a phone call

Last evening I was home alone catching up on some reading when the phone rang. I usually don’t answer. I wasn't screening calls but I don’t answer because they are seldom for me. If people want to talk to someone who is not here, they can leave a message. That is what answering machines are for. However, last night I decided to answer.

His first words were “Hi Dad.” It was after 4 a.m. his time and he just returned from a mission. I guess the lines for the phone are shorter then. We talked for a long time. It has been weeks since we talked and it was very nice to hear him.

I spent most afternoons last week looking at videos on YouTube about Iraq. I wanted to get a visual feel for the place so when he talked I might better understand. I also have been reading soldiers’ blogs to try to understand better.

I also found a site that explained the organization of an infantry brigade combat team (BCT), the typical breakdown of battalions/squadrons, and troop strength (i.e, what the 3,200+ soldiers do). I finally have a bit of a clue of what he has been trying to tell me. Each BCT has two infantry battalions, a field artillery battalion, and a support battalion. A BCT also has a cavalry squadron for recon and surveillance. The squadron consists of two motorized troops and a dismounted troop. The motorized troops are armor guys like our 2LT, while the third troop is infantry. However, the only armor they have is on the humvees.

He is at Rustamiyah, an area in eastern Baghdad. I had read that it was between a sewage treatment plant and a garbage dump. Supposed to be pretty bad, which was confirmed last night. He said it smelled like rotten eggs but at least he usually could not it smell it indoors.

His brigade, 2ID’s 2BCT, is still transitioning with the 101^st Airborne’s 4BCT. The area in which our 2LT has missions is out in the countryside, with lusher-than-expected farmland. The group our 2LT’s 3-61 CAV is replacing is its sister squadron, the 1-61 CAV. (He said that was planned!) So it seems that the 61^st Cavalry Regiment will maintain a presence east of Baghdad.

Yesterday the Pentagon released the names of some soldiers killed last Thursday. Included was the deputy commander of our 2LT’s brigade, Lt. Col. Kruger, and another Lt. Col., his counterpart from the 101^st. Roadside IED. Ken did not know the man.

Separated from the US part of the base, the Iraqi part includes the “West Point of Iraq,” a military college established by the Brits in 1924 and patterned after Sandhurst. I do not think he found it ironic that he was back at a West Point after only 16 months.

It was just very pleasant to talk with my son. I miss him.

I was blessed. I am blessed.

RB

quotes, aging, youth

Today I discovered that for years I have been misattributing one of my favorite quotes to Goethe:

Forty is the old age of youth; fifty the youth of old age.
~ Victor Hugo

(Sorry about that Kathy. Thank you Darlene.)

I also found another quote I like:

I am not young enough to know everything.
~ Oscar Wilde

journey through the center of the earth

Our son is now in southeast Baghdad. I was just thinking that he is halfway around the world. Wait a minute. Since he is eight hours ahead, that would mean he is a third of the way around the world. Or does it? All this raises three interrelated questions.

Question #1: Where is halfway around the world? Since I am in the northern and western hemispheres of the earth, it must be somewhere in the southern and eastern hemispheres. To be more precise, if my current latitude and longitude is 44^o35’42”N and 75^o09’53”W, and if I were to journey through the exact center of the earth, then I would resurface at 44^o35’42"S and 104^o50’07”E (i.e., 180^o - current longitude).

I would not want to do this. The shortest route, through the center of the earth, would be about 7,900 miles. However, the molten magma would make the Lake of Fire seem like a vacation resort by comparison.

Suppose I flew there as the crow flies? It would be about 12,450 miles to other side of the earth. Although the journey would be less unpleasant, I would still not enjoy the destination. It is in the southern Indian Ocean, about 900 miles southwest of the most southwest corner of Australia. It is in the part of the world called the Roaring Forties, a very cold place with very boisterous winds and very rough seas. I have seen videos of sailing ships traversing this area. It did not look like fun.

Question #2: How far around the world is my son? My son is about 5,380 miles away, only about two-ninths or 22% of the way around the world.

Being less than a quarter of the way around the world makes him seem a lot closer, doesn’t it? Two-ninths of the way around the world sounds even better.

Question #3: Why did I bother with this? Well, this sort of post happens when I bring my laptop to class while students are taking a test. Although not quite as bad as watching paint dry, watching students taking a test is still pretty boring. Random thoughts happen and I had time on my hands to explore them.

Be blessed!
RB

the father of invention

I knew that I would have to go into work today. I missed a day and a half this week; things are past due; I have no choice.

I knew this when I woke up this morning. I went downstairs and saw that everything was laid out perfectly on the counter for my breakfast. Scanning from right to left, I saw sitting near each other the packets of instant oatmeal, the fresh-brewed coffee in the coffee pot, and the teapot with steaming hot water. I poured a cup of coffee. I pulled a bowl out of the cupboard. I opened the last packet of my favorite type of instant oatmeal, Quaker Maple & Brown Sugar Oatmeal Crunch, and emptied the contents into the bowl. This has an extra “cluster packet” of crunchy things to put on top. I don’t know what they are but they taste great. This morning I went ahead and added the crunchies on top of the oatmeal mix instead of waiting until after the hot water.

If I had to spend a whole Saturday in the office, I wanted to treat myself to the best. Today, there would be no Food Club instant oatmeal for me!

Next I grabbed the pot and poured just the right amount over the mix so as to obtain the optimal consistency for my oatmeal. My favorite part of the breakfast creation process comes next. I stand and watch the dull, off-white mix expand and metamorphose into a lovely, light caramel color as the brown sugar melts and is absorbed into the oatmeal. Soon after, the fragrance of the unique blend of flavors begins to rise and I slowly breathe it in. Finally, I take the creation into the dining room to sit and eat, enjoying not only the taste, but experiencing the comfort and warmth it brings forth after being consumed.

To properly and completely enjoy Quaker Maple & Brown Sugar Oatmeal Crunch, one must involve all the senses.

However, this morning was different. After I poured just the right amount over the oatmeal mix, I noticed the metamorphic process not only had happened quite suddenly, but that the lovely light caramel color was decidedly darker.

To my horror, it slowly dawned upon me that something was amiss. My quick-as-thunder mind came to the realization that it was quite possible I had not picked up the teapot, but had instead grabbed the pot of coffee. After a minute or so of staring in disbelief at my bowl of very dark brown oatmeal, the full extent of this tragedy began to intrude upon my consciousness. This was more than a loss of instant oatmeal. I had already added the cluster packet. I had lost my tasty crunchies to the coffee!

What to do? I could put it down the garbage disposal. However, I could not bring myself to throw out Quaker Maple & Brown Sugar Oatmeal Crunch, especially if it included the beloved cluster packet. So what the heck, I decided to eat it. I had lost any desire for breakfast anyway. I might as well just fill my stomach and go to the office. You know, buck up and get on with life, that sort of thing.

Actually, it was not bad. I had invented coffee-favored oatmeal. After all, there is coffee-flavored ice-cream and coffee-flavored candy, why not oatmeal?

Yes, I am the inventor of coffee-flavored instant oatmeal. Feel free to try it, but remember to always give credit to whom credit is due. (That be me.) The next time I make it I think I will use the Food Club plain or brown sugar oatmeal mix. It is a waste of the good stuff to mix it with coffee, but coffee could really add value to the cheap stuff.

Yes, there is a lesson to be learned from this story:

Necessity is the mother of invention. Stupidity may well be the father.

Be blessed!
RB

correction

There is a 1-61 CAV. It was activated in 2004 as part of the 506th RCT in the 101st Airborne's 4th Brigade. However, the army never activated a 2-61 CAV. Both the 1-61 and 3-61 CAV's are recon/scout units for their brigades. I know this doesn't matter but it does indicate that the numbering and "history" is rather arbitrary.

it’s the army. it doesn’t have to make sense.

Our 2LT’s unit's full name: 2^nd Infantry Division (2ID), 2^nd Brigade Combat Team (2BCT), 61^st Cavalry Regiment, 3^rd Squadron, Alpha (A) Troop.

So he is in the 3-61^st of the 2-2. I think it is just called the 3-61^st CAV

In the cavalry, soldiers are called troopers. Also, they use the term squadron rather than battalion, and troop rather than company.

This can be confusing even for someone familiar with army terms. What I found confusing for a long time was that I looked for a logic when there is no logic to the regiment or battalion/squadron numbers. Did you know that there are no 1^st, 2^nd, or 4^th squadrons in the 61^st Cav? Only the 3^rd. (Is this in case they are captured, maybe the enemy will think there are at least two more squadrons around?)

The 61^st is a new regiment formed just last December but they took the number from a deactivated WWII regiment. Even more bizarre, the WWII regiment was called the 601^st but for some reason they took out the zero last year when reactivated. Stranger still, the 601^st were called "Tank Destroyers." The new 61^st is a scout regiment and has nothing more powerful than a 50-caliber machine gun mounted on a humvee. If they see a bad-guy tank, they have to nicely ask someone else to destroy it. If the bad-guy tank sees them then they are, to use a military term, screwed. But then if they are recon scouts who have done their jobs right, then the bad guys are not supposed to see them. This does provide a real incentive to do one’s job well.

As near as I can figure out, all the 601^st and 61^st have in common is that the officers and troopers are in armor branch of the army and not the infantry branch.

For the past fifty-plus years the 2ID has been headquartered in Korea. It still is. However, now only the 1^st Brigade (1BCT) is there. For years, the 3^rd Brigade (3BCT) and the 4^th Brigade (4BCT) have been posted at Ft. Lewis, Washington when not deployed. Although, our 2LT did not join the 2^nd Brigade (2BCT) until January of this year, the 2BCT left Korea two years ago to be deployed to Iraq, then was posted at Ft. Carson, Colorado last year, but they are now on their way to Iraq this year.

Confused?

As our 2LT has told me many, many times, "It's the army. It doesn't have to make sense."

Our 2LT is a platoon leader. Cav platoons, particularly scout platoons, are smaller than other platoons in the army. There are just 20 in his platoon and they patrol in four humvees, each mounted with a 50-caliber machine gun.

Well, at least he is in A-Troop and not F-Troop.

To see a page of coats of arms, crests, and links for the 3-61^st CAV and the 2-2, please go to my 3-61^st page.

Be blessed!
RB

P.S. If you look closely at the coat of arms for the 61st CAV, you'll see a panther with the remains of a crushed tank in its mouth. This is to recognize the unit's historical roots as tank destroyers in WWII.

a call from kuwait

I just received a call from a certain army 2LT who is in Kuwait. He has been stuck in the middle of the desert for two weeks, at a very large base with nothing much to do. He's supposed to be in Iraq in the next couple of days, at large base just east of Baghdad. This base is a former Iraqi War/Staff College, sometimes called the West Point of Iraq. I find that a bit funny given how eager he was to escape West Point on the Hudson . What is also strange is that I can use Google Earth and get very detailed aerial photos of this place.

back to financial matters

Dave Ramsay has a free on-line newsletter that is kind of fun. You can sign up on his site (see the middle of page, under "Real Content and Real-Life Stories").

You can also get a free online credit report once a year from one or more of three credit rating companies (Equifax, TransUnion, Experian). Since it is SLU's midsemester break and I was zero-tasking, I got all of mine. I liked Experian best for its detail. It gave the payment history by month for the past two years for each account. It also had a list of when companies had requested my credit history. (That was a bit disconcerting.)

For $7.95 I could have found out my credit score. However, that was about $7.89 more than it was worth to me.

Be blessed!
RB

P.S. Yesterday's column by Walter Mossberg in The Wall Street Journal (page B1) was about the new Internet Explorer (IE 7). Although most of the article was about about how IE was just catching up (or rather closing the gap a little) with the much better Firefox browser, he did state for those using IE that the update was a big and worthwhile improvement.

blogs and newsfeeds

I have been following a lot of blogs. It started out with blogs of certain people, mostly in church. Then it went to other people in church, then their kids, and then even other youth in church. It doesn't seem to matter if the blogger is young or old, but occassionally I get provoked, challenged, or uplifted by what folks write. I am still mulling over things people wrote last July and August!

I just counted the blogs I watch. I have over forty xanga sites to which I subscribe. I also have over two dozen non-xanga blogs (e.g., blogger, livejournal, etc.) I like to keep up with.

I really do not have time to check 70-plus blogs on a regular basis. I can't imagine anyone else would either. Only a handful actually have new content added on any given day.

I get a daily email update from xanga with all the new posts from subscribed sites. Typically there are a half dozen or so new xanga posts. The last couple of days have had closer to ten or eleven, but often there are only a few.

The other, non-xanga blogs have newsfeeds. All I have to do is open my browser, click a button or two and it checks for updates. Usually there are only three to five updates on any given day. That also includes newsfeeds from photo pages of family and friends on flicker and webshots in addition to blogs. (BTW, xanga sites also have newsfeeds.)

So instead of checking about 80 photo and blog sites, I only need to check the ten or so that actually have anything new.

I am very grateful for technology!

Internet Explorer 7 is now available to download. It has a newsfeed function built into it so that it is easy to get a newsfeed for a site and to check your personal collection of newsfeeds for updates.

I prefer Mozilla Firefox as a browser since it is much more customizable than IE. I use an add-on program, Sage, to handle my newsfeeds.

You might want to try newsfeeds. It is much easier than going to Louisa's site and clicking on all her links!

Be blessed!
RB

for that great dodger in the sky

For those of you who bleed Dodger blue, and for the rest of you who should, I have added a Los Angeles Dodgers links page to my personal website. There are a lot of links to articles and videos. Included is a great ESPN clip with former Dodger skipper Tommy Lasorda explaining to a distraught Red Sox fan what the post season is all about. There is also a very interesting section about the famous Bobby Thomson home run and how it may not have been such a miracle.

Be blessed!
RB