In his Father's Footsteps

Today my eldest grandson started his student enlistment in the New York Air National Guard. He starts his monthly drills soon and will attend basic training in San Antonio this summer after he graduates from high school. His father, a four year AF vet, was on the flightline at Edwards AFB in the late 1980's servicing fighter jets.

We are so very proud of him. He will be a full time member of the NYANG assigned to security once he completes his advanced training, probably late this year. As an MP I think he will be pursuing a career in LE, like his grandpa.

Okay, I'm Back

It's been almost ten weeks now. Just didn't feel like posting. Really ... I still don't. Too depressing to go into the news. It's like the America Mass Media has dropped it's draws and shown the world its ass. Fox News, go to bed. You throw a babe on the screen with nice teeth and tatas to read your crap and we're supposed to believe them.

 It's One America News from now on.

Idiots running amok in the streets and the police standing around with their thumbs permanently inserted up their - you know. When is the head busting and teeth bashing going to start?

American warships have been turned into bumper cars.

Obama's administration is like a curse that must be exorcised, ObamaCare ain't going away soon it seems despite what the lying RINOs have been promising for seven years..

There haven't been any additions to the US Border Patrol staffing but at least the flood has been diminished.

Europe is falling apart, piss on 'em. They should have known better than to let those savages in.

But I did like Trump's address last night. We are finally on a true war footing. I would like to see how the ROE have changed also. Killing assholes, busting their stuff and preventing resupply/recruitment is great strategery.

I rediscovered Twitter but that's just as goofy as anything else.

So here's what I did.
I am Mom's executor so I am putting together her estate. Fortunately we liquidated almost all of of her assets before she passed so there isn't much to probate. Last month we buried her ashes with Dad in the Calverton National Cemetery on eastern Long Island.

Then the next week the wife and I were up to Raquette Lake in the Adirondacks and I went fishing every day. Didn't catch much but don't care. My daughter and SIL also spent the week at another cabin close by. Our oldest daughter and her kids also dropped by and spent a day and night with us.

I have bought two new fishing rods/reels, some tasty lures and got a new tackle box for Father's Day. The old box  (25+ years old) smelled like nasty feet. I should get my collapsible rod in the mail today. I haven't done much fishing in a long time and got a lot of catching up to do.

I have been taking my 7 yr old grandson fishing. He's turned into a fanatic. I just wish he'd stop talking for ten minutes, but fishing and juice boxes do go well together. I wear my San Angelo TX cowboy hat when I fish.

There are huge carp in Onondaga Lake and I wanna get one. They pulled a 47 pounder out a few years ago. This October there is a carp contest on the lake that draws international attention. I have been thinking of getting a small boat but there's no where to store it on our property. Still, I am cruising Craig'sList and other boat sale sites. Maybe my SIL will let me keep it on the side of his house... End of fishing stuff.

I finally fixed the water damage to our bedroom ceiling. Had to cut out a large section but it looks great. Now to repaint all the bedrooms and install carpeting for our new bedroom set. We're thinking of selling the house and getting something smaller. We have a three story, 4 bedroom house, 3000 square feet heated, located on a steep hill and I'm not getting any younger.

We're not sure about leaving NY. We love our church and all our friends and grandkids are here. Thinking about building an in-law apt or add-on when the middle daughter buys a house, then getting something very small in NC. Decisions, decisions.

Army girl is now in Germany for six weeks. Thank God, we thought she was going to Iraq but her bosses changed her assignment. She loves her work in the KNG but the 8 hour drive to Lexington once a month is hard. Our youngest daughter leaves for Paris in late September to do a jewelery show for her boss. I've warned her to stay with lots of sane people because Paris is full of savages who should have stayed in their third world shitholes.

Just before we left MD in mid June I was going through some of Mom's stuff before it goes to Goodwill and I found my Dad's old wooden shoe shine box. Starting when I was about 10 years old he would have me shine his shoes for work every evening after dinner. That was almost 60 years ago. For some stupid reason I have been thinking about that box for decades, ever since he died in 1990. It still has polish and his brushes in it. Mom kept it with her. I got it now in my bedroom.

That's all for now. Thanks for sticking with me!

On The Road

We're in Maryland today visiting my sister and her husband, getting ready to leave to North Carolina this afternoon. It's amazing how much greener it gets just six hours south of Upstate New York. We'll be gone for almost three weeks. We left Syracuse yesterday morning and had a great six hour trip, very little traffic, no delays, rain or snow.

I managed to pack some of my tools as our daughter has a "honey-do" list ready for us in NC. The tools and my MIL's vanity (stored in our basement since her dad sold the house) has the Explorer loaded to the gunnels.

Saw my mom last night. Very discouraging to see how fast she is failing. This may be the last time we get to see her. She has dementia but I think she knows the end is very near; thankfully all our daughters and grand  kids will be in Maryland over the next two weeks to see her.

A very bitter sweet vacation.

Inaugural Parade

We're visiting my sister and her husband in Maryland on our way to North Carolna to stay with our daughter. Had a good trip from NY with just a few glitches and enjoyed a great dinner last night with them and my niece and nephews. Found out that my oldest grandnephew will be marching in Trump's inaugural parade next week. He is so excited. Everyone in his family (my sister and her husband of course) will be there as Trump walks from the Capitol to the White House.

He and his brother are such great kids. Their mom home schools them and they are quite the pair; these young men are very, very smart.

We leave for NC this morning.

New Arrival

This is my newest grandson, Wayne, only 3 days old. 

He was born last Wednesday. Look at this kid.

Except for the typical birth canal zucchini head, he was born perfect.

Thank the Lord - Mom and baby are doing fine, they should be coming home today.

The cats are gonna freak.

Raquette Lake

We're going away for a little bit to a beautiful upstate location, Raquette Lake, in the Adirondacks. My daughter and her husband have rented a cottage on the lake and have invited us to stay with them.  We did this last year and will stay a little longer this week.

Yes, there is fishing. Our SIL's extended family has vacationed there for decades. They have an annual fishing derby every year.

Last summer our daughter won the derby (she landed a 16.25" trout) and the right to keep the cheesy award plaque for the past year. She will fight to retain the title. I wasn't even an honorable mention.

Say what you will about NY, it is a gorgeous state - the Adirondacks are a treasure.

Just try to ignore the thieving politicians for a few days, if you can.


See you later.

Captain Ironman

My grandson

My kitchen

*sigh*

Not positive, but I think he's wearing a Spider Man shirt under the Capt. America jersey.
His older brother was into Walker Texas Ranger.
I mean really into Walker Texas Ranger.
Like Calvin and Stupendous Man into.
He scared his mother. Tried to go to school in a three-piece suit, cowboy boots and six gun.
*rummaging around*
Now where's that picture?

Happy Mothers' Day

This is a thirty something year old picture of my wife and her mom taken a year or two after we were married.

Two great ladies. Her mom died 13 years ago and she is missed greatly.
I am greatly blessed to have had both these women in my life.

We're Just About Done

Welp, the bathroom and living room are done.

The Barbi Bathroom Before -

During and After- (oops, forgot to include new pics)

Texas is Gorgeous!

Springtime in Texas is truly something else. We got into San Anglo late Tuesday night, rested up Wednesday and then drove to San Antonio on Thursday. We got there in the midst of their annual fiesta celebrating another celebration called the Battle of the Flowers. It's a gigantic parade with vendors, thousands and thousands of people everywhere, bands, restaurants and of course the Alamo. And the food. Good grief.

The San Antonio River Walk is extraordinary. Our favorite restaurant is a place called Boudro's. On Thursday I had their Shrimp and Grits which was outstanding... and the best bread pudding evah. I had steak the next night.

Boudro's is on the right bank of the canal.

We went to a dueling piano bar called Howl at the Moon that night. The pianists put on quite a show. The next day was more shopping and gawking. My pins aren't the best since my knees gave out and even with the replacements, to walk as much as I did those two days was quite a chore.

We left San Antonio on Saturday and stopped at Fredericksburg on the way back to San Angelo. The girls went shopping while my son-in-law Wayne, my daughter's boyfriend, Rick, and I went to the Pacific War Museum. Adm. Nimitz is from Fredericksburg and there are three museums that cover his life and WWII.  We just saw the Pacific War Museum but it was extremely interesting.

We also stopped at the Wildseed Farms and saw acres and acres of red poppies and bought some flower seeds. Now if the deer will only let them grow.

Red poppies almost as far as the eye could see. It went on for several hundred yards beyond the camera range. They had all sorts of beautiful garden plants.

We went to church on Sunday morning and afterwards, off we went to the gun range. It's Texas, doncha know.

Danielle bought her Sig Sauer and her Glock. Her boyfriend, Rick, is also an E6 and a big Sig Sauer guy, he had five of them. I shot them all. It was like 9mm heaven. Okay, he also had a Sig .45 1911 which I adored (got me thinking about another pistol acquisition!).  Another Sgt. from their unit met us at the range and brought his collection of firearms with him.Throw in a shotgun, an AR15, a WWII M1 Garand (made in 1944), a 22 cal. MP5 and another 22 cal. single action cowboy revolver and my day was complete.

 Rick made his own steel plate targets; goes "ping" when ya hit 'em and the 6" plate dances.

Unfortunately I started a head cold Monday night and by Tuesday night it was in full bloom. We left Wednesday morning at 0436 and the day was a blur. Little sleep for almost a week and the cold meds kept me groggy. Then three flights to get home fraught with delays because of bad weather. We got home at 1800 and I dropped onto the couch at 1830; woke up at 2130. Back to bed at 2330. Felt better this morning.

It was a truly great vacation. The weather was great, mid to upper 80's every day and it only rained at night. Hardly a cloud in the sky. Just beautiful. We got back to dreary Syracuse - clouds and low 50's. Had to put my sweats back on this morning after a week of shorts and t-shirts.

As I mentioned in the previous post, Danielle is leaving the Army next January and is trying to join a National Guard unit in Kentucky. Rick is also pondering whether or not he will stay. They are both Arab linguists, their MOS is no longer in demand (actually overstaffed in the Army's estimation) and positions are being cut. From what they are going through, it appears that the Army is trying to get rid of them. Both Danielle and Rick have 8 years of service with two deployments to Afghanistan apiece. Rick has a Purple Heart. These are the people you'd think the Army wants to keep.

Going To Texas

The wife and I as well as one of our daughters and her husband are flying to San Angelo, TX, this afternoon - going to see our Army brat. It's almost a family reunion. We hear Texas is beautiful this time of year and finally we'll see for ourselves. We'll also spend a few nights in San Antonio. My bride is all excited... I just don't enjoy the hassle of flying; I would rather drive to Texas.

After eight and a half years she has decided to leave the Army and will be done next January.She was considering a career but her MOS apparently is no longer critical (Arab translator) and no one in her field is receiving promotions. She likes being a SIGINT instructor at Goodfellow but the Army won't keep her there like they said they would when she got the job. Instead they were going to send her on some crap assignment to Florida - she declined and now she is not allowed to re-enlist for a year. She's looking for a reserve or NG unit to join instead. In any event, she won't be returning to NYS and I don't blame her.

We'll return home late next week so I don't think I'll be posting much, if at all, for a while.
Keep the faith my friends.

And on a closing note; does anyone feel that this Republican scrum is nothing but a tactic to discourage conservative voter turnout for the November elections? Heil Hillary.

Snow Queen

As I said in a previous post, last week we moved our daughter from the snowiest city in the USA down to NYC, which promptly experienced its biggest snow storm since Hannibal crossed the Alps. I'm wondering if there is a connection. Did it follow her down? Can she be the Snow Queen?

In any event, on Friday her sister took a train to NYC to visit for a few days and now they're both  there. We're hoping she can return tonight.

She's Now In Brooklyn

Yesterday my wife (Mummsie) and I moved our youngest daughter to the Bushwick section of Brooklyn. I haven't driven in lower Manhattan in decades (1980?) and haven't been in Brooklyn since I was a teen, about 55 years ago. Pieces of old memories kept drifting in and out of my mind making it hard to concentrate on the Garmin and my daughter's instructions from the back seat. I had forgotten what a PITA it is to drive in NYC.

The Mapquest instructions had me drive through Newark to get to Brooklyn. I could swear I saw Dante with a copy of his Inferno tucked under one arm begging for a hand out on one of the intersections. What a depressing city.

Still, driving through Jersey City and heading for the Holland Tunnel and seeing the Manhattan skyline is quite a site.  I don't see how the cops can get anywhere in Manhattan, what a traffic zoo. Lower Manhattan is quite narrow but it still took about twenty minutes to drive to the Manhattan Bridge  and cross over to Brooklyn. Got on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (much better traffic) and drove into Bushwick. Incredibly enough, we were able to find a parking space right in front of her building.

It was a glorious day in Brooklyn, a balmy fifty degrees. Her room is on the third floor - about the size of a big walk-in closet. She shares two bathrooms and a kitchen with four other people, all young professionals. It's not for me. For what she's paying I could almost rent a house in central NY. We were there for a few hours, said our good-byes and left.

Mummsie was rather depressed. We had just moved our youngest chick and now the hen house is empty. There were five females at one time here and now she's the only one. There are only faint echoes of the waves of estrogen that used to waft through our home.

The ride home was uneventful with just a touch of rain and snow. We got a call from our girl who was also feeling depressed and lonely. Mummsie bucked her up a bit.

Upon returning to Syracuse, I managed to catch the last twenty minutes of the Chiefs/Patriots game. I watched all but the last three minutes of the Packers/Cardinals game but couldn't keep my eyes open after all that driving. Kissed Mummsie good night and toddled off to bed.

Of course this morning she couldn't wait to tell me what a great ending I missed.

Rats.

Back In NY

It was a beautiful weekend. We made excellent time to Maryland arriving at 10:30 last Thursday night; just under 7 hour drive. I saw my mother the next morning and she is doing well. The assisted living residence is very nice, only two years old. The staff is friendly and attentive and while she isn't all that pleased with the arrangements (she'd much rather be on her own) she is getting used to it and making friends. While they last. She had a litany of deaths, hospitalizations and seniors moving in with their children (hint) that seemed endless.

We took her out for a wonderful crab cake lunch at Stoney's Solomon's Pier on Solomon's Island. My niece and her husband drove down from Astoria (Queens) as well as her father (my baby sister's husband - she died in 2003 at the age of 46) and his new wife(he remarried three years ago) from Port Jefferson. Also my sister's best friend, Ginny, and her husband came down to visit. She and my sister were friends since kindergarten and she still dearly misses her. My surviving sister's daughter also joined us for the luncheon. Truly, these were the best crab cakes I have ever eaten and they were huge. My sister, BIL and I ate dinner at her residence that evening and it was gross.

We had everyone over on Saturday and Sunday evening and had a ball. One of my nephews and his family joined us on Sunday. I haven't seen his sons in about a year and a half. They both grew about six inches. The 14 year old has a size 14 shoe. He'll be like his grandfather's family, everyone about six foot thirteen; my nephew (his father) is only five ten.

My BIL and I had some moving to do and re-arranging Mom's room, moving her TV and taking some obstacles out of there before she trips over it. If she had her way her entire condo would be stuffed into her single room. That and watching Mom's cat stumble about. The vet said the dang thing has cerebral palsy and it acts like it's drunk. Banging into stuff and all weird. But Mom loves it to death and the residence allows her to keep it. She calls it Sweetie Face. I call it the other white meat.

The weather in southern Maryland was absolutely perfect. We got home about 7 PM on Monday.

Clean Up, Throw Out

Got back early from LI. Two days of loading a rental truck in a downpour was fun. My mom is a pack rat. We couldn't believe all the boxes and cans and packages and bags and containers and plastic bins she had. We donated loads and loads of stuff  to good will type organizations and just as much to the dumpster. We cleaned the condo real good and hope to close by the end of the year. One good thing, there were two potential buyers and they bid the price up over what we had the property listed for. Mom will get an additional ten grand.

My sister and her husband took what we could fit on the truck back to Maryland. Mom is in an efficiency apartment at the assisted living center and there is no way that all this crap will fit. My sister will have to store a lot of this in her garage. My BIL and I are both in our late sixties. Clearing out the contents of an apartment was no picnic. We both agreed that a career change into the exciting moving industry business was out of the question. I loaded up on Aleve™ in memory of the trip.

My wife and I are now filled with motivation to get rid of all the useless crap we have. No way we want to saddle our kids with that when the time comes.

Seriously. Our oldest has been married for twenty years and we still have some of her stuff. My in-laws have been gone for some time and we still have some of their stuff squirreled away in the basement. I still have a few boxes from when I moved out of my Bachelor Palace back in 1981 that remain unopened.

I started to clean out years ago but I got to get back into it. A few garage sales helped but they weren't enough.  A few bags at a time for the refuse pickup will certainly help. I 'll need a hand for the old construction materials. - got probably at least a half ton of cast iron baseboard heaters in the basement that I can get a few bucks for at the salvage yard. I have at least twenty of these four foot hot water heaters that go fifty pounds a piece if they weigh an ounce. I took them out when I refinished the first basement and was going to use them in the second basement - the house is built into the side of a hill, it looks like a one story ranch in the front and is three and a half stories tall in the back. Ergo, two basements. Full of crap.

We leave on another trip on Thursday, this time to southern Maryland. The hurricane should be well out of the picture by then so maybe we'll see sunny skies on the way. I haven't seen Mom since February so we'll have a nice visit. One of my nieces is also driving down from Queens to see her Nana so that'll be a real treat also.

I was hoping my oldest daughter and her two daughters could make the trip also, but I just found out that one of her husband's oldest and closest friends is now missing. My SIL, my grandson and JR went hunting yesterday near Inlet, NY, and JR never returned to the truck when it started to get dark. The State Police are now involved; JR is in his fifties and I fear for the worst.

Home Again

Got back from the Island a few hours before the Superbowl and heavy snow. Made some progress on my mom's need for care/assisted living but more needs to be done. My sister and I bought her a new sleeper coach for the home aide that has to stay with her - mom's futon is brutal. We examined her finances and options that are available both on Long Island and Upstate. We contacted a lawyer to update her will and health care proxy. My sister is interviewing home aides and of course there was drama; can't have a family meeting without that and I expected it, but not in the form that it took.  Oh well.... you can pick your friends and you can  pick your nose, but you can't pick family.

It didn't help that I barely slept at all. I have trouble sleeping in hotel rooms as the space heater fires up every twenty minutes or so and wakes me up. Plus I was kinda wired anyway.

Sunday was mom's 87th birthday and we took her out to a nice restaurant on Saturday night. She had a good time. One of my nieces and her boyfriend made it in from Queens (Astoria) to join us. Her mother, my sister, died in 2003 and her dad remarried in 2013. He and his new wife were also there. His new wife is a doll and she reminds me a lot of my sister. It was a very nice, relaxing time. The drama queen decided to go visit his friends instead of celebrating his mother's birthday but that probably helped the evening go so well.

More work needs to be done. Mom has to stay put for three months before she can be moved so we do have a small window before a decision has to be made on where she should go. There is always a waiting list for admission so we can't dawdle. I got to admit, mom looks pretty good, considering.

I made it back to Syracuse in four and a half hours. This was the fastest trip home ever. It usually takes me almost six hours to make the drive. Leaving on Superbowl Sunday probably helped as traffic going into and leaving NYC was no problem at. The  LI Expressway wasn't a problem at all. Traffic over the Throgs Neck was light and the George Washington was almost as light. Ditto on Rte. 80. Hit a little snow just north of Scranton but it disappeared by time I reached Binghamton. Took 17.2 gallons to make the  drive, rolled into Costco and paid 35 cents a gallon less for gas than on the Island. Sweet.

No One's Innocent

Please stand back. Gene pool cleansing in operation.

Shasta County sheriff’s deputies say a man shot and killed another man apparently in self-defense Saturday afternoon at the Spring Branch Mobile Home Park in Mountain Gate.

The unidentified 38-year-old victim about 4:30 p.m. went to the Tunnel Road residence of his ex-girlfriend, Amanda Rizer, and became enraged that Matthew Robinson, 32, of Redding was there. The victim and Rizer shared a child in common and Saturday was the child’s first birthday, deputies said.

Robinson told deputies he recently started a relationship with Rizer.

The victim left after an argument, but returned 20 minutes later and said he was going to take the child, deputies said.

Robison had a .38-caliber handgun that he used to fire a warning shot when the victim advanced on him. Deputies say the victim got what appeared to be a 9mm-handgun from a vehicle and pointed it at Robinson, who, fearing for his safety, shot the victim once in the chest. The victim later died at Mercy Medical Center in Redding.

The victim’s pistol turned out to be a toy replica, deputies said.

After interviewing Robinson and Rizer, officers determined Robinson fired in self-defense, although the case will be reviewed by the Shasta County District Attorney's Office, deputies said.

Deputies say Robinson has a lengthy criminal history but no felony convictions.

The victim, who will be identified after his next of kin is notified of his death, also had a criminal history, deputies said. He was out on bail pending court proceedings for being a felon in possession of a firearm, possessing controlled substances for sale and possessing stolen property.

Deputies also said the vehicle that was driven by the victim had been reported as stolen out of Trinity County.

Story here.

H/t iOTW