Various updates

[aadler]

 
I fell into a long period of non-commentary, and then got self-conscious about what kind of post I would need to make to summarize events during the hiatus. Finally I’ve accepted that nothing I could do would be enough (along with the recognition that few people actually care that much), so I’m just going to jump back in.

First Cut — Military Matters

I accepted some extra duty from my unit, which — with other assignments already scheduled — will keep me under orders for most of three months. The last part of that will be at a National Training Center exercise, in the desert outside Las Vegas. From things I’ve heard of the NTC program, I expect to have a thoroughly unpleasant time … but I volunteered for it all the same, in the expectation that every bit of training I can get will benefit me during next year’s deployment in Iraq. (My third combat tour, and — counting Guantanamo — my fourth deployment in six years.) I’m working hard to get back in shape, doing five miles a day on the treadmill; I’ve lost ten pounds in the last seven weeks, and I’d like to drop another fifteen. Meanwhile, I’m studying up on the common tasks manuals and continuing my foreign language review, and within the next month or so I intend to buy a small rifle so I can begin to refine my marksmanship in private practice (there’s a shooting range at a gun store a few miles down the road).

This isn’t just standard preparation. Of the senior leadership in my detachment, three have medical problems (back, lungs, knee) pronounced enough that they may not be deployable, and a fourth is pregnant. That leaves, for potential leadership in-theater, one man who hasn’t deployed since Desert Storm … and me. Even if some of them do ship with us — and almost certainly some will — the combination of high demand and diminished personnel will guarantee that I carry a greater-than-usual load of duty. That being so, I want to be ready.

Close First Cut

Second Cut — Fanfic Writing

At the beginning of the year, I set myself the task of writing a dozen stories in 2008 (including one for NaNoWriMo, which may not happen now, depending on how other things work out). That would be one story per month … and now, at the end of June, I’ve done one story total. Not a good beginning, but I’ve fortunately gotten back into an active writing routine. I sat down last week to resume my revision of the draft sroni gave me for “Queen’s Gambit”, and noted when I did so that it was exactly a year from the date I began said revision. That’s way too long; still, I’m currently turning out a steady two pages a day (five to six hundred words, during other duties and tasks), which should carry me quite a bit farther before the Army sends me off to my next school. QG looks to bulk rather larger than most of my stories; it may — though I don’t expect it — be the longest I’ve ever done. sroni’s original version of “God Save the Queen” ran about 8,000 words and I expanded it to over 20,000. Her draft of QG was closer to 20,000 words, so there’s no telling what it could turn into.

Close Second Cut

Third Cut — Personal/Family Stuff

sroni herself (my daughter, of course) was here for just under two weeks for a visit. It was a good one. Part of that, I think, is that she was just here this time; in past visits, she had some of her Covenant Player coworker/friends along, or was focused on a maybe-boyfriend, or sometimes just was making plans for her next tour, but this time she was here to spend time with her family and that’s what happened. I do believe that at least some of the difference, though, comes from differences in her. Like her father, she’s had an extended adolescence, from a combination of circumstances and inherent makeup; extended doesn’t mean eternal, however, and she seems to be entering the next phases of growing up.

Susan (my wife) was put on a hefty dose of prednisone to treat the shortness of breath caused by sarcoidosis. She found the side effects to be severe: continuing shortness of breath, overheating (seriously, she’ll be sweating when the A/C is cranked so high I have to wrap up in a blanket), pronounced mood swings, heart palpitations … and then a few days ago she discovered that she had misread the directions and was only taking a third of the prescribed dose. This alarmed us both — if she’d reacted so badly already, what would three times as much do to her? — but then we considered the possibility that she’d been getting just enough to upset her system without it being enough to provide the intended benefits. Too early to tell if that’s the case, but since she began getting the regular dose, she’s at least sleeping properly again.

Close Third Cut

In closing, on a news/talk program today I saw someone opine that, in having the relevance of his Viet Nam record challenged, John McCain is being treated now as John Kerry was four years ago. To which I say: McCain is an actual war hero, whereas Kerry just played one on television.

Comments

[agilebrit.livejournal.com]

McCain is an actual war hero, whereas Kerry just played one on television.

OMG THIS.

*glomps* Good to see you posting again. :)

[trinfaneb.livejournal.com]

Welcome back! Good luck with all your preparations. The NV desert seems like a hellish place to be in summer, but then again so is Iraq I guess :)

Mentioning McCain makes me think about Dieter Dengler and the movie "Rescue Dawn." It has become my favorite POW movie, beating out such previous favorites as "Grand Illusion," "Stalag 17," "The Great Escape," and "Bridge Over the River Kwai."

I was watching "The Big Red One: The Reconstruction" the other week and one of the cut scenes they put back in had the pig farmer with hemorrhoids character (Johnson) say that he was from Indiantown Gap, PA. This town seems to get mentioned alot in military books and movies :)

[texanfan.livejournal.com]

Sounds like you've had a pretty full plate. I'm glad you and Susan got the time with your daughter even if Susan wasn't feeling like herself. I hope the prednisone is a short term solution.

It's going to be an interesting election. Living in Texas my vote for McCain doesn't make much difference, just another drop in the sea of red. Obama seems to have a pretty substantial lead but, then again, I despaired of McCain getting the nomination so I'm not taking anything for granted.

[learnedhand-dj.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry, but comparing Kerry's war service with McCain's is ridiculous. There is no way to know how Kerry would have held up had he been taken prisoner, and there is no way to know how McCain would have handled the situation in the swift boat. The question of who is and who isn't a war hero is based on not just the make up of the man in question, but also on the circumstances he finds himself in. If there was a time when both McCain and Kerry were in exactly the same situation, then a comparison might be made. Otherwise, comparing the two serves no purpose, for either side, beyond posturing.

That said, questioning the relevance of a story of heroism is fair game if one wants to run for public office. The circumstances surrounding Kerry's actions were challenged when he ran, as it should have been. McCain's imprisonment is not something that can be challenged, but the question of what relevance it has for the job of president is a valid one. The comparison of the two, however, is pointless, and only serves to distract from the legitimate questions.

[aadler]

Thanks. I’ve been following your entries, even when I wasn’t doing any posting myself.

[aadler]

We were warned to get ourselves in shape and acclimatized, but — as you noted — I doubt it will be any more taxing than the conditions I faced in Iraq. (Of course, that was four years ago.)

Just last year, I began a new program: whenever I pass through an Army base (or any military base, I suppose, but especially when I’m stationed there), I try to acquire from their PX a shot glass with the base’s name inscribed. When I was at Ft Indiantown Gap, their PX was out of the desired item, so I put in a request, with the understanding that I would be notified when they arrived. Then I forgot about it. No notification — now that you remind me of the place — so I suppose I need to get in touch with them.

[aadler]

Where the prednisone is concerned, we share your hope that short-term treatment will correct the problem, after which it can be discontinued.

Where the election is concerned, I’ve learned not to make predictions. This is an unusual one: theoretically the lines are where they’re normally found (liberal vs conservative), but the liberal is a dynamic, charismatic young black man and the conservative is a crusty, unexciting old white guy. Anything could happen, and I honestly can’t foresee the long-term consequences of either outcome.

[aadler]

It’s true that we can’t know what either man would have done in the other’s situation. It’s also true that we do know (essentially) what each man did in his own situation.

It’s true that military experience doesn’t automatically qualify one for executive office. It’s also true that such experience is not irrelevant; the proper question is how much relevance, and relevant to exactly what.

And I agree, comparing Kerry’s war service with McCain’s is ridiculous. Kerry parlayed minor injuries into an award for valor and an early ticket home, and used both to immediately and publicly launch a vicious slander against the men still fighting in that war. McCain spent five and a half years as a POW because he repeatedly refused to accept early release, knowing that such release would be used as propaganda and to dishearten the remaining prisoners. He was released in the proper order among those prisoners still living, and subsequently sought out Henry Kissinger — who had likewise declined, during truce negotiations, to accept McCain’s return ahead of men who were more ill or who had been in captivity longer — and shook his hand, saying, “Thank you for preserving my honor.”

I don’t like McCain. But to compare him to Kerry, in any meaningful sense, is an odious insult.

[trinfaneb.livejournal.com]

Here's hoping you can get the shot glass. My mother collects shot glasses of all the states she visits.