Category: Opinion

Life 3.0

On By The Flying DutchmanIn OpinionLeave a comment

Life 1.0 was pre-marriage.  Being born, growing up, going to school and college.  Life 2.0 was entering the workforce, marrying Cristy, buying a home, adjusting to each other.  Then came 2.1 and 2.2, my son and daughter.  Now that they have both more or less moved out we come to Life 3.0.  Empty nesters.

Should I feel guilty that I feel excited for my kids?  I’m excited they get to start experiencing the world on their own.  I think of all the adventures I had when I was my kids’ age and I can’t wait for them to begin their own.  I’m excited for them.

And I’m excited for Cristy and I.  We can start making plans for just ourselves again.  I love my children and I will always want them in my life.  But I love the life that Cristy and I can lead together now too.  And I can’t wait.

What’s In A Day?

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Opinion3 Comments

Another Father’s Day has come and gone.  It was bittersweet.  I went to have a visit with my father on Saturday and we had a small family get-together.  It was nice.

Sunday on Father’s Day proper we did… nothing.  My only recognition as a father was to stand up in church while all fathers everywhere were recognized.  My daughter caught me after church and gave me a hug and wished me a happy Father’s Day.  And that was pretty much all that made the day special.  No cards, no dinner, not even a cupcake.  I treated myself to a chocolate shake at Carl’s Jr.  Yay Dad!

I feel like my children think I’m optional.  They both relate really well to their mother about which I’m very glad.  But I feel I could drop off the planet and they would be sad for a few days but then life would go on as normal without much impact on their lives.

I have to say I didn’t think this would sting as much as it does; not getting any recognition from my family, but it does.  To my wife’s credit she wrote me a very nice note which I really appreciate.  It helped salve the wound.   And a very sweet woman at work wished me a happy Father’s Day on a sticky note and gave me a bag of cashews… so there’s that.

Okay, I’ve vented.  I’ll slip back into the shadows of irrelevance.

Foul!

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Humor, OpinionLeave a comment

Saw this exchange on a news article comment feed…

Commentator 1: Homeless people need love too. (offensive comment deleted) when you live on the street and your hygiene is worse than my shih tzu’s?

Commentator 2: (More offensive comment deleted).   Also, apostrophe foul.

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Commentator 1: Ewww! Never! Yuck. But I do let the homeless pet my shi tzu. They love dogs and my dog doesn’t seem to mind them & if it brings them a moment of happiness or escape from their lives, then it’s worth it. Of course, my dog sniffs other dogs butts, so I’m sure my dog is enjoying the interaction 😊
Commentator 2:
referee-300x272
Second apostrophe foul. Keep this up and you and your dog will be ejected from the game.
😀
Don’t know why but the whole punctuation foul thing just really tickled my funny bone.  Have a great weekend y’all.

Blue Skies and Light Winds

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Aviation, Faith, Opinion1 Comment

This is not the post I wanted to write today.  I lost a very good friend today.  Leon was a huge part of our airport community and a very dear friend.  He always had a way of looking for the positives in a negative situation.  He has helped or offered to help me numerous times and was always there at the airport to talk to about my flying, life, and above all, Christ.

Leon was out flying his Challenger II airplane this morning when he collided with his own pickup truck upon landing and, tragically, died.  I would like to say that he died doing what he loved, but that would be overly trite and cliche.  What I will say instead is that he lived a full life.  A life of adventure and love and fellowship.  I take great comfort knowing that he is now more alive than he has ever been.

Our loss is Christ’s gain.  Blue skies, Leon.

One Year Ago Today

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Faith, Opinion, WorkLeave a comment

I have a bad habit of hanging on to calendars so I can see what I did over the past few years.  I was looking at last year’s calendar tonight.  Last January my son had just moved out to the first of three group homes he lived in.  My wife was just getting over the flu.  I was still planning to live full-time on the road and finding a way to get my employer to buy off on my hair-brained scheme.

The plan was to travel from data center to data center, hitting all our properties on the way to or from.  I had meticulously planned routes to RV parks and campgrounds closest to our business properties.  My job at the time was pretty much location independent.  However, management being what it is, they always wanted us to be somewhere so it’s pretty unlikely they would have bought off on this plan.  I was still blissfully unaware of the plans management had for us.  I was still driving an hour to our corporate headquarters to plan to bond two core switches together.  Happily, my time with my employer came to an end before I had to do that work.  I was wondering why my boss wasn’t pushing me to move faster on that project.  Now I know why, I would never have been able to complete it before the transition happened.

There’s no moral to this story.  No point really.  Just reminiscing while looking at the calendar.  Well, maybe there is a moral to the story; don’t set your plans in stone, stay flexible and be ready to adapt those plans to what life hands you.  And if you’re so inlined, as I am, never stop having faith that God will work things out for the best for those whom He loves.

You Can Never Go Home

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Opinion2 Comments

XL. Into my heart on air that kills

INTO my heart on air that kills

  From yon far country blows:

What are those blue remembered hills,

  What spires, what farms are those?

 

That is the land of lost content,

  I see it shining plain,

The happy highways where I went

  And cannot come again.

A. E. Housman (1859–1936).  A Shropshire Lad.  1896.

 

Be happy with where you are.  This is home.

Love Is The Fuel

On By The Flying DutchmanIn OpinionLeave a comment

Shortly before Gene Roddenberry died, he had a vision for a new science fiction epic.  He never realized his new television show but his widow, Majel Roddenberry did.  The show was called Andromeda and ran for 3 or 4 years.  One of the hidden gems of this show were the quotes at the beginning of every episode. These quotes were from historical characters in Andromeda’s fictional universe.  This one is one of my favorites…

“If hope is the engine of the soul, then duty is the navigator… and love is the fuel.”

–Sani Nax Rifati, High Guard Supreme Commander
Persuasions and Exhortations
CY 4279

— From the TV series, Andromeda

Goodbye Sienna, Hello Ram

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Opinion, RV Life, WorkLeave a comment

img_20161119_143059After 18 years of reliable service we decided it was time to put our 1998 Toyota Sienna out to pasture.  I knew that I wanted a Ram 3500 to be our tow vehicle when we eventually start travelling full time.  I also knew that we won’t be able to live that lifestyle for another 7 to 10 years.  There would be no point in having a Ram 3500 as my daily driver for the next 7 years.  But I also knew the Sienna wasn’t going to last another 7 years.  After discussing it with my wife she suggested I get an interim truck.  After searching around a little I finally settled on a bare bones Ram 1500.  This particular truck has storage compartments on either side of the bed, and basic instrumentation.  I went basic so the truck wouldn’t be an attractive target for thieves.

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It’s good to finally have a vehicle that doesn’t sound like it’s about to fall apart, will pass smog, and can tow heavier loads than the minivan could.  I’m even starting to think about a small travel trailer so my wife and I can do some camping.

The Outsourcing Of America

On By The Flying DutchmanIn Opinion, WorkLeave a comment

I don’t blame Hillary for this, I blame both political parties.  Both are standing by and allowing this to happen.  People who have worked and trained hard to get and hold their jobs are being forced to train much lower-paid replacements.    I had to go through the same thing.  What’s happening in America is shameful.

Read about it here: http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/10/15/exclusive-american-worker-forced-train-foreign-replacement-reveals-how-hillary-clinton-betrayed-him/