Only in Noble-tucky

These pictures were taken yesterday (4/29/08) by the Hamilton County Sheriff's department in Noblesville, IN.
They were taken at the Speedway on SR 32 across from Riverview Hospital .

Washer and Dryer................ $950

Refrigerator............................ $750

Chest Freezer......................... $300

Air conditioner.......................$500

Edit - (Artemis is right, this needed changed)

Leaving your hick ass wife AND taking all of the appliances

Your wife kicks your hick ass out of the trailer and ‘showing her’ by taking ALL of the appliances......................... Priceless

What an Honor

A friend, PO1 Hansel, Darrel, Navy Expeditionary Logistics Support Group, has returned from Kuwait. He has been there for over 9 months.

Back here, I won this contest and had Sparrow send the care package to him. Over Christmas, his wife organized a couple large boxes of donations of Christmas decorations for them to use. His duty involved processing all (yes ALL) outbound (and inbound, I think) soldiers from Iraq or Afghanistan. During the holidays, all that passed through were treated to a very American Christmas, complete with decorations all over the offices, mess hall and sleeping quarters. He says it made many a soldier smile.

Darrel has been greatly missed by family and friends but especially his wife, my friend and co-worker, Debi. So much so that she drove to Bethesda to pick him up and bring him home.

My thoughts regarding a welcome home surprise for them surrounded her initial plan (so she had said before she left) was to hang out there for a few days, leisurely drive home spend some time in the mountains ‘sight seeing’... (yeah, right). Then be home Saturday. I was making plans to meet them on the road just outside of Indy and escort them home, set a bunch of flags around their home and welcome him home proper.

BUT NOOOooo!!! Once on US soil and processed out, the Hansel Express drove home like... like he hadn’t been home in 9 months. Something about a new grandbaby, (phft, whatever) I heard later. Anyway, they got home about 4 yesterday (Thursday) afternoon.

Best I could do was ride over and welcome him home personally. Not quite the honor he deserves, so we’ll have to see about something big at a later date.

After the hugs, ‘glad your back’, ‘you look great’, ‘great to be back’, ‘thanks for the care package’, etc., we got to talking about my vest and some of the patches on it. Across the top, on my back is a patch of a folded flag that says "IN MEMORIAM”, surrounding it are patches of some of the most meaningful rides, or events I have been on. All are in memory of a veteran that is no longer with us, one from Vietnam, one from Iraq, one for Greg Bowman.

*deep breath*

While there [in Kuwait], just before Christmas, they, the Navy Expeditionary Logistics Support Group, lost their only, every, war time fatality. PO1 Jeffries, Victor W., 52, Honolulu, HI.
PO1 Jeffries “...died of injuries suffered during a vehicular accident in Kuwait.”. The Support Group designed a patch for Victor.

So, we’re standing there talking and Darrel disappears, andI can here him mumbling something about a patch. I look around the corner and he is digging through a sea bag, he pulls out a patch and says as he hands it to me... *deep breath* “I was wondering on the way home what I was going to do with this. I can think of no better honor than to give it to you and for you wear it on your vest.”

Sweet baby Jesus, I’m still all teary.

Good God what an honor!!!
(as soon as I can get a scan, I'll post it)


Related:

IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 1445-07
December 31, 2007


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DoD Identifies Navy Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a sailor who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Petty Officer 1st Class Victor W. Jeffries, 52, of Honolulu, Hawaii, died Dec. 31, 2007 as a result of injuries suffered Dec. 24 in a vehicular accident in Kuwait. He was permanently assigned to the Navy Expeditionary Logistics Support Group, Kuwait.

For further information related to this release, contact Navy Public Affairs at 011 (965) 389-6335 or DSN (318) 430-6335.

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Petty Officer 1st Class Victor W. Jeffries' awards include;

The Navy Reserve Meritorious Service Medal,
National Defense Service Medal with bronze service star,
Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal,
Global War on Terrorism Service Medal,
Armed Forces Reserve Service Medal with mobilization device and bronze hourglass,
Navy Unit Commendation Medal, Navy Sea Service Deployment Ribbon,
The Army Achievement Medal and
The Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal.

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(If you read nothing else, read this first one)
Unites States Army Central - Coalition Forces Land Component Command
Faces of The Fallen - Wahsington Post
Honolulu Advertiser

Ink

Some things in my life have changed me;

The Patriot Guard

September 11th, 2001

My brother going to Iraq

My son joining the Marines and his graduation

The many funerals I have been too

The sum of these parts or experiences (plus many others and a little smart ass) gets you me. For a couple years now, I've been thinking of how one can express those ideals, beliefs and convections symbolically. Photos, songs, art, etc., etc.

When I went to San Diego for my sons graduation from MCRD (Marine Corp Recruit Depot) I bought a patch. I wear it on my vest with one of his last name badges. Here is a scan. Nice enough, it is my son and a link to a very important memory. But it is not me, it IS a part of me.

September 11th changed so many people... there were days after that I wanted to drive to NYC to help... to do anything. I remember thinking, "I can carry buckets of rubble; let the fire fighters fight fires or rest." I felt helpless, I so wanted to do something. I ended up 'not letting them win'. Within a couple weeks of 9-11 I was flying for business. I was not going to stop doing the things they wanted to scare us into stopping. AND, I swore I'd never forget. I've been to NYC three times since then. Every time, I go to ground zero. Every time, I will.

When my brother announced he had re-joined the Marines/Navy so he could go to Iraq, I was prepared. The rest of the family was shell shocked. I would have been too, but he and I had discussed it in great detail a few months prior. I remember a couple things very distinctly:
1 - before he left, he told me that hardest thing he was doing to get ready wasn’t the physical training, (he was 38 at the time) or the 80 pound pack or the additional 40 pounds he got because he was a medic... it was having to write 'good-by letters' to me, my kids, our parents, his friends... That statement brought it all into a shocking reality.
2 - going a few days without talking to him drove me nuts. See here for more.

Funerals. 3 years ago, when co-workers lost a family member, I did not go to the viewings and defiantly did not go to the actual service. I did not handle funerals well. Now... I've been to many. The solemn words, the final good-byes, family members 'thanking' me...for being there. I go there to thank them, to support them.
The most moving part of any military funeral is the 21 gun salute; the shells are retrieved and tucked in to the folded flag that was on their loved ones casket then the flag is presented to the wife or mother.

A patriot. I have always been proud of my country and my flag. I always stand at a parade. I LOVE this country. I couldn't join the service with my son, or go fight with my brother. I didn't go make a difference in NYC but I can stand and honor the families of the fallen. I AM a Patriot Guard Rider. I ride to protect the families from the nut jobs... 'nough said 'bout that.

So, you ask, what does all of this lead up to, what does it mean? Like I said, I've been thinking about this for a couple years. Saturday, I pulled it all together.

Crossed flags from an MCRD patch
An American flag
A PGR flag
An American bald eagle
Hands passing and hands receiving a folded flag
and
"I WILL NOT FORGET"

Almost eight hours later, this is what I had...

Picture of the Day

I almost always hit a few POD sites each morning. This one (Astronomy Picture of the Day) I even go back and look at the weekend photos that I may have missed.

This picture is.... AMAZING!!! It is my new wallpaper. It was posted lst weekend.

The resolution is huge!! You can see so much. In the left third you can see a thunder head forming. They reach up to 50,000 feet above sea level.

Absolutely amazing!!

F'd Up my Whole Weekend

Riding in the car this weekend with this same person, I honked at a taxi-cab. We were in a parking lot and the cabbie was not looking at the road. He was obviously looking around because someone had called a cab, he was looking for his fair. So, to more or less wake him up and let him know he needs to pay attention, I honked.

He turned around and mouthed something and I think he even flipped me off. My buddy says “Ya know, some day somebody is going to hall off and take you out.”

Literally in the very next breath, I hear “Want to go look at guns?”

The mean spirited tone in the first statement mixed with the sarcasm in the second kinda freaked me out. And pissed me off.

I think I had my life threatened...

Am I being over sensitive?

That's Some Funny Shit Right There

There are only two kinds of people that understand Marines: Marines and the enemy. Everyone else has a second-hand opinion. - Gen. William Thornson, U.S. Army

Clicky this linky.

Vote for Carolyn, Please

Carolyn Maupin (Matt Maupin’s mother) is in the running for mother of the year. If you don’t know who the Maupin’s are, Google them.

Go here to vote, yeah, you have to register but to me, for a Gold Star Mom that had to go years without knowing... a little spam (if they sell my e-mail) is worth it.

Thanks for your help.

DNR

A Long Ride

The guys were all heading to a cross country riders rally. They had to bunk two to a room on the road and at the rally. No one wanted to room with DNR because he snored like a pissed off grizzly bear. They decided it wasn't fair to make one of them stay with him the whole time, so they voted to take turns.

The first guy to sleep in a room with DNR comes to breakfast the next morning with his hair a mess and his eyes all bloodshot. Hoss said, "Man, what in THE hell happened to you?" The guy answers, "DNR snored so loudly, I just sat up and watched him all night."

The next night it was a different guy's turn. In the morning, same thing -- hair all standing up, eyes all blood-shot. They said, "Man, what happened to you? You look awful!" He said, "Man, that DNR shakes the fucking roof. I just sat up and watched him all night."

The third night was DC's turn. DC was ex Army and over 6’ tall; a man's man. The next morning he came to breakfast bright eyed and bushy tailed. "Good morning," he said.

No one could believe it! They all asked, "Man, what happened?" DC said, "Well, we got ready for bed and I went and tucked DNR into bed and kissed him good night with a wink. He sat up and watched me all night!”

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OK - Now, I’m not saying this happened, but I’ve been threatened. Notice I did not change the names. No one here is innocent.

I Love Karma

Background -
Albert Snyder, father of Marine Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, sued the WBC and was awarded $5 million dollars after their protest at his son’s funeral.

The WBC is the group that forced the formation of the Patriot Guard Riders (PGR). They travel around the country protesting at the funerals of service members that have been killed in the War on Terror. It is said that they fund there travel by suing anyone that physically strikes out at them.

Thus we (The PGR) are a shield for the family. We do not confront, we stand, with our backs to them, shoulder to shoulder, with 3x4 flags and if required will start motorcycles to drown them out.

The story -
I love this line, “A federal judge in Baltimore ordered Westboro Baptist Church members to post their church building and nearly $500,000 more in cash and property while appealing a judgment for protesting a Marine’s funeral.”

You can read the rest of the story here.

Somebody Just Shot Me!!!

Kaizen Event... Kaizen (改善, Japanese for "change for the better" or "improvement"; the common English usage is "continuous improvement"). In the context of this article, kaizen refers to a workplace "quality" strategy and is often associated with the Toyota Production System and related to various quality-control systems, including methods of W. Edwards Deming. (see Wikipedia)

Basically I just spent 3 days in a meeting. Talking about a process and deciding what to do to make it better.

Now, this is a great concept but working the process is... challenging. You can only talk about a topic for so long before it becomes a dead horse.

My brain is dead.

The ‘best’ part was that my boss was there, the Executive VP of engineering, the Director of new products engineering, another EVP of something or other and 4 oher managers. Think there were some opinions of how things ‘should’ work?? Fuck yeah!!

12 people in a conference room for 3 days yielded 18 opinions.

Good God my head hurts.

It is nearly 50 here today and I rode in... highway here I come.

PS: tanie, thanks for checking on me.