The Kid President speaks

Getting Older

At 16, Justin Beiber had nothing on me.

 

       At 30 I was still managing just fine.  My hair was beginning to thin but I was still hangin' in.

46 years and I can still climb on a tank without any trouble.  It just hurts my old, flat feet more than it used to when I jump off.



As middle age rolls over me, I am becoming aware of things I saw as a younger man but never applied to myself.  Receding hairline.  See those all the time.  Never thought to see one on me.  Same for the slowly growing spare tire around the middle.  Neither have advanced so far as they might ultimately (and the latter is within my power to control) but they are part of the description of me now.

Muscle tone is slipping away.  As a young man I was a powerful engine.  185 lbs. of "twisted steel and sex appeal."  Now I am attractive more for my credit ratring than my abs.  Which brings up a few good points.....  I can buy a car with a five minute phone call to the bank.  I am sought out for advice on hard stuff like closing escrow and managing a Roth IRA.  I can address a lot of topics because "I've been there, done that."  Experience has replaced energy as the prime value I bring to a project.  I know a lot of people and can usually make a phone call and get a situation dealt with.  These are all good things that wait at the mid-way point in life.

Still, I miss my square butt, broad shoulders and washboard abs.

 I miss knowing that I could make love for hours (not that I often did, mind you).

 I miss things being in focus up close without glasses (which I can't keep track of). 

I miss running a 6 minute mile.

 I miss eating chili dogs or pizza and still sleeping soundly through the night without heartburn.

 Some things I miss, I can still get back.  Like driving fast just because.  I slowed down to save gas and protect the children I hauled in the back seat.  Now that I can drive fast again, why don't I?

I suppose I'm still able to make love to my wife every night but, dang, we're both so sore and tired from working all day, one (or both) of us would really rather just sleep.  I joke with the guys at work that the spirit is willing and the body can be coaxed (with the help of pharmacology) but I'm really just happy if the missus throws a leg over me every once in a while and does something wild for my birthday.

I miss the idea that things that happened before I was born were ancient history.  I was born in 67 and years like the Kennedy assasination in 63(?) seemed like Roman mythology when I was a kid.

This was from New Year's Eve 2011.  We had a themed party to ring in 1962.... again.  Records on the turn-table.  Highballs and Whisky Gimlets.  Skinny ties and beehive hairdoos.  It was a good time... even for me, the perpetually anti-social.

Abandoned stuff abounds around Fort Benning

There are lots of places like this on Fort Benning.  Soldiers have been training here for a hundred years.  Plenty of time for ranges and earthworks and fortifications to be built, used, then abandoned.

This was the bunker marking the entrance to an abandoned demolition range.  From the look of the junk lying around, I would guess it was last used around the late 90's.

This was one of seven shelter bunkers, back about 50 yards from the demolition line.  When the Soldiers fired any explosives everyone had to scurry into the tubes until all the debris settled.

This sits on a slight hilltop in the woods near the PX.  Looks like it was used to store pyro and training ammunition during field exercises.

I think this used to be a Patton Tank from the World War Two era.  It was absolutely riddled with holes from years of being used as a target on some heavy weapons range.  It was probably dragged out of the weeds and piled up near the road for future disposal.

This is part of a very elaborate trenchwork out in the Harmony Church area of Fort Benning.  Perhaps is was part of an Engineering unit's construction training.  Maybe part of some major training exercises years ago.  Who knows?

This is the remains of a 3/4 ton Dodge Power Wagon army truck from the 50's.  Not much left but perhaps a good fixer-upper project?

Not a very dramatic story here.  This is a latrine that is slowly settling into it's cess pit.  And you thought gas station bathrooms were gross.

Army National Guard

This was a promotional give-away item when I was on recruiting duty.  Gave them out to teachers and counselors and such.  I kept a few.  My dad has one as well.

My work mug.

This one gets a workout.  At least two cups a day.

The 50's.... when cars and women were classically beautiful.

More cups and mugs.

This is the canteen cup that Uncle Sam gave me to use.  Of course he doesn't see much action anymore, as my days of sleeping in the woods are pretty much behind me now (unless I choose to go camping).

This one is from our trip to Hawaii in 2001.  Rebecca has one just like it.  Her name is "Lapika."

Ashley brought this one back from her trip to Washington D.C. circa 2002.

I found this one in a drawer when I moved into my new office my first week at Fort Benning.  It had a nasty mold colony growing in the bottom but it cleaned-up nicely.

I'm not sure this one was actually "given" to me so much as left behind when my son-in-law, Ben, came to visit after finishing his Air Force training in Mississippi.  No matter what the circumstances, it's mine now.  Sorry Ben.

As a chronic Waffle House denizen, this one (a Christmas present) was a favorite of Christmas 2012.

This is where they all live.  The ones on the top shelf are like the guest towels in the bathroom... they never get used.  It's a small cupboard so I have to move cups out of rotation as I get new ones.  I have two boxes in storage.  I will be going through them as well, to take pictures to add here.

My life expressed in coffee cups

As I look in my cupboard this morning, I am struck by the abundance and variety of coffee cups and mugs I have accumulated over the years.  Some were bought on various vacations, some given as gifts by people who know of my affinity for such containers, still others I can't trace; they have simply always been with me.

It also occured to me that I can trace the course of many events in my life by the cups associated with those events.  It is my intent to mark those milestones here.