It has been a hectic week.
I’ve tried to stay ahead of it all, but I have failed miserably.

I must have sat down a dozen times to write this post, just to be called away for something else, some other task, some other issue needing my attention.

Andy Gabrielson, aka Find the Tornado, was killed over the weekend by a drunk driver, just a hour from my backyard.

He died, coming back from doing what he loved: chasing a storm.

I can’t say Andy and I were close. That would be a lie. However I met him on roughly a half dozen occasions when I first started as a storm spotter. We met for coffee and chit chat as he gave me some insight. We had met via twitter. He was a good man, with a love for the chase and a eye for video and pictures. You have probably seen his footage on countless Weather Channel shorts and news work across the country.

Andy was the real deal.

Last year his truck was flipped with him inside (the last 45 seconds of the video if you want fast forward to it)

Andy did his best to get good footage, which he more often than not succeeded in. He also gathered good data which was very important to meteorologists.

His work, his candor, and his will to do good for people was practically legendary. Last year he picked up Joel Taylor of Team Dominator fame from the side of the road after Reed and Joel parted ways. Andy was always, always willing to help.

As tribute over 500 storm chasers came together to honor Andy, in a way that can only be seen on the Radar screens that we watch, haunt, and stare at for hours. He would have appreciated it I think:

The world is a lesser place, and this storm season won’t be the same without him

If your in the area, or you wish to make a donation to Andy’s family, or attend his service, that information is after the jump.

God speed Andy, and where ever you are, ride the lightning.

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Tags: Andy Gabrielson, extreme, Fatality, Find the Tornado, Severe, Storm chaser, Stormchasers, Storms, Technorati, Tornados, Weather, Weather Channel

The Irish and the British will always have issues because the British never remember, and the Irish never forget.

It’s a hot button issue in Ireland.

At the time, and now to an extent, many feel that the over 5,000 Irishmen who left Ireland to fight against Nazi Germany in World War II were  and are criminals, or deserters.

They left the Irish Army, leaving Ireland who was neutral, to fight to stop the Nazi’s in World War II.

Today, there is a possibility they may be pardoned.

The Starvation Orders were the orders to blacklist those 5,000 troops upon their return. They could not get jobs, welfare, pensions or any assistance what so ever, some of them made a go at it. Others left the country yet again. Whats more the orders extended beyond just the individuals, but their families as well. It’s how my own family ended up in America.

Five thousand Irish soldiers who swapped uniforms to fight for the British against Hitler went on to suffer years of persecution. They were formally dismissed from the Irish army, stripped of all pay and pension rights, and prevented from finding work by being banned for seven years from any employment paid for by state or government funds.
One of them, 92-year-old Phil Farrington, took part in the D-Day landings and helped liberate the German death camp at Bergen-Belsen – but he wears his medals in secret. Even to this day, he has nightmares that he will be arrested by the authorities and imprisoned for his wartime service.

“They would come and get me, yes they would,” he said in a frail voice at his home in the docks area of Dublin.
And his 25-year-old grandson, Patrick, confirmed: “I see the fear in him even today, even after 65 years.”

Mr Farrington’s fears are not groundless.

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Tags: Army, Family, Ireland, Military, pardon, Starvation Orders, Technorati, World War II

As a boy things were pretty rough at times. Before we moved down to Taylorsville, GA our family home was a 2 room cabin in the hills of Big Creek. Our running water was a spring out front, our heat was a pot bellied wood stove, our bath a 50 gallon washtub and a bathroom that was as big as all out doors.

The military was a slice of heaven to me.

You learn to adapt. I don’t begrudge those things above, in fact in someways I miss them. I miss the cold mornings warmed by a cup of coffee listening to nothing but the trees and naught but Charles Dickens to keep me company. I miss the simplicity, and the quiet. I miss the peace. We were “off the grid” before there came to be such a concept. In those days “off the grid” just meant “poor”, but you couldn’t tell us that.

I spent the evenings after home work lost in Robinson Crusoe, As I Lay Dying, and Go Down, Moses.  You didn’t need electricity for books.

In many ways I have often considered that song to be a story of me. The cabin is gone now, my father has built his own house on the property. It’s been a long hard road for us. Trials and tribulations. I have a education I thought I would never get, and I am still traveling that road. My daughter does not lack for things to have, and truth be told is probably spoiled.

I have a few regrets, who doesn’t? Some dreams lost to the wayside. I have made many mistakes in my youth, as we all do.

So it goes c’sera sera, or as my grandfather would say: De reir a cheile a thogtar na caisleain. It takes time to build castles.

The year is almost over and the new year solstice will be celebrated, as it should be with friends. Consider me with you in spirit. Try to think of the good things that have came your way, find grace in the things you could not change. Most of all have a Happy New Year, from all of us at Registered Evil. We are thankful to have you, dear readers, among our friends.

Tags: Happy New Year, Home, irish, New Year, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Sharecroppers Dream, Solstice, Tecvhnorati, Thankfull

FLASH: Earthquake of 5.9 magnitude strikes near New Zealand’s Christchurch: USGS

Updates as they become available…

Christchurch police say there has been a collapse at Scarborough rockface, but no injuries and collapse contained

Update – Quake near New Zealand’s Christchurch prompted evacuation of buildings, was “incredibly violent” http://t.co/M8CDH7Ib”
Posted from WordPress for Android

Tags: Earthquake, Extreme Weather, New Zealand, Technorati

This really chaps my ass.

There just isn’t a better way of me saying that.

What? Is it friggin’ 1860 again?

We have Hispanics of multiple origins pouring over our southern border that our current Administration refuses to secure and furthermore refuses to address (save for amnesty). The vast majority of them are not contributing to our economy, in fact they are draining it quickly. $65 Million dollars...in just one state!

But if your from Mexico, China or India the doors open! Never mind the fact that Ireland’s migrants have just as much education or experience….the short version is: they are the wrong colour. If your from one of those countries this is a great program, and I applaud the ideal of making it easier to get in to the country legally. However setting a standard as to who should go is not a standard of equality.

Reverse discrimination against the Irish, twice now , has never been so disgustingly blatant. In a age when Democrats are constantly repeating how wonderful immigrants are and how necessary they are to our culture, it apparently only applies to certain immigrants from specific places.

But America has taken it a step further, no longer are they simply saying “No Irish need apply”

Now they simply say “No Irish are Welcome here.”

The Irish have already proven themselves in this country, we have done our time and our hardships. The railroads that criss cross the nation were built on Irish backs, with Irish labour.

Unfortunately the same folks who declared immigration necessary are freezing out a proven group of workers, and opening the flood gates to a group that wants a free ride…versus one that has paid its dues. Again great program from one of those countries, everyone else who is affected though? Not so much.

There is no justification for this. I am not racist, I have friends of many cultures, and have been to many countries. But this ruling is not just a travesty of human rights, and an assault to basic human respect it’s a sham and a obvious ploy to buy votes by an Administration that is desperate to receive any support it can get even if it means buying those votes through back door legislation.

This action is in a word: disgusting.

This is the third time we have placed such a stranglehold on the Irish community. First in the 1860′s, again in the 1960′s and again now. Furthermore here’s a jaw dropper: The number of people who will emigrate from Ireland in 2010 and 2011 will add up to 120,000. And as the business editor of the Irish Independent pointed out last week, that is the figure given by the last census for the population of Cork City. Compare that to the estimated 10 Million  illegal immigrants in the country currently.

Making it harder for a group who is willing to come here legally, is counter to any sane immigration program.

Want to make a difference?

Legalize the Irish. Contact your elective representative. Sanity needs to be restored.

I like what my father calls “homogenized business”.

Mom and Pop operations that are trying to make their way in the world of bottom lines, last dollar and otherwise chain establishments.

Fortunately no one has been able to come up with a brick & mortar chain of cigar bars yet. Romeo’s is no exception.

I’ve had the pleasure of sitting, visiting and smoking with Tom of Ponderings from a Piper’s Paradise. Tom is also one of only two people who work at Romeo”s. He’s a writer, blogger, and sports fan…all of which are things deer to this misplaced Irish Georgia boys heart. Thanks to his establishment, we have wiled away several hours talking about books, literature, writers, sports, and strung out hippies while toking on some very good cigars.

They have an excellent selection, and no they aren’t paying me for this post. Not even a free cigar.Tom & Larry are extremely knowledgeable and a couple of real nice guys. Thats the whole reason I’m giving them a plug. Well that and the fact that I want them to stay in business so sending some traffic and folks their way can’t hurt.

If your ever in Bentonville, you should drop in and say hi to Tom and Larry. Get a Master Blend cigar. Sit on the couch, and get a cup of coffee while you chat. Relax. Stay a while. Tell’im I sent you over.

Thats what a good cigar, and a good cigar bar, is all about. And no chain will ever replicate that.

Tags: Arkansas, Bentonville, Cigar, Cigar bar, Romeo;s, Technorati

I don’t ask of many favors from my fellow bloggers or Tweeters. I’m asking one now. Please spread this story and help bring these little girls home – BS

15 miles.

Thats all that separates my home from the town of Exeter, Missouri. Population 700.

It’s a small town. Smaller than I graduated high school in. Compared to some towns in Southwest Missouri, however, it is practically a metropolis.

It is also not the sort of place where crime happens.

Unfortunately, in the case of Abby and Isabella Chapman, thats exactly what has happened. A crime. One that is breaking their hearts of their mother and family, and shocking southwest Missouri.

Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Amber Alert, Chapman, Danger, Exeter, help, Locate, Matthew, Missing Children, Technorati

This story was originally written by me at our sister site Techography.com June 5th, 2006.  the original article is no longer in the archives there. I republished it here in May of l2010. It’s that time of year again, to bring it back to the front page. The time to Remember. Always, Remember.-BS

Our supporting Naval Fire got us in….without that gunfire we positively could not have crossed the beaches…” Col S. B. Mason Chief of Staff, 1st Division

I mentioned before I owned a picture of that painting. (You can too But mine has more history as I got mine from the now dissolved Navy Aviation Ordnance School out of Oceania, VA.)

Water.

It surrounds the Landing craft, reminds you of that old poem

“Water water everywhere, and not a drop to drink…”

The wind is cold, the spray is miserable. The clothes are soaked thru, and the landing craft is pitching and yawing like a kite in a windstorm. The boys vomit from the rollercoaster aaffects of the seas and smashing waves that jar your teeth out of your head.

The place, is Normandy, the beach is Fox Green.

Welcome to the Invasion

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Tags: (Destroyer Squadron 18), (L)- 92, 116th Infantry Regiment, 16th Infantry Regimenta, 1st Infantry Division, 29th Infantry Division, 2nd Battalion US Army, 3rd Batt, 6th Naval Beach Battali, Act 3 Sc, Antoine de Saint-Exupery, beach, Chin Music, David Kenyon Webster, DESRON, DUKWs, Fox green, Invasion, J M Barrie, John Stuart Mill, King Henry V, LCI(L)-91, LCIs, LCTs, Lord Byon, LST-266, Memorial Day, Naval Combat Demolition, Normandy, Omaha, Operation: Neptune, PC-1225, Rainer Maria Rilke, Rangers, Technorati, techography, The Battle For Easy, USS Doyle, USS McCook, USS Arkansas, USS Augusta, USS Baldwin (DD-624), USS Carmick, USS Emmons (DD-457/DMS-22), USS Frankford (DD-497), USS LCI(L)-490, USS LCI(L)-496, USS LST-373, USS Nevada, USS Samuel Chase (APA-26), USS Texas, USS Thompson, USS Tide, Voyage to Victory, WIlliam James, William Shakespeare

The State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) continues to work with Missouri state and local agencies to provide all necessary response resources to Joplin, following Sunday’s deadly tornado

Responders are being coordinated through established regional mutual aid agreements and requests filed with SEMA for state and federal resources.

Missourians interested in volunteering to assist should first call (800) 427-4626 or 2-1-1, instead of reporting directly to a command post or the disaster area. Those with medical skills interested in volunteering should go to: https://www.showmeresponse.org/.

Missourians wishing to make donations to help with the relief effort can go to http://www.sema.dps.mo.gov/recover/donations.asp or call (800) 427-4626 or 2-1-1.

Residents affected by the tornado who wish to notify their friends and family that they are safe should go to: https://safeandwell.communityos.org/cms/index.php. Friends and family who would like to check on their loved ones in the affected area can use the same site.

Missourians who need disaster information, shelter information or referrals are urged to call

2-1-1. The United Way’s 211 service number is now available for most areas in Missouri. In areas where the 211 number is not operational, citizens can call 800-427-4626.

Tags: Joplin, Missouri, Southwest Missouri, Technorati, Tornado, Volunteer

How many years has it been now?
Without Google can you recall?

It’s pretty easy really. Almost ten.

Ten years since I spent time at Ground Zero. Ten years since I was reactivated. Nine years since the dust settled.

The Witch is Dead says the news.

Color me pessimistic. But Hopeful.

Last night possibly the worst storm in 29 years rolled through the south east.

More than 200 people are dead across five southern states following what the National Weather Service is calling the deadliest wave of tornadoes since 1974.

Five southern states — Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee and Virginia — are reporting fatalities, with officials reporting at least 141 dead in Alabama and eight in Virginia.

Tornado riping through Alabama

This storm barely missed my town of Smyrna, and we were lucky.  Too many people lost their lives, and I struggle to find a reason for it.

Last night around 8:00, I started getting ready for the worst.  Mind you, I am rarely uneasy about storms, but this one seemed different.  It was just so hot and humid outside, and with a violent thunderstorm on its way, I knew this is what breeds tornado’s.  Unfortunately little else is known about why tornado’s strike with very little warning.

Fear sunk in as I watched the radar and the swirling red and yellow approaching, it was very sobering as I looked around our humble home and chose which of my valuables to save.  I packed a couple bags, of course the diaper bag for the baby with diapers and a change of clothes, milk, and juice.  Then I looked to our personal valuables.  I packed our firebox with priceless jewelry, some files, birth certs and marriage licenses, social security cards.  We took our baby’s book which had all the first memories, first hair clippings, and my computers and backup hard drive.

While looking at our bags, and got ready to start taking them down to the neighbors basement, I wondered how many by daybreak won’t even have these few things left.

Every time I hear of a storm, virtualy just wind and rain, 2 of the things that supply life, that is taking lives I have to wonder….

Why does this happen? How is it that 2 of the most important things that sustain human life kill so many people?

Bloodspite said it best when we talk of tornado’s, “They are the literal Finger of God”

I pray for the families that lost loved ones and of the families that lost their houses and businesses, nothing left to do now but to pick up the pieces and move on….

–v00d3W

Tags: America, death toll, Finger of God, Registered Evil, Severe Weather, Technorati, Tornado, unanswered questions, violent storms

Channeling my inner Dennis Hopper today….BS
It builds.

Deep inside like a medieval drum beat, pounding it’s way forward. Up the side walls of its concave structure. A giant funnel blasting forth fear, anxiety, screams of joy and pain at decibels only rad about, if not experienced first hand.

That transient locomotion that drives you to watch, to cheer, to scream your fool head off like some haunted banshee. To pray, wish, cry, and feel like nothing you participate in can ever measure to this feeling, this instance, this one moment in time that brings you above all else in your life. Bray drops back. He stops. he snaps his wrist forward like a snake, long arms reaching. He reminds you of the Gumby doll you had as a child. Taller, and twice as resilient, ducking and weaving through defenders. The snake of an arm snaps, the ball takes flight. Your job, your bills, your work, your family, your wife, your husband, all take a back seat to this moment. In this one instance, you become part of something magical.

You become part of history.

This is Volunteer Football

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No April Fools here. Totally Dead Serious, and is the wrap of events culminating that I alluded to both here and here.

400 feet up...and still going...

During the course of my career I received the minor reputation as a bit of a madman.

Long hours were my hallmark. The ability to sleep under ones desk and work at a computer station for over 48 hours can not be under rated when talking about project support. The ability to subside purely on coffee, nicotine, and finger nails is a survival ability needed in very few occupations, but practically second nature when on a IT Roll out spanning the entire country.

Back in the states from Venezuela...also known as How I spent my 10 yr High School Reunion

I have worked almost every position that can be had on a roll out. Field Tech, Help Desk, Help Desk manager, Project coordinator, Project Manager, Logistics, SME, QA Inspector even Safety and Field trainer. I have worked in 38 states. 4 countries. Thats not even including the places I went in the service. Over 1,000 projects, and who knows what the monetary value of all the projects I have worked on would be if I even tried to add them up. I wouldn’t mind having 1% of that, heh.

The Cingular expansion team in St. Louis

Now I have been given one step below my dream job: Roll out Specialist. However it’s not just the job, but with who. The number one company on the Fortune 500 list. No other company has more roll outs, and does it on less money than they do. No one. period. You can’t find a bigger, or better, challenge than that.

It’s a corner stone for me, a turning point, and as pilots refer to it: Bingo.

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Tags: advancement, blog, Blogging, Career, goal, Information technology, Life, Point Bingo, Privacy, projects, Registered Evil, Technorati, techography, telecommunications

That’s right my friends, I have not only found my daily cigar, but the perfect combo.  Here it is:

CAO Brazilia Gol and a brand of Birch Beer only available up north:  Weis.

How I came up with this killer combo?  When I enjoy a nice cigar, I like to have a beverage with me to keep my mouth moistened, and my palate clean.  This past weekend, I was headed out to the porch to savor my newly found favorite moderately priced stogie, when I went to the fridge, I noticed I had nothing worth drinking, then I spotted my wife’s stash of Weis Birch Beer, and figured “what the hell, I’m, an adventurer”  and out I went.

I fired up my cigar, and took a few puffs, then opened the can, and what ensued was a barage of flavor, and distinct enjoyment.  The flavors of both the soda, and the smoke combined in what I can only describe as an erotic dance.

Now if you will excuse me, I am off to find a distributor of the Birch Beer, as I live in Georgia, and not up north.

Till next time, Happy Smoking.

-v00d3W

Tags: America, Birch Beer, Brazilia, CAO, Registered Evil, Technorati, Weis

Hello, this is the long lost soul.  I have been a stranger here, but I finally have a chance to breathe.

A lot has happened in my absence, and here is a brief update.

First and foremost, my son started walking, and forced me to lock all the cabinets in the house, as he appears to be a little terror already.  Another  thing he has started doing is shaking his head no…I wonder where he got that one from.

Another new event is the introduction of yard work to my weekends.  For the first year of our marriage, we lived in an apartment, and there was no outdoor maintenance there.  Now that we are in a house, and the landlord said to me “Do whatever you want to with it, make it your own, paint walls, take down doors, and rip up shrubs if you want, we dont care…”   Yea, I have done all of that, even remodeled the kitchen a bit 

With that said, I have taken out all of the shrubs, and tiny trees that were making the front yard look like a bit of a jungle, and constructed 14′ flower beds on both sides of the porch, and the wife and I have planted about 40 flowers in there.

One of the most noteworthy ventures of late, is that I have quit smoking cigarettes yet again, and have repleced them with fine cigars.  The little one is starting to mimic everything I do, and I dont want that to be one of the things that he starts because he saw me doing it.

Aside from all that, I have been extremely busy at work, as I have made the move to an IT position in my growing company, it keeps me very busy.

Well, thats all the updates for now, stay tuned…

-v00d3W

Tags: America, changes, Home, IT, Life, Registered Evil, Technorati

Ok Folks it’s Friday!

I’ve been an absolute bum on giving you good material this week, so I am going to try to make up for it with one helluva TGIF Quote edition

Lets start with who I consider the absolute foremost Dramatist of Ireland fair shores. If you have never read his work: you should!

Critics are like eunuchs in a harem; they know how it’s done, they’ve seen it done every day, but they’re unable to do it themselves.

Brendan Behan

It’s not that the Irish are cynical. It’s rather that they have a wonderful lack of respect for everything and everybody.

Brendan Behan

For music, lets go with Na Casaidigh (The Cassidy’s) with a old song called The Rising of the Moon

And of course eye candy for all!

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Tags: Brendan Behan, Ireland, irish, Jack McDaniel, Lynn Kelly, Miss ireland, Na Casaidigh, Quote, Quote of the Day, Technorati, The Cassidy's, The Rising of the Moon

For over 30 years, the IRA showed that the British government could not rule Ireland on its own terms.

Gerry Adams

How about The Corrs performing one of my favorite Irish tunes, Toss the Feathers?

Tags: Gerry Adams, Ireland, irish, Quote, Quote of the Day, Technorati, The Corrs, Toss the Feathers

The Irish don’t know what they want and are prepared to fight to the death to get it

Andrew Greeley

Dropkick Murphys – The Warriors Code by KeelanEarly

Tags: Andrew Greeley, Dropkick Murphys, Ireland, irish, Quote, Quote of the Day, Technorati, The Warriors Code