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I found this little gem of a video over at Weasel Zippers last night and thought I’d post it myself while I had a few seconds Life’s going pretty well for me lately as I’ve said. Still, some out there may not be quite so fortunate so I figured I’d do here what I often do in conversation and tell y’all that it could be worse Here’s hoping your day goes better than that  I’m playing a bit of catch up again, but I don’t feel too bad about it this time because I’ve been out with my family  28 November 2009 - Christmas lights at BassPro Last night saw Mom, my brother, and me shopping at Bass Pro and dining at Mi Casa at the Silverton. I’ve eaten there many times and my brother’s been there in the past, but Mom hadn’t been there before. It’s good Mexican food, but the service was a bit slow when it was time for the check. Mom picked out her Christmas presents herself – a sweater and a pink Streamlight Nano and I also picked up something for Dad  29 November 2009 - My brother in a Toyota pickup Our first destination today was the Motor Trend International Auto Show  29 November 2009 - I love this view!  29 November 2009 - Livin' the good life 8) The new Corvettes were all available for our enjoyment and I couldn’t pass up a chance like this  29 November 2009 - Transformers edition Camaro SS  29 November 2009 - Transformers edition Camaro SS  29 November 2009 - Transformers edition Camaro SS  29 November 2009 - Transformers edition Camaro SS Chevrolet seems to have actually grown a few brain cells for a change. So far, I’ve owned a Camaro, two Cavaliers, and an HHR. They’ve been pretty darn good cars, but Chevy has had a serious problem in the past with marketing and somewhat in knowing what to produce. The Camaro was supposed to be out in 2005 or 2006. The SSR convertible pickup was two or three years late. They can’t seem to get the clue that hype sells and they seem to let the hype die off before introducing the product. This time they seem to have changed that which is a nice development. If you’ve seen either of the Transformers movies, you’ll recognize Bumblebee here  29 November 2009 - Mom in a nice Cadillac SUV Of course I had to get a picture of Mom in here  29 November 2009 - 1969 Corvette coupe  29 November 2009 - 1969 Corvette coupe  29 November 2009 - 1958 Corvette  29 November 2009 - Custom Corvette with color shift paint  29 November 2009 - Custom Corvette with color shift paint  29 November 2009 - Custom Corvette I can’t go into too much detail, but the Corvette club showed up with some really nice cars  29 November 2009 - Low rider pickup Nobody in my family is really into low riders, but this truck is still pretty cool  29 November 2009 - Classic mustangs  29 November 2009 - Classic mustangs  29 November 2009 - Classic mustangs  29 November 2009 - Classic mustangs  29 November 2009 - Classic mustangs  29 November 2009 - Classic mustangs  29 November 2009 - Old school stuff adds to the display  29 November 2009 - Classic mustangs  29 November 2009 - Classic mustangs  29 November 2009 - Gotta love the Mustang emblem The Ford club also showed up with quite a nice collection of cars, especially the Mustangs  29 November 2009 - New Maserati coupe Today’s Maseratis aren’t the fastest or best handling, but I still think they’re seriously good looking  29 November 2009 - Scion custom car display Scion brought some interesting cars to the show and I have to confess that I was considering something like the silver car on the left.  29 November 2009 - Desert tan Toyota FJ Cruiser  29 November 2009 - Desert tan Toyota FJ Cruiser  29 November 2009 - Desert tan Toyota FJ Cruiser This FJ Cruiser is one of the specialized versions that’s optimized for off road use. It’s got big wheels and tires, gauges on the dash for roll and incline, and it’s got a wonderful desert tan paint job with a flat black surface on the hood. I could really use something like this out in the desert  29 November 2009 - View from my mom and brother's hotel room  29 November 2009 - Water in the room - they'll charge you $4.00 per bottle We stopped by the hotel room to drop some stuff off before going to dinner so I took the chance to snap a quick pic of the view out of their window. I also wanted to show the water they leave you in the room. There’s two bottles and two cups, but I don’t think I’d ever drink it – they want $4.00 per bottle if you do  29 November 2009 - Samurai armor at the entrance to Benihana's  29 November 2009 - Benihana's at the Las Vegas Hilton My brother bought dinner tonight for the three of us at Benihana’s in the Hilton 8) No, it was by no means inexpensive. Quite the opposite actually. But it was GOOD!!! I had swordfish steaks, Mom had steak, and Rob had a combination of shrimp and chicken. Mom and I did something we don’t normally do and actually had dessert. Their cheesecake wasn’t very sweet, but it was incredibly light and fluffy (that’s the best way to describe it) and it was covered in mandarin oranges. I could get used to this  29 November 2009 - You never know what you'll find as entertainment in Vegas!  29 November 2009 - You never know what you'll find in Las Vegas. Period. One of the things I love about Vegas is the wonderful outrageous nature of much of what you’ll find in this town 8) I mean, where else would you find a 1980s hard rock/heavy metal band as Christmas entertainment or art work like this in a lavatory (and no, I don’t normally take pictures in there So that’s what I’ve got from the past two days in a fairly quick post Have a great day everyone Four City of Lakewood, WA police officers were murdered today in a coffee shop frequented by law enforcement, regular Air Force and Army and area residents. There is a possibility that a suspect was wounded. The area means a bit to me and my family. My late in-laws were residents of South Tacoma and their Post Office was Parkland Station. My sister-in-law went to University High in Lakewood. When the local law enforcement, Pierce County Sheriff, Lakewood PD, Tacoma PD find this guy, I hope he resists. It will save the area folks a lot of agony if the scumbag puts up a fight. Cause if he is caught and ends up on trial, the crybabies in Olympia will find some excuse to spare him the gallows at Walla Walla. The best coverage is on the local outlets, KING-5, KOMO-4, KIRO-7 and the NWCN.  Vis Weps Fun in the Good Old Days I stole this one from the Swordsmen website. I don’t think Steve Beals will mind. Seeing as how I am on the Muster List. There are twenty-eight of those 500 pound Mk. 82 General Purpose Bombs coming off that Mighty A-6E TRAM. It had stations for thirty but the forward main gear doors would have to be taken off. But at Fallon, it was visweps as the caption indicates, visual weapons. Bomb sight and the Mark 1 eyeball. It was when that fancy, and high tech TRAM system was not used. And just for Buck. Ain’t ever going to see a Hornette do that! Couldn’t do it on a bet. It can do the other thing we did though. Buddy Store on the center-line and four drop tanks and…………instant tanker. We had 4 or 5 KA-6Ds on the inventory, rebuilt A models with a hose reel package and five drop tanks. The guy to ask about this is Pinch Paisley, fighter guy extraordinaire. There was a time that the venerable Intruder was more important as a tanker than a bomber. And being in Black and White gives it an…..almost………..sinister quality. Ain’t it purty!?!?!?!?!?! Grumman guys. We’re like that. So. I’m in full-on cash conservation mode. Really. I’ve got about $5.00 to my name until Monday which is due to a short pay period, big bills, and my decision to actually pay them. Federal, State, and Local governments could learn something from me I confess that I did get one roll of film from Aviation Nation developed last night and that’s a contributing factor to my current state of low funds. Yes, it’s my own damn fault. But at least I have something cool to post tonight I didn’t have a chance to label each roll, so each one will be a surprise. This one happened to be mostly the Sunday C-17 demonstration  15 November 2009 - C-17 demo at Aviation Nation  15 November 2009 - C-17 demo at Aviation Nation The C-17 is a huge plane as you’ve seen before, but that doesn’t mean it can’t slow way down. I think its ground speed here was about 85 miles per hour when these two pictures were taken. That’s helpful when you want to land on a short runway with a heavy load!  15 November 2009 - C-17 demo at Aviation Nation  15 November 2009 - C-17 demo at Aviation Nation  15 November 2009 - C-17 demo at Aviation Nation Along with slow flight, the Globemaster III (AKA the “Moose”) can turn on a dime and give you change  15 November 2009 - Thunderbirds on the flight line at Aviation Nation The only non-C-17 picture that made the cut from this roll was this one of the Thunderbirds jets. I really do love that red, white, and blue paint scheme  15 November 2009 - C-17 demo at Aviation Nation  15 November 2009 - C-17 demo at Aviation Nation  15 November 2009 - C-17 demo at Aviation Nation Another rather uncommon feature of the C-17 is its ability to back up under its own power. The thrust reversers are even good enough to get it up to a decent speed. Again, this helps with stopping on short runways along with taxiing on some airstrips. Tomorrow will be a good day and there will be pictures  Super Hornet of The Bounty Hunters of VFA2/CVW2 Started life as VF2 with VF1 Wolfpack as new from the ground up Tomcat Squadrons embarked in then CVW 14 on USS Enterprise. This was in 1974. In 1980 they joined CVW 2 onboard USS Ranger for the long cruise during the Jimmy Carter Iranian Hostage Crisis. I was there on that one in VA-145. Left North Island on 10September1980 and got back on 5May1981. I turned 26 the day after we left Coronado. In 1993 Ranger and the two A6 squadrons 145 and 155 were de-established. VF2 went somewhere else. I will look it up and get back to you all. But somewhere along the line it got plastic jets. Carrier Air Wing Two is now embarked on USS Abraham Lincoln, CVN 71. Jeez, I think I’m getting old:(  26 November 2009 - Coal the cat and yours truly Today’s Thanksgiving and upon reflection, I’ve got a whole lot to be thankful for Not only do I have a very loving family, but I’ve also got a second family who consider me to be one of their own regardless of blood or marriage. Cindy and her family have been invaluable since I met them. I may be a couple hundred miles from Mom, Dad, and my brother, my sister may be a couple of thousand miles away, and Cindy may be a couple hundred miles away as well (now that she’s moved), but Missy’s just up the highway a bit (Missy is Cindy’s sister) Along with both of my families, I’ve got a pretty good group of friends who I’ve collected over the years I may get a bit stressed out by it at times, but I have a stable job. In this economy, I can’t imagine what I’d be doing or where I’d live if that weren’t the case. I even have a pretty good manager and new director of human resources. I’ve got a good car, a nice gun collection, and a cool pet. I’d say I’m doing alright The picture above was taken tonight. I wrote about Coal the cat back when he showed up at my front door at midnight in December of last year. How he ended up living with Missy (Cindy’s sister) and her family and how he was renamed Frank is a long story, but it’s not what counts. Coal (I’ll always call him Coal) was pretty skinny when he showed up, but not anymore. He was homeless – the last entry in the registration for the microchip was three years before I found him and from 45 miles away. The vet who scanned the chip and gave him a free once over after hearing his story said that he was likely a “foreclosure pet” whose family had left him behind when they couldn’t keep him. His new family (both back at my last place and at his current home) feeds him and cares for him very well. I’m just thankful that I was able to help him when he needed it So, yeah, I have lots to be thankful for Have a great day everyone I’d forgotten that I’d taken this picture when I posted last night .
 25 November 2009 - HHR engine without the air box on top I figured it was about time to finally change the air filter in my HHR There’s usually a big, plastic box on top of the engine that holds the filter. To change the filter, you have to disconnect two hoses and one sensor from the air box before removing seven torx bolts. No, it’s not as easy as I’d like it, but it’s nothing remotely in the realm of stuff I can’t do Have fun This post will be pretty short. No, it’s not that I don’t have anything to be thankful for – I’ve loads to be thankful for HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!! |
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I also have to add that I DIDN’T DO IT 
!!!
I don’t have too much time tonight for lots of writing, but I wanted to get the pictures up while I have the chance 8) As always, click the pics for full size 
Good Times (and Likely Reduced Blogging) Ahead!
So, life’s going pretty well as of now
I’ve got my mom and brother coming into town today, good friends in the comments, great co-authors to help out with quality content, I had a very nice post written about some info I emailed Sean Linnane over at Stormbringer, and I had a direct deposit go into my bank account last night 
Plans for the next few days (I’m off until Wednesday thanks to judicious use of vacation time) include mostly time with the family, so there may be a bit less in the way of posting
Of course, I’ll do my best to keep up with the Picture(s) A Day and all 
Have fun and I’ll see y’all here in Cyberspace in a while