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.  I realized that I never put up a photo of my laptop. Sorry for the quality; I snapped it really quick with my phone, and it’s a bit dark. :]

out.

20081224 0252

.  This is the story of a guy who started a tradition by accident, and how it’s grown to defining the lives of future generations.  Okay, not really.  But the guy did accidentally start a tradition by being a cheapskate.

.  This was actually written early 2008-12-07 on my blackberry while I was on leave back in Missouri.  I haven’t really read it, but I did scroll through it briefly.  And yeah, I really did write all this shit on a tiny-ass thumb-keyboard. It was late, I was slightly drunk, and I couldn’t sleep. Just another semi-lucid depressive rambling. Enjoy.

.  When my dad was in the Navy and out at sea, phone calls overseas were still quite expensive, so he sent quite a few postcards home. At one point, he realized that he was spending quite a bit of money on them, and came up with a pretty unique way to save money on postage; he started making his own postcards out of cardboard. He would take a box from saltine crackers, cut each side down to the correct size, draw a line down the middle, and affix a fifteen cent stamp. Instant postcard that essentially costs fifteen cents.

.  This practice grew into a habit that long outlived his eventual retirement. Now driving a semi truck, he still writes on random scraps of cardboard in order to keep in touch with his more distant family members. Recent boxes turned into postcards have ranged from septic tank treatments to irish spring soap boxes. Everyone not familiar with this practice displays a marked level of confusion when first seeing one of the cards, but those of us who get them regularly treasure them greatly. All the ones that I’ve been sent share space in the box with baby pictures of ‘Lexi and Caleb.

.  In deciding that 2009 will be the year that I finally put a priority with writing and communicating with family, I’ll be taking up the “weird post card” tradition as well.

.  Or that was the idea I had, anyway. Looking around, I realized that the immediately available candidates for card making consisted of a carton of Djarum Blacks, boxes from camera lenses, and various liquors. My first thought was to just scratch the idea or find other postcard candidates. But then I realized that all I’m doing is hiding who I really am from my parents and friends. Sorry, Mum, but I really am just a guy in his mid-twenties who somehow managed to be divorced with two kids before most people ever consider getting married at all. I smoke. I drink constantly; every day, unless I run out in the middle of a work set and forget to run by the store on the way home. I get depressed and drive ridiculously fast and recklessly, hoping something will make me flip the car or bike; I think I’m supposed to stick around for a while longer simply because I haven’t actually died yet.

.  Waking up in the morning for me is an exercise in figuring out which part of the nicotine/caffeine/alcohol/painkiller cocktail is missing the most out of my system.

.  The only real happiness I have going on is caused by Cat or the bittersweet videos of the kids’ first steps and fire

.  Okay, see that bit right there? Those were the last words that I typed before I finally passed out sometime after 0400.  I don’t know where “and fire” came from.. I think I was going for “first words”.  I’m not really sure, though.

.  Seriously, other things make me happy; I’m really quite well-adjusted.  Not always when I have to go back home, though. Oh well.

out.

2007-09-14 07:49 from the plane

. On the plane back to Maryland. Kind of a weird trip. Some pretty bad news for our site. One of my close friends is in jail on (a) career-ending charge(s). Josh had to fly out early because of a death in the family. I made a new friend, though I’m not sure how to quantify that. I guess that’s it, really. More air-miles logged, more time spent in a meeting room courtesy of ARSTRAT/G6.

. Listening to Death Cab for Cutie. It’s been a while, so I’m enjoying it immensely.

. Caleb turns two today; Alexis turns one tomorrow. Of course, I don’t get to be there. I miss them more than anything I can think of to compare it to. Quoting Ben Folds: ‘It hurts to grow up. [...] So weird to be back here.’

out.

2007-09-02 04:38 night

. It’s a beautiful night tonight. Nice breeze, mid-sixties or so. I really need to get a good picture of the stars framed by our dishes. Thought of that when we had Tuck outside, turning him into a tuck-o-lantern. (Last night on the floor). It was pretty decent, and we got some great pictures.

. We went out to the ocean yesterday, a little north of Annapolis. Found a little state park that let you go out on the beach. Totally awesome, and I got some really great pictures. It was basically just luck, because all we were doing was adventuring. Kinda taking a road to see where it went and such. Also acting as a scouting party for in case anyone else feels like traipsing around by the water.

. Again, lots of pictures. I’ll try to get them uploaded tomorrow. I had cable cut off as of 1 September, so I’ll have to bring my laptop somewhere. No big deal. I think I’m going to go ahead and crash now.

out.

2007-08-22 09:27 range

. No range today, as it turns out. It’s been raining here for three days, so the roads are aweful; our ammo truck spun out, crossed the median, and hit six other vehicles head-on. All seven are totalled. No one was seriously hurt, somehow. Again with freak accidents.

. So I’m off today. No idea what to do, though.

out.

2007-08-21 18:47 bittersweet

. Rachel and Nate are now engaged! It’s really exciting, even with everything else going on. I really thought I’d have more to say about it than that. Nate’s a great guy, and so’s his family. They’re just awesome.

. On a different note, SGT Classen, someone I worked with for the WGS group, died yesterday. He was just walking with a few people, tripped on something, and fell down the side of this little hill. He hit his head on something on the way down and went into a coma. They eventually pulled the plug; the brain damage was too extensive.

. I didn’t know him /that/ well. We just went out and grabbed a meal or a beer a few times. Still, makes you think a lot about your own mortality. A stray (or even well-aimed) bullet or mortar round is something I’m prepared to accept. A freak accident, though.. Who knows. Everybody dies, I guess.

out.

2007-08-20 07:39 cold rain

. At my sister’s apartment in PA. Everyone’s left for work now, so it’s all quiet. Rachel surprised me last night when I got here with an early birthday party. That was completely unexpected, but (of course) definitely appreciated.

. This morning I found myself staring out the window at the rain falling on the pond. Perfectly matching how I feel right now. Anyway, just then the perfect Lifehouse song came on, making it an almost perfect movie moment. You know, when the main character gets left or someone dies, and they show him watching out the window with the perfect theme music? That bit right there.

. On a brighter note, Rachel’s boyfriend is proposing tonight. She has no idea at all. It’s /so/ great. I’m fairly confident that she won’t read this, so we should be good.

. Time for me to head out and meet with a few people (like JAG). We’ll se how that goes.

out.

scooters and ducks
2007-08-14 23:09

. Hanging out at my sister’s again. Just drinking tea and talking about stuff. I’m really glad there’s someone that lives nearby. Rachel, Nate, Becka, and I have been playing a variation of Uno called “Uno mean and nasty”. It’s quite fun.

. When I was driving off post earlier I saw one of the funniest things I’ve seen in quite a while. There was a tiny (~5′2″!) blonde chick riding a pink scooter with matching pink helmet and jacket. She was just tooling around, being all cool and stuff. I love people.

. Now that it’s actually the next morning (fell asleep while writing this), I’m just sitting outside watching the ducks swim about. They’re so carefree and peaceful. It so perfectly contrasts the way I feel that I felt it deserved a mention.

out.

2007-08-13 23:57

. Drove up to Pennsylvania today to hang out with Rachel. That was a lot of fun. We baked cookies and then played uno. It was good, even though I ended up losing.

. The drive was pretty good, too. It was a good night out; decent temp with a breeze. I did almost hit a fox, though. I don’t really understand why they run out directly in front of one of the four cars that are actually on the road. Maybe he’s just suicidal.

out.

2007-08-13 00:09

. Just got off the phone with my dad. The initial conversation was as follows: “hello?” “Oh, hey dad.” “…how are you doing? It sounds like you have a really bad cold.” “No, I’m just really drunk.” “Oh… Uhmm…”. Ha.

out.