Well, much like the Battle of Waterloo, the day was a drizzling horrid mess. Chilly too!
But at 1315 hours local, The Missus Herself and I took up our position along the coast of Newport Harbor, awaiting the landing of Mr. and Mrs. Juvat. When we arrived the weather was overcast with a hint of rain, by the time the Great North-South Conclave of 2018 was over...
 |
| Das Wetter war scheiße geworden! |
Turns out the other couple (Garry and Cathy, I've cleverly disguised their identities by using less common spellings of their actual names - with my luck, that's probably exactly how they spell their names) were both pharmacists. I learned that in the following manner:
Garry: So this kid we knew was a pharmacist, but he went into the Air Force and became a C-130 pilot, did 20 years.
Juvat: He was a pharmacist, but the Air Force made him a pilot? Classic!
Your Humble Scribe: Well heck, I'd rather fly C-130s than be a pharmacist!
[Awkward silence, 3... 2... 1...]
Mrs. Juvat: Garry and Cathy are both pharmacists.
Your Humble Scribe: Uh, uh, uh.
Garry: Yeah, given the choice I'd fly C-130s. (Garry was a private pilot at one time.)
Your Humble Scribe: Well, there you go.
Great laughs all around, at Your Humble Scribe's expense, but that's okay. I love mocking myself, I enjoy a good laugh even when I'm the fall guy.
Anyhoo.
The party from Texas took quite a while to get ashore. Seems the cruise folks were running two tenders (which maybe seat 50 or so people) for a ship carrying 600. Oh, the folks on the ship "organizing" the loading of the tenders? Yeah, a real ya know fire drill. Of the far eastern variety. But I digress, they got ashore and we headed to the Brick Alley Pub, which is maybe a five minute walk from the dock.
Great grub, great beverages, and particularly awesome company. BTW, here's my new favorite beverage -
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| (Source) |
Juvat: She could take you. [Grinning at the waitress, who smiled delightfully. Damned fighter pilots and their charm!]
But I did get the last bottle. So I've got that going for me. (Four stouts in 48 hours! Dear me, that's about 4 times what I drink in a normal week. Yes, I have lost a step or two in my dotage...)
As Juvat and his party had to get back to the tender before it was mobbed, we headed back to the pier and bid them farewell. The Conclave lasted only two hours, but it was great.
Though I've known Juvat via the blog for years, it's nice to have met him face to face. His wife is awesome, and they have superb friends, who I now count as friends as well.
No more in the "friends I've never met" category, now (as Juvat said) we're friends, no need to qualify, quantify, or categorize.
Of course, as The Missus Herself piloted us home (eye still has a bubble, check that, one big bubble, four little bubbles, the thing is like a freaking iceberg, it's starting to "calve") I realized that my cell phone (with its built in camera) had not left my pocket the entire time. I was having too much fun (and maybe too much stout).
I texted Juvat that it was a shame we hadn't done a photo op and Beans was going to be pissed.
Juvat texted back, "All is not lost."
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| From left to right: Your Humble Scribe, Juvat, Mrs. Juvat, and The Missus Herself. |
Shortly after that text arrived, I got another -
"Nope, not lost at all. 😜"
I have no doubt that that is a remedy for crappy weather.
Sure looks tasty.
As to the title, it is allegedly how Field Marshal Blücher greeted the Duke of Wellington at the finish of the Battle of Waterloo. Blücher spoke no English, Wellington spoke no German. Odd that the victors only had in common the language of their defeated foe, French. But...
"Quelle affaire!" = "What an affair!"
Why yes, yes it was...
To celebrate the Great South-North Conclave, at 1215 my local time I was organizing the garage for the upcoming winter under a brilliant blue sky. Good to see friends become face-to-face friends, all together in a stout cause, neh? Interesting decor there at the Pub.
ReplyDeleteThat should be an annual event, the Conclave and the garage organizing. (Wait, what? Blue sky? Oddly enough we have that today. Juvat wasn't kidding when he said they brought the weather with them, they took it away too!)
DeleteHeh, stout cause. Nice.
I like the look of the pub, and no, my photo isn't among those on the bulkhead.
ReplyDeleteBreakfast stout! Great idea and it includes coffee.
I have small feet for an adult, it makes buying shoes difficult, but it does make my hoof in mouth problems less painful.
Have you tested the eye bubble to see if you can use it temporarily to replace a carpenter's level?
Your post had me smiling at several points.
It's a great place. Good food, reasonable prices. Yes, the decor is awesome.
DeleteWhen the bubble was bigger I could use it for a turn and bank indicator. Now it will work as a carpenter's level, bubble is a lot smaller now.
This PAUL JONES,on the poster?
ReplyDeleteMore research is needed, might be DD-10, which had a complement of 3 officers and 72 men. But the picture seems to be of DD-230. The poster seems to have too many officers to be DD-10 (but that isn't really a show stopper, some of those may be chiefs, not commissioned officers), not enough crew altogether for DD-230 (145 officers and men). Something is amiss. I'm leaning towards DD-10, based on the styles of the uniform. When I get back there, I'll do some more checking.
DeleteBased on the date in the lower left, it's the Commissioning crew of DD-230. A ship that appears to have brought her crew home safely after a full and eventful service: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Paul_Jones_(DD-230)
Delete/
L.J.
The book of Wiki says DD-10 was decommissioned in 1919. The crew compliment of DD-10 better matches the number in the picture. Can't quite make out the photo of the ship in the picture, unfortunately. Obviously requires a return trip to the Brick Alley. For Research, of course!
Delete/
L.J.
Thanks, the seven inch screen on my Kindle limits my definition of photographs.
DeleteYes, yes, for the research which is in it!
DeleteBrick Alley Pub brings back a few memories. While in Newport for my third school I lived in one of the upstairs condos just across the street for six months. It was one of several spots frequented by the single set in my Department Head course. Although I spent more time at a pub in the Brick Market Place, working on building chocolate covered raspberries. Using Chambord, Marie Brizard Chocolat Royal liqueur, half & half, and I forgot what else. Didn't have to cross Thames Street to get home from there, which could be a real challenge in the summer.
ReplyDelete/
L.J.
Cool.
DeleteYes, crossing that street can be problematic in the summer. Especially with enough of the aforementioned concoction on board!
Nicely done after action report. It is good to see y'all.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post.
Paul L. Quandt
:)
Delete"...with it's..."
ReplyDeleteGrammar nazi strikes again. You got it right in the first use in that line of text; it is ( it's ) the second use that is incorrect ( its- when not a contraction ).
Paul
Mind your Ps and Qs, cuz PQ is in the house!
DeleteFixed that.
DeleteGood one a bear.
DeleteIn my defense, I wrote this post after two Founder's Breakfast Stouts (lots of alcohol in those) on a day when I had to arise at 0600 for the first time in two weeks. Still and all, I hate making errors. Even if they are more along the lines of typos rather than ignorance of the language.
Or, as a bear might have written, picky, picky, picky.
DeleteHaving once upon a time been an editor, it scared me for life.
PLQ
Better watch it or Google will pull you over for BUI (Blogging while Impared) which, of course, may happen any time with you.
DeletePLQ - "Scared" for life? While that does fit...
DeleteBeans - They just might. And yup, could happen at any time, without warning even!
Delete“Yours was not, in the beginning, a criminal nature, but circumstances changed it. At the age of nine you stole sugar. At the age of fifteen you stole money. At twenty you stole horses. At twenty-five you committed arson. At thirty, hardened in crime, you became an editor.” ~Mark Twain
DeleteDid editing scar you, or were you scarred beforehand?
Heh. Seems to me that most editors are inclined to follow a dark path.
DeleteAh, yes! Opens mouth, inserts foot. I've done that more than a few times. And I like your opening illustration. I note that you have managed to adorn one with Master Sergeant chevrons, but where, prey tell, are the wings for the other? For what it may be worth, the style of the covers on the officers of PAUL JONES would have been uniform in the early 1920s. That would lead me to believe that the ship in question is USS PAUL JONES DD 230, Commissioned April 19, 1921 and reclassified as an Auxiliary AG-120 in June of 1945. I hope the eye continues to improve most scosh.
ReplyDeleteIt's the fancy hat and mustache that give it away. All fighter pilots wear fancy hats, right?
DeleteDave - Um, um, um... Blücher's arm, er, Juvat's arm is covering the wings, it's why you can't see them. Or something...
Delete;)
I think you're right on the covers, perhaps the commissioning crew was smaller than a full complement?
Beans - Yes, of course. The fancy hat denotes a fighter pilot!
Delete1. Why would you assume I would be unhappy if there were no pictures taken of you and juvat?
ReplyDelete2. Nice job of TMH to avoid the evil soul stealer...
3. juvat's a fibber.
4. I sense a bit of a naval theme in The Brick House. Could have been quite different and gone with a Lego theme and kept the title.
5. I can count all these entries so far on one hand.
6. Starting on another hand.
7. Glad the meeting went well. You and juvat have been dancing around meeting for a long time. Now you still need to get down Texas way and do his AO. Hope that is in the plans one day.
8. Ever get the feeling that the craft brewing people are just a little off mentally? That picture, so cute, probably would require the death penalty in the state (of confusion) that Tuna and LUSH reside in.
9. Foot-in-Mouth disease? From you?
10. And, yeah, sounds like the potentially socially-unacceptable response I would say, but, of course, the recipients would not take it as a joke, deathly insults would be taken, lives ruined, Mrs. Andrew's sharp elbows would cause havoc upon my ribcage, all while I would be standing around saying, "What, what did I say?"
11. Starting on my feet now, and unlike my Grandma Cone, I can go past 19 and unlike my Grandma Cone before the surgery I can't go past 20. (See? Semi-socially unacceptable response there. I think. Maybe. Possibly.)
12. Counting past ten, one of the many benefits of wearing sandals without socks...
13. We don't talk about "13"
14. Having floaters and other obstructions roaming around or in your eye(s) is very distracting. My issue is allergy induced slime globs. Which require the occasional fishing trip up under the eyelid to rake the little slimers out.
15. I think I just exceeded the daily recommended TMI levels...
16. Rain? Our grass is crunchy here in overly sunny North Central Florida. Hopefully we'll get some non-circular-rotation storms to deposit some much needed wetness soon.
17. Mrs. Andrew has finally recovered from whatever decided to knock her down. Now if only the Thing that Never Sleeps would just sleep, Beans would be less grumpy and more happy.
18. Ah, tired of the numbers game.
19. Reached post-op Grandma Cone number counting.
20. Oh, how was your first half day back at work?
21. Reached pre-op GC counting...
22. How the heck am I going past 20? Dunno, maybe it means I need to step away from the keyboard...
1. Poetic license.
Delete2. Why whatever do you mean?
3. Um, well, he IS a fighter pilot.
4. Legos would work, but damned near everything in Newport has a nautical theme. Sometimes it's naval, sometimes it's sailing vessels, sometimes it's both.
5. So can I.
6. Wait, what?
7. I do want to get down to Texas. Eventually.
8. Of course, they're off mentally. Too much sampling of the wares is my theory.
9. Hard to believe, innit?
10. Well, I have done that as well. In the company of less gracious folk.
11. It is possible to count to 1,023 using just one's fingers. Provided you use binary. (The two hands function as a ten-bit word.)
12. We don't talk about the folks who wear socks with sandals.
13. We don't?
14. Ouch.
15. Why yes, yes you did.
16. Wow, not raining in a part of Florida? As Buck would say, "I had no ideer."
17. Good for Mrs. Beans. If it never sleeps, it won't. Not ever. DAMHIK
18. Oh c'mon. You were on a roll!
19. Almost achieving orbit!
20. Urgh, not fun. But better than a sharp probe in the eye. DAMHIK
21. Damn!
22. Slowly, they sense fear...
Seems the wx has it in for us. Reports from Rancho Juvat have the stock pond competely full and water is flowing across our road. And more rain throughout the day. So...could be a bit sporty arriving home today.
ReplyDeleteDang! Y'all be careful now, ya heah?
DeleteSuch fun, FUN chemistry!!
DeleteWish I was at the table next to youse guys...
...or the waitress!
You would have enjoyed it BC, either way.
DeleteWoooooo! juvat's got a swimmin hole! Wooooooo!
DeleteWhat are you going to stock the stock pond with if you stocked stock ponds?
Lotsa water on road, yet another reason to own a pickup truck.
Oh, I'm quite sure he has a truck, isn't that required to live in Texas? Well, outside of Austin anyway.
DeleteWell, we made it home in one piece. And yes I do on a pickup, but hadn't driven it to ABI. We drove Mrs J's Transit Connect which has a much lower ground clearance. But it does have DV plates, (She qualifies, I don't in spite of documented Neck and Spine problems but who am I to question the Wisdom of the Gummint) so free parking which is quite handy when you're gone for 2 weeks.
DeleteAnyhow, we arrived on the property after dark and slowly approached the low water crossing. It was flooded, but only by about 6 inches and, most importantly, wasn't flowing. So we made it across with no difficulty.
Evidently, we had lost power while gone, so all the food in the freezer/fridge has to be thrown out. Walked out and looked at the rain gauge this morning and thought someone had emptied it. Nope, completely full at 8 inches. Other than that, we're very lucky that we aren't a little further north. The river that flows about a mile south of our property has risen significantly, but is still within its banks. Not so the Llano and Colorado rivers. Lots of damage in Kingsland area where we'd made a road trip a couple of weeks ago. The lady we bought the chairs from is likely to need significant repair if not replacement of her vacation home which is on the banks of the Colorado.
Rain is still in the forecast for the next few days, so we'll see what we can see.
Damn! Glad you made it home okay, sucks to lose a freezer full of food though.
DeleteStay dry, if possible!
Miss you guys already!
I was going to comment on the state of the weather in Juvat’s home state.
ReplyDeleteI see that isn’t necessary.
Hopefully, his stock pond overflowing is the only issue he has.
Indeed!
DeleteThanks for keeping us in the loop of parties, etc., organized by the fearless leadership.Hope you were able to communicate your secret plans for control of the internet with Juvat. The conspiratorial nature of the association cannot be denied now that there is pictorial evidence of the meeting.
ReplyDeleteAnd that photo almost looks like it came from a surveillance camera!
DeleteBut it didn't.
No, really.
The internet sees all, knows all.
DeleteAlly Bubba and his 40 bureaucrats.
Hahahaha!
DeleteI dug around a bit on the internet and found a photo taken inside the pub.
ReplyDeletehttp://editpower.club/amiphoto.html
I zoomed a bit and found the center of the photo says 1921, and the top says, U.S.S Paul Jones. Well done Dave!
We are enjoying the weather in Philly because it isn't miserably hot and humid.
But wait, there's more.
Deletehttps://www.hazegray.org/danfs/destroy/dd230txt.htm
http://www.navsource.org/archives/05/230.htm
And she was built in Philly.
https://www.phillyhistory.org/blog/index.php/2012/04/william-cramp-sons-ship-and-engine-building-company/
http://m.philaplace.org/story/710/
http://planphilly.com/articles/2010/09/16/how-one-shipbuilder-impacted-philadelphia-and-world
So DD-230 she is. Nicely done John.
DeleteBut I'm still going back, for the research ya know.
Delete3 down, 1 to go. Just gotta meet Beans and I'll be complete as having met everyone in the company. 3 includes Lush, but I haven't actually met her that I can remember, but it feels like I have considering all our connections. Glad you all got to have your little department head meeting out there in lil Rhody. Beans, Lush and I will stay in the mail room until we get a promotion.
ReplyDeleteHa. Hiding in my secret bunker. You'll never find me... And (looking out the door) last I checked, no reason for anyone to come to Gainesgrad, DPR of Alachaustan, FL. No cool museums, no cool planes, not on water, most restaurants are 'meh, chain' restaurants.
DeleteTuna - No, you haven't met LUSH yet. The one Lexican gathering at Shakespeare's she was at, you and Mrs. Tuna were in Vegas, watching an automobile race as I recall.
DeleteMail room? Who let you in the mail room? Y'all need to get back to Engineering, coal ain't gonna shovel itself.
;)
Beans - Secret bunker? Sorry bro, I think that was in one of Shrillary's emails, which Vlad forwarded to me.
DeleteI trust that someday we can spring you from Gainesgrad, DPR of Alachaustan, FL (which looks way cooler in Cyrillic, to wit, Гейнсград, ДПР Алачаустан, Флорида.)
Hhmm, how far are you from Pensacola? That is always worth a field trip.
Oh, I didn't realize the mailroom was just TDY!
Delete:)
Delete5 hours to P-Cola. Only an hour and a smidge more to New Orleans or Hattisburg, MS.
DeleteFlorida is a looooooooong state to get around in. One of the many joys of living on a peninsula.
Dang.
DeleteAccording to Google Maps it's 343 miles and 4+56.
ReplyDeleteMilk distance for me. Light years for a Row Dye Lander.
The Missus Herself and I have been known to go to Maine for the day, roughly 300 miles round trip. We're not native to this place, residents of The Island have been known to never leave The Island! Dang!
Delete