Couldn't Be Finer, 'less I was in North Caroliner!!!!

That's right folks couldn't be finer 'less I was in North Caroliner!! Oh my!!! I am in North Carolina!! How did that happen? It was raining and windy in the midwest today and as some of you know I was due for a trip to Florida. ABNMOMMA makes me go nearly every year. Usually in the dead of winter! Sucks! That's what she made me do today. In the wind and rain we left for Florida. I drove all the way to North Carolina to escape the wind and rain. Know what I got? More wind and rain! Where's the sunshine? Where's the warm temperature?

Well back to what could be finer than North Carolina? Din din cooked by a veteran 82nd AIRBORNE PARATROOPER. Grilled chicken and burgers just the way me and momma like em. Cooked long and through over charcoal not some fancy $500 gas grill. I just have to have some ashes and put some carbon in the air to offset Al Gore's energy efficient home!! Just kidding

We got to Fort Bragg/Fayville about 1900 hrs. this evening and by 2000 hrs. we were grillin' and chillin. Good food, good conversation, an adult beverage and some good times. It don't get no better than this. Well maybe some sunshine would help.

The troops including Specislist Jacob are heading for the field on Monday so we are making this a very special weekend. Spoiling the grandkids in 2 days is a tall task. WE CAN DO IT!! Then we're heading out to let the DIL deal with it. LOL LOL.

Seriously folks it was so nice to have Jacob and Ally, his wife, cooking and just going all out for us. We felt like king and queen. Pumpkin pie and ice cream for dessert. What more could parents ask for. It makes us very proud to have an AIRBORNE Paratrooper for a son. It makes us very proud to have a son that's an AIRBORNE Paratrooper!

It's after midnight and Pops is getting tired. It was hard to leave their house and return to the motel but....we must. Hmmm, wonder what the motel has for breakfast tomorrow.

Pleasant dreams all,

Pops

God Bless our service men and women. They keep us safe and secure.

Tis a Sad, Sad Day

Tis a sad, sad day for military families I fear. I have not used this blog to strike out against the new administration. President Obama has now proven to me and to what I believe are many other people his true distaste for our country and those who would defend it. He has used a President Bush leftover administrator, Secretary Gates, to do his dirty work. The filming of our returning fallen will begin again. This is the way of the new President. It reminds me of another coward named of Ponitus Pilate. Let somebody else preform the unpleasant task, I wash my hands of it.

President Bush had the common sense and decency to honor our fallen warriors by NOT letting the left wing, liberal media make a spectacle of our soldiers coming home to rest. Now Secretary Gates has reversed the policy.* This will now become a media feeding frenzy that can do nothing but demean our brave warriors and cause grief for their families. Is there no one left in Washington with any intestinal fortitude or cahonies that will step up to the plate and tell President Obama he is wrong, just plain wrong. Elliot Richardson where are you when we need you!

President Obama, You tried to sneak this in on a day the your budget is taking first spot on the news. You detached yourself from it by sending Secratary Gates to make the announcement.

How DARE you desecrate the memory of these warriors!

They died for you and your wife and daughters. If it weren't for men and women like them you wouldn't never have had the opportunity to live where you do today! Haven't these families given enough! Their son,daughter,husband, wife, brother, sister, aunt, or uncle have paid the ultimate sacrifice. Let them grieve in private!

As the parents of a soldier, ABNMOMMA and I pray for the souls of these brave warriors and their families. We can no way share the pain you must endure everyday without your loved one. God Bless these families and brave, brave warriors.

I will end with this. President Obama, you have lost any creditability you may have had or might have gotten from me my family and many military families

FOREVER!

*As reported by CNN

I got a picture today!

I got a picture on my cell phone today. I couldn't make it out driving 70 MPH down the highway. I know I am a danger to myself and other drivers. When I get a ring from Specialist Jacob I have a tendency to answer quickly. Like every good cautious driver I didn't pull over to text my reply,

Question: "What's that?"
Reply: Work
I look again, humm, looks like a truck in water up to the doors. That I figure is about a good 1 1/2 foot deep water. Ah,,,, lights come on. Yep, that's a stuck truck all right.
Question: You driving?
Reply: Nope, Riding in the back.
Question: Rookie?
Reply:Yep.
Me: Figures
Reply: We got it out.
Me: That's nice
Reply: Yep

That's the conversation of a fairly PO'd Paratrooper.

Now what's odd about this just occurred to me. Jacob spent 15 months as the first part of "the surge" into Baghdad in 2007 and 2008. He spent so much time driving a Hummer he wrote home and ask for a pillow because the seat was broke.

Now just why in the devil is the United States Army giving him Driver's Training.

Oh well. go figure!

BE PREPARED

My fellow blogger linked to the Fayville Post for an absolutely awesome slide show presentation by them. They wrote a great article and the photos by Combat Photographer, Andrew Craft were perfect. Clik here to go to The One Percenters for this great article and slide show.

Therefore I will tell you about my early Sunday morning. I arrived at awake at 0642 hours. This was due to a hapless alley cat named DC. Actually this is Specialist Jacob's cat which he left here 5 years ago when he moved out to get married. I got the better end of the deal. I got a cat, she got Jacob. LOL LOL

Anyway nice an quiet until 0949 hours when my cell phone went off. It was Specialist Jacob calling to talk about the Bud Shootout the night before. Yes, we are NASCAR fans and proud of it. After the chit chat I say "whatca doin'", fishin', well sort of. Huh? the battery died on Kody's boat and we had to cast our way back to shore by hooking into the trees and reeling ourselves in. I am rolling at this time. You must understand from my rather silly point of view.

Two of America's finest, toughest AIRBORNE warriors drifting about in a boat and they run out of electric. You have to be kidding me. Kody has just made it through Ranger school. Now folks you gotta be tough and smart to be AIRBORNE but Ranger, even more so. Kody goes for a new battery and they get back to fishing with my grandson. Now I ask you what kind of lesson does this teach him? Even the Boy Scouts motto is "Be Prepared"

You know they recently slowed work days down a lot because of a little snow on the ground. Now two of America's finest fighting soldiers get somewhat hung up fishing. Don't let the bad guys find out about this.

I will say one thing for them they were resourceful and got themselves out of the fix they were in. There is hope. The real hope is the next time, THEY CATCH SOMETHING!!!

A Public Service Announcement +

President Obama has announced his campaign of transparency numerous times during his campaign to become President. It appears to be working on his selected appointees for his cabinet positions. Where it is apparently not working is with his stimulus package, or renamed bailout. Below is a "copy paste" from the Official Whitehouse web site. I urge you to go clik on the site and leave President Obama a firm and strong, but nice, message regarding your feelings on American taxpayers bailing out companies that cannot manage the money they had.

You might also mention how the $ amount has grown with all the non essential spending by some of the congress. I believe they call it PORK! No disrespect to the pigs.

As a side note please remember President Obama has just asked the Department of Defense to reduce it's budget by over 10%.


Here is the excerpt from the Whitehouse web site:

President Obama is committed to creating the most open and accessible administration in American history. To send questions, comments, concerns, or well-wishes to the President or his staff, ...

www.whitehouse.gov/contact

+Too important NOT to pass on. Clik here and participate! Heard on the radio.

A small side note you may want to forward this to your friends. They have opinions too!

Thank you for your support & God Bless America

Waiting, Waiting and then some Waiting

That's the way the Army goes. Waiting and more waiting unfortunately this time the waiting is at the hospital. That was Thursday morning sometime around 0340 hours. Now the waiting is until Monday morning or later, knowing the Army, most likely later.

Lettuce begin this way. It was suppose to start at 2350 hours Wednesday with Specialist Jacob exiting a high performance military aircraft from approximately 800 feet above the ground. At approximately 2130 hours I got a text message from said Specialist to "look south and wave at 2350 hours". This has become a ritual within the family and dutifully at 2350 hours I went to the front porch looked south and waved. He is suppose to wave back. Don't try to understand it's just something we do. My neighbors think I am a little nuts, I prefer eccentric. Knowing after the jump he is a little busy I trundled off to bed. I need my beauty sleep (desperately). He will send me a text message later letting me know all is well.

At 0500 hours I wake and check my phone for the text message all is well. This morning no message. I say to myself, this is not good. Can't call, that would be unmanly. Kind of like running out on the basketball court when your kid doesn't get right up after getting knocked down.
Well, off to work to wait. And wait. Did I mention waiting.

Text message at 0820, and I quote "at the hospital possible broken foot, will call later" Boy this ain't good. About 1030 hours the call comes through. The call went something like this, How's the foot? It hurts like hell, What happened? I don't know, I must have landed on a rock or dirt clod. Moonlight? None. Broken? Don't know, too swollen to tell, Dad I landed and screamed like a girl. (Now that's saying something for this kid) What's going to happen? I have to come back Monday for an MRI or when the swelling goes down. Oh! Gotta go dad, ride's here, love you. Love you too son.

Update Sunday afternoon, phone call to mom. Mom, I am out of percocet can I take a darvocet and how many? Yes, ever four to six hours (mom's an RN). Can you put pressure on it? No way. OK. Yada yada yada. Bye son, love you. Love you too mom.

Did I mention we were waiting................