A Quote That Got Me Thinking….

From Forbes Magazine…

“No man deserves to be praised for his goodness unless he has strength of character to be wicked. All other goodness is generally nothing but indolence or impotence of will.”

Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Is Evil necessary for Good to be recognized?

Challenge Coin Update

Ladies and Gentlemen please, turn your attention to me:

A Challenge Coin Update

Final Update: Then there were none. All gone now. Thanks everyone. That didn’t take as long as expected.

Updated July 19, 2016

Only about 8 left after setting aside those requested but not yet delivered.

Updated June 10, 2016:

We have about 15 left. Get’em while you can. Daryle will be traveling to Vegas from the 16th – 21st. So hurry or wait!

I haven’t been keeping careful track of the number of outgoing coins, but if my monkey math counting skills are working there appear to be about 130 or so left. (See above)

A number of you who responded to the thread we used to get a count for the order haven’t actually ordered yet. I don’t want you to miss out before they are gone.

As a reminder:

Dorothy Olson has kindly agreed to collect names and addresses and to compile mailing labels. I’ve been to the USPS to confirm that the envelopes I have will work and to figure out the postage. Dorothy’s coin is in the mail to test it out.

Costs: $6.00 per coin. Shipping is $2.55 for one coin and $.50 for each additional coin. This will work for packages up to 13 oz. which is 6 coins or so. Being a recovering accountant, I brushed off my rusty skill and worked out this handy table:

Number Price Postage Total
1 6.00 2.55 $ 8.55
2 12.00 3.05 $15.05
3 18.00 3.55 $21.55
4 24.00 4.05 $28.05
5 30.00 4.55 $34.55
6 36.00 5.05 $41.05

If you wanted more than 6 we will have to either send two packages or I will have to work out the postage separately. It shouldn’t be a big deal.

Hopefully, you have a Pay Pal account. If so, send the appropriate amount to Daryle.LaMonica@Hotmail.com and please remember use “Send Money to Family or Friends” and don’t mention that it’s for a purchase or product. That way they won’t bang me for their fee.

Also, and this is important, send an email with your name and address to Dorothy Olson at dorothyolson3405@q.com

A Matter Of Time Before A Digital Pearl Harbor

Read this article in the WSJ today and the Admiral Rogers makes some good points.   Whenever war comes, there will be cyber attacks and the predominant thinking is that an enemy will try to destroy networks.

But what if a major goal of an enemy  is not to eliminate information, but distort information?

A Tribute To The Fallen – Building a WW2 Memorial in Phoenix

Just got this YouTube video in the email – what a story.

The Navy actually still had an extra gun barrel of the USS Arizona (BB-39) in a warehouse in Virginia – and an extra barrel of the USS Missouri (BB-63). With a lot of effort and the donation of time and equipment of some Phoenix construction companies and heavy haulers, they are setting  up a memorial in Phoenix – bookends to the Pacific Theater of WW2.

This Is Halloween

Wow.

Take a look at what Kevin Judd of Riverside CA has done with his house for Halloween. Video is towards the bottom.

Music is from the movie Nightmare Before Christmas. 

Life Event

I haven’t been here in awhile lately and I should not be that way. Today’s announcement is part of that journey of life. I finally had to call it being a Crew Chief in the 416 AMU.

Among The Joshua Trees

Life event/Milestone.

It’s official.
I am a Tool Room Attendant.
No more flight line or jets for me.
The foot issues enabled me to obtain a reasonable accomodation to get off the line.
For the record:
ACC on 83-1120, 80-3666, 80-0584 and 88-0445. DCC for a time on 88-0456.
It was a good run. Father Time finally let me know that it was time to do something else not as strenuous, as well did my doctor..
The main bragging point: Oldest Crew Chief on the Line at Red Flag 12-2 at the age of 57!

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Challenge Coin Update

With the first batch out the door I’ve noticed that there were several requests from people who did not post in the original thread we put up to gauge interest and size the order. We ordered about 70 extra. Now, we probably won’t run out, but to be safe, if you did post in that original thread you should get your email address to     ASAP. I’ll be putting together packages for shipping as they come in, so even if you haven’t paid or your check is in the mail, your coins will be set aside.

With screen names from the blog (God I hate that word) and Facebook differing from names on Pay Pal I can’t always match them up so I can’t always tell if an order came from someone who didn’t respond earlier.

Interesting Neighbor

I have waved to Jerry for years – was surprised to learn he is 90 years old – doesn’t look or act like it.

His daughter’s old BMW was on the street and someone hit it during the night – left with no note.

So I had to tell him about the 10% Rule, as taught to me by a Marine LT 43 years ago at the Oakland Reception Station. Now I’ll have you know that the LT wasn’t directing this at me but at our motley civilian group as a whole.

For those of you unaware of the 10% Rule it is simple. For any given population sample, 10% will fark it up for the other 90%. 

And in the intervening years, in my informal observations it seems to be a constant.

So anyway, upon hearing about the 10% rule as told to me by the Marine LT Jerry asked me if I was in the Corps.

Had to tell him no, Army,  but at the height of Vietnam draftees would count off by 2’s – half for the Marines; half for the Army. I guess that is why the LT was there.

Jerry said he was in the Corps during the close of WW2, and what a story he had.

His unit was deployed to Okinawa, but at the last minute he was assigned sea duty on the Missouri.

He was part of the honor guard and 40′ from MacArthur and Wainwright and the Japanese delegates during the surrender ceremony.

 He also  learned that his CO from his old unit, all of 27 years old with a wife and child and considered the “old man” as is known in combat units, was killed by friendly fire from the Missouri during the invasion.