Defiantone.com

I had a choice to make. I could root for the first team that could go undefeated or I could root for the underdog. I could root for a team in a conference and division that I didn’t really care about or I could root for a team in the conference that I watch the most. I could root for the team that everyone thought would easily win or I could root for the team that beat the Packers.

I chose the Giants - and it appears that I made a wise decision.

I missed watching large portions of the game due to work - yes, it happens. I was quite glad that the game was so close. More than anything else I wanted to watch a good game. There is nothing worse than watching a blowout. The last few minutes of the game were great - it reminded me of watching the Giants vs. Green Bay a few weeks ago - it was one of those endings that just got your heart racing.

Ok - its a shame that the Patriots couldn’t rewrite the record books. If they were in my conference, or playing against the Packers, I would have gladly cheered for them. Unfortunately, they were playing underdogs - and underdogs always know how much it takes to win.

I meant to spent my evening doing something for the greater good but the water shortage deterred me doing it. I had intended to spend a few hours at the hospital doing whatever they needed to do - I didn’t want to go over there smelling like I do. Its been a few days since I’ve last showered and I’m starting to smell myself. I’m sure everyone else can smell me too.

If was in the comic strip Peanuts I would probably walking around with a dusty stink cloud around me. Then again, I think there are quite a few of us in the same situation.

This post hasn’t been made without some extreme effort. Yesterday, a schmuck accidentally cut a few fiber optic cables north of Egypt. I can’t say for sure that our internet is routed through those cables but the timing of our EXTREME connectivity problems is a bit dubious. Yesterday it took me over 20 minutes to get into my email. It was dreadfully slow - things have picked up a bit as the signals get rerouted but its a tedious experience. It reminds me of the days when I was rocking the 56k modem. Its a shame that most websites (including mine) are designed for people with some sort of broadband connection.

I don’t have much else planned for my day off - I think I’ll go watch a movie that I’ve already seen and read some more of my book. If I get really froggy I might go back to the gym for another hour or so - it gives me something productive to do and I feel better about myself after I’m done. Its my primary method of relaxing - yes - working out calms me down.

I feel like writing something while knowing full well that I have little to share. I’ve mentioned almost everything of note in previous posts and there is very little that you don’t know about my experience while I am in Iraq. I still feel the need to post - but only time will tell what actually pops out of my head and ends up in this post.

I only work twelve hour days, six days a week. The work schedule really doesn’t bother me because I came here to work and it gives me a great feeling of accomplishment when my job makes a difference. Unfortunately for our foes, the difference it makes renders their skin unable to hold their body together as god intended.

When I’m not at work I have a few choices on how to spend my time. On work days I go through the same schedule: Wake, shave, gym, study, shower, eat, work, eat, work, eat, work, sleep. On my off days I have a few different choices because there are movies, games, video games, the gym, books, and volunteer work to keep me busy. The last two weeks I’ve done almost nothing productive save for reading a few hundred pages in a book. This week I think I’ll go to the (Iraq) Theater Hospital and do whatever they need me to do. Some people are thrown off my medical treatment - I’m not sure how I’m going to take it. I’ll probably only volunteer from six to midnight and then goof off the rest of the time but its better than doing nothing.

I have a book on the way that should prepare me to take one of my two final classes for my associates degree. I’m in need of a humanities class so I’m going to study world religion and take a DANTES test. I passed my last CLEP test without studying my I’m not so sure I could pass this one without reading up on it. I found a book for $6 on Amazon so I think its a fairly decent proposal - spend a few sheckels on a book, study it, and take a test. It sure beats going to a class for a few months.

I changed the header on my web page (notice the mountains are gone) to a picture I took from the office a few days ago before I left for home. Its strange to have a clear shot of the sun coming up when you get used to the mountains blocking the early morning sunlight.

Work has been sporadic but its enough to keep me from going insane. The filters at work block out most of the internet so I spend some of my free time reading the news. There is only so much going on at one time so it tends to wear out quickly. I took a few pictures of the bay (look below)

Here is a photo of us doing what we do best - building things that make loud noises and send chunks of steel flying at high velocities. Serj Tankian would say that we are building the components needed for death showers. Well, he isn’t far from the truth.

This is why we do it

We haven’t got all of our people in for this rotation but I do have a few friends here. One of the people here was a classmate when I was in tech school. I haven’t seen her in almost 6 years so its kinda cool to talk to her. The other guy I know I met at AFCOMAC so its not like I don’t know anyone here. Its nice to be in this environment because we all bond quickly so its not like we don’t have any friends out here.

Leaving her behind was one of the hardest things I’ve done in years. We left for the airport early this morning and quickly found out that my original flight plan was not going to work. Instead of flying through Denver to get to Baltimore we flew direct to Dulles and took a cab to Baltimore (where our hotel is). Travel wise it worked out fairly well and we ended up leaving 20 minutes after our originally scheduled flight departed. The other option was to wait around till 2PM - the other guys wanted to get to our destination and waiting to leave can really tug on your heart. Sometimes its just better to get it over with - leaving sucks, being gone still sucks but you can avoid thinking about it.

So - here I am in Baltimore on New Years Eve and I have nothing to do. I could go out and buy beer but I’d end up drinking alone - then again, if I went to a bar I’d still end up drinking alone. Oh well, such is my life.

Everything must go - its got to get into a box of some sort - nothing can be left behind. I’ve taken my life with me but I always leave something behind. This time around I’m leaving boxes and furniture but there is something more that I am leaving behind. This time, I’m leaving behind people that I care about.

Today we’re moving almost everything out of my apartment into a storage unit. Its going to be a long day (one that will probably be fraught with frustration). I’ve got to go to work this morning to get the last of my paperwork and to pick up a few extra items. While out, we’ve also got to get our hands on a hand cart, a tarp, some bungees, and Jessica’s paycheck (she has a few last minute gifts to purchase). On top of all of that, we’re moving everything using the worlds smallest and slowest elevators. Luckily, they can lock the elevator down and I know that since I got it all in the apartment that I can probably get it out without much trouble.

I’ve only got 10 days left before I fly out - hardly enough time to get this done and spend some time with the people that matter.

I will be back - its only a 4 months (or so… it is the military) - and I can spend time with the people that matter the most to me.

Well, as I’ve mentioned, I’m scheduled to depart for my four months in Iraq and I finally have a date when I’m leaving - Jan 1. I still have quite a bit to do so I can take care of all of my personal affairs but I think I’ve got almost everything else wrapped up at work. I’ve got some training records to take care of this evening or tomorrow but I’m not sure when I’ll have a chance to do it. Odds are, I’ll have to give up doing something that I might enjoy so that I can finish my work.

I’m planning on snowboarding tomorrow - pending a check on the snow reports. Jessica is off to attend a wedding so I’m taking advantage of my free time to go while I have a chance.

Leaving here is going to suck but I need a break from my regular job. I tend to last for about a year in a particular location before I need to deploy for a while, take a vacation, or just change work sections. I definitely want to come back to maintenance but some people have been scheming to put me in Munitions Control when I return. I’d rather shoot myself in the face.

Why is it that people that do a good job always tend to get screwed while the worthless ones get nothing. Today, for example, one of our resident idiots wasted an entire day away. We tend to give him menial tasks because he is completely incompetent. Keep in mind that he has the same rank that I do and that he has been in for about five more years. We gave him the task at about 10AM and he told me that I had more work to do at about 1430 when I came back from what I was doing. I started on the rest of the work for the day (knowing full well he would skate out at the earliest opportunity because he was too worthless to even help) at about 1500. I enlisted the help of everyone else in the shop and we all left at about 1645. Who knows what time he left but I don’t think he finished the menial task we gave him. What a worthless piece of shit.

It doesn’t help he tends to fuck up on anything we might give him - I’ve got troops with less than a year on station that I would trust more than I might trust him.

Ok… back from the bunny trail

I’m not sure if I am going to get the uniforms I need on time by the time I am scheduled to deploy. I told my deployment manager that I would show up in my BDU’s (greens) in the desert if all else failed. I’m sure they would see the error in their ways and get me what I needed immediately. Its a shame that we can’t get the stuff on hand before I actually leave. Can you imagine how funny I would look when everyone else is wearing some brand of desert pattern and I am rocking the woodland?

I’m not looking forward to the bag drag - I think I’ll be carrying 4 bags - and after I get the required gear I’ll have to carry two additional bags - for the remainder of the necessities (clothing, towels, boots, etc.) Its a shame I can’t check a hand cart in my luggage and use it on the other end. If I had a few bungee straps it would work like a champ.

Ok… this has been a bit of rant - haven’t had one of those in a while - I guess you can tell how my Friday has been

Work is winding down while winding up for me at the same time. You might wonder what the heck I could be talking about. Well, I finished the last shift at my part time job last night but I’ve still got a few weeks left here. We’ve got an inspection the second week of January (which I’ll conveniently miss) that needs my help with preparation. I’ve got most of my programs taken care of, save for the biggest one, so I’m almost up to date on that front. The only thing thats slowing me down right now is all of the training classes I need to take before I leave. I’ve finished most of my online training but I’ve got a three day class that starts today and I’ve got a two day class and another one day class to finish before I leave.

Now it comes down to how good I am at scheduling my work so I get it finished in time. Lets hope I do a decent job.

The first phone call of the day is rarely a good one and today was no exception. During the course of the night someone smashed through my passenger window and removed my car stereo. They messed up part of the dash and put scratches throughout my car. The perpetrators left the trunk open all night (they took the sub woofer) so most of my car got rained on (and in) all night long. Luckily for me my insurance company has been great about the whole thing so I’ve already got a new window and the rest of it is already in the works. I spent most of the day trying to get the ball rolling on it all and I have a feeling this is going to take another day or two of time. I want to kneecap the schmuck that stole my stuff - I want to waste his time like he wasted my time.

Its so hard to stay conveniently occupied and entertained and keep money in the bank account. As it stands now I’m on the edge of broke; but, I’m not completely broke so I still have a little bit of breathing room. The new job is going to help out a bunch and I may catch an extra couple of shifts much to the chagrin of Jessica. I need this money and I need to get ahead of things. If I work as little as 20 hours a week I’ll net a few hundred extra a month and it gets me out of hot water immediately. I’m not late on anything right now but if I went another month this way I’d be forced to start doing something drastic like selling plasma or becoming a male prostitute. I really don’t want to become a male prostitute for a few reasons (who else has time to think this out? ) - the clientèle I would draw would be much like the women that Rob Schneider attracted in Deuce Biggalo, the STD’s would be a huge drawback, the military would probably imprison me for trying (thus exacerbating the lack of income), and it would drive Jessica away (again, another bad thing). I could start selling my plasma to make a few bucks here and there but it freakin hurts. I had a friend in HS whose sole source of income was from the plasma he harvested from his body. I’m waiting to go to the desert because I can stop paying for a two giant money killers: rent and food. Both are paid for in the desert and I can take that cash and throw it on a bill. Hopefully, I’ll be down one credit card by the time I get back. If I’m good I’ll be able to get one partially gone before I leave.

It sucks being broke but its nobody’s fault but my own. I’m stupid for doing it and I hope to hell I’ll figure out how dumb I’ve been and never repeat my mistake.

Boredom is synonymous with a lack of creativity and lack of cash flow. There are very few things I can do that take absolutely no money. Think about it - if you want to go somewhere you’ve got to drive and use gas - even if you spend nothing while there you’re out the gas. Unfortunately if you’re gone for long enough you’ll need to bring some food. Sure, you’ve got some stuff in your house that you can bring with you but thats the stuff you bought for lunches during the week. The other option is to eat on the road and spend cash that you didn’t want to spend in the first place.

So, if you’ve got some extremely low cost ideas on how to spend your off duty time let me know - you can only watch TV and goof around on the internet so much - both of which cost money - before you’ve run the gamut and need to find something else to do.

Gee - this was quite a long rambling post - it saved me from boredom for a few minutes but its a solo activity and left out somebody thats sitting on the couch begging for my attention