Flicker, Part III

I want to make a set. Seems simple enough. Maybe I am behind too many firewalls. I can not get to "OrganizR" it just says it is loading.

This where I am thinking about deleting the whole thing again. Remember, box of rocks. Not shiny.

How I Was Infected

As you can see it can be clearly documented how I repeatedly received the Splotchy Virus. I have successfully ridden myself of the virus and given it back to its maker. Hopefully, the strands will not mutate anymore and I will be in the free and clear. Only time will tell.

Wacky Meme of the Month, Part II

I've been tagged again and for me it was CDP, who was tagged by the brilliant Whiskeymarie, by way of Splotchy, who writes:

"This has probably been done before, but that is not stopping me, oh no.Here's what I would like to do. I want to create a story that branches out in a variety of different, unexpected ways. I don't know how realistic it is, but that's what I'm aiming for. Hopefully, at least one thread of the story can make a decent number of hops before it dies out.If you are one of the carriers of this story virus (i.e. you have been tagged and choose to contribute to it), you will have one responsibility, in addition to contributing your own piece of the story: you will have to tag at least one person that continues your story thread. So, say you tag five people. If four people decide to not participate, it's okay, as long as the fifth one does. And if all five participate, well that's five interesting threads the story spins off into.Not a requirement, but something your readers would appreciate: to help people trace your own particular thread of the narrative, it will be helpful if you include links to the chapters preceding yours."

Being the good sport that I am, I felt I couldn't let the readers down. So just as the world turns so does this:

I woke up hungry. I pulled my bedroom curtain to the side and looked out on a hazy morning. I dragged myself into the kitchen, in search of something to eat. I reached for a jar of applesauce sitting next to the sink, and found it very cold to the touch. I opened the jar and realized it was frozen. (Splotchy)

I was used to the house being quite cold in the mornings, as the night log usually burns out around one AM when I am dreaming cozily under my covers, not
normally waking to put a new one on until morning. I was surprised because on the rare occasions that it actually had reached sub-freezing temperatures in the house, I had awakened in the night to restart the fire. I would have been worried about the pipes before P-Day, but there hadn’t been running water in two years and that was one of the few advantages to being dependent on rainwater, no pipes. (Freida Bee)

I rummaged around in the kitchen and found one of the few things that hadn't frozen overnight to eat- an expired granola bar. "Better than nothing", I muttered to myself as I tore off the wrapper and took a bite, trying to not chip a tooth in the process.I thought I should go out to the shed and bring in more wood. The mind-numbing cold snap that had set in over the last few days seemed to be in no hurry to leave. Pulling on my heavy coat and wool hat, I considered for a moment what lay ahead for the day. Normally I would spend much of the day making any needed repairs to the house, cleaning, reading various newsletters, cooking, and just trying to keep busy in general. With no job to fill my time anymore I have found my new found "freedom" to be both a blessing and a curse. Ever since P-day, the only job most of us have is to sit in our homes and find something, anything, to pass the time.Well, that- and to stay alive. (Whiskeymarie)

I reached the woodshed I’d built from the remains of our fence, and heard a rustling. Fearing one of the wild dogs that now roamed the neighborhood, I crept back to the house for the gun my husband left with me before he volunteered to join the fighting. My hand was shaking so badly, I didn’t think I could pull a trigger, so I also grabbed an old broomstick to use as a club. My son tried to follow me, and I ordered him back inside; he obeyed, frightened by the harshness of my tone. He seemed not to sense how terrified I was and I was glad. Inching toward the shed, glancing backward every few steps to be sure the children were staying inside, I heard the rustle again, accompanied by a very human cough.“Who is it?” I shouted, in as angry and menacing a voice as I could muster.No response.“Damn it, I know you’re in there! I have a gun! Come out with your hands up, or I’ll just start shooting!”“Don’t shoot!” said the voice, and(CDP).

~
I woke up hungry. The room was white, small and seemed to not have any doors. That is when I realized I was naked. I had a thin sheet of plastic over me and some machine making beeping noises to my left.

I started to rise up that is when I noticed the cuffs holding me to the bed. I started to scream.

A large booming voice came over a loud speaker, " Calm down, calm down Mrs. Peabody."

I bellowed out, "Who are you?! Why am I chained down?! Where are my children?! "

The voice replied, " There has been an accident, everything will be fine. There will be someone to assist and answer your questions shortly."

Then there was silence. I yelled some more but nothing. No response. Then suddenly, I a creaking sound. To the right there was a door opening, it was......
(Wyldth1ng)

Gotta love cliff hangars. I doubt I will find anyone who will continue this one, but I will tag some more people and see if it goes anywhere or just stops at this.

Splotchy
FranIAm
Mathman6293
PrincessMindy
and the last one will be you the person that has always wanted to be tagged but hasn't. This is your chance to make this story a masterpiece.

History of Women Marines

An excellent source for Women Marine history is the Women Marine Association. Here is an excerpt of the answer to the question that has arisen from my previous post.

How did my mother serve in the Marine Corps during WWII?

"In 1918, the Secretary of Navy allowed women to enroll for clerical duty in the Marine Corps. Officially, Opha Mae Johnson is credited as the first woman Marine. Johnson enrolled for service on August 13, 1918; during that year some 300 women first entered the Marine Corps to take over stateside clerical duties from battle-ready Marines who were needed overseas. The Marine Corps Women's Reserve was established in February 1943. June 12th, 1948, Congress passed the Women's Armed Services Integration Act and made women a permanent part of the regular Marine Corps. "

Thinking About Presidental History

Being the history fan that I am, I was thinking about US Presidents in history. Who are the Presidents that we remember?

We remember the ones during war and the ones that were assassinated or both. Really, think about it for moment.

Why is that? Why do we as Americans forget the Presidents in between our wars or the ones that lived beyond their presidency?

I always enjoy asking people if they know their four generals that became Presidents and which ones are on our legal tender. You would be surprised to find out that most people I ask can not come up with the answer. The responses are usually two of the generals and can think of only one who is on our money.

Here is a couple of questions and an answers for everyone:
1) President Truman signed an important piece of legislation for women in 1948, what was it?
2) Who was the first President to fly in a helicopter?
3) Which President was the only one to earn a PhD?
4) Which President delivered the shortest inaugural address?
5) The "Baby Ruth" candy bar was named for which President's daughter?
6) Which President slept in pajamas with five stars sewn on to the shoulder?
7) Which President from the 20th century is on Mount Rushmore?
8) Which Presidents signed the Declaration of Independence?
9)Who was the only Rhodes Scholar amongst the Presidents?
10) Which President was the first to have been a POW(Prisoner of War)?

1a) Women's Armed Services Integration Act, which authorized women to serve in the organized services(military).
2a) President Eisenhower
3a)President Woodrow Wilson (John Hopkins 1886)
4a) President George Washington, 135 words
5a) President Grover Cleveland, Ruth Cleveland
6a) President Dwight D. Eisenhower
7a) President Theodore Roosevelt
8a) Thomas Jefferson and John Adams
9a) President William Clinton
10a) Andrew Jackson, Revolutionary War

Thank You My Heroes

I have received this letter and many similar like it and I feel that I do not deserve the niceties these people and others have shared with me and my Marines. The majority of the boxes contents, expect for a book and a couple of Starburst, will be going to my Marines and several other Marines that are deployed farther out from me.

I can't help but feel choked up when I read a letter like this one from Eve. I have never thought of myself as a hero and probably never will. I have always thought that everyday people with their acts of kindness are the heroes.

Thank you.

All of us, thank you for taking the time and effort to send a piece of your home to our "home" here.

Heathen

I am what you would call a heathen. This is why:

I am divorced. (3 times)
I have lied in the past. (A white lie and 2 fibs)
I have had sex out of wedlock.
I have been gluttonous.(I weigh about ten pounds over my healthy weight.)
I drink beer. ("In heaven there is no beer, That is why we drink it here.")
I have purposely tried and succeeded to hurt people. (They were all bad.)
I have used the lord's name in vain. (for both pain and pleasure)
I have taken items that were not mine. (When I was five I took a Tootsie Pop from the store without paying.)
I do not attend church services regularly.
I do not give ten percent to any church. (I instead invest ten percent for retirement.)
I have worshiped other gods. ( I have dabbled in many other beliefs.)
I have had envy for other people. (American society helps that sin to the nth degree.)
I have never truly confessed my sins to God, but I have to one woman who scorned me.
I am an extremist when it comes to my belief in the Corps.

I do not ask for forgiveness, I do not ask for grief, I do not ask for justification.
This is who I am.

Belly Growth, Part II

As promised more stick figures. As you can all see from this diagram, I started this deployment as a stick figure and I will be ending as balloon with needles sticking out in funny directions.

Knocker

My last wife received a knocker for Christmas one of the years we were married. I write it like that because when the marriage dissolved she took the knocker. Luckily, I received one just like it the following year. I would love to put on my front door. I seem to be missing a front door, at the moment. I bring this up for a few reasons, one for it being Christmas time and this was a gift. And of course, it looks just like the photo above.

Wacky Meme of the Month

Okay, so Fran tagged DCup who then tagged me with a nifty story building meme that was started by Splotchy who wrote...

Here's what I would like to do. I want to create a story that branches out in a variety of different, unexpected ways. I don't know how realistic it is, but that's what I'm aiming for. Hopefully, at least one thread of the story can make a decent number of hops before it dies out.

Whomever I tag at the end of this, if they chose to accept the mission, will most likely be in another circle altogether. I probably should not be the one linking the two but we shall see.

I woke up hungry. I pulled my bedroom curtain to the side and looked out on a hazy morning. I dragged myself into the kitchen, in search of something to eat. I reached for a jar of applesauce sitting next to the sink, and found it very cold to the touch. I opened the jar and realized it was frozen. (Splotchy)

"That's strange," I said out loud to no one in particular. My fingers slowly reached towards the jar again. My body experienced a wave of apprehension as weighted blanket covering me as I did so. The jar was completely frozen.

I picked it up and stared at it, my fingers stung with little knives of chill. "What the..." again I spoke aloud. Then I realized what had happened with a shock. Suddenly the jar flew from my hand. It shattered creating a collage-like mixture of frozen applesauce and glass shards on my kitchen floor, the lid lazily rolling to a stop across the room.(FranIam)

I stood for a moment considering what all this meant. Oh, I knew what it meant, I didn’t need to waste time thinking about it. He was back. And he was mad.

I ran down the hallway and flung open the door at the end. I was immediately hit with a blast of cold. I took a step back as I tried to catch my breath. I bent over, hands on my knees panting. He always had this remarkable effect on me. After so much time, it no longer scared me, but it was a shock nonetheless……

“You know,” I panted, “There’s no need to break things to get my
attention.” (DCup)

I woke up hungry. I rolled out of bed smacking my alarm clock that was singing Carly Simon and thinking to myself I have to stop eating pizza right before bed and then sleeping till noon. I must remember to change that station to something that will actually wake me.

Stubbing my toe on my boots on my way to the kitchen, I glanced sideways down the hall and caught the dead body out of the corner of my eye. (Wyldth1ng)

I hope I pick at least one person out of five that will continue the story. So without further hesitation:

Will Blog For Food
The Village Carpeter
More Cows Than People
LadyBurg
Jan

Daemon Wagon

I have not read the books as of yet, but from the website I have gathered a general idea. This Daemon thing I saw on Songbird's blog then I saw it on More Cows' blog. I have decided to join the fray and this was the result.

For the next twelve days or so you can interact with my results here:http://www.goldencompassmovie.com/?588009

But did you expect anything else?

RevGals Friday Five: Preparation

Sally from RevGals has decided to make us do essays this week on how we prepare.
Here then is this weeks Friday 5:

1. You have a busy week, pushing out all time for preparing worship/ Sunday School lessons/ being ready for an important meeting ( or whatever equivalent your profession demands)- how do you cope?
As a Marine, I accomplish the mission, then ensure troop welfare.

2. You have unexpected visitors, and need to provide them with a meal- what do you do?Three discussion topics:
a) Open up a box of menu A of MREs
b) Open up a box of menu B of MREs
c) Find an Any Marine package and share

3. Thinking along the lines of this weeks advent theme; repentance is an important but often neglected aspect of advent preparations.....
I really don't understand what I am supposed to do for this question/statement.

4. Some of the best experiences in life occur when you simply go with the flow.....
Take charge and secure the hill.

5. Details are everything, attention to the small things enables a plan to roll forward smoothly...
That is why you called the Marines.

Bonus if you dare- how well prepared are you for Christmas this year?
Better prepared than a Swiss Army knife.

Day of Infamy

Yesterday, December 7, 1941 -- a date which will live in infamy -- the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked......

I Q

A while ago(a few years) I had this "head mate"(shared a bathroom) that made a bet with me that he was smarter than I. We were and are fierce competitors and drinkers of fine beer. So this the short of this story.

The gamble was loser pays for dinner meals for a month and will always be considered not as smart(dumb as a box of rocks) amongst the players. The verification was a test proctored by a member of Mensa also a good friend of ours (at the cost of two hundred fifty dollars each). We were serious about this. The night prior we went drink for drink. This where the challenge came into play and you could say that was not smart. We were both late to the test. Since we were the only ones taking the test(at a local college) they waited. I will give props to my friend who finished this test two minutes before me. I scored one point higher than him.

I did not qualify for Mensa. But who cares, I got free meals for a month and he will always be as dumb as a box of rocks.

I want to leave the show...

I am sure the headaches has something to do with my thought process lately, but I am ready to leave this place. I truly believe if I could get a beer once awhile and a day off every so often I could handle it out here for a much longer time. There is a song by Pink Floyd when Roger Walters was singing that says something like, " take off this uniform and leave the show." It has one of those nifty echos added to it. Hence the title of this post. Or maybe when Agent Smith is talking Morpheus in the Matrix about getting out of this place. I don't know how to explain it any better. I suppose those to idea are extremes on either end of the spectrum. Do not misunderstand what I am saying, I am just saying I have been out here a while(month twelve) and would like a break. I see the same people everyday. Everyday. This is day 340 I believe, give or take a few days. There are people here that do the same stupid mistakes everyday. Everyday. Not everyone, but some people (the 10 percent) get on my nerves everyday. I try to avoid them as much as possible. With the type of job I have I interact with many(ranges from ten to eighty) people everyday. I have the type of job where you don't give good news very often and a lot of tough calls are made to get the job done.

I feel I may be losing the audience here, you can call it whining if you want to. Regardless of how much I may bitch, I am still doing the job to the best of my ability.

Cluster Headaches

I am a sufferer of cluster headaches. The easiest way I can explain it is like a migraine(it actually is) that everyone associates with but it doesn't last as long but happens more often. For me, medically, this is listed as chronic. (Yeah, isn't that great!) I have been really well lately, until very recently. The last few days have been terrible.

The real reason I post this so if it seems my chipper self is not in the last few posts or it doesn't seem like I have visited your blog lately, I am sorry. Being alive just hurts.

Snow Globe

Not just any snow globe, this has Frosty and his date, Miss Snow Woman of the Year, with him. The flurries are abundant as they trek to vast far away lands with a decorated tree in tow. They have reach the top of a hill, the hill of decorated trees of ornaments and garland.

Yep, life is good.

Flicker, Part II

Okay it looks like I got the Flickr thing on the sidebar to work alright. Thanks to the help of DCup. Plus my IT guy here said that the firewall here may have problems with it and that might have been the problem for me as well. Either way it seems to be functioning. I will add some photos not sensitive over the next few days after I finish my FitRep(fitness report).

News Junkie, Part II

I wrote a lengthy post about the news I read, this one won't be. Lengthy that is. I like reading "news" blogs as well as hit the headlines. One of my favorites to read has got to be Ollie North. He has a section on Fox called the Colonel's Corner. This week's post is as intriguing as ever.

I like the way he writes and expresses his opinions. I don't expect anyone to be swayed just because I like to read him. I am just letting you all know, that I like reading the colonel.

The End is Over

Becuase I hate to be picked last and DCup has left an open invite for anyone to do this transistion of email to blog post and my brain is hurting so the random silliness is not flowing as nicely as it should be, I decided to perform the following:

The rules:
1. Put your music player on Shuffle
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER WHAT(this is in capital letters, so it is very serious.) (It is so serious someone wrote that it is, serious.)

MY ANSWERS:

1. IF SOMEONE SAYS “IS THIS OKAY” YOU SAY?
Centerfold
by J. Geils Band

2. WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
Zombie
by The Cranberries

3. WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
Tennessee Flat Top Box
by Johnny Cash

4. HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
The Zoo
by Scorpions

5. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE?
Play the Game
by Queen

6. WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
Jeopardy
by Greg Kihn Band

7. WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Best of You
by Foo Fighters

8. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR PARENTS?
Stuck with Me
by Green Day

9. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
Time Warp
The Original Rocky Horror Picture Show Soundtrack

10. WHAT IS 2+2?
Cath
by The Bluebells

11. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
Island in the Sun
by Weezer

12. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Everyday is a Winding Road
by Sheryl Crow

13. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Man in Black
by Johnny Cash

14. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
The Kids Aren't All Right
by Offspring

15. WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Lithium
by Evanescence

16. WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
On the Road Again
by Canned Heat

17. WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
Right Here, Right Now
by Jesus Jones

18. WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Body Crumbles
by Dry Cell

19. WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thing
by Heaven 17

20. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
Waiting
by Green Day

21. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
Feudin' Banjos
by Don Reno

22. WHAT SHOULD YOU POST THIS AS?
The End is Over
by Powerman 5000

After further review, on the play list, maybe not all my music choices are good to listen to while out here. Then again, how can anyone go through the day without the banjo song from Deliverance.