i joined the Army during my Senior year of High School and enlisted 3 weeks after graduation. for 2 years and 19 weeks, i served as a 16-Romeo, which is Army speak for "Vulcan Crew Member". the Vulcan is a giant, 6-barreled Gatling gun mounted into the chassis of an Armored Personnel Carrier (APC). There is also a towed version. It fires 20mm shells at a rate of roughly 3,000 rounds per minute. its purpose was to shoot down aircraft, but it was outdated even when i was in. Stinger missiles were much more effective at that. helicopters, maybe, but fast movers? no way. if used on people, it would leave an unrecognizable puddle of red stuff. to my knowledge, it is no longer in use in the active duty military.
i spent a year in Korea (89-90) where i was lucky enough to go to the DMZ and see North Korea over the barbed wire. we spent a lot of time in the field preparing for war with the North. lucky it never happened while i was there: we all thought of ourselves as "speed bumps" to the North's unstoppable military machine.
my next duty station was Fort Bliss in El Paso, TX, but i only spent a month or so there and was shipped off to Iraq for the 1st Gulf War.
The last 6 months of my enlistment was spent back in Fort Bliss. i'd say Uncle Sam got his money's worth out of me in the short time i was in. looking back i have no complaints or regrets, however i can't imagine a circumstance that i would re-enlist at this point in my life.
so when i say "dreaming of joining the Army", it's not an aspiration: it is a recurring nightmare i've been having. it's always the same: it's current day and i'm leaving my wife and son to go off and join the Army. i don't know what has happened to lead me to the decision, but the emotions i feel are very real. "i'm almost 40...what am i doing joining the Army again?". "What about Andrea and Oscar? and Krusty? Will i ever see them again?". "Will i be sent to Iraq? Afghanistan? I don't want to die". etc.
thankfully, i'm able to wake up and realize it was all in my head. teary eyed and breathless, i wake Andrea and tell her about it and how thankful i am it wasn't real. but for plenty of people, it's very real. lately i've been thinking about those people: people who are having to leave their wives or husbands and their children to go off to a dangerous place, risking their lives. for what? National Security? whose?
my father was in Vietnam when i was born. he talked about being flown home shortly afterward and spending a week in Ohio. he said the quiet McConnelsville nights messed with his head. that, and the ridiculousness of it all: one day he's in Vietnam flying helicopters, getting shot at and the next night, lying awake in a bed in Ohio. going over to begin with must have been hell for him, leaving a wife, 2 kids and one on the way. imagine thinking "gosh, i may never see my daughters again or never see my son." now imagine having to go back. i don't think i could do it and i don't know how people do it now.
without getting too preachy, i just want to say that we are asking too much of our soldiers. it's not fair to keep sending them out for 12 or 15 month rotations in Iraq or Afghanistan. suicides are up, stateside murders by soldiers are up...we're killing them and it's time to bring them home.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Monday, October 12, 2009
Happy Birthday, boy
according to Jewish culture, you're a man now...
traditional "handshake" photo. i have 13 years worth of these.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
the streak is over
i've had my beloved Krusty dog for almost 13 years now. his birthday is the 12th of this month and let me tell you: he is SO a Libra.
throughout his youth, i didn't have to concern myself much with trimming his nails b/c he was always running around so much, they wore down naturally. but when i did trim them, i always took great care to keep it above the quick and make it as painless and blood-free as possible.
for nearly 13 years that has been one of the prides of my life. when Oscar was born, i voluntarily took on nail trimming duties, given my impressive track record with the dog. things were going well until he was 5 months old and i chopped off a large hunk of his left index finger right before bedtime. not good. on the positive side, i don't have any stressful records in the back of my mind when doing his nails now. AND i know it's not the end of the world if it happens again.
i've been thinking a lot about Krusty's mortality lately. he has slowed way down, but is still the same happy, loving dog he's always been. only now, the fun needs to involve things that don't require him to hear, run or jump.
today we took a family walk around Lake Johnson. Andrea blogged about taking Krusty and Oscar on the same walk and how hard it was for her to handle them both. i went along this time and let me tell you: she wasn't kidding. Krusty freaked out walking across the bridge again and stopped to pee on everything. but it was great seeing him out in the woods on a beautiful Fall day. it was also a nice treat to veer off the path down to the waters edge and play stick. he enjoyed that. see for yourself.
Happy dog
Glory days
we have hardwoods throughout our house and often times, Andrea and i are in opposite ends. Krusty goes back and forth checking on both of us until we come together in the same room. problem is, he goes back and forth right in front of Oscar's room and with those long nails, sounds like 8 people wearing tap shoes. he has woken the baby on more than one occasion and tonight i figured it was time to cut some dog nails.
as tired as he was from our walk earlier, he was putting up his usual resistance. i'd trim one nail and he'd pull his leg back, as if i had hurt him. Andrea came up with a good idea of giving him a little treat after each nail. he's totally food motivated, and the "painful recoiling" ceased once we were putting food in his belly.
and then it happened: i squeezed my fist to activate the pincher style blades on the clippers and blood started oozing out of the tip of his nail at a frightening rate. i was numb. all i could say was "Oh my God....he's bleeding". Andrea went in the bathroom and got some toilet paper and a Hydrogen Peroxide soaked cotton ball. by the time she got back, the bleeding had stopped, but not before my fingers were covered and my heart was broken. did i mention he never even flinched? again, thanks to Andrea for taking his mind off it. all he wanted to know was "Where's my treat??".
Exhibits A, B and C
we finished his last paw without incident. he and Andrea are in bed now. i'm so thankful i didn't cause him any pain. he's such a great dog and has been my best friend...i don't know what i'll do without him. anyway, he's fine. i just had to get this off my chest.
in other news, my son really looks like Chucky in this picture:
throughout his youth, i didn't have to concern myself much with trimming his nails b/c he was always running around so much, they wore down naturally. but when i did trim them, i always took great care to keep it above the quick and make it as painless and blood-free as possible.
for nearly 13 years that has been one of the prides of my life. when Oscar was born, i voluntarily took on nail trimming duties, given my impressive track record with the dog. things were going well until he was 5 months old and i chopped off a large hunk of his left index finger right before bedtime. not good. on the positive side, i don't have any stressful records in the back of my mind when doing his nails now. AND i know it's not the end of the world if it happens again.
i've been thinking a lot about Krusty's mortality lately. he has slowed way down, but is still the same happy, loving dog he's always been. only now, the fun needs to involve things that don't require him to hear, run or jump.
today we took a family walk around Lake Johnson. Andrea blogged about taking Krusty and Oscar on the same walk and how hard it was for her to handle them both. i went along this time and let me tell you: she wasn't kidding. Krusty freaked out walking across the bridge again and stopped to pee on everything. but it was great seeing him out in the woods on a beautiful Fall day. it was also a nice treat to veer off the path down to the waters edge and play stick. he enjoyed that. see for yourself.
Happy dog
Glory days
we have hardwoods throughout our house and often times, Andrea and i are in opposite ends. Krusty goes back and forth checking on both of us until we come together in the same room. problem is, he goes back and forth right in front of Oscar's room and with those long nails, sounds like 8 people wearing tap shoes. he has woken the baby on more than one occasion and tonight i figured it was time to cut some dog nails.
as tired as he was from our walk earlier, he was putting up his usual resistance. i'd trim one nail and he'd pull his leg back, as if i had hurt him. Andrea came up with a good idea of giving him a little treat after each nail. he's totally food motivated, and the "painful recoiling" ceased once we were putting food in his belly.
and then it happened: i squeezed my fist to activate the pincher style blades on the clippers and blood started oozing out of the tip of his nail at a frightening rate. i was numb. all i could say was "Oh my God....he's bleeding". Andrea went in the bathroom and got some toilet paper and a Hydrogen Peroxide soaked cotton ball. by the time she got back, the bleeding had stopped, but not before my fingers were covered and my heart was broken. did i mention he never even flinched? again, thanks to Andrea for taking his mind off it. all he wanted to know was "Where's my treat??".
Exhibits A, B and C
we finished his last paw without incident. he and Andrea are in bed now. i'm so thankful i didn't cause him any pain. he's such a great dog and has been my best friend...i don't know what i'll do without him. anyway, he's fine. i just had to get this off my chest.
in other news, my son really looks like Chucky in this picture:
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Little Pal
Oscar's my little pal and it makes me sad to listen to this song and imagine singing it to him for real. naturally, i listen to it over and over again. you should, too.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Great site
"MarloweDK", funk bassist of YouTube fame, had his account suspended b/c of his "play along" videos which violated their copyright rules. so he did what anyone would do: made his own YouTube-like sight and uploaded them there, and you can do it to! here's a taste. the run at 2:29 kills, as does the one at 3:26.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
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