Pictures of Todays Big Adventure With My Son

My son arrived after two long days of traveling from the west coast of the U.S.A. to here via London. As expected he chatted it up with a Sri Lankan girl he met at Heathrow, somehow I knew that and they were seat mates as well. He managed to stay up all morning long, go to the gym, eat a hearty breakfast and ready to see the town.

We geared up for a walking tour and he got his first taste of a typical scam artist not but two blocks from the apartment. I say scam artist but he did tell us we couldn't walk any further and that the road was closed, I knew he was lying which made me mad, he segued into the "gem store sale" which I saw coming a mile away, starting with when I saw him run across the street to talk to us. I told him we lived here, he didn't say another word and walked across the street again.

We first visited the Hindu temple. I had never been inside before. Was kind of what I expected. There was a wedding going on, very ornate apparel worn by the bride and groom, no one was taking photos so we didn't either.

Got hassled by a guy trying to sell me stamps on the way out as Corey was hurriedly trying to put on his shoes so we could get out of there.

Stopped at a coconut stand and he had his fist coconut and enjoyed it.

We then continued on our walking journey to the Buddhist temple. There are a few here in Colombo and honestly I don't know the name of it, but it's the one with the elephant.

We walked around and looked at the old car collection. I don't know what the story is behind the old cars. I read on the Internet that the senior monk there likes to collect them, I don't know is that's it or people donate them.

We grabbed a trishaw and went to the national museum. It was a little boring, just a bunch of old stuff. The best part was the last king of Sri Lanka's throne, that the Brit's confiscated after they took power and sent to England and then one of the kings sent it back I think in 1936.

We returned to the apartment and put on swim wear and went to our my favorite pool, Corey liked it too.

I saw dark clouds coming and it started raining, then it started pouring, the rain came down in sheets but we kept on playing in the pool. We got out when we heard thunder.

Came back to the apartment for a pretty good lightning show and a rouring wedding reception at Raja Bajun (Ground floor curry buffet restaurant here at the apartments).

After Corey cleaned up he laid down on the couch and it was lights out.

Here are some pictures in no particular order:

Book Corner - Finished Reading

The Eagle Has Landed by Jack Higgins
Paperback 347 pages
Fiction
War Thriller
Initial publication 1975

I had seen the movie years ago, alright make that probably decades ago but just recently stumbled upon the book. Old and yellowed this was an original 1975 published paperback that apparently was taken from a hotel in Galle (South of Colombo).

As is my modus operandi when it comes to book reviews I'll just say that this was a great weekend read, well written and worth reading for you history buffs even if it is fiction.

Man Your Kitty Stations!

Feral prefers to stay on the love-seat giving her a commanding view of humans in the room and she can quickly disappear under said love-seat in case there are scary humans in the room. She can also turn around and see the crows on the balcony when they announce themselves.
The sheet was initially for Cricket our long haired cat who made the love-seat her home, but somehow Feral made it her turf.

I was able to train Cricket to lay on a towel whenever she is on the bed as she is so furry it is much easier to throw the towel in the wash instead of having to wash the bed spread or changing the sheets. Cricket prefers the guest bedroom near the kitchen where the food bowls are located. That would pretty much sum up Crickets day, sleeping and eating.

Secrets of Marine Corps Drill Instructors

One of my favorite and sometimes least favorite jobs I did in the Marines was my tour as a Drill Instructor. Yes, Full Metal Jacket yelling and screaming and all of that.

It's what goes behind the "DI Shack" (The Drill Instructors office within the recruits living area also known as a squadbay).

First all of that yelling and screaming does wonders to your throat, DI's tend to lose their voices the first day we get new recruits; Make that, they DO lose their voices (Even the locals out in town know if your a Drill Instructor and just picked up a new platoon of Recruits). We try to combat that with the "DI cocktail" that would be washing down some 800mg Motrin tablets with coffee and then spraying our throats down with Chloroseptic spray. One last look in the mirror, put on your war face and out the door to start the day.

DI's are notorious for having impeccable uniforms, well for one thing we keep many new uniforms at work. Given the chance we'll change into a whole new set, thus keeping that great DI look. Another thing is the shirts. We have to keep them tight around all sides, like really tight, like painted on tight! How to do that? You put the shirt on and grab the extra material to the rear, neatly fold it back, mark it with your finger, take the shirt off and out a safety pin in it. Marines call this "blousing the shirt". I know what your thinking, why not sew it? That would be altering the shirt and that's a big no no in the Marines. Why not tailor it? Well, you can do that, but that pretty much has the same connotation as sewing back the extra material. The other thing we do to keep the shirts tight is wear shirt suspenders which are elastic bands that go from the shirt to your socks front and rear. Actually pretty much all Marines use these when they wear a dress uniform.

Nothing goes in the pockets, wallet in the socks. Pockets to Marines are just there for appearance only.

Camouflage uniforms? Soak them in starch out of the washer and hang them out to dry and then iron them. DI's do get free dry cleaning to include our camouflage uniforms but many just as well iron them themselves.

The famous "smokey" hat, we get two of them. Wear one for work, one for inspections and other special days. Replace the work one when it the sweat begins to turn the felt brown, it will.

Marines always have to keep very short hair and DI's are no exception to that. Almost all DI's wear the "High and Tight" haircut which is no hair on the sides and a patch on top. We are not supposed to completely shave our heads, that would be considered eccentric although the Recruits have to. We are also not supposed to razor shave the sides of our heads when wearing a High and Tight haircut, only clipper cut, but most DI's do shave the sides of their heads as they can maintain their High and Tight by themselves with just a set of clippers. I used to do that. Here comes the secret. I learned to use Skintastic shaving cream for both regular shaving and shaving the sides of my head. I wondered why, and another DI told me "That's how women get smooth shaved legs", aha! I've also learned that Skintastic is a much better deal in shaving cream, but that's the thriftmiser in me.

DI's work crazy hours but another secret is we do try to get in cat naps whenever possible. If the Recruits are in a class most of the DI's will sneak away to the DI lounge where the rumbling snores permeates the air. A DI from each platoon will make their way out into the classroom so that the Recruit's don't think that they are totally free! Another classic place to see DI's sleeping is in the barbers chair. Go to the Parris Island barber shop and I guarantee you will see a DI sleeping in the barbers chair!

Last but not least, the picture in the hat. There are many times as a DI that you can just lose it, maybe go a bit overboard. What to do? Stop, breath, take off your hat and look inside at the picture you place in the crown of your hat, wife, kids etc. Think about them think about your career, put your smokey back on and get back to yelling!