Yes... it's my favorite day of the week here again. It's one of my last days off, too! :) Of course, how can I not enjoy that??? Tonight is our end of tour party at 6 o'clock, and that's an AWESOME feeling! I'm a little tired because I don't think I slept very well. You see... I took the blanket off my bed to get it ready to be packed up today. Well, I was cold all night! I have the original blanket that was on the bed when I got here. I'll put that one back on later.
I've really enjoyed my time here, and I'm absolutely ready to go home now. I thought the days would start to drag now that we're nearing the end, but they are still flying by just as quickly as ever. Soon, I will hit the U.S. and have my car out of it's hiding place again and be able to slowly get back to normal life. I'm sure that will take some adjusting. I've been walking around everywhere on this base for almost 6 months, so actually DRIVING will be so much different... and soooooo enjoyable! :)
I am going to try and get several pictures of different people and things the next few days, and I will be doing a "deployment in review" post which will be mostly in pictures. I hope all my fine readers enjoy it. I will have a few pictures you've seen already, and there will be many you haven't seen yet.
I haven't really been able to think of much to blog about, though. This writer's block is killing me! I'll be back to write some more later... hopefully I have some fresh new ideas! :)
I saw a little kitten just a few minutes ago... and I felt so bad for the little guy. He was meowing at me and looked really scared. :( I don't know where the cats on base come from, but I'm sure his poor future is bleak here. I want to go pick him up, but I'm sure it's not safe. He was really looking scared. I wish I could just take the little guy home with me. Now I'm feeling bad... he was so adorable, too. He looked so much like my little Crosby when he was just a wee little kitten. :(
The party was really cool. We had a pretty nice awards thing... then our commander talked for awhile... then the group commander... the reality of it is setting in now... WE'RE GETTING OUTTA HERE SOON!!! :) I probably ate more today for one day than I have in a very long time, but that's ok since it's Saturday and my day off. :) With only 2 weeks left... you gotta enjoy what's left of it while you can. I took a couple more pictures today, too. Hopefully I will get them uploaded to a blog post soon. I have some others I still need to get off my camera as well. There is still plenty of time for me to do it... and if not here... when I get back home just the same. I'll do my best, though.
Well... it's almost movie time... I'm finishing up a little poker action... an email to Anne Marie... and then I'm heading back to the room for the remainder of the night. Just a couple more of these days off left... it's an amazing feeling. :)
Peace, Love, and Poker
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Monday Monday... yes... it's really a song!
You really can't stop this day, just like the song says. And that's just fine with me! One more Monday is just about over and done with, and there aren't many remaining here for us.
Well... it's Tuesday morning now... this is kinda how it goes over here. Monday was a blur as per usual. I don't really have anything to blog about on my mind this morning, so it's going to be one of these random ones I post every so often.
I found a sign posted outside the door, if you can really call a piece of paper a "sign", stating that there will be a bunk removed from the "pod" in the next couple weeks due to some transition thing. Well... at 5:55 AM I totally misread the sign to say that they were going to be bringing one IN! That was pretty damn stressful. I couldn't possibly imagine another set of bunks in this already small space. Taking one out, however, makes perfect sense! It's still semi-stressful because I use that top bunk for storage. Now I'm going to have to find somewhere else to put these items. Luckily I'm planning on packing up the remainder of my things on Saturday, so hopefully they don't decide to come in before then.
I'm stil pretty tired even though I slept quite a bit. I'm actually debating a nap right now. I don't know why 10 hours of sleep wouldn't be enough, but I am still pretty tired. I'm wondering if I didn't sleep too long? Although, I doubt that's true, you never can tell. It could just be that I'm tired from almost 6 months of being deployed. What a concept, huh???
I think I will finish my coffee and bring up PokerStars and play for a little while. I might even head outside to the pavilion. It's still really nice outside again today. My bed, however, is more comfy! LOL
There is one thing I have on my mind from yesterday. I went to the dining facility to get breakfast, and the guy at the door told me I can no longer bring my coffee in. "It's a new rule." What the hell??? Is this not the dumbest thing you've ever heard??? They even serve coffee in there!!!! I mean seriously... COME ON!!! It's not like a restaurant where you're actually PURCHASING the beverage. Everything is FREE! So what the hell reason could you possibly have for not allowing someone to bring a coffee cup into the facility? Perhaps they think there's a bomb in the Green Beans Coffee cup??? Who the hell knows... after all you can't get a cup of coffee from a Starbucks in an airport (in plain view of the security guards) and take it through the gates. Nobody knew the reason... so one can only speculate. I've heard a couple rumors, but I don't know for sure. I would take my commander's idea probably above the rest. He says he thinks it's because some individuals get their dirty coffee mugs/cups up under the spout of the coffee pot there and get their grubby dirty coffee nasties on it. That halfway makes sense at least. Someone else thought it was because 2 people spilled Grean Beans coffees in the morning, but that wouldn't prevent someone from spilling the UNCOVERED DFAC coffee just the same! DUH!!! DUMB DUMB DUMB no matter how you look at it. I hate stupid rules!!!
Happy Tuesday... I have absolutely nothing else on my mind this morning.
Peace, Love, and Poker
Well... it's Tuesday morning now... this is kinda how it goes over here. Monday was a blur as per usual. I don't really have anything to blog about on my mind this morning, so it's going to be one of these random ones I post every so often.
I found a sign posted outside the door, if you can really call a piece of paper a "sign", stating that there will be a bunk removed from the "pod" in the next couple weeks due to some transition thing. Well... at 5:55 AM I totally misread the sign to say that they were going to be bringing one IN! That was pretty damn stressful. I couldn't possibly imagine another set of bunks in this already small space. Taking one out, however, makes perfect sense! It's still semi-stressful because I use that top bunk for storage. Now I'm going to have to find somewhere else to put these items. Luckily I'm planning on packing up the remainder of my things on Saturday, so hopefully they don't decide to come in before then.
I'm stil pretty tired even though I slept quite a bit. I'm actually debating a nap right now. I don't know why 10 hours of sleep wouldn't be enough, but I am still pretty tired. I'm wondering if I didn't sleep too long? Although, I doubt that's true, you never can tell. It could just be that I'm tired from almost 6 months of being deployed. What a concept, huh???
I think I will finish my coffee and bring up PokerStars and play for a little while. I might even head outside to the pavilion. It's still really nice outside again today. My bed, however, is more comfy! LOL
There is one thing I have on my mind from yesterday. I went to the dining facility to get breakfast, and the guy at the door told me I can no longer bring my coffee in. "It's a new rule." What the hell??? Is this not the dumbest thing you've ever heard??? They even serve coffee in there!!!! I mean seriously... COME ON!!! It's not like a restaurant where you're actually PURCHASING the beverage. Everything is FREE! So what the hell reason could you possibly have for not allowing someone to bring a coffee cup into the facility? Perhaps they think there's a bomb in the Green Beans Coffee cup??? Who the hell knows... after all you can't get a cup of coffee from a Starbucks in an airport (in plain view of the security guards) and take it through the gates. Nobody knew the reason... so one can only speculate. I've heard a couple rumors, but I don't know for sure. I would take my commander's idea probably above the rest. He says he thinks it's because some individuals get their dirty coffee mugs/cups up under the spout of the coffee pot there and get their grubby dirty coffee nasties on it. That halfway makes sense at least. Someone else thought it was because 2 people spilled Grean Beans coffees in the morning, but that wouldn't prevent someone from spilling the UNCOVERED DFAC coffee just the same! DUH!!! DUMB DUMB DUMB no matter how you look at it. I hate stupid rules!!!
Happy Tuesday... I have absolutely nothing else on my mind this morning.
Peace, Love, and Poker
Friday, February 18, 2011
.....Hmmmm.... Part 2.
I'm having fun with this... so I decided to do a second one... this one is a little bit different, and it's something I didn't seriously think about until yesterday after being here 5 1/2 months. *sigh*
Our scheduled workday is 0640-1900 (basically 7AM-7PM... vice versa for night shift). Yes... that equates to just a little over 12 hours a day. Everyone has one day off per week and one day where they work just 4 1/2 hours (which only started a few weeks ago). So... going with the current setup... one works on average about 66 hours/week.
Now comes the fun part... an average "shift" as far as doing the job out on scope is 4 hours. Some folks sit 8 hours in a day if they work a double shift on another's day off. In my position we split it differently and work one 6 hour shift on the other 2 people's days off. Doesn't that make one ask a very reasonable and burning question? "Why in the world do you need to be there 12 hours when your shift is only 4 hours long (on a normal day)?" It's ironic that this is the very question I presented to myself (in my mind) yesterday after not really thinking about it for the first 25 weeks! There's no real reason to make everyone sit here doing mostly nothing for the majority of the rest of their day... and believe me... it's a LOT of NOTHING!!!
Here are just a few of the things people do in the time they're not sitting out on scope... The biggest one and most necessary is going to eat meals. That one you really can't help regardless. The next one that I think is pretty important is going to work out. Now... in my opinion if you were only working an 8 hour day you would have plenty of time to work out on your own time rather than during the workday without having to give up precious sleep time or time spent talking with family, spouse, etc. There is one more area that is relatively productive that folks use the time for... and that's doing schoolwork. Those 3 areas are rather important... and again... would be done in one's personal time if they had more of it (say another 4 hours) available each day.
Now we come to all the tons of hours of WASTED time... and there is A LOT! The biggest time waster for people here... Video games! Some of our folks sit and play video games almost the ENTIRE DAY! Next comes two things that are pretty close to one another... watching TV and playing on the computer (which can include games, email, blogs (like this one), web surfing, shopping, and so on and so on. The computer one is where I spend what's left of my day after I have taken care of the top paragraph's things (minus schoolwork since I didn't take any classes here). Some spend it on the telephone calling home or wherever else... which in moderation can be productive but not when you spend almost your whole day camped out at the phones (not to mention you're not supposed to in the first place for more than 30 minutes at a time). All of these things above would be done on a person's own individual time if that time were available.
So... again I pose a question for you all to ponder... why the need to put people here 12 hours a day when they're not WORKING most of it anyway??? What does it really prove? I know I can't put an answer to it. Oh, and in case you were wondering, we didn't even get our first full day off until after 2 months here. Go figure... Something definitely needs fixing if you ask me. It's too late for this time around, but it's not too late for the next or the one after that, etc. I've done the research... working 12 hours a day and/or over 60 hours a week IS BAD FOR YOUR HEALTH!!!!
The day off and the 4 1/2 hour day definitely are a HUGE boost toward recovery throughout the week... imagine if you had a day off and only had to spend 8 hours at work...
Peace, Love, and Poker
Our scheduled workday is 0640-1900 (basically 7AM-7PM... vice versa for night shift). Yes... that equates to just a little over 12 hours a day. Everyone has one day off per week and one day where they work just 4 1/2 hours (which only started a few weeks ago). So... going with the current setup... one works on average about 66 hours/week.
Now comes the fun part... an average "shift" as far as doing the job out on scope is 4 hours. Some folks sit 8 hours in a day if they work a double shift on another's day off. In my position we split it differently and work one 6 hour shift on the other 2 people's days off. Doesn't that make one ask a very reasonable and burning question? "Why in the world do you need to be there 12 hours when your shift is only 4 hours long (on a normal day)?" It's ironic that this is the very question I presented to myself (in my mind) yesterday after not really thinking about it for the first 25 weeks! There's no real reason to make everyone sit here doing mostly nothing for the majority of the rest of their day... and believe me... it's a LOT of NOTHING!!!
Here are just a few of the things people do in the time they're not sitting out on scope... The biggest one and most necessary is going to eat meals. That one you really can't help regardless. The next one that I think is pretty important is going to work out. Now... in my opinion if you were only working an 8 hour day you would have plenty of time to work out on your own time rather than during the workday without having to give up precious sleep time or time spent talking with family, spouse, etc. There is one more area that is relatively productive that folks use the time for... and that's doing schoolwork. Those 3 areas are rather important... and again... would be done in one's personal time if they had more of it (say another 4 hours) available each day.
Now we come to all the tons of hours of WASTED time... and there is A LOT! The biggest time waster for people here... Video games! Some of our folks sit and play video games almost the ENTIRE DAY! Next comes two things that are pretty close to one another... watching TV and playing on the computer (which can include games, email, blogs (like this one), web surfing, shopping, and so on and so on. The computer one is where I spend what's left of my day after I have taken care of the top paragraph's things (minus schoolwork since I didn't take any classes here). Some spend it on the telephone calling home or wherever else... which in moderation can be productive but not when you spend almost your whole day camped out at the phones (not to mention you're not supposed to in the first place for more than 30 minutes at a time). All of these things above would be done on a person's own individual time if that time were available.
So... again I pose a question for you all to ponder... why the need to put people here 12 hours a day when they're not WORKING most of it anyway??? What does it really prove? I know I can't put an answer to it. Oh, and in case you were wondering, we didn't even get our first full day off until after 2 months here. Go figure... Something definitely needs fixing if you ask me. It's too late for this time around, but it's not too late for the next or the one after that, etc. I've done the research... working 12 hours a day and/or over 60 hours a week IS BAD FOR YOUR HEALTH!!!!
The day off and the 4 1/2 hour day definitely are a HUGE boost toward recovery throughout the week... imagine if you had a day off and only had to spend 8 hours at work...
Peace, Love, and Poker
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Things that make you go hmmmm....
Happy Thursday wherever you are!!! I started to do my usual blog... my day this... and my day that... but then I got to thinking... why not something different today? There are things you see... that you just wonder... why the hell do people do that??? So that's what at least the first part of my blog post is about.
It makes me think back to when I was much younger, and when I say much younger I'm talking early 20s (ish). I'm thinking back to when I first went to Turkey over 15 years ago. I can surely recall one major thing about the base populace... about 90% MALE. Fast forward to Iraq now... it's the same thing here. I don't have to worry about this issue... this lack of females that the desert has to offer. However, I wonder how the majority of the single male population fares in this environment. It's a very interesting question to pose. At any given time you will see girl X hanging out with as many as 8-10 guys at once. That's a rather unusual thing to see back in the U.S., where the population is MUCH closer to 50/50.
Also, you have the issue of the "General Order" here, which is basically legislation to prevent any contact between males and females (at least in an intimate sense). IMO, you really can't legislate that because it's human nature, and they will find a way to "make it happen" so to speak, but God knows it does it's job for the most part. Again, it doesn't impact me whatsoever. I'm quite happy to see my wife on Skype, and that is enough to make my day complete. But... here's what I see... which for the most part makes me laugh.
I was walking to work... and back from work... at 2 separate times yesterday... and for whatever reason these 2 particular instances stuck with me. First, there was a girl sitting outside the female dorm on a bench, obviously waiting for someone (presumably a guy or mulitple guys) because eventually I did see 2 guys come up to her and her get up and leave with them. This, by the way, is a quite regular occurence here, which is why it's so funny to me. The second time it was a guy waiting on the very same bench later in the evening, which is obvious what he was waiting for. LOL Again... too funny!!! :) You see... the younger guys tend to follow the girls around like little puppy dogs here... and of course it's because the availability of women is quite meager, which has led to the age old term "Desert Queen". However... every once in awhile I see it the other way around still... like you would in the states... the girl following the guy around like a little puppy dog. It definitely makes people watching that much more interesting... seeing the interaction between members of the opposite sex and the manner with which they interact in an environment of what I like to call "sexual prohibition". Even married folks who end up deploying TOGETHER, civilians included, have to abide by these same rules.
I guess my real question is this... can you legislate this... and I would say love... but it's certainly not love that would drive any such relationship, even if the two people believed in it to the Nth degree. In an environment such as this it is not real whatsoever. 1. You're in such a close proximity to one another that it's bound to bring you and that individual closer than you ever would have been in a normal, more "free", setting. 2. The odds are tipped too far in favor of the fairer sex... enabling them to have the ultimate choice of whomever they want to "partner up" with... where the guys lack that ability simply because it's a numbers game. So even if 2 people were to claim they were "in love" after meeting in a place such as this, once they get home the freedom of choice of one or both of them will inevitably lead to the end of such a relationship. Again, it's a numbers game, and the numbers don't lie.
Ok... so I've managed to ramble in a big circle. What I'm presenting is basically a psychological argument here. Again, let me make it clear that this has absolutely NOTHING to do with myself. I love my wife... and we have done amazingly well together during this time apart compared to others I know. It's just something that intrigues me, perhaps because I was stationed in Turkey before as a single person, and I started to wonder if I did a lot of those same things. Now, you have to remember this, too. There was no General Order in Turkey. You could go in and out of whomever's room or home you so pleased... so it wasn't quite the same... but the "numbers" or "ratio" was indeed very much similar.
My real point... which I am working my way toward here... is based on everything I've talked about so far. I know what the General Order is in place, and it's only for one single reason despite whatever the powers that be might tell you. It's to prevent pregnancy. PERIOD! That much is obvious. Now... you will hear the stories... of how many military members commit suicide either during or after a deployment. This is 6 months for us in my unit. Army folks do up to 18 months! Can you really expect people to go against what is completely and humanly natural... possibly even NECESSARY.. for that long without serious psychological consequences stemming from it eventually? I would love to see a study done of this nature... and I'm sure there have been several over time... that could correlate the data. Everyone gets stressed during deployments... but the real bottom line is WHAT do they REALLY stress over? Is it honestly work? Or does it go much much deeper into the psyche?
Just imagine... if you were deployed for however long with your spouse... and you're not even hardly allowed to TOUCH them! I'd say that could be pretty damned stressful if I were in their shoes. Interesting debate isn't it???
Peace, Love, and Poker
It makes me think back to when I was much younger, and when I say much younger I'm talking early 20s (ish). I'm thinking back to when I first went to Turkey over 15 years ago. I can surely recall one major thing about the base populace... about 90% MALE. Fast forward to Iraq now... it's the same thing here. I don't have to worry about this issue... this lack of females that the desert has to offer. However, I wonder how the majority of the single male population fares in this environment. It's a very interesting question to pose. At any given time you will see girl X hanging out with as many as 8-10 guys at once. That's a rather unusual thing to see back in the U.S., where the population is MUCH closer to 50/50.
Also, you have the issue of the "General Order" here, which is basically legislation to prevent any contact between males and females (at least in an intimate sense). IMO, you really can't legislate that because it's human nature, and they will find a way to "make it happen" so to speak, but God knows it does it's job for the most part. Again, it doesn't impact me whatsoever. I'm quite happy to see my wife on Skype, and that is enough to make my day complete. But... here's what I see... which for the most part makes me laugh.
I was walking to work... and back from work... at 2 separate times yesterday... and for whatever reason these 2 particular instances stuck with me. First, there was a girl sitting outside the female dorm on a bench, obviously waiting for someone (presumably a guy or mulitple guys) because eventually I did see 2 guys come up to her and her get up and leave with them. This, by the way, is a quite regular occurence here, which is why it's so funny to me. The second time it was a guy waiting on the very same bench later in the evening, which is obvious what he was waiting for. LOL Again... too funny!!! :) You see... the younger guys tend to follow the girls around like little puppy dogs here... and of course it's because the availability of women is quite meager, which has led to the age old term "Desert Queen". However... every once in awhile I see it the other way around still... like you would in the states... the girl following the guy around like a little puppy dog. It definitely makes people watching that much more interesting... seeing the interaction between members of the opposite sex and the manner with which they interact in an environment of what I like to call "sexual prohibition". Even married folks who end up deploying TOGETHER, civilians included, have to abide by these same rules.
I guess my real question is this... can you legislate this... and I would say love... but it's certainly not love that would drive any such relationship, even if the two people believed in it to the Nth degree. In an environment such as this it is not real whatsoever. 1. You're in such a close proximity to one another that it's bound to bring you and that individual closer than you ever would have been in a normal, more "free", setting. 2. The odds are tipped too far in favor of the fairer sex... enabling them to have the ultimate choice of whomever they want to "partner up" with... where the guys lack that ability simply because it's a numbers game. So even if 2 people were to claim they were "in love" after meeting in a place such as this, once they get home the freedom of choice of one or both of them will inevitably lead to the end of such a relationship. Again, it's a numbers game, and the numbers don't lie.
Ok... so I've managed to ramble in a big circle. What I'm presenting is basically a psychological argument here. Again, let me make it clear that this has absolutely NOTHING to do with myself. I love my wife... and we have done amazingly well together during this time apart compared to others I know. It's just something that intrigues me, perhaps because I was stationed in Turkey before as a single person, and I started to wonder if I did a lot of those same things. Now, you have to remember this, too. There was no General Order in Turkey. You could go in and out of whomever's room or home you so pleased... so it wasn't quite the same... but the "numbers" or "ratio" was indeed very much similar.
My real point... which I am working my way toward here... is based on everything I've talked about so far. I know what the General Order is in place, and it's only for one single reason despite whatever the powers that be might tell you. It's to prevent pregnancy. PERIOD! That much is obvious. Now... you will hear the stories... of how many military members commit suicide either during or after a deployment. This is 6 months for us in my unit. Army folks do up to 18 months! Can you really expect people to go against what is completely and humanly natural... possibly even NECESSARY.. for that long without serious psychological consequences stemming from it eventually? I would love to see a study done of this nature... and I'm sure there have been several over time... that could correlate the data. Everyone gets stressed during deployments... but the real bottom line is WHAT do they REALLY stress over? Is it honestly work? Or does it go much much deeper into the psyche?
Just imagine... if you were deployed for however long with your spouse... and you're not even hardly allowed to TOUCH them! I'd say that could be pretty damned stressful if I were in their shoes. Interesting debate isn't it???
Peace, Love, and Poker
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Tuesday... and a better start to the day...
My last 2 days haven't started out (and/or finished) all that well. Sunday was the day I inexplicably fell off the treadmill while running at 7.0 mph. YIKES! So now I have 2 tore up legs that need to heal. I guess we'll see how it goes considering my track record lately of my apparently non-existant immune system. The 2 large areas of the "rubber brush burn" are already not looking so good. I'm not giving it more than a couple days before heading back to visit the docs after the last infection. The captain I work for says it's this country. He swears by it, too... that there's something here that just makes bacteria powerful, and I kinda believe him. He's had to deal with a couple infections himself, and sure enough he got another one here (he had a really bad one here a couple years ago as well). At least this time... it's an injury I can actually see! That's half the battle.
As for yesterday... well... it started out alright. My shift in the morning went well... I won't go into the middle part of the day as I already blogged my rant about that yesterday. The afternoon was MUCH better. My workout really gave my mood a boost yesterday afternoon. 50 minutes of pure bliss, and intense I might add, on the elliptical can sometimes do that for you! The evening was decent as well. I just hung out at the rec center for a little while and then watched the movie Salt in the comfort of my bed while drinking my 2nd cinnamon orange tea. :) I was in bed ready for sleep by 10:30, which is pretty darn good for me on a night before I get to sleep in.
So far today... I woke up at 4:45 to go Skype with Anne Marie from 5-6. Then I went back to bed, and boy oh boy did I sleep in! My alarm went off at 10 this morning, but I snoozed it until about 10:30. I probably could have easily slept till noon! But who wants to do that??? I mean, after all, I had already gotten in a very solid 10 hours plus of shut-eye! :) Now I'm just sitting outside at the pavilion on this mild cloudy mid-February day in the desert. At best guess I'd put the temperature in the mid-50s. It's nice... with a chilly breeze. It looks like it sort of wants to rain, but it hasn't to this point. The sun is even peeking out every now and then. :)
I'm playing poker and really NOT doing well today. LOL It's just one of those days that we all have. I had a few moments where I was tilting, which is never a good thing, and that's where I went down about $80. I did manage to take 3rd in my tourney to make back a little bit, but I'm still a good $60-$65 down for the day. I still have a little bit longer to play before I start getting ready for my short workday.
You really can't beat having a 4 1/2 hour day every Tuesday! :) It's also one hell of a boost to whatever was getting you down the previous couple of days that's for sure! :)
Peace, Love, and Poker
As for yesterday... well... it started out alright. My shift in the morning went well... I won't go into the middle part of the day as I already blogged my rant about that yesterday. The afternoon was MUCH better. My workout really gave my mood a boost yesterday afternoon. 50 minutes of pure bliss, and intense I might add, on the elliptical can sometimes do that for you! The evening was decent as well. I just hung out at the rec center for a little while and then watched the movie Salt in the comfort of my bed while drinking my 2nd cinnamon orange tea. :) I was in bed ready for sleep by 10:30, which is pretty darn good for me on a night before I get to sleep in.
So far today... I woke up at 4:45 to go Skype with Anne Marie from 5-6. Then I went back to bed, and boy oh boy did I sleep in! My alarm went off at 10 this morning, but I snoozed it until about 10:30. I probably could have easily slept till noon! But who wants to do that??? I mean, after all, I had already gotten in a very solid 10 hours plus of shut-eye! :) Now I'm just sitting outside at the pavilion on this mild cloudy mid-February day in the desert. At best guess I'd put the temperature in the mid-50s. It's nice... with a chilly breeze. It looks like it sort of wants to rain, but it hasn't to this point. The sun is even peeking out every now and then. :)
I'm playing poker and really NOT doing well today. LOL It's just one of those days that we all have. I had a few moments where I was tilting, which is never a good thing, and that's where I went down about $80. I did manage to take 3rd in my tourney to make back a little bit, but I'm still a good $60-$65 down for the day. I still have a little bit longer to play before I start getting ready for my short workday.
You really can't beat having a 4 1/2 hour day every Tuesday! :) It's also one hell of a boost to whatever was getting you down the previous couple of days that's for sure! :)
Peace, Love, and Poker
Monday, February 14, 2011
Stuck again... Monday feeling like Monday...
Yup... that's how it feels here being stuck at this desk after my 4 hour shift just came to an end. No lunch for me... nope... and I'm STARVED right now! On top of it I have a headache and am extremely tired. Great start to the day, huh??? My shift went well... but it's been downhill the last hour.
I guess you could just say I don't deal wtih unexpected changes well at all... that's really the only way to put it. Because if I did... I wouldn't feel like this at this moment. Oh... I'd still have the headache. I had it already before the end of my shift. However, I wouldn't feel this angry and trapped in this seat if I came to grips with the fact that it was out of my control and that change, good or bad, is not only possible at every single moment of every single day... but it's INEVITABLE!!!
Why do we tend to buck change as humans??? There are many reasons for this in my opinion. I have several of my own at least. My worst one is having my planned routine fucked up. There really is no solution to it. That's why it's so frustrating. You can't plan for something that you don't know is coming... that just might have a 1 in 10 chance of happening. It's just not possible, so the unexpected is going to be just that... UNEXPECTED!
Oh you'll hear people say... embrace change! Why??? Some changes... sure they can be not only embraced, but welcomed! Sitting here right now is not one of those, though. What's to embrace about sitting hungry when you had your entire meal planned out only to find that you now have to wait at least another hour in order to go eat.
I wouldn't care if I didn't plan on working out later... but now the time I eat and the time I planned to work out are going to be too close together. I need at least 2 hours in between... and now I won't have that... which means cramps during my run... etc. Not good! Oh believe me I'm still going to try and do it. It just might not go as well as I had hoped for. As long as I don't puke I'll be happy. :)
Anyway... sometimes you just have to vent and rant... so this is my means to do so. It's a lot better than keeping these negative feelings inside. That's for sure!
Hopefully, I will feel better later today and will have something positive to write about. For now... I have nothing else... especially since I already fell off the treadmill yesterday at 7.0 mph and tore up my legs. This is an awesome week so far isn't it??? NOT!!!! Until later...
Peace, Love, and Poker
I guess you could just say I don't deal wtih unexpected changes well at all... that's really the only way to put it. Because if I did... I wouldn't feel like this at this moment. Oh... I'd still have the headache. I had it already before the end of my shift. However, I wouldn't feel this angry and trapped in this seat if I came to grips with the fact that it was out of my control and that change, good or bad, is not only possible at every single moment of every single day... but it's INEVITABLE!!!
Why do we tend to buck change as humans??? There are many reasons for this in my opinion. I have several of my own at least. My worst one is having my planned routine fucked up. There really is no solution to it. That's why it's so frustrating. You can't plan for something that you don't know is coming... that just might have a 1 in 10 chance of happening. It's just not possible, so the unexpected is going to be just that... UNEXPECTED!
Oh you'll hear people say... embrace change! Why??? Some changes... sure they can be not only embraced, but welcomed! Sitting here right now is not one of those, though. What's to embrace about sitting hungry when you had your entire meal planned out only to find that you now have to wait at least another hour in order to go eat.
I wouldn't care if I didn't plan on working out later... but now the time I eat and the time I planned to work out are going to be too close together. I need at least 2 hours in between... and now I won't have that... which means cramps during my run... etc. Not good! Oh believe me I'm still going to try and do it. It just might not go as well as I had hoped for. As long as I don't puke I'll be happy. :)
Anyway... sometimes you just have to vent and rant... so this is my means to do so. It's a lot better than keeping these negative feelings inside. That's for sure!
Hopefully, I will feel better later today and will have something positive to write about. For now... I have nothing else... especially since I already fell off the treadmill yesterday at 7.0 mph and tore up my legs. This is an awesome week so far isn't it??? NOT!!!! Until later...
Peace, Love, and Poker
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Why does it work like this???
The day after my day off is often a day when I come to work feeling very tired and down in the dumps. I guess it's just the realization that my day off is over... and then I have a 6 hour shift to sit during the afternoon on the most boring day of the week. It's just one of those things I suppose that I have to deal with and press on from. I know that the day after tomorrow I will be sleeping in again... so how can I really complain? :)
Yesterday was a good day. I watched a couple movies. The first one I watched was "The Town" with Ben Affleck. It was really good... a different sort of movie. I won't give anything away in case some of you reading this haven't seen the movie. Just know it's definitely worth watching! Then my roommate and I watched "Love and Other Drugs" last night. That's a very good movie... I would say especially for the ladies. It's pretty much a chick flick... but I think most of the guys will appreciate it as well. :)
I didn't do a lot else with my day off yesterday... just relaxed. I am about to go and work out now, and I'm hoping that will help to boost my spirits for the rest of the day. It often does help out a lot... but when you're as tired and lethargic as I'm feeling today... I don't know if it will or not. I really just feel like sitting here and doing nothing all morning. UGH! That's the very reason I NEED to go to the gym!
I know it's impossible to be deployed for this long and never feel down... so I'm not all that worried about it. Everyone has their moments and their days. It's compeletely normal. It's how you deal with it and overcome it that makes the biggest difference. I plan to do exactly that right now in fact! After working out it will be lunchtime along with time for ice cream Sunday!!! How can you not enjoy that??? :)
Peace, Love, and Poker
Yesterday was a good day. I watched a couple movies. The first one I watched was "The Town" with Ben Affleck. It was really good... a different sort of movie. I won't give anything away in case some of you reading this haven't seen the movie. Just know it's definitely worth watching! Then my roommate and I watched "Love and Other Drugs" last night. That's a very good movie... I would say especially for the ladies. It's pretty much a chick flick... but I think most of the guys will appreciate it as well. :)
I didn't do a lot else with my day off yesterday... just relaxed. I am about to go and work out now, and I'm hoping that will help to boost my spirits for the rest of the day. It often does help out a lot... but when you're as tired and lethargic as I'm feeling today... I don't know if it will or not. I really just feel like sitting here and doing nothing all morning. UGH! That's the very reason I NEED to go to the gym!
I know it's impossible to be deployed for this long and never feel down... so I'm not all that worried about it. Everyone has their moments and their days. It's compeletely normal. It's how you deal with it and overcome it that makes the biggest difference. I plan to do exactly that right now in fact! After working out it will be lunchtime along with time for ice cream Sunday!!! How can you not enjoy that??? :)
Peace, Love, and Poker
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)