Scandal in Toy Soldier Land

Director Peter Jackson (LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy) is a toy soldier collector. He even had figures created just for him. Jackson also shopped at the Michigan Toy Soldier Company. Rick Berry, owner of MTSC, is now accused of using Jackson's credit card to steal $189,000. A sad moment for the hobby. Berry's excuse is that the economy has made it difficult to keep his business going, and that he intended to repay the money.

Have a Scar?

Just thought you'd like to see the pretty scar on my shoulder. The one the doctor said would be a couple or three inches. Rick Robinson asked for an update, and all I can say is that the healing continues apace. Today's physical therapy was the hurtingest one yet, but I hope that means it's working. I may be able to ditch my sling in a few weeks and that will be a real benchmark.

Speaking of benchmarks, I ordered a Kindle and it arrived the day before yesterday. Yesterday I ordered my first download, WILD NIGHT, by Livia Washburn. I find it easier to read than a book right now because of my sore shoulder, and it's not too tricky to learn how to use it. Now, I love books and have no intention of abandoning them, but there are a few things better loaded into a Kindle, and some things only available in Kindle format, and for these I'm glad I have the device.

Health Update

I've been sleeping better and feeling saner. Better yet, I've been able to sleep in my bed as of yesterday, to the relief of everyone in the house. Physical therapy starts tomorrow. And tomorrow is another day.

Say hi to Anna May Wong.

Another Honor

Not for me, of course. I just read that my old buddy Dave "Evan" Lewis won the Robert L. Fish Award for his Skyler Hobbs short story "Skyler Hobbs and the Rabbit Man" in EQMM. Atta boy, Dave.

Pictured is Dave on the left, me in the middle, and Tough Jim Gaston on the right. Collectively we are The Moops.

A Visit to the Invalid

A friend wrote and asked me how I was doing. What follows is my response. Anna May Wong appears courtesy of my fever dreams.

Kill me! Don't wait another day, just killllll meeee! This is not living. There is no quality of life here. Sleep is elusive. Concentration is minimal. Food is unpleasant or dull. Time is a snail. For all I know I'm going cold turkey from the meds, which I'm trying to eliminate. You don't even want a hint of what my digestive tract is up to. There is no succor in TV, I can't read for long, I can't do anything that requires two hands, and I stink. Tomorrow I'll shower and sign up for physical therapy. Maybe go see the baby. The rain and gloom aren't helping, either. I have to sleep on the couch and it's very noisy out there when it rains. This was not what I expected from retirement. The good news is that it will all go away eventually and I'll be my old self again, perhaps even better. But until then life sucks.

Thank you for asking.

Yes, It Hurts Just Fine.

Since I got home from the hospital Friday I've slept, popped pain killers, and watched TV. Go Seahawks. That's it. I'm still wearing the same clothes I put on Friday morning, haven't shaved, and could stop a charging rhino with my offensive underarms. Not a pretty sight. Today I plan to shower, shave, and don fresh clothes. I'll also apply a new bandage to the incision.

Under the Knife

In a few hours I'll go in for rotator cuff surgery. I expect to spend the next 6-8 weeks as a one-armed man and doing even less than I normally do, which isn't much. This morning I practiced putting on my socks with my left hand. It's not easy. One of the pre-op instructions tells me to write YES on the shoulder that needs the surgery. I'm thinking of writing CONTINUED ON OTHER SHOULDER under that, and on my left shoulder writing ...WE HAVE NO BANANAS. Surgeons aren't the only cut ups at the hospital.

I forgot to mention that my daughters' Chihuahuas celebrated their 8th birthdays on Jan 3. Many happy returns, Toby and Tiny.

Can't get enough of Anna May Wong, so here's a picture of her when she was very young.

Back From the Cold

Yesterday I returned from a cabin outside Mt. Rainier Park where I spent five days doing nothing but eat, sleep, read, talk, and watch movies with four other fellows. The event is yclept Tankon. It was cold. The heaters didn't work well and the Franklin stove wannabe went out at night. When it was time to go home I found my car's doors and trunk frozen shut. It snowed a few inches. There's no running water, thus no chance to wash. We use an outhouse. One night the power went out three times, but not for long, thank ghu. And we all had a swell time. We don't have TV, radio, Internet connections, phones, or newspapers, but we have movies. We saw two movies with Anna May Wong and a documentary about her. It piqued my interest in this Chinese-American beauty and I did some web surfing about her last night. I felt very sad for her. She was an intelligent, talented, accomplished woman who never reached star status in the US because of the prevailing bias against minorities. In fact, she was forbidden by miscegenation laws to kiss any white actors on screen, even if they were appearing in yellow face as Asian characters. She died of heart failure at age 56, way too young.

Happy New Year.

Happy Christmas Day

By now you've all opened your presents, eaten to surfeit, and are basking in the afterglow. I hope it was a fine day and you got what you wanted. I ended the day at the casino, where the spirit of giving was alive and well. The place was packed to the rafters.

Merry Christmas Eve

Allow me to present a small token of joy in the spirit of the season. I plan a long, busy day with a house full of in-laws plus my daughters, granddaughter, and her daddy. What's not to like? Any football on?

True Grit

True Grit opened today and I caught the 12:50 show. You probably know the basic plot: 14-year-old Mattie hires grizzled Deputy Marshal Rufus "Rooster" Cogburn to track down Tom Cheney, who'd killed and robbed Mattie's father. Also on Cheney's track is a Texas Ranger, LeBoeuf, who wants to return Cheney to Texas on a murder charge. This doesn't sit well with Mattie, who wants Cheney to suffer for the crime against her father. This leads to conflict on the trail as the trio set out to find their quarry, believed to have thrown in with the Ned Pepper gang.

The movie is by turns gritty, funny, touching, suspenseful, and uplifting. Mattie's sense of moral purpose and Cogburn's world-weary manner provide a fine contrast and grist for many an amusing exchange. The same goes for the one-upmanship moments between Rooster and LeBoeuf. Also, the grim experiences Mattie has along the trail transform her from a pushy kid to a more self-aware young woman. The actress who played the part is excellent, as are all the other players.

I hope this movie will be enjoyed by the great unwashed and not just Western fans, and it leads to more quality films in the genre being produced. I loved it. Even the damn fool on the other end of the aisle who felt the need to audibly react to every scene didn't sully my enjoyment of the movie. I loved it and recommend it wholeheartedly.

As you might have guessed, the illo here has nothing to do with the film.

Catching Up

I've been silent lately and there are reasons. One is my right shoulder. I have a torn rotator cuff (all those years as a big league pitcher took their toll). Typing for more than a few minutes is very painful. I'll probably have surgery in January for that and it'll take about six months to be back to normal. For part of that time I'll be a vertiable left hander, and that will make typing very difficult, if not impossible. Today I talked to a doctor about prostate cancer. I don't have it, and I'm in a low risk category, numerically speaking, but just to be safe I'm going to have a biopsy, also in January. I've also been doing the usual Xmas stuff and corrupting my older girl with a couple of trips to the casino (I'm ahead $122, she won, too).

Pictured is my granddaughter, Sofia, at about three weeks, with her mother.

It seems like the latest overused phrase in advertising these days is "amazing." Seems like everything you can buy is amazing. Amazing salad, amazing service, amazing experience, amazing scarf. How easily are people amazed?

Remembering John Lennon

I'm a huge fan and admirer of John Lennon. I clearly remember my sorrow the day he was murdered, and my anger when I learned his killer got life instead of death. Thirty years ago today he died, but his music is as fresh and enjoyable to me today as it was then and all the way back into the sixties. When I was 17 I was in a garage band called The Violations. This was 1965 so of course we sang a lot of Beatles songs (those we could, a lot were beyond our ranges). I usually sang the John parts in our harmonies, making me feel an extra kinship with him. I sure wish he was around today.

Remember Pearl Harbor

A day that will live in infamy, or until a few generations pass and everything's forgotten. Well, the Cap'n remembers. I had an uncle who was wounded during the attack and since I grew up as a Navy brat most of the adult males I knew were veterans of the war in the Pacific. Here's to them.

Happy Birthday Kristine, Again

I wanted to show a more recent photo of the baby. This is it.

Happy Birthday Uncle Georgie

On this day in 1839, American hero and soldier George Armstrong Custer was born in New Rumley, Ohio. He died for our sins at the Little Big Horn on June 25, 1876.

Happy Birthday Kristine

My baby is 20 today, and every moment has been one of pure joy.

Done and Done

Retirement. As MLK said, "In the words of the old Negro spiritual, free at last, free at last, thank God A'mighty, we are free at last!" That's the editorial we, there. It was a quiet, uneventful day. I did my final processing, cleaned out the few remaining items from my locker, said adios to a couple of people, and drove away. I admit to giving vent to a rousing rebel yell as I passed through the main gate, but otherwise there was no celebration. I didn't want one.

When I was working I always hoped for jury duty. I found being on a jury interesting and I prefered being at the courthouse to being at work. Plus, I still got paid and didn't have to take leave. But I didn't get tasked for jury duty this year, until...
I got my mail this afternoon and found a jury summons therein. My reporting date is the same day as my official retirement in January. Nice timing, people.

One More Day

Really, six-tenths of a day. Today I got signed out by a bunch of organizations/sections (clinic, finance, pass & ID, etc) and tomorrow I do the final two. I made sure I gave back my Restricted Area Pass and Flightline Competency Card so I can't do any work tomorrow. It'll be soooo nice to stay in bed in the morning, to avoid the freeway traffic, and to get busy on my many projects around the old homestead.

Two Days to Go

I plan to spend as much of my final two days (one day, six hours to be exact--I work 10-hour days) clearing the base. That is, going hither and yon getting boxes on a sheet of paper signed off by various people in various sections.

Evan Lewis wondered what image I'd use to illustrate two. I thought about The Dynamic Duo or one of the better comedy teams, but these innocent lasses from the brush of Milton Caniff seemed more appropriate.

Lately I've seen a lot of people using "hoard" when they mean "horde." A hoard is hidden or stored fund or supply (I looked it up) and a horde is a swarm or throng, as of people, animals, or insects. If you're going to write or edit, you need to know these things.