Canopyflyer

Yeah, we lived in the Greater Cincinnati area. I moved there in 1991 for a job. She moved there in 1999 for her Fellowship and Residence. We moved to Wisconsin in 2006 and we like it a lot better.

Semi-blind date. We were setup by a friend of mine that worked with her.

At the time, I was not in a good place and really was not interested in dating. My plan was to meet her, go to dinner, go to a movie then disappear. Why didn’t I just say “No” to the date? My friend is a former Navy SEAL and is not one to give up… Ever. It was just easier for me to say “yes” to the date, go, then go back to my life.

Life had other plans. We met at Newport on the Levee, which is an entertainment/ Shopping complex located right on the Ohio river in Newport, KY. This was in 2004 and the complex was brand new and very popular. So when we exited the restaurant we discovered the line for the movie theater was literally out the door and that was on top of a back and forth line near the box office. So we decided to go to the Barnes and Nobles and get hot chocolate. Neither of us like coffee. We sat down and talked… For THREE hours. It was the best conversation I’ve ever had with another human being.

We’ve been together ever since and that was in 2004. We have two boys and live 400 miles away from the Cincinnati area now.

Driver’s Ed: 1986 Chevy Cavalier and it was a horrible brown color.

Parent’s Cars:

1986 Buick Skyhawk: Very crappy car. The gas pedal didn’t so much produce acceleration, but rather an eventual increase of the angular momentum of the tires.

1970 Chevy Impala: Loved this car. Huge and had a 400cid small block with a 400 Turbo Hydromatic with a 12 bolt posi rear end. It’s the car that really taught me how to drive. It eventually ran 13’s in the quarter mile.

Learned how to drive manual: 1983 (I think) Ford Escort

REALLY learned how to drive a manual: 1949 Willys Overland. A friend’s Dad’s car. Why did it REALLY teach me how to drive a manual? Easy, it had a non-syncrho’d transmission, much like the big rigs have. This car taught me rev-matching, double clutching, and an appreciation about how cars really work. It also had a column shifter. Once I learned how to handle the transmission, it was a lot of fun to drive. It made me a much better driver.

The car that taught me how to race (there were two):

1985 Toyota MR-2: Was a friend’s car that I Autocrossed (Pro Solo) along with him. He actually made it to Nationals with this car several times. Later he won Nationals with a Supra Turbo. This was in the mid-90’s.

1985 Corolla GT-S: This was my car. It was the AE86 platform with the same engine as the MR-2. Absolutely ferocious car. It didn’t handle as well as the MR-2, but it was soooo much fun. This car taught me “trail braking” and a lot of other performance driving skills. This remains my favorite car I’ve ever owned, even to this day. I’d love to find one and restore it.

“Never pass up the opportunity to keep your mouth shut.”

– Canopyflyer’s Mother circa 1982

So long as you’re not arguing, its a non issue.

Well… Shit.

Off to therapy I suppose.

deleted by creator

Blue Man Group?

Christmas about 4 years ago, my brother went completely around the bend.

His house was the place for our family, my sister-in-law’s family and some family friends to meet for Christmas. Just before Christmas that year he started texting me about Rittenhouse and how he admire the guy for defending himself. Fast forward to when we were at his house, he would only talk about how important the 2nd amendment was, how he admired Rittenhouse, and to top off the shit cake he admitted to being member of the Oathfuckers, breakers… Whatever those fucking idiots call themselves.

He was aggressive about how his worldview was correct and that I did not know what I was talking about. He had been ramping up his power plays over me the past couple of years and I just let it go to wait to see what his “big” play was going to be. Apparently this was it. He even attempted to rewrite family history as well. We had a paternal uncle that died in the Battle of Leyte gulf and I knew well the family history and did a bit of research on my own to discover what really happened to him. World War II records are not exactly state secrets any longer. Well, because my brother was a big wig at the Veteran’s Administration and had all kinds of government clearances yada yada yada, HE had the real scoop, which conflicted somewhat with what I had read.

My god you would have thought I shot his dog he was so pissed when I attempted to speak about what I had learned. To this day I don’t know what his play there was, it was just utterly bizarre.

His final power play was he TOLD me, not asked, but TOLD me he was going to teach my two boys about guns and how to shoot. I had to tell him FOUR FUCKING TIMES that NO, HE wasn’t teaching my kids shit about weapons.

My wife works in Pediatrics… That’s not going to fly. Not to mention I’ve already given them instruction on how to handle firearms in case they come across them for what ever reason. They can pick a gun up, check the safety and clear the chamber of both automatics and revolvers. Sure, they may not be able to shoot the dick off a fly at 400 billion yards, or strip clean and reassemble a 1911 in under 3 seconds blind folded, under water with depth charges going off less than 6 inches away while humming the “Battle Hymn of the Republic”. But they can keep themselves and those around them safe.

Needless to say that was when I punched the big red button and went nuclear on our relationship. Our father died about 2 years after the above event and I had not been in contact with my brother, or my Dad. Dad was being taken care of by this brother, so when I cut that relationship, so did my relationship with my Dad… Which honestly his attitude was going much the same direction anyway. I didn’t even go to Dad’s funeral… Which was completely bizarre.

You see our Dad was in the Navy for 4 years back in the 1950’s. Dad talked about that time and he seemed to have liked his time in the Navy, but it just something he did to get out of his small hometown in West Virginia. It was never a career goal and he spent his entire time as a medic. To see my Dad’s funeral you would have thought that his entire life was spent in the military. My brother made it an entirely military funeral with troops, 21 shots and the whole thing. I understand the military does this for all veterans and I don’t have a problem with it, except my Dad didn’t identify as being a military person AT ALL. He was in the Navy 70 years prior and while he would tell stories and use his medic training on occasion, it was never a part of his personality.

Needless to say I’m very glad I live 400 miles away from what is left of my original immediate family. I miss my sister-in-law as she is a very sweet and caring person and their son. I really wanted my boys to know their cousin… Oh well.