In the End

No matter how much I cringe at the thought I cannot disagree with where our future may be going. Many movies put America and China as the two last countries in the future. some movies even put the world as a mixture of the two. Looking at the size and power both possess I can actually see it happening. I would rather have Japan raise up but I know that is unlikely. Maybe I just don't know much about the Chinese government. Maybe my ignorance cause distrust and dislike for the prospect of China and America mixing.

Mosquitoes?

Ok, first of all, it really surprised me to see mosquitoes thriving in a desert environment. I mean, is it possible for the eggs to just lie dormant until a little bit of rain comes? I know for certain these mosquitoes aren't alive come summer. They weren't here when we got here. However, it is nice that I get used to these little buggers before I get back home. It is just a little annoying in this kind of atmosphere to have something so pesky biting you and swarming around your head. I already have a good bunch of bites and expect to have quite a few more.

As It Was, It Will Be

The weather is returning to how it was when we first arrived. The temperature is warming and the wind is blowing. Sandstorms are becoming common here and visibility is making it hard to travel or end up making a 4 day trip turn into a 6-7 day trip. Soon it will be over and I will be home enjoying a different kind of weather. I myself probably have 1-2 missions left since I was promoted to a different position since my original Team Leader is now working on something else. I have a feeling things are going to get hectic pretty quick here.

The Organization

So I have been debating with myself on whether or not I should post this. Mainly because if it isn't just my paranoia and it actually is true then I didn't want to let them know that I actually looked into it.

A while back I started thinking that I am going to really miss the feeling that I was protecting a bunch of people after my contract with the military is through. Not too long after I talked with Katrina about this, I received two e-mails a few days apart saying that they needed qualified people for this organization. They mentioned all the bonuses, the pay scales, and the work-load/hours per week. They even mentioned the training location that one would go to prior to being accepted. At first I dismissed it as junk mail but then started thinking about that conversation I had. So I decided to go directly to the organizations website to see the validity of the e-mail. Low and behold all the information was the same so it seemed like those e-mails were intended for the recipient. I thought about the possibility but then I reminded myself how much I dislike my current situation and that a government job along the same lines would probably feel the same and have the same regulations. At that moment I wanted to post something on Facebook for whoever was watching me saying how the seed they planted almost worked. I figured it may just be my paranoia again so I didn't post a thing. A few weeks down the road I was hoping around Facebook and I noticed this organization had an ad on the sidebar. I thought they must be getting pretty desperate if they are buying adds on Facebook...then in kicks the paranoia. What if the ad was somehow linked to my account and was intended solely for me? Who knows if any of this deserves merit. At one point I found it appealing since they have an office right in Fargo but then, just like any government organization, it may be highly unlikely I would even get that post and may be assigned where they have room instead of where I want. If there was a way to insure I end up in Fargo I may consider it if not just to satisfy my need to protect and see that justice prevails.

Broken

I am just so rough on my body. The other day I rolled both of my ankles and the right one made a popping sounds...I had a pretty sweet looking recovery roll though. People were like, "what the heck was that, some kind of ninja move?" It was pretty sweet when I was about halfway into the roll looking up at the stars by the time I realized what I was doing. I think the actor training I had is more to blame for that than the military training. I am pretty decent at those recovery rolls. Anyways, I try to push my body past injuries without actually treating them. It works more often than not. Right now my left ankle is doing fairly decent but my right one looks gnarly. I haven't seen bruises like the ones I have now for a long time. In fact, I don't remember ever seeing such nice bruises on my own self. I took a picture and will be posting it after I get home. I don't think I will be running the marathon though. March 8th is a little to close for what it seems the extent of this injury needs to heal.

My V-Day

This V-Day was very reminiscent of the Valentines we celebrated while Katrina was in Japan. We started with a video call date and worked our way to a movie. We watched "Ghost of Girlfriends Past." She used the internet and I used a copy I was given from one of the other soldiers. This year I also delivered flowers for the first time. I tried to trick her into being home during the day since I had no idea when they would deliver. They delivered around 10am. The flowers turned out very well. If I am away from home again on this holiday I may just have to use them. I knew they delivered since their delivery van hit me while I was biking on my way to work. There is a pretty funny story behind it I may share someday. All in all we make these holidays apart work. It will be great to finally celebrate them together.

Weight and Mischief

So recently I found out that I weighed only 143 pounds when I first got in and was the same height that I am now. I now weigh 165-ish and can only think about how unhealthy that must have been. Granted, I think I gained some soft spots but I also have gained more muscle. I know I ate a lot and am surprised that I had a six pack without having to try very hard. When I return home I am going to see if I can't rid myself of some of these round edges. I really wouldn't mind going back to that personal trainer at MeritCare. It was a pretty decent gym. However, I may have to change that if I go back to school since I will have access to the NDSU wellness center and pay for my gym membership through student fees.

Now for the mischief...
I started to get pretty tired of my one roommate that likes to have loud video conversations with his girlfriend at six in the morning. He wakes everyone up and then complains when people wake him up for duties during the day when everyone else is awake. I have mentioned it before to him about being quiet since people are sleeping but he didn't seem to take it into consideration. Tonight was the last straw. Around six I hear him start the conversation but then he actually walks outside. I thought he actually was starting to think about the other people in the room. Soon, he returns back to the room with the video still going and sits down with the lights on to continue talking. Apparently, he left the room because they were talking about private stuff and didn't want anyone hearing. Well, I have this management program on my computer. I was the "IT" guy in our last room. Basically I had control over the internet access. Sadly, in this room I don't have as much power without the admin password since...I am not the admin. However, I can still disrupt the signal remotely with what I do have. So I started to disrupt the signal and make Skype drop the call. I would wait for a while and let him call her back. Once he called he back and they both put a sentence in, I would disrupt the signal again. I did this for a while until he finally gave up trying to call her and she went to go work out with her roommate. So, now everyone else can sleep and even he decided to lie down for a nap. The internet here is known for being unreliable so he blamed it on a crappy signal from the source. He has no idea it was me and he will not find out. I think I may have to do this every morning that he wakes us up until he realizes that he shouldn't be messing with people's sleep since we do have designated times when we are suppose to be sleeping(2am-10am).

Warming up...again.

It has been fairly cold over here in the land of sand. Supposedly the temperature dropped down to near the 20's somewhere in Iraq during the night. I was walking around in civilian clothing wearing pants, and t-shirt, and a warm sweatshirt and still found myself crouching and shivering in the cold wind at night. Today the wind stopped, the air is a bit crisp, and the sun is doing the job of warming up the ground. It reminded me of walking on the gravel roads during the transition between winter and spring. Where the sun would be melting the snow and you can smell the moisture in the air. Beautiful. I know it will be chilly when I return but soon after it will be one of my favorite seasons of the year.

Mind

I find myself continually renewing the fascination with the human brain. Thoughts and memories are always on the forefront with me. Recently, I have been thinking about how intriguing it is that I can have such a bad memory when it comes to many things but such a vivid memory when it comes to a few things. Let us look at my education for instance. Out of the 2 years of Spanish the main thing I remember is how to tell someone when my birthday is and ask them when is theirs. I was sitting down this evening thinking about how I will always remember to always sit up erect while speaking to the bowl. My acting teacher told us this is the easiest way to relieve ourselves because the body is then in such a form that everything in the digestive track is in order and in the position to work most efficiently. I even can still remember snippets of memory surrounding a girl that I knew from early high school clear as if I were there. The memories are so vivid I can tell you the look on her face or even what she was wearing. I remember the placement of everything I carefully planned in the room that I designed in which I asked my wife to marry me in. I can remember certain numbers and code just as well. Speaking of, Will, the code I sent you was based on the date I wrote it (date was included). I used what I call an alphabetic origin. T is the origin meaning T=0. The date was January 16, 2010 or 01/16/2010. Each sentence followed the number key given by the date. First one being 0(Origin T=0, Code 0=A), next one being 1 (T=0, 1=A), and so on.

Sometimes I wish that my memory for such things could be applied to others. I wish I could remember how to swing dance, play the piano, or even how to do any of the other skills my mind found unnecessary to keep. Although, then I may not be so fascinated when I relearn something. Each time feeling like a breath has been returned to my very being. I have so many images flashing through my mind from projections I saw in college classed but some remain incomplete. I can still see images of the brain and the different diagrams from my psychology class but I can't tell you what each one was about. Someday I will unlock this door and my brain's potential will reach new heights. I am content with who I am and what is inside this menagerie. I am excited to someday meet my first child and really witness creation of the mind in all its splendor. Hopefully, my children are either half-insane as I am or double. I have not determined which would be better yet. All I know for sure is that I am going to do what I can to be there.

Moved

Yay! Finally, I am entirely moved in to our new location and can actually sleep here. The new set up and roommates I have make this whole thing reminiscent of my first year in college. It is kind of cool actually and so far no one has really bumped heads. It may be because we all are together so much when we are on the road...unlike my last roommates who seemed to make any sort of living difficult since there was always at least one person sleeping so the lights were always off. They were also in a different CET so I only saw them when they were back and most often ended having a room by myself where I could enjoy some nice solitary. Although I now room with 4 other guys instead of just 3 this arrangement definitely is more comfortable. Too bad we couldn't have started over here.