We ‘celebrated my first day of retirement by running out and doing some chores that would have usually taken place on a weekend. On our way home, we spotted this old Chevrolet truck with some interesting customization. I doubled back and went up the side street so Verna could get this photo. Click to enlarge.
We were trying to figure out the weird hubcaps and the cryptic chrome letters on the hood. The red trim was kinda weird too. Nice truck, though.
I was looking through some of the many photos that Verna takes and pulled this one out to share. We saw this dude and his eclectic Rock ‘N’ Roll paint job on our way to the shooting range a few weeks ago. I am not able to name all of the faces on the van, but then I am not into that genre of music these days.
One of the items on my ‘things I need to do before I retire’ list was to obtain a copy of my Military discharge record (DD-214). While I was at it, I asked for the contents of my military personnel record, containing things like training records, performance records, enlistment agreement and so forth.
Right: cover letter and records
The records showed up last week, about six weeks after I sent the fax with my authorizing signature to the records center. I dug through the package – boy, was that a trip down memory lane. Page after page of forms and records documenting my time as a Sailor. Seeing my (immature 17 year-old) signature on the enlistment papers brought back that moment in time when I sat in the recruiting office and signed.
I was in the U.S. Navy (Naval Reserve, to be exact) for six years, three of those on active duty. I signed up when Eisenhower was in the oval office and mustered out when LBJ was busily ramping up the war in Vietnam.
I never regretted my military service to the country. My career benefited from military training in electronics and aviation plus the G.I Bill paid for much of my education. I have never had a problem finding employment, often working two jobs simultaneously (when I was much younger and ambitious).
If you’re a veteran or the immediate survivor of a veteran you can order these records online at The National Archives eVetRecs website. Ordering them is fairly simple; you will need to sign a form they email to you and fax it to them.
I have not taken the time to go to the ancestry site that my sister sent me a while ago. I got interested a while back about the origins of our family and found out some interesting things, but not in great depth. One of these days, perhaps after retirement, I plan to look into our family ancestry.
Several years ago, I borrowed this 19th century photo of a trio of my Mom’s mother’s siblings and scanned it into a file. As a child, I knew two out of three of the people in this picture, my great uncles Frank and Bert. Great Aunt Kathryn, for whom my mother is named (I presume) was my Grandmother Myra’s older sister who had passed before I was born.
I can remember that as senior citizens, Uncle Frank (left) still had that bushy haircut (white, of course) and Uncle Bert had the same serious expression. Both uncles seemed to enjoy Mom bringing us to visit.
Everyone in the family knows how much Dad loved watching videos. When he wasn’t tuned into old western movies, he would have a DVD or VHS in the player.
Dad had several sources of videos – all of his kids shared their DVDs and tapes with him. One source he had was Verna’s DVD Collection. He would drop by the house and pick out several to take home with him. He would dutifully write the titles down as a way to keep track of which video belonged to whom. I took this image about five years ago when Dad had a handful of DVDs to log out (click image to enlarge).
Since then, I developed an on-line DVD database tool which has the feature of keeping track of videos loaned out. It keeps track of titles, genres, remarks and other details including our ratings for the video. When you click on this link and scroll to the bottom of the page, you will see every DVD title, genre and our ratings. Those that are marked RETIRED have been given to charity.
As we were leaving the Phoenix Convention Center yesterday, I snapped this picture from the car window. This is now a muffler shop, but judging from the art-deco architecture style, it must have been a 1930’s era service station. Most people don’t remember a time when a service station attendant would pump your gas, check your oil and wash your windshield, all for about nineteen cents a gallon. Buildings like this popped up all along Old Route 66 and elsewhere in thriving southwestern cities and towns.
Click image to enlarge.
