Month: March 2026

Like A Rock – Maintained.

The young man setting up my service appointment at Hendrick Chevrolet, was curious about my hearing his Connecticut accent. And I explained, I’d spent a lot of time in New England and especially Connecticut – Submarine School, Electric Boat, Digital Equipment Corporation, et al. And he was surprised I’d bought my truck there, new, in the room adjacent to his, in May of 2005, for $13,600.

Had a “Check Engine Light” come on last Saturday. The code was for the Catalytic Converter. My truck is old and exempt from NC Emissions Inspections. As long as all the OEM parts are “visually” there, I pass my required Annual Inspection for N.C. Registration Renewal. Which seems to me, sort of a “Potemkin Village” solution.

So I had them order the aftermarket part (General Motors no longer makes them) and sacrificed 5 hours of waiting and a year of CD interest to fix it properly. The NAPA Part Warranty roughly aligns with my life expectancy.

Travels With Jane #2 – Paris

Our first non-business trip to Paris, made with a 3.2 MP Sony Cyber shot. The camera was obsolete but what I had. Days later, a skilled Paris pickpocket “liberated” it from my jacket, hung on a chair back while I went to the loo in a Bistro. Which post travel, triggered my justification to buy a replacement and the discovery that was the basis of my post-corporate photography career.

I owe him. Also proved the wisdom of daily downloads from camera to storage. He did get my Metro Sign photo. Bless his heart!

Tour Eiffel, Paris 2007

Only Yesterday

I think it was 1967. A Marine, the older brother of a classmate, was home on leave and visited the High School Art Class he’d attended and I was in. He was a gentle giant, one of those guys who nobody messed with. And we had a chance to talk and he told me about his experience in Vietnam . And he told me essentially, what Master Gunnery Sergeant Valdez, USMC Ret., says at the end of this article.

High School Class of 1968, I was certain to be drafted, so with college a pipe dream, I enlisted in the Navy. Served nine years and got a tech education that later provided well for my family. It never occurred to me that Submarines were hazardous – hot water and good chow. A Nuclear Reactor, and Polaris Missiles with Nuclear Warheads were “normal”. Semper Fi and Anchors Away.

Travels With Jane -#1

Woke to a Carolina “Window & Screen Open” March Day – 76 & sunshine!! Dreams had brought vivid memory of my late sweetheart. Later, post caffeine and fully conscious, I thought about the question I hear when I tell folks I’ve retired – “Are you traveling”? Nope, already did that! A lot! Some for business, some for us. Some for both. While we could.

My Boss Lady & Sweet Heart – Bastille Market, Paris 2016

Memory of Moon Shadow

Clouds and a low Horizon position will make the Lunar Eclipse tomorrow almost impossible to see, from the Raleigh area. And it’s a couple of years until the next one!

Nearly a dozen years ago, it happened on a clear night. Lived behind a Golf Course. A short midnight walk with my tripod and I had an entire Fairway to myself. And no tree line to interfere, like the tall Pines that surrounded our home (and provided welcome shade in Carolina summers).