Bryan Strawser

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Archives for 2004

Family Pets

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My parents have two cats – Sadie and Katie – who are around a year old. The dog in the house is Bishop, whom my mother and I picked up at the Vermillion County Humane Society in the fall of 1992. She’s now twelve years old and has two rebuilt knees that she managed to snap in the backyard across the years. She doesn’t get around as well as she used to, but she’s still Bishop 😉

Here’s Katie hanging out in the kitchen:

Katie

Bishop spending some time with me down on the floor. A bit grayer than I remember, but still the same old dog:

Bishop

Despite my best efforts, Sadie refused to pose for any noteworthy photographs.

St. Augustine Florida

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My last full day in Florida took us south of Jacksonville down to St. Augustine, where I have spent many days over the years. My parents and I toured the recently renovated Castillo de San Marcos National Monument and some of the surrounding areas. A few pictures:

Sanmarcos

Fort

There will be more posted shortly in the online pictures section – check the menu up above for the link.

My Father’s Office

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Over the years, I’ve given many gifts to my father that have ended up in his office. One of my recent gifts to him was a Navy Jack and a link to Lex’s posting about seeing the colors raised on the USS Stennis one morning. Here’s what I found in his office yesterday:

Dad-Navy-Jack

If you look to the left and below the Navy Jack – you’ll see a picture of the Navy Jack being raised on a navy vessel – next to that was this posting from Lex:

Lex-Colors-On-The-Stennis

It was Lex’s blog post that inspired this gift to him earlier this year.

My father also has some pictures of his recruit class, his discharge from the Navy, his certificate from crossing the equator, and a picture of the USS Duluth (the ship he served on during Vietnam) hanging in his office. Here’s a pic of him sitting at his desk:

Dad-At-Desk

My father, for the curious, is the Junior Vice General Chairman and General Secretary Treasurer of the CSX Western Lines for the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers.

Tom Daschle

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When I left Florida this morning, NBC was reporting that Tom Daschle had been defeated in his bid for Senate re-election.

TOM DASCHLE DEFEATED

Now that rocks my world.

This Blog Supports George W. Bush

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This morning I wrote a very long post about my endorsement for George W. Bush for President. When I went to post it, my blog editor (ecto) crashed and took the post with it.

I’m sorry but I’m not going to take a bunch of time to rewrite that post. Once was enough!

In any event, I support George W. Bush for President.

I can’t vote libertarian, though I’m a registered libertarian still, because their candidate this time is a nutjob and I completely disagree with their approach to the war on terrorism and our role in Iraq.

I can’t support Kerry for a number of reasons – many of which revolve around his flip-flopping, his choice of a running mate, his general approach to the war on terrorism, our role in Iraq, his desire to use the UN for everything, his tax policy, and his record in the US Senate. Not to mention that he’s been my Senator for the last six years and I’m still trying to figure out what he’s done during that time.

Bush gets my vote for a number of reasons – somewhat because he’s not Kerry, but more importantly because I believe he sees a changed world before us and is attempting to deal with that world. I’m not going to say that I agree with all of his policies and decisions, but he is the better candidate in my mind. Living in Massachusetts, I’m well aware that my vote will be canceled out due to Kerry taking Massachusetts by storm, but I voted my conscience.

I do lament the fact that once again, the best folks are not running. I would have preferred a challenge between Giuliani or Romney against Hillary or Evan Bayh or others. But that’s not to be. Perhaps in 2008. And if Evan Bayh runs, I’m going to be hard pressed to vote against him. Gotta support those Hoosiers.

I’m in Florida tonight, we’re planning on watching the election results at a local watering hole and then here at home in front of the television. I do hope that this election ends sometime in the next 24 hours. And whoever wins, I’ll support them as President. And that’s alot more than many on the left are going to do should Bush be re-elected.