Back up on my soapbox

I am a supporter of the death penalty.  So don't get me wrong when I go off on the media coverage of the execution of Saddam Hussein. 

My beef is this;  the difference between seeing people blown away, eaten by sharks, and sawed into little bits and pieces in the movies and seeing someone about to die for real on screen, big or little, is the emotion that humans feel.   I feel that Hussein deserved to die for his crimes.  I also feel that the U.S. is doing the death penalty a huge injustice by 1) delaying a death sentence for 6,10, or 20 years before carrying it out and 2) not allowing the general public to view it.    Then I turned on today's news. 

While the broadcasts I have seen stop short of actually showing Hussein hanging, MSNBC shows everything up until that exact moment.  That is some serious shit.  Then MSNBC gives a warning that they are about to show a picture of a dead Hussein and if you don't want to see it, look away.  The picture of him dead was NOTHING compared to the video of him about to die.  The warning should come before the process of the execution, not before the picture of a dead guy.  My reaction was definitely from the pre-execution and to a human being about to loose their life.  The picture of him dead was nothing.  If I, a proponent of the death penalty, had this reaction, then chances are this is going to play on the emotions of some of the American public who are going to turn around and say that he shouldn't have been executed.  Unable to separate feeling bad for a person who is about to die from the fact that they deserved it.  

I asked myself if I would have felt differently if it wasn't a hanging, but lethal injection.  I don't know for sure, but I think I might have.  Maybe because lethal injection sort of has the feel of a medical procedure rather than an execution.  If he was put to death via Guillotine, I would have probably felt the same as I did about the hanging.  Just seems barbaric.  I suppose that is the point though, right?  That is probably one of the reasons why the death pentaly in the U.S. isn't a deterrent.  

It's a tough call, I guess.  But in the mean time, how about if the U.S. started public caning?  Talk about a deterrent!  Hoo ah!

Scrubs, whales and Scrubs again

I am watching Scrubs again.  The best show on TV.  It reruns on TBS and I didn't watch it when it first came out so now it's all new to me.  But more about Scrubs later... A commercial came on just now that was for one of those new cell phones.  It had two people floating under the ocean and they were talking about the phone.  Then a woman floats up to them and says "nice phone" and this big honkin' whale swims down on her from above and eats her!  It completely freaked me out.  That was one f**ked up commerical.  I may have nightmares.

Back to Scrubs.  Best show on TV.  Yesterday I was watching an episode and Dr. Dorian (Zach Braff) was trying to diagnose a patient and he comes up with this diagnosis that is a remote disease that only people in the Congo get and has been eradicated since the late 18th century or something like that.  Dr. Cox's character starts on one of his truly priceless tirades about Dr. Dorian "looking for zebra's".  It was hysterical.  What made it even funnier was that when my brother was in medical school he told me a story about exactly that.  Med students, who have only learned enough to be dangerous, that come up with these remote diagnoses for people who have something simple and common.  But they are so eager to save the world and see something they learned about that they will look for "zebras" in a field of horses.

Reading it over, I realize that it looses a little something in the relay of the story.  But I don't care.  My blog.  Neener neener.

Goin' to the chapel...yo

Not me of course.  I would never go to the chapel for the purpose of getting married.  However, my oldest friend, Cindi, sure did.   I just returned from her wedding in NY.  It was really amazing.  A wedding right out of "The Sopranos".   Aside from the fact that the wedding took place on the first night of Hanukkah and was a full Catholic Mass ceremony which was ironic only to my Jewish ass, it was truly something wonderful.  For several reasons...

To begin with, I was a first time bridesmaid.  All kinds of cool stuff comes along with that.  We get to wear really beautiful dresses (although I am told that we lucked out and that most bridesmaid dresses are these lacy, poofy, taffeta numbers that no person who isn't a pre-op transexual would be caught dead in), we get to ride in the limo, just us girls and the bride!  Although the limo, in this case, was a stretch Ford Explorer, and we get to sit in the 'bride room' during the cocktail hour portion of the reception and get fed and liquored up by a private wait staff.  I tanked on Shirley Temple's.  Bring on the grenadene and marachino cherries!

If I forgot someone's name during the course of the week, all i had to do was shout out "Joey" "Tony" "Anthony" "Johnny" or "Bruno" and I was bound to be right.  Italian Catholic wedding.  Being that the wedding took place in my home town in NY, i found myself wondering on many occasions if I ever sounded like that when I spoke?  Ay yo. Yo ay.  I was laughing most of the time which was really great, and when I wasn't laughing, I was scarfing on the best Italian food in life. 

Overall the trip was a great success.  I suppose that this means I need to learn how to spell Cindi's new last name.  It's some Italian number that starts with an "M" and ends with an "i".  You'd think that since her and her now husband have been together for almost 8 years that I would have tried to figure that part out sooner.  Who knew?

Here are some pictures! 

Better get used to it.

About two entries or so ago, I had mentioned that I would be moving in less than a year.  It's the normal rotation of most officers in the military.  Three years then it's off to a new place.  There are lots of officers who don't like that very much because they have families, kids, whatever.  I, on the other hand, love the idea of moving every three years.  I get to go and see new places, experience new things, meet new people, etc.  What's even better is I have no family to 'uproot'.  Just me and my dog and she doesn't really care where we are as long as I am with her and bring food.  I was really looking forward to my next move. 

Now, however, the military has decided it was too expensive to move people every three years and has extended all orders to four years.  I was so disappointed.  As I have mentioned several times before, it's not bad here in Shreveport Bossier,  but i was looking forward to going someplace new next year, and now I am not going anywhere until the fall of 2008.  Two full years from now.  I am sure I will get over it, but in the meantime, I am just going to whine about it,  and maybe upgrade my counter tops to granite.

"...the Great Pumpkin rises out of the pumkin patch..."

I carved my very first pumpkin tonight!  WOO HOO!  I did good too! 

I remember pumpkin carving as a young child.  My dad carved the worlds greatest pumpkins.  In upstate NY, not long after apple season, was pumpkin season.  Each year in late September we would go to the apple orchards, pick what seemed like a hundred apples, bring them home, peel 'em up, and my father would make the worlds best apple pies with us from scratch.  Then, usually about the 2nd week of October, we would go to the pumpkin patches and dad would let each of us three kids pick out a pumpkin for ourselves, (as big as we wanted as long as we could carry our own), bring 'em home and he would carve a pumkin for each of us.  He would carve whatever face we asked him to.  Happy faces, scary faces, funny faces, crooked faces, whatever we wanted.  He would do it and they would be the best pumpkins on the entire block.  Dad rocked.  He was the worlds best pumpkin carver.  Did I say that already?

So each year since I have lived on my own (18 years now) I have said to myself, "This is it, this year I am going to buy a pumpkin and carve one myself!"  About 6 or 7 years ago, I even went so far as to buy one of those little pumpkin carving kits with the patterns you can use to carve and the little pumpkin carving knives in it.  Cute little kit.  But I never actually bought the pumpkin.  Well this was finally my year.  Maybe it was finally living in a part of the county that gets cool in the fall again.  Maybe it was because I can go outside here and smell Halloween in the air (something I am convinced that only a true northerner can relate to).  Who knows.  But I bought me a pumpkin.  And tonight, after having it sit on my counter for a week, I dug through my drawers, found my little pumpkin carving kit, picked out a cool witch pattern and carved my pumpkin!

I have a whole new respect for my dad.  First of all, scooping pumpkin glop from the center of a pumpkin didn't bother me nearly as much as a kid as it did tonight.  I swear I remember it coming out in one clean batch as a kid.  I know 18 years isn't quite enough for pumpkin evolution to have taken it's toll, so I must have blocked it out.  I also know that there isn't a chance in hell that i had anything to do with the actual carving part.  My wrists will never bethe same.  And i can do 50 pushups!!! By the time I was done mangling this pumpkin to within an inch of it's life, i was covered in pumpkin gloop, seeds, and underneath my nails was orange.    But damn.  It was worth it.  I did a pretty bang up job (that took every minute of two hours).  I got the seeds roasting in the oven and a candle burning in the center.  I love Halloween. 

I know I will go to bed tonight hoping that the Great Pumpkin will rise up out of the pumpkin patch and pick my pumpkin as the best pumpkin on the block. 

It's been awhile...

Wow, has it really been since mid Aug that I last updated this journal?  My bad. 

I just got back from a run.  The weather here has finally cooled off some and i can run outside again without eating a million mosquitoes.  Life is good.  Admittedly, I slacked off for a while on the workouts. I was maybe running once a week.  I get fat really quickly when I am not exercising every single day.  Of course, when one is only 4' 9" tall, the fat really has no place to go and the whole world can tell when you gain 5 pounds.   To make matters worse, I just went to get fitted for my bridesmaid dress for my friend, Cindi's wedding, which is coming up in December, and my dress is a size 10.  A freaking TEN!  I was mortified. The woman at the dress place said that you can't use that as a guide because wedding and bridesmaid dresses are sized differently than other clothes.  Whatever.  All my other clothes are either a 4 or a 6. Even a six is unacceptable for someone of my size, i realize, but I am realistic. A loose 4 would make me happy.  So, far be it for me to bitch and not do anything about it, I will bitch and work out.   Life is good again.  The good news is that I loose weight as quickly as I gain it as long as i am working out every day.

I started my new rotation at work this past Monday.  It was hard to leave the flight I had grown to know and love, but it's part of my career.  I have to rotate as a career requirement.  Over the next 2 years, i will rotate two more times at least.  I am the Group Practice Manager now and I think I am going to enjoy it once I learn the in's and out's of the job.  I am looking forward to the change and, at worst, I am only there for another year before I am scheduled to move to another base. 

I love the idea of moving to a new place.  It's not that I don't love my home, and this town, although painfully tiny, has grown on me a bit.  But I love going to new places!  A year will be over before I know it.  Life is good.

Double *grrrr*

I am on the phone with my brother this evening, and I was asking him if he ever knew anyone who has ever bought a car using Ebaymotors.  He asked me why? I told him the story of my car drama.  During the conversation, I was sharing with him the little things that frustrated me about my Toyota that I mentioned in my last entry.  Including the fact that I can't open the trunk from the inside of the car.  He stopped me and said that he had never heard of that.  I told him I know and that is one of the reasons why it irked me.  You should be able to open the trunk from the inside.  He said have you looked for the switch inside the glove compartment?  Glove compartment?  Why in God's name would I look for the trunk switch in the glove compartment?  Every car I have owned has had the trunk switch near the gas cap switch on the floor by the drivers side seat.  So, with him on the phone, I went out to my car, with dread in my heart, as my typical M.O. crept into the forefront of my mind and opened up the glove compartment...

I was happy to see, at first, there were no obvious buttons or switches that looked like, or were labeled, "trunk" but I felt around anyway and as my fingers passed over the little black button my head fell down into my chest.  I pressed the button which was answered with a simple "pop" as the trunk opened.  "Son of a..." I exclaim as I hear the first vestiges of what was going to be a full four minutes of laughter out of my brother.  Admittedly, I laughed pretty darn hard myself.  Mostly out of embarrassment as I recalled a very similar story involving me, my lawn mower and it's "primer" button that i didn't know existed.  But also out of sweet relief that I now know something new about my car that will certainly make my life easier when I travel!

Thanks, Chuck, for making my life easier and not making me feel TOO foolish about it!

Grrrrr!

Almost everyone who knows me learns very quickly how I feel about my car.  I love my car.  I have a Toyota Solara convertible.  I love convertibles and I have always had good luck with Toyota's so it was only fitting that my upgrade vehicle would be a Toyota convertible.  It's a Camry so it's got a very nice, large back seat and is more luxurious than the other cars in it's class, but it's not the Audi or the Saab.  No matter, though,  it's a convertible and it's mine.  I have had the car for three years now and have been happy with it. 

However, over the past two weeks i have gone from loving my car to hating my car.  Since I had the car, there have been a few little things that have bothered me, but nothing that i found bothersome enough to dislike the car.  Things like the fact that you can't open the trunk without the key.  There is no trunk opener inside the car so the car not only has to be parked but turned off so you can open the trunk with the button on the key chain.  I didn't find this out until the first time I went to the airport and they made me "pop the trunk".  It was all this drama because the trunk doesn't open from the inside of the car.  Still, not a really big deal and when i travel, i have gotten used to turning off the engine so i can open the trunk.  The other thing is the remote entry key itself.  The button to unlock/lock the doors is positioned in such a way on the remote that when you press it, your other finger triggers the alarm button that is on the back of the remote.  It takes some fancy finger work not to set off the alarm every time i lock/unlock the door.  Again, not bothersome enough to dislike the car.  I just worked around it. 

Then, there is this issue i have with the car pulling to the left after i get over 35 mph.  I have brought the car in 6 times, at least, just for the pulling alone.  They would "fix" it and i would be on my way, only to have the problem return the next day.  I finally stopped bringing it in, but I know that has to be part of the reason i am on my third set of tires.  Still love the car, but getting frustrated...

The last straw has been the convertible top itself.  I had to get a new top 2 days after i bought the car because it was not aligned right.  I would open the top and it would catch and bend before it opened.  They replaced the top and, although most of the time it was working fine, it's been happening more and more lately.  Well last week, the back window on the convertible top fell out.  It literally FELL OUT.  And it happened at the most inopportune time.  The night before i was supposed to fly out for another TDY.  So I had no time to go to the dealership to get it fixed.  I had to take the car to the airport on the interstate with it pulling to the left, stop the car and turn off the engine to "pop the trunk" when i got to the airport, and tape the damn rear window back into the convertible top like i live in a trailer park and pray it didn't rain during the next two weeks that i was going to be out of town.  I put a towel down on the rear seat just in case it rained and leaked.  

I got to my TDY, which happened to be in Orlando, and started looking up how much it was going to cost me to get the window fixed on my car.  That is when i discovered Pandora's Box.  Turns out, these problems are not just mine.  They are common among owners of the Toyota Solara convertible.  The more I researched, the more I began to hate my car.  I have even started looking into the Saab and the Audi (because I can't afford the BMW to be quite honest).  I still love convertibles and I have to say that I haven't had any issues with the engine/drive train/transmission at all.  But the number of things that have been going wrong lately have made me nuts. 

Stupid car.

Funny movie line

It took me a while, but I finally got around to watching the movie Office Space for the first time about 3 months ago.  Now, almost like Napoleon Dynamite, every time it's on, I can't bring myself to turn it off.  One of the funniest lines I have ever heard came from that movie.  It was the scene after the three guys found out that they had made an error in their calculations and they ended up with a lot of money.  They were sitting in their apartment and trying to figure out how to hide the money and one of the guys is looking up "money laundering" in the dictionary and as he's reading the definition the other guy says "I can't believe we are such nerds that we have to look up "money laundering" in the dictionary." 

It just kills me every time I see it.  Of course the scene when they take the copier out into the field and destroy it with a bat to the song "Damn, It Feels Good To Be A Gangsta" is right up there in the top ten for me too.    I guess I just spent too many years as a prairie doggin' cube jockey.  Doesn't take much to make me giggle.

Visiting the past

Yes, Ilisa is actually from upstate New York.  The truth is told.  I do not admit I am from NY to most people.  When I am asked where I am from, I am quite comfortable saying South Florida because that is where I have lived and worked for the past 11 years prior to coming back into the Air Force.  I consider south Florida to be home.  However, I was raised in a little town called Wappingers Falls.  Although I have great memories of my old home town, I remember more than anything wanting to "get out".  Like I was awaiting parole or something.   I got out all right.  Never looked back, either.  However, I still have a tie or two back there in NY.  I have an aunt, uncle and some cousins, but more importantly, I have a lifelong friend, Cindi.  Cindi is going to be married in December.  I went back to little Wappingers Falls see her last week and get some pre-wedding socializing done.  I met a couple of the other bridesmaids, saw her wedding dress and scoped out the location for the wedding.  We had a blast. 

I also made it a point to drive around and spend some time looking at all the places I remembered from when I was a child.  I saw my old house, the old library, the best old pizza place in the world, Frank's (which is still there and still awesome and they even knew I was one of the Stillman kids!), my old schools, etc.  It was such an awesome trip.  I always had an appreciation for where I lived and grew up because my father always had us out in the town and surrounding areas enjoying nature, picking apples, sleigh-riding or just generally going on adventures through the mountains.  While I was very rich in love and family, we were very poor financially.  Powered milk and food stamps were the song of the day back then.  Most people were too poor to get out.  But now, going back, the area has become very hot (just north of NYC).  I probably couldn't afford a home there now even if I wanted one.  Which, for the record, I do not, but it really is so much nicer than I remember it to be.  

I had a great time, and even got to see a couple of friends that I never thought I would see again.  A girlfriend of mine Shaun and her mom Margaret to name two.  I also got the chance to spend some quality time with a very influential gentleman from my past named Jeff, who was the person I formed the basis of my leadership style off of.  He is a retired Marine with a sense of humor and knack for for common sense that is very much un-common.  It was just incredible to see them all and to see the town.  Seeing all that has changed and all that has really NOT changed.  :)  The bottom line is I feel ten years younger and invigorated.  I didn't even realize how burned out I was until I went on this vacation.  I am ready to go back and attack the world again.  Life is good.

Hilton's and other things that should stick to Hotels

I am listening to one of the local top-40 radio stations.  The reception I get isn't very good, so when I sort-of heard the main melody of the song that was starting, an older song popped into my brain and I started humming along happily thinking, wow, I haven't heard this song in forever!  The song I am talking about is "Break My Stride" by Matthew Wilder.  It came out sometime in the mid eighties, I think.  I loved that song. I found it very surprising that it was being played on this radio station since they only play current top 40 music.

About 45 seconds or so into it, I thought I heard a female voice, and knew that it couldn't possibly be "Break My Stride".  Matthew Wilder has clearly a male voice and this was clearly a female voice.  So here I am, picking up my little clock radio, waving it around the office trying to find a pocket of reception clear enough to decipher exactly what I was listening to.  With one foot on my desk, a hand on my chair, and the hand holding the radio straight up in the air,  I was able to listen to the rest of the song.  The DJ comes on and says that it was Paris Hilton with her new song "Stars are Blind".  Mortifying, to say the least.  I won't go into my whole schpeel here about Paris Hilton because, one, she's not worth the physical exertion of typing it, but most importantly, my point is not Paris Hilton, but the song itself.  I was able to almost completely sing "Break My Stride" along to the base melody of "Stars Are Blind". 

I remember something similar happening in the eighties with the song "Ghostbusters" by Ray Parker Jr., and "I Want A New Drug" by Huey Lewis and the News. I heard the similarity almost immedieatly after heaing "Ghostbusters" the first time.  Later on I believe there was even a lawsuit brought on by Huey Lewis against Ray Parker Jr. for stealing his song.  I could be wrong, after all the reception really stinks in my office.  But if anyone else knows Break My Stride and has heard Stars are Blind, listen for it.  It sure sounds like the same melody to me.

That's FIRST lieutenant, thank you!

So last week, after a long two years, I finally put on the rank of 1st Lieutenant!  I realize that it's automatic to go from 2nd Lt to 1st, but I don't care!  It's a big deal to me!  And I had one of the best promotion ceremonies ever, if i may be so bold as to make that claim. 

My brother, Chuck (in the picture with me) is also active duty, he is a doctor (a Radiologist) in the Army stationed in Tacoma, WA.  He's a Major Promotable.  For those who are rank-knowlege impaired, that means that he has a line number to put on Lieutenant Colonel even though he is still wearing the Major rank.  Why explain all this, you ask?  Because as a senior ranking officer he has the authority to officiate the ceremony of my promotion.  And boy did he ever!  I, of course, am in Louisiana.  Quite the hike from Tacoma!  But he made the trip, midweek at that, for the sole purpose of officiating my promotion ceremony.  It was even cooler because he was the only person wearing a green uniform in a sea of blue.  Hee hee! 

The woman in the picture, pinning on my rank along with Chuck is Wendy.  She is my closest friend here in Louisiana.  

So enjoy the pictures and remember, when you call me Lieutenant now, you have to mean it!

Oh say can you seeeeee......

I am not sure if I have ever written an entry about my singing the National Anthem before, so I suppose I have to start this entry by saying that I sing the National Anthem for official functions at Barksdale AFB.  There are three or four of us who do it and we rotate through the ceremonies.  I sing at retirement ceremonies, Change of Command ceremonies etc.  I also sing for some of the college graduation ceremony's that take place on base.  It's not that I am Whitney Houston or anything, far from it actually, but I have a passable voice and the guts to sing the National Anthem sans music in front of a crowd.  It's fun and i take a lot of pride in doing it.  The interesting thing about singing at official military functions is that there is a specific protocol involved.  The Honor Guard posts the colors, they dip the flag, I sing.  When I finish, the Honor Guard finishes posting the colors and they march out.  During this whole time everyone in the room is standing at "attention" and in complete silence.  The silence continues through the posting, my singing and through the chaplain's invocation which immediately follows my singing.  The great thing about that is two fold...1) No one is looking at me when I am singing and 2) I get to go sit down when the chaplain comes up to speak and blend back in to the audience.  It's all very much on the DL and I get to remain fairly anonymous.  I actually prefer it that way.  

Occasionally someone from within the Shreveport/Bossier community will have an event that requires someone to sing the National Anthem and they call the base and ask if they can send one of the singers.  Well last week, I got my first chance to sing at a community event.  It was for the 2006 Special Olympic Summer Games opening ceremony.  It was so awesome!  The difference is that when you are singing in the community, there really isn't protocol like there is for military ceremonies.  The crowd at the LSU gymnasium was very excited and enthusiastic and when I got out on the floor they were cheering and clapping.  When I started to sing, everyone sang along with me!  It was great!!  I had a smile on my face the whole time.  It's incredible to hear 300 people all singing the National Anthem at the same time.  After I was done (or after WE were done as was the case!) there was more cheering and I was totally humbled.  There is no cheering or clapping or any noise at all for that matter at military ceremonies.  This was really neat!  Who'd a thunk it?

hiatus

Ah, Tuesday!  What is so good about Tuesday, you ask?  I'll tell you... I don't have a test tonight, that's what!  I am on a break between semesters from school.  To think,  having to work 55 hours a week seems tollerable when you don't have to go to school at night too.  :)  There is a two week break between semesters at school and life is good for the moment.  I decided to double up the ol' course load come next week when school starts up again, though.  Glutton for punishment perhaps?  Maybe.  But I really just have the tendency to get all excited when I see myself actually begin to accomplish a goal.  I figured it out and I can finish my first masters by the end of next summer if i keep up this pace.  This begs the question, can I keep up this pace?  Time will tell.  Too late to drop the classes now though, so I will just have to suck it up if I made a mistake.

Test anxiety

Next week is mid-term week.  I start worrying about mid-term week about 1 week into the semester.  I hate tests and it doesn't get any easier as I get older.  As a matter of fact, it gets worse.  I suppose if i was one of those naturally brilliant individuals, you know, the ones who don't have to crack a book and kick ass on every test they take, i wouldn't be nearly as worried.  But I am a needs-to-study-for-hours-on-end kind of person.  I sometimes wonder why i even subject myself to this kind of stress voluntarily.  I sure as hell have plenty of stress at work to last me all day and night for the rest of my life.  Much of it I can do nothing about.  Maybe that is why I like school.  It's stressful, but I really do have total control over how well I perform.  I work really hard and I earn all the credit.   

The real reason why I do it is because I want to get picked up for an AFIT scholarship from the Air Force.  AFIT stands for Air Force Institute of Technology.  You can get a full scholarship for a masters degree from either a civilian university or Baylor University . Both are sweet options. It means that the Air Force would pay me to go to school full time without having to work.  If i can do really well for the next several classes that I am in now, it can make my AFIT application package more competitive.   The GPA I carry in the classes i am taking now show a history of success at the graduate level.  All the more reason for them to pick me!  I will start the actual application process in about another year.  I am hoping that I can leave this assignment directly into the AFIT program.  That would just rock.  I better get back to the books...

Happiness is a box from Sephora!

The people who know me know that I am not the epitome of femininity.  I do not exude woman-hood by any stretch of the imagination.   Be it because I am really small, or because I have non existent man-lips, or maybe it is because during my formidable years I was raised primarily by my father who was simply clueless as to what it took to raise a female.  Maybe it’s because my skin is so sensitive that I have a reaction to anything I put on it that isn’t just plain ol’ Irish Spring.  I don’t know.  Could just be the way I was born.  I could have had Princess Diana as my guide to womanhood and still not taken to the whole song and dance of makeup, heals and accessorizing.   

 

Even with all that being true, there are still some things about me that are undoubtedly female:  I love my pedicures, I would never wear a t-shirt for anything other than working out or mowing my lawn, I have grown to believe that Nordstroms is THE only place to shop for shoes and of course, I love getting a box o’goddies from Sephora.  Now I know for someone like me, who claims to be one of the most unfeminine heterosexual females on the planet, to love getting a box in the mail from Sephora , (only one of the most female stores out there today), is so contradictory that one may feel I am mistaken about who I truly am.  Believe me, I am not.  You see, I am a feminine wannabe. I would love to be one of those women who wear makeup every day, have a great tan, change purses with every outift and wears bracelets and necklaes.  But I am not.  I just don't have it in me.  

 

However, Sephora is one of my exceptions.  When I lived back in South Florida, we had Sephora stores and I would always go there.  The home of the Grapeseed body wash, MAC makeup, and every perfume, shower gel, hair product and stuff that just smells good, that you can imagine.  Here in Bossier City, no Sephora.  So I go online to buy my goodies.  It really is just as good as going into the store itself, with the exception that you can’t smell any of the good stuff.   What’s even better is that you get all kinds of little samples of stuff along with your order that you can try out. 

 

I pulled into my driveway yesterday when I got home from work and saw that snazzy black and white box on my doorstep and I found myself dancing in my driver’s seat!  Woo hoo! My Sephora stuff arrived!  I just love the way the stuff is wrapped all pretty-like!  I am like a kid in a candy store.  You buy one or two items and your box has like five things in it!  It’s always great to get it on a Friday too I’ll tell ya, because I get to try everything out, and, no doubt, have time to clear up from the allergic reaction I am sure to get from at least some of the stuff before I have to go back to work on Monday.  Sometimes, like this time, I don’t have an allergic reaction to ANY of it! Of course, I have only tried two things so far.   In this box there is a sample of lip-plumping serum.  I am going to try that one out tonight.  I hope 24 hours is enough time for the swelling to go down if needbe…

I just love the Air Force!

I had the greatest Air Force day yesterday!  The base Company Grade Officer (CGO) counsel set up a tour of one of our Bomb Wings. For those of you who are civilians, this is probably a good time for me to describe to you the difference between the “Line” of the Air Force and what I do.  I am part of a group of Air Force officers that fall into a category of Commissioned Officers.  We are officers that come into the military already commissioned by virtue of our education and specialty.  The only officers who fall into this category are lawyers (JAG officers), chaplains and medical officers (doctors, RN’s biologists, Medical Service Corps officers (me) etc.).  All other officers and enlisted personnel fall under what is known as the Line of the Air Force.  This would be your fighter pilots, navigators, cops, maintainers etc. What this means is that the people in my capacity who push papers and handle millions of dollars in budgets don’t get to see any of the good stuff! The stuff that most civilians think the entire Air Force is made up of.   

 

Well yesterday, as I said earlier, the CGO which is made up of officers, both Line and specialty who fall under the grade of Lieutenant to Captain, got to go on this tour of the Bomb Wing.  We got to go play in a classroom where they teach pilots to fly a B-52! (I recommend google’ing if you don’t know what a B-52 is so you can get an idea of what I am talking about)  We also go to go inside an actual real live one!  I got to sit in the pilot’s seat!!  Chicks in control, man!  Our tour guide on this awesome journey, a Major by the name of “Killer”, was getting a kick out ofall of us playing around inthe aircraft. I couldn’t see out the window because I was too short, but I didn’t care at all!  There were several areas on the tour where Killer said, “I realize that this some of this stuff is boring…” and myself and one of my colleagues, Wendy, looked at each other and said “RIGHT…like ANY of this is boring!!”  We were so excited. 

 

I know where I fit in the Air Force.  I fully understand the job I do and my impact on the success of the Air Force mission and I appreciate it.  I love what I do.  But MAN that was SO cool yesterday!  To meet a few of the men who ARE the Air Force! The pilots, the navigators, the maintainers.   They have a tough job, too, I’ll tell ya.  It is cramped, hot, old and dirty in one of those “BUFFs”.  They spend hours and hours in them at a time.  I have a whole new respect for those guys.  I am glad they do what they do, because as cool as it was yesterday, I wouldn’t want their job for any amount of money in the world.

Idiots, I say! All of them!

This would be really funny if it wasn’t so pathetic.  Give me a moment whilst I go get my soapbox… Alright, I am back and perched happily atop its sturdy frame!

 

I am on an address list of a website that has email traffic from people who graduated from my high school during the eighties.  This is not "Classmates" or "Reunion.com" or anything like that.  It’s just a sort of blog-type site that has different groups on it.  I am really not sure how I got on the email list, but I am there.  So be it.  90% of the time I delete the emails without ever reading them.  Yesterday, for whatever reason, I read one of the emails.   

 

It was written by a female who graduated in ’83, I think, and she was replying to a previous post commiserating with other parents.  Basically about how horrible it is to be a parent.  Whatever.  The part that killed me, is she wrote the following sentence exactly like this:  “And yes things are very different now then when we were kids..but we RESEPCTED anyone who was older, children now a days do not I repete do not have this trate.”

 

I actually cut and pasted it so you wouldn't think I was making it up.  As if that isn’t bad enough, she follows it up by saying she is a nursery school ‘teacher’ to 65 children a week.  I have some news for you, there is a very distinct difference between a typo and being a complete idiot.  This was not simply a case of “hte” for the, or “hsa” for has.  This is a woman who ‘teaches 65 children a week’.  I have more news for you there…you are a babysitter.  There has yet to be a single state in the Union that requires a nursery school child to pass a state exam upon completion of nursery school to go on to kindergarten.  Matter of fact, there isn’t a single state that requires attendance in nursery school!  Additionally this person shouldn’t be allowed to teach obedience to dogs, let alone anything to children.  Not a single properly used comma in the sentence (which, by the way, she started with the word “And”). 

 

Tell me, what is the deal with “repete”?  It could be a knockoff skit from “The Newhart” show…This is my brother Pete and this is my other brother Re-pete”.   You could do a “My Name is Earl” sketch on having “trater tots” back at the trailer park with your supper.

 

I realize that I can’t change the world, and getting all riled up about it won’t make it better.  I also know that I am not the most grammatically correct person in the world.  I am sure I have misused a comma here and there in this post alone.  The difference is, I know my weaknesses and by golly I am at least smart enough to use the "spell check".

Venting my frustrations

As much as I love what I do for a living, sometimes things become unpleasant.  There are all kinds of leadership-isms out there:  “10% of your people do 90% of the work”  “10% of your people cause 90% of your headaches” and so on and so forth.  I am the head of a department that has three distinctly different branches.  There are about 35 people total in the department.  I have to say that I feel fortunate that the majority of the people are good.  However, there is a severe problem with one. 

 

In a nutshell, this individual stole $1200 from their corporate credit card.  This person was still in their probationary period of employment in the civilian sector of my department and I made the decision to fire them.  If this was an active duty military member, they would have gone to jail.  As a civilian, though, this person had the right to accept the termination or resign in lieu of being fired.  This person chose to resign of their own free will rather than be fired.   That should have been the end of it.  It wasn’t.   This person has attempted to file suit against me and our commander for everything under the sun.  It has dragged on for 2 months now. 

 

I believe that a person has the right to defend themselves but there is really nothing to defend here.  This individual stole $1200, got caught and quit her job.  The accusations have been for everythingfrom violating privacy rights to racism.   So far, all the allegations have been deemed unfounded by outside investigators and the powers that be (way above my level).  The frustrating part is that I have to defend myself over and over and over again for something that is so cut and dry.  The attempts on behalf of this individual to steer all eyes away from the truth is madding.  I am finding myself discouraged and disheartened and I am tired of having to fight this hard.   

 

My boss, who is in this with me, reassures me that he has seen this kind of thing before and that the only reason why I am so frustrated is because I don’t have the same level of experience with these types of situations that he has seen over the years.  He is probably right.  But it sucks to be falsely accused nonetheless.  It’s very Shawshank.

The final 25

Well, here they are, the final 25.  These last 25 were much harder to come up with than I thought they would be.  I think it's not that I couldn't think of 25 more things, but trying to come up with 25 more INTERESTING things is a different story.  I think 100 may have been a bit much.  I should have gone with 50.  But, here they are, nonetheless, as promised. 

25.  I have a tiny tattoo

24.  I have a belly ring.

23.  I have done my own plumbing and floor installation.

22.  I know how to change my own oil, but I will always pay someone else to do it.

21.  I will always mow my own lawn.  It’s great exercise!!

20.  I am a realist, and that is often confused with being a pessimist.

19.  I loathe taking pills/medicine for anything. 

18.  If there was a magic weight loss pill, I could probably get over # 19.

17.  I believe that if I chose not to go to work full time I, too, would be homeless.

16.  I love the way the sunrise looks in Texas.

15.  One of my favorite childhood memories was apple picking in upstate New York.

14.  The best tap water I have ever tasted was at my Aunt Pearls house in White Plains.

13.  When I am embarrassed I turn so red that people around me can’t help but point it out.

12.  I don’t know anyone who has ever spent any time in jail.

11.  I feel like I could benefit from Yoga, if I ever took the time to do it regularly.

10.  My favorite number is 28

09.  My favorite color is purple

08.  Every time I have cherry flavored Kool-aid, I am transported right back to childhood.

07.  I am the lone green-eyed member of an entirely brown-eyed family.

06.  My brother and sister used to use #07 to attempt to convince me that I was adopted.

05.  Getting older doesn't bother me in the least.

04.  I wish I could have Nova and cream cheese on a bagel for breakfast every day.

03.  I wish I could find a place here to have Nova and cream cheese on a bagel even once.

02.  I have wished for aliens from outer space to come and take me away.

01.  I would never ever want to be famous.

 

 

# 49-26

49.  I have flown to NY on a whim because I had a craving for pizza.

48.  I was over 30 the first time I cried during a movie.

47.  My favorite dessert is cheesecake with an oreo cookie crust and chocolate sauce

46.  I have never had a headache

45.  I have never broken a bone

44.  I have never had stitches

43.  The movie Dirty Rotten Scoundrels makes me howl every time I watch it.

42.  I have a garage and every time it rains when I am carrying my groceries into the house I am thankful that I work hard and am responsible enough with my paycheck to be able to afford a house with a garage.

41.  Myself, and a male who shall remain nameless, proclaimed ourselves members of the “mile high club” because we…enjoyed each others company… on top of  tower two of the World Trade Center.

40.  One of the coolest moments in my life was the first time I heard music “in stereo” through the headset of a Walkman.  I kept looking around from side to side saying “whoa…whoa!”

39.  I thought “Iceman” was way hotter than “Maverick”

38.  My sister in law Michelle is the most influential woman in my life.

37.  Although I shouldn’t, I do think fighter pilots are hot.

35.  I thought I was the coolest person when I bought my own fax machine.

34.  If I weighed 88 pounds I would STILL have a BMI of 20.

33.  #34 haunts me every single day.

32.  As successful as I have been academically I still fear failure.

31.  I have two true phobia’s:  water and spiders.  Holy ick.

30.  The last movie I saw in an actual movie theater was Titanic in 1997

29.  My biggest accomplishment to date was getting my bachelor’s degree.

28.  I never ever shop at Wal-Mart

27.  I can’t stand listening to actors who preach politics in public forums.

26.  I am addicted to Starbucks hot chocolate.  I am on my way there right now…

 

Next up…the final 25!

#'s 74-50

Here are numbers 74 - 50 things about me! 

74.  I am a pure-bred youngest child (the youngest child of parents who were both the youngest in their sibling line).

73.  I have a brother and a sister.

72.  I have two nephews.

71.  I wonder if loving naps on weekend afternoons is normal.  Every weekend.

70.  When my cell phone rings, it plays "Push It" by Salt-n-Pepa.

69.  I love "Jack FM" and I don't know why. 

68.  I wish we had "Jack FM" here in Shreveport.

67.  My favorite meal is filet mignon and lobster tails.

66.  I sing the National Anthem at official military ceremonies on my base.

65.  I don't think my voice is all that great, but I happen to sing that song decently.

64.  When I was a little girl, I wanted to be Kurt Thomas.  Didn't care that he was male.

63.  I make one hell of a cheesecake.

62.  Someday I will have a personal trainer and a personal chef. 

61.  I love to look at the stars when there are no lights anywhere around.

60.  Seeing a hot air balloon makes me giggle and say "look look look!!!"

59.  I won't answer my phone if The Soprano's are on.

58.  I am a good leader because I am a great follower.

57.  My sister in law bought me my first massage last month in Las Vegas at the Bellagio.

56.  I prefer spending time alone more often than I like to spend time with others.

55.  I have a resume with the sentence "I am really not a people person..." on it.

54.  I run 4 days a week, and if I wasn't in the military, I wouldn't run. Ever.

53.  I have been violently attacked by a vicious dog.  To avoid that again is the only non-military exception to #54.

52. I love to read mindless drivel when I travel for business.

51.  I wish I spoke another language fluently.

50.  I am too lazy to learn another language fluently.

Tune in tomorrow for #'s 49-25!  (this is kind of fun!)

 

 

100 things about me

So, I have decided to steal an idea from my brother's blog and use it. He had done a list of 100 things about himself. Now, I hesitated to do this because of a couple of reasons. First, who gives a shit if they know 100 things about me or not? Second, I don't know if I could actually come up with 100 different things about myself. I fancy myself sort of simple really. However, I am going to give it a shot. And I am shooting from the hip here, so I apologize if I double up on things without realizing I have done so. If this happens, take it as a clue that I am really passionate about that aspect of myself. Also, be prepared, I am honest, and many things about me are SO not politically correct. If you can't handle it, don't read it. :)

To save room, I will do this in the following format: Today will be numbers 100-75, tomorrow will be 74-50, the next will be 49-25 and then 24-1. Here goes nothing...

100. I am a fully grown adult female who is only 4' 9" tall.

99. I have a better work ethic than most.

98. I am very self aware.

97. I am single and childless by choice

96. I love my dog more than I ever thought possible.

95. I sometimes wonder if it is normal to love my dog as much as I do.

94. I am a pro-choice republican.

93. I am very secure.

92. I don't like drinking anything carbonated.

91. The only reason I don't drink alcohol is because I don't like it.

90. I am Jewish.

89. I respect people who believe in God.

88. I don't believe in God.

87. I respect people who don't believe in God.

86. I have little patience for laziness.

85. I believe that people are the masters of their own destiny.

84. I want to destroy my TV when I hear commercials that say things like "did a stroke of bad luck hurt your credit and keep you from getting the car you deserve?"

83. People who drive in the left lane going under the speed limit irk me to no end.

82. People who rubber neck at car accidents irk me even worse.

81. If I had this kind of money, I would live on my own private island. With my dog.

80. I am working on savingthat kind of money.

79. I love convertibles.

78. I can't stand attention, even when it's positive.

77. I think people who "people watch" are rude. No one likes to be stared at.

76. I love being in the Air Force.

75. I am proud to say what I do for a living when asked.

Still reading? ha ha! Tomorrow I will come up with 74-50. If I can think of more. :)

It's that time of year again!

Yes, I watch Dr. 90210.  Not obsessively or anything, but I do love Dr. Li.  I was so happy that her and her husband were able to finally have their baby!!  Ok, enough about that.

So, as I said in the subject line, it's that time of year again!  What time is that, you ask?  VOLLEYBALL TIME!  Yes, that's right, it's volleyball season out at Barksdale AFB.  I really do enjoy volleyball.  This year, I am actually the Assistant Coach.  Allow me to follow that up with a very important statement...I am not the Assistant Coach because I am good.  Actually, I suck.  About the only thing I have going for me is that I am a decent server, and I am not afraid of the ball.  It wasn't always like that, though.  The first time I ever played volleyball was about 14 years ago, when I was stationed in Germany.  It was our first game, and, being that we were on a NATO air station, it was country against country in all intramural sports. That night, it was the American's against the Italian's.  I was up at the net, and my mirror on the Itialian team was a female.  The ball is served, the Italian's set it up for the return and my mirror reaches up to set the ball and what I saw stopped me dead in my tracks.  I was about 20 years old, it was my first time out of the country, and my knowledge of other cultures was limited at best.  What I learned that night was that Itialian women do not shave their underarms.  Not It, born Itialians.  I had never seen such a thing in my life and there I stood, at the net, frozen.  It was like I had just laid eyes on Medusa and I had turned into a pillar of salt.  I was so frozen that I didn't even see the ball as the Itialians spiked it, hitting me square on the face, breaking my glasses, breaking my nose and laying me out right there on the NATO gym floor.  I was living proof that, yes, the ball CAN hurt you and I swore I would never play volleyball again.

Fast forward to Sept, 2004 and HSA school at Sheppard AFB.  Mandatory volleyball. That's right, mandatory. We did standard PT for an hour in the morning and followed it up with an hour of competitive volleyball.  When one is forced, most of the time, one learns.  I am still a lousy player, but at least now I enjoy the game.  Who knows, maybe this year we will actually win a game!

It boggles my mind...

I subscribe to Popular Science magazine.  I also subscribe to Natural History.  This is because I am really nothing but a nerd at heart.  I make no apologies for my choice of reading material.  I dig that kind of stuff. 

Tonight I was perusing the latest Pop Sci and I came across an article on this new Mars Rover that is being tested.  It will help in the quest to identify life on the planet.  This 'bot, nicknamed Zoe, can move around on it's own power, and can also be controlled remotely from Earth should it ever loose it's own power or functionality.  This is pretty similar to the current Mars rover.  True, we lost contact with the 'bot that is currently up there a time or two, but we did have some contact with it for long spells.  That being said, tonight I was talking with a friend of mine, Wendy, and using my cordless phone from my kitchen.  As usual, I brought the phone into the den with me, and as usual, it began to lose reception.  And I thought to myself, how is it that we can control a robot on Mars from Earth, but I can't get my reception to work on my cordless phone from the kitchen to my den?   Hmmm??

Crayfish and Crawfish and Mudbugs OH MY

I do enjoy the premiere episodes of American Idol.  A guilty pleasure indeed.  To be honest, I couldn't care less about the rest of the season or who will ultimately win the competition.  I just love the losers they have during the first week or two on the show.  I laugh so hard it hurts.  I have people that I send instant messages back and forth with as the show is going on and we just howl at the antics.  I have actually come close to falling out of my chair, hyperventalating, and choking on my mint tea as I watch.  It's simply a great way to end a stressful day.  Laughing that hard MUST have medicinal properties because I swear I sleep better after I watch it. 

Ok, side note...my dog has sleep apnea.  I am convinced of it.  She snores like a man, then stops breathing and twitches herself awake.  Very odd.

I have been here in the Shreveport Bossier area for just over a year now and have learned one great truth about this quasi-city.  These people love...nay...they WORSHIP their crawfish.  They have nicknames for them, like crayfish and mudbugs.  They have an entire festival dedicated to the crawfish that takes place every spring.  They make them into gumbo, etuffee and just plain boiled.  The crawfish to them is everything.  I admire their dedication to the little crustacean.   I, however, have a different impression of the crawfish.  My first experience with a crawfish was in the 8th grade where we were required to dissect one in science class as part of our final exam.  My next and only other experience with the mudbug was 20 years later, right here in Shreveport.  This is partly because I have never again had reason to even think about the crawfish once I passed my science class, much like I never again thought about the worm we were required to dissect as our first project in the class.   Now that I was here, bombarded daily by everything craw, I figured  I would at least try and see what all the fuss was about.  When in Rome, right?  Admittedly, I had a tough time getting past the whole 8th grade dissection thing, but get over myself I did.  I went to a local restaurant, and had myself a mudbug.  I immediately knew why it got the nickname "mudbug".  Because that is exactly what it tasted like.  A bug that someone dug up out of the mud, heated up and put on the plate.  Crawfish are tricky little suckers too, they show up on your plate disguised as little midget lobsters.  Do not be fooled.  They are really, reallly NOT lobsters.  Really. 

Disappointed,  I had to step outside myself and see if I was just being biased.  Too consumed consciously or otherwise by the science class all those years ago, perhaps?  I came to the honest self realization that I was not biased.  In fact, the truth of the matter is, I think the people here eat crawfish for one reason and one reason only.  They can't afford lobster.

What a blast!

Whoo hoo!!!  The chick trip was a rousing success!!  Actually the entire trip was awesome!  I saw my sister in law, my brother and my two gorgeous nephews.  My sister in law and I went to Las Vegas for three days of my trip and my o' my.  Las Vegas is something that must be experienced rather than described.  However, I will attempt to describe at least one part of the trip.  My sister in law and I went to see the show Le Reve at the Wynn.  Done by the same guys who put together Cirque Du Soleil. Yee ha.  I have come to the conclusion that two men, with the right physique, are downright sexy together.  Holy macaroni.  The entire show was sensual, emotional, and had its share of eroticisim.   Splendid.  Holy hot men.  Don't get me wrong, the show wasn't just about sexy men.  Not by any means. However, that is what I chose to focus on.  Hee hee. 

I also went to a spa for the first time at the Bellagio where we stayed, and had my very first massage.  My sister in law does that kind of self-pampering all the time, but I have never had the desire really to partake.  I get a pedicure about twice a month, but that doesn't really count as self-pampering, does it?  It was somewhat nerve wracking at first because all of us women were running around naked.  I think i was the only one with a complex about it.  Once I got over myself, I was able to relax and enjoy it.  And the Bellagio has really good coffee, among other things... 

We got back to Seattle, and had a chance to really enjoy the city.  Washington state is beautiful.  Even raining it's just fantastic.  The mall in downtown Seattle is serious.  It's anchors are Niemen Marcus, Sax's, Macy's, and Nordstroms.  That's what I'M talkin' bout!  Not a freakin' Sears or Dillards to be found!  LIFE IS GOOD in Seattle!  I might want my next assignment to be there.  It was almost painful to come back to Bossier City.  As I have said before, there are worse places to be than Bossier City.  It's not bad here, but we don't even have a Macy's.  Have I said that before?  I think I am starting to develop a pattern here...

Less than a week away!

We are officially at 5 and a wake up before the chick trip!  I am so excited. 

I am sitting here, after just having returned from my evening run, and I am listening to my dog try and catch her breath.  It amazes me how it takes her so long to get back to herself after we run.  We run almost every day, and you'd swear she'd never run before.  She started becoming very distracted lately when we go running.  She stops and sniffs everything and it's very counter productive when it comes to my run.  I end up having to stop every 30 seconds so she can sniff stuff.  I try and yank her away from whatever it is that got to her nose, but when she digs her heals in, i am stuck.  She's a big girl.  She never used to do it before, and now i end up having to take her for a walk and go for my run separately.   I really enjoy running with her and would prefer to do it that way, but somethings gotta change!  Maybe i will take her to a class at PetSmart.

Speaking of bad things my dog has done lately...a while back I agreed to pet sit the dog of a colleague of mine.  A big drooling lab.  Sweet dog, and i decided to watch her at my house. I figured that Macy would have a playmate for a week.  Well, this other dog had a habit of digging holes in the yard, and Macy picked up on it.  She never dug a single hole before this other dog came along, and now my yard had these 5 massive holes in them.  So this weekend I ended up going to Lowe's and buying five 40-lb bags of dirt to fill in the holes, grass seed, and chicken wire to cover the spots and keep her from digging them up again.  Chicken wire.  What fun.  That is some nasty stuff.  Thank my insight for buying gardening gloves to work with it.  It seems to have done the trick and no more holes have been started, but what a pain.  Since this is my first dog, I really need to figure out how to stop these things.  She is generally very disciplined.  She doesn't bark even when the neighbors dogs are at the fence, scratching and barking their heads off.  I am thankful for that.  She is house trained, comes when called, sits, stays (most of the time), etc.  I need to learn how to teach an old dog new tricks I guess.