Category: Life

On this Veteran’s Day, I’m recalling my dad’s service in the Army Air Corp from about 1942 to 1945.  He was trained as a tail gunner in a B-17.  He spent some time in the Philippines after they were occupied by U.S. forces, but never saw any action.  Had it not been for the surrender of Japan after the atomic bombs, he may have been part of the invasion of Japan, and it’s possible that I might not be writing this today.

I never served in the military.  I was just turning 18 when they closed down the draft board offices in 1975, so I never even had to register.  I’ve gotten to know quite a few vets, though, and have often wondered how my life might be different had I given a few years of my life to military service.  What kinds of things would I have learned or experienced?  It’s an impossible question to answer.  The men and women I’ve talked with had such a variety of experiences, both very good and sometimes extremely bad.  It can go either way.

I was a little too young to understand or be aware of the way that Vietnam vets were treated when they returned home in the 60’s and 70’s.  In the past decade especially, I’ve seen each and every man and woman who has served in any capacity has been honored by so many.  From the uniformed I’ve seen in airports to older retired vets, I’m just one of so many who take the time to say, “Thank you.”  And of course, that’s the way I believe it should be.

Endless popups.  False virus alerts.  Yes, that’s right, some malware got into our desktop at home.  How?  I’m not sure.  We’ve got enough antivirus and antispyware stuff to keep everyone but the nerdiest hackers out.  This one was tough.  I had to get on my laptop, research how to get rid of it, then download software to do it, burn a CD, run it and disinfect the desktop.

Frustration.  Aggravation.  Anger.  The blame game.  Plenty of emotional response to the whole episode.  I wonder if someone, somewhere, is getting some joy out of knowing that they’ve caused someone to waste part of their day trying to recover their computer.  Why would someone even bother to develop “malware” anyway?

Is there always someone trying to screw with your life (or your computer) in some way?  I guess the answer is yes.  I’m not going to get all theological, but I guess that is the problem after all.  Someone’s constantly hacking your life.  Hope you backed up sometime recently.

After years of borrowing my neighbor’s power washer, I finally got one of my own.  I had to.  His hasn’t been working and my driveway was getting mildew-y.

I got a medium-duty model at Home Depot, got it together and running without any problem, and a few hours and a bottle of bleach later, my driveway and front sidewalk are looking pretty nice.  Next time I have a half-day free, I need to tackle the soffits around the house.  They’ve been dirty for a while, too.

My wife called it my new toy.  I don’t consider it a toy, since I have to use it for work, but I do get a certain pleasure out of cranking up a small engine and powering stubborn dirt into oblivion.  Growing up, we never powerwashed anything.  Now you powerwash everything.  I don’t even know if they had powerwashers back then.  The oil stain under dad’s car was a permanent part of the driveway.  Everyone had one.  I guess everyone leaked some oil back then.  It was no big deal.

The biggest surprise was when I turned it off and the engine backfired a few times.  It made the dogs across the street start barking.  It ran OK other than that, so I’m not sure what’s wrong.  Faulty spark plug?  Maybe.  Anyway, it looks good sitting in the garage.

We just got back from the hospital in St. Augustine, visiting Jessica and her new baby daughter, Riley.  Mark, the dad, was out to dinner with his family, so we didn’t get to see them.  But we did see Riley, and she is pretty cute for all of two days old.

Newborns bring back memories of watching my own children being born.  I clearly remember two of the doctors saying, “If you’ve got a camera, it’s time to start taking pictures!”  And I did.  The old fashioned way, with film.  Got them developed and took them to church with me to show everyone.  Found out not everyone wants to see all the gory details.

Mark and Jess are young.  At least they seem very young.  23 and 21.  Let’s see, I was 28 when my first, Adam was born.  Lisa was 24.  We weren’t so old, either.  Somehow we figured out what to do.  I guess all parents do.

Babies are cool.  There’s no two ways about it.  You just have to like the little ones.  I’m looking forward to a baptism in the near future!