I know what triggers the heaviest rain ...

Both opening my front door and turning off my car seem to be triggers for torrential downpours!

Somebody Was Jealous

Thing 1 put teeny-tiny Gus in what is either a babydoll shirt or the tiniest dog shirt they make ... and Roo started crying. He cried and whined until Thing 1 put a t-shirt on him. Dogs are so silly!

This is Hard to Believe

Gus LOVES His Roo

Little Gus ADORES his big brother Roo

Roo loves Gus, too. He's always very gentle and sweet with the little guy, but I swear I've seen Roo roll his eyes when that silly puppy won't leave him alone! Gus is always underfoot ... so much so that poor Roo has to be careful when he sits or lays down to make sure he isn't going to sit or lay on Gus.

Gus's adoration for Roo has been good for training. Gus watches Roo and copies his every move. If Roo pants, Gus pants. If Roo is excited, Gus is excited. House training Gus was a piece of cake ... since Roo doesn't use the bathroom in the house, neither does Gus. Pretty amazing for a baby puppy.

Louie (the cat) used to be Roo's nap buddy, but Louie isn't a fan of Gus. Gus is just a little too "busy" for Louie's taste. But, one day Gus will have spent his puppy energy, and I all three boys will cuddle up for long, lazy naps together.

If There is a Nap Going On ...

Olivia generally finds it ... and joins in.

Fourth of July Fireworks

On our way home from dinner in Owensboro, as we were headed towards the downtown area on Waterworks Road, we could see people setting off fireworks all over Evansville, just above the treeline. I didn't get any pictures of that, and I wish I had ... it was really cool.

The fireworks at the riverfront in Evansville started just before we hit the downtown area, so we slowly meandered through through streets, stopping a few times to take pictures. I used to bring the kids downtown for the fireworks every year when they were growing up. Every Fourth of July, we'd spend the day swimming, then clean up and go to the fireworks in the evening. 

I always brought a boatload of sparklers for the kids to do while we waited for the traffic to clear. I also brought a bucket and filled it with water for the kids to drop the sparklers into when they were spent. My dad would have been proud of me for that!

Happy Birthday America!

As we celebrate the birth of this great nation, I'd like to remind everyone that this country was founded on Christian values. That is not opinion or mere speculation ... it's an absolute fact. Our founding fathers were Christians, and our constitution and laws were based on Biblical principles.

I'm never going to run for office and I'll never be President, so it doesn't really matter what I think. But if I were President, there are a number of things I'd address immediately:

1. First, I would return prayer to schools. If a Christian prayer offends you, put your fingers in your ears and softly hum 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' until it's over.
2. I'd make sure everyone understood what "Separation of church and state" actually means: It's not that the government cannot display symbols of or quote from the Bible or that the government is prohibited from making reference to or promoting Christianity ... all it means is that the government cannot force you to be a specific religion.
3. The Ten Commandments could be displayed anywhere, as could nativity scenes at Christmas. Paying homage to the principles this country was founded on is not offensive. If you don't like looking at them, then turn your head.
4. The two week break in December would once again be called "Christmas Break" and the week in the spring would be "Easter Break". Even if you are not a Christian, that's what those breaks are for! Instead of getting their panties in a wad, non-Christians should be thanking us for giving them lots of holidays and time off work!
5. I would make sure, in both thought and deed, that our allies, especially Israel, know we count them as our friend and that we stand with them.
6. Students would be taught history as it actually occurred, even if it's unpleasant and ugly ... i.e., the treatment of American Indians, slavery, the holocaust, etc.
7. Before graduating from high school, students would have to pass the same test as immigrants do when they want to become a naturalized citizen. It's not asking too much to expect kids to know the history of this country.
8. I'd make sure Congress could not pass any laws that specifically exclude themselves. If we're stuck with obamacare, they should be also ... including (and especially) obama himself. Unlike us, those who passed this legislation were able to keep their current healthcare plan and their doctors ... and are forever immune from the taxes, penalties, and legal implications of this disastrous law. 
9. I would enact a two-term limit for all elected offices. No exception ... ever.
10. I would carve it in stone that you must be an American citizen to vote, and you must show a photo ID to prove who you are before casting your ballot.
11. If you want to live here, you must learn English. We do not have to learn your language ... you have to learn ours.
12. I'd secure our borders. It's not mean or impossible. Every other country in the world does this and so should we.
13. I'd change citizenship laws ... one of your parents must be an American citizen, either by birth or naturalization, for you to automatically become an American citizen when born here. It was never the founding father's intention that people should be rewarded for sneaking into our country illegally.
14. If you are not in the country legally, you cannot obtain a driver's license (and by extension, vote!).
15. If you are not in this country legally, you are not eligible for food stamps, welfare, free healthcare, or any other government benefits. All you are eligible for is incarceration and/or deportation.
16. Speaking of government benefits ... if you want them, you should have to pass a drug test to get them, just like many of the people paying for those benefits did.
17. Unless you are disabled or under-employed, there should be a time limit on how long you can receive government assistance without employment. If someone is working and doesn't make enough to feed their family, I have no problem helping them (I was once one of those people). But I chafe at paying a healthy, able-bodied adult who isn't even trying to get a job to sit on their sofa and watch television or play video games. Government benefits were designed to be a hand up when you are down. They were never intended to be a way of life.
18. If you are not an American citizen, you can have an opinion, but you cannot protest our laws. If you don't like living under our laws, you are free to go back to your country of origin.
19. There would be no "hate crime" laws. I would like to think that if someone rapes and/or murders me (or anyone else for that matter) that they would be punished as harshly as they would if I were homosexual or a minority.
20. The issue of gun-control would be off the table. Owning a gun is as fundamental a right as our right to free speech.
21. The nauseatingly sick act of murdering a baby in the birth canal just before it's born so that a mother delivers a dead infant, then justifying it by calling it "partial birth abortion", would be considered and prosecuted for what it is ... murder.
22. Going into further debt to fund pork-belly projects and earmarks for powerful leaders would be stopped immediately. I can see going into debt to fund our military and other critical programs, but to go trillions of dollars into debt for ridiculous things ... like 30 MILLION dollars to study the San Francisco Salt Marsh mouse ... is ludicrous ... and in my opinion, criminal. When you are broke ... and America is ... you fund critical programs ... not wants and wishes.
23. I would do everything possible to make America less dependent on foreign oil. In addition to the jobs this would create, we would no longer be at the mercy of countries who don't really like us.
24. I'd put a stop to the ridiculous issues deemed as "politically incorrect". For instance, the American flag could be proudly displayed anywhere. Homeowners associations could not ban them from subdivisions, and teenagers could wear shirts with the American flag on them to school ... even on May 5th. It might be offensive to wear an American flag t-shirt on Cinco de Mayo IN MEXICO, but celebrating the American flag in America, even on the independence day of another country, is not wrong. 

I know there are people who don't agree with me, and that's fine. I don't understand how anyone could think differently, but in America everyone is entitled to their own opinion ... for now, anyway.

The LST 325

World War II Vets Saluting the ShrinersFest Crowd
from the deck of the LST-325 in Evansville, Indiana
June 27, 2015

In February of 1942, Evansville, Indiana was picked by the Navy's Bureau of Ships to become one of four inland or "cornfield" shipyards, with the largest being in Evansville. LST's (Landing Ship Tank's) were designed to have a large ballast system that could be filled with sea water to give the ship a deep draft for seafaring, or emptied so that the ship could sail very close to beaches to unload its cargo. Although the 325 was not one of the LST's produced in Evansville, that is the port she has called home since 2003 ... and will hopefully continue to call her home as long as she can float. Click here to read about her history and visitor information.

LST's were an integral part of the D-Day invasions in France. Winston Churchill, the Prime Minister of Britain, recalled his frustration at gathering everything needed to pull off the Normandy invasion, including waiting for enough LST's to be produced. He said, "The destinies of two great empires seemed to be tied up in some (*expletive removed*) thing called LST's."

Although slow and unwieldy, LST's were tough enough to absorb a tremendous amount of damage. Despite being a valuable target because they carried large amounts of cargo, only twenty-six were lost in action. Of those twenty-six, only thirteen were actually sunk by enemy fire.

The ships proved to be quite versatile, too. Some were converted to become repair ships, and some others into floating barracks. Thirty-eight LSTs were converted into hospital ships. In June 1944, during the first couple of days of the assault on the beaches of Normandy, converted LST hospital ships treated and transported 41,035 wounded soldiers.

Below are photographs of LST's, many of them LST-325.

USS Boise firing on armor forces near Gela, Sicily, Italy
as LST-325, full of US Army trucks, approach the landing beaches.
July 11,1943

Photo 1 of 4
LST-134 and LST-325 beached at Normandy, France
as jeeps driving along the invasion beach
carry casualties to the waiting vessels.
June 12, 1944

Photo 2 of 4

June 12, 1944

Photo 3 of 4
June 12, 1944

Photo 4 of 4
June 12, 1944

LST-72 and LST-325 unloading directly onto trucks
after being left 'high and dry' by the tide at Morlaix, France.
September 5, 1944

Photo 1 of 2
LSTs unloading at low tide in the Easy sector
of Omaha Beach, Normandy
June 28, 1944

Photo 2 of 4
June 28, 1944

M4 Sherman tanks being unloaded from
USCG-manned LST-67 and LST-66, Noemfoor, New Guinea
Note leading tank with bulldozer blade
July 1944

Columns of troop-packed American LCI landing craft
in the wake of a USCG-manned LST
en route to Cape Sansapor, New Guinea
Mid 1944

LST-325 (left) and USS LST-388
unloading while stranded at low tide
during the invasion of Normandy
June 1944

LST-66 landing troops
during the invasion of Cape Gloucester, New Britain
Dec. 1943

More photographs of LST's can be found at the World War II Database website.

Bad news for the lady who sat behind me in church ...

It was really painful to listen her. She had no idea how bad she sounded. I was genuinely embarrassed for her ... and her husband! If the punishment is commensurate to the degree they were off-key, she'd be in jail for a long, long, long, long time.

Man Assaults Toad

After being escorted out of a bar, a man in northern Indiana picked up a toad and started licking it and dancing with it in the parking lot.

The police arrived and told him he couldn't be on the bar's property. The man apparently left, but came back ... licking and dancing with a different toad. (I'm not sure who determined it was a different toad, but that's what the story says!) He was then arrested for misdemeanor trespassing.

While reading this story, I noted a number of errors on his part:

1. You're not supposed to lick them, you're supposed to kiss them.
2. You're supposed to kiss frogs ... I'm not sure if it works with toads.
3. And, if I understand it correctly, it doesn't work for the random drunken idiot in a bar parking lot ... I believe it only works for princesses.

The real victims here, of course, are those toads. They have to be traumatized. There's probably not enough water in all of the Great Lakes to wash away the memory of an assault like that. The poor things may never recover.

You can read the full story here.