Friday, November 5, 2021

USS Connecticut, Seawolf Class Nuclear Sub collides with sea mount

 Accident happened in the South China Sea back on 2 October this year (2021).  The sea mount was described as "uncharted".  The Navy relieved the captain, the executive officer and the chief of the boat. Amount of damage is undetermined, at least by civilians like me.  Must have been pretty bad, 11 crewmen were hurt (not seriously) and Connecticut traveled from the collision site to Guam on the surface.  There is talk about returning her to Bremerton Washington for repairs that might take a year or more.  

   This is the first I heard of this.  Chalk another one up for the MSM.  I came across it websurfing at the US Naval Institute site.  USNI has been around for 60 years that I know of, and probably a lot more, and I consider them highly reliable.  They were the publishing house that published Tom Clancy's first best seller, Hunt for Red October, after all the regular publishers refused to touch Clancy's masterpiece.  Sea Wolf was the last cold war nuclear sub design, so advanced that it was considered worth two or three ordinary nuclear attack subs.  They are expensive, we only built three of them since the Cold War ended.  They got named USS Sea Wolf, USS Jimmy Carter and USS Connecticut.  Dunno how the Navy got the Jimmy Carter name thru Congress.  Surely these Sea Wolf class nuclear attack subs would be VERY useful for stopping a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.  Well we have one less of them now. 

   Just how Connecticut managed to clip that sea mount is unclear.  How deep was the South China Sea at the point and how deep was Connecticut running?  Was it me, I would allow a thousand feet or more between my sub and the bottom, at least for peace time exercises, and in a poorly charted place like the South China Sea.

Thursday, November 4, 2021

Buying at retail for this Christmas.

 I did it.  Last few Christmases I ordered everyone's Christmas present off the Internet.  This Christmas I went to LaHoute's ski shop in Littleton and came way with gloves, hats, and shirts.  Then I did the Little Book Store on Main St and came away with toys for grand neices and grand nephews.  I had a Christmas wrap session and I am now ready for Christmas.  Bring it on St Nick.

Wednesday, November 3, 2021

Biden is reported to have nothings to say about the Virginia election

 Jeez, What can he say?  His party took a big loss in Virginia.  What is there that any Democrat can say about it that sounds half way intelligent?

Virginia

 Glenn Youngkin has claimed victory just a little after midnight.  And the Republicans have won the lieutenant governor and attorney general races.  Margin of victory was thin, 2 or 3 %, but better than nothing in a long time democrat state.  I wish the new Republican government of Virginia all the best luck in the world.  This Republican win will certainly strike fear into the hearts of democrats about the 2022 midterm elections. 

Self Driving Cars

 All the car manufacturers are working on this product, some claim to have one that works already. Question:  Would you buy a self driving car?  Would you feel safe riding in one?  Me, I would not trust a microprocessor to handle Rte 128 rush hour traffic.  Especially when it snows. 

Monday, November 1, 2021

Booster shots?

 

Booster shots? I got my two vaccinations with the Moderna vaccine back in February and March of this year. The TV has been talking about booster shots for people like me. (I am well over 65) The talk was that CDC or FDA was looking into it and would let us know what was what. Some time has gone by and our ever vigilant and hard working bureaucrats have done nothing yet. My doctor was reluctant to recommend something that had not approved the the government. A proper attitude for doctors and just about anyone else. Anyhow I have not heard of FDA or CDC approving Moderna booster shots. I might have missed it, but I have been looking for it.
If the government OKed Moderna booster shots and my doctor said they would be good for me, I would go out and get one. Otherwise, wait and see.

Virginia Election

 Fox gave good long interviews to both McAuliffe and Youngkin.  I call it even steven, even though Fox is a Republican media.  Youngkin sounded really good, talked about concrete things he would do, starting with throwing critical race theory out of the public schools.  McAuliffe not so good, he used a lot of political bafflegab, and then started trashing his opponent, calling him a racist, a Trump stooge, and I forget what else, but it was not complimentary, or fair.  Polls are indecisive, one poll puts Youngkin 8 points ahead, another poll puts the election even.  We will know something in a couple of days.