OT: Tangent, I live in Silex, Missouri. It's about an hour north of St. Louis, Busch Stadium. My sister lived in Shelby, NC for several years - her husband still works for PPG, now in Lake Charles.
If you ever think you would pass through this time of year I could give you more exact directions. You are welcome to come see the show anytime. Of course, as a young kid we would put lightning bugs in jars, or smash them, or mash them into paste and rub that glowing stuff on our faces till we looked like indians with warpaint on.
Missouri seems to have a good taste of all the seasons. I took last week off for vacation to do my first cutting of hay. The heat just about got the best of me. I really needed to have a water jug with me and I learned a lesson (lesson being that a beer only diet dehydrates you, eventually).
I work each week at the Mayport naval base in Jacksonville, Florida, but Silex is my home, and for now only a weekend pleasure. The things we do to make our dreams come true.
I enjoy my current job helping out the command in tracking their shipwork on an ERP software solution.
It's great to have an opportunity to help out in even the smallest way. I remember when I took this job on contract, telling my sister that Dad, who served in the Navy would be proud. He has passed on, but she called me back a few minutes later in tears because it was his birthday and neither of us had realized it. Sometimes you reach for meaning in a silly coincidence when you have a loss. My mom who hates to see me travel, in general, even felt the job was meant to be when I accepted it on Dad's B'day. We also lost a nephew at sea several years ago off the USS Abraham Lincoln, and overall this experience has been good for me.
My sister and family is coming to visit in six weeks and I plan to bring them on base to see whatever ships are in port, where I know it will have special meaning to them.
Sorry for rambling - it's late and I'm hitting the hay.
