Blog-aholic, Part II

There are times I read a blog and think to myself, 'I can give this person some advice.'

Then as I am about to write in my advice I think to myself, ' I really do not have any advice to give.'

This can be a problem, which at times the silly answer to the question or wacky reply to the statement is the outcome of this dilemma.

What can I say?

"It's my party and I will cry if I want to."

Blog-aholic

I am addicted.

The good excuses I have for it is I may not be able to call or write an email, but I can do limited searches of the web on a regular basis.

The posts that I do here, I email and I talked about that earlier. It is all about Google trying to make the world a smaller place for us. (It is a good thing I bought stock.)

My addiction is not too bad, work always comes first. ( I don't have an option.)

The Profile Photo

I can't decide on my profile photo.

Should I use the Sugar Coat poster?

My shadow in front of a Mobile Facility?

Or should I just find an abstract photo?

Cliff Notes for Monday

The Commander in Chief was here today. Didn't get to see him.

The Secretary of State was here as well. Didn't get to see her either.

It was obvious that the President was not going to eat at the chow hall. The food is on repeats. I think this is the third day in a row for brisket.

Who Knew?

Green Bay Packers Tops My List

People keep asking me for specifics on what "I" want.

At the moment, I want to watch the Packer game. I m going to miss the whole season. Can you believe it? (Me either.)

I have been asking for the glow in the dark galaxy since being out here. I guess "they" stopped making those in the eighties.

I have always been a fan of dried fruit, you know, banana chips and such.

Obviously, Twizzlers are my favorite. I know that gets expensive, so I don't expect them.

My really expensive taste is the beef jerky. I truly believe the best comes from this grocery store in School Hill, Wisconsin, but the jerky coming from North Dakota comes in a close second.

(I realize by posting this I am not really asking any "one" person, which in turn means I am not going to get anything that is listed above. It is okay, I can handle rejection.)

Care Packages, Part III

Care Packages, Part II

Some people that do not know me personally think I am am asshole. They are probably right and I will agree. It is easier to be an asshole than it is to be a nice guy.

What a hell of a way to start this post.

I am a point of contact for couple a donators to our unit. Also I received mail from individuals and couples after I write them. I do not email too many people from out here. I write a semi-formal letter expressing my thoughts and feelings about what was sent to me or our unit via me. Most of the things sent are addressed directly to me and probably not originally intended to be shared. Fact is, I share (or give away) about 75 percent of what I receive in the mail. That is a lot in anyone's book. I am not asking for sympathy, gratitude, or even a thanks. I do what I think is a morally sound judgement for the betterment of the men and women in the Marine Corps and our sister services.

Today I received a box addressed to me. The box was a thank you from Jeff Bader about a letter I wrote to his wife.

There is an item in the box that my colleagues have told me is quite valuable, but I do not want it or need it. Tomorrow I will be giving this item to a lucky Lance Corporal or Private First Class or Private. The name is going to be picked at random from a list of names that were submitted be our unit's Staff Non-Commissioned Officers. This was the fairest method I could devise in giving it away.

I will post the results tomorrow.

Thank You for not Helping Me.

I have a job where many people ask for something. Most of the time we help out J.Q. Person, but there are instances everyday when my colleagues and I tell the individual to go away or correct themselves first.

Nifty part is right after we tell them to go away, they say 'Thank You.'

There have individuals that we tell to go away ten times in a night. You would think they would learn or at least be more prepared the following day. No. Not the case here. Some days I just get sick of seeing the same individual tell him to not come back and still they thank me for it. Some shops will send several different people and none are prepared or know any more than the previous person, each one saying thank you as he or she leaves.

(This post has been edited from its original content.)

Moo Cows

Have you ever seen the other type of cow?
You know...the one that is not a Moo Cow.
I think the Moo Cows are the better ones.

I believe it may have been more than a year since I have seen any Moo Cows or smelled one for that matter.

There was a moment today as I was looking at the full moon and I swear I saw a Moo Cow jump over the moon.

Ethni Jamin

(I haven't been to the link above because of limitations of the Internet here, but I am sure it is great.)

It is quite funny how I happened into listening to her music. I went to talk to a colleague and he was listening to Ethni Jamin's "If Dreams" and said I didn't recognize the music. I had told him that I liked the music and he told me that is was a Corporal in a other division. Well, you can imagine the later conversation of disbelief.

Long story short, I asked her for a copy since my colleague didn't know how to make a copy of his and have been listening to it since.

She doesn't need to be here and I hope she leaves the Corps for a prosperous music career.

In a Galaxy Far Far Away...

From what I can tell there is supposed to be a meteor shower here sometime soon. Unfortunately, all the sights that talk about Iraqi sky are not in English or I am not allowed to view the site for whatever reason.

If anyone has information on sky sightings, I would love to here it. I work at night and have a camera. What luck!

Grand Old Party

Let's face it, I lean to the republican side of the force. Maybe it is because I am a cheesehead and I actually know where Ripon is (good cookies). And maybe I know where the party was born. Or maybe I just like to party.

I once voted for a democrat, he was the only one on the ticket. I could have abstained but he was the best candidate for the job.

I just have a hard time voting for a party that believes in adultery. It might be to my past experiences for that. And what is wrong with the Marines? Why does it seem that every democratic president or controlled congress wants to abolish the Marine Corps? We are different, but that is a good thing. I could list hundreds of reasons why, but I will leave that for another post.

I still tend to consider myself independent. I think this way because I am free.

The 10 Percent Rule

Over the years of being in the military I have "lost" many things. Somewhere along the line I discovered it was surprisingly enough to be about 10% of my belongings. There was a year or two in there where it wasn't a material thing, it was social or emotional. ( Heart rippings)

One year it was like 40 CDs out of my 400 CD collection. Another was about 50 DVDs out my 500 DVD collection. Just so you can get an idea.

The material things tend to wind up in someone else's possession because they think they bought it. An example would be "LA Story" one of my favorites movies. I have bought it seven times. I don't know anyone who has bought this movie.

So now, being in this deployment, I was wondering what was going to be lost. It may end up being a combo. Heart rippings, CDs, my truck jack and the tire iron, that is about 10 or so.

Rational Thoughts

I paid another Marine 5 dollars for the grape kool-aid singles box that he had. I have no idea what this sort of thing actually costs to buy in a store and send to Iraq, but it was worth five dollars. The silly part is I probably would have paid more for it.

I have had the same twenty five dollars and sixty-two cents in my pocket since I came back from leave in June. For me really to spend it, I would have to get up two to three hours early or stay awake for four to five hours extra. Then I could go in the "exchange" for the item needed, problem is there is nothing in there I want or need. The items I need are always gone, because there a shitload of other people that need the same thing. As I stated earlier I would need to stay up or get up early, to find out the items I need are not there. Kind of seems like mindless banter, doesn't it?

I noticed since summer has pretty much come and is going, the number of care packages has gone down significantly. I am not complaining, just an observation.

Times when we can't call or visit the Internet, tend to blur together. The only one I have called is my Mom, since being back in country. I was thinking of calling a few others but I have been making excuses on why I should not.

My roommates and I have finally come to some sort of agreement on the temperature of the room. I think they are leaving soon, so they probably don't care as much.

What is wrong with orange, grape and cherry flavors? Why can't we get normal flavors? I mean the kiwi-banana-avocado is interesting but it doesn't taste very good.

Dragonflys, Part II

An Iraqi Dragon Fly.

I figure this one has a wingspan of about six inches. Could be hell itself, right there staring at me with those compound eyes. Then again, maybe not.

Deployment, Part II

The next wave of divorces are starting again.
There are many "Dear John" letters and "Oh by the way" conversations in the last few days. That is the way it goes, it comes in waves. Some couples were seen by others as "rocky" and it was expected, some were "perfect for each other" and no one saw it coming.

A Marine or two have come to me for advice. I figure it is for one of two reasons or both. One I am a senior enlisted and two I have been through before. Probably the latter. It is always hard but you plan for the worse and hope for the best.

Dragonflys

I have written a few letters back today and yesterday. I must really admit that I have nothing to say. Nothing much changes from day to day.

There is a dragonfly about the size of your average Frisbee that hangs around at night. I can't figure out why the bats haven't eaten him yet.

There are a few mice that I think have been attracting the snakes closer to our work areas. Haven't seen too many evil snakes, just the bad ones. Like if they bite you you will get sick but not die right away.

Yesterday, I saw what looked like a coyote, but I didn't go closer to verify. I think it may have been the first 4 legged creature that I have seen out here.

Reality on an August Afternoon

Today, while the sun was passing over the horizon and the blast furnace seemed to go down a notch, I realized "I really hate this place."

I know 'hate' is a strong word, but the only real benny out here is the tax free part.

I can see me now, (dreamland) sitting on my back porch on my rocker with a plush pillow seat, rocking to the beat of Hair of the Dog, drinking a frothy beverage in an iced mug, on cool afternoon talking with some friends with some 2 string, one string, no string guitars.

Then suddenly, it all comes back to me, with the dust cloud surrounding the base, I am still in Iraq and I can not give blood today since I gave last week. So I look at it in sorrow that I cannot help that soldier or Marine today.

My Off Time

I had just finished another book (Gates of Fire) today and started reading Broken Prey. So far so good, it seems to be a murder mystery type book.

I have been increasing my PT and have been riding the bike for about 45 minutes extra every other day. It probably wouldn't be difficult but I have a 100 pound pack just for riding on my bike during this time. The bike ride isn't as bad for my knees and feet, and i still get the workout.

I have been watching Oprah on AFN (Armed Forces Network) for about twenty minutes prior to going to work. Today had Jon Stewart was a guest, which was the highlight of my day. I am not saying that I enjoy Oprah and I am not saying I like to watch Jon Stewart. I am saying it was the highlight of my day.