There was an owl sitting in my driveway. I almost hit it with my car. Luckily I braked in time and it flew away.

Middle weekend has come and gone. Got to see my oldest friends and hang out some. However, I've finally learned that you can't go home again. We may still be able to keep in touch in today's modern interconnected world, but I really can't cling to the fantasy that it will ever be like it was. We can't just take off for a weekend and play. ( Read more... )

Austin was great and Karaoke was awesome. Thank you all for coming out. It was just what I needed. I wish I could just do that for two weeks straight ( Read more... )

Our plane landed in Dallas yesterday. As we exited on an overhead walkway, everyone in the terminal below stood up and applauded. It was actually kind of encouraging. Though I couldn't help but think of how much more cool it would be if I actually did something worthwhile over there, like went out on a patrol and had my life on the line like I ( Read more... )

This resembles me well...So I bought an arm holster for my ipod the other day so that it may accompany me on this parade of self-denial we call "diet and exercise". One of the "features" of this arm holster is the "Security Pockets" where one can store ID, credit cards, and money. Sure, it's a neat feature and all; the opening to the pockets are ( Read more... )

After much soul-searching and deliberation, I've changed my mind about going to Japan for leave, and instead I'm going back to Houston/Austin because it "Turns out not where but who you're with that really matters". Come to think of it, I don't think anybody I know listens to Dave Matthews much. Also, after further deliberation, I'm not going to ( Read more... )

Today in the Joint Operations Center, I was getting ready to leave, but my section was having its evening shift-change briefing. Well, it'd be rude of me to just walk past them, so I stood there listening to them talk about whatever it is they talk about. It all sort of just washed over me. At the end, the Battle Major went around the circle ( Read more... )

Sick, late for work, and stuck in an office job in Baghdad. And it's Monday.

If I didn't already know this year was going to suck mightily, I might be a little disheartened.

I still have no idea what I'm doing here. Yesterday I animated a little 60x60 pixel soldier doing a jig. Today I read the Rob and Elliot archives. The novelty of simply being here had worn off and I'm left with shredding papers and a creepy roommate who wakes me up in the middle of the night to ask me what kind of soap I use.

Because I volunteered for baggage detail, I got to sit in First Class all the way to Kuwait. Because I was in the back of the trailer stacking bags once we got there, I was able to Tetris the bags into place in order to fit not only our share of bags, but all the bags that wouldn't fit in the other trailer. Because I was in the back of the ( Read more... )