Noisy HodgePodge

Happy Wednesday! Today feels like it's dragging! I've been at work for 3 hours and it feels like 3 days! I woke up crabby today and thankfully everyone has been leaving me alone!

Yes - because I'm crabby I'm doing as little work as possible. Let's do something fun instead.

    

1. America celebrates turning 250 years old this year. Primary cities set to lead the celebrations on July 4th are Boston, Philadelphia, New York, and Washington D.C. Other significant locations for celebrating will be Charleston SC and the 'historic triangle' which includes Jamestown-Williamsburg-Yorktown Virginia.

Of the cities listed how many have you seen in person? Of the cities listed which would you most like to visit this year? Any plans to do so? What's one place in America you think everyone should see? If you're not American what's one place in the US you'd like to see?

I've been to a few.

Boston - the link goes to my blog post about the trip.

USS Constitution - of course! Me, a former sailor, couldn't NOT go tour the oldest commissioned US Navy ship! I learned that, with the exception of supervisors, all of the crew is right out of bootcamp, so they have no experience in the 'modern' Navy yet.

Washington DC - link to the posts about that trip

The White House

This was 2015 so I don't remember why the flag is at half mast....

Lincoln Memorial

The Korean War Memorial - which I thought was more awe-inspiring that the Vietnam Wall.
The figures are all larger-than-life and so realistically carved that you could almost feel their emotions.

And since we were in DC, we had to go to Arlington National Cemetery.
We especially visited Admiral Grace Hopper, who created COBOL, the computer program that the Spouse uses. And Lt Kara Hultgreen, who was the first female fighter pilot in the Navy - unfortunately she crashed on the same ship I reported onto 2 months later.

A different view of the USMC War Memorial

(the one where they're raising the flag on Iwo Jima)

Not Philadelphia, but the Flight 93 National Memorial in Pennsylvania.

This was also in 2015. The memorial was under construction, this wall with all the names was the only part completed.

Charleston - didn't get to do much sightseeing since we were there for a dance competition, but was there!

went on the Old City Jail Haunted Tour

We don't have any plans to visit any of these locations this year - it is mine & the Spouse's 20th anniversary this year, so we WILL be going someplace!  Normally we take a week or so and explore Michigan.  Maybe we'll switch it up this year.   I'd really like to make a longer visit to Salem, MA - when we went, we only set aside a day to go - and we totally needed longer!  And it didn't help that I messed up my knee running for the train. I was gimpy all day.  Another place I'd like to go (the Spouse is awesome that he indulges me this) is Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah, GA.  

2. Three sounds you love to hear?

- I love going to take care of Sis1's horses when we stay at her house.  The closest thing to heaven is sitting in the barn, smelling hay, with a purring cat on my lap - listening to rain on the roof and the horses eating their breakfast.

-  thunderstorms

-  hmmmm (because I'm weird sometimes) helicopters / fighter jets. Bonus for breaking the sound barrier. 

and of course I like to hear GRAMMMY , too.  Since very little my grandkids do is quiet. 

3. Three sounds you hate to hear?

- repetition, like in songs.  I despise most songs by the Police because they repeat things over & over. 

- scraping a utensil on a plate - similar to nails on a chalkboard.  Or any sort of high-pitched squeak

- someone chewing (but the horses are OK - must be a grass eater thing)

4. February 24th is/was National Tortilla Chip Day. Are you a fan? With salsa, guacamole, queso, or just plain please? Do you like nachos? With what on top? Is there anything (besides nachos) you make that calls for tortilla chips?

I could take them or leave them.  If I'm at a Mexican restaurant and they put a plate in front of me with salsa, I'm all in.  But I don't usually seek them out. 

5. We March into March with next week's Hodgepodge...what's one thing on your March calendar that makes you smile?

How is it March????   I have one day that is going to be crazy busy, yet fun - I have a search & rescue drill in the morning, then we're going to see Monster Jam in Detroit in the evening.  Guess I should have consulted a calendar before getting the Monster Jam tickets!   Then I have a dilemma - each Sunday, the K9 part of my search team does training, they have some cool locations planned in March, Greenfield Village (which is an old-timey village with cool "districts" to explore) and the Renaissance Festival grounds.   As much as I'd like to go to Greenfield Village (an hour south of my home), the same afternoon we have an optional class that sounds really interesting - but it's approximately an hour north of my home!  It would be crazy trying to make them both! 

6. Insert your own random thought here.

It's several hours later than when I first started this post - darn those people who give me a paycheck expect me to WORK!  

A couple weeks ago, I did a SkyWatch post with a truck at work that has LED eyes on the windshield - I just learned that we have another one!!  The truck was stopped almost directly facing my office windows and they were blinking at me!  My manager and I had a good giggle. 

Also my bi-monthly Pet Peeve - this is what I use to create the VFW newsletter and I never fail to cuss!

Linking up at From This Side of the Pond

Thanks, Joyce!