And Just like that!

 Photo of the day:

 

The first Uniform, same girl!

The second uniform, Looking at baby JJ thru the window of our trailer in Mississippi

So for today:

Most around us know we are moving, slowly, but we are moving.  WE are trading homes with our Granddaughter Sherece. So today, she brought over some boxes of stuff to leave in the basement.

She came up to check when Grandma wanted her hair done.  She is Sherry’s magical hairdresser, she is a natural beautician, but since she is full-time in import/export processing she only does hair on the side.

As we talked without any prompting or hinting about uniforms she said, “Grandpa, you have a uniform over at my house that has a note on it, ‘For my Burial’, do you want it over here or just leave it in the closet at my house?”

Yep, just like that my mystery is solved and I will be buried in my uniform and not be nekked.

WE owned that home for awhile so somehow I left some stuff there for years now. But now I can rest easy, mystery is solved…

Amazing how much of life comes at you from left field. And it is so funny that things seem to work themselves out in this life…….. at times.

Nite Shipslog

PS: 

AGAIN THANKS for reading the  Shipslog. It is nice to know some folks will read this stuff.  Smile HE is good! And things will work out!

How did that happen?

 Photo of the day:

 

Chief Darnell in uniform (with a pretty lady of course)

Note about carpets:  Chatty brought up a good point, that carpets can house many things to which some folks are allergic .  Yep good point!

So for today:

Yes, we are still downsizing a little. I just burned about 30 pounds of history from our files. Up to 10 years of tax returns and about the same amount of medical and financial records. I filed too much over the years. 

My girl has been folding clothes she deems good enough to give to a charity.  We are not sure who takes the clothes but will check.  I did get rid of about 10 or more shirts.

And just like that, I realized I was missing something.. There are things I have planned for years. We were taught by parents who knew what they were saying, put something away for a rainy day. They lived thru the great depression, they knew somethings, we all gotta know that.

My blog entry was going to be about the first financial thing we learned, we NEED a budget.  Now that is on the back burner.

Do you realize how many uniforms I have worn? Every branch of service has winter and summer uniforms. Of those they have dress and work uniforms.

My last uniform was that of a USN Chief. I planned for Sherry to bury me in my Chief’s uniform.  So as I looked thru the closets, I am missing my uniform. I wanted folks to comment as they passed, Jack sure looks good as a Chief!  Shucks, now I won’t hear a word.  I am depressed. LOL.

I am hoping it is down in the RV, but I sorta doubt it.  Where could it be I have asked myself and Sherry .

I sure hope it shows up, Imma gonna be disappointed if I am buried nekkid, they can’t open the casket I would be embarrassed!

Ever ask yourself, HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?

Nite Shipslog

 

PS Thanks for stopping by the shipslog, Presently being maintained while in North Carolina .   I HAVE A MYSTERY TO SOLVE…..  But I love you guys…. 

Carpet of wood floors?

 Photo of the day:

 WE owned 2or3 of these Metropolitans, this on made by Nash in the 50s. Always straight drive methinks. We loved it.

So for today:

Wall to wall carpet came into being in my life time.  I have always preferred it to wood floors.  Maybe because on cold nights it is nicer to leave the bed stepping out on carpet.  LOL

For the first few years of my ‘carpenter’ life folks paid dearly for oak flooring.  It was slow to install and a job to sand smooth and finish.

Today we have some very nice ‘fake flooring’ that few who install it call it ‘Slap-down flooring.’ It is very easy to install and not messy. WE call it floating flooring because it is NORMALLY NEVER nailed or glued. There are some touchy areas to cut when installing but over all it does make a good floor and looks great.

It has not been around long enough for long time history. It just snaps together. I installed water proof slap down in this last bath room I did.

No matter how nice it looks, I still prefer more carpet, that is probably the OLD MAN showing up, and besides when you are in your 80s, methinks betting up 3-4 times a night is normal and nice to be stepping on carpet!  LOL

What do you think?

Nite Shipslog

 

PS Thanks for stopping by the shipslog, Presently being maintained while in North Carolina  and I am still getting used to this computer. 

 

When one moves…..

 Photo of the day:

 

Our first motor home (LOL) the VW Bus with a pop-UP!

Pre read note: Oh yes, many folks were at the GITMO dump (junk yard) looking daily.  As a matter f fact it was referred to as 'Going out to Sears'  And YES MA, we too bought parts in the USA at Junk yards.  

Now for today:

WE have moved a lot in our nearly 69 years of marriage. Married in York, SC. #1 son was born in Biloxi, Mississippi. #2 son was born in Kirksville, MO. I can remember when we moved to Washington DC we put all our belongings in the back seat and trunk of our car. Moving was easy then. LOL

Now I have collected so much STUFF it takes a while to make a move, PLUS you learn things.  You learn you can actually give things away and believe it or not, I have actually thrown some of my useless collectings away.

So maybe moving is a good thing. LOL It is even hard for me to realize that I have ALMOST emptied the basement playhouse. WE are getting a head start. WE decided that we will move into the RV in our back yard next Friday.  That way we can take our time packing up here in the house without dodging boxes every evening.

The continuing story, the life of old people.

Nite Shipslog

 

PS Thanks for stopping by the shipslog, Presently being maintained while in North Carolina .

I am a junkyard kind of guy!

 Photo of the day:

 

Flight deck of the USS Independence, my home without Sherry for a couple years...

So for today:

Most ships on the East Coast of the USA spend time at GITMO Bay.   When GITMO is mentioned, folks think only of the well-known prison.  HOWEVER that is a minor part of Guantanamo.

The main mission of the USN BASE is the testing and training of new ships and ships coming out of shipyards for repairs or upgrades. Therefore, most sailors on this coast have spent time in GITMO. The ships that visit are put thru strenuous tests, testing the ship and it’s crew.  The reason for the location is the weather. It is perfect 99.9% of the time and the testing is completed at sea so there is no down time due to bad weather.

My job there was to keep all IBM machines repaired and operating. My secondary job was to print all the checks for military and civilians that worked there.

My sweetheart took a civil service job in ‘Household Goods’.  She worked in the area of furniture shipped in and out for the residents.

As you can imagine there was lots of trash and junk from the thousands of folks there.  My favorite thing was trips to the ‘DUMP’. While there I never bought parts for the cars  (including tires), appliances, etc. IF you needed a tire or part, you needed only carry a jack and wrench to the dump, find a wrecked, junk car with what you needed and take it.  It was sorta like an Easter Egg hunt. LOL

We still consider that as our best military assignment, it was a small town atmosphere and as I said, the weather was great.

The boys loved it because they raced Moto Cross

Nite Shipslog

 

PS Thanks for stopping by the shipslog, I am doing better on this keyboard, I think!  That is sorta joking, I have never been able to type without looking at the keys. There are times I look up to check and am not  even typing or am on the wrong document. LOL

I am confusing, I have been told several times.!

 Photo of the day:

 

This is the  first home in which we lived in  GITMO BAY, Cuba.  This was some of the first homes built there. We later moved into a concrete block home.  Yep the white barrel was our trash barrel, we did have trash pickup LOL

So for today:

I built this duplex we live in in Belmont, NC many years ago, our attorney said it must be condos if your sister is buying one side.  So the  duplex is legally condos. Both have full size basements. Our basement housed my office while I was in business. I converted the office to an apartment which our son Jack Jr. moved into.  Now that we are swapping our side (condo) with our Granddaughter, I created an apartment in the other condo basement for Jack Jr  The top floor is rented to a lady named Beth.  She rented only the top level. Leaving the basement for me to use. 

I chose to create another apartment in her basement (all with her agreement)  Jack Jr. has now moved into it, leaving this side free and clear to swap to our granddaughter.  She will get this side upper and lower.  Sweet Stella, Sherece’s daughter, is looking forward to the basement being hers once she gets to college.

We, in the meantime, are getting ready to make the move (which will be in October). I am emptying out the basement of my junk (my part of the basement  was never a part of the basement apartment; My playhouse had much more room than the apartment and included the Garage.

So, I have so much junk, stuff and tools it is taking a while to clear it up.  We agreed to clear the basement first. I am in the process of moving our junk (treasures) to storage located on the new location.

I trust this entry has further confused the moving issue.

Be that as it may, we are looking forward to completing the move. We will again have a big RV Port for the RV. Since we do have the RV, a move will be less a problem for us because we can just take our time with the home and live in the RV.

Nite Shipslog

PS: 

AGAIN THANKS for reading the  Shipslog. It is nice to know some folks will read this stuff.  Smile HE is good!

 

A Team

 Photo of the day:

 The hiking team,,

Sherry on Blood Mountain

Me in the Smokies

(I meant for only one pic, I started to delete 2 Ms. Computer said: deletion deletes the pic thru out the computer, so they stay. LOL)

So for today:

Our crop of tomatoes is dwindling; a friend brought some okra to Sherry at church.  Soooo I promised to make a fresh tomato soup. So yesterday I stopped work in the afternoon and started the soup.  Sherry cleaned and cut the Okra.

I wasn’t sure how long to cook the tomatoes, so I started looking thru our ‘MANY COOK BOOKS’.  We have some from many friends, several from churches ladies groups and even Sherry’s orig cook book she bought when we married. I LEARNED SOMETHING!!!  NOT ONE COOK BOOK HAD TOMATO SOUP IN IT!!!! Why is that?  Is it because tomato is a fruit not a veggie.  OR are we supposed to only buy Campbell’s Tomato soup??

Now for a fact on this internet you can get thousands of recipes for Tomato soup, but not in ours’ by gravy!

I did find in Sherry’s cook book from the church in Biloxi, Miss, a list of times to cook different foods, and it listed 10-15 minutes on med lo heat for tomatoes..  So I guessed at 20 minutes.

The tomato okra soup was very good I added some honey, chopped garlic and a dash of Worchester sauce. Sherry added onion.  It turned out great, we are a pretty good team!!!

Nite Shipslog

 

PS

Thanks for stopping by the shipslog, I am doing better on this keyboard, I think!

Once more

 Photo of the day:

 

Yep, I know this has been around a long time.  This is the peak of MT Katahdin in Maine. It is The northern end of the Appalachian Trail (the AT). No, we did not hike the entire trail, but we did hike right at 2000 miles of the 2190. All my sweetheart's idea. She likes me out in the woods!!!

So for today:

I am getting a little better on this new computer.  Life is continuing, at least all my data is saved as far as I know.

It takes some time to get back to feeling comfortable. I have completed the dog lot for Sherece’s puppies, I have invite them over to give it a try and to see if they can find a way to escape.  I do not want them to escape until they are familiar with the new area.

Jack Jr has completed his move into the new apartment; I think he likes it.  I am now transferring my basement junk to a storage area at the new to us home.

The folks around here know we once had that house, but they do not know that we never moved into it.  We just lived in the back yard in the RV.

WE are at home in the motor home just as easy as a house. In the next week or so we will continue packing up here but live out in the Motor home. We have been out of the RV now for months, so we can get reacclimated and ready for our trip to the Dutch Country of Lancaster, PA.

We are comfortable in the woods and a tent.  

It looks like this entry will go as normal.

Nite Shipslog

 

PS

Hoping your day is good, thanks for stopping by the shipslog, and yes, I do appreciate and enjoy comments..

I am back ror a minute.

I just lost a paragraph. Ithought I had just published a blog entry.  It just appe aared here  as a draft so I hit a publish button, nada.

still having problems with this new computer.  Pretty confused too LOL

OUCH, the blue death

 

  

Photo of the day:

 

So for today:

Ever heard of the Blue Death on a computer? Well Just after thelast entry here, I experienced the Blue death.  NOTHING on this system except a blue screen.

Now hundreds of dollars later, I am back on with a new computer and have all my data off the old hard drive!! LOL.  One of hit the wrong buttuns o this thing and I startf all over again.  That is where we stand.

On the meat loaf, we enjoyed it,  but think we prefer more tomato tastes.  BUT  I learned you can do a meat loaf in about 6 hours on lo to med, not sure yet on that. But I sure like the slo cooker type of meal  I hope to be back after learning more about this computer.

Nite Shipslog

PS

The BEST to who read, and I appreciate you taking the time to stop by.

Meat loaf

 Photo of the day:

 

This is Elsie, another great grand, Ben and Carol's daughter. She is an 18 year old lady now!  She is in North Carolina now. Most of her life was in Utah.

So for today:

I normally just eat routinely.  Mostly the same 7 or 8 meals.  Might be more.  I seldom read recipes. But friend Myra listed a great sounding meat loaf. French Onion Meatloaf with Swiss Cheese.  I copied it and planned to try it.  Well today I did.  Since I have a little more time on my hands I tried it.  First of all since I gave up the pressure cooker and love the slow cooker, this one was right down my alley.  A Meat loaf in a pressure cooker!

True to  the recipe it was very fast to put together.  I was sure I had every thing required . I bought the 2 lbs of HB meat and swiss cheese on my $100 quick grocery run the other day. LOL But when I tried to find our Worchester sauce, NADA. So I used A1.  AND THEN when I started to caramelize the onions I ran across the Worchester, so I added some to my Onions.

Sherry asked what was going to be my sides?  I said I am fixing meatloaf, that should do it.  She asked if I cared if she added green beans and mashed potatoes.  Of course I said do it.

Everything was a hit, and yes, Myra, the meatloaf got a thumbs up from Sherry and Jack Jr. Sherry’s addition plus fresh tomato was great also.

We have some great left overs.

Nite Shipslog

PS

The BEST to who read, and I appreciate you taking the time to stop by.

Just me

Photo of the day:

 

You would love G Grand daughter Rose Mary of course, she is Ollie's sister. Daughter of Josh and Megan.

So for today:

This morning we had oatmeal.  It is good for cholesterol control. I normally add brown sugar but I did not . I was raised eating oatmeal with no sugar added.   I just wanted to see if I remembered. Yep, it was still good with no additions.

Sherry came back with visiting with old friends, she had a good time, telling me who was there, Of course I knew two or three of them but no more.  Down deep, I wish I did know them. She has so much fun reliving those times on the Mill Hills and still remembers who had which houses. That has got to be mentally satisfying thing.

I was thinking back of the time we moved to Valdese, NC. My dad was a pastor, the Valdese Church was  a politically LOUD church. The republicans sat on one side the Democrats on the other. That is the truth. They all had bumper stickers, ‘I like Ike’, or ‘Stevensen is my man’.  They wore their buttons, etc, BUT they all were brothers and sisters in the Lord. They had many lighthearted conversations, but there was never any MEAN statements, that I heard.

They all got along.  I am sick today and the mean statements my President makes.  He keeps making Terrible statements about President Biden. Not even any sympathy for the cancer Biden is enduring. Don’t get me wrong, I was not a Biden man but he was my president. He is out. It is time to start accepting responsibility rather than playing the blame game.

Sorry about that I should have stayed with oatmeal. Or even the fact that grocery prices sure hurt my feelings. LOL.

Life is good to me, I am glad I am not paying $2000 a month rent!  How do people afford that?  We have a 3BR 2 Bath house three houses from us that rents for $2000 a month. I think two families and a college person lives there and shares the rent.

I am amazed at how anyone lives and pays the cost of living today/..  BUT we continue somehow.

I am honestly glad I am not raising a family now, and have less than 10 years to live (my estimation) . Right now, I would gladly accept dropping that to 1 or 2 years. However, I hope I can stick around to get my girl settled in her new home and we enjoy a sweet trip to the Dutch country and eat some fresh corn on the cob.

Take care, and MA, try to be good out there in Texas.  LOL

Nite Shipslog

PS

The BEST to who read, and I appreciate you taking the time to stop by

Groceries, $100

 Photo of the day:

 

This is just ONE of our beautiful great grands. this is Oliver Jack, son of Josh and Megan. Ollie is walking around now and talking up a breeze. I heard him ask one of his cousins once, "Now what is your name?"  Asked as clear as a bell.

NOW for today:

It was late, but we needed something from the grocery store. I volunteered to head out and pick up the short list.  I don’t know about everyone else, but we have a place for our continuing list of needs from the grocery store.  Tonight it was a short list. My girl likes vitamins and supplements. Not sure if you must sift thru the vitamin and supplements aisle or not, but that is like an Easter Egg hunt.  Well tonight I could not find the two she wanted, I ran the gambit 3 times could not find them. I did get the rest of the list (plus a little more of course, )

Do you realize I carried everything I bought into the house in one load, the cost for that load was a little over $100. Shucks, 2 and a half pounds of Coffee was about $19. I think I will get ‘Chock Full of Nuts coffee next time, it was $16 for 2 ½ pounds.  BTW does anyone out there use Chock Full Of Nuts?

On line the big grocery stores said they had to increase prices because of Tariffs. That is common sense. I ran two businesses in my lifetime.  It is a fact, if wholesale prices go up so must your prices. To keep a business viable your prices MUST go up, that is simple common sense. Without a reasonable profit margin, a business goes broke.

I am not griping (much) but when you are old you tend to LOOK BACK and say ,’Our grocery bill for a week now is over twice my total income for a month when we got married.’

I know things have changed, but even YOU say, wow, two years ago things cost much less.

Sherry and I Thank God we can still afford to buy groceries without worrying, ‘will the check clear the bank.’

Hey back to my life, I took time to sit and read during the day. Sherry sat in our favorite swing in the picnic area and talked an hour today. Life is good, especially when you look over at a beautiful wife.

Thank you guys for some sweet comments, and thanks to family and friends who read and do not comment.

I look forward to reading stuff here and spending time thinking of you and your lives.

Nite Shipslog

PS

The BEST to who read, and I appreciate you taking the time to stop by.

Sgt Ding Dong

 Photo of the day:

 

The Bow of an LST opens and you exit (drive out) onto a beach.

So for today:

As a young Marine, I was promoted to Corporal.  Until this  day a Marine is considered a ground pounder and rifleman, no matter his job. MEANING: if you are a cook, radio operator, clerk, computer operator (etc.) you can still be called on grab that rifle (which had better be clean and ready) shoulder that pack and hit the dirt.

Well, I was chosen to train as a radio relay operator. I finally earned a radio truck and a generator trailer. I had a two man crew. Our job was to set up antennas in remote territory between the front lines and the command post. My buddy Corporal Dallas Fletcher was picked for the same MOS (Job description) He had his own truck also.

 

Fortunately in 1956 I was never in a combat situation. BUT one day Master Sgt Bell (the man Dallas called Ding Dong, behind his back of course) called me in. “Darnell we have received orders to Turkey for NATO operations. You are my educated man, you have a GED. ;-0 You will load the ship, we will depart Morehead City on the ship, LST1167 the Westchester County.. You will load all our trucks, trailers and jeeps. Let me tell you something, My jeep better be the first thing off that ship! Remember a rule, 'Last thing on is the first thing off,' Got that?”

I looked at him and said, “No, I don’ understand, I ain’t never been on a ship, much less loaded one!”

“You will learn! Now get out of here and start planning, I have work to do!”

I was one scared 17 year old boy,  but like everything else in life we all take it as it comes. I met with senior Marines who had made cruises and learned a lot. And yep, Sgt Bell’s jeep was the first thing off when we landed in Turkey. . LOL

ALL of us have faced things that floored us. It might have been a job assignment, a doctor’s report, a pregnancy, a disappointed marriage, the loss of a loved one, or a million other life shattering things. ………We have learned…….. or will learn, JUST FACE IT! (Prayer also helps!) ………..

It is very possible you have faced more than I ever have. Both our sons have SUFFERED DIVORCES it hurt them of course. I have no idea if they know how much their parents suffered, just seeing them suffer.

If your children made it thru their early life without getting into drugs, you will never know how blessed you are.  I thought in my 80’s that my only sorrows would be deaths of loved ones. Boy oh boy, was I ever simple minded.  My friends, I say this with all the love I can muster, NO ONE knows the pain you can feel until the time someone you admired and loved dearly, allows Drugs to ruin their life and that of others…….IT HAPPENS!

Knowing our Lord, and having friends who mention you in prayer helps a lot!

Nite Shipslog

Repeat PS: God has been very good to me. I am a sorry Christian, but HE gave me THE GIRL HE knew I would need to keep me straight. Dumb boys, need a God who cares.  LOL