The I Love Me Wall

When I retired from the Air Force, my fellow sergeants presented me with a couple of things which really touched me deeply. The picture above is a really not-so-good photo of my "shadow box". This contains (on the left) the various ranks I had borne over my 24 year career. On the right are the medals I earned and at the top (kinda fuzzy, I know) are an Air Force crest with my qualification badges to either side. The one on the left is from my flight-line days (Senior Aircraft/Munitions Maintenance) and the one to the right is from my days as a "bit-whacking weenie", or computer programmer (Master Communications and Information).

The globe has arrows pointing to the various locations where I was stationed and at the bottom, the best part of all, is a flag flown over the U.S. Capitol building. (Provided by the Congress-Critter of one of my buddies. Said Congress-Critter having at one time been an actor on The Love Boat. Kinda tells you who the Congress-Critter was and what state my buddy was from. For those of a mind to go look.)

My fellow sergeants also gave me one of these - 

Yes, a French heavy cavalry saber. The one depicted is from the 1st Empire (think the Napoléon), mine is from the 2nd Empire (Napoléon III, nephew of the Napoléon). Yes, the officers in attendance got a little nervous when I drew my saber, then breathed a sigh of relief when I returned it to its scabbard. I had a reputation as being something of a "wild child" back in the day. Not wholly undeserved but I had somewhat mellowed by the time I retired. Somewhat.

Now many folks have, what we in the Armed Forces of these here United States like to call an "I Love Me Wall" (ILMW). You'll hang your various diplomas, pictures of you in olden days (sometimes with famous people, most times not, just the folks you served with) and other bits and pieces of bric-a-brac which make you feel good about yourself.

I used to have an ILMW until the Missus Herself decided that my Command Post needed to be gussied up and prettified for when folks came to visit. (For those of you who have seen my inaugural video post, the mess in the background is what I have made of the gussied-up-and-prettified Command Post. When people come to visit, the door is closed and the guests are told "that room we use for storage". Sigh...) But I see that I digress. Surprise, surprise. That almost never happens.

Now, here on Ye Olde Blog I have an ILMW of sorts. Over on the right sidebar you may have noticed this -

There are 13 folks at the time of this writing who are accounted as members by Gargoyle Google+. I like to call them "The Friends of the Old Sarge" (that's that French bit at the top). And they are (Left to right, top to bottom):

• The Chief (Yes, A Real Live Retired Navy Chief, so mind your manners!)
• Tuna (Of Aquatic Fame, self-noted for his sense of humor.)
• Greg (My Old High School Buddy, he still holds the local record for holding one's breath in chemistry class.)
• jphag13 (Cranky Old Man - that's his blog. We just call him "Joe".)
• Six (Of The Warrior Class. The blog AND he's an actual warrior.)
• (not necessarily your) Uncle Skip (That's his moniker. I don't make these things up when they fall into my lap like ripe apples. Hhhmm, that could be painful.)
• jib (Also a blogger and a surgeon. Good with a blade. Just sayin'...)
• Flying Tiger Comics (Don't know much about this one. But hey, they clicked the button to join! Cool icon too.)
• Dapper Dan (Another blogger. Also an Oh Brother, Where Art Thou reference.)
• Suldog (Yes, that is the Suldog, thank you very much. Accept no substitutes.)
• Your Humble Scribe (A man who wouldn't join his own blog wouldn't be much of a man, now would he? And you're right, I don't know how that happened. I was playing with the buttons on the dashboard. Never a good idea.)
• WING WIFE (Yes, that Wing Wife. An actual published author, unlike we scribblers of blogs, she has written an actual book. Also her husband is a Marine, a flying Marine, so tread lightly.)
• Bag Blog (Uh, that would be Lou. Who's blog is splendiforous. Which isn't a word in the real world. It is here though. I made it one by Imperial Fiat. Which is parked in the garage next to the Royal Chevy Malibu.)

I view it as a personal triumph over the Dark Forces menacing the world every time someone joins. Er, no, not really. But I do feel humbled and honored. That's gotta count for something, right?

Then there is another honor I have received in the past week which really got me going.

Seems I had an e-mail from my blog-buddy Suldog (or blogger extraordinaire as I sometimes call him, yes, need I say it again? The Suldog.) announcing that I had been promoted on his blog and now had my very own category. So if you head over there and look, on Suldog's left sidebar, you'll see this - (go on, go look, I'll wait)

Yup, that's me at number three, just below Buck!

So thanks go out to all the members of my blog (noted above), to Suldog and to all the fine folk who stop by here from time to time to read my musings, rants, war stories, tales of my improbable escapades and occasional political commentary (thought that last lot is a bit rare).

Let me leave you with these words of wisdom...

Think about it.

I'm willing to bet Suldog gets it. (Yes, that Suldog.)