Primordial Nothing’s blog

Daughter made this cake for grandsons 16th birthday. I think he'd rather have a real car.
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North shore of Maui from kahului.
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Took parents to "Skin Doctor" this afternoon. They, of course, got into a conversation with a lady rancher that raises Longhorn cattle among other things.
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My daughter and her family live east of Spokane, about two miles from the Idaho border. There is a strong Mormon influence in this area.  Although, my daughter's family is semi-heathen, they are friends with many LDS families.

My son-in-law, and Bug, my grandson, were invited on a camping trip with a group of these friends.  I think it was a church function or something.

In the evening, Bug was trying to navigate through the campsite by flashlight. As he panned the flashlight, one of the other boys had come into view where no one had been before. Bug was so startled much by this face that appeared out of nowhere, that he blurted out, "Jesus Christ!"  All conversations ceased. All activities stopped. Dead silence until, my son-in-law said, "It's alright. It's just my son."  Everybody breathed a sigh of relief and conversations and activities resumed as they had been.

Thirty five years ago, I was part of something that shaped my life and Cherie's forever. ("C's" name is Cherie. She responds to Sherry, Cherry, or even Chickie Sue, but, like Marilyn Monroe in "Bus Stop," prefers the French pronunciation, Chay-ree. ). We were stationed at Torrejon Air Base on the outskirts of Madrid, Spain. My new organization was the 612th Tactical Fighter Squadron.

I don't know how to explain why this particular assignment was so profoundly significant.  I was in over my head, a lieutenant, just out of initial flight training and the F-4 school.  Most of the pilots and Weapons System Operators (WSO's) had already had at least one combat tour in South East Asia. I was un-tempered.

Plus, we were five thousand miles away from family and friends.

At our reunion, after the banquet, we had a kind of trivia contest. Several of our members had contributed stories of the antics we'd gotten up to while we were there.

I wanted to share the funniest of these, but was not sure how best to do so.  I've decided, to dole them out one at a time. Check my comment for the correct answer and, if necessary, a brief explanation.

Here's the first:

MQF 102  Rich Dolinar, placing his life in the hands of Skip Beasley over the Mediterranean, had just passed through the sound barrier for the first time when Skip got clearance for a low approach at Valencia followed by a burner climb to altitude.  They lit the burners, pulled five Gs to point in a heavenly direction, and aileron-rolled their way out of sight.  What did the Spanish controller say on the radio?

A.    “Bravo, bravo.”
B.    “Say your squadron and base of operations.”
C.    “Change clearance to read, ‘Do not exceed seven thousand feet.’”

The old two bedroom house that we've lived in while the new house was being built, is being lifted off its foundation, in preparation for moving to a new location.  A gentleman who has retired from New York will be living in it, soon.  If I get an interesting picture, I'll post it.

Today, on my sixty first birthday, we closed on the new house.
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Woke up this morning with this song in my head.

"I cross over that border every chance I get."

Here are two videos of talks that occurred at the  TED Conference.    

The first video is a talk given by Mike Rowe.  A guy that has done some interesting things and wants to share some of the insight he has gained in his gig as the Dirty Jobs guy.

The next is a talk given by Aimee Mullins, a double amputee, who has also accomplished some astounding things.