View allAll Photos Tagged Milestones
Just eight years ago I reached a milestone event. This was the day when my desire to be seen overcame all worries about imagined consequences and in May 2012 I went out in public for the first time ever.
Though I needed to be seen, I did not want to attract attention, so I dressed and made up very simply and plainly, as you see.
It went perfectly well, of course. I was in shops and crowds, but everyone was intent on their own business and nobody looked twice at me.
1940s kitchen with the familiar white sink. Note the washboard underneath - a key musical instrument of 1950’s skiffle groups!
On Nov. 14, 2016, Lt. Col. John Marks, a pilot with the 303rd Fighter Squadron, logged his 6,000th hour in the A-10 Thunderbolt II at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, becoming one of the highest time fighter pilots in the U.S. Air Force.
Marks has started flying the "Hawg" little less than 30 years ago. During the last three decades, he has flown the A-10 in theater during 11 combat deployments with the mission to support and protect forces on the ground.
“Six thousand hours is about 3,500 sorties with a takeoff and landing, often in lousy weather and inhospitable terrain,” said Col. Jim Macaulay, the 442d Operations Group commander in an Air Force release about the incredible milestone. “It's solving the tactical problem on the ground hundreds of times and getting it right every time, keeping the friendlies safe. This includes being targeted and engaged hundreds of times by enemy fire.”
Lt. Col. Marks has started flying the Thunderbolt at low-altitude, in Europe, during the Cold War, when the A-10 focused on developing tactics to attack Soviet tanks in the battlefield.
During the years, the mission has evolved.
A-10s have become more sophisticated, new sensors and weapons have become available and these have made the "Warthog" even more lethal. Flying at higher altitudes above Afghanistan, Iraq or Syria, the Thunderbolts remain the most efficient CAS (Close Air Support) platforms available.
“In the end, we can cover the ground forces with everything from a very low-altitude strafe pass only meters away from their position, to a long-range precision weapon delivered from outside threat ranges, and everything in between,” said Marks.
Noteworthy, Marks was part of an epic mission during the Gulf War, when two A-10s wiped out 23 Iraqi tanks (a story that we described in detail here.)
“The trio of missions I flew on February 25, 1991, with Eric Salomonson on which we destroyed or damaged 23 Iraqi tanks with oil fires raging all over Kuwait certainly stands out,” he expressed. “The sky
was black from oil fires and smoke and burning targets, lending to an almost apocalyptic feel.”
Indeed, during the same mission, the A-10s landed twice at a FOL (Forward Operating Location), were refueled and re-armed to return over the battlefield and help the Marines near Kuwait City.
"Recently, a mission I flew on our most recent trip to Afghanistan, relieving a ground force pinned down by Taliban on 3 sides and in danger of being surrounded, using our own weapons while also coordinating strikes by an AC-130 gunship, 2 flights of F-16s, Apaches, and AH-6 Little Birds, stands out as a mission I'm proud of," continued Marks about one of the most rewarding missions of his career, which earned him the President's Award for the Air Force Reserve Command in 2015.
With such an experience, Marks serves as a mentor for younger pilots in training.
“I've watched him mentor young pilots in the briefing room then teach them in the air,” said Macaulay. “Every sortie, he brings it strong, which infects our young pilots that seek to emulate him.”
“I like to think we can show them a good work ethic as well,” Marks added. “You always have to be up on the newest weapons, the newest threats, the newest systems. You can never sit still.”
Marks has plans on flying the A-10 until he can: his next goal is to reach 7,000 hours.
NARRATIVE; The Aviationist with thanks.
303rd Fighter Squadron A-10 at RAF Leeming, UK.
The sprightly bristlecone in the foreground is probably about my age. The stately elder in the background could be close to four thousand years old. It is an impressive example of how to age gracefully and with dignity in a harsh, unforgiving environment and would have been sprightly itself around the time that Stonehenge was completed.
Four thousand years, incidentally, is the informally accepted age at which a bristlecone is recognized as being “ancient”. I imagine such a milestone is celebrated in treedom much as humans celebrate their fortieth.
Kern River headwaters, Milestone Creek, Milestone Pass, and a Pika. California, Sierr Nevada Mtns, Sequoia National Park, Milestone Pass.
Walking around the museum made us hungry, so we sat down and Matt treated us to lunch!! This was a late Father's Day treat.
(Off to the hospital with Tim later to wait while he has CT scans etc! Seems every week involves a trip to the hospital - not that I'm complaining - at least they are looking after him!)
Charlie has passed another milestone. This weekend, he went through the cat flap by himself for the first time.
Yeah, technically she doesn't exist in the DCU right now I don't think, which is such a crime, but it sounds like a lot of businessy mumbo jumbo. I'm keeping her in the same album, though, just for ease of use.
I tried to keep her color scheme and core outfit pieces in tact as best I could, but I'm not tremendously sure how I feel about it. Definitely one to be improved as new parts come.
This room really reminds me of my Grandma's house! It's set in the 1940s and although the furniture isn't identical, the dark furniture and thick tablecloth are very similar!
Here's a taster of the living museum Matt and Sophie took Tim and me to yesterday. The last time we went there was 2006, when the boys were 16 and 12!
I think this is the sawmill. (Tim should feel quite at home there, having worked as a wood machinist in the past!!)
Milestones Museum of Living History is a museum located on the Leisure Park in Basingstoke, Hampshire, UK. Milestones is made up of a network of streets that have been recreated according to those found in Victorian and 1930s Hampshire.
It was opened on 1 December 2000 by HRH Duke of Edinburgh as a joint project between Hampshire County Council and Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund.
In the last shot, you saw a 16 year old Matt. Here's an older Matt doing a little shopping for Sophie when we were at the Milestones museum! The shopkeeper wasn't the chattiest of characters!!
Milestone at Ffos-Y-Ffin, Ceredigion.
Date taken: 3rd August 2021.
Location: Ffos-Y-Ffin, Ceredigion.
Album: Things That Aren't Cars
I'm sorry I didn't read the info on these fine cars at the Milestones Museum, but if you're able to identify them, please do! (No prizes though, as I won't know if you're right or not!!)
thought i'd take the overlays i've done so far and put them in a mosaic. the lower right corner is the "base" ducky that the textures were overlaid upon. some came out more successfully than others. i am not sure exactly which ones are my favorites and i think i've pretty much mastered this skill ~grin~
ANSH scavenger7 Milestone
135/365 aDaD "a duck a day" day116
the whole aDaD album is here:
www.flickr.com/photos/muffett68/albums/72157709771680081
1. paperweight ducky*, 2. crocheted ducky, 3. denim rip ducky, 4. believe angel ducky, 5. golden glittery, 6. patty's frost, 7. blue fuzzy fleece, 8. cut glass ducky, 9. frosty ducky, 10. blue bubbly*, 11. overlays overdone??, 12. glittery duck, 13. 'textures of the sea' ducky**, 14. blue swirly textured ducky, 15. pastel clock, 16. white ducky for overlays left rotated
Milestone.
9 miles and 922 yards to Pembroke.
Date taken: 21st July 2021.
Location: Canaston.
Album: Things That Aren't Cars
A pivotal milestone in railship development, the Storm was among the first series of double-gauge rail vessels designed specifically to form a train.
Previous double-gauge vessels were less structurally complex and operated individually. Since these retronymically-termed “rigid” shoulder-less railships were more constrained in their length, (and therefore their volume) by track geometry, the capacity taken up by their internal engines and fuel storage was particularly burdensome.
The improved efficiency of dedicated locomotives within a double-gauge train permitted any non-motive vessel to allocate more of its capacity to weaponry, often resulting in an immense turret spanning nearly its entire beam. The addition of swiveling shoulders between the trucks and body allowed these vessels to grow to sizes far beyond those of rigids.
The first non-rigid double-gauge vessels saw action in the latter stage of the Great Steam War, but remained effective long into the era of internal combustion.
Play Features:
-L-Gauge compatibility (concentric curves and narrowing offsets up to 22.5º)
-Motorized turret rotation
-Detailed interior
It was a tough life being a child back then, out on the street with no shoes on and matches to play with!!
I asked my 'boys' if they would copy the poses of the mannequins and this is what they came up with! (They look like puppets on strings!!)
Another 'Tim update", he has been sent home from work to get another sick note! His boss didn't think he was well enough to return to work just yet!!
I hadn't noticed the photo count until Joe showed me what he had been up to. Todays picture makes it 2500 on Flickr so Joe wanted to mark the occasion. Think it's got a Hollywood sign feel to it, although not sure about that megaphone Joe :-)
My children are growing up.
A few weekends ago, we finally disassembled our daughter's crib (which my son used before her) after waiting several months since she started sleeping in her "big girl bed". I couldn't help shedding a few tears as I helped my husband unscrew and take the pieces apart and put them in the attic for the last time.
Excited to see that I've hit a milestone number of images, the majority of which are vintage, linked into the National Library of Australia's website called TROVE and very chuffed to be able to say there have been over 17 million views.
A sopping wet evening finds the AF6 job beginning their night, crossing Highway 12 and headed to Alliance Steel. I am amazed I've never seen a car get hit at this crossing before... a nerve racking experience is had by all every time I shoot this move. People don't yield for shit here.
For your listening pleasure, some obscure post rock as a soundtrack for tonight's upload:
Wow, yet another milestone with you guys! I can't thank you enough! I've gone through so many Dark Ages and yet you guys never unfollowed or stopped checking out my stuff. Throughout my inactive phases I always got new Lego followers that though they should check out my page and give me a follow!
This is truly an awesome community and I hope it lasts through generations (unless there's an internet apocalypse where social media becomes legend) BUT IT IS NOT THIS DAY!
So cheers to everyone! :D
Can't wait to reach another milestone with you guys!
Total I reached the grand old age of 65, but then age is just a number. This weekends plans went to pot a bit as my partner was unwell and couldn’t make it up here, we had a table booked for tonight on my usual pub, I was coming as Helen. Having met my son for lunch today, I decided to come up here anyway and have a nice glass of wine by way of celebrating this milestone. I decided to ignore my age and dress entirely age inappropriately life’s too short to be conservative. Hope you approve of the look, feeling great and there’s loads of life in this old bird yet Helen ❤️💋