Got my first taste of no-kidding combat a few days ago. Wasn't as nerve wracking as I thought it would be. Guess all those years of playing video games are finally starting to pay off. Of course, IED's are a lot scarier when you're close to them and not in a vehicle. Still, everything came out okay and I can now say that I've been out there and I understand what these guys go through every day. I think I'm going out again in a couple of days to help with some road repairs. Go figure. Not only do we have to show these people that they're allowed to make their own decisions without fear of recrimination, now we have to fix their roads too. Oh well, it'll make a definite impact on this neighborhood for the positive, that's for sure.
On a sour note, we have our first memorial service scheduled for tomorrow. While I don't think it's realistic to hope it's our only one, it would be nice if it were one of a very few while we're here. The commandant stopped by today to motivate us while we choke on this fine dust that gets into EVERYTHING! I guess it went okay, he didn't come to my workspace so I never saw him. That's alright. It's more the men standing the actual posts and doing the everyday patrolling that need to see him anyway.
Got a box from my wife yesterday that had my magazine and calendar in it. Now I can count down the days until I get to go back to beautiful, sunny SoCal! I think we're somewhere in the 175 day range. SHEESH!
Wednesday, April 6
Tuesday, March 8
Rain?!
Okay, I thought I was in a desert region... WHY IS IT RAINING? Don't get me wrong, with the rain comes a greatly reduced likelihood of dust storms, so that's a good thing, but at the same time now we have to pay extra attention to make sure our gear doesn't rust out on us. Ach!
Anyway, just found out my grandma isn't doing too well. I was hoping she would make it to Christmas so she could meet Leah. I'm still hoping, but I'm not sure anymore.
From what I understand, things back home are going about as well as can be expected. Looks like Trey's found himself a school and should be starting next month. Leah's starting to crawl, which means she'll be walking in no time once she realizes that it's faster to walk rather than crawl. All the stuff I didn't want to miss...
Oh well, like my blog title says... "It's a Living" and sometimes you have to make personal sacrifices for the greater good. After all, if I wasn't over here they would have grabbed someone else and that would just be selfish of me.
Anyway, just found out my grandma isn't doing too well. I was hoping she would make it to Christmas so she could meet Leah. I'm still hoping, but I'm not sure anymore.
From what I understand, things back home are going about as well as can be expected. Looks like Trey's found himself a school and should be starting next month. Leah's starting to crawl, which means she'll be walking in no time once she realizes that it's faster to walk rather than crawl. All the stuff I didn't want to miss...
Oh well, like my blog title says... "It's a Living" and sometimes you have to make personal sacrifices for the greater good. After all, if I wasn't over here they would have grabbed someone else and that would just be selfish of me.
Sunday, February 20
Two cents
On Friday(I think) I sent this link to my sister and she wrote me back saying...
I think that all these people who are so against this war with what seems to be a righteous indignation really have no clue and should talk to the folks who are actually fighting the war before making their judgements. All I hear about around work is how awful this all is and how evil and we shouldn't be involved and yadda yadda yadda. And don't get me wrong, it IS awful...but we're there now and it would be irresponsible of us to just stop working at the job set before us. Coworkers don't understand how I'm NOT against this effort since my brother is a marine... I tell them it's BECAUSE he's a Marine that I'm supportive. By shouting about the injustice of our actions, we're in effect telling our soldiers that their jobs do not matter and that they themselves are evil for participating in this "evil"event. And I just can't stomach that. If we REALLY want to support our military, then we need to get behind their efforts 100% instead of fighting the funding and preaching against their actions. Just my two cents....
Thanks, Sis.
By the way, after watching that piece about blogging getting people fired, I would just like to point out that my sister did not authorize me to copy this to my blog and should not be held accountable if any of her co-workers are too wussy to be proud of what they said.
Also, did anyone stop to consider that when their comments against America and her actions are generalized in surveys and published by the anti-Bush/anti-America media that it only encourages those who seek to do us harm? Think about it. If you told me that I shouldn't eat red meat while wearing you're wearing a leather jacket, what kind of message does that send? Same idea with "Support our Troops, not the War." Anybody who encourages war and actively seeks it (like Saddam did for 30 years) should be removed from power. There's a creed in the Corps...
"While nobody likes to fight, we are firmly committed to the belief that somebody has to know how."
Anyway, my wife sent me a link to this site and I thought I'd pass it along.
That's my two cents and "That's the bottom line!" as Steve Austin would say.
I think that all these people who are so against this war with what seems to be a righteous indignation really have no clue and should talk to the folks who are actually fighting the war before making their judgements. All I hear about around work is how awful this all is and how evil and we shouldn't be involved and yadda yadda yadda. And don't get me wrong, it IS awful...but we're there now and it would be irresponsible of us to just stop working at the job set before us. Coworkers don't understand how I'm NOT against this effort since my brother is a marine... I tell them it's BECAUSE he's a Marine that I'm supportive. By shouting about the injustice of our actions, we're in effect telling our soldiers that their jobs do not matter and that they themselves are evil for participating in this "evil"event. And I just can't stomach that. If we REALLY want to support our military, then we need to get behind their efforts 100% instead of fighting the funding and preaching against their actions. Just my two cents....
Thanks, Sis.
By the way, after watching that piece about blogging getting people fired, I would just like to point out that my sister did not authorize me to copy this to my blog and should not be held accountable if any of her co-workers are too wussy to be proud of what they said.
Also, did anyone stop to consider that when their comments against America and her actions are generalized in surveys and published by the anti-Bush/anti-America media that it only encourages those who seek to do us harm? Think about it. If you told me that I shouldn't eat red meat while wearing you're wearing a leather jacket, what kind of message does that send? Same idea with "Support our Troops, not the War." Anybody who encourages war and actively seeks it (like Saddam did for 30 years) should be removed from power. There's a creed in the Corps...
"While nobody likes to fight, we are firmly committed to the belief that somebody has to know how."
Anyway, my wife sent me a link to this site and I thought I'd pass it along.
That's my two cents and "That's the bottom line!" as Steve Austin would say.
Thursday, February 17
What do I pack?
Well, tomorrow is "embark day" meaning that we'll be putting all of our gear together for shipment to our home away from home for most of this year. Not really that big of a deal for me. I spoke with one of my seniors who recently returned from the area where we're heading and he said that as long as I have a couple of references and the data disk they came up with for deployments, I should be golden. Cool, I've already got those. I figure that, plus my experience in being deployed in somewhat less than ideal circumstances should make this a little easier to handle. I actually feel worse about Jen and the kids. I won't be able to keep the TV on to the liberal news media like she'll be able to do. All I have left is to actually put all of my gear and extra stuff in my pack and seabag, and I should be set. We'll see how tomorrow goes before I get super nervous. I do have a Marine getting ready to reenlist tomorrow and two on Friday. After that, I'll probably just shut the office down and pack up to get out of the way for whoever it is that's taking over our building once we pull chocks and go.
Sunday, February 13
Parents
My mom and dad came out to visit for a couple days this weekend. Actually, they're still here, but that's not the point. We were hoping to get a swingset installed for Trey while I had the help available, but it's been rainy all weekend. We did manage to finally get a set from Wal-Mart though. Big son-of-a-gun.
We also took advantage of the free babysitting and went out for an early Valentine's dinner last night. Good food, good atmosphere, but it's not our favorite place for a good steak. Still, not bad.
I'm just about packed and ready to go. I still need to put my actual clothes into my pack, and I got a couple of items to make this trip a little easier, assuming I can figure out how to pack them.
I also wanted to take this moment to publically thank my parents for being able/willing to show support and care for my family. They're the coolest. Thanks, Mom and Dad.
We also took advantage of the free babysitting and went out for an early Valentine's dinner last night. Good food, good atmosphere, but it's not our favorite place for a good steak. Still, not bad.
I'm just about packed and ready to go. I still need to put my actual clothes into my pack, and I got a couple of items to make this trip a little easier, assuming I can figure out how to pack them.
I also wanted to take this moment to publically thank my parents for being able/willing to show support and care for my family. They're the coolest. Thanks, Mom and Dad.
Monday, February 7
Super (sucky) Monday
OK, so the game yesterday didn't go exactly the way I was hoping it would, but it was still pretty good, right? Yeah... sure.
Anyway, Jen took the kids to her MOPS meeting and I'm about ready to go to the base to do some stuff that needs to get done before I leave in a few weeks. I've got about 3 hours to exchange my tactical gear, go to the legal office to update my will and powers-of-attorney, and still get back here in time to take charge of the children so she can go get her hair done.
Better not waste any more time on EBay looking for a better holster for my pistol. Too much to do and not enough time to git-r-done.
Anyway, Jen took the kids to her MOPS meeting and I'm about ready to go to the base to do some stuff that needs to get done before I leave in a few weeks. I've got about 3 hours to exchange my tactical gear, go to the legal office to update my will and powers-of-attorney, and still get back here in time to take charge of the children so she can go get her hair done.
Better not waste any more time on EBay looking for a better holster for my pistol. Too much to do and not enough time to git-r-done.
Friday, February 4
Vote of confidence
So, I'm watching the news about the vote in Iraq and Jen asks if this means I don't have to deploy. As nice as that sounds, I'm not about to hold my breath. I mean, if the Iraqis are really learning about democracy from us, then they'll probably call the vote illegal and the losers will try to sue their way into office...
Oh, wait... you say that's already happening?
Then maybe they're learning faster than we give them credit for.
Still, I doubt that my plans for this summer will be able to include grilling hamburgers or going to the beach with my kids, but that's why I get paid the big bucks.
Well, ok, the medium bucks.
Oh, who am I kidding, I do this because it's what I do, just like Toby Keith said.
Oh, wait... you say that's already happening?
Then maybe they're learning faster than we give them credit for.
Still, I doubt that my plans for this summer will be able to include grilling hamburgers or going to the beach with my kids, but that's why I get paid the big bucks.
Well, ok, the medium bucks.
Oh, who am I kidding, I do this because it's what I do, just like Toby Keith said.
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