I look so young…
Baku, Azerbaijan (2004)
Baku, Azerbaijan (2004)
Flipped on ESPN while folding clothes and saw something that looked pretty familiar. I said, “That looks an awful lot like the Maiden Tower in Baku that I climbed.” Turned out it was. They’re holding the Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2021 there today
Was neat to see that place. I have great memories of it, particularly since I was both going to and coming back from Afghanistan when I visited.
Azerbaijan is a major producer of oil and natural gas, and one thing I do remember distinctly was the smell of petroleum in the air everywhere you went.
La Habana, Cuba (2009)
From FB:
“Listening to my wife-beating campesino neighbor blast his salsa music at 10:20 at night while hoping that my kids are able to somehow miraculously sleep through the cacophony….”
Tysons Corner, Virginia (2011)
From FB:
“Walked around Tysons with my wife and the kids. Utter international, pathocapitalist freakshow.
My daughters won’t be allowed to hang out there until they’re 24.”
Vienna, Virginia (2014)
From FB:
“There’s a really neat service out there called “Fiverr,” where for $5 or more somebody out there in teh Internets will do some kind of computer / graphic design work for you in less than two days.
As a joke, I asked them to design a business card for my wife to describe our current living situation here in lovely affluent Northern Virginia…”
June 6, 2021
From FB:
“The 29th Infantry Division arrived in England at the early date of September 1942. The 116th Infantry Regiment, Virginia National Guard, is the organizational descendent of the “Stonewall Brigade” of Civil War fame.
While other units were sent to fight in North Africa, Sicily, and Italy, the 29th Infantry Division stayed in England, training for 21 months and then was selected to be the first to land on Omaha Beach on D-Day at section Dog Green, June 6, 1944. Company A was the tip of the spear — its men went in on the very first wave, divided among seven landing craft.
When 5,000 yards out, the men in Company A noticed that the beach in front of them was intact. The promised bombing to knock out obstacles and create craters to avoid direct fire had not materialized. When 700 yards out the landing craft became targets for German mortars and artillery. As soon as the landing craft hit the beaches and dropped their ramps, they became targets to heavy machine-gun fire. Drowning also became a problem as men found themselves stepping into water over their heads weighted down by equipment often more than half their body weight.
Those who survived the initial landing found no cover. They faced at least three German MG-42 machine guns that fired more than 1,000 rounds per minute and at least two dozen snipers. Those who survived the day stayed in the water and moved forward as the tide rolled in, dragging their wounded with them.
Within 10 minutes Company A was out of action – all of its officers and sergeants were either dead or wounded, including Sgt. Henry B. Pearson, Jr. of Newington, VA.
He is buried in Pohick Episcopal Church Cemetery in Lorton, VA.”
Song Of Ajax 