Last night Garry and I drove the 23 miles to Van Wert for our first local umpire association meeting of the pre season. 7 meetings on rules interpretation, you have to sign in for at least 4....Sam, on his way to Baltimore didn't make it...in fact he's still in Maryland this morning...getting stuck in a snow event that left him short of the Baltimore docks before the 2PM delivery close time yesterday...he will drop it off this morning and probably Greyhound(ugh!) it home across the Allegheny Mountains tonight.
With the weather outside at 10 above and 4 or 5 inches of fresh snow on the ground, it sure doesn't feel like baseball season.
...but March 31st it begins, so we played a little Baseball Jeopardy last night...splitting up into 4 groups and answering questions ranging from $100 to $500 depending on how tough they were...base running, pitching, dead ball/live ball, Misc, and Bullshit, were the categories.....I was the spokesman and answer man for team #4....we got fooled on a $400 BS question...and sat in 3rd place going into Final Jeopardy....tough question about illegal use of detached equipment....we got it right and the 2 teams ahead of us missed it....sending us into victory lane.....claiming the prizes of a new home plate brush for each team member.....made the 90 minutes go pretty quick.
Being a 10 year member of the Vietnam Security Police Association(VSPA), I have seen our organization of Air Force Security Police veterans from the Vietnam(including those stationed in Thailand) "Conflict" grow from a handful at its inception as a shoot off of the Vietnam Dog Handlers Association in the mid 1990s, to the 1100 members and growing it is today.
Being a growing organization with the youngest members at around 53 to the older members in their 70s and 80s, we know our growth will end and our numbers will start to shrink...just happens....if you didn't serve in the war, you are not gonna be a member, and let's face it, ain't nobody serving in Vietnam from the Air Force today...so just like life itself, we will die out.
We have had our battles, just like any large or small family....I have been at the center of some, a trouble maker I have been, just like my Air Force days....always trying to see all members get a fair shake, not just some of the chosen leaders....chosen by maybe 5% of the organization at our annual reunions....last year a group of us put our foot down and challenged they way things were getting done and how the leaders were chosen. At the Annual Reunion in DC in November our Ad Hoc Committee which I chaired from the cozy confines of cyberspace were voted on....and hopefully come this years get together in Albuquerque, New Mexico, our changes will be realized.....or at least given a chance.
One change we did ask for was our quarterly newsletter "Guardmount" be revived...with quite a few members still not being "on line" the newsletter had been off line for almost 2 years....thus leaving many members with no access to the views, bulletin boards, agent orange issues, deaths, prayers, etc from the members who had internet access.
I am happy to say a small group of true "make it happen" VSPA members got together and put together a slick and well put together issue that was just mailed out to all members(and is available in color at the web site for members as well)....
Congrats Guys! Despite me and others still pushing and bitching....on this one you did well.
I have pissed some of you off during the past year, for that I make no apology, but you have my salute on this one.
http://www.vspa.com/
------------------------------------------
{Photo- The New Look VSPA Guardmount Volume 12 Issue #1--VSPA "We Take Care of Our Own"
With the weather outside at 10 above and 4 or 5 inches of fresh snow on the ground, it sure doesn't feel like baseball season.
...but March 31st it begins, so we played a little Baseball Jeopardy last night...splitting up into 4 groups and answering questions ranging from $100 to $500 depending on how tough they were...base running, pitching, dead ball/live ball, Misc, and Bullshit, were the categories.....I was the spokesman and answer man for team #4....we got fooled on a $400 BS question...and sat in 3rd place going into Final Jeopardy....tough question about illegal use of detached equipment....we got it right and the 2 teams ahead of us missed it....sending us into victory lane.....claiming the prizes of a new home plate brush for each team member.....made the 90 minutes go pretty quick.This morning I dug out all the equipment took a look at it, will "Febreze" it, pack it back into the equipment bag....then take the shirts, jackets, and pants, and make sure they still fit....since I've lost the 7 pounds, the fit should be OK...I'm at the same weight(within a couple of pounds) as I was at the beginning of last season.....still need to lose 10 more before the season begins....just to help with my mobility.
I took Reagan the Airedale to the vet this morning for her monthly allergy injection....took the picture of the frozen lake...temp was at zero this morning...but the crystal clear skies last night made the full eclipse of the moon a great view.
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{Photos-The cat checks out my equipment and making sure the baseball clothes are ready to go.....and the non baseball weather look of Grand Lake on this late February morning}
-------------------------------------------------------------Being a 10 year member of the Vietnam Security Police Association(VSPA), I have seen our organization of Air Force Security Police veterans from the Vietnam(including those stationed in Thailand) "Conflict" grow from a handful at its inception as a shoot off of the Vietnam Dog Handlers Association in the mid 1990s, to the 1100 members and growing it is today.
Being a growing organization with the youngest members at around 53 to the older members in their 70s and 80s, we know our growth will end and our numbers will start to shrink...just happens....if you didn't serve in the war, you are not gonna be a member, and let's face it, ain't nobody serving in Vietnam from the Air Force today...so just like life itself, we will die out.
We have had our battles, just like any large or small family....I have been at the center of some, a trouble maker I have been, just like my Air Force days....always trying to see all members get a fair shake, not just some of the chosen leaders....chosen by maybe 5% of the organization at our annual reunions....last year a group of us put our foot down and challenged they way things were getting done and how the leaders were chosen. At the Annual Reunion in DC in November our Ad Hoc Committee which I chaired from the cozy confines of cyberspace were voted on....and hopefully come this years get together in Albuquerque, New Mexico, our changes will be realized.....or at least given a chance.
One change we did ask for was our quarterly newsletter "Guardmount" be revived...with quite a few members still not being "on line" the newsletter had been off line for almost 2 years....thus leaving many members with no access to the views, bulletin boards, agent orange issues, deaths, prayers, etc from the members who had internet access.
I am happy to say a small group of true "make it happen" VSPA members got together and put together a slick and well put together issue that was just mailed out to all members(and is available in color at the web site for members as well)....
Congrats Guys! Despite me and others still pushing and bitching....on this one you did well.
I have pissed some of you off during the past year, for that I make no apology, but you have my salute on this one.
http://www.vspa.com/
------------------------------------------
{Photo- The New Look VSPA Guardmount Volume 12 Issue #1--VSPA "We Take Care of Our Own"
.jpg)
6 comments:
Haven't looked at Guardmount yet, but it appears nice from the outside.
I used to write articles on Agent Orange for the issues, but they stopped corresponding with me. Can't say I miss it though.
The VSPA got away from itself and tried to become to "cute" for its own good Mushy....some egos took over.
I think things are improving, but time will tell.
You folks picked a nice place to get together. Albuquerque is a fun town.
I certainly like the current cover of "Guardmount." That's a great photo.
Apropos of nothing... Did I ever tell you I was an SP augmentee? AC&W radar sites generally only had one or perhaps two genuine SPs assigned as permanent party (usually a SSgt or a TSGT and one worker-bee). The "response force," such as it was, were drawn from the rest of the site population, and was an additional duty. Being an SP augmentee was the best additional duty there was, and I learned that fact early on. Plus you got to play with all the various and sundry small-arms on site... always great fun!
Buck..."Auggies" that were with us in Vietnam are part of the VSPA....some of them were great(I could get some sleep when working 24 hour shifts during RED).....some others not so.
I always wanted to get assigned to a Radar Site, just to get away from the Chicken Shit duty....but they didn't trust me with that much freedom. ;)
Hermit: I get to the big A on occasion with my RV runs southwest....I usually stop for a night with the RV at the Route 66 Indian Casino on I-40....even one a Hold-Em Poker Tournament there a couple years ago.
Cool gear. It was 92 here today. baseball weather? Why they call it the sun belt i guess.
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