Existing In BFE

I got my second Volkswagen after my wonderful, huge Plymouth Fury conked out.  It was like going from a mansion to a closet.  I suppose nostalgia and the good memories I had with the first one played a part, but then, by now,  this one just didn't have the same kind of 1st car love.  It was basically the same V-dubby, but somehow newer and better in ways that didn't seem to matter.   It was kind of like the toy dashboard I had when I was a kid and would take it with me whenever we went with mark somewhere.  It was yellow and you had to manually do things like love the wipers, and ignition and all that stuff.  The folks knew I loved it so much that they got me a super deluxe dash for Christmas.  It had battery operated wipers, an ignition that sounded like you were starting a real car.  Guess what?  I loved my little yellow one more.      One trip heading back to Denver for grad school after summer vacation, the new blue VW developed a really annoying problem.  

Sorry.  No post today. 

Posts in the next few days may be sporadic,  as I am traveling.   ===================== A local St. Pete photographer's majestic picture of a lightening strike at the Skyway Bridge. ==================== They're getting closer.  Maybe it's time to leave the state awhile. ====================

Yesterday's post segues nicely into the unsung boats of the past.     Think memorable fighting ships of World War II and you may think the USS Enterprise, the most decorated one.  Or maybe the Battleship Missouri, or Arizona.  Perhaps the aircraft carriers we lost in battle might come to mind: Wasp, Hornet, Yorktown,  or the Lexington.  Certainly the Indianapolis comes to mind after Jaws jostled our memories about its fate after delivering the bomb.   Behind these names were thousands and thousands of support ships, boats and crafts.  Behind the Cruisers, Destroyers, and Subs were every conceivable make of sea-going conveyance, some armed, some not.  Mail boats, supply ships, maintenance vessels,  thousands of ships toiling everyday, out of the spotlight. This Memorial Day Weekend post is going to focus on one of the Pacific Theater ships that did its job with distinction, but you won't read anywhere in the history books about her.  She was the USS LCI (G)- 61.  She was t

This Post was First published on Labor Day Weekend in 2011.   One of the Navy's newest class of warship stopped in St. Petersburg over the weekend en route to its port city of San Diego, via the Panama Canal.  The USS Independence is a new design of warship that gives it speed, in-shore maneuverability and can function in myriad ways instead of a single-dimension ship.  By that I mean it can launch helicopters, Stryker missiles, jettison SEAL/covert ops teams, offload Humvees and when finished can leave the shore areas at 51 mph.  The Independence is one of the first in a new class of littoral combat ships. It's designed to navigate in shallow areas near coasts. It can be outfitted for several different missions, including mine, submarine or surface warfare. That's damn fast for a 418 foot warship.    Independence is intended as a small assault transport that can take on various capabilities with the installation of mission modules. The ship is a trimaran design tha

Today's post is a blatant theft from the Bodine-DILLIGAF website by Jeff Sutor, friend, fellow blogger, and also a practitioner of the Two-State Solution.     "I hope my friend Mike takes this as a cautionary tale.  Having a home in two states is a difficult thing.  We left Georgia over two weeks ago.  There is so much to do here and so much to wonder about what is going on there.  Torn between two loves.  I understand Mike's desire to escape the South for the familiarity of home.  At the same time while I  am here I miss being there.  The sound of the waves crashing ashore in Georgia.  The sound of the tree frogs in Illinois.  The smell of the marsh.  The odor of the cows across the road here.  Neighbors on Tybee Island.  No house visible from ours here in Illinois.  The quiet isolation here. The bustle of the island and Savannah.  Where to go?  What to do?  How to embrace and balance both?  It is a process we are still trying to learn.  When to stay here?  When to go

Sewer/septic truck with this inscribed on the back:  "Straight Flush Beats A Full House" . ==================== I think this is more true than not, especially in my experience.  So thanks for the beers guys, and the shenanigans.   ==================== Overheard at Farmer's Market Vegetable Stand: Customer Admiring Vendor Wife's scarf:  "Very nice scarf." Wife's Husband: "You like her scarf?  Very Nice,  Very Expensive. Made in Egypt.  By the Pharaohs.  Customer:  Ramses? Wife's Husband:  No. Tut.   ==================== Gone Girl  and Still Alice were pretty good.  The  Homesman , not so much.  ====================   Norah learning to enjoy freedom in the pool with her inflatable ring. ==================== As I was walking along Ulmerton I was stunned when this guy came after me.  He came from the street side and ended up in a grassy knoll.  I swear this guy made the first move.  ==

  Beach Day   I won't bore you with commentary.  This is one of those posts that requires no blather from your blogger.  Instead, close your eyes and picture yourself here.  Florida may be inhabited by the mentally challenged but they haven't found a way to wreck this place yet.  Unless you count the speedboat advertising boat rentals in the second picture.   We have one of those 10' x 10' tents and we put soda and sandwiches in the cooler.  A couple cigars,  maybe a treat, a sand blanket and lawn chairs and stay a few hours.  We people watch, swim in the 84 degree Gulf waters and do some shelling.  Tough to beat a day at the beach.  And yes, Norah loves it.