Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day!

Remember not to look so shocked when they accuse of stealing flowers this year!

Good Job, SEALs!

I had no idea that helicopters carrying US Navy SEALs were moving into position, flying through the skies of Pakistan at about the same time I was writing "moving into position."

I guess that was the idea....LOL

Awesome job and the world is a better place without Osama Bin Laden. I am waiting for some more of the details to come out but it is still a good day for the world.

Now, speaking of going after terrorists, do you think we can turn the SEALs loose on oil speculators?

Moving Into Position...

Today is May 1....a good Communist holiday....LOL

I finished a 25 page paper on British Redcoats fighting here in North America during the French and Indian War (1754-1763) . It was a tough one but I got it done. Counting the bibliography and endnotes, it came out to about 30 pages.

By the way, the redcoats never adapted to American conditions....they created a European war on the North American continent. I found a way to expand that sentence into 25 pages.....

That war was fought in Europe, India, and here in North America. I never understood why it was never called the First World War. I guess 1754 was not as big as 1914. But, still, the 1914-1918 war was called the Great War until Hitler invaded Poland.

I think I have a pretty good case here. Who do I see about changing this?

The French and Indian War, or Seven Years War as it is called in Europe, has always been fascinating to me. It might be because it started near Pittsburgh :-) It might also be because they were fighting since 1754 before officially declaring war in 1756, so your math was indeed right!

French and Indian War is a fun one but it does not compare to the Persian Wars or even Punic Wars. Not a bad second, though!

This paper represents the end of my coursework for the Master's Degree. Well, I have to take a Spanish exam tomorrow but that won't be hard. Just translation.

Then it is on the the thesis-Changes in Greek Combat in the Fourth Century BC--wait until the movie!

First, I am going to play some Madden. The Steelers had a good 2010 season until the end....Now I have time to replay it with a better ending this time.

For a little while anyway ;-P

Happy Easter!

HAPPY EASTER!

Jesus died for you sins so say "Thank you!"

Nothing wrong with the Easter Bunny either....

Tornados!

A massive storm front rolled through the southeast quadrant of the country today and muscled its way up the East Coast, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake across Central and Eastern NC. Unfortunately, some people lost their lives but it could have been worse. We lost power for an hour but there were other parts of the city that suffered a direct hit from tornados and entire neighborhoods were destroyed. It was a pretty bad day but it also gives you an opportunity to be thankful.

The city of Sanford, NC, site of my first radio job, due north was hit pretty bad and our immediate south was hammered too but it seems everyone there is more or less OK.

Marching forward

Copyright, NHL

Coming down the final stretch in coursework. Two papers left to write and then the final exams...In three weeks, I will only have to do the thesis. It is not going to be easy but it certainly is not impossible...plus it only lasts so long!

Romans and Redcoats plus an exam in reading Spanish before a well deserved break!

A good place to draw inspiration--the Pittsburgh Penguins.

They have been without Sidney Crosby since January and they have accelerated to the the near top of the standings. A couple of breaks and they could have passed Philly for the division title (why is Pittsburgh in the Atlantic Division?) but in the NHL, it does not matter. Once you are in the playoffs, you are in!

A lot of people wrote them off after Crosby's concussion and the Penguins even lost their #2 guy Evengi Malkin to an ACL injury. They shrugged it off, called up a lot of guys from the minors no one had heard of and went on a rampage.

If you're feeling overwhelmed, remember, "Pittsburgh Penguins 2011" Maybe they win the Cup, maybe not but they got further than anyone thought they could and they are not done yet.

Going south for the day...

Today Michelle took her nursing test and passed with flying colors...like there was any doubt. She had to take the test down I-95 in Lumberton, NC. I have always called everything to our immediate south "The Pictish Wilderness". The people are nice but I always see something bizarre when I follow a compass heading of 180...today I hung out at a Hardee's reading Tacitus' Agricola for an hour while Michelle blasted through the written part of her test. I saw about a hundred high school kids on their way to a horse race dressed in loud colorful pants and bowties.

I did not wake up that morning expecting to see that....

I made my way into downtown Lumberton looking at the Cold War style architecture wondering if it was actually Depression-era architecture. This car (late 90s vintage) cruises by with some old man waving at anyone he sees. Then I witnessed a police car start travelling the wrong way down a one way street. He realized his mistake, hit the lights and backed up...very strange sight.

What is it about downtown streets in every city? Lots of one way streets that confuse everyone.

I went back to the place Michelle was taking her test and hung around on the bottom floor with my pal Tacitus.

Like I said, Michelle passed with no problem.

I knew she would.

It was after all, April 2, the anniversary of me giving her ring at Heinz Field.

Plus she studied......