I hadn't realized that the doorknobs in our house were actually brass. I don't know what I thought they were made out of, but there was nothing about their appearance that made me think "This is made of brass." So when Jess cleaned some paint off of one and it turned out to be nice shiny brass, I was shocked. Since then, she's spent quite a bit ( Read more... )

Just checking in to let people know that no one from my family was at the Navy Yard this morning, so we're all OK.

I was reading coverage of the Bradley Manning trial, and saw something in NBC's coverage that made me wonder about the quality of the reporting, fact checking and editing: "The psychiatrist, Army Cmdr. David Moulton, testified..." Last I knew, the Army didn't have anybody with the rank of Commander. Wondering whether he was actually a Navy ( Read more... )

As a result of a link from Bruce Schneier's blog, I found myself reading the 9th Circuit decision about the Stolen Valor Act.

In any number of commentaries about the law, I've seen people saying things to the effect of "People lying about having medals impugns the honor of people who earned them." But upon reading this passage:

We also note ( Read more... )

This evening, Meg, having watched both the Army-Navy game and the Redskins this weekend, asked if the Redskins ever played Navy. We told her they didn't, because Navy is a college team and the Redskins are (or at least purport to be) a professional team. Meg went on to comment, "If Navy plays the Redskins, we'll be happy no matter who wins." ( Read more... )

Last week, the Navy sent me to the Cooper Institute in Dallas for training as a Physical Fitness Specialist. One thing that I can say in favor of Dallas - you can get Dr. Pepper everywhere! I went to watch the Rangers play, and they had Diet Dr. Pepper as a fountain drink ( Read more... )

My flight home arrived a little after 5 pm (note to Northworst flight crews: if we arrive after 5 pm, and you announce that the local time is 4:57, that doesn't make your flight on-time, it makes you late liars - I'm fine with arriving 10 minutes late, but don't lie about the arrival time - most of your passengers are smart enough to look at their ( Read more... )

As some of you already know, I came to Japan for two weeks for the Navy Reserve. Realizing that it was an excellent chance for a mini-vacation, my dear spouse used frequent-flyer miles and came out for the weekend while I'm here. Yesterday, we took the train up to Tokyo to visit the Meiji Shrine and the surrounding area. One of the planned stops ( Read more... )

If you are the sort who must watch a movie from start to finish without interruption, you probably shouldn't come over to our house to watch with us.
This evening, we sat down to watch a pair of A&E Hornblowers (Mutiny & Retribution). Our first point of discussion was whether the officers of a ship could rightly be accused of mutiny (which was the ( Read more... )

That's where I come in. Having been designated as the Chief Ant Disposal Technician for the family, it's my job to clean up the dead ants which appear in copious quantities due to the recent exterminator's visit. Have Dirt Devil, will vacuum ( Read more... )