Neel505 - About

About

"Happy is the man who, like Ulysses, has made a glorious voyage...then returns to spend the rest of his life among his family." ~ J. du Bellay

In Brief

I'm an Alabamian living in Virginia with my wife, among my kids and grandkids, between the Blue Ridge and beaches; and surrounded by battlefields. I'm married to a beautiful Birmingham girl, and she has made my life beautiful. We chose the Old Dominion in retirement to be close to our family.

I grew up in Birmingham, the middle son of a railroad man and a country girl.

I am a retired career soldier, joining the Army at twenty-three and staying for twenty-four years, serving as a scout and infantryman in the 82nd Airborne. The Army assigned me to NATO in Izmir, Turkey, three times, and I consider it a second home. I served for two years on Her Majesty’s Service in the British Parachute Regiment, and I taught ROTC at the Virginia Military Institute (VMI).

I am a graduate of the United States Army Sergeants Major Academy, Class 47.

After the army, I worked at VMI for over sixteen years as the Corps and Institute Sergeant Major.

Nowadays

In 2018, after 41 years, I removed my uniform and promised I would never put it back on. I haven't. I no longer use my rank, and I won't answer to it. My name is John.

Unlike my uniformed days, I have plenty of free time for family, travel, and hobbies. It is a better way of life.

I've slowed down a lot. I do only one thing on my to-do list each day. Most days, I walk the trails around my house, visit one of the many parks in the area, or scour a local battlefield. I spend cold and rainy days in my office writing, working on this site, doing family research, or reading. Some evenings, I am out back with my telescopes.

I'm an avid photographer; I take photos of everything.

I spend so much time with my grandchildren that I am in danger of becoming a nice guy.

The Name and Panther

The name for my site comes from those early days of the internet and e-mail. Looking for an address, every combination was taken. I added my regiment to my last name and became neel505 at AOL. I kept the moniker for my site and just about everything.

My panther comes from the 505th Parachute Regiment's unit crest. That panther is for the regiment; this one is mine.

The stylized N represents my last name, of course, but is also a DV, the Roman numeral for five hundred and five. I believe this is very clever.

My Site

My first attempt to build a site was on Yahoo's Geocities. It was TERRIBLE! When Yahoo shut Geocities down, it was a personal blessing. After that, I kept a LiveJournal, but that had to go because people are stupid.

While in Kosovo, I began building the base for what would become Neel505 while learning Microsoft FrontPage. Later, I would graduate to MS Expressions Web 4 and test BlueGriffon, learning to code along the way. When those closed down, I moved to Google Sites—so easy, no more coding, and free of charge.

Neel505 is now parked at Squarespace, which hosts it for $15 a year.

I believe that sites are becoming too complicated, with too many bells and whistles, and are too difficult to navigate. This is how it should be done, only with better, less ridiculous content.

In Detail

I'm a typical middle kid. My brothers were studious, well-behaved, and educated at the same liberal arts college, you know—Tools. I'm not the smartest of the three, just the best-looking. Of course I'm kidding—I'm way more intelligent than those two frat boys.
I still double-space between sentences, though I'm trying to break that habit. I do not think "disrespect" is a verb, and conjugate "plead" as "plead, pled, pled." I love commas and put them anywhere and everywhere. My spelling sucks. I do not do math.
I use army rank abbreviations and 24-hour time. Sorry 'bout that, Associated Press Stylebook.
I call my friends "mate." "Cheers" can mean goodbye, good luck, thank you, and "let's drink." I speak just enough Turkish to get where I'm going, order food, and get myself in and out of trouble. I often speak in movie quotes and will expect you to get the reference. If I call you "Bobo" or "Sports Fan," treat both as terms of endearment.

I was a bad student, educating myself with my ADD and the Encyclopedia Britannica and World Book. I have an inner need to impress people with my intelligence. Ask me a simple question, and you'll get an exhaustive answer, with historical context. Take notes.
I read a lot, mostly sci-fi, science, biographies, and history.
Politics, politicians, and people who can't talk about anything else piss me off. I haven't liked a president since Ronald Reagan.
I'm a music snob. My tastes are forever stuck in the '60s and early '70s. To me, the Beatles and their bubblegum music still suck. Dan Fogelberg remains my favorite singer/songwriter. I like old Springsteen songs from before he became so socially and politically conscious. I don't like him. The Eagles are the best group ever. I dig Sister Hazel and Toad the Wet Sprocket.
I'm an Auburn fan. War damn Eagle! Pity Me.
If you want to delude yourself by believing in a supreme being, that's fine with me, as long as you do not attempt to impose your superstitious taboos upon me or step on my toes. There are no gods. Don't think you can convert me; you will only run away, doubting your security blanket beliefs and crying. True Story.
I am mostly tolerant of idiots, but do not expect me to buy into your lies, delusions, perversions, or recreational anger. There is a big difference between tolerance and acceptance.
I am a proud American Southerner, white, male, a Baby Boomer, and a well-armed and trained life member of the NRA. I say, "Ma'am" and "Sir," hold doors, tip my hat, and wave at total strangers. I will refer to you by your proper pronouns and will not care if it hurts your little feelings. My heroes are Robert E. Lee, Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, Turner Ashby, and JEB Stuart. I use a Pixel phone, Windows computers, and all things Google. I detest your grammar-school-girl Apple products. Deal with it!

Pleased to meet you.

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