Yumm

I just had the king of deep dish, Gino's East. It's tasty and delicious.

Whooo Hoooo

Good news, Manny Ramirez is no longer the Yankee Killer.... Good luck in LA, Sorry Joe Torre.

Back to School

Well I have put it off long enough. I went to Navy College today to sign up in hope of someday getting my degree. I need 6 classes for me AA and then it's about a year and a half to my BS. Which is odd as many times I am accused of being full of BS. In a small attempt at humor, school was written "schol", it has been since fixed.

Heading to the Widy City

We are heading downtown today for the first time. I haven't been there in a long time and the Girls have never been. It should be lots of fun. Details when we get back.

Busy Day

Well last minute things before I go back to work for the Navy. First and foremost, I saw Batman in IMAX at 0900. Yes popcorn, soda and IMAX. the word awesome doesn't even cover how great that movie was. Heather Ledger's broke back Joker was much better, TONS better than Jack Nicholson.

Then it was continue to straighten up and put together things around the house. The desk is up downstairs, and my PC is almost done. Most importantly the home network is up and running now. Tomorrow 6 flags and Pizzeria UNO and Thursday it's time to be an adult and work again...

Good Luck to my sister who heads to CT tomorrow to see our parents. Please dump that nasty color on your blog.

A Hall of Fame Weekend

Well let me just catch you up on the weekend. The whole thing presses back to May when I was on my way to the SEA. Dad and I are both Yankee fans as well as my sister and my newphew. I wanted to go and see the Yankees play one final time in Yankee Stadium before they tore it down. No luck, tickets are impossible to get this year so I suggest my dad and I make a trip to the Hall. Wow, if you are a baseball fan I would put aside 2 days to make the trip up there, we saw so much baseball stuff I don't know where to begin. So much history that you should really do it in two days and then head over to Doubleday Field where the game began. The city is very small, only 2000 in the off season and very out of the way. But.. worth the trip, most escpecially for a father and son..

On a side note we topped it off Sunday night going to Brooks BBQ, a place Rachel Ray herself went on $40 a day and that too was worth every second....

Eagle has Landed

Well 13 hours in the car yesterday and I finally made it, not with standing the fortune in tolls I paid yesterday. It's bad enough gas is 4.00 or more a gallon, but then I get ass hammered with a friggin million tolls.

But the good news is I am home again and we are a happy family again. I have a list of things to accomplish before I check into work, and I have already started. Of course the wireless is up and running in the house already, I'll go out and get a grill today and have the tv and surround sound working by the end of the day.

Dawn has done a great job on the house it looks really great, the most amazing part is the amount of space we have now, this place is friggin huge.

Hall of Fame

So far lots of fun here, Dad and I got to Cooperstown about the same time and made our way over to the Hall of Fame. If you are a baseball fan you really should come here once. There is a ton of stuff to see here, of which I will post pictures when I get home tomorrow. Today we go back over to finish off the Hall and look around town a little. Then Monday morning it's 14-15 hours and home... WHOO HOOOO.

On the road.. again

By the time this posts and is read I should be on the way to Cooperstown NY to see the Baseball Hall of Fame. This is by far the high point of my summer. I can't wait. 5 Hours to Cooperstown and then 13 hours on Monday to Chicago.. .WHOOO HOOOOOOO

Grad Night

Well it's been almost 2 months since I left Mayport and allot has happened since then. Most of which I will not relive, however you can read about it all you want in the Blog. Last night we had graduation and both of my parents were there which was great. They are getting older and my biggest fear is they might not be around forever. Anyway we graduated, got our records this morning and I am waiting to go to breakfast with my parents and then tomorrow I head to Cooperstown with my dad. I can't begin to tell you how excited I am to spend that kind of time with him. Growing up he worked very hard so we could have a good life and we didn't do a ton of Father/Son type of stuff, so this is extra special. Then after that I head to Chicago and should be there Monday night, very late.

This Saint's For You!

Both my sister and I went to Catholic School, Dad is the king of all Deacons, and Mom taught math in a Catholic School (to both me and my sister). To say our roots run deep in the church is an understatement.

While in Newport my Mother got my Dad a book "This Saint's For You!" by Thomas J. Craughwell has detailed information on "300 heavenly allies for architects, athletes, brides, bachelors, babies, librarians, murderers, whales, widows and you"

Cruising through this book has given people some new saints to pray to, and a good hearty laugh.

St. Expeditus: The Patron Saint of Procrasination (Feast Day, April 19). But is often celebrated on the 20th or 21st.....

St. Bonaventure: Patron Saint of Bowel Disorders. I now know who to pray to in times of abdominal distress. (15 July)

and

St. Marculf: Patron Saint of Skin Rashes, my wife and oldest are tanning queens, myself and the youngest burn. let me keep this one close by...

Listen, there is more......

Parents of Disaapointing Children? Pray to St. Matilda
Physically Unattractive? Pray to St. Germaine Cousin
Sore Throat? Pray to St. Blaise

There's hope for us all...

Happy 4th (on the 6th)

Base Fireworks tonight

We had a nice time, a bunch of us from class went down and watched the show, the base was packed as they opened it to the public. I wonder how many of them bash the military all the time? 1 week to Chicago...

Happy 4th Everyone

4th of July, a great day for us to remember our forefathers fought and won our independence. Not a day where we need to run out and hit the sales but be thankful we live in a country where we are free to speak our mind, worship what ever god we want and make our own decisions. I for one am happy I am a member of the strongest military force this planet has ever seen. Happy Birthday America...

My paper on Admiral Zumwalt

ETCS(SW)DETJE
BLUE 05

Admiral Elmo Zumwalt

Imagine if you will a Navy without Ombudsman, equal rights for men and women, racial equality, or simple things like leave and earning statements. These things and many more like them were nonexistent in the Navy in the 1960s. In this paper, we will discuss some of the advances in the quality of life Admiral Zumwalt set in motion. His contributions still have an impact on sailors today.
President Nixon selected Zumwalt to be the youngest Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) at Age 49 and his appointment confirmed by Congress 01 July 1970. His goal as CNO was to improve the quality of life for all sailors, both officer and enlisted and he saw the need to modernize the fleet. He started with a series of “ZGrams” that totaled 121 during his time as CNO. ADM Zumwalt established the Ombudsman program, Z Gram 24, in recognition of the difficulties confronting Navy families. Admiral Zumwalt outlined a program, the first of its kind in the military, which provides communication between Navy families and Navy commands. The Ombudsman is the official representative of the Commanding Officer and serves as liaison between families and the command.
In August 1972, he issued Z Gram 116 Titled "Equal Rights and Opportunities for Women in the Navy," the document expressed the ultimate goal of assigning women to ships. It laid the groundwork allowing men and women to be trained together to compete for the same assignments ashore and afloat, and to follow career paths that lead to a promotion to admiral. This vision of giving women "equal opportunity to contribute their talents and background" to accomplishing the Navy's mission would come to fruition 20 years later, with the routine assignment of women to combat ships.
In my opinion, his most significant Z Gram was number 66. In it, he stated, "There is no black Navy, no white Navy--just one Navy, the United States Navy.” Admiral Zumwalt wanted to break the racial divide that still existed in the Navy. He reaffirmed the Navy’s stance on equality, placing the responsibility on commands to “create an environment that makes equal opportunity a reality and discrimination, for any reason, an unacceptable practice.”
These are just three of the 121 programs that Admiral Zumwalt set in motion during his time a CNO, but what is most impressive, is that 87 of these programs are still in use today. Admiral Zumwalt, to me, was a pioneer in deck plate leadership and taking care of our sailors. He saw the need for improvement to the quality of life for them and made sweeping changes to the Navy. Many of his programs were not popular with the senior leadership in the Navy but he did it anyway. What I found most interesting is that even as the CNO he still took time for his sailors. So many times, we as leaders get caught up in training cycles, material inspections and military exercises we sometimes forget the most important piece of the whole process, our people. The Guiding Principles have one common theme, lead and take care of our sailors. Sailors are the most precious commodity we have and without them, we will not be leaving the pier. It is our duty to ensure the future success of the Navy by preparing today.
As you have seen, Admiral Zumwalt can be remembered for his commitment to positive change to improve the lives and safety of the members of our sailors. His courage and dedication to protect the health of sailors never stopped from his first day as CNO to the last. We too must continue to look for ways to improve our sailor’s lives every day. Most of us will never be CNO and maybe one of us may become the MCPON someday, but that does not excuse of for looking each day for ways to improve the quality of life for our sailors.