Said to me today at work, Please do not leave or you will make me cry.

Overhead In My Asian Dinner Place

My mom got married when she was 13- no wait, yeah she was 13 and my sister was ...

A War Story

• In another life myself and some NCOS were tasked with teaching non combat arms soldiers from other units how to conduct raids and process persons of interest. Although I was not an NCO at the time- I wrote the training plan and also lectured.
• We were also to be like the out of town gangsters who moved into a shaky area in our territory and straightened things out as we represented- The Boss.
• For real- we were supposed to impart leadership, general discipline and personal appearance pride.
• We conducted sessions for two different units (one at our own armory) then we never heard anything else about it.
• But it did have a kinda Der Kommisar! feel to it while it lasted.
• A great- great memory was the time we wrapped up a training session early so we left the host unit.  On the way back to our home unit we stopped and played hooky by watching a movie at Sundance Square.
• We were Texas NG soldiers so there were no shortage of cops and deputies in my unit. A Dallas cop we were with went to jerk his hand out of his jacket pocket to stifle a sneeze in an elevator. When he did so his Beretta .22 fell out and hit the floor. 
• Years later I heard somebody tell the story except by then- the weapon discharged when it hit the floor and blew a hole in the wall of the elevator.
• The weirdest thing is I specifically and vividly remember Dallas cop guy who dropped the weapon even telling us at the time (after admitting that dropping it was a stupid 'croot thing to do) about how the construction of that particular pistol made it ultra safe to drop- and so although he shouldn't have dropped it- there was no way it was going to discharge. 
• One of those guys the last I knew was kinda high on the food chain at Tandy Corp.
• Another is a hospital administrator in Japan.
• The third is a really high placed Colonel in intelligence for the division.
• Fourth guy is/was last I knew a missionary in Honduras or Colombia.
• Me?! 
• I'm still just plain ole Kev.

In another life I had a job building or repairing dams and other conservation structures. It was a great time in my life- literally fantastic. I know that at least a hundred years from now people will be swimming and fishing in some of those lakes I built. It's a cool thought.

The last big job I did was out in West Texas near Winters. Literally every Friday night on the way home I would hear this song. It was great.

It was one of the last, good and simple times of my life.

Thursday's Thoughts

• I just learned JJ Watt is white. 
• If my personal life is ok I can handle a bad work environment.  If my personal life stinks but my job is OK- I will be alright but there is nothing like those moments where the personal and work life are both great.
• And yeah- there is nothing worse than when both your personal and work life suck.
• A coworker should absolutely try her hand at open mic night for stand up comedy. She is hilarious but what stands out to me is how she cracks herself up sometimes. She is literally joyful in those times. It is nice to see.
• Recently I tried to get to know somebody in my organization personally. I knew better- as in I honestly counseled myself regarding the ways it could come back to haunt me in the future. To make a not too long of a story even shorter- I have had to keep emails and texts between us- to show I didn't do anything wrong.
• A while back I heard an emergency vehicle go down Rosedale running the British type pee-poe siren.
• I'm afraid the new Super Troopers movie will be terrible.
• Vacation is less than a month away and I have done nothing towards planning the multi state trip.
• Update: The rental car is laid on and all gear bought. We might get a few clothes- we will see. Otherwise, we are as ready-ish as we will ever be to travel.

Wednesday's Digressions

Dr Pepper in a blue can- eew. That. Is. Not. Right.

• Recently I had a flashback to the time a female asked me out as she knew that I had recently broken up with a long-term girlfriend. To deflect, I told her that right then I really wasn't looking to go out with anybody and that I definitely didn't want anything serious and that I was mostly just after sex-no strings attached SEX. She called my bluff and told me that was fine saying, That's great- me too!
• After recovering from the initial shock I just avoided her and have no independent recall of what happened after that. 
• What a great band: Smithereens. 
• Also, I always thought that was a great band name.
• Recently I looked up a corporal who was one of my Marines in Iraq. Interestingly, he is now an officer. He talked about going to Officer Candidate School when we would jaw-jack back in the day but I presumed it was just talk. I thought he was just bumping his teeth together. Good for him. I'm proud of him.
• I wonder how well Fast Times At Ridgemont High has aged?
• Should that sentence have ended with a period or question mark?
• On reflection it was more of a statement than a query- a period would have been better.

Overheard In My Breakfast Place

See, I'm not a kicker. I'm more of a punter and a choker.

I met the hottest woman today. If you saw her you would say, What?! Kevin-are you crazy!? She looks like a lot lizard. She is literally the trashiest looking woman I've ever seen in my life!
 I would say, I know isn't she amazing?!