People I Meet - Things I Learn

Something I learned in NYC

2009-06-09T21:05:00.001-07:00

When looking for a quick sandwich in downtown NYC, try to be more specific when asking the locals, "where's the nearest subway?"

Chances are, you'll follow the directions arrive at the location, only to be staring blankly at a flight of stairs that go beneath the street with no trace of an aroma that smells remotely pleasant.

People I Meet - A stranger friend

2009-06-07T20:33:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I was following up on a lead based on some bargain hunting I'd been doing on Craiglist. The item: A stainless steal designer lamp for a mere $20.

After I arrived and looked the lamp up and down disapprovingly (that's what you do to items when you're "Craiglsiting") I decided to forgo my usual bartering. $20 seemed fair and I didn't feel like asking for $15 after I had driven 20 miles out of my way to pick it up, only to be possibly turned down (weak, I know). Besides, I liked their immaculate interior design, so I gave them a pass.

As a walked back to my truck, prize in hand, I felt my stomach drop out. Not literally (as that would be rather disturbing and inappropriate) by figuratively, as I came to the realization that I had locked my keys in the car (being distracted while getting out earlier by a phone call to home).

I stood in the middle of the road, set the living room lamp down and pursed my lips. This solved nothing. Actually, it started raining. I then manically pulled on my truck door. Again, nothing.

After knocking on the door of the lamp sellers I explained my situation and was invited in. Now I was really glad I didn't get into a nasty bartering session (not that I've actually been in one, but I can imagine).

A few minutes later I had completed a call to my insurance company and help was on the way. Daniel, the former owner of the lamp and current owner of the house, was in his late 20

s and graciously offered me dinner and various chocolates. I munched on the chocolates out of politeness...and because I really like good chocolate.

As we waited, I soon learned that he was a builder and that he and his wife designed and built their home together, and on the weekends he was the pastor of a small local church.

The most unexpected part of it all was when we started talking about hobbies. He shared that he was a filmmaking enthusiast and had worked on several short films. I couldn't believe it! I started talking about filming Dialtone and within minutes his Mac was on the table and I was showing him The Man on YouTube. Our animated conversations were soon cut short by a knock at the door. My truck was ready to be unlocked.

Only 5 minutes later I was ready to head back home, lamp now secured within the vehicle. But first, I gave my new found friends a copy of Dialtone, exchanged contact info and promised to keep them updated on our next project at their request.

As I drove home, I reflected on my initial misgivings of driving that far out of my way for a dumb lamp, but smiled in the dark knowing that my journey and the ensuing impromptu meeting was more than coincidence.

There are still good random people in the world, just waiting for you to lock your keys in your car and invite you in, offer you dinner and chocolate and perhaps even has the same interests.

But it's not just a small world. It's God's world, and I'm happy to be in it.

Something else I learned

2009-05-05T12:57:00.000-07:00

Frozen hashbrowns do not make good mashed potatoes.

I consider myself a mashed potato connoisseur, and in light of this I decided to test out a potentially time saving idea I recently had involving frozen hashbrowns.

The main problem was the consistency. Boiling the frozen bits took no time at all, but draining them was a chore. I had to pretty much use a press method with the colander in order to get the excess water out. The result was soggy potato strips that seemed to have potential, but upon mixing they failed to fully blend.

My heavily textured goop was returned to the kettle in an attempt to steam even more of the excess water out and to get a softer texture and the resulting mash after another mixing was very similar to your typical bowl of potato goodness. The only difference however, was that the starch content was much too high for some reason and thus this potentially time saving procedure was checked off my to-do list, not to be repeated in the near future.

If only I had added cheese this whole thing probably would have worked. And bacon. I love bacon.

Someone I met

2009-05-02T22:33:00.000-07:00

I met an interesting lady at the barbershop. She was very energetic, and animatedly jabbered as she cut my hair. She told me about her 20 y/o son and how he needs to find a job. She also was quite confident with how short she thought my hair needed to be. I agreed on both accounts.

"I notice you're hair sticks up in the front a little. You do a good job trimming your sideburns. So did you want a mohawk?"

She was rather random, but amusing.

Another Lesson Learned

2009-05-02T22:24:00.000-07:00

Don't trust small jumper cables. Thicker cables transfer power much better than the flimsy ones you might have in your car. Also, if you don't have a pair, I'd say that the longer the better.

Example: I tried jumping a friends car tonight with his small cables and after 15 min of nothing really happening I ran into the nearby store and bought some monster cables. They were long enough to circle around about 40 cars, which was great because I didn't feel like driving over to the other side of the parking lot where his car was. In about 5 minutes we were in business.

Lesson Learned

2009-04-27T12:55:00.000-07:00

Don't promise daily posts if you were hoping that the announcement will somehow be the source of motivation to fulfill said promise.

My problem is that whenever I sit down to write something, even if I have in my mind that it will only take a minute, I inevitably end up with a post the size of a short novel and am thus burned out from writing anything else.

So, be prepared for short, Twitter sized posts.

Can I link Twitter to my blog and my Facebook Status? Now that would be nifty.

The people I meet - The things I learn

2009-04-16T22:08:00.001-07:00

I have been inspired to write about someone new I met or something new I learned every day. Between Blogger, gmail stati,Facebook and Twitter I'm not sure which I want to update more, but suffice it to say that updates will be made.

I'm looking forward to this!

Live Blogging from San Antonio

2009-01-07T13:27:00.001-08:00

Hello all,

I've decided to clean the dust from my blog a bit with a new post, albeit this post is just to direct you somewhere else for a few days.

I'll be live blogging on San Antonio for the SAICFF starting tomorrow, so make sure to follow along at GermaneProductions.blogspot.com

See you there!

Brief Update

2008-09-17T22:13:00.000-07:00

Hello!

Now that I'm sure no one comes here for updates I think I'll post a little something.

Daniel's Quickfacts:

Campaign: After many months of work we came out ahead of our opponant in the primary and ended up at 54.5%. We're hoping that Palin will bring out more R's this next time around. Pretty dismal turnout, but we did well considering that we are in a swing district and Obama hype is in the air. 'Course being across the water from Portland is kinda telling in that regard.
Campaign: Stephen came over to give me a hand for three weeks. He'll be back in the beginning of October and leave a week after the Election. It's nice to have extra help, and by the time he shows up again we'll really need it.
Dialtone: We are getting close to being done! Our final edit has been completed and we are finalizing the score.
Dialtone: The Craig Bro's TM are doing a superb job on the score. All involved have been amazed by how much good music enhances the film.
Dialone: We are currently working on dialog audio correction, sound fx, visual fx, scoring, and color grading.

That's all for now!

VOIGHT: My concerns for America

2008-07-29T11:17:00.000-07:00

From the star of National Treasure 1 & 2, Transformers, 24, and also the father of Angelina Jolie, Jon Voight has some pretty good thought on Obama.

From the Washington Times

We, as parents, are well aware of the importance of our teachers who teach and program our children. We also know how important it is for our children to play with good-thinking children growing up.

Sen. Barack Obama has grown up with the teaching of very angry, militant white and black people: the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Louis Farrakhan, William Ayers and Rev. Michael Pfleger. We cannot say we are not affected by teachers who are militant and angry. We know too well that we become like them, and Mr. Obama will run this country in their mindset.

The Democratic Party, in its quest for power, has managed a propaganda campaign with subliminal messages, creating a God-like figure in a man who falls short in every way. It seems to me that if Mr. Obama wins the presidential election, then Messrs. Farrakhan, Wright, Ayers and Pfleger will gain power for their need to demoralize this country and help create a socialist America.

The Democrats have targeted young people, knowing how easy it is to bring forth whatever is needed to program their minds. I know this process well. I was caught up in the hysteria during the Vietnam era, which was brought about through Marxist propaganda underlying the so-called peace movement. The radicals of that era were successful in giving the communists power to bring forth the killing fields and slaughter 2.5 million people in Cambodia and South Vietnam. Did they stop the war, or did they bring the war to those innocent people? In the end, they turned their backs on all the horror and suffering they helped create and walked away.

Those same leaders who were in the streets in the '60s are very powerful today in their work to bring down the Iraq war and to attack our president, and they have found their way into our schools. William Ayers is a good example of that.

Thank God, today, we have a strong generation of young soldiers who know exactly who they are and what they must do to protect our freedom and our democracy. And we have the leadership of Gen. David Petraeus, who has brought hope and stability to Iraq and prevented the terrorists from establishing a base in that country. Our soldiers are lifting us to an example of patriotism at a time when we've almost forgotten who we are and what is at stake.

If Mr. Obama had his way, he would have pulled our troops from Iraq years ago and initiated an unprecedented bloodbath, turning over that country to the barbarianism of our enemies. With what he has openly stated about his plans for our military, and his lack of understanding about the true nature of our enemies, there's not a cell in my body that can accept the idea that Mr. Obama can keep us safe from the terrorists around the world, and from Iran, which is making great strides toward getting the atomic bomb. And while a misleading portrait of Mr. Obama is being perpetrated by a media controlled by the Democrats, the Obama camp has sent out people to attack the greatness of Sen. John McCain, whose suffering and courage in a Hanoi prison camp is an American legend.

Gen. Wesley Clark, who himself has shame upon him, having been relieved of his command, has done their bidding and become a lying fool in his need to demean a fellow soldier and a true hero.

This is a perilous time, and more than ever, the world needs a united and strong America. If, God forbid, we live to see Mr. Obama president, we will live through a socialist era that America has not seen before, and our country will be weakened in every way.

Jon Voight is an Academy Award-winning actor who is well-known for his humanitarian work.

Campaigning

2008-07-19T20:16:00.000-07:00

I find that I have a tendency to write really long posts, if and when I actually post. This obviously takes a lot of time, and thus I tend to push blogging way down on the priority list. This is obviously not a good thing, as I feel I have a responsibility to keep certain folks updated. If you are not one of those folks, that’s okay, you can still read my posts.

In any event, I plan on updating more, but with shorter entries.

But to start it off, I’ll bring you up to speed.

First I’d like to say that my multi-month vacationing marathon around Eastern Europe and Australia has been interesting and enjoyable. The weather has been consistently nice, and the food is fantastic. The natives, however, are just as stuck up as ever against us Yanks. Regardless, that hasn’t stopped me from perfecting my surfing pro-skills and diving the Reef just about every day.

Oh wait; this is a blog post, not an addition to my summer wish list (which I've been meaning to start). Sorry.

Some folks still have no idea that I’m in still in WA, but in fact I’m working in Vancouver and will be until at least December.

I am the campaign manager of a senate re-election race, as well as the executive assistant to the CEO of a marketing firm. My day is split in two, focusing on the business in the mornings, and working on the campaign in the afternoon. Thankfully my boss is the same for both jobs, but it still can be confusing when trying to keep track of two very fast paced schedules.

Probably the most diverse of the two jobs would be campaigning. I run the Senator’s schedule, coordinate endorsement and fundraising meetings, take all the campaign phone calls that come in, recruit volunteers, and file the contributions that come in with the Public Disclosure Commission every week (they keep track of all funds received and spent in every race for public office in the state).

I work with a WSU grad, Jami, who is our communications director. She does our press releases, updates our website and Facebook page, and coordinates our events with our volunteers.

“Doorbelling” makes up a large part of campaign work. Studies have shown (don’t ask me when or where) that physically handing information to someone and giving them a quick pitch, as opposed to strictly sending them mail pieces, cements the name of the candidate in their mind and acts a follow up to your other name recognition efforts (road signs, parades, etc.). All this is done with the hope that the ever forgetful voter will recall his sentient of good feeling or trust towards the candidate that he has perhaps gained when it comes time to check the box near his name.

I have plenty of stories of what happens on some peoples doorsteps, but for starters let me just say that the average voter, yes we’re talking register voters here, is horrendously under-informed (A.K.A Ignorant).

Most of the folk I talk to know only who they are voting for in the Presidential race. Other than that they don’t seem to care, at all. This apathy drives me out of my mind because they have no idea how much more state politics affects their everyday lives as opposed to national politics. :end of rant:

Another thing I've learned is that a lot of voters like to vote for the winner. It seems that if the voter percives a candidate as being likely to win, they will join what is called the "bandwagon" effect.

Well, thats all for now. Check back for more frequent (albeit random) updates from the life of a campaign manager. If you dare.

My Pal Is Married!

2008-05-15T22:27:00.000-07:00

Well, I’m back. Again. The past two weeks has been a whirlwind of activity, only, a whirlwind that goes on for two weeks (which normally doesn’t happen in real life, thankfully). However, unlike the destructive nature of whirlwinds, the past two weeks have been positively inspirational, recreational, and educational.

First I’ll start with the Inspirational –

Two weeks ago I flew into Charleston, SC to take part in one of my best pal’s wedding. Tait Zimmerman and Lauren Fitzhenry made solemn and Christ-honoring vows to each other under the full blessing of both their parents.

I, and the other two interns (Christopher and Jason), met Tait right at the start of our internship. This provided us the opportunity to encourage (and tease) him during his two year pursuit that finally concluded in marriage.

The outdoor setting was beautiful, the family and guests were happy and excited, and the spirit of the entire event was one of great encouragement.

This couple, young as they were, got it. They understood the importance of the family and the structure God had outlined for it. They entered a covenant together with much more maturity and council than most couples do throughout our entire nation. Because they have heeded the many years of advice they each have received from their parents and godly influences in their life, I know that Tait and Lauren will be might weapons in the hands of the Creator in their new life together.

Congratulations!

I'm Back!

2008-04-21T21:00:00.000-07:00

After about three straight months of pure scheduling mayhem I have finally arrived at a time where I can sit down, think for a moment, and realize that it's not going to get any easier!

So, I've made up my mind to return to my blog and my loyal readers, come what-may.

Thanks to the dedicated updates from Stephen and Jacqueline, everyone should be well aware of the happenings of the larger faction of the Bittner clan.

I, on the other hand, have much explaining to do.

To bring everyone up to speed, I completed my third session in the Senate during the same week the movers packed away all of the family stuff.Our biggest accomplishment this year was to finaly pass a law to tighten a loop hole regarding sex offenders. After three years of work, we finaly did it! You can read, and watch, the story here and here.

After that I was hosted at the Rowlands home for a week. During that week my family and I said our goodbyes to each other and I remained behind.

With about five days left of "free time" before I had to head down to Vancouver for my new job, I hurriedly worked with the rest of the GP Crew and organized an insane 4 different film shoots. Somehow we pulled them off thanks to the amazing coordination from many different volunteers.

I then headed down south to my new home in Washougal, and my new job in Vancouver. I have been graciously welcomed into the home of Jon and Sarah Russel for the extent of the elections. I am becoming welcomed by their 2 year old daughter, Eve, who I think is leaning towards liking me.

I now split my work day working for a national consulting group as an executive assistant to the president/national consultant, and also working as the senate campaign manager for the same guy. He is the Senator I have been working for in the Senate for the past three years.

The campaign has been very interesting so far as well as the consulting work. I will be sharing those interesting tid bits in the days to come.

So, that pretty much brings everyone up to speed to where I'm at (with the exception of a few details).

I have recently taken a liking to the ever popular, private social networking site, Facebook. I have many pictures and updates that are there that I probably won't post on this public blog, just because I'd rather not share them with un-friendy's of the campaign, such as local newspapers, that are just waiting to find out things that could be used as cannon fodder.

So....if you don't have an account you should at least check out the site and see how many folks you know are already there (I should be getting paid by Facebook for this).

That's all for now! I'll be back! Sooner!

Physics of life at 40 below

2008-03-20T23:26:00.000-07:00

As I sorted through my files this eveing before I back up my hard drive, I ran accross this article that I tucked away when my family thought that we
were heading to Alaska last year.

I instantly thought of my Zimmerman friends up there and thought I'd post this so that the rest of you "lower 48'rs" can see what AK living is like.

A father wakes, rolls out of bed and steps on cold carpet. He grabs a flashlight and shines it outside the window. The thermometer reads 40 below zero, the only point at which the Fahrenheit and Celsius scales agree. The red liquid within his thermometer is alcohol; mercury freezes at 38 below.

His little boy wakes, dresses and hands his father birch logs to add to the wood stove. The logs are heavy, cut last fall and not properly dried. The green wood contains almost 50 percent moisture, compared to about 30 percent in cured wood. The logs hiss amid other burning logs. They give off no heat until the moisture is driven off.

Outside, the car is plugged in. The father remembered the night before to activate the heating element that warms his antifreeze, which in turn keeps his motor oil just viscous enough to allow the pistons to move. A heat blanket, another northern adaptation, has kept the battery at about 20 degrees Fahrenheit, just warm enough to permit 50 percent of the cranking strength available in summer.

After breakfast, the mother dresses her boy so he can wait outside for the school bus. She pulls a big pile hat over his head, knowing that's where the human body loses the most heat, followed by the neck, the sides of the torso under the arms, and his groin.

Mother and son walk outside, crunching the snow on the driveway as they break the bonds between snow crystals. The dry snow is cold enough to prevent skis from gliding. The air is so cold it robs the interface between ski and snow of heat produced by friction that creates melt water on which to glide in warm temperatures.

On the road, car headlights cut through the ice fog that hangs over the road like cotton candy. Exhaust, about 250 degrees in the tailpipe, cools to minus 40 in less than 10 seconds after it comes out of the vehicle. Water cooled that fast turns into tiny particles that make up ice fog. Cars and trucks aren't the only things that make ice fog. Any source of water vapor will do, including people.

Waiting for the bus, mother and son turn to the sound of a nearby train. Though the train is more than five miles away, a temperature inversion makes it sound as if it's coming down the street. The inversion, created when warm air rests on top of colder air, acts as a tunnel in which sound waves bounce for great distances.

The boy sees a raven flying above the ice fog and points to it. Ravens often roost close to town during a cold snap. As the black bird flies through the air, its hyper metabolism keeps its body temperature at about 107 degrees. Through various adaptations, most animals are bothered very little by the cold, though chickadees adapted to life at bird feeders will probably die if people stop feeding them now.

School is rarely closed by cold weather in Alaska (the Fairbanks North Star Borough has no official temperature cutoff), so the bus arrives on time. The mother walks back into the house, her toes tingling as her extremities go through a normal cycle of warming and cooling. Her toe temperature rises to 68 degrees after falling to 50 while waiting for the bus.

The father starts a sluggish car engine. During the cold start, his engine spews a large amount of carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and a whole slew of hydrocarbons. After five to 10 minutes, heat from the engine warms the gasoline, which changes more readily to vapor, allowing more gas to ignite and reducing the pollutants out the tailpipe. As he pulls out of the driveway and into the fog floating above the street, his car bounces due to a tire that has retained a flat spot. He bumps down the road slowly until the tire warms enough for the rubber to become more flexible. Life rolls on

-Ned Rozell
ALASKA SCIENCE

:hibernating:

2008-02-12T18:49:00.000-08:00

Well, for those of you who are in close contact with me you probably know that I am currently infatuated in a plethora of activities which are constricting, and or otherwise inhibiting, my ability (or energy) to update this blog on a more consistent basis.

And the fact that I just wrote that obnoxious paragraph just proves how stretched out I am.

Currently I am working once again as the Session Aide to a Senator here in the WA State Senate. In my spare time I am helping dad get our house ready to sell, as we are moving to the East Coast next month. I am also working as a contractor doing web work.

But that is just part of my day.

The rest is filled with the thousands of unknown known’s (a quote from Donald Rumsfeld that you should Google) that pop up when you are producing a film.

Brian and I have been working tirelessly to keep DialTone on schedule and shot before we move in March. Thanks to a fantastic crew we have been doing very well so far and are well on our way to getting it done in time.

In any event, I’ll be taking a break from blogging here for the next month or so. You will find me over at germaneproductions.blogspot.com instead.

By the way, if you support Christian filmmaking please consider making a donation to Germane Productions. We need you help! It’s amazing what costs are incurred when you make a film, but trust me, it costs!

Thanks for reading! I’ll be back soon.

Freedom is the meaning of Christmas

2007-12-25T12:04:00.000-08:00

No matter what your opinion may be on our nation's involvement in the Middle East, I think that you will find this article very encouraging. I know I did, especially with my Dad spending Christmas over in Kuwait today.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8TOKSM80&show_article=1

Merry Christmas to all of you. I'm grateful for such great friends and family!

The Home School Family !

2007-12-21T14:02:00.000-08:00

If you come from a home educated background you probably will find this funny.

Thanks to Brian and Kaitlin for sharing this.

http://www.doublesharpevideo.com/HomeSchool2/Homeschool2.html

"Where have you been?"

2007-12-18T23:53:00.000-08:00

I have obviously been neglecting my readers here, but I do have something to share that I think you will find very interesting.

My time away from this blog has been spent over the past two months creating, and now managing, a website and forum all designed with you in mind (this include my loyal blog stalkers;).

As you know, I am interested in movies and filmmaking, and have recently decided to take a big step forward to go ahead with an idea that's been swimming around my head for a while.

The idea is to create a network of concerned young Christians who are also interested in Christian films, but who just don't have the experience, tools, or time to complete a film on their own. From this dilemma (which is actually great potential in disguise) springs Project DialTone by Germane Productions.

Me and and a guy named Brian, the guy I produced The Processes with while working in the Senate(read post below), are collaborating together again to produce a short Christian film which will be entered in the San Antonio Christian Film Festival next fall and we need your help to do that!

"But what can I do, I don't the difference between gaffers tape and video tape?!"

Well you see, gaffers are in charge of all the lighting in movies, and they use lots of tape to keep cords out of the way, and video tape, well...you get the idea. In any event, it really doesn't matter what you know about making movies.

If you do have experience in a certain aspect of the movie making process then you definitely would be a great help, but this project was designed for the everyday Christian who would just like to get involved in any capacity.

You could help us organize our schedule, find props, research rental lists or available shooting locations and much, much more. And the beauty of it is, you can do it all online! If you don't live nearby, it doesn't matter. There's plenty to do from a distance, and we have created an online forum to organize such things

"So whats the movie about?"

Well, it just so happens that you can see for yourself by going to GermaneProductions.com. Let me just say, however, that I'm positive you will find it intriguing. Brian has done a stellar job with the story and I'm sure it will leave you thinking about
how you live your life as a Christian.

"What if I don't have much time?"

Well, the most important thing right now is for as many people to read the script as possible and then to tell us what you thought. We need your feedback!

What was your initialresponse? Did you finish with unanswered questions? Do you have an idea to
make the story better?

Your input on the script is our greatest need right now as we must have it nailed down by the New Year.

"So, how do I get involved?"

Go to the website, register, and head to the forum!Once you sign up you will also get access to exclusive content on the site that you should find, at the very least, interesting.

GermaneProductions.com

Join the team today!

Life in the Middle East

2007-11-19T23:22:00.000-08:00

Many friends and acquaintances have asked me about my Dad and what he does exactly over in Kuwait. Typically I tell them that he is a Warrant Officer in the Army and that he is heavily involved in Logistics, which he is, but I haven’t really known all of the specifics.

So, for the benefit of all those around (including me), I decided to send Pop a good ‘ol fashioned email and ask him first hand about his duties are overseas.

I sent the email at around 11:30 PM my time, which is about 10:30 AM (11 hrs. ahead) his time,
and by the time I woke up I was excited to find that he had found time to answer my questions.

So, for those who were curious, enjoy.

Please feel free to comment with any other questions you might have. I know dad would be happy to answer them.

_________________________________

What is your title?

My rank which goes with my title is Chief Warrant Officer five, and I hold the position as the Theater Ground Maintenance Technician for South West Asia (SWA). I am assigned to Third Army ARCENT (Army Central Command) which is headquarters is in Georgia. I am the forward element working for CFLCC (Coalistion Forces Land Component Command).

Who exactly do you interact with on a weekly average, and who do you report to?

My direct officer that I report to is Colonel Tunstall who is the Deputy G4. He is my rater on my Officer Evaluation Report. In turn Colonel Tunstall works for Brigadier General Hodge who is the Director of Operational Sustainment. General Hodge is my Senior Rater who endorses my performance and provides guidance on short term and long term goals which he has envisioned. This provides me with a focus of his expectations and how I can further make him successful.

Is Kuwait relatively safe?

It depends on which aspect we look at. As far as insurgency, roadside bombs, snipers, IEDs, and suicide bombers go the answer is definitely YES. Now, as far as safety on the roads the answer is a resilient NO.

There are posted speed limits, 120 KM being the average, but no one ever pays attention to speed limits, turn signals, or any other basic fundamental rules of the road. Here it is simply a matter of boldness and defensive driving.

I typically stay out of the main flow of traffic so that I am not apt to get involved in any mishap. The accidents that happen here seldom have survivors due to the rate of speed. If we see an accident in Washington, it is really not all that often. However, here it is a daily repetitive occurrence.

Do you ever get to leave the base?

Actually, I can leave whenever I need or want to. But based upon the previous question and answer, I really only leave the base when I need to travel for missions. I do not travel for the sake of seeing thousands of acres of sand, and one camel does look like the next.

What is your preferred mode of transportation inside and out side of the post?

I walk to and from work each day, to include the dining facility, etc…. However, when I need to walk more than a few blocks I resort to the Suburban.

As far as off post travel goes, naturally I take the Suburban. The last time I traveled to Iraq, I took the Suburban to the flight line then a Blackhawk to Camp Ali Alsaleen, then a twin prop C12 into Baghdad. So dependent upon the purpose of the trip, transportation varies.

What type of food do you eat? Any perks here?

Well for breakfast I basically stick to oatmeal with a little brown sugar, cinnamon, and raisins. On the side I will have a piece of fruit and a couple of strawberries. Lunch and Dinner primarily consist of a salad, prime rib, steak, shrimp, crab legs, lasagna, spaghetti, cold sandwiches’, tortellini, tacos, burritos, chicken, fried catfish, baked salmon, deep fried white fish, or any combination of the above on any given day.

To be perfectly honest, you can pretty much determine what you will be eating based upon what day of the week it is. The food is fairly tasteless and not really enjoyable, but that is probably due to the fact that I am not with my family.

The perks here are the Baskin Robbins located in the dining facility!!!!! But as for me and my stomach, this is not a perk!!!! I view it as Satan's temptation, and I must admit I am doing just fine in resisting.

What do you find most exciting about your duties?

I like the diversification of responsibilities and interaction that I have with all the fundamental aspects of how the Army functions. Whether it be transportation assets, communications electronics, missile command, Tank and Automotive Command, contracting, new equipment fielding (MRAP), maintenance, refurbishment, or working with item managers back in the States I find that there is never a dull moment and that my direct knowledge and leadership ensures that the right mixture of assets and planning is in place to ensure that the needs are being met across the battlefield.

What part of the day do you look forward to?

If there is a part of the day I look forward to it would be the morning, because I now know that I am one more day closer to going home to my family.

How does your work week function (hours of duty, time off, breaks)?

Do I need to remind you, I am a CW5!

(Editors bragging note: There are only about 60 Warrant Officer 5's in the whole army.
They are roughly the equivalent of a Colonel, but typically specialize in a very specific field. Dad's field is Maintenance and Supply, or Logistics.)

All kidding aside, I typically work 7 days a week. I go to the office around 0800 and I leave at 1800. From there I grab a bite to eat and go to the gym. I try to stay as busy as I can so that I do not have to think about where I am, and that I am not with my family.

What are some things most Americans don't know about the Middle East?

That the quality of sand here is so poor, that they have to import sand in order to make quality cement!!!!

Do you ride camels to work?

No, but it would be interesting to say the least.

Where do you live and what are the conditions?

I live in a two story brick apartment complex. I have all the amenities that a western apartment has. There is a small kitchen with stove, microwave, refrigerator, toaster, and of course a coffee maker. Inside my room is a entertainment center, desk, dresser, closet, end table and bed. Additionally, there is central heat and air, telephone, and wireless Internet.

So, for a single man, I guess the living conditions would be great. However for a married man who longs to be with his family, there is nothing that can replace the loneliness of each passing day.

Filmaking Genious (Update: Video should work now)

2007-11-03T15:38:00.000-07:00

I know I still owe you all an update about my father and what he does over in Kuwait, but I'm currently caught up in some other exciting film projects that will soon become public.

The first project coming soon is the result of mine and Brian's (if you don't know who his already you will soon) families getting together for an evening.

The second is a project that promises to be exciting, educational, and beneficial to those who have ever watched a movie and have had even the least bit of interest in making one but really can't do it all themselves.

In any event, to preface the post about my dad I thought that I would share with you all a film that my siblings and I made when our parents went on a lunch cruise in Seattle and we were left alone at our home on Fort Lewis trying to think of something creative to do. Being a military family, the theme to us was fairly obvious to us.

The film was shot on the decrepit family s-vhs analog camera and and then digitized a year later. This was our first film and we were proud of it in all of it's imperfect splendor (and we remain so to this day).

Please share how this feature film has momentarily changed your life.

Please note: I use the DIVX player because it allows the highest quality streaming experience (which is essential with this film short). Just install it once and you never have to do it again. It's safe and free.

The one and only keyword search phrase for the month...

2007-10-25T21:29:00.000-07:00

"interesting humrous articles"

Thank you Google for somehow directing that lost, wandering user to my site. Even if I only get the ones that can't spell.

America the Pitiful

2007-10-25T01:10:00.000-07:00

BUT FIRST A PAID NON-POLITICAL ANNOUNCEMENT:

Many projects are going on behind the scenes in my little world right now, but soon a few will emerge. Namely, a new post is coming giving an update on what exactly my father does over in Kuwait, the embedding of my latest production (The Process) here in full semi-HD will take place, and a super secret project that every young person even slightly interested in christian films will undoubtedly be interested in will be revealed.

AND NOW WE'RE BACK:

We now shift our focus onto the world around us and return to the sad economical reality which is our nation and ask ourselves once more, "Just when will the outsourcing stop?", and "How do we solve the problem related below?".

Report: Many U.S. Parents Outsourcing Child Care Overseas

My Summer in Review : The Process

2007-10-04T20:45:00.000-07:00

Well, with summer pretty much over I find myself looking back into the past (i.e. sifting through my unorganized My Pictures bin) and calmly reflecting upon the events and adventures which took place over the summer months and I've decided to write a series of posts to make up for the things which I failed to jot down earlier.

As many of you know, right after I returned from my San Antonio internship with VF, I started working again in the Senate as a session aide to a Republican State Senator. The legislative session was 120 days long this year.

Many great things were learned and experienced in the office, but one particular project stands out, a project that had little to do with actual work and more to do about what my job is.

Confused? That's why we did this project.

You see, not many people know how difficult it is to get bills turned into law, and espesially, what the legislative staff go through in order to make things happen. So halfway through session my supervisor and I decided to use our lunch breaks to show what we do using my camera and his ideas.

The film, entitled The Process, is a behind-scenes-look of the legislative process, albeit with a humorous and slightly exaggerated paradoxical spin. It was also a no-budget, script-it-as-you-shoot-it, last minute scramble of a project, complete with bad audio and shot on a camera the size of a P&J sandwich. There, that ought to kill high expectations.

Our initial story took many twists and turns throughout the project with Brian at the creative helm. He came up with most of the story ideas while I, as the camera operator and guy in charge of all things technical, murmured softly in my proverbial corner about how impossible a certain shot he wanted might be, or how the how audio would sound even worse if we shot in a certain room.

Brian is mostly the star, being the advertised "real-life legislative staffer", with myself and this years college intern, Josh, playing our respective positions. For our additional cast we threatened, pleaded, blackmailed, and, in one case, scheduled a dinner with the office's former intern (making him drive down from Seattle), over the course of two months in order to fill some pretty fantastic roles.

Casting cost us a few friendships, but who needs friends who won't act in your movies? Think about that when you meet a new friend.

In conclusion, I have been working on getting a high quality online version available, but with it being 23 minutes long I've had to do some searching for a good host (I'm trying Stage6 and DIVX right now). So until I unveil the project online to everyone (a few friends and family have had forced exclusive viewings), a few mid-production photos will have to suffice.

Random Facts for the Day

2007-09-24T14:43:00.000-07:00

Because I know that a majority of you drink lots of java I figured I share these interesting bits about coffee as shared by Uncle John’s Legendary Lost Bathroom Reader (Hey, it's more reputable than Wikipedia).

________________________________________

What is America’s favorite drug?

You guessed it - caffeine. We use more caffeine than all other drugs - legal or illegal - combined. Want to know what the stuff is doing to you? Here’s a quick overview.

BACKGROUND

If you start the day with a strong cup of coffee or tea, you’re not alone. Americans ingest the caffeine equivalent of 530 million cups of coffee every day. Caffeine is the world’s most popular mood-altering drug. It’s also one of the oldest: according to archaeologists, man has been brewing beverages from caffeine-based plants since the Stone Age.

HOW CAFFEINE PICKS YOU UP
Caffeine doesn’t keep you awake by supplying extra energy; rather it fools your body into thinking it isn’t tired.

When your brain is tired and wants to slow down, it releases a chemical called adenosine.
Adenosine travels to special cells called receptors, where it goes to work counteracting the chemicals that stimulate your brain.
Caffeine mimics adenosine; so it can "plug up" your receptors and prevent adenosine from getting through. Result: Your brain never gets the signal to slow down, and keeps building up stimulants.

JAVA JUNKIES

After a while, your brain figures out what’s going on, and increases the number of receptor cells so it has enough for both caffeine and adenosine.

When that happens, caffeine can’t keep you awake anymore … unless you increase the amount you drink so it can "plug up" the new receptor cells as well.

This whole process only takes about a week. In that time, you essentially become a caffeine addict. Your brain is literally restructuring itself to run on caffeine; take the caffeine away and your brain has too many receptor cells to operate properly.

If you quit ingesting caffeine "cold turkey," your brain begins to reduce the number of receptors right away. But the process takes about two weeks, and during that time your body sends out mild "distress signals" in the form of headaches, lethargy, fatigue, muscle pain, nausea, and sometimes even stillness and flu-like symptoms. As a result, most doctors recommend cutting out caffeine gradually.

CAFFEINE’S EFFECTS

Good: Caffeine has been scientifically proven to temporarily increase alertness, comprehension, memory, reflexes, and even the rate of learning. It also helps increase clarity of thought.
Bad: Too much caffeine can cause hand tremors, loss of coordination or appetite, insomnia, and in extreme cases, trembling, nausea, heart palpitations, and diarrhea.

Widely varying the amount of caffeine you ingest can put a strain on your liver, pancreas, heart, and nervous system. And if you’re prone to ulcers, caffeine can make your situation worse.
If you manage to consume the equivalent of 70 - 100 cups of coffee in one sitting, you’ll experience convulsions, and may even die.

CAFFEINE FACTS

The average American drinks 210 milligrams of caffeine a day. That’s equivalent to 2-3 cups of coffee, depending on how strong it is.

How you make your coffee has a lot to do with how much caffeine you get. Instant coffee contains 65 milligrams of caffeine per serving; coffee brewed in a percolator has 80 milligrams; and coffee made using the "drip method" has 155 milligrams.

Top four sources of caffeine in the American diet: coffee, soft drinks, tea, and chocolate, in that order. The average American gets 75% of their caffeine from coffee. Other sources include over-the-counter pain killers, appetite suppressants, cold remedies, and some prescription drugs.
What happens to the caffeine that’s removed from decaf coffee? Most of it is sold to soda companies and put into soft drinks. (Cola contains some caffeine naturally, but they like to add even more.)

Do you drink more caffeine than your kids do? If you correct for body weight, probably not. Pound for pound, kids often get as much caffeine from chocolate and soft drinks as their parents get from coffee, tea, and other sources.

In keeping with my CC fraud awareness theme

2007-09-19T16:32:00.000-07:00