It's Cold Up Here

Happy belated Thanksgiving everyone. For the long Thanksgiving weekend I was in Palmer house-sitting. The house that I was sitting at didn't have a functioning computer, so I wasn't able to update the blog. Going into break I was way behind on my posts, now I'm even more behind. This is becoming a theme.

I had a couple of really good Thanksgiving dinners, and the company was great. The weather outside was extreme. We went from having about two feet of snow dropped on us in two days to -15 temps. Right now here in anchorage it's right around 0, Palmer is usually colder than Anchorage. The forecast is for more of the same.

I went to the reserve station Wednesday and talked to a couple Staff NCO's. They are going to see if I can just hook up with them in my present MOS (military for "job", mine's electrician right now) for the time being, and then switch over to the 0300 field in the future (0300 is Marine for "infantry"). I'm pretty excited about that. I even ordered a set of utilities so I would be prepared. Since I left the Corps they switched over to using digital camouflage, and I currently don't have an up-to-date uniform.

A few comments back I had a question about the use of the term "the suck" by Marines. I've put some thought into this and I think I can explain it. When Marines meet they often start conversing by each giving a background of their own service. This is as much an ego thing as it is a practical thing. Marines want to establish themselves as experienced in each other's eyes. This exchange of histories is always accompanied by a rundown of worst experiences.

Marines always end up comparing their worst experiences with each other. This includes everything from boot camp on. Get a Paris Island Marine and a San Diego Marine together, and they can go on for hours. One will claim sand fleas are a form of torture, the other will dutifully explain the effect massive hills have on marching. No conclusion will ever be reached.

I think this is where the term "the suck" comes from. Marines take great pride in the hardships they endure. My chest swells every time I think of the Marines who fought at Tarawa and Iwo. They overcame incredible hardships, and they were in my mind when I deployed into Pakistan and Afghanistan. I knew that whatever I faced, I could overcome it by following their example.

So, when a Marine complains about a shitty situation he is really pointing out the fact that he overcame adversity, maybe just to gain a little respect and credibility amongst his peers. I think the biggest thing that should be pointed out is the frequency at which Marines bitch to each other, and the infrequency that they bitch to those outside of the Marines. It's common to hear Marines complaining to each other, comparing hardships; it's not so common to hear Marines complaining to people they don't know. If you don't know a Marine personally you'll probably never hear one refer to the Corps as "the suck."

I hope this makes sense. I'm sure I could better explain it after about eight hours of sleep. I better go while I can still get six.

Brandon

Some OEF Pictures
I don't have time to write a post right now, so here are some pictures from Operation Enduring Freedom.





Brandon

Little Update

Not much has been goin on with me. I'm sitting in one of the foot bridges on campus, researching an article I'm writing for the paper. This weekend was more of the usual, just sleeping in and trying to accomplish homework. I have a lot of trouble getting started on homework on the weekends. I'm much better at doing it during the week.

I sarted a post on Friday, but didn't finish it. I may go back and finish it tonight while the game's on. There are some issues bothering me, and I still need to finish my movie review. We'll see how it goes.

Brandon

The Beginning of My Review

It was snowing when I left the house this morning. Actually I left the house at like 12:15. I didn’t have to go to my first class today. It was supposed to be a work day, so I could work on my report. Instead I overslept. I think it’s winter starting to get to me. It’s amazing how tired you get when the sun goes down at 5:00. You feel like the day should be over, but there’s lots of time left. Even when you go to bed early, your body thinks it’s late.

So now I have some catching up to do, as if I needed more. Life is more exciting that way, right?

I’ve been asked about the movie Jarhead. I saw it Sunday. I went into the movie not really knowing what to expect. What I had heard about it was that it was based on a Desert Storm Vet’s book, and it was supposed to be his story. I hadn’t heard anyone say the movie was politically motivated.

Since seeing the movie I have come across several bloggers commenting negatively on the movie. I didn’t have the negative reactions to the movie that these people did, maybe because of how I went into it.

Through most of the movie I felt like I was watching part of my life play out on the screen. The boot camp portion of the movie was like the stories that I had heard from the older Marines. I went to boot camp after the Mothers of America had drained it of all cussing and physical contact. Nobody was punched, slapped, kicked, choked, or assaulted in any way by any of my drill instructors. They weren’t even allowed to curse at us. It was actually funny to watch these guys get really pissed off and then try to find something other than a cuss word to say.

I can imagine that when this guy went through boot camp there was still some hitting and cussing going on. I’ve heard the stories. But where were the other drill instructors? I don’t remember ever being chewed out by only one drill instructor. We usually had three running around. The boot camp portion of the movie could have been better.

I loved the part of the movie where he was checking in at Camp Pendleton. The Staff Sergeant tells him he’s getting put in F Company with the “Fuck-ups.” This is almost strait out of my Marine Corps experience. My instructor at electrician school told me she would never want to be stationed where I was heading. I truly believe my battalion was the worst in the Marine Corps. We had so many “Fuck-ups” it wasn’t funny.

I didn’t have the branding experience. I’ve actually never heard of that. It very well could have been the norm at one time. There was a time when promotions were followed by “pinning on,” and when a promotion to corporal meant you had to earn your “blood stripes.” These things still go on, but on a much smaller scale, and not in the open.

Once they got to Iraq I could really sympathize. I’ve spent many days in sit and wait mode. There are times of hurry up and wait mixed into the times of sit and wait, but they’re pretty much equally boring.

I’m getting tired. I don’t think I have much coherent time left, as my sentences are already getting awkward. I’ll have to continue my assessment later. For know I recommend seeing Jarhead, I liked it.

Brandon

Thanks

To all who comment on my blog, thank you. I think it’s cool to have people visit and leave thoughts behind. I do require verification of humanity to leave a comment, but that’s just to keep the machines from hacking in and crapping all over my blog. If you wonder what I mean, look back a couple of months and check out some of the comments. People set up their computer to go around leaving comments on people’s blogs to get attention. Usually they aren’t worth the time. Therefore you must word-verify to comment.

This morning was the coldest yet. It was single digits when I left for school. It’s been getting into the negatives late at night. This was the first morning the Jeep was sluggish in starting. I decided it was high time to dig out the cord for the block heater. The Jeep came with a block heater installed, but the cord has been tied up to the firewall, and needed to be run out the grille. Turns out the geniuses at Jeep make the damn cord too short to reach the grille. Some zip-ties and a short extension cord fixed that problem.

Zip ties are wonderful things. They can do almost anything. We even used them for handcuffs in the Marines.

I’m as behind as usual. Actually more than usual, I missed a deadline for homework today. I hope the professor doesn’t take too much off for lateness. He seems pretty laid back; I think it won’t be too bad.

I registered for next semester last night. I may have been jumping the gun registering for Calc II. I need a C in Calc I before I can move on. I’m sitting at a high C now. I think I can pull off a C, I’m hoping for a B. At any rate I’m signed up for 14 credit hours this time. I’ve been doing 18 this semester, so it’s one less class.

I’m taking a beginning swimming class. I don’t know that I’m a beginner, but, since I haven’t taken classes before, I figured it was a good place to start. I need to get the whole swimming thing down. I can get across the pool, but it’s not pretty. I think it’s mostly a confidence thing, once I build my confidence back up I think I’ll be fine.

We lost the Co-ed game tonight. It was 2-0. They shouldn’t have shut us out. We just couldn’t get any offense going, and the puck was in our end most of the night. It made for a busy game for me. I’m looking forward to Wednesday. The club team is playing the only team that has beaten us this season. I wasn’t in net for that loss. It was the first game of the season, and I guess our guys just broke down defensively. It will be a different game this time. I’ll let ya know how it goes.

Brandon

Where'd October Go?

I called my Mom the other day and one of the first things she told me was I missed my sister's birthday. Oops. My first thought was "Her birthday's not until October." Hello? Did you know it's November? I didn't.

I guess school's got me messed up. I've been going hard, and not paying attention to the details. This isn't good, since I'm a details person.

So I got my sister a birthday present. I'm not saying what, because it's still here. I need to get it mailed out. I finally got it addressed tonight, so all that's left is a stamp, and dropping it in the mailbox.

I just opened an email from one of my professors. It's subject line is midterm, and it reads "scoree 133 out 0f 148." That's it. I think that's my fundamentals of surveying class.
This is the class I have homework in. I need to get that done. That's what I should be doing right now.

So, the pictures are of my new hockey mask. The paint job was inspired by a tattoo I saw on a chick in North Carolina. I like it. I think the characters could have been bigger, and there could be more detail, but I like it. I love the lightning. I'm also a fan of the finish, it has sparkly flakes in it. It's hard to tell by the pictures, but it looks cool.

Anyway, I better go do that homework.

Brandon