Sporatic blogging

HOME AGAIN!!!

We have made it back to Miramar!!! On Thursday the 6th of OCT at 0730 in the morning HMH-465 arrived at MCAS Miramar. They were greeted by a sea of anxious loved ones, significant others, friends, and family. Most everyone had someone there to welcome them home, and if they didn't then there was definitely enough love and admiration to go around. For somewhere around 40% this was their first deployment to Iraq and their first homecoming. This will be something that they will remember for the rest of their military careers.

I know, I know!!! I'm lousy at keeping on top of my blog page now that I'm back in the rear. But do not worry. I shall be back to at least weekly musings in a short time. Right now I'm trying to spice up the blog. One of my fellow corspman is helping me with backgrounds and skins. I hope to be up and running by the end of next week. So until the next time I get around to it.

Joshua

So there I was...

I'm truly sorry for the lack of devotion I've shown to my faithful readers. The past month has just flown. With all our advanced party leaving, us getting ready to return to the states, the E-5 exam, and taking 4 days of R&R to Qatar. I haven't really had the chance to sit down and put my thoughts to the computer.

Where did I leave off? Our advanced party has made it back to the states which means we are soon to follow. The squadron that is supposed to take over for us should be here really soon and all we have left to do here in medical is pack up our records and medical books and we'll be ready for turnover. Just a few more weeks and I'll be back in the states with the woman I love, and my friends and family. Just thinking about this makes it even harder to sleep at night.

I took the exam to see if I make E-5(HM2) on the 8th of SEP. Now all I can do is sit around and wait for the results to come out sometime in the end of NOV. I studied my ass off for this exam. I studied the last half of July, and the entire month of August just reading our manuals and what not. I really think it paid off too. It's a 200 question exam that we are required to take every MAR and SEP. Each test if different and they give us bibliographies on what stuff we should review for the exam. 75-100 questions of wich have to do with job specific items, 50 questions on Navy history and heritage stuff, and then another 50 questions on things that are related to being a Petty Officer Second Class in the Navy. Out of the entire 200 questions I think I had a problem with about 10-15 of them. So like I said I fell really confident about this exam. Your score on the exam isn't the only thing that you require to advance to the next paygrade. It's a multiple of your time in rate(How long you've been an E-4), your eval which is completed annually, your award points (Points aquired for certain ribbons or medals you've recieved as an E-4), and your PNA pionts (Points awarded for taking the exam before but not making the cut off). All of these scores are tallied up and that creates your final multiple. If your final multiple reaches the cut off multiple then you are advanced to the next paygrade. If not then you get those PNA (Passed but Not Advanced) points. I think there are one or two more things that weigh on your final multiple but I'm not quite sure what those are.

So moving along... I got to go to Qatar for 4 days of R&R. It was good times once we finally got there. The groupd I went with was supposed to leave on the 10 th but our C-130 got cancelled two days in a row. Finally flew out on the 13th about 0100. I spent most of my time in Qatar at th pool or in the gym. They have a Chili's right there pool side. So most the time we just swam, played some water polo, and then ate at Chili's. The gym was amazing. From the time you walk in you'd think you were at an actual health club. The even had a spa where you could get a full body massage. I didn't partake in that though. I'll wait to get home for one of those. HINT HINT!!! Oh and let's not forget that your allowed three beers a night. Whoopee!!! Not that big on drinkin so I only drank one of my beers with dinner each night and sold the other two tickets to the guys I was with on R&R. There were some people that 3 beers were a little too much for them!!! Had a lot of pics from the whole thing but my camera was stolen from out table in the bar. One of the other guys bought a camera and took some pics the last night we were there so I'll put them up when I get them.

So that about covers what I've been doing over the past month. As for whats happening around the base here. Nothing really going on other than these idiot insurgents blowing upour water lines and shooting rockets at the base every now and then. We went almost two months without an IDF (In-direct fire) attack cause the grunts went on a forced march through the desert and found most of the insurgants ammunition. Well it seems like they have restocked and are now playing their little games again. That's O.K. though.

"They want to play games?
We'll play games!
We play our games.
Do you know why they are called our games?
Cause we always WIN!!!"

As quoted by one of my RDC's in Boot Camp.

So I have had a few requests to link some pages on my blog page. I would love to do so, but I can not do it right now. My web page is going to be undergoing some major cosmetic reconstruction. When that is complete I will put those links on here. That is all I have for now. I'll try to post a few more times before I go home. If not then I will catch you all on the flispside.

Joshua

My Two Cents...

Here I go again. I tried to sit back and not get all revved up by what's going on in the rear. But when this is the only thing that ever covers the news what do you expect. So here it is. My opinion!

Every president that is elected will be liked by some and disliked by others. Had Kerry been elected, then the supporters of Bush would have felt the way the Kerry supporters feel now. It happens every 4 years when elections come around, so whats new?

In Vietnam, there was very little support for our troops. From what my dad has told me, they came home and people said some mean stuff and did some really awful stuff. Now, it seems that everyday you hear about people supporting the troops, but not supporting the Government. People need to realize that we as a COUNTRY are at war and that we need to stick together and not go around pointing fingers every chance we get. I mean, we have people like Cindy Sheehan. She wanted to meet with the President because her son died at war? No offense, but does she forget what happens in war? We don't drop crayon bombs and throw lipstick at each other unfortunately like she may think. When her son enlisted, he knew what he was doing, so she needs to rethink things. God forbid I die. I hope my parents and family understand that I chose this as my life and as a result of making this adult decision I take on all consiquences of that decision. I for one, am thankful for each and every one of my brother and sister in arms that has joined our armed forces to serve this country. Without their service and dedication America would not be what it is today. It's sad when a soldier loses their life, but they gave it fighting for our freedom. I for one would not want to pull out of here now knowing that all those people had died in vain for us to just give up. We owe these Iraqi people. We came over and tore down their government, houses, and farms. We at least owe it to them to help rebuild.

So this is my 2 cents. Take it or leave it.

I have some question for Mrs. Sheehan. Why didn't you protest the war before the death of your son? Could it be because your son would have disowned you like your husband did?

Quote of the day...

"Before you criticize someone you, should walk a mile in their shoes.
That way, when you do criticize them, you're a mile away and you have their shoes."

Anonymous

I am in charge of putting a quote of the day on our board outside our medical space. So as I was parusing the millions of quotes out there I ran across this one. It just struck me funny. I also found another one that I was gonna put up for tomorrow, but I don't think it will fly. I just thought a little medical humor would be nice. Then my LT saw it and said there was no way we could put it on the board.

"This morning I took two exlax and one prozac.
I've been shitting my brains out all day, but damn I'm in a good mood."

Anonymous

I used to write stuff by Plato, Socrates, Nitchze, and Shakespeare. Then someone complained about them getting too philisophical for most to understand. So if anyone has a place to get dainty, cute, short, unimaginintive, and to the point, cause god forbid we use that lump three feet above our ass, I would be very thankful.

On to other things. I got to go over the wire the other day. We flew MRE's and water to another one of our forward operating base's. I also got to shoot the .50 cal again. This time the trigger wasn't as touchy. It was really wierd. Then we flew along the roadsides looking for anything that might be used as IED's. Abandoned cars and things that looked like they were out of place. All in all a pretty uneventful day. Just delivering of supplies and cruising the deserts. I only got a couple of pics from the flight because I forgot to replace the batteries in my camera. As soon as my crew chief returns my camera that I left in his bag I will get those posted.

Last night was awesome. It's those little moments that remove you from the reality, and take you to that happy place in the back of our minds that makes the time spent out here soemwhat bearable. Last nigh felt like we were back home sitting on the porch and having a real barbecue. ( That don't look like I spelled it correctly) My roommatesand I found out the PX was selling T-Bones, so we had to go get some. I'm telling you these things were huge and definitley worth the $12.00 we each spent. None of them were less than 1.5 lbs. or 1 in thick. Not to mention there was almost no fat anywhere on the entire slab of thia all american USDA grade A. The only thing we could complain about was the lack of a hops and barley product we so knowingly call beer!!! HHMMMM (Drooling) BEEEERRR!!!! Normally, if I were in the rear, I would eat my steak still mooing, but since I'm out here I decided to make sure that it was at least a little cooked on the inside. I was telling my LT all about it this morning and he told me he heard some of the medical officers complaining about the meat because they were afraid that everyone would get sick cause they didn't cook them correctly and they want to ban the PX from selling it. I understand their concerns. I do, but the PX has a piece of paper you can read about the proper handling of meat products. Just be sure that anyone that buys the meat also get this little piece of paper. It fully explains all the hazards of not preparing the meat correctly. This way they cover their ass, and if someone does get sick cause they didn't cook it right thats their problem. So I hope they don't ban this. So this is my post for the day. It may be a couple of days before I can post again. TTFN!! LOL

Joshua

Busy Times in the Sand Pit...

It's been busy around here. I've been brought back over to day crew. It was fun while it lasted, but I was starting to go nuts all by myself. So I see that no one has been able to guess the singer. How about some more hints? He was the only entertainer to be elected to both the Cowboy Hall of Fame and the Country Music Hall of Fame. In the 1970's he ran in the Republican primary for U.S. Senator in Tennessee, but lost. He was often referred to as "America's most beloved cowboy." His son was a famous actor, who just passed away last year. This should be plenty for ya'll. You now have the next 30 - 40 secs of reading the rest of my blog if you really want to know the answer.

On to other things. It seems just like yesterday that we were sending the main body of the last squadron home. Now here we are with advanced party of the next squadron getting ready to arriev. I Just keep thinking I should be home very, very soon!!! Since the Advanced party will be arriving shortly this means more time to skate off and do... That's right there's nothing to do out here!!! Even though they just built this brand new MWR center down by the coffee shop. It was open for the one night which was supposed tobe the grand opening, but when I went to return the next day the doors were locked and the lights are off. They had brand new pool tables, ping pong, poker, and foosball in one room. They had a library and internet cafe thing in another room. Last but not least they had the game center for PS2 and Xbox stuff. This place would have been so much more bearable if they had this open 6 months ago. Since they have not opened it back up then it looks like it will be sleeping in late and taking off early. That just means there will be more time to go to the gym! I have to keep my round figure. No need for it to expand into an oval. LOL. Not really! So since being out here I have collected over 1,200 pics and some where around 300 movie clips. All of various things from flying to people just sitting around in their shops. I hopetoget them posted on my pics page,but they only allow me to upload 20 mb of pics per month. Don't hold your breathe for this might take some time to get those posted.

So here it is. The answer ya'll have been waiting for......

Tex Ritter! Some of might actually know who this man is, for those of you who don't. I'm very, very sorry for the deprived chldhood you have lived. J/K .

I have to do this! I have acouple of people I read on a daily basis, and would love for any of you who read my blog, please take a minute or two to go by and check out these out.

First off is ~M She's just a southern gal with too much love to keep to herself. Not only does she put her opinions and feelings out there, but she also throws out some great recipes and quick fix ideas. She has a whole story on herself. Just head over to site and check it out. Oh yeah she isthe official President and member of the "One Letter Blogger Club"

As for the blogger formerly known as MOM. She has changed her blog title and joined the "One letter Club". She is officially known as ~K now. She just a mom trying to raise a handful of kids and a great supporter of what we are doing over here in Iraq. Not to mention she's probably my most frequent visitor!! :) Thank You!

The next two have links on my side bar.

Military Blogs- A bunch of blogs by other members of the service that are deployed or have been deployed. Just going on about our daily lives, but there are many good reads there.

Colorado Blogs- A group of people from the greatest state inthe U.S.

I think this blog has gone on long enough so now I will kill it for the day. I'll try to stay up on my posts though.

Joshua

Back Ground

Something for the background..

Do You Know?

I really do appologize. I have been slacking off for the past couple of days. To tell you the truth there is nothing happening around here to report about and I might also add I have nothing to rant nor rave about. I do however appreciate ~K a.k.a. (MOM) for plugs she's been giving to those of us she find's worthy enough to read on a daily basis!!! : x Much love. Just one thing though. I'm starting to realize that everyone I read on a daily basis has started to pull a "Prince", but instead of a symbol they've resorted to using one letter. Did Imiss a memo? Is this some special blog group that is being created? I want IN!!!! : ( Or I'll just sit outside the door of the clubhouse till you feel pity for me.

For the reals though. I had last night off and got really, really, bored sitting in the dark with no one to talk with. I was thinking about a previous blog of mine. The John Wayne one. I started thinking about when I was growing up back in Colorado, and the music my parents would always play on the radio. I grew up with Red Sovine, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Ernest T. Tubb, Marty Robbins, Conway Twitty, Johnny Paycheck, and the "Man In Black" Johnny Cash. Who my mother says that we're related to because June Carter was a cousin or some thing of the sort. Unsubstantiated claim as of yet! Those are just a few of the many names I can recall from listening to the radio as a little boy. 98.5 KYGO for the Sunday Morning Hall Of Fame.

Let me return to why I really posted today.

There's a specific kind of name for this type of song but I don't remember what it is, but that's not the question. The question is; Can you tell me who actually turned the following broadcast into a country song of sorts? Using any kind of search engine is cheating!!!!! I want to see who really knows this. I apologize to those of you who do not listen to country music especially the classics. You have no idea of what you're missing.

Gordon Sinclair's editorial broadcast from Toronto as printed in the Congressional Record:

This Canadian thinks it is time to speak up for the Americans as most generous and possibly the least appreciated people on all the earth. Germany, Japan and, to a lesser extent, Britain and Italy were lifted out of the debris of war by the Americans who poured in billions of dollars and forgave other billions in debts. None of these countries is today paying even the interest on its remaining debts to the United States. When the franc was in danger of collapsing in 1956, it was the Americans who propped it up, and their reward was to be insulted and swindled on the streets of Paris. I was there. I saw it. When distant cities are hit by earthquakes, it is the United States that hurries in to help. This spring, 59 American communities were flattened by tornadoes. Nobody helped.The Marshall Plan and the Truman Policy pumped billions of dollars into discouraged countries. Now newspapers in those countries are writing about the decadent, war mongering Americans. I'd like to see just one of those countries that is gloating over the erosion of the United States Dollar build its own airplane. Does any other country in the world have a plane to equal the Boeing Jumbo Jet, the Lockheed Tristar, or the Douglas 10? If so, why don't they fly them? Why do all the International lines except Russia fly American planes? Why does no other land on earth even consider putting a man or woman on the moon? You talk about Japanese technocracy, and you get radios. You talk about German technocracy, and you get automobiles. You talk about American technocracy, and you find men on the moon - - not once, but several times - and safely home again. You talk about scandals, and the Americans put theirs right in the store window for everybody to look at. Even their draft-dodgers are not pursued and hounded. They are here on our streets, and most of them, unless they are breaking Canadian laws, are getting American dollars from ma and pa at home to spend here. When the railways of France, Germany and India were breaking down through age, it was the American who rebuilt them. When the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central went broke, nobody loaned them an old caboose. Both are still broke. I can name you 5,000 times when the Americans raced to the help of other people in trouble. Can you name me even one time when someone else raced to the Americans in trouble? I don't think there was outside help even during the San Francisco earthquake. Our neighbors have faced it alone, and I'm one Canadian who is damned tired of hearing them get kicked around. They will come out of this thing with their flag high. And when they do, they are entitled to thumb their nose at the lands that are gloating over their present troubles. I hope Canada is not one of those.

I REPEAT. Please don't use search engines!!!

~Joshua

United Booze Federation. I'm In!!!

This is an excerpt from a magazine called "Modern Drunkard Magazine". One of my Marines brought this to my attention when I came in this afternoon. It took me a while to get through the entire because I was busting a gut every other line. Follow the link above to read the actual article. For those of us who it takes 30 min. to load a page I have copied it below.

Trudy Burnstein may call herself the Defense Minister of The Womyn’s Prohibition League but her organization is decidedly on the offense. Since its incarnation in 1998, the WPL has wracked the NYC area with protests, publicity stunts and the defacement of liquor billboards. All with a single objective in mind — smashing that beer out of your evil hand. MDM correspondent Giles Humbert III attempts to find out why.

MD: May I call you a Wipple?
TB: What?
MD: It’s a play off your acronym WPL. Wipple. As in, “The Wipples would prefer you chaps lay off the hooch.”
TB: Just say WPL.
MD: As you wish. You’re a splinter of MADD, correct?
TB: Some of us earned our stripes in the Mothers. But we always felt MADD was too conservative and wasn’t going far enough. They’re mostly just a bunch of housewives and lonely old men concerned with stopping drinking and driving, while we—
MD: Wish to stop drinking entirely.
TB: Right.
MD: Make it illegal for every human on the planet.
TB: We’re going to start with the United States.
MD: What do you think of your chances?
TB: Better and better. Everyone is starting to realize what an evil influence alcohol is, how—
MD: The majority of American adults drink, you know. How do you propose to take away something the majority enjoys?
TB: The majority jaywalk too, but that doesn’t make it right.
MD: Yes, but that doesn’t mean you should cut off their legs, does it?
TB: Why would we do that?
MD: So they can’t jaywalk. They could still jaycrawl, I suppose, then the arms would have to go.
TB: That’s somebody else’s fight.
MD: Righto. What of all the medical reports that say drinking in moderation is quite good for you?
TB: Those are falsifications.
MD: Harvard, the AMA and the Swiss, Japanese, French and British governments are all lying for some diabolical reason?
TB: They—what studies are you talking about?
MD: There’s about a hundred of them. Also, the pope drinks wine. Perhaps they’re in cahoots with the Catholics, if you’re into conspiracies.
TB: The WPL doesn’t concern itself with conspiracies.
MD: Yes, but you must realize, my dear girl, that—
TB: Don’t call me girl. I’m not a girl.
MD: I’m starting to realize that. Madam, surely—
TB: I’m not a madam, either.
MD: Believe me, I was using the term lightly. What in blazes are you then? I’m at a complete loss.
TB: I’m a womyn.
MD: You’re spelling that with a Y, I’m sure.
TB: That’s right.
MD: Fair enough. But since woman and womyn are pronounced essentially the same way, how do you know I’m not secretly using the chauvinist pig version?
TB: Oh, I’ll know.
MD: Right you are. Can I ask you to call me sir?
TB: Sir is derived from Sire and you are not my master.
MD: Ah, but there is royal blood beating through these veins, I am descended from—
TB: That’s not my fault.
MD: I should say. I see by your website’s mission statement you are also against tobacco, gambling, marijuana and pornography.
TB: That’s right.
MD: And when you say pornography, you’re including Playboy?
TB: Yes.
MD: Maxim?
TB: Yes.
MD: So you’re against anything that’s even vaguely fun.
TB: If that’s what you call fun, I feel sorry for you.
MD: Why?
TB: Because those are sad ways of having fun.
MD: Have you ever even been inside a bar?
TB: Believe it or not, we hold some of our fund raisers in bars. They’re not allowed to serve, of course.
MD: In bars? Are you sure? What are the names of these turncoat pubs? I’ll have them reported at once.
TB: Reported to who?
MD: The United Booze Federation, I should imagine.
TB: Never heard of them.
MD: You and your cronies will soon enough. Tell me, have you ever partaken in a drink?
TB: I made a lot of mistakes in college.
MD: College? Oh, you were probably swilling keg beer and wine coolers. I think if you tried a decent scotch you might change your mind about all this—
TB: The taste isn’t important. It’s what alcohol does to people.
MD: And what, pray tell, does it do?
TB: It brings out their worst.
MD: Occasionally. But it also brings out their best.
TB: The same could be said about war.
MD: So you’re against war too?
TB: Of course.
MD: Yet in your mission statement you say your group has declared actual war against alcohol and anyone who uses it.
TB: That’s right. But that’s a different kind of war.
MD: Of course. So you’re at war with me, personally.
TB: Are you a drinker?
MD: Thoroughly.
TB: Then you are my enemy.
MD: Excellent! How do you propose to attack?
TB: We are already attacking. Through the media, through awareness campaigns, through—
MD: That’s not war. That’s propaganda. Have you heavy cannon? Archers? Horsewomyn? Will you lay siege to the pubs? This could be rather exciting. I can imagine chaps about to head out for the bar, their children helping them don their armor, swords honed against immediate peril. The bartender would blow some sort of ram’s horn and the heavily armed and whiskey-emboldened drunkards would sally into the night to do battle with your poorly-trained irregulars. After thrashing the daylights out of you, we would fall back to the pub for victory cocktails, our wounds tended by sympathetic barmaids.
TB: Typical male fantasy. We’ll defeat you in the courts and Capital buildings.
MD: What a pity. That doesn’t sound nearly as exciting. Now, I’m looking at one of your posters from the WPL website. The one with the woman with the hatchet.
TB: It’s on the wall above my computer.
MD: The woman in the poster is speaking about alcohol, isn’t she?
TB: Of course. The hatchet is a traditional symbol of the womyn’s temperance movement. In the old days empowered womyn used hatchets to smash beer barrels.
MD: By the rather savage gleam in her eye, I was thinking she might be talking about castration.
TB: Hey, whatever works.
MD: Are you suggesting the threat of castration might be an effective way to get the chaps off booze?
TB: Whatever works.
MD: My Lord. I’ll be sure to wear a codpiece whenI sally forth. Were you a heavy drinker back in college?
TB: No. But many of our members are reformed alcoholics.
MD: A federation of turncoats, eh? Tell me this—if you were successful in taking away all these pleasures, what would the average citizen do after work? Read the Bible and pray?
TB: I’m an atheist.
MD: Great God! What do you do after a long day of trying to deprive people of their fun?
TB: I’m not trying to deprive people of their fun. I’m trying to save them.
MD: Save them? From what? From enjoying themselves? From excitement? From being human?
TB: From a life of misery.
MD: If you want to see misery, take the booze away. People would be crying in the streets. They’d be drinking aftershave.
TB: If they’re that dumb and weak, they deserve to be poisoned.
MD: Indeed. I must confess, I’m having a terrible time understanding your motives. Why would you care if some chap has a glass of scotch in his home? How does that affect you?
TB: I don’t think . . . what if he beats his wife and—
MD: He has no wife. There’s not a single human being in the house to thrash the daylights out of.
TB: What if he gets in a car—and don’t tell me people don’t drink and drive. A good friend of mine was killed by a drunk driver.
MD: Would you feel better if he or she was killed by a sober driver? They’re responsible for most traffic accidents, you know.
TB: With a sober driver it’s an accident.
MD: But drunk drivers do it intentionally, they prowl the streets, looking for old ladies to run over.
TB: Listen, I’ve heard all these arguments before and I’m not interested in them. Let me ask you a question—why do you drink?
MD: I find it gets me through good times and bad. For example, I’m having a scotch right now, while talking to you. And, trust me, it’s helping me immensely.
TB: Why do you go to bars?
MD: To avoid people like you.
TB: No, you go because you’re an incomplete person. Your personality needs a crutch.
MD: And what if that were true? Why would you take away a cripple’s crutch? Is anyone that cruel?
TB: It’s the only way to teach him how to walk.
MD: Perhaps he has no legs to walk on. Perhaps he’s a victim of your jaywalking campaign. I have a theory. I believe prohibitionists such as yourself are so mean-spirited simply because you’re always sober. If you actually sampled what you are so against, you’d relax and spend your lives doing something useful. It’s a conundrum wrapped in a vicious circle.
TB: You’re a jerk wrapped in an asshole.
MD: Creature, this is no way to debate.
TB: This was supposed to be an interview, not a debate. Creature?
MD: I meant it in the non-gender sense. So, because you don’t like the hooch, no one else should have any. I don’t like Barney the purple dinosaur, but I’m not prepared to assassinate him.
TB: If Barney was pushing alcohol, I’d kill him in a second.
MD: I believe you would. You are aware, I’m sure, that they’ve tried prohibition before. It failed miserably. Drinking actually went up each year of prohibition and it served to create the Mafia and gift the general public with a thorough disrespect for the law.
TB: It failed because people were more ignorant then, and the laws were not enforced aggressively enough.
MD: They were not enforced aggressively because the enforcers were drinking as much or more than those they would persecute. Where do you propose to find these new enforcers who would not take a drink?
TB: We’ve plenty of volunteers. They’ve got prohibition to work in Muslim countries.
MD: Yes, but they have Allah on their side. And would you want to live there? Women aren’t allowed to drive or vote or—
TB: I’m just saying prohibition is possible.
MD: Right. You’re based in New York. I thought that town was all about personal freedom and—
TB: Don’t worry, we’ll be coming to your town soon enough. Where are you calling from?
MD: I must confess I’m afraid to tell you. Will you bring your hatchet? Airport security is quite tight now, you know.
TB: We’ll drive.
MD: The United Booze Federation will set up roadblocks. Anyone with a hatchet or refusing to do a shot will be sent to the nearest Hooter’s for re-education.
TB: You know, it’s people like you that got me out of the bars and into the streets.
MD: Why, thank you. For the interview, I mean.

What is Patriotism?

I wonder what has happened to the patriotism that America had after the 9/11 attacks. Why is that most people only raise their flags on designated holidays or when something tragic happens. Why have we taken the Pledge of Alliegence out of schools. I remember when I was growing up how great I felt after reciting that every morning. Let's show everyone that america stands behind its soldiers. You may not be proud of our governments actions but at least be proud of the men and women who fight over here so that it may never happen over there. I want to thank those of you who never stop supporting the men and women of the armed forces.

I have something for everyone out there to read. I am abig John Wayne fan. Many years ago he recorded a record "America, Why I love Her". CindyMitchum, The daughter of John Mitchum, aquired the rights to this record and has made a CD of it. My mom had bought this CD when I came home on leave one time. I would be a liar if I said I didn't at least start to shed a tear a couple of times throughout the CD. It's a real tear jerker!!! This is one of the recordings from the CD. Read this and see if you don't get a lump in your throat, a tear in your eye, or feeling of some kind of patriotism in your heart.


I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE
TO THE FLAG OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
TO THE REPUBLIC FOR WHICH IT STANDS
ONE NATION UNDER GOD,
INDIVISIBLE,
WITH LIBERTYAND JUSTICEFOR ALL.

"I pledge allegiance to the flag"

What do those words mean to you? To me they say, "Thank you, America, for your strength, your courage and your freedom...which has been a beacon to the world for two hundred years."

"Of the United States of America"

Whose bright stars are fifty states...each bearing its own stamp of individuality. People...two hundred million strong...people who have come to her from all corners of the earth.

"And to the republic for which it stands"

A land of laws...with an ingenious system of checks and balances that allows no man to become a tyrant...and lets no group prevail...if their power is not tempered with a real concern for the governed...A land where the right of dissent and of free speech is jealously guarded...wheere the ballot box is the sword...and the people its wielder.

"One nation under God"

A land where freedom of worship is a cornerstone of her being...A land graced with temples and churches, synagogues and altars that rise in profusion to embrace all the religions of the world.

"Indivisible"

A land forged by the hot steel of raw courage...and formed forever...by the awful crucible of civil war.

"With liberty"

Where man in pursuit of an honest life will not be denied his chance...where her citizens move freely within her vast borders without hindrance or fear...A land brimming with opportunity...where freedom of choice is the guide for all.

"And justice"

The courts of our land are open to all. Its wheels of justice grind for all couses...all people. They look to every avenue for justice...every concern of the law...and they temper their reasoning with mercy...

"For all!"

I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG...
OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA...
AND TO THE REPUBLIC FOR WHICH IT STANDS...
ONE NATION UNDER GOD...
INDIVISIBLE...
WITH LIBERTY...
AND JUSTICE...
FOR ALL.

I don't believe, but...

It has to be a Karma thing. I don't really like to say bad things about people, but there is only so much you can sit by and watch silently before the Mr. Obvious is provoked. For the last two days I've been preoccupied by something else. Here's what happened. The next night after writing my previous blog about certain people. I was on my way into work and rolled my ankle. Now this wasn't one of those "I stepped off the curb wrong" or "I stepped on a rock and got off balanced". I was running for the bus and just rolled my ankle. No pot hole. No rocks. No uneven ground!!! I just rolled it. 2nd degree sprain. Though from the popping and tearing I thought I felt made me think otherwise.

The first person I see as I get to the squadron building is the CO. This is not gonna be good. So I try as much as possible to not let him notice I'm in pain. Have you ever realized how obvious you make things when you try to hide them? My best bet would have been to just stand in one place and look at the sky until he passed. Nope I couldn't do that; I had to get to work! Don't get me wrong. My CO is an awesome guy, but he just has this habit of starting a story about Cambodia everytime you talk to him. I enjoy these moments of history, but right now all I want to do is get inside and put some ice on it. Anyway, moving on.

I'm now in the office and I take my boot off to see what the damage is and in walks the LT. Not really looking to see him either. C'mon I'm a corpsman. I know what the hell to look for in this type of injury and especially know how to treat myself. Needless to say he wanted to poke and prod at it. Here come those fun parts when the medical professional pokes, pulls, prods, and twists while asking if this causes any kind of discomfort. OHHHH NOOO! I just figured I'd work on my chair dancing, technique considering I might not be able to dance out on the floor at country night!!! Yes it hurts, and your going to find out how bad if you don't stop! That's it. I spent the rest of the night on ice and good old vitamin "M".

One good thing did happen that day though. I ordered an external hard drive from an a certain online place. It has taken four weeks to get here. I know of guys who's wife sent something out last Thursday and it got here the following Fri, but the mail system is a different rant. It's finally here though. 200 Gig. Oh, this has to be that karma thing too. I have been asking the people at the PX when they expected to get some more externals in, and all I kept getting is "next week". I take it this is the only English phrase these people have even bothered to learn? Anyway, now that I had given up and bought one online what do you think I walked in and saw on the wall in the PX. 250 Gig for the same price I paid for my 200. Talk about kick in the nuts!

That's about it for my last couple days of personal hell. It's past the halfway point, but it still feels like it's uphill. For MOM , E-5 is the equivalent of SGT, or HM2 in my case. By the way, Darryl Worley's "Have you forgotten?", is exactly how it feels some days. This has sparked something for one of my upcoming blogs.

For any one else that gets the chance. Visit her blog. In her own words she says, "I Am a Proud American. I Support Our Troops. I have opinions and thoughts I like to share. I like to try to see a situation from all sides but I let my emotions get the better of me sometimes." I thank her and everyone else like her, who are behind what we're doing over here. Day in and day out. THANK YOU!

Joshua

The Halfway Point

This started out as a different post a couple days ago, but nothing ever came from it. We've finally hit that halfway point in the deployment. You would think this would be a high point in the deployment but all I can really focus on is the three more months of working for a bunch of "tool pouches"! This is not to say that everyone I work alongside with are a bunch of idiots just some of those in the leader ship positions. One in particular. Ther other one just follows. Let me illuminate on this subject.

I HATE BUSY WORK!! I don't see the point in doing something just to make time pass. I have a million other things I would much rather be doing. Studying for the E-5 exam, going to the gym, keeping up PR with my Marines, or just reading a book. I don't see the point in moving a bunch of shit outside just so we can move it back inside the next week. How aboutthis one? Clean out a storage space that belongs to some other department cause they aren't using it. This way we can move half of the stuff into that storage space. Now this becomes a space that we must maintain and keep clean. Now all of our supplies and stuff are spread out over two spaces rather than one. I think all the staff NCO's are playing their own little version of the game "RISK". Each night they go back to the barracks and they challenge each other with the roll of a Di. I don't see how we keep winning though. We are the smallest department! How do our strike points equal that of a department of 30? I have to cut this short but I'm sure there will be more to bitch about tomorrow.

Later,

Joshua

Too long and no excitement!

Wow!!! It's been a while since I have had the chance to write on here. Like I said before being put on nights is great cause I am all by myself. Well it was supposed to be that way. Then the LT thought it would be such a great idea for him to come over tonights also. AAUUUUGGGGHHHH!!! This was definitely a bad time to subside from indulging in all tobacco products. My nerves are shot! I swear I need a Q & A Board. Whenever he has a question he could write it on the board, and I'll come behind him and answer it. That way he doesn't ask the same question 20 different times in one night. If he tries thenI'll just tellhim to look at the board before he decides to ask me again. Come one! How hard is it to understand that a STS (Significant Threshold Shift) Is a average shift of 10 Db or greater in 2k, 3k, or 4k frequency, and/or a shift of 15 Db or more in any one of the frequencies. Is this so hard to understand? Really needed to get that out there.

So on to other business. They have destroyed the water pipes again. Here we are once again using bottles of water to bathe with. I just don't feel clean afterwards, so I created this little thing out of a 5 gallon bucket, a hose, and pieces from an old eye wash station. The only problem is having to crouch down in the shower stall if you want to get really good pressure because the whole thing works off of gravity. Really quite impressive if I must say. It gets the job done though.

What else have I been up to? I put a headlight on mr RC Truck so I could drive it around here at night time. It's not so much for needing to see where the hell I'm going as it is for where the hell the truck is. I know what direction I headed, but I just don't know how far out there I've gone. So I took one of those headlamps with the halogen bulbs and turned it into a headlight. I removed the bulbs and wiring and drilled the holes in the RC cars bumber then super glued everything in place. It worked OK for a sec but I think the battery pack for the light is interfering with the receiver. Have to find another place to put the battery pack. If that doesn't fix the problem then my ESC (Electronic Speed Control) is going bad.

I have decided to take a college class out here to pass the time. Algebra. Things that make you go HMMMM! I thought this would be easy. I haven't even touched a math book in a little over five years. This was very interesting. I realize now I should have just gone straight to college instead of enlisting. That way I would could use some of that stuff I retained for a little bit after high school. Now everything is Greek to me. I can't even remember basic stuff. I felt so retarded after the first class. I wanted to ask if they were offering a consumer math course instead. Now that I've been to a couple classes I feel it's coming back to me little by little. I think my grandpa said it right when I was a younger boy. "All you need to know is add, subtract, divide, multiply, and make sure no one is taking your money". I think thats the best advice I've ever received from anyone. That's it for me.

Later,

Joshua

Some more near death...

Last night was crazy! You've all seen the pictures of those sand storms right? Well last night about 2230 we had another one. This time we couldn't see it coming so we had no time to prepare. I was just sitting in the office trying to type up a plan for this Combat Lifesavers Course that I will be starting at the end of this week. When I noticed it was starting to get a little dusty. I had heard the wind blowing outside, but I really wasn't paying to much attention to it. When I decided to look out in the hallway I couldn't even see across to Maint. Control. Thena couple of the flight line guys came into maint. control and there green coveralls were now orange from the storm. One of the flight line guys said he was working on one of the birds and next thing he knew his tool cart was 3 birds down the line. Another one said he was in the gym when it hit and he tried to go back to flightline, but when he walked out of the gym he couldn't even see his hand in front of him. So he decided to come to maint. control. He said he made a complete circle around the gym tent ended up back at the entrance. So this went on for about 4-5 hours. That isn't even craziest part!

Apparently there was a C-5 that was caught in the storm, and was looking to land. If you don't already know this is by far the biggest bird the Air Force owns. Sitting in my office again using a cravat as a respirator. I hear the sounds of a plane flying overhead. All I can think is who the hell is actually flying in this storm? Come to find out this C-5 had mistaken our parking pad as the runway, and what I heard last night was the C-5 hitting full throttle and climbing before he smashed into all of our birds and took out the flight line shops. Never a dull moment around here. I haven't had the chance to download the pics from last nightbut as soon as I do you can check them out on my photopage.

This night is just starting so I'm sure I'll have more to write about by morning. Maybe I'll just hide out in Air Frames so I don't miss the "retard hours".

The People of Night Crew!!

I have been sitting here trying to write this blog for the past 2 hours. Everytime I think of something in my head it sounds good, but then when I type it up on the screen it looks and sounds completely different. I fear that I may never get this posted tonight. Screw it! I'm just gonna type it as it comes to me and hope to god it turns out OK. So, as I've said before I was brought over to night crew. These people are a strange group of individuals. I have no idea whether it's the lack of sun light or just simple pleasures for simple minds. Either way it makes for an interesting night.

It all starts out at the mess tent where you get a bunch of marines betting to see who will down 20 mustard packet in 15 secs to chasing each other around the shop with dead camel spider just to hear someone scream like a little school girl. I'm not quite sure if this has to do with the lack of sunlight altering the mental status, or just plain simple pleasures for simple minds. The Air Frames guys have come to call this the "Retard Hour(s)". This takes place everynight somewhere between 0400 and 0700. We all know this state. It's the one where you've been up for anextended period of time , and your coming down off you second wind , and all you really care about is making it back to rack before you fall asleep on your feet, or like a bum on the bench outside the tool room.

You have to constantly watch whats going on around you for the fear that you may be the next mark in someones evil little prank. God help you if your the one caught sleeping. Learn to do it with one eye open.


I don't want everyone to think that all night crew does is screw around. They just know how to have a little bit of fun just so it doesn't seem like the never ending groundhog day. I caught some of the marines in action last night performing maintanence and what not.


I want to thank air frames fro giving up a body to be my persona ldriver all night. Sells is the man!!! He drove me around in the flight line cadillac for a good portion of the night.


This is where it all ends. The sun comes up and we the night crew must say goodnight. I have my own little photo page if you would like to see more of the pics I've been taking since I've gotten to Iraq. http://www.flickr.com/people/35722325@N00 Just click on the photos link and should take you directly to my photopage.

Transition to Night Shift

So I have been brought over to the darkside now. Nightcrew!!! It's not that bad though. Gives me more time to study for my warfare and get things done that I haven't been able to do on days. Not to mention that I have no one else here with me so that saves the hassle of tripping over someone else in this small ass office! I tried to stay up all night last night so I could sleep all day today, but Mountain Dew and James Bond couldn't even accomplish that. So somewhere around 0445 this morning I fell into a comatose state after coming down off the caffiene/sugar high. But not before I got to talk to the greatest woman in the world! I Love You Brikkie!


Enough of that though. I also got to go flying for the first time the other day. Beats a day sitting around the medical spaces. I had a lot of fun. The crew chief let me test fire one of the 50 cals. Big difference from shooting off the side of the ship. It seems like all we did was fly military dogs around though. Every time we landed they were bringing more dogs onboard. I want a pet out here!! The only problem is if THEY catch you. THEY take the dogs and we all know what happens... If you don't then just keep thinking happy thoughts. :) It turned out to be a very long day though. We were told when we first took off that one of our stops was cancelled, so we spent the extra time on a couple of our stops just fooling around. But as we had just finished refueling we were informed that it was back on so we had another 2 hours of flying, and we were already over for the day. So anyway I got a couple of pics from the whole thing.


The first pic is of me test firing the 50 cal, and the other is me being the rear fire watch at the fuel pits. It is hot as hell standing right behind the exhaust. Not only is it 100+ outside but then you have the heat from the engine too. No wonder the new guy gets this position. Hey!! How come this position isn't in the syllabus?

The almost perfect morning.

So there I was, 0445 in the mornig. Already hit the snooze 3 times, so now the alarm won't go off anymore. Thinking to myself "I really don't need to get up this early. I already took a shower before bed and can brush my teeth at the shop. Go ahead sleep for another hour." First mistake of the morning yet it felt so good. Finally leave the barracks somewhere round 0615 to ride my bike to work. Beautiful morning! No wind, Not hot yet, and have brand new batteries for the MP3 player. Couldn't get much better. That's for sure!

My normal route to work is up the taxi-way right behind the squadron. No more than a 20 min ride uphill. As I reach the bottom of the hill getting ready to go up the taxi-way. I hear a very distinct sound even though I have Static-X blaring away on the head phones. "THUMP" THUMP" Kind of hollow. For those of you over or that have been over here. We all know whats about to happen. A couple of rockets have just been launched. So I start to peddle faster and look around to see if anything has landed yet. About 20 ft ahead of me I see 2 of my marines looking and running also, and out of the corner of my eye I see an explosion. The rocket landed no more than 50 yrds from where we were. I jumped off my bike and hit the deck. Thank god for the HESCO barriers, or we might have been swiss cheese! Laying there for what felt like forever I then jumped back on my Bike and headed for the squadron. No one was injured by any of this mornings rocket attacks. There was some structure damage to a couple things, but nothing serious. Other than that little piece of excitement it continues to be groundhog day all over again.

Medical and Mascots

We recently had a picture taken of the entire squadron, and Doc thought it would be great to get one of just the four of us. From left to right- LT Scull, HM3 Christie (me),
HM1 Hambrick, and HM3 Maras.

I completely forgot about putting our medical mascot up here until I found the pics I took of him when we first got out here. The flight attandants on our MAC flight from Miramar to Germany had gone out an gotten drunk the night before. While they were out they bought a lawn gnome. When I first got on the plane I noticed him chillin in one of the first class seats and tried to grab him but they just kept shoving us past to our seats so we could take off. After a 13 hour flight and swapping of clothes for the gnome. He was finally mine.

Just another lovely day in the sand box until someone decided to start throwing sand around!! This had to be one of thecoolest things I've ever seen. It was a nice beautiful day, and no wind. This thing just came out of nowhere. So I know I haven't kept my word, but it's been really hard and what not to fight back the paper cuts from verifying the medical records and getting everything situated around here. It seems like we have everything completed around here and then they find some more busy work. I really haven't had to much time to get out and visit the shops or get to many pics. So as soon as I can slip away from the drudgery of medical I will definitly get some pics of us in our enviroment.

First blog ever....

Well here it goes. My first blog ever. I just hope I can live up to my prodecessor docinthebox . As he did; I shall also do. As this is my first time in the lovely sand box known as Iraq I find quite a few things amuzing, and plan to take as many pictures as possible. I am not an avid photogapher as some so they may not be the greatest quality, but I hope you enjoy them anyway. I know the people back home would enjoy some pics of their loved ones doing their jobs and fighting to protect our nation.