Tired

 

The Grouch family was walking through the local Mall parking lot one evening when we came across this car with clearly visible tire tracks up the hood and over the top.  Either this is the practice vehicle for an Evil Kenevil wanna-be or the owner is the luckiest/unluckiest person on the road.  How the heck did a tire either attached to a vehicle or loose and on its own roll up and over his/her auto?  Lucky in the sense that besides the tire track and the windshield there wasn't any significant damage; unlucky because it happened in the first place!

 

As SGT Phil Esterhaus used to say on Hill Street Blues:  "Hey, let's be careful out there!" 

 

Especially when tires are on the loose.

 

 



 

 

 

 

Goodbye A-10 Warthog!

I read the other day that the Air Force is finally going to get its wish and kill the A-10 once and for all.  I've read that the A-10 drivers love the aircraft but the Air Force has never really had the same affection for it that it does for a fighter.  The likelihood of the USAF engaging in air to air combat on the scale of WW2, Korea, or even Vietnam is unlikely for the foreseeable future, but precision ground support missions are a given for a long, long, time.

http://www.dodbuzz.com/2013/09/18/air-force-mourns-likely-passing-of-a-10-warthog/

I first saw the A-10 in Germany in the late 70s.  The newly arrived A-10s would sometimes practice strafing runs on the lines of obsolete equipment parked at the end of the runway at Harvey Barracks.  The engines have a distinctive whine to them and the rush of the plane at low altitude as it passed by on its simulated attack run was always fun to watch.   Not too much fun to be on the receiving end.

I next saw them in Maryland when I was stationed at Aberdeen Proving Grounds and the MD ANG was flying them.  I find the aircraft beautiful in its functionality and amazingly maneuverable.  The Air Force wanted to get rid of them after the end of the evil empire (AKA the Soviet Union) and started sending them to the bone yard.  There was talk of perhaps converting them into fire bombers.    The Army agitated long and hard to keep them in service and even started talk of overturning the agreement that prohibits the Army from having fixed wing ground attack aircraft.  Rather than share its toys the Air Force decided to keep them in service although at a fewer number.

Then came 9-11.

I am reading a book called "The Outpost"  by Jake Tapper.  I highly recommend it.  The sacrifice and tragedy faced by the new 'Band of Brothers'  in the mountainous areas of northern Afghanistan is truly heartbreaking to read.  In the description of the battles, frequently A-10s show up just in the nick of time to prevent the outnumbered and sometimes outgunned soldiers from being overrun by the enemy in Afghanistan.  Ask the soldiers who served in the mountains of Afghanistan if they want the A-10 replaced by F-16s? 

The A-10: the infantryman's best friend and the enemy's worst nightmare

 

We saw this one at an air show in 2010.  the maneuvering of the plane was amazing

A bit of rough language in this one



Remember those MD ANG guys I mentioned  earlier?  They're still at it!

 

 

I imagine in the end the Air Force will get its way and the A-10 fleet will end up as gate guards at some air bases around the country, the rest turned into aluminum ingots for recycling into soda cans.

 



Congratulations Young Son!

Young Son applied for an internship with the U.S. State department and received notification that he has been accepted for an internship in D.C. next summer!  Way to go YS!  We will be lonely without him but it is a fantastic opportunity for him and it should be a great time and lots of fun also.

The Missus and I are so proud of him.

Saving Mr. Banks

So the Missus and I received an invitation from Disney studios to see the new Disney movie "Saving Mr. Banks" at the Disney theater on the Disney lot in beautiful downtown Burbank.  We went tonight to see it.   I must admit that I was skeptical about the movie, the subject matter didn't seem to be particularly interesting but I was wrong.  It was a great movie, a tear-jerker of the first water. 

I recommend it, I think even someone as grouchy as me will like it.

It was fun seeing the scenes in the movie filmed in and around the very Disney studios that we passed to get to the theater!   The Missus is always star-struck when we are invited to the Disney studios and I have to keep a tight grip on her to stop her from sneaking off to hide on the lot and try to get discovered by a movie producer.

Go see the movie, you will enjoy it.

Middle East Conflicts memorial

Spend five minutes watching this video about the Middle East Conflicts memorial erected by a private company in Illinois.  I had certainly never heard about this until now.  It is a touching story and show what individuals can do to achieve something of meaning together.

 

 

 

 

 

How many people can fit into a.....?

Back in the old days the craze was to see how many teens could fit into a VW bug or a phone booth (if you have to ask what is a phone booth you are too young to be reading my blog)

Here is a modern version of   'how many people can fit into a...'

 

 

Apparently 675 people can fit inside an Air Force C-17!

 

It's done!

I had my final class Thursday for my Organizational Leadership Master's program and as long as my capstone project isn't found to be lacking I will have earned my master's degree.  Yay!   I will miss the others in my cohort, they are great folks and we have gotten to know each other over the past year. 

It seemed so abrupt. We did our presentations, said goodbye to the teacher and to each other and that was it.  A year was finished and we move on with our separate lives.  I guess I am lucky to have known all of them for the year that we spent together.

Now, no more homework start on Sunday afternoon and cumulating Wednesday evening.  I didn't think I could be nostalgic for the work and the classes but at least for right now, I am.