A "Monumental" Vacation

S and I returned yesterday after spending a week's vacation in the Baltimore/ Washington area. The weather was near-perfect, and the cherry trees were beginning to bloom. Here's a brief synopsis:

Saturday (March 24): travel day

arrived at BWI airport

settled in at our "home base" at (my wife's) Aunt L's house in Laurel MD

Sunday: church and family

Monday: Washington DC [photos]

Washington Monument

World War II Memorial

Korean War Memorial

Lincoln Memorial

Vietnam Memorial

Jefferson Memorial

We also saw the new Airbus 380 super-jumbojet landing at Reagan National Airport.

Tuesday: Washington DC/Arlington VA [photos]

Franklin D. Roosevelt Memorial

Arlington Cemetery

The cherry trees around the Kennedy gravesites were in full bloom.

Wednesday: Gettysburg PA [photos]

Gettysburg National Military Park

Boyd's Bear Country

We had a special treat; instead of taking the tour bus, we had a guide give us a personal tour as he drove our van around the battlefield. His knowledge was vast, and when I mentioned the defense of the Union left flank by the 20th Maine Regiment on Little Round Top, he took us to very spot where that took place.

Thursday: Washington DC/Arlington VA [photos]

Iwo Jima Memorial

U.S. Capitol

National Air and Space Museum

Lafayette Park

White House

The cherry trees around the White House, the Capitol, and in Lafayette Park were in full bloom.

We spent the evening at Toby's Dinner Theater in Columbia MD where we took in a well-done production of George M, a musical based the the life of George M. Cohan.

Friday: Baltimore MD [photos]

Ft. McHenry

National Aquarium

I got to help raise the flag at Ft. McHenry!

Saturday: travel day - return home.

Snoopy, 1991-2007

Often with a 16-year-old cat, it's just a matter of time. For Snoopy, his time came today.

The circumstances had an odd timing. Almost two weeks ago, I bought a new cat food for Snoopy. His appetite had been downright voracious, and so I thought I'd find him a cat food formulted for his special diet (he had an early history of urinary blockage). He ate some of the new food for the first few days, but he did get sick (and vomited) and never really liked the new food. It turns out that some of the cans I brought home would be part of the Menu Foods pet food recall.

We quickly reverted back to Snoopy's regular brand of cat food. But he never really seemed to get his old appetite back. On Wednesday night he was pretty sick and definitely not sick. I thought for sure he was suffering from kidney failure.

After a visit to the veterinarian and some blood tests, it was determined that there was no urinary blockage, no kidney failure, and no diabetes. However, the vet had felt around Snoopy's belly and thought it didn't feel right, and that perhaps one of the kidneys was quite small. Also, the white blood cell count was too high - indicative of cancer. Even with antibiotics, however, Snoopy's prognosis was not good. The vet said even though Snoopy couldn't really tell us, he probably felt like crap.

With our vet's full support and understanding, and given Snoopy's advanced age, S and I made the very difficult decision not to treat him, and to end the suffering which was only going to get worse anyway. And the cat food? Probably just a coincidence.

We already miss Snoopy very much.

Okay, Would You Believe October?

So our daughter's wedding is probably not next March. She thinks she can swing it (and has the groom about 90% convinced) for October 20.

Makes no difference to me. The sooner they get married, the sooner I'll have a new son-in-law and granddaughter.

New Additions Coming to the Family

Well, it's Valentine's Day, and he popped the question. Our older daughter, J, has been dating R for about six months now. And tonight they are engaged.

S & I have been commenting on how much we like R and what he's done in J's life. We look forward now to having him as our new son-in-law (the first one was such a disappointment and continues to excel in mediocrity).

This makes for a ready-made granddaughter as well - R has a three-year-old girl. K and our grandson J get along great as well.

Looks like a March wedding next year!

Can Iraq Really Get Tough?

"If the Iraqi government does not follow through on its promises, it will lose the support of the American people — and it will lose the support of the Iraqi people...The Prime Minister understands this" - President George W. Bush, 10 January 2007

Let us hope that the Iraqi Prime Minister understands the situatiion in his country - lest his fate will be similar to that of the late former president, Saddam Hussein.

In tonight's address to the nation [full transcript], President Bush acknowledged his full responsibility for the mistakes made in Iraq. He made it clear that the Iraqi government and the Iraqi people needed to take more responsibility for their own destiny. He also acknowledged it would probably be too difficult without a little extra help from 20,000 additional U.S. troops.

Both Prime Minister Maliki and President Bush have declared that the sectarian and political violence that has been ripping Iraq apart will no longer be tolerated. It's about damned time. Much bloodshed could have been avoided if this had been the official policy all along. Hopefully it's not too little too late.

This has been an unpopular war. But that's not President Bush's fault. He sincerely committed us and other nations to go in and liberate the Iraqi people. With the exception of the U.K. (who's now faltering in their support), our allies have given meager support, both militarily and in helping reconstruct Iraq. Even the so-called-almighty UN bailed out completely after the horrific bombing of their headquarters in Baghdad. Despite all that, Saddam Hussein was forced out of office and was eventually captured - mission accomplished! And Saddam was made to answer for a mere fraction of his crimes against humanity - at the hands of the Iraqi people.

Al-Qaeda and other radical Islamists decided to take advantage of the fog of war and fog it up even more. Add to that mix certain factions within Iraq who took advantage of the absence of the tyrannical Ba'ath regime. These are people who do not follow rules of engagement or abide by the Geneva Convention. They fight dirty. Americans typically do not. And when those few do, they get crucified in the world press for it. If America was truly bloodthirsty and uncaring, we could end this war in a matter of minutes.

I do not like this war, not one bit. But we cannot allow Iraq fall into the hands of an extremist regime - that would put the entire world at risk. Nor can we allow the war to be conducted in the manner that it has. The Iraqis have to get tough. We need to help them. Perhaps just toughening up the rules of engagement would be enough. I personally would even go as far as unconditional surrender.

Yes, this is an unpopular war. And President Bush has just gone double-or-nothing.