This blog will take a departure from my normal blog as I have not posted in a while and I want to tell everyone why this is so.
Thursday a week ago, I had an accidental fall at my house. I was carrying a bowl of brown sugar mixed with mustard that I was going to use as a glaze for ham that I was going to cook. When I started to fall, I dropped the bowl to the tile floor and it broke into a million pieces. I then fell down on the tile and my right knee hit first with me finishing the fall on the hand and right arm into the broken glass. I am taking blood thinner so when I saw all the blood on my right arm and hand, I called 911. Well the first EMT personnel showed up five minutes later and stopped the bleeding. They then took me to the ER at the local hospital.
At the ER they put about 10 stitches in my arm, cleaned up my knee, and sent me home. I had had a bad experience with this hospital before and I was not going to take the chance that something like that would happen again. I went to the ER at the VA hospital in Tucson Saturday morning. They said the arm looked okay but I was getting some swelling on my knee. They took three x-rays of my knee, which made a total of about 7 with the ones taken at the hospital in Sierra Vista. No broken bones and no broken glass in it either. So they bandaged me up and sent me home.
Wednesday morning I got up and my knee and leg was swollen where I could not get around very good. So, back to Tucson. I set in the ER from 3:00 pm until about 10:00 pm before the doctors could look at me. One look and they admitted me into the hospital. More x-rays, no broken bones, no infection showing up in the knee joint, etc. Just a bad bruise up front. They started giving me antibiotics through an IV and I was resting up. Yesterday afternoon (Friday) they took out the 10 stitches in my arm, gave me some antibiotic pills to take, some pain killers, etc. I was discharged yesterday afternoon and Mila came and picked me up. I arrived back home at about 4:00 pm yesterday. It is sure nice to be back home again.
It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life . . . Well my friends, till I get to felling better and the next blog, the Lord be with you. Have a blessed season and a Happy New Year. God bless.
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Wilkommen nach Deutschland!
Guten Morgen! It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life my friends, wake up and take time to thank God and smell the roses along the way.
I always wanted to go to Germany all my life and after spending about 17 years in the Army, getting out to work at Civil Service for four years, with just a few trips to teach the U-COFT in various military bases in Germany. After I started working for the company who underbid General Electric I was finally being stationed to Germany.
There was two main reasons I wanted to go to Germany. The first was when I was a young lad, I remember visiting with my dad's folks in Lexington, Kentucky. On the rare occasion when we stayed over night, I can remember setting at the breakfast table being served Black Forest Ham along with over easy eggs. When the adults were at the table and wanted to say something not for little ears, they would speak in German. I didn't know what it was at first so when I asked my dad on the way home he told me it was German. That started me wanting to see Germany first hand. Secondly, when my kids were young as a part of a school project they had to list their ancestry back as far as they could. Of course they came to me. I did some research into the family ancestry and I was hooked. I took it all, hook, line and sinker. In my research I found that my dad's folks came to America in the mid-1700's from Germany and Alsace-Loraine, France.
As I stated before, my headquarters over there was in Grafenwoehr, but I made my headquarters out of Vilseck. While in country, I rented a small but nice room in the Gasthof Goldener Greif in Edelsfeld, Germany. I was over there alone so the one small room was nice, in a nice, quite town. On Saturday morning when I was not on the road tracing down ancestors, I was at the local soccer field, cheering on the team from Edelsfeld.
A little over half way through my obligation to the company, my daughter, Michelle had graduated from High School and she came over to join me in Germany. I was sending just about all of my salary home to Mila so I could not afford two rooms at the Gasthof. I got to looking around at found a nice up stairs, two bedroom efficiency apartment in Dorfgmund, Germany, which was half way between Vilseck and Grafenwoehr. This suited us just fine. We only had German TV there but there was a VHS hooked up to the TV. I picked up a Walt Disney film, Pete's Dragon, at the PX in Grafenwoehr. Michelle and I just about remembered all the songs and words to it because we played it so much.
I was busy with work during the week but on weekends we traveled to different places sightseeing. I never did get into the Volks Marches over there like so many Americans. I was mainly interested into family history. Mila did finally come over to join us there but she was cold and bored with the place so she went back to Sierra Vista to get ready for us when my time was over on the contract.
On one of my trips to Germany, I was there to see the Wall come down and many other interesting things. I visited many places while I was there, Berlin, Bonn, Frankfort, Baden-Baden, Heidelberg, Stuttgart, Nuremberg, Munich and Hamburg, just to name a few of the towns I worked in. I visited in Belgium, France, Switzerland, Austria and Czech Republic. I did get to see Europe.
I will update you on what has happened since I have returned on the next blog. Til then . . .
Auf Wiederschen . . .
I always wanted to go to Germany all my life and after spending about 17 years in the Army, getting out to work at Civil Service for four years, with just a few trips to teach the U-COFT in various military bases in Germany. After I started working for the company who underbid General Electric I was finally being stationed to Germany.
There was two main reasons I wanted to go to Germany. The first was when I was a young lad, I remember visiting with my dad's folks in Lexington, Kentucky. On the rare occasion when we stayed over night, I can remember setting at the breakfast table being served Black Forest Ham along with over easy eggs. When the adults were at the table and wanted to say something not for little ears, they would speak in German. I didn't know what it was at first so when I asked my dad on the way home he told me it was German. That started me wanting to see Germany first hand. Secondly, when my kids were young as a part of a school project they had to list their ancestry back as far as they could. Of course they came to me. I did some research into the family ancestry and I was hooked. I took it all, hook, line and sinker. In my research I found that my dad's folks came to America in the mid-1700's from Germany and Alsace-Loraine, France.
As I stated before, my headquarters over there was in Grafenwoehr, but I made my headquarters out of Vilseck. While in country, I rented a small but nice room in the Gasthof Goldener Greif in Edelsfeld, Germany. I was over there alone so the one small room was nice, in a nice, quite town. On Saturday morning when I was not on the road tracing down ancestors, I was at the local soccer field, cheering on the team from Edelsfeld.
A little over half way through my obligation to the company, my daughter, Michelle had graduated from High School and she came over to join me in Germany. I was sending just about all of my salary home to Mila so I could not afford two rooms at the Gasthof. I got to looking around at found a nice up stairs, two bedroom efficiency apartment in Dorfgmund, Germany, which was half way between Vilseck and Grafenwoehr. This suited us just fine. We only had German TV there but there was a VHS hooked up to the TV. I picked up a Walt Disney film, Pete's Dragon, at the PX in Grafenwoehr. Michelle and I just about remembered all the songs and words to it because we played it so much.
I was busy with work during the week but on weekends we traveled to different places sightseeing. I never did get into the Volks Marches over there like so many Americans. I was mainly interested into family history. Mila did finally come over to join us there but she was cold and bored with the place so she went back to Sierra Vista to get ready for us when my time was over on the contract.
On one of my trips to Germany, I was there to see the Wall come down and many other interesting things. I visited many places while I was there, Berlin, Bonn, Frankfort, Baden-Baden, Heidelberg, Stuttgart, Nuremberg, Munich and Hamburg, just to name a few of the towns I worked in. I visited in Belgium, France, Switzerland, Austria and Czech Republic. I did get to see Europe.
I will update you on what has happened since I have returned on the next blog. Til then . . .
Auf Wiederschen . . .
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Daytona Beach . . then Arizona . . then Germany..
So, I was hired by General Electric at Fort Knox to do the same job that I had been doing at Civil Service. General Electric decided that I needed the Instructor Course that had set up at Daytona Beach, Florida. So, I reported in at the General Electric building on Valencia Blvd., right across the street from the Daytona 500 Raceway. We spent the first couple of days in-processing and getting to know our way around Daytona Beach.
I was setting in back of the classroom the first couple of days. As I said before, the building is right across Valencia Blvd. from the raceway. At the start of day two of the class, I moved up to the front so I could heard way the instructor was saying over the sound of the cars going around the track. Boy, was it ever noisy.
After four or five days, the instructors come to realize that I was way ahead of the class on the subjects being presented, so I was called out of class to help the instructors with the flight simulators. This was really interesting to me. No longer worrying about tanks but how to fly planes, bombers, fighters, etc. After that they fairly left me alone as long as I reported in first thing on Monday morning. At this time something interesting happened.
I was at the Valencia Mall one Tuesday and to my surprise I ran into a whole bunch of security guards. They were protecting Tom Cruse and Nichole Kidman. They were in town getting ready to film their new movie, "Days of Thunder". There was a sigh up sheet for extras in the movie. I was ready to sign when I got to thinking, I work for General Electric. So they were going to be there for another day of signing so I went to the boss at General Electric and was told in not uncertain terms was I to sign up to be an extra. Well, there went my shot at Hollywood.
I finished up the course and got my certificate saying I was a certified Instructor/Operator of the U-COFT system. When I got back to Fort Knox, I reported back in to George, and he he said I have some bad news and some bad news. He said pack your bags. They were sending me to either one of three different places and I had my pick. The three choices were: 1) El Paso, Texas, 2) Tucson, Arizona, and 3) El Centro, California. All were to train up the National Guard. That night I talked it over with the family and we decided on Tucson, Arizona.
It was just Mila, Michelle and I that was moving. Michelle was fixing to start her senior year at Buena High School. Mike was already going to the University of Louisville, so we decided to leave him there. When we got to Tucson, it was Cinco de Mayo. Tucson was really crowded so we did not have much of a choice of Hotels or Motels to stay at. I was informed that I was to train up the Arizona National guard. They would come from Phoenix, Tucson, and Fort Huachuca. The next day we moved down to Sierra Vista, Arizona. This is the Fort Huachuca town. All the national guard units did their training down at the Fort. Sierra Vista was similar to Radcliff, Kentucky where we had been living, so we felt right at home.
Everything went fine from May to December. When I called my weekly status in to Fort Knox, I was told that General Electric was underbid on the U-COFT contract so I needed to find me another job. I ask who got the contract and was given the run around. Finally I called and got the secretary on the line and she said a place out in Maryland and gave me the name. I went straight to the library and pulled out the Standard and Poor book and looked them up. I got the name of the recruiting officer and his phone number. I called him up and explained why I was calling. He sounded interested but was fixing to go to an important meeting and he said he would call me as soon as he was free. Twenty minutes later he called, wanted to hire me on the spot but he told me to talk it over with the family. He was offering a nice salary, all tax free, the only catch was I had to relocated to Germany.
That evening I talked it over with the family, called him up the next morning and got the details. They would be relying heavily on me because of my experience with the equipment. Their headquarters over in Germany was at Grafenwoehr, the Armor Center, and I would be staying in the little town of Vilseck, Germany, which is very near to the headquarters. They told me even though I was stationed there, I would be doing a lot of traveling on the Autobahn. They said not to worry as I would be driving a company station wagon with all my tools and equipment in the back.
It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life my friends, til the next time . . .God Speed.
I was setting in back of the classroom the first couple of days. As I said before, the building is right across Valencia Blvd. from the raceway. At the start of day two of the class, I moved up to the front so I could heard way the instructor was saying over the sound of the cars going around the track. Boy, was it ever noisy.
After four or five days, the instructors come to realize that I was way ahead of the class on the subjects being presented, so I was called out of class to help the instructors with the flight simulators. This was really interesting to me. No longer worrying about tanks but how to fly planes, bombers, fighters, etc. After that they fairly left me alone as long as I reported in first thing on Monday morning. At this time something interesting happened.
I was at the Valencia Mall one Tuesday and to my surprise I ran into a whole bunch of security guards. They were protecting Tom Cruse and Nichole Kidman. They were in town getting ready to film their new movie, "Days of Thunder". There was a sigh up sheet for extras in the movie. I was ready to sign when I got to thinking, I work for General Electric. So they were going to be there for another day of signing so I went to the boss at General Electric and was told in not uncertain terms was I to sign up to be an extra. Well, there went my shot at Hollywood.
I finished up the course and got my certificate saying I was a certified Instructor/Operator of the U-COFT system. When I got back to Fort Knox, I reported back in to George, and he he said I have some bad news and some bad news. He said pack your bags. They were sending me to either one of three different places and I had my pick. The three choices were: 1) El Paso, Texas, 2) Tucson, Arizona, and 3) El Centro, California. All were to train up the National Guard. That night I talked it over with the family and we decided on Tucson, Arizona.
It was just Mila, Michelle and I that was moving. Michelle was fixing to start her senior year at Buena High School. Mike was already going to the University of Louisville, so we decided to leave him there. When we got to Tucson, it was Cinco de Mayo. Tucson was really crowded so we did not have much of a choice of Hotels or Motels to stay at. I was informed that I was to train up the Arizona National guard. They would come from Phoenix, Tucson, and Fort Huachuca. The next day we moved down to Sierra Vista, Arizona. This is the Fort Huachuca town. All the national guard units did their training down at the Fort. Sierra Vista was similar to Radcliff, Kentucky where we had been living, so we felt right at home.
Everything went fine from May to December. When I called my weekly status in to Fort Knox, I was told that General Electric was underbid on the U-COFT contract so I needed to find me another job. I ask who got the contract and was given the run around. Finally I called and got the secretary on the line and she said a place out in Maryland and gave me the name. I went straight to the library and pulled out the Standard and Poor book and looked them up. I got the name of the recruiting officer and his phone number. I called him up and explained why I was calling. He sounded interested but was fixing to go to an important meeting and he said he would call me as soon as he was free. Twenty minutes later he called, wanted to hire me on the spot but he told me to talk it over with the family. He was offering a nice salary, all tax free, the only catch was I had to relocated to Germany.
That evening I talked it over with the family, called him up the next morning and got the details. They would be relying heavily on me because of my experience with the equipment. Their headquarters over in Germany was at Grafenwoehr, the Armor Center, and I would be staying in the little town of Vilseck, Germany, which is very near to the headquarters. They told me even though I was stationed there, I would be doing a lot of traveling on the Autobahn. They said not to worry as I would be driving a company station wagon with all my tools and equipment in the back.
It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life my friends, til the next time . . .God Speed.
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