scary birthday cards

I got some great cards on my recent birthday. Here's one of the funniest. The caption inside:

See? There are some things scarier than turning another year older.

But another card caused some concern. It merely said, "Happy Birthday" and was signed by Liz, Pattie, Ava, Dorothy and Jenny. My wife really wanted to know which five women got together on a card for me, and why.

Turns out it was the staff at my bank.

That's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

Al Gore, Nobel Peace Prize

So the rumors abound that Al Gore will be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize tomorrow for his "work" on climate change.

Before you freak out, remember that the Nobel committee lost most of its credibility in 1994 when they awarded it to master terrorist and despot, Yasser Arafat. So how much worse can it be to award it to a guy whose hot air and SUV emissions contributes more to global warming than any two real men?

Hillary Clinton's $5000 Stupidity

So Hillary said today, according to the AP, that she wants to give $5000 to every child born in America (at four million per year, that's $20 billion annually). Here are the two stupidest quotes from the article:

Clinton said such an account program would help Americans get back to the tradition of savings that she remembers as a child, and has become harder to accomplish in the face of rising college and housing costs.

"I think it's a wonderful idea," said Rep. Stephanie Stubbs Jones, an Ohio Democrat who attended the event and has already endorsed Clinton. "Every child born in the United States today owes $27,000 on the national debt, why not let them come get $5,000 to grow until their 18?"

No, Hillary, it will keep Americans in the tradition of expecting to get everything from the government (which is what you really want, isn't it?)

And Rep. Jones, you fool, this plan will mean that every baby born will now owes $32,000 on the national debt!

By the way, I'm wondering if it was Rep. Jones, or the AP reporter, who used the wrong "they're" in her quote.

What did Larry Craig do Wrong?

I don't get this whole Larry Craig "incident."

So he made some gestures in a mens room that I wouldn't recognize as anything but invading my space. He put his suitcase against the door of the stall. Where else would it fit?

Even if he came right out and propositioned a man in the mens room, how is that not an exercise of free speech? I think the airport police are caving into complaints by homophobe travelers and caving in to their own homophobia, and setting up the equivalent of a Georgia Highway Patrol speed trap. You know, where they hide behind a sign, clock you at 10 over the limit and say, "Wellll, I should arrest y'all and hold ya till the judge gets back from bass fishin... should be sometime Monday afternoon... or if y'all jes wanna pay the fine and be done with it, we can do that heah." Except here at the airport, it's "Do you want to plead guilty and pay a fine, and we'll keep this out of the press (yeah right) or do you want to miss your flight..."

I know why Democrats are acting disgusted. They want one more Republican out of the Senate. I know why Republicans are acting disgusted. They're caving in to their own homophobia or that of the few constituents they have left. Bill Clinton knew how to handle sexual scandal. He did it on company time, in the Oval Office, and said, "so what?" and his constituents, who care more about liberal views than lack of personal character, just loved him more for it.

What's the big deal about what Larry Craig did? "Real men" (like me) can just say no. The only people "protected" by this kind of policing are straight men, and I thought we gave up the last of our constitutional rights a few decades ago. Please, I need protection from an old man like Larry Craig, and I need it from some pretty-boy cop who made eyes with the Senator? I'm insulted.

Bad few days for SAR and FD, more challenges ahead

The past few days have brought sadness, and reminders of why we keep doin' what we do.

Saturday: 2 FDNY members of E24/L5 died at the Deutsche Bank building fire; a fire that shouldn't have started or spread so fast in a building that should have been torn down by now; a building still haunted by the ghosts of 11 other members of E24/L5 and 332 other FDNY brothers.

Friday: 3 rescuers were killed in the Crandall Canyon mine in Utah. A good friend from Utah's Dept. of Homeland Security tells me one of the six trapped miners is a volunteer fireman.

Thursday: 3 Marines and a sailor died when their Huey crashed during SAR training in Yuma, AZ.

Meanwhile, an earthquake in Peru, fires in the western US, a hurricane in the Carribean, flooding in the midwest, in India, Korea, China, and elsewhere...

"If I chose this profession, I could ask to be paid for it, but I am called by God to do this work." 1 Corinthians 9

Chillin' at Grandma's & Pop-Pop's

Sunday was as simple as we predicted, but gobs of fun. We "churched" with the Smarts and had a great visit afterwards at their house. John convinced me why Patty and I want to go to Tucson in October for the 30th Anniversary celebration of my Phi Kappa Psi fraternity chapter. Rosemary really impressed John with her knowledge of airplanes (unfortunately she has limited flight time in fighter jets, but she held his attention anyway).

Then we were off to Blauvelt, NY. One of the 8 FDNY officers with whom I attended the FEMA Master Exercise Practitioner courses at the National Fire Academy has become a great friend, and he has two boys John's age, so we hoped they'd get a long. They were nervously shy, for about three minutes, and five hours later we couldn't pry them apart.

Soon after we met up with him, he received a call asking him to respond, along with others of FDNY's command post planning section, to help staff the command post of the major wildland fires in Montana. He put plans together and ended up leaving at 0700 Monday morning. I couldn't help thinking of the phone call like that that I got back in October of 2005. "What's your schedule like the next few weeks? I need you to go to New Orleans..." Understanding wives are indeed gifts from heaven.

On Monday I left for NYC and the real business of the trip, and left John watching "Night at the Museum" at Grandma's. They have tentative plans to go to the Statue of Liberty, maybe the NJ State Fair, and maybe play more with the Flatley boys from Blauvelt.

I'll get back to Closter Thursday evening and we head for home Friday, which includes a stop in Adelphia to meet up with my best friend and John's Godfather, Harry Carter.

home... the sound of it is sweet.

Day 16 - lounging at Grandma's

Today was lazy day. John and I both swam in the pool, and nothing much more strenuous than that. We went out to dinner at one of G&P's favorites, Andiamo in Haworth. Tomorrow it's Church with the Smarts and then off to Blauvelt to visit one of my FDNY friends and his family.

Day 15 - Ottawa to Grandma's

I asked John what he wanted to do today, and he said, "Go to Grandma's." I tempted him with visiting the Canadian War Museum (recommended by the former schoolteacher who sat next to us at the Lynx game last night), the Canadian Museum of Science and Technology, and the HQ of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. "Grandma's" he said.

So we drove over the border and through parts of Adirondack State Park in New York. We stopped at the visitor center and got information on hiking, fishing, and even some rappelling sites. "Grandma's" he said. So off we drove.

We got caught in a tremendous downpour near the southern end of the New York State Throughway, all the way to Closter, arriving about 10:00 pm. John was happy.

Day 14 - North Bay to Ottawa

Today was museum day - we drove to the Canadian military base at Petawawa (100 kilometers north of Ottawa) and toured the museum there. It wasn't much. Then we went on to Ottawa and drove straight to the National Aviation Museum. John loved the display of jets. I liked seeing the P51 Mustang, and some rescue helicopters.

After checking into our hotel in Ottawa at 6, we were wondering what to do. I thought that Ottawa had to have a minor league ball team, so I googled it, and found that they do, and that they were hosting the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre Yankees tonite! So off we went to the park. Not only did we get 3rd row seats behind the on-deck circle, but it was 25c hot dog night! The Lynx lost to the Yankees 5-2 but we had a great evening in a very pleasant ball park.

We're still not sure what our plans are for tomorrow. More stuff to look at here, lingering in the Adirondacks, or drive hard to Closter to see Grandma and Pop-pop. Stay tuned!

Day 13 - Crossing in to Canada

John and I agreed that we'd have a very loose itinerary for the next few days. In fact, we didn't even book a room in advance for this evening. Our basic plan was to steam across Ontario to Petawawa, home of the Canadian Airborne Forces Museum.

That plan lasted about five minutes after we crossed into Canada (are all Canadian Customs agents pretty?). Driving along the main street in Sault Ste. Marie Ontario, we saw an airplane hanging off the side of a building, spun around the block, and pulled into the parking lot of the Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre (they spell things funny up here). We spent the next two hours climbing into seaplanes, watching a movie, and learning about fighting fires with airplanes (which, while frightening, seems a whole lot more civilized than doing it with a shovel).

We finally headed west on Canada's Highway 17 about 1pm, then stopped for lunch in Bruce Mines. The first 150 kilometers or so east to Blind River was pretty flat, boring, and not very prosperous. After Blind River things got a bit hillier, greener, and pretty.

We decided to spend the night in North Bay, since we didn't think we'd find a motel between there and Petawawa. We got a room in the brand new Holiday Inn. We think we're the first people to actually use this room. We ordered pizza in and relaxed early. Tomorrow it's the museum, then on to Ottawa for more fun guy stuff.

Day 12 - Wisconsin and the UP

We left Dot's today and headed across the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We're pretty sure we saw a wolf cross the road, about halfway between Ironwood and Marquette. It looked pretty healthy, but then the deer we saw cross the road a little earlier looked pretty healthy, too, so we think those mammals just grow bigger up here.

Our primary stop was the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point, MI. What we found out during this visit was that, right around the time of our first visit there 12 years ago, divers were recovering the bell from the Edmund Fitzgerald which sank near here with 29 souls in 1975.

Later we hugged the shore of Whitefish Bay on our way to Sault Ste. Marie. I remembered a great small casual seafood restaurant where we ate 12 years ago. We found it near Iroquois Light and ate there again! We met the owner, who just came in from his boat and enjoyed sharing the history of his family and the restaurant. Stuffed, we left there and headed on to Sault Ste. Marie.

At the locks we got to see three ships pass through in front of us within about an hour, and then retired (quite late) to our hotel on the American side.

Day 11 – Monday – rest and laundry

Today I’m visiting the local internet hotspot, posting the last few days of entries, and catching up on a little work. John and I will use Dot’s help to plan the next few days through Canada. We’ll do laundry, and hopefully little else. We’ve really played hard the last few days!

Day 10 – Sunday – Madeline Island

Dot roped Tom and I into singing a duet at her church this morning, which was easy, and it’s always great to sing in church (not least of all because you ALWAYS get told how nice it sounds). She plays the organ in an Episcopal church in Ashland, where she used to teach. Ashland is on Lake Superior, and after that, we drove north to Bayfield, and took the ferry to Madeline Island. We drove to the state park at the end of the island and met Dot’s friend Mark Eggleston, the head Ranger, at the entry booth. He lied to us about a good fishing spot, but John and I enjoyed the mile walk up a boardwalk between the bay and the lagoon to the alleged spot, then back along the beach, with the cool waters of Superior chilling our feet.

We cooked brats while John floated on the lake. I kidded him about not being as grown-up as he’s been acting – he was floating within a few feet of a bevy of very pretty girls, about 16 years old, and he was pretty much ignoring them. That will change. (no photos of the pretty girls included. after all, i wasn't interested either.)

Maggie and Sue -- couldn't resist (Brie & Savannah & Melissa too?) This shop is on Madeline Island in Lake Superior. I'm not exactly sure what it sells, but I guess her thought is that the third daughter had to fend for herself.

We also gained even more respect for John’s 6^th Grade language teacher, Ms. Burner. John asked Tom and Dot about whether Lake Superior seas can be rough, and Tom and I burst into a rendition of “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.” John groaned, and said he knew that song from the poetry lessons in language class. Thanks for teaching him the classics, Ms. Burner!

I also found a new source of supply for next July 4^th’s “Wurst Party of the Summer.” There’s a market in Ashland with a butcher shop that produces 20 different kind of brats. We had onion and garlic, which were delicious, but they also have onion and mustard, sauerkraut, pizza, salsa, mushroom, Swiss cheese, and “end of the day” brats (the latter being whatever is left in the grinder). Maybe they’ll ship some east for us.

I finally broke down and took a picture of John posing in front of something meaningless, some old propeller on Madeline Island. I think it's there to take pictures of while you're waiting for the ferry.

Day 9 – Saturday – Hiking the North Country Trail

John and I were dropped off along the North Country Trail and hiked back about 7 miles to a spot where the trail crosses US 63 a few miles from Dot’s house. The NCT is a collection of trails, supervised by the National Park Service. When it’s complete, it will run from North Dakota to New York, some 1000 miles longer than the Appalachian Trail. It’s beautiful and green, though buggy. We packed a fishing pole, since we passed about one lake each mile, but most of the lakes are extremely low, and overgrown along the shore, due to a dry winter last year, and the fishing wasn’t very good. John is a very able hiking buddy, and really showed his stuff the last two miles, after we’d given up on fishing and were exhausted.

We came home to a ham roasting outside, and John ate his largemouth bass that he caught on Thursday. It was excellent!

Day 8 – Friday – Running the Namekagon

Actually, this could be called “punting on the Namekagon” or even “walking the Namekagon.” The water level was pretty low. The Namekagon is a beautiful river that flows south, roughly paralleling US 63 south from Cable, Wisconsin. It’s the northernmost river in Wisconsin that flows south and ultimately into the Mississippi. Just past Dot’s house is the “Great Divide” – water north of there flows into Superior and into the Atlantic via the St. Lawrence River and Niagara Falls.

Today we rented a canoe for Tom and Dot. John and I each rented small kayaks and paddled alongside. My experience was a little more intense than the others – I tipped my kayak and swamped it. Fortunately John was there to help me empty it. On that occasion, the zip-lock bags held tight, but later in the day I let a little more water in, and the camera got wet. If it dries out, there are some great shots Dot took of us on the water.

We all returned exhausted and decided on a simple dinner – homemade pizza, with homemade sauce, and our own choices of pepper, onion, mushroom, pepperoni, and sausage.

Day 7 – Thursday Soaking of another sort

Tom McNurlin arrived today, with Buddy, his Yorkshire Terrier. After watching the thermometer rise (literally), we decided to head out for something cooler. We got licenses and went fishing near Drummond. John caught the only fish before the rain chased us home. We got a very welcome inch of rain which accompanied an even more welcome cold front. For dinner we enjoyed some venison steaks from a deer Tom shot last fall, along with cucumber dill salad a la Oma.

Day 6 – Wednesday - soaking at Owen Lake

Another day of strong sunshine encouraged us to head to a nearby lake (there are a few) where there is a small beach and park, and, most importantly, a cool offshore breeze. John spent about 6 hours in the water, kayaking, swimming, and entertaining all of the other kids that arrived by boat and car. Jean quilted but the heat took its toll and they left for the comfort of home in the early evening. John and I grilled chicken for the three of us.

At 7:45pm, Dot realized her dump would close in 15 minutes and not reopen until Saturday, so she promised us ice cream cones if we’d leave everything and scramble to collect recycling and trash. Kicking up a cloud of dust, we pulled into the dump driveway at 7:53 and found it already padlocked. She was about to turn around and leave when John and I persuaded her that we could walk around the gate and bring the recycling and trash to its containers. She was pretty squeamish, but we reassured her that it was the dump attendant’s fault, not ours, that it was locked already. On the way out, she said, “See? Look at that sign, it says the dump is open on Wednesdays in the summer until… oh, 6:00.” Obviously, we took no pictures of this so we can maintain plausible deniability if there’s ever an investigation.

Day 5 – Madison to Grand View

We finally caught up on some sleep and relaxation. When John woke up this morning, he rolled over, looked at the clock, and said, “Darn! I slept through breakfast!”

We hit the highway outside of Madison about 1100, and enjoyed the 5-1/2 hour drive northwest to Eau Claire, then north and northeast to Dot’s. For you map and compass geeks, we came within one degree of Longitude to the northern midpoint of the western hemisphere – we were at 45^oN, 91^oW when we passed Tipton, WI. We also stopped at a rest area that has this tribute to statewide law enforcement.

We think the designer probably watched “2001: A Space Odyssey” a few too many times.

We were treated to a very pleasant surprise – Jean and Steve just about followed us into Dot’s driveway! Dot’s county-famous garden is still in full bloom, despite a few weeks without substantial rain and today’s 90^o heat. John and I grilled two tenderloins of pork and we dined al fresco.

Dot’s “guest house” is finished enough for us including a bathroom (of sorts) and we’ve made ourselves quite at home here.

Day 4 (Monday) - Chicago

We woke up in Downers Grove IL, a western suburb, and drove downtown at the end of Rush Hour. John is a great navigator! We got to the Museum of Science & Industry just after it opened and we really hit the museum. We spent lots of time in their aviation exhibit, including a full Boeing 727 with cutaway jet engine and some navigational and operational exhibits inside. We also toured the U-505, the only WWII German U-boat ever captured (which happened 4 days before D-Day, and which was so secret no one heard of it until after the war). It was a very impressive display. It was personal to us -- John's grandfather Sorensen was a submariner (on the US side) in a very similar sub -- diesel-electric -- just a few years later, and my dad just might have taught radio operations to some of the men in the US Sub Hunter-Killer group who captured the sub! And he would have done it just blocks away at Navy Pier in Chicago.

No, Sue, I didn't take any photos of John kneeling beside a display. That's a family tradition we can let die.

We left after 3pm and got uptown for a tour of Mercy Home for Boys, a major Chicago area nonprofit who is a prospective client of NPA. We met some of the boys and saw where they live, eat and worship. John says he understands what it's like to be an abused boy, growing up in our home...

After Mercy Home, we headed north and west and are now outside Madison, Wisconsin. Tomorrow we head to Dot's, a mere 300 miles from here. So far we've done over 1500 miles, so we're looking forward to a short trip tomorrow and then a lot of walking.

Day 3 (Sunday) - Fort Leonard Wood

John slept in this morning. We went out carousing 'till the wee hours, so I don't blame him. He got so silly he even told our waiter the Roast Beef joke ("What's the difference between Roast Beef and Pea Soup? Anyone can roast beef...")

So I went to chapel by myself. It's a quaint old, New England style wood frame chapel on a hill.

It was billed as a standard-issue Army Protestant Service but it was led by an Evangelical Chaplain who did lots of preaching and praying. There was no liturgy, and the hymns were mostly contemporary songs. There were no bulletins. All the lyrics were typed into powerpoint and displayed on a screen. Yuck.









I was the only civilian in chapel. It was packed – 150 or so soldiers from her Brigade – all in Basic Training or MP school. I can see why they’d like it – after getting yelled at and told what to do for 6 days, 22 ½ hours, being built up and prayed over for 1-1/2 hours is just what they need. Lisa is a regular attendee at chapel and even asked me to bring a Bible of her own so she can read on her own.



We had lunch with her after chapel, off-post (“real food” she calls it) and then let her sleep for a few hours until she had to return. We then left for Chicago, and we’re outside Chicago now. Tomorrow we’ll visit Chicago and then head to She’s in pretty good health – a few bruises, but then she’s never worked so hard in her life. She’s had a few colds from the close quarters and hard work, but she’s not complaining.


Lisa's friend's name is pronounced with a hard "G", so it's "Christ and Gist" -- they take care of each other. I met a few of her male platoon mates too, and it seems everyone likes Lisa (though she complains about some of the other girls in her barracks -- says she misses living with Becca and Maggie!)

Day 2 - WV to MO - Saw Lisa

John and I made great time heading west today. I-64 is a breeze. We got to Fort Leonard Wood by 6pm CDT, early enough to see Lisa and Amanda Gist, her "battle buddy" (the friend she can't go anywhere without) for 30 minutes before she had to go back to barracks for formation. John and I will see her in church tomorrow, then spend the day with her.

We made one wrong turn today, and ended up in downtown St. Louis. Had a good tour past Edward Jones stadium where the Rams play, and Busch Stadium where the Cardinals play, and past the Purina headquarters too. John took what may be the only head-on picture of the Gateway Arch. I'm not sure if that's what did it or not, but at almost the same moment, some elevator in the Arch lost power and 200 people were stuck there for hours. Woo-oo-oo-oo.

Off to a great start - Huntington WV

Day 1 - New Market, VA to Huntington, WV: We left right on time Friday afternoon and headed west on US 33 from Harrisonburg. Right at the WV border the road started climbing and we enjoyed some of the wildest hairpin turns on the east coast. We crossed the Eastern Continental Divide and had dinner at Papa Johns in Elkins (which has BLUE fire apparatus - yuck!). Someone slipped a mushroom onto our meat lover's pizza, so our pledge to be veggie-free all vacation was short-lived. After Elkins, Rt. 33 picked up to 65 MPH, then we got onto I-79 and clipped along at more like 76! We ended up here in Huntington WV, the very western end of I-64 in WV.

Tomorrow we plan to make it the remaining 600 miles to Fort Leonard Wood, and visit with Lisa on Sunday. (see map at left).

Great weather today, and the same is predicted for tomorrow.

Heading on vacation

John and I are about to embark on a road trip around the upper midwest, and Ontario Canada.

You can see our itinerary here and we'll try to update you regularly with pictures and stories about the fish we catch, bears we see, rapids we canoe, etc. Take it all with a grain of salt.

Rick...

Secret CIA Prisons? how shocking

So some European Unionist has "discovered" what the US has already stated -- the CIA maintains "secret" prisons around the world where terror suspects are held and interrogated. I'm reminded of that scene in "Casablanca" when the police inspector closes Rick's Cafe American because he was "shocked, SHOCKED" to learn there was gambling going on in the back room.

Isn't "secret" what the CIA is supposed to be? Isn't "interrogation" what they're supposed to do? Now the EU wimp is all upset because we've made the suspects uncomfortable, keeping them naked and giving them the silent treatment. We should probably treat our prisoners the way al Quaida treats our soldiers when they capture them?