raindrops on roses

Lately I've questioned the cable programming of ABC Family. Well, not really but I've seen Top Gun on the channel. Then recently I saw a movie about a nun-in-training that falls in love with a retired naval captain with 7 kids that end up having to flee their home from the Nazi. OK, it's the Sound of Music. Not to say that the musical portion of the movie isn't kid-worthy but you know 70-80 years ago the Nazis were a real threat and now they've been reduced to the ABC Family channel? Hmm, can't say that it's impressive.
I guess I remember the kid version of the movie, where the Nazi fleeing wasn't part of it. I remember all of the singing, but they didn't have to flee the Nazis. In fact, I don't remember the Nazis. The first time I saw the Sound of Music as an adult was back in 2001. I was quite surprised to find out that there were Nazis in the movie. When the heck did this happen? It's not like I knew who or what the Nazis were when I was a kid, so maybe it's just that I didn't care about it. Would I really miss out? It's possible that I fell asleep, that'd explain not knowing about the Nazis.
What I'm trying to say is that knowing now who and what the Nazis are, I really don't find it appropriate to have the Nazis on the ABC Family channel. Although as kids, I guess what you don't know can't hurt you. Or in this case, freak you out a little.
Plus, growing up and knowing about the world, I seriously doubt that this would be a plausible story to replicate. I mean, what family musical group would win a festival with a song about a doe being a female deer, or tea with jam and bread? Well, I could see it as a reality show, but then Liesl would drop the rest of her family and get her own solo career. She'd have one real hit, then go to rehab for a coke habit, and end up on Vh1's Celebrity Fit Club.



Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things
Cream colored ponies and crisp apple streudels
Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings
These are a few of my favorite things

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes
Silver white winters that melt into springs
These are a few of my favorite things

When the dog bites
When the bee stings
When I'm feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don't feel so bad

wait, it gets worse

I've spent the better part of 27 years trying to eat and read the newspaper comics at the same time. Can't do it. I either spend all my time reading or eating, or spilling my food on the comics thereby ruining them and the rest of my day. Yeah, I can answer questions and listen to someone else at the same time. I'm even able to eat and type, but work a newspaper and eat? Can't do it. But wait, it gets worse...

This girl, from my college/early-Army days, with whom I had a crush on. Told her so, got rejected, took some time to get over that, and then almost started dating but didn't because of a deployment (stupid Saddam Hussein and Operation Iraqi Freedom). Anyway, we're still on good terms. She called Friday and told me that she had just gotten engaged to her long-time boyfriend. I never met the guy but from what she's told me, I really don't like him. No, it's not a jealousy thing, but he sounds like such a loser. Yeah, she's got her quirks but she's smart and beautiful, good sense of humor. Her parents and I actually get along (something that's never happened before) but in the end, if it makes her happy then who am I to judge? And then?

My cat, by "my" I mean the family's because well let's face it I never really took care of him, died this week. He was 17 years, 9 months old. He lived a pretty full life if you asked me. Lived in two different countries, two different states, and let's face it almost old enough to vote in the upcoming elections. You know, there are people at my unit that aren't even that old. The cat that was almost old enough to buy a porno movie and a pack of smokes, you can't ask for much more than that. I laughed at him all the time because we'd have to buy the "senior-citizen" cat food which was labeled 7+ years. It's not like any of those things are life changing though right? They're not really going to affect my future that much right? Wait for it...

So, in this week, no wait, this crappy year so far what can be worse? Besides realizing my failing with a newspaper and food? Besides my cat dying? My dad is lying in the ICU ward of a hospital right now. He's got some auto-immune virus that attacks the nervous system that I've never heard of or can even pronounce. Basically he's lost almost all ability to move his arms and legs. He's on a treatment program to halt and reverse the damage, but even then it is possible for this disease to affect his major organs which could be very, very, very bad for him. Even with the treatment he's still got lots of physical therapy in order to restore regular function.

Yeah, and the last two items I had to learn from my aunt (dad's sister) on Friday. A full 1.5 days after he admitted himself into the emergency room. He drove himself there. So whatever else 2008 has in store for me, I'm pretty sure I'm not going to like it. If you think it can't get worse, the universe usually finds a way to prove you wrong.

words to live by

Procrastinator's Creed

1. I believe that if anything is worth doing, it would have been done already

2. I shall never move quickly, except to avoid more work or find excuses.

3. I will never rush into a job without a lifetime of consideration.

4. I shall meet all of my deadlines directly in proportion to the amount of bodily injury I could expect to receive from missing them.

5. I firmly believe that tomorrow holds the possibility for ne technologies, astounding discoveries, and a reprieve from my obligations.

6. I truly believe that all deadlines are unreasonable regardless of the amount of time given.

7. I shall never forget that the probability of a miracle, though infinitesmally small, is not exactly zero.

8. If at first I don't succeed, there is always next year.

9. I shall always decide not to decide, unless of course I decide to change my mind.

10. I shall always begin, start, inititate, take the first step, and/or write the first word, when I get around to it.

11. I obey the law inverse excuses which demands that the greater the task be done, the more insignificant the work that must be done prior to beginning the greater task.

12. I know that the work cycle is not plan/start/finish, but is wait/plan/plan.

13. I will never put off until tomorrow, what I can forget about forever.

14. I will become a member of the ancient Order of Two-Headed Turtles (the Procrastinator's Society) if they ever get it organized.

lips of an angel

I have to apologize for the graphic in my last post. So here it is, "Sorry." Amazingly I had it already stored in my computer but had yet to find a good place to use it. Either in an email to a co-worker or otherwise, it seemed like as good as time as any.
I just have a hard time believing that 190 million Americans are depressed. That's a pandemic if you ask me. Oops, read that wrong, there were 190 million prescriptions filled last year. OK, that's more reasonable. Pfft.
So why are so many prescriptions being filled for antidepressants? People are just lazy, thinking that a pill can solve their problems. Yes, in some cases it can but for years people were doing just fine without antidepressant pills. What's changed? People are working more, eating crappy food and not getting the exercise the body needs. I hate to admit it but I felt better emotionally after our morning PT sessions when I was active duty.
Yes, I exhibit signs of depression and post traumatic stress disorder but it does not affect my life. I still go out with friends, visit family, and all of things that make me normal, but that is completely separate from my private life. I don't take a pill, don't believe in it, and certainly don't need it. I use humor to mask my depression. (No, this is venting, not depression)


Pills aren't bad, but they're not a cureall. Sometimes you just need to go out and exercise. Clear your mind, forget your cell phone and PDAs. Walk, run, lift weights, or window shop but just get out and do something. Your life isn't that bad, somewhere in the world someone has a worse hand of cards dealt to them. Be grateful for what you have not what you don't.


Stupid Christmas spirit, it's infected me too.

up where we belong

Am I missing something here? Look, I know I'm not very smart but this confused me. Antidepressants increase suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Maybe there's no link from depression and suicide, I kind of always thought there was but I guess I'm the retard here huh? Not exactly antidepressants if make someone think about killing themselves.

"But mental health experts are worried that additional warnings about the risk of suicides linked to antidepressants could curtail their use and ultimately do more harm than good."

Uh, yeah. If all of your patients kill themselves there's no return business right? On the other hand their family members are more likely to seek your help or the help of your colleagues. So it's a win-win situation.

In summary, if you are depressed and what to take your own life, antidepressants will help you. Kill yourself that is.

the logical song

Finally, CNN is reporting on some news I like. First off, on the side there's the article about racism and how the fact that only one in eight Americans consider themselves racist. OK, I'll believe that statement, but I think that everyone is racist. To what extent and how much you're willing to admit to is another segment. Me, I'm the one in eight that considers themselves racist. Not to the extent of wearing a white sheet and burning crucifixes in yards but a racist nonetheless. If a car pulls up next to you bumping loud hip-hop music, I think black guy. When I look over *gasp* it is a black guy! The asian guy in the office, probably good at math. Huh, that's me. Yup. Good with electronics too, currently I have a camera charger disassembled on my desk, earlier I fixed a mouse and someone's laptop. Racism plays a huge factor in our lives whether we like to believe it or not.

On to lighter news. A kid protects his puppy by kicking a hawk away. It helps to have friends now doesn't it? That hawk will think twice when it attacks another puppy. Stupid puppy-killing hawk, I hope it's an endangered species.

Ah, the Christmas spirit. Can't get enough of it around this time of year. Especially with menu items such as reindeer hotdogs. "I'll take 9 please." I bet some kids are freaking out, wondering if some fat guy is biting into Rudolph or not.

She goes for the free food, not because she has a problem. So that's why she's been branded a wild girl and has notes written about her about her attitude on the sets of movies. OK. I believe it, just like racism doesn't exist.

Proof that sometimes, no matter how smart you think you are, Mother Nature still figures out a way to weed out the retards in the gene pool. Smaller experiences has taught me things that apply to the big things.

And me-OW.

On a good note, the second of two teens was convicted yesterday down in Texas. Here's an earlier article about the whole thing. It's hard to read because of an ad but it says that the Justice Department opened an investigation to see if the victim's civil rights were violated. Umm, let's see here, I know it's not written in the Constitution or anything but getting sodomized by a PVC pipe is pretty much a VIOLATION in any human standard. There's still humor in any story, especially when written by morons. "Officials say the attackers also used ethnic slurs." OH! Well that just makes it wrong, because the PVC, cigarette burns and bleach wasn't enough. Ethnic slurs just push this thing over the edge. It's a hate crime. Pfft, crimes like this is rooted in hate. You don't do those things to people you like.

headstrong

These last few weeks I've been waking up at 3am on the dot. This morning was particularly tough because I couldn't get back to sleep. I'd close my eyes and open them again and only a minute had passed. That shouldn't surprise me, but it felt like I fell asleep and that's what surprised me. I expect as much because it is December and all, been having trouble this time of year since 2003. Sparing the pictures and details, I didn't like December 2003 very much. It surfaces as insomnia and being my usual non-productive self have yet to convert all this extra time into something useful. I think if it happens again tonight I'll get some cleaning done. That always works to tire me out.
It's raining today. The Rain-Ex on my windows isn't working so well, I've neglected it for the last couple of weeks (it being freezing cold and all) and it showed this morning. Hopefully I'll have some time tomorrow to rectify that problem. Stacy is in desperate need of a good washing, although in small parts been cleaned.
Last night Bill and I wanted to go go-karting, but arrived at the place to find out that it was closed for a private party. So instead, we ended up having dinner with his girlfriend at Cheesecake Factory. *drool* It's not often that I meet my match, but the factory seems to have done just that. I barely walked out of there, I felt like the fat guy from Monty Python's "The Meaning of Life" and on the verge of exploding. And without sounding too feminine, I have to say this about the Godiva Chocolate Cheesecake. I'm pretty sure I'm diabetic now but it was worth it.

Pardon me, would you have any Grey Poupon?

TV Land is doing great things. One of those things is making this list of the Top 100 catchphrases. "D'oh!" Almost all of them I recognize, not stuff from like The O.C. or any of those stupid shows.

Ah, Harry Potter's getting his freak on. Not being caught up in the Harry Potter phenomenon I thought that Cho Chang was a reference to a Sports Night episode. Jeremy was advocating a change in the top story to a Chinese swimmer named Cho Chang that was swimming something and blah blah blah. OK, so I can't remember exactly what was said but it was interesting and I used that knowledge in a crossword puzzle once.


On a personal note, go-karting rocked. I wish I had more time to get used to driving one. I have a tendency to drive a certain way. On the first lap I couldn't quite reach the pedals and had a difficult time steering. Add in the fact that I was used to driving my car, I did not do very well. In fact I did poorly. The second time though I adjusted the pedals and could reach the steering wheel better, so I did a lot better. However, there were lots of caution flags and my time suffered from those as well. The downside was that when I got in my car, I was still in the go-karting mindframe and thought that my car would handle like one which is a bad thing in a town filled with roundabouts. I didn't wreck or anything but when you take a roundabout at 35mph when the suggested speed is 15 you get some interesting results. I laughed it off and focused on staying alive.

no, not really

I don't feel older. Of course I don't know how a 26 year-old feels since this is my first day. Is it that much different than being 25? I can't tell. Well, my fingertips are a little tingly but that's just because I was flapping my arms. I don't think that has any bearing on my age, but I do get weird looks from people from time to time.
This past weekend I spent a majority of it with family. Cousins mostly. As I watched my little cousins playing I got to wondering; if we were like them when we were their age, were the relatives that were our age then like us now? Granted my family is a lot weirder now, but I'm suggesting the same principle. Remember when you were 5 or 6, you had a relative that was in the mid-twenties. That was old right? Now it doesn't seem that old. Things have changed (from our perspective) but overall it stays the same, if that makes sense. I mean, I'll probably still call my cousin Joey, Josephine.
I haven't figured out what I am going to do today after work, but it may involve some indoor go-carting. I did purchase a master cylinder (brake system) and a heater core for my car. That's next weekend's project.

blame canada

Why is it so difficult to date someone? I blame Hollywood for it all. In the movies we see the protagonist find the girl of his dreams, once the conflict is resolved the movie ends. We assume they live happily ever after. What we don't see is that in two year's time they've drifted apart and want different things. Usually the girl wants to have kids while the guy doesn't think that's such a great idea (for whatever reason, all legitimate). That's not in the movies because that doesn't sell, we all want that fairytale relationship. You meet at some innocuous locale (the coffee shop we frequent), there's some minor obstacles we have to overcome together and then the rest of the relationship is smooth sailings. It takes a lot of work, more work than I'm willing to put into it for just some random girl. Sure it's fun for about the first two weeks but that's it. I don't want to exchange keys, I don't want to have to buy a second supply of toiletries to stock at her place, and I certainly don't want to have to split my time between our places and friends. She doesn't have to meet my family, we don't make joint plans for the holidays and we don't settle down. Bad plan? Probably.
I'm not that bad OK? I'd get in my car and drive cross-country to surprise her, or jump on a plane and fly across an ocean but only if they're worth it. You know if they're worth it too from the get go. Most aren't. For friends and family I've driven (or rode in the Casey, Illinois incident) a day to see, I've gone broke for them but it's because they're worth it. Some members of my family I won't do that for (sad but true) but others I would go to the ends of earth for. I've certainly thought that some girls were worth it but found out that the feeling was not mutual. Plus it's sort of stalker-ish to fly to another place and surprise them. Sure it's in those romance movies, but it's also in the horror movies. Apparently there's a thin line between the two.

Of course I have been speaking hypothetically...

not just to keep rain off my neck

There's a couple of things on my mind. Yes. More than just an obstacle for the guy behind me at the movies. First off, DAMN YOU YANKOVIC! I was fine until I started to play Minesweeper on my laptop. I surely am not White & Nerdy. Whew. With that off of my chest I feel a little better.
Secondly, there's an issue that is reminscent of high school. I recently got an RSVP from a friend to attend his wedding reception in Ohio. Now, do I RSVP for +1 or not? Usually I do, but this dry spell has got me worried. I've got two months (which lots can happen, or it could be like the last two months and nothing happens), but how does this work? If I +1 and the day comes and I'm still single, do I find a replacement? Or do I just go it solo? Yeah, not much of a dilemma I know but it's just like prom back in high school. Except the pool of people I'm working from is much lower now than it was back then. Yesh.
Third (completely seperate from item 2) is this concept that hit me. I sometimes hang out with two friends from college (they're married) but often times I feel like the third wheel, we go to the movies and have plans to go see Happy Feet sometime in the future. The issue is this: they're starting to invite other singles (friends/family) in their life that are females. Am I wrong to be thinking set up? One of the possibilities is another one of our friends from college, whom I do like, she's cool in the slightly crazy way. The other is his sister, I've never met her. Call me crazy, but is someone controlling my life? Is this the Truman Show?

another good idea, bad idea

I'm a big fan of the movies. Big fan of TV shows too. That much is obvious. In a pinch, the good guy manages to pick the lock of his jail cell and saves the day. All he's got is a couple of toothpicks and maybe a paperclip. I always wanted that skill, something to put on the resume. Well, I tried it and it didn't work. The paperclip was too weak to attack the tumblers. Toothpick? Also not up to the challenge. Not to be detered, I spent $40 on a cheap lock picking set to test my skills.
After reading up extensively on the subject I decided to try it out when my lock picking set arrived today. Unfortunately I couldn't spring the cash for the practice lock too, so I used the next best thing my own lock to my apartment.
It took my a couple of tries but I managed to pick my lock! YEAH!!!!! First day! Takes practice, yeah right! This was a great idea right?
Wrong. I accidentally got too excited working the deadbolt lock and didn't reset it like you would a normal key. Result, damaged the whole mechanism. No more bolt lock on my door. It's there and it works from the inside but the key doesn't work in it anymore. Luckily, I still have the puny lock that goes with the door handle thingie (Yeah, that's the technical term).
So, let's review. Honing a cool skill like lock picking? Good idea. Breaking your own lock. Bad idea. Lesson over.

i love the rain

The rain. I love to watch people scurry around, thinking that if they run maybe they'll get less wet. Or people that hunch over to protect themselves as if it was acid rain instead. Then there's the people that act like it's the end of the world! *gasp* Even though according to Revelations, the Earth will be cleansed in fire and not water. So as long as it's falling from the sky, the world's not ending.
I think I'll blame this on the Army. "If it ain't raining, we ain't training." I got used to the rain over the span of my military career. I swear, ever time (EVER TIME) we went out to the 'field' to train it'd rain. It didn't matter if it was summer or winter, at some point whether it was driving out there, driving back, setting up or tearing down, it ALWAYS RAINED. We'd get all muddy, then there was always the fighting. We used to think that they scheduled training around the weather. "Oh, it's not raining this weekend? Let them go out. But it's going to rain at 3am on Monday? Sounds like a good time to roll out to the field." So it was that.
In Iraq I had a lot worse fall around me than rain. Look people, it's just water falling from the sky.
Plus, in the last six rain days I've only used my windshield wipers twice. Got to love that Rainex. Last night Stacy got washed, another coat of Rainex, her wheels polished and a wax with the buffer. Yes, I spoil her. *sigh* I need a girlfriend.

oh my!

Continuing with my adventures in finding headlights for Stacy, I return a second set of headlights to WalMart. In my infinite wisdom I continue to believe that it is operator error, that maybe I'm retarded. So instead of getting angry at computer that told me Honda CRX - 9006 I decide to go to Autozone, that way I'm able to talk with a knowledgeable person in the field. Also, I'm able to take the merchandise out of the store to test without having to purchase it.
At Autozone I also bring in the old headlight to use as a comparsion, another genius idea! I explained my dilemma to the sales rep, which he was very understanding of. Typing in his nifty-difty computer he looks up what I need. 9006. OK, let's check the rack. Look, 9006. Compare to what I have in my hand. Nope. The plugs don't match. Huh. OK, let's check some of the others. Nope, nope, nope, nope. Yes! A match! 9005. Are you f***ing kidding me? Damn, so the computer was wrong! You'd think that someone would've caught this small error BEFORE now! Actually, no, I understand why. I have no idea who I'd call to rectify this problem.
I must remember not to go to Autozone when I'm sleep deprived, I started buying things that I didn't really need right now at this moment. For example, I bought wheel shine stuff, even though I won't be washing Stacy for a bit. Also purchased, windshield repair kit. Unfortunately it needs continuous heat which can't be provided in the cold.
The first snowfall here was kind of disappointing. Well, I consider it snowfall because white powder-like substance fell from the sky and landed on objects, then quickly melted away. It didn't even last an hour and it was gone.

the incident of the big fuzzy spider

My original plans for the weekend changed. Again. Still, you gotta roll with the punches and wanted to make this weekend LEGENDARY. Unfortunately, we only got to LE. Early Saturday started out like any other weekend. Needed to get my shopping out of the way. That meant a trip to Wally World. Stacy needed some new high beam lights so I looked them up and selected a set. Yeah, turns out they don't fit. No problem, I only spent $118 at Wal-Mart and $52 came from headlights. Money well-spent. I go back Sunday to return those wrong headlights for another set of wrong headlights.
Back to Saturday, after I was done trying to fix my car, I get a call from Bill. Doza is here and wants to go to Columbus. Ohio. "Dude, I was just there last weekend!" So I get over to Bill's and we're trying to figure out what we're going to do. Doza goes ahead and leaves, Bill's got some stuff to take care of, and me, I'm just completely unprepared. We all drive separately, I call some friends from my unit to see if we can't make this weekend LEGENDARY.
Three hours later, we're in Columbus. Hungry and thirsty. Well, Applebee's is nearby and could potentially solve both problems. Drinking begins, moving from Applebee's to O'Reilly's and eventually to our buddy Jim's place. I don't know how much I drank before I left Applebee's but I had this brilliant idea to steal the giant fuzzy spider hanging on our light. Yes, so I pull it down and start folding the legs in to fit inside of my jacket. Making it out wasn't hard either, but unfortunately there was a casaulty... my black watch cap is gone. I have no idea where it is or who has it. It's getting cold outside and Stacy's heater doesn't work... bad combination with no cap. Bill says it's OK though because I got a spider out of the deal. I would much rather have my wool cap.

except

Life is good. At work I've got Dr. Pepper and Hot Pockets waiting for me in the fridge. I've also got my iPod hooked up to speakers with a remote, so I don't have to reach my lazy-ass arm all the way to iPod but instead the remote halfway to it. To top it all off, my favorite piece of office furniture... my chair. Anticipating long work days in which I sit for hours, I bought a nice comfy chair that makes most of the chairs in the office. The stand-out feature of this chair though, is that it is also a massage chair. It is rechargable that plugs into the wall at the end of the day, targets three zones upper back, lower back and thighs, with three intensity settings, and three modes.
The only thing I could ask for is better weekend plans. So far the only thing on the table is car maintenance and DVD organization. I haven't even started to organize my dvd collection, which I'm looking forward to sadly. The car maintenance is a must, since it is part of my livelihood. Stacy needs a new heater core, which doesn't cost alot but takes a lot of work to get into place. Still, overall, this has been a good week. Got lots of work done and ate some good food.

insanity

I think it was Albert Einstein that best defined insanity. He said that insanity was doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Since I have gotten my Indiana cell phone I have received numerous calls for Dave. Some from people in Indiana, others in other states nearby. I don't mind it so much because that's life. Someone you know is bound to call your old number. Fine. I accept that. What I hate are the people that call numerous times, sometimes consecutively.

Me: "Hi, this is Dan."
Other: "Hi, is Dave there?"
Me: "No. This is Dan."
Other: "Oh, OK."
(dial tone)
(phone rings)
Me: "Hi, this is Dan."
Same person: "Hi, is Dave there?"
Me: (firmly) "No."
SP: "Oh OK."
(dial tone)
(phone rings again)
Me: "Look, you keep dialing the same number you're going to keep getting me."
SP: "Sorry."
(dial tone)

Once I even got a drunk girl asking for Dave to pick her ass up. When I explained that I was not Dave but in fact me, Dan, she asked me if I was sure. Then she asked if Dave was around, to which I replied no because you called Dan. She thought I was rude, which I was, but it was 4am and I had just fallen asleep from a night of drinking.
I'm sorry, but I've got a short fuse for the stupid. Is it possible to dial the same 7 or 10 digits and get someone else? Is there someone else out there that has the exact same phone number as me? Including area code? The phone company is just splitting up who gets which calls? Is Dave getting calls for me? Or is it possible these people that keep calling me are complete f***ing morons?
Pluralitas non est ponenda sine neccesitate or K I S S (Keep It Simple, Stupid). It is possible that two people could share the same phone number, although I'd like to believe that there are morons out there with basic phone skills (dialing) and no concept of what they're doing.
However, since I have taken the rude approach to answering these types of calls they have dropped to nil. Haven't gotten a call for Dave in a long time. Either I shocked them enough to stop calling or the phone company finally sorted out our calls.

be all that you can be

The United States Army has a new slogan to get more recruits. Army Strong defines the strength of the soldier. Emotionally, physically, and mentally.
When I joined six years ago the slogan was "Be All That You Can Be!" and they had that catchy tune to go along with it. Then in 2001 it was changed to "An Army of ONE." The geniuses behind that program also made ONE an acronym, Officers, NCOs, and Enlisted. Instead of tunes, they had a bunch of commercials of individual soldiers/jobs. Still on the air is one of my favorite commercials. A son is talking to his father over a game of billards (or something) about the fact he's going to join the Army Reserves.

Father: But it's still the Army.
Son: It's the Reserves, I can still go to college and they train me here until they need me.
F: Is it good training?
S: It's the Army.

That's pretty much the end of the commercial. I give it props for skillfully dodging the question. "Is it good training?" The kid didn't say yes or no, but instead answered with a general statement. "It's the Army." What? That doesn't answer my question, a simple answer like 'yes' or 'no' is required. That's like answering a question with a question. "Is it good training?" Then you reply, "Is the sky blue?" Well right now it isn't so does that mean sometimes? No? Yes? What? I'm not psychic!
And now onto the Army Strong slogan. OK, over the last few years the Army has spent (probably millions) in revamping its image. First they designed a new combat uniform, the ACUs to replace the old BDUs and DCUs. That's fine. Second, they made modifications to the IBAS (individual ballistic armor system) to include shoulder and side protection. Good. Then, they decided (after a lengthy debate and studies) to phase out the current dress green uniforms and to be replaced by the dress blues. Stupid. Now a new slogan? After just a few years? Stupider.
Army Strong. I say it like a stupid person. As if you were the ask me, "What do you think of the Army?" And I say, "Army Strong." or "Hulk Smash!" Derrr, Army Strong. Yay! Keep the slogan, I'll just be all that I can be.
Instead of focusing on the major issues, the Army has decided to work on this crap. That's great. Like the problem was that a returning wounded vet didn't look good in his dress green uniform, so they thought "Oh, he'd look better in his dress blues!" When they should've thought, "Gee, he'd look better with HIS LEGS!" and worked on those issues, spending money on figuring out how to make that happen.
And like a new slogan is going to make people not see the wounded veterans and join the Army. Since March '03 more than 20,000 service members have been wounded, of that number almost half of them did not return to duty (medical discharge). The silver lining in those numbers is the KIA stat; which is considerably low. Advances in medical technology has aided in the increase of wounded. The ratio is almost 10:1, whereas in the past it has been as low as 2:1.
Stop spending money on crap projects. We don't need new uniforms to wear over our prosthetic limbs, we need them to figure out how to keep us safe so we don't need prosthetics!

blame it on the rain or myspace

Obviously I'm at work, I'm here and also Myspace at the same time. It's great. Every once and awhile I actually pay attention to the other flashing things that show up on my page. One that caught my eye was the Featured Profile, Lip Sync Battle. Promoting stupidity and under-achieving. Great. As if the world wasn't bad enough already, we go ahead and support this.
And correct me if I'm wrong but isn't there already a winner? Has everyone already forgotten Milli Vanilli? 1990, they won a Grammy. That's pretty much the winner. Or how about the SNL debacle with Ashlee Simpson? Oh, I suppose it's wrong for "professionals" to do it but when amateurs do it that's fine? Even funny.
While we're on the subject, the term "artist" shouldn't be related to all music artists. Ashlee Simpson, not an artist. She doesn't create anything, just perform. Those type of people are performers, non-writing singers. When you write the lyrics or the notes, then perform them, then you're an artist. If you call them musical artists then you've got to include strippers. They do the same things as those performers and we pay attention for the same reason. Strippers perform their routines to music, they are musical performers but we don't think of them that way. Well why not? I've been witness to some that will actually sing too... Does that mean that she's a music artist? I don't think so.

murphy's law

I can't catch a break. Usually I run my car until it's nearly empty and then fuel up. This is to try to boost up my MPG but it's also because I'm lazy. I fuel up less, therefore have to make less trips. Between Indiana and Ohio there's usually at least a five cent difference in the price of gas. So I try to time my fuelings with my days that I have to drill in Ohio. This morning when I was leaving Springfield and going to drill I saw that the price was $1.96! Well, I didn't need to fuel up but I was planning on it on my return trip. So of course when I'm coming back I stop at a Marathon about three miles from the highway, $1.96 so I pumped the gas, paid, and left. About a mile down the road I saw another gas station. $1.94! Damnit! Why didn't I fill up there? I could've saved 14 cents on it. Argh! I can't catch a break! Either I have to fill up on an expensive day or I fill up at an expensive gas station. No in between for me.
To be fair though, Stacy takes Premium. She runs a lot better with it, better performance and mileage. She's worth it.