The Emotional Cost

I made a choice.  It costed me more than i wanted it to or ever thought it would.  the emotional consequences are deeper than I will ever share with anyone.  I did an earlier post a  long time ago about the 3 parts that we all draw from to make decisions on a daily basis.  I look at it now and despite still agreeing with the concept of it all I feel like putting my fist through my monitor. 

I don't know where I think im going with this other than to say that the pain is much more than I had anticipated.  trying to convince myself that the right choice does little to make me feel better.  knowing the pain will dissipate over time (hopefully) doesn't solve the problem of the present. 

faced with a situation many of us have dealt with at one time or another.  the absolute need to keep ones mind occupied for the sake of ones own sanity and to avoid being consumed by the flood of emotions just waiting for any opportunity to bleed through.  the kind of things that drive people to become alcoholics because its the only way to fall asleep. 

did I make the right choice?  doesn't matter anymore, its been made.  Do I desire to try and undo the choice?  doesn't matter either.  "I made my bed, now I have to sleep in it". 

but what if?  <---   that line of thinking will drive anyone insane. 

the collateral damage was much more than I had intended also.  I had no way to anticipate that.  maybe I should have known. 

did I do enough to see that choice through?  did I see it through with honor and integrity despite the circumstances?  Should I have done more?  what would that have been?  Does that aspect matter, because I'm the asshole for making the choice to begin with so who is going to care about any of that in the end?  Someone might someday....maybe...maybe not. 

I am not the victim.  I created multiple victims.  regardless of the right or wrong of the choice there is an emotional cost I must pay and it will last as long as it is supposed to. 

There is always the misconception in situations like this that because I made the choice I am unaffected by the fallout.  This couldn't be further from the truth.  I am in pain.  "well look what you did, you should be".  Yup, give it to me, all of it.  Why can't I also bear the pain of the those whom I affected?  I did this, its the least I should be able to do.  It would seem the world doesn't let it work that way.

In the wise words of my own mother...."this too shall pass"

Animal Cruelty/Rights

this is a toughy.  I like animals...well...most animals.  I see a lot of stuff around the web.  that we should treat animal abusers like pedophiles and stuff like that.  and while it sounds like a good idea and people get fired up about it there is tiny aspect that is missing.  I'll get to that in a bit. 

Michael Vick, illegal puppy mills, hell even cops, pick your poison of who should get the severest consequences for there actions.  it gets me worked up too.  makes you ask questions like how can people who do these things to something living get off so easy.  that animal is a living thing and possibly part of a family.

Well the one thing that gets forgotten in our world of laws and rules....animals are property and not people.  let that sink in for a second.  you are probably looking at your own animal and saying "my pet is NOT property"  its probably more of a person than half the people that visit you. 

to do anything else would mess with the status quo.  If somehow pets were elevated from property then they would have to be given rights.  Now obviously the first response is they have a right to exist or right to not be tortured and all that.  of course, living things have the right to exist...im not so sure about spiders though....

So to state the obvious i'll say you cant murder property. 

I think about what might happen if we gave animals some more rights.  I think about some of the good it might do when I see dog fighting or cops shooting a dog because he is on a power trip and then nothing happens because he is a pig.  I think about some of the justice it might bring to some of the families that have had that animal for 5, 10, or even 15 years.

but then.....

I think about the other end of the spectrum.  the stupid side.  let your mind wander and think of the most ridiculous things someone might try and pull off.  perhaps a lawsuit because my non-service bull mastiff dog is a person now and should be able to accompany me into Olive Garden. 

What about something a bit more humane.  If its not property now when the vet says its time to put the dog down you cant.  the dog now has rights.  now you must continue to spend money to keep it alive.  this is the one aspect of an animal being property that I consider arguably the most valuable.  it allows me the owner to make the best and most informed and humane decision to spare my beloved animal more pain and suffering.  we aren't allowed to do this to people, even when that's what they want....and they have rights. 

you cant put a cat on the stand for a cross examination in an effort to have a fair trial for the accused either.

quite the conundrum....one with no real middle ground in between the sides

but at the end of the day the problem is people.

it always is....

Where luck comes from...

I saw an article or post or something somewhere.  Maybe I heard it on the radio.  I didn't think much of it at first until I thought about my life as it applied to this statement.

"when I work hard, my luck seems to be better"

most people consider winning the lottery or finding a $20 bill in their pants they forgot about, lucky.  It is, sort of.  but consider the above statement.  I'd have to say that as I truly evaluate it id have to say its true.  Maybe not entirely, but there are definitely many key moments I can attribute to it.

luck is defined as success or failure apparently brought by chance rather than through one's own actions.

but is that the end of it?  can we make our own luck?  or perhaps through hard work can we simply improve the chances of getting lucky?  or is it really luck at all?

lets look at the lottery.  is it really pure chance that a person wins?  for the most part yes.  but that person still had to make the choice to buy a ticket.  the purchasing of the ticket increased their chances of winning.  does that mean the created their own luck?  or at least a small amount?  how much more luck did they create by picking their own numbers or not picking their own numbers?

im not one to believe in pure random chance.  there are so many things going on in this world at the same time that at some point things are bound to intersect.  the law of 3s is fun one.  as this oddity I have witnessed many times for good or bad.  you know, the whole things happen in 3s, good or bad. 

I find that through hard work things don't feel like luck so much, even when they appear as random acts of chance.  that my actions have created or improved my chances to a point where I have manifested my own luck.  hard work is good for the mind, body, and soul.  it can make you feel like you have accomplished something and give you confidence. 

Confidence....

im sure there are plenty of psychologists out there that will tell you confidence or lack of it has a direct impact on successes and failures, and even impacts luck. 

there is always someone better or worse off than you.  and when the occasional person floats the comment when they decide to comment on my life by saying "you are lucky", my standard response tends to be "I work hard".

so the question remains.  can you make your own luck?

After Further Review 1969 sucked ass WTF were you people thinking

When I listen to the classic rock station on the radio i notice there are a bunch of songs that reference 1969 in some form or fashion.  It baffles me that these songs just revolve around how great these people think this year was.  Other than the humorous sexual inuendo that is the number i fail to see the appeal of could have been any kind of awesomeness of this year.  Lets have a small look form my point of view

NUMBER ONE - there was no Star Wars.  I dont know if i should list this as first and foremost or the dagger that seals the deal at the end.

Star Trek the Original series was cancelled - WTF!!! i have no words for this given we landed on the moon and the whole obsession with space stuff kicked into full swing.

Dark Side of the Moon was still about 4 years away from release.  I mean if you are a true Floyd fan (and im not) was there ever a time before Darkside?  I heard a person call the radio station the other day and requested a song purposely NOT from Darkside and NOT from The Wall...they said they didnt have any songs from other albums to play....WTF???

The Vietnam war was in full swing

You wierdos elected Nixon - this is debateable but ill just chalk this up to a generation of drug addict hippies on way too much LSD.

Charles Manson was alive and well and doing his thing.  This is easily countered with Jeffery Dahmer but still, this guy had a cult and a following.

Vince Lombardi had retired as head coach of the Green Bay Packers the previous year after winning the Super Bowl.

You still had to be 21 to vote.

THERE WAS NO WALT DISNEY WORLD!!!

OK Ill give you the landing on the moon - which created the space toy craze which should have fueled Star Trek...idiots.

NO I am not going to give credit to Woodstock.  If that happened today everyone of those drug addicts would be doing time for possession amoung other things.  Yes i realize that Jimi Hendrix is revered as the greatest guitarist ever, however, everytime i see a top however many list there is almost always a bullet about how much LSD everyone was on back then.  Is it possible that if all the people were sober that Hendrix, Joplin, the Beatles, etc, etc would never have achieved stardom?  But this is a post all its own.

Now those that know me will argue back with things like there was no RAP or HIPHOP music, no Twilight or Justin Bieber, well these are minor compared to the first 3 things i listed.

now you will notice i have chosen to not get totally unfair and talk about things like cellphones and technology related things.  I deem this to be slightly unfair.  either way it just seems to me that there was a severe lack of culture or culture induced by artificial means (LSD).  Or perhaps the pure amount of ignorance was sheer bliss?  if there is an answer that has to be it.  but then that would suggest as time went on the subsequent years would be looked upon as better.  I dont know there just seems to be a large quantity of people that never left the concert and seem to be stuck there forever.

Anyway, yeah, 1969 sucked ass.

Guns are like Condoms...

...I rather have one and not need it, than need it and not have one.

A whole lot of gun talk in recent weeks.  People arguing over something at its core is one of the very tools that created this country.  This country was founded because of rebellion against a tyrannical government.  We then created the 2nd Amendment amoung other things to ensure that it would not happen again.

Over time people tend to become complacent and seem to think that such things wont happen again to them.  Maybe to other people or countries but not them.  And certainly not by their own government.  There are things in motion today that are raising red flags everywhere.  Some people are keeping an eye on it and others dont seem to be worried.  Whether the worst will occur or not does not make it any less worthy of attention.

As a Vet I am extremely pro-gun.  Why do i have guns?  well for the one reason that needs no explanation.  BECAUSE I FUCKING CAN.  The 2nd amendment is all i require.  Which by the way for those who dont know, makes this country a constitutional republic NOT a democracy as some people are led to believe.  Having a gun and knowing how to use it might as well be considered more of an American tradition. 

With our goverment once again declaring war on the 2nd amendment its worth noting that if you look back in history gun control never works.  At least not in the favor of those being disarmed.  There is moment in our history that most people either dont know or it was too small of a notation worthy of notice.  Lets go back to World War 2.  Japan bombed Pearl Harbor and all the things that came from that.  Hitler was advancing all over Europe.  Why didnt Japan invade the U.S.?  Even though this quote is said to be bogus, it has been repeated thousands of times from the era and even today.  "You cannon invade the mainland United States.  There would be a rifle behind every blade of grass"  Even as a misquote there must be somekind of logic behind it or someone from the era was thinking something like it.  Regardless of that, Our fasination with guns and the ability to freely own them in some form or fashion i believe was a deterant and a factor.  If they thought U.S. citizens were not armed i think its safe to say the outcome would have been very different.  So chalk one up and re-read the very first line of this blog.

So why have a gun?

The same reason there a flashlight somewhere in just about every home.

The same reason you might find a first aid kit in someones car or house.

I could go on and on with this. 

Back in the musket days it was believed that you either knew how to shoot or you didnt.  The concept that you could teach someone how just didnt exist.  We now know otherwise.  Its a skill everyone should learn at some point.  Just like riding a bike, swimming, or driving.  Its as American as apple pie and football.  yes football, baseball has been fired.  More people watch the Super Bowl than all games of the World Series.  But thats a another blog.

I though about taking this post for a political ride but elected not to.  Instead if there are any anti-gun people reading this.  I would simply say that while thats your stance, you should still take the time to shoot a gun and learn its place in the proper context of history.  That context being as one of the tools used to grant you the freedom and the right to voice your opinion that you dont think we should have them.  Even in those days we had a military, and yet they still used armed civilians to increase numbers to help balance the engagements.  You may be anti gun but that doesnt change the fact that guns played a major role in giving you the freedom to have that point of view.

Tragedy in Conn.

part 1

As an Army Vet having derved during the period i did, I know what it takes to take a life.  In the wake of the recent school shooting i cant help the urge to express a few things.  I have seen all types of acts involving the taking of lives, even participated in a couple.  Its one thing to kill in a kill of be killed senario, crash an airplane into a building, blow up a building with a van full of fertilizer, or even shoot some high school peers, BUT it is something completely different to go into an elementary school and individually shoot 20 children.

The question i ask myself is what does it take to be able to do something like this?  Well i can tell you its not a long list.  It would take a large amout of hate, rage, drugs, or the type of mental illness that makes you think of people like Jeffery Dahmer, or maybe even Charles Manson.  Perhaps a combination of 2 or more of these.  But that is about it.  This does not excuse anything. 

The situation is difficult because having killed himself after the fact there can be almost no justice for the families.  In a twisted way making this almost the perfect crime.  All one can do is put their faith in God.  Despite the anger and vengence that would be felt, being raised a Catholic the correct religious answer would be to forgive and ask God to have mercy on his soul.  But we do know what religion tells us about those who take their own lives.

It is a time of mourning and also a time of confusion.  If God does have a plan for us all then why take these children, why now, they had their whole lives ahead of them?  Growing up, playing sports, falling in love, having kids of their own.  If you believe such things you must take comfort in knowing they are in a better place.  They will never know what its like to be bullied, abused, have their heart broken, watch a loved one die....in a twisted sense we should all be so lucky and as parents couldnt wish anymore for our children.

part 2

If its not bad enough, leave it to our politicians in the near future to exploit this tragic event in favor of pursuing their own agendas.  They are already jockeying for position.  They will blame the guns.  Its the guns fault.  They will use the emotional distress of the people to shift their focus.  If this person wasnt able to get his hands on the guns this would not have happened.  History has proven those who want something can usually get it.  Prohibition would be the biggest example of this.  I mean everyone was sober and dry during that time right?  of course they were because booze was illegal.  If the choice of the government and the sheeple that follow is stricter gun control then i have a few suggestions of my own.

1.  Ban all knives - no more stabbings and murders involving this weapon anymore, combined with guns we will be reduced to the ninjas being the only ones killing people.

2.  Prohibition - ban booze again, this will eliminate all drunk driving and fatalities that go with the accidents that happen because no one would think of drinking if its illegal.

3.  Ban all spoons - this will completely solve the problem of obesity in the country. 

4.  Ban cell phones - texting and driving reduced to zero.

5.  Ban cars - while we at it lets make cars illegal, i mean they cause all kinds of deaths they are dangerous and should be illegal to own one.

Am i making the nation a safer place yet?  the point is if you are looking to figure out who is to blame or put together the cause of a sequence of events it is still important to know that every individual is accountable for their own actions.  But what about mental illness or drugs?  well if he was that mentally ill how was it he was able to find himself in a position to do what he did?  Either way the fault can always be traced back to a human being, not a thing or object.

Chances are they will chalk this up to mental disease and drugs, thus meaning he wasnt aware of his actions or was not in a mental state to be accountable.  This doesnt make anything better.  So spare us this type of explanation.  Let the people mourn the loss of their loved ones with some dignity and peace from the media and all who follow.  There is no need for politicians to pretend to ride in on a white horse to exploit this pretending to have a solution.  It wont bring them back.  the best thing they can do...is leave us alone.

Where my HATE for Unions Began...

Circa 1999-2000, my first job working in a union.  A grocery store warehouse. i was in my 20s taking a year off from college.  I was also transitioning from active duty Army to the National Guard weekend warrior way of doing things.

Now to understand the story you need to know a few things about how things worked in this warehouse.  there was a seniority list of about 100 people.  Various shifts and jobs that were all bid for once a year.  8 hour shifts, 10 hour shifts, different days off, etc.  The lower portion of the list were the order pickers.  Stacking pallets of groceries and taking them to the loading docks.  this was the only job that where you were measured by how fast you go.  you were only gieven so much time per order.  if you didnt make time you were subject to write ups and all the fun stuff that can follow.  Being a union environment is was STRONGLY encouraged that you DO NOT go any faster than the time given for each order.

A note on seniority.  If a senior man came in on his day off to work overtime, for that day, he went to the bottom of the seniority list and thus would have to be an order picker because it was not his regular day that he bid for.  This is important and will come up later.

Now its also important to note that at this stage in my life and still now for the most part, all those Army words were still ringing in my head loud and clear, DUTY, MOTIVATION, DICIPLINE.

It took me almost 60 days (my probationary period) to learn the system and develop a pace that would allow me to make time.  This was normal, either you were making the cut by 60 days or they let you go.  your time was calculated weekly.  100% average meant you wee meeting the standard. 

As time went on i found i was able to exceed the time standards on a regular basis.  At the time i was just impressing myself.  And if i needed some extra time later then i had some to burn and still make 100%.  Well, the union guys didnt like that very much.  I was repeatedly told to slow down, dont work so fast.  If they keep seeing me work so fast they will adjust the time standard and that there are guys who are struggling with it now and they will lose their jobs.  Guys that have been there longer than me.  Now i just thought that was the dumbest thing ever.  Because if I slow down then the loads dont get on time, and if they dont get out on time then im more likely to have to work forced overtime becasue no one goes home until the work is out.  the union contract allowed them to force us to work up to 15.5 hours a day, 6 days a week if needed.  So that translated as "slow down = more OT whether i want it or not".  And there was already plenty of this OT going around because of thanksgiving and all those kinds of days, without me slowing down.  And besides i was 1 person out of maybe 50 pickers, wtf difference was i going to make by myself. 

One day 4 guys decide to corner and confront me in the back of the warehouse and try some intimidation tactics.  I guess they felt they werent getting through to me and that 4 guys should be sufficient to go after an "Army of One" haha yea i thought it was funny.  pickers have with them about a 30" long and maybe 1/4" diamter metal rod with a 90 degree bend at the end thats about 3 inches long with a handle at the other end.  this hook was used for pulling cases of product to the edge of high shelves so we could grab and stack them.  After about a minute of listening to the bullshit spewing from these guys mouths (all of them older than me, family guys mostly) i had enough.  i grabbed my hook and took a swing at them all.  Asked which one wanted to lose an eye first.  I dont have any delusions that they were scared of me but i do think they might have thought i had a screw loose.  At that point either one was fine with me.  The war started that day....

At the time i was averaging about 102-105%.  The guys decided they were going to help me slow down by getting in my way with the forklifts or trying to sabotage me or leaving pallets in the aisles i was coming down.  I guessing they werent going to risk physical confrontation.  So, I fought back.  I went faster.  Before long i was averaging almost 115%.  I was putting up numbers no one had done before.  And not because it wasnt possible.  The union mantra just doesnt want you to exceed at anything.  Now to put it in perspective 115% in time roughly meant that at the end of a 40 hour week i did 42 hours of orders.  TWO FUCKING HOURS.....IN A WEEK. 

Then it happened.  i was grabing a case and one of the guys (a 17 year man fully vested) chose to try and fit his forklift in a space he knew it wouldnt fit.  Hit my pallet jack (which my foot was under) and then took my pallet jack and myself for a ride.  My foot got caught and he proceeded to drag me 50-60 feet before my shoe ripped.  I almost lost my foot, broken bones, sprained ankle.  A new guy i helped train was behind me and watched this happen.  There was no one else down this aisle.  He helped me walk to the office where there was an aid station and report the "accident".  He was nice enough to write a statement of his own.  I was lucky i guess, 2 weeks out of work, then return with light duty for a bit.  My foot was being twisted off my leg like a bottle cap.

Now due to union contract and company rules the first thing done when there is an accident is a mandatory drug test.  Mister forklift asshole tested positive for weed.  Instant termination, forfiet all benefits, retirement, pension, EVERYTHING.  Justice (of some kind) had finally been served.  Every single one of those bastards left me alone after that.  Maybe they all were smokin da weed eh? lol.

A union steward approached me and said to look at what I had done.  "he had a family and kids and now he is out of a job and with the drug test will have a tough time finding another".  I said I almost lost my foot asshole, he got what he deserved for intentionally running me over with a forklift so FUCK HIM. 

Shortly after that the company time study happened.  A 3rd party group comes in and follows pickers to evaluate if changes are needed to the time standards.  Here is where the earlier point comes in.  If a senior man on his day off is picking, he is still held to the standard regardless of anything else.  Every person above me it seems came to me at some point to ask me if i was "going to change my ways and do what was best for the union brotherhood" to which i said of course.  Anyone that cant keep up with me doenst need to be working here.  The orders were hand picked by the contractors.  When it was my turn i was given an easier order.  About 10 guys stood by as i punched on the order and about 20 or so were waiting for me when i got back to code it off to see what % it would be.  Like i said this particular order they gave me i would have an extremely hard time making just 100% as it was, let alone go slower.  By now its not hard for anyone reading this to figure out what i did.  I raced that order like nothing i had ever done in that place and coded of 125%.  The question was then asked out loud why i was the only one that was able to make the numbers that day.  I quit a few months later when i went back to school, but as far as what happen with the time study its not too hard to figure out what happened after that....

show me the money!!!

Whats up with these walkouts and stuff? 

Black Friday (actually pre-black friday on turkeyday) walkouts at Wal-mart and now i see the fast food peoples doing the same thing in New York.  Whats the deal?

Well, of course they want money.  I mean thats the best way to get a raise right?  just walk out and throw a temper tantrum in the street.  you shouldnt have to better yourself at all, i mean a burger flipper should make as much as an electrician or a doctor right?

These have always been minimum wage jobs.  The Fed determines what minimum wage is but the states can have a higher one.  Its there for a reason.  If you cant use it whats the point.

First we have Wal-mart.  the king of shit labor practices.  well how bad can it be?  as big as they are and as many people as they employ it cant be all bad?  "well some people dont have a choice"  BULLSHIT!!!  go live in a ditch.  There is ALWAYS a choice, some just arent practical but they are still choices.  So the union scum say they support these walk outs and that walmart should start paying their people $13 an hour instead of the usual $8 range.  Tell me what skill set does a cashier or a shelf stocker have that warrants that kind of pay?  Consider what that kind of increase would do to prices?  And on top of this these people choose to do this in a bad economy when jobs are scarce.  Wal-mart can fire every one of those people, go down to the unemployment office and replace all of them instantly without even blinking or even taking into consideration WHY those people walked out in the first place.  They simply wouldnt need to care about it.

On to New York.  Same thing here.  the union scum say places like McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell should start paying their people $15 an hour.  I guess if you want to pay $10 for your next Big Mac that would be fine.  Now many of these employees are teenagers and the like.  Should your kids be making $15?  i copied that question from the article.  I look at it funny myself when i read it.  but consider your 16 year old high schooler who obviously lives at home grabbing a part time job at Micky Ds for $15 an hour.  How is that going to affect his mindset and outlook on school and life and the desire to better himself?  on the surface it sounds kinda dumb to ask the question but the more i repeat it in my head and imagine different senarios my answer is NO, i dont want him to make the kind of money right away. 

Whats missing from this picture?  Yeah its easier for these lazy people to demand more pay rather than get off their asses and go learn a skill, go to school, or simply look for a better job.  For this reason alone they do not deserve a damn thing.  There are no excuses, there is so much crap out there these days to help people better themselves.  Staging a walk out isnt going to convince any employer to do anything but fire your ass. 

I simply do not understand how any one of those people thought "hey this is a great idea".  I guess it goes back to a saying, never underestimate stupid people in large groups.

We The Sheeple....

I realize politics can be a very personal thing to someone.  Our life experiences tend to dictate how our views are shaped based on an infinite amout of factors.  It can create or destroy friends and family. 

What really really really bothers and irritates me is as a whole we are dumber than ever.  In the political sense people let mainstream media (FOX, NBC, ABC, NBC and the like) be their sources of information and come to rely on what these sources have to say.  In the digital age of all kinds of smartphones and devices requiring more smarts to use we are being brainwashed and stupified everywhere else.  Common sense is so rare it should be a super power.  yeah i stole that.  I mean this is the age of the Internet.  For fuck sake people QUESTION EVERYTHING!!! The world is on the internet.  In an age where it makes no sense to lie to the public becasue you can research EVERYTHING, our so called leaders have gotten used to the fact that the sheeple simply are too damn lazy to double check things.  The media is notorious for reporting only pieces, that if they reported the whole story it might have a completely different meaning or make think something completely different.

We as a country just finished up an election with the largest turn out of uneducated people ever.  Thats amounts to about 75% of people who cast a vote.  many of them vote because they dont like the other guy, others becasue they believe every word the guy says.  These are the same people that make jokes about how politicians are lawyers are nothing but liars.

Now if i tell you that you can blow up a car by shooting the gas tank, well chances are you may hit google or take a shot at that old car in your back yard and then tell me whether im full of shit.  But when a politician (known to be liars) tells you how awesome his healthcare plan is, no one bothers to check anything.  they just react. its either good or bad but no one knows why.

Now before you read further i must make this clear...this is MY blog posted on MY facebook.  If you have a problem with what i say and cant respect my right to free speech and want to get offended or butthurt and spew your hate in my comments you can fuck off and die in a plane crash.

Lets look at a few things i have personally seen along with a few of my own thoughts.

The election has made it clear that gays and lesbians simply dont care about the economy, governments run away spending, taxes, unemployment, corruption, etc, etc.  What DO they care about?  They just want to get married.  They dont care about anything else.  They want that piece of paper so that they can make each other as miserable as wives have done to husbands for hundreds of years.  Ignorance of this magnitude voting is directly contributing to the problems of this country.  the messed up part?  the states are already starting to pass laws to allow this, its already happening, WTF more did you think you were doing? 

Obamacare.  OOOOOO  AAAHHHHHH oh yea.  Now here is one i just dont get.  This will affect EVERYONE in some way EXCEPT Congress.  They are exempt.  Why?  If its so super awesome why wont the people who WROTE THE DAMN THING WANT TO JUMP IN IT?  Now everyone i have talked to that thinks this thing is book of pure awesome cant seem to tell me why.  Is it becasue its 2400+ pages long?  Yeah most definately.  I have the original draft, the house draft and the senate draft.  read them once, dont remember much but can reference things.  I have challanged all those who think its awesome to read it and then get back to me.  Even the ones that dont like it so they can at least tell me what they think is bad.  none have.  they prefer their ignorance.  and again these are the people casting votes.  The same people that would research a new TV or new car to death content to be ignorant to something involving their own health and their KIDS health.

The Patriot Act - you know that bill that allows spying on you violating your civil rights.  I have friends on my FB that say and i quote "i love Joe Biden".  guess what he wrote the core of this in 1995.  Still love him now?  If you do you are unamerican and should get the fuck out of my country. See United States vs Antoine Jones. 

NDAA - signed by Obama on New Year's Eve last year, grants the government the power to put citizens in military detention indefinitely and without the usual recourse to civil courts.  As a veteran something like this is near and dear to my heart and people wonder why i became so hateful and bitter watching the sheeple vote for this nigger.  YES I FUCKING SAID IT.

SOPA, PIPA - the short and sweet on this is censorship of the internet thus treading on free speech, carefully disguised as a bill to simply go after online piracy, though it does that too.

I wont even touch on guns and the 2nd amendment.

Texas is trying to secede with petitions of 50,000+ signitures i mean i know this is small compared to the country as a whole but you cant tell me they are all fanatics.

its going to be a long 4 years...

WAKE THE FUCK UP PEOPLE.  oh wait the election is over...oh...well...guess its time to reap what you sow.  I'll stay in Arizona with my guns.

Dilemma

Most people envy the skills of a computer repair guy.  Sometimes the knowledge level is high and others its simply common sense and others its a simple matter of stopping long enough to do this thing called reading.  Some would have you believe its simply magic.  That I have been trained by Merlin with mystical powers or a Jedi in the ways of the Force.

Working on a persons computer can be a very personal thing.  You may need to go places they normally wouldnt want people to see.  The secrets that you may be entrusted with simply because its the only way to solve the problem.  Ive seen it all.  Ive helped keep secrets safe.  But, occassionally been responsible for the occasional grounding of a child.  Its amazing what people keep on their computers.  Evidence of a wife funneling money to where its not suppose to go.  Nude pics that a husband took while cheating on his wife.  Or a couple keeping an extensive library of their sexual adventures.  Video collections that Jenna Jameson and her director would be envious of. 

Anyway, a recent situatiuon has me wondering what course of action to take.  Ive had this computer in for repair a few times.  Usually the same thing, slow, freezing, etc, etc.  It belongs to a teenage boy.  After fighting with it for a couple hours i won the war and got it fixed up.  Going through and removing the culprits led me to the kingpin.  Isnt it obvious what that is?  Surfin da porn of course.

Now, what does one do?  Do i tell mom that she is paying me to keep fixing this thing because her son is doing......well.....teenager things in the digital age?  Do i choose to not bust out the kid and just chalk it up to a "virus"?  Wouldnt be too far from the truth.  I have the option of going to dad which might soften the blow to the kid.  The reality is well its fine if he wants to do that with his computer.  The issue is whether mom and dad want to keep forking over the dough to fix it everytime his habit catches up with him.  If they knew why then they may simply shift the burden of responsibility to the boy or embarrass the hell out of him.  If you keep mucking it up then you pay to fix it. 

This is what makes it fun to be a computer repair guy...

for the paycheck

The typical daily grind.  You get up earlier than you want to.  Put on clothes you would rather use as a car wash rag. Then spend the next 8 hours staring at the clock.  All in the name of....the mighy PAYCHECK.

What a miserable existance this person must have.  OH WAIT!!! I think i just described most people that have a job.  Yeah its still miserable.

How do so many people get reduced to the common denominator of going through 40+ hours of their week for no other reason than that small (and yes it is small when you think about it) satisfaction of opening their paycheck on payday? 

Just about everyone i work with falls into this catagory.  They whine and complain and dont give a shit about anyone else or even the job they choose to do.  They do it for the paycheck.  They showup for the paycheck.  There is no sense of team, or doing a good job, or enjoyment of the job they have chosen.  Now ive had my moments where i did what i had to do and the times where i definately fit into this, but never with the mentality that it was where i was stuck for the long term.  Blinded by a decent paycheck these people....

.................REALLY NEED TO SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!

you would think they have it SO bad.  They tell me to give it time and i will be just like them.  No. I dont think so.  i couldnt be that pathetic if i tried.  well maybe if i tried real hard. 

Why take a job dealing with customers when you hate dealing with customers?

Why take a job where being a team is how it works when you are a selfish piece of shit?

Why take a job that requires working outside in extreme heat when you are a pussy and cant hack it?

Need i go on?  Do not misunderstand.  The paycheck is a powerful motivator and incentive.  But if this is the beginning and end of ones motivation in life to go to work at your job for the long term, id rather you spare me and fall off a cliff.

"oh but some of us have kids and bills and stuff to take care of"

lets look at the bills part, if you are going to take a job you dont like, for the paycheck, then use that paycheck to create bills rather than work towards a job you might like or at least want to be a proactive part of for something more than the paycheck then thats your own damn fault and that still falls under the catagory of....STFU!!!

then there are kids.  exspensive bundles of joy they are....at least until some of them start to talk...or walk...then maybe not so much joy.  yeah im not sure how i want to tackle this one.  So guess what?  im just not going to becasue i dont feel like it.

There is 168 hours in a week.  The typical person will work 40 of these and assuming this person sleeps around 7 hours a day that leaves 79 of those hours that you are doing something other than working.  thats less than half and if you are one of these people im talking about that means you are only potenially not a whiny bitch less than half the week.  But we all know thats not true.  Why?  Well what kind of a world would we live in if people didnt go home after work and continue bitching to their significant other?  I mean thats like a rule right? 

In the end these kinds of people simply need to STFU or spew their bullshit where i cant hear it.

How Insignificant you really are...

...well some more than others.  I cant for the life of me understand this feeling people get.  Especially when im at work.  They think becasue they run a restaurant with crap wannabe Italian food that they can make demands.  And go so far as to be a raving bitch to another human being that not only does become a consumer when they clock out but also interacts with hundreds of people on a weekly basis.  Or even chase me out the door to bitch some more after losing a $40 dollar sale AFTER i just gave them a $100 credit to ask me if it matters to me that they lost the sale.  Of course i answered "No", and took the credit away.

Lets put this into perspective.  You are 1 person out of 7 billion people, on 1 planet out of 8 planets, in 1 star system out of 100 billion star systems, in 1 galaxy out of 100 billion galaxies.  How significant can you and your raving bitch ass be?  Center of the universe?  I think not.

We are ants to whoever or whatever is looking down.  If you have ever looked upon an anthill no one ant looks to much more significant than another from that point of view. 

Im the guy that tries to treat them all the same.  but of course i cant, not all the time.  Forces beyond my control keep that from being the case.  Who is more significant or deserving of preferential treatment, the raving bitch waving her checkbook around or the Vietnam vet in the wheelchair living on practically nothing?  The money isnt being funneled in to my pocket so where is the incentive?

Its really amazing the way people justify their own significance on why they are so important and how the world would cease to function if they were to simply stop doing what ever it is they do.  Like the entire country wouldnt be able to drive a nice car if that dude who has been saleman of the month for 2 years just decided to hang it up right?  Where would my town go for shit Italian food if the raving bitch had to close down?  Doomed right?  Or if i quit my job?  No one would be able to fix the internet.  The world wouldnt be able to check Facebook and we would be back to the stoneage in a matter of days.

I hate to break it to you...but the world will continue.  It will continue.  I mean if we can get by without Einstien, Shakespeare, Beethoven, Leonardo, Descartes, and some of the other greatest minds of all time, I am pretty sure things will continue without a lot of people.  Myself included. 

Now i realize that people have the need to feel important.  It gives them a warm fuzzy.  But lets not get carried away here.  Given my own ego i am probably the biggest hypocrit for even writing something on this kind of level.  But yes if myself or any one of many other out there were hit by a bus, knocked off a bridge, mauled by a bear, or eaten by a giant shark, there would probably be a mom out there who's world would be forever changed.  But the sun will come up tomorrow, the world will continue to spin, and the majority of people will continue to go about their routine with little to no interruption.

So in the end i do my part, however little it may be, to remind people that they are not as important to the rest of us as they would have themselves believe and that i get my Italian food somewhere else.

Sleep vs Sex

What is it about age that contributes so much to this rivalry?  In our youth most of us would sacrafice as much sleep as we had to in order to score.  Late night, wake up in the middle of the night, early morning, it didnt matter.  Go to work on no sleep for a 10 hour shift, no problem.  You can sleep later right?  I mean each time might be the last time you get any right?  Its only sleep.  Its only work.

You will notice i put sleep first.  there is a reason for this.  As i have gotten older I have developed a much fonder appreciation for sleep and the benefits of it.  Now if its not a work night well that changes the playing field...but not much. 

I look back and can see that it was probably the excitement of the whole thing.  Wasnt that the unspoken rule too?  To never pass up an opportunity?  Maybe its a guy thing.  But that cant be it entirely.  I mean in order to sacrafice the sleep to get sex you needed a female partner to participate.  Having said that it must work both ways. 

They say you can sleep when you are dead.  I mean hell in todays world all you need is like 2 hours of sleep and a few red bulls to get through the day.  Or wait.  What about that illusion of if you get laid then you will be happy and refreshed (on no sleep) and have pep in your step and be glowing and be superman and all that?  Experience would say that is the biggest load of shit.  If that was the case guys wouldnt always want to go to sleep after sex, they would fly out of bed and go bench press a buick.  If that was the case women wouldnt want to snuggle, they would go start cleaning the house, or doing dishes, or make the man a sandwich.  Maybe some do?  I want a sandwich. 

When you were young it was thought in your own mind that sex was vital to your survival.  Later on you discover it was really sleep. 

So when its 11:00PM and you have to be up at 5:00AM to go to work and someone wants to get some because they dont have to get up and waited till now because they been on the computer or phone for the last hour what are you going to do? 

Guess i'll go find out....

Kids these days...

What is the malfunction with the younger generation?  While it may not be all of them, it seems like it everytime i turn around.  While we are breeding a generation of offspring that are born with more raw intelligence, they are also coming into this world with considerably less and less common sense and street smarts.

Too often i here about the concept of the parent not wanting their child to have it as hard as they had it.  Well none of us do i suppose to a degree.  But to what end?  The word EARN is fading away.  One day people will look at it and ask what language that is.  Entitlement is the new way.  "i think, therefore give me".  Higher levels of mental dicipline are almost completely absent.  Lack of respect for authority. 

A quote from myself...
It amazes me, given the sexual habits of the younger generation, they still seem genuinely surprised when she says "i'm pregnant" AND have the ignorance to follow up with "how did that happen"

you can infer much about where i am going when i talk about the state of our youngsters with that quote.  What is wrong with these people? 

I do however have the peace of mind to know that when this generation starts to really breed and those offspring start to come of age i will be almost dead.

A particular individual sticks out in my head.  the young guy joins the Army.  Goes infantry and becomes a badass.  Not a bad start, i had hope for this individual.  then slowly the signs emerged.  He whined about going to the field and cried about being away from home.  Friends of his age would sympathize with him.  OK thats fine he is homesick.  Then he fails a drug test.  Oh no now his life is ruined becasue he has to face the consequences.  Consequences?  WTF?  What are those?  He complained how his life was over becasue he had extra duty now and they docked his pay and demoted him.  Like what did he do to deserve this?  And still his like aged friends sympathize with him.  Then he starts talking suicide and gets put on suicide watch because he cant take it anymore?  KILL YOURSELF THEN PUSSY!!!  And still his friends sympathize with him.  No "tough love".  No "WTF were you thinkin doing drugs"?  No "get your shit together dude".  None. 

While in situations like this it is easy to lump the whole of the generation in with this weak minded piece of shit, every now and then i see a glimmer of hope.  A lost soul that doesnt seem to belong in its generation, light years ahead of its peers. 

While i am typically an out with the old and in with the new kind if person.  This is an area where someone is yet to prove to me something is better than the old school approach.  I had belts and wooden spoons taken to my ass growin up and im fine.  I see no reason to not continue with these methods.

The over-protection needs to end.  In todays world and society maximum exsposure is required to develop an appreciation for is really going on.  While opinions and such will be formed differently for the individual, they do need to be formed from that exsposure. 

While i could take this in a million directions and tangents over infinite variations of this topic i will stop here and leave this last thought.

there is absolutely nothing wrong with learning the hard way...ever.

The Best Friend

Everyone has had one in some form or fashion in their life.  This person is a unique combination of elements that allows them to fill many rolls at the same time depending on what your needs are.  They can be your brother, sister, friend, psychotherapist, mother, father, undertaker, eyes, ears, sidekick, the list goes on and on.  And they do any or all of these at the same time despite you already having and individual one of each of these somewhere else in your life. 

Now in my own opinion of the matter you can really only have ONE of these.  I have had several but never more than ONE in my life at a time.  For example my best friend during my high school years lives across the country, has a family and we dont get to see each other or talk as much.  He will always be my best friend and brother.  At the moment i have current best friend that lives here and someone ive grown close to.  Therefore he fills those shoes at this moment.  Some people may have many close friends that picking one is difficult or they feel they might betray someone else if they did.  Irrelavant, deep down inside there is always ONE go to person. 

The handful of people that have filled these roles are all very diverse people when compared to each other.  You might say each one was a good fit for that stage in my life.

There are a few things ive learned over the years however.  As a kid growing up you used to equate your best friend to the person you spent the most time with.  While this may have been true, as we get older this doesnt have to be the case.  Enter the quality vs quantity argument.  I used to also think once upon a time this person was there to take your side (supposedly becasue you thought alike or understood each other very well) for everything.  But through my own experiences being a best friend to other people there job is to also smack you up side the head and set your stupid ass straight.  Respect is also a large part.  If you have to worry about pissing off your own best friend then its not what you think it is.  Even with all the roles listed earlier, the one thing a best is NOT and should NOT be is a babysitter.  And im not talking about kids. 

The title of best friend isnt even a title, or label, or anything.  Its not something you have to acknowledge or work at.  IT JUST IS.  your best friend isnt punching a time clock and working at being your best friend.  this person just is.  Its a bond all its own.  Naturally developed and grown and nurtured through pure interaction.

Now a classic modern day argument is that your spouse or significant other should be your best friend or is your best friend.  This method of logic simply doesnt compute for me.  While you should absolutely be close to this person almost on that level it doesnt balance the equation for me.  These need to be 2 different people.  the raw emotion and love and all that stuff involved can cloud judgement and distort the functionality that is the core of the best friend.

The best friend is definately an important part for every part of life from childhood to senior citizen. 

In the end i have to say that the people who have been my best friends thought the various stages of my life have had an enormous impact on the person i have become.  I do not doubt that being that type of person to me was not easy at times and would like to think i acknowledged this much at the time.

Now your best friend is typically the person who requires no thanks or appreciation.  That doesnt mean you shouldnt do it anyway...

To be a Hero?

Im the guy that wants to be the hero.  More than anything else.  Always on the lookout.  Lots of "just in the knick of time" cliche goes through my head on a constant basis.  Put myself in harms way for the sake of someone else.  Tackle the would-be robber or kidnapper.  Tell the 2 guys arguing at the gas station to stfu b4 i beat both their asses.  True story.  Ok maybe its hero with some badass thrown in.  Certain movies with type of storyline strike at this sensitive area.  The Army did well creating and developing this...condition.  Though I must say the desire for this is more selfish than selfless by nature.  Is that a bad thing?  Would that alter the honorability of the deed at the time?  Would it change how people view the circumstances?  Does it really matter at all?

Ok so the gas station incident wasnt exactly being a hero.  But when a guy in his mid 20s threatens to beat up a guy in his 50s (and the old guy responds "do that and you will go to jail") because the old guy thinks he cut in line on a busy day of cars jockeying for position at the pump, the easiest way to end it was to step inbetween and put them in their place.  there must be something in tone of voice or how one carries themselves becasue the old guy didnt feel it needed to threaten cops on me even though i said id beat his ass like the other kid did. 

Anyway.  Glory and Honor!!!  Oh yeah.  Get some!!!  Do i really really really want to be a hero?  probably not as much as just wanting to kick some ass.  Its been so long i wonder if i even remember how.  I guess its like riding a bike.  But a hero doesnt always need to kick ass either.  Heros do all sorts of things these days.  I was out in the desert a few weeks ago.  Scouting out an abandon copper mine to go inside.  Found a guy who rolled his quad and fucked up his arm trying to walk back to the entrance where the gas station was.  Loaded him up and gave him a lift.  I swear this dude was gonna pass out.  His arm was swelling by the second.  You could see the bulges and watch it swell.  Fucking idiot.  didnt anyone tell you this trail is for advanced drivers?  whatever, saved his ass.  He did manage to call his friends for help on his cell but guess what.  That escalade sure as hell wasnt going to make it to where he was LOL. 

But i look for these things.  i am definately a dying breed.  Honor is a word used as the punchline of a bad joke.  We live in a world of people only out to get something out of everything by any means.  There is no sense of Duty in anything.  Its all about how little you can do in your 8 hour shift or how much you can fuck off and stay under the radar.  Its all about the paycheck but people are only willing to do the absolute minimum to get it.  People have lost the ability to rise above their environment be the best they can be.  Why do you do all that?  No one cares.  You dont get a bigger paycheck.  Why?  They just going to expect it all the time so you better fuck off more.  BECAUSE I CAN BITCH!!!  BECAUSE IM BETTER THAN YOU!!!  what more reason could you possibly need.  Why come in on your day off and spend 5 hours fixing that customers stuff instead of making them wait?  DUH.  Cuz thats being the hero.  In the words of Charlie Sheen....WINNING!!!

dont misunderstand.  i have my days where the hero button is definately turned off.  I have my days where i just want to watch the world burn in the hopes that the idiots will be cleansed...at least some of them. 

What is it to be a hero?  Well i cant fly...but then neither could Batman....

Being a Gamer

Where to begin?  I am a gamer.  This has to be one of the most misunderstood things of all time.  I started playing video games at the age of about 4 and have been ever since.  20 years is a long time to play and watch the evolution of video games.  "Arent you too old for video games"?  Are you kidding?  If you look at surveys you will find the average age of a gamer is 35-37 and have been playing games for at least 12 years.  By that logic im not old enough.  Well i must be a basement dwelling fat virgin then right?  Before i touch that one i will say that my hardcore addiction started at about age 20 and in the Army.  So no i am none of those. 

i have had many of the consoles.  Atari 2600, Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Playstation, Playstation2, Playstation3 and of course PC gaming.

What is gaming to me?  Id say a hobby, something i enjoy, or a good way of passing time.  Childish you might say?  Well i suppose i could be a pediphile instead.  Or maybe a crack dealer?  What about a rapist?  I mean these are all worthy more adult alternatives right?  Gaming is not very exspensive and that is one of the reasons i enjoy it so.  I can spend $60 on a game and get 120+ hours of enjoyment out of a good one.  Now i challange you to think of something you bought for $60 and got that kind of return.  thats 50cents per hour of enjoyment and complete satisfaction.  If only hookers were that cheap. 

My parents used to make me turn it off and go outside.  Now?  you will find them inside playing Wii bowling with their friends. 

Now dont get me wrong.  There are plenty of losers out there that give gamers a bad name.  The ones that forget to feed their kids or get married online and all that juicy stuff.  Gaming can be the greatest thing to keep your mind occupied.  Especially when times are tough or you need a distraction. 

There are even professional gamers out there that make more money than you or I.  Oh yeah.  And even those guys get laid. 

At the end of the day its my thing.  Some people watch TV, others build matchstick houses, me...I play video games. 

Humbug!!!

So there i was.  Its Saturday on Christmas Eve.  Im working.  Several customers to take care of with a variety of trouble versus installations.  Yes, my job has us do this.  Most customers are extremely grateful that im even working today.  They load me up with cookie and treats and stuff.  However, its the other type i want to talk about.  I give this customer the opportunity to be the first one of my day.  This person responds to me saying they have christmas stuff and family things to do today and can i come by late this afternoon to fix the problem?  Really?  Are you serious?  Am i just a lifeless servant with nothing better to do that wait for YOU to get home on christmas eve as my own family is patiently delaying its own events to accomodate me working?  Uh no.  So as i take a moment to take all the swear words out of my response, i respond with "well i hope to be attending my own family xmas stuff by then, i can have someone come on tuesday"?  Now this person chooses to act like i am causing the biggest inconvienence of his life.  OH NO, i cant wait until tuesday, we might die.  In the end they choose to be home and wait for me.

Now, what is wrong with this picture?  i can think of several things.  Has the spoiled brat sense of entitlement gotten that bad?  Should i have upheld the "customer first" bullshit to its highest and honored the request?  On any other saturday i probably would have.  But on this particular day i decided that the employee gets to come first.  when was the last time that happened for any of us?  if only for a second? 

On a side note.  I think back to various xmas pasts.  some away, some not, some with someone, some alone.  But this year I get to add a new experience to the list.  I really wanted to spend xmas with my someone special.  Circumstances did not allow for that to happen.  Its at that moment that I realized there is definately a diffenerence in being alone for a major holiday and being alone because the other simply cant be there.  There was this revealed sense of ignorance.  alones are not all created equal.  Kind of like the difference between simply missing a piece and  knowing where the missing piece is.

i was 19 the first time i spent a xmas away from home and family.  Overseas in Korea is about as far away as you can get before you start coming back.  Alone yes, but so were the rest of us.  Differeneces set aside for a day and we were all family...brothers.  As far away as it was, for a moment, you felt like you were at home. 

Since i can no longer concentrate as my mind is now wandering i will end this here....

...and to the person mentioned earlier...i miss you.

What happen to survival of the fittest?

So there I was, at the gas station getting a soda.  In front of me were 2 women in their 30s id say.  On the counter is pile of junk food.  Chips, chocolate, typical gas station stuff your face crap.  The one pauses to answer a text on her new Iphone4.  She then proceeds to pay for 2 packs of cigs with cash then asks the cashier if she can use EBT (food stamps) to pay for the junk food.  This particular gas station doesnt take EBT.  So naturally they left.  I know the fat cow trying to use the EBT has at least one small child becasue she works at a sports bar i watch football at.

WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON IN THIS WORLD?

This liberal sense of entitlement needs to go away.

To quote one of my all time favorite comic strips Calvin (Calvin & Hobbes) said "Happiness isnt good enough for me, I demand euphoria"

Which brings me to my next thought.  Welfare.  Lots of talk about having drug testing for welfare.  Absolutely, like weekly.  But my biggest problem is this.  Welfare is suppose to be a helping hand ot get you by so you can get back on your feet.  So what do people do?  They get pregnant so the welfare check will go up.  I think welfare should provide free birth control and if you get pregnant while in the system you get kicked out and are banned from any form of welfare, food stamps, or assistance FOR LIFE.  If you are struggling, having another baby isnt helping your disposition any.  "oh no what about those poor kids, you cant just turn your back on them and put them on the street"  Sure we can.  Its an old concept called SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST.  When a lion kills the alpha male of the pride and takes over the first thing he does is kill all the young.  Then he makes his own with the females of the pride.  Ok so the kids are a concern.  Easy.  Take them away and put them in foster care and up for adoption.  At that point any place is better than with deadbeat parents.  At that point i could care less if the adults go starve.  At least they have their $600 Iphone right? 

Now thats not to say there are precious few that use the system properly and get their life back on track.  I'm not talking about those. 

There needs to come a point where we as people and the system needs to tell some of these people if they can't pull their head out of their ass they are on their own....completely.

What about me?  I lost my job once.  Went and got unemployment and moved back into my parents house.  No welfare, no food stamps, i didnt need to go that far.  Four months i had a job, six months i was moved back out into my own place again.  It can be done. 

Here is the funny part.  Statisically, If you took a poll on the people that have a problem with this line of thought you will find that most of them are...liberal or democrat in some way.  Most not all.

But there is another part of this.  Oh yes.  Its todays generation of parents.  Not all but alot.  Every generation is determined to make it so their kids dont have it as hard as they did.  Well eventually kids of the future wont have to do anything at all if you follow that through to conclusion.  Kids and their sense of entitlement and not wanting to work.  McDonalds is beneath them.  They live at home sheltered there whole life and then are completely unprepared for the harsh dog eat dog nature of the world.  Then what?  Oh thats easy, just stay at home forever.  Even kids sports with the "everybody wins mentality"  Even Joe Montana has said that is the biggest bunch of bullshit ever.  Parents can't even dicipline their kids.  All of us over 30 im sure has a story of some harsh punishment that would get parents locked up in todays world but we turned out all right.

Ok im done the Packers are coming on soon.

"Life is tough, its even tougher when you're stupid". 

Veterans Day needs more hype

Some Definitions of a Veteran

1.  You have at least 180 days of regular active duty service and you were honorably discharged or released.

2.  You have at least 90 days of active duty service, at least one day of which was during wartime and you were honorably discharged or released

3.  You served in wartime and were awarded a Purple Heart or service-connected disability, or died, regardless of whether you completed the minimum length of active duty service.

4.  is a person who is experienced in a particular area, and is particularly used in Russia and the United States to refer to people with experience in the armed forces or law enforcement.

Veterans Day.  As a vet myself i declare this one of the most unappreciated and underobserved days on the calander.  If were up to me everyone who has served should get this day off with full pay, as it applies of course.  We always take time to appreciate the fallen and just say in general "support the troops".  Many people say it but then what do they actually do? 

I am going to share a few of my own personal experiences and stories from my Army time in an effort to talk about the types of things you don't get to hear about.

My particular unit in Korea was in a small valley, mountains on 3 sides.  It was on base tucked in the corner, everything was steep from roads to trails and steep stairs everywhere.  One day, a platoon was rotating their tanks through the ammo area.  It sits on one of the higher ledges.  Either the driver forgot to set the parking brake or it failed and the unmanned tank began to roll.  Over the ledge down the slope maybe 100 feet or more was one of the hooches.  A soldier who had just gotten off of 24 hour duty was in there sleeping.  He never saw what hit him.

Germany, a battalion was doing there winter field exercises.  There was snow and cold and all that.  It was chow time so the tanks were all parked.  for one reason or another 2 of them were parked facing each other relatively close.  One of the soldiers was walking by and one of the tanks started to slide on the slick snowy ground. it pinned him between the other tank almost cutting him in half.  He was concious.  Talking.  Laughing.  The 2 tanks were the only thing holding him together.  They went and got his wife and brought her tot he field so that they could say goodbye.  When the tanks were pulled apart what was one became two and he was no more.

Back in the states during another field excerise.  Mild terrain and broad daylight.  A tank commander was navigating his driver over some hilly sandy terrrain.  The sand gave way and the tank slid sideways and rolled over.  The commander tried to duck down inside but his microphone cord got caught on the machine gun.  He couldnt get all the way down inside.  When the tank finished rolling over his face was in a small puddle no more than an inch or 2 deep.  In the time it took the other to crewman in the turrent to get to him and cut the cord to pull him in he drown.

Combat action and suicide bombers are not the only way soldiers die.  These are the things you dont get to hear about and that everyone else takes for granted.  To put this in better perspective (although i do not think a civilian can truly understand) the rule is "train how you fight and fight how you train".  What does this mean?  Quite simply it means just becasue its practice or training doesnt mean you do anything differently.  Therefore there are still plenty of risks, but if you don't take those risks then you are not prepared should your time come for the real thing.

I will say though that soldiers of the last 10 years or so get treated better than say those of the Vietnam era.  I wasnt even alive and the stories i hear piss me off. 

Anyway.  Veterans Day, it should be on the same level as Christmas, Turkey Day, Labor Day, or its counterpart Memorial Day.  Yes, it should be that big of a deal. 

So while you are out and about, give a vet a hug, shake his/her hand, say thank you, and it doesnt just have to be on Veterans Day.