derekloranger.com

After a nice meal at Yummy Sushi, a friend and I went and hung out at Orfila Vineyards, which was was uncrowded. It was warm but had a nice breeze and was pleasant in the shade.

Today, we watched Chris endure a grueling Half-Ironman, which is swimming 1.2 miles, biking 56 miles and then running 13.1 miles. We were exhausted just watching the people do this course. This is not for the faint of heart, and we saw a lot of heart out there that day.

Mikami, Satoshi Mike (104)

Mikami, Satoshi Mike (104)

“Passed away gently at home on March 5th, 2007. Beloved husband of Toshie Mildred Mikami; father of Richard (Ann) Mikami, Kiyoko (Buster) Uyejo, Meiko (Mits) Inaba, Carol (Vern) Matsuura, Lynn Mikami and Shirley Mikami; grandfather of Doug (Resa) Inaba, Laurie (Gary) Oshiro, Julie (Mary) Artino-Matsuura, Jason (Edel) Matsuura; great-grandfather of Jennifer, Julia and Rachel Inaba, Ryan and Kiri Oshiro, and R.J. and John Hernandez.

He will also be missed by many friends, neighbors and an extensive extended family. Funeral services will be held on Monday, March 12, at 10:00am at Gardena Buddhist Church, 1517 W. 166th St, Gardena. In lieu of flowers the family requests that donations be made to the UCLA FUND.”

I will always remember him for his kindness and his giant green car parked across the street with him and his wife doing some serious gardening.

Brothers in Arms

I just got an email with some pictures from my nephew in Iraq and I am relieved, as he hasn’t been able to email for a while, as he is part of the raid on Fallujah.

Here is an excerpt:

Well, anyway, unless you have been living in a dungeon for the past week, you know about the Falluja offensive im a part of. Working with the Marines is crazy sometimes, they are always doing all sorts of crazy things. Finding excuses to blow thing up, shoot at cars, houses, cattle…dogs….they are crazy. Every night we shoot up things and take incoming fire and mortar fire….its crazy but im still here.

Well, who knows how long this operation will last. Being over here at Abu Ghraib Prison is pretty hectic. Living conditions are pretty bad since they have hundreds of us crammed in this warehouse. They get mortared all the time, which means anywhere we go, we have to wear full battle rattle, plus all of this extra stuff they want us to wear. All the weight starts to bear down on you after a while.

If you couldn’t tell, he is the one with “Loranger” on his flak jacket.