It’s been a while since I’ve provided any sort of update. Shoot, it’s been a while since I’ve even tried. I think saying that I’ve been somewhat remiss in keeping this thing updated would, by the very definition, be an understatement.

For those who still pop by from time to time, things are going well.

I am currently on R&R…an R&R too long in coming. Instead of trying to rehash the last several months I will hit the highlights.

First and foremost, I am now a homeowner. Second, I am now an iPo…owner - I can’t even bring myself to say it outright. I have to say, though, that the 64GB Touch thing that I just purchased is pretty neat.

I also bought a new computer…it’s about a month old and is smoking fast. It’s nice. Fallout 3 is as smooth as silk. It brings a tear to me eye when I get to kill a feral ghoul in uber-high resolution.

I can’t think of anything else of significance so I will move to the current goings on. As I said before I am on R&R and I chose to take my vacation in Sydney, Australia. Since my R&R fell over Aggie Muster I opted to spend it with the folks I’ve mustered with the last two years. We had a really good time - there were plenty of folks present from the last two years and some new faces to boot.

Also, a stunningly gorgeous Ag joined me for a movie, not once, but twice. For the rest of this update I shall refer to myself as StudOMD.

StudOMD also saw a plethora of movies and in typical StudOMD fashion the movies were seen multiple times. I saw Alice in Wonderland and Avatar (both in 3D) as well as the Book of Eli. And last night, StudOMD joined the stunningly gorgeous Ag to watch Beneath Hill 60. It was an Aussie flick which we both enjoyed.

Sadly, my R&R is coming to a close, but I am already looking forward to my next adventure…one I shall enjoy from the comforts of my own home.

That is all.

Does perception distort reality? Or is it an issue of our being unable to correctly interpret the events and actions that are a part of our reality?

For example:

You meet Tom. You like this person for whatever reason and as a result they stand out amongst the people you know, like, dislike, and just plain don’t know. Other people you work with enjoy this person’s company and as a general rule it is decided that this person is, to put it simply, likeable.

Let us say that some time later you meet another individual, Bill. You enjoy working with Bill and find out that he knows Tom. You get to talking about Tom and Bill does not have a kind word to say about him. Now, why is that?

There are a host of reasons for Bill to not like Tom – we witness this everyday when we watch the news and people comment on our President. Some people like him, others don’t, and some just don’t care.

I suppose that some people allow their perception of a person to distort how they interpret the events surrounding that individual thus dictating how well they like them. And others are completely incapable of properly interpreting the events surrounding an individual thus distorting their ability to determine if they like that person or not.

It makes me wonder, then, what is truth. And how in the world are we supposed to know one side of the coin from the other if we can’t know if what we’re perceiving is objective and correct or if it’s so heavily biased as to be utterly unreliable.

Outside of relying on maturity and experience to help determine what truth (reality) is, I really don’t have an answer.

I think I’m in a cogitative mood today.

As everyone knows - I’m can be moody. I’m moody right now and I’ve decided that it’s because I’m not content.

I’m not really sure why I’m not content. I have a good life, a good family, a good job and don’t want for anything. In essence - I’m one blessed Texan.

So why the lack of contentment? I think it’s because I can’t have what I want. We all have our desires and I think that it’s when we let our desires take control that our life seems to spin out of control and we begin to experience that all too aggrivating sense of ennui.

Am I saying that self-control equals contentment? I don’t think it’s quite that simple. Perhaps it’s more an accurate to say that if you can maintain some semblance of self-control you can somehow adjust your focus on not what you want (some future accomplishment - say a move to Texas) but on the now. We don’t say that we will be content or even that we were contented, but that we are content, thus it really boils down to the now and appreciating the moment.

It could be that this general malaise is stemming from simply not being at home. It could be that I am just looking forward to R&R in a very congitative OMD sort of way. Or it could be that I just need a pinch, a coke and a 0200 walk to McDonalds to cogitate on the McUniverse.

Since there is no McDonalds or a person with whom to walk I think I’ll just have a pinch and a coke.

Mmmmm. I’m content now.

I had the greatest thing ever at the sorriest DFAC in existance. It was a raspberry sorbet popcycle thing. Great googly moogly was it ever good. Sure made the 1/4 mile walk in 100 degree sandy heat worth it.

So, it’s been a while - almost two months - since I last updated the site. I’ve been quite negligent in my OMD updating duties. My apologies to all.

Let’s see, what’s happened since I last update everyone on all things OMD?

For starters, I’ve been working hard. The last several weeks have been a blur. They’ve gone so fast, in fact, that I’ve only just now submitted for my R&R. It’s a shame really - usually I have these sorts of things already lined out - being the good scheduler I am.

They changed the job I was supposed to go to en route to my assignment. Instead of heading towards Kandahar I wound up being diverted to Bagram to work on the transition team. It’s been busy and it’s been fun - so I can’t complain.

As you might have gathered from what I said R&R is quickly approaching. Just over three weeks away. I found a guy to do my Aussie taxes so I’m headed home. I can’t wait.

So, our camp is pretty sparse right now. For those who have seen my pictures, think Iraq early 2004. We have a mediocre DFAC nearby but when we get a vehicle we’ll hit the better one about two klicks away.

Still, if they continue to have those raspberry sorbet things at the crappy DFAC then maybe I’ll just walk.

So, I’m back to work now…

Been here for a couple of weeks, all total, and am enjoying it. Though the work is a little slow right now, I work well with everyone so I can’t complain.

It’s been a while since I worked for this company, but little has changed. Most of the folks I know are still here which has made the transition back into contracting a cake walk. We’re even looking at setting up our weekly gaming nights and a few of the folks I used to pick guitars with are still here, along with a few new faces. All in all, it’s been quite enjoyable.

I am looking forward to R&R. I will most likely head to Australia for about a week. I have some friends there that I’d like to catch up with and a couple of tentative golf games as well as a visit to the shooting range if we can swing it. Not sure about the timing on that one, but with a little luck it’ll all work out. Either way, it’ll be nice to see everyone for a bit. Plus, I can’t see anything wrong with visiting the southern hemisphere when winter is on it’s way in the north.

That is all.

So it’s 2145 in Texas, 2045 in New Mexico (where I am currently located), 1245 in Brisbane (where I would be if I weren’t in Texas or New Mexico) and I am completely pooped. Had some interesting things happen over the last couple of days so I thought I would post a brief update.

First off, thanks to everyone who gave me a holler about the back debacle. I had a lot of calls, emails, and a few carrier pigeons arrive asking what happened to require such a variety of spirit-uplifting, pain-deadening drugs. Even got to catch up with a few folks I hadn’t talked to in a while as a result of the back pain thing so it’s all good.

Ok, here’s the goings on of OMD.

As a few folks in Australia know, I’ve have fallen in love. Well, at the very least fallen into deep like with the Colt M1911: so much so that I was unable to resist temptation and I went out and bought one. So, I have my very own M1911. Here’s the poop:

It’s a Springfield, not a Colt. I was very close to purchasing the Colt (it was the same model I shot in Australia - the Mark IV/ Series 70), but it was $1,000. I really wasn’t keen on spending quite that much and the pistol sitting next to it in the case was the Springfield Government/ Military Spec Model - which is effectively the same thing, just not a Colt. It was only $650 so I shelled out the pesos for that one instead. After a checking out my new pistol I was eager to take it to the range. That was Wednesday.

After being drugged into submission for two days and staying on my back as much as possible I was excited to get out of the house and even more excited that the outing included a trip to the firing range. I wanted to say thank you to my buddy who kindly picked me up off the storage room floor a few days prior so I took him to the range that morning and taught him how to shoot. We had a blast, he enjoyed himself and after dropping him off at his apartment I went to meet my brother-in-law and his dad back at the range…for a second round of shooting excitement.

All in all I think I spent about 6 hours out at the range shooting my pistols and rifle as well as an old Ruger single action Army .357 revolver that my brother-in-law’s dad had. It was pretty sweet. All total, I think I shot about 300+ rounds across 4 different calibers and five different firearms.

At the start of the day I was feeling fantastic. The drugs had done their job and relaxed the muscles in my back. Unfortunately all the fun I had on Thursday came at a price. As I sit writing this I am realizing that I probably spent too much time out there as my back is aching again.

So what did I learn from all this?

Too much fun might not be a good thing, but it sure does make for some great memories.

Boy, was yesterday a day to end all days or what?

As you might have read in the last post, I’m experiencing a bout of un-wellness. I was feeling better yesterday so I decided to try and knock out some of the things on my to-do list that had continued to grow despite my attempts to ignore it by being sick.

One of those items that had to be done was rearranging my storage room. It seems that all my hacking and coughing has placed an inordinate amount of stress on my back and when I went to left one of my storage trunks my back gave way. I collapsed on the ground praying for the storage gods to rain trunks upon my personage and just end it all right there. Alas, it wasn’t to be. So instead of enjoying the sweet bliss that only non-existence could provide I had to endure quite possibly the most painful experience of my life - some unholy form of muscle spam in my lower back. To put it into perspective, my motorcycle wreck was less painful.

To make a long story short, I wound up taking an ambulance to the emergency room as I was unable to walk. It’s been about 12 hours since I left the hospital and after a morphine shot, two muscle relaxant shots, two Robaxin pills, a Vicadin pill and one gargantuan ibuprofen pill later I feel better. A lot better - I can walk and more importantly go to the bathroom; which is surprisingly difficult when your lower back is out of commission.

Who knew a muscle spasm could hurt so badly?

So in the last two days I’ve been poked, prodded, violated, pin cushioned and examined to death. From this day forward I don’t plan on being sick ever again. If I never see another doctor again, it’ll be too soon.

I feel like crap. Death, even. Actually, I feel like the stuff that Crap just pooped. Who’d have thought that was possible. I surely didn’t. It seems I’m relapsing, reliving my life-death struggle with a bad bout of Iraqnacrap I had a few years ago. Dang it.

Oh, well. Apart from having no memory of yesterday (I slept all but about two hours Sunday) I’m feeling marginally better. Which is a good thing considering I have a couple of medical and dental exams to go through today.

So, it’s my last few hours in Australia and as I sit at the airport I find myself thinking about my experience here. I’ve had a good time. I’ve met a lot of interesting people, ate some interesting things, and in my little sojourn here I even met one of my goals: I have lived and worked on a new continent, Australia.

I spent the entirety of last night finalizing (finalising for you Aussies) my packing and cleaning the abode. While I was doing this I tried to identify the single most unique thing I’d learned over the last 18 months. Despite all that I’ve learned about Project Management and Australian culture in general, the only bit of information I could recall was some random stuff about double flush toilets. Forget cool facts about the weird animals, strange cuisine and the sometimes difficult dialect - it was double flush toilets on my mind.

Here’s the story:

While at a museum in Sydney that celebrated the technical achievements of Australia the guide highlighted an Aussie-made double flush toilet. I can’t recall if it was an Aussie idea meant to save water, or if this was simply the first model (made in Australia) introduced to help conserve water. I suspect it’s the former but I don’t wish to shift credit away from/ or to a wrong individual, nor am I inclined to look up the information because, quite frankly, I don’t care. Needless to say, it was there and was highlighted in the tour. It is also the only kind of toilet you will find here.

For those not familiar with the double flush toilet, here is a description:

It’s a toilet. And no, it’s not a toilet designed to rid your house of the results of a particularly toxic all bean, protein saturated burrito by conveniently flushing twice for each single push on the water accelerating activation lever. It’s a toilet designed to save water. It does this by providing two levers. One that does a half-flush for those non-bean burrito moments and one that does a full flush for those, theoretically, all bean burrito moments.

It’s important to note that I say theoretically because in theory it’s a sound concept. I’m not sure how much water is used during half-flush/ full-flush cycle, but I suspect it’s something along the lines of 250 mL (roughly two thirds of a 12 oz. Coke) for the half-flush and 500 mL for the full-flush (about a 16 oz. Coke). In case you can’t see where I’m going with this I’ll spell it out more plainly. The problem is that it’s never quite enough to rid the world of those toxic waste dump poos that are known to occur during those post burrito moments. It would be much better if you had a FLUSH mode and 1/10th flush mode (roughly equating to the current half-flush).

I realize (realise) that this would consume copious amounts of water in an already drought stricken continent but there are solutions to not having enough water. Australia could trade one tanker full of oil to the US for one tanker full of fresh water. Ya, there we go!

Having said all that one other fact occurs to me which might help explain why they can get away with a full-flush versus a FULL FLUSH. They don’t eat burritos.

So, at the end of the day - Australia has been one fine adventure. Good food, good people and good times. Good on ya, Aussies. I can’t think of a single negative thing to say about it - outside of one thing - it ain’t Texas. Nobody’s perfect.

Still, everyone ought to visit. It’s like Texas, but with funny animals and odd accents. I’m looking forward to my next visit.

Have you ever wondered what made stupid people tick? Unlike an amigo of mine, whose angst glands swell in the presence of stupid people, requiring immediate medical attention, stupid people typically don’t bother me too much. They’re stupid and I don’t worry about them. Until now…

It should come as no surprise to you, my intelligent readership, that high-profile people (read celebrities) tend to think more of themselves that they ought to. It’s one thing for a commoner, like me, to say something stupid. Even my aforementioned amigo has been known to make the occasional gaffe. We understand this and give some measure of allowance to those around us for saying something stupid once and awhile. We all do it. We all know it. But celebrities are above reproach – at least that’s what they would like to believe. So why not hold them to that standard?

While looking for information on the new Transformers movie I stumbled across an interview with one of the actors which included a quote that was, to say the least, rather foolish. I would try to give you a synopsis, but just can’t do it justice so here it is:

From Megan Fox:

The “Transformers” bombshell-cum-uninhibited philosophizer also contemplates — reluctantly — what she would say to Megatron to keep him from destroying the world. “I’d barter with him,” she muses to the July issue Total Film UK, “and say instead of the entire planet, can you just take out all of the white trash, hillbilly, anti-gay, super bible-beating people in Middle America?”

What’s wrong with that statement? Let’s continue the little thought experiment, assuming Megatron is real, to see what the problem is.

I would like to avoid commenting on the multitude of noun-made-adjective-cum-explicatives that were used in her uninhibited statement. Instead, I would like to comment on complete lack of respect for the Transformer Universe which the celebrity seems to not have: in essence negotiating with Megatron.

Here is a brief recap for those not well versed in the Transformer Universe. Megatron, in the story, is the personification of evil: a leader who was absolutely corrupted by his pursuit of absolute power. Opposing him is Optimus Prime who plays the part of the reluctant soldier who had leadership hoisted onto his shoulders due to Megatron’s oppression of Cybertron.

At no time in the story did Megatron ever negotiate anything. At times, he would agree to a truce, but only when his demise was imminent and as an effort to save his own life at the expense of his own people (the Transformers). He showed no loyalty to his own kin (the Decepticons) nor did he ever show any inclination to associate with those who were not his equal – which was to say, no one. Even his own Decepticons were viewed as merely tools to be used, not seen as comrades who held his ideals who were to be taken care of, led, and protected.

Even the most evil people in our own history, for which there are numerous examples, were capable of showing loyalty to those around them. And even those people, despite their ability to reciprocate feelings of love, loyalty and friendship are not to be negotiated with.

So, in our little thought experiment, why on Earth would someone attempt to negotiate with someone like Megatron? And then trade a third of our culture and people in an attempt to placate someone who will not stop at that one concession but will seek to take more.

Sounds an awful lot like the attitude that allowed a despot in the last century to take over a majority of Europe and kill over 6 million people.

Thank goodness Megatron isn’t real and Ms. Fox isn’t a world leader. Or we’d be in a world of hurt.