Periscope Depth

[SubVet676]

Up Scope.

Buc-ee's update. Went by there around lunch time Friday. I was hungry, and just short of hangry.

Pro tip: Never, ever go to a Buc-ee's when you are really hungry.

Got a Texas cheesesteak burrito, beaver chips, and a lemonade. Headed out to the truck for a mobile lunch.

Could only eat about half of the burrito and chips. Felt like I weighed 300 lbs; blood pressure was probably 280/165; saw faint blue spots everywhere I looked; and almost got on the Interstate in the wrong direction. Not a food coma, a food stroke.

Someday, they will find me in a Buc-ee's parking lot. With a smile on my face.

Side note: If there's a Buc-ee's near you, just go sit in the parking lot for half an hour one day. You will see things that make the "People of Walmart" stuff pale in comparison. Park, grab a drink, and just enjoy the show. No cover charge.

Down Scope.

 

[JustFunnN'Orange]

Up Scope.

Buc-ee's update. Went by there around lunch time Friday. I was hungry, and just short of hangry.

Pro tip: Never, ever go to a Buc-ee's when you are really hungry.

Got a Texas cheesesteak burrito, beaver chips, and a lemonade. Headed out to the truck for a mobile lunch.

Could only eat about half of the burrito and chips. Felt like I weighed 300 lbs; blood pressure was probably 280/165; saw faint blue spots everywhere I looked; and almost got on the Interstate in the wrong direction. Not a food coma, a food stroke.

Someday, they will find me in a Buc-ee's parking lot. With a smile on my face.

Side note: If there's a Buc-ee's near you, just go sit in the parking lot for half an hour one day. You will see things that make the "People of Walmart" stuff pale in comparison. Park, grab a drink, and just enjoy the show. No cover charge.

Down Scope.

First, Thanks for Your Service!!!
Second, I probably know the answer but, did you navigate the trenches around Timor Leste....N of Australia..in the middle of Indonesia??

I spent almost 3 yrs on that island and happened to see two "towers" while I was there........legend was....Subs navigated those trenches to Disappear...because they were very deep and be lost to sattelites.

 

[SubVet676]

First, Thanks for Your Service!!!
Second, I probably know the answer but, did you navigate the trenches around Timor Leste....N of Australia..in the middle of Indonesia??

I spent almost 3 yrs on that island and happened to see two "towers" while I was there........legend was....Subs navigated those trenches to Disappear...because they were very deep and be lost to sattelites.

Nope, I was strictly an "East Coast" guy. Western Atlantic, LEO Ops, Med, Northern run, and a couple of places I can't remember anymore.

As for the rest of it, no idea.

 

[SubVet676]

Up Scope...no close contacts.

"Home is where the heart is." How many times have we heard that, or said it?

Trust me, it's true. I was raised in East Tennessee, and as a many generations Vol fan. I still remember my first game in Neyland Stadium. I was 11. Vols beat Auburn in Neyland Stadium. My first case of a lifelong affliction of "chicken skin" when I hear Rocky Top and see the Vols running onto the field.

One of the best days of my life.

I left Tennessee at 17 to join the Navy and "See the World". Lived in VA, SC, and GA. Visited numerous other countries on liberty. Made a life away from God's Country...Tennessee.

But no matter where I was, what I was doing, or whatever else was going on...home was always where my heart was. In Tennessee. And with the Vols.

Lived a thousand lives, and died a thousand deaths cheering the victories and mourning the losses. During football season, my whole week centered on the results of the last game, and the hope for the next. I had the good fortune to be on the USS Tennessee when they won the Natty. Unfortunately, we were at sea for that game, but the entire crew...even the non-believers...cheered when news of the victory reached us via the sub broadcast.

That was another good day.

Fast forward to today. After what seems like a biblical level of wandering through the desert of irrelevance and disappointment, UT Football is back. Josh Heupel and his staff have UT pointed back towards the Promised Land. UT is relevant again. We're not there yet...but we're close.

In 13 days, UT Football is back. And this old heart is already starting to swell in anticipation of what lies ahead for the 2025 Vols. Win or lose, home is where the heart is...and my heart is stuck somewhere around the 50-yard line of Shields-Watkins Field, in Neyland Stadium.

Looking forward to my next bout of chicken skin. And the tears that just seem to come out of nowhere when I see the POTS Band break into the "T", and out comes the Vols. In that moment, no matter what else is going on...my life is perfect.

Go Vols. I am blessed beyond words at having had the privilege to grow up in East Tennessee, and to be a Volunteers fan.

Honestly, I don't think it gets any better than that.

Down Scope.

 

[Orangeburst]

Up Scope...no close contacts.

"Home is where the heart is." How many times have we heard that, or said it?

Trust me, it's true. I was raised in East Tennessee, and as a many generations Vol fan. I still remember my first game in Neyland Stadium. I was 11. Vols beat Auburn in Neyland Stadium. My first case of a lifelong affliction of "chicken skin" when I hear Rocky Top and see the Vols running onto the field.

One of the best days of my life.

I left Tennessee at 17 to join the Navy and "See the World". Lived in VA, SC, and GA. Visited numerous other countries on liberty. Made a life away from God's Country...Tennessee.

But no matter where I was, what I was doing, or whatever else was going on...home was always where my heart was. In Tennessee. And with the Vols.

Lived a thousand lives, and died a thousand deaths cheering the victories and mourning the losses. During football season, my whole week centered on the results of the last game, and the hope for the next. I had the good fortune to be on the USS Tennessee when they won the Natty. Unfortunately, we were at sea for that game, but the entire crew...even the non-believers...cheered when news of the victory reached us via the sub broadcast.

That was another good day.

Fast forward to today. After what seems like a biblical level of wandering through the desert of irrelevance and disappointment, UT Football is back. Josh Heupel and his staff have UT pointed back towards the Promised Land. UT is relevant again. We're not there yet...but we're close.

In 13 days, UT Football is back. And this old heart is already starting to swell in anticipation of what lies ahead for the 2025 Vols. Win or lose, home is where the heart is...and my heart is stuck somewhere around the 50-yard line of Shields-Watkins Field, in Neyland Stadium.

Looking forward to my next bout of chicken skin. And the tears that just seem to come out of nowhere when I see the POTS Band break into the "T", and out comes the Vols. In that moment, no matter what else is going on...my life is perfect.

Go Vols. I am blessed beyond words at having had the privilege to grow up in East Tennessee, and to be a Volunteers fan.

Honestly, I don't think it gets any better than that.

Down Scope.

 

[malinoisvol]

Up Scope...no close contacts.

"Home is where the heart is." How many times have we heard that, or said it?

Trust me, it's true. I was raised in East Tennessee, and as a many generations Vol fan. I still remember my first game in Neyland Stadium. I was 11. Vols beat Auburn in Neyland Stadium. My first case of a lifelong affliction of "chicken skin" when I hear Rocky Top and see the Vols running onto the field.

One of the best days of my life.

I left Tennessee at 17 to join the Navy and "See the World". Lived in VA, SC, and GA. Visited numerous other countries on liberty. Made a life away from God's Country...Tennessee.

But no matter where I was, what I was doing, or whatever else was going on...home was always where my heart was. In Tennessee. And with the Vols.

Lived a thousand lives, and died a thousand deaths cheering the victories and mourning the losses. During football season, my whole week centered on the results of the last game, and the hope for the next. I had the good fortune to be on the USS Tennessee when they won the Natty. Unfortunately, we were at sea for that game, but the entire crew...even the non-believers...cheered when news of the victory reached us via the sub broadcast.

That was another good day.

Fast forward to today. After what seems like a biblical level of wandering through the desert of irrelevance and disappointment, UT Football is back. Josh Heupel and his staff have UT pointed back towards the Promised Land. UT is relevant again. We're not there yet...but we're close.

In 13 days, UT Football is back. And this old heart is already starting to swell in anticipation of what lies ahead for the 2025 Vols. Win or lose, home is where the heart is...and my heart is stuck somewhere around the 50-yard line of Shields-Watkins Field, in Neyland Stadium.

Looking forward to my next bout of chicken skin. And the tears that just seem to come out of nowhere when I see the POTS Band break into the "T", and out comes the Vols. In that moment, no matter what else is going on...my life is perfect.

Go Vols. I am blessed beyond words at having had the privilege to grow up in East Tennessee, and to be a Volunteers fan.

Honestly, I don't think it gets any better than that.

Down Scope.

100% agree. I too left God's country at the age of 17 to join the USAF and see the world. I moved back after being gone for more than 25 years. Aint nothing like Rocky Top, the opening of the T, and Tennessee Orange.

It's awesome to be in a foreign country, sporting the Power T , and getting a "Go Vols" while walking around.

 

[SubVet676]

Up Scope...

So...Lane Kiffin is trolling UT again. Something about a post to UMiss fans referencing their upcoming game against Georgia State, and how UT lost to them a few years back. Maybe he felt like he needed to energize the team, or the fan base.

Or maybe he was just being the Lane Kiffin we all know now. Zebra can't change its' stripes.

Either way, it was a cheap shot. Just the latest in a long series of them directed at UT...and UT fans.

I have nothing against the University of Mississippi...their football team...the fans...the State...or anything else down that way.

Lane Kiffin? Here is where I veer off.

Talented coach. Terrible excuse for a man. I have no respect for him, and never will. That seems to be a common theme among those who have trusted him over the years. If it were up to me, his time at UT would be forever erased from the UT record books.

But let's end this PD visit on a positive note...if I read on the news that an elephant had escaped from the Oxford Zoo (assuming they have one), and that in the process it had trampled Lane into a bloody smear on a sidewalk on the UMiss campus...I would do whatever it took to DoorDash 100 pounds of peanuts to that elephant.

There...positive finish.

Down Scope.

 

[SubVet676]

Up Scope...

So, CFB Week 1 is (almost) in the books. Let's raise #1 MFM; get a fix; and maybe ventilate for a few minutes.

Sometimes the stories write themselves. The media wonks are going to have a field day this year with the comparisons between Nico and Joey. I could go a lot farther with this one, but I'll just sit back and watch the drama unfold. Yes, Joey will have a bad game here and there, and Nico might have a good one or two, but we all know who got the better end of this trade. This one's gonna be fun to watch.

What's the Over/Under on Shane Beamer saying something stupid by 7:00 PM this evening? Whatever the over is, I'll take it.

Texas, Ohio State, LSU, Clemson, Bama, FSU. Are all mortal. Right now, there's not much vertical separation between being 1-0 or 0-1. It's a long haul to the CFP, and nobody is in or out at this point. But out of these 6 teams, I think at least 2 don't make the CFP.

Deion needs to retire. He won't, but he has nothing left to prove. It's time to place his long-term health above his short-term coaching career.

Good Lord, who's that guy wearing #6 for Tennessee? I speak of Mr. Joey Aguilar, of course (the other kid ain't bad either). Syracuse might not win 10 games again this year, but Fran Brown can coach, Angeli can sling it, and they have a pretty tough RB. Play a little better defense, and they're in the hunt for a major bowl. All that being said, Mr. Aguilar looked like he'd been on the team since May...of 2024. That throw he made for the TD...running to his left...across his body...dead on target...is a warning to opposing DB's, and a hint to UT's backs and receivers. Keep working to get open, and Joey just might find you. Folks, we have ourselves a gamer at QB. Stay healthy, and UT is going to be a tough out anywhere.

Tommy Castellanos may be the most-hated person in Alabama this morning. But he's barely ahead of Kalen DeBoer...

If you didn't have tears in your eyes when you watched Lee Corso make his Final Pick, you have no heart. I really didn't care either way which team won, but for Lee's sake I'm glad the Buckeyes won. He deserved to go out a winner. Class act, that man.

Mike Keith won't make us forget John Ward, but will remind us of him for (hopefully) many years to come. If you are anywhere near the UT Campus, you need to take a 5-gallon jug and go fill it with whatever is coming out of the tap up on the Hill. With a tip of the cap to Mr. Vitello, the UT Athletics Department is hitting one dinger after another when it comes to UT Athletics. Forget the KoolAid...drink the water.

So...back to the quiet comforts of the briny deep for this long-retired bubblehead. You won't see me, but I'll be watching. And listening.

Down Scope.