Yesterday, I started my new class of students. It's a different group of knuckleheads, but it's the same sort of knuckelheadedness I'm coming to expect. No, that's not a bad thing, it's just that young soldiers tend to be knuckleheads. After class, I pulled duty... all... night... long. I was very glad that nothing major came up, and was almost equally glad that minor things did keep coming up. I could make forward progress or even actually solve problems (!) without being too overwh...

If I had been smarter, or shrewder, I would have been able to swing a title like "Live, from greywar's!" and even snuck that in before his blog self-destructed... but I decided to wait for crappy Sprint Military DSL in the barracks. feh.

Professor Ward Churchill, who drew some parallels between 9/11 victims and Nazis, was fired Tuesday by the University of Colorado's Board of Regents. Unfortunately, they cited "deliberate and repeated research misconduct" instead of "Godwin's Law." Okay, beyond that one net-centric joke, I've got nothing. "Churchill, who had tenure, stepped down from his post as head of CU's ethnic studies department amid the flap but remained on staff. He had no immediate reaction to Tuesday's decisio...

1. I got up late. 2. I was jolted awake by some sort of computer-related stress nightmare. 3. I forgot akulaboy's swimgear. 4. pseudo jr's tummy was upset. 5. I forgot to get chocolate chips at the grocery store. 6. pseudo jr got sick. 7. Clothing sales opened late, so I didn't get my uniform parts this morning. 8. My car wouldn't start. In fact, I couldn't get it jumped, either. 9. I spent the rest of the morning at the mechanic's before I got a cab home. (re)BUT(tal) - ...

One of the most beautiful things I have seen: I'm driving east on Loop 306 and it's almost 8pm. There's a storm ahead of me, and a gorgeous sunset behind me... the land is bathed in a unique orange and violet glow. There, in the south (off to my right), a rainbow, clear and crisp. I almost don't notice it, but to my left (north), there's another rainbow... no, it's the same rainbow. It's the first full arc rainbow I've ever seen. Usually too many hills or mountains, or the light's ...

Inspired by chiprj's Calvinopoly article Link , I thought I'd share something that I had run across on the internet awhile back. A homemade card game, 1000 Blank White Cards is one of those games (like chip's Calvinopoly) that should be played for fun, not truly competitively. While I haven't had a chance to play this yet, I'm dying to. I need to find some geeks in the local area (or head back 3 hours to my old geeks for a night of gaming).

No, he's not dead, but I am hanging out at his pad while he's out of town. I'll be doing some looking around while I'm here, apartments and other rental properties, churches, whatever... The whole drive here, it was the same as it was the last time I made the trip, five years ago. Crazy. Creepy. Nostalgic and sad. And I'm still very allergic to cats. (I hoped that, since the 5lb chihuahua was very catlike, and Cyrano is only a small cat... but, no.)

My cheap wine of choice. Started when I was on Temporary Duty in Germany. We (greywar and I) decided that we were gaining too much... calories... from the beer (even if it was the blonde!), so he switched to whiskey and I switched to wine. (That sounds like a cadence... hrm.) I'm drinking a particularly cheap vintage of this style right now, accompanied by a "Brother's Special" pie from Brother's Pizza in Long Branch. I feel bad that I haven't called ex-SPC Raver, but I keep coming up ...

There are many things a soldier is, or perhaps, should be. There are laundry lists of adjectives that the United States Army attributes them. Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, Personal Courage. Tactically proficient, Technically proficient. There exist lists of traits a soldier should possess. Responsiblity. Courage, Candor, Competence, Commitment. Proficiency, Discipline, Cohesion, Morale. Yeah. So, I'm pseudo-that. The name, thankfully, doesn't simply...

Line 1. Location of the pick-up site. Grid coordinate preferred, landmarks if necessary. Information encrypted if transmitting in the clear. Line 2. Radio frequency, call sign, and suffix. Information encrypted if transmitting in the clear. Line 3. Number of patients by precedence: A - Urgent (w/in 2 hr) B - Urgent Surgical (w/in 2 hr) C - Priority (w/in 4 hr) D - Routine (w/in 24 hr) E - Convenience Line 4. Special equipment required: A - None B - Hoist C - Extra...

Severe sunburn on back of neck (multiple days of sun exposure) Aches through upper body (multiple days of wearing flak vest and helmet, ruck march with 55lb ruck) Severe sunburn on back of hands and fingers (multiple days of sun exposure) 3 inch bruise, left thigh (actually got that one in the preparatory training on Monday, but it hasn't faded) Very minor cactus stab wounds inside ankles Blister, right heel (cropped up before the ruck march, actually) Minor heat rash in various places ...

I'm feeling much better, thanks. Some gym time this morning, not much food during the day, then too much KFC for dinner. Took a big nap, now I'm up doing laundry. Run tomorrow morning.

I just got $20 from Pepsi. I entered their sweepstakes exactly once. Go, me.

Well, I've been keeping up pretty well with my personal accountability logs for the past week and a half. Yeah, that's not very long at all, but I'm hoping it's just a good start to what will be a fairly long personal campaign. I was 232 lb last Monday after I got home from PT. This is pretty much the top of what I've been, maybe not ever, but certainly since I've arrived here last year. I've said that I would do something about it, and now was the time to step up. Actually, now was ...