29 December 2007 2150 GMT
I've been keeping myself pretty busy as always. I haven't undertaken any big personal development-type projects, but I'm still doing a lot of reading and working on a lot of counseling pieces to use with my Soldiers. Yesterday, I was so happy when one of the Soldiers (math teacher on the civilian side) came to me with some math stuff he was helping someone else with. A few weeks back, one of the other guys came to me with a bunch of statistics homework, too. I like helping with that kind of stuff...though it probably wouldn't hurt if I tried a few courses of my own. My focus has been elsewhere for this deployment though. Not better or worse - just different.
If I were to think back to my first deployment, I'd say I spent a lot more time on the stock market and weightlifting...you know, aside from working 20 hours days and stuff. I had my usual quirky distractions, but I probably spent more time on those two than any of my other diversions. Then at the end of the deployment, I kicked it into high gear to complete my advanced course. This time, the focus has been more on the relationship and reading relationship books in general. I did a little more socializing with the fantasy stuff and it helped with keeping in touch with everyone back home, too. Phone call count back home is already about 2000% higher than the last deployment...approximately. In addition to that, I think I spent a lot more time on reading regulations and deliberately working on leadership techniques, to include counseling and mentoring more. I mean, I've done that in the past, but not to the extent that I've done this time around.
Oh well...I won't go much further with the introspection today though. I've got some down time tomorrow to do some laundry and I'll work up some of my new year's resolutions then. I'm really feeling it this year.
27 December 2007 2045 GMT
I am an American Soldier.
I am a warrior and a member of a team.
I serve the people of the United States and live the Army Values.
I will always place the mission first.
I will never accept defeat.
I will never quit.
I will never leave a fallen comrade.
I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough,
trained and proficient in my warrior tasks and drills.
I always maintain my arms, my equipment, and myself.
I am an expert and I am a professional.
I stand ready to deploy, engage, and destroy the enemies
of the United States of America in close combat.
I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life.
I am an American Soldier.
That's right, baby! Hehe...next up are the Army song and the Officer's Creed. Hopefully, I don't forget it all in the morning.
26 December 2007 1900 GMT
We did our secret santa gift exchange in the office today. That was fun. One of the ones I gave away was a re-gift, but it was very much appreciated. I'll give you a hint at what it was. It rhymes with "looter's pal Ender." I'll be honest, when I first got the present myself, I had a feeling I knew what it was because I remember feeling Ben's (ooh) when he got his and there are not a lot of paper products that come in that particular size. Very unique, to say the least. Anyway, since I already have so many wonderful pictures of my gf, a.k.a. the most beautiful woman in the world (bonus points), I figured I would pass it along to someone who would appreciate it more. I think I found a good home for it.
The rest of the day was relatively uneventful. I found myself catching up on a couple of tasks I was procrastinating on and did a little bit of mentoring. Oh, my risk board came in today along with some other DVDs I ordered.
Funny moment of the day came around 2000h as the day came to a close. Well, for me, it's kinda funny, but probably not to my guys. You see a few days ago, when a few of them found out that they would be working on Christmas, I thought it was agreed that they would take the 26th off to make up for their sacrifice on Christmas. We were just going to come in at 1000h to exchange presents and then they would be free to go. Anyway, after presents, we had lunch and everyone else came back to the office. I didn't think much about it until about 2000h when I asked my NCOIC, "umm, weren't you guys supposed to have today off?" For some reason, he reacted as if he was really upset with me at that point. I don't know why. Okay, I'm being a little dumb here, but I honestly thought we'd agreed that they would have today off. I guess not. I'll make it up to them on New Year's Day though.
24 December 2007 2041 GMT
Yesterday marked the midpoint of our year-long deployment, and I smile when I reflect on the months of enjoyment. Yet there's much more ahead, and I'm not even lying - more meetings and spreadsheets and more powerpoint sliding. But last weekend, things got just a little more funner, as I went to the range to practice as an M240B gunner. You see, on Christmas, the captains and majors and brass trade places with the Soldiers so they can lay back and relax. So when I wake up tomorrow at zero-five-hundred instead, it won't be for Santa, but for our troops there in bed. And for all those bad guys out there, I'll give them fair warning, they won't be messing with my Army on this Christmas morning.
Hehe...okay, I'm not gonna be shooting anybody or anything like that tomorrow. But it rhymed, right? Anyway, I need to get to bed so I can wake up early for my shift tomorrow. Merry Christmas, everyone!
19 December 2007 0108 GMT
Just two minutes ago, I made this impulse buy on Amazon. It had something listed for like 83% off and it was the absolute last one left. I only had about 20 seconds left to decide before someone else would have jumped on it. Seriously, you don't understand how fast my heart was beating...and it's only now starting to slow. Granted, what I'd bought wasn't something that I'd really thought to buy until about a half hour ago, and the only research I'd done was an eBay search about fifteen minutes prior; but you know me and good deals. It's really hard to pass them up...hence the twenty boxes of cereal that usually line my cupboard or the random 12-packs of pop tarts I buy even though I don't eat them. I have a problem. I know this. I admit it freely. Someone help me.
17 December 2007 1928 GMT
Anyway, I love getting stuff. So the other day, I got a package and got all excited and opened it, not remembering what time of year it was. I'd told the gf that we'd find a day to open presents together, but there's really no way of knowing which packages are coming from whom unless they tell you what's on its way. So now, I am very careful with what I receive in the mail if I didn't order it for myself. I have a box from amazon waiting for December 25th as well as one from Hammacher Schlemmer. And with that, I am going to start playing my holiday-themed iTunes playlist.
Once I get a copy of the next Battalion newsletter, I'll send it back home over e-mail to you guys. There's a picture of a bunch of us on the front taken after the 5K a few weeks back, a picture of my Christmas tree along with everyone else's around the camp, and a little article I wrote, too. I was pretty happy about that.
16 December 2007 2134 GMT
Other than that, I'm just watching a bunch of ugly football games on the computer and doing some random shopping online. I think I'll retire soon and knock out another chapter of the book I'm reading. I'm looking forward to tomorrow to give me a little more excitement.
15 December 2007 2023 GMT
What was actually pretty nice today was the fact that I had such a good workout yesterday. I was feeling sore all day, from my shoulders to my biceps to my lats. It was a very nice feeling to have while I ate and slept in a bit this weekend (until 0800h). I'll probably read myself to sleep tonight and do the same thing tomorrow. I may get up early to watch the end of the Bengals/Niners game, though, as that has some pretty serious repercussions in the fantasy playoffs against Jane this weekend.
That's about it. I missed the hold'em tourney last weekend and they aren't holding one this weekend, so that's two straight weeks without that particular competition. I've made up for that by playing the occasional game of Risk this last week. It's been frustrating not winning all the time, but my ego is surviving for now. We'll see how everything else works out. The gf gets back from her trip to the Virgin Islands tomorrow night, so that's the next little mark on calendar. She heads down to Texas for the week of Christmas, too, to spend time with her fam, so I'll have to find some other ways to entertain myself in the meantime. MTF
14 December 2007 2056 GMT
So anyway, I'm sitting down and chatting with my section, trying to avoid the commotion that obviously started after these ladies walked indoors with their bright blue and white sweatsuits they were wearing around camp. So yeah, I was just eating my chicken and beef fajita meat and refried beans, chatting with my guys and minding my own business when all of a sudden, Miss Jennifer Nix decides she wants to sit down right next to me. I mean, like right next to me - no elbow room or anything. Anyway, she seemed friendly enough and introduced herself to the section, asking where everyone was from. Of course, being the section leader, I made it clear to her that I was a Redskins fan, as was one of my young Corporals whose loyalties seemed to be waning at the moment. Everyone else chimed in later, and it was fun seeing everyone get all googly-eyed for the fifteen minutes or so she spent with us eating lunch. I can honestly say that it did quite a bit for morale, though, and all of our visitors seemed very supportive of the troops. I excused myself eventually as I had some actual work to do, and the rest of the guys stuck around for a little bit longer before wrapping up lunch themselves.
That was probably the highlight of the day aside from PT this morning. I really didn't want to wake up because I stayed up too late just BSing online last night. I am promising myself that I will go to bed early tonight so that I can try to get close to eight hours of sleep before kicking off the weekend.
13 December 2007 2030 GMT
Funny story about the two-mile run. There was a young soldier who asked me how fast I was going to run since he said he had problems pacing himself. I told him around 13:30, as that was probably the best I would do. He kinda liked the sound of that, and we wound up "pacing" each other for the run. Within about two minutes or so from the start, he'd already pulled ahead and I could feel me out-pacing myself. I burned out early on and he ended up finishing in the 11's while I finished 14-flat...finishing second still. But thanks, right? Hehe. It's cool. I have a few more months to work another minute or so off my run while gaining a handful of push-ups and sit-ups. With a little more dedication, I think I'm set. On another good note, I made weight today. I was weighing in at 182 most of the last few weeks, but I found myself back down at 179 today (I had to take off my watch, shoes, socks, ID card, and PT belt to do it, though).
Last thing. The gf is out of town for a few days to attend one of her best friends' wedding down in one of the Virgin Islands. So that leaves me a small block of time in the evenings where I have a lot less to do with myself. I think I'm gonna catch up on a little bit of reading and sleeping in the meantime.
11 December 2007 2120 GMT
The last day or so has been a lot of fun. I spent most of today working real personnel issues and creating an awesome excel spreadsheet...in my mind, at least.
Oh, yesterday was a big shopping day for me. I spent about $400 on myself before spending some money on other people. I finally broke down and got myself a new 22" LCD along with another external HD and a couple of DVDs. I know I'm not supposed to buy myself stuff before Christmas because Jane yelled at me about it for the last few years, but I had to this time. I found myself wasting so much time looking for better and better deals every time I got a new spam e-mail. Now that I'm done with all of my holiday purchasing, I'm better at concentrating on my work. We'll see how well I can keep this up.
Note to self: Ben's birthday is in a month. Don't forget.
09 December 2007 2121 GMT
Part of what also made the last few days a little more relaxing was that I've been sleeping in. The bad part of that? Well, I got these AWESOME chocolaty cookies in the mail on Friday. There were close to four dozen of them. They're gone now. I mean, I think I shared at least a dozen of them. But the other three dozen...umm, yeah. I think I replaced two breakfast meals with them, and then there were a couple of midnight snack sessions. I don't know. They couldn't have been more than 300-400 Calories each, so...*doing math in head*...okay, maybe it's a good thing that tomorrow will be another 5K run day. I did 5K on the elliptical on Monday and Wednesday of last week and Friday was the actual run with the section. For the last two weeks now, I've been doing really well with the PT. Hopefully, I can keep it up as the weather starts to cool off.
06 December 2007 2201 GMT
It's like no matter what I do; no matter how much time I spend in the office; no matter how much work I front-load, I can always find a reason to hang around and do more. I've always done it as a teacher, and I've always done it with Army. Usually, I sell it to myself as helping other people out. The gf thinks I have a hero complex of sorts - she's probably right. But I've also wondered how long I would be able to sustain a pace like this if I ended up starting a family. It was bad enough during the ramp up earlier in the year when I was barely getting back to grab dinner with the gf before heading to bed and then getting back up to drive back to the armory every day. I don't know..it's tough to convince someone that you don't love work more than you love them when you seem to be constantly choosing to work over spending QT together. "Seem to be."
I'd like to think that people understand, but you can only be so understanding, I know. The XO's one piece of advice he gave back then still resonates with me today...that no one goes to their deathbed wishing that they could have worked more during their lifetime. It's a tough balance, but I'll figure it out eventually.
05 December 2007 0615 GMT
From the soldier standpoint, I can completely understand where he's coming from. You want your soldiers to believe that you never sleep until all of the problems are solved. I've done that before. I've been "robo-Louie" as one of my friends and past commanders called me. I've tried polyphasic sleep schedules. I've also burned myself out a number of times, usually by the end of the deployment or the end of a school year. That's about how long it takes me. I spend somewhere between 9-12 months doing 12-20 hour workdays, and I eventually fizzle away to uselessness. But that's when summer vacation or terminal leave kicks in, and I'm fine. I don't know. Maybe I was made for this stuff.
Anyway, back to my point...being that I figure I'll have a while before I have to make any decision about blogging or not blogging. I guess I'll just have to cross that road* when I get to it.
02 December 2007 1144 GMT
It's back to work for me, though. MTF. Oh yeah...GO HOKIES!
01 December 2007 2043 GMT
The last few days have been pretty busy, but it's been productive at least. It's better than the times when you're running around with your head cut off and you feel like you're getting nowhere. I've been working out a lot more, too...both weightlifting and cardio work. And then there was payday and marking another month off the calendar. It's already December now, and we'll be on our way home soon enough. I'm hoping the holidays will keep me busy enough so that it'll be 2008 before I know it.
In other news, Senator Jim Webb sat down to eat dinner with a bunch of guys in our unit yesterday. I had the fortune of prepping some slides for a brief for him showing him a breakdown of all of our Soldiers and where in Virgina they came from, but I was able to avoid the rest of the media events that ensued.
Anyway, I need to wrap up and get ready for the game. MTF
28 November 2007 2033 GMT
I would have blogged the last few days, but there's just been so much administrative work that we've been working nearly *counting fingers* sixteen hour days. Hmm...I guess that's not that much compared to the 20-hour days we used to work, but still. I've been tired. It doesn't help that I waste my time on the weekends playing in poker tournaments and watching football. If I didn't do that stuff, that's maybe 15-20 extra hours of sleep every week. I can only imagine what'll happen when football season is over.
The thing I'm sad about is how I've become a complete wuss over the last few months when it comes to the cold. After living in 100+ degree heat for over three months, it now feels like winter in the mornings when it's only 60-70 degrees. That used to be comfortable shorts and t-shirt weather, but now I'm almost considering ending the winter coat boycott when I meet up with my guys for PT in the morning. I had a friend in Florida/Georgia who I used to make fun of for talking about it being cold, but now I'm that guy. It's sad, really. I've vowed to keep the heat off in my room though, with hopes of adapting to the weather. We'll see how that plan works out.
25 November 2007 1925 GMT
Next up, texas hold'em. I actually didn't go to sleep last night after the hokies game. Instead, I stayed up for another hour doing some online window shopping until the texas hold'em tourney. I finished in 3rd place yesterday, winning a $25 gift card to AAFES. Not bad, huh? I should've finished higher, but I took it easy on one of my guys when I had a four-of-a-kind. I kinda regret it now, but oh well.
This morning, I got a pretty cool e-mail from the alumni association about a new initiative back at TJHSST. Apparently, there are a bunch of students and faculty working to make the school greener, and they're raising money to get up to the $20K that they need to outfit the school with solar panels. Sounds cool, huh? Anyway, I e-mailed the sibs to see if they were interested in donating and they all seem up for it. I mean, we're not rich or anything, but it'd sure be nice to be a part of school history like that.