Ok so everyone if you want to help Jessica out please check out her blog. She is painting some rooms of the house and needs just a little help. You know someone to keep the boys entertained or someone who can pick up a brush and finish a wall.
http://armystrongwifeandmom.blogspot.com/2009/02/painting-painting-painting-and-more.html
Go here and catch up on her new email and stuff. Please leave comments if you can help. I get to come home on leave soon and she wants to have some painting done for me to see. thanks
Monday, February 23, 2009
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Economy$$$$$
Ok so I didnt think i cared much about the stimulus plan and the economy, mainly because i cant worry much about it since im over here. Also because i have a good job, i have disability from the VA, im doing ok. I planned ahead, we have decent cars, we have a low fixed house payment. SO WHY AM I SUPER PISSED? Well i guess its because we have over 500 of the supposed smartest, most powerful men and women in the country fighting over two views of a giant math problem. YUP thats all it is. Its math. Yes i k now my thinking is simple but if you think of variables and laws and all that stuff my teachers talked about but i didnt care to listen too because i could get a C+ in the class just by showing up on test day well its all math. Okay so your thinking im gonna break it down for you? Well im not gonna give the fat cats in Washington the answer............ Wait yes i am.
Okay so the houseing problem, right? Well if the government is gonna spend billions and its gonna stick its finger into how much CEO's get paid it damn well could purchase the mortage companies or at least legislate the crap out of them. Forcing them to lower all interest rates and clear cut any old debt. If they are gonna take away the free market at least do it right. Now I didnt say i agree with all this or I want it to happen, its my idea of how they should do what they are already gonna do. If they are gonna spend billions on weird pork projects lets put that money directly into the economy pay your military better. Military spending got us out of the great depression. Spend it on the people who actually buy American. ARMY, NAVY and the rest of the uniformed services we buy american, we buy houses, we have kids who need clothes. Yes maybe im biased but there are millions of soldiers and sailors and airmen out there who love to put that money directly back into the economy. Also you dont need a huge partisan fight to pass that bill. Who doesnt like to vote for a pay increase for the military?
Now the car industry.... well i say screw them. Now we have a free market economy. the unions are the exact problem here. When we demand fair pay for good days work thats what we should get and give. Unions squeeze auto makers for higher wages than the market can stand. That leaves prices to go up on product and then people start to not buy high priced goods. There will always be other car makers. Maybe this is what we need to get our automobiles to actually go green. If thats what we all say we want then why dont we stop buying cars untill any new car we buy is either hybrid or electrical? Not what you wanted to hear huh? Well tough, if the government is gonna regulate pay and bankers are gonna give out bonuses of millions then lets make them do it right. Spending by the government is not what i want but they are gonna do it for the next four years so lets push them to do it right. Construction, good, schools, good, banks, bad, state funds, good, millions for stupid honey bee insurance, really bad.
If the government is gonna spend spend it wisely, spend it on jobs only Americans have. When you give money to states, make sure they spend it on more policemen, more fireman, higher pay for teachers. Better roads, more public transportation like light rail.
Maybe im crazy but I like tax cuts, we wont see much of them, but i thinkif you give Americans money well we spend it. we buy stuff, But you have to couple that with some spending to clear away some of that crazy debt. If they have debt the average Joe is gonna pay his bills but if you can help him get past the debt Joe American will buy a new car.
who knows.
Okay so the houseing problem, right? Well if the government is gonna spend billions and its gonna stick its finger into how much CEO's get paid it damn well could purchase the mortage companies or at least legislate the crap out of them. Forcing them to lower all interest rates and clear cut any old debt. If they are gonna take away the free market at least do it right. Now I didnt say i agree with all this or I want it to happen, its my idea of how they should do what they are already gonna do. If they are gonna spend billions on weird pork projects lets put that money directly into the economy pay your military better. Military spending got us out of the great depression. Spend it on the people who actually buy American. ARMY, NAVY and the rest of the uniformed services we buy american, we buy houses, we have kids who need clothes. Yes maybe im biased but there are millions of soldiers and sailors and airmen out there who love to put that money directly back into the economy. Also you dont need a huge partisan fight to pass that bill. Who doesnt like to vote for a pay increase for the military?
Now the car industry.... well i say screw them. Now we have a free market economy. the unions are the exact problem here. When we demand fair pay for good days work thats what we should get and give. Unions squeeze auto makers for higher wages than the market can stand. That leaves prices to go up on product and then people start to not buy high priced goods. There will always be other car makers. Maybe this is what we need to get our automobiles to actually go green. If thats what we all say we want then why dont we stop buying cars untill any new car we buy is either hybrid or electrical? Not what you wanted to hear huh? Well tough, if the government is gonna regulate pay and bankers are gonna give out bonuses of millions then lets make them do it right. Spending by the government is not what i want but they are gonna do it for the next four years so lets push them to do it right. Construction, good, schools, good, banks, bad, state funds, good, millions for stupid honey bee insurance, really bad.
If the government is gonna spend spend it wisely, spend it on jobs only Americans have. When you give money to states, make sure they spend it on more policemen, more fireman, higher pay for teachers. Better roads, more public transportation like light rail.
Maybe im crazy but I like tax cuts, we wont see much of them, but i thinkif you give Americans money well we spend it. we buy stuff, But you have to couple that with some spending to clear away some of that crazy debt. If they have debt the average Joe is gonna pay his bills but if you can help him get past the debt Joe American will buy a new car.
who knows.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Packing up the tree :(
So I packed up the tree and all the ornaments. I took a picture but the internet is very slow here to its not letting me upload that pic. It was a sad day but it meant that the end is getting closer. I want to ship the tree and stuff home so I will always have it. The ornaments will forever dress our tree and each one will remind me of the wonderful people I have at home supporting me. Thank you all for the amazing gifts and ornaments.
As for an update on whats going on here, well nothing new. Still working in the TOC, still working out everyday. I have gotten used to spending my days alone, my roomate Soap, well he has been at another base for quite a while and even the times when those soldiers are back in the area, well they are on the road quite a bit. I have gotten really good at video games and I spend a little extra time in the gym. Im hoping to pass the rest of the time pretty smoothly. Not much to say sorry.
I try to follow the news from back home. The economy, well i see that it sucks. SOrry for anyone who has lost a job in this horrible time. If your young enough, well the ARMY is hiring. No joke, military jobs are recession proof. Well the stimulus passed. Hope it works.
As for an update on whats going on here, well nothing new. Still working in the TOC, still working out everyday. I have gotten used to spending my days alone, my roomate Soap, well he has been at another base for quite a while and even the times when those soldiers are back in the area, well they are on the road quite a bit. I have gotten really good at video games and I spend a little extra time in the gym. Im hoping to pass the rest of the time pretty smoothly. Not much to say sorry.
I try to follow the news from back home. The economy, well i see that it sucks. SOrry for anyone who has lost a job in this horrible time. If your young enough, well the ARMY is hiring. No joke, military jobs are recession proof. Well the stimulus passed. Hope it works.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Ten Year Reunion
So I just saw a post on Facebook about my highschool classmates starting prep for the ten year reunion. Well i asked if they could make it after I get home. I would hate to have a ten year reunion and miss it by a week or so. Anyway, I actually want to go. I am super pumped to see everyone again and find out how everyone has progressed. I know I have tons of stories and would love to here others.
A word to my friends; You are all going. Yes Dustin thats you, and Richie, dont even think of finding an excuse.
Well I wont bore those who have been to their ten and twenty year reunions but I cant wait to explain again my finger getting shot off, my IED/Purpleheart story. I wont mind giving the play by play to those who have no idea what WAR is really like. I guess I want to educate people to what the troops really go through.
Thanks for the support.
A word to my friends; You are all going. Yes Dustin thats you, and Richie, dont even think of finding an excuse.
Well I wont bore those who have been to their ten and twenty year reunions but I cant wait to explain again my finger getting shot off, my IED/Purpleheart story. I wont mind giving the play by play to those who have no idea what WAR is really like. I guess I want to educate people to what the troops really go through.
Thanks for the support.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Once again the troops come in last.
Well im sure you all heard about how the ARMY actually made a good decision this time, to give each soldier two beers to drink during the superbowl. Well not us. Yup my command, from my company command on up has allowed this ARMY directive to be circumvented by some bullshit major or other weak minded officer. Well I hope they are happy.
I read an article on ABCnews.com today about how the suicide rates are up in the ARMY. Its pretty clear to me. Take soldiers away from their familes time and time again, run them around without any sense of order or clear mission and take away from them any morale boosters they could possibly have. Pretty easy to me to understand why some soldiers with weaker than average minds would just end it. I mean I am not allowed to play football, but the officers of my battalion can play football. Yup you heard me right our companies officers were ordered to do physical training with the other officers of our battalion, what it consisted of was at its core football. Passing and catching a football. Its soldiers cannot play though.
What hypocrits. Well im sure my commanders have stopped reading my blog by now, but if they still read it. I will say this. The way you handled the order for no beer during the super bowl and the way you handled the leave policy and the way you handle no sports. Well you should be ashamed of yourselfs. The way you handle bad news is to pass it out yourself, you get people together you tell the group you explain the situation, you let the soldiers bitch to you so they can see you care. My superior officers.......scratch that those officers appointed over me, lets say that, nothing about my command is superior to anything or anyone. I have spoken to so many soldiers on these issues and we all seem to agree things could have been handled differently from the start. At least they could have the balls to explain the situation and the orders to the soldiers. But that would "make sense" and the ARMY has stopped doing that a long time ago. Im proud of my service and proud of what I have done in my time. I will not re-enlist and this deployment is to blame. If i were weaker I am sure I would have thought of just ending it all as so many soldiers do. Maybe a command will take a long hard look at this situation and how the troops respond to them, maybe they will see how the way they mishandle these important situation overshadow any good things they could possibly provide.
Maybe im a disgruntled employee, if so then people should disregard my words. Or maybe im right and people should understand what I say. Either way I dont care what they think, I have less than 6 months here and im counting the days.
I read an article on ABCnews.com today about how the suicide rates are up in the ARMY. Its pretty clear to me. Take soldiers away from their familes time and time again, run them around without any sense of order or clear mission and take away from them any morale boosters they could possibly have. Pretty easy to me to understand why some soldiers with weaker than average minds would just end it. I mean I am not allowed to play football, but the officers of my battalion can play football. Yup you heard me right our companies officers were ordered to do physical training with the other officers of our battalion, what it consisted of was at its core football. Passing and catching a football. Its soldiers cannot play though.
What hypocrits. Well im sure my commanders have stopped reading my blog by now, but if they still read it. I will say this. The way you handled the order for no beer during the super bowl and the way you handled the leave policy and the way you handle no sports. Well you should be ashamed of yourselfs. The way you handle bad news is to pass it out yourself, you get people together you tell the group you explain the situation, you let the soldiers bitch to you so they can see you care. My superior officers.......scratch that those officers appointed over me, lets say that, nothing about my command is superior to anything or anyone. I have spoken to so many soldiers on these issues and we all seem to agree things could have been handled differently from the start. At least they could have the balls to explain the situation and the orders to the soldiers. But that would "make sense" and the ARMY has stopped doing that a long time ago. Im proud of my service and proud of what I have done in my time. I will not re-enlist and this deployment is to blame. If i were weaker I am sure I would have thought of just ending it all as so many soldiers do. Maybe a command will take a long hard look at this situation and how the troops respond to them, maybe they will see how the way they mishandle these important situation overshadow any good things they could possibly provide.
Maybe im a disgruntled employee, if so then people should disregard my words. Or maybe im right and people should understand what I say. Either way I dont care what they think, I have less than 6 months here and im counting the days.
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