Friday, May 29, 2009

Lucky You!

I deleted it.
I had written a rant about an out of work acquaintance I called to tell about a job opening in Pennsylvania. He declined the idea of applying for the job because he "didn't want to move". When I finished the post I realized that although it said exactly what I wanted, it was more negative than I want to post here. Here's the post in a nutshell:
Out of work? Looking down the road ahead you might be sorry you didn't jump at the chance to start earning a paycheck again.
We'll see.

We're back to our routine after our return from Destin. It has rained almost every day since we returned. I'm ready to go back South.

I have no news to share.
You got any?
It's Friday!

Monday, May 25, 2009

Memorial Day

Aloha Dear Friends,

It is that time of year again where we can pay tribute to our loved ones that have passed and to honor the ones that we have lost while serving their country.
There is a tradition over here that is called the Lantern Floating Ceremony that is held in Ala Moana Park.

It is a time honored Buddhist rite to comfort the spirits of the deceased and are said to ferry spirits "from the sea of delusion to the shores of salvation." You do not have to be Buddhist to go or even participate. It is one of the most beautiful cermonies I have ever had the honor to witness. You may purchase or obtain a floating lantern free and you are able to write a message to your loved ones on it and it will be released into the ocean at sunset.

You can watch this live by going onto www.kgmb.com and click on lantern floating and also watch a video from last year. The ceremony starts at 6:30 pm here so adjust your clocks to mainland time. Or you can go directly to www.lanternfloatinghawaii.com

For all the veterans that got to go to the Punch Bowl while here. You would be proud of the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts today. They went to the 38,000 graves there and put a flag and lei on each and every grave and saluted every one. They were running out of leis and put out the message and quickly received 50,000 lei and they then were shared with the Veterans Cemetery in Kaneohe. It was a little bit of a tear jerker today.

I hope you all enjoy the ceremony and take care until we meet again.

GH

Friday, May 22, 2009

DDFF Farewell

We've had a little more than a week in paradise and it's been grand. Today is the first we've experienced with no sunshine at all. The rest have been warm, but not uncomfortably so, and we've had enough sunshine to keep smiles on faces.

Harry and Carol came by Monday evening and we had a nice short visit over dinner. Today they spent most of the day with us and we had a delightful time, culminating with dinner over Sara Jean's scrumptious Italian Beef sandwiches. Full bellies and good conversation were the order of the evening.

Tomorrow we head North. I need to be at work early Monday, and we need a little spool-down time at home before getting back into our routine. Sunday will be spent unpacking, then getting the grass at home under control if it's not raining. (Rain is forecast, so folks at the track may be disappointed.)

I hope you all are in fine spirits, as are we.
If so, or if not...
Now's the time to share...
It's FRIDAY!

Friday, May 15, 2009

Temporary Retirement

Michael Jordan did it.
Brett Favre did it.
So I'm in good company... I'm gonna temporarily retire.
We leave for 9 days in Destin tomorrow, so I'm writing this post on Thursday. You've been where I am, so you know exactly what's goin' on, getting ready to leave home for a few days...
Stop the mail at the post office,
Mow the lawn and take care of other honey-do's around the house.
Pack... what? What part of my "stuff" do I need to take? Over the years we've learned to pack light because once we're in Destin the accepted uniform is T-shirt, cutoffs (or swim suit), sunglasses and sandals. This attire grants anyone access to almost any facility in town.

As usual I'll have my laptop with me and will be posting here if anything unusual comes to pass. I'll also pack camera and cell phone and their associated chargers (someone please, invent a universal charger, reasonably priced!)

Back to the retirement theme...
I really never thought I'd look forward to retiring. I love my job, and COULD NOT IMAGINE how I'd spend all that time not fling-winging around the countryside, transporting the infirm and injured. But these Destin interludes have indicated I'd do just fine with extra time on my hands. The only thing I hate about these trips South is I already dread the thought of packing the car to return home.

We'll be in residence Friday night/early Saturday morning after a quick detour through Pensacola to pick Mom up. TwoDogs and Cinders plan to arrive Monday, so Margaritas, red beans and rice, and blackened mahi-mahi will be consumed. Hugs, laughter, and sharing will be the order of the day.

Alas, I have to be back to work the morning of Monday the 25th, and that means leaving paradise and good company and driving half a day to get back to normalcy. That gets harder and harder each time I do it. It won't happen right away, but it's certainly true that I'm beginning to see light at the end of this tunnel of a career I've selected.
Will retirement be similar to the week we'll spend with TD and Cinders?
I don't know how I'd handle anything so delightful.

Now, TGIF folks.
It's time for Trojan Talk.
Are you settled in, Ferdy?
Any news from the track, Hawkeye?

Saturday, May 09, 2009

Cinco De Cuatro



Well, if our President(?) can do it, so can I !
I spent most of the day yesterday here at work watching violent weather pass while the helicopter stayed safely in it's bedroom. Weather blown through, we were immediately pressed into duty on a flight that still has me a little bummed out. (I may blog about it at "Pitchpull" later today.)
Anyway, the day got by without me posting our "Friday Forum" post, so this is your "Saturday morning Friday Forum".

Exactly one week from today, God willin' and the creek don't rise, Sara Jean and Cinders will probably be imitating the gal pictured above. Mom and I will be sitting on the balcony overlooking the beach, watching for dolphins swimming and pelicans in formation. TwoDogs? He'll probably be making sure the gals have all they need, while sipping an adult beverage and smiling inwardly.

I'm sure we'll see Harry and Carol at some point, but I have no solid information on other DDFF attendees. If you have a hankering for good food, good conversation, and good memories, go to
here or call 800 426-6196 and check out "Gulf Winds East".
Tell 'em Greybeard sent ya.

Sunday, May 03, 2009

'09 Alumni Banquet Images

Okay... downloading one pic at a time works... but eats up a lot of time. Here are most of the images I took:



One of the reasons I love going to the Alumni banquet-
Some of you may remember my cousin Jim H., shown here with his wife.
Jim held the CGHS shot-put record for something like 40 years. I hadn't seen Jim since 1964.

DJ and Echo engage in post-dinner chat.

Sara Jean beams, with Shifty obviously listening intently in the background.

DJ, BobWhiteDan, and Mrs. Hawkeye.

Echo holds court, showing off the door prize she won.

Mr. and Mrs. Hawkeye.

TwoDogs smiles! Greybeard and Sara Jean fail to notice!

The class of '65 takes over the dance floor.

It's fun to stay at the Y.M.C.A. !

The flower and the weeds.

Shifty takes advantage of an opportunity.

The banquet was winding down and as usual, the class of '65 wasn't ready to quit visiting. Someone suggested a Bar/Restaurant called "Louie's" at the corner of Stone's Crossing Road and Highway 135. A "moveable feast"... ALL VK's simply took the party to another venue.

Along the way we picked up some honorary class of '65 members... Larry V. (class of '63) and his wife Angelica joined in.

We had a great time, but TIME is cruel.
We finally broke things up after midnight and reluctantly headed home, all wondering...
When can we do this again?

"Bad Request"

I've tried twice now to download photos of last week's banquet and after waiting patiently for several minutes, that's the warning notice I finally get... "Bad Request."
Downloading images takes forever with Blogger under the best of circumstances, and I'm trying to download more than ten of 'em. I'll continue to try... maybe by doing one at a time.
But there is comforting news to be shared-
Reading comments below you'll find Bo is back home safely and had an adventure to share.
Cinders is also home and looking forward to relaxing at Destin.
Rita and Cissy are apparently both home with tales to share about Italy.
So we can be thankful many of our VK's have successfully been "there and back" and have stories to tell.

I'll continue scrapping with Blogger here...
Stay tuned.

Friday, May 01, 2009

MayDay and M.A.V.


Hawkeye brought this pic to Echo's mini, so many of you have already seen it.
But I loved it when I saw it and wanted to insure those of you frequenting Vandy's Kids had also seen it.
Coat, pipe, and studious glasses...
Coolness!

It's Friday again.
What's cool with you?