"Frank Loves To...

Are you ready? It's "Fun with Yahoo search" time again! This time I ran "Frank loves to" thru Yahoo search, and I got some interesting results, lot's of stuff I really didn't know I loved to do!

Frank loves to work on any piece and will take on any job. Damn straight, I like to diversify!

Frank loves to paint and does pet portraits by commission. But don't blame me if Lassie doesn't smile.

Frank loves to entertain himself with dog toys and gives his foster mom something to laugh at. I love them rawhide bones, but can someone point out just who my foster mom is?

Frank loves to get in trouble. What can I say? Life is too short to be so square.

Frank loves to share his art with others. Everyone loves those paintings of your dog.

Frank loves to build everything from locomotives to trackside accessories. My construction and mechanical abilities are legendary!

Frank loves to hear from its loyal fans and welcomes your comments. Please, form an orderly line and have your cash and credit cards ready, too!

Frank loves to share his experiences and friendships and is well-liked by all. I dare you not to love me! Seriously!

Frank loves to spend his free time enjoying the outdoors, at least when the weather is nice. You bet I do!! Screw that cold nasty weather!

Frank loves to dance, but more then that, he loves free falling. I'm not sure you can call what I do dancing. I think free falling is a better description.

Frank loves to hang out and get attention instead. Instead? Instead of what? Is there anything else?

Frank loves to sing while baking. Well, nothing makes muffin's rise like a little serenade.

Frank loves to crack on Zena and Hercules. Who doesn't? Have you seen those shows? YIKES!

Frank loves to race them motorcycles. Yep! *spits* Racin' them motorcycles sure is fun, I likes to go fast!

Frank loves to rock. You better believe it. Just add guitar!!

Frank loves to gossip.. Did you hear about my neighbor? He does NOT love to rock!

Frank loves to be close to his human friends and is quite the lap cat. Come to think of it, I am a little leery of my alien friends, they don't like it when I lay in their laps.

Frank loves to run. I can't lie about that!

Frank loves to lie about atheists. You bastards believe in God, I know it!

Frank loves to bounce around. The wonderful think about fraNky, is fraNky's a wonderful thing!

Frank loves to self-promote. I would dispute this, except for the title of this blog.

Frank loves to solve problems on his own first and then check for verification. Yes, but I only verify to make others feel good about themselves, it's not like I'm ever wrong.

Frank loves to cook and hopes to one day join the PGA tour. Yes, I whip up a mean double bogie.

Frank loves to play fetch. Woof woof!

Frank loves to take walks with his other brother-Leo, and his sister Hilde. I really don't like finding out I have more siblings, yikes.

Frank loves to fuck horny teens. This is not true, and I have the restraining orders to prove it!

Frank loves to play dress up. Only when belly makes me wear the schoolgirl outfit.

Frank loves to give Tristen Twistleman mad road head. I'm afraid that I have never engaged in oral copulation with Mr. Twistleman, in a car or otherwise.

Frank loves to contradict me. Well, considering what you are suddenly accusing me of loving, can you blame me?

Frank loves to torment Nick. Is that your name? Nick? Nick who? I may do more than torment you if this gets any worse!

Frank loves to suck cock. Uhm, no, and I'll need your last name now, Nick!

Frank loves to felch. While your at it Nick, I want your address too, and not to felch you, that is for sure!

Frank loves to throw up. Must be all that felation and felching.

Frank loves to live his favorite fantasy. Those that don't involve penises or anuses, that is for sure.

Frank loves to watch. Football, yes. Gay porn, No.

Frank loves to be tickled to wake him up. No, this is not true, and don't be trying it belly!!

Frank loves to look at Shellie's tits. Is that my neighbor's name? It's not my fault she leaves the blinds open.

Frank loves to say that I focus on white racists and think Islam is a religion of peace. What? Islam isn't peaceful? Well you'd never guess that!

Frank loves to do stuff with the kids but is definitely not into the details. Woah, I like kids but don't read too much into that!

Frank loves to bark at the world from this vantage point. Call me Ozzy!

Frank loves to scream if the comb hits even a minor snag when I comb him. Well, be gentle with my high and tight!

Frank loves to kill and he does it in absolutely unsettling ways. This is something Nick so and so is going to find out about.

Frank loves to have "those long cigars". Oh Nick, I'm going to find a totally new and unsettling way to dispatch you!

Daytona 500, "Ahh, the smell of it!"

As odd as this sounds, Elizabeth Arden is releasing a fragrance under the name of Daytona 500. I have to wonder what would happen if you sprayed this on in the bedroom?

"Honey? Do you smell that?" Woman

"Hmm, what do you mean?" Man

"Did you leave the car running in the garage? I smell gasoline, no, smells like someone burning rubber, do you smell that??" Woman

It's interesting how they'll just about sell a name on anything to make a buck these days, and even sillier, a bunch of wives are going to buy their oval track race crazy husbands this stuff for Christmas.

I think I'm going to wait for the Bass Pro Cologne line, with the innovative scents of "Trout", "Bass", and "Marlin". I just can't wait!!

Historical Truth or Feel Good Revisionist Conspiracy History?

I have been a WWII buff since junior high, when I read the Time Life World War II series of books. Joining the Army and my deployment to Iraq has given me even more admiration for the United States’ service members of WWII and the sacrifices they made for their country. Yesterday marked the 65th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese, an event that launched the United States into World War II. On December 7, 1941, at approximately 8:10 am, the USS Arizona exploded, having been hit by a 1,760 pound armor-piercing bomb dropped from a Japanese high altitude Kate bomber, that slammed through her deck and ignited her forward ammunition magazine. In less than nine minutes, she sank with 85% of her 1400 member crew of sailors and marines, a total loss.

The USS Arizona Memorial is the final resting place for many of the battleship's 1,177 crew members who lost their lives on December 7, 1941. This is the greatest loss of life on any one warship in United States history. The wreck was named a national shrine on May 30, 1962. A memorial was built across the ship's sunken remains, including a shrine room listing the names of the lost crewmembers on a marble. Every year the ever-smaller number of Arizona survivors meet for memorial services, sometimes joining with Japanese pilots from that fateful day in 1941. These veterans from the two countries have long ago set aside their differences to honor one another and the memories of those who lost their lives.

As each year goes by, there are fewer and fewer members of our armed services from World War II left, Unfortunately as time goes by, many people in the United States forget just how important a role these service members played in preserving the freedom of not only the United States, but the support of freedom for others around the globe. It should be mandatory for every man woman and child in the United States over the age of 10 to watch the first 45 minutes of Saving Private Ryan, to fully understand and appreciate the ultimate sacrifice so many service members made to protect our way of life.

Even worse though are those who choose to rewrite history not for the purpose of correction, but for the purpose of political correctiveness, as though by ‘white washing’ historical events we can avoid ‘offending’ anyone. This is a complete and total travesty not only to the memory of those who lost their lives, but a slap in the face to what their sacrifice represented. Revisionist bullshit includes those who try and say that the U.S. government knew that Japan was going to attack Pearl Harbor and ‘allowed’ it in order to stir public sentiment and ‘anti Japanese behavior’.

These same miseducated apologists also believe that there was no reason to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, instead subscribing to a completely ludicrous belief that the Japanese were ‘ready to surrender’ before the atomic bombs were dropped. There is quite a difference between the Japanese surrendering under their own terms, and the unconditional surrender that was needed by Allied forces to insure that the Japanese military machine would be dismantled to end their threat to the region.

Instead of the truth, we are given rewritten ‘feel good’ historical accounts, where it’s acceptable to hide the atrocities committed by other cultures, even when it mistakingly makes the United States the ever present ‘bad guy’ in all situations. What makes revisionists conspiracy theorists even worse, are that many of them are college professors molding the impressionable minds of students, who then go out into the world with these incorrect and completely idiotic beliefs about history.

When I see belly get up each morning, put on her uniform, and head off for duty, I am so proud of her. Those who wear the uniform represent those who came before, their sacrifices, they are the very reason that people are allowed to speak their mind, however ridiculous the beliefs that some people may have. It’s sad to think that any heroic act that might occur today can be misrepresented years from now in the name of political correction. This is truly disappointing, to have those who respresent ‘higher learning’ turn away from truth in favor of politically correctiveness, as though it’s better to lie about history than to tell the real story. History is doomed to repeat itself when we fail to remember how we got to where we are.

Pullin’ From A Dig

Well, I took the SRT4 up to Fontana, about an hour and a half drive north of San Diego, to California Speedway. They were having an open invite at the drag strips for people to bring their vehicles in and see what they can do. I have never drag raced, legally or illegally, so I thought this would be a great opportunity to try it out.

I had to leave at 4 in the morning in order to arrive by 6, when the gates were opening. They only have a set amount of cars that they let run, so to get there early is important. There were probably around 500 cars there competing, including about 30 or so SRT4s. I didn’t know anyone when I got there so I went around and visited with a few people.

Because I’d never dragged before, I went and checked out the ‘tree’, the lights that start the race, so I could figure out how everything works. Basically they have two photoelectric cells on the track, as your tires cross the first one, the first light goes on, when you cross the second one, the second light goes on and you are ‘staged’, or ready to run.

Then there are three yellow lights, and they go off, 3, 2, 1, then a green light that tells you to drop the hammer. The best basic strategy is to hit the gas right when the third yellow light turns on, because your human reaction time will cause you to have a slow start if you wait for the green.

I was able to do three runs down the strip, and I never did get a great start. On my first run, I was up against a Mustang GT, a car that is typically a couple of tenths slower than the SRT4. It was also that driver’s first time drag racing. The tree was way faster than I expected and I got bogged down at the start.

Then, as I shifted into second, YIKES, my shift knob flew off. So there I was with my shift knob in my hand, my car starting to redline, trying to think of what to do in a split second and avoid blowing my motor. I ended up dropping the knob and grabbing the stick, which felt very foreign of course (it’s hard to shift like that when you aren’t used to the ‘feel’ of the stick), and by the time I shifted into third, I was way bogged down and cost myself a lot of time.

The really bad thing about bogging down going into third gear, is that third is the monster gear for the srt4. There are very few cars on the road that can match up with the srt4 in third gear. With the turbo spooling full bore, it has a sweet spot in third gear that just won’t quit. But I went into third at low rpm due to a bad shift so it took a long time to catch up. This stunk because in second gear I was pulling hard on the Mustang, and I ended up losing to him by about 3 tenths of a second, pulling hard in 4th but without enough time to catch him.

My first drag run ever:

                 Mustang           SRT4

Reaction Time:    .788              .884

60 Foot:           2.301            2.491

330:              6.340            6.710

1/8:              9.658            10.073

MPH:              140.87(?)        74.04

1000:             12.525           .000(?)

1/4:              14.979           15.309

MPH:              91.39            92.48

I was, of course, disappointed. I wondered if I would be in the 15’s on my first run ever, but that wasn’t the way I wanted to submit to it.

For my second run, I went in with one of the other SRT4 drivers. I got a better start, but unfortunately, my shift knob flew off again, BLAH!! I recovered better, but that still goofed me up badly.

These were the stats from the second run:

                 His SRT4        My SRT4

Reaction Time:    .540             .670

60 Foot:          2.308            2.320

330:              6.060            6.667

1/8:              9.102            10.043

MPH:              81.64            74.40

1000:             11.710           .000(?)

1/4:              13.933           15.234

MPH:              101.53           94.47

On the third run, I made up my mind I was going to shift more carefully to keep that shift knob in place. I was going to run against that same SRT4 again, but he got stuck way ahead of me, so I ended up running against a Camaro. I got my best reaction time, but the Camaro just blew my doors off. I had a lot of wheel hop, and that cost me a little time. It wasn’t too bad though, and I ended up with my best run of the day.

These were my stats from my third run:

                 Camaro           My SRT4

Reaction Time:    .262             .469

60 Foot:          1.517            2.463

330:              4.404            6.452

1/8:              6.906            9.702

MPH:              97.67            76.23

1000:             9.093            12.449

1/4:              10.965           14.846

MPH:              119.82           94.01

There was a good 25 to 30 mph constant head wind, but I’m not going to blame that for my less than stellar times. I shouldn’t be too upset though, this is the first time I’ve ever done the quarter mile, so I know where I need work. My Aeroforce Pro gauge is awesome, I used it to read my first quarter mile, and it was dead on, within 1 to 2 one hundredths of a second, and right on for mph.

All in all I had a lot of fun and I learned a lot. I improved steadily throughout the day. My overall goal is to break into the 13's with my car 'as is'. I'll for sure be headed up to Fontana again sometime, I just hope they let us have more runs. I should do better. After I superglue my damn shift knob in place.

Oh, and there were some people had the new Impala SS's, and they were impressive. I thought SOMEONE might find that interesting heh heh.

The Ongoing Adventures of Sirius Satellite Radio!!!

My buddy midas bought me a lovely early Christmas/coming home gift... the Sirius satellite radio. I finally installed it when I got out here to San Diego, and I really do like the music, it has stations of rock, classical, rap, old time music, new music, comedy, news, sports, you name it.

This receiver transmits to my factory radio using FM signals. Now, typically you tune your factory radio to a spot on the FM dial that is all static, and then broadcast on that channel from the Sirius receiver. This works well, unless you are in an area like San Diego, where EVERY spot on the FM dial is cluttered. If there isn't a radio station on the frequency in question, there's crossover traffic from stations on either side of that frequency.

This causes my satellite radio to sound more like AM radio than even FM, much less the crystal clear sound that digital satellite radio supposedly is famous for. On a recent trip to Arizona, the sound was crystal clear, so it's the clutter on the FM dial in San Diego that is causing the problem.

I called Sirius about the problem and they recommended an "FM modulator". So yesterday morning I went to Fry's Electronics to find one. Now, Fry's is one awesome store in terms of size and content, but I waited for 10 minutes in the car audio department, then finally went and found a manager to get some help, which seemed rather ridiculous, considering that the store had like no customers at the time. When someone finally arrived to help, I realized that an FM modulator would need a power source, which was unfortunate, because my car has only one power outlet (cigarette lighter) and it would already be used by the Sirius receiver.

The sales associate recommended a new product from Sirius, the Wired FM Modulator. For $20, this product would wire direct into your antenna port on the back of the stock radio, and then you plug your antenna into a tiny black box, and you plug a wire into the output on the Sirius receiver, for crystal clear sound, without the need for external power either.

I bought it, then took my dash all apart to get to the stock radio. As I pulled the antenna out of the back of the radio, I noticed a problem. Dodge is now using a different antenna plug than what I was accustomed to. The typical plug for antenna had always been a male plug with a smaller male plug at the end that looked like a large needle. The Dodge antenna plug, however, was a plastic male plug with a female plug in the center, looking more like a electrical plug than an antenna plug. So now I have my dash all torn apart and I can't even use the product I took the dash apart for.

No big deal right? I'll just get myself a couple of adapters for the plugs. So back to Fry's I went, and this time waited for 15 minutes for an associate to show up before going and getting another manager so I could get some help. "Oh yah we have just what you need" and the sales associate brought out the adapter, of which I would need two for the stock radio and stock antenna plug. Then I saw the price, $19 bucks a piece.

So now I was dealing with one $20 FM adapter, and two $19 adapters to make the primary adapter work. Overall the cost of the adapters was getting up to the cost of the Sirius radio itself, not to mention the cluster of wires and plugs and general clutter that I was going to have to deal with. This went beyond my tolerance for a reasonable fix to make this radio work correctly.

Because of this and the crappy service I got at Fry's, I returned the original adapter and got my money back. I called Sirius and told them that it would be in their best interest to make a version of the FM adapter that works with the newer antenna plugs, but I doubt that will make any difference. Now I'm looking to use a low power FM wire transmitter that was used with the earlier model. These are hard to find though, sold out on most of the websites I've looked at. Fortunately Sirius is selling them with some of their new sets, so I should be able to get one before too long. I can't believe it's so difficult just to get this to work right, though.

Oh Kramer...

Well, Michael Richards really stuck his foot in his mouth a few days ago, reacting to heckling by some audience members, he launched into a racially insulting tirade that sparked anger from minority leaders and members of the entertainment industry.

Now National Lampoon's has taken the clip and added it into several related clips from various Seinfeld episodes to create what they call "The Lost Seinfeld Episode".

I'm a Seinfeld fan so I thought it was hilarious. Someone did a lot of work to find all of the clips they put together, and they did a great job.

I'll Just Park Here In Your Living Room

While in Iraq I rarely watched the news, because quite frankly it was just annoying to watch the complete bullshit that CNN and others try to pass off as 'reality' about Iraq when in fact it was trumped up speculation about how much we are 'failing to show results' over there. Anyone who really believes that has quite obviously not been to Iraq and talked to any of the Iraqi people. Enough said about that.

When I was in Nebraska I watched the news quite a bit because my parents and others watched the news every day when I was growing up. When you've lived in the same area of the world for your entire life, most of all the news you watch relates to you in one way or the other because you can see something like a car crash and "Oh my, that is a bad intersection, I could have told them that!"

But now that I'm in San Diego, I don't typically watch the news because A) I don't really know much about the issues they bring up, and B) A story about a "bad wreck on the corner of Chelsae Street and Horshire Blvd" has no bearing on me because I just don't know where that's at. I'm sure if I were here long enough I would start to recognize what I see, and the stories would relate more to me.

From what I have seen on the news though, there are a lot of people out here that mistake a personal residence as just another place to park their car. I swear, every news program I've watched, maybe half a dozen or so, has included a brief story about some idiot who went crashing into someone's house. I wonder sometimes if I need to install some concrete barriers out in front of our residence to avoid these crazy California drivers who insist on smashing into houses.

I'm still getting used to the people out here. Disrespectful, rude, discourteous, need I go on? I would say the word 'polite' is just not known out here, and it's not just driving, even when you are walking somewhere they act like idiot assholes. They back up in front of you, cut in front of you to look at something, standing in the middle of aisles talking with their whole family and not moving when you are coming down the aisle. You pretty much have to get rude and say "EXCUSE ME, WOULD YOU MIND LETTING ME THRU?" like some sort of real life Garth outtake from Wayne's World or something.

Well, we were out traveling around, looking at external hard drives and other computer stuff at Fry's electronics, and we decided to go look for a place to eat. We drove around for a little bit and decided on something Italian, because I really wasn't in the mood for burgers (we ate plenty on our trip to and from Arizona) and neither of us was into Mexican or Chinese.

Then we noticed a little ApplebackClone (what I call all the cliche eateries that look alike) type Italian place called Carinos and we decided to try it out.

It was a pleasant little place done up in that 'southwestern' kind of flavor, adobe looking walls, painted a soft yellowish tan, with high beamed ceilings. It was a pleasant place, not too light, not too dark. We ordered our drinks and got the italian nachos for an appetizer. I remarked to belly that the nachos were excellent, maybe as good as Old Chicago, my favorite.

They also had all you can eat bread, and with the skillet prepared pasta meal for me, and spaghetti with meatballs for belly, we got our choice of salad or soup. I took the Ceasar and belly got "mo' naked hos" with bacon soup. Everything tasted great, and the food was wonderful, but then a little problem came up.

We finished our soup and salad and then after about five minutes the waitress brought us more bread. About five minutes later I turned to belly and wondered aloud about how long it was taking to get our main dishes out to us.

This was just the beginning, we waited for FIFTEEN MINUTES more before they finally brought out our food. From the time we ordered to when we received our main dish, it was roughly 45 minutes, a full 25 minutes of sitting with our thumbs up our asses when the salad and soup were finished.

This was really disappointing to me, because I would have no problem going back to this place to eat again, except the poor performance by either the cook or the waitress getting the order to the cook will pretty much ensure that I will never eat at Carinos ever again. They didn't even bother coming over and trying to explain what was going on, we were just left there by ourselves waiting, and waiting, and waiting. Oh well, like I said, we won't be back there, ever.

Right now job hunting is a priority, and I'll be getting into that heavily this week. I have plenty of money in savings but that's right where I want to keep that money. My goal is to buy a house when we move out of California, and if I spend much of my savings it will hurt any chance of getting a decent house, so I really don't want to do that.

I'm sure you'll hear more about California in the coming days.

At least Fry's is really cool.

Ah, California

Well, I've waited far too long to post, as usual. So, as the title of my post would give away, I am back out in San Diego now, this time living here instead of visiting. My new car is wonderful. It's loud, it has a stiff suspension, but it's a tiny bit fast. The SRT4 Neon is a delightful little car. Of course I NEVER speed, because that would be ILLEGAL! *GASP*

I'm caught now trying to switch over from living out of a bag to living normally in a residence once again. It's difficult to get away from the idea that I have to keep my shampoo and deoderant in a little bag, and clothing in a bag, etc. I attended the Marine Corps Birthday Ball with belly, but unfortunately 15 months of time away caused a few things to be forgotten, one of those things being that I had put my Army class A uniform in my locker back at my unit in Nebraska :(

So, a trip to Men's Warehouse and I went in a kick ass grey suit, the first suit I've owned since I was like maybe 12 years old. Is that sad? Not really, I have never cared for 'dressing up' but I also realize that I'm of an age where I do need one. And wow I look great, if I do say so hehehe. Okay, enough modesty.

Our trip back to the United States was interesting. We stopped off in Ireland, some of our guys got in trouble for drinking some beers (woopity doo, so they had a beer, oh well, no one got in any real trouble). Then we landed in at Ft. Campbell, and all 170 of us got herded into a really old hanger with bleachers on both sides, and sat thru a group of the 101st Airborne's homecoming, which, while kind of cool, was really awkward. You had the families for about 30 of their soldiers all looking at us with this "Who the..." look on their faces, but everyone was really cool. I got to shake hands with some general.

Then we flew into St. Louis then took a three hour bus ride to Ft. Leonardwood where we did our demobilization. It was interesting to go to two forts I had never been to, in one day. Then, at about 8 p.m. we had yet ANOTHER coming home ceremony for about another 20 troops, this time for a group of engineers from Leonardwood. Then I got to shake hands with yet another general.

Next day during our demob, I got to shake hands with the top general from Nebraska, so I shook hands with three generals in under 24 hours, oh joy of joys!! *rolls eyes* We all did medical and financial and personnel crap, of which there are going to be tons of problems later on for a lot of the soldiers because the assholes did a really shitty job taking care of us. After about 5 days, we were done, and loaded up into buses, and headed to Norfolk, Nebraska.

All the way into town, for about 3 hours of the drive in Nebraska, there were Harley Freedom riders with us, and thru every town, there were signs and flags and people at every intersction, it was amazing. Then after a short tearful ceremony in Norfolk, we were released. I visited with the father of the young man in your unit who was killed in Iraq, that was hard. Then midas, shoes, and my parents and I headed out to the Great American Steak Buffet for dinner, and afterwards my parents took my gear home and midas and I drove to Lincoln.

We got my new car out of storage, I drove it around, slowly, the engine needed to break in, then stayed the night at midas' house. belly had to wait to get leave, so I spent a few days just lounging, both with midas and at my parents, and eating too much food. Then belly arrived at the airport *YAHHH* and we spent a couple of days settling some business, then off we headed for California, with a stop at her parents along the way.

The trip was pretty fun, the car has plenty of zip to it, passing people on a two lane is just a matter of how much gas you need, I have yet to really push it as hard as it can go, even now. No real reason to be crazy. When we got to Arizona we went out with belly's parents to eat, and spent the night. Then the next day we headed back out on our trip, and arrived in San Diego at about 9 that night.

So now here I am, in the wonderful world of San Diego. Oh what wonderful weather! Oh what horrible prices, rude people, and retarded drivers with no common sense! All in all it's not too bad though, but I am working on what I hope will be a decent job, we'll see :) I can't call my friends in Nebraska at night, because when I used to call at about 8 or 9, it's midnight in Nebraska, at least they know they can call me *shrugs*

There are a lot of other things that are interesting about being out here, and I'm sure I'll get to them. I'll apologize in advance for this post, because I know it's really cryptic in some ways and has a lot of run on sentences, but I don't give a crap, I'm tired, but I AM posting, so there!! So it's time for bed.

Oh, and USC football blows!! Just a little FYI!

Out Of Iraq!!!!!

We are currently sitting in Germany, and I'm playing about 6 Euros a half hour for internet access!! The temperatures are freaking freezing. Well, 50 degrees with rain, but for all practical purposes, when you are coming from 120 degree weather then 50 is freezing to you!

We spent the last couple of weeks cleaning up and getting ready for our departure in Tallil, Iraq. A lot of people like myself sold all of the stuff in their rooms, tv, fridge, microwave, etc, to people from the new unit who were going to be moving into our rooms. Then finally, a couple of nights ago, two of our platoons hopped on C130's and got the hell out of there.

But not 1st Platoon. Our flight got pushed back 12 hours. So there we were in our totally barren rooms with everything packed up, waiting to leave again. We all sat around outside, talked amongst ourselves, read books, played cards, and were generally bored and sleepy but too excited to really lay down and get much more than a cat nap in.

12 hours goes by, once again our flight time is pushed back, another 12 hours, but this one wasn't so bad. We were all about to watch the Nebraska/Texas football game. Unfortunately it didn't go the way we wanted it to, but that's how things work sometimes. Then, FINALLY, at 0730 on the 22 of October, we were airborne in our own C130, headed for Kuwait.

Upon our arrival in Kuwait, because we had to wait for so long we ended up close enough to the departure time (to go stateside) that we didn't have to go to waiting camp, we were allowed to just ground our gear and wait for the plane to arrive. That took forever also. The plane coming in had problems, in the United States in Delaware, the tail fin 'broke off' of the plane we were supposed to be coming back in (YIKES!!!!). So instead of getting out of here at midnight it was closer to 4 in the morning. Everyone was so freaking hungry, we were about ready to start mixing water with sand and eat some grimy pudding when finally the buses arrived to take us to the plane.

So, finally, airborne again bound for the USA, and now on a layover in Germany. I'm watching everyone buy chocolate and stuff, and I'm getting hungry. Everything here is really expensive, BUT HEY!! WE ARE OUT OF IRAQ!! I'm so excited to get home and see my baby, drive my car, see my family, etc. Wow I could use a delicious Nebraska steak from one of a number of fancy places in Omaha. Oh, or perhaps Valentino's buffet. Oh, or maybe Papa John's pizza. I guess you can see where I'm currently at on Maslow's hierarchy of needs!! Oh, and sleep, I want real sleep. Sleeping on an airplane is just counerproductive, you end up with a rank mouth, a stiff neck, and drool on your chin.

BUT AT LEAST I'LL BE BACK IN CONUS IN ABOUT 12 HOURS!!! I MISS YOU ALL!! Can't WAIT to see you!!

All Around My Brain

Oh, how lovely it is when the Yankees, with their eleventy billion dollar payroll, fall to pieces in the post season, proving once again that they are indeed what is wrong with all professional sports, and also proving that all the money in the world isn’t going to buy you a championship. Having the stupidest fans in the world is also a liability, that is for sure. Now I see that Steinbrenner is going to fire Joe Torre, haha, that’s awesome, and shows just how stupid George truly is. The Yankees have won the AL East 9 times in the last 11 years and I believe 4 World Series championships, that’s pretty damn retarded but Torre will move on to a better team and show he’s a good manager, and the Yankees will end up with Lou Pinella and if not next year, then the year after, they will fail to make the post season.

As for me, being an Oakland fan has been satisfying for the last 15 years, even if it’s been fairly futile in the post season. No team since 2000 has had a better record in the second half of every season than the A’s have, that’s fun to watch. And being a small market team, the A’s don’t saturate the sport’s page, ESPN, etc, with a bunch of crap like the Yankees, like the Red Sox, to name the two idiotic teams that are always being talked about, constantly. So here’s hoping the A’s have what it takes to beat the Detroit Tigers, and extend their run further into the postseason.

I enjoy having a blog. It’s nice to be able to express yourself, and to know that people read up on what you are doing, be they your current friends, acquaintances online, people who just happen to come across your blog by chance, or people you were once friends with who you now may not talk to for whatever reason. I don’t for a moment confuse people’s concern or interest in my life with an obsession about me. Hell, if you want to have an obsession, go right on ahead, just don’t let it lead to emails, phone calls, and naked visits to my front door in the middle of the night, mmkay?

My blog is public, I could make it private if I wanted to, but that would be quite juvenile indeed. I mean, honestly, if I were to be so immature as to grouse and gripe about who reads my site, then I should probably make it private or just get rid of it altogether.
I am flattered that anyone would want to read about what I’m up to. I don’t need anyone to read my thoughts, it just reaffirms my genius, of which I’m already aware, haha. I wonder if I should get a stat counter and start obsessing over who visits my website? Then again, I have no reason to convince myself that I’m any happier or less happy than anyone else, based on something so silly as hits on my online journal. Wouldn’t it be refreshing if everyone felt the same way?

Let’s see, in other news, I’ve got about 4 days left to go here in Iraq before I fly out to Kuwait as part of the advanced party. We have a lot of work to do here though before we head out, finishing paperwork for our connex containers, paperwork for the turnover of assets to the new unit, making calls to the camp in Kuwait to get ammunition and a vehicle for the time we will be there, getting housing set up for the rest of the unit there, etc. It’s going to be a busy time to finish up the time I’ve already spent in this freaking sand box. I just can’t wait to get back.

Oh, and of course, the most important topic of the day, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE MOST WONDERFUL WOMAN IN THE WORLD!! If I were there I’d toss in spankings and cake, probably not together, hmm, but then the imagery seems quite nice, so maybe I will find a way to integrate the two upon my return. Nothing says love like icing in your ass crack, right?

Current Lyrical Ramblings

Hey, I'm feeling tired.
My time, is gone today.
You flew with suicide.
Sometimes, that's ok.
Hear what others say.
I'm here, standing hollow.
Falling away from me.
Falling away from me.

Falling Away From Me - KoRn

THE
OAKLAND
A'S
SWEEpP
THE
TWINS!!
BOOYAH!!

Soooo, needless to say, I'm pretty happy today about how the baseball playoffs are going. After 16 years of futility, never making it past the first round during the years they did get into the playoffs, the A's not only make it, they blow right past the Minnesota Twins winning 3 games in a row, sweeping the Twins right out of the playoffs.

I'd like to say I feel bad for the Twin's fans, and perhaps I do, but it's only a little, I'm just glad my team was finally able to advance. Now they have time to rest up for the American League Championship Series.

Let's just hope that the Yankees lose, the Tigers now have two chances to knock them out of the playoffs, having taken a commanding 2 games to 1 lead over them. I know baseball would hate that, and oh how they would love to have a "Subway Series" with both the New York teams in the World Series, but oh so sad, real baseball fans do NOT like the Yankees, and that's all there is to it.

Here's to the Tigers! GO DETROIT, knock those stinking bastards out of the playoffs!!

Yes, I Am Still Kickin'!!!

Okay okay, I know a while back I said I was going to be posting more to my blog then I got away from it again. I get very busy with everything going on. The person they put in charge of doing the newsletter and the yearbook found herself way behind so they put a few of us on the project to get the yearbook done, including me, when it was my project in the first place and they realized that they were not going to be able to have me doing the job with the other responsibilities I was doing.

I'm still quite annoyed with this unit. Now it appears our commander is in hot water for something. I don't know exactly what, I have to go with the rumors I have heard, but from what I understand, he attempted to put himelf in for a Combat Action Badge, which is an award that allows you to wear a patch on your uniform that shows you were involved in combat action, like the enemy was actually fighting you. This sort of badge would have been stupid in Vietnam or Korea, and especially dumb in WWII or WWI, because everyone would have had one, but in modern warfare there are so many support units that many of us don't ever see combat, the way combat used to be, so those that do end up getting this award so others will know when they see them that "Yah, I've been there and done that" so to speak.

So anyways, our commander may have put himself in for one without actually being in the convoy in question that got hit by an IED. Like I said, there are a LOT of rumors, but some people are saying that someone faked sworn statements from other soldiers and signed their names to them, and also faked a colonel's signature on the award. Then yesterday some of the guys were talking and a couple of them said that it was our XO (lieutenant) that reported the commander for making a false statement and for the other infractions associated with putting himself in for an award he did not earn.

This is particularily hard on me, because I have always had a lot of respect for our commander, having known him longer than anyone else in the unit has. I've known him for all 16 years I've been in the military, since I was in Nebraska City years and years ago, when I first joined up. He was my SGT team leader in Nebraska City and then he went to OCS to become an officer, then years later it was kind of exciting to have him as our new commander up at the Wayne unit. He has always been very professional, upbeat, and easy to talk to about problems, and straight forward about what you need to know, he doesn't bullshit you.

I had planned on writing a character reference on his behalf but given the circumstances of the incident I really don't think it would be appropriate. We lost a soldier over here to an IED, another lost his leg, and our commander is sitting in his office, accused now of putting himself in for an award and forging signatures of not only a colonel but his own men, in order to get a stupid award??? Unless he is able to justify that A) he didn't really do any of this, or B) he wasn't lying about the award, then I cannot see myself supporting him in this situation, because my opinion of him will be drastically changed. I cannot see myself doing a sworn statement on his behalf if he lied and cheated like this, especially for such a frivolous reason. My disappointment and my own character will not allow me to do that.

So, anyways, it sort of sucks when your commander does something that stupid. I am not really concerned any longer, he should have known better and this is his own bed he made. Lets see, other news... I'm going to be going to Kuwait early because i got put on a 4 man "Advanced Party" to get things ready for the rest of the unit. We'll likely be sending the containers home on ships, getting paperwork done and getting flight information, etc. There is a lot to get done, I know that much, and I also know I'm going to be really bored there too because there will be so few of us around. Look for me to be running twice a day there haha.

We are counting down less than a month left, of course I thought this some time ago, I really believed we would be getting out of Iraq by the 1st of October but I guess the unit replacing us was just not ready, didn't have enough personnel, so they ended up in Kuwait a lot longer than we did. I'm guessing I'll be stepping onto Nebraska soil on the 26th of October, after 5 days or so at Ft. Leonardwood for demobilization. That will be exciting because I have never been to "Laid Back Leonardwood" and it's where a lot of our new soldiers go to boot camp and it's where one of my sisters went.

So, anyways, as you can see, an exciting time. I just thought I needed to let you all know that I am okay. I know my favorite bathtub dwelling supersized bald buddy is probably wondering what the hell is going on, considering I haven't posted in so long. I'll work harder, again, to put up more posts. TAKE CARE!!!

THE POPE SAYS IT LIKE IT IS, ISN'T IT TIME THAT MUSLIMS STFU??

THIS JUST IN!! Remember when someone would say "Is the Pope Catholic?" when you'd ask them an obvious question? It's something my mother would always say. Well, according to a Muslim cleric, the Pope IS Jewish!! Yes, that's right folks, as this cleric put it, the Pope "...is a Zionist pig, a dirty Jew." Wow, so it's true, the Pope is NOT Catholic, sorry Mom!!

I'm sick of this BS, absolutely sick of it. The Pope called it exactly as it is. Imagine for a moment that you are the most powerful representative on Earth for a specific religion, who's leadership affects more than one billion people worldwide, and you take into account what has happened in the last 15 years, heck even the last 35 years, in the name of another religion, and you have finally had enough and you point out that radicals are using specific parts of their religion that ARE "evil and inhuman" to carry out horrible acts of atrocity.

What was stated is a FACT, a stone cold solid fact. And for those who are going to point out the Crusades and other barbaric acts by the Catholic Church, I'd say that gives the Pope even more right to speak out against what is now going on given the history of his own religion and the knowledge that one must make efforts to change within their beliefs and also work to root out evil within their own ranks, a.i. mainstream Muslims working harder to rid their religion or radical influence instead of accepting it, even supporting it thru their silence and refusal to do anything about it.

Now it's started, two churches firebombed in the West Bank, more to come, once again Muslims are going far beyond what can be considered a reasonable expectation in the current climate of the World and reacting like a culture that is some 500 years behind the times would act in response to something that is anything BUT an insult, more in fact it is calling attention to a problem that NEEDS fixing.

Oh yes, I know how some of you will attempt to twist this around, and try and point out any minor inconsistencies in the modern Christian or Catholic church in some hopeless asinine attempt to compare it to the ills currently within the Muslim religion, just give it up, okay? No religion is perfect, there are parts of the Bible that are ridiculous given modern times and these parts do not relate to today, and 99.9999% of Christians and Catholics admit this and do not riot and act like lunatics about it.

Why then are Muslims taking such an idiotic ignorant and dangerous stance on this, and why does THEIR leadership put the blame on the Pope for Islam's inability to control thru quality leadership what goes on in their own ranks?

Five Years Later

Well, happy B-Day to me. Another 9/11 has come and gone, however this one has found me, in relation to that day some 1800 days ago, in a sandy God forsaken craphole of a place from which I will leave in under 30 days from now.

So, what have we done in five years? Well, we are spending far too much fucking money on airport security, because it makes ignorant tiny brained civilians feel safer to see huge expensive machines and lots of bulletproof glass all over the place. Our military is hammering away at terrorists in the middle east (which, liberal dipshits, is one of the main reasons we haven't had to deal with them back home, but don't worry, given the nature of these inbred bunch of asshole radical morons, they'll be back), and we have a media who portrays every weakness in the United States from the Hoover Dam to Mount Rushmore out over the air waves, as though we need to give terrorists a blue print to work with from which to attack us again. Thanks, typical media assholes, you continue to ply your trade under the thin bullshit guise of "concern" when in fact it's only yellow journalism at its worst. I hope Hell has a nice place set up for you, right there beside the terrorists that you inadvertently support with your moronic practices.

So another year gone, another birthday so far from home. I thank God for my wonderful friends and for others who are concerned about me, even those who I don't get to talk to anymore. If I were home I'd have a big party and invite everyone, even that 6'6" tall Vladi Divac lookin' mother fucker who started all of this. Yes, Osama, I'm talking to you. I'm inviting you for sure, you will be the guest of honor. And if you are wondering why you are the only one in the room, that will be explained when the birthday cake, specially made with 4 lbs of C4 encased by 2000 ball bearings blows up in your face, HAPPY FUCKING BIRTHDAY TO ME!! And welcome to hell, you wanted virgins, you are going to get demonly ass raped, you piece of shit!! :) Oh birthday wishes!!

***The previous post has been brought to you by a cynical rather irritable soldier who at this point in time is a little bored and waiting for a ride out of a tiny base camp in Iraq, thank you for your time, please leave a comment or two!!

My Camera Is Annoying Me!!!

I have a wonderful camera for taking digital photos, the Olympus C-770 Ultra Zoom digital camera that belly purchased for me to take photos while I'm over here in Iraq. I have taken thousands of photos here and other than the slow rate of photo capture upon hitting the shutter button (you can't take actions shots worth a crap) there isn't much to complain about.

Well, I have a 256 card so I wanted to purchase a larger card to make a movie with, and they had a returned 1G card at the PX in Biap, so I bought it. Upon installing it, I found it will give me more than an hour of high quality 4 megapixel movie images. But then I find out that if I tried making a movie longer than a minute or so, I get a PICTURE ERROR message and it won't play either on the camera or on the computer.

I figured I would read the booklet and find out what is causing this, well, the instruction manual is a joke. It's 45 pages of typical crap made for a kindergärtners, with a bunch of illustrations that are marked out, but an appallingly pathetic problem solution section.

So, I decided to look online. I discovered in short order on a photo forum that I'm not the only one with this problem. I also found out that Olympus has a standard reply for questions about the problem, as follows:

We have confirmed the phenomenon you pointed out.
The 1 GB xD picture card is basically compatible with C-770 UltraZoom.

We have the following information that we confirmed.

* Only when recording the MPEG4 movies with sound, the phenomenon is generated.
This phenomenon does not happen besides recording MPEG4 movies with sound.

* This phenomenon is generated when you use type M 1GB xD-picture card.

Please use 1GB xD-picture card with C-770 UltraZoom excluding above conditions.

We appreciate if you could contact Olympus Europa GmbH for the further
information regarding this case.

Okay, does anyone else find this to be a little short on information, such as, why is this happening? Are you doing anything to repair it? Will a software upgrade fix it? BAH!!

This is frustrating, guess I'll just have to spend a bunch of time trying to fix this while out on the road because I really wanted to make movies of my time over here, to show everyone what it was like over here when I get back, and then long term, for grandkids someday, and beyond.

If anyone can find other information about this, or a solution by a more detailed reading of the webpage I provided, let me know. I am really short on time right now to spend hours and hours searching for a solution.

Current Lyrical Ramblings

We'll live happily ever trapped if you just save my life
Run and tell all the angels that everything is alright. . .
Fly along with me, I can't quite make it alone
Try and make this life my own

Learn To Fly - Foo Fighters

You Better Not Be Dead, Or Else!!!

I am watching the Armed Forces Network tonite. They have their own commercials on AFN, typically public service and self help type commercials, and they are usually tacky, ignorant, or just downright silly.

So why am I bringing this up? Because I just heard this on one of the AFN commercials:

"Suicide is a threat to individual readiness"

Uh, no shit, Captain Obvious? I realize it's hard to believe, but being dead is quite a detriment to your combat readiness, which is so obviously contrary to popular belief? I mean is that why you feel the need to tell us this?

Can you imagine anyone who would dare challenge this policy? I can see it now: "WHAT? You killed yourself? WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING SOLDIER??? Well, it's UCMJ action for you, you are under immediate disciplinary action, and don't even think of leaving your quarters!!! You are NEVER going to be ready to deploy at this rate!!!"

This really isn't random, either. But this is probably one of the funniest ones I've heard yet.

Oh What A Day!

Had quite the day today! We were up pretty early, around 0630, to get the first round of trucks ready to load. We were bringing back KBR fuel tankers that had been wrecked, hit by roadside bombs, small arms fire, or otherwise damaged, to transport them back down to Cedar, a giant fueling station right next to Tallil.

That probably took till about 1100, then about 20 of us got ready and headed over to the Australian Island Pool, which is actually Saddam’s pool at his palace in Biap. The pool is built entirely of tile, which was interesting. It goes from about 4 foot on one end to 6 foot on the other end, in the shape of an “L”. Not all that big, but it was still fun.

We played a little HORSE on the basketball hoop they had there, that is until some moron from another unit tried to shoot the ball from across the pool and it bounced out and then into the lake or river or whatever it is that runs around the outside of the pool. They call it the island pool because it’s basically up on a small island type thing in the middle of another body of water.

Then one of the Australian soldiers came out and yelled at us for using the medicine ball from their little tent workout room as a basketball. I for one wondered why the hell that blue ball was so damn heavy, I guess now I know why. I had to mention to everyone, that very likely Saddam peed in the very pool we were swimming in, and how awesome is that? I mean come on now, it’s Saddam’s pool, do you really think he is going to get out and use the little boy’s room? I think not.

After about 3 hours of tooling around the pool, we all headed over to the Green Bean coffee place and the 24 hour PX. They also have a Pizza Hut there. I got myself a chai frappe, whatever the hell that is, because it’s what I’ve gotten at Green Bean the other 2 or 3 times I’ve actually gone to one. Some of the other guys got pizza, some did some shopping. Then we all loaded back up in our LMTV’s and headed back to the tents on the Liberty side of camp.

Then just as we were getting back, I realized that my wallet was missing. Of course I was freaking, because we were scheduled to leave the next day and typically it takes like 2 days to get a new ID card, along with counseling statements and sworn statements and other “Hi I’m a moron who lost my ID Card” procedures.

I headed back over to where we did our shopping and couldn’t find my wallet anywhere around there, then asked at the MP station just up the road, again, no luck. So we headed up to the Mayor Cell (administrative term for the people who ‘run’ specific areas of each base here) and what do you know, some 1SG had turned in my wallet just about 2 minutes before I got there, so the E-4 hadn’t even had time to do the paperwork for it, and she just handed it to me and told me not to worry about it.

Wow, talk about a load off my shoulders, I was stressing out pretty bad. I would have had to get a new ID Card, call the bank and cancel my check card, get a new driver’s license, new military Iraqi escort card, Kuwait/Iraq driver’s license for the operation of civilian vehicles here, military driver’s license, gas mask card, M-16 weapon’s card, etc, etc. I was mostly concerned though that I would lose pictures of belly, because I just don’t have very many over here. The rest of the stuff would be relatively easy to replace. Hell, the 1SG in question didn’t even take any of my cash.

I guess what comes around goes around both ways? I have turned in a couple of wallets I found without taking the person’s money too. Maybe that’s good karma? Who knows? I was just happy to have found the damn thing.

I went to be pretty early, it had been a long day and wow was I ever beat. Our hours are so strange here, we can sleep some days from 3 in the afternoon till 1 in the morning then be up for good. Oddly enough at Biap, there are more people at the MWR and gym at 3 in the morning than there are at 1500 in the afternoon, talk about strange. That’s how it works though. I noticed they had a big wall with all the states in the USA on it. People would put a push pin in the city they are from, it was interesting looking around and seeing where people in the military had come from. I noticed a couple of interesting ones.

Current Lyrical Ramblings

We call them weak
Who are unable to resist
The slightest chance love might exist
And for that forsake it all

Standing Outside The Fire – Garth Brooks

I Want Peace And Quiet

It's never quiet here. If it's late at night or early morning or whatever, there is always the noise of trucks and humvees and diesel generators, helicopters, etc, etc, and you can never get that blissful feeling that complete and utter silence brings. Today I was sitting on the toilet and someone fired a rocket into our base and it landed nearby and shook the whole place, and of course the toilet I was sitting on. You want to talk about an instant clench of your cheeks. I want some silence!!

There are so few trees, like no grass, you can't lay on your back at night in the grass of course, and listen to the wind blowing thru the trees. And as you know there is certainly no peace here either.

I would really like to drive up into the mountains or wilderness when I get back, in my new sports car, and get out a couple of sleeping bags, and just lay on my back in the grass in the dead of night and look at the dark sky, and just take a deep breath of the pine needle and dew scented air, and play a little connect the dots with the stars. And drift off to sleep at my own leisure, without having a radio right next to my ear to update me about when we are getting back on the road, without having to worry about my next 12 hour shift to go to, without having to worry about a mortar or rocket landing in my lap and sending me away to the promised land before I'm ready to go, without stupid formations at all hours of the day or night.

I just want some 'normal' added back into my life. I want to drive down a road without looking at every pile of dirt or plastic bag or bush or dead animal wondering if someone has loaded explosives up into any of them with a remote detonator and is just waiting to kill me for no other reason than wanting to bring the typical Iraqi a better life. I want to step out my front door wearing blue jeans, a white tshirt and a nice polo or other type of shirt and go to Subway or Taco Bell or to go get a freaking beer.

I want to go to midas' house and play Need For Speed for 9 hours in a row and make monster trucks for shaner to drive around hitting cops with, I want to visit shoes' house and watch football and jump in the lake and drink more beer and piss nate off by playing poker in a completely unorthodox and ridiculous manner.

I know, all of this is coming, I'll be back soon, but wow soon can't seem to come soon enough. This place is not my idea of a nice place to live. Ever had to put moisturizing lotion on? How about on a Q Tip and then inside your ears? Now THAT is dry. Oh, you can say you've been to Baja California, or Arizona, or Mexico, or any of the other places that are within proximity to the United States, but I'm telling you right now, until you walk around with the temperature at 140 degrees and the wind turning every step into a medium powered sand blaster, you truly do not know what real heat is all about. Maybe the only good thing about not having your own vehicles to drive over here is not having to get inside and sit on seats that would very likely burn the skin off your ass cheeks, even thru denim.

I'm rambling now and I realize it, but oh well. I'm happy tonite, Nebraska won big *Yes, belly baby, sorry, football has begun, prepare for noticeable changes in my attention span on Saturdays and some Thursday nights* and I really don't have much to truly bitch about. But still, it would be nice to have some peace and quiet, and a beer, and some freaking Old Chicago nachos!!

Memorable Mike Tyson Tidbits

Most sports fans remember Mike Tyson knocking the crap out of people early on in his career. But there are also a lot of memorable quotes from Tyson:

“[He] called me a ‘rapist’ and a ‘recluse.’ I’m not a recluse.”

"Lennox Lewis, I'm coming for you man. My style is impetuous. My defense is impregnable, and I'm just ferocious. I want your heart. I want to eat his children. Praise be to Allah!"

"My main objective is to be professional but to kill him."

"I want to rip out his heart and feed it to him. I want to kill people. I want to rip their stomachs out and eat their children."

After biting Holyfield he said, "This is my career. I have children to raise. I have to retaliate. He butted me. Look at me. My kids will be scared of me."

"You're sweet. I'm going to make sure you kiss me good with those big lips. I'm gonna make you my girlfriend."

"Low blows? Low blows? Huh! Motherfucker you're fittin' to die!"

"He was screaming like my wife."

"I could have knocked him out in the third round but I wanted to do it slowly, so he would remember this night for a long time."

"I paid a worker at New York's zoo to re-open it just for me and Robin. When we got to the gorilla cage there was 1 big silverback gorilla there just bullying all the other gorillas. They were so powerful but their eyes were like an innocent infant. I offered the attendant $10,000 to open the cage and let me smash that silverback's snotbox! He declined."

"Anyone with a grain of sense would know that if I punched my wife I would rip her head off. It's all lies. I have never laid a finger on her."

"One morning I woke up and found my favorite pigeon, Julius, had died I was devastated and was gonna use his crate as my stickball bat to honor him. I left the crate on my stoop and went in to get something and I returned to see the sanitation man put the crate into the crusher. I rushed him and caught him flush on the temple with a titanic right hand he was out cold, convulsing on the floor like a infantile retard."

"There are nine million people who see me in the ring and hate my guts. Most of them are white. That's okay. Just spell my name right."

"When you see me smash somebody's skull, you enjoy it."

"I try to catch him right on the tip of the nose, because I try to push the bone into the brain."

"How dare these boxers challenge me with their primitive skills? It makes me angry. They're just as good as dead."

"My power is discombobulatingly devastating I could feel is muscle tissues collapse under my force. It's ludicrous these mortals even attempt to enter my realm."

"I just want them to keep bringing guys on and I'm going to strip them of their health. I bring pain, a lot of pain."

“I want to throw down your kid and stomp on his testicles, and then you will know what it is like to experience waking up everyday as me. And only then will you feel my pain.”

[To a female reporter] "It's no doubt I am going to win this fight and I feel confident about winning this fight. I normally don't do interviews with women unless I fornicate with them. So you shouldn't talk anymore... Unless you want to, you know."

“I ask this lady a lewd question because I'm in a lot of pain too. I have some pain I'm gonna have for the rest of my life. And (Lennox) Lewis, I'm trying to give some of that pain to ya'll."

"All praise is to Allah, I'll fight any man, any animal, if Jesus were here I'd fight him too."

“ If Jesus was here, do you think Jesus would show me any love? Do you think Jesus would love me? I'm a Muslim, but do you think Jesus would love me ... I think Jesus would have a drink with me and discuss ... why you acting like that? Now, he would be cool. He would talk to me.”

"I'm just like you. I enjoy the forbidden fruits in life, too. I think it's un-American not to go out with a woman, not to be with a beautiful woman, not to get my dick sucked”

“I may like to fornicate more than other people -- it's just who I am. I sacrifice so much of my life, can I at least get laid? I mean, I been robbed of my most of my money, can I at least get a blow job without the people wanting to harass me and wanting to throw me in jail?"

"I'm on the Zoloft to keep from killing y'all."

"I really dig Hannibal. Hannibal had real guts. He rode elephants into Cartilage."

"I guess I'm gonna fade into Bolivian."

"I have some pain I'm gonna have for the rest of my life. So every now and then I kick your fucking ass."

"I just want to conquer people and their souls."

"I can sell out Madison Square Garden masturbating."

Please Buy This Car, We Won't Try Very Hard Though To Sell It

AutoTrader.com is a website where a seller pays a fee to post an advertisement online to sell a car. Many of the cars that are advertised are at dealerships. One that caught my eye was an advertisement for a bright yellow (obviously not factory paint) 1993 Eagle Talon DL. The car had ugly seats colored yellow and black, a big silly looking spoiler wing on the back, cheap aftermarket rims, and aftermarket Walmart style fog lamps.

The 'Car Details' portion of the advertisement went as follows:

1993 EAGLE TALON STREET RACER, FAST & FURIOUS WANNABE
CAR FOR THE KID THAT HAS EVERYTHING BUT A FUNCTIONING BRAIN,
PERFECT FOR THOSE DATES WITH BIG GIRLS WEARING TIGHT CLOTHES
FOR THAT 10LBS OF CRAP IN A 5LB BAG LOOK. R U TEEN ENOUGH
TO DRIVE THIS 1? GET IN HERE WITH YOUR STEPDADS $

Wow, as soon as I read this I wanted to immediately go out and buy this car. What an amazing car this must be for someone to describe the car this way. The truly funny thing is that, according to the ad, it's a dealership selling this car, meaning someone actually paid to post this on the website.

I read further, and under the description of 'Exterior Paint', I find this:

Black
Tennessee Blue Metallic
Bright White
Banzai Blue Metallic
Bluish Red Metallic
Deep Green Pearl Metallic
Medium Quartz Metallic
Radiant Fire Red

Now, I don't see yellow listed anywhere in there, so I have to assume that, if you mix all of these colors together you get Bright Tennessee Banzai Pearl Effervescent Yellow? I guess I just don't remember my primary colors from art class as well as I should? Oh well. The ad went on further to describe the engine of the car as 'disappointing', of course bolstering my desire to buy the car even more.

Click here on 1993 Eagle Talon to read more about it, and maybe even buy this beauty, that is if I don't get to it first!!!

Another Episode of "Why Baseball Sucks"

I have such a hard time finding any real interest of value when it comes to Major League Baseball. Oh sure, I shouldn't complain too much, my Oakland A's are currently sitting on like a 9 game lead in the American League West, their largest lead since 1992, and may end up with a double digit lead by weeks end.

But in the meantime, on the other side of the American League, you have the cheating stinky Yankees making yet another run at the post season, and the Red Sox once again (save for one season of course) faltering and falling apart when crunch time hits.

An extremely frustrating aspect about the coverage of MLB by the sports media, is that the fucking Yankees and Red Sox take up probably 75% of the overall coverage and talk on local and nationwide sports shows, and it's just ridiculous. This past 3 game set where the A's swept the Red Sox is a perfect example of the stupidity of the media when it comes to the Yankees and Red Sox.

The A's are baseball's hottest team right now, with the best record in August and the best record since the break. They are 8-2 in their last 10 games and are once again making their usual yearly second half of the season push for the playoffs. Yet their wasn't even a mention in the game summary about this, or even that the A's swept the Red Sox. No, it was about how the Red Sox were 2-7 in their latest road trip and how far they have fallen off the pace from the Yankees.

Now, just to understand, I am not a Red Sox hater, I am a Yankee hater thru and thru. When the Red Sox took 4 straight from the Yankees after spotting a 3 game lead to them (which, in my opinion is far more humiliating than just a 4 game sweep), I was cheering them on. But by proximity to the Yankees, and by being arch rivals, I'm beginning to really dislike the Red Sox too.

I find myself hoping and praying year after year that the Yankees somehow do not make the playoffs, with their grotesque payroll, cheating style of 'go steal every good player we can from every other team' aquisitions, and MORONIC fans. Yet year after year the bastards get into the playoffs anyway. I am probably not the only person who would say that they would rather see the Yankees NOT make the playoffs than have the team they follow even get into the playoffs. That's how much I dislike them. They represent all that is wrong with sports.

It's likely that it will be the Yankees, Detroit Tigers, and A's winning their divisions in the American League, with the Minnesota Twins taking the wild card. I can't imagine anything that will keep the Yankees out, so again stuck watching them cheat their way into the playoffs, but of course I will laugh once again as the overpaid pile of shit franchise gets beat because they are a collection of misfit superstars, and NOT a 'team' that can actually play good enough ball to win it all.

Current Lyrical Ramblings

A manic stunning scene
I'm taking notes
Your taking me away
Into your false reality

Leech - Eve 6

H2O Anyone?

Well, we loaded up bottles of water all stacked on pallets, onto our flatbeds last night. We were out there from about 2200 till about 2 in the morning. That was okay though, it would have been so much hotter to have done it during the day.

Part of what takes so long is putting the side boards up on the trailers. We all carry enough side boards so we can make our flatbed into a cargo carrier type of trailer, but the side boards are in such crappy condition that it requires a lot of work to get them all into place, and then usually you have to use some cargo straps to secure everything.

Once that was all completed we all headed back to our tents and everyone played some poker. Now, I am a horrible poker player, and I cringe to admit this, but I forked over 30 bucks the night before last, and 40 bucks last night, in some sort of wallet lightening exercise that did nothing more than to reinforce that, yes, I do suck at poker.

I'm going to have to get myself a playstation game to learn to play the basics of the game, but I still think that going all in when I have two tens with another 10 out on the board was not a bad move, well, until the jackass to my left got himself a boat on the river, arggg!! The problem with this group of guys is that they like to go in for like 5 bucks before you see ANY cards, they are just betting on nothing, or if they have anything remotely close that might bring them a boat or flush or something, it's really irritating. And they are poor winners/losers too, bitching about everything. It's tough for me to play that way when I'm just having fun.

From now on it's back to what I was doing before: $5 limit per night, and don't play to win, just play to have fun. Oh, and don't anyone go sending me a playstation game or anything, I don't have time left here to learn the game all that well. I'll do that when I get home me thinks.

Time to go pack up my gear and get it on the truck!! Well, after the 40 minute walk back from the computer center that is :)

When Driving Is Like A Bad Video Game

I'm back out on the road again, which has been better for a couple of reasons, time goes by a lot quicker, and there are more things to do than when you are working nights, but it tends to be a lot more frightening, expecially in Bagdhad.

Bagdhad is a city of more than 6 million people, which is something a lot of people don't realize. So when you go driving around there are these HUGE buildings, and you see people standing all over, walking along the streets, even though there is a curfew, I'm certain it's difficult to enforce given the size of the city and the vast number of people who are there.

They have barricades all over the place too, probably made for vehicles not much larger than full size pickups, and there we are flying around at 45 mph down these tiny streets, weaving our way in and out of the barricades, lucky to have even 2 feet of clearence on one or the other side just to sneak thru.

It's like some sort of really bad video game, and with all the armor you wear on the ballistic vest, even the air conditioning doesn't keep you from sweating up a storm. It's just plain scary being there. As we drove thru one area there was rubbish and trash piled several feet high on both sides of the street, a place where they obviously have markets at during the day. There is no way you would be able to see a roadside bomb, it would be just too easy to hide, so you just say a little prayer and ask the Lord to please watch over you and the rest of the guys in the convoy, that it not be your time to go, that you can get thru this particular trip unscathed.

As we got to the end of that street, a blue plastic bag suddenly got sucked up and right in front of our truck, probably about the size of a medium sized garbage bag, and scared the shit out of my co driver and I. As we turned the corner and got back out on a more open stretch of road, you could hear both of us breathing hard over the whine of the turbo, and I looked over at him and he just said 'wow' quietly, and I shook my head in agreement. Little shit like that, anything that is out of the ordinary or unexpected is so damn scary here.

Thankfully we never had to stop in Bagdhad, as we have had to do sometimes in the past, because that's always an eerie feeling, you are in this HUGE city in a column of trucks that stretches sometimes for a quarter to a half mile long, lights all turned off, watching the bomb disposal units and their armored support moving along, checking suspicious areas of road. You feel like sitting ducks, and all you want to do is get a little bit of the safety that comes with moving down the road at 40 mph or so. Nothing is worse than just sitting there out in the open. Maybe that's my old infantry mindset kicking in, who knows, but I hate being a sitting duck.

Is it better to be out on the road than working at our operations at night? There really isn't a comparison. Being out on the road is what I'm trained for, but I was willing to put the hours in working nights because they needed someone to do it. What pisses me off is when I have questions about something and someone laughs about it or makes a 'Fobbit' comment (a Fobbit is someone who never leaves the FOB *forward operating base*, or in my case Tallil). I'll have more than 5000 miles on the road after this particular trip, so I'm hardly a Fobbit, so that really fucking pisses me off when I hear that, and on more than one occasion now I have had to lock someone up and let them know if I hear a specific comment from them one more time that there are going to be consequences, which isn't like me to do that but I'm fucking tired of their bullshit. Add to that the other SSG's on this trip basically leave me out of the loop on everything, and fraNk is NOT a happy camper right now.

I just keep thinking to myself that I've got about a month left in this shit hole country and then we'll be home. Oh and when we do get home I'm going to talk to JAG immediately and report a few gross violations of Army policy by my unit, things they have done that have moved others who I outrank right past me, basically stifled my ability to gain rank, and have also underutilized me here in Iraq. But that's all stuff for the future. Right now I just look forward to seeing belly again, and giving her a huge hug, and getting some semblence of normal life when I get back home. Although, our life has rarely been normal by definition of what others might consider normal, I like the quirky existence she and I share together, and I always will.

Transplanted Huskers

(A post from around the 26th of July)

Yes, it’s been a long time since I’ve posted to my journal, as someone pointed out to me the other day. Things have been relatively busy, but not so busy that I can blame my lack of intellectual interactions here on anything other than plain laziness. It’s interesting having an entire group of soldiers from one state over here, especially when that state is Nebraska. The vast majority of us are Husker fans, and then the tiny minority of those who despise the Cornhuskers, there is no in between, no one without an opinion on the issue.

That being said, it’s stinks to have to miss basically two seasons of Nebraska football. Oh yah, we got to see a few games last fall, and the Nebraska victory over Michigan in the bowl game was broadcast live on Armed Forced Networks on the sports channel, but it’s just not the same. The football season in Nebraska starts a buildup early on with the spring game, then in August as practices start, we try to get our hands on the media guide, read it cover to cover (memorize it if you are Shoes haha), and spend a couple nights a week talking with friends on the phone or via email about which player is going to do what or who to look out for.

Typically I would get together with either midas or shoes, or even better, both, for at least 3 or 4 games a year. You have the mandatory items that go along with football, those including grilling burgers, drinking some brews, homemade desserts of the Bonnie variety, a little tossing the pigskin around on our own, and a lot of laughter and good times. I missed that last year, I missed that a lot.

Even though Husker football has been a little down (notice: I will NOT ever EVER call the Big Red “Husker Nation” because that is a lame ass term stolen from the Sooners, among other teams, and whoever did it should be shot!!), I still long for the crisp cool autumn mornings, GameDay on ESPN sitting around the television, a video game playing on a separate TV, that first game coming on TV, shoe’s analysis of every game, good ole’ Nate catching 20 minute cat naps every hour, the warm afternoon with the changing colors of fall, the dust in the air from the millions of acres of crops being harvested, and the distinct smell of harvested corn and beans that lingers as the warmth of the day gently slides away into the cool dusk air (one of the more unique and distinct smells in the world if you ask me), and then the evening games and late night west coast games, until finally, all that’s left are 2 or 3 people awake to discuss the highlights of the day while polishing off the last of the beer and desserts.

I could go on and on, there are so many memories. Downtown Lincoln January 2006 to watch Nebraska thrash Florida, a state park in Ponka listening to Nebraska lose their first regular season game in more than 3 years, to Arizona, me and the other fella that were there were so down that even having someone mooning us couldn’t make us feel better (hah, bet someone thought I forgot about that!!), waiting till 3 in the morning to find out Nebraska won a share of the title in 1997. Sure, being In Iraq, I feel sometimes as though I’ve been robbed of many memories that could have been, but to dwell on that would take away from the unique experience that I am actually having here.

Already though I’m thinking about this fall, and USC, and the Longhorns, and even little ole’ Louisiana Tech (we better not overlook them!!). It doesn’t matter that I’m here, hell it won’t matter when I’m in California, it doesn’t matter if Nebraska goes 0-11, I’m still always, first and foremost, a Husker fan. Well, hmm, we’d better not go 0-11, that would suck shit, but it wouldn’t affect my being just as strong a supporter of my team.

I would guess there are probably a pretty good percentage of people here who feel the same way as I do.

Current Lyrical Ramblings

You got the fire, baby, I got the heat, can you handle it?
I got the time, baby, you got the need, oh surrender it
Oh, it's a passion crime with a danger sign, oh, can you handle it?

Love And Affection – Def Leppard

Question And Answer Session With fraNk

So, I know people always have a lot of questions for me but they are afraid to ask. So I went to the internet and entered search string "Why did fraNk" to find some out what people are wondering about me. I picked 25 questions to answer.

Why did Frank use the word 'atypical' in casual conversation?

Because I am inherently smarter than you, my plethora of colorchromatic verbal interaction transcends your feeble intelligence level.

Why did Frank take the steam ship from San Fransisco to Vancouver?

Well, I was getting sick and tired of Rice A Roni and flaming homo liberals, and I’ve always wanted to go see some penguins and igloos in Canada, what better place to do that than Vancouver? And I’ve always loved steam, it really opens the pores.

Why did Frank call her every 15-20 minutes?

Because nothing says love like constant harassment followed by a restrainer order.

Why did Frank get in trouble at school?

Usually because the teachers wouldn’t shut up while I was trying to talk to someone. I don’t think sometimes that they realized just how important my conversations were.

Why did Frank have his original house painted yellow?

I have a secret lemon fetish. SHHHH, don’t tell anyone.

Why did Frank alter his birth date on his driver's license?

So I could date older women, why else?

Why did Frank get angry?

Because you asked me a stupid question. You better hope I don’t find you!!

Why did Frank hang out at La Guardia Airport rather than Kennedy Airport?

I won’t hang out at an airport with the same last name as a drunken fat idiot senator from Massachusetts.

Why did Frank act in the manner he did and not choose other more rational courses of action?

Rationality is boring. Irrational behavior is more exciting for everyone involved. Who wants to be predictable, certainly not me!

Why did Frank return to the scene of the crime?

Oh to relive the joy of breaking the law, why else?

Why did Frank just power barge me out the way just now?

Because you chose to get in my way. Next time don’t just stand there looking stupid.

Why did Frank tell this story if it was almost all untrue?

Because you were dumb enough to believe it.

Why did Frank kill himself?

It was all part of a conspiracy, a plot to make you think I was dead, collect the life insurance, and live happily ever after in the Bahamas drinking margaritas and surfing the internet while wearing khaki shorts, a Hawaiian shirt, and flip flops.

Why did Frank have to come back into our lives and upset Steve?

You know you missed me, so I came back. Wait, which one of you is Steve?

Why did Frank get Martian fever?

I didn’t think you needed to use protection when you are with a Martian, how was I to know??

Why did Frank behave like that?

You’ll have to be more specific. Which particular behavior trait are you wondering about? Was it when I punched you in the face? Banged on your front door at 2 in the morning? Slept with your daughter? All of the above?

Why did Frank become a deaf-mute?

It was part of my Helen Keller fetish, not one of my prouder moments.

Why did Frank buy welders glasses?

Hell, I thought they were just cool sunglasses, I didn’t know they were welder’s glasses until I wore them out while driving and found myself driving off the road in a corn field.

Why did Frank decide not to include Packard Goose on any of the 3 '88 CD's or on the YCDTOSA series?

Okay, is this an Japanimation question? You say Packard Goose and I’m thinking of a computer with feathers? I’m sure there was a good reason why I did whatever it was that you are saying I did, even if I don’t remember what it was that I did that you don’t agree with.

Why did Frank discover the alkaline battery?

I didn’t even know I did. Well, looks like I better call my lawyer. There are some royalties that I need to be suing for it would appear.

Why did Frank and his wife decide to learn to use email?

My wife and I knew how to use email before we ever even knew one another. We were part of the cave man age of internet use, mmkay?

Why did Frank have to make such a big deal about it?

What did I make a big deal about this time? I don’t ever make a big deal about anything. I mean honestly, when is the last time that I ever made a big deal out of something that didn’t really mean anything? Okay, I better shut up now.

Why did Frank decide to memorize the Encyclopedia?

You only think I memorized the Encyclopedia, but in fact, I’m just THAT smart. In fact, if you look at the inside cover of the Encyclopedia, you’ll see that I actually wrote it.

Why did Frank have a Plymouth Fury?

Oh, you even have to ask this question??? The Plymouth Fury was a sleeper of a car, commonly used as a police car, also in many movies (and in the Hill Street Blues television show) this car had many configurations. If I did own one, I would have a 440 in there, 365 horsepower, oh yes!!

Why did Frank steal John's Honda?

John should never have purchased that stupid Honda to begin with. I stole it to save him the indignity of driving such a pile of crap. If he wants it back, it’s at the bottom of the lake at the Weeping Water rock quarry, good luck!!

Current Lyrical Ramblings

I've been lookin' for a trace
Lookin' for a heart,
Lookin' for a lover in a world
That's much too dark

You're Crazy - Guns N' Roses

Decisions, Decisions

Well, we have to pick from several different combat patches to wear on our uniform to designate who we were tasked under while in Iraq. We did a lot of work with some pretty prestigious divisions over here.

The 19th Airborne Corps (Airborne Dragons)
The 4th Infantry Division
The 101st Airborne Division
The 82nd Airborne Division
The 485th Support Battalion (Germany)

Now, the 19th was in charge of us for the first month we were here, overall in charge of the Army portion of Ali Air Base, which is Camp Adder. After they left, the 16th CSB took over, and the 485th was in charge of us. But they were tasked under the other three in support of the 4th, the 101, and the 82nd, at different times depending upon our mission.

To be perfectly honest, I wouldn’t mind any of those three. Everyone in the unit is voting on which one they want to wear, but for someone like me, who will be in a different unit, I can pick any of the patches I want to wear. The vote has overwhelmingly been for the 101st Airborne, but to be honest, I would rather have the 82nd Airborne patch. Doesn’t much matter though, I’ll be allowed to wear whichever one I want, although I will pick just one, unlike some asses I’ve seen over here who have several different patches on different uniforms.

I also got two packages in the mail from my brother in law. The cookies were awesome, but please, no more haha. I have to try and get myself into tip top condition, so even though I ate some (due to my lack of self control), I ended up giving the rest away, everyone loved them. Everything else was awesome too, koolaid is always great to have. I really appreciated it.

More Armor? ALRIGHT!! THANK YOU SO LITTLE!

Upon being mobilized last fall, we were given an IBA (Individual Ballistic Armor) and we pretty much universally hated it in the unit. It was heavy and seemed so incredibly restrictive but it was mandatory to wear it over in Iraq so we had to get used to it.

Then they gave us these plates that had to be inserted in the front and back, and throat protectors, and a back of the neck guard, along with a crotch protector. Now it was even heavier and sucked even more.

Upon arriving in Iraq, after wearing the damn thing for awhile, you got used to it, it didn’t seem so heavy. Of course then they gave us these ‘wings’ that wrap around your shoulders, and made it hard as hell to move your arms. IBA = Heavy.

Then they gave us flank protectors that you have to put underneath your arms, they hang up over your shoulders with a strap and you put them on before you put on the rest of the armor. IBA = Heavier.

Now we have plates that go with the flank protectors, and the damn thing weighs even more!!! IBA = HEAVIEST!!

Of course we have a moron for a battalion commander, she gets so excited about all the new armor. She also has everyone wearing eye protection, inside the truck, and the elbow and knee pads on every convoy, and making sure that the gas mask is there (even though there hasn’t been one chemical attack during this entire f’ing conflict). I am guessing next that there will be a neck brace device like they use in nascar, maybe a face shield right? How about a butt plate? There actually is word of a plate to put in the crotch protector which would fucking suck, because that stupid thing already gets in the way all the damn time.

Of course their reasoning is that they have all this ‘proof’ of people who have been killed because a bullet ‘slipped into the side’ of a soldier because they didn’t have protective armor and plates on the sides of the IBA. But then, they have no data on how many soldiers were killed because they were COMPLETELY fucking immobilized and unable to run due to carrying 60 freaking lbs of armor on their body and unable to turn their head or move their arms more than 30 degrees vertically and none to the rear!!! BLAH, I get mad just talking about it. God help us if there is ever a fire fight that requires us to dismount, because it will take 10 fucking minutes to even squeeze out of the door.

More from the stupidity police: word has been handed down that anyone caught flying a confederate flag even in their rooms is going to be reported up the chain of command for violating EO regulations. This after some black soldiers complained after seeing a flag inside of another soldiers room. Get fucking bent, that’s what I have to say about that, if you have a problem with the confederate flag, so freaking what. It’s not a symbol of hatred, it was a symbol of individuality and freedom for those in the south for many years before the civil war and it continues to mean the same thing now. I would be the first to call out someone for racist behavior but that is not being racist at all. Myself, I wouldn’t fly one, but then I’m not from the south either, so it wouldn’t really pertain to me. I get so freaking sick and tired of people being over sensitive to things that no one has any right to control. Political correctiveness run completely awry.

Current Lyrical Ramblings

Which one of us is right
If we always fight?
Why can't we just let love decide?
Am I the weaker man
Because I understand
That love must be the master plan?

Diamonds And Pearls – Prince

Random thoughts

Congratulations to my baby on hitting expert on the rifle range!

Pepsi still tastes like Coke, but for the last month I’m here I will drink NO soda and I will try to keep myself to drinking just water or very watered down fruity drinks (weakened Koolaid) at the chow hall. September is set to be my ‘get healthy and get ready to go home’ month.

I should be running more, but I haven’t been. The last run I did was the 4th of July 4 mile run here on post, out of 255 people, I finished 22nd. But another guy in my unit finished 15th. ARG! I will work out more but…

The problem with my chest is still there and it makes it tough to really run hard, because it’s hard to breathe. I still haven’t gotten word about my blood tests I had done here, I am not expecting much.

Working at night is getting so boring, but that’s what you’d expect, 12 hours from 2100 at night till 0900 in the morning, we don’t get a whole lot of visitors, at times it’s like being glorified janitorial workers, but oh well, it’s important that the operations center is up and running 24 hours a day.

When you are bored, time can go by pretty slow. Thankfully we got the tv up running in the ops center with a partial listing of channels. But we have both movie channels, the sports channel, and a news channel, so that’s good. There is one more channel but I haven’t watched it enough to know what the hell it is. Last night it had Sesame Street on. Not my thing, honestly, it’s not.

I cleaned my room the other day. Top to bottom, everywhere. In the military they have this stuff called pine oil, and it’s not really the most pleasant smell like Pine Sol, but it’s one of those smells that I can only refer to as a ‘military smell’, because much like the CLP lubricant for the weapons, or the kiwi boot polish for the black boots (yah, I’m an old school military man, I remember the black leather boots, it was only 2 years ago but damn there has already been a lot of changeover, new people coming in). I shouldn’t really say that the smell is BAD, because the room smells all hygienic and clean now, but I would prefer pine sol or even murphy’s oil soap.

All my albums in my mp3 collection are labeled now. Took forever to find some of the albums that the songs came from, and the years that they were recorded, especially on some of the compilation cds I have. There were times I scoured 6 to 8 different web sites trying to find out when my Rock On UK Sony Promotional cd was recorded, or to find out that The Bog was released only as a single in 1990 (there were some songs that took forever to find on those 2 cds, quite the mix of music). I did discover a few things too, some irritating. I wonder why the hell Madonna did not put the “I Remember” song from the movie “With Honors” on her second greatest hits cd, I’ve always liked that song and I never realized it wasn’t on there. Bah, oh well.

Current Lyrical Ramblings

Technology, the battle's unfair
You pull the hammer without a care
Squeeze the trigger that makes you Man
Pseudo-safari, the hunt is canned...

Countdown To Extinction – Megadeth