It's Friday - I've almost made it through another work week. In my email this morning I received a collection of very wise quotes from a collegue here at the office. I wanted to share this with you.
"A slipping gear could let your M203 grenade launcher fire when youleast expect it. That would make you quite unpopular in what's leftof your unit."
- Army's magazine of preventive maintenance.
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"Aim towards the Enemy"
- Instructions printed on U.S. Rocket Launcher
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"When the pin is pulled, Mr. Grenade is not our friend."
- U.S. Marine Corps
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"Cluster bombing from B-52s is very, very accurate. The bombs are guaranteed always to hit the ground."
- USAF Ammo Troop
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"If the Enemy is in range, so are you."
- Infantry Journal
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"It is generally inadvisable to eject over the area you just bombed"
- U.S. Air Force Manual
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"Whoever said the pen is mightier then the sword obviously never encountered automatic weapons."
- General MacArthur
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"Try to look unimportant; they may be low on ammo."
- Infantry Journal
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"You, you, and you. Panic. The rest of you come with me."
- (Marine Corps Master Gunnery Sergeants ROCK!) - U.S. Marine Gunnery Sgt. (Mgysgt5)
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"Tracers work both ways."
- U.S. Army Ordnance
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"Five second fuses only last three seconds"
- Infantry Journal
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"Don't ever be the first, don't ever be the last, and don't ever volunteer to do anything."
- U.S. Navy Swabbie
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"Bravery is being the only one who knows you're afraid."
- David Hackworth
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"If your attack is going too well, you're walking into an ambush."
- Infantry Journal
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"No combat-ready unit has ever passed inspection."
- Joe Gay
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"Any ship can be a minesweeper. Once."
- unknown
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"Never tell the Platoon Sergeant you have nothing to do."
- Unknown Marine Recruit
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"Don't draw fire; it irritates the people around you."
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"If you see a bomb technician running, follow him and try to keep up."
- USAF Ammo Troop
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"You've never been lost until you've been lost at Mach 3."
- Paul F. Crickmore (test pilot)
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"The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire."
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"Blue water Navy truism: There are more planes in the ocean than submarines in the sky." - From an old carrier sailor
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"If the wings are traveling faster than the fuselage, it's probably a helicopter -- and therefore, unsafe."
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"When one engine fails on a twin-engine airplane, you always have enough power left to get you to the scene of the crash."
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"Without munitions, the USAF would be just another expensive flyingclub.
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"What is the similarity between air traffic controllers and pilots? If a pilot screws up, the pilot dies; If ATC screws up.... The pilot dies."
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"Never trade luck for skill."
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The three most common expressions (or famous last words) in aviationare: "Why is it doing that?", "Where are we?" And "Oh S...!"
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"Weather forecasts are horoscopes with numbers."
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"Airspeed, altitude and brains. Two are always needed to complete theflight successfully."
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"Mankind has a perfect record in aviation; we've never left one up there!"
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"Flashlights are tubular metal containers kept in a flight bag to store dead batteries."
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"Flying the airplane is more important than radioing your flight to aperson on the ground who is incapable of understanding or doinganything about it."
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"The Piper Cub is the safest airplane in the world; it can justbarely kill you."
- Attributed to Max Stanley (Northrop test pilot)
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"A pilot who doesn't have any fear probably isn't flying his plane toits maximum."
- Jon McBride, astronaut
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"If you're faced with a forced landing, fly the thing as far into thecrash as possible."
- Bob Hoover (renowned aerobatic and test pilot )
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"Never fly in the same cockpit with someone braver than you."
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"There is no reason to fly through a thunderstorm in peacetime."
- Sign over squadron ops desk at Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ, 1970
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"If something hasn't broken on your helicopter, it's about to."
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Basic Flying Rules: "Try to stay in the middle of the air. Do not go near the edges of it. The edges of the air can be recognized by the appearance of ground, buildings, sea, trees and interstellar space.It is much more difficult to fly there."
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"You know that your landing gear is up and locked when it takes fullpower to taxi to the terminal."
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As the test pilot climbs out of the experimental aircraft, havingtorn off the wings and tail in the crash landing, the crash truckarrives, the rescuer sees a bloodied pilot and asks, "What happened?".The pilot's reply, "I don't know, I just got here myself!"
Friday, January 30, 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
It doesn't pay to be a frog in Indonesia
When I was a young and idealistic university student of Wildlife Biology at the time when the term "ecology" was just being invented, there were still salmon and swordfish aplenty. Not only could you order either fish at a restaurant and feel no anguish over impacting a population, we didn't even grasp the concept of impacting a population. If there were farmed salmon, I'd never heard of them. If there was a dramatic decrease in the size of swordfish taken in the Atlantic fishery, it hadn't been realized yet.
Fast forward a few years and I still won't order the sword at dinner - although I have given up criticizing those who do. And not only has sportfishing for salmon fallen on hard times, the commercial venture from California to Oregon has all but disappeared. Alaska is feeling it as well and as we all know, there are salmon species that travel the Columbia that are still listed as endangered. So what do you suppose we have learned from our years and years of overfishing and the stunning impact it had on the marine fishery? Apparently nothing.
It seems that somewhere between 200 million and 1 billion (that's with a 'B') frogs are eaten every year. Indonesia leads the export market, so being a frog there makes it a real challenge to live a long and prosperous froggy life. While I am not a particular fan of frog legs and feet, it would seem there are plenty of folks that are. Having eaten them, I can confirm that they taste like chicken - as long as the chicken spent it's life in a pot of water. So it's sort of like eating a wet, fishy chicken.
It might be worth trying to remember the lessons we've learned in the world's oceans. Or maybe our froggie friends really will croak.
For more details on this whole unpleasant amphibian disaster - read this - http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28876555/
Fast forward a few years and I still won't order the sword at dinner - although I have given up criticizing those who do. And not only has sportfishing for salmon fallen on hard times, the commercial venture from California to Oregon has all but disappeared. Alaska is feeling it as well and as we all know, there are salmon species that travel the Columbia that are still listed as endangered. So what do you suppose we have learned from our years and years of overfishing and the stunning impact it had on the marine fishery? Apparently nothing.
It seems that somewhere between 200 million and 1 billion (that's with a 'B') frogs are eaten every year. Indonesia leads the export market, so being a frog there makes it a real challenge to live a long and prosperous froggy life. While I am not a particular fan of frog legs and feet, it would seem there are plenty of folks that are. Having eaten them, I can confirm that they taste like chicken - as long as the chicken spent it's life in a pot of water. So it's sort of like eating a wet, fishy chicken.
It might be worth trying to remember the lessons we've learned in the world's oceans. Or maybe our froggie friends really will croak.
For more details on this whole unpleasant amphibian disaster - read this - http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28876555/
Monday, January 26, 2009
How I spent my weekend...
If I'm to be a true Renaissance Man, I must expose myself to all manner of thought and practice rather than limit myself to the familiar and known. At least that was what I thought as I drove this past Saturday night to attend the CAIR Banquet for the Seattle Chapter. CAIR - Council on American-Islamic Relations - is a group dedicated to the promotion of justice and mutual understanding (I got this from their website). For Muslims of Middle Eastern or African heritage living in the US, this can be a challenge in these times.
A good friend of mine - Yassin Idris, who comes from Eritrea - invited me to join him and his family at this event, thinking I would enjoy learning a bit more about his culture and how it fits - or doesn't - into mainstream America. It was a vastly diverse crowd of perhaps four hundred with more nationalities represented than I could name. There were folks in all manner of traditional dress with beautiful, flowing robes of dramtic colors and lots of beards and hats and women in all manner of hijab - which is a scarf over the head and under the chin. There were also plenty of Anglos like me, but it was still a very unfamiliar setting for me.
The evening was one of speeches and awards, and finally, pleas for financial support since much of the work this organization does is to provide legal support. There is a very diverse world out there that I usually don't consider. It's pretty easy to slip into the groove of my life and get very used to the way things are, forgetting how many different ways there are to view the world.
A good friend of mine - Yassin Idris, who comes from Eritrea - invited me to join him and his family at this event, thinking I would enjoy learning a bit more about his culture and how it fits - or doesn't - into mainstream America. It was a vastly diverse crowd of perhaps four hundred with more nationalities represented than I could name. There were folks in all manner of traditional dress with beautiful, flowing robes of dramtic colors and lots of beards and hats and women in all manner of hijab - which is a scarf over the head and under the chin. There were also plenty of Anglos like me, but it was still a very unfamiliar setting for me.
The evening was one of speeches and awards, and finally, pleas for financial support since much of the work this organization does is to provide legal support. There is a very diverse world out there that I usually don't consider. It's pretty easy to slip into the groove of my life and get very used to the way things are, forgetting how many different ways there are to view the world.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Obama-Mania
I wandered into the lunch room at work this morning just before nine and found nearly eighty people already there, watching tv - riveted to the thing in fact. It was a good speech; stirring; eloquent in a way we haven't heard in - let's see....eight years. I can hardly believe the drought is finally over !!
Clearly I'm not the only one relieved given the reports of something like two million people crowded into (or attemping at least) the Mall to be a part of it all. Not that you'd actually be able to see anything, or hear anything - it's all about connecting with the energy that must emanate from that many humans all thinking something like the same thing at the same time. That's pretty powerful! As for me, given my disinclination to surround myself with crowds, the relatively small group at work was more than sufficient. I must tell you, though, after the President finished his speech, the room broke into spontaneous applause. Like I said, I'm clearly not the only one breathing a sigh of relief.
It's tough to shed the cloak of skepticism that I've packed around for so many years. Not that I don't want to - I do - it's just so very hard after all the things I've seen. But if there were ever a time in my life to have some hope that maybe at last we've reached some new plateau, this must be it. I'll do my best to join in the direction that helps to lead us out of this mess. After all, any thing else - as Denny Crane would say - would be bad for the troops!
I think one of the absolute high points today came from Rev. Joseph Lowery when he delivered the benediction. As he put it -
Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around ... when yellow will be mellow ... when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right. That all those who do justice and love mercy say Amen.
Rock on Obama-Rama. I say "Amen".
Denny
Clearly I'm not the only one relieved given the reports of something like two million people crowded into (or attemping at least) the Mall to be a part of it all. Not that you'd actually be able to see anything, or hear anything - it's all about connecting with the energy that must emanate from that many humans all thinking something like the same thing at the same time. That's pretty powerful! As for me, given my disinclination to surround myself with crowds, the relatively small group at work was more than sufficient. I must tell you, though, after the President finished his speech, the room broke into spontaneous applause. Like I said, I'm clearly not the only one breathing a sigh of relief.
It's tough to shed the cloak of skepticism that I've packed around for so many years. Not that I don't want to - I do - it's just so very hard after all the things I've seen. But if there were ever a time in my life to have some hope that maybe at last we've reached some new plateau, this must be it. I'll do my best to join in the direction that helps to lead us out of this mess. After all, any thing else - as Denny Crane would say - would be bad for the troops!
I think one of the absolute high points today came from Rev. Joseph Lowery when he delivered the benediction. As he put it -
Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around ... when yellow will be mellow ... when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right. That all those who do justice and love mercy say Amen.
Rock on Obama-Rama. I say "Amen".
Denny
Monday, January 19, 2009
End of Hospital Visit-One
Jamie and Suzanne returned home today - at last! They checked in at Harborview in Seattle last Thursday at 7am and have not been outside since. Suzanne stayed next to Jamie the entire time except for maybe three times when she agreed to go to the hospital cafeteria with me to grab some gourmet healthcare grub.
Good progress is reported on the plugging of Ms Jamie's AVM - a process that is pretty much an exact mirror of the work that was recently done on our house to keep the garage from collapsing and heading down the hill. In both processes, a long tube was used (soil nails at the house, a cerebral angiography catheter for Jamie) to inject a liquid-reactive glue (to solidfy and support the soil in the house, to solidify and seal off the larger vessels in the AVM). I've suggested to our building contractor that he might be missing a lucrative opportunity to expand his business.
She has been instructed to lay low for a couple more days before returning to school so I expect we'll have a chance to get things back to bit more near normal here. The next event is scheduled for February 24th. Suzanne's sisters Christine and Audra are flying out from New Jersey and Pennsylvania respectively to offer support during the first few days of that event. For now, we won't spend much time thinking about what comes but enjoy having the girls back in the house.
To all of you who called and emailed and texted during this past week, thank you. Your thoughts and prayers and good wishes are deeply appreciated. It's during times like this that I realize just how blessed I am to have family and friends like you! Thank you.
Denny
Good progress is reported on the plugging of Ms Jamie's AVM - a process that is pretty much an exact mirror of the work that was recently done on our house to keep the garage from collapsing and heading down the hill. In both processes, a long tube was used (soil nails at the house, a cerebral angiography catheter for Jamie) to inject a liquid-reactive glue (to solidfy and support the soil in the house, to solidify and seal off the larger vessels in the AVM). I've suggested to our building contractor that he might be missing a lucrative opportunity to expand his business.
She has been instructed to lay low for a couple more days before returning to school so I expect we'll have a chance to get things back to bit more near normal here. The next event is scheduled for February 24th. Suzanne's sisters Christine and Audra are flying out from New Jersey and Pennsylvania respectively to offer support during the first few days of that event. For now, we won't spend much time thinking about what comes but enjoy having the girls back in the house.
To all of you who called and emailed and texted during this past week, thank you. Your thoughts and prayers and good wishes are deeply appreciated. It's during times like this that I realize just how blessed I am to have family and friends like you! Thank you.
Denny
Obamanomics begin tomorrow
Greetings My Fellow Americans. My Dubya countdown calendar has officially expired. Now we see what happens next. At this point I still have high hopes for an improvement in things in the country, in the world, in our lives. However, I will remain quietly skeptical for the time being, having been through six decades of politicians and have some reason to believe that all is not as it seems. Not that I don't have expectations, it's just that as The Who said, let's hope we don't get fooled again.
I'm unsure why today was the designated holiday and not tomorrow - it would be nice to be able to watch the whole pageant unfold, but unfortunately for most of us, we have to pretend to return to normalcy tomorrow in order to attempt to keep the three-wheeled economy limping down the road. I suppose I'll watch it on tv tomorrow night - even though it won't quite be the same as a rehashed event.
Regardless of how this plays out, I say good for us as a nation to have removed the current collection of fear-mongers and replaced them with someone who at least speaks in the positive - and in complete sentences. But I'll let the complaining about G-Dub end here - I'm tired of it. And besides, we may have misunderestimated him and actually find out he did some good things for us.
Happy New World!
I'm unsure why today was the designated holiday and not tomorrow - it would be nice to be able to watch the whole pageant unfold, but unfortunately for most of us, we have to pretend to return to normalcy tomorrow in order to attempt to keep the three-wheeled economy limping down the road. I suppose I'll watch it on tv tomorrow night - even though it won't quite be the same as a rehashed event.
Regardless of how this plays out, I say good for us as a nation to have removed the current collection of fear-mongers and replaced them with someone who at least speaks in the positive - and in complete sentences. But I'll let the complaining about G-Dub end here - I'm tired of it. And besides, we may have misunderestimated him and actually find out he did some good things for us.
Happy New World!
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Why It's January but looks like July
It has been my observation for many years that winter here in the Pacific Northwest includes a period of time in February when the clouds part and the skys clear and the sun comes out. From inside, looking out, one is tempted to grab the shorts and sandals and head for the beach. It's not uncommon for it to be in the fifties during this period, so it actually is warm enough for those of us long enured to the Northwest definiition of "warm weather" to consider swimming or at least a beach fire and hot dogs.
This year, January has not produced the expected endless stretch of clouds and rain - and snow in the mountains - but has instead made a futile attempt to imitate the February weather. The difference now is that we may have clear skies and semi-balmy temperatures, but you need to be about four hundred feet tall to appreciate it. That's about the depth of the layer of air that is trapped beneath an unusual layer of warm air. The classic, and very unpleasant, thermal inversion.
The entire Puget Sound basin has been subjected to a layer of cold air, made even more unpleasant by the fact that with the low clouds and dense fog, there is never a chance for things to warm at all. This mess is expected to continue until Monday night when it appears an inbound impulse with start to flush things out to the east. By Wednesday, if we're lucky, it will be raining. If you had any ideas that I might not be a deeply-died Northwesterner, hear this - I can't wait for it to rain!!!
This year, January has not produced the expected endless stretch of clouds and rain - and snow in the mountains - but has instead made a futile attempt to imitate the February weather. The difference now is that we may have clear skies and semi-balmy temperatures, but you need to be about four hundred feet tall to appreciate it. That's about the depth of the layer of air that is trapped beneath an unusual layer of warm air. The classic, and very unpleasant, thermal inversion.
The entire Puget Sound basin has been subjected to a layer of cold air, made even more unpleasant by the fact that with the low clouds and dense fog, there is never a chance for things to warm at all. This mess is expected to continue until Monday night when it appears an inbound impulse with start to flush things out to the east. By Wednesday, if we're lucky, it will be raining. If you had any ideas that I might not be a deeply-died Northwesterner, hear this - I can't wait for it to rain!!!
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