“There is nothing more important than appearing to be religious.” — Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince (1532)
Author Archives: Steve Mays
No-slip Jeep pedals
No idea what the original brake and clutch pedals looked like on my Jeep but by the time I got behind the wheel, they were pretty slippery. Today Machinist Wizard Andy Cain welded on some some non-slip tread.(bottom photo)
Dr. Strangelove
With Putin rattling the “tactical nuclear nukes” saber on a daily basis, this seemed like a good time to enjoy a couple of my favorite scenes from Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, known simply and more commonly as Dr. Strangelove.
W. C. Fields: The Great McGonigle
Paul C. Miltenberger: Hero
While cleaning out our basement, Barb came across the wonderful letter her father sent from Luzon in 1946 (PDF). At Barb’s suggestion, I prompted ChatGPT to tell me anything it could about the letter. Keeping in mind that AI’s get things wrong, I found the analysis interesting.
Barb’s father, the late Paul C. Miltenberger, receiving the Silver Star following the Battle of Luzon in WWII. Dr. Miltenberger. From the St. Louis Post, July 18, 1945:
Captain Paul C. Miltenberger, 29 years old, Army medical corps officer, has been awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in action last April 23 on Luzon. When a platoon sergeant had been seriously wounded and had fallen in an exposed sector of the jungle, Capt. Miltenberger dragged him 800 yards to a protected area where he administered first aid.
800 yards (almost half a mile) through the jungle, under enemy fire, is a long way. Dr. Miltenberger was one of the best people I’ve known in my life. I never heard him say an unkind word about anybody.