Sunday comics addition...

Here's something your Sunday paper should have included:



I sometimes do the same thing to offset a lousy day, don't you?

I'll do an audioblog when I get into NJ, give you the story of why I'm
leaving TX a day later than I thought I was, and two days later than I was supposed to...

... end of this part of my adventure ...

As you can see, it's very late (or early, depending on your perception) here, and I'm finally all done packing. My flight leaves Texas around high noon (sounds like a great title for a movie, doesn't it?) I know I said I was leaving here Saturday, but there was some confusion, and I just opted for another night here... Long story, and I just don't have the energy for it right now... maybe tomorrow... maybe even an Audblog...

Anyway, I got some great pictures, made some friends, learned some useful things, and all in all, will be glad to see TX getting smaller outside the window of the plane...

Thanks for all your comments, made me feel like someone was actually paying attention! I'll be in NJ for the next few days, then flying overseas. I'm not even going to bother saying where, because it's liable to change before I get in the air. I wouldn't even be surprised if it changed when I got there... I'll be rolling off the plane in some dusty airport.... some non-descript guy walks up and says, "Mr. Grattan? Plans have changed, we're going to be leaving for _____________ in the next hour or so... hope you don't mind..." blah blah blah

yeah, I'm tired, so... good night!

Chaos...

...still no 'net access in my hotel room. I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOO glad I moved. :P

I'm exhausted. Been a long day, and I have to be up at some uncivilized hour tomorrow, just because the legal assholes (pardon the language) couldn't be bothered to take 30 minutes out of their day to talk to us. I hope they have to get up at 4am like we do... assholes (did I already call them that?)

Ok, good night!

Where are all my comments people???

... one MORE thing...

I just couldn't resist:



VERY appropriate... FUNNY!

Mimail Worm

Mimail Worm

I've been meaning to post a warning about this, and when I just checked my email and found 10 of these messages in there, I figured I'd better do it now before I forget. This has been a rather nasty email worm that's been going around for a few weeks, and if I'm getting it, it probably means some of you are sending it to me (not intentionally, of course) Follow the above link for some good information on this thing.

Good rule of thumb: If you get an attachment, and you're NOT 100% sure what it is, DELETE IT. Even if you know the sender. They can always re-send it if it's a valid attachment.

Day 3: Gas Masks (and other assorted fun)

Well, not much to report here. Today was the first day that we actually did something resembling preparing for deployment! The past couple days have been more focused on positively identifying our remains, then actually teaching us stuff that will prevent them for actually HAVING to do so... (apologies for the morbidity of that statement, but it's accurate). Mostly we've been talking to doctors, dentists, lawyers, accountants, etc; all who have to sign-off on our "readiness" for deployment. It's a rough system, but I can see where most of it is necessary. It's not a very EFFICIENT system, but from what I'm learning of the military, "efficiency" is not their goal.

So now I know how to assemble and service a standard military issue gas mask, a skill I'm hoping I will never have to use, of course. Tomorrow we're promised "Death by PowerPoint", which is basically an endless barrage of PowerPoint slides and other various presentations. Our platoon Sgt hinted that there are various bethods for getting out of it, and I'll probably use one of those loopholes. I'll just grab the PowerPoint file, and all the handouts, and speed-read. Finish their 6 hour presentation in about 20 mins. =)

For added excitement, I got word that I'm being considered for shuffling again. Meaning, they are re-considering where to put me for maximum effect (damage). I've decided that I'm not going to tell anyone where I'm going anymore. Whenever anyone asks, I'm just going to say "over there". It's about as accurate as I can be at this point.

The only DEFINITE travel plans I have at this point are leaving for NJ on Saturday. I have a few things I need to accomplish there, but they're going to depend on where I'm going.

I switched hotels today, to one that has 'net access in the rooms. When I got settled, turns out it's not working. I'm sitting in the exec lounge right now, and I unplugged the connection to their public machine. (of course I asked first... sorta...)

Ok, that's all I've got right now. Shelley got the new bedroom set today, and she sounded very happy. It is, I believe, the first ACTUAL new furniture purchase we've made, because we've always lucked into great used furniture. That and the fact that we got a new bed too, she's very happy and comfortable, and that's MY goal, of course!

I'm going to have some time in the next couple of days to get some pictures. Ft. Bliss is HUGE (something like 1.1 million acres), and has a lot of interesting things stationed here. Not to mention the fact that White Sands is attached to it, so I hope to make the drive and get some pictures of that!

Hugs and kisses to everyone! (well, those of you that want them... some of you that visit here I have no plans or desire to ever hug and kiss you... it would just be too weird... you know who you are! :P )