Cold at the Range

I am finally almost back to my normal self now. After going through two rolls of toilet paper, I upgraded by buying some kleenex (with lotion!) from the commissary. I guess having my upper lip look like it had a red Hitler mustache was a hint that the toilet paper, while cheap, was a no-go. I just happen to like having a lip that is NOT red from being rubbed raw. Though, for the record, there was probably a half roll of army toilet paper in there too, which might as well be sand paper if you use it more than twice. Also for the record, Vaseline is AWESOME if you are raw from sand paper tissue.

I also went to the range last week despite being sick and coughing up everything and then some, but fortunately it wasn't much of an issue as I didn't cough much during the actual shooting. Actually, the cold conditions were much worse than my own cold. I was wishing I had brought a change of socks because my feet sweat a bit in the heated bus ride, and then I stepped into a very cold environment right after. Not fun. The range itself was fairly disorganized (as many things seem to be here, outside of my unit), so as a result, about half of my group wasn't able to get our rifles zeroed (calibrated so that it fires where we aim-- each person holds the rifle slightly differently, so it has to be adjusted to the firer), so rather than come the next day and waste time during the "qualification day," we opted to just come back next month and start already half-zeroed. Despite my lack of firing many rounds, though, it was pretty fun during the 45 minutes I actually got to shoot. The rifle really feels at home in my hands, making it really ironic that I want to be a chaplain and have the only job in the Army that disallows me to every carry a fire-arm...

Toilet Paper

I'm sitting at my computer, listening to the post-game show for the Oregon State Basketball game. I woke up half an hour before my alarm went off this morning, and while up, I noticed that the game was going on, so I got to listen to the last 10 or 15 minutes of it.

On my desk is a half roll of toilet paper. What is interesting is that it was a full roll yesterday-- I took it with me to use as Kleenex during four hours on an Army bus yesterday, and also used it during the night. After getting food poisoning two weeks ago, my weakened immune system was attacked by a cold, which four days ago assaulted me with a nasty cough and stuffed/runny nose. I am hoping it goes away by the time I go to the M16 rifle range on tuesday... I would like my breathing to be back to normal before I go put my expert badge on the line!

The good news is that one of Deanna's roommates also has a cold, and hers is slightly worse than mine at the moment, perhaps where mine was two days ago. Why is this bad thing good news for me? Because while at her apartment with a cough drop in my mouth, I don't feel so guilty about being near her roommates and getting them sick! I would say we have the same thing, but she was in America when I got sick...

Two days ago Deanna updated our registry at Wal-Mart. The first time we went through, I think we were in just one section of the website and didn't realize we weren't in a bigger section, so after my mom asked about camping equipment, we added a lot of stuff from that category. It got me in a camping mood! Unfortunately, we won't get to go camping for quite some time... probably not until the summer of 2010 because of the timing of when we are getting married and when school starts. I am just in the mood to roast some marshmallows or hot dogs, pitch up a tent, and relax in the hammock with a good book.

The Blue Screen of Death

eMy crazy computer is now in the shop. A couple weeks ago it was mercilessly attacked by the Blue Screen of Death, but this time there was no finding my way around it in safe mode. There was no escaping the horror. I admit, my PC is nearing the age of retirement, but I didn't think it would go out this early. In human years, I'd say it is 59 1/2. It is still kicking and active, but slowing down, and many of its peers have gone on at a far too early age, while others of its peers will go on for some decent amount of time. Anyways, the repair shop says I can probably recover all my data even if it can't get fixed, and honestly that is what I care about most. While it is annoying to not have a monitor the size of Montana, I can get along just fine with only my laptop (and my mini-laptop when it arrives!), but there were some files that were not backed up, primarily most of my pictures. At least I kept most of my music on my external harddrive... but I emphasize "most." I am thinking that the 1TB harddrive I keep drooling over at the PX has finally found its use for me: a backup harddrive. Some time in the next 2 or 3 months I will get it and backup EVERYTHING on it, and frequently update the backups of pictures and music. I also have all my music (as of October 2007) backed up on three DVD's should all else fail, but if I lost all the music I got since then, that would just be depressing.


For some Blue Screen of Death fun, check out this fun video:

The Orphanage

Last night I went to the Isaac Home, the orphanage in Uijeonbu, where we had dinner with the kids and then played for them. They were having a Christmas special, and we opened it up for the first 25 minutes with various Christmas Carols performed by our Brass Choir. They were a typical Korean crowd, shouting "EN-CORE! EN-CORE! EN-CORE! (actually pronounced EHN-core, not ahn-core), forcing us to go through "Jingle Bells" one more time. It was really fun, and the kids had a great time. I was actually a bit surprised at how much they were able to sing along. They ranged in age from 3 to 18, but most of them were in the 5-10 age range, and I got the impression that the older kids had some responsibility. It was also interesting to see a group of Americans there. They were from a church in Memphis, TN that had formed a partnership with the orphanage, and they were visiting the kids for Christmas.

Hopefully I will be able to get some more pictures up on my photobucket account (though it is giving me problems at the moment), though I do have this video on You Tube:

Moss Eisley

I just got done with a major cleaning of my room. Well... I just got done with what I am doing tonight in a major cleaning of my room. Now not only can you see my entire rug and vacuum it, but you can see most of the floor around it too. Pretty much all that is left is a huge pile in half of my closet (in my defense, most of it is army gear that I never use but have to store), a small pile, and some stuff under my bed (again, not as bad there either... a big suitcase stored there makes it look like more is under there). That, and the remnants of the clutter on my desk are all that is left. It ended up taking about 3 hours, though at least 45-60 minutes of that was primarily laundry, and I admit, I did distract myself with the computer on more than one occasion. The laundry took forever in itself because today before and during work was the first time I've really been able to take care of it in almost three weeks because every laundry day, and every alternate laundry day I've had, I have had to work when I would normally be washing my clothes. And now that you are so proud of me for showing initiative, I'll also add that I heard there will be light room inspection in the next day or two. :)

A couple weeks ago I found a new band that I really like called Eisley. It features three sisters, a brother, and a cousin, though the two guys don't sing (at least on the album I have). They are a pop/indie band, and though I haven't really gotten much of those genres before, I really liked what I heard when I listened to one of their songs on the radio-- their harmonizations are simply amazing. Their original name was going to be Moss Eisley (named for the Mos Eisley in Star Wars), but obvious legal worries prompted them to drop the Moss. Anyways, if you ever get the chance, check them out.

Let It Snow

It snowed about two inches this evening after church. I don't know whether or not I like it. On the one hand, it snowed! On the other hand, I'll be walking my 1/3 mile trek to work on patches of ice. On the other hand, PT will be right at the barracks and we won't be outside in the cold. On the other hand..... there is no other hand! I guess it is a good thing. I suppose.

It is still snowing lightly, and I heard it is supposed to pick up once or twice more during the night. We'll see what the next day brings... I am grateful though... it took til a few days into December for the cold winter to really set in, and it took until the 7th for the first snow-- last year it was miserable much sooner than this year.

Broken Brakes, Doors, and Buttons

Today was the Second Infantry Division's "Holiday Reception." As a member of the woodwind quintet, I helped to support the event as high ranking soldiers in Korea attended the reception held by the commanding general of the division, and I even got my first coin presented by an American general, GEN Sharp (as a 4-star, no one is of a higher rank-- only a higher position.) I have gotten a coin before from a general, but he was Korean and the head of the UN forces in Korea, which I find ironic since as a US soldier, for a while my only coin from a general was from a foreigner.

So we showed up at work kind of early in the morning, ready to get underway, but already we ran into problems. After the equipment was loaded onto the truck, our driver discovered that the parking break was stuck on! Needless to say, we did not take the truck... we emptied the truck and stuffed one of our two vans full of equipment, and stuffed both vans with people. Meanwhile, we sent one group by bus. The reception was held about an hour away at Yongsan, so they rode a commercial bus contracted by the Army. Already amused at the truck's misfortunes, I settled down in the van, but the day's troubles were far from over. Before leaving the parking lot, we tried to open the van's side door... but it was stuck. Maybe something had frozen; I don't know, but we didn't get it fixed until we got to Yongsan and at least 4 people had kicked, hit, pushed, and pulled the door until it finally came open.

We were there at the Dragon Hill Lodge, ready to go, all of our problems over... or so I thought. As I was putting on my uniform, I saw that one of my buttons had fallen off! The jacket has 4 sew-on buttons, while the rest are clipped on, and the one second from the bottom had dissappeared. We didn't have to play for another 35 minutes, but we were to be in place within 5, so I told my group leader and rushed down to the lobby floor where I knew of an alterations shop. I found the shop and explained my prediciment, and after he realized it was an emergency, the guy running the shop found a spare button. It didn't quite match (mine were shiny, it was the older non-shiny type), but it would do for the day. Unfortunately, as I took off my jacket, the next butten up popped off. At this point I had to be in place in three minutes. Another guy took out needle and thread and reinforced the first button before sewing on the second, though by this time I had to be in place in minus one minute. Not good. At that point, after telling the first (english speaking) guy that I was in the band and had to be in place, he spoke in Korean and the second guy did the fasted job I've ever seen and, though not the full quality he probably wanted to do, did quick job on the final button.

I threw on the jacket and hurried to the elevators, stressed because I was already a full three minutes late, but when I got inside, the mezzanine button would not light! The elevator closed its doors and moved up to the third floor where someone had called it. I got out, not thinking of staying IN the elevator, and pressed the down button to call another elevator. I waited and I waited. Then I waited some more. Finally, in desperation, I charged out the emergency exit to the stairwell (the stairwell had no alarm, and yes, it was an emergency!), but the mezzanine was locked from in there too! Eventually I made my way back to the lobby and was informed by a bus boy that the mezzanine level was turned off during the reception so people would go up the stairs across the lobby and go through the reception line. (Considering they were expecting some handicapped guests, I have to wonder at the intelligence of whoever made that decision.) I hurried over and up the steps and was able to make it to the ball room in time, though by the end of all my hurrying, I was a good ten minutes late.

In the end, though, nothing else went wrong, except for a pad falling out of my spit valve, but it went back into place, so it was ok. Talk about a stressful morning!