My flight this morning included several small children all amped up on sugar and caffeine, a puppy in a carry-on, and a newborn in a foul mood. Yeah, that’s a trifecta of suck.
Far be it for me to compliment the Navy, but at least when they travel on an airline, they wear a dress uniform. I just can’t get used to soldiers traveling in camouflage.
That being said, what’s up with the blue digital camouflage fatigues?  Are they trying to blend in with the ocean while they’re on those big gray ships?  Are they making ‘Man Overboard’ drills more challenging?
The worst threats to OPSEC nowadays appear to be scanners and Facebook. I hope the fugitives in Boston don’t have a smart phone.
I forgot how pleasant a Virginia accent can be.

My flight this morning included several small children all amped up on sugar and caffeine, a puppy in a carry-on, and a newborn in a foul mood. Yeah, that’s a trifecta of suck.
Far be it for me to compliment the Navy, but at least when they travel on an airline, they wear a dress uniform. I just can’t get used to soldiers traveling in camouflage.
That being said, what’s up with the blue digital camouflage fatigues?  Are they trying to blend in with the ocean while they’re on those big gray ships?  Are they making ‘Man Overboard’ drills more challenging?
The worst threats to OPSEC nowadays appear to be scanners and Facebook. I hope the fugitives in Boston don’t have a smart phone.
I forgot how pleasant a Virginia accent can be.

The Concord Hymn, By Ralph Waldo Emerson

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard round the world.

The foe long since in silence slept;
Alike the conqueror silent sleeps;
And Time the ruined bridge has swept
Down the dark stream which seaward creeps.

On this green bank, by this soft stream,
We set to-day a votive stone;
That memory may their deed redeem,
When, like our sires, our sons are gone.

Spirit, that made those heroes dare,
To die, and leave their children free,
Bid Time and Nature gently spare
The shaft we raise to them and thee.

This one’s for Weer’d.  The idea came to me as I listened to the last Squirrel Report.

• To the person who found their way here looking for “Korean Daddy Bears”, I’m sorry.  I’m a Norwegian-Irish-German-Whatever DaddyBear, and I don’t think I’m what you’re looking for.
• As for the person looking for “bear gathering daddies gallery”, well, yeah, I have no idea what you were looking for, but I hope this place was helpful.
• I’m not saying that my youngest son hates having his hair cut, but by the time I was done, he was exhausted, I was exhausted, his mother and I were not speaking, and he had so much hair sticking to him that it looked like I’d shaved an orangutan when we gave him a bath.
• My middle son had pink hair when I arrived to drop off his sister for a visit this afternoon.
  • He’s normally a medium blond, so I’m guessing that he tried to dye his hair red and it didn’t turn out.
  • I’m hoping that it’s because the Louisville Cardinals are in the NCAA championship.
• I tried to watch a documentary about North Korea tonight, and it made me so angry that Irish Woman asked me to shut it off.  I cannot fathom the insanity of a country that cannot feed a huge percentage of its children spending so much effort and money on luxuries for the chosen and nuclear weapons.
• Should I be worried that when we went to the hardware store yesterday, Irish Woman and I took a moment to price a tile saw?
• The bathroom project is nearing its end.  Irish Woman had me put away most of the tools, she bought two cans of paint, and is currently in the other room happily brushing it onto the trimwork.
• In celebration, I cleaned up the tools area of our basement today.  I’m not OCD, but not being able to find a screwdriver without going to the truck to hit the emergency kit was getting on my nerves.

• Irish Woman has decided that we are going to try to give up artificial sweeteners.  This means no diet Mountain Dew for her and no Coke Zero for me starting at sundown tomorrow.
  • Lock away the children, old people, and breakables now while you still have a chance.
• Yep, $500 to cover the cost of materials for the new fence is looking like a pretty good estimate.
• I messed up and put my fence about 6 inches into my neighbor’s yard.
  • I realized my error when Irish Woman stood on the property line and waved her arms at me.
  • I already had six posts set in concrete by then.
  • I have good neighbors.  They said they didn’t care and thanked us for putting up the fence.
  • All told, they just gave us about 50 square feet or so of their land.  I’ll have to repay them in some way.
• Repeatedly moving 80 pound bags of post hole cement isn’t as much fun as it sounds.
• We went out to a friend’s farm for the annual shearing of the alpacas.
  • Alpacas have toes.  I did not know that.
  • One alpaca took a shining to Boo and followed him around.  We had to break it to him that an alpaca would not fit in the car.
  • The wool is extremely soft and is supposed to be very warm.  I think I’m going to get some socks.
  • Baby emus have tiger stripes.
• Remember that bottle of wine that’s been whispering sweet nothings to me when I open the refrigerator?  It is now a close and dear friend.
  • There is enough wine in a standard bottle to fill up a pint beer glass twice with a little left over.  I did not know that.
• Someday I’m going to have to post the things that come out of my keyboard when Koshka plunks her rump down on the laptop for the warmth.
• It is amazing how little traffic there is in Louisville when the Final Four game is on.

• You know she loves you when you act like a complete dickhead on Wednesday night and she gets out of bed to make you a hot breakfast before you leave for work on Thursday.
• It is never a good thing when the term “hand grenade in a henhouse” goes through my mind when I see what has happened to my timelines and schedules while I was out for a few days.
• I’m feeling too optimistic about life at the moment, so I’m re-listening to episodes of Hardcore History that deal with the fall of the Roman Republic and the Eastern Front in World War II.  I’ll be back to my normal dark mood in a couple of days.
• Not sure what’s going on, but I’ve been craving meat for three days.  I’m getting plenty of protein in my diet, but the thought of a very rare steak is making my stomach growl.
  • No, I haven’t been bitten by anyone or anything lately.  Why do you ask?
• Girlie Bear is going to the movies with her friends tomorrow night.  Apparently there is a boy involved.  I have door kickers on call and surveillance platforms stacked up at several altitudes.
• Which deity do I sacrifice to in order to get relief from the Ohio Valley Funky Allergy Crud?
• The American Legion must be keeping its ear to the rail when it comes to how to separate people from their money.  They’re raffling off a Legion branded Thompson submachine gun.
  • It’s tempting, but where would I get ammunition to feed it?
• I must learn to not laugh out loud when a teenager uses the term “When I was young”.
• Irish Woman is a keeper.  When asked if she needed anything at the store, she answered “sandpaper”.

• Bad ways to wake up #123101921 – Being punched in the throat by your spouse when she’s having a bad dream.
• Telling my lovely wife that she was ‘moving like pond water’ this morning might not have been the smartest thing I’ve ever done.
• Being able to take apart a small engine to repair a broken pull cord does not mean that I am able to put the coiled spring that jumped out back where it belongs.
  • It’ll be back from the shop in a few days.
• No, really, I’m fascinated with your theory on how the NRA is trying to force children into a paramilitary training program in grade school.
  • I’d love sign up for your newsletter.  Please send it to yomamaallama@hoplopho.be
  • No, seriously, it’s a family name from the old country.  It means “Sarcastic bastard who just wants to pay for his gas and get a soda”.
  • Oh, and thanks for printing one of those “How did you like your service today?” cards with my receipt.  I’ve put it to good use.
• Dear Porsche driver – I’m glad you noticed the trailer hitch on the truck.
  • Of course, you couldn’t see it by the time you finally came to a full and complete stop.
  • It’s there to keep your German speed machine from tearing up my rear suspension.
  • I think your tires have a flat side now.
• I could get used to this vacation day thing.
  • That bottle of wine in the refrigerator has whispering sweet nothings to me since breakfast time.
• In anticipation of a heavy frost and possible freeze tonight, Irish has run strings of 7 watt black light Christmas bulbs around the fruit trees.
  • We’re also going to wrap them in plastic for the night.
  • Supposedly that will protect the peach and cherry trees, which have taken advantage of the break in cold weather to bud out.
  • It looks like we have pinkish-purple ghosts out in the yard tonight.
• Good thing – Your child is loved by you, your wife, your friends, your wife’s family, and several people I’m sure I know somehow.
• Bad thing – They all gave Easter candy to your child.
• Worst thing – When asked “How much Easter candy have you eaten today?”, your child stops vibrating enough to say “A lot”.

• Remember how everyone warned me about dogs and chewing gum last night?  Well, the worst that could happen didn’t, but it wasn’t pretty.
  • Bluegrass appears to be the culprit, and she’s fine now.
  • Being woken up at 3 AM by a sick dog is a real treat.

• Zen is the state where you can look at the chaos and strife around you, realize that no-one will care in five years, and accept that life is what it is. 
  • As long as the paychecks keep cashing, of course.
• There is an evil glee I get when someone tries to shift blame for a nebulous problem and responsibility for fixing it to me, and I cut them off at the knees with facts and statistics.
• Tonight’s chicken and dumplings was exactly what I needed.
• It was warmish and dryish today, so I guess spring has sprung.
• It is amazing how much more productive I am when those who want something from me actually talk to me instead of just filling out a web form.