Category: Uncategorized

Sailabration festival for the 4th of July.
This is one of them.]]>

The Roof repair man
The Sunglass woman. My TV busted and thankfully(?) I had the Circuit City extended warranty. Unfortunately the CC rep that fixes TV’s in this area is an idiot. He took about five days to finally get around to calling me, and picked up the TV a week after it was broken. He fixed it the next day, so he said, but then it got weird. “We’ll deliver it tomorrow.” But then no delivery. “It’s ready to go” but then no delivery. After days and day of trying to get an answer, I went over his head and screamed at Circuit City who screamed at him. Turns out he didn’t do his paperwork correctly. So more screaming. Eventually CC got it cleared up with him, but then it was up to him to deliver it to my place. “Friday” he said. But Friday came and no TV. Saturday went by without even a call. Finally on Monday I was literally on the phone with CC when he called. “5-7” he said. He showed up around 8. We barely spoke, but now I have my tv back. Jerk. The roof guy has been an adventure in miscommunication, but at least he called and apologized for missing his first appointment (and his second, and his third). But finally he is here working up an estimate. The sunglass lady says she did my prescription absolutely correct. But my optomitrist says “nope, they put in an astigmatism (which I don’t have). Sunglass babe (who has an Australian accent by the way) said “nope, it’s right. It’s just too curved. Find a new frame.” I’m having my guys yell at her today (8 weeks after I bought the shades, by the way). There must be a sign on my head to treat me like crap. ]]>

The New York Times has an amazing piece on the bravery of some clerks in Afghanistan. They successfuly saved over 20,000 priceless pieces of gold, the so-called Bactrian Gold, simply by keeping their mouths shut and keeping the Gold hidden from the Taliban and other warlords. Now, with the help of the US government and the National Geographic, the gold has finally been uncovered and put on display. From the NYT– Afghanistan was the center of the Bactrian Empire, which stretched from the city of Balkh (the ancient Bactra) across northern Afghanistan. Conquered by Alexander the Great in 329 B.C. and ruled by his Greek followers for a century afterward, it was later invaded by nomad tribes from the Siberian and Chinese steppes, who founded the dazzling Kushan dynasty in 135 B.C. … When the Taliban came to power, they demanded to see the country’s gold reserves (kept in the same safe). After they looked at the bullion (ignoring the more valuable stuff in the corner), the museum worker snapped off the key in the safe preventing anyone else from seeing the gold. The Taliban tried to get at it before they fled Kabul, but the Northern Alliance & US forces were moving just too quickly. Very interesting story.]]>

12:37 PM Saturday.
British Frigate sighted off Chesapeake Beach, making its way North toward Baltimore. Moving at a bit of a clip, i.e. faster than most large vessels (I thought there was a speed limit). Probably in Annapolis / Bay Bridge area by 1:00 PM Possibly HMS Marlborough as that is suppose to be in Baltimore this week. Ship is not flying flag that I can see (it’s a few miles away) but does have a Lynx helicopter visible on the back. http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/static/pages/1046.html 156.800 & 157.100 has some Coast Guard traffic, but nothing directly to the ship yet.]]>

3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment
Fort Myer, Va. ]]>

Good story about Reagan
Reagan and Gorbachev in Geneva….
The two men sat by the fire, at first making small talk and exchanging pleasantries. Then, President Reagan turned the conversation to talk of children. As he had hoped, it seemed to establish some common ground between them. After a time, he turned and stared thoughtfully at the fire. When he turned back to Gorbachev, Reagan looked directly into his eyes and—in what he later described to me as his “most plaintive, wistful tone”—said, “I do hope for the sake of our children that we can find some way to avert this terrible, escalating arms race . . .”
As Reagan paused, Gorbachev—thinking the president had completed his thought—smiled slyly, unable to mask a sudden look of triumph in his eyes. After several seconds, Gorbachev opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, Reagan continued, “. . . because, if we can’t, America will not lose it, I assure you.”]]>