Tony Dye

Travel Time

For the next two weeks, I’m traveling, and mostly staying away from “normal” things, which in many ways means a lot less use of technology.  An hour or two a day on the computer is about it.  Rethinking my life purpose, values, vision, and considering an Andy Stanley idea of “what path am I on?”  I like his quote (which I think he attributes to his dad): “Direction, not intention, determines destination.”

This is partially a trip catching up with friends and family I haven't seen in a while; a little bit of business; a little "think" time in the car, and a lot of retreat, all mixed together.  I'm having to ask myself some hard questions and expecting that some of the answers won't be easy, or at least not easy to receive.

Stephen to Ft. Hood

My younger son, Stephen, heads to Ft. Hood Wednesday to prepare for deployment to Afghanistan next month.  When he joined the Army Reserve four years ago, deployment seemed likely “soon,” but it didn’t happen.  Recently, it seemed it would never happen, but sometimes you just get surprised.  He’s spent the last few weeks getting ready, including some more training which he feels quite confident about.

My father was career army, and I dabbled with Air Force ROTC, but never served.  Stephen is the first family member with the Dye name to carry on the military service tradition.  Needless to say, I’m very proud of him.  Certainly I’m concerned for his safety, but I have to remember what my father often says – “do you think he’s any safer in downtown Atlanta than in Afghanistan?” 

Stephen will have a total deployment of 400 days.  He’ll spend Thanksgiving in Ft. Hood, and by Christmas he’ll be in Afghanistan.  There’s a slight chance he’ll be back home before Christmas 2010.

Thank you Stephen, I’m proud to be your father.

Home = Liberty

I'm not sure what it requires to call some place home, but I'll make the claim that Liberty KYis now my home.  As of this past Friday, pretty much all my physical possessions are in a storage unit in Liberty, I have a PO Box in Liberty, and I have no other address to call home, so this must be it!

I'll definitely still be spending a lot of time in the Atlanta area, and all points between, but for now, Liberty is where to find me.

Peter to Madrid

This evening, my older son, Peter, departs for Madrid Spain.  When he graduated from college last fall, as an English major, he wasn’t quite sure what he’d do with that degree.  He thinks he's found the opportunity -- teaching English to native Spanish speakers, in Spain.  Since he's had a lot of Spanish language, including an intensive in Mexico, he should be well prepared for this.

Being "well prepared" may not be quite the right phrase to use.  You see, Peter doesn't know exactly what he's going off to do!  He knows where he's going, and he even has a place to stay, but only for the rest of the week.  By next week, he has to find a place to live, and get enrolled in some training, and figure out transportation, and food, and life in Spain.  Oh yeah, he also has to be part of finding his own students.  Perhaps in schools, perhaps corporations, maybe even individual one-on-one training (he's already got contacts with some).  Stepping into such an unknown thing, in another country, would be terrifying to a lot of people (me, for instance).  But Peter just takes it in stride.  He has a way with people and he's comfortable in so many situations.  In the past few years, he's traveled to Russia, Tanzania, Mexico, and then several countries in South America, so this is just one more step for him.

With this open-ended plan, he also doesn't know how long he'll be gone.  He's expecting nine months to a year, but it could be longer, or it could be shorter.  He doesn't have return tickets, though.  It's all just part of the adventure for him.

He’ll be away for a long time, which is sad, but he knows how to stay in touch lots of ways.  I’m excited for him.  And yes, I’m proud a proud father.  My son is doing things that I never did.  Way to go Peter!

 

Hearing Aid Technology

My dad, who will be 92 next month, got some new hearing aids a couple of weeks ago.  I got to go with him to the VA audiologist.  Let me just say it this way: hearing aids are NOT boring technology!  There is a tremendous amount of processing going on inside.  The units he received were from Phonak, and they are part of the Exélia Art product line (these links change often so don't be surprised if it goes stale).    Some of my quick notes: these things (as a pair) "listen" for voices, and when they "hear" a voice, they supress out most other noise.  They know the difference between a male voice and a female voice, and they can adjust to either one.  They are quite programmable, although the audiologist said that out of the box, they "just work."

This particular model has only one physical adjustment, volume, and that doesn't get used much.  These little things are smart!  If they notice that the volume is always adjusted, for instance, when a female voice is detected, they learn to make that adjustment automatically!  If you adjust the volume on one ear, it tells the other ear to make the same adjustment.

For people like my dad, who have a lot of high-frequency hearing loss, these things shift the audio into a frequency he can hear.  The units recognize when he's on the phone, and not only shut out other noises at the time, they also play the phone into both ears at the same time!

These devices have logging, to determine what environments the user is in, and to record what it did to improve the sound in that situation.  The audiologist can review this info at the next appointment and make adjustments, if needed.  Oh yeah, the firmware is upgradable and new releases come out a couple of times a year.  Here's a list of some of the other features:

EchoBlock - Understand well in echoey environments
SoundRelax - Eliminating annoying sounds
Real Ear Sound - Natural sound orientation
WindBlock Management - Suppresses wind noise
NoiseBlock Processing - Premium comfort in background noise
SoundFlow - Continuous and instant optimization to all environments
VoiceZoom - Speech intelligibility
WhistleBlock Technology - Feedback free hearing
Acoustically Optimized Venting (AOV) - Minimum occlusion
QuickSync - Control both instruments with one touch

My hearing is mostly OK, but these things are so impressive I want a pair.  Oh, wait, there's a catch.  The price is nearly $10k for the pair!  OK...guess I'll wait unti the technology has been around a bit longer.

Still, all fascinating stuff. 

Double Nickels

And that's all I'm going to say about it.

House for Sale in Suwanee GA

Yup, my house is officially on the market.  If you know anybody looking for a modest home in Suwanee, I'd love to hear from them.

Goodbye Old Friends

Saturday was a big cleanup day.  I pulled all the old stuff from my attic and reviewed it.  Things that I've stored for years.  It was time for a decision, a hard decision, a decision to say goodbye.

I've kept a lot of books I had from former jobs.  I have quite a few books that date back to college.  I have a few that go all the way back to high school, maybe even before!  And what have I been doing with those books?  Nothing!  So, it was time to say goodbye.  This wasn't a fast goodbye.  I lovingly looked through each box, remembered each book, and somewhat relived the memories of when I'd last read each one.  There were a few other things in with the books.  Old data tapes, old floppies, I even found a few 80-column punch cards!  Some old software, a few old parallel printer cables, some mouse pads, and other random memorabilia.  Good reminiscing time.

A few things met the "too precious" requirement and were moved into other boxes to be saved for later.  The great majority, however, ended up being repacked, sealed, and prepared for the garbage man.

 

 

 

8" floppies, and 80-column cards

An original, Windows NT, Software Development Kit:
 

All ready for the garbage man.  Goodbye my friends.

Witness to War on CBS, June 4

Here's an update to the Witness to War on CBS posting of a few days ago.  (slightly edited):

From: Tom Beaty
Date: Mon, May 25, 2009 at 1:00 PM
Subject: UPDATE: Witness to War on CBS Evening News with Katie Couric MOVED to June 4th

Thank you for your interest in my non-profit effort, The Witness to War Foundation.  CBS Evening News with Katie Couric is doing a story on the Foundation and its mission to Preserve, Honor, and Educate as it relates to the preservation of oral histories of American combat veterans. 

The piece was scheduled for this evening {Memorial Day} but has been moved to Thursday, June 4th at 6:30 PM EST.   They decided to move it as Thursdays are their biggest ratings nights (especially compared to a holiday Monday) and it will tie into D-Day.   According to the producer, they are very excited about the piece and wanted the biggest audience possible.

The story will cover the efforts of the Foundation and also ties into a fascinating story that goes all the way back to June 6th, 1944.  At that time, Amin Isbir, a man with the 6th Naval Beach Battalion, landed on Omaha Beach, Easy Red sector and was killed almost immediately when an 88 round hit a nearby vehicle, flipping it on top of him.  Two of the men I interviewed witnessed his death.  However, his body was likely not recovered until June 8th as that was his official death date.  Isbir’s great nephew has been working to get the date changed for years.  Our interviews played a small part in his success and CBS went all the way to Normandy to film the replacement of his stone at the cemetery overlooking Omaha Beach.  In addition, CBS will use some very rare footage of Isbir and his men landing at D-Day.

The story will also feature interviews with me, Col. Harold Weekley (a B-17 Bomber pilot who was shot down over enemy territory and escaped with the help of the French Resistance), and the family of Joe Peoples, a veteran of WWII, Korea, and Vietnam and the third man across the famous Bridge  at Remagen.  Sgt. Peoples was an amazing American and they may include clips from my interview with him, as well as clips from numerous others.  The whole thing will only be 2-3 minutes and will most likely air towards the end of the 30 minute show.

We hope that this publicity will further the mission of the Foundation and its efforts to honor these great soldiers.  Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers this Memorial Day.

Best regards,
Tom

Tom Beaty | Founder & Managing Director | The Witness to War Foundation

Preserving & Sharing the Oral Histories of Combat Veterans

www.witness-to-war.org | A Non-proft Charity

Witness to War on CBS

Just a quick plug for my dad and the Witness to War organization.  Witness to War will be featured on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric at 6:30pm EST on either Memorial Day, May 25th OR on June 4th, the Thursday before D-Day.  Here's the announcement:

Memorial Day: A Time to Reflect on Events that Preserved our Freedom From: Tom Beaty Dear Friends & Colleagues, Witness to War will be featured on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric at 6:30pm EST on Memorial Day, May 25th OR June 4th, the Thursday before D-Day. As a daily news show, they will not make the decision on the air date until Monday based on other events of the day. The piece will likely air at the end of the 30-minute broadcast and will feature interviews with me, B-17 pilot Col. Harold Weekley, and the families of two other veterans, including one filmed in Normandy. We hope that the Foundation’s mission to Preserve, Honor, and Educate will be advanced by this publicity. In addition, the Foundation was recently featured in an interview with a radio show aired on the ABC Radio network. Listen to it here. In honor of Memorial Day and the sacrifices they made, the Witness to War Foundation would like to recognize our veterans. We invite you to take a look at some of the most viewed war stories on our website in the hopes that you will remember and appreciate our veterans on this important day. H. Read Vaughn, 444th Bomber Group, recalls the perils and vistas of the dangerous bombing runs over Tokyo near the end of the war. Julius Shoulars, 7th Naval Beach Battalion, recalls his time on the Beaches of Normandy before and after he landed at Omaha Beach on June 7, 1944. Dick Arnold, 87th Infantry Division, describes his first 24 hours of combat in France during World War II. Stephen Chick, 5th Ranger Battalion, recalls storming and surviving the Omaha Beach invasion on D-Day as his friends and fellow soldiers fell around him. Harold Dye, 569th Anti-aircraft Artillery Battalion, recounts an amazing story that all started with an artillery barrage at a Rhine crossing. Mitch Touart, 11th Bomb Squadron, recalls when an American plane crashed upon landing in a remote Chinese airfield, and trapped a Staff Sergeant as the plane burned around him. Herbert Braselton, USS Pennsylvania, recalls the terrible aftermath of a torpedo attack while at port in the Pacific. Carl Beck, 101st Airborne Division, remembers an attack on an enemy tank by Airborne infantry in Normandy. Frank Prater, North China Marines, recalls when he and the China Marines received notice from the Japanese. Ray Davis,1st Marine Division, witnesses the die hard nature of Japanese soldiers in the Pacific. Thank you for your interest in Witness to War, and a special thanks to those who fought and continue to fight for our freedom. If you would like to get involved, please feel free to contact me. As always, remember to check the site regularly as we add content often. Best Regards, Tom Tom Beaty www.witness-to-war.org