some things really are better

i have some friends that are always bitching about how things are more dicked up now than when we were younger. blah blah blah.
well, today i realized that at least SOME things are better now than then. i'll provide one example, and let you, dear readers, provide your own examples in the comments
i was putting on my work boots at the beginning of shift, and noted that the boot laces were still looking new. now this isn't a really big deal, but i can remember my laces having at least one repair knot in them by the third or fourth month of wearing them. hell, i've got a pair of workout sneakers that have the same laces that came with the shoes, and they are at least 4 years old.
minor, i know, but it was something i noticed.

coming home from sea

a fellow bubblehead blogger nereus started blogging again, saying he's been gone a while.
that started me thinking about the days when my hairline was lower, and by waistline smaller. you know, back in the day.
i sailed aboard a rustbucket submarine, the good old pierwolf SSN-575. pierwolf because she ALWAYS found a way to delay getting underway, unable to let go of the relative comfort and safety of a shipyard homeport pier. but get underway we did. we were a spook boat, so typical westpacs were not in our op-ord. but when we got underway, it was like being on a boomer without the stand down period upon return to port. 3 or 4 months away meant AWAY, no port visits, no liberty, no exploring foreign culture at Suzi's Bar and Brothel. underway meant weapons load, dive, surface, weapons offload, sail up the channel, and tie up to the pier.
there were no internet hookups, long emails back and forth, no checking up on the news of the day. the radio shack would copy sked, and if you were lucky, they'd print up a news download that was skimpy at best. of course, this lead to one of the great at-sea pranks i've seen, where one of the wardroom heroes lorded over everyone how his football team was creaming, incinerating their opponents, only to find the team hadn't won a game all season.
before i left for sea, i'd tell my friends (and eventually my now ex-wife) to save all the Time and Newsweek magazines for me. i swore i'd read them all cover to cover to get back up to speed on what was happening out there while i was gone.
of course, upon return to port, there was always too damned much to do, both on the boat and at home to really sit down and get versed on what had transpired while i was gone.
there are huge chunks of time still that simply didn't occur as far as i'm concerned. really earth shaking events, yeah, i got those. if only by the echos and ripples the news shockwaves set up and still traveling through the news. but more mundane things? nada, zip, zero.
and you know, in this modern day of info overload and 24 hour news cycles on cable tv, i was probably better off then than now. too much info, taking up too much of my time.
and those magazines? i usually flipped through them, reading the cartoons, scanning the headlines, and then tossing them. damned little of real import ever seemed to happen when time acted as a buffer from the info stream. overheated rhetoric cooled to mostly boring babble with a little time to filter out the junk.

so anyway, welcome home nereus, hope you get a few days off to sit in the tub soaking in Mister Bubble (one of my favorite "get rid of the boat stink" activities) and getting reacquainted with the really important people in your life.

editor's note seems i may have chapped a little hide on an ex-pierwolfer... well, the wolf was a good boat, and we did things that nobody had done before. but the best thing i can say about her was that the number surfaces equaled the number of dives, and she always got us home

shiny

shiny
Originally uploaded by bothenook

148 grain hollowback wadcutters, 38 special. 3.2 grains Winchester 231 powder over WSP primers.
25 yards shot 3 to 4 inch groups on both my 357's.
going to need some more work, obviously.

checking me out

checking me out
Originally uploaded by bothenook

saw this flock heading home from the range. the dog was checking me out, making sure i wasn't a threat.

thru the spotting scope

thru the spotting scope
Originally uploaded by bothenook

it's a bitch focusing thru a scope without using a tripod to hold the camera steady.
this is a 50 yard target,and the square is 1 inch to the side

scoped2

scoped2
Originally uploaded by bothenook

THIS was a whole lot more fun than going shopping during the Thanksgiving weekend feeding frenzy at the malls.

25 yard range

25 yard range
Originally uploaded by bothenook

i spent an enjoyable saturday at the range. i drove by the outlets on the way to the range, and was glad i wasn't in the middle of that mess.

i know mah rahts. mah wifez gunna kick yer ass

click, watch, laugh. repeat... Steve's Riding Mower

a couple more submariners

i've been damned lax in keeping up with the bubbleheads cropping up here and there. here are a couple of gents that are posting that i've either found reading comments on other bubblehead blogs, or to my own entries.
one and all, greet Jay, of Sleepy Eyed Whiners of the Deep. it's ok that he was a boomer sailor. as long as he posts an occasional NTINS story, we'll let him in the club.

and a sailor howdy to rick of rickywo. an active duty CWO skimmer puke that started life as an enlisted bubblehead. greetings to you amigo. so which warfare pin rides above the pocket?

alaskan totem

i was following back some site visitors, to see what they have come to read, and found that i'd promised to post a stitched version of a great totem pole we saw in alaska. i'd posted it in this entry.
so, here's a link to the image. click on the picture to go to the flickr page, and select whatever size you want. the largest size is pretty damned big, but the detail is amazing. i'm kind of proud of the stitching job i did. still don't have it printed out on a big assed piece of paper and framed yet but i think the time is coming soon.

veteran's day

American cemetery in France
image borrowed from Ali Thinks

In Flanders Fields
By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army

IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

poem copied from the Arlington National Cemetery website.

to all veterans that made the ultimate sacrifice, I hope that we as a people will continue to honor your memory.

very cool high speed photography of bullets

check out the video. i really like the egg. bloosh

video

ahh, humor

rosiewallpaper
Originally uploaded by bothenook

someone has a great sense of humor. here's the latest of my ongoing and ever changing desktop wallpapers. hopefully i won't have to explain this picture.