Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Culture

Full Military Honors

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Damsel’s Dad passed from us last week and today he was sent off with full military honors. He was a veteran of the US NAVY in the late 1940s through the early 1950s. The Cold War was fully in progress, and Dad’s Squadron was right in the thick of it all. He was a flight crew member and flew missions on the Navy version of the old B24 – the PB4Y-2 ‘Privateer.’ He flew missions all over the Mediterranean, Europe, the North Atlantic Ocean and back to the US for logistics and repairs.

The sailors who performed the honors were squared away and precise in their execution. We stood and saluted as one sailor sounded taps. The other sailor and the officer carefully and precisely folded the flag with crisp movements and presented the flag to Damsel’s Mom.

We will miss Dad, who was a wonderful family man and a really great guy.

24 Jun 2009 by Culture Everyday Heroes Military

Happy Fathers Day!

Happy Fathers Day to all the fathers out there! If you’re a father, take some time to let your kids admire your wonderfulness. If you’re a son or daughter, spend some time with Dad. If your father is no longer with us, spend some time remembering and thinking about him.

Have a great day everyone!

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21 Jun 2009 by Culture

Ready for Gun Blogger Rendezvous ’09

gbr09.pngFor the last week or so, we have been making arrangements to attend the Gun Blogger Rendezvous which will be at the Silver Legacy Hotel in Reno, Nevada. The event is scheduled for September 10-13, 2009. We’ve sent off our registration and made the hotel reservations, so all we need to do is fill in some details for the trip (we’re driving from the Los Angeles area), like staying near Yosemite NP on the way up and the Owens Valley on the way back. We’re looking forward to going to Reno.

Over the years, we have visited Reno many, many times, enjoying every visit. We’ve been going to Reno ever since it really was “The Biggest Little City in the World.” Don’t get us wrong, we like the bright lights and big hotels in the New Reno, but we’re also quite nostalgic about the way it was.

In August of 2007, we posted about Reno’s famous welcome sign. Here is the original article repeated here:

Pigeon Dung and Reno’s Famous Sign

reno-old.jpgAfter reading news accounts about the contribution of pigeon dung to the collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis, I was reminded about how pigeons similarly factored into the destruction of the famous “RENO – The Biggest little city in the world” sign that spans the entrance to the downtown gambling district. I recall reading a the story in the 1980’s about how the old sign became inhabited by pigeons that roosted or nested in the sign. They got in through gaps in the sign and, of course, pooped while they were in there.

Image right: Reno sign, 1980’s – click to enlarge

reno-new.jpgEventually, despite having been evicted several times by the city’s maintenance crews, the pigeon problem persisted until one day there was an electrical short-circuit in the sign. The methane from the dung ignited; there was a minor explosion and a fire afterwards that damaged the sign beyond repair. The sign was removed and subsequently replaced by a newer Vegas-style beauty which electronically beckons visitors to the downtown district. While it’s a beautiful sight, the new sign doesn’t have the old sign’s charm and breaks the promise for a “little city” beyond. Recent visitors to the new Reno, if they knew the old Reno, will know what I mean.

Image left: New Reno sign – click to enlarge

As for pigeons? They’re just rats with wings.

16 Jun 2009 by Blogosphere Culture Second Amendment

Memorial Day 2009

Many in the USA celebrate this holiday as the beginning of the summer season and our household is no exception. We are in the midst of a barbecue weekend and are enjoying it all. But we are also thinking about our fallen heroes in all disciplines of public service, be it first responders, law enforcement and most importantly, our men and women who gave their all in military service. God bless them all.

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Our centerpiece this weekend is this patriotic bouquet. Click image to enlarge.

24 May 2009 by Culture Everyday Heroes Military

Four Corners Location is (mostly) Correct

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Google Earth

The actual location of the Four Corners Monument is off a bit, but not by the 2.5 miles reported by the Associated Press and a Salt Lake City newspaper.

However, legally (and symbolically), the Four Corners Monument is, indeed, on the spot where the borders intersect, since the Supreme Court of the United States decreed it to be so in 1925. Political boundaries are, after all, at the behest of politicians and judges.

four-corners-gm.jpg
Google Maps

However, the actual intersection of the defined longitude and latitude may be as far away from the monument as six hundred meters.

I found the Four Corners monument using both Google Earth and Google Maps. Even between the two Google sources, they disagree. They both show a segment of border that runs slightly west from the monument. I could find no reference to the anomalous segment.

I checked several other on-line map sources and no two agree. Some show the anomalous border segment and some do not.

The Arizona Geology Blog has a brief post about the confusion.

Wikipedia has already picked up on the cause of the erroneous report:

The Four Corners Area is generally defined as a circle around the Four Corners Monument located at 36° 59″ 56.31532′ N by 109° 02″ 42.62019′ W. A series of news stories from April of 2009 indicated that more recent surveys had determined that the intersection of the corners was not where it was intended to be.

However, the news stories used whole degree co-ordinates, not accounting for the fractional degree offset between the Washington Meridian, standard used at the time, and the current standard, the Prime Meridian. In addition, general U.S. land principles, law, and the Supreme Court have determined that the location of the monument is the legal corner of the four States.

Click on either image to enlarge.

This picture shows Damsel standing on the Four Corners Monument the last time we were there.

Four Corners

22 Apr 2009 by Culture Media

California Poppy

california-poppy.jpgFinally! My poppies were late coming out this year, but they’re finally coming out just in time for California Poppy Day on April 6th next week.

I took this picture of one of the poppies out back this morning. Click on the image to enlarge.

Some information on the California poppy from WikiPedia:

The California poppy is the California state flower. It was selected as the state flower by the California State Floral Society in December 1890, winning out over the Mariposa lily (genus Calochortus) and the Matilija poppy (Romneya coulteri) by a landslide, but the state legislature did not make the selection official until 1903. Its golden blooms were deemed a fitting symbol for the Golden State. April 6 of each year is designated “California Poppy Day.”

California poppy leaves were used medicinally by Native Americans, and the pollen was used cosmetically. The seeds are used in cooking.

The Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve is located in northern Los Angeles County, California. At the peak of the blooming season, orange petals seem to cover all 1,745 acres (7 km²) of the reserve.

27 Mar 2009 by Culture Home & Garden

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