What A Difference A Day Makes

My mom turned 65 today. She is officially a senior citizen. She gets discounts at restaurants, movie theatres, car rental companies, hotels, property taxes; she is officially enrolled in medicare;

Not much to say. Just an interesting thought for me that my mom, who definitely has never looked her age, is now recognized by most as being "old". Oh, and the song is just one that I like. Don't read too much into it.

Until next time...

Day 2

Today has been good so far. Woke up at 10. Not bad for getting to sleep, finally, around 3:30a. I've been running errands, eating every two hours, and got a jog in already. All that, and I picked up a shift at work tonight, which I am about to hop in the shower for.

It seems like the fall is when I always buckle down, reassess where I am, and get to work. It was 4 years ago now that I was feeling directionless and decided to return to school. I am doing the same soul searching now. I will post later tonight before I head to bed (hopefully much earlier than last night).

Until Next Time...

Time To Get Serious

I was considering starting a new blog to detail what I am starting now. But I realized that this blog is exactly suited to document my work.

About 9 weeks ago, I was ready to get serious about curbing my weight gain, getting back to exercising and giving myself the body I want. As you might know, (read below), I broke my arm literally two days after I started. That, along with the MOUNDS of stress from knowing if I would be able to pay my bills, left me in a depressed and sedentary frame of mind. I put on about 8-10 pounds in that time.

Well, my cast has been off for a week and a half. The arm is still healing. I need to stretch the tendons and repair my atrophied left forearm. I know I can't lift any substantial weight at this point. But tonight, I jogged. That is a less-impacting form of exercise, where the arm is concerned. I have, until I have lost 30 pounds, taken my last drink of alcohol. Water, milk and juice are the norm, for now.

My weight today is 212 lbs.

J, B, and Me

I grew up with two guys that I am still in contact with. We all met when I was in second grade. J was in 1st and B was in 3rd. We are all adults now, (damn the march of time), and are living our lives. B is married to V and lives about 10 minutes away from me. J moved out to California to finish school and now coaches at the collegiate level. J is dating K, and doesn't let a moment pass without reminding us that he is dating someone 6 years his junior. Way to go J.

Every now and again, J will come back to town, (his parents still live here) and J, B, and Me, (I know thats not correct English, but the rhyme works) will hang out. We usually start off just playing catch up with one another, and by the end of the night we are those three kids again. Except now we consume copious amounts of alcohol.

Well, J is coming in town tonight. Our night of drunken debauchery is not scheduled until tomorrow night, though. It seems funny to me that we have to put it in our Blackberry's. Ahh, the trappings of adulthood.

Well, just wanted to paint this small picture of one upcoming night in my life.

Until Next Time...

Ask Yourself This...

...have you ever watched any other News organization try so hard to defend a "journalist" and smear the person they interviewed? Read and watch here.

Fox News Channel, their hosts and special guests, try to paint Chris Wallace as a victim in his interview with President Bill Clinton. Wallace even states at one point that he felt like he was at the bottom of a mountain watching an avalanche come down.

My favorite headline in the lower third of the screen was "Bubba Boils Over". Also, one of the more brilliant comments was made by the guest in the second segment shown, where she states that Clinton reacted this way because she knew it could get him more votes.

There is a vast right wing conspiracy and thy name is Fox News.

A Ridiculous Attempt

Watch how our former chief executive handles himself when ambushed on Fox News Channel! I'm having trouble discerning....is this fair or balanced???

John Mayer's "Waiting On The World To Change"

I'm a huge fan of John Mayer. From Inside Wants Out to Room For Squares to Heavier Things, I have marveled at how this person seems to be on the same life path as myself, because he writes my life in at least one song, per album.





"Waiting On The World To Change" off of his latest album, Continuum, is the catchiest of the 12 tracks. Here's the thing, though. When you listen to the lyrics, he gives a pass to all of the listeners who would rather slack than do anything about fighting the injustices we are faced with. Youth (adolescence - 30's) is the time when you have the energy to fight and the ignorance to believe you can make a difference.

Anthems of our parents in the 60's, ("Give Peace A Chance", "If I Had A Hammer", "With God On Our Side", etc.) challenged the listener to get up and work for the better tomorrow. That was a generation that, when faced with another unnecessary and unjustified war, stood against the establishment and said, "no more!".

I know we have become desensitized to what is going on. I know it feels like we have been castrated and our entire world has been hijacked by George W.'s "Foreign Policy Gone Wild!", but when the artists stop dreaming for us and create works that mollify our ennui, our battle is close to lost.

Until Next Time...

Great Music Embedder

Hey,

Under my "Who's Visited Me Lately" World Map to your left, I put in an embedded music player. It's pretty cool and the guy singing is, too. He is Dave Barnes from Nashville. Does excellent acoustic work. Check it out. I think I will include embedded music links in posts from now on. Ya know...just to let you know what im listening to.

Peace out, bitches!

Jon McGlaughlin & 'Weeds'

I am hooked on a new song. It's called 'Indiana' by Jon McGlaughlin. It is one of those songs that speaks to my sorrowful, die-hard romantic side. I'm such a sap. But it doesn't change the fact that it's an amazing song.

Oh, and I just finished the second disc to the first season of 'Weeds'. What an amazingly written show. If you haven't seen it, you have to go out and rent it.





The dialogue is smartly written. The characterizations are brilliant. And there is a great balance of comedy to drama. Get out there and see this one. Apparently it is on Showtime, Mondays at 10pm (9 central). But just rent it on DVD or search it out on i-tunes. Because you should be watching 'Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip' Mondays at 10pm (9 central) on NBC.

A Little Research, Please!

Pride Military Pride - PASS IT ON

Here's one that will make you proud to serve!!

On 12 Jan, Ms Cindy Williams (from Laverne and Shirley TV show) wrote a piece for the Washington Times denouncing the pay raise(s) coming to service members' way this year, citing that the stated 13% wage gap was bogus.

A young airman from Hill AFB responds to her article below. He ought to get a bonus for this!

Ms. Williams:

I just had the pleasure of reading your column of 12 Jan, "Our GIs earn enough" and I am a bit confused. Frankly, I'm wondering where this vaunted over-payment is going, because as far as I can tell, it disappears every month between DFAS (The Defense Finance and Accounting Service) and my bank account. Checking my latest leave and earnings statement (LES), see that I make $1,117.80, before taxes. After taxes, I take home $ 874.20. When I run that through Windows' Calculator, I come up with an annual salary of $13,413 60 before taxes, and $10,490.40 after.

I work in the Air Force Network Control Center (AFNCC), where I am part of the team responsible for the administration of a 25,000-host computer network. I am involved with infrastructure segments, specifically with Cisco Systems equipment. A quick check under jobs for Network technicians in the Washington, D.C. area reveals a position in my career field, requiring three years experience with my job. Amazingly, this job does NOT pay $13,413.60 a year, nor does it pay less than this. No, this job is being offered at $70 000 to $80,000 per annum. I'm sure you can draw the obvious conclusions.

Also, you tout increases to Basic Allowance for Housing and Basic Allowance for Subsistence (housing and food allowances, respectively) as being a further boon to an already overcompensated force. Again, I'm curious as to where this money has gone, as BAH and BAS were both slashed 15% in the Hill AFB area effective in January 00.

Given the tenor of your column, I would assume that you have NEVER had the pleasure of serving your country in her armed forces. Before you take it upon yourself to once more castigate congressional and DOD leadership for attempting to get the families in the military's lowest pay brackets off AFDC, WIC, and food stamps, I suggest that you join a group of deploying soldiers headed for Saudi- I leave the choice of service branch up to you.

Whatever choice you make, though, opt for the SIX month rotation: it will guarantee you the longest possible time away from your family and friends, thus giving you full "deployment experience". As your group prepares to board the plane, make sure to note the spouses and children who are saying good-bye to their loved ones. Also take care to note that several families are still unsure of how they'll be able to make ends meet while the primary breadwinner is gone-obviously they've been squandering the vast piles of cash the DOD has been giving them.

Try to deploy over a major holiday; Christmas and Thanksgiving are perennial favorites. And when you're actually over there, sitting in a DFP (Defensive Fire Position, the modern-day foxhole), shivering against the cold desert night, and the flight sergeant tells you that there aren't enough people on shift to relieve you for chow, remember this: trade whatever MRE you manage to get for the tuna noodle casserole or cheese tortellini, and add Tabasco to everything.

Talk to your loved ones as often as you are permitted; it won't nearly be long enough or often enough, but take what you can get and be thankful for it. You may have picked up on the fact that I disagree with most of the points you present in your op-ed piece. But tomorrow from Sarajevo, I will defend to the death your right to say it.

You see, I am an American fighting man, a guarantor of your First Amendment rights and every other right you cherish. On a daily basis, my brother and sister soldiers worldwide ensure that you and people like you can thumb your collective nose at us, all on a salary that is nothing short of pitiful and under conditions that would make most people cringe. We hemorrhage our best and brightest into the private sector because we can't offer the stability and pay of civilian companies. And you, Ms. Williams, have the gall to say that we make more than we deserve?

Rubbish!

A1C Michael Bragg
Hill AFB AFNCC

IF YOU AGREE, PLEASE PASS THIS ALONG TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS POSSIBLE AND SHOW YOUR SUPPORT OF THE AMERICAN FIGHTING MEN AND WOMEN.

THANK YOU.

THIS LETTER SHOULD BE APPLAUDED BY ANYONE WHO'S EVER SERVED OR HAD A FAMILY MEMBER SERVE IN THE ARMED FORCES! THIS YOUNG MAN DESERVES A MEDAL!!!!

I recently recieved this letter on my MySpace account, via bulletin. Of course, I support our troops. I have friends that have served in both Afghanistan and Iraq as well as family that have served, including uncles, my brother-in-law and my father. It means more than I can ever express the sacrifices made by the men and women of our armed forces. Some of those sacrifices are made in the letter above.

After receiving this letter I did a little research, (and I really mean a little: e.g. typing Cindy Williams and Washington Times into the Google), to learn that the original letter was sent to Dr. Cindy Williams, senior research fellow at MIT and former assistant director for national security in the Congressional Budget Office.

Also, the Op-Ed was published in the January 12, 2000 Washington Post (not the Times) pre-dating any conflict in Kabul.

The letter has had several incarnations that, to Michael Bragg's credit, he has labored tirelessly to correct. My beef is not with Michael Bragg for having written the letter. It is with the LITERALLY thousands of people that have sent it around without having even the slightest interest in trying to ensure that what they are putting their own name on (most letters are sent, encouraging a chain mentality, including putting your own name down at the bottom before sending it on) is in fact true and accurate.

As a result of the mistaken identity tacked onto this letter in one of many of its subsequent re-writings, Cindy Williams, (the actress, not the Ph.D) has received death threats by phone and mail for something she didn't do. In fact, she has been an ardent supporter of the Armed Services and those who serve. But that doesn't matter in this letter because there is, it seems, some solace for us to believe that those in Hollywood, (even those whose hayday was in a 1970's sit-com) are so far removed from our own values that they would have the gall to write an Op-Ed in the Washington Times or Post or wherever, claiming that they know the truth and have the knowledge about how our military should be payed, or where and when they should or shouldn't be deployed, or who they will stand with outside of a ranch in Crawford, etc., etc.

If we are willing to accept as truth a chain letter that is sent to us, without even the slightest bit of research, how much other "truth" are we being fed? A Little Research, Please!

Until next time....

R.I.P. Steve Irwin

Our Australian friend, Steve Irwin, better known as the Crocodile Hunter, died today, at 11am Australian time, doing what he loved. (see link above for Time.com obituary)

It is really jarring when a cultural icon such as this dies before his time. He was a man who knew the risks of his job and celebrated those risks while respecting nature and her wild inhabitants.

Thoughts go out to Terri, Bindi Sue and Bob.

The Sun'll Come Out

I am a huge fan of rain and storms and they are coming into D/FW right now. Oh, happy day!!!

I know I've been away a while. If you read this blog with any regularity, then the above is for you. I figured, "why try to tell you what Zach Galifianakis can say so much more eloquently?".

4 Weddings....No Funeral

I have just completed the odyssey that was my summer weddings, 2006.

So that is why I have been painfully away from this blog. Fear not, though. The season is passed. Little damage done, save my liver, of course.

I will write soon about my realizations of my bachelorhood and how it should probably end soon, in my next post. Keep an eye out...it'll be great.

Until Next Time

No Responses

I can see from my tracking map that I have had a few visitors to my site. And yet, nothing I have written about has inspired anyone to comment. Kinda sucks nutz a little. Oh well, I really am writing this more for catharsis than anything else.

Until Next Time...

An Old Friend

I decided tonight to add a friend on my Myspace page. Moments later, I received a message from this friend asking where I was and what I was up to. And at this moment, I have just gotten off of a 46 minute phone call with him.

Kyle was one of my closest friends in Wichita Falls, while I was at school. I can't even explain why he meant so much to me. Our friendship was one that consisted equally of heavy nights of drinking and of deep conversations. Of sport events and movies. Of beer pong and road trips. But when I told him that I was going to be leaving Wichita Falls, our friendship came to an abrupt halt. It was one of the more saddening aspects of my time at Midwestern State University.

In our conversation, Kyle shared that he was moving to Dallas soon and that he was going to be attending UNT in the fall. The phone call broached topics of religion, politics, work, relationships and mutual admiration. Though I could probably fault Kyle for abandonment, I can't help but feel the same feeling he expressed that I attempted contact with him. I feel blessed that we spoke to one another. I feel blessed that our friendship might continue on and in a new and different direction.

Life is funny sometimes.

Until Next Time...

'cid or candy?

That's the question that was asked of me. My answer led to truly the best $20 I ever spent. I had written a short page after finishing 'Songs of the Doomed' by Hunter S. Thompson last August. I realize now that page and its' contents were so far off the mark of his experiences.

The only thing I will do differently next time is have some way to record my thoughts. Either a journal or digital voice recorder. I understand now how Aaron Sorkin was so creative with his fungi.

Another Day, Another Cell Phone

I have received my new cell phone, a replacement for the one damaged at Colin's bachelor weekend. But unfortunately, I didn't store my previous address book on the sim card, so I am having to repopulate my entire address book, anew. Live and learn.

By the way, if you ever have wanted to experience rape without the intercourse, try getting a new cell phone out of Cingular when you aren't eligible for an "upgrade". I'm currently constructing a case made of string and egg cartons for my new cell phone. No post-waterfall and P&A drinking game mishaps will happen to this one.

But Cingular was nice enough to let me move down from my current 900 minute rate plan that I have never once fully utilized. But I am losing all but 450 of my 3400+ rollover minutes. It's actually ok, because I knew I'd never use them all anyway.

Until Next Time...

Colin's Bachelor Weekend

I have been in the foothills of the Ozark Mountains for the weekend. Arrived home last night at around 7:30pm. Exhausted. And let me tell you why.

Friday
Leave out from Dallas area at around 11am. Drive will take 5 hours. Arrive for lunch in Texarkana at approximately 2pm. We are on the road and to our destination by about 4pm. Pick up house keys (Seth rented an amazing 3-bedroom house on a lake....bravo, Seth) and get to Wal-Mart to grab food for the weekend. Get to house, start up grill, (with help of "i've had one cup of wine" lady next door) and drink beer and cook brats and burgers. Attempt to play a drinking game. Finish up the evening with poker.

Saturday
Up early for a 9:48 and 9:56 tee time. The course is amazing. We walk it. I hit a new record. Only 39 over par. But hey...it was fun. We go for lunch and then to the marina to check on the boat. It's not ready. We head back to the house. I shower and we promptly start a drinking game (4:42) that lasts thru the grilling of dinner (bravo, Seth, again) and until bedtime (I think it might have almost been midnight). Only one casualty of the evening. Seth couldn't hold down my multi-shot that I made for the game. I am told that it contained scotch, bourbon, cinnamon liqueur, vodka, miller lite, and tequila. I am also told that I added a dash of tobasco and a couple of glops of barbeque sauce. (sorry Seth).

Sunday
Up early, no alarm clock needed. I feel (amazingly) fine. I start to clean the house while others are still sleeping. Make a few loud noises and abandon the effort. Come back upstairs about an hour later when I hear others waking. We clean the house and run the key back to the realtor. Drive back in to the marina (everything on this trip was approximately 30 minutes from everything else, by the way) to check on the boat. There was to be no lake trip for us this time. We pile into the van and we head back to Dallas.

All in all, a fun time was had by all. There was considerably more history between the other four in attendance among themselves (they had all gone to the same high school, though two were a couple years behind). But I enjoyed getting to meet Jeff and Nathan, both of whom are hilarious. And I think Seth did one hell of a job putting together his brothers bachelor weekend.

Ah, Pedophilia

Recently read this on the Independent Online. It's in the last couple of sentences. Made me laugh!