Tuesday

Good morning,

Quote of the day:

“Happiness is the sole purpose and meaning of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.”

Aristotle

There are certain things that gets on our nerves here is one of mine.

I saw this on a nationwide ad. “When your going on a vacation......” WRONG!

The correct word is “When you're going on a vacation.....”

The word “your” is a possessive like ”Follow your heart.”

The word “you're” is a contraction for you are.

So the phrase without the contraction would have read “When you are going on vacation....”

This may help. When you use the word spelled “your” the next word must be a possession of someone else...like arm, leg, car, locomotive, airplane, temper, beauty, ugliness, disposition, etc. If this does not work then the appropriate word is “you're”.

You would think a proofreader for a national advertiser would have knowledge of the English language past the 6^th grade level.

This past weekend here in Greenville a 24 year old woman was stopped by the cops for driving erratically. There was a cop on the passenger side and the driver side. The woman refused to get out of the car and the cop on the passenger side opened the door and was trying to unfasten her seat belt when she chose to drive off dragging the cop with her. She hit a telephone pole and flipped the car. Neither the cop nor the woman was seriously hurt. It was determined that the woman had taken the following:

Two tablets of hydrocodone, five tablets of alprazolam (Xanax) and 32 mls of heroin. How was she still coherent?

Here is a continuation of my road trip from the west coast to the east coast. When my friend and I left Tacoma our intention was to drive to Santa Monica, Ca. and follow the famous Route 66 at least to Oklahoma. We changed out minds and turned east at the Columbia River. My last installment on this adventure left you at a blues bar in Boise, Idaho. We knew that our route would bring us through Salt Lake City, Utah and we planned to go by the Bonneville salt flats. We found that the salt flats required us to turn back west after we had passed Salt Lake and decided not to go. We had been going almost due south since Boise with the bulk of the Rocky Mountains on our left like a wall. We decided that we should turn east soon. As I best remember early one morning after spending the night in Provo, Utah, we took a road eastward heading toward Denver and across the mighty Rockies. We went through Steamboat Springs and several other small towns where there was snow on the ground...lots of snow. By the way, this trip was in mid-May. We reached the high point of this segment of the trip about midnight going through Rabbit Ears Pass. We were exhausted and our trusty '53 Chevy was gasping because of the high altitude...about 9,500 feet I think. The road leveled off for a short distance and then started downhill. Waaayy down below we could see the lights of a large city that turned out to be Denver. Soon after starting downhill we saw a bar made of stone on the right side of the road and immediately pulled in for a frosty adult beverage. It must have been a popular bar because the parking lot was packed. We went in and were amazed at how fancy-schmantzy this place was. The bartender was in a tuxedo and they had a table full of fancy finger food available. We got a drink and ambled over to the food. After taking a couple of bites the bartender came over and said “Pardon me, but are you friends of the bride or the groom?” It was not a bar, it was a wedding reception. Embarrassment is not the right word...apoplexy is. We apologized profusely and put down the food and the drink and headed for the door. About then the groom showed up and we explained as best we could much to his amusement. He was very gracious and told us to wait a few minutes while he made a phone call. He came back and told us that he had booked us a room at his expense in a motel about 5 miles down the road. He told us to hang around and eat and drink until the party broke up and it would not be long. We just could not stay there after all of that and be the laughing stock so we left. We did take the motel room, however. Next memorable stop was Denver...more later.

Next is a Medal of Honor citation lest we forget the courage and bravery of our military. Here it is:

SALOMON, BEN L.
Captain Ben L. Salomon was serving at Saipan, in the Marianas Islands on July 7, 1944, as the Surgeon for the 2d Battalion, 105th Infantry Regiment, 27th Infantry Division.

The Regiment's 1st and 2d Battalions were attacked by an overwhelming force estimated between 3,000 and 5,000 Japanese soldiers. It was one of the largest attacks attempted in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Although both units fought furiously, the enemy soon penetrated the Battalions' combined perimeter and inflicted overwhelming casualties. In the first minutes of the attack, approximately 30 wounded soldiers walked, crawled, or were carried into Captain Salomon's aid station, and the small tent soon filled with wounded men. As the perimeter began to be overrun, it became increasingly difficult for Captain Salomon to work on the wounded. He then saw a Japanese soldier bayoneting one of the wounded soldiers lying near the tent. Firing from a squatting position, Captain Salomon quickly killed the enemy soldier. Then, as he turned his attention back to the wounded, two more Japanese soldiers appeared in the front entrance of the tent. As these enemy soldiers were killed, four more crawled under the tent walls. Rushing them, Captain Salomon kicked the knife out of the hand of one, shot another, and bayoneted a third. Captain Salomon butted the fourth enemy soldier in the stomach and a wounded comrade then shot and killed the enemy soldier. Realizing the gravity of the situation, Captain Salomon ordered the wounded to make their way as best they could back to the regimental aid station, while he attempted to hold off the enemy until they were clear. Captain Salomon then grabbed a rifle from one of the wounded and rushed out of the tent. After four men were killed while manning a machine gun, Captain Salomon took control of it. When his body was later found, 98 dead enemy soldiers were piled in front of his position. Captain Salomon's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army. He was awarded the Medal of Honor.

This Date in History September 1

1862 On this the day after the Union army, General John Pope commanding, received a monster ass-kicking in the Battle of Second Manassas by CSA General R.E. Lee; Lee was not satisfied and sought complete annihilation of those Yankees. Pope’s army was heading east toward Washington, about 25 miles away, as fast their fat little legs could carry them, asses in hand. Lee sent Stonewall Jackson and the 2^nd Corp with Col. J.E.B. Stuart and his cavalry as a screen, north, then east and them south to try and cut off the retreat of the Yankees and catch them in envelopment before they were able to get behind the Washington defenses. The US General-in-charge being Henry Halleck sitting behind a desk in Washington sent a message to Pope to make sure he protected Centerville most of all. Jackson was aware of this order and by-passed Centerville and finally US General Isaac Stevens launched a partially successful attack on Jackson’s troops at Chantilly, Virginia and scattered a Louisiana unit but soon after General Stevens received a fatal head wound and the Confederates counter attacked and drove those Yankees back. All of this was taking place during ferocious thunderstorm with much thunder and lightning. Additionally, US General Phillip Kearney was scouting ahead on horseback trying to locate the Confederates in very dense cover. He came upon a line of Union infantry who told him to go no further because the Rebs were just a few feet ahead. Kearney responded with, “I don’t see any.............” That sentence was cut short by a Confederate musket ball in the throat and he was killed. The battle was over in 90 minutes and the rainstorm persisted. Lee finally determined that an envelopment is not possible and turned his army north into Maryland toward a small village name Sharpsburg near a small creek named Antietam.

        Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow