Happy Birthday, Chief!

I lost track of the date, but on this one (Jan 16, 1918) my father was born. He died in 1977 from smoking. The ship is the USS Maccamaw, an oil tanker on which he served in the fifties.

Throwback Thursday

     On this day in 1903 the Wright Brothers made their historic powered aircraft flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
     And no, that's not Bill Crider in the background.

Today's Cartoon

     This is for my daughter Kristine. She'll know why.

Remembering John

It was 35 years ago today John Lennon was murdered. I felt I lost a friend that day. Let us not forget when he meant to the world of music and the world at large.

Remember Pearl Harbor

    And if you don't remember it, look it up.

Happy Birthday, Kristine

     My baby girl is 25. Wow, where did the time go? I'm proud and relieved to say she has grown into a sweet, intelligent, caring, responsible young woman who will have a child of her own in about six months. Happy birthday, baby girl. I love you.

Compliments of the Day

Don't eat too much, turkey, and remember that punctuation counts.

That Time Already?

     Yep, today is Sofia's birthday. Five years and getting feistier all the time.

     Happy birthday, Baby.

Announcing

     This is my younger daughter Kristine and her husband, Jacob. They have given me permission to announce that they are expecting a baby at the end of May. We're all very excited, of course. It's too early to tell what gender the baby will be, but if it's a girl the name they're set on is Klara.
     This will be my second grandchild. The other, Sofia, is my girl Stephanie's daughter. She'll be five on the 24th.

     Also, please don't mention this on Facebook. I guess they're saving that for themselves. Thank you.

Throwback Thursday

Same one I used last week, and if it gets ignored again I'll use it next week. Comment, dammit!

Happy Birthday, Stephanie

My older girl Stephanie.  From this...                  

...to this. Still beautiful after 26 years.

Throwback Thursday

Annapolis, Maryland, 1950. I would be about 2 1/2 years old. Why I'm running around in the yard in my skivvies is anyone's guess. 

Throwback Thursday

     The Servidio Sisters plus one. This is my mother and her sisters sometime in the 1930s, plus one woman I can't identify. Upper left is Sylvia, upper right is my mother Gloria, and lower left is my late Aunt Peggy. There was a fourth sister, Nancy, who died when she was 12 from polio, but I doubt she's the fourth member of this group.
     Sometimes they spell their name Servideo, sometimes Servidio, and no one seems to know which is correct. The translation is roughly Serves God, so I prefer Servidio.

Friday's Throwback Thursday

Thursday of last week my granddaughter, Sofia, went to her first day of pre-kindergarten. I'm happy and relieved to report that she loves it. Here are some pictures from that first day.

Lining up outside.

                                                 Her beloved FROZEN backpack.

                                            With mom, almost time to go inside.

                                               A stop at the indoor play area and bathrooms.

                                             In Room 12, awaiting breakfast and a fun day.

Throwback Thursday

In 1999 my girl Stephanie was really into Sailor Moon.

Throwback Thursday

The first LouieFest at Cheney Stadium, Tacoma, WA. I forget what year but it had to be about 2000. The goal was to have 1,000 guitars play "Louie, Louie" at the same time. Our guest conductor was Paul Revere, of Paul Revere and the Raiders. The turnout was around 750 guitarists, but it was fun and subsequent LouieFests had increasingly falling numbers. I was with Dave "Evan" Lewis and Brian "Tough Jim" Trainer. You can't miss me. I'm fifth from the right in the front row wearing a white t-shirt and bluejeans. Okay, me gotta go now.

Throwback Thursday

     When I was in the 595th Engineer Company (LE) in 1967-68 we had a mascot, a burro called Le. Le was pronounced Lee. The LE in our company designation stood for Light Equipment. How a mass of bulldozers, graders, scrapers (90,000 pounds), flatbed trailers, 5-ton dump trucks, and many more could be called "light" is beyond me. One guy told me it was because our crane had a maximum lifting capacity of only 20,000 pounds.
     Anyway, Le was kept on a long tether at an abandoned company area across the street from ours and alongside a small aircraft runway. He was mean. A sergeant who was assigned to feed him had to run for his life if he got too close to Le. Maybe the burro objected to being left in the 120-degree sun without companions all day. Who knows? In the bio I read on line he was credited with being friendly and living at the motor pool. Maybe that was before I arrived.
     Eventually, Le was shipped back to the States and ended up living the good life at Fort Riley.
     My clearest memory of him was that he made Spec-4 before I did. He made sergeant when he arrived at Fort Riley.
     In 1969 he was discharged to a farm in Kansas where he lived a long and happy life.

Throwback Thursday

     The Moops. A premiere shadow band from Portland and Tacoma. Members are, from left to right, Dave "Evan" Lewis, Cap'n Bob Napier, and Brian "Tough Jim Gaston" Trainer.

Happy Anniversary

Two years ago today my girl Kristine married Jacob Jorgenson. The rest is legend.

    It's also the anniversary of the moon landing. Remember that?

Belated Birthday Wishes

My older sister hit the big Seven-Zero mark on the 15th and I was too wrapped up in apa hacking to note it. It's a good thing she doesn't read this blog--or any blog for that matter. Let's see if I can find a photo.

     That's her in the middle with me on the left and cousin Georgie on the right. I'd date this about 1951.