Memorial Day Thanks to All the Lt. Col. William Travis's

February 24, 1836

To the People of Texas and All Americans in the World.
FELLOW CITZENS AND COMPATRIOTS:

I am besieged by a thousand or more of the Mexicans under Santa Anna. I have sustained a continual bombardment and cannonade for twenty-four hours and have not lost a man. The enemy has demanded a surrender at discretion; otherwise the garrison are to be put to the sword if the fort is taken. I have answered the demand with a cannon shot, and our flag still waves proudly from the walls. I shall never surrender nor retreat. Then, I call on you in the name of Liberty, of patriotism, and of everything dear to the American character, to come too our aid with all dispatch. The enemy is receiving reinforcements daily and will no doubt increase to three or four thousand in four or five days. If this call is neglected, I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible and die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor and that of his country.

VICTORY OR DEATH

William Barret Travis
Lieutenant Colonel, Commandant
The Alamo

The Sprout Has Landed

My son is home for the first time in a year. I am amazed at his connection with six-year-old Sgt. York (who absolutely adores his only uncle). Since arriving, they have been battle buddies every time they are together. Sprout even brought Sgt. York a real army gas mask. Ever see a child play basketball in a gas mask? It's quite interesting.

Anyway, last night I slept eight hours straight, the longest I have slept at one stretch this whole year. It's good to have him home even if he only lights for a few minutes at a time. He has lots of catching up to do and fun to have and things to buy and people to see while he is here. At the moment, I will just keep my place, which is fast becoming obsolete to him. He has grown up and can handle things on his own. Dad and I will have to adjust. It will be easier for me than for Dad. Sprout has already had to stop him once or twice for trying to take over the care and feeding of Sprout. It may be a hard pill to swallow but a good cure, nonetheless.

Sprout's Coming Home

Sprout will soon be on his way home and back to my lovin' arms. I've been cleaning the house all weekend, as if he doesn't know what this house normally looks like. As I wait, here's an interesting little tidbit from the Little General's mouth this weekend:

LITTLE GENERAL (as she follows Pedro down the street): Where we goin'?

PEDRO (always annoyed by the General): We're going crazy.

LITTLE GENERAL: Wait! I don't have my shoes on.

(The child ain't right.)

Snort!

In My Email

This is a funny little list I got in my email today. Anybody who works in an office will understand. I must be a Mouse Potato.


BLAMESTORMING - Sitting around in a group, discussing why a deadline was missed or a project failed, and who was responsible.

SEAGULL MANAGER - A manager who flies in, makes a lot of noise, cr*ps on everything, and then leaves.

ASSMOSIS - The process by which people seem to absorb success and advancement by sucking up to the boss rather than working hard.

SALMON DAY - The experience of spending an entire day swimming upstream only to get screwed and die.

CUBE FARM - An office filled with cubicles.

PRAIRIE DOGGING - When someone yells or drops something loudly in a cube farm, and people's heads pop up over the walls to see that's going on. (This also applies to applause from a promotion because there may be cake.)

MOUSE POTATO - The on-line, wired generation's answer to the couch potato.

SITCOMs - Single Income, Two Children, Oppressive Mortgage. What yuppies turn into when they have children and one of them stops working to stay home with the kids or start a "home business".

STRESS PUPPY - A person who seems to thrive on being stressed out and whiny.

PERCUSSIVE MAINTENANCE - The fine art of whacking the cr*p out of an electronic device to get it to work again.

ADMINISPHERE - The rarefied organisational layers beginning just above the rank and file. Decisions that fall from the "adminisphere" are often profoundly inappropriate or irrelevant to the problems they were designed to solve. This is often affiliated with the dreaded "administrivia" needless paperwork and processes.

404 - Someone who's clueless. From the World Wide Web error message "404 Not Found," meaning that the requested document could not be located.

OHNOSECOND - That minuscule fraction of time in which you realise that you've just made a BIG mistake (e.g. you've hit 'reply all')

A Mighty Little Letter

Since Christmas, I have been sending care packages to soldiers listed on Anysoldier.com. This is just the greatest website. Yesterday I was going through the names to find a soldier to send a box to and I ran across this guys post. Click on the link and scroll down the list on the left-hand side of the screen to May 2 and click on the name Johnson, Msgt Rick. He scanned a copy of a letter he received from a 10-year-old. If this doesn't make you cry, you have no heart. I have a feeling a bunch of strong burly airmen in Iraq have passed this letter around and all shed a tear or two. Read it and weep.