Timmer – Page 41 – The Daily Brief

Rituals and Weirdness: SnowCall

06. January 2005 · Comments Off · Categories: General Nonsense, Wild Blue Yonder

For those of you stationed in or above the snow belt, nothing is much stranger than “SnowCall.” We’re the military right? We’re the ones defending our country? Yet, sometimes 6 inches of blowing snow can shut down a base to all but “essential” personnel. Why? Because somewhere at sometime in the past, some uniformed person from Florida tried to drive to work in the snow with their ultra-light but 4 wheel drive pickup and took out a civilian family and thus…all of us are not allowed to drive in “X” amount of snow any longer.

That’s part of the equation.

Once upon a time delayed reporting meant, “You have three extra hours to come in to work but don’t push it okay? Take the time you need but get here.” These days, mostly because we don’t have guys in uniforms behind the wheels in the plows any longer. We have civilians. Who may or may not show up when they’re told to work. Who can tell you, “No thanks, I don’t want no stinking overtime.” Who can suddenly say, “Hey, the city needs extra drivers and they’re paying BIG money because they shorted their contract.” and they can bail on us. These days delayed reporting for snow means, “Don’t even think of trying to get here before the 3+ hour mark because neither the streets nor the parking lots will be cleared yet.” Once upon a time “Don’t come in.” meant that Odin himself had taken a special interest in our part of the world and dumped FEET of snow on us. Now it’s an indication that our “civilian partners” couldn’t handle 3-5 inches of new snow over about 30 acres in any less than 18 hours.

Yes folks, privatization is saving us lots and lots of money and making the military more efficient. You betcha.

But hey, Boyo doesn’t have school today either and I get to roll around in the snow with him so…who am I to complain?

Ima…Media Pig

05. January 2005 · Comments Off · Categories: That's Entertainment!

So here we are, socked in under about a foot of wind-blown snow which means…there are drifts everywhere…especially in front of my car…and I’m jazzed that there’s a new episode of “Lost” tonight, followed by a two hour “Alias”. I’m just happy as a gopher in warm dirt.

And yes…I have popcorn…and my very own popcorn bowl that I got for Christmas.

So while I’m shoveling…I have something to look forward to. The only question is, do I shovel before or after the plow comes through and closes my driveway again?

Good Job Gentlemen

05. January 2005 · Comments Off · Categories: Ain't That America?

I just wanted to mention how absolutely proud I am of my current President, his predeccessor, and his father. ‘Cuz you KNOW that there’s bad blood there.

For the three of them to come together and for the two former presidents to agree to work together to raise funds for the areas devasted by the earthquake and tsunami…that just makes me grin for my country from ear to ear. Well done sirs.

USA Freedom Corps is the way the Presidents are suggesting you donate.

The Command Post also has a great set of links for donations.

Of course there’s also World Vision as suggested below. We’re all busy this morning aren’t we?

Pick your favorite charity, give a little. And no I don’t care to hear about the yahoo wearing the Osama shirt in the news photo or about the chode from the U.N. who called us stingy. Neither matters.

It’s Official…

04. January 2005 · Comments Off · Categories: Technology, Wild Blue Yonder

Exertional Compartment Syndrome is what I’ve got. Been thinking about it and decided that if I’m going to do the First Sergeant thing, I should be running with my folks and not wimpin’ out on the sidelines doing the bike. Yes the bike is harder than it was…but no, I still don’t feel like it’s a real test.

So…sometime in the next month or two I’ll have my lower legs cut open from the knee to the ankle, but not very deep, just skin, fat, and then the facia slit on the tibialis anterior muscle of both legs and then the legs will be closed up again. I’ll be home the same day. Takes anywhere from 4 to 12 weeks before I can start really working them again…I’ll be able to walk the same day although not far.

I’m very happy my Doctor did what he did. He made me run on a treadmill until my legs hurt like hell and then sat me down and felt up and down the shin and around and said…”Nah, don’t have to stick a needle in that…it’s pretty obvious that thing’s gonna blow at any minute.” Funny guy.

Needed More This Morning…

04. January 2005 · Comments Off · Categories: General

…because some mornings a “reflection” just doesn’t cut it:

The world you desired can be won, it exists, it is real, it is possible, it’s yours. But to win it requires total dedication and a total break with the world of your past, with the doctrine that man is sacrificial animal who exists for the pleasure of others. Fight for the value of your person. Fight for the virtue of your pride. Fight for the essence, which is man, for his sovereign rational mind. Fight with the radiant certainty and the absolute rectitude of knowing that yours is the morality of life and yours is the battle for any achievement, any value, any grandeur, any goodness, any joy that has ever existed on this earth.

ARI

What brings this on? Freezing rain with a brief break changing to sleet and snow and then about a foot of snow on top of all that coming at us in the next 24 hours and I’ve got WAY too much to do to just hide from it.

Caption Contest, The Fourth

03. January 2005 · Comments Off · Categories: General Nonsense

Winner(s) Thursday Night.

The 40 Most Obnoxious Quotes of 2004

03. January 2005 · Comments Off · Categories: General Nonsense

…are over at Right Wing News. I dunno…considering the repurcussions I think 40 should have ranked higher.

Via Instapundit.

Graphics Contest

03. January 2005 · Comments Off · Categories: General

Radio Paradise, my favorite commercial-free web-radio station, is looking for a new logo. Winners get a hundred bucks, a link, some recognition, and some RP SWAG.

My Country, ‘tis of thee

02. January 2005 · Comments Off · Categories: Ain't That America?

My recent rant about “American Idiot” has brought Robin out of his/her cave. In his/her latest comment Robin writes:

That album totally trashes your belief system, your government and the man you elected president. I DO think it’s funny that you’re all happily plugging it regardless; I suppose “lefties” have all the best tunes eh?

In this and in other comments he/she’s made I get the idea that Robin is “not from around these parts.”

In response to his/her comment and to enlighten folks who may not be from America who look at us like we’re some sort of weird animal, let me give you some of my thoughts on these United States.

First of all, we LOVE to argue. No…perhaps that’s not strong enough…maybe you don’t get the full force of that. Some of us (blush) will argue a point we don’t believe in just for the mental exercise. When I was living in Germany I had a hard time explaining to a German friend of mine, what debating was. He didn’t seem to know enough English and my Deutsch sucks…so our boss was called in and he laughed and said a word I don’t remember and my German friend looked even more confused…”You take classes in word-fighting?!!!” Yes…we do. Some people even major in it…that’s called “Pre-Law.” That he understood.

The other thing that we Americans have the ability to do is to agree with a political party on one set of issues, while completely disagreeing with them on others. In my lifetime, we’ve had Kennedy Republicans, Reagan Democrats and (at least in ’92) Clinton Republicans. In my hometown of Chicago, many Democrats are much more conservative than say…Arnold Schwarzenneger.

Unless you’re working for a particular party or unless you have no other interests but politics, there are very few “true believers” in the population at large. Most folks are just too busy living their lives. The far right and the far left get a lot of press because…well, they’re the extremes and boring has never sold commercial minutes on news channels.

Now how does any of this relate to how I, a seemingly patriotic member of the U.S. armed forces, can somehow express my passion for what I think is a really good album that so trashes all I apparently believe in?

Ya see for me, to truly love this country we absolutely must look at its whole and not just its parts and some of that whole is just plain ugly. When it comes to “American Idiot” I understand the rage…I understand thinking this country I love is often insane, paranoid, psychotic, schizophrenic, psychopathic, and just plain weird. When that rage is expressed well with angst and poignancy and killer riffs and backbeats that tickle my chest cavity and clever lyrics, I celebrate that. I revel in it.

There’s nothing more American than an artist, musician, comedian…whatever, saying “Pssst, come here.” Turning over a rock…”Take a look at this shit. Look what I see under here.”

I don’t object to criticism of my government, I object to ignorant criticism of my government. I object to base and low criticism of my government. I object to criticism of my government based on someone else’s political agenda or worse yet, someone acting as a puppet for someone else’s political agenda. I object to criticism of my government by people who haven’t lifted a finger in their own defense in over half a century, letting us do their dirty work and then bitching about how we covered their ass.

Real life American rage expressed well…I’m all about that shit…whether I agree with it or not.

gOD bLESS gREENdAY

30. December 2004 · Comments Off · Categories: That's Entertainment!

GreenDay has been one of those bands where I almost buy their albums. You know…you pick it up, you see a song or two that you’ve heard, but you’re thinking, “I’ll wait for The Greatest Hits.” And ya know…I was hitting punk clubs before Blondie and The Ramones went huge…so I’ve always sort of shrugged them off as wanna-bes, good wanna-bes but, I was in the third row when Blondie played The Aragon Ballroom in ’79 or ’80 so please…Dookie this mmm’k?

I know they’re not going to read this…but guys, I’m sorry. I haven’t been this glued to an album in a long time. You’re killin’ me here. Thank you for this album.

I owe Michele over at ASV and our own Styker huge for simply insisting that this album was worth some time because it’s not getting any airplay here in Nebraska…go figure…two of the best tracks are over nine minutes long.

Okay…I’ll stop with the gushing and try to tell you why this album is worth your money.

Think the first time you heard The Clash…or the first time you heard “HEY HO, LET’S GO” threatening to tear your speakers apart. No…not shitting you…the hair on my neck keeps standing up. Three guys….waitaminute…THREE GUYS ARE DOING THIS? And then it really hits you, yeah, three guys are making that sound and they’re not doing a lot…if any…overdubbing. Don’t get me wrong…it’s not as raw as The Clash or The Ramones were at the beginning…it’s produced, but not produced so much that anything is being hidden.

What gets me the most…is just when you think you know where the music is going next, there’s a break…sometimes it’s a smooth curve through the transition and other times…they do a complete 90 degree and I’m thinking “How the fuck did they do that?”

And there’s nothing really brand new here…it’s almost all derivitive…but no one else is doing this right now…and certainly no one has done it this well in YEARS. A punk rock concept album? Who do they think they are, The Tubes? Ummm, no, all apologies to Fee Waybill and the gang…this is better than just about anything The Tubes ever did.

I think I’m going to spend quite some time listening to this in pieces…one listen for the vocals…one listen just for Billie Joe Armstrong’s guitar…another for Tre Cool’s drums and his drums make me grin WIDE…another for Mike Dirnt’s bass…and then multiple listens to just grin about how they all blended in and worked together…except when they didn’t and those moments are worth it just for the intentional discordance.

How the hell does Billie Joe Armstrong sing and play the guitar at the same time when they perform live? His voice is going one way and his guitar is going the other. I’m talking completely different directions. I know musicians compartmentalize but this is just wrong.

Warning: This is punk rock in the old tradition. There’s anger, there’s raw nerves, there’s irreverance and blasphemy. They’re not happy with the state of things, and they’re in your face to tell you about it. If you want a nice comfortable album to listen to and be lightly entertained…find something else. If you want to pogo and slam dance and bang your head and do the move with the querky jerk…pick up American Idiot.

I’m in Audio East 12th Street.

Gotta find a pair of black canvas Converse High Tops…all there is to it.

Caption Contest, 3, Winner(s)

30. December 2004 · Comments Off · Categories: General, General Nonsense

“Go VOLS!” by Rum Smuggler.

Honoroable mentions: Everyone who flipped off Putin.

Tsunami Relief

29. December 2004 · Comments Off · Categories: General

Michele has been extra-super busy over at The Command Post and has what must be the definitive list of agencies to help in the Tsunami Relief effort.

New Air Force PT System is Broke

28. December 2004 · Comments Off · Categories: Wild Blue Yonder

I wasn’t going to post this…I was going to save it and wait for it to break via the Air Force Times or some other medium and then giggle about how “I knew that.” The problem is…the story isn’t breaking. It’s the end of the year. Supposedly everyone has either passed their PT test or they’re in classes to get their scores where they need to be. That’s what should have happened. That’s the way the system works. You either passed, or you’re working on passing. That’s the deal. Having my leg give me fits and having to work on trying to run and then realizing that I can’t run and it not being my fault and watching all the folks I was in class with bust their asses to get their run times down or get their bike test where it needs to be was a great experience. I’m proud of my score. I earned it. I’m proud of the folks I was in class with. So for the folks who haven’t passed and who aren’t in class trying to pass, I have little to no sympathy. There was a gal in my PT Class who was in a freaking CAM Walker (removable walking cast). I really don’t want to hear any sob stories, ‘k?

The new Air Force PT Test consists of three parts:

Aerobics: which consists of either the 1.5 mile run or the new, harder, bike test. That’s worth up to 50 points right there. That’s the big kahuna. You don’t score in the upper 30s there…you aren’t passing.

Body Composition (Your Waist Size): Worth up to 30 points. If your waist is over 40″, you’re going to class to learn how to cut some of that goo off of you. No, Stryker, they don’t recommend liposuction.

Muscle Fitness:
Pushups. Worth up to 10 points.
Situps. Worth up to 10 points.

For a possible total of 100 points.

A score of 90 or above is considered “Excellent.” You-da-man. If you score here, you don’t have to be tested again for two years. You’re in shape…we get it.

Now, you need a score of 75 or greater to be considered “Good.” Good means that you test again in another year.

If you score 70 to 74.9, that’s considered “Marginal.” You should have to take a class that encourages a healthier lifestyle and will test again in 6 months.

Under 70 is poor. You not only have to spend some time in a classroom to encourage you to get thy shit together, you’re being handed over to “them.” You know who I’m talking about, they were the gym teachers when we were back in school. I’m sure they’re called something like “Physical Lifestyle Enhancement Facilitators” or something equally as smarmy, but I just call them (shudder) “Trainers.” My Trainers were young, in very good shape, and just plain mean. I owe them a huge debt of gratitude.

So where exactly is the system broke? You take the test, you get your score, you know right away whether or not you’re participating in “mandatory fun” at the gym for the next couple months or not. How could the system be broke?

As most of you know…in this day and age…no event in the military really takes place until you enter the results into a computer. And depending on the size of an Air Force Unit, the folks who are giving the test, may not be the folks who are putting the data into that computer. The folks doing data entry may have up to 10 different folks feeding them score sheets.

Take another look at the block up above and notice where I say that each area is “worth” up to “X” amount of points. Say a 43 year old guy runs the mile and a half in 12:10. That’s worth 40.5 points. It’s entered into the computer as 12:10…the computer does it’s thing…it computes 12:10 for a 43 year old male as being worth 40.5 points. How would a 43 year old guy score the full 50 points? He’d run the mile and a half in 10:24 or better.

You know what you score if you walk off the track or fail to complete the mile and a half? You score a zero. Or, I should say, it’s “worth” zero. However, that’s not what the computer is looking for…the computer isn’t looking for you to feed it the score…it’s looking for the time. And because the folks who built the database weren’t thinking everything through and because no one was double checking the results the computer was coming up with as they put in score sheet after score sheet…as far as the computer is concerned, 0:0 is just another time under 10:24 that’s worth 50 points.

How do I know this? Because when I went to have my real passing score of 75 put into the computer in my Orderly Room, they had to remove the score of 89 that was in there from back when I failed my PT Test in October.

So…if you’re Air Force and you KNOW you didn’t do as well on the PT Test as you should have and you’re still waiting for your unit to contact you, perhaps…just maybe…you might want to log onto the Air Force Portal and take a look at your score.

‘Cuz I KNOW my unit is working on fixing this thing but what I don’t know is what they’re going to do to the folks who have been sliding since they failed. See, our PT Managers told each and every person who failed to contact them or the Orderly Room if they hadn’t heard back from them in 10 Duty Days. I don’t know what your folks told you but I’m thinkin’, “Hey, they never contacted me after I failed.” isn’t going to fly…especially if you’re still a tub of goo who can’t wobble around the track in the right amount of time or ride the bike with a decent heart rate.

AFI 10-248 is the prescribing directive for the Air Force Fitness Program.

First Impressions, Half-Life 2

28. December 2004 · Comments Off · Categories: Technology, That's Entertainment!

Let me preface by saying this is the game I’ve been waiting for. Doom 3 was fun, but I was still waiting for this one.

I got The Collector’s Edition with Half-Life, Counter-Strike, and Half-Life 2. It loaded just fine once I realized this version came on a DVD vs a CD ROM. Loading was easy and quick…until it came time for the decrypting. Yes friends, we’ve gotten that far. Not only does the game have to load, but it has to talk to it’s home server and then has to decrypt. If you don’t have an internet connection or you don’t let their server talk to your computer, you ain’t playin’. Sorry. Thanks for buying the game anyway. And the decrypting takes forever…go make yourself a bowl of Easy Mac, let it cool, eat it slowly, you have time. I’m sorry, but in the year 2004 anything that takes longer than 10 minutes is just too freaking long.

I’m running a P4/1.8Gig, 512Meg on the board and 256Meg on the VideoCard. When the game first loads it gives you a bit of a start…the screen is all blurry…but down in the lower right-hand corner…perfectly sharp and legible is a little oval with the word loading in it. And the picture sharpens…and sharpens…and then sharpens even more. Oh….my….God.

Remember how startled you were the first time you saw “Myst” back in the mid-90s? It’s that big of a leap.

For me the game runs smoothly in the default settings that the game chose for my computer, except for immediately after the next section loads…then it’s a bit choppy and you may want to do a circle or two and jump up and down a time or two to get the stickiness out before going further. As you progress, watch out for baddies at your points of entry.

And who are the baddies? Besides our old friends the crabheads and their flying asshole symbiants, we have a new group of humanoids to fight…The Combine. Deciding when to fight them and when not to fight them is up to you. Sometimes it’s better to duck and run…but you need to figure that out yourself. And ALL of the baddies are smarter than they ought to be. The AI on this game is almost too good. I’m playing in Easy mode the first time and they’re still displaying too much cooperation and too much evasive capability. I’m not sure when I’ll be ready to crank it up a notch.

Some of our favorite Non-Player-Characters are back…my favorite being Barney. Although this time he’s not quite so inept and seems to have beefed up a bit.

There’s more than just a new set of office spaces to work our way through…this is an environment. We’re in their world: Outside, inside, day, night, city, beach, country.

One word of advice that won’t ruin the story…stay with your vehicle for as long as you possibly can. There’s usually a way to do that if you look hard enough.

Which brings me to the puzzles. As with all games of this genre, the key is to look around. Get all the angles. You’ve got a zoom feature…use it…the answer may not be right HERE it may be over THERE. Oh…and brush up on your Newtonian Physics…particularly the first three laws of motion. You may have to run…you may have to crouch…you may have to jump. If you find yourself saying, “You’ve GOT to be shi—kidding me.” you’ve probably figured it out. The folks who put this together have nothing if not a twisted sense of humor. The puzzles aren’t so hard as to completely discourage, but you ARE going to have to think.

This isn’t Doom. They’re not out to startle us at every turn. It’s more…disturbing than startling or horrifying. You may have to acknowledge your inner-psycho if you’re going to survive because sometimes the only answer is for you to get just as twisted as the folks who put this together. But being a horror film fan won’t hurt you either…there are some nods to some classics buried in here and when you catch them you can’t help but grin.

So far I’m having a blast. Beautiful Wife looked at one scene and said…”Oh wow that’s really pretty…hey, I bet if you put that thing there it would make that thing fall and you could get over there.” Of course she was right…and yes…I love it when she looks over my shoulder when I’m doing crosswords…why do you ask?

Worth the money? Yes. Worth waiting an extra year for? Well, yeah, but the shock of how good it looks would have been even greater before Doom 3 came out. Lucky for them the folks at ID like playing Doom in the dark.

Caption Contest, The Third

27. December 2004 · Comments Off · Categories: General

Again, Winner(s) on Thursday.

God Bless Us…

24. December 2004 · Comments Off · Categories: General

…everyone.

Comes with the name.

Been Thinkin’ About It…

24. December 2004 · Comments Off · Categories: General

…and in the next year year I’m building our next computer. I’ve been very happy with the two HPs that we’ve had, but it’s time I started acting like a grownup and build my own. Why? Well, because I CAN that’s why. That and I’m tired of looking at computer prices and then going to places like Tiger Direct and doing the math.

This is the case I’m leaning toward:

And there’s an optional clear side panel I’m toying with but that’s only if I go with little LED’s all over the place. Otherwise I may just let Boyo go sticker crazy on the side of it.

The only thing I don’t like about it? I think it needs another fan, but I really like where they put the USB/Firewire/Audio Ports on the front…and the port panel swivels up if you want to save your desk’s real estate and put it on the floor. Also…there are a LOT of little rubber and plastic mounts all over the place inside so just about EVERYTHING that has a moving part, doesn’t touch the metal of the case directly. Although, I’m not sure what I would do without the sound of a computer spinning up.

It’s gonna be a game box so the CPU will be AMD…I think…I do have a lot of music on this hard drive and they tell me Pentium handles music better. But then again after the new one is up we’ll network this one into it so…

I’m leaning toward two WD hard drives for the RAID.

Soundblaster.

GEForce for the video ‘cuz every Radeon I’ve ever owned or had to install for a friend has been a royal pain in the ass.

More details as I make more decisions or change my mind.

Of course I want your inputs otherwise I wouldn’t have posted here.

Caption Contest, 2, Winner(s)

23. December 2004 · Comments Off · Categories: General Nonsense

“Of course, I’m only approximating the size of Senator Clinton’s ankles…” by Confederate Yankee because it made me giggle like Scooby Doo and I really needed that this week.

Honorable mention to all the gang from IMAO who came over to play with “The Rumsfeld Strangler.” I didn’t know there were that many ways to spell, “Rarr.”

Have You Been Kringled?

23. December 2004 · Comments Off · Categories: General Nonsense

There’s an odd phenomenon sweeping through our housing area. At first it just started with a sign here, there, on neighbors’ glass doors and front windows…then it happened…it was our turn. We’d been Kringled. They got us.

How does one get Kringled? You get Kringled when you come home from your shopping or your working or your running around and find a gift bag at your door. You look in the back and there are two pieces of paper sitting atop a mound of tinsel which is hiding a variety of small treats, cookies, a coffee mug filled with chocolates, maybe a white chocolate pretzel or two.

One piece of paper has a colorful inkjet Christmas Scene with the words, “We’ve been Kringled!” on it. The second piece of paper has something like these instructions:

You’ve been Kringled!
Now it’s your turn to have some fun. Either make copies or print your own set of instructions and sign. Put your sign in the window so you don’t get Kringled twice. Get yourself two gift bags like the one you received and add goodies and treats and perhaps a small gift or two. Don’t forget their copy of the sign and this letter. The total cost per bag should not exceed $10.00. When no one is home or you’re sure they’re not looking, leave one bag at the door of a friend, and then one bag at the door of a complete stranger. Be sneaky. The point is to do something for someone else and not get caught. Merry Christmas!!!

And yes, being an old grumpy MSgt makes me shiver a bit at the thought of anonymous gift bags simply left at the front doors of base housing. But that may be part of the point too. My first gut reaction was to call EOD, and then it turned into, “Damn…gotta come up with another 20 bucks.” and then luckily, Beautiful Wife got her mischief smile on and she took care of it thus saving the spirit of the whole thing. There’s lots of reasons why I married the woman…she’s not just a good cook.

We got hit on Saturday. Beautiful Wife got her two on Sunday.

And now driving through housing you see little colorful signs on almost all of the doors with snowmen and angels and Santas and elves with the words, “We’ve Been Kringled!” on them. I’m starting my own two bags to carry in my trunk. There are a couple of houses on our street without signs…can’t have that.

Random Notes and Things Almost Forgotten, Iteration the First

22. December 2004 · Comments Off · Categories: General Nonsense

Interview with Shirt today about becoming a shirt. Suck in that gut and…okay…another coat of polish on the boots but that’s it…let’s not be anal about this.

UPDATE: No First Shirt slot until medical stuff straightened out and gut gets a more permanent redux. One of the things I hate about getting back in shape…I slim from out in, the gut is always the last to shrink and/or define.

I wonder if guys should use Preparation H for under their eyes in situations like these because I didn’t sleep much last night. No, no, that would just be wrong on so many levels.

I should erase that…nah…give someone a snicker this morning.

I’m gift-wrapping challenged. As in, everytime I touch wrapping paper and tape, something ugly and unattractive appears. No, seriously, I failed cut and paste in kindergarten ‘k? Don’t even think of asking me to wrap presents. Beautiful Wife handles that. So…how does Beautiful Wife get her presents wrapped for her? God BLESS the folks who make those lovely bags made of heavy wrapping paper. Present goes in bottom, a little crepe paper bunched on top and you have a semi-sort-of wrapped present that looks just fine under the tree.

Passed my PT test last week with a 75 which is considered “good.” And good is good. Because of funky leg thing had to use the bike for the aerobics portion and failed it miserably the first time because my heart rate never broke 133 which is my targe heart rate. I’ve never been so proud of a failure in my life. Did fine when one of the certified trainers was able to crank up the tension on it. Heart rate never broke 128 on that one…hehehe. And yeah, I could have squeezed out a couple more crunches for a higher score there, but let’s save lots of room for improvement next year shall we? We’re not getting younger.

“Body Sculpting” would be less painful if she just chiseled the fat from me instead of making a 10 pound dumbbell feel like it weighs a ton. I’m not complaining…my guns are coming back…not the 18 inchers they were 10 years ago but still…gonna need some tank tops this summer.

Is it just me or does everyone feel a little bit better about everyone they see at the gym?

I refuse to call a gym a Health and Wellness Center just as I refuse to call a Chow Hall an Aerospace Dining Facility. Aren’t the people who started that nonsense retired yet?

Remember the good ol’ days when only Lieutenants reminded you of overly energetic puppies?

Ever have one of those FNG Majors who just came out of AETC and really thinks that we should be trying to actually get some WORK done the week before Christmas? Good news is, the Navy Commander just looks at him funny. Bad news is, the Commander makes me deal with him. “Deal with the Major, Aye sir…can I just stuff him—Carrying on sir, no details as to how I deal with him, Aye.”

How the hell am I ever going to go back to a regular Air Force unit with all this Joint Jargon in my head? Aye this, huah that, semper gumby??? How the hell do you explain semper gumby? That’s a post in itself.

Note to self, you’re rambling, end it.

Rudolph’s Inner Child

21. December 2004 · Comments Off · Categories: General Nonsense

Caption Contest, The Second

21. December 2004 · Comments Off · Categories: General Nonsense

Winners Thursday Night…let’s leave Christmas Eve out of the nonsense shall we?

Thanks

20. December 2004 · Comments Off · Categories: General

Thanks to all who posted and sent private wishes.

I guess I really am addicted to this thing. I didn’t think it might be weird until this morning that I blogged about Senior’s passing away. If that made you uncomfortable…I am sorry.

A bit of an update: We’re more convinced than ever about the broken heart…the coroner believes that he passed on Thursday, which would have been his and Beautiful Mother-In-Law’s 30th Anniversary.

I won’t be blogging much in the next week or so. I might do a caption contest tomorrow but it depends on whether or not I can shake this funk. Gotta get rid of it by Saturday…because of my Dad’s grumpiness around the holidays, I refuse to be a humbug at Christmas.

But damn I’m gonna miss that man.

A Moment of Silence Please

18. December 2004 · Comments Off · Categories: Air Navy

Beautiful Wife’s Stepfather, a retired Senior Chief in the United States Navy, passed away earlier today from an apparent heart attack. He just lost his wife earlier this year to multiple strokes. He had to intern her ashes in the past week. We’re thinking his heart just broke.

Senior, thanks for being another Dad to me, a real Grampa to Boyo, and loving Gorgeous Daughter and her husband when the rest of the family didn’t know how.

Got Some Motrin?

18. December 2004 · Comments Off · Categories: Technology, Wild Blue Yonder

Any of yous guys ever had something called, “Exercise Induced Compressed Compartment Syndrome?” I’m looking for folks who have had it and had the surgery to correct it. I’m going to have to make a decision next month on whether or not to let the Air Force cut my leg open. The other option is a semi-permanent waiver from running, which, with my knees, sounds very attractive. I save a surgery and my knees.

To the makers of those wonderful gel paks that you put in the freezer and then put on painful spots on your body…you have my undying gratitude.

Caption Contest, 1, Winner(s)

18. December 2004 · Comments Off · Categories: General

Winner: Cpl Blondie with: “This is what happens when the chowhall switched to decaf on monday morning.”

Honorable Mention to Kevin for: “Timmer every morning but Sunday.” Because it’s quite possible he knows more about me than he’s letting on and one can’t be too careful.

Every Now and Then We Must Sacrifice a Sacred Cow

17. December 2004 · Comments Off · Categories: General

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