"Sing, Sing, Sing", with Mickey Mouse??

Found this while looking for Gene Krupa videos.

It's......uhhhh......different.

140 Years of Gold and Silver in TEN Minutes!

Really explains how we got into the mess we're in.

H/T to my buddy Steve.

Happy Father's Day!

To all my fellow Dads out there!

I'm goofing off today working on the Supra. I'd painted the rear "sunshade" a month ago, but the paint I used (VHT Satin Black urethane) looked terrible. I don't know if I got a bad can (it happens) or if the paint just isn't suitable for this application. It's meant for refinishing mag wheels, and is really tough paint, but just doesn't lay down nice on large, flat surfaces.

SO.....I just finished sanding it all back off, and primed it again. I'm not sure if I'll try and spray can it myself again, or take it to the body shop down the street where my wife had some touch up work done to her car last year.

*IF* I decide to take it the body shop, then I'll also take my outside mirror housings, and the front bumper, which are also supposed to be Toyota "Tuxedo Black" gloss.

Might as well have them do the final prep and paint on several things, as it would save some cost over having things done one at a time.

As soon as I finish cleaning up things a bit, and my son gets his rear over here, I'm going to pull the seats out of the car so we can get my new carpet installed......maybe.....

The Crew Appreciation Dinner on the Iowa last night was great! A local place did the catering, and we had pulled pork, shredded beef, cole slaw, and some of the best backed beans I've ever had!

It's Official, I'm Retiring In August!

Just filled out the online forms, printed it all, and I'm in the system for starting my benefits in September.

Still not sure when I'm going to tell them at work.......

BUT, considering all the shit they've pulled on all of us, I think I'll be nice and give them two weeks notice......

Gonna See "The Gunny" On Saturday!

R. Lee Ermey will be at the Major Surplus and Survival store tomorrow for their yearly Blow-Out Sale.

I'll be there in the morning helping a bit with the booth for the Iowa, and hopefully I'll be able to get him to autograph his book I bought some months ago.

It's a pretty good book, and one I wished was available years ago when I was younger. He has a lot of good advice in it, and I'm sure I would have taken much of it.

The only "guide" I had way back then was a copy of "The Blujacket's Manual" my Dad gave me.

While that book was pretty good, I felt it just didn't apply to me (hey, I was a young pup!), but I read it anyway, and still have it.

The last time I met Gunny was at "Old Fort MacArthur Days", and I was 100% impressed with the man.

He's a real gentleman in person, and even my girlfriend at the time thought he was pretty cool.

Ever Had That "Terminally Burned Out" Feeling?

Well, I'm there with the one radio club I've been a member of since 1995.

I've been on the board for the last six years.

I've been the Field Day chair for the last six years.

I've been running the weekly net for the last four years.

I'm the President (again....) this year.

And my dear sweet wife assembles, edits, and publishes the club newsletter.

Most of the members are good people, but like most clubs we have a few flakes.

The problem is that nobody wants to help do things with club activities.

Out of the 40 some members, it's the same four to six people who make everything happen, and I'm tired of "fighting above my weight" doing so many things.

Oh, sure, the members have "ideas", and "suggestions", but they want somebody else to do all the work, and when their ideas and suggestions don't happen, they get upset about it.

When you point out that they could do the job, they immediately fall back back on the old "Oh, but I don't know how to do that" excuse.

I told everybody back in January that I would NOT be the Field Day chair this year, and nobody stepped forward to pick up the ball.

As a result, we'll only have two stations operating this year, where we normally have four or five.

And know what?

I don't care.

Amateur Radio is a HOBBY to me, and when your hobbies stop being fun, that's bad.

Besides, I'll be retiring very soon, and I have other interests and activities I want to pursue, along with doing a bunch of things around the house.

It's 100% different with the association we have on the Iowa, where everybody pitches in, and pulls more than their own weight.

And I don't mind bending over backwards one bit on the Iowa......

'Nam Era Music Medley

Stumbled across this on Da Tube while looking for something else.

While I might question some of the imagery used (M1 Abrams?). on the whole it's pretty damn good, and if you're "my age" +/- a few years, you'll definitely 'get it'.

June 6th, 1944 AND 1942

Most everybody knows June 6th 1944 was D-Day, but how many remember that June 6th 1942 was The Battle of Midway?

I've always been interested in the campaign in the pacific since that's where my Dad was (with the SeaBees) during WWII.

Midway was a significant battle, with four of the six carriers used for the Pearl Harbor attack, along with a heavy cruiser, being sunk.

The carriers Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, and the Hiryu were sunk, along with the heavy cruiser Mikuma.

It was the first major defeat for the Imperial Japanese Navy since 1863, and most historians recognize it as the turning point in the Pacific Theater.

Great Bass Line!

The first time I heard this song was on "Wide World Of Sports" as the intro to a segment they did on Shirley Muldowney.

I'm not sure what Ms. Muldowney's reaction to it was, but I thought it was a killer song, with the best bass line I'd heard in a long time.

Enjoy the video, and watch out for that HAIR!

Memorial Day on the Batlleship Iowa

Well, we all had a very nice, and somewhat somber, day aboard the Iowa yesterday.

In my rush, I forgot my camera, but since I was inside most of the day, I really didn't get to see much.

We made about 300 contacts althought the band conditions weren't the best.

I was running my Elecraft K2 on the trussed monopole near the helipad, and the other operator was running our Kenwood TS-850S on the disc/cage antenna.

There were over 3500 paid-at-the-gate visitors, and the local radio stations bought a large number of tickets to hand out.

If anybody will be down this way, let me know, as I have a stack of "Buy One Get One" tickets which will get you and a guest in for one paid admission.

Really Bad News From A Fellow Blogger

Our fellow blogger over at Live From The Alamo City has received some devastating news.

Please keep he and his wife in your prayers, and drop by and give him some support....


Thanks, he's a good guy.