Sticks and Stones

Here are some of the new loaded terms that everyone is using to impress us with their intelligence:

• CAVE - Citizens Against Virtually Everything. This is the backlash of citizens against governments spending sprees. Our local school district passed a 24 million bond effort last year and we don't have enough Elementary School class room space. I am a CAVE man that will run again for school Board only this time I won't leave my gloves on and play nice.
  

• NIMBY - Not In My Backyard. This is the environmental "CAVE"men". They don't want to pay $150.00 a barrel for oil but they won't let us drill for oil in Alaska, off the coast of California or in the Gulf of Mexico. They know we are horribly linked to fossil fuels and yet demand we reduce our Carbon Footprint. They pass ordinances against solar panels in housing areas because they are ugly. If I hear one of those pointy headed geeks say windmills are ugly one more time I'll scream. One of the most majestic things I have ever seen is the graceful windmills across the skyline in Wyoming generating thousands of Kilowatts of power for the Big Sky State.
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• STAGFLATION - The economy is not growing and yet there is an increase in inflation. Duh, with the cost of filling up our gas tank at over $40.00 (Barb has a little tank) it should not surprise people that most of us are going to spend a little less for Christmas this year. Hell, I got our IRA certificates renewed at over 4% for the first time in years. Hang on boys and girls.

• NRA. Never Re-elect Anyone. Hell, this is my term and I approve of it. I think the US Congress in both houses have filled up with people that have forgotten that it is our money not theirs they are spending. When a Senator comes up with a $2 million grant for a Woodstock museum they should be exposed for spending wily nilly. We have senators that have spent the past year and will spend all of next year trying to win the Presidency. They sure as hell aren't doing us a whole lot of good in congress. Wait, they probably aren't doing much harm by being gone. Let me think about this.

• Liberals/Conservatives/Progressives and Regressives. Most of us are so complex that one label isn't enough. I tend to be a fiscal conservative but I advocate change in a managed manner. Without change we would stagnate but changing for the sake of changing is stupid. I do think that people are resilient and with half an ounce of push they will take care of themselves better than our government can. The free market will adjust lot better than the halls of congress could ever move. Could we have better government? Damn Straight, we just haven't found the right guy yet. Then we need to not re-elect that guy the next time.
  

• Geeks - I am not sure what this name is from, only that someone applied it to the people that are one step away from what is normal. Who the hell is to decide what is Normal? We need to celebrate The Bill Gates of the world. Those guys that made Apple computers into a household name. (Jobe & whoever?) I think some of the neatest people I have met are those slightly quirky kids that my son and his wife have brought over. Techies, geeks and nerds are a flavor to be celebrated not scorned.
  

Those are just a few of the terms and things that were discussed this morning at my breakfast table. I am glad that we have a newspaper to cause us to challenge our thinking. OH by the way, our Attorney General resigned over a "Sex Scandal". Where the hell did they decide that it should be called that?
MUD - Mean Uncle Denny :)

Good Food Cheap

Yesterday I made a dog food run to WalMart and while there I went through the Grocery Store portion of the Super Center. I found some noodles that were "Alfredo" style that were about .66. I asked myself what I could do to jazz them up and as I passed the meat section, I found some 'Southwestern Chicken Strips". The package was 2 for $5.00 so I bought one. Over near the ice cream (one of the major reasons I was in the frozen food aisle.) there were some Green Giant frozen vegs in a bag marked "Steam in the bag". They were $1.24 Lets see, $ .66 + 2.50 + 1.24 = $4.40 for a nice little dinner for two. Not only cheap, it was a darn good meal. I would highly recommend the Green Giant vegetables and the chicken strips were pretty darned tasty. I'm real sure this meal would have fed three people and with another bag of the Alfredo noodles it would have for four. That would have taken the meal cost up to about $5.00.
I went to our local Ace Hardware store and bought Barb a Christmas Tree. I sure hope that sucker thaws out and takes a normal shape now that it is on the house. It was in that netting and it looks like a trash sack full of evergreen. Barb won't be home for a couple of hours so perhaps it will be more normal by the time she sees it. If not, I'll have to start over. The trees here at Rabbit Run have just grown too big to use so it is the bought kind for a couple of years until I get some new trees growing.
MUD

UPDATE!

Tiger has returned! He showed up this AM with a healthy appetite and a need to be petted.
The truck battery didn't die, it was just on vacation. When I tried to remove it, I grounded it against the truck body and it sparked wildly. I tried to start the truck and it cranked well. Oh well.
Four mice in two days and then nothing. Either I wiped out the entire family or they have decided to not come where the traps are easy.
I will try to get Barb a Christmas tree today. I don't need one but she seems to want one. Oh well, MUD

Empty Cat House

With the ice storm and the new snow, Tiger has been missing for about a week now. My bet is that as smart and old, he is just staying put in one of the neighbor's barn somewhere. I'll bet he is living in the lap of luxury being fed by some concerned neighbor or in a barn with an ample supply of rodents. I'll bet he is high enough up the food chain that his wiles have taken care of him.
Speaking of rodents, I noticed that the dog food sack had a hole chewed in it about six inches off the floor. The hole was about an inch in diameter and I suspected a mouse. I generally plan a defense in depth in the garage against marauding mice but have been neglectful of my duties. I set five or six mouse traps along a ledge in the garage. They are well baited with peanut butter and they have never failed to draw interest. They either get licked clean or catch one of the stupid mice. I put them perpendicular to the wall and the mice try to put their noses in the little hole to work more peanut butter out. Then if they back up to avoid that trap they run into another. Had one mouse this week caught in two traps at the same time. I also saw the telltale dropping of a pack rat at Dave's when I went into one of the shed's. I need to reset a trap there as it has been a month or two since I have actively tried to catch one of the rats there. I went about a week that I caught a rat daily and they were scarce for the next couple of weeks. I'm pretty sure that I have mouse proofed his house but the outlying shed is another matter.
With all the ice and snow, I have not gone over to Dave's old house to finish the moving. It is too slick to drive the truck and pulling the trailer is out of the question. I guess I'll get a chance early this week when the temps warm up into the 40s. I think I have about one more load to get and then I'll start on fixing up the joint. I know it needs outside paint and that won't be possible for a few more months on the outside. The good news is that I have had some pretty good renters so I had enough saved to pay all the taxes. Just for a reference, half of my taxes was over $3,000.
I haven't loaded Turbo Taxes yet to see what effect our low withholding on our income taxes will cause in the way of an April 15 liability. The real test will come next year when there won't be half of a year withholding from Barb. I haven't found a program that can accurately predict
our taxes because of the source. Federal taxes don't apply to State retirement sources and State taxes don't apply to Federal retirements. We have both and I have a probably misdirected hope that they will almost offset. The real proof (or truth) will be when I get to sit down with the 1099s and W-2's. The good news is that either way I probably will have enough to pay taxes and penalties. The second half of the taxes are due in May and that is pretty close on the heels of the April 15th date. Might pay to figure out the taxes early and not let it be a surprise in April and May.
I know, piss and moan, piss and moan... I should be the happiest guy in the world to be in the shape we are in but I still have some reservations about the shape of our economy and/or the depth of our investments. The one thing I want to do this next year is to do some solar heating work. I know that both this house and Dave's new digs would benefit from added insulation and some solar collectors. Perhaps Kenny will be available to come down and put his torch and abilities to the building. We'll see. I have been reading Mother Earth News and getting ideas.
MUD

OH NO, MO' SNOW

Well Sports Fans, Its another beautiful snowy day here at Rabbit Run. The weather man is predicting 3 to 7 inches of new white stuff and we have at least two of those inches on the ground right now. It was almost sleeting when I took the trash cans out to the court for the trash truck. It was a real fine hard snow then. Now it is big fluffy flakes and steadily falling in the lee of the house. I am downstairs on the computer and it is on the south side. On the north side of the house the wind is blowing about 10 to 15 MPH.
The grape vine tells me that my brother's electricity in Oklahoma has been restored and the queen is on her way home. My brother had her ensconced in a nursing home yesterday so she could get a chance to have a bath and attend their Christmas party. Good on both counts.
When I talked to Carol, she said that the Petty Family Christmas party will be held next Saturday at her house in Lawrence. Looks like Mom and Rick won't be there in person but will be there in spirit. We will all partake in our favorite soups. Dave's wife and I are going to collaborate on a sea food gumbo. I will gumbo and she will make rice in her rice cooker. I have chicken, shrimp, crab, Cajun sausage, okra and smoked sausage to go in the soup. I'll let you know next week what it is like.
Made a run to Kansas City to visit Chevy Duty (Old Truck Part CO) only to find it replaced with Classic Parts? I guess Chevrolet threatened them with a law suit and they changed their name. Same place, same parts, different name. I spent about $999 dollars on a door and a fender and misc parts to fix the truck after the wreck. So far I have spent about a third of the settlement on parts so we'll see what it takes to get her all up and running. I wonder if I have enough left over to fix up that 53 Chevy trailer I want?
Yesterday I had a discussion with a couple of "non-blogger" about why they do not have a blog. One was too busy to bother and the other felt it was too revealing and she was too private a person to feel comfortable exposing her life in a blog. I have relatives that also don't want their names and photos posted in this blog because they are trying to avoid public exposure. I wonder why I don't feel the least bit bad about pictures and information I put on this blog? Really? No! I am like a short order cook and sling the hash out there and you can either read it or not. Barbara seems to think it is because I can make stuff so fast that I don't have time to consider the ramifications of what I say. Little does she know that I can't type that fast. In fact, there are times that I am thinking of a word and type that word in place of the one I WAS WORKING ON. From time to time I hit the Caps Lock key in the middle of a sentence and find half of a sentence in Caps. Sometimes I correct it and sometimes I don't. Most of the time I bang it out there and then run the spell checker to see what I screwed up.
Barbara took my camera out to take some pictures of the snow. If there is a picture at the top of this blog it is all her work. She didn't like my picture of the snow through the window. Oh well, we'll see. Slow down and smell the snow. Our outside cat, Tiger, has been off the place for the last three days. Must have a girl friend or some nice family that took him in until the snow clears. Smart Cat!
MUD

Cold Morning in Kansas!

Good Morning Sports Fans. Oh wait a minute, did you see the steroid report and no longer believe in sports? What does anyone expect from professional athletes? Don't you think that professional racers put the biggest motors in their cars? Why wouldn't professional athletes not take steroids when they were legal? Wait, Wait, I really hate the game of Baseball anyway so what the heck, Bulk up boys, we'll pretend not to notice that you have a 68 inch chest and a size 20 neck.
Yesterday the temperature got to the mid 30's and we had rain for about two hours. Not liquid falling from the sky, but ice falling from all the trees, power lines and roofs. We have almost as many branches on the ground as still on the trees in Kansas. The power is flickering on and off as the branches move the lines back and forth. I can't imagine how dangerous it is for the workers to be right in the middle of replacing a line and for it to become hot because of movement of a line down the line.
I hope that those of you that use generators remember to disable your connection to the main line if you use a generator. Your little 5000 watt generator can make it a bad day for the linemen.
Speaking of power, this power problem makes me want to work hard to get off the grid for our main power. A combination of solar, passive and wind power is needed and I am not sure what to do first but I will work on a plan. Most of the plans I have seen recommend that we build a power building away from the House and do whatever it is we do there. With the trees in the woods it is probably best to build something in the field anyway. I want a demonstration straw bale barn anyway so perhaps I'll start there next summer. Whatever it is I'm sure that Barb will want it to like like a barn on the outside no matter what it does inside.
MUD

Winter Ice Storm

This is the Macro look at the storm outside. The ice is between 1/4 and 1/2 inch thick on anything that is not on the ground. We have had 2 1/2 inches of rain fall in the last 18 hours. I hear that it is this way all the way from Oklahoma City to Minnesota.

This is the micro look. The trees are hanging their heads with at least inch long icicles and when the wind starts they will drop branches everywhere.
My niece wanted me to drive to Tulsa to pick up Mom because they don't have any electricity. There is just no way I am going anywhere with the ice coating in the drive. I told her to head south and find a warm place to be. The beach at Brownsville is my recommendation. I love them but can't get there from here.
MUD

Bill of Rights Discussion

Lets start at the beginning:

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

This is pretty straight forward to me. The king outlawed the Catholic Church and made a new religion behind the name of the Church of England. In the new United States all person have the right to freely exercise their right to their religion and the Government cannot make laws to establish or disestablish the right to do as we darn well please.

The second half of that amendment goes on to address the freedom of the press and free speech. People could be put to death or at least imprisoned for speeches against the king and the government in a lot of countries.

I have listened to a bunch of discussions about where free speech should be limited. The only thing I have ever heard that I understood was that you can't holler "Fire" in a crowded theater if there isn't any fire. The rest of the limits begins to start us down the slippery slope.

Here in the heartland we have Fred Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church aka God hates Fags.com. He pickets the funerals of Soldiers because he preaches that the soldiers died to support our Government and everyone knows about "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" We are all going to hell because of that. He feels he is called to tell us that anyone that practices and supports homosexuality is doomed to die and God won't save you. Talk about walking the fine line. He feels that his religion calls for him to do this and he is petitioning his Government with a grievance he feels wrong. Crap! I hate this but I'm not sure where the slippery slope starts and stops. Oh well, Article II later.

MUD

It died Ugly!

Sometime last week my wireless modem died ugly. I talked to a help desk guy for about a hour doing many things to bring it back to life. I rewired, disconnected, reset and spent the week end feeling like a knucklehead for not being able to fix my problem. In my opinion it was the modem but yet, I did have the AT&T tech come out. First thing out of the box she pulled a new modem out of the truck and hooked it up. Minor tweaking and I was back on the air. Should have gone to Radio shack and bought a new modem. At least AT&T lowered their price from $139.00 to $79
.00 to replace my system.
I am back on the air now and as soon as I think of something worth saying, I'll say it. MUD

People aren't Stupid!

In the last 24 hours, I have more than one person tell me that the people out there are too stupid to realize what their rights are. I totally disagree. I think people have been lulled into a false sense of what's important and because of their lack of awareness they are lulled into a false sense of security. We need a leader that will stand up and tell us that times are tough and we need to get off our asses and make things right. There isn't going to be enough OIL in a few short years and we need to fix that right Damn Now!
When you can go out and buy a $200,000 house with no money down and not enough income to make the payments who cares? When you can't afford Medical Insurance and someone promises to give it to you, Who Cares? I Do.
I hope you do and I want you to get out and vote. Make the candidates stand up and be counted on for who they are and what they stand for. Throw out the Republicans and the Democrats that tell you it is all good and more spending by Government will fix everything. Make em stand up and defend their spending and inactivity on the important things. What are you important things? here are some of mine

• Energy - we burn fossil fuels and complain that the price is too high. Screw that, the fact that we haven't made any new refineries and stopped drilling anywhere it belonged to us is at fault. Where are the solar centers and wind farms? Not here.
• Controlling our borders. I don't give a shit if we have 2 million Mexicans a years come here if they are made accountable and pay their fair share for being here. Don't make it and bamn, you go home. Pay up or get out! To do this we must have a national identity card and control. Screw the lunacy of having my every move available to the government because of my credit cards, and aliens come her on a visa and stay..
  
• Imports - We have killed our industry and import everything to the point that our balance of payments has weakened the dollar to it's almost lowest point ever. If you want to buy a foreign product, you should have to pay as much for it as they do. Why do you think the Japanese come here by the plane load to buy things?
  
• Pick your own and put it here and send it to your congressman.

MUD

Warning, This is a Rant!

If you can't stand the heat, stay out of this Kitchen!
I would ask you all to stop and think a few nice thoughts about the people in Omaha after they were assaulted yesterday in a Shopping Mall so close to Christmas.
They are just like us and doing the best they can trying to make sense out of life and living the best they can. One gun toting wacko loaner gets his semi automatic rifle and now everyone is wanting all the "Assault Rifles" taken out of circulation.
As much as I hope the people there are able to put their lives back together, I pray that this doesn't become a rant from the left to have our guns taken away.
Here are the Rights the framers of the constitution forgot and were added to ensure that we as free people have the right to maintain our ways of living Free and Proud

THE BILL OF RIGHTS
Amendments 1-10 of the Constitution

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The Conventions of a number of the States having, at the time of adopting the Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added, and as extending the ground of public confidence in the Government will best insure the beneficent ends of its institution;

Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, two-thirds of both Houses concurring, that the following articles be proposed to the Legislatures of the several States, as amendments to the Constitution of the United States; all or any of which articles, when ratified by three-fourths of the said Legislatures, to be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the said Constitution, namely:

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Amendment II

A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

Amendment III

No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Amendment IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Amendment V

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Amendment VI

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

Amendment VII

In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

Amendment VIII

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Amendment IX

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment X

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.

Read these and think about it. Slippery Slopes be Damned. MUD

Got Hit Today

It started snowing about 8 AM and I needed to go over to the house on Valley Brooke and fix the front door. On the way there a car either slid into the intersection or didn't see me and drove into the intersection. He hit the side of my 53 Chevy truck on the right front fender, beat in the door and ripped the bottom corner of the cab open and hit the right rear fender. It is drivable but even more ugly than it was. The Police said that because they were flooded with accident calls they weren't going to come and take a report. We exchanged information and I will file a report as soon as it stops snowing and I can get to the Police station.
I told Barb to remind me to stay home next time. Trucks aren't the best vehicle to drive when the roads are slick. This looks a lot like the other side did when I got it from Idaho. At least the door opens, even if I have to tie it shut with a bungee cord. Oh well, another project for spring.
MUD

Yes, I'm OK

For those of you that read the last post, it might read like I'm a little down right now. Not so, I'm fine and strangely I find it strangely cathartic to write about Vietnam even thought there were some very frustrating parts. None of which were my fault.
Looking at the tickets to the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida and trying to figure out if we can and will go there. Kinda Costly and we are not sure at this time. May save our travel time to go to the Big 12 Basketball tournament. We'll see.
MUD

Tales from the field, Pt 2

The first night in the field in Vietnam was a disaster for the 6th Battalion, 84th Field Artillery. Someone decided that we were needed up the coast from Cameron Bay to support a Republic of Korea (ROK) operation. They were going in and cleaning up an area right after the Lunar New Year (TET-68) As you might remember, that was one of the biggest battles of the war and thousands of North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and the local Viet Cong got together and tried to kill as many Americans as possible. It turned into a slaughter for the NVA and it allowed the American firepower to be brought at will and set back their operation at least a couple of years.
I am convinced that had they just stayed in North Vietnam and stayed at the peace table in France they would have found a way to end the combat and then do exactly what they did in the 1973 time frame.
But, back to my story. We left our training and staging area in the Central Highlands near Ahn Khe in the early morning. The convoy to the new area took all day and it was a long dusty ride for a bunch of fresh from the States soldiers. Add almost a month on a boat to that and we were really worse for the wear. This bunch of fresh rookies finally arrived in our new position area just off the coastal highway right before dark. Someone had decided that we would put the entire battalion in one area and there were 18 howitzers lined up across the field. The engineers were there still stringing up a perimeter fence and someone brought in a D-8 Caterpillar to dig a hole and the resulting dirt mound had a searchlight jeep placed up on top to constantly scan the perimeter as it was finished. It was a bizarre scene for me. I knew that the searchlight jeep provided some help to the engineers but it almost destroyed our night vision as it went round and round the perimeter. To me it also gave anyone who looked a great view of where everything was. It was so typical that the leadership had decided that the threat from any local activity was low.
An artillery unit goes through a transformation from convoy travel to a tactical setting. In addition to unloading the guns, there was a lot of ammunition to unload and bunkers to be built. The priority was to provide fire for the operation going on in the hills to our west. The rule (I found out later) was that an artillery unit did not sleep until there was overhead protection for the crews. That meant in most cases a unit would operate continuously for 24 to 48 hours. Most of the people were beat and about three AM most of the people were putting up their cots and going to sleep for the rest of the night. There was no rain so most of the people put up their cots out in the open and racked it for some precious time asleep.
My Recon team (one LT, one Opn Sgt and a Radio Telephone Operator (RTO) ) were still with the battery as we hadn't been assigned to a unit out in the operation yet. I figured that we had a day or two and we would then go out. I worked the team hard to build a bunker near the rear of the area and had completed a splash way at least two feet high and hadn't started the top cover yet. My RTO had been on a gun crew during our stay at Fort Irwin and Sal knew his friends were pretty tired. Sal had been sacked out in the back seat of the jeep all day and wasn't as tired. He asked if he could go over to his old crew and help them. Sure, why not he was a young kid and most of the guys there had been with him for six months.
I am not exactly sure how long later. You must remember that this story took place almost 40 years ago and has been tainted by my memory lapses and added to by the BS factor that all good war stories suffer from. You know that if you tell a good story more than once it gets spiffed up to make it more enjoyable by the author and to the audience. Not in a malicious way but as i say, "Hey, its my story". I would estimate that it was between 3 and 4 AM I herd the first "Thunk" of a mortar. You would think that after hearing the outgoing 155 mm artillery a thing as simple as a "thunk" from a mortar over a thousand meters way would not be a big thing. I'm sure that a lot of the guys never realized what it was but I had a first hand experience on the perimeter at Ahn Khe and it sure caused me to sit up and take notice. That story will be later.
After the first mortar round landed and exploded inside the perimeter it was followed in rapid succession by another 25 or 35 rounds mostly aimed across the front of the position where the howitzers were lined up and then at the Searchlight on top of the pile of dirt. To say it was rapid and accurate is an understatement. We got our asses kicked by a small recon team and it was a blow that we never recovered from.
The mortar rounds landed all around the area and I did my best to turn into a turtle under my flack jacket and helmet. It never ceases to amaze me how distorted your perception gets when your adrenalin starts flowing. I was scared shit less and stayed right where I was. I'm sure that it was all over in two or three minutes and when I looked out at the scene, it was illuminated by a jeep trailer on fire at the side of the battery. We lost most of one gun crew, the unit XO and the Battery Commander were all wounded by shrapnel and were being taken over to the side away from the fire. The jeep trailer had been full of gas cans to help power the Fire Direction Center generators. They just hadn't had the time to put them in a sand bag revetment to protect them. Their priority had been to set up a tent and get operational. I don't fault them for what happened.
As it turned out, my RTO, Sal had been on the gun and the crew tried to swing it over towards the mortar position. One of the mortar rounds hit right between the open trails on the gun and wounded most of the crew. Sal was hit in the legs and he was told to run over to the side of the battery to get away from the gun. He saw the jeep trailer and jumped under the only cover he saw. (Cover is a term for something overhear to protect you) In this case it was a bad choice as one of the last rounds hit right in the bed of that trailer killing him and setting the gas on fire.
I went out to the battery and tried to organize the guns in case there was a ground attack to follow the mortar attack. I found that I had less than three of the six gun crews able to function and follow directions. We moved the wounded to the triage point for evacuation and did our best to get a head count of the wounded and missing. It was almost like the blind leading the blinder and chaos reigned. I took charge as best I could and it wasn't until a Major from battalion came over did I even begin to realize the trailer was a bond fire we didn't need. I told a couple of guys to get a fire extinguisher and put out that damn fire. Lots of noise and cussing followed and they finally did what I told them to do.
As I heard the fire extinguisher make a whoosh, one of the artillerymen said "Oh Shit" and promptly threw up. On the boat ride to Vietnam I had heard that sound hundreds of times and I went over to see what the matter was. They said there was a body under the trailer. I told them to get it out and they almost in unison said, "Fuck You LT! That ain't our job." I told them to cool down and let the fire go out for a while and we would tend to that later. I probably could have had the charged for disobeying an order but hey, I wasn't sure that I had the authority or time to press the issue. Besides, there were wounded to take care of and plenty enough to keep us busy.
That stupid Major from battalion came back over and asked about the casualties. I told him that all of the wounded had been moved to the evacuation point and as far as I knew we only lost one Killed in Action (KIA). I told him the body was under the trailer waiting to cool down enough so I could take care of it. He told me to get right on that and he didn't give a shit if I burned my hands doing it. (nice guy Huh) I went over and saw some steel banding straps off some box there. I looped the strap around the upper part of the body and pulled it out. The head and face wasn't completely burned but the lower part of the body was almost completely burned. I asked for a flashlight and tried to recognize the face. "Shit oh dear", it was Sal. He had a nose that was hard to miss. It was evident that the mortar round had caused a large piece of the jeep to almost cut his head off and than k god he was dead before the fire got to him.
I would like to tell you about the rest of that night but it was so blurred and went so fast that it was well into the next day until I had time to think or do anything but help the soldiers keep it together. We did put Sal's body in a poncho and take him over to the evacuation point. When we got there, I saw 9 or ten other bodies under ponchos also. By the time we got there. most of the wounded had been Medi-vaced to a field hospital somewhere. Of the 90 man unit we were down to less than 45 and there was a lot of work to be done.
Later on, I found out that a lot of the killed were in a fire direction center that had been put down in the hole by that damn searchlight jeep. I guess the mortar men had used the light as an aiming post and a round had gone down in the hole and hit right on the chart table as the Fire Direction Officer (FDO) had spread a map out to plot where to return fire. Almost the entire team was killed outright and the rest was wounded. I went over later on in the day and viewed the carnage. I found the LT's helmet and it still had part of his scalp in it. It was crushed from front to rear and the hole was a bloody mess. That was the first time I had ever smelled the stink of death in battle and the entire day is one that I still try to forget.
Part 2 is dedicated to Salvatore Agri, a kid who was a wonderful guy and dedicated soldier. My he rest in peace. MUD

Metaphore for Life!

The weather here in Kansas could serve as a metaphor for life. All week the weather men have studied the computer models and have changed the forecast each day. At one time it was to be 32 degrees with ice falling and making it slick as hell. The next it was to be rainy and 62 degrees and then they talk about it starting wet and cold and turning warm ending with a sunny day near 5 PM. I don't think they have a clue and have shotgunned solutions so they can say they got it right.
Isn't that a lot like our lives? We can build models and project things out in the future and sometimes we are lucky enough to get close and sometimes we don't. Somewhere between "Bravado and Bullshit" some people actually write books about how good they are at guessing. In my narrow world there is only the system of work hard and save your rewards that has worked for me. Actually to be lucky enough to marry a woman that saves your rewards is the way it worked for me. Even with that stroke of luck, I find myself surrounded with more things that I need.
I have often wondered if I am lucky to have escaped the Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome of having served in Vietnam or if I am just too stupid to recognize the symptoms? Do I really like people or do I just crave an audience for my stupid jokes and stories? Why? I don't know, I just ask you to not tell me and spoil the fun.
On the lighter side, it has stopped raining for the moment and the birds are hitting the feeders like tomorrow it is really going to be tough. I feed Black Oil Sunflower seeds, Thistle seeds in a Finch feeder and a suet block. On days when it is headed for really cold, even the little birds hit the suet block. Mostly they line up and visit the sunflower seed feeder like planes on an aircraft carrier. They stack up in the trees and fly in one at a time, grab a refuel of one seed and fly out to rejoin their place in the stack. Mostly the finches gang around the six slots and drop the thistle seeds on the ground. The Woodpeckers will stop and dig out a seed from the suet block and then fly off. Quite often another woodpecker has to fly in and buzz the suet block to dislodge the current occupant.
I spent the day yesterday helping Dave move stuff from the old digs to the new house. It was four pick-up loads with a trailer and there is still a ton of stuff to move. I am not sure that after 12 hours of that if I am capable of doing even one run today. At least my typing finger is able to move today. (notice I said finger not fingers. I learned to type when I was cutting training schedules in the 1-127th FA in Ottawa, KS. We used the old stencil method and a long carriage manual typewriter. If you tried to type fast, the damn keys would clash and you would get lousy results. One finger at a time, one letter at a time and it would be a product that no one followed anyway.
I guess I had better wrap this up and while the bird crush has tapered off refill the feeders.
MUD

Rabbit Run

In 1983, a tornado blew down our house on the east side of Topeka. It didn't blow it away, it just blew it off the foundation and stirred the contents. It was considered a total loss and we rebuilt. Through a comedy of errors in dealing with the Small Business Administration we had it paid off in less than five years and wondered what's next.
Barb didn't like the neighbors behind us and wanted to live in the country. For weeks, we spent Saturday and Sunday looking for a good place to live in the woods. We finally found 18 acres in the woods and bought it. We paid it off in short order and started the process of deciding what to build. It was fortuitous that my niece had just graduated from the school of Architecture at KU and we enlisted her in the design process. Carrie Craig just had some great ideas and she and Barb easily laid out a great design. After a review by one of her firm's engineers, a complete set of plans was delivered. For her part I will be forever thankful. I tell a joke about the initial house being 2400 sq feet and Barb made some changes, The next idea was about 2700 feet and Barb wanted to make some more changes. the next floor plan was 3,000 sq feet and I just didn't want it to get any bigger so we built it at that size. Back then it was about estimated at $50.00 a square foot to build.
Barb contacted a local builder and drove him into a hard bargain and we started the building process. If you have never built a house, let me tell you that there are a million and one decisions to be made. We finally worked out a pattern. if it was pretty, it was Barb's decision. If it was structural, the decision was mine. It worked out fine and our marriage survived the months of decisions and building.
The sloping lot was a natural for what is known as a walk out on the lower level. Barb drove the contractor hard to make sure there weren't any extra trees taken out. It left us with a house built in the middle of the woods and we love it. The upstairs was built with cathedral ceilings and natural woodwork. We had the kitchen done by a custom cabinet builder (Custom Woods) in Saint Mary's, KS. All in all it came together and we have lived here since Dec 1989.
The name for our house is from one of the first times we drove in the drive there were rabbit running everywhere. Look at those Rabbits Run!

My new Motto!

I love this! MUD

Tales From the Field, pt 1.

At the ripe old age of 19 and one month, I was drafted into the US Army. US 55883443 was another kid from Kansas drafted into the build up that was to be 500,000 soldiers in 1968. Private Petty was sent to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri and pounded into a mold that he gradually fit. There were more tests and shots than most people could understand. The fact that we were given yellow fever, plague, typhoid shots and tetanus boosters should have told anyone that we weren't going to be in a nice place when our training ended. Marching, running, shooting and learning the basics of military life were a 24 hour a day deal for 8 weeks there in the middle of Missouri.
After my short stay there, I was put on a bus and sent to Fort Sill, Oklahoma. The home for wayward "cannon cockers". It was the Army's "Cannon Cocker College" and a really good place to blow up things. Because I had tested well and a board thought I might be able to read a map and live in the jungle, I managed to wrangle an assignment to an Officer Candidate School Preparatory (OCS Prep) class. Step one to becoming an officer. I won't bore you with the details here (later story) but they did everything they could to try to get us to quit. They did not make it fun or easy to go on in that program and being so young, I got my fair share of harassment.
After 8 weeks there I finally arrived in OCS. I found it easier from the harassment side but they were serious about academics and leadership. I had to hide my goof off side and study as well as shine my boots. The OCS Prep stay had me ready for the "spit and polish" side and the gunnery part was easy for me. I graduated from there in July 1967 and was assigned to Fort Irwin, in the middle of the Mojave desert.
I spent about 6 months there helping a hopeless battalion train for Vietnam. It was the blind leading the blinder. Yes, I know that in the land of the blind, the one eyed man is King but there wasn't anybody with anywhere near 20-20 vision in any eye. In fact, the Army had most of the leaders of that unit performing "rectal defilade" (Head up their posterior) and in complete denial that we needed to be somewhere there was anything near a jungle to train in. I'm pretty sure that the Army was busting at the seams about that time so there wasn't any space to train anywhere else. Besides, isn't southern California a good place to train in the fall and winter?
The desert is fine in the night in summer and daytime in winter. In the winter you spend more time putting on or taking off layers of clothes to adjust to the change of temperature. In Kansas if the temperature is going to change more than 30 degrees from high to low they issue a stockman's advisory. It was completely normal for the temperature to change 40 to 50 degrees during a 24 hour period there. The wind always picked up at night and added a wind chill to that cold.
After passing all the tests known to the modern Army the battalion was certified to go to war. We packed and were sent to Vietnam on two slow boats. Yes, I know real sailors called them ships. The USNS Geiger had so little keel it wallowed as it went up and down. It resembled a "turd in a punch bowl" and the up down and side to side just made most of us ready to blow chunks, hurl, talk to Ralph and order Buicks for the entire time we were on that floating pile. Try to trap me on a cruise today and you will find me gone, hiding, playing Magic man and generally not there.
I would love to tell you that in spite of the intense training the 6th Bn, 84th Artillery, 155mm Towed Howitzer battalion was a raging success. Remember the bind part mentioned above? We got our asses handed to us by a mortar crew and the unit never recovered. The only salvation to me was that I was almost immediately transferred (they called it an infusion, kind of like transfusion to keep it alive) to another unit near Pleiku, in the Central Highlands. I started my assignment there as the battalion ammo officer but spent most of my time either flying as an aerial observer or sent out to small units as a forward observer. I will tell you more about that in part 2 and three. Stand by for them...
MUD

Eastern Colorado Coyote Hunter's Wife

If you are easily offended, skip this post. There will be some graphic descriptions here that may tend to gross you out. I will not, for the sake of decency, clean up the descriptions of the events of that day. Hang on, here goes.
The National Guard had selected a summer camp site, the Active Army training area in south eastern Colorado called , "Pinion Canyon". It is in the middle of "no" and "damn where " somewhere near Pueblo, Colorado. If you aren't familiar with that area, it is a dry dusty plain that has some mountains as a backdrop for scenery and a few hills to keep the place a little interesting. The environmentalists had made so many rules that it was darn near impossible to maneuver so it was one of the slowest camps I had ever attended. A day there was like a week any where else. We were glad when a storm blew through so we would have something to do.
Getting to the middle of no where took us through a bunch of small towns in western Kansas and eastern Colorado. If you have never traveled with a Military Convoy, try to imagine driving 45 miles per hour with a bunch of diesel trucks ahead of you. Every time one of them would accelerate to close up the interval or hit a small hill they would belch black smoke that smelled horrible and obscured your sense of smell. To make matters worse, I had been chosen to follow one of the groups of trucks as a part of the trails party and I was one tired, dirty bored soldier that couple of days. When we left Topeka I noticed that the driver had an oil can on the floorboard full of kitty litter. As the trip progressed, he continued to spit in it until the last day it sloshed a foul crude oil looking pool of tobacco. Only then did I become thankful that my sense of smell was gone.
As we drove into this one small town, I had the driver pull into the parking lot of the only store within 30 miles. I didn't care if god himself broke down, I was going to get out of that vehicle and get something cold to drink. I knew I had to make it quick because there were about 15 convoys headed to Pinion Canyon and there were only three roads leading in. Oh well, on with the story.
Out in eastern Colorado, the coyote hunters take a perfectly bad pickup (thought I was going to say good here didn't ya. You would have to see these piles of crap with wheels to appreciate how un-roadworthy they were) and put a dog box on the back. The dog boxes contain the worst accumulation of dog flesh ever assembled. They looked like furry wolfhounds that were so ugly only their mothers could love them. I think they drive around and when they spot a coyote they would unleash the hounds of hell and the dogs would run the coyote to ground. From the assortment of antennas on the trucks, it appeared that CB radios kept them headed the same directions. I don't think I ever sw one of those trucks without a rifle rack in the back window and a year's wages worth of guns right there to use. I'm sure that when they put their rifles in the rack and filled the gas tank it tripled the value of the truck. Well, that sorry excuse for a truck was also the main source of transportation for one of the wives as she did her weekly shopping.
Being in uniform and three days away from home just makes most guys less critical of women and in fact amplifies their horniness. Kind of like an all male fire crew's conversation turns to women when there is nothing else to do. (Sorry Jenn, they do talk about women when you aren't there) Even women that couldn't stand the second glance test back home are worth a stare when you are on the road. Not this one.
The first thing I noticed about the gal that got out of that truck was that she spit tobacco out right there in the parking lot. It looked like she had been storing that spit all the way from her house to the store. Judging from the streaks down both sides of the truck they knew how to spit out the doors. I would say windows but I'm not sure there was any glass besides the windshield. The quantity looked like an oil tanker had hit a rock and I swear it looked like a two foot patch of oil spill. (can I hear an "Ewh Gross" boys and girls?)
The woman looked like she had gotten right out of bed and if she owned a comb she didn't use it. Her hair looked like the dogs, rough, long and ugly. She was dressed in a dirty pair of jeans and a tank top that so dirty I couldn't tell what color it really had been. As she got closer, I noticed that she was as dirty as her clothes and by that time I was so grossed out that couldn't help but stare.
The lady's belly was sticking out like she was in her third trimester. It was somewhere in this time frame I noticed that her breast stood out straight (not breasts, she only had one) because it had no place to hang. If her belly had not been in the way, it wold have hung out the bottom of the tank top. I would estimate it at 43 long, only god knows what cup size. As much as I wanted to look away, I could only stand there dumbfounded that she would go out like that.
As she got close to the front of store where I was standing she smiled. Her tooth was dark brown and thank god I wasn't close enough to smell her breath. (yes, I said tooth not teeth, I know the difference.
After I got my cold drink I went back to our vehicle. I almost could not describe how repulsed I felt. I asked the driver if he had seen that lady from the coyote truck and he said," Man did you see the tit on that one". "Man would I like to get to know her". (OK, I did clean up that comment) Just goes to show you that for some every gal there is a guy more than 30 miles from home.
MUD

What a Game!

I watched MU beat the Hawks during the first half and the hawks just not quite have the finish to win. I won't be sad that two great teams met and one won. There will be a bowl game for both and lots of $ for the Big 12 to help build for next year.
I am watching basketball and love to see the Hawks show up and whip some pretty good teams. About the time you shut down the interior their shooters blast the three pointers from outside.
Speaking of Basketball, the former Hawk, Paul Pierce, has the Celtics on a roll and they are 11-1. I like to keep the pro basketball on hold for the late June play off's when there isn't much else to watch. I just can't watch baseball and I'm too old to play. I guess this year I will try to watch the Celtics during the year.
Hope you all have the hatches battened down as winter is here and it will be a while until we can spend hours outside doing fun things. Oh well, such is life.
MUD