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Greg Collins' Blog

A blog by Greg Collins in General

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30 March 2013

I attended a funeral yesterday for my cousin, Elwood Leroy Collins, who died on the 24th. Born in 1925, he was the son of my Grandfather’s brother and, though somewhat distant in relationship, he appeared in more than a couple of “scenes” in my life whenever I returned to this part of Virginia. Family reunions, Sunday dinners or, simply, running into him during local travels- it was always great to see him as he brought a sense of humour to nearly every occasion. No doubt it would have been pres

March 31, 2013

9

25 May 2013 Ft. Lee Military Show

Earlier today (5-25-13) I attended the Ft. Lee Military Show for the first time. I had a blast… great show, wonderful location; altogether a very worthy effort by the organizers. I’ll certainly go again next year, and I’ll probably have a table of my own then as well. I primarily went to hook up with two good friends, Kevin Born (one of the show’s organizers- thanks Kevin!) and Ralph Pickard (author of “Stasi Decorations and Memorabilia, Volumes 1 and 2”), as it has been a couple of years sinc

May 26, 2013

1

24 September 2012

I have been absent from the blogging scene of late… I could list all kinds of excuses but, as most of them revolve around being 58- and a lot of you are in the same shoes- you can fill-in the blanks. For those who have not reached this point in your “development”, I admonish you to enjoy the youth you currently enjoy as it truly is fleeting. For those who have passed me and are looking at 58 in the rear-view, please resist the temptation of telling me what comes next as I just LOVE these surpris

September 24, 2012

3

May Day 2012

Happy May Day to all! Not a big holiday here in the US (although it did start here) except for the "faithful" (hard core Reds). Did catch the Moscow goings-on via RT earlier today- they covered events all over the world. Good to see the Moscow parades, although I wish they still went through Red Square. Noticed that even the oligarchs participated in the parade (Medvedev)- hmmmmm. Also good to see the general strike called by the Occupy movement- still strong. All together much more going on thi

May 1, 2012

9

23 December 2012

As I wrote in yesterday's blog, I have thought about sharing a few "sea stories" with you. Don't expect great revelations here; just a few that I can't seem to get out of my head, no matter how hard I try. They are personal in nature and may give insight as to why I am somewhat "twisted". Communication, I have painfully learned, is the cornerstone of a lasting marriage. All to often we fall prey to our own baser instincts and concentrate on the physical, only to "pay big time" at a later date.

December 23, 2012

0

22 December 2012

Well, the 21st has come and gone and we're still here... not sure if that's a plus or minus but, hey, it IS. So, on we go until the next projected apocalypse. Nothing much happening here except it is getting colder. I apologize to those living in the colder climes- Canada and Russia come to mind- but we're just not as used to it here and it does get "raw" at times. Anyway, I'm taking advantage of the indoor time to continue cataloging the collection. This has become something of a daunting tas

December 22, 2012

0

Victory Day 2012

In about 20 minutes it will be May 9th in Moscow and Victory Day will be underway. The annual parade should step-off at 1000. A change from last year's attempt at the utility uniform will be the return to the dress uniform (why they changed that last year I will never know). Hopefully the parade, in it's entirety, will be broadcast (perhaps by RT) and, again hopefully, someone will make a dvd of it that will be available for purchase by those of us who live in the more remote areas (hint). Asi

May 8, 2012

2

28 February 2012

Well, as of 1338 (Eastern Standard Time) today, I became 58 years old. I was taking a nap at that moment, so I didn't notice any great change. In essence, a non-event. But, to be honest, I have been, lately, mulling over the passage of time and what I've seen during my half-century plus on the blue marble. If nothing else, it's been an interesting ride. At the risk of boring the readership, I provide the following highlights: -I've been to all 50 states in the USA and 27 countries; during all

February 29, 2012

6

16 February 2012

It's be awhile since I last wrote... a fair amount of things going on in both my personal and paycheck lives- to quote David Bowie, "ch, ch, ch, changes..."; some changes- ok, some changes- not so ok and, to be frank, some changes I'm having a very difficult time supporting (most of those dealing with the paycheck life). But I won't bore all of you with the details; it has, after all, nothing to do with collecting. Though I haven't written, I have steadily posted images to my galleries. A grea

February 17, 2012

4

15 April 2012

Hmmmm... Spring has, apparently, "sprung" here in beautiful metropolitan Ferncliff, Virginia where our one traffic light continues to blink red one way and yellow in the other direction. The horses are snorting (probably because of all the pollen), the cows are lowing and the "little birdies machen melodies"- much to the amusement of my cats. The possum (or possums- not sure I'm always looking at the same one) has come out of that weird partial hibernation and has joined the cats for meals. My s

April 15, 2012

2

13 March 2012

I'm in kind of a "bitchy" mood today; on the two days I've had off, I had to go to meetings at the joint on both days. These people have meetings to decide when to have more meetings!!! Nothing is ever accomplished during said meetings except to expose how education deprived the speakers are. In the 8 years I spent in the Navy, we trotted all over the Far East, Central America, shot through the Panama Canal, went through Grenada, blasted the crap out of Beirut- all without meetings. Amazing! OK,

March 14, 2012

2

28 June 2012

Haven't written in a while; otherwise occupied lately. Anyway, I have a few days off which, when added to the days I'd normally be off comes to a total of seven days, thought I'd drop a few lines to let everyone know (A) I'm still sucking air and am warm and upright, and (B) what I'm up to as far as collecting goes. I've been concentrating on my primary interest lately, which is state security/internal ministry/border troops/fire brigades, and my focus, at least at present, is directed toward

June 28, 2012

0

17 December 2011

Well, Father Frost's visit is on the horizon and the daily stampede at the local Wally World is now in full swing. The one good thing about the winter stampede versus the summer stampede is that people tend to wear more clothing during the winter stampede, thus saving the ocular nerves from the shock of 230+ pounds squeezed into "Daisy Dukes" and tube tops, as is the usual fair during the warmer weather here. Whew! I either need to quit going there altogether or move closer to the nearest colleg

December 18, 2011

3

1 October 2011

The weather has turned a bit cooler over a relatively short time (90's to 60's), and I'm beginning to get that sinking feeling that goes along with winter. Crap! As I have not relocated to sunnier climes, I have only myself to blame. On the work front, the audit we were going through is now over and yes, we've been accredited yet again. Whew! Like a weight has been lifted. Our warden has moved on to much greener pastures (a promotion $$$), and we are now left wondering who's next... I have now

October 1, 2011

5

18 September 2011

Had a fairly uneventful weekend... largely overcast with temps in the 60's, which is a big change. Will probably heat back up prior to going cold for the winter. Had a couple of aftershocks (when will this end?). The rest of the chimney went with the one this morning- glad I wasn't standing under it! Anyway, had some time to pluck on the 12 string and shoot a bunch of images for a couple of galleries- my USSR and Mongolian galleries to be precise. These are still works in progress, although the

September 19, 2011

5

10 October 2011

Finally, at long last, thought it would never come... I'm on vacation! Yep, 11 days of paid unemployment. Began with, what else, some photos to update a gallery- the DDR gallery to be precise. Came up with an idea of "ganging" series medals, much as I did with a few of the Hungarian medals a little while ago. A bit easier on the photographer (me) and, I feel, more interesting than if you had to look at a separate image for each. Take a look. Thinking of knocking the Stasi shield collection down

October 11, 2011

3

2 September 2011

This is my very first attempt at blogging, so bear with me until I get used to it. Some of you have already heard of me through my posts or the logo design, and I have met several of you through direct messaging. What I'm going to attempt to do here is give a bit of insight as to who I am now, have been in the past, what motivates/disgusts me and how this is all woven into my collecting habits. Please do not share what you see/read with Mental Health professionals as I would rather not take that

September 2, 2011

2

7 September 2011

After an earthquake and a near brush with a hurricane within a couple days of each other, the mail seems to be catching up... at least for now (heard that they are having incredible cash flow issues on the news last night). Anyway, got a few new items to add. A couple of documents from a friend stationed in the Republic of Georgia including a Georgia SSR Volunteer Police (Drushzinik) badge and doc- the badge is very Georgian in design (had not seen one before) and the doc still contains the bear

September 7, 2011

2

3 September 2011

Well, as promised, I've begun my new Czechoslovakian gallery. The medal I received yesterday, "For Merit in the Peoples' Militia", began the new gallery. Will add more over the next day or two- I really don't have many Czech pieces. Thanks for the comments on my first entry. For IrishGunner (I am, by the way, also Irish; Hiberno-Norse- fair haired, family from West Cork, all of that), Beirut is kind of a sore spot with me as it led to the end of my stay in the Navy- which I still miss on many

September 3, 2011

1

28 October 2011

Off this weekend after two hellish days which culminated in very nearly a fight (yes, the physical kind) between myself and another supervisor in front of both officers and offenders- not good. I believe I may have some anger management issues; of course, it could be that I've come to the realization that I do, indeed, have an expiration date and no longer wish to waste the time I have left on bull sh*t, regardless from whom it may come. Oh well, three days to cool off. Put a few new entries i

October 29, 2011

2

27 September 2011

It is dismal here for about the fourth day in a row... wet, dank and nasty. The sun has deserted us and I have a great crop of mushrooms- not the good kind (damn it)- growing on my lawn. It is difficult to get out and photograph more awards as I use the reflected sunlight for fill (my main light being the on-camera flash), so I'm concentrating on processing the images I already have and planning the next batch. Most of my active collecting has been, well, over for a while now. The images I'm a

September 27, 2011

2

2 November 2011

A reprieve from the cold for a few days... temps soared into the 60's and, as I am off, got alot of work done around the house today. More tomorrow prior to returning to the grind on Friday (yes, I am on shift this weekend). This evening I got a chance to scan some DDR documents for the MfS (Stasi) sports organization, Dynamo and will couple these scans with their badges and add to my DDR collection tomorrow at some point. Two of the documents contain actual signatures (not stamps) of Erich Miel

November 3, 2011

1

12 September 2011

Ha! Completed mowing today (it takes me longer than most because of my skin is beyond white- almost ghostly- I cannot tan at all, so I have to wait for overcast or near sundown), managed to get a haircut (I seem to grow hair thicker and faster in my old age- weird), and photographed my USSR "Capture of..." medals for the gallery. Will work on those tonight and, hopefully post later or tomorrow. Finished the PMR gallery as I had planned and have been furiously working on the USSR gallery (have a

September 12, 2011

2

9 December 2011

Been awhile since I posted to this blog; haven't had alot to say, really. With the end of autumn and the coming of winter we're often plagued with grey days- lots of cold rain and mud. A sort of yearly depression sets in which evaporates around April. The only feeling I remember that approximates this is the feeling we got when we were at sea for long periods; up early to work at least 8-10 hours, in the sack for a couple hours, up for 4 hours of watch, back in the sack for a couple of hours, th

December 10, 2011

0

9 September 2011

Well, I did it again... got up at 0330, went through my normal routine (the stars of which are coffee and cigarettes- a fifth food group in my home), got to work by 0520, only to find out I asked for and was given the weekend off some months ago. Senility has set-in FIRMLY, I'm afraid. Anyway, turned on my heel and went back home (short drive, at least). Embarrassing, but happy to be off. Used some of the time to continue the re-working of my PMR gallery, which I hope to have completed by tomo

September 10, 2011

2

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