Angry Bob

So last night I told her how proud I was of her for growing up as well as she has, especially considering the gauntlet of horrid things constantly facing kids these days.

This morning I break down and ask if I could hug the little girl I know before she disappears. She looks at me blankly and says nothing. I walk away knowing this is probably the end, but she surprises me. She comes to sit on my lap and give me a big hug.

I tell her that while she is leaving as a young lady on her great adventure, and as much trouble I have dealing with it, I know it is inevitable she will return a woman. I thank her for letting me hold that little girl one last time.

As she goes I say “Be safe, be true to yourself, have fun, and come home.”

And that, I think to myself, is that. I retreat to the kitchen and try to hold myself together when she unexpectedly comes back in with open arms to give me one last hug and tell me not to worry, she would be home soon.

When she turns to leave I tell her “You never know where life will lead you, so just in case these are my last words to you, I love you.”

She looks back, gives me half a wave and a smile, says “Me too.” The door quietly clicks behind her with a deafening sound that echos throughout the home that has suddenly become just a house.

And then she is gone.

I was pissed. I was God Damned pissed. In the midst of the most needed patriotic support this nation ever aspired to, here is a site dedicated to the sacrifices of pilots past and present and it has mostly gone ignored.

I watched in dismay as this site lay fallow for many years. It was a favorite of mine if for nothing else than the excellent monthly wallpapers they freely offered, but more so for the personal stories related by those who really lived it.

I just now revisited the site and have discovered a revitalization. YES!

If you are any kind of an aviation buff, if you were ever a pilot in any American war, if you are a patriot of any kind, please visit and support this site.

Visit it here and now!

You want the truth? Wikicrapia can’t handle the truth. Witness this horrid explanation of the Bumper-WAC program and in particular the launch of Bumper 5.

(correction 02/22/2008: Wikipedia has since made a lame attempt at resolving their abysmal excuse for documentation, mostly through plagiarism)
(update 04/17/2009: It’s improving — slowly)

You want a real description of the Bumper project? This article gives the best account currently available on the Internet.

“But what is this rant all about? ” you say. It is about my attempt to put into historical perspective a recording of the launch of the Bumper 5 that was published by the US Army on a 45 rpm record which I have had in my possession since I was a small child.

This is the culmination of years of dogged scouring of all online resources branching in untold directions that could have resulted in a diatribe that would fill a book. But enough of that, lets get to the meat of this post.

First I must say that this was one of my favorite 45s as a child. The sound effects were terrific! I played it relentlessly on the compact RCA (His Master’s Voice) dark brown Bakelite automatic 45 rpm record player my Mom gave to us. The record is horribly abused, but never-the-less I managed to clean up most of it with modern technology.

One more note before I unleash this to the world: Just after the ignition of the rocket motor you will hear an upward pitching squeal. That is the signature sound of a peroxide fueled rocket.

And now, with no further ado, The Launching of Bumper #5:

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OK, so now I hear those of you who didn’t bother to follow the links above saying “What’s so great about Bumper 5?”

Well, it marks the “first recorded man-made object to reach extraterrestrial space,” and here you will find extensive reading on the role the V-2 played at White Sands and for the US missile endeavor.

The last note is that I’ll gladly provide to anyone the raw wave file rip of the 45 who thinks they may do a better job of cleaning up this recording. More so, I’d love to hear from anyone else who may possess another, cleaner copy of the 45. Graphic scans of the original 45 are also available on request to those interested.

So I’m submitting comments to my favorite tech news website. This is a site overrun with under age, oversexed tech geeks who anecdotally live a fantasy life in their parents’ basements.

They are also notoriously liberal (as you could guess since they are physiologically, psychologically and emotionally stunted and expect the world to serve them, but that is fodder for another post).

The subject at hand is The Five Hottest Actresses Who Can Actually Act (meaning they were at least nominated for Academy Awards for their performances – and looked good too.) These actresses are, as to be expected, contemporary.

I suggested a separate “MILF” category for actresses who still met the criteria, but were older. (If you do not understand what MILF means, may I suggest the Urban Dictionary? It is a terrific place to keep up with today’s slang.)

Anyway, I subsequently realized my nominations would probably better qualify for the GILF category. Aaaakkk! “How did I get so old?” I asked.

I was only in my 20’s just 30 years ago!

We need more Moms like this one!! Many more……

(Found on the InterTubes)