Do you get these calls?

For the past several days, I've been getting one or two calls from people (apparently in India based on their accent) telling me they have a new "medical card" waiting for me. At first I just hung up, then after I got a couple more I decided to play along and see what this was all about. Not possible, for the guy named "Mark" apparently calling me from India, could not answer any of the questions I had for him. The toughest for him to answer was when I asked, "Why do I need this card and what will it do for me." He stumbled for several seconds, before I started to laugh and then I hung up. I suppose there are enough gullible people in the U.S. who really like to speak and do whatever business might be desired with "out-sourced" people like "Mark", such they he and others keep calling us so many times. Sad times indeed.

To fly or not to fly

The recent failed (thankfully) terrorist action on the overseas flight from Amsterdam has made everyone aware again, that flying commercially today is not what it used to be. But, lets forget the terrorist-related security aspects of all this, and just look at the way the airline industry has changed over the years. Fewer carriers, fewer flights (especially at smaller airports), greater cost to the ticket buyer, missed flights and lost baggage more common than ever, and an air traffic control network that is taxed to its limit.

I'm definitely not (thankfully) a frequent flyer. But, over the past several years when I did fly long distances (four times to Alaska and once to Arizona), I encountered problems. Missed connections due to airline mismanagement (insufficient crew to fly), changes made to online reservations without notification, incorrect e-ticket confirmation codes issued, and delayed baggage arrival (three times). On top of that, the obvious (and necessary) security requirements and threat level do not make the journey a pleasant one. So, for me and millions of other Americans, the question today is, "Do I fly or not?"

Merry Christmas

Every Thanksgiving it has become an annual tradition in our family, to give each person a Christmas tree ornament of some sort, and for the past three years, I've been given ones based on the popular Christmas time movie, "A Christmas Story". The one I like the best shows the famous flagpole frozen tongue licking experiment. I like it so much, I keep it year around on my work desk, in front of a lamp, which has a ceramic rustic cabin at its base. A week or so ago, I looked at the setup and decided it might make an interesting close-up photo to post here for a Christmas and New Year greeting. So, I took my Canon G11 camera, set it on a small tripod, and presto, "I double dog dare ya!"

Burning Lakes

We've heard lots lately about greenhouse gases. Check out this video for what University of Alaska-Fairbanks researchers are doing. Baby, light my fire!

Just Plain Folks

One reason why it's so nice living in a relatively small community in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Southern Virginia like we do, is the fact that most people around here are "just plain folks". One example of this concerns what happened to me yesterday as I was out trying to clear a path from the house to our mailbox along the driveway, with between 9-10 inches of heavy snow blocking my way.

As I was slowly (and I do mean slowly) shoveling a narrow path along the driveway to the mailbox about 200 feet away, up drives our mailman, David Rea, in a large, well used John Deere tractor, with snow blade mounted on the back. His wife was driving their old jeep behind the tractor, and since mail delivery had been canceled because of the snow storm, both were out in the neighborhood helping those to whom they deliver mail, shovel out. He stopped and said, "Need some help?"

He did not say there would be a cost for this much needed help, but when I asked he said, "Whatever you want to pay is fine with me." While he plowed our long driveway, along with the large paved parking area in the back outside the garage, his wife shoveld to clean up in spots. The above photo shows one large pile of snow he pushed to the end of our driveway, near the back storage shed.

The Rae family is no stranger to us, since David's brother, Steve, had put new roof shingles on our house a few years ago, plus put up new aluminum siding over exposed wooden trim, etc. Also, David sometimes drives his jeep up the driveway when its raining hard, to the parking area by our back porch and garage, and then honks his horn so we can come out to get the mail without us getting wet. He never forgets to shake my hand say say, "How's it going Mister Morgan?"

Here's a family who holds many truly American values that too many others today have totally forgotten. To make ends meet, they all have to work several jobs—but still, they are always willing to share and help others when needed, without asking for anything in return. Like I said, just plain folks.

Deployments you say?

Army Times reports today online the following: In the eight years since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, American troops have deployed almost 3.3 million times to Iraq and Afghanistan, according to Defense Department data. The numbers, as of October 2009, show that more than 2 million men and women have shouldered those deployments, with 793,000 of them deploying more than once. Specifically for the Army, more than 1 million Soldiers have deployed since the beginning of the wars. These 1 million Soldiers have completed 1.5 million deployment events, with 352,700 deploying more than once. In October, 172,800 soldiers were deployed to the war zones.

Chrome

Google has had the Windows version of its web browser, Chrome, out for some time. Recently, they released a "beta" version for Mac OS (which I use) so I'm trying it out. It's pretty nice and way faster than MS Explorer or Firefox. In terms of speed, it's equal to the Mac OS Safari browser (also a Windows version available). If you're interested in checking Chrome out, go here.

Cleaning out the Basement Storage Area

Slow day for Blog-type news from me, eh—witing about cleaning out our basement. A necessary chore from time to time. This was made possible NOT by me suddenly having a "get neat" urge, but by some heavy rains over the past two weeks that exposed an outside drainage problem dealing with one of our house roof gutter drains failing to channel enough water away from the house. Some minor seepage in a dark corner of a back storage room alerted me to the problem about a week ago, so I spent all day yesterday fixing that problem, which included re-routing the outside drain, plus putting some concrete block sealant around the part of the wall with the seepage.

This work resulted in me having to move a pile of accumulated stuff out of the storage area, such as old computers, monitors, empty boxes, and other assorted stuff I'd been too lazy to toss out before. A couple of trips to the local recycle area, and the dump, and all my stuff was taken care of. Then, I decided to suck up with my shop vac, all the accumulated cobwebs and other debris that had accumulated not only in the back storage area, but throughout my adjacent basement workshop. Once I got into my workshop area, I discovered all sorts of other junk that needed to be carried off to the dump.

So, I feel pretty good right now, what with a nicely cleaned out basement. Now, lets hope I took care of the concrete block seepage problem, that caused me to undertake this somewhat unpleasant home maintenance chore in the first place.

Web Cams

Don't you just love to look at webcams giving live updates from locations that are special to you? I do, and I look daily at the webcams at Michigan Tech in the UP of Michigan where I went to school a few years ago (not exactly correct, "few" that is, better to have written "lots") I digress. Sorry.

Anyway, today I grabbed a shot off one of the (several) webcams at Mich Tech showing construction progress for a new facility being built. Not that such is anything out of the ordinary, but given it's 16 degrees today, with lots of recent snow on the ground, and a heck of a lot more on the way this winter, I kinda like watching engineering work like this proceed regardless of conditions. Hard core folks up there wearing hard hats.

Military Construction Video

Here's an Army video that discusses a portion of the ongoing large construction program with which the Corps of Engineers is involved today. I selected my favorite state, Alaska, as the central focus. The link to that video is here. PS: Give it time to load before viewing.

Keeping Alert

Given the so-called exit strategy in Iraq, coupled with the latest announcement of a troop surge in Afghanistan, there will no doubt be a tendency for troops in Iraq to see their roles as being perhaps less critical as they once were. In my view, commanders and leaders in Iraq are going to have to remain focused on keeping everyone as alert as possible over the next year or so. But, I'm pretty sure they know this already.

I write this only because I remember how lax many became in Vietnam after everyone figured out where that conflict was headed. I'm not saying Iraq=Vietnam. I'm just saying don't get the same "short-timer" attitude many of us Vietnam veterans had back then.

Loss of our WWII vets

I did not know many WWII veterans that well during my time in the Army, but there were a few with whom I became very close. One of those guys, LTC (Ret) Bob Keeler, recently passed away in Tuscon, AZ where he and his wife were living in retirement. He was an enlisted Soldier in the 1st Infantry Division in WWII, and after the war was commissioned into the Army Corps of Engineers, where he served with distinction until retirement as a LTC. He later worked in other capacities before fully retiring.

Bob was one of those people who was always there when help was needed. He was, for example, one of the first members on the Army Engineer Association's Board of Directors while I served as the organizations' first Executive Director. He was one of the first to offer hands-on volunteer help in our staff-limited office, plus made more "new equipment" donations to the AEA than I can remember. Computers, monitors, fax machines, whatever we needed within reason, and did not have the operating funds to purchase, Bob bought the item for us "on him.

After he moved to Arizona in the late 1990s to escape the cold and traffic in Northern Virginia, he made it a habit to call me on the phone after he'd receive his copy of Army Engineer magazine. Sometimes he wanted to ask questions about materials in the issue, and other times he simply wanted to give me a pat-on-the-back for the way it was put together. I'll miss those calls from him, but will never forget the person at the other end.

Hey Bob, if you can read this Blog from where you are up there now, say Hi to good old COL (Ret) "Moose" Albin for me. Moose was another WWII veteran I'll never forget.

Cats are Cool

This is Boots. One of our two cats. After we sadly lost our Alaskan Malamute Mystee earlier this year from age (she was 13 and had a great life), the two cats have, well, taken over. They each have a daily routine, which for Boots, centers totally on being fed. She also is having a ball messing with all the Christmas decorations as they are being set up, especially the lower ornaments on the Christmas tree.

Our other cat, Lucy, is centered less on food than she is on looking for fun. One of her favorite things is to attack the strings on the hood of my sweatshirts, trying to pull them out. She also likes to leap in bed on top of us late at night, jarring one awake with a jolt. Hard to believe how heavy a 15-pound cat can be when landing on top of your stomach from several feet above. Lucy is also my "work buddy" and one of her favorite positions during the day is to be seated next to my work desk in her "rocking chair", watching my every move on the computer keyboard.

Like the title to this post reads, "cats are cool".

Challenges Ahead

Army Times has an interesting article on the sort of challenges to be faced in Afghanistan over the next year or so. It's a bit long, but has some valid points to consider.

2010 and Magazine Content Delivery

I'm no expert, but my sensing is that we're about to enter a time when "paper" hard-copy magazines are going to be slowly replaced by digital versions, read on tablet-type devices, with multi-touch interfaces. I base my opinion on articles such as the one linked here. It shows how Sports Illustrated magazine might be published and read electronically. There is a 3-minute video in the link, that you may want to watch full-screen. It's pretty impressive.

National D-Day Memorial

Earlier this week I took a short drive to Bedford, VA to visit for the first time, the National D-Day Memorial located there. I'm putting together a photo essay about the site, for the Jan-Feb 2010 issue of Army Engineer magazine.

First, I was most impressed by what I saw, and the photos I was able to capture while nice to look at pictorially, don't do justice to actually being there in person. And that's a problem apparently for many—being there. Since its dedication by President Bush several years ago, the private foundation operating the memorial has found it more and more difficult to raise sufficient funds annually to maintain operations as desired. You can help, by visiting the location and paying the $5.00 entrance fee, or making a donation.

I won't go into any more detail here, because I plan to be much more specific in the article I'm working on for the magazine. Point is, for those reading this who are within a reasonable drive from Bedford in Central Virginia, consider a trip to see the memorial during the upcoming holiday season. It's definitely worth the trip.

How much work will get done

I'm not the type person who likes to put things into a "hold box" to take care of later. Never have been, never will be. But, there is a time when it's very difficult NOT to think about other things besides tasks that need to be accomplished. That time is now.

To make my point, I recall the four years I served in the Pentagon on the Army staff (four years almost to the day, and they were long days I can tell ya). The period between Thanksgiving and New Years Day was a time when everything seemed to slow down a bit. Everyone in the Pentagon seemed to have other things on their mind besides work. The closer we got to Christmas, the slower things moved, and then the week between Christmas and New Years Eve everything seemed to sort of stop in place. Not really, because military operations were still ongoing elsewhere, but it seemed there were far less people walking the halls, doing the sort of hectic coordination typically experienced at other times during the year. That was a long time ago, and times have certainly changed. 1970's era Pentagon work was definitely NOT 2009 vintage.

Each year at this time I reflect back to my Pentagon experience, and how everything seemed to slow down at this time of year. Tonight the President is going to announce his new Afghanistan war strategy, and "slow" will not be a word much used for the next several months. But still, it's nice every once in awhile to sit back and reflect on the good things, and take it a bit easier than normal.