Monday, December 3, 2018

Advent

Well, this is going to be a BIG day!  We finally get to meet the new boss.  She called last Friday to set up a meeting with the gang at 1300.  The phone call went like this.

"Technology Department, this is juvat speaking."

"Hello, this is Dr  Smith (the name has been changed, and yes, I used my actual name also.)

"Hello, what can I do for you?"

"Do you work in the Tech Department?"

Pause (as I bit HARD on my tongue to stifle the YGBSM that was rapidly approaching my lips).

"Yes I do."

15 Days to go.

Had a bit of sadness this past Tuesday.  Canine Flight is down one.  Corky, our Jack Russell, was 18, having kidney failure, trouble walking, seeing and hearing.  All that having been said, it was still tough.

Came home from that and happened to be browsing Sarge's blogroll and came across this cartoon at Proof's place with the title "Fetch, Good Dog!".
Thanks Mike, I know you didn't post that for us specifically, but it helped.
This also helped.  Mrs J trying to take a nap with 3 dogs and Moushka and Mushka.  Schmedley is on the perch above too sophisticated to participate in this love fest.

So, the Honey Do List retirement procedures are being ironed out and we've been getting ready for Christmas.  MBD and SIL will be celebrating Christmas here with us, and we're going to be doing a bit of Skype Christmas gift unwrapping with Little Juvat and his beautiful bride in the Sandbox.  Ain't technology grand?

Getting things ready for that day, we chanced into some memory triggers.  MBD had asked me to make a picture holder for her a while back, which I did.  I'd also made a model so I could make sure I had all the settings right.  This isn't Rocket Science, folks.  I squared the sides of a piece of wood and cut a slot in it on an angle of about 10. This allows pictures to be displayed and easily changed. 

Mrs J, liked the idea and commandeered the model.  Our photos are still in disarray from Schmedley's cold cat launch back in March.  As we sort through them, some end up in the display for a short viewing period and then are filed in an appropriate place.

But it is fun, on the first Sunday of Advent, to look through old pictures of fun times.


Christmas in Fargo ND '61. I've gotten a bit taller, quite a bit heavier, but not any brighter.

Little Juvat sitting in his Grandfather's chair.  Cost his dad a dollar every time he did so..  Fievel was his Christmas Present that year.  Because I was  gone TDY, I would tape messages to him and Mrs J would put them in the Mouse so he would at least hear my voice.  

Christmas 86 (as was the previous pic).  Still had hair and two of the 3 favorite people in my life.  Oh, and I was on leave from Luke where I was learning to fly an Eagle.  A VERY good Christmas. 

Christmas 92.  The third of my favorite people.  She inherited my sense of humor and attitude and her mother's looks and brains.  Oh, and her and her brother's respective spouses round out the top 5 of my favorite people.
May you all have a very blessed Advent and Christmas.  Remember, there's only one gift that matters this season.  The gift of a Son to redeem Mankind and the love contained therein.  Share that Love with your family and friends.

44 comments:

  1. Ah Juvat, sorry about the loss of your pup. Eighteen years is a long run and ya..... Corky is chasing that halo. The cartoon brings a needed smile this morning seeing as there's 3 inches of the white stuff plastered on the ground. Christmas of '86 brought me back to my home state after eight and a half years absence and closer to loved ones. There's something to be said for chemical photos neh?

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    1. Thanks, Nylon. I appreciate it. Little too early to be singing White Christmas isn't it. Between Fargo and Kunsan, I've filled that block for lifetime currency.

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  2. Dang, sorry to hear about Corky, it's tough losing them no matter how old. But he had a good run. We had a scare Sunday morning with one of the feline staff, she's okay now.

    Great pictures, it's good to remember old times. (Are you and your brother wearing reflective belts? Hahahaha! Sure looks like it.)

    Roger that on the gift, He is the reason for the season.

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    1. Thanks, Boss. Re: Belts, probably. In case we wandered off, in the snow, in ND, or maybe Mom thought they were cool, or something. That detail is lost to the ages (or aged?)

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  3. Hope he’s running with our dearly departed JRT “Monty”. Two years gone and still there are ‘empty spaces’ all around our home and our life. But we do our sad duty for our loyal friends

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    1. Thanks, Yeah. Mrs J took the two little dogs for a short stroll to deliver some mail to my sister. The big dog was frantic thinking they too would be gone. Barking and running from door to window and back. Calmed down immediately when they walked back in the door. Leader of the Pack has responsibilities, doncha' know.

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  4. Sorry to hear about your pup.
    Once they “weasel” their way into our lives, we don’t ever quite shake them... or want to.

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  5. Darned dusty in here this morning...

    My kitty is 17, his hearing is starting to go, he is losing weight slowly, is moving more stiffly, especially on rainy days and he wants to cuddle more now than ever. I know it wont be too long before we will need to do the dreaded drive to the vet...sincere condolences on your loss.

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    1. Thanks, Suz. It is tough, but as Hogdayafternoon said above, it a duty we have to do.

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  6. Sorry about Corky. Happens every time we get one, that they have to leave us eventually, and not without sadness. Eventually we'll stop maybe, but probably not. Thanks for the pictures. I love sitting down and going through old pics, but unless we start printing them, that time will end. What are we doing to do, break out the old hard drive and click through old digital pics?

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    1. Thanks, I agree. Probably not.

      Well, you could save then on OneDrive or Google Docs and everybody could look at them.

      Or back them up on a portable drive.

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    2. Yeah, but it doesn't have the same effect as holding that piece photo paper imho. Shuffling through them when my mom died was sad, but cathartic at the same time, finding an old gem of a memory, then passing it around my siblings. I don't see my kids doing that with a drive. Maybe we will all start that though.

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    3. I agree about the printed pictures. Feel the same way about books. I have lots on my iPad, but sometimes I need to hold, feel and smell a "real" book.

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  7. I did roughly the same thing as your picture log for a portable mirror stand for Mrs. Andrew. Used a piece of pallet wood, which turned out to be mahogany, and it cut so nice I only had to sand the edges as they were super sharp. She asked me how I cut a 1/2 inch slot with a table saw and I said, "Magic" and she said, "Run!"

    Sorry about your missing man. They are never around long enough, are they?

    As to your Christmases Past, Uncle Sam gave you a very nice present in '86, didn't he?

    It truly is the Advent Season, the beginning of a new year, a new life, a new everything.

    And for those who came before us Christians, well, Happy 2nd day of Hannukah! Which reminds me of a joke. Did you hear that they're making a movie about the June 7th, 1981 of an Iraqi nuclear facility by Israel? They're calling it "Torah, Torah, Torah!"

    (I'll pick up my severance check from the HR department tomorrow... :) )

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    1. I'd sure love to find some mahogany in a pallet. That would be fun.

      '86 was the start of a 5 year run of "very good years".

      Uumph! Our Diversity department is scheduling your SWAT team visit as we speak. (Not for the joke, but to replace my 40" monitor.)

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    2. Mahogany in a pallet is fun until you try to remove nails from it. And the saw and sand paper dust will kill you. But, damn. It's like so damned sexy to work. Cuts so smoothly and cleanly.

      And I wish I could get commissions for all the monitors that have been replaced because of me. Might offset the sever penalties from Sarge's Sweat Shop.

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    3. Yeah, Beans, if you could come in over the holidays, that would be great. Oh, we need to move your office while we do renovations.

      And we'll need that red Swingline stapler returned to supply...

      (Sweat shop!?!?!)

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    4. Oh, I meant to say 'Sweet Shop,' yeah, uh-huh...

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    5. Oh okay, then we're good...

      Wait a minute...

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  8. I understand your loss. I am sorry. It is so hard to see them go when the pups and kitties have been around long enough to become real family. We lost just two, one of each, in Santa Cruz. Both 18 years. Funny the relationship they had - always competing for the lap or bed. Pictures with kids while growing up are priceless. You are right about the digital vs. paper thing. Our small storage has six or seven banker's boxes full of pics in zip-lock bags. Nobody wants 'em just yet, but I'm banking on a softening of heart as the grandkids age.

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    1. The ziplock bags would have been a great idea, the banker's boxes didn't survive the impact. But......we do get to look through them all and try and remember where we were and what we were doing at the time. Which I suppose is good for the memory thingy.

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  9. Sorry I am to read of the loss of your four legged family member. It seems that everyone who gathers here has been through that heartache.

    Darn, I need to do some house cleaning. It's so dusty in my office that I can barely see the screen.

    Thanks ( I think ) for the post.
    Paul L. Quandt

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  10. Some of my relatives have been good at scanning the old photos and sharing. For my oldest (autistic) son I loaded them in one of the digital photo frames and set it to change every five minutes. He enjoys it and helps him feel connected.

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    1. We definitely need to do that, and since we've got to handle them anyhow.......

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  11. Hey juvat:

    This ( stifle the YGBSM ) isn't in your approved acronym list. No fair using acronyms that we poor, ignorant shulbs don't know and can't look up. What the fudge?

    Paul








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    1. Thank you. Took so long to write " Thank you " because I had to read all of them. A fun read; educational too.

      Paul

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    2. Sorry, Fighter Pilot'ism from way back You gotta be ******* me!

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    3. Maintainers have been known to use it from time to time as well.

      "The pilot did what? YGBSM!"

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  12. "Maintainers have been known to use it from time to time as well.

    "The pilot did what? YGBSM!""

    That would be waaaay too mild for what I said on certain occasions.

    Paul

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  13. By the way, juvat; you wore eye glasses and the USAF let you fly some of their aircraft?

    Paul

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    1. Not initially, but after I was trained and qualified and the taxpayers had paid good money and my vision started going bad, yes.

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  14. Blessed Advent to you and yours as well. Sorry for the loss of one of Canine Flight, it's never easy to lose them.

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  15. I probably wouldn've told Dr. Smith that I was the custodian. There was stuff all over the floor, and I was doing my darndest to clean it all up.... but my bit bucket was full.

    You are past getting fired, yes??

    And if I could post Sarge a picture it would be of my personal, shall not be touched by any mortal but me, one of these: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Stapler-swingline-red.jpg


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    1. "You are past getting fired, yes??"

      I think so, but am not willing to put it to the test.

      Actually, the meeting went quite well. After a short introduction, she mostly listened and asked some knowledgeable question. First impression was good. I think she'll be ok.

      Not enough to get me to pull my papers though.

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  16. Juvat, I know from personal experience how hard it can be to lose a canine member of the family. Glad the 'toon could be of some comfort! At 18, it sounds like Corky had a full life!

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  17. Amen to all. May you and yours have a blessed Christmas!

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  18. I feel better on a day when you post a photo of Schmedlap! She looks so much like my Tyrone!

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