The World of Tim...

9/11 - I have not forgotten...

Few events in history are defined by their date, for it takes a truly profound event for this to happen. September 11 is a day that many of us still try to fully comprehend. Our mourning is intertwined with a sense of pride when we remember the brave men and women who fought back on Flight 93, the firefighters and policemen who ran into the burning towers, and our service members and civilian colleagues who pulled each other out from the rubble at the Pentagon.

 

We remember how our country came together, how partisanship and everyday differences were put aside, replaced by a sense of belonging and a common purpose. We remember the families who opened up their homes to those stranded at the airports, we remember the blood banks swamped by volunteers, and we remember the outpouring of solidarity shown around the world by friends and allies.

 

This year, September 11 has been established as a National Day of Service and Remembrance. This day was established to encourage all Americans and others throughout the world to pledge to voluntarily perform at least one good deed. I hope that you will join me in creating a personal plan to perform a good deed, volunteer or engage in another charitable activity in observance of the newly established September 11 National Day of Service and Remembrance. Help create a wonderful legacy that honors the victims and those who rose to service in response to the attacks on America.

For more information regarding the 9/11 National Day of Service and Remembrance, please visit: http://911dayofservice.org/.

 

In Peace...

Healthcare Reform is Sick

In the interests of full disclosure, I'll admit that I'm a registered Republican. Furthermore, I didn't watch or listen to the President's speech last night...not because of the fact that I completely despise just about everything he stands for but, because I had other things going on in life that prevented me from tuning in. I have since read the transcript of his speech and I now offer this...

Anyone who knows me knows that health-care is a very personal issue for me. While I have elected not to use this forum to share that part of my life, health-care is something that consumes a HUGE part of my life, income, and energy.  As someone who is currently paying off one uncovered medical bill that is tens-of-thousands of dollars, I am acutely aware of the successes and failures of our current system. Let's step back from politics for a moment and look at what both sides agree on...

“The skies will go silent over Mid-coast Maine”

This is one of those "Elvis has left the building" moments for me...

Patrol Squadrons 8 and 10 have left Brunswick Naval Air Station (BNAS), located in Brunswick Maine, never to return.  Only three planes remained on the base Thursday. Before Patrol Squadron 26, the last of the P-3 Orion squadrons to call BNAS home, takes off for the final time in December, Wing Commander Captain James Hoke wanted a chance to utter some final ceremonial words while there were still enough people on the base to listen. For that reason, the command for all BNAS squadrons held a formal farewell ceremony this past Thursday. During that farewell ceremony for Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing 5, the Navy unit that oversees all of the aforementioned squadrons, Hoke took the lectern. “While the pennant on top of the flagpole in front of our NATO-built headquarters building will be quietly lowered on a cold day in March, today is the symbolic and public end of Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing 5,” he said in a speech that acknowledged the crowd of 540, including sailors, their family members, friends and local community supporters.

“Ladies and gentlemen, it is time for me to bring Wing 5’s legacy and today’s historic event to a close,” Hoke, the commander of Wing 5, finished. “I will do that by making one last radio call. Admiral: Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing 5, checking off-station. Out.” With those words, the last of the squadrons said a traditional Navy “goodbye” to Brunswick. Throughout the past year, the community has counted down through its final base change-of-command ceremony, final squadron change-of-command and several final P-3 Orion takeoffs. 

Weird Stimulus...

I saw an interesting story on CNN about how the government has spent about $85 billion on Recovery Act projects so far, but not all of money is being used to fix roads, provide more Medicare aid to states, amp up clean energy programs or school repair. There are currently just under 22,000 contracts for stimulus projects. They range from just a few pennies for nuts and bolts at a local hardware store to billions of dollars for nuclear waste cleanup.

But dig a little deeper, and you'll find stimulus has also funded an electric oyster shell dispersal cart, ice machines, $25 million of pork and ham, a reach-in freezer, $3 million worth of auto lawyers, office furniture and nine water safety mascot costumes. If some of those projects make you scratch your head, you're not alone. Take a peek into the world of stimulus diversity.

A Different Take on "Cash for Clunkers"

In today's world, the terms "bailout" and "cash for clunkers" seem to be part of our everyday language. Today, I was wondering what the "cash for clunkers" would look like for some of our friends in corporate America...

SPAMmobile

Designed to resemble a giant tin of meat, the first SPAMmobile hit the road in 2001. Based on a trolley chassis, the 28-foot-long SPAMmobile has a blue-steel body with rounded corners, just like the famous can. Inside is seating for the driver and one SPAMbassador, who is in charge of preparing product samples, including the signature SPAMburger, in a self-contained, full-service kitchen. In visits to retailers and at special events, SPAMbassadors have handed out more than 6.5 million SPAM samples from the SPAMmobiles. Three SPAMmobiles were in action until early 2009, when discontinued the SPAMmobile program and parked these grinning SPAM cans on wheels.

Wienermobiles

Today's fleet of eight Wienermobiles has been on the road since 2004. Built by Prototype Source in Santa Barbara, Calif., on a modified truck chassis powered by a 6.0-liter V8 engine, each 27-foot-long vehicle is 11 feet tall and weighs 14,050 pounds. It features a gull-wing door with an automatic retractable step, voice-activated GPS navigation system, and a hot-dog-shaped dashboard. The horn, of course, plays the "Oscar Mayer Wiener Jingle." In 2008 a Mini Wienermobile joined the fleet. Built on a Mini Cooper chassis, the Mini is 15 feet long, 8 feet high and weighs 3,400 pounds. Wienermobile pilots, all recent college grads, are called Hotdoggers, and you can follow their exploits on the Hotdogger blog.

 

Zippo Car

The flames are fake, but the Zippo Car is capable of igniting a crowd when it leaves its home at the Zippo/Case Visitors Center in Bradford, Pa. The original Zippo Car, based on a 1947 Chrysler Saratoga, incorporated a giant steel replica of the famous Zippo lighter, topped with 5-foot flames. Beginning in 1948, it appeared in parades and special events, but the 5,000-pound car was too heavy for its tires and suffered frequent blowouts. In the early 1950s it was sent to a shop for updates, forgotten and then lost when the repair business closed. The current Zippo Car, a replica also based on a 1947 Chrysler, was completed in 1998 at a cost of $250,000.