Sez me.

I had an enjoyable day today, running a model sailboat. The boat is about thirty years old, I built it from a kit in 1979. She still handles well, and in today's winds the tall rig isn't a problem. See pics below.

First, I have to admit that I didn't do much today. I got a couple of jobs done, notably improving the interior lighting in the cargo section of my big van and getting a laundry done. That having been said, maybe it's about time to give some thought to the folks this day is supposed to be about. Many fine brave men fought and died in foriegn fields so I could write this unhindered, and to them I can only say "thanks".

I suppose this is as fitting a place and time to think of one soldier who made it back and who I knew personally. He was born in March of 1919, lived through the Great Depression, went to war and fought in the European theater as an Army Engineer, came home, then migrated to Chicago where he married and raised a family of four kids. He was a factory worker, working in front of a furnace in a hammershop for 32 years before finally retiring in his 62nd year of life on this planet. I really can't add much concerning his retirement years because he really didn't do much beyond a bit of fishing early on, then gardening the rest of the time. In all the time I knew him, I doubt he ever darkened the door of a church though I know he did have a belief and a certain fear of God, who he prayed to on a fairly regular basis. One of the reasons given for not going to church was that he wouldn't be able to understand the preacher, and that would bother him. This excuse happens to be true enough, between his army days and working in a hammershop his hearing was largely shot. He heard about every third word and maybe understood about half of that in his final years.

His wife preceded him in death by about six and a half years, and he died in February of 2007. I am, of course, writing here of my Dad. He was given a military funeral in his home state of Georgia, and that's pretty much where I have to leave this memory for the time being. His military record was an honorable one, for those who might wonder. I was given his flag, as his eldest son.

It's official, I no longer live in Chicago. I'm in Carol Stream now, which is a Western 'Burb of Chicago. My lease started here the first of the month, and because of slow set-up (on my part) it has taken until the beginning of this week to get properly in here. "Here" is a single-bedroom apartment, baseboard hot-water heat, fully equipped kitchen and what looks to be a decent air conditioner. Friends and family gave me some furniture so I have a table and some chairs, a bed and so on. That's important because I got out with next to nothing from my old place.

I'm set well enough now to begin making a go of it. Finances are going to be real tight but what else is new, and I've lived on my own before so I know I can do it. About the wife that I left---- same old, same old.. I have no doubt that if I tried to live with her again it would be the same abuse that I left, complete with being cursed in the Name of Jesus (I am not making that up), being hit in the face and so on. I couldn't wish that kind of life on my deadliest enemy, nobody deserves to be treated like that. Most spousal abuse stories you will read are of women being abused by men, I stand as testimony that it happens the other way around too.

Folks, it looks like I'm going to have another forced move. Events are transpiring to make the present street address an untenable one, so a move becomes necessary. I post this to let my friends here know I may be off-line for a bit, for exactly how long is anybody's guess, moves being what they are.

I'm looking at the possibility I may move to a place I've occupied twice before. It's a decent apartment complex, the only downside is that the commute to work and back can be formidable.

I'm a little late-- by at least a week-- with this one. A week ago, they had Cornfest over in De Kalb, Illinois. It's an annual event with a fair, some shopping and a handful of attractions of some interest. This year, they had a Flying Fortress on display. I had a chance to take the five-dollar tour of the old war-bird so I took them up on the offer. This particular bird never saw combat, having been built just as the war in Europe was winding down. She was used in search and rescue missions instead. The folks who presently maintain and fly her have her set up as a fully equipped heavy bomber, complete with all the gun positions and dummy bombs in the bay. It looks as though she's about to take off on yet another mission with the Eighth Air Force over Germany again.

For a little bit, I wondered to myself how they landed, and then expected to take off again, in a four-engine bomber from De Kalb-Taylor Municipal Airport. Then something occurred to me. These birds used to take off, fully loaded, and sometimes in war-weary condition from grass strips in England for their missions over enemy territory. It would be easy, therefore, for a relatively empty bomber in first-class condition to take off from the tarmac at De Kalb-Taylor.

One position on the plane, more than any other possibly in the entire war, seems worthy of special respect. This is the ball-turret position. It took a small man to climb into that thing, once in he was cut off from the other nine men of the crew. He sat through the entire time he was in the ball turret with his knees up against his chest, steering the thing with his feet on foot-petals, and hoping that an enemy bullet didn't jam the gearing so that he couldn't get out again. If it did, he was in a world of hurt depending on the rest of the crew not to rub him against the ground upon landing. His was also the position least likely to be able to get out if they had to abandon the craft in mid-air. The tail-gunner was also unlikely to escape a stricken B-17, but at least he could see his fellow crewmates in flight which is more than the ball-turret gunner could do.

I walked off of the plane with somewhat better knowledge of what men of my dad's generation did during WW2, and maybe a bit more respect for the people who did it. None of the men who flew this bird was a physically large man. I know this because I stand only 5 foot six inches and many of the clearances were tight for me. The "old man" on the bird was likely not to have had his 24th birthday yet, and many of them never would have it-- heavy bomber missions being what they were. These planes were not pressurised, they flew at 30,000 feet and the temps up there are forever at fifty below zero-- F. or C., it doesn't matter because at that temperature it's just plain too cold. It goes without saying that the crews were on oxygen for the entire run at that altitude.

Every now and then I need to use this thing just to be sure I still can. Since my last posting here much has happened. Senator Obama has taken a commanding lead from Senator Clinton and while he still hasn't locked the Democratic nomination he's in a position now where it's his to win or lose. I don't think Clinton can win in November even if she does manage an upset in the nomination now.

In non-presidential stuff, I finally had to buy a bigger vehicle. Seems my Econoline wasn't big enough, so the powers-that-be told me I needed to go larger in my van. A Sprinter van fills that bill, but these days I do well to half fill the thing so it makes me wonder why the need for it.

Today is Mothers Day here in the States so we're busy telling our women how really special they are. My wife is pretty special so that makes that part easy. Visiting my mother's grave isn't quite so easy. Too many memories, and of course I miss her.

This is the last page concerning my Google test. Forget about it, Google doesn't appear to update terribly often. Their last page under my heading ( I search my name and my handle) was in 2005. So, I tried "ASK.com" and found my most recent stuff right away. I'm just taking a wild guess here, but it occurs to me that the "800 Pound Gorilla" finally got so big it became unmanageable and now smaller, more nimble search engines will do a better job.

OK, next post will be on something else.

This post isn't for any particular reason, I'm just testing a theory. The theory is that search engines, Google in particular, really love blogs. I suspect that this post will show near the top in just a couple of days even though it has no reason to exist apart from my desire to see this idea work.

A little later, I am going to resurrect this critter for more serious work, probably it will replace outright my op-ed page on my personal website. I'll reserve that site for storing photos that I will post here and elsewhere, plus testing ideas that I can't do here. Besides, every now and then I develop a taste for seeing if I can write as well as Richard Roeper (of the Chicago Sun Times) does.

On a personal note, because I know that some readers will ask: My marriage is six months old, and we are doing well.

Yep, a long while since I last wrote anything here. In a year or so, a lot happens.

1. An old flame revisited. End result looks to be an April marriage, to a woman I divorced some 16 year ago. We've both had time to mature since then, so this time it looks like there's a fighting chance to make it work.

2. A "forced" move. Some of you who have read my past posts here know that for one reason or another I was living at my father's house. Well, last October he took sick and we had to move him first to a hospital and then to a nursing home. The thought of increasing expenses forced us-- by which I mean his offspring which includes two brothers and a sister, besides me-- to get the old house ready for sale. That meant I had to move, and I now reside with my soon-to-be wife in a three-bedroom flat on Chicago's West Side. It's a tad small, like most of those old Victorian-era places, but hey, it works.

3. This last bit makes me wish I could put a black border around this entire post, but right now I don't want to look it up even assuming it's possible. Regrettably, my father died last Sunday. He was eighty-seven, a month short to the day of his eighty-eighth birthday.


Onward and forward. I guess I'll have to work a little harder to keep this up, eh? While I'm at it, I'll probably have to introduce you to my bride, as soon as I can show her how all this is done. Till then,...

It's the day after Christmas, and I'm at home today because, at least here in the States, it seems most people are off today. So, no driving all over the place making deliveries. Somebody remind me to post some pictures of the van and its usual load later.

Saturday, for me, was the day to buy and deliver gifts. Just so you know, I'm divorced since 1990, and I still have contact with my ex from time to time. We got together and I bought gifts for her grandkids (not mine, we never had children together). I also gave her a couple of gifts that I had bought earlier for her. She's got a thing for stuffed animals, and a couple of toy dogs goes a long way. Yesterday, Christmas Day, I spent trying out a couple of toys I had bought for me at Radio Shack. They have an R/C helicopter and a hovercraft that aren't too bad for what they are. The chopper is a real trick to fly, but with a bit of practice you can keep it between floor and ceiling and out of the furniture. It's tiny and it won't stand any wind to speak of, so flying it outside is questionable at best.

The hovercraft is OK, but the directional/propulsion fans are all-or-nothing in the power department. It'll move along at maybe ten or twelve miles an hour on a smooth surface, somewhat less if the surface is rough on the air cushion. I'm used to proportional controls, so having only on/off on the propulsion fans takes quite a bit of getting used to. It gives me an idea about building a better one though, and googling around a bit helped me to find some plans for just such a venture. The lift fans have to be on/off, but if I build one I'm sure going to have proportional control of the drive fans. In the meantime, this one is a blast to drive.

The snow and ice are melting outside, so the next bout of snow and ice will be fresh stuff. I got the driveway cleared at last today, some of that ice was practically nailed to the pavement.

I'll see what I can do to keep this blog, and its companion site more up-to-date. Until next time....