It's all about the content

In recent years (and moreso lately) the so called "serious" readers have shown themselves to be extremely shallow. While I as a lowly SF and Fantasy reader have always been looked down with on disdain (because of course SF&F cannot be real or serious...), there is now 2 categories of readers that now rate lower than the hard copy SF&F (and all the other categories that the literati choose not to label real books) readers, digital and audio consumers of fictional media (as opposed to the hard copy consumers of fictional media).

Digital reading is the effective future of all significant reading in the country. The explosion of e-readers and tablets in the past 3 years has caused a radical shift in how readers now consume their fiction. But the die hard's argue that reading is not just about reading, but the feel and texture of flipping a page and smelling the book. To that I say BS. I have been reading electronically for over a decade (all the way back to using my palm pilot to read books from my favorite publisher, Baen) and all it has done is make reading more convenient. In my pocket or bag instead of having a handful (or less) of books I can have them all in one convenient package. One in which I can place bookmarks, share passages and easily conduct searches for particular items. But making reading easier doesn't seem to be a factor to those who fetishize the physical consumption of media via an anachronistic manner, and who choose to mock and revile those who choose to embrace the new system (in part driven by fear as they see a system that has been around for all of recorded history).

And then there is the lowest of the low. Audiobook listeners (or readers IMNSHO). While I do agree that there is one concept in audiobooks that needs to be destroyed, the evil abridged book. This is quite an acceptable means for a reader to consume (which of course is completely not different than reading) a story. Let's face it, we all have seem people reading in places where it was really against their interests to do so (walking, in dangerous environments), and this is the completely acceptable medium to reclaim that time while remaining situationally aware (I run all the time listening to audio books, but I never have it too loud and I always retain my most important sense, sight because of the audiobook). But apparently books must be relegated every sense to the serious book person, and somehow having the words delivered to your ears lessen the message. We will just pat them on the head and enjoy the boon of technology.

Sorry physical media consumers (aka "serious" readers). You have, as we say in the government world, become OBE (Obsolete By Events). Enjoy your rapidly diminishing world as the rest of us continue to get our horizons broadened. How you get the content in the end is irrelevant, all that matters is that you are getting the content.

Invincible: The Lost Fleet: Beyond the Frontier, Book 2

I love military SF. The series of books by Jack Campbell that detail the adventures of now Admiral Jack Geary are like crack to me. Well written and carefully planned out, they show the breadth and depth of military operations as well as the human side of the force. The author doesn't cheat to make sure that battles are too easy, and every victory comes with a price.

After defeating the Syndicate in the first series, John and his fleet are sent out to explore and obtain more information about the Enigma race that was driving the actions of the Syndicate. And in the events of the first book of this new series he learns more about the Enigma's and is driven to encounter even more alien races.

The fun part of this series is that John Geary is never left in a comfortable place. After being frozen a hundred years the society that he returned to was quite alien to him, and just as he was becoming comfortable he is now forced to contend with the truly alien aliens. I cannot wait until the next book!

Vampire Academy

Vampires go to school?  Who knew?

The story begins with the characters, Lissa - a Moroi (living vampire) princess - and Rose - Lissa's Dhampir (half-human, half-vampire) protector already on the run. Shortly thereafter they are captured and returned to St. Vladimir's, a school where the young Moroi and Dhampir are trained.

In a twist from traditional mythology there are 2 types of vampires, the Moroi who live lives like humans (except for the requirement to take in blood as well as food and sensitivity to light) and the more traditional Strigoi (the dead). Richelle Mead builds up a very engaging world for her characters to inhabit, having to spend a moderate amount of time actually expanding this world during the story.

Most of the action (in true YA style) is built around the interactions between the main characters and the other students at the Academy. Both of reintegration and the invariable clique building (imagine if your High School had both commoners and various nobles attending it. It makes the jocks vs nerds stuff look tame, in particular since everyone there either knows magic or is insanely strong/fast). There is an overarching storyline that keeps the plot moving.

Much darker than most books of this genre, with more action and topics that you don't normally see (talk of suicide, drinking, sex).

Looking forward to the next book in this series.

The King of Plagues

The third of the Joe Ledger books by Jonathan Mayberry. This has been one of my favorite series that I have encountered lately, tightly written and completely engrossing. A delightful blend of SF, horror and action with a bit of detective work mixed in, it is sometimes hard to figure out where this book will lead you.

Joe is both the luckiest and unluckiest Department of Military Sciences employees. Lucky to be alive, but cursed with some of the worst events to occur during his watch. He has encountered zombies, genetic super-monsters, and had his girlfriend die in his arms. And this has all happened in less than a year. The novel picks up several months after the events of the Dragon Factory (there is a short story out there that details him working with his new furry partner Ghost taking down the man who killed Grace). It begins with the destruction of the London (gigantic London Hospital) in a massive terrorist event and it only gets worse.

The new villains of the series (looking to see more) appear to the be the un-before mentioned Seven Kings, which now includes a familiar villain as well. And their plot is devious.

Later in the novel Joe links up with Echo team, his psychologist buddy and a new female character on this wild ride. I cannot wait to crack open the next book!

Zombies: The Recent Dead

I like Zombies. I like Short Stories. Zombie short stories? Sure, why not? Yeah, I picked this book up because I love zombie/post apocalyptic novels and feel that sometimes all you need is a short concise story. I wanted to like it, but......

This book lurked in my list for a long time. I would read a story (I really only found one I tolerated) and then put it off to the side, coming back every so often to bite a small chunk off, get bored and then put it aside again. So I would say I slogged through this book. And this is short story compilation, it shouldn't be like this, where every bite was just not satisfying, but it was. But I rarely give up (from determination or hope, but I rarely quit anything once I started it, be it real life or reading) so I finally finished it (3 months later!).

I will say that the last story was one of the best, so it didn't finish on a truly sour note. But the best thing about this book? That I don't feel compelled to read it any more.

Way Station

Way Station by Clifford D. Simak. This was a throwback novel. Classic SF of the style that I haven't read in almost 20 years (I trend more toward military SF and urban fantasy). It definitely required a context switch but it is interesting to stretch my normal bound.

Enoch Wallace is a Civil War veteran who is living in the contemporary times(circa 1963 for the novel) and has finally attracted the attention of the government due to his lack of aging. Shortly after the the war he is offered the chance to become a station master in an chain of FTL transfer stations for travelers. He effectively is a hermit who has little interaction with society but talks with all the travelers who comes through.

Enoch only ages when he leaves his house, so he is aging at less than 1/24 normal, which is what finally draws the governments attention. There are a couple of threads that combine for a burst of activity toward the end and are fairly well wrapped up by the action. The writing has aged fairly well, and there is even concepts that are quite familiar as SF to modern readers (VR shooting range, aliens not so perfect). It does have some of the common threads of SF of the time (humans bad and immature, aliens superior) that does leave it feeling dated though.

I never read this author before and I found it quite entertaining to be exposed to him, definitely a good insightful book. I can definitely see why it won the Hugo for Best Novel in 1964. And I really cannot help but include this classic cover....

Soon I Will Be Invincible

Superhero's and Evil Scientists? Yes please!
This book provides the inner monologue of Doctor Impossible (DI for short), the villian, and Fatale, a rookie hero, during the latest of DI evil schemes to, what else could it be, take over the world!

There is a lot of the back story of both characters, which provides the overall background of this super-powered world (with Aliens, Faery, magic and evil scientists) providing both their origin story and the story of most of the characters as well as some of the Super organizations. Fatale, for example, is asked to joined the re-formed Champions organization which has its "Superman" powered character at the core, Corefire. And of course the impetus of  reforming the Champions is that Corefire has gone missing and Doctor Horrible, his arch-nemisis, is suspected even though he is residing in prison.

Briskly placed with appropriate background, this is a great read for fans of the superhero genre.

Iron Sunrise

So I am trying a new trend. I like to read (and yes, listen... I lurve me some audiobooks. I find it recovers a lot of "lost" time and allows a certain level of safety. It pretty much is the main reason I don't mind running (and anything that makes exercise more enjoyable is a good thing)). And I think that there is value in writing about what I have read. So my goal now is to do at least a mini-book report on the latest item on the pile.

Iron Sunrise is the latest on my read list. Charles Stross is a relatively recent find for me, but after reading his truly awesome Laundry series I made it a point to go back and explore some of his other works. Iron Sunrise is actually a sequel (though the author has said that there will be no more books in this universe) to Singularity Sky. It brings back the two main characters from that story, Rachel and her now husband, and introduces a who new spread of characters (slowly weaving the seemingly unrelated plots together). The world of these novels is quite interesting, as it is affected by the post-Singularity intelligence Eschaton, which upon reaching consciousness immediately flung 90% of the Earths inhabitants onto planets up to thousands of light years (and correspondingly that far back in time).

Humans being humans, we don't quite get along with each other, and the story begins with the planet of Moscow dying due to the sun exploding, and the retaliatory fleet (which can take decades to arrive) is launched at their competitor New Dresden. Of course the story isn't simply the mission to hunt down the Moscow Ambassadors who can recall the retaliation fleet, in a race against time as the Ambassadors are slowly being murdered, because as you would expect that is just the first layer of a multi-level plot that will keep you entertained through out the book.

Overall this is a great book. Enhanced if you read Singularity Sky but with enough exposition to allow you to jump in if you have not.

Dirty Secret

For a guy whose blog name is "Media Addict" I have a dirty secret...  While I watch a lot of shows that are "critically acclaimed"/shows that people who say they "don't watch tv and yet they still watch these so called good shows..

I
Love
Bad
Sitcoms.......
Yes, I am that guy who watches Whitney, Two Broke Girls and Rules of Engagement (even Two and Half Men). And I like them! I really do laugh at a lot of the jokes, I like simple humor at times.  Maybe it is a nostalgia thing for the shows I watched when I was younger. Because as my fiance can attest, I can call the plot of these shows a mile away (even for other shows she has accused me of pre-watching them I am so good at calling the plot points) but there is just something comforting about them.

So while I know some reviews cannot understand who is watching these shows, there are people like myself (who loves the smarter shows as well (Arrested Development, Modern Family)) that are bumping up the numbers....

Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10 Miler

Anytime when you find yourself already providing excuses you know you are not going to set a PR....
While I had been building up the mileage in the past 6 weeks, I was still woefully under the recommended mileage (my longest run, 9 days prior, was 5.75 miles). And the past week was a total rest week as my back killed my training runs in the middle of the week from Monday on (as a side note, getting older sucks). 

But I finished in a respectable time (104 minutes, right around 10:24 pace) aided by the fact that the weather was fantastic and from that I always do better in a crowd. I was under 10 minute miles for the first 6 miles, but then switched to a run .4, walk .1 (worse in the last mile  (basically .2run, .1walk)as my knee was giving me issues).

The finishers medal is pretty cool and the technical t-shirt I upgraded to is really neat.

Now for some more training to get me ready for the GW Parkway 10 Miler, where I plan to do a bit better.

Mismatch

I have been back in the States for the last 3 weeks and I really am loving it. My fiance. Friends and family that are right around the corner, not thousands of miles and hours away. Internet that works and is cheap. Cell phones and reliable connectivity. Choices when it comes to TV, and none of those annoying AFN commercials.

After being home for a little while I can see how so many service members returning from a war zone often feel so detached (I think it affects me far less as my deployment, which was at main FOB, it was at a major FOB, that never got attacked. So other than the distant explosions and gunfire, helicopters coming in and out at all times, the occasional desperate plea for blood donor's as a serious casualty came in, and the daily update of SIGACTS (SIGnificant ACTionS) in our AOR (Area of Responsibility) the war wasn't as real as it could be compared to the Joe in the truly remote FOB's. Heck I only wore my body armor 5-6 times the entire time I was there and only put my magazine in my weapon 3 times.). Every day in a war zone there is a sense of impending danger and there is never any question that there is a war going on (any significant thing I did was predicated in making sure that the Soldiers out there were not impacted or hindered in any way by things we did, and we would expend all efforts to make sure that they always had secure communications available).

But you get home and suddenly you are back in the minutia of everyday civilian life (this is sharper for those of in the Guard and Reserve, since they make it a point to transition us out as quickly as possible. The Active Duty guys are still in that regimented military environment that eases the transition). Most of the people around you have no understanding of the what it means to be in a war zone, and most seem blissfully ignorant of the events that happen in Afghanistan (maybe they are vaguely aware of significant events like large attacks and maybe vaguely aware of the current number of casualties). Because of the way that I get my news I hear most of the major events but I cannot imagine that everyone's news-feeds are tailored like mine are. And luckily I am not a person who finds danger exciting (I find it more of something to be endured, and to be removed ASAP).

While it is barely a twinge for me (easily assuaged by all the conveniences at the top of the post. It really helps that I am a homebody who really loves being at home.) I can really see why a lot of my fellow vet's (wow, first time I have referred to myself as a vet) have trouble readjusting.

Home

I got back on the 7th!  After a brief visit to demob down in MS (it was only 3-4 days, quite impressive).  The real question is, who looks happier in this picture, me or my fiance?

6 months, 15,000 miles.  I went from 4 ribbons to 9 (added an ARCOM (Army Commendation) and NATO Medal, as well as an Afghan Campaign Medal, Overseas Service Ribbon, and an Army Reserve Medal).  Plus I am officially no longer a "slick sleeve" (term for anyone without a SSI-FWTS (Shoulder Sleeve Insignia, Former War Time Service) on your right shoulder).

My unit deployed with 175 people and we came back with 175 people with no injuries.  We ran operations in Zabul, with one American Battalion, 2 Romanian Battalions, an ADT (Agricultural Development Team) and a PRT (Provincial Reconstruction Team).

Back to work in another 2 weeks.  Figured I would take a full 4 weeks off.

Red Moon

One of the few advantages of being out here in the boonies of Afghanistan is that it is near ideal for looking at the sky. My base operates in a blackout mode in the evenings, so there is minimal light pollution. When the Moon is not there the majesty of the night sky are impressive ("My God, the sky, it's full of stars!"). As a night shift worker I am pretty in touch with the moon (I often walk around 3 weeks of 4 without any light, operating by the light of the moon, at least when it is there) so last night when I walked outside I immediately wondered where the heck my night light was.  Then I remember we were schedules for a Lunar Eclipse and found the moon.

It actually turned red!!!

So cool.

Gotta find the cool moments in even the less than ideal conditions...

Fair disclosure, I picked these pictures off my unit's PAO drive.  The pics are often aggregated there.

Crawling

It is amazing how in the real world that time seems to fly by.  I know that normally I find myself turning around and being amazed that yet again it was a drill weekend (a good way to mark the month since that used to my definition of a busy week... doing my normal job, heading off to packed drill weekends and then heading into work on Monday.  That was all before I encountered the 12 hours, 7 days a week schedule). 

We are scheduled to return from our deployment early.  We kind of lucked out, in that the Army decided to replace us early (now I know what a placeholder feels like).  We are already deep into planning for the RIP (Relief In Place), pretty much we have almost been doing that preparation since we conducted out TOA (Transfer Of Authority) and took this place over.  I know that lots of us already have the visions of our reunions dancing around in heads, it serves as a wonderful motivator. 

We all have a countdown somewhere in proximity to us (most of us use a computer program, some clever people even have a drawing with a number of Lobsters (we have it every Fiday), one each for the remaining weeks).  I am already planning my downtime after deployment (I envision taking 2-3 weeks off).  Or as a I have described it, #OccupyMyCouch. 

Again I will not go into specifics, as it is possible for the bad guys to utilize that information to time their attacks to take advantage of of the inevitable turbulance that occurs when one group replaces another.

I can already visualize finally seeing my fiance, family and friends again (and maybe drinking that celebratory beer).

Thankful

Even over here, in the poor embattled dump that is this corner of Asia, I am am still a thankful man.  I am thankful that thus far no one in my unit has been killed or injured.  That I will be heading home soon. That my fiance, family and friends are so supportive of me while I am here.

I definitely am thankful for technology.  I know that life would be far more stressful for me if it wasn't for email, VOIP (thanks Google for the free phone calls!!) and Skype (thanks to you for the free video calls!!).  Being this far away from everything (and pretty much everyone) would have been far more depressing.

I am definitely thankful for Sandy, the local feral cat who has made my lonely night shift far more tolerable.  She often wanders in, nudges my leg and falls asleep near me.

I have been lucky enough to be born in the best country in the world, have awesome parents, siblings and a beautiful Fiance.  I really like my job (yep, even the Army one on occasion) and get paid well to do it.  I truly am a lucky and thankful guy. 

Veteran's Day

I think this will be the first Veteran's Day where I finally deserve the label.  I joined 6.5 years ago and only now that I am on this deployment do I feel right applying that label to myself. And even then I know that my service is different.  My battlefield is sitting at my desk, making sure that the Soldiers get the best possible support that they can get.  There isn't the sleep deprivation, crappy conditions that other, more front-line military personnel encounter.  I have same day laundry service, a warm 2 person bedroom, Internet access and (surprisingly) good food.

Though unlike y'all back in the States, Veteran's is just another day for those of us over here. We are doing a 11.11 mile team relay (which I am not doing, couldn't get a team together and I am not running another 10+ miles around this base) but that is about all.  The pace of operations doesn't slack and unless it is a scheduled downtime there is no time off to mark the holiday.  No special meal deals for Veterans over here, just the same old chow.  I know next year it will maybe mean a bit more than just another day off, but this time around it is just another day to endure before we head home.

Deployment is a Blur...

Working 12 hours a day (all through the night) 7 days a week makes everything a blur. The weeks are represented by the significant events (either personal, work or significant events).

Like the time that insurgents ran a VBIED against one of the nearby FOBs, big enough that even though the site is more than 2 miles away it sounded like it was hitting my own FOB (no one was killed in that attack).

Or the fact that my Brothers Wife finally delivered my new niece (I have 4 brothers, we are not quite sure how to deal with a little girl).

But the most notable memories are the ones where I head outside the wire.So far I have been have outside the wire twice with our ANSF (Afghan National Security Forces, that includes their Army, Border Patrol, and Police). They are advised mostly by the Romanians (which makes sense since their technology level and tactics are better suited to Russian styles and technology) via the OMLT system.  I visited the main Army base for the province, seeing how their maintainence works and in general meeting their personnel.

The second trip was more important for me, as we headed to Alexander's Castle (according to local lore the Castle was built by Alexander the Great.  While that claim is uncertain and unvalidated, it is a key point for the city of Qalat and has been for centuries (for the British, the Russians and now to a latter degree American, though we have no personnel stationed here). We got to meet the Communication Company that is located at the Castle and is the center hub for ANA communications in the region.  I was struck by how professional and dedicated to serving their country, they really were proud to serve the Afghan people and of their accomplishments to date. We had tea (so makes one very Afghan experience) and then also took in the sights at the Castle (the views were awesome, the commanding views makes it very clear why this is such a key terrain point. While taking in the view I also got another very Afghan experience, as we saw an IED go off in the distance.

Outside of that trip my time passes by in dribs and drabs.  Working out, sleeping, the weekly Lobster and Steak meal..  I have watched more TV than I have ever watched during my time here, as I work I often have a show running in the background.

In some ways technology is great as it allows you to be aware of everything that is happening back home, but it also can leave you frustrated since you can so easily see everything and yet know that it is so far away....

Army Ten Miler Shadow Run in Afghanistan

Above is the field of runners at FOB Lagman, Afghanistan who decide to join our fellows back in the Arlington & DC who ran the Army Ten Miler on Sunday, Oct 9. We of course started 8.5 hours earlier than our peers. One cool thing to note in the second picture is that the First Sergeant of our unit is carrying the guidon of the HHC. He actually ran the entire 10 miles with it, finishing just a little bit behind me.


The ATM here was probably one of the toughest races that I have run. The altitude was still a factor because even though I have been here for 2 months there are still moments for all of us that we find ourselves catching our breathe. We are a little over 1 mile above sea level here. And running past the burn pit plus all the dust doesn't help (there was a lot of dust in the air today). The terrain was the biggest factor, there were tons of hill on our run, most of the path was on unleveled ground (think 15-20% grade) and those parts that weren't gravel (and by gravel I mean the fist sized ones, not the nice marble sized ones. I call them ankle breakers) were either packed dirt or moondust (really fine sand that drifts). I finished in just a bit over 2 hours, definitely not one of my better runs (but good for the conditions).

It was definitely a nice bit of solidarity and a little reminder of home (and I will appreciate the fact that most races will seem like cake after this.

9/11 from Afghanistan

10 years ago I was just waking up when I turned on the TV.

Today I wake up, wearing the uniform of the United States Army, working my shift while keeping the communication systems up the Coalition Units for a province in Southern Afghanistan.

What a difference 10 years can make... From standing by idly watching the news break to serving in the country that harbored those very attackers (I was going to say originated but we all know that country is our "ally" Saudi Arabia), helping to keep a fragile bit of stability together even for a little bit.

Malaria

I speak of the awesome cat, not the disease that I must take a pill every day to prevent.

This is Malaria, he is a working cat. He hangs around my area, the S6/Communications section, on the FOB I am on in Afghanistan. He has had a hard life. When I first met him a couple of weeks ago he was limping from a wound on his paw, caused by the concentina wire that we deploy to protect our facilities (apparently he was found in it and some of the medics took care of him for a couple of days). He was also found completely covered in oil (which I hope was an accident and not some malicious action).

As a Soldier in a combat zone I fall under General Orders. The most un-American one of them is a subsection of General Order Number 1, part B which prevents us from housing, feeding or providing water to animals. Since I am still under that order I will state that elsewhere in theater this part of the order is probably broken in theater on a regular basis (see this article). It is very much against our nature, in particular our American nature, to not look and see animals that can vastly benefit from our assistance and then not do something (even something as basic as putting out a bowl of clean water, particularly when the temperatures can often exceed 100 degrees). Does it backfire sometimes, like for Soldiers who get bitten by Rabies infected animals? Yes. But when so many Soldiers (and airmen, Marines and sailors) can take such comfort in just seeing something, anything, get better because of their actions and get affection? It just seems cruel to deny them this simple pleasure.

In particular when you talk about cats (I have 2 so my bias is clear). They have a low chance of catching rabies and are pretty serious predators. Which means they munch down on insects and rodents which in turn can attract snakes, which can be poisonous in this area (and, Malaria has been observed twice chowing down on a Camel Spider, a creature I have no desire to ever encounter).

Malaria is wasted in Afghanistan. He is such a sweet cat, always looking to greet people when they come onto his porch. He will come up to you, give you a verbal greeting and rub around you in order to get the all valuable scratch or pat on the head. If you sit down he will quickly decide that your lap looks lonely and will settle down for a nap. Since it if you read the specifications of GO#1B, there really is no rule against petting him, so I will often give him a scritch and remind him that he is wasted on this awful country.

One of the Soldiers from our supporting unit is trying to raise the funds to bring Malaria backs to her house back in the States (trying to bring Malaria home... funny if you don't know it is cat). Apparently there is a group that will make it happen for $4000. But that is a crazy amount of money to spend on a cat, even such a useful cat that has done service for our Country.

I would very much like to indulge Malaria while I am here. Some clean water, a few tasty noms and some good attention. Better to have given him some good times to remember rather than never having had any real good times. But as a good Soldier I would never violate the rules (or post a blog that could be traced back to me)....

Home on the FOB

Every day during a deployment is a Monday...
It is like Groundhog Day....
The FOB I am at is pretty nice. Laundry service with a day turnaround (you do not have a choice, there are no personal washers). Internet to your CHU (Cargo Housing Unit, think small shipping container tricked out with lights, electricity, AC, and windows/doors). A decent DFAC (chow hall), small MWR facility (a bunch of telephones that allow you to call home for 4 cents a minute and internet machines at no cost), decent gym (great free weights and machines area, the cardio could be bigger but not much you can do), PX (Post Exchange, small but stocked with all the necessities, even 12 packs of Diet Doctor Pepper (a must for the night shift! Too bad there is no Diet Mountain Dew)), and a Barber Shop (also does massages and mani/pedicures). About 1600 people live on this compact FOB, along with all our requisite gear and vehicles. We even have an aerostat (small tethered blimp) that acts as a surveillance system in the sky and provides security for us (I love looking up and seeing it there, gives me a warm and fuzzy) as well as our own little air force (Shadow UAV's as well as Apache Gunships).

As expected I did get placed on the night shift. From 2030 to 0830 I am the ranking Signal Officer on duty, working on research projects for my boss and periodically checking in on the other sections, NETOPS (network operations) and the Help Desk. As part of my research I got to go on a short trip to a neighboring FOB to talk with some of the people who interact with the ANA (Our stalwart Romanian allies. Good guys. Though I bet they will never want American food again after 6 months on an American FOB). I even got to meet some of the ANA people, but unfortunately the people who I would have liked to visit were at a different FOB.

Even though I can see the FOBs that I am visiting from the roof of my building just to visit them involves armoring (body armor, helmet and a full load of ammo (this trip marked the first time I ever put a loaded magazine in my weapon outside a range. And I thought that it was just weird carrying the magazine in the pocket, this is another level of reality) up and riding over in a MRAP (Mine Resistant Armored Personnel) Since I was a passenger it gave me my first real chance to see Afghanistan outside of the protected American FOBs. We drove through the town of Qalat and it was quite an interesting experience. The poverty is pretty noticeable and it is like looking back in time. Way, way back in time.

I will say that I was kind of impressed with the facilities that the Afghan Army had. Their offices and workshops would not look out of place on any Active Duty or National Guard facility in the US. Though I do have my doubts on the ability for this country to sustain the facilities and force whenever in the future that we leave.

My first week has crawled by. This may be the most number of hours that I have worked in... well... ever. 12 hour days, in particular at night, can seriously crawl. I have had experience working long hours before and the loss of productivity from both the exhaustion as well as the sheer grind on the soul (people really need down time. I know for me I need 7-8 hours sleep, 1-1.5 hours workout time, eating a meal and just the little things that need doing (dropping off/picking up laundry, etc) makes my time away from work feel hectic, like that countdown clock from 24 is ticking away tracking the time until I have to return to work. Doing this 7 days a week for at least the next 18 weeks will be wearying.). It has given me a chance to either catch up (a lot of the guys in my section came from my the Company that I was the XO of) or meeting the people that are new to me.

PS, I apologize for the lack of pictures but I am somewhat paranoid about OPSEC. Until I am safely home and removed from Afghanistan I don't feel comfortable sharing (outside immediate family and close friends) something that could endanger lives, even remotely. Heck, that is why these posts are time delayed.

Kandahar

I am a lucky dude. One of the 4 people from my unit who is handling things here in Kandahar happens to be a CW4 that I have worked closely with for the past few years so he hooked me up. Instead of spending the time here in the transient barracks (no real security and just a big open bay, right next to the infamous Kandahar "Shit Pool" (the sewage treatment is all done on base, inside the security perimeter. Which leads to some vile odors to put it mildly....)) he offered me the spare bed in his room.

Right after getting in we secured my bags and got breakfast, then it was time for a nap (aka making up for the past night non-rest). When I finally came out of my coma Chief gave me the tour of the base, got some dinner and then checked out the Boardwalk (a bunch of businesses all located around a big square). A brief stop in the USO to make some calls home and get a brief taste of the Internet and then back to bed.

And then the alarm went off, "Rocket Attack.". After proceeding to the bunker it eventually came out that the rocket landed somewhere nearby but since we heard no explosion it appeared to be a dud. Finally after about 45 minutes we got the all clear and went back to bed.

Tuesday was more Counter IED Training. Slightly different than the one I got at Camp Shelby, with a little more focus on Afghanistan threats. And as a bonus practical demonstration, the Taliban decided to shoot 2 rockets at the base, causing us to have an unexpected 50 minute break. We then checked out the Asian DFAC (some are US themed, some European and at least course Asian) for dinner. Afterward I worked with Chief in getting the IT stuff moved in preparation for their coming move next week.

Wednesday was more of helping out Chief on the move. And a little exploring (plus a little bit of getting lost). Thursday and Friday were spent taking an IMO (information management officer) course and were fairly uneventful (aka no rocket attacks). On Friday night I got scheduled for a CH-47 (Chinook, twin rotor helicopter) the next morning out to my FOB.

Location:Kandahar, Afghanistan

Enroute

What a long day. I really hope that my unit isn't expecting me to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed after this trip.

The day began at 0300. After the normal daily rituals combined with a quick cleaning of the barracks (we, and by that I mean the enlisted Soldiers, thus is Army life) we turned in the barracks, linens and were cleared to go.
Everyone contributed to loading the bus, and we quickly took off with the promise of McDonald's for breakfast. And then we barely get past the gates when we realized we had left the boxes with the weapons locked in them sitting in the admin office (we had loaded from supply and the early morning beat us), so we quickly turned around to load them up. The bus driver ended up treating us to breakfast (even though I was trying to find a graceful way to pay for myself, I really feel odd taking charity/gifts like that since it's a noticeable dent for people lower in the economic food chain).

Eventually we arrived at the Atlanta (around 1200 eastern time) airport for more of the Army speciality, waiting around and sitting in lines. After taking advantage of the USO's hospitality (best organizations ever for military people, they are among the few "must donate to" organizations). Finally my awe inspiring 3 completely full duffle bags and one stuffed rucksack, which combined weighed around 250 pounds (my own body weight of gear!!). Only on military flights does your luggage get weighed and then they ask your own weight.

We got put on one of the R&R (Rest and Recreation flights, which enables Soldiers (and other services, but we are 90% of the flight) to take their 2 weeks home leave) and off we went at around 2100. After 7 hours we laid over in Leipzig for 3 hours then back on the plane. That was the first time I have been in Germany in 10 years, I even made a point to have a good sausage with sauerkraut (no beer since we are under orders). Then back on the plane for a 5 hour flight to Kuwait.

There our small Warrior Platoon finally parted ways, as we spread to the winds to our respective war zones and units. After they bussed us from the airport to a local army base I was pooped. By the time I had my name on the list for the next flight out, my bags stored and a billet was obtained I jumped in the shower and passed out.

The Kuwait Army base, al-assad, is not too bad. A very nice DFAC(chow hall), MWR facilities and even a couple of fast food places(McDonald's, Subway, KFC, and a Pizza Hut). I ended up staying there until Sunday night. The main inconvenience was that since I was flying Space-A I had to have every bag packed and with me at every show time for a flight, which can be annoying since as noted I have a lot of stuff.

The flight to Kandahar was annoying and inconvenient. We rode on a C-17 (a first for me, I have been been on C-5's and C-141's) with people along the sides (not me sadly, I was in the more uncomfortable center) and the center. The seats are really tight and we had to wear our body armor during the trip, it made me miss being stuck in the middle during a packed commercial flight. Just for extra fun they tossed in a mid-air refueling (cheaper to fuel from another plane from a gulf state vs importing it to Afghanistan). Final at 0600 local time I arrived at Khandahar.

Rolling Out

Am I scared? Not really. Anxious? Hell yeah. I have probably lost more than a few hours sleep in the past couple of months(and even more in the past 4 weeks) either in the beginning, the end or even the middle.

And now the bags a packed and I am heading off. The amount of gear that we travel with is kind of insane.. When I got it all packed up it comprised 3 duffles and a Rucksack, each of which had some 50+ pounds in them. Add in my carry on of a very full assault pack (same size as a standard backpack) as well as my computer bag and I am heading off with my own bodyweight in gear(and I am no lightweight).

6+ years of training and now Uncle Sam will finally get some of the value back that it spent on me.

We started off with a bus ride from Camp Shelby at a very Army start time of 0400. We are heading to Atlanta to fill in some spots on an R&R flight that will take us to Kuwait. At that time we will finally part ways, heading to our final destinations.

AT&T Sucks

AKA Penny-wise pound-foolish.
Until June AT&T would suspend or terminate your account for no fees if you were heading on a military deployment. And then they decided to squeeze a little more blood from the stone from America's defenders by changing that policy. So now the options are terminate for no fee and lose your number forever (maybe some people don't care but I have had the same number for more than 10 years) or pay your respective early termination fee to get your number back on your return. And for grins and giggles their site makes no mention of this change, instead stating the old policy.

Good job at losing a customer for your piddly termination fee, forgoing thousands of dollars of future revenue for a trivial amount (and causing me to bad-mouth you for most of my life (I have a long memory)) and saying that the people serving in Afghanistan and Iraq now are performing service that is less valuable. Bravo!

Thanks so much for making an already stressful day (getting on a plane to head to a war zone for the first time) and making it worse.

Mobilization Training Week 3

Winding down. Not just us but the wars. The manager at the gym here said that this was the quietest day that he had seen in 6 years, and this is now only one of 3 National Guard mobilization sites.

 

Boredom is a big issue here. There seems to be major isssues getting Soldiers out after they have been trained (some people have been here for more than a month)

 

• Monday - rollover trainer - you get placed in a MRAP and a HMMV simulator and it flips you over, a lot. Very disorienting, to be wearing body armor and all the gear and then suddenly find yourself upside down. In the Dark. With strobes and smoke. But it is a good confidence builder and builds familiarity.
• Tuesday - Counter-IED training. Actually some good training. A bunch of powerpoints on the curret threats and then a neat vehicle that allows you to see examples. Then you get to do some computer play, where you simulate operating a HMMV in a threat environment and then to flip the coin you get to play the bad guy.
• Wednesday - Battle Drills - mostly reminders of what you have already done. Then a practical where you mount up on HMMV's and execute a mission (go to a village and get attacked by disjointed attackers and get hit by a simulated IED). I got to be in charge and it was a good refresher of stuff I haven't had to do in years. Then we get back and turn our weapons over to the Armorer until we fly out.
• Thursday - Nothing.
• Friday - SRC(Soldier Rediness Check) - final check that you have all the training done, all medical holds are clear and that you are good to go. I am, so I am just waiting on a plane to fly me to Afghanistan. I did have to go zero my assigned rifle (I had been using a loaner) in the evening.
• Saturday and Sunday I was on pass spending time with family and my fiancee.

 

Mobilization Training Week 2

Boredom thy name is Camp Shelby. I am by god looking forward to getting into theater so my brain can finally get a workout again. 

• Monday - Legal Briefs - long day of mandatory legal briefs. At least it was in AC. 
• Tuesday - Base Operations - how normal operations work at bases. Entry Control Points, tower operations and QRF(quick reaction force). 
• Wednesday - Range day - qualification with your weapon. Zero and qual (23 of 40, I got 31),fire with NBC mask (only 25m target. Very hot). And night fire (25m target again). Also covered was  PMI and squad/platoon weapon familiarization (plus you shoot the M2 and M240b in the simulator (got Hightower kills of the 3 shooters in my set)
• Thursday - Theater required briefings - cultural and standard briefs. 
• Friday - Army Warrior Tasks - individual movement techniques (IMT, basic things like grenade throw, crawling and rushing, breaching walls and obstacles, there was a practical in this one). First aid. CBRN(chemical biological radiological nuclear). Radio tasks.  
• Saturday - Land Navigation - good instructors, kept this topical and gave us some enjoyable videos to watch during the breaks. A short (1 hour) class on classic land nav (pen, paper, protractor and compass). Then another hour to the DAGR (military GPS). Followed by a practical group test with 2-3 man teams. In full battle rattle, it probably only was 2500-3000m of walking but damn was it hot. I must have been beet red by the end. 
• Sunday - off - MWR tip to see Captain America. 

3 more days of training, an off day, then the release point, SRC. Where they validate that your med issues have been resolved and that they have the paperwork to validate you have completed your training. Then depending on flights they may give us a 4 day pass. 

Mobilization Training Week 1

So the day finally came. The orders, plane tickets and eventual instructions came, directing me to Camp Shelby MS. There I joined up with the "Replacement Company."

I am playing catchup with my unit that is already enroute to Afghanistan In support of Operation Enduring Freedom. In this Company there are sets, platoons, who are grouped together as they arrive and prepped with the required training, medical reviews and equipment for their destination. Soldiers deploying to Afghanistan like me are being issued new uniforms in the OCP (OEF Camoflage Pattern, recursive acronyms....), aka Multicam. Soldiers here are going to both Iraq and Afghanistan, which means that the formations look quite odd (reminding me of the transition period where we were switching from ACU's to BDU's).

In true Army form it was hurry up and wait, as I flew out on Friday at 0600, finally got to Camp Shelby at 1400 and attended their final formation at 1600. And was told that I had nothing to do until Monday at 0730. So it was time to be bored for the weekend.

As noted the Warrior Platoons are ad-hoc, filled with mostly junior Soldiers (mine has 12 total, 6 right out of Basic/AIT another a year out of that, 3 SSg's a Captain and myself).

The first week was not very busy:

• Monday - nothing
• Tuesday - briefings. Approximately 5 hours of DVD's that were made from canned presentations.
• Wednesday - SRP (Soldier Readiness Process). Also known as "damn my arm hurts" day. Medical review coupled with review of things like legal, pay, etc. Including the dreaded shots... Anthrax (which made my arm hurt for 4 days afterward) and Smallpox (which requires a lot of attention to make sure the area stays clean and dry)
• Thursday - RFI (Rapid Fielding Inititive), CIF (central issuance facility) and JLIST (NBC gear issue, suit, gloves and boots). I ended up taking over another locker to fit all the stuff I got. 4 sets of Multicam, 4 Army Combat Shirts (sleeves look like normal uniform, core is under armor type stuff, meant to be worn under the body armor), 2 boots, a whole mess of cold weather gear, new helmet, pads, body armor, tons of pouches (Rifleman kit), sleeping bag and tons of other stuff. 2.5 duffle bags full all told, probably close to 10,000$ worth of stuff. I am going to keep using the ACU's until Saturday then switch to my new gear, sending the rest home.
• Friday - weapon issue, followup for medical, and mask fitting (another piece of gear I won't use, joy....)
• Saturday - Army Combatives. Way more useful than the last time I learned it. It finally added a section on fighting standing up. And now I learn that this training is being phased out....
• Sunday is an off day.

This has been a very lax training schedule. On no day did we work past 1300...

The base itself is ok. They have a shuttle that comes by every 15 minutes and covers the whole base), key since the px is 1.25 miles away and it is hot! The gym is acceptable (has at least one of most machines) and there is a .45 mile ack for sprint work (why in gods name it is that distance i have no clue) as well as closing a road for morning pt runs. Their PX is pretty nice and well stocked, as is the military clothing sales. Because they do not provide lunch other than MRE's (hot meals for breakfast and dinner) there're some options to eat. There is an AAFES Grill, pizza delivery, and even food trailers (a burger stand, southern cuisine (lots of gravy), fried seafood (yum, catfish!), burritos). And the cadre are allowing us MWR runs to town, to the mall, walmart and the movie theater (1 during the week(4hr), one on the weekend(6hr)) so that makes things more tolerable. Only bummer is very limited Internet. Just a handful of computers and only one place far away that has wifi( only place to hook up your own computer).

I sleep a lot... And talk to my fellow Soldiers, some of these guys have done 3-4 tours and are close to retirement.

And anyone discovering this before heading to this place really needs to figure out and complete all the online training that this place requires. My unit had me do it when I was first mobbing up and it is kind of a relief to not be stressing systems being down or completing the classes while here.

Getting Real

So deployment became real again just before this past weekend. The email came in with the deployment orders and flight plans (of course they schedule a flight at 0600 that morning down to Gulfport MS (Camp Shelby) and my fiance gets back from a work trip at 0845...). Not where I expected to go (since I am pretty sure that most everyone is gone on the way to AFG by then) but I go where they order me to.

So now I am starting to get the "this is the last time I do this for the next 10 month"-itis. I kind of thought I got this out of my system when I thought I was heading out 2 months ago, but I guess not.Even simply shopping or making dinner with my fiance give me that feeling that it is going to be a while before I can do this again. No matter how much I talk with friends who have deployed or read about it, it is the big unknown for me and at my deepest level I am not a big fan of the unknown....

Well I guess that unknown event horizon will start collapsing in just a little over a week.

Preparing to live the Vampire Lifestyle

So I have been MIA from the blog for a while now. Mainly I have been living life, getting in good food, alcohol and experiences that, other than a 2 week reprieve at some point, I will not have for the next 10-11 months. Fun things like going to Kings Dominion, celebrating my brothers birthday and eating at good restaurants.

But now the time starts to wind down, as I am rapidly approaching the tunnel that eventually I will see the light at the end of...

I do intend to blog as much as I can about my deployment (OPSEC is something that needs to be internalized) so depending on the situation I aim to keep a steady stream of updates, delayed as the situation warrants (probably all will get a solid month delay, just because that is easy to do in blogger and that really cuts down on the potential for any violation).

As to the title? That's from the fact that I have been informed that I will be working the night shift at the Brigade-led TOC that serves as a control element for the Combined Team Somewhere (normally the name of the province, protected in this case) - CTS. I get to be the Plans and Future Ops Officer in Charge (OIC) for the S-6 (Communications) shop. So other than being the only Signal Officer (SIGO) awake during that shift I also will be working very closely with the S-3 (Operations, the planning element for the unit), making sure that I read all the OPORDs (Operational Orders) with an eye toward Signal issues and also write the sections that the S-6 is responsible for. Or at least that is the plan until I get in-country.

At least I have some time to plan some additional items to bring along that may make this whole sleep during the day, have breakfast for dinner and dinner for breakfast lifestyle somewhat more tolerable. Only plus side is that it keeps me closer to DC time so communications may be easier.

Woot!

Touchdown for the boys wearing the Red, White and Blue. The Navy Seal version of Delta Force, after being ferried by Army Special Ops helo's, got to put two in the head of something who has been allowed to exist on this planet for far too long. And then the crowd goes crazy!

Late I know, but I have been busy with getting ready for this whole deployment thing.

It has given me time to see some people's reaction to death of Osama Bin Laden. I think it is funny the angst some people have about their even momentary happy reaction to this great news. I guess for me there is none, I am unabashed in my happiness that this rabid dog (and for bonus points one of his spawn) has been put down. OBL turned in his membership card to be part of the human race long ago. At this point he became something that for people like me would feel no remorse in destroying (since you kill humans and even gentle animals, you destroy diseased creatures). Perhaps that is part of my psychology, that I am able to revoke the status of human in my mind and erase any perceived guilt on my part if I ever have to pull the trigger.

Those of us who carry guns have to be able to do that. To fall back on our primal "protect my family and tribe" instinct to allow us to pull the trigger and not be destroyed psychologically. Some cases like this and most firefights that Soldiers get into is fairly easy, but when you get to more of the self-defense and Law Enforcement trigger pulling it gets more complicated.

I know there are reasons that they treated the body like they did, but in my hind brain I would have been just as happy to mount his head to the White House gates and fed the rest of the body to the hogs (because in some ways that would show we mean business and are not to be f-ed with, which the Muslim world may respect more than our constant pandering and bowing to their wishes).

Deployment

I have a week left to get most of my act here in the DC area together. I recently got engaged (see our wedding blog over at http://cupcakes-n-videogames.blogspot.com/ (yes, I smile a bit at the name, a rare burst of creativity on my part)), had LASIK (which created its own Army issues) and have been spending a god-awful amount of money on the above and a bunch of things (new laptop, bunch of hard drives (why yes, I am in fact bringing 4 1TB drives with me), an iPad, a bunch of little things (new boots, sheets, xbox, and a mess of other things)). I need to have it all lined up prior to that first formation on Wednesday morning next (ACK!!!!) week. I think most of my Army stuff is good to go.

I will be blogging this as I can, protecting a lot due to OPSEC and probably time delaying any of the Army stuff by 4-6 months (I want to write about it, but I really do believe that we should make as little as possible available to our enemies, in particular on a public resource like this blog). I have good set of people that I am heading over with and I have a neat job (I am taking a FA53A slot, which is systems automation, basically a Signal Corp Officer who is seriously geeked out and able to do technical stuff. I basically work directly for the Signal Officer (S-6) for the Brigade and serve as a technical expert for her.). I am somewhat concerned that I there is a lot of fluidity to this mission, there is far less planning and prep that I as an Army Officer have come to expect.

LASIK

Also titled, "Oh My God, I can see!"
I have by far the worst vision in my family (I was -8.5 to give people who wear contacts some perspective. I needed a special waiver to join the Army because of my visions). But, I will be the first to admit that the concept of LASIK terrifies me. I don't like the concept of touching my eyes (though in the 8 years since I have worn contacts that phobia has decreased) so the very idea that a blade or laser is going to cut open my eyes and then burn off pieces of my cornea? shudder to the max. I have thrown a live grenade and I think that I would rather do that again before this whole concept.

But the idea of wearing glasses (not contacts since I would be too paranoid about sanitation issues) for the next year while deployed to Afghanistan? Terrifying. To think that there could be some moment where I would need to see and potentially not have my glasses scared me enough to finally overcome that fear.

I had been researching LASIK for years, never coming up with sufficient pro's to outweigh the potential con's for me to take the leap. With the deployment the balance finally shifted and I moved quickly. 4 days after final notification I visited the Lasik PLUS location in Alexandria, spent the following weekend mulling it over and on Sunday I took my contacts off for the last time. I was also influenced by the fact that my Doctor had performed some 65,000 of these operations, so I figured he was up to the challenge of dealing with my horrendous vision.

The following 3 days reinforced my decision, as I spent them wearing glasses per the directions of the doctor. By Thursday I was seriously ready to not wear glasses anymore (and the thought of a year of them was very unpleasant). So I was a torn person as I had my brother drive me out and drop me off at Lasik PLUS location in Tysons. After they performed all the tests again (all for them double, triple or how-ever many times checking things out to get it right) in 2 hours I was brought into the operating room, spent less than 10 minutes in there total (weirdest part was having my vision grey out as they applied the suction to the eyes prior to the cut) and then I was done, several thousand dollars lighter but already able to see far better than I could ever recall without glasses/contacts. Another of my brothers picked me up, drove me home and, per the doctors directions, put on a sleep visor, popped some Advil and took a long nap (2+ hours). Gotta love being forced to take a nap, twist my arm why don't you?

After the nap I could see an immediate difference. I continued to follow the post-op directions, putting in eye drops at the specified time (god I hate eye drops) and being fastidious about wearing sun glasses (for the first day even indoors). The follow-up the next day had them finding that my vision was 20/20 in one eye and 20/30 in the other (which surprised even them, since they had to go so far to get to that point than for the average person). I still have halo-ing to some degree as of 6 days past the event, but that can be accounted for by the significant swelling that this surgery produces (and there is mild chance I will always have some, but my night vision sucked anyway, with glasses or contacts I had halo-ing there as well).

God, we live in the future where a short time under a laser can make the (near) blind see!

Off to War

After a month of a having a strong inkling that I was on the potential list, the final word came this past Saturday. In the form of a text message I was informed that I "was in" and would be joining a unit that will soon be on it's way to Afghanistan (a mere 30 days notice to get things lined up, and then off for 2 weeks of training in VA then off to a Mob Station for further training). I just had the next year of my life blocked out via text (I did have a further conversation with my new boss later in the week, but apparently I may be an oddity in my notification (normally it comes down the chain of command but I know my new boss (former Company Commander) and I will take early notice to delayed proper channels any day).

Wow. I someone who joined post 9/11 I knew the odds were good that I would be off to somewhere, sometime. And given that I commissioned almost 3.5 year ago and have been fully qualified for 2.5, I knew this was coming. I wish I had more time but it just means that in the past week and the coming month I will be busy with tones of little tasks to make my time more tolerable.

Waiting is the worst

AKA, waiting sucks.....

I am an Army National Guard Officer. In the past 2 years I have been appraised of 3 pending deployments. The first simply evaporated. The second, just this year, basically came down to a coin flip between me and another 1LT (who I consider a pretty good friend and have worked with for the past 3+ years). Ironically that buddy will probably be going to someplace safer and for less time than me. Now I sit back (and sleep somewhat fitfully), waiting with baited breath to hear if I have been selected (I am not volunteering but if I have to go? I go. I joined after 9/11, I knew the risks (hell, the near certainty) of being deployed while in the Guard) to head with to an for an unknown duration (less than a year, they haven't said otherwise) (can I be more vague?). The notification times seem to get shorter each time. The first one was more than a year, the next was almost 6 months... the latest clocks in at a little less than 60 days notice.

My mind whirls with contingency planning, devising how I am going to handle all the things I would need to do in that timeframe. No actions are taken until things are solidified but it can be daunting to think about. From the mundane (what about my stuff? my car? my good little buddy, Link? Can I get my eyes fixed in the time before I deploy? What impact is this going to have on my career?) to the deeply personal (obviously CG and I will be having a long conversation on what to do (and no H, I don't want to talk about it until/if it happens), the painful consideration of being away from my family so long (my brothers and their spouses/SO's, my parents, my nephew, and niece/nephew that is on the way)). Until the probability matrix collapses (sometime in the next couple of days)? I am going to my impression of an ostrich, ignore it until it becomes real.

I got on this potential deployment list because I have a good reputation. Because I have the combination of a deep understanding of the technology and the people that I have to work with. Ironically those that are less competent get a pass on this, while my hard work (and I feel that I can give my Country, my Soldiers, nothing less than my best. In my core I cannot imagine slacking when I have important jobs to do) has me in line for this dubious reward. The blessing below is one of my favorite (in particular in situations like this):

Lord grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference

Love the Run You're With 5K 2011

Okay, so first off, the race shirt just makes you sad. If you don't have a heart maybe you will find it amusing but overall I feel for the poor monkey in the picture. A monkey, pitched over in sadness, dreaming of his happy times with his GF, clutching a "Dear John" letter in one hand and glass of scotch in the other? Awe....

I totally was happy with my performance in this race. A chip time of 28:53 (9:14 pace) and a dead even gun time of 30 made for a lovely morning run along a route I have never tried. Starting out with someone managing to rip my iPhone from its pouch in the flurry of the initial start (causing me terrify people by heading backwards in the crowd to retrieve it) and a steep initial hill slowed me down a bit. I had thought I was going to walk a bit, but the only time that happened was at the water point.

Then I grabbed a drink (coconut water, bleh...) and headed back out the course to team up with Hannah. She surprised me by being far closer than I (or she) expected. All due to the return on her nemesis, a very big girl that she ofter encountered back in the pack and makes all due effort to avoid losing to. We finished her part right next to each other.

Interestingly, we owe the picture below to another blogger (or at least her BF), Liebchen of Learning to Fly. Small world... I though the girl and her BF looked familiar.....

Kinect

I feel like I am slowly heading into the future. The Wii was an incremental device (same with PlayStation's Move) where I still had to have some form of device in my hands. Now all I have to do is wave (or speak aloud).

Now that I have had 2 weeks to play with Wii-killer device? I can definitely say that the odds of me using the Wii for anything except the odd Nintendo specific game (like Mario Cart) are exceedingly low. I actually booted up the Wii last night just to get a comparison and there really is no comparison.

I have tried 4 different Kinect games and am blown away. And so is my GF, one of my long term friends, my ex-roommate and (this is important) my parents. It really is intuitive system, easy to figure out how to use and interact with it. Though most of the games are more focused on children (Kinect Adventures, Kinect Play) games like Dance Central are basically killer apps. Watching my parents dance to Lady Gaga's "Poker Face"? Pretty much made the system pay for itself (particularly when my Dad beat my Mom by almost double).

And really, anything that get people up off the couch and moving? It is a good thing for America. I have yet to use Kinect and not break a sweat.

New Kitty!

Everyone say hello to Link!

After 3 visits to the Animal Welfare League of Arlington this cute fellow finally got to me. I knew I needed to take him home when after meeting him at the second visit, on returning I was getting annoyed that people were playing with my cat. At that point it was all a matter for the paperwork.

Link is 10 months old and seriously friendly. Being both a computer geek and a gamer I eventually settled on Link (as an homage to Link of Legend of Zelda fame and of course to that eternal internet feature, a "link" (technically a hyper-link but we love short names)). He has settled in quite well and seems very happy to be at his new home.

Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Care

It must be a generational/cultural thing, but I just don't care about this whole decision one way or another, it is just a non-issue for me. I am an Army National Guard Officer and I really could care less whether my Soldiers are straight or gay (open or not). I just care that they do their job and not cause me too much trouble. Now I can see why some the Army branches (Infantry) as well as the Marine Corps overall get the heebie-jeebies about this, that is their culture and this represents a change that offends them (which is funny since I imagine that most gays would not be entering those lines of work anyway).

What is funny is how you can actually track the odds of acceptance of getting rid of DADT by age groups. My Dad? Very much against it, even though it has zero affect on his life. He seems concerned about fraternization as though this is a bigger issue with gays than hetero's. It isn't. If they have an inappropriate relationship in the field it doesn't matter whether it is the same or different sex, it is still fraternization, and will be dealt with accordingly (hell, its better since it decreases the chance of the female soldiers "accidentally" getting pregnant, having to be sent home and then everyone else having to cover down on their job).

I already work in a mixed unit, where ~15% of my unit is female. 40 years ago the concept that so many of the combat support units, which are often in the line of fire (Signal units, Military Intelligence, Military Police) would be so composed of females was considered odd. Times change. I bet you 40 years from now the fact that so many gays had to hide that fact will probably sound a bit odd too...

Federal Pay freeze

I am a federal employee. Believe it or not I am actually fine with the general idea that the COLA increases that we would get are frozen... I get it, the economy sucks, not a lot of people are getting anything resembling pay raises. I am happy that I have a job that pays well and gives me a reason to get out of bed (hard on cold days like this) as well as a feeling of satisfaction at the end of the day.

However......

In the end this was all about making a symbolic easy decision that will get lots of play while the country's leadership uses it as cover to avoid making the really hard decisions. Let's face it, Federal employees are great targets, in the grand scheme pounding on us will have virtually no political downside for the President or anyone who votes for it (does anyone really think that the vastly liberal government workforce is suddenly going to vote Republican?). And for the rest of the country we are one big stereotype of being overpaid and under-worked that, other than the military and a few other organizations, gets little love from either side of the aisle. I would be more accepting if this was part of a bigger plan to actually balance the budget.... Instead we are the sacrificial virgin who gets thrown in the volcano to show that the chief is trying to do something about the problem.

This solution is predicted to save 2 Billion dollars in FY11, 28 Billion over five years and maybe 60 Billion over the next 10 years. Sounds massive and impressive right? But what else are they really going to do? The federal deficit for FY09 was 1.42 Trillion dollars (1420 Billion....). The total federal debt? 13.856 Trillion dollars. So this move saved 0.15% of the current deficit (at best 0.45% if the end of ~ 6 Billion per year is realized). This isn't even what you can call a good start toward solving this problem that threatens every single American and our way of life.

Ask me how this feels when I see a plan that actually proposes to solve this crisis (and kills the crushing debt that looms over us). Until then all I can say is that the lava really hurts (though in the grand scheme this doesn't hurt me too much personally) and that the volcano is not satisfied with its latest sacrifice.

Walking in a Race

This is aimed at the people who plan to walk more than 2/3 of a race. Running and walking is perfectly reasonable system (I walk up some of the steeper inclines at all the water stops of most races). And this really isn't aimed at the reasonable walkers who start back in their time appropriate area. This really is for the... hmmmm... special... yeah, that's the PG word I would use.... walkers who decide that the best place to start is waaay up in front.

So, you like to walk. Good. I and most of the other people who run respect you for that. You have chosen to walk a distance longer than most Americans walk in a week and that is awesome. You could be the biggest person around but there will be no mean words or glances at you because you are trying to better yourself. Everyone has to start somewhere and it is awesome you are trying. This event has been something that you have probably planned to attend and *gasp* maybe even trained for quite some time. Really, that is awesome!

I know that some races are better than others in figuring out where to start. A lot of the bigger ones use corrals, where you look at the numbers and start in the area based on your start time. And even for the ones that don't? Do you need to start in front? No. Because if you do? All you have to do is turn around and look at all those people behind you. Those people that will have dodge around you during the first mile or so. I know that it is exciting to be up in front and see the empty road ahead and actually see the people who start the race. Its an exciting thing.

But.... I want you to take a look around you. Look at the runners who are way up in front there. They look pretty fit, don't they? And even those people behind you... They look might fit as well. Heck, as far back as you can see? They probably are all able to run far faster and longer than you can right now.

Remember how I said that I respected you? Felt pretty good, right? Want to know how you destroyed that respect in an instant? Yeah.... You guessed it. You started in the wrong place. I and a whole bunch of other runners now have to dodge your clueless ass during the first mile as things. Are we thinking nice things about you as you mosey along, often 2 or 3 abreast, forcing us to dodge and weave as we start that initial shake out? Nope. All that respect you earned by trying to better yourself is killed by the fact that you are not respecting the rules of our tribe. Because a good runner (and walkers, since there are a bunch of your people way in the back of the pack) looks around, gets in the right corral (if they are there) or just gauges the crowd and picks a fairly reasonable starting place (after a decade of running I can pick really well... I often end with the same crowd that picked at the start) based on his/her ability and the people around them.

This problem really does shake out after the first mile or so, but it really is annoying and leaves me in a less than happy mood. My brothers and I often estimate that we run at least .1-.2 miles extra at the start dodging your ass. And, yes, I probably am in fact growling/muttering at you as I run around you. And most definitely I am picking on you as there are more than a fair share of runners who deliberately choose to start at the wrong place, but.... they have to dodge you as well, which further complicates my brothers and my runs.

So please stop and engage that all too often turned off feature (at least in modern day society), show some courtesy to the people around you. Start in the right place and you will make a lot of runners out there a lot happier.

Chicago Urbanathalon

"Don't cross the streams. Why? It would be bad." - Ghostbusters

Too bad the people that run this race didn't pay attention to this directive, as, for the first time ever at a running event, I had across the flow of runners coming back from another part of the race. This is a bad idea. Along the lines of never, ever do this.... This may be the worst managed race I have ever been to, with awful pre-race communications and very few volunteers on the actual course.

Overall however it was a lot of fun. I was dirty, sweaty, bruised and bloody by the end of the race, but it was very fulfilling to cross that finish line (even if I needed a boost on the final wall). My final time was 2:15. If it was just a 10 miler (total distance was 9.75 miles) I would be quite sad with that time, but given the obstacles I find it tolerable.

And the obstacles were fun and challenging (mostly)!

• Obstacle 1: The concrete beam - not even a challenge. The Big tire - oomph. First try had me "wiley e. coyote"-ing down the side. After stepping back and figuring out I slammed myself up and then crawled over (losing one of my pins holding my number on). The little tires - not even an issue.
  
• Obstacle 2 - jersey barriers to go over, police barriers to crawl under. This was an apparently endless set of 3 of each. It was quite an endurance exercise, since you had already run 4+ miles at that point. I cut my finger at this point.
• Obstacle 3 - Crawl over cars - aborted because it was unsafe per race officials. Marine High Hurdles - whoah... There we 6 of these. I think everyone knew I was going over them (based on my war cries). A very ouchy process of hurling yourself at the target and hauling yourself over. Very proud I did these right.
• Obstacle 4 - Some sort of high/bear crawl under net - too easy for a guy who has done military low crawls for 1-200 meters. Monkey bars - Short and quick. Only holdup was some chick who froze on the last bar in front of me.

And then my left hamstring locked on me and I lurched .5 mile, stopped to pee and then moved onward.

• Obstacle 5 - Lots of stairs. Lots!!! Another holdup due to poor traffic control and obsticle management. lots of standing around in crowds moving very slowly.
• Obstacle 6 - The final obstacle. Car - Half stomped over one. Then tried to be all police show-y and slide across the next, failed and got stuck, so more clomping. Bus - Climb over net then back down. *Yawn* to anyone who has been in the military (and by that I mean Army and Marine). Wall - I did fail on the first attempt and was not too proud to accept a hand from a neighbor to get over.

I wore my Vibram Five Fingers for the race. There were about 20 people also wearing them (apparently our secret club acknowledgement is to say "nice shoes" to someone else wearing them. I learned this by the repeated call of that from the people who passed me). My feet are somewhat beat up even on Monday but in more of a just overstretched/tight perspective.

This was the first race that I have ever personally traveled for (since DC has so many great races nearby). Not sure I will do this again in the near future, but it was a lot of fun and a great way to hang with the family (3 of my 4 brothers ran it (see above pic) and the respective wives and GF's (including my GF H) came in addition to our parents.). We ate our way across the city (pizza and other assorted foods) in celebration.