Time To Go, Again
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Posted:Jan 4, 2011 11:44 pm
Last Updated:Aug 10, 2014 5:06 am 15858 Views
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It's been a great past year. Finally finished my tours of duty and returned home only to discover I really didn't have a job to come home to. Several months of unemployment, invitation to a wedding of a woman I was dated, countless resumes sent out in vain, my savings starting to drain because I still have to make house payments, and feeling total despair. Then one day I opened a letter in the pile of bills that had collected over a few weeks and discovered that I had been offered a job, a real job. On the phone to inquire is they still wanted me, making some excuse that I had just received the letter, and feeling relief that yes, of course, the offer still stood and when could I start.
The same happened with my email. Sent out lots of clicks and winks and unanswered letters on various dating sites, but always feeling disappointed because no one really seemed to care about finding someone to start all over with.
I was cleaning out my junk mail folder a few months ago and I found an email from a dating site. Someone had sent me letter. My membership was about to expire. I checked out the letter from this person who seemed to be reaching out to a total stranger just as I had. Sent her an email on my last day on the dating site and she send a letter back before the account expired. We're starting to get to know each other.
This is note to let you know that this is going to be a great year. I've got a job, someone to keep me company, and a lot of good memories of friends and places I've been in the past few years.
I won't be here as often as I would like but then again I'll drop by once in a while to read some of my favorite bloggers.
May you all have a prosperous and a happy New Year!
Richard
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Twas the night before Christmas - Marine Corps version
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Posted:Dec 23, 2010 9:18 am
Last Updated:Apr 16, 2011 3:35 am 15010 Views
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Twas the night before Christmas, he lived all alone, In a one-bedroom house made of plaster and stone.
I had come down the chimney, with presents to give and to see just who in this home did live.
As I looked all about, a strange sight I did see, no tinsel, no presents, not even a tree.
No stocking by the fire, just boots filled with sand.
On the wall hung pictures of a far distant land.
With medals and badges, awards of all kind, a sobering thought soon came to my mind.
For this house was different, unlike any I'd seen.
This was the home of a U.S. Marine.
I'd heard stories about them, I had to see more, so I walked down the hall and pushed open the door.
And there he lay sleeping, silent, alone, Curled up on the floor in his one-bedroom home.
He seemed so gentle, his face so serene, Not how I pictured a U.S. Marine.
Was this the hero, of whom I'd just read?
Curled up in his poncho, a floor for his bed?
His head was clean-shaven, his weathered face tan.
I soon understood, this was more than a man.
For I realized the families that I saw that night, owed their lives to these men, who were willing to fight.
Soon around the Nation, the would play, And grown-ups would celebrate on a bright Christmas day.
They all enjoyed freedom, each month and all year, because of Marines like this one lying here.
I couldn't help wonder how many lay alone, on a cold Christmas Eve, in a land far from home.
Just the very thought brought a tear to my eye.
I dropped to my knees and I started to cry.
He must have awoken, for I heard a rough voice, "Santa, don't cry, this life is my choice I fight for freedom, I don't ask for more.
My life is my God, my country, my Corps."
With that he rolled over, drifted off into sleep, I couldn't control it, I continued to weep.
I watched him for hours, so silent and still.
I noticed he shivered from the cold night's chill.
So I took off my jacket, the one made of red, and covered this Marine from his toes to his head.
Then I put on his T-shirt of scarlet and gold, with an eagle, globe and anchor emblazoned so bold.
And although it barely fit me, I began to swell with pride, and for one shining moment, I was Marine Corps deep inside.
I didn't want to leave him so quiet in the night, this guardian of honor so willing to fight.
But half asleep he rolled over, and in a voice clean and pure, said "Carry on, Santa, it's Christmas Day, all secure."
One look at my watch and I knew he was right, Merry Christmas my friend, Semper Fi and goodnight.
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Merry Christmas
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Posted:Dec 23, 2010 1:29 am
Last Updated:May 15, 2013 12:06 am 15128 Views
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I have a lot to be thankful for this year. A new job, finally completed my recall to active duty and became a civilian again, and now maybe a chance to settle down in the coming year.
If you know the life I've lead the past year here's a bit of a reminder for those who would seek adventure in distant places.
Over the hills and O'er the Main,
To Flanders, Portugal and Spain,
The Queen commands and we'll Obey,
Over the Hills and far away.
Rick
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Vacation Over, Time to Work
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Posted:Nov 30, 2010 12:15 pm
Last Updated:Dec 23, 2010 9:37 am 16618 Views
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Wow!
I had a great vacation and now I have this really great job sitting in this nice office with a view of the brick side of a building.
Oh well, it is a job. It is going to pay the bills. It is not nine-to-five, more like five am to nine pm but that is what I am paid for. Plus, I get to rack up a lot of air miles traveling on the company's dime to some interesting places.
I could not believe all the nice people my relatives introduced me to during my stay in China. I was old enough to be the father of some of the young ladies but they didn't seem to care. Really nice and very well educated, some even with great jobs. Now, I am wondering if they are interested in me or in a chance to come to America. Regardless, the possibilities are endless. Just wish I had had more time to get out and visit more places.
High light of the trip was standing on the Chinese side of the border staring into North Korea. I visited the various Korean War monuments erected by the Chinese. Dandong seems to be like a frontier city on the outskirts of Chinese civilization. It has the high rises but in the back alleys you can find old buildings waiting to be torn down. People, probably squatters, live in them. In those areas, the smell is god-awful; probably they do not have any sewers.
Jilin was a wonderful experience. Met so many relatives I have never met but my parents kept introducing my sister and me to more and more. It seems that every night our dinner table was filled with total strangers to me but they all seemed to know my parents quite well.
This job is a god sent and I need to say that I am grateful for the friends who steered me to it. I was deployed overseas with my reserve unit. When I returned the company I had worked for had closed down my department and were in the process of laying off more workers. Under U.S. law, they had to offer me a job that paid as much as what I was earning before but then again there really was not a job there.
I was drawing unemployment while looking for that elusive job and during those four months, it was depressing. I had saved quite a bit while I was on active duty so I was slowly burning through my savings and often deferring a lot of expensive maintenance on my car and home. At least I can turn on the heat this winter in my small home.
Break is over. Time to get back to work.
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C S M O
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Posted:Nov 6, 2010 8:16 am
Last Updated:Nov 12, 2010 9:03 pm 15258 Views
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Military slang for "closing station moving on."
Fligh departs this afternoon and I need to catch a cab to the airport. Depart BWI enroute to Chicago to catch my flight to Shanghai with a stop over in Tokyo to change planes.
RICHARD (RICK)
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The Promised Land
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Posted:Nov 5, 2010 11:54 pm
Last Updated:May 15, 2013 12:15 am 14811 Views
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Over five thousand years ago, Moses said to the of Israel, "Pick up your shovels, mount your asses and camels, and I will lead you to the Promised Land."
Nearly 75 years ago, (when Welfare was introduced) President Franklin D. Roosevelt said, "Lay down your shovels, sit on your asses, and light up a Camel, this is the Promised Land."
Today, Congress has stolen my shovel, taxed my asses, raised the price of Camels and mortgaged the Promised Land!
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A Trip to China
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Posted:Nov 5, 2010 6:43 pm
Last Updated:Jul 30, 2012 12:43 am 15783 Views
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Finally, got my visa and picked up plane tickets this afternoon. Departing for Shanghai, Beijing, Jilin, and Dandong. I have always wanted to view North Korea but Dandong is as close as I can get. Oh, yeah, have to remember not to go walking along the unmarked border and accidentally stray into North Korea or I will be stuck in some hellhole of a prison for a heck of a long time.
Priority 1. Visit my cousins in Jilin.
Priority 2. Try out some authentic street food. Nothing special about it but it is what the common people eat.
Priority 3. Make it back in time to start my new job on the 29th.
The company I was working for went under while I was away so I did not have any reinstatement rights when I returned. It has been hell looking for work and this one was right out of the blue. This will be my last vacation for at least a year so need to enjoy it to the max.
RICK
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THE LONG GRAY LINE
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Posted:Nov 5, 2010 4:47 pm
Last Updated:May 15, 2013 12:16 am 16429 Views
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THE LONG GRAY LINE
Directed by John Ford
Released: 1955
Starring: Tyrone Power, Maureen O'Hara, Robert Francis, Donald Crisp
Review by John Corcoran
SYNOPSIS:
The life story of a salt-of-the-earth Irish immigrant, who becomes an Army Noncommissioned Officer and spends his 50 year career at the United States Military Academy at West Point. This includes his job-related experiences as well as his family life and the relationships he develops with young cadets with whom he befriends. Based on the life of a real person.
REVIEW:
The essential theme of all John Ford films is goodness. That goodness usually comes in the form of bringing civilization to the frontier in his many classic Westerns, but at times goodness was explored on a much more intimate scale, such as here in The Long Gray Line. His characters illustrate our own clumsy efforts to be better people, not by performing heroic acts but by leading lives with honesty and integrity hoping to be an example to those we love.
The Long Gray Line is the story of Martin “Marty” Maher (Tyrone Power) who served at West Point, the United States Military Academy, for fifty years. Marty is an Irish immigrant who right off the boat from Tipperary is assigned a job as a waiter and dishwasher at West Point. Quickly realizing that he is an inept waiter, Marty enlists as a noncommissioned officer and is assigned to the sports department. Under the tutelage of Captain Kohler (Ward Bond), Marty begins to find a home at West Point, including a wife, Mary O’Donnell (Maureen O’Hara). Eventually Mary brings his father (Donald Crisp) and brother (Sean McClory) from the old country as well.
Ford avoids the trap of turning to this film into another “dedicated teacher” movie, like Goodbye, Mr. Chips. In fact, most of the scenes while Marty is teaching athletics are played for comic effect. This light tone gently leads us into the more dramatic material. We see Marty’s failures as a waiter and as a swim instructor who cannot swim. Tyrone Power does a masterful job at Marty’s Irish temper running hot but masking deep love. His performance deftly combines comic timing and genuine pathos. Donald Crisp is also a delight as the elder Marty who becomes both advisor to West Point superintendents and bookie for that fateful 1913 Notre Dame-Army game, where a young Knute Rockne unleashed the forward pass.
Marty learns from and reflects far more the ethical traditions of West Point than any classroom subject. West Point is governed by a strict honor code that demands honesty at all times. Marty is, at first, resistant to the idea that one would admit to minor infractions without being caught. Over time this code of honor seeps into Marty and he defends it as his own. Ford uses it dramatically as well to set up the dilemma which provides the film’s moral climax.
Marty’s goodness, though, does not come from blind obedience to the army’s code. In fact, he honestly struggles with the object of West Point’s education. When students he has taught (and we have grown to know) die in World War I, he places a black ribbon across their yearbook page. His position requires him to know all too well the human cost of warfare. Ford juxtaposes the death of a favored cadet with the armistice celebration, causing Marty to quit West Point. He only decides to return after reading the letters sent to the soldier’s widow. Marty realizes that these young men train to have other soldiers put their lives in their hands. For those who reach West Point it is not only the achievement of their young lives’ ambition but also the beginning of a lifetime of leadership.
As Marty ages and loses his wife, his dedication to West Point is returned by the institution, which is predictable, but maintains an element of surprise in the hands of Ford. The film begins with a flashback as Marty explains to President Eisenhower that he should not be relieved of his duties because he is turning seventy. It is only at the end of the film, that we realize Marty was told that story so he could have a presidential audience and a military parade could be planned in his absence. Note too a moment at the parade, as a General standing near Marty wipes a tear from his eye with his gloves. It’s the perfect touch from a master director.
Hollywood tends not to make films like The Long Gray Line any more. Marketers will tell you that there is no “audience” for movies about ordinary people leading good lives, and they may be right. But I think we’ve lost something. There are likely countless Marty Mahers out there, and if we want more of them, we need other John Fords to tell their stories.
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Beware of Pride
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Posted:Nov 5, 2010 11:25 am
Last Updated:Nov 5, 2010 7:22 pm 14919 Views
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A pride of lions has dragged a man from a shower at a remote safari camp and mauled him to death.
Peter Evershed was dragged from the bathroom by five lions at a bush camp on Zimbabwe's border with Zambia.
The 59-year-old businessman had been on a fishing trip at the Chitake Camping site in northern Zimbabwe with his wife Jane.
According to Mashonaland West provincial police spokesman Inspector Clemence Mabgweazara, Mr Evershed was taking a shower under a tree near the campsite when he was surrounded by the pride.
"He screamed for help from other tourists who quickly drove to the scene flashing their lights in a bid to scare away the marauding lions," he said.
But the attack continued until safari operator Steven Pop fired shots in the air to scare off the lions.
However, by that time Mr Evershed had suffered a fatal throat wound, according to Zimbabwe's Herald Online.
Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force head Johnny Rodrigues said that a surge in poaching and illegal hunting has helped made the wild animals more aggressive.
Last month an elephant killed a visitor in a nearby area, and soon after a conservation activist died in a charge by a wounded buffalo.
Safaris have become an important revenue source for Zimbabwe, which has suffered from hyper-inflation in recent years.
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Election Day
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Posted:Nov 1, 2010 9:25 pm
Last Updated:Nov 5, 2010 11:41 pm 15383 Views
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2 November 2010 is election day in the United States.
Please exercise your right to vote.
Please vote early and vote often for the candidate or issue of your choice.
RICK
'sic vis pacum, para bellum'
"If you want peace, prepare for war."
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