Subase Newsletter
02 August 2, 2010
A get-together was planed for the 7th of this month but due to the lack of interest shown so far it is not looking good. I have only heard from four shipmates and of these only two said they would be able to make it. I suspect that most of us are enjoying the summer before it is gone.
I still have not heard from any of our shipmates providing me with information about their kids or grand-kids in the military. I would like to see a few more other then my grandsons on these new WebPages "The Tradition Continues". As I said before I am proud to have my grandson's pictures and write up on these pages. I hope you will consider adding your loved ones to these pages.
I made a change to the site which I have thought of doing for some time. The "Lost Shipmates" name is gone. It has been renamed "Still On Patrol" which I thought was more appropriate.
Another change I made was the elimination of the background music on this page. I had a request or two to do so as it is distracting. I have to agree as I found myself killing the player each time I was on this page. I trust no one will miss Popeye too much <grin>.
10 July 2010
A lot has been going on since I last wrote in this column. Perhaps the most significant being that I have moved from Excelsior back to Bloomington. What a choir. I packed for a week and then came moving day, the 19th of June. We loaded the 17 foot truck and I pointed to the full truck and said to my son, quoting one of my all time favorite comedians Redd Fox as Sanford's lines "well there it is....my empire and some day you will inherit all this".
I have been unable to do anything much with the website and communicate with you for a few weeks now as the computer that I control the website from and the one that contained all my contacts didn't fair the move well. It crashed and I thought I had lost everything. All I was getting on boot up was a message ‘NTLDR is missing' and it would not boot up. I reloaded the operating system and found that it loaded onto a backup drive in my system that had no files on it. I then discovered that the drive with all my data was still there and intact but was now my D drive. I don't know why I didn't at this point realize what had happened but for some reason didn't. So after many hours of reloading programs so I could use the system and still having the time consuming task of rebuilding my contacts in my address book I decided to do a little research of the ‘NTLDR is missing' message and to try to fix my original problem. I found a fix to download to a floppy disk and did so. But before running the fix I decided to go into CMOS (bios) and look at the settings. When I did this I discovered my problem. My CMOS battery on my mother board had failed and all the settings had reset to default and the reason I couldn't boot up was that the SATA drive with all the data was no longer my boot drive but the backup drive which is IDE that had no operating system installed was. At this point I simply changed the HDD priority to reflect the SATA as the first boot device and rebooted and walla everything returned to normal. The fact that I had unplugged the system from the power to move was enough for the reset.
Now I don't know if the Murphy factor is tied in here or not but what would have taken less then a minute to fix turned out to be several weeks. I know that Murphy is an asshole and most likely the one to blame. Now for those of you laughing I would like to say I fail to see the humor in this.
There have been a couple changes to my contact info that I have posted on the "Contact Me" page. They are my new address and the fact that like so many others have made the decision to drop my landline phone number and go to just a cell phone. If you have this information stored in you own address book please make the necessary changes.
I would still like to have a get-together and plan to try to get something going sometime this month yet. I will be contacting you by e-mail to set something up.
I recently discovered that for the past 8 years I have been paying into SBP for a wife that I don't have. I called DFAS and was told to forward them documents proving that I was divorced at the time I filed for retirement and they would stop deducting this from my pay and reimburse me for the money that had been erroneously deducted. The Airman at the Air Force Base here in MPLS screwed up when he set this all up for me and I didn't catch it. I would strongly suggest that you check your statement and make sure everything is okay. You can see your statement online by entering this link into your browser https://mypay.dfas.mil/mypay.aspx?flps=99R~RCPS then clicking on the Retiree Account Statement (RAS) on the main menu. You must have an account set up to view this info. If you do not, you will first have to set one up.
In the near future I will be contacting Shipmates and asking them if they would like to volunteer their time to serve on a new Committee to plan something for next year. I hate to ask those who helped out last year to do it again and would like to give others a chance to help out. This should take place by the end of September as we would have to decide if we are going to do something and if so what, when and where. All this would have to be done before the 1st of the year so a facility could be secured.
I finished the remolding project that I was doing all winter and it all turned out really nice. A lot of hours were spent in June's basement but it was time well spent. All the sheetrock dust has been cleaned up now but wont be missed.
28 April 2010
I haven't written in this column since the end of January and thought it was high time to update you as to what is going on.
The first thing is The Jon Francis Foundation is putting on another Half-Marathon again this year in Stillwater and has asked for volunteers to help out make the race a success and raise funds for his great cause. Again the theme will be a military theme with an added twist....dancing girls.
I put out and e-mail telling of this and so far in addition to myself we have four other volunteers from Subase to man water stop # 5. Additional volunteers are welcomed. The more the merrier. If you can help out please do so. You don't have to be in uniform to help but I would at least ask you wear clothing that has something to do with the Navy on it including ball caps with a Navy logo on it.
If you can help please contact me and I will contact Capt. Francis to let him know he can count on you.
I was doing some editing on the site a month or so ago and noticed that I still had not written a proper tribute for Lachlan Noren and the reason I had not done so is that I had never met the gentleman as I affiliated with Subase a month or two after Lachlan had left the unit. I simply didn't know what to write. I thought about this and even tried to locate a relative only to discover there is a hell of a lot of Norens in Minnesota. Then I remembered the obituary had mentioned he was a Mason so I contacted the Grand Lodge and they put me in contact with his brother Marlow who provided me with more information then I could ever have hoped for. I have changed the write-up about him on the Lost Shipmates page plus I have added a separate page that is linked from the Lost Shipmates page which contains the entire write-up Marlow provided me along with a photo of the gravesite in the Ft. Snelling Cemetery. Visit the Lost Shipmates Webpage to view the changes.
I received an e-mail from Charley Fitzsimmons in Hawaii who sent the links to You Tube videos part one and two of the Navy Boot camp in San Diego. I don't know when the videos were made but it has been 51 years since I was there and it didn't look all that different to me then it did back then. I posted the videos on the last page of Anything Goes.
The basement remolding project is done with the exception of a closet door that needs to be hung. We purchased a 28" door and I decided a 24" door would be better for a closet and we have been waiting for it to go on sale again. The only other remaining task that that needs doing is to lay the carpet. June's son-in-law is going to lay it for us soon as that is what he does for a living.
I am going to try to put on a Brunch Get-together around the middle of the May. I will put out the word as soon as a decision is made. Also A golf outing may be a possibility sometime in June. We do need a few more showing interest to make this happen. So far only three or four have expressed a desire to do something like this.
17 Jan ‘10
There is not much going on with the Website. A few items have been added here and there but they have been trickling in.
My back problem finally got better after four weeks of not being able to even hardly walk and I was able to get back into full swing on the basement remolding project. I finished the electrical and all of the plumbing. Yesterday I nervously cut the hot and cold water lines and tied my plumbing into it. I turned the water back on and was happy to find that I had no water leaks anywhere but discovered that I had inadvertently tied the hot to the cold and visa versa. This would not have been a major problem and on cold Minnesota mornings to set on a warm commode might not have been all that bad but it wasn't right so I couldn't accept it. So I cut both lines where they run through the floor joists and reversed them. So now everything is correct.
I also finished sheet rocking yesterday and will be starting taping soon. Yesterday I also went to Home Depot and bought the floor tile which I will lay today after the Viking/Cowboy game.
I would like to have another Breakfast Get-together sometime in the near future. If you have any suggestions for a date contact me. I am leaning toward sometime in February as there are only two weekends left in January and I have a Ham Radio testing session this coming Saturday morning and it would be short notice for this Saturday.
If any of you are obituary readers and noticed that a William J. Lord passed away the other day I just wanted to let you know I am sorry for the William that passed away but am happy to announce that it was not me. I apologize for what I am going to now say but you all know me....not a serious bone in my body....I actually thought of going to the funeral and signing the guest book. This most likely would have freaked out some people. Sort of reminds you of a Larry The Cable Guy routine....forgive me Lord.
The Website is going to be 2 years old next Sunday and will be up for renewal sometime in March. I will be using the left over funds from the Luau to ensure the Site is up for two or three more years. We are going to have to purchase some more space on the site as we have used up 69.4% of the 5GB on the site. I am going to try to double this space which will allow us enough room on the site for us to grow over the next two or three years. I will be working this week on putting together a post which will go on the site next Sunday reflecting on the growth of the site and the happenings over the past two years. So be sure to log on next Sunday the 25th and check out the special addition of this Newsletter.
06 Jan ‘10
I wasn't planning on writing in the column so soon again but I realized today that I had left out a very important piece of news....something I am proud to share with you, my dear friends.
The 20th of December was a day I have thought of for some time and a day I shall unlikely forget. It commemorated the day I had enough smarts left to realize the need and the courage to make it happen. It was 10 years ago on the 20th of December that I finally put the cork back in the bottle where it remains today.
For those of you who have supported me on this sometime not-so-easy journey I wish to thank you. The road to full recovery is a non-ending journey as there is no end to the road. AA sums it up very nicely with the statement that the journey is "one day at a time".
05 Jan ‘10
It has been quite awhile since I wrote in this column. There are a couple of reason for the delay. With the holidays I have been just too busy to dedicate any time to the Website. Then another reason is because I lost my entire address book in Outlook which I use for e-mail due to a computer crash and was unsuccessful in restoring it from a backup so had to completely rebuild it from scratch. I had the data backed up on hard copy but this meant I had to enter the data piece by piece which was very time consuming. I know some of the data is incorrect as the backup was not a real current copy. I will be working on this for some time before I get it back close to where it was. There were a small hand full of Shipmates who had requested to be excluded from e-mail mailings and I tried to remember who they were so their names would not be added to the address book but I am sure I missed one or two. So if you are one of these Shipmates and start receiving e-mail from me again I apologize. Just drop me an e-mail and request you name to be removed and I will honor your wishes. I know there is a lot of stuff that go on the site that some of you have no interest in but occasionally some worthwhile stuff makes it's way to the site and if you are not included in my mailing list there is no way to get the word to you.
I intend to send out an e-mail requesting that you update your e-mail addresses, phone numbers and spouses name for my records as much of this information was lost. I hope you will take a few minutes to update your data for me as it is extremely helpful having this at my fingertips.
2009 has come and gone and I for one am not sorry to see it go. I would venture to bet this feeling I have is shared by most of you as well. I have lived for 68 years now and I believe I can safely say that 2009 was by far the worst year of these 68. I know I have been hesitant to put anything on the site of a political nature but am going to stray from this policy momentarily and state that I fear for the Nation over the next three years. I feel that we are selling out our forefathers and the founders of this once great Nation. I just hope we all wake up soon before it's too late. Enough said.
I hope everyone had a good Christmas and got to spend time with their families and especially you grandchildren.
Speaking of Christmas, I noticed something this year that I haven't seen for a few years now and this is retailers actually greeting you with "Merry Christmas". When I would hear this I would take the time to thank them for their courage to disregard this PC crap and make the statement. I also stated that I was surprised that the management would allow them to offer this greeting and was told by several that they didn't care what store policy was they were going to say it and if management had a problem with them doing so "they can fire me" to quote a couple of clerks.
One the lighter side today I ran into an older gentleman wearing the USS Bowfin ball cap and had to stop and talk to him. This was his first boat back during WW-II. He talked of his time aboard the Bowfin and seeing a lot of combat. He proudly wore the silver Dolphins on his cap. I invited him to visit our Website but he said that he has never owned a computer. Too bad as I am sure there are stories there that would have been great to publish on the site.
The project of the basement remolding I started some time back has come to an almost standstill as I hurt my back and have been unable to do much of anything for the past four weeks. I finally went to the doctor today and am slowly recovering. I hope to get back into action and complete it soon. I have all the walls up and sheet rocked. I still have to sheetrock the bathroom. The plumbing is in and most of the electrical has been completed. I have the shower in with the exception of the door and won't install it until the walls are sheet rocked as I fear that it might get broken while sheet rocking.