Today at lunch I had an interesting experience. As is my sometimes practice, I was sitting with a group of folks from the Mayor Cell. We're an eclectic bunch, us Mayor Cell types, and attract a rather eclectic selection of people from all over the FOB, for as many reasons as there are people in our little clique. One of the soldiers sitting with us complimented me saying that, three days ago, when I was walking one way and she and another soldier were walking another, I really impressed the other soldier by stopping and talking and generally being me. Apparently this other kid had expected a Major to act like some sort of ogre, and just be unreasonable and stuffy and that kind of thing. So I got a compliment, so what? Thing is, I get this often. Enlisted soldiers are surprised when I talk to them instead of at them, they're confounded when I ask a question and stand there, looking at them, waiting for them to answer (NB: I call that a "conversation", or at least part of one). So I began to think about this and it's led me to a couple conclusions.
First conclusion is maybe they have a skewed vision of what Majors are really like. I mean, most of the guys I know are Officers, and a few are Majors, and most of them are pretty decent fellows. So, maybe the Majors they know in the Regiment are normal folks and the enlisted folks just don't know them. The only problem with that line, I've met some of the other Majors, to whom I'm referring. I don't particularly like them either. The talented ones are way overworked, the untalented ones are immature. Some of them still look at us down their noses (NB: we ignore this, knowing if we, as Mayor Cell and BDOC sat down on the job, the Regiment would be hard pressed to manage without us), and some talk to us like we're equals. Most of them are the latter group, not the former. So, all that to say there might be something to the compliment giver's point of view. Their view of Majors isn't necessarily skewed, but it is limited, unfortunately, to a very few who aren't all that great to start with. I take some issue with this, as I really don't like to see my peer group have that poor of a following among the enlisted. Let's face it, there are more EMs than field grade officers. Most of those EMs are willing to work their tails off with a simple "please" or "thank you" and just treating them respectfully. The Army does a great job a stripping our dignity in certain circumstances. Those of us with rank can get a lot done simply by allowing soldiers to maintain what dignity they have.
Second, I blame most of this on my Dad. See, when we were kids (NB: my use of the first person plural in reference to myself indicates I'm speaking of Paul and of me, because we were usually together all the time as kids), Dad would sometimes take us to his school and we'd goof around, he'd work or do whatever, and we'd go around with him when he'd make his rounds. It was pretty cool. The best part was that he'd talk to EVERYBODY in that building - cooks, janitors, teachers, parents, crossing guards, everybody. And you know what? Every one of them were treated with the same amount of respect and dignity. That's a big deal. Now that I'm in kind of a similar position, I find myself (and Paul) doing a lot of the same stuff we saw Dad doing. Thing of it is, regardless of the setting or industry or nationality, treating folks with respect and dignity goes a long, long way. Thanks Dad.
This week has been like trying to take a drink from a firehose. For the most part, that's due to one company bringing in hundreds of new workers, and two other companies preparing to get out of here. Both of these activities involve me intimately, as all of those folks have badges and I'm in charge of the stinking badges. But, September's around the corner and things are a'movin' and a'shakin'. All of this is good.
In other news, more cigars showed up. This time I decided to buy some singles and try new things: 5 Vegas Classic, 5 Vegas Gold and 5 Vegas Series A. I know the Golds are very good, and am looking forward to trying the other two. I'm hoping the weather breaks a little more over the next couple of weeks. Those who are native to these parts say it will. Not that I can't deal with triple digits, but like shovelling snow, it gets old.
Other than that, I have started the third and final phase of ILE, your tax dollars hard at work, thanks.
13 and 3
Enjoy!
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Kind of midweek
Alright folks, don't get accustomed to this. Most of you know why I'm posting. Let's hear it. Exactly. I have other work that needs to be done, hence the post. I am, if nothing else, predictable.
This week, we have lots and lots of workers coming here to work and then next week lots and lots of folks leaving. Why do I care? Because the former group needs to be badged, which is what I do here. The latter group all have a badge I must collect. Contrary to the opinion of the LTs in the 1-8, badges are controlled items. They're a big deal, and quite frankly, I don't fancy allowing some forgetful Turk to take one home on a convoy with him. So, this week is going to see me being detail oriented and moving about quite a bit. That's all good, as I have nothing else to do.
This morning I submitted the history essay for ILE. This means, among other things, that I am now unofficially two-thirds of the way done with ILE. I'm absolutely pumped about that! The end, as they say, is in sight. In light of that, I thought this was interesting, in terms of looking at the types of conflict to expect in the next 10 to 15 years. And I found this article too. All good stuff.
Part of me feels bad for skipping PT this morning, but I really don't. Kim was on the line and we were both fairly much awake, so it was all good.
Short post for now, so that's about it. I'll beat on KBR more tomorrow and sooner or later, they'll have the details hammered out.
Enjoy!
Alright folks, don't get accustomed to this. Most of you know why I'm posting. Let's hear it. Exactly. I have other work that needs to be done, hence the post. I am, if nothing else, predictable.
This week, we have lots and lots of workers coming here to work and then next week lots and lots of folks leaving. Why do I care? Because the former group needs to be badged, which is what I do here. The latter group all have a badge I must collect. Contrary to the opinion of the LTs in the 1-8, badges are controlled items. They're a big deal, and quite frankly, I don't fancy allowing some forgetful Turk to take one home on a convoy with him. So, this week is going to see me being detail oriented and moving about quite a bit. That's all good, as I have nothing else to do.
This morning I submitted the history essay for ILE. This means, among other things, that I am now unofficially two-thirds of the way done with ILE. I'm absolutely pumped about that! The end, as they say, is in sight. In light of that, I thought this was interesting, in terms of looking at the types of conflict to expect in the next 10 to 15 years. And I found this article too. All good stuff.
Part of me feels bad for skipping PT this morning, but I really don't. Kim was on the line and we were both fairly much awake, so it was all good.
Short post for now, so that's about it. I'll beat on KBR more tomorrow and sooner or later, they'll have the details hammered out.
Enjoy!
Saturday, August 23, 2008
14/4
Just so everyone knows: MY WIFE TOTALLY ROCKS!!!
The temptation now is to post and leave that as the entire blog posting, but those who know me understand I'm far too loquacious to not expand on that particular fact. A few weeks ago, I ordered a new razor, a Merkur Heavy Duty safety razor. So, since Amazon's too much of a wuss to send that to an APO, I had it sent home to my wife, who rocks, and who is NOT too much of wuss to send it here. With it, she threw in yellow and purple Propel (excellent!), some pics from class and a card. That, my friends, is why my wife rocks. She sends me cool stuff without complaining. Along with that arrived some books from Jeff - dude, you are an intellectual oasis in a desert of Maxim magazines my friend! Thank you very much!! And lastly, a couple of DryMistat tubes I had ordered showed up. The other two tupperware containers I have here are now field expedient humidors, all for the low price of nine bucks each. Why, do you ask, do I need two more humidors? Because, with the same birthday money (thank you Mom & Dad), with which I purchased said razor, I picked up two bricks of decent cigars (personally, I like the torpedos, but that's a lot of cigar, should have gone with robustos, live and learn). Now, just for the record, fifty cigars is a lot of smokes. Ergo, the need for more humidors. The circle is complete - now all I need is for the weather to break, at least under 100, so I can sit out on my veranda, enjoy a cigar and read. One more thing to add to the "Leave List".
Did I mention that Kim is awesome?
This week has been good. My morning routine is improving, if nothing else. I'm nowhere near as consistent as I'd like to be, but that will come with time. All that said, tomorrow morning is an "A" day, so I'll be back at the weight stack. As long as I get a couple of days on the elliptical trainer, I'm good to hook.
Work-wise, we continue to work at the whole impregnable fortress image. I have two dudes to put on alert, which I'll have done in a day or two. I've made progress on the essay for phase two, and today should see me making even more progress on it. In fact, my goal today is to have the outline stuff entirely done - Germans, Russians, Modularity and the discussion and intro sections. That means I can start putting this Frankensteinian essay together and run some voltage through it to see if it can walk on its own. Once that's all done, it's on to phase three baby!
Many folks here obsess about an AFN hookup in their CHU. I do not. Personally, I don't watch a whole lot of TV at home, and what little I watch, I have on an 8 DVD set here in theater (all eight seasons of CSI baby!). All that said, I'm happy to be missing the drama surrounding the presidential race right now. For all that, I manage to keep up somehow. Needless to say, I enjoy the commentary of Day By Day.
Enjoy!
Just so everyone knows: MY WIFE TOTALLY ROCKS!!!
The temptation now is to post and leave that as the entire blog posting, but those who know me understand I'm far too loquacious to not expand on that particular fact. A few weeks ago, I ordered a new razor, a Merkur Heavy Duty safety razor. So, since Amazon's too much of a wuss to send that to an APO, I had it sent home to my wife, who rocks, and who is NOT too much of wuss to send it here. With it, she threw in yellow and purple Propel (excellent!), some pics from class and a card. That, my friends, is why my wife rocks. She sends me cool stuff without complaining. Along with that arrived some books from Jeff - dude, you are an intellectual oasis in a desert of Maxim magazines my friend! Thank you very much!! And lastly, a couple of DryMistat tubes I had ordered showed up. The other two tupperware containers I have here are now field expedient humidors, all for the low price of nine bucks each. Why, do you ask, do I need two more humidors? Because, with the same birthday money (thank you Mom & Dad), with which I purchased said razor, I picked up two bricks of decent cigars (personally, I like the torpedos, but that's a lot of cigar, should have gone with robustos, live and learn). Now, just for the record, fifty cigars is a lot of smokes. Ergo, the need for more humidors. The circle is complete - now all I need is for the weather to break, at least under 100, so I can sit out on my veranda, enjoy a cigar and read. One more thing to add to the "Leave List".
Did I mention that Kim is awesome?
This week has been good. My morning routine is improving, if nothing else. I'm nowhere near as consistent as I'd like to be, but that will come with time. All that said, tomorrow morning is an "A" day, so I'll be back at the weight stack. As long as I get a couple of days on the elliptical trainer, I'm good to hook.
Work-wise, we continue to work at the whole impregnable fortress image. I have two dudes to put on alert, which I'll have done in a day or two. I've made progress on the essay for phase two, and today should see me making even more progress on it. In fact, my goal today is to have the outline stuff entirely done - Germans, Russians, Modularity and the discussion and intro sections. That means I can start putting this Frankensteinian essay together and run some voltage through it to see if it can walk on its own. Once that's all done, it's on to phase three baby!
Many folks here obsess about an AFN hookup in their CHU. I do not. Personally, I don't watch a whole lot of TV at home, and what little I watch, I have on an 8 DVD set here in theater (all eight seasons of CSI baby!). All that said, I'm happy to be missing the drama surrounding the presidential race right now. For all that, I manage to keep up somehow. Needless to say, I enjoy the commentary of Day By Day.
Enjoy!
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Surprised
The variety of tasks we undertake here as a unit never ceases to surprise me. This assignment - to be a Mayor Cell for a base - is one that ARNG units are uniquely suited to do. After all, the Regulars don't exactly have a career outside the military to draw on.
I have my leave dates, and am preparing myself to visit home for a while. Today I sent home the first of a couple of footlockers. The intent is to get some of the extra gear and stuff home from here. Extra in the sense that I know I don't need it, and can't imagine keeping it here. Ultimately, I will send as much stuff and equipment home through the postal service as I can. I have absolutely no intent of dragging multiple duffel bags through customs, dumping and repacking several times either on leave or redeployment. One of the facets of military life I've never truly been able to understand is the "necessity" for multiple inspections of the same items more than twice in a row in less than 24 hour period. So, in order to avoid this particular personal hell, I am sending home most of my stuff.
So, in December, Kim bought me a new pair of Danner THXs. Great boots - comfy, light, and generally well constructed. Eight months of wear later, the insoles are destroyed, all the eyelets are pulling out from the leather, one of them is cutting laces and there's a half in long gash in the instep of one of them. Needless to say, I'm slightly disappointed. OK, I know Danner has outstanding customer service, I'll send them the old boots and ask them to hook me up. Well, what do I wear in the meantime? My old Danners, of course! Ahh, but the insoles are destroyed in them too. No problem - bought new insoles, Sole insoles. Absolutely love them! Granted, I don't have the oven to heat them in order to mold them to my feet, but beggars cannot be choosers. Need great new insoles? Get Sole.
In the course of getting stuff done today, my NCO and I stopped at the "big PX" on the "other side". My intent was to buy foot powder, among other things. Imagine my surprise when they were sold out. Yeah, I don't get it either. I know AAFES isn't really trying to make money, and I know we only have 100+ temperatures here for 7 or 8 months a year, so WHY would they carry extra foot powder in stock? Needless to say, I am becoming very much acquainted with online resources for normal, everyday items the PX is either unable or unwilling to stock. Dear readers, if you care to send a couple or three containers of Gold Bond (or your fave brand) of foot powder, I guarantee that I will get them to the Chaplain's stock and make them available for other soldiers. I'm ordering some right now. *edit* Actually, found the second thing of it I had in my can, so all is good. Still, AAFES needs to figure out it's either get on the ball or we go online.
On that particular note, thanks tons to Brian and Joanne! The tuna fish lunch thingies are awesome! Mom & Dad, the TOC finally has the coffee urn set up and running, they are happy! Good things to send, one of which I learned from Anj, is trail mix - the kind with nuts and M&Ms totally rocks! That, of course, is just my own unedited opinion. Others don't like trail mix, but it fits well in the office, so I'm all for it. Again, thanks to everyone who has sent and keeps sending stuff this way. You all have been simply outstanding! I can't say how cool it is first to jut get mail, and second to get stuff in a box that I just can't get here (due to time or AAFES, or both).
Leave dates are just over a month away, which is a good thing.
Enjoy!
The variety of tasks we undertake here as a unit never ceases to surprise me. This assignment - to be a Mayor Cell for a base - is one that ARNG units are uniquely suited to do. After all, the Regulars don't exactly have a career outside the military to draw on.
I have my leave dates, and am preparing myself to visit home for a while. Today I sent home the first of a couple of footlockers. The intent is to get some of the extra gear and stuff home from here. Extra in the sense that I know I don't need it, and can't imagine keeping it here. Ultimately, I will send as much stuff and equipment home through the postal service as I can. I have absolutely no intent of dragging multiple duffel bags through customs, dumping and repacking several times either on leave or redeployment. One of the facets of military life I've never truly been able to understand is the "necessity" for multiple inspections of the same items more than twice in a row in less than 24 hour period. So, in order to avoid this particular personal hell, I am sending home most of my stuff.
So, in December, Kim bought me a new pair of Danner THXs. Great boots - comfy, light, and generally well constructed. Eight months of wear later, the insoles are destroyed, all the eyelets are pulling out from the leather, one of them is cutting laces and there's a half in long gash in the instep of one of them. Needless to say, I'm slightly disappointed. OK, I know Danner has outstanding customer service, I'll send them the old boots and ask them to hook me up. Well, what do I wear in the meantime? My old Danners, of course! Ahh, but the insoles are destroyed in them too. No problem - bought new insoles, Sole insoles. Absolutely love them! Granted, I don't have the oven to heat them in order to mold them to my feet, but beggars cannot be choosers. Need great new insoles? Get Sole.
In the course of getting stuff done today, my NCO and I stopped at the "big PX" on the "other side". My intent was to buy foot powder, among other things. Imagine my surprise when they were sold out. Yeah, I don't get it either. I know AAFES isn't really trying to make money, and I know we only have 100+ temperatures here for 7 or 8 months a year, so WHY would they carry extra foot powder in stock? Needless to say, I am becoming very much acquainted with online resources for normal, everyday items the PX is either unable or unwilling to stock. Dear readers, if you care to send a couple or three containers of Gold Bond (or your fave brand) of foot powder, I guarantee that I will get them to the Chaplain's stock and make them available for other soldiers. I'm ordering some right now. *edit* Actually, found the second thing of it I had in my can, so all is good. Still, AAFES needs to figure out it's either get on the ball or we go online.
On that particular note, thanks tons to Brian and Joanne! The tuna fish lunch thingies are awesome! Mom & Dad, the TOC finally has the coffee urn set up and running, they are happy! Good things to send, one of which I learned from Anj, is trail mix - the kind with nuts and M&Ms totally rocks! That, of course, is just my own unedited opinion. Others don't like trail mix, but it fits well in the office, so I'm all for it. Again, thanks to everyone who has sent and keeps sending stuff this way. You all have been simply outstanding! I can't say how cool it is first to jut get mail, and second to get stuff in a box that I just can't get here (due to time or AAFES, or both).
Leave dates are just over a month away, which is a good thing.
Enjoy!
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Procrastination
Nothing is better to ensure a blog post than procrastination. You see, I know I haven't posted in a long time. I also know that posting has been an item in my to do list for just as long. So, while I sit here in the office, with forms in front of me to sign, I think to myself, "what a PERFECT time to post to the blog". Just ask anyone who knows me - nothing like putting off something else to get yet another thing done that should have been done a long time ago, as I procrastinated doing it then. Don't try this at home folks, I'm a trained professional.
So what's happened since my last post? Well, I turned 40, which was extremely cool. I talked to Paul, commisserated and solved the world's problems. Well, we complained, not sure we really solved anything. Kim sent me some boxes of stuff - extremely cool stuff - which I just loved! I still have that "40" confetti all over my CHU floor. That's love folks.
Today's been a good day. Got a lot done today (reconciled a company of ~ 650 badges to zero discrepancies....that's no small task considering it's run by Turks), had a great dinner with another company (my neighbors, actually) and am sitting here, writing and listening to Pat Metheny. Granted, it could be better. I could be at home, with Kim, Dave or Brubeck on the stereo, a bottle of MY Pinot Noir...maybe some Scrabble...could be very much better. But, I'm here and looking at roughly five weeks until I get to play Scrabble. Not that I did a whole lot of that before I came over here, but that's Iraq for you - never know what changes are wrought in the space of a scant few months.
This week's been interesting. I told you I just...sorry, "we" (didn't do it alone)...got a company of 650 souls to be down to zero mistakes on badge accountability. So what? So each of those badges gets a person onto the base. Getting the picture? Throw in the fact this company tends to move employees from base to base and not tell us, not get badges changed, etc, and life becomes more interesting. They're not bad people, they're not stupid, just ignorant. As humans we tend to focus on ourselves. Not true? Hmm...I think I have an apple here somewhere to test that theory. Anyhow, considering the second, third and fourth order effects of our actions and decisions requires stretching, it's work. So I run a company and need widget fixers in Tal Afar. Too easy, I'll move them from Mosul. Tell someone? Why should I do that? It's MY company. See what I mean? It's not unlike dealing with the kids I taught at LC, except I really can't speak the language this time. Tomorrow I think I start a new project and continue an older one. I don't want to look at another roster for a few days.
That's been about it. Oh, one more thing - broke 200 on benching. That was fun, felt that all day. I still don't look any bigger though.
Enjoy!
Nothing is better to ensure a blog post than procrastination. You see, I know I haven't posted in a long time. I also know that posting has been an item in my to do list for just as long. So, while I sit here in the office, with forms in front of me to sign, I think to myself, "what a PERFECT time to post to the blog". Just ask anyone who knows me - nothing like putting off something else to get yet another thing done that should have been done a long time ago, as I procrastinated doing it then. Don't try this at home folks, I'm a trained professional.
So what's happened since my last post? Well, I turned 40, which was extremely cool. I talked to Paul, commisserated and solved the world's problems. Well, we complained, not sure we really solved anything. Kim sent me some boxes of stuff - extremely cool stuff - which I just loved! I still have that "40" confetti all over my CHU floor. That's love folks.
Today's been a good day. Got a lot done today (reconciled a company of ~ 650 badges to zero discrepancies....that's no small task considering it's run by Turks), had a great dinner with another company (my neighbors, actually) and am sitting here, writing and listening to Pat Metheny. Granted, it could be better. I could be at home, with Kim, Dave or Brubeck on the stereo, a bottle of MY Pinot Noir...maybe some Scrabble...could be very much better. But, I'm here and looking at roughly five weeks until I get to play Scrabble. Not that I did a whole lot of that before I came over here, but that's Iraq for you - never know what changes are wrought in the space of a scant few months.
This week's been interesting. I told you I just...sorry, "we" (didn't do it alone)...got a company of 650 souls to be down to zero mistakes on badge accountability. So what? So each of those badges gets a person onto the base. Getting the picture? Throw in the fact this company tends to move employees from base to base and not tell us, not get badges changed, etc, and life becomes more interesting. They're not bad people, they're not stupid, just ignorant. As humans we tend to focus on ourselves. Not true? Hmm...I think I have an apple here somewhere to test that theory. Anyhow, considering the second, third and fourth order effects of our actions and decisions requires stretching, it's work. So I run a company and need widget fixers in Tal Afar. Too easy, I'll move them from Mosul. Tell someone? Why should I do that? It's MY company. See what I mean? It's not unlike dealing with the kids I taught at LC, except I really can't speak the language this time. Tomorrow I think I start a new project and continue an older one. I don't want to look at another roster for a few days.
That's been about it. Oh, one more thing - broke 200 on benching. That was fun, felt that all day. I still don't look any bigger though.
Enjoy!
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Seventeen
Today, dear readers, is my seventeenth wedding anniversary. To quote Kim, if we add in the four years we knew each other prior to being married, we've known each other 21 years. We are now legal! I still can't believe she's put up with me that long...
Today is also a Sunday, which means you all get a post whether I want to write or not. Thanks to server issues, I'm posting in someone else's office instead of my own. No big deal, just incredibly inconvenient. This week has been a tad stressful, I'll admit. Companies are coming and going, which will end up issuing or terminating thousands of badges. Doing all of that in an accurate and timely fashion is no mean feat. My troops are up to the task, of that I have no fear. I do have some minor concern that the ACR isn't really paying attention when I say, "no, we're not doing an inventory, as half of the badges are going in or going out". We'll see how that works out.
Yesterday, we had a German come in to try and get a brown badge. Now, this dude's been in before, in May to be exact. He had a bad attitude then - bad enough that I was tempted to give him the option of taking the badge I was able to get approved for him, or no badge at all. So just in case he didn't get the message the first time three months ago, I wrote the response in German and attached it to the application. Oddly enough, I still cannot issue him a brown badge, that's the rules.
Other than that, most of my existance is coping with what comes my way. I hate being reactive, as it means I give up the initiative, but right now have no choice. Companies are still negotiating this and that, which means my planning is in a holding pattern until they make some decisions. It is what it is, which means we'll wait until we can see how the situation looks and make a plan to meet the goals set for us.
Enjoy!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)