How early did your Life’s dream start?

 One of a Kind:

1980 BMW M1

For today:

I don’t remember Pearl Harbor.  But I do remember my brothers volunteering and joining the Navy. That is the first time I remember being PROUD of my brothers, I was 3 or 4 years old when they were off to WAR! I admired them in uniforms. It changed my view from big brothers to HEROs in uniform.

So I always wanted a uniform.  I wanted to see the world. That dream never left me, even at 16 I tried to lie and forge to get in the USMC.  I was doing great until the swearing in ceremony, when I was caught.

 The SBI agents scared this kid to death. Threats of charges I had accumulated…………… “BUT the Corps has agreed to forget it, if you promise to join when you are of age.

Of course I said, “YES SIR I promise!”  LOL  Then of course on my 17^th BD I headed back. ;-)

That was the beginning of my adult life. Let me tell you.  Parris Island (Pleasure Island) can ALMOST kill a dream LOL.  In the Corps I did make a Mediterranean Cruise, visiting Spain, Italy and Greece.

There is a lot of story in between, but after my release from the USMC, in a few weeks that I joined the Air Force. We lived in only two states: Mississippi and Missouri.

An Airman looking at his first son....

Taking a break from the military after the USAF, I found a home………..

The song, “I joined the Navy to see the World!” is a fact. Not every sailor gets to, but I did get to travel a lot.

(That is a hand carved meerschaum pipe from Turkey!)

BUT to my dream, it did come true. ....... The Veteran gets a lot of attention in the USA. But the forgotten heroes are the families, especially the wives who have the weight of the family during deployments.  I am afraid too, that the children of the military are also BENT because the lack of two parents and the many moves making the lack of life time friends.

My LADY has never complained once, and she has carried some heavy weight.

Finally, a chief and his lady!

I think in every life there must be a few wishes for ‘Do-overs,’ but all in all, in this, the twilight of my life; mine are few. God and Life have been VERY good to me (In spite of myself!).

(Sorry to waste your time, but thanks for stopping by, it makes me smile, especially the comments. (Loved the last couple days especially!)

How early did you have THE dream?

Nite Shipslog

PS:

The metal roof

 One of a Kind:

The GTO conversion 

For today:

I never knew a grandpa, I remember 'seeing' Grandpa Darnell, but do not remember him.  BUT I do remember Great Grandpa Hilly. When we spent the night with him or his son Inman, I remember hearing rain hit the roof and it put me to sleep.  What a peaceful sound that was.

As a builder I never used metal as roofing except on storage buildings. Today metal is more in demand, I think someone decided color and designs would sell more and I think it has. Asphalt shingles are warranted for 20 & 30 years according to the quality. Metal can be warranted from 40 years to lifetime.  Lifetime always scares me, many companies do not last that long. LOL

Questions on homes today…

1.. So you have an opinion on metal and asphalt roofing?

The metal roof?

2.. We still prefer carpet (especially in the bedroom). Hardwood is in demand a lot today, especially the new slap-down synthetic wood. It is very durable and cost effective.

…do you prefer carpet or hardwood?

3. As a rule we have painted the interior of our homes all one color, usually an off-white.  Many customers wanted at least two colors. Usually the kitchen a different color.  Do you have a prefer?

4. Front and rear stoops became popular at the end of my building experience; lately I see a few more porches.  Do you prefer a porch or stoop?

Sherry & I like porches because we spent a lot of time smooching on her front porch. LOL  

That porch held a lot of memories. Above is Sherry and her Brother Vernon in front of the porch. Below is her Sister Lennie & Elmer dating on the same porch.

This is just for fun, my curiosity gets me at times. LOL

Nite Shipslog

PS:

Interesting (to me)

 One of a Kind:

 1964 Tasco (The front fenders must turn with the tire!)

                        For today:

Okay, my hip is WELL. I think the back pack pushed too much on my left side at my beltline. I walked a couple days with no pack, then lightened it a bit for a test. I walked 4.5 miles in about 2 hours, no problem. So I am back on track….

I am seeing things on the nature trail by the swamp. I did not notice before. This flower garden by our neighbor down the street has certainly blossomed out. Las year she sat on the ground and dug all the grass out and planted these flowers.

BUT I am noticing my camera is not picking up color as it should. These colors are BRIGHT! Not like the photo.

These flowers jumped out in my mind. The flower at the top was bright yellow standing out. Canal to the left trail on the right.

 

This plant on the swamp edge I am calling the Red Cork Screw is so stinking neat. It appears orange in the shot but it is bright RED. The red is like a cork screw around a stem. Neat.

This one I was super disappointed in the camera results. This mushroom looked EXACTLY like a fried egg sunny side up. When I put the picture on here is was only a white circle. I added back the yellow. The real thing was more yellow than this,   …. HONESTLY

Must be the holiday season, the canal which is actually Haines Creek, was the busiest I had seen it. Picture taken at the end of the trail that dead ends at the creek (canal).

This area is known as the ‘Chain of lakes’. Haines creek connects Lake Griffin and Lake Eustis.

 

Nite Shipslog

PS:

Dogs and cats

 One of a Kind:

 

1953 RAdical Ford Custom

Some thoughts for today:

All my life I have preferred Dogs over cats as pets.  I have had both. But since I have been walking, hands down, it is CATS I prefer.

AT least 8 houses I walk past have dogs behind fences.  They run back and forth behind the fence barking loudly. A few are barking and wagging their tails. BUT some are barking, growling hackles up and NOT wagging tails.

The ones that are attack dogs. Pits or kin to Pits, sorta scare me. Just in the past few days ago, a German Shepherd (which I would prefer for protection) looked menacing as he ran behind a fence. He jumped at the top of the fence and finally got his front legs over before falling back. Shook me up some.

I see about 15 cats, they leave me alone. They don’t hiss, screech, meow or growl at me..  They mostly act like I bore them. LOL

I am thinking of finding an attack cat to accompany me on my walks!

NiteShipslog

PS:

Things HAPPEN and Things I see!

 One of a Kind:

 A 1963 Czeck Fire Truck

For today:

I have been off my walks, I sorta strained my hip a bit. I walked about 5 miles on Wednesday without the back pack.

I have been picking up trash on my walks. Picking up near a church and the deserted house on our street. I finished the church today after two days, I am still working on the deserted house.

I know most of you don’t want to see this, but I talked to this guy for two days on the trail. He had only moved a few inches in two days. This one is sluggish too. I believe somehow the moccasins must have been poisoned or got hit by a boat engine propeller.  I put him off into the swamp, it is a nice big one:

Oh to show you how much traffic we have here, someone drew these on one of our roads. I can’t imagine how much time it took to color this display…

 

When I see this litter, the same type of cups. Does a person buy them up the road at the same convenience store and finish them here and throw out the cup?

It is Thanksgiving, and I am thankful my hip seems to be back in backpacking shape. I think I will start back tomorrow.

I also talked to these two today, they didn’t say if they were the same ones I saw a few days ago

Seeing these Feather legged chickens reminded me of one I had for a pet in the 7th grade.

Nite Shipslog

PS:

Thanksgiving

 One of a Kind:

 1962 Covington Tiburon  (Built and sold in the Tampa/St. Pete area)

For today:

We attended First Assembly of Eustis Sunday. Son Jack had visited this church and enjoys the friendship and fellowship he feels.  We are growing to like it also.

In His sermon Sunday the pastor gave personal examples in his life when as a youth when he was not thankful.

He went on to say, he had learned a lot from those times and we all can learn from errors. He stated I AM THANKFUL FOR THIS GREAT COUNTRY, I hear some disparaging remarks at times about lost rights, I find it hard to see them.  We are free to be here in this building to worship God in a way we feel best. No one will come thru that door and order me to stop or take me to jail.

WE have wonderful people in this country.  Just look over this congregation; in churches thru out this land the same thing is happening. Many kids are in church learning about Jesus.

If I get the urge I can step out that door and yell “PRAISE GOD!”

There are Christian Missionaries in countries that would be killed for saying they love Jesus IN PUBLIC.  Yet in this country I am free to praise His Name. I can get a permit for a public gathering and stand on the streets and Praise His Name.

--------     -------------    --------

ME? ……. I have said it many times myself, I love this country and I am thankful I was allowed to serve a country that pledges allegiance to its flag in this way:

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.",

I KNOW we haven’t always had over all equal treatment  BUT BELIEVE ME in my lifetime I have witnessed MUCH PROGRESS, no we haven’t arrived completely, but we have gained immensely since my teens.  WE have many good folks in this country and some fools. But I thank God this country was based on the 10 commandments, and basically the Christian Faith.

I am thankful for that.

I am thankful for my COUNTRY, my WIFE (Who is my sweetheart), family, friends and His Blessings to us all. 

GOD BLESS AMERICA!

Nite Shipslog

PS:  JUST BE THANKFUL!!!

 

Leroy Lettering set... Just thinking, So, I ask you ???

One of a Kind:

1959 Scimitar 

For today:

I wanted to ask some questions, but I ran across this picture. I am probably the only one who has never seen or heard this about twins. Since Jack & Cindy gave us two great dudes as twins I wanted to show what I ran across....

NO that is not Joshua and Stephen........

Now more for today!

1.. What is something you have, but you should throw it away? …….. but you  probably won’t!

a.  A Slide rule.

b.  A complete ***Leroy Lettering set, an amazing tool for draftsmen of old….

***See the PS if you have not seen how the Leroy worked.

2.  What course in HS or College Did you prefer?

a. Anything to do with Mathematics.

3… Contrary wise, which courses did you like less, and wish you had paid more attention?

a.        Hands down, English. I did enjoy diagramming but was playing on the moon in my head during tenses and usage.  I regret NOT LEARNING the ENGLISH language.

4. … Did you ever buy a car due to what was called ‘car fever?’ (Just got to have that one!!!!)

a.  Yes, once I traded a perfectly good Rambler for a 1968 Malibu.

----If you want to, answer one or all.  I was sitting here thinking of that Leroy lettering set in our basement. What a great tool, but useless now with computer printers and transfers.

---The Slide rule I used only in the short time I studied surveying at Gaston Tech (Now Gaston College) 1967-68 time frame.

Nite Shipslog

PS: *** How the lettering worked. There were many pens, sizes, fonts, slants etc in the templates?

A pin C traced the template and the pen E transferred the letter.

YOU are important!

 Today’s One-of-a-Kind:

 1958 Edsel Snow Plow (loader)

NOTE: I could read my e-mails for 2 days. Still could not comment on several blogs. Now the e-mails are gone again. I am used to searching (now it is googling), and every search returns 'site cannot be located.' 

Some thoughts for today:

Do you know someone that when talking to them, you FEEL like you are important? 

A few doctors I have seen give me the impression that I am the center of their mind. Others seem to have their minds somewhere else.  I believe that comes from the medical world today that says “You will see 6 patients an hour.” Sherry has a Dr. facing something like that. They are forced to retreat from the FAMILY DOCTOR, to a business.

I have had men treat me special, when I could do something for them. BUT I knew one man, S.A. Lankford, who could make me feel like I was important to him.  All the time I knew his success in the administrative world was for that reason. He was a POSITIVE people person.

Get my point? It is like the good friend who listens, REALLY listens to you. And the same goes for us, we like it when someone really listens to us.

Now that I am older I forget words MORE OFTEN. My secret, when I am typing this blog, at times I cannot think of a word and I will use xxx and come back to it. I have already done it in this entry, twice.

You KNOW many people (maybe YOU) chastise themselves.  My sweetheart is one. She puts herself down. Actually she is one of the smartest people I have known.  She sure has saved my bacon with suggestions in our marriage and corrections to my English. She was part of that Beta Club bunch in School, but to hear her say it, ‘I was just Lucky!’ HA, yeah right!

She makes me feel important….. (but she is supposed to do that. Right? LOL)

Good listeners can make us feel good about ourselves.

My sweetheart can talk on the phone for up to an hour with friends, they banter back and forth. Most men are on the phone and off in less than 5 minutes. HOWEVER Sherry has one friend from her past and church. A couple times a year they do talk,  Sherry’s side of the conversation is: “oh’, ‘yes,’ “I remember”, “ummmm” ‘You did?’ ‘great’, ‘uh huh,’ etc. Seldom does Sherry use a full sentence, and at times the call is an hour.

To some folk’s life is just “ME!”

NiteShipslog

PS: