posted @ 13:10...

This afternoon, my buddy and I walked about a half-mile in the heat to hear a talk given by a civilian attorney who works here in Iraq. His job is to be an advisor to the Iraqi investigators who are gathering evidence and building a case against members of the Saddam's regime.

The photos I saw were quite disturbing, as they depicted the excavation of mass graves, among other things. Among the photos of various artifacts, were images of children's clothing, toys, and shoes that had been dug up. When Saddam's army executed entire villages full of people, he would separate the men from the women & children. So there are graves full of mens' remains, and graves full of those women & children. We saw photos of some of these remains. I never in my life dreamed I would ever see the skull of a baby with a bullet hole in it. It hits you even harder when you have a child of your own.

posted @ 17:45...

I was recently blessed with some free time and an internet connection. One of things I did with those two rare commodities was to hang out in a Christian chatroom on Yahoo. Chatrooms, as you probably know, are funny places. People are not afraid to be somewhat goofy, since they don't have to confront others (or be confronted) face to face. Hence, the wackos show up.

One guy was ranting and raving about homosexuals, but he was doing it in a HUGE text size. I politely suggested that it might be less distracting if he reduced it. Then he started calling me -- and I paraphrase -- an evil sinning homosexual who would, of course, be rotting in Hell at some point in the future.

Okay then... even if I was gay, is that any way to show the love of Jesus? Another person said they doubted my relationship with God, literally, because I "didn't (type) 'praise Jesus' even once in the whole time" I spent in the chatroom. If I were a non-Christian, I would be completely turned off to Christianity after all that.

On the other side of the spectrum, some of the nice folks figured out that I was a Soldier currently serving in Iraq. They all seemed excited that I even had access to a computer, and thanked me for my service. "No problem," I would say. "It's my job."

But one guy started asking me how it felt to be a rapist. Then he asked, "Why are you over there in Iraq?" To which I replied, "I'm a Soldier, and I go where the Army wants me to go."

"But you're a murderer and you torture people!" I was surprised, since I have never tortured, raped, or murdered anyone. And for a brief second I thought maybe he was some cryogenically frozen hippie left over from Vietnam era, who had just been thawed and was trying to call me a baby killer or something.

Then he said, "At Abu Ghraib you tortured and raped those Iraqis!"
"Oh, I get it," I thought. "The old Abu Ghraib Prison scandal thing again."

We hear so little about the Abu Ghraib scandal over here nowadays. To us, Abu Ghraib is just another portion of the Baghdad area, which happens to house the big prison. Of course, in the backs of our minds, we remember that it's still a sensitive issue. And somehow, the disgusting and embarrassing things done by just a few people can still bring discredit to the entire 120,000+ people doing great things over here.

So I tried to explain that my job was to A) help prosecute the few Soldiers who do bad things like that, and B) to give compensation to Iraqi citizens who have suffered deaths/injuries/damages because of negligence of US Forces. This didn't really seem to help, since people who are engulfed by their emotions are not likely to listen to reason. It really bothered me for a while. But then I saw the parallel: This is one guy throwing hatred at me when there are literally millions of Americans who love me unconditionally and appreciate my service. Judging the American public based on the squeals of a vocal minority would be just as bad as what this guy was doing.

posted @ 08:06...

I never mentioned how I got back from the Green Zone after Freedom Rest. The place is officially called the “International Zone” now, but like all name changes, it takes a while to stick, especially when the old name sorta has a ring to it.

Anyway, while still at Freedom Rest, I decided to check 24 hours before my supposed flight, to make sure I could catch a “bird” back here to Camp Three Names. “I think we take care of that for you,” said the NCO at the desk. “In fact, I’m 98% sure we take care of getting you on a flight.”

“Those are pretty good odds,” I thought, and then went back to conducting my relaxation operations.

The next morning, no flight had been “taken care of.” It was all the same to me as I have a crazy fear of heights, and helicopters, by definition, fly. So I managed to hitch a ride on a convoy that just happened to be headed back to Camp Three Names. My appreciation to the guys from the 3d Infantry Division’s 3d SSB for letting me tag along.

posted @ 15:30...

I don’t often endorse products or businesses on here. Likewise, I rarely try to dissuade people from doing business with any particular entity. I’ll depart from this practice by talking about our experiences with a prominent car dealership in Watertown, New York. Fuccillo Imports is the worst business we’ve ever had to do business with. Perhaps this will serve as a warning. Or, you could take this story as the venting of just another angry consumer.

We love Roger Beasley, our Mazda dealership in Austin from which we bought our car. They were usually able to perform service on the same day we called. If they had to keep the car for a period of time, they’d set us up with a rental at their expense. Their parts department would almost always have the needed parts in stock.

By sharp contrast, Fuccillo has a parts department, but I’m not sure what it’s for. They have never had a part in stock, causing us to wait sometimes as long as two weeks. “We’ve ordered the part,” they’d say, “so bring the car in Friday.” A call to the service department Friday morning, however, would reveal that the part had never actually been ordered.

They once told us that some sort of sensor needed replacement, but (surprise!) they’d have to order it. “Fine,” my wife told them, but she explained that being nine months pregnant at the time, she may not be able to get in to have it replaced. They told her that was okay, and that she could just come in whenever it was convenient. Sure enough, the baby was born, and she had more important things to do than to go to Watertown and wait for Fuccillo to replace the part. In a matter of weeks, she started receiving bills for the part – a part that was never actually installed.

Then there’s the issue of wheel bearings. The front wheel bearings needed to be replaced, as evidenced by the noisy whine coming from the front end. Fuccillo happily accepted money from the warranty company for the repairs, along with our $50 deductible. However, they also may have never actually replaced the bearings. After the “work” was done, the noise was still there. “It’s gotta be the tires,” they told us. “You’ll need to take it back to where you bought the tires and have them looked at. But it’s safe to drive until then.” The tire place assured us that the tires still had at least another 50,000 miles left, and that they were perfectly inflated and balanced.

Fast forward to this month... My wife explained to me that the car still had the whine, and that she really wanted to get it checked out, but not at Fuccillo Imports, since we’ve had such bad experiences there. We decided that we’d rather take it elsewhere and pay money to another mechanic, than to take it back to the Fuccillo dealership, even though the vehicle is still under warranty. The mechanic to whom she took the car revealed that the problem was indeed the wheel bearings. In fact, he said that when he disassembled the first wheel, the old bearings “fell apart in (his) hands.” I wonder to this day if Fuccillo’s service department ever actually replaced the bearings, or if they just repacked them and sent us on our way. Maybe the bearings they installed were defective.

Either way, this was the last straw. We have decided that when we start looking for a new car in a year or two, as much as we otherwise like our Mazda, we will avoid Fuccillo dealerships at all costs. There’s a great Dodge dealership we’d go to if we thought we could get more than 150,000 miles out of an American car.

posted @ 06:01...

More than a week back at work, and I’ve still got the post-vacation blues. Don’t you hate that? What’s worse is having only one day off every two weeks, but again, I complain too much.

I have been married for over four years now. I’ve heard that the three-year mark is an important milestone, since a large percentage of marriages fail by then. We will continue to beat the odds.

My wife and I have talked about my anniversary/birthday gift for when I get home. We have it narrowed down to two potential items that I had to choose between. I have wanted a nice suit for a while now. Maybe that means I’m growing up (or just getting old). The other thing is a good quality barbecue grill. I decided to go for the thing I’ll get more use out of: the grill. We don’t get dressed up and go out that often, and if we do, I have nice shirts & ties I can wear. So as soon as I get home, we’ll go shopping. I remember growing up in Montana, and how my dad would wheel out the grill and cook burgers, steak, chicken, etc. -- even in the middle of winter.

posted @ 11:44...

"God helps those who help themselves"

Funny... So many people think that's from the Bible.

It's not. It's actually from Greek mythology (and has nothing to do with lesbians).

posted @ 09:16...

Everyone I've ever known who is into Anime (or Japanimation, as it used to be called) is REALLY into it, and they all swear that it's the greatest thing ever. I don't know, maybe I'm just watching the wrong stuff. I told my buddy that Anime was behind the times. He, being a fan of it, vehemently disagreed. So I asked him to prove that it was... er, modern. The one he loaned me is called "Spirit Warrior: Festival of the Ogres Revival." It's about a young Tantric Buddhist in Japan. He goes around casting spells, defeating "spell ogres," and trying to find out who stole a certain magic statue from a Buddhist temple. Okay, I guess the story could work. Not my thing personally, but I can accept that. I'm more interested in the animation aspect anyway.

I honestly started watching it with an open mind. I thought that maybe my feelings toward anime could be changed if I just saw something that was done well. What I saw is not too impressive. Everything seemed so jerky. It also appeared to be layered animation, which is where a still frame is shot beforehand, and then added later as a backdrop to the action in the foreground. Okay, Walt Disney perfected that technique back in the 1930's. And when characters speak, shouldn't their mouths move in such a way so as to make me believe that they might be saying the words that I'm hearing? Or are they all supposed to move like puppets?
Maybe I'm wrong in comparing this stuff to Disney, though. Disney has a budget. They distributed several groundbreaking CG flicks while partnered with animation pioneers called Pixar. Even Disney's non-Pixar stuff is leaps and bounds beyond this stuff I'm watching. One criticism of Disney that anime fans usually throw back is that Disney stuff is for little kids. Anime is supposedly designed for adults. But shouldn't stuff that's geared toward grown-ups be a little better quality? Heck, look at Dreamworks for that matter: The Shrek movies are very much all-ages movies, and the animation is excellent. The younger the child the less it takes to impress them. So how can anime be impressive to persons of any age who have seen a Disney/Pixar/Dreamworks (CG or traditionally animated) movie from the past ten years?

Something else that I finally saw is Animatrix. The DVD is nine different animated shorts that were done by different animation studios. Each short tells a different (previously untold) part of the Matrix story. You’ll see some of the best CG in the world on there, as well as some good examples of other types. It’s really amazing, as is the Final Fantasy movie. As any animation enthusiast will tell you, however, "story is king." What good are the bells & whistles without a good story? And as a writer, I know that’s the hardest part.

posted @ 09:05...

Recently, Army Times took a departure from their long-standing obsession with pay & promotions to do a cover story on military bloggers. No, I didn’t get a mention, but it was neat to see folks in there whose blogs I read, and some who read mine.

The piece also included a blurb with 10 tips for starting a blog. Unfortunately, of those who start blogs with intentions of posting regularly, a good majority of them will abandon those blogs when they run out of things to write about. In fact, had I not been deployed to Iraq, this blog might have suffered a similar fate. But every once in a while I find something to write about… but, uh, not right now since I’m just rambling about blogging again.

posted @ 09:00...

Rarely have I seen a more beautiful vehicle.

posted @ 05:42...

These are funny: 213 Things You Can't Do in the Army

Some of my favorites:

36. Can't have flashbacks to wars I was not in.

42. Not allowed to attempt to appeal to mankind's baser instincts in recruitment posters.

55. An order to 'Put Kiwi on my boots' does *not* involve fruit.

61. If one soldier has a 2nd Lt bar on his uniform, and I have an E-4 on mine It means he outranks me. It does not mean "I have been promoted three more times than you."

68. I may not line my helmet with tin foil to ‘Block out the space mind control lasers'.

posted @ 11:43...

Favorite headline of the week:

Forty percent of murderers executed by injection feel pain at death. In other news, 100 percent of murder victims do not care

(from Fark.com)

posted @ 07:11...

A buddy got his hands on a copy of Photoshop recently ("Middle Eastern Version"), and he wanted me to show him how to do some cool things with it, since I used to be a graphic designer. So here's my silly little example:

posted @ 07:01...

I made it to Freedom Rest. What is Freedom Rest? It's a four-day stay at a resort in the International Zone (aka the "green zone"). There are two internet cafes. There are fridges stocked w/ drinks all over the place. There is a big room w/ nothing but XBoxes and Playstations. There's a music room which has drums, guitars, etc. There's a small PX and a large pool. I wish I could stay for more than four days.

I like helicopters. I think they're cool. However, I had never been aboard one until this morning. I have a huge fear of heights, but riding in a helicopter isn't too bad. It's sorta like riding in a plane, only smoother. And you don't have that dreadful waiting period while the plane builds up enough speed to take off. The Blackhawk is the workhorse of the Army, and today one took me all over the greater Baghdad area. We flew to the helipad nearest the Freedom Rest compound, but since no one told me that's where we were, I just sat there. So we lifted off again, and hopped around to various places before someone finally asked, "Where are you getting off?" I eventually made it back to where I should have gotten off in the first place.

posted @ 17:15...

One reason they won't tell us when we're going home is because Soldiers could die. What I mean by this -- actually what the commander means by this -- is that if Soldiers know when they're redeploying, human nature will kick in and they'll become less focused on the mission. They start dreaming about girls, beer, cars, girls, and beer... And Soldiers who aren't completely focused on the mission tend to endanger themselves and others.

posted @ 17:05...

I sold 12 tote bags! About four years ago, I designed an original logo featuring the phrase "Keep Austin Weird." I then started selling shirts, hats, bags, and other stuff with this logo on the web. I don't really keep track of the commissions I earn from this stuff, but every once in a while I get a check. Well, yesterday's sale of 12 "Keep Austin Weird" tote bags will earn me $36 in commission. Pretty amazing for little-to-no work four years ago.

posted @ 19:29...

For those who would like to see a pretty good list of Iraq military blogs, GlobalSecurity.org has published this page.

posted @ 13:43...

It's been too long. I looked at my site stats recently, and the daily visits are declining. So much has happened lately:

My Wife: I'm trusting that she's made it back to the Northern land. I haven't talked to her since she was somewhere in the middle of Ohio. I tend to worry an awful lot. I bugged her constantly about having the tires looked-at, the brakes done, the fluids checked, etc. Then I realized, she's a grown-up. She's driven across the USA before. And the irony is, here I am in a combat zone worrying about her. Hmmm, maybe we should have had the SUV up-armored...

Terri Shiavo... If nothing else, we've all learned a lesson: Get a living will. My wife and I have an understanding, but we've all seen that an understanding between two people may not be good enough for the courts or the families. At the very least, put your specific wishes in writing and have it notarized. Better yet, see an attorney.

Pope John Paul II... I'm not Catholic. But we, citizens of earth, have really lost a great leader. He was a big part of the end of the cold war. He was constantly coming down from the ivory tower to fly all over the world to see people, and give them the chance to see him. He encouraged everyone, everywhere to put aside their differences and live in peace. Too bad it's not always that simple. But I respect him. It's going to be weird to have another pope. Since John Paul II assumed pope-hood in 1978 (when I was four), he's really the only pope I've ever known about. Alright, I'll quit pontificating about the pontiff (been waiting to say that). One can never truly know another human's status with God. But I believe he's gotten a big hug from Jesus and a hearty welcome from the rest of the folks up there.