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Praetorium Honoris

Sunday, November 24, 2019

Memories of Exile

Google Street View
From the 4th of January, 2010, to the 23rd of August, 2012, I lived in that building (or it's twin to the left, off camera) over the course of 963 days, on Mondays through Thursdays. For two years, seven months and some 19 days. It was meant to be a one year assignment. I almost felt like I was back in the military. Though the pay was much better.

Work at the home office was slow, very slow (not the Home Office, I'm sure they were busy enough). Some of my colleagues were laid off, some left to find work elsewhere, but the head of our software department found enough of us to be sufficiently useful in all manner of endeavors (not just software) to find other work for us. I found a spot integrating a certain missile system, a system for which my company is somewhat famous, but it was a hundred miles away from Chez Sarge. Rather than commute, the company was amenable to putting us up in a hotel for four days a week.

So I worked ten hour days in order to "get it over with," so to speak. They were long days but the work was interesting so the day went by fairly quickly. This was in the days before the Chant existed so early on I had not much to do after work. As the hotel had HBO and a fairly large suite of cable channels, I watched rather a lot of television.

Law & Order (I think I saw every single episode over the course of those two and a half odd years, it was on every day, sometimes twice) was one show I spent a lot of time watching. The Sopranos was another, at first I wasn't all that thrilled with watching another mobster tale (The Godfather trilogy had seemed enough for me at the time) but then there wasn't much on one Sunday night (I would often go up Sunday afternoon rather than get up at 0400 Monday for an 0500 "go"), I watched one episode, the first of course, then another, then another, then "Oh dear, is that the time?" So yes, I went to bed.

Then in 2011 Game of Thrones hit the airwaves (a tale I told here), that one hooked me, watched the entire series right up until the bitter end. (An ending I was not happy with and I'm still hoping the old codger finishes writing the last two volumes before he heads west.)

Thing is, the music from that show takes me back to that long exile. Music has a way of evoking strong memories in our species, at least for those who look up from the mud occasionally to gaze at the stars and wonder.

I may have posted this clip by 2CELLOS before, but I'm posting it again. It reminds me of where I was some seven long years ago and reminds of just how good I have it now. Regardless of how the series ended.

It sucked being away from home, but I could go home on weekends and no one was shooting at me. Many of my brethren and sistren can't say that now, couldn't say that then. Many never came home, I did and the only danger I faced was traffic on the interstate highway system. Which while nasty at times is nothing in the big scheme of things.

Have a pleasant day, count your blessings, I'll see you Tuesday, right after juvat's regular Monday post. (I tell ya, you can set your watch by the guy. Or would that be calendar?)

Enjoy...



FWIW, the video was shot in Dubrovnik, which I understand stood in for King's Landing in Game of Thrones.

Speaking of thrones...

Operation Marble Throne Room commences on or about 02 December 2019. Logistic preparations are complete, material is in hand, and we're poised on the brink of a major bathroom renovation*.

Yeah, I can hardly wait...




* More on this later, POCIR.

30 comments:

  1. Ditto on your Game of Thrones thoughts. We watched episode #1 on a freebie weekend of HBO and were hooked.

    2CELLOS had put out a lot of great music and I like this one called, "Whole Lotta Love vs. Beethoven 5th Symphony."
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8yymm3DtVA
    They have announced a breakup.
    https://www.total-croatia-news.com/lifestyle/32019-end-to-2cellos-hauser-announces-break
    Stjepan Hauser and Lola Astanova covered Queen's "We Are The Champions."
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gJadngAhfk

    Good luck on Operation Marble Throne Room, and you could add this decor detail to the job.
    https://www.amazon.com/Throne-Parody-Inspired-Sticker-Bathroom/dp/B0165XB2TI/ref=asc_df_B0165XB2TI/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=198091577722&hvpos=1o4&hvnetw=g&hvrand=10303983829285786901&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9007294&hvtargid=pla-348885301816&psc=1

    Thank you for mentioning 2CELLOS as I'm wearing headphones and listening to them right now.

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    1. Based on their crazy schedule, I don't blame them needing a break. Seems for the right reasons as well (other than they're tired that is).

      Love the Iron Throne decal, pretty sure that will be vetoed. 😉

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  2. I took the overnight shift at our hub in Fort Worth a few weeks last year. Covering the vacation of the usual guy. If I wasn't asleep, I was at work. Made for a quick week. But I don't miss it. Living out of a suitcase isn't my cup of coffee.....

    Dad used to call the commode a "thunder mug". I've sat on those in places that sound much like what you are planning. I'd be interested to know how long it takes the "thunder" to quit echoing after the marble is complete.

    But my favorite restrooms look like this: https://www.4wdvictoria.org.au/images/outback-toilet_P5222098.jpg

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    1. I like the view from that restroom, and it would be a much nicer place than the after crew's head on a destroyer in very rough weather.

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    2. STxAR - Only time will time, expect reports. (No, not THAT kind of report...)

      Heh, been there, done that on that last bit.

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    3. John - After crew's head on a can, in rough weather? Uh, lemme see, no, no thanks. (Betcha that would be fun to clean. Not.)

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    4. I am sure The Missus Herself will hang enough 'girl-stuff' and 'frou-frou' that the sounds from a thunder run will be mitigated.

      Mrs. Andrew likes having 'gs' and 'f-f' in our bathroom. Me... well... I'd be happy if the walls, floors, ceiling were a stainless welded box, with an emergency vent (of about 2hp) directly over the throne. Cleaning would be easy, as you'd first remove all non stainless or non ceramic items, then get in your tyvek suit, strap on the SCBA with full face mask, go in, close door (thus sealing the room,) hook up the sprayer to the shower nozzle outlet (one side of outlet is regular bath fixture, other is a valve leading to a 'garden' outlet to hook hoses to,) fill sprayer with pool clorox, turn hot water valve on, turn vent on, high pressure spray everything. Mildew? Mold? Foot goo? Stuff stuck to underside of rim from a thunder run? Ha! Blast away, blast away, blaaaast away. Then turn on the UV Heat Lamp. Once bath is dry, like in about 2 minutes, which you use to dismantle the hose spray system, you stand in shower, hose self off, strip off outfit, take a good long shower, hang outfit and SBCA in shower enclosure to dry, and et voila, tu fini!

      The mounting-a-garden-hose-to-the-shower thingy I actually did back in the cat-show days. Regular shower hand sprayers just didn't pack the punch, so I hooked up an adapter to the shower gooseneck, hooked up a shortened section of decent hose, got a nice garden spray nozzle, and had the best shower arrangement ever. Pressure like you always wanted, either superspray or gentle rain or in between. water only used when actively spraying, man, it was like having a real massage. Be able to hit a hurting muscle group with really hot water under pressure. I'd do it in the apartment but I think management and the apartment management would have cows, lots of cows...

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    5. You've obviously put some thought into this. 😁

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    6. Yep. Hate cleaning around the throne. Pressure washer or flames, it's the only way to be sure...

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    7. The forward crew's head on a Gearing or Sumner can isn't for the faint of heart either.
      It is just forward of the Mess Decks (or aft of the Goat Locker, YMMV).

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    8. I'd say way aft or way forward on a can would be kinda sporty!

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  3. Right there with you on the last season disappointment of GOT, at least D&D won't be furthering the butchering already done to the Star Wars universe. Music fit right in on a cloudy Sunday morn, going to order the soundtrack of season one methinks. Good luck on the remodel, did two bathroom remodels here and there's a kitchen on the horizon. A December kickoff eh..... same month Die Wacht am Rhein also started, of course you'll have much less dust/dirt/snow....... :)

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    Replies
    1. Ooh, Die Wacht am Rhein, maybe I'll change the name of the operation. Though if I put the original in German it's Fall Marmor Thronsaal, which is okay but not quite as catchy.

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    2. There's a John Ringo/Tom Kratman book called "Die Wacht am Rhein" that's set in the Aldenata universe. Resurrected SS vs Space Aliens. Interesting book and series, which you (OldAFS) haven't read yet...

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    3. And probably won't, too much on my plate now as it is.

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  4. They shot King's Landing in Dubrovnik for the bulk of the series. They were in Malta in S1, perhaps location pricing was a factor. I think they also did some shooting in Split, the site of Diocletian's enormous "retirement villa".

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    1. Very pretty country along the Adriatic coast, on both sides.

      They also filmed in northern Ireland as I recall.

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  5. I must disagree on the ending issue. Khalessi just reeached the concluding point of most revolutions - a regime more cruel and ruthless than one that is being replaced. Ask Robespierre and Stalin. When you frame yourself as ultimate liberator, ends always justify means.
    Want best analogy? one brillaint mind has used Sabaton to connect the dots between Stalin and Dragonlady:
    https://youtu.be/U7hLj743msE

    ReplyDelete
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    1. You disagree that I didn't care for it?

      Seriously, her story line accelerated too fast to be plausible. Stalin was a psychopath and a criminal long before he came to power, Daenerys not so much, but yeah, absolute power does corrupt absolutely. It's just that for me the whole last season had a rushed feel to it, the writing was, IMHO, terrible.

      But yes, some did like it, I am not numbered amongst those who did.

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    2. I didn't like the whole "Bending of the Knee" thing that Daenerys was so insistent on. She was this caring leader before, although brutal to enemies, and the writers turned her into a psychotic dictator. I thought having Bran take the crown made perfect sense. Jon would never be able to unite the kingdom since he had to take Dany out.

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    3. Yup, a symptom of the poor writing.

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  6. Never got into GoT. I guess it was too noisy and too bloody in my old age...

    Actually, I know why. After the bomb went off in 2009, so to speak, Mrs. Andrew's sleeping ability went from a max of 4 hours every day with her in her study doing studious things, to a minimum of 10, so I had no more 'I'm bored Me time' (as I do need 7 hours minimum to survive, 10 is nice, 12 is great, can I get a 16?) so I never got a chance to watch. Maybe I'll try it one of these days if she is interested.

    Never spent much time away from Mrs. Andrew. A weekend here, a weekend there, one whole week at Gulf Wars one year (which sucked, I liked going to GW with her).

    And now after the bomb went off in 2009, we can't be separated. So it's a good thing we like each other, a lot. Along with love each other and all that mushy girl stuff...

    Being away from her for 4 days for 2.5 years, that would have sucked even before TBWO. Can't imagine it at all. And your wife probably thought you were done with all that nonsense when you retired from the military. At least the kids were gone, right?

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    1. Yup, kids were out of the house by then. And my wife is a practical sort, you go where the money is, or you tear up roots and move again. That last bit wasn't an option.

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  7. Good luck with the bathroom reno. I'd expect you have at least one more bath which makes your reno bearable. If I ever think about doing a remod on our kitchen, I will lay down until the thought goes away.

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  8. If you don't have an alternate bathroom, then ya better be making a Lowes/HD run for a bucket, and a seat!! Our toilet reno done baack in the day took 4 weeks!! And it was a small bathroom!!! It looked great, but boy was I glad when it got done!! I was washing my hair in the set-tub downstairs. Ugh!!

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  9. The real home office is of course in Wahoo, Nebraska.

    https://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/24692

    Little know fact.

    I've participated in a couple of bathroom renos and did one myownself. It's a vexing job but can also be satisfying. Especially if you end up with a proper bath mahal. The brothers and I did a right proper job for Mom and Dad a few years back and that's held up well even with switching out the gigantic tub with a walk in bath.

    I never experienced the game of thrones and doubt i will. I'm the kind of jerk who ejects immediately when poor writing or presentation smashes my suspension of disbelief. Far too picky I am, but it does leave more time for reading comics and watching kitten videos on the ebutuoy.

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    1. Also, I saw a crazy Arsh lady on the ebutuoy (diane jennings) chastising 'mericans for bidetless bathrooms. So, you bidet, or not bidet? That is the question. and this comment proves how much of a loser I am in my choices of moving pictures to watch.

      Delete

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