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When I was stationed in England, I was assigned to the Joint Analysis Center at Royal Air Force (RAF) Molesworth. However, as this was an old Ground Launch Cruise Missile base, there were no support facilities, nor billeting there, so we lived 10-miles away on RAF Alconbury. Most people took the A14 (nearly double the miles) because it was a wide, modern road (hence the 'A' designation). But not I.
The B660 was a narrow, secondary road (the more numbers in the alphanumeric, the more 'secondary' the road), winding through rural villages and chock full of scenery. Most of the road, however, was a twisty thing through huge fields of agriculture. The road was so narrow, and the turns so sharp, and the vegetation so high, that it was like driving through a walled corridor - you couldn't see anything around the bends. Many servicemen new to the area often drove their car straight off into a ditch, then never took the road again. Though I never had a mishap, I admit, it took me months to learn how to navigate the slalom effectively. What used to take me half an hour to drive, over time, I had down to about fifteen minutes. Those familiar with Stephen King's short story Mrs. Todd's Shortcut from Skeleton Crew know exactly what I'm talking about.
I was driving a 1976 Jaguar 3.4 GT Cabriolet. A very large car for its time, especially on those narrow rural roads. Once, I made a turn at speed around one of the blind corners and hit the brakes - hard. A flock of sheep was taking up the entire road, with a lone herdsman in the center. He was hollering at the sheep and they parted and made their way around me - the car gently rocking as we were bumped on all sides. Another time, the largest pig I've ever seen was blocking the road, and no amount of horn was getting it to move. Fortunately, I had with me a girl who grew up in San Antonio. She said to me, "I know how to handle this," as she exited the vehicle. She approached the sow, and yelled, "SUEY!" as she slapped that pig right on its rump. That was good for about five steps. She repeated the process for an eighth of a mile or so until we found the farm it belonged to.
My car was fast, I was young and overseas. What a feeling of freedom.
I drive a Cavalier these days, and I'm back in my home state, but Mantua road from the exit off 75 to the Elementary School, reminds me an awful lot of B660. I keep it at 40mph, but if you see my little white car with the black bra hugging the turns, you know why.
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That snazzy new "Union Jack" icon is bitcin' cool!
Now why didn't I think of that? Oh yeah, because I'm a lame cheap non-paying member who is only allowed a paltry 6 (or some small number around that size) icons.
So - I don't get to invent and therefore utilize a plethora of snazzy icons.
But cheers to you, mate!
"For he is a jolly good fellow"
"For he is a jolly good fellow"
"For he is a jolly good felloooooowWWWWWWWWW"
"And so so all of us!"
Did I get the British accent right on the song? :)
And oh yeah - nice Jag! :)
Lena promised to buy me a brand new Jag when graduate from med school.
So now my reward goals are thus:
One: I graduate from UTD with my degree in biochemistry - I get my mid-size trailerable sailboat (A MacGregor 26 - you can sail around the ocean in this thing!).
Their website is here: http://www.macgregor26.com/
And B: I graduate from med school - I get to keep a nice new larger-zized truck (or perhaps trade it in for a larger, very well luxuried and uber technology optionized SUV) to tow the boat, AND I get a new Jag to drive to the places for my post med-school internship and residency training.
I'm looking forward to the Jag. Really, I am. But my heart is really set on that sailboat. I just can't wait until I graduate from college. Of course, I will then be in medical school - so I don't know WHEN I will have time to enjoy the boat. But I may take a 6 - 12 month sabbatical after college to recover from all the biochemistry I will have crammed into my brain. I'm sure I will need some sort of rest after that ordeal. I'm not getting any younger y'know, and with two ruptured disks in my spine... it's going to be pretty grueling to finish these next 2 - 3 years of college.
But we'll wait and see. Becuase if I get out of school - I will have to start paying back all the loans that I've borrowed... and with a new boat payment... well, maybe I might not take that sabbatical after all. :) But like I said, we'll see. Hopefully by then, Lena will be done with law school, and she'll be bringing home some fat bacon and we'll be OK. If not - I'd rather be in med school and enjoy my boat twice a month than not be in med school and enjoy my boat twice a year. :) Of course, wind is free - so my "fuel" costs will be low - but towing, docking, and parking that boat will cost me some pretty hefty dough. :(
Ahh... who knows. The future always lies ahead of us - and is always unknown.
But oy, I say ol' chap - that icon is really quite charming. :)
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Thank you for your patience concerning this issue.
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It was heavenly, stellar, and ultimately sensational! At least through mine own eyes.
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Jaguar: Like getting a hand job from a beautiful woman you hardly know.
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Unless of course, you're Kane from "Kung-Fu," then you really don't have any business just wandering the earth.
Plans give us goals. Goals give us benchmarks. Reaching a benchmark brings us happiness that our plans are working.
When a certain amount of benchmarks are reached - then those step by step goals are accomplished, which again... bring us even more happiness.
If I've learned anything from living - it's that life moves fast. So fast in fact, that we find ourselves at ages that we didn't dream of ages ago... but suddenly we've arrived. If we don't plan for our future, nobody else is going to do it for us.
That is why in my posts, I keep harping about the new changing economy and how it will affect us. I would like for us all to really help each other - in all ways possible. This way, when that benchmark age suddenly hits you - and you realize that your savings account is not as fat as you would have liked it to be... it's not too late to take measures to start making a residual income that could fatten our treasuries for not only our own future - but more importantly, for our children.
I hope you've heard of Upromise. If not, it's another program that should raise your interest. It's free to enroll, and you just buy certain things... like groceries with a clearly marked blue label on the product that says "Upromise Certified." There is also a toolbar that you can download (unfortunately, it only works on IE) that you can use as a starting point for making online purchases. From that starting point, Upromise will tell you how much percentage you will get that will be put into your Upromise account, which then you can open up a College Savings 529 plan (again, for free) to dump these small collections of monies and you can pick and choose the mutual funds, or individual stocks that you want to put in your 529 portfolio. You can manage it directly online, changing it at will. Jessica has already made over $56 in growth from the mutual funds that I selected for her account (from just two quarters).
If you don't know what I'm talking about - research it... for your children's sake, please research it. You can register your visa and/or mastercards and/or Discover cards, and along with your banking visa checkcards and your grocery shopping "reward" cards - the funds automatically are put into your Upromise account each time you purchase groceries, or gas (from certain stations like Exxon), or when you dine out at certain restaurants. Again, we are talking about free money. You can also get your parents (or other friends/family members) to sign up their own Upromise account and set it up to where their funds go straight into your account. I've got Mom and all her credit cards and grocery cards enrolled, and I get about .50 cents to $3 dollars per quarter forwarded to my Upromise account. Right now Jessica is my only child, so she is the only beneficiary. But if you have more than one child - you can split the funds evenly or however you choose among all of your children or just one child in particular.
And of course, you can setup monthly allotments (I think the minimum is $50 per month) to go directly to the 529 college savings account. We've got that setup as well, so each month her account just grows and grows... and we're letting the power of compound interest work its magic on her savings - so whcn she does become of the age to attend college, she can use all the funds tax free... as long as they are used for legitimate college expenses. These expenses of course can be books, tuition, lodging, meals, etc. Anything college related.
It's just a great way to start saving money for your children to get into college. If you've already got a 529 account already established... it only takes a few keystrokes to link your Upromise account to the 529 account. I love it. Free money. I love free money.
So - let's help each other. If you've got info you want to share, please do. You know I have no problem sharing my financial endeavors. It's nothing secret. It's all out there on the internet.
Curves and cars
We've got a few roads like that, however they aren't "truly" roads because my family owns them. :-) They're "drives" that connect the fields.
Re: Curves and cars
Its what I do.
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Man alive... your wife won't know what hits her! *big grin*
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As always -- responding to you is a pleasure. :-P
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Oh yes, I know. I used to get lots of feedback from my friends. Now -- they just enjoy the brilliance.
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Want to refute the claim? Read 'em and weep
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Man, I just *love* those things!
no fatty's
Nope. No fatty's. Hence why when you've suggested in the past he may have more then friendly feelings toward me -- I've been so certain that he hasn't.
Yes he may enjoy talking with me, and my personality, however, I am physically repulsive to him since I am not skin and bones like he loves the mess around with. The smaller the better I once heard him say. *think think* In some things, thats good. But in most respects it just sounds unhealthy.
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Ask him sometime what his "perfect woman" is physically. Bet he'll tell you 5'2-5'4, and somewhere between 90 and 120lbs. So skinny he can count the ribs.