Darrell Mogg.net

Veterans in the United States of America

As many of you know I am classified as a Disabled Veteran (40%) based off of injuries I incurred while serving on Active Duty in the USAF.  For those of you who did not know, now you do.

Anyway, I’m required to attend the VA on a regular basis to deal with a few of my medical problems.  I see many Vets on my visits from several wars and many of them share the same common bond, mental illness.  I can assume this was likely caused by the horrors of combat and being exposed to such chemical weapons as Agent Orange.

A lot of these Vets are homeless and I know this because I’ve heard it when they’re speaking to others.  Nobody speaks to me, they probably figure I’m here bringing my Grandpa to the clinic for his appointments and there is no point in speaking to me because I cannot relate.  I can relate, but luckily I am of the era where the Government believes in taking care of its “Soldiers.”

I feel that our nation has found it convenient to forget about these Veterans because their day has come and gone and the government is looking out for OIF/OEF Veterans because they’re in the limelight right now.  The Govt. knows that if they do not take care of all these Men and Women coming home, they will answer for it.  They have at the same time, basically forgotten about our older Veterans.  You know, our Dad’s, Grandpa’s, and Great Grandpa’s? The ones who stormed the beaches at Normandy, and treaded through the swamps in Saigon?

There are an estimated 200k homeless Veterans in the USA, most who suffer from PTSD and other illnesses caused by combat.  There are only a little over 7k of Government funded beds for these Heroes to stay in.  Yes, probably some of them have dug their grave and gotten themselves mixed up with drugs and the wrong people and that is not our problem, but there are several of tem affected by their combat illnesses who are helpless, alone, and forgotten about.

What is my point of this blog? Aside from raising awareness to the few people who read this that do not know about it is to express my anger.  These are Men and Women (mostly Men, from what I have seen) who were willing to give the ultimate sacrifice for their country and the Govt. has found it really easy to shit on them and forget them.  This is not the way it should be done, the Government is responsible for these Men and Women because it’s their fault that they went to war and were hurt.  Yeah, they volunteered and some could argue the fact that they knew the risks.  Anyone who would argue this has never had the pleasure of serving our Nation and is a total jackass and should keep his or her mouth shut.

These Soldiers are owed a debt by the United States and it’s time someone answered the call and took care of them.  You should not come back from war to be pissed on and shit on by the Pentagon.  It’s bullshit, it’s not right, and it needs to be fixed.  Barack Obama Jr. the ball is in YOUR court.  You need to make this right!

RE: I’m done with Secret Santa

I realize how shallow it sounded to say I am done with Secret Santa.  Christmas is not about receiving, but about giving and I realize that.  The fact that I put so much effort into gifts and people send me junk kind of pisses me off.  I do realize how “Grinchy” that sounds, but it’s how I feel.

I’ll play Secret Santa again, just not at the cigar boards.

Back to Mt. Crumpit…..

I’m done with Secret Santa

Every year for the past 3 yrs I have participated on a certain Cigar forum in the Secret Santa program.  Basically you post a wish list and the person who is assigned as your Santa sends you a gift.  It’s just like every other Secret Santa everywhere else, just on a forum.

Each year I’ve taken time to send nice gift packages usually with some nice cigars, candy, booze, and a card.  I always end up getting the shit end of the stick in Secret Santa.  Last year I sent a couple packages and they were lost and I still sent a 3rd which was finally received.  This year I included 10 premium cigars, a card, and a t-shirt.

The first year I got 2 cigars, costing around $10 combined.  The next year I got 5 cigars that I hate, and this year I got 5 cigars again which I did not want and not even a note saying Merry Christmas.  It’s one thing to not be able to fulfill someones wish, but at least put some fucking effort into it.

What a load of shit and I refuse to participate in a program where I put so much effort towards making a nice gift package for someone and I always get shit on.

Fuck Secret Santa. Bah Humbug!

Bill Hohn SHOULD BE SUSPENDED!

I’m still pissed about “Veteran” Umpire, Bill Hohn.  Last night he was 1st base Umpire during the Giants first game of the series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.  I was so blinded by anger from two HORRIBLE calls he made last night, I almost turned off the game.

Last night, I believe it was Freddie Sanchez was headed up the first base line after a nice hit and his front foot hit first base and Hohn called him out.  Everyone was like WTF, even John Miller a Veteran sportscaster said he made a bad call.  Giants Manager Bruce Bochy went out to talk to him and he refused to overturn his call.  Of course.

Shortly after that Rich Aurilla was headed to first base after a hit and LA’s first basemen tried to catch the ball and it bounced out of his glove, by that time Aurilla had passed the plate and when LA’s first basemen scooped the ball and stepped on the plate, Hohn called Aurilla out.  Manager Bruce Bochy went out to talk to Hohn again and was ejected from the game.

I know Umpires are there to make the calls on plays, but if you flat out make a wrong call — suck it up and overturn it.  It’s not that big of a deal, humans make mistakes.  One thing I really hate about Umpires is ALL seem to be on a high horse, I can understand to a degree because the MLB has made them the “King Dick” on the field, but you don’t need to ALWAYS be an asshole.  If a Manager approaches you about a play, you don’t need to yell and then eject them.  If anyone should be ejected at that point, it’s the Umpire.

Bill Hohn needs to be suspended, this is not the first blog on the internet bitching about his style of officiating.  I think that dead caterpillar on his upper lip is clouding his judgement and impairing his vision.

The Bass string blues

As many of you know I bought a new bass guitar last month, I got a Schecter Diamond Series Damien 4 string with Mother of pearl bat inlays.  I’ve been playing it for a couple hours of day and am getting much better at it.  Anyway, I decided to re-string it as I had no idea the age on the current strings.

I went to Guitar Showcase and purchased a set of D’Addario bass strings, D’Addario’s were always my favorite when playing standard Electric Guitar.  I got home and got it completely re-strung and was stretching the strings pre tuning (grabbing the strings and lifting them from the fret board) and I snapped the E string, which is the top string and the fattest of the 4.  I was mad.

The next day on our way back home stopped again and I purchased a single E string.  I went home and strung it, while tuning it — I snapped it.  This time I cut it too short I guess.  Damn, I was irritated.  What a headache.  So, once again we went to Guitar Showcase and I got YET ANOTHER E string.  This time I clipped it a little, strung it, tuned it and the new strings sound so good, very bright.

Moral of the story? Don’t cut strings too short and don’t yank up on them like you’re fuckin’ Hulk Hogan.