April 2010 - Special Memorial Issue

FROM THE C.O.'S CHAIR

I'll tell you this, that's a title heading that I never thought I'd be writing. . .for myself.

Out of all the articles and pieces I've ever written, this is going to be the hardest I've done, but this is something I have to do.

One thing that I've always done ever since I became First Officer of the Doomslayer is that I've always talked straight to all of you. And that's what I'm going to do right here.

Damn.

This is not the way I'd envisioned taking command of this ship. Not by a frakking longshot.

But Fate, that fickle wench that she is, obviously had something else in mind for me and for all of us. I mean, we all knew there would come a day when Joe would leave us, but simply saying that over and over again never prepares you for the shock that hits you physically when it finally comes.

[In case you hadn't heard, the Battle Council has officially ordered that not only will Doomslayer stay the Flagship of IKEF, but I have been installed as the new Commanding Officer.]

Okay, where was I? Oh yes. . .there have been a couple of things asked in regards to the future of the ship, and I'd like to publicly answer them.

First of all, Doomslayer's fate was never in question. We will do what Joe would have wanted us - expected us - to do; we carry on. No matter what happens, we are -- and we will always stay -- The Mighty Doomslayer. Right now, at this point in time, this is undoubtedly the darkest time in the ship's history. But we will come out of it. I know it.

As for our schedule, yes, I admit that so far this year our amount of activities have been (for want of a better word) lackluster. Blame it on the randomness of OH weather. It sucks, but you can't avoid it. But I will guarantee you this: no matter if it's just 2 of us meeting for a cup of coffee or a plate of Chinese, or gathering for dinner and a mall crawl, we will do whatever we can to insure a ship mission at least once a month. We are nowhere near fading away, and as long as I'm drawing breath, that's not happening. As Joe once said to me, "As long as there's one of us left, there'll always be a Doomslayer."

For all the years I served as XO of this ship (and Kahless' hand, it feels so strange to speak of that time in the past tense!!) I was proud to be the 2nd-in-command of the greatest and most elite crew in the Imperial Fleet and serve under a great leader the likes of the Chancellor. And now that Fate has selected a new path for me, I can only say that the feeling. . .has not changed a single bit. You all make me proud, and I am honored to call you friends and family as well as crew, and to this day, I'd have no one else at my back. Period.

In short, if people think we act like a Mob family, then they haven't seen anything yet. I'm the new Godfather of this Family, and now more then ever, I take care of this Family as well as I can. This will never change. Nor will the fact that even though our founder and leader -- not to mention friend and mentor -- has gone on to captain a ship in the Black Fleet, we will always stand as The Mighty Doomslayer, home of The World's Most Dangerous Crew, and I am honored beyond measure to be your new Commanding Officer.


CHANGE TO THIS MONTH'S MEETING
Due to personal circumstances, this month's General Meeting will be on April 10th, at my home starting at 2 pm. Changes to the Ship's Handbook will be discussed.

CHUY DAH - March 2010: The St. Patrick's Day Issue

As I look out the window, I’m starting to see this green/brown coloring to the ground that seems to have been hiding underneath all the white that’s been covering the land. . .I believe the Terrans call this “thawing”. . .and I have to say, I like the looks of it. . .

It’s March, and we’re roughly 60 days or so away from the Camp Dover Reunion. We’ve got a lot done, but still have quite a bit to do in the way of final preparations.

This month’s meeting -- scheduled for March 13th -- is going to be moved ahead one day to Sunday, March 14th; the entire crew has been invited to celebrate the 1st birthday of Lt. Cmdr. Kha’vid and Lt. jg Kammie’s granddaughter, Cadet Recruit Rha’lyn. The party will be held at the Midvale Park Pavilion at 2 pm. Contact Kha’vid or Kammie for details on gifts.

Following the party, there will be a Reunion Planning meeting at the Main Moon restaurant (this location may be subject to change) in order to update the status of the reunion planning.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Mar. 13: Cadet Recruit Rha’lyn’s birthday
Mar. 14: Rha’lyn’s birthday party - Midvale Park Pavilion @ 2 pm.
Mar. 14: Camp Dover Reunion planning meeting (Time @ place TBD)
Mar. 17: HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY! (Go on out and git yer Irish on!)

CHUY DAH February 2010

Before I start this issue off, I’ve got a question -- when did we get reassigned to Rura Penthe? I never saw the orders arrive; all I know is that I woke up in my quarters and it was fracking freezing!

And what was with the ice on the front view screen?

Okay, now that I’ve got that off my chest, onto the business at hand:

First of all, a belated Happy Anniversary to Lt. Cmdr. Kha’Vid and his mate, Lt. j.g. Kammie; these two celebrated 20 years of bonding on 2/2/10. 20 years. . .no wonder Kha’Vid’s Security Chief -- he’s had plenty of experience evading attacks, if you know what I mean. (And if you don’t, I’ll just head-slap you later. . .)

I’d also like to wish a belated Happy Birthday to the Doomslayer’s Writer-in-Residence and Cadet Q’Elle’s God-Aunt, Margaret Wander Bonanno, who celebrated her birthday on 2/7/10.

While I'm at it, I’d like to raise a mug of bloodwine to the 2010 NFL World Champions -- the New Orleans Saints! The Saints are a bit like us; they did what many said couldn’t be done, and they shocked the world.

Of course, it’s February, which means April is getting even closer. But this year, the forces of Nature seem to be conspiring against us. We do need to meet this month, but I don’t want anyone risking their lives just to come to a meeting, so for this month, I’m calling for an online meeting this Saturday to go over what we have yet to get done in regards to the reunion -- which will be here before we know it. Let’s meet via Yahoo IM at 10:30 pm; I’d like to keep this meeting fairly short. Contact me for any questions or further details.


CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Feb. 13th: Online meeting - 10:30 pm.
Feb. 14th: Cadet Q’Os Makhleod’s birthday
Feb. 14th: HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!

A Special Anniversary

Today is a special date for me, and it has been for quite a few years. On this date, seventeen years, I was informed that my cancer (non-Hodgkins lymphoma) was in remission. This came about due to:

1. 12 CAT scans
2. 3 surgeries
3. 4 implants
4. 1 1/2 years of chemotherapy
5. 34 days of radiation
6. 1 bone marrow transplant

My father referred to all this as "a walk through Hell in a gasoline shirt", and trust me, he wasn't that far off.

What makes this day even more special is that I've outlived the number of years I was supposed to survive. They said I wasn't supposed to live past five years. Ain' t that a kick in the slats? And here I am, celebrating 17 years of life.

To a select group of you who read this -- and you know who you are -- my eternal gratitude for helping me get this far.

Here's to another 17, and another 17 after that!

Adm. Konnor

January 2010 issue

FROM THE XO'S CHAIR

Greetings to one and all! Now that the holidays are over, the decorations are stored away, and all hangovers have been remedied, time for us to get back to business.

And yes, this newsletter is a little short, due to the fact that there’s not a great quantity to report. . .

First of all, I want to send a belated Happy Birthday (January 4th) to our Chief Services Officer, Lt. j.g. Kammie, and condolences to our Chief Engineer, Cmdr. Bastian K’Hyde, whose mother passed away this past Saturday.

Starting this month, the ship’s meetings will be held at a brand new location -- the Bread Head Bakery -- at 1 pm. The Bakery has recently changed its hours, and will now be open Tuesday through Saturday until 7 pm, as well as 9 am to 3 pm on Sundays.

Also effective this month, Chief Quartermaster K’Ana will be assuming the post of Chief Communications Officer.

As of January 1st, we stand at 112 days until the Camp Dover Reunion at the Schoenbrunn Inn. And you all know what this means -- we’ve got a lot of things to do and not a great deal of time in which to do them. This would usually terrify most people, but not The World’s Most Dangerous Crew ™, correct?

After all, we’ve done more and in less time (but let’s not get cocky, people -- we don’t want to spoil a great record, now do we? Of course not.)


CALENDAR OF EVENTS
January 9th: Doomslayer General Meeting: Bread Head Bakery - 1 pm

January 10th: Chancellor Klaad’s birthday

January 15th: Lt. Cmdr. Kha’Vid’s birthday

CHUY DAH December 2009

This issue of CHUY DAH is brought to you by Uncle Moe’s Kosher BBQ and Deli, with shops on Qo’Nos, Romulus, and now on Ferenginar!

Remember, when you want the best in all-kosher BBQ, you want Uncle Moe’s!


FROM THE XO’S CHAIR
First of all, greetings, one and all! As we’re wrapping up the year, this newsletter will be a short one.

The planning meeting (or “reminder” meeting, as I prefer to call it) on November 28th couldn’t have gone any better. The turnout was good, as was the food and company. Everyone seems on board with what we have planned thus far, so now comes the time that we show the world once more just why we’re known as The Mighty Doomslayer and put on a great event -- or as I like to say it, “let’s do the impossible just one more time…”

(Yeah, I watch Leverage a little too much, it seems…oh well.)

IT'S THAT TIME OF THE YEAR: The 2009 Doomslayer Christmas Party will be next Saturday (December 12th) at our newest hangout, the one and only Bread Head Bakery, at 12:30 pm. As per tradition, there will be the annual gift exchange (non-gender specific gifts with a $5 limit).

I’d like to close this final newsletter by saying from me and my family to all of you and yours, a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Dec. 12th: Doomslayer’s Christmas Party at Bread Head Bakery -- 12:30 pm
Dec. 14th: Fleet Mom’s birthday
Dec. 25th: MERRY CHRISTMAS !!
Dec. 31st: New Year’s Eve

CHUY DAH November 2009

Greetings, one and all!

This is your CHUY DAH for November 2009, and as always (unless something goes horribly wrong), I am Admiral Konnor, your XO.


IT’S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN: Like I said, it’s November (where did this year go, I ask you), and on the Doomslayer, when it’s November, that means only one thing is imminent -- and in this case, I’m not talking about Thanksgiving; of course, I’m talking about the Camp Dover planning meeting.

Only in this case, it’s the Camp Dover Reunion planning meeting.

Now, I know what some of you may be asking: “Admiral, didn’t we already have a meeting for the reunion?” Where have you been? In case you forgot, thanks to the Holiday Inn screwing us over, we didn’t have the reunion this year -- now do you remember?

The Planning Meeting -- or “Reminder Meeting -- will be at 1 pm on the 28th (the Saturday after Thanksgiving) in The Manor restaurant’s banquet room. I’ll need RSVPs no later then the 20th, so I can give The Manor an idea of how many people they’ll be cooking for. And lest I forget, the Chancellor has mandated that we’ll be eating family-style before the meeting.


THIS MONTH’S MEETING: Despite the Planning meeting at the end of the month, I think a General Meeting is warranted to prepare for it. So for this month, we’ll be meeting at the Bread Head Bakery on the 14th (next Saturday) at 12:30 pm.


PROMOTION: I’m honored to announce that effective immediately, Cadet Qianna Makhleod, daughter of Kha’vid and Kammie Makhleod, is hereby promoted to the commissioned rank of Ensign. My congratulations to the new officer, as well as to her parents.


AT THE MOVIES: All TREK movies are being remastered and re-released on DVD, with new extras added to them; I’ve seen 3-4 of them at Wal-mart, and if memory serves, they’re selling for around $13 each (which isn’t all that bad, considering the prices of some DVDs. On the same subject, “Star Trek” (the 2009 movie) is scheduled to be released on DVD November 17th.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Nov. 14th: Doomslayer General Meeting: Bread Head Bakery - 12:30 pm.
Nov. 17th: “Star Trek” movie released on DVD
Nov. 25th: HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Nov. 28th: Camp Dover Reunion Planning Meeting: The Manor restaurant - 1 pm.