I have discovered the power of “No, thanks.”  When the promotion-peddlers try to pass me a flyer, I no longer run around avoiding them like they have a disease.  And I don’t politely take the piece of paper only to wastefully trash it right after taking it.  I simply look them in the eye, politely say “No, thanks,” and keep walking without skipping a beat.  I’m not rude about it.  I don’t stop and yell “NO I DON’T WANT TO SIT THROUGH A HISTORY CLUB MEETING FOR FREE PIZZA!”  It’s just, “No, thanks.”  Two simple words that stops a flood of wasteful clutter and unwanted, unpetitioned material from ever making its way into my hands.  The freedom is exhilarating.

Watch the video on Vimeo here.

Speaking of shape, I’m in pretty bad shape overall as well.  Since high school, my physical activity levels have gone way down, except for mountain biking for fun.  And when winter comes along, even that goes out the window.  This summer, I went on a 1,000-mile bike ride which wound through several states from Georgia to Oklahoma, and that definitely got me into shape for a while, but after a trip that big, when I got home I gave up the bike for quite a while and just sat around.

So, I’ve decided I’m tired of being weak, both physically and mentally.  Often times I’ll try working out but will give up because of a lack of knowledge and motivation, which is a mental weakness, I think.  So today I start with a more focused plan to build strength and no longer be weak!

I am not interested in looking like a body-builder or in “putting on mass” for no reason.  I suspect I will always be tall and lanky, but my lankiness might as well have some strength to it.

I’m using several Web sites to help me design my plan, so that it will be more directed than my past attempts.  Every resource I’ve looked at says my goals should be realistic as well as measurable.  I’ve long struggled with setting measurable goals because I often don’t have the fitness experience to know what goals are good ones and what are bad ones.

This is the list of goals I’ve set up for myself so far.  Because I haven’t been active since I finished my bike trip more than a month ago, I’m not sure if these goals are good ones, but we’ll see.  For example, I think I already run an 8-minute mile, but until I go out and try I’m not sure.  I also am pretty sure I can do 10 pull-ups, but doing more than one set is where I’ll have trouble I think.

The Starting Strength and Strong Lifts 5×5 are two programs that come highly recommended for novices looking to start lifting, such as myself.  I have hardly any experience weight-lifting so these programs will help me set some measurable goals for myself.

Lastly, I have added some swimming to mix things up, and am following a nutrition plan.  I will continue to mountain bike, road bike, and boulder/rock-climb (I work at a climbing gym) to keep things fun, because I don’t want to bore myself until I end up quitting!

I’m doing these things to improve myself and work on discipline.  I will post some updates as I do this!  There is no one, single “challenge” nor an end-date for this plan, because the plan will evolve as I go and improve, and I’m hoping this dedication to fitness and strength will last a lifetime, meaning there is no set end-date!

This photograph of the mushroom cloud over the city of Hiroshima was taken Aug. 6, 1945 by the crew of the B-29 the Enola Gay, which dropped the bomb.  This photo is famous, and is in the public domain.  The photos linked below are from the LIFE Archives, and have never before been published.

On Aug. 6, 1945, an American B-29 named the Enola Gay dropped the 8,900-pound atomic bomb nicknamed Little Boy on the Japanese city of Hiroshima.  The bombing was the first of only two uses ever of atomic weapons during war, the other being the American bombing of the Japanese city Nagasaki on Aug. 9.

The bombing of Hiroshima unleashed a power the world had never seen, and helped bring about the end of World War II.  It also killed nearly 140,000 people within the first two months after the bombing.  Today we honor the American servicemen of World War II, and remember the Japanese dead.

These never-published photographs from LIFE illustrate the destruction the bombs left behind.

Over the past several days I’ve been watching World War II classic movies.  Films like “Dive Bomber,” “12 o’clock High,” “30 Seconds Over Tokyo,” and the 1970s classic “Tora! Tora! Tora!”

One of the things I like best about them is the planes and equipment.  Both of my grandfathers served during the war.  My dad’s dad, William, was a transport pilot who shuttled aircraft of all types from base to base, depending on the needs of the time.  My mom’s dad, Norman, was a radio operator and gunner in a B-17.  As such, the B-17 has always fascinated me.

Crewmen posing with B-17E Flying Fortress. Tampa, Fla., 1942. Photo by Frank Scherschel, from the LIFE Archives.

Four engines of raw, heavy bomber power, the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress was introduced in the 1930s and was used by American forces as well as the RAF during World War II, providing high altitude bombing and advanced bomb sight technology.

Boeing B-17F formation over Schweinfurt, Germany, on Aug. 17, 1943. Photo by the USAAF, courtesy of the U.S. Air Force.

Returning B-17 bomber crewmen of the 8th Bomber Command being interrogated by Intelligence officer (unseen) for all the details of their recent bombing raid in Europe, at airdrome in southern England. United Kingdom, 1942. Photo by Margaret Bourke-White, from the LIFE Archives.

Jubilant B-17 Flying Fortress crew of 8th Bomber Command clad in heaavy flight clothing posing next to their plane after returning unscathed fr. a bombing raid of Europe, at airdrome in southern England. United Kingdom, Sept. 1942. Photo by Margaret Bourke-White, from the LIFE Archives.

*Note: My dad used to have a leather/sheepskin jacket similar to this that my grandpa used during World War II during high altitude missions.  I wonder if he still has it somewhere.

8th Bomber Command, B-17 Flying Fortress ground crew on English bicycles bidding goodby to Fortress gunners before bomber takes off on raid in Europe, at airdrome in southern England. United Kingdom, Sept. 1942. Photo by Margaret Bourke-White, from the LIFE Archives.

OVER GERMANY — B-17 Flying Fortresses from the 398th Bombardment Group fly a bombing run to Neumunster, Germany, on April 13, 1945, less than one month before the German surrender on May 8. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Air Force.

8Th Air Force Bomber Command An Amer. airman clad in heavy sheepskin jacket & pants holding up one heavy insulated boot as he poses proudly next to the nose of his B-17 Flying Fortress bomber decorated the name “STINKY” 45, parked at US 8th Bomber Command airdrome.. Sept. 1942, Photo by Margaret Bourke-White, from the LIFE Archives.

B-17 Flying Fortress crew of 8th Bomber Command donning their in flatable Mae West life preservers, parachute harnesses & flying clothes upon arrival by jeep at the plane they named “The Big Bitch” before bombing mission take-off at airdrome. United Kingdom, Sept. 1942, Photo by Margaret Bourke-White, from the LIFE Archives.

LIFE photographer Margaret Bourke-White clad in fleece flight suit while holding aerial camera, standing in front of Flying Fortress bomber in which she made combat mission photographs of the US attack on Tunis. Algeria, Feb. 1943, from the LIFE Archives.

I’m on my fifth month of Jeep ownership.  Although my Jeep has had a few mechanical issues, I see them more as fun mechanical activities than pesky mechanical problems.  I’ve enjoyed working on it and I love to drive it!  I’ve been looking at pictures of old Jeeps, particularly around WWII.  Enjoy!

Jeep driver at Fort Benning. April 1942.
Photo by Alfred T. Palmer.  Library of Congress

New River, N.C.  The Marine Corps throws a lot of jobs to the jeeps.May 1942.
Photo by Alfred T. Palmer.  Library of Congress

Production. Jeep engines.  Cylinders being drilled into engine block. February 1942.
Photo by Alfred T. Palmer. Library of Congress

Production. Jeeps. Putting “shoes” on another hard-boiled recruit.  December 1941.
Photo by Alfred T. Palmer.  Library of Congress

Note: December 1941 is the month of the attack on Pearl Harbor.  This is early in the war effort.

Rear view of jeep.  US 1941.
Photo by George Strock

Note: I’m a bit confused by this one.  Note the “Ford” emblem embossed on the back?  I did not know Ford made lower-case “jeeps” during this time or any other for that matter.  Can anyone tell me about this?

I, like a million others in this world, am a sucker for classic cars.  Give me an old, rusty jalopy with an engine making sounds it shouldn’t be making long before you give me a new, shiny hunk of plastic that is churned out on so many assembly lines these days.

In fact, a few months ago, when I was looking for a used car to buy, I contemplated going way back and getting a car from some time between the 1930s and the 1960s to fix.  Although I ended up buying a 1980 Jeep (still older than I am!), my desire to have a classic car has not waned.

While surfing the Pike Brothers Web site after I discovered it looking at the T-shirt that inspired my last post, I found the interesting video that I have embedded at the top of this post.

It is of the Rust n’ Dust Jalopy race in Teterow, Germany.  Teams enter classic cars–whether it be a Ford Model A, a slick 1950s Chevy or anything in between.  But unlike so many classic car shows in the States, where the cars are waxed up and shined up sitting on the linoleum floor under the fluorescent lights of an expo hall, these fellas RIDE!  The Rust n’ Dust is a race around a grass and mud track outside.

There are a lot of fun videos on YouTube of the event.  Not only are there cars, but the Germans are all dudded up in overalls, leather jackets and other period fare.  Rockabilly bands play in the background and everyone is having fun.  But make no mistake, this is a real car event.  Teams tinker under the hoods of their jalopies, making last minute adjustments to keep their vehicles running.

Apparently Pike Brothers has a racing team of their own.  This photo on their Web site says it’s of Axel Lehmann (the man in the above video), who races this 1928/29 Ford Model A chassis with a custom-made body and the engine of a 1932 Ford Model B.

What amazes me most about this whole event is that it is in Germany!  These aren’t Americans who are having fun with all this Americana nostalgia–they’re Germans!  Awesome!

This really makes me want to create a similar event in Stillwater.  Although I have no Model A to race, some modifications could be made.  My friends and I are mechanically inclined and I enjoy building and fixing things.  What if each team had $1,000 to build a (not street-legal) vehicle to race on a field track?  It’d push teams’ mechanical and financial abilities to find an engine, weld together a workable chassis, and make sure the whole thing worked and was safe.  It’d be really fun too!

Navy sailor band, including Seabee trumpet player Wallace Colcord, performing a Sunday concert while other soldiers look on. Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert Islands, March 1944.
Photo by J.R. Eyerman, from the LIFE Archives.

A T-shirt made by Pike Brothers caught my eye when I saw an image of it posted on Rivet Head’s blog.  Printed on the front is a graphic of a helmeted sailor, bayoneted firearm  in hand and cigarette in mouth, operating a bulldozer.  Above the drawing is the word “Seabees” and below is the word “Tarawa.”  The 1940s-esque design intrigued me and reminded me of the graphic style of the pinup girls painted on the side of aircraft in World War II.

I also wanted to know exactly what a “Seabee” was.  I correctly assumed that Tarawa was a location in the Pacific theater, where a large battle took place.  The Pike Brothers Web site also says the design is an authentic one, original to the 1940s, and that it appeared in many newspapers.

After doing a search on Seabees, Wikipedia told me that the word is an adaptation of the military abbreviation “C.B.,” for “construction battalion.”  These construction battalions were formed because it was too dangerous for civilian contractors to operate in these war zones.  If they were attacked, civilian workers couldn’t fight back without being deemed guerrilla fighters suitable for execution, so the armed forces needed a militarized construction force that could build the necessary infrastructure for the war fighters, with the ability to fight back when attacked.

The first Seabees were men who were construction workers, welders, machinists, carpenters and other workers in their civilian lives who could quickly adapt their professions to the war effort.

US Navy Seabees building quonset huts. Guam, June 1945.
Photo by J.R. Eyerman, from the LIFE Archives

Could this next photo very well be the inspiration for the original graphic on the T-shirt?

US Navy Seabee Rober H. Sellers of Eugene, OR operating a caterpillar. Guam, June 1945.
Photo by J.R. Eyerman, from the LIFE Archives

**Edit**: The above photo can’t be the inspiration for the T-shirt, because I have found an earlier photo from 1944 of a sailor wearing one of the original T-shirts!  I have replaced the first photo in the post with this new find.

US Navy Seabees building wooden water tanks. Guam, June 1945.
Photo by J.R. Eyerman, from the LIFE Archives

A recruitment poster for the Seabees, via Wikipedia.

Cutting is an event where a horse and rider start in the center of the arena and then slowly move into a herd of cattle at the back edge of the arena, driving some of them out.  The horse and rider then begin “cutting” through the herd, causing the cows to move away from the horse and back to the herd at the back of the arena, until there remains only one cow in the center of the arena.  Then, the horse’s natural ability takes over.  The horse darts back and forth, blocking the cow’s path back to the herd as it tries to juke around the horse.  The horse moves quickly, and must be able to stop and turn on a dime to keep the cow from moving past back to the herd.

It’s one of my favorite events to watch.  Unfortunately, I did not get any action shots.  All I had was my iPhone and I just shot this picture as they were working some of the cattle around.  But do a Google image search for “cutting horse” and you’ll get some good pictures.  Here’s a video about cutting:

I’ll be going back later this week to see some of the other events like reining and the world’s greatest horseman competition, and I’ll get some shots then.

For info on Battle in the Saddle, visit the Web site.