posted @ 16:34...

What does it mean to be a role model? I learn something new every day. It turns out, someone I consider myself very close to has considered me a role model for years. Even when I treated this person horribly.

A famous basketball player once said that he didn't want to be considered a role model. The resounding reply from the public was, "Sorry, but you are, whether you like it or not." I think that if I had been aware of my being a role model to the aforementioned individual, I would have done things much differently, and he would unquestionably have been better off.

posted @ 09:10...

In case you needed a disaster blanket, here's a good one.

posted @ 07:54...

The doctor said I need to remain active, which is hard when it hurts so bad. I mentioned yesterday that it felt like someone had kicked me in the crotch. After such an attack, the sensation typically goes away after a while, and the person who was kicked can soon start singing parts other than soprano.

However, with an operation like I had yesterday, the same sensation is there, but it's constant. Every second of the day, it feels like that type of kick has just taken place. Relief can be found in sitting. Just sitting. Very still. Unfortunately, the doctor wants me to walk. The doctor wants me to go hit golf balls. Since I can't even afford a trip to the driving range, I may just wash the car tomorrow.

We really take certain muscles (such as the abdominal ones) for granted. Ever try to get into or out of bed without using them? It's practically impossible. I imagine it might be like walking around without any toes. You don't think about them until you don't have them, and then you have to learn to adapt.

posted @ 11:58...

I just had a nice turkey sandwich and a bottle of Pepsi. I didn't realize I'd be eating so well after a hernia surgery. And other than the feeling that someone has kicked me in the crotch, I feel pretty good. Of course, the anesthesia they gave me hasn't completely worn off yet... And I get to do this all over again next week!

posted @ 06:30...

In exactly two hours I'll go report to the hospital for the first of my two hernia surgeries. I'm nervous. If you keep me in your prayers I'd appreciate it. And I'll keep you in mine. That way we'll be even.

posted @ 09:20...

Well, we never made it to Sesame Place. The money fairy didn't work her magic in time. I am awaiting travel pay, which is a small amount of money the government pays to Soldiers for each day they were away. It's tiny, but when multiplied 362 times it's enough to help do fun things like go to Sesame Place. Unfortunately, the folks in my unit who prepared the travel vouchers made a mistake by not filling in blocks 14 through 16 on DA Form 31. So the money is delayed.

Another thing that kept us from going was female intuition. Kelly had a weird feeling in the pit of her stomach. I know by now that this feeling should not be ignored. She sat on the couch and prayed about it, came into the office where I was checking our account balance... and together we decided it would be best to stay home. We could have scraped the money together, but after making the decision, we both felt nothing but peace.

posted @ 22:42...

As you can see, I have finally changed the look of this blog. I was so tired of looking at the old one. And since I used to build websites for a living, it was ridiculous that I was using a pre-made template. I felt like I've more or less had to re-learn HTML though, after my year away from all of this.

Anyway, I was going for something pretty simplistic. Let me know what you think.

posted @ 07:50...

Getting the Run-Around, part 2:

As ridiculous as it sounds, this story is completely true. My doctor had instructed me to go to Guthrie clinic sometime after 5 July to get blood taken for my upcoming surgery. So I went there to do just that. First, I went to the Lab, and told them I needed to get blood taken. They typed my SSN into the computer and said, "Do you know if the lab was ordered?" I replied, "I don't know. I'm just doing what my doctor told me to do, which is to come here and get blood taken." "Well, you'll have to get the lab ordered," the nurse said.

Okay, simple enough, I thought. "Where would I go to do that?" "Go out this door, down the hall, and on the right." I then proceeded out the door, down the hall, and waited for the lady on the right to get off the phone. When she was available, she told me to go to a different desk. So I went to the desk she told me to go to, and told the lady there what I had been telling everyone else. She said, "Okay, go down this hallway, and take a left."

This was the same hallway as before, but I was being instructed to go back to essentially where I had come from - the Lab. I took the left as instructed, and found myself in the hallway amid a jumble of nondescript offices. A lady in one one the offices saw me and asked, "Can I help you?" I explained to her that I was just trying to get some blood drawn for an upcoming surgery, and that I'd been told to go a bunch of different places since I walked in the door. She told me to have a seat in her office while she took my packet and walked away. "You've been bounced around enough today. Let me see what's going on."

Finally, I thought. Someone to figure this mess out. She returned about five minutes later and said, "Just follow me, and I'll show you where you need to be." She took me to the Lab. And before I could turn around and tell her I'd already been there, she was gone. So I cautiously walked up to the Lab's check-in desk, and told them my problem... again. The nurse there asked "Has your lab been ordered?"

By this time, I was absolutely disgusted. I said, "That's what I've been trying to figure out, but I can't get anyone to actually tell me where or how to go to get the lab ordered!"

"That would be out this door, down the hall, and on the right..."

"No, it isn't," I shot back. "I tried that." By this time, it was 4:00 pm, which is apparently civilian quitting time. That meant it was too late to track down my doctor himself to get the lab ordered. "Since it's my blood, my surgery, and I know what kind of surgery I'm having, can I just order the lab myself?" I asked.

"No, I'm afraid you can't do that. It has to be ordered by the doctor. And if he is gone for the day, you'll have to come back tomorrow."

Since I don't live on post, and it literally costs me about $5 in gas for every trip to Fort Drum and back. Besides that, I'm on leave. So I'm not taking the bus to post at 5:00 am just to get blood drawn and then wait till the end of the day to catch the bus home.

I have met civilian government employees who actually know their jobs, care about their jobs, and care about Soldiers. But the ones I had to deal with at Guthrie seem to be ignorant of their own building's floor plan, and just don't care enough to help out.

posted @ 06:51...

Getting the Run-Around, part 1:

I spent an hour on the phone yesterday morning with America Online, which we don't even use, trying to explain to a guy in India that my wife had called them to cancel the trial service more than two weeks ago. I wanted him to cancel the service (for real this time), which he did. But when I demanded that my $23.90 be refunded to our account, he replied in a voice remeniscent of Apu (from the Simpsons), "I am sorry, I cannot do this for you at this time." I asked for his name, and he identified himself as "Neil." I thought, Okay, maybe Neil is some kind of valid Indian name. So I asked for his last name. He paused and replied, "it's... Smith."

"You're kidding, right?" I asked. And he said, "No, why would my name not be Smith?" I explained to him that I knew that the call center was in some other country, and that I knew there was no way his name was Neil Smith. So he admitted that all the call center employees had American-sounding aliases, so the American customers could more easily pronounce them. I could have gone off about how they've been stealing American jobs, ironically via a company called America Online... but by this point my nerves were shot and I had no energy left.

I finally got the number for the American side of the billing department, hung up with Apu, and got ahold of a really nice American guy named Don. (I'm pretty sure Don was his real name.) He was more than helpful, refunded my money, and that was the end of it.

posted @ 07:05...

Today is my third official day on leave. My unit wouldn't give me leave outside of the predetermined "block leave" window, but I was able to get a few days off by other means in order to spend time with my parents. They flew here for a week all the way from Montana.

At the last minute, I decided to take block leave. This means I'll be off for two weeks, then an operation, followed by another operation a week later. The latter operation will be followed by another three weeks of convalescent leave, so I'll have been away from work for approximately six weeks. Unfortunately, it's not all vacation.

Travel Vouchers are something everyone fills out when they return from a deployment. Apparently, we're entitled to a certain amount of money for each day we were away. For me, this comes to about 362 days. I think I'll be getting over a thousand dollars. But because of a very typical clerical error at my unit (or, who I like to call "Band of Geniuses") that hasn't come in yet, and there are plenty of bills to be paid. Hopefully we can still make it to Sesame Place at some point.

posted @ 08:25...

I know this is a bit late, but wow! Attacks on London (info here, here, and here). It's terrible and unfortunate, but it was never out of the question that certain terrorist groups might target our strongest ally.

posted @ 08:10...

Texas Man Arrested After Saving Life

Read the story. Apparently, the Texas State University Police Department was annoyed that a civilian did their job better than they could. Dave Newman, the rescuer, happened to be there first, and simply did what heros do: He dove in and pulled the guy out. Police say he was interfering. But they, and other emergency workers, didn't even get to the scene until his efforts were already underway.

posted @ 14:56...

Today I am watching my son in order to let my wife have some "chick time." Since I spent the past year in Iraq, she had very few opportunities to be child-free for a day of shopping. So she and a friend are shopping in another town, where they have a Target, Linens N Things, and other stores that she loves. Our town is much too small for that.

So, about babysitting. Well... this is not babysitting, as far as I'm concerned. Babysitting is when you watch someone else's kid. A father should never refer to watching his own child as "babysitting." Okay, that rant is over.

Four-day weekends are great. Even better is block leave, which for us starts midway through July or so. Very much looking forward to it, although part of mine will be taken up by two different hernia surgeries, and their subsequent recovery. The doctor found an additional inguinal hernia, and he'll be fixing them in two different operations around the end of July. As with the wisdom tooth extraction, I'll probably be recording my experiences here as I sit and writhe in pain. Neato.

That's all for now. I need to make sure the boy isn't eating the cat food.