My little slice of Cyberspace
Summer is drawing to a close....
Seems that it was only days ago that I was talking about "Pappy Ben"s passing and my eldest daughter graduating from college. Yet this weekend I was helping my youngest daughter get moved into college for the start of her Senior year. My goodness where did the summer go??
We've been dealing with my Mother-in-Law since the passing of Ben. And that has had its own special challenges. We've celebrated my Brother-in-Law's retirement from the U.S. Navy after 32 years of service. That was a great event and a very special day.
I've managed to keep the yard looking acceptable and I've also been out on the motorcycle with some regularity. But, the summer has passsed far to quickly. I look forward to the milder temperatures. However, I despise the shorter days.... I guess it is all just part of life. And at the moment... I don't want it to pass me by too quickly.
I appreciate you taking the time out of your day to visit my site. I hope that somewhere, buried on these pages, is something that made you feel as though you have not wasted your time!
I've been doing my work in Mozilla Firefox. I have noticed that when viewed in Internet Explorer, they look different and much less like I expected. So, I would Recommend viewing in Mozilla Firefox, if you have a choice. Also, sometimes a page needs to be reloaded to display correctly. Sorry.
PLEASE take a few moments and SIGN my Guestbook. I'd love to know what you think!!! Just humor the old guy! 
Latest BLOG Entry: 5 Feb 10 - (Seems I don't update often....)
SO, is there anything new???
As much as I hate to admit it... there really isn't anything new.... I took a couple of hundred photos at my Brother-in-Law's retirement cerimony. I also spent a day taking pictures to help document a friend of the family's parents 60th Wedding Anniversary. 60 years??? Wow, you just don't see that these days. It was a treat to be there and an honor to take the photos for them.
THANK YOU for stopping by!
You can always sign my guestbook and leave your own opinion! I truly appreciate the folks who do take the time to sign the guestbook. It is always interesting to read how they found there way ti my site. Won't you consider doing so?
Genealogy
I am still very interested in chasing my genealogy. However, I find that I don't have (or don't make) the time for it that I had in the not so distant past. I did have a couple days this past fall that I did a bit of digging. But, I didn't make anything that resembled progress.
Chasing military records has been rather frustrating. Even the copy of my own record was less complete than I had hoped. My Grandfather's record revealed almost nothing about his service. Worst of all... My Father's record was destroyed in a fire back in the 1970's..
But, I will keep working as time allows....
Additionally, with most of my family having spent all of their lives in the Baltimore area, and me in Lynchburg, Virginia, it is often times difficult to get good records. I have managed to get some information on Family headstones at the cemetery and I have just received a copy of my parents marriage license from the church where they were wed. Needless to say, I am excited to have the document to file with my paperwork.
Time to start "Making" time... Wish me luck!!
SNIFINS..... what is SNIFINS???
The USS L. Mendel Rivers (SSN-686)
I served aboard the USS Sturgeon (SSN-637). The lead boat of a class that eventually numbered 37 total. The photo shown on the right is another Sturgeon class submarine. It is purported to be the USS L. Mendel Rivers (SSN-686). The photo shows the boat having surfaced through the artic ice cap. Notice that the sail planes have been moved to the vertical position. The Sturgeon class boats are the only ones to have this feature. The picture almost makes it look like a fighter plane to me.
The Sturgeon and the Rivers were both assigned to Submarine Squadron 4 in Charleston, SC in the 1980's.
