life lessons for an ole geezer

[rockriver]

we travelled to a far away land.
and had several lessons along the way...

some folks have already had an experience of great challenges...
I've heard of this couple for several years... but didn't recognize them by story or face..
a fine looking 35 year old couple introduced themselves to me and I was impressed..
they told me about their connection to me and a close associate of mine.
I asked if they had children and they told me "yes, a 9 year old and a 7 and a 5 year old."
they were being cordial and friendly...
I asked for more detail about the children..
"the 9 year old is doing great, .... the 7 and 5 year old are special needs."
all of a sudden it dawned on me who I was talking to..
the 7 and 5 year old are both completely unresponsive.

I felt like an idiot. my associate has given me reports on this couple for the last 10 years and how they have helped him in
some of his tough times... and here, they were, at an event to honor others...
very few people anywhere have had the challenges these folks have been through and have before them.
may the Lord strengthen, encourage and bless the young couple.

[rockriver]

our visit was to a land that is anti gun, and pro liberal, especially in the mega cities there.
we flew, so no sling shots or machetes or bb guns in the suitcase.
at a gathering I recognized an army officer that was one of the first to parachute into Afghanistan.
I was later introduced to one of the army's best special forces officer's and then another and another
even a marine officer had come... folks, I got to feeling safer and safer...

I got to watching the "military" guys that I knew had been there... they were in normal clothing.
whether it was volleyball (a la top gun scenario) or business dress, I could tell. their walk was more confident.
the way they carried themselves.. . their alertness.. manners. posture. considerate of the ladies that were present.
I liked it...

[Benn Gleck]

I'm guessing Canada.

[rockriver]

lol...
go south and west... but good guess.
think skate boards beach, long haired hippies, * volleyball * was a clue!

at a social event. 2 short cute females were really dancing kinda friendly like...
then they went to huggin and kissin.

God has dealt with lands that act like this before. and it wasn't pretty...
I asked and both girls are extremely smart, well educated in most areas... shame.

[Mannlicher]

I am perplexed and clueless, as usual. :cool:

[rockriver]

lol,
mann,
you are too young!
alright, one more hint...
think boardwalk with girls in bathing suits and conan the destroyer working out with weights with other
body builders..

and one more story...
all the main highways ran north and south along the coast... with lots of mountains just east of the coast...
huge traffic problems in normal times....
I asked a couple of locals what would happen if the pacific rim earthquakes hit there what would it be like...
the made responses on the order of well when ?Northridge? or something similar hit, our bookcase fell over..
or I was walking and the ground moved like a wave in the ocean.
when I pressed and asked what would be their plan of evacuating... the responses were all the same..
"evacuate? how? the roads would be instantly blocked.... assuming the roads were still driveable."

on a side note, I was on the western coast for a large conference when the 89 earthquake hit... one of the main talks and discussion panels was to be on the possibility of an earthquake. all the panelists disappeared and headed to san Francisco... replacements spoke and did a good job... the huge ballroom area was overflowing as the earthquake issue became very significant.
on this trip as I drove through some hills near the coast, I was looking at the ground.... very rugged and jagged.. lots of rocks and boulders "jutting " out of the ground... I don't know when this land got so jagged but it was a lot more recent the Appalachians on the east coast.
I hope my associates in that area get out... the sooner the better.

back to my story about the military guys...
this wasn't a military function. I did hear them asking each other about their knees... something like..
" how are your knees? and a response of "sore at times, too many jumps. yours?"
these guys had all gone through airborne at benning... hmm. that ain't too far from my area...
a couple of them will be visiting us soon. that will be good. folks that I trust.

[Lowdown3]

At SHOT show this morning I was hanging around the coffee shop waiting for the show to open.

The show is FULL of "tommy tactical" types, that look like as Protus would say- "A 5.11 catalog exploded on them."

Being a people watcher by nature I was sitting there mapping out my plans for the last day.

A guy came near (probably ten thousand people there at any given time). I noticed him and went back to my work. My "sixth sense" said their was something different about him. He was dressed normally, nothing about that set him apart, no gun T shirt, no "molon labe" type advertisements. But again, something was there, couldn't put my finger on it. Would have looked totally normal in Walmart, pushing a stroller in the park, etc. No beard, no man purse, no pockets swelling with "EDC" crap.

No quick glances, no paranoid movements, little eye contact but not "cagey" or "squirrelly" in the least bit. Still, what the hell was it?

No feeling of threat by me but a feeling of wary'ness, like someone not to mess with. However no posturing, no bravado. No huge gym body, no arm loads of tats.

What the hell was it?

Caught a glance at his badge- he was from special operations command.

This WAS the gray man, no tommy tactical crappola, no 5.11 catalog explosion, no posturing. But just a feeling. I've felt it before with others I've trained with- a feeling that this person could kill you in a nanosecond then go right back to sipping his coffee.

[Patriotic Sheepdog]

sixth sense is a funny thing....sometimes the grey bearded gray man is the one to watch out for. hope you're having a good time people watching.

[rockriver]

another story...
at a location we visited the owner was south African...
we enjoyed a little talk about matters and I asked...

"every south African that I've met served in the military. did you?
he just smiled ...
yes. in my time it was the thing to do. he responded.


our own country has gotten away from a lot of good principles...

[Patriotic Sheepdog]

...our own country has gotten away from a lot of good principles...

rr,
You are spot on here.

[rockriver]

how far will you travel if it is not for business... at your own expense? and when you get there expenses will include hotels and meals, etc.. .?
how many assoicates do you have that if you called a meeting would hop on a jet from the land of king saud, or Australia or china ??

I don't want an answer to the question... just realizing I needl to increase the quality of my friendships.

and btw, I'm not the one that "called" the gathering.. I'm one who was amazed at what many had done in order to get there.

on a similar note...
I have just called a meeting of relatives... some are already griping that one meal will be at a bbq place and their family group are gluten free, and well "how can they know whether the food is "gluten free"? I don't know!! and told them so.!!
looks to me like they ought to be able to solve it on their own...
I don't even know what glutens are... something in bread, I think. but my dear relative acted like glutens were little devils floating in the air and might attack them. lol... but just a silent laughing! because I do care for this individual... but, most of our crowd love themselves some pulled pork!

[rockriver]

at one gathering I met a trader with lots of health problems that had retired..
when I asked what kind of trader, he was polite, but it took several nosey questions to learn
that he was commodities trader at Chicago board.

his bottom line suggestion.

get into oil... way too cheap...
could be 2 year program..

folks, use this at your own risk. I have done poorly in the financial markets overall.
he was talking about futures contracts.. where folks bought a huge number of contracts then sold a few minutes or seconds afterwards... looking to gain just a few pennies, but with huge contracts, a few pennies x big numbers = big profits...
I've never done a futures contract...

I suspect the hurry, scurry of the trading floor contributed to his health situation...
his illness sounded stress related!!

on a side note.. his sons appeared very sharp... both are graduates of top schools and clearly doing very well.
there is something about brains, achievement, accomplishment that is genetic... or maybe learned? I don't know which.
probably both! naturally born with good brains genetic... then desire to achieve and accomplish possibly taught/learned...

[Patriotic Sheepdog]

Just heard on the news that some traders are upside down in oil as they bought when prices were high. They now are renting oil transport ships and anchoring them off the coasts and paying the full crew to stay aboard with their oil. They are willing the pay millions to save potential losses in billions while waiting on prices to rise again.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[rockriver]

I was watching a soccer game on the beach
(and noticing that some of the military guys were getting a little frisky with their shoulders, shoving etc...
all in good fun, but no shin guards for those that follow soccer)

this tall couple walked up, that I didn't know, and joined in... 6' athletic lady and 6'5 athletic guy.
they were good, very good!

we got to talking at a break... they were both european (helps explain the good soccer skills!)
when I asked about world events... learned that the guy worked for sony. all of his info was posted to the web.
visas, licenses, all.
I asked where the hack came from... was it korea... he didn't know. or wouldn't say..
just that the effects where huge.. that most americans didn't understand the extent of the damage done.
he said with a straight face. "the president says it was korea, so it must have been korea."

I started watching red dawn when I got home... the forward to the movie describes Korean computer attacks on America.
sounded prophetic.