Aviator update…and daydreaming

I looked through my usual media outlets this morning and didn’t find anything I felt like commenting on. So instead an aviator update and a daydream I had…

Managed to tap into the interwebs via the iPhone early this morning and found my son hanging out on our favorite message service. We exchanged a few lines before he was off to get something to eat. The time difference is six or seven hours so he was off to get an afternoon meal. He said everything was straight and level and that he was really looking forward to getting back home. We look forward to that day also.

Was thinking during the drive home how time gets along so fast that you suddenly find yourself thirty years older. The thought occurred to me while listening to a CD I had purchased the other day. The CD is America’s Greatest Hits History. You know, the group that did Horse with no Name among other hits. Well just as Sister Golden Hair came on I was passing my grandparents old place. I drive by it to and from work everyday. They are no longer with us and the place has been sold but I still keep an eye on it. Anyway, as the song began to play the visual that I saw was myself thirty years ago pulling up their driveway while the same song was playing in the cassette deck of my ‘76 Chevette. It was 1978, I was 18, Becky and I would get married in September. She was finishing her senior year of high school. I had graduated the year before. Fast forward 30 years, same song now playing in a CD player mounted in a 2004 Jeep Wrangler. Been married almost 30 years, have one grandchild and another on the way. Two adult children, one close to home, one in the desert serving his country. And I wondered…did my grandparents have the same daydreams? I suspect they did…

As always…I must be off.

The future of motoring?

Small car

Maybe the shape of things to come…in the seventies that was the tag line for the Triumph TR-7. It was a wedge shaped car and in the commercial they even had a wedge shaped garage it parked in. Every time I see the Smart Car it reminds me of that marketing ploy only because of the unconventional shape of it. Becky and I have been following the car for about 2 years now, having seen a video of it on the net. The video was shot by a British TV and in it they crashed the car into a concrete barrier at 70 mph. Of course they drove the car remotely, but in the end the car was still mostly intact and after studying the damage they determined that both occupants would have not only survived but the passenger could have walked away. Pretty amazing when you consider the size of the car. It just proves that the technology is out there to build a safe, reliable small car for day to day use.

After the last 2 days I thought the tone needed to be tempered a bit. I don’t want to come off as a real curmudgeon…unless it’s appropriate.

As always…I must be off.

The wood has opened it’s pores…

Horses death brings protest

From out of the woodwork they have come. People who obviously don’t have a real job and have nothing else better to do. In the aftermath of any tragedy the hangers on and leaches appear to stir hysteria and generally make fools of themselves. Most not even taking the time to honestly study the tragedy or what may have caused it. Instead relying on group think and mob mentality. The sad part is that these people are given quarter in the press instead of being marginalized for the sorry lots they tend to be.

To be honest I don’t know all that much about the subject of horse racing or what is best for the horses in this case. But I have a strong suspicion neither do these people who wish to belittle and deride the industry. Their apparent aim seems to be that of getting in front of a camera or have a journalist transcribe their story. Hum, sounds a lot like Al Qaeda to me…

Yes it’s my personal opinion that most of these groups are no more than glorified terrorist’s. Having had personal run ins with Greenpeace while I was in the Navy. I can say first hand that most of these “activist’s” are doing what they do only to massage their own ego’s and to generally cause disruption. I have no use for them or their “causes”.

There are plenty of miseries in this world that need to be addressed with vigor and firmness. But all issues also need to have a sane, informed and measured approach to be redressed. Not bluster and bull horning. Nothing productive as ever been accomplished by yelling louder than the next guy. We all, including myself, need to take a deep breath from time to time and think about what it is we do and say.

I think I’ll take that breath now…I must be off.

Speechless…

Eight Belles’ trainer defends jockey

Obviously I am not, as the title says, speechless or else there would not be any words here. What I am is perplexed by the events as a whole that have occurred here in central Kentucky over the last week or so.

First, last week during the Rolex Three Day event, 2 horses were put down due to injury and their respective riders suffered severe injuries also. Then came the injury to Eight Belles during the Kentucky Derby. It’s been said that things sometimes come in three’s. As for these three occurrence’s, we all could have done without them. Ironically, before reading this article, I had mentioned to Becky at how spindly the legs were on the Derby horses compared to the size of their bodies. And it seemed to this untrained eye that the breeding had left something out.

I am not nor have I ever been an animal activist but neither do I condone any mistreatment of animals. In the past Becky and I have rescued dogs that had been left abandoned. And it was a pitiful sight to see these dogs in the state they were in. Half to three fourths starved and with a thank you thank you look in their eyes.

To end this depressing post I don’t know if there is an answer or even if there is a question as to what happened to Eight Belles. Life sometimes is inherently painful and unfair and bad things happen to good people everyday. If on the other hand it comes to light that something the owner or trainer did led to Eight Belles breaking down. They should be prosecuted to the full measure and never allowed around animals again.

As always…I must be off.

The Times they are a changin’

Cubans Permitted to Buy Computers

What do we really know about Raul Castro and what is his agenda? Has he sat back all these years and bit his lip or does he see what China has done and decided that is the direction Cuba should go? As Fidel’s successor he seems to be the antithesis to his older brother. Is all this just a power play or is he really trying to bring Cuba into the present? Either way it sure is interesting…and will be so for a while at least. It has always seemed a shame that the pearl of the Caribbean has been kept in the dark for so many years. While in the Navy I spent a few weeks in Gitmo for training and even though the terrain is somewhat desert like…the atmosphere there is very casual. It would be something if some day we could put Cuba on our list of places to visit. To be able to enjoy their culture and hospitality as many people from around the world have been able to. I don’t, nor have I ever agreed with their politics but that should not preclude anyone from soaking up some Caribbean atmosphere Cuban style.

Anyway, I thought this article was interesting in that the times are changing, maybe for the better, in Cuba.

Until my tickets to Havana arrive…I must be off.