This weekend is homecoming for Angelo State University, the local school in the city where I'm stationed. Of course, I'm not out there with the college students, not at the game, not at the bars. The Sergeant Major of our Battalion had a pair of tickets to the game that he wanted to give away earlier this week, but it sounded like there would be a PT competition for them... so no one in our company fell out of formation to go see him. Especially not me. What business would I have in a...

I guess it just hits me this time of year, or maybe it's because the boys are around. They remind me of their mother and how I don't have someone any more. I guess there's probably more to it than that, but I can't fight through the haze I always seem to be in lately. I'm a high stress guy anyway, and it seems like I'm piling it on myself lately. Color Guard NCOIC, both for the Joint Service and for my Battalion. At least I'm not in charge for the Army Ball, although I volunteered to g...

Since I moved here, I had been using a particular oil change place. In early December, when I noticed my Oil light would come on around turns (I assumed this would mean that my oil was low), I went in to get my oil changed. I figured that I either had some oil burning in the engine or that I had a leak. I asked the attendant to check to see if there were any obvious leaks. Getting no report back from them when they turned my keys over, I hoped that it was just a minor issue. I took t...

pseudosoldier : Write more. Add lots of blogs about your kiddos and about stupid and/or interesting things that happen at work. Maybe toss in some relationship musings. My sons are awesome. Since Christmas, they have been playing through Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (pseudo jr sometimes refers to it by its full title) almost NON-STOP, at Gram and Grandpa's house, at their Momma's house and at Daddy's place. On the way back from Virginia (we drove from and to Texas), th...

Please note that this article is not specifically about this site, although that is where I'm most familiar with the term "free ice cream" from. But it could easily be changed to be so... I've placed this under Personal Relationships instead of Blogging, though. I subscribe to a free "online" "magazine" about a hobby of mine: collectible miniature games (CMGs). Specifically, the magazine is "Critical Hit: The Only Magazine Dedicated to HeroClix." The guys who produce it are doing it ...

This year is the first year I'm going to send out Christmas cards... if I actually go get any to send out, that is. Apparently, WalMart doesn't carry anything but single cards, and that's a pain buying a bunch of those. I mean, I don't have to get a lot; I'm only sending to female friends and married male friends whose wives are also my friends. This is further limited by the fact that I have to have their address already... I need less than a dozen (since I'm excluding my family; they're...

I got to talk to my mother this past Sunday night... she wanted to talk to her boys, anyway, and the older one is always up for talking to his Gram. The younger one almost always screams, "No!" but then relents later, crying, when you act like you believed him. She quit smoking about three months ago. It's not the first time, but it's the longest that she has gone without. She also started Weight Watchers two weeks ago, and has already lost 5lb. I am so proud of her. I've always ...

"There is a factor in the matter of inner peace which must be stated because of its importance. Frequently I find that people who are lacking in inner peace are victims of a self-punishment mechanism. At some time in their experience they have committed a sin and the sense of giult haunts them. They have sincerely sought Divine forgiveness, and the good Lord will always forgive anyone who asks Him and who means it. However, there is a curious quirk within the human mind whereby sometimes an i...

Fall of '96. The week before classes began. "New Cadet Week" at the VA Tech Corps of Cadets. The cadre arrived the week prior to that to get trained up. Each cadet company (there were nine at the time, four in each battalion plus the band) had a CO, an (both Seniors), a 1SG, two Platoon Sergeants (C/SSGs, all three were Juniors), and two Cadre Corporals (Sophomores). There were somewhere between a dozen and twenty new cadets per company... it has been awhile, and I'm uncertain now. ...

In the White Wolf roleplaying game, Vampire: the Masquerade , creation of a character included assigning both an outward personality and an inward one. These were generally classified by the same categories, just that the outward one was what the character would show other people, and the inward would define her actual motivations. Mine wound up being Outward : Mother/Caretaker, Inward : Child I think it actually defines me pretty well; due to the need to be taken care of, I attem...

I've finally gotten around to it, and the shipping is killer (they want the stuff there by the 20th!), but I bought some things for Child's Play. For the Children's Medical Center Dallas: Clifford Visits The Hospital (from akula jr) Curious George Visits The Hospital (from pseudo jr) Los Tres Cerditos (The Three Little Pigs, en espanol) (ostensibly from akulanka) The Muppet Christmas Carol (from the lot of us) I managed to get it so it should get there by the 20th, and so shippi...

www.m-w.com Link Main Entry: Jer·e·mi·ah Pronunciation: -'mI-& Function: noun Etymology: Late Latin Jeremias, from Greek Hieremias, from Hebrew YirmeyAh 1 : a major Hebrew prophet of the 6th and 7th centuries B.C. 2 : one who is pessimistic about the present and foresees a calamitous future 3 : a prophetic book of canonical Jewish and Christian Scripture -- see BIBLE table I used to joke: even my blood type is B Negative.

Normally, I don't see New Year's Eve as a means for reflecting. Maybe it's that I reflect too often upon the past at other times... minor regrets from years past. It was just that NYE never seemed like the end of anything. All too often, it was the middle of a school year. It has also been the middle of a mission. Holidays can, of course, be harder if you face them without others. That is my current state, both situationally out of my control and through my own choices and influenc...

From the man who brought you: ( Link ) "pseudosoldier says: Listen, I was surprised that you decided to do Reserve time. pseudosoldier says: I was a little disappointed, as you seemed to be setting yourself up for future screw-jobs. pseudosoldier says: The Army could've called you up when numerical unit went over. pseudosoldier says: The Army could call you up when numerical unit #2 goes back. pseudosoldier says: I'm unclear of what you might've been thinking... how the positives ...

I have difficulties with the titular question. I find myself torn between "polite" and "honest." Regardless of language, I seem to choose "honest" and wind up putting my foot in it. (You may decide for yourself what "it" is in this context: my mouth, someone's posterior, or the dog crap on the ground.) Case 1: Yesterday, a friendly Arab co-worker strolls in. "Good morning," I say, in Arabic. (Please note that I am not stating the fact that it is a good morning, I am wishing for him t...