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Praetorium Honoris

Saturday, January 6, 2024

Odds and Ends for a Winter's Day

Photo by Nicolai1971 from PxHere
For many Americans Christmas is over. The decorations have come down, the beautiful lights are turned off for another year and life returns to a sort of boring sameness for many.

While down in Maryland I experienced this first hand, Tuttle seemed to be straining at the bit to take down the tree, turn off the lights, and, ya know, get back to "normal." (As Uncle Skip is wont to say, whatever that term means.)

I couldn't fault the lad, I mean it is his house, we were just visiting. Also the grandsons needed room to play with the many new toys they received along with the old favorites. The front of Tuttle's and The Nuke's domicile is what they call a sun room. I will sometimes call it the porch, but properly speaking that's adjacent to the sun room.

In the sun room.
OAFS Photo
No, the boys didn't play with that EV indoors, it was made clear to them that that was most definitely an "outdoor toy." They understood, well Roberto did, Finnegan is at an age where he just goes with the flow.

A while back the topic of "Grandpa Man" was discussed. I did some searching around the web, seems there isn't a big call for action figures representing overweight elderly bald chaps. Well, a colleague at work suggested that a certain Captain Underpants would fit the bill as a stand in for Grandpa Man.

Roberto with Grandpa Man (aka Captain Underpants)
OAFS Photo
I should confess at this point that the original Grandpa Man, er, Captain Underpants still resides at Chez Sarge. (I am the original Grandpa Man!) The day we headed south we were about 40 miles down the road when it struck me ...

YHS: Where is Grandpa Man? Did you pack him?

TMH: No, I thought you did.

Neither of us checked the manifest to ascertain if Grandpa Man had actually boarded. He had not. While I blame myself (a little) for this mishap, The Missus Herself and her need to "put things away" must shoulder the majority of the burden for Grandpa Man missing movement.¹

I had left him on the dining room table which, as you must know, isn't where he "belonged." So he was put away where I wouldn't see him during the pack out. Yes, I'm still a bit miffed about that. But we managed to recover.

A quick call to The Nuke and she went to Amazon to get another. He was successfully delivered on Christmas Eve. Crisis averted. I mean I told Roberto that he would get Grandpa Man for Christmas.

And so he did.

I'm still in the doldrums with this bloody cold but slept rather better Thursday night. I'll give it until Monday before I seek professional medical opinions. Going to the doctor is a right pain in the keister these days.

So I'm laying low, watching the weather as it looks as if we shall be getting some snow on Sunday. Lovely.

The weather boffins say it's the first "significant" snow of the season (we had maybe a wet dusting back in late November/early December, so they had to add the word "significant.")

It's the normal forecast for this area, could be a "covering" (which could be two to four inches) or more. Up to twenty inches is one figure I heard.

But living on the coast the weather will do odd things, many storm tracks will push somewhat inland, where it's colder, and dump more snow, whereas along the coast we will occasionally just get rain. Rain does not normally have to be shoveled, just don't tell this guy ...



But yeah, what leaves are left are brown, it's rather chilly and to tell the truth, these kind of days always take me back to this song.



And before you jump up on the soap box for a rant about California, to me it ain't the place which is a mess, it's the people who made it that way. Gorram politicians can't be trusted, can't be relied upon to do anything other than line their own pockets. Yes, there are exceptions, I know one personally, but for the most part, if the politicians are around, hide your wallets!

I leave you with this ...

(Source)
There is hope, do not despair.




¹ Article 87 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ): Any person subject to this chapter who through neglect or design misses the movement of a ship, aircraft, or unit with which he is required in the course of duty to move shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.

22 comments:

  1. The snow on the road picture? Looks nice but that is not for me! I moved. :-)
    Enjoy & hope you feel better....

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    1. Something broke free in the the night, slept better, on the mend from all appearances.

      Thanks, Rob.

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  2. Youngsters these days have electricity at their beck and call, no more self-powered vehicles, neighbor's boys each have battery powered jeeps they race up and down their gravel driveway. Just the vid to see on this snowy morning Sarge, nice timing.

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  3. Crusty Old TV Tech here. To the end of his days, my father still remembered the time my mother "moved" a book of his so he never found it during a move, "SOS to the Rescue" was the title. Said "movement" happened ~1969, and he died in 2004. I thought it a quaint anachronism of my father's, till I got married...yes, "moving", or "placing in the 'correct' location" seems to be hard-wired into a Base Commander's DNA. I now factor said behavior into my pre-departure checklist, though my batting average at eliminating missed inventory during exercises is still rather low.

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    1. I think I need to load stuff into the car as soon as I get it. I'm still missing two or three books which I know I bought but cannot find.

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  4. I came extremely close to missing ships' movement only to be saved by SecNav of all people.

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  5. Ditto the frustrating dichotomy between one's obsession with "keep it neat and out of sight" and another's logical desire to "leave it where I will see it and take appropriate action at the right time." I ascribe to the latter, but live with someone of the former persuasion, and cannot find a lot of stuff!

    Glad you are recovering, Sarge.
    JB

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    1. I had a roommate in college, first semester at a military school. Guy was terrified of snap inspections. One night in the midst of studying, I felt the call of nature, so I went down to the head. Upon my return I discovered that my idiot roommate had put away all of the material I had been using to study. He discovered that his fear of me throwing him out of a sixth story window was greater than his fear of snap inspections. One of the few people on this earth, not wearing an enemy uniform, that I outright despised.

      Second semester I had a new roommate.

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  6. "And before you jump up on the soap box for a rant about California, to me it ain't the place which is a mess, it's the people who made it that way. Gorram politicians can't be trusted, can't be relied upon to do anything other than line their own pockets."

    Third clause of that first sentence that's the key. It's The People who vore for those capons and wethers. It's The People who believe those capons who tell them that they can vote for panem etc circenses in perpetuity with neither cost nor consequence.

    Blaming the capons and wethers in Sacramento for looking to their own interests rather than upholding their oaths of office is like blaming a dog for piddling on the tree.



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    1. Good point, the dog is just being a dog.

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    2. Comparing those vermin in Sacramento to a dog is disgusting; dogs are noble creatures.
      Boat Guy

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  7. Regarding Christmas decorations... there are 12 days of Christmas which are preceded by the 4 weeks of Advent. Decorations should be up during the 12 days, encouraged at least for the last week of Advent.

    As to packing, as I do the loading/unloading of the vehicle, I know what goes in and where it is. Has pretty much been that way since Year 2 of marriage.

    And then there are these things that Mrs. Andrew keeps telling me called 'lists' (not lysts, that's the field and barrier between horses that one jousts upon) where one notates things to do/pack/unpack/avoid/buy/yada yada yada. Easily contained in one's portable worldwide communicator. Or you can go old school and print one out, or even older school and white board/chalk board it.

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  8. Memory is fleeting. I live by checklists (inspired by SAC and NASA). I watch a friend's house in winter, checking, clipboard in hand. Arrival/departure day/time, temp, humidity, fridge working, furnace working, doors locked, any (human) tracks outside), days plants are watered & amount (I number them), any problems/events/items of interest, etc. Each item recorded and checked off so that nothing is forgotten [If something goes sour, it won't be on MY watch]. Then I email him (in a warmer clime for the winter) a weekly summary to ease his mind. Found out he was showing them to his friends there in amazement. "And he has a checklist!".

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    1. I've never needed checklists for something as mundane as packing the car. Just need to hide stuff from the wife so hse can't "put it away."

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  9. I'm glad to hear that Captain Grampa didn't go to Admiral's Mast for missing movement! Although any sea-lawyer worth his salt could have had the charges dropped quickly. That EV looks fun! Ask the Nuke if I can come over to play. haha.

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    1. I'll put in a good word for you. That thing is awesome!

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  10. Sarge, I will say that hiking is a great incentive maker for lists - nothing like being 1.5 days onto the trail and realizing you have forgotten chapstick or some other incredibly useful thing. Honestly, as I have gotten older I have come to rely on them more (reluctantly, to be sure).

    We always disassemble everything sometime after New Year's Day. This year, for example, the lights came down yesterday and the tree and decorations have been packed up over the last two days.

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    1. Hiking? I like the concept, but actually doing it? I've spent enough time humping a ruck in the boonies. Fun when you're young ...

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