Sunday, December 26, 2010
Code for Strike Over, Code For Strike Out, Code for Strike, Strike, New York, NY
This post is a test of a theory I have about a previous post I made using similar terms to those in the header. I may or may not explain later depending on how idiotic or not the results would make me appear.
Saturday, December 25, 2010
I Was Dreaming Of A White Christmas...
...but didn't get one. Yet, Christmas was a really nice day for me. Spent it my wife and kids at my sister's place with my side of the family there.
I was not dreaming of a white day after Christmas but they are suddenly saying that they (the weather people they) expect 11 to 18 inches of snow by tomorrow night or early Monday. Snow is supposed to start falling tomorrow morning and go til Monday morning. We were expecting my wife's side of the family to come to our place tomorrow but I don't think my brother-in-law will want to drive in that stuff and I could not blame him. Then again, who knows. If hey do come over we may have overnight guests if they get snowed in for the night. That would be okay by me, we have plenty of fine spirits to keep things warm and cozy and have enough food planned for just tomorrow's meal to last at least a few days. If they come over it could get interesting if it snows enough.
I am not looking forward to shoveling. You may remember last winter I was in Phoenix for my job and my area got hit by record snowfalls. My wife and kids wound up shoveling and my wife seemed to have hated it so much she seemed to have also gained some respect for all the shoveling I have done over the other 14 or so winters we lived here before that one. I was sure I would be getting something shiny and red for my birthday or Christmas from her this year - something like a snow blower. She gave me something red and sort of shiny - two bags of mini Mounds bars. Go figure! Oh my aching back, I may just take some aspirin as soon as I wake up tomorrow in anticipation of some back-wracking work. Heck, I am out of practice since I missed it last year; oh well, I'll give it my best shot!
All the best,
GB
I was not dreaming of a white day after Christmas but they are suddenly saying that they (the weather people they) expect 11 to 18 inches of snow by tomorrow night or early Monday. Snow is supposed to start falling tomorrow morning and go til Monday morning. We were expecting my wife's side of the family to come to our place tomorrow but I don't think my brother-in-law will want to drive in that stuff and I could not blame him. Then again, who knows. If hey do come over we may have overnight guests if they get snowed in for the night. That would be okay by me, we have plenty of fine spirits to keep things warm and cozy and have enough food planned for just tomorrow's meal to last at least a few days. If they come over it could get interesting if it snows enough.
I am not looking forward to shoveling. You may remember last winter I was in Phoenix for my job and my area got hit by record snowfalls. My wife and kids wound up shoveling and my wife seemed to have hated it so much she seemed to have also gained some respect for all the shoveling I have done over the other 14 or so winters we lived here before that one. I was sure I would be getting something shiny and red for my birthday or Christmas from her this year - something like a snow blower. She gave me something red and sort of shiny - two bags of mini Mounds bars. Go figure! Oh my aching back, I may just take some aspirin as soon as I wake up tomorrow in anticipation of some back-wracking work. Heck, I am out of practice since I missed it last year; oh well, I'll give it my best shot!
All the best,
GB
Season's Greetings...
and since the season is Christmas, let me just wish you all a very:
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Gays Serving Openly In The Military
Okay, so gays (and I suppose lesbians & bisexuals) will soon be able to serve openly in the military. I do not have much of a problem with that. In fact, I do not have a problem with it. I do not think that the gay lifestyle (yes that is what I mostly believe being gay to be - a lifestyle though I will admit some may be predisposed genetically or bio-chemically) is something that is normal or acceptable although I do tolerate gay people. Let's face it they are part of society and are not going away any time soon, probably will never go away altogether.
This all brings some things to mind. One of which goes as follows. If gays will be allowed to serve openly in the military, that means they will be able to announce their gayness and serve without thought of being tossed out or harassed because they are gay - right? Now riddle me this: If they can serve openly, will that also give them free reign to try to announce their gayness to everyone they meet in the army - if they so choose. I do see a problem with that, a big one. It is called sexual harassment. You see, if I am at my current job and someone comes over to me and says: "Hey Glenn, I am gay", well I would most likely tell that person I don't care to hear talk about his sexual preferences and would likely tell him not to mention it to me or express that to me again in any way shape or form. In other words, besides not telling me about his preference I would want to assure he does not express it to me in writing, by manner of dress (such as wearing a shirt with Gay & proud on it or by wearing rainbow patches), by manner of actions (such as sashaying in front of me, making sexual expressions, looking at me in the men's locker room and I do mean suggestively or by staring at my privates and so on).
If any of the above would happen to me at my job and then be repeated after I informed any person, regardless of sexual orientation, not to do so - it should be considered sexual harassment. That person should then be subject to administrative, civil and possibly criminal action. The thing is, that seems to happen only when a straight (as in heterosexual) male is accused of harassing straight or lesbian female coworkers or male gay coworkers. Sexual harassment laws, in the work place, rarely seem to protect heterosexual males from the very abuses from which they are supposed to protect all workers.
Now I see a big problem with this if it happens likewise in the military. I see it resulting not only in lower moral among heterosexual males and females who may be harassed by gays or lesbians (yes it apparently does happen and fairly frequently once gays are out of the closet or maybe I should say out of the footlocker for this case) but also see it as resulting is some other bad things. First and foremost, I believe that morale will be lowered. Then if harassment occurs and is allowed to go unabated, when from gay to hetero, but gets slammed when the other way around - well I think our soldiers, marines and sailors may take offense and think of their own ways to stop the harassment. Beatings come to mind. I do not endorse them, I am just guessing they will happen. Why? Because our young men and women in the military beat each other for other lessor offense of their military, personal and moral codes. Then what will happen. Will the gays be allowed to go on harassing while the straights are criminalized for their actions?
Note, I am questioning. I am not saying it will happen. I tend to think it will happen to some extent but only am guessing it may happen. Of course there is a way to prevent some of this. Separate showers for all groups. Straight men's showers, gay men's showers, straight women's showers and lesbian women's showers, let alone the bisexuals for now. I guess the same would have to go for toilets. Then don't forget about sleeping quarters - wouldn't they have to be separate too? Of course I almost forgot locker rooms. That is all at military bases at home - what about tent accommodations overseas! This would be expensive, wouldn't it? Maybe a less expensive way would be to have one group of showers, living quarters and toilets for all - to be shared by all. So men and women, regardless of sexual preference/orientation would share all the facilities with no distinctions as to gender. Do you think there would be a bit of sexual tension in such situations? If you do, even for a moment, think so, then why maybe did you not think likewise if gays would be allowed to shower with straights in male only showers - etc.? Yeah, I know - you may have seen the possibility for that tension in both scenarios but it seems some people are so overwhelmed by the push for gays serving openly in the military they did not even consider for a moment the sexual tension such could create. Note I did not say allowing gays in the military would cause the tension, I said letting them be open about it, and I think then them going overboard, may create the tension.
Now I wonder, if gays join the military why is there any reason to tell anyone they are gay when they join? I do not see one. I don't see any reason to have an obligation to tell anyone at any time. Yet, I do see the reasons why it may come up in conversation. A female soldier may hit up on a gay guy. She may continue to do as he ignores her advances. Finally after several attempts by the female soldier, the male gay soldier may tell her: "It's not that I don't like you as a person, but I am gay and don't date women. Please don't take it personally." In the day before yesterday's military services (as I write this), that person would be expelled from military service in the USA. I see that as an outrage even though I do not accept the gay lifestyle (or predisposition to it - and if it is genetic predisposition I see it as an aberration of normality but that is just my view, feel free to have your own opinion). Yet, regardless of how I feel about gayness (and note I am blanketing lesbianism into this) I would certainly not expel a gay person from the military for something like that.
On the other hand, if the guy is what is commonly referred to as a flamer - that could be a very different story. There are a good number of gays out there who seemingly cannot stop themselves fromtelegraphing shouting out on the hilltops - I am here, I am queer, and I want to hold the same sex near" (maybe even adding "...and there is nothing you can do about it dear"). Do you doubt that? If you doubt it then watch the next Halloween Parade in New York City or San Francisco or watch a Gay Pride Parade anywhere one is held. When is the last time you saw a Heterosexual Pride Parade? I did not think you had seen one, was I right. There are large numbers of gays who almost continually have to act exceedingly gay and constantly let the world know they are gay. There is no room in the military service for people who act like that just as there is no room in the military service for gays who might harass heterosexuals.
Some are almost certainly thinking, wow this guy Ballseye sure is a homophobic guy. That is not true at all. I do not fear homosexuals. I have had some friends who are homosexual and have worked with several coworkers who are likewise. Not fearing them though does not mean I have to start liking or accepting homosexuality or become a homosexual. I tolerate homosexuality as a fact of life but note tolerating it does not mean I have to accept it. I can be Christian and tolerate Jews and the Jewish faith while not accepting the faith as my own and believing it to be the true faith. I can be an agnostic or atheist and be tolerant of religious people and their beliefs but yet not have to accept any faith. I can tolerate Bruce Springsteen or Jane Fonda as having a right to sing or say their piece while never accepting either of their political views. Well, maybe Jane Fonda was a bad example - I think she should have been imprisoned at the very least for her actions in Vietnam but would have tolerated her right to exist after her 25 year prison term had ended (I believe that is the least she should have gotten had she been prosecuted). I tolerate rudeness and ill manners from others everyday of my life to some extent (well not yesterday but that is another story) but I do not find either as an acceptable way to treat others. I can be absolutely intolerant and unaccepting of criminal lifestyles yet still tolerate convicts once they have served their time and have gone back on the straight and narrow. Yet, I have never been called a Springsteinphobic, never a Fondaphobic, nor a Rudenessphobic, nor a Jewishphobic or a Religiousphobic. Why not - because I am not but mostly because those other people are not so insecure in their whateverness as to have to call anyone who does not like them phobic! Yet, despite not being fearful of them, I do not agree with or accept everything someone else tries to shove down my throat (no pun intended) so why am I suddenly homophobic if I do not agree with or accept homosexuality! Just because you are gay does not mean I have to accept you, like you, be happy to work with you, or want to have sex with you - nor does any of that mean I am afraid of you. What it does mean is that while I may tolerate you because you are human, I do not accept your lifestyle or sexual orientation. Get over it by not continually putting your gayness in any one's face and make damned sure you do likewise in the military. Otherwise, in my opinion, you do not belong there, nor in any job where your actions would certainly constitute sexual harassment (well they would if you were straight and kept shouting it off of the the hilltops to everyone).
The above type of gay person, the one who has to incessantly express his or her homosexuality, while not the exception, is less in number than your run of the mill gay person. Most gays do not go around screaming off of the hilltops (or in the showers) that they are gay and then expecting everyone to treat them as if that is normal behavior. While it may never happen that anyone who is gay will cause any sort of tension in the military by repeatedly announcing to the troops that he or she is gay, I would give you 100 to 1 odds - me betting that it will happen. I would also give you 50 to 1 odds, me betting that someone just innocently announcing he or she is homosexual, in the military, will also cause sexual tension. That tension might not seem like much here at home but imagine how such underlying tension might effect a soldier's ability to fight with another soldier in combat conditions. I am not saying that a gay or straight soldier will not protect the other or work as a team but the underlying tension might make either one tense enough to screw something up and cause inadvertent injuries or loss of life. Can such tension be prevented. Not 100% but it certainly can be minimized. Of course, there are almost certainly both homophobes and heterophobes in the military and the tension for them will be even worse.
As I said though, there is no place in the military for outrageous sexual announcements or actions and that goes not only for homosexuals but also for heterosexuals as I see it. In fact I see it as absolutely having to go for both groups equally and that means that even though gays will be allowed to serve openly and proudly in the U.S. Military, there is no way they should be given special preferences or treatment such as their possible harassing behavior being ignored when harassing treatment by heteros would be slammed. My bet though is that some gays will now expect special treatment. I think we will see, that way too many times, when one is punished or thrown out of the military that person will use his or her homosexuality as a shield and try to say that homosexuality and homophobia were the only reasons they were the recipients of punitive measures.
Maybe I am wrong in my guess as to what will come about but time will certainly tell, that is if you are not too truthphobic to accept facts as facts when they are reported. However things turn out, it will be interesting to see it all unfold but I hope none of it results, directly or indirectly, in injury or death to even one of our troops whether they are heterosexual or homosexual. Gays have always been in our military service and have served their nation with honor and distinction. While I think homosexuality to be wrong, and many others do too, I see no reason for that to change how well homosexuals can serve their country now just because they will be allowed to do so openly - that is if things are done fairly for all involved. Homosexuals and heterosexuals will need to remember something now more than ever while serving: They are serving not being served. So, they need to serve with pride but not pride in their own sexual orientation but with pride in America and with pride in supporting our Constitution and freedoms. If that is how it will be done, then how could anyone have a problem with it!
All the best,
Glenn B
This all brings some things to mind. One of which goes as follows. If gays will be allowed to serve openly in the military, that means they will be able to announce their gayness and serve without thought of being tossed out or harassed because they are gay - right? Now riddle me this: If they can serve openly, will that also give them free reign to try to announce their gayness to everyone they meet in the army - if they so choose. I do see a problem with that, a big one. It is called sexual harassment. You see, if I am at my current job and someone comes over to me and says: "Hey Glenn, I am gay", well I would most likely tell that person I don't care to hear talk about his sexual preferences and would likely tell him not to mention it to me or express that to me again in any way shape or form. In other words, besides not telling me about his preference I would want to assure he does not express it to me in writing, by manner of dress (such as wearing a shirt with Gay & proud on it or by wearing rainbow patches), by manner of actions (such as sashaying in front of me, making sexual expressions, looking at me in the men's locker room and I do mean suggestively or by staring at my privates and so on).
If any of the above would happen to me at my job and then be repeated after I informed any person, regardless of sexual orientation, not to do so - it should be considered sexual harassment. That person should then be subject to administrative, civil and possibly criminal action. The thing is, that seems to happen only when a straight (as in heterosexual) male is accused of harassing straight or lesbian female coworkers or male gay coworkers. Sexual harassment laws, in the work place, rarely seem to protect heterosexual males from the very abuses from which they are supposed to protect all workers.
Now I see a big problem with this if it happens likewise in the military. I see it resulting not only in lower moral among heterosexual males and females who may be harassed by gays or lesbians (yes it apparently does happen and fairly frequently once gays are out of the closet or maybe I should say out of the footlocker for this case) but also see it as resulting is some other bad things. First and foremost, I believe that morale will be lowered. Then if harassment occurs and is allowed to go unabated, when from gay to hetero, but gets slammed when the other way around - well I think our soldiers, marines and sailors may take offense and think of their own ways to stop the harassment. Beatings come to mind. I do not endorse them, I am just guessing they will happen. Why? Because our young men and women in the military beat each other for other lessor offense of their military, personal and moral codes. Then what will happen. Will the gays be allowed to go on harassing while the straights are criminalized for their actions?
Note, I am questioning. I am not saying it will happen. I tend to think it will happen to some extent but only am guessing it may happen. Of course there is a way to prevent some of this. Separate showers for all groups. Straight men's showers, gay men's showers, straight women's showers and lesbian women's showers, let alone the bisexuals for now. I guess the same would have to go for toilets. Then don't forget about sleeping quarters - wouldn't they have to be separate too? Of course I almost forgot locker rooms. That is all at military bases at home - what about tent accommodations overseas! This would be expensive, wouldn't it? Maybe a less expensive way would be to have one group of showers, living quarters and toilets for all - to be shared by all. So men and women, regardless of sexual preference/orientation would share all the facilities with no distinctions as to gender. Do you think there would be a bit of sexual tension in such situations? If you do, even for a moment, think so, then why maybe did you not think likewise if gays would be allowed to shower with straights in male only showers - etc.? Yeah, I know - you may have seen the possibility for that tension in both scenarios but it seems some people are so overwhelmed by the push for gays serving openly in the military they did not even consider for a moment the sexual tension such could create. Note I did not say allowing gays in the military would cause the tension, I said letting them be open about it, and I think then them going overboard, may create the tension.
Now I wonder, if gays join the military why is there any reason to tell anyone they are gay when they join? I do not see one. I don't see any reason to have an obligation to tell anyone at any time. Yet, I do see the reasons why it may come up in conversation. A female soldier may hit up on a gay guy. She may continue to do as he ignores her advances. Finally after several attempts by the female soldier, the male gay soldier may tell her: "It's not that I don't like you as a person, but I am gay and don't date women. Please don't take it personally." In the day before yesterday's military services (as I write this), that person would be expelled from military service in the USA. I see that as an outrage even though I do not accept the gay lifestyle (or predisposition to it - and if it is genetic predisposition I see it as an aberration of normality but that is just my view, feel free to have your own opinion). Yet, regardless of how I feel about gayness (and note I am blanketing lesbianism into this) I would certainly not expel a gay person from the military for something like that.
On the other hand, if the guy is what is commonly referred to as a flamer - that could be a very different story. There are a good number of gays out there who seemingly cannot stop themselves from
Some are almost certainly thinking, wow this guy Ballseye sure is a homophobic guy. That is not true at all. I do not fear homosexuals. I have had some friends who are homosexual and have worked with several coworkers who are likewise. Not fearing them though does not mean I have to start liking or accepting homosexuality or become a homosexual. I tolerate homosexuality as a fact of life but note tolerating it does not mean I have to accept it. I can be Christian and tolerate Jews and the Jewish faith while not accepting the faith as my own and believing it to be the true faith. I can be an agnostic or atheist and be tolerant of religious people and their beliefs but yet not have to accept any faith. I can tolerate Bruce Springsteen or Jane Fonda as having a right to sing or say their piece while never accepting either of their political views. Well, maybe Jane Fonda was a bad example - I think she should have been imprisoned at the very least for her actions in Vietnam but would have tolerated her right to exist after her 25 year prison term had ended (I believe that is the least she should have gotten had she been prosecuted). I tolerate rudeness and ill manners from others everyday of my life to some extent (well not yesterday but that is another story) but I do not find either as an acceptable way to treat others. I can be absolutely intolerant and unaccepting of criminal lifestyles yet still tolerate convicts once they have served their time and have gone back on the straight and narrow. Yet, I have never been called a Springsteinphobic, never a Fondaphobic, nor a Rudenessphobic, nor a Jewishphobic or a Religiousphobic. Why not - because I am not but mostly because those other people are not so insecure in their whateverness as to have to call anyone who does not like them phobic! Yet, despite not being fearful of them, I do not agree with or accept everything someone else tries to shove down my throat (no pun intended) so why am I suddenly homophobic if I do not agree with or accept homosexuality! Just because you are gay does not mean I have to accept you, like you, be happy to work with you, or want to have sex with you - nor does any of that mean I am afraid of you. What it does mean is that while I may tolerate you because you are human, I do not accept your lifestyle or sexual orientation. Get over it by not continually putting your gayness in any one's face and make damned sure you do likewise in the military. Otherwise, in my opinion, you do not belong there, nor in any job where your actions would certainly constitute sexual harassment (well they would if you were straight and kept shouting it off of the the hilltops to everyone).
The above type of gay person, the one who has to incessantly express his or her homosexuality, while not the exception, is less in number than your run of the mill gay person. Most gays do not go around screaming off of the hilltops (or in the showers) that they are gay and then expecting everyone to treat them as if that is normal behavior. While it may never happen that anyone who is gay will cause any sort of tension in the military by repeatedly announcing to the troops that he or she is gay, I would give you 100 to 1 odds - me betting that it will happen. I would also give you 50 to 1 odds, me betting that someone just innocently announcing he or she is homosexual, in the military, will also cause sexual tension. That tension might not seem like much here at home but imagine how such underlying tension might effect a soldier's ability to fight with another soldier in combat conditions. I am not saying that a gay or straight soldier will not protect the other or work as a team but the underlying tension might make either one tense enough to screw something up and cause inadvertent injuries or loss of life. Can such tension be prevented. Not 100% but it certainly can be minimized. Of course, there are almost certainly both homophobes and heterophobes in the military and the tension for them will be even worse.
As I said though, there is no place in the military for outrageous sexual announcements or actions and that goes not only for homosexuals but also for heterosexuals as I see it. In fact I see it as absolutely having to go for both groups equally and that means that even though gays will be allowed to serve openly and proudly in the U.S. Military, there is no way they should be given special preferences or treatment such as their possible harassing behavior being ignored when harassing treatment by heteros would be slammed. My bet though is that some gays will now expect special treatment. I think we will see, that way too many times, when one is punished or thrown out of the military that person will use his or her homosexuality as a shield and try to say that homosexuality and homophobia were the only reasons they were the recipients of punitive measures.
Maybe I am wrong in my guess as to what will come about but time will certainly tell, that is if you are not too truthphobic to accept facts as facts when they are reported. However things turn out, it will be interesting to see it all unfold but I hope none of it results, directly or indirectly, in injury or death to even one of our troops whether they are heterosexual or homosexual. Gays have always been in our military service and have served their nation with honor and distinction. While I think homosexuality to be wrong, and many others do too, I see no reason for that to change how well homosexuals can serve their country now just because they will be allowed to do so openly - that is if things are done fairly for all involved. Homosexuals and heterosexuals will need to remember something now more than ever while serving: They are serving not being served. So, they need to serve with pride but not pride in their own sexual orientation but with pride in America and with pride in supporting our Constitution and freedoms. If that is how it will be done, then how could anyone have a problem with it!
All the best,
Glenn B
Monday, December 20, 2010
The Cruise Is Over - We Are Home Again...
...got home very late last night, that due to our flight being late. Cruise was pretty nice and I liked it a bunch. Since I said we are home, I guess you can gather neither of us threw the other overboard although maybe one wished she had done just that at least once or twice!
Just for info, since shipboard online access was by satellite, it was expensive. I could have paid .75 cents a minute or could have gotten a package at $100 for 240 minutes plus 10 free minutes. It was noted on the price list that it was much slower than a high speed connection since it was satellite access. I declined - I figured I could live without it for a week. so, I did not read or respond to my emails and I did not blog. Blogging will probably continue to be light this week through Christmas, picking up again by Sunday. I still have a lot of Christmas shopping to do that did not get done while I was cruising.
I will leave you with an early wish for Christmas, one that should leave you laughing. It sure had me in stitches. Watch the video.
All the best,
Glenn B
Just for info, since shipboard online access was by satellite, it was expensive. I could have paid .75 cents a minute or could have gotten a package at $100 for 240 minutes plus 10 free minutes. It was noted on the price list that it was much slower than a high speed connection since it was satellite access. I declined - I figured I could live without it for a week. so, I did not read or respond to my emails and I did not blog. Blogging will probably continue to be light this week through Christmas, picking up again by Sunday. I still have a lot of Christmas shopping to do that did not get done while I was cruising.
I will leave you with an early wish for Christmas, one that should leave you laughing. It sure had me in stitches. Watch the video.
All the best,
Glenn B
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Ft. Laderdale & West Palm Beach...
...are gorgeous at this time of year1 The embassy Suites we are staying at, on 17th Street in Ft. Lauderdale, is great. Linda loves it here. May have to come back after the cruise to look for a retirement condo. Of course, she has never been here before so has never been here in the summer. Nice enough then too, that is why God made beaches, oceans, lakes, swimming pools and air conditioning.
The cruise is tomorrow. This evening we are headed up to Jupiter to visit a cousin and go out to eat.
Later for you all,
GB
The cruise is tomorrow. This evening we are headed up to Jupiter to visit a cousin and go out to eat.
Later for you all,
GB
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Soldiers' Christmas/Holiday Care Package Update
I just finished shopping for the soldiers' care packages that I hope will arrive there in time for Christmas. Upon finishing this post, I will be off to the post office to mail out one box. The contents of that one are:
One Package of 80 Baby Wipes
Two boxes of Nutri-Grain bars
One box of gallon sized Zip-Lok plastic bags (they supposedly come in very handy with all the fine dust over there)
One 4 pack of Spam
One bag of Sun Died Fruit
Another package will be sent straight from the online dealer from whom I purchased the items for that package. I want those to be a surprise for the guys and gal in Michael ____'s unit, so I will not say what was in the box until I know it was received or until after Christmas. That package alone went for $176.67. The items themselves cost $155.89 and the shipping was $20.78 (as usual I paid for the shipping myself). We had, as I recall off the top of my head, $140.44 left in the fund from donations. That means I also contributed $15.45 for the items in said package. In addition I paid for all of the items in the other package mentioned above out of my pocket. I am guessing that was about $30 to $35, plus I also will pay for the shipping.
The money from donations has all been used to purchase items for the packages. As of today, all of the packages, for which donation money was used, will have been shipped to Michael ____ , my assigned soldier. I will not have another chance to send any packages that have a chance of arriving before Christmas because I will be away for the next week and a few days starting tomorrow. When I get back, I will commence sending care packages again but am no longer acceptng fonations now that the holiday packages are all sent off.
All the best,
GB
One Package of 80 Baby Wipes
Two boxes of Nutri-Grain bars
One box of gallon sized Zip-Lok plastic bags (they supposedly come in very handy with all the fine dust over there)
One bag of Sun Died Fruit
Another package will be sent straight from the online dealer from whom I purchased the items for that package. I want those to be a surprise for the guys and gal in Michael ____'s unit, so I will not say what was in the box until I know it was received or until after Christmas. That package alone went for $176.67. The items themselves cost $155.89 and the shipping was $20.78 (as usual I paid for the shipping myself). We had, as I recall off the top of my head, $140.44 left in the fund from donations. That means I also contributed $15.45 for the items in said package. In addition I paid for all of the items in the other package mentioned above out of my pocket. I am guessing that was about $30 to $35, plus I also will pay for the shipping.
The money from donations has all been used to purchase items for the packages. As of today, all of the packages, for which donation money was used, will have been shipped to Michael ____ , my assigned soldier. I will not have another chance to send any packages that have a chance of arriving before Christmas because I will be away for the next week and a few days starting tomorrow. When I get back, I will commence sending care packages again but am no longer acceptng fonations now that the holiday packages are all sent off.
All the best,
GB
Ballseye's Gun Shots 101 - Going Unarmed...
...is going to be a new experience for me but that is exactly how I will be - more or less - for the next week and a few days. My wife and I are flying down to FL tomorrow to spend a couple of days there before leaving on a cruise on Sunday to return the following Sunday. While I could easily fly armed, I cannot cruise armed - so I will be experiencing something I have not experienced in a long time since I am usually armed everywhere I go. I mean that most literally too when I say I usually am armed whenever I go anywhere. There are few exceptions, such as when I am working out in a gym or go for a swim, but otherwise I almost always carry a sidearm and that includes when going to the local deli, out for a walk with the dogs and even when out doing yard work or in my own home. Am I paranoid? I am sure some people who do not carry might think so but the truth is I am not. I doubt I will have to use a weapon to defend myself or family at any given time but the truth is that all too often there are instances of people being accosted, attacked, assaulted, robbed, beaten, stabbed, shot on the street or at the store or in a parking lot or even in their own home during a violent break-in. So, I would rather seem paranoid to some and because of my preparedness to face the worst and come out the winner than be totally foolish and unprepared by having the belief that I can call 911 and have the cavalry arrive in the nick of time or that my home alarm system will somehow scare off determined bad guys and all will be well or that fate will shine on me and I will never have a run in with nasty bad people who want to harm me. If I only need to defend myself or my family once by use of force with arms then it will have well been worth all the readiness on my part. Since I have already had to defend myself more than once with force, and actually have shot someone in self defense (while I was simply out for a walk), I can say without a doubt that while it may not be likely to happen - shit does happen and you had best be prepared for it if you expect to survive it! The newspapers are full of stories about people who were not prepared and who did not fare well. Granted, being armed is no magic umbrella protecting anyone from harm but I think it goes a long way to skew the odds in your favor should you ever be attacked by someone willing to harm you to get what they want and the chance is always that that it can happens - don't think so then take the time to read this piece.
Now while I cannot be armed, at least in the traditional notion of being armed while on my upcoming cruise, you can bet I will arm myself in some manner with makeshift weapons or at least know the location of the nearest weapons should the shit hit the fan. That is not going to be any great comfort to me should the ship be attacked by pirates (seems to happen frequently nowadays but luckily not where we are traveling) or be taken over by terrorists (terrorist attacks are almost the norm in certain parts of the world) or should someone try to rob us while on a shore excursion (probably the most likely thing where a weapon might be needed for self defense but probably still unlikely). As for the shore excursions, we will be on at least a few of those and one of the countries where we will be ashore has been a hotbed of violence of the most terrible sorts in recent years. I almost cancelled our shore excursion there. After some good amount of thought, we decided since it is an area with no such reported violence we would enjoy the excursion. It will be a once in a lifetime opportunity for us to see the sights we will see. I will tell you more about the sights, we will have seen, upon our return.
No gun, no knife, just sort of gives me the heebie-jeebies to think of being that naked. So as they used to say in days of old "Take Courage" (of course, they meant by way of libation). I will be doing plenty of that, that is enjoying the finer liquid spirits they have aboard the ship and may bring some of my own courage in the form of a few bottles of wine. While you are not allowed to bring aboard hard liquor, actually you can bring it aboard but they confiscate it until you disembark so you cannot drink i while aboard the ship, you can bring along as much wine and champagne as your little heart (or would that be 'as your bloated liver') desires and you can drink it as you please. I will be pleased very much to do just that and those empty wine bottle could come in handy if we are boarded by pirates.
All the best,
Glenn B
Now while I cannot be armed, at least in the traditional notion of being armed while on my upcoming cruise, you can bet I will arm myself in some manner with makeshift weapons or at least know the location of the nearest weapons should the shit hit the fan. That is not going to be any great comfort to me should the ship be attacked by pirates (seems to happen frequently nowadays but luckily not where we are traveling) or be taken over by terrorists (terrorist attacks are almost the norm in certain parts of the world) or should someone try to rob us while on a shore excursion (probably the most likely thing where a weapon might be needed for self defense but probably still unlikely). As for the shore excursions, we will be on at least a few of those and one of the countries where we will be ashore has been a hotbed of violence of the most terrible sorts in recent years. I almost cancelled our shore excursion there. After some good amount of thought, we decided since it is an area with no such reported violence we would enjoy the excursion. It will be a once in a lifetime opportunity for us to see the sights we will see. I will tell you more about the sights, we will have seen, upon our return.
No gun, no knife, just sort of gives me the heebie-jeebies to think of being that naked. So as they used to say in days of old "Take Courage" (of course, they meant by way of libation). I will be doing plenty of that, that is enjoying the finer liquid spirits they have aboard the ship and may bring some of my own courage in the form of a few bottles of wine. While you are not allowed to bring aboard hard liquor, actually you can bring it aboard but they confiscate it until you disembark so you cannot drink i while aboard the ship, you can bring along as much wine and champagne as your little heart (or would that be 'as your bloated liver') desires and you can drink it as you please. I will be pleased very much to do just that and those empty wine bottle could come in handy if we are boarded by pirates.
All the best,
Glenn B
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Soldiers' Christmas & Holiday Care Packages - Update 2 For Today
Mike ____ has not received one of the three packages we sent to him to date. I had thought he received them all but on further inquiry he told me he only has received two of them. I am hopeful one is still in the mail and headed to him and am also hopeful if it is lost then it is one that I insured. Either way, anyone who donated does not have to worry that any of their donations were lost. Only the first package was not insured, that was the one I paid for completely out of my own pocket. Donations to date have only been used on the contents of packages 2 and 3 and both of them were insured. I think I have to wait 30 days to file a claim, that would be on or about December 11th. Hopefully the missing package will be delivered before then. Hopefully it was not the cigars either but with my piss poor luck i would bet that is the one. Thankfully, if that is so, the cigars were one of the insured packages.
As for the next package(s), I did not get a chance to go shopping today as I had thought. I did find out from Mike ____ though that there is one woman in his unit. So, I may include something fitting of a lady in one of the upcoming packages - a tough as nails woman maybe -but a lady no doubt!
Mike ____ also confirmed for me that he and his unit are in Iraq, in Kirkuk. He is with a mechanic unit. He did not mention the size of his unit saying it was an opsec concern but I think maybe he thought I wanted to know the size of the overall unit and not of his squad, so I sent him another email asking squad size if he can tell me without it being a matter of a security breach. I am asking to find out how many of a certain item or items I would send.
In order to assure I can include something a little special in the packages for each member of his unit, something durable and lasting, I am going to assume that his squad is made up of at least 12 enlisted people and a non-com. My lucky number has always been 13, so my guess is that if I send 13 of an item that will last, there will be enough of them to go around for each person in his squad. If not, then Mike ___ will have to dole them out as best he can. Of course, if he gets back to me with his unit size and it is smaller then I need not guess. if it is larger, then maybe I cannot afford to send what I had in mind. I really would like to see each soldier in his squad get one - with no one left out.
As far as donations go, nothing else yet but I am hopeful. I have decided I can afford another $50 instead of just $25 toward the items to go into the packages (not including what I will pay for shipping). What the heck, the cruise the wife and I are going on next week is already paid for so I can afford to take another $25 of what I had intended to use on booze aboard the ship to help these guys and gal out. What about you - can you afford a few bucks. I know one thing, I believe the following:
Money is tight,
and times are hard,
but it wouldn't be right
to send them just Christmas card!
All the best,
Glenn B
As for the next package(s), I did not get a chance to go shopping today as I had thought. I did find out from Mike ____ though that there is one woman in his unit. So, I may include something fitting of a lady in one of the upcoming packages - a tough as nails woman maybe -but a lady no doubt!
Mike ____ also confirmed for me that he and his unit are in Iraq, in Kirkuk. He is with a mechanic unit. He did not mention the size of his unit saying it was an opsec concern but I think maybe he thought I wanted to know the size of the overall unit and not of his squad, so I sent him another email asking squad size if he can tell me without it being a matter of a security breach. I am asking to find out how many of a certain item or items I would send.
In order to assure I can include something a little special in the packages for each member of his unit, something durable and lasting, I am going to assume that his squad is made up of at least 12 enlisted people and a non-com. My lucky number has always been 13, so my guess is that if I send 13 of an item that will last, there will be enough of them to go around for each person in his squad. If not, then Mike ___ will have to dole them out as best he can. Of course, if he gets back to me with his unit size and it is smaller then I need not guess. if it is larger, then maybe I cannot afford to send what I had in mind. I really would like to see each soldier in his squad get one - with no one left out.
As far as donations go, nothing else yet but I am hopeful. I have decided I can afford another $50 instead of just $25 toward the items to go into the packages (not including what I will pay for shipping). What the heck, the cruise the wife and I are going on next week is already paid for so I can afford to take another $25 of what I had intended to use on booze aboard the ship to help these guys and gal out. What about you - can you afford a few bucks. I know one thing, I believe the following:
Money is tight,
and times are hard,
but it wouldn't be right
to send them just Christmas card!
All the best,
Glenn B
Soldiers' Christmas/Holiday Care Packages - Update
First, allow me to tell you that emails from Mike ____, my assigned soldier, have come in. All of them have been appreciative of the items we sent to him and his unit. Knowing that the packages were received makes it a whole lot easier for me to spend other peoples money that I have collected toward this effort. Even had I not received his kind words of thanks and acknowledgements that he received the items, I was intent on continuing to ship more packages to him after the nice helpful replies (not the hateful ones) I got from some people to my post in which I expressed my concerns the packages may not have been received. Soldiers' Angels got back to me on that and said it was just likely he did not have the time to write which is also pretty much what Mike ____ explained to me. Maybe, I worried too much in my previous post, as it turns out, he and his fellow troops are very appreciative of what we have sent to date and apparently have received all the packages.
Right now, there is $140.44 in the kitty (don't fault me if I am off a few pennies but the dollar amount is right). If you want to help out there is still time to do it. I will accept donations up through December 20th, my first full day home after my vacation. I can still buy them some things and get them shipped in time for New Year's Day Delivery (I think). As usual, donations can be made by using the link near the top right hand side of my blog, in the red area. One hundred percent of the donations I receive, after PayPal takes their cut, will go toward items in the care packages.
To date I have received a total of $226.38. A total of $85.94 of donations went to buy items for care packages 2 & 3. An other $25 of my money also went toward that and of course I paid shipping out of my own pocket. No donations went into the first package, I paid that one out of my own pocket in total. So we have $140.44 remaining in donations for items for the packages plus whatever else I will throw in out of my own pocket (at least another $25, but probably more, for items. I will also cover shipping.)
So if I throw in $25 toward item purchases, we have a total of $165.44 for more things to put into the packages. That can buy some nice things but I m afraid that this year there will be no folding knives included as there have been over the past few holiday seasons. They are always a big hit with the troops but I don't think that we can afford them this year. That is unless some other folks decide to make donations. So I am again going to ask that you look into your pocket books and make a donation to this cause. It does not have to be a lot, 5 bucks would be great more would be nicer, but even less down to a dollar would be accepted (I do not know if PayPal will accept less than a whole dollar).
While I am talking about donations, allow me to thank those who have donated. One person donated what he could at 5 bucks, another donated 10, another donated $50 and I am very, very grateful to them all. Are you wondering how those 3 people donating added up to $226.38 when I have not been counting my own money in the amount of donations? Well it doesn't does it. After PayPal took their cut, the donations from those 3 nice folks amounted to a total of $62.21. There is another $164.17 (after PayPal) in donations that needs to be accounted for to bring the total of the donations up to $226.38. Every penny of that additional $164.17 came from one person who made donations. Yep - just one person. I don't know him, never met him, probably never will. I sold him some bullets at a good price and he reads my blog (that was how he found out I had bullets for sale). For all I know about him, he could be a millionaire. Then again, he could also be a pauper although my guess is that he is just another regular guy, a swell one at that. He sent in in three donations, one of $50, one of $60 and another of $60 for a total of $170 before PayPal and $164.17 after PayPal. Both I and the soldiers owe him a lot of thanks this year and I tip my hat to him. He is both a very generous person and a gentleman, thank you Mike S (not to be confused with Mike ____ who is my assigned soldier).
The fund could sure use a few more bucks, and it would be swell if some others could find it in their hearts to make a contribution toward the care packages. Note I said a few others. I will not accept another donation from Mike S. even if he is a millionaire. No insult to Mike, it is just I think he has done more than his share. Please note, I am not saying I think others have to give or that there is a certain amount for them to give to make up their share and I am certainly not saying in any way shape or form that the others who gave did not give enough. I am grateful for it all and I think all of it goes to a good end but enough is enough and Mike has given more than that. So I am asking others out there to please help out on this years care package drive. I figure if another $100 of donations come in, I can probably swing buying about 10 folding knives for Mike's unit. I sill am not sure how big is his unit, I'll have to ask again, but 10 is a good start and probably enough. If no other donations come in, there is still a good amount of money left over to send some really nice packages full of goodies. So far I already have a 4 pack of Spam (he asked for only one thing and that was it, but I hope he'll like the 25% less salt type because it is all I could find), a box of Nutri-Grain bars, and a bag of mixed fruit. For this package (or set of packages, as I will probably have to send at least two or three this go round, I don't like to put it all in one box, something about all your eggs in one basket) I will probably hold off on blogging about all of the contents until I think there was enough time for the boxes to have been received. would like to keep at least one of the items I include a sort of do not open until Christmas sort of a surprise. I figure it just adds a bit more fun to the opening of the packages if the guys don't have my blog to tell them what they are getting ahead of time. As usual though, there will be a full accounting posted here on my blog.
So, if you have a buck or a few bucks or several buck that you can send in toward this effort - PLEASE do so. Hanukkah has already begun and Christmas will be here before you know it. Also, bear in mind, these gifts are not just for soldiers who are faithful or who celebrate the two holidays just mentioned. They are for Mike ____ and his unit regardless of religious affiliation and regardless of whether they believe in a higher power at all. I just feel this time of year is the nicest one to start of such an effort; I happen to like Christmas and the whole spirit of the season. I will continue to send Mike ____ packages, with or without donations, after the holidays and until his current tour of duty on foreign soil has concluded.
That's it for now. If I hear anything further from Mike ___, I will let you know. I will probably post the content of his emails here in the near future. I figure those of you who have donated ought to get a chance to see what he has written. They will be edited to take out his personal info though as required by my agreement with Soldiers' Angels unless he gives me permission to include such.
Thanks again to those of you who have made donations and thanks in advance to any of you who may still decide to do so.
All the best,
Glenn B.
PS:
By the way, I have not forgotten the complainers, whiners, naysayers, accusers and nanny types who left the nasty comments for this previous post. A few of those nasty comments I published, a few I deleted. The ones I deleted were stricken because they were either so nasty or so ridiculous as to deserve it. Makes me wonder though, since all of you nanny types claimed to be ever so passionate about our soldiers welfare and about Soldiers' Angles', in your mistaken characterization that I was bashing them, are you really as passionate about helping our soldiers as you claim to be? So, how about it, you metrosexual, wussy, sad-sack complaining nanny types - are you willing to make a donation? (No, thought not, not a donation of anything other than your useless prattle since that is all you have seen fit to give so far. Go ahead though, prove me wrong. It will not do a thing for me but actually may do the soldiers a bit of good while you puff up your own already overinflated and ailing egos.)
Right now, there is $140.44 in the kitty (don't fault me if I am off a few pennies but the dollar amount is right). If you want to help out there is still time to do it. I will accept donations up through December 20th, my first full day home after my vacation. I can still buy them some things and get them shipped in time for New Year's Day Delivery (I think). As usual, donations can be made by using the link near the top right hand side of my blog, in the red area. One hundred percent of the donations I receive, after PayPal takes their cut, will go toward items in the care packages.
To date I have received a total of $226.38. A total of $85.94 of donations went to buy items for care packages 2 & 3. An other $25 of my money also went toward that and of course I paid shipping out of my own pocket. No donations went into the first package, I paid that one out of my own pocket in total. So we have $140.44 remaining in donations for items for the packages plus whatever else I will throw in out of my own pocket (at least another $25, but probably more, for items. I will also cover shipping.)
So if I throw in $25 toward item purchases, we have a total of $165.44 for more things to put into the packages. That can buy some nice things but I m afraid that this year there will be no folding knives included as there have been over the past few holiday seasons. They are always a big hit with the troops but I don't think that we can afford them this year. That is unless some other folks decide to make donations. So I am again going to ask that you look into your pocket books and make a donation to this cause. It does not have to be a lot, 5 bucks would be great more would be nicer, but even less down to a dollar would be accepted (I do not know if PayPal will accept less than a whole dollar).
While I am talking about donations, allow me to thank those who have donated. One person donated what he could at 5 bucks, another donated 10, another donated $50 and I am very, very grateful to them all. Are you wondering how those 3 people donating added up to $226.38 when I have not been counting my own money in the amount of donations? Well it doesn't does it. After PayPal took their cut, the donations from those 3 nice folks amounted to a total of $62.21. There is another $164.17 (after PayPal) in donations that needs to be accounted for to bring the total of the donations up to $226.38. Every penny of that additional $164.17 came from one person who made donations. Yep - just one person. I don't know him, never met him, probably never will. I sold him some bullets at a good price and he reads my blog (that was how he found out I had bullets for sale). For all I know about him, he could be a millionaire. Then again, he could also be a pauper although my guess is that he is just another regular guy, a swell one at that. He sent in in three donations, one of $50, one of $60 and another of $60 for a total of $170 before PayPal and $164.17 after PayPal. Both I and the soldiers owe him a lot of thanks this year and I tip my hat to him. He is both a very generous person and a gentleman, thank you Mike S (not to be confused with Mike ____ who is my assigned soldier).
The fund could sure use a few more bucks, and it would be swell if some others could find it in their hearts to make a contribution toward the care packages. Note I said a few others. I will not accept another donation from Mike S. even if he is a millionaire. No insult to Mike, it is just I think he has done more than his share. Please note, I am not saying I think others have to give or that there is a certain amount for them to give to make up their share and I am certainly not saying in any way shape or form that the others who gave did not give enough. I am grateful for it all and I think all of it goes to a good end but enough is enough and Mike has given more than that. So I am asking others out there to please help out on this years care package drive. I figure if another $100 of donations come in, I can probably swing buying about 10 folding knives for Mike's unit. I sill am not sure how big is his unit, I'll have to ask again, but 10 is a good start and probably enough. If no other donations come in, there is still a good amount of money left over to send some really nice packages full of goodies. So far I already have a 4 pack of Spam (he asked for only one thing and that was it, but I hope he'll like the 25% less salt type because it is all I could find), a box of Nutri-Grain bars, and a bag of mixed fruit. For this package (or set of packages, as I will probably have to send at least two or three this go round, I don't like to put it all in one box, something about all your eggs in one basket) I will probably hold off on blogging about all of the contents until I think there was enough time for the boxes to have been received. would like to keep at least one of the items I include a sort of do not open until Christmas sort of a surprise. I figure it just adds a bit more fun to the opening of the packages if the guys don't have my blog to tell them what they are getting ahead of time. As usual though, there will be a full accounting posted here on my blog.
So, if you have a buck or a few bucks or several buck that you can send in toward this effort - PLEASE do so. Hanukkah has already begun and Christmas will be here before you know it. Also, bear in mind, these gifts are not just for soldiers who are faithful or who celebrate the two holidays just mentioned. They are for Mike ____ and his unit regardless of religious affiliation and regardless of whether they believe in a higher power at all. I just feel this time of year is the nicest one to start of such an effort; I happen to like Christmas and the whole spirit of the season. I will continue to send Mike ____ packages, with or without donations, after the holidays and until his current tour of duty on foreign soil has concluded.
That's it for now. If I hear anything further from Mike ___, I will let you know. I will probably post the content of his emails here in the near future. I figure those of you who have donated ought to get a chance to see what he has written. They will be edited to take out his personal info though as required by my agreement with Soldiers' Angels unless he gives me permission to include such.
Thanks again to those of you who have made donations and thanks in advance to any of you who may still decide to do so.
All the best,
Glenn B.
PS:
By the way, I have not forgotten the complainers, whiners, naysayers, accusers and nanny types who left the nasty comments for this previous post. A few of those nasty comments I published, a few I deleted. The ones I deleted were stricken because they were either so nasty or so ridiculous as to deserve it. Makes me wonder though, since all of you nanny types claimed to be ever so passionate about our soldiers welfare and about Soldiers' Angles', in your mistaken characterization that I was bashing them, are you really as passionate about helping our soldiers as you claim to be? So, how about it, you metrosexual, wussy, sad-sack complaining nanny types - are you willing to make a donation? (No, thought not, not a donation of anything other than your useless prattle since that is all you have seen fit to give so far. Go ahead though, prove me wrong. It will not do a thing for me but actually may do the soldiers a bit of good while you puff up your own already overinflated and ailing egos.)
I Should Have Grabbed A Road Killed Deer...
...propped it up next to me with my hunting tag proudly displayed on it and then taken several pictures of me with it and my hunting rifle or shotgun. That way I could have told you all I was the great white hunter of legend and lore and that I had bagged one this year after all of my preparations for the hunt. Truth be told I squat, nada, zilch, not a thing. I had thought I would be hunting yesterday or today, my last chance day for this season but that fell through. I just have too much left to do in anticipation of the cruise my wife and I are taking at the beginning of next week. We leave on Friday for our embarkation city, spend a couple of nights there then shove off on Sunday. Oh well - there is next year for the deer. My son did not get one either so next year for him too because he did not have time to go back and try again this year.
Instead of going hunting today, like I had hoped, I will need to go shopping for a few presentable articles of clothing and a decent pair of shoes. I guess I ought to have something a bit more dressy than khakis and pullovers and my one suit with my one dress shirt that fits me. So a shopping I will go. Maybe I can kill two birds with one stoneand have better luck than when I went hunting by getting some Christmas shopping done while I am at it.
Then I am going to pack my bags for the trip. Since I get home between 7 and 9 each night from work, I doubt there will be much time for me to do that during the week. I doubt I will feel like it either. Thursday is our office holiday party so that means I won't be in the mood for anything except sleep that night. Have to make sure not to overdo it and to leave the arty early if I want to be up early enough on Friday for our trip.
After packing, I have to make time to go to visit my mom. I probably will not have the chance to see her again before Christmas when I pick her up for the family get together at my sister's house. Well my side of the family anyhow, the in-laws will be over to our house the day after Christmas.
I suppose there will be other things to do today too. I have some things for the soldier's Holiday Care package so I'll probably make one of them up. May shop for more stuff for that today too since this is the last week before Christmas week that I will be able to ship one out. I may as well get em all out now regardless of my trip just to make sure they make it before Christmas and while Hanukkah is still ongoing. Also need to blog about the reply I got from Mike ____ about the packages - he appreciates them very much and thanks all of you who have helped out with them.
Gotta run, later for all of you,
GB
Instead of going hunting today, like I had hoped, I will need to go shopping for a few presentable articles of clothing and a decent pair of shoes. I guess I ought to have something a bit more dressy than khakis and pullovers and my one suit with my one dress shirt that fits me. So a shopping I will go. Maybe I can kill two birds with one stone
Then I am going to pack my bags for the trip. Since I get home between 7 and 9 each night from work, I doubt there will be much time for me to do that during the week. I doubt I will feel like it either. Thursday is our office holiday party so that means I won't be in the mood for anything except sleep that night. Have to make sure not to overdo it and to leave the arty early if I want to be up early enough on Friday for our trip.
After packing, I have to make time to go to visit my mom. I probably will not have the chance to see her again before Christmas when I pick her up for the family get together at my sister's house. Well my side of the family anyhow, the in-laws will be over to our house the day after Christmas.
I suppose there will be other things to do today too. I have some things for the soldier's Holiday Care package so I'll probably make one of them up. May shop for more stuff for that today too since this is the last week before Christmas week that I will be able to ship one out. I may as well get em all out now regardless of my trip just to make sure they make it before Christmas and while Hanukkah is still ongoing. Also need to blog about the reply I got from Mike ____ about the packages - he appreciates them very much and thanks all of you who have helped out with them.
Gotta run, later for all of you,
GB
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Happy Hanukkah
Happy Hanukkah to all of the Jewish Faith. May God's light shine upon you as you light each candle of the menorah.
Ha-nei-rot ha-lo-lu o-nu mad-li-kin
Al ha-te-shu-ot ve-al ha-ni-sim ve-al ha-nif-la-ot,
She-a-see-ta la-avoi-tei-nu ba-ya-mim ha-heim biz-man ha-zeh,
Al ye-dei ko-ha-ne-cha ha-ke-do-shim,
Ve-chol she-mo-nat ye-mei cha-nu-kah ha-nei-rot ha-la-lu ko-desh hem,
Ve-ein la-nu re-shut le-hish-ta-meish ba-hen,
E-lo lir-o-tan bil-vad, ke-dei le-ho-dot u-le-ha-leil le-shim-cha ha-ga-dol Al ni-se-cha ve-al nif-le-o-te-cha ve-al ye-shu-o-te-cha.
Today is the fourth day (third full day) of the Hanukkah (aka: Chanukah and other spellings) holy days. It is a time of celebration for those of the Jewish faith. It comes in the late fall, when days are the shortest and the sun sheds its least light upon us in the northern hemisphere but when the promise of longer days with more sunlight is upon us. It is a celebration of hope and historically celebrates the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem after its earlier desecration by the Syrians. At the time of the rededication of the Temple, there was enough olive oil to fuel the Temple's eternal flame for only one day but it somehow managed to burn for 8 days until more oil was available. The celebration of the rededication lasted those 8 days and has been celebrated ever since. To learn more about the story of Hanukkah click here, once on the page click on each section for the expanded story instead of just short blurbs.
Happy Hanukkah,
Glenn B
Ha-nei-rot ha-lo-lu o-nu mad-li-kin
Al ha-te-shu-ot ve-al ha-ni-sim ve-al ha-nif-la-ot,
She-a-see-ta la-avoi-tei-nu ba-ya-mim ha-heim biz-man ha-zeh,
Al ye-dei ko-ha-ne-cha ha-ke-do-shim,
Ve-chol she-mo-nat ye-mei cha-nu-kah ha-nei-rot ha-la-lu ko-desh hem,
Ve-ein la-nu re-shut le-hish-ta-meish ba-hen,
E-lo lir-o-tan bil-vad, ke-dei le-ho-dot u-le-ha-leil le-shim-cha ha-ga-dol Al ni-se-cha ve-al nif-le-o-te-cha ve-al ye-shu-o-te-cha.
Today is the fourth day (third full day) of the Hanukkah (aka: Chanukah and other spellings) holy days. It is a time of celebration for those of the Jewish faith. It comes in the late fall, when days are the shortest and the sun sheds its least light upon us in the northern hemisphere but when the promise of longer days with more sunlight is upon us. It is a celebration of hope and historically celebrates the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem after its earlier desecration by the Syrians. At the time of the rededication of the Temple, there was enough olive oil to fuel the Temple's eternal flame for only one day but it somehow managed to burn for 8 days until more oil was available. The celebration of the rededication lasted those 8 days and has been celebrated ever since. To learn more about the story of Hanukkah click here, once on the page click on each section for the expanded story instead of just short blurbs.
Happy Hanukkah,
Glenn B
Hallelujah
A friend sent this to me in an email. As he said, "What a great way to kick off the Christmas season!". Of course it may also have been a major affront to those who were not Christian and who had a bone up their asses but my guess is that anyone in the audience - which seemed pretty small once all of the choir was up and singing - probably enjoyed it regardless of their faith. It was just really great singing.
As you watch it - see if you can answer a question: Can you name the work - the whole thing not just the chorus? I can, I knew it right away and it is not Hallelujah although the Hallelujah chorus is part of it. The piece was composed in London in 1741 by a German by birth, who later became an English citizen. It was first performed in Dublin, Ireland in April 1742 (note the month - not in December). It has had many revisions by its composer and many interpretations by other composers and by performers over the years. For some reason this seems to be one of the best I have ever heard, maybe because I can understand almost every word they sing unlike many other times when I could not. Here it is, watch it, enjoy it, now:
Know the name yet? No cheating. If you have not already - watch the video and listen to the song first. This song was performed, as it says in the beginning of the video, as a surprise performance on November 13, 2010. As you can see from the responses of those in the audience, they were surprised, some seemed shocked. Just look at the face of the lady over the left shoulder of the first woman to start singing, then look at the guy in the baseball cap just over the shoulder of the lady in pink with the little blond haired boy - heck look at her face too. They must have thought some lone Jesus freak of a nut job had started to sing. The looks on the faces of all those watching/listening change markedly as they realize this is some kind of a performance. (Watch for the lady in pink with the boy later in the video.)The looks change not only because it is a performance but because it is an awesome and moving performance at that.
I am sure there must have been one or two of the crowd, the guy in the black baseball cap comes to mind but only a guess, who may have preferred not to have had their lunches disturbed but my guess is that the great majority of the onlookers enjoyed it all very much. Just look at the responses they give. Look at the child, the little boy in the Gap sweat shirt (he is with the lady in pink), look at his wide eyed stare. Then look at the little boy in the leather jacket with his dad. Then the little girl at 1:49 of the video. Then look at some of the young adults, the smile of the gal at 1:52 or the look on the face of the guy at 3:21 of the video say it all.
Now, while you watch you may notice something I caught. At the very beginning the lady, who first gets up to sing, is sitting there eating - no scarf around her neck.When she gets up to sing, the scarf is around her neck with the British flags prominently displayed. I wonder if that is because Handel became a naturalized British citizen. This was a well planned and choreographed performance that took the onlookers by surprise and instilled some of what the holiday is all about back into their day. Speaking of the holiday, do you remember I said this was first performed in April 1742. Obviously, April is not the Christmas season. This work was not composed to celebrate Christmas but was instead originally meant to be performed before a much more important Cristian holiday - Easter. So it was originally performed during Lent not Advent. At the time, Easter was considered the most Holy of all Christian holy days. Both of those holy days/holidays are quite similar when you think of them though. Believers give gifts on both of them and are joyous on both. The reasons for the gifts and the joy: On Christmas, God the Father gave mankind the gift of His only begotten Son. On Good Friday, God the Son gave mankind the gift of His life for their salvation and on Easter he rose again giving the faithful the promise of the gift of life everlasting with God in Heaven.
Whether you believe or not, this performance of the Hallelujah chorus from Handel's work Messiah is absolutely awesome. Now, I am going to the mall to see if I get a similar surprise and to get some shopping done.
Enjoy the season,
Glenn B
As you watch it - see if you can answer a question: Can you name the work - the whole thing not just the chorus? I can, I knew it right away and it is not Hallelujah although the Hallelujah chorus is part of it. The piece was composed in London in 1741 by a German by birth, who later became an English citizen. It was first performed in Dublin, Ireland in April 1742 (note the month - not in December). It has had many revisions by its composer and many interpretations by other composers and by performers over the years. For some reason this seems to be one of the best I have ever heard, maybe because I can understand almost every word they sing unlike many other times when I could not. Here it is, watch it, enjoy it, now:
Know the name yet? No cheating. If you have not already - watch the video and listen to the song first. This song was performed, as it says in the beginning of the video, as a surprise performance on November 13, 2010. As you can see from the responses of those in the audience, they were surprised, some seemed shocked. Just look at the face of the lady over the left shoulder of the first woman to start singing, then look at the guy in the baseball cap just over the shoulder of the lady in pink with the little blond haired boy - heck look at her face too. They must have thought some lone Jesus freak of a nut job had started to sing. The looks on the faces of all those watching/listening change markedly as they realize this is some kind of a performance. (Watch for the lady in pink with the boy later in the video.)The looks change not only because it is a performance but because it is an awesome and moving performance at that.
I am sure there must have been one or two of the crowd, the guy in the black baseball cap comes to mind but only a guess, who may have preferred not to have had their lunches disturbed but my guess is that the great majority of the onlookers enjoyed it all very much. Just look at the responses they give. Look at the child, the little boy in the Gap sweat shirt (he is with the lady in pink), look at his wide eyed stare. Then look at the little boy in the leather jacket with his dad. Then the little girl at 1:49 of the video. Then look at some of the young adults, the smile of the gal at 1:52 or the look on the face of the guy at 3:21 of the video say it all.
Now, while you watch you may notice something I caught. At the very beginning the lady, who first gets up to sing, is sitting there eating - no scarf around her neck.When she gets up to sing, the scarf is around her neck with the British flags prominently displayed. I wonder if that is because Handel became a naturalized British citizen. This was a well planned and choreographed performance that took the onlookers by surprise and instilled some of what the holiday is all about back into their day. Speaking of the holiday, do you remember I said this was first performed in April 1742. Obviously, April is not the Christmas season. This work was not composed to celebrate Christmas but was instead originally meant to be performed before a much more important Cristian holiday - Easter. So it was originally performed during Lent not Advent. At the time, Easter was considered the most Holy of all Christian holy days. Both of those holy days/holidays are quite similar when you think of them though. Believers give gifts on both of them and are joyous on both. The reasons for the gifts and the joy: On Christmas, God the Father gave mankind the gift of His only begotten Son. On Good Friday, God the Son gave mankind the gift of His life for their salvation and on Easter he rose again giving the faithful the promise of the gift of life everlasting with God in Heaven.
Whether you believe or not, this performance of the Hallelujah chorus from Handel's work Messiah is absolutely awesome. Now, I am going to the mall to see if I get a similar surprise and to get some shopping done.
Enjoy the season,
Glenn B
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Interesting Video Of English Police and a Pro-Islamic Mob
A simply very interesting video that should be of educational value to freedom loving American citizens who also love their country and their own rights. I believe those rights are truly jeopardized by others who would overrun you, your way of life and your government then invoke religious law. If you do not think that true then check the history books. It has already happened in England from what I can see and English law and law enforcement seems to me to be powerless against it right now. It is history and it is continuing because we refuse to learn from the past. Well, if we do not want to learn from the past, let's at least take heed of the present. Here we have an example of what is currently known to be the most violent religion in the world religion of peace facing off against the police in England. Well, not really the present but close enough, this took place less than one year ago.
Wake up folks there is a lot to learn from this and from what else has been happening in England in recent times.
All the best,
Glenn B
Wake up folks there is a lot to learn from this and from what else has been happening in England in recent times.
All the best,
Glenn B
The Son Has Asked Me To Help Him With...
...filling out a pistol permit application. Oh well, I suppose it only natural. It is a good thing too. Wish him luck.
By the way, it is not concealed carry - they will not issue them here in NY in the great majority of cases. It will be for target & hunting. At least it is a start.
All the best,
GB
By the way, it is not concealed carry - they will not issue them here in NY in the great majority of cases. It will be for target & hunting. At least it is a start.
All the best,
GB
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Soldiers' Angels - Operation Outreach Christmas Adoption
As you are probably all aware, Soldiers' Angels is an organization that is doing great things to support our troops who are on foreign soil. Through them you can adopt a soldier to whom you can send care packages and with whom you can keep in touch during his or her tour of duty, or you can make donations that go toward care packages and so on. Today, I just saw that they also have another type of program, one I am sure is great support to the soldier's morale. This one is called Operation Outreach Christmas Adoption. Sounds like just another program to adopt a soldier doesn't it! Yet, this one has quite the twist. It is not a care package program for the soldier but rather a program designed to support the family of a soldier. While I imagine this is designed to support only families of soldiers deployed overseas, I am not certain if this is solely for their families so, I have sent Soldiers' Angels and email to inquire.
The gist of this program is that you adopt a soldier's family. Once you have been registered it becomes your responsibility to help out the family with Christmas diner and also with presents for the children in that family. You are then expected to give them a food gift card in an amount between $50 and $100 and also to buy gifts valued between $20 and $50 for each child in the family. It appears that you can select family size and location of the family among those available. Time is getting short for this one, Christmas is less than a month away but I must say it sounds like a wonderful way to support the troops and their families who are also making a sacrifice for our country. I think they have 600 families looking to be adopted. There is a lot more information about it here:
http://soldiersangels.org/op-outreach-christmas-adoption.html
I am thinking of doing this myself but also may run it by my boss go see if my office might want to support a family (or more than one). If the office turns it down, I am pretty sure I will give it a shot as an individual.
All the best,
Glenn B
The gist of this program is that you adopt a soldier's family. Once you have been registered it becomes your responsibility to help out the family with Christmas diner and also with presents for the children in that family. You are then expected to give them a food gift card in an amount between $50 and $100 and also to buy gifts valued between $20 and $50 for each child in the family. It appears that you can select family size and location of the family among those available. Time is getting short for this one, Christmas is less than a month away but I must say it sounds like a wonderful way to support the troops and their families who are also making a sacrifice for our country. I think they have 600 families looking to be adopted. There is a lot more information about it here:
http://soldiersangels.org/op-outreach-christmas-adoption.html
I am thinking of doing this myself but also may run it by my boss go see if my office might want to support a family (or more than one). If the office turns it down, I am pretty sure I will give it a shot as an individual.
All the best,
Glenn B
Sunday, November 28, 2010
True Grit - A Remake!
Heaven help us that Hollywood is so devoid of people with good original ideas they have to try to remake a classic like True Grit. I fear it is doomed to failure for several reasons, I suppose the most important being they cannot find anyone to stand as tall as did John Wayne in the original. In other words, I see problems with the casting, first just look at the arsehat who is playing Marshal Rooster Cogburn, second take a look at the trailers and check out the piss poor acting of the child actress who is just that and who is trying to play the part of Mattie Ross (originally played by Kim Darby) and look at the, in my opinion, lame metro-sexual actor playing the Texas Ranger. Need I say more. Oh well, then let me add, how in hell do they expect to improve on John Wayne? Had they wanted a current actor to try to fill his shoes, maybe there was one who could have done it but they picked the wrong guy with Jeff Bridges as far as I am concerned. I mean, are they kidding or delirious to think he could play the role and do it well. About the only guy I think would fit that part today might be Robert Duvall but I imagine him too old for the part but bet he could do it justice. Matt Damon as Le Boeuf - give it a break. Who knows, maybe I'll see it and be surprised but if this one turns out to be any good, I'll not only be surprised, I'll be amazed. Of course, this one plans to be more true to the book on which the movies were based, that means some big script changes from the one with John Wayne and while Wayne would still do it best, it may be interesting to see the film truer to the book.
All the best,
Glenn B
All the best,
Glenn B
Soldiers' Christmas Care Packages Update
The last two packages we sent out to the soldier, Mike ____, assigned, to me by Soldiers' Angels, have been delivered. I received tracking notification from the post office about the deliveries because this time around I paid extra for delivery confirmation. The reason I paid extra is because I got no feedback from Mike ____ on the first package we sent. (Sorry, by the rules, I cannot give his last name without his consent and he has not contacted me at all.) I still have no way of knowing if package one was delivered. Apparently the second set of packages at least made it to the APO.
I am a bit concerned about this situation. In the past, all of the soldiers, to whom I sent care packages, with your help, replied to me to say thanks and to let me know they received everything. They were quite grateful. This time around, Mike has not sent me one bit of communication. He has not replied to a few emails I sent to him, has not answered a couple of letters, and has not contacted me in any way to say thanks for the care packages or even just to say he got them. I have to wonder: Is he actually receiving them? I have half a mind to hold off on sending anything else until I get some kind of email or letter from him letting me know he has received all that was sent to him.
For now, I am gong to contact Soldiers' Angels and ask their advice on this. First of all I do not want to be wasting your and my money by sending out packages that we do not know were received. Second, I am wondering if I should ask for another soldier, to be assigned by Soldiers' Angels, to whom we can send future packages since I am not sure these are being received. Hopefully, Soldiers' Angels can help with some insight on this type of situation. I certainly do not want to screw a guy who may not be able to answer me because he cannot, for some reason, get email or regular mail out to us. They may know if this is a thing that happens or not. If not, then I am going to assume it is just a soldier being ungrateful, bashful, shy or just plain unresponsive. If that seems to be the case, then I will find another who will either appreciate the packages with some thanks or at least let us know he received them. Otherwise, I will cancel sending out further packages this year and give you the refunds. Of course, I am hoping my current assigned soldier is alive and well and have been searching his name on casualty lists (because of his unresponsiveness) and thankfully I have not found his name on one of those. With luck he is receiving the packages but just cannot get back to us right now but will do so soon.
I will keep you apprised, but for right now, at least until I get some advice from Soldiers' Angels, I am putting additional packages on hold. If it comes down to it, I will refund your money right after the holidays if this is not straightened out by then. I will eat whatever I have already paid for packages that went out and will refund 100 percent of your money to you if I cannot get a reasonable solution from Soldiers' Angels. If anyone who has already given a donation may have insight on this type of a thing, let me know. If you are ansty about this and want a refund right away, let me know; since I have been paying for the items on my credit card, except for one I may have used PayPal for, I have most of the money still in the PayPal account and what little I used already will be easy to make up. I am hopeful though this will be worked out by this weekend.
For your information here are copies delivery tracking I got off of the the post office website (please note the numbers of each delivery confirmation have been deleted)
Label/Receipt Number: 0309 2880 0002 0283 XXXX
Class: Priority Mail®
Service(s): Delivery Confirmation™InsuredDelivered-->
Status: Delivered
Your item was delivered at 3:31 pm on November 20, 2010 in APO, AE 09338.
If any of you, who has already made a contribution, wants to see the actual tracking on the USPS site, please send me an email requesting the tracking numbers. I will gladly make them available so you can see 100% of the info on the packages to include from which post office they were mailed but I will not post that info here on my blog.
All the best,
Glenn B
I am a bit concerned about this situation. In the past, all of the soldiers, to whom I sent care packages, with your help, replied to me to say thanks and to let me know they received everything. They were quite grateful. This time around, Mike has not sent me one bit of communication. He has not replied to a few emails I sent to him, has not answered a couple of letters, and has not contacted me in any way to say thanks for the care packages or even just to say he got them. I have to wonder: Is he actually receiving them? I have half a mind to hold off on sending anything else until I get some kind of email or letter from him letting me know he has received all that was sent to him.
For now, I am gong to contact Soldiers' Angels and ask their advice on this. First of all I do not want to be wasting your and my money by sending out packages that we do not know were received. Second, I am wondering if I should ask for another soldier, to be assigned by Soldiers' Angels, to whom we can send future packages since I am not sure these are being received. Hopefully, Soldiers' Angels can help with some insight on this type of situation. I certainly do not want to screw a guy who may not be able to answer me because he cannot, for some reason, get email or regular mail out to us. They may know if this is a thing that happens or not. If not, then I am going to assume it is just a soldier being ungrateful, bashful, shy or just plain unresponsive. If that seems to be the case, then I will find another who will either appreciate the packages with some thanks or at least let us know he received them. Otherwise, I will cancel sending out further packages this year and give you the refunds. Of course, I am hoping my current assigned soldier is alive and well and have been searching his name on casualty lists (because of his unresponsiveness) and thankfully I have not found his name on one of those. With luck he is receiving the packages but just cannot get back to us right now but will do so soon.
I will keep you apprised, but for right now, at least until I get some advice from Soldiers' Angels, I am putting additional packages on hold. If it comes down to it, I will refund your money right after the holidays if this is not straightened out by then. I will eat whatever I have already paid for packages that went out and will refund 100 percent of your money to you if I cannot get a reasonable solution from Soldiers' Angels. If anyone who has already given a donation may have insight on this type of a thing, let me know. If you are ansty about this and want a refund right away, let me know; since I have been paying for the items on my credit card, except for one I may have used PayPal for, I have most of the money still in the PayPal account and what little I used already will be easy to make up. I am hopeful though this will be worked out by this weekend.
For your information here are copies delivery tracking I got off of the the post office website (please note the numbers of each delivery confirmation have been deleted)
Label/Receipt Number: 0309 2880 0002 0283 XXXX
Class: Priority Mail®
Service(s): Delivery Confirmation™InsuredDelivered-->
Status: Delivered
Your item was delivered at 3:31 pm on November 20, 2010 in APO, AE 09338.
Label/Receipt Number: 0309 2880 0002 0283 XXXX
Class: Priority Mail®
Service(s): Delivery Confirmation™ InsuredDelivered-->
Status: Delivered
Your item was delivered at 3:31 pm on November 20, 2010 in APO, AE 09338.
If any of you, who has already made a contribution, wants to see the actual tracking on the USPS site, please send me an email requesting the tracking numbers. I will gladly make them available so you can see 100% of the info on the packages to include from which post office they were mailed but I will not post that info here on my blog.
All the best,
Glenn B
Oh Deer - Hunting Again: Ready, Aim...
...but never did fire. I had my sights on a good sized doe, or could have been a spike-horned buck (yes I know they have antlers but that is what they are called) and was about to squeeze off a shot when with two or three steps, at most, it was out of sight completely. I had been making my way north, along the east side of the stream that flows through the Cascade Valley State Forest when I spotted at least one other hunter headed east, maybe 75 yards north of me. I am pretty sure he did not see me, he made no indication even though I tried to get his attention. I figured it was a good time for a break and there right in front of me was a nice sized deadfall. I put my blaze orange foam cushion atop it and plopped my backside down and waited and watched. In about 2 minutes or less, I heard what I figured was a deer walking away, southbound, from the path the other hunter had just taken, and I guessed almost at the exact spot where I had seen him. I figure the hunter had walked right passed this one. The sounds continued south a bit, then turned west, crossed behind me to the west of me, then turned toward the north. It was pulling a classic whitetail deer maneuver, in essence sneakily circling around to elude a possible predator and was headed right back to the path the eastbound hunter had just taken, albeit now behind him to the west. I could hear it now and then and figured it was almost due west of me. I was right because next thing I knew and there it was in full view; this was all of 10 minutes at most after the other hunter had crossed my path and spooked this deer.
It stopped and was looking east, but I am pretty sure it did not see me but was looking for the other guy because it kept moving its head. Had it seen me and been concerned about my presence, it would have zeroed in on me. It took a couple more steps and was then not visible behind some trees and bushes. I waited, and waited, and waited at least 5 to several minutes and then gave a doe bleat. In about another minute or two after that, it reappeared broadside to me and stopped and looked east toward me and then west. It was looking away from me and was broadside to me, oh yeah. I was in like Flint - or so I thought! I stealthily raised my rifle, and had it zeroed in on its heart/lung area and was moving my finger toward the trigger when it bowed its head as if grazing, then took 2 or 3 more steps northwest and it was out of sight. That sucked!
I waited awhile, maybe 15 minutes, then tried a buck grunt and rattling it back into view. Does will come to watch bucks fight and rattling mimics the sounds of a good brawl between two bucks. Bucks will come to watch or to fight. (Last week, I rattled in a doe in that Brendan spotted but Brendan did not take a risky shot after it spooked and was trotting off. I probably spooked that one.) After a bit of waiting, maybe 5 minutes, I heard her again, making her way back toward me but I still could not see her. I was waiting to try rattling again but then I heard it coming back without more effort on my part. I saw movement and barely saw a gray horizontal form of its back. Yet, I had nothing on which to safely set my sights since the woods at that point were too thick and I was not about to shoot at something I could not plainly see. So, I waited again. A little wait would probably have it in my sights. It was all coming together nicely. I could almost taste the venison steaks.
Suddenly, a branch snapped loudly somewhere back over my right shoulder. I did not move but kept scanning the woods to the west of me looking for the deer. Then I heard them talking. The hunter who had just walked into the woods about 35 or 40 minutes before was now leaving and had someone else with him. They probably exited the woods on a trail not more than about 10 yards from where that deer was last standing. I am guessing it took off northbound or west bound since I did not see it again. Of course, it could have stood there watching them leave and not have moved at all. They sometimes do that too. Regardless, I waited another half hour for movement or noise but there was nothing. I am fairly sure she took off, probably north or westbound, when those two other hunters walked out - either way not crossing my line of sight again. What luck!
My guess is one of those hunters went in to get the other and then they both left together. Too bad, I would likely have had another chance at lining up a shot if not for them leaving right when they did. Just a coincidence, not blaming anything on them, such is hunting on public land. Oh well, humbled once again because of my lack of luck, not having the best hunting prowess and because the deer simply seem more woods savvy than me. Humble pie is hard to swallow, a lot harder than good venison, but my hopes have not been smashed yet. There is a chance I will get to go out again next Saturday and if I do maybe I will fare better. The odds will be against me though, you see if you do not bag a deer on opening day of the rifle season the odds multiply exponentially against you as each following day of the season goes by. That will be my last chance during the regular season to bag one and to have bragging rights because the following weekend I'll be on a cruise with my wife. So, if I go next weekend, I am going to try my best not to ruin the chance to be able to be braggadocios all about my success. Of course, I may not get one and once again have to eat that ever so hard to swallow humble pie.
Then again, maybe I just ought to grab a road killed deer, throw it on my car, take it to where I hunt, throw it on the ground, take pictures with it and tell everyone that I got one fair and square out in the woods. Who would know? I won't do it though, I am sure my buddy Al (a loyal reader, coworker and friend) would see right through me and nail me for it! By the way Al, 4:30, heck I only got home at 9PM. (See comments in previous post.) I tell you though, if I don't get one next weekend, I'll take you up on those burgers, but let's make it Hooters! Later for you and hopefully for a deer too - and Al, if I get one, the venison is on me.
All the best,
GB
It stopped and was looking east, but I am pretty sure it did not see me but was looking for the other guy because it kept moving its head. Had it seen me and been concerned about my presence, it would have zeroed in on me. It took a couple more steps and was then not visible behind some trees and bushes. I waited, and waited, and waited at least 5 to several minutes and then gave a doe bleat. In about another minute or two after that, it reappeared broadside to me and stopped and looked east toward me and then west. It was looking away from me and was broadside to me, oh yeah. I was in like Flint - or so I thought! I stealthily raised my rifle, and had it zeroed in on its heart/lung area and was moving my finger toward the trigger when it bowed its head as if grazing, then took 2 or 3 more steps northwest and it was out of sight. That sucked!
I waited awhile, maybe 15 minutes, then tried a buck grunt and rattling it back into view. Does will come to watch bucks fight and rattling mimics the sounds of a good brawl between two bucks. Bucks will come to watch or to fight. (Last week, I rattled in a doe in that Brendan spotted but Brendan did not take a risky shot after it spooked and was trotting off. I probably spooked that one.) After a bit of waiting, maybe 5 minutes, I heard her again, making her way back toward me but I still could not see her. I was waiting to try rattling again but then I heard it coming back without more effort on my part. I saw movement and barely saw a gray horizontal form of its back. Yet, I had nothing on which to safely set my sights since the woods at that point were too thick and I was not about to shoot at something I could not plainly see. So, I waited again. A little wait would probably have it in my sights. It was all coming together nicely. I could almost taste the venison steaks.
Suddenly, a branch snapped loudly somewhere back over my right shoulder. I did not move but kept scanning the woods to the west of me looking for the deer. Then I heard them talking. The hunter who had just walked into the woods about 35 or 40 minutes before was now leaving and had someone else with him. They probably exited the woods on a trail not more than about 10 yards from where that deer was last standing. I am guessing it took off northbound or west bound since I did not see it again. Of course, it could have stood there watching them leave and not have moved at all. They sometimes do that too. Regardless, I waited another half hour for movement or noise but there was nothing. I am fairly sure she took off, probably north or westbound, when those two other hunters walked out - either way not crossing my line of sight again. What luck!
My guess is one of those hunters went in to get the other and then they both left together. Too bad, I would likely have had another chance at lining up a shot if not for them leaving right when they did. Just a coincidence, not blaming anything on them, such is hunting on public land. Oh well, humbled once again because of my lack of luck, not having the best hunting prowess and because the deer simply seem more woods savvy than me. Humble pie is hard to swallow, a lot harder than good venison, but my hopes have not been smashed yet. There is a chance I will get to go out again next Saturday and if I do maybe I will fare better. The odds will be against me though, you see if you do not bag a deer on opening day of the rifle season the odds multiply exponentially against you as each following day of the season goes by. That will be my last chance during the regular season to bag one and to have bragging rights because the following weekend I'll be on a cruise with my wife. So, if I go next weekend, I am going to try my best not to ruin the chance to be able to be braggadocios all about my success. Of course, I may not get one and once again have to eat that ever so hard to swallow humble pie.
Then again, maybe I just ought to grab a road killed deer, throw it on my car, take it to where I hunt, throw it on the ground, take pictures with it and tell everyone that I got one fair and square out in the woods. Who would know? I won't do it though, I am sure my buddy Al (a loyal reader, coworker and friend) would see right through me and nail me for it! By the way Al, 4:30, heck I only got home at 9PM. (See comments in previous post.) I tell you though, if I don't get one next weekend, I'll take you up on those burgers, but let's make it Hooters! Later for you and hopefully for a deer too - and Al, if I get one, the venison is on me.
All the best,
GB
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Oh Deer...
...I've gone hunting again or am about to leave anyhow. Something tells me the 3.5 hour drive to my chosen spot will suck at this hour of the morning but if it puts venison on the table it will have been well worth it.
All the best,
GB
All the best,
GB
Friday, November 26, 2010
The Day After Thanksgiving - Oh My Achin Belly
I did not take any photos, yesterday, of the culinary delights that we enjoyed. Although I wish I had done so, the mental picture I have of them and the memory I have of just how wonderfully enjoyable they tasted will not fade at least throughout next year. That is important to me because I want them to be there, in my mind's eye, when I cook again next Thanksgiving as sort of a mental go-by.
We had turkey with all the fixins. To achieve that end, my wife had left $100 with my son when she went to Germany just over 3 weeks ago. The money was meant for him to buy a turkey, a small one as per her directions, and to buy the rest of the things for a meal. Come Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving - our cupboard were bare and there was no turkey aquarium in our fridge. There was no turkey at all! Someone had not gone shopping and when I asked him for the hundred bucks he said he put it in the bank. (He actually went to the bank later and took kit out to give to me.) This left me to do the shopping because he was in bed and obviously not getting up. I headed out to Costco figuring for sure they would have turkeys of all sizes and knowing I could also pick up other things we needed for around the house. Well Costco had turkeys alright, fresh ones at that. I followed my wife's directions to my son and got a small one, in fact just about the smallest one they had. It weighed in at a mere 18.13 pounds and went for .99 cents a pound. I sort of figured I could find it at a less expensive price elsewhere but since it was the day before gobbler day, I took it.
Then I was off to the supermarket to get the rest of what we needed for the big meal. I grabbed 5 pounds of Yukon Gold potatoes, a Spanish onion (never got used), 3 bunches of scallions (used 2), some string beans, a loaf of bread, a package of English muffins, 2 packages of sliced almonds, a bag of cranberries, and two types of tart apples (the last 5 items for the stuffing) and some other stuff and headed home. I spent just over $50 at the supermarket, just enough to qualify for their sales on turkeys. Buy $50 worth of groceries and get a turkey for .29 cents a pound. I would have saved over 12 bucks had I shopped here first for the bird. I was tempted to buy one anyway but knew there would be no room in the fridge for 2 turkeys, so settled for getting the fixins at that store. Sleeping beauty was up when I got home and he helped me throw everything into the fridge, it was crowded in there. hen I rushed off to JFK Airport to pick up the other half and our daughter. The 2 Chihuahuas accompanied me as meet and greet team members. We were at the airport all of 2 minutes when I realized that the big board showed their flight had arrived about one hour before we got there. That would be about one hour early. With Immigration and Customs and waiting for baggage, they had not yet left the baggage claim area and after a brief 10 minute wait - there they were. As soon as I saw them, I went into stealth mode by crouching down. I told the dogs 'they are over there' but the dummies didn't pick up their scent. So we snuck up from the side, and were spotted when only a few feet away, by Celina. Linda and Celina were very happy to see the dogs and even I got a kiss from each of them (from the ladies not the dogs, the dogs were busy kissing the ladies).. We were off to home in no time and ten hit the wall. The wall was traffic on the Belt parkway outside the airport. Nothing special for the holiday crunch, just regular, everyday, miserable, bumper to bumper traffic moving at about 5mph. Well maybe it was for the Holiday, it was only just after 3PM. Usually this stuff holds off til 4 around there. The traffic broke up after a few miles and we were on our way on the city streets. Less traffic on the streets is why the traffic had broken for us. As we drove along and talked about this and that, I realized I would need to hit the supermarket again. I stopped at one along the way and got those things and they we jetted home.
Yesterday, I was up early then went back to bed. I had it all planned, that is my cooking regimen for the day. I would get up at 9, bake an apple pie, make the stuffing, stuff the bird, cook the bird once the pie was out of the oven, and cook everything else while the turkey was in the oven. Wound up, I had to cook the bird and the pie at the same time, thank goodness for double ovens. As for the bird, it was supposed to be fresh, but when I pulled out the gizzards, I found that the inside of the bird was frozen. Not frozen solid but crunch from ice in the meat. Home Depot to the rescue and I guess I did have a turkey aquarium of a sorts for an hour or so. I filled one of those Home Depot specials, an orange 5 gallon 'Homer bucket' with hot water and put the bird in their for a warm-up. Worked like a charm. As that was thawing out, I threw the stuffing together.
The stuffing was made up of several slices of potato bread, a couple of English muffins, a bagel (all allowed to go stale and then broken into small pieces), about 2 Granny Smith and 2 Macintosh apples cut into small chunks, 2 bags of sliced almonds, a few handfuls of dried cranberries (very raisin like in consistency), 2 bunches of cut up scallions, poultry seasoning, allspice, cinnamon and about 1 stick of butter. The butter was that in which I sauteed the scallions and almonds (just a bit for the almonds or they will burn) before mixing them with the other ingredients. I then took the bird, patted it dry inside and out, stuffed it, closed it up, coated it with a light covering of extra virgin olive oil, rubbed a good amount of salt onto it, and threw it into the preheated oven! I was on a roll because I had gotten all of this done and the kitchen was still clean and I was happy. My wife dreads when I cook because of me making a mess and me losing my temper if some little thing goes wrong. Everything was going right, I was making sure of that and it was a breeze because as the guy said in Monty Python's Search For he Holy Grail: "I'm getting better". I cleaned as I went along and just kept myself under check and kept it that way for the few hours it took to get it all done.
he bird went into the oven at 10:30. The apple pie went into the lower oven about 2 and a half hours before the bird was done. The wife cut up a few of our crop of squashes and made 3 different dishes with them, one with some of the potatoes mixed in. One tray of that went into the oven on the rack under the bird and the other two took the space in the bottom oven once the pie was done. As all this was going on I cooked up the remaining stuffing in a frying pan on the stove top. Of course that meant more butter - mm-mm good. After about an hour or a bit more of cooking, I realized the bird was already browning. Since it would need another 3 to 3 1/2 hours in the oven, I tented it with foil and soon started to baste it with Spaten Oktoberfest bier. I basted it 3 times and took the foil off with about an hour to go. It wound up getting nice and golden brown all over. No nigthmares here - Gordon Ramsey will never need to come to my kitchen to make things better but he would be welcome any day and I would gladly take cooking lessons from him. As it is now, I am self taught with a good cook book at hand and always have liked to watch others cook. I guess it sank in and that was evidenced by the meal yesterday.
At about 3:15 yesterday, while sitting at the PC and sending out emails, I suddenly realized it had been awhile since checked the bird. Whoops, it was probably ready at 2:45 or 3. I checked, it was ready, took it out and let it sit for about 20 or 25 minutes. I was concerned it had been in too long and would be dry. Linda put the finishing touches on the veggies and by the time she was done, I was carving. Some of the the white meat crumbled a bit, probably could have cooled a bit more before carving, but we were hungry so I kept at it. We sat to eat, just the two of us because Celina was at her beau's parents' home and Brendan was working. Just as we were about to chow down, who comes in the door but Brendan. He had his break timed perfectly and got to enjoy dinner with us. It was ever so enjoyable too. Good company and good eats - not much better except maybe if you add good drink but for some reason all I imbibed up to and through the meal was a sip of bier while basting and a glass of OJ. The turkey was moist and it skin was crisp. Both were delicious. The stuffing from the bird was wonderfully aromatic and tasted great. The pan cooked stuffing was also great, that had more butter, a bit of bier and a bit of apple juice added along with an extra Granny Smith apple. The squash was good, but not what we had expected. That was not due to Linda's cooking - it was due to the squash itself. Was supposed to be butternut squash but grew much bigger and must have been another much less sweet variety. With what Linda had added to spice it up though, it was yummy enough for us. The beans were crispy and delicious - nothing fancy there - just steamed but great.
The dogs ate when we did, I did not want them begging at the table. They enjoyed their regular dry dog food smothered with pan drippings and basting liquid and mixed in with the innards and with some white and dark meat. I boiled the organs to make sure they were well done. I had a few bites of heart, liver and gizzards - mixed it in with my stuffing and had some plain - and all was delicious. The dogs were wild about it and ate with gusto. They will be hoping for another meal like that for awhile before they get one - probably around Christmas.
After dinner, Linda and I cleaned up the remaining mess, did the dishes and put away the leftovers. Then we sat down for a slice of homemade apple pie. I am no pastry chef but have been know to be a fair to good baker and did not disappoint this time. The pie filling was made up of Macintosh and Granny Smith apples, a good amount of both cinnamon and allspice, and two small handfuls of sugar. The crust was simply flour, shortening, water and salt. It was truly delicious.
Once all that was done, I made up a plate and headed over to see my mom. My timing was off by about 2 hours, mostly because the bird had been partly frozen and needed to be thawed, so when I got to my mom's she had already eaten. I am pretty sure she will enjoy the dish I made up for her sometime today. We spent a couple of hours together and it was time to head back to the castle. I got sidetracked though and stopped first at a local purveyor of fine spirits and had a couple of Jamesons on the rocks and a couple of Heinekens too. Spent a few hours at the bar and only got home after midnight.
Today, all I can say is oh my achin belly. I ate way too much yesterday but certainly did not eat anywhere nearly as much as I have in past years. Still though, I think I grew a bit rounder just from one meal. I am looking forward to doing more cooking.I have not been at it all that much in recent year, I lost interest, but after eating what I cooked yesterday I see I need to start enjoying my own cooking again. I may try baking a couple of loaves of bread this weekend. I make a pretty good bread, heavy, chewy, hearty - one of this mushy soft white bread type junk from my kitchen. Gotta go, time for my breakfast - I finally have some room for it. I hope your Thanksgiving was at least half as nice as was mine!
Later for you,
GB
We had turkey with all the fixins. To achieve that end, my wife had left $100 with my son when she went to Germany just over 3 weeks ago. The money was meant for him to buy a turkey, a small one as per her directions, and to buy the rest of the things for a meal. Come Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving - our cupboard were bare and there was no turkey aquarium in our fridge. There was no turkey at all! Someone had not gone shopping and when I asked him for the hundred bucks he said he put it in the bank. (He actually went to the bank later and took kit out to give to me.) This left me to do the shopping because he was in bed and obviously not getting up. I headed out to Costco figuring for sure they would have turkeys of all sizes and knowing I could also pick up other things we needed for around the house. Well Costco had turkeys alright, fresh ones at that. I followed my wife's directions to my son and got a small one, in fact just about the smallest one they had. It weighed in at a mere 18.13 pounds and went for .99 cents a pound. I sort of figured I could find it at a less expensive price elsewhere but since it was the day before gobbler day, I took it.
Then I was off to the supermarket to get the rest of what we needed for the big meal. I grabbed 5 pounds of Yukon Gold potatoes, a Spanish onion (never got used), 3 bunches of scallions (used 2), some string beans, a loaf of bread, a package of English muffins, 2 packages of sliced almonds, a bag of cranberries, and two types of tart apples (the last 5 items for the stuffing) and some other stuff and headed home. I spent just over $50 at the supermarket, just enough to qualify for their sales on turkeys. Buy $50 worth of groceries and get a turkey for .29 cents a pound. I would have saved over 12 bucks had I shopped here first for the bird. I was tempted to buy one anyway but knew there would be no room in the fridge for 2 turkeys, so settled for getting the fixins at that store. Sleeping beauty was up when I got home and he helped me throw everything into the fridge, it was crowded in there. hen I rushed off to JFK Airport to pick up the other half and our daughter. The 2 Chihuahuas accompanied me as meet and greet team members. We were at the airport all of 2 minutes when I realized that the big board showed their flight had arrived about one hour before we got there. That would be about one hour early. With Immigration and Customs and waiting for baggage, they had not yet left the baggage claim area and after a brief 10 minute wait - there they were. As soon as I saw them, I went into stealth mode by crouching down. I told the dogs 'they are over there' but the dummies didn't pick up their scent. So we snuck up from the side, and were spotted when only a few feet away, by Celina. Linda and Celina were very happy to see the dogs and even I got a kiss from each of them (from the ladies not the dogs, the dogs were busy kissing the ladies).. We were off to home in no time and ten hit the wall. The wall was traffic on the Belt parkway outside the airport. Nothing special for the holiday crunch, just regular, everyday, miserable, bumper to bumper traffic moving at about 5mph. Well maybe it was for the Holiday, it was only just after 3PM. Usually this stuff holds off til 4 around there. The traffic broke up after a few miles and we were on our way on the city streets. Less traffic on the streets is why the traffic had broken for us. As we drove along and talked about this and that, I realized I would need to hit the supermarket again. I stopped at one along the way and got those things and they we jetted home.
Yesterday, I was up early then went back to bed. I had it all planned, that is my cooking regimen for the day. I would get up at 9, bake an apple pie, make the stuffing, stuff the bird, cook the bird once the pie was out of the oven, and cook everything else while the turkey was in the oven. Wound up, I had to cook the bird and the pie at the same time, thank goodness for double ovens. As for the bird, it was supposed to be fresh, but when I pulled out the gizzards, I found that the inside of the bird was frozen. Not frozen solid but crunch from ice in the meat. Home Depot to the rescue and I guess I did have a turkey aquarium of a sorts for an hour or so. I filled one of those Home Depot specials, an orange 5 gallon 'Homer bucket' with hot water and put the bird in their for a warm-up. Worked like a charm. As that was thawing out, I threw the stuffing together.
The stuffing was made up of several slices of potato bread, a couple of English muffins, a bagel (all allowed to go stale and then broken into small pieces), about 2 Granny Smith and 2 Macintosh apples cut into small chunks, 2 bags of sliced almonds, a few handfuls of dried cranberries (very raisin like in consistency), 2 bunches of cut up scallions, poultry seasoning, allspice, cinnamon and about 1 stick of butter. The butter was that in which I sauteed the scallions and almonds (just a bit for the almonds or they will burn) before mixing them with the other ingredients. I then took the bird, patted it dry inside and out, stuffed it, closed it up, coated it with a light covering of extra virgin olive oil, rubbed a good amount of salt onto it, and threw it into the preheated oven! I was on a roll because I had gotten all of this done and the kitchen was still clean and I was happy. My wife dreads when I cook because of me making a mess and me losing my temper if some little thing goes wrong. Everything was going right, I was making sure of that and it was a breeze because as the guy said in Monty Python's Search For he Holy Grail: "I'm getting better". I cleaned as I went along and just kept myself under check and kept it that way for the few hours it took to get it all done.
he bird went into the oven at 10:30. The apple pie went into the lower oven about 2 and a half hours before the bird was done. The wife cut up a few of our crop of squashes and made 3 different dishes with them, one with some of the potatoes mixed in. One tray of that went into the oven on the rack under the bird and the other two took the space in the bottom oven once the pie was done. As all this was going on I cooked up the remaining stuffing in a frying pan on the stove top. Of course that meant more butter - mm-mm good. After about an hour or a bit more of cooking, I realized the bird was already browning. Since it would need another 3 to 3 1/2 hours in the oven, I tented it with foil and soon started to baste it with Spaten Oktoberfest bier. I basted it 3 times and took the foil off with about an hour to go. It wound up getting nice and golden brown all over. No nigthmares here - Gordon Ramsey will never need to come to my kitchen to make things better but he would be welcome any day and I would gladly take cooking lessons from him. As it is now, I am self taught with a good cook book at hand and always have liked to watch others cook. I guess it sank in and that was evidenced by the meal yesterday.
At about 3:15 yesterday, while sitting at the PC and sending out emails, I suddenly realized it had been awhile since checked the bird. Whoops, it was probably ready at 2:45 or 3. I checked, it was ready, took it out and let it sit for about 20 or 25 minutes. I was concerned it had been in too long and would be dry. Linda put the finishing touches on the veggies and by the time she was done, I was carving. Some of the the white meat crumbled a bit, probably could have cooled a bit more before carving, but we were hungry so I kept at it. We sat to eat, just the two of us because Celina was at her beau's parents' home and Brendan was working. Just as we were about to chow down, who comes in the door but Brendan. He had his break timed perfectly and got to enjoy dinner with us. It was ever so enjoyable too. Good company and good eats - not much better except maybe if you add good drink but for some reason all I imbibed up to and through the meal was a sip of bier while basting and a glass of OJ. The turkey was moist and it skin was crisp. Both were delicious. The stuffing from the bird was wonderfully aromatic and tasted great. The pan cooked stuffing was also great, that had more butter, a bit of bier and a bit of apple juice added along with an extra Granny Smith apple. The squash was good, but not what we had expected. That was not due to Linda's cooking - it was due to the squash itself. Was supposed to be butternut squash but grew much bigger and must have been another much less sweet variety. With what Linda had added to spice it up though, it was yummy enough for us. The beans were crispy and delicious - nothing fancy there - just steamed but great.
The dogs ate when we did, I did not want them begging at the table. They enjoyed their regular dry dog food smothered with pan drippings and basting liquid and mixed in with the innards and with some white and dark meat. I boiled the organs to make sure they were well done. I had a few bites of heart, liver and gizzards - mixed it in with my stuffing and had some plain - and all was delicious. The dogs were wild about it and ate with gusto. They will be hoping for another meal like that for awhile before they get one - probably around Christmas.
After dinner, Linda and I cleaned up the remaining mess, did the dishes and put away the leftovers. Then we sat down for a slice of homemade apple pie. I am no pastry chef but have been know to be a fair to good baker and did not disappoint this time. The pie filling was made up of Macintosh and Granny Smith apples, a good amount of both cinnamon and allspice, and two small handfuls of sugar. The crust was simply flour, shortening, water and salt. It was truly delicious.
Once all that was done, I made up a plate and headed over to see my mom. My timing was off by about 2 hours, mostly because the bird had been partly frozen and needed to be thawed, so when I got to my mom's she had already eaten. I am pretty sure she will enjoy the dish I made up for her sometime today. We spent a couple of hours together and it was time to head back to the castle. I got sidetracked though and stopped first at a local purveyor of fine spirits and had a couple of Jamesons on the rocks and a couple of Heinekens too. Spent a few hours at the bar and only got home after midnight.
Today, all I can say is oh my achin belly. I ate way too much yesterday but certainly did not eat anywhere nearly as much as I have in past years. Still though, I think I grew a bit rounder just from one meal. I am looking forward to doing more cooking.I have not been at it all that much in recent year, I lost interest, but after eating what I cooked yesterday I see I need to start enjoying my own cooking again. I may try baking a couple of loaves of bread this weekend. I make a pretty good bread, heavy, chewy, hearty - one of this mushy soft white bread type junk from my kitchen. Gotta go, time for my breakfast - I finally have some room for it. I hope your Thanksgiving was at least half as nice as was mine!
Later for you,
GB
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Give Thanks For People Like This And That We Find Them Among Ourselves
Here is a link to an article about an American to whom and for whom owe thanks. I am thankful to him for his sacrifice, he lost a son. I am also thankful to him for his outstanding service to the sons and daughters of others in our military. We all ought to be thanking him and others who serve. We owe them all a great debt of gratitude and we owe thanks that they have been placed here among us.
All the best,
Glenn B
All the best,
Glenn B
Happy Thanksgiving...
...to all here in the good old US of A, regardless of religion, nationality, ethnicity and so on. This is a holiday for all, not only a Christian Holiday as some believe it. After all, the native Americans who celebrated it with the Pilgrims were not Christian. Granted, George Washington was Christian and it was he who proclaimed a national day of Thanksgiving thus in essence establishing this as a national holiday and as a day that we should all be thankful to our creator for what we have been given of earth's bounty. It is truly amazing how few times George Washington is brought into the picture by so called historians when it comes down to his influence on our nation celebrating this holiday. They simply seem to forget all about him and the proclamation (click on image to enlarge to readable size) he made, on October 3, 1789, in the capital of our nation - New York City. Many people today seem to think that the official Thanksgiving holiday was created by Franklin D. Roosevelt. That is simply not true; he simply set the day as the fourth Thursday in November.Regardless of how or why it was first celebrated and then turned into a national holiday, I have to say it is absolutely my favorite current national holiday. It could only be surpassed by Halloween and Ground Hogs' Day if they were ever made into national holidays. In fact, the bestest all time holiday of forever is absolutely Ground Hogs' Day (love the movie too). One of these days, when that little booger sticks his head out the hole, I am going to blast him and have woodchuck for dinner (yes there is some influence from Caddy Shack there).
But I digress, tomorrow is Thanksgiving. Tomorrow, I will be busy baking apple pie, making the stuffing (bagel, potato bread, whole grain bread, English muffin, tart apples, green onion [scallions], sliced almonds, cranberries [used to use raisins] and lots of butter with hints of some spices like cinnamon added to the mix), preparing and cooking the bird (all 18 plus pounds, the wife did say to get a small one and that was the smallest one they had at Costco today) and possibly making some of the side dishes (although the missus may be doing that). We have a load of butternut squashes left over from our garden and I am hopeful she will make her recipe of that, it is out of this world delicious. I will also be imbibing some finer spirits as I do so. After our dinner, I am going to visit my mom and bring dinner to her.
I always enjoy Thanksgiving. It is truly one of the finer celebrations of them all and one that all should celebrate even if not religious. While most will give thanks to God for what they have, you can also give thanks to nature, or even to your bread winner, for the good things provided to us.
Enjoy your day, enjoy your dinner, hopefully you are spending it with loved ones as am I. For me, the only thing that can make the day better is if they show The March of the Wooden Soldiers (originally called Babes In Toyland) on TV and I get to watch it; it was a Thanksgiving Day regular all throughout my younger years. Already corny by the time I was a young child, it was released in 1934 over 20 years before I was born, but it was and remains one of my all time favorite movies. Now that I think of it, I may have to check NetFlix to see if I can download it. Of course, Thanksgiving is not complete without also listening to Alice's Restaurant if you live up this way. Local NYC radio stations used to play it every Thanksgiving, and probably still do, at 12 noon. I get a kick out of this song; it is a good one and then again its views of the draft and pointless wars do agree with my views at that, though probably not for the same reasons. If you have never heard it, give it a listen but mind you it has strong liberal political overtones. It was a pointed barb aimed at the government and the draft and later seen to have been aimed at conservatives even though liberals started the war and prosecuted and escalated it then tried to blame it all on the conservative who ultimately ended it. Typical liberal BS to do that but the song is a good song. Mind you also, it is a long song, a really long one at about 18 minutes.
Thankfully, Babes In Toyland has no overt political overtones even though it deals with war of a sorts if only on a fantasy level. Mostly, and more importantly, it is simply a nice story about right winning out over wrong and about being able to tell the difference between the two. It was from a time when it actually may have been simpler to tell that difference while Alice's Restaurant came at a time when it was not so simple. Alice's Restaurant makes you think about right and wrong too, it's just not quite as easy to decide what is right and what is wrong while listening to it. Whatever, both are or were Thanksgiving traditions for me - then I grew up. Funny, I still like them both but as always, I like The March of the Wooden Soldiers best. It too bad it is not always as easy to tell the difference between right and wrong in the real world as it was in Toyland. Yet, each Thanksgiving, I am thankful that I have mostly gotten it right throughout my life.
Happy Thanksgiving,
Glenn B
Speaking of TSA...
...a friend sent me this image in an email today and I thought it to preciously funny not to share it with you. It is a collection of TSA bumper stickers. Click the image to enlarge it.
All the best,
Glenn B
Glenn B
My Chance To Interact With TSA...
...as a regular airline passenger, as opposed to me flying armed as an LEO, will be coming up in about 2 weeks or so. My wife and I are going on a cruise and we will be flying to the cruise departure city. Since the cruise is going foreign, I will not be armed. It is likely I will not carry my federal credentials either. So, I imagine, with the black cloud that follows me, I will be randomly selected for whatever is the full extent of a TSA search at that time. Should I or my wife need to be searched, then all I can hope is that the TSA personnel will act professionally and courteously. I have had some dealings with pretty unprofessional TSA personnel when flying in my official capacity but those are the exceptions, most - the great majority - are very professional. Lately, with all the fire they have been under, from the very same people they are trying to protect, they may be somewhat on edge by now.
As for me, I do not agree with current TSA search and profiling policies and procedures. I would much rather see them do things a different way, as a matter of fact I would much rather see TSA disbanded and private concerns take over their role. That being said though, I will abide by their security protocols for my flight, that is too a point. I will not allow myself to be scanned. I have spent way too much of my life around airport x-ray machines and receiving x-rays in doctors' offices and had way too many sunburns as a kid. Various forms of cancer have afflicted my family members. I do not need any excess radiation. If need be I will opt for the patdown.
Being that I have been an LEO for over 31 years now, I know how to perform a proper patdown. I know the difference between a legitimate patdown and improper groping. I will not stand for the latter but in truth I do not expect it. I think many folks who are patted down have over reacted when describing how they believe they were improperly groped. I do believe though that it is quite possible that they may have been searched in violation of their rights in some instances. Plenty of people have complained of TSA agents placing their hands inside their garments and touching skin. A patdown does not include reaching into someone's under garments and feeling their private parts from the inside of the clothing, a patdown is done from the outside of the clothing. About the only exception without first having PC or or having already detected something from the outside, for reaching inside, is that during a patdown an officer is allowed to feel the inside of the waistband. A patdown also does not include the removal of any clothing except for things like a coat and shoes. You keep on your pants, shirt, socks, etc. Removal of clothing is a strip search and requires certain legal elements. If it is going to go beyond a patdown for me, you can bet I will require, with courtesy and respect for the TSA agent, that they do it in a private area where others cannot watch. If they decide to do a strip search you can bet they best have probable cause to do so.
Of course, they will not have any cause to search me, not within reason anyway, so I do not anticipate anything like what I just mentioned. I do not have any prosthetics, do not have any metal inside my body like pins or screws or hip replacements, will not be carrying anything that will set off any alarms, will not be acting suspiciously, did not buy my ticket at the last minute, will not be nervous, will not be antagonistic, will not be carrying any prohibited items in my carry-on luggage or in my checked luggage and will have my itinerary with me. I will act reasonably and respectfully, and will expect the same toward me.
If I have any problems, I will not act like an asshole. I will maintain my composure so as to be able to get on my flight because I want to go on this cruise that was paid for well in advance. It is only the second cruise my wife and I will have been on and the other was to Canada, this one to warmer climes. I will note everything that is done improperly, that is if anything like that is done but again - I do not expect it. I will note badge numbers, names, descriptions of those involved. I will request a supervisor if I think something is improper. I will request a manager if it needs to go beyond a supervisor. I will contact an attorney if I am harassed and I will also contact my representatives in Congress and the head of the TSA and their equivalent to their Internal Affairs office. all that only if something happens that is really an egregious violation of my rights. again, I do not expect such but if it happens their is recourse. I will not scream and moan and argue at or with the TSA screeners. I will not make a scene. I will not call the press. I will not post videos on FaceBook or YouTube or Twitter about it.
That is my plan should my rights be violated or should I be abused in any manner. If something like that happens I will truly be shocked but I will let you know.
All the best,
Glenn B
As for me, I do not agree with current TSA search and profiling policies and procedures. I would much rather see them do things a different way, as a matter of fact I would much rather see TSA disbanded and private concerns take over their role. That being said though, I will abide by their security protocols for my flight, that is too a point. I will not allow myself to be scanned. I have spent way too much of my life around airport x-ray machines and receiving x-rays in doctors' offices and had way too many sunburns as a kid. Various forms of cancer have afflicted my family members. I do not need any excess radiation. If need be I will opt for the patdown.
Being that I have been an LEO for over 31 years now, I know how to perform a proper patdown. I know the difference between a legitimate patdown and improper groping. I will not stand for the latter but in truth I do not expect it. I think many folks who are patted down have over reacted when describing how they believe they were improperly groped. I do believe though that it is quite possible that they may have been searched in violation of their rights in some instances. Plenty of people have complained of TSA agents placing their hands inside their garments and touching skin. A patdown does not include reaching into someone's under garments and feeling their private parts from the inside of the clothing, a patdown is done from the outside of the clothing. About the only exception without first having PC or or having already detected something from the outside, for reaching inside, is that during a patdown an officer is allowed to feel the inside of the waistband. A patdown also does not include the removal of any clothing except for things like a coat and shoes. You keep on your pants, shirt, socks, etc. Removal of clothing is a strip search and requires certain legal elements. If it is going to go beyond a patdown for me, you can bet I will require, with courtesy and respect for the TSA agent, that they do it in a private area where others cannot watch. If they decide to do a strip search you can bet they best have probable cause to do so.
Of course, they will not have any cause to search me, not within reason anyway, so I do not anticipate anything like what I just mentioned. I do not have any prosthetics, do not have any metal inside my body like pins or screws or hip replacements, will not be carrying anything that will set off any alarms, will not be acting suspiciously, did not buy my ticket at the last minute, will not be nervous, will not be antagonistic, will not be carrying any prohibited items in my carry-on luggage or in my checked luggage and will have my itinerary with me. I will act reasonably and respectfully, and will expect the same toward me.
If I have any problems, I will not act like an asshole. I will maintain my composure so as to be able to get on my flight because I want to go on this cruise that was paid for well in advance. It is only the second cruise my wife and I will have been on and the other was to Canada, this one to warmer climes. I will note everything that is done improperly, that is if anything like that is done but again - I do not expect it. I will note badge numbers, names, descriptions of those involved. I will request a supervisor if I think something is improper. I will request a manager if it needs to go beyond a supervisor. I will contact an attorney if I am harassed and I will also contact my representatives in Congress and the head of the TSA and their equivalent to their Internal Affairs office. all that only if something happens that is really an egregious violation of my rights. again, I do not expect such but if it happens their is recourse. I will not scream and moan and argue at or with the TSA screeners. I will not make a scene. I will not call the press. I will not post videos on FaceBook or YouTube or Twitter about it.
That is my plan should my rights be violated or should I be abused in any manner. If something like that happens I will truly be shocked but I will let you know.
All the best,
Glenn B
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