Thunder only happens

Lots of people in the Midwest got hammered by storms yesterday. 

We have had far worse storms and stronger winds and intense and occasionally scary weather. 

Yesterday it rained as hard as I can ever recall. It was tropical storm-like in volume. Gutters overflowed, tiny waves formed in the cup-de-sac. The sheer volume of water cascading down my steep-sloped roof gathered in the valley and launched into the air like a waterfall. 

We ended with one branch on the ground about 6foot long and three inches in diameter. I had it cut up and into the trash bin an about 20 minutes. 

From me to you

 

Someone call Don Draper

Does anyone else find the Brand Power commercials absolutely boring and uninspiring?

Some lady stands before a wall of products and recites boring ad copy. 

Zzzzzzzz.

That corporation paid for those TV spots. Did the ad agency pass off the account to an intern? Even my cold call emails are more interesting and they clearly suck. 

They chucked Mr. Clean for this?

Sonntagsmusik

 

Make Georgia Howl

I’ve been reading Shelby Foote’s history of the Civil War (namely Volume 3). I find him a very good historical storyteller, much the equal of the great Barbara Tuchman or David McCullough. 

Foote has been criticized for his lack of footnotes, but I find that decision makes the narrative far more readable and accessible to the average-non historian reader. I’m fine with it. 

At this point in life I want to enjoy history rather than study it. 

Just as I found Ken Burn’s documentary on the topic enjoyable years ago (it featured Foote as a historian), I am having no issue reading a couple score of pages over lunch every day. 

Road Trip!

 With the start of school.imminent, the eldest granddaughter and I embarked on a historical roadtrip. This is our second adventure*, but I'm not sure I can yet claim it an annual thing. She starts middle school next week and we all know about adolescents and their elders. At this point she disp!aye none of the attitudes that some teenagers adopt.

We slashed pur way across NW Ohio, visiting the Neil Armstrong museum in Wapakoneta first. The granddaughter has aspirations of being an astronomer and what better place to visit? I found the museum to be a bit worn and expensive for what was there , but the 30 minute movie about Apollo 11 was terrific. It sent goosebumps down my spine. 

There weren't many people there and I suspect more than five  decades since Armstrong planted his left foot on th he lunar surface has dimmed his place in history a bit. 

Next we headed a bit south and drove past Annie Oakley's grave near North Star then visited the Annie Oakley center and the Garst museum in Greenville. 

Granddaughter 1 has a strong interest in strong nd famous women and enjoyed the displays about the famous entertainer and sharpshooter.. We toured the whole place and we enjoyed the "old stuff" and I even discussed the Treaty of Greenville with her and it's implications for settling the Midwest. 

Yeah, she is smart as a whip and not only loves science, but digs history. 

We had a great time and a long day. She is my intellectual soulmate, in that she likes learning new stuff, only she is far brighter than I am and thankfully lacks the sarcastic streak that I fight to keep under control.

What?  You only see a fraction of what bounces around in my head. 

*Last year we went to the Air Force museum in Dayton. Go. It is awesome.

There's a man who leads a life of danger

 

My ring tone for family is the James Bond theme from Dr. No. I used to travel a lot, often internationally. Does it mean anything? Probably not. 

I will admit we need to listen to Johnny Rivers a little more. 

Better late than never

 

If all else fails, fall back on music.

Let’s see, they are paving the cul-de-sac this morning. The streets of the neighborhood are all scheduled in the coming days. The whole process is typical government work. The school at the end of my short street is scheduled to go back Wednesday. So let’s block off the streets for paving!

It’s not like the city had all summer or anything. 

In the end the patched up streets really need repaving so I suppose I am glad the work is being done. 

Devils roll the dice, angels roll their eyes

 

Now you can own it too!

 Starting today, my novel Hoosier Flats will be offered at a reduced price for a limited time in ebook version. If you have always wanted to read a novel about a boy coming of age during Prohibition, this is your chance.

Come on already

 How is it on this day and age that someone does not know how to operate an ATM?

I was behind some guy last night that took over nine minutes to do whatever he was doing. The third song was on the radio when he finally drove off.WTH?

I tapped my card, punched my pin. The machine spit out my cash and receipt. I was out of there like the ATM was a mechanical pit crew at Daytona.

The other guy, he was using the machine like a vertical Ouija Board. 

It's not you, it is me

I feel bad about the blog.

I have nothing. My creativity is gone. I think my last novel broke me. I worked so long to bring it to life. I had a good story but lacked the ability to tell it. 

That is no "poor me". I am not looking for approbation, it is where I am at mentally these days. Even putting together a good presentation a few weeks ago was a challenge and for most of my professional life that sort of task was the easiest part of my job. 

Is the loss of creativity the first sign of senility? Am I bored? Have I said all I need to? Have aliens invaded my mind? Is life just getting in the way? 

Maybe. Yes. Yes. Not likely but not impossible. For sure.

Bear with me. I will be back. Or not.

Yeah, I stole it from MC

 

Sing along

 

Sunday with the wife

One Sunday morning a few months ago the wife and I were sitting at the table eating breakfast. She was reading some woman's magazine -- Cosmo, Vogue, Seventeen, I don't know. 

Anyway, she got up suddenly and started beating me about the head and shoulders with that rolled up.magazine. She eventually kocked me sprawling onto the floor. Standing above me panting, she said "That's for more than forty years of bad sex."

She went back to her seat and sat down as if nothing had happened.

I turned my chair upright and sat down. I sipped my coffee and took a bite of cold pancake. Standing, I grabbed the discarded rolled magazine and whacked her right off her chair. 

I tossed the periodical on to the f!oor. 

"That is for knowing the difference."

She broke down and let me in

 

I see you

 Ten years ago this month (and next - one eye at a time) I was gifted sight by strangers. Afflicted with Fuchs Dystrophy, I was slowly going blind.

Things were worse than I imagined when I was referred to the specialist. I thought my vision was bad. I was legal!y blind - 20\300 in one eye, 20\400+ in the other. 

A few weeks later I was on an operating table and new corneas were transplanted into my eyes. 

Through the gift of organ donation I can see. 

I do not possess the vocabulary to adequately express my thanks someone signed the organ donation form. 

I urge you to consider donating your organs. You never know whose life you may save. Heck, you might just make life better for some schmuck in flyover country.

I see dumb people

 

Turn out the lights

 

Demons of Camerone Part II

 Elements of the Third Company First Battalion of The French foreign Legion were surrounded by Mexican Cavalry. More than 2,000 Mexicans faced less than 46 Legionaires posited behind the crumbling adobe walls of the Hacienda Camerone. Mexican snipers occupied the upper stories of the ruined buildings, while the determined Captain Danjou elicited a promise from his surviving troops that they would fight to the end. A running firefight had erupted at around 7:30 am. At 9:30 the embattled Legionaires refused to surrender.

Around 11:00 am Captain Danjou was hit by sniper fire while scurrying across the courtyard. He was rescued by two men, but died less than five minutes later. Shortly after, The Legionaires heard bugle calls and prayed it was a relief column or the convoy coming to the rescue. A sergeant in the Legion climbed to the stable roof. He reported that the Mexican Cavalry was being joined by approximately 1,000 infantry. Local guerrillas swelled the already impossible odds. Still the Third Company refused to surrender. The noon sun baked the interior of the hacienda. The remaining soldiers and the wounded alike began to suffer from thirst. The North Africa vetrans drank their own urine to fight dehydration. Ammunition began to run low. At 2:00 pm the second in command Lt. Villain was killed. The attackers threw smoldering bales of straw over the walls. Smoke, heat, thirst, fear and exhaustion preyed upon the defenders. Repeated assaults brought the Mexicans close enough to batter holes in the ramparts. Still the defenders held.

At 5:00 pm The Mexican Commander called upon the remaining Legionaires to surrender. Only twelve remained on their feet. They again refused. Colonel Milan harangued his Mexican soldiers on the subject of their national honor and launched a full assault on the hacienda. After a desperate hour-long fight the Mexicans controlled the entire compound except the stable. Lt. Maudet and and five unhurt survivors were all that remained. Their ammunition was all but gone, they were dying of hunger and thirst, but they remembered their promise to Captain Danjou. Throwing aside the barricades, these six brave men launched a bayonet charge against the massed Mexican infantry!

Maudet and two others were struck down in a hail of gunfire. The remaining three brave soldiers formed back to back, bayonets lowered. They were ready to kill and be killed. The awed Mexicans could only stare. Finally the three were convinced to surrender. Unable to believe there were only three survivors Mexican Colonel Milan responded "Pero, non son hombres -- son demonios" (truly, these are not men -- they are demons).

The Mexicans treated the wounded. The three survivors and the 16 that were cut off in the earlier retreat to Camerone were later exchanged. Estimates are that the Legionaires inflicted more than 300 casualties. The half company had fought at more than one hundred to one odds for almost 10 hours.

Later, the wooden hand of Danjou was found amid the ruble of the buildings at Camerone. Every year the hand, in a little glass coffin, is paraded to the First Battalion of the French Foreign Legion as a reminder of their heritage and the standards they should attain. April 30 remains a holiday for the Legion.

Have you perviously heard of the Demons of Camerone?

The last two posts are reruns from 2005. Compare to the crap I publish these days. 

I need to get some mojo back.