Say What?

This is a continuation of a series of writings about my time in the Navy. The first in this series can be found here , or go here for the most recent. We arrived back in San Diego from our deployment to the Western Pacific on April 11th, 1979. The pier was packed with people welcoming us home, but I had no family waiting for me; they were all back in Minnesota and Pennsylvania. I was in serious need of some alone time after having been cooped up on the ship with several hundred others for the past 7+ months. Seeing my family could wait. I wasted no time getting off the ship and out into the city on my bike with my duffel bag over my shoulder, headed for the laundry mat. While my clothes were washing, I'd be able to make my rounds of McDonald's, Winchell's, and the bike shop, all at the intersection of Highland and 16th street —the little corner of San Diego I'd previously written about . Mine was a simple life. The Eisentraut frame I'd been building up while

Tammy's mother spent a couple days in the hospital last week before being discharged after a stress test gave her back her freedom. We were relieved to learn that her doctor couldn't find any evidence of heart damage. Tammy and Charlie left this afternoon on the four hour trip to Babbitt to spend the next several days visiting with her. I'm loving the Olympics as I always do even though these particular games have been fraught with more than their share of problems. I like the flavor that some of the newer sports add such as the half-pipe and snowboard racing. Not only do the athletes defy gravity but so do their pants. How can you not admire the ability of some of the half-pipers to keep their pants from falling down during their routines when they wear them so low to begin with? But seriously, these guys have a tremendous amount of ability with little fear. Without question, I prefer watching the winter Olympics over the summer Olympics even if there is no bike racing.

I've never been more ready for spring at this point in the year. This winter has provided us with a steady barrage of cold and snow unlike any I can remember going back many years. We had steady snow falling on us from Sunday night into Tuesday morning that left its mark to the tune of another 8". It stopped being pretty a while ago; now it's just pretty deep . Our snow banks have never been this high in the nearly 18 years I've lived in our home.  I've pretty much maxed out my ability to add much more to the height of  the mound  at the end of our driveway without seriously risking throwing my back out. Thankfully, I've got my trusty Simplicity 8hp snowblower I bought at Lyndale Lawn and Garden Center in 1986 when I lived 5 miles to the east and had almost twice the driveway I do now. It served me well then and it's still up to the task. I nearly replaced it this past fall but it was spared when I decided I needed to be more serious about Rachel's co

It's assessment time at work where about 10% of the workforce will be surveyed to find out how satisfied we are working for the federal government. I was fortunate enough to be one of those chosen to participate. I don't have any illusions that anything will change from whatever results they receive but I'm happy to do my part. I spent 30 minutes filling out my questionnaire leaving little doubt that I love my job but not my employer. My only regret was that there was no provision for expanding on questions with written responses. Speaking of written responses; I got a reply today from FAA Administrator Babbitt to the email I'd sent him two weeks ago. I'm not sure whether it would be appropriate to share it here or not. I may write to him again to seek his permission before doing so. I'll think about it. I've professed here before how I love the internet:  it was instrumental in bringing Tammy and Rachel into my life. A few years ago I was a regular p