Spitfire Revisited A few weeks back, Becky visited us and surprised me with a book, "Spitfire - Icon of a Nation," 2008, by Ivan Rendall, and I'm 146/288 through it, and enjoying it immensely, less so for any new knowledge or information on the airplane, but for the author's focus on the symbolism and the iconic nature of this airplane. It was so much more than a fighter aircraft, and Rendall divides his chapters into Introduction, Speed, Air Power, Science and Art, War, Battle, Fighting Machine, Flying Legend and Star and Celebrity. I am going through "Battle," and enjoying the observations and summary. The author has synthesized so many of the thoughts wandering through my mind over the years, explaining the appeal of this aircraft on so many levels.
The timing is such that I will be going with 2 ten year old grandsons and Lin in July to Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry where "my" Spitfire hangs from the ceiling. This was where I fell in love, although movies paved the way, like "A Yank in the RAF" and "Eagle Squadron." I've introduced the Spitfire to my grandsons but this is the first time they will see my first love. We'll also go to Wrigley Field and the Chicago Cubs, and the Field Museum.
Along the same iconic path, J. C. Freeborn's 74 Squadron Spitfire not only flies over my bed but over my left shoulder in Torshia II's left rear window (My 911 Porsche Turbo S.) Perhaps the iconic 911 Porsche is today's standard bearer, beauty, speed, power, grace.
This is the autobiography of the 14th Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, who rose from a farm in North Carolina to be the chief military advisor of President Clinton, and briefly, and not nearly long enough, President Bush, through October 2011. The book incorporates three interwoven themes.
The first is the biography of a career army officer who set off to become an aeronautical engineer, discovered an interest and a proficiency in the military, and rose rapidly through the officer cadre, learning lesson after lesson in leadership, how to, and, most importantly, how not to, lead and inspire men to perform the role of defending our nation, working within the constraints of our democratic institutions. In every situation, Shelton analyzes how the goal of an effective, cost efficient military can be achieved while the interests of enlisted men and their families are preserved. This often requires standing up to special interests, and courage of a different order than that which is recognized in medals and citations.
The second is the history of the evolution of the army of the Viet Nam era to the all-volunteer army that first contracted, and then expanded to undertake an ever-expanding agenda in Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan. What experiences does it take to mold an officer to effectively embrace greater and greater responsibility, and what are the lessons learned at each stage that enable him to persevere and not lose sight of the goal, nor adopt expediency at the cost of integrity. Shelton has an infallible moral compass, and the courage to stand up to the volleys of egotistical politicians, bent on making a reputation over the sacrifices of others. He is a warrior who looks to the most efficient plan to prevail at the least cost in human lives. His presence in the cabinet room and the Oval Office allows the reader an insight into how and why decisions were made, and who deserves the credit and the blame. He tells it like it is and allows you to draw your own conclusions.
Finally, it is an inspiring story of an active man, an athlete who ran every morning and never spent a day in the hospital until a fall off a ladder led to paraplegia, a confrontation with death, and a truly remarkable recovery that demonstrates what willpower and the very best in medical care can accomplish.
Our country was admirably served by this great American, and the reader will be entertained by his stories, and inspired by his courage, and feel great satisfaction in the triumph of a man of integrity over one obstacle after another. On a scale of 1 to 10 = 12!
Table Top Aviation - 1970 - Orange County Medical Association I had been in practice in Orange County for 3 years when I was asked to write an article about my hobby as a feature in the journal of the local medical association. I was then married to my first wife, Sally, and had two sons, John and Geoff. I had a solo practice in Anaheim, initially, and lived on Broadview, in a rented home. I was driving my second Porsche, a 1969 911 S, a car that is now owned by my son, John. There were few dialysis units and I was a year away from opening my own unit. John was 6 and Geoff was 4, and I was renting an office at 1701 S. Euclid in Anaheim, and covering Joe Leonard Orange County's first nephrologist.
Mohammed Nabbous, a Face of the Battle for Freedom in Libya, Killed in Action A brave journalist, Mohammed Nabbous, died while working to keep the world informed of the situation in Libya. He leaves a pregnant wife behind, and the admiration of many people around the world. He gave his life in pursuit of press freedom. May his dream come true for the long suffering Libyans, and for oppressed people around the world.
Tsunami Dodged - We're Safe The Prince Hotel, where the auditorium is located is an evacuation site. The Civil Defense team evacuated some people from lower lying areas and put them up at night in the auditorium where the classes are held, so they started 2 hours late. Also, this luxury hotel has taken in a bunch of folks from a couple of other hotels situated lower down toward sea level, and there are a bunch of haggard looking people who must have been evacuated in the middle of the night.
Apparently at about 2 AM, word came that the 4 lowest floors were being evacuated to higher ground. We are on the 8th floor(827). Our warning system didn't work, so it was a phone call from Becky at about 5 AM that alerted us to the tsunami. We checked CNN and saw the photos of Japan and the news of an 8.9 earthquake.
The beach was closed today and the beach level Hau Tree bar and restaurant was said to be covered with sand. The beach was closed today. Linda's planned kayaking lesson, foregone. We're completely safe, and so very sorry for the terrible catastrophe that befell Japan. That was the very place that the ship, Gentle Leader, was bound and set to arrive today. I will check its destined port relative to the devastation. We leave tomorrow at 2 PM and are confirmed on a flight to arrive LAX at 9:20. We feel very, very fortunate.
Bruins Deflated A thoroughly horrible game with the second seeded Bruins losing to the seventh seeded Ducks by nearly 20 oints in a lackluster effort that demonstrates the inconsistency of a young team, prone to turnovers, and simply not hungry enough. Oregon deserved the victory. If this game is any indication the Bruins may not make it past the first round.
Today Has Got to Be the Day! On 2/28/11 2:14 PM, "Michelle Larsson" ....circleporsche.... wrote: "Good afternoon Dr. Lewin, PCNA has advised us that your new Porsche has finished the port pre-inspection process. We now await info on when it will be scheduled for transport. Are you going to finance with us or do you prefer to pay cash. I will try to get the paperwork details finished for you before your Turbo S arrives so that your time here for delivery will be enjoyable. We know how valuable your time is."
How long does it take to get from San Diego to Long Beach? Gentle Leader, took less than a day, and now she's bound for Japan, and due there on March 11th. Will PCNA manage to get the car to Circle Motors before the ship reaches port?
The car travels in a special covered transporter, the contents guarded by a fairly anonymous covering, I gather. Just another 16 wheeler. Probably up the 405, 10 miles past my house, another 30 miles to Long Beach. Today is the 4th day since that long awaited message, and the day before I leave for a medical conference in Hawaii. It's today, or Sunday, March 13th.
So, I'm thinking, should I gather the most interested parties on that Sunday, assemble my son, John, and my grandson, Geoff, ask them to bring Ferdinand, my second Porsche, a 1969 911 S, while I bring Torshia, my fifth, and current Porsche, my sister, and a few more, and throw a party, a Sunday brunch? Is it sacrilege to think of a briss for a German car? What, if anything, should be excised? Do I need a minyon? What should be her name? Her, name?
This is what the day brings, and the ides of March lie ahead..... Really, what do I call this fantasy?
Gentle Leader, In and Out of Long Beach I have been following the voyage of Gentle Leader on a daily basis, feeling a certain empathy for the Luftwaffe pilots who scoured the Atlantic in Fw 200 Condors, searching out prey for the Kriegsmarine. Of course, they didn't have GPS or marinetraffic.com or vesseltracker.com as well as google maps, or the Battle of the Atlantic might have had a different outcome. Marinetraffic.com is particularly useful in that they send me an e-mail for changes of port, ship underway, ship stopped, change in ETA, etc., while exact locations are noted (latitude/longitude) on vesseltracker. I have yet to access real time satellite photos, but I suspect that I would have to be vetted by Langley, or awfully, awfully well-connected, to literally follow the ship in real time.
Thus, arrived this, at 07:53 Hawaiian time, yesterday, Friday, a day ahead of ETA, and despite the snail pace around the Panama Canal. Name: GENTLE LEADER http://www.vesseltracker.com/en/Ships/Gentle-Leader-I255079.html IMO: 9391567 Time: 25-02-2011 17:53:57 UTC
MOVEMENT: Vessel stopped. ( Port: San Diego ) PORT: The vessel GENTLE LEADER has moored at berth. ( Port: San Diego )
Then, at 13:43 HST, this message: Time: 25-02-2011 23:43:54 UTC
MOVEMENT: Vessel moved.
PORT: The vessel GENTLE LEADER has left the berth. ( Port: San Diego )
My inference, with what I have heard from Porsche, is that my Porsche is now in San Diego, awaiting customs, Monroney and transport, in a covered auto-transporter, to Circle Motors, Long Beach, dealer prep. The Port of San Diego stated that Gentle Leader was at:
So, with the aid of google maps and satellite cameras, I found what might be the very berth with an RO/RO autocarrier, which might be Gentle Leader, in the photo below:
Then, a surprise, at 03:53 HST, Saturday, today: Time: 26-02-2011 13:53:18 UTC
MOVEMENT: Vessel stopped. ( Port: Los Angeles Berth: Long Beach Pier F ) PORT: The vessel GENTLE LEADER has moored at berth. ( Port: Los Angeles Berth: Long Beach Pier F )
So, why on earth does the ship come in to Long Beach, itself, with my car awaiting customs in San Diego? Probably the answer is stevedoring and Porsche port preparation, headquartered in San Diego, and probably a decision based upon cost, and, undoubtedly, the process is transparent only to the Abwehr
So, as we prepare to return to Santa Ana (21:20 today - UAL), and Brigham Young and USD, and Arizona and UCLA prepare to play basketball, I will be reading of Roald Dahl, gremlins, subterfuge, tall tales and the like, and fantasizing about loose talks, ships, German cars and intrigue, and dreading the week of very intense labor, before I'm back in Kona, again. Well, someone has to do it!
Hans Busch: The Last of the Few - An Me 262 Pilot Remembers Having heard the author speak, I was aware of his sensitivity to, and repugnance for, the killing of innocent civilians during the area bombings of Germany, but I was unprepared for the naif who had no exposure to the anti-Semitism of pre-war Germany, or who equated the concentration camps to the British camps for Boers in the South African war. His tribulations on a crowded passenger train near the end of the war stand out in sharp contrast to the tribulations of millions on their final train rides through a country, if the author is to be believed, unaware of the "Final Solution." At the end of the war, he survived 3 years in a Russian prison camp and then immigrated to the United States, where he worked for an aeronautical firm, unable to pursue his dream of commercial aviation.
In summary, this is a sanitized version of limited interest save for those who wish to hear from one of the few who flew the Me 262, and survived a take off crash. There is little self-examination, and the editor's comments could have been written by Josef Goebbels.
This is the book review, above, that I wrote for Amazon, and this is the capsule in Flipkart.com I would judge my review (2/5 stars rating) to be highly subjective, and not very informative for a potential reader, but I intended to convey my disappointment, particularly with the editor, as the material was of great interest, but the author's writing style seemed amateurish, and I suspect that in the hands of a different editor and publisher, perhaps a questioning critic, the material might have been far more interesting. As it was, it might have come from a disgruntled pre-teen ushered off to Camp Wannabee.
Hawaii and the Gentle Leader Enjoying a family vacation in Kona, watching some great basketball, Cal defeating UCLA in overtime for a very well deserved victory, and a wake-up call for an improved Bruin team that has a long way to go to make it to the NCAA tournament. The Syracuse - Villanova game clearly demonstrated the strength of the Big East Conference.
Meanwhile, on another front, Gentle Leader, in one report, at least, has made up a lot of time after sitting off the Panama Canal for 3 days. It looks like it is now due in San Diego on February 24, 2011, 22:00, which is ahead of its projected, original February 26, and revised February 27. It would appear to be flying, to make up 3 days on a short trip, but that information is from another source. I am attempting to confirm the arrival with the only Porsche person who still responds to my inquiries.
Gentle Leader in the Pacific GENTLE LEADER, Status: Underway Speed/Course: 7.7 kn / 142˚ Destination: SAN DIEGO ETA: 2011-02-27 11:00 (UTC)
After 3 days of waiting, she's through the Panama canal, now in the Pacific, just south of Balboa, about 15 hours behind her original ETA. I actually saw her via satellite photos in daylight but didn't see her pass through the locks, as I had hoped to. I suspect that as she goes off shore, she'll be lost to the site: http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/shipdetails.aspx?MMSI=311003300 Still the excitement mounts. Tomorrow, we're off to Hawaii, for a week, and the day after we return, Sunday, Gentle Leader should be in San Diego, and 7-10 days later, just as we head back to Hawaii for a medical conference, the Porsche should be ready for delivery in Long Beach. Whew!
Gentle Leader (with Porsche Turbo S) Off Panama She is joining the procession at the northern end (Atlantic) of the Panama Canal. This strikes me as a bit ahead of the schedule, that I don't have, but I can check back with my salesperson to see if the arrival time in San Diego has changed.
Egypt as an Inspiration It is very hard for me to take all of this in, though I've tried to keep up with events by PBS News Hour and major US networks. It appears that a dictatorship, antithetical to the ideals of democracy, has been brought down by a relatively small number of young people utilizing social media, and possessed of extreme bravery and idealism. What is called to my mind are previous efforts, such as the White Rose movement in 1943 Germany or the Tianamen Square protests of 1989 They were different times and different places but similar consequences for many of the participants. The number of deaths in Egypt exceeds 300, and the facts of Egypt's repression, imprisonment, torture are yet to emerge, but many, many brave Egyptians have paid a price, an untold numbers continue to pay a price for their political, philosophical and religious beliefs. In the face of this, there has been a remarkable demonstration of courage, and so far, and with the apparent tolerance, if not cooperation of the army, never an institution promoted for its liberal views of democracy. To me, this is stunning!
This has been described as "The Birth of Democracy in Egypt." By comparison to a biological "birth" the period of gestation remains largely ignored. This did not occur in a vacuum, of course, but how much nurturing of proto-democratic institutions has taken place. The social media have played a primary role in igniting the spark, and the climate, the educated, young, idealistic... what might pass for a middle class, have been the agents of change. The army has stood by, and the police elements have stepped back... for now.
I celebrate what has been accomplished, so far, and in light of the obstacles they faced, I salute the bravery, and mourn those who gave their lives for the dream of a new Egypt. I have a new interest in one of the world's oldest civilizations, and one of the world's youngest revolutions, and what we can learn from this. They have my respect and admiration. I would like Israel, China, Venezuela, Cuba, Burma to look at this event, and draw lessons, because time, education and the social media conspire to change the existing order, and, so far, with the loss of relatively few lives, Egypt has shaken the world.
This appears about as close to a roll on roll off vessel as I will ever get.
My best current guess is that Gentle Leader is headed southeast to the passage between Cuba and Haiti, en route to Kingston, Jamaica, and then the Panama Canal.
Now headed away from Brunswick at 16 knots, course 139 degrees, South East, about 30-40 miles out in the Atlantic. A lot must have happened, but the intelligence isn't there. I need a mole in Pasha stevedores or, of course, PCNA.
Gentle Leader Detected Off Jekyll Island, GA She was lying off the approaches to Brunswick, GA, well behind schedule... at least 36 hours, speed/course: 0.1 Kn/257 degrees. Undoubtedly waiting for clearance to port, daylight or the pilot. Contact reported: 2/9.2011 4:55:16 AM (UTC). Call off the Catalinas!
Gentle Leader, Where Are You? "Out of Range" is the best marinetraffic.com can do, with the last position being recorded 5 days, 11 hours ago. It should be in the Atlantic about half way between Southampton and Brunswick, GA. Where are those Focke-Wulf Kurriers or Catalinas when you really need them? All I can think about ....
The Porsche 911 Turbo S, aboard the NYK Line "Gentle Leader" was last reported in the Celtic Sea, having left the English Channel, Southampton and the Solent, passing by the very window of my friend, John Wright, in Cowes, Isle of Wight. The "Gentle Leader," was built in Gdynia, in 2008, just about the time Lin and I enjoyed a Baltic Sea Windstar cruise and visited Gdansk, about 10 miles away, and famous for launching Solidarity.
My German car is carried in a Polish built Roll On/Roll Off Auto transporter, managed by NYK Lines, a Japanese company that is the parent of Crystal Cruise Lines, and out favorite cruise ships, the Crystal Symphony and Crystal Serenity. It was the Serenity that took us from Venice through the Mediterranean, the Bosporus, Istanbul, the Black Sea and Odessa.
During World War II, Cowes was bravely defended by the Polish Destroyer, Blysawica, on May 4th and 5th, and the destroyer is preserved as a museum ship in the port of Gdynia.
Our very good friends, the Kadums live in St. Simon, Georgia, and the "Gentle Leader" will have to pass through Saint Simons Sound, pass beneath the Sidney Lanier Bridge to dock in Brunswick, GA, its next destination. It is scheduled to arrive on February 7th, which sounds about right at a speed of 14-17 knots.
I'm afraid, I don't know where she's headed from there. Porsche has a preparation facility in Baltimore, but it would seem that the ship should stop in Baltimore first, if its going there, before it heads south. Eventually, it must go through the Panama Canal to get to San Diego. I suppose I can trust NYK, once again, to see the Porsche safely into San Diego.
WPOAD2A95BS786802 - At Last! Where is Mel Brooks when I need him? For the last month or so, I've been living on the fumes of fantasy, imagining that I would find a sympathetic ear, somewhere in the vast Porsche organization, who would facilitate the mystical bonding of owner with body and engine at station 61, the "marriage." I will have to settle for the car itself, and simply surrender the fantasy. About 54 separate communications to everybody at Porsche but the cleaning lady, and she was spared only because I didn't get her name, or e-mail.
My last hope, Herr Paul Gregor, responded with an automated reply that he will return from vacation on January 10, 2011, only two days before the completion date of my 911 Turbo S. Like the old melodramas where the condemned man sits strapped in the chair, the warden waiting for the call from the governor to halt the execution. The warden shakes his head, the camera fades back and the lighting dims as the electric current.... well, you get it. This one is all but over, and its another one of those character building events, like this year's Bruin football season, or recent Bruin basketball, or the life of a Chicago Cub fan, or someone waiting for Single Payer Health Care.
So much character building, so little time, so much Teutonic rigidity and lack of empathy. One supporter and enthusiast offered this comment, "It's a sad day when a physician knows more about marketing than Porsche." However, there's a midnight blue consolation that should be here by March 15, 2011.
Well that was about 2 weeks ago, and marketing and factory visits are old hat. I heard from my carl saleslady, who has been a great help, that my car has a VIN. That means it is no longer a work order, or a production number. It's my car.... well, it will be when it gets here and I pay for it.
I'm now trying to follow its course, suspected to be by rail to Emden or Bremershaven.
Schweigen im Walde Today, from Plauen, Germany, a thick brown envelope arrived containing christophorus a slick, glossy exercise in generating enthusiasm and exclusivity for Porsche owners and would be owners. The title article is "Sixty Years in America," and the first photograph is that of Ferry Porsche and Ferdinand Alexander Porsche in 1958 with a 356 A Coupe in New York Harbor, in front of a ship named "America."
The entire magazine is in praise of the last 60 years of Porsche in America, with stories of connection and devotion, seemingly in service to selling more cars to it's chief customer nation. If all you read is Christophorus, and realize that there is actually a position in Porsche Cars North America entitled "Customer Commitment," you might have the optimism that a long time customer, purchasing his 7th car, might stand a chance of having a request flfilled, to have a picture taken of the "marriage ceremony," where the engine is installed in the body, at station 61. Instead, I have drawn the polite ire of the Manager of Customer Commitment, who has taken great pains to respond to my numerous requests in a final, definitive answer: "With regard to your latest request that Porsche provide a photograph of your vehicle, please be advised this is not a service Porsche provides to its customers and we are unable to comply with this request now or at any time in the future. Copies of this letter are sent to Customer Commitment, Porsche AG (Germany), Customer Commitment Specialists, Porsche Cars North America, and the Manager, Porsche Contact Center.
In other words, I have been surrounded and contained....definitively. The last time there was such a German envelopment, it was the 101st Airborne at Bastogne, Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge, when General Anthony McAuliffe replied to the German surrender ultimatum: "Nuts!"
It's safe to assume that General McAuliffe never faced Porsche Panzers, nor had a desire to drive one, though he was Commander in Chief of United States Army Europe(1955). My only outlet, in this predicament, is to vent my disappointment in this blog.
It's not that I didn't try, and most creatively writing to about half of the Board of Directors, the marketing manager, the head of production, as well as explore possibilities via the Porsche enthusiast blogs, Excellence, Porsche Club of America, and some other connections which I won't reveal, but does provide me with solace and admiration, and from whom I have borrowed the subject line, which translates as "Silence in the Woods." We gave it one hell of a try.
My car salesperson, Michelle Larsson, of Circle Porsche, Long Beach, has been extremely helpful. Her latest communication, dated January 19, 2011: "...Your new Turbo S is now in paintproduction status. We will have a VIN shortly. When I have that, I will communicate it to you. Soon after that it will go “on vessel”. This is when it starts to get exciting!" I am inferring that the body is being painted somewhere, in preparation for that "marriage" at Station 61.
This is a wonderful video that takes the viewer through the "marriage" at Station 61. Thanks to National Geographic, and YouTube and 924firumnl.
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=91.7){kind=small}
tinkll1's journal
thankful
bitchy
