Thought for the day...

Thank you. Now I'm running out.

 

Making a living is not the same thing as making a life. Or, don’t let making a living interfere with making a life.

If you pursue happiness, it will elude you, but if you focus on your family, your friends, the needs of others, your work and doing the very best you can, happiness will find you.

Half your wood and half your hay you should have on Groundhog Day.

 

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination, would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road, would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of ''Holding a Wake''.

England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So, they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, thread it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night, (the graveyard shift) to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be, ''Saved by the Bell '' or was considered a ''Dead Ringer''

 

WISDOM FROM TRAINING MANUALS


'If the enemy is in range, so are you.'
- Infantry Journal-

'Don't eject directly over the area you just bombed.'
- US.Air Force Manual

'Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword, obviously never encountered automatic weapons.'
- General MacArthur

'You, you, and you ... Panic. The rest of you, come with me.'
- Infantry Sgt.-

 

'Tracers work both ways.'
- Army Ordnance Manual-


'Five second fuses last about three seconds.'
- Infantry Journal


The three most useless things in aviation are: Fuel in the bowser; Runway behind you; and Air above you.
-Basic Flight Training Manual-


'Any ship can be a minesweeper. Once.'
- Naval Ops Manual –


'Never tell the Platoon Sergeant you have nothing to do.'
- Unknown Infantry Recruit-

 

'If you see a bomb technician running, try to keep up with him.'
- Infantry Journal-


'Yea, Though I Fly Through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I Shall Fear No Evil. For I am at 50,000 Feet and Climbing.'


- Sign over SR71 Wing Ops-

'You've never been lost until you've been lost at Mach 3.'
-Paul F. Crickmore (SR71 test pilot)-


'The only time you have too much fuel is when you're on fire.'
-Unknown Author-

 

'If the wings are traveling faster than the fuselage it has to be a helicopter -- and therefore, unsafe.'
- Fixed Wing Pilot-


'When one engine fails on a twin-engine plane, you still have enough power to get you to the scene of the crash.'
-Multi-Engine Training Manual-


'Without ammunition, the Air Force is just an expensive flying club.'
-Unknown Author-


'If you hear me yell;"Eject, Eject, Eject!", the last two will be echos.'
If you stop to ask "Why?", you'll be talking to yourself, because by then you'll be the pilot.'
-Pre-flight Briefing from a Canadian F104 Pilot-

 

'What is the similarity between air traffic controllers and pilots?
If a pilot screws up, the pilot dies; but If ATC screws up, .... the pilot dies.'
-Sign over Control Tower Door-


'Never trade luck for skill.'
-Author Unknown-


The three most common expressions in military aviation are: Did you feel that?' 'What's that noise?' and 'Oh chit!'

-Authors Unknown-


'Airspeed, altitude and brains. Two are always needed to successfully complete the flight.'
-Basic Flight Training Manual-

 

'Flying the airplane is more important than radioing your plight to a person on the ground who is incapable of understanding or doing anything about it.'
- Emergency Checklist-


'The Piper Cub is the safest airplane in the world; it can barely kill you.'
- Attributed to Max Stanley (Northrop test pilot) –


'There is no reason to fly through a thunderstorm in peacetime.'
-Sign over Squadron Ops Desk at Davis-Montham AFB, AZ-


'You know that your landing gear is up and locked when it takes full power to taxi to the terminal.' - Lead-in Fighter Training Manual –

 

Her hair was up in a pony tail, her favorite dress tied with a bow.
Today was Daddy's Day at school, and she couldn't wait to go.
But her mommy tried to tell her, that she probably should stay home
Why the kids might not understand, if she went to school alone.

But she was not afraid; she knew just what to say.
What to tell her classmates of why he wasn't there today.
But still her mother worried, for her to face this day alone.
And that was why once again, she tried to keep her daughter home.

But the little girl went to school eager to tell them all.
About a dad she never sees a dad who never calls.
There were daddies along the wall in back, for everyone to meet.
Children squirming impatiently, anxious in their seats

One by one the teacher called a student from the class.
To introduce their daddy, as seconds slowly passed.
At last the teacher called her name, every child turned to stare.
Each of them was searching, a man who wasn't there.

"Where's her daddy at?" She heard a boy call out.
"She probably doesn't have one," another student dared to shout.
And from somewhere near the back, she heard a daddy say,
"Looks like another deadbeat dad, too busy to waste his day."

The words did not offend her, as she smiled up at her Mom.
And looked back at her teacher, who told her to go on..
And with hands behind her back, slowly she began to speak.
And out from the mouth of a child, came words incredibly unique.

"My Daddy couldn't be here, because he lives so far away.
But I know he wishes he could be, since this is such a special day.
And though you cannot meet him, I wanted you to know.
All about my daddy, and how much he loves me so.

He loved to tell me stories, he taught me to ride my bike.
He surprised me with pink roses, and taught me to fly a kite.
We used to share fudge sundaes, and ice cream in a cone.
And though you cannot see him, I'm not standing here alone.

"Cause my daddy's always with me, even though we are apart
I know because he told me, he'll forever be in my heart"
With that, her little hand reached up, and lay across her chest.
Feeling her own heartbeat, beneath her favorite dress.

And from somewhere there in the crowd of dads, her mother stood in tears.
Proudly watching her daughter, who was wise beyond her years.
For she stood up for the love of a man not in her life.
Doing what was best for her, doing what was a right.

And when she dropped her hand back down, staring straight into the crowd..
She finished with a voice so soft, but its message clear and loud.
"I love my daddy very much, he's my shining star.
And if he could, he'd be here, but heaven's just too far.

You see he is an American Soldier and died just this past year when
a roadside bomb hit his convoy and taught Americans to fear.
But sometimes when I close my eyes, it's like he never went away."
And then she closed her eyes, and saw him there that day.

And to her mother's amazement, she witnessed with surprise.
A room full of daddies and children, all starting to close their eyes.
Who knows what they saw before them, who knows what they felt inside.
Perhaps for merely a second, they saw him at her side.

"I know you're with me Daddy," to the silence she called out.
And what happened next made believers, of those once filled with doubt.
Not one in that room could explain it, for each of their eyes had been closed.
But there on the desk beside her, was a fragrant long-stemmed pink rose.

And a child was blessed, if only for a moment, by the love of her shining star.
And given the gift of believing, that heaven is never too far.