National Air and Space Museum

This last weekend I was up in DC to visit the NASM. I went with dad and my brother D who flew in from Seattle and drove up with us. We had a great time and I took over 160 pictures.

This is the entrance to the larger of the two museums. It houses a large collection of aircraft, many of which are the only ones left in existence. This is the "Enola Gay" it's the actual plane that dropped the first atomic bomb. It is completely restored. We went on a guided tour and I was surprised that most of the planes in the museum are actually flyable. Just add gas and the things should fire right up. I have mixed feelings about this plane. On the one hand, it ended WWII. On the other, it marked the the beginning of a world of fear.
This little Grumman "Gulfhawk" was the predecessor to one of the first operational carrier fighter fighters in WWII, the Grumman "Wildcat". As a matter of fact, It's virtually identical to its carrier brethren but has two wings (aka biplane).
Here we have one of my favorite pics from the trip. Two legends of flight. In the foreground is "Spirit of St. Louis" The first plane to cross the Atlantic on a solo mission with Charles Lindbergh at the controls. In the background is "SpaceShipOne". It is the first privately operated manned spacecraft to ever leave earth and return. Twice.

What do Mosquitoes and cops have in common?

They both like to single me out for no apparent reason.

Whether it's a police officer or a mosquito I will be the one they single out in a crowd. Could it be that I give off some enticing smell that attracts blood sucking parasites?

I have a minor allergy to Mosquitoes. When Mosquitoes bite me, they leave welts that get to be about the size of a quarter. One of my basic garage supplies is a couple cans of "Off" insect repellent. I try to remember to put it on all the time, but sometimes I forget or it wears off from sweat. When that happens, I come in from outside looking like a peperoni pizza. It's pretty freaky really. Honestly, I could be standing in a crowd of a million people and the only mosquito around for a hundred miles will ignore everyone else and find me. I kid you not. But this post really isn't about mosquitoes. It's about cops.

Tonight I was on my way to work, sipping my fresh Starbucks Venti Mocha and listening to tunes from my newly installed CD player in my 40 year old VW. (Yes the interior is done people.) I was at the front of a pack of cars as they were all passing me on the rural four lane Georgia highway. This is nothing new. My bus likes to cruise at 55mph and I get passed a lot. All that is in my head at this particular moment is how nice it would be to have a Twix bar to go with my mocha flavored coffee. As I'm internally planning my stop at the local quickie-mart next to my place of employment, I see a familiar sight in my mirror. It's the (all too familiar) headlight pattern of a Ford Crown Victoria. I only see the pattern for a second before it gets so close that the glare dips below my rear window. I subconsciously shake my head as I come to the realization that a cop is shoving his cruiser up the ass of my newly restored bus. For a brief second I consider slamming on the brakes but my engine and fuel tank are in the rear and mental pictures of burning alive are not pleasant. I drive for a short distance and hit my blinker as my turn for work approaches. No sooner did my signal blink than his blue lights came on. "Asshole!" comes out of my mouth as I pull over. No Twix for me now. After I come to a stop, I kill the engine and switch my head lights off leaving the parking lights on. I wait patiently about two blocks from work as he does whatever they do before they decide that they're actually going to get out of the car.

When He finally arrives at my door I get the same retarded question that I always get. "Do you know why I pulled you over?" Why the hell do they always ask this damn question? Do they really expect an honest answer?

"Nope," I answer.

He says, "One of your headlights is out."

I know for a fact that both my headlights work perfect so I come back with, "Really? Which one?" and flick my headlights back on. He looks at the front of my bus and the corners of his mouth turn down ever so slightly as he sees that both lights are, in fact, working fine. "Are you sure you don't have a short up there somewhere?" he asks.

I reply with, "No, they work perfect. The right one could be adjusted a little better but they work great and I've never had a problem with them."

"Can I see your license please?"

"Sure thing, but I need to set my coffee down so I can dig it out." I tell him. I always do stuff like this when I'm dealing with police because I don't want to get shot for putting my coffee on the floor while I dig out my license. Leaning over or digging low will always make a cop jumpy. After setting the java down, I unbuckle my belt and dig out my wallet. He takes my ID back to his car and, as he does so, I wonder if he's going to give me a ticket. While he's back there masturbating or doing whatever it is they do, I pull out my phone and call the work to tell the guy waiting on me to show up that I could be late because of the blue light special behind me. Finally, officer friendly comes back with a warning slip and I get to go on my way to work.

So what have I gained from all this?

First, "The Man" will always harass me. I've been pulled over in just about every single car I've ever owned since high school and I've rarely been doing anything wrong. When I was in the wrong, I always knew the answer to the retarded "Do you know why I pulled you over?" question. Ninety percent of the time it was just to harass me. Those of you that have been reading this blog for a while will remember I almost went to jail the last time I got pulled over. I fear that I will eventually get arrested because I'm getting to the point where I'm just going to go off on the next dickhead that decides to fuck with me.

Second, I need to install a cup holder in my bus.

Sometimes I miss myself.

I got to thinking the other day (surprisingly enough, no smoke came out of my ears or anything) I'm not the person I used to be. It's hard to explain. It has mostly to do with being in a long term committed relationship with someone. Whenever you combine lives with another person whether it be a roommate or a loved one, there is always some part of you that you give up or sacrifice to be with that individual. It could be something as simple as going to the bathroom with the door open or as complex as attempting to change a personality flaw because you love them and want to make them happy. Who would've thought Newton's third law of motion applies to marriage too?

Although I don't feel much different than I did twelve years ago when I met L, I most certainly have changed. Every once in a while I wonder who I would be if I was on my own. Would I be the person I once was or would I be someone I haven't met yet? I would have to guess that it would be the latter because you can't spend that much of your life with someone and expect them not to have impacted you dramatically. Sometimes I wish I could take a brake from my current life and try to go it on my own for a while because I think I miss who I used to be. I believe that I was a more social person at some point whereas I'm more of a homebody now. I'm thinking I need some serious Glenn time. I want to go on a short journey (maybe a few days or even a week) on my own and see who shows up. It would have to be a complete loner thing. No one I really know. No friends. No relatives. Just me. Who would show up? Will it be the Glenn we currently know and love or...someone else? It's a fascinating prospect.

Damn blogger won't let me use the title line this week.

For those of you who are just dieing to know how far I got on my list. (I'm just sure you've been holding your breath.) You should know that I've accomplished a grand total of ZERO of the goals I gave myself last week. It's a good thing that I'm making this a monthly thing. I still have time to get my arse in gear. If things go the way of my track record, then it'll all get done seven minutes before the deadline. I did already fail one of my goals. I didn't vacuum last week. In my defense, it was a Holiday week and I did have a bunch of stuff on my plate aside from those on the Goal Post. No excuses though. I could have "made" some time.

Anyway good luck on 07-07-07.

Goal Post.

I've decided that I need to set goals for myself. All I'm probably doing is setting myself up for failure, but I feel the need to start doing this. It seems that my life is, more or less, in a holding pattern right now and there is a need to break out. Maybe I need to start making lists. I've tried this before and it didn't seem to work. I just ended up with little pieces of paper with unaccomplished tasks laying around everywhere. Most of the time it just made me feel like shit. However, in the last year or so, I've managed to make large strides in the battle against my lazy DNA. But it feels like I've only scratched the surface. So I got to thinking...What would make me get more done? Lists seem like the answer. This time I'm not going to write them on paper though. I'm going to write them here and use you (my faithful 2.5 or so) readers to give me shit and keep me on the ball. So hereto and forthwith I declare my first post of every month my "Goal Post." It will be your job as my personal naggers to give me rations of shit every month for not accomplishing my goals. Then maybe (out of shame) I might get more done.

So here is my first list of things that I vow to have D. O. N. E. by my next goal post.

1. The toilet fill that I have yet to fix. I've had the part to repair it for almost two months. (I'm sure I've paid for enough water to buy two more of these little units.)

2. The interior of my VW bus will be completed. (providing I can get the materials I need)

3. I can barely walk in my garage and it's time for me to do some serious spring cleaning.

4. I will vacuum my house at least once per week instead of once per month.

5. The links on the side of my page here need to be updated. Blog maintenance is in order.

I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "Dude! That's not much of a list." but I assure you that it is. The interior of my van represents at least four full days worth of work and the mess I've made out of my garage is going to take another two. And if you take into consideration that I have to go out of town for a week at the end of the month, it leaves me very little time to goof off. So polish up your biting reprimands because this blog just got a little more interactive.