Newsweek has an article about the unit my nephew serves with in Iraq. Words can’t even begin to describe how proud I am of this kid. I have been in awe of him for most of his life. He exemplifies courage. He doesn’t brag, he isn’t a loudmouth, he doesn’t bully anyone, and he is the least threatening looking person you’ll ever meet. But God help you if you’re stupid enough to pose a real threat to the men he serves with.

That’s the sound of the Yankmees slowly but surely catching up to the Red Sox. Incredibly the Sox are still the only team in baseball with a .600+ record. Just goes to show the parity in the league. But the Bronx Bozos are on a roll and the Sox can’t afford mistakes or mediocrity. You’d think after all these years of being a Boston sports fan I’d be used to the roller coaster. Still makes me queasy, though.   😐

For a couple of weeks, anyway. My two online summer courses finished up this past Friday. Wish I could say they were worth it, but considering the cost, I think I got short-changed. I’m hoping the classroom course I start in a couple of weeks is more substantial, else I’ll be looking for another program.   😐

Haven’t been writing much here because I’ve been spending most of my time writing for the two courses I’m taking this summer at Eastern Illinois University. I’ve been out of school over 10 years, so it’s a bit of a struggle starting up again. The work isn’t hard by any means, but it is time consuming. What I wouldn’t give for a few days off. The “break” I get between the end of the summer courses and the start of the fall semester will be filled with getting my servers and computer lab in shape for our new students at UIUC and with a planned long weekend back in New England immediately before school starts. So much for a relaxing summer.  😐

I was driving home today and had to stop to let an airplane cross the road in front of me. I only had a cell phone camera, so excuse the poor pictures. It was hard to time the shot with the plane moving so fast and the lag time on the camera, so the first shot caught the plane with the trees in the background. No missing it on the second shot, though.

While everyone else is kicking back and enjoying the summer, I’m right in the middle of my busiest time. Summer is the only time I have access to the lab and classroom PCs. Plus it’s the time to weed out old student accounts and files and create new ones. Add to that my two college courses and things get a bit tight.

We’re redoing plans for trips this summer so I can spend more time here and less traveling. Not an easy choice, but it will give me more time to use later in the year when things aren’t so hectic (he said hopefully but perhaps foolishly).

Hitting the books again is taking some effort. It’s been 11 years since I’ve had to do homework. Neither course is particularly difficult, but they’re both time consuming. I’m hoping the payoff is worth the effort.

The Red Sox are somehow able to retain the best record in baseball despite their lackluster efforts lately. Luckily the other teams in the AL East are playing worse, although Toronto is showing signs of improvement. There have been a couple of pitching efforts in the past week which fit my earlier post about doing a job better than the pros. Kason Gabbard’s pitiful showing the other night comes to mind. I could easily walk batters, give up a hit, hit a batter, and be down 3 runs in the first inning. I could do it blindfolded with my non-throwing arm tied behind my back. Piece-o’-cake. And I’d save them some salary bucks to boot. 🙂

Nice weekend coming up. Time for a trip to St. Louis. Trader Joe’s is calling my name. 😎 So’s the lawn, unfortunately.

As if climbing into a semi-reliable spacecraft sitting atop a million pounds of explosive force and hurtling into space weren’t ballsy enough, this guy agreed to be attached to a huge robotic arm by his feet and be foisted out on his own toward the shuttle tail to repair a thermal blanket. And if he screws it up, well, you don’t get home. Talk about guts.

Mrs. Racoon and the younguns have moved in. Hope they’re quiet neighbors.

I’ve often watched “professionals” at work and thought, “I could do that at least as well.” And since some of these pros get paid big bucks, I could even do what they do more efficiently as well. In other words, I could attain the same level of mediocrity for less money. To wit:

1. Weatherman – I mean, I could easily be wrong 50% of the time. Piece-o’-cake. I wouldn’t even need all the fancy computer stuff. Just give me a 3×5 card painted sky blue with a hole in the center. I’ll walk outside, look up through the hole, and see if the colors match. If they do, hey, it’s going to be a nice day. If not, well…

2. Relief pitcher – I could easily throw four balls or lob a home run ball to end a game. I’d do it for half the money the lowest paid MLB pitcher gets and smile all the way to the bank. I know damn well I could throw a baseball from 20 feet in front of home plate to the first baseman close enough for him to catch it. Are you listening, Mike Timlin?

3. Copy editor – Ok, maybe this one is not so easy. I suppose you could really get burned out reading so much drivel. But I’ve seen one too many tpyos, grammatical errors what any kid would know, and, excess, commas, that slipped by folks whose careers revolve around getting it right on paper.

4. Traffic engineer – I can’t remember the last time I saw a properly timed series of traffic lights. Champaign is definitely in need of a good traffic guru. Neil St comes to mind. Indianapolis is another nightmare that needn’t be. Maybe cities are too cash strapped to afford traffic engineers. If so, my apologies to the profession.

5. Sporting event TV director – I was watching the Formula One race from Monaco (Monte Carlo) a few weeks ago and the French TV feed director kept missing important racing action to show the faces of the mechanics in the pit lane. I mean repeatedly. It would have been comical if he hadn’t missed so much on-track action. And then during a recent Red Sox/Yankmees game, we got to see a close up of Alex Rodriguez’s face over and over and over. Plus we got to hear about his antics through the entire show. Maybe A-Rodent owns a big piece of ESPN, who knows.

…I stepped off a bus in Ft. Knox, KY. I was a nervous, long-haired, pig-headed kid. It was the beginning of my true education. Boot camp tends to focus the mind and relieve one of the notion that the universe revolves around you. I had some hard times and some really good times during my 8 years of active duty. I was always on the verge of being broke, but always made it through somehow. I saw parts of the world I wouldn’t have otherwise seen and I saw the dark side of government in places like North Korea and East Germany. I learned how not to be the Ugly American by a little trial-and-error and by watching some folks who were truly gifted at being UAs. I learned that one really needs to be a good citizen of the world in order to be a good citizen of one’s own country. I met many people who were at once thrilled by, mistrusting of, and resentful of all things American. I learned that the vast majority of the world can separate Americans from America; the people from the government.

And all that education started with a drill sergeant screaming at me from an inch away just because I was a “cruit.” I can still vividly recall my drill sergeants’ faces because I was within inches of them so many times and had ample opportunity to study every detail. When a drill is screaming at you, you had better not avert your eyes.

One of these days I’d like to drive down to Ft. Knox just to see the place where my life took such a momentous change in direction. While I’d never want to go through that again, it was the best thing that ever happened to me. And if, by chance, a drill sergeant (any drill sergeant) happens to read this, I want to say thanks. I owe you.