"There is no death; the stars go down to rise upon some fairer shore." ((McCreery)

.....After all this time; after about 400 postings in this blog, I just happened to notice that something is missing on the picture of the DFC medal and the combat aircrew wings just to the right of the blog; namely, gold stars. There should be a gold star on the ribbon of the medal to signify that two DFCs were awarded and there should be three gold stars in the small holes above the wings--one gold star for each 20 combat missions. Unfortunately, I don't know of any way to get them in there, so they will have to be left that way. I also have reminded myself that I have requested a copy of my naval service record to see if the awards I received 60 years late have been added to the record. I've been trying for two years now to get that copy, but without success. Typical bureaucratic incompetence. Somebody should fix it.

.....Speaking of incompetence, perhaps those of you out of the state have not heard about the two sixth grade girls who died from carbon monoxide poisoning because the mother left the car motor running in a closed garage. Apparently the fumes went all through the house because the girls were found dead in their beds, and the mother--still alive had to be taken to the hospital. How can anyone be so idiotic as to leave a car running in a closed garage. What a tragic story. And, let's not forget the airliner that disappeared over the Atlantic with over 200 lives aboard. Supposedly, the pilot got caught in a violent thunderstorm and the plane was hit by lightning. No one knows. But I doubt that lightning was the cause. Airliners these days are fully protected from lightning strikes; so, if the black box can be retrieved, they will have the answer to the mystery. The black box sends out signals even if it is deep in the ocean. However, these signals stop when the battery goes out after several days. The technique of signals from the submerged box was also in use in our plane during WWII to track German submarines.

.....Well, on a more pleasant note, I lost money to the Seminoles; their casino gobbled up my stash. Rhoda, however, was a winner--she won $175 on a 2 cent machine. (I just looked for the cent sign on the "typewriter" but it was nowhere to be found.) Ah, well, it's just the way of the world. I'm prepared now for most anything. Lucky me.