i feel my age... i've been in the Army, 17 years total, and 13 of those years i was an aircrew man on CH47s Blackhawks and Hueys. i've had my fair share of NDEs and once was "almost" hit by a handgrenade. the last 4 years i spent as a scout of a tank unit. if i had known blowing shit up was more fun than flying i would have had 20 years in the service. as it was i got too old and broke down to keep up with the younger soldiers... that seems to be how it goes from here...
anyway i was told i need to post some of my more memorable "stunts" here so i will put them under "activities" as that is what hey seemed to be at the time...
i had worked for the airlines for a time and built planes for McDonnell Douglas so if you still want to fly don't ask me questions about safety and such... trust me, concerning this you really don't want to know. if it helps any i still fly because i survived Army Aviation at it's best and worst.
i worked 11 years R&D; on an experimental aircraft and had some close calls there too. now i just write about what i know instead of doing what i know... as they say "those who can do, those who can't teach" i still can but i want to live to be old for my daughter.

speaking of which...

she is my world to me, and my wife and i weren't supposed to have any children... she couldn't have any children. after 2 surgeries we decided to adopt because we were already in our 40s and didn't want to be grandparent parents. we had the paper work done and were ready to start the selction process when one Thanksgiving my wife thought she had the flu... my response? You don't have the flu... You are pregnant! woo hoo!! she didn't believe me and had to get it from her Dr. the Dr said she might be born with DS but that didn't matter, she was ours...
she was born 7 1/2 weeks early and my wife had to go into surgery... she nearly died... and so did my only girl. who do you go with? before they split us up i made sure my wife saw our little girl and we had already decided that if something like this happened i would go with the new little soul. that was probably the hardest decision of my life.
to let you know how fragile life really is, the night that i sat watching over that new born little life the nurses said i would have to vacate for a while when another premie came in. about a half hour later i asked "When do you want me to leave?" she said i didn't have to... the baby died... he was born only 4 weeks early.
the Dr said she would have to spend 8 weeks in NICU so we made camp and spent every waking hour there and some sleeping hours too. we fought for her, didn't want her to be like the other children there, feeling unwanted and in just 10 days of kangaroo care she was out!! we ran out of there as fast as we could (my wife hadn't recovered from her surgery yet) because we thought they would come out and say that they had made a mistake and we had to bring her back.
now she lights up every room she enters... that may be why i get sad when i have to go away for business.

sorry this is so long, i don't like reading ones that are this long either but for a few i will...

i've already met... arnold, Duke Cunningham, Duncan Hunter, Skunk (Jeff Baxter) of the Doobie Brothers, Ralf Moeller, Congressman Rohrbacher, Senator Trent Lott, Eric Prince (owner of Blackwater International), the Blues Brothers (not Jake and Elwood, the ones that own General Atomics maker of the predator airplanes) a meriad of Generals, Admirals and generally high muckety mucks. i would say i would like to meet God or Jesus but i think that would be tempting fate.

on the down side i have met the treasonous jane fonda, which was during high school and it was a curio thing.

only one person i'd like to meet again and that will have to wait... my father.

no good deed goes unpunished

do unto others... before they do it to you

expect nothing and you will get it...

i am my own worst critic

why do today what you could always put off until tomorrow

never loan money... always assume it is a given

friends may come and go but enemies accumulate

you never really know a person until you divorce them

stand with the strong but stand for the weak

keep your friends close but keep your enemies closer

just when you think you have it all figured out you realize you don't

life is a state of mind, not of being

if life is bad just wait for the next cab

if you love something set it free, if it returns it was meant to be... if it doesn't hunt it down and kill it, you can leave no witnesses

i do in fact know it all... and if i don't, i know where to find it...

stay gumby, stay frosty

life is too short to be small

remember only the good things in life... the bad will always be fleeting

if ya can't run with the big dogs you should of stayed on the porch

regrets serve no purpose...

revenge gives you a hobby

don't sweat the petty things... pet the sweaty things...

the hangover is inversely proportional to the cost of the alcohol... cheap booze, bad hangover... expensive booze, mild hangover (if at all)

if you're gona drink alone... drink standin up...

peace through superior fire power...

diplomacy with terrorists can only be accomplished through the business end of a gun...

no matter how improbably something might be... anything is possible, never doubt that the impossible can happen

don't get too happy... you'll just be let down

(just found this one, rings true to/for me)
People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true nature is revealed only if there is a light from within

always negotiate from a position of strength

anyone who told you life is fair is selling you something... and it ain't roses

if life were easy everyone would want to stay...

All warfare is based on deception.

it's easier to be busy than it is to look busy...

You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away people's initiative and independence.
You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves.

.....Abraham Lincoln

common sense isn't always so common...

if you make something idiot proof there will always be that one idiot who will prove there is no such thing as "idiot proof"...

generally speaking... people suck...

life... my life... would be a bit easier if i were to be caught up in an armed bank heist.

the only feeling guaranteed in life is saddness...

i want to tell you to go to hell but i work there and i don't want to see you everyday

i'll have more later...