the words of the day are uninhabitable for weeks-- possibly months... closely followed by contaminated water supply as harvey drifts inward.. i hear things like good old red cross is there ...i hope they have alot of bottled water... there are millions of people in this storm which last i looked was moving at 6 miles per hour-- raining hard til next wednesday.... all of texas without air conditioning is almost as bad as new england without heat...
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dog report... lainie's abcess has not only opened, she scratched it with her back foot , there is now a gaping hole... so it is draining very well... temp 100
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bentley has finally decided sizzle does not want to go to dinner with him...
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other large news is trainer steve is going to be out for a few days-- ouch----so as we approach the kids gong back to school.... if any of you cp's can come help... please let pam know...
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for those watchingt pockets and the tractor bucket... i have been putting her first foot on the step... she then stands and eats breakjfast out of her dish on the raised bucket... problem being... she stepped sideways and did not understand she was stepping off a box.. and scared herself.. so now she has to think about it.. and watches me put her foot on the box... interesting.
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i had many comments and photos about the boats running into each other...it is a learning experience.... and tho i stand by my murphy's law statement about "for want of a nail the war was lost" i should have found a better way to express it than a jar of contaminated mayonase causing food poison...which eliminated the usual precautions about watching for large objects.
the photo's of ships all waiting around a harbor was an eye opener.... they dont float around in a nice tidy line...and those big commerdcial ships- the guys driving are way in the back- i don't see how they can even see what's in front....
doug-- a relative--- was/is a navy man with alot of letters after his name that i don't understand-- but he sent a long email which was very educational....
One of our duties was to deliver fuel to San Nicholas Island and San Clemente Island every month. This involved departing Long Beach Naval station on Monday evenings at 9 pm for a 6 am arrival at San Nicholas Island anchorage, then a transit to San Clemente Island for a 2 pm arrival. We would return to Long Beach Naval station at 9 pm that evening. During those trips, I would get a 1-hour cat nap in my stateroom if I was lucky. The reason was simple. To get from Long Beach Naval station to San Nicholas Island you must transit what is arguably one of the busiest shipping channels in the world and is in fact, the busiest on the west coast of North America, and I did it at night. In the winter, weather was a huge factor.
You see, a good portion of the transit involved working in the Traffic Separation scheme. It extends above Santa Barbara all the way to Queens gate at Los Angeles port. I am very familiar with the navigation watch standing requirements of STCW 95 (Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping) which CP Steve attempts to speak too. I can tell you with certainty that the containership and super tanker traffic from Valdez and the North Pacific, zooming down the Santa Barbara channel in the Traffic Separation scheme, had one lookout, and one deck officer on watch with a 900-foot-long vessel, on auto-pilot until Queens gate. Everyone in the Southern California bight knew this. It was common knowledge. That is not STCW 95 compliant then or now. Basically, I spent the night dodging shipping. Dodging vessels that could not stop in time.
In closing I would like to remind everyone who reads this of certain realities. We don’t know all the circumstances that led to the loss of 17 U.S. Navy Sailors in these two collisions over the course of two months now. They died because a series of events during a difficult time came together to form a tragedy. They died serving our country which is the ultimate sacrifice. The men and women of the U.S. Military deserve more respect than glib comments about mayonnaise,
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OUCH !!--- right--- they certainly do deserve the ultimate respect...and they certainly have that from me...however.. my point still is that the most horrendous of accidents often boils down to some insignifient fact.. that no amount of rules and regulations can possibly anticipate and address...
somewhere along the line someone figured out that pilots and co pilots must not eat the same airline meal...
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and speaking of right..... i am waiting to hear the reason the ship was struck at a right angle-- it may take months/years -- i hope i remember to notice...then to see how rules are changed....if the person at the top is to blame for an accident way down the chain of command.... keep that up and there will be a shortage of people who want to be at the top...
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ASHER AND I HAVE BEEN BURIED IN OUR BOOKS THIS WEEK, BUT WE'RE DOING WELL AND STAYING ON TOP OF THE WORKLOAD! WE'RE ABOUT TWO WEEKS INTO LAW SCHOOL BY NOW, AND WE'RE REALLY LOVING MOST OF OUR PROFESSORS AND GETTING THROUGH THE COURSE WORK WITH LITTLE PROBLEM. BUT WE THINK IT'S IMPORTANT THIS MONTH - WITH EVERYONE GETTING BUSY WITH END-OF-SUMMER ROUTINES - TO REMIND OUR FRIENDS TO BUY YOUR CHICKEN BRICKS!!
FOR OUR FRIENDS NOT FAMILIAR WITH SERVICE DOG PROJECT OR THEIR MONTHLY "CHICKEN BRICK" FUNDRAISER: SDP IS SUCH A WONDERFUL ORGANIZATION BECAUSE I WAS PAIRED WITH ASHER SEVEN WEEKS AGO (HOW TIME FLIES WHEN YOU'RE HAVING FUN!!) AT NO COST TO ME. ASHER IS TRAINED TO HELP ME BALANCE BY BRACING WHEN I NEED TO STEADY MYSELF, HELPING ME UP AND DOWN STAIRS AND CURBS, HELPING ME UP OFF THE GROUND, AND A LOT OF OTHER TASKS THAT HE SEEMS TO FIGURE OUT ON HIS OWN WHEN THE NEED ARISES. THAT TRAINING TAKES A LOT OF TIME AND EFFORT TO ACHIEVE (LET ALONE THE COST OF FEEDING AND CARING FOR ALL THE AMAZING DOGS IN TRAINING!), MAKING THE COST OF RAISING A SERVICE DOG FROM BIRTH TO "GRADUATION" (WHEN THE DOG IS MATCHED WITH THEIR PERSON) INTO THE TENS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS. ASHER HAS CHANGED MY LIFE IN SUCH A SHORT TIME, BUT IF IT WEREN'T FOR SDP'S MISSION OF DONATING DOGS TO PEOPLE WITH MOBILITY LIMITATIONS, I WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ABLE TO EXPERIENCE LIFE WITH ASHER'S HELP - THE COST IS JUST TOO MUCH.
SO, ENTER CHICKEN BRICKS, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, SHATTING SUNDAYS. SDP IS A 12-ACRE FARM HOME TO LOTS OF GREAT DANES, DONKEYS, AND A FEW CHICKENS. EACH MONTH, SUPPORTERS CAN PAY $10 FOR EACH NUMBERED "BRICK" THAT WILL BE PLACED ON A BOARD ON THE FIRST SUNDAY OF EACH MONTH. THE CHICKENS ARE THEN RELEASED ONTO THE BOARD TO DO WHAT THEY DO BEST, AND IF THE CHICKEN CHOOSES TO, UM, "SHAT" ON YOUR BRICK, YOU'LL RECEIVE A CERTIFICATE FROM AND A LIFETIME MEMBERSHIP TO THE IPSWICH SHATUPON SOCIETY, AND $500. YOU CAN EVEN WATCH THE SHATTING TAKE PLACE LIVE ON EXPLORE.ORG!
IF YOU FEEL LIKE PLAYING ALONG AND HELPING SOMEONE ELSE BE ABLE TO FIND SOME INDEPENDENCE AND A BEST FRIEND THROUGH A SERVICE DOG FROM THE SERVICE DOG PROJECT LIKE I HAVE, CLICK ON THE LINK on thier web CHOOSE YOUR BRICK(S), AND MAY YOU BE SHAT UPON ON SEPTEMBER 3RD! LAW SCHOOL AND LIFE IN GENERAL WOULDN'T BE THE SAME WITHOUT ASHER, SO WE LOVE TO DO WHAT WE CAN TO SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT SHATTING SUNDAYS! JOIN IN ON THE FUN HERE:
