posted @ 08:22...

Well, I'm here (at work, on New Year's Eve)... and I'm only here because I needed to email an Excel file to a colleague in Afghanistan so he doesn't get yelled at by a Lt. Colonel. There are some other things I needed to take care of too, but that was the main thing. And since I'm here today, some people have called and given me more things to do. Example: "This report needs to be completed now..." and "...Hey, isn't this guy supposed to be released from jail today?" Fun.

Another year passed. I'm still here, still me. Trying desperately to be a better person, but not always succeeding.

posted @ 18:37...

Christmas has come and gone. I don't know why, but i seemed to be much more into it than in recent years. Maybe it was the simplicity of it. My wife and I kept the gift-giving to a minimum. (Well, not really. I still spent about $175 on her...). But it seemed simpler. We also didn't have to go anywhere. Growing up, and even into my adulthood, I've never been able to just get up on Christmas morning and stay put. I've always had to go somewhere, make the rounds and satisfy the relatives. Sounds selfish of me, but it was really nice to be able to get up and sit there. Folks who know me understand that I'm not a big fan of getting out of the house anyway. My wife is the opposite. She needs to be doing something and/or going somewhere. So yesterday we went to Syracuse. It turned out to be a great trip. We didn't fight at all; it was nice.

What I got for Christmas (like you care... but you, the nonexistent reader, aren't acually reading this, so I'll elaborate)... I got a webcam. It's in the testing phases right now, trying out software to make it work on the web. And eventually it'll be a way to let grandparents see the baby.

I also got a phone, it doesn't have service in our little town. It'll work on post though.

posted @ 11:25...

Back in 1997 I started writing a book. It was sort of a how-to guide for independent Christian musicians. I got it about 90% done, and then I switched jobs, had it on a disk, and then lost the disk. As far as I knew it was gone forever, and Christian indie bands would never get to read my ramblings. Well, the other day when we were cleaning out the office, I found a hard copy of the book, and it renewed my interest in writing it. What's pretty cool, too, is that I can publish it via CafePress.com. That's the company where you can make personalized products and buy 'em yourself or sell them. I don't want this to turn into one of those projects I get excited about at first, and then that I gradually lose interest in. I really want to finish it, and even sell it, if possible. I just think it could turn out to be helpful for some people.

posted @ 05:56...

There's something very frustrating about being "attached" to three different Army entities. I'm assigned to an infantry battalion. Simple ehough, except that I'm a paralegal, so I'm attached to the JAG office. Okay, but then the office I work in is the brigade S1/legal office. So superiors from my battalion, the brigade, and JAG are all telling me what to do. And sometimes there are conflicting instructions. For example, a long time ago I did PT every morning with the brigade people. My battalion decided that they wanted me to do PT with them. Meanwhile, the brigade people got angry that I'm no longer doing PT with them. So here I am, a PFC being told to be in two different places at the same time, by two different people who are both my superiors. So I essentially found a respectful way to tell them I don't want to be caught in the middle having either one of them yelling at me. But still, frustrating stuff.

posted @ 10:46...

An update about the deep snow. We have some of the coolest neighbors around. The neighbor to the West (John) has a nice big snow blower, and I'm guessing that it's pretty fun to operate. He cleared all the snow from our walk and the driveway. Pictures are here.

posted @ 19:56...

We're gonna try to get some pictures put up of the deep snow that has covered our town. But for now, I'll just tell you about it. It's deep; the car is buried, and the snow plows have covered the driveway. So it'll be tough for my wife to go anywhere tomorrow. I wonder if the bus to post will be running. I'd better get to bed, just in case it is.

posted @ 16:37...

I'm almost done with my Intro to Sociology class. The last class is Tuesday, and I think I'm ready for the final. Just gotta memorize a ton of terms.

Our big team project was to survey a bunch of people and find out the following: Does the geographic proximity between you and your spouse while you were growing up have anything to do with marriage length and happiness. I emailed the survey to everyone I knew and asked them to fill it out. The problem with that is... I don't think everyone was completely honest. Marriage satisfaction was rated on a one-to-ten scale (one being the lowest level of satisfaction and ten being the best). I know all these people, and therefore, I doubt that everyone who's having a low to average marriage actually stated this. Obviously, I'm not speculating who may or may not be having trouble, but since the survey data wasn't not gathered completely anonymously, I believe people felt inhibited to share their true state of satisfaction. And hence, out of 50 couples, we got an average satisfaction rating of 9.

One friend gave their marriage a 1, because they're going through a divorce. While I appreciated this friend's honesty, it sucks, because this couple served as positive role models to my wife and I back when we were starting our marriage. I don't know exactly what their circumstances are or anything, but it's sad.

posted @ 13:19...

Wow, I should post here more often. But then again, nobody reads this blog, so whatever. I'd like to get one of those cool blogs with the comment feature, so I could see if anyone really does read this...

The pregnancy is progressing as expected. The wife's still sick quite a bit, and a little moody at times. She's so cute how she gets weepy over stuff that wouldn't ordinarily make her that way. We had a great time in Indiana during the Thanksgiving holiday. We drove 13 hours there, and about 15 hours back, because of a stop for Christmas shopping in Avon, Ohio, of all places.