Guess Who I Saw Today?

Think about how I would answer that question if you asked me, look at the title again.........

At this writing Dink is still among us, so we'll continue to laugh. Very productive trip(s) this week to the AHR Expo in Chicago, then to San Diego for the NEMRA meeting. It was good to reunite with a lot of old friends and foes in Chicago, we got a lot done in two short days and nights. The NEMRA meeting is.....................different. I misjudged the angle I planned but had several good interviews with potential new representatives. If you're familiar with how HARDI meetings work, NEMRA takes it to a new level. This has been my station from Wednesday afternoon through tonight

That might appear as slightly depressing, like I said, it's different. I've heard from some reps that my predecessor preferred to meet with reps in the lobby, bar, restaurant, pool, etc., anywhere but here. I understand completely.

I met Elizabeth's mother last night and enjoyed her company. We traded a lot of stories about our children, perhaps we will write a book. I am glad she took the time to come downtown and meet, we had lots of fun and laughs.No pictures from Thursday night, but one from Wednesday night at a Hawaiian restaurant, might have to hit that again tonight.

San Diego is one of my favorite cities, we brought Jay here when he was little and had a great vacation, although above his protests and arguments we did not take him to a bullfight in Tijuana. The weather is ideal and there is so much to do in this area. Although the sun hasn't appeared this week it is still beautiful.

Those are a couple of big boats, the sailboat especially.......huge. As in 247 feet long, the world's largest sloop rigged sailboat. In the world, the world.......

NASCAR has a sense of humor, lets go racing

Now here's a little diddy about Jack and Diane.....................

Yeah, I don't know how that got in here. I needed the giggle.

On Wednesday evening I walked down the waterfront and saw our old friend the HMS Rose, now called the Surprise after she was used in Master and Commander, they never did a sequel, guess the audiences are still asleep. I guess that little Captain Dick never got her back. Last time I was here I was able to talk my way on since I was crew a couple of decades ago, this time they were closing her down so I didn't board her. Looking like she could use a coat of paint these days, and it is funny to see cannon hanging out of what was our galley. I am still amazed that while piloting that ship with all of her sails up you could still fall off on the wheel, ease back in and feel the acceleration, just as if you were on a Sunfish, Hobie, or Precision. The principles of sailing still apply in tall ships too.

Those guys who won WW II were big guys in so many ways, and the women were too, but I guess I never knew just how big they were until I saw this in San Diego

Lastly go back and look at this week's title, if you, or anyone were to ever ask me that question how would I answer it? Go ahead, think for a couple of seconds I have plenty of time. For any trivial question asked I usually have a standard, pat, smart-ass answer. Got it yet? Well guess what? Guess who I saw in San Diego?

Thanks for the memories Bob, and thank you for what you did for millions of US service personnel for a very long time.

Home Saturday night  and probably all week, will update the Dink story-line as we go along.Thank you for your thoughts and prayers on her behalf. 

Ups and Downs

I'm in Jacksonville FL writing this as I watched my plane back out and head for Charlotte. It has literally been that type of week with airlines. I scored a free unexpected first class upgrade Tuesday on the way to Miami, used Silver Airlines twice, first and last, and just missed my flight home this afternoon, but got another no charge first class upgrade on the re-book. Silver uses a Saab which is a nice prop aircraft American used to use in the 90's, might have been the same ones............but our flight was late, my seat had no window, it took two hours to get from Miami to Jacksonville, we sat on the tarmac for an extra 15-20 minutes in 80+ degrees and they lost my bag. I mean come on, how do you do that? It all balances out, even Steven. Except when I saw this guy go by my window, OK you got me, I didn't have a window so this really didn't happen did it?

Or is it even Stephen? This is the type of subject that bothers me way too much. Take this for example, no sleeping in this hotel tonight, they can't manage to hang their sign straight?

It was a good week in Florida albeit with the beginnings of a head cold, never very pleasant but hopefully a quick one.

Dink keeps hovering, TAR sent me this from her phone last week, this was on December 31, hard to believe how much she has slipped since then. Really odd that she says the Roy is a good boy, we just don't know

Or is that a video of two old people reading the paper? 

And this is proof that drinking alcohol kills brain cells. Someone got a battery operated corkscrew a couple of years ago and really loves it, well someone bought a bottle of red wine that had a screw-off cap, and then someone tried to use the battery operated corkscrew on it. Not saying who that is of course as it might get me in trouble with my wife.

Leaving Sunday for Chicago, Wednesday from Chicago to San Diego, home late Saturday night. Maybe with enough Benedryl I can make it without grossing too many people out. 

Quickly Quickly

.............there's not much time this week.

Went from Sunday to Thursday in Mississippi and Alabama this week, just didn't have a good flow, had too many hiccups this week on the road and at home. Had one distributor who was late for our meeting, said he'd been at the doctor who told him he has pneumonia and mononucleosis. Yes, that kind of week, one where my Mississippi rep and my wife both got the rear-ended, yes, that kind of week. Stop the snickering class. 

First of all a unc dig: remember how everyone says Coach K invented the flop? Remember what one of the tar babies said about how Smith told him to stay down? I never watch ESPN Sports Center at home, never, but seem to always watch it in hotels, well from this week's videos:

That's a little too much, and he got fined for it. 

I was thinking about our old church friend Jacques Passino this week for some reason, he relocated to Florida last year and we miss him. I looked him up on Google and found two really great pictures:

In the 60's he whipped Enzo so badly that Ferrari didn't come back the next year, claimed Ford cheated. Wonder how you cheat with experimental prototypes? He was a good guy and would take on any project at church. Yes, that's Freddy Lorenzen with him in the bottom picture. 

It's been 47 years since this guy walked back into the jungle in Vietnam and was never seen again. The US Army has been interviewing people and looking for his remains, maybe they'll find him and properly bury him one day. 

Darrell, you gotta hang on to the ball better than that, how many fumbles did he have? Interesting to see the numbers on the helmet, I didn't remember that. Rest In Peace

Reggie Love wrote a book. 

I don't recommend it, not a political statement, just don't recommend it.

If you do want to read one I suggest Bob Simpson's When The Water Smokes. I started it this week and got some much needed laughs, it's one of those books where you can not only visualize the events you can smell and taste them. 

Dink update: I visited her at lunch yesterday and she is very confused and disoriented. Lib Thornell hangs out with her just about daily, they've only been friends for a couple of hundred years. Remind me to tell you what Lib said at my daddy's funeral sometime......over the open grave. Priceless, seems as though I saw a couple of Daddy's young-ins shudder, absolutely shudder when she said it. I'll save that for later. Sadly Dink's comfort level is not what it was, TAR was there yesterday and said she wanted to get out of her bed. Pray for her comfort please. 

And thank you, Miami and Jacksonville next week, hoping for more grippage, Like that word? Grippage..................................

Bad Boyz Bad Boyzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

One of the guilty pleasures Jackson and I used to enjoy was to watch this apex of television broadcasting, this image was sent to me by a faithful reader, no it wasn't me. Interesting that the lady who cut our hair moved last week so that might be my hairstyle in the near future; that or a ponytail, or maybe something in between, still up in the air and will remain there until February when I'm home next. 

I knew both Albert and Tater but for some reason can not remember this tavern, and yes that is odd. Maybe there is a reason for that, please refresh my memory. I do remember the Carolina Cafe for lots of reasons, primarily their veal cutlet and Roquefort/Blue Cheese/Russian (whatever it was) salad dressing on a chef salad. Now I'm hungry and I'm salivating, or maybe someone is at the door?

This was left over from Christmas and I put it in here because it is pretty. When Spooner Creek changed a few years ago they planned to knock this little travelers' chapel down, well wait, it wasn't just for little travelers even though it is small....... but enough of the old neighbors protested so they didn't. See? Civil action can work. That turned out a lot better than my plan: burn down the neighborhood and steal all the televisions. The chapel is well known up and down the ICW and still has lots of visitors although it is harder to get to if you're anchored in the creek. Go by and sign in some time. 

WOW! Thursday night SWMBO and I went to the high school to judge senior projects. This young lady made a portrait quilt. There is a model for doing this; she took a photograph she wanted to use, made a pattern, labeled each section, cut the pattern apart, cut different color materials, and then sewed it all together making sure she had enough overlap to cover the seams. Sounds simple enough right? I can't imagine the detail work she did. She said she spent about 70 hours doing it and it turned out great. Others we heard learned to play the piano, raised money for the humane shelter, and learned about crime scene investigation. This program is remarkable. 

And now for Dink news: she is still resting comfortably at Hospice and is being treated like the queen she is. Her mind continues to slip, and we thought she was getting closer to the edge Tuesday night, but then on Wednesday..................well lets go to YOUTUBE:

That's her old repeated saying from the past seven years or so of looking after her, it was usually followed by a command to do something immediately (if not sooner) for her. However Thursday and Friday she returned to her pattern of sleeping a lot and being confused about the time system that only Hospice seems to use..................today at lunch she mentioned some things today that she wants to leave to "Henrietta." I just let it be thinking that she forgot one of the great grand kids' names. TAR came in this afternoon and told me she asked Dink about Henrietta and found out that was the name of her mannequin she used when sewing. You have to laugh and its OK to do so, hope Henrietta enjoys that bracelet.

I know many of you have remembered her in prayer, Thank you. I ask that you also remember the young lady and her family across the hall as she goes through this same process while in her mid-30's. And that is very sad.

But we go on; Sunday to Mississippi and back home from Alabama late Thursday night. 

Best of 2014 (Visual Aids Category)

First an update on Dink, her condition continues to deteriorate, yesterday (Thursday) she reminded me of Daddy when he would lie in bed at Crystal Bluffs and fiddle with stuff, anything to keep his hands busy. No one knows if it is the lack of oxygen, her organs shutting down, or probably a combination along with Sister Morphine, but the end result is sad, there isn't much of Dink left in her body and her thoughts are........................interrupted. But the good news is that she is comfortable, very comfortable and that is a good thing and our entire family is in a good place with that. Thank God for the blessing of Crystal Coast Hospice, the entire experience has been good for all involved.  

On to happier thoughts, the Highs were in town Wednesday night and fortunately for all participants and readers of this mindless dribble there are no pictures! Well, maybe a few, but you have to go those "certain" websites to find them. We were entree-less for the first time Wednesday night, only hors d'oeuvres (yes I had to look the spelling up) and had lots of fun. Let's see, what did we have? Ready? Hang on tight:

Lukaniko                                                   

onions pickled in balsamic                                        

pepperoncinis                                          

scallops                                                    

hummus                                                                     

mozzarella                                                            

vinegar pie

chestnuts

steamed shrimp

oysters

stuffed grape leaves

candied pecans with cinnamon

baked custards         

Greek meatballs 

shrimp in butter and pepper 

fava beans (think Hannibal Lecter but with no chianti) 

orzo with pesto   

muffaletta tapenade on pita

.....................and believe it or not there was some stuff that we didn't put out on the table. I may have left something out in there somewhere, sorry if I did. Good wines, a surprise cocktail sauce from my favorite steak house in the world: St. Elmo in Indianapolis, good Greek wine, did I mention the wine? I like wine. The Highs brought a bottle of a Greek wine called Naoussa, FO opened it, everyone tasted it and then he grabbed a straw and disappeared only to resurface thirty minutes later with a sheepish grin on his face. We found the bottle the next day. And then something new appeared, I believe the young hipsters call this beverage Fireball. From that point on it was kind of a blur.................and thankfully no pictures.

Recovered yesterday and watched football, nice relaxing day, had a few of those lately and I'm ready to get back at it. My January travel includes Mississippi, Alabama (bet there are some pissed off people down there today), Florida (see previous comment), Chicago and San Diego. Going to be a busy month.

And now for the best pictures of the year contest in chronological order, please let me know your favorite, there will be prizes:

USCGC Eagle visited us

                             Someone special got married, I picked this picture all by myself

                                                    Jacksonwhacker gradumatated

                                                          We went to the Indy 500

Direct hit from category 2 hurricane Arthur, yet generator power the next morning provided us with cold milk! We were lucky. 

                                   FO caught the nicest flounder I've ever seen in my boat

                                                     And I still like looking at this woman

You know which one I'm voting for......or for whom I'm voting, whichever. Vote now and vote often, winners will be given a special hat or a bucket or maybe even a bucket hat, it will more than likely be whatever I find in the sound on my next fishing trip. 

Now, the long awaited video of the year, no reader voting allowed for this award as it is selected by me, enjoy looking at a dog who closely resembles old Jesse:

                                          

Happy New Year!