More that I miss from the desert:
One of the greatest perks that You often don't hear about is the embroidery shops there. With all the uniforms we have, and all the different badges and ranks, a tailor/embroidery shop is pretty important. A shop like this is often two to five folks working sewing machines, with someone working the counter. They usually do their work by hand, so if you can draw it, they
can make it. (Unlike in thje U.S., where everyone is now tied to computerized embroidery machines; you need a digital image file or they can't make it.) It's pretty cheap, and usually faster than here (a couple of days at the most).
28 June 2008
coming home 4
I have two keys on my keychain for my apartment complex. One is for my front door, the other is for the amenities (gym, pool). The amenities key has a diamond shaped head, just like my room key while deployed, so I keep trying to use that to open my apartment.
26 June 2008
Oil
About oil. A lot people say a lot of things, so I'll keep this brief. Robert Heinlein wrote this, probably at least four decades ago.
Ultimately, oil and dependence on it are a self solving problem. It's being consumed faster than it is being created, which means that eventually the imbalances in the world economy and ecology due to oil consumption will end. (Of course, if we prepared for this event we could make the transition to an oil free future a lot less painful than it is going to be, but conscientiously preparing for the future as a group just isn't done by the human race.)
Ultimately, oil and dependence on it are a self solving problem. It's being consumed faster than it is being created, which means that eventually the imbalances in the world economy and ecology due to oil consumption will end. (Of course, if we prepared for this event we could make the transition to an oil free future a lot less painful than it is going to be, but conscientiously preparing for the future as a group just isn't done by the human race.)
25 June 2008
The ten o'clock phone call.
I have a local phone number here. It costs me about 10 bucks a month, has no long distance and I don't use it much, but I keep it in case I lose my mobile phone, so that I have a way to contact work.
I am slowly moving to night shift here, so I am now sleeping late into the day. Almost every day, my phone rings at about 10 AM, and when it does, I know it is phone spam. I guess the latest wrinkle on sales calls is to automate them, so that I can't even tell them to add me to their do-not-call list. "This is your second notice that the factory warranty on your vehicle is expiring..."
(No need to specify the make or model of the vehicle since this is spam...the warranty on my current vehicle, which I got used, expired a long time ago.)
Interesting addendum to this story. I was walking through the airport recently on my last trip home. I walk past a bank of pay phones, and one of them is ringing. I'm not in a hurry, so I figure what-the-hey, and answer. "...to renew the factory warranty on your vehicle, please act now..." Wow. How desperate are phone spammers that they are now calling random pay phones? Probably it was a wrong number. I am not yet so paranoid as to believe the same spammers are now tracking my location and ringing any phone near me (seen the move The Game?). I bet Hollywood would love to make that into a movie though.
Interesting addendum to the addendum: I am flying back on the same trip, and same scenario,
I stop to answer a ringing pay phone. It would have been amazing if it was the factory warranty people again, and certainly would have fueled my paranoia, but it wasn't. It was just some guy, trying to get in touch with some other guy. I told him I didn't know guy 2, and that this was a airport pay phone. He said he must have a wrong number, and thanks. Now I wish I could remember the names, it would have made this story much more interesting.
I am slowly moving to night shift here, so I am now sleeping late into the day. Almost every day, my phone rings at about 10 AM, and when it does, I know it is phone spam. I guess the latest wrinkle on sales calls is to automate them, so that I can't even tell them to add me to their do-not-call list. "This is your second notice that the factory warranty on your vehicle is expiring..."
(No need to specify the make or model of the vehicle since this is spam...the warranty on my current vehicle, which I got used, expired a long time ago.)
Interesting addendum to this story. I was walking through the airport recently on my last trip home. I walk past a bank of pay phones, and one of them is ringing. I'm not in a hurry, so I figure what-the-hey, and answer. "...to renew the factory warranty on your vehicle, please act now..." Wow. How desperate are phone spammers that they are now calling random pay phones? Probably it was a wrong number. I am not yet so paranoid as to believe the same spammers are now tracking my location and ringing any phone near me (seen the move The Game?). I bet Hollywood would love to make that into a movie though.
Interesting addendum to the addendum: I am flying back on the same trip, and same scenario,
I stop to answer a ringing pay phone. It would have been amazing if it was the factory warranty people again, and certainly would have fueled my paranoia, but it wasn't. It was just some guy, trying to get in touch with some other guy. I told him I didn't know guy 2, and that this was a airport pay phone. He said he must have a wrong number, and thanks. Now I wish I could remember the names, it would have made this story much more interesting.
coming home 3
It's also nice to not have to shred or burn anything with my name or address on it.
Something I miss: free postage on letters.
I still tap my right leg in gym shorts. The only pocket in the USAF PT gear was a small velcro thing on the lower hem of the right leg, it's where I would keep my keys.
Something I miss: free postage on letters.
I still tap my right leg in gym shorts. The only pocket in the USAF PT gear was a small velcro thing on the lower hem of the right leg, it's where I would keep my keys.
waterboarding and sleep deprivation
I am planning on being in the 4th of July parade when I go home for leave next month. This is an attempt on my part to reach out to the civilian world and teach them something (anything!) about what the military does, to try and bridge the growing military-civilian gap.
I was talking with Colleen yesterday (and Christine before that), and said that what I would really like to do is set up a tent next to the Revolutionary War reenactor's camp that my town sometimes has for the 4th of July and demonstrate waterboarding. She asked me, "What's waterboarding?"
Waterboarding is an interrogation technique where the target is strapped down to something hard (the board) so they can't move their arms and legs and water is poured on their face to simulate the sensation of drowning. (Water+board=waterboarding) Needless to say, if the local police station did this to get a confession out of someone, I would hope large numbers people would protest this and demand the release of the alleged criminal. As well, any confession obtained in such a way would be unusable in a U.S. court, which is part of the reason the government is currently having so many problems prosecuting the few people in Gitmo that have been charged. We (the U.S.) has used waterboarding extensively since 9/11, and I would guess we are still using it now.
We have also used sleep deprivation, which I mentioned to Colleen as well. She asked what you do to keep someone awake when they are really tired. One method I have heard is that you get them to stand on something wobbly (a collection of beer bottles with a trash can lid on top, for example) and then use wires to tie their thumbs to the ceiling so if they fall off it hurts. Then they stand there all night trying to balance. If the thumbs don't provide them enough incentive, use the testicles. I've also heard of simply using a periodic electric shock to keep people awake.
I'm am not certain if these particular sleep deprivation techniques have been used, but some method of sleep deprivation has been used, and would likewise be unusable in a U.S. court.
I have also read that we have tried to justify torturing a terror suspects children in order to get a confession or further information. Don't know if this has every been done though.
It appalls me that the American people have no idea the things we do on their behalf.
I was talking with Colleen yesterday (and Christine before that), and said that what I would really like to do is set up a tent next to the Revolutionary War reenactor's camp that my town sometimes has for the 4th of July and demonstrate waterboarding. She asked me, "What's waterboarding?"
Waterboarding is an interrogation technique where the target is strapped down to something hard (the board) so they can't move their arms and legs and water is poured on their face to simulate the sensation of drowning. (Water+board=waterboarding) Needless to say, if the local police station did this to get a confession out of someone, I would hope large numbers people would protest this and demand the release of the alleged criminal. As well, any confession obtained in such a way would be unusable in a U.S. court, which is part of the reason the government is currently having so many problems prosecuting the few people in Gitmo that have been charged. We (the U.S.) has used waterboarding extensively since 9/11, and I would guess we are still using it now.
We have also used sleep deprivation, which I mentioned to Colleen as well. She asked what you do to keep someone awake when they are really tired. One method I have heard is that you get them to stand on something wobbly (a collection of beer bottles with a trash can lid on top, for example) and then use wires to tie their thumbs to the ceiling so if they fall off it hurts. Then they stand there all night trying to balance. If the thumbs don't provide them enough incentive, use the testicles. I've also heard of simply using a periodic electric shock to keep people awake.
I'm am not certain if these particular sleep deprivation techniques have been used, but some method of sleep deprivation has been used, and would likewise be unusable in a U.S. court.
I have also read that we have tried to justify torturing a terror suspects children in order to get a confession or further information. Don't know if this has every been done though.
It appalls me that the American people have no idea the things we do on their behalf.
coming home 2
My body still doesn't quite know what time it is...I fell asleep at about 2000 last night and just woke up (0200).
Yesterday I went to bed at midnight and woke up at 0430 and couldn't get back to sleep.
Yesterday I went to bed at midnight and woke up at 0430 and couldn't get back to sleep.
24 June 2008
Coming home
More things to get used to to:
Being able to drink out of the faucet.
Being able to drive faster than 15 miles per hour (It still looks like everyone is speeding, everywhere, all the time.)
Hearing the sounds of children. Seeing children, and old people, out in public.
Seeing grass. I spent a night on the east coast before coming back to Vegas, and the grass and trees were so green there, it hurt my eyes.
Fast internet. I have the middle speed available from Cox, and it is so much faster than every connection available it the desert, it is like regaining a sixth sense.
Being able to drink out of the faucet.
Being able to drive faster than 15 miles per hour (It still looks like everyone is speeding, everywhere, all the time.)
Hearing the sounds of children. Seeing children, and old people, out in public.
Seeing grass. I spent a night on the east coast before coming back to Vegas, and the grass and trees were so green there, it hurt my eyes.
Fast internet. I have the middle speed available from Cox, and it is so much faster than every connection available it the desert, it is like regaining a sixth sense.
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