Armed Forces Day 2013 Reply
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Leviathan: Unguided and Out of Control 4
I'm going to cut Barack Obama a bit of slack here. Surprised? Don't be, he's not going to thank me for it. You see Obama reminds me of every person I've ever known who got a job he hadn't earned and had no conception of how to do it. Combine that with a kid that never had to take responsibility for anything and you have our empty suit of a president.
I do not often reblog from others posts but this is a great one to make the exception for. My friend NEO has nailed the Obaminator and his crew with logic and their own words. Thanks my friend!
Our Homeless Days are Over 10
For my regular readers, I must apologize about the lack of new content recently. Work has been very busy and we have spent most of our free time doing all the chores needed to prove to the bank that we shouldn’t remain homeless. Considering how many of my brother and sister veterans remain homeless, I consider my self to be very blessed.
We have moved about twenty times in the past 32 years which is pretty incredible if you think about how many moves that truly is. I think the worst period was somewhere in the middle when we moved from Seattle to Hawaii to Scotland and on to Norfolk VA in less than 4 years.
Our new house is in the country with a rolling hill setting and a little pond in the corner. I suppose its not much compared to some, but for us it is a great chance to start over for hopefully the last time. Angus the dog has been for one visit and we are hoping he adjusts to the stairs.
He had never even seen stairs in the inside of a house prior to where we are staying now so it came as a bit of a shock.
Did I mention we are in the country? During one of our early visits, we saw a ten point buck run across the lower end of the lot. A few days ago when I went to let the locksmith in the house I got there just in time to see the blue heron fly away from the pond. I also stopped at the nearby hardware store for a few of what I am sure will be many supplies and met the local security guy named Bob.
Bob is a brindle bulldog and very laid back. I think we are going to get along just fine.
Next door were a few bison and the male seemed somewhat upset that the other two were not stampeding. By the time I left, they were.
Lots of work to do. The pool is closed for the winter and we are putting a new coat of paint and fresh carpets inside. But we are both excited about the possibilities. I will finally have enough wall space to put up all the plaques and pictures from all those years sailing the seven seas. We even have a zombie room which is a lot more fortified than I had hoped it would be.
One of the plaques will be from my days thirty years ago on the USS San Francisco (SSN 711). I am proud of all my boats but she will always have my best memories overall.
Great crew, great ship. But as I read the news this morning, I saw she is in Korea helping monitor the crazy guy up in Pyongyang. God be with you guys as you sail in a ship that was built with dedicated hands. She has been maintained and repaired through many troubled times. I hope you don’t have to do anything other than just monitor. But I also know you will do your job with integrity and pride.
Me, I will be picking up some more supplies this weekend under Bob’s watchful eye. I’ll say a few prayers too. I am looking forward to country life and will not take kindly to anyone who screws that up.
Mister Mac
Address to a Haggis Reply
From 1961 – 1992, two cultures were given the opportunity to live side by side and learn from each other at a place called Holy Loch Scotland
The locals taught the incoming Yanks how to eat Fish and Chips, the right way to drink Scotch, and a wee bit about the old ways. The Yanks brought Rock and Roll, Blue Jeans, and an insatiable hunger for life.
I can't believe another year has gone by so quickly! Today is a special day in the eharts of all true Scots and their long lost relatives. Happy Birthday once again Robert Burns. Thanks to all who have stopped in along the way. Lang May Yer Lum Reek
Gun Culture, Assault Weapons and Obama, Oh My Reply
Maybe its time to clarify a few things, not that anybody is paying much attention to rationality at the moment. A neighbor of mine, Nebraskattitude posted this, this morning. She's pretty much right, fair warning she's blunt and a bit of her language is off-color, which bothers me not at all. Enjoy and then we'll talk.
Born On The 4th Of July…With…
Some red meat from a red state.
1913 was a very unlucky year – an entire country lost its freedom Reply
As we opened the new year (2013) I was thinking about how precarious life has become in this new age. A majority of the voters thought enough of Obama to reelect him last year. It would seem that there is a broad spectrum of support for taxing other people in the interest of "fairness". The same seems to be their desire when it comes to spreading the healthcare costs to other people even in the face of doing so at a cost of people's belief's and individual freedom.
I want to wish you a happy new year. Really, I do... but I can't seem to shake the feeling that this one won't be quite so happy for most of us.
Happy Hogmanay 3
The Scots invented many things over the years that have proven quite useful to mankind. The list of inventions and innovations is enough to make your head spin, so suffice it to say that they were (and are) a very clever people. See more here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_inventions_and_discoveries
One of my favorite inventions though is the Celebration of Hogmanay. There are many legends of how the celebration came about.
Happy New Year to all of my friends ...
2012 in review Reply
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
4,329 films were submitted to the 2012 Cannes Film Festival. This blog had 39,000 views in 2012. If each view were a film, this blog would power 9 Film Festivals
Merry Christmas 1
I wish you the joy of the season.
Joy that there are still places in the world where people are free.
Joy that men and women are still willing to put their lives on the line this day to make sure you can celebrate in peace with your family.
Joy that the Birth of the Baby Jesus gives hope to a broken world.
Joy that the light of salvation shines brighter than all of the dark and evil forces of this world.
In a few days, the work to save this One Nation Under God will begin again. Until then,
Joy to the World.
Mister Mac
Joy, Joy, Joy
Words seem so inadequate today 5
Just when it seems like society can’t throw you a curve worse than the last senseless tragedy, something inexplicable happens to show how wrong you can be. I was born after the Second World War so all of the horrors I write about in my stories are nothing more than what I imagine they would be. Burning ships that are trying to survive a kamikaze attack, cities on fire form unseen bombers, torpedoes slicing through the dark night to crush the hulls of a barely seen enemy are all just words on a page.
What could be more innocent though than to be in a first grade classroom at 9:00 in the morning a few weeks before Christmas. The hand made decorations are hung around the room and staying focused on the alphabet and numbers teacher shares has to be hard. Lunch seems so far away and fidgeting doesn’t make the class go any faster. I wasn’t a very good student. I am sure my first grade teacher was sorely tested every single day.
Adults are supposed to protect us. Our little lives are precious and we haven’t even felt the first taste of all the joy and sadness the world has to offer. At six years old, our bones are brittle and even the smallest fall results in one of those plaster casts that we spend the next six weeks hating. All the names in the world don’t quell the scratching and if we are unlucky enough to have it happen in summer, it really itches.
But casts come off. Feelings heal. Patience is learned.After close to six decades on this rolling blue ball I can honestly say I have had a fantastic ride through it all. Nearly 232 changes of seasons and visits to over 650 cities and towns around the world. Wonderful friendships that have been packaged neatly between loves and loves lost. Like many, I have experienced the pain of disappointing someone close to me and the indescribable joy of overcoming that failure.
Life is precious. It rewards us with hugs after a really crappy time in our life. Seeing a smile from someone close after you sing in a church choir that says how proud they are of you. Sharing tears over a short term failure only to see the sun shine through soon enough as you realize it wasn’t meant to be since it would have stood in the way of something more important.
The angels came down to earth yesterday to take home the tiny and the great. I can only imagine how beautiful the cherubs singing had to have been to mask the wailing and crying of those left behind. The white pure light had to have been more brilliant than a million burning stars so that each would be blinded from the stained schoolroom and the agony on each face. As they entered Heaven’s gate, they were immediately surrounded by uncounted millions of fluttering wings covered with love from so many precious ones who had arrived before.
No earthly understanding can ever make sense of what just happened. No man made laws will change the evil that encouraged its execution. Unlike a natural death, no amount of time will heal this wound.
Ten years ago I survived a massive heart attack and was within a short distance of meeting my angel face to face. I have often thought over the past ten years how lucky I was to be spared and see so many more things in this world. After the events of the past few days, I am not so sure that being spared was a favor. If it were possible to take the place of just one of those children, I would gladly have done so.
I pray for all of you that you can find peace in your hearts and I ask that you pray for me too if that is your custom.
Mister Mac
