Back from hiatus

The Queen Of The World and I rode the motorcycle to Morgantown, WV for Mountainfest over the weekend.  I haven't found a decent app for blogging from the iPhone, and so it was a bit quiet here while we were gone.  Thanks to co-bloggers Brigid and ASM826 for putting up some posts.

But it was nice to unplug from the 'net for a bit.  And the ride is nothing if not scenic and since we somehow lucked out and missed the rain on the way over and back, it was a nice ride.  Alabama put on a really good concert there (pix to come later).

But now back to the grind.

Road trip

Last week was a road trip with the Queen Of The World.  It was a long drive there, and another long drive back.  What was nice is that the QotW is really good company on a long drive.  It was very nice indeed to not be alone on the trip - and even better, to have a help mate with me.

But dang, it took a long time.

But it was fun when we were at our destination.  The QotW helped a friend who was trying to get ready for a Kentucky Derby party.  The QotW is really good at parties; we head out for a different Derby party later this month, and her outfit (and mine) are perfect.  She took a $20 hat and a $20 scarf and made something simply beautiful and entirely unique.  Last week, she was helping a girlfriend to the same.  It was fun to watch.

It's been a long, unexpected journey the past two or three years, but it sure is nice to be on this journey with her.  Whether it's in the car as the miles of under the wheels or putting up a pergola on the deck.

Suzy Bogguss - Drive South

The Queen of the World has been back in the ATL on business, and so Wolfgang and I are loading up the Jeep and pointing the tires south.  There's a Country music song for that, one that captures the whole sublime gestalt of "absence makes the heart fonder".

Suzy Bogguss took John Hiatt's song and drove it to number 2 on the charts.  It was her biggest hit, back in 1992.



Drive South (Songwriter: John Hiatt):

I didn't say we wouldn't hurt anymore
That's how you learn, you just get burned
But we don't have to feel like dirt anymore
Though love's not earned, Baby it's our turn
We were always looking for true north
With our heads in the clouds, just a little off course
I left the motor running, now if you're feeling down and out

Come on Baby drive south, with the one you love
Come on Baby drive south, with the one you love

I'm not talkin' 'bout retreatin' little girl
Gonna take our stand, in this Chevy van
Windows open on the rest of the world
Holdin' hands, all the way to Dixieland
We've been tryin' to turn our lives around
Since we were little kids, it's been wearin' us down
Don't turn away now Darlin' lets fire it up and wind it out

Come on Baby drive south, with the one you love
Come on Baby drive south, with the one you love

I heard your mama callin', I think she was just stallin'

Don't know who she was talkin' to, baby me and you
We could go down with a smile on, don't bother to pack your nylons
Just keep them pretty legs showin', it gets hot down where we're goin'
We were always looking for true north
With our heads in the clouds, just a little off course
I left the motor running, now if you're feeling down and outCome on baby drive, come on baby drive south, come on baby drive south

Come on Baby drive south, with the one you love
Come on Baby drive south, with the one you love

Back in a while

I'm off for an extended trip, one where Internet access is either not available or not desirable. I plan on being back next Tuesday, so feel free to put your feet up on the coffee table and scratch where it itches.

There will be a big announcement when I get back.  It's good news, so watch this space.

Traffic jam

I am headed up to visit with ASM826, and so the wheels will be rolling over pavement.  It will be good to see him, even though this is a terrible reason to see him.

But long distance driving.  We shall see what the traffic is like.  A condolence will be that traffic jams have been with us for 2,000 years.

Rolling

The Queen Of The World and I are heading out for the weekend to see family.  I've always liked long distance driving, but it's extra nice with a co-pilot.

Fish for dinner

Seen on vacation.  The heron was like a statue, then lightening fast.

Huh

Vacation was pretty fun, looking at the pictures.

Who'd a thunk it?

Jimmy Buffett - Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On

Sapias, vina liques et spatio brevi
spem longam reseces. dum loquimur, fugerit invida
aetas: carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero.

Be wise, be truthful, strain the wine, and scale back your long hopes
to a short period. While we speak, envious time will have already fled:
seize the day, trusting as little as possible in the next day. 

- Horace, Odes

Life is not what you plan, it's what you live.  Two weeks ago I rode off on a motorcycle adventure, one where the plans did not include a stay in the Intensive Care Unit.  The ancients knew what a fickle goddess Fortuna was, and how to mentally prepare for a fickle world.
Yesterday is a memory, tomorrow is a dream; our world is now. 
Carpe diem, seize the day.  Even now envious time has fled.

As someone who has spent much of my time on this good Earth living in either the past or the future, this has been a subject of much meditation  lately.  I've wondered if I've watched two thirds of my life pass by without actually living it.  Life, and love, and family - all make life worth living.  All can change in the blink of an eye.

Seize the day.  Life is now.



Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On (Songwriters: Jimmy Buffett, Matt Betton)

I bought a cheap watch from a crazy man
Floating down canal
It doesn't use numbers or moving hands
It always just says now
Now you may be thinking that I was had
But this watch is never wrong
And If I have trouble the warranty said
Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On

And it rained, It was nothing really new
And it blew, we've seen all that before
And it poured, the Earth began to strain
Pontchartrain leaking through the door, tides at war

If a hurricane doesn't leave you dead
It will make you strong
Don't try to explain it just nod your head
Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On

And it rained, It was nothing really new
And it blew, seen all that before
And it poured, the Earth began to strain
Pontchartrain buried the 9th Ward to the 2nd floor

According to my watch the time is now
Past is dead and gone
Don't try to shake it just nod your head
Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On

Don't try to shake it just bow your head
Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On

The hush before the roar

Of the engines, that is.

Not too much more that I want to add to this thing now.  That may change after 300 miles each way, but 7 months and almost 2,000 miles have let me make this bike to be much closer to what I want.  Go team me!

Oh, foo

The weather for tomorrow's motorcycle trip from the ATL to Panama City Beach looks spectacular:

Rain, all day, all the way.  Sweet.

Things I did not know

Downtown Rome, Georgia looks like it could be a set for Mayberry R.F.D.  Think I need to go back for a closer look sometime.

That snorting sound that you just heard is MSgt B, who needs to get him one (or more) of these patches.

Road trip!

I'm off to a classified, off-site, undisclosed location to rendezvous with ASM826, Sean Sorrentino, and Old NFO (among others).  Details are, well, classified, but rumor has is that rounds will be send down range.

#2 Son is accompanying me, along with the obligatory plush children's toy to sacrifice to the blogshoot Ghods.  More anon.  As long as I can navigate South Carolina and its idiotic no-CCW-reciprocity-with-Georgia nonsense, things will be fine.

In the mean time, I have posts scheduled.  Nice to take guns to a blogshoot, I have to say.

I simulate an infantryman

Ft. Benning is the location of Army infantry basic training, and also hosts the National Infantry Museum.  The intersection of these means that the museum has some seriously cool simulators:

The EST 2000 is an M4/16 electronic simulator used by recruits before they go to the live fire range.  It provides a very realistic rifle, with removable magazine, charging handles, select fire (Safe/Semi/"Get you some of that") with a projected display of a firing range.  Targets appear, and some of them move.  Laser designators score hits and misses.  You have to score 10 out of 20 to qualify as an infantryman.

Well, I qualified.  Barely.  #2 Son (of course) handily beat be.  He's almost 16 - they wanted his phone number for the recruiter.

I'd talk about how my mistake was bracing the M4 on a sand bag, and that what I gained in stability I lost in target acquisition time.  But I can already hear you giggling, so I'll just move along ...

There are even cooler simulators:

Assemble your team for a HMMWV mission.  Yeah, baby!  Sadly, one of the compressors went out, and we'll have to go back.  But think about that for a minute - you use a compressor to make something move via air pressure.  Something like a HMMVW.  Feedback!

The rest of the museum is nothing short of spectacular.  The exhibits are a great mix of artifacts (Saddam's double barrel Buffalo rifle!), interactive touch screen displays, videos, and immerse experiences - the Vietnam night patrol is a little hair raising.

The best part: it's free.  Donations are encouraged.  (You pay for the simulators)

It's 2 hours from Atlanta.  We'll be back, maybe with #1 Son.  There's a Blackhawk simulation mission I hear calling.

Plus, there are mil-surp stores everywhere.  I came back with one of these:

"Anything worth shooting is worth shooting a second time."  "Active ingredient: lead.  Typical side effects: death."

It was a good day.

Field Trip

I'm taking #2 Son to the National Infantry Museum at Ft. Benning.  It's getting back in the car after the trip from Texas, but it's good time together for just the two of us.

Back later.

Home

#1 Son and I are now safely back inside the Chez Borepatch secure perimeter.

13 hours from North Carolina was a long haul. We managed to time it to miss the New York City rush hour, but landed bang in the middle of the Stamford, CT rush hour.

But it's always a good trip when you're going home.

#1 Son drives the Garden State Parkway

All growed up and handling the big city traffic. Doing pretty nicely, too.

We're making good time because we can trade off driving. Looks like we'll be just past New York before rush hour, and home for dinner. Yay, #1 Son!

Posted from my iPhone, which is a pretty crummy blogging platform. Anyone out there blog from Droid?

Bang!

Boy, that was fun. A huge, huge thank you to ASM826 and sometimes commenter Dan in NC for hosting us at an undisclosed, secure range somewhere north of Atlanta and south of Boston. Pictures tomorrow, but let me just say that there are few ways I can think of to unwind after a long day's driving than making loud noises while you punch holes in targets.

Or break sporting clays. #1 Son seems to have a knack for breaking them, at least with a sweet, sweet Auto-5 shotgun. In my case, there were precious few that actually, you know, broke. Oh, bother.

Forced March

We're hitting the road as this post goes up, rolling out from Atlanta headed for a rifle range in North Carolina. It'll be a long day, but ASM826 is hosting us for some shooty goodness at the end of the day.

It's been quite fun to have this much time with #1 Son. If he drives as much as expect he will today, I'll try some highwayblogging to go with some scheduled posts.

We're not in Kansas Massachusetts anymore, Toto

Boy, there are a lot of anti-Obama billboards here. Plus Gander Mountain. And no snowplows to be seen.

12 hours from Baltimore, via the Shenandoah valley. I'd never gone that way, and all I can say is that it sure is prettier than the spaghetti junction that is the Washington D.C. beltway in Springfield.

#1 Son drove a lot. Getting all growed up, that one is.