With the stress of the move taking a toll on my stomach our weekend trip to London was well timed. The city is awesome, nice people, great food but horribly expensive (even for a DINK family like ourselves). After the second day we stopped converting to dollars because it was killing us to pay $30 for a basic breakfast.
On our first day we hit Piccadilly Circus which is a pretty cool intersection, Trafalgar Square (Nelson was being cleaned and had scaffolding on the statue) and then went to the Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace. We didn’t get to see the whole thing as I well, our little group of people at the barrier were great. We didn’t squish; we let people’s kids in front of us at the barricade, etc. A few kids went over the barricade which was okay too since they were short. One teenager even took your camera put it through the fence took a few photos and passed it back – cool folks in general. Then these two bits of Euro Trash wandered behind the barricade and stood there. One man says in Italian that he’d been standing there for three hours and they needed to move. They were Italian as well looked at him shrugged and turned back around. She turned around halfway through and looked in my direction. I also stated we had been waiting for 1 ½ hours and they were now blocking me. She said “No comprendo.” Um okay well first off that’s Spanish, they are Italian. So my knee jerk reaction? Told her screw you in Italian. Her eyes widened and she said “thank you” in perfect English. I went off in Spanish, made fun of her hair what ever I could think of and she again said “No comprendo.” Again I said screw you in Italian, her and her spouse started talking in Italian something to the extent that she thought it was funny I could say that. My spouse is pinching my arm asking me to stop so I stopped short of calling her several nasty local Sicilian dialect names. We left shortly after since they refused to move. They were trash, they wouldn’t even move for fellow Italians or for the kids that they were blocking – it was all about them. Our little section was great, kind to others etc and then they had to ruin it all.
The rest of the trip was great. We had Sushi at one of those sushi bars that have the little conveyer belt going round and the most wonderful Indian food I have ever had in my whole life. DK travel books have really good restaurant recommendations if you ever use their book. Of course we saw West Minster Abbey, Big Ben, House of Parliament, The Tower & Tower Bridge. We also went to the Imperial War Museum which was really cool and the British Museum. Yep, we saw the Rosetta stone.
So other than it costing half my salary to pay for food and the idiots at Buckingham, it was a super trip!
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Are we there yet?
The hubby is driving me batty! I love him to bits but this move is going to be the death of me. His stress over having to have something to stress about is stressing me out. I've had a grand case of indigestion all weekend, not mention the constant urge to nap. You would think we've never PCS'd before....back to our regularly scheduled programming.
Monday, May 29, 2006
I remember
I remember as a child admiring the medals and ribbons of my Grandfather and later the stories he told of storming the beaches of Normandy.
I remember the sparkle in my father's eye and the devilish smile on his lips as he recounts the wild nights and even wilder poker games he played in while serving in the Navy.
I remember reading the comical short stories written by my Father in law of his time in Vietnam.
I remember Cpt Sims and his spouse Heidi, cheering her on with every accomplishment as she is Learning to Live all over again after the loss of her spouse in Iraq.
I remember Spc Maupin and the heartache of his family who still endure a fate unknown.
I remember.
I remember the sparkle in my father's eye and the devilish smile on his lips as he recounts the wild nights and even wilder poker games he played in while serving in the Navy.
I remember reading the comical short stories written by my Father in law of his time in Vietnam.
I remember Cpt Sims and his spouse Heidi, cheering her on with every accomplishment as she is Learning to Live all over again after the loss of her spouse in Iraq.
I remember Spc Maupin and the heartache of his family who still endure a fate unknown.
I remember.
Friday, May 26, 2006
Memorial Day Weekend
As we prepare to spend our weekend looking for last minute things before the movers come our Director sent out an email containing a speech made by Former Secretary Powell. His remarks at the end remind us not to forget and not to rush,
"But I ask of you: Do not hasten through Memorial Day. Take the time to remember the good souls whose memories are a blessing to you and your family."
Enjoy your weekend and take a moment to remember.
Every Memorial Day, my sister, Marilyn, and I would put on our Sunday best and accompany our parents to Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx to visit the graves of family members. Like all kids, my sister and I were happy to have the day off from school, and I can't say we were in a solemn frame of mind. But taking part in that annual rite of remembrance gave me my first sense of the importance of honoring those who have gone before.
I grew up and chose a soldier's life. I lost close friends in war. Later, I commanded young men and women who went willingly into harm's way for our country, some never to return. A day doesn't pass that I don't think of them. Paying homage to the fallen holds a deeply personal meaning for me and for anyone who ever wore a uniform.
In 1990, when I was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, I took my Soviet counterpart, Gen. Mikhail Moiseyev, around the United States. I wanted to give him a better understanding of what America is all about. We started in Washington, D.C. I especially wanted to take him to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
But I didn't take him there directly. First, I took him to the Jefferson Memorial. I pointed out a passage from the Declaration of Independence carved into its curved wall. All who have served in our armed forces share its sentiment. "And for the support of this Declaration," Jefferson wrote, "... we mutually pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor." Then I asked the general to look up. Above the statue of Jefferson, in 2-foot-high letters on the base of the monument's dome, is this inscription: "I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."
Here, I said, you see the foundation of America, a nation where "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights." I told the general that like Washington, Jefferson and all our Founding Fathers, Americans of every generation are ready to fight and die for those unalienable rights.
Then, to show Gen. Moiseyev the kind of sacrifices Americans are willing to make, I took him to the Lincoln Memorial, where Lincoln's words at Gettysburg are engraved. There, Lincoln said we had fought the bloodiest war in our history so our nation "shall have a new birth of freedom" and so "government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth." I wanted Gen. Moiseyev to see how sacred those words are to Americans. I showed the general the final lines of Lincoln's second inaugural address: "With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan..." I then walked the general part of the way down the Lincoln Memorial's steps to the place from which Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech. I explained that the unfinished work of which Lincoln spoke was still unfinished a century later, so from the very spot on which we stood, King challenged his fellow Americans to make the promise of our Founding Fathers come true for all Americans.
Only now was I ready to take Gen. Moiseyev to the Vietnam memorial. We walked the short distance from the Lincoln Memorial to the Wall. I showed the general how to find someone's name on it. I looked up Maj. Tony Mavroudis. Tony and I had grown up together on the streets of New York. We went to college together. We became infantrymen together. And in 1967, on his second tour of duty in Vietnam, Tony was killed. The memorial book directed us to Panel 28 East, and there we found ANTONIO M MAVROUDIS carved into the black granite. It was an emotional moment for me, and not just for me. Gen. Moiseyev reached out gently and touched the Wall. The infantryman in him understood.
Thankfully, our forces no longer face the prospect of war with the Soviet Union. Today, we are cooperating with Russia's evolving democracy and with other former foes against 21st-century dangers common to us all. Today's deadly threats come from rogue powers and stateless networks of extremists who have nothing but contempt for the sanctity of human life and for the principles civilized nations hold dear.
I do not know or care what terrorists and tyrants make of our monuments to democracy and the memorials we dedicate to our dead. What's important is what the monuments and memorials say to us. They can teach us much about the ideas that unite us in our diversity, the values that sustain us in times of trial, and the dream that inspires generation after generation of ordinary Americans to perform extraordinary acts of service. In short, our monuments and memorials tell us a great deal about America's commitment to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all.
The haunting symbolism of the 168 empty chairs at the Oklahoma City National Memorial, the heartbreaking piles of shoes in the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, the carefully tended headstones bearing crosses, crescents and Stars of David standing row-on-row in Arlington and our other national cemeteries - all speak to the value we place on human life.
The Vietnam Women's Memorial of the three servicewomen and the wounded GI; the Korean War Veterans Memorial's haggard, windblown patrol trudging up the rugged terrain; and the memorial of the flag-raising on Iwo Jima do not glorify war - they testify to the glory of the human spirit.
The Civil War battlefields and the monument in Boston to Robert Gould Shaw and his 54th Massachusetts Regiment of Negro soldiers who rode together into the jaws of death for the cause of justice tell us of the price past generations have paid so we might live in a more perfect union. They remind us also of the work our generation must do.
This Memorial Day weekend, we will join in celebrating the opening of the National World War II Memorial honoring the great generation of Americans who saved the world from fascist aggression and secured the blessings of liberty for hundreds of millions of people around the world.
Today, their descendants are fighting the global war against terrorism, serving and sacrificing in Afghanistan and Iraq and at other outposts on the front lines of freedom. The life of each and every one of them is precious to their loved ones and to our nation. And each life given in the name of liberty is a life that has not been lost in vain.
In time, lasting memorials will stand where the Twin Towers once etched New York City's skyline, near the west side of the Pentagon, and in the Pennsylvania field where doomed heroes died on Sept. 11, 2001, using their last moments to save the lives of others and most probably the Capitol or the White House - symbols of our living democracy. All of us lead busy lives. We have little time to pause and reflect.
But I ask of you: Do not hasten through Memorial Day. Take the time to remember the good souls whose memories are a blessing to you and your family. Take your children to our memorial parks and monuments. Teach them the values that lend meaning to our lives and to the life of our nation. Above all, take the time to honor our fellow Americans who have given their last full measure of devotion to our country and for the freedoms we cherish.
"But I ask of you: Do not hasten through Memorial Day. Take the time to remember the good souls whose memories are a blessing to you and your family."
Enjoy your weekend and take a moment to remember.
Every Memorial Day, my sister, Marilyn, and I would put on our Sunday best and accompany our parents to Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx to visit the graves of family members. Like all kids, my sister and I were happy to have the day off from school, and I can't say we were in a solemn frame of mind. But taking part in that annual rite of remembrance gave me my first sense of the importance of honoring those who have gone before.
I grew up and chose a soldier's life. I lost close friends in war. Later, I commanded young men and women who went willingly into harm's way for our country, some never to return. A day doesn't pass that I don't think of them. Paying homage to the fallen holds a deeply personal meaning for me and for anyone who ever wore a uniform.
In 1990, when I was chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, I took my Soviet counterpart, Gen. Mikhail Moiseyev, around the United States. I wanted to give him a better understanding of what America is all about. We started in Washington, D.C. I especially wanted to take him to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
But I didn't take him there directly. First, I took him to the Jefferson Memorial. I pointed out a passage from the Declaration of Independence carved into its curved wall. All who have served in our armed forces share its sentiment. "And for the support of this Declaration," Jefferson wrote, "... we mutually pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor." Then I asked the general to look up. Above the statue of Jefferson, in 2-foot-high letters on the base of the monument's dome, is this inscription: "I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."
Here, I said, you see the foundation of America, a nation where "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights." I told the general that like Washington, Jefferson and all our Founding Fathers, Americans of every generation are ready to fight and die for those unalienable rights.
Then, to show Gen. Moiseyev the kind of sacrifices Americans are willing to make, I took him to the Lincoln Memorial, where Lincoln's words at Gettysburg are engraved. There, Lincoln said we had fought the bloodiest war in our history so our nation "shall have a new birth of freedom" and so "government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth." I wanted Gen. Moiseyev to see how sacred those words are to Americans. I showed the general the final lines of Lincoln's second inaugural address: "With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan..." I then walked the general part of the way down the Lincoln Memorial's steps to the place from which Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech. I explained that the unfinished work of which Lincoln spoke was still unfinished a century later, so from the very spot on which we stood, King challenged his fellow Americans to make the promise of our Founding Fathers come true for all Americans.
Only now was I ready to take Gen. Moiseyev to the Vietnam memorial. We walked the short distance from the Lincoln Memorial to the Wall. I showed the general how to find someone's name on it. I looked up Maj. Tony Mavroudis. Tony and I had grown up together on the streets of New York. We went to college together. We became infantrymen together. And in 1967, on his second tour of duty in Vietnam, Tony was killed. The memorial book directed us to Panel 28 East, and there we found ANTONIO M MAVROUDIS carved into the black granite. It was an emotional moment for me, and not just for me. Gen. Moiseyev reached out gently and touched the Wall. The infantryman in him understood.
Thankfully, our forces no longer face the prospect of war with the Soviet Union. Today, we are cooperating with Russia's evolving democracy and with other former foes against 21st-century dangers common to us all. Today's deadly threats come from rogue powers and stateless networks of extremists who have nothing but contempt for the sanctity of human life and for the principles civilized nations hold dear.
I do not know or care what terrorists and tyrants make of our monuments to democracy and the memorials we dedicate to our dead. What's important is what the monuments and memorials say to us. They can teach us much about the ideas that unite us in our diversity, the values that sustain us in times of trial, and the dream that inspires generation after generation of ordinary Americans to perform extraordinary acts of service. In short, our monuments and memorials tell us a great deal about America's commitment to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all.
The haunting symbolism of the 168 empty chairs at the Oklahoma City National Memorial, the heartbreaking piles of shoes in the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, the carefully tended headstones bearing crosses, crescents and Stars of David standing row-on-row in Arlington and our other national cemeteries - all speak to the value we place on human life.
The Vietnam Women's Memorial of the three servicewomen and the wounded GI; the Korean War Veterans Memorial's haggard, windblown patrol trudging up the rugged terrain; and the memorial of the flag-raising on Iwo Jima do not glorify war - they testify to the glory of the human spirit.
The Civil War battlefields and the monument in Boston to Robert Gould Shaw and his 54th Massachusetts Regiment of Negro soldiers who rode together into the jaws of death for the cause of justice tell us of the price past generations have paid so we might live in a more perfect union. They remind us also of the work our generation must do.
This Memorial Day weekend, we will join in celebrating the opening of the National World War II Memorial honoring the great generation of Americans who saved the world from fascist aggression and secured the blessings of liberty for hundreds of millions of people around the world.
Today, their descendants are fighting the global war against terrorism, serving and sacrificing in Afghanistan and Iraq and at other outposts on the front lines of freedom. The life of each and every one of them is precious to their loved ones and to our nation. And each life given in the name of liberty is a life that has not been lost in vain.
In time, lasting memorials will stand where the Twin Towers once etched New York City's skyline, near the west side of the Pentagon, and in the Pennsylvania field where doomed heroes died on Sept. 11, 2001, using their last moments to save the lives of others and most probably the Capitol or the White House - symbols of our living democracy. All of us lead busy lives. We have little time to pause and reflect.
But I ask of you: Do not hasten through Memorial Day. Take the time to remember the good souls whose memories are a blessing to you and your family. Take your children to our memorial parks and monuments. Teach them the values that lend meaning to our lives and to the life of our nation. Above all, take the time to honor our fellow Americans who have given their last full measure of devotion to our country and for the freedoms we cherish.
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Support Military Surviving Spouses Equity Act
MQ over at Word Well has info on supporting a bill for better survivor benefits to military widows. I think this is a good idea and desreve support.
Please take five minutes of your time to cut and paste this letter into Word to support the families who lost their soldier in Iraq or Afghanistan. Go to http://www.house.gov/ to locate your local rep. Put in your zip code. It will find your rep and you can click on the name to his/her webpage where you can get their address.
Please take the time to help those who have lost their spouse make ends meet.
Here's the letter, tailor it if you want:
Over the past three years, members of Congress have made statements of support for our troops and their families. Now is the time for action!
Since the start of hostilities in 2003, over 2400 of our servicemen and women have been killed in action in Iraq and Afghanistan, this represents over 2400 families that have been left grieving and wondering what the future holds for them.
Many of these families are now living below the poverty level on limited income they are receiving from the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Department of Veteran’s Administration (VA).
The monthly payment from the Department of Defense is called the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP), while the monthly payment from the Department of Veteran’s Affairs is called Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC).
For every dollar of DIC the families receives, a dollar of SBP opportunity is stolen from their futures and their children’s futures. The families of our servicemen and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice deserve better. These families deserve both DIC and SBP for their sacrifices and losses in support of our government and the American way of life.
I strongly encourage you to support these fallen hero’s families and vote in favor of House Bill 808 (H.R. 808), sign on as a sponsor, and demand that the offset of SBP by DIC be eliminated, when House Bill 808 is reconciled with Senate Bill S.185.
Sincerely,
Your Name and Address
Please take five minutes of your time to cut and paste this letter into Word to support the families who lost their soldier in Iraq or Afghanistan. Go to http://www.house.gov/ to locate your local rep. Put in your zip code. It will find your rep and you can click on the name to his/her webpage where you can get their address.
Please take the time to help those who have lost their spouse make ends meet.
Here's the letter, tailor it if you want:
Over the past three years, members of Congress have made statements of support for our troops and their families. Now is the time for action!
Since the start of hostilities in 2003, over 2400 of our servicemen and women have been killed in action in Iraq and Afghanistan, this represents over 2400 families that have been left grieving and wondering what the future holds for them.
Many of these families are now living below the poverty level on limited income they are receiving from the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Department of Veteran’s Administration (VA).
The monthly payment from the Department of Defense is called the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP), while the monthly payment from the Department of Veteran’s Affairs is called Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC).
For every dollar of DIC the families receives, a dollar of SBP opportunity is stolen from their futures and their children’s futures. The families of our servicemen and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice deserve better. These families deserve both DIC and SBP for their sacrifices and losses in support of our government and the American way of life.
I strongly encourage you to support these fallen hero’s families and vote in favor of House Bill 808 (H.R. 808), sign on as a sponsor, and demand that the offset of SBP by DIC be eliminated, when House Bill 808 is reconciled with Senate Bill S.185.
Sincerely,
Your Name and Address
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
San Fransico is at it again
I love where I grew up, I really do. The Bay Area is a beautiful place, good food, safe for kids and overall is a good place. Then they have to go and get silly and try to ban the JROTC programs in high school.
This is upsetting. My husband got accepted to Stanford for his undergrad. This is a difficult task for a middle class kid who was a cross country runner for after school activities. He didn't even tell his parents he got accepted & went to a school with a ROTC program in order to go to college. Without ROTC he would not have had the funds to be able to even go to college & we wouldn't be here as we are today.
Two of my friends kids are both in JROTC and will continue in the program so that they can enlist in the Navy & use their version of Green to Gold in the field of their choice. I wonder if the SF school board thought how removing this program might affect the 1600+ kids that were planning the same thing as K & L are? What if JROTC and ROTC are the only way they can afford to go to college but the board wants to pull the rug right out from under them.
So its okay for the Boy Scouts to not allow gays but not the JROTC program? Give me a break.
This is upsetting. My husband got accepted to Stanford for his undergrad. This is a difficult task for a middle class kid who was a cross country runner for after school activities. He didn't even tell his parents he got accepted & went to a school with a ROTC program in order to go to college. Without ROTC he would not have had the funds to be able to even go to college & we wouldn't be here as we are today.
Two of my friends kids are both in JROTC and will continue in the program so that they can enlist in the Navy & use their version of Green to Gold in the field of their choice. I wonder if the SF school board thought how removing this program might affect the 1600+ kids that were planning the same thing as K & L are? What if JROTC and ROTC are the only way they can afford to go to college but the board wants to pull the rug right out from under them.
So its okay for the Boy Scouts to not allow gays but not the JROTC program? Give me a break.
Tuesday, May 23, 2006
The kindness of strangers
Hmm well I have absolutely nothing to complain about the next time I start feeling pissy about the world (like yesterday).
You remember PFC Joshua Sparling? He's the young man that was recovering at WRAMC, opened a what appeared to be a get well card from a child only to have it wish him dead. Saldly he was treated quite poorly by SPIRIT airlines not to long ago while trying to get home for some respit. A few VFW men along with a person from the MSIC and the Northwest folks helped to get him home. Gunn Nutt has the letter Mr. Sparling wrote explaining the events in detail.
I agree with ArmyWifeToddlerMom this is a MUST read! It brings a tear to my eye and a feeling of happiness for the kindness of strangers. A big THANK YOU to the folks at Northwest, the VFW veterans and thanks to the Stranger who tore up SPIRIT air and kept on pushing until Josh could get on his flight.
The Milblog Sphere is not small. Businesses who treat veterans poorly will not go un-noticed. I think SPIRIT air should be added to the List. Along with the broad who told Joshua that he deserved what he got by going to war. I know you can't boycott a person but maybe there's a list for flogging instead.
You remember PFC Joshua Sparling? He's the young man that was recovering at WRAMC, opened a what appeared to be a get well card from a child only to have it wish him dead. Saldly he was treated quite poorly by SPIRIT airlines not to long ago while trying to get home for some respit. A few VFW men along with a person from the MSIC and the Northwest folks helped to get him home. Gunn Nutt has the letter Mr. Sparling wrote explaining the events in detail.
I agree with ArmyWifeToddlerMom this is a MUST read! It brings a tear to my eye and a feeling of happiness for the kindness of strangers. A big THANK YOU to the folks at Northwest, the VFW veterans and thanks to the Stranger who tore up SPIRIT air and kept on pushing until Josh could get on his flight.
The Milblog Sphere is not small. Businesses who treat veterans poorly will not go un-noticed. I think SPIRIT air should be added to the List. Along with the broad who told Joshua that he deserved what he got by going to war. I know you can't boycott a person but maybe there's a list for flogging instead.
Monday, May 22, 2006
What the hell this isn't Seattle??
Been a little irritated lately....Rain most of the weekend and poured yesterday. Helped my friend and fellow nut with the movers yesterday, still trying to get the car issue finished and into my little hands, have been busy cleaning the crap out of the house we aren't moving with us and am slowly going insane because the move doesn't seem to be coming fast enough but is almost upon us. The charting of my girl stuff isn't going well either and I am truly missing my favourite release at the moment -
Came to work this morning wearing long sleeves and a CBGB's jumper! It was only 10 celcius. This does not help my mood one tiny friggin' bit. I am just frustrated here. According to an OPK kit, I was in the zone Tuesday or Wednessday. Then just as the chart suggested I had a temp spike (98.5), but it crashed the very next day and has been slowly climbing back up ( 97.7, 97.9, 98.1). This is my first month charting, with a digital thermometer from AAFES. I know my tubes are clear we took care of that back in March. According to the baby doc, he sees nothing wrong so far but this was before I started charting. Am I normal or is there a problem? Or am I just a real idiot and psyching myself into this mess?
I hate to say it but I am leaning towards number two on the stupid questions list here. I just want to set this up when I want to be pregnant. Damn, I spent my whole sex life avoiding trying to get pregant and now that I want to, it is becoming ever so elusive. Yes I know a watched pot never boils, but I thought if maybe I had the science to focus on (anal retentive here), it would allow me to obsess in a somewhat healthy manner.
So who wants to go three rounds with me? I really need to beat the crap out of something so I suggest you send me Chuck Norris to spar with.
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Alaskan Photos
Normally hitting the next blog button is dangerous. Usually you get porn or the advert for some stock or company that someone decided they push. This morning I was pleasantly surprised.
Dave's Pics are pretty good. Most are from Alaska and I like B&W so they are up my alley. Since I've started sharing and uploading my hobby, I thought I'd share Dave's work too.
Enjoy & Happy Friday!
Dave's Pics are pretty good. Most are from Alaska and I like B&W so they are up my alley. Since I've started sharing and uploading my hobby, I thought I'd share Dave's work too.
Enjoy & Happy Friday!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)