Frustrating morning running around the airport in DF. an early
flight and a late beer meant I only slept a few hours before being
rudely snatched from the arms of sleep by the crazy annoying alarm
on my cell phone. I got ready and almost walked out the door forgetting
my passport in the safe, walked back into the room and entered the
wrong code,bonk, then the code I was sure was right, bonk, then a
variation on the right code, bonk, then the right code again, bonk.
The LED flashed "slep" and blinked off.
Fuck. I was on the verge of being late for the flight so I called the
front desk, no answer, ana de llaves, no answer, gerente. nada.
Ran the 200 yards to the front desk; "estoy (gasp) en (gasp) hab. (gasp)
veinte-tres zero cuatro (gasp)". blank look from the girl wrapped
in two coats and two scarves because the lobby of the NH hotel is
the coldest place in mexico. two more guesses at my room number
and then finally the girl lights up, says she'll send the guy right
away. 15 minutes later, the guy shows up to unclog a toilet, no magic
safe cracking box. fuck, now I'm actually late for the flight, he leaves
and comes back 10 minutes later with a box, the safe pops open and we
jog to the front desk.
I had a ticket, so I just dropped my bag at the AM counter and the girl
said 'they are boarding, hay que correr'. A nice lady in a wheelchair
helped me cut most of the security line, through security with just a quick
explanation of what a kindle is, "libro, no es un ipad" since they are
making people with ipads take them out and put them in another tray,
and I jogged to the gate where I was third to the last to board the bus.
After all that running and huffing the plane turned around went back to
the ramp because the pilot's seatbelt was broken. I could have slept half
an hour more.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Rhythms
I'm eating a subway sandwich at my desk and reading
through lunch. Lunches here are from 2 to 4 and it's
not recommended to stay in the office and eat while working,
it tends to stretch out the day from a 10 hour day to a 12
hour day. bleh.
I'm reading one of the best things posted on the web, it's
"Rhythms" by Neptunus Lex, and it tells the story of a couple
of days strike fighter operations on an aircraft carrier during
the Iraq war.
it's the poetry of war, and really fantastic writing. He brought
to life what it must be like to serve on an aircraft carrier.
through lunch. Lunches here are from 2 to 4 and it's
not recommended to stay in the office and eat while working,
it tends to stretch out the day from a 10 hour day to a 12
hour day. bleh.
I'm reading one of the best things posted on the web, it's
"Rhythms" by Neptunus Lex, and it tells the story of a couple
of days strike fighter operations on an aircraft carrier during
the Iraq war.
it's the poetry of war, and really fantastic writing. He brought
to life what it must be like to serve on an aircraft carrier.
Friday, March 09, 2012
Still bummed out
I'm too busy lately to just surf around the blogosphere, and
my bookmarks got nuked in a harddrive crash last year so
I mostly read just a few on my bloglinks, Instapundit, Jerry Pournelle and
Neptunus Lex being the most common.
Out of force of habit I clicked over to Neptunus Lex and it hit
me again. What a sad week.
He was nice enough to respond to an email I sent:
From his blog back in 2003:
my bookmarks got nuked in a harddrive crash last year so
I mostly read just a few on my bloglinks, Instapundit, Jerry Pournelle and
Neptunus Lex being the most common.
Out of force of habit I clicked over to Neptunus Lex and it hit
me again. What a sad week.
He was nice enough to respond to an email I sent:
On Nov 04, 2011, at 04:12 PM, Joe wrote:
Hey Lex,
I'm sure you're going to convert all of these notes into a book, but what I really can't wait for is the movie. It will be easy to sell, the tagline could be "Top Gun meets The Rookie". Dennis Quaid would be the obvious guy to play the main character, with love interests, dogfights in prop planes, high speed motorcycle rides down the coast ('sweet home alabama' playing in the background), jet aircraft screaming off the runway.
anyway, keep up the great writing,
Joe
ex lexl@mac.com
11/5/11
to me
Dennis Quaid? My wife would love it!
Thanks,
Lex
From his blog back in 2003:
Homecoming:
"Finally you are moored, the colors are shifted from the main mast to the after staff, the brow is lowered to the quarterdeck and permissions are piped to go ashore. First , the new fathers, those Sailors whose wives have given birth while they were at sea. Then the rest of us, in order of seniority. You go ashore, find your family, and experience the most exquisite sensation of sweetness that God has given man to ever know. It is unalloyed bliss.
At that moment, everything you have experienced is almost worth it. The moment will not last forever, but it is enough."
Wednesday, March 07, 2012
Neptunus Lex
A good bio from the Navy times of Neptunus Lex.
"But as a prominent military blogger, he was part analyst, part cheerleader, part critic and part poet who wrote about the Navy, his family, the military and global affairs with the casual tone, frankness and familiarity that flows through ready rooms. His sea stories were personal memoirs as well as parables."
"But as a prominent military blogger, he was part analyst, part cheerleader, part critic and part poet who wrote about the Navy, his family, the military and global affairs with the casual tone, frankness and familiarity that flows through ready rooms. His sea stories were personal memoirs as well as parables."
Friday, March 02, 2012
Standing like a Stone Wall
I was pretty bummed out and worried that the death of
Andrew Breitbart at a too young age (younger than me)pretty
much dooms us to 4 more years of the current president. I
feel like my ancestors must have felt when Stonewall Jackson
was killed. Sure there are other non-left slanted media people,
but Andrew Breitbart actually delivered, pointing out the
stupidity and hypocrisy of the left. Maybe we can still win
in november, but I doubt it.
But then again, since I can't be in the USA to help fight, I need
to at least blog consistently to do my small part of replacing a
blogging giant.
To get restarted on blogging I thought i'd start with what I believe.
In one article on the life of Breitbart, I saw that he was a
south park republican. The distinction between South Park Republican
and Libertarian eludes me, but I'd go with that title as well.
South Park insults everyone equally. Every ox gets gored on that show.
The truth is I don't care what other people do or believe, but like
south park I do reserve the right to laugh at them if their beliefs
or actions are really stupid. I don't care if people are gay, or get
married to gays, or smoke pot, or crank, or buy sudafed or grow organic
food, of funnel beer or believe in communism, or smoke, eat potato chips, go
to church, don't go to church. Don't fucking care. and the government shouldn't care either.
They definitely shouldn't have people making GS-16 money inspecting
gay weddings, or bunny farms or organic farms or feeling up people in security
lines or arresting someone because their daughter drew a picture of a gun.
In the 90's we could afford to think like that and hire people to do stupid
shit, but we can't afford it. I have to do my taxes this weekend, and even
though I don't live in the USA and get no benefits from the USA, i still have
to pay taxes so some dickwad can make it illegal for me to buy two packs of
sudafed at the houston airport and bring them back here.
We need to be throwing the bums out at every level, elected, bureaucrats,
everyone, and making it easier for the bums that are thrown out to start a
business without any bureaucracy getting in the way. If someone wants to make
a new law "for the children", then they should find two other laws to take off
the books.
To get the growing rolls of people off of food stamps and disablity, the
government just needs to get out of the way and let businesses start up,
let pipelines be built, let wells be drilled. Queers,smokers, tweekers,
stoners go do what you want, but at some point you'll have to grow up and
be men. Take responsibility for yourself. The government should stop taking
responsibility for people. help people when they are down, sure, but the
government can't be the universal nipple, condom supplier, food giver, job
provider, and it shouldn't. Any group that can give you everything will be
able to take everything away as well.
Anyway. to some up. do what you want, don't expect to get bailed out so
stop taking crazy bets. Vote out every single person currently in office.
If you're an expat like me, be sure to vote this year.
Andrew Breitbart at a too young age (younger than me)pretty
much dooms us to 4 more years of the current president. I
feel like my ancestors must have felt when Stonewall Jackson
was killed. Sure there are other non-left slanted media people,
but Andrew Breitbart actually delivered, pointing out the
stupidity and hypocrisy of the left. Maybe we can still win
in november, but I doubt it.
But then again, since I can't be in the USA to help fight, I need
to at least blog consistently to do my small part of replacing a
blogging giant.
To get restarted on blogging I thought i'd start with what I believe.
In one article on the life of Breitbart, I saw that he was a
south park republican. The distinction between South Park Republican
and Libertarian eludes me, but I'd go with that title as well.
South Park insults everyone equally. Every ox gets gored on that show.
The truth is I don't care what other people do or believe, but like
south park I do reserve the right to laugh at them if their beliefs
or actions are really stupid. I don't care if people are gay, or get
married to gays, or smoke pot, or crank, or buy sudafed or grow organic
food, of funnel beer or believe in communism, or smoke, eat potato chips, go
to church, don't go to church. Don't fucking care. and the government shouldn't care either.
They definitely shouldn't have people making GS-16 money inspecting
gay weddings, or bunny farms or organic farms or feeling up people in security
lines or arresting someone because their daughter drew a picture of a gun.
In the 90's we could afford to think like that and hire people to do stupid
shit, but we can't afford it. I have to do my taxes this weekend, and even
though I don't live in the USA and get no benefits from the USA, i still have
to pay taxes so some dickwad can make it illegal for me to buy two packs of
sudafed at the houston airport and bring them back here.
We need to be throwing the bums out at every level, elected, bureaucrats,
everyone, and making it easier for the bums that are thrown out to start a
business without any bureaucracy getting in the way. If someone wants to make
a new law "for the children", then they should find two other laws to take off
the books.
To get the growing rolls of people off of food stamps and disablity, the
government just needs to get out of the way and let businesses start up,
let pipelines be built, let wells be drilled. Queers,smokers, tweekers,
stoners go do what you want, but at some point you'll have to grow up and
be men. Take responsibility for yourself. The government should stop taking
responsibility for people. help people when they are down, sure, but the
government can't be the universal nipple, condom supplier, food giver, job
provider, and it shouldn't. Any group that can give you everything will be
able to take everything away as well.
Anyway. to some up. do what you want, don't expect to get bailed out so
stop taking crazy bets. Vote out every single person currently in office.
If you're an expat like me, be sure to vote this year.
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