Ruminations

Well, as some of you are aware, things are a tad hectic around Rancho Juvat (Rawncho Juvat, if you're a former President, pronounced like Paw-kiss-tawn), what with a large amount of technology to install over a shortened summer and a rapidly approaching wedding.

So, workdays are technology, weekends are weddings, nights are for rearranging priority lists in my head, and sleeping is for the weak.

Or so it seems.

This past weekend was my second trip to Dallas in the past months, which, truth be told, is more trips to Dallas than I'd had in the prior 20 years.  The Big D is not high on my favorite cities list.  Don't feel bad, tho' D, neither is Houston, Austin, San Antonio or El Paso.  Don't get cocky, Fort Worth, I lump you into the phrase "Big D".

But, with a few soon to be told excitements, it was a fun trip.  Purpose of said trip was to participate in the "I Do! BBQ.  The event was a "Couples Shower" for the soon to be Bride and Groom (let's use FSIL e.g. future Son In Law) thrown by the groom's extended family.

As I am well known for my Social Graces (RIIIIGHHHT, juvat, Social Graces!), I approached the occasion with a bit of trepidation.  One wouldn't want to step in a large pile of....offal and offend the soon to be "new side of the family."  Or, much, much worse, My Beautiful Daughter (MBD) and, by extraordinarily short extension, Mrs J.

So, I was on my best behavior.

Other than the FSIL's Parents, his Aunt, both Uncles and his Grandmother were there, with assorted Cousins and their spouses and children.  A fairly large crowd gathered in Mesquite (the town, not the tree).

Turns out one of his Uncle's spent time in the Air Force as a WSO on F-111s and was an air spare on the Libya Raid.  Fortunately/Unfortunately, he was not needed, so RTB'd,

Yes....There was quite a lot of shooting of hands and trash talk after that.  Turns out his son is also Air Force and is deployed to the SandBox. 

The FSIL's Aunt and her husband were hosting the shindig in their home which abuts a large park which was hosting a festival to celebrate the Fourth of July.

Which......

I was told, they didn't want their Fourth of July show to be lost in a bevy of other shows, so they went first.

Hey!...America is large enough, good enough and important enough to have an extended celebration of her Independence.

And they had fireworks!

I like fireworks.


A good time was had by all.  RTB Sunday Morning was uneventful and we avoided unnecessary delay at TX220 and US67, so a little less than 4.5 driving time and we're back at the Rancho.

This.....

...is better than this

As Aaron is wont to describe, the trip was 9.1 hours, three interim stops (2 potty stops and 1 Lunch if you must know), and one terrifying minute in the log book

So....There I was* On ingress, driving east on I-20 about 4 miles from the intersection for I-635 and approaching an overpass.  I'm behind a sedan who's behind an 18 wheeler.  Traffic is moderate, and moving at about 75.  I'm starting to look for an opportunity to move into the lanes for I-635 when I see something that looks like a crumpled paper bag flying over the roof of the car in front.  I can't swerve due to traffic, but I think it's paper.

Suddenly there's a large bang.  This being Dallas (one of the reasons I dislike the town), my initial thought is somebody's shooting.  I glance around, don't see any holes, but Mrs J has got her arms thrown up in front of her head.  I ask her if she's ok.

She says she's fine, but the windshield's cracked.  I look, such as I can in traffic at 75, and sure enough, there's a crack all the way across the screen about an inch from the bottom.  I ask her what happened and she says a broken brick hit us. 

Now, I'm peeved.

We're only minutes from the hotel, so we press on.  Get to the parking lot and take a look, sure enough there's a circular impact right where the windshield meets the frame and no other damage.  However, it was centered up, left and right on Mrs. J's seat.

Which gave me a moment of reflection. Before we left, I had briefly considered taking her car, since it gets better gas mileage and is smaller and more maneuverable. However, it sits considerably lower to the ground.  If we had taken it and arrived at that exact same point in time, that brick would have hit center of the windshield, a much weaker portion and thus more prone to penetration. 

My truck is in the foreground,  Her car is in the back, you can see the impact and where it would have hit her car.

I had rejected taking her car because I just "felt" I needed the protection of the bigger vehicle.

Thank You, Lord!

BTW, Sarge gave me a little grief over my "assignment" to Okinawa at 18 months.  I was wrong.  I arrived on Okinawa the first time at 10 months old.

My mom received this certificate of arrival on Okinawa from the Captain of the Troop Ship aboard which we crossed the Pacific .

Ahhh, the finest in Air Force Housing.

In retelling the stories of this picture, my folks told me that the fence was to keep people from exploring Shuri Ridge, in the background.  1956.  Okinawa was a heckuva battle.

So...Given no choice (which is the definition of Assigned), my second assignment, but first in the Pacific was Okinawa, in 1956.