Sure They're Ugly, But ...

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... they're also completely ineffective.

The Royal Navy's newest aircraft carriers illustrate the sad state of that navy. The French under the Bourbons and Bonaparte couldn't destroy the RN, neither could the Germans in two World Wars, sadly, all it took was bad government at home.

A cautionary tale ...

Well....NUTS!

 

Sorry folks, I've got very little to offer today.  Frankly, I don't know how Sarge went so long publishing 6 out of 7 days a week.  In any case, we've had a lot of Doctor's Visits lately both for Mrs J and I.  Most of today was taken up with Mrs J having to get a couple of MRI exams.  

As many of you are aware, she was diagnosed with cancer a couple of years ago.  Fortunately, the doctors found it early and Chemo and Radiation worked at the time.  Well this week she had to go through a couple of MRI's to see that the wee bastiges were still gone.  

A couple of MRI's, juvat?  Why?  Well, I'm not a doctor nor have I ever been to med school, but as I understand it, one was a plain MRI of "her parts" and the other one checked the same things but with a dye injected into her.  I suppose that makes the bastiges easier to find then.

The outcome?

No hits, no runs, no bastiges left on base!

Yes, I've said "Thank You" to the Big Guy, several times this month.  But I am truly grateful.

So,  I'll see all y'all a bit later!

juvat...Out! 

The Throttle is Set to Idle ...

Portrait of Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos
Francisco de Goya, 1798

So we haven't seen any new fiction here for some time. I'm just not feeling it.

Health issues (nothing serious), deaths in the family (both by blood and by choice), and an upcoming eye procedure have all been weighing heavily on my mind. Kinda saps the creativity dontcha know?

But in truth, I've been taking advantage of being retired. For years I was at the beck and call of others, now I have no boss, no one telling me what to do and when. I'm my own man, though I do have a partner in crime, The Missus Herself and I are a team, no one is in charge and it works for us. When I'm not being a selfish prick, which does happen from time to time.

I do have some story ideas floating around, nothing firm, just ideas. One involves real-world events in an abstract sort of way, another involves World War II and the Italian Campaign. James Holland's books on that campaign are an inspiration, to be sure. I'm about halfway through the first volume, Sicily '43: The First Assault on Fortress Europe, and I'm learning a lot about that fight. Fascinating stuff, Mr. Holland does the sort of thing I enjoy, looking at all sides, the Americans, the British, the Germans, the Italian soldiers, and the Italian civilians. Everyone suffers in war, this book shows that well.

Bear with me, things will get back in stride eventually. But I'm taking my time about it, after all I'm not getting paid to do this, I do it because I enjoy it. So when I'm not, I ease up on the throttle.

So hang in there.

Ciao!

Recognizable construction progress

Well, Folks, looks like it's Monday again!  As mentioned in an earlier post, there was a bit of good news vis a vis my driving again this week.  Just waitin' on the paperwork, but it's in DMV's lap now, so who knows when I'll be hitting the road again?

So... I thought a song from the time when most of us readers got our driver's license for the first time would be nice.  Makes me feel a tad younger (maybe a day or two).

 

 

Well, now that we've got that out of our system, on with the show!

 

 My Brother's house is looking pretty good.  The exterior is all but finished.  The front door needs knobs and locks, I think that's all the exterior needs. Inside still needs wiring and plumbing then drywall and painting.

 

View of the front of the house

 Our house is starting to look like a house.  We walked through it Saturday, no one was there.

 

So...

 

This is the view out the living room in the front of the house.  Yeah, I think I'm going to be spending a lot of time there pondering things!

 

View out the back of the house

 And, when I'm not pondering things from the living room, the alternate pondering room will be the Sunset porch directly on the other side of the house from the living room.  We'll be able to watch the horses (in the clearing on the other side of the treeline). We'll also have easy access to the wine refrigerator.  Sooooo, pretty nice.  More to come as progress continues.

 

Y'all have a good week and stay safe.

 

juvat over and out! 

 

Other Sunsets and Other Things

Hopefully there's no copyright infringement when it comes to titles of posts, but Sarge whet my appetite with that beautiful sunset photo he opened with a couple days ago so I'm stealing his.  With that, I wanted to add to the beauty here at The Chant with some more photos in that vein.  It was an amazing summer in San Diego and places near and far with some amazing sunsets.  

This was out in Colorado, east of Denver.  Colorado is rugged, mountainous, and beautiful, but if you go a little further east, it's as flat as the great plains.  It made for an expansive sunset though.

Sunset from a marina on Mission Bay.  We were taking out a friend's boat to go watch the fireworks drone show that Sea World puts on nightly in the summer.  They've caved to environmentalist pressure and abandoned their fireworks display that was a summer staple for 40 years.  While I miss it, the drone show isn't bad. Take a look if you wish.

This was July in Poipu Hawaii, before Hurricane Lowell tore it up just a couple months later.  These next two photos are of the resort we stayed at:

The main pool looked a lot better when we were there.  You can see it here: Pool

Fortunately they've been working hard and from what I've read, the property is in much better shape, although not fully healed.  Kauai is at the end of the distribution train and supplies and rebuilding materials are slow in arriving, as are insurance adjustors and claim payouts.  There's also a lot of unemployment on the island since the hotels and resorts have fewer guests so less money to employ these people.  We'll probably be back, but not for a few years.  Not because we're worried about the state of the resort, but we tend to use our timeshare points on resorts we've not visited before.  

As an update from my last post, the new windshield on my wife's car seems to be keeping the rain out of course, but the roof repair on our homestead is not expected for a couple weeks.  The company is a little backlogged because of the recent rain- including what's falling right now as I write this.  Unfortunately we are in "El Nino" season and more rain is expected.  A lot more.  That's ok though-   I have a bucket and we really need the rain.  It's been so dry around here since last winter that my skin is currently registering as a medium-grit sandpaper.

 

This is one of our Wasp Class Amphibs off the California Coast last June.  I'll admit to AI helping fix the photo which was taken at speed from the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner.  That train goes from San Diego up the coast and all the way to San Luis Obispo.  It offers some outstanding views of the ocean with some parts of the track having nothing but beach between the ocean and the track.  Anybody taken that train or one of the cross-country routes on Amtrak?  I'm considering adding it to our travel bucket list.  

Check out the Reel and the video:

https://www.instagram.com/reels/De0Lt7YvlRP/

@tisvlad

Jet & Sunset! Carlsbad Airport Departure

@sddiscover

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This photographer has a condo just across from Petco Park so she gets some amazing sunset shots.

From the Bora Bora Yacht Club

I don't remember if I wrote about it, but Bora Bora was top-tier, A plus, premium beauty.  The natural reef and white sand at the bottom makes the lagoon incredibly picturesque.  Unfortunately, the clouds seem to roll in just ahead of sunset so I didn't get that perfect sunset photo I was hoping for. 

I did get this one though which is going to be our Christmas Card so you're getting a sneak peek.  

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I've never been one to get starry-eyed over celebrity culture, nor am I the type to mourn people I didn't know personally. But I do hold a quiet respect for a few great actors. My interactions with the few I've come across have always been low-key: I once shared a cup of coffee with Gene Hackman in the wardroom of the USS Carl Vinson, and while I respected him immensely, I never asked for an autograph or a selfie. Two years later, I crossed paths with R. Lee Ermey on the Nimitz. The ship’s photographer snapped a photo of us, though it's a piece of my history I never got to see.  Tom Skerritt is another one of those actors I quietly respected.  I didn't know much about him personally, but to me, that’s part of why I respected him. So many celebrities today use their popularity—and often the award stage—as a personal soapbox to talk politics, criticize the government, or lecture the rest of us about global issues. Skerritt never did that. He just did his job, playing strong characters with a quiet presence that commanded attention.

I first saw him back in the movie M*A*S*H*, and then of course as Viper in TOPGUN (one word, all caps!). He was also wonderful as a pastor and father in A River Runs Through It, which I thoroughly enjoyed. He was a professional who kept it entirely about the craft.  And with his departure, I think we truly lost a great American.

Enough for today.  Enjoy your Sunday.

On Sleep ...

H/t to Andy N.
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I think I've been looking for that description for a very long time. Disappointment sleep, it's not an extra few minutes of repose, it's knowing that you gotta get up, and soon. It's not like waking up at 3 AM and saying, "Ah, I can sleep another X hours." No, I call that "bonus sleep," where your body thinks, "damn it, I have to get up now" but your brain realizes, "Damn, I can sleep more, deep sleep too."

Nope, waking up shortly before the alarm goes off is very disappointing. It's looking at the clock and thinking, "Damn it, brain! Why couldn't you just sleep right up until it's time to get up?" Nope, it's awakening, knowing that it's not exactly time to get up but it's so close that you might as well get up.

Happened to me damn near every day when I was gainfully employed. When I was younger it wasn't that much of a big deal, now that I'm old and decrepit, every minute counts. Waking up before you have to, usually because nature calls, is a pain in the butt. After all, us old folks are bouncing out of bed every two to three hours anyway.

It's gotten so bad that if I do sleep for more than four hours in a row, I wonder what I missed. "Hhmm, I didn't get up to pee at 0300, I wonder what the weather was like at that time? Was it still raining? When did that stop?"

Ah, the joys of advancing old age.

Friday morning I had to get up so as to go to the airport and collect The Missus Herself on her return from the Far West. (Hey, Korea is west of here distance-wise, we got that "Far East" crap from the Brits. I mean it was closer for them to go east, but not for us colonials!) Besides which, she spent a couple of days at her sister's in Las Vegas, which is also west of my location.

Anyhoo, her flight was supposed to land at 1030 local (it did) so I didn't have to really get up until about 0830. As it's 30 minutes to an hour (depending on traffic) from Chez Sarge to TF Green, 0830 would work, time for coffee, maybe a bagel (which did happen), then shower and shave and head out to pick up mama.

So of course I woke up at 0600. To pee, of course. Returning to bed I checked the time, two and a half hours before the alarm. Perfect!

So of course, I checked The Missus Herself's flight schedule. And my email, and the blog, and then Facebook, and then ...

Damn it! Now it's 0700 and the brain is fully awake. As my old bones scream "Lay down you fool, go back to sleep!" - my brain is saying, "Yum, bagel."

So yeah, rather than log some disappointment sleep, I got up.

A lovely morning, a lovely day, though a bit cool in the 40s, but ...

Okay, I'm not a morning person, I like sunrise as much as the next person, but damn why are they so early?

Anyhoo, mama's home, domestic tranquility is reestablished, and I'm not flying solo anymore. So I'm good, tired, but good.

Carry on, I'd nap but my damn brain won't quit until it gets dark again ...

Sigh ...

Sunsets and Other Things ...

OAFS Photo

The Missus Herself should be inbound to TF Green by the time some of you read this, the early visitors will find her probably still in the air. So the alone time is winding down.

'Bout damn time.

Though I like a little freedom from spousal oversight from time to time, having to be on my own becomes wearisome after a few weeks. I mean where would I be without someone reminding me to put the toilet seat down? My argument that gravity does most of that work falls on deaf ears. Personally I like to keep all hatches sealed, make everyone work so to speak. But as The Missus Herself pointed out, a closed hatch gives mold just the environment it desires. So, having had to keep the facilities clean in her absence, I see her point.

For those thinking, "Come on Sarge, you were enlisted, surely you've cleaned a toilet or two in your days," think again. Squad leader in Basic, and in Tech School, my job was to ensure the dorm was clean, to include the head, not actually, you know, doing the cleaning. On Okinawa we had maids and by the time I got to Korea, we lived in apartments with communal facilities of the most primitive type. Not sure how those were "cleaned." And at work we had, again, maids. So toilet cleaning is a fairly new activity on my part.

I think I did a better job of keeping the domicile tidy and clean this time around, but we'll see what The Missus Herself thinks after she gets home. Not today mind you, she'll be jet lagged, but Saturday?

Have mercy on me.

Now that opening photo was taken Wednesday afternoon as I was putting the trash out. After depositing the bins roadside, I was bathed in this unbelievable bright light as I walked up the driveway. Turning to the west, I saw the sky lit up and the clouds painted as you see above. Yes, much more spectacular in person, photos can't seem to capture what nature really looks like.

Speaking of the sunset, a dear friend of mine recently lost her grandmother. As she left work on Wednesday she saw that same sky. She had experienced a similar phenomenon when her grandfather, this grandmother's spouse, had passed. She took it as a sign that they were once again together. I read it the same way.

Nature speaks, we should listen.

Ciao.