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Response to Shirtless Guys Response to Roxy’s Blog entitled Enemies.
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Nov 2, 2010 3:41 pm
1583
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I did as you suggested and went back to re-read Roxy’s blog. You responded to her comment about our troops being sent to war without having decent equipment thusly; "The issue of insufficient or improper military equipment is ludicrous. First of all, the protective vests worn by soldiers are not intended to stop bullets.”
That may have been true in Vietnam, but that was 40 something years ago. Things have changed.
The following is an excerpt from an article on Inceptor Body Armor:
Interceptor Multi-Threat Body Armor System is made up of two modular components: the outer tactical vest and small-arms protective inserts, or plates. The new body armor, which is unisex, is equipped with removable throat and groin protectors, as well as front and back removable plates, which can stop 7.62 mm rounds. It weighs 16.4 pounds; each of the two inserts weighs 4 pounds, and the outer tactical vest weighs 8.4 pounds. The previous body armor, the flak jacket, weighed 25.1 pounds.
Three years after the war had started; USA Today had this to say about not having the needed equipment:
SOLIDERS IN IRAQ STILL BUYING THEIR OWN BODY ARMOR
The Associated Press Posted 3/26/2004 4:19 AM
Soldiers headed for Iraq are still buying their own body armor — and in many cases, their families are buying it for them — despite assurances from the military that the gear will be in hand before they're in harm's way.
Body armor distributors have received steady inquiries from soldiers and families about purchasing the gear, which can cost several thousand dollars. Though the military has advised them not to rely on third-party suppliers, many soldiers say they want it before they deploy.
Last October, it was reported that nearly one-quarter of American troops serving in Iraq did not have ceramic plated body armor, which can stop bullets fired from assault rifles and shrapnel.
Apparently the new up to date Body Armor does work. I have a neighbor two houses down from me that is a veteran of 5 tours to Iraq and Afghanistan. He was wounded 4 times. He has the indentations on his chest where the bullets hit him. His body armor is the reason he is alive today. Now they are trying to save his left leg which was severely damaged when his Hummer hit an ISD. The prognosis is not favorable.
It’s no secret that a large number of our troops killed or wounded is the result of an IED incident. In my opinion, no matter what the cargo, be it troops or equipment, if it is moving there will always be at least one soldier/marine in it and he deserves all the protection his country can give him. We haven’t done that yet. I doubt that we will ever get sufficient armor on a Hummer to protect it from IEDs and if we did it probably wouldn’t be able to move. But we can try.
I don’t think Roxy said anything wrong. I think you just picked on her because she is a democrat.
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12
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Apology to Mike and all other Photo Friday Participants
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Oct 23, 2010 8:57 am
1402
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I apologize for my entry to yesterdays Photo Friday-Workstation. I broke the rules,I know the photos you submit has to be taken by the person submitting the entry. Obviously the photo I submitted was not one that I took myself. But when I saw that picture as I was browsing the internet....I just couldn't resist.
I really do have a real workstation.
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9
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I See Ghosts (Peaches is Haunting Me Already)
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Oct 3, 2010 5:01 pm
1722
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You know how you see on TV shows and movies how they make a character just fade into the background like they really weren’t and aren’t there. This is kinda hard to describe I think’ but I know ya’ll will understand what I’m trying to say here.
For the past couple of months now I've been seeing these little ‘whispers’ of…..people. I may be lying in bed watching TV and out of the corner of my eye see a “shadow person…or dog” walk into the bedroom but never get to the bed. I may be sitting here typing a blog and out of the corner of my eye see Peaches trot past my office window. But that can’t be, Peaches is crawled up under the dining room table. I know, I went out and looked a couple of times. I see people too but I haven’t recognized any of them yet.
No I’m not crazy. I don’t think. Well maybe I am but I figure I’m in good company. There is probably a name for this kinda thing. I don’t know what it is but comes to schizophrenia mind.
I hope they don’t make wear one of those hospital gowns that are open in the back.
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10
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Peaches is on Restriction
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Oct 1, 2010 4:55 pm
1883
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Every day when I go pick up mail I take Peaches along. She sets in the back seat on the passenger’s side. You know how dogs like to hand their heads out the window? I dunno why they like that; they just do. Maybe they just like the wind in their face, or maybe it helps clear their nostrils or something.
Anyway I roll the window down on her side so she can hang her head out the window. She stands; actually it’s more like a pose with her head hangin’out the window. She reminds me of one of those pilots in a WWI or WWII war movie. Her little head is pushed forward, her ears flapping in the wind and her eyes squinting to the point of almost being closed. Maybe I should get her one of those pilot's caps and a pair of goggles.
She doesn’t like it when I drive too fast down the highway, so she’ll hop over and sit down right behind me, until we get off on the excess road; then she is right back at the window.
She may be mad at me; I’m not sure why, but she has been getting even in only a way she can. The past two or three days while she is sitting right behind me…..she farts and then trots her little butt over to the passenger’s again and hangs her head out the window. Leaving me there to choke until I can get my window down and she knows I'm right in the middle of a turn and can't take my hands off the wheel!
I may have to change her diet but until then she is restricted!!
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15
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A Request Rosie asked for
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Sep 30, 2010 9:02 am
1701
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In her last blog Rosie expounded on the acronym K.I.S.S. I responded and told her there were a couple of other versions besides the one she demonstrated: “Keep It Simple Stupid.” There is a time and a place for this version, as there are for the others.
As an example an army drill sergeant might use “Keep It Stupid” when addressing or instructing his troops on….say a piece of equipment.
Another version of the K.I.S.S. acronym might be used in a less tension filled environment. Maybe like a teacher giving instructions on writing a term paper she might use it to impress on her class not to get carried away with their grammar or punctuation….Keep It Simple Sam.
And then there is the K.I.S.S. that you might use when you’re attempting to teach or instruct your girl friend in something such as….the proper way to swing a golf club and hit the ball….realizing she is blonde you might say something like ….let’s just Keep It Simple Sugar.”
While we are on Acronyms there is another one that comes to mind we used to use when I was a kid. There were two versions. The acronym is S.T.O.P.
The first version is: Stop Teasing Our Police.
The second version is: State Tax on Purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
And the other acronym that appeared in Rosie’s blog was F.O.C.U.S. You can use this just as a single word anytime you feel the need……and hope the person you direct it do doesn’t know that it means: F__k Off Cause U stupid.
I’m sure some of you have your own favorites, besides those old standards that are always used in chat, such as LOL, BRB, BBL, BTW, etc, etc, etc.
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11
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FRITZ
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Sep 28, 2010 6:30 pm
1616
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In a recent blog I mentioned my dog that my ex and I brought back from Germany. The day I got on the boat to sail home; my ex put Fritz on a plane. He got to fly home while I spent seven friggin’ days on the USS Maurice Rose, the slowest troop transport the US Navy had. Fritz was there and cleared customs quarantine before I arrived.
Unbeknownst to me, my ex had written to her parents in Philadelphia and had them pick up Fritz then come to New York and pick me up. I spent a few days in Philly getting to know my soon to be in-laws. Actually I was always grateful that my ex sent Fritz, he was my excuse to get a way a few times a day from “Mom and Dad” for awhile.
Fritz was a true German Sheppard. He was born in a small village just outside of Kaiserslautern, Germany. I don’t know if this was something they do all over Germany or if it was just this particular breeder, but he told us since this was the first litter by this female; all her pups name had to start with the letter “A”. The name on his register papers was Asso Von Der Wieldbranudika (you have to give me a break on the spelling). I think you can see why we just called him Fritz.
Fritz was the smartest dog I have ever been around. He stayed with my ex in her BOQ room. She lived on the third floor so you can imagine what it was like getting Fritz outside when he needed to go out. My ex would take him out in the mornings before she went to school, come home on her lunch hour and take him out and then again as soon as she got home. On weekends when I was there when he needed to go out he would go over by the door and yap at us if we didn’t move fast enough. That was usually my duty since the ex did it all week.
We must have bought Fritz sometime in February of 1962. By the time the signs of winter were beginning to fade and days of spring were getting longer; the kids in the area where coming outside to play. It didn’t take long for Fritz and the kids to find each other. There was a little park at the end of the BOQ buildings where the kids gathered and you could find Fritz right in the middle of them all. He would chase them; they would chase him. He loved to fetch a stick, or a rock, or a brick, or a tree branch. If you could throw it he would bring it back and drop it at your feet.
When we returned to Texas we had to stay with my parents for awhile until we could find a place to live. My dad worked nights and some mornings he would sit out in the front and play fetch with Fritz. He would throw rocks over the roof of the house and Fritz would run around the house and bring it back. Daddy couldn’t believe Fritz was bringing back the same rock he had thrown over the roof. One day he thought he would try to trick Fritz. He took a rock, marked an ‘X’ on one side of it and threw it over the house. A few minutes later Fritz came trotting around the house and dropped a rock at my dad’s feet. He reached down picked up the rock, turned it over and there was the ‘X’ he had marked on it.
Daddy didn’t believe it so he picked up a different rock, marked a ‘Y’ on this rock and tossed it over the house. Fritz was back in a flash with a rock. He dropped it at my dad’s feet, dad picked it up and there was the ‘Y’ he had marked on it.
Later that day my little sister came home and was doing her homework; she wanted to use a particular word; but she didn’t know how to spell it, and asked my dad. He said, “Ask Fritz, he spells better than I do.”
Fritz was my oldest daughter’s babysitter. He was there when she learned to crawl. She would crawl on him over him, pull his tail, his ears, and his tongue and…..anything else she could get her hands on.
When she went outside to play, Fritz went with her. When she started to school, Fritz would meet her at the bus and bring her home. In the afternoons kids on the block would come knocking on our door, asking if Fritz could come out and play.
When we first got settled in San Antonio, I was working shift work. When I got off the midnight shift, got a bite to eat and got in bed it was almost noon. Fritz used to come in and lay down on the floor on my side of the bed. Sometime between 6 and 7 p.m. Fritz would wake me up with a wet sloppy kiss. I ask my wife why she didn’t wake me up earlier and she said Fritz wouldn’t let her.
We weren’t allowed to hit each other when Fritz was around. Once when my ex and I were playing around, she made a motion like she was going to punch me on the arm. Fritz, sitting down between us, let out a low growl and took her wrist in his mouth. He didn’t bite he just took her wrist and held it in his mouth. I made the same motion and Fritz growled and took my wrist in his mouth.
While I was in Vietnam, my ex took Fritz to ‘doggie school’ but she wrote and told me that the instructor asked her why Fritz was there he already seemed to know what he was supposed to do before they started. He graduated at the top of his class. The instructor asked her if we wanted to sell Fritz.
During the time we had Fritz with us, he won two blue ribbons for best of show in a couple of local German Sheppard only shows in Austin. We had him for about 13 years then one day he was gone.
We never knew what happened to him but we suspect that he trusted someone he shouldn’t have and they took him off. I wish we would have had the ID Chips for dogs as they do today.
It was our idea to start a kennel when we moved to that place in Terrell, TX that was the thought behind buying the place, but we got busy living our life and starting a family; and never got to the kennel thing. Fritz would have made a great Stud.
We had a lot of German Sheppards, but none that ever quite measured up to Asso Von Der Wieldbranudika.
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9
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A Bit Of Trivia You May Not Know
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Sep 27, 2010 6:45 pm
1637
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Gollley……. Surprise Surprise Surprise!!
The Andy Griffith Show is celebrating its 50th Anniversary this year.
‘The Show ran from Oct .3, 1960 to April 1, 1968 and has never been off the air in 50 years. It is currently being shown on TV Land.
The show, itself a spin-off for the Danny Thomas Show, spawned its own spin-off series, Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C. (Gave us a whole new perspective of the Marine Corp), a sequel series, Mayberry R.F.D. and a reunion Telemovie, Return to Mayberry.
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9
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Put Your Little Foot
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Sep 26, 2010 4:20 pm
1848
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…….Put your little foot put your little foot right there.
How many remember that little ditty? On Saturday I happened to catch an old cowboy western that runs on TMC on Saturday mornings. I thought I had seen them all until this one which was titled Dual in the Sun, with Gregory Peck and Joseph Cotton.
During the movie they had one of those country dances at the rich rancher’s house and they played Put Your Little Foot. Talk about going back in time. I remember learning that during music class back in the 5th grade.
I think it was the first time I can remember getting to hold hands and putting my arm around a girl in public and not get in trouble.
I didn’t know this but discovered when I did a little research on the song that it is actually a waltz tune. Just think you might hear it on Dancing with the Stars one night.
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To link to this blog (Gets3) use [blog Gets3] in your messages.
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