Why do I say this? Well, let me tell you. Overall today was a good day, and it's almost over. That's the good part, but I have a dilemma of some conflicting thoughts, and it brings me back to something my Psychology professor once asked us in one of her very first lectures... "When this question is posed which of these do you generally tend to do? Do you do what you SHOULD do more often, or do you do what you WANT TO do more often?"
It's really a most interesting thing to ponder. I would imagine that many people go through life constantly doing what they SHOULD do. My question to any of them would be this... are you truly happy? My guess is that about 90-95% of them are not happy with their lives that way. She also said that the happiest people are the ones who do what they WANT TO do... simply because then you're living your life for YOU, not for anyone else, and you own the decision, therefore you will feel no resentment toward the person or thing that you did that you really never wanted to do anyway. Therein lies my dilemma today, and I often go through this sort of thing, which in the world of psychology they call "cognitive dissonance".
By definition cognitive dissonance is your brain conflicting between 2 things... it can be any 2 things... let's make it very simple. Take food choice for instance. You can have the tasty cheeseburger and ice cream, which is what you REALLY want, or you can choose to have the grilled chicken and rice, which is a much healthier choice, but at that moment it sounds about as good as eating a cardboard box. Now your brain has 2 thoughts that are conflicting.
I'll be the first to say that I more often than not choose the "want to" side... probably about 75% of the time, and sometimes that gets me into trouble, especially considering my line of work. In the military you mostly do what you're told, which results in doing what you "should" do. Most of those things... I deal with and press on just like everyone else. There are those few times, however, that I go against the grain and do something else instead. Just in the past 3 days there have been 2 such instances, and I'm quite certain they have not gone unnoticed by my supervisors.
Saturday was our end of month party/awards thingy... and it was my day off. Therein lies an obvious conflict, but add to it that the time to talk to my wife on Skype was right in the middle of the party time! Now we really have a problem don't we? So... I had already made up my mind not to go... and I didn't go. There have been no consequences as the event was not mandatory... however... it was brought up to everyone by the commander himself that although these things are not mandatory everyone who is not engaged in WORK is to be there. No mention was made of those who had the day off... but it's one of those gray areas if that makes sense.
The second thingy was today... it was a promotion ceremony, which is not mandatory per se. BUT... it was expected that if you were "not doing anything... for instance sitting on scope" then you were expected to be there. Well... after sitting basically 2 shifts today... I decided my workout was more important than the other thing, and I didn't get back in time to go. EVERYONE was gone, too! I was even told that people were asking where I was at there... which is a pretty good indication that I could be in some kind of trouble come tomorrow. Luckily I will probably be able to avoid it at least until Wednesday, since tomorrow is my 4 hour day, and I don't go in until 2:30 PM. I'm willing to accept whatever it is that comes my way. I made a conscious decision to do what I did knowing full well it could contain some, albeit minor in the whole scope of things, consequences.
So again I ask... do you do what you want to do, or do you do what you should do??? There are few things I can rate higher in my life at this time than 1. Time with my wife, which is really what helps the most to get me through my days here. And 2. Working out... because being fit and STAYING fit is extremely important not only for my health but for my being able to retire from the Air Force in less than 2 years. The 3rd thing... which is really #2 for me when I'm at home is school... which I am not doing over here simply because I don't feel like I have the time or the energy for it.
These are the things foremost on my mind tonight as I get ready to turn in for the night and catch up on some much needed sleep. So... keep in mind... I've been told nothing of any "punishment" or anything like that... just thinking it's a possibility... and my day overall was a VERY GOOD one! :) I don't want to remove the positive things from this fine Monday... Take care and maybe I'll post more in the morning, since I will have the time. :)
I leave you with this to ponder the next time you arrive at a point in your life where a decision causes you "cognitive dissonance". Will you do what makes YOU happy... or will you do what makes others happy?
Peace, Love, and Poker
Monday, January 31, 2011
Saturday, January 29, 2011
The last Saturday in January!!!
Yes... it's true... another month is coming to an end, and it's gone by the fastest of all of them thus far! Tuesday will be the 1st of February, which marks the last full month here. That's definitely something to look forward to! :) This day off... marks the end of week number 22. 22 weeks!!! That only leaves 6 weeks to go! 6 more Saturdays off. Then it will be about time to bid farewell to Iraq. Of course, the exact date is unknown... sometime in March... but the countdown estimate is close enough to be satisfying. :)
It's raining AGAIN on my day off. It seems rather odd that Saturdays are the only time it ever seems to rain here. This is the 6th or 7th one so far, and it's only rained maybe that many times plus one or two! I don't mind it... nor am I complaining, though. I actually happen to ENJOY it. The rain is refreshing, and it's a nice change of pace having a little moisture in the air.
Ahhhh... the pizza was delicious as always! Billy was nowhere to be found today, so I went solo in the drizzle today. I did my best to avoid the mud puddles along the way on my 20+ minute jaunt in the rain. It was well worth it, though. I even enjoyed a Beck's non-alcoholic beer. Yes... it's true... N/A beer is the best one can hope for here. It's good to get the flavor of it every once in awhile. :)
I then trekked over to the post office to take care of mailing a nice surprise out ot my dear wifey. :) I know she will appreciate that... at least I hope she likes it! LOL Pretty soon I'm going to have to decide what to consolidate and send (errrrr... yeah... where is home?) somewhere I guess. Hmmm... where??? I don't have a home right now!!! I'm sure I can figure something out. I have enough peeps in Boise surely I can send my stuff SOMEWHERE! :)
After I walked back, I went over and got my first haircut since Christmas Day. The barber was very careful of my "scar" on the back of my neck/head. I was grateful for that. I certainly don't need another one of those things anytime soon! That infection was HORRIBLE! It's one of the worst ailments I can ever remember enduring. I'm just glad it's over with... and hopefully gone. It's been 2 weeks now since the bandages came off for good and it was allowed to close up. The haircut did feel good, too. :)
Now I'm back in my cozy "POD" sitting on my bed writing this blog post and playing a little poker. I'm also drinking my cinnamon orange tea as per usual. :) I'd say it's been a pretty good day off to this point, and it's almost time to Skype with Anne Marie!!! :) Next week at this time not only will there only be 5 weeks left, but the next night will be the SUPER BOWL!!!! GO STEELERS!!! :)
I hope everyone has an awesome Saturday!!! If there's snow wherever you are... know that I wish I were there to enjoy it!!!! I miss my winter over here...
Peace, Love, and Poker
It's raining AGAIN on my day off. It seems rather odd that Saturdays are the only time it ever seems to rain here. This is the 6th or 7th one so far, and it's only rained maybe that many times plus one or two! I don't mind it... nor am I complaining, though. I actually happen to ENJOY it. The rain is refreshing, and it's a nice change of pace having a little moisture in the air.
Ahhhh... the pizza was delicious as always! Billy was nowhere to be found today, so I went solo in the drizzle today. I did my best to avoid the mud puddles along the way on my 20+ minute jaunt in the rain. It was well worth it, though. I even enjoyed a Beck's non-alcoholic beer. Yes... it's true... N/A beer is the best one can hope for here. It's good to get the flavor of it every once in awhile. :)
I then trekked over to the post office to take care of mailing a nice surprise out ot my dear wifey. :) I know she will appreciate that... at least I hope she likes it! LOL Pretty soon I'm going to have to decide what to consolidate and send (errrrr... yeah... where is home?) somewhere I guess. Hmmm... where??? I don't have a home right now!!! I'm sure I can figure something out. I have enough peeps in Boise surely I can send my stuff SOMEWHERE! :)
After I walked back, I went over and got my first haircut since Christmas Day. The barber was very careful of my "scar" on the back of my neck/head. I was grateful for that. I certainly don't need another one of those things anytime soon! That infection was HORRIBLE! It's one of the worst ailments I can ever remember enduring. I'm just glad it's over with... and hopefully gone. It's been 2 weeks now since the bandages came off for good and it was allowed to close up. The haircut did feel good, too. :)
Now I'm back in my cozy "POD" sitting on my bed writing this blog post and playing a little poker. I'm also drinking my cinnamon orange tea as per usual. :) I'd say it's been a pretty good day off to this point, and it's almost time to Skype with Anne Marie!!! :) Next week at this time not only will there only be 5 weeks left, but the next night will be the SUPER BOWL!!!! GO STEELERS!!! :)
I hope everyone has an awesome Saturday!!! If there's snow wherever you are... know that I wish I were there to enjoy it!!!! I miss my winter over here...
Peace, Love, and Poker
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Feeling the burn!!!
It feels GREAT to be back to working out again (now for the 2nd week). I missed my running so much!!! In fact, I will attempt to get back to 3.78 miles this afternoon! I'll let you know how I did later tonight in the latter part of my post. :)
I spent 65 minutes on the treadmill on Sunday and 70 minutes on it on Monday running/walking. It felt great! Even though I hadn't been running regularly for the better part of 3 weeks I've hardly missed a beat. My sprint/walk intervals were at 3.0/8.0, which is already close to where I was at before. The run speed is the SAME. I decided to lower the walk speed slightly to compensate for not doing it for so long. I still want to eventually get to 5.0/8.0 on interval day (which means 45 minutes of sprint intervals with NO walking at all!!!!) We'll see... I do still have 6 more weeks to do it.
It's been a super fast week here again!!! I honestly cannot believe that I only have one more workday then another day off! It's flying by! I've said the week feels like one day, and the day off feels like 2. That's a pretty good feeling probably for anyone I would think. :)
So.... I'm back... it's now almost 8:30 in the evening here... and I have the report from my workout. I went 4 miles in a personal best time of 39:15. I'm sure a lot of folks (mostly military) will scoff at that time and say, "Oh, that's nothing to be proud of. That's slow as shit dude!" Well... all that really matters is that I'M proud of it! I never claimed to be a fast runner... but hey... I'd say that's pretty good for anyone. Just finishing 4 miles is something the majority of our population can't even do! I enjoyed the run, too. I didn't push too hard, and I had plenty left in the tank to hit the finish on a sprint. :)
It was an overall pretty good day I have to say. Tomorrow is FRIDAY, and then my day off is Saturday! It doesn't get much better than that. Then I will be down to just 6 weeks left! Then... next weekend is the Super Bowl... when my beloved Pittsburgh Steelers will attempt to win #7!!! I'm also looking forward to that, but at the same time I don't want my day off to rush by, either! LOL Decisions... decisions... hehe
Either way... I'm ready to go home... so as long as the days continue to fly by I'm not going to complain! February is almost here... so close... you can almost taste it! Then it's just a matter of getting through one last full month and into March... the home stretch. The beers await... soon... oh so soon... along with my dear wifey... my friends... my car... my cats... etc. etc. etc. :)
Goodnight from Iraq... see you tomorrow...
Peace, Love, and Poker
I spent 65 minutes on the treadmill on Sunday and 70 minutes on it on Monday running/walking. It felt great! Even though I hadn't been running regularly for the better part of 3 weeks I've hardly missed a beat. My sprint/walk intervals were at 3.0/8.0, which is already close to where I was at before. The run speed is the SAME. I decided to lower the walk speed slightly to compensate for not doing it for so long. I still want to eventually get to 5.0/8.0 on interval day (which means 45 minutes of sprint intervals with NO walking at all!!!!) We'll see... I do still have 6 more weeks to do it.
It's been a super fast week here again!!! I honestly cannot believe that I only have one more workday then another day off! It's flying by! I've said the week feels like one day, and the day off feels like 2. That's a pretty good feeling probably for anyone I would think. :)
So.... I'm back... it's now almost 8:30 in the evening here... and I have the report from my workout. I went 4 miles in a personal best time of 39:15. I'm sure a lot of folks (mostly military) will scoff at that time and say, "Oh, that's nothing to be proud of. That's slow as shit dude!" Well... all that really matters is that I'M proud of it! I never claimed to be a fast runner... but hey... I'd say that's pretty good for anyone. Just finishing 4 miles is something the majority of our population can't even do! I enjoyed the run, too. I didn't push too hard, and I had plenty left in the tank to hit the finish on a sprint. :)
It was an overall pretty good day I have to say. Tomorrow is FRIDAY, and then my day off is Saturday! It doesn't get much better than that. Then I will be down to just 6 weeks left! Then... next weekend is the Super Bowl... when my beloved Pittsburgh Steelers will attempt to win #7!!! I'm also looking forward to that, but at the same time I don't want my day off to rush by, either! LOL Decisions... decisions... hehe
Either way... I'm ready to go home... so as long as the days continue to fly by I'm not going to complain! February is almost here... so close... you can almost taste it! Then it's just a matter of getting through one last full month and into March... the home stretch. The beers await... soon... oh so soon... along with my dear wifey... my friends... my car... my cats... etc. etc. etc. :)
Goodnight from Iraq... see you tomorrow...
Peace, Love, and Poker
Monday, January 24, 2011
And the AFC Champions are....
THE PITTSBURGH STEELERS!!!! YES!!! They did it!!! The Steelers pulled it off and held on to defeat the game New York Jets by a score of 24-19 on the birthday of the late beloved Pittsburgh figure, Myron Cope. I think perhaps he may have even had a hand in this victory. After all it was 24-0 late in the first half before the Jets even go on the board to go into the half trailing 24-3. Whoever would have thought that the Steelers would have scored their final point of the game then???
It wasn't as easy as it started out to be. The Steelers dominated the first half. They manhandled the Jets on both sides of the ball, but a football game is 60 minutes... not 30... and the Jets had other ideas for the second half. The critical series of the game was pretty obvious (at least to me). The Jets were down 24-10 with the ball on a long sustained drive that had started deep in their own territory. The ran over 8 minutes off of the clock. It was 1st and Goal from the Steelers' 2. It wasn't looking good. 1st down got them inside the 1 yard line. On 2nd down the pass from Sanchez was a little wide to the tight end in tight coverage and missed. 3rd down was nearly an interception as Lamar Woodley had both of his hands on the ball but just couldn't hang on. That brings us to 4th down. Surely they were going to score now... they hand it to LT... and he is met in the hole and stuffed behind the line of scrimmage!!! Steelers ball! On the very next play Big Ben and the backup center failed to connect, and Ben had to hurriedly fall on the ball, taking a safety (24-12). The Jets continued to run the clock on their next possession and eventually scored a touchdown with about 3 minutes left in the game. (24-19)
The offense was going to have to win this one. The first step was the kickoff return... it was a good one... all the way to the 43 yard line after nearly being wrapped up at the 20. The Steelers ran a play, and NY used a timeout. Then it was Big Ben time! Roethlisberger connected with Heath Miller on 2nd and 9 for a critical first down, forcing the Jets to burn their final timeouts. It still wasn't over yet, though. Without another first down the Jets would get one more chance to complete the comeback. There were 2 more running plays... another 3rd and 6ish play coming up. Ben scrambles... it looks like he might throw it away... for God's sake take the sack first!!! Run that clock!!! But wait... he finds the rookie Antonio Brown for another first down, and now it's time to celebrate!!!! Ben kneels on the ball twice and the clock runs out!!! The Pittsburgh Steelers are going back to the Super Bowl again!!!!
It made it well worth waking up at 2:20 AM to watch the game. 2 cups of cinnamon orange tea kept me alive and kicking throughout the event! So far I've survived the day rather well, most likely still on a pure adrenaline rush from the morning. It was awesome!!! Now... the Steelers will face the equally tough Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl 45... looking to be the first team to win 7 Super Bowls (2 others have 5... Dallas and San Francisco)... which would put Pittsburgh 2 ahead of the nearest other franchise. This would certainly cement the Steelers even further as the NFL's greatest franchise of all time! HERE WE GO STEELERS!!! HERE WE GO!!!! ONE... MORE... WIN!!!
Peace, Love, and Poker
It wasn't as easy as it started out to be. The Steelers dominated the first half. They manhandled the Jets on both sides of the ball, but a football game is 60 minutes... not 30... and the Jets had other ideas for the second half. The critical series of the game was pretty obvious (at least to me). The Jets were down 24-10 with the ball on a long sustained drive that had started deep in their own territory. The ran over 8 minutes off of the clock. It was 1st and Goal from the Steelers' 2. It wasn't looking good. 1st down got them inside the 1 yard line. On 2nd down the pass from Sanchez was a little wide to the tight end in tight coverage and missed. 3rd down was nearly an interception as Lamar Woodley had both of his hands on the ball but just couldn't hang on. That brings us to 4th down. Surely they were going to score now... they hand it to LT... and he is met in the hole and stuffed behind the line of scrimmage!!! Steelers ball! On the very next play Big Ben and the backup center failed to connect, and Ben had to hurriedly fall on the ball, taking a safety (24-12). The Jets continued to run the clock on their next possession and eventually scored a touchdown with about 3 minutes left in the game. (24-19)
The offense was going to have to win this one. The first step was the kickoff return... it was a good one... all the way to the 43 yard line after nearly being wrapped up at the 20. The Steelers ran a play, and NY used a timeout. Then it was Big Ben time! Roethlisberger connected with Heath Miller on 2nd and 9 for a critical first down, forcing the Jets to burn their final timeouts. It still wasn't over yet, though. Without another first down the Jets would get one more chance to complete the comeback. There were 2 more running plays... another 3rd and 6ish play coming up. Ben scrambles... it looks like he might throw it away... for God's sake take the sack first!!! Run that clock!!! But wait... he finds the rookie Antonio Brown for another first down, and now it's time to celebrate!!!! Ben kneels on the ball twice and the clock runs out!!! The Pittsburgh Steelers are going back to the Super Bowl again!!!!
It made it well worth waking up at 2:20 AM to watch the game. 2 cups of cinnamon orange tea kept me alive and kicking throughout the event! So far I've survived the day rather well, most likely still on a pure adrenaline rush from the morning. It was awesome!!! Now... the Steelers will face the equally tough Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl 45... looking to be the first team to win 7 Super Bowls (2 others have 5... Dallas and San Francisco)... which would put Pittsburgh 2 ahead of the nearest other franchise. This would certainly cement the Steelers even further as the NFL's greatest franchise of all time! HERE WE GO STEELERS!!! HERE WE GO!!!! ONE... MORE... WIN!!!
Peace, Love, and Poker
Saturday, January 22, 2011
As promised... the greatest blog EVER!!!
Well... some may disagree, but when some of you... MOST of you see this... you will truly be in AWE of it!!! It is possibly the most amazing thing I've ever seen... and certainly the most amazing creation on Joint Base Balad by far!!! This particular item... just one of its kind... exceeds all imaginable expectations! I'm dead serious... you won't believe your very eyes... but you don't get to see it just yet!!! hahahahaha (evil laugh)
It's been another nice day off... nothing super duper special except for what you're about to lay eyes on... but nice just the same. It all started out with everything I wrote in my first blog earlier today. Following that I went on a bit of a picture taking excursion. The first of which is something simple... something that protects us inside the confines of our comfy pods and buildings here on base. It's the T-Wall!
The T-Walls are that extra level of protection from the bad guys out there... whomever and wherever they are. These puppies are tough as iron!!! :) They are also pretty damn tall as well!!!! Look at the nice desert terrain in front of the T-Walls, and if you look you can see the gorgeous blue sky of the day here today! Sunny and 60 degrees... a VERY lovely day indeed!
It was a great day to take a walk to get some pizza. I had a buddy with me... which made it the perfect time to get a few pictures of this particular item you're going to see very very soon! We actually took the picture on the way to Ciano's. It was just a little out of the way... but the exercise was nice! The pizza was really tasty as usual... as you can see!!! Believe me... the other half of the pizza didn't last very long, either. Can you see the green bottle next to it? Some might believe it to be a BEER! Well... you're close... it's an N/A BEER! LOL
You see... there is no beer here in Iraq, so a tasty Beck's N/A is about as good as it gets. It is pretty good, too. I can't complain. I'm still pretty stuffed from the pizza... of course, I had to eat it all like I do every week. I had a good weight loss this week, too... 1.6 pounds! I'm not sure if I had already mentioned that in my last post or not, but it's definitely newsworthy!!! :)
Ok... now it's time... for the main event!!! I know you've been waiting for it. Everyone's awaiting this wondrous creation's unveiling right here, right now! When I say I got chills when I saw it the other day on my 2 mile walk... I mean it!!! I know quite a few people that will also get chills from this. Ok... ok... you want to see it NOW don't you??? Really??? RIGHT NOW???
Hmmmm... let's talk a little football first. Steelers vs. Jets at 6:30 PM EST on Sunday... making it 2:30 AM Monday here. Ohhhhhhh baby I WILL be watching!!! The Terrible Towel will be flying!!! This is the big one... winner goes to the Super Bowl! Can the Pittsburgh Steelers get back to the Super Bowl for the 3rd time in 6 years??? We will find out in the next 36 hours! My prediction is Steelers 27 Jets 10. Yes, I am predicting a rather in hand victory for the Steelers in this rematch of the last team to beat them this season.
Ok... now it's time... Yes... I'm finally going to keep you in suspense no longer! This is what I saw just yesterday as I was walking on my loop around the compound here where I reside on Joint Base Balad. This is truly ART at it's very finest... and what better day to post this picture than on the day beforfe the birthday of none other than our beloved Myron Cope. Myron Cope was the Steelers' commentator for all those years dating back to the Steel Curtain days of the 1970s. Do you think the Jets are in trouble now??? They are playing on Myron's birthday!!! Myron passed away February 27, 2008. Rest in Peace! He was already mentioned in my blog about the Terrible Towel, which was his invention! Now you will see why this picture gives me chills... as it will every other Steelers fan that sees this post!!!!
It's a T-Wall... A TERRIBLE TOWEL T-WALL!!!! You didn't think my earlier T-Wall picture was taken on accident did you??? Of course, I had to be in the picture with my gun as well!!! I will NEVER get to see something of this magnitude again anywhere else I might travel in the world. The artwork is incredible! It was undoubtedly done by (most likely a group of) Steelers fans that work in the very building behind this now famous T-Wall. This is truly the most AWESOME creation I have ever seen in Iraq, and I highly doubt it will be surpassed by anything else that may happen to cross my path in this last 7 weeks here! :)
Yes... it's been a wonderful day off. I have missed out on taking my nap, but that's ok. I have really enjoyed writing my blogs today. I will be ready for the game tomorrow night regardless of how much sleep I have. I will trek over to the Green Bean for a cinnamon orange hot tea before kickoff. I will have the Terrible Towel in hand and ready to cheer on my beloved Steelers as they hopefully head to the Super Bowl on Feb. 6th!
Have an awesome Saturday!!! HERE WE GO STEELERS!!!
Peace, Love, and Poker
The T-Walls are that extra level of protection from the bad guys out there... whomever and wherever they are. These puppies are tough as iron!!! :) They are also pretty damn tall as well!!!! Look at the nice desert terrain in front of the T-Walls, and if you look you can see the gorgeous blue sky of the day here today! Sunny and 60 degrees... a VERY lovely day indeed!
You see... there is no beer here in Iraq, so a tasty Beck's N/A is about as good as it gets. It is pretty good, too. I can't complain. I'm still pretty stuffed from the pizza... of course, I had to eat it all like I do every week. I had a good weight loss this week, too... 1.6 pounds! I'm not sure if I had already mentioned that in my last post or not, but it's definitely newsworthy!!! :)
Ok... now it's time... for the main event!!! I know you've been waiting for it. Everyone's awaiting this wondrous creation's unveiling right here, right now! When I say I got chills when I saw it the other day on my 2 mile walk... I mean it!!! I know quite a few people that will also get chills from this. Ok... ok... you want to see it NOW don't you??? Really??? RIGHT NOW???
Hmmmm... let's talk a little football first. Steelers vs. Jets at 6:30 PM EST on Sunday... making it 2:30 AM Monday here. Ohhhhhhh baby I WILL be watching!!! The Terrible Towel will be flying!!! This is the big one... winner goes to the Super Bowl! Can the Pittsburgh Steelers get back to the Super Bowl for the 3rd time in 6 years??? We will find out in the next 36 hours! My prediction is Steelers 27 Jets 10. Yes, I am predicting a rather in hand victory for the Steelers in this rematch of the last team to beat them this season.
Ok... now it's time... Yes... I'm finally going to keep you in suspense no longer! This is what I saw just yesterday as I was walking on my loop around the compound here where I reside on Joint Base Balad. This is truly ART at it's very finest... and what better day to post this picture than on the day beforfe the birthday of none other than our beloved Myron Cope. Myron Cope was the Steelers' commentator for all those years dating back to the Steel Curtain days of the 1970s. Do you think the Jets are in trouble now??? They are playing on Myron's birthday!!! Myron passed away February 27, 2008. Rest in Peace! He was already mentioned in my blog about the Terrible Towel, which was his invention! Now you will see why this picture gives me chills... as it will every other Steelers fan that sees this post!!!!
Yes... it's been a wonderful day off. I have missed out on taking my nap, but that's ok. I have really enjoyed writing my blogs today. I will be ready for the game tomorrow night regardless of how much sleep I have. I will trek over to the Green Bean for a cinnamon orange hot tea before kickoff. I will have the Terrible Towel in hand and ready to cheer on my beloved Steelers as they hopefully head to the Super Bowl on Feb. 6th!
Have an awesome Saturday!!! HERE WE GO STEELERS!!!
Peace, Love, and Poker
Ahhhhh yessssss... SATURDAY!!!
This guy... the one typing this right this moment... has come to LOVE Saturdays!!! :) It is my own slice of a weekend that only comes once a week over here... and with each one that comes and goes is one week closer to getting back home! These are the days that make the rest of the week worthwhile. You work hard and bust your tail for 6 days... and you're rewarded with Saturday!
Getting home will be its own reward once that finally happens. It's really within sight now, too! I mean... in only 2 weeks and a day it will be Super Bowl Sunday! With that said... the date is Feb. 6th. That will put me down to just over a month from leaving here! Now there's some perspective for ya! That is a wondeful feeling. Just think... I will only have 7 more of these "Saturdays" left here. Now that brings to light some thoughts.
I really need to start looking at cleaning house and getting stuff ready to go! I also need to get on the ball with finding a place to live when I get back! That time is coming, and apartments need to know these things in advance! I can't wait to have all my stuff back... especially my car! I'm looking forward to my first drive to wherever in my car when I get back. That will be awesome! :)
As for now... walking is just fine for just about everywhere I traverse this desert base. It gives me lots of exercise and has definitely played a huge part in the 13 or so pounds I've lost since I've been here. I'm not discounting all the long and intense running workouts I've done, however, I think the change from riding to walking was the thing that really pushed me over the top. I also have something to add to this post later on today that is going to be PHENOMENAL!!! This may turn out to be my best blogger day ever by the end of the day...
Right now... I'm playing a little poker and chillin' in my room. In 45 minutes it's pizza time!!! I will be back with another post soon... STAY TUNED!!!
Peace, Love, and Poker
Getting home will be its own reward once that finally happens. It's really within sight now, too! I mean... in only 2 weeks and a day it will be Super Bowl Sunday! With that said... the date is Feb. 6th. That will put me down to just over a month from leaving here! Now there's some perspective for ya! That is a wondeful feeling. Just think... I will only have 7 more of these "Saturdays" left here. Now that brings to light some thoughts.
I really need to start looking at cleaning house and getting stuff ready to go! I also need to get on the ball with finding a place to live when I get back! That time is coming, and apartments need to know these things in advance! I can't wait to have all my stuff back... especially my car! I'm looking forward to my first drive to wherever in my car when I get back. That will be awesome! :)
As for now... walking is just fine for just about everywhere I traverse this desert base. It gives me lots of exercise and has definitely played a huge part in the 13 or so pounds I've lost since I've been here. I'm not discounting all the long and intense running workouts I've done, however, I think the change from riding to walking was the thing that really pushed me over the top. I also have something to add to this post later on today that is going to be PHENOMENAL!!! This may turn out to be my best blogger day ever by the end of the day...
Right now... I'm playing a little poker and chillin' in my room. In 45 minutes it's pizza time!!! I will be back with another post soon... STAY TUNED!!!
Peace, Love, and Poker
Friday, January 21, 2011
Walking IS good exercise!!!!
I think it's funny how some people simply scoff at the fact that I think a good walk is sufficient for a "workout". It is the commonplace attitude of MANY military members, though. You MUST exercise at a higher intensity in order for it to be beneficial!!! If you don't RUN... and faster than whatever time it is that you normally run in... then you're not REALLY working out. Or if you don't lift weights... or do P90X or some other crackpot gimmicky workout then you might as well not do anything.
BULLSHIT!
In fact, walking is extremely beneficial to your individual well-being and is one of the best fat burning exercises you can do. Sure, higher intensity = higher burn. An idiot can figure that out... however, it's the long slow distance training (known as LSD in the fitness world) that truly burns the fat. 60 minutes of walking at a moderately fast pace (3.5-4.5 mph) will get you quite a bit of results if you do it regularly. In fact, it's the ideal recovery workout for the day after a good run when your body's not quite ready to go at it full throttle again.
There are a number of testimonials in regards to "walking yourself thin" that are available for your reading enjoyment simply by visiting google.com and typing those words into the search box. You'd be surprised how much good has come from just putting one foot in front of the other regularly. Of course, I don't listen to the nay sayers anyway. I couldn't care less what others say about what I'm doing. I know what works for ME, and that's all that really matters in the whole scheme of things.
I am feeling MUCH better that I'm back to running, however! See... I do my share of higher intensity work... I just can't nor should I do it every single day. I got in nearly 4 miles running yesterday... I'd say that's pretty damn good from where I'm sitting. I hadn't even run but once in almost 3 weeks time. Hmmm... I guess I'm not in too bad of shape... perhaps when I step on the scale next time it will agree with me. :)
Peace, Love, and Poker
BULLSHIT!
In fact, walking is extremely beneficial to your individual well-being and is one of the best fat burning exercises you can do. Sure, higher intensity = higher burn. An idiot can figure that out... however, it's the long slow distance training (known as LSD in the fitness world) that truly burns the fat. 60 minutes of walking at a moderately fast pace (3.5-4.5 mph) will get you quite a bit of results if you do it regularly. In fact, it's the ideal recovery workout for the day after a good run when your body's not quite ready to go at it full throttle again.
There are a number of testimonials in regards to "walking yourself thin" that are available for your reading enjoyment simply by visiting google.com and typing those words into the search box. You'd be surprised how much good has come from just putting one foot in front of the other regularly. Of course, I don't listen to the nay sayers anyway. I couldn't care less what others say about what I'm doing. I know what works for ME, and that's all that really matters in the whole scheme of things.
I am feeling MUCH better that I'm back to running, however! See... I do my share of higher intensity work... I just can't nor should I do it every single day. I got in nearly 4 miles running yesterday... I'd say that's pretty damn good from where I'm sitting. I hadn't even run but once in almost 3 weeks time. Hmmm... I guess I'm not in too bad of shape... perhaps when I step on the scale next time it will agree with me. :)
Peace, Love, and Poker
Thursday, January 20, 2011
I have found some relaxation this week...
... and you know what... I LOVE IT! It's very relaxing to sit and listen to music and simply relax in the evenings as I've done a few times this week. I've always known that listening to music... or singing... has always been something that's relaxing for me, yet the whole time I've been here I didn't break out my Ipod and charge it until recently. Why the hell did I wait so long??? This is so enjoyable right now!
I'm currently listening to some old John Michael Montgomery (honestly... I haven't heard anything NEW by him in ages) and debating what I'm going to listen to next. Now that's a rough evening right there! :) It's nice to feel mellow without any stress weighing you down, though. I even broke out the Danish butter cookies my friend Tyler sent me in a package for Christmas. I think between my roommate and I we must have eaten over a dozen of them. They are sooooooooooooooo good!!!!
I also had a very good workout this afternoon (running/jogging/walking). I ran for 39 minutes and walked for 30. It feels so good to be getting back to normal again! The head thing is still healing, but there are no more bandages anymore and no more bleeding, etc. It's closed up and only a scab and some swelling remains around it. :) I have only 2 more days of antibiotics left... but I think I'm going to swing by the doc's on Saturday and see if they think I should take them for one more week. I'm not yet convinced that this thing is completely gone yet, and I sure as hell don't want it coming back!!!! I'm determined to beat it!
Well... I know this was kind of a short post, but I'm going to stick to my plan for tonight and get to bed early again. Perhaps I'm trying to save a couple hours of extra sleep in the "bank" because there's a certain football game I'll be getting up at 2:30 AM on Monday morning to watch... I believe the PITTSBURGH STEELERS are playing for a trip to the SUPER BOWL!!!! Oh yeah!!!! They better beat those J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS this time! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!! You better believe the Terrible Towel will be flying!!!! HERE WE GO STEELERS!!! HERE WE GO!!!! PITTSBURGH'S GOING TO THE SUPER BOWL!!!
Ok... ok... I got a little excited there. LOL It happens sometimes. Goodnight all! See you in Bloggerville tomorrow...
Peace, Love, and Poker
I'm currently listening to some old John Michael Montgomery (honestly... I haven't heard anything NEW by him in ages) and debating what I'm going to listen to next. Now that's a rough evening right there! :) It's nice to feel mellow without any stress weighing you down, though. I even broke out the Danish butter cookies my friend Tyler sent me in a package for Christmas. I think between my roommate and I we must have eaten over a dozen of them. They are sooooooooooooooo good!!!!
I also had a very good workout this afternoon (running/jogging/walking). I ran for 39 minutes and walked for 30. It feels so good to be getting back to normal again! The head thing is still healing, but there are no more bandages anymore and no more bleeding, etc. It's closed up and only a scab and some swelling remains around it. :) I have only 2 more days of antibiotics left... but I think I'm going to swing by the doc's on Saturday and see if they think I should take them for one more week. I'm not yet convinced that this thing is completely gone yet, and I sure as hell don't want it coming back!!!! I'm determined to beat it!
Well... I know this was kind of a short post, but I'm going to stick to my plan for tonight and get to bed early again. Perhaps I'm trying to save a couple hours of extra sleep in the "bank" because there's a certain football game I'll be getting up at 2:30 AM on Monday morning to watch... I believe the PITTSBURGH STEELERS are playing for a trip to the SUPER BOWL!!!! Oh yeah!!!! They better beat those J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS this time! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!! You better believe the Terrible Towel will be flying!!!! HERE WE GO STEELERS!!! HERE WE GO!!!! PITTSBURGH'S GOING TO THE SUPER BOWL!!!
Ok... ok... I got a little excited there. LOL It happens sometimes. Goodnight all! See you in Bloggerville tomorrow...
Peace, Love, and Poker
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Getting ever so close yet again...
... to that precious day off! Yes... it's true... it's already Wednesday, and Saturday awaits right around the corner from it. I am still having a tough time believing just how fast the days go by here. It is a ridiculous pace! It seems like hours pass by like minutes... days like hours... etc. I don't even think my days off go by as fast as the days I work, which is the complete opposite of normal! LOL
Today is the first Wednesday that we switched the schedule a little... it doesn't really change the amount of time I sit in the 2 locations... just the time of day. I am feeling indifferent about it honestly. It's no biggie either way. I have enough snacks with me to amount to a midday meal, but I'll still go eat between 3 and 4 during my hour I have before I sit in the command post for the last 3 hours of the day. The way I see it... it's most likely going to make the day go by that much faster. I only have one hour until my shift on scope starts. Before you know it... it will be 7 o'clock... and I'll be rolling out the door.
It is still like Groundhog Day, though. There is very little change from day to day or week to week. I do think that the routine is helpful, but it's very easy to get complacent within that routine if you're not careful. There are things that just become automatic that you do on a daily basis without hardly putting the slightest bit of thought into them. Waking up in the morning, however, is not one of them! LOL I ALWAYS want more sleep when I roll out of bed prior to 5 AM. Hell, most days I want more sleep on the days I sleep in till 8 or 9, and that's after going to sleep at 11 at the absolute latest! I've never really been a morning person to begin with, so I'm not really surprised that I'm often tired and longing for more sleep regardless of the time I awaken. *yawn*
Nonetheless, it is a pretty good day for a Wednesday in the desert land of Iraq. 7 1/2 weeks to go... and there's no sign of it slowing down anytime soon. We're gaining on February here... the last FULL month of the deployment! Now... THAT is a GREAT feeling!!! :)
Peace, Love, and Poker
Today is the first Wednesday that we switched the schedule a little... it doesn't really change the amount of time I sit in the 2 locations... just the time of day. I am feeling indifferent about it honestly. It's no biggie either way. I have enough snacks with me to amount to a midday meal, but I'll still go eat between 3 and 4 during my hour I have before I sit in the command post for the last 3 hours of the day. The way I see it... it's most likely going to make the day go by that much faster. I only have one hour until my shift on scope starts. Before you know it... it will be 7 o'clock... and I'll be rolling out the door.
It is still like Groundhog Day, though. There is very little change from day to day or week to week. I do think that the routine is helpful, but it's very easy to get complacent within that routine if you're not careful. There are things that just become automatic that you do on a daily basis without hardly putting the slightest bit of thought into them. Waking up in the morning, however, is not one of them! LOL I ALWAYS want more sleep when I roll out of bed prior to 5 AM. Hell, most days I want more sleep on the days I sleep in till 8 or 9, and that's after going to sleep at 11 at the absolute latest! I've never really been a morning person to begin with, so I'm not really surprised that I'm often tired and longing for more sleep regardless of the time I awaken. *yawn*
Nonetheless, it is a pretty good day for a Wednesday in the desert land of Iraq. 7 1/2 weeks to go... and there's no sign of it slowing down anytime soon. We're gaining on February here... the last FULL month of the deployment! Now... THAT is a GREAT feeling!!! :)
Peace, Love, and Poker
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
I sure love sleeping in!
It's something you just don't get to do all that often. Most of us look forward to the weekend to be able to get this extra sleep time. Me, I have Tuesdays and Saturdays. I suppose it is like having a weekend of sorts. Tuesdays I go into work at a comfortable 10:30. It is nice to have this spread out from my day off each week. It offers a nice little recovery. Not only that... there are 3 days more and then it's time for another day off. :)
It's almost time to head to work now, though. It's been a nice enjoyable morning. I didn't even wake up until around 9, about an hour ago. I went and got a coffee and ate my breakfast in my room. I have a nice stockpile of breakfast items saved up here for this express purpose. Not only that... yogurt and cereal make a really good snack in a pinch, too!
.... and I'm back after a pretty decent day at work. It went by fast as has been the case with the majority of my now 133 days I've been deployed. It doesn't hurt that I enjoy doing the job here... that's always a bonus. I also like the people I work with as well. If you put all those together it makes for a good working environment. :)
After work I got back to my room and had some peanut butter and club crackers for a makeshift dinner. It sounded good to me, and I didn't really feel like the dining hall food tonight. It works. I also had a nice little snack of some white chocolate covered pretzels. Yummy!!!! I could eat the whole bag of those if I'm not careful! :P In between the "meals" I got my shower and shave out of the way and went and got some tea. Yes... I am STILL addicted to the cinnamon orange tea and probably will miss it terribly when I leave here. I'm sure there's plenty of a similar tea in the U.S. somewhere, though. :)
I also broke my Ipod back out tonight... I've listened to the following this evening... Paul McCartney (Live and Let Die along with My Love)... Matchbox 20 (3 A.M. and Push)... Oasis (Wonderwall)... Live (Selling the Drama)... Goo Goo Dolls (Iris)... and finishing up with some Eagles (Wasted Time)... and then it's time to pack it in for the night. *yawn* Yes... It's almost sleepy time. I also have my morning Skype date with my dear sweet Anne Marie at 5 tomorrow morning. :) So... on that note I will bid you all a fine Tuesday night farewell as Don Henley finishes crooning "Wasted Time".
Peace, Love, and Poker
It's almost time to head to work now, though. It's been a nice enjoyable morning. I didn't even wake up until around 9, about an hour ago. I went and got a coffee and ate my breakfast in my room. I have a nice stockpile of breakfast items saved up here for this express purpose. Not only that... yogurt and cereal make a really good snack in a pinch, too!
.... and I'm back after a pretty decent day at work. It went by fast as has been the case with the majority of my now 133 days I've been deployed. It doesn't hurt that I enjoy doing the job here... that's always a bonus. I also like the people I work with as well. If you put all those together it makes for a good working environment. :)
After work I got back to my room and had some peanut butter and club crackers for a makeshift dinner. It sounded good to me, and I didn't really feel like the dining hall food tonight. It works. I also had a nice little snack of some white chocolate covered pretzels. Yummy!!!! I could eat the whole bag of those if I'm not careful! :P In between the "meals" I got my shower and shave out of the way and went and got some tea. Yes... I am STILL addicted to the cinnamon orange tea and probably will miss it terribly when I leave here. I'm sure there's plenty of a similar tea in the U.S. somewhere, though. :)
I also broke my Ipod back out tonight... I've listened to the following this evening... Paul McCartney (Live and Let Die along with My Love)... Matchbox 20 (3 A.M. and Push)... Oasis (Wonderwall)... Live (Selling the Drama)... Goo Goo Dolls (Iris)... and finishing up with some Eagles (Wasted Time)... and then it's time to pack it in for the night. *yawn* Yes... It's almost sleepy time. I also have my morning Skype date with my dear sweet Anne Marie at 5 tomorrow morning. :) So... on that note I will bid you all a fine Tuesday night farewell as Don Henley finishes crooning "Wasted Time".
Peace, Love, and Poker
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Does the Terrible Towel truly have magical powers???
Hmmmm... it seems ludicrous to believe such a thing doesn't it? I mean... it's just a yellow cloth with a little writing on it... isn't it? If it weren't THE "Terrible Towel" you'd probably use it to wipe sweat off of your forehead or to dry some dishes. It's just an ordinary towel... but yet... if you were where I was in the wee hours of the Iraqi morning you may believe differently.
It is true that the Steelers have lost... even in the playoffs... as I've waved Myron Cope's (rest his soul) Terrible Towel through the air. They've even lost one... yes, only ONE Super Bowl... while I've been waving said towel. However, they have won SIX Super Bowls, more than any other team in NFL history. Is it a coincidence that these famed towels have been waving for every one of them... something that started during the Steel Curtain era of the 1970s?
There were, I would imagine, over 50,000 of these towels waving at Heinz Field on a cold and snowy Saturday evening, so what is so special about MINE? If this particular towel indeed possesses the powers of magical proportions, does it not make sense that everyone else's towels are just the same? BUT... then I wouldn't be writing this blog right now because the significance of the whole event wouldn't exist. :)
So... let us start from the beginning... I wake up at 12:20 AM and make my way to the boy's room and then to the coffee shop for a tasty cup of hot tea. I am back in my room in bed with the TV on just before kickoff... and the game begins! Baltimore starts with the ball... and eventually has to punt. The Steelers proceed to drive the length of the field, capping the drive with a 2 yard touchdown run by Rashard Mendenhall. BOOM 7-0! Then something happened... something quite unexpected. Baltimore drove the length of the field to even the score at 7. No worries, right? We'll get it back... it was a good opening drive... even a great one. Ben drops back... he's hit... looks like a harmless incomplete pass... but wait... a Raven defender picks up the ball that was sitting there motionless for over 3 seconds and trots into the end zone. The challenge flag is thrown to no avail as the replay clearly indicates it was a fumble. 14-7 Baltimore... all in a matter of 27 seconds' time! Still... we're ok... it's a one score game... until on the first play of the next drive... Mendenhall fumbles... Ravens ball yet again... and they would make the Steelers pay again. A touchdown from Flacco to Heap makes it 21-7. After a Steelers missed field goal just before halftime the score remains 21-7 at the half.
Let's start the second half... Steelers get the bal first. It's a good opportunity to build some momentum. They move the ball a little bit and stall out rather quickly and have to punt. Following the punt... I get up out of bed... and I grab THE TERRIBLE TOWEL off of the top bunk of my bed! This is where everything changes... Baltimore has the ball... and here we go...
A screen pass to Ray Rice... BOOM... out comes the ball, and the Steelers have it deep in Baltimore territory. It doesn't take long, after a big run by Mendenhall, for Ben to find Heath Miller in the end zone for the score. 21-14. Next Baltimore possession... Flacco looking deep for Heap... finds Ryan Clark instead who returns the interception to the Ravens' 25 yard line! A few plays later... Ben to Hines Ward for the touchdown, and we're tied at 21!!! Baltimore has the ball once more... surely they're going to move it this time and retake the lead. It was the second play of the drive... a mishandled snap from center... Flacco fumbles... Steelers recover leading to a field goal by Shaun Suisham, and they take a 24-21 lead. Oh, but the terrible towel is not done quite yet. After a couple insignificant possessions the Steelers line up to punt from their end zone (the ball was on the 10). Baltimore returns it for a touchdown... what a dagger to the heart... but wait... There's a flag on the play... holding on the Ravens at the Steelers 19 wipes the points off the board. Baltimore is still in business, though, at the Pittsburgh 29. They move it to the 6. It's 3rd and goal. Flacco has his man, Anquan Boldin, he hits him... but the pass is dropped! Baltimore settles for a field goal. We're tied at 24. The Steelers get the ball with about 4 minutes to play. The drive starts out good... but a sack of Roethlisberger for a 9 yard loss leaves them with 3rd down and 19 from their own 45. Ben is going deep... WHAT IS HE THINKING??? Just get the first down!!! It's caught... a perfect strike to the rookie Antonio Brown!!! It's first and goal at the 5! After a few tough runs... Mendenhall caps it with the roughest of all of them... and scores from the 2 yard line on a powerful second effort to give the Steelers a 31-24 lead. The Steelers squib kick the kickoff after a 15 yard penalty, and Baltimore starts at the Pittsburgh 48. The defense stands tall... one incompletion... then a huge sack... it comes down to 4th and 18... this is it... 1:03 to play. If they don't make it the game's over. Flacco has Houshmanzadeh... right in his hands... and he drops it!!! That's it... the game is over!!! The final score is 31-24, and the Pittsburgh Steelers are going to the AFC Championship game for the 4th time in the last 7 years! :)
Now... do you believe in the power of "THE TERRIBLE TOWEL"???? HERE WE GO STEELERS!!!! One win away from the Super Bowl!!! Happy Sunday everyone!
Peace, Love, and Poker
It is true that the Steelers have lost... even in the playoffs... as I've waved Myron Cope's (rest his soul) Terrible Towel through the air. They've even lost one... yes, only ONE Super Bowl... while I've been waving said towel. However, they have won SIX Super Bowls, more than any other team in NFL history. Is it a coincidence that these famed towels have been waving for every one of them... something that started during the Steel Curtain era of the 1970s?
There were, I would imagine, over 50,000 of these towels waving at Heinz Field on a cold and snowy Saturday evening, so what is so special about MINE? If this particular towel indeed possesses the powers of magical proportions, does it not make sense that everyone else's towels are just the same? BUT... then I wouldn't be writing this blog right now because the significance of the whole event wouldn't exist. :)
So... let us start from the beginning... I wake up at 12:20 AM and make my way to the boy's room and then to the coffee shop for a tasty cup of hot tea. I am back in my room in bed with the TV on just before kickoff... and the game begins! Baltimore starts with the ball... and eventually has to punt. The Steelers proceed to drive the length of the field, capping the drive with a 2 yard touchdown run by Rashard Mendenhall. BOOM 7-0! Then something happened... something quite unexpected. Baltimore drove the length of the field to even the score at 7. No worries, right? We'll get it back... it was a good opening drive... even a great one. Ben drops back... he's hit... looks like a harmless incomplete pass... but wait... a Raven defender picks up the ball that was sitting there motionless for over 3 seconds and trots into the end zone. The challenge flag is thrown to no avail as the replay clearly indicates it was a fumble. 14-7 Baltimore... all in a matter of 27 seconds' time! Still... we're ok... it's a one score game... until on the first play of the next drive... Mendenhall fumbles... Ravens ball yet again... and they would make the Steelers pay again. A touchdown from Flacco to Heap makes it 21-7. After a Steelers missed field goal just before halftime the score remains 21-7 at the half.
Let's start the second half... Steelers get the bal first. It's a good opportunity to build some momentum. They move the ball a little bit and stall out rather quickly and have to punt. Following the punt... I get up out of bed... and I grab THE TERRIBLE TOWEL off of the top bunk of my bed! This is where everything changes... Baltimore has the ball... and here we go...
A screen pass to Ray Rice... BOOM... out comes the ball, and the Steelers have it deep in Baltimore territory. It doesn't take long, after a big run by Mendenhall, for Ben to find Heath Miller in the end zone for the score. 21-14. Next Baltimore possession... Flacco looking deep for Heap... finds Ryan Clark instead who returns the interception to the Ravens' 25 yard line! A few plays later... Ben to Hines Ward for the touchdown, and we're tied at 21!!! Baltimore has the ball once more... surely they're going to move it this time and retake the lead. It was the second play of the drive... a mishandled snap from center... Flacco fumbles... Steelers recover leading to a field goal by Shaun Suisham, and they take a 24-21 lead. Oh, but the terrible towel is not done quite yet. After a couple insignificant possessions the Steelers line up to punt from their end zone (the ball was on the 10). Baltimore returns it for a touchdown... what a dagger to the heart... but wait... There's a flag on the play... holding on the Ravens at the Steelers 19 wipes the points off the board. Baltimore is still in business, though, at the Pittsburgh 29. They move it to the 6. It's 3rd and goal. Flacco has his man, Anquan Boldin, he hits him... but the pass is dropped! Baltimore settles for a field goal. We're tied at 24. The Steelers get the ball with about 4 minutes to play. The drive starts out good... but a sack of Roethlisberger for a 9 yard loss leaves them with 3rd down and 19 from their own 45. Ben is going deep... WHAT IS HE THINKING??? Just get the first down!!! It's caught... a perfect strike to the rookie Antonio Brown!!! It's first and goal at the 5! After a few tough runs... Mendenhall caps it with the roughest of all of them... and scores from the 2 yard line on a powerful second effort to give the Steelers a 31-24 lead. The Steelers squib kick the kickoff after a 15 yard penalty, and Baltimore starts at the Pittsburgh 48. The defense stands tall... one incompletion... then a huge sack... it comes down to 4th and 18... this is it... 1:03 to play. If they don't make it the game's over. Flacco has Houshmanzadeh... right in his hands... and he drops it!!! That's it... the game is over!!! The final score is 31-24, and the Pittsburgh Steelers are going to the AFC Championship game for the 4th time in the last 7 years! :)
Now... do you believe in the power of "THE TERRIBLE TOWEL"???? HERE WE GO STEELERS!!!! One win away from the Super Bowl!!! Happy Sunday everyone!
Peace, Love, and Poker
Saturday, January 15, 2011
The end of another day off...
... means the beginning of week number 20! It's been a week that has absolutely flown by. My day off may have gone by the SLOWEST of any of the days actually, which is just fine by me! It rained all day today... downpours at times. I enjoy the rain minus the mud and huge puddles it leaves in it's wake. It was also pretty cold as it was raining most of the day. I have to say... using my own feel of weather (which is typically fairly accurate)... it was rather close to being cold enough to snow! The rain had stopped the last couple times I stepped outside... so perhaps it's over for the time being.
Tonight is a BIG game for the Steelers! They will be playing the Baltimore Ravens for the 3rd time this season for the opportunity to play in the AFC Championship Game. If the Steelers can pull it off... they will either go to New England and play another team I really DESPISE... The Patriots... OR... The New York Jets will come to Pittsburgh. What do those other 3 playoff teams have in common with one another? ALL 3 of them have BEAT the Steelers this season (we went 1-1 against Baltimore, losing to them at home). It is rather ironic considering the Steelers' only other loss this season was to the New Orleans Saints, who were also a playoff team (beaten last week).
So... this is a short rainy day blog for this Steelers fan... since I need to try and sleep a few hours before the start of the game, which begins at 12:30 AM here. Then afterward, I will go back to sleep for a couple more hours... unless for whatever reason I'm wide awake... in which case I will watch the next game. LOL
I will say this much. It was an enjoyable day off even though I didn't do much. I'm very relaxed this evening, and for that I am pleased. :) So now I will head back to my room for some sleep and then it's going to be time for some FOOTBALL!!! HERE WE GO STEELERS!!!! HERE WE GO!!!
Peace, Love, and Poker
Tonight is a BIG game for the Steelers! They will be playing the Baltimore Ravens for the 3rd time this season for the opportunity to play in the AFC Championship Game. If the Steelers can pull it off... they will either go to New England and play another team I really DESPISE... The Patriots... OR... The New York Jets will come to Pittsburgh. What do those other 3 playoff teams have in common with one another? ALL 3 of them have BEAT the Steelers this season (we went 1-1 against Baltimore, losing to them at home). It is rather ironic considering the Steelers' only other loss this season was to the New Orleans Saints, who were also a playoff team (beaten last week).
So... this is a short rainy day blog for this Steelers fan... since I need to try and sleep a few hours before the start of the game, which begins at 12:30 AM here. Then afterward, I will go back to sleep for a couple more hours... unless for whatever reason I'm wide awake... in which case I will watch the next game. LOL
I will say this much. It was an enjoyable day off even though I didn't do much. I'm very relaxed this evening, and for that I am pleased. :) So now I will head back to my room for some sleep and then it's going to be time for some FOOTBALL!!! HERE WE GO STEELERS!!!! HERE WE GO!!!
Peace, Love, and Poker
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Trying to Find Something to Write About
I really didn't know what to write about today, since my mind is fairly blank... so as I often do I just started typing and basically let my "fingers do the talking". I woke up for my morning Skype date with Anne Marie at 4:45 this morning. We seemed to not have a lot to say to one another, though, for whatever reason. I know we were both pretty tired, but it just seemed that the conversation wasn't flowing at all. :( I'm sure everyone has those days, though. She wasn't feeling very well, and she was very sleepy, so I won't think about it too much. There's always tomorrow. :)
I stocked my room with some breakfast foods this morning... and plan on stocking it some more in the days to come. Not only will it give me the option of not going to the dining hall if I don't feel like it... it is also an option to eat those items for DINNER as well. Yogurt and cereal make very good snacks in a pinch, and they're pretty good for you on top of it! :) I just figure it better to have a small stock rather than have to remember to take it with me at whatever meal time or what not.
It's been a decent morning for a Wednesday, though. I really can't complain too much. I'm starting to get tired, though, and then I have to sit my shift in just under 3 hours from now.
And... I have sat my shifts... both Wed. and Thurs. now... and I'm back here on Thurs. afternoon to finish this up! :)
So... I am still a bit blank on what to write... my mind has been drawing a blank for a few days now. I have been wondering how my cats are doing, though. I haven't heard anything about them since my first month here. I hope they're doing well. I miss them bunches and can't wait to get them back home with me! Soon after all 4 of our cats between us will be integrated into one household of CAT-A-RIFIC proportions! See... I just invented a new word! :)
There are really only a handful of things I'm looking forward to when I get out of Iraq and back to the comfort of life in the U.S. Seeing my cats is one of them, of course, but really the number one is seeing my dear wifey, I really hope she's able to be there when I get off the plane. There are no guarantees considering we never really know the exact times and days and such very long beforehand. That makes it rather difficult to plan a flight out from NY to Idaho that would need to be purchased several days or weeks in advance. But... I will keep my fingers crossed that it's able to work out that way!
I am really looking forward to having time off... and with that... SLEEP! LOTS OF SLEEP! I have a sleep debt built up here that most certainly exceed 150 hours, as I blogged about the other day. When I leave it will be over 200 hours. Obviously, a few weeks or even a month off of work isn't going to make that up, but it sure might put a bit of a dent in it and leave me refreshed for a change. Even now I don't feel refreshed even on my day off or my late morning, the 2 days a week that I'm able to get some extra sleep. It's bound to happen when you're going at it for this long, though, even when the days are flying by at an unbelievably rapid pace.
The next thing I'm looking forward to is freedom to roam... that's something we don't have here at all nor do I want to experience it here. I have no desire to go outside the wire and have the "opportunity" to be shot at... or to run over an IED. NO THANK YOU! I'll gladly stay inside the base where it's reasonably safe from things like that. The freedom I'm talking about is being able to get in MY car and drive somewhere... ANYWHERE... at my leisure and have no other responsibilities for that particular time otherwise. I do miss that. It could be anything... going out for wings and beers... going to a casino... going for a run on the greenbelt... or even just going for a nice drive with no destination in particular.
I'm looking forward to having all of my own things back again and my own place. A "pod" is definitely not home by any means. I can't wait to have the luxuries of home available once again. It's a very nice thought... one that is not too far from being reality again. The moving part will suck for the most part, but it will be more than worth it! In fact, it's about time I start trying to get my next apartment lined up... time is running short!
Finally, I really am looking forward to visiting with family. Having missed the holidays made me miss everyone that much more. I can't remember missing a Christmas at home in the last probably 15 years. I also don't plan on missing another one anytime soon. I know they missed having me there just as much as I missed being there... and by family I mean BOTH my family and Anne Marie's family. I will get to visit everyone soon, though, and for that I'm grateful. It can't get here soon enough! :)
I guess I found something to write about didn't I??? :) Have an awesome Thursday everyone!!!! Under 60 days to go... and they are FLYING by!
Peace, Love, and Poker
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Another tired morning...
It's funny how that works... you get a morning you're able to sleep in... and you even want to sleep beyond that sleep in time... so you do. You hit snooze a bazillion times and then finally drag your butt out of bed at 9:24. That's plenty of time to get to work by 10:30, so there are no worries there. There's just one... well... two small problems. The first is that you're more tired even than the day before when you slept 6 hours or even a little less than that. The second is that you awaken with a splitting headache that almost 2 hours later ibuprofen has failed to kill.
You get up... you stumble to the restroom and the coffee shop on in the 40 degree chilling fog... barely moving at all. The warm coffee feels good in your hands on the minute and a half walk back to your room, though, and you're not so cold anymore. You already had breakfast in your room stocked for this day knowing you'd never get up by 8 on a Tuesday morning. Well... actually you DID get up at 4:45... but following the Skype date you relocated back to your bed for more precious Z's. The sleep feels so good you just want it to last forever... the whole day even perhaps! This is a telling sign that you have a MASSIVE sleep debt you've built up, and it's one that won't be erased anytime soon... not by a day off... not by a late morning... not by sleeping an entire day even! No... this sleep debt must be widdled away just like paying down a credit card... a little at a time each week. Unfortunately, over here you don't get to pay off any of it very often. Throughout the week it accumulates... probably around 2 hours a day... until you get your day off where you might make 2 of those hours back. On the late morning you might make 1 or 2 of them back as well. So that still leaves you 6 in the hole at best. It's really greater than that... over the 18 week period, though, since for the first 8 weeks there were no days off. There was, for awhile, only one late day as well. You accumulated 10-14 hours of debt those weeks. How much is estimated as of today one might ask? My best guess is somewhere between 150-200 hours!
Therein lies the question of the day. What are the health impacts of our time over here in the desert? If I'm feeling this way certainly there are MANY others who are feeling this way as well. Nobody really knows what the long term impacts are of losing this much sleep over an extended period of time. Sure there are studies done, but none are iron clad conclusive save one thing... your immune system WILL be weakened. Perhaps this is why my body was unable to fight off the infection I'm currently still fighting. There's no definitive proof of any such thing. Maybe I was going to get it either way, but you have to wonder... what if?
There are thousands of military members who come home from deployments that are really never the same as they were before they left. Granted that has a lot to do with seeing death and/or causing death (since outside the confines of the safety of the base environment it's generally kill or be killed). There are other impacts, however, that tend to go unnoticed. There are impacts on people's families during every long separation. People are creatures of habit for the most part, and part of that habit changes for both the ones who leave and the ones who stay behind. Sometimes those changes are so great that famililes and marriages disintegrate... at times even before the member has a chance to get home to save it. Some thrive on it, but that is a rather small percentage of people considering humans have an innate need for social interaction.
I'm not even talking about the serious stuff here... like PTSD or TBIs. Those are things that are well beyond the scope of anything "every day" that happens. I'm talking about the spouse who becomes so independent while the other is away that he or she is unable to adapt once they return. I'm talking about missing 6 months of your little baby boy or girl growing up during the time that they change the most. I'm still talking about the loss of months worth of vital sleep as well.
I don't have any ideas on a solution because we simply do the job we set out to do professionally, and we do it well. I suppose one could simply do nothing at all during their 6 months of deployment and accumulate little or no sleep debt by going to bed right after work and/or the evening meal and sleeping in till the latest possible time. That, however, is not living, and then you have the mental impacts of that to deal with along with the fact that you didn't communicate with ANYONE back home for 6 months in that scenario. It's a vicious circle. We are all each other's support system here along with all of our friends and families back home, and we take care of each other the best we can throughout our time here.
The job we do is a good one... and we have done it extremely well since day one of setting foot here in this foreign land! That is something to take with you when it's time to go from here in just 8 1/2 short weeks. This is the middle of week 19, and although the time is still flying by, it's doing so at a much more tiring and pace. Just the thought of sitting on an airplane for 12 hours straight actually sounds GOOD! There are no responsibilities there... no alarm clocks... no deadlines... if you want to sleep (and if you're able) there's ample time to do it. When that day comes it will be a welcome one for all of us, and then we will have to work our way back into the grind of daily life back in Idaho. Of course, that doesn't sound all that bad. :)
Peace, Love, and Poker
You get up... you stumble to the restroom and the coffee shop on in the 40 degree chilling fog... barely moving at all. The warm coffee feels good in your hands on the minute and a half walk back to your room, though, and you're not so cold anymore. You already had breakfast in your room stocked for this day knowing you'd never get up by 8 on a Tuesday morning. Well... actually you DID get up at 4:45... but following the Skype date you relocated back to your bed for more precious Z's. The sleep feels so good you just want it to last forever... the whole day even perhaps! This is a telling sign that you have a MASSIVE sleep debt you've built up, and it's one that won't be erased anytime soon... not by a day off... not by a late morning... not by sleeping an entire day even! No... this sleep debt must be widdled away just like paying down a credit card... a little at a time each week. Unfortunately, over here you don't get to pay off any of it very often. Throughout the week it accumulates... probably around 2 hours a day... until you get your day off where you might make 2 of those hours back. On the late morning you might make 1 or 2 of them back as well. So that still leaves you 6 in the hole at best. It's really greater than that... over the 18 week period, though, since for the first 8 weeks there were no days off. There was, for awhile, only one late day as well. You accumulated 10-14 hours of debt those weeks. How much is estimated as of today one might ask? My best guess is somewhere between 150-200 hours!
Therein lies the question of the day. What are the health impacts of our time over here in the desert? If I'm feeling this way certainly there are MANY others who are feeling this way as well. Nobody really knows what the long term impacts are of losing this much sleep over an extended period of time. Sure there are studies done, but none are iron clad conclusive save one thing... your immune system WILL be weakened. Perhaps this is why my body was unable to fight off the infection I'm currently still fighting. There's no definitive proof of any such thing. Maybe I was going to get it either way, but you have to wonder... what if?
There are thousands of military members who come home from deployments that are really never the same as they were before they left. Granted that has a lot to do with seeing death and/or causing death (since outside the confines of the safety of the base environment it's generally kill or be killed). There are other impacts, however, that tend to go unnoticed. There are impacts on people's families during every long separation. People are creatures of habit for the most part, and part of that habit changes for both the ones who leave and the ones who stay behind. Sometimes those changes are so great that famililes and marriages disintegrate... at times even before the member has a chance to get home to save it. Some thrive on it, but that is a rather small percentage of people considering humans have an innate need for social interaction.
I'm not even talking about the serious stuff here... like PTSD or TBIs. Those are things that are well beyond the scope of anything "every day" that happens. I'm talking about the spouse who becomes so independent while the other is away that he or she is unable to adapt once they return. I'm talking about missing 6 months of your little baby boy or girl growing up during the time that they change the most. I'm still talking about the loss of months worth of vital sleep as well.
I don't have any ideas on a solution because we simply do the job we set out to do professionally, and we do it well. I suppose one could simply do nothing at all during their 6 months of deployment and accumulate little or no sleep debt by going to bed right after work and/or the evening meal and sleeping in till the latest possible time. That, however, is not living, and then you have the mental impacts of that to deal with along with the fact that you didn't communicate with ANYONE back home for 6 months in that scenario. It's a vicious circle. We are all each other's support system here along with all of our friends and families back home, and we take care of each other the best we can throughout our time here.
The job we do is a good one... and we have done it extremely well since day one of setting foot here in this foreign land! That is something to take with you when it's time to go from here in just 8 1/2 short weeks. This is the middle of week 19, and although the time is still flying by, it's doing so at a much more tiring and pace. Just the thought of sitting on an airplane for 12 hours straight actually sounds GOOD! There are no responsibilities there... no alarm clocks... no deadlines... if you want to sleep (and if you're able) there's ample time to do it. When that day comes it will be a welcome one for all of us, and then we will have to work our way back into the grind of daily life back in Idaho. Of course, that doesn't sound all that bad. :)
Peace, Love, and Poker
Monday, January 10, 2011
Surviving Rather than Thriving
It might sound a little cliche, but it's something I think we all do sometimes even if we don't realize it. You get into a rut... and at the same time you get sort of comfortable within that rut. It doesn't matter what it is. It can be a mundane schedule of daily events. It can be something that's not even truly a negative thing. Just the same it's still there. The question is when you're there how do you go about changing it?
Well... I've done it many times in the past... and I've been well below the surviving level of living many times as well. Is it necessarily "bad" to be in what I call survival mode? Not always. There are times that it will pull you through, and it's much better than the alternative. However, the longer you stay there the closer you get to being utterly depressed. Therein lies the trouble. I'm in one of those "ruts" right now... and have been for awhile. I also haven't really felt like doing anything to change it mainly because I'm completely exhausted. BUT... am I exhausted and tired BECAUSE of the rut??? That's the real question here. Lack of sleep... sure... I've had plenty of it. I don't even sleep exceeding long on the mornings when I have my day off on Saturdays. I prefer to get a good tasty breakfast on those mornings, so I have to get there prior to the dining facility closing at 8:30. That, I believe falls under the "thriving" category. If I were sleeping till noon and wasting my days off then I'm probably not even surviving at that point.
So how did I thrive this week on my day off... and how did I simply survive? I have examples of each, and it starts with Friday night. I left work on Friday evening a little later than usual. I skipped dinner, too. I wasn't hungry... not in the least. Skipping the evening meal is definitely not thriving. I considered doing my laundry on Friday night instead of having to do it on my day off... I eventually chose not to and put it off till the morning. Again... simply surviving. I stayed up late on Friday night and finished reading my book, "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo." This particular item is in the thriving category.
Then we come to Saturday morning... I got up and did my usual routine... weighed myself at the gym (gained just under a pound this week... definitely not thriving there!) then went to breakfast. I totally enjoyed my breakfast meal and felt better afterward... moodwise that is. I proceeded to do my laundry... all of it... bedding and everything. However, I don't consider it thriving, since it's the same thing I do every Saturday knowing I could have gotten it out of the way Friday evening instead, which would have freed up those 2 hours for something more enjoyable. While sitting in the laundry room with my laptop I wrote a blog. Thrive category. The previous hour there, though, I was feeling pretty down and just kinda BLAH... survive category. After I got all the laundry out of the way, I decided to go sit outside the coffee shop and play some online poker... something I've only done 3 times since my arrival in Iraq. Thrive category once more. I went and got my pizza later than usual after a trip to the doctor for the infection on my head. Following my dinner... I added some extra distance to my walk back to make it an even 30 minute walk... Thrive! The remainder of the day/evening was spent not doing much until it was Skype time with Anne Marie and then the rest spent getting ready for bed.
What's the point of all this you might ask? For me... it's important to recognize these little things because it's very easy to just slide into the survival rut. I'm there now... especially at work. My motivation to do things has decreased immensely. My moods are mostly down in the dumps, and I feel like busting out crying at any given moment. It's actually very hard to explain... even in a blog, where you can explain it rather easily. I shouldn't say it's hard to "explain"... that's the wrong word choice. It's hard to "talk about". That's more accurate in my case.
The problem is there is still 2 months to go here, and I can't afford to lose my edge now... after doing so well for the first 4 months. I know not being able to work out has a lot to do with it. It's mostly my issue... the docs have said doing some cardio is perfectly fine, but I can't get past the fact that I know if I sweat... even ever so slightly... the bandage on the back of my head will immediately fall off, and my open infection wound will be exposed. I just can't do it... so until I lose the bandages and the wound closes (which will be a couple more days at least) I am not going to be doing any gym workouts. A walk outside each day is certainly a viable option, though, and it will make up a good many of the calories I need to be burning in order to be successful in my weight loss.
As many people have said... this too shall pass... and I'm sure it will... but until it does... I'm definitely not going to be myself. I haven't been for 2 weeks now. Hopefully I will be able to change that very very soon because it's not a fun place to be. And yes... I'm still exhausted.
Peace, Love, and Poker
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Another day off... and another week done...
This one hasn't started off all that great... hopefully I have nowhere to go but up! I've been sitting here in the laundry room miserably thinking about the past week and how crappy it's been. Alas, however, it is another week in the books with only 9 left to go. Yes... single digits!!!! 63 days! Those are good numbers when you think about 18 weeks have passed since the day I set foot on Iraqi soil (sand). To think that the day I stepped on the plane to leave Idaho it was 6 AM on the 7th of September. That sounds like eons ago... but yet it still seems like yesterday.
So what have I actually ACCOMPLISHED in 4 months here? Honestly, I can't think of much other than the daily job I do. I haven't done really anything else beside work and work out. That's about it. I refuse to do anything that has to do with work on my one day off per week. It's truly the only time that is mine, and I plan to continue to be selfish on my last 9 Saturdays off as well. I didn't take any classes... and I'm not going to unfortunately. I may, however, try and do a couple CLEPs before I leave instead. I have a few in mind that I think I can pass that will apply nicely to my degree program at Boise State. Besides, who wouldn't want to have the chance to skip micro- and macro- economics if given the chance??? :) Those are not fun courses... real sleepers in fact! I'm ready to get into the meat of the courses... accounting... finance... business stats... etc. Those are where I'm headed come this fall.
You could say I've accomplished becoming a fairly regular blogger over here, but I still haven't touched on even 5% of what I could write about... not just in my own life... but fictional work as well. I haven't written any of my military story in over 2 months, and I do plan on continuing that at some point soon when time permits. I certainly have not forgotten about it. It's only a snippet of what I plan to turn into a full on book someday, so consider it a "preview" of sorts. :)
I have read several books since I've been here... some of the titles are... Everlost, The Midnight Road, Weep No More My Lady, False Memory, American Gods (which I just finished yesterday), and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (also finished yesterday). What does that mean? Well... it means I'm doing something productive. I believe reading books keeps your mind sharp. It's something that I enjoy that I had lost sight of for a few years. We tend to get so caught up in the internet with email, chat, web browsing, etc... that we forget the simple things in life are still there and still relevant.
There's something relaxing about sitting in bed with a nice cup of hot tea at 10 PM at night reading a good book. You really don't get that feeling from very many other places. Sure, there are several things you could substitute in there for the book, but you get the idea. Life has become so virtual at times that the lines tend to get blurred between what's reality and what's not. Here's a good example... and I'm sure we both realize we do this... my wife and I talk on Skype daily. While we talk we actually IM each other in the Skype window during the conversation as well! Why do we feel the need to do that when we can just SAY anything we want right then??? It's because that form of communication has become so natural you do it autonomously without even thinking about it. I typed something to my sister last week when we were talking on Skype, and she asked me why in the world I did that. See... some people still get it. :)
Now the laundry is done... it's still morning here on this Saturday in the desert... for another 40 minutes or so. I'm truly debating whether I want the usual Italian meal today or to just skip it. We'll see how I feel in a couple hours. Breakfast was delicious this morning... better than usual. It was one of the better omelets I've had here. :) Lunch... well... I'm not quite ready for that yet. I may take up with some poker online later today. It's been awhile since I've played, and I do miss it. We'll have to see where the day leads won't we?
Peace, Love, and Poker
So what have I actually ACCOMPLISHED in 4 months here? Honestly, I can't think of much other than the daily job I do. I haven't done really anything else beside work and work out. That's about it. I refuse to do anything that has to do with work on my one day off per week. It's truly the only time that is mine, and I plan to continue to be selfish on my last 9 Saturdays off as well. I didn't take any classes... and I'm not going to unfortunately. I may, however, try and do a couple CLEPs before I leave instead. I have a few in mind that I think I can pass that will apply nicely to my degree program at Boise State. Besides, who wouldn't want to have the chance to skip micro- and macro- economics if given the chance??? :) Those are not fun courses... real sleepers in fact! I'm ready to get into the meat of the courses... accounting... finance... business stats... etc. Those are where I'm headed come this fall.
You could say I've accomplished becoming a fairly regular blogger over here, but I still haven't touched on even 5% of what I could write about... not just in my own life... but fictional work as well. I haven't written any of my military story in over 2 months, and I do plan on continuing that at some point soon when time permits. I certainly have not forgotten about it. It's only a snippet of what I plan to turn into a full on book someday, so consider it a "preview" of sorts. :)
I have read several books since I've been here... some of the titles are... Everlost, The Midnight Road, Weep No More My Lady, False Memory, American Gods (which I just finished yesterday), and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (also finished yesterday). What does that mean? Well... it means I'm doing something productive. I believe reading books keeps your mind sharp. It's something that I enjoy that I had lost sight of for a few years. We tend to get so caught up in the internet with email, chat, web browsing, etc... that we forget the simple things in life are still there and still relevant.
There's something relaxing about sitting in bed with a nice cup of hot tea at 10 PM at night reading a good book. You really don't get that feeling from very many other places. Sure, there are several things you could substitute in there for the book, but you get the idea. Life has become so virtual at times that the lines tend to get blurred between what's reality and what's not. Here's a good example... and I'm sure we both realize we do this... my wife and I talk on Skype daily. While we talk we actually IM each other in the Skype window during the conversation as well! Why do we feel the need to do that when we can just SAY anything we want right then??? It's because that form of communication has become so natural you do it autonomously without even thinking about it. I typed something to my sister last week when we were talking on Skype, and she asked me why in the world I did that. See... some people still get it. :)
Now the laundry is done... it's still morning here on this Saturday in the desert... for another 40 minutes or so. I'm truly debating whether I want the usual Italian meal today or to just skip it. We'll see how I feel in a couple hours. Breakfast was delicious this morning... better than usual. It was one of the better omelets I've had here. :) Lunch... well... I'm not quite ready for that yet. I may take up with some poker online later today. It's been awhile since I've played, and I do miss it. We'll have to see where the day leads won't we?
Peace, Love, and Poker
A couple unfinished blogs from the recent archives...
No... I'm not going to finish them... but I thought I'd at least share where my thoughts were headed on those 2 particular days. I do plan on posting today as well. :)
Title - Another Groundhog Day Almost Complete!
What is significant about today??? Well, it's Tuesday, December 21st, 2010. This being the actual first day of winter and also the 3 1/2 month point of my deployment to the desert! :) I have been doing mostly the same things in what has become a rather rigid routine, especially for me, Mr. Spontaneity. I am not much of a person for planning... routines... etc. I prefer to add several "spur of the moment" type things into my days. Here, however, it's tough to do, and those things tend to cause stress rather than help. I mean... if I didn't stick to a certain workout time each day I would probably end up not going at all. So, that makes the routine a necessity for that to happen! I would be lost without knowing that at 11:30-12:00 I was going to go get lunch on Monday afternoon... or that come 8 o'clock on Sunday evening I would be going to Skype with Anne Marie for an hour or so. Those parts of the routine help me get through my days, and for some odd reason they seem to make them pass by that much faster!!!
Title -- Down in the dumps...
Happy New Year everyone... and this is how I feel today, the 2nd day of 2011... BLAH! I've been in pain with this thing on the back of my neck/head for over a week now (4 days since I had it sliced and diced). So... ironically enough this is the 4th day of not working out, and that's depressing me in a major way! If that's not bad enough in 20 minutes I have to go sit on scope for 6 hours. :( I had a terrible night of sleep... the worst in a very long time... I would say in YEARS even. The way I see it I may have gotten at the very most 2 hours of sleep total. I just kept tossing and turning... wincing in pain throughout the night. So now I'm extremely tired here... and the time for my shift is closing in fast. I don't know how I'm going to stay awake and/or focused today. I haven't been too effective yet that's for sure. I'm more like a zombie here today.
Overall, my day off was pretty decent, though. The only thing that sucks is this pain and infected thing that won't go away. I'm probably looking at a return trip to the doctor's office tomorrow afternoon after lunch, which in turn will make 5 consecutive days without a workout. If I feel like I do today... I surely won't be working out again tomorrow. I was thinking about doing a WALK on the treadmill possibly with some incline involved in order to do SOMETHING in the workout department. I'm just afraid of how the sweat will react with my "injured area" so to speak. That's my main concern... not letting any more germs in there than I have to if I can help it. It needs a chance to heal. Anyway, I did get a decent amount of walking in yesterday when I went to get my pizza at Ciano's. It was delicious, too!!!! :)
Ok... I hate to leave this unfinished... but it's time for me to go to work. I'll be back to write more later (I hope)... ***and I didn't write more "later" obviously***
See you all soon!
Peace, Love, and Poker
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
A new day... in a new year...
This is perhaps late to some... being it's Jan. 4th and all, but this is the first time I've actually felt well enough to write anything in several days. I've been in some pretty intense pain, and now that I've gotten the proper treatment I needed the pain level has decreased significantly. :)
Tuesday afternoon... just a short half hour until my shift begins today. Then another "Groundhog Day" will be complete. It's crazy how fast these long days pass you by. You would think working this much would have the exact opposite effect, but it is seriously like being in some sort of time capsule. It's not a place frozen in time, though. In fact, it's anything but that. It's more like there's never a time where you are frozen in time. Even though every day of each week is strikingly similar... you start to wonder how 14... 15... 16... 17 weeks' worth of them have passed in what seems like the blink of an eye. It truly feels like New Years Day was yesterday! No joke, either! It was THREE DAYS AGO! In fact, Tuesday being close to its end means that it will then effectively be Wednesday tomorrow and getting very close to yet another day off. Again... passing by very quickly!
I wanted to make sure I talked to the all important New Years Resolutions that I see so many people making year in and year out. These are possibly the dumbest things I've ever heard of. I, myself, do not believe in making New Years resolutions. Why, you might ask? Isn't changing for the betterment of the self a worthy cause to pursue? The thing about it is this... why are you only going to change at the FIRST of the year when if you're doing whatever it was you were doing ALL YEAR ROUND you wouldn't need to make a resolution, which in the end only amounts to anywhere from 10 minutes to a month on average. Yes... some never even get started on theirs. So why do people do it? Psychologically speaking, they do it for a few reasons.
The #1 reason is that in some way it makes them feel better about themselves just to say, "Hey Joe, I'm really going to work out and lose some of these extra pounds this year... I think that'll be my New Years resolution!" How long does Joe's friend actually go to a gym for if at all??? Probably about 4 days. Then all of the old habits kick right back in. I mean, sure, it sounds great at the time doesn't it? The problem is... words are just that... words. If the individual actually WANTED to do those things they would have been doing them BEFORE New Years Day! Have you ever gone into a gym just after the first of the year? Good Lord!!! Get off of my treadmills!!!! Go back on the 10th and tell me what you see....
The #2 reason... everyone else is doing it... if I don't have a resolution then there must be something wrong with me. So... at the last minute... most likely while rather intoxicated... the person's list of New Years resolutions come to be. When you woke up on January 1st did you even remember what you pledged to do for 2011?
The last reason... at least this is my opinion anyway... is that somehow by making a deal with yourself you are actually going to force your hand in making the current (new) year better than the one before it. Of course, that doesn't work because so many things happen througout the course of a year that are very much out of our control. Once again, these aren't really promises that there are any grand rewards to keeping. The fact of the matter is that if you don't already interalize the things you "want to do" then you probably won't be doing them regardless of a December 31st promise you made with.... well... yourself.
My advice... DO IT ALL YEAR LONG! When you get to the end of 2011... don't measure yourself by how you fulfilled or failed to fulfill your resolution(s). Measure yourself by what you did throughout the year in a positive way and let it continue into 2012... without the need or desire to make that empty December 31st promise that so many do year in and year out.
Peace, Love, and Poker
Tuesday afternoon... just a short half hour until my shift begins today. Then another "Groundhog Day" will be complete. It's crazy how fast these long days pass you by. You would think working this much would have the exact opposite effect, but it is seriously like being in some sort of time capsule. It's not a place frozen in time, though. In fact, it's anything but that. It's more like there's never a time where you are frozen in time. Even though every day of each week is strikingly similar... you start to wonder how 14... 15... 16... 17 weeks' worth of them have passed in what seems like the blink of an eye. It truly feels like New Years Day was yesterday! No joke, either! It was THREE DAYS AGO! In fact, Tuesday being close to its end means that it will then effectively be Wednesday tomorrow and getting very close to yet another day off. Again... passing by very quickly!
I wanted to make sure I talked to the all important New Years Resolutions that I see so many people making year in and year out. These are possibly the dumbest things I've ever heard of. I, myself, do not believe in making New Years resolutions. Why, you might ask? Isn't changing for the betterment of the self a worthy cause to pursue? The thing about it is this... why are you only going to change at the FIRST of the year when if you're doing whatever it was you were doing ALL YEAR ROUND you wouldn't need to make a resolution, which in the end only amounts to anywhere from 10 minutes to a month on average. Yes... some never even get started on theirs. So why do people do it? Psychologically speaking, they do it for a few reasons.
The #1 reason is that in some way it makes them feel better about themselves just to say, "Hey Joe, I'm really going to work out and lose some of these extra pounds this year... I think that'll be my New Years resolution!" How long does Joe's friend actually go to a gym for if at all??? Probably about 4 days. Then all of the old habits kick right back in. I mean, sure, it sounds great at the time doesn't it? The problem is... words are just that... words. If the individual actually WANTED to do those things they would have been doing them BEFORE New Years Day! Have you ever gone into a gym just after the first of the year? Good Lord!!! Get off of my treadmills!!!! Go back on the 10th and tell me what you see....
The #2 reason... everyone else is doing it... if I don't have a resolution then there must be something wrong with me. So... at the last minute... most likely while rather intoxicated... the person's list of New Years resolutions come to be. When you woke up on January 1st did you even remember what you pledged to do for 2011?
The last reason... at least this is my opinion anyway... is that somehow by making a deal with yourself you are actually going to force your hand in making the current (new) year better than the one before it. Of course, that doesn't work because so many things happen througout the course of a year that are very much out of our control. Once again, these aren't really promises that there are any grand rewards to keeping. The fact of the matter is that if you don't already interalize the things you "want to do" then you probably won't be doing them regardless of a December 31st promise you made with.... well... yourself.
My advice... DO IT ALL YEAR LONG! When you get to the end of 2011... don't measure yourself by how you fulfilled or failed to fulfill your resolution(s). Measure yourself by what you did throughout the year in a positive way and let it continue into 2012... without the need or desire to make that empty December 31st promise that so many do year in and year out.
Peace, Love, and Poker
Happy New Year... It's 2011!!!!
Goodbye 2010... you were a pretty good year I must say. When 2010 initially kicked off I was with my dear sweet now wife at Vernon Downs in Vernon, NY. If I recall we took a break from playing the slots to celebrate, and they passed out champagne, too. :) That was the 2nd New Years Eve in a row we spent there (I don't think it was 3... but maybe). In fact, this was the first NYE I can recall in several years that HASN'T been celebrated in a casino! I didn't even stay awake until midnight. I turned in at 10:45 PM and could have probably gone to sleep much earlier even. However, I did wake up just a little earlier than usual to watch the ball drop in Times Square this morning. :)
So... back to 2010... following my trip home and to NY to visit with Anne Marie it was back to the old grind for awhile. Nothing too exciting through the winter months, although we did get in a very nice trip to Portland, Oregon, in the middle of February which was very nice. I had several casino trips in there to Jackpot, Nevada, about one a month roughly. It's a nice little getaway for a day or two, and it's a MUCH shorter drive than to Reno or Vegas. Then we didn't get to see each other for quite some time... it was pretty tough, but we made it! I traveled to the Utica, NY area in mid-June, and we were ready... for our WEDDING! June 19th was a grand occasion, and I really don't think it could have gone any better for us and all of our guests. A wonderful time was had by all. That's going to really put 2011 to the test if it thinks it's going to surpass 2010 isn't it??? Well... there are ways... but I'm not quite sure either of us is ready to enter that realm yet. ;) Following the wedding weekend it was back to work for the both of us. Yes... that meant flying home again and being alone for a short while. It was only 2 weeks, though, before the honeymoon!
On the 3rd of July I hit the road for beautiful (and HOT) Las Vegas! The first night for me on the road was actually spent in Jackpot, but I awoke very early the next day and put the pedal to the metal. I arrived in Vegas just after noon pacific time following about a 6 hour drive. It was only about 108 outside. Cool for the 4th of July weekend I suppose. :) I did a small amount of gambling and got checked into the Golden Nugget for our first two nights. Anne Marie was arriving late in the evening, and I was there to meet her in plenty of time. The first day we hit the pool... and many days after that as well! We have her father to thank for a fine meal at the Pasta Pirate along with a very good one at another sports bar/restaurant as well. The Fremont Street experience is interesting to say the least, but we'd had enough of downtown LV by the end of day 2.
Our next week would be spent in our timeshare, which was very nice I might add! We took in the pool every day along with the discounts on all the shows. We saw several shows during our 10 days in Vegas. The Lion King, Jersey Boys, Tournament of Kings, and Frank Caliendo. All were good... the Jersey Boys being my personal favorite of the 4. There was much fun to be had during the honeymoon as you can see...
So... back to 2010... following my trip home and to NY to visit with Anne Marie it was back to the old grind for awhile. Nothing too exciting through the winter months, although we did get in a very nice trip to Portland, Oregon, in the middle of February which was very nice. I had several casino trips in there to Jackpot, Nevada, about one a month roughly. It's a nice little getaway for a day or two, and it's a MUCH shorter drive than to Reno or Vegas. Then we didn't get to see each other for quite some time... it was pretty tough, but we made it! I traveled to the Utica, NY area in mid-June, and we were ready... for our WEDDING! June 19th was a grand occasion, and I really don't think it could have gone any better for us and all of our guests. A wonderful time was had by all. That's going to really put 2011 to the test if it thinks it's going to surpass 2010 isn't it??? Well... there are ways... but I'm not quite sure either of us is ready to enter that realm yet. ;) Following the wedding weekend it was back to work for the both of us. Yes... that meant flying home again and being alone for a short while. It was only 2 weeks, though, before the honeymoon!
On the 3rd of July I hit the road for beautiful (and HOT) Las Vegas! The first night for me on the road was actually spent in Jackpot, but I awoke very early the next day and put the pedal to the metal. I arrived in Vegas just after noon pacific time following about a 6 hour drive. It was only about 108 outside. Cool for the 4th of July weekend I suppose. :) I did a small amount of gambling and got checked into the Golden Nugget for our first two nights. Anne Marie was arriving late in the evening, and I was there to meet her in plenty of time. The first day we hit the pool... and many days after that as well! We have her father to thank for a fine meal at the Pasta Pirate along with a very good one at another sports bar/restaurant as well. The Fremont Street experience is interesting to say the least, but we'd had enough of downtown LV by the end of day 2.
Our next week would be spent in our timeshare, which was very nice I might add! We took in the pool every day along with the discounts on all the shows. We saw several shows during our 10 days in Vegas. The Lion King, Jersey Boys, Tournament of Kings, and Frank Caliendo. All were good... the Jersey Boys being my personal favorite of the 4. There was much fun to be had during the honeymoon as you can see...
It was a wondeful time... We definitely enjoyed and savored every moment of our honeymoon. :)
There are many more pictures I could include here... and at some point I will... possibly in a different blog post. My internet is just too slow over here to add them efficiently. It takes FOREVER just to upload one pic... imagine how long it took me to upload 2 of them!!!!
It's now Jan 4th... I've been on a few day hiatus of pain and torture, but I'm feeling significantly better today! So I'm finishing this New Year's Day post finally!
After the honeymoon it was time to start getting ready for DEPLOYMENT! Our deployment training lasted the better part of 3 weeks. Once that was done then it was time for a little more vacation time. I went to visit Anne Marie... and then not long after she came back out to visit me again up until she had to leave to go back to work. We worked feverishly to pack up my apartment and prepare it for a move out date at the beginning of September. The storage unit was packed up... car included... and I was ready to take off for Iraq.
Almost 4 months have passed since stepping on that plane the morning of September 7th. It seems like yesterday to be honest. I know the time flies here, but could it possibly go by that fast??? I remember when it was 115 degrees outside here. Today's high = 57. It's a vast contrast from what it was in the midst of late summer/early fall heat here in one of the hottest places on earth. I've seen rain several times now, which although it feels good, it's really something we could do without here. All it does is make a muddy mess of the place... and I mean EVERYWHERE! Somewhere in between there I had a birthday as well... number 38 to be exact. I hit my 18 year mark of service as well. I won a karaoke machine on Christmas night in a free raffle. I have eaten ice cream on Sunday now for 17 consecutive Sundays. :)
What does 2011 hold in store? Only time will tell. I know that it will be strikingly similar to the last for months of 2010 until I leave Iraq in the middle of March. After that... a new chapter will begin in this journey we call life....
Peace, Love, and Poker
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