Author: Iron Modeler

Ooohh, that smell…

Autumn has descended upon the Southern reaches of the Atlantic Seaboard, and with the lower temperatures comes a smell like no other–it is a crispness that I can't describe. Also, with the holidays approaching fast, it is hard not to remember back to when I was a kid by the way things smelled. There was something about this time of year…

We didn't use any frou-frou spritzers, the house just smelled like, well, the holidays. Mom would bake, and one thing she does to this day is doctor recipes. She'll add ginger or cloves to the standard Toll House or Quaker Oatmeal cookie recipes (along with nuts and raisins–she puts nuts, raisins, and chocolate chips in most of her holiday cookies), which creates this awesome aroma throughout the house. Whenever I think of Christmas as a kid, I remember the way the house smelled…

And that thought, of course, led me to other smells that remind me of places. For instance, back before the chain auto parts stores, you used to go to the dingy little place that just happened to have what you wanted–and it had a smell all it's own. Similar to the chains, the smell was a mix of rubber, petro-chemicals, new carpet, and a potpourri of the various air fresheners. Sporting goods stores back in the day used to smell of canvas, black powder, crickets, and rubber worms (and, if you are lucky enough to have a Sportsman's Warehouse, Gander Mountain, Bass Pro Shops, or Cabella's nearby, they smell the same way)…

Hobby shops–the original, tiny Mom-and-Pop places, had a smell all their own, too. Back in the day, the shops carried model airplane dope, and when you mix that aroma in with that of glow fuel, Testor's paint, musty boxes, and real model airplane glue (the stuff with Toluene and mustard oil), you get an odor that will never escape you. I didn't really notice it when I was a kid, but as I got older, I would catch a whiff every time I was in the local emporium. And, at the time, Warrick Custom Hobbies would also sell fireworks at various times of the year, so you would get that "hobby shop smell" mixed in with that of black powder. It made for a memorable smell, one that I miss.

The modern hobby shop, whether it be a chain store or one of the ever-dwindling Mom-and-Pop shops, doesn't have that smell, particularly if that store hasn't been in business that long. There is one shop here in Columbia, though, that has a bit of that smell to it–he specializes in model railroading, so you replace the smell of glow fuel with that of the various light oils used to lubricate the locomotives, and maybe add the lacquer smell of Scalecoat and Floquil paints, and you get a variation of the hobby shop aroma. It doesn't hurt that this place is basically located in an old house–it is rather cramped–and he's been there for years. There are no aisles, there are small areas where you can sort of shuffle along and see what's on the shelves. There is stuff piled everywhere, so it makes finding things a bit of a treasure hunt–but nobody complains. It is reminiscent of the cabinets behind the counter at Orange Blossom Hobbies–I'm not sure if even Joe, the owner, knows what's in a given location. But whenever I feel nostalgic for the good old days, I'll stop in at Joe's and see what's new–and take in that hobby shop smell.

It is certainly a shame that time and progress march ever onward. "New and Improved" isn't necessarily so…

We're winding down on the current project at work–with that, I have every intention of visiting the Lafayette Scale Modelers this weekend for their model show in Fayetteville, North Carolina. I'll do my best to take some pictures and share them with you.

Be good to one another. I bid you Peace.

November 2, 2011
Not much to say, and not a lot of free time in which to say it…

We're starting another one of those we have three weeks of work to do and need to get it done in two weeks" periods at the job, so I've been a bit on the busy side of late…

I'll ramble tonight…

We're planning a visit to South Florida soon, and when we go, there are places we always stop at.

The first is the old hobby shop. Sure, they really downsized the plastics department, but we still go. Last time we were in town, we visited more for the railroad stuff than anything–I'm a sucker for anything from the early days of Florida East Coast, and both of us have a soft spot for the Atlantic Coast Line. We'll also visit RC Hobbies, simply to see what he's been up to.

Then there are the restaurants. There are a few that are must-dos, starting with Char-Hut. Nobody does a grilled chicken sandwich better. Char-chicken with cheese, onions, and hot sauce, side of onion rings, large drink. I'm set…

Flanigan's also has some good food–their burgers are pretty good, but their seafood is even better. And their ribs? Need you ask?

Of course, we always drive past the late, lamented 3 Guys Pizza. Last time through, it was "Mondo Azteca", a taco bar–and pizzeria. Sorry, it ain't 3 Guys…

And I would be remiss if I didn't mention mom's. If you can't get a good meal from mom, where can you go? And seeing as we'll be there around the holidays, I imagine I might be doing some baking. And I know I'll have a little baking to do when I get home, too–I think my in-laws would disown me if I didn't bring cheesecake with me when we go visit on Christmas…

Thanks for reading. Be good to one another, and I bid you Peace…

October 26, 2011
Another racer heads West…

The racing world lost another great champion today. Dan Wheldon, 2005 IRL Champion and two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500, died today due to injuries sustained in a horrible 15-car crash 12 laps into the final race of the season.

The race was supposed to be a celebration in many respects. The season-long battle for the championship was still being hotly contested. Danica Patrick was making her last full-time start in the series, as she'll be moving over to NASCAR's Nationwide Series next year (and, if the stories were to be believed, Dan was in line to replace her at Andretti Motorsport, a team he had driven for previously). The Rookie of the Year was still being contested. In addition, IndyCar had offered a large reward to any non-series drivers who could come to Las Vegas and win. And, if that weren't enough, they also offered $5 million dollars to Dan–he would start the race from the back, and if he won, he'd share the money with "one lucky fan"–all a result of his shocking win at Indy last May. He'd made it up to 24th in the race. Then…

It was to be anything but a celebration. 10 laps in, the racing was getting a bit too racy for some. Ryan Briscoe and Alex Tagliani touched wheels, sending Tags swerving into Ryan Hunter-Reay. But the worst was yet to come–Rookie Wade Cunningham touched wheels with James Hinchcilffe. Cunningham then spun into Charlie Kimball's car. Havoc ensued. At one point during the wreck, three cars, including Wheldon's, went airborne. When the smoke had cleared, the wreck had taken ames Jakes, Vitor Meira, Wade Cunningham, JR Hildebrand, Townsend Bell, Jay Howard, Tomas Scheckter, Charlie Kimball, Paul Tracy, EJ Viso, Alex Lloyd, Pippa Mann, and Buddy Rice out of the race. It also took Will Power out of the race, ending his bid for the series Championship. And, Dan's car was among the wrecks…

Now, I don't like it when race cars get covered with tarps after major wrecks. I had a bad feeling when Wheldon's car was draped with a yellow tarp. The few races I've seen where cars were draped with tarps did not end well–one of those times was after the wreck that killed Dale Earnhardt, the other was the wreck that effectively ended Steve Park's racing career. A bad feeling gnawed at me all afternoon. The race was red-flagged in order to clean up the debris from 15 race cars as well as to effect repairs to the track–the catch fence had been damaged, the SAFER barriers needed attention, and the racing surface itself was in need of several patches.

The shot of the Medivac helicopter leaving tightened the knot in my gut. This could not end well. A shot of Danica being consoled by her husband jerked that knot even tighter. Then, several drivers were summoned to the IndyCar trailer. A drivers meeting was convened. By that point, I knew. It was driven home to me when Tony Kannan exited the drivers meeting and broke down on the pit wall. I knew. Bad news.

Randy Bernard simply confirmed what we all knew. He said that Dan had died due to "unsurvivable injuries". The drivers were polled as to whether to continue the race. They were divided on the issue until Bernard and Brian Barnhardt entered. The decision was made for the remaining cars to run a five-lap salute to their fallen comrade.

Goodbye, Dan. Thanks for the hours of entertainment you provided, both on the track and behind the microphone as a color commentator. The racing world has lost a great man.

Be good to one another. I bid you Peace.

October 16, 2011
Where were you in October, 1962?

Seeing as that was two years before I came to be, needless to say, I wasn't around to witness the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Most of you know the story–Fidel Castro was the Western Hemisphere's leading Communist dictator, tensions were high between the US and USSR, and the minds in charge in the Politburo decided to send ballistic missiles to Cuba. By the middle of October of 1962, President Kennedy was notified that several launch sites were under construction–photographs courtesy of the U. S. Air Force's U-2's and the U. S. Navy's RF-8 Crusaders. Some tense moments, indeed, as the world was ratcheted that much closer to all out nuclear confrontation…

I'm told by friends who were around at the time in Florida that it got, well, interesting for a while. McCoy Air Force Base (now Orlando International Airport) hosted various units–U-2's, fighter interceptors, and bombers. Homestead Air Force base was said to have been loaded with various fighter and fighter-bomber squadrons. They also were putting up more than a few U. S. Army units and their equipment–just in case we had to invade, the Department of Defense sent them to South Florida.

One of the more interesting facets of the whole event–to me, at least–were the various missile units that were established at various points of the South Florida map. These missiles were a mix, usually Hawk Surface-to-Air and various members of the Nike family (usually Nike-Hercules) Surface-to-air missiles. These missiles were placed to shoot down aerial invaders from the South–and at the time, the hopes were high that the systems actually worked! There were at least nine Nike bases and at least that many Hawk batteries. Even after the Crisis had passed, these missile sites were improved and consolidated.

So, what has become of the old sites? Well, most of them stayed manned until the late 1970's, the last of them closing in 1979. The Hawk batteries in the Florida Keys were mostly left ot be reclaimed by the wilderness, such as it is. Here's one example from Key Largo–the Nike missile site there was closed and the equipment removed, and now has been largely eaten by the native flora. A better known example would be the site known as HM-69–it is located in an area in the Everglades known as "The Hole in the Doughnut", and was recently opened to tours. And yet another location (HM-95) was deactivated as a missile site and the launch facility was adapted to be an Immigrations detention center–South Floridians know it well as the Krome Avenue Detention Center.

As for the numerous Hawk batteries, they, too, were shut down in the late 1970's, and those sites were also left to blend back into the scenery. There was one in Key West that is documented, and then there is this one, just East of the Homestead-Miami Motor Speedway. It is currently–apparently–being used as a daycare center for the nearby Turkey Point Nuclear Power plant. Now, I don't know if that truly qualifies as irony, but it must come damn close to it.

So, being the history nerd, model builder guy, and South Floridian at heart that I am, I was geeked when Revell reissued their Nike-Hercules and Hawk Missile kits that date back to the Stone Age of styrene. Of course, I just *had* to have them–and I'll tell you what, I might buy more as I see them. While I might not build a 1/40th-ish diorama of HM-69, the possibility *is* there…

Thanks for reading. Be good to one another, and I bid you Peace.

October 13, 2011
God’s Country

By way of a minor miracle, my wife managed to save the "lost" photos from the rogue SD card. So, on to the photos–these were taken in the Colorado National Monument near Grand Junction, Colorado, and I highly recommend a visit there. You won't be sorry…

_{This is Mount Garfield (Elevation 6,600 feet ASL) from the hotel window–I understand that a hike up there is quite the workout…at that altitude, your body absorbs roughly 14-17% of the oxygen in the atmosphere. At sea level, the rate is around 22%…}

_{Again from the hotel room, this is a not-great shot of the Grand Mesa. Elevation on top is 10,500 feet Above Sea Level. It is an extinct volcano, and there are numerous lakes on top full of trout, waiting for the fly–or so I was told.}

_{The Grand Mesa at sunset.}

_{We saw quite a few houses tucked into the side of the cliffs, this being one example.}

_{From the road that winds through the Monument park looking across to Mount Garfield and the Grand Mesa. It was a wee bit hazy that day, as you can see…earlier, though, it was crystal clear–something to remember for next time.}

_{Alkali salts are constantly squeezed out of the ground–that's the white powder on the side of the cliff.}

_{This is called Balanced Rock. There are so many different rock formations and obelisks that you get a sore neck trying to see all of them.}

_{Grand Junction is high desert, and you are reminded of that–look at this gnarly, weathered tree. Right next to it, though, was a patch of cacti…}

_{Looking across to the Book Cliffs.}

_{Independence Monument.} _{There were climbers on the Monument the day we saw it.}

_{A little bit of the Colorado River. Grand Junction gets its name because the Colorado River and Gunnison River join nearby–so why "Grand" Junction? Well, before 1921, the upper reaches of the Colorado River were known as the Grand River. So now you know–go use that tidbit to amaze all your friends!}

_{Just for fun–One of our Bombardier Challenger technicians has this eye-burning tool box. Can you guess the gender of the owner? She might be in the minority, but she's a hell of a technician, I'm told. See, ladies? You too can work in the fun and exciting world of Corporate Aviation Maintenance…}

So there you are. As I said, if you've never been, you must make it a point to do so.

Thanks for reading. Be good to one another, and I bid you Peace.

October 5, 2011
Well, that’s technology for ya…

Last week, I spent a few days in Western Colorado for training. While we were there, we had a chance to go look around the area (we were in Grand Junction). We took a short ride to the Colorado National Monument park. If you've never been, you need to go at some point in your life–the views were spectacular. I took pictures–lots of them. Here's where the technology comes into the story…

Once home, I dutifully extracted the SD card from my little point and shoot and plugged it into the USB card reader we used to have (more on that later). The drive icon popped up, I opened the drive, opened the folder, and the file thumbnails loaded. When I tried to transfer them from the card to the hard drive, the dreaded dialogue box "THIS CARD IS INCOMPATIBLE WITH THIS COMPUTER" pops up, with another dialogue box with the option to eject the drive (the flash memory). So, I select the eject button, the icon disappears, and the light on the reader goes out. We've had this issue before–simply reinsert the SD card into the drive, then reinsert the reader into the USB port and all is well. Not this time–I knew something was up when the icon was called "UNTITLED" rather than "NO NAME". I opened the drive, and the filenames were random characters. What's worse is that the filename extensions were also nonsensical. Rut-roh…

For grins, I ejected the drive once more and installed the SD card into the camera, went to the playback mode, and got the following message: "NO READABLE FILES". I took a quick snap of the little cat, who had decided to help me. Went through the whole "insert into reader, insert reader, open file" deal, and along with the scrambled filenames, I got the usual folders associated with the camera.

In the end, of 111 photos of Colorado's splendor, I managed to save 11. I still have to run them through Seashore, but I'm beside myself that the bulk of them are gone, 1's and 0's which just vanished into thin air. I don't often get very mad–I'm too old for that anymore–but I took the troublesome reader and smashed it. I couldn't find a hammer, so I used a pipe wrench…

I didn't do the same to the SD card, mainly in hopes that I can still salvage something. So, tomorrow I'm off to get a more reliable reader. Which is good, because this weeked saw the 25th Annual Atlanta Airliners Collectibles show–this year it was again held in the Delta Heritage Museum at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Staying at the Renaissance has the added benefit of being able to sit on the balcony of the room and do some plane spotting. While the spate of mergers and bankruptcies has really cut down on the variety at the airport, there were still some interesting arrivals and departures that I managed to photograph.

So, once I have my tech glitches rectified, I'll have photos to share–I hope to have them up by the end of the week. Stay tuned…

Until then, be good to one another, and I bid you Peace.

October 3, 2011
Adventures await!

I'm going to be away for a few days for business–some of that training that the FAA is so fond of. I'll share pictures of the adventure when I return.

Until then…

September 27, 2011
A personal Aviation Hall of Fame

Today marks the 47th anniversary of the first flight of the North American XB-70A Valkyrie. As a kid, I only saw photos of the airplane, so didn't really know the significance of the program–but, boy, that was one cool-looking airplane! I started thinking–a dangerous thing, sometimes–and managed to come up with an Aviation Hall of Fame (of sorts) in my head. I'll start with the "modern" stuff (read: jets). In no particular order:

The Fairchild-Republic A-10A. While it isn't much to look at, this airplane kicks ass. Designed to provide close air support (CAS) to the guys and gals on the ground, it carries an impressive punch. An added bonus? When all the "whistling shit cans" are gone from the pylons, the airplane has a 30mm cannon that can do just as much damage as the bombs and missiles do. Not particularly loved by the brass (it is ugly and subsonic–not a Mach-buster, to be sure), Operation Desert Shield/Storm saved the airplane from retirement when it proved to be able to dish out punishment more accurately that the fast jets AND bring it home when things went pear-shaped–in other words, do what Republic designed it for. The airplane could take a licking and keep on ticking, as the Timex ad men would say. Attempts at retiring it have still come up empty. Sure, a number of them have been sent to storage at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base (AMARG), but the low-timers are being modified to soldier on for a while onger–not bad for a type whose last example was completed in 1984!

The General Dynamics F-111. Never has an airplane been so misunderstood–and it stems from the requirement that birthed it. Born as the TFX program–"Tactical Fighter, Experimental"–it was to be used by both the Air Force and Navy. The Air Force wanted a low-level penetrator to augment and later replace the fighter-bombers then in service. The Navy needed a point-defense interceptor to complement the F-4 Phantom II. Robert McNamara, the Secretary of Defense under President Kennedy, was one of the dozens of "Whiz Kids" Kennedy tapped to fill his Cabinet. McNamara had come from the Ford Motor Company, and he didn't understand why the different branches of the service couldn't use the same hardware. The TFX program would be given the added burden of "Commonality"–to use as many common parts for all versions. Several bids were offered, and the Boeing design got the nod, but only tentatively so. Boeing re-worked their bid, and all bids were once again analyzed–and once again, Boeing got the top spot. McNamara overruled them, and selected the General Dynamics design instead, because the two versions had more commonality than the designs from the other bidders. To make a very long story short, the Navy's version didn't work out. Even the Air Force versions didn't share as much commonality between versions as McNamara envisioned–each of the Air Force subtypes were just different enough from the others that most version-specific parts were just that, version specific. In the end, though, the airplane proved to be the best low-level, all-weather interdiction/strike aircraft in the world. Don't believe me? Remember all those videos of precision-guided bombs taking out targets in the first Gulf War? You know, the ones credited to the F-117A Stealth Fighter? A good number of those films belonged to F-111 strike cameras…

The XB-70A. It was just pure sex in the sky.

The Century Series. Okay, I know–there were five Century Series airplanes that saw production, some interceptors, some fighter-bombers, and even an escort fighter in the form of the F-101A and F-101C. But these airplanes were born when technology was developing very quickly. They used the newest, biggest, most powerful turbojet engines produced at the time (as an aside, do you wonder why, when an engine powers a jet fighter they call it "Thunderchief", but when that same engine powers an airliner they call it "Whisperjet"?) and they had the most advanced avionics and fire control systems money could buy. The interceptors (F-101B, F-102, and F-106) were designed to do one thing–shoot down hordes of Soviet bombers coming over the Polar routes with their cargoes of nuclear destruction. The fighter-bombers (the F-100 and F-105) were designed to carry and drop tactical nuclear weapons. The ironic member of the family has to be the McDonnell F-101–the early versions were ordered as Escort Fighters for the Strategic Air Command. The thought was that the Voodoo would escort the B-47s and B-52s to the target and protect them from enemy fighters. When that mission disappeared, the airplane was modified to fill the photo reconnaissance mission, and later still it was modified to become an interceptor–in other words, in the final form, the Voodoo was designed to shoot down enemy bombers. The odd-man-out in the mix is the Lockheed F-104. It didn't serve long with the USAF, but it did serve for many years in the inventories of Allies in Europe and Japan.

The F-4 Phantom. Sure, it became the ubiquitous symbol of American air power for several decades, and is still serving in front line roles around the world. The F-4, to many non-aviation types, is the jet equivalent of the P-51 Mustang–people can pick it out of a crown without knowing a lot about airplanes.

I'd be giving the Navy short shrift if I didn't mention the Vought F-8 Crusader. This thing looked fast. It served as the Navy's interceptor and pure fighter with distinction–and when it was gone, it would be the ultimate pure fighter aircraft the Navy had. When you're out of F-8's, you're out of fighters, so the saying went.

And the North American A-5 Vigilante was pretty cool, too. It was big–but it looked fast just sitting on the deck. While the attack role didn't pan out for the Vigi, it was modified into a reece ship that was second-to-none, and, like the F-8, the type's retirement left big shoes to fill. Alas, those shoes are still waiting…

For some odd reason, I was never a Tomcat fan-boy, or an Eagle Weenie, or fond of either lightweight fighter (F-16 and F/A-18). These airplanes served and continue to serve with distinction, but they lack that character of the first- and second-generation jet fighters. And yes, if you put a Felix the Cat or a Top Hat squadron marking on an F-14, I'll take note–same goes for any Air National Guard squadron code on an F-15 or F-16. I'll just say they get an Honorable Mention, along with the earliest of jets–the Lockheed P-80, the Republic F-84, the early Grumman cats (F9F Panther and Cougar, and F-11 Tiger), and the McDonnell Banshee.

I'll share my piston-powered military aircraft and civil types with you later on.

Thanks for reading. Be good to one another, and I bid you Peace.

September 21, 2011
How time flies

I know I'm getting older. My 30th High School reunion is next year. Every morning, the only *Snap*, *Crackle*, and *Pop* I hear is from my ankles, knees, wrists, and elbows. But funny things make you really reflect on how the years pass by without notice…

I grew up when the next generation–what has become known as the fourth generation–of jet fighters were joining the U.S. armed forces. At the time, the current crop of front line airplanes included the F-4 Phantom II (USAF, USN, USMC), F-8 Crusader (USN, USMC), F-111 (USAF, and a favorite of mine), A-4 Skyhawk, A-5 Vigilante (as the RA-5C), and A-6 Intruder/Prowler (USN), and A-7 Corsair II (USAF, USN). By the time I became aware of such things, the F-14 Tomcat was on the verge of becoming the U.S. Navy's interceptor, and would have their shakedown cruise about the same time that President Nixon resigned. The Air Force was still soldiering on with the F-4 Phantom, but the news was that in a few years, they'd have a new fighter–the F-15 Eagle. Along with the F-15, the Air Force was also looking at what they called a "lightweight fighter"–the eventual winner was, of course, the F-16 Fighting Falcon. Not to be outdone, the Navy was told to take a long look at a lightweight fighter of their own. They liked the YF-17 Cobra (a neat stretch of the T-38/F-5 series of airplanes, and the competitor to the F-16), mainly for the twin engine design. A few redesign features later (and some industrial hanky-panky–see the Wikipedia entry), and the Navy had their own lightweight fighter, the F/A-18 Hornet. Other airplanes to come to the fore during this time included the AV-8 Harrier for the Marines and the A-10A Warthog/Thunderbolt II for the Air Force–one of the toughest, coolest, baddest ground attack/close air support airplanes ever designed.

Anyway, the other night I was looking at a photo of a Florida Air National Guard F-15A. If you look close at the aircraft's serial number, it is 76-0019–which, as of this writing, is in storage at Davis-Monthan Air Force base. It was retired in 2007. The airplane was funded under Fiscal Year 1976 (that's what the 76 prefix to the serial number means, to those non-USAF speakers in the audience), and was still flying as an interceptor thirty years later. Not bad for an old guy…

But as I started to reflect, I recalled other things, too–The F-14 fleet was retired wholesale in 2006, and the government did something they rarely do–they began scrapping them almost immediately upon arrival at AMARG. The whys are kind of cloudy, but the consensus at the time was that we wanted to keep the F-14 out of "enemy hands". Who might that enemy be? The only other foreign power to buy the Tomcat, that's who. And that, kids, was Iran under the Shah. Talk about history…

The F-15A/B fleet was, by the late 1990's, serving in Reserve and Air Guard units. In 2007, a Missouri Air Guard F-15C came apart in flight, the result of fatigue on a critical structural component. The bulk of the entire F-15 fleet (less the F-15E's) was grounded for inspection. I guess 76-0019 was found to be what we call in civilian aviation "Beyond Economical Repair", or BER. It wasn't until 2008 that the Air Force cleared the airplanes that had been inspected and repaired fit for duty once again. As the fifth generation F-22 Raptor gets introduced, the F-15 will be phased out of service.

And it is still difficult to see the Lightweight Fighters as "old". But they are, and they too will see the end of their road. The F-35 Lightning II is slated to replace both types (as well as the A-10A and AV-8B Harrier, another airplane of my generation) in service–if the F-35 program continues to be funded.

I feel as if I'm becoming like that group of British pensioners who once stopped in at the place I worked–they stopped in to look at the old heavy iron we worked on at the time-the Convairs, DC-4/C-54, DC-6/C-118, PBY, and the like. They looked back to when those were the airplanes that flew the skies of their youth. And they probably said to themselves, "You know, I'm not as young as I once was…"

Thanks for reading. Be good to one another, and I bid you Peace.

September 9, 2011
Labor Day weekend is upon us…

A big surprise: I don't have to work!

Some Labor Day traditions have changed in the past few years. To wit:

When I was a kid, the big attraction on Labor Day weekend was the Jerry Lewis Telethon. We'd watch it every year–Jerry would be there all night, all day, and by the end of the whole thing he looked as if he'd been through the wringer–twice. And there would be Ed McMahon, Sammy Davis, Jr., and all Jerry's other long time friends. I got out of the habit of watching, but would check in every now and then to see how Jerry was holding up–and even well into his '70s and '80s, he'd do well. He always fell apart at the end–I think it was more of a trademark than anything–but he'd hang in there for most of the show. I don't know what he did to get the boot, but he'll be missed by many. Why the MDA couldn't have set aside whatever differences they had with Jerry for this last year–Lewis had announced that this would be he final year–I don't know.

Another tradition that died several years ago was the Labor Day race that used to be held at Darlington. The Southern 500 was just one of those things you did on Labor Day–like watching the Indy 500 on Memorial Day, this was a tradition that seemed like it would never go away. But it did–seems that the owner of the speedway and the heads at NA$CAR decided that they could make more money of they moved the race to California, to "grow the sport". Well, it seems that a great number of the "new" NA$CAR fans were of the fair weather variety–they stuck around for a few years, then attendance started to drop. They kept the name "Southern 500" attached to Darlington–they used it for the race held in the Spring at the track–but it doesn't matter. To many life-long stock car racing fans, the Southern 500 means a race at Darlington held on Labor Day.

The final tradition that comes to mind is one of those wink-wink, nudge-nudge things. For years, Labor Day meant that there was some tropical weather system headed for Florida. My personal "tradition" of tracking Labor Day storms started when I was in High School–Hurricanes David and Floyd seemed to be making a beeline right for Broward County. My brother and I joined friends up towards Sebring that year, and wound up driving through David on the way home! David sort of fizzled as he made his way towards Florida, but Floyd did some damage on the Gulf Coast that year.

This year, Katia is churning out in the Atlantic, and Tropical Storm Lee has just formed in the Gulf of Mexico, near the Louisiana coast. And from what the weather guessers are saying, Lee is going to dump a bunch of rain. We might feel the effects of both storms here in South Carolina–we need the rain, but we don't need what they got in Vermont and Upstate New York last week…

Of course, the Grandaddy of Labor Day hurricanes was the 1935 storm known as the Labor Day hurricane–it swept through the Florida Keys, destroyed Henry Flagler's railway, and killed scores of World War One veterans who were building what we know as the Overseas Highway.

No matter where you are, though, this Labor Day weekend, please be safe. If you're in the path of any of the Tropical junk, be double safe–and if you need to get out, do so!

Enjoy your Labor Day. Be good to one another, be safe, and I bid you Peace.

September 2, 2011