The Amazing Race

No, I’m not talking about the show. I haven’t been able to see the show since I got here to Kuwait. I’m talking about the race I entered today, 12 November.

As I said in an earlier post, I want to run a triathlon before I turn 32 in July 2006. Well, what better way to get prepared for it, besides training for it, than to race? So, I told myself and promised my wife that I would enter every race 10 miles and under. I’m not expecting to win much, if at all, but the competition would do me very good.

I never ran track or any such sport in high school or college or anywhere else. The only reason I know anything about track events is because we had a track team in high school, and because of TV. I’m not familiar with the events or even if there are any rules to these types of sports. I know the distances, though, so at least that’s a start. I know that 400 meters is once around the track, or a quarter mile. If you are not used to it, the quarter mile is a tough nut to crack. It’s hard to run, especially on a track.

So, wouldn’t you know it, less than one week after arriving here, there’s a track meet. Not just a race, like running down the road through the post. A full-blown track meet. A man swears to his own hurt, right? So, I was obligated to run in this thing. I asked my First Sergeant to sign me up for the longest event they had, which I figured would be the 1 mile run. There is no way I could run the 100 or the 400 or any of those other quick events. I’m not going to take part in a relay, either. I’m simply not fast enough in short distances. Some people are just built that way.

The day of the race came, and wouldn’t you know it, I had to work late. The race started at 1800. I didn’t get off until after 1700. Now, the camp is very small, but it far too big to get anywhere quickly on foot. I wanted to catch a shuttle, so I started walking. The shuttles are supposed to run every 15 minutes or less. Where I left work and where I live is about 1 ¼ miles. At a quick pace, I can cover that in about 15 minutes, if the ground is good. But, alas, the ground is only good for the first half mile. After that, it becomes rocky and sandy, the perfect combination for slower walking and the possibility of injury if one is not careful. I figured I could walk until a shuttle comes and then catch the shuttle the rest of the way.

The shuttle never came. I walked all the way to my barracks, for about 20 minutes and never saw a single shuttle. By the time I got to my locker, I was sweating and I still had to change and go back to the track! I changed and headed back out the road. Still no shuttles. By this time, I only had about 10 minutes left to get there. I wasn’t thrilled about running the race anyway. I knew I wouldn’t run as fast as the folks who were there because they thought they could win. By this time, I’m getting the “Well, maybe…” thoughts in my head. “Well, maybe it would be okay if I missed this one. I did have to work late after all.” “Well, maybe it’s for the best. I’m kinda tired from that long walk.” You know the drill.

By the time I got to the second stop, the shuttle picked me up. It’s not a fast shuttle, but it’s faster and a lot less frustrating than walking.

I got to the track and get off the bus at exactly 1800. What do I hear? “On your mark! Get set! Go!” Another case of the “Well, maybe…” But, I thought I would at least see what was going on. I worked my way around to the other side of the track and waited until the race was finished. It was over in about 5:30. That’s one mile, mind you. Almost immediately after the race concluded, they announced that if anyone wanted to race in the final heat, head to the infield of the track! Saved!

I talked to the race coordinators and they hemmed and hawed about letting me race. I was a late entrant (My First Sergeant didn’t sign me up after all) and they already had five competitors and only five lanes. So, I asked several times, simply explaining that all I wanted to do was compete and that I didn’t expect to win. They conceded and let me in the race, but not as an actual competitor. I could run, but basically only under the condition that I didn’t win, which I knew I wouldn’t anyway. So, I made my way to the track.

And then they told me I couldn’t race. They told me that if I even finished the first lap ahead of any of the competitors, it would mess up the timing (I don’t know how) and it would be bad for the race. I assured them that if any of the competitors were going to run any of the laps in 1:30 or under, it wouldn’t be a problem. I again explained to them that I simply wanted to race. They thought about it and agreed. For the final time.

What struck me as the most odd is how friendly the racers were. They all had a front row seat to this spectacle and when I was finally given permission to race, albeit behind one of the racers instead of next to them, they were all quite happy, actually. They were very supportive, said I had a lot of courage and just told me to have fun that it wasn’t all about the winning. I guess it was easy for them to say that because they were going to be the ones that were doing the winning, but whatever. But all of them gave me high-fives and hand shakes and a very warm welcome. I think this helped me relax and settle down a lot.

And we’re off! The race itself was uneventful. I ran the first two laps in 1:40 each. I don’t remember what my third lap was, but I finished with a time of 7:15, which is not altogether bad (1:48 per lap average; my third lap must have been terrible, like 2:00 or something) for a non-runner like me. Sure, it’s not earth-shattering, but it’s about a minute faster than what I thought I might do. And, only the fastest guy lapped me, and then only on the final turn. The others had no chance of lapping me. And I actually did come close to overtaking the last guy in the second lap. He was within a few meters, but the third lap has always been my worst for some reason, so he was able to pull ahead (or I just fell behind).

One thing I did notice is that the crowd cheered for me just as much as they cheered for the guy that won. They all pulled for me and yelled things like, “Come on gray!” (I was wearing my gray Army PT shirt.) and “You can do it! Stretch it out!” I had never experienced that kind of thing before. It was a small crowd, but it made me feel very good about myself and those around me. I can see how major sports figures can get addicted to the cheering of the crowd.

So, as the saying goes, the journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step, and I took that first step tonight. I have passed the threshold from someone who runs to being a runner. And, I even got a T-shirt.

"Leave your veapon on zee plane."

When posting to a blog, the site records it in chronological order, in the order it was posted. In this case, I wrote both of these entries before I had any kind of reasonable internet access and I am going to post them out of order so that they will appear in chronological order. So, what you are about to read is really the first of two entries, posted in “reverse” order. In other words, this post is about the first ½ of my travel and the second post is about the other ½.

Well, I’ve got to say that I am considerably impressed with my trip to Kuwait so far. Everything I’ve ever experienced in the Army told me that I would have to wait inordinate amounts of time just to get where I am now. I am delighted that for once, this has not been the case.

Flying to an area for the Army has been grueling in the past. My experience with this is not considerable, mind you, but my two experiences heading out to train in Louisiana have been par for the course with everything else that I’ve experienced in the Army: hurry up and wait.

For instance, in March, when I flew to LA for training, our unit was required to muster at in the company area, draw weapons and head out to the deployment facility. Our initial meeting time was 0200- and that is in military time, meaning 2:00 AM. We obtained our weapons, loaded up on busses and headed out to the airfield. We arrived at probably around 0400. We actually didn’t fly until almost 1200. So, we waited for nearly eight hours until flight time. What did we do? Eat, slept, read, and talked. And I still haven’t figured out why we couldn’t just draw weapons at, say, 0800. Everyone I’ve talked to says that this is normal for the Army when deploying: show up hours early to wait for hours to fly for hours to wait for hours to catch the connecting flight or sit on the tarmac.

But, I am pleased to say that this experience has been different. For one, this was my first real deployment, and my first experience at the deployment facility at Ft. Hood. Once we got through the initial deployment ceremony, which both my wife and I say we could have skipped without real consequence, we headed out to the airfield. We were supposed to head out at 1600, and we actually did, but it took a little while to load up all the busses. I expected to get to the airfield and wait for hours, upwards of five or six before we actually left.

Without being too verbose, I was pretty impressed with what the Army had waiting for us over there. USO, Salvation Army, and other non-profits just waiting for us to encourage us and give us care packages. There was even a woman there whose entire job was to hug every soldier. And that she did. I think I got two hugs; one in the chow line and one when we left to get on the plane.

We arrived at the airfield at around 1700. We were on the plane at 1800. So, basically, we had enough time to eat, visit the different booths and head back to the briefing room for the briefings. Impressive, I tell you, considering what I was expecting.

From Ft. Hood, we flew to Bangor, Maine. I’ve never been to Bangor. I don’t think I’ll go back. Nothing wrong with the airport, it’s just that I’ve spent enough time in the north. I left Ft. Hood when it was in the mid 70’s. Bangor, Maine was in the low 40’s. Forget strike one. You are just out. It was good, though. We didn’t have to stay on the plane, so it wasn’t all that bad. We stayed there for a little more than an hour so that the plane can fuel up and restock the food and then we took our six hour flight to…

Germany! This is where I am writing this from right now. We arrived at about 0630 CST, which is 1430 Local, I think. Uneventful flight, really. I slept most of the way. I partially woke up for a second and dreamed I saw The Thing from Fantastic Four. Turns out, that was the in-flight movie, but I didn’t realize it until we landed.

The most amusing part of this trip has got to be the announcement that we were in Germany. See, in Bangor, we were told to leave our weapons on the plane, and disembark to the terminal. Everyone was happy about this. When we arrived in Germany, a German guy got on the intercom (we didn’t even know there was a German guy on the plane) and gave us our announcements (Local time, weather, etc.) with a German accent. Believe it or not, it sounded like it was out of a movie, more than it sounded real. I thought I was watching a James Bond movie for a second. In fact, one of his final comments, “Leave your veapon on zee plane…” was so amusing, half the plane repeated it, accent included, in a mocking, comedic sort of way. So, just imagine about 40 or folks (the number within earshot of me) saying that several times.

Well, now we have about a four hour wait until we board the plane for Kuwait. This means we’ll get there around midnight, local time, which is one of the worst times to arrive. I would much rather arrive in the daytime when the sunlight and the unfamiliar surroundings assist in my battle with the intense urge to sleep.

I’ve heard great things about this deployment. And I have to tell you, if the rest of the deployment goes as smoothly as the trip, I am in for a pleasant experience.

The desert is full of sand!

Okay, so my luck has run out. All those good things I said about how the flight was running so smoothly? Well, forget them. Our layover in Germany was six hours, not four! And the only thing it had were the mandatory duty-free shop and the gift shop. Oh, and I could use their internet services on their terminal to send email for a Euro or two. At least I was with friends and colleagues, so it wasn’t so bad.

It was a nice experience, actually, because I got the chance to spend some time with some of the great folks in my unit. If anything, that is always a good thing.

So, back on the plane. The jet lag is already hitting hard. Or maybe it is the fact that I’ve been awake for nearly 24 hours. Say what you want, but there is only so much one can sleep on a plane. Of course, the airplane food is typical airplane food and they continually feed us, like every two or three hours. I did get to watch Fantastic Four in its entirety this time.

So, after about five more hours on the plane, we land in Kuwait! Yeah! Well, maybe not. Because of the extra long layover in Germany, we didn’t arrive in Kuwait until about 0300 or 0400. I was in the back of the plane, so the baggage detail and the folks sharing my section of the plane were the last to disembark.

So, off we went. After we drove in the desert for hours (I fell asleep a couple of times, so my estimation of time is a little off. We could have been driving in circles for all I know), we finally arrived in a different camp where we were supposed to arrive. Apparently the other unit that was with us was supposed to go there. We dropped them off, checked in, had lunch, went through a couple of briefs and went on our way. Back on the busses!

Hours later. (I think anyway. Again, I fell asleep, so my estimation of time is off.) We finally arrive at our destination. Everyone stinks. We’re hungry, tired and aggravated, but happy to finally be done with the traveling. We locked up our weapons and then headed to our new home for the next year.

So, nearly 48 hours of travel with maybe three or four hours of sleep. Plus jet lag to boot. I hope you can feel my pain because all I can feel is the call of my mattress.

Chess is Life

As I said in a previous entry, I love chess. Chess has been one of the loves of my life since I learned how to play in middle school. All during school (yes, high school, too), I played in tournaments and played chess at lunch and after school or before school, or whenever I could find time to play. I even had my own portable chess set. I still do, though it is not the same set I owned in school.

I still don't really know what drew me to the game. I just remember my best friend Kim teaching me one day after school as we waited for his little brother to get out of elementary school. (Middle school got out about an hour before elementary school, so we would walk over to the elementary school and wait with his mom. My neighbor's mom would all take my brother, me, her son and one of our friends home after school, so this was a very nice arrangement for the time being.)

And honestly, I am one of the best players I have ever met. Not the best, mind you. I was never state champion or anything- though I did beat him in a game after school one day- but I was, and am, very good.

Of course, after we graduate from high school, adulthood takes on a whole new meaning. What we think will matter to us, no longer does. And the things that we thought nothing of suddenly become big factors in our lives. And so, I pretty much gave up chess for most of my twenties. I guess I could say that I didn't really give it up so much as I really couldn't find anyone to play. This is not from a lack of searching. I searched in the phone book, I went to the library, I looked as far as I could for a chess club in my city, but to no avail. This was before the heyday of the internet, of course (Did I really just say that?) so it was not as easy to connect with folks as it is now.

But despite the lack of cultivation for my love of chess, it has always had a place in my heart. Sure I challenge the occasional player now and then. But, I don't do it for the challenge. I do it for the memories. I just love the game, and even though every person but one I have played since high school has become fodder for my record, I still love the thinking and the strategizing. I especially love seeing others strut around and saying just how good they are and the smacktalk they spout before I utterly crush them.

Sigh. I'm getting all teary-eyed just thinking about it.

Who was the person that beat me, you ask? It was my Command Sergeant Major (CSM) for my unit. Like the nerd that I am, I brought my chess board to our company picnic, not to challenge anyone, really, but to give the option in case someone wanted to play something besides volleyball and spades. I set it up and walked away. Like a worm on a hook. And I got some good bites.

Two guys challenged me in the few hours we were there. One just played. The other was rife with the huffing and puffing and "What'cha gonna do about that huh?" and made all kinds of sudden noises when he moved his pieces. ("BAM!" "SMACK!" Batman would have been proud.) It was the most humorous game and most satisfying win I had had in a while.

Then, right before the end of the day, I caught a couple guys talking to the CSM and kinda looking my direction, as if I were the playground bully and they were tattling on me. A few minutes later, the CSM challenged me to a game. And well, you know the end of the story. But, I played valiantly... but stupidly. Usually, when I play a game against someone who I know I can beat (which is everyone?), I don't really try my hardest. I don't give much thought to my moves. I don't have a problem with making a questionable move because most chess players don't pick up on it and if they do, don't do what is necessary to capitalize on it. In addition, I'm a good enough player that even if they do capitalize on my intentional mistake, I can make up for it with a little more effort.

My CSM was different. I played very, very well in the beginning. I secured the middle. I pinned his pieces. I made him work for his position on the board. And then, I got cocky. I pulled an intentional mistake because I didn't feel like thinking too hard. I lost a bishop. And then he forced a queen exchange. (For the uninitiated, the queen is the most powerful piece on the board. Most players can survive a point deficit if they have their queen. Forcing an exchange magnifies any kind of point or position deficit because the other pieces are minor pieces. Having one more bishop or knight isn't so much a big deal when both players have their queens. When the queens are taken out of the game, every piece counts.) And from there, it was downhill. Yes, I took a lot of time to think about my moves from that point on. But it was too late. The damage had been done and I had limited my own options because of my refusal to play well. He beat me fair and square and I will be sure to return the favor in Kuwait. But I realized on that day that life is much more like chess than any other game in the world.

I once heard that the number of possible positions on a chess board is equal to the number of atoms in the universe. Sounds far fetched, true, because that's a lot of atoms and the chess board has only 64 squares and 32 pieces. But, the spirit of the saying is accurate. In that same vein, I realized that the process of life is very similar to the game of chess.

In chess, you have three phases of the game: beginning, middle and end. Beginning is obvious. The very end is obvious. But sometimes, the boundaries between the three can be blurred. Some think that middle game starts when the first piece is taken. Others think that end game starts once a majority of the pawns are taken. But, the controversy, if it can be called that, is symbolic of life itself.

See, when you begin a game of chess, you have only ten pieces that you can move: eight pawns and two knights. Even then, it is really only adviseable to move about four of those pawns (the King, Queen and two Bishop pawns) because those four help control the center, which is where most of the action in middle game takes place. The pawns represent youth, I think. How well you start your game in the beginning, how effectively you free up your minor pieces for movement determines how well your middle game is going to go.

There are folks out there who say they can play chess. But that is really all they know how to do. They know the movements of the pieces and that is it. There is no forethought to the movements, no realization to what each piece enables or prevents the other pieces to/from doing. There is a lack of understanding of the consequences of their actions. For instance, the most popular first move in chess is moving the King Pawn two spaces, to e4 or P-K4. This should be countered with only a couple of moves, one being e5 or P-K4 by black. (There are other good counters, but this blog is long enough as it is.) You would be surprised by how many of my opponents answer my P-K4 with P-KR3, or something as equally impotent. (If you are one of those, I am sorry, but that is a terrible move. Go read a chess book.) They moved the King Rook Pawn because they could. There was no thought to the fact that it was a wasted move and it will not allow any movement of their minor pieces. By making that move, they've handicapped their middle game and allowed their opponent at least one unopposed move.

Moving out the minor pieces (Bishops, Knights), is called developing them. The minor pieces represent the middle parts of our lives. How well we capture the center of the board, how easy we make it for our own pieces to move around to board to attack and defend all depends on how well the first two or three moves went. By wasting the opening moves, a player is handicapped for the middle of their game/life because they cannot use the minor pieces to their potential. Sure, they can move the pawns out in mid-game and start moving the minor pieces out, but look how much time has been wasted! By this point, I've already got a plan for checkmate... and I've probably already announced it!

And then finally, end game occurs. For some, there is no end game. Their game ends in the middle because of poor play and checkmate occurs in less than say, 20 moves. But some play a good game of catch up and we make it to end game. But their opportunites are limited. By this time, most of their minor pieces have been taken and they are on the run. The game is closing in on them and there are few places for the king to hide. "Check" has been announced a couple times, probably, and that sense that the end is near is beginning to grow.

And all of this because of less than five moves in the very beginning? Well, sometimes. Some are just outplayed. Others, like me, make one dumb move and never recover. But I honestly believe that we rarely have the chance to fully understand the consequences of our actions. I fully believe that, like chess, our opportunites in the middle and end are made by how we play in the beginning. Some pull it out by being smart in the middle. But playing badly the whole game rarely ever scores a win in the end.

I somewhat see myself in this. I squandered my youth. I didn't go to college until I was about 20 and I went part time for about seven years until I joined the Army in 2002. For a long time, I really thought that I had handicapped the rest of my life because of the inaction and mistakes of my youth. But, my middle game is really shaping up, let me tell you. I've been doing well for myself. I got promoted to E-5 much earlier than most people and I am on track with getting my degree in about a year, after working so hard the last two or three.

I'm never going to have the same options open to me that I had ten years ago. But in a manner of speaking, I'll have more because I feel I have been able to recover my middle game before it was too late.

Leaders make the world go 'round

If you haven't seen the most recent episode of The Apprentice, showing on 27 October, the following blog contains spoilers. Read at your own risk of being disappointed that you heard the ending before you saw the show.

Another of my favorite shows on TV is The Apprentice. It is the only reality show I watch, besides The Amazing Race. I like The Apprentice for several reasons, one of them being Donald Trump.

(I only watch the reality shows that I would actually want to be on. I used to watch Fear Factor, but I realized that if I wanted to eat bugs, I could just step outside of my own house. Plus, I'm not a pretty boy, and I'm probably too old for the show anyway.)

I personally think Donald Trump is one of the finest leaders of our time. Sure, he can make lots of money in a little bit of time, but I think that his shining talent is his leadership ability. He is one of the few people that I have seen that knows and understands leadership, politicians included.

See, on the show, I think that we at home have a bit of an unfair advantage. Essentially, we see what the producers of the show want us to see. All of TV is like that. So, even though The Apprentice is a reality show, most of what we see is staged. For tonight's task, we saw two tasks that lasted over the course of a couple days, but all we saw were highlights that lasted a total of maybe 30 minutes. TV provides a perfect projection of hindsight for us. For instance, when Jen proclaimed that she could sell 8 speed guns, that ordinarily would have just been smacktalk. But, it was actually engineered to be an allusion. How many of the show's contestants made claims of some sort, but because their team won, or for whatever other reason, it was never thrown in their face or shown on the show? I guess we'll never know because it didn't matter.

Anyway, Trump fired more than half of Excel tonight, four members in all. I don't even remember their names, except for Jen and Josh, and only them because I was sure one of them was going to be fired tonight. But, this is the way I wish he would run The Apprentice. From the first episode there have been several contestants that just needed to be fired from day one. But, I guess because of contractual obligations, he is not able to fire all of the incompetent ones straight off. You know the ones I'm talking about. They are the ones that you just know won't go the whole way and it is pointless wasting everyone's time dragging them along for the ride.

But, in a way, I understand and agree with The Donald's way of doing business. I've watched every single episode of The Apprentice since day one. And for some reason, I get the idea that most or all of the contestants on the show have not. For instance, I know that Mr. Trump cares less about the interpersonal relationships- or lack thereof- than he does about the success of the task. There have been at least two times this season and countless times in the previous three seasons that the Project Manager (PM) has brought someone into the Boardroom because of personal reasons (read: drama) when in fact, this person did not actually contribute to the loss of the task. And nearly every time this happens, the PM gets fired, not the contestant who causes the drama. And while it is shocking when it happens, the strategy that Mr. Trump is employing is very, very smart.

Ask anyone what their definition of leadership is and you are likely to get varieties of answers. You'll hear that leadership is the ability to influence others. You'll hear that leadership is the ability to create more leaders. You'll hear lots and lots of different answers. But, one of the less-discussed aspects of leadership is being able to get to the root causes of failure and fix it, despite personal feelings.

I think, nay, I know that Mr. Trump understands how complex human interactions are. He knows that personal feelings get in the way of reality. And he clearly likes a few of the contestants. (There was one last season, Chris, that he had quite the affinity for, but he fired him because the guy had anger management issues, which caused problems during a couple of the tasks.) But, despite his personal feelings for the contestants, he is able to pick out who is the guilty party in the failure of the task.

On at least one occasion this season, Markus, a total weirdo and non-Apprentice material, was spared the axe because the PM brought him in because of personal feelings, not because of job performance. Markus' time will come, but only when he slips up and is responsible for the failure of the task. And a good PM will know that time. As long as Markus continues to not be responsible for the failure of the task and only provides drama, I predict that he won't be fired and that the PM who drags him into the Boardroom will be. This is too bad, actually, because many talented contestants have met their doom because of this. But, they deserved it for letting personal feelings about a contestant get in the way of why the task failed.

So, I don't really watch The Apprentice because of the great tasks or the drama. I watch because every episode is chock full of great leadership tips which I sincerely enjoy. Plus, I'm taking notes so that when my time comes, the only thing I'll hear is, "You're Hired!"

Desperate Housewives is making me desperate for another show

I've read that DH is a phenomenon among women. I've heard that women love that show because they can connect with one or more of the women on that show.

But, I can tell you, as a man, I love DH. The first season had me hooked from the first show I watched. I didn't originally watch it on my own. My wife wanted to check it out, so, in an effort to spend time in the same room as her, I watched it. Now, it is a family favorite.

No, it's not better than CSI. I would hope that you would stop reading if I even insinuated that.

But, DH is a pretty good show. The first season had a lot of good stuff in it. I think that the writers had a lot of good plans and some good leads on the plot. There was a lot of mystery surrounding all of the characters and it seemed they used good character development instead of hokey plot devices to create a good story.

But now it seems like all the mysteries are solved. We know why Mike is hanging around. We know what happened to Mary Alice. We know what happened to Dana. It seems as though every mystery that made the show interesting has been solved.

And now, DH is not the same show. Since the Applewhites moved in, I'm not sure I like the show as much as I used to. (Pointless Trivia: Alfre Woodard, who plays Betty Applewhite, also starred in Star Trek: First Contact. So maybe there's hope for the show after all.) Not so much the Applewhites, I guess, but their advent to Wisteria Lane represents a change to the show.

It all kind of seems like the writers had a great plan for some great characters for the show, but didn't expect the show to last past the first season, or they played their hand too quickly. (I just remember Babylon 5 which had a lot of mystery to a lot of the plot and the shows writers were able to make the mystery last the entire 5 or so seasons!) I just think that the writers for DH should have either introduced some deeper mysteries or should not have solved all of them in the first season.

I'm not really hooked so much anymore by the allure of the show. I still like the show and some of the ideosyncracies of the characters, and well, the women are quite hot, so that makes it easier to watch. But unless the show makes a turn-around soon, I'm not sure what the fate of that one hour on Sunday night is going to be.

A step in the right direction

So, I want to run a triathlon.

Yep, you read that right, a triathlon. Not the Ultimate Super Ironman Triathlon of the Century (TM), mind you, but maybe an Olympic Triathlon (1.5 km [0.9 mile] swim / 40 km [24.9 mile] bike / 10 km [6.2 mile] run). There are many types of triathlons. Learn more about them here.

See, I've had a weight problem pretty much my whole life. There are contributing factors, like the fact that I am very sensitive to processed sugar, which I didn't find out until last year, and the fact that, well, until I joined the Army, I did very little exercise. Yeah, I was lean for a while in my 20s. But I always felt keeping up with my weight was a constant battle. I hated running. I never really swam, and I always thought biking went out once one becomes a teenager. During my 20s, I lifted weights a lot (which is why I have large arms now, even though I don't keep up with it) and I did aerobics for cardio. I enjoyed aerobics, but it just didn't do it for me. (Going to the same place everyday, hoping beyond hope that the "good" instructor is there, because otherwise the class is just going to blunder through the session, and, well, having to pay for it... it just doesn't make for a great experience in the long run.)

In addition to my weight problem, I also hate sports and I'm not really an outdoor person at all. (I kinda got lucky genetically because I'm built like a medium-sized football player, so folks are shocked that I didn't play in high school. Then I hit them with the 1-2 punch that I lettered in chess, but also have a black belt in Karate. Yeah, I'm a geek, but I can kick your tail pretty easily.) So, I'm not really that competitive, sports-wise, especially when it comes to team sports. But, my own best competition is myself, my own mind and body. That's why I think I would love to try a triathlon.

Like I said before, I hated running. But that was because I was bad at it. Well, I actually never even tried it. So, I was a... runnist, I guess. But when I joined the Army, I had to run. They don't give us much of a choice. So, I had to adapt. My first step was forcing myself to love running. You'll never understand it unless you've had to do it. I still don't really enjoy running like I would like to, but I tell you, I love getting out there and sweating like mad, running fast and finishing a long run is one of the best feelings I've ever had.

Where I was stationed in NY, Fort Drum has all these little backwoods trails that everyone would run on, and they were great. There was this one trail that ran right along a river bank. I hated Fort Drum, but I miss that trail. Five miles of the best and most challenging running I have ever done. I've never gotten the runner's high that I've heard so much about, but maybe that will eventually happen.

But, I think that I've been missing something in my life and that is competition. I am reasonably motivated, but I don't think I have the drive in my life that I need to succeed. I was never really taught about goal setting when I was a child, so it wasn't really part of the way I think, until few years ago. And I think running a triathlon will accomplish a lot for me.

Now, I'm not a great swimmer. I never took swimming lessons when I was a kid. The only experience I've ever had with water is at the beach and a couple of water survival classes in the Army. But, how hard can that be? I know that swimming even 50 meters is a challenge for me now, but that is just where I have to start. When I joined the Army, I couldn't even run half a mile without stopping to walk. Mr. Miyagi: "First learn walk, then learn fly."

I own a bike that I ride three or four times a week. I've really learned to enjoy that. I've found that riding a bike is very similar to running except it is not as high-impact. I've discovered that my running has greatly improved because of my bike riding. Plus, on days that I don't feel like running, which is more often than not, I have no problem riding my bike for 10 or 12 miles.

And running. My rose and thorns. I love running because it destroys fat. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that once I finish running, my workout is done. Whether I do a fartlek run or an LSR (Long Slow Run), I know that I've accomplished something physically, psychologically and mentally that day. If I do nothing else but sit on the couch and watch reruns of CSI on Spike TV, but I ran in the morning, my work is done.

Am I a great runner? Heck no. My form is terrible and I just don't run fast enough. I have a hard time estimating how fast I should keep my pace so that I can keep that pace through the length of the run, which boils down to I don't push myself like I should.

So a triathlon will be the best for me, I believe. It'll be challenging, and it's also a social sport, but not a competitive team sport. Plus, I've promised myself that I would run one before my 32nd birthday, which is in July of next year. I'm going to Kuwait in a couple of weeks, and I think I'll have a lot of time to practice while I'm there.

As I train, I'll post updates of what I did and what worked and didn't work.

My Fifteen Minutes of Fame

As I begin to seriously realize that I really am about to be deployed, I have begun to think about what could happen while I am over there. Am I concerned about a suicide bomber? Mildly. Could the base be mortared or rocketed? Possibly. It's even possible that I could be selected for a mission in Iraq at some point and have to leave the comforts of my original destination. As cool as that would be, I can think of something that is a bit cooler.

Meeting the President... or someone in the Administration.

Now, I don't know if he will ever come to Kuwait and see us, but it is possible. And of course, it is even less likely that I would even know he was there until he was gone. And then it is even less likely that I would be selected or given the opportunity to see him, and even less likely I'll have the chance to actually meet and talk to him. But, of course, the fantasy question that everyone asks is, "If you could ask [God, The President, The Pope, that ex-girlfriend] one question, what would it be?" The other three, I'll have to get back to you on that. But, I think I know what I what I would ask the President.

It wouldn't be, as many in the MSM (Main Stream Media) would like, "Why did you lie about the WMDs?" That's just dumb. It's insulting to ask such an insulting question of a head of state, even if I did believe it. "When do we leave Iraq, Mr. President?" Another dumb question. I could come up with scores of dumb questions that have been asked of the President, but none of them have really been asked of the President so much as they have been asked to the American people about the President. I get the idea that the MSM doesn't really care about the wildly complex answers it would get from what they think are simple questions.

See, during the last six years, or at least since the GWOT (Global War on Terror) started, I've had one steady complaint about this administration. That is, why the heck doesn't it defend itself and set the record straight? The MSM hammers this Administration night and day, week after week with questions to which they know the answers, and then proceeds to spew those answers to the American public in broken facts, and out-of-context reports. And this administration just takes it. And it drives me up the wall.

Now, before anyone says I'm just some kind of Kool-Aid Conservative Kook, or whatever, I'm not defending this Administration. I do not believe that the president has been up front with the American people about very much during his two terms. He's not leading from the front. On a lot of things, this administration is guilty of the same things I have accused the MSM of doing: leaving out facts and not closing loops that need to be closed. Honestly, I get the idea that President Bush is like a kid on Christmas Eve: he just can't wait for his term to be up so he can get away from the soap opera that is his Presidency.

But I digress.

My one question to the President (or ranking member of the Administration) would be, "When will we start hearing the good things that have occured in Iraq?" See, I would bet my running shoes that the average American can tell you the name of the prison where Iraqis were abused, the name the leader of Al-qaeda in Iraq, approximately how many Americans have died in Iraq or maybe even able to tell you how much the war in Iraq resembles the Vietnam war, even though they are vastly different.

However, I will also bet very, very few Americans can tell you the name of the recipient of the Medal of Honor in this war. Even fewer would know that he died in combat and even fewer can tell you what he did to deserve the highest military honor that can be given.

I will bet that the average American can tell you that the Army missed its recruiting goals for FY05. I'll bet they wouldn't be able to tell you that the Army actually recruited more soldiers this year than last- by more than 1,000 soldiers- and that the Army greatly surpassed its re-enlistment quotas. You won't hear that the reason the Army missed its quota is because they set a goal of 8,000 more soldiers to be recruited than last year. You'll only hear that the Army missed it's recruiting goals by 7,000. The last time the Army missed its recruiting quota was in 1998. I didn't even know that until this year... because there was hardly a peep about it in 1998.

I could go on and on about the great things we have done in Iraq. I've heard them myself from my comrades-in-arms, who have come home and returned to Iraq more than once. Hearing my buddies talk about the war in Iraq and hearing the news talk about it makes me think I'm not hearing about the same war.

Is all going well there? It's hard to say. Even news organizations that claim to be "Fair and Balanced" report the exact same as the rest, with just a little bit different language. I don't think for a second that Iraq is all balloons and flowers. I know we've had our setbacks there. Great and grave mistakes have been made. But I also know it's not a quagmire like the MSM would hope.

Anyway, I could on and on. My point is this: I know this Administration knows what is going on over there. I know that it would take next to nothing for them to set up even just a website to recognize the great things that are happening. I just don't understand why they don't do it. And that would be my fifteen minutes of fame.

Criminal Minds (CBS) is the new CSI.

For me, anyway.

I don't watch a lot of TV. Or, I should say that I'm not loyal to too many shows. I do watch quite a bit of TV, but most of it is the typical male, non-commital channel surfing. I watch some older shows like Seinfeld, Star Trek TNG/DS9, and other shows that I used to watch regularly when I was single. But lately, I just don't have the time to invest in a show. I can't just watch a show at random. I want to be drawn. I don't want to religiously watch a show mindlessly... as if that statement makes any sense.

CSI is my favorite show on television. At first, yes, I was captured by the whiz-bang effects, the camera "movements" and the interesting science. But, I've really found that, after the two knock-offs (Miami and NY), which have the same effects and all, what draws me to the show is the characters: Grissom, Warrick, Sara, Nick, Katherine, and especially the coroner and Brass. Even the minor characters have a great interaction with the main characters. It's almost as though the show lucked out in a way because the chemistry is just fantastic. And it is really just that. CSI: Miami and CSI: NY have the same everything except the characters, yet I can't stand CSI:NY (even though I love Gary Sinise) and it wasn't until recently that I actually started to like CSI: Miami. I could go on about CSI: Miami and the things that bother(ed) me about it, but that is another blog.

So, I've started to watch Criminal Minds. And I love it. It's one of those few shows that I look forward to every week. It's intriguing, suspenseful and has a lot of information. And then there are the characters. I don't even know all their names yet and I like them. They aren't paper cut-out stereotypes. The nerdy genius guy is just that, but there's more than that. He has the same social shortcomings that can be expected, but he's not annoying or cutsie about it. The woman is smart, but she's not like Callie Duquesne in CSI: Miami: impossibly sexy and hardly realistic. Even Katherine in CSI is sexy, but believable. The white guy is slick and professional, but it's not forced. The black guy is macho and cool, but he's down-to-earth and smarter than he lets us realize. And agent Gideon is like Grissom. He's just got layers, like an onion. He plays a great part and he's a natural. And the chemistry between all of them is fantastic. There are no/few special effects and not a lot of action. It's all plot and character, which is why I like it.

Now, do I believe that all the stuff that they talk about is true? It's hard to say. It all sounds believeable. I don't know if bombers are perfectionists. I don't know if kidnappers are "collectors." And I don't know if an FBI agent, according to tonight's episode, could actually accomplish a kidnapping without getting caught. But, I want to believe it, and that is what makes good television. And when I don't have the dissonance in my own mind that, "Oh man, that's never gonna happen," or "That can't be true," then I can simply enjoy the show. And that I do.

All I can say is that I hope I can get CBS in Kuwait.

I deploy in about 3 weeks. I am very excited. But, my wife has been hounding me to tell her what she (and all our friends) should send me in the way of stuff and entertainment. So, here is my list:

Napster Time Card
AAFES Gift Certificate
EVE Online Time Card
Ostrim Meat Sticks
Small amounts of cash
Paperback books (Current preferred authors: Ted Bell, Vince Flynn, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child)
Downloadable Movies (www.cinemanow.com is the first one I've found, but there are others out there)

I will add more as I think about it.

Do not send food. I will not eat it. There is plenty of food where I am going. I do like certain kinds of snacks, but I will post what I want.

The SCOTUS debacle.

(SCOTUS stands for Supreme Court of the United States)

I think Harriet Miers is a bad choice. Because she is a woman? No. Because she once donated money to the Democratic Party? No. Because she is a Bush crony? No.

She is a bad choice because I think the President flinched. In other words, I think he put Miers up there because he thought that the support of the religious right, the same folks who he thinks got him elected, would be so strong, that the Senate would have to confirm her. I don't think he trusted the conservative base and the Senators enough that a mildly controversial nominee, someone that the Democrats really hated, would be approved. Believe it or not, I think this says more about the 55 Senators than it says about the President.

I get the idea that Bush is behaving like my wife when I say something stupid in front of a bunch of people: he's kicking the conservatives under the table and giving them dirty looks to get them to shut up. "Can't you get that she's going to overturn Roe v. Wade?" "Just trust me," he says. Well, I don't know if that is what I want.

See, I'm all about overturning Roe v. Wade. But why should I be shortchanged on every other issue simply because that is the issue Bush is pushing? It's like Bush is acting like a liberal on this. He is appointing a judge to the Highest Court in the Land simply because she is going to act like an activist judge on one issue.

I mean, how do we know how she is going to rule on, say, the Patriot Act? How is she going to rule on Prayer in School? The environment? I mean, if Bush is appointing her to SCOTUS on this one issue, and willing to bypass the others to get her confirmed, what is the point?

I think we can have our cake and eat it, too. I know that there are many more qualified folks out there that could fill this spot. I also know that most or all of the folks on that list would be willing to overturn Roe v. Wade... in time. I just don't understand why Bush won't give us the best of both worlds.

Stepping into the fray

I never thought I would be a blogger. I know that blogging is the "new media" now, but I never really had a desire to start blogging.

But every once in a while I have thought or something that I want to write down, but don't really want to share with anyone specifically. I guess this is kind of a diary, which I never thought I would start.

So, this is my attempt to step into the new world.

Read. Enjoy. Comment.

Just a warning, though: SPAM and advertisements will be deleted. Do not attempt to sell your crap on my blog. Sell it on your own blog.