Friday Check In

Hope all is improving Jeff!
Devotion is a blessing!

Hey folks how is everyone doing tonight? another warm day that turned to rain but stayed warm. Long week of work.

We have had family over for 2 months they are flying back next week so the house will be way quieter which is good and bad. You enjoy all the energy but its a lot of work. Relatives love to come for summer. I am getting out of the summer hotel business its too much work.

Whats going on with everyone? I want full deets..

Jeff how is the missus? we are all sending good vibes and pet sounds.

Mrs. Ghemrats is now in rehab for two weeks, so life is looking up. It turns out her pneumonia was not reserved to the lungs as we originally thought, but went right into her bloodstream, hence the eight days in ICU. But good vibrations are helping. God only knows what I'd be without her. . .

She's so busy in rehab that she told me to stay home and rest today. I am. When my sons were home for a couple days we saw *Spider-Man Far From Home* and Tarantino's *Once Upon A Time In Hollywood*--in my mind two winners. Daughter-in-law Number Two did not care for Quentin's re-imagined reality, preferring the last twenty minutes were not filmed, but my baser nature overruled my humanity for a few minutes, and I loved it.

So it's a weekend of slow moving cleaning of the house while listening to good music. Thanks again to all who wished us well.
Jeff

Enjoying the revitalized Mets in the baseball race. Three weeks ago there was no chance. We're getting ready to see the team in KC next week, so we'll be in a city we've never had a chance to enjoy before. Should be great fun. And I may get a collector interview in the process, or at least arrange one.

Today (Saturday) I visit a dojo for a three-hour workout with a teacher in Uechi-Ryu, one of the most different styles practiced in Okinawa. But he was also a student in the style I first learned, so it's a curious blend of things that he knows and does. Looking forward to seeing his students again.

Well, it's the weekend and I have a seemingly cut and dried project, which I expect to turn into long term miasma of frustration. A few months ago, I replaced my primary computer with a new a hot diggity I-7 7700 system. The old one is an AMD 6 core system, with lots of ram, 4 TB of storage and a 4 gig video card. It also has two empty drive bays and lots of life left in it, so I think I'll turn it into a home media server. Ideally, it would also serve to stream from while on the go. But that's not a necessity. And I worry about leavin' a huge hole in my network security. Since I've never tried this particular flight of fantasy before, I've gotta learn all of the software and how it interacts with my network, my security software and my VPN. And I've gotta decide which server and client software best suits my needs.

My very first preparations are a fresh pot of strong coffee and a large bottle of ibuprofen. Wish me luck.

Well, it is not Friday but it's the first chance that I have had in a few weeks to check in. Life sometimes gets in the way - in a good way - but still... I thought things would slow down when I retired - just sayin... (more in another post).

Ghemrats, so very happy to read that your Mrs. is in rehab and on the way to recovery. Mrs. Bill and I celebrate 33 years this week and she is still the love of my life so I think I understand the concern you must have felt when she was in the hospital.

Again, so very, very happy she is on the way to recovery.

Bill

Many thanks for your kind thoughts, Bill. Congrats on 33 years.
Jeff

Friday check in folks. We can all breathe a huge sigh of relief knowing Mrs ghemrats is on the mend. Was a warm muggy day in Ireland with torrential rain. Was lovely day for me as I have six days off and I already spent two of them sleeping. So perfection. Its been a busy year so far with more busy to come.

Very excited as Nov 1st-3rd we have a vinyl festival with loads of DJ's spinning classics. Guy from BBC is coming to spin the 50th Anniversary Let it Be Beatles album and discuss all things Beatles. Other sessions discussing movie sound tracks. Some older Irish bands will be there to discuss their albums. Plus and this is big loads of vendors in the crate area with bins full of vinyl. I will be there with my list looking for gems as will thousands of others. So thats gonna be grand. I will report on that as it happens and load pics and any treasure I might uncover.

Today I finished off 5 hours of Apollo programs I had recorded and relived the events that I followed as a wide eyed kid looking up at the moon and on the edge of my seat to hear any news of the missions. What an amazing achievement.

Whats new with everyone?

It's another Friday and I'll be fine tunin' the software I set up last weekend. I actually ended up with two media servers temporarily. Mostly, because everything is more convenient to work on, on the new computer. But that is definitely temporary. My biggest issue is learnin' the server software and correctin' my blunders due to optimism. Nuthin' beats a good cynical nature when it's time to learn new software.

But I'm totally lovin' it. And so is Mrs. Space Cadet. Once I get the menu system set up to display the way I want it, I'll start addin' more and more content. Based on the current size of my digital collection and the rate that I add new movies and TV series', it looks like I'll be fillin' one of those empty drive bays sooner rather than later. But that's an easy project.

I'd like to add my own anniversary wishes to Mr. and Mrs. "Wild" Bill_Atkins. Be well and be happy old friend. And remember: Life is a journey, not a destination. But the best lives are those treated like an adventure.

Space

Today the Ghemrats Son #2 and his lovely wife are coming over for a day trip to help celebrate the old man's birthday--a faint 67 in the shadow of Toebig. So we'll all be heading over to rehab to have some cake with Joyce as she starts the last leg of her stint there. With luck she'll be home this next week. Many thanks go to all who've wished her a speedy recovery--the well wishes worked.

It's getting muggy in Michigan, perhaps borrowing the barometric pressure from Ireland, but the sun's out so all's good.
Cheers to all.
Jeff

Happy Birthday Jeff have a great day with family. Eat 7 slices of cake for me just in case that was what I was not going to do when I am around cake...

Congrats on 67 ghemrats, if you hurry you might catch me as I'm getting slower with age.

Tom

Congratulations to Jeff and Tom on their Birthdays.
I begin another year today.


I am reflecting on two of the greatest influences on my life:
my Father, a career soldier and veteran of World War II and Korea who saw over 300 days of front-line, combat duty
and
an officer who  I served with for 17 months.
Both men are gone, but still exist vividly in my mind.

Until I enlisted in the Army, I did not realize how much I had learned from my Father about the Army, how it functions, and leading soldiers. I attribute much of my success in the Army to him.

I bought myself a birthday present that probably won't arrive until October.  I greatly anticipate its arrival.  It was 8 years in the making.
A biography, “Boy on the Bridge” written by Andrew Marble, of the finest officer I had the honor of serving under:
my then battalion commander Lt. Colonel John Shalikashvili
who later became a Four-Star General and the first immigrant to become Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

I was singularly blessed to have several memorable experiences in my four-years of Army service.
My Basic Training platoon sergeant was a Medal of Honor recipient.

I met and talked with Bob Hope who was an old friend of my then girlfriend.

I served under Lt. Col. Shalikashvili.

I saluted President Carter, one-on-one, in a chance encounter.

I first met then Lt. Col. Shalikashvili the day of the battalion change-of-command ceremony.  It was pure chance.  

Our out-going battalion commander knew that I had, what was then considered high tech: a non-digital, 35 mm camera.  I was asked (ordered) to take pictures at the change-of-command ceremony and ensuing reception. Both officers liked the pictures.

A friend at battalion HQ said Col. Shali (as he liked to be called) had asked questions at a staff meeting about who were the key individuals in the battalion in several important programs:  including Special Weapons, training, supply, and scrounging.  (My name came up for each category.)  Col. Shali let the Battery Commanders know that he would be informally talking to those people.  My friend told me that I would be hearing from Col. Shali.  

The next day I was walking in the battalion area when I saw Col. Shali approaching. I saluted him and offered the courtesy of the day, “Good Morning, Sir.”  He returned my salute and then said, “Sgt. Wright will you please walk with me.”  

He asked me about my background in and out of the Army.  When I told him I was an Army Brat and my Father had spent much of his career as a First Sergeant, he said, “That answers most of my questions.  In the future, I will be asking you to perform some special assignments for me.  I will go thru the chain-of-command.”

During the next 17 months, I performed several special assignments for Col. Shali; all to his satisfaction.  He had proven to be an incredible battalion commander and had the respect of everyone under his command.  He was an officer that looked out for the welfare of his troops.

I arranged an appointment to see Col. Shali for the day I got out of the Army.  On that day, the battalion adjutant said that the Colonel was running late and probably would not be able to see me.  Col. Shali heard the adjutant and said, “Major, I will have time to talk with Sgt. Wright.  I’ll just be a couple of minutes.”

As his assignment as a battalion commander was drawing to a close, rumors were rife as to his next assignment.  As the battalion had greatly exceeded in every task what the Army required, I felt he would be going to the Army War College.

Col. Shali got off the telephone and ushered me into his office.  He told me to take a seat and apologized for running late.  He had taken and then made important phone calls.

He said, “A few minutes ago the Colonel’s Branch had informed him that his next assignment would be the Army War College in Carlisle, PA.”  After that, he had called his wife to let her know the news.

When I told him I wasn’t surprised, he laughed and told me, “I forgot that you know how the Army works.“

I told him what my plans for the future were.

Then Col. Shali amazed me.  He proceeded to mention the highlights, big and small,  of my Army career and thanked me for my service. He brought out a humidor of cigars and mentioned that he only smoked them on very special occasions.  He offered me one and we smoked.  

We talked for a short time and then it was time to leave.  I asked him if he would receive my last salute as I left the Army.  He said he would be honored.  I came to attention and saluted and Col. Shali returned it.  I then signed out and left the Army.

I kept up with his career and was not surprised when he progressed to the pinnacle of the U. S. military.

Such a great story... and... it's true!
Happy Birthday!

We had a good weekend in Kansas City! It was a baseball-related weekene with the 7 Line Army, 1200 strong, and the visit to Kaufmann Stadium to see the Mets play the Royals. The three Greybelts were there, with the Mrs and me flying in from NC on Friday and meeting up with Greybelt the Younger flying in from Georgia on Saturday for the night's game. The Mets won, but it was an old-style game that moved briskly rather than all of the delays that most games today have. It helps when Jacob deGrom is on the mound for the Mets since he always works quickly. The Royals fans were great, though I think some of the 7LA standing up all the time may have irritated them now and then. KC fans and stadium staff kept stopping us and thanking us for coming to visit their stadium and the city. This is one of the most fun ways to see a Mets game, especially when the group visits another city. The group took up three sections of seats in right field, with individual fans and sometimes, like us with two generations and there were some three-generation families. The Mets are sometimes hard to root for and testing fan loyalty often seems to be a higher priority than testing their opponents, so having a support group is great. This was Mrs Greybelt's first 7LA event, and the second for me. The Younger has been to many. We also went to the Hallmark Visitors Center (self-guided, interesting), and really enjoyed visiting the Negro Leagues Museum (self-guided, about 90 min for die-hard baseball fans). Always love learning about players like Double-Duty Radcliffe, Cool Papa Bell, Josh Gibson (so tragic a story), and others, and how the Negro Leagues had night baseball first and women played on some teams! It's housed in the same building as the Jazz museum, also worth a visit. We had barbecue at Jack Stack, and that was stupendous. Everywhere we went we met 7LA fans who took advantage of the sights of KC Friday and Saturday as we did. They were visiting from all over the Midwest and Eastern US.

On Sunday, before leaving to return to Greybelt Intergalactic HQ in NC, we had a nice lunch with Ryan Ellett and Allan Foster. RE has been picking up the pieces of OTRR after Jim B passed away without leaving any formal records of website user names and passwords, so Ryan has been able to piece together handwritten notes and things from many documents with the assistance of JB's sister as she organized his things and cleaned out the house. Allan has been in the background working on the logistics of distros over the years. Both discovered OTR as a hobby in the early 2000s. We had a great though time-constrained discussion (those airlines insist on trying to follow schedules).

Easy weekend after our big adventure last week -- catch up on the house honey-do's, transfer some reels, organize the collection... hopefully watch the Mets beat the Braves, but that's asking a lot...

Well, things are gettin' complicated but in a good way. As some of you may remember, the wife and I had a west coast adventure a few months back. This was a big deal, due to my wife's fear of flyin'. We were blessed with a total of four very gentle flights. Just a bit of minimal turbulence here and there. This apparently abated some of that fear and she has finally agreed to let me take her to Hawaii for a couple of weeks, at some point in the next two years. So, we've begun preliminary plannin' for that trip.

My oldest son is in his 17th. year of army service and he will retire in three years. But he has one more duty station to rotate to for that final three years, and he just received his orders. He's gonna be stationed in HAWAII. So, he wants us to come visit him this year. But the wife doesn't wanna make that trip twice, so it looks like I'll be goin' to Hawaii alone, within the comin' year.

I came home from work yesterday and was told by my beloved, that she's booked us for a week in Las Vegas next July. My first impulse was WHAT??? But then I remembered that Vegas is "sorta" right next door to the Grand Canyon. So, it looks like I'll get a second shot at The Great Canyon Caper, which was blown away durin' the west coast adventure. My middle distance future keeps gettin' interestinger and intrestinger. And there's a whiff in the air of a fourth trip, also within this two year time frame.

Space,

Glad to hear that the trip went well and more trips are in the works.

Sounds like your Son got a Great last duty assignment.

I was lucky enough to spend my entire 4 year Army enlistment, except for Basic Training, at the post (Ft. Lewis, WA) I initially selected.  I stayed in the area for 7 years after I got out of the Army.

Then I moved to Colorado in 1984 and have been here ever since.

Friday night check in on a Saturday. Was a long busy week and Friday was so gorgeous and warm we stayed out by the ocean and just enjoyed the zen of it all. Just got back in today was in the 90's we did the usually run around for stuff and vinyl haunts for me. Was delicious day with food ate outside in the warm weather. No bargooons to be found in records today. Found a new car show on Flix called Rust Bros I enjoyed that. Its silly but lighthearted with no fake drama and some nice cars thrown in.

Tomorrow will be back off down to the sea while its in the 90's should not be this hot now but we are enjoying every second of it.

Space your Hawaiian adventure will be Elvis level epic with a dash of Thomas Magnum thrown in for good measure.

grey sounds like a nice easy weekend. And Stewart always like to read your posts always something interesting.

Well, things are pretty quiet around Lake Wobegon. . .

But here in Michigan, I'm hopping: Mrs. Ghemrats is finally coming home on Tuesday, which means carpet cleaning, box storing, a road trip to Salivation Army with loads of clothes for people in various stages of growth, and general housecleaning (Salute to the general).

Maybe I can throw out some good tunes while all this is taking place. . .
Jeff

Looking forward to a very quiet Labor Day weekend. School starts so early here in NC -- practically mid-August. Growing up in NYC area, the official sign of school starting was the Jerry Lewis Telethon and the baseball doubleheaders on Labor Day. Then school would start on Wednesday. My, how exhausted we would be Wednesday afternoon

Looks like it'll be windy here in a few days. So my weekend will mostly be gettin' ready for hurricane Dorian. Not really that big a deal. I'm a Florida native and have been through many hurricanes. Includin' a couple of fours and a five. Mostly, I'll just make sure anything that might blow around is secured and that the portable electronics are fully charged. Hopefully if we lose power, it won't be for five days, like it was the last time.

I'll be spending my Labor Day weekend in labor: laundry, house cleaning and catching a movie to two. Nothing spectacular, but interesting that in retirement Labor Day does not hold the same level of excitement, thinking how I don't have to go to work for a couple days. . .

I'll also hold good thoughts and prayers for Floridians in the wake of Dorian--hey, if Space can make it through, there's still hope.
Jeff

Our Labor Day weekend will be spent at home trying to avoid the crowds of flatlanders visiting our little valley. Not so little really, 37 miles to drive around our lake, but our population is only 22,000. We will get about 50,000 to 75,000 visitors camping around the lake and up the Kern River. Then it will take us a month to clean up the mess they leave behind. Good for the business owners, but not for the residents. In mid September we have what we call Kern River Valley Pride Day where all the civic organizations get together to clean the camping areas. It's a little work but then a great time with a Bar-B-Que and all you can eat afterwards. So I guess we can thank the visitors for that LOL. Have a safe Labor Day week.

Tom

School started here on Monday so the kids are back at it. Not happy but at it. Summer just flew by. Been so busy I did not get to enjoy it. Have to make hay while the sun shines goes the old saying.

Gearing up for the vinyl festival in November looking forward to that.

You stay safe Space stay in touch so we know you are okay. Everyone enjoy labor day and get as much relax time as you can.

And its nice so many CC'ers are checking in here. Always like to know what everyone is up to.