NORAD Santa Tracker

[Marswolf]

Want to know where Santa is? Again this year, NORAD is keeping its eye on the jolly old guy and will let you know where he is located every five minutes.

http://www.noradsanta.org/

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfvGU4W0bvM[/ame]

[fury2neon]

This is a great site. My kids use it every year, or did till the oldest grew out of it.

[TGO David]

Was anyone else waiting for a ground to air missile to take him out in that video?

[Marswolf]

Was anyone else waiting for a ground to air missile to take him out in that video?

It did cross my mind....

[runco]

Bump for this older thread.  It is a lot of fun for the kids! 

 

I think its officially Christmas somewhere on Earth (I think its Auckland, far east of Australia)  at 5am EST here in East Tennessee on December 24th, or 4am for you middle and west Tennesseans.  So you can start tracking then. 

[nightrunner]

Wow, couple names here I haven't seen in a long time. Good ole days. RIP



It's good that the kids get a kick out the NORAD tracker

[hipower]

Wow, couple names here I haven't seen in a long time. Good ole days. RIP



It's good that the kids get a kick out the NORAD tracker

 

Yes, I had to look several times when I saw the name. I came in here several times before officially joining and got somewhat familiar with Marswolf and his story.

 

Not sure I've seen or heard of many that had the respect and love that his name brought out. If I may, I'll echo nightrunner's sentiment...

 

May you rest peacefully, Sir.

[runco]

Yes, I had to look several times when I saw the name. I came in here several times before officially joining and got somewhat familiar with Marswolf and his story.

 

Not sure I've seen or heard of many that had the respect and love that his name brought out. If I may, I'll echo nightrunner's sentiment...

 

May you rest peacefully, Sir.

I didn't join until 2012, can you share some about Marswolf, and I assume he passed on? 

[TGO David]

I didn't join until 2012, can you share some about Marswolf, and I assume he passed on? 

 

I'll take a swing at this.

 

Mars' full name was James Shannon Elder.  He served our country in Viet Nam and in various civilian contractor roles for alphabet-soup agencies afterward.  He spent a great deal of his time after Viet Nam in places south of the equator, doing the work that rough men do to keep evil at bay.  Most of what he told me about involved drug interdiction and working to arm and train indigenous people in those countries to fight against the cartels.

 

On the forums, here and over on HK94.com, he was a respected staff member.  He was keenly intelligent, well read, and well traveled.  He enjoyed sharing what he knew about firearms (in particular the Heckler and Koch variety) and wouldn't shy away from discussing world events or politics from the sort of finely distilled vantage point of someone who had done plenty of fighting other people's wars for them.

 

We will never know exactly why, but on September 19, 2008 he took his own life at his home in Blountville.  I and others had picked up hints from him that he was struggling with the early onset of Alzheimer's and he had said that he greatly detested the idea of losing control of his mental faculties or becoming a burden for others.  Compounding this, he had also recently gone through a divorce and the parting -- while amicable -- weighed heavily on him.

 

His passing came pretty early on in our history here at TGO, when we were much smaller.  It hit me hard, personally, as I believe it did many others as well.  It's no surprise to me that one of his threads ("What are you listening to now?") is one of the longest running on TGO.  Some of us keep it going just to see Shannon's screen name in our recent posts feed.

 

This likely doesn't scratch the surface of all that could be said about the guy.  Hopefully others will share too.

 

Frankly I think I'll raise a glass to Shannon's memory tonight.  Maybe we can start a thread about that.  :)

[Caster]

Thank you for sharing that. I did not know that. His reasoning (assumed by your explanation) may seem negative to many but has my respect, for what little it's worth. I'd be inclined to follow suit under similar circumstances.


"What are you listening to now?"

This thread will never see the depths of this forum, but will carry on to the last day of this forum.

[runco]

TGODavid, Wow is all that I can say.  I wished I had known him both on TGO and in life.  Sincerely thank you for sharing his story. 

 

Its amazing how people who have gone on still touch people today. 

[GlockSpock]

I'll take a swing at this.

Mars' full name was James Shannon Elder. He served our country in Viet Nam and in various civilian contractor roles for alphabet-soup agencies afterward. He spent a great deal of his time after Viet Nam in places south of the equator, doing the work that rough men do to keep evil at bay. Most of what he told me about involved drug interdiction and working to arm and train indigenous people in those countries to fight against the cartels.

On the forums, here and over on HK94.com, he was a respected staff member. He was keenly intelligent, well read, and well traveled. He enjoyed sharing what he knew about firearms (in particular the Heckler and Koch variety) and wouldn't shy away from discussing world events or politics from the sort of finely distilled vantage point of someone who had done plenty of fighting other people's wars for them.

We will never know exactly why, but on September 19, 2008 he took his own life at his home in Blountville. I and others had picked up hints from him that he was struggling with the early onset of Alzheimer's and he had said that he greatly detested the idea of losing control of his mental faculties or becoming a burden for others. Compounding this, he had also recently gone through a divorce and the parting -- while amicable -- weighed heavily on him.

His passing came pretty early on in our history here at TGO, when we were much smaller. It hit me hard, personally, as I believe it did many others as well. It's no surprise to me that one of his threads ("What are you listening to now?") is one of the longest running on TGO. Some of us keep it going just to see Shannon's screen name in our recent posts feed.

This likely doesn't scratch the surface of all that could be said about the guy. Hopefully others will share too.

Frankly I think I'll raise a glass to Shannon's memory tonight. Maybe we can start a thread about that. :)

Well that's depressing on a Christmas Eve. Thanks for sharing just which I had read it on the 26th.


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