And high tide too.
And the stormy weather passed….
The fun began today at Normandy on this date, 71 years ago.
Not many of those folks left today…
Imagine being in a Higgins boat, or one of the other invasion craft..waiting.
If you had been one of the Glider crews or the parachutists, you day had already begun…
Think of those men today. The ones that came calling on the Germans on France…and changed the war.
Think of those Germans, who just wanted to go home.
So I am in line at the deli counter …they are a bit backed up….
The deli dude takes my order, and begins slicing meat for me.
Next deli dude comes up and asks “who’s next”?
Behind me is a chick, about 22 years old, 5’6 maybe a 125 lbs, blonde….she is wearing either a short tee shirt or a long crop top, (white) and her…say 34 C …bra (pink) is peeking out from under. She is fairly toned and fit. Wearing short short shorts (tattered and faded denim) with her panties (pink) are peeking out the top of the shorts and the worn parts on her backside. She is wearing 6″ platform heels (Pink) with sparkly straps. Legs are toned as well as her midriff. Holding a pink sparkly phone with a black leather purse with sparkly clasp…
The deli dude asks again. “Who’s next”?
I pointed “That would be Tiffani here”
“How did you know my name was Tiffani?” She smiled at me…
“It was either that, or Diamond” I replied.
Dude behind her broke up.
“I don’t get the joke” she said with a frown.
“Coulda been Jasmine” he said. I shook my head…”Tiffani with an I and heart over the I” I said.
She still didn’t get it.
He explained…. I was right.
She was pissed. Didn’t find it funny.,..At. All.
Nothing like dressing the part.
When it comes to marriage.
Simply a contract rand recording the fact that two (or more?) people are married …
Nothing else.
Whoda thunk that ALABAMA of all places would be so “progressive” ?
I mean…Alabama…..Bible belt and all that. But really, the bill is pretty close to what I think should be the State’s entire involvement….just a recording of the fact that the parties are engaged in a marriage- like relationship. No other involvement. inheritance and next of kin and all that Just the legalities as to
So I go (again) to give a directed donation of a pint of blood for a young man my niece goes to school with who is a cancer patient.
Gotta drive to the Hospital where he is being treated , which is 50 miles away.
No big deal.
I get there, along with my brother and dad (giving blood has always been a family thing….we have competitions as to who can give the fastest (slowest buys lunch) and such folderol, but hey, it makes the donation fun….)
Anyway, we get there, fill out the requisite forms, give them to the phlebotomists, they do the requisite finger stick and then it is time.
Now, the phlebotomist I had today was a know it all. SHE was the expert…I suggested one vein in my arm, but she knew better. Ok, hey, just stick me.
Now, I’ve given just under 10 gallons at blood drives over the years….. I generally know by now what works and what doesn’t….I mean, really I know which veins flow well (and which ones don’t) and how my blood reacts when entering the needles and such.
As I said to the lady who reviewed my paperwork…”This ain’t my first Rodeo”
But I know nothing when it comes to giving blood. Not a bit. I’m not a trained phlebotomist.
Nope. really, since I am untrained, I know nothing.
Ask the woman who attempted to draw the pint of blood. She is the expert.
So, she sticks me and the flow is poor. Moves the needle, and no improvement. no surprise there, the vein, while easily visible, is only slightly larger than the needle.
Goes to the OTHER ARM, where, since I had just given a blood sample the previous week there, couldn’t use the big vein in the crook of my elbow (why she wouldn’t use that BIG vein in my left arm to begin with I don’t know). so she chose the same small vein higher up on the right arm. Which, if you cut it in half with a dull knife, wouldn’t bleed much or for long little tiny vein . …. But she knows best…..
Was flowing freely for about 3 minutes and was about half done…bag half full. say 250 ml’s maybe a bit more (full bag is a half liter) She decides to re-position the needle. I suggested that there was no hurry as I would have to wait for my dad and brother anyway and that moving the needle might well make the flow be reduced, not increased, as THAT vein was pretty small and the current flow was about max….besides, I clot fairly easily and quickly, and if she stopped the flow my blood would clot almost instantly in the needle. I know this, since it has happened before. (It ain’t my first Rodeo) You can stab me with a fork and I stop bleeding almost as soon as you withdraw the eating utensil from my skin. I clot like Wolverine.
She’s the “expert”…a “trained phelbotomist”. Knows better. so she moved the needle, flow stopped and my blood clogged the tubes.
Half a bag full. No more. Full.Stop…. We.Are.Done.
Can’t try again. Period. Policy, you know….
Policy is that all that blood, 250+ cc’s of blood gets thrown out. . And 2 hours of my time….wasted.
The kid doesn’t get that sorely needed 500ml’s of blood, and I can’t try again for at least 60 days.
Jesus, I hate experts.
Especially “trained” experts.
Because it would be as effective, really.
I mean, really, all the marches, all the rallies, all the Vigils, etc won’t make a single bit of difference.
It isn’t the guns that are killing people.
It is other people killing people.
In Chicago, where this originated, it was, specifically, black people killing other black people.
Vigils won’t change that. Orange shirts won’t change that.
Unless and until people start calling the police and testifying and working with police to change the neighborhoods, it ain’t gonna change.
Name names, not “Sumdood”….”I dint see nuffin”
Orange Shirts on one day are a waste of time.
But, like other Liberal Symbols, it make some people feel good….even if it is pointless.
It won’t mean diddly to the people who are the problem….Won’t affect them, won’t change them, and all those shirts won’t save a single life….The people that are the problem aren’t listening.
And unless we get rid of Nationalized Health Care, and go back to Private Insurance, it’ll get worse and the system goes broke because so many aren’t paying at all….
Last year the Royal College of Surgeons warned that elderly people are being denied life-saving operations because of age discrimination within the NHS.
Britain’s model of Free Health Care is a shining example of why Socialism Doesn’t Work….. Canada’s is about 15 years behind them, and how long will it take us to catch up?
Or anything like that….
And of course, criminals and the like would assuredly line up and buy the insurance like good law abiding citizens.
And no, I am sure that the insurance companies would never get together in a smoke filled room and set the pricing to ensure maximum profits or anything like that.
The anti gun people never stop trying, do they?
On May 29, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) introduced legislation requiring all would-be gun owners to purchase liability insurance before being allowed to purchase a firearm.
The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. We gotta make sure that this goes nowhere.
While the Texas floods are a terrible thing, and I feel sorry for these people whose home are flooded, and whose lives are disrupted by the unusual level of rain….I am NOT terribly sympathetic for those people who need to be rescued because their cars wouldn’t drive through 2 foot or more of water.
The media keeps referring to the flooded overpasses or other low areas as “flash floods” but they aren’t flash floods. I’ve seen (and barely escaped from) real Flash floods, which are like walls of water….generally where a streambed gets a lot of water quickly, Literally, the area goes from just wet to feet underwater in a matter of moments. Flooded streets and underpasses aren’t flash floods.
It isn’t a Flash Flood when the water is, essentially, still and you drive your mini-SUV (with about 10″ of real ground clearance) where the air intake is MAYBE 16″ off the ground…..into 2 foot of water at 20 MPH..and it isn’t a surprise when you “crossover” stops because the air intake is underwater or the ignition is drowned because the water is too high…..I saw a PRIUS drive into water that was at least 18″ deep (I own a Prius, and while they are nice cars, they aren’t meant for off road nor for more than a few inches of water…..like less than 4 inches at most) and, of course, the car stalled and the person needed to be rescued from the “flash flood”. I watched on live video while a COP drove his Equinox/Traverse into water that was over the hood (still water, not running water) and lo and behold, it did the same thing….died. He had to be rescued from the air.
They oughta leave those idiots in the water for a few hours so they’d learn a lesson.
Hint: Never drive into running water. I have made that mistake crossing a bridge over a flood stage stream in a DIESEL pickup (6800 lbs,16″ ground clearance) and have had water (2 foot deep) move me…Imagine what it will do to a 3500 lb car with 8″ of ground clearance? And I had an air intake 38″ above the ground level and no ignition to short out….
Never drive into water you can’t see the bottom of. Ever.
Never drive into water in a car or normal truck that is more than halfway up your tires. Halfway. no more….
Now, if you have a vehicle designed or modified to ford deeper water, then yes, you can go into water that is still or only slowly moving. If you have a diesel with an air intake that is above the water, and the water is still, then you can successfully enter (and leave) still water that is below the air intake.
But if you have a simple car (or truck) ….(and yes, and SUV is a truck, at best….and a “crossover” is a car, really) then be aware of the limitations.
Don’t be one of those jerks that needs rescuing because you were stupid.
There is hope that you can own a 1911 from the CMP.
Of course, Barry will fight this tooth and nail, but still…
If you aren’t a member of a club that is CMP affiliated, then you still have time.
Call your congressmen (and women) tell ’em you want to have the CMP distribute the 1911’s that cost the Army money to store …