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WITandWISDOM(tm) - April 13, 2006 ISSN 1538-8794 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: We may run, walk, stumble, drive, or fly, but let us never lose sight of the reason for the journey, or miss a chance to see a rainbow on the way. - Gloria Gaither Source: Carol's Thought for Today, http://users.adelphia.net/~mrs.carol ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: The USS Astoria (C-34) was the first U.S. cruiser to engage the Japanese during the Battle of Savo Island, a night action fought 8-9 August 1942. Although she scored two hits on the Imperial flagship Chokai, the Astoria was badly damaged and sank shortly after noon, 9 August. About 0200 hours a young midwesterner, Signalman 3rd Class Elgin Staples, was swept overboard by the blast when the Astoria's number one eight-inch gun turret exploded. Wounded in both legs by shrapnel and in semi-shock, he was kept afloat by a narrow life belt that he managed to activate with a simple trigger mechanism. At around 0600 hours, Staples was rescued by a passing destroyer and returned to the Astoria, whose captain was attempting to save the cruiser by beaching her. The effort failed, and Staples, still wearing the same life belt, found himself back in the water. It was lunchtime. Picked up again, this time by the USS President Jackson (AP-37), he was one of 500 survivors of the battle who were evacuated to Noumea. On board the transport Staples, for the first time, closely examined the life belt that had served him so well. It had been manufactured by Firestone Tire and Rubber Company of Akron, Ohio, and bore a registration number. Given home leave Staples told his story and asked his mother, who worked for Firestone, about the purpose of the number on the belt. She replied that the company insisted on personal responsibility for the war effort, and that the number was unique and assigned to only one inspector. Staples remembered everything about the lifebelt, and quoted the number. It was his mother's personal code and affixed to every item she was responsible for approving. (Commander Eric J. Berryman, U.S. Naval Reserve, Proceedings, U.S. Naval Institute, vol. 15/6/1036 (June 1989), P. 48; via SermonCentral.com) Source: Preaching Now, http://www.preaching.com/newsletter/subscribe.html ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: More Ways To Tell You're Over The Hill You find your foot tapping along with accordion music. You're sitting on a park bench one day and a Boy Scout comes up and helps you cross your legs. Lawn care is the highlight of your week. You light the candles on your birthday cake ... and a group of campers joins hands around it and begins singing "Kum Ba Yah." Your insurance company sends you their calendar ... one month at a time. You've noticed that gelatin desserts are a lot tougher to chew these days. Your bed has more options than your car. One of the throw pillows on your sofa is a hot water bottle. It takes a couple of tries to get over speed bumps. You discover that the words, "whippersnapper," "scalawag," and "by cracky" have begun creeping into your vocabulary. You hear yourself saying, "Why, I remember when...." more than three times a day. You run out of breath walking DOWN a flight of stairs. You look both ways before crossing a room. Source: Mark Mail, http://mrhumor.net/ ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: A driving instructor: What would you do if you were going up an icy hill and the motor stalled and brakes failed? His student replied; I’d quickly adjust the rearview mirror. Submitted by Spaz ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: According to a May 2 AP story, the small Norwegian town of Vegaarshei wanted to put radio tracking collars on 25 moose, so they could study their movements for two years. But the project was too expensive, at more than 400,000 kroner ($60,000). That's when they decided to let donors name their moose. For a 5,000 kroner ($740) donation, the team will name a moose for a sponsoring company, organization or individual. That idea has proven so popular that the town is about to run out of moose. "We have four or five left, but they are going fast," said Helge Sines, head of forestry for the township in southern Norway. As part of the deal, moose sponsors can track their namesake on the Internet, although personal meetings are not on the agenda. "We leave the moose in peace," said Sines. "We do not take people to visit the moose. We don't want to do anything to stress them." So remember: no funny names that would make the other moose tease them. http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060302/D8G3FP5O0.html Source: Preaching Now, http://www.preaching.com/newsletter/subscribe.html