USS New York

"Terrorist Around the World Cower in Fear from the US!" That would be a cool headline. I just got pictures from a friend of one of the newest Navy ships - the USS New York. It looks like most other Navy ships - same drab gray all dressed up in her prettiest red, white and blue for her debut. This one, though, is different. I think this one will hold the heart of just about every American and those who have the privilege of serving aboard her will be serving on a piece of American history.



The USS New York is very appropriately named. She's built with 24 tons of scrap steel from the fallen World Trade Center towers. According to the press release I got, she's the fifth in a new class of warship - designed for missions that include special operations against terrorists and will carry a crew of 360 sailors and 700 combat-ready Marines to be delivered ashore by helicopters and assault craft.





The press release also said that "steel from the World Trade Center was melted down in a foundry in Amite , LA to cast the ship's bow section. When it was poured into the molds on Sept 9, 2003, 'those big rough steelworkers treated it with total reverence,' recalled Navy Capt. Kevin Wensing, who was there. 'It was a spiritual moment for everybody there.' Junior Chavers, foundry operations manager, said that when the trade center steel first arrived, he touched it with his hand and the 'hair on my neck stood up.' 'It had a big meaning to it for all of us,' he said. 'They knocked us down. They can't keep us down. We're going to be back.'"




The ship's motto is "Never Forget".


Terrorist around the world may not be cowering in fear just yet, but wait until the USS pulls in to port!

Korea

My dad's moving to Korea for a year! He leaves next Thursday, January 29, and will be gone for a whole year! I still can't believe he's doing this - even though I've known about it for a couple of months, until he got the visa number and a plane ticket, I wasn't really sure he'd go through with it. He'll be teaching English in a public school in Yang-ju, a city of about 150,000 about thirty miles due north of Seoul. I'm really excited for him, a little nervous for him, and can't wait to figure out how to afford a plane ticket to go see him.

He's getting a furnished 2 bed/ 2 bath apartment with a driver and everything. He'll also have a bus pass for the public transportation and medical care while he's there, so he'll be really well taken care of. I think they are happy he's coming. He's the first teacher they've had for awhile. He said that so many young college graduates that go only want to go to the big cities, so the smaller towns suffer a bit.

He'll have all ages - from toddlers to high school kids. Their goal is to make all of their kids truly bilingual, so his classroom will only be taught in English. He'll have a Korean aide to do the discipline and assist students, but he is to only conduct lessons in English. He's going to have to come up with some inventive lesson plans because teacing 2 year olds is much different from teaching 15 year olds! I can't wait to see what he comes up with.

After experiencing Korea through my friend's Air Force adventure (you can read about her adventures here), I'm hoping he'll find lots of amusing and unusual things and send lots of pictures. I hope we'll get to go visit and see a new part of the world while he's there. I think this will be a fun adventure for him.

New Car Update

For the two or three of you out there, haven't seen my Facebook update and might care, we're now the proud owners of a 2009 shiny white Toyota Tacoma.



I really voted for the Camry, but it's not my car and I didn't sweat on a beach to earn the money for the car, so it's not really my call. I'll see if I can get a picture of him in it soon. For now, we're waiting for the Salvation Army to come pick up the Blue Bomber (he got under it this afternoon and found a golf ball sized hole in the engine which would cost $3-5,000 to replace). We'll get a decent tax write off next year and he gets to drive a new car that has a warranty. I'm excited for him. T got a good deal on it and is really happy - once he convinced himself it was ok to spend the money on it. He laughed at me at lunch today when I told him it was ok to enjoy it - he said he'd been telling himself that all morning. He doesn't spend money very much and rarely on himself, if at all, so he's definitely due. I'm excited for him.

New Cars

Christmas was great and 2009 has started off well - at least until today... I got a phone call today at lunchtime that I've been hoping to avoid but suspecting I'll get for awhile. T's car died today. And it didn't die at home. He was on a major road through our town (but thankfully not on the freeway he was on yesterday when his tire went flat). He limped into the parking lot of an urgent care facility, walked a couple of blocks to a restaurant we frequent and called me to come get him when he was done with lunch. At least he got some exercise and food out of this. I went and picked him up and he dropped me off at the office and went to look for a new car. Hopefully by this time tomorrow, we'll be the proud new owners of a new Camry or Tacoma and the Protege will be donated to a worth charity. I wish it had happened 2 weeks ago so we could have the tax write off. Now, I'll have to hold on to the receipts and donation paperwork for a whole year!

At first, he called and asked me about the truck. Then, he called about the sedan... totally different options, but he can see benefits for both. The only down side is the truck he likes only has 2 doors. It has a back seat, but it's hard to get into. At least it has a back seat. I started looking up prices and information on them, trying to find something in stock - he likes a manual and I managed to track down one of each kind of car in my search. Neither are at the same dealership, but the guy he talked to said he could get either of them to the dealership within 24 hours. His 2 choices are very different, though about the same price. Getting a manual definitely is cheaper!

I've been trying to talk him into a model that has some incentives - cash back or 0% financing seem like a good deal to me - you get a nicer car for no extra money if you do the cash back and no interest is a good deal even if you have the cash to pay for the car. We are very blessed to still have the majority of the money he's earned doing Navy work over the last year still in savings. It's not as much as thought he had, but it's enough to buy the car. It makes me nervous to spend that much money all at once because I like the cushion of savings, but since his car leaked all the oil in the parking lot and the blew the engine block, I am just feeling happy we can afford this at this time. God has been very gracious in extending the life of the "Blue Bomber", as the crew in CA named it. It's a 1997, has well over 130,000miles on it (it's made rounds trips between AL & VA, AL & TX, TX & PA, and TX & CA) and has been a fantastic little car. I know he's distraught over losing it and frustrated to have to buy something quickly, but he's very much due for something newer. We've recently looked at gently used and discovered right now, a new one isn't that much more, so I think it's pretty much a done deal. He just needs to decide between a truck and a sedan. Maybe it's just me, but it seems like that would be a choice you'd make before you start researching prices and features and stuff... but, T and I don't do very many things the same way!

We're starting off 2009 with a Hail & Farewell party in our house. Fair winds and following seas to the Blue Bomber! Welcome aboard new car!