"Nobody understands anyone 18, including those who are 18." - Jim Bishop

Crimeans voted overwhelmingly - something like 95% - to join Russia. No surprise there, especially because the opposition boycotted the referendum. I'm interested to see how the West responds, but I'm also curious what the Russians do next. Do they use force to drive out Ukraine military personnel? Take over Ukraine installations? Appropriate equipment? What do they do about the civilian leaders?
This could get very interesting, and tense.

Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day. When people see my last name they sometimes ask if I'm Irish. My response: "Do I look drunk??"
(sorry)

Pam provided a second set of hands, and after using a utility knife to cut through some very old, hard rubber the truck's windshield and rear window are out. Tomorrow I'll work on getting everything out of the cab - dash pieces, door glass and mechanisms, trim...so that when I get back from Michigan the cab, bed, and fenders can go for media blasting. Doors, too, except....

I uncovered some unpleasant surprises yesterday, and I may have to buy a left door. I'll know tomorrow when I call a couple of the suppliers to see if their patch panels will solve the problem.

One of the dynamics getting mention in the news reports on the missing plane is the stress for the families of those on board. Without evidence of a crash, without bodies or wreckage, they're in a struggle between their emotions and thoughts. No certainty, no closure, always hoping that regardless of how long it's been they may get the call that their loved one is still alive.

When my sister and her husband went down in the crash of their Cessna we experienced the same thing. The Civil Air Patrol was out looking for them as soon as weather allowed and kept looking for a week, all at their own expense, but never found anything. Forty three years later we have no idea what happened, or where. They left Wisconsin headed for Michigan and got caught in a freak storm, probably somewhere near Lake Michigan. But beyond that...nothing.

For months - maybe longer - I'd be walking across the campus in Michigan and my mind would construct a scenario where Kathy would appear. Or that we'd get a phone call saying they'd been found, miraculously surviving in the woods of the Upper Peninsula. When I see a story like the one several weeks ago about the guy who got lost at sea and was discovered years later....

The struggle between the brain and the gut shows just how strong a role our emotions play. Long after my mind knew Don and Kathy had been killed in that crash my stomach worked to create some way they could be alive. It didn't have to make sense. The stomach never has to make sense.

So I feel a particular identification with those families, and hope that no matter how unreasonable it may be, they get their surprising good news.