Post Sandy Guilt Trip

Chaotic Atlanta Airport

My wife and I made it home last night around 6pm after a day of travel from Ft Walton Beach, Florida.  The day started and ended passing by car wrecks, oddly enough.  We stopped for breakfast on the way to the airport and there was a fairly serious accident right out in front of the restaurant.  After arriving in Massachusetts on the last stretch of road to our house there was a huge display of blue police lights surrounding a pickup truck that took out about fifty feet of guard rail before plowing into the woods.  Fittingly, the first piece of mail I opened was the insurance settlement check for my own recent accident.

I’ve been feeling a little (lot) guilty for the last couple of days on a number of fronts.  I followed via email the challenges my co-workers were going through maintaining service through the storm while I was safely ensconced in a resort in Florida.  At the same time, one of my fellow roothuggers and his wife were stranded in the Atlanta airport trying to get home.  Finally another friend had volunteered to house and Buddy sit was called upon to sheppard the house and dog (who doesn’t do storms well) through the hurricane.

It turned out that Delta cancelling my Monday flight was the best thing that could have happened because the re-booked flight went off without a hitch yesterday.  I spent an extra day in an area I was reasonably familiar with, if decidedly lacking due to the absence of my Army buddies.  We left the fairly sleepy Ft Walton Beach Airport which was almost deserted and changed planes in a chaotic Atlanta Airport.

Atlanta is busy on most days but yesterday the impact of the storm was evident as desperate travelers were trying to get to their destinations around the storm’s impact.  Again, I felt a little guilty because we got off one flight and walked directly to the next gate and after a short wait boarded our plane for Boston.  The guilt was aggravated as I noticed my fellow roothugger’s latest chance to get home canceled on the overhead display.  I hoped to at least get a chance to say hey to him and his wife but the times were too constrained.  I still don’t know if he’s made it home to West Virginia after leaving Florida on Monday.

We were starving by the time we landed in Boston as airlines now seem to schedule around meals instead of providing them.  We hadn’t eaten since our traffic snarled breakfast.  We made our way through several of Sandy’s last gasp rain bands to a favorite neighborhood Cracker Barrel – country fried steaks and biscuits can assuage at least some of the guilt.

Buddy was appropriately apoplectic at our return and it was obvious he had invested a lot of time trying to train our friend over the time we were gone.  He seemed a little conflicted about whom to sit with after we settled in.  My wife immediately got on the bat phone to Panama to assure concerned relatives, who were watching Sandy’s depredations on their televisions, that we and our progeny were all well.  Back to work today, if a little (lot) guiltily.

Florida Accident

Front Yard the Day We Left

Front Yard This Morning - Sandy Didn't Like Foliage

 

Roothuggerless Reunion Day 4

My Wife With Her Spoils

Monday was the day my wife and I were supposed to be heading home but Hurricane Sandy had other ideas.  I picked up the rental car this morning and shuttled one of the other roothugger couples to the airport. We talked to our stalwart friend back home who was spending time with the increasingly frantic Buddy as the storm blew through.  Power went out at the house late in the day so I felt even worse about placing this burden on him while I was enjoying myself down here.  I will owe him a considerable debt for the foreseeable future.

I experienced a feeling of profound sadness all day as I walked by the places where we all had so much fun this past weekend.  It was similar to feelings I had as a kid when I spent a week with a favorite cousin or my grandmother’s house – I didn’t want the good time to end.  The place just seemed extra empty without the other roothuggers around.

If I can recall correctly through the beer soaked fog of my memory I have to print a retraction on my earlier recitation of where the term roothugger came from.  One of our group volunteered that he brought it back from a tour at the National Training Center.  It would get so cold there that troops would hug the roots of trees to try and stay warm.  It represented the tough life of a combat soldier.  Since most of the group arrived at CGSC from tough assignments we readily accepted the term with a great deal of pride.

One of the other roothuggers got as far as Atlanta before his flight was canceled.  He used that time to research the term “roothugger” and learned that it has some rather disturbing meanings in the urban culture.  Suspicion immediately fell on the friend that coined the phrase who is known for and perversely proud of his somewhat dubious sense of humor.

On a less disturbing milieu my wife used the extra day in Florida to make another run at the outlet mall where she executed an extensive reconnaissance on Day 2.  I spent the day reading my kindle and exploring the depths of the Cheeseburger in Paradise restaurant.  This was again a reminder of a place I passed some time with my friends earlier in the weekend so I had some mixed emotions.

My wife and I enjoyed a fun evening in the midst of all these competing emotions.  Despite the brisk weather we invaded the pool (supposedly heated) and then jumped into the hotel hot tub which was awesome!  We walked down to a restaurant that I noticed earlier in the weekend while out running.  It was an old time place called The Magnolia Grill and was an old Florida type house with memorabilia tacked to every conceivable surface and even a Wurlitzer juke box.  The food was fantastic and the company even better.

We then walked down the quiet Main Street and found a couple of treasures that we missed over the weekend.  There was a sports bar with a balcony that showed Monday Night Football projected onto a neighboring building’s wall to create a thirty foot screen, viewable from the balcony.  Right next to that was a beach bar, complete with sand, right along Main Street.  We walked into what we thought was a movie theater where they were showing The Expendables 2.  It turned out to be one of those theaters that serve food and drink so we had that going for us amid all the middle aged mayhem up on the screen (all for $2 a ticket). It was a fun day with my wife even in the face of the emotional vacuum created by the departed roothuggers.

My Ride Today - If This was Economy Size - I Fear what a Compact would Be

I had a Cheeseburger in Paradise!

My Brief Foray into the Semi-Heated Pool

Much Nicer

Couldn't Beat the View

Nearby Treasure Discovered

Inside the Magnolia Grill - Very Cool

Roothugger Reunion Day 3

Surrounded by Some of the Best People on Earth

You know when you’re having a really good time and you don’t want the activity you’re enjoying so much to end?  Welcome to my situation where I’ve been enjoying reuniting with some long lost friends in Florida.  Apparently my silent prayers did some good because I’ve been stranded here in Florida by Hurricane Sandy which took a strange left turn and caused the airline to cancel my planned Monday flight back home.  When I posted this on Face book I didn’t receive a lot of sympathy from rain soaked friends in the north.

The down side will be that all my fellow roothuggers will be able to leave as scheduled.  We made the most of our last day together.  After a lively breakfast we stopped into the Destin Art and Music festival which was right on the beach.  It was a little windy but with some very interesting art works and all the artists were there to talk to.  My wife found a couple of artists who’s work that she really liked.

We left in a futile attempt to find a car show but gave that up to return to the hotel which turned out to be the most fun of the entire trip so far.  A few hours sitting around a couple of tables with beer, wine and snacks and just enjoying each other’s company.  This was why we all came to this reunion in the first place and we made the most of it.  These are just great people and the shared sense of each other was rare even in the close knit military community. 

I spent part of the time arranging to extend my stay in the hotel and organize a rental car.  I don’t think my wife is through with the outlet mall of day 2.  I also re-booked my air flight for Tuesday – so we’ll see.

We ended the evening with dinner together at a nearby Bubba Gump’s which also turned out to be a whole lot of fun.  We all posed on the bench with Forrest’s shoes and suitcase.  We finished up in one of the hotel rooms planning out next reunion and saying goodbye.  I got the feeling that everyone was feeling the same thing I was – not wanting this time together to end.

Another great day, if a little bittersweet.

The Roothugger Ladies - Integral Part of the Fantastic Chemistry

A Lost Dinosaur I Saw on an Early Morning Run

My Wife at the Art Festival

Roothuggers at the Arts

Wife and I

Roothuggers Listening to Music Out of the Wind

My Wife with one of the True Characters

Forrest Pose

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Roothugger Reunion Day 2

My Wife and I on a Brisk Beach

The first full day of the Roothugger reunion had been planned for a day at the beach.  Although Hurricane Sandy is well away from us it dragged down some fairly brisk weather and with temperatures in the low 60s with whipping winds we were not going to experience the beach other than some quick photo ops.

The ladies noticed an outlet mall nearby and the men acquiesced as there doesn’t seem to be a lot other activities available in this area of Florida. After we dropped off the ladies the men repaired to a nearby bar where we checked in on the college football games and devoured some Bloody Mary’s in the best traditions of the hair of the dog of the day before.  Before we descended too far down that track we reunited with the ladies and suffered through some shopping.  The upside was my discovery of a Mrs. Fields’ outlet shop with a special on chocolate chip cookies – win!

The big event of the day was an interactive dinner theater in a town about twenty miles north of the hotel.  Getting to the place was a bit of a challenge since the town was having some sort of street fair but we eventually snuck in a back door; despite the best efforts of some overweight female teenagers who wanted to take close up pictures of their body art (a story for another day).

The dinner theater was a small restaurant and the acting troop definitely of local variety but they put their heart into the murder mystery and provided an extremely entertaining evening.  The food was fabulous with a truly prodigious cut of prime rib for me that even my wife was trying to poach.  The end of the evening called for each table to guess who the murderer was.  My wife and I both proposed the pectorally blessed Italian character only to be voted down by the rest of the table.  When our choice was revealed as the murderer my wife was actually a little bit miffed that her choice had not received more serious consideration.

 Another great day.  But news reports of hurricane Sandy are starting to cause some concern as to our return trip.

The Roothuggers Investigating Beach Prospects

Cutest Girl on Beach

My Wife Thought The Sand was Snow to Our Immense Amusement

Roothuggers Stranded at the Outlet Mall

Where the Guys Escaped To

Street Fair We Had to Dodge

My Wife with Dramatic Specs

The Roothuggers Assembled

The Dinner Theater

My Wife with the Cast - The Well Endowed Murderer on Right

My Wife and I at the Dinner Theater

Roothugger Reunion Day 1

My Wife in our Hotel Room

Yesterday was more fun than I had envisioned.  I had no contact with most of these guys for nearly twenty years but we picked up our friendships as if a day had not passed.  My wife and I flew into Ft Walton Beach (really Eglin AFB) and were met by the one guy from the group who made general officer.  He and his wife (also Hispanic) along with my wife were soon conversing like it had only been a couple of days since our last contact.

That’s what makes this gang of people so special.  There was a rare form of camaraderie and like thinking that permeated our association.  That connection extended to our wives who were also incredibly close.  Our Army service kept us pretty much separated during that time but now that we’re all retired – we’ve decided to correct that.

The friend who met us had made the arrangements and we went directly to the hotel – the Marina Bay Resort.  It is a seventies vintage type hotel and most of the clientele is a little older (there’s even a shuffle board court).  We were the youngest residents but the staff was great and everything was clean and we had a room with a balcony overlooking the bay.

We linked up with another couple and we all headed out for lunch at the beach.  It was a cool restaurant with an open air second floor overlooking the Gulf of Mexico.  The company made all the difference as the Roothuggers and their wives caught up with each other.  We received periodic updates from the final couple attending who were driving down.  When we returned to the hotel that couple had arrived and the guys set out for a beer run which was entertaining in and of itself.

We spent the rest of the afternoon drinking beer and wine and having so much fun learning what we had all been up to.  To show what a great time everyone was having the hottest topic of conversation was where we were going to have next year’s reunion.  The subjects ranged from cruises (Mediterranean, Caribbean, and Alaska), sailing expeditions, Key West, Lake Powell houseboats and finally New Orleans.  I believe New Orleans eventually won.

We all piled into cars to go to the supposedly world famous Hogsbreath Inn.  This turned out to be a continuation of the fun we already started with the afternoon beer call.  The late arriving guy (and lead jokester) decided he would treat us all to a round of tequila shots.  This turned out to be a bad idea for him as he could remember only parts of the night this morning.  We ended the night back on the beach as the tequila buying friend tried to coax me into a late night swim in the gulf.   A great day.

Myself in our Hotel Room

My Wife on right Reconnecting with a Long Lost Friend

Open Air Lunch with the Roothugggers

Beer Run at Publix

My Friend on Right with Unfortunate Tequila Decision

Roothuggers Late Night Beach Crawl

Heading Back to The Cars to Prepare for Day 2

 

Roothugger Reunion Bound!!!!

The Roothuggers in 1993
I'm Second from Left in Back Row as a Major

This Morning I’m getting on a plane with my bride to head to Fort Walton Beach, Florida.  A few months ago I re-established contact with some guys I went through Command and General Staff College with at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas almost twenty years ago. 

This turned out to be one of the best groups of people I ever spent time around during my military career.  After the year long study together we all went our separate ways and occasionally ran into one another over the years.  We’re all retired now and social media made it possible for us to find each other. 

I missed an earlier reunion in Las Vegas because of scheduling conflicts but I’m really psyched to see some of these great people again.  We all came to Leavenworth from different branches of the Army along with one navy guy and an officer from Mexico.  For some reason we just gelled as a group.  The favorite group activity was karaoke in which I adamantly refused to participate, other than providing vociferous support (I have one of the recognized worst singing voices in the Western Hemisphere).  The lawyer in the group, a card carrying West Virginian, hailing from Panther Gulch, WV (I’m not kidding) coined the phrase Roothugger for the group.  We have affectionately and proudly referred to each other as such since that time.

My wife has been feverishly packing for the last three days.  I’m getting the impression she enjoys this almost as much as the trip itself. Buddy will spend the next couple days with our friend from Keene whom he idolizes so I’m sure he’s anxious to shuffle us out the door.

I’m not sure I’ll be able to blog from Florida.  If not it will be due to poor hotel wi fi or that I am in a transcendental state courtesy of Coors Light.  Whatever the reason – I’m looking forward significantly to this trip.

Roothuggers Headed Out for Battle - 1992

Front Yard Yesterday

 

Consuming Crow

My Temporary Ride
L.M. Rocks!!!

Yesterday, about five minutes after I posted in this blog about the obstructionist posture that Liberty Mutual (the other driver’s insurance company) was taking I was blown completely out of the water.  I believe this was yet another example of when my impatience causes me to say things that eventually are proven completely erroneous. 

I was contacted by the Liberty Mutual adjuster who said he made a rental car reservation for me (admitting I was not at fault) and they would handle all the costs.  He could not have been more pleasant and helpful.  I thought about deleting the post I had just put up but decided it would be more appropriate if I abjectly admitted my failings in today’s post. 

There is an auto body shop directly across the street that was recommended by my insurance company so I went over there with the estimate USAA had provided.  I walked in the door, gave them the estimate, and they asked if I had a rental arranged.  I gave them my last name only and five minutes later the rental agency guy arrived to take me to the car at his nearby office.  I was taken aback by how smoothly everything ran.  I was literally back in my office with the new car less than 15 minutes after leaving for the auto body shop.  It was one of those cases where they do this type thing every day and when an outsider such as me is thrust into the situation it looks remarkably efficient.  One of the few times civilians have impressed me since I retired.

So, my unsafe car is in for repairs and I’m driving a Mazda for a week or so while that is happening.  I was telling the rental car guy about the accident and he was amazed as I was at the circumstances.  He says he does this trip dozens a time a week and hears some pretty hairy stuff from people involved in accidents. 

I am admitting for the entire world to hear that I was wrong about Liberty Mutual.  It turns out they did do the right thing and faster than they said they would. 

Front Yard Yesterday

 

Crossed Up

Yesterday was one of those days you just want to eliminate something or somebody.  I spent the better part of the day dealing with insurance companies regarding my recent accident.  My insurance company, USAA, is great but everything has to be done telephonically.  Their adjuster did come by the office today and did his thing with my injured steed.  It was kind of sad because I guess I had been purposely avoiding looking too closely – over 5K worth of damage.

Today’s phone trees make it next to impossible to actually talk to a live person.  I called Liberty Mutual, the evil other driver’s company, several times trying to reach the guy I was told to contact.  I finally gave up and just took my chances with some random adjustor who would answer a phone. 

They actually had the gall to state that they hadn’t arrived at a decision yet as to culpability.  This despite the fact that their driver hit me while I had the right of way; she had a stop sign while I did not.  I’ll give them a couple of days to do the right thing before it becomes exponentially more expensive for them.  As much as I complain about the nanny State that is the People’s Republic of Taxachusetts, the state government does not like insurance companies not stepping up when they should and lawyers can get expensive.

Last night was date night and after consulting with my daughter (guru for all things cinematic), decided to go to the Clint Eastwood movie, Trouble with the Curve.  She opined that this was a much better movie than the other choice, Alex Cross.  When I ordered the tickets the manager said they no longer had that movie despite my assurances it had been on their web site in the morning when I planned the date.  He showed me the web site and there was a different movie listed but I’m sure I saw the Eastwood movie.  The manager and I teamed up to convince my wife she would like Alex Cross, because I did not want to drive all the way into Worcester.

I had heard terrible things about this movie but actually it was all right.  I’ve never seen any of his “Medea” work so I guess I wasn’t prejudging him but Tyler Perry was very good in this.  He has real screen presence and was a very credible actor in a role that Morgan Freeman started out with.  Freeman would be too old for this setting and Perry was, once again, very good. 

The film maker, not so much; the music was consistently inappropriate and overstated and the editing was abysmal.  Ed Burns was very good but didn’t seem to have the needed chemistry with Perry that his role called for and I thought it was more his fault than Perry’s.  Matthew Fox, as a buff assassin, definitely left his Jack days behind him with a mesmerizing performance as the psychotic killer.  There were enough jarring “moments” in this to make it a very solid movie.  A pleasant surprise and my wife even liked it.  Sometimes lowered expectations can set you up for a pleasant surprise.

Front Yard Yesterday

 

Nether Explorations

Yesterday was a lot of “fun”.  I had my annual physical and it’s accompanying probing of the nether districts but it turned out to all be good news.  My sister will be happy to hear the review of the chest nodule exams, all in the same place for the first time, revealed no problems that require further investigation.  I’ve got a couple follow on appointments but it really was all good news – precisely what I hoped to hear going in.  Even the shoulder, banged up in the accident, tested out fine.

Yesterday, I also finished L.E. Modesitt’s book, The Timegod’s World.  I bought this from Amazon since Modesitt is one of my favorite writers and this was one of his earlier works that I had never got around to.  It was actually two books and took me a long time to finish, because it’s a very long book and I’ve been kind of busy.  I was frustrated because the latest Lee Child book arrived in my Kindle queue while I was reading it.

The book was typical of Modesitt in that the reader really connects with the characters.  It was also interesting because these were a couple of his earliest works and you could see the genesis of his writing style and some concepts that pop up in later works.  He creates worlds that have you believing in their reality due to his descriptions of mundane aspects of everyday life that surround the story.  He also doesn’t beat you over the head with the details of the powers his heroes are endowed with.  He writes more in the first person and you discover these powers through the reactions of other characters.  I’m not sure that makes a lot of sense but if you read Modesitt, you know what I’m talking about.

 

The story spans literally millions of years and deals with a race that can move through time and change past events if a culture is developing that could pose a threat to them.  The second part of the book dealing with Loki, was especially entertaining.  The “time divers” are remembered as Norse gods here on earth.  It was a great, if impatient, read.

 

I checked in on the presidential debate last night which was supposed to be about foreign policy.  I'm still waiting for that debate as both candidates didn't want to get away from the domestic economy issues.  Obama had no answers as to his Carteresque foreign policy in the Middle East so he didn't make up any ground with me.  I was really hoping he had better answers than the platitudes he offered last night.

For all of you worried about Buddy’s down day, he bounced back with typical panache yesterday.  He was back out front terrorizing squirrels and the odd jogger who had the temerity to jog up the road in front of the house.

Buddy Back on Patrol Yesterday

Front Yard Yesterday

Great, if Long, Read