A few quick things before we observe internet silence for Thanksgiving

We got a nooner on Wednesday to kick off the Thanksgiving weekend.  Which didn't mean diddly to me since I am on what I call "Richards Saving Time" (IOW coming in an hour early, thus by noon I have 7 hours in already).  Still nice, and gave Scrappy and I a chance to enjoy the beautiful day.

Ahh... nice, relaxing... where's Scrappy?

I'm coming, I'm coming!

This water is a bit colder than I like...

"Us, too!  We're going south for the winter!
(Click on the pic and you'll see I actually captured a flock of birds flying by)

So the news has Turkey shooting down a Russian plane.  Yeah, I'd fight with Russia too if I were the Turks, they do so well against them:

1568- 70% of the Ottoman army freezes to death in retreat.
1676- after losing 20,000 men, Turkish general is imprisoned when he got home.
1686- One of at least 3 times Russia conquered the Azov region and had to give it back at treaty-time.
1711- Oops, the Turks actually won this one- mainly because the Russians were tired from fighting a 20 year war with the Swedes.
1735- The Russians teamed up with Austria on this one.  The Austrians got hammered, but Russia fought to a stalemate and withdrew due to plague.
1768- The first really serious ass-kicking by Russia.
1787- Again the Austrians help, this time they both beat the Turks.
1806- Beat the Turks bad enough the sultan got deposed.  Called a truce so the Russians could go home and clobber Napoleon.
1828- This one got sparked by the Greek War of Independence. The Turks took an early lead, but faded early in the third quarter and got toasted.
1853- The Crimean War.  Okay, Turkey won this one, but they had Britain, France, and Sardinia (Italy before it grew up) on their side.

Victor Emmanuel II of Sardinia- "We gotta do something about Italy being put together soon.  Everyone thinks I rule a bunch of fish in mustard sauce."

1877- The BIG butt-kicking.  Only the meddling of Angela Merkel Otto von Bismark kept the Turks from being booted from Europe altogether.
1915 (WWI)- A battle so incompetent, both sides collapsed.

So Russia has an 8-2-2 record in 12 wars over 450 years.  Yep, that's a fight I'D pick.

So yeah, it's a mucky deal- much like the former river where the island sits.

Can we cross it?  Yeah... but Mommy will be cheesed when we come home like that.

Okay, we'll wait till it freezes over.

In the meantime, got a couple of curious spam comments lately.  Here's one:

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Might wanna stay off that top bar, dude....

Oh, yeah, we had our first snowfall the other night.  Yay whoop-de-doo...

Once when I was younger, I would have enjoyed this.  But now it's too cold, too wet, and I was too sick.

The other spammer was easier to read, if not to understand...

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this time i am reading this fantastic educational piece of 
writing here at my residence.

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Always a good thing when your weekend is nice in support of you.

Yeah, here's the asswipe wagging his tail after whupping me 54-24 this week.  Well guess what?  I might still go to the playoffs.  I'll send you a card while you watch 'em.

Finally, last night I was feeling what I have to be thankful for, and posted this on FB:

Before I forget, before we eat, before we start a long weekend and get swept up in the heartache that is Black Friday.... Lord, I am thankful for what you have given. You loved me too much for betrayal to make a difference. Too much for the price to make a difference. I am humbled by your mercy.


Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving, and we'll pick you up for Time Machine bright and early Black friday!