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End of an era…

Posted on by January 10, 2018

The venerable Boeing 747 is no longer in passenger service with any American airline… Full article, HERE.

Sigh…

The first time I flew on one was 1972, with Braniff. It was a brand new (1 year old SP-1 747). And I think it was this airplane, since I remember that color scheme. Dallas to Honolulu, in the last row…

But I was young and having fun… 🙂

Over the years I flew on Pan Am, TWA, and a number of foreign 747s. My last 747 flight was from Sydney to LA, in 2014, on one of the last United 747s to make that run. It even had the throwback paint scheme!

Through a combination of luck and knowing the bus driver, I had a ‘considerably’ better seat on that one. Just sayin…

It was Jon’s last flight as a 747 check captain, and I’d been sitting in the cockpit talking to him, not realizing the door was closed. The purser was ‘less than pleased’ when she came stomping up to the cockpit about a missing passenger… Sigh…

The ‘strangest’ 747 I ever flew on was from NRT-OKA on an ANA bird.

The interior is also all Pokemon characters, and it’s ALL coach seats at Japanese pitch, which is barely 30 inches… There were over 400 people on board, and the airplane boarded in 25 minutes!!!

The 787 is a much nicer ride, and a little faster too, but there will always be a soft spot for the 747!

 

Grumble…

Posted on by January 9, 2018

I just wish the weather would make up it’s mind…

9 degrees last week, 69 yesterday, and supposed to be 70 today…

Then back in the 20s/30s this weekend.

Consistency, thy name is NOT north Texas weather… Sigh…

If you’re feeling like crap, go get checked out. Classmate’s hubby in Houston was admitted to ICU with strep, pneumonia and the flu!!!

That is NOT a threefer you want to have. Please say a prayer for Danny, he’s going to need it.

I need more cooffffeeeeee…

Snerk…

Posted on by January 8, 2018

I love it when a plan goes straight south on the left…

A Democrat-backed study meant to expose illicit online gun sales instead seemed to show the opposite — with hardly any sellers taking the bait when undercover investigators tried to set up dozens of illegal firearm transactions. 

Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., as well as Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, had commissioned the Government Accountability Office report to look into how online private dealers might be selling guns to people not allowed to have them. 

Full article, HERE on Fox.

One interesting point- Does this once again call into question Bloomie’s 2015 study? We know for a fact they purposely lied to gun sellers, especially on the straw purchases…

One of the ‘hidden’ penalties of sequestration…

Posted on by January 7, 2018

When in doubt, follow the money…

This is a long article, but well researched and with footnoted links. Pilot retention is an issue service wide, and becoming MORE of an issue in the Navy as deployments lengthen, with less time between deployments, due to carrier force shrinkage.

Military aviation has always been on a seven year cycle, either leading or lagging the curve, based on various progressions. There have been a number of discussions in a couple of groups I’m in, and this article gives probably the best ‘overview’, if you will, of the issue.

The Challenge

Without qualified and experienced Tac­Air pilots (strike fighter/electronic attack), global air superiority is in jeopardy, regardless of the aircraft technology. Today, the main competitor for those pilots is the airline industry. It is the easiest adversary the Navy has ever faced, yet it is losing the battle. Why are people doing a job most have dreamed about their whole lives so willing to walk away?

The full article is HERE, from the January issue of Proceedings.

One of the better comments, in one thread was this one, bold is mine- The fact of the matter is this: Being a Naval Aviator (and NFO) is a tough job. Long hours, plenty of sea time and little, if any, real family life. And, if everything goes swimmingly well you’re still done at 20 or 25 years. And then what? You start over in civil life – at the bottom or mid-ranks. 

I look at some of my former squadron mates… some have gone to the airlines and they like it. Several others have started their own businesses, or become very successful executives OUTSIDE of aviation and done very well… think seven figures per year kinda well. They learned a lot as a JO!

For many, the fun of flying an F-18 goes away after a few years… The “One mistake Navy” is risky, too. No guarantees of a long career... Finally, there are other things to achieve in life which makes it hard for the Navy to compete with just money alone.

Stay or go? Same conversation we’ve been having for 20+ years. 

The biggest change from ‘my’ service days is the “One mistake Navy”… THAT wasn’t something we had to deal with. As more pushes occur for ‘UAVs’ off the carrier and in other military endeavours, there is less support for funding. Manpower has always been expensive, and always will be, but as a percentage of the military budget, it’s stayed fairly stable. I don’t have a good answer, other than to say updated the damn compensation, otherwise, all those millions/billions of dollars of acft aren’t worth a pot to piss in, if there are no pilots to fly them, or leaders to lead them…

Kicking the soapbox back in the corner… Sigh.

Boosting the signal…

Posted on by January 6, 2018

Marty has a new anthology out!

Click on the cover to order!

The Blurb-

No one knew how it began. The world fell in just a few weeks. 

Some people survived.

Some decided to live.

I’ve got a short story in this one, Rocking C, about North Texans and longhorns vs. zombies. 🙂

Top five…

Posted on by January 5, 2018

WORST gun reports of 2017…

President Donald Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress are strongly pro-Second Amendment, which means new gun control laws were dead on arrival in 2017.

But the mainstream media, not to be quietly defeated, exposed its anti-gun bias more than ever this year.

The national newspapers and left-wing TV networks continued to churn out unbalanced reports on gun crime and laws, while refusing to learn accurate terminology. Here are the top offenders.

Compiled by Emily Miller, HERE, we have the usual ‘stars’, if you will…

USA Today, CNN, NBC News, The Economist (which is odd, they are usually pretty straightforward), and last but not least, AP…

Some of these are just mind boggling in their stupidity, and/or their blatant bias!

Read ’em and remember, they ARE still out to get us. Just because we have Pubs in all three executive branches doesn’t mean the left/libs/Brady Bunch aren’t twisting stories and sliding money to people to catch us off guard and take more of our rights.

Since the weather sucks…

Posted on by January 4, 2018

A little travel ‘humor’ for those who haven’t dealt with roonserbice…

TANJOOBERRYMUTTS

The following is a telephone exchange between a hotel guest and room-service in a hotel… I may have had a very similar one a time or two, since then I’ve gone down to the restaurant…

ROOM SERVICE: “Morrin. Roon sirbees”.
GUEST: “Sorry, I thought I dialled room service”.

ROOM SERVICE: “Rye. Roon sirbees… morrin! Joowish to oddor sunteen???”
GUEST: “Uh… Yes, I’d like to order bacon and eggs”.

ROOM SERVICE: “Ow ulai den?”
GUEST: “….. What??”

ROOM SERVICE: “Ow ulai den?!?… Pryed, boyud, pochd?”
GUEST: “Oh, the eggs! How do I like them? Sorry.. scrambled, please”.

ROOM SERVICE: “Ow ulai dee bayken? Creepse?”
GUEST: “Crisp will be fine”.

ROOM SERVICE: “Hokay. Ansahn toes?”
GUEST: “What?”

ROOM SERVICE: “An toes. ulaisahn toes?”
GUEST: “I… don’t think so.”.

ROOM SERVICE: “No? Udo wan sahn toes???”
GUEST: “I feel really bad about this, but I don’t know what ‘udo wan sahn toes’ means”.

ROOM SERVICE: “Toes! Toes!… WhyUoo donwan toes? Ow bow Anglish moppin we botter?”
GUEST: “Oh, English muffin! !! I’ve got it! You were saying ‘toast’… fine… yes, an English muffin will be fine”.

ROOM SERVICE: “We botter?”
GUEST: “No, just put the botter on the side”.

ROOM SERVICE: “Wad?!?”
GUEST: “I mean butter… just put the butter on the side”.

ROOM SERVICE: “Copy?”
GUEST: “Excuse me?”

ROOM SERVICE: “Copy… tea.. meel?”
GUEST: “Yes. Coffee, please… and that’s everything”.

ROOM SERVICE: “One Minnie. Scramah egg, creepse bayken, Anglish moppin, we botter on sigh and copy… rye ??”
GUEST: “Whatever you say”.

ROOM SERVICE: “Tanjooberrymutts”.
GUEST: “You’re welcome”

YMMV, and your ‘toes’ may be burnt or cold, or both… And don’t ask what the ‘jelly’ is. You really don’t want to know…

h/t Frito

PSA…

Posted on by January 3, 2018

Reminder, the Taurus settlement deadline is looming!

The class action agreement over defective handguns by gun maker Taurus issued a reminder that the deadline to file a claim is approaching.

If owners want to trade in the infamous Taurus pistol for cash or have their gun repaired, they must file a claim by Feb. 6, according to last week’s announcement.

In exchange for the defective handgun, participants will receive up to $200 in cash. The other option is for an “enhanced warranty benefit” in which Taurus will inspect and repair the pistol for no cost and then continue to provide a lifetime warranty.

The company will cover shipping and handling costs, but asks class members to review state and federal regulations before shipping the materials. Detailed instructions are found on the settlement website.

The settlement website also clarifies that the time has passed for those wanting to exclude themselves from participating in the settlement, which would have opened up the possibility to file suit over the claims alleged in the case.

The lead plaintiff in the case, a sheriff’s deputy from Iowa, was injured when his Taurus pistol discharged when the handgun hit the ground after it fell out of its holster as he pursued a fleeing suspect. He never touched the trigger.

In 2016, a federal court approved the settlement agreement, which could cost the company up to $239 million. A range of Taurus pistols contain an alleged defect that allows the gun to discharge if dropped.

Taurus pistols subject to the defects include the Millennium, Millennium Pro, Millennium Pro Compact, Millennium Pro Sub-Compact, 24/7, and others.

A federal court will hold an status conference on Jan. 17 for attorneys representing both the class and the company.

h/t Rick

Posted in PSA

Wily road crews…

Posted on by January 2, 2018

Have apparently found a way to cut the cable yet again for AT&T, so no Internet. The best thing I can say is go read the folks on the sidebar, they are much more entertaining than I am anyway. Hopefully it’ll be fixed by tomorrow sometime…

Traditions…

Posted on by January 1, 2018

Some things just aren’t messed with…

Ham, Hoppin John, a mess of greens, and cornbread.

Why that meal? Well if you’re Southern, the pig symbolizes health and progress, the Black-eyed peas symbolize luck, the collard greens symbolize prosperity, and cornbread was a southern staple. And they remind us to be humble…

Legend has it that General Sherman thought Black-eyed peas were considered animal food (like purple hull peas). The peas were not worthy of General Sherman’s Union troops. When Union soldiers raided the Confederates food supplies, legend says they took everything except the peas, salted pork and corn meal. The Confederates considered themselves lucky to be left with those meager supplies, and survived the winter.

They are also considered ‘soul food’, as the slaves were eating the same things, and everyone was happy to have anything to eat in 1863!

Besides, it’s damn good food! 🙂

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