I Need......

...to win the lottery. That way I can just attend classes and lectures and cool stuff like this:

Implications of the Long War on Naval Expeditionary Capabilities and Forces
Crystal Gateway Marriott, Arlington, VA 5 September 2006

The panel topics include "Fighting on the Terrorists’ Turf: Lessons Learned in Iraq & Afghanistan and the Gap Between Expectations and Realities" and "The Long War: Where Are We Now?"

The kickoff speaker is Admiral Edmund P. Giambastiani, Jr., USN,Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

And how bad did I want to go to this one!!!!!!!

2006 USNI Applied Naval History Conference
"Riverine Warfare: Back to the Future?"
6-7 April 2006
U.S. Naval AcademyAlumni Hall Annapolis, Maryland

Dear Abby

Dear Abby

My husband is a liar and a cheat. He has cheated on me from the beginning, and, when I confront him, he denies everything. What's worse, everyone knows that he cheats on me. It is so humiliating. Also, since he lost his job five years ago, he hasn't even looked for a new one. All he does all day is smoke cigars, cruise around and bullshit with his buddies while I have to work to pay the bills. Since our daughter went away to college he doesn't even pretend to like me and hints that I may be a lesbian. What should I do?

Signed,
Clueless

*****************************************************

Dear Clueless

Grow up and dump him. Good grief, woman. You don' t need him anymore. You're a United States Senator from New York . Act like one.

Signed,
Abby

New Game At The Castle

Which Army Are You?

You scored as United States.

Your army is the American army. You want your home front to support the G.I.'s in their pursuit to liberate world from more or less evil tyrants

United States 81%
British and the Commonwealth 69%
Finland 69%
Poland 69%
Soviet Union 63%
Japan 63%
Italy 56%
France, Free French and the Resistance 56%
Germany 56%

As I said over at The Castle in the comments, some of my answers are different since Sun Tzu. I wonder who I was last week.

Another Great Weekend!

Ossipee was fun and I plowed about a third of the way through Sun Tzu. I would have liked it better had the bullet points been written on little scraps of paper and stuffed in fortune cookies.

We hit Kappy's and Polcari's on Route 1 on the way up. Roger almost had to dig us out of Jen's car, we were so loaded down with bags and boxes of liquor and food. There was tons of room for us to spread out in his four story town house on Patch Pond. I was down by midnight.

Saturday morning Roger and Kathy made us breakfast and while we waited for the cloud cover to break he listed off all the possible activities, rain or shine. The sun eventually came out and off we headed for the beach. Jen, Pat, Bette headed out with Kathy and Roger on the boat while I staked a claim on some comfy, sandy waterfront to soak up some sun, some chocolate, and "The Art of War". It was an exceedingly pleasant time. Later I had to pop into town with Kathy for some last minute shopping (plenty of vodka - no cranberry juice or limes), then it was back to the beach for more reading and sun...this time with a cocktail. While I was gone, Jen, Pat and Bette found Roger's neighbor Tom who had a boat and took them tubing. They gave me a hard time (called me a geek) but I don't care. I really had a good time. I was a little lost on some of the examples used to illustrate different principles or rules, but most I got. A phone call to Dad explained the siege of Port Arthur and the Japanese. Eventually the Cape Codders impaired my reading abilities and I had to put Sun Tzu away.

Roger made us a fabulous dinner and eventually the other Kathy showed up 12 hours late....but better late than never. We laughed and shared stories well into the night, except for Pat who snuck off to bed early.....too much fun in the sun! With the stunning logic that comes only after much alcohol consumption I called Kathy's brother - a Chelsea cop I have never met and gave him a hard time. Even on a Girl's weekend I find a way to flirt with men. He is USNR - bonus! LOL

We were all slow Sunday morning, except for Roger who made us homemade waffles! Sunday was rainy and most of the day they played board games while I lazed on a nearby couch reading and tossing rude and ribald comments. When things got too risque I would be forced to ask my sister Jen to leave the room. I was teased a great deal, but she is my baby sister! Roger gave us a tour of his second condo which had a pool table (Pat took one game and Roger the other) and a TV. Jen and I got our fix for the weekend. We couldn't find FoxNews (big weekend there with Steve Centanni getting released), but we did find something fun on CSpan. The Heritage Foundation presented a panel discussion "24" and America's Image in Fighting Terrorism (WMP video here RealPlayer link here). It was very entertaining. Jen and I love "24" and I found Carafano hugely interesting.

We headed home around 6 pm and I arrived home in time for a fabulous phone call from SouthieBoy. He is the best.

It was loads of fun, but it's good to be back in my own bed.

Happy Birthday Chief!

Go over to the Castle and wish Bill Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday SugarButtons...........Maggie.

Clausewitz On War

I was out on Ebay trying to get an inexpensive copy of this. I think I'm going to end up with three! I wasn't paying attention. I'm at work and don't want to be. I am talking the girls and reading stuff and bidding, and oops. Oh well, if that happens, I'll be able to leave one in the car. That always helps me. I'm always getting stuck somewhere and I like to have stuff to read in the car. This way it will be something useful.

I hope it's easier to read than the Sun Tzu "The Art of War". All the ethnic names in that one aren't helping me. I'm not that far into it, so I shouldn't judge.......but..........pretty much "The better prepared general wins"........can we all say it together...........DUH!

Also, the example of beheading the King's concubines.........not cool.

Another Weekend Away

I leave tonight for Ossipee, New Hampshire. Jen's friend Roger has a condo there and the regular Girl's Night crew (minus Lisa, who has young children) is heading up there for the weekend. We are being joined by Jen's friend Kathy.

I have to stop this. There is too much partying going on.

World Trade Center - The Movie

Jen and I went to see it Wedensday night. Very good, solid story, well acted. ALa asked us not to spend money on it in her blog, but I hope it's enough that Maggie Gyllenhaal was not very good and her character wasn't very sympathetic.

Two thumbs up. Go see it.

So.............

........I'll be poking around online, reading stuff I shouldn't, trying to show off for SouthieBoy......and I'll be expecting help in this venture from certain people who read this blog. I have not been able to actually get the syllabus for these two courses, but I'm close. I have to read Sun Tzu's "The Art of War", Fall's "Street Without Joy", and Herring's "The Long War".

Flag Burning In The Classroom

This from Drudge.

A Stuart Middle School teacher has been removed from the classroom after he burned two American flags in class during a lesson on freedom of speech, Jefferson County Public Schools officials said. Dan Holden, who teaches seventh-grade social studies, burned small flags in two different classes Friday and asked students to write an opinion paper about it, district spokeswoman Lauren Roberts said. A teacher in the school district since 1979, Holden has been temporarily reassigned to non-instructional duties pending a district investigation. The district also alerted city fire officials, who are conducting their own investigation.

Ok, the parents got upset, so the school
investigates.....ok.

"Certainly we're concerned about the safety aspect," Roberts said, along with "the judgment of using that type of demonstration in a class."

Stop! No one is worried about fire safety!

Stuart sixth-grader Kelsey Adwell, 11, said students were abuzz about
the incident yesterday.

Excellent! I want teachers to do things to spark discussion. He didn't tell them it was good. He didn't tell them it was bad. He said "Go home and talk about it." Read the whole article here.

Home

........showered.........miserable. Why doesn't my real life come with room service, housekeeping and a concierge?

One pleasant surprise.........the house was clean, dishes done, laundry done............

How you say?

Frankie paid a girl $50!!!!!!

I'm Late With This One

August 19, 1812

During the War of 1812, the U.S. Navy frigate Constitution defeated the
British frigate Guerriere in a furious engagement off the coast of Nova Scotia
and earned its nickname of "Old Ironsides." Witnesses said the British shot
seemed to bounce off its sides.

Mae West

Selected quotes by Mae West (1892-1980)

A hard man is good to find.

A man has one hundred dollars and you leave him with two dollars, that's subtraction.
*The Ogre will understand this when he gets his credit card bill this month. He left it on my hotel room for incidentals - no one got less than a 30% tip.*

A man's kiss is his signature.

An ounce of performance is worth pounds of promises.

Anything worth doing is worth doing slowly.

Between two evils, I always pick the one I never tried before.

Don't marry a man to reform him - that's what reform schools are for.

Give a man a free hand and he'll run it all over you.

Good sex is like good bridge. If you don't have a good partner, you'd better have a good hand.

Drunken Blogging

This probably isn't a good idea.

I sat at the bar and had 4 Sunsets (something with vodka, I knew when I ordered it) and then went out and found a Hand Grenade. My cousin Martine told me that everyone who went to New Orleans had to have a hand grenade. Damn Martine. I am tanked.

So, the Ogre has been MIA since Friday. But I have had a great time.

Today I got up early and had breakfast, went to Mass at the Cathedral (St. Francis shown here is more beautiful). I have to go to Mass......who needs more points for heaven than me???????

Then I went to the D-Day Museum. It was awesome. When I was watching the part about Nagasaki and Hiroshima I was thinking about the poor bastards on the Indianapolis and I found that I was crossing my arms so tightly that the mark from my ring was showing up on the other arm.

I went to dinner and sat at the bar and had steak and four Sunsets and then off to find a Hand Grenade.

How did the Red Sox do? I was watching them in the bar called Tropical Isle. I left before it was over. I went swimming in the hotel pool. Probably not the wisest thing. But certainly smarter than drunk dialing the Ogre!!!

LOL

Do you know 74 people have been on this blog today? That's higher than usual. No one comments. Why does no one comment? For heaven's sake, say something. I am going to my room soon.

New Orleans

Just popped into an Internet Cafe down the street from the hotel for the drink, and the AC as much as the blogger access.

Security at Logan - Lax at best. I am, of course the only geek who packed her cell phone thanks to advice from Instapilot over at the Castle. Thanks buddy! The thing I wanted the most was toothpaste and lipstick for when I landed. I didn't want the Ogre meeting me before I was freshened up. As with most of my plans........they rarely survive contact with reality. It was brilliantly concieved and executed despite my sister Grace's worries. I have this bra that has two pockets. They are for little air pillows to *create* cleavage. (Have you met me? If you have you realize I don't need them.) So I took a smear of toothpaste, put it on a little square of Saran Wrap, folded it up and put it in the pocket on the right. Then I did the same with a dab of lipstick. Ingenious, huh? As I noted previously, I came up with this plan up in New Hampshire with Grace and Jennifer after many Ketel One infused lemonades. Anyway, I get to New Orleans at midnight, get off the plane and guess what? No bathrooms before the gate. LOL!!!! So I successully smuggled my stuff and had no chance to use it. Typical Maggie story.

The Ogre!!! - Is just as crazy in person as he is on line and loads of fun. Right off the bat I realize I was completely correct to insist on a hotel in the French Quarter instead of staying at his place 9 miles west. In the course of greeting me, picking up my bags, and driving to the hotel there were 4 phone calls from his work. I have seen him a grand total of 9 hours in the last 36. This despite his protests that he was leaving the shipyard Thursday evening and devoting his full attention to me until I left Monday. No matter, I am a person who likes to be on my own. When he did swing into my world yesterday for gumbo (oysters, yuck!!) and Cape Codders at Coop's Place and it was a riot. He is like no one I've ever met. He says and does the most outrageous things and everyone just seems to want to do what he wants. I am awed. When we pulled up to the Maison Dupuy, the lot was full. There was a sign and orange cones. He got out of the car, moved the cones, and drove into the courtyard. The garage guy comes running over and the Ogre just says in that southern drawl "Hey brother, you gonna hook me up with parking?" Up in Boston, that guy woulda been calling a tow to take that pretty little Corvette away. But not here. The man smiles, nods, takes the keys and handles it.

Maison Dupuy - The hotel is charming. The pool is lovely. The staff is helpful and like the rest of the French Quarter, they can't bring you enough drinks, fast enough.

The Quarter - It is like one large pub crawl. People are sitting and drinking, walking and drinking, driving and drinking at all hours of the day and night. They have take out windows for cocktails! This morning at 9 am there was a young man walking past me in a marijuana cloud. It is absolutely fascinating. The people, the buildings, everything. I took a walking tour sponsered by the Friends of the Cabildo, a historical society. Loved it.

It's in the 90s and humid. In very many ways it reminds me of Dubai. I was on my own there a lot while SB gave the taxpayers their money's worth. The heat, the slow pace.........except for SouthieBoy's company at night (the highlight of the trip, I assure you) it is a very similar vacation. I like going about on my own, poking about.

I am headed back to the hotel now to swim until it cools off enough to explore some more or the Ogre!!! surfaces.

Miss Me!

I am off to New Orleans this evening and don't know what my blogging access will be.

So........you have your orders...............miss me!

Another Dubai Memo

I drove my sisters crazy this weekend with my Dubai reminiscences...."memos"....Jen called them.

My first full day on my own in the hotel I poked around......everything was exquisite. The pool was on the roof. I brought my book, Stephen King's "Bag of Bones", my Coke (glass bottle) and of course.....M&M's. There were three workers there to meet the needs of guests. I asked where I could get a towel and they directed me to the gym where I signed out a towel. It was over a hundred degrees and after some time in the sun, I began to feel very lethargic. I was trying to will myself to roll off my chaise and get into the water. I felt as though I had a huge weight pressing down on me. I was just starting to panic.....imagine SouthieBoy comes home from work in time to see my crispy self being rolled into an ambulance! So much for low profile! Just when I thought my goose was cooked......literally......a deep voice said "Madam, may I move your umbrella?" I croked out a "Yes, thank you." After few minutes, I was able to roll off the chaise, stumble to the edge of the pool and fall in. I was so grateful! When it was time to leave I walked over to the gentleman who had moved my umbrella, thanked him and pressed $3.00 (all the cash I had on me) American into his hand. He protested, but I was insistent. He looked shocked. I didn't get it then, but in the coming days it made sense. Back at the apartment I was shaky and sunburnt. A shower used all my energy. The cleaning crew had been in the apartment in my absence (remade the bed I had made and replaced the dozens of towels in the four bathrooms!) and left a placard advertising pizza and a soda. I called down and asked if I could use American money. I hadn't converted any money because SB had told me he would give me plenty. He did indeed leave a bowl of coins, but I hadn't had the tutorial yet. Room service said fine and told me 20 dirham which roughly translated to $5.60, I put a $10 on the coffee table and popped on his computer while I waited. There was a knock on the door in no time and a smartly dressed waiter came in with a heavy wooden tray, pizza on a china platter, linen napkin and silverware. He set it up on the coffee table and indicated I need only sign for it. I demurred and gave him the ten. He looked nonplussed and said he had no change. I told him it was all set, he nodded, thanked me and left. I hadn't even made it the 50 feet back to the couch when *bing-bong* the bell rang. I opened the door and there was my waiter. He looked a little distressed. My face got hot and I thought, "Shit! I must have messed this all up". "Madam," he said, "do you understand 20 dirham?" I answered that I thought it was around $5.60. He said yes (and holding up the $10 bill), and this is too much. I laughed out loud with relief and told him it was a tip. His face lit up and he asked if I needed anything else. I said I could use a room service menu when he got the chance because I couldn't eat pizza all week. I didn't make it back across the living room when *bing-bong* he was back with a room service menu. I think he stole it from one of my neighbors! I finally got to my pizza, but after a few bites, I was down for the count.

That's where SouthieBoy found me, asleep on the couch.

"You came back" I said as I slowly sat up.

"You're really here" he said.

Our matching smiles were enormous.

Happy V-J Day!!!!

This morning SB called at the crack of dawn. He said he wanted to be the first to wish me "Happy V-J Day". I returned the greeting. Then he laughed and said he wagered he'd be the only one. But he's wrong (shhh, don't tell him I said that), I hang with a better crowd than that. Pop over to The Castle and see what John has.

Here's a link........if you wanna click on it fine.........if you need to click on it.......I'm madly disappointed. What are you doing here?

The photo to the left needs no explanation.

The photo below is Capt. L. K. Rice of the USS Gilbert Islands CVE-107.

Lipstick/Toothpaste Solution Found

After many Ketel One spiked lemonades up in New Hampshire, I have devised a solution to my lipstick/toothpaste problem. This was very important because there was no way I was going to let the Ogre meet me at the gate if I hadn't brushed my hair and brushed my teeth. I will post about it when I return from NOLA.

A few posts down when I originally discuss this problem there is a comment from Stingray.

Stingray said...
Maggie,

Glad to see you are coming
to visit the original Sin City!!
Are you coming for a conference or just for fun?
At any rate, I hope you enjoy our recovering city, and that you write
about your experiences here!
Semper Fi,
Stingray6 in NOLA

Can anyone tell me what's wrong with this comment?

It's missing the all important request to buy me a drink!!!!!!! Such an oversight is disappointing in a Marine.

No Blogging.....

....for a bit. I am off to New Hampshire for an overnight with my sisters. Not only is there no Internet access, the only cell reception is when I stand knee deep in the pond two doors down from the cottage. If you need me, text me, it's your only shot.

Enjoy the respite from my nonsense.

Miss me.