Back from Colorado

The GF and I just had just finished our first vacation after I came back from Iraq. Thank God for this past long weekend! The dog tagged along too for the long drive from here to Colorado Springs. Whoever said that Kansas was flat ought to have his or her eyes re-examined! There was a long road of nothing but hills and the only population were cattles and horses. It's kind of beautiful in a drug-induced haze sort of way.

On the way to and back, we listened to both AM an FM radio, as well as the IPOD, since the satellite radio portal has something wrong with it. Dammnit, I got the satellite radio for long drives!

We stayed at this econolodge on the edge of town, kind of a ghetto area, but it was fine since we were just there to lay our heads and eat the free breakfast.

The mountains were beautiful! We went to the zoo and saw giraffes necking, hippos feeding, and watched people like they're a part of the zoo display. Thanks to military discounts, we didn't have to pay for most of the tickets at full price. We also took the railroad to the top of Pikes Peak, it was really cold at the top, around 14,000+ ft. When we came down from the mountain, I got this raging headache that wouldn't go away, probably from the altitude. Should of had a shot of oxygen from the oxygen bar at the top of the mountain, $6 for 20 minutes, flavored too! I wondered about what it would be like, just to live on top of one of these mountains with no one but your signigicant other and maybe a few pets. I kind of feel like I live like that now, except for the 8 hours that I'll have to spend working. I think the GF would like to live in the mountainous states one of these days.

It was kind of surreal coming back to this part of the Midwest, not our absolute favorite, but hopefully, it won't be permanent. I think the GF said that she felt depression lift as soon as we drove out of Kansas. I kind of always have believed that you make the place that you are at, but so far, the Midwest have stumped me a bit.

Hooray for pink nipples!

They're so cute, young looking, and tender to the touch! They just remind me of pink cotton candies, and pink peeps (even though they're not my favorite candies), and strawberry flavored cakes with bits of real strawberries in it! Pink nipples are even better covered with either whipped cream, marachino cherries, or even honey drizzled on top of them!

I don't know what I'd do without them!

For Beth

Friday night
I'm going nowhere
All the lights are changing green to red
Turning over TV stations
Situations running through my head
Well looking back through time
You know it's clear that I've been blind
I've been a fool
To ever open up my heart
To all that jealousy,
that bitterness,
that ridicule
Saturday I'm running wild
And all the lights are changing red to green
Moving through the crowd I'm pushing
Chemicals all rushing through my bloodstream
Only wish that you were here
You know I'm seeing it so clear
I've been afraid
To tell you how I really feel
Admit to some of those bad mistakes I've made
If you want it
Come and get it
Crying out loud
The love that I was
Giving you was
Never in doubt
Let go your heart
Let go your head
And feel it now
Babylon, Babylon
Sunday all the lights of London Shining ,
Sky is fading red to blue
I'm kicking through the
Autumn leaves
And wondering where it is you might be going to
Turning back for home
You know I'm feeling so alone
I can't believe
Climbing on the stair
I turn around to see you smiling there
In front of me
If you want it
Come and get it
Crying out loud
The love that I was
Giving you was
Never in doubt
And feel it now
Let go your heart
Let go your head
And feel it now
Let go your heart
Let go your head
And feel it now
Let go your heart
Let go your head
And feel it now
Let go your heart
Let go your head
And feel it now
Babylon, Babylon, Babylon

Random brain stuff

From the GF (this is the sh*t!): http://cryingwhileeating.com/

The anti-commercials: Sprint guy and the Verizon guy, duking it out.

Jerrod from Subway shows us how he really lost all that
weight. (C'mon, no one can eat one type of food ALL THE
TIME without barfing it all up!)

Sarah Jessica Parker fighting Joss Stone because she wanted
her old job at The Gap back. (Imagine the screams from Joss!)

Rick Springfield finally confesses that he wished that he WAS
Jessie's girl.

Pornographic milk ad. (Think, "Milk, where's your mustache?")

Following the GAP ad. tradition, Jamie Lee Curtis cuts
Catherine Zeta-Jones to get her job at T-Mobile back.


Chinese breakfast: rice gruel, fried peanuts with a bit of salt, pickled cucumbers, smoked fish, or sardines, pork meat shreds, stinky tofu, cold tofu with soy sauce and thousand year old eggs, and soy milk, in both salty and sweet kind. (cold or hot, it doesn't matter....mmmmm.....!

That's about it for now...

Sick

I'm reporting in sick today, what began as a minor cold blossomed into something more. I feel all stopped up and my head feels 4 feet thick. I hope lots of water, soup and rest will do the trick to getting better!

It has been a pretty quiet day so far. The GF went to wal-mart and got some stuff so we could eat. The pets have been napping on and off all day long. I read some stuff online when the GF referred me to this site called "Trying to Grok", feel free to google the site! The author of the blog is a military wife, and she started to blog when her husband got deployed to Iraq and has been blogging ever since.

Her particular entry today was about how she has been so enriched by living as a military wife, in a military community, surrounded by military people. She mentioned a particular instance when she and her husband went on a cruise, and when she mentioned that they're from Missouri but now living in Germany because of the military, the rest of the people at the table got silent, almost uncomfortable and just stayed away from questions about what it was like in Iraq/Germany.

I'm glad that Mrs. Grok has found her niche, but I also thought that she had gone a bit too far. Perhaps some of the people on that cruise were uncomfortable talking about war, maybe they are opposed to it, or maybe the civilian and the military lifestyles are just so far apart that they didn't know what to ask. Sometimes when I read her blog, she seemed so gung-ho I thought she should have been the one who joined the army.

I think we all live with a degree of illusions about our lives, and you've got to draw a line somewhere. Let's be real here, military life may be great for some people, but it's stifling for others. Just because you had opted not to join the military, or have decided to get out after serving for awhile, doesn't mean that you are less patriotic than lifers.

Now back to nursing the cold!

Lovely weekend

Got words last night that my grandpa, after having made some improvement, was put back to intensive care unit for a high fever, probably due to bladder infection, and dangerously low blood pressure levels. As much as I am not ready or don't want it to happen, the end may be closer for my grandfather than ever. I also noticed that I've been closing in because of my worries for him, my grandma, who's in the throes of alzheimer's, and also work, I'm working with a whole bunch of really smart people, and to turn out quality products in short amount of time can be a bit trying.

So, if someone from home says the word, I'll be flying back home to try and see grandpa. I really hope he'll pull through again, but I also do realize that he is really old and tired.

The GF and I tried to take it easy this weekend, slept late yesterday and today. Went for a little bike ride, eat at a local pub, went to the zoo, and ate well. The weather was just great! It was just a bit on the cool side but at least it was sunny and pleasant. The zoo in Kansas City was okay, but there were not a lot of varieties of animals there, maybe they're having budgeting problems.

It wasn't all a loss at the zoo though, we were looking at the lions exhibit and we saw two lions getting it on!!!! Goto the photopage and check the pictures out. It was like watching animal porn! I thought that funniest part was the fact that there were lots of kids, toddler age, there and they didn't really know what was going on. I thought that the parents found the act amusing but were kind of stuck on answers for their kids. I heard one parent tell their kid, "They are hugging." I laughed so hard that I think some tears came out!

Every weekend should be this good, minus the bad news....

Paula Abdul and Corey Clark

Who really gives a shit about whether or not they had slept with each other. Why is Corey Clark such a loser, he lost the idolship on "American Idol", and life goes on, so he should get over it!

For those who actually give a damn about this issue, why don't y'all get back into something more meaningful like the Tupac conspiracy or something?

Tues. morning

My satellite radio has been acting up lately, not getting much reception, don't know whether or not it has something to do with the wiring or the antenna, or the satellite that transmits the signals is about to go bad.

It has been a very trying past couople of days, I think the GF's faith in the future and us level is at a all time low. She said that I've pretty much checked out on the relationship two years ago...right around the time that I got deployed. I don't want the relationship to go out like that, but if being together is going to feel worse than being along, then what is the sense in that? She doesn't think that I try and has always put myself first in the relationship, and I really hope that I wasn't really like that.

I'm not trying to make exucses about how hard it was being deployed and everything, I tried and adapted somewhat, I had to try and make the best of the situation,even though the process of it had been not the best.

I don't know how but I hope things would somehow improve between us, I really hope so.

Happy Friday

It has been kind of quiet at work today, since it's Friday, no one's mind was really at work, and some have even taken the day off or left work early. The people who are there tried to stay somewhat focused by taking frequent smoke or coffee breaks. In a place to which not much goes on, I wonder what people are so anxious about when it comes to Fridays. I mean, do they go and gorge themselves on bad movies on DVD and food? Or do they go home and have marathon sex?

The GF went to play poker earlier in the day but quickly got out because today wasn't a good poker day for her. She was really disappointed. I think I disappointed her even more when we went bike riding and I left her behind when she got tired. We went riding on some back country road near where we live at, and I have to admit the hills kicked my butt too, almost crashed 2x. I didn't mean to, but lately I don't think I've done a lot of stuff that has impressed her lately.

Been having a lot of strange dreams,not all of which I remember, but I do know that they were strange, and it puzzles me somewhat as to why I'm having these dreams.

It's a quiet night,after the bike ride,none of us really wanted to do or say much. Maybe things will perk up more tomorrow. Off to bed now.

what's going on....

We've been living in this part of the Great Midwest for almost a month now, and both of us are trying not to feel like that we've moved into a complete cultural vacuum. It seems like you've basically got to drive 30+ minutes to get to anywhere. There seem to be a lack of available jobs, culture, ethnic eateries, and everything just seems to be really free-floating.

I've been trying to do some cycling, and for what little social interaction it offers, it's just another way to really try and enjoy the sceneries, you know, lots of rolling hills and farmlands. Working on a military post means that you get to enjoy certain amenities such as the gym and the swimming pool, but as I get to do these things, I feel more or less like I am on auto-pilot, these people really do keep to themselves.

One would think that by moving to a place where nothing is happening, one would be more apt to read more, write more, or even develop a new skill right? So far, that hasn't been the case, I'm ashamed to say. My dog is, however, getting more time spent with nature, I call it "grass time", it's better for the poopy! The cats are getting by, but I'm sure that they'd be so much happier to get back outside and play!

So we'll just have to keep on keeping on....because there just isn't much left to do....