Simple America

Angel liued me quite some time ago. But the initial field work for the annual audit at work kept me from doing it. Well the 12 hour days are over for a while so I can get back into my normal groove.

This was a tag of fours, but Angel did eight as she was tagged twice. I could not let the poor girl suffer on her own, so I did eight also.

8 jobs I would stink at:

1. Auditor. Oh shit that’s what I do for a living. Oops!
2. Salesmen. I couldn’t sell ice cream in Hell.
3. Carpenter. Hammers are for breaking not building.
4. Fry cook. I’m really slow. Why? I’m always stopping to wash my hands. You want clean food, right?
5. Janitor. I mopped all my floors in the Army.
6. Garbageman. I would go into convulsions. Does Purell make a body bag?
7. Librarian. I would just read. To heck with helping folks check out books.
8. Gardener. I only work on my own yard. Uh, sometimes.

8 nicknames I have been known as:

1. Simple American.
2. Tengu. I have used this for the longest time.
3. Beaver Eater. This was my call sign when working in the Army Signal Corps. A call sign used the first and last letter of your name and then you could have fun with it. I did.
4. SA. Short for Simple American.
5. Freckle-faced Strawberry. Second graders were cruel.
6. Dai Hong. Cantonese for big bear.
7. Kor Kor Gendut. My Indonesia little sisters called me this.
8. Tex. Everybody from Texas gets called this once in a while, when you leave that soverign ground called Texas.

8 movies I can watch over and over:

1. Fellowship of the Ring.
2. The Two Towers.
3. Return of the King.
4. Serenity.
5. Spiderman (First movie).
6. Tomb Raider.
7. Star Wars all six episodes.
8. Star Wars Clone Wars cartoon.

8 things I love to do on weekends: 

1. Sleep
2. Eat dinner with friends.
3. Yam cha.
4. Play games
5. Read a good book.
6. Write a good book.
7. Take kids swimming.
8. Camp.

8 alcoholic beverages I enjoy from time to time:

1. Beer
2. Bacardi
3. Wild Turkey
4. Jack Black
5. Tequila
6. White Zinfandel
7. Peppermint Snapps
8. XO

8 places I want to visit before I leave this Earth:

1. Kuala Lumpur.
2. Singapore.
3. Penang.
4. Bangkok.
5. Japan.
6. New Zealand.
7. Sydney.
8. China.

8 celebreties I would take out on Fantasy Island:

1. Hsu Qi.
2. Gong Li.
3. Yunjin Kim.
4. Ziyi Zhang
5. Sandra Bullock
6. Song Hye-Kyo
7. Keira Knightley
8. Elizabeth Hurley

8 objects I could not live without:

1. iPod.
2. Car.
3. PC.
4. Broadband.
5. X-Box 360.
6. Books.
7. Miniatures.
8. Dice.

8 gadgets I really really really want to get:

1. A new computer. I am so far behind the curve.
2. Some kind of palm pilot organizer thingie that will link up with MS Outlook.
3. A teleporter from Star Trek. Look out if I get this.
4. A money machine. Work takes up too much of my blogging and writing time.
5. A cell phone with a camera.
6. Some more lenses for my Canon.
7. A device that will digitize my slides. I have a lot of slides from my time in the Army.
8. A massage chair.

No tags from me as ususal.

I got auditors at work so I have no time to blog. This event happened one lovely June 20 years ago. It is one of my favorite posts. So please read Romancing the Chicken Bone. Even if you read this before I invite you to read it again.

Aw. To only go back again…

The alarm clock blared some forgotten tune at six in the morning. I woke up and looked around the room. The calendar next to the clock had a big red circle on Tuesday, June the twentysecond of 1976. I tossed the covers off and shivered as the a/c blew across my bare feet. Sitting up I looked around the cluttered livingroom. When would I sleep in this bed again? Would I ever awaken in this room?

I groped for my glasses with my right hand, as my left wiped away the last bit of sleep. The clothes I would wear today were already laid out on the dining table. This room where I slept also had a couch and a couple of easy chairs. Made it convenient for watching the TV or listening to the stereo. I put on the blue work shirt on which my mother had embroidered a drum along with a pair of drumsticks. White athletic socks were pulled up next.

Paws scraping the floor came from the kitchen. I looked over and saw my Eskimo Spitz investigating the noise my radio caused.

“Hey Misty,” I called out. “Come her girl.”

She walked over tail wagging and she rubbed her soft white fur up against my bare leg. I scratched behind her ears.

“You gonna miss me. I know I’ll miss you.”

I gave her hug and she licked my ear and cheek. Quickly, I truned my face away lest I get a kiss on the lips. As I stood she walked back to the kitchen and towards my parents’ room. Grabbing my blue jeans I fell back on my bed and stuck my legs in the air as I pushed my feet into the jeans and pulled them over my legs. Next I rolled forward and returned to my standing position. I jerked my pants up the rest of the way , zipped and buttoned them securely. Looking in the mirror I ran my fingers across my scalp. Still had not got use to all of my hair being cut off. Had it done the previous Saturday. Figured it was all coming off sooner than later so why wait.

My shaving kit lay on the table. It was empty  now, but that would change soon enough. It had been a graduation present and I liked it a lot. It was made of brown suede leather. I walked through my sister’s room on my way to the only bathroom in the house. She slept still. It was summer who could blame her. Then I entered the tiny hallway that abutted both bedrooms and the bathroom. I could hear my parents rustling in their room. Did not look in, though I could have. The house had no doors except on the bathroom. For reasons I could never figure out my dad removed all of the interior doors.

“Morning,” I cried out as I entered the restroom. I took care of my toilet. Shaved and brushed my teeth. Then I filled up the shaving kit with the things I would need.

I retraced my steps to the dining table where I dropped off the shaving kit. Went to the Kitchen where I made myself a bowl of cereal. By the time I finished eating it was 6:30.

Now it was a matter of waiting. My mom entered the room dressed in one her pant suits. Today was a work day for her. She looked old, sad, and unsure. She looked at me and then returned to her room. I tried to read but could not focus. The clock read 6:45.

Mom came out again. She had an envelope and she handed it to me. “Here are some stamps,” She said. “You’ll need them.”

I smiled at her and took the envelope. Peeked in side and sure enough there were stamps inside. I folded the envelope and pockected it. My mom retreated back toward her room. She shouted something at my stepfather. My sister walked out of her room looking sleepily at me.

“This is going to be all yours,” I smiled. “No more fighting over the tube.”

She stared back blankly and turned back to her room. I heard the bathroom door shut as she entered. I paced in the living room. Time seemed to crawl.

My mom and dad entered the room and took a seat on the couch. My dad had retired so he had no urgency to go anywhere. Most of his day was spent watching TV, playing with the dog, and drinking Wild Turkey. My mom kept trying to smile, but she could not seem to maintain it for long. Then my sister walked into the room and sat on the easy chair.

I paced a bit more. Then I remembered my shaving kit. I walked over and retrieved it taking one last look at my ugly mug in the mirror. Outside on the street a car door slammed. I peeked through the blinds on the door. The car was green with US Army on the side. The recruiter, a Staff Sergeant, walked across the sidewalk. I opened the door before she even reached the concrete steps.

“Morning,” I spoke first.

“You ready,” she replied?

“Just gotta say goodbye.”

And I turned and the whole family stood there. I hugged my sister first just to get it over with. Who wants to hug their sister anyway. Then I hugged my mom who cried now. “I’ll be okay,” I tried to reassure her. But mom was mom and the tears kept dripping down her cheeks.

Then she released me and my stepfather stood there. He had already told me not to come home if I got kicked out during basic. In younger days I had dreamed of beating the crap out of him when I left home. The excitement of going downtown subdued any desire to ruin the moment. I shook his hand and turned to face the street.

The recruiter had already gone to the car. I followed her and sat in the front passenger seat. My family still stood on the porch and they waved as the car pulled away from the curb.

“You ready Jerry?”

“Oh yeah. Been waiting for this day since I was eight.”

“Eighty-second Airborne will be lucky to get you.”

“I hope so. Got to make it through Airborne school first.”

“You’ll do fine.”

“Still don’t understand why you want to be infantry. You could have been any MOS(Military Occupational Skill).”

“I told you Sarge. I want to kill Communists for Christ.”

The drive to the Houston Recruiting Station took about 20 minutes. She parked the car and then she walked me in. As soon as I walked in I saw a buddy of mine.

“Hey Monkey,” I called out. “I did not know you were gonna be here today.”

“Don’t call me Monkey. I hate that name.”

Monkey’s real name was Bradford. We had a mutual acquaintance named Carl, who would join the army in September. Carl held a going away party for Monkey and me at his house. He had hung a couple of dozen bananas from the ceiling of his pool house to tease Bradford. It was one last drunk in the bomb shelter, Carl’s dad had installed back during the 50s. We would drink beer down inside, using bags of rice for cushions.

I cut Bradford some slack. The only time I called him Monkey after that was when we were alone. Would have been funny to see that name follow him to military police school.

The morning was uneventful. We waited as clerks typed orders. For lunch they provided vouchers that we could only spend in the cafeteria. They served chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and green beans. Tasted pretty good. The early afternoon was more waiting. Then they ushered the recruits into a small room. There were two dozen chair and we filled up half of them. A naval officer stood at a podium, while behind him there was an American flag. He briefed us. Then he led us all in the enlisted oath:

I, (state your name), do solemly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.

With those words spoken. There was no going back. My ass belonged to Uncle Sam.

Soon after the oath they gave us our orders. Monkey and another dude would be going to Fort Leonard Wood in central Missouri for basic training. They put us in a cab and it drove us to the Intercontinental Airport. There we caught a plane to St. Louis. Once we arrived in St. Louis, a Sergeant directed us to one of four waiting buses. We loaded up and headed south. Did not even get to see the Gateway Arch.

The buses were packed full. I sat with Bradford. We stopped in St. Joseph. There we had a chance to go to the restroom and they bought us dinner. Don’t recall what they offered. Then it was back on the busses.

We arrive at Fort Leonard Wood, or Fort Lost in the Woods as we called it, sometime after midnight. They processed us in which took a couple of hours and you had to stay awake the whole time. Before I left that area I had memorized my social security number and stopped using Jerry as my name. Now I had to use Gerald, since it was my name legally. Finally, they took us to some old wooden barracks and we got to sleep. Day one was over.

The next few days were nice. Lot of waiting and classes. They taught us how to shave and brush our teeth. They issued me two new pairs of glasses. Uniforms were issued as well as underwear, a duffel bag and laundry bags.. And I was real glad to get that uniform and underwear. I wore the clothes I left home in for three days. It was getting ripe despite taking showers.

Food was good at the inprocessing center. We ate a lot of steak. There was no complaints about the food. I lucked out on the details too. I only had to clean the headquarters building once. Though I pissed off the orderly. Could not mop to his satisfaction.

After we had been there a week they had several cattle cars waiting for us. A cattle car looks just like it sounds. It is a trailer carried by a semi with breathing slats like you see on trailers that pull livestock. Only differnece is these had benches and rails to hold onto if you stood. They packed us into these with all of belongings and took us to meet our drill sergeants.

This is the front door to my home for the eight weeks of basic training. I was a Blue Devil in 1st platoon of Alpha Company 3rd Battalion, 3rd Training Brigade. Out platoon cheer was:

We got stamina.

We got guts.

We got the other platoons

By the nuts.

These men were my new mother and father. But all I ever called them, if I knew what was good for me, was Drill Sergeant. And I damn sure better never ever call them sir.

Yesterday I went to see  a baseball game. Had four free tickets so I could not refuse that. Loaded up the women folk, picked up my brother-in-law and drove over to Minute Maid Park. Why? Because I wanted to see my boys, the Houston Astros of the National League, take on the Minnesoto Twins of the American League.

Our tickets were compliments of Ameriprise, who I contract for financial planning. Every year they have a client appreciation day which takes place at a ball game. Because of that we needed to arrive early. That would give us a chance at winning door prizes and my ticket was so close to some cool stuff. I really would have been happy with Astros National League Champion t-shirts. But no luck. Everyone still recieved a goody bag. Each one came with T-Shirt commemorating the day and some other knick knacks, cracker jacks and a bag of peanuts. Normal baseball game goodies. The speaker was good, though I cannot recall his name even though he sat our table.
The buffet line was incredible. The vegetable trays had fresly cut cucumbers, asparagus, cherry tomatoes, and broccoli. There were as many hot dogs and hamburgers as a person could hope to eat. The nachos were never ending with melted queso and chili that was to die for. Popcorn was in abundance. Huge cookies that would have scared Mrs. Fields burdened this large table and they had quite a variety with oatmeal, macadamia nut, and M&M in the mix. But that was not all they provided to kill the South Beach Diet on just my second day. They served chocolate and vanilla ice cream in baseball caps with the Astros star on it. And they had all the fixings from crushed oreos and butterfingers, multicolored sprinkles, nuts, and maraschino cherries. There was whipped cream, Hersheys chocolate, and my choice butterscotch. I may not have to eat again until I go to Alaska next month.

The game was disappointing as the Astros lost 6 to 5 in 10 innings (a game normally lasts 9 innings, but there are no ties in baseball). The Twins sent Brad Radke (5-7) to the mound against Houston’s best pitcher Roy Oswalt (6-3). The Astros were cruising pretty good. Burke hit a homerun in the first inning to give them an early lead. But the Twins’ Michael Cuddyer came up in the second with a homerun of his own. In the third inning the Astros broke out their big bats with the Killer Bees. Chris Burke and Lance Berkman had a base hit. That set the stage for Morgan Ensberg who knocked the ball into the Crawford Box seats for a three run dinger and a 4-1 lead.

I’m thinking that is a big enough lead for Roy O to hold. But in the 7th inning Oswalt’s pitching suffered and a fielding mistakes hurt the ’stros. Jason Kubel had a base hit with one out. Jason Bartlett followed him with a single putting runners at first and second. At that point the Twins brought in Terry Tiffee to hit for Radke. He hit a one hop single to Preston Wilson. The smart play is to hit the cut off man and keep the runners at first and second base. But Wilson wanted to stop the run and made a horrible throw that was not close enough to the plate to allow a play. By missing the cut off man the runners advanced to second and third base. Castillo grounded out, a ball that could have been a good candidate for a double play ball if the runners had been at first and second. Instead it was two out with a run scoring and the other runner going to third. Nick Punto came up and had a base hit sending Tiffee home to tie the game. Joe Mauer, a deadly hitter, fortunately grounded out to end the Twins half of the inning.

In the 9th inning they starting cranking Metallica on the PA system. This is the sign that Houston’s Closer Brad Lidge is on the mound. A sure sign that the Twins should just give up and not play anymore. His slow pitches were clocked at 95 mph (150 kph) and his real heat firing in at 102 mph. Unfortunately the Twins did not listen and scored a run. And the Astros looked like they would lose right then. With two outs Preston Wilson stood one strike away from ending the game. But he hung in there hitting foul ball after foul ball against the Twins Joe Nathan. Nathan hung a pitch up on the outside corner and Wilson drove it 335 feet (102 meters) into the right field stands to tie the game and make up for his earlier mistake.

But as I wrote earlier the Astos lost. In the top of the 10th Trevor Miller allowed a pitch to get away from him and Justin Mourneau pounded it to left center. The Astros could not find an answer and that was that.

It was a good evening. Even though my arm is a bit sore from my bro-in-law pounding on it as he made his point on a variety of topics. I geuss I have to look forward to a week of that when we go on the Alaska cruise next month. May have to get some spikey shirts. muahahahaha. And my daughter is just bad. Banging on the missus all game. Affectionally mind you. But damn she’s gonna bruise her and I’ll get blamed for wife beating. I just see this coming. Gotta splain to her that we ain’t teenagers and she better chill round us. Damn I feel fucking old now.

I was dead tired Friday when I left work. All I wanted was two hours to kip. Unfortunately, I had a bank appointment and could not go home. My hunger pains were ganging up on me too. When I exited highway 288 for highway 6 I stopped at the Jack in the Box. I love their greasy tacos and vanilla shakes. Just to round out my diet I bought a large fries.

Got to the bank where they wanted to do my annual Bank review. I wanted to get my accounts fixed so I could see all of them on Quicken. The banker wanted to sell me on a home equity loan. Neither one of us made our goals. And I left for the post office. I have been selling my daughter’s text books and I needed to mail a couple of them. The line was like Christmas and I had to wait 30 minutes to post the books.

Arrived home at three. I took a nap for an hour and it was an uneasy asleep because of my full belly. Woke up and gathered the family to pick up my daughter who is due to return from her backpacking trip. Just as I’m leaving my wife begs off, so the boy and I drove to Conroe. I expected to hit a lot of traffic, but the road never got too clogged. Only took an hour and half during Friday rush hour. I have no complaints.

Finding a parking spot at Misty Meadows was a bear. Finally parked and I headed where I had spotted the girl while searching for a packing place. She was really hyper and kept throwing stuff at me. It was her attempt to be funny in front of her friends. Rather than kill and gut her in front of the other scouts, I merely ducked or dropped whatever she threw at me and let her pick the item up. She gave me her bag and I lugged it back to the car. Girl packed a ton with her on this trip. Course most of it stayed in the trailer. I went and signed her out and we left.

Both kids were hungry so we stopped at McDonalds. I ordered a Texas Homestyle Burger, which tastes just super. I love the mustard they use. The drive back home was nice and quick. Could not believe it was a Friday in Houston.

Saturday was Fathers Day at my house. It was the only day I would have my kids all day, so we made the best of it. My son and I had quality time on the Xbox 360 with Ghost Recon.

Then it was time to go to the Scout House and pack for summer camp. The troop would leave the following morning. We were supposed to arrive at 5, but that’s when my son started packing. He had assured me he was all packed before we played Xbox. I could of choked him. Once I had everything in the car we backed out of the garage and as the car rolled forward I knew something was amiss. I got out of the car and my suspicions were confirmed. I had a flat tire. Now I had to return the Impala to the garage and then we moved to the truck. Leaving home, take two. We arrived at the Scout House at ten after six. Pretty embarrassing, though it turns out they had been standing around doing nothing most of that hour. So my son did not miss much work.

Once we finished at the Scout House we went out for my Fathers Day dinner. I knew exactly what I wanted to eat. After visiting the Malaysian and Singaporian blogs I wanted to try some of their cuisine. I have seen all of these wonderful pictures of tasty dishes and I wanted to stab and spoon and slurp and chew and swallow some of that food.

We drove to the location and the place was jam packed. There are lots of Malaysians sitting at tables eating and I took that as a good sign. But there are a lot of Americans too. Then I noticed a lot of folks had newspapers as the Cafe Malay was featured in the Thursday food section of the newspaper. We had to wait fifteen minutes for a table but I did not mind. We spent the time thumbing through a menu and I saw the names of all of these dishes I been reading of.

The waitress walks us to a table and I sit down. My focus is on the menu as I must make the tough decision on which dishes to order. Then I hear somebody speak my name. So I perked up and scanned over my left shoulder. I could not believe it. There is one of my college classmates and his wife sitting at the table behind me. I have not seen these folks for close to ten years. They are from Penang, but immigrated after university. Last time I saw them was for their oldest daughter’s birthday party. Back then they had a son, but since we lost contact they added another daughter. I felt so fat too. They don’t seem to have gained a pound since we last met. Hopefully, we can keep in touch. We used to get together so much more in the past.

They were leaving so we bid adieu and returned to the menu. To get some thing in our hungry bellies we ordered some beef satay and a pair of roti canai. Then we got down to the figuring out what the main course would be. We had nasi lamak, mango shrimp, and asam laksa. I wish I remembered my camera. The presentation was lovely. And the taste was superb. We will return to this restaurant for sure. Plus there are so many other dishes to try. I also asked about lormaikai as I did not see it on the menu. I described it and they said it is listed as pilut hitam on their menu. Is that the same thing L B? You are the lormaikai master and I defer to your vast knowledge in this area.

Went home and made a stop at the grocery store. Picked up some milk and most important, a lunch for my son. The scouts always stop in San Marcos for a picnic on the way to El Rancho Cima. Wish I could join them. I must definitely make sure I go next year.

Did not stay up too late. I cannot remember the last time I got to bed before midnight on a Saturday. The bad news is I had to wake up at a quarter to six in the morning.

I drove my son to the Scout House. When we arrived you could smell the rain that would be falling off and on as they made ready. I gave him his $50 for spending, which he turned into the banker. Then he realized he forgot his lunch. I talked to the man he would ride with and he said he would stop in Flatonia. So I slipped 5 more dollars to the boy so he could have a good lunch. Took them an hour and fifteen minutes to do the last little bits of packing, checking paperwork, collecting each boys’ 50 single George Washington dollar bills and medicine. Then they loaded up and left. And like that I am a less a child for the week. Hope he has a good time. This will be his longest trip without me or his sister along.

Headed home intending to sleep. When I arrived the missus was already up watching Chinese films. So I made a pot of coffee instead as she fried eggs. Then I worked on my resume, as a position opened up at work and I should try for it. That occupied most of the morning and early afternoon. Then I had to go change the flat tire so I could go and get it patched. I took off the bad tire and put on the spare. Then I drove over to NTB in Stafford. The fellow over there looked at my tire and he said that the spot the nail punctured my tire could not be effectively patched. I need a whole new tire. I’m thinking I bought this car the day after Christmas. The tire may have a warranty. So I need to call the dealer, who is closed on Sunday. Looks like I drive the truck to work for a couple of days.

Returned home with one stop at Circuit City. They had Rent on sale and the missus said she wanted it. So I bought it for her. Returned home and she made nice salad for us. We had some lovely pieces of cheese cake from the Cheesecake Factory for dessert.

Then she went to Sams while I made this blog entry. She returned and handed me this.

A box holding a desperately needed wallet. Mine is so battered it’s been embarassing to pull it out. This has been a great Fathers Day. To think all I had wanted was a couple of dragons. Looks like they shall be on the Christmas list.

Just when I thought Angel was a sweet young girl, she proved me wrong and tagged me. Can you believe she would do such a thing? But tagged I am and meme I shall do.

Okay you know I really wanna do most any meme. Hug hug Angel and lets get on with the tag. This tag has 10 questions. You  answer the questions and then write an essay of 100 to 200 words using the 10 words only once. Piece of cake for the King of Memes.

1. What is your IRC/MSN/YIM nickname?   Pinebox12224 YIM
2. What’s the first word that comes to your mind?  facade
3. What was the last word you said?  later
4. What was the last word you type?  type
5. What word do you hate?  end
6. Can you arrange these letter to form a word: giismsn? simsing
7. What is your facorite prime color?  blue
8. Have you read DaVinci Code? Yes
9. What is the word of the day here?  practicable
10. Finally, click here and jot done the word. push poll

Now you have 10 words, go ahead and write.

“What’s that contact again?”

“Pinebox12224.”

“What kind of nic is that? 

“Just another facade on the internet? You never can tell what actually hides behind the mask. You want us to get some more data on this guy.”

“Or gal. No it can wait until later.”

“How you gonna know if they fit the type if you don’t do some research?”

“There’s plenty of time before we end the project. Hey what is this reference to Simsing? What in the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“You want me to call in a Code Blue? We got the manpower.”

“Yes.”

“Is that practicable at this stage. This person may not have a clue what we are about.”

“What does this look like? We’re not taking a goddamn push poll here. Call it. Make the disappearance look normal.”

“Sure thing. We’ll snatch ‘em and clean the net of their existence.”

“Make it happen.”

 Thats it folks. 152 words. I’m not tagging anyone. But feel free to do this. The Royal Accoutant is liuliuliu for now.

I drove home from Friday with only two objectives. Go turn in my shirts to the Dry Cleaners and visit the Scout Shop and get a lad registered for Boy Scouts. Picked up the mail and went inside my house for a bit of lunch before dealing with those chores.

One letter got my attention. The addressee was the VA (Veterans Administration) and I wondered what they wanted. I had not really used any benefits since I graduated. I read the letter and I could not believe what I read. No it was not Miss Jin searching for me through the VA it was even worse than that.

National news had reported where a VA employee had taken home a computer or some digital files. Some kind of records. Thieves broke into this individual’s home and they gained access to the private records of over two million veterans. And I am so luckly to probably be one of them. Though the VA is not certain of course. Having access to these records opens up all of the veterans involved to identity theft by anyone that knows how to do that sort of thing. The VA’s letter tried to assert that they did not believe the thives know what they have. Thanks. I can sleep now.

I could wait until I got screwed or I could act. So I called one of the major credit bureaus and had them put my credit on a national fraud alert for the next 90 days. This group would also pass the information to the other two major credit bureaus. Well I am safe for the next 90 days. But I am going to have to monitor my credit pretty closely. Pain in the ass. Hate thieves.

With my credit watched over, I went out to carry out my chores. My first stop was the bank as I needed a little cash. My turn came up and the machine would not let me make a withdrawal. I could pay bills, transfer cash, print statements, play tic tac toe, but I could not get any cash. The first thing that crossed my mind was the fraud alert call had killed my ATM card. I went in to the back. I’m on the verge of panicing as I need cash for both of my chores. Turned out the ATM was out of order. Damn I felt stupid. Fortunately, they had another machine as I did not have a check on me.

Made it to the Stafford Scout Shop and I had no problem getting the boy signed up. He is squared away for camp. I had an Adult Leader that needed to be registered also, but I need our Charter Representative to sign before they would process it. Bummer. Made a quick stop at the American Automobile Association (AAA) and picked up some maps of Vancouver, British Colombia, and Washington state. Need those next month. Made it to the cleaners and headed home.

I stopped at the grocery in the neighborhood and picked up a movie. We watched The Producers after supper. Mel Brooks is so funny. I really love his humor. The missus doesn’t get him though. My son and I were dying laughing.

Saturday we had a lot of chores on tap. We dropped my son off at Tae Kwon Do and the missus and I went to Sams. We picked up some essential things for the home and bought some new sunglasses. Then we rushed back for the boy.

We planned on going to dim sum but the day was still young. So my missus wanted to go to the Sams that is located near the restaurant. The boy and I were drooling over the video games, while she went looking for some skirts for the girl (who is still hiking in South Colorado). We found a copy of the latest Ghost Recon game. I agreed to split the cost with 50%/50% and we looked at the computers. More wishing to no avail.

Went to dim sum and it was nice. I really enjoyed my jasmine tea too. The missus and I must of drained three pots of tea.

From there we headed toward Borders. Actually the boy askede to go there. He wanted to purchase the new Naruto book. I escaped with nothing more despite the cries of numerous books that wanted to go home with me.

Our next stop was a teacher’s supply store. My kids never get the summer off totally. We went and purchased some books to help the son with his reading comprehension, and math. I have also assigned him some reading. Currently he is reading Michael Moorcock’s Elric series. Would like for him to read more quickly. When I was his age I could read the six Elric books in two or three days. He thinks manga is critical reading. I got news for him.

We left there and I gassed up the Impala and ran her through the wash. Then we made a stop at Best Buy. The missus needed some DVDs for recording. Of course we drooled all over the video titles before we left.

On the way home we talked about Xbox and Playstation systems we had at home. I was thinking about selling the Playstation as the only time the kids play it are when they have friends over. Then they break out Dance Dance Revolution and the Dance Pads. Then my wife surprised me by telling me to go to Game Stop and see what kind of money we could make on selling the Playstation and Xbox in order to get a Xbox 360. I missed the turn but hard no problem circling the block in this noble cause. We hit the right day too. The store was extending bonuses for both game machines. The missus asked me if I wanted that for Father’s Day. What kind of question is that?

Went home and carried our purchases into the house. Then I gathered all of the XBox games upstairs. Some Xbox games are backward compatible, while others are not. So I went through the games and seperated those that would work and those that would not. I am quite disappointed the Spiderman 2 does not work. But I am sure they will put out another for 360. Once we figured out which games we would keep it was time to gather the game machines and all of the peripherials and go.

The boy went with me. He had his own games that he wanted to sell also. And I feel really good about this deal. They took all of my games, video game systems, and stuff except the dance pads. After all was said and done I bought an extra game pad, rechargeable battery system for the controllers, and the latest Ghost Recon.

We been killing bad guys at my house.

Sunday I woke up early because I wanted to make a Strawberry Chiffon Pie. Some of you may remember the recipe I posted. I remembered the demand for pictures. This post make things right. Oh I also woke up because my lawn guy decided to mow the yard too. Argh!

I pulled ingredients and realized I had no lemon juice. So off to the grocery store. I also picked up some Canadian Bacon and Orange Roughy. Returned home and I had all I needed to get this pie made.

You’ll notice that I opted to use Splenda rather than sugar. I eat enough sugar already.

I am not going to repost the recipe. Heck, I gave you a link that will pop it up for ya. Here are the strawberries getting crushed and smushed.

I added the splenda and lemon juice to this strawberry pulp. Might be useful as prop for movie blood too.

Then I had to whip some evaporated milk. I felt bad for kicking its butt. But it’s all for the pie.

Then I had to beat it up with strawberries. Damn I can be cruel.

Once it is subdued. Then you SPOON it into the crust.

Then I realized that I had enough of this mixture to fill two pie crusts. So back to the store. Bought the pie crust, eggs and milk. This store is too convenient. Filled the other pie plate and stuck it in the fridge for six hours.

I was hungry by then and the missus made a lovely breakfast.

Spent the afternoon editing a freelancer’s module. Damn this is going to be one scarey heebie jeebie adventure. I hope we can do some neat stuff like we did for Ed’s Last Rites.

Finally got to be supper time and the missus cooked that orange roughty with Caribbean spices. Just yummy.

Then I pulled out the pie. Okay one of the pies.

I liked the coloring. But the gelatin did not do the trick. I made an error in that part of prepatation. I may have cooked it too long I suspect. There was no firmness whatsoever. Was more like a pudding than a pie. My missus did not like the Splenda after taste. I did not notice any myself. My son had no complaints. Mr. Finicky just asked for another piece so that is all I needed to hear.

 Note I have auditors at work the last week of June. I looked at the list they sent and just kill me. They want both my balls by the end of the month. So needless to say I am going to have to work work work. My blogging during the week will not be near my usual level and I may have to stop entirely if I run into some audit issues in my preparation. Free time has to go to editing first and then blogging.

I’ll be around and I may stick my chup in because I wants my Hug Hugs.

On the drive back to Kamaksan I became better acquainted with Sergeant Cool. I sat in the back of the jeep squished between his gear. I learned that back in Arizona during those first times I encountered him, he had gone through a divorce. So he had a lot of other things on his mind. My impression of him being a stuck up dude with rank making him too good for lesser enlisted men becamed dashed quickly.

He had been working in Seoul recently. Now he had a yobo in the big city and they were filing marriage paperwork. Sergeant Cool had not picked some whore out of the ville either. Some how he met a college graduate and he even had the blessing of her parents. This elevated him in my eyes too. I kind of hoped she had a horny younger sister, but I never had that kind of luck.

Sergeant Cool had been in the shit too, a Viet Nam vet. But he never talked about the war. That in itself told me a lot. One thing you learned quick in the Army. The men that had seen the elephant, rarely talked about it. Them that did were crazy fucks and you did not want to be around them. They had a tendancy to go off on strange tangents, which were usually painful. I stayed away from them. Most folks that you find that do talk about the war are fucking liars. You learned to ignore their bullshit.

He did talk about the “war stories” in Bangkok and Pubic Bay. Pubic Bay is GI talk for Subic Bay in the Philippines which has a sizeable ville. He got to take R&R (Rest and Relaxation) at both places. The only “war story” I remember from him was about him banging a Filipina in a bathtup while she had her period. Honestly, I wish I could forget that story. Some GIs liked sex like that, referring to it as the Red Badge of Courage. Me. I just smiled and believed that was something I could live without.

As soon as we got back to the mountain Sergeant Cool introduced himself to Country Boy and DC. Me meeting the Sarge first became another reason for DC to get pissed at me. More ice on his raging snowball. Fortuanatley Sergeant Cool recognized this and kept us working on seperate sides of the room. That limited our confrontations to who was going to sweep their work area clean first. Really important issues to DC. I had no problem going last. Where was I going to go anyway?

We got into a routine. Wake up in the morning at six. Do the three Army essentials: shit, shower, and shave. While we took care of the essentials, Curly or one of the other permanent party would pick up Chun si. He was great, cooking eggs to order. Even ham and cheese omelettes. Then we worked til noon. Lunch was always yummy. Grilled Cheese sandwiches, hamburgers, sloppy joes. Men food. Back to work until supper time. Chun-si would cook dinner and then he would be returned home. The suppers were good too. Spagetti, steak and potato really good eatin’. When the driver returned we would watch a movie. If we liked it we might watch it two or three times.

After a week, Sergeant Cool got stir crazy. It was time for a beer. Curly said we could go to Tongduchon. The jeep had a pass that allowed it to be out after curfew. We could drink until closing time if we wanted. Curly said they had a place they normally parked the jeep. Even said they had brought girls back to the mountain in the past. That got my attention real quick.

My memories of that Wednesday night are quite clear. Seven days after Sergeant Cool arrived. As soon as he called an end to the work, we all ate supper, showered, and changed into nicer clothes. Even Country Boy joined us.

Of course DC came along. In his friendlier moments he had talked about marrying a Korean woman. DC was an older fellow (early 30s) and he wanted to have a little DC. The thought of him having a kid was scarey to me. But DC never threatened me when we visited the ville.

We parked the jeep in a civilian parking lot. An adashi took the parking fee and watched over all of the vehicles parked in the lot. We agreed to meet there at a certain time, though we stayed together intially.

Tongduchon had a huge ville. Restaurants, shops, and bars stretched along a series of wide alleys that ran for a mile luring in GI dollars. We ended up going into a bar that played country and western music. The bar girls wore green aprons and one took our order. Four beers and a coke for this round. DC left after the first beer. I suspect the music prompted him to go. He and I both preferred rock and roll.

Me. I plotted. They have to pick up Chun si in the morning. It is only five minutes from his house to Camp Casey. Why can’t they pick me up in the morning too?

“Yo, Sarge,” I said. “You mind if I stay in the ville tonight?”

Now Sergeant Cool was a cut up. He joked about every damn thing. And this silly grin appeared on his face.”Damn Blakemore. You fishing for the clap so soon? Hasn’t your dick already rotted off?”

I turned red, because he talked so damn loud. Fortunately, whatever red neck was singing on the speakers was louder and no one paid any attention.

Sarge continued. “Well hell I don’t wanna keep a good man down. Plus if you don’t get some pussy soon, you might try to fuck me and I’d have to kill you. But I’m not the driver. For the record, I don’t give a shit.”

So I looked at Curly, still red faced. “So can you get me in the morning?”

He nodded his assent. Great! Time to get laid. Since we entered the bar I had been scoping the girls out. All Korean of course. It appeared our waitress had no attachments. I could see other girls sitting at the different tables. I had never noticed this girl sit at any table yet.

Our waittress came back to check on us. She was short, even by Korean standards. I suspect she might be 5 foot tall (152 cm). She was very thin. Her hair had been cut short with no bangs, combed evenly around her head. It framed her face, which was plain and covered with acne. She had a cute smile and I liked her bright brown eyes. They gleamed with life and enthusiasm.

She stopped and looked at me. I smiled at her.

“So what you doing tonight,” she asked? I suspect she only expected small talk. She smiled a very pleasant smile.

“I’m sleeping with you tonight,” I replied.

My words were like a shock and you could see her jump a bit from my words. Her eyes widened a bit. But she was Korean and these people are good at hiding feelings. In a second she returned to her previous posture and facial expression.

“You are,” she asked?

“Do you have a yobo?”

“No, I got no yobo.”

“Then I’m staying with you tonight.”

She smiled. “You wantey more beer now.”

I responded, “Get us another round. Get yourself something too.”

She walked away with out order.

“Goddamn Blakemore,” Sergeant Cool spoke. “You don’t mess around.”

I looked back at him and said, “Life’s too short to wait.”

Everybody laughed. She returned and set our beers down. She put the tray down and set down next to me. I put my arm around her shoulder and life felt good for the moment.

I saw that Lilian has been interviewed by Wuching just as I was last week. The way this meme is stuctured the interviewee asks commenters if they would like to be interviewed also. I thought it might be interesting to see what questions a woman might ask me. So I asked Lilian to interview me.

1) Do you find Oriental women much more charming, softer, gentler, smarter to please the man than ermm other women? (say yes or I tell the missus)

I don’t know. It all depends on the woman. If you have a woman ingrained in Confucianism, there may be a certain lack of compassion. No hugging. No kissing. No affectionate words. Probably very obedient in the bedroom, but still stiff. Only the man should be stiff in this circumstance. These types of women are probably very smart and serious. They do not loosen up easily. Too serious.

The less traditional woman is very attractive. They flirt, they touch, they enjoy a good hug and will nibble back on your ears. They don’t love a man just because it is expected. They cum to the bed with expectations and demands of their own. Makes it so much better to have a challenge than praying in the missionary position.

I prefer the latter woman. Just don’t like cold woman, which the traditional woman tends to be.

I don’t really know anything about western woman. Cannot make a comparison as I have never dated one more than once. Either I’m lame, boring, or too much of geek. But not to some Oriental babes. Though I am dedicated to one only now. You tell her that. 

2) You have built almost a community with bloggers from Malaysia. Do you find us extremely friendly, warm and sincere?

Yes I do. So much so that I really am considering to move there. Though kids graduating from college must occur first. So look for me in ten years.

3) Can you envision 10 years down the line… will you be blogging still?

No. It’ll be called something else in 10 years. I was doing the local Houston bulletin boards (bbs) when my daughter was a baby a decade earlier. I have evolved with the technology and software.

4) If you have a free ticket to a holiday destination, where will you choose and why.

You give me a free ticket and I will be in KL before you can blink. From there I can hop to Singapore, Penang, and Bangkok. I would go for a blog meet. Ideally I would coordinate this trip for when L B and Fantasy Flier could travel too.

5) Hey, I asked you who the guy on the left in the photo and if he is interested to know me. Hahaha, I bet you missed my question. So, here I am asking again. Who is that guy on the left of the pic (in your 12 to midnight group pic.

Ooops. I missed that question. He is the President, CEO and Chairman of the Board of 12 to Midnight Inc, a multi-thousand dollar corporation. You wanna meet him. He is Flametoad on the blogoshere.

I’m not going to put down all of the rules this time. Folks that want 5 questions, have surely made their requests. But ask if you somehow missed that.

I’ll even open myself up more. If anyone else wants to ask me five questions go ahead. I’ll answer them all as time allows.

(Change of Subject)

As mentioned previously, I have voted 4 times for George Bush and twice for his Dad. I have also made it evident that I am currently very unhappy with him . After yesterday, I truly believe he is out of touch.

Where does he go to talk about illegal aliens yesterday. Roswell, New Mexico. Who made that choice? What kind of aliens are you trying to affect with your legislation. I wonder if he took this same speech to Area 51 and Dayton Air Force Base?

Despite the isolation, duty at Kamaksan proved to be quite nice. We ate good. We wore what we wanted. The only time we had to wear uniforms was when the helicopters came and that was scheduled so we were always ready. I did wear a uniform when I worked. Did not want to tear up my civvies. We received three movies to watch with each helicopter visit. I don’t remember a lot of the titles. The two I enjoyed best were Halloween and The Wild Geese.

Looking out from our spot on the summit we could see a huge valley. The South Koreans had barracks in the valley between us and the Imjin river. On the northern side the North Koreans had barracks too. Curly told us that the North Koreans had artillery aimed at our site. They estimated this site would last 13 seconds if the war escalated. We were supposed to destroy the radios and then beat feet off the mountain. There were supposedly trails that led down the south side, but I never explored the mountain that much.

Without a team leader we had little to do. We inventoried our tools. Looked over the equipment we were to install. None of us knew how to read blueprints. No way we could start working. So we goofed off. Watched flicks, read, and found out that Chun-si was a fantastic cook.

The next day I needed to go on sick call. A follow up to see if the silver bullet had done its work. Curly had received a radio transmission. Our team leader would be left off in Camp Casey. So we could kill two birds with one stone. I could go to sick call and we would pick up the team leader too.

They had a jeep on the mountain. It allowed the soldiers that worked their to drive down to fetch the cook and make trips to Camp Casey in Tongduchon. The road down the mountain was nothing more than packed dirt. And it was right along the side of the mountain. No barricade between the road and a great drop.

The road leveled out as it reached a small hamlet. Farm families that would always wave when we drove by. Children peeking through windows and ducking if we waved at them. The homes were fabricated with wooden frames and looked unsturdy. Beyond those homes the drive took us past rice paddies and thinly wooded hills. Every now and then the road cut through spots that must have been blasted open for traffic.

After twisting and turning for some time the dirt track intersected an asphalt road at another hamlet. The houses here looked more study. Stone walls and tiled roofs provided these people with protection from the elements. Curly turned right and we picked up speed. We probably headed a click (km) through flat forests before we hit a large village (later I learned Chun si lived here) and a road intersection.

We took a left there and the road rode felt better maintained. Once we turned it was a straight shot to Tongduchon. We passed one checkpoint, which consisted of a policeman standing on a pedestal in a traffic circle. Once we passed him the buildings were mostly two story structures. Some served as residences, while others were commercial. The road intersected a major road with two lanes going either way. But we passed that street and entered the gate to Camp Casey.

Camp Casey was larger than Camp Humphreys. It was home to the 2nd Infantry Division. As we drove in the first thing I noticed was a large board. It listed all the clubs where GIs had caught VD. Every soldier walking out the gate would have an idea about where not to go. The next thing I noticed was Baskin Robbins. I would definitely visit there. The weather was getting to be pretty damn hot. Humid too. Ice cream might make it a little more bearable.

Curly dropped me off at the medics. He said he would meet me at the front gate at four. The soldier in the clinic was a little ticked that I had not arrived earlier. I explained it took 45 minutes to drive off the mountain. Then I had to explain why I held my medical records. Damn medics are a bunch of control junkies. Fortunately, it did not take long to get examined. I was given a clean bill of health.

It felt good to be off medical profile. Now I could drink beer and chase girls again. Problem was getting off the mountain. I walked back over to Baskings Robbins and ordered a banana split with butter pecan, chocolate mint, and baseball nut ice cream. It tasted so good. Now if I could only get a beer. But I did not like drinking in uniform. Main reason being if you screwed up, your name is stitched on your uniform where everyone can see. Plus your unit patch helped ID you quick too. I settled for a burger and a coke. Then I found the bookstore and who knows what I bought. I vaguely recall a novel titled China Man that I bought around this time. I also remember not finishing it. Story never gripped me. But I sat in the snack bar and read until the time came to get picked up.

Some of the time waiting was spent pondering who would be the team leader. I could not even begin to speculate who that would be. A horn honked while I memorized the club names on the Clap List.

Curly waved at me from the jeep. Sitting next to him was a Staff Sergeant I had seen back in Fort Huachuca. My first thought was to groan. He had alwasy walked by me as if I did not exist in Arizona. Not that I cared then, but I did not look forward to working with a stuck up son of a bitch.

Fortunately, my impression of the man proved to be totally off base. He turned out to be a funny, cheeky, but hard working supervisor. I could not have wished for better. Over the next few months I would have give this guy several chances to burn me, but he would just laugh it off for each incident. Make me feel stupid rather than any other punishment. In honor of all he did for me I will call him Sergeant Cool for this memoir.