Home of the Soul Cookie

As I write this, I’m sitting at a makeshift table in the Albuquerque airport, availing myself of their free wifi, waiting on a flight home that’s been delayed “at least an hour,” according to the fine Southwest folks at gate A11.

(Oh, pardon me: I have just discovered that this isn’t just an airport — it’s Albuquerque International Sunport. No word on the next outbound flight to Alpha Centauri.)

My blogging habit has been, shall we say, a bit spotty since Thanksgiving, but it was my intent to get back in the swing of things over the past week’s trip out to Clovis to spend Xmas with my family.

Obviously, that didn’t happen.

Instead, the bulk of this trip was spent feeling absolutely horrible. Didn’t just have The Sniffle; I had some sort of nasty stomach flu that knocked me off my ass a day into the trip and sent me to the ER in the wee hours of Christmas Eve Day.

At the time, I had no idea what was afflicting me, and my symptoms at 3 in the morning had me concerned that it might have been appendicitis. My dad very graciously drove me across town to the hospital where, after a battery of blood tests and x-rays, they made the flu diagnosis, pumped me full of pain meds, and sent me on my way.

And then I got to come back to my parents’ place and do morning updates while trying to ward off the unconsciousness the meds wanted to deliver me unto. My alternative? Call Patrick or Valli and wake one of them up to do updates. That just wasn’t something I was willing to do.

By all that is holy, how I loathe doing morning updates.

Anyway, I got updates to a bare-minimum level of completion and passed out in my chair, waking just long enough in the next few hours to move over to the hide-a-bed sofa I was sleeping on. Apart from a brief trip out to fill the prescription the ER doc had given me and to do a little last-minute shopping, I slept until about 8 the next morning (Christmas Day), completely missing the big Christmas Eve get-together my mom hosted there at the house.

I managed a few hours of nominal activity on Monday for the big family Christmas day dinner before having to retreat into my cocoon of bedding again. Tuesday, I was feeling better but still sub-par; yesterday, I felt back to normal.

So, for those of you keeping score, I managed about a day and a half of normal activity over my entire week’s trip.

*sigh*

I need a vacation.

From: Bender Morris T LTJG
Date: Dec 11, 2006 10:32 AM
Subject: [U] Where Does the Time Go?
To: [a bunch of people]
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED

So I was catching up on Kevin’s blogs the other day and I realized that I hadn’t sent out an email in about a month. Time has certainly started to go by. Christmas is just around the corner, followed closely by New Years. At that point, I am half way home. For those I’ve promised names and addresses of in-need service members, I have my NCOIC actively working on that with the Command Sergeant Major. I should be getting a list in a day or two. I asked him for a list of about 15 names of varying branches.

In all, the routine has smoothed out. I get into work around 0800 local time (midnight on the east coast) and work for 12 hours. Now that we have a second Watch Officer that takes over during nights, I have less need to stay late. I usually wrap up any loose ends between 2000-2100 (8:00 - 9:00 pm) before heading home. I spend 2 hours winding down by reading, watching a movie, playing a computer game, or whatever before settling down to sleep.

Let me now stress that I am fine, and everyone I work with is fine. However, I must mention something that might make some of you a little worried. Again, I will stress that there is nothing really to worry about. A few days ago, there was some indirect fire against Camp Liberty, Camp Victory, and Baghdad International Airport (BIAP). Several rockets were fired and there were three impacts on the bases. Camp Liberty/Victory is next door to Slayer and is where the PX is located. We occasionally make trips there to shop or to eat at the fast food located there. One of the impacts was in the parking lot of the Dining Facility. I have included pictures that were taken on the scene just after impact. While there were injuries (some serious), no coalition forces (military or civilian) were killed.

These incidents are NOT a frequent occurrence. The most we usually get are in-town explosions or small arms fire on the other side of the outer wall. For those that have seen the pictures of the Perfume Palace, the wall on the other side of the lake is the INNER wall. The outer wall is quite a distance away.

Thank you all for keeping us over here in your prayers. It may seem like a small thing, but knowing we have the support of family and friends back home does help keep us going. Happy Holidays.

Tom

BBC, 10 December 1981:

Mystery disease kills homosexuals

A mysterious epidemic, which has been discovered in homosexual men, is causing increasing concern in the United States.

The unknown condition, which consists of two separate diseases - a form of pneumonia and skin cancer, has been found in 180 patients in 15 states since last July.

It has claimed around 75 lives so far in the US and up to 92% of the victims are homosexual men.

The original story appears in full, juxtaposed with modern commentary about what eventually came to be known as HIV/AIDS, at the BBC website.

Forget Origin. Here is the true story of Wolverine’s past.

[via PAD]

…and dance.

Really.

[via Zille]

Jon pointed out in the comments of my last post that there’s a way for each of us to make a substantive difference today.

Since today is World AIDS Day, I thought it appropriate to quit putting off something I’ve been meaning to do for weeks: I went over to Mike Todd’s blog and clicked the “Make a Donation” button he has in the right column, to support his effort to get 1000 people to join together to donate $10 to support AIDS relief in Africa.

Why $10? Because that’s the same amount you would be giving, through Apple, if you bought a red iPod.

In his post, Mike writes:

I don’t have a clue what the profit margins are like on the iPod, but $10 doesn’t strike me as a lot of money. Let’s be realistic. It’s not. Here’s the choice: You can lay out $200, get a new iPod, and contribute $10 to a good cause. Or, you can just contribute the $10. We believe we can get 1000 people to donate $10 each. We’d like $10 from everyone in the developed world, but we’ll settle for you, and everyone you know.

I chipped in my CAN$10 - less than nine dollars US. Won’t you?

The official World AIDS Day website has “virtual red ribbons” (right) that you can “wear” on your site.

Wear a Virtual Red Ribbon

Last year, over 12,000 Virtual Red Ribbons were worn on websites and email signatures. Download one today and help mobilise people to take action on World AIDS Day.

Who’s a rock star?

I am, apparently.

The Libertine

Okay. We didn’t want to get into this, but, you’re a lazy, perverted… rockstar. Everything about you is idealistic and romantic, with that sassy hint of danger. It’s the hint of danger that makes things so damn spicy. Oh, there will be exposés, and films and biographies, all about you and your fabulous excesses. Even though you’re selfish and greedy… we’re charmed.

You’re equally susceptible to seduction, because you’re a sucker for fantasy. You fall in love at the drop of a hat, as long as the hat is stylish and nice to you. We want to be your hat.