DAY 81 / FEB 18

DAY 81 / FEB 18

 

Nothing new today.  The showers are still broken.

 

I didn't have to go to a meeting today, so it was a nice, quiet day – which translates to a boring day.  But, what can you do?

 

In response to, "why don't I make a difference"?  Well, there isn't a lot to make a difference with, here on the FOB.   I'm sure that outside the fence, there is plenty to do, but my daily job doesn't take me there.  On the FOB, its not like I can mentor an Iraqi kid, or even really deal with them at all.   The best I can do is search out my troops and make sure that they are taken care of. 

 

And, now that you mention good ole Google Earth (you being the collective consciousness that reads this – why?   For fun?, out of boredom?, curiosity?):  GE (as its know in the "in" crowd) has all sorts of new additions from its original "satellite pictures of the world."   Now you can find Geocaches in GE (see previous post, much previous), you can see where other people have marked airplanes in flight, F16s on a flightline, Apache helicopters patrolling the deserts of Iraq.   You can see FOBs being built.  You can also gape in wonder at the sheer quantity of nuclear tests that have been conducted in the US (southwest of Area 51) that have left numerous craters in the desert.   I've seen meteorite impacts in Africa, the little itty bitty island off the coast of Alaska that is only two miles from another itty bitty island that is part of Russia (and thought maybe it'd be interesting to visit).   People have taken other aerial photos and superimposed them over the correct areas in Google Earth (if you download the right file – very easy to do) so you can see what NYC looked like before, during and after the 9/11 attacks.   I also discovered what I would call a "glitch" in GE.  First change the angle so that your point of view is as parallel to the Earths surface as possible and then zoom in on something as close as possible.   Then, only using the zoom scale, you zoom all the way out to where you are in space.  Then, you zoom all the way back in, without stopping.   As you get closer, at an angle, the view will change to a directly downward view.  Once that happens, you have "flipped" the earth and at that point you can fly around the world like in regular GE, but everything will be upside down – your point of view is upside down.   The earth is on the top of the screen and the sky below.  It's strange.  At first I thought I'd broken it.   But, I discovered that in order to fix it, all you have to do is unzoom all the way back out and then come back in.  Everything turns rightside up again.   Is this useful or in any way worthwhile?  No, not really.  But its there.

 

Today I also received some Valentines Day cards and letters from children in a school in California.  Children are funny.   The letters were about what I'd expect from a 7^th grader, full of questions, and well wishes.  But the best one was from a girl named Rocky in Manteca who asked, "Have you gotten shot yet?   If you have I am sorry,"  and, "Is it fun to be in a war or is it dangerous?" followed immediately by, "Oh yeah, just to let you know I am a girl not a boy."   The way that these thoughts are intermingled was interesting.  I responded to her questions as best I could, saying that No, I haven't been shot (I left out "yet"), and that no, its not fun and IS dangerous.   Her well-wishes were also phrased in a peculiar manner, "Well good luck in staying alive."  I suppose I should take all the good luck I can get!

 

So, that was my day.  I also managed a call of two to my wife and also some IM and maybe a little video chat here or there as well.  I again tried to call my two kids in Washington, but they were apparently "at a friend's house."   I think that's BS because I heard my daughter in the background, but its not like I can reach through the phone and take care of it.  First she says, (in whiny little bitchy voice), "Oh, he can call anytime…" and then its, "But not on Sundays" (when I HAD been calling), and now the kids are "at a friends house" on Saturday.   Hmmm, I think maybe its time to go back to "call anytime" and make the calls when its convenient for me.