Carmichael's Position

Where have I been?

This was the question posed by a friend of mine this morning, as he saw my IM show up on his computer.

In answer... Here... On Business.

 

 

Busting my Balls

Played Racquetball yesterday...  In preparation for yesterday's game I went down to the local Dick's sporting goods store to buy a replacement glove for the two that I blew out in Tuesday's games.  Oh, and while I'm there I might as well pick up a couple of cans of balls.

Searching the shelf I find a couple of 3-pack cans of ProPenn green balls.  Racquetball always is better with new balls!  Or so the story is supposed to go!

Things were looking pretty good for our end of the week de-compress.  My racquetball partner Rich and I even managed to reserve the best court at our club.

After stretching and our warm-ups we commence the beatings with the first of the new balls.  We play very competitive racquetball, both of us are rated as "A" players, are very evenly matched and neither of us give up on points too often.  It is a great workout and usually lots of fun.

Well 12 points into the first game... that's right 12 points... the that first ball explodes!  Damn... That's rare, they usually last more than that.  Ok maybe a defective ball, happens.  New ball two. 

Ball 2 ...Lasts halfway into the second game before giving up the ghost!  "What are you friggn' kidding me?... That was a good shot too!"

Third ball... pops after 20 or so points!  "For the Love of....!!!"

Second can...  Fourth total ball.  Blows up on a low passing shot rolling out a whopping 4 feet from the front wall!  Would have been cool if said ball didn't look like it was gasping for air!  Like the two combatants!  JEEEZUS!!! This is NUTS! 

We went through 4 brand new racquetballs in 6 games!  Now, yes, both Rich and I can accelerate a racquetball above the 100 mile an hour mark, but in our combined 57 years of racquetball experience we have NEVER blown 4 brand new balls in 6 games!

So if I may... my appraisal of the ProPenn green Racquetballs is somewhere to the south side of whale poop!  These balls are the worst I've ever played! Dead at the start and even more dead after 50 hits or so... Not a good performance record.  No wonder they claim to be the World's #1 Selling Brand!  You have to buy a CASE of them to get through a tournament!

Ironic that one of the claims on their packaging is "Improved Durability"!  Compared to what?  A marshmallow in a microwave?

Daily Show Interviews Code Pink! Telling... Very Telling!

An interesting take on the Marines in Berkeley...

The following clip was called to my attention by my good friend Linda, via her father Richard who currently resides in Berkeley and is admittedly not on the same political side of the fence where I choose to reside.  Richard and Linda evidently had been discussing my earlier post about the Mayor and City Council wanting no part of your United States Marine Corps and declaring them personas non grata in the city of Berkeley and even going so far as to grant Code Pink a designated parking space immediately in front of the recruiting station.

I have no idea what either of their (Linda or Richard's) positions are on the subject and there are times I choose not to find out... friends and politics can be a lot like farts and church, best not to combine the two.  But knowing both of them, I'm sure they had a thoughtful and intellectual discussion regarding the climate in Berkeley.

Anyway, as I mentioned at the top of this post Linda and Richard evidently thought I would find the following clip from the "Daily Show" entertaining if not poignant.  I did (on both accounts) and would like to share it with you here.

 

I would also like to share with you a response to an earlier Code Pink Editorial Attack against our Brothers in Green, written by Capt. Richard Lund USMC.  It illustrates an interesting dichotomy between the perception of Peaceful Protesting Intellectuals (so accurately portrayed in the Daily Show video) and the supposed mindlessly violent warmongering Marines... I leave it to you to decide:

An Open Letter to Code Pink

By Richard Lund

While the protest that you staged in front of my office on Wednesday, Sept. 26th, was an exercise of your constitutional rights, the messages that you left behind were insulting, untrue, and ultimately misdirected. Additionally, from the comments quoted in the Berkeley Daily Planet article, it is clear that you have no idea what it is that I do here. Given that I was unaware of your planned protest, I was unable to contest your claims in person, so I will therefore address them here. First, a little bit about who I am: I am a Marine captain with over eight years of service as a commissioned officer. I flew transport helicopters for most of my time in the Marine Corps before requesting orders to come here. Currently, I am the officer selection officer for the northern Bay Area. My job is to recruit, interview, screen, and evaluate college students and college graduates that show an interest in becoming officers in the Marine Corps. Once they’ve committed to pursuing this program, I help them apply, and if selected, I help them prepare for the rigors of Officer Candidate School and for the challenges of life as a Marine officer. To be eligible for my programs, you have to be either a full-time college student or a college graduate. I don’t pull anyone out of school, and high school students are not eligible.

I moved my office to Berkeley in December of last year. Previously, it was located in an old federal building in Alameda. That building was due to be torn down and I had to find a new location. I choose our new site because of its proximity to UC Berkeley and to the BART station. Most of the candidates in my program either go to Cal or to one of the schools in San Francisco, the East Bay, or the North Bay. Logistically, the Shattuck Square location was the most convenient for them.

Next, you claim that I lie. I have never, and will never, lie to any individual that shows an interest in my programs. I am upfront with everything that is involved at every step of the way and I go out of my way to ensure that they know what to expect when they apply. I tell them that this is not an easy path. I tell them that leading Marines requires a great deal of self-sacrifice. I tell them that, should they succeed in their quest to become a Marine officer, they will almost certainly go to Iraq. In the future, if you plan to attack my integrity, please have the courtesy to explain to me specifically the instances in which you think that I lied.

Next, scrawled across the doorway to my office, you wrote, “Recruiters are Traitors.” Please explain this one. How exactly am I a traitor? Was I a traitor when I joined the Marine Corps all those years ago? Is every Marine, therefore, a traitor? Was I a traitor during my two stints in Iraq? Was I a traitor when I was delivering humanitarian aid to the victims of the tsunami in Sumatra? Or do you only consider me a traitor while I am on this job? The fact is, recruitment is and always has been a part of maintaining any military organization. In fact, recruitment is a necessity of any large organization. Large corporations have employees that recruit full-time. Even you, I’m sure, must expend some effort to recruit for Code Pink. So what, exactly, is it that makes me a traitor?

The fact is this: any independent nation must maintain a military (or be allied with those who do) to ensure the safety and security of its citizens. Regardless of what your opinions are of the current administration or the current conflict in Iraq, the U.S. military will be needed again in the future. If your counter-recruitment efforts are ultimately successful, who will defend us if we are directly attacked again as we were at Pearl Harbor? Who would respond if a future terrorist attack targets the Golden Gate Bridge, the BART system, or the UC Berkeley clock tower? And, to address the most hypocritical stance that your organization takes on its website, where would the peace keeping force come from that you advocate sending to Darfur?

Finally, I believe that your efforts in protesting my office are misdirected. I agree that your stated goals of peace and social justice are worthy ones. War is a terrible thing that should only be undertaken in the most dire, extreme, and necessary of circumstances. However, war is made by politicians. The conflict in Iraq was ordered by the president and authorized by Congress. They are the ones who have the power to change the policy in Iraq, not members of the military. We execute policy to the best of our ability and to the best of our human capacity. Protesting in front of my office may be an easy way to get your organization in the headlines of local papers, but it doesn’t further any of your stated goals.

To conclude, I don’t consider myself a “recruiter.” I am a Marine who happens to be on recruiting duty. As such, I conduct myself in accordance with our core values of honor, courage, and commitment. I will never sacrifice my honor by lying to anyone that walks into my office. I will never forsake the courage that it takes to restrain myself in the face of insulting and libelous labels like liar and traitor. And, most importantly, I will never waver from my commitment to helping individuals who desire to serve their country as officers in the Marine Corps.

Captain Richard Lund is the United States Marine Corps’ officer selection officer for the northern Bay Area.

Nuff said!

The Good News is You've Been Transferred to the USS Ohio... Bad News is, She's Currently At Sea... Here's Your Travel Orders...

Yeah... That's gotta suck!  The special "Dope on a Rope" delivery method, to a deployed submarine.

From Navy NewsStand:

An SH-60H assigned to the "Indians" of Helicopter Anti-Submarine Squadron (HS) 6 lowers a member of the aircew onto the guided-missile submarine USS Ohio (SSGN 726) for a personnel transfer. Ohio is on a one-year deployment to the 7th Fleet area of responsibility. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Barry Hirayama (Released)

"Give Ken a Big Wet One for Me for His Birthday"

This was the Instant Message I received on my iPhone from a friend of mine who could not join me and a couple of other friends in Seattle to help celebrate my good friend Ken Schoeni's 40th birthday! 

I was not sitting close to Ken at the time, but Tim was... so he obliged!

Mmmmmm... Lucky Ken! Or... then again... maybe not...

Despite the wickedly moist tongue slobbering he just received, Ken, Stu, Tim and I enjoyed a great weekend of fun, stupidity, and juvenile behavior usually reserved for those a third our age! 

Ken recently took a position at Boeing as an Supply Chain Analyst, moving from Colorado to Seattle and there was no way in Hell I was going to let Ken spend his 40th B-day by himself.  Ken knew I was coming out to visit him, I had told him of my plans about 3 weeks ago.  What Ken did not know is that a couple of his other good friends were going to make the hour shortened weekend trip too!  Tim (Ken's "a-bit-too-amorous" friend in the above photo) flew in from Pennsylvania just for this (12 combined hours in the air for 37 hours of fun with friends in Seattle!)  Now that's a buddy! 

Stu, the other unannounced attendee for the weekend's festivities, lives here in Colorado and flew out with me.  Where we surprised Ken at his front stoop following a none-too-subtle knock on his apartment door!  Best to condition Ken's Neighbors early to their expected sleepless weekend!

Ken was floored when he learned of the addition of two of his best fiends.

We had a ball!  Hazing commenced almost immediately... as is the norm when we join forces.  Not for the weak constitution.  Weaknesses WILL be EXPLOITED!  Builds character!

We spent our weekend playing tourist, enjoying an occasional adult beverage or two, catching up on old times.  On Saturday night we took Ken to Daniel's Broiler to enjoy a wonderfully prepared hunk of Cow!  Wow! was that good!  The meat was perfectly prepared and expertly served!  My highest recommendation if you are visiting Seattle and have some money to spend on a quality meal!

After dinner we strolled around the docks to walk off our meal... we all overate, but it was too good not to!  On our jaunt we came across a specific vessel that many of you will be familiar with if you have ever watched the Discovery Channel's acclaimed "Deadliest Catch" program.  There moored before us among the Multi-Million Dollar yachts was the "Time Bandit".  Pretty cool!  One of the crew members saw us for the fans we are and asked if we would like to have or picture taken.  Sure, especially because it would most likely be the only one with all four of us in frame (turned out, it is... L-R Ken Schoeni, Tim Husbands, YHS, and Stu Sweet.)

 

As I mentioned, it was a fast but fulfilling weekend.  We crammed about as much as we could while still trying to relax and unwind in those 38 or so hours! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KEN!  40 ain't so bad... especially if you're 41 or 42 like most of the rest of us!

Here's some of my customary photos from the trip, mostly of Pike Market... more can be found here [link].

       

Um... There's another kind?

What was I Thinking... Of Course Obama Can Save The World! Besides... "He Makes Manure Taste Good!"

My buddy Tommy defended his political stances the other day after receiving a somewhat unfair and somewhat juvenile (sorry I was impersonating the candidates and talking heads I see and hear on TV and radio) lambasting from me and my bride about the concerns we have about Senator Obama becoming president.  Fair enough... Tommy and I agree to disagree.  I do not think he is an idiot for his beliefs and values, nor do I see him as incompetent or shallow or uninformed, not by a long shot.  He is a thoughtful contemplative rational man.  We simply take the same information and derive different solutions to the problems facing the world.   Tommy is an "Earthling" first who happens to be an American Citizen.  Believe me, I do understand that philosophical premise and have no qualms if your view is that way. Me?... I'm an American first in my mind, I do not apologize for that, and unlike some I have always been proud to be an American!

Have I always been proud of the actions of other Americans?... Nope! Not by a long shot!  But on the whole I think we do ok!  My liberal brothers would probably say I have my head in the sand, and can't I see the catastrophic harm America is bringing to the world in our Imperialistic Arrogance? 

Simple... Nope, I do not! 

In Barak (no mention of his middle name) Obama, I see another Jimmy Carter coming, one who promises "Change" declaring that the sitting administration and Party (In Carter's Time it was the Ford Administration-- the unfortunate follow-on to the Nixon Administration Republicans in a war weary nation) is Evil incarnate and has done NOTHING positive.  NOTHING mind you!  I am one who believes history will illustrate otherwise once the partisans go away much like they have with both the Nixon and the Ford Administrations. 

So along comes the "Change Messiah," who, using hope and inspiration, will save us from those evil Americans Republicans.  Obama lets fly with promises like farts at a 8-bean Chili Cook-off!  And many of them have the same lingering smell.  He is an idealist in a party that covets Utopian Communes, where ALL the world will willingly "Play Nice," where everyone is a "Special Interest Group", just like everyone else!  Where evil ideas like competition, and free enterprise are banned from the lexicon!  Artisans, muses, and narcissistic intellectuals rule the day!  Fair is the LAW!!! Peace is everywhere because obviously caring loving Liberals who understand and accept alternate views lifestyles would not pose a threat to anyone ever again.  Peace would blossom and flourish like those heady days at Haight and Ashbury.

As a Speech Communication Degree holder, I have a great appreciation for Barak's oratory and rhetorical skills.  He is indeed a damn sight better at presenting prepared text than our current sitting president, and I too long for the days when our elected leaders could string a sentence together using real words.

But for the most part his orations lack substance (hmmm imagine that with a politician) and I would really respect the candidate who came forward and said... "Ya know, right wrong or indifferent, we are in Iraq now, we did this and we have an obligation to make that country a stable prosperous land.  We will not abandon you, we will stand side by side with those seeking peaceable solutions.  Improvements have been made and we will work to expand those while striving to eliminate any negative effects of our presence.  Abu-Ghraib was a travesty and does not represent America, American Values, or 99.99% of our Soldiers, Airmen, Sailors or Marines!  It represents idiocy in human beings, and that is all!!!  It was not a product of the Bush administration, it was the product of poor leadership, and stupidity.  Its a good thing no-one will ever do anything stupid while Obama is President!  He Promises!!!

Anyway... I'm not going to tick away at Tom's premises, as Tom states he has his beliefs, and I have mine... they are different, we see through a different lens and different experiences we bring to the table.  We'll continue to discuss our views and try to remain civil in our discourse.  And our discourse always goes better with Guinness!  Here's to you Tom.  For hanging 'em in the breeze for all the world to punch at.

Pudge Update

I was reminded by our good friend Karyn this afternoon, when she asked how our cat Pudge was faring, that I really needed to post an update on the health of our 9 year old cat.  First, I want to thank the number of you who have shared your concern about Pudge and sent your warm wishes for her improved health.

I am happy to report that Pudge appears, by all accounts, to be doing very well.  Ginger took her into the Veterinarian last week for a complete exam and work-ups of blood tests and the likes.  ALL Tests, for pretty much any of the most common feline maladies, came back negative.  This is great news as far as I am concerned.  However it remains a mystery as to what the hell happened on that Saturday morning. 

The Doc said "It could have been as simple as she got into something that she shouldn't have..."  Wow imagine that!  Who would ever suspect something like that happening with a curious cat?

Well, once again I want to thank you all for sharing your warm wishes for Pudge we are glad she is doing better.

Man!... That's Gotta Smell Bad In There!

I've experienced a few semi-harrowing approaches in my hundreds of commercial flights, but, thankfully nothing like the passengers of this Airbus experienced on this blustery day!

I'm thinking there would be a particularly pungent bouquet in the air following this 8 point not-so-much-touchdown!

HT: Lex