by ·Comments Off on Thankful

Well today is Thanksgiving (in the USA anyway) and it makes you look back and think. What am I truly thankful for.

I am thankful for a lot of things in life. The ease with which I can travel, the safety and security I have in life. I am thankful for that cup of coffee I can have in the morning to help me make it through the day.

But the biggest thing I am thankful for in my life is my friends and family. Without these people I would not be able to get through even the slightest day. Each and every day is a new adventure and each time I think about how much love and admiration if have for these people, it is a good thing.

So to all my friends and family out there, thank you. Thank you for being my support, thank you for making me happy when I am down, Thank you for making me laugh when I need it. Thank you for just being there to listen to me when I have problems. But most of all. Thank you for being there for me!

To all my friends and family out there… happy thanksgiving!

by ·Comments Off on Book Review: With the Old Breed

Still going on the books that I purchased almost a year ago at the moment so here is the latest book review:

With the Old Breed

The Book is With the Old Breed by E.B. Sledge. This a book described as one of the best books about the Pacific Theatre of World War 2. They are not wrong. Those of you who have seen “The Pacific” will find this book very very familiar. That is because it is pretty much about one of the men followed in the book/tv series.

Eugene Sledge, also known as “Sledgehammer”, was a Marine with the United States Marines 1st Marine Division. He belonged to K/3/5 (Company K, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment) during the battles on Pelilu and Okinawa. This book follows his time during these two campaigns. This is not a detailed book about the battles themselves but more an account of life as a marine during these battles.

It is a personal account of his time and nothing more than that. It looks at the humanity, the ferocity and the savageness of war. It takes a personal look at all of these things and it looks at the way the battles felt to a young man who volunteered to fight for his country in what was a very bloody and vicious portion of the war and how it has been described as the futility of some events.

I haven’t read much about the pacific campaign before and this was a fantastic read looking into this side of the war. It was so well written that I felt that I was with him during these events and I wondered to myself just how I would cope had I been put into the same situation. If you read this, I would be surprised if you didn’t have similar thoughts.

I have to agree that this is a must read if you are at all interested in the war such as I am.

by ·Comments Off on A Forgotten Goal….

So when i started to learn to ride my bike I remember I set a goal with my trainer Andy. I had said that the ultimate outcome of me learning to ride was doing a 20km ride along the brisbane river. Obviously it wont be as easy now that the floating walk way is gone, but to be honest I still need to complete this.

I cant believe I have left it till now to remember this. I am going to do it to. I will not let a goal slip by undone. Damn sure I wanna get it done by the end of the year to. So with that in mind i dont care if I havent trained or anything like that, I am just gonna do it! the Weekend before christmas (since that way I am getting my body nice and ready for what is sure to be an onslaught of goodies!) I am going to hit the riverside bike paths and just keep going!! Not sure how I am gonna do this but to be honest I don’t care.

Anyone will to join me on my ride of what I am sure will end up being painful is welcome to join me (looking at the sunday prior to christmas) as the company would be good. Starting somewhere around the city (probably wherever I can find a park early in the morning with easy access to the bike paths) and from there just setting off and seeing where the paths take me till I have done 20km (hopefully around an hour or so) and then probably go find somewhere to curl up into a ball and cry as my ass would probably need a bit of a break.

Nah to be serious I really don’t want to let a goal like this slip past without me even trying this. So as I will never give up trying, I will do this!!!

by ·Comments Off on Book Review: Dumb but Lucky

Well it is that time again, just finished another book (a real one this time, gotta finish off all these books I bought).

The book is Dumb but Lucky by Richard K Curtis. Another wartime tale but this time about a P51 Mustang pilot flying in Italy.

The 15th Air Force flew a whole myriad of planes during WW2 in Italy. The two big name aircraft though being the B24 Liberator (bomber) and the P51 Mustang (fighter). This book follows the life of a Mustang pilot through training and his tour of duty in Italy.

During the war pilots in the USAAF had to fly 50 combat missions before being eligible for rotation home. How the hell this guy did it is beyond me. He talks of how he constantly was doing stupid stupid things, yet coming out totally unharmed. This guy had the luck of the irish so to speak because he got away with so many things. Threatened with countless Court Martials, escaped from certain death on numerous accounts, how he managed to do all this and still think live was beyond me!

It’s a good book with a definite lighter side look at life as an Air Corp pilot during the war period. It is not your usual book talking of all that dry stuff about the plane etc, hell the plane is barely mentioned most of the time but it is a great read if you just want a different aspect of the war.

Kinda makes me wish I was a pilot at times, hearing of his stunts etc back in a time when it was “stick and rudder” style flying. O the good old days!