History alive......

History came alive again yesterday at the Commemorative Air Force........the CAF. A large crowd was on hand to hear four WW II combat veterans of one of the greatest battles in American History, the Battle of the Philippine Sea, popularly known as the "Great Mariana's Turkey Shoot". This moniker describes what a complete rout was achieved over Japanese Air Power, American aviators shooting down close to 350 Japanese planes in just several days time.

What made yesterdays seminar so interesting was that these four men saw the battle from such different perspectives. One was a young officer on the submarine Cavalla which had screened the Japanese fleet and later singlehandedly sunk a large Jap aircraft carrier. After firing 6 torpedos at the Shokaku which later sank her, the Cavalla was depth charged for more than two hours by Japanese destroyers. Hearing this account from someone who was there was as dramatic as history gets! The Cavalla lives on still as a permanent history display docked in Galveston.

Another of the speakers had been an LSO [landing signal officer] on the carrier Lexington. Some amazing stories here too, like the mistaken attempted night landing by a Japanese Zero fighter plane. The Zero realized his mistake at the last moment and flew off into the night. One of the gentleman was a Naval fighter pilot who shot down several Japanese dive bombers, but his most tearful recounting came when he described his return at night, low on fuel, to his carrier. The order was given to the ships in the fleet to turn on their lights to guide the planes home, something not done in wartime operations. The joy the pilots felt seeing these searchlight beacons was so great that this veteran pilot still gets choked up when he talks about this over 60 years later.

The fourth member of the panel had been a gunner on a SBD dive bomber and got to watch the whole battle unfold while circling in a safe position away from the fleet 30 miles away. Not wanting to risk these planes staying on deck, the order had been given for them to launch and stay away from the action. This gentleman had, on a previous mission, been shot down over Truk Lagoon, was given a two week recuperation pass to Honolulu and then returned to his flying duties.

For one interested in aviation history, a more memorable experience could not be had. For those in Midland, you should try and attend these events, especially featuring these WWII veterans. These men were all in their early to mid 80's. Sadly they won't be around much longer.

In May, my good friend Joe Galloway will be the featured guest for a seminar on Vietnam helicopter aviation and the principal speaker for our Memorial Day program. Hope to see you there.

Act Naturally...

Country music legend Buck Owens is dead at the age of 76. Many people think of Buck first and foremost as the host and star of the corny but highly visible show, Hee Haw, which is sad. Buck was a forerunner of modern country music and originator, along with Merle Haggard, of the upbeat rockabilly Bakersfield sound. In fact Merle played bass in Owens first succesful band. His music influenced many famous recording artists including Emmylou Harris and the Beatles.

So long Buck thanks for the music, go get a Tiger by the Tail!

A picnic would be nice.....

In my younger days I used to relish cold weather. Now, two or three days of cold and gloomy weather like we've been having is about it for me. After my major surgery I find myself much less adaptable to the cold, or maybe the cold and wind. Perhaps too I'm just getting old. Nah, that couldn't be it.

But I do long for some warmer weather to soothe my soul. I can only harken back to today's Picture of the Day and remember the warmth of summer weather and a picnic with loved ones on the green grass of the estate. I too can remember when we had a nice yard with green grass for this picture was taken before D. Daphne Dog moved in. It's amazing how much damage a hyperactive canine can inflict on St. Augustine!

And a note here: I reserve the right to complain about the hot weather come August.

Roof Update:

1:05: I am sitting at home waiting for the representative of the roofing company from whom I got a bid last year. The roofing company who was supposed to be here last Friday afternoon. I called them this morning using my most bright and cheery voice to let them know that their man was a no show. The appointment today was for 1:00 o'clock. It is now 1:05. Dare they stand me up twice? More news later as it breaks.

1:30: Miracle of miracles, Brandon from Nxxxxxxx Roofing called to appologize for being late and is on his way to the estate. Can we dare hope that a solution is at hand for the roof?

1:40: Brandon arrives with no less than the owner of Nxxxxxxx Roofing. The word of my plight must be out. After a half an hour on the roof they descend with the joyful news that not only do we need repairs but really could do with an entirely new roof. Not a surprise to me really, but none the less hard to contemplate. Anyway they gave me a bid for repairs and one for a new roof.

1:45: I suddenly feel the need to go to bed!

My kingdom for a roof...

The last few days have been wonderful and a rarity in West Texas. A slow misting drizzle all day Saturday which is a God send for germinating grass and plants. Even the deluges of last night and again today were bearable for those of us with defective roofs because we know the ecosystem needed the moisture. Defective roofs do, however, take something away from the joy of rain.

Regular readers will be familiar with the travails of our roof here at the estate. A small leak gone malignant and turning the interior plaster in the den to mush. The interior repaired due to January visitors and a massive plastic sheet, sheets acutally, added to the roof to protect the repairs. So far with much alteration and attention this arrangement has worked fairly well, but a new roof without a Beverly Hillbillies effect would be nice. Not to mention cutting down on my worry during middle of the night downpours.

I admit I let the leak go too long without professional repairs but now that we're ready to go on that job, I have just one question. WHAT THE HELL IS THE MATTER WITH ROOFERS IN MIDLAND? I have only been able to get one bid, from a company who told me that they would be the highest, but the best. Fair enough, but prudence requires me to get at least one other estimate.

I did have one small company recommended to me and they came right out and promised to get a bid to me in a week and then do the work when the weather turned cooler. That was 9 months ago. I've called them 4 times since.....and still no bid. I next ran into an employee of the major roofer in town, owned by a friend no less, and this nice young man said he might do the job in "off hours" and he would be out the next day to offer a bid. No show, no bid.

Another company in Odessa was recommended by a neighbor. This company said that they would be in Midland the next week and would stop by to offer a bid. That was 3 weeks ago. So last week, in desperation, I called the original high bidder and said for them to come out and reassess the job and I would be ready to go. The estimator said he would be here last Friday or would call. I'm still waiting by the front door with my phone........

I would offer names here, but the Internet is a strange thing. With my luck one of these companies would see my mention of their dereliction and we will be blackballed from ever having roofing work done again. I suppose someone will finally make it out and do the job, I know the roofers are enjoying busy times, but I've never seen such shoddy business practices. It reminds me of the drilling business, where in bad times the drillers and service companies will be bringing donuts by the office every week begging for your business. Then when times do get busy, they won't return your calls.

Excuse me now, I hear thunder again so I've got to get up on the roof to check the plastic.

They say it's your birthday....

It's a birthday of sorts round about now. Not my natural birthday nor my AA birthday, but my Blog birthday. Streams is four years old this month. Actually I have been blogging since June of 2001 when I discovered Blogger and tried the format out starting as a place to record some of my dreams but then developing into a daily log for family and friends. Streams came later as the whole blogging culture blossomed and I decided to try my hand at it by building my own template. The rest is history. Some of my scribblings back then I find amusing and interesting now. I see on the Streams archives that four years ago this weekend I was doing exactly the same thing I am doing today. Cleaning up dust and leaves. Life is exciting in the fast lane!

Some fast computin'...

I finally got my new computer built and up and running. To say what a difference is putting it midly. The difference between a 1963 Chevy Nova and a Ferrari.

I had my friend Graylon of AGE Systems build it for me. I had in mind what I wanted, something very heavy into graphics and speedy, but not top of the Intel line speed so I got a 2.8 GHz processor which is fast enough for me. However, as I put in the order Graylon told me I could get a beefed up RAM for only $79 more than the 512 Mb I had envisioned. Beefed up meaning doubled at one full GB or RAM. We're cookin' with gas now.

Graylon was able to transfer all my files into Windows XP without any problems and many of my downloaded programs for which I had no discs. I did have to purchase a couple of my mainstay graphics programs like Paint Shop Pro, but at a discount since I had previously purchased them and this was not so bad a deal as most had been seriously upgraded since I had bought them years ago. The only drawback is that I now don't have the Microsoft office suite as I did have which means I'll have to fork over more dough to Bill Gates for the simple pleasures of Word and Excel©.

The main reason I was finally reconciled to get a new machine was that the old 1950's model Compaq was not really set up for broadband and networking. So, I got the new machine and the Brides networked through a router and we are now enjoying the speed of Grande.Com. Things are working well. I had to download a whole new software and driver bundle for my scanner to work with Win XP. A massive 38 Mb file which took only 10 minutes to receive. On dialup this would have taken all day.

I've been enjoying setting everything up on the new machine, finding nifty multimedia stuff Grayon stuck on for me and especially finding out that I could alter the entire look of the Windows XP system by changing the display to "Windows Classic". I didn't like the bright blue of the toolbars on XP and there is more viewable area using the "Classic". Besides I don't want to move into the 21st century too fast.

The Poultry Professor.....

Professor Robert C. Clark has died at age 84. Prof. Clark has undoubtedly had a profound influence on your life. He invented the chicken nugget and forever changed the landscape of eating habits for Americans, especially those under the age of 12.

Among other poultry based innovations were his invention of the chicken hot dog, a secret chicken barbeque sauce and various poultry cold cuts. Known as the "Edison of the poultry industry" Baker was inducted into the American Poultry Hall of Fame in January 2004 in recognition of his work in the agricultural industry.

Those that knew and worked with Prof. Clark said that alhough he was somewhat hen-pecked at home he was no dumb cluck and all in all he was a good egg.

Let's go fishing.....!

I am recently back from my annual fishing excursion with my fraternity brothers from Trinity University. This was our 31st annual "Let's go fishing" event. It had been since 2004 that I was able to participate. Last year, for the 30th anniversary, the group went to Costa Rica and by the pictures I saw, had a remarkable time. I was unable to go due to the recent surgery I had undergone at just months before the trip, but this year I was back among the fishermen.

I started going in the 80's when the group stayed at some modest little fishing cabins on the Colorado river in Bend Texas. Thankfully I was there only a couple of years before we graduated to accomodations more befitting our group. For the last 20 years we have been staying at the Carpenter Family Ranch on Greenwood Creek as pictured here. Ben Carpenter was a modest businessman in Dallas who owned such things at Southland Life Insurance Company and Las Colinas. He also has a freeway named after him. Greenwood is over 2000 acres on the river and has a gorgeous creek running next to the house. Mr. Carpenter died just weeks ago, so we are unsure of our continued use of his home, this may have been our swan song at Greenwood. It has been a perfect place to have a fishing reunion, centrally located and with serveral boats made available to us in addition to two full time cooks who lay on a mean spread at every meal.

The accomodations aside, it is a remarkable thing for us to have gone on the trip for all these years. The permanent group is comprised of 16 people with others having been in and out over the years. When we started going on the trip, some people had not even married yet and now they have grown children. We've watched each other age gracefully, mainly, but not without going through the trials of life with such things as divorces and alcoholism. Thankfully we now all seem to be on the gentle upward path and enjoying life. The event used to be a time for great revelry and some hard fishing hours, now we seem to enjoy taking hikes and talking. It's a great thing to arrive each year and start off once again like we had not even been apart. We even caught some fish this year!

Concussion C. Remorseful....

No one hates spammers more than I do, but I do wonder about these people. Where are they located and how do they think up the ridiculous names that appear in the "from" box. Perhaps they use this tool. And if you want to go into spamming you can use it too!

My spammer name is Concussion C. Remorseful.

Enter your name to get yours:

Oh Joy.....new tires!

Well I bought a new set of tires [tyres for UK readers] for the "silver bullet" today. I like the tires, they're very nice, but frankly if I'm going to shell out over $450 for something I'd prefer it perhaps not be something so, well utilitarian. You know, you wake up with tires on the car and you go to bed the same day with tires on the car, but suddenly you're out 450 bucks for the privelage.

I'm going on my annual frat brothers fishing trip this weekend, driving about 500 miles to and fro and the old ones were getting a little threadbare. The old models were Goodyear© Eagles and I was disappointed in the mileage that they had before they succumbed. They weren't terribly bad, but needed to be replaced. I know this because most of the time that the Bride and I went anywhere in my car she would point out the bad wear patterns with a look of concern on her face.

My vehicle has fairly wide rims so these tires were probably a little bit more than the average tire and even at that I eschewed the Goodyears in favor of the slightly more inexpensive B.F. Goodrich's. But still, $450. I still think tires ought to cost around $50 each. The salesman laughed.

12 years today...

I have been clean, sober and alcohol free for 12 years today. Such a miracle and another chance at life. There is a passage in the "AA Big Book" which says, "we do not wish to forget the past, neither do we dwell on it". Indeed. There is not a day that goes by that I do not remember what five years in hell is like and with gratitude in my heart I intend not to repeat it.

Thanks to all those who have made a difference over the years.......

Master Mechanic......

I received a call today from friend Jim Edwards at Chaparral Racing saying that they were stumped with a compression problem on one of their Pennzoil Indy cars and would I have a look. So out I went. First I had them strip the body covers and pull the engine. Then it was a simple matter of adjusting the boost level on the dweezle valve with a torque wrench. A piece of cake.

And if you belive that..... Actually I was out at Chaparral Racing for a visit and Jim was dismantling the car for some major maintenance. He asked me about how the work was going on the Bride's Yellow Bug [note: work? what work] and the discussion turned to how hard it is to work on one's own personal vehicle these days. Jim admited that he has to take his own vehicle in to the shop just to have the spark plugs changed. Here's a guy who can completely strip and rebuild an Indy car, but doesn't have the time nor patience to change his own plugs. Something's wrong with that picture. And that would be the amount of crapola that automotive engineers stick in ever smaller engine compartments. Remind me to tell you how they had to take the front end of my car apart just to change the battery. On second though, please don't, it brings back bad memories.

Saturday postscript: amazingly we were notified today that the Bride's Yellow Bug is fixed and ready to be picked up on Monday. I had said I believed that the problem was either a broken oil pump of clogged oil line. It was the later. So, the Bug had bypass surgery and hopefully all is well. At least until we get the bill.

Daily report....

It has been a busy week, not so much productive, as just busy with the realities of life. First, the vaunted Yellow Bug of the Bride developed a problem wherein it has no oil pressure. Fearing the worst if driven I trailed it in to one of the very few local shops that works on VW's where it sits even as I write. We have been sharing my auto or taking turns with it. How people in the prehistoric days of my childhood survived on one family car I can't recall, but it's amazing that there were not more acts of family violence involving cars back then.

Actually the car situation would be worse if not for our other problem of the week, a flu sticken child. Young Jack became very ill last Saturday and for safety sake he has been kept home, which has also kept the Bride home more than usual.

I'm glad to report that Jack is doing better, but was kept home again today because of a bad cough. I knew he was feeling better when I came home for lunch to check on things and found him ironing in his underwear while watching TV. You heard correctly, ironing in his underwear. His Mother's clothes no less. At least he had switched channels after four days of watching ESPN and was watching something educational. The Game Show Channel. We did, however, get to spend some quality time together watching a live car chase in L.A. on CNN.

One more day out of school for Jack, perhaps we'll get the Yellow Bug back and all will be back to abnormal normal.