You have to watch this ~!!

I know- I know.....my last three entries have been videos form youtube. Bear with me on this, its a phase Im going through.

This is a video thats a little over 4 minutes long. To get the point of it, you have to watch it all the way through.

Ive often thought what direction my life would have taken on May 28th, 1981 had I chosen to join one of the other branches of the service.

This video represents almost exactly what my first few minutes of Bootcamp were like over 30 years ago ! It also shows the difference in how we ( Marines) begin our training and they ( The Army) start thiers.

Guilty

Bruno told me to check out this video on youtube. It made me laugh so its worthy of going up as todays blog entry.

You have to make sure watch it all the way though.

Japan in the news...

Seriously, I feel bad for them with all that is going on. I mean seriously, you get the atom bomb dropped on two of your cities during WWII. Then you get everything rebuilt,,,,,,,and BLAM......you get an earthquake....then a tidal wave that wipes out the city......if thats not bad enough, now you have 4 Nuclear Reactors that are probably going to melt down.

its just not a good situation !

However, to show my solidarity with that country, Im posting a video of what I think is the greatest thing to come from Japan.

Politics

"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote."

Oak Grove Cemetary - New Bern, North Carolina

The morning before I left New Bern, I got up early and went to snap some pictures around town before breakfast.

The Oak Grove Cemetary in New Bern is the oldest cemetary in the town. There is alot of emphasis in the town on the cities civial war history, but as I was walking through the cemtary I found a few graves that dated back well before the war. Two in paticular had dates that were prior to the signing of the constitution.

There is really no significance to the next picture other than the fact I just thought it was cool.

Also in the cemetary is a monument dedicated to the soldiers who fought int he civil war that were from that area. The monument was erected in 1885

The next picture seems very insignificant. Around what looked to be a family plot was a brick was about knee high. inlaid into one side was the family name and the year it was erected. I couldnt make out the name as it was very worn and weathered. But the date read 1801. The waall was for the most part intact but had crumbled on one side. I snapped the picture but was trying to just work out a setting. So although I didnt intend to keep that picture it dawned on me that those bricks were originally laid over 210 years ago. I started to pick one up and keep it but decided against it. Im amazed they are just laying there and other 'relic' hunters havent walked off with them.

Thats it for now....Im having some coffee and watching the news....so Im sure I will have another rant before the day is over.

On the Road !

Well Candice posted a message and said she wanted me to update the blog so here goes !

We are  in New Bern NC staying at the Aerie Bed and Breakfast. This Victorian Inn was built in 1882 and was originally named the Street-Ward House. The Aerie Bed & Breakfast is an historic site in North Carolina that has been called home by a justice of the peace and hotelier, a State Senator, a social worker, and tenants that included a WWII nurse, a cousin of the Wright Brothers who happened to share Orville’s name, and the son of Pepsi-Cola inventor Caleb Bradham!

Below are a couple of pictures from Inside the Inn including the room we are staying in.

The breakfast here was absolutely awesome and better than any other Inn we have stayed in. On the menu this morning was either French Toast, Eggs, or Pancakes. I had the pancakes. They were made with ginger and instead of syrup, they had a lemon sauce you put over them and while I thought it would be gross, it was actually very good.

Last night for dinner we went to a place called Stingray's. The guy that owns the restaurant also owns both the fish market and the smoke house located beside the restaurant. If you order seafood.....he goes through a door and pulls the fresh catch right out of a cooler that was unloaded from the boats earlier that day. I went out on a limb and instead of seafood, I ordered Frog Legs, Okra, and coleslaw. Frog Legs do not taste like chicken. It was more like a cross between chicken and fish. Very good and I highly recommend it ! That is not my finger in the picture ! Ronda was holding it while I snapped the picture !

Anyone who has spent time in North Carolina knows the slogan for Pepsi.....Born in the Carolina's. Well for me, being a true fan of Pepsi, visiting New Bern was much like a muslim going to Mecca in that this is where it was invented. In fact, I went to the very spot where the original building still stands. It was once a pharmacy and is now a soda fountain type store !

On a final note, I just wanted to say that.......The rest area on I-85 traveling north towards Greensboro does a great job in keeping the restrooms clean....and...I think those jeans make my butt look big !

Movie and Book Review

I recently finshed the book Decision Points by former President George Bush.

I always admired President Bush and even more now that I finished his book.

Those who did not support him always asked the same line of questions. Why did he do this, or what was the purpose of that? President Bush goes into great detail and addresses alot of the questions asked about his administration that were never answered in the press.

His writings provide a very good insight into his thought process and in my mind explain a number of things that were always asked by the liberal press.

Its a great book and  I highly recommend it.


Game Change is another great book and chronicles the 2008 Presedential election with a look at each candidate and the strategies they used.

One very interesting part in the book is When Hillary lost the Iowa vote. She felt that she had to make a bold move at that point in order to win the ultimate goal. In her mind, even though Obama had won the state of Iowa in the prelim's, he would never win the Presidency. So as a political offensive move, over 9 months before the election, she offered the position of Vice Presdient to Obama if he would pull out of the race.

Very intresting reading and not hard at all to follow.

Movies...

Im a junkie for documentaries, especially ones that chronicle war and people participating in it.

Restrpo is a movie definitely worht watching. I think it is probably most realistic look at the harshness of war and the trails that our young men and women are put through. It is a is a feature-length documentary that chronicles the deployment of a platoon of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistans Korengal Valley.

Secondly is the movie THe Battle of Marjah.

"In February 2010, U.S. Marines launched Afghanistan: Operation Moshtarak, the biggest operation since the start of the Afghanistan war, whose main target was the Taliban stronghold of Marjah, a town in Helmand province. Journalist Ben Anderson, who spent two months with the American forces, offers an extraordinarily intimate look at the brutal realities of modern-day warfare."

Both the movies have language that goes beyond foul so it isnt a popcorn and soda type of event. But if you want a real understanding of why our vets are coming back from war with issues that make everyday life difficualt then this will surely give you a better understanding.