Kilted to Kick Cancer Bleg…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
Thank you to those who’ve donated for me to the two organizations, it’s truly appreciated…  

And thanks to those bloggers who’ve done posts linking about KTKC.  

Having said that, we’re WELL short of our goal with two weeks of the month gone already…  

I don’t have any prizes or anything else to give away; all I’m asking is that if you have a few spare bucks, please donate to either LiveStrong or the Prostate Cancer Society through the links above…

It’s not anything we get out of this, other than possibly a cure to one of the cancers, which just might save either yourself or someone you love (unless you’re a pilot and then it’s one in the same)…

Please hit one of the links above if you can even for $10… Let’s pull together and help make that $50,000 mark by the end of the month!!!

Thanks in advance, 
Old NFO

Now THIS is some agressive flying…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
Watch them kicking rudders and sawing the yoke through the FULL range of motion, it will give you some idea of how rough it is flying into a fire…



Male, female, young, old, these folks ARE professionals!  And lots of folks truly appreciate what they do!!!

h/t JP

Worth the read…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
Don’s got a post up HERE that is worth the read, even if it IS a few days past 9/11… 2977…

Any body that is both a Gunnie AND a Chef has a bunch to offer!!!

A Twofer!!!

Posted on by March 6, 2013
Today was a ‘good’ day (not counting work)…

I got a chance to go shoot and get fed a home cooked meal!!!  Yea me!

Julie from Jigsaw Thoughts was good enough to invite me out to shoot at her range this evening, and then I got to meet her family, and have a real homecooked dinner!  

We played with her 22/45, her 9mm 1911 and a little (and I DO mean little) .410 single shot shotgun.  They’ve got a nice little range, 10 bays, and they are BIG into IPSC over here.  

My sight picture and hers are just ‘slightly’ different, as everything I shot was about three inches left, but I’ve got to say that a full size 1911, shooting minimum power 9mm was just plain FUN!!!  There was almost no recoil! 

Dinner was lots of fun (and GOOD) too; and Miss 11 and Miss 9 are truly nice kids, but American/Aussie ‘English’ doesn’t always translate well…LOL  A couple of times I said something, only to get blank stares back…

Boot=trunk
Jumper=sweater
etc… sigh…

And whomever on GBC said I liked my steak ‘rare’, we need to talk…

Just sayin…

Well THAT was embarrassing…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
As usual I ‘failed open’ about 0400 this morning…  Stumbled into the bathroom, got water for instant coffee and was getting ready to take a shower.  

Next thing I hear is-

tock…
shuffle, scrape…

TOCK…

tock…

shuffle, scrape, slap, slap

TOCK…

okaywhatinthehell???

Now I’m on the THIRD floor of the Hilton in Adelaide, right…


tock…

slap, slap

TOCK…


So I go look out the window, and I see nothing but street.  But I feel a cold draft.  


tock…

shuffle, scrape, slap, slap, slap

“Oh BUGGER”


So I pull the SIDE curtain, and there is a SECOND window!!!

And there is a woman in tennis shorts, with tennis racquet, picking up a tennis ball about three feet from me…

She looks me up and down, smiles, and says, “Sorry love, hope I didn’t wake you!”   And walks off…

And I realize I’m standing there butt naked with a towel over my shoulder… Sigh…

So pro-tip, if you ever stay in the Hilton Adelaide, and end up on the third floor in even numbered rooms, REMEMBER there is a tennis court out your ‘window’… 

9/11…

Posted on by March 6, 2013

Today marks the 11th anniversary of 9/11, and I ask you to join me in remembering the innocent lives lost and the inspiring efforts of heroes from all walks of life who acted selflessly to help others.

Nearly 3,000 people died that day and thousands were injured. Most of us remember vividly where we were and what we were doing that fateful day. It was a time of great cooperation, solidarity, resolve and renewed patriotism.

CAPT Larry Getsfred, CAPT Jack Punches (USN Ret), AW1 Joe Pycior…

All died in the Pentagon on 9/11.

As we reflect and remember, also take a moment to pay tribute to our fallen comrades who after 9/11, fought to make sure that history did not repeat itself. More than 5,100 Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines have paid the ultimate price defending our nation in Iraq, Afghanistan and in pursuit of terror networks around the world. Many thousands more have come home wounded, maimed by IEDs or scarred with the mental trauma of combat.


September 11th was designated as Patriot Day, and it reminds us that one thing we all share is that we are Americans. We are patriots and citizens first, with shared values of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” as our Declaration of Independence states.

In times of challenge we rise up, and these are challenging times. The world is still a dangerous place and there is tremendous uncertainty ahead.  Our commitment to one another, our families and the nation can never waiver…

Posted from my iPhone.

Lather, rinse, repeat…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
Airport, hotel, meetings, airport, hotel, meetings, mandatory dinner, hotel…

Blogging from the van somewhere between Adelaide and Edinburg…

Go read the folks on the sidebar!

Maybe a real post later tonight or tomorrow. Sorry folks

Posted from my iPhone.

Light posting/commenting…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
Currently bouncing around various places in Aussie land…  Working all day, then flying to the next site.  I’ll get something up when I can.

Posted from my iPhone.

Random Road Stuff…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
Mobile hood ornament…  

I ‘thought’ it was a stick, until it walked across the hood as I was driving down the street!!!  It’s actually a Gecko…

And then the little s**t took a dump on my hood!  Sigh…

And I’ve seen some ‘strange’ pets over the years, but this one kinda takes the cake!

Yes, a ‘pet’ turkey hen.  It actually came running when the lady called it, and was eating out of her hand until I got too close, then it hissed at me (and the lady told me the hen ‘hates’ men)…

And no, they’re NOT fattening it up for Thanksgiving, it’s their ‘mascot’!

I had a little time (like 7 hours) to kill, so wandered over to the USO at LAX, and found this out back…

Donated, and VERY interesting statue! The detail is amazing, including individual feathers!!!

And chasing sunrise is always interesting… This one’s for you Brigid!

Only those who’ve spent hours in the air appreciate the true beauty of a sunrise over the ocean, where you still have stars shining ‘brightly’ in the deep blue of space with no light pollution, and the sun peaking over the horizon.  

And lastly, if you ever wondered how ‘big’ the A-380 really is, here’s a comparison!

That’s an A-319 in front, and the A-380 in back… That is a “BIG” damn airplane, carrying up to 500+ passengers…

And my tired ass is going to bed, it’s been a 29 hour ‘day’ to get here… 

CNN is NOT our friends…

Posted on by March 6, 2013
Sitting here watching CNN-Worldwide and they just did a huge hit piece on the Republicans and Tea Party…

They did everything but say outright the Tea Party/Republicans would put women back in the kitchen barefoot and pregnant, do away with the unions, and put the blacks back in slavery…

They used an old Bob Dole speech about how bad off the US was under Carter, but twisted it to be about Reagan’s presidency. And then said Reagan was “three parts optimism and one part nostalgia”!

They also accused the Tea Party of racism, wanting to return the US economy to the ‘dark days of the Depression’ just to get what they want and painted them as ‘radical’ Constitutionalists!

But there is ‘no’ bias in media…

Yeah, right!