Monday is what many advertisers call "President's Day". Federal government employees are apparently required to refer to this day as Washington's Birthday. My calendar refers to Monday, the 18th of February in the Year of our Lord 2013, as "Washington's Birthday, Observed".
It all makes my head spin when I pause to think about it.
When I was a kid, we had two holidays in February: Lincoln's Birthday on the 12th and Washington's Birthday on the 22nd. If those dates fell on a weekday, then we got the day off from school. If they fell on a weekend, oh well, maybe you'd get the day off next year. This was in the days before Congress started the observation of holidays on Mondays. So we could all get a three-day weekend. Maybe.
I say maybe because my company does not take Washington's Birthday as a holiday. We'll all be at work marveling at the lack of traffic coming into work. Because most everyone else has the day off. Except for people who work at coffee shops, restaurants, most retail activities and my company. So who IS off this Monday anyway? Oh yeah, the Government.
It wouldn't bother me (much) if that lot took one of these -
Yup, I think most, if not all, of our elected officials in Washington should be given a permanent vacation.
But that's just my opinion, YMMV.
Guess I'll go watch some more Firefly, while I have the opportunity, after all, some of us have to work tomorrow.
Apparently this Russian thing is all over everywhere, the MSM, the internet and no doubt people are "tweeting" about it.
It's feeling a bit left out, I am.
Now here at La Chant du Départ, we like to think we're on the leading edge of the latest stuff. Of course, we're actually nowhere near the leading edge, we're actually somewhat aft of the ailerons. Sort of flying in formation with the engine exhaust. Nevertheless, we like to think we're somewhat "with it". (What is this "we" business? It's just me.)
So without further ado, the scientific background you may be missing from those other sources.
Now according to the OAFSSRFTOTN* -
A meteorite is a meteoroid (a solid piece of debris from such sources as asteroids or comets) originating in outer space that survives impact with the Earth's surface. A meteorite's size can range from small to extremely large. Most meteorites derive from small astronomical objects called meteoroids, but they are also sometimes produced by impacts of asteroids. When a meteoroid enters the atmosphere, frictional, pressure, and chemical interactions with the atmospheric gasses cause the body to heat up and emit light, thus forming a fireball, also known as a meteor or shooting/falling star. The term bolide refers to either an extraterrestrial body that collides with the Earth, or to an exceptionally bright, fireball-like meteor regardless of whether it ultimately impacts the surface.
And -
A meteor or "shooting star" is the visible streak of light from a meteoroid or micrometeoroid, heated and glowing from entering the Earth's atmosphere, as it sheds glowing material in its wake. Meteors typically occur in the mesosphere at altitudes between 76 km to 100 km (46–62 miles). Millions of meteors enter the Earth's atmosphere daily. Most meteoroids that cause meteors are about the size of a pebble. Meteors may occur in showers, which arise when the Earth passes through a stream of debris left by a comet, or as "random" or "sporadic" meteors, not associated with a specific stream of space debris. A number of specific meteors have been observed, largely by members of the public and largely by accident, but with enough detail that orbits of the meteoroids producing the meteors have been calculated. All of the orbits passed through the asteroid belt. The atmospheric velocities of meteors result from the movement of Earth around the Sun at about 30 km/s (18 miles/second), the orbital speeds of meteoroids, and the gravity well of Earth.
Uh, yes. Yes, it is. Blizzards... Objects of non-terrestrial origin slamming into the planet... I'm not so sure that we should be looking forward to NEXT weekend.
*OAFSSRFTOTN = Old Air Force Sarge Standard Reference for Things of This Nature (i.e. Wikipedia)
This definition is also available on The Acronym Page.
Which is a hint that I may stop spelling these things out here in the future. Or not. We shall see.
As you may recall, a week ago we had a wee bit of snow here in the Northeast. Things are much nicer today than they were a week ago today. Yes, one week ago today is when we had our first blizzard of the season (and the Good Lord willing, the last!)
It struck me how different things look today as compared to last weekend. For example, here's what the famous Shed at Chez Sarge looked like today:
Now from time to time, those familiar with the world of military aviation will hear of or make reference to the idea of those who operate military aircraft having a predilection for chronometers of rather large proportions. That is, big watches.
It also seems that in the realm of smaller one or two seat jet propelled aircraft, designed to go very fast and mix it up with other smaller one or two seat jet propelled aircraft, also designed to go very fast, but wearing different colors and/or markings (that is, fighters) a big watch is de rigeur.
Now the boys and girls who make a living in this particular realm of military aviation go by the name of "Pilot" in the Air Force and "Naval Aviator" in the Navy. As regards the Marine Corps I'll fall back on the OAFSSRFTOTN*:
A United States Naval Aviator may be a commissioned officer or warrant officer qualified as a pilot of the United States Navy or a commissioned officer of the United States Marine Corps or United States Coast Guard.
Now I do not make mention of the US Army here, my apologies to the soldiers in my audience. It's just that we're talking fast movers here, not (ahem) "choppers" (as I believe the Army calls them), "helos" is what I call them. (I'm sure RJL would be completely comfortable with the term "rotary winged aircraft" or something equally technical. He's like that and we love him for it. In a manly, non-threatening way, of course.)
Now I do know one or two rotor-heads and I believe they too have the "big watch affectation". It's fighter aircraft I'm familiar with, so I'll stick with that. Helicopter operators are welcome to chime in down there in the comments.
My son-in-law, Big Time has many large time pieces. Some of great value. He owns a Breitling. I once asked him if he wore that while flying.
There was a long pause. He looked at me with his steely Naval Aviator gaze. It was as if I'd said, "So Son, do you wear women's clothing to go gambling in Reno?"
After that long pause, wherein I'm sure he was wondering how much of my idiocy was hereditary, fearing for his daughter's future no doubt, he said, "No Dad. Are you kidding? Do you know how much a Breitling costs?"
I assured him that I was aware of how expensive these fine instruments for professionals retailed for and that my question was, indeed, rhetorical.
At any rate it seems my fascination with Big Time's watch collection did not go unnoticed. A Christmas or two later I received a joint gift from the WSO and the Missus. That fine time piece depicted at the beginning of this post, in fact.
I feel humbled and honored to own such a time piece. Now I need a Super Hornet. To go with the watch. I keep dropping hints but I've been told not to hold my breath.
Well a fella can dream can't he?
*OAFSSRFTOTN = Old Air Force Sarge Standard Reference for Things of This Nature. Which would be Wikipedia. Make note of this for future reference. As a matter of fact, I'm going to run over and put this on the Acronym Page right now. Wait here.... Done!
I saw the following over at the Cranky old man and again at Uncle Skip's and found it très amusant. So I decided to do it here as well. It's fun (for me) and also removes the necessity of thinking overly hard to come up with a new post. Something which might be worthy of your time. I have been accused of being opportunistic at times. And a "copy cat". So, for what it's worth...
WHERE WERE YOU BORN?
Bellows Falls. In Vermont. Not to be confused with Bellows Falls in Westphalia. (A spin on an old Monty Python bit. Sorry.) 'Tis a small town on the Connecticut River. My parents did not live there when I was born. They lived in the next town up, Springfield. I think I was born in Bellows Falls because it was kind of equidistant from where Mom and Dad lived and where both sets of grandparents lived. And I was my parents first born.
There may be more to the story but then again maybe not. I don't lose sleep over it.
Both of my brothers were also born in Bellows Falls but not in the same hospital. Not that there was more than one hospital in Bellows Falls. The one I was born in was either torn down or burned down. I don't remember. Bear in mind I was a baby when that happened. How could I be expected to remember such a thing? Which reminds me of a story.
One of my company's on-going, long time projects has a monthly newsletter. This will feature an "engineer of the month" article. You know, the sort of thing where they ask the person questions much like the exercise in humor (futility?) we're undergoing right now.
One of the questions they asked one engineer-of-the-month was, "What is your earliest memory?"
The engineer's response was, "I don't remember."
I would have at least offered up what I had for breakfast that morning. Really, "I can't remember"?
Makes you wonder, doesn't it?
WERE YOU NAMED AFTER SOMEONE? Not to my knowledge, though I was very young when I was named. Perhaps I was but wasn't paying attention at the time.
IF YOU HAVE CHILDREN, HOW MANY DO YOU HAVE?
I have three kids. All grown, all successfully making their way in the world as taxpayers. They also make more money than me. Not collectively mind you but individually. I am not claiming any wild success as a parent. I believe it's because they take after their Mother. I do know that they are also smarter than me and better looking than me.
Oh wait, that proves they take after their Mother.
HOW MANY PETS DO YOU HAVE?
Two. Both of the feline persuasion. I might count the occasional rodent who takes up residence in the basement, but one of the two official pets usually winds up killing those. And doesn't even bother to make it look like an accident. Which brings to mind another story. (For those of you who are new here, this is a tangent. I do a lot of those.)
In Germany we got our first two cats. They were brothers, part of their mother's first litter. Their mother was the cat of our good friends on the next street's landlord. Not that that bit is critical to the story. In fact none of this really is.
But the two cats were Pat and Tiger (pronounced "tigger", sort of, if you speak German, his name was the German word for "tiger" which is spelled the same but pronounced differently. It is close though to "tigger". But I digress.)
Pat was a pretty good hunter. But he wasn't much of a killer. He once tracked down a mouse in the basement of our German house. He had injured the mouse (badly as I recall) but not actually killed it. Now there was a bucket of water in this basement. Used for condensation from the clothes dryer (a long story, don't ask). Rather than finish the mouse off, Pat chased the mouse INTO the bucket of water. And then refused to let the mouse out. Eventually the mouse tired and drowned.
As the Nuke tells it, "Remember the time Pat caught the mouse and forced him to commit suicide?" It sounds rather Teutonic doesn't it?
WHAT IS YOUR WORST INJURY?
The time I broke the little toe on my left foot. Last summer, Labor Day weekend. That's all I'll say about that. Other than the fact that it hurt like bloody Hell. Not to put too fine a point on it.
DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?
My wife would say that my special talent is annoying her. Personally I think that the ability to gross out my daughters is my true special talent.
Who would've thought that referring to them as "the fruit of my loins" at a formal Naval event would be somewhat low brow. Now if it had been around the WSO's squadron, she would no doubt have a different call sign than she has now. No, I'm not going to tell you what the WSO's call sign is. But trust me, the story behind it is hysterical. Involves Fallon and the O-Club. That's all I'm going to say.
Oh. And beverages of an adult nature.
WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE THING TO BAKE?
Uhh, what? Now as a guy I should probably skip this. I don't bake anymore and avoid cooking of any variety. Ever since the burnt mashed potatoes "oh-my-God-you've-ruined-Thanksgiving" incident of 1986. But if forced I would answer brownies. The type that come in a box. You add eggs and whatever. Bake at 400, you're done.
Now I had a lady once tell me "Making brownies from a mix is not baking. I make my brownies from scratch."
My shin hurt for a month after the Missus Herself kicked me under the table. Seems my comment of "Oh really? From scratch? So where do you grow the grain? I didn't know you had a cow, chickens and your own cacao plants..." was not appreciated. FAVORITE FAST FOOD?
If pressed I would say Subway. (Does that count as a fast food?)
I used to like McDonalds. But then I grew up. Kind of.
Come to think of it, I still like McDonalds. But not as much as Subway.
Perhaps I have not grown up as much as I thought.
Wendy's is good too.
Which makes me think of this...
WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?
Not in a million years. Are you out of your freaking mind?
WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?
Whether or not they expect me to bake something.
Or bungee jump.
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?
Monday, when the alarm went off and I realized that I had to go to work.
Seriously though? At Christmas whenever I hear the song "Oh Come Emmanuel".
Or any time I hear the Navy Hymn, "Eternal Father, Strong to Save".
Thinking about either of those two gets me teary eyed. So I guess the answer is "Right now".
ANY CURRENT WORRIES?
Whether or not the current administration and the associated asshats in Congress are going to mess up the United States beyond all recognition. That is my chief worry.
If that's not one of your chief worries, than you are also one of my worries. YMMV.
NAME 3 DRINKS THAT YOU DRINK REGULARLY:
I drink a Whiskey drink, I drink a Vodka drink
I drink a Lager drink, I drink a Cider drink
I sing the songs that remind me of the good times
I sing the songs that remind me of the better times
Oh wait, that's a song...
Ice Coffee, Caffeine Free Diet Coke (I know, I know) and Guinness (for strength)
WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE BOOK?
I don't really have a "favorite" book per se. But I do have a number of favorite authors, here's a partial list:
Stephen Coonts
Tom Clancy
Lee Child
Harold Coyle
Dale Brown
Clive Cussler
Vince Flynn
Barbara Tuchman (in my mind one of the truly great historians of all time)
Bernard Cornwell
J.R.R. Tolkien
James Clavell
Nelson DeMille
There are (no doubt) others whose works have entertained and educated me. I am a voracious reader. I suppose if I was forced to pick a "favorite" book, it would have to be a trilogy and it would have to be Lord of the Rings. WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE A PIRATE?
Absolutely, positively not! Pirates are a scourge to be eradicated. Both now and in the way back. This sergeant will not stoop to glorifying murderers, thieves and rapists. So if I wouldn't be a politician I wouldn't be a pirate either. 'Nuff said.
FAVORITE SMELLS?
The smell of fallen leaves on a cold October evening.
The smell of a campfire/fireplace on any kind of cold, clear evening.
The smell of my grandchildren, in any condition whatsoever. They are, after all, my grandchildren.
The smell of my wife's hair.
The smell of my Mother's kitchen. WHY DO YOU BLOG? Captain Carroll "Lex" LeFon, United States Navy (Retired)
No more will be said, no more can be said.
Thank you Lex... WHAT SONG DO YOU WANT PLAYED AT YOUR FUNERAL?
This one -
Or maybe this -
Oh yeah, that made me cry too. A little...
WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?
I eat too damn much.
FAVORITE HOBBY?
Reading. (I may have mentioned that above.)
WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR IN A FRIEND?
Loyalty and a good sense of humor.
NAME SOMETHING YOU'VE DONE THAT YOU NEVER THOUGHT YOU'D DO: Become a Deacon in my church. Heck, even returning to church after I retired from the Air Force is something I thought I'd never do.
Amazing what the love of a good woman can do, innit?
FAVORITE FUN THINGS TO DO?
Anything involving my wife, kids and grandkids. ANY PET PEEVES?
People who are blissfully unaware of their surroundings. Especially when they're behind the wheel of a motor vehicle. There are others but they pale in comparison to this one. WHAT'S THE LAST THING THAT MADE YOU LAUGH?
My department manager walking into the lab and announcing:
Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends
We're so glad you could attend
Come inside! Come inside!
Work seems that way at times, to have the boss come in and say that, let's just say that I always knew the guy had a good sense of humor. That proved it for the doubters.
That was 12 hours ago as I write and I'm still chuckling.
What the boss said?
It's from this -
I think there was more to this, like "tagging" ten other bloggers.
The "perp" may be deceased. Not sure if the LA Sheriff's Department covered themselves in glory. That particular jury is still out. On the other hand... The good Marine has a point.
