In 1961 I had a part time job at the Block Arena on the base at Pearl Harbor. Pretty simple job...after sporting events were over and all the sailors had left the arena, my best buddy Bobby (his dad got us the gig) and I would pick up the empty beer cans and put them into the empty cardboard cases. Now, if you are too young to remember or know this, beer cans in the early 60's were still made of steel and the cases were heavy cardboard, not the flimsy stuff our aluminum cans come in nowada...

For most of his career, the Chief was a deep sea diver. His rate changed names over the years, sometimes he was a Shipfitter, or Hull Tech, or Metal Smith, or whatever...he was a multi-talented welder who could do it all in 200 feet of cold water wearing more than his body weight in diving suit and equipment. He was also very up to date on all manner of metals, melting points, gases, atmospheres, etc. I know because every year come testing time, I was his home study buddy. One of our s...

It was a rainy, chilly, miserable night out and the Chief was sitting it out in a waterfront bar with some shipmates. One of his buddies glanced out the window and noticed an old man across the street at the bus stop. He was bent and pale and thin and worn out looking, hunched up in a thin coat against the weather. They all agreed it was not a night to be out so they elected the Chief to go over and coax to old fellow into the warmth of the bar. It took some persuasion and the offer of ...

Life Happens got me twisted about what is and isn't a hero the other day. In my mind, "Hero" has always been defined by one person...a gold standard against which all others are measured...my dad. So I have decided to tell his story, in bits and pieces...and share with you some of the fun he shared with me. I may even share some of the other stuff, too. One of the Chief's greatest adventures was "wintering over" in Antarctica in the early 50's. As winter approaches down there, all the...

The hit show "24" got a little contraversial last week, or more acurately, was the target of some contraversy. Seems some American Muslims were miffed that a show about stopping terrorist plots portrayed muslims in a bad light. Or something like that. I understand that the show wouldn't pack the same punch if the bad guys were...say...Tahitian or Swiss. The problem is that this show has become the ultimate "get even" fantasy for alot of people and no one wants to get even with the Swiss. ...

I must have been about 6 or 7 when my folks took me to the walk in theater in Norfolk to see "The Day the Earth Stood Still". I remember that night not only for the impact the movie made on me...but also for the impact my dad had with the sign in front of the hospital that said "Quiet, Hospital Zone". That impact became a legend in our family's history. He challenged me to a foot race up the sidewalk to our apartment house. I immediately took off in my best post toddler run, but I was no...

One of the few stories I have shared with my kids about Vietnam, a request from the Hyperborean Wanderer. As I was settling into my new digs, one of the old guys came up to me and gave me a spent .50 cal bullet. He told me it was his >lucky bullet given him by an old timer when he was a FNG. No one who had carried that bullet around had been wounded. I felt>like that was a pretty good deal. Within a few days he rotated back the the land of the big PX and I developed the habit of carryi...

Several years ago a community back east earned some headlines by holding a vote so citizens could give their bridge a new name. The voters elected to name their bridge "BOB". This generated some dicussion locally about names and nicknames. Shortly after that, a mountain community in our fair state chose to name their bridge, too. They named it the "James Brown Soul Center of the Universe Bridge". This inspirerd two local morning DJs on the classic rock station to lament the fact that our ...

I CALLED IT STONEY END FOR A COUPLE OF REASONS. FIRST, IT IS A PLACE. IT IS WHERE THIS ROLLING STONE SETTLED TO START GATHERING MOSS. IT IS ALSO A CONDITION...MOSS GATHERER. IT IS A HARD PLACE AND A HARD REALITY TO KNOW THE WANDERING IS OVER. NO LONGER BEING A CARD CARRYING MEMBER OF THE ASSOCIATION OF WANDERING SOULS CERTAINLY HAS IT'S DOWN SIDE. BUT IT DOES HAVE SOME PERKS, TOO. I SLEEP IN A WARM BED EVERY NIGHT AND I HAVEN'T EATEN OUT OF A BROWN PLASTIC BAG IN MANY MOONS. BUT THEN A...

JUST MY VIEW FROM THIS END...MAYBE YOU'LL FIND SOMETHING TO AGREE WITH...SEE YA SOON.