The detritus of aviation history…

Or another one of those things most people never see…

Just a weird looking fabric hangar sitting off the end of a runway…

IMG_2102Except for a little plaque outside the door…IMG_2088Kauai is the home of one of the busiest test ranges (open ocean) in the world, and it is used by all the services, DARPA, NASA and you name it…

Pathfinder was a one off that set a record for the ERAST program at NASA!

Sadly many ‘little’ things like this aren’t on any tours… Just like the USS Utah memorial at Ford Island…

And I finally got a little connectivity! Yea!!!

Sorry for my lack of commenting.

Russian Forts in Hawaii…

Fort Elisabeth at Waimea, Kauai…

See the link above for more details.

But the twist is, this was a RUSSIAN fort! Built around 1815, occupied until 1817 then finally ‘destroyed’ in 1864…

IMG_1551

Looking out over the approach to WaimeaIMG_2067

From the top of the sawtooth battlement looking back into the fort.IMG_2068

Looking down on the Waimea river outflow.IMG_2070

Looking over at the next sawtooth, earthen mound, covered with volcanic rock, and smoothed on top for cannons…IMG_2071

Steps leading to the top of the battlement- Still trying to figure out how they got cannon up these…IMG_2072

Looking across the inner compound. The flag is the Russian American Company flag.IMG_2074

The ‘main’ gate, or entrance to the fort.  The guardhouse would have been just to the left of the entry.IMG_2076

There were two more built on the Northern side of the island but these were basically dirt mounded forts, guarding two more rivers on that side of Kauai.

A very interesting ‘take’ on the history of the fort is available on the Russian History Blog HERE.

 

Hi…

I’m Old NFO and I’m an ammoholic…

I have this craving for ammo…

Ammo office

And I like to have it readily available…

Ammo

But I can quit anytime…

ammo closet

I ‘like’ to have ready ammo, just in case…

But I can quit any time. Really I can…

I just have to stop going to gun stores, and WallyWorld, and shopping online, and…

Oh, a deal on .22 bricks? I’ll be right there!

TBT…

This one is for Ev…

Know anybody in that video???

Back in the early 70s we had a ‘close encounter’ with one of these…

Flying a Market Time patrol off Vietnam, and one of these came chugging directly at us co-altitude and on a collision course! The pilots pulled up and it went under us, then disappeared across the coastline heading incountry.  Never did find out where it came from or who ‘lost’ it…

And now we’re doing it again… sigh…

Net Humor…

These go out to Ex-Bootneck and my other Brit readers…

A married Irishman went into the confessional and said to his priest, ‘I almost had an affair wi th another woman.’
The priest said, ‘What do you mean, almost?’
The Irishman said, ‘Well, we got undressed and rubbed together, but then I stopped.’
The priest said, ‘Rubbing together is the same as putting it in.  You’re not to see that woman again.  For your penance, say five Hail Mary’s and put $50 in the poor box.’
The Irishman left the confessional, said his prayers, and then walked over to the poor box.
He paused for a moment and then started to leave.
The priest, who was watching, quickly ran over to him saying, ‘I saw that.  You didn’t put any money in the poor box!’
The Irishman replied, ‘Yeah, but I rubbed the $50 on the box, and according to you, that’s the same as putting it in!’

Lemon Squeeze
There once was a religious young woman who went to Confession.  Upon entering the confessional, she said, ‘Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned.’
The priest said, ‘Confess your sins and be forgiven.’
The young woman said, ‘Last night my boyfriend made mad passionate love to me seven times.’
The priest thought long and hard and then said, ‘Squeeze seven lemons into a glass and then drink the juice.’
The young woman asked, ‘Will this cleanse me of my sins?’
The priest said, ‘No, but it will wipe that smile off of your face.’

Catholic Dog
Muldoon lived alone in the Irish countryside with only a pet dog for company.  One day the dog died, and Muldoon went to the parish priest and asked, ‘Father, my dog is dead.  Could ya’ be saying’ a mass for the poor creature?’
Father Patrick replied, ‘I’m afraid not; we cannot have services for an animal in the church.  But there are some Baptists down the lane, and there’s no tellin’ what they believe.  Maybe they’ll do something for the creature.’
Muldoon said, ‘I’ll go right away Father.  Do ya’ think $5,000 is enough to donate to them for the service?’
Father Patrick exclaimed, ‘Sweet Mary, Mother of Jesus!  Why didn’t ya tell me the dog was Catholic?’

Donation
Father O’Malley answers the phone. ‘Hello, is this Father O’Malley?’
‘It is!’
‘This is the IRS. Can you help us?’
‘I can!’
‘Do you know a Ted Houlihan?’
‘I do!’
‘Is he a member of your congregation?’
‘He is!’
‘Did he donate $10,000 to the church?’
‘He will.’

Confession
An elderly man walks into a confessional.  The following conversation ensues:
Man:  ‘I am 92 years old, have a wonderful wife of 70 years, many children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren.  Yesterday, I picked up two college girls, hitch-hiking.  We went to a motel, where I had sex with each of them three times.’
Pries t:  ‘Are you sorry for your sins?’
Man:  ‘What sins?’
Priest:  ‘What kind of a Catholic are you?’
Man:  ‘I’m Jewish.’
Priest: ‘Why are you telling me all this?’
Man:  ‘I’m 92 years old . . . . I’m telling everybody!’

Brothel Trip
An elderly man goes into a brothel and tells the madam he would like a young girl for the night.  Surprised, she looks at the ancient man and asks how old he is.
‘I’m 90 years old,’ he says.
’90?’ replies the woman.  ‘Don’t you realize you’ve had it?’
‘Oh, sorry,’ says the old man.  ‘How much do I owe you?’

Senility
An elderly man went to his doctor and said, ‘Doc, I think I’m getting senile.  Several times lately, I have forgotten to zip up.’
‘That’s not senility,’ replied the doctor.  ‘Senility is when you forget to zip down.’

Pest Control
A woman was ha ving a passionate affair with an Irish inspector from a pest-control company.  One afternoon they were carrying on in the bedroom together when her husband arrived home unexpectedly.
‘Quick,’ said the woman to the lover, ‘into the closet!’ and she pushed him in the closet, stark naked.
The husband, however, became suspicious and after a search of the bedroom discovered the man in the closet.  ‘Who are you?’ he asked him.
‘I’m an inspector from Bugs-B-Gone,’ said the exterminator.
‘What are you doing in there?’ the husband asked.
‘I’m investigating a complaint about an infestation of moths,’ the man replied.
‘And where are your clothes?’ asked the husband.
The man looked down at himself and said, ‘Those little bastards!’

Marriage Humour

Wife:  ‘What are you doing?’
Husband:  ‘Nothing.’
Wife:
  ‘Nothing . . . ?  You’ve been studying our marriage certificate for quite some time.’
Husband:
  ‘I was looking for the expiration date.’


Wife
:  ‘Do you want dinner?’
Husband:
  ‘Sure!  What are my choices?’
Wife:  ‘Yes or no.’

Stress Reliever
Girl:  ‘When we get married, I want to share all your worries, troubles and lighten your burden.’
Boy:
  ‘It’s very kind of you, darling, but I don’t have any worries or troubles.’
Girl:
  ‘Well that’s because we aren’t married yet.’

Son:  ‘Mum, when I was on the bus with Dad this morning, he told me to give up my seat to a lady.’
Mom:  ‘Well, you have done the right thing.’
Son:  ‘But mum, I was sitting on daddy’s lap.’

A newly married man asked his wife, ‘Would you have married me if my father hadn’t left me a fortune?’
‘Honey,’ the woman replied sweetly, ‘I’d have married you, NO MATTER WHO LEFT YOU A FORTUNE!’

A wife asked her husband: ‘What do you like most in me, my pretty face or my sexy body?’
He looked at her from head to toe and replied: ‘I like your sense of humor!’

Husbands are husbands
A man was sitting reading his papers when his wife hit him round the head with a frying pan.  ‘What was that for?’ the man asked.  The wife replied, ‘That was for the piece of paper with the name Jenny on it that I found in your pants pocket’.  The man then said ‘When I was at the races last week, Jenny was the name of the horse I bet on.’  The wife apologised and went on with the housework.  Three days later the man is watching TV when his wife bashes him on the head with an even bigger frying pan, knocking him unconscious.  Upon re-gaining consciousness the man asked why she had hit again.  Wife replied. ‘Your horse phoned’

Let us pray…………………
Give me a sense of humor, Lord,
Give me the grace to see a joke,
To get some humor out of life,
And pass it on to other folk…

Who do you believe???

This is from NRA/ILA…

Recent revelations about a proposed federal law enforcement program might have some friends and families drawing lots to decide who drives to the next gun show.

Criminals rarely obtain guns from gun shows. A Department of Justice survey of state and federal inmates, found that only 0.7 percent of those polled had acquired a firearm that they possessed at the time of their offense from a gun show. Unfortunately, this didn’t stop at least one federal official from suggesting that the sophisticated tools of the modern surveillance state be turned on unsuspecting gun show attendees.

Documents obtained in a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the American Civil Liberties Union reveal that, in 2009, the Drug Enforcement Administration contemplated using License Plate Readers (LPRs) to track vehicle traffic from gun shows. A highly redacted email from an unknown DEA official suggests the program was past infancy, and stated, “DEA Phoenix Division Office is working closely with ATF on attacking the guns going to [redacted] and the guns shows to include programs/operation with LPRs at the gun shows.”

ACLU correctly points out the danger of such technology in an article on their website, explaining, “An automatic license plate reader cannot distinguish between people transporting illegal guns and those transporting legal guns, or no guns at all; it only documents the presence of any car driving to the event. Mere attendance at a gun show, it appeared, would have been enough to have one’s presence noted in a DEA database.”

The proposed program is even more disturbing when placed into the larger context of the Justice Department’s ongoing general license plate tracking program. A January 26 article from the Wall Street Journal explains the broad contours of DOJ LPR surveillance. The piece states, “The Justice Department has been building a national database to track in real time the movement of vehicles around the U.S., a secret domestic intelligence-gathering program that scans and stores hundreds of millions of records about motorists.” The authors go on to explain the wide availability of the collected data, writing, “Many state and local law-enforcement agencies are accessing the database for a variety of investigations… putting a wealth of information in the hands of local officials who can track vehicles in real time on major roadways.” They further note that this national database “allows any police agency that participates to quickly search records of many states for information about a vehicle.”

According to a January 27 Wall Street Journal article focusing specifically on the gun show surveillance proposal, DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart told the paper, “The proposal in the email was only a suggestion. It was never authorized by DEA, and the idea under discussion in the email was never launched.” Further, the article stated that DOJ officials were quick to deny any BATFE involvement in the LPR scheme. However, as has been made clear by the events of the last two years, public statements by federal officials regarding the scope of federal surveillance activities should be viewed with a healthy dose of skepticism.

Full article HERE.

So… Do we believe the NRA and the WSJ or do we ‘believe’ the Feds???

Dunno about y’all, but I know which way ‘I’ am leaning… I can’t help but wonder if they’re going to monitor the Walmart parking lot too???

YMMV, IANAL, and I didn’t stay at a Holiday Inn last night either…

 

 

Husar’s Laws part 4…

  • There is an island of opportunity in the middle of every difficulty. Miss that, though, and you’re pretty much doomed.
  • There are no stupid questions; but here are a lot of inquisitive idiots
  • If the enemy is in range, so are you.
  • Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword obviously never encountered automatic weapons.
  • Never trade luck for skill.
  • You get what you inspect not expect.
  • No plan survives first contact with the enemy.
  • Live each day like it’s your last. One day you’ll get it right.
  • Health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die.
  • Give a person a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach that same person to use the Internet and he won’t bother you for weeks.
  • He who hesitates is probably right.
  • If you can smile when things go wrong, you have someone in mind to blame.
  • Birds of a feather flock together and then shit on your car.
  • An expert is like a eunuch in a harem – someone who knows all about it but can’t do anything about it.
  • Anything worth doing is worth doing in excess.
  • Husar’s rule of Life: You have two chances, slim and none (and slim just left town).
  • Never try to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and it annoys the pig.
  • A leader should not get too far in front of his troops or he will get shot in the

ass.

  1. If it looks too good to be true, it is too good to be true.
  2. Common sense and common knowledge are the two most uncommon things in

the world

Willie…

Is playing my song again… Sigh…

In lieu of real content, I give you Jace and his ‘horsie’…

Vito and jace

Vito’s got that long suffering look, “Mommy, there’s this BIG tick on my back, can you get it off PLEASE!”  🙂

Gonna basically be radio silent for the next week or so due to lousy/non-existent connectivity…

Go read the folks on the sidebar, they’re better than I am anyway!

In the YGTBSM category…

For the win-

11 years worth of work related data…

And it stopped being read by the laptop that it was connected with…

A couple of hours on the phone with ‘tech support’ including escalation to Tier 2, and still no resolution, other than screwing up my drive configurations to the network and printers.

ext hard drive

Monday, the IT weenies decided they needed to take both the computer and external hard drive to figure out why it wasn’t seeing the drive.

They re-imaged the laptop, and still couldn’t get the drive to work. But it apparently ‘connected’ to one of the test machines, but didn’t allow any files to be pulled (encryption and all that).  In their “infinite” wisdom they decided to reformat the drive!!!

So I now have a working laptop, with no data on it, I finally got my network mappings back on Wednesday, and now an external hard drive that STILL doesn’t work correctly, but has had 11 years worth of backup data erased…

 

And my co-worker was just asked yesterday for some data from 2000!

Sigh… Is it December yet???