Valentines Day 2021

 Well, what with the weather and all, opportunities to go out and pick up flowers and/or candy that Mrs. Drang would actually approve of have been slim, so...

And an alternate version of that:

On this date...

...in 2000 I put away my Soldier Suit for the last time, got on the Freedom Bird, and left the Korean Peninsula behind for a new life, where I wouldn't be leaving Mrs. Drang every year or so*...


*...for a year or so.
Two weeks later I realized I left that off.

02/14/2019 Earworms

Now it can be told!

Yesterday evening we returned from a Hawaiian Cruise celebrating our 25^th anniversary.

No, I don't know how she does it.

My parents joined us; other family members were either not able to change plans, or, in the case of many of Mrs. Drang's family, have bad memories of previous cruises, which typically involved 14 hour days of chipping paint and "hot-bunking" with some guy from Alabama...

Itinerary:

• Board San Francisco
• Four days at sea
• Hawai'i, AKA "The Big Island"/Hilo
• Oahu/Honolulu
• Maui/Lahaina
• Kauai/Nawiliwili
• Four days at sea
• Ensenada*
• One day at sea
• Disembark San Francisco

*Stop in Ensenada mandated by US Government regulations intended to favor US flag carriers, requiring that non-US flagged passenger vessels make at least one stop in a foreign port on any voyage. Other US Government regulations make it prohibitive to flag cruise ships in the US, so there are none. This makes Seattle an attractive port for cruises, since Vancouver and Victoria are so convenient; Ensenada gets the love from Los Angeles and San Francisco. Alas, Alaska is the only cruise destination convenient to Seattle, and that's not a year-round trip like Hawai'i and Mexico/Central America. (There are rumors of Pacific Rim and round-the-world cruises starting in Seattle Any Year Now...)

Right now the consensus is that a 15 day cruise is at least 3 days too long, maybe 5. (How long a vacation is too long? When you get tired of fine dining and having someone else do your housekeeping...)

Maybe if the consecutive days at sea were fewer, and there were more port calls, we would not have felt this way. I don't know. Maybe we need to look into that 19 day L.A. to Ft. Lauderdale cruise, with Panama Canal transit and a stop in Mexico, Central America, and various Caribbean Islands to say for sure.

Anyway, I'll be posting some pics and videos here, although many of the videos need editing.

Here's a taste:

This is a somewhat crappy cell phone video taken on March 17th off Lahaina, Maui, of a humpback whale doing "pedunkle slaps."

Briefly made us wonder why we paid money for a separate whale watching cruise, if I could watch one from the buffet line...

(It was totally worth it, BTW.)

Earworm, 03/22/2017

Earworm, 03/21/2017

earworm, 03/20/2017

E💗RW💓RM, 💘 DAY

And, wotthehell, as mehitable said to archy, since I'm on that YouTube page:


(If the title of this post looks wonky, it's because the device you're reading it on does not render emojis in the title space, and the experiment failed.)

Earworms for the day

A break from the usual fare for this date, as it's Mrs. Drang's birthday.

Happy Anniversary!

Brigid posted You Were the One for Me - a Meme yesterday. And asked

So - for those of you married or in a long term relationship, what was that moment when you knew this person was for you?

So,  for our 23rd Anniversary, I shall share with you a rare personal moment, the moment when I Knew:

We were going to a movie -- I think it was a classic Chick Flick, like Terminator II -- and we were (IIRC) to late for one showing, and too early for the next showing, so we wandered around the mall a bit.

Wandered into a clothing store...

Not-yet-Mrs. Drang picked up a belt, a rather stylish number of tan leather with brass studs on it...

Examined the quality of construction...

And wrapped it around her fist.

Happy Anniversary, Sweetheart!

Happy Birthday

Mrs. Drang.

On a day when we all get a little somber, I'd like to thank you for sharing your life with me, and bringing meaning to mine.

I love you.

Well, that was quick!

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Seen in comments to R-R-R-R-R-R-Rainier:

Brigid said...
I just about got run down by a herd of wild Rainiers in downtown Seattle during college, a promotion of some kind. I never tried the beer, but my Dad had some in the fridge on occasion or two.

Just got back from honeymoon, will be toasting, but not with Rainier.

Not two months ago the blushing groom told me they hadn't set a date yet! Congrats, you crazy kids!