Ring of Fire

I think of friends who have helped me when I needed help.
There is none.
Once maybe, I had one.
He is gone.
Do I feel this way because of blame?
I don't think so, I think I have blamed myself, and no one can help me through it.
I am a man.
All I have is my word.

Something Else

Well, I was thinking maybe I will be changing the "T minus" posts for something else. I am not really sure.

I have been doing my taxes the last week or so, and it's a bitch. This year seems to be harder than some the previous years for some reason or another.

I have been informed that I have a menacing look, and people view me as a potential "asshole." I think this is rather amusing, since I have been told some variation of this for the past 6 years or so. The nifty part is that the person or people telling me this, say I am really a nice guy. Go figure.

Here is another surprise since I have been back, the "newbies or TFNG(s)" have been calling me funny names such as 'dad and grandpa' which may be due to my music choices from the '80s or my shnazy lingo, I am not sure.

Actually, the best fun I have been having lately, is Cribbage. I taught a few people and have been playing quite regularly. Good thing I have a board or two.

The List

We graduated!
Here is a list of those who received a "diploma." ( all are Sergeants)

1st Platoon

Joshua Allen ------------- Corey Bramer -------- Eduardo Hernandez
Robert Settle------------Courtney Donald-------- Martin Hernandez
Brandon Richard ------------Jason Day ----------------Allen Chua
Andrew Leslie ------------ Jared Kiesow------------ Sheila Moore
Carl Fletcher -------- Nathan Warnock-------- Andrew Willis
Ronald John---------------- Justin Taylor

2nd Platoon

Timothy Tye------------Troy Weidling------------ Marcus Jones
Bo Irving ------------Rashun Rivera------------ Matthew Bing
Adrian Cardenas ---------Herman Crawford--------Takeisha Dedner
Jonathon Duncan---------- Michael Foley------------ Gerado Hernandez
Marcus Jones ------------ Michael Knight ------------ Matthew Love
Michael Parker---------------- Joe Stone

3rd Platoon

Brian Dyer------------Theodore Wade ------------ Matthew Blackwell
Elda Castrellon------------ Michael Danner------------Jaramy Dodge
Brian Griffin ------------ Pablo Hernandez ------------Kevin Jackson
Brendan Keeter------------Ester Lawson ------------ Christina Martinez
Jorge Pereira ------------William Ross------------ Alberto Suarez
Robert Wilcoxen

Our Instructors were:
GySgt Pham
GySgt English
SSgt Eady
SSgt Lillie

The Family

The family consists of small and large idiosyncrasies that the various people took hold.

The Brain- one who know it all but would not help anyone
Alkie- self proclaimed, but was more of a binge(r)
Bob- name changed so often this ended up being easier
Loud Mouth- louder than a pack of ravished dogs
The Grunt - he wasn't one, but knew enough to help us all
Motivator- didn't get the award, but helped the spirits
Brother(s) - when calling one of there names, you never knew who you were going to get
The Indian - self explanatory
The Closet Alcoholic - drunk enough for the whole class
The Philanderer - nothing concrete just rumors
Pat- he or she
The Tramp - Same as above
Gung Ho - didn't get the award, but came close
The Cook- said he was one, hard to tell though
BA - it doesn't mean what you think
Silk- so smooth that he slipped by
AFN - could be a Dan Rather or Walter Croncrite in the Future
The Bitch - love and hate, if you know what I mean
Comic Relief - could make a room disappear or reappear at random
That Winger Guy - came down to 1 in 5 of us at any given time
The Cowboy - you didn't want to go in a dark alley without this one


~- there were several others that missed out on being seen and known, but since the family was there nothing would be amiss-~

Whew!

Just found out I will be graduating on the 17th.
Barring I do anything stupid in the last four days.

Mess Night is tomorrow.

That will be interesting.

Life Force

I feel the life force of my body has completely drained from me.

We, the Sergeant's Course were in the field for 2 days and practiced a "fake" war. We did some patrolling( actually a lot), ambushes, defensive perimeters, rear area security, envelopes, frontal attacks, and room clearing in an urban environment. Which all of that took place in about a 26 hour period, I myself, snuck in about 2 10 minute naps somewhere.

At the end, we hiked(humped) 8.75 miles with 85 pounds packs( I weighed mine), full gear(war gear), and weapons( I got lucky with only a M-16). Of course we didn't "walk" at nice comfortable pace, it was more a 6 to 7 miles per hour pace.

I slept from noon till now and I am fixin' to go back to bed soon.

Passing

I just got over the big hurdle, for me that is.
Drill.
I personally believe that the grading scale is flawed. But the main point is I passed. Not with flying colors, more like a flying mouse that was tied dyed.

We are also finished with about three quarters of the written tests and about half way done with the practical exams.

The real kicker in the rear is going to be the eight mile hump (hike at a set rate of speed, with a full pack and one or more weapons). That will be next week, we shall see how it goes.

Pictures of Guidons

I found some pictures of guidons.
There are pictures of toys but I think you all will get the idea.
http://www.tedtoy.com/United%20States%20Marine%20Corps.htm

or

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/

The 1st Tests are Next Week

Yep, you've guessed it, I will be studying this weekend. A lot.
The subjects are:

Warfighting
Nutrition
Leading Physical Readiness Training
Guidon Manual
Sword Manual
Training Management
Personnel Administration
Search and Seizures

Plus the topper is we have practical exams on Guidon & Sword Manual. The sword I am not too worried, its the guidon that bothers me the most. That is what the weekend is for, right?

1st Week Sergeant's Course

Well, I got through it, the 1st week. Mostly it consisted of admin stuff and an initial PFT. Needless to say, we all got a glimpse of what we are going receive from this training. I won't spoil it for others and tell all, but this is a make or break atmosphere for sure.
Lots of homework and lots of study.

I am not 21 anymore

My recovery time from drinking has increased 10 fold over the last decade. I can not do a shot for shot with these 21 year crowd and expect last all night long. I am lucky if I wake up before noon. The majority is definitely about 5 to 7 years younger than I. All I got going for me is the experience. Maybe a little stamina for the longer nights. Japan has parties all night long in most bars. In fact the best time to go is from Midnight to about 5 am. This where the experience comes in, I will take a nap until 10 or 11pm then go out. (Don't get me wrong, this is not a nightly event, more of a once a paycheck.) Regardless, I can't go out as much as I used to.

T minus 222: Day 143

It is Christmas weekend and that doesn't mean much more than a few extra days off. I personally never got into the "holiday spirit". I will be spending my Christmas with a fellow sergeant and his wife. I am also bringing several other "single" Marines with me. The holidays is more of a time of sharing than anything else. My friend is sharing his house and hospitality to those of us who do not have anyone to share the day with. ( I promise to take pictures.)

On January 4th, I will be going to Camp Hanson for that training I mentioned in an earlier post. The "academy" will last for 7 weeks. This hopefully will be my ticket to advancement. If not I may be joining the ranks of the civilian world sooner rather than later.

Marbles

Babs Miller was bagging some early potatoes for me. I noticed a
small boy, delicate of bone and feature, ragged but clean, hungrily
apprizing a basket of freshly picked green peas.

I paid for my potatoes but was also drawn to the display of fresh
green peas. I am a pushover for creamed peas and new potatoes. Pondering the
peas, I couldn't help overhearing the conversation between Mr. Miller and the ragged boy next to me.

"Hello Barry, how are you today?"

"H'lo, Mr. Miller. Fine, thank ya. Jus' admirin' them peas . sure look good."

"They are good, Barry. How's your Ma?"

"Fine. Gittin' stronger alla' time."

"Good. Anything I can help you with?"

"No, Sir. Jus' admirin' them peas."

"Would you like to take some home?"

"No, Sir. Got nuthin' to pay for 'em with."

"Well, what have you to trade me for some of those peas?"

"All I got's my prize marble here."

"Is that right? Let me see it."

"Here 'tis. She's a dandy."

"I can see that. Hmmmmm, only thing is this one is blue and I sort of go
for red. Do you have a red one like this at home?"

"Not zackley . but almost."

"Tell you what. Take this sack of peas home with you and next trip this way let me look at that red marble."

"Sure will. Thanks Mr. Miller."

Mrs. Miller, who had been standing nearby, came over to help me.
With a smile she said, "There are two other boys like him in our
community, all three are in very poor circumstances. Jim just loves to bargain
with them for peas, apples, tomatoes, or whatever. When they come back with their red marbles, and they always do, he decides he doesn't like red after all and he sends them home with a bag of produce for a green marble or an orange one, perhaps."

I left the stand smiling to myself, impressed with this man. A
short time later I moved to Colorado but I never forgot the story of this man, the boys, and their bartering.

Several years went by, each more rapid that the previous one. Just recently I had occasion to visit some old friends in that Idaho community and while I was there learned that Mr. Miller had died. They were having his viewing that evening and knowing my friends wanted to go, I agreed to accompany them. Upon arrival at the mortuary we fell into line to meet the relatives of the deceased and to offer whatever words of comfort we could.

Ahead of us in line were three young men. One was in an army uniform and the other two wore nice haircuts, dark suits and white shirts ... all very professional looking.

They approached Mrs. Miller, standing composed and smiling by her husband's casket. Each of the young men hugged her, kissed her on the cheek, spoke briefly with her and moved on to the casket.

Her misty light blue eyes followed them as, one by one, each young man stopped briefly and placed his own warm hand over the cold pale hand in the casket. Each left the mortuary awkwardly, wiping his eyes.

Our turn came to meet Mrs. Miller. I told her who I was and mentioned the story she had told me about the marbles. With her eyes glistening, she took my hand and led me to the casket.
"Those three young men who just left were the boys I told you about.! They just told me how they appreciated the things Jim "traded" them. Now, at last, when Jim could not change his mind about color or size ... they came to pay their debt."

"We've never had a great deal of the wealth of this world," she confided, "but right now, Jim would consider himself the richest man in Idaho."

With loving gentleness she lifted the lifeless fingers of her deceased husband. Resting underneath were three exquisitely shined red marbles.

Moral:
We will not be remembered by our words, but by our kind deeds.
Life is not measured by the breaths we take, but by the moments
that takes our breath.

Marine Corps Ball 2005

I did some updating. http://www.wyldth1ng.com/ball05_1.html
You will all notice that some people are in this year's pictures as they were in last years. It should strike a funny bone if you pay attention.

Fantasy

I have once said, "Life is not a joke, it is millions of little jokes one right after another."

This may be true today as it was once yesterday.

My hopes and dreams are a fantasy that are ill afford.

Ambitious

Sometimes, I think that the reason I am not loved by my peers or women is the ambitious factor. Not that it was the factor in why we ( the women in question), got together it is or may have been a reason why we spilt in the first place.
Or maybe, "they" still love me, it is the ambition that was missing. I personally do not believe that. I always thought I had a lot of ambition.
Maybe it was the lost "Goth".
Or the Latin.
Whatever the reason, I wish for love to be the factor which keeps us together whoever that may concern.

Marine Service Journal

A friend of mine, "Dee Dee" gave me a book titled "Marine Service Journal."
Sort of a paper based version of this blog. Granted, I do not tell you all everything, what fun would that be?
The book has some great illustrations and pictures. It has a place for a personal history, which can be quite boring. It has Unit Activities, which, anyone but myself and other Marines would understand. It has "Service Friends" which over the years I have had many. There are a few other nifty details as well, I would tell you all, but where's the mystery in that?

Now do not misunderstand me, I have filled out he book and have been filling out the book since I received it as a gift. I appreciated the gift, more because no one else thought of it for the last decade.

Dee Dee is a great friend and my heart goes out for her.
Semper Fi

T minus 250: Day 115

It is Thanksgiving. In about 2 hours I will be departing to my SNCOIC's (Staff Non-Commissioned Officer In Charge) house with about 6 other Marines. I plan to bring some cheese and summer sausage my mother sent me with some Ritz I bought yesterday. All should be well, I am breaking out some good clothes I brought with me. ( I had a woman helped me buy it, so I am in fashion.)

Yesterday, I ran my second half of the year PFT (Physical Fitness Test). Not fun. I didn't do nearly as well as I have in the past. I did my 100 crunches with 12 pull-ups (counted) and a 24 minute 18 second run time. The younger Marines thought that it was pretty good, I know better and should have done better. My "boss" thought it was not "bad" for a thirty year old. Well, let me tell you all first I am hurting today. I will probably be hurting tomorrow too. I still have not done the math but I think it is around a 223 or 222, something like that. It is about 20 points lower than my last one and about 35 points lower than the one before.

The monitors will be here in a couple of weeks. (The guys who tell everyone where they are going to be stationed.) I plan to figure out what my next steps will be. At the moment, an extension here is looking like the best option. We will see.

Immigrants of History

"In the first place we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the man's becoming in very fact an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag, and this excludes the red flag, which symbolizes all wars against liberty and civilization, just as much as it excludes any foreign flag of a nation to which we are hostile...We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language...and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."

Theodore Roosevelt 1907

Fun Stuff

http://www.flashfunpages.com/couple.swf

This was shared with me, now, I share it with all of you.