Things From my Childhood Series

Writing occasionally on the pages of this blog is fun, sort of, and I thought it might be beneficial to write about my childhood.  My kids might even laugh about some of this stuff someday, so why not document it before I reach an age where my memory is so poor that I cannot share it?  On that note, I have decided to document glimpses of my life and past here.  So here are a couple of stories from my past, and I hope to post more of them as I recall them.


That Joshua Tree with the bottle caps in it:  My dad and I used to make regular trips to the high desert to ride dirt bikes, shoot and generally fart around out in the desert.  He and I both enjoy being away from urban sprawl and the high desert has a certain appeal.  We used to load the bikes up in his 1974 Chevy truck (which ended up being my first vehicle) and head out past Victorville, California.  There is an exit off of I-15 for Stoddard Wells Road and, a bit farther on, a second exit with the same title (the one past Denny's).  We used to exit the 15 at that second exit, and park near a Joshua tree that provided almost no shade.  We would ride from there and return periodically to the truck to rest, eat, or to have something to drink.  Over the years, my dad would occasionally flip bottle caps from his soda pop or beer up into that tree.  He even commented once about how many might be up in there.  We were, after all, in the middle of the desert, and there wasn't much out there to disturb the tree.


One weekend, we made a trip out to the desert with a friend of my dad's from work, or maybe it was a friend's son, I'm not sure.  I was still riding a little Yamaha YZ-80 at the time, and the acquaintance that was with us commented on how well I was riding.  My dad complimented me as well, and I asked him if I was riding better than him; he admitted that he thought I was indeed a bit better than him at it.  I recall asking him at least one more time later if I was really better than him at riding; he was puzzled by the fact that I was fixated on that and I said, "Well Dad, it's a big deal; I've never been better than you at anything before!"


We had many good times out there in the high desert.  A couple of years ago I looked on the internet and was able to see the subject Joshua tree on either Google Earth or maybe Google Maps; it was still there and I wondered if it still had any of my dad's bottle caps in it.

Respect, A Dying Trait in America?

"These kids today, I tell you what..."  How many times has that been said by every generation in America?  Probably too many to count.  I do believe, however, that the kids today have outpaced previous generations' youth in their complete lack of respect for, well, just about everything.  Who's to blame?  The kids?  Their parents?  Our declining public education system?  Hollyweird?  I say, all of the above.

Children today are literally bombarded by bad examples of behavior.  Compare today's "role models" with those of yesteryear.  As a child, my role models were guys like Neil Armstrong, Chuck Yeager, and my dad.  Who do kids today have to look up to?  Professional athletes are  habitually in trouble with drugs, the law and all manner of other unsavory things.  Musicians?  Please!  Most modern entertainers can't even spell "role model."  Youth role models of today are best known for their latest brushes with the law, trips to rehab, or sex tapes.  What about the examples set by their parents?

I'm well aware of the fact that there are plenty of great parents out there, but the number of worthless parents seems to be spiraling upward at an alarming rate.  When is the last time that you saw a parent discipline a child in public?  Many are fearful of reprisals from busybodies and law enforcement personnel.  Others just cannot be bothered to teach their kids right from wrong.  How can we expect a kid to grow up into a good man or woman if their parents are lowlife scumbags?  Schools are no better these days either.

Most public schools seem to have completely abandoned the idea of disciplining students who misbehave.  If a child is not being disciplined at home, and their teachers don't bother to discipline them when they act out, take a wild guess as to how that kid will turn out as an adult.

Media outlets are plastered with examples of our youth's lack of morals.  Take a look at the "occupy movement."  All of those encampments were dens of crime, drugs, and all manner of filth.  Most of the participants were misguided young adults with a twisted sense of entitlement.  Where are they getting this sense of entitlement?  They're being taught at every level of education that they can rely on the government to take care of their every need, and a free ride is only a vote away.  Thank you, higher education.

All of this is nothing new, but most of us go about our daily business without any real sense of alarm about this trend.  I don't know what the solution is, but an examination of what our kids are being taught in school is a good first step.  Since there are absolutely no repercussions for being a worthless parent, that fight will probably never be won.  I'd be interested in your ideas; fire away in the comments section.

Another List: Rude Things People Do

There is currently no shortage of rude people on this planet, but we are, unfortunately, prohibited from removing them from the gene pool.   Somewhere along the way, being polite has become passe, particularly among our youth.  I was discussing rude people with a friend of mine the other day and came up with a list of stupid things that rude people do.  Here's a few of the contenders.

Driving while yammering on their cell phone.  This one drives me nuts (no pun intended).  These clowns routinely cause traffic accidents, compound congestion, cut other drivers off, drive too slow/fast, weave all over the damned place, and generally drive like the morons that they are.  I haven't decided if their habit of endangering others is due to arrogance, or just stupidity, but it certainly is rude.  My wife and I saw a gentleman with a handwritten sign in his car window that read, "Get off of your damned phone and drive, a$$hole!"  To him I say, "Bravo!"

Parents that let their undisciplined offspring act like amphetamine-fueled heathens in public. You know which kids I'm talking about--The ones that run loose in restaurants and pester other patrons, the ones that scream or talk ceaselessly in movie theaters (usually along with their alleged parents), the ones that kick the back of your seat on the plane...the list goes on forever.  The parents of these little future welfare recipients pay absolutely no attention to the kids' behavior, or they offer, at most, a halfhearted, "oh, stop; don't do that," once in a while.  If, after putting up with their kids' unacceptable behavior for a while, you dare to say something to the parent, the parent will almost certainly act offended, defensive, and almost accusatory in their rabid defense of their little angel.  It's a shame that these people were allowed to breed.


Mothers pushing strollers down the middle of the street.  I haven't figured out if giving birth to a child causes a mother to suffer from a certain type of selective blindness or not, but they seem incapable of noticing and making use of the perfectly good sidewalks that line their residential neighborhoods.  Roads are meant for driving on; it's annoying as can be to have to stop or drive like I'm negotiating an obstacle course because one or more mothers has decided to push their offspring down the middle of the street in their ridiculously elaborate strollers.  These pinheads often engage in this rude behavior in pairs (or more), walking two or three abreast down the middle of the road.  Did they not pay attention to their own parents as kids?  Try rolling down your window and politely asking them to use the sidewalk; you will almost certainly get a disapproving scowl from these self-important dolts, combined with some sort of weak excuse like, "All six of us can't walk next to each other on the sidewalk!"  They need to get the hell over themselves and stay out of the street.

Shoppers that leave their unattended cart/buggy in the middle of the aisle. The aisles in our local supermarket are not very wide as it is; when some inconsiderate person leaves their cart in the middle of it, the aisle becomes all but impassable.  Granted, it might take them an extra couple of seconds to push it to the side of the aisle, but that doesn't seem like an unreasonable expectation to me.  These folks act as if they are the only ones entitled to shop that day.  Sometimes, I'm tempted to grab the cart and park it on a different aisle; the oblivious shopper probably wouldn't notice.

Shoppers that don't know why the frozen food section has glass doors.  Have you ever seen a shopper standing in the frozen food aisle of the supermarket with a glassy-eyed look on their face, holding the glass freezer doors open for minutes at a time?  Have you ever tapped them on the shoulder and said, "Hey, do you know why the door is glass?  It's so you can decide what you want before you open the door."  If you've ever said that, you've undoubtedly had the shopper respond by looking at you like you have a penis growing out of your forehead.  They don't comprehend that the door stays fogged up for half an hour after their confused effort to pick out a TV dinner has ended; they probably don't care either, because they're rude and inconsiderate of others.


People that don't pick up after their dogs.  This one has been around for as long as people have had pets.  Most people that walk their dogs will carry a plastic bag, or some other method or device for picking up after their dog when it craps on somebody's lawn (those in rural areas obviously don't need to bother with such things).  A growing number of people don't bother with such distractions and just leave their mutt's droppings wherever they happen to land.  I'd like to follow a few of those folks home, squat over the hood of their car, and take a dump on it.


These are just a few examples of the things that rude people do.  Got any examples of your own?

Marine Snipers Pose with Nazi SS Logo

The subject photograph depicts some Scout Snipers from Recon posing with an objectionable flag in the background.  The font used is unfortunate, and the fact that all of these Marines claim to not have known what it represents is indeed sad.  In their eyes, SS stands for Scout Sniper.  The logo, however, means something entirely different to those that are moderately informed about world history.

Our Commandant took one for the team and addressed this issue head on, but it's a sorry state of affairs when we're in a situation that requires him to do this (Article Here).

Some have said that our military should take greater steps to educate our personnel about such issues.  I have to ask the stupid question:  What the hell is going on in our (now politically correct) schools?  Is it so out of fashion to teach the truth that our young adults don't know about Nazi Germany, or what they did during WWII?

I worry that one day, we will have to stop using terms such as, "warrior," "war fighter," "kill," "destroy," and the list goes on.  We're in a hard business, and we require hard men (and women) to do this business.  As much as we want to make warfare more pleasant, it never will be.  Will our concern over who we offend affect our readiness?  

I'm certainly not defending the use of the subject flag, but I do question the need for such a high level investigation, and the shaping of operations based on feelings. 

In the mean time, a hearty salute goes out to our CMC for handling this in a professional manner.  The uproar, hopefully, will subside and we can re-focus on the threats ahead.

Defense Cuts: Military Retirees In the Crosshairs Again

As our military faces deep, possibly crippling cuts, those that have spent the better part of their adult lives serving our nation are, once again, being targeted.

SecDef Leon Panetta outlined his plan for saving dollars and many are concerned that it will adversely affect our defense capabilities and readiness.  He centered on the fact that draw-downs would  keep our forces above pre-9/11 levels, but not by much.

In addition, "the Pentagon recommended an increase in health care fees, co-pays and deductibles for retired military members."  Really?  I'm sure that a few stuffed suits will argue that this is smart business because it won't have any effect on readiness.  I disagree, and here's why:  Retirement benefits are incentives that directly affect long term retention of quality personnel.  If retention suffers, readiness will suffer. Get it?

It's not rocket science, but this sort of thing sure seems to be beyond the grasp of those holding the purse strings.
Article here

Wikipedia to Go Dark. Who Cares?

I came across an article that informed me of Wikipedia's intent to "blackout" for a day in protest of some pending asinine legislation that many search engines and online providers of various media are in opposition to.  To this announcement I say, "Well then, I guess lazy students and bloggers everywhere will have to use real references and sources for a day!"  (article here)  Perhaps I'm missing out on the significance of this event, but I think the sun will still rise tomorrow without this glorified social media site being up and running.  Well, there could be some entertainment value to this; we'll see...

UPDATE: It seems that our elected tormentors have had a brief moment of clarity and have abandoned (for now) their efforts to pass idiotic and freedom-stomping SOPA legislation (article here). I do, however, doubt that Wikipedia is the source of this rare dose of common sense.  There are far better ways to get the word out than by adopting an "I'll show you!  I'll take my ball and go home!" approach.  Other, more realistically managed websites simply encouraged patrons to contact their legislators.  THAT is what got the attention of our slimy politicians.  Hollyweird's tantrums bore no fruit...this time.  

Comments on Marines Urinating on Taliban Bodies

I watched the video that allegedly shows Marines urinating on dead Taliban bodies.  My initial reaction was, "You guys are idiots; I can't believe you filmed that crap."  What those Marines did was wrong, but the words "mountain" and "mole hill" come to mind right now.    The incident is being investigated, and those responsible will be punished accordingly. 


The emotion-based condemnation of these Marines is off the mark.  Representative Allen West weighed in and I agree with him on a couple of points (article here).  He initially states in his letter that what the Marines did was wrong; I agree with that.  He also points out that there is a double standard in the media (and D.C.) by asking where all of the outrage was when American bodies were mutilated by our enemies; I agree with him on that, but I don't believe that the blatant media bias in any way lessens what has been done. 

What do I think should be done about the incident?  First off, let me say that the actions of these Marines is not in keeping with the high standards that we set for members of our Corps.  Beyond that, I say let their command handle the situation with appropriate punishment and let's get our eye back on the ball.  

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!  It's a beautiful fall day here in North Carolina, and I'll be frying a big ole bird soon.

Relocating to The South

My family and I have just relocated from Okinawa, Japan, to Eastern North Carolina.  We spent some time on leave in California in order to visit family, followed by a circuitous drive across the nation.  I've made some interesting observations during our transition.  I used to think that people in America were very rude compared to the people of Okinawa; that belief was effectively dashed upon driving through and settling back into The South.  


Folks on the coast of California met my expectations:  Rude, impatient, and linguistically challenged (family and friends didn't seem to fall into this category).  As we worked our way eastward, we met more folks that made me ashamed of the fact that I'm from California. 


When we got to The South, we were reminded of why we liked it here so much in the past; the people are really that much nicer.  If you look at someone on the sidewalk, they say hello.  If you slow down and ask someone for directions, they help you out, and might even give you directions to their competition's place of business.  The folks in the restaurants don't care that you sound different; they go out of their way to help you and make your meal pleasant.  Many of the things I've seen here would be met with anger or violence on the Left Coast.  It made me thankful that my parents raised me the way that they did (Neither of them are from California).


I have to say that our moving to North Carolina has reinforced my belief that California is a terrible place to live.  Even with a huge hurricane on the way, this place is just so pleasant that it sneaks up on you.  Coming from the jungles of Okinawa, the bugs here aren't even that bad.

I typed this out when we first got here, and it holds true today. 

Typhoon Damage Stuff

Here's a few shots of the damage from the typhoon...Luckily, we escaped any damage to our home.  We watched a few patio covers get torn away and, as you can see above, there's a few trees uprooted and broken.