any DU'ers in Greenville-Spartanburg?

[blindpig]

If so, I don't have to tell you how isolated one can feel in these parts. This is truly the belly of the beast.

[ChoralScholar]

1. i can sympathize

I worked for Spartan Computer Services over off I-85 near GSP.

[mlawson]

2. There are some of us, just up the road.

About an hour up the road, that is, in Asheville, of course. The only off thing I notice when I drive down I-26 through GSP is the number of religious radio stations increases there, and remains that way, all the way to the beach. But don't feel bad about that, it was worse in FLA last week, even more such stations.

[blindpig]

6. you folks got it made

What a cool town! Don't get up that way much, last time caught King Crimson at the Orange Peel near a year ago. Just too far for regular visits.

[tigerbeat]

3. i USED to live in greenville....

....about 5 years ago for about 7 years. totally alienating experience that. i probably wrote the greenville news a letter to the editor every week.

i might be taking a trip there to do some volunteering for the dean campaign prior to feb. 3 since my mom still lives there and i can stay for free.

[mitchum]

8. I grew up in Greenville, and stilll visit my parents there.

Re: The Greenville News. I notice that the majority of the letters to the editor actually favor progressive views, but the op ed pages are nothing but right wing shills (Safire, Will, Charen, Parker, Freidman, etc)
It is a beautiful place and I'm disgusted by what BJU and "free market republicans" have done to the place. Greenville was a surprisingly progressive town when I was a child in the 60s and 70s

[kskiska]

4. Spartanburg here

but a Connecticut Yankee all my life. Spartanburg is even worse than Greenville. I never start up a political or religious conversation with a native, or put a bumper sticker on my car.

[blindpig]

5. greetings!

I've been here in sparklecity for 22yrs. Am a native Baltimoron, by the gods! Occasionally send letters to that rag, shj. I run a small retail shop and am not shy about my feelings. Probably not good for buisness but just can't help myself, I love to mix it up. If you'd like to chat pm me and I'll give contact info.
Misery loves company!

[kskiska]

23. Oh, so YOU'RE the one who writes the only rational letters

to the editor! I've considered writing often, but figured it would only fall on deaf ears anyway. Besides, I wouldn't want to come home some dark night to find someone hiding in my bushes with a shotgun.

[blindpig]

24. well, I don't know about rational................

I have a tendency to rant. Havn't had any print since August, last time those bastards at SHJ required me to jump through so many fact check hoops that I gave up.If the regime had to deal with that it would collapse in a week! It's been heartening to see some of the new voices in print speaking dissent. I need to get off my kiester and give 'em what for!

[kskiska]

36. Just where is the Democratic Party hiding out in this county?

They never run any candidates, and apparently don't even have a headquarters. Some of the worst rants are in "The Stroller" column of the SHJ. I can't believe they even print some of that tripe.

[blindpig]

39. undisclosed locaton

I tried contacting those clowns a few years ago but got the impression that they weren't interested in "outsiders". I suppose one must be a member of the chamber of commerce to qualify.

[Misinformed01]

7. Charlotte here

we really should have a NC/SC big assed get together.

[blindpig]

10. sounds like a plan

Charlotte seems like it would be centrally located for most folks, although a bit of a ride for Charlston folks. That said, I am ride challenged myself but expect I could get there somehow. Alas for the days when one could hitch a ride anywhere, though I guess I'm a bit long in the tooth for that!

[angee_is_mad]

18. I'm in Greensboro

let me know about any get togethers!!! We all need to stick together.

[BlackVelvetElvis]

33. I live in W-S.

I work in Guilford County.

[jmowreader]

14. Fayettenam checking in...

Anyone up for a Patriotic Memorial Day Weekend? In Fayettenam, you can see Real Soldiers In Their Natural Environment. We can see the Memorial Day parade, hit the Airborne and Special Operations Museum (plus probably the 82nd Airborne and JFK Special Warfare Museums, if you'd like), and take in the US Special Operations Command's Memorial Day ceremony. At that we couldn't have any signs or anything, no political t-shirts (most of the people attending wear coats and ties) but the general consensus among the SF vets I know is that the war was a huge mistake. Give me a yell and I'll hook up with the secretary of the Special Forces Association to get us on post.

[blindpig]

21. on post?

Sounds interesting, I'm a bit of a WWII buff and have visited Aberdeen Proving Grounds on a couple of occasions when I lived back home in Md. The armor park is great!
I am an amateur herpetologist and a few years ago was driving around the back side of the base through some excellent longleaf pine habitat when rounding a bend we encountered a Soviet tank (t62?)!
We catch and release and photograph reptiles and amphibians and also bird, access to some of that habitat would be very nice. I've hunted on FT Huachaucha in Az before, the military is sitting on some of the finest realitivily undisturbed land in the country!

[jmowreader]

22. Yes, on post...

Bragg is a closed post now; actually, we wouldn't need any sponsorship to get on. Go through the main gate on Yadkin Rd, tell them you're there to attend the SOCOM Memorial Day celebration and to visit the museums, and on you go.

Once at the 82nd Museum we would have to endure the Unofficial 82nd Airborne Theme Song "Blood Upon the Risers" played incessantly...

(For those who have been so fortunate as to not have heard this tune, here goes:

Sung to "The Battle Hymn of the Republic":
He was just a cherry trooper and he surely shook with fright
as he checked all his equipment and made sure his pack was tight
He had to sit and listen to the awful engines roar,
And he ain't gonna jump no more.

CHORUS:
Gory, Gory, What a helluva way to die
Gory, Gory, What a helluva way to die
Gory, Gory, What a helluva way to die
He ain’t gonna jump no more.

“Is everybody happy?” cried the Sergeant, looking up.
Our hero feebly answered “yes,” and then they stood him up.
He leaped right out into the blast, his static line unhooked.
He ain’t gonna jump no more.

CHORUS:
Gory, Gory, What a helluva way to die
Gory, Gory, What a helluva way to die
Gory, Gory, What a helluva way to die
He ain’t gonna jump no more.

He counted long, he counted loud, he waited for the shock;
He felt the wind, he felt the clouds, he felt the awful drop;
He jerked his cord, the silk spilled out and wrapped around his legs.
He ain’t gonna jump no more.

CHORUS:
Gory, Gory, What a helluva way to die
Gory, Gory, What a helluva way to die
Gory, Gory, What a helluva way to die
He ain’t gonna jump no more.

The risers wrapped around his neck, connectors cracked his dome;
The lines were snarled and tied in knots, around his skinny bones;
The canopy became his shroud, he hurtled to the ground.
He ain’t gonna jump no more.

CHORUS:
Gory, Gory, What a helluva way to die
Gory, Gory, What a helluva way to die
Gory, Gory, What a helluva way to die
He ain’t gonna jump no more.

The days he’d lived and loved and laughed kept running through his mind;
He thought about the girl back home, the one he’d left behind;
He thought about the medics and wondered what they’ed find.
He ain’t gonna jump no more.

CHORUS:
Gory, Gory, What a heck of way to die
Gory, Gory, What a heck of way to die
Gory, Gory, What a heck of way to die
He ain’t gonna jump no more.

The ambulance was on the spot, the jeeps were running wild;
The medics jumped and screamed with glee, they rolled their sleeves and smiled;
For it had been a week or more since last a chute had failed.
He ain’t gonna jump no more.

CHORUS:
Gory, Gory, What a helluva way to die
Gory, Gory, What a helluva way to die
Gory, Gory, What a helluva way to die
He ain’t gonna jump no more.

He hit the ground, the sound was splat, his blood went spurting high;
His comrades were then heard to say, “A helluva way to die”;
He lay there rolling ‘round in the welter of his gore.
He ain’t gonna jump no more.

CHORUS:
Gory, Gory, What a helluva way to die
Gory, Gory, What a helluva way to die
Gory, Gory, What a helluva way to die
He ain’t gonna jump no more.)

[blindpig]

25. jeez, that's really nice...............................................

Honestly though, parachuting takes more balls than I'll ever have. I'll stick with easy stuff like alligators & rattlesnakes!

[greatauntoftriplets]

41. The way I heard that song, the last verse was...

(Taught to me by a former 82nd Airborne (504 PIR and 325) from the Vietnam era.

There was blood upon the risers, there were brains upon the 'Chute
Intestines were a'dangling from his Paratrooper's boots,
They picked him, still in his 'Chute and poured him from his boots.
HE AIN'T GONNA JUMP NO MORE!

[jmowreader]

45. There are probably fifty ways to sing that song

But the theme is the same in them all: the worst part about getting killed in a parachute accident is that you can't jump anymore.

There's the cadence the rest of the army sings:

If I die on the old drop zone
Box me up and ship me home
Pin my medals upon my chest
And bury me in the leaning rest.

Naturally, all the MI troopers modify this cadence somewhat:

If you die on that old drop zone
We'll scrape you up and send you home
We'll pin your medals upon your chest
And bury you in the leaning rest

The implication, of course, is that MI is much safer than airborne. A lot of things are much safer than going airborne. Wrestling crocodiles is safer than going airborne.

And then you get to Fort Devens, and you inprocess in, and in the packet is "the Davis Memorial Library is named after Specialist 5th Class Davis, a direction finder who was the first US soldier killed in Vietnam."

But we think we're safer. And perceptions count for a lot.

[supernova]

9. Chapel Hill here

:hi: to blindpig in Greenville=Spartanburg. :pals:

Isn't undisclosedlocation in SC? I was trying to remember where s/he is from.

[blindpig]

11. howdy!

Is the triangle Really part of the Carolinas?

[supernova]

13. LOL! Far as I know,

though some like Cass Ballinger (mister "we split up b/c of the Taliban"), don't like to think so.

[blindpig]

12. dupe

spastic fingers!

[KFC]

15. At least you can eat at the Beacon

Greenville sucks.

[blindpig]

26. you've got to be kidding

They ought to name the heart center at Regional after John B White. My shop's right down the road from that mecca of grease. I'll feed there about once a year, when my dipstick is very low!
At least Greenville's got the Blue Ridge and the Handle Bar.

[kskiska]

37. You're right

When I first came, I got the impression The Beacon was THE place, but after 2 or 3 visits, I've rarely returned. The Miami Grill is by far the best fast food in town, in my opinion.

[blindpig]

40. true

as far as fast food chains are concerned. Now if you like hot then TNT hot wings is the place. Superb jerk wings and very Carribean fried fish and meat pies.

[Leftist78]

35. yummmmm

good old Beacon food

I'll have a double chili-cheese a-plenty with bacon :)

[blindpig]

42. you're gonna die! n/t

[aquaman]

16. Columbia here.....

I have lived in South Carolina almost my entire life and I am about as far left as they come.

[blindpig]

27. I'll be down your way on Jan 31

for a herpetological conference at Riverbank Zoo.
Are we gonna have a "who's to the left oh Fidel contest"? Could be tough.

[blm]

17. The brilliant Faun Otter

lives in Greenville.

He is a member who posts occasionally here and at Bartcop. Buzzflash has featured some of his work.

I'm in Horry County.

[blindpig]

28. Horry Co...............

Gods I love the coast and hate what it's become. Although I'll visit Murrells Inlet once a year to bird at Huntington Beach SP, a most excellent spot!
Don't think I've seen any of Faun Otter's post, I'll keep an eye open.
Eat some crabs for me!

[DemoTex]

19. Hi blindpig

I'm in the mountains to the north. Near Rosman. Up US-178 from Pickens. I'm deep, deep in the mountains.

[blindpig]

29. is that anywhere near Murphy?

I'd like to see the turtle rocks in the hills above Murphy. Are you famaliar with them?

[peacebuzzard]

20. well, I am driving through on the 15th.......

from Knoxville. I have got to see the ocean of SC. I am heading toward Pawleys Island for some R&R with my two dogs. I have worked straight since 19 DEC and put all my weekends together for 7 days. I really like the coast of the Carolinas.;-)

[blindpig]

30. my shops about 2mi off I-26

in Spartanburg. I'll be there til 2pm on sat. if you feel like dropping by.

[peacebuzzard]

38. the 15th is on Thursday, and if

you let me know where the shop is I will stop by....if you are there..

[blindpig]

44. ooops

I'm off on Thursday(work Sat)and will be at the house cleaning cages and serving the dogs. Perhaps on the way back?

[blindpig]

31. thanks for all of the replys!

makes me feel warm and fuzzy as a scaly critter can get!

[truthspeaker]

32. no but my gf grew up there

if she ever gives me her email address I'll send her a link to this thread

[Leftist78]

34. Spartanburg here

you're not alone, but nearly :)

[blindpig]

43. tell me about it

voting at a rural polling place is a pretty discouraging experience.
I use my shop as a platform, chatting it up with customers, and sometimes you'd be surprised whose on our side. They just don't express themselves much for fear of exclusion and derision. I know this isn't good for buisness but it's the best I can do.