Archive for February, 2009

Would you believe this blog has passed the seven year mark?  That’s right, I started this place way back in 2002.  Its gone through many iterations from small blogger site to a fully integrated CMS on its own domain.  Its still moving forwards after all these years, chronicling the things in the authors life he feels are important.  Sometimes this place is barely alive at all, but here it sits in the backwaters of the internet, a small little milblog with a small readership doing what it does.

I have been quietly reflecting on a lot the last few weeks.  I re-connected with a few old friends and it got me to thinking.  Two of them are doctors now.  Several are still doing exactly what they were doing back when, and some have moved on to other things. I began to reflect on the past several years of my life and the decisions I made. 

I got to thinking, I can tell people what its like to fly over hostile cities and try to keep an eye out for the bad guy with a missile or some other nefarious means to shoot me down, but can they really relate to what I am saying? Especially if they have never been in a helicopter?

If you hadn’t heard yet, tomorrow 13 Feb 09 at 3:31:30 PM (PST) the time will be 1234567890.  Unix time that is.  Its the one and only occurrence ever of that time and it will last exactly one second.  There are actually parties planned in San Francisco and Vancouver.  I just thought it was an interesting little piece of trivia being the Linux person I am and all.

So, what happens when you get two days on the ground because you can’t see more than half a mile in any direction?  Nothing.  No one moves, not even the bad guys.  This entire God forsaken country was covered in dust for two days.  I guess it was one big sandstorm. 

I am reading a book on the history of “Dust Off,” or the helicopter medevac.  Its been an interesting read so far in that it walks the reader through the entire history, major changes, etc that have occurred in Medevac up till Vietnam.  It covers stories of the brave pilots who flew during those times as well.  Personally that is the part has irked me a little bit.

The title kinda sucks, but thats not the point.  I was perusing YouTube, of all places, and found this little video from C 2/227.  Its a pretty good representation of my life here, even some of the places they go in and out of are the same (I think I saw my very own FOB in a shot or two, but I am not sure).  Anyway, its put together pretty well against a Rob Zombie music video.

By the way, I have no idea when exactly these guys were here.

Movie after the jump, of course.

Absolutely nothing happened.  Complete quiet.  Not one medevac related to violence or even combat.  Hopefully that’s a sign of things to come here.  I have to say though, that Iraqis take their elections much more seriously than do people in the US.  Very little apathy in the voting public.  I mean would you turn out to vote if you were unsure whether or not you would be killed for doing so?  Especially if you are a woman?  The security forces (Army, Police, etc) got to vote a day early just to make sure there would be enough people to ensure the safety of the public.

Ok.  That’s it for now.  Just a quick update from someone actually here and not in some news office.