Today is our 34th Wedding Anniversary.
Category: Stuff
Life on the Graveyard Shift…
Things are redundant around here for the most part.
It’s show up at 2300, do the inventory and take care of the hazmat….
Issue tools, laptops and vehicles to the maintainers. It’s the same kids and stuff……
Servicing and scheduled maintenance take place here in the deep dark hours of the night.
This is a short week due to the upcoming Memorial Day weekend. Friday is a “Family Day” as determined by Air Force Material Command…… 4 day weekend…….
This is my best friend during these hours……
About last Thursday…………..Life It’s Ownself……
This is what I posted at Old Retired Petty Officer this morning…….
But for the sake of not using links all the time here is the entire post………………………
On this past Thursday the 13th of April……………….
I had an appointment with the neurologist at the Sepulveda Veteran’s Ambulatory Care Clinic in North Hills, California in the San Fernando Valley. It is such a fun drive in because of the 14, 5 and 405 Freeways. This is a regularly scheduled thing for yours truly as I have had peripheral neuropathy for almost 2 years now.
I showed up on time even with the traffic. The neurologist I see is a young guy and I like him. I hope the Department of Veteran’s Affairs tries to keep him. We did the usual talk about how things have been with my feet and lower legs have been concerning the new medication. That is new since this past winter. I take pregabalin 25mg capsules at the rate of 6 each, twice a day. I told him that sometimes it seems to work and sometimes it doesn’t.
We then got into the lab work from the last visit about three months before………………..yeah………..
A CT and EMG have been ordered. The CT is scheduled for 26 June………..I have a way to make that happen faster, I do believe. I am on the Veteran’s Choice Program because I live over 40 miles away from the nearest VA facility. For me that was the Veteran’s Community Based Outreach Clinic in Lancaster. The Choice Program lets us use the outside the same as the VA system. Perhaps I can get things sped up a bit……………………..😏😏
It seems there were three antibodies in the blood work that are normally associated with………..cancer…………..yeah………..three months? I think that I should have been notified just a bit sooner on this one, perhaps?
A CT Scan and an EMG(Nerve Conduction) were ordered by Doc and off to the lab I went………8 vials of blood were drawn…………….yep……………..shit like this is getting far too regular ya know……
Of course by this time, the mind is going about a million miles an hour just like it did on September 4, 2009 when I got the “good news, bad news” speech from my doctor in Wichita. That was when the left kidney went bye-bye 17 days later.
I now sit waiting…..
When I got home, I tried to sleep as the graveyard shift awaited…………..allegory there, I think? What say you Chris Goodrich? Oh, where were we? Sleep………..yeah. I wound up being up for around 24 hours. I got home Friday morning and after what I hope was the last cigar, the lights went out. I did manage to catch my Beloved Montreal Canadiens win game two over the New York Rangers in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Oh yeah, waiting…………………
I called the records folks and did the dance and my records from the time I got in the Greater Los Angeles Veteran’s Healthcare System. There is a mouthful!!!!!
I also have to fill out the release to satisfy the legal stuff.
I need the records for my regular Doc in Tehachapi in that he may have reservations about how things work at the Federal Government level.
Oh, did I mention that the neurologist said that the antibodies were indicative of the possibility of cancer? 😔😔😔😔😔
Missus ORPO and her sister had a long phone conversation yesterday about me………..the Sis-in-Law thinks that I crashed so hard as a reaction to getting the “C” word news………….It can have an effect I suppose.
I guess I will be blogging more again as this will be the journal of that little trip………….
We will see how it goes………………………………….
I Know You’re Mad at United but… (Thoughts from a Pilot Wife About Flight 3411)
Another point of view on the recent United Airlines incident with booting a passenger.
If there’s one thing I have learned over the years, it’s that there are always two sides to every story.
On April 9th, a very unfortunate incident played out on United Flight 3411, the video of which has since gone viral causing a mass social media uprising with an ‘off-with-their-heads’ mentality. I mean, across the board. Fire ’em all and let the gods sort it out later.
Look, I get it. When I first saw the video I was appalled too. To say that it was inflammatory would be putting it mildly. But it was also a situation that was escalated far beyond the boundaries of necessity.
If a federal law enforcement officer asks me to exit a plane, no matter how royally pissed off I am, I’m going to do it and then seek other means of legal reimbursement. True story.
Knowing what I know about airport security, I’m
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Time Flies……….It’s been three years since that awesome day……Already?
This day three years ago, I was privileged to spend a great day onboard The Good Ship USS Ronald Reagan CVN 76 with my dear friends, Chris Goodrich, aka the OldAFSarge and The WSO, Erika Cho.
I thought for the sake of waxing poetic that I would post a few pictures of that most awesome of days.
I still think about that day…..I suppose I always will as it was that return to what I spent so many years doing.
To smell the salt air, catapult steam and jet exhaust…………………
China Lake Air Show
It was a small show. I was impressed by the way it was run though. The Blue Angels were there for their first show on the road. I have seen them so many times that I spend my time wandering through the static displays.
The Brits and Dutch had their Test F-35s under the canopies on the line.
BTW, I have disabled person plates on my vehicles and I parked about six spaces from the entry control point for ADA and VIP folks.
Memories of a Time When I was a young man.
This past Saturday, the ship that was my first duty station began it’s final journey. The Good Ship Independence was towed from the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard enroute to the breaker’s yard in Brownsville, Texas.
I reported aboard her in January of 1974 as a fresh faced 19 year old kid from the Montana Prairies. So began my adventure in the United States Navy.
I participated in the ammunition offload along with several other guys that I went through boot camp with. Then I was assigned to V-1 Division in the Air Department.
After a short period in the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, we began working up for the upcoming deployment to the Mediterranean Sea.
I freely admit that I was absolutely terrified the first time I was on the flight deck for operations.
In the latter part of July 1974 we embarked the Air Wing and departed.
We covered the evacuation of US diplomatic personnel and their families from Nicosia, Cyprus. All available aircraft were armed. We then coordinated the Search and Recovery of TWA flight 847 which had crashed near the Greek coast. It was an eye opening experience to say the least and certain images remain in my mind to this day.
Finally, we were able to get some Liberty in Naples, Italy. Cold beer and playing tourist. Other ports of call included Cannes, Palma de Mallorca and Barcelona and a few more visits to Naples.
In early January we were relieved by USS America and headed for home. The North Atlantic in January is a rough place, I should add.
20 January saw us go pier side at Naval Station Norfolk. It was a bitter cold day and along with families, friends and a band was a troop of baton twirlers who in those costumes must have been freezing.
It has been a bit over 40 years since I departed The Good Ship Independence as a Petty Officer Second Class now. I know that things change over time and a lot of places that I was stationed have gone into the “dustbin” of history.
The media outlets in the Pacific Northwest gave coverage of Indy’s departure from Bremerton this past weekend.
The following photo is from a Facebook group I belong to………
To those who have been there, you understand.
Eyes of a Stranger
Queensryche………………………
Eyes of a Stranger………………sometimes when I look in the mirror, I don’t know the man looking back at me……………………
All alone now
Except for the memories
Of what we had and what we knew
Every time I try to leave it behind me
I see something that reminds me of you
Every night the dreams return to haunt me
Your rosary wrapped around your throat
I lie awake and sweat, afraid to fall asleep
I see your face looking back at me, looking back at me
Except for the memories
Of what we had and what we knew
Every time I try to leave it behind me
I see something that reminds me of you
Every night the dreams return to haunt me
Your rosary wrapped around your throat
I lie awake and sweat, afraid to fall asleep
I see your face looking back at me, looking back at me
And I raise my head and stare
Into the eyes of a stranger
I’ve always known that the mirror never lies
People always turn away
From the eyes of a stranger
Afraid to know what
Lies behind the stare
Into the eyes of a stranger
I’ve always known that the mirror never lies
People always turn away
From the eyes of a stranger
Afraid to know what
Lies behind the stare
Is this all that’s left
Of my life before me
Straight jacket memories, sedative highs
No happy ending like they’ve always promised
There’s got to be something left for me
And I raise my head and stare
Into the eyes of a stranger
I’ve always known that the mirror never lies
People always turn away
From the eyes of a stranger
Afraid to know what
Lies behind the stare (Lies behind my stare)
Of my life before me
Straight jacket memories, sedative highs
No happy ending like they’ve always promised
There’s got to be something left for me
And I raise my head and stare
Into the eyes of a stranger
I’ve always known that the mirror never lies
People always turn away
From the eyes of a stranger
Afraid to know what
Lies behind the stare (Lies behind my stare)
How many times must I live this tragedy
How many more lies will they tell me
All I want is the same as everyone
Why am I here, and for how long
How many more lies will they tell me
All I want is the same as everyone
Why am I here, and for how long
And I raise my head and stare
Into the eyes of a stranger
I’ve always known that the mirror never lies
People always turn away
From the eyes of a stranger
Afraid to know what
Lies behind the stare
Into the eyes of a stranger
I’ve always known that the mirror never lies
People always turn away
From the eyes of a stranger
Afraid to know what
Lies behind the stare
A Debt That Cannot Be Repaid
This one gets the point across.
I read this yesterday, and a number of us thought it should be re-posted here.
In a country that most would struggle to find on a map, in a compound that few possess the courage to enter, men from my previous life took the fight to our enemy.
In that compound, they found men that pray five times a day for your destruction. Those men don’t know me, they don’t know you, and they don’t know America. They don’t understand our compassion, our freedoms, and our tolerance. I know it may seem as if those things are currently missing, but they remain, and I know they will return. Our capacity for them is boundless, and is only dwarfed by their hatred for you. They don’t care about your religious beliefs; they don’t care about your political opinions. They don’t care if you sit on the left or the right, liberal or…
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In Memoriam of Apollo 1
I believe it was yesterday that marked the 50th anniversary of the tragedy of Apollo 1 that took the lives of Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee. It is still vivid in my mind.
An old shipmate of mine from days in the Argonauts of Attack Squadron 147 now works at NASA at Cape Canaveral. He was kind enough to send me some pictures of the launch pad from that day that is now abandoned in place.
Without further ado, here they are.
Milestone of sorts
This day, 19 January 1975, I finished my first deployment to the Med on Independence.
Ironically it was the same day that this event occured.
The F-15 Streak Eagle made it’s record breaking time to climb.
Been a while
We have been having winter here in the Mojave and the Mountains around it.
I took these pictures six days ago on the way home from Lancaster.
Lenticulars over The Fremont Valley
I made a run to the Rite Aid for Missus ORPO and these were in the sky. We are actually located in the Fremont Valley and not the Antelope Valley.
Looking West Toward The Grapevine
I took these on the way home from Lancaster this afternoon. It was snowing when we left but this one was really heavy duty.
