List Mania

I stole this from Kris

Everything bolded - I have done:
01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink Many many times


02. Swam with wild dolphins


03. Climbed a mountain: Several California, Texas and Germany


04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive: And A Pantera


05. Been inside the Great Pyramid: not yet but it is on my to do list


06. Held a tarantula:Cool


07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone: If hot tubs count,Sure


08. Said “I love you” and meant it


09. Hugged a tree: and have climbed several hundred.


10. Bungee jumped: don't care to


11. Visited Paris: many times


12. Watched a lightning storm.Just last week.


13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise. Almost every day.


14. Seen the Northern Lights


15. Gone to a huge sports game. NBA Finals


16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa


17. Grown and eaten your vegetables: And fruit, and Canned them all


18. Touched an iceberg


19. Slept under the stars. More times than I can count


20. Changed a baby’s diaper. Not my favorite task, but several hundred times


21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon


22. Watched a meteor shower. Look for them nightly, the Geminids are going on now


23. Gotten drunk on champagne


24. Given more than you can afford to charity


25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope


26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment: Boot camp in the Navy, Very Important Personel Inspection, and a seagull dropped a load on the edge of the inspecting Officer's hat that ran down his face and on to his uniform. Kind'a broke the decorum of the occasion, and I got into a lot of trouble.



27. Had a food fight.


28 Bet on a winning horse. Retama Downs is just 6 miles from my house in San Antonio, bet on a lot of losers too!


29. Asked out a stranger


30. Had a snowball fight


31.Screamed as loudly as you possibly can: looking for lost children


32. Held a lamb: Rack of lamb


33. Seen a total eclipse


34. Ridden a roller coaster


35. Hit a home run: 5 Lifetime, normally blooper singles, but a hit is a hit!


36. Danced like a fool and didn’t care who was looking: Every. Single. Time.


37. Adopted an accent for an entire day (German, Aussie)


38 Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment: Most of the time


39. Had two hard drives for your computer


40. Visited all 50 states: Just 49 so far, need to get up to Maine


41. Taken care of someone who was drunk.far too often


42. Had amazing friends:I find if you are an amazing friend you will have them


43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country : Germany, Belgium,Holland, England, Mexico,Canada, France, Kenya,The Philipines,Hong Kong,Thailand,Japan,UAE. California


44. Watched whales: While under weigh and listened to them on Sonar


45. Stolen a sign Not a street sign though, that's stupid and dangerous


46. Backpacked in Europe Rucksack anyone?


47. Taken a road-trip


48. Gone rock climbing


49. Midnight walk on the beach


50. Gone sky diving Many times

51. Visited Ireland Not yet


52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love Still


53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them Every day


54. Visited Japan 7 times in the Navy


55. Milked a cow


56. Alphabetized your CDs And cassettes and albums and Books


57. Pretended to be a superhero


58. Sung karaoke: Love it!


59. Lounged around in bed all day


60. Played touch football


61. Gone scuba diving Plenty of snorkeling though


62. Kissed in the rain

63. Played in the mud

64. Played in the rain

65. Gone to a drive-in theater

66. Visited the Great Wall of China

67. Started a business Several

68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken

69. Toured ancient sites the last one was the ziggurat of UR

70. Taken a martial arts class Does Basic combat training count?

71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight 48 hours straight 1980 in Germany, in the Army

72. Gotten married

73. Been in a movie

74. Crashed a party

75. Gotten divorced

76. Gone without food for 5 days: 19 days, post appendectomy.

77. Made cookies from scratch

78. Won first prize in a costume contest

79. Ridden a gondola in Venice

80. Gotten a tattoo

81. Rafted the Snake River Have done other rivers

82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”

83. Gotten flowers for no reason

84. Performed on stage

85. Been to Las Vegas

86. Recorded music

87. Eaten shark

88. Kissed on the first date

89. Gone to Thailand

90. Bought a house

91. Been in a combat zone

92. Buried one/both of your parents

93. Been on a cruise ship

94. Spoken more than one language fluently

95. Performed in Rocky Horror

96. Raised children

97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour

98. Passed out cold

99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country

100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over

101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge

102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking

103. Had plastic surgery

104. Survived an accident that you shouldn't have survived Swimming Pool accident knocked unconscious, my brother saved me

105. Wrote articles for a large publication

106. Lost over 100 pounds

107. Held someone while they were having a flashback

108. Piloted an airplane

109. Touched a stingray

110. Broken someone’s heart

111. Helped an animal give birth

112. Won money on a T.V. game show Tried out for Jeopardy, didn't make it past the second round. Was nervous as hell

113. Broken a bone

114. Gone on an African photo safari Not really a Safari, but Did drive around Kenya with a camera

115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears Abraded,Lacerated,Punctured, Contuded and Burned, but no Piercing, not even the Ears

116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol All three plus,Machine Guns,Grenade Launchers,165mm Demolition Gun, Mortars,Laws Anti Tank Rockets,Stinger AntiAircraft Missle,Torpedoes,Anti Submarine Rockets,Claymore mines and a HELL of a lot of explosives.

117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild

118. Ridden a horse Not since I was a teenager

119. Had major surgery Appendectomy,Damn near killed me!

120. Had a snake as a pet

121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon

122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours

123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states

124. Visited all 7 continents

125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days

126. Eaten kangaroo meat

127. Eaten sushi

128. Had your picture in the newspaper

129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about

130. Gone back to school

131. Parasailed

132. Touched a cockroach I am the designated bug wrangler for all the females I know, and I ate one once for a hunderd dollar bet. Yum!

133. Eaten fried green tomatoes

134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey

135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read

136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating Porky,Daffy, Foghorn Leghorn,Elsee,Bambi,Thumper, Snake, Coon, Possum,Squirrel, Turkey, etc, etc

137. Skipped all your school reunions

138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language

139. Been elected to public office

140. Written your own computer language

141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream

142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care

143. Built your own PC from parts

144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you

145. Had a booth at a street fair Gun Shows,Flea Markets

146. Dyed your hair

147. Been a DJ

148. Shaved your head

149. Caused a car accident

150. Saved someone’s life

I'll get around to fleshing out some of the more interesting ones later






On the Way

Finally!

I am at the airport, first stop, Amsterdam, next stop The ME.

I start getting Paid as soon as we go wheels up on the plane. Whooo Hoooo!!!

The last 17 days with out working has been a strain on the credit cards, TBS it will be very nice to be debt free by thanksgiving!

Boobs

I stumbled across a blog written by a gal named Crystal , who lives in Crotch Dust Mississippi.

She is the absolutlyist (is that a word?) funniest writer on the domestic front I have EVER read.

NSFW if you get in trouble for laughing your ass off.

Here is the link http://boobsinjuriesanddrpepper.blogspot.com/

Enjoy

I Fly on Wendsday!

Lucy

For those of you whom have an abiding interest in Anthropology and Archeology like myself, prepare to be envious.

Whilst I am stuck here in Houston till I get a flight to the ME. I have been casting about for some thing to do, and heard on the Radio a commercial for the Houston natural history museum, which is sponsoring an exhibit of the 3.2 million year old hominid fossile known as "Lucy", on loan from the Ethieopian (sp) Museum and accompianied by the 20 plus year caretaker of said fossile!

I am in heaven!

20 bucks to get in, and well worth it, in my eyes!

Tomorrow is going to be a GOOD Day!

Contact!

I can no longer blog.

contact me at unkawill321@yahoo.com , iffen ya want the skinny!

Back to the Sandbox

My flight out to the M.E. should happen mid week.

UNFORTUNATLY, The contract I signed has a clause stipulating "NO BLOGS".PERIOD.

Due to OPSEC and contractual considerations I will no longer be allowed to publish my writing, as awful as it is.

Thank you for your support.

The contract said nothing about commenting on other websites, so please look for my snark in all the usual places!

If you want to contact me directly my E - M a i l is, U n k a w i l l 3 2 1 at y a h o o d o t c o m .

Damn, I'm gonna miss this.

Thanks Y'all

Back to Iraq, The Party

Last night,a party was thrown in my honor. A good time was had by all. Karaoke was sung, and Unkawill was a sight to behold on the dance floor, gettin all kinds of jiggy with it, I was.

I am Humbled by the amount of love that was thrown my way, who knew I had so many friend's?

I didn't get a head count, and if I have to guess, I would say, north of 60 people cared enough to show up and help me celebrate.

The food was Awesome as usual, and the menu read as follows.

Brisket, Sausage, Chicken fajitas, Tater salad, Beans, Armadillo Eggs, Pico, Deviled Eggs, Chips and Queso, A Gorgeous Chocolate cake, and a bunch of other stuff.

It was all delicious, thanks to everybody who brought a dish, Y'all Rock!

Up at 8:30 this morning, doing laundry, taking care of all the last little details, packing my bags, head out to the airport around 2 for my 4:30 flight to Houston.



Update! Aug. 26, 2007

Done with my Indoc process, should fly mid week, thanks for your support and Prayers!

HR

Did the back and forth with HR today, submitted the rest of my paper work, got my Birth certificate in the mail from Alabama and received my manifest to fly to Houston, Sunday afternoon, so I can start the glorious hurry up and wait that is the in processing process.

Fun! 10 days of filling out forms, getting fitted for MOPP gear and Body armor,Physical check up/out, Classes, KBR corporate culture,Middle eastern culture, But mostly sitting around and catching up on my reading.
I should get through at least 4 books in those ten days, and the first one is going to be " The Arab Mind". I have already started reading it and am about 80 pages into it.

Whoo am I tired!

Busy,busy, busy.

Tried to install a house full of shutters on friday, in Georgetown Tx. which is about 120 miles north of me.

While tootling along on I35 about halfway there, I notice that I am emitting a huge amount of white smoke from under my van. Aw CRAP!

Quickly pulling over to inspect the malfunction, I find my Transmission leaking fluid all over the place.
Diagnosis: Blown front seal, scorched and fried Xmission.

Remedy: 5 quarts of fluid, and limp back to the swamp, while calling the client to reschedule for monday, Pull tranny, rebuild tranny, reinstall tranny, done at 2 am sat morning. Which BTW is the fastest I have ever done a rebuild job, a little less than 16 hours.

Up at 730 Sat morning, install 5 houses full of blinds with my Xo get back to the office around 5, and do paperwork till 9, go to Papa's bar and grill for libations and karaoke, get to bed, after Jack in the Box, around 1:30 am.

sunday, up at 7:30 take aspirin with my coffee, peruse the opinion columns, start the first of 5 load's of laundry,MOW the Friggin Yard, WBTW, was about a foot high, due to all of the rain we have had recently, and build a King sized upholstered headboard. done about 10pm in bed at 11.

monday, on the road at 8, get to the job site at 10, and promptly blow out the crotch on my slacks, so there I am all commando, swinging in the breeze, Howdy, everybody.

Thank GOD for safety pins.

Get done around 2:30 and wait around so as to get paid, get back to San Antonio around 6pm
do paper work till 8 go back to Papa's for more libations and to see an old GF who had just heard of my impending departure.

Get to bed @ midnight.

today, up at 6 coffee, paper, out the door at 7:30 pick up 6 orders from the factory, back to the office, take about 20 phone calls and write this post.

Time for lunch!

Hell

Subject: Exothermic or endothermic?

The following is an actual question given on a University ofWashington Chemistry mid-term. The answer by one student was so "profound" that the professor shared it with colleagues, via the Internet, which is, of course, why we now have the pleasure of enjoying it as well:



Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic> (absorbs heat)
>
> Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law
> (gas cools when it expands and heats when it is compressed) or some
> variant.
>
> One student, however, wrote the following:
>
> First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So
> we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the
> rate at which they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume
> that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls
> are leaving. As for how many souls are entering Hell, let's look at
> the different religions that exist in the world today. Most of these
> religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you
> will go to Hell.
>
> Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do
> not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls
> go to Hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the
> number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially.
>
> Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because
> Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in
> Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand
> proportionately as souls are added.
>
> This gives two possibilities:
>
> 1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls
> enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase
> until all Hell breaks loose. 2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster
> than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure
> will drop until Hell freezes over.
>
> So which is it?
>
> If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa during my Freshman
> year that, "It will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you,"
> and take into account the fact that I slept with her last night, then
> number two must be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic
> and has already frozen over. The corollary of this theory is that
> since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting any
> more souls and is therefore, extinct......leaving only Heaven,
> thereby proving the existence of a divine being which explains why,
> last night, Teresa kept shouting "Oh my God!"
>
> THIS STUDENT RECEIVED THE ONLY "A"

Shamelessly stolen from daveinboca at http://daveinboca.blogspot.com/

GO ON OVER AND CHECK HIM OUT!

Family

Out of the blue, yesterday, I get a call from my brother unkajim, Hey bro, what's up? say's me.

UJ: What kind of bennie's does KBR provide?

UW: Health,life, and not much else. Why do you want to know?

UJ: Well, I'm thinking that you might want some company over there!

UW: Your shitting me!

UJ: Now why would I shit my favorite turd. No I'm serious, been talking it over with the wife,and we think it's a good idea. Get out debt, pay off the house and retire in 3 years.

UW:Well Cool! I could probably arrange for us to share a trailer, what job are you looking at applying for?

UJ: Admin assistant.

Well needless to say, this caught me by surprise, and we ended up having a rather lengthy chat about living conditions and amenities over in the box.

I hope he gets it, it would defiantly be nice to have someone looking out for me in admin.

On a side note, my dental appointment went well, and I will be spending the rest of the day dealing with my application paperwork.

Future Plan's

I have been mulling an idea around in the old noggin for a couple of weeks, as to becoming somewhat of an ersatz embed interveiwer of military and civilian deployee's while I am in the sandbox.

A man on the street kind of thing.

What say you?

Weekend Recap

I had the distinct pleasure of meeting FBL of Fuzzylicious Thinking, Saturday night, (link in the sidebar) along with Merrilee Carlson, of Families United, www.familiesunited.com Merrilee's son Army Sgt. Michael Carlson, drowned in a rollover accident in Iraq Jan-24-2005 along with most of his Squad. She formed the above named organization to help support the troop's after his death.

Both of these Lady's are an Inspiration to me.

This was also the first time I have been privileged to meet up in "MeatSpace" anybody whom I have only known through the Internet.

On the in processing process, today I took and passed the WABI test, again (workplace attitude and behavior inventory) and had my chopper's checked out at the Dentist, two caries to be filled on Wednesday, and the obligatory lecture on flossing. Damn I hate getting my teeth worked on.

On a seperate note, I have installed a site counter, and have been checking out where my traffic is coming from.

Y'all don't be shy, please feel free to leave a comment or a simple Howdy, ifin that'll do ya!

Tag I'm It

Good friend FBL, Tagged me with the 8 thing's about me that nobody knows Meme.

So in no paticular order, Here goes.

3. I am right handed, but feel more comfortable shooting weapons and pool left handed.

7. I sew professionally.

1. I have been to every state except Maine.

5. I sing Karaoke, nasty habit but one I enjoy.

8. I wasted my vote in the last election on Kinky Friedman

2. I dropped out of High School in the 10th grade.

6. I was Soldier of the Year 1980 for the 7th Engineer Brigade in Germany.

4. I have been to the grave of General George S. Patton.

There are a lot more where these came from, Y'all will just have to wait for the next game of Tag.

As it's apparent that I came pretty late to this Meme, I'll just let it die a natural death of old age right here, and not tag anybody else.

Admin

Lot's going on around these here parts, FBL is in town, and I am very much looking forward to meeting this wonderful Lady, perhaps Saturday night, I hope any way. TBS, another 12 hour day, leaving, in my wake, smiling,happy, satisfied customers!

I just wish that I would have had a little more of a warning of her visit, as my schedule is normally set about 2-3 weeks in advance.

What with regular work, running around trying to take care of the KBR stuff, and the Swamping, buy my Client's, to finish what they have on their respective plates, and training My XO to handle the CEO duties, Well Y'all get the picture.

HR

Got a 30+ page document from HR today consisting of a to do list, of stuff I have to take care of before reporting to Houston.

Therefore, The posting will be light around here till I take care of the list.

Priorities and such, please bear with me, all 4 of Y'all.

P.C. Run Amok

Black Holes Renamed 'Super High Gravity Locations'
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM - The International Space Nomenclature Council today adopted the term 'emplacements de hats gravité super' - or 'super high gravity locations' - as the official replacement name for black holes. Originally named in reference to the fact that light cannot escape their intense gravity, the term 'black hole' was increasingly criticized as being insensitive to African-Americans and African-Europeans."We're glad the council finally took action on this issue." said Isaiah Herman, Chairman of the National African-American Coalition of People. "The unimaginable destructive power of these super high gravity locations was giving the word 'black' a negative connotation throughout the universe."Super high gravity locations are the remnants of giant stars that collapse into a substance so dense that it has a gravitational pull that consumes all matter that comes near it. "They're the bad boys of the cosmos." says Naked Immure, Professor of Astronomic Anthropology at Howyflyl University. "You would definitely want to cross the street if you saw one coming."Early after their discovery, there was little controversy over the former name of super high gravity locations. However in recent years, scientists theorized that most galaxies had massive super high gravity locations at their cores, and would eventually be swallowed up by them. A doomsday overtone began to be associated with the former 'black holes' - even a slang term for something unendingly wasteful developed - prompting the insensitivity criticism."There was never any intent to be offensive or malicious." says Imsure, commenting on the original naming of super high gravity locations. "It just seemed to fit at the time. But this name fits well too - it's definitely a location of super high gravity."

Shamelessly stolen from http://www.dailyredundancy.com/archives/1018.html

HT to carnival of the insanities

Evan Almighty

Evan Almighty, I have seen the trailers, I have NOT seen the movie. I will pick it up in bootleg form when I get to Iraq.

It has rained here every day but three this month. This constant rainfall makes it extremely difficult to practice my trade.

It has also submerged 12 vehicles in our overflow lot, here behind the Swamp.

The Swamp? pray tell unkawill, what is the Swamp?

The Swamp is my office/warehouse space,upstairs on a split level 10,000 sf corrugated tin building, downstairs is a three bay garage suitable for working on big rigs and any other vehicles for that matter.

Fully equipped with 2 hydraulic hoists, pneumatic system, welding gear, presses, and special tools.

Amenities include, pool table, dart board, tv,stereo, internet,refrigerators microwave and BBQ pit.

Friends and family visit often.

Continued Dealings with HR

It's official.

Report to Houston, Aug. 20 for in processing.

I'm going to have to buy a new laptop to take with me, as I donated my last one to Valor-IT.

I'll blog the in processing process, as I'll be in Houston at least ten days, bored out of my skull and nothing to do at night.

Continued Dealings with HR

The conference call went just as expected,You are going to be in a war zone, you could die, 1 year open ended contract, you can leave at any time, we can fire you at anytime, for any reason.

Some reasons for immediate termination,

1. being caught with alcohol.

2.Possessing a firearm

3. Drugs

4. insubordination

5. refusing to go on a mission

A bunch of other information as to the physical, ie; no diabetes,high blood pressure ect...

I have to take a personality test to make sure that I play well with others and get my dentist to sign off on a form stipulating that I can go a year with out treatment.

A bunch of boilerplate, covering their asses, The exact same thing I went through last time.

All in all, just what I expected.

Continued Dealings with HR

Well, I got my print out from the DMV,It contained 1 speeding ticket in Tennessee in 96, which I remember, and 1 Defective Equipment citation in Montana in 98, which I don't remember.

Anyway, I sent this info off to the Hr dept. along with a copy of my DL and have been instructed to participate in a conference call at 3 this afternoon with the recruiter and other applicant's.

The call is part of the screening process that I don't recall having to go through previously.

I think they just want to weed out the squeamish or the faint hearted, before they actually spend money flying us to Houston.

Will update after the call.

Reason's

First off, Michelle and Kris, Thank you both for your Kindness and concern for my wellbeing. I too consider Y'all friends,almost sisters, heck I've had more and better conversations with both of you, than most of my real sisters in the last year or so.

Although my last tour ended poorly with me almost dieing of a ruptured appendix, I was not ready to quit,just forced to, while I recuperated from the surgery.

I made some good friends over there, Men tend to bond when facing hardship and danger. I still keep in touch with three of my buds, one each in Anaconda, TQ and Camp Victory.

When I came home to recover, I had every intention of returning as soon as possible.
Life however had other plans. As I got better,and word got out that I was back in town, I started getting phone calls from former client's (Interior Designer's and Decorators) all worried and thankful that I was home, but the conversation would end up with them asking me to do just this one little job for them PleasePleasePlease PLEASE, cause we don't like anybody else doing our work, and you are SOOOO GOOOOD with our customers!

Well with that and the need to take care of my mother, who is in fragile health, I formally reopened my shop.

The catalyst of this decision was last month when I sat in on a meeting with my Niece Helen and an Army Recruiter, as the conversation unfolded, he suggested that I reenlist. What! No WAY!
WAY! said he, because of your prior service you are still eligible! Well blow me down! Still I thought about it, but I fear I would'nt make it through boot camp and if I did, I would be taking a serious cut in pay, and have to work for someone half my age.

The one factor that lets me go, is one of my sisters is getting a divorce, and has moved in with me and is looking after Mom, taking the burden of her care off of my shoulders, and freeing me of the responsibility to stick around.

But the main reason I am going back is financial, after all is said and done, accounts balanced, taxes paid, My net, at the end of the year is around 40K, on a Gross of 300K I have good and capable employees who can continue to service my accounts and I will have my sister take care of the payroll and admin responsibilities.

I'll net 10K a month, 1st 85K, Tax free and that will certainly help my 401k.

Michelle, Sorry about the F-man thingy and I'll expect to meet both you and Kris at some point in the future and I intend to attend the mext milblog conference

Why?

I have received a query as to my reasons for returning to Iraq in the comments to my last post, I will do my best to articulate my thoughts and feelings , but first, I'll post the comment string and then I'll reply.

Anonymous said...
The things we do...The things we do...
July 17, 2007 8:06 PM
Anonymous said...
So tell me unkawill.Why??Enquiring minds...And, of course, all the best. Fair winds and all that....But why?
July 18, 2007 9:04 PM
unkawill said...
Well that is going to take a post of it's own,and I'll get right on that, if you would be so kind as to drop the anon moniker.filterman?
July 19, 2007 5:23 PM
Kris, in New England said...
Unkawill - as curious as I am about your reasons for doing this again, for putting yourself into harm's way like this - it's your decision for your reasons. Post them or not - I'll be keeping you in my thoughts until you return safely to home soil.It's a funny thing, your announcement. I mean, I've been a supporter of the GWOT since 9/12/01. I've immersed myself in milblogs and made it a personal mission to keep as informed as possible about what's going on "over there" and in the rest of the world. I consider a few of the milbloggers, and some in their communities, to be friends - though I've never met any of them. But this, your announcement? Somehow makes it all the more personal now. We've traded comments, snarks and opinions, all in good fun. And though I've never met you - I care about what happens to you. Something about this whole milblog community makes it feel like we all "know" each other from a common ground of some kind.I know - I'm babbling now and probably not making any sense. I'm a sentimental girl and just can't help it. Sorry.
July 20, 2007 6:31 AM
Michelle said...
Sorry, unkawill.The fact that you confused me for fliterman, not very flattering. But perhaps somehow appropriate?;-)'Tis me, Michelle, from Lex's. But I wasn't Google/Blogger so I went with "anon". And I must admit, I was curious as to whether you could decipher who it was LOLAnyway, as Kris said, you have your reasons and there certainly is no need for you to share them if you would rather not. Its just that I know you have your own business, your last experience in country certainly wasn't the best and... I guess I kind of thought that if you went back it would be in the military.But I too am babbling... in this case about stuff that really is none of my business. I certainly wish you all the best over there. Like Kris said, even though we've never met, it makes it all so much more personal. And one could say that we've had an interesting relationship since meeting up on TFD, no?Take care and if you choose to post the "why", I will certainly be reading. Any idea on when you will go?
July 20, 2007 10:29 AM

Continued Dealings with HR

Got a call this morning, 07:30, from KBR.

You are on the rehire list, I need a copy of your drivers licence, front and back, and your driving record from the Texas dept of Public Safety.

I went to the DPS web site and ordered a copy, it will be here in 5 days, so they say.

Once they get that in their hands, the inprocessing starts .

Back to the Sandbox

After wrestling with thoughts of rejoining the Army, due to sitting down with a recruiter while he interviewed my Niece Helen, and tried to get me back in, since apparently, I'm not too OLD at 46 with 8 years of prior service.

The thought of having to go through Boot camp again, after being a civilian for 21 years, is just too much for this slightly overweight, worn out,cigarette smoking, old fart.

While I WANT to do my part, getting back in the Army is not the best way to go about it.

What to do? Well I'll tell Y'all.

Fired up this puter and hi-tailed it on over to KBR's web site, and applied for about 10 Heavy Truck Driver positions, in Iraq,Afganistan and Kuwait, last Sunday.

Monday morning, I get a call from a KBR requiter, who wanted to flesh out my application.

Fine I say, what do y'all need to know?

SSN#

Am I willing to go to Iraq? Why yes I am!

When will be available? How about August.

Good Class A license with Haz Mat and tanker endorsements? Of course!

Clean Driving Record? Clean enough. 1 speeding ticket in the last 5 years.

At this point, I'm thinking, she must have not read my CV.

Oh, I see that you listed that you have worked for us before, do you remember your employee # ? Why yes it's !@#@$%^.

OK,Great, Let me contact HR in country, to see if you are on the rehire list.

Why did you leave? My appendix burst, the Army operated on me in Balad, and Medivaced to Germany and then y'all sent me home to recuperate.

More Glow Ball Warming

Shamelessly ripped off, From Dave in boca


The funniest quote of the Nineteen-Nineties may have been uttered by Algo-rhythm Gorebot
"Only an insignificant fraction of scientists deny the global warming crisis. The time for debate is over. The science is settled."No, the simpleton with the elitist claque behind him didn't say that to push his incredibly factitious imbecilic movie---Michael Moore with less slapstick. The droning boring intoningly anxious student of climate, the information superhighway, and lockboxes actually said this far earlier.
So said Al Gore ... in 1992. Amazingly, he made his claims despite much evidence of their falsity. A Gallup poll at the time reported that 53% of scientists actively involved in global climate research did not believe global warming had occurred; 30% weren't sure; and only 17% believed global warming had begun. Even a Greenpeace poll showed 47% of climatologists didn't think a runaway greenhouse effect was imminent; only 36% thought it possible & a mere 13% thought it probable.Now anyone with a brain has long ago figured out that Lyin' Al just can't tell the truth without gilding the lily, exaggerating, or just plain spewing his own brand of "Happy Horsesh*t." His fans in Tennessee knew him well, and his lost his native state in the 2000 election because they know he is a specious phony baloney boy from decades of watching him disgrace himself in public life. Where do the Dems come up with specimens like The Goracle and Airy-Hairy-Kerry? Just lyin' flip-floppers from breakfast to bedtime---and lots of help from a double-digit IQ peanut gallery of leftardos and females with second-rate minds and first-rate libidos. [John-Boy Edwards in this case]Here's a recent article from the respected British publication The Telegraph with an update on Al's little joke on all of us undereducated skeptics.The National Post is perhaps one of the few outposts of sanity in Eastern Canada. A few recent articles from this Ottawa-based publication have some of those benighted skepticsraising their objections as in the case of a Professor Svensmark.The paper has had other skeptical articles hereand another article here by Nigel Weiss.Not only the frozen Canadians, but The Australians are not buying the Goracle's Pied Piper tune to the lemmings on AGW. And the eminent respected dean of Canadian climatologists, a professor named Tim Ball has pointed out some of the shortcomings of the "scientific" community.Betsy's Page has some good links on the continuing depantsing and factual spanking of the continuously silly ex-VP and all-time biggest US election loser Al Gore, who also doubles as the morally superior Gore, the zinc magnate who parades his lame excuses in the WSJ. Al also had lots of oil industry connections besides his Occidental ties. Just a short list of the most recent skeptical scientific and political links to anyone who wants to investigate more than the received wisdom of the airhead hairy-headed "climatologists." Couldn't find the link of the NASA Chief, but will update when found.

Many thanks to dave in boca for doing the leg work.

http://haloscan.com/tb/daveinboca/5240923515780465951

The "Consensus" has never been over 50%. That's what a majority is. Consensus IMO should be 90% plus.

Follow the MONEY!

Amnesty International makes teh Funny---Not

I saw this over at The Wall Street Journal and thought I would share it with y'all.

Imho the good folks at AI don't have a clue, and get their talking points from a T-1 direct link from the Netroots of BDS fame.


Yesterday we noted that Amnesty International, the anti-American outfit that styles itself a human-rights group, was holding an online poll asking "Who's got the worst human rights record?" The choices: Darth Vader, Hobgoblin and Dick Cheney. (The first two are villains from "Star Wars" and "Spider-Man" respectively; the third is vice president of the United States.)
Reader David Reed argues that Amnesty wanted Cheney to "win" this vote:
The Amnesty human rights poll seems doubly rigged against Cheney. First, a literal reading of the question requires the "Cheney" answer, because Vader and Hobgoblin directed their "crimes" against Wookiees, Alderaanians and Spider-Men, rather than humans. (And, although I have not yet seen "Spider-Man 3," I'll assume that the filmmakers did not actually gas any civilian human populations in the making of the flick.) Thus, even the mildest transgression against human rights by the Vice President (say, hurting Sen. Pat Leahy's feelings) makes him the correct answer.
The second way the poll is rigged is more telling. Other than Cheney, the contestants in the poll are fictional. Rather than putting Cheney up against real human rights violators such as Hitler, Pol Pot or even someone like John Kerry, who merely claimed--probably falsely--to have violated human rights in Vietnam, Amnesty compares him to movie characters. Here again, a literal reading of the question compels the Cheney answer if he has ever done anything at all to impinge upon a human's human rights. Nevertheless, it is telling that Amnesty couldn't think of a single human being to run in the poll against Cheney. In fact, it seems like a huge concession--that Amnesty couldn't come up with anybody with a human rights record so obviously worse than Cheney's so as to guarantee a Cheney win.
I never thought I'd see Amnesty asserting the moral equivalence of Mother Teresa and Dick Cheney. But that's one way to read it.
Despite all this, the last time we checked, Cheney was a distant third with 16% of the vote, far behind Hobgoblin and Vader. Apparently this wasn't the result Amnesty was looking for, because the group proceeded to pull the poll from its Web site, which now redirects to this announcement:
Thanks to everyone who took our poll!
We've gotten a terrific response. Thanks to everyone who shared it with their friends. Take action to restore the America you believe in »
And learn more about human rights abuses worldwide and what you can do to stop them »
So who won the poll, Amnesty International? They don't say. Like a military junta desperately clinging to power, they simply suppress the result of the vote. Human rights group our foot!
Some readers also noted that Amnesty had slandered Darth Vader. This is from Jeffrey Schallert:
Amnesty International is mistaken about Darth Vader. The war against the Wookiees was begun long before Anakin Skywalker had turned to the dark side of the Force, and it was Governor Tarkin who ordered the destruction of Alderaan; Vader just happened to be on the Death Star at the time, that's all.
Would I not be justified in wondering whether AI's accusations against the malevolent Dick Cheney are as sloppily researched as those against the Dark Lord of the Sith?
Adds Brian Gates:
Amnesty Internationale's poll is badly flawed. It should include Princess Leia, whose refusal to negotiate with the Empire was directly responsible for the deaths of millions on Alderaan.
Darth Vader, of course, was at one time a realist, seeking to "end . . . destructive conflict and bring order to the galaxy" by stamping out all resistance. In the end, though, he decided to (literally) overthrow a totalitarian ruler at the cost of his own life. No wonder AI doesn't like him.
And Michael Goldberg adds:
I looked at Amnesty Internationale's stunning "Who's got the worst human rights record?" web page, and sent them an e-mail wondering if, say, Kim Jong-Il was a worse offender. When I checked out their commentary about North Korea's human rights record, I was somewhat amused to note that they referred to the secretary of state as "Condolence Rice."
It is interesting to see their view of who the bad guys are.
We've had some laughs at the expense of Amnesty International, but they are still taken seriously in some quarters, even if they have squandered some of their credibility with this juvenile stunt. Their attacks on America (and Israel) do have the potential to do serious damage by diverting attention from genuine human-rights violators. Never underestimate the dark side of the farce.
(Carol Muller helps compile Best of the Web Today. Thanks to Tim Farrell, Mark Kellner, Kathleen Sullivan, Donald Weatherwax, Steve Prestegard, Bob Vorick, Andy Schlei, Daniel Foty, Joel Goldberg, Mike Stevens, Ed Lasky, Steve Biddle, Ray Giourard, Gregory Brunt, Rod Pennington, John Sanders, Michele Schiesser, Charlie Gaylord, Dennis Meyler, Todd Crampton, Anthony Gavan, Sean Parnell, Stephen Leonard, John Lobert, Neal West, Otir Bricker, Matthew Howard, Gerald Brown and Bill Jolly. If you have a tip, write us at opinionjournal@wsj.com, and please include the URL.)

Turkey, should we be worried?

I have shamelessly lifted this from jerry Pournelle's site: CHAOS MANOR MUSINGS.

Jerry as many of you know, is a prolific SF author. He is also IMHO one of the worlds smartest persons, and entertaining as hell. For your edification, I suggest,You pop on over and visit.


The Crisis in Turkey
Turkey has long been an ally of the United States, and is the closest thing Israel has to an ally in the Eastern Mediterranean region. The current constitutional crisis has long-reaching implications in the current cultural wars.
Turkey is a curious land, a blend of a modern secular state integrated with a medieval fundamentalist Muslim nation. The secular-religious divisions are more important in Turkey than religious or even ethnic divisions.
Modern Turkey was created by Mustapha Kemal known as Kemal Ataturk, a general under the old monarchy who abolished the Sultanate, decreed a secular state, and became the founder of the modern nation. He outlawed Moslem dress including wearing the Fez (that odd hat that Shriners like) and burka, and set the Turkish Army as the protector of the constitution. The officer corps became a brotherhood devoted to that end, and Turkish enlisted personnel are educated to that belief. The army guards the constitution.
So far this is hardly new; Aristotle and Plato describe "rule of honor" which in practice is rule by the officer corps, and rule by military junta is common in history. It may start as protection of a constitution or a form of government, but the temptation to run things is great, and soon the military has its nose in everyone's affairs. Startlingly that has not happened in Turkey. Since Ataturk the Army has intervened in political affairs. It has hanged prime ministers and jailed corrupt politicians. It then retires to barracks and allows new politicians to govern. The result has been remarkably successful. Turks enjoy considerable freedoms and liberties that are unusual in neighboring countries.
The new rise of Islam did not neglect Turkey, and Islamists hold a majority of seats in the Turkish Parliament. This makes the Army nervous, but so far it has not interfered. Now, however, the Parliament wants to promote an Islamist to the Presidency. The President of Turkey is Chief of State, Commander in Chief of the Army, and holds the powers of veto and judicial appointment. He does not otherwise participate in government -- that is the business of the prime minister -- but the position is one key to the surprising development of the Army as protector of the constitution without constant interference in political affairs. That is what is at stake in the current constitutional crisis: will an Islamist become President? The Army is not going to let that happen. Alas, every time the Army must come out of barracks and interfere with government, there is a new temptation to do more: to actually govern. This is a powerful temptation, and one that must be resisted -- has been resisted since the days of Ataturk.
None of this is particularly new, and need not be an actual crisis, except that Turkey has applied for entry into the European Union. In my judgment that would be a terrible thing for both the EU and Turkey, but I quickly add that I haven't done a serious analysis, and I start with extreme prejudice against the bureaucratic state being created in Brussels by unelected civil "servants" who have become a new aristocracy that will soon be hereditary. (That is, bureaucrats send their children to the right schools, promote each other and each others children, and so forth: offices are not hereditary, but positions in the civil service might as well be; this always happens. Pournelle's Iron Law of Bureaucracy always prevails.)
Worse than importing a million pages of bureaucratic regulations -- I am not making that up -- would be the Jacobin notion that Turkey must get rid of the Army's interference in political affairs and cease to be the guardian of the secularist constitution. For reasons beyond my ken, the EU bureaucrats actually welcome the notion of including a non-secular -- i.e. an Islamist -- nation within the EU. The result of doing that is predictable.
The new President of France has indicated that he does not want Turkey in the EU -- a triumph of actual politics over the EU bureaucrats -- and that should have an effect. The Turkish Army, now aware that nothing it can do will gain it admission to the EU, is free to act according to the pact they have all sworn to themselves and the memory of Kemal Ataturk. I suspect it will now do so.
======

BAGHDAD BLUES

I was surfing around and came across this opinion column written by Ralph Peters.

Posted in the New York Post.

I agree.

May 11, 2007 -- IN his remarks at the Pentagon yesterday, President Bush stressed two things: The troop surge - which still isn't complete - must be given a chance, and the Democrats need to knock off the shenanigans and vote our troops the funding they need to fight.
On the second count, Congress is behaving disgracefully. Guess I'm a slow learner, but it took me until now to realize that when Pelosi, Reid & Co. chant "Support Our Troops!" they're talking about the enemy.
As for the president's first point, he's entirely right. With a fourth combat brigade just arriving and a fifth still on the way, Gen. David Petraeus doesn't yet have all the resources he's been promised. He's only got three wheels on the car and the critics are howling for him to hit the gas.
Frankly, this surge is a desperate measure after four years of blunders and dithering. It may prove too small and too late. But the stakes are so high that, despite the inevitable cost in American blood, this last gambit is worth the effort.
And it is the last gambit. If the troop surge fails, we'll start striking the tents.
Gen. Petraeus is well aware of all this. (I can't help feeling he winced when the president referred to this made-in-Washington strategy as "Gen. Petraeus' plan.") If any four-star general on active duty can make it work, it's him.
Unfortunately, that's faint praise. The Army hasn't fielded a four-star with the breadth of vision to wage war at the strategic level and the killer instinct to win on the battlefield since Gen. Barry McCaffrey retired a dozen years ago.
As the generals who led infantry platoons and companies in Vietnam fade from the ranks, we face an incongruous situation in which our lieutenants, captains and majors are combat veterans, while the generals above them never fought in a direct-fire engagement or led daily patrols through Indian country.
Junior officers now have a better grasp of what war means than Army generals do. Platoon leaders want to win. The generals want to make people happy.
For two generations, we've trained military leaders to be statesmen in uniform, downplaying pugnacity and guts. We sent promising officers for Ivy League doctorates (thereby cutting off at least one of their . . . um . . . eggs), stressed political assignments, and inducted them into the Washington-insider cult of Salvation Through Negotiations.
Now we have bobble-head generals who nod along with the diplomats who want to hold their Versailles Conference before winning the war.
It's past time for our senior leaders to jettison the political correctness and fight to win. But they honestly don't know how anymore. They've been so thoroughly drugged with failed academic theories about counterinsurgency-with-lollipops that they're more concerned with avoiding embarrassments than with killing the enemy.
The bitter truth is that, in the type of conflicts we now face, we must be willing to fight as ruthlessly and savagely as our opponents. We have to play by their moral rules. Stay-at-homes who never served will howl in indignation, but the alternative is defeat.
And is it ever more virtuous to lose to fanatics with apocalyptic visions than to win?
The standard response from the campus commandos is that, if we descend to the level of our enemy's behavior, we'll become as bad as them. That's crap. In World War II, we didn't exactly coddle the residents of Hamburg and Dresden, Tokyo and Hiroshima.
American soldiers can do what must be done without losing their virtues as citizens (most critics don't even know any soldiers personally).
The greater dangers may be that we've already sacrificed what hope there was for Iraq by waging war to please CNN and the pundits, and that we just don't have the numbers to make the surge work now.
We should all pray that this last-ditch effort succeeds. But we're paying for a decade-and-a-half of gutting our armed forces and sacrificing troop strength to pour money into the pockets of unscrupulous - and well-connected - defense contractors. Now soldiers die in sewage-flooded alleys while the billion-dollar bombers sit and rot.
And we're paying for ending the draft - not because the military wants it (it doesn't), but because we now have two generations of political leaders who don't have a clue what it takes to win a war. Not only haven't they served in uniform, they disdain those who enlist. (Think many soldiers get $400 haircuts like John Edwards?)
If anything, military service disqualifies you from having a voice on wartime strategy in Washington.
In a closed-door session with one of our last great legislators and a fellow military analyst, I was asked if I thought the "oil stain" strategy - the concept behind the current surge - could save Iraq. My answer was, "Yes, if you can put a half-million troops on the ground."
That was almost two years ago, before the situation had deteriorated so badly.
Gen. Petraeus may pull this off - if the let's-take-a-long-vacation Iraqis can get their act together. Should he do so, he'll deserve a place in the history books as one of the all-time greatest military turn-around artists: By historical standards, he'll have less than a third of the troops he needs, even after the surge is complete.
Whatever happens in Iraq, the core lesson isn't that such conflicts can't be won - that's nonsense - but that you can't win if you're more concerned about placating your critics than about defeating the enemy.
Our troops know how to fight. Their leaders don't.
Ralph Peters is a retired Army officer.

If I had pursued my military career to retirement, I would have been eligible to retire in 1998
but I like to think that I would still be active in the fight. Possibly as a Warrant Officer in the maintenance or electronics field.

Glow Ball Warming

I fall on the skeptical side of the Issue and will post info to support my arguments.



If you don't know about Fred Singer's newsletter:
The Week That Was (May 12, 2007)–Brought to you by SEPP
The respected, non-partisan Congressional Budget Office tells the unpleasant facts about CO2 cap-and-trade schemes: higher energy costs and highly regressive (unless fixed), (ITEM #1). And current warming appears to be mostly natural! Green hypocrisy reigns supreme. Politicians of both parties talk “green” but are reluctant to act. Maybe they know that the public may profess “green” until it comes to making sacrifices. (ITEM #2)
German professor plugs for more GW and CO2. It’s good for us and for bio-diversity. (ITEM #3)
Another upbeat account of the Vatican climate conference. Sonja Boehmer-Christensen, editor of Energy & Environment, reports. (ITEM #4)
You can sign up at http://www.sepp.org/


CWCID Jerry Pournelle

Climbing on the soap box

Welcome!

Well the time has finally come. Time that is to quit procrastinating and make this a reality.

Blogging, that is. Having only recently discovered (2005) the world of internet writers, some, amazing wordsmiths, some mediocre bloviators, I thought I would add my voice to the cacophony.

I will be way out of my league to be considered a wordsmith, so y'all are just going to have to settle for probably less than mediocre bloviating on subjects near to my heart.