The children are the future, and the present

we can get a good feel for how friendly a neighborhood is by how the kids react to us. they haven't quite learned how to conceal their feelings like their parents. if the kids are smiling, waving, and giving us a thumbs up, i can assume they've heard some good things about us from their parents. if, however, they scowl at us, pretend a stick is a weapon they're firing at us, or throw rocks at us, i can assume their parents haven't exactly been singing our praises. of course, they're usually smart enough to wait until we've passed to throw rocks, and they have yet to hit my truck. somebody needs to introduce them to baseball.

Free time? We don't need no stinkin free time

watching movies on my laptop is one of my primary sources of entertainment (thanks don). so a good idea of how busy i've been lately is that i've been working on the same movie for the past week.

No candy for you!

my platoon rolled through a villiage that wasn't so much fun. it was about 2-3 miles of narrow roads, random allys, tall buildings, lots of people and not a friendly face among them. my eyes were constantly moving, searching for the one guy stupid enough to try something. i was definetly happy to be out of there.

Show and Tell

sometimes when i'm writting these posts i feel like a 6 year old writting a paper about what they did over the weekend. i had a cheeseburger. it was good. we watched tv while we ate. my dog wanted some too. his name is crusher. the end.

So bring me two Coors Light. I want one for each hand.

unfortunetly i wasn't able to watch the superbowl or the commercials that go with it. but even though i couldn't watch the game on tv, i played a different game myself called "drink the beer." i won. we all got 2 beers to go with the cheeseburgers served at midnight. it was a good meal.

RIP

JRP

When we get back to the fog, mkay

i went back to the FOB and was able to get a haircut, a massage, and a pizza. best day in a while.

Thank you

Mr. Flood

Beggers can't be choosers, but they can be allegories

whenever we stop somewhere in a village most of the kids in the area inevitably gather around our vehicles. they know to stay a safe distance away, but also how to get close enough to let us know they want something. luckily for them, i also like giving them things and have started carrying candy with me in my turret. the problem is that there is always more kids than candy and they always want more.

once i throw out some candy, a pattern emerges. more and more kids get closer and closer trying to be the next one to get whatever i toss into the crowd. eventually they get too close and i have to shoo them away. more kids join the group, and after a little bit of standing back they get bold again and come closer, and i have to shoo them away again, maybe after throwing out some more candy.

after going thru this one time, i suddenly had a feeling like i was back in ocean city, nj. i couldn't figure out why until i realized they were acting just like the seagulls who were constantly after my food. give them a little bit, and they'll keep coming back as long as there's a chance for one more french fry.

#2) they're like sand people. easily startled, but they'll be back, and in greater numbers.

So far so good

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090201/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq