My new workout tees came in the mail and am so excited!

Nothing like a little extra motivation when its above 100 degrees!:lifter

Holly

Great ad for the tees!
:D

ZD,

They are made of very durable cotton, and breathe when you sweat during workout!:lifter

The logos are an added BONUS!:cool:

Holly

Is that what they're calling them thangs, now?

Four months after his first major surgery ( mitral valve repair, coronary bypass and pacemaker implant) my father got under the knife again for a 65 mm ( around 2.5 inches) abdominal Aortic Aneurism, open repair procedure. He got out of the ICU after 48 hrs.
He definitely kicked that aneurism's hind end. He's on the mend, making huge leaps forward. As I told him before he underwent surgery, he still got too much spoiling to do on his 2.5 old nephew, so he just had to pull it off. Failure was simply not contemplated.
Good times, good times. :lifter:lifter

Driving through the storm of the century on Friday, arriving to my destination in one piece. Getting home safe after the second storm of the century on Sunday (recurring theme??) to some major destruction in my surrounding area. Oh and finally getting power restored today.

Being released by the Ortho Doc and Physical Therapist to continue recovery on my own 16 weeks after ACL reconstruction, with no limitations. Having a tentative flight school date for OCT 2012. Hitting 225 lbs on both reg. and decline bench.

All in the same day. Really good day.

Had a very good day.

After ten years of enduring UPS standard operational chaos and being laid off 10-12 weeks per year, I'm securing a bid on my own route, which I will likely remain on for the remainder of my career (~16 years).
It's in the most remote area of the lower 48, and brings with it tremendous autonomy and independence (even by UPS driver standards).

Due to obscure tax laws regarding Bilagáana working in the Navajo Nation, substantial tax benefits come with the long commute (~200 mile daily round-trip).
Got home today off of the route to find my bimmer out of the shop and ready to roll.

Kid #1 (20 years old) came over this afternoon.
After much trial and error, his life is coming together and he's "getting it" in regards to building a life.

Kid #2 (12 years old) is coming along fine, enjoys basketball, and is growing like a weed.
Measured his reach at 72 inches (he just turned 12 in May).

Kid #3 (10 years old), kid #4 (6 years old), kid #5 (4 years old), and grandaughter #1 (2 years old) were playing in the new kiddy pool in the back yard.
It's big enough for me too, and was enjoyed in the 100+ degree afternoon heat along with Guinness in a frozen mug.

Later, the younger ones and I jumped on the trampoline while watching lizards on the back yard wall.
Life is good.

On top of all this, boating season (on Lake Powell) starts for us this weekend.


All of the peace and prosperity my household enjoys are made possible by brave souls (past, present, and future) who protect us from, and take the battle to, those who would do us harm.
On behalf of my family I thank you.

Congratulations, GC. In Hermosa Beach, we had the same driver (friend) for 25 years! He (OK, and "LHC" and "head" [dude, that nick can be awkward at times] ;)) are what I miss most about leaving SoCal.

Good luck.

Pat

Hooked up the Horse and caisson, took a road trip today. Was out of oats, so figured Nino could earn his keep. The fun part was taking my two youngest with me in the wagon, they noted that the bags of oats made fine seats on the way home.

I noted that people, tend to be more communal and friendly when you pass by with a horse and wagon. Many waving, a couple asked how we were doing. I just enjoyed the pace immensely.

I'm not an Olympic athlete from some Third World nation trying to clear security at Heathrow right now. ;)

And so it goes...

Richard :munchin

I envy you. Must be a nice feeling.....:)

I'm still alive...Have a great girlfriend (at 60), and am just enjoying life...I really feel blessed....It's not about how long you live, it's about you got there...and being comfortable with yourself.

Here is Cadence. She is a pup I work with at Paws for Purple Hearts as my internship during my MEB process here at Walter Reed. One day she will be assigned to a wheelchair bound vet in order to make his life easier. I am proud to be a part of her training and she made me proud today by doing so well in what we call the "Hall of Distractions". She has grown leaps and bounds since I first started working with her 2 months ago.

Very well said,agree with you 100%...........;) :D

Big Teddy :munchin

Outstanding! :lifter

I'm friends with a few breeders and trainers that began a grassroots organization and are now working with RetrievingFreedom. Their mission is similar in scope. I appreciate anyone willing to bust their tails and help train man's best friend to support our Veterans.

Patriot Guard
 

Yesterday, we sent my wife off to her MOB site. From there, her unit heads to OEF. We were amazed by the turn out of so many Veterans that showed up to send them off. Some of the ones that I met didn't have any "family" going, but said they were like family and that meant so much to me.

Then I saw, or shall I say "felt" the Patriot Guard rumbling down the street as they lined up to form their motorcade. A brief count revealed at least 30 riders, if not more, by the time it was all said and done. I've always admired the low rumble of a Harley, but yesterday the sound of so many bikes revving up to take our troops down range left me motionless and left a profound effect on me.

It's a feeling I'll never forget and if there are any Patriot Guard members on this forum I hope you know and realize that it lessened the strain when we're called to let go of one of our own. I'm truly grateful for your presence.

In the midst of all the gloom and doom and campaign ugliness, I'd like to see more happy themes. This thread hasn't been updated for a while, so I'll play...

FT Bragg represents the best and cleans the house at a recent trauma course. Distinguished honor grad, honor grad and all :lifter

It's a challenging course with 1.5years+ grad school material compacted into < 5 months. Being the most junior and inexperienced student, I was shaking in my boots to say the least when we got the books and syllabus. By His grace, it was doable. One day at a time, one page at a time.

I'll attest to the applicability of lessons learned from my mentors and this site outside selection: Don't be late, last, lost, light, or lippy, do the best you can, pay attention do details, don't FTFSI, and practice selflessness. The last one is the best as not only I survived, but thrived, never whined, volunteered to lead PT and be S6, and was able to tutor officer and enlisted alike, giving back mother army more than the expected ROI.

Attitude of gratitude and beggars can't be choosers went a long way too :)

Following judging & awards, genius grand-daughter brought ME the rest of her apple pie when she stopped at the fairgrounds up the street to pickup her Blue Ribbon.
:D

The rest of the house is on their own.

Getting to 'hang out' with my grandson while my daughter and her husband are at the hospital, and then getting the pleasure of meeting the little lady for the first time as they brought her home... baby, mom, and dad all doing fine. I watched my 2 1/2 year old grandson excitedly scream, "That's my baby sister!" over and over as he hurried down the stairs to greet them.

Life is good.

Aww congrats to the whole family, ZonieDiver!

Congratulation QP ZD! New additions are always fun :lifter

On that note, I was just notified by ISACA that I passed their CISM(Certified Information Security Manager) exam. Gotta celebrate life's little victories. :D

A little late, but last week I was able to take my British in-laws out shooting. They got to shoot a couple of handguns and an AR-15. We discussed the differences in our laws vs. theirs (guns, knives, etc.) and how our respective medias use each other's countries as an example of what not to be.

They were so excited to go out and shoot, it was great. By the end of the morning they saw how guns were tools and how you don't have to be afraid of them once you've experienced them in a safe environment.

Now if I could only have shown them how to shoot the pistols more accurately.....

Dishonorable Disclosure's new thorn in the side of Washington. I love how they have stirred up the media. That makes me feel good......

Amen. Me, too.

At the intersection of Olive and Denial
 

Thanks to Google Street View, I can count parking spaces in downtown L.A. without having to ponder the implications of the various smells.:cool:

(It sure is a good thing that I'm not OCD. Otherwise, I might be in danger of counting the same spaces multiple times before moving on to the next lot.:( Yep. Not OCD.:) Not even OCD-ish. That's me. Now, if you'll all excuse me, I need to wash my hands a few times.:o)

The inner smile of victory when..

The neighbor that used to mention you shoot too much. Asks you to teach them to shoot.

That is a happy thought.
As I'm an NRA rifle, pistol & shotgun instructor that's great news.
Maybe my business will pick up, haven't had a class in a month.
m&c

That's pretty awesome. My dad had a similar situation when we were growing up. Our neighbor felt that he was insane for teaching all of us kids how to shoot and couldn't believe any man would raise his kids around firearms. Next thing ya know, our neighbor gets broken into. It wasn't long after that little episode that our neighbor was supplying the brass and learning from dad (and us kids).

Beautiful day in northern Arizona.
Morning walk across the street gave a good view of the balloons.

Nice pictures, GC! What is the occasion?

Annual balloon regatta.
Should be a video of some of last year's here: http://visitpagearizona.com/balloon-regatta-2011.html

Very cool.

Great Photos..... Kids must have loved it.....

Met a QP yesterday.
 

During an afternoon in the Little Tokyo district of downtown Los Angeles, ZonieDiver and I managed to figure out solutions to all of America's most pressing problems. That's right! The future of the GOP, gridlock in Washington, D.C., education reform, civility in political discourse, race relations, urban development, inconsistencies in national security policy, the bloat of the federal bureaucracy, and other dilemmas are all relics of the past!

:lifter

...Unfortunately, due to the chemical interaction of vodka and Starbucks dark roast coffee, the details of those solutions are increasingly fuzzy. (WTH! I was supposed to be taking notes? I thought you were taking notes!) :confused::(:o

Even so, I'm pretty sure we agreed on the following key points:

• There are a lot of Asians in Asia.
• Good looking women tend to look good.
• Tall people are often taller than short people.
• Squeaky shoes are noisy.
• Dragnet was a great television show.
• L.A. area LEOs named Malloy should expect Adam-12 references.
• There's no such thing as too many Starbucks.
• There's no such thing too much coffee.
• Drinking decaf makes no sense what so ever.
• I am neither OCD nor bitter.

Hey ZD - you wanna verify agreement on that last one? :p

Thanks for being a great guide and host, Sigaba. The monument to the 442nd was... well... monumental.

Yes, I specifically remember asking you to take notes. I think.

I do need to work on my Land Nav skills in large hotels with labyrintian hallways.

I could have done without the rain on my trip back to San Pedro... or the exodus of cars at 6:30 pm. (I thought it was the begining of the Z.A. and the end of ZD.)

There are a LOT of good-looking women in the Little Tokyo area of downtown LA. While we sat in Starbucks the same tall, svelte, young, lovely, long-haired blonde came in THREE times - each time in a different outfit. That doesn't happen at Starbucks in Phoenix!

Thanks, again. Nice to put a real-life person with an online personality.

Don't share this with your 'neighbors'!
 

Like this: (first 27 seconds only... unless ya wanna)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-lgnXM54Zw

As was stated... memories are fuzzy. :D

That said, IF Sigaba is OCD, he hid it very well. (He does get cold easily, however!:p)

The only thing that was bitter was the Pike's Place medium roast I had! :)

When I looked at the preview of my last post and saw my THREE smilies coupled with PedOncoDoc's ONE, I was immediately reminded of Big Teddy... and how much I miss him here.

The sadness only lasted a second or two, and then a flood of good memories from his many humorous (or attempts at humorous) posts, as well as some of his "senior moments" replaced them. How I wish I could have met him in person.