Blog Entries

I am back to having nothing to talk about on this blog: I have a new chair, the goslings are practically all grown up (more than half-way, anyway), the weather is the same day after day (though it keeps getting hotter bit by bit, we’re now into the teens above the century in degrees), my job is predictable drudgery seven days a week, and I continue to feel cared for and supported by many, many people. All in all, I guess, it is a good thing that I don’t have anything to say…

Just a comment about how blogs work: I cannot “see” the email address of people who comment on my blog. The only way I have to answer you ‘directly’ is to comment on the blog in the comments section on the same day’s comments on which YOU posted. I think I’m batting 100 on this, so if you left me a comment and would like to hear from me (albeit brief), go back to the day on which you posted and check the comments.

Semper Fi, Jon G.

Chair Saga (¶6)

I suppose by now most of you are picturing mounds of dead chairs adorning the avenues of approach to every building on base. After all, office chairs take up a certain amount of space (won’t fit in the dumpster), are not generally stackable, and certainly are not very burnable (as is most of the office trash around here). Well, Marines, never given to throwing stuff away (after all, efficiency and the can-do attitude of Marines has been overcoming the deficiencies of the discarded equipment that is cast off onto the Marine Corps by the other services for centuries), have discovered that the dead chairs (the plastic molded body supports, anyway) make great relaxation zones in break areas (called ‘smoke pits’ due to the major activity conducted therein). As the final chapter in the Chair Sagas, therefore, I have chosen to allow you to observe the practical frugality of Marines seeking to improve every aspect of their life with the means at hand.

Semper Fi, Jon G.

Chair Saga (¶5)

About a week of use, and my Ghetto Yankee Workshop fabrication was replaced with a new chair! It looks pretty much like the Jurassic Park variety, and I’m sure they’re made by the same manufacturer, but some improvements have been incorporated into the design. The covers are cloth, not pseudo leather. The arms are held on with machine screws that are properly anchored vice wood screws that screw into a tiny chunk of plywood imbedded in the side rail of the chair. Most significant, the telescoping pedestal appears to have been modified so that the single point of failure, at the base of the chair, will no longer fail as readily. Anyway, that is certainly the hope around here. In any case, I saved the pentagonal wooden pedestal in case I eventually have to use it with my “new” chair some months hence.

I managed to work a few hours less than otherwise yesterday due to Memorial Day observance, so—I owe, I owe, it’s off to work I go…

Semper Fi, Jon G.

Chair Saga (¶4)

I managed to convince myself that things were fine with the blanket padded folding chair, but in fact, they were not. About near the end of the 2^nd week, I think, I had hit an unacceptable pain level with that chair as well. No doubt that the blanket cushioned my rump in an acceptable manner, but this was apparently accomplished be evenly distributing the pressure just to that minimum level that I was able to banish the discomfort from the most perceptible upper levels of conscious thought. Over the two week period, I guess, the soft tissue, underlying bone, and muscle in that area was being slowly and steadily bruised and crushed by my weight until all the sudden, my whole body hurt. I had to rectify the situation by somehow spreading distributing my weight evenly across the whole spectrum of my derriere. So, I built a pentagonal pedestal for one of the broken chairs, and though the seat no longer swiveled, tilted, or had variable height adjustment, it was very comfortable. It took me about an hour to apply the modification, but it was very effective. Obviously, I had no screws or nails, so duct tape had to suffice. The paper placard says "CIHOC Ghetto Yankee Workshop."

The FaBQ has benefited by a Sergeant who is a tuba player, much better than me, and he will play whenever the FaBQ is called upon to perform (like at the Memorial Day ceremony today). However, with only one tuba, we both cannot practice with the band. The Chaplain has ordered another tuba from DRMO, so pray with me that it arrives sooner rather than later. Thanks.

Semper Fi, Jon G.

Chair Saga (¶3)

After less than a week on the gray metal chair with the poncho/stadium seat Coleman pad, more chairs were needed (as the Jurassic Park variety continued to destruct at an alarming rate). I “discovered” a folding chair that was being discarded by some nearby unit (no doubt a unit that had ordered their new chairs some weeks prior to me) that had a padded cardboard seat in a metal frame. This “new” black folding chair had an actual seat height some half inch or so higher than the “old” gray one (I saw that as a plus), but the padding was so thin as to be inconsequential should one need to sit in the chair for more than five minutes. I suppose there are folks out there that have more natural padding on their posterior than I do, but I can only document my own experience. I decided to use my US GI olive drab blanket as a seat pad—but since others sit in “my” chair when I am not in the office—like during the night shift—and (with all the superlative eating that goes on around here, thanks to all you taxpayers) due to the inevitable flatulation that seems to occur rather frequently around here (often somewhat audibly, I might add, though as part of the leadership here I personally have tended towards discretion), I insured the blanket was wrapped in plastic.

To state the obvious, I am close enough to the GWOT Ops in this AO to focus on the inconsequential as a major psychological diversionary tactic, but far enough away from actual participation in those Ops that the object of my diversion is the primary occupational implement of REMFs throughout recorded history.

Semper Fi, Jon G.

Chair Saga (¶2)

Sometime around the middle of April, there just weren’t enough chairs to go around, and by the end of April half of us were sitting on folding chairs. The first variety of folding chair we were able to scrounge was of the plain, unpadded metal variety. I could take about five minutes on this chair before it became uncomfortable, about half an hour before it became painful. This was extremely problematic, as I generally spend about ten hours a day sitting (on my 5^th point of contact—part of a Parachute Landing Fall, or PLF—as we in the Airborne community say, though of course now I am only Chairborne, having not jumped out of an aircraft in fright… er, flight, for some time now). It occurred to me that I should get Sheryl to send me my inch thick gel pad purchased for long trips on my motorcycle, but realized that it would probably get here about the time the new chairs did. I just happened to have brought a Coleman combination poncho/stadium seat cushion with me, so I brought that into work, set it on my chair, and my ability to tolerate the non-padded metal folding chair increased dramatically. Of course, it was still not the most preferable cradle for my derriere, but at least it was survivable.

This story has a happy ending, please stay tuned for more…

Semper Fi, Jon G.

Chair Saga (¶1)

When we arrived in country three months or so ago, the work spaces had office chairs that were not uncomfortable to sit in, but they were falling apart, and started to “die” at a rate of about two a week. First the arms fell off, then the upholstery would simply rip or tear, often a castor or two would break in half, and then the weld at the top of the telescoping pedestal that connects to the underside of the chair would break, and that would be it. We managed to ‘conserve’ our chairs until well into April, and in the meantime I discovered that no one knew of any plan to replace the chairs. April 15^th I ordered some new ones, was told the wait would be considerable (three weeks or more). Here is a picture of a chair of the ilk that was here when we got here (observing this particular specimen, which is still functional, is kind of like observing a Tyrannosaurus Rex in Jurassic Park).

I’d like to thank Greg for the package I received yesterday—Thanks, Dude, you have made a positive impact on my snack regimen for weeks to come. I also received an encouraging snail mail from Judy (thank you for your regular notes, they are bright spots in my life), and a MotoMail from my Mom. Congratulations to my Dad, who achieved three gold medals in swimming events at the regional Senior Olympic meet—Dad, keep up the good work, and there may be more gold in your future at the State meet.

Semper Fi, Jon G.

Answer to Prayer

I am very blessed—God answered my needs probably before most of you read yesterday’s blog. In fact, as I was typing yesterday, it occurred to me (I believe God inspired the thought) that I could approach a Staff Sergeant that works in our shop and ask him about his work load and if he could handle more. He works the night shift (during which there is considerably less activity), and it turns out he has been actually looking for more tasking. I initially cloaked my request as a query regarding how the essential but routine data entry (about two hours worth a day) would be accomplished while I was gone for three weeks in August, and he said he could do it. Then, without me even asking, he came back with, “You know, Sir, no need to wait until August, I could start doing that any time you want, like right now!”

Of course, I still have a lot of work to do, and I need to be careful not to ‘waste’ any of the gift of time I have been given. Continue to pray that I will use my time and energy wisely, pace myself, and apply the most effort to the most essential tasks in a timely manner.

Semper Fi, Jon G.

Discouraged

Along with rank comes responsibility. I’ve been selected for promotion, so I’m doing fine with the rank part. However, I’m having trouble keeping up with the responsibility part. After three months here, I expected to have a handle on all my assigned tasks, have settled into a routine, and to have generally cleared my desk by the end of every day. Unfortunately, this is not the case. I’ve somewhat streamlined some of the jobs that need to be done, one or two new tasks have landed on my desk that my predecessor did not have to cope with, but I expected with hard work and focus to be able to stay ‘afloat.’ This is simply not happening, however, and I am a little discouraged. There may be an opportunity to address this with my boss when I discuss with him the options regarding who will do the daily task stuff while I’m gone (I get two weeks of leave, which when incorporated with travel will amount to being gone for about three weeks, and though this doesn’t happen for two more months, we probably need to start planning for it now). The essential record keeping, data tracking, and report cataloging that I do amounts to about 2 hours a day. When I spend four or five days on a special project or wrapped up in a monthly (vice a daily) task that sucks several days of my time, I’m a least ten hours behind in the routine stuff, let alone the other parts of my job that have accumulated. If no one does anything while I’m gone, I’ll be facing over 40 hours of mind-numbing routine, not to mention all the ‘important’ priority tasks associated with my job.

To my knowledge, I’m not responsible for much more than the guys who held this job in the past were accountable to do—which could create the belief in the mind of my superiors that I’m slacking. However, I know from the management files, established processes and accumulated work that I inherited that a significant amount of this work was not getting done. I have been instilled with a certain amount of can-do attitude and ‘mission accomplishment’ mentality that makes crawling to my boss and whining about my work load difficult to do, especially given my great work conditions and quality of life compared to many others engaged in this fight. Please pray for wisdom and a solution (along with continued good health so I can keep on keeping on).

Semper Fi, Jon G.

Swamped

Again, I have been somewhat overcome by work, amazing how that happens… I’m in the middle of a self-imposed ebb, however, as I’ve got to pace myself for the long haul. However, since I’ve still got the same amount of work to do as always, I’ve got to cut time from various places to make time for personal essential recovery time. Some of that time, obviously, is coming from the time I would normally spend posting to this blog. My goal is still to keep you all appraised as to how I’m doing and what’s happening, so please don’t take this place off your list of favorites…

It’s getting hotter, three days out of every four are black flag days now. ‘Course, don’t know if that will prepare for California’s central valley in August, we’ll see.

Semper Fi, Jon G.

Weather Update

I’ve had a couple of comments about the weather, so I thought I’d bring you up to speed: Spring is finally over, there has been no rain in the forecast now for a week and none projected in the near future. Daily highs (temperature-wise) constantly range triple digits, and daily lows (usually around 0600 in the morning) are in the mid-seventies. Tomorrow is predicted to be a yellow flag, the day after a red flag, and the two days after that are predicted to be black flag days.

My exposure to this weather is fairly limited, as my REMF workaholic routine keeps me glued to a computer in an air-conditioned office space, and my quarters are also artificially cooled (in this case, use of the word ‘artificial’ has a positive connotation, though it occurs to me that generally this word is not normally associated with things ‘sought after’. Be that as it may, I have yet to see a structure here specifically designed for year-round human habitation that is naturally cooled. For natural cooling techniques, investigate ‘passive solar heating and cooling’ in your library’s National Graphic Standards in the Professional/Architectural Reference section).

Semper Fi, Jon G.

Variety

It has been said that “Variety is the spice of life.” I am finding that this is true, to a certain extent. Of course, opposed to that statement is another statement or two, like “We’re creatures of habit” and “Change creates stress.” Out here, where every day, seven days a week, is virtually the same, the same tasks are repeated over and over endlessly, and it seems impossible to vary anything (even what one wears to work every day), any segment of life that offers choice becomes a major distraction.

The famed chow hall here actually carries several brands of various items, depending on what is available in the marketplace. Banana milk (a favorite of mine, reportedly a combination of milk and bananas which probably contains neither), strawberry milk, certain colas, and apple juice are examples of items of which there are at least two brands. Well, an officer in our shop began hosting taste tests, and it was quite an enlightening experience. I had actually been favoring the banana milk brand that I thought was better, but in fact tasted less satisfactory. Like the average non-rational shopper, I was probably basing my preference on packaging (since price wasn’t an issue J).

Semper Fi, Jon G.

Reduce Stress

There has been some interest regarding how well my plan to pace myself for the long haul of this deployment is working. Although it is hard for me to be totally non-prejudiced in my self-analysis, I’ll do my best to fill you in. Although the work load is still daunting (more than I seem to be able to accomplish in my shifts, which work out to be 10 to 11 hours), I’ve discovered which things I can postpone until I have some ‘spare’ moments. I’ve also discovered which things must be done immediately, regarding the intrusion on my daily list of ‘routine’ things that need to be done, and both of these discoveries have greatly aided a sense that I am prioritizing my time based on the importance of the task. This alone has worked to reduce a significant amount of stress, as the bulk of my early time here was spent in very frustrating but time-consuming activity relating to ‘cleaning house’ and ‘clearing the floor’ associated with the RIP/TOA (Relief in Place, Transfer of Operational Authority).

I have discovered two short devotionals that I read every day (Knowing God Daily by the Blackaby’s and EveryMan Every Day by Kenny Luck et al), I play in the band an hour a day, and I read (mostly historical novels) for an hour or so to unwind following my shift at work. PT (Physical Training) helps me mentally unwind, as well as keep me fit, and I usually do that 5 times a week. I make it a point to average 8 hours of sleep a night (though some nights I get less, other nights I get more). Church is a priority related to my need to worship my Savior, and though it is a focal grounding point of my week, due to operational demands on all in the ‘congregation,’ it is not the socially interactive affair that is normally associated with God’s Community (resulting in an un-naturally stilted interaction between congregants—but then, there is nothing natural about being separated from your family and home church congregation for a year in a combat zone, either).

Semper Fi, Jon G.

Dust Storm

Hopefully I’ll be able to post to this blog a little more frequently now that I’m a little more caught up at work. Since the last time I took the opportunity to post something substantial, I experienced my first dust storm here on May 8^th. I didn’t actually get to see the “wall” of dust approaching as in this picture that was taken by an associate, nor did I get a picture taken of me ‘out in’ the dust storm, as did another friend of mine (I’m probably a little over-paranoid about protecting my camera, it’s got to last for another 9 months of this). It was very eerie being ‘inside’ the dust cloud, as the surroundings appeared to be almost the same orange as you’d expect looking through some very heavily tinted orange sun glasses. Interesting, too, that the dust storm happened when it did, as it is the tail end of spring, and we had just had some rain to dampen the earth about 48 hours prior to the dust.

Semper Fi, Jon G.

Nothing new

Jon was able to send a quick e-mail to me today but is still really busy. He is hoping that by Monday things will slow down a little or at least get back to the normal level of business. Thanks for continuing to pray for him.

Sheryl

A quick note from Jon

Jon wrote to say that, "the email has been down for at least three days, may continue to be down, up, down, up (work sporadically), we still haven'’t been notified that we are fully 'back up.'’ This has effected internet browsing as well, so I can't see the blogs."

Jon was able to get an e-mail out to me this morning with news to be posted, "I'm making progress on the project, but still have quite a ways to go (at least until the end of the week, hopefully by Monday morning I'’ll be back to business as usual -- —which is still pretty intense, but manageable. My tooth is still not bothering me at all, praise God, and the flu was very short lived, less than two days, all that is left is a little nasal congestion."

Thanks for your prayers.

Sheryl

A new mug shot

Since you all are missing out on postings from Jon, I thought you should get something new, so I've posted a new mug shot of Jarhedjon. This one was taken in his current location. Don't you think he's aged? Of course, you should see all of the white hairs that have started showing up on my head. Yikes!

Sheryl

Busy Days are Here Again

Jon dropped me a quick e-mail this morning saying, "yesterday [Sunday] was one of those crazy days where you are constantly busy but don’t seem to get anything done. In fact, I have to start a ‘project’ today, and I don’t know how much time I’m going to have for anything besides work and sleep for at least the next three or four days."

Thanks for keeping Jon in your prayers, especially that he stays healthy and encouraged. For those of you overwhelmed by the length of Jon's daily postings, this will give you a chance to catch up. :)

Sheryl for Jarhedjon

Ducklings

I don’t think I’ve mentioned the ducks that live in a water reservoir near where I work (there are four reservoirs in the immediate vicinity). There are three (that’s all I’ve seen) adults that are BIG, and upon arrival here my first guess was that the chow at the chow hall is good enough to dissuade any would be duck connoisseurs (hunters and fixers both, I guess) as there is obviously no shortage of weapons or ammunition to dispatch a few ducks. Well, since then, my views on the continued existence of the ducks has changed. There have been two sets of ducklings, three ‘showed up’ about a month ago, they’re getting pretty big now, it seems like they double in size every week or so. The recent lot are still chicks, very cute, there are nine of them. They go on these daily sojourns from the ‘pond’ to areas where there are lots of grass cuttings, bugs, or whatever it is that ducks like to eat; whatever it is, it works. I think the ducks and chicks have come to be a symbol to many here of the process of life, how worthy of protection it is, what a wonderful gift it is. Practically every day I see some Marine, weapon slung, sweating under body armor in 100 degree heat, running with a camera after the ducks to get a good picture of them. I think, now, that if anyone tried to harm one of these ducks, they’d face the wrath of the camp, as well as a Summary Court Martial. Maybe a little overdramatic. Ah well, they’re OUR ducks… or at least, entrusted to our care.

Semper Fi, Jon G.

The Crud

Well, almost three months in country, no real ailments AT ALL so far, but I think I’m finally getting something. I’ve got a clogged sinus that I sense could eventually overwhelm me, I believe my throat wants to join in the rebellion, I’ve got some aches to deal with that might just be ‘flu’ related. Though I normally don’t want to get out of bed in the morning, today the feeling was more of a compulsion (which I ignored anyway, as my sense of duty is usually more compelling than my inclination to pamper myself).

Please pray that this ‘crud’ does not inhibit my ability to do my job, or spread to others in my shop. Thanks.

Semper Fi, Jon G.

Got Discipline?

The Navy Commander I share a room with is going to be ‘out of town’ for five days on a trip. He has been on a couple trips so far, the longest for three days. We have fallen into the routine of training at the same time every day (at 0600 in the morning), though the specific training we each choose to do differs somewhat from the other (I run and do isometrics six days a week, he does weights three times a week and mirrors my routine three times a week). However, when he has been gone in the past, my routine falls apart. I stay at work later, stay up later reading, sleep in a little longer in the morning, and generally skip PT altogether.

I’d like to not totally ‘loose my focus’ this time around, which will call for some discipline. I have a tendency to sink to the lowest possible level of expected performance and stay there as long as I can get away with it, a tendency that does nothing to help me accomplish my short term or long term goals. I also love to rest, nap, and sleep (I don’t’ want for this to be taken the wrong way, but probably the happiest moments of my life have been spent in bed). So, I’m asking for prayer for me to have (or acquire a little) discipline. Also, pray for the strength to cope with an answer to this prayer—I’ve heard praying for patience brings tribulation, who knows what praying for discipline will bring….

Semper Fi, Jon G.

Promotion Delayed

In the past, Marine Active junior enlisted, all Marine Reserve enlisted, and Marine Reserve Warrant Officers were promoted en masse, usually by this process: at the end of a particular month, a Department of the Navy message (ALNAV) announced the Marines selected for promotion. Within 48 hours, a Marine Corps message (MARADMIN) is published authorizing the promotion of all the selected Marines, the effective date of the promotion being the 1^st of the same month in which the MARADMIN is published. Since the ALNAV announcing my promotion came out April 4^th, I expected the MARADMIN to come out shortly thereafter, and my promotion to be effective by (at the latest) May 1^st. Unfortunately, the Marine Corps has decided to transition the Reserve Warrant Officer promotion process to the same process utilized by Active SNCO’s and Active and Reserve Commissioned Officers (just Murphy’s Law, I guess, that they happened to choose the year I get selected), which works by the following process: the Promotion Board concludes its deliberations and the ALNAV is published; USMC Manpower Management takes a look at the payroll for the rest of the FY, decides how many officers they can promote to the next grade each month and still get by in the black, and determines how many officers they will have to promote the following FY due to a payroll shortfall. Once the promotions have been spread out over the next 18 months (generally a trickle to start with, ending with large blocks at the end, delaying the major fiscal impact of the promotions until the last moment), a MARADMIN is published announcing by name the officers (who have already been SELECTED) who will be promoted, by month, for the next two months. These MARADMINS are then published every other month until all the selected officers have been promoted (some of you have already figured out that if a promotion board meets annually for each rank, it would seem possible for the #1 selection of the 2^nd annual promotion board to be promoted before the last of the selected officers from the 1^st annual promotion board—however, this does not happen, the 18 months can be accounted for by the fact that the promotion board for the FY07 promotions just made their selections this month, and the promotions don’t HAVE to start until October 1^st 2006, and all selected officers need not be promoted until September 30^th 2007). The ALNAV contains information on where each officer is on the Selection List (eg. you were the 42^nd officer on the list of 320 officers promoted of a total of 700 officers eligible), so officers can kind of “guesstimate” when they will be promoted based on what their number was and how many officers are being promoted each month. Another concern at the Manpower Management level (under the second process which now includes Reserve Warrant Officers) is that there cannot be a higher percentage of any particular rank of officer in the Reserve structure than there is in the Active structure, so often the Reserve officer’s promotion will be delayed until the appropriate Active “counterpart” is promoted.

The MARADMIN that came out yesterday announced that there would be one promotion to CWO5 effective May 1^st, (obviously, this is the guy that was #1 on the Selection List) and there were NO projected promotions for that grade for the month of June. My name was #2 on the Selection List, so I will be promoted, I just have no idea when (obviously no earlier than July 1^st, but possibly some months following).

Semper Fi, Jon G.

Not so Daily Blog

My good intentions to update this blog daily have succumbed to the workload (which is always ridiculous, though it goes in cycles, the middle of the month and the end of the month being the most absurd periods), the settling down of a new experience in my life to the monotony and drudgery of a daily routine (the familiar is no longer novel, and furthermore inhibits my awareness of the complex novelties that make up my natural surroundings), and a complicated ambivalence on my part that has me suspended in a strange limbo between 1. wanting to be with my family and not wanting to be here, and allowing my emotional state to languor in negativity; and 2. wanting to be here and fully participate in my present situation (which is chock full of blessing, opportunity, and potential). Living in this ambivalent place, I’ve found, has a tendency to encourage my procrastination (for example, delay my blog entries until they simply don’t get done), further dilute any strength of discipline that existed in my will (little enough already, to be sure), which factors work to inspire the self-judgmental more exacting rational critical voice in my head to beat myself up. Since all this tends to reduce the estimate I have of myself compared to the daily, weekly or monthly (not to mention annual, but that’s another story) end-states I have in mind for my mental, physical and emotional well-being, I am tending towards NOT being emotionally present vice being emotionally invested. Call me a “coward,” if you will—certainly well deserved, as I’m finding that courage is not something only utilized by heroes in “fight or flight” situations, but something that is (or is not) utilized every day by ordinary people (often the most unsung) to practically live out their convictions (which are God given, not self derived) in the face of adversity (which will always exist when an adversary exists).

Attempting to comprehend my expressed outlook is probably no less difficult than diagramming the preceding sentences, feel free to attempt either, both, or neither.

Semper Fi, Jon G.