Well, to be totally honest I totally forgot what I was going to talk about last time I blogged and said I had three things to talk about. Oh well, the main thing now is my current deployment.
I just deployed overseas again, same as last year only to a different location. Well, fortunately for me EVERYTHING (almost) is way better! Really, the only thing that isn't as nice as last year is the housing situation. And, even that isn't really that bad I have great roommates that aren't noisy and don't turn on lights needlessly. The only thing remotely bad about this location is the bathrooms are separate from the bed room buildings. So if you have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night you have to get fully dressed with sandals, and reflective belt, and walk (about 100yds) to the bathroom. I guess if I had to find something else wrong it's the large number of people here that are nit picky about rules like the reflective belt along with other uniform rules. Oh and one of those other things... the Vibram toe shoes are completely prohibited here. It'd be nice if I could get that changed but I doubt it. Oh, I guess technically I'd like to be able to get internet in my room (I might I haven't really tried). Other than those slight negative things, pretty much everything else here is so much better. I like the unit here much better. The squadron is full of people that like to hang out together. There's a nice morale-room in the squadron with different game systems and thousands of movies and other videos, and people like to hang out in there. It makes for a MUCH better environment around the squadron which basically means this deployment by and large will be much better than last year's.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Two Thoughts... Well really three but I'll save the third for later
I know I generally dislike discussing politics but I read an interesting article and watched an interesting argument on Fox News that I want to mention it here...
There's a huge debate brewing in congress about raising the debt ceiling on the US government spending. Now, in general I am a Republican in the idea that I believe the government should be smaller. Ideally the government should only be in charge of regulation of taxes and inter-state commerce and international trade, and of course national defense. So, that being said the raising the debt ceiling will only serve to increase the amount the government borrows each year and will continue to balloon the national debt. Don't get me wrong I'm not all doom and gloom about the national debt, however, it doesn't make any sense to increase the spending limit on an already insanely huge debt. Just think about this monetarily; if you have a credit card with a bank and you constantly have the card limit maxed out and are only able to make minimum payments and never actually pay the debt off does it make sense to RAISE that credit limit? Now, technically in one sense it DOES make sense to raise the limit... because that means you can spend more and therefore owe the bank MORE money and they can charge more interest. However, there's a danger in that, because the bank is constantly in danger of the indebted person claiming bankruptcy then the bank gets little to nothing back from the debt. In the case of the government (I can't imagine what declaring bankruptcy would entail) to whom do they owe this money? I've been watching some youtube videos about this by Learn Liberty. It's difficult to imagine these amounts of money, and to whom, or where did it all go?
Second thought for my blog centers around a disturbing article I read in USA Today about girls hitting puberty sooner than ever. The article doesn't directly impact my life, I don't have any daughters (yet). However, it does bring up an over-arching point that I've struggled with as a father for a long time. Namely, the idea of kids being able to be kids! I hope that Michelle and I can provide the kind of safe family environment that our kids can be kids. I can't imagine what my life would have been like if I hadn't had the opportunities I had as a child to run and play. I was at an advantage since I grew up on a farm in the country side, but that doesn't give me any excuses on how I raise my kids. It just makes it a little harder to get them outdoors. On top of not living on a farm or in the country, I struggle with helping my kids be kids because I've been deployed (now two summers in a row). I know it's my duty as a military member, but I can't wait until I'm done with my commitment to go wherever they tell me whenever they tell me. Unfortunately, since I'm planning on making a career of this, I'll be working in the Air Force until long after my boys are all grown up. This just means that I'll have to make good use of the time I have with them and use that time the best I can. On that note I can't wait to move to Japan, because I get to take my family, and while I'm there it's highly unlikely I'll deploy any for any length of time. So I should have three years with my family in "the Hawaii of Japan."
There's a huge debate brewing in congress about raising the debt ceiling on the US government spending. Now, in general I am a Republican in the idea that I believe the government should be smaller. Ideally the government should only be in charge of regulation of taxes and inter-state commerce and international trade, and of course national defense. So, that being said the raising the debt ceiling will only serve to increase the amount the government borrows each year and will continue to balloon the national debt. Don't get me wrong I'm not all doom and gloom about the national debt, however, it doesn't make any sense to increase the spending limit on an already insanely huge debt. Just think about this monetarily; if you have a credit card with a bank and you constantly have the card limit maxed out and are only able to make minimum payments and never actually pay the debt off does it make sense to RAISE that credit limit? Now, technically in one sense it DOES make sense to raise the limit... because that means you can spend more and therefore owe the bank MORE money and they can charge more interest. However, there's a danger in that, because the bank is constantly in danger of the indebted person claiming bankruptcy then the bank gets little to nothing back from the debt. In the case of the government (I can't imagine what declaring bankruptcy would entail) to whom do they owe this money? I've been watching some youtube videos about this by Learn Liberty. It's difficult to imagine these amounts of money, and to whom, or where did it all go?
Second thought for my blog centers around a disturbing article I read in USA Today about girls hitting puberty sooner than ever. The article doesn't directly impact my life, I don't have any daughters (yet). However, it does bring up an over-arching point that I've struggled with as a father for a long time. Namely, the idea of kids being able to be kids! I hope that Michelle and I can provide the kind of safe family environment that our kids can be kids. I can't imagine what my life would have been like if I hadn't had the opportunities I had as a child to run and play. I was at an advantage since I grew up on a farm in the country side, but that doesn't give me any excuses on how I raise my kids. It just makes it a little harder to get them outdoors. On top of not living on a farm or in the country, I struggle with helping my kids be kids because I've been deployed (now two summers in a row). I know it's my duty as a military member, but I can't wait until I'm done with my commitment to go wherever they tell me whenever they tell me. Unfortunately, since I'm planning on making a career of this, I'll be working in the Air Force until long after my boys are all grown up. This just means that I'll have to make good use of the time I have with them and use that time the best I can. On that note I can't wait to move to Japan, because I get to take my family, and while I'm there it's highly unlikely I'll deploy any for any length of time. So I should have three years with my family in "the Hawaii of Japan."
Friday, April 8, 2011
Negativity
If anyone actually reads this blog... sorry I've been so negative lately. Life hasn't really been what I want lately and it's been coming out in my attitude and in my blogging.
I'm still stuck in Meridian Mississippi working on the last parts of my training. Hopefully be done here soon.
I'm still stuck in Meridian Mississippi working on the last parts of my training. Hopefully be done here soon.
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