Age 16, the end of serious chess for me: After we played in a chess tournament, Yasser Seirawan (my age, but brilliant) joined me, the only other teen, for pizza. He walked through our game in detail. He remembered every move (I didn't) and explained what I’d missed. "You could be a lot better if you studied another four hours a day and gave up minor distractions, like girls." Study my own games. Study other games. Study openings - book learning. He shared great advice. I enjoyed the game. Not so much the price tag. I stopped playing tournaments and focused on other pursuits.

I loved it. I just loved being around my wife more.

lol Burnt toast is a thing, as are tiny wires smoking and giving you that smell. On a submarine, you also get the real fires, and those are way too exciting. One thing I did right (or a bit wrong) is I always went to the scene for emergencies, unless I was on watch. Experience there matters a lot, and I had it. The downside? Once you're gone, the experience goes with you. It's good that I didn't get all of the emergencies.

It hits different once it's been real, doesn't it?

In just about every war in history, roads, bridges, and other infrastructure have always been targets. Unless war itself is a war crime, we need to step back from expanding the definitions of words.

That's a wild bachelor party, the best kind.

You should write a book! I did about the fabulous 80s! And our group who took down Pablo Escobar! It’s on Amazon, digital, soft cover or audio or all three! Anyway, all the money goes to charity. I want to leave something to explain to my three boys what I did for a living. And it has inspired them to do great things! It’s kind of cathartic. You should consider it! Cheers.

Taking down Escobar was a very big deal. I don't have enough Navy stories I can share for a non-fiction book. Subs are called "the silent service" for a reason.

Master Chiefs knew a whole lot more than junior officers, and I was aware enough to understand that at the start. They made my life a whole lot easier.

I am proud of my dolphins. It's actually a fun job - boring 90% of the time, rather interesting 9%, and then there's that 1%.

Junior officer, first week on a submarine. Drill called for a fire in the laundry. I was far away, with the Chief of the Boat (COB) and two dozen junior sailors, glad to stay out of the way. Ten feet from us an electrical motor-generator blew. Smoke, then flame. Real fire. I had never met most of the men in the space. I announced my name and rank and took charge anyway. Told the COB to correct me if I missed anything. He put on sound-powered phones to handle my communications. We killed the fire in two minutes with two hoses. Everyone else was still responding to the drill. Afterward I realized I had spent the whole emergency braced against a fire extinguisher. Useless against that fire, but I hadn’t even known it was there. That was the part that stuck. I got serious about learning my job.

No mercy is the best parenting. Show him the old guys mean business!

They strike me as an immediate danger to the innocent.

I cannot imagine as explanation for this that is not terrible.

John McTiernan, director of Die Hard, was sentenced to a year in prison for perjury and for lying to the Feds - 16 years ago today. Personally, I wouldn't risk it. I've consulted for the FBI and given witness statements when appropriate, but I would have a lawyer who knew everything coaching me any time that I had to answer sensitive questions under oath.

I had not thought of it that way, but you may have a point.

Exactly. Outside the wrestling against preschoolers stage (where the kid always wins), I make them earn it.

Thank you. Chess is a lot of fun.

Not a win for anyone alive - except the Socialist ruling class.

He did teach me a lot of other things. I saw moving on once he lost as the wrong pattern. Now I wonder if I simple saw it wrong. Thank you!