Wednesday Hero

Submitted by Melodye - http://songofthemorning.blogspot.com

Spc. Josiah H. Vandertulip
21 years old from Irving, Texas
2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division
October 14, 2004


Louise Vandertulip fussed at her son about his spending. He bought wild, overpriced hats that had flames on them or horns coming out of the top, she said.

While in Army basic training, he bought portraits of himself. His mother told him to save his money.

She's glad he didn't listen.

The hats and the pictures are all a part of her memories now.

Spc. Josiah H. Vandertulip was killed in Baghdad when his patrol came under small arms fire.

Josiah Vandertulip joined the Army right after his graduation from Irving High School in 2002. He spent a year in South Korea before being stationed at Texas' Fort Hood in February. Against his mother's advice, he volunteered to go to Iraq. She told him to wait, to go to college.

"When he was determined to do something in his heart, he would do it and hell or high water couldn't keep him from it," she said

By going, he knew someone else with a young family could be saved from serving, relatives said.

He always had the important things right, Louise Vandertulip said.

"There's a lot of rest in knowing that he died doing what he believed in and doing what he thought was right," she said.

"We have a much more real sense of the cost for the freedom that we enjoy now," said his father, Robert Vandertulip.

"Josiah was the first brand new soldiers I recieved as a dismounted team leader in Korea. He was one of the Best soldiers I have had the honor to train and work with. He loved being a soldier as much as any guy I have met. He was a great leader in the absence of his superiors. I could always count on him to make sure the mission was accomplished. I watched him change over the year I had him from a goofy kid, to a hard charging soldier."
Sgt. Nickolas Faul

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. To find out more about Wednesay Hero, you can go here.

Won 2 Ribbons

As I mentioned a few posts ago, I entered 4 prints in my camera club's annual photo competition and I won 2 Honorable Mention ribbons for the photos displayed above. Not bad since I didn't have time to really try too hard and the competition was fierce. :)

The "Northern Red Anemone" was taken with my slim Casio digital camera during my recent trip to Boston's New England Aquarium. The "Chopsticks" photo was my first attempt to take a still life photo. I saw these colorful chopsticks at a store and I knew there was a picture in there somewhere. However, after I purchased them and brought them home, I photographed them at every angle with my Canon 20D digital camera, but wasn't satisfied with any of the photos. Finally, I thought about buying rice to "add" some extra effect. I would like to think that helped the image.

- AV

Going Across the Bay

I had to go across the Golden Gate Bridge today for an event. And, for those of you that have never crossed it, here you go. As you can see, there are no barriers between on-coming traffic which makes driving very dangerous.

It was a beautiful day and lots of people were walking and biking along the bridge. I never had the pleasure of doing either here.

The 2nd photo is waiting to pay toll after going over the bridge. It's always exciting driving across this world famous bridge, but one thing I dread is paying the $5 toll.

Have a nice remainder of your weekend.

- AV

Reading Stall

I was at a local ice rink this past weekend and saw this reading material on the bathroom door of the women's restroom captured by my handy-dandy camera phone.

Nothing but advertisements. I wonder if these companies know their ads are ending up in a bathroom stall. Are they getting additional business because of these ads since they have a captured audience? Hmmm, one wonders....

- AV

I Did It

After many months of soul searching, I decided to put in my 2-weeks notice at the work the other day. No, I do not have another job to go to, but I have the luxury to do so at this juncture in my life. I hope to eventually go back to work after I find a job I really like to do.

Current management is trying to offer me all these different incentives to get me to stay. One being a monetary incentive, but won't tell me how much unless I decide to stay. That is plain wrong! I have never heard such a thing, but coming from this company doesn't surprise me. In any case, there isn't a reason to stay unless I want to torture myself.

I have lots of plans to keep busy during my time off. Previous to this job, I took almost 2 years off, but that was a little excessive. I hope to start working again November/December timeframe or early next year.

- AV

(Illustration by Uttam Ghosh)

Wednesday Hero

This Weeks Soldier Was Suggested By Echo9er

Hospitalman Luis E. Fonseca Jr.


On August 11, 2004, Navel Hospitalman Luis E. Fonseca, Jr. was awarded the Navy's second highest decoration. The Navel Cross, which is awarded for extraordinary heroism while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States and must be performed in the presence of great danger or at great personal risk, was awarded for his actions while serving with Amphibious Assault Vehicle Platoon, Company C, 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines, Task Force Tarawa, II Marine Expeditionary Force.

On March 23, 2004, Fonseca, Jr.'s unit were trying to take the Saddam Canal Bridge. Five Marines were injured when their vehicle was hit by an RPG. Fonseca, while still being fired upon by machine guns and RPG's, pulled the Marines to safety and established a casualty collection unit inside his own medical evacuation vehicle. After his vehicle was hit once again, Fonseca organized litter teams and directed the movement of four of the Marines, while personally carrying one wounded Marine over open ground to another vehicle. On November 15, 2004, Seaman Fonseca was awarded the "Grateful Nation Award" from the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs for his actions.

"I was doing my job," said Fonseca. "I wish I could have done more."

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. If you would like to participate in honoring the brave men and women who serve this great country, you can find out how by going here.

Local Freeway Collapses

A section of freeway collapsed early this morning in Oakland about 30 miles from me. Apparently, an inexperienced tanker driver was driving too fast in the middle of night, crashed onto a guard rail and his tanker truck exploded thus melting the freeway causing it to collapse. I had to drive to Oakland today and I was worried that it would affect my commute. Luckily, it didn't, but it will next week when I head across the Golden Gate. I feel sorry for the 250,000 commuters tomorrow who use this freeway. Our Govenator has declared free rides tomorrow on all public transportation in the region.

To read more about this in the news, go to... http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/04/29/BAGVOPHQU46.DTL

- AV

Great-Grandma Goes to College

Wow, look at this great-grandmother go! I love reading stories like this when people do not feel hindered by their age.

(Click on the picture for the full story.)

When I was growing up, my grandmother babysat me at her place while my parents were at work. She was in pretty good health being in her mid-70's, but other than reading the newspaper, visiting friends in her apartment building, or walking down to her local mom & pop store to do her grocery shopping, she was not very active and spent most of her time sitting in her chair and nodding off. It was very sad!

At that young age, I vowed that when I grow old, I would not fall into this trap of being inactive just because of age. As long as I'm in good health, I believe I WON'T be too old to learn, too old to join a club, too old to travel, too old to write book, too old to blog, ...etc. and the list goes on and on.

So, good going Nola! Congratulations on your upcoming graduation & breaking the record for being the oldest college graduate. Graduating with your granddaughter will be so sweet!

- AV

Took the Day Off

I took the day off to catch up on some work at home. Crazy huh? Work is just interfering with my personal life. Hahaha!

Brought my dog to the vet and saw these hamsters for sale. Tried to get my rat terrier to look at these cute critters, but he was too traumatized after the vet. Just kidding, he just had a blood test so the vet would allow me to buy heartworm medication for him.

My annual camera club photo exhibition is next week so I had to mat all my pictures for the show. I have been so busy in the last year or so that I haven't been able to attend many club field trips to take the artsy-fartsy pictures. Oh well, I'll just show what I have. I won't expect any ribbons this year, but I'll let you know how it turns out.

- AV

Wednesday Hero

This Weeks Soldier Was Suggested By Sunny Kay

Col. Cyril Richard "Rick" Rescorla
68 years old from New York City, New York
16th Air Assault Brigade, Parachute Regiment (England)
Platoon Leader of 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) (U.S.)
September 11, 2001


Col. Rick Rescorla is a multiple time hero. In 1957 he enlisted in the British Army and began training as a paratrooper with The Parachute Regiment of the 16th Air Assault Brigade. He went on to serve with an intelligence unit in Cyprus, a paramilitary police inspector in the Northern Rhodesia Police (now the Zambia Police Service). When his military career ended in England he joined the Metropolitan Police Service in London. But he found the paperwork too boring and quite at the behest of a friend who encouraged him to join the United State Army. Which he did.

In 1963, Rescorla enlisted, with his friend, in the United States Army. After he completed basic training he attended officer training school and was assigned as a platoon leader in the 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile).

He was shipped to Vietnam and participated in the Battle of la Drang. While in Vietnam, he was given the nickname "Hard Core" by his men for his bravery in battle.

In 1968, Resorla became a U.S. citizen and continued his service in the Army Reserves until 1990 when he retired. In 1985 he joined a financial services firm, located in the World Trade Center, as security director.

In 1993, when the WTC was bombed, Rescorla was instrumental in evacuating people from the building. Afterwards, he enacted a policy in which all employees of the firm practiced evacuation drills every three months.

September 11, 2001. Rick Rescorla was supposed to be on vacation getting ready for his daughters wedding. Instead he was at work covering a shift for one of his deputies so that he could go on vacation. When American Airlines Flight 11 hit Tower 1, Rescorla ignored officials advice to stay put and opted instead to put his evacuation drills to use. While evacuating the 3,800 employees of his firm in Towers 2 and 5 he kept reminding them "be proud to be an American ...everyone will be talking about you tomorrow" and sang God Bless America over his bullhorn. When Flight 175 struck Tower 2, Rescorla had already evacuated most of the employees from his firm as well as many others from other floors. He then went back in, despite being told he needed to evacuate himself. The last known words anyone heard him say were, "As soon as I make sure everyone else is out". Tower 2 collapsed with Rick Rescorla last seen heading to the 10th floor looking for more people to help.

As a result of his actions that day, all but six employees of his firm made it out alive. One of those being him and three others being his deputies who followed him into Tower 2, Wesley Mercer, Jorge Velazquez, and Godwin Forde.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. If you would like to participate in honoring the brave men and women who serve this great country, you can find out how by going here.

Feel the Love

Last Friday, our HR rep sent out an email to everyone in the office telling us we will be celebrating employee birthdays that land in April. Her email was sent around 10:30am for a noon "party". On Fridays, employees usually go out for lunch so hardly anyone was in the office. When noon rolled around, the HR rep hung up the birthday sign, left some Costco warehouse cookies on the table of the break room, and then left for her own lunch.

I really felt sorry for anyone who had an April birthday because no one cares and the half-hearted attempt of trying to set up a "party" was really done in poor taste.

So, don't you just feel the love at my workplace?

- AV

Wednesday Hero

This Weeks Soldier Was Submitted By Anna

Chief Master Sgt. John Gebhardt
Superintendent of the 22nd Wing Medical Group at McConnell Air Force Base


Have you heard of Chief Master Sgt. John Gebhardt? Maybe you have and maybe you haven't. CMSgt. Hebhardt gain some notoriety recently. Not for an action that he took on the battlefield, but rather for a picture(not shown because it is graphic) that was taken of him.

In 2006, CMSgt. John Gebhardt was photographed holding a little Iraqi girl that had been injured. Her family had been attacked by insurgents. Both of her parents were killed, along with many of her siblings, and she had been shot in the head and left for dead. But she was tougher than that. She was brought to Balad Air Base Hospital where she was operated on and ultimately saved. As you can imagine, it was an extremely hard time for this little girl. Her recovery was hellish. But when CMSgt. Gebhardt would hold her, she seemed to be comforted. He spent many nights sleeping in a chair with her in his arms. The picture wast taken by a fellow airman while CMSgt. Gebhardt and the little girl were napping. Said CMSgt. Gebhardt, "I'm sure that probably just gave her some inner peace that she could reach."

On a side note. This is why I started doing these Wednesday Hero posts. Because of people like Chief Master Sgt. John Gebhardt. It's soldiers like him that make me proud of our military.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. If you would like to participate in honoring the brave men and women who serve this great country, you can find out how by going here.

Weekend symphony

As you can tell from the pictures, we spent Sunday at a pops concert, but unfortunately it was over 100 miles from home. We decided to bring our dog along on the long drive. He's a nosy dog so he loves looking out the window at the passing scenery. We dropped him off at a newly opened doggy daycare called Camp Bow Wow while we attended the concert. He loved the place and the owners were exceptionally friendly. Too bad we live so far away; otherwise, we would bring him back more often.

- AV

Feet washing

To me, the feet is not one of my favorite parts of the body to look at. A few days ago, I spotted a gym member washing her feet in the public sink. There were plenty of showers she could've used, but no, she would rather lift her leg 3 feet off the ground and stick it into the sink. What's up with that?

- AV

*Image above borrowed from http://www.okamotocorp.co.jp/english/okamoto_story/healthy/01.html

Happy Anniversary to Me

I don't usually toot my own horn, but it's my 11th wedding anniversary today. I totally forgot about it until my husband (yes, husband) reminded me this morning. It was on his PDA; otherwise, he would not have remembered either. Wow, time sure has flown!

I remember getting married at the San Diego city hall, but before I knew it, the ceremony was over and I immediately wondered to myself what have I done! No, not that I regretted marrying him, but I just did something that would affect the rest of my life. It was a BIG & SCARY step...at the time!

Was this considered "cold feet", but after the fact?!

Wednesday Hero

This Weeks Solider Was Summited By Lt. Schneider

SSgt. Keith "Matt" Maupin
24 years old from Batavia, Ohio
Army Reserves 724th Transportation Company
MIA Since April 9, 2004



Strength, perseverance and determination is how you would describe the family of SSgt. Keith Maupin. Because even though their son has been missing now for almost three years, his parents still haven't given up hope that he's still alive. Said his father, Keith Maupin, "I'm saying it ain't over till the fat lady sings and when she sings, I'm going to choke her. That's what I say. They're going to find Matt." His mother, Carolyn, was quoted as saying, "We're to keep our hope up. And praying until they can prove to us 100 percent either way. And that's what I'm going to do. And I realize we only have a 50/50 chance here, but I'm not going the low road. I'm going the high road"

SSGt. Maupin, who was PFC. Maupin when he was capture and has since received two promotions, was reported MIA when his fuel convoy came under attack near the Baghdad International Airport. Along with Maupin was Sgt. Elmer Krause and seven employees of U.S. contractor Kellogg, Brown & Root. All of whom were either rescued or escaped. Seven days later, on April 16, Al-Jazeera aired a video tape of Maupin in which he was forced to admit that he was went to Iraq unwillingly. Then on June 28, 2004, Al-Jazerra reported that PFC. Maupin had been executed by a group calling themselves Persistent Power Against the Enemies of God and the Prophet. But no concrete proof has surfaced either way.

His parents have created a website called Yellow Ribbon Support Center if you would like to check it out. And while most in the media have forgotten Keith Maupin, Wednesday Hero hasn't.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. If you would like to participate in honoring the brave men and women who serve this great country, you can find out how by going here.

New breakfast mascot

Have you seen this new Jack in the Box ad? It appears they are now selling breakfast all day long. I think this is a first for a fast food restaurant.

My favorite meal of the day is breakfast, but by looking at their hideous mascot, I think I'll go elsewhere.

- AV

Visiting Google

I had the fortune of visiting the Google headquarters on Sunday after a friend invited me to take a short tour. I still think it would be a cool place to work if they ever hire me. I heard rumors that they only want to hire employees fresh out of college who are single, filled with enthusiasm, and willing to work hard. Although, I'm over 40 and not single, I'm still enthusiastic and a hardworker.

I heard a news report this morning that some Google employees are leaving after they made their fortune on company stock and others are just burnt out and not having fun. Working at Google and not having fun? Sounds like an oxymoron. I would love to get a chance to find out first hand. HeeHee!

I didn't know I would be going anywhere special when I left home so I apologize for the poor quality pictures through my camera phone. Although I think you can still see the plastic pink flamingos on the dinosaur sculpture, the foosball table, the volleyball court, ...etc. These employees must really enjoy their workplace to come in on a Sunday to play. I wished I had taken a picture of employees doing their laundry on site.

- AV

Daydreaming

Wikipedia says "daydreaming is a fantasy that a person has while awake, often about spontaneous and fanciful thoughts not connected to the person's immediate situation".

On your way to work, have you ever thought about purposely missing your exit off of the freeway or the entrance to your workplace parking lot and instead driving off somewhere to have fun or never return back to your job? I had these fantasies for years, but never really acted on them. Maybe because I'm too dutiful.

Well, as my job becomes more frustrating and the weather becomes warmer, these fantasies are surfacing again. Maybe some day I'll be writing about my adventures in this blog.

- AV

Incident at local museum

Since my friend moved to Oregon a few weeks ago, she asked me to help her pick up the unsold photographs she had on display at the local museum. I had been trying to get a hold of the museum's PR guy for the last 6 weeks to arrange a date and time to pick them up. He never returned any of my emails or voicemails. Luckily, when I dropped by this past Saturday the PR guy was present because the museum was holding a "Family Arts Day" to display artwork created by students at the local schools.

However, the PR guy had the nerves to blame me for NOT CONTACTING HIM FIRST BEFORE COMING OVER. I did tell him I tried to reach him unsuccessfully several times, but he still insisted that it was my fault. I was pissed, but there was no point in arguing with him any longer. I remained professional about it and just picked up my friend's stuff and left.

- AV

Tax Day Approaching Again

When you see this form, does it send chills down your spine or make you feel physically sick?

Every year I dread the day when I have to sit down and do my taxes. I usually become fidgety and restless while my husband plugs in the numbers onto Turbotax. It's my job to verify he's entering the numbers correctly. Yeah right, in my state of mind hundreds of miles away.

First of all, I hate math, paperwork, and paying more of my hard earned money towards taxes. Secondly, I rather be blogging or doing something constructive. :P

Well, after 5 hours of staring at the computer screen and pouring over all our old receipts, we finally finished our 2006 taxes, but who knows if it's correct. You can ask 10 accountants a tax question and they will give you 10 different answers.

I don't know why they make doing taxes so difficult or boring. My brother is a tax accountant and I don't know how he can stand doing other peoples' taxes for a living. My hats off to all the tax preparers during this tax season.

- AV

Cute dog gone wild

Here is my dog, doesn't he look cute? I guess this is subjective. As you can see, he's not a morning dog.
And in this photo, it's my precious dog's handy work of my couch this afternoon. He's got strong teeth for a little guy. You can see he's even pulled the heavy couch away from the wall.

- AV

Visiting new places

I meant to post this last week, but I just got too busy.

I brought my car in for its 60,000 miles maintenace at a shop 25 miles away from home. Why did I go so far? Well, my friend works there so I was able to get some discounts. :) Car maintenance ain't cheap!

Anyways, while waiting for my car, I discovered some neat places around town. There's a Pez Museum, interesting building architectures, and the town's historical society museum right next to the train station. At first glance, I thought there were some "people" waiting inside for the train so I tried the door handle only to discover it was locked. I looked through the window and was taken aback by these creepy mannequins standing around wearing vintage clothing. For an instance there, I thought it was something out of the Twilight Zone. Luckily, I wasn't there at night. :O

- AV

Have you cheated? Will you report other drivers?

How many of you have driven in the carpool lane during rush hour with no passengers?

I know I have and I think some of you have too. :P

There is now pending legislation in California to setup a 800 number hotline for drivers to report other drivers who use the carpool lane illegally. To read the news report, click San Jose Mercury News.

If there is a 800 number, would you report fellow motorists who misuse the carpool lane?

- AV

(Note: Cartoon is by Mark Parisi)

New USPS R2-D2 Mailboxes

Call me crazy, but I woke up in the middle of the night today to go see the installation of the new Postal Service R2-D2 mailbox in San Francisco at 6 AM. These mailboxes are popping up around the U.S. in conjunction with the 30th anniversary of the Star Wars movie. There is a rumor that on March 28th, the Postal Service will release a Star Wars stamp; thus, the new drop box promotion. After 3 weeks, these mailboxes will be removed, re-painted back to Postal Service Blue, and placed back into service as regular ho-hum drop boxes.

Let me know if you see one in your neighborhood.

- AV

Smelling stuffed animals

At a recent visit to the Boston Science Museum, I noticed a few of the nature exhibits included an option of smelling certain animals. I can't remember all of them, but I believe one was a fox display. If you press the button as seen in the picture and get close to the vents, you can get a whiff of how a fox smells in the wild.

This was the first time I have seen such a thing, but apparently, it's in quite a few museums. I wasn't curious enough to breathe in any aromatic smells of a taxidermied animal. I wonder if there is a skunk exhibit out there somewhere to wake up our senses.

- AV

I Hate Flying

After my recent trip, I have to say how much I hate flying. Unfortunately, there isn't another method to get anywhere "quickly". Too bad transporters are not available yet, but I'm not sure I want my molecules dematerialized and re-assembled at my destination.

Anyways, there's the "fair of being late" factor. I always like to arrive at the airport at least 90 minutes beforehand while my husband likes to time it so he gets on the plane right at boarding. Every time we travel together, this gets me into a fit. Although, I have trained him somewhat to arrive 60 minutes ahead.

There's the hassle of waiting in line to take off my shoes, take out my laptop, ...etc. Fortunately for us travelers, the "Shoe Bomber" wasn't the "underwear bomber". I'm not sure how TSA would have handled that one.

Then, there's the passengers. Last year I was on a plane where a passenger freaked out when the door to the plane was closed. He kept repeating he had to get out and eventually the flight attendant let him off leaving all his friends on the plane dumbfounded.

And, on my return trip from Boston a few days ago, a passenger sat in my husband's assigned aisle seat and refused to leave. He said his girlfriend had a bad experience flying and had to be by her side. He insisted that my husband sit in his middle seat instead. No one wants to change from an aisle seat to a middle seat to travel across country. At that point, the flight attendant took over and "made" the guy go back to his original seat which caused the girlfriend to start crying. To make a long story short, the couple was moved to first class to keep them from causing a scene.

Furthermore, the airline misplaced our luggage. An United representative called at 8pm saying someone will leave the bag at our doorstep between 8 p.m. and 1 a.m. without disturbing us. Of course, a little after midnight we get a call asking for our address. Apparently, someone misspelled our street name and he couldn't find where to drop it off.

Do you have any travel stories you would like to tell?

- AV

(Note: Image borrowed from http://www.nervouspassenger.co.uk/)

Boston Photo Report, Part 2

I thought I would bombard you with a few photos I took while in Boston. If the temperature wasn't so cold and if I had more time, I would have taken more. ;P

- AV

Boston Trip Report, Part 1

Just got back from Boston after a week there. It was freezing cold with temperatures dipping below zero if you take wind chill factor into account. This was the coldest weather I have ever experienced in my life, but fortunately, it didn't snow so it was still possible to go outsie.

The slide show has a picture of us taking off from our connecting flight from Chicago O'Hare, going over Lake Michigan, the dilapidated Boston subway station, and empty subway train during a late weeknight.

- AV

Wondercon

Been extremely busy and I finally have a moment to post something new. Above are pictures of what I did over the weekend. Every year, there is a big sci-fi/comic book/fantasy convention in San Francisco which I attend annually for the past 5 years with friends. Because of the beautiful weather, I'm sure the convention surpassed last year's attendance of 18,000 people.

These conventions are usually all day walking around taking pictures, talking to people, looking at merchandise, ...etc. It's a lot of fun, but always more tiring than working an 8 hour day.

- AV