Basic Training

—The Obscure Penguin— I once got yelled at by a Major in the Air Force. In honor of Armed Forces Day this weekend I thought I’d relate a little adventure I had while going through boot camp at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. I have never mischaracterized the weeks I endured before […]

Accents Across The Pond

— The Obscure Penguin — I arrived in Cirencester, England in the eighties,  The beautiful Cotswolds!  I got a job at an electronics factory making capacitors. They store energy and blah blah blah. The point is they were made of something like old analog tape, rolled in a certain way and wrapped tight. Then they’re […]

The Great Cirencester Cheese Mystery

— The Obscure Penguin — You may not believe this story but it is absolutely true. If you are so minded you can attribute it to coincidence but I can assure you, considering how the pieces fell together, coincidence had nothing to do with it. Without knowing how to describe the workings of things beyond […]

Cirencester (My First Pub)

— The Obscure Penguin — In 1984 when many people were worried about Big Brother I landed on the shores of Avalon.  I’d been desperate to go to England since I’d read Lord of the Rings and listened to Yes.  Fire hydrants reminded me of hobbits and I didn’t know what the hell a roundabout […]