Got up this morning and went out to my car for PT. There was another Christmas tree on my lawn. I actually had to look away and blink my eyes before I confirmed, that yes indeed, there was another stinkin' tree on my lawn. I was more amazed than angry at first. I just stared at it in disbelief for a minute. I also double checked for a "Central tree collection point" sign. Nope. None of that. I am still a llitle annoyed over the last tree that was dumped on my lawn. And there'...

I just got an email at work that is being circulated through military circles, as well as through the press. You can read the details here - Anheuser-Busch Honors U.S. Troops With Heroes Salute . The gist is that Anheuser-Busch is offering free admission to its theme parks between 7 Feb and 31 Dec 2005 to active duty military, active reservists, U.S. Coast Guard, National Guardsmen and as many as three direct dependents. According to the press release, this program was to be kicked ...

I enjoyed the game. I thought both sides played fairly well and don't think it was nearly as one-sided in favor of the Patriots that many people predicted. Going into the game, I was torn with feelings of apathy. While I naturally root against any dynasty-type teams and have no love for the Boston area, really, I also couldn't care less about the Eagles. While it's difficult to argue with the stats of 30/51 for 350+ yards, I just got the feeling that Donavan McNabb was off his game ye...

I was reminded of this story this morning, so I figured I'd put it down in 0's and 1's. Disclaimer - This is not an indictment of Army medicine or the many capable people that are serving in the medical field. But, it is a specific example of how things can go wrong when the wrong person tries to do the right thing... I had my wisdom teeth pulled a few years back. It was something the Army wanted to do for me for years, but because I had one tooth that was severely impacted and below th...

I went by the little base snack bar this morning. I had a craving for an icy cold soft drink, so I broke my usual coffee habit and headed down. I decided to pick up a bagel and ate it at one of the tables, while I enjoyed my drink (with ice). Just before I was done, a man came in with a similar idea (I guess) and tried to get an icy cold soft drink for himself. Well, he started loudly complaining about the fact there was no ice. Very loudly. "There's no ice! Why isn't there any ice...

So, yesterday was garbage day and in addition to towing the can out to the curb, I also hauled the Christmas tree out there, too. I had the vain hope that the garbage men would actually get out of their truck and throw my tree into the back. Nope. Apparently, they don't do that sort of thing around here. Mechanical arm grabs can, empties can into truck, returns can to curb, drives off, and repeat. But the three guys stay inside the truck (if this is the way they do it now, maybe we can ...

Don't remember the specific instance, but I did something wrong last night. I was fine after an evening run. Took a shower and put on some house clothes (old t-shirt and some pajama pants). Played a little WoW and fetch with the dogs. That's probably what did it. Bend over for the dog toy 100 times in the same exact manner and then do it wrong, just once, and bam! I started to feel it when I went to bed. It was actually painful to roll over on my back. It was really bad this morning. ...

Should have posted this sooner, but I really wanted to get my thoughts organized on this one. I have been in the military for over 12 years now. During almost that entire time, I have had various friends who were stationed/deployed in countries all over the world in varying degrees of safety. There have been times when I was that guy, living and working in a foreign land, far from family and friends, but always close in their thoughts and prayers. There are very few people that I ca...

What is it with all the crap that's on the radio these days? I've spent entire drives to or from work hitting the seek button and spinning through the radio stations to find nothing but crap. It doesn't help that Monterey has a particularly lame array of stations and terrain that makes pulling anything in dicey at best. Once I find a station that is playing something that doesn't suck, they follow it up with something like Modest Mouse. I mean, really? Modest Mouse? Musical geniuses...

Almost every morning I think about writing this and then never do. So today is the day. It seems that every day, when I take a shower, I never seem to rinse all the shampoo out of my face before I open my eyes. So, I get that burning feeling. But, when I think about how it feels, it feels like coconut, because of the scent of the shampoo. I know this is my brain confusing things, but the scent is equated to the burning feeling and so I think to myself that it burns like coconut. Odd, ...

A good friend of mine forwarded this story to me yesterday - North Korea campaigns against long hair, untidy attire . Apparently, North Korea wants its masses to leave well groomed, tidily dressed corpses after they starve to death. Also, we all know that long hair leads you downt he corrupting path of capitalism and democracy, and they don't want any of that up there. HAHA! My favorite part, and the only part I'll quote here, is this gem - "Not only health and hygiene but also intelli...

All three of you that I have left... Well, it's been a while since I posted anything other than fantasy sports updates... The easy answer and what most people would guess is that World of Warcraft is my new net mistress and I've sent JU to the curb. I wish it were that simple. While I still play WoW a fair amount of time, I worked most of the addiction out of my system during the holiday half day schedule. Two weeks of coming home and lunch time and playing until the early AM hours c...

My wife became a citizen of the United States on 30 Dec 2004. The ceremony was short but quite moving. There were about 150 other people there, so it took a bit to get everyone inside and seated. They started with some announcements and then went right into the oath ceremony. I was able to get a couple of good pictures of my wife repeating the oath. They then called forward one of the new citizens and had him lead everyone in the Pledge of Allegiance. After that, they passed out the Cer...

My wife got a letter from the CIS (formerly INS) two weeks ago. Her oath ceremony will be on 30 December 2004. So, she will be an American citizen before the year is over! We are very happy and excited. I am also very proud of the her decision and all the work and studying she put into this. Thanks to all for their thoughts, prayers, and support! My Ecosystem Details

Just joined The Truth Laid Bear ecosystem - Thanks to greywar's article about it . I tried to join yesterday, but followed the wrong link. So, now I have two things I can put at the bottom of my articles! Yay for clutter! Apparently the code to display my actual ecosystem ranking doesn't work here. But, maybe this will show up - My Ecosystem Details