Team Navy is Underway on Angel Power

Today marks the launch of Soldiers' Angels Project Valour-IT fundraiser!  This is a thoughtful and heartfelt project that aims to raise money to purchase technology items to aid wounded warriors in their recovery.  These include: laptops with voice-control software; Wii video game systems, which have been shown to aid in physical rehabilitation programs; and handheld GPS systems to help with short term memory loss and other issues related to Traumatic Brain Injury and PTSD.

While support of any kind to this noble operation is welcome, there is a fun competition among teams formed around military service branches to see who can raise the most fundage.  I am encouraging the squids out there or any among you who has a soft spot for the sea to support TEAM NAVY.  There is nothing this here now Navy can't do, including posting up #1 in support of Project Valour-IT.  I must confess, I was initially mildly concerned about Team Navy's pursuit of victory when I discovered the who's who on Team Army--Blackfive on point, This Ain't Hell, Laughing Wolf, A Soldier's Perspective.....in truth, normally some of my favorite peeps.  But let me be perfectly clear: Team Navy's not over here shaking in our boondockers.  The tip of our spear is U.S. Naval Institute; we've also got Navy Cyberspace (who's son is a fellow nuke), CDR Salamander, Gazing At The Flag, and our superultradoublesecret weapon--the bodacious beantown babe--Boston Maggie....muuahahaha!  Oh, it's ON now!!

So do the right thing and support Soldiers' Angels Project Valour-IT.  While you should *cough* *cough* DONATE VIA TEAM NAVY, if you have another military affiliation and want to donate through them I might just understand.  The most important thing is that there are no real losers here--our wounded warriors are the winners, and I would have it no other way. 

Let's See If You ACTUALLY Lol: Today's Dose Of Funny

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The Quotable Navy

I thought I'd list a collection of my favorite naval quotations:

• "I wish to have no Connection with any Ship that does not Sail fast for I intend to go in harm's way." -- Captain John Paul Jones

• "A good Navy is not a provocation to war. It is the surest guaranty of peace." -- President Theodore Roosevelt

• "Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition!" -- Lieutenant Howell Forgy (Chaplain)

• "Any man who may be asked in this century what he did to make his life worthwhile, I think can respond with a good deal of pride and satisfaction: 'I served in the United States Navy.'" -- President John F. Kennedy

• "This ship is built to fight. You had better know how." -- Admiral Arleigh Burke

• "It is the function of the Navy to carry the war to the enemy, so that it will not be fought on U.S. soil." -- Admiral Chester B. Nimitz

• "There are only two absolute rules of thumb at sea: Don’t let the people in the water tank, and don’t let the water in the people tank." -- Unknown, but excellent advice

• "The difference between a good and great officer is about ten seconds." -- Admiral Arleigh Burke

• "Investigate and shoot down all snoopers — not vindictively, but in a friendly sort of way." -- Admiral William "Bull" Halsey

• "Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people." -- Admiral Hyman G. Rickover

• "Any healthy organization can survive individual divergencies, and may even profit from them. Compulsory unification of opinion can only achieve the unanimity of the graveyard." -- Admiral Hyman G. Rickover

Not US Navy but good quotes nonetheless:

• "A ship-of-war is the best ambassador." -- Oliver Cromwell

• "A prisoner of war is a man who tries to kill you and fails, and then asks you not to kill him." -- Sir Winston Churchill

• "Put your trust in God, but keep your powder dry." -- Oliver Cromwell

• "It's extremely difficult to second guess the American Navy, because the Americans rarely read their doctrine, and don’t feel compelled to follow it when they do." -- Admiral Sergei Gorshkov

• "The reason that the American Navy does so well in wartime, is that war is chaos, and the Americans practice chaos on a daily basis." -- Admiral Karl Doenitz

• "When you men get home and face an anti-war protester, look him in the eyes and shake his hand. Then, wink at his girlfriend, because she knows she's dating a pussy." -- Attributed to General Tommy Franks
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

I Am Standing Here Beside Myself

So.  The last couple weeks of my life have been a hot mess, to say the least.  Of the top 5 Bad Things that can happen to a steam power plant, the plant I manage developed #4.  Concurrent with that, I experienced the worst bout of insomnia I've had in years; the latter probably brought on by the former, but crippling nonetheless.  It's an extraordinary thing to try and direct an unplanned critical maintenance outage while running on guts and caffeine alone.

The first couple days with little or no sleep wasn't too bad.  The third night I managed to fall asleep OK, only first to be awakened with the cat standing on my head for reasons only known to the feline species, then waking up every hour or so thereafter because of fitful dreams.  The fourth day is when I started seeing The Shadow People:  fleeting grey movement out of the corner of my eye that disappeared when I turned to look.  At first they made me nervous, but after a while I think we developed quite a repoire.  It got to the point that I seemed to be watching myself from the outside, like a bad reality tv show.  Whatever will Rebecca do next--crack her head getting something out of the fridge? Check.  Drive 5 miles past her freeway exit? Yeppers.  Forget to put out the garbage can on trash day? Well of course.  And just look how twitchy she is!

The problem at work was eventually repaired, and after a number of days the insomnia more or less abated.  I spent this last weekend sleeping my brains out, 12 or more hours a day that left me feeling drugged and wrung out.  Needless to say, I haven't really been keeping up with my usual round of blogs and news, nor thinking about anything to post here.  I vaguely remember some topic from my college Psych 101 class about the levels the human brain functions at:  the first level is basic life functions like finding food, shelter, sleep, comfort.  The next is the higher thought levels of curiosity, critical thinking, social interaction.  The highest level is abstract thought, art, ideals, innovation.  If a person is lacking in something at the more basic level, the mind can't function at the higher levels.  Pretty sure I just experienced a real-world proof of that theorem.

So anyhoo, I am trying to heave myself back in the saddle.  I'd like to express my appreciation for everyone who stops in to read my blog and I hope to have something more interesting for you to read soon.  If there's a particular topic anyone would like me to write about, please feel free to leave a comment.  Also, take note of the item to the right of your screen--the countdown to Soldier's Angels Project Valour-IT.  I am a proud Team Navy member, and you should check out the link to the project.  Soldier's Angels is a fantastic group that does wonderful things for our Warriors, and Project Valour-IT is no exception. 

Wishing you all the best.  Take care.