60+ year old thread.

Because there is so much that needs to be done.

Just needed to vent a little. Nothing more than that.

 

Morning Tom, Volunteering is good but it can tie ones time up. I try to only do one volunteer project at a time and it works out pretty good. Don't over extend yourself because then you won't feel like you are doing your best volunteering.

Morning all...talking about flying makes me miss my days stationed at Johnsville in PA. I was air crew on the P2E's and enjoyed the many days of flying. There were 2 runs that we made regularly and they were the lobster runs to Brunswick ME. and the booze runs to the Islands. Miss those days...

 

Ken:
I think that taking my son to school and picking him up, my top priority, has been difficult to adjust to. I have not had to do this before as my son attended the school where my wife teaches. I am still learning how to break up my home projects into small manageable tasks and focus on the task at hand.

Today I an waiting for the auto glass repairman so I will be placing a second coat of stain on the wood slats of a bench I am refurbishing. I will also change the oil in the Tacoma.

My volunteer list is getting too long.
2 city committees
Very involved at church-on the Vestry
Volunteer at my son's school
Member of the city Weed Warrior program
Leader on one of the city Stream Clean teams
I take a class every Tuesday night, for the most part.

Just seems like the last three weeks I have had a meeting at night 4 or 5 nights a week.

 

Morning all:
Another FoxPro charger just came up on E-Bay-$39.99. Buy it now, free shipping. Same one as mentioned above. Us old guys have to watch our pennies! It's ordered!
Hope the guy that bid too much sees that.
Just thinking; I don't volunteer, I need volunteers!! It's muzzle loader season right now, and haven't even been out.

 

Morning all.

 

Morning all:
Looked outside and Thanksgiving dinner is walking around in the yard! There is a nice gobbler out there feeding.
Really making progress on the bathroom! Got the outside wall insulated, and a couple days ago cut the concrete to install the plumbing. SLOOOWLY getting there!
Just hope the kitties don't use the exposed ground as a litter box!

 

USS Forrestal, the Navy's first supercarrier, sold for 1 cent

Here’s a penny for your thoughts: One red cent could’ve landed you the Navy’s first supercarrier, the decommissioned Forrestal.
The U.S. Navy sold the 1,067-foot behemoth to a Texas company, All Star Metals, to be dismantled, scrapped and recycled, Navy officials announced. It's an inauspicious fate for a ship with a colorful — and tragic — history. It's perhaps best known for a 1967 incident in which stray voltage triggered an accidental explosion that struck a plane on the flight deck whose cockpit was occupied by a young John McCain. A chain reaction of blasts and fires ultimately killed 134 men and injured more than 300.
But its rich past and nearly four decades of service are not enough to spare it. The Navy tried to donate the historic ship for use as a memorial or a museum, but no “viable applications” were received.
“It’s something that the Navy is caught between a rock and a hard place,” said Ken Killmeyer, historian for the USS Forrestal Association and a survivor of the 1967 incident. “They have to have these vessels no matter how big or small they are, and they use them as you would your car until they’re no longer financially viable. So, they decommission them.”
The company plans to tow the aircraft carrier from its current location at the Navy’s inactive ship facility in Philadelphia to its facility in Brownsville, Texas. All Star Metals anted up the token purchase price based on its anticipated cost of moving and dismantling the ship and the value of the scrap metal it will yield, according to a Navy press release.

“As crewmembers, we relive July 29, 1967, every time we hear a loud, unexplained noise, whether you’re at the beach or you’re in your office."​

- Ken Killmeyer, USS Forrestal historian

Named for James Forrestal, the former Navy secretary and the first U.S. Secretary of Defense, the carrier was lauded as the “biggest ship ever built” by Popular Science, which detailed it in its August 1954 issue. More than 16,000 engineers, draftsmen and builders worked on the ship, which took an estimated $217 million — nearly $2 billion in today's dollars — to build. Readers were amazed to learn that the ship featured enough air-conditioning equipment to cool New York City’s Empire State Building two-and-a-half times over. It launched on Dec. 11, 1954.
“Her 3,500 crewmen will use nearly twice as much water as the eight big boilers that feed her main turbines,” Popular Science reported. “To supply both needs, her water tanks must store nearly 400,000 gallons.”
The July 29, 1967, incident occurred while the ship was in the Gulf of Tonkin during the Vietnam War. Stray voltage triggered a rocket to launch from an F-4 Phantom on the flight deck, ultimately striking an armed A-4 Skyhawk piloted by then-Lt. Cmdr. John S. McCain III, who would later spend five years as a POW, serve in the U.S. Senate and run for president. A chain reaction of fires and explosions ensued, causing a day-long fire aboard the ship’s deck, which was packed with planes. In addition to the deaths and injuries, 21 aircraft were damaged. The incident prompted changes within the Navy to damage control and disaster response training, as most of the sailors who were trained as firefighters were reportedly killed during the initial blast, forcing the remaining crew to improvise its rescue efforts.
After seven months of repairs, the ship later returned to sea for more than two decades before ultimately being decommissioned in 1993. It was stationed in Newport, R.I., until 2010, when it was moved to Philadelphia’s Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility, where more than 20 decommissioned naval vessels are reportedly being stored for possible foreign sale transfer, donation or artificial reefing.
Meanwhile, Navy officials say the award of contracts for two other conventional carriers, the ex-Saratoga and ex-Constellation, are also pending and are contingent upon facility security clearances.
Messages seeking comment from Sen. McCain, R-Ariz., were not immediately returned early Wednesday, but Killmeyer, who survived the fire as a 20-year-old sailor, told FoxNews.com that the sale marked a “sad day” for all Americans.
While the ship could have made an excellent educational tool, Killmeyer said the “very costly” process to maintain massive aircraft carriers was difficult to overcome.
“If they’re not painting them or working on it somehow, it’s an odd day because they’re always maintaining something to keep them afloat,” Killmeyer told FoxNews.com. “The weather plays havoc on their exterior no matter what climate they’re in. The biggest expense is maintenance.”
Killmeyer, now 67, said he can still smell the “total devastation” aboard the ship and the broken sense of security felt by the crewmen, who thought they were much safer at sea compared to their counterparts on land.
“As crewmembers, we relive July 29, 1967, every time we hear a loud, unexplained noise, whether you’re at the beach or you’re in your office,” Killmeyer said. “Or, some people are affected by certain odors. When you smell flesh burnt from jet fuel, it kind of stays with you forever. You can’t get away from it.”

 

^^^^^^

As a non Navy guy I read this as maintenance is a bitz and it is good to be Texas Metals.

In reality it is a sad day. I never knew about the mishap on the ship.

Too bad you cannot park the ship in the desert the same way we do with planes.

 

Thanks for posting Jim. Brings back memories. I picked up the Forrestal while she was still in dry dock in Norfolk and was on her till we returned from a Med cruise. It was an experience to remember. She still had holes in the tower from the explosions from that fateful day. I still have my cruise book and I bring it out from time to time and look through it. Here is a picture of me on a catwalk by the flight deck. Young buck back then...

 

A life time ago,,,, those are A6's on the deck???

 

Morning all:
1c seems cheap! I'd bet the co. that purchased it will end up making many millions. Shame for that ship, but I guess they can't let old obsolete stuff like that just sit around. As mentioned, the weather and salt does take it's toll. It would be a "BIG" project just to try to maintain.
Good read Jim!
At least we didn't sell it to China!

 

Evening all:
FLURRIES! It's that time. Didn't notice any here.
Was just thinking; I believe I have a Forrestal ships patch. I could probably get more for it than they got for the ship!
Fred: I don't remember that, I was also active duty at that time, but I do remember one of our subs running into an undersea mountain and ripping a gaping hole in the bow. Also had a sister ship to the Pueblo tied up next to us not too long after that incident.

 

Carl:
Please keep the flurries, snow, and blizzards up in PA.

 

Ya'll have drawn me back in again. Great read Jim; caught a documentary about the Forrestal and that fateful day on the Military channel not too long ago.

The bolded print reminded me of an incident last March. I had gone shooting with my youngest son and his girlfriend in his truck. On the way out we came across a lady and her son whose SUV had slid off the road (still snowy/icy) and gotten stuck. My son pulls over and says, "Let's get the tow strap Dad" as he hops out of the driver's seat. As I'm slipping out the back seat, his girlfriend looks at me and asks, "Why did you have to make him so nice, he does this all the time?" I just winked and said, "Yeah, we're the good guys."

 

The good karma always comes back to you when you need it the most.

 

Yep, Gotta keep the faith Brother.

You're up early ... I admire your drive.

 

Busy day today.

My son has a distance learning day with school so we have a dental appointment at 11:20. I am off to the gym in a few then stop at the bank, for cash, and Staples for a poster board.

Need to do laundry today, 4 loads, wash and wax Tacoma, for the Toyota meet, and pack the Tacoma for meet. Hopefully I will be able to install a OEM hitch on my Tacoma.

If there is time I need to get a haircut and put the third coat of varnish on the wood slats for the bench.

The wife jut told me to get her a bottle of wine. To the top of the list with this request.

Retirement is fun.

 

Yep, we had A-4's, A-6's, A-7's, F-4's, S-3's and a couple of Vigilantes(forget the number) used for recon photos. Plus the Seahawk helos for recovery. Full crews.

Yes they do Cap. Between the current and one of our rudders going out the refueler bounced off our side twice before they could breakaway and get away from us. Their stack did some damage.

The last pic is of what I handled while aboard. Sidewinder's, Sparrow's and the orange one is an AQM37 practice target.

 

Oh no Tom, is this what I have to look forward to!!! It will be easier at work...I don't think so70 more days and I'm done.

 

Morning all:
Oh yes, that's what you have to look forward to! My to do lists keep getting longer, not shorter. But that's OK!
You've been warned!!!!! Get ready.