Sunday, November 26, 2023
Update – Nov 25
Another day that was as bland as my new diet.
It all started, as my Saturdays usually do, with a trip to Dead Poet’s. There were three of us all in. I had brought in a small wooden box of pocket watches, wrist watches, and a few old coins. Some of it was of some interest..
I drove Jim to his place around quarter past nine, then home to review the budget. That conversation was less appetizing than my new diet.
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I spent the rest of the day in the basement converting scrap lumber into shelves. Dinner was day-old tortellini soup (very good, it was), supper was a TV dinner which stayed down. I got caught up on the latest released changes to our international defense posture:
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Two B-52s from Louisiana returned home after spending some time in Guam. On the way home, one detoured across South Korea. No word in if additional Marines have been sent to the Middle East, last I heard (a week ago) it was being considered. The Arleigh Burke left Rota to begin operations in the Sixth Fleet area of operations which covers every ocean wave between Norfolk and Tel Aviv.
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All of the F-15Cs that were stationed on Okinawa are being sent back to the States for good, to be replaced by rotating visits from 4.5 and 5th gen aircraft from other locations (F-18Es and Fs, F-16 Block 50s, F-22s and F-35s. First up is a covey of F-35s from Ogden, Utah which arrived a few days ago.
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Speaking of Okinawa, MQ-9 drones are now permanently stationed there (Kadena Air Base) after having packed up everything and moved from their former home on the outskirts of a town called Kanoya on the Japanese island of Kyushu. This move of 630 klicks (kilometers, or 400 miles) more than halved the distance between the Reapers and Taiwan.
I owe everyone an update on the spam comment rate, I’ll try to put that together and publish it before I leave this chair. I will spend the rest of the day in the basement moving things around until Kyle and Swami show up, they’re gonna hang out here for awhile. Cheers.