Chit Chat Thread for the week of October 27, 2008

I am the first!!

cold here!!

have a great week everyone!

Happy Monday! Halloween is Friday!!!!

Finally got my windmill back. didn't realize how much I missed this place!

Thank God!

Don't think I could handle another year of the mud-slinging!

http://bigpicture.typepad.com/writing/images/merrythanksgivo...

My son turns 17 on Halloween. Happy Birthday Son.

I now have him using a GPS when he drives. I know that as a relatively "New" driver he can always find his way home with his GPS, no matter where he may wander.

i love this holiday. i wish it happend more offen thatn once a year. my kids love it too.

Have a good week! Don't let them steal you joy.

Number 9, number 9, number 9...

Tell him Happy Birthday, And at 17 he shouldn't wander that far that he needs a GPS..

My thoughts on that!

Hope everyone has a great week.

Sorry about being so long but thought it would be good reading.

Worthy Sack Lunches

I put my carry-on in the luggage compartment and sat down in my assigned seat. It was going to be a long flight. “I'm glad I have a good book to read. Perhaps I will get a short nap,” I thought. Just before take-off, a line of soldiers came down the aisle and filled all the vacant seats, totally surrounding me. I decided to start a conversation. “Where are you headed?” I asked the soldier seated nearest to me.

“Chicago-to Great Lakes Base. We'll be there for two weeks for special training, and then deployed to Iraq”

After flying for about an hour, an announcement was made; sack lunches were available for five dollars. It would be several hours before we reached Chicago, and I quickly decided a lunch would help pass the time.

As I reached for my wallet, I overheard a soldier ask his buddy if he planned to buy lunch. “No, that seems like a lot of money for just a sack lunch. Probably wouldn't be worth five bucks. I'll wait till we get to Chicago.” His friend agreed.

I looked around at the other soldiers. None were buying lunch. I walked to the back of the plane and handed the flight attendant a fifty dollar bill. “Take a lunch to all those soldiers.”

She grabbed my arms and squeezed tightly. Her eyes wet with tears, she thanked me. “My son was a soldier in Iraq it's almost like you are doing it for him.”

Picking up ten sacks, she headed up the aisle to where the soldiers were seated. She stopped at my seat and asked, “Which do you like best … beef or chicken?”

“Chicken,” I replied, wondering why she asked. She turned and went to the front of plane, returning a minute later with a dinner plate from first class. “This is your thanks.”

After we finished eating, I went again to the back of the plane, heading for the rest room. A man stopped me. “I saw what you did. I want to be part of it. Here, take this.” He handed me twenty-five dollars.

Soon after I returned to my seat, I saw the Flight Captain coming down the aisle, looking at the aisle numbers as he walked, I hoped he was not looking for me, but noticed he was looking at the numbers only on my side of the plane. When he got to my row he stopped, smiled, held out his hand, and said, “I want to shake your hand.”

Quickly unfastening my seatbelt I stood and took the Captain's hand.

With a booming voice he said, “I was a soldier and I was a military pilot. Once, someone bought me a lunch. It was an act of kindness I never forgot.” I was embarrassed when applause was heard from all of the passengers.

Later I walked to the front of the plane so I could stretch my legs. A man who was seated about six rows in front of me reached out his hand, wanting to shake mine. He left another twenty-five dollars in my palm.

When we landed in Chicago I gathered my belongings and started to deplane. Waiting just inside the airplane door was a man who stopped me, put something in my shirt pocket, turned, and walked away without saying a word. Another twenty-five dollars!

Upon entering the terminal, I saw the soldiers gathering for their trip to the base. I walked over to them and handed them seventy-five dollars. “It will take you some time to reach the base. It will be about time for a sandwich. God Bless You.”

Ten young men left that flight feeling the love and respect of their fellow travelers. As I walked briskly to my car, I whispered a prayer for their safe return. These soldiers were giving their all for our country. I could only give them a couple of meals. It seemed so little …

A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life wrote a blank check made payable to "The United States of America" for an amount of "up to and including my life." That is Honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it.

little things we can do to the people who sacrifice their lives for our safety and freedom.

You sure you want him to find his way back home?

Well, I finally made it back. I have been very busy finishing up school (glad that is finished) and finding a enw job. Something has to be said for finding a new job as people are looking oyu over and trying to find not only your weaknesses, but also your strong points. I hope I have this one for a while since I don't enjoy looking anymore.

Have a good week everyone.

Aaln

John, that is an awesome story. Makes us proud to know you and from a veteran and a citizen soldier, I just wanted to say "THANK YOU!!!"

Alan

johnm405: Bravo.

Just dropping in.. and seeing what is up this week.

Be sure to vote next week !!!!

Your compassion for your fellow human beings can be felt strongly. It was so nice of you to set a good example for others.

I love reading stories like this, what a great experience for all involved.

Thanks for sharing

Miss POI

Don't forget to turn your clocks back this weekend!

Change the batteries in your smoke detectors, CO detectors, and all your other battery operated items you have about you that you depend upon to monitor your safety and health - things like glucose meters, etc.

With Halloween upon us you know what that means.....only 59 Days, 3 Hours, 47 Minutes til Christmas.

Wow, you are correct - snuck up on me this year - and a quick year it's been:

http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/faqs/qdaylite.htm

johnm405
I salute you and all like you, it's an honor and I thank you and I hope your good gesture carried them through and brought them home safely.

Bob

I'm back, after being gone from here for over a year.
My how this has grown.
I guess I can spend the next few weeks trying to get caught up on the postings.

I forgot to put that this was sent to me by someone else it wasn't me that done that even though I am a vet and feel the same way. Sorry if anyone got the wrong inmpressing. I just thought it was very touching to read about things like this with all the violence in the world.

Tracy,

I have missed you!!! You are one of our very first members and I still feel a very special bond with those of you that have stayed with us since we started the site over two years ago.

Welcome back to a much bigger family.

Miss POI

I enjoyed reading it

Clocks "Fall" back an hour.

Excellent example of thanking our military men and women. a chicken soup for the soul feeling.

One final week of political mayhem (or the beginning of told you so's from all parties.)

weather cooling off.

phillies working for a world series.

And the week has just begun!

One of my favorite maxims is,
"Practice random acts of kindness, and senseless beauty. "

The story of the sack lunches is a great example of what happens when one person reaches out and does something kind for someone else.....which they did not have to do, but CHOSE to do. It sort of snowballed into something much bigger, and other people were caught up in the good feelings it generated.

When you see a shopper at the grocery store these days, give them a smile or a kind hello. Maybe it will be a young person, but chances are the older folks will appreciate it too. Who knows...it might be their only social contact of the day. And another thing to think about....when you pass along kindness instead of bitterness, you never know what a difference it might make. An unthinking cruel remark might be the "last straw"--the one that broke the camel's back, you know--so be sure not to push anyone to the point of no return. These days, there are many more folks near the brink of disaster who need a few kind words and a few smiles. We all have a pocket full of smiles to share, so don't hold back. Be generous with them. Who knows...you might start a trend.

John, It don't matter, It's a feel good story, And I still want to thank you for serving and going into Harms way, and putting it all on the line to protect us from forces both seen and unseen.

Thanks John
Bob

All it takes is one act of unselfishness.

New user and this is my first post. Great place here and great ideas and people. Hope to make this a new home with my Nuvi 255W. Also was wondering when the "new week posts" open up? I work the over night shift and will be all over the "first to post" on the new week. ;-p

Greetings and welcome, make yourself comfortable and may I suggest you read theses:
http://www.poi-factory.com/node/1631
http://www.poi-factory.com/faq

As far as being first Good Luck with that, because it's not done automatically, and there are others that well how did you say it "want to be all over the first post" as well. It really depends on Miss POI's schedule for any given Monday morning.

Looking forward to your input to the community

Bob

Ok, I officially miss summer. It's cold and rainy. I'm freezing!

One more week of Electioneering.

I'm wondering with all of the bashing that goes on, how we are supposed to feel good about the eventual winners?

I hope that whoever the winners happen to be that they begin in earnest to solve some very real problems instead of telling us that their opponent is to blame. I've never known blaming fixing to solve problems.

Thanks BobDee, as my dad said when I was growing up if you make one person smile you have done a good thing for the day, Have a great day

I want to join those who thanked you for your kindness to my fellow military members. It is a pleasure to serve for people like you. Thank you.

I have an "atomic clock" that reads the time from Boulder, CO. It worked great until a couple years ago when congress changed the starting and ending dates of daylight savings time. The clock still switches on the "old" date.

It "fell" back to standard time this past Sunday.

It is people like this that give me hope for this country! We need to start taking care of our own!

God Bless the Troops and all that served!

They must be really old atomic clocks as I have two that are two and half years old and they still show the correct time. We'll see if they change this weekend.

Gary whoops it was seaworthy that said it oh well still Thanks for the reminder since they switched I forgot when it was time to switch back. Looks like I can sleep for and extra hour this weekend. HA HA watch me wake up at 5 or 6 in the morning. Enjoy the weather while you can.

Amen to that!!

It is not always the big things that count, sometimes the little things. Seeing a cop or a soldier in the starbucks line behind you and pay for thier drink (done that at the local and airport). Or seeing a family celebrating a dinner with a soldier or sailor about to ship out at a local restaurant and paying for the serviceperson's dinner. It shows the serviceperson that we care about them but also shows the family that we appreciate thier child.

Like they say, pay it forward.

THEY SHOULD ABOLISH ALL TIME CHANGES...WHO NEEDS IT TO BE LIGHT OUT AT 9PM IN JULY AND PITCH BLACK AT 4PM IN JANUARY....

Only in the 60's today in central Florida.We have a cold front.

The amount of daylight one sees on any given day is a fuction of one's location on planet earth. So a key factor (but not the only factor) in liking, or not liking DST is if someone has some place to be during the available daylight time slot. .. which makes me wonder if retired folk have less of an opinion on time changes than do non-retire folk....

"which makes me wonder if retired folk have less of an opinion on time changes than do non-retire folk...."
I agree with grandad-2003 I don't pay much attention to DST as I like to do things in the morning and am ready to settle in for the night by 5 pm.

Hadnt been on for a couple of days and looked here and I am way down on the list, that bit with john is really a good story, being i am retired military it really touched me that much more, Just wish it would warm up here in Fl, been rather nippy the last couple of days, I hate the cold, anything above 70 is super with me.

My opinion is that time changes should be timed so that it always is light at 7 pm. However, the reason for the time changes is to make it so that it is always getting light no later than 7 am. A safety consideration for kids going to school.