| Day 167 - So close, yet so far |
[Nov. 29th, 2006|06:32 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Work | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  tired | ] |
| [ | music |
| | None | ] |
It's getting close... really close. I will on my way home in a week and actually home five days later. Fun and excitement! I can't wait. I have gotten a few things done out-processing wise, though most of it has to wait until the day prior to me leaving.
On a very interesting and mildly exciting note, it snowed here last night. Crazy stuff. It wasn't anything impressive. In most places, it looked like it had just been raining. Snow did however cover just about anything that wasn't paved. Cars, grass, rooftops and bomb shelters were covered in about a 1/4 to 1/2 inch of snow. Someone mad a very small snowman with a beef jerky mouth... o.0? but it was melted when I came into work today. I wonder if I will get to enjoy such an occasion again before leaving.
Other than that, there is not a whole lot going on here. Nothing new anyway. I am still playing World of Warcraft to pass some time out here. I enjoy it most, I think, because a few really great friends are on as well. This gives me an opportunity to talk with them and fight the forces of evil. For the Horde!!! |
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| Day 152 - Pass-ing time |
[Nov. 14th, 2006|03:55 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | ECP shack | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  Refreshed | ] |
| [ | music |
| | The voices in my head | ] |
I have returned from my pass re-energized and ready to finish off these last few weeks. My pass went very well. It was really nice to have some time off, though it doesn't make coming back to work any easier. The weather in Qatar wasn't too bad. It was probably in the 90s the whole time, which was a bit hot having coming from 50-60 degree temps. On about the second or third day a nice breeze rolled through making it about perfect. I didn't do a whole lot while I was out there, which didn't bother me a bit. Most of my time was spent watching movies. I think I am now completely caught up on all of the movies I missed while I have been out here. I did make it off base once to go on a beach picnic trip. I enjoyed it. I can now say I have been swimming in the Persian Gulf. The water was a lot cleaner than anywhere else I have been. While it wasn't super clear like some tropical islands and such, you could still see quite a bit. The one downside was that the water was exceptionally salty. It was a bad as a heavy dose of chlorine. I told some pics of the beach trip and will post those along with my other pics soon.
In other good news, when I got back yesterday, I found out that my work schedule has changed. Due to overmanning and lack of resources, I am now on an eight hour shift. Finally, after five months of twelve hour shifts, I am getting some free time. Woo-hoo!!! This was definitely a welcomed change. With this added free time, I have decided to start up World of Warcraft again. While on pass, I constantly saw droves of people playing the game. This gave me an itch that needs scratching. Hopefully, a few weeks of play will quench my thirst and I won't have a desire to play when I get home. Even if I do, I will definitely limit my play time. I am still very excited to get back and start working on my video editing. I still think I have a great business plan for this editing gig. I'll post my plan soon. It makes too much sense to not roll with it. |
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| Day 140 - I like time off |
[Nov. 2nd, 2006|01:10 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | My desk | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  Vacation ^_^ | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Metallica - Sanitarium (Welcome home) | ] |
I am so giddy right now. It's uncontrollable. I leave tomorrow for my pass... awesome!!! Hopefully I won't come back here until mid-November leaving me with only three weeks until I am on my way home. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and it just keeps getting bigger.
In other news, I have spent the last two days working on my security clearance reinvestigation paperwork. Every five years, anyone with a security clearance gets reinvestigated to make sure they are still good to go. A lot of things can come up that can make one ineligible to continue holding the clearance they have. I understand this. I understand that a reinvestigation needs to be done... but when I'm deployed?!! How do they expect me to get all the information that is required? It doesn't help either that my pass is scheduled for tomorrow. That gave me yesterday and today to work on it. I have done great with what I had available, but there is still some information that I just can't get. Not in the deadline they set for me. They will get the information I have and like it. Either way, I am not letting this ruin my vacation. It is long over due.
I have been watching anime music videos (AMV) like crazy for the past week or so. I am getting so excited, inspired and getting a lot of great ideas. I really really look forward to getting home and working on some videos. Shortly before leaving here, I plan on buying a $2,100 software suite that comes with everything I will need to make my masterpieces. By ordering it prior to my departure here, it should arrive shortly before I get home. This allows me to spend my time off doing what I do best. Why did I mention the price? It's expensive, isn't it? And worth every penny. That price is just the software. I also plan on upgrading my computer. The upgrade will be primarily in hard drive space as uncompressed DVD video takes up A LOT of space. I foresee spending approximately $3,000 on all of this. Again, worth every penny. My work on AMVs is meant strictly for fun and to help me become more familiar with the software. I fully intend on going professional with this video editing gig. I really enjoy doing it and it is something that allows me to utilize my creativity... something the military doesn't do too much. I have a really great and solid plan for starting up my own production company. I might go into some day soon, but I don't really feel like typing all that up right now.
We will see how this all goes come June when I enter the AMV contest at A-Kon 18 (anime convention). There are two contests at this convention. Amateur and professional. The amateur contest is fairly straight forward. It is for anyone to enter. The professional contest on the other hand is strictly for those "in the business". These are people that work for companies like Sony and Dreamworks and the like. Obviously, I can't enter into the professional contest. After seeing last years contenders I am, however, very confident that I can blow the amateur contest out of the water and do at least as good if not better than some of the professionals.
Vacation! Here I come!!! |
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| Day 129 - New Job Craziness |
[Oct. 22nd, 2006|01:23 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | My desk | ] |
| [ | mood |
| | chipper | ] |
| [ | music |
| | APC - Outsider (Remix) | ] |
Things here are moving along relatively smoothly. The time has gone by quickly. I can't believe it has been so long since my last update. I swear I last updated no more than a week ago.
This new section I am in has turned out to be quite a mixed bag. I don't have nearly as much work to do as I did in analysis, but I have no clue what I am doing when I have to do work. I get phone calls and messages from people everyday and I never know how to answer their questions. My boss will tell me what I need to know to answer the question, but nobody asks again. The one thing that is really getting under my skin is time or the lack there of. I work the same amount of hours, but I come in and leave an hour later. This makes it difficult to spend any time with any of the people I have been hanging out with. Our lunch and dinner schedules are off and because I get out of work an hour later than they do I always have a hard time finding them to hang out after work. My boss also has no concept of time. He regularly comes in late, keeps me at work late and does not come back from lunch to relieve me so I can get some food. It is just the two of us during the day shift and one of us has to be at work to answer questions and such. That is my only real gripe. Otherwise, it's not too bad. I have a lot more "free time" at work for my personal projects, which I cannot complain about.
My superhero project is getting a bit further. I am still having some trouble with basic stuff like a name for the character, but everything else is going well. I have found that this story/character is a great way to incorporate some of the ideas from my previous projects. The "epic" one is still something I want to do, but that will take some time. The other ideas like the MegaTokyo-esk story can fit perfectly with a superhero comic. It's essentially just everyday characters living out their everyday lives, with some extraordinary situations of course. Every good superhero has a "secret identity" with a "normal" life. That's where I can fit that kind of story. It's kind of cool working with this superhero again. It's interesting to see how he has evolved over the last three years. Most of it is the same, but he is so much cooler now. ^_~ I am putting together everything I have come up with so far. Once I get it written out I might post it up here. Kelley as a group made specifically for posting stuff like this. I will talk to her about how to do it. It would be cool to have a journal chronicling the creation and progression of this character and story.
As you can see by what day I am on, I am quickly moving closer to coming home. I'm excited! ^_^ It'll be nice to be back and continue on with a normal life. Things will be new and different, which can be exciting if you let it. I know I have changed quite a bit since being out here. I have learned a lot about myself, my loved ones, people in general and life. This has definitely been a difficult experience, but I know it has made me stronger as well as Kelley and our marriage. Kelley has endured so much, but she has done it with great strength and resolve. I couldn't be happier to have her in my life. Just like any other deployed married couple, we have had our hard times, but unlike a lot of them we have held true. You get to realize just how paper thin some relationships are and how neurotic people can be in situations like this. Like I said, a learning experience and truly sobering. I have said it before; the hardest thing was waving good-bye to Kelley, but the greatest thing will be seeing her and holding her in my arms once again. I'm excited! ^_^
OH!!! Something I forgot to mention in my last post... I have won $150 playing bingo. =P They have bingo night every Monday night. I have only played twice, but I have won both times. First time was $50 and second was $100. Unfortunately, bingo starts a half hour before I get off work now. Hopefully, I can catch the last few games and continue to win.
I have the Bala Hazar pictures on my laptop as well as a few other pictures I have taken. I still need to sort through them and find a place to post them, but it'll get done soon.
Have a wonderful Afghanistan day!!! |
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| Day 121 - Playing Ketchup... >_< Catch up |
[Oct. 10th, 2006|10:49 am] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | ECP Shack | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  So much as happened | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Mid-day Prayers | ] |
I know. I know. It's been way too long since my last post. In my defense, a whole lot has happened in the last month and finding time or being in the right mind to post has been difficult. I did try to post a few days ago, but after writing for an hour, I accidentally deleted my post. So, unfortunately, only the abbreviated version of the deleted post will be posted.
Some of the more recent things to happen in my life include Kelley getting into a car accident and someone attempting to break into our apartment. Kelley came out of the car accident without injury, but the car was not so fortunate. Since then we have obtained a new "used" car from our very good friend, John. He, unfortunate for us, is getting out of the active military and moving to Portland to be in the reserves. As I said, our apartment was victim to some sort of vandal. Kelley found one of our windows open in the living room and the shades askew. Nothing was stolen and there were no signs of actual entry, but the thought is still unnerving. Kelley is in the process of getting the windows fixed and more secure. She also contacted the police and they came out and did their thing. They probably won't find the person that did this, but at least it is documented. I really feel for Kelley as she has had to endure quite a bit in my absence. I really think it is not fair that I am in Afghanistan and she is the one with all of the problems. I fully intend on making it up to her. I don't know exactly how yet, but I will.
As for my life out here... I am now over 2/3 of the way through my tour. I have less than 60 days left. This is a very good feeling. My rotator (flight out of this mess) is scheduled for Dec 12th. With the time difference, I should arrive in the states same day. Because of the time it takes to get through customs and other such things, flights from Baltimore to home are scheduled for the next day. This puts me in San Antonio on the 13th. Either way, I will be home soon. I have also scheduled my pass for Nov 4th. Pass is a 4 day trip to Qatar that lasts, on average, about 10 days. So doing the math, factoring in pass, out-processing and travel home, I only have at most a month a half of work left. With how fast this all has gone for me, that is not too bad. Additionally, I found out today that I am going to be moving to a different section at work, doing a completely different job. I am excited about it as it is something new and it gets me out of doing the analysis work I have endured for the past four months. Analysis is not that bad, but it is a lot of work and seeing as I am now (was) one of the most experienced people in the section, that means (meant) more work for me. I will be staying on day shift, which I believe to be preferable. Within the last few weeks there has been an influx of new people, mostly Air Force (sho'nuff AF) that I have grown accustomed to. Staying on days means I can still hang out with them after work and such.
I have also managed to finally see Superman Returns via haji copy. The quality was actually pretty good and the movie was even better. I really enjoyed it. Being the HUGE Superman fan that I am, I am really glad that they did not muck it up. Watching the movie makes me want to do two things. Start reading the comics again and to write my own comic book superhero. I started working on one way back when I was TDY to Tampa. I still like the idea and would really like to continue working on it. This makes four or five projects now that I want to work on. I would be happy if I could just stick to this one and run with it, but only time will tell. I am on a quasi-regimented creative work schedule with Kelley that will help both of us progress in our projects. Motivation and such.
Earlier this week I went on a short trip to Bala Hazar (phonetic). It is a very old stronghold used against the Soviets during the invasion in the 80s. I believe that it is older than that, but everything here looks old, so it is hard to tell. I did manage to get quite a few pictures taken while I was there, so I will have those posted in the very near future. It was good times. A few of the pictures are the stereotypical shots standing on a tank with an AK-47. I lol'd. |
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| Day 91 - Half & Half |
[Sep. 15th, 2006|02:28 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | ECP Shack | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  I need a real weekend | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Unfortunately, none | ] |
Today is just one of those days. I am not in a particularly good mood and I don't know why. The day started off well enough. I watched the movie Poseidon (the new one about the boat flipping over) and played a few minutes of Kingdom Hearts on my DS. All of this was fine. I was relaxed and just overall felt good. Once I started getting ready for work is when things went bad. Running too late to stop off and get lunch before work, forgetting things, the heat, stupid people, loud people... a myriad of small things that add up. I have a small headache right now, and absolutely no desire to do any work. To top it all off, it's actually a really beauty day out. I would prefer to be doing anything, but work right now. Whether it be lounging on the roof of the safe house, sitting outside of the coffee house drinking a cup o' joe, roaming the bazaar or even just taking a nap. Anything would be better than being at work right now.
On a positive note, I hit my halfway point two days ago. I tried to post here on that day, but I had little time during the work day to get it done and felt more compelled to spend my time after work relaxing while watching anime as opposed to reliving the events of the past couple of weeks. Anyway, I am on the downward slope now. My hope is that things will go quickly and easily this last half. With my four day pass and travel time home, I easily have less than three months of work left. With 88 days left until I have to be out of country, either way, I have less than three months in country. When looking back it's a bit of a mixed bag. It's both relieving having hit the half way mark and a bit daunting as well. I know now that I have less time ahead of me than I do behind me, but I do also realize that I more or less have to do the time I have done again.
I have spent most of my free time watching an anime (Japanese animation for those not in the know) called Love Hina. My wonderful wife bought it for me and sent it out here. The anime is pretty good, but I think pales in comparison to the manga (Japanese comic book). The manga fleshed out the characters and storyline quite a bit more than the anime did. Granted, what they did with the manga probably couldn't fit into the time constraints of the anime series. Even than, they changed quite a bit of the storyline. While the manga had a definite ending, the anime left it open which is a bit disappointing. Anyway... long story short. Watching the anime and thinking back on when I read the manga has really inspired me to want to write a romantic comedy. I have always loved romantic comedies and have wanted to write one for quite some time. Aside from the fact that this is among two other writing projects I want to start, I am also having a hard time coming up with a storyline or even a place to start off. I know what I want to do, I just don't know how I want to do it. Hopefully, with time, I will get this figured out. I have a strong feeling that none of my writing projects will get off the ground as long as I am out here, but I can at least write out some notes.
If I can recall anything else to happen over the last few weeks and manage to pull together the time to write it all out, hopefully we will see another update soon. |
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| Day 75 - Nights, dead cars & creativity |
[Aug. 29th, 2006|11:51 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | ECP shack | ] |
| [ | mood |
| | chipper | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Tool - Jambi | ] |
Not too much different here. I am still on nights, though. It appears now that I am waiting for one of the other night shifters to come back from pass before I move over to days. I am still a bit apprehensive about it. I really like the night crew, but hopefully the day crew won't be too bad. I am also not too crazy about the amount and type of work I will be doing on days. I am not really confident in my report writing and I have a feeling that will be a mainstay of my days. I should be able to handle it knowledge-wise, though. We will see when the time comes.
Kelley (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) akai_nekobujin) wrote me an e-mail yesterday informing me that our car had crapped out the night before. Kelley, being the awesome and resilient woman that she is, already had it fixed by the time I had called her that night. The car having any problems at this point really upsets me. We just paid a whole lot of money to get that car fixed and it looks like Pep-boys did a crappy job. It's no surprise, but San Antonio doesn't have anything beyond Pep-boys and mom & pop places. Either way, Kelley was able to find a place and get it fixed, though she told me it was overheating when she went to work yesterday. She took it in again and they said everything is fine. I have two questions. Why are there no automotive repair shops that know what they are doing and why is our car being such a nuisance?
I have begun research on a writing project that I have been toying with for a while now. The idea was born quite a while ago and has blossomed over time. I believe I now have a fairly structured idea of what I want to do with it and where I want to take it. If it turns out the way I would like, this story will be so grand and epic that regardless of format (i.e. novel, comic book, web comic, etc.) it will be immensely long. I am still toying with ideas for the format, but for right now I am going to assume novel until I gain the means to illustrate it. I cannot say for sure whether I will begin writing it here or after I get home. I still have a lot of research to do before I begin writing. I will, however, begin documenting my research and ideas.
Bazaar pictures will be posted once I get the pics uploaded and find a place to host. Hopefully, I will have it done by Friday. |
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| Day 72 - Lost but not forgotten |
[Aug. 26th, 2006|01:24 am] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | ECP shack | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  All is well | ] |
| [ | music |
| | NIN - We're in this together | ] |
Holy cripes on toast!!! I knew it had been some time since I had posted, but I didn't realize it was this long. I have wanted to post something new for a while, but find it hard to find the motivation to sit down and type it all out. I don't have a lot of free time either, so it usually comes down to posting on LJ or doing a multitude of other things I'd like to do. Obviously, the latter has won out until now.
Things have been relatively standard here as far as day to day life goes. I do have few things of interest to pass on, though. The biggest thing to happen to me will be my switch to day shift within the next few days. This is a doubled sword. This switch will give me approximately an extra hour of free time a day as I will not have to come in early for our daily meetings and won't have to stay late to make sure there are no problems with a product I put together every morning. On top of that, I will being sleeping while it is dark out, which is a big plus. The down side is that I have to work with a new set of people that will probably take some time to get used to. Even worse than that is the difficulty in calling home now. The time difference between here and home wasn't nearly as bad while working nights, because I had several times throughout the day that allowed me to call home at reasonable hours. Being up during the day now only really leaves me with the ability to call home when it's the very early morning in the states. There are also a lot more last minute taskings during the day shift. Hopefully I can handle it. I have done fairly well so far, but I still feel grossly under qualified. I will do my best as that is all I really can do. One other good thing about being on day is the ability to go to the bazaar on Fridays. This leads me into my next topic.
I went to the bazaar held here on base last Friday. It was pretty cool. There was a large assortment of merchandise for sale. From clothes to rugs (of course) to movies and other small odds and ends. I forgot my wallet so I was unable to buy anything, but I'm not worried about it as I still have some time left here. I did manage bring my camera along and take some pictures. Once I find a place to host them, I will post them here or put up a link. I want to get a few pictures of the safe houses in as well. They are pretty decent places for where I am. I also need to get someone to hold the camera so I can get a few pictures of myself. I haven't really changed any, but at least it'll show that I am still in one piece.
As far as the whole pessimism thing in my last post goes, I'd like to think that I have been doing a good job with it. I will never stop worrying about those I love and care about back home, but I won't think the worst either. Aside from me still being in Afghanistan, I don't really have anything to complain about and I have so very much to look forward to when I get home. It's a bit sad and a bit funny, but I get so excited thinking about going home now. I still have three months, but it's nice to dream... until you realize you're still here. >_<
I am honestly going to try to post more often. If I have nothing new to pass on, I will at least post something entertaining to read. |
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| Day 54 - Looking well |
[Aug. 8th, 2006|01:05 am] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | ECP shack | ] |
| [ | mood |
| | Things are moving along well | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Nine Inch Nails - We're in this together | ] |
Again, it has been some time since my last post. I have a feeling that unless something unusual happens I will probably only post once a week from now on. There really isn't that much that goes on here; at least nothing I can talk about here. =P
I finally got assigned to a house, so yay for me. The place is about equal to the place I was squating in. The mattress is mildly uncomfortable because you can feel the springs when you lay down on it. I have two choices. I can either complain to the billeting office and get it replaced whenever they feel like it or I can buy a blanket or something to put between me and the springs. I probably won't do either and just end up dealing with it. It's not that bad. I sleep well enough. On the plus side, the internet runs a lot better in my new room. To make things even better, they are upgrading the service in September, doubling the speed. That will be nice. It runs at anywhere between just under dial-up to just under broadband right now. Hopefully, with the upgrade, the speed will be no less than just under broadband.
Oh wow! I haven't even posted since the move. From what I have been told by multiple eye witnesses, the move went without any problems. This is a huge relief for me. I'm really glad nothing was broken or dinged and no one was hurt. Maybe I should keep myself out of any moves, because every time I have had to move something gets damaged or someone takes minor injuries. Either way, everything worked out well and I am super excited to get back home and see the apartment.
Speaking of going home... I am now working on my 8th week here. Two months down, four to go. It's gone by quickly so far. Hopefully this keeps up.
On another note, I bought a camera yesterday. It's a Kodak P850. I had a choice between that one and the V530. There were more cameras there, but these two were the best choices. The decision came down to whether I wanted a more compact "travel friendly" camera or something with more functionality. Since the P850 was only $50 more than the more compact V530 and I have always wanted a camera that looks the P850 (vanity is a bitch =P), I went with functionality. Plus, the camera I have at home is compact enough. I figured I might as well indulge myself. I haven't had a chance to use the camera yet, but when I do I will be sure to take a lot of pics and post them on my journal for all to see. ^_^
There is something that I thought about the other day that I think answers a few questions about my eternal pessimism. I honestly think that one of the reasons I am such a pessimist is because I am deathly afraid of being optimistic. I will explain. I noticed recently that I rarely ever say anything with optimism or confidence because of a superstition I have. I have had this superstition for as long as I can remember. I always think that if I am optimistic or confident about something, fate will come crashing down and destroy that thought. A mild example, for example sake. Instead of saying everything will be fine, I opt to say everything should be fine or I hope everything will be fine. I want to say it'll be fine or nothing bad will happen, but I can't. Even if I know something is fine or won't change, I could never say it for fear that things will end up bad or will change. I honestly think this way of thinking has infected my overall thought process. I want to change this and be able to confidently say that everything is fine and I have nothing to worry about, but I just can't bring myself to do it because of the ph34r (that's fear for those that don't speak L337). I sincerely think that this could affect those around me and that worries me, especially for those that I love and care for the most. I could just start saying things positively and see what happens, but I am scared that something bad will happen to those I care about. I know, this sounds like some really bad plot line to a crappy horror flick. It's true, though. lol... I think I need a dome doctor. I have issues. |
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| Day 43 - Mr. Motivation |
[Jul. 28th, 2006|07:48 am] |
I realize that I have not made an entry in quite some time, but in my defense, the story really doesn't change much here. I do, however, have some stories and thoughts to share now.
The last couple days have been something of a challenge for me to get through. When I woke up two days ago, I had this overwhelming feeling that I just did not want to be here. It's never good when you start your day off grumpy. I think I managed to bang into a few things on the way to work. I can't remember what, but it was enough either hurt or irritate me. I think some other stuff happened around the beginning of work to upset me, but I honestly can't remember. It's good, though, because it was all stuff I got over. Things got better throughout the night and felt great by the time I got off shift.
Yesterday was a bit of a bad day, but had a good lesson in it, much like an episode of Full House. lol... I really got tired of learning while watching TV. That's not what it's for. =P Anyway, I took slacking to the limit yesterday and consequently got talked to about it. It's not really a big deal. It was something I needed. I haven't had much motivation lately. It's hard to be away from Kelley; that's number one. It's also hard sometimes to get up the energy and motivation to do a job that I have not training for and won't ever do again after another four months or so. I ended up spending too much time on my personal e-mail and not on work. Granted, I had done everything I needed to for the night or knew how to do. I should have asked if there was any way I could help someone else with their work, but again, I wasn't very motivated. The thing is, I want to do well in this job. I enjoy it most of the time and I think it is really interesting. It's all about the motivation.
Tonight turned out much better. I stayed busy all night and felt fairly accomplished. I would have felt more so had my counterpart at work done his job. We are split up into teams of two to cover certain jobs. My counterpart has proved to be relatively useless on more than one occasion. I have only been here maybe half as long as he has and I have already been told that I out perform him. I have to proof read his work all of the time because there is a disconnect between his brain and the rest of the intelligent world. It's seriously so bad it's almost funny. He uses some form of the English language and turns it into something incomprehensible. What's worse is that he claims to be fluent in Japanese. I can't even imagine how much he slaughters that language. Anyway, I digress. I didn't know this, but he doesn't seem to do a fairly important part of our job everyday. So I had to make up for a months worth of work tonight. The good thing is that it is done now, so I can move on to better things.
Onto something other than work. I continue to read MegaTokyo and absolutely love it. It is easily one of my favorite comics. It's right along my way of thinking. It's subject matter revolves around many of my own life and interests. It's great. It has really inspired me to right and possibly draw my own webcomic. I know I have said this before, but it becomes more and more true as days pass. I am currently in the brainstorming stage of my project. I am having incredible trouble with the characters. More specifically the creation. MegaTokyo is real people in a fictional story. I like that idea and I think the many personalities of those in my life would lend well to the comic. My problem is the chance that I will upset someone if and more likely when I stray from their character. I don't want anyone to think that I think they would be better if they were like this or I don't like that about them or whatever it may be. I have ideas, but I want to play with the already existing personalities of those people in my life. If you are familiar with DC comics Elseworlds, it would be something like that. I think I need to not worry about it and just write. If someone has a problem with it, they need to realize that this is a character with a foundation of the real person, but personality tailored toward this fictional world. We'll see what happens in time. |
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| Day 34 - The Phantom F-word |
[Jul. 19th, 2006|09:16 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Work | ] |
| [ | mood |
| | It's my kitten's birthday! | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Nine Inch Nails - Hurt | ] |
I will start with the most important piece of information. Today is my beautiful wife's 22nd birthday. Happy birthday, hun! I love you and I hope it is a wonderful day for you.
The last 24 hours have been a bit irritating. To start, after work yesterday I stopped by the internet guru's office to drop off the money and get the settings needed to gain access. She was not in, but I talked to this Major that also worked in the office that said she would be back in a few minutes. Everything was fine until some guy, I'll call him Mr. Delusional, tells me that I shouldn't swear in front of an officer. Of course, this is a complete surprise to me. I don't recall swearing in front of the Major, or anyone else for that matter. I asked him what I said and when I said it. While essentially slamming the door in my face he said, "Just right now you said the 'f-word'." I was now left with a door in my face and no ability to respond. I was totally confused as to what just happened. I remained in this state until I went to bed about an hour later. I wonder if I am developing a case of Tourette's... because that's the only way this guy could have heard anything of the sort from me. I don't know what was worse; the confusion brought upon by this incident or being accused of doing something I didn't do. I really hate being incriminated when I am completely innocent. Especially when it pops up out of nowhere and I am given no opportunity to defend myself. This type of stuff absolutely infuriates me. It truly makes my blood boil. I suppose it's good that the door was slammed in my face, because I really wanted to get in this guys face and correct him. I didn't get a chance to catch what rank he was, but I am sure I could have "professionally" given him a good tongue lashing. Needless to say, this guy is now on my list.
Today, I managed to catch up with internets guru before work. I chose not to stick around after the incident because I was upset and didn't really feel like dealing with anyone. Either way, I got the money to her and just recieved the e-mail with the info I need. Hopefully everything goes smoothly and I can get on after work today. I'm crossing my fingers.
Some good news now. I managed to download the entire MegaTokyo collection over the last few days. That's 883 pages. I chose to do this because the internet connection here can be a bit slow at times and this gives me the opportunity to read them while I'm back at the safe house. I also started this before I knew I would be getting access in the house so soon. This should dramatically increase the speed at which I can read through the comic. It was mildly irritating having to wait so long between pages. It messed up the flow. I am currently at about 200 out of the 883. I'm sure I'll catch up pretty quickly now, especially with my "weekend" coming up soon. Huzaah for a half day!
Again, happy birthday, Kelley! Lots of love! |
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| Day 32 - Self-loathing and teh internets |
[Jul. 17th, 2006|09:16 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Work | ] |
| [ | mood |
| | I hate myself sometimes | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Metallica - S&M - Hero of the Day | ] |
I'd like to think that I have a fairly decent amount self confidence. Like anyone else, I have my days where I don't think very highly of myself or anything else for that matter. More often than not, though, I actually think very highly of myself. In the past few years I have learned a lot about myself and grown as a person. I know that I am capable of a lot more than I had ever thought. Possibly even to the point that I think I may not have any real limitations. I can go as far as my imagination and will power will take me. However, I know of one aspect of myself that I hate. Hate is a strong word, but it's how I honestly feel about this part of me. If I could change anything about myself it would be my anal-retentive obsessive compulsive behavior. There are some things I do as a result of this aspect of myself that don't bother me too much, but there are some, one in particular, that absolutely drive me nuts.
Yesterday, I brought my laptop with me to work so I could take it over to the computer cafe and get on the net. I went there at lunch to start up some of the many updates I needed to download. While taking the computer out of the case it bumped against a wall. The result was a very small nick in the paint. To anyone else this wouldn't even be a small deal, but because I'm so screwed up in the head, it has bothered me even until now. I have such a compulsion to keep things in perfect condition that it drives me crazy when something becomes "flawed". It's quite a stretch to say that any object with an almost unnoticeable imperfection in it is flawed, but that's how my brain perceives it. What makes it worse is that I thought it may have been scratched two seconds prior, but was relieved to find out that it wasn't. Then I go off and bang it into a wall. I literally have thoughts that with this small imperfection, it may as well be broke. That's how I perceive it. I absolutely hate this. Why can't I just be happy that I have a laptop and that it didn't take any real damage? I hate the fact that an imperfection the size of... I can't even describe it, it's so small. I hate that this bothers me so much. This happens with just about anything new and shiny that I get. Eventually things will take some kind of wear and tear, but it's always so dramatic for me the first time it happens. Especially when I haven't even owned it much more than a day.
Why am I so screwed up in the head? Why can't I just be normal? I would love it if something like this happened and I just looked at and said, "Oh, it's only a small scratch. No biggie." I think I put way too much weight in the condition of my belongings. As long as there is no real damage and it still works, I should be fine with it. I want to be fine with it. I have beaten this before. The military brought it back with rigid rules and such, but I think I can work through it again. I have a bad habit of wanting to start over when things aren't perfect. I think this stems from so many years of video games. I can't start over in real life and I need to realize this. This aspect of myself has screwed up a great many things in my life, or at least that's how I perceive it. I have a great life, with so many great people and great things in it. I need to be happy with what I have. I will be... *take a deep breath* I am happy. With everything in my life. Even my laptop that has such a small scratch in it that no normal human being would even notice.
Anyway, back to a normal sense of mind. I talked to the guru that is in charge of the internets at the safe houses yesterday. There is a waiting list that is months long to get access. I know some people that have been here a while that are still waiting. I asked this guru if she could put me on said waiting list. Today she sent me an e-mail that said if I paid a pro-rated amount for the rest of this month and all of next month she would hook me up immediately. She said it was because I work in the same shop as her and not to tell anyone. This is just too cool. I only have to pay her $30 and I could have internet access by tomorrow. The normal rate is $22 a month, but as I said this month is pro-rated. I am not complaining. It'll be nice to have access whenever I want, as opposed to having to go to the cafe. The only issue at this point is getting the money. They don't have an ATM on base as of yet and the BX only allows us to get $20 cash back per day. I took out $20 today and will grab the rest tomorrow. So if everything goes well, I should be able to get the rest and hand it to her tomorrow. Yay for internets in the house! |
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| Day 31 - I am now on the internets |
[Jul. 15th, 2006|11:59 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | ECP shack | ] |
| [ | mood |
| | I have leptop | ] |
| [ | music |
| | N/A | ] |
Yay! I have a laptop now!
They finally got their shipment in and I was quick to snatch one up. Maybe too quick. I don't know. I had a choice between an HP and a Toshiba. They had about five different laptops there, but these two were the best one. I took the time to look both of them over and make an educated decision. I chose the HP in the end. The Toshiba had a slightly faster processor, but the HP has a few more accessories to it like a 6-in-1 card reader. I don't know how often I will us the card reader, but I figured it would be more useful than a few extra MHz. The one thing that I'm not too crazy about with the HP is the hard drive, particularly it's speed. The hard drive in my laptop runs at 42,000 rpm, compared to what seems to be the norm of 54,000 rpm. Most desktop PC hard drives run at 7,200 rpm, so I can't really imagine what 4,200 rpm will be like. All this means is that the higher the rpm the faster the seek time when the computer looks for info on the hard drive. I have read a few reviews of both the HP and the Toshiba. While there are less reviews of the HP, the Toshiba does have negative reviews. The only downside I saw for the HP was it's hard drive speed, but it said it was minor. I have also looked on the HP website and found that they only have my model in refurbished versions (ie. the model is discontinued). My biggest concern with this is whether or not I will be able to get a hold of accessories for it. I plan on upgrading the battery before I leave here so I can use the computer longer while I'm on the plane. My plan is to wait until later to get a hold of one strictly because I don't need a battery at all while I'm here. I may have to buy the larger battery sooner as to alleviate any hassles later on.
Either way, it should be good enough for anything I need it for, including FFXI.
Here are some of the specs:
HP Pavilion dv4270us
Intel Pentium M 1.73 GHz
Intel wireless
100GB hard drive (4,200 rpm) :(
15.4" HD widescreen display
1GB RAM
128MB video
DVD/CD read-write with dual layer support =P
6-in-1 card reader
I think I did pretty good. The best they have here anyway. |
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| Day 30 - One down, five to go |
[Jul. 15th, 2006|01:23 am] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | ECP shack | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  It's s'all good! | ] |
| [ | music |
| | N/A | ] |
Today is my one month mark. The best thing about this is that it doesn't seem like it has been that long. If it keeps up like this, I'll be home in no time.
There are still no new laptops at the BX, so I continue to wait.
Since I have been staying up a bit later every day, I have gotten quite further in Castlevania. I'm a little over 50% through it now. This is a very good thing. This means that I may actually be able to make all that money I spent on games and such things to entertain me worth it.
I have read quite a bit more MegaTokyo in the last few days. It not only inspires me to write my own webcomic, it also inspires me to start drawing. I could have other people I know with more experience, like Kelley, draw the material for my stories, but I would really like to have that ability to put my thoughts down on paper myself. I really want to start drawing and writing while I'm out here, but with such little free time it'll be hard. Plus, there is a bit of apprehension toward starting something like this. I am so new to drawing that I know I am not going to be good at it at first. With practice, I will get better and develop my own style, but it's that process of getting through the crap to the good stuff that I'm kind of scared to do. It's hard to look at what you do, even knowing you are new at it, and not compare it with those works that inspired you. I will do my best to overcome this feeling and show myself what I am capable of. |
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| Day 28 - Things are looking up |
[Jul. 13th, 2006|12:27 am] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | ECP shack | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  I still want a laptop | ] |
| [ | music |
| | N/A | ] |
Things have been going quite a bit better since I "squatted" my way out of the tent. The room I am in now is so much cooler and the bed is a lot my comfortable. I have met most, if not all, of the other people living in the room and they all seem to be pretty cool. I have continued to stay up a little later to have some free time and it is working out pretty well. Six or seven hours of sleep in a house is much better than even 12 hours in a tent. I do kick myself when I have to wake up for work as I wish I had gone to bed earlier, but after a nice hot (but not scolding) shower I feel fine. Again, I'll catch up on some sleep on Friday.
I finally checked out that IBM at the BX today. It turns out it has just about all of the minimum specs for that model. The price does indicate that it probably has a few extras that I couldn't see. I thought it was around $1,100, but it's actually about $1,300. I messed around on the IBM website a bit and found that if I added the bigger battery and the DVD burner, it's about the same price as the one in the BX. I talked to one of the guys that worked there and he said that they have more laptops coming in a few days. I figure I'll wait and see what they get in then. |
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| Day 26 - More sleeping laptops!? |
[Jul. 11th, 2006|12:38 am] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | ECP shack | ] |
| [ | mood |
| | Kinda sleepy too | ] |
| [ | music |
| | N/A | ] |
The last couple of days have been a bit hard to survive. I didn't get very much sleep at all. My intention was to only stay up maybe an extra hour a day to do something "fun" with my time here. Much to my chagrin, I had to go to that meeting two days ago (which turned out to be a complete waste of time). This definitely did not help my sleep schedule. The worst part, though, is that for the last three days there has been something going on in my tent that keeps me up. On two of those days I was woken up by other tent dwellers that got off work early and didn't care that there was someone trying to sleep. On a good note, I think a bunch of them moved out that second day, making things much more quiet. On a bad note, I was woken up yesterday because the A/C went to crap and it became way to hot in the tent for me to sleep. Now, to finish on a very good note. A guy at work has offered several times that I sleep in one of the empty beds in his room. He has people registered for his room, but one of them was sent home after breaking his leg and the other is gone all of the time on convoys. I declined every other time because I didn't what to get in trouble or "squatting". "Squatting" or "making a drug deal" is where someone resides in a room that they have not been assigned. This is usually done by tent dwellers, from my understanding. On the day I got here, there were people in the billeting office complaining about squatters and after that I felt it wasn't worth dealing with. Well, after these last few days I have decided that I don't care any more. The tents are not accommodating for night shifters and if there is an open bed, then by George I'm going to take it! So, long story short, after waking up in a puddle of sweat, I decided to grab my things and head over to my co-workers room. He is a day shifter, so he wasn't there, but I made myself at home anyway. It was nice and cool and quiet. I slept like a log. I look forward to going back after work and getting some more really good sleep.
My quest for a laptop is quickly coming to as close... hopefully. I have read a few reviews and most have actually had IBM and Toshiba at the top of the list. This surprised me because you never here about those brands when reading about desktops. It's usually about Dell or Alienware or something like that. I went into the BX two days ago and checked on the model of the IBM Thinkpad they had. Sadly, that was still the only laptop they had there. I won't complain too much after checking out the IBM specs online. While I don't know the exact specs of the laptop at the BX, I know now the range at which the specs are at for that particular model. Here are the specs:
1.73-2GHz processor
512-1GB RAM
128MB video card
40-80GB hard drive
That's pretty much all of the variable components that matter to me. There are a few other things that would be nice to have the upgrade on, but I'm not too worried about it. It does come stock with a CD burner/DVD drive and wireless network card, which is a plus. Obviously, the DVD player is a must for movies and such.
This being said, I will probably wait until Thursday to buy it, unless they get something better in. If I buy it before then, I won't really have any time to mess with it. Buying it Thursday before work allows me to mess with it during my low battle rhythm off time. Then I need to just wait for my kitten to send me some goodies for it and all will be happy. |
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| Day 24 - Sleeping vampires buy laptops? |
[Jul. 9th, 2006|03:01 am] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | ECP shack | ] |
| [ | mood |
| | I want a laptop | ] |
| [ | music |
| | N/A | ] |
Sleep is both a friend and an enemy. On Friday, I told myself that I would go straight back to my tent after work, sleep enough that I could consider it "sleeping in", then get up and do something with myself for a few hours before work. This, unfortunately, did not happen. The temptation to stay in bed and continue to sleep far more than I needed to was far too strong for my will power. I did absolutely nothing. Not one single thing that I had wanted to do got done. I have come up with several ways to alleviate this problem. The one I am attempting now is to just say screw sleep and stay up a little later throughout the week to do those things I want to do. If I happen to sleep all day on Friday, then I just catch up on sleep. If I get enough rest and still have time to do things, then all the better. I have been out here for three weeks and have done nothing but work and sleep. My mind would not be able to take much more of this. A few people here have said they chose to lose out on a little sleep in order to have some free time. I think it really is a mode of survival. Granted, I am pretty tired right now and I have yet another meeting to go to after work that will suck up more of my free time or sleep, but I'm willing to try it out for a few days.
I only started this "living arrangement" yesterday, so I have not accomplished a whole lot. I did, however, start Castlevania for the DS. It's starting off pretty good. I did have some trouble early on when I couldn't figure out where to go next. This was damn near the very beginning of the game and I was stuck. That made me a little upset, but I eventually figured it out. It really is the simplest things that we overlook when we have a problem.
Continuing on with the subject of electronics, I have been thinking a lot lately about getting a laptop. It would be nice to have something to write my ideas and stories on that either isn't a work computer or a computer that has a 30 minute time limit. Plus, it would give me something to watch a movie on or have all of my music from home burned onto a disc and sent over so I can expand my music library from the 200 I have on my iPod now to the thousands in my collection. The biggest problem I have encountered so far is dealing with what kind of laptop to get. As I have already stated, I only need it for movies, music and word processing, but I am tempted to get one good enough for games. This is a two-fold situation. Part of me wants to be able to play Final Fantasy XI Online while I am out here, but I know I don't really have the time and I want to accomplish more than that one thing while I'm out here. It would be nice to get on from time to time to say hi to everyone, though. So, back to my question. What type of laptop do I get? Should I just go for the cheapest one that can handle my "needs" or should I go for one that might cost me a bit more, but can handle my "wants". I honestly think that even the cheaper ones can handle FFXI, though. They do sell laptops here from time to time, but they are not the bigger named brands. They have an IBM Thinkpad right now and I have seen Toshibas in the past. I didn't even know Toshiba made computers. I am tempted to just order one from Dell or something and have Kelley ship it here with some DVDs, music and FFXI. =P
Onto another exciting happening in my otherwise very boring existence out here. Yesterday was our low battle rhythm, PT gear day. Knowing that my workspace was going to be a bit cold, I wore the pants and jacket that I purchased the other day. This is when I realized that I bought a size too large. I don't get the sizing on those things. My shorts are extra large and my shirt is a medium (though I think I would fit better in a large, but they don't have any). The pants and jacket I bought are both larges. I wasn't able to try them on first but I did the usual thing where you hold it up in front of you and judge from there. They seemed fine, though it was evident that they were not fine when I put it on and looked like a big blue marshmallow. I was concerned as to whether or not the store would let me exchange them, but things turned out well today. I was able to exchange them for mediums, which I have not had time to try on yet. If they turn out to be too small, I am going to freak out.
And one last quick note. I was talking with this Lieutenant today and mentioned that I didn't get too much sleep today because of people coming in and out of the tent all day. She told me that she thought it wasn't fair to have a night shifter in a tent full of day shifters, so she said she would work on getting me out of the tents and into a house. I am not going to put my hopes up too much, but this would be pretty friggin' cool. With any luck, I will get some kind of word back soon. |
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| Day 22 - The Extras |
[Jul. 7th, 2006|12:58 am] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | ECP shack | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  Want to write something | ] |
| [ | music |
| | N/A | ] |
I understand that it has only been about an hour since my last post, but I thought of some other stuff to say.
I had realized that I have been putting ECP shack as my location for the last couple posts with no explanation. This may not be that important or interesting, but it can lead to further understanding of what I do here. ECP or Entry Control Point duty is where one person sits in a small room, or a shack as I like to call it, and makes sure that everyone going into my work building is authorized. That is not what is important about this duty, though. What is important is that it gives me an hour to an hour and a half to mess around on the computer or call people back home. ECP duty on night shift requires nothing, but a body in a chair. Thus, allowing me to do as I do.
Additionally, with the time that I have on this ECP duty along with some extra time before or after work, I have been reading this webcomic called MegaTokyo. I am not too far into it yet, but I am enjoying it just the same. This has really inspired me, a little bit more than I already was, to write my own webcomic. I have a few ideas in the works now. I think I just need to pick one and run with it. I may just get something started with the little bit of extra time I have today. Yay me! |
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| Day 21 - Looking up and down |
[Jul. 6th, 2006|11:42 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | ECP shack | ] |
| [ | mood |
| | Less work, more play | ] |
| [ | music |
| | N/A | ] |
Not too much has happened over the last day or so, though this should be no surprise to anybody.
I did manage to talk to my supervisor about the mix up with my in-theater date. As I expected, he thought it was pointless to argue over a day, but he did say he would check on it. More importantly, though, he said that most people leave well before their 179 day mark, so it didn't really matter when it came down to a day or so. This being said, my day count has jumped forward a day. I figure I may as well count my actual days out here.
Tomorrow is our normal low battle rhythm Friday. Yay for more sleep. We are allowed to where our PT uniform to work on those days. I have done so on several occasions, but chose not to on the 4th. This is because I only had the shirt and shorts and it's too cold in the office to wear just that. Today, before work, I picked up the pants and jacket. Beside the fact that the sizing on the uniforms are completely off, creating much confusion when purchasing, the prices are outrageous. It wasn't too bad when I bought the shirt and shorts, but the pants and jacket are ridiculous. It was probably around $90 for the both of them. That is far too much money for that ugly looking crap. Either way, I bought it and can now be warm on Fridays.
I am really starting to look forward to moving into a house. I am getting so fed up with the water temperature in the showers. I can never take a nice warm shower. It's either cold or scolding hot. More often being the latter. It does make showers really quick, though, leaving time for more important things.
On a lighter note, I have come to enjoy one of the small pasttimes we have here at work. Disposing of classified material. Back home, the process was by shredding it into tiny little rectangles. Here, we burn it. Yay for fun with fire. There is a metal trashcan just outside our office that we use. We fill the can up with the crumpled classified and light it on fire. Once it's burning, we through the rest of the paper in, followed by empty water bottles and CDs. The CDs melt, which is pretty cool, but there is no comparison to watching the water bottles pop like fireworks. We threw about two dozen bottles in at one time last night and watched the show. The beginning was kind of weak, but the finale was great... It's kind of sad what we do here for fun. |
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| Day 19 - A lot of sleep and a day later |
[Jul. 5th, 2006|02:46 am] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | ECP shack | ] |
| [ | mood |
| | I like sleep | ] |
| [ | music |
| | N/A | ] |
The 4th of July has come and gone. They had some huge shindig here, but I opted out. The holiday was another low battle rhythm day, so I got off work at 6:30am and didn't have to go back until midnight. I used that opportunity to catch up on some much needed sleep. I really didn't get too much done beyond that. I had bought a few magazines earlier that day and spent some time before I went to sleep to read through those.
I didn't have to go to that meeting the other day which was great. I used that time to call Kelley and grab some food before heading back to my tent. This is where things went bad. The A/C had been turned off in the tents for whatever reason and there was no one in sight to inquire as to when it would be back on. The tent was far too hot to stand in for more than a few minutes, let alone sleep in. After waiting for a few hours, I decided to crash in the common area of the house located near the tents. A common area is usually just the living room of the safe house. This is where anyone can come and hang out. So I plopped myself down on the couch, turned on my iPod and eventually fell asleep. Other than the fact that I could only get a few hours of sleep, it was also not very good sleep. This was attributed to the couch being made of leather. I am not a particularly huge fan of leather couches. I don't mind leather car seats and the like, but leather couches just don't do it for me. Even though the room was pretty cool, I still managed to sweat causing my to stick to the couch. Not cool. Here is the best part. To add insult to injury, the A/C kicked back on while I was on my way out after changing for work.
There was something I realized earlier today that upsets me a little. My deployment is 179 days from the point I set foot in the middle east. So my 179 days started when I landed in Turkey. Unfortunately, while in-processing here, I had written down the date that I had landed in Manas instead of Turkey. This is a day later. Meaning that I will leave here a day later. While it is only a day, that is still a day sooner that I could be back with my wife and family and friends. At this point, I don't know if it is even feasible to change that date. I will have to ask around and hopefully people won't look at me like I am an idiot. They may not, though. If I hit 180 days out here, I believe that makes this a short tour. That means I get paid extra, plus I get more ribbons and such. I don't know what will happen, but I will see what I can do. |
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