Always Thinking

I believe nearly everyone who reads this blog is aware of my other blog.  The airplane blog (I just refer to it as that to keep the confusion down)  is ostensibly to promote interest in local history.  I write mainly on things that happened in or are in some way related to Washington State.  Sometimes I write on other military subjects, for instance the grounding of a Cruiser near Pearl Harbor, Hawaii a year or so ago.  Still, I try to return to Washington State and the Cold War.

I honestly did not think anyone would look at it without me inviting them.  Imagine my surprise when I finally began tracking it with Google Analytics and discovered just how many people go to my sight.  It isn't exactly a high end site, I'll admit that.  It does cater to a very small percentage of the population.  Still, the numbers indicate that several people visit each day.  Many because Blogger sends them there.  A few, more than I expect, come directly to my blog!  They have it bookmarked or they follow it.  often, though, they search for something and Google brings them to me.

It is the Google searches that bring the best, though.  I have corresponded with more interesting people thanks to that.  For instance there was the gentleman that wrote about his experience as a boy when he accompanied his family to recover an abandoned Army Helicopter.  There have been others, though, that really make me happy.  The ones who are searching for loved ones or friends.  They want to know about what their dads and brothers and uncles did.  I do my best to send them to the right place and give them as much information as I can.  THAT is the unforeseen result of my blog that makes me happy.  Helping others, while doing something I enjoy.

The thing is I was making fun of a teacher for thinking about buying teacher materials while she was on her vacation...then it dawned on me.  Uhh, yeah, I am always thinking about history.  Oops.

Billings, MT.

This post has nothing to do with Billings, Montana. Nor does it have anything to do with Butte Montana, nor Helena, Montana. The only reason I mention Billings, is I am REALLY hoping to get somone from Montana to Google my site...is it weird that I don't have better things to do with my time? I have Google Analytics and it tells me that I have had visitors from 38 states since I began blogging. I don't get alot of visitors, but once in awhile someone blunders onto it from a state that is not on my list...that makes me happy. Blogger is responsible for many of these visits, because there is a button at the top that says, next blog. People, including myself, push that button and it takes you to some random blog. Often they are in spanish, which I could have Babble Fish translate, but I am lazy and go to the next one. Anyway, I am very interested in getting a hit from someone in Montana...or do you think they have the internet there??

And then there is Google. Search engines are great, since they bring people who are searching for weird things...every once in awhile I attempt to bait them. That is what I am doing tonight, I am baiting google for Montanans...montanians? Mountains? Montanananananans? I hope I am lucky, I will let you know.


We took the Crib back today...well, parts of it. They had been rubbed during shipping which had made the smooth portion rub off...and for what we paid, you would expect a nice, clean,smooth crib. So, we called the store and they said bring the affected pieces back! So we did and they replaced them. It was EASY! They were friendly! and I HEARTILY recommend BABY DEPOT at Burlington Coat Factory. They were nice and exceedingly easy to deal with. So, here is to you Joel, Andrea, Maria, and Desmaris! Thanks!

We shopped a little, but mainly were there for the crib. Now we get to put it together. It was a good day.


My parents left another geocache/treasure hunt for us...we did not finish it due to the dwindling light and other circumstances beyond our control. We plan to finish it tomorrow and we will certainly let you know how it went. Personally, I think it is some sort of torture...so far...well, I will get into that more tomorrow... in the meantime, here is a photo of my dad next to the USS Tripoli at Mare Island Naval Base, bck in 2004. Now, that's a tall ship!