I recently discovered that segments of the new Transformers movie were filmed onboard my old ship, USS Shoup! There are pictures floating around the internet of pieces of one of the evil Decepticons in the helo hangar awaiting burial at sea. I can't wait to see the Navy's finest warship in action this summer!!! In the meantime, I had to share this super cool recruiting video from Singapore's Navy.......
For arranging such a wonderful weekend with my folks. I loved every minute I got to spend with my dear ma and pa. We had a great time cooking, laughing, drinking martinis and getting caught up. 
Also, dad turned me on to a great new blog that I am adding to my blogroll today. The West Seattle Blog features news, events and comments dealing with my West Seattle neighborhood. I've been looking for a great resource like this for some time now!
American-Amicable ripped off service-members and is now being forced to pay us back! If you bought a "Horizon Life" Insurance policy sometime between January 1st, 2000 and July 28th 2006 you may be eligible for part of the cash settlement, continue reading...
Consider this another Bad Case of Wanderlust pubic service announcement. I received a letter today from a company called American-Amicable Life Insurance Company of Texas. The name instantly caught my attention and brought up a long forgotten memory of the time they ripped me off with a very deceptive "investment" plan. I was eighteen years old, fresh out of bootcamp and fresh out of my parents' house, earning a more steady paycheck than ever before. American-Amicable somehow got permission to come on the base and sell their life insurance to gullible young fellas such as myself under the guise that it was nearly guaranteed to turn us into millionaires. What whipper-snapper with money to burn could possibly refuse such a great deal?!?! Upon further reading of the fine print in my new policy I got a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. Despite feeling that anybody allowed on base was legit and that thieves were only encountered OUTSIDE of my safe, secure military home, I cancelled my policy after only giving up maybe three months worth of pay. Apparently 57,000 servicemembers, including myself were interested in becoming millionaires according to the Securities and Exchange Commission (Read the full story here). The SEC has sued American-Amicable and they have agreed to distribute $10 million back to the hardworking servicemembers that they ripped off. The letter I received included a check that gave back a little of what I lost, but gave me a great satisfaction in knowing that they had been caught.
From the SEC's website:
Millions of Americans huddled around their TVs clutching beers and rooting for their favorite team in Superbowl XLI, or at least rooting for the team they hate the least. Our house was no exception. 10 members of our urban family unit joined us in our cozy basement to watch the mighty Peyton Manning(with a laser-rocket arm) engineer a dominant victory over the Bears of chicago. Whether it was a sense of revenge for seahawks fans, an unhealthy obsession with Peyton Manning or just a desire to not be the only Bears fan in the room, we were somehow all united in our hopes for the Colts to emerge victorious.
