Leg

Latest update on my leg and the ongoing effort to heal the stress fracture...ain't working. Unless I run on my own and not with the group I can't heal it up. There's too much pressure trying to keep up with the younger guys.

Right now I'm looking at a P2 profile which doesn't keep me from deploying but doesn't look good on the resume. I don't know if they'll keep me in the current battalion or not. We'll find out in the coming weeks.

college

Doing good so far. Next week I'm turning in my last paper for English class. This gives me three more credits for a grand total of four credits toward my degree. Yeah! I'm on my way.

Already signed of for an Introduction to Computers course. (Shouldn't be too hard for me, but it's on the list of requirements)

The goats are just a funny picture of animals who have nothing better to do.

Army White Noise

What is it about the end of the weekend in the military that frustrates us so much? It is the promise of Physical Training coming the next day. The bulk of injuries in the Army appear to be focused on the legs. Not really a surprise to someone whose leg won’t heal because he is constantly on them running and marching. Does anyone in the military hierarchy think that maybe we shouldn’t be running so much?

I understand that we need to keep physically fit but how about in moderation? To those who would join the military later in life, make sure you can do a lot of running. PT is the white noise of military life, the constant, even above deploying and getting shot at.

The PT in the morning is pretty much the main reason I will not be re-inlisting. My old body can’t keep up with those who are younger or who have spent their entire lives in the Army.

Specialist

Haven't got my official rank yet but at least I'm being paid the Specialist rate. So I got that going for me.

Too many Leaves

This Thanksgiving weekend I came up to stay at my parent’s house while they are away. It’s so much nicer than hanging around a loud barracks building. I haven’t been in a house or other dwelling with a yard for quite some time. I thought I would get out and do some raking of leaves. You know help out the parents a little.

What is it about the trees that they seem to want to throw down more leaves only after you’ve finished that area? The thing was, I really didn’t mind. It’s the kind of work that one likes to do in taking care of a house, at least one who doesn’t have his own house yet. Barracks life gets boring when you have nothing to do outside like yard work.

Maybe I can get one of those small plots of grass they sell in stores and I can rake that.

It’s All In How You Look At It.

I recently read a book by Alan Weisman called ‘The World Without Us.’ In it Mr. Weisman uses his observations of what has gone on in the world once humans have left an area to explain what would happen if we all disappeared tomorrow.

He takes us into a setting in which New York’s subways would be reclaimed by nature within days. We also see what happened to a portion of a city in Cyprus that has been abandoned for close to thirty years due to politics, where plants have begun to take hold in the middle of the streets and the beach is reclaiming the coastal hotels. After talking to engineers and people in the know Alan Weisman has discovered that the earth will take over with little effort.

I know that the author intended to make us think that we are in fact destroying the planet with factories and cars and just plain living. However, after reading this book it simply made me realize that there is pretty much nothing we could do to prevent the earth from retaking our cities. In fact we are constantly fighting daily to keep buildings from falling over, roads from cracking and bridges from falling down(recently unsuccessfully).

It truly is amazing how two people can see things so differently.

Writer's Strike

Recently in Hollywood the writers and storytellers have decided to strike. They’ve been shortchanged in the money that DVD’s make nowadays. TV shows get put on DVD and make more money than they used to in syndication. However the writers are not seeing any of that money. Which is a shame since it’s the writers who do most of the creating, without them there is no story.

It is the creativity of the writer that makes the story happen. It’s their hard work and time that help to make so much money for all kinds of people both behind and in front of the camera. When an actor walks off the set they can be replaced, the same with just about everyone else involved with the production.

The writers aren’t doing this out of greed as though they are not making enough money. The argument is that for all of the hard work they’ve done they don’t see the profit that everyone else sees. The actors who robotically repeat the lines written by someone else see plenty of the money, but not the creators.

I see the same argument in all creative endeavors. Writing, Music, TV, Movies and the list goes on. I would love to get a lot of free things from the Internet, but in my view its hard to justify getting something for free when someone else has worked hard to produce it. That’s how they make their money. If I like what they put out then they deserve to charge for that service. Just like if I pay for someone to fix my computer. It’s just a different service.

I’ll miss new episodes of my shows but I have to support those who do all the work even though I don’t see them.

Blogging

The problem with not having a deadline for blogging is that I don't have a deadline for blogging. I don't have to get on a computer and post anything when I don't feel like it.

Last week was kinda boring. We just went out to the range and qualified with our weapons. It's pretty much an all day thing that includes a lot of sitting around and waiting with a few minutes of shooting thrown in for fun.

I've also been ill from the flu shot that we all got. It seems to me that actually getting the flu would have been better than the flu shot. I would have gotten rid of it by now. Of course being sick makes me not want to do a whole lot.
Do I still love my job?

Sanctuary

The Garden of Eden probably never had any stereos in it. I’m pretty sure of that since it would have been considered a sanctuary, a place where one can sit in quiet and contemplate life and do some writing or carry out some other creative exercise. I wish I had one of those around here. The nearest one for me would be my parent’s house up in Thomasville, two hours away. It’s so nice and quiet out in the middle of nowhere, well almost nowhere. In any case it’s not the barracks.

Barracks living is in many aspects worse than living in an apartment. In fact it’s kind of like living in a college dorm where most people are there to have fun and not to learn. I have no problem with people wanting to have fun, but when I’m trying to sleep at two in the morning the music and drinking get a little out of hand.

Having a place to rest and recover is important. One needs to be able to get away from everyone once in a while, especially when you spend nearly 24 hours a day with them. I’d move off post if it weren’t so convenient to be in the barracks. I’m already here and don’t have to waste time driving off post.

Sometimes being in the military is truly a surrendering of freedoms. I’ll be glad to get mine back.

I'm alive.

It was a three hour and forty minute trip but I did the 20k without falling out. My body hates me but I won't have to do it again for at least a year. Got the blisters on the feet but the newer boots kept them from getting too bad.

The course was along a road that is outside the secure area of the base. It's about three miles straight with a hill put in for 'fun', then a right turn and three more miles (although I question the measurement). Then we get our names checked off and turned around. A mile into the return I could have slept-walked back. My right leg began throbbing but the pain went away after I passed the three mile turn.

Then there's the flashing red light where two roads meet and signals the end. The problem is that you can see it two and a half miles away. 'Hey, I'm getting close.' Thirty minutes later... 'Hey, I'm getting close.' Thirty minutes later... 'Where the @#$%& is the end?! Eventually I got to the end sat down and passed out until everyone the got back.

Step Off

Four hours to go till we do our 20K. 12 miles of rucking fun. I like to think of it as golfing without the clubs, ball and with a 35 pound back pack on. We start at about nine and finish about three hours later. On the plus side, we'll have tomorrow off.