Take A Closer Look

Warning political satire ahead. If you can't laugh, you take yourself too seriously!

The thrill Chris Matthews felt going up his leg while listening to Obamessiah was misinterpreted.

It should have been the chill going down his spine as he listened to the rhetoric. Quote from "The Chairman" at a news blog I read on a daily basis:

"And the Holy One, Blessed be He, set forth on an important journey, followed by his worshippers, the Enemedia. And everywhere he went there were multitudes, and he said: "We will provide the change people can believe in. For if there is no change, things will be unchanged. And I will bring peace and harmony to the world, and the elite shall bow down to me. I shall talk to Ahmanutjob in Persia, and he shall pound his nuclear sword into harmless plow shares. And I shall bring peace to the world, and all shall love the United States, where I was almost born. And as I return to America, I shall go forth with my mighty sword and an outstreched arm, and oil shall appear as magic from the ground. And I shall perform other such miracles after I become President and Emperor of the World."

Why does the plot of "Animal Farm" come to mind every time O-BOARme begins to speak?

....His quote "We are the one we've been waiting for." reminds me of the speech the farm animals got just before they killed the farmer, and the speech writer...and then life got bad, really, really bad. Change we can believe in? Napoleon from Animal Farm has taken over! Be careful what you wish for...bwahaha!

Paschal frivolity

Marina's "Shrubbery" (back of the "NI!" egg)

Sasha's Tulips

Anelise & Sasha's HP characters

I remember the afternoon I took the kids to the squadron while Bill was sitting "alert" to have some family bonding time over dying eggs. The twins were two years old. I had asked him to help because "I'm not doing this alone with two toddlers!" Just as we got the eggs and dye cups ready to dip, the horn went off and the pilots scrambled to their F-15's. There I sat with three kids...one of the twins saw the eggs in the confusion, picked one up, yelled, "BALL!" and threw it. Just as I bent to pick it up, her sister saw the eggs, also yelled "BALL!" and lobbed it across the room as well. Eggs were going everywhere! It wasn't funny then, but it's pretty hysterical to remember it now. How far we've come...the girls' artwork is above! Hope your Easter was memorable. He is risen!

Meanwhile in Taiwan...

RoCAF F-16A block 20 #6706 Taiwanairpower.org

(This is a photo of the actual jet that is missing.)

F-16 jet reported missing

The Taiwanese Air Force said one of its Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter jets went missing 35 miles off the Eastern coast during a routine training mission Tuesday, March 4th. The single-seater aircraft disappeared from radar screens 28 minutes after it took off from the Hualien air base at 6:50pm for a night training exercise. At press time, two S-70C helicopters, a C-130 transport aircraft and two warships were still scouting the area where the jet was feared to have crashed. Hualien base spokesman Yang Feng-sheng (楊鳳生) said the jet's pilot, Major Ting Shih-pao (丁世寶), had not reported any technical problems or asked for help. Ting, 34, could have ejected before the jet crashed, Yang said. On Thursday, the air force ruled out mechanical trouble as the cause of the F-16's disappearance, suspecting pilot disorientation or lack of oxygen as the main reason for the crash. Spatial disorientation occurs when a pilot has false perception of the aircraft's attitude and motion. All pilots are susceptible to such sensory illusions regardless of experience or proficiency, especially at night in a demanding combat environment. Over the years Taiwan has lost five F-16's and several pilots.

A Fighter Pilot's wife's worst nightmare:
Minister of National Defense Michael Tsai, talks with the wife of F-16 fighter pilot Ting Shih-pao in Hualien

Growing missile threats from rival China, have promoted Taiwan to purchase a large fleet of US-made F-16s in 1992. The two sides split amid civil war in 1949. China has threatened to retake the island by force if the territory should ever declare independence. Chinese President Hu Jintao reiterated warnings against Taiwan's independence activities on Tuesday, saying the island's independence moves are 'doomed to fail'.

And meanwhile ... as Bill was flying to Taiwan to train these pilots (five days before this mishap), we got word that he no longer has a job. A new company - Jacobs - has assumed the project and assumed that the team members' salaries were 'out of line'. So Bill gets in line at the unemployment office unless something pans out. We are furiously networking!

Oh and the same day they lost a jet, they had an earthquake. Bill is THRILLED to be in Taiwan. Add to that a grounded fleet, no job when he returns and no steak place in Hualien. But there is the GORGE! click here

Footprints in the Snow

We had another big snow storm last week during school vacation. Our twins had sleepovers with friends in the basement two nights in a row. The morning after the snow, I noticed footprints going from (or to) the basement window where they had been sleeping and ending (or beginning) under a tree by our woodpile. But they didn't return either way. It was like whoever was by the window was there during the storm and then trod through the snow to the woodpile and disappeared. I pulled Bill aside and said, "Aren't those the strangest footprints you've ever seen? They are in a perfect line...this totally creeps me out." So Bill and I sat there and tried to figure out why the footprints went in only one direction. Peeping Tom? Horrors! Sprite? Ridiculous. It was beyond weird. Finally Bill went outside and examined the "footprints". Apparently they were perfect BUNNY BUTT-PRINTS! The rabbit left his hiding place under the house by the window after the storm and hopped through the deep snow to the woodpile. What a riot!

Repartee and Touche!

From the debate Monday January 21st 2008

I don't endorse either of these candidates (BLECH), but I must say that Obama thinks quickly on his feet. Hillary Clinton has been using her husband to get in the really dirty jabs lately.

HILLARY CLINTON: We're just getting warmed up. Now, I just — I just want to be clear about this. In an editorial board with the Reno newspaper, you said two different things, because I have read the transcript. You talked about Ronald Reagan being a transformative political leader. I did not mention his name.
OBAMA: Your husband did.
HILLARY CLINTON: Well, I'm here. He's not. And ...
OBAMA: OK. Well, I can't tell who I'm running against sometimes.

Snow Day!

We LOVE snow days...no school, no driving, a warm fire, hot cocoa, chili, DVD's and of course playing in the snow. Our yard is a beautiful winter wonderland. Marina and friends started a fort, but it morphed into a very hungry snow monster inspired by Calvin and Hobbes.

Nice necklace...um thanks, it's my husband.

I received an interesting email from Bill today as he departed South Korea for home - a two day trip. First some background: On December 1st, on our way to a squadron party, I asked Bill where he wanted to be buried. He looked at me and asked, "Where did THAT come from?" An hour later we were notified that my step-dad, Boyd, had passed away suddenly. It's been hard. I suppose Bill has been thinking about my question. So his email today read:

You asked me not too long ago what I wanted after my demise. This sounds like a neat idea…
http://www.lifegem.com/index.aspx?BannerType=QuigoText&BannerMessage=LoveLivesOn

I clicked on the link to LifeGem. I remembered reading about them a few years ago. They take your family member's ashes and create a diamond. We are, after all, carbon-based as are diamonds. ...I can just see it. "Debbie what a beautiful necklace." -pause- I smile somewhat sadly and reply, "Oh thank you, it's Bill." ...awkward. I wrote him back, "cool but creepy all at the same time...but then again, in the 1700's widows wore lockets with a snip of hair from their husbands." I remembered seeing Martha Washington's mourning locket in a museum with a snip of George's hair inside, so I guess LifeGem is the same tradition a step forward in time? I cringed and clicked on "The Process". WHEW! They have advanced their diamond technology. Now they can produce one from a lock of hair. Bill has plenty of that since he retired from active duty. I can handle hair!!!!

Just Another Day at the Office

A photo from an F-16D Fighting Falcon aircraft during a recent training flight over Kunsan Air Base in South Korea.

Bill will be the guy on the ground for two different trips this month helping the pilots become familiar with a communication system called DataLink. Bill left our house at 4 am on Friday of this week. I got a call from him today (Saturday) at 3:30 pm - he was just getting up and was still on his way to Kunsan! He had one last jaunt, a 3 hour bus ride from Inch'on to Kunsan AB. Weren't the Gilliagan's Island folks guaranteed a 3-hour tour? hmmmmm.... Kunsan is located on the coast of the Yellow Sea - just across the pond from China. (click on the map for a bigger picture)

Although he has retired from flying the F-15 with his hair on fire, being a military contractor is a pretty good gig.

The best part of Bill's job is that he is still around fighter pilots...

the worst part of his job is that he is...

still around fighter pilots.

Ow...My Eyes! A Huckabee Christmas?

Actual photos from this year's Huckabee and then Romney Christmas cards...

Um...what can I say?

What can anyone say?

Think hard.

Think real hard.

Which family would you like to see representing the United States of America?

The Huckabees?

or

The Romneys?