birdguy

AMEN! Noel

...have so many owed so much to so few. This morning I watched perhaps the greatest air war movie of all time. The Battle of Britain. Such great air battle scenes of Heinkles, ME-109s, Hurricanes and, of course, Spitfires. Of course that was just the beginning. B-17s bombing Berlin. D-Day, the Battle of the Bulge, The defeat of word not allowed Germany. Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Iwo Jima, The Philippines, Hiroshima. We call them the Greatest Generation. The generation that produced mine. Have we lived up to the hope they gave us or have we squandered it? Too early to tell just yet. The Jury is till out. My great grandchildren will be the ones who decide. Noel

Matt Dillon won the who can survive with the most bullet wound finals with 56 confirmed. He won gold for killing 138 in the quick draw contest. The count still isn't in for the number he wounded. Noel

You deserve to be proud of your country Matthew! Noel

In Dillon's time it would be closer to hopping to square dancing, Noel

As i recall it just took a bit of hand-eye coordination. Noel

Well, they're over. I must say I quite enjoyed them. The last game, the women's basketball game for the gold, was an official nail biter. To win by one point is the very slimmest of margins. To my mind both teams should have won gold but, of course, only one can win. A stellar performance by both teams. The closing ceremonies show was one of the most amazing displays I've ever seen. Quite a performance and light show. I don't pretend to know all of the symbolism but I was quite mesmerized by it all. Then I lost interest when the rock bands began to play and and 10,000 athletes in the middle of the stadium started bobbing up and down like they were at a pogo stick convention. When the rap performance began I switched channels to something more of my genre...Gunsmoke! Noel

Yes, Ray, I know. But it has to be emphasized. Noel

First - FLY THE AIRPLANE! Noel

An excellent analysis of the ATR-72 crash... Noel

Some of today's world I can't comprehend anymore. Maybe at my age I'm not supposed to. Do these things have a purpose or are they just because I can do it exercises? Could a human body withstand the forces of accelerating from 0 to 200 kilometers in one second? Noel

Yes they do. And if I am in their presence when they do that I tell them it's wrong and that the flag should bed respected. I understand generational change and the way of thinking changes over time. But our Constitution and our flag deserve our reverence and those who served under it either in the armed forces or in other government service recognize that. And we should correct those who may be word not allowed of it's importance and teach them flag etiquette on the spot when such disrespect is done in our presence. I have done that. I sometimes see a pickup truck with the flag flying from a short mast on the truck. When the flag is filthy and tattered and torn I politely tell them how to dispose of it and to replace it with a new one. I don't know if they still pledge allegiance to the flag in schools every morning, but they used to. As a symbol of our republic it deserves the same respect our republic does. Noel

I remember those from three quarters of a century ago. I used to attend them with my brother who owned a TR3. The names Lotus, Triumph, MG, Aston Martin, Jaguar and others are just memories now. What happened to them? The poor mans Gran Pri held in super market parking lots (stores were closed on Sundays back then). How quaint. Noel

I agree her breakaway was magnificent! But what I'll remember her for is desecrating my nation's flag. She spread it on the ground and laid down on it as if it were a beach blanket. Our Olympians are briefed on flag etiquette. It should be displayed with the stars on the right. It should not be worn as a garment. It should never touch the ground. I can understand displaying the stars on the left or, as I saw it once, with the star field upside down in the excitement of the moment. But spreading it on the ground and lying down on top of it takes away her moment of victory for someone who spent 26 years defending that flag and doing so in two wars. Shame on her! Noel

I've been watching the Olympics off and on and this morning I had a choice of watching men's half court basketball or women's volley ball. I decided on women's volleyball. I like their sports wear better. Noel

MAGNIFICENT! At what age does one lose their interest in airplanes? I lost interest in flight simming some time ago but at age 90 I still love airplanes. When I am walking around the warehouse and hear an aircraft overhead I grab the shoulder of the person nearest to me and look up. It's a natural reflex. If I look up without holding onto something I lose my balance, People ask me what's so great about airplanes? "Oh, I have slipped the surely bonds of earth........" Noel

I don't have an actual tinfoil hat, Sue, but the inside of my baseball cap is lined with aluminum foil. I have the walls and ceiling of my apartment lined with aluminum foil and stainless steel Venetian blinds on my windows. Noel

How can you get rid of them when they are an essential part of you anatomy? Mine sits on my desk and I never take it anywhere. And if I am doing something like cooking a meal or eating it or watching TV when it rings I just ignore it. If it's important they will call me back when I have time to answer it. And I have no desire to play games or watch movies on the dam thing. A few years ago I was walking to our Adult Center and as I was crossing the parking lot a woman drove in while talking on her iPhone. She tried backing into a slot and hit the fender of the truck in the adjacent slot. Without ever removing the phone from her ear she got out of her car and looked at the damage. Then she got back into her car and drove off never missing a word of her conversation. I lot her license number and gave it to the receptionist at the desk and told her which truck she had backed into. A couple of years ago my wife and I were traveling by train across the Rocky Mountains. We were sitting in the lounge car enjoying the magnificent scenery whil half of the people their had their eyes glued to that little screen. They missed a great show! Noel

If you never knew about creature comforts how could you miss them? Perhaps those UFOs everyone seeing in the sky are exactly what the Amazon natives are seeing when they see our low flying aircraft. And those UFOites might be saying much the same thing when they look down upon us. I don't think they would want to change places with us. You know, a violent society can be a pretty mean mother at times what with driveby shootings and the war of the week. Noel

We got curious and they didn't. Or maybe the extraterrestrials who came down and screwed around with our DNA missed them. Noel

Some people eat to live. I live to eat so of course I am overweight. But I don't care. Dining is a form of recreation. I can't resist a slice of extra rare prime rib and a baked potato dripping with butter. But breakfast is my main meal. A bowl of fresh fruit consisting of a half an apple, a tangerine, and a handfull of grapes. That's followed by three eggs sunny side up, a slice of toast and a sausage patty all washed down by a cup of coffee and a glass of orange juice. For desert I have bowl of raisin bran. Eat hearty mate! Noel

I agree with Wildblue. They are luckier than we are. They know their place in the world and are probably satisfied with their lifestyle and have no desire to change or progress. Yesterday's worldwide computer outage doesn't affect them like it does the civilized(?) world. Noel

Cute. If they made that cartoon today it would be vampires versus the zombies. Noel

John Gillespie McGee Junior said it better than anyone else I have ever heard or anything else I have ever read trying to describe flight Sue. At the USAF Museum at Wright Patterson AFB in Dayton Ohio there is a copy of it on a wall. And if you push the button under it you can hear his mother recite it. I tell people who ask me what it's like to fly that I cannot put it into words myself and read them High Flight. Here in the home I have read it to someone or other at least a dozen times. As far as I know I'm the only one in the home who has ever been a pilot. In my own experience flight simming is fun, but doesn't even come close to the real thing. A hundred years or so ago my wife gave me a bronze bust of an early aviator with a leather helmet and jacket and mounted on the walnut stand and next to it is a plaque with High Flight etched on it. It was a Christmas present, It's one of my few real treasures. My grand daughter is the repository of all the family heirlooms. It will go to her on my passing. Thanks for adding it to the thread Sue. I should have thought of it myself. The closest most people ever come to the feeling of flight is looking out the window in the passenger section of a commercial airliner. Closing the shade or tinting the window to deprive them of that view is a crime and those who get nothing out of gazing at the ground and sky through that porthole have no souls. Noel

In days of yore when I used to fly commercial I always got a window seat so I could navigate. On my last commercial flight several years ago I was on a flight from Charleston SC to Dallas. I remember telling myself we should be crossing the Mississippi River about now. And sure enough a few minutes later it came into view. And on cloudy days just looking at the clouds was a treat. Now comes this! https://slate.com/life/2024/07/flying-is-better-with-an-open-window-shade.html Many years ago when I was still in the Air Force there was a little blurb in The Air Force Times about a B-52 crew on a check flight. The inspecting offiicer was being a bit harsh with them, questioning every move they made. He caught the pilot staring out his window. He asked the pilot what he was doing. The pilot replied, "I'm looking at the clouds!" Why else do we love to fly? Noel