I Admit It's Not Normal . . .

When I turned 20 I made some pretty big decisions about my life. For instance, I resolved not to date any girl more than 5 times thus reducing the likelihood of becoming ensnared during the prime of my life. Also, after a year and half of college I decided that money held greater appeal than knowledge (I never said these were smart decisions . . . ) and turned my full attention to my job. I had already moved out years earlier so along with this new found direction I decided to reward myself with a new car.

My first car was a 1974 Chevy Nova, not a bad car, a little slow, (also it was painted yellow) but my main gripe was that lately it had made up it's mind that it would decide when to turn off its engine. I used to time the starting point when I turned off the engine and then the final gasps which culminated in a lot of smoke and noise a few minutes later. It was six years old, on the verge of costing me more than it was worth and the decision seemed pretty clear to me. That, combined with the fact that I was a young executive on the move made this an easy decision. It was time to go car shopping!

George Preddy

One of my favorite activities as a child was reading. Back in the 60's my Mom enrolled us in the Scholastic Summer reading program and I will never forget the excitement of opening up that box of treasures when it arrived and stacking them carefully on my desk.

My favorite books were mysteries, stories on athletes, and war stories. I remember one book that made an huge impact was a book on WWI aircraft pilot aces. Eddie Rickenbacker was the most successful American fighter ace in the war with 26 kills. He also led an incredible life after the war that you can read more about HERE.

That book prompted me to research WWII's aces and that led me to learning about George Preddy.  George grew up in Greensboro, North Carolina and his love for flying was born early in his life. After school he became a barnstormer pilot but when WWII started he made three attempts to join the U.S. Navy and was rejected each time for his physical condition. Dejected, he returned to barnstorming but he didn't give up on his goal of being a fighter pilot. During the summer of 1940, before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, he made another attempt to join the USAAF and this time he passed all the required tests. He was told he would have to wait for an opening so while waiting Preddy joined the Army National Guard to gain experience and serve his country while waiting for the USAAF to notify him of an opening.

In April of 1941 Preddy finally received his orders to report to flight training. His goal of becoming a fighter pilot was now within his reach. Already his tenacity and single-minded focus was becoming apparent to his commanding officers. General John C. Meyer who was Preddy's squadron commander for more than a year, wrote: "I have never met a man of . . . such intense desire to excel . . . George Preddy was the complete fighter pilot."

10 Songs I Detest

I almost titled this post, "The songs that most make my ears bleed." Now there are a lot of songs that I just don't get or like. For instance, any country song makes that list. But for this post I picked songs from artists that I follow and enjoy. We all have bad days and artists are no exception.

Of course some artists don't have the luxury of a deep catalog of songs to be known for, they only got one shot at stardom. Songs such as: Terry Jacks - Seasons In The Sun, Morris Albert - Feelings, Bo Donaldson - Billy Don't Be A Hero, Hues Corporation - Rock The Boat, Debby Boone - You Light Up My Life, and many, many more!

So just like there is a deep emotional attachment to the songs that I love the most, (click HERE for that post) there is an equally visceral response to the songs that I absolutely loathe. Without further ado, here is that list:

Flight or Flight or Freeze

(This is a reprinted article by Donovan Walls) (2020)

Human beings aren’t so different from the many types of creatures that roam the planet, One of the universal traits shared by so many species is this. Fight or flight or freeze.

In a situation that presents danger, living creatures will perform one of these actions. Fight, meaning we leap into action and confrontation. Flight, meaning we try to remove ourselves from the danger. Freeze, where we are facing an unfamiliar situation and do nothing.

As the last several thousand years of recorded history has shown, humans have yet to grow beyond these basic instincts. It’s a part of who we are.

The brilliance comes in exploiting this mindset in a military situation. Consider a classic military tactic.

 Encirclement.

The idea of encirclement is simple. Use your forces to surround an enemy and isolate them. Cut off their means of supplying themselves with material and reinforcement. Strangle them as you make sure that you don’t run low on supplies. It’s classic thinking for military warfare, especially in regards to sieges.

But I want you to think of that in terms of what I just told you. “Fight, flight or freeze”.

If you take away an enemy’s ability to retreat, you are actually giving them a subtle advantage.