Special I've Been Thinking WAY Too Much Wednesday's (That's Publishing On Thursday) Digressions Bonus Edition

Fourth ID soldiers.





• People who know me now might would be surprised (in a way) where I've been in a religious or spiritual sense in the past.




• People who've known me in the past would be surprised where I'm at now.




• Man, that was vague- thought I wanted to talk about that more than I did I guess.




• A hint: a preacher who visited a facility I had a patient in was surprised I wasn't,"A church person." and said he didn't think a person who wasn't," Could get what you do."




• He began to quote a long- ish scripture to me- I finished it for him. His jaw dropped.




• I feel a little bummed when people who used to comment here stop- that surprises me quite a lot.




• For almost always comes out fro when I type.




• When you send troops a care package you can never go wrong with a Frisbee but, get a heavier/ larger one over a gimme or dollar store type. 180 gram actual Frisbeee brand is probably the best bet. They can carry them everywhere and break them out during downtime. A good second that is highly appreciated is a football but, send a pump and extra needles. For hygiene items any Aveeno product (especially shave cream) and sport deodorants- not regular or cheapo types.




• A flashback that I may have mentioned here before struck me again recently. I've talked before about how my nursing background assured I'd be included in medical emergencies on the battlefield- whether I wanted it or not. Once on a rare patrol I wasn't leading the lead squad leader called over the radio," Bravo 6 Bravo 6 this is Bravo 2. We've got casualties up here- send the doc and combatkevin pronto." "This is 6- what you got?" "At least one wounded- abdominal wound, blood everywhere- looks bad over."




• Well, another one I thought I wanted to talk about.



• OK, I guess I'll say when I see a pink crepe myrtle in bloom in takes me there- hard. Also, that casualty comes to me in my dreams sometimes. Initially there was blame, "You could have done more." "Why didn't you help me?" Or, sometimes just staring at me angrily burning a hole through my heart. Now sometimes it's, "Don't worry- I'm OK, you tried." and even, "I'm sorry when we met that day it hurt you so bad."




• The patient was in too much distress to talk so I don't even know what their voice sounded like.




• But, in a way I do.




• OK, so I am talking about that day in October.




• Sometimes it's just some happy even joyous laughter of the patient in the background and I'm looking down at the blooms of that crepe myrtle swirling around on the ground and I hear the sound of my breath as I inhale and exhale twice and always exactly twice then I hear my temporal pulse pounding in my head then slowing gradually. Then I hear the wind rustling through the Crepes and I wake up at that point.




• Every time.

Mondays Missives

"Maj. Gen. Craig Campbell, adjutant general of the Alaska National Guard, considers Palin "extremely responsive and smart" and says she is in charge when it comes to in-state services, such as emergencies and natural disasters where the National Guard is the first responder"

• The above not only serves to illustrate the picture well, it's a quote from the same article that detractors are using over and over and over that points out when federalized, the Governor has no authority over her states troops. It's meant to make her and her supporters somehow look bad when they compare her command role experience to Obamas experience. I doubt anyone assumed she meant to convey she commands those troops when they are federalized and deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan but, they are scared. I understand, we've all been there I suppose and when you are scared you do and say things you wouldn't otherwise. I remember I made a childish response to fear like that once- I was surrounded, the enemy was everywhere they wanted my blood. I didn't know what to do so I passed the ball off and still got massacred. Kill the man with the ball is hard.
• I think the point was she had to be the one to lay awake at night and wonder if her state had done enough to train their troops up before they are turned over to federal authority.
• She had to learn how/when/why to deploy her states troops and know after meeting them and spending time with them she'd be living with that decision.
• She had to live with the knowledge if her troops weren't adequately trained, led, equipped and in sufficient numbers and they were needed for a stateside response not only would people she was directly responsible for and knew personally suffer, she would be held accountable and would forever be remembered for this shortcoming.
• This may be a case of we'll believe whatever we want to believe but I simply cannot picture Obama standing among his troops in a flightsuit. I promise you, if he ever tried that not only would he look uncomfortably ridiculous, the perception as such by the troops would be painfully obvious and a similar op. picture would never make it to print.
• Part of the reason when someone like Palin comes out to a military exercise they wear a uniform is for safety. Flightsuits are fire resistant to an extent and she doubtless flew that day. Civilian clothes may also be inadequate for the environment as they might snag on equipment.
• If this blog were a stock and I were an analyst I'd be expecting the political component of it to peak right around early to mid November and drop sharply off back into pictures of local wildlife (including my kids) and goofy demotivational posters.