Sunday, January 15, 2006

Playing Army...

Today’s blog is something like 14 hours late, my apologies. I was tired... It turns out there was quite a bit of excitement yesterday... I found out the day before yesterday that we were going to have an attack drill. (similar to fire or earthquake drills except instead of hiding underneath our desks or running out side to an open area, we run out side to a bunker and wait for the all clear.) That is unless you’re a CLS (combat life saver) like me and a few others then you run to the mayors cell and wait until you are needed by the medics. It could have been fun, we could have played doctor (hmmm it could of been a lot of fun) on people pretending to be injured... but instead we just sat and waited.... and waited.... and waited... and then we went back to our tent. Apparently the Drill only entailed 3 victims so the need for excess personnel was not necessary... Boring, anyway while RFG and the Sexy Idahoan were at work last night they got to play firefighters.... I don't know all the details... But apparently the generator blew a piston or whatever... and caught fire... So they put it out and had the nice KBR people come out and do what they could to repair it. So that’s like the second time in as many weeks that RFG and SI have had power issues while they were at work. Luckily the nice KBR people fix the problem before I have to go to work... so yay them. Apparently RFG came back to our tent after the fire to get things like flashlights and other things to help keep the darkness inducing boredom at bay. I found out this morning that RFG was talking to me and told me what had happened but I don't remember any of it... apparently I was sitting up, asking questions and that’s about it... the way he described I looked as though I had been drugged. Swaying in a sort of haze. RFG told me to go back to sleep...and so I did..shrug. On a completely different subject how long should one wait for a reply to an email?? I mean if you’re corresponding with someone on a semi regular basis two days or so should be plenty of time correct??? Don't misunderstand I myself understand that people are busy... And to be honest I am not exactly known for my timely responses. I just wonder if someone doesn't write you back after a certain amount of time if it should be considered a polite brush off. Or if there is a known waiting period that I am as of yet unaware. For the record I did not imply there was anything wrong with Louisiana women. The intent in comment was that I might one day find a woman who lives in Louisiana that I might marry. My Apologies if there was some kind of misunderstanding. So I have decided against going on midtour leave this time around. I was originally scheduled to go in may but as it is only fourteen days and nearly impossible to plan anything as the exact dates are not final until you are actual already on leave... (Due mainly to the utter lack of ability to leave on anything more than standby out of Kuwait) The problem is that there are no set flights out you could be waiting as many as four days just to get out of the country... which can play havoc with plans like a cruise or flight to Jamaica or Europe or what ever. Ironically when your coming back from leave it takes like no time to get you back to Iraq... what kind of janky system is that?? (Apparently Janky is new slang for whack... I am so hip)

Random (and even unnecessary) fact of the blog:
The Rubik's Cube was invented in 1974 by Professor Erno Rubik as a teaching aid for students at the Hungarian Academy of Crafts and Design in Budapest. Since hitting stores in 1980 more than two hundred and fifty million Rubik’s cubes have been sold, making it the best selling toy of all time. At 12.11 seconds Japans’ Shotaro Makisumi holds the world Rubik's Cube solving record. He also holds the record for the only man in the Guinness Book of World Records to not get laid... grin

2 comments:

Mr. Brooks said...

Message Etiquette
One overall point to remember is that an message does not have non-verbal expression to supplement what we are "saying." Most of the time we make judgments about a person’s motives and intentions based on their tone of voice, gestures, and their proximity to us. When those are absent it becomes more difficult to figure out what the message sender means. It is much easier to offend or hurt someone in email and that is why it is important to be as clear and concise as possible. What you say cannot be taken back. Misinterpretations happen very easily in neutral emails because there is a lack of nonverbal expression to cue the recipient about your motives and intentions. You can imagine how much misinterpretation can occur when you are expressing frustration and/or anger. Things to consider before venting:

Would I say this to this person’s face?
Am I putting the receiver in awkward position?
How would I feel if I got this message?
Usually, by the time you consider the above questions you will be calm enough to write your message with a different approach. Catching someone by surprise in a flaming message is a quick way to alienate your reader mainly because they will react with anger or embarrassment.

Anonymous said...

Go Steelers. Sorry James but I did tell you we were the real deal this year. Hope RFG and SI days get more dull, I am glad yours still are. Its a Mom thing. Take care of yourselves.