I'm a little short on time this morning, but I have a longer post I'm prepping for tomorrow (or Saturday). Please check back this weekend.
PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST!
(yeah, right)
Please note that there are two different links in the sarcasm above.
Thursday, June 29
Sunday, June 25
Real quick
I don't have much time this morning so (t)here...
Just for the record, I'll be cleaning up my side bar later this week, too. More survey results will be posted on Sundays. Seems like an easy way to mark the weekend.
| You Are 44% Cynical |
 Yes, you are cynical, but more than anything, you're a realist. You see what's screwed up in the world, but you also take time to remember what's right. |
Just for the record, I'll be cleaning up my side bar later this week, too. More survey results will be posted on Sundays. Seems like an easy way to mark the weekend.
Tuesday, June 20
news reviews
This is just a quick hit before I leave for work this morning.
Thoughts and prayers to the families of the three service men killed during the ambush on Friday. Sure, two were reportedly taken prisoner, but they died as a result of that action last week. A local talk show host asked how soldiers could be taken captive if they have automatic weapons and the training to use them. While the answers are many, a couple popped into my head almost instantly. If, as the linked story suggests, the rest of their convoy left them and their senior man was killed, then fear may have slowed the reaction time of these two junior soldiers. Also, they could have been injured in the firefight or even knocked unconsious by an explosion and rendered unable to defend themselves. I won't speculate any further, but those are possibilities.
Weapons testing works both ways. The same talk show host had a great idea when it comes to dealing with pot-bellied dictators who want to flex their little muscles, like North Korea seems determined to do. He says that since the U.S. has spent so much time, effort, and tax-payer money to develop an anti-missle system, we should test our technology. As soon as that rocket leaves the launch pad, shoot it down. Waiting for the missle to lift off before destroying it would be seen as a purely defensive tactic on our part. I would add that a follow-up cruise missle to destroy the launch site could be wholly justified as an active defense on our part and it would send the strongest message possible to Hanoi that we're not playing around on this.
To finish on a positive note for this morning... Congratulations to the Carolina Hurricanes, NHL Champions for 2006. I watched most of the game last night and it was a lot closer than the final score indicates. A couple of wide shots by the Oilers and an open net goal with less than a minute to play seemed to seal the deal for the winners of Lord Stanley's cup.
Hope you all have a great Tuesday.
Thoughts and prayers to the families of the three service men killed during the ambush on Friday. Sure, two were reportedly taken prisoner, but they died as a result of that action last week. A local talk show host asked how soldiers could be taken captive if they have automatic weapons and the training to use them. While the answers are many, a couple popped into my head almost instantly. If, as the linked story suggests, the rest of their convoy left them and their senior man was killed, then fear may have slowed the reaction time of these two junior soldiers. Also, they could have been injured in the firefight or even knocked unconsious by an explosion and rendered unable to defend themselves. I won't speculate any further, but those are possibilities.
Weapons testing works both ways. The same talk show host had a great idea when it comes to dealing with pot-bellied dictators who want to flex their little muscles, like North Korea seems determined to do. He says that since the U.S. has spent so much time, effort, and tax-payer money to develop an anti-missle system, we should test our technology. As soon as that rocket leaves the launch pad, shoot it down. Waiting for the missle to lift off before destroying it would be seen as a purely defensive tactic on our part. I would add that a follow-up cruise missle to destroy the launch site could be wholly justified as an active defense on our part and it would send the strongest message possible to Hanoi that we're not playing around on this.
To finish on a positive note for this morning... Congratulations to the Carolina Hurricanes, NHL Champions for 2006. I watched most of the game last night and it was a lot closer than the final score indicates. A couple of wide shots by the Oilers and an open net goal with less than a minute to play seemed to seal the deal for the winners of Lord Stanley's cup.
Hope you all have a great Tuesday.
Friday, June 16
Chevy Chase couldn't have scripted this...
Okay, our "fabulous" vacation to visit my folks in Ohio did not go exactly as planned.
"How's that?" you may ask. Well, here's a break down of the low-lights for you.
We had a battalion formation on Friday so the BOSS could wish us a good leave period and encourage us to do everything in our power to return safely. For an infantry unit, that's sometimes asking a lot. Anyway, we wrapped up the day and I jumped in my truck and took off for home. About 3/4 of the way through the base, I noticed a rhythmic clicking sound coming from behind me. I slowed down, and the sound slowed. OK, I've got something in my tire tread. Better check it out when I get home.
We have three speed bumps coming up the neighborhood through street where I live to slow down idiots like me who try to go as fast as possible. These tend to put added pressure on the tires if you go over them too quickly. I told you that to tell you this...
I pulled into the driveway and heard it...
"sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss"
I got out of the truck and literally watched my right rear tire go flat. Fortunately, I've changed a couple of tires before and the truck comes with an unusual, but adequate, jack system and spare tire. I changed my tire just as my wife was pulling into the driveway with the kids. The Boy hops out and says, "Whatcha doin?" So I try to explain to him that Daddy hit a nail or something and all the air has gone out of my tire, so I have to change it. "Oh... Can I try?"
No.
So I took the tire to a local tire dealer and told him what happened. He said he could fix it, but he'd need about 4 hours. Fine, just git-r-done. My wife had to go to work, so I had to wait until the next day to get the tire.
Fast forward now to Sunday morning...
Our neighbor rang the doorbell and asked Jen if we'd been outside yet because "I think something has happened to your truck." We go out there and, sure enough, something has happened to my truck...
Some thug decided he needed my camouflage uniforms more than I did and busted out my driver's window to get to them. Can you believe that?! Fortunately, since I just gotten the windows tinted, the film held all the glass together and there wasn't glass everywhere. STILL! Come to find out that the crook also took most of the Iraqi Dinars I'd gotten as mementos of my combat tours in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Jokes on them, though... If they try to sell it, it's not worth the paper it's printed on. THPPPPTT!
So anyway, we spent Monday evening packing for the trip. About 11, Jen says she's going to bed. No problem. I'm thinking I'll stay up, since we need to get up at 3 and play on the computer or something. About 12:30, I decide that's a bad idea. Not wanting to wake up Jen, I crash on the couch, but I set the alarm on the TV first to wake me up at 3. At 3:15 Jen came down and asked if I was going to get up. Huh?! I checked the alarm setting... 3 am, check... Tuesday? No... I'd set it for Sunday. D'oh! Well, we hastened through and got on the road just a few minutes after 4. We picked up Jen's mom (so she could bring the car back to the house) and made it to the airport a few minutes after 5. If anything, the trip emphasized how bad the traffic in SD is. Normally, that would take us over an hour, and we made it in less than 50 minutes.
We boarded our plane and the kids were all excited about the whole thing. Then they fell asleep. Then they woke up. The Boy wanted a snack and the Girl wanted to nurse (that's a different story altogether). Then we landed in Denver. As we got off the plane, I checked the status board for our next flight. I wish I was making this up, it'd be funnier. We deplaned at get 56 and our next flight was already boarding... at gate 19. True story. The whole family was like O.J. Simpson on those old Avis commercials where he's running through the airport like it's an NFL obstacle course or something. At least, that's how we started. About 1/2 way there, the Boy decided he didn't want to go to Ohio and he just sat down. Talk about a "grrr moment." We got him moving and made the plane with a whole 10 minutes to spare. Then we went through the whole routine again. We landed in Indianapolis and got our rental van, which had less than 1000 miles on it... brand new. I drove to Cincinnati while everyone else "rested" and we made it to my sister's house just as she and my mom were pulling in to do some last second touch ups. From there, it was a nice visit with my family. We ate out most every night. Jen got to have Graeter's ice cream for the first time. We bought a case of Dixie Chili to replenish our supply and then mailed to ourselves. A flat rate box from the post office is almost 50% cheaper than the shipping fees to have it delivered direct. Plus, we mailed it the day before we left for home, traveled on Tuesday and the chili showed up on Wednesday. Pretty cool, if you ask me.
Anyway, that's about it. Now I need to get my truck fixed and replace my cammies before I leave on this deployment and we're supposed to be getting together with our small group to go bowling tonight.
Any suggestions for sanity? I'm hyperventalating just thinking about it.
"How's that?" you may ask. Well, here's a break down of the low-lights for you.
We had a battalion formation on Friday so the BOSS could wish us a good leave period and encourage us to do everything in our power to return safely. For an infantry unit, that's sometimes asking a lot. Anyway, we wrapped up the day and I jumped in my truck and took off for home. About 3/4 of the way through the base, I noticed a rhythmic clicking sound coming from behind me. I slowed down, and the sound slowed. OK, I've got something in my tire tread. Better check it out when I get home.
We have three speed bumps coming up the neighborhood through street where I live to slow down idiots like me who try to go as fast as possible. These tend to put added pressure on the tires if you go over them too quickly. I told you that to tell you this...
I pulled into the driveway and heard it...
"sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss"
I got out of the truck and literally watched my right rear tire go flat. Fortunately, I've changed a couple of tires before and the truck comes with an unusual, but adequate, jack system and spare tire. I changed my tire just as my wife was pulling into the driveway with the kids. The Boy hops out and says, "Whatcha doin?" So I try to explain to him that Daddy hit a nail or something and all the air has gone out of my tire, so I have to change it. "Oh... Can I try?"
No.
So I took the tire to a local tire dealer and told him what happened. He said he could fix it, but he'd need about 4 hours. Fine, just git-r-done. My wife had to go to work, so I had to wait until the next day to get the tire.
Fast forward now to Sunday morning...
Our neighbor rang the doorbell and asked Jen if we'd been outside yet because "I think something has happened to your truck." We go out there and, sure enough, something has happened to my truck...
Some thug decided he needed my camouflage uniforms more than I did and busted out my driver's window to get to them. Can you believe that?! Fortunately, since I just gotten the windows tinted, the film held all the glass together and there wasn't glass everywhere. STILL! Come to find out that the crook also took most of the Iraqi Dinars I'd gotten as mementos of my combat tours in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Jokes on them, though... If they try to sell it, it's not worth the paper it's printed on. THPPPPTT!
So anyway, we spent Monday evening packing for the trip. About 11, Jen says she's going to bed. No problem. I'm thinking I'll stay up, since we need to get up at 3 and play on the computer or something. About 12:30, I decide that's a bad idea. Not wanting to wake up Jen, I crash on the couch, but I set the alarm on the TV first to wake me up at 3. At 3:15 Jen came down and asked if I was going to get up. Huh?! I checked the alarm setting... 3 am, check... Tuesday? No... I'd set it for Sunday. D'oh! Well, we hastened through and got on the road just a few minutes after 4. We picked up Jen's mom (so she could bring the car back to the house) and made it to the airport a few minutes after 5. If anything, the trip emphasized how bad the traffic in SD is. Normally, that would take us over an hour, and we made it in less than 50 minutes.
We boarded our plane and the kids were all excited about the whole thing. Then they fell asleep. Then they woke up. The Boy wanted a snack and the Girl wanted to nurse (that's a different story altogether). Then we landed in Denver. As we got off the plane, I checked the status board for our next flight. I wish I was making this up, it'd be funnier. We deplaned at get 56 and our next flight was already boarding... at gate 19. True story. The whole family was like O.J. Simpson on those old Avis commercials where he's running through the airport like it's an NFL obstacle course or something. At least, that's how we started. About 1/2 way there, the Boy decided he didn't want to go to Ohio and he just sat down. Talk about a "grrr moment." We got him moving and made the plane with a whole 10 minutes to spare. Then we went through the whole routine again. We landed in Indianapolis and got our rental van, which had less than 1000 miles on it... brand new. I drove to Cincinnati while everyone else "rested" and we made it to my sister's house just as she and my mom were pulling in to do some last second touch ups. From there, it was a nice visit with my family. We ate out most every night. Jen got to have Graeter's ice cream for the first time. We bought a case of Dixie Chili to replenish our supply and then mailed to ourselves. A flat rate box from the post office is almost 50% cheaper than the shipping fees to have it delivered direct. Plus, we mailed it the day before we left for home, traveled on Tuesday and the chili showed up on Wednesday. Pretty cool, if you ask me.
Anyway, that's about it. Now I need to get my truck fixed and replace my cammies before I leave on this deployment and we're supposed to be getting together with our small group to go bowling tonight.
Any suggestions for sanity? I'm hyperventalating just thinking about it.
Saturday, June 3
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