September 28th, 2007 ryan
This weekend brings the nervous anticipation akin to lying in wait for that special someone, palms sweaty, acidic burn in your legs as you crouch for hours on end. Waiting.
Imagine that, only tons of cardboard dust , no special someone and with minimal crouching. It’s moving time, gentle readers. This being move number 9 in the last 6 years. 11 if you count living in a ‘foreign country” twice seeing as both times involved rigorous packing and permanence with the placing of personal items. Each time I have prepared only slightly ahead of time with the majority of gear/belongings’ allocation and there is once again the frenzy of last-minute accomplishments that pile up like so many mosquito bites after a forest foray.
Dramatization:
I find a mosquito bite and am surprised.
“The hell!?”
I recall the buzzing, dampness, and you know – flyingeffingmosquitos and remember. Understanding somehow breeds more and more bites until, malaria-stricken, I simply can’t fathom being so oblivious to the woods around me as my very lifeblood was slurped from my body. But I was.
That’s how I view this process. Like a series of bug bites. Numerous, ever present, unsatisfying, and with very little that I can ultimately do to stem the tide aside from actively participating in the strategy of “waiting it out.”
< / random utterance >
Posted in So one time..., Stuff I Hate, Utterance | 1 Comment »
September 28th, 2007 ryan
My highlight isn’t very… in your face, but behold! A key in the tree. “To what, good sir?” you ask, and I reply “I don’t touch tree keys, weirdo.”
Posted in POTD | No Comments »
September 27th, 2007 ryan
Good game CTA, model of efficiency.
And…
I’m a fan, trailer looks decent. Here’s hoping it doesn’t disappoint.
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September 26th, 2007 ryan
When possible I leave any heart-shaped gaping maws filled with…
…freshly whirring power supplies.
P.S. Hand = looking weird.
Posted in Nerd, POTD | No Comments »
September 25th, 2007 ryan
As I held while my pass code was verified for today’s exercise in self-flagulation, aka conference call, my hand spasmed and the combined mixture of sweat and tepid cream cheese (lunch) caused my mobile to forcibly eject from my grasp. I watched indifferently as the LCD screen landed face down, battery pack jettisoned, and the mini SD card shot bullet-like past my glazed over eyes, narrowly avoiding what was sure to be an eye-patch inducing injury.
Witnessing this brutal degradation of an object that exists solely because of my current choice in employment brought a lot of things together in my head as I approach my one year anniversary of both my present-day job and separation from the Marines.
I will spare you, faithful readers, the details, but the pock-marked LCD screen staring back at me as it’s back-light winked out and assorted phone-limbs settled across the linoleum floor of my office sums up plenty.
Posted in So one time..., Stuff I Hate | No Comments »
September 23rd, 2007 ryan
From time to time even I have to get my bake on.
If you say that real fast, it sounds like bacON
Posted in POTD, Sustenance | No Comments »
September 21st, 2007 ryan
Reach in to the pulsating depths of your brain housing group and recall the “lady in red” scene from the Matrix in which our protagonist is coursing upstream, akin to many a randy salmon, against the current of business garbed non-entities. Replace the faceless masses with big dudes in kilts carrying bagpipes.
Have the mental image? Now picture countless straining beer bellies pressing vice-like as you scrunch your face tightly, breath held deep in your lungs and face contorted, you continue onwards from the coffee shop to your office building.
That was 30 minutes ago and I’ve relived that hellish moment over and over again, this accounting being an attempt in vain to purge it’s oppressing visage from my conscious.
Posted in So one time... | 2 Comments »
September 20th, 2007 ryan
I frequent Wired’s Danger Room, a blog regarding some of the technical aspects of the business out in the sandbox/elsewhere, and an article mentioning the “new” V-22 Osprey (pictured below) prompted me to look back a bit.
The Osprey started development back in 1986 and while billions of dollars were poured over the wreckage of crashed flights to put out the flames (not an analogy, these things were crashing all over) it seems that as of April of this year 10 of these maniacal tilto-rotor-whirling-dervishes are going to see action out in Iraq.
I like technology. I like the frenzied spray of perspiration from the electronic and engineering enthusiasts that saturates in the search for the better, often more lethal, mousetrap. However, it’s easy to see that newer isn’t always better. Alongside the spanking new anti-IED Warlock systems that adorn hundreds of HMMWVs currently in theatre are the usual assortment of wartime accouterments, some old and many not. Each vehicle is customized for functionality, whether it be the PsyOps guys with massive speakers, a CAAT platoon with mounted TOW missles, or a communications LAV with enough VHF and SatComm that operators question their potential sterility.
What do you see on every other vehicle next to these high tech gadgets? That’s right, the M-2 “50-cal” Machine Gun which has, in one form or another, been around since the 20’s. Another frequently seen oldie is the CH-46 helicopter. The last one was produced in 1971 and are still in heavy, heavy use by the USMC. The thing has lasting power, works as it should (mostly) and continues to kick ass when it matters. Same with the ma-deuce.
Are Ospreys the the next Sea Knight? I really don’t think so. With a more advanced threat comes an exponential increase in the validity of projects such as this one, and the doctrine of vertical envelopment (not to mention air superiority) is never going away. I still can’t help but asking who decides the distribution of funding or how so many billions have been pumped in to 10 operational units while there are still HMMWVs out there that aren’t up-armored, or an infantryman that is carrying an M16-A2 when he should really have an M-4.
The bottom line will continue to be the three B’s (beans, bullets, and bandages) but the brass needs to get in better touch with the ground troops. You should have seen the looks on the faces of the pair of majors from Quantico when they saw how nearly every Marine in my unit, grunt and POG alike, had gone out and bought their own chest rigs or holsters. They couldn’t believe it, and I’m talking about the method of carrying around the same magazines, grenades, and rifles that have been at the backbone of the US military for eons. I’d think that such an obvious gap in communication wouldn’t exist, but clearly it does.
So we’ll see what the Osprey brings. Hell, I had a Camelback and that thing was pretty new and damn useful and all it did was move water from my hip to my back. I love new toys, but only when they aren’t at the cost of something that already does the job perfectly.
Posted in Military, Nerd | 1 Comment »
September 19th, 2007 ryan
Clients in the dungeon means attire of higher grade.
If you squint you can see my Halloween tie.
Maybe next time I do a self-portrait it will be of my cleavage a la myspace.
Posted in Attire, POTD, Self | No Comments »
September 18th, 2007 ryan
Was in one of the offices on the 35th floor today and what did I see staring back at me:
My guess is a wee peregrine falcon. I know they are found in the area and this guy must have been a youngin’ because he was real small. At any rate he was chillin’ for a few moments and then plummeted off. Very neat.
Posted in Animalia, Chicago, POTD | 1 Comment »