Monday Musings

Another great day in Dardenne Prairie, up at 04:30am for our morning coffee,then Donna was off to the truck company. She called me later about 08:00am and said she could get the time off for the Rally so I tried to send an e-mail to the Chapter Rep that lives in O'Fallon MO. to Register. After two tries and it bouncing back both times as unknown address I noticed his phone number and gave him a call, His name is Bob Ingham and he was very nice over the phone, he said he lived on the other ( North ) side of O'Fallon from me but that he would meet me half way at the MacDonald's on Hwy M and I could register and pay for the rally there.We set a time of 09:30am, Luckily he said he was an early riser like us because I noticed when I was talking to him that it was only 08:30am and I probably should have waited till a little later to call. I met him and made the arrangements and he said they expect about 200 to 250 rigs to be there. It is a State Good Sam Rally rather than one on the Chapter level, so there should be a lot to do. Donna & I both are looking forward to it, because then it will only be a couple weeks before my PA. trip.

Rigg's had a good day yesterday, My Son Andy's girlfriend, Samantha brought her daughter, Nicole over, she is 8 years old, almost the same age as Adam, Since she isn't used to having a big dog around she was at first a little shy of Rigg's. But it wasn't long before he brought her his ball and wanted to play catch, with help from Grandma Donna she learned how to make him drop it and sit before she through it and now they are best friend's. Rigg's loves playing with Adam and I'm sure Nicole will be on his list of kids now too.  She is such a doll. Here is some pictures.

             Nicole telling Rigg's to drop it.

             Rigg's dropping the ball for her.

           Rigg's sitting and waiting for the throw.

Last night Donna made a killer Pot Roast with Mashed Potatoes and corn. Between the three of us, Samantha and Nicole had to go home for supper. We blew threw it like  yesterday's news, it was one of those fall apart roasts that you just have to have seconds on.

Tonight with Donna working today I am going to bake a Lasagna in the oven so we can feast again.

I was hoping I would here from Adam since it was Grandparents Day but the weekend came and went and no call. I guess the freeze is on, his Mom blocked us on Face Book and Andy said she put a block on the phones so I haven't tried to call him. I wish life was easier on the kids than this. Maybe I can put a sign out front  Grandpa for Rent.

Well another day in the big city. Hope everyone is enjoying good weather and smooth sailing. be safe out there. Sam & Donna.

Sunday thoughts.

Got up to a beautiful Sunday, Donna & I had coffee and she enjoyed the morning reading blogs, and discovered the MO Chapter of the Good Sams are having a Rally in Columbia MO. which is a little over an hour from our home. I think the date is on Sept 23-26th, so she said she would find out tomorrow if she can get the time off and we will make plans to go neither of us has ever been to a Rally before and since this is just a small one we thought it would be nice to try. Plus it will give us a break before I leave for Pa. Haven't been out to take any pictures lately but I have a few in the archives, that I can share.
Here are the ship's I was lucky enough to serve on in the middle 60's.

The first was the USS Shangri-La CVA 38

Next up was USS Franklin D. Roosevelt CVA42

             Then USS Independence CVA 62

               The last was USS Intrepid CVS 11
The first two pictures show a destroyer following following in the wake of the carrier, this was standard practice since they always operated with a battle group and this destroyer would be available for fast response to a man overboard if we weren't having flight operations and the helicopter wasn't, airborne in all cases of a man overboard day or night unless the weather was absolutely the pits a helicopter was launched to help in the rescue.
Since I took the top picture I know the Destroyer pictured is the USS Newman K. Perry DD883, because I had a hometown buddy on board her.
How did I get to be on so many ships in a four year career? We were assigned in Detachments of 3 helicopters and so depending on where and what they were doing decided how long the detachment would be aboard, On Shangri-La it was 10 Months, On Roosevelt it was only 3 months. On Independence it was 9 months. and my final cruise on Intrepid only lasted 2months and it was in the Gulf of Mexico taking the place Of the training carrier Lexington. We were back at the pier in Pensacola every night and the liberty was good. In between there was a lot of short cruise's to Gitmo for readiness test so it would fill the year out pretty quick.
Also you can see as the number get higher the ships got bigger, Shangri La and Intrepid were Essex class ships built in WW2 and modernized for jets, Roosevelt was built in the late 40's and it was larger than the Essex class. Independence was built in the middle 50's and was what came to be known as super carrier's. The carriers from number 67 on up that are in service today are even bigger yet.
Anyone going to new York City can visit Intrepid as it is now a floating Museum tied to the pier on the Hudson River.
All the others have been converted to cars and razor blades or whatever.
We used to call them Uncle Sam's pig iron air stations.
Oh well another blast from the past good thing I wasn't a draft dodger or I wouldn't have much material for a blog today.
Hey if anybody in the KC area wants to meet up in Columbia at the Rally let us know, my e-mail address is in the about us. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna.

Saturday 911 2010

When I got up this morning and was having my coffee I said to Donna remember 9 years ago what happened today, she knew right away that it was Sept 11th and we had a rough 24 hours on that day.

My mother & fathers generation were the same way on Dec 7th, I remember my Mom saying everybody remembered where and what they were doing on Dec 7th 1941 when we were attacked by Japan at Pear Harbor.

On that morning in 2001 I was in my office at Lake Sherwood enjoying a slow morning after the conclusion of the summer season, I had just refilled my coffee cup when, Linda the Dispatcher said “Sam hurry you’ve got to see this,” I went in the office and a news flash was announcing that a plane had crashed into the World Trade center and there was a picture of the smoking building. I remember telling Linda what a terrible accident and that my Granddad had told me about a plane (a B-25) crashing into the Empire State Building during WW2 when it was lost in the fog. I called for Mary & Chris to come in from their offices and see this and not to much longer later we saw the second plane hit the other tower. Right away my cop & military instincts kicked in and I said, this is no accident, we are under some kind of attack, and who could be doing this.

We were like most Americans glued to the TV and it wasn’t until later in the afternoon after the collapse of the towers and they were showing the burned and damaged fire equipment and police vehicles that had been a block away that Mary said “Sam doesn’t your son Sam work close to that, I guess that was the first that I realized that he was in great danger and said “ yeah his office is about a half block away and his office faces those buildings.” Needless to say I went into  my office and tried for the first of dozens of time to call him and got the same recording that I would get for the next 24 hours that the long distance service to that area code had been interrupted and would be be available soon.

Donna and I tried until the next morning when we received a call from my other son Tim in New Jersey who said he had just heard from Sam and that luckily he was not in his office but on a business trip in New Jersey and was safe, he said that Sam had said the phone service was out all over the New York area and he would call us when he could. We later found out his company offices were heavily damaged and it would be a year before they were allowed back in, but that his co-workers had evacuated safely.

A couple of weeks later I received a picture from one of my friends that I traded train pictures with that was taken two days before the attack ( 9-09-01) It was taken at the Hoboken train terminal and he was focusing on an old commuter coach not even realizing that the WTC Towers were in the background across the river. He got more than he bargained for because  this cannot be done today.

Sept 08-01 View from Hoboken Rail Terminal

Sept 09-2001, Another view by the same photographer.

Today's view from Sam Jr’s Office.

I know most of my fellow blogger’s remember where they were and what they were doing and I for one am glad we have had the resolve to try and make this a better world, and that yes we are safer in this country today for those efforts, and yes we will defend our freedom from any cause that wishes to take it from us.

I guess with all the controversy in the news lately about an Islamic Mosque wanting to locate near that site, I have been giving it a lot of thought, and one of the freedom’s we enjoy is the freedom to choose and practice a religion of our choice, I guess to since in my own lifetime I made the conscious decision to defend these rights and freedoms. Maybe we should all sit back and take a deep breath and say what difference would it be if it were a Christian Cathedral, or a Jewish Synagogue or for that matter a Moslem Mosque, it is a house of God and we have made it a freedom to go there and worship without fear.

Hey Rigg’s wants to show you he is still the same old happy guy he always is, but he slips once in awhile and just has to be a stealer.

This time it’s the Satellite Remote Control.

Mom, trade you for a treat from my Treat Can.

Here’s another picture of him giving Dad directions to the doggie park.

                The next drive turn right Dad.

Well that makes for an interesting day here in Dardenne Prairie, hope I didn’t offend anyone with my feelings but sometimes I am like AL of THE BAYFIELD BUNCH and I get carried away with my opinions and I say something that might cause hard feelings with another blogger who doesn’t share my view. Anyway You 'all be safe out there,hear. Sam & Donna…Oh yeah it’s EH for my Canadian friends…. 

TGIF

Up with Donna for our morning coffee, it was raining one of those nice steady but mild rains that really soak in,It is supposed to stop in the afternoon and be cloudy and then have a sunny and warm Sat & Sun.

Went to Office Max and got some business card paper, I was out of, I wanted to make a card with our names and our blog address on it .

                This is what I came up with.

The only thing I did that I had second thought's about is I put our mailing address which is in O'Fallon and we actually live in Dardenne Prairie MO. but they don't have their own post office. Confused? Anyway I figured I can change the next batch I print if I want.

Anyway now I have something to give to someone I meet as we travel and you guys that follow can just right click and copy and then paste it to a blank in Word and print out a copy and then if your in our area give us a call, we always leave the light on anyway.

If anyone does come by, our driveway has a street sign that says Weeb LN at the end of it,That was the nickname my fellow officers gave me.  It was a gift from the City Manager where I retired from the Police Dept when we moved out here. Well when all the subdivisions were built the map makers must have thought it was an official sign because now it will show up on Google Earth and Mapquest and DeLorme, also in the Garmin GPS's so there isn't to many ways to get lost if you type in 1 Weeb Ln O'Fallon MO.

                                      Weeb LN.

Other than that claim to fame, not much else going on here in Dardennne Prairie, Another day in the life of the retired, wish Donna would retire soon. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna.

Thursday Thoughts.

First of all I want to thank all my fellow bloggers for yesterdays Birthday wishes for my Grandson Adam I called him and read them to him over the phone, he was very excited since he doesn't get to read the blog because his Mom's Internet is down. Well with all good intentions I had made plans to go to the Lake and camp this weekend , those plans were altered last night when Adam's Mom called me and she was upset that she hasn't received her support from my Son, I told her he hasn't had a paycheck in over a year and was trying to get work, that and the fact his car is broken down makes it difficult to find it and he had been doing a side job here and there if a friend would take him. Andy had called her and told her he was going to go with us camping, well I guess that was a mistake because she decided, no money, no visits, you don't get to see your son. Kind of like using the poor kid as a bargaining chip. Without getting into family matters any further. I decided I wasn't going  to be involved in the middle of two adults feud and I told her forget it I will cancel the camping trip, you explain it to Adam however you can. I'm sure there are other families out there in blogger land that can understand what this is like or maybe even been through the same thing. I for one would never use a Childs feeling as a bargaining tool. Donna & I wish there was something we could do to get Andy on his feet and employed so he could send support. But as a parent you can only do  so much. We have given him food and shelter, but cannot afford to pay all his bills.

So now the trailer sits and I have to deal with how I am going to see my Grandson with the Mom all bent out of shape at my son.

Life goes on. Nobody guaranteed it would be easy.

Sorry for the rant but so many of you wished me a good weekend of camping at the Lake in your comments that i felt it was only fair to let you know that it won't happen this week and I appreciate the support.

Be safe out there. Sam & Donna.

Wednesday Musings.

Up with my bride and we had our coffee together.She was off to the truck company, and because it's Wednesday she will be heading into the restaurant tonight. I will just putter today and then later this afternoon pack some clothes in the trailer so I can hitch it up in the morning and head out to the Lake. I will probably stay there tomorrow night since Donna will be working and then Friday when Adam gets out early from school be waiting to pick him up and bring him to the Lake for the weekend. Today is Adam's 9th birthday, HAPPY BIRTHDAY ADAM, so I told him since we are going camping this weekend, when I pick him up on Friday we will stop at the Wal Mart in Warrenton MO. and he can pick out his Birthday present. That will help me so I won't have to try and figure what is the neat thing a 9 year old likes this year.
My son Andy & his girlfriend Samantha said they will probably bring her daughter Samantha out to camp and she is the same age as Adam so that will be fun.
Hope the weather cooperates for the weekend, Thurs and Fri isolated showers are forecasts, but then Sat and Sun the outlook says sunny. Maybe we'll get lucky.
Not much else going on around the Dardenne Prairie area today. Even Rigg's is low key and hasn't barked at any birds or rabbits in his yard.
Be safe out there, Sam & Donna..

Tuesday Thoughts.

Somehow I slept late and got up at 05:30am and Donna had already left for the truck company, she had left hot coffee in the pot, but I hate to miss seeing her in the morning, It was a cool and cloudy morning and about 09:00am I went and touched up the 2olb propane tank and then out it in the truck and was off to Wentzville to have it filled, I go to a filling station there that still refill's them instead of exchanging them. I like too that he guesstimates by picking up the cylinder and then saying, hell this is only half empty, I'll only charge you half price, so it was eight dollars to fill it, The normal price for that size is $17 at this place. Don't know why, there is a gauge to sell it by the gallon and a scale to sell it by weight, but the last two times I have been there he sold by his estimate and I 've never had to pay the full price. Both time I felt like I came out ahead and hadn't  been cheated, because an completely empty tank weighs 16 lbs on my scale and this one felt pretty light, full they should weigh around 36lbs, the 30lb tanks in my 5th wheel weigh about 19lbs empty and about 49lbs full. so usually you can tell when you pick them up if they are close to empty or keep a old bathroom scale in the garage.

Had a comment the other day about how real my model trains look so it got me to thinking if I had any pictures to compare to real trains to see how close you do come.

               Real DL&W 814 at Hoboken NJ.

My model DL&W 814 at St Charles Model Railroad Club.

Real Phoebe Snow in The Delaware Water Gap, PA/NJ border.

My model Phoebe Snow in a cut at the club.

I guess not bad for an amateur I will keep those passenger engines and cars when we fulltime in a box. it is really an impressive train to watch and it is part of my memories of my Grandfather who never got to see it completed in model form. He was really proud of his railroad, and this train was the pride of the fleet.

What do the rest of you guys do after you start full timing with old hobbies, the photography will be easy to stick with.

Today was really a slow news day, got a little rain in the early after noon and then the sun came out and it is in the middle 70's right now a real comfortable combination, but to wet to plow or cut grass.

That's it for today,hope you all had a great long weekend, be safe out there. Sam & Donna.