Attack of the Bearcats...

 I spent the weekend at Michindoh, a camp/conference center in Hillsdale Mi. I've been going there  many years for a singles retreat, originally called Solocon now known as Single Common Ground.  

As always it was a great weekend with little sleep, seeing lots of old friends and meeting some new.  One of the activities Friday night after services was bowling downtown.  It was about 10:30 PM I left the camp a few minutes behind everyone else and switched to the CD player in the car, I had a disc I burned "4-27-8 Road Trip" the first song playing was "Danger Zone"  and before it finished I'd caught up to the others.  As I cruised through town  "Dreams" by Van Halen began playing so I rolled down the windows and maxed the volume.  Then it happened.  My mind started running. 

While in the Air Force I spent 5 years at Ft. Campbell, KY, home of the Army's 101st Airborne Division, and in it's own little way it was a slice of heaven.  I'd always loved helicopters and there were many of them at Ft. Campbell, the barracks I initially lived in were maybe a half mile from the air field and because the military never shuts down I could usually go to sleep listening to the  "chuka-chuka-chuka" sound of helicopters.  

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If you're gonna have the munchies you better have gas.....

OK let me start by saying I have not been drinking any alcoholic beverages and have never smoked dope - but if you're gonna have the munchies you better have gas.  I know one or two people who are already thinking shouldn't that be "you're gonna have gas."

Natural Gas has been a part of my home pretty much all of my life -  I'm talking the natural gas from the earth and not from your body.  Natural gas to heat the house, the hot water, clothes dryer and the kitchen stove.  

Both homes I've lived in have had the gas floor furnaces, no ductwork, no blowers, just the grate in the middle of the floor and the heat going wherever. Mom always hollered at me for standing on it, you knew not to step on it with your bare feet and in time you learned how to lay across it just right to warm up.  Last April i had a friend visiting who had not had the privilege of knowing how a gas floor furnace worked and walked across the grate in his bare feet just as the furnace was at it hottest.  

I took a vacation day today and when I don't work I usually don't eat until I'm starving.  So about an hour ago my body realizes I have not ate much today.  So I nuke a frozen french bread pizza, not bad but a short time later I'm still hungry.  I look in the fridg, pumpernickel rye bread and spinach dip, finished that off.  Carolina BBQ chips - gone.  Ever have one of those days when there's nothing in the fridg? I really did not feel like driving to Taco Bell and a pizza would be to much food.  Im going through the fridge and all I can find now is a frozen fettuccine alfredo dinner and some hot dogs.  Then I remember, "hey I got a gas stove" and if you've  ever had a gas stove you know that means you can have an indoor "wiener roast" any time you want 24/7 365 days a year.  Which takes me back to where all this started- " if you're gonna have the munchies you better have gas."  

Now I'm gonna go nuke that fettuccine alfredo....

breaking the rules.....

"...the same ole same "how have you been" 

 Ever get a song stuck in your head? I do all the time, or maybe just part of a song.  I got just this part from the Kid Rock/ Sheryl Crow song "Picture" stuck in my head all day today.  It's a pretty sad song but what stuck with me most was what I call "the rules." 

You know how it is, see someone you have not seen in a long time, and the follow up greeting is "how've you been?" they reply "fine." everyone has followed "the rules", you were being polite asking how they were doing.  You may not care how they really are doing, or have time to listen if they were to tell you, but you were just being polite and following "the rules."  They may be having the worst day of their life and be in desperate need of someone to talk to but they reply "fine"  because that's "the rules."

Another time "the rules" come into play is when someone dies, you know how it goes "if there's anything I can do for you..." "no I'm fine"  I remember an aunt who when my father passed away would not take "no, I'm fine" for an answer from my mom and helped take a great load off of her.  I also remember her sharing about how she no longer asks that question.  Seems a gentleman did not know about  "the rules" and had her cleaning his whole house.

So what's this got to do with anything? I've been kind of down today, I have a friend who was probably going through some troubles.  He is a friend I don't see often, and when we got together we both played by "the rules."  Did he want to share the problem with me? Could I have helped?  could I have changed anything?  Who knows!  

But what I do know is that it's time to start breaking "the rules." I can remember being asked in the past "how's it going" and my reply was "how much time do you got?" So the next time you pass someone forget the rules and don't ask "how's it going" unless you have time to listen to how it really may be going and really care enough to help.  

Cairo West Egypt,Pyramids,Bright Star and a Funeral ......

Twenty Four years ago Operation Bright Star was just getting started at the Cairo West Air Base in Egypt.  Bright Star is a combined training exercise led by American and Egyptian forces in Egypt. It was going to be a 3 month TDY with a healthy Per Diem.  

I was told it was quite the experience.  I never made it though, you see it was also twenty four years ago today we berried my dad.  I often think about my dad as you can tell by my Blog, but for some reason as the anniversary of my dads passing has come and gone I've been looking at it differently. 

Mostly I've been thinking about the great friends and family I have who seem to be there when life  seems to  hit bottom. My mind is reeling to much to type about how Blessed I am with friends and Family  who have been there not a time or two when life hits bottom, but I'm Blessed with friends and family who have been there every time life hit bottom.  You  see, God is in the business of Blessing Ralph and  I  thank Him for people like you, you know who you are and I thank you also.   I've got to stop or my mind will never slow down enough to sleep. 

RS

.... and take a bottle full of Rye.....

I had itunes on shuffle the other night and found myself listening to Rod Stewart singing "Handbags and Gladrags" and for the past two days I've run around thinking about one totally unimportant part "sing a song of sixpence for your sake, and take a bottle of rye."

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The making of an addict.....

It started at a very young age with a little seven ounce bottle, and  grew from there.  My guess is it was an ice cold bottle of Coke, and to this day nothing taste better than a naturally chilled seven ounce bottle of Coke that has been on ice all day.  Tonight as I walked through the grocery store I realized the beverage companies are doing everything they can to turn us all into bigger addicts.

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Running on faith....

Running on Faith ...

If you've read my writings before you know I'm all about music, sometimes music relates to whats going on and sometimes I write about music.  I was going through itunes looking for some inspiration and came upon a playlist I labeled "thinking music"   The first song on the list is Eric Clapton singing "Running on Faith"

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.... and beer this big.

For fathers day, like many people on Facebook I've changed my profile pic to the obligatory picture of my father.  Nah thats wrong, anyone can be a father, this is a picture of my dad. It has been nearly 24 years ago that my dad passed away and this picture was the last I took. 

I was home on leave with a new camera, like myself my dad was not crazy about having his picture taken, dad was sitting on the porch and said "go ahead and take one, it may be your last chance". It was.

I remember many things about my dad, he had been in the hospital shortly after this photo was taken and mentioned he thought his time was near. I told him he could not die because I did not have any leave on the books.  Dad reminded me that they cannot deny you emergency leave, especially if it is the death of your dad. 

 My dad knew about this because he was in the Army during World War II and the Marines during the Korean War. Dad always shared about being one of three people ever drafted into the Marines, seems there was a line of people being processed into the Army when a man came up and said "I need three volunteers to join the Marine Corp., you, you, and you".  During his time in both he was part of what we know as a MASH unit and always talked about driving a deuce and a half. I remember him sharing that when in the field he would at times put it into the "granny gear" take his hands off the wheel and let it go where it wanted because it was going to anyway.  

As I grew older and was learning to drive and paralell park, dad would remind me about driving that deuce and that he could turn it on a dime and give you nine cents change.  Going through some of my dads papers and we found a stack of certificates from the Army an Marines for thousands of miles of accident free driving.  Ironically I think my dad had an accident in every car I knew him to own.

Another thing we heard about on a regular basis was his time in Germany, he liked to talk about the "pizza as big around as that table (we had a round kitchen table that measured 36 inches across) and beer this tall" (hold your hands about 12 inches apart)  I had just turned 25 when I left for Air Force basic training, and after 25 years of hearing about the beer and pizza I said I'd never go to Germany, but in  July of 1991 I actually requested orders to Rhein Maine AFB near Frankfurt Germany.  It didn't take long exploring the local towns to find the "beer this tall." Then one day it happened, I was downtown with some friends and we happened by a pizza shop, I looked in the window and saw the biggest pizza ever, after overcoming some language problems I was able to confirm the pizza was actually "as big around as that table." I'd talked about getting some friends together to go and get one but never did, I think that was something that could have been enjoyed only with my dad.

My dad was special, and a great man, if you don't believe me I'll tell you again - My dad was special, and a great man. 

Being of sound mind......

I'm sure you are laughing at the thought of me being "of sound mind" but if I ever expect to gain readers for my Blog I need a good Hook to draw them. I was talking with some friends a couple weeks back, I mentioned wanting to retire at 55 and somehow the question of a will came up. Over the past few days I've given it some thought, even started typing some things up. My first thought was the traditional "I Ralph F. Stock being of sound mind..." I was having a really bad day and threatened to get a dog and leave everything to the dog when my time came. I have beneficiaries on various insurance policies and my 401k, but the last time I had a serious will was during the Persian Gulf War.

You can't think about a will without death, as I debated weather to work on a will more my mind drifted to the Nickleback song "Last Day." You know I'm all about music so naturally I had to Google the lyrics and find the video on Youtube.

If you've ever thought about a will you know some things are "gimmis" , not like Pastor Gimmi or Steve, but "no brainers." One "gimmi" is that all of my Coca Cola memorabilia would go to my sister, she'd kill me if I gave it to someone else - oh wait I'm dead so no problem. Then there are the things that make you glad to be dead at the reading of the will, you guessed it -- who gets all the money? That would be one video that would go "viral" on Youtube.

Friday night I watched the movie "Bucket list" with my sister. It was her first time to watch it and my "umpteenth." Was a good time, and as always I scream "YES!" when Jack Nicholson does the flip out of the airplane.

I've watched the Nickleback video several time and read the lyrics as many. If you're looking for ideas for your "bucket list" this is a great place to start. even if you are not interested in a bucket list there are some really good thoughts on things to do.

So enough about wills, Bucket Lists and last days and on to something else we all think about from time to time --- Rockstar.

But wait there's more!

For starters I'm not selling anything, but turning 50 and working at The Pool are not the only "mile markers" in April. Another prominent event in my life marks its 25th anniversary this Sunday. April 17th 1986 I arrived at Lackland Air Force Base for what I consider to be some of the best times of my life.

I've heard some people say "I went to sleep in my bed and woke up in boot camp, I don't think I slept the night before. I had almost 3 weeks off from my last day as a manager for McDonalds until my arrival at Lackland, you try to see as many friends and family as you can. I was a bit different than most, I'd turned 25 just 10 days earlier. This was a good thing as I had sense enough top keep my mouth shut, voulnteer for nothing and get out of there in 6 weeks. I think i drove my dads gold LTD down to the MEPS station, along with my dad, brother in law and brother. I got out of the car grabbed my small bag and as always my dad reminded me to "keep my nose clean." It worked.

Somehow I was chosen "water monitor" from the beginning, every time we went to chow I filled glasses and made sure everyone took 2. I aligned shoes every night and was a "road toad". This meantI got a neat web belt with a canteen that I kept filled with water and when we approached an intersection while marching in formation I was one of four who would run ahead and stop traffic.

Did it work? We were there for 30 "training days," weekends and holidays did not count, and since our day 30 was on a Friday and we left on Monday. This meant an entire weekend of "day 30" and the threat of being "recycled." We actually had one guy make through to dinner on Sunday night, all he had to do was eat, go back to the dorm and keep his mouth shut. He just couldn't make it and wound up hanging around another week. I remember day 28 pretty well, on of our DI's was passing out mail and called my name, (remember this was before E-mail, cell phones and texting) I went up to get my mail and she said "water boy, never did know your name" and I though YESSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

I went from being a Rainbow, to a pickle, to a Canned Pickle, on DI referred to us as her "little boys." (Oh did I forget to mention I had 5 female DIs?) Finally the day of reckoning came, we boarded a bus in our dress blues and headed to the airport. I was now officially an "Airman" and on my way to Chanute Air Force Base where I quickly learned I was not an "Airman" but rather a "Pinger" :)

Tune next time for "Shoot me don't Chanute me"

on ramps and mile markers

April is what I could call a month of new beginnings, or maybe anniversaries. April 5th marked 18 years at my present job, Whirlpool. For this milestone I now get 4 weeks vacation each year, when I reach my 25th year I will get a fifth week -- a mile marker I'm hoping not to see. So what did I do with this extra week? I used it last week to celebrate another mile marker in life -- turning 50. I was not working on my 18th anniversary at "the pool" but I'm sure there were no parties or special ceremonies.

So what about turning 50? It was great! And as one would expect from me the plans were great. One of the problems with great plans is finding time to work them out and trying to stick with them. Not long after turning 40 I began thinking about 50. Way back when I had thoughts of how much money I could save by the time I reached 50 just by putting back a few bucks a week. I thought "rent a custom tour bus" load up some close friends and hit the road, Nashville and Smokey Mountains. The trip would be one big party, the bus would pull up people would be gawking, we'd all go off and into the hotel. Time marches on but the bus never showed. Then as 50 drew closer, I had another idea. Get some friends together, fly into Frankfurt Germany with passports, credit card and a backpack and see where we wound up. Time marched on again. Then I thought maybe just go to Hawaii (thanks Gwen) and time just kept marching....

So what finally happened? Well I did take the week off, and the more I thought I realized it was not so much about what to do as it was about just being with family and friends. So in the interest of not keeping anyone away because of cost or distance I planned a party at the church and also invited some friends and family to jam after everyone had time to eat. A couple drove from Michigan, some from Columbus, some I'd not seen in 25 years. This was the Saturday before so what did I do with the rest of the week? Stayed up late slept late. Mostly I spent a lot of time just sort of contemplating life. After dinner at Smoky Bones with the Womeldorf family followed with a few hours of "looking at picture albums" I realized the the best part of turning 50 was the 49 years it took to get there......

46 days

I'm 46 days away from turning 50, a day I've been looking forward to with a positive attitude. A friend found an e-mail I'd sent mentioning I was over 700 days away from 50 and was looking for ideas on how to celebrate. I plan on taking the first week of April off but still have no solid plans on how to celebrate.

A couple months ago i bought the DVD "Bucket List" and I loved it. I'd started putting together a list of things to do for my 50th and a friend mentioned it was kind of like my bucket list. I don't really look at it as a bucket list and as I think about it turning 50 is not causing a "mid-life Crisis" Turning 50 for the most part been just a good excuse to get some family and very good friends together for a big party.

I remember turning 30, I was in the Air Force and took a week off. Planned some things, some friends planned a surprise party and on my birthday I spent the day on my motorcycle riding finishing up at the OK Cafe sitting at the end of the bar drinking a beer by myself. Turning 30 was good.

On my 40th I was in the middle of Vli, going to school. I had class that day from 8-3, and during lunch I bought myself a new guitar. after class I met maybe 6 friends and we shared a bottle of 1983 German wine i had bought on one of my trips there while in the Air Force. From there we went to Schmidts in German Village for dinner. We were joined by probably 20 more friends and ate way to much, and had a cream puff to top it off. From there we went to Magic Mountain fun center and was joined by probably another 50 people. Turning 40 was good, I was with many friends and had a good time.

So what does turning 50 hold? I have no idea but I hope your there.

Why not Minot and other challenges....

Yesterday was what I would consider to be a "bittersweet" day in history. It was 25 years ago yesterday that the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded a mere 73 seconds afters lift off. Many students watched this tragedy in the classroom as Christa McAuliffe was to become the first teacher in space. I thought about this tragedy as I have every year, last night as I drove home I thought about how much times have changed. 25 years ago we looked at the Challenger tragedy as just that a tragedy. I also thought about the tragedy when the Discovery disintegrated on re-entry. I'm fairly sure if this were to happen today we would immediately think "terrorists" Times they are a changin'.

There is also some "sweet" to January 28,1986, its the day I was at the Military entry Processing Station enlisting in the U.S. Air Force. We were in the middle of a group physical agilities test when they got word of the Challenger, processing was stopped and we were all hearded into a room to watch the news. It was on this day I became a member of an elite brotherhood and it was the beginning of an adventure that I consider to be some of the best years of my life.

Interestingly enough I was reading some Facebook posts on the page of a friend, also an Air Force veteran. she is in Hawaii with her Active Duty husband and Minot AFB, ND came up. If you've gotten or known anyone who has gotten orders to Minot you know the phrase "Why not Minot?" As I read the comments I saw this phrase in a different way. Minot was considered a bad assignment, probably because of the cold hard winters. What I read reminded me that any assignment be it Hawaii or Minot is about the people we meet, who are there for you in the good and bad times, the memories good and bad and the attitude we have. I've heard comparisons of Greenland and Iceland and the assignments are not what you would first think.

I remember flying into Champagne IL to attend tech school for 6 months, as the plane landed I looked out and saw cornfields. one of the sayings was "shoot me don't Chanute me". I also found that some friends I'd worked at McDonalds with in high school were permanent party there. It made the time much better and created some positive memories of the stay.

While at Chanute I got orders to my first regular assignment Det. 436MAW Ft. Campbell KY. My first thought was "there are no Air Force bases in KY,. One of my instructors was kind enough to point out this was an Army Post, home of the 101st Airborne Division. He also mentioned that I would probably be going to Airborne school. Not sure what to expect I arrived and found a small Air Force unit of about 20 people in the middle of 23.000 Army personell. We were the only permanently assigned ALCE in the world. Our job was to support transient aircraft, I had a shop chief who believed in taking care of people, I got the chance to ride in many different aircraft, helicopters, drive a few tanks, fir the cannons, and on a few occasions provide ground support for Air Force One.

One thing I have learned is that you get out of the military but you NEVER really quit. So the next time you say "Why not Minot?" say it with a smile.

Bucket list my Bucket....

I'd been skiing several times in my life, enough that I had control but not so much that I needed to go to someplace major to find a challenge. Then came the X Games and the Dew Tour and like many I'd always wanted to try snowboarding, so that's what I did last night.

I met some friends at Mad River Mountain, paid my $$, got my snowboard and headed for the free beginners lesson. Snow boarding is nothing like skiing, I felt like I should have put out a tip jar to get something for providing the entertainment. Four and a half hours later I left the slopes, tired, aching, and wanting to meet the person who coined the term "bucket list" alone in a dark alley. I felt kind of ripped off because I paid for a lift ticket that I realty did not need, but when I left I was able to go down the hill, turn left, right and stop.
If you read the title for this post you may guess which part of my body hurts most :)