Well, the trial I am on almost went to jury today. But after lunch and some very long delays we (the jury) were told to go home and come back tomorrow. Apparently there were some “procedural” errors that need to be ironed out before the case can go to jury.

I wish when this were all over the jury would be privy to what transpired. Both for curiousoty sake as well as the ability for a jury to see a larger part of the picture. I wonder how much is public record.

This has been quite a busy week, but I was forced to eke out a few extra days in order to perform my public service and serve on a jury. I will serve at least one more day next week as well. This is the second time I have been selected to sit on a jury. In both trials I have learned a little more about the American justice system as it pertains to the sixth amendment.

Since I am a people watcher by nature it is fascinating to me to watch the courtroom personnel, the attorneys, the accused, the witnesses and other members of the jury to see how they react to situations. Deliberations have not yet begun but I look forward to that process as well. Will we, as a jury, elect a foreman? Who will rise to the top? What issues will the others find important to deliberate? Will it take us long to reach a consensus? These matters are absolutely fascinating to me, especially when it is a group of complete strangers.

This is far more informative than sitting in the local mall and watching strangers go by as they live in their little “life bubble,” isolated from the rest of humanity. I have a classroom where I can watch, spend time and interact with other personalities and viewpoints. In this case to determine the facts of the case and present a unanimous declaration of those facts to the court.

Will justice be served? Well that’s not up to us, the jury. We were only formed to separate the fact from fiction.

• S-1 Class Submarine
• Keel laid: November 7, 1919, at Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp., Quincy, MA
• Launched: August 22, 1922
• Commissioned: October 15, 1923
• Displacement: 854 tons surfaced; 1,062 tons submerged
• Length: 219′ 3″
• Beam: 20′ 8″
• Depth limit: 200′
• Complement: 4 officers, 34 enlisted
• Armament: four 21″ torpedo tubes, 12 torpedoes, one 4″/50 deck gun

S-26 sailed from New London on December 10, 1941, and arrived at Coco Solo, Panama, on December 19th. Rammed by submarine chaser PC-460 at night in the Gulf of Panama, S-26 sank on January 24, 1942 with the loss of 46 men. Three men survived. Her hull was not salvaged.

Commander Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet

Patch(es) were obtained from:
NavSource Online (Submarine Photo Archive).
Originally contributed by Mike Smolinski.

I am in a weekly study with two other couples. Both couples have more than twice the “time in the pond” that my marriage has. We decided that when we formed this group we would go deep with real issues and talk them through. Our goal was to help each other build our marriages strong by “real”, honest communication.

I must say that last night was quite a blessing. Our discussion migrated to who was the dominant partner and how does the not-so-dominant partner feel. It was interesting to see a mix of dominant ladies and men. It makes it easier to separate out the basic male/female differences and focus in on the dominant/less-dominant characteristics.

An enlightening moment for me, the dominant personality in my marriage, was when I could hear the other dominant personalities express what I’ve expressed so often, “Why don’t you just speak up.” It was a moment of getting outside my marriage and better understanding the dynamics. Neither personality is wrong but then neither is necessarily right either. They both have things to contribute but different ways of doing it.

This was an excellent way to look into your own marriage objectively if you are with a few other couples that are willing to be honest and “go deep.”

• S-18 Class Submarine
• Keel laid: December 10, 1918, at Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp., San Francisco, CA
• Launched: June 3, 1919
• Commissioned: April 4, 1923
• Displacement: 854 tons surfaced; 1,062 tons submerged
• Length: 219′ 3″
• Beam: 20′ 8″
• Depth limit: 200′
• Complement: 4 officers, 34 enlisted
• Armament: four 21″ torpedo tubes, 12 torpedoes, one 4″/50 deck gun;

Japan began the Pacific War on December 8, 1941, while S-36 was already conducting defensive activities in Philippine waters. Despite suffering from the serious mechanical and electrical problems that continuously plagued the old “S” boats, she remained on patrol until mid-December. Her second war patrol began late in the year, taking her into the southern Philippines and then toward the East Indies. S-36 attacked an enemy ship at Mindoro on January 1st, but apparently missed, and endured a terrible passage through the Sulu Sea that included a prolonged encounter with a Japanese destroyer on the 15th and 16th, while her own powerplant and other systems were in a continuously failing state. Continuing on into the Makassar Strait with unreliable charts, on 20 January 1942 she ran aground.

Her forward battery compartment flooded, and the salt water combined with the battery acid, generating chlorine gas. The situation was grave—so grave that her C.O., Lt. J. R. McKnight, sent a plain language message that the boat was aground and sinking. Sargo, got this message and for five hours attempted to relay it without success. She then turned back to help S-36.

When Headquarters at Surabaya became aware of the grounding, a PBY was dispatched to evaluate the situation. By the time the plane arrived McKnight was more optimistic about being able to save his boat, if he could get some assistance. None of the crew were transferred to the plane, and when it departed it flew to Makassar City to request assistance from the Dutch authorities. They complied with the request and the next morning a launch arrived from Makassar. McKnight realized he would not need all the people he had on hand and sent two officers and 28 men into the launch, keeping the remainder behind in hopes that S-36 could be hauled clear.

Work though they might, conditions on the sub worsened, and when Dutch steamer Siberoet arrived in the afternoon of January 21, 1942, the C.O. decided to abandon S-36 and destroy her. All the remaining officers and men were saved.

Naval Historical Center

Commander Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet

Patch(es) were obtained from:
NavSource Online (Submarine Photo Archive).
Originally contributed by Mike Smolinski.

I just read a news article about a couple in the middle of a bitter divorce battle in New York City. Apparently the divorce has been going on for 2 years and neither wants to move out of the house. A judge ordered a wall built in the house to separate the two. All this had my curiosity piqued. As I arrived at the end of the article a therapist spoke up and said something to the effect that when a situation like this happens it indicates that the individuals are not ready to move on. That raised a curious question in my head.

Why would someone resist doing what they wanted to do? Here are a few idioms that come to mind:

• “Shooting yourself in the foot”
• “Cut your nose off to spite your face”
• “Your own worst enemy”

This begs me to ask the question as to what can be gained by simply being stubborn for stubborn’s sake. Hey, I’ve been there – it has never accomplished anything but to heap more pain on me. Sure I may inflict a little pain elsewhere but the person I am hurting most is me. Interesting thought.

Last night my wife and I rushed about after our last engagement of the day, grabbed a few necessity items and headed out of town for an overnighter. It had been last July since we had a small overnight away from life. It helped tremendously that we were both off on Monday, that we had a little saved up in our together time fund, that the kids had friends that wanted them to stay over on Sunday night, and that we are trying to make a huge decision.

We have talked since the end of last July about whether we should move to Alaska. The uncertain part of this is that we have no job calling us up there. In October I thought it would be a good idea for me to experience an Alaskan winter if we were to seriously consider this notion. If it seemed too miserable in the winter while on vacation that would put the decision to rest once and for all. We arrived in Alaska and within 3 days 3 out of 4 of us came down with “knock you out” kind of colds. We lost several vacation days just lying around being miserable. But you know what? Even in the middle of those colds, when they were at their worst, we were enchanted by the beauty, the simplicity of the possibility of a move up north. So that didn’t help.

We decided before we got into the airplane to fly to Alaska that no decision would be made while were where there. We did not want to be clouded by “vacation dreaming”. The second we got off the plane in Anchorage my wife said something to the effect, “I’d move here today if you wanted to.” Each and every day I looked out the window of our cabin (See it here) and saw nothing but the most beautiful place on earth. Alaska was always enchanting in the summer but there is no comparison to winter.

As much as I try to be objective about this decision, it reaches deep into my heart. I was born and raised in California and my loyalty has always been there. I have lived for various lengths of time in Connecticut, Virginia, South Carolina and Washington. And even though 6 years in western Washington were glorious and beautiful, I still considered myself a Californian. My cumulative time in Alaska is less than 9 weeks and yet I know that I could adopt Alaska as my home state.

I have a brother-in-law who wants to go into business with me. He’s ready to move out of his concrete business that he got up and running from nothing. We would make a good team with our similarities AND differences. He would be great and fun to work with. We’d make a good team and our wives as well.

However, not all is rosy. My family and a good part of my wife’s family lives in California. We would be isolated from them. Our plans have us optimistically heading to California annually for visits – but even that would have my heart longing for time with family and the best plans are sometimes thwarted by events beyond my control. There is no “guaranteed income” source (aka job). We’d have to start over, no benefits, no retirement. Although the business startup sounds good, is it nothing more than a dream?

That’s about it 2 negatives family and income. I’d never be able to step back into my job or even income level if things did not work out and we moved back.

So how does one make a decision like this? We are on our knees before God. He knows what the future holds, he knows what’s best for us in the long run. We need to seek him. We need to be in tune with his plan that is being woven in our lives. In the past he spoke to each of us clearly, independently and told us to sell a car, one that we needed. He can and does speak. I need to listen. Like the simple step of selling a vehicle, he will orchestrate something far richer and more than we count on to bless us.

Dream small dreams, get small results.

I just finished up my second book on house flipping. It was a rather good choice to purchase two different books on the same subject. It was a valuable experience to get a different angle on the same activity. Additionally, I selected the best sequence in which to read each book. In the first I walked away with the idea that surrounding oneself with an exceptionally strong team would foster the best environment to succeed. In the second book I received a more “nuts and bolts” look at what is involved, approaches to handle situations – buying, selling and evaluating income potential. This manuscript ended with a highly motivational chapter about what can be achieved with vision.

It’s kind of obvious when I think about it, but no dreams will get me nowhere. The funny thing is, even though it’s obvious when I think about it, I don’t really think about it that often. So here’s a reality (at least for me) that I can absolutely agree with and yet I do nothing about it; I don’t even think about it. Many times over the years I have been depressed over my aimlessness in life. I know that unless I have a vision of something, anything, that I’ll not see any results. Yet, armed with this knowledge, I have done nothing about it – at least for the 6 years I have fully realized the ramifications of lack of vision.

The concluding chapter of this second book built on the ideas of vision, passion and autonomy. These are critical elements to success in whatever arena the dreams take me. My thinking here is not limited to various means of materially providing for my needs but it extends to contributions that I want to make to the world I live in; it extends my desire to help the less fortunate; it extends to my relationships with others; it even extends into my spiritual condition.

I can dream big. I won’t have all the answers but my passion will pull me through. It’s OK when my vision and passion are looked upon with skepticism. If I continue to do what I’ve always done, I get what I’ve always gotten. Freedom.

• Sargo Class Submarine
• Keel laid: October 27, 1937, at Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, CA
• Launched: April 1, 1939
• Commissioned: July 22, 1939
• Displacement: 1,400 tons surfaced; 2,350 tons submerged
• Length: 310′ 6″
• Beam: 27′ 1″
• Depth limit: 250′
• Complement: 5 officers, 50 enlisted
• Armament: eight 21″ torpedo tubes, 24 torpedoes, one 3″/50 deck gun, two .50 cal machine guns, two .30 cal machine guns

On December 22, Swordfish departed Pearl Harbor to conduct her thirteenth war patrol, in the vicinity of Nansei Shoto. On January 2, 1945, she was ordered to patrol clear of the Nansei Shoto area until completion of scheduled air strikes. She acknowledged receipt of these orders on January 3rd. No further communication was received from the submarine.

On January 9, 1945, SWORDFISH was directed to proceed to the vicinity of Okinawa to carry out her special mission. It was estimated that the task would not take more than seven days after arrival on station, which she should have reached on January 11th. Upon completion of her mission, SWORDFISH was to proceed to Saipan, or to Midway if she was unable to transmit by radio. Since neither place had seen her by 15 February, and repeated attempts to raise her by radio had failed, she was reported as presumed lost on that date.

In the report of her loss, mention was made that KETE, which at the time was patrolling the vicinity of Okinawa, reported that on the morning of January 12th she contacted a submarine by radar. It was believed that contact was with SWORDFISH. Four hours later KETE heard heavy depth charging from this area, and it was believed that this attack might have been the cause of SWORDFISH’s loss.

On February 15, after repeated attempts to contact her by radio had failed, she was reported as presumed lost, the victim of unknown causes.

Swordfish (SS 193) earned eight battle stars for World War II service.

Naval Historical Center

Commander Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet

Patch(es) were obtained from:
NavSource Online (Submarine Photo Archive).
Originally contributed by Mike Smolinski.

Today I had to ask myself, “Self, why am I blogging?” After a long pause I assume that maybe he didn’t hear the question. So once again I ask myself “why?” After digging through a few archives I recall a conversation I had with a friend a few days ago.

In this conversation I expressed why I decided to create a blog in the first place. The core idea revolved around journaling to work out my thoughts. This blog has a very specific flavor that just feels right for what I need. It’s not a purely personal journal, although every entry is personal to me in its own way. It’s not a political blog, although there are political entries. It’s not a blog on submarine history. As I think about it, it’s a blog to help me think out loud as it were.

Of course I publish it to the world so you can contribute your 2 cents to any topic. Your comments, ideas and disagreements are always welcome. They contribute to my ultimate goal of working out my thoughts. That’s why I am blogging.