I want some REAL food, but I can't have it at the moment... it's just not physically possible.  I'm pleased that there's a plethora of frozen soft foods out there today and I'd hate to be goin' through this thang 20 years ago when there wasn't nearly as much choice.  That said... I'm sick to death of mac & cheese, creamed chipped beef on toast, chili (in at least three different flavors), pudding (in three flavors, too), and oatmeal.  I'd mention cheesecake, except for the fact I'm NOT sick o' that.  Oh, and ice cream.  Bring on more of the last two items, please.

OK, we're done pissin' and moanin'.

Day One

From the NHL Players Association:



Well, OK... that's all well and good but it rings hollow.  The players and management need to FUCKING FIX THIS, AND FIX IT RIGHT NOW.

The last gotdamned thing I wanna see is a re-run of 2004-2005.

Morning Person?

Occasional Correspondent Lin sends along this vid with the following tag line: "All you happy, perky, sunshiny morning people out there, this is for you!!" 



Don't talk to me until I've had at least one cup o' coffee, either.

Saturday.

If this don't make ya laugh...



... you're beyond hope.

Today's Happy Hour Soundtrack...

Robert Earl Keen...



I can't say that I relate to the lyrics in this song... when push comes to shove... but I've always identified with 'em, which is varying only by the smallest of degrees.

It's a brilliant day here on The High Plains o' New Mexico.  You can't feel it, Gentle Reader, but this might give ya a clue:

So: it's danged near perfect, innit?  We mixed up a batch o' Manhattans for this occasion which looked a lot like this:

Never mind the fact I cut off my head... I just need longer arms.  That said...those Manhattans are done now, alas.  We're just slightly too lazy to mix up another batch o' the same, especially when we can pour some Bulleit Rye on the rocks and be done with it.  That makes us happy, too.

This Just In...

... literally.  In my in-box:

Thanks, Mitt.  I'm not all that thrilled about an opportunity to fly on an airborne campaign bus, but I WOULD accept yer invite when you begin jetting around on Air Force One.  Drop me a line sometime after the first of the year, mmm-kay?

Nekkid

No one should be surprised at anything the MSM does these days, unless it's an oh-so-rare case of them doing the RIGHT thing.

And then there's this from the Usual USAF Source:

Positive Vector: No F-22 pilot has experienced an unexplained physiological incident in flight since March 8, a span covering some 10,000 sorties and more than 13,000 cockpit hours, said Maj. Gen. Charles Lyon, Air Combat Command's director of operations, in testimony on Capitol Hill on Sept. 13. "This is the longest period" without one such incident "in years," he told members of the House Armed Services Committee's tactical air and land forces panel during a hearing on F-22 pilot oxygen-deprivation issues. Lyon said the Air Force continues to transition the F-22 fleet back to normal flight operations. "The path to resuming normal flight operations hinges on the successful development, testing and fielding of the modified combat edge upper pressure garment valve," he said. Fielding of the valve is expected by year's end, he noted. Activity also continues to incorporate an automatic backup oxygen system in the jet; the first F-22 is slated to get this upgrade in January, he said. "We are certain the F-22 cockpit and surrounding workspace is a safe, effective place to operate," said Lyon. He added, "Continuous process improvements will ensure the safety of the F-22 workforce now and in the future." (Lyon's prepared statement)

I'm not diminishing the good news about the F-22's oxygen system, and the news IS good, but someone/anyone describing a fighter's cockpit as a "safe place" (a) raised my eyebrows and (b) made me laugh.  Out loud.

This Is Different, Too

It began raining last night and has continued doin' it all day today.  I might have mentioned this before, but rain here on The High Plains o' New Mexico usually only lasts for ten or 15 minutes and then it's gone with the wind (heh).  Cloudbursts, in other words.  Today the sky is leaden gray from horizon to horizon and we're gettin' light-to-medium steady rain.  And I mean steady, as in hardly moving along at all.  Our radar:

Different.  And GOOD.

Now For Sumthin' COMPLETELY Different...

Heh.

In other news... we pulled yet another accidental all-nighter.  I'm not gonna fight this any longer, I'll just sleep when I feel like it.  Last night I felt like it from around 2100 hrs until 0230 this morning.  Life sure as Hell is strange these days.

Tonight's ADWH Soundtrack

Townes Van Zandt...

One o' my favorite quotes, posted often in these spaces: "NO ONE is happier than a wino who can afford his own wine."  Or Bulleit, as the case MIGHT be.

This Is Getting Ridiculous

The latest from Buck's Sooper-Sleep Study:  I went to bed at 2030 hrs last night, which would be 8:30 pm for you civilians.  I don't think I've gone to bed at that time since I was about ten, but I did last evening.  I woke up at 0300 hrs (or so) which is about six hours of drug-induced sleep. (About which: we're having ourselves some GREAT BIG WONDERFUL dreams; I just wish I could remember the details.  They're good, though... trust me.)  We made the coffee and all that other stuff, drank a full pot and then went BACK to bed around 0700 hrs and remained there until 0930.  I've never had "normal" sleeping hours since I rejected gainful employment as a valid lifestyle, but THIS is ridiculous.

So.  We've been out and about already this morning... renewing our lease for another year (Celebrating one year on these premises on 9/15/2012.  Come to our anniversary celebration!), renewing the beer supply for a day or three (Turbodog!), and purchasing a screen door for our humble abode (for cooling Fall breezes!).  About which, this:

True Value Hardware and FUDGE.  The stoopid camera operator beheaded the large sign announcing there's fudge for sale here, so you'll just have to trust me on that.  No, I didn't buy any, even though I prolly should have.

Rather Random

Today has been a strange sort o' day, in a number o' ways.  First and foremost there's that anniversary thing, which is always marked with reflection and a good degree of introspection on my part.  This year hasn't been much different in that regard.

What HAS been different is my physical condition.  I'll try not to flog dead draft animals too hard, but I've been... umm... less than optimum.  The pain-killers I'm on have caused me to spend a lot o' time on the couch in a semi-conscious state o' mind.  Shorter: I'm sleeping a LOT.  

Excess sleep has had some interesting effects, like the fact I woke up at 0400 hrs this morning and couldn't get back to sleep, no matter how hard I tried... and I tried.  So we got up, fired off the coffee pot, put a post up sometime after 0430 hrs, made the rounds o' blogs not yet updated, surfed the 'net, played with our finances a lil bit and just generally hung out.  The morning progressed slowly until the rest o' the world woke up, at which time we went and got The Tart cleaned up inside and out, ran out to Cannon Airplane Patch for to make a commissary run (more soft food, please!), get my bi-monthly haircut, came home, unloaded the groceries, put them away, grabbed a lil lunch, and launched Happy Hour... all well before noon.  Which is really weird, Gentle Reader, seein' as how I'm normally pouring my second cup at that time.

We were finishing our first beer when SN1 dropped us a note, asking if we were available for a Skype session?  Why, yes.  Yes, we were.  And we did.  I really me some technology, especially when it allows me to catch up with what's goin' on in the AOR.  What a change from those old HAM radio communications we had back in my day... and anyone who "benefited" from a MARS call back in the day knows exactly what I'm on about.  Over?  Over!

So, we've just renewed our meds and are about to launch Happy Hour, Part Deux.  But one more thang before we go...  Remember how ecstatic I was about The Lovely Renee and the fact I finally found a barberess who cut my hair the way **I** wanted it cut?  Well, scratch that.  Renee has moved on to greener pastures (ABQ, so I'm told) and I'm out in the cold yet again.  The good news is the lady that cut my hair today didn't do a bad job, so mebbe there's hope.

So... beer me!

9/11

It's been 11 years since the attacks that "changed everything," yet that day is a day none of us will ever forget... at least those of us who were ten years of age or older in 2001.  It's right and proper to remember that terrible day and keep the innocents who lost their lives in our hearts and minds.  It's right and proper to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the fight against the jihadis since that time, those who had their lives unalterably changed by wounds both physical and mental as a result of the fight, and those still serving.

Never forget.

We Did a Bad Thang

But we fixed it.  A couple o' few days ago I received a summons to appear for jury duty and a couple o' days after that I received yet another summons for the same purpose.  I think I made a fairly reasonable assumption that I received duplicate summonses, seein' as how one came hard on the heels of the other.  But that was NOT the case and I didn't notice the summonses were different until today.  Note:

One is from the District Court and the other is from the Magistrate Court.  Oopsie, because one has to fill out a detailed jury questionnaire and mail it back to the court... which I did in the case of the District court... and I threw the OTHER questionnaire away, thinking it was a duplicate.  The biggest oopsie: the questionnaire from the Magistrate Court was due TODAY.  So we hied ourselves on down to the Magistrate Court this morning, presented both summonses, explained ourselves, and got stuff sorted out.  

I'm quite sure the ladies there thought I was some sorta bleedin' idiot... not only for the mix-up/mistake on my part, but also given the fact I'm not enunciating my words any too clearly minus my lower front teeth.  Shorter: I sound like a retard.

While we're on about teeth... we also presented a note from our dentist to both courts and requested a medical excuse from jury duty, which is pending at the Magistrate Court but was granted by the District.

I think I need to go back to bed.

Linkage and Similar

Our British Blog-Bud the Brighton Pensioner has been publishing pictures of picturesque ponts these last few days... and I REALLY had to work at that alliteration... all of which are most beautiful in differing ways.  You should go look... and scroll down, coz he's only posting one pic per day.

I've run a few bridge pictures here at EIP in the past but none quite as beautiful as Brian's examples.  Here are a few pics of a bridge that was declared "beautiful" by fiat.

Click all the pics to embiggen and click again, if need be.

I need to tell ya sumthin', though... it wasn't a beautiful experience standing in the middle of that bridge and looking down several hundred feet into the Rio Grande canyon while big-ass trucks lumbered by and the bridge moved up and down several inches in the vertical.  Especially when one has a highly developed case o' acrophobia.

Saturday, Part Deux

Now playing in patios and parking lots EVERYWHERE:

Verandahs, too.  By way o' explanation... I heard this clip sometime during the way out and back to the base yesterday and I intended to work the vid into my ADWH post last evening.  It just slipped my mind, along with MANY other things that have fallen through the cracks in the last 36 hours or so.

Saturday. For the Cars, Mr. Bond, For the CARS.

Mainly coz I don't give a big rat's ass about what comes outta Hollywood or its British equivalent.  But the automobiles?  THAT'S a different story...

I'll have one o' each, please.  You can skip the Sunbeam unless it's a Tiger.

From the Usual Source of these thangs.

Tonight's After Dinner Whiskey Hour Soundtrack...

Ryan Bingham with some great slide guitar...

After Dinner Whiskey Hour tonight brought a taste o' Fall, what with a cold front blowin' in today.  It was all o' 65 degrees when we walked back into the house tonight, and said house felt warm after bein' outside for a couple o' hours.  We wrapped our-skinny-self up in a long-sleeved shirt this evening and was grateful for the comfort it provided, given as how our R-factor is rather low and exacerbated by the recent violence done to our person... and the resulting fall-out from same.  Which is NOT to say we didn't enjoy our time out on the verandah this evening, coz we most surely did, helped in no small part by two iterations o' Woodford Reserve and a nice Cohiba Maduro.  We're slowly but surely gettin' back to normal.

The feel o' Fall in the air did a body GOOD, Gentle Reader.  I'm ready  for a reprieve from the all-consuming heat we've experienced here on The High Plains o' New Mexico these past several weeks, and tonight was just the ticket we've been anticipating.  It gets even better tomorrow, what with a forecast high of 85 or so, and down into the 50s tomorrow night.  It looks like it's gonna be a perfect day for college ball tomorrow.

Bring it on... coz I'm SO ready for it!

Just a Quickie

I'm recently in from the day's errands, which included a fruitless attempt at obtaining Industrial Strength Pain Killers from the Cannon Airplane Patch pharmacy, where I was informed that they don't carry Percocet.  Say what?  Nope... they don't.  So it was off to Wally-World to buy the required drugs (buy: as in a modest co-pay of ten Yankee Dollars) instead of getting them on Uncle Sam's dole.  

Drugs.  Some better than others.

That was disappointing, but I swung by the Class VI on my way off the base and found that The Management had answered my request by stocking Bulleit Rye as a normal offering, so no further special orders are required.  I also noted with great pleasure that Woodford Reserve is also on the shelf again... and noted with FURTHER pleasure that the combined price of a bottle of each of the foregoing is only six Yankee Dollars more than a single bottle of the formerly preferred Johnny Walker Green.

So, did I even go LOOK at the scotch?  Hell, no.

In further alcoholic news... I almost fulfilled the terms of the post-op 24-hour alcohol ban.  Almost.  I skipped Happy Hour yesterday in favor of a nap but weakened and had a couple o' fingers o' Woodford Reserve after dinner.  I DID keep the cigar ban, but we won't last the mandated 36 hours.  As a s'matter o' fact we shall fire one up and crack a Sammy Adams Octoberfest soon after we hit "publish" on this piece o' drivel.

One last thang:  Blog-Buddy Jim has been through all this crap significant Adventures In Modern Dentistry, too.  He posted a re-run thoroughly describing his experiences in his inimitable, which is to say hilarious, way (and made me blush by dedicating the piece to me).  You should go read... it's better than good.