Saying of the Week, and other Famous Quotes

“To the optimist, the glass is half full.
To the pessimist, the glass is half empty.
To the engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.”
- Unknown

George Carlin said it best about Martha Stewart...

"Boy, I feel a lot safer now that she's (Martha Stewart) behind bars. OJ Simpson and Kobe Bryant are still walking around; Osama Bin Laden too, but they take the ONE woman in America willing to cook, clean, and work in the yard, and they haul her fanny off to jail" - George Carlin

"Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can."
- John Wesley

"An informed patriotism is what we want. And are we doing a good enough job teaching our children what America is and what she represents in the long history of the world?" - President Ronald Reagan

"My God! How little do my countrymen know what precious blessings they are in possession of, and which no other people on earth enjoy!" - Thomas Jefferson

"The mind is not a vessel to be filled but rather a fire to be ignited"
- Plutarch

45 Life Lessons

Subject: 45 Life Lessons.

This was written By Regina Brett of The Plain Dealer Newspaper in Cleveland , Ohio

To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most-requested column I've ever written. My odometer rolls over to 70 in August, so here goes:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry
13. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don 't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don 't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness, except you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: 'In five years, will this matter?'
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time, time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick Your friends will. Stay in touch.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of whom God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative--dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood. Make it memorable.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone Else's, we'd grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
42. The best is yet to come.
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
44. Yield.
45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift

"Thomas Jefferson once said, 'We should never judge a president by his age, only by his works.' And ever since he told me that, I stopped worrying." - Ronald Reagan

"A typical vice of American politics is the avoidance of saying anything real on real issues." - Theodore Roosevelt

Seven Days Without Laughter Makes One Weak

"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler." - Albert Einstein

“That some achieve great success is proof to all that others can achieve it as well.” - Abraham Lincoln

SR-71 Pilots

SR-71 Pilots

There were a lot of things we couldn't do in an SR-71, but
we were the fastest guys on the block and loved reminding
our fellow aviators of this fact. People often asked us if,
because of this fact, it was fun to fly the jet. Fun would
not be the first word I would use to describe flying this
plane. Intense, maybe. Even cerebral. But there was one day
in our Sled experience when we would have to say that it was
pure fun to be the fastest guys out there, at least for a
moment.

It occurred when Walt and I were flying our final training
sortie. We needed 100 hours in the jet to complete our
training and attain Mission Ready status. Somewhere over
Colorado we had passed the century mark. We had made the
turn in Arizona and the jet was performing flawlessly. My
gauges were wired in the front seat and we were starting to
feel pretty good about ourselves, not only because we would
soon be flying real missions but because we had gained a
great deal of confidence in the plane in the past ten
months. Ripping across the barren deserts 80,000 feet below
us, I could already see the coast of California from the
Arizona border. I was, finally, after many humbling months
of simulators and study, ahead of the jet.

I was beginning to feel a bit sorry for Walter in the back
seat. There he was, with no really good view of the
incredible sights before us, tasked with monitoring four
different radios. This was good practice for him for when we
began flying real missions, when a priority transmission
from headquarters could be vital. It had been difficult,
too, for me to relinquish control of the radios, as during
my entire flying career I had controlled my own
transmissions. But it was part of the division of duties in
this plane and I had adjusted to it. I still insisted on
talking on the radio while we were on the ground, however.
Walt was so good at many things, but he couldn't match my
expertise at sounding smooth on the radios, a skill that had
been honed sharply with years in fighter squadrons where the
slightest radio miscue was grounds for beheading. He
understood that and allowed me that luxury. Just to get a
sense of what Walt had to contend with, I pulled the radio
toggle switches and monitored the frequencies along with
him. The predominant radio chatter was from Los Angeles
Center, far below us, controlling daily traffic in their
sector. While they had us on their scope (albeit briefly),
we were in uncontrolled airspace and normally would not talk
to them unless we needed to descend into their airspace.

We listened as the shaky voice of a lone Cessna pilot asked
Center for a readout of his ground speed.

Center replied: "November Charlie 175, I'm showing you at
ninety knots on the ground."

Now the thing to understand about Center controllers, was
that whether they were talking to a rookie pilot in a
Cessna, or to Air Force One, they always spoke in the exact
same, calm, deep, professional, tone that made one feel
important. I referred to it as the "HoustonCenterVoice." I
have always felt that after years of seeing documentaries on
this country's space program and listening to the calm and
distinct voice of the HoustonCenterControllers, that all
other controllers since then wanted to sound like that...
and that they basically did. And it didn't matter what
sector of the country we would be flying in, it always
seemed like the same guy was talking. Over the years that
tone of voice had become somewhat of a comforting sound to
pilots everywhere. Conversely, over the years, pilots always
wanted to ensure that, when transmitting, they sounded like
Chuck Yeager, or at least like John Wayne. Better to die
than sound bad on the radios.

Just moments after the Cessna's inquiry, a Twin Beech piped
up on frequency, in a rather superior tone, asking for his
ground speed.

"Ah, Twin Beach: I have you at one hundred and twenty-five
knots of ground speed."

Boy, I thought, the Beechcraft really must think he is
dazzling his Cessna brethren.

Then out of the blue, a Navy F-18 pilot out of NAS Lemoore
came up on frequency. You knew right away it was a Navy jock
because he sounded very cool on the radios.

"Center, Dusty 52 ground speed check."

Before Center could reply, I'm thinking to myself, hey,
Dusty 52 has a ground speed indicator in that million dollar
cockpit, so why is he asking Center for a readout? Then I
got it -- ol' Dusty here is making sure that every bug
smasher from Mount Whitney to the Mojave knows what true
speed is. He's the fastest dude in the valley today, and he
just wants everyone to know how much fun he is having in his
new Hornet.

And the reply, always with that same, calm, voice, with more
distinct alliteration than emotion:

"Dusty 52, Center, we have you at 620 on the ground."

And I thought to myself, is this a ripe situation, or what?
As my hand instinctively reached for the mic button, I had
to remind myself that Walt was in control of the radios.
Still, I thought, it must be done -- in mere seconds we'll
be out of the sector and the opportunity will be lost. That
Hornet must die, and die now.

I thought about all of our Sim training and how important it
was that we developed well as a crew and knew that to jump
in on the radios now would destroy the integrity of all that
we had worked toward becoming. I was torn. Somewhere, 13
miles above Arizona, there was a pilot screaming inside his
space helmet.

Then, I heard it. The click of the mic button from the back
seat. That was the very moment that I knew Walter and I had
become a crew. Very professionally, and with no emotion,
Walter spoke: "Los Angeles Center, Aspen 20, can you give us
a ground speed check?"

There was no hesitation, and the reply came as if was an
everyday request: "Aspen 20, I show you at one thousand
eight hundred and forty-two knots, across the ground."

I think it was the forty-two knots that I liked the best, so
accurate and proud was Center to deliver that information
without hesitation, and you just knew he was smiling. But
the precise point at which I knew that Walt and I were going
to be really good friends for a long time was when he keyed
the mic once again to say, in his most fighter-pilot-like
voice: "Ah, Center, much thanks. We're showing closer to
nineteen hundred on the money."

For a moment Walter was a god. And we finally heard a little
crack in the armor of the HoustonCenterVoice, when L.A. came
back with, "Roger that Aspen, Your equipment is probably
more accurate than ours. You boys have a good one."

It all had lasted for just moments, but in that short,
memorable sprint across the southwest, the Navy had been
flamed, all mortal airplanes on freq were forced to bow
before the King of Speed, and more importantly, Walter and I
had crossed the threshold of being a crew. A fine day's
work.

We never heard another transmission on that frequency all
the way to the coast. For just one day, it truly was fun
being the fastest guys out there.

...Those remarkable birds were based 20 miles from our house. They would ocassionally perform static engine tests on the ground that sounded as though they were 1-mile away. We always knew when one was going up whenever two KC-135s would launch. 20 minutes later; the intense bright white/ blue of the afterburners could be seen climbing through 30,000' to meet up w/ the tankers over southern Idaho!

It could be said that Lockheed's Kelly Johnson was the Carroll Shelby of the U.S. Air Force...

;-)

Life isn't about how to survive the storm,
but how to dance in the rain.

hotrodgrany said:

Life isn't about how to survive the storm,
but how to dance in the rain.

Click to expand...

I like that ... I think I'll share it with some folks who need a little encouraging :smile: ...

Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.
- John Lennon

“You can do anything if you have enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is the yeast that makes your hopes rise to the stars. With it, there is accomplishment. Without it there are only alibis.” - Henry Ford

The Tea Cup

There was a couple who used to go to England to shop in the
Beautiful stores, The both liked antiques and pottery and
Especially teacups. This was their twenty-fifth wedding
Anniversary and the shop they visited had a beautiful teacup.
They said to the shop assistance, "May we see that? We've never
Seen one quite so beautiful." As the lady handed it over to them,
The teacup spoke suddenly.
"You don't understand," It said. I haven't always been a teacup.
There was a time when I was red and I was clay. My master took
Me, rolled me, patted me over and over and I yelled out,
"Let me alone" but he only smiled, "Not yet."
"Than I was placed on a spinning wheel," the tea cup said,
"and suddenly I was spun around. "Stop it! I'm getting dizzy!"
I screamed. But the master only nodded and said,"Not yet."
Then he put me in the oven. I never felt such heat. I wondered
Why he wanted to burn me, and I yelled and knocked at the door.
I could see him through the opening and I could see his lips as
He shook his head, "Not yet."
Finally the door opened, he put me on the shelf, an I began to
Cool. "There that's better", I said. And he brushed and painted
Me all over. The fumes were horrible. I thought I would gag.
"Stop it, stop it!" I cried. He only nodded, Not yet."
Than suddenly he put me back in the oven, not like the first
One. This was twice as hot and I knew I would suffocate.
I begged. I pleaded. I screamed. I cried. All the time I could
See him through the opening nodding his head saying. "Not yet."
Then I knew there wasn't any hope. I would never make it.
I was ready to give up. But the door opened and he took me out
And placed me on the shelf. One hour later he handed me a
Mirror and I couldn't believe it was me.
"It's beautiful. I'm beautiful."
I want you to remember, then," he said, "I know it hurts to be
Rolled and patted, but if I had left you alone, you would have
Dried up.
I know it made you dizzy to spin on the wheel. but if I
Had stopped, you would have crumled.
I knew it hurt and was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but if
I hadn't put you there, you would cracked.
I know the fumes were bad when I brushed and painted you all
Over, but if I hadn't done that, you never would have hardened;
You would not have had any color in your life.
And if I hadn't put you back in that second oven, you wouln't
Survived for very long because the hardness would not have held.
Now you are a finished product.
You are what I had in mind when I first began you.
Moral: God knows what he's doing for all of us. He is the
Potter and we are His clay. He will mold us so that we may be
Made into a flawless piece of work to fulfill His good.
Pleasing, and perfect will.
Let this story remind you that God has a perfect plan for your
Life. He may need to place some obstacles in your life to
Strengthen your character, so that you may be strong in the days
Of greater adversity. Don't get discouraged when you feel like
The heat of the struggle is going to burn you. God knows
Exactly when to pull you out and deliver you from that problem
And when He does you will be much wiser and strounger than you
Where before.
God knows your inner strength and ability to be even in
The midst of a problem.
~~Author Unknown~~

"I have wondered at times about what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the U.S. Congress." - Ronald Reagan