There’s an election tomorrow. Don’t forget to vote.
This time around, I’m voting against road bonds. Too much sprawl and too much tax. The guys at Below The Beltline have shown me the light.
Hay Now
In the garage I’ve got four bales of hay and five boxes of IP phones. Can you tell I’m from North Carolina?
Welcome Rain
It turns out that the remnants of Hurricane Tammy were just what I was looking for to help relieve the drought. Chez Turner got about three inches of rain over the last four days.
On Friday, I pulled a receipt out of my raincoat that was dated June. It made me think: had it really been that long since we got a good drenching?
By conincidence of scheduling, we had our long-time grading problem fixed on Thursday. Water had a history of ponding up in the corner of our yard, but no longer. A new drainpipe, a few dump truck loads of dirt, and a bit of grading moved the water correctly from one end of our yard to the other. Kelly and I gleefully waded out in Friday night’s rain to watch the water drain. The things that pass for entertainment nowadays, huh?
Now to seed our newly-reclaimed yard and put even more water on it until our grass is back to normal.
Cheap Thoughts: Rhyming Magic Spells
Seeing that Halloween is approaching, its time to turn my attention to a question that’s been vexing me. Namely, do magic spells have to rhyme? I mean, do they lose their effectiveness if they don’t? Are you a poor conjurer if you can’t find words that sound the same?
Take “bubble, bubble, toil and trouble.” Would it be less effective if it was “toil and difficulty?” Or “toil and problems?” And what if you’re in a hurry? What if a boulder’s about to fall on you, or a piano, or an anvil – and you just throw together whatever you can spit out?
Do they rhyme because they work better that way, or just because it makes the person saying it feel clever?
I bet a wizard or witch that can’t rhyme gets busted on all the time. It’s gotta be embarassing.
Press Account of USS Elliot Sinking
I found an account of the Elliot’s sinking in the July 14 edition of Jet Observer, a Navy newspaper covering NAS Oceana, Virginia. Page seven has the article.
The jet jockeys probably thought they’d have the job done in time for a mid-morning coffee break. Instead it took 3,000 pounds of explosives and half a day to do her in. Damn straight! It’s because of all those coats of paint I put on it.
Note to VFA-195 PAO: I take issue with “rusting hulk.” You got the Elliot mixed up with the Standley.
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VFA-195 plays important role in ‘Sinkex’
by Ens. Matt Myers
Maritime dominance has been the mission of the U.S. Seventh Fleet since its founding over 60 years ago. During Operation Talisman Sabre 2005, a three-week cooperative exercise with the Royal Australian Navy, Army and Air Force, Carrier Strike Group Five demonstrated critical war at sea capabilities against two decommissioned U.S. Navy ships. The threat may have been simulated, but the guns, bombs and warfighting skills tested during the “sinkex” were very real.
The ex-USS Standley (CG 32) sank early under a barrage from the guns of Destroyer Squadron Fifteen and air-to-surface missiles from the Strike Group’s two helicopter squadrons.
When the smoke cleared, it was time for Carrier Air Wing Five’s strike fighter squadrons to unleash their firepower on the ex-USS Elliot (DD 967). The airwing scheduled a full day of sorties against the rusting hulk, but less than halfway through the flight schedule, six 500 pound bombs from Lt. Cmdr. Brian Bronk and Lt. Brett Dresden of the “Dambusters” of VFA-195 sent the ex-Elliot to the bottom of the Coral Sea.
The sinkex tested every aspect of Carrier Air Wing Five’s readiness for combat operations as low-lying clouds restricted weapon delivery profiles and two weeks of intensive flying kept maintenance departments working overtime. The Dambusters’ aviation electronics and armament shops found themselves in the spotlight since Sinkex participants were tasked with putting ordnance on target and bringing back the cockpit video to prove it.
“A sinkex as successful as this one demonstrates the incredible lethality of the Hawk-Five team,” summed up Mike Patterson from VFA-195. “The Chippies are proud to be a player on that team.”
Ens. Matt Myers is the PAO for the VFA-195 “Chippies”
USS Elliot Swims With The Fishes
I got curious today to learn the fate of my old home, the USS Elliot (DD-967). The last I knew, it was fated to become a target in a SINKEX. That SINKEX occured this past June, during Operation Talisman Sabre 2005, a joint exercise between the U.S. and Australian militaries.
According to this Australian notice to mariners, the Elliot was sunk off the eastern Australian coast at 25 degrees south, 155 degrees east. Here’s a picture of what the Elliot might have looked like when it was taking a hit. Standley was the other ship sunk during this SINKEX.
Its sad to see Elliot go, but at least I know where she’s parked. Should the ship be resting in shallow enough water, perhaps I could someday go dive her.
[Update]: Whoops. That picture is from November 2004. It’s not the Elliot nor the Standley, but the ex-USS Hayler. I should have known by the choppy, cold-looking waters that it wasn’t the Coral Sea. 🙂
Diminishing Returns
I am seriously digging Harvey Danger’s new album.
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Diminishing Returns
Harvey Danger
The king of the swinging moods is back in town
and everybody’s tiptoeing around him, surround him
as he pounds a silver hammer, drops revolutionary grammar
concerning the burning of city hall and urban sprawl and decay
Continue reading
Tamper-Evident Seals
If you remember the days when one listened to “phonographs” on “turntables,” you may remember the days of the Tylenol poisonings. That’s the time in the early 80’s when some sickos spiked Tylenol bottles with poison, killing some people and sending everyone else into a panic. The changes that came afterward were for the better: medicine now comes with tamper-evident seals.
I suppose on the basis that people put other things in their bodies, not just medicine, manufacturers began to apply seals to other consumables. Juice bottles have seals. So does milk, peanut butter, and (of course) baby food. All fine and good, right?
When I began to find these seals on things in my garage, I began to wonder if maybe, just maybe, we’ve gone off the deep end. I popped open a quart bottle of oil and lo and behold – it was safety sealed! Thank goodness that oil was tamper-free! Nothing should pollute my sparkling pure motor oil!
I thought I’d seen it all until it was time to kill off all my weeds and grass. Popping open a bottle of professional herbicide, I burst out laughing when I saw … a seal!
That’s right. A seal … on a bottle of poison!
Some sicko might try to put baby food in there.
Strange Bedfellows
I just discovered that my humble blog has been included in a list of political blogs in NC. I’m in some good company: Monkey Time, Orange Politics, Ed Cone among many others.
I don’t really consider my site to be about politics, though I will own up to being a political junkie. It’s more of a place where I say what’s on my mind, and sometimes what’s on my mind is politics. I will rant about one thing or another and then feel dumb about ranting, since ranting doesn’t fix things. Its much easier to complain, isn’t it?
Thanks to whomever out there nominated me. I promise to do some more ranting, but only if the mood strikes.
Headed For Stardom
Speaking of mugshots, My buddy Wade got a nice head shot in this weekend’s Durham Sun.