21 May 2005 1554z
I almost didn't get a hotel room yesterday. I had a very tough decision to make. I got off of the train in Paris around 8:45 PM and the last showing of Star Wars was at 9:45. I could either a) check into the hotel and not watch Star Wars or b) hop on the blue line and then the green line to make it to the theater just in time to stand behind the other 400 people who wanted to see Star Wars in the original English version and hope that someone would be at the hotel to let me in when the movie finished at 1:00 in the morning. Of course I picked b. I won't spoil the movie for those who haven't seen it, but there was a point near the beginning of the movie when the spaceship turns to one side at maybe a 50 degree angle and everyone starts to fall, including R2 who is rolls right across the screen. Now, I usually try to keep my mouth shut when it comes to pointing out unrealistic situations in movies such as this. It's like complaining about the historical accuracy of a Disney movie while completely overlooking the fact that the animals can talk. But come on, people. Gravity!!!
Anyway, you'll be happy to know that I made it to Germany okay and I'll be off again in the morning. I only wish I could get frequent flyer miles for all of this.
21 May 2005 0836z
I tend to use that term rather loosely these days. For the last week, it was a small French town called Grenoble. Before that, it was a cozy little room in Paris that I shared with two strangers. And before that, it was a plywood box in Afghanistan.
There are a lot of sayings about home. Home is where your heart is. Home is a state of mind. Home is where you make it. There's no place like home. I guess they're all right. Home is all those things. I think about home a lot. What is it that I miss most?
It's my stuff.
20 May 2005 1141z
I walked down a small embankment toward a river. It looked like I could follow that for a little while. I mean, there were big bright warning signs saying that flash flooding occurred frequently in this area, but I figured that the government just put those signs up to scare the kids. I didn't really see it being so big of a threat. I found a nice shady spot at first and skipped rocks for maybe fifteen minutes. That was fun for a little while. I took a few pictures after that and then started to walk along the river. There was a nice path that lasted maybe a mile before it ended. After that, I was stuck with the same problem of walking down the highway. Off to plan C.
I started to backtrack along the river, thinking about what to do with the next five hours of my life. And then I saw a small path across the highway from me. It was pretty narrow, but it looked like it would lead to the mountains in the distance. With few options to choose from, I decided to take a little detour. Eventually I found myself on a trail going up and up and up. I don't know how far exactly, but my ears probably popped about a dozen times on my way down if that's any indication. Anyway, two hours later, I was still walking up...I was thinking about quitting, but I kept moving forward thinking about how I would blog about this adventure when I finally made it back home. On my way up, I kept looking out at every switchback I made, hoping for a clear shot of the countryside below me. There were trees the whole way up though, always something blocking the way. I kept moving forward in the hopes of a clearing to finally get my picture. I thought about this the whole way up...that and how I was going to blog about the hike.
When I finally reached the top, it dawned on me that there was actually something on the other side of the mountain. The whole way up, I didn't even consider that. But yeah...wow. It blew my mind. When I got to the top, it was beautiful. Not only were there taller mountains on the other side, but there was this huge field along with a small wooden house and the distinct smell of horses. It amazed me to see this. It was just such a departure from what I'd expected to see. I had to take pictures, of course. And I did so until I ran out of memory on my card. It was just awesome, and a perfect way to spend my last non-travel day of my vacation.
I head back for Paris this evening on the train and then I catch my flight for Germany the following afternoon. With some luck, I can squeeze in a viewing of Star Wars (the English version) before I get back as well. We'll see how it goes. That's it for now. MTF.
18 May 2005 1136z
Besides eating, I've been doing my share of wandering and shopping. I stopped at a fnac.com store yesterday. It's kinda like a French Circuit City or something...hard to explain. But it was pretty cool going through all of the new music that's been coming out. I ended up picking up a few things for myself, including the new Weezer and Jack Johnson albums. I also picked up Room on Fire by the Strokes before spending two hours trying to find a French song that I heard in Paris. They've got this neat thing at fnac - they probably have it at a lot of places in the States now, but I just haven't been around. Anyway, you can scan any CD at one of these listening booths and they'll let you sample 30 seconds of every song on the album. Pretty neat, huh? So after going through almost every French oldies compilation in the store, I found the song "Douce France" by Charles Trenet. I was very proud of myself for finding the song considering the fact that I didn't know any of the words to the song...nor did I know the singer, era, or anything else. I just remembered the tune and the fact that I liked it. In France, I guess that's enough.
Also yesterday, I broke down and had to get a haircut. I hadn't had one in two weeks and it was starting to drive me crazy. It took me a while to find just a regular barber. There are a lot of coiffeurs here in France, but they tend to want to make you look all pretty. I just needed a regular haircut. The barbershop I found was near the train station here, and it was a very plain place with a long mirror that stretched the length of his shop and three chairs for customers. There was only one barber and a line of three customers before me, so it was a bit of a wait. It wasn't all wasted though. There was a box of magazines and children's cartoon books for people waiting, so I grabbed one of the picture books. Sadly, the books must've been on at least a second grade level because it took me nearly the whole time just to get through the first three pages. I even had a dictionary with me. How sad is that? Eventually I gave up and went to a political magazine. For that one, I just skimmed the headlines and looked at the pictures. I felt much smarter though. Anyway, the haircut wasn't too bad. It was my first French haircut and should be able to pass as a military one as well. That was seven euros well spent.
Other than that, I've been sticking my ATM card in random machines throughout the city trying to remember my PIN. I must've tried 20-30 combinations already and to no avail. Part of me wants to just contact my bank to reset it, but I know that I'll be able to remember it eventually. I think I used it about six months ago back during my first GAC to Bagram. I think I have it down to 125 combinations if I can find a systematic way to try them all. Like I remember it being a combination of five particular numbers. I don't know. For now, there are enough places that take VISA that I don't really have to worry about it too much.
16 May 2005 1249z
My first week seemed to have passed very slowly. I met an awesome group of friends in Paris before moving on and found a similarly awesome group of friends in Lyon as well. There, it was a half-dozen Canadians that I hung out with, wandering through the streets and parks of what I believe is the next largest city in France, second only to Paris. Anyway, there weren't any huge sights or highlights on that leg of the trip, but I did get into some pretty cool conversations with some neat people and learned a lot about Canada as well. For one, I learned all of the Canadian Provinces. Surprisingly, that was something that I didn't get from all of my years of watching due South.
Anyway, from there I met up with an Ultimate Blogger fan a few train stops farther south in the City of Grenoble. Oh, and she also happened to be a physicist with a PhD from Berkley. I spent the last two days hanging out with her and sleeping on an air mattress on the floor of her apartment...oh the memories of my bed back home. But yeah, it's been pretty awesome. She might even be able to sneak me in to see the synchrotron here in Grenoble before I have to leave. That'd be pretty neat.
Other than that, I had my first real French meal yesterday. It was easily the most expensive meal I've ever eaten in my life, but it was very pretty. There was duck, rabbit, liver, squash, potatoes, cheese, strawberries, and a whole bunch of other stuff that I can't remember. But I took pictures and I'll post them when I get back to my own computer. I went for a short hike as well yesterday and read my first French book...granted, it had lots of pictures and was geared towards children ages 3-6. I was still very proud of myself at its completion.
Today looks to be a very lazy day. I had coffee at a little cafe here, but the rain has kept me from wandering too far. I spent most of my morning following up on all of the recent news on Afghanistan and waiting for the UB results to be posted. It's nearly 3:00 in the afternoon now and I really haven't accomplished anything at all. I guess I'm on vacation though, so that's actually okay with me. Plans for this afternoon/evening include shopping for presents for the fam and doing laundry. Sounds like fun, doesn't it? Oh, and I've peed seven times already today. I just thought I'd throw that in.
15 May 2005 1025z
I spent two days in Lyon before heading farther south to the city of Grenoble. Last night, I had fondue. It was created in this region of France. I walked into the restaurant and five different people greeted me with "bon soir." This would have never happened in Paris. We are definitely in the South now. I love it.
There is more space here. The bathrooms are cleaner; the grass is greener; the sun shines just a little more. Yes, these are the things that occupy a soldier's mind.
Inside, I am still a soldier, but I haven't felt like one in a week. I still have habits that are hard to break. I like to line up all of my shoes when I first arrive at my hotel room. It just seems right that way. But that is about the extent of my militance.
I am free. I am so free that I miss the wake-ups and the guard mounts and the shift changes of my previous life. When I wake up, it takes me a moment to figure out where I am. No, I'm not in a plywood building in the middle of Afghanistan. As much as it seems like it's been, this last week has not been a dream. There are no alarm clocks here; no timelines, no deadlines. There is just a flight on May 21st. Everything else is up to me to fill in.
So do I stay in between the lines? The soldier in me says yes, but he doesn't make the decisions for another week. The child in me is still looking for the box of crayons, but I think I'm close to finding where I packed them away so many years ago. I think I'll start with green.
12 May 2005 0944z
Now let me describe Lyon. First impressions have been great so far. The Metro seems to be just as good as the one in Paris and it even costs less. The air is cleaner, the scenery is better, and everything seems to be cheaper here. Not bad, huh? I already checked into the hostel here. It was just under 20 euros for the night, so that's not bad. The only problem is that there is a few hours of lockout in the morning so I can't shower for another hour or so when I get back to the hostel. Other than that, though, it's been great. I just need to find some way of getting my pictures all downloaded so I can take more. I only have room for 88 more pictures on my 512 card. That may or may not make it.
Oh, and I just remembered the one bad thing about Lyon. It took me nearly two hours to finally find a cybercafe...and as of right now, I don't know of one that is 24 hours like my XS Arena in Paris. Oh well. Maybe that's a good thing, right? Anyway, I'm off to shower and shave and have some adventures. I just wanted to check in though. Au revoir.
11 May 2005 2330z
Anyway, that was my morning and then I went to my own personal viewing of Million Dollar Baby. Like literally, it was my own personnal viewing. I got a ticket for the 1350h showing and I was the only person in the whole theater. I even took the time to set my camera up on a timer so that I could get a picture to commemorate the event. Good stuff. That's what I do when I am bored. Anyway, the movie was very sad, but good.
Anyway, I'm off now for the train station. I didn't get a hotel for tonight because I'm going to try to catch an early train out of here. So nap time will be at the Gare de Lyon until the TGV rolls out in the morning. Wish me luck.
11 May 2005 0738z
Lunch was a quiet one in a little park a few blocks down, and that was followed by a visit to the Saint Louis Cathedral and then a nap in some tall grass by a nearby lake. That was awesome. Again, I'll post the pictures some time when I get back. After that, it was off to the Rodin museum and that was pretty much the day. Oh, and as embarrassed as I am to say it, dinner was at Pizza Hut. But in my defense, this one in Paris is probaby the fanciest Pizza Hut ever...e-ver! It kinda reminded me of the scene in Demolition Man when they went out to Taco Bell. Anyway, we were going to catch a movie after that, but everything was closed. So instead, I just retired to my room and started writing postcards. The only thing is that I don't have any addresses. So, my homework assignment for you is to e-mail me your address within the next week so I can get these postcards out before I head back to Afghanistan. I mean it. I want to hear from you. Yes, you. No, I'm not talking about someone else. I'm talking about you. I know we haven't talked for a while, but it's a friggin' postcard. Give me your address, okay? I mean it. I have over a dozen cards and only addresses for about four of them because they live at my house or my parents' house.
Anyway, enough chatting. I'm off to the Louvre before the crowd gets too big.
09 May 2005 2122z
It picked up after that though. From there, we tried to link up with a friend of a friend's in front of the Notre Dame. The key was that this friend was going to be sitting in front of a bush by the Notre Dame. The catch? The whole cathedral is surrounded by bushes! So after about a half hour of searching, we were nowhere closer to finding our friend and things were starting to look hopeless. Being a military man, though, I took charge. After getting the best description that I could of this person that I never met, I went out into the crowds once again in search of a really skinny girl with curly blonde hair who would be in Paris with her sister. How many of those could there be? I circled the front of the cathedral once more and saw two people who closely resembled this description. So I ask, "are you Michelle from Michigan?" And guess what? That's right...yahtzee!!! I was so proud. It was like a live-action where's Waldo, except you're trying to find a cute blonde instead of a nerd wearing a prison jumper.
We went through the cathedral after that and then walked in circles for a little while in search of the only skyscraper in Paris, the Montparnesse. Our search ended after about 90 minutes and maybe 10 km or so of walking. But it was worth it. At the top, you had the perfect view of just about everything in Paris. It was great. And then, strangely enough, we decided to take off all of our shoes and practice a little yoga. I was actually very surprised that we didn't get kicked out at some point, but we just sat there and talked in a small circle for maybe an hour or two, listening to an eclectic mix of elevator music, French tunes, and Norah Jones. Good times.
After that, we circled back to a pizza place by the hostel for one last meal before saying a sad good-bye to one of my newfound friends who had to move on. It's strange how much you share with these random people in just 48 hours of your life. They really do feel like they've been lifelong friends. Anyway, that part was sad. It'd be interesting to see if we ever meet again in our travels around the world. I would like to think we would.
09 May 2005 0642z
And other than that, we grabbed a whole bunch of stuff and ended up having a little picnic on the lawn in front of the Eiffel Tower. This second experience at la Tour d'Eiffel was much more rewarding than my first. The sunset was pretty awesome, and then they had the tower sparkle for a few minutes after it got dark. I know it's touristy and all, but definitely good stuff.
Oh, and I almost forgot...in the morning, I ended up practicing a little more of my French making small talk with a cute psychology student at the laverie. It's kinda nice when they have laundry in the washer and you know that they can't walk away from you for at least twenty more minutes.
Today, the plan is to go up the elevator to the top floor of the Montparnesse, the only skyscraper in Paris. You see, you have all of this stuff underground here in the city (subways, catacombs, etc) and so the ground doesn't support large structures like you would see in most American cities. So the only two tall things you'll see around here will be the Eiffel tower and the Montparnesse, which both give you a great view of the entire city. You also get a great view at the Sacre Coeur, but only because it's on top of a hill - they call it a mountain, but it's not. Anyway, that's it from me for now. It's Monday morning here, and nothing will probably happen for another three or four hours when the rest of the city wakes up. Oh, and I'm considering Rome, Nice, Barcelona, Prague, or Normandy for my next stop. I probably won't leave for a good 4 or 5 days or never though. Any suggestions?
08 May 2005 0001z
To be quite honest, though, after visiting that and then hitting the walking tour of the Northeastern corner of the city which included the Sacre Couer, the Moulin Rouge, van Gogh's old studio, over a dozen single women ranging in age from 18-28, and random appearances of spaced invaders throughout the city, I still felt like something was missing. I can't quite put my finger on it, but...I know what it is. Mom! Happy Mother's Day!
Hehe...yeah, I figured that had to show up somewhere today. I really did have a good time though. I had a mix-up when trying to pay a woman a compliment this morning. She was with her friends and they asked me how old I thought she was. At first, I was on it; I said thirty. But when the guy insisted that she was vieille, I decided I would go even lower and say something in the twenties...only I got the word for 20 mixed up with the word for 50. Oops...sorry, Madame Seed. I was much better with my French later in the day, and I expect to be nearly fluent in two weeks. Also, I am going to know Paris like the back of my hand so I can show everyone around when I bring them. Shoot me an e-mail if you're interested in going some time. I also resolved to do the same with DC when I get back home. I feel bad that I don't know my way around yet.
Other than that, I feel like Ultimate Blogger is starting to fizzle...or at least my interest in it. I mean, I've got my style, however disjointed and ADD-inspired that it may be; but that's me. There's also the fact that I'm an old man and I tend to blog about G-rated material. I don't know. I feel like I can't compete sometimes. The prizes were never an incentive as I am rich and have everything that I want. I don't know. Tomorrow, I think I might be able to convince some of the people I met today to go with me to the Cité de Sciences. Maybe that will re-energize me.
07 May 2005 0658z
Okay, back to the karaoke. They had a few hundred American titles...not too much to choose from, but nothing I couldn't work with. They had the classics, though, and that's all that mattered. Oh did it feel good to sing again. Sweet Caroline...bum bum bum...good times never seemed so good! Anyway, just the one song for me last night. It was pushing midnight and I figured I should go home before too late.
I ended up waking up a little after 0600 this morning. First stop of course back to the cybercafe. It's one of the few places open this early in France. I got occupied eavesdropping to a bunch of people speaking Cantonese on the train and overshot my stop by one. So I ended up having to backtrack on foot. It was actually a good thing though. I don't mind exploring around here because I have absolutely no timeline. Anyway, walking down the River Seine, I found myself singing Neil Diamond to myself and then eventually out loud. I went a good half mile doing that, getting louder and louder as I continued on. I probably wouldn't have been so bold if there were actually any people around. Anyway, good times.
06 May 2005 2018z
Now, let's talk about France. Technically, yesterday was considered a travel day, so I have only been in France for less than a day according to the Army. No complaints from me. In that less than a day, though, I have already travelled through the entire city maybe 3-4 times, a few hundred miles by train, another 3 or 4 by bus, and maybe twenty or thirty on foot with a 60-pound pack on my back before I finally broke down and decided to check-in to a hotel. Again, the pictures will have to follow later, but the hotel was pretty plain. I'm sure the building was a few hundred years old and it had a great view. Of course, by the time I checked in, I was starting to worry a little more about my wallet than anything else. I had to buy a pair of nice sunglasses to disguise the fact that I was looking at every women I walked past and that along with the hotel and week-long bus pass put me at close to 1000 dollars already. Well, that and a pair of French shoes that I picked up today. I looked too American with sneakers said a German captain friend of mine who flew out of the 'Ghan with me. Oh, and to my defense about the women (not that I have to explain myself to you. Who are you to judge me?), it's only to be expected after 9 months in relative seclusion from society.
Anyway, I've had a blast so far, and I'm starting to learn my way around the city (i.e. I find my way faster and faster every time I get lost). I think the last two weeks on leave can be kept on a budget smaller than the first day, and I'll share more as more happens. I'd forgotten about how anti-social I really was until I showed up here. It was hard enough to talk to girls when I did speak the language, you know? But I'm taking a walking tour with a bunch of people from the hostel tomorrow, and that looks to be promising. Other than that, the BICC said that he would shoot me if I spent all of my time in Paris hanging out in Internet Cafes, so I'm off.
05 May 2005 0414z
I checked out the ultimate blogger site a few minutes ago, and was surprised by how much had been written in the last 24 hours. I'd like to think that I would have written more given the opportunity; but I only had eight minutes online since leaving Afghanistan and most of that was spent reading e-mails from my old commander. I think I'll be okay with my short entry though...after all, it's not the size that matters, right?
So okay, lets talk about the trip so far. It started on a C-130. Seven years in the Army, and I finally take my first C-130 ride. I would have taken more pictures, but it was dark inside and I don't have any programs to edit them while on leave. I'll try to back-post all of the pictures when I get back if I remember. Anyway, highlights of the flight include figuring out how to use the seatbelt and the 6-hour nap afterwards. I woke up at various points during the flight, including one time when the bird started to shake a little and another when the guy sitting next to me had to get up to throw up. I appreciate his effort in keeping the smell as far away from me as possible. Oh, one last thing...I noticed that a sergeant just three seats down from me was studying the exact same French phrase book that my sister had sent me. Having earplugs in and not being able to hear over the humm of the engine, though, I just dug into my left cargo pocket and pulled out my own copy to show him. Small world, huh?
Anyway, I just finished the customs search and I am now in hour four of our eleven-hour lockdown before the plane departs. This is so that we don't go out and stuff anything illegal in our bags and pockets before the flight. So instead, we now have 300+ soldiers sitting in the middle of a warehouse bored out of their minds. Gotta love the Army, right?
Also, the quote of the day comes from our customs brief. "If you have any hand grenades to turn in, don't just drop them in the amnesty box. Place them softly on the counter instead." Again, probably something you'll only hear in the Army.
*looks at watch* Okay, so only seven hours left before the plane takes off. Let's talk about food. I know the deadline for challenge one is over, but I feel like I let down the Army fans out there; so here goes...
Having worked closely with the mess section for the last few years, I feel like I'm practically an expert on the topic. Well, not really, but I know more than your average joe. To begin with, the Army has been trying to change the image of army food for years now. The first step was getting rid of the term "mess hall." Just think about those words. With just the name of the establishment, you have already detracted from the overall presentation. So enter "dining facility" or D-Fac for short. It doesn't fix everything, but it's at least a step up.
Now let's take a small sample of the chow out there, namely the stuff I've had the pleasure of consuming over the course of my short career. We'll start from the field and move slowly back to the rear.
First, there's the MRE or meal-ready-to-eat. When you are so far ahead of your supply channels and don't have a mess section out there to support you, you have your trusty MRE in your cargo pocket that you can always count on. Twenty-four menus in all, this last year, I saw the introduction of the veggie burger and craisins, two things I never thought I would see in MRE form. A small footnote to the MRE is the cold-weather MRE. It comes in a white package instead of the usual brown, and consists of dehydrated food that won't freeze in sub-zero temperatures. The only catch is that you need a bottle of unfrozen water to get started. Go figure.
Next is your mess section. If you're lucky enough to have one supporting you, they can use burners that run on JP-8 (a high grade diesel fuel) to cook your food. So yeah, you're basically cooking with jet fuel. Often times, you will have a mobile kitchen trailer (or MKT) that you can haul behind your 5-ton truck. Wherever you go with these mobile kitchens, you can heat up a variety of UGR-As. I have no idea what UGR-A stands for, but they are just boxes of pre-made food, each box designed to feed 50 PAX. Some of my favorite UGR-A meals include the large bags of "eggs" that you can boil/scramble, sweet potato pancakes, chicken nuggets, hot dogs, chili mac, and teryaki chicken. Like the MREs, it's good stuff; but with a limited number of menus, it's easy to grow tired of the lack of variety.
So that's when you visit the rear. No one likes it in the rear, but it has its perks, one of them being civilian-contracted chow. In Bagram, you have KBR, but I think Kuwait has it contracted out through the local ministry of the interior or something like that. Anyway, it's not that civilian cooks are better than Army ones - they just have more to work with. For one, there's less of a chance that you will come under direct fire...always a bonus. Two, you have a permanent structure to work out of, complete with stoves, griddles, ovens, and running water. But on top of that, you get to work with A-rations instead of UGR-As. So instead of pre-cooked meals, you actually have ingredients to work with...stuff you can use to make cinnamon rolls and fresh bread. For my one breakfast in Kuwait, I had a cinnabon, pancakes with cherry topping, eggs, hazelnut bread, and hash browns. Not bad, huh? Sometimes it pays to be a REMF (a Rear Echelon Mother F_____).
03 May 2005 0200z
It's a forest fire thing. If the fires get too far out of hand, they'll go farther out from where the fire is and start a controlled fire. This will burn all the flammable material in the area so when the forest fire catches up to that region, there will be nothing left to burn. At that point, the forest fire will smolder out and they can put out the controlled fire using water or chemicals.
03 May 2005 0045z
I don't know...I'm probably going to lose if it gets too heated. I'm just too much of a nice guy and I refuse to fight fire with fire. That phrase has always been kinda strange to me. Anyone know where it came from...fighting fire with fire? I can see fighting fire with water or with chemical fire extinguishers, but why would anyone ever truly fight a fire with a fire? Just a thought.
02 May 2005 1846z
I'll cut to the chase though...I leave on a plane in the morning for Kuwait, and I have no idea what kind of internet access I'll have there to complete the entry, so I'll go ahead and dive in.
Before I checked the web-site, I ended up eating dinner with my Commander, First Sergeant, and RTO. It was you typical army dinner. Tonight was beef stroganoff on a bed of rice along with the usual grilled cheese sandwich. I could have stacked on a bunch of other stuff, like fried chicken and veal steaks, but I declined in an effort to maintain a somewhat leaner physique for when I finally joined the land of the living. I know the Parisian ladies probably wouldn't notice, but that's just one of my anorexic tendencies showing through. Back when I used to be in a long-distance relationship and it'd be weeks or months between seeing my girlfriend, I would almost stop eating for the day or two before each reunion. I don't know what it is that makes me do stuff like that. I know I'm not fat, but that doesn't change what I do. I've got a copy of The Adonis Complex on my bookshelf at home. I ordered that as part of my introductory shipment for one of those book of the month clubs a few years back. I remember reading the first chapter and thinking to myself, "that's me." But something happened and I never finished reading it. I think I'll pick it up again when I finally get back Stateside.
Enter dinner #2. Okay, I didn't really eat a second dinner. But I went back to the DFAC. I felt bad for ditching my friend for dinner tonight, so I ended up going with him for his meal. A few notable changes this time. First off, no weapon. That's right. You see, when you go on leave, they frown on taking a loaded M-4 onto the plane with you. So I turned that in to SGT P. With that done, I was off to my second dinner. This time, it was more of a social event. I grabbed an apple juice and that was it. My friend ended up choosing the stroganoff, which I recommended to him, along with some fried chicken and a few things I can't remember right now. Like many of the thousands of male soldiers here in Afghanistan, time is running short and he is trying to gain some weight/muscle before going home. For most, that means lots of protein along with an hour or two in the gym every day. The gym is noticably busier these days too...not that I blame anyone for trying to get in better shape before they show back up to their wives and girlfriends.
Anyway, I think that'll be it for now. I'm kind of excited though, so I don't see myself going to bed any time soon. I'll probably stay online wrapping up a few reports and lingering on AIM until an hour or two before I sign out in the morning. If I don't get a chance to update again, enjoy. I'll try to write more when the plane lands.
02 May 2005 1008z
Anyway, today is kind of a lazy day. The storm clouds have rolled in and there really isn't a good reason to go outside right now. So for now, I'll just hang out in here and wrap up a little more paperwork before I go. I did clean up the office today, so that was productive; and I did a little AO brief for one of the new units coming in. I feel good about that. But other than that, just hanging out. I hope all is well back home.
01 May 2005 0640z
I don't know how going away on leave will affect this. I'll probably spend a few days in Kuwait and Germany before I reach Paris, and I'm hoping that'll provide some inspiration. The only problem is that I won't have the home-computer advantage. I'll just be travelling the world with my little thumb drive that I hope will survive this trip. Like I said before though...I really don't know what to expect. I've never used Movable Type before, but I can't imagine it'd be that hard to learn as long as I have some sort of access. Luckily for me, my sister sent me a phrasebook with all of the important stuff, to include: Ou est le cybercafe du coin? (where is the internet cafe?) ou J'ai besoin de me connecter a l'internet (I need internet access). The time zone thing may throw me off since there are several deadlines; but if I can get everything in early, I should have nothing to worry about.
Okay, enough talk about Ultimate Blogger. There is other stuff going on...a lot of other stuff, actually. A bunch of my friends/colleagues were promoted during the BUB yesterday. The promotions were long-awaited and well-deserved, so that's a good thing. The only thing is that I now have to call them all "sir." And I'm not saying that's a bad thing. It'll just take a little getting used to. Other than that, my handover is near complete and I'll spend today and tomorrow wrapping up some small projects and packing up some last minute items before I leave. Wish me luck.
Oh, and happy May! Just two and a half more months before I will have both feet planted safely on American soil. Well, technically, I would be on American soil if I went to the US Embassy in Paris, right? I don't know...details, details.
30 April 2005 2114z
In related news, I am starting to slack even more as leave nears. I've got another LT going around with me to all of my meetings and doing my slides and reports for me...so there really isn't much left for me to do right now. With him doing all that, I've had a little extra time to accomplish a few extra tasks these days. I've been going to the gym a little more too, and I even had time to just hang out tonight. It's been a while since I've done that, and it felt really good tonight. I can't even begin to imagine what two weeks of that would feel like.
In other news, my sister had a link to The Ultimate Blogger competition a few days ago. Not having much else to do at the time, I wrote a few sentences and applied for one of the 12 spots myself. Anyway, not thinking much of my chances, I'd forgotten about the whole thing until I got an e-mail today saying that I made the top 30 out of the 300+ applicant pool. Now I just need to write a short bio to see if I can make the final cut. Wish me luck?
Oh, and I didn't mention some cool stuff that happened yesterday morning when I got to eat breakfast with a whole bunch of my guys from my old platoon. That was awesome. I even got to promote one of my young E4s to sergeant...even better. Plus I got to go to a different DFAC...which is cool too. I had a turkey and cheese omelette...different from my usual. Actually, that brings up something I've been meaning to bring up. There's this guy that works the griddle at my DFAC and he rocks. He's Duane from Houston. I started talking to him one day while he was preparing my eggs, and we just kept on chatting. He's a nice guy. Anyway, the next day, he remembered what I'd ordered the previous day, an omelette with ham, cheese, tomato, and peppers. So every day I walk in to breakfast, I don't even have to order. He already knows. Doesn't that rock? I think so.
29 April 2005 1730z
I guess I'm a little burnt out right now. This happened at times downrange when I started to play video games; and back home, I'd associate this with periods when I would slack off on grading lab reports and whatnot. I don't know...I guess it doesn't hurt to take a break every once in a while. There are some things I need to do before I go on leave though. These things include: cleaning my office...eh, that's pretty much it. The rest can wait.
29 April 2005 0708z
Anyway, the leave briefings tend to be dry and boring, but there were actually one or two entertaining ones during that hour and a half block. There was this chaplain who talked about going home and he had all of these slides about the difference between men and women. Funny stuff...the most intriguing fact that he posted up there was that women speak an average of six to eight thousand words in a day while men speak from two to four thousand. That means your average woman will speak from two to four times as much as your average man. What impact does that have on leave, you ask? Well, it made a lot of sense. If people are going back home and meeting with loved ones, I would imagine that most men would have certain things in mind while women would have other certain things in mind...certain expectations, you know? Anyway, the way the chaplain put it was pretty funny, and I don't think I can recreate the moment here online; but he basically said that men should be sure to make eye contact and nod their heads a lot even if they didn't feel like talking because it was important for the women to feel like they were being listened to. After all, that's why they talk so much. So yeah, good points...but I'm not going home yet. I'll keep all of the men are from mars and women are from venus stuff in the back of my mind though.
In other news, I talked to school for the first time in about a year. We'll see how that works out. Also, Lenny compressed the video of the big fight so that it is now only about 30 MB. If you want to download it now, it should be okay.
26 April 2005 2015z
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What comes to mind as I go through this little exercise is the National Guard motto, "You Can." That may seem sarcastic, but I really mean it. Unlike many others, my experience here has been a very positive one, and I often think about how fortunate I am to have had this opportunity. Even before I made it here to Afghanistan, I had the opportunity to visit so many places in the States during my five-month train-up courtesy of Uncle Sam. These places included Fort Bragg, NC, Aberdeen Proving Grounds, MD, Fort Polk, LA, and beautiful Charleston, SC. I know that those probably don't sound like the most exciting tourist attractions; but for a guy who's spent a majority of his life in the suburbs of Northern Virginia, these are things that I'll remember for a lifetime. I don't know. It just makes me smile to think about it.
So on days like today when I suffer through an hour or two of gas and diarrhea from a failed attempt to increase my lactose tolerance, I like to turn my attention to the more positive things around me; and I think to myself how it truly is a wonderful life.
26 April 2005 0321z
BTW, the video of the fight ended up getting taken offline because I was in danger of running over my bandwidth limitations...something like 40GB/month. Oh well.
I got an e-mail from my commander last night. He had just left for the airport, so that means he should be back in country in a few days. You know what that means, right? Yep...leave!! Right now, I'm looking to get out of here sometime during the first few days of May. I don't have an exact date yet, but that's good enough for now. I have a little bit of paperwork to get settled and some handover issues to take care of before I go. It's kinda like making substitute plans for my classes...something I never liked to do. But I think it'll be worth it this time. I'm really looking forward to getting out of here for a few days.
25 April 2005 0046z
Oh, and I just remembered what the first part of class was about. We were talking about the "livestrong" bracelets because the principal came on the loud speaker and said that everyone with a livestrong bracelet had to take it off...probably had to do with gang association, but I didn't speculate at the time. The term "B.S" came up and I asked the class if anyone knew what B.S stood for. I seemed to get really mad that no one said the truth or even bothered to make something up. That's when I first started getting loud.
Anyway, awesome dream. It felt good to be in the classroom again, even if I was psycho. I think I'll blame it on the multiple blows I took to the head. BTW, one of my soldiers got it on tape and made a neat little video. It's over 100MB, so those with a slow connection may choose to pass on it. But those of you with Cable modems can download it here. There are probably a few different tapes of the fight because there must've been at least a half dozen video cameras running along with the 30 or 40 other digital cameras. But I like this version the best because it's a little pixelated and you can't quite see how tired I am at the end when my arms and legs just died on me. Enjoy.
