Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!
One would think that as much snow as I've seen in Colorado that I would be enjoying my first white Christmas, but Colorado weather insists on being contrary. Oh well, snow is a little overrated anyway.

Dental Surgery is Fun

My mouth is slowly beginning to feel more like someone used a sharp object to pry a wisdom tooth out. I am, of course,thankful for modern dentistry techniques, since someone did actually pry a tooth out, only hours ago. Modern dentistry, despite the obvious advancements in anesthesia, is still somewhat primitive in practice. I watched in disbelief when the dentist stuck some sort of dental tool in my mouth and used it like a crowbar to pop my tooth loose. Then I listened as the tooth cracked audibly and half of it nearly went down my throat. I forced myself not to panic when the dentist and his assistant scrambled to pluck the fragment of my wisdom tooth off of my tonsil, all the while urging me not to swallow.
And that was good dental surgery.
My Dad told me the story of how once he visited a dentist for similar oral surgery (I inherited his crooked wisdom teeth along with nearly every other physical trait I own) and fled the dentist's office bleeding profusely from the gums. I am thankful that at least I didn't feel the need to get up and run in the middle of the tooth removal.

Tooth-less

I am posting here, dear reader, after having a successful (thus far anyway) dental surgery. It wasn't painful but having a tooth forcibly pried from one's head is never a pleasant experience. As I type these words the right side of my jaw, lip, and tongue are still numb. When I open my mouth to speak, I sound like a recent stroke sufferer. Saliva and blood accumulate in my mouth rapidly, and I struggle to keep from choking on my own spit. So, in other words, I am ready to celebrate the Christmas season.
MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR'S everybody!

Car Maintenance

I am very slack about car maintenance, which is why I took care to buy the extended warranty when I got my car and why I am very worried about sudden failures of my car's machinery. I constantly fret about the oil level, the transmission fluid, and tire pressure.
Naturally, my mind is next occupied with solutions for my problem and the one that keeps returning to my mind is pain. Not personal pain, although if someone where to flog me each time my car needed maintenance, my car would stay in tip-top shape all the time; but what if the car "felt" pain. People naturally respond to and understand pain in animals and other people. If a car was apparently self-aware and could express sensations of pain to its operator cars would likely suffer from fewer maintenance related problems. Apparent self-awareness isn't as difficult as it seems. (although it probably isn't as easy as I am about to make it seem) The car would only need to monitor a few critical systems to keep the operator abreast of its current maintenance needs. With the advent of low cost wireless communication, engineers could disperse sensors underneath the surface of a car's skin and in the event of an accident the car could pinpoint the damaged area of the body. Better yet, the sensors could be equipped with short-range sonar systems so that the car could "feel" how close it was to obstacles in it's path. Imagine a car that could tell you how far to back up when parallel parking! What's more interesting is that nothing I have proposed requires new technology. I don't know about the price or practicality but I bet the majority of what I have proposed could be built with off the shelf parts. Why not? I wouldn't be surprised if someone is already working on it.

A Ray of Hope Amidst The Chaos

When I saw this article on yahoo I wanted to dance. Sunni Arabs becoming involved in the Iraqi political process is that big a deal. To some it means they don't have to endure violence on television; to me, it might mean that I don't have to endure violence in person.
In other news, President Bush and Presidential Candidate McCain have struck a deal on a torture ban. For me, the deal and the potential law officially banning torture means nothing. I don't think interrogators should have tortured as many detainees as they did, but I don't think it should have ever been revealed. I agree with the official ban, but I also think there is nothing wrong with a little clandestine torture of deserving individuals on occasion. Ordinary combatants illegal or otherwise don't need special treatment, but for certain individuals I think we should break out the whips, chains, and Chinese water torture devices. Maybe even call in some of these folks to help out.

Medics to the Rescue

I was reading a lengthy article about the lack of school nurses putting children's lives in danger when I realized something: the solution is to send a medic. I could easily have handled every emergency situation listed in the article. Someone with an EMT-Basic license, while not as qualified as a nurse is cheaper and capable of handling emergency situations. The medic doesn't even need to be a full-time medic; a teacher could learn CPR, take the EMT course and provide emergency support for the students. I admit that perhaps EMT training alone would not be sufficient for someone to know how to properly administer medicine but at the very least children wouldn't die as frequently in the emergency situations listed.

First Rock For Life

This week my battalion is being re-flagged in conjunction with a change of command. Being "re-flagged" means that we are changing names. We will no long be the 1st Battalion 503D Infantry Regiment.; the battalion will now be known as 1 Battalion 9th Infantry Regiment. No more will our motto be "First Rock!" - the "Rock" is now the "Manchu". I am a little sad and a little perturbed about losing our name and identity to some battalion in the 101st Airborne Div.
The 1-503D has a storied history stretching back to World War II when the battalion was one of the original formations of the fledgling Army Airborne force. The battalion took on the name "The Rock" and the motto "First Rock" from a daring airborne assault of the rock of Corregidor in the Philippine islands. (I have always found it strange that my battalion took so much pride in the airborne portion of the assault when 1-503D actually assaulted by boat and 2-503d actually assaulted from their parachutes.) The battalion went on to fight in Vietnam as part of the 173D Airborne Brigade and was among the first US forces on the ground and among the last to leave. The 1-503D spent the years after Vietnam as part of the storied 101st Airborne Division until 1984 when the unit was deactivated. In 1986 the unit was reactivated and assigned to 2nd Brigade of the 2nd Infantry Division. In 2004 the unit deployed to Ar-Ramadi, Al Anbar province in Iraq, an area reputed to be the most dangerous place in the world at the time.
What angers me most is having to learn a new unit history. I thought I had taken my last history class in college. Time to learn about the Manchu...

Back on the Information Super Highway, also why I hate Paypal

I finally have internet in my room. Getting high speed internet in my room has been a long time coming and I can't tell you how much I have missed it. I might even save money since I have been burning precious fuel driving to the library to get internet access or renting expensive hotel rooms so that I could log on. Really...
The other thing I wanted to do is voice my displeasure with Paypal. I don't just hate them - I detest them. I loathe the very air the employees of Paypal breathe. I dislike the company with the intensity of a million suns. I want to find their physical address so I can burn down their buildings and dance in the ashes.
You ask me if I've had a negative experience with Paypal? How did you guess? I won't go into the shocking, gruesome details, but my beef lies with Paypal's verification process. Forgetful users like me are prone to tying up their financial information with multiple Paypal accounts among other complaints.

Christmas Shopping

I was Christmas Shopping in the mall when I noticed something interesting. The store employees at Hollister and Abercrombie and Fitch look like they could be extras on the The OC. Not just the clothes, but the hair styles and the attitudes, and well everything.
I immediately tried to extend the comparison to other stores. Banana Republic often looks like it was the costume department for the movie Mr. and Mrs Smith; Express employees look like extras for the TV show Las Vegas, with all the glittering flashy clothes they wear, and Pac Sun could have supplied the wardrobe for every surf movie made in the last ten years although it would be a skimpy wardrobe indeed.
So my idea didn't work out so well.

Get Out of Iraq or Stay In?

People who argue that America should get out of Iraq now or soon don't understand the stakes of the contest in the Middle East. If we pull out early, we lose. If we lose, terrorism will grow in Iraq and spread unchecked across the Middle East. People think that terrorists attack because American troops are in the country. These people don't understand terrorism. Terrorist attack because they can.
It is similar to having a malignant tumor. The doctor can give up and stop treatment of the tumor because of the cost but then he will probably forced to amputate the afflicted body part. In this case we cannot amputate. In our case, amputation would require complete annihilation of every living thing in the Middle East. We can pull out but only if we are prepared to nuke the people who live there. That is the only way we can contain the terrorism that is growing there.

Happy Thanksgiving

Should I ever meet Billy Cundiff in the street there might be a fight. Stupid kickers, I lost a bet because of him...
I hope everyone had a Happpy Thanksgiving.

Torture and Jarhead

I went and saw Jarhead the other day and actually kind of liked it. I noted that all the uniforms were without USMC insignia and name tapes so I am guessing someone in the Department of Defense didn't like it. The movie is anti-war and the book is anti-war but what I appreciate is that both attempt to realistically portray military life. One thing that the movie leaves out that is in the book that I feel is actually very important is the author's decided contempt for anti-war protesters. The author perhaps felt the war was unjustified but he also felt that the anti-war protesters of the time were out of touch with the issues. Which gets me back to my little war memoir, that I am writing. I work on it sporadically and I have seven short chapters complete. Maybe, I'll let ya'll read some.
There is much uproar about the CIA torturing suspected terrorists and how horrible they are for doing that. I happen to think that we should torture suspects. We should just do a better job of keeping it secret. How secret are secret prisons if the Washington Post knows about them? I honestly think that every major government in the world has engaged or is engaged in some form of torture but I think they just don't tell anyone. And what is this I read about CIA agents being unable to carry out assassinations?! I am referring to this passage from the Washington Post article cited above:

The CTC's chief of operations argued for creating hit teams of case officers and
CIA paramilitaries that would covertly infiltrate countries in the Middle East,
Africa and even Europe to assassinate people on the list, one by one.
But
many CIA officers believed that the al Qaeda leaders would be worth keeping
alive to interrogate about their network and other plots. Some officers worried
that the CIA would not be very adept at assassination.
"We'd probably shoot
ourselves," another former senior CIA official said.

What kind of secret agent can't kill people?

Like a Duck

I've been racking my brains every day since the last post looking for something to say in the next when I realized that I am like a duck - I look calm on the surface (most of the time anyway) but I am paddling madly to stay a float. And that's alll he wrote.

High Altitude Training

I have never really liked running much and moving to Ft. Carson hasn't helped much. People who had taken the APFT (Army Physical Fitness Test) here have told me that running here added at least a minute to your time. I listened but hoped I could overcome the altitude. Well, I can't.
I had a poor showing on the APFT during PLDC at Fort Hood, but I attributed that to a poor choice of diet supplement. (If I see Harvey with another one of those little red and white capsules I am going to beat him to a pulp) I ran a 14:40 2 mile and blamed it on the energy pill I popped 30 minutes before the test. I returned to Ft. Carson after two weeks and ran a 15:40 time in the 2 mile and concluded that I am just fat and out of shape. It's a shame since I had perfect scores in the push-up and sit-up events.
The one constant in my Army career has been if I can do push-ups, I can't run; if I can run, I can't do push-ups. I usually run 2 miles in around 12:30, do 70 push-ups, and 80+ sit-ups. My top priority before I leave the Army is to have all perfect scores.
Today, I did 83 push-ups, 81 sit-ups, and ran 2 miles in 15:40. My performance in the sit-up event was hindered by persistent flatulence. After 50 sit-ups the force of my abdomen contracting was forcing a steady stream of gas from my stomach. By the last ten sit-ups, I was having a fresh explosion of foul smelling gas on each repetition. The officer holding my feet and the NCO grading my performance were convulsing in a storm of giggles. The only reason I didn't laugh was because I couldn't breathe.

Is This Thing on?

I just returned from PLDC and I am not in the greatest mood. PLDC will do that to you. (Or as it is called now the Warrior Leader's Course)
I noticed that spam has made its way into the blogosphere by way of comments - which is a low down dirty shame. I think there is no one here but me and the spam artist. SUCKS!
I have exciting news involving, TV, the military, and moose testicles. Chew on that for a while.

PLDC

I am going to be in Texas for two weeks for PLDC starting Tuesday. This is one time I am not eagerly awaiting a trip to Texas.

M.I.B. (Missing In the Blogosphere)

I am back and I mad as hell. I've been M.I.B. (Missing In the Blogosphere) and I just wrote a quick post to let folks know I am back in the game. So what happens? Internet Explorer chucks it into the digital dustbin never to be seen again. I am late for softball practice, so I won't type out the list of profane things I had to say about Internet Explorer, Microsoft, this computer, and anyone else who might have been to blame for the unforgiveable incident but I want them to be on notice: you have been warned.
I'm baaaaack!

No Army In Louisiana

To those wondering why it isn’t a good idea to deploy infantry soldiers to assist in natural disasters in the continental United States, listen closely: infantry soldiers train to kill people. One of the reasons Iraq has been so difficult for us is that we can’t just kill people there. So deploying soldiers not trained for disaster relief or police work would be unfair and lead to another embarrassment for the Army. So until they tell us in advance to train soldiers and develop regular Army units for disaster relief don’t ask. We have our hands full with Iraq already. We already have units trained for the task in the National Guard. Deploy them there.

The Songs From The Year I Really Graduated

Whoops! Here is a corrected version of the last post.
The list of the 100 most popular songs of 1997.
Songs I like from that list:

• Foolish Games / You Were Meant For Me, Jewel
• I'll Be Missing You, Puff Daddy and Faith Evans
• Un-Break My Heart, Toni Braxton
• I Believe I Can Fly, R. Kelly
• How Do I Live, LeAnn Rimes
• Quit Playing Games (With My Heart), Backstreet Boys
• MMMBop, Hanson
• For You I Will, Monica
• You Make Me Wanna..., Usher
• B***h, Meredith Brooks
• Nobody, Keith Sweat
• Semi-Charmed Life, Third Eye Blind
• Barely Breathing, Duncan Sheik
• Mo Money Mo Problems, Notorious B.I.G.
• No Diggity, BLACKstreet Featuring Dr. Dre
• Hypnotize, Notorious B.I.G
• Do You Know (What It Takes), Robyn
• Honey, Mariah Carey
• Da' Dip, Freaknasty
• Where Have All The Cowboys Gone?, Paula Cole
• If It Makes You Happy , Sheryl Crow
• Everyday Is A Winding Road, Sheryl Crow
• Pony, Ginuwine
• Building A Mystery, Sarah McLachlan
• Tubthumping, Chumbawamba
• ESPN Presents The Jock Jam, Various Artists
• Don't Wanna Be A Player, Joe
• Barbie Girl, Aqua
• Let Me Clear My Throat, DJ Kool

Music From the year I graduated

This is a list of the top 100 songs from the year I graduated. I got the idea from LDH. (Check out his blog here)
My personal favorites from that year follow:

• Too Close, Next
• The Boy Is Mine, Brandy and Monica
• You're Still The One, Shania Twain
• Truly Madly Deeply, Savage Garden
• How Do I Live, LeAnn Rimes
• Together Again, Janet
• All My Life, K-Ci and JoJo
• I Don't Want To Wait, Paula Cole
• Gettin' Jiggy Wit, Will Smith
• You Make Me Wanna..., Usher
• Crush, Jennifer Paige
• Everybody (Backstreet's Back), Backstreet Boys
• I Don't Want To Miss A Thing, Aerosmith
• This Kiss, Faith Hill
• Sex And Candy, Marcy Playground
• Show Me Love, Robyn
• Tubthumping, Chumbawamba
• I Want You Back, 'N Sync
• When The Lights Go Out, Five
• Never Ever, All Saints
• I Get Lonely, Janet
• Say It, Voices Of Theory
• Come With Me, Puff Daddy
• Semi-Charmed Life, Third Eye Blind
• Lately, Divine
• Quit Playing Games (With My Heart), Backstreet Boys
• Time After Time, Inoj
• Cruel Summer, Ace Of Base
• Ghetto Supastar (That Is What You Are), Pras Feat. Ol' Dirty Bastard and Mya
• I'll Be, Edwin McCain
• Ray Of Light, Madonna
• Touch It, Monifah
• Dangerous, Busta Rhymes
• Still Not A Player, Big Punisher Featuring Joe
• Foolish Games / You Were Meant For Me, Jewel
• Love You Down, Inoj
• Heaven, Nu Flavor

**Update**

I was in the car thinking about this when I relaized that I graduated high school in 1997 not 1998. So the post should be titled "Music from the year after I graduated". Here is the right list.