Crappy, Mostly True Tales

  Way back in the day when I was in the navy, my first duty station was on the USS Enterprise. I arrived on that ship fresh out of boot camp as an E-1, a seaman recruit. The navy swapped out time in rating requirements for E1 to E2 to E3, meaning that by the time I made E3, I had multiple deployments under my belt, and was a highly decorated combat veteran. I had been sent TAD (temporary assigned duty) multiple times to multiple locations throughout the ship, including the mess decks, ship's laundry, and logistics. One needs to understand that an E3 is the highest rank one can achieve in the military without become an NCO (non-commissioned officer) or petty officer in the navy.  Being that I was not a petty office or NCO, that means I had zero responsibility for anyone. I only had to look out for myself. This also meant that as a senior E3, I knew damned well how the ship worked and I knew how to get shit done. I could do things that no one else could because I had the 'hook-u...

You ever see something that you know is not what you're seeing? They say seeing is believing, but what if what you see leads you to disbelieve your own eyes? That's the basis of this little story.  A few years back, maybe 2017 but before COVID, my wife and I were driving out to the casino. It had recently rained or it was raining a ways off, as we could see a raibow. The rainbow ended over some low hills. Where the rainbow was hitting the hill, we saw a crystal castle.  The crystal castle had multiple spires. And it looked to be crystal or glass, as you could see through it. It was the colors of the rainbow. The crystal castle sat at the top of the hill. It had not been there before. It was a ways off, I'd say maybe 5 miles away, but I'm not good at judging distances like that. It was far enough that we could not see details, but close enough that we could see that it was for all intents and purposes, a crystal castle.  We live in Port Angeles. The crystal castle appear...