Shoup Airlines

Clark or Coffee?

As most of you know I bought a new car. As all of you know, registering a car, new or used, is always a pain in the butt. Alabama takes it to an entirely new level and makes the CA DMV look like a utopia.

They don’t have motor vehicle departments here so you have to go to the courthouse to take care of everything. What cracks me up though is that the majority of the courthouse is the motor vehicle department. So I show up just after lunch figuring the crowds have died down. I’m wrong. As usual. I stand in line for 30 minutes and finally get served. Literally.

“Oh, I’m sorry. You’re address is right on the border of Clark County. You’re going to have to go over to the Clark Courthouse in Ozark.”

“Really? I thought all of Enterprise was in Coffee. Okay, thanks for your help.”

I’m not really perturbed, it happens. I’m used to it. The part that sucks is that Ozark is 30 minutes away on the other side of Ft. Rucker. So I plod through the base and finally get over to the Ozark courthouse. Stand in line for another 30 minutes and get served. Again.

“Wait, where did you say your address was again? That’s what I thought, hang on a second and let me check something.”

She disappears into the back and pulls up all kinds of surveyor maps and confers with supervisors. Now I know our area is rather new but I know it has been around more than a year so they should know at least something about this. Or so I thought.

“Who said you lived in Clark County? Hang on another second and let me call the Coffee Courthouse. Who’d you talk to you?”

Of course, I can’t remember. “Um, one of the gals with the annoying accent,” is what I want to say.

“Okay, Coffee County has confirmed that you live in their county. I’m not sure who or why they told you you live in Clark but you don’t.”

She looks at the clock. It’s five after four.

“They’re open until 4:30 if you hurry. I’m sorry about that. Good luck.”

Gee, thanks. I know I won’t make it in time and just head home. But hey, I got to see a bunch of Apaches swarming around like bees in a hive out at their stage field. Woo!

Andersonville

One of the more educational things we got to do during WOCS was what is called a staff ride. Unit commanders will take their officers on a trip somewhere educational that can reflect on lessons learned and basic leadership skills. Ours was to Andersonville, GA. Ever heard of it? Nor had I.

Real quick recap: during the Civil War both the North and South had POW camps in which the living conditions were extremely sub standard and over crowding was the norm. The South’s was located in Andersonville and had nearly 45,000 Northern soldiers enter its gates. Only 75% of those ever exited the gates. There are many stories to be told at this historical site and none that I can do justice with on the blog.

It was a 3 hour bus trip to the site so we watched the 1996 made for tv movie by the same name. I slept through most of the movie knowing it would be bastardized by Hollywood. It was. But I have to admit it was sobering to watch scenes in the movie and then step off the bus and see the exact same scenes in real life.

It was unfortunate that we didn’t have much time to explore the actual POW museum at Andersonville. They had quite an extensive display echoing from the Civil War all the way up to the present day war. Several of us recognized the poignancy of walking through those halls and knowing where we would be in just a few short weeks. But in usual military fashion, we had somewhere else to be and not enough time to get there.

On the ride back we stopped in Americus, GA for a real home cooked Southern meal. Or so they told us. I still refuse to call it a real Southern meal simply because they didn’t have fried okra on the buffet. I have NEVER had a Southern meal without fried okra. But I shouldn’t complain, the sweet tea, mashed potatoes and fried chicken were some of the best I or anyone else had ever had. Of course, that is 5 weeks of DFAC food getting in the way, but it was still pretty damn good.

The rest of the photos are up in the Gallery.

Things That Make You Think

We’re sitting in the grove on one of our many “breaks” during WOCS. It’s humid as usual, but there’s a nice breeze blowing through every couple minutes that just staves off the sweat from being uncomfortable.

I notice a small bug land on my arm and plod around exploring the hairs and occasional mole. Yes, I’m that bored. Anyway, the bug has the structure of a medfly but is a bit smaller with wings about twice the size of his body. When I felt the breeze step up again, I thought for sure the fly wouldn’t be able to hold on and fly away. I thought wrong.

It was actually really cool to watch. He would turn himself into the wind and then raise both wings to complete vertical until they were touching. I assume this would kill all lift created by his wings as he’d just bear down every time the breeze came up. As soon as the breeze would die he’d start exploring again as if nothing had happened.

It will always be the small things in life that count.