First fight

Ok, so its not offical yet, and i pray writing this doesnt jinx it like the 3 other times ive had a fight, and had it fall through. My coach took my info and says there is a fight card for June at Metropolis. Its Muay Thai, not mma, which is good, less attacks to worry about. Well anyway, dont have the particulars yet. Im very excited, trying not to be. I hate getting pumped for something only to have it fall through. I have been training non stop for about 8 months now so i want to test my skills against other like combantants. I am hopeing to fight at 145lbs or in the range. I currently stand about 153 in the morning and 154 at the end of the day. Not a big weight cut and its good to be the bigger fighter anyway. im in pretty good shape but need to up the cardio a little bit so i can be confident that my gas tank is full.

Wish me luck.

Newcomers and skinny jeans

Okay, so as we have talked about I'm training in the mixed martial arts and its going well. On Thursdays i take the night time MuayThai class and on some night I stay for the Advanced Muay Thai. That last class is invite only, you cant just walk in and take it without being up to par. Well my coach Rich, he and I have formed a good relationship as i normally take his morning(11am) muay thai class as well. Since I'm a little more advanced than the average student and since i am at the gym so often i tend to get "new guy" duty.
I take this as both a blessing and a curse. Blessing because its pointing out to me that i have learned enough to actually be depended on to teach others. It also points out to me that my had work has been noticed. Now it is a curse because sometimes i have to work with some real......lets just say different people. Last night in particular, a kid came in with his buddy to try out the gym/class. He had on a black wife-beater shirt with black skinny jeans and a flat billed hat. Now if you ha vent seen skinny jeans yet, go to your local bookstore, find Rollingstone magazine and bam there you go. I guess its a style of jeans that looks like a second skin because its soooooooooooooooooo friggin tight. I mean its like saran wrap on the legs. Well this kid had some awful tattoos and he couldn't be more than 25 years old. He was kinda scrawny but didn't look non athletic. Oh yeah he and his buddy were drinking those giant Monster drinks. Not the regular sized energy drinks they were drinking like a liter of that crap.
Well these guys did the normal, borrow gloves and hand wraps from the gym and they joined the class in our regular 10 min of jump rope, then jumping jacks and squats and such. I didn't focus on them much because i was hoping i wouldn't have too...... wrong. Once the warm up was over i was assigned "skinny jeans" YEAH! Well i understand that kicking like we do in muay thai is a learned skill, not everyone can walk in and grasp the hip motion. But damn kid stop kicking with your feet and why do you flail your arms about? I worked well with skinny jeans, he tried hard but he was not seeing how the little hints and tips i tried to show him and help him with, would actually save his ass in a fight. Oh well. That's a part of new guy duty you kinda get frustrated with watching someone just screw up.
I know I know i should be kind, I was in my second class where i was paired up with a younger mom maybe early 30's that wasn't athletic at all but was hoping to find a place where she could start the process of getting that body she most likely had before her kids. She tried hard, she giggled a lot, she did well though. There is a difference between the two newcomers, skinny jeans, well he should be able to pick up on how the movements went and should be a little more inclined to imitate instead of nodding his head in acceptance and then doing the opposite.

I rant because i have to use my class time to teach them just how to stand, i ask them right or left handed? They sometimes stare at me like????? why??? Now it may be that the evolution of man is pushing out the coordination gene. I mean how much coordination between your hands and feet do you need to type on a keyboard and click a mouse button? I do feel sorry for some people though, if ever presented with a violent situation their response would not be a good one. Also during these classes ones partner has to hold pads or help train the other person. so having a newcomer hold focus mitts or thai pads for me is a frustrating experience. They aren't coordinated and are scared about getting hit so my mitt work is slow much more deliberate and most times not very good since I'm trying not to hurt them.

Well skinny jeans survived, he asked a few questions about working out there but seemed very scared of getting hit in the nose since"he has sensitive membranes." Really Really this is the shit I deal with! I guess this is just fuel for the fire. I pity the first person to actually step into the ring/cage with me cause its all coming out.

Lets change gears

Okay, so I know it has been forever since i have posted and for those of you that followed my blog im sorry to have left such a void in your life. To those of you who barely read my blog and only enjoyed my witty comments directed at hapless leadership, well you might enjoy the direction im going to take now.

For some time now 7MONTHS, I have been training in the mixed martial arts! Yes yes to those of you who are unfamiliar or under educated in the combat sports, MMA is type of fighting used in the UFC. No I am not in the UFC. NO i do not fight every day. Mostly I train in Muay Thai or Thai boxing, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Yes sometimes I spar with other people. Yes i punch and kick them and yes they do the same to me. So I am pretty sure if peaked some interest at least in my families eyes. Well im actually pretty good at what im doing. At least im good for only having formal training for 7 months. I have not competed, had a fight, yet. I want to and we have tried to get me on fight cards but to no avial. That doesnt bother me too much. I am pretty content to train and get better each day i do. This is something i truly love to do. It is fun for me to test my abilites against other men and to push myself past my limits.

I train at the OhioMMA academy. www.ohiomma.com This is the gym of former UFC and current Strikeforce fighter Jorge Gurgel. Former UFC Middleweight champ Rich Franklin also trains there and UFC welterweight Dustin Hazelett. I do not boast that i am training with these men, I am simply stating that I have trained on the same mat at the same time and every so often in direct connection with these fighters. If anyone has questions as to who these men are or what happens at the gym please ask or go to the website.

My goals in MMA are not to make it to the UFC, im turning 30 this year and I have no real pedigree to speak of. Im not a college wrestler or world class BJJ practioner. I am a simple man who enjoys learing all he can about mixed martial arts. I have had some amazing coaches in the past few months that have directly impacted my life and my fight game. Im in the best shape of my life despite often having black eyes(Irish sunglasses), a busted nose or fat lip. I have never been as strong or as well conditioned. The ARMY has never pushed my body this far. My real goal here is to become the best FIGHTER I can be and to test myself once or twice in the ring/cage.

In the following posts i hope to chronical my quest for new levels of fitness and ability. I will talk abotu gym issues and the time my training has taken from my family, which truly isnt much since most of my time is spent during my lunch time from work. If you have questions, about anything at all, the training, the gym, fighting, please leave a comment and let me know!

SSG AWESOME Part Duex

So, this post will be harsh. For those of you feint at heart please stop reading. For those of you easily offended I do apologize but im gonna exercise the crap out of my first amendment rights.

OK... crack of the knuckles..... pop of the neck, now im ready.
353rd ... let me put this in terms you dysfunctional crap-tastic tards can understand.... basically YOU SUCK! Ok now to put it in terms the rest of the educated population will appreciate.
The 353rd trans company is like a head less retarded chicken. Just running around the barn yard untill it dies. It keeps running into shit and bleeding all over the place all the while blaming the farmer, or in the Units case anyone higher ranking than them.

We left Iraq with some fan fare.... a General came by to visit our company just to point out the fact that our Commander and First Sergeant were given article 15's and permanently removed from their positions. I smiled the whole time. Just one big haha you dipshits didn’t see this coming back in F'nn cold Minneacrappasoodia?????? Yes thats right Minneacrappasoodia..... that’s how you say Minnesota. I would rather call it Southern Canada, but they pay taxes, so we will let them in the union on a temp basis..... .one more damn word about Kirby Puckett and your out!

Okay so after a One star General flew up to the shit whole Qwest just to laugh in the face of the slow moving often mistaken for "special" Bison, it was off to Kuwait. Now keep in mind every time we had no information or something went wrong along this mistake ridden journey well whatever higher command we had, they were blamed.................I wonder what they would say if asked about the situation?
So in Kuwait, we sat around, sweated, eat crappy fast food, and waite for a bus ..... that somehow... and i quote " is lost" No shit, our unit lost the bus..... 2 hours later it showed.... huh? i wonder if someone just didnt coordinate the times right...... in this unit... nah couldn’t be.

So we are back at Fort Dix, now this place is the arm pit of the ARMY world. This is the post where career army fold come to finish out their "I suck" life. 353rd You are home! This post is perfect for the 353. We landed with another unit.. they shared the plane and the multiple stops across "THE WORLD" with us. yes like 3 stops all over Europe... .you tax dollars at work.... well this unit has since DEMOBed and went home.

YES YOU ARE READING THIS CORRECTLY. Two units get off a plane. They live in the same barracks and have to complete the same DEMOB process, a normal intelligent person would assume they would both go home on the same day..... FUCK NO! it takes them 5 days it takes us 8. Oh our command tries to explain that its the JRC or its the numbers but I call bullshit. I have spent well over 3 days here at Fort Dix doing nothing.... nothing. i have been able to workout, go to the PX, sleep, read magazines, and pretty much wander around. So a portion of this time I spent at the JRC on days where the unit had nothing going on. I looked around. There were plenty of workers in their getting paid. There were no 353 soldiers demobing. HUH? kinda makes a soldier get ... I dont know pissed, angry, frustrated, psychotic maybe!

SO here we come to the going home process.... well Its 8:33am on a Sunday.. the unit/JRC has known how many of our people would fly for at least 3 days and I dont know my flight time or if I have one. The organic unit knows! FUCK YOU BISON. I guess you family is more important than mine. I guess the fact that you produced the shitty leaders the world has ever seen, I guess that gives you the right to first dibs...... Oh and by leaders I am not limiting this to just the Commander and First sergeant, No we will address the rest of you ass clowns in a second.
I just want to go home, and you sorry excuses for turds in a uniform cant do that right.

Ok so now we come to the people of the 353rd. Well some of you are pretty cool. If you think this pertains to you …… no your wrong. There are so few of you that make the cut its pathetic that you who are reading this actually thought it was you….. Ha ha ha ha you suck!!!! Some of you are nice people and good soldiers. But the rest of you … that’s another story. Lower enlisted.. You are the laziest, slowest, dumbest, most unmotivated group of soldiers(wait scratch that) people, you transcend the uniform you are so lazy and stupid. You are so far down on the food chain that if the army didn’t give you chow you wouldn’t eat. You few who wont get out of bed to get food although you havent eaten in 12 hours, you who refuse to learn new games or ways of playing those games for fear that your brain might be activated to do more than breath and keep you standing. Those of you who would rather be so naive, so selfish and self centered that you have a complete misconstrued vision of the world that it makes people disgusted to hear your voice. Those of you who are so socially and psychologically fucked up that you should not be in the ARMY, You all can kiss my butt, we have tried to motivate, to inspire, to be the example for you overweight, lazy idiots but you think you know everything. Hope you all fail in life.

The NCO’s that suck…… oh this should be fun…. .well you human stains know who you are. Those of you good NCO’s and again I stress how few of you there are. Please don’t take this the wrong way. But you NCO’s are just horrible. I mean you cant perform the basic functions of your job. You claim to be ready for promotion but you couldn’t fucking put a TOW BAR on. Yes im talking to all those of you who actually physically cant do the job y our assigned to do. Hell just because I know you are all retarded im not even gonna expound on the fact that as NCO’s you should be teaching how to do your job to the lower ranks. We wont go their because we already know you cant do the job yourself so how could you teach. You cant back up a trailer, you cant hook up air lines, a towbar, change a tire, lower a spare tire, fix anything mechanically on the truck and god forbid you as Staff NCO’s learn to write a counseling statement correctly.

Lets get into the fact that you are willing to screw those who you have served with over hurt feelings and your inability to deal with conflict. WOW all of you all of you pieces of shit please stop trying to get promoted please stop trying to act as if you know your job….. Cause you don’t. its simple, I see it, my more educated colleagues see it, hell even your lower enlisted soldiers point out your incompetence. I liken you NOC’s to that smelly nasty stuff that forms on the bottom of a dumpster. You are those weird people who let odd growths just continue to expand on their face never once going to the doctor till the tumor is the size of a football and you cant see. Then I get to see your picture on the internet and laugh at you. You as NOC’s should be the ones facing the adversity and shielding your soldiers from the carnage. NOPE not you, you guys just let it all play out and have 3 hour counseling sessions and “talks” that make people want to stab you in the eye with a pen. I mean most of you dingle berries have no respect from your soldiers. The soldiers don’t have to like you but they should respect you and they don’t. Hell if I was you I wouldn’t respect myself.

Lets discuss how this unit treated me. Well I was a squad leader with a group of soldiers that for better or worse seemed to work together. We didn’t have infighting and we seemed to rise to the task. Well normally you commend the leader who can step in and command a group of diverse soldiers in hard circumstances. Not this unit. Because I was unorthodox and because I spoke my mind and refused to let stupid shit persist I was black listed. I was banished to the TOC where I could do no harm. This unit took a respected NCO and pushed him aside to lessen the waves. You have on multiple occasions asked me to perform duties below my rank and below my level of experience and expertise and I did so not because I agreed with you but because im a good soldier. I bitch like all soldiers do and I try to have the wrongs righted but I always do as I am told because that’s what soldiers do. Once I returned to the platoon from the black hole of the TOC I was treated as an outcast because you didn’t know how to deal with an NCO that speaks the truth. You didn’t want to make a decision and give me my squad back so you became a laughing stock by just allowing me to have influence with no responsibility. You claimed to move people into certain positions because of their date of rank but you neglected to notice you are hypocrites since I out ranked all of your squad leaders. Oh yeah you forgot that, I outrank all your squad leaders. I happened to be one of your only E6’s that had written NCOER’s before. You continually made decisions that circumvented the fact that your black sheep(me) was supposed to be returning to the platoon to take his squad back over. Please explain why you would move a well respected NCO(not me this time) out of a squad leader position when you had a squad leader who was un-liked, un-respected and unqualified for the job. You have leaders that refused to take criticism or advice, that had no real world leadership experience which was evident, and these leaders somehow were protected and allowed to injure the careers of other hardworking knowledgeable leaders.

In summation this unit has soldiers that are lazy and undeserving of accolades. It had leaders that are inept and incapable of making effective decisions. These sorry excuses for USARMY soldiers tarnish the uniform they were. As leaders you should be willing to shoulder the blame, make the decision and stand tall under hard criticism. Yet you fail. That is a keyword when someone google’s the 353rd. Failure. It presents itself in many forms in this unit. From the NCO’s and soldiers that continually fail to perform or uphold thestandards that we hold so true in the ARMY. It rears it head when one watches the unit perform even the simplest of task as formations, awards ceremonies, and basic mission planning. Simple mistakes are allowed to go un-noticed until they reach such high consequences as downgrading awards and causing UCMJ actions against good and deserving soldiers. Again failure is your watchword, disappointment your guiding light.

353rd YOU SUCK.

Postcards II

Thank you to all who took the time to send a postcard! I took them down today and counted. I had a total of 289 post cards.
Magic eye: 11
Naked baby butts: 3
Cincinnati theme: 35
Handmade by family: 32
Pete Rose signed: 1

I hope to have more classifications and numbers for you at a later time but the total number is something i wasnt prepared to see. Thank you all.

I AM AWESOME

Caution, adults only.

Well our moronic and incompetent command has proved me right once again. Yes these horrible wastes of the term “soldier” ,“human”, “leader” well they have all been removed of their positions due to various forms of retardation. In blog posts past I have made reference to our company commander our company first sergeant and our company truck master. Well these three mounds of shit are no longer in charge. People are actually happy in the company now.
I called it, I told you so, I was so right its not funny. If your looking in the history for my past blog posts, well from random demeaning comments I deleted the posts. If you don’t agree, that’s fine but don’t attack without giving me a chance to confront you.

Anyway, our horrible piece of shit ex truck master… we he did something that no man, regardless of affiliation with the armed services or not, should do. We all knew he was a big pile of dog shit, he was a bully who used his rank and his intimidating demeanor to push people into bad decisions and to keep anyone, who had a opinion other than his, quiet. He was horrible back when we were in the states, he was an alcoholic, our commander knew this. This truck master has had multiple DUI’s, but yet our genius commander still thought he would be a good choice for one of the most important positions in the company.
That just proves how stupid our company commander really is. Well thank god our ex truck master was removed, he wasn’t just removed from his position for his despicable action he was moved to a whole other base here in Iraq. Oh and to further prove how bad our commander was he still saw fit to give this truck master, this worst excuse for a human, a decent…… no no a wonderful NCOER, or in civilian talk yearly review.

Our company first sergeant after a career spanning over 20 years in the military, both Marine Corps and ARMY, well he thought he was above the law and tried to smuggle a partial IED home in his footlocker. Oh that’s not the best part, he was a party to well over thousands of dollars of stolen/embezzled funds in the form of government property. He figured, and we all know this, that if he could get it, it was his. He did this with another NCO, acquiring, that’s ARMY for stealing, anything and everything justifying himself by saying it was “for the soldiers.” This person, just flat out thought his rank would shield him from any regulations or consequences. Guess he was wrong. I called him moronic before. WOW I am better than I thought I was. For those of you who lack sufficient intelligence, im speaking to anyone that doesn’t know what a moron is…. My commander…… it is a offensive term that insults someone’s intelligence, or is in reference to their impaired social skills. I would say believing that the law doesn’t apply to you makes you a moron.

Now to our wonderful commander. Well first lets paint an accurate picture of the formerly highest ranking person in this unit. He is my hight, bald, shuffles his feet cause I assume he is to damn gay or lazy to pick up his damn feet, he has what I guess are ticks cause he BARKS LIKE A DOG. No shit, he barks when he is nervous. I can just see him now sitting in his room all alone, barking up a fucking storm. He must be driving the stray dogs wild. Im not being mean, ask anyone, this guy, the leader that should be inspiring us to be better leaders and the one who has the final say in all decisions, well when things get rough, he sounds like a damn pet store. I cant tell you how unnerving it is to be sitting at a desk working or reading something and you hear this shuffling……. And then…. AARFF…. This guy also just gives off a weird vibe. You know that vibe you get from the creepy guy staring at you in the store. Yeah this is that guy. Well he has been removed for EO complaints…… and what we believe to be many other things. I mean he should go down for how crappy of a commander he was, but sadly there isn’t a law against incompetence. Now EO complaints, you are wondering what those are? Well this guy likes to make weird comments about sex and women and sexual topics in the presence of anyone. One would think a high ranking officer would understand the use of tact, and the rules and lines that limit and regulate sexual harassment and. I mean the ARMY has mandatory briefings every year. This guy saw fit to bring up sex around women, around lower enlisted soldiers. He is a sad excuse for a commander. Oh one of the best parts is the fact that he really doesn’t think he has done anything wrong! This asshole who has had many investigations involving him, has had many EO complaints listing him, has had tons of people trying to explain to him how inappropriate his comments are and how stunted, retarded, lacking his judgment is, HE THINKS HE IS RIGHT IN WHAT HE DOES.


WELL I called it, early on in this deployment I called for the removal of these idiots, these poor choices for leaders, these inferior, faulty, defective, substandard, and oh yes abysmal human beings, and it finally happened. Its interesting to see how people have responded to the elimination of these leeches on our company. People are walking around smiling, they seem happy and vibrant and upbeat. I cant say I like this unit as a whole, I think there are some core issues that plague this unit. Every unit has issues but some foster and breed inferior leaders such as these.
The soldiers of the 353rd Trans Co. have done an amazing job and I commend them. The soldiers had nothing to do with the career ending problems that the command has created for themselves.

I TOLD YOU SO! If people would just shut the hell up and listen to me the world would be a better place. Oh yeah Captain R.,SFC P., 1ST Sergeant T. if your reading this and I hope you are.

“Oh what a tangled web we weave, when we first practice to deceive.” Sir Walter Scott

Mail

Ok well blog readers, if you have been sending mail via postcards or packages, June 1st is the stopping day. Yes the wonderful day is finally upon us. I love all the postcards I get and the packages from the school, and boy scout troops, and Blue Star Mothers and my family, they have made a huge difference in this deployment.

Please pass on this information as I know some people who do not read this blog, send postcards and packages. Please let everyone know that the letters and postcards will all be coming home with me. I have sent the letters and address labels from many people home already. I plan on carrying the postcards home with me on the plane.
Thank you again to everyone that has supported me from the very beginning to now.

Planning ahead

Ok so im sorry i havent posted in a while, things here have been blah and pretty negative and im not gonna post about that here. I want to keep myself upbeat and posting about all the major problems my unit is having will not do that. SO looking forward to coming home. As my close friends and family know i will be adding a deck to my house as soon as i get home. I put out the call now to all those manly friends and family memebers who would like to help in this adventure to be ready and able. Not to say our womanly friends and family arent more than invited to participate. Sorry if that sounded bad. I hope to be home during the last week in July so this is when i plan on doing material purchasing. The first weekend in August is when the deck goes up..... unless im not back yet. Either way come rain or snow or howling winds that deck goes up. I have a design picked out and I have sent it to my father. I am going to post a link to it here now so if you want to get a picture for yourself you can. http://www.decks.com/deckplans/deckplandetails.aspx?plan=2L084&page=2

What I will need is a few experts at woodwork for this. I wont rely on you to do the whole deck but to advise and direct the hands that will be ready. I want to be involved even though i know im a novice when it comes to carpentry. If tools are need, I can get them, if extra lumber is needed just let me know. I am hoping to have about 5-7 guys/girls able to help, it will be more than a one day build so all 5-7 are not needed on the first day but the second day all hands on deck are called for. If you can, go to the link to see what im envisioning. I want to keep the deck low to the ground and with no railing. I want to keep the feel of openess. I want the off shoot that shows the grill to run right up against the house and come out about 6-7 feet. I plan to put a new stainless steel grill there. I havent decided on wood choices yet. Any suggestions. Please save the dates and be ready to work. If its coming home party or this i would rather have people able to help with the deck. Its something that will make my summers end at home much more enjoyable.

The fence around the carport will be finished so no worries about kids running around in the street and chasing after them. I will provide food each day and beer after each days work. Yes thats free food and free beer.................. now your ready to work arnt you. Any relatives that would like to come into town for a weekend and see the boys and help out you are more than welcome. This will be the weekend to do it.

Thanks again to everyone for everything. I will post more as time permits.

My boys are the best.

Roman moved up to a big bed, and Shamus learned to climb out of his crib, almost at the same time. The boys are closer now than ever. I think Shamus is making his case for a big bed of his own. Let me know what you think? If anyone has a twin bed they want to get rid of let us know.

Marissa Update

So Jessica informed me that Marissa got all good marks. Also since i was home she has had all green days except one. Now for those that arent familiar with todays classroom system green means the child had a good day, yellow means some minor issues and so on down the line. This is a great job for Marissa. She had been having trouble adjusting to a new school every year. This improvment is something I am excited to hear about. Marissa has lots of energy and I am very proud to see how well she is starting to perform in school. For the family that is lucky enough to see Marissa please make sure to mention to her about how well she is doing in school. When i was home on leave she was very proud each day to tell me that she had a green day and tell me how good she had been. Its actually makes me emotional thinking of how well she is doing. I wish everyone could she her scamper down the street to the bus stop each morning. She has so much life in her, its amazing to see her so happy now. Marissa has many friends at school but her best friend is a little girl named Naydia or something like that, i cant spell, sorry.

Well if anyone deserves a great birthday it is Marissa, she has really stepped up her game since i came home and I can only hope things continue. Please remember to send your love and well wishes as our little girl turns 7.

And remember to mention how well she is doing in school, I am just beaming with pride. I know how bad i was sometimes at that age and I can remember having all that energy and sometimes not knowing how to control it all. Marissa has made me so proud, I am counting on everyone who reads this blog to be my arms and voice to hug her tight and tell her how good of a job she is doing.
Thanks

Happy Birthday Marissa

So Today is Marissa's birthday. She is 7. If you get a chance or have a second please call or write Jessica and wish Marissa happy birthday. She is such a wonderful young lady. I am very proud of her. She is reading so well. Marissa is growing up way too fast for me. I can remember when she was a hyped up little 4 year old running around outside on her power wheel. Marissa loves to read and loves to read to people. If you ever get a chance to watch the kids, ask Marissa to read to you. Im sure you will be as awestruck as I was. Marissa loves Hannah Montana and cool clothes. She seems to be 7 going on 17 but I understand she is just growing up. Marissa is having a Birthday party coming up and if anyone would like to send anything or attend please contact Jessica or myself via email and we will get you the details.

Happy Birthday Marissa. I miss you very much.

Packages

Ok so its the time when we start packing and preparing things for the long trip home. yes i know I still have months to go but we are packing what we can in prep for all the small moves we make to get ready for the big move. If you were preparing a package I am sorry, but please dont send it. Unless its something i can eat like tuna, we just wont have room and will end up throwing it out. Sending items that you want me to have or anything else besides postcards is something i have to ask you the wonderful people who supported me, to stop. I cant bring everything home and sending all the items home by mail is quite costly. I have more than enough and that which i cant use or eat is being shared with all the soldiers of the 353rd.

Thank you to everyone who sent anything. Keep the post cards comeing. They are great.

Leave

Well, Im back in Iraq now. Yeah it sucks but getting home to see Jessica and the kids was amazing. I cant believe how big my boys have gotten. I am stunned at how well Marissa can read. Shamus is saying all types of things. Roman can actually keep a converstation and he can state his feelings, sometimes very sternly. Seeing Jessica was the best I could imagine. Its an odd feeling to have one person hold so much of your emotional being in just their touch. Being home and spending time doing the things fathers do was just what I needed to recharge my batteries. I didnt do anything to crazy on leave, i got to spend my wifes birthday actually with her. That is something i havent done during our relationship. I went to Ryans pub in Hamilton,which was great. My best friends Dustin and Richie joined us. We all had a great time. Jessica and I had a wonderful night out for dinner. I got to grill out, only once but it was enough to make me miss it very badly. I got some major things accomplished. Thanks Mom, Thanks Dad.
Dad came over and gave Jessica her Birthday gift... a new over the range microwave. Yes its friggin awesome. It makes cooking so easy and it just fits perfectly into our little kitchen. It made a difference in just the few days i was home to enjoy it. I got to see Marissa off to school each day which is a great thing. I got to make dinner for my family again and sitting down at the table held more joy in it than I would have ever thought.

Thank you to all those who helped Jessica out during the first part of my deployment, Thank you to all those who will help during the second part.

Photo update

This is from Ireland, we had an hour or so layover. So here are some photos that i havent been able to upload while I was in Iraq.

House help

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

Not Rocky but im trying

So, as I have said in previous posts I am boxing as a form of cardio now. I ordered some gloves and hand wraps, to ensure i dont break my hands on the heavy bag. Well i have a set of hand wraps and i was working out today, just hitting the heavy bag and doing some shadow boxing. Well there is a KBR guy that works out by boxing and he just so happens to work out the same time I do. Well today he was showing me a few things. It was great he took me threw a couple of jump rope drills to improve my heavy feet. I feel like Rocky in Rocky II. I have heavy slow feet. The guys says i have great punches and power but i plant my feet to long and i dont dance enough. The drills he put me threw were very difficult but mainly due to my lack of rythm and coordination. I got better by the workouts end but i was spent. We agreed to do more drills the next time we both were in the gym. Its fun to actually have someone who used to do Gold Gloves boxing training me. I feel good knowing im getting better each day. Now im no Lennox Lewis or Tyson but I will work till i feel i could step in the ring for real. I wont ever do it but i want to know i can. Wish me luck, im gonna need it.