Ding dong, the airshow’s over, the airshow’s over, the airshow’s over! Ding dong, the stupid airshow’s oveeeeeer!

Now that I’ve gotten that out of my system…

Man, I am so glad things are getting back to normal. The show went off without much drama, and the things that happened were minor. There were a few instances of pure hilarity that I’m under verbal contractual agreement with my lieutenant to not turn into comics as to not insult/embarrass anyone who may have been there and reads the site. It’s torture… Let’s just say that, at times, living next to Mexico provides brief periods of entertainment at other peoples’ expense. I’m laughing now just thinking about it. Hehe… I do want to say a quick thanks to everyone who was willing to spend $3 on a bottle of water, because I felt like a freaking genius for just bringing my own.

Anyway, today kicked off the start of round two, which is also the final round, of judging for the “Don’t Rip off my SAC” patch design contest. I haven’t put a deadline on it yet, but I will soon, so go over to the forums and vote for your favorite. The winners will both get a prize, which I now have in my possession.

This week was going to be “Bash on AAFES Week” after a five-day period full of decidedly annoying dealings with them, but I’m postponing that for now. That said, if you have a funny AAFES story, email it to me and maybe it will be made into a comic. Also, I pose a question: Are there any active-duty bases other than Laughlin that decided to close their only Shoppette/Class 6 at 8 p.m. on a Saturday? I guess they feel no one ever buys beer or snacks on Saturday evenings, but if I ever need some Hot Pockets and an oil filter at 9:50 p.m. on a Wednesday, I’m covered.

Starting tomorrow I’m going to try and start catching up on my emails. If you’ve sent me anything at all email-wise, including contributions to Chris’s memorial fund, since mid April, I’m going to try to answer you this week. No promises, as there are a ton of emails in my inbox, but I’m going to try my best. Also, I’ll be mailing out a lot of stuff this week. Let me know if you’re expecting something from me so I can include it in that trip to the P.O. I’ll probably go Friday, so let me know by Thursday what I owe you.

Hope everyone had a happy Mothers’ Day. My wife got a gift card to Bath and Body Works from our two dogs and cat, which I hope she spends on air fresheners because all three of them stink. Especially the cat. No one told me how bad cats stink before we got one. Oh my God. If you’re thinking of getting a cat, let me be the guy who warns you: they f***ing stink. However, cleaning her litter box has given me a practical use for my gas mask, which otherwise just sits in my mobility bag just waiting to torture me in the base’s next ORE.

One last note: I finally got to see Iron Man, which was awesome, but they managed to hit one of my biggest pet peeves. If you’re referring to an E-3 Sentry in the singular form, it’s still an AWACS, not an AWAC. For God’s sake, it’s an acronym. The S stands for “system.” To be accurate, you can’t really have an AWACS in orbit, you can have an E-3, which carries the Airborne Warning and Control System, or AWACS. I hope John Favreau loses sleep over his horrible continuity error. Other than that, the movie rocks. It’s nice to see the Air Force cooperating with Hollywood again. Then again, I’d be a little wary after “Iron Eagle” too…

-Farva

Folks, it’s here, and it looks fantastic. I’m very proud to be able to hand these out to the folks who have selflessly contributed to the memory of my friend. Without further ado…

The photo does this coin no justice whatsoever. Let me attempt to describe it:

The whole thing is antique silver, and has a shiny coat of epoxy that only covers the inner circles, which is unique. The front side features, in all his comic glory, Chris, smiling like he often did and wearing the exact same uniform he does in the strip. At the top, contained within a black ring, his rank and name are represented, with staff stripes on either side. At about the 8, 6 and 4 o’clock positions, respectively, it says “Father,” “Son” and “Friend.”

Flip it over, and the black ring has been replaced by a blue one filled with stars. Inside, each branch of military service currently serving in Iraq and Afghanistan is represented, and an American flag at half-staff pays neverending tribute beneath the following inscription:

“Forged in the memory of United States Air Force Staff Sergeant Christopher Frost and all others who are called home before they leave the war.”

You can put this coin in your collection and be proud of the fact that you helped two young children know how much their father meant to his brothers and sisters in arms, or those he fought to keep free.

Personally, since the Chris I knew would prefer it this way, I’m going to carry it in my wallet, because any time I win a coin check with it, it’s like Chris getting me a round.

For anyone who isn’t quite sure of what I’m talking about, read back a little in the posts. The coin is a limited run of 100 peices, and will be given out to the first 100 people who contribute $50 or more to the fund we’ve created to go to his two children, 3 and 5. You can donate by clicking the button on the right-hand side of the page, directly beneath the comic. But remember, you have to send me an email with the subject line “I DONATED” and include your shipping address.

While I will ship to APOs, if there is another way to get it to you, I’d prefer to do that because I’ve had a lot of issues with things going to APOs, especially in the Middle East, and I won’t be able to send replacements. Thanks in advance to those who will contribute, and again to those who have!

Oh, and another huge thanks to CoinForce.com, who donated all 100 coins, allowing the cost of minting them to be saved and given to the children.

Folks, the fund is well over $2,000 now, which is amazing.  I made the initial approval of the artwork yesterday, and once I know for sure what the final peice will look like, I’ll post an image here.  It’s a very sharp coin, featuring Chris’s AFBlues character on one side and an inscription honoring him and everyone else who makes the ultimate sacrifice.  It has representations of all four branches of the military.  I know a lot of people said they were waiting until payday to make contributions, so I believe over the next few days we’ll see even more money raised for Chris’s children.  Thank you again to everyone who has contributed, and everyone who will.

Folks, I can’t even begin to describe the response we’ve gotten for the Chris Frost Memorial Fund. Support has been pouring in, and just keeps coming. I’m going to be building a web page soon dedicated to this, which will have more information, but until then know that so far, in only 24 hours, we’ve raised more than $1,800. Until I can get around to thanking each one of you personally, please accept my utmost gratitude for your contributions to this cause.

For those who may not know what I’m talking about, check out Friday’s post.

After several days of testing and debugging, and several hours of post-installation blues, the new website is up and running in all of its pixellated glory. Feedback is welcome, and we hope you like it!