Speed Limit Signs

Why are they soooooo important?

Speed Limit Signs are the mile markers of a man's life! Don't think so? ALLOW ME TO EXPOUND ON THIS THEORY!

I reached a millstone yesterday THE BIG 6 - 0, the speed limit for trucks at night on the Texas FM roads. For the last 30 years or so I've not made a big deal about birthdays. At times I would forget that mine was impending. When asked my age, I would defer to my ex-wife for the answer. Not able to cope with age? Nah, I don't think so. Age was just low on the Importance Scale. I think.

So is it just a number? I don't feel 60, but what does 60 feel like? I don't know because I've never been here before. Not much different than 59 the day before I"m thinking. I'm still getting used to my name followed by the number 60. Not sure how I like that - not that I have a choice. And of course I've graduated into the next insurance bracket which means life insurance-related items just ratcheted up by another leap. I got an email from my dad wishing me a happy birthday and I replied that it took me a while to get here. I got another email from one of my childhood buddies which wished me a happy birthday you old bastard. That's OK because his day is coming January 17th! Of all my old buddies, I am the oldest. They will all catch up, the first being December 5th. He has been strangely quiet. All that said, all the basics still work/function and feel ok, important things legs, brain, arms, bowels, etc. and without strain or effort which is pretty much the way I like it.

So I asked these questions....
How does one measure "60" and what do you measure against? Would this be a ruler of time against accomplishments OR would this measurement be how one feels physically against "the number?"




When do OLD GUYS recognize that they are old? When they look in the mirror, do they see how they really are OR do they only see what they used to look like? Is this like not being old until someone says, "Gee you're old"? At which point you bat them into next week.
A signpost like this answers the question! It's a mile marker for old guys who refuse to recognize that they have gone beyond the acceptable limits..Men need signposts...speed limits...to tell them how fast they are going.... They need boundary limits! But what is acceptable? What are the boundary limits? I think there's a big difference between what was acceptable for a 60 year old when my father got there vs. today. I don't feel 60 and most people you ask may tell you that I don't act 60. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I think it's all between your ears.

This guy should have gotten a BIG ticket!

Away to Bora Bora

I'll be looking for AQUA next year....

Picture me here...soaking up the sun like a sand iguana!
Jealous? Hah! I’ll send you a postcard…

A sight yet to be seen!
I'll be kicked back...sipping on a virgin...uhhh...Mai Tai that is...
Just watching the sun go down....


Nassau Blue is my ALL TIME favorite color.... Don't know what Nassau Blue looks like? Can you see it in the photos above? It's the text color I am using for this particular blog.

I don't know why I like this particular shade of aqua. Guess I have liked it since Chevrolet used it on their 1966 Model Corvette. This color IS the sound of the surf, the coastal seas, the shimmering white sands, incredible seafood, and thoughts of just laying on the beach with nothing in sight but time to waste.... Since Chevrolet first introduced this color, they changed the base to include more cobalt.

See the differences between the FIRST Nassau Blue and the SECOND...BIG DIFFERENCE IN MY BOOK!

There are many shades of aqua.... My friend David Lord used to go to Pebble Beach, CA every year to an artists show just north of Carmel. He has always talked about the beaches, the surfers and the babes. Here are a few pictures of that kind of aqua...
I am surprised David didn't commit something to canvas as a reflection of the time spent in his most favorite location....next to Maine of course....

So whether it is THIS or THAT shade of aqua...doesn't matter...
AQUA
AQUA
AQUA
AQUA
AQUA
AQUA
AQUA
AQUA

I just want to see some....
Besides...I'll be ticking one more thing off my bucket list!

Frozen in time

GLACIER GIRL.....

Yes, the "Glacier Girl" was at the airshow. What a RARE sight to see!!!

The P-38, destined to be known as “Glacier Girl,” was one of a flight of six Lightnings and two B-17 Flying Fortresses. These planes are now known as the “Lost Squadron,” which were forced to make emergency landings en route to England from America on July 15, 1942. All eight planes were left on the Greenland icecap...where inclement weather eventually buried them all beneath 270 feet of ice and snow.

Fifty years later, this single aircraft was recovered from the ice in 1992 after many years excavation. She underwent an intensive restoration process in Middlesboro, Kentucky beginning in 1993. After hundreds of thousands of man hours and millions of dollars, Glacier Girl stands now as the most perfect restoration of a World War II era warbird ever done and the most perfect P-38 Lightning in existence. Notice the ice tunnels in the photo!

This is how she looks today! We all stood in amazement as she made several fly-bys.

Glacier Girl is a Lockheed P-38F-1-LO Lightning World War II fighter plane. In 1942, the P-38 was the fastest fighter in the world, and they flew in both the Pacific and European Theaters during the war. After the war ended almost all of them were melted down for scrap metal.

Plans are to have the airplane on display at the Lost Squadron Museum in Middlesboro. It is uncertain how much it will be flown in the future, so I consider myself fortunately to have witnessed its appearance...

OLD IS WHEN ???

You are never too old to pay tribute to those who fought for our freedom...

You are old when....

1. "Getting lucky" means finding your car in the parking lot after a short trip to Wally World.
2. An "all nighter" means not having to get up to use the bathroom.
3. You don't care where your spouse goes, just as long as you don't have to go along.
4. "Getting a little action" means you don't need to take any fiber today.
5. Having your wife go bra-less because it pulls all the wrinkles out of her face.
6. Your sweetie says, "Let's go upstairs AND make love," and your answer to that is...
"Pick one; I can't do both!"

ba Dum pum... Ok folks, my stand up comedy act is now over.... but don't go home yet!

On a more serious note...and speaking of OLD....see the WW2 plane below....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I crossed an item off my "bucket list" at the "Wings Over Houston Air Show" two Saturday's ago! YES...I actually rode in a B-17 G bomber. Thrilling to say the least....
Here's a ground pounders view of my latest ride....

Pretty cool.... As my friend, Gary Schroeder, Colonel, Ret. US Airforce, would say..."It's all about lifties and thrusties..."

The B-17 Flying Fortress was an Army Air Corps heavy-duty bomber from World War II. This four-engine aircraft flew strategic bombing missions over Europe armed with .50 caliber machine guns and five thousand pounds of bombs. 13,000 B-17’s were produced over the course of the war, of which only 13 still are airworthy today. This aircraft with the 303rd bomb group flew 116 missions during World War II. Her home is at the Lone Star Flight Museum in Galveston, TX. Once the "Thunderbird" was airborne, passengers were allowed to move around the plane. The ride was like none other. There was no immediate pull back on the throttle for a g-force, face wrenching upward plunge to the upper atmosphere....but a gentle lift of both tail and wings simultaneously....a level, upward floating effect. It was, without a doubt, the best plane ride ever....

Here are few photo shots from different positions inside the aircraft. Click on the photo to enlarge for a better view!

Here we could see the view forward from the bombardier's position in the nose. The famous Norden bombsight with which you could "drop a bomb in a pickle barrel" is in the center. This is the prime view spot, 180 degrees!


Up and aft of the bombardier are the pilot and co-pilot. Here you can see the instrument panel and associated controls. Complex perhaps for the day, but basic compared to a modern aircraft. The netting is to keep us groundies out.

Right behind the pilots seats is the top turret platform. Just like "Star Wars" it pivots and rotates 360 degrees for coverage on top.

This is where I REALLY wanted to ride... in the lower ball turret, which is located immediately aft of the bomb bay. The operator would board this cage before takeoff and would have no access to the rest of the plane during flight. So, even if he wanted to escape incoming fighters, he could not get out of the cage!

The pilot, a former crop duster, informed me that in order to ride in this "special location" I had to sign a special waver... But wait, it gets better! This would be another waver on top of the FIRST waver I had to sign just to board the plane. You see, in order to ride in the lower ball turret, one must be prepared to DIE if the pilot has to emergency land the aircraft on its belly. If the landing gear fails, the pilot must first jettison the turret cage!

My guess is that the lower ball turret gunner was also the primary inspector and repairman of the landing gear!

REMEMBER: Very brave men climbed into this hole 116 times....

Hmmmm..... After thinking about signing the second waver for about a nano-second, I asked if he could possibly jettison the cage over water first?
Uh... No.....

See the tail gunners position? He had to CRAWL into it. It wouldn't be a whole lot of fun going backwards all day and having an intimate view of enemy fighters diving at you. Notice the twin barrels in the tail? You are not allowed to touch them when the plane is on the ground because the acid in your hands will etch the metal over time. Thank goodness the boys at the Lone Star Flight Museum keep them well oiled....

And last, but not least....here is how the ride looked from the air. You could see daylight in a lot of places in the plane, especially around the bomb chamber!

"BOMBS AWAY!"

Wanna go for a ride? Click here to see what it was like:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHrz8URnta4

Click here to see what it was like to be a ball turret gunner:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvuChgh4fGg&feature=fvw

After I de-planed and stood in awe as the B-17 took its final fly-by, thoughts of those who served our country in this "FLYING FORTRESS" filled my mind. This final link is my salute to those heroes living and passed....and to say that I am PROUD to be an American...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvUoO9zi3kw&feature=related

One down on the "bucket list" ....
What to do, what to do...what will I do next?

The Kraken

I really liked this poem...by Lord Alfred Tennyson.....

THE KRAKEN
Below the thunders of the upper deep;

Far far beneath in the abysmal sea,

His ancient, dreamless, uninvaded sleep

The Kraken sleepeth: faintest sunlights flee

About his shadowy sides; above him swell

Huge sponges of millennial growth and height;

And far away into the sickly light,

From many a wondrous grot and secret cell

Unnumber'd and enormous polypi

Winnow with giant arms the slumbering green.

There hath he lain for ages, and will lie

Battening upon huge seaworms in his sleep,

Until the latter fire shall heat the deep;

Then once by man and angels to be seen,

In roaring he shall rise and on the surface die.

The Kraken is a popular monster...check him out on Wiki here:

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kraken_in_popular_culture

Click this image to enlarge and read:

Last Wishes

Star crossed lovers
in the meadow await
the rising of the dipper
to seal their fate.

T'was a love born between
future and past,
that now clings together
under this grass....by E. Bruce Cameron

It's tough planning ahead when you are on the last quarter of life... Little questions creep into your mind....

Imagine a '33 record, spinning under a needle, going round and round, playing the music of MY life. The needle spins closer to the middle and the rotations get smaller and smaller.... That's what it's like getting older. The days pass quickly, turning weeks into months, months into years.... Only when you are older do you look back and say, "Where did time go?"

During a morbid lunch conversation, when talk turned to what we all would like to do before we die, friends asked, "Have you made your list yet?" I just sat there an shook my head. I got nothing.... I never thought I would have an opportunity to do anything I wanted before I died EXCEPT work... I had not yet watched "The Bucket List," but after renting it one weekend, it occurred to me that I had already completed a few items on the movie's wish list....
So, one lazy Saturday afternoon, a few months ago while watching tv, I created my own "bucket list." It wasn't as elaborate as the movie's list, but it was realistic and appropriate for my current financial status. I didn't give it a lot of thought, I quickly just put it down on paper as things flashed into my mind. Then, I looked at it for a few days and let it rest next to my tv guide.... Every day I looked at it, I became disgusted that I had considered making a list in the first place. This was like acknowledging that death could soon be at my door, so I wodded up the list and threw it away...

Recreated, it's now listed here, in no order of importance...as a reminder that time is ticking.

My Bucket List:

1. Bondurant Driving School

2. Fly a plane

3. Ride in a WW2 Bomber...DONE

4. Ride in the cab of a locomotive

5. Spend 2 days on an active navy warship (aircraft carrier/submarine)

6. Go to Bora Bora

7. Go to Scotland

8. Return to Italy

9. Lose 40 Pounds

10. Visit the basement of the IMS Museum

11. Hawg hunting in Texas...DONE
What to do, what to do.... Such a painful, agonizing decision....

I reserve the option of changing the list as my view of the world changes.