Category Archives: Life in General

Doing It the Old Fashioned Way

Posted on August 14, 2011 by Joe Clark

Well, I guess I have graduated from the School of Geekdom at the University of Hardknocks. Following this past week’s computer emergency, with the help of some friends, a couple of manuals, and the Internet, I was able to teach myself … Continue reading →

Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flight Instructing, Flying, History, Life in General | Tagged a mean old cantankerous flight instructor, a sense of collective history, Alexander Graham Bell, am locomotive engineers, ancient sailors, Apple, black and white prints, Captain Ross, commercial electricity, computer emergency, computers, dependent on technology, digital cameras, Doing It the Old Fashioned Way, English, Ernest K. Gann, Fate Is The Hunter, French, Garmins, history, Johannes Gutenberg, Kill Devil Hill, manual typewriters, measured by column inches, mentors, MicroSoft, Nicola Tesla, proportion wheels, re-loading various software, rocket science, sailed across the Atlantic, School of Geekdom, smart phones, Spaniards, storytelling, the ancient Polynesians, the DC-3, the light bulb, the New World, the printing press, the telephone, the University of Hardknocks, the Wrights, Thomas Edison, Tom-Toms, Trimbles, Vikings, World War II, “the old-fashioned way” | 5 Comments

General Quarters

Posted on August 11, 2011 by Joe Clark

“General Quarters! General Quarters! All hands man your battle stations!” I don’t hear this call over the 5MC anymore, but yesterday morning felt as if I was back in the stress of GQ. It was 0530 when I woke, and … Continue reading →

Posted in Life in General, Personal, Publishing, Writing | Tagged 1 terabyte hard drive, all hands, backing up data, battle stations, financial records, General Quarters, Microsoft 7, mid-night Microsoft update, new hard drive, operating system, photos, queasy feelings, sailors, sales tracking, ship's loudspeakers, Stand down from General Quarters, suitable backup plans, the 5MC, the computer screen, the Internet, the stress of GQ | 4 Comments

A Very Hard Week

Posted on August 10, 2011 by Joe Clark

The past few days have been hard for America. Particularly for our heroes. On Saturday, August 6, 2011, 38 men died in the crash of an Army Reserve CH-47 Chinook helicopter that went down in Afghanistan. Members of the Olathe, … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Life in General | Tagged A Very Hard Week, Afghanistan, August 6 2011, best friends, boyfriends, brothers, CH-47 Chinook, church members, combat operations, fathers, football players, friends, Kabul, loved ones, Olathe KS, Seal Team Six, sharing their grief, soccer teammates, sons, surfers, the Army Reserve, uncles | Comments Off

Anniversary

Posted on August 5, 2011 by Joe Clark

Today marks the one-year anniversary since starting this blog. Gotta tell ya, it’s been a helluva a great ride! And to think it was all influenced and started by Ardis and I watching a movie about cooking (Julie & Julia). My … Continue reading →

Posted in Life in General, Personal, Publishing, Reading, Teaching, Writing | Tagged a movie about cooking, advertising, and life in general, Anniversary, Aviators and writers, bloggers, By posting less, Dave (down under), flying, guest columnists, I hope to write more, learning how to fly, my best friends' father, my writing discipline, one-year, publishing, Sanford, scale back a little, spinning propellers, suddenly gratified...and humbled, switchology, teaching flight theory and aviation history, the blogosphere, the Internet, Wordpress, writing, writing every day, Yak | 2 Comments

Funny Gator Stories

Posted on July 31, 2011 by Joe Clark

Can there be such a thing as a funny gator story? Well, yes. Of course. An older Floridian, Ray, who spent part of his childhood growing up in Saint Augustine tells the story of his grandmother’s front porch and “George.” … Continue reading →

Posted in Life in General | Tagged a big cat-eating lizard, a big fuzzy lovable gray tabby, a juvenile alligator, California, Dudley, eagles, Funny Gator Stories, hawks, older Floridians, rge enough to eat a cat, Saint Augustine, The Alligator Farm, the Sunshine State, ’gators | Comments Off

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Posted on July 28, 2011 by Joe Clark

Another of the great writer-flyers from World War II was a Frenchman by the name of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Unlike the youthful Bert Stiles profiled yesterday, Saint-Exupéry was relatively older—especially for serving as a combat pilot. Saint-Exupéry is the author … Continue reading →

Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, History, Life in General, Reading, Writing | Tagged a silver identity bracelet, airline companies, an airmail pilot, André Prévot, Antoine Saint-Exupéry, author, combat operations, dehydration, F-5B reconnaissance aircraft, finding his place as a wordsmith, Flight to Arras, gathering intelligence, hallucinations, L'Aviateur or The Aviator, Marseille, navigator, Night flight, pioneering flights, Riou Island, the fastest flying time from Paris to Saigon, the Free French Forces, The Little Prince, Wind Sand and Stars, World War II | Comments Off

Taking a Moment

Posted on July 24, 2011 by Joe Clark

Sometimes, you reach a juncture where you realize you have spent too much time working on life’s minutiae. That is when you will probably stop, step back, and look around. Then you might hear someone say, “It’s time for a … Continue reading →

Posted in Life in General, Personal | Tagged a grin wider than a propeller, a Southern boy, birthdays, giant sunflowers, light-hearted joking, Raptor-Man, Taking a Moment, taking it in stride, the good in life, the next 60 years of living, the original optimist, the spinning blue-green asteroid, too much time working, “It’s time for a break!” | Comments Off

It’s Another Year

Posted on July 23, 2011 by Joe Clark

Well, until today, I was older than my best friend, Paul. Today, he is as old as I am. Unfortunately, we both went over the hill a long time ago. In other words, we are a couple of old fa… … Continue reading →

Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flying, History, Life in General, Personal | Tagged a damn Yankee, a lifetime of gratitude, Alberto Santos-Dumont, barnstormers, biplanes, gypsy pilots, in the fifth grade, It’s Another Year, It’s [a] old Southern joke!, my best friend Paul, my only interest was jets, over the hill, the Demoiselle, the First World War, the summer of 1986, the Sunshine State, the War Between the States, ultralight airplanes | 1 Comment

The Last Landing

Posted on July 22, 2011 by Joe Clark

It is difficult to fathom what has happened to our space program. Yesterday, with the landing of Shuttle Atlantis, the United States no longer has a manned space flight program. Many of us are truly appalled. For the first time … Continue reading →

Posted in Aviation History, History, Life in General | Tagged a failure of common sense, across the shores, Alan Shepard, beyond the horizon, ending the space program is a big mistake, Freedom 7, further exploration of the universe, into the depths of the seas, into the skies and beyond, manned space exploration, national security implications, Shuttle Atlantis, the end of the Shuttle Program, the International Space Station (ISS), The Last Landing, the United States no longer has a manned space flight program, the universe, this blue-green marble rotating around the fiery sun | 2 Comments

We Choose to Go to the Moon

Posted on July 20, 2011 by Joe Clark

(Found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g25G1M4EXrQ.) When I was a child, I heard these words spoken by a President who dared to dream; by a man who said we would be on the moon by the end of the decade. Many thought he … Continue reading →

Posted in Aviation History, Flying, History, Life in General | Tagged a President who dared to dream, Apollo 1, Apollo 11, Apollo missions, Ed White, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, Gus Grissom, January 27 1967, July 20 1969, Lunar Module (LM), Mars is waiting..., Michael Collins, NASA, Neil Armstrong, Roger Chaffee, The Eagle, the Sea of Tranquility, the summer of 1969, We Choose to Go to the Moon | 2 Comments

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Category Archives: Life in General

Doing It the Old Fashioned Way

General Quarters

Anniversary

Funny Gator Stories

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Taking a Moment

It’s Another Year

The Last Landing

We Choose to Go to the Moon

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