Wow, it's already lunch. Where did the time go? I will admit I did spend a fair amount of time this morning complaining about the new Face Book lay out with the guys in the office. Turns out we all found it equally horrifying. For some reason the people that run the sight have the Navy mentality. The one that says, "If we change it, it is an improvement and we always have to improve it." Never mind that the change made it worse. It was a change and thus an improvement. Never mind that it is now next to impossible to figure out what was posted in the past 12 hours since you last logged on. It was a change and thus an improvement. Never mind that, and forgive the yelling, WE DIDN'T ASK FOR IT. It was a change and thus an improvement.
This attitude is one of the many reasons I would not go beyond 20 years of service in the Navy if I had my choice. What makes it even worse in the Navy is the fact that sometimes the change is simply adding to the current policy. It says to me, "the original policy was good enough, but if I make an additional requirement I made things better." This is not only wrong, but makes thing harder and worse. Just once I want someone to look at the policies in place, and remove requirements to make things better. The idea that you can't remove requirements that were made at your level by your predecessor because it might, and I quote here, "confuse the watch stander" is ludicrous. If removing onerous and excessive requirements would be confusing, what do you think adding on to them will do? It makes no sense, but then again, a favorite quote amongst the leaders here is, "The Navy doesn't have to make sense and usually doesn't."
I just realized that it is Happy Hump day and I am not being very happy. Instead, it appears I did a Manic Monday post. I hate it when I get angry on my happy days. Sorry, I apologize for my rant and will now penalize myself by mowing the lawn this afternoon and maybe fixing the boys' bikes. Interesting though this week has been, it just keeps getting better. There was no sarcasm in that. Rehearsal is going great and I love the part I got. I did another section on my story page. I just received a certificate entitling me to 96 hours of special liberty (a free 4 day weekend) and I am looking forward to it all. Except the mowing the yard part. I could do without that. Oh, yeah, I found out the check engine light on my truck could be a simple crack in my exhaust, a vacuum hose, or a loose gas cap. I doubt the last because of the timing, but either way, there is no real risk in taking my time to repair it. I should be able to fix it next paycheck. We'll see.
Once again, I apologize for the lack of the usual post. I will make it up to you somehow. I just am not feeling very funny right now. Have a great day and don't take yourself to seriously. No one else does.
Showing posts with label Cars. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cars. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Skipped Monday, Update Tuesday.
As you can see, I didn't blog yesterday. There is a reason for that. I was too busy getting drilled at the dentist in the morning and felt it wouldn't be fair to you to hear me whine and complain about the pain in the afternoon. Thus, I decided to skip Monday's post and move on to happier (to a small degree anyway) topics.
Let's start with the weekend update. As I mentioned Friday, This weekend was busy. It started with a soccer game in the drizzling rain (my third son, Mathew's team) which we won. Then moved on to celebrating my oldest's tenth birthday at Red Robin for lunch. We then went to my second son's (David) game which we also won. David also scored his first goal ever. We then finished our grocery shopping and managed to get home just in time for dinner. Sunday was a little less hectic. After church and lunch, we went swimming as a family and had a blast. Then we finally got to relax. While it was busy, it was a good weekend.
Last night, I had my first read through of the musical "Annie!". I am Drake, Warbuck's Butler. Turns out, it is a rather involved part. I am in a lot of scenes and have quite a few lines. Luckily, I have no solos, which is good. I look forward to more of the same.
Finally, this morning, as I was backing out of the driveway, my check engine light on my truck came on. Hopefully it is something small and easy to fix. I will have to get it checked out on my way home. The good news is, the motor sounds good and I don't have any other indications of anything bad, so it may just be an O2 sensor or the gas cap. We'll just have to wait until this afternoon to see what it is.
Now that I have my wife wringing her hands and worrying, I will end this post. Don't worry to much dear, we'll get it fixed and stay within our budget. We don't even know if it is going to cost more than $2 yet so stop panicking. Thank you all for reading. Have a great day.
Let's start with the weekend update. As I mentioned Friday, This weekend was busy. It started with a soccer game in the drizzling rain (my third son, Mathew's team) which we won. Then moved on to celebrating my oldest's tenth birthday at Red Robin for lunch. We then went to my second son's (David) game which we also won. David also scored his first goal ever. We then finished our grocery shopping and managed to get home just in time for dinner. Sunday was a little less hectic. After church and lunch, we went swimming as a family and had a blast. Then we finally got to relax. While it was busy, it was a good weekend.
Last night, I had my first read through of the musical "Annie!". I am Drake, Warbuck's Butler. Turns out, it is a rather involved part. I am in a lot of scenes and have quite a few lines. Luckily, I have no solos, which is good. I look forward to more of the same.
Finally, this morning, as I was backing out of the driveway, my check engine light on my truck came on. Hopefully it is something small and easy to fix. I will have to get it checked out on my way home. The good news is, the motor sounds good and I don't have any other indications of anything bad, so it may just be an O2 sensor or the gas cap. We'll just have to wait until this afternoon to see what it is.
Now that I have my wife wringing her hands and worrying, I will end this post. Don't worry to much dear, we'll get it fixed and stay within our budget. We don't even know if it is going to cost more than $2 yet so stop panicking. Thank you all for reading. Have a great day.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Dad's 2 ton Gun
Happy Hump Day! Continuing with the theme this week, I will now regale you with more dad. The fact that my father is a plumber, electrician, and generally good guy has led to many interesting encounters. Dad has many acquaintances through this line of work and nearly all of them have the same opinion of him. This has led to a host of connections that has helped dad throughout his life. One of the most interesting to me, is his relationship with the district DNR agent.
For those of you unfamiliar with this term, the DNR agent is the person responsible for enforcing the fish and wildlife laws. In other words he makes sure hunters and fishermen don't do anything illegal (which is why most hunters and fishermen avoid the DNR agent at all costs). It's kind of like when you are driving a fast sports care, you tend to avoid the police even if you aren't doing anything wrong. Well, because dad does all of his plumbing and electrical, they know each other well.
The best example of this relationship occurred my freshman year in high school. At the time, dad had a 60 something ford truck. To say this truck was interesting, is to be kind. The previous owner had hand painted it with house paint a bright blue with a white cab. From a distance (a mile is about right) it looked OK, up close, the brush strokes really came out, which is fine on a work of art, not so much on a truck. Anyway, since the truck was built in the 60's, it was made with steel. Now-a-days safety is based on safety features (airbags, seat belts, crumple zones, etc.), but back then, it was generally believed that what made a car safe was how much damage it could drive away from. Trucks from the era could probably have taken on a bulldozer and won. Knowing this, and adding in the fact that we were usually scraping by, you can understand dad's philosophy when it came to what to do when a deer decided to step onto the road in front of him. Most people slam on the brakes and brace themselves. Not dad. When he was in that truck, he would down shift and step on the gas (if he wasn't already at top speed).
"More humane to hit 'em at high speed and go for the instant kill," was the reasoning. So it came as no surprise when dad came home with an 8 point buck in the back of the truck the night before deer season opened.
Any other day of the year, dad probably would not have informed the DNR. Since Deer season started the next day and his friend might decide to stop by and see what was being butchered, dad figured he ought to call. So he called his friend, the DNR agent. This is the only time I can ever remember him showing up at our place in an official capacity. He walked around the truck and looked over the deer on all sides. Did a lot of frowning and finally asked his first question.
"Any damage to the truck?"
Dad simply smiled and said, "Think I need to realign my head lights, but they may have been like that before I hit the darn thing."
"How fast were you going?"
"Don't really know, I was speeding up at the time."
"How many is that now?"
"I don't know, about one a year a suppose, say 5."
At this point, the DNR agent just shook his head and said, "Alright, I can tell you didn't shoot him, but I really ought to classify that truck as a hunting implement."
Dad just smiled and shook the agents hand as he left. From that day on, though, the Truck was called the 2 ton gun.
Enjoy your day and have a wonderful week.
For those of you unfamiliar with this term, the DNR agent is the person responsible for enforcing the fish and wildlife laws. In other words he makes sure hunters and fishermen don't do anything illegal (which is why most hunters and fishermen avoid the DNR agent at all costs). It's kind of like when you are driving a fast sports care, you tend to avoid the police even if you aren't doing anything wrong. Well, because dad does all of his plumbing and electrical, they know each other well.
The best example of this relationship occurred my freshman year in high school. At the time, dad had a 60 something ford truck. To say this truck was interesting, is to be kind. The previous owner had hand painted it with house paint a bright blue with a white cab. From a distance (a mile is about right) it looked OK, up close, the brush strokes really came out, which is fine on a work of art, not so much on a truck. Anyway, since the truck was built in the 60's, it was made with steel. Now-a-days safety is based on safety features (airbags, seat belts, crumple zones, etc.), but back then, it was generally believed that what made a car safe was how much damage it could drive away from. Trucks from the era could probably have taken on a bulldozer and won. Knowing this, and adding in the fact that we were usually scraping by, you can understand dad's philosophy when it came to what to do when a deer decided to step onto the road in front of him. Most people slam on the brakes and brace themselves. Not dad. When he was in that truck, he would down shift and step on the gas (if he wasn't already at top speed).
"More humane to hit 'em at high speed and go for the instant kill," was the reasoning. So it came as no surprise when dad came home with an 8 point buck in the back of the truck the night before deer season opened.
Any other day of the year, dad probably would not have informed the DNR. Since Deer season started the next day and his friend might decide to stop by and see what was being butchered, dad figured he ought to call. So he called his friend, the DNR agent. This is the only time I can ever remember him showing up at our place in an official capacity. He walked around the truck and looked over the deer on all sides. Did a lot of frowning and finally asked his first question.
"Any damage to the truck?"
Dad simply smiled and said, "Think I need to realign my head lights, but they may have been like that before I hit the darn thing."
"How fast were you going?"
"Don't really know, I was speeding up at the time."
"How many is that now?"
"I don't know, about one a year a suppose, say 5."
At this point, the DNR agent just shook his head and said, "Alright, I can tell you didn't shoot him, but I really ought to classify that truck as a hunting implement."
Dad just smiled and shook the agents hand as he left. From that day on, though, the Truck was called the 2 ton gun.
Enjoy your day and have a wonderful week.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
My dad was cool?
Day two of the Dad honorarium. Don't worry, He's still kicking and I hope he still is for years to come. Anyway, I was stuck for a bit on what to write today. I really haven't came up with anything substantial. I figure I'll just share a few of the things I slowly learned over the years. Stuff he never told me until I either discovered it and asked, or someone else mentioned it. For instance, it wasn't until I was almost 30 that I discovered that dad's first new car was a Hemi Cuda he bought while in the Air Force. I discovered this when we were going through a stack of old pictures we had while I was home on leave. I pull out this picture of dad in front of this shiny new car.
"Who's car is this?" I asked.
Dad simply looked at it and said, "Mine."
No elaboration, just the simple declaration that at one time, dad was cool. I already had an inkling of that from looking at his year books from High school that Grandma so nicely provided us kids. Turned out, that dad was a stud in high school. He may not have played sports, but he and his friends ran the school. The notes left in the aforementioned yearbooks ranged from the simple miss you, to the elaborate remembrances and nearly tear filled good byes. And nearly every single girl in his class had something to say beyond the compulsory nice miss you note. Needless to say, finding out dad was cool was one of the many things we found out. The few things he volunteered were innocuous and safe. Reflecting on what I tell my boys, I can only imagine just what kinds of things he got into.
Now I know some of you are wondering, "what about the Cuda? He obviously didn't have it when you were growing up. What happened to it?" In the same conversation that we discovered he owned it, he admitted that he had to sell it during the 70's fuel crisis since he couldn't afford gas for it. He admitted to missing it. and regretting selling it.
His response when I asked if he would have let me drive it in high school? "Are you serious?!" Thanks dad. I love you too.
Well, I think that about covers it. Just remember, every dad may have been cool at one time. Mine still is, it just took me 30 years to realize it. Have a wonderful day.
"Who's car is this?" I asked.
Dad simply looked at it and said, "Mine."
No elaboration, just the simple declaration that at one time, dad was cool. I already had an inkling of that from looking at his year books from High school that Grandma so nicely provided us kids. Turned out, that dad was a stud in high school. He may not have played sports, but he and his friends ran the school. The notes left in the aforementioned yearbooks ranged from the simple miss you, to the elaborate remembrances and nearly tear filled good byes. And nearly every single girl in his class had something to say beyond the compulsory nice miss you note. Needless to say, finding out dad was cool was one of the many things we found out. The few things he volunteered were innocuous and safe. Reflecting on what I tell my boys, I can only imagine just what kinds of things he got into.
Now I know some of you are wondering, "what about the Cuda? He obviously didn't have it when you were growing up. What happened to it?" In the same conversation that we discovered he owned it, he admitted that he had to sell it during the 70's fuel crisis since he couldn't afford gas for it. He admitted to missing it. and regretting selling it.
His response when I asked if he would have let me drive it in high school? "Are you serious?!" Thanks dad. I love you too.
Well, I think that about covers it. Just remember, every dad may have been cool at one time. Mine still is, it just took me 30 years to realize it. Have a wonderful day.
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