I Will Not Fail My Blog...

Yeah, it seems that my personal project, the place where I can put my thoughts down, has fallen to the wayside. There's a reason for that...

I do alot of internet surfing at work and that's where I created my blog. You see, my job is serving the US Navy. There is alot of down time while deployed and I figured it would be a great idea to be able to have a place to go, a place where I cold put my thoughts together, a place I could (somewhat) spill my guts, a place I could reminisce, a place that was mine.

Navy computer networks are finicky things. Sometimes it allows certain websites, sometimes it don't. Blogspot has been one of those sites that has been in the don't category for several months now. In order for me to make a post I would have to do it at home and it seems I always have something else to do besides make a blog post.

While this is certainly not my final post, I hope the issues with the network and Blogspot are resolved soon. If so, I will have more submissions. If not, then it might be awhile til I post another... unless I get my shit together and make the time at home...

So Anyways...

Yeah, about that blog thing. I really should make a post at some point. What's taking me so long to get back to this? I don't know what issues surrounding it but it seems the Navy has deemed Blogspot as a bad place to be and now I don't have access from work. Considering I do all my best thinking at work, and I have significantly more time to put my thoughts together while working, it seems as though this blog has gone to the wayside. But that's totally untrue. I think about making a post everyday but something else always takes priority. Gotta change that a bit.

I'll have to check with my IT folks because I don't think Blogspot is supposed to be on the "do not visit" list but such are the ways of the military life. One moment you're fat, dumb, and happy, next minute your life has been turned upside down. Not that access to Blogspot is a life or death situation but it certainly helps with my personal morale and well being.

More to follow...

Cleaning Up the Bike...

My last mountain bike ride was in Hawaii, right at the end of July/beginning of August. I may have had an opportunity or two to ride since then, especially San Diego, but I was too lazy to go. One problem with my hobbies is if it's extremely inconvenient for me I don't want to do it. In San Diego distance was the problem. The city kind of tries to make it easy by installing bike racks on city bus's but I felt it was just too hard and didn't go. No big, I can always ride another time...

So, my bike has been stored in my room on the ship for going on 6 months now, stuck behind the door, completely covered with dust and some dirt from my last ride. Front tire is flat, just sitting there, mocking me, reminding me of just how lazy I can be at times.

Actually, it's not dirty anymore, I took some time to clean it up. It shines like a new penny and I'm working up my motivation to finally pull it out and take it home. My goal is to ride to work at least 3 times a week but I haven't started yet so I don't know how it's going to go.

About the flat tire, I have to tell a little story here. I was plagued with flat tires since my Muroran, Japan port of call in November 2007. On the 1st day I flattened my front tire on a nice drop and just replaced it figuring I just pinched it. Morning of the 2nd day, it was flat again. Pumped it up, it held, figured I was fine, which I was for the day. 3rd day, had to put some air in but had to replace it again halfway through the day. After that I didn't ride again until Hong Kong in April 2008. I replaced the tube again once on that 4 day trip. I figured I was the bad luck king for flat tires and everyone enjoyed poking fun at my expense. At least motivation was high.

Needless to say I had the same problem all summer long, most times I could pump up the tube but I replaced it 6 times that summer. And it sat in my room, flat tire and all, mocking me, for almost 6 months.

When I decided to clean it up and get back in saddle I pumped up the tire once again to see if it would hold air. This time, there was no hope for it. I removed the tire from the rim and turned it inside out to make sure I didn't have anything stuck in there, which I had already done a couple times previously. And wouldn't you know it? I found a quarter inch worth of thorn jammed in there, sticking up, and always into my tube. How I overlooked this thing all these months I will never know.

I keep it on my desk as a momento of the good times had by my friends giving me a serious ration for every flat tire for the past year...

Snowboarding and other things...

Weekend before last we took another snowboarding trip to Naeba, Japan, it' such a wonderful place! Wish we would've known about the joys of snow sports much sooner, would've made the first two years in Japan go by that much faster.

This past weekend I was able to attend my first swim meet of the season and see my son compete. I missed all the others because I was deployed. Seems I've missed alot of stuff while stationed in Japan...

Lunar Festival started in World of Warcraft. Just when I think I'm starting to get a handle on my playing habits Blizz sucks me right back in with the silly achievement system... and the gearing... and the questing... and all the other fun stuff...

After 21 years of Naval service I've come to the conclusion that I'm sick and tired of standing watch...

Wife's sick, got a croupy kind of upper chest cold. Seems that it's going around, ran into a dad at the swim meet who had the exact same symptons...

It's winter, it's cold, all the time. I can't warm up. No wonder I lived in Florida dang near all my life...

Read an accident report of a SPECWAR guy crashed while mountain biking and had to go the hospital. The crash occurred at the trails in Guam that me and my mountain biking buddies must have ridden half a dozen times. Don't know if I'm lucky or good, but I'll take lucky any day of the week. Doesn't mean I didn't wipe, those are some tough trails out there, but at least I was able to walk away...

Speaking of mountain biking, finished cleaning up the bike since it's sat in my room aboard the ship for the past 2 months, dusty as all get out. I plan to start riding to work and back at least 3 times a week. I wonder how that cold things going to affect me?

Another snowbaording trip scheduled middle of February, yes, going to Naeba again. I did say it's a wonderful place. Amazing I hate the cold but if I'm snowboarding it's alright...

Sinus Surgery Update...

Which I never gave you...

I went into surgery Dec 4th, way too early in the morning. My loving wife was kind enough to drive me in and sit with me through pre-op and lend her support. They put me completely under for the surgery and it was over in about 4 hours. Well, the surgery didn't last 4 hours, that's when I finally woke up. Long story short, I was laid up in bed for 4 days, thought I could go into work, spent about 2 hours in the office, went home and slept for two days straight. I decided I better wait til my 10 days convalescent time was up before trying that again. All said and done my recovery lasted for a little less than 3 weeks.

Improvements:
1. I can breathe! Deeply! With no trouble!
2. I don't snore as much. Jeanine's extremely happy!
3. It used to be painful to breathe cold air, such as you will find during winter, and I would have pain in my ears also. Not anymore! Spent 4 days snowboarding and didn't have any problems at all!
4. I don't feel as though I have to clear my sinuses all the time.

One drawback however, since they don't really know what causes sinus polyps there is a possibility they may return. I will be on medication for a very long time to help prevent that. Medication is Flo-Nase so it's not bad at all. 1 dose per day should keep them away.

Even a month and a half later my nose is still sensitive but I suspect that will go away in a couple more weeks.

I'm Sorry

To my Blog for neglecting you for so long. I'm determined to make frequent updates but the holidays got the best of me.

To my relatives I did not call during the holidays. Where the heck am I? How'm I doing? What's going on in my life that I can't keep in touch with you? I didn't even send Christmas Cards this year.

To my Mom for the loss of your husband of 31 years right before Christmas. He and I had our differences when I was younger but I know we both forgave and forgot. I hope he was proud of me, of the man I became. I wish I had taken the opportunity to tell him thanks for the life lessons that helped turn me into the man I am.

Sinus Polyps?

Had the pleasure of going to the hospital for an Ear, Nose, and Throat consult for my sinus issues, yes, I am still having problems. George Washington's Senior Medical Officer is an ENT specialist and diagnosed me with Sinus Polyps and ordered the consult.

Learning about to commence, skip it if you'd like...

"Polyps may simply block the nasal airway, making it difficult to breath through the nose; or they may block the proper drainage of the sinus cavities, leading to stagnant secretions that may become infected.

Polyps are generally thought to occur as a result of an ongoing inflammatory process within the nose and sinuses. Although the inflammatory process might be related to allergies, most cases of polyps occur as a result of non-allergic processes.

Whatever the cause, polyps can make patients miserable. Common symptoms in patients with nasal and sinus polyps include nasal obstruction, decreased sense of smell, recurrent sinus infections and profuse nasal drainage. Many of these patients feel as though they have a cold all of the time.

If polyps are suspected, the patient may undergo an endoscopic examination in the clinic. This procedure uses a small telescope that is placed inside of the nostril to examine the nose and sinuses. Computed tomography (often called CT or CAT scans) may help to delineate the precise location of polyps within these cavities.

After establishing the appropriate diagnosis, multiple medical treatments may be initiated. Medications include anti-inflammatory sprays, decongestants, inflammatory mediator inhibitors, and systemic steroid medications. It is important that the physician and patient recognize that medications are often needed on a long-term basis in order to reduce polyp size and prevent their re-growth.

In some cases, surgical excision of the polyps is required, using the endoscope to visualize the polyps. Following this type of surgery, it is critical to maintain medical treatment and closely observe the nose and sinus cavities to prevent recurrence of any polyps. In many cases, if a proper medical and surgical treatment plan is carefully followed, patients will not require further polyp removal surgery. "

Or you could read about it yourself here, here, or here. Or you could do a Google search. Or you could just continue reading...

So anyways...

The doc sprays a decongestant and some anesthetic in both nasal passages and we chit chat about whatever for a bit of time to allow the medication to do it's work. Then he breaks out this giant spider-leg looking telescope that he intends to shove up both my nostrils. The medication didn't help the utterly icky feeling of having a giant spider-leg looking thing shoved up both my nostrils...

And what it boils down to is I will have surgery on Thursday to have the 4 (found) polyps removed from my nasal passages, as well as correct my deviated septum. Didn't even realize I had a deviated septum...

Maybe this will help with my snoring problem also, my wife will surely be pleased...

I heard they pack the nasal passage with gauze for a week or two after a surgery of this type. if I can't breath now I suppose it won't hurt to not breath for a couple more weeks...

Long Lost Blog Post...

Coming home, I can't think of anything finer in the world...

Spent all summer, all fall, some of the spring as well, underway, but made it home in time for Thanksgiving.

That should certainly be a good enough reason for me to completely ignore my blog and blow off posting for a few weeks...

Here's Another Thing I Discovered...

Well, I'm sure someone else discovered it first, considering it's been around since 2006.

I'm talking about Twitter.

If you're asking what the heck is Twitter, obviously you didn't click the link, but I'll give you this: Twitter has grown into a real-time short messaging service that works over multiple networks and devices. In countries all around the world, people follow the sources most relevant to them and access information via Twitter as it happens—from breaking world news to updates from friends. You'll just have to visit the link for the rest...

A little background into Navy life and internet connections...

The ability to use the internet onboard a Navy ship is relatively new, well, new to a guy like me who's served for 20+ years. Way back when I joined in 1987, when a ship pulled away from the pier, the only regular communication with family and friends came in the form of letters. Some of you may be asking yourself what that is, I won't explain it, I feel old enough as it is...

In 1996, we had the ability to send e-mail to our loved ones through a system called SALTS, Streamlined Alternative Logistics Transmission System, chosen as the system to expand the Navy's capacity to transmit logistics information and administrative data from deployed units to existing Department of Defense communications networks.

The way this would work, I would type a letter in Notepad, save it to a 3.5" floppy, hand carry it to our Radio room and they would transmit my letter (e-mail), along with everyone else's to the command Ombudsman, who would in turn print them all out, call the families and friends and they would have to come pick them up. Not exactly the best system but it's what we had and we were happy to have something like this to keep in more immediate touch with everyone.

Where it used to take weeks to mail letters back and forth, now took days, depending on how often your loved one could make it to the Ombudsman's house.

1997-1998 I experienced the same system for passing letters back and forth with my wife, but by this time we had a shipboard LAN system available to us. Just another step in the long journey.

2000 found us with LAN systems installed, e-mail clients available (Outlook) and the ability to send e-mails at our leisure. If you planned it right, you could trade e-mails back and forth within minutes, sort of like instant messaging, except without the instant part.

I had the privilege of a few years of shore duty and really didn't think of it until 2004 when I arrived to my next ship. By this time the internet was a part of everyday life for me.

I can back up to 1998 because that's when I created my first Hotmail account. Fast forward again to 2004...

Everyone had a Hotmail account, or Yahoo, or Google, or whatever e-mail client of preference. It became common for Sailors to have access to the internet and the ability to check personal e-mails, staying in touch with whoever they wanted to stay in touch with through the internet.

That is, until 2006, when the Navy decided that personal internet e-mail accounts were a drain on bandwidth for ships at sea and decided to prohibit all internet e-mail, as well as sites such as YouTube, MySpace, Photobucket, and the list goes on.

The uproar was heard fleet-wide, but you can't really argue with the decision because the battlespace is all about bandwidth and have the resources to keep the information flowing. In the days of video teleconferencing and satellite phone calls, every bit of bandwidth counts.

Another reason for this prohibition is computer security. Personal e-mail through a public system does not go through our network filters, creating an opportunity for intrusion through viruses or trojans.

Needless to say, I agree with the principles behind the banning, it just chaps my ass I can't check my Hotmail every now and then...

Alright, got that out of the way. Long and boring, I almost fell asleep typing it, can't see how you made it this far. It's not the whole story, and doesn't paint a completely clear picture, but I think you get my drift of "how it used to be."

Thanks to Out of Mana, I saw this Twitter thing on her blog but never had the inclination to look it up, then I saw that the Lich King had his own twitter account and I decided to finally figure out what I was looking at.

Sign up was a breeze. The best part is the Navy hasn't banned it yet so I can use it at will. I'm following several people now and even have 7 followers myself! Probably because I'm following them...

I'm kicking myself in the butt because I didn't sign up for this long ago, like back in May when I left home. I'll be back home soon though so it's probably too late to get Jeanine and the kids to sign up. Me and my laziness...

The Drawback of...

Google Reader.

Blogs are wonderful things. I started reading political blogs years ago, I enjoy reading opinions that match my own in regards to my conservative views on the world. I delved into other topics from links given in various blog posts and built quite the favorites list.

While researching some talent specs for my warlock in World of Warcraft I stumbled across Yet Another Warlock Nerf blog and realized I found a treasure-trove of warlock information to help me better my game. From that blog, I started exploring more and a whole new world of blog-reading opened it's doors for me.

A few more I found turned out to become regular reading, whether for the PVP aspect, learning other classes, or exploring roleplaying and humor, my blog count continued to rise and there was no way to get to all of them efficiently.

That's where Google Reader comes in. One stop shopping for blog reading. It's easy to set up a reader account and start subscribing to sites that support RSS feeds.

"RSS solves a problem for people who regularly use the web. It allows you to easily stay informed by retrieving the latest content from the sites you are interested in. You save time by not needing to visit each site individually. You ensure your privacy, by not needing to join each site's email newsletter. The number of sites offering RSS feeds is growing rapidly and includes big names like Yahoo News."

I chose Google Reader for ease of use.

Here's the reason for the post subject; I now have 137 sites with several different topics that I follow. World of Warcraft, Mountain Biking, Computer News, Politics, and various and sundry other topics that no one is interested in reading.

I took a hiatus from web-surfing to concentrate on leveling my priest and neglected my Google Reader for 4 days. I came back to 479 posts to read. I've knocked them down to less than 200 but there are at least 50 new posts per day, and with the new expansion coming out in less than 2 days, sometimes more than 100 per day.

I've actually knocked down a few of the blogs I follow:

Computers?
Only one, now that I'm an exclusive Mac user at home.

Politics?
My current favorite

Mountain Biking?
Maintenance and other subjects
Because I can relate
For all the news

But the blogs I read most are about World of Warcraft. Because there's too many to list, I will say that I read all types of WoW blogs, about all different classes and subjects. Out of the 137 blogs I subscribe to, at least 100 are WoW blogs. I plan to import my subscriptions from Google Reader to my Blog Roll, so check there for any WoW Blogs you might find interesting.

And the list continues to grow... I'm never going get all of these read...

So, Here I Am...

Thinking about Wrath of the Lich King, the new expansion for World of Warcraft, and really annoyed that I live overseas. I won't be able to purchase the expansion as soon as it hits the stores, I have to order it online and wait for it to get to me. Amazon, please ship fast!

I feel bad for my boy though, he's in an awesome guild, running end-game content, and he's going to have to wait about a week before he can get the expansion installed and start leveling again. I wonder how far along the rest of his guild will be and how long it will take him to catch up to them? He's going to play and watch everyone around him leaving him behind, and there's nothing we can do about it.

I hope both copies arrive quickly because it would be nice to be able to play when I get home. Jeanine probably hopes it never arrives. I know I play too much Honey but it's the bestest game ever!

Side note, I'm concentrating on my priest first in order to experience some of that raid stuff myself. My warlock will be my PVP toon, as well as farmer, but will not be neglected in the least. Seems everyone is looking for a priest to group with but no one wants a lock...

Another day at the office...

Just arrived to Guam, again, for the 6th time since being stationed in Japan...

Last three times were great mountain bike trips...

This time I'm laying up in a hotel room for 4 days and not doing a dang thing...

Wish me luck...

Things to do...

My MacBook Pro is running like a champ, although I'm kind of miffed about the new one on the market (certainly a better video card). My only consolation is that it's only been released in the 15" version, although I'm sure the 17" will come along soon enough.

I've added some music to my iTunes, some photos to my iPhoto, installed a few video requirements such as VLC and Perian. Still have a little ways to go to get it where I need it to be.

I've always been a Windows guy so I'm still learning the ins and outs of Mac. It helps that I am now a complete Mac user, I got rid of all my Windows machines. Well, I still have my Toshiba laptop but it's more of a paperweight now. I still have some stuff I have to get transferred over to my external hard drive, otherwise it would sit in a closet somewhere and collect dust.

The hard part in all of this is trying to figure out which computer will be the main. I now have a 24" iMac for the house, my daughter has a 15" MacBook Pro, and my son has a 20" iMac. Now that I have my laptop I'll use that more than anything else but I need to consolidate all my music and photos into one library. I think that's a job that I will never finish.

But the hardest part in all of this is un-learning everything I've learned using Windows. There are distinct differences with a Mac and it's only a matter of getting used to those differences. The good part is that it has been much easier to learn the Mac than it ever was for Windows.

All in all, making the switch was easy.

Sick Again...

I tell ya, I just don't know what's wrong with me. Sinus congestion big time, I can't breath, I can't sleep at night, just eating makes me feel like I'm running a marathon.

This thing started way back at the beginning of summer. About mid-June I came down with what I thought was a cold. I self-medicated big time since I always have a supply of NyQuil, DayQuil, Sudafed, and Afrin when I'm deployed. It was horrible. No amount of medication would clear me up.

Now, try mountain biking in Hawaii and Guam with a serious head cold, think hot and humid. I might as well have strapped myself to a stretcher and had my boys haul me around, I was slacking so much. God bless these guys because they never once thought about leaving me behind, even going so far as calling me a big poon for even thinking about not going riding. I felt like I was holding them back (which I was) but they wouldn't hear of me not riding and we truly had some epic rides, especially the face plant part in Hawaii, but I don't want to talk about it... let's just say I'm glad we had a Doc as part of our mountain biking group.

This lasted until mid-August when I finally decided to take my Doc buddy up on his offer for some allergy medicine. He finally broke me down and I told him my sob story about how long this had been going on. He didn't know I had been dealing with this since June. He gave me Flo-Nase and Claritin to clear it up.

After about 10 days, I cleared up. It helped being ashore in San Diego for so long as well, having the opportunity to walk around outside frequently and work it out of my system. Being outside probably wasn't the best for allergies but I figured the medicine was working, as well as the frequent exercise. I stopped taking the allergy medicine figuring it was over.

That lasted for about 3 weeks.

About 3 days before coming home for a short 6 day visit I was sick again. I had stopped taking the Claritan and Flo-Nase and figured that was my problem so I started that back up again. And it cleared up after 7 days. At least I had 2 days of relief while home, although the wife wasn't too impressed with my sickness for the first 4 days.

That lasted about a week.

Now I've been sick again for 10 days. And it's worse than before. Every breath is a chore. My head hurts all the time. I'm run down tired no matter how much sleep I get.

I finally broke down and went for real treatment. Now I'm medicating with Amoxycillin and Mucinex for a Sinus Infection. Oh, and Tylenol to help with the headaches.

I hate to think what's next if this doesn't work... if they just had a drill to bore two holes in my head so I can breath...

Is Global Warming Really a Problem?

If you are all about Global Warming and believe it is a serious problem needing addressed now, before it's too late, you might not want to read Michael Crichton's take on it...

On the other hand, if you truly enjoy controversial points made through effective argument, then this is for you...

Complexity Theory and Environmental Management

The Greatest Wife in the World!

Does my wife love me or what?


Brand new 17" MacBook Pro! And it rocks! And my wife let me buy it as an early Christmas present! She's the bestest wife in the whole wide world!

Not that it will make me post more...

Snowbirds...

What I hope you see is my kids playing in the snow last winter in Naeba, a wonderful little resort town with outstanding skiing and snowboarding...

What you're probably seeing is two typed lines with no picture...

Failure...

I said it before, I'll say it again, a successful blog is about the posts...

Or should I say, it's about posting...

Cause you have to post regularly in order to have a blog, otherwise it's just another failed endeavor in your life...

I refuse for this blog to be another one of my unfinished projects...

But what do I write about when I have nothing to write about?

I write about nothing...

This should suffice...

Happy Birthday!

Alright, so this isn't exactly a Happy Birthday to any one person in particular...

We all know that someone who has a brain that was designed to keep track of dates and names and special occasions and clothing sizes of other people and what someone's favorite fad is currently, etc... that ain't me.

Every New Year I tell myself I'm going to be better in tune with everyone and try to push back into people's lives. That's normal for me because I'm usually kicking myself in the ass after mailing out my Christmas cards 2 days before Christmas.

Shortly after the New Year it's my brother's birthday. The following month is mine. Come summer, Dad's birthday is in July, my daughter's in August, Grandpa's in September, Mom in October, and wrapping up the year is my wife and son in November.

So far this year I am 2-4. I remembered mine and my daughters.

With all that being said, Happy Birthday Jake! Happy Birthday Dad!

I hope I can up my percentage through the rest of the year....

Oh, The Drudgery!

I can sum up every day at sea the same way: same stuff, different day.

Repetition is the key to survival out here. Routine is the lifes blood of a Sailor. Every day you have the same tasks (with a few differences here and there, it doesn't change the routine), the same sleep times, the same eating times, the same watch times, the same daily work, etc...

My routine? I start my day around 8pm. I shower, shave, get dressed, come into the office. I check my e-mail, look for any extra taskers on top of my normal workload, check the message traffic for anything from other ships or units that may need something from me and, in general, let everyone know I'm up and around. I answer my e-mails, set up my priority list for my workload, and check the watch floor in case there's anything that did not come to my inbox. I eat chow around 11pm, give or take 30 or so minutes. I return from chow, start on my taskers, and then around 1:30am I start preparing for taking over the watch at 2:15am. I stand my watch until 7am, get relieved, take 30 minutes to myself to wind down and then hit breakfast. I'm normally back in the office by 8am and start back in on my taskers. I either finish them or I don't because they're not going anywhere and I'll get them taken care of eventually. I'm not overly tasked though and can get done around lunchtime, 11am-12am, at which time I take some more time for myself, either hitting the gym, surfing the internet, chilling in my room, or whatever has captured my attention on that particular day. On a rare day I can get together with the boys and play a bit of guitar. I hit the rack about 1pm and it starts all over again. Everyday I'm underway. Of course, the times may change depending on when I stand watch but it runs exactly the same way.

Why the routine? When I'm underway, I'm technically at the office 24 hours a day, 7 days a week because there's no where else to go. I have a routine to make the days go by faster. It's not about the hours in the day, it's about the actual days because the faster the deployment is over, the sooner I'm home with my loved ones.

And every Sailor will tell you it's all about getting home.

On a side note... whenever I re-read my posts, I realize I need to bone up on my writing skills...