I had to wrestle with the story this morning. My Shenandoah Pal wrote me a remarkable recollection of an incident- an unpleasant one- that happened years ago, and wanted to share. It was a powerful read- my It was dark, and intensely personal, so I cannot share it with you. But I was intensely moved, and in a similar mood to her about how to wrap all this stuff up prior to the inevitable. Then, I received one of those threads about old days in the Republic of the Philippines. This one documented a series of outrages, then just fun, which documented the behavior of Naval Aviators who competed for an informal but significant award for spectacular behavior on cruise while on liberty ashore. I did not live the experiences, though they are familiar enough, and felt uncomfortable in appropriating them. Not that I am uncomfortable with a lot of what has happened in this strange and rewarding life, but I read some of the anecdotes and recalled a night in Pattaya Beach, when our A-6 Intruder squadron decided to practice their precision bombing skills with furniture dropped from the balcony of their 8th floor suite.

That, like contributing to the right foundation, is how you can get a personal interview with the Ambassador. The one in Pattaya was not the kind you would prefer, and the only donation involved was to the hotel for the damage, and then House Arrest Confined to Quarters for the remainder of the Line Period for the perps.

It is too bad. I have to be brief this morning, since I am traveling to a memorial service for two of the shrinking number of my parent’s remaining social circle. It is going to be a quick trip, and I am not taking the laptop with me, a first in recent years. I am tired of lugging my entire office IT system everyplace I go. It is going to be the iPad or the smartphone, or nothing.

So expect some nothing over the next few days. Should be a good weekend, with more medical stuff on the menu when I get back. Not looking forward to it, but I am going to be diligent about tracking down what is causing the nagging vertigo.

This is not exactly the way I would have planned all this, schedule-wise, but we have some ashes to scatter Up North, and that is more important than anything else. With the backdrop of this wonderful summer of transition and cool water and warm sun passing away, it makes the ceremony that much more poignant.

It has been wonderful, and it is disconcerting to be concerned with health issues as I feel to be in the best shape in years. The swimming with the water-proof case for the iPod has been wonderful therapy, and something I am vowing to continue. I am sorry about the two iPods that had to die to keep me contented in the water, but c’est la vie.

That could mean relocating to the Powell Wellness Center for my daily swim. We will see what the doctors say on the health matter and plan from there. Of course, you will recall from our life experience the grimly true adage that “No plan survives first contact with the enemy.”

So, it will be Semper Gumby- the unofficial motto of the United States Marines- from here out. I do not anticipate any furniture going off the balcony, but of course, you never can tell.

I will keep you posted.

Copyright 2016 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com