Category: Uncategorized

Disclosure: WTFery Institute is a think tank comprised solely of myself; which may or may not constitute a WTFery in and of itself. Read at your own risk.

Several election cycles now we have heard the repeated concerns from Republicans that the US Navy is not as large as it was before World War II. This election cycle we are once again being lauded with the “business acumen” of the Republican presidential candidate as well as this idea that we have to rebuild our Military in part to the same size it was in 1916.

Now I have never run my own business or run for a political office, I have however been employed full time for more than 99% of the last 27 years in various industries and companies. I have also been employed at various times in industries in which I was working at other companies and able to observe that they were run in similar fashions. I have passed a college level economics class, read various writings on business and stayed at a Holiday Inn Express on at least one occasion.

In business, companies utilize things like technological advancements and process efficiencies to reduce company size to maximize profits. The idea is quite simply to do more, do it better and do it with less. This is how many companies operate in order to become more profitable. We have seen how the use of robots in the auto industry has reduced the number of workers in factories. Advances in computers have reduced the need for workers in different industries as fewer people can complete more work on their own. Now I would expect any person touting their “business acumen” to have a firm grasp of these concepts. So why in the hell are we talking about the size of the Navy 100 years ago.

Now I am by no means an expert, but I imagine that the ships our Navy had 100 years ago are nothing compared to today’s ship. I would hope that today’s ships are faster as engine technology has advanced, allowing fewer ships strategically placed to reach areas faster. Weapons technology has advanced exponentially as well allowing ships equipped with things like cruise missiles to engage targets many miles beyond what was possible in 1916.

Now if the argument was to maintain operational force numbers reached at the height of combat operations recently during 2 wars, then that is a discussion founded in reality. Choosing appropriate size of our military based on the number of physical ships at the historical high water mark shows a fundamental lack of knowledge and common sense.

How about instead we have a realistic discussion of fixing tax law, eliminate these farcical loopholes used by people like Donald Trump, as well as the inequality of taxing real work at higher rates than gambling with money in real estate or the stock market. Maybe then we can in turn fully fund the VA and the Military. Freedom is not free, some pay with their lives, some with their bodies and minds, the rest of us have an obligation to pay from our wallets.

I just wanted to share a poem that my father kept on a 3×5 card on his desk that I now keep on mine. This is for all of the warriors who have come home, whose strength I will never question. Because even those who stand rough and ready, who answer a call of service beyond themselves; they too deserve to grieve and mourn for those they have lost and not be questioned in their pain even those for whom it is too much to bear.

If you are able,
save them a place
inside of you
and save one backward glance
when you are leaving
for the places they can
no longer go.
Be not ashamed to say
you loved them,
though you may
or may not have always.
Take what they have left
and what they have taught you
with their dying
and keep it with your own.
And in that time
when men decide and feel safe
to call the war insane,
take one moment to embrace
those gentle heroes
you left behind.

Major Michael Davis O’Donnell 1 January 1970 Dak To, Vietnam
MIA March 1970 Confirmed KIA 2001

Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die.
Mary Elizabeth Frye

I read this poem at my Fathers funeral in 2014 and I found in it comfort. Comfort in the reminder that my father is always with me every step of the way through my life.
As loved ones, family and friends; we endure the loss of those we love and all of the heartache it may bring. Yet they are always with us. We celebrate their lives and join together to share in memories; and they are always with us. We regale each other with stories and they live on.
We mourn our loss and that is ok, because their lives filled a special place in our hearts that only they could fill and it takes time. Our mourning and our grief gives us this time to reflect on those we love and is a process not an event. Give yourself permission to grieve. As the memories come forth, cherish them, if you can write them down and share them with others. Remember the smiles, laughter, quirks; everything that made them the person that you love and cherish. Keep them ever in their place within your heart, so that when you need their encouragement those memories will come forth and lift you up.
If there are things you wish you could have said, say them. If there are dreams that you shared, it is ok to fulfill them. Shed your tears as you need to, unashamedly.

I just got my 411th subscriber. I seem to be popular among yahoo.com users, though I am a bit concerned that my most recent subscriber is from @fastshipcialis.com \_(O.o)_/ seems as legit as my certificate of ownership to the Brooklyn Bridge. So I am asking all of my subscribers to check in, drop a comment good, bad or otherwise. What would you like to see in this blog?

Change is a hard thing. I have spent a lifetime of standing on my own, relying on my own strength and sheer will to get through each situation that I have faced; I just do not know any other way. Now I am trying to be a man of faith and after just over a year I feel like I am still in the same spot that I started from a year ago. I do not know how to lean on the Lord and feel inadequate in my faith. I do not know how to trust in the Lord or take him at his word. I do not know how to praise and thank the Lord.
I do not know how to serve the Lord.
I do not know how to love myself or all of my neighbors, in fact there are some I just cannot even grasp where to begin. So I struggle along, not sure how or what to do but keep trying.

Not even getting into any political aspects but Hillary Clinton has to win because a Trump supporter promised that if she does, we will have taco trucks on every corner across America. I need this to happen, I love tacos and I have heard wonderful things about these taco trucks out in California and Georgia needs them desperately; Manchester, GA especially could use more food options for lunch. So Hillary Clinton please add this to your campaign promises and deliver ASAP. Also maybe some Vietnamese and Korean food trucks as well and mandatory side of the road barbecue trailers.

If one wants to know how doomed we are as a nation and a species, one need look no further than grown people taking to comment boards and twitter to leave derogatory comments about the looks of Beyonce and Jay-Zs daughter Blue Ivy. If there is any doubt regarding the capacity and desire of people to inflict harm on fellow human beings or oppress other people through their words or actions, adults attacking children in any form is just about as low as it gets.

Communication is probably my greatest weak point in life. So much so that it seems to always be my biggest hit every year on my evaluations at work. I have less communicative ability than a pet rock and unfortunately with some relationships I have a need for validation that sits in direct juxtaposition to my social ineptness which has always been a recipe for disaster. I have this reoccurring nightmare daydream that something important is going on and I cannot speak, my mouth will not open or opens only slightly, and no sound comes out. I feel like Neo in the Matrix when Agent Smith is interrogating him and his mouth sticks together.

This inability to communicate is hindering my new found desire to communicate and build friendships that has come with my new medicine. I take that back it is not a new found desire but instead a sense of stability within myself that is allowing me to try and overcome decades long bout of silence or meaningless conversations to bridge a gap that I have always seen as lacking on my part. And it is not just a matter of trying to communicate but a desire to repair how I communicate, to put an end to my pessimistic nature and biting sarcasm; sarcasm that only gets worse when I am having a bad day emotionally.

It is easy to think about changing something about ourselves, but actually changing is something else entirely. Sometimes lately I think it might be best to just fade back into the background, that in the silence may be where I truly belong. It is a very frustrating conundrum.

I keep telling myself to stay away from the controversy of the day but sometimes I just have to get things off my chest.

There are plenty of people angry that Colin Kaepernick refused to stand for the National Anthem in protest. He took a measured and principled stance to draw attention to problems occurring across this great nation, a stand that very well could end his career. As a veteran of the US Army and as a patriot I fully support his protest because he is exercising his rights as a citizen and is participating in the true spirit of this great nation. His is a conscious act meant to make a statement and I respect that. What angers me though is that so many are attacking him for his protest but I guarantee you at any given sporting event if you were to film the crowd at the stadium you will see people talking, hats on heads, concession stands open; a large number of people completely not caring one way or another, not in protest but because they just do not give a shit. If you were to take the cameras into the homes of all of the tv viewers watching these sporting events, how many people would you find standing in front of their tvs with their hands on their hearts? Which is worse, caring enough to make a statement or not giving a damn to start with.

Back at work, in the office. Unfortunately driving a rental car, but being at work gives me some semblance of normalcy. With the rental car and parts for the mini, I am hemorrhaging cash still with no end in sight which is a bit disconcerting but this type of stuff seems to happen so often that I have resigned myself to working for at least 3-4 years after I die of old age.Sometimes I think that the stuff that keeps happening is just too unbelievable, I feel like I am living Clark Griswold’s life between his vacations. It is all good though as my blessings far out weigh anything else.

In stripping off my roof I am amassing shingles, nails and tar felt around my house. I was going to use my wheelbarrow to start cleaning up and the handles both broke and the tire has dry rotted. So I thought well I will just buy new handles and a tire, be good to go for another 10+ years. Did you know you can buy a brand new wheelbarrow for the same price, unbelievable.