Year: <span>2011</span>

New Years!
New Years!

As 2011 quickly passes into history, I have a few moments to reflect back on everything that’s happened these past 12 months.  It has actually been a good year for Winnie and me, with lots of potential for an even better year to come.

Family Stories

Music Inside
Music Inside

Thanks to the wonders of the Internet, I’ve just learned the singers behind one of my favorite Christmas songs.  So, in the spirit of the Christmas season, I thought to share this with my many (more than three) readers.

Just For Fun

Happy Thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving

In honor of another annual Day of Thanks, I thought to muse upon the ghosts of Turkeys Thanksgiving holidays passed. For those loyal readers who make it all the way through my ramblings, there’s a bonus Thanksgiving music video thrown in for fun.

Family Stories

Note: This post was submitted by guest writer Almishti, and published as a show of support of this writer’s position.

In response to police actions on UC campuses; This is my open letter to chancellor Blumenthal of the University of California, Santa Cruz, on Occupy UC Davis. 

Opinions & Commentary

Veteran's Day
Veteran’s Day

The further away I’ve gotten from my active duty days, the more important Veteran’s Day has become.  As of today I’ve been retired off active duty for 15 years and Veteran’s Day has become the day I consider “my” holiday, as well as “the” holiday for my fellow veterans and those still serving.

Family Stories

Natural Disaster
Natural Disaster

My mom sent me this important and useful piece of information on disaster preparedness.  Considering the number of disasters I’ve lived through these past years, I wanted to share it here.

Just For Fun

Occupy Wall Street September 30 2011 - File Photo
Occupy Wall Street September 30 2011 – File Photo

I’ve watched the “Occupy Wall Street” movement from the start, and can’t help but being impressed with the way the protesters have handled themselves.  For the most part, they have conducted themselves with exemplary behavior.  However, the same cannot be said for the local governments and police departments.  Aside from New York, the worse is the City of Oakland, California.

Opinions & Commentary

This And That
This And That

Another season passed, another season beginning.  It has been a very busy summer here in the Virginia edition of the Charest family.  We started with refinancing our house the evening before leaving on a three week trip to China.  Upon our return home; the rest of the summer was a blur of recovering from our vacation trip, work, boating, really hot weather, earthquakes, hurricanes, flooding rainstorms, and several groups of family visitors.

Family Stories

Killing Healthcare
Killing Healthcare

It was just last year that we as a nation had a vicious and bitter “debate,” more properly called a descent into insanity, over whether we should have some semblance of pretending to create a national health care policy.  I did my part in debating the position of sanity and compassion in the reader’s comments section of our local rag, now called “Inside NOVA.com.”  What I remember most from this experience was just how vicious and selfishly mean the Republican side of the argument was.

Opinions & Commentary

This And That
This And That

Winter seems to finally be at an end.  Daily temperatures are slowly climbing back up, trees are beginning to show blossoms.  We’re having rain instead of snow.  All-in-all, things are looking up.

Family Stories