Saturday, December 29, 2018

Vacation, Day Eight


'Tis a cool, wet day here in Anne Arundel County as I write this, it's the Friday after Christmas. The temperature is warmer than yesterday when we went out to Dulles to visit Udvar-Hazy. My third trip out there, I never tire of that museum. I'll have pictures sometime in the next week or so. I was attempting to transfer them from my phone to my tablet right after we got home, Windows 8 refused to play nicely with my cell phone, and I was too tired to make them get along. When I get back to Little Rhody I'll do that.

It's been a good trip so far, but I am looking forward to getting back to my own domain, visiting is fun. But home is best.

Something I wanted to mention in passing as regards Facebook. For the most part I enjoy that bit of social media, pictures of the grandkids at Christmas, new puppies, friends who are far away, etc., etc. That's the part I enjoy.

But the incessant carping about one political party or the other, commenting on what one might perceive/believe about somebody in the public eye - it's all a big who-fire-trucking-cares for me. There is ample evil and bad news in the world without contributing to it. It all grows so tiresome. But I'll stick it out, for the puppy and kitten pictures.

Saw this beauty out at Udvar-Hazy -

Sikorsky JRS-1
(See below)
The plaque at the museum reads:
This amphibious seaplane is the only aircraft in the Museum that was at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941. Ten JRS-1s were at the U.S. naval base when the Japanese attacked during World War II. The Navy immediately sent these unarmed utility craft to search for the enemy fleet. The JRS-1 (used 1937-1944) is the military version of the Sikorsky S-43 "Baby Clipper."

On the day of the attack, the plane wore a very colorful paint job: silver overall, black on the bottom, green tail surfaces, a red band around the rear of the fuselage, and the diamond-shaped squadron insignia behind the cockpit on each side. A few days after the attack, ground crew repainted the plane blue, but it has weathered and the original paint is peeking through. The JRS-1’s current condition is due to many years of storage outside. The Museum intends to conserve and restore the plane.
This is just a quick "I'm alive" post. Not much going on, other than we're having fun.

Hope you are as well.

See you in the funny papers.


14 comments:

  1. Enjoy your vacation and your kids and grandkids! We will be waiting for you when you get nack.

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  2. We're visiting friends that farm near Pittsburgh, it's a nice getaway and a reasonable drive from Philly, but as you said, "Home is the best."

    Enjoy your vacation and your family time.

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  3. Enjoy your loved ones Sarge and see the sights. Seconding Scott, we'll be here when you get nack........:)

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  4. I'm pleased to hear that you are well and are putting your vacation time to good use.

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  5. Ah! The National Air and Space Museum... someday...

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  6. “I’m alive” posts, what a concept.
    Helps maintain continuity, too . . . Hmmmmm.

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    Replies
    1. Oh... and it’s just not worth my time to involve myself in the rhetoric... or with folks who spew it constantly

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  7. Short video about the Sikorsky, here:

    https://youtu.be/BXzHXKaANKQ

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  8. I'm too angry and frustrated to survive long on Farcebrook. Tried it many a year ago and it was not for me.

    Glad you are enjoying U-H. And I've always liked flying boats. We lost a lot of potential by going away from them. Kinda like how we lost a lot of potential going all rotary wing for COD and such. Oh, well, our betters know better.

    Enjoy your vacation.

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  9. "...but I am looking forward to getting back to my own domain, visiting is fun. But home is best."

    You do know that the real purpose of a vacation is to make us appreciate our home, do you not? Home is where one has one's things arranged the way we want them to be arranged. That's what makes it home; that and at least some of the people we care most about.

    Thanks for the post.
    Paul L. Quandt

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  10. Facebook...bah humbug!! You should see the faces of folks I tell that if I go on Facebook once a month, that is a lot. Kinda funny. The only reason I am on facebook is my stepdaughter put me on, unknown to me, when she was 15, so she could send me messages. Told her to text me, email me or call me on the phone!! She told me I am a party pooper. I agreed. Lol.
    Maybe when I have a grandkiddo I will feel different, but I doubt it. I am just a Luddite that way.

    Enjoy your vacation, then when you get home, you will enjoy your bed all the more, and you will have great stories to tell the feline staff. I am sure they will have adventures to share with you...about how the nice lady from next door came over and scratched their ears every day, fed them extra treats, etc...

    Nice airplane picture. I will get there one day, probably after I retire...heaven knows I don't have time now.
    Enjoy the grandkids, and assorted other family members. We will be here when you get back.
    And have a Happy New Year!!

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  11. Spent the day in downtown Annapolis, to include the Academy, good times.

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  12. Can't you the faces of those young men when their squadron commander called them in on Sunday afternoon and said, "Boys, we want you to take those completely defenseless little clippers of yours and scout around and see if you can track down the aircraft carriers that launched the aircraft that just destroyed the Pacific Fleet and most of three military installations in Hawaii." I might have been tempted to just fly down to the Big Island and circle it for a number of hours before heading back and telling them I couldn't find any sign of that fleet that just massacred our ships and men.

    My next visit to the Udvar Hazy will be my fourth. In my last visit my daughter and I watched the movie Ant Man on the enormous movie screen there.

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Just be polite... that's all I ask. (For Buck)
Can't be nice, go somewhere else...

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