Monday's Missives

• It is out of order the way we write dates in America- it should be the day, month and then year. For example, today is December 12, 2016 so it should be 12/12/2016 instead of 12/12/2016... Oh, huh, well that example did not work out so well but you know what I mean because you are smart and good looking.
• Spetsnaz troops are on the ground in Syria. Of course we professional warfighters/political commentators knew that to be true but this is the first video I have seen of them in action. Be sure to turn the subtitles on for some comic relief. Amazing to see were the guys blown off the back of a truck by a missile (which I presume to be a Kornet) then get up and run away.
• As a ute I know we wrote the President in class but I am not sure if it was a group effort or if we did it individually and I do not recall a response at all. Nancy Renshaw was the teacher who headed the effort.
• I knew SpeedoMan well and basically my entire life. He was a good guy.
• Apollo 18 was a terrible movie although I was intrigued by the trailers and DVD cover description I saw before watching it. Man, I really thought it could be good and was disappointed it was so sucky.
• The F14s nickname is Tomcat which is cooler and harder sounding to me than the F22s moniker of Raptor.
• I always think moniker should be monikor and when spellcheck calls me on it I first wonder where I went wrong- without looking at the last 2 letters.
• Yesterday for lunch we had amazing chili made by a friends wife. It had sausage, stew meat and seasoned hamburger in it. I need to find out if I have chance with her if something happens to him or if she already has a back up husband in place.
• A hot friendly acquaintance is leaving her husband and another friendly acquaintance is already making a move on her- probably not smart homes. As hot and as cool as she is- she will be a wreck for a while brother. When she lands on her feet (as he undoubtedly will) a year or so from now somebody is going to be very lucky but until then, she will unintentionally destroy at least a few hopefuls.
• They had cowboy poetry and music at Mineral Wells Sate Park Saturday night. I wanted to go but did not have a single person I could have asked to go with me (to be more correct- the one I could and did ask rejected me with extreme prejudice) so I stayed home and watched a Simon Pegg movie about  a lame 40 year old loser. That is totally not me.
• I am 50 years old.

Saturday's Situation

• I just read (4/20/2015) Ben Affleck has supposedly demanded some TV show suppress the fact one of his ancestors owned slaves.
• You gotta take the lumps with your gravy buddy.
• This morning (04/23/2015) I saw a bumper sticker that read, Corporate Media: The Rich Telling The Middle Class To Blame The Poor. That doesn't make sense- does it? Regardless, it isn't a fact nor even just an opinion. It is the product of a world view that I obviously cannot comprehend.
• Also this morning a  guy came so close to striking my mirror as he nearly sideswiped me while he was texting and smoking I literally have no idea how he missed me and then within 5 minutes a lady in a Benz came over into my lane while digging through her purse.
• It is a Mad Max style wasteland out there- I tell ya.
• Loneliness hardly ever bothers me consequently when I do get legitimitely lonely it is crushing and I have a hard time dealing with it.
• To be filed under schizophrenic- literally psychotic:  In Syria, Jihadis funded by the CIA are fighting Jihadis funded by the Pentagon.
•  I weep for the species.

Monday's Missives

An interesting little irony- the car that was jacked by the Boston bomber had a COEXIST bumper sticker on it. That almost seems too rich to be genuine but I guess the image is unaltered.

• "That doesn't look like like anywhere I was in Iraq- you? No, there wasn't trash everywhere, there wasn't bullet holes in everything, there wasn't piles of rubble and the people weren't dirty, glue sniffing beggars." Conversation between an ex girlfriend who had been downrange and myself while watching the great 1924 silent movie The Baghdad Thief.
• There was a guy I went to church with way back in the day that when you went into someones house and they had some great bookcases, an awesome mantle or built in entertainment center that were obviously custom made you'd automatically ask,  Did Don build this?
• He was the classic case of someone not knowing what he meant to the people in his life. He killed himself by taking a handful of pills. Really, it was a great loss for the world, but I'm sure he had no idea.
• Man, it's hot.
• Roofers at nearby apartments work from 7 in the morning and are rolling up hoses and cords after dark. I draw up inside just glancing up at them. I know they get paid reasonably well- or none of them would come back after the first day, regardless- it isn't enough.
• Cold Case, 48 Hours and Tru TVs World's Dumbest- television shows I could watch in an alternating loop 24 hours a day.
• I just watched videos this morning (05042013) filmed with hi def cameras aboard Syrian tanks engaged in urban combat. The first thing that jumped out at me was the apparent competence of the crews- they alternated their sectors of fire, did not panic under fire, maintained their spacing where they should and tightened it up when the terrain and situation dictated. Another thought that crossed my mind was the scale and ferocity of the fighting- there were literally miles it appeared of rubbleized buildings and at times the tanks were under fire from every direction at once. In some videos the Syrian forces get dinged hard by armchair generals in the comments section for not having infantry support. Uh, might want to back that tank up: They were I interpreted actually running a sophisticated screen operation with  infantry moving lateral to the tanks. If I'm correct it is a pretty brilliant idea if risky-ish. Doing this would allow the grunts to engage insurgents moving toward the tanks and engage those running away from them. Also assuming good comms the tanks could move to support the grunts if they get bogged down and call for support. Also, some of the engagements show the armor moving way too fast for infantry to keep up. Providing the planning was sound and objective(s) clear, the infantry could become a liability in an operation with that kind of tempo.