Finishing up my week in Seoul, Korea, just now. I'm at the airport, where I found free Internet (incredibly). My visit here this week brought back many fond memories of 1987 and 1988, when I was stationed here for a year. The digs were a little nicer this time, the Seoul Millennium Hilton - a first class hotel in my book - and much has changed, but it still was very nice to get back here for a visit.
Or so say the good folk up here in New York State. I'm all for the rain, but I can understand the sentiment. It's so beautiful up here and so cool. I'm lovin' it!
The big fat ($250) VA stimulus check came through today. I was thinking it might be an urban legend, but I'm here to tell ya that it was indeed part of the stimulus package and my small piece of the pie. Thank you, Mr. President.
Yes, sir. I entered active duty in the U.S. Army 34 years ago today: June 27, 1975. I’ll never forget that day. I had graduated high school the Saturday before (6/21), and the following Friday (6/27) I was on my way.
The recruiter came to our house quite early to pick me up. There were some tears saying goodbye to Mom, and then a slow ride down Ryder Road, past the farm, where Aunt Ann was sitting in the picture window waving to me. (I have noted many times that it was very unusual for Aunt Ann to be up that early in the morning, but she knew what an important day it was in my life, and she was “there” for me.) In my mind’s eye I can see Aunt Ann in that window to this day. Thinking about it makes me miss Aunt Ann ferociously and makes me a tad homesick, even this far removed.
And today marks 34 years of continuous service to our great nation, because I became a dedicated civil servant one week before I officially retired from active duty. That means next year at this time I’ll be talking about my 35-year anniversary, and there’s a lapel pin for that milestone!
But I guess it’s not about lapel pins or recognition … it’s about more basic things: reminiscing; remembering - the beginning (certainly a rite of passage), the anniversary, and oh-so-much in between - and looking forward to continuing the tradition for a while longer. The story is still being written and, Lord willing, I’ll continue to soldier on for at least a few more years.
My adorable, smart, and very perceptive (!) granddaughter (Rio) sent me this e-mail yesterday, telling about her Opa's traits.
Again, what insight and great perceptiveness ... for a ten-year-old!
I got out on the PT trail this evening - instead of watching Seinfeld! - and it felt good. I jogged for only about 20 minutes, but that was enough to build up a sweat and breathe heavy for a bit. Now, I just gotta keep it going.
I'll tell ya, I'm very excited to be part of the Facebook revolution. I joined up the other day and in just a few days I've connected with family, friends from high school, old Army buddies, former co-workers, you name it. What a great idea this is. If you haven't signed up yet, get right on over to facebook.com and get on board. You can see my profile here.
Sunday is the Army's 234th birthday. Today at the Pentagon there were "lots of doins" in the center courtyard to commemorate the event. They had a huge cake, guest speakers, all the big wigs were there (Secretary of the Army, Chief of Staff of the Army, Sergeant Major of the Army, Deputy Secretary of Defense). I watched for a while. Pretty neat. I joined up 34 years ago this month, so we were celebrating the Army's 200th birthday when I entered active duty. Here's the program for today's Pentagon event:
This, from my favorite weekly news magazine, The Week, about what you'll swim with in the pool this summer:
Is the pool a cesspool?
Chances are you'll find yourself in a swimming pool this summer. A new study has some bad news: You might be doing the backstroke in a toilet. When asked about their behavior in swimming pools, 20 percent of people admit to peeing whenever nature calls. And researchers say urine is just one of many contaminants found in pools used by lots of people. Babies swim in diapers filled with urine and feces. Some people work out and, covered with sweat, dive in without showering first. Sick children paddle about, shedding viruses and bacteria with every stroke. Filthy pool habits, scientists say, add up to numerous outbreaks of summertime "recreational water illnesses" such as diarrhea, ear and skin infections, and respiratory illness. When swimmers fill pool water with their effluvia, epidemiologist Michele Hlavsa tells LiveScience, chlorination cannot guarantee that you won't get sick. "Unhygienic behavior brings germs into the pool and makes it harder for chlorine to do its job," she says.
Effluvia, what a great word! Kinda gives a new meaning to the thought of a floater, doesn't it.
Guess who I walked past in the A ring of the Pentagon on my way to work this morning. I guess the title of this post kinda gave it away. Yep, I passed by Barbara Starr! I gotta say she looks better in person than she does on TV. Seeing Barbara reminded me that I once saw Wolf Blitzer in a snack bar at the Pentagon. That was back in the early 1990s. Hey, it's the little things. :-)
Whilst mowing the lawn this afternoon I noticed this pretty little flower in our back yard. I tried to get a closeup of it. I may need to work on that, but there's no denyin' that this is a pretty bloom.
Here's a close-up:
And here's an even closer-up:
My cousin does, and I finished a great book today: The Scarecrow, by Michael Connelly. It gets five stars from me.
This is simply too much. Did President Bush do this? Let's see ... No, thank goodness, he did not. I could go on and on. For crying out loud! What is the world coming to? The President of the United States applauding that garbage. The end must be near. And what's next? I think a NAMBLA Pride Month cannot be far off. Hey, they're just different, not wrong - who are we to judge? - the men who love boys are just "misunderstood."
Not in photos, but with time hacks:
That dinner at the Riessersee See-Hotel was Sunday evening. It's now Monday evening and we're home. Well, I'm home. Val is driving down toward Ocean City to pick up the girls. We had a great flight and a pretty smooth trip back from the Vaterland. The worst part of it all was the drive back to our house from Dulles Airport. Lots of rain, lots of Memorial Day traffic, roads blocked off, the works. But we made it. Home sweet home.
On our last evening in Deutschland, Val and I returned to the Riessersee hotel for a great dinner. I think you'd be hard pressed to find a nicer place to eat. The view is impressive: a lake, some woods, and the Alps. Yeah, pretty sweet. And then on top of that the restaurant is top notch. We enjoyed it very much. Here's what we saw from our table:
Val and I took a quick jaunt over to Mannheim on Saturday. Yowza! That was quite a drive! We left Garmisch-Partenkirchen at 0900 and arrived in Brühl at about 1400. Then we spent about eight hours with our friends, Ulrike and Christian, at their home and touring the city a bit. It was so great to see them again and to experience their kind and generous hospitality. And it was also very nice to be able to see my old German "home" in Mannheim. We stopped by Turley Barracks, where I used to work, and saw that it is essentially abandoned, boarded up, and awaiting disposition - probably a decision to be made by the German government and American authorities. I'll post some pics of what we saw yesterday.
We left Mannheim at 2200 and drove a little over four hours to get back to Garmisch-Partenkirchen at a little after 0200. Made for a long, but very enjoyable day. Thanks so very much to Christian and Ulrike!
Here are some of the pictures. First of all, the four of us in Mannheim:
And our hosts, Christian and Ulrike, in their kitchen:
The famous "Wasserturm" (water tower) of Mannheim:
"Der Rosengarten" (kind of a concert hall) in Mannheim:
"Das Mannheimer Schloss" (the Mannheim castle):
And, finally, my old soldierin' home, Turley Barracks:
Today Val and I took it very easy until around 1600, when we went down to the pedestrian area of Garmisch and had another look around. From there we found our way to the "Partnachklamm," a beautiful gorge through the alps. I think this may be the prettiest place I've seen on earth. We walked up the gorge and then to the top of a mountain, where the view was unbelievable. It was quite a hump to get to the top of the mountain, but it was well worth it. The beauty is indescribable and these pictures really don't do it justice. Take my word for it, though, it is gorgeous. At the top of the mountain, in addition to an incredible view there was a farmer's field and goats. It's like the "Sound of Music" or "Heidi," but in real life. Here's the rushing water in the gorge:
Here's the field and part of the view at the top:
Here's a goat who looked like he was about to charge:
And here's a picture of the beautiful sky up there:
Finally, I tried a video. Let's see if this works...
I had the opportunity to go up to the top of the Zugspitze (Germany's highest mountain in the Alps) today. These pictures don't really do it justice, but I hope they give a flavor. Wow! What a view!!! And it was around 80° down in Garmisch, but freezing cold up on the top of the mountain (with snow and all, at an altitude of 9600 feet). This is looking up at the peak:
This is looking down from the peak ... like flying in a helicopter, what?
The peak:
Lake Eibsee, at the base of the mountain:
Wow, what a difference a day makes! Monday was cold and rainy - granted, my kind of weather, but still, not exactly great touring weather - Tuesday got a little better, and today, Wednesday, it is really beautiful out there! It's in the 70s and beautiful!
Val is touring the Dachau concentration camp today. Yesterday she visited Innsbruck and a crystal center. Tomorrow she'll be going to Italy. Since I'm going to be getting off a bit earlier than planned tomorrow, I'm semi-planning to go to the Zugspitze and ride the train/cable car to the summit. Today would have been the perfect day to do that, but it's too late in the day. So I'll try tomorrow. And on Friday we're both going on a tour to three countries: Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein.
Here's a couple pictures from Val's trip to Innsbruck yesterday:
You know the rest.
Made it to Deutschland okay... currently fighting off jet lag (it's 1945 and I haven't slept all day, after getting about an hour, maybe 90 minutes on the plane), but I know from previous experience that this is the key to success on the way over here.
The weather was just plain superb today! Overcast, drizzly, and very cool. Val and I did a lot in one short day around Garmisch. We went to the base of the Zugspitze towards the end of the day and considered taking the train or the "Seilbahn" up, but it was too late, too cold, and too rainy.
Here's a picture to prove we're actually here.
And some German cows (for threecollie's enjoyment):
Just testing to see if this image will work. Don't know why it wouldn't. Hmmmmmmmmmm. Nice ride, what?
I say the government should launch a truth commission to investigate this. Perhaps one simple polygraph exam would suffice. Not to say she's lying; it could be that she's just "misleading" the American people.
Just finished watching Taken and it is - in my book, of course - excellent! Didn't score terribly well at rottentomatoes.com, but I still say it was worth the price of admission and then some. Liam Neeson is a stud in that movie. If you watch it, be sure you're able to take some nudity, some language, and a lot of blood and guts. Wow! What an exciting film!
You'll thank me for recommending it. I guarantee it.
I say, gas has been going up very fast in these parts. I've been keeping track of gas prices for over two years. While we're not at the $3.00 mark (where we were two years ago), I think I see $2.50 in the very near future for us here in the Baltimore, Maryland area. Today's average price around here is $2.20.
Jordan had her baby girl this morning at about 0500. I think I heard correctly that the baby weighs 7 pounds 5 ounces (something like that) and she's either a 9 or a 10 out of 10 on the "Richter" scale (really it's the Apgar score), so she's healthy. Thank God for that.
Jordie was supposed to go to Albany Med for the birth but she didn't have time so they went to St. Mary's in Amsterdam.
While I lobbied hard for "Scottina" as the name, I think I lost. Word is the baby may be named Alexa. Don't think they're sure yet. Anyhow, today's a happy day.
You must watch this video about President Obama's budget cuts. Now that is a classic demonstration! And entertaining, too.
The brutal train ride is almost a pleasure on Fridays. Oh sure, there are still hundreds of people rushing from the Marc train to the red line at Union Station, but I was near the front of the rush and I made the early red line train by seconds, which allowed me to catch the early yellow line train to Pentagon and arrive at work 5 minutes earlier than normal. And that will undoubtedly be the highlight of my day! (Hey, it's the little things.)
