Sunday, July 5, 2009

The beat goes on...

It's good to post again! Not too much has changed and in saying that, I must mention the effects of 'Groundhog Day' the movie, on this deployment. 'Groundhog Day' is an expression that many Soldiers repeat quite often when describing how their day is going because the days blend into each other and feel the same from one to the next.

Interestingly, I've learned that many Soldiers who either use the term or hear it used have no idea where it comes from. I explained its origin to one young Soldier and acknowledged to myself, how can everybody be expected to know this expression. The movie came out in 1993.

Right now the pullout of troops from the cities in Iraq seems to be working well. The June 30 deadline went smoothly and troops are adjusting. There have been a low amount of incidents in the days since and everyone is hopeful for the best.

As for the life of an Army journalist post June 30, telling the Soldiers' stories goes on. There is still a lot to tell and to record. Army journalists from MND-B are finding the most relevant stories to report as we still must maintain products, such as the bi-weekly newspaper, The Crossed Sabers and the internet daily newspaper, The Daily Charge, which I still put together and edit.

These papers can be retrieved from http://pao.hood.army.mil/1stcavdiv/ or from http://www.dvidshub.net/, a military public affairs distribution site.

I will soon begin prepping for a two-week vacation to see my family. I leave sometime in August to see my wife and daughter, Patty and Alicea. Our plans are to meet up in Quito, Ecuador to visit with family. I miss them so much.

I'm going to cut this post short, as I feel an onset of carpal-tunnel syndrome coming on. I'm joking...somewhat, but with all the design and editing I do, I am sometimes feeling tired in my fingers from working with the mouse so much and also with one computer without a mouse. I joke with some of my colleagues that I might be starting a class action lawsuit 2o years from now. This attempt at humor is tinged with lots and lots of irony,... get it,... coming to war and getting a case of carpal-tunnel, ha-ha,... maybe not so funny, but I tried.