When the Smoke Clears

FADE IN:
INT. BARRACKS ROOM – AFTERNOON
Sitting on his bed, RSM works on some basic paperwork for the next day’s training. Across from him in a chair sits Roommate, intently staring at his laptop screen, headphones on.
ROOMMATE
Dang it!
RSM
What’s up?
ROOMMATE
(pulling off his headphones)
I hate that crap.
RSM
Okay… wanna explain so I can be sure I don’t do it?
ROOMMATE
It’s [...]

One of my soldier’s fathers called me the other day. He was concerned about choices his son was making. It’s happened before in my life, but this is fairly new to me in my official capacity.
I remember him well. He showed up with his son to our last drill, a weekend for families to [...]

Dude, I have a bracelet, too.
Update: Actually, I USED to have a bracelet. It was for Captain Thomas R. Allen, USAF pilot, MIA in Viet Nam 1967, March 23. All that is from memory. I didn’t have to look at my wrist. I lost the bracelet on a dive 17 years ago. I haven’t [...]

y’all do it to me… at least it’s the short version

If you touch me, well I just think I’ll scream
‘Cause it’s been so long since someone challenged me
and made me think about the way things are;
made me think about the way they could be.

Touch Me, I’m Going To Scream, [...]

Flat on the table, feet towards the big, magneto donut.

(Cute) CT Tech: So you’re belly’s hurting?
Me: Sort of…
CT Tech: What’s going on?
Me: Pain in lower left abdominal quadrant, primarily hypogastric, some point tenderness, notable rebound tenderness, absence of bowel sounds left inguinal, low-grade fever.
CT Tech: …
Me: you’ll probably find going AC easier for that arm. [...]

Walking up to the training area I heard the yelling. Lots of it. There is a purpose even if outsiders think it’s cruel. It’s not.
Among that cacophony, that chaos, I heard a voice calling out for another trainee to retie the knots, redo his own work and do it right this time. Then I [...]

Our eyes stayed down, looking within the confines of our trays, but we still had to look around, steal a glance once in a while. I looked up at the same time across from me a big corn-fed boy tried to check out the scene. It was our first meal after having been taken to [...]

Had a little procedure done today, just some out-patient surgery, partly tests, and a few other things.
Overall a very nice experience, but MAN do I WISH I could get some of those drugs more often.
The IV was set. Everything was doing fine. I was messing around with my anesthetist on the heart monitor. I wanted [...]

Just a few things I’ve noticed:

Homemade pie dough needs vodka as well as water. The vodka keeps the gluten in the dough from getting too springy and makes a more tender crust.
For your guests, tomato sauces need just a little bit of sugar. It greatly reduces the acidic effects on digestion.
Sometimes the [...]

One of my friends, newly back from Iraq, was there for the last couple of weeks of his grandmother’s life as she let go. I inadvertently became a part of that scene when I picked him up from the airport and drove him across the state to see her.
Another friend, Leslie, is going through a [...]

The order of the day at an accelerated Officer Candidate School is utter chaos. Confuse, humiliate, exhaust, apply as much pressure as possible. They can’t shoot at us, so to measure how we will be under pressure, they do everything else they can.
Attention to detail is the key. Every flippin’ little detail. Everything you [...]

There are moments of friendship that keep us going, friendships based on laughter born of goodwill.
About the only thing going well in my life right at the moment is my military life, but even that just hit a minor snag. So the sudden, forced presence of two friends for lunch yesterday came at a great [...]

Explain to me
how that happened
How I lost that time with you
Those things we were to someday do
My mind cannot grasp
the pieces of the puzzle
But my heart is ready
for the cold logic
Even that will warm it
For now.

Waking up flat on my back this morning, taking up almost all the bed, wearing a tshirt I haven’t worn in years, two steadily warming cold packs on my foot, several cuts on my toes and a few dirty dishes on the floor by the door. The last thing I remember is writing a letter. [...]

Links: Total kick-a$$ adventurer’s jacket. Way too expensive and the government will be providing me with my own similar jacket/vest in the near future… with fancy groin protection. Too bad I won’t look this badass in it if the jacket ever came my way…

So I’m a daydreamer? maybe it’s just a rough day.
Your result [...]