Starting the morning off with a four hour blow out kit course taught by the illustrious AD, and TOTW who is ‘coming out of retirement’ to help out…
Then we’re off to an NRA Instructor workshop…
Pics when and if I have time… There’s probably going to be a test involved, hope that my memory holds up 🙂
(and I don’t have to walk for four hours yea!!!)
It’s on…
Oh my poor footsies…
Having said that, great to see a lot of old familiar faces, and looks like Indy is going to be a good show! And it’s just flat strange to see Jay G in a suit and ‘working’ instead of hanging out with us… 😀
For a rainy Friday morning, the crowd was down a bit until about 0930, then it was like somebody let the ‘dogs’ out…
And in the space of 15 minutes, the place was packed… Lots of excuse me, pardon me, etc. As we all know, an armed society is a polite society!!! 🙂
Went by and said hi to Kathy Jackson, she’s been busy as hell teaching new students and is getting ready to teach a class of women instructors! You go Lady!!! 🙂
Stopped by the Kriss booth, and they had my favorite toy there…
It’s a SWEET small sub gun, fun switch and all… and it’s in .45 too!
And this is ‘not’ your average bread truck…
And a ‘challenging’ steel target… AR 500 and all…
So far I’ve got two places to hit tomorrow for folks, if you want me to look at something for ya, drop a line in comments or shoot me an email.
Sorry for my lack of commenting on everybody else…
Let the gathering begin… 🙂
It’s funny when you realize that folks ONLY know each other by blog handles, and you have to introduce folks with real names… 🙂
Especially when you realize you’re the only one that has met all of the folks…
Off to the show!!!
This administration has totally lost the bubble…
First, the decide to ‘downgrade’ the Army Apache helo program…
Then they decide the reserves don’t need their Apache Helos, those need to be ‘only’ with the active force due to ‘limited’ availability. So they are pulling all the Apaches out of Reserve aviation units…
With me so far???
And yesterday they announce they are ‘giving’ Apaches to Egypt!!!
Full article HERE.
And OBTW, they’re also talking about cutting the Navy’s buy of 60R Seahawks by 50+ next year (which puts the .gov in default on the contract and the penalty will ONLY be $50M less than the full lot buy). But it also impacts both the Marines and the Army, since they are also on the same contract…
And he’s in Japan, saying we ‘will’ support them against China, at the same time the administration is pulling 11 Cruisers off the line, including the ONLY two in Seventh Fleet??? And remember those ‘new’ ships for Seventh Fleet? They don’t get there until 2017!!!
WTFO???
Made it to Indy in one piece…
Stopped by the NRA AM to get my media creds, and couldn’t resist taking a pic of this one… 🙂
As always, if you have something you want me to check on, please leave a comment and I’ll do my best to track down the answer. We’ve got a BIG media room this time, and there were already folks in there working this afternoon…
And the drivers are getting stupider and stupider… Why is it the drivers in the POS cars are the worst for speeding/being stupid??? Hell, I wouldn’t even WANT to try to drive some of those things 80-90 mph!!! Like a beat up Isuzu Amigo, blown out exhaust, running 90+ and I think the weaving was because the steering was that loose… sigh…
And Ohio drivers… Geez… Pick a frikkin lane, OKAY??? And STAY in it for more that 30 seconds, OKAY???
Gah…
Needless to say, there were NO problems with inattention (at least on MY part)…
But first, a follow up to yesterday’s post…
I need a detachable ass… Just sayin…
And now, VFA-27’s cruise trailer!!!
Hope you enjoyed it!
It frikkin’ pours…
So finally back of extended travel, into the second day of trying to get the ‘new’ computer to work (and figure out how to reconstruct three years of links, etc that mysteriously didn’t get migrated)… And get all the software to actually work… And get my emails to reload from the server…
While still waiting on tech support to show up. I called, they are “swamped”. Gee, I ‘wonder’ why…
AND find all the drives (that never got remapped either), and find the printers…
I wander down for another cup of coffee and commiserate with a co-worker (who held on to his old computer, thanks for taking care of me there buddy)…
While I wait for another ‘fix’ to be pushed to my ‘new’ computer…
I go back to my desk only to be ‘confronted’ by one of the beancounters. In the usual supercilious manner (why do they all come across like that?), drops a pile of paperwork and says, “Oh you have to have the rest of your FY budget in by tomorrow morning. We’re going to sweep all extra money in two weeks.”
Say WHUT??? Tomorrow??? YGTBSM…
And then the fight started…
Sooooo I look at the top form, and it’s dated THREE weeks ago!!!
“Errr, just how long have you had this?”
Airily, “Oh we got it three weeks ago, but since you weren’t here, we didn’t forward it to you. But it’s STILL due tomorrow.”
I just looked at her and said, “Unpossible, I need at least two weeks to figure out what is going to happen with… X, Y, and Z…”
You’d have thought I slapped her upside the head (I might have ‘thought’ about it, but no I didn’t)…
Now snippy with anger, “No, you WILL have it in tomorrow or we’ll take your money.”
“Okay, fine… I’ll disburse ALL the money today, and you can go (I didn’t say it, just thought it) away now”
Now just pissed, “You CAN’T do that!”
“Hide and watch.” And I turned my back on her. And she stomped off (well as loud as one can stomp on carpet anyway)…
I gave her 30 seconds to get out of sight, and ran over to my financial manager’s office, as I walked in she asked, “What did the wicked witch want?”
After I told her, she just shook her head…
But three hours later, I had no money left… 🙂
And went back to trying to get the computer to work, only to find out the encrypted external hard drive is now a paperweight since they changed encryption systems on the ‘new’ computer, and 11 years worth of data is now inaccessible unless we can go find my old computer and get it hooked back up to get the encryption migrated…
‘Something’ tells me I’ll probably be called on the carpet tomorrow… Again…
There are days when retirement gets REALLY attractive… Sigh…
A continuation from yesterday…
The guys who seemed to get away with doing the least, always seemed to be first in the pay line and the chow line.
General Quarters drills and the need to evacuate one’s bowels often seem to coincide.
Speaking of which, when the need arises, the nearest head is always the one which is secured for cleaning.
Three people you never screw with: the doc, the paymaster and the ship’s barber.
In the summer, all deck seamen wanted to be signalmen. In the winter they wanted to be radarmen.
Do snipes ever get the grease and oil off their hands?
Never play a drinking game which involves the loser paying for all the drinks.
There are only two good ships: the one you came from and the one you’re going to.
Whites, coming from the cleaners, clean, pressed and starched, last that way about 30 microseconds after donning them. The Navy dress white uniform is a natural dirt magnet.
Sweat pumps operate in direct proportion to the seniority of the official visiting.
Skill, daring and science will always win out over horseshit, superstition and luck.
We train in peace so that in time of war the greater damage will be upon our enemies and not upon ourselves.
“Pride and professionalism” trumps “Fun and zest” any day.
The shrill call of a bosun’s pipe still puts a chill down my spine.
Three biggest lies in the Navy: We’re happy to be here; this is not an inspection; we’re here to help.
Everything goes in the log.
Rule 1: The Captain is always right. Rule 2: When in doubt refer to Rule 1.
A wet napkin under your tray keeps the tray from sliding on the mess deck table in rough seas, keeping at least one hand free to hold on to your beverage.
Never walk between the projector and the movie screen after the flick has started.
A guy who doesn’t share a care package from home is no shipmate.
When transiting the ocean, the ship’s chronometer is always advanced at 0200 which makes for a short night. When going in the opposite direction, the chronometer is retarded at 1400 which extends the work day.
If I had to do it all over again, I would. Twice.
When I sleep, I often dream I am back at sea.
Good shipmates are friends forever. (this one is so damn true)…
I’m sure some of these sentiments cross over to other services, as shared times in small spaces tend to bring out both the best AND worst in folks… You remember the good folks, good times, and the bad tends to fade over the years…
Thanks for reading!
h/t JP and a bunch of others
This one came over the transom via the mil-email chain and via JP…
Some random and rambling thoughts accumulated from various quarters over the years. A bit of introspection from an “older” sailor.
A sailor will walk 10 miles in a freezing rain to get a beer but complain mightily about standing a 4 hour quarterdeck watch on a beautiful, balmy spring day.
A sailor will lie and cheat to get off the ship early and then will have no idea where he wants to go.
Sailors are territorial. They have their assigned spaces to clean and maintain. Woe betide the shipmate who tracks through a freshly swabbed deck.
Sailors constantly complain about the food on the mess decks while concurrently going back for second or third helpings.
Some sailors have taken literally the old t-shirt saying that they should “Join the Navy. Sail to distant ports. Catch embarrassing, exotic diseases.”
After a sea cruise, I realized how much I missed being at sea. We are now considering a Med cruise visiting some of my past favorite ports. Of course I’ll have to pony up better than $5,000 for the privilege. To think, Uncle Sam actually had to pay me to visit those same ports 50 years ago.
You can spend two years on a ship and never visit every nook and cranny or even every major space aboard. Yet, you can know all your shipmates.
Campari and soda taken in the warm Spanish sun is an excellent hangover remedy.
E5 is the almost perfect military pay grade. Too senior to catch the crap details, too junior to be blamed if things go awry.
Never be first, never be last and never volunteer for anything.
Almost every port has a “gut.” An area teeming with cheap bars, easy women and partiers. Kind of like Bourbon St., but with foreign currency.
If the Guardia Civil tell you to “Alto,” you’d best alto, right now. Same goes for the Carabinieri, gendarmes and other assorted police forces. You could easily find yourself in that port’s hoosegow. Or shot.
Contrary to popular belief, Chief Petty Officers do not walk on water. They walk just above it.
Sad but true, when visiting even the most exotic ports of call, some sailors only see the inside of the nearest pub.
Also under the category of sad but true, that lithe, sultry Mediterranean beauty you spent those wonderful three days with and have dreamed about ever since, is almost certainly a grandmother now and buying her clothes from Omar the Tent maker.
A sailor can, and will, sleep anywhere, anytime.
Do not eat Mafunga, ever! (Or Balut)…
Yes, it’s true, it does flow downhill. (Anybody that has ever been to Naples can vouch for that)…
In the traditional “crackerjack” uniform you were recognized as a member of United States Navy, no matter what port you were in. Damn all who want to eliminate or change that uniform.
The Marine dress blue uniform is, by far, the sharpest of all the armed forces.
Most sailors won’t disrespect a shipmate’s mother. On the other hand, it’s not entirely wise to tell them you have a good looking sister.
Sailors and Marines will generally fight one another, and fight together against all comers.
If you can at all help it, never tell anyone that you are seasick.
Check the rear dungaree pockets of a sailor. Right pocket a wallet. Left pocket a book.(ALWAYS a book)
I have always been amazed at the reading material in any squadron or ship I’ve ever encountered, everything from Aristotle to Mack Bolen and everything in between…
More tomorrow!
h/t JP
No other words are needed…
h/t JP