From all I can see, most Los Angelenos continue going about their daily business, unaware of the protests Trump & company are calling an insurrection. Then again, if anyone knows what an insurrection is, it would be Trump.
Why I’m not losing sleep over Palestine: we have our own goddamn problems.
A German podcaster plans to interview me some time this month. He wants to talk about my days flying the F-15 Eagle, particularly my time in NATO. I hope I do half as well as Mace Curran here, who flew F-16 Vipers in combat, was a member of the Thunderbirds, and is now a motivational speaker. This is worth watching.
Check out our latest interview with Michelle “MACE” Curran as she shares what it was like to fly the F-16 including going up against F-15Js!
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— Aircrew Interview (@aircrewtv) June 9, 2025
Mace, like me, flew single-seat fighters. Yes, there is a rivalry between the single-seat and crewed fighter communities. We’re seeing it play out with the introduction of the two-seat F-15EX Eagle II to the Air Force, where it’s initially being used in the same air-to-air role as the single-seat F-15C Eagles it’s replacing, deliberately flown with the rear seat unoccupied.
I confidently predict this will not last, and that weapon systems operators (WSOs) will soon fill those seats, along with a mission change aligning it more with the interdiction mission performed by the two-seat F-15E Strike Eagle (the F-15EX Eagle II being, in fact, an improved version of the F-15E Strike Eagle). Especially now that Trump is directly interfering with the Air Force’s deployment plan for the Eagle II, promising new jets as political favors to state governors.
Here are a couple of memes floating around in the USAF fighter community. Made me chuckle.
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For a year now, I’ve posted daily what-are-you-wearing (#wruw) photos to WatchCrunch, an online wristwatch collectors’ forum. My collection currently stands at 24 watches and I pick a different one to wear every day. I wish I had the smarts to make an Excel spreadsheet to track how often I wear them; luckily for me the developers at WatchCrunch do. These, according to their stats, are the five watches I’ve worn most often over the past 365 days:
From left to right, in order: Seiko SKX009 diver (worn 26 times); Pagani Design PD1701 Omega Speedmaster homage (24 times); Seiko 6139-6005 Pogue (24 times); Torgoen T9 GMT pilot watch (22 times); Timex Expedition field chronograph (22 times). I knew the two Seikos would be in the top five, but I’m a little surprised by the others, given that my first love is for mechanical watches — yes, the Seikos are mechanical, but the other three have quartz movements and are powered by batteries. What they all have in common, though, are traditional dials and hands. I’m Team Analog all the way.
In other posts I’ve mentioned also wearing a smart watch, an Apple 10, to monitor my heart rate. There’s just the one smart watch, and I wear it every day except for the hour or two it’s on the charger … that’s when I put on a regular watch and post #wruw photos to WatchCrunch. I hope, after my recent ablation procedure, that my AFib is gone, and that I can transition back to wearing regular watches all day, perhaps only wearing the smart watch in bed overnight. We’ll see.