Headed "home" - tomorrow starts a new year.

a tale of two...

...careers. 

Just found out that Lt Gen Clarke is going to be the new ANG chief. That is a shame, he just barely got his feet wet at 1AF. It certainly was nice to have someone in the position who could really handle NORTHCOM tendencies to dive down rabbit holes and instead keep us on track to do the real missions.  His bio reads that he was commissioned as a distinguished graduate of ROTC in 1981 - so was I....

Go Hawks

SEAHAWKS, YAY! PATRIOTS, BOO!  I really wish Brady could have pulled that one off.

Did the Free's open house.  Ken has put some great work into that house and Judy always hosts a mean soiree.

Touch20

Spent a portion of the day installing a new kitchen faucet from Delta with touch activated technology.  Something is not right as it sometimes just goes on and off by itself.  Definitely having to look at the installation again, but dad and I made sure to follow the instructions step-by-step, to the letter.  Fortunately, the handle still works by itself to make sure the flow is shut off.


Also a great deal at the local hardware store.  Apparently the Puget Sound Energy is substantially underwriting distribution  of LED lighting tech.  The have 2 packs of 8 watt LED bulbs for regularly about 39.00 on sale for 25.99 with a instant $20 rebate, so $5.99 a pack.  We tried a couple and they look a lot more like 75 watt than the 40 watt equivalent they are claiming.  I bought 6 packs to bring back with me - don't have to worry about them getting crushed since they are LEDs.

Trying to open a new IRA account through E*Trade today from Seattle.  Even though I have two accounts with them already, they still need my driver's license and social security card faxed to them. If there are people who travel with a copy of their social security card with them, I am not one of them.

Back to the Felt

My first live poker tournament in a while.  Lost when my pair of 8s got beat in a race againt AK.  made it to 42 of 86 entries, My nephew Ross made it to 24 - should have gone farther but had 4 running suck-outs to go from big stack to out in less than a circuit...

Never odd or even

I like a good palindrome, a phrase that reads the same frontwards and back, such as "Madam, I'm Adam."  They are flaunted as an indication of language mastery and were independently wrought in many ancient languages from Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Sanskrit, etc.  But significant numbers can be palindromes as well

This morning at 1:21:02 am was the second which had a full combination read both backwards and forwards. 2012-12-12 1:21:02 = 201212-1-212102.  Actually, by that logic since the 0 in 24hr clock format (0121L) won't fit (01 would become 10), that implies a 12 hour clock and means that this afternoon at 1:21:02 pm

The day before....

12-12-12.  The last time we will see the repeater for almost a century - 88 years, 30 days to be exact.  I plan on seeing 1 Jan 3001 though, so no big deal (as long as the Mayans weren't right...).

Things I won't miss....(10 Dec and as I think of things...)

About being on active duty:

1) Blues Mondays
    (no fair, they just got rid of it for 1st Air Force....)
2) GOBI (General Officer Bright Ideas) generated vectors off into nowhere...
    (and quite a few O-6 generated ones too, perhaps I will coin a new phrase - SOBI)
3) A physical assessment test that, all other things being equal, downgrades your score when your performance is identical because you got a year older.

Piling on?

Watched the Seahawks bury the Cardinals today.  In the second half, the coach let the Multimillion dollar "backup" quarterback get some snaps and run some plays.  The commentators made inference to the fact that by having the quarterback air out a few passes and get some scores, he was "piling-on" the Cards.  True, they set a club record for most points, biggest halftime lead, and biggest final margin, as well as biggest shutout.  However, what the announcers failed to really mention was that this was the first time in the regular season (13 games now) that they have had that kind of an opportunity.  Of course it looked like they were piling on, Matt Flynn is a lot more than just some rookie backup.  They did get it right when they pointed out that Flynn did not lose the starting position, Wilson earned it.  I support coach Carroll's decision to let Matt play at full speed and get some quality snaps.  The Seahawks didn't trade Matt before the Nov 2 deadline because they still needed to make sure they had "defense in depth" at that position.  With all the close  and overtime games, it would be irresponsible not to take advantage of this opportunity to play Flynn for the last 25 minutes, especially at home.

Pay (8 Dec journal - edited)

It is a good thing I had already done all the research on what to expect for my final paycheck.  The AF told me that the last check would take a while as they audited the final pay and made sure I did not have any leave debt, etc.  I was pretty sure that would work out fine and it did - I got paid exactly what I was expecting on the 4th versus the 1st.  Fortunately, that part of the system worked, because the advice of payment that I got from DFAS was completely worthless as it showed a net of 0.  It was posted 3 days after I already got the final pay.  Are they telling me they did not need to make any adjustments?  If so, then I expect to eventually get an updated LES, but why not at the same time?  If the calculations were good enough to pay me from, why aren't they good enough to generate some sort of usable paperwork?

Infamy

My shot of the flag flying over the USS Arizona memorial - just a tiny reminder of this particular day in history...

Overall an uneventful trip back from Palm Springs yesterday, after a tour through Joshua Tree National Park.  An absolutely perfect time to visit the high desert...

Folly

Had a great time at the Palm Springs Follies.  The headliner is not recommended however.  Lorna Luft, daughter of Judy Garland and sister to Liza, apparently did not dip as deep into the gene pool as her sister.  I found her performance affected, with nasal overtones and just a little too much "try harder" in the presentation.  The rest of the cast, including the vaudevillian guest talent of Mat Plendl were great!

regarding my earlier post, the layout seems to work.... as long as you are going somewhere at night.  Too many times had people doing 40 in a 55, etc.

Palm Desert random thoughts

The Palm Desert area is a huge grouping of communities, not necessarily in population, but in acreage.  Probably because so many areas are built up around golf courses.  However, they got it right.  A freeway (I-10) runs through the area at the north side (70 mph all the way) and the major city streets are wide and well protected affording 50 - 55 mph travel.  Still not sure how appealing the area is to non-golfers such as myself, but I do like the layout...

Higher and Higher

Good thing I am no longer excessively acrophobic.We did the Palm Springs Tram yesterday - 0 to 8000 plus feet in a swinging gondola that rotates to make sure everyone gets a view.  A couple of other folks on board were holding on to the center rail and/or keeping their eyes closed.  Still not completely comfortable with the concept, but fully functional...

Hope Springs eternal

Morning in Palm Springs.  A Starter with a PA on the course next to your resort is a sure way to wake up, that plus a bedroom on the side of the building facing sunrise...

Murder most fowl...

I am struck by what occurs to be a daily ritual with the local crows here in the Seattle/Tacoma area.  Every morning, murder after murder flies by our windows overlooking the Algona / Pacific Valley headed south, a group of 5 to 6 even alights in my parent's garden.  Then, as sunset approaches, groups, pairs and singles all head back north to what I can only imagine is some sort of communal nesting ground, but one would think that a murder that large would be in the news, if only for its cacophony.

Volume 4 - a new hope....

Henry V Act 3 Scene 1 - Shakespeare.

It is official, today I transition from productive member of the military industrial complex to a leech upon society, although a few of my old college professors would probably argue that is no transition at all, lol. 

This then marks the 3rd MAJOR life transition for me.  As I stated to some fellow Sigma Chi Alumni and undergraduates recently, I am at the same point as if I was finishing senior year and had not bothered to look for recruiters.  

For the book of my military career, and especially my second volume in the Air National Guard, I am proud of what we were able to do together, but more so, proud of what the people I was fortunate enough to have led, or even just re-enlisted and/or encouraged, have been able to do in their own lives and careers. That means you: Laura, Karrie, Wendy, Angel, Lisa, Darrel, Amanda, JJ, Gary, David, Chris, Jessica, Brandi, Lee, JD, James, Debby, Simona, Glen, Lori, Cynthia, Mike, Dru, Kristie, John, Nicole, and so many more.. Thank you for making it worthwhile!

Spent the majority of the day verifying that all of the systems indeed showed me as retired.  Still waiting on final paycheck - will report when that comes through. Lost access to vMPF (except to print DD-214), PRDA (access to ARMS); still have access to vPC-GR.  Found out DD-214 is wrong, did not include retirement MSM decoration (to show 2 OLC), or the Coast Guard ribbon we got for DWH.  Can get a PCARS type printout from vPC-GR, but it is a month behind, probably due to close out, will check again once I know the final paycheck is out.  The most important thing (I think) is that my retirement order has been published and in the system since June and the numbers meshed with what all of my spreadsheets were telling me to expect.  Since we get paid for the previous month, and the first of January is not on a weekend, I won't get a retirement check this year - that should be my last paycheck for the year and I can get started on computing my taxes.  IRS is saying the opening filing date will probably be delayed anyway due to congressional (in)action.

Printed boarding passes and other information for the trip tomorrow to Palm Desert.