Yesterday, while cleaning our room after KBR spread dust all over the place replacing our heater (thanks!). We fried our power cord, I guess the shop vacuum pulls to much wattage for the Iraqi brand cord that I had purchased from the local hajji mart and all of the smoke came out of the wires and it wouldn't work anymore.
So I wasn't able to plug my super loud alarm clock into the wall and we were forced to use a dinky travel alarm clock that my roommate brought with him. We went to bed and I woke suddenly and glanced out the window and saw light shining through the sandbags. Eek! I grabbed my watch (which I took off to take a shower) and put it on my wrist, it said 8:45, ack, I jumped out of bed, said to my roommate in a panicky voice "It's 8:45!" While trying to buckle my watch, the dumb thing wouldn't buckle right.
He glanced over at his watch and said....
"It's 2:15"
I had put on my watch upside down and the light shinning though the window was from light in the lobby.
No, I’m not a morning person and yes, I am a dork.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Monday, January 28, 2008
Paint Fumes
My roommate lasted less then a week with the pink walls before he went out and found some Navy Blue Angel blue and white paint for the trim and went all out with painting our room. I showed a remarkably total lack of interest in him painting, personally, I have no issues with pink, I’m used to waking up with a pillow of it next to my head.
Unfortunately the only kind of paint he could find was probably banned in most civilized countries due too the heavy metal content and how would he have known, the can was written in Arabic. So one afternoon, I get off of work and am walking home when I start smelling paint fumes in the air and I’m a couple hundred feet away from the building. I wonder who’s painting outside I think to myself. The fumes just get stronger and stronger till I step into a sauna of fumes and there is my room mate a bit glassy eyed telling me with a slight slur in his voice that our room isn’t pink anymore.
The fan is going full blast out there door and our room is now a dark blue (almost black), the paint looks thick enough to stop bullets and the smell instantly makes me feel light headed and after a minute I had to step out. That night, I cover myself in my blankets making an elaborate filter of cloth so I don’t have to smell the fumes and wake the next morning to find my top layer (the sleeping bag) stuck to the paint on the wall beside the bed, 16 hours after he painted, the walls are still tacky and the smell hasn’t gone down at all. Perhaps I should go tell safety, oh wait, he’s the safety guy!
What in the hell is this stuff? Spiderman’s evil black costume?
It takes the better part of two days for the tackiness to go away and hopefully before too long the fumes will go away too. I think I might be doing damage to my possible future children just being in here typing this, let alone sleeping here.
Blogging news is that I’m going to be going though the PAO for my pictures and letting registering my web sites which isn’t that big of a deal for me since everyone locally already knows about it anyway. I have a new camera on the way, a Canon S3 which has gone down a fair bit in price and I’ve wanted one for years, so expect more pictures and writing in the future. Sorry about the last week, I’ve been in a paint induced fog while my brain cells have self destructed from the smell and haven’t felt up to writing. Hopefully the damage isn’t permanent.
Take care and thanks for the support!
Unfortunately the only kind of paint he could find was probably banned in most civilized countries due too the heavy metal content and how would he have known, the can was written in Arabic. So one afternoon, I get off of work and am walking home when I start smelling paint fumes in the air and I’m a couple hundred feet away from the building. I wonder who’s painting outside I think to myself. The fumes just get stronger and stronger till I step into a sauna of fumes and there is my room mate a bit glassy eyed telling me with a slight slur in his voice that our room isn’t pink anymore.
The fan is going full blast out there door and our room is now a dark blue (almost black), the paint looks thick enough to stop bullets and the smell instantly makes me feel light headed and after a minute I had to step out. That night, I cover myself in my blankets making an elaborate filter of cloth so I don’t have to smell the fumes and wake the next morning to find my top layer (the sleeping bag) stuck to the paint on the wall beside the bed, 16 hours after he painted, the walls are still tacky and the smell hasn’t gone down at all. Perhaps I should go tell safety, oh wait, he’s the safety guy!
What in the hell is this stuff? Spiderman’s evil black costume?
It takes the better part of two days for the tackiness to go away and hopefully before too long the fumes will go away too. I think I might be doing damage to my possible future children just being in here typing this, let alone sleeping here.
Blogging news is that I’m going to be going though the PAO for my pictures and letting registering my web sites which isn’t that big of a deal for me since everyone locally already knows about it anyway. I have a new camera on the way, a Canon S3 which has gone down a fair bit in price and I’ve wanted one for years, so expect more pictures and writing in the future. Sorry about the last week, I’ve been in a paint induced fog while my brain cells have self destructed from the smell and haven’t felt up to writing. Hopefully the damage isn’t permanent.
Take care and thanks for the support!
Paint Fumes
My roommate lasted less then a week with the pink walls before he went out and found some Navy Blue Angel blue and white paint for the trim and went all out with painting our room. I showed a remarkably total lack of interest in him painting, personally, I have no issues with pink, I’m used to waking up with a pillow of it next to my head.
Unfortunately the only kind of paint he could find was probably banned in most civilized countries due too the heavy metal content and how would he have known, the can was written in Arabic. So one afternoon, I get off of work and am walking home when I start smelling paint fumes in the air and I’m a couple hundred feet away from the building. I wonder who’s painting outside I think to myself. The fumes just get stronger and stronger till I step into a sauna of fumes and there is my room mate a bit glassy eyed telling me with a slight slur in his voice that our room isn’t pink anymore.
The fan is going full blast out there door and our room is now a dark blue (almost black), the paint looks thick enough to stop bullets and the smell instantly makes me feel light headed and after a minute I had to step out. That night, I cover myself in my blankets making an elaborate filter of cloth so I don’t have to smell the fumes and wake the next morning to find my top layer (the sleeping bag) stuck to the paint on the wall beside the bed, 16 hours after he painted, the walls are still tacky and the smell hasn’t gone down at all. Perhaps I should go tell safety, oh wait, he’s the safety guy!
What in the hell is this stuff? Spiderman’s evil black costume?
It takes the better part of two days for the tackiness to go away and hopefully before too long the fumes will go away too. I think I might be doing damage to my possible future children just being in here typing this, let alone sleeping here.
Blogging news is that I’m going to be going though the PAO for my pictures and letting registering my web sites which isn’t that big of a deal for me since everyone locally already knows about it anyway. I have a new camera on the way, a Canon S3 which has gone down a fair bit in price and I’ve wanted one for years, so expect more pictures and writing in the future. Sorry about the last week, I’ve been in a paint induced fog while my brain cells have self destructed from the smell and haven’t felt up to writing. Hopefully the damage isn’t permanent.
Take care and thanks for the support!
Unfortunately the only kind of paint he could find was probably banned in most civilized countries due too the heavy metal content and how would he have known, the can was written in Arabic. So one afternoon, I get off of work and am walking home when I start smelling paint fumes in the air and I’m a couple hundred feet away from the building. I wonder who’s painting outside I think to myself. The fumes just get stronger and stronger till I step into a sauna of fumes and there is my room mate a bit glassy eyed telling me with a slight slur in his voice that our room isn’t pink anymore.
The fan is going full blast out there door and our room is now a dark blue (almost black), the paint looks thick enough to stop bullets and the smell instantly makes me feel light headed and after a minute I had to step out. That night, I cover myself in my blankets making an elaborate filter of cloth so I don’t have to smell the fumes and wake the next morning to find my top layer (the sleeping bag) stuck to the paint on the wall beside the bed, 16 hours after he painted, the walls are still tacky and the smell hasn’t gone down at all. Perhaps I should go tell safety, oh wait, he’s the safety guy!
What in the hell is this stuff? Spiderman’s evil black costume?
It takes the better part of two days for the tackiness to go away and hopefully before too long the fumes will go away too. I think I might be doing damage to my possible future children just being in here typing this, let alone sleeping here.
Blogging news is that I’m going to be going though the PAO for my pictures and letting registering my web sites which isn’t that big of a deal for me since everyone locally already knows about it anyway. I have a new camera on the way, a Canon S3 which has gone down a fair bit in price and I’ve wanted one for years, so expect more pictures and writing in the future. Sorry about the last week, I’ve been in a paint induced fog while my brain cells have self destructed from the smell and haven’t felt up to writing. Hopefully the damage isn’t permanent.
Take care and thanks for the support!
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Living in a pink room with a chick
Well actually his last name is Chick and the girl that lived there before painted it a bright pink color. Being married to a girl with pink hair, I didn't even notice till he started complaining and said, "oh". He wants to repaint, I could care less but if it keeps him happy then I'm all for it, cranky roommates suck. (I have pictures that I'll post once I get my own connection and pictures of the trip)
It looks like I'll have my own internet connection in a couple of days, today is just going though base indoc and getting used to the time change. Actually, I haven't had a single problem with the shift. I'm getting used to this world hopping gig.
The base is full of improvements and new stuff, attacks are down and it seems like we're in the middle of a busy growing community. Believe what you may but for the first time, it feels like we're making a difference out here. There is change in the air.
Take care everyone and thanks for the support.
It looks like I'll have my own internet connection in a couple of days, today is just going though base indoc and getting used to the time change. Actually, I haven't had a single problem with the shift. I'm getting used to this world hopping gig.
The base is full of improvements and new stuff, attacks are down and it seems like we're in the middle of a busy growing community. Believe what you may but for the first time, it feels like we're making a difference out here. There is change in the air.
Take care everyone and thanks for the support.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Kuwaiting take 7
I'm in the wonderland of Kuwait checking out my first sunrise in the middle east of the year. Just got done hitting breakfast where they had kimche as one of the side dishes! As usual things have changed towards the better with each trip.
I just got off a 23 hour flight and my brain is reeling about with a full tummy so I think I'm going to try finding my way back to my far off tent. Enjoy America everyone for you could be in this sand pit. Yawn!!
I just got off a 23 hour flight and my brain is reeling about with a full tummy so I think I'm going to try finding my way back to my far off tent. Enjoy America everyone for you could be in this sand pit. Yawn!!
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Bout to turn 4
It’s hard to imagine that I’ve placed 4 years of my life on the internet, I wonder how many words that is (the old blogger tracked how many words you wrote, the only problem I have with the new one). Not many bloggers, let alone milbloggers have continued on so long, my secret? I wrote when I felt like it. I have more sites up then most but a majority of the info cross pollinates, they’re just reaching different audiences. I’m like the cable company that offers cable, phone and internet, I have a monopoly on the Doc in the Box corner of cyberspace.
It all started out with my fotopage way back in the dark ages of 2003, I was taking pictures of my Marines going through training and hit a lazy spurt and got tired of making hundreds of copies of the pictures I took every week so I began posting them online for them to get when they wanted to. Lately, I haven’t posted there as much considering I’ve killed 5 cameras over since 2003, one of the cameras was a 1000 dollar model (I could get a laptop that’s 3 times as fast as my current one for that!) I’ll get back in the photo groove once I get a new (good) camera and maybe clear the 9000 picture mark.
Eventually I went to check out what this Myspace was about and copied some of my information from the blog over there and found a new audience of people that I actually knew (most of my analog friends aren’t blog readers unless the blog is on myspace). There isn’t a month that goes by when I don’t get someone from my dark and shadowy past shows up and we connect again. They have great tools for keeping you up to date on people in your immediate circle and I enjoy the heck out of it. Laugh all you want non myspace users, it’s pretty cool, yup, another internet addiction.
One day I discovered YouTube and suddenly had a place to upload the numerous videos I put together over the years. Marine Vs Camel Spider has received more hits then everything else I have put on the internet, 500 thousand plus and the comment section has taken on a life of it’s own. Even with all of the attention, it’s just a side effort when I have time, a place to put the funny little bits about my life here and there.
But all of my online efforts circle around the Doc in the Box. Here I have laid out the mundane, the funny, the boredom and definitely over the last year the pain for the entire world to see. I’ve made lifelong friends that I’ve almost known since day one and this blog has literally taken me around the world. I’ve gone to meet ups everyplace that I’ve gone, from home in Prescott to the other side of the word in Iraq, Kuwait and Thailand.
Occasionally I get offers for people to host this and move over to another service but why would I need to? (thanks for the offers though) The machine isn’t broken and does everything that I’ve ever asked it to, I’ve had maybe a week out of 4 years of blogging of down time. I’ve grown up here and I can’t really imagine moving to different digs with other rules and having to tell all of the people that link me to change their addresses would take forever, sounds like taxes with a pen and paper. Plus its totally free, out of all of my internet ventures the only thing I pay for is the premium haloscan. This place fits me like a favorite pair of jeans.
I’m sure there are people out there who wished they were getting a more impressive product in this milblog but face it, I’m a low pressure dude and most of my military job involves the murder of trees, sticking unwilling Marines with needles and sometimes the pulling of some diabolical prank. Not the stuff great epics are made of unless you wanted a blog version of MASH.
Thanks for support over the last 4 past years (in two weeks anyway) and here’s to the next 4 years.
It all started out with my fotopage way back in the dark ages of 2003, I was taking pictures of my Marines going through training and hit a lazy spurt and got tired of making hundreds of copies of the pictures I took every week so I began posting them online for them to get when they wanted to. Lately, I haven’t posted there as much considering I’ve killed 5 cameras over since 2003, one of the cameras was a 1000 dollar model (I could get a laptop that’s 3 times as fast as my current one for that!) I’ll get back in the photo groove once I get a new (good) camera and maybe clear the 9000 picture mark.
Eventually I went to check out what this Myspace was about and copied some of my information from the blog over there and found a new audience of people that I actually knew (most of my analog friends aren’t blog readers unless the blog is on myspace). There isn’t a month that goes by when I don’t get someone from my dark and shadowy past shows up and we connect again. They have great tools for keeping you up to date on people in your immediate circle and I enjoy the heck out of it. Laugh all you want non myspace users, it’s pretty cool, yup, another internet addiction.
One day I discovered YouTube and suddenly had a place to upload the numerous videos I put together over the years. Marine Vs Camel Spider has received more hits then everything else I have put on the internet, 500 thousand plus and the comment section has taken on a life of it’s own. Even with all of the attention, it’s just a side effort when I have time, a place to put the funny little bits about my life here and there.
But all of my online efforts circle around the Doc in the Box. Here I have laid out the mundane, the funny, the boredom and definitely over the last year the pain for the entire world to see. I’ve made lifelong friends that I’ve almost known since day one and this blog has literally taken me around the world. I’ve gone to meet ups everyplace that I’ve gone, from home in Prescott to the other side of the word in Iraq, Kuwait and Thailand.
Occasionally I get offers for people to host this and move over to another service but why would I need to? (thanks for the offers though) The machine isn’t broken and does everything that I’ve ever asked it to, I’ve had maybe a week out of 4 years of blogging of down time. I’ve grown up here and I can’t really imagine moving to different digs with other rules and having to tell all of the people that link me to change their addresses would take forever, sounds like taxes with a pen and paper. Plus its totally free, out of all of my internet ventures the only thing I pay for is the premium haloscan. This place fits me like a favorite pair of jeans.
I’m sure there are people out there who wished they were getting a more impressive product in this milblog but face it, I’m a low pressure dude and most of my military job involves the murder of trees, sticking unwilling Marines with needles and sometimes the pulling of some diabolical prank. Not the stuff great epics are made of unless you wanted a blog version of MASH.
Thanks for support over the last 4 past years (in two weeks anyway) and here’s to the next 4 years.
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Grand Canyon Pictures
I was using the new camera on simple mode and it automatically defaulted to putting the date stamp on each of the pictures. Which wouldn't have been a big deal if it was the right date, but it was stamping 2007/01/02 and I didn't find out till I uploaded the pictures that night. There's nothing like sharing a bunch of pictures with the world that you knew you screwed up. You can see the pictures here. Not too bad for a 6 mp 99 dollar camera.
Small side note, my son was feeling under the weather that morning and didn't make it.
Small side note, my son was feeling under the weather that morning and didn't make it.
Sunday, January 06, 2008
One of the reasons to be a milblogger.....:(
is that it gives you a place to leave your mark on the world, rest in peace Andy
If I were a horse I wouldn’t bet on me
My life seems to be falling apart a bit in the last month. First my truck starts making funny sounds right before my training trip to Yuma, forcing me to drive the old and slow suburban while there, my body spontaneously breaks down. I’m bleeding out of my lungs which turns me into a guinea pig for the local medical professionals for most of a week before they let me go back home.
Back in San Diego, being somewhat under the weather, I decide to drop my truck off at a shop instead of fixing it myself and spend my Christmas resting in bed. The shop says it sounds like the U-joints and I tell them the fix it and they have it done the same day I’m going on leave to Arizona and I find as I’m driving out of the shop that it’s doing the same thing. Grr, this is what happens when the shop doesn’t test drive the vehicle before giving it back to the customer. So I limped out to Arizona at 65 miles per hour and turned it over to the care of the Chevy dealership in Prescott.
I borrowed my mom’s van and make a run down to Phoenix with the nephews and nieces to pick up the son at the airport. We stopped by to see my dad (their grandfather) and he sponsors a Dave and Busters trip for all of them (except for my son, his plane hadn’t arrived yet) after spending the 10 dollars my dad gave to each of them, we make a visit to Scottsdale Fashion Square (a high end mall) where I do some late Christmas shopping then eat dinner at a Oriental Buffet on the way to the airport. My son’s plane arrives early and I get a call from him so we rush out and pick him up and drive back up north.
The next morning I get a call from the dealer telling me that the drive shaft is out of balance and I give the okay for them to fix it but it needs to go to a machine shop and won’t be done till a day after my leave is over. So I buy a plane ticket back to San Diego and tell my half sister she has an extra car till I get back from the desert.
While adventuring with my son and nephews and nieces, my only working camera goes south along with the battery on my laptop and 2 out of 3 of its USB ports. Still working but I have to be plugged in.
Sheesh.
Well leave was good at least, I’m feeling better and did a temporary fix for the loss of the camera by buying a 99 dollar Polaroid digital. Went to the Grand Canyon and forgot to set the date stamp so I have 60 or so pictures of the Grand Canyon with 1/1/2007 on them. I’m a dork.
This morning my son and I left my mom’s house at 5 and arrived at the airport to stand in one of the longest lines I’ve had the pleasure of standing in (worse then any time at Disneyland). Two and a half hours early and we needed every minute of it. With the drive down from Prescott, that could have been half of my drive to San Diego (if I had a car that was on the road out here).
Now going home start my pack up for my next Iraqi journey and get some rest from my vacation, take care all and I wish you all the best for this New Year. SSM I’m sorry I didn’t get to see you, next dinner is totally on me!
Back in San Diego, being somewhat under the weather, I decide to drop my truck off at a shop instead of fixing it myself and spend my Christmas resting in bed. The shop says it sounds like the U-joints and I tell them the fix it and they have it done the same day I’m going on leave to Arizona and I find as I’m driving out of the shop that it’s doing the same thing. Grr, this is what happens when the shop doesn’t test drive the vehicle before giving it back to the customer. So I limped out to Arizona at 65 miles per hour and turned it over to the care of the Chevy dealership in Prescott.
I borrowed my mom’s van and make a run down to Phoenix with the nephews and nieces to pick up the son at the airport. We stopped by to see my dad (their grandfather) and he sponsors a Dave and Busters trip for all of them (except for my son, his plane hadn’t arrived yet) after spending the 10 dollars my dad gave to each of them, we make a visit to Scottsdale Fashion Square (a high end mall) where I do some late Christmas shopping then eat dinner at a Oriental Buffet on the way to the airport. My son’s plane arrives early and I get a call from him so we rush out and pick him up and drive back up north.
The next morning I get a call from the dealer telling me that the drive shaft is out of balance and I give the okay for them to fix it but it needs to go to a machine shop and won’t be done till a day after my leave is over. So I buy a plane ticket back to San Diego and tell my half sister she has an extra car till I get back from the desert.
While adventuring with my son and nephews and nieces, my only working camera goes south along with the battery on my laptop and 2 out of 3 of its USB ports. Still working but I have to be plugged in.
Sheesh.
Well leave was good at least, I’m feeling better and did a temporary fix for the loss of the camera by buying a 99 dollar Polaroid digital. Went to the Grand Canyon and forgot to set the date stamp so I have 60 or so pictures of the Grand Canyon with 1/1/2007 on them. I’m a dork.
This morning my son and I left my mom’s house at 5 and arrived at the airport to stand in one of the longest lines I’ve had the pleasure of standing in (worse then any time at Disneyland). Two and a half hours early and we needed every minute of it. With the drive down from Prescott, that could have been half of my drive to San Diego (if I had a car that was on the road out here).
Now going home start my pack up for my next Iraqi journey and get some rest from my vacation, take care all and I wish you all the best for this New Year. SSM I’m sorry I didn’t get to see you, next dinner is totally on me!
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
This will be my 4th trip
But I have nothing on Dave Earney from Daves-Not-Here and flythemig29 of Those Wacky Iraqis, 4 years, 2 months, 2 days, 21 hours over in Iraq and that's just for flythemig29. I know Dave was out there before my first trip over and has only came home on vacation. Imagine.
They're both Contractor's who decided to stay. Go over and give them a warm welcome home.
They're both Contractor's who decided to stay. Go over and give them a warm welcome home.
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Christmas weekend
And I’m sitting at home reading. If you’re a reader, I’m probably one of the best kind of friends to have. If I get caught up in an author it’s not rare for me to buy everything they’ve written or at least an entire series.
There are few addictions in my life that have carried me as far along as reading. It started out when I was a kid and my mom used to ground me to my room for some offense or another and during one of those I picked up a book that I had brought home for homework. I was 7 or 8 and it was Where the Red Fern Grows. My mom told me that I could come out.
But I had no need to. I had found a new friend to play with who would never get boring and could always take me on new adventures. My eyes had became a window into another world and the pages gave me a escape, not just from pain but from everything. I could open up a page and fall into the book.
Over the years, it’s been both my greatest addiction and my savior, times when then it seems like the world is out to get me, I could step away and not have a care coming back refreshed. It’s also became a crutch that I had to control, there are times when I need not to disengage from life but did anyway because I needed to see the next page or go over the next hill.
This weekend, I’m giving in to that habit. I was going to leave town but my S10 is in the shop getting some driveline problems fixed and I can’t afford to road trip with the Suburban. Next weekend my son is coming out for a week and I need to save up my change for that trip.
Plus, I’m still far away from being a hundred percent physically. The bleeding in my lungs has stopped but I still have a nice case of pneumonia and don’t want to do anything that could tear whatever is plugging up that hole. I miss my wife and miss my family and it’s hard to believe that I’m here in the states and that this will be the first Christmas that I will not be spending with anybody.
At least I’m glad I have that shield to protect me.
There are few addictions in my life that have carried me as far along as reading. It started out when I was a kid and my mom used to ground me to my room for some offense or another and during one of those I picked up a book that I had brought home for homework. I was 7 or 8 and it was Where the Red Fern Grows. My mom told me that I could come out.
But I had no need to. I had found a new friend to play with who would never get boring and could always take me on new adventures. My eyes had became a window into another world and the pages gave me a escape, not just from pain but from everything. I could open up a page and fall into the book.
Over the years, it’s been both my greatest addiction and my savior, times when then it seems like the world is out to get me, I could step away and not have a care coming back refreshed. It’s also became a crutch that I had to control, there are times when I need not to disengage from life but did anyway because I needed to see the next page or go over the next hill.
This weekend, I’m giving in to that habit. I was going to leave town but my S10 is in the shop getting some driveline problems fixed and I can’t afford to road trip with the Suburban. Next weekend my son is coming out for a week and I need to save up my change for that trip.
Plus, I’m still far away from being a hundred percent physically. The bleeding in my lungs has stopped but I still have a nice case of pneumonia and don’t want to do anything that could tear whatever is plugging up that hole. I miss my wife and miss my family and it’s hard to believe that I’m here in the states and that this will be the first Christmas that I will not be spending with anybody.
At least I’m glad I have that shield to protect me.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Christmas S.O.P. for all Marines
TO: ALL Marines
FROM: Goode, U. B., Commanding Officer
RE: Operation Order 12-15-04 for: Official Visit of LtGen Santa Claus
1. An official staff visit by LtGen Claus is expected at your house on 25 DEC. The following directives govern activities of all Young Marines, during the visit.
a. Not a creature will stir without permission. This includes warrant officers and mice. Marines may obtain special stirring permits for necessary administrative action through the Battalion S-1. Officer stirring permits must be obtained through the Deputy, Post Plans and Policy Office.
b. All personnel will settle their brains for a long winter nap NLT 2200 hours, 24 December. Uniform for the nap will be: Pajamas, Cotton, Light Weight, General Purpose, OG, and Cap, Utility woodland pattern, with ear flaps in the extended position. Equipment will be drawn from the supply room prior to 2130. While at supply, all personnel will review their personal hand receipts and sign a Cash Collection Voucher, DD Form 1131, for all missing items. Remember, this is the "season of giving."
c. Personnel will utilize standard "MRE" ration sugar plums for visions to dance through their heads. Sugar plums are available in "MRE" ration sundry packs and should be eaten with egg loaf, chopped ham, and spice cake to ensure maximum visions are experienced.
d. Stockings, Wool, Cushion Sole, will be hung by the chimneys with care. Necessary safety precautions will be taken to avoid fires caused by carelessly hung stockings. 1st Sgts will submit stocking handling plans to S-3, Training prior to 0800, 24 Dec. All GySgts will ensure their subordinate personnel are briefed on the safety aspects of stocking hanging.
e. At first [sign] of clatter, all personnel will spring from their beds to investigate and evaluate the cause. Immediate action will be taken to tear open the shutters and throw up the window sashes. On order OPLAN 7-98 (North Pole), para 6-8 (c)(3), dated 4 March, this office, takes effect to facilitate shutter tearing and sash throwing. SNCOs and NCOs will be familiar with procedures and are responsible for seeing that no shutters are torn or sashes thrown in house prior to the start of official clatter.
f. Prior to 0001, date of visit, all personnel possessing Standard Target Acquisition and Night Observation (STANO) equipment will be assigned "wandering eyeball" stations. The Company GySgt will ensure that these stations are adequately manned even after shutters are torn and sashes are thrown.
g. The Battalion S-4, in coordination with the National Security Agency and the Motor Pool will assign on each Sleigh, Miniature, M-24 and eight reindeer, tiny, for use by LtGen Claus. The assigned driver must have a current sleigh operator's license with roof top permit and evidence of attendance at the winter driving class stamped on his DA Form 348.
Driver must also be able to clearly shout "On Dancer, On Dancer, etc."
2. LtGen Claus will initially enter house through the Company Office.
All houses without chimneys will draw Chimney Simulator, M6A2 for use during the visit. Draw chimney simulator on DA Form 2765-1 which will be submitted in four copies to the S-4 prior to 23 DEC. Personnel will ensure that chimneys are properly cleaned before turn-in at the conclusion of visit.
3. All SNCOs and NCOs will be rehearsed in the shouting of "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year" or "Merry Christmas To All and To All a Good Night." This shout will be given upon termination of the visit.
Uniformity of shouting is the responsibility of each Company GySgt.
Semper Fidelis,
GOODE, U. B.,
Commanding Officer
(h/t Gunny V)
FROM: Goode, U. B., Commanding Officer
RE: Operation Order 12-15-04 for: Official Visit of LtGen Santa Claus
1. An official staff visit by LtGen Claus is expected at your house on 25 DEC. The following directives govern activities of all Young Marines, during the visit.
a. Not a creature will stir without permission. This includes warrant officers and mice. Marines may obtain special stirring permits for necessary administrative action through the Battalion S-1. Officer stirring permits must be obtained through the Deputy, Post Plans and Policy Office.
b. All personnel will settle their brains for a long winter nap NLT 2200 hours, 24 December. Uniform for the nap will be: Pajamas, Cotton, Light Weight, General Purpose, OG, and Cap, Utility woodland pattern, with ear flaps in the extended position. Equipment will be drawn from the supply room prior to 2130. While at supply, all personnel will review their personal hand receipts and sign a Cash Collection Voucher, DD Form 1131, for all missing items. Remember, this is the "season of giving."
c. Personnel will utilize standard "MRE" ration sugar plums for visions to dance through their heads. Sugar plums are available in "MRE" ration sundry packs and should be eaten with egg loaf, chopped ham, and spice cake to ensure maximum visions are experienced.
d. Stockings, Wool, Cushion Sole, will be hung by the chimneys with care. Necessary safety precautions will be taken to avoid fires caused by carelessly hung stockings. 1st Sgts will submit stocking handling plans to S-3, Training prior to 0800, 24 Dec. All GySgts will ensure their subordinate personnel are briefed on the safety aspects of stocking hanging.
e. At first [sign] of clatter, all personnel will spring from their beds to investigate and evaluate the cause. Immediate action will be taken to tear open the shutters and throw up the window sashes. On order OPLAN 7-98 (North Pole), para 6-8 (c)(3), dated 4 March, this office, takes effect to facilitate shutter tearing and sash throwing. SNCOs and NCOs will be familiar with procedures and are responsible for seeing that no shutters are torn or sashes thrown in house prior to the start of official clatter.
f. Prior to 0001, date of visit, all personnel possessing Standard Target Acquisition and Night Observation (STANO) equipment will be assigned "wandering eyeball" stations. The Company GySgt will ensure that these stations are adequately manned even after shutters are torn and sashes are thrown.
g. The Battalion S-4, in coordination with the National Security Agency and the Motor Pool will assign on each Sleigh, Miniature, M-24 and eight reindeer, tiny, for use by LtGen Claus. The assigned driver must have a current sleigh operator's license with roof top permit and evidence of attendance at the winter driving class stamped on his DA Form 348.
Driver must also be able to clearly shout "On Dancer, On Dancer, etc."
2. LtGen Claus will initially enter house through the Company Office.
All houses without chimneys will draw Chimney Simulator, M6A2 for use during the visit. Draw chimney simulator on DA Form 2765-1 which will be submitted in four copies to the S-4 prior to 23 DEC. Personnel will ensure that chimneys are properly cleaned before turn-in at the conclusion of visit.
3. All SNCOs and NCOs will be rehearsed in the shouting of "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year" or "Merry Christmas To All and To All a Good Night." This shout will be given upon termination of the visit.
Uniformity of shouting is the responsibility of each Company GySgt.
Semper Fidelis,
GOODE, U. B.,
Commanding Officer
(h/t Gunny V)
I’ve been admitted (I wrote this in the hospital)
A while back, I came down with a cold, the normal sniffles and coughing, no big deal till about a week ago; I woke up in the middle of night in a coughing fit which felt like my lungs were covered in slime. I bent over the side of the bed and coughed it all up into a trash can and felt fine. I turned on the light and the trash can was covered in blood. Yuck.
But there were no other symptoms so I went into work the next day and told them in my understated way that I had coughed up some blood in the night. Thinking maybe it was a bloody nose or such. You know us medical guys, unless we’re really hurt, we usually don’t worry about it. No problems or coughing that night and my cold had been cured (somehow the blood in my lungs had cleaned out the cold is my theory).
The next night, I got a tickle in my lungs and coughed up another couple of teaspoons of blood. Each night was like that, my lungs would get gargly and I would hack up a couple of tablespoons of blood. Thursday, I gave myself a PPD test (test for tuberculosis to you non medical types) and talked to a few of my doctors (I’m working with 8 during this training).
I told them it wasn’t a big deal, get an X-ray on Monday and follow up with someone in San Diego when I got back. Well Saturday rolls around and I had an attack that morning and coughed up about a half cup of blood into the trash can. The PPD was negative at least. Clearly, this had my doctors concerned and we debated about going into urgent care, I told them to hold off and we could handle it on Monday morning. Maybe that would be the only attack that day, I went home after lunch, was doing my laundry and coughed up another half cup.
Mildly shaken by the loss of so much blood in a day, I finished my laundry and called the doc who was covering that shift and told her, "Yeah, I think it’s time for a visit to the emergency room". I caught a ride there checking in at 3 and was put into a room, they gave me a emesis basin which I immediately filled to the 100ml spot with blood and had a new EMT stick me for an IV (which I ended up using for my entire stay). Now I had something to count how much blood I’ve been coughing up, by the end of the night I had filled 4 basins to the 100 mark. They drew 10 or so tubes of blood, then did an EKG, a chest X-Ray, filled a bottle with pee.
Being the leading enlisted medical dude and nice guy I am, I’ve had tons of visitors and well wishers. In fact, a group of my folk came by late last night and serenaded me to sleep (a very tipsy group of doctors and corpsman, it was Saturday nigh). How can you beat that?
At one that morning they decide that they’re going to admit me and I’m to have a CT scan the next day and I can’t eat solid food and eventually stick a camera in my lungs. Our theory so far is that I’ve broken a blood vessel in my lungs and every time I do anything strenuous it breaks open and blood leaks down.
Update #1
Today my boss came by with the book I wanted to buy and later (when I can eat again) is coming by to give me a carnie asada burrito. My biggest complaint right now is that I’m starving, haven’t had anything solid to eat since yesterday morning for breakfast and am eagerly awaiting a yummy monster burrito. They came in this morning to tell me I can’t eat anything at all. I’m beginning to get why people complain about hospital gowns, trying to keep myself covered while moving around seems to occupy a fair portion of my ambulatory time.
It is a bit worrying coughing up blood and being on the other side of the medical profession. I think this is the longest time I’ve ever been in the hospital. Well hopefully I have something that can be fixed. Well I’m going to take a nap till someone comes to tell me to do something.
Update #3 Sunday afternoon
Just had my first CT scan, let me share the experience with you. They set you on this sliding bench that goes into a donut, I’m sure there are pictures of them online. It pulls you in and this female voice says "take a deep breath and hold it" and you slide out. The second time it pulls you in, all of this machinery starts spinning around and it feels like you’re in a time machine. Once more you hear, "take.." and you slide out.
Before the third time, the tech comes out and says she’s going to inject you with iodine dye and the common side affects are your whole body feels warm, feel like you’re going to pee, you get a funny taste in your mouth, pain in your arm or nothing at all. She hooks it up, runs behind the barrier and power drives half of a soda can’s worth of this evil fluid into my arm, I can see the vein change color and immediately I go hot and it feels like there’s molten lead in my veins, my groin feels hot like someone poured a cup of hot pee on me. The machine has slide me in and says "take a deep breath and hold it", I do with difficulty because the funny taste that I got in my mouth was one of my mouth watering which is a precursor to hurling. The tech come out and I ask, "is that all?", she says yes and tell her I’m about to vomit. She grabs a trash can and I throw up the 2 containers of Jell-O I had for breakfast and dry heave a bit more, this causes me to go into another bloody coughing fit.
Bleh, CT scans are for the birds, hope they found something.
(Doc brought me the carnie asada burrito from a place called Burrito King and Paul, they’re not all that, the burrito was huge but I’ve had better)
Update #4 Monday night at 11
The nurse comes in and tells me the doc can fit me in for the Bronchscopy sometime in the morning and nothing by mouth after midnight. Meanwhile, I’m totally caught up in Kevin J. Anderson’s Metal Swarm. If you haven’t noticed, I don’t go crazy in boring lonely places, as long as I have a good book, everything is peachy (thanks Doc Davis for picking it up for me). I pushed because well, I’m dumb and couldn’t stop reading, it was 2 when I finished went to sleep (I was already in bed).
Update #5 Tuesday morning at 5:45
The lights go on and I imagine I’m back in boot camp again, a bright and shiny nurse comes in with the most cheerful voice says, the doctor can fit you in right now. I say wait a second, brush my fangs and use the restroom and a pair of orderlies comes in an wheel me away. We get down there and I’m talking to the respiratory therapy nurse, she belongs to the local Navy League. People are coming in, an X-Ray tech with a C-Clamp shaped X-Ray machine, there’s a craftsman tool box full of medical stuff, one of the techs gets a syringe and tells me its lidocane and squirts it into both nostrils. It goes in my left nostril and stops because that nose is stuffed up so I make sure to let him know to use the right one. Finally the doctor comes in and shakes my hand says good morning and the nurse is preparing a to shoot something into my line and I say "is this where I’m supposed to start counting backwards".
Then I’m talking to her again and everyone is gone. I look around and it’s like I time traveled and my throat and lungs are sore. I look around in bemusement and they wheel me back to my room and I finally take them up on the offer for morphine, well since they were offering, I don’t want them to think I don’t appreciate it. This is where I make a couple of phone calls and remind people I work with how to pack things and call relatives and friends. But I don’t remember doing any of it. Doc Davis visits I think but I’m not really sure about that but I do remember my mom and my sister Crystal visiting that afternoon. I’m flying high but not that high.
Update #6 Wednesday
Three of the local Chiefs come by for a visit while my mom and sister are there. One of my corpsman has packed up my room in the suburban in hopes that I’m going to be discharged. The Doctor comes in and tells me the TB test is negative from the stuff he collected from my lungs and that I could be discharged for follow up care in San Diego. Mom buys us lunch and I drive the Beast (I'm afraid to let other people drive her because she bucks) back to San Diego where I sleep in my own bed.
Things I did during my time there, I read The Road by Cormac McCarthy, a extremely well written post-apocalyptic book about a man and his son. I can relate, the man spends most of the book coughing up blood. It made me sad and miss my son, very bleak novel, I highly recommend it. I also asked each of my nurses for a sponge bath, sorry, I've always wanted to ask for one now I had lots of chances. No I didn't really get one, I had a private shower in my room and I wasn't having any problems with my walking.
But there were no other symptoms so I went into work the next day and told them in my understated way that I had coughed up some blood in the night. Thinking maybe it was a bloody nose or such. You know us medical guys, unless we’re really hurt, we usually don’t worry about it. No problems or coughing that night and my cold had been cured (somehow the blood in my lungs had cleaned out the cold is my theory).
The next night, I got a tickle in my lungs and coughed up another couple of teaspoons of blood. Each night was like that, my lungs would get gargly and I would hack up a couple of tablespoons of blood. Thursday, I gave myself a PPD test (test for tuberculosis to you non medical types) and talked to a few of my doctors (I’m working with 8 during this training).
I told them it wasn’t a big deal, get an X-ray on Monday and follow up with someone in San Diego when I got back. Well Saturday rolls around and I had an attack that morning and coughed up about a half cup of blood into the trash can. The PPD was negative at least. Clearly, this had my doctors concerned and we debated about going into urgent care, I told them to hold off and we could handle it on Monday morning. Maybe that would be the only attack that day, I went home after lunch, was doing my laundry and coughed up another half cup.
Mildly shaken by the loss of so much blood in a day, I finished my laundry and called the doc who was covering that shift and told her, "Yeah, I think it’s time for a visit to the emergency room". I caught a ride there checking in at 3 and was put into a room, they gave me a emesis basin which I immediately filled to the 100ml spot with blood and had a new EMT stick me for an IV (which I ended up using for my entire stay). Now I had something to count how much blood I’ve been coughing up, by the end of the night I had filled 4 basins to the 100 mark. They drew 10 or so tubes of blood, then did an EKG, a chest X-Ray, filled a bottle with pee.
Being the leading enlisted medical dude and nice guy I am, I’ve had tons of visitors and well wishers. In fact, a group of my folk came by late last night and serenaded me to sleep (a very tipsy group of doctors and corpsman, it was Saturday nigh). How can you beat that?
At one that morning they decide that they’re going to admit me and I’m to have a CT scan the next day and I can’t eat solid food and eventually stick a camera in my lungs. Our theory so far is that I’ve broken a blood vessel in my lungs and every time I do anything strenuous it breaks open and blood leaks down.
Update #1
Today my boss came by with the book I wanted to buy and later (when I can eat again) is coming by to give me a carnie asada burrito. My biggest complaint right now is that I’m starving, haven’t had anything solid to eat since yesterday morning for breakfast and am eagerly awaiting a yummy monster burrito. They came in this morning to tell me I can’t eat anything at all. I’m beginning to get why people complain about hospital gowns, trying to keep myself covered while moving around seems to occupy a fair portion of my ambulatory time.
It is a bit worrying coughing up blood and being on the other side of the medical profession. I think this is the longest time I’ve ever been in the hospital. Well hopefully I have something that can be fixed. Well I’m going to take a nap till someone comes to tell me to do something.
Update #3 Sunday afternoon
Just had my first CT scan, let me share the experience with you. They set you on this sliding bench that goes into a donut, I’m sure there are pictures of them online. It pulls you in and this female voice says "take a deep breath and hold it" and you slide out. The second time it pulls you in, all of this machinery starts spinning around and it feels like you’re in a time machine. Once more you hear, "take.." and you slide out.
Before the third time, the tech comes out and says she’s going to inject you with iodine dye and the common side affects are your whole body feels warm, feel like you’re going to pee, you get a funny taste in your mouth, pain in your arm or nothing at all. She hooks it up, runs behind the barrier and power drives half of a soda can’s worth of this evil fluid into my arm, I can see the vein change color and immediately I go hot and it feels like there’s molten lead in my veins, my groin feels hot like someone poured a cup of hot pee on me. The machine has slide me in and says "take a deep breath and hold it", I do with difficulty because the funny taste that I got in my mouth was one of my mouth watering which is a precursor to hurling. The tech come out and I ask, "is that all?", she says yes and tell her I’m about to vomit. She grabs a trash can and I throw up the 2 containers of Jell-O I had for breakfast and dry heave a bit more, this causes me to go into another bloody coughing fit.
Bleh, CT scans are for the birds, hope they found something.
(Doc brought me the carnie asada burrito from a place called Burrito King and Paul, they’re not all that, the burrito was huge but I’ve had better)
Update #4 Monday night at 11
The nurse comes in and tells me the doc can fit me in for the Bronchscopy sometime in the morning and nothing by mouth after midnight. Meanwhile, I’m totally caught up in Kevin J. Anderson’s Metal Swarm. If you haven’t noticed, I don’t go crazy in boring lonely places, as long as I have a good book, everything is peachy (thanks Doc Davis for picking it up for me). I pushed because well, I’m dumb and couldn’t stop reading, it was 2 when I finished went to sleep (I was already in bed).
Update #5 Tuesday morning at 5:45
The lights go on and I imagine I’m back in boot camp again, a bright and shiny nurse comes in with the most cheerful voice says, the doctor can fit you in right now. I say wait a second, brush my fangs and use the restroom and a pair of orderlies comes in an wheel me away. We get down there and I’m talking to the respiratory therapy nurse, she belongs to the local Navy League. People are coming in, an X-Ray tech with a C-Clamp shaped X-Ray machine, there’s a craftsman tool box full of medical stuff, one of the techs gets a syringe and tells me its lidocane and squirts it into both nostrils. It goes in my left nostril and stops because that nose is stuffed up so I make sure to let him know to use the right one. Finally the doctor comes in and shakes my hand says good morning and the nurse is preparing a to shoot something into my line and I say "is this where I’m supposed to start counting backwards".
Then I’m talking to her again and everyone is gone. I look around and it’s like I time traveled and my throat and lungs are sore. I look around in bemusement and they wheel me back to my room and I finally take them up on the offer for morphine, well since they were offering, I don’t want them to think I don’t appreciate it. This is where I make a couple of phone calls and remind people I work with how to pack things and call relatives and friends. But I don’t remember doing any of it. Doc Davis visits I think but I’m not really sure about that but I do remember my mom and my sister Crystal visiting that afternoon. I’m flying high but not that high.
Update #6 Wednesday
Three of the local Chiefs come by for a visit while my mom and sister are there. One of my corpsman has packed up my room in the suburban in hopes that I’m going to be discharged. The Doctor comes in and tells me the TB test is negative from the stuff he collected from my lungs and that I could be discharged for follow up care in San Diego. Mom buys us lunch and I drive the Beast (I'm afraid to let other people drive her because she bucks) back to San Diego where I sleep in my own bed.
Things I did during my time there, I read The Road by Cormac McCarthy, a extremely well written post-apocalyptic book about a man and his son. I can relate, the man spends most of the book coughing up blood. It made me sad and miss my son, very bleak novel, I highly recommend it. I also asked each of my nurses for a sponge bath, sorry, I've always wanted to ask for one now I had lots of chances. No I didn't really get one, I had a private shower in my room and I wasn't having any problems with my walking.
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