For those interested

A lot of you know I was in the Navy a long, long time ago.  I'm a member of several groups on Facebook, one being The Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club.  Another one was set up by one of my friends for members of OI Division on the USS Constellation.  I know people in both groups.  However, the OI division group posts pictures of us... some 40 odd years ago.  This one was posted yesterday.  I know a lot of you are wondering which one of these handsome young men is me.  I'll give you a hint.  I am the oldest one in the picture.  A fact I am reminded of every time my birthday is announced on Facebook.

While those were serious times, cruising up and down the Tonkin Gulf as we launched air strikes, we had the easy jobs.  Those guys on the ground?  They were fighting to stay alive.  This is apparently something a lot of crazy conservatives seem to have forgotten.

And what about the 'anonymous op-ed' in the NYT.  I guess the Idiot Jerk in the White House is going ballistic.  For years his legal teams have been smacking the shit out of anybody who cried foul, who tried to get a fair deal.  The Idiot Jerk had no compunction when it came to ruining people's lives.  He believed, and still does, their value is severely limited.  Now he is learning people have very little compunction when it comes to his life.  They mock and deride his every Tweet.  His supporters are seen as human failures, desperately grasping for as much power as their brittle, little fingers can clench.  No matter which way they turn, they find themselves mocked as much as their president.  If, perhaps, they managed to demonstrate just a smidgen of accountability, but we all know they shit that away years ago.  So, what did they think was going to happen?  

Anyway, for those interested, I'm the one wearing the green Adidas T-shirt.  And, what I find funny as hell, everybody in that pictures is younger than me.  That's right, I'm the old man.

In the Navy

Well, I'm sitting here waiting for my phone to arrive - it wasn't supposed to be here until Wednesday but then yesterday afternoon I got an email telling me it had been upgraded to "3 day shipping," so I called work and told them I'd be late.  However, if I wait too long, I'm going to call off completely.  I've got the time on the books.
A few years ago, because I was in the Navy, on an air craft carrier (USS Constellation), and in Vietnam, I joined something on Facebook called The Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club.  This is where other sailors with the same history as I post pics from those days long gone by.  This morning one my 'shipmates' posted a pic looking out into the hanger bay towards the aft end of the ship and I thought I'd post it here since most people have absolutely no idea just how big an air craft carrier is (so huge it would make the Idiot's head spin).

That's right, there's a van parked in the hanger bay - it was used by the Shore Patrol when we were in Subic Bay.  And, of course, you can see planes there because that's where the Airdales performed maintenance.  On the left hand side, about half way back, you can see a fire wall.  A long, long time ago, I lost a hard contact lens just forward of that fire wall, never to be found again.

And this is what it looked like when they were taking aircraft from the hanger bay up to the flight deck.  The above picture is from the USS Ticonderoga, which was rather small compared to the USS Constellation, which was the largest, non-nuclear air craft carrier ever built.

This is my ship pulling into San Diego after a 10 month tour of WestPac.

Now ain't that grand!  Can you see me up on the flight deck in my dress whites waving?