Snowman Studios
There is one small thing that has started to frustrate me about driving around here. You know how it sucks when you are driving and the car in front of you is spewing black smoke from it's tail pipes, and how bad it smells in your car because you are following it, right? Well it seems like a quarter of the taxi's in this area have that problem. They are generally police-surplus crown vics/police interceptor models (it's the same thing, just that when it became obvious that no one actually was buying crown victorias except the police, they renamed it to police interceptor) and it has become the cause of me putting more effort than usual to get in front of them. I'm not a tree hugger, but I can appreciate fresh air.
Also, did anyone see the dedication ceremony for the National World War II Memorial? I watched part of it, and remembered my two grandfathers who served. One served in Europe as a navigator on a B-24 Liberator and spent a large portion of the war flying missions out of Italy. He enlisted as soon as he turned 18 (about a month after pearl harbor). The other enlisted at around age 35. The army rejected him for his age, but the navy took him (only problem was he couldn't swim). He served as payroll on a jeep carrier (carriers not intended for front line battle, but intended to have fresh pilots and planes to keep the front line carriers well stocked). Members of my family also served in Vietnam, WWI, the Civil War (on both sides, one was even a General). I can't speak for direct lineage dying in combat (it would make it less likely for them to have kids if they died in combat), but they didn't exactly sit on the sidelines.
This is why my feelings against going into Iraq have been so strong. Before I go any further I want to state that I am not for pulling out of Iraq. It's not an option, and it's very sad and twisted that families of soldiers in Iraq would protest for such an action. They are only encouraging the enemy.
But back to the topic... the reason for the war as given by the leaders will dictate the course of action on the ground. If you think otherwise, think of these three examples (if you disagree on the strategies for the different objectives, discuss it on my board because I'm interested in hearing what others think):
1) The objective is the oil (I'm just stating it hypothetically) - While the primary troop movements would still be towards the Iraqi armed forces, units of notable size would be moving to secure oil pipelines, refineries, and ports. Since the size of the force who's mission is to seek out the enemy and fight it would be smaller, a cautious general would seek to minimize the number of combat zones to allow for the prime conditions under which the American Army fights. A different style of general might spread the soldiers thinner, relying on the superior training, equipment, and morale of the American soldiers. While this isn't necessarily a wrong choice, casualties could be higher.
2) The objective is to liberate Iraq - Primary troop movements would be sent after the leadership with secondary movements going towards areas with large concentrations of soldiers. Properly coordinated, martial law would be instated in areas under US control. Ports and other means to get humanitarian aid in would be a top priority. While oil would be a way for Iraq to help pay for its rebuilding, it would be a lower priority as bringing in food and medicine is an immediate need.
3) The objective is to find WMDs - Once again primary troop movements would be towards the leadership, but not just the top leadership but farther down the ladder as well to disrupt orders to use WMDs. At the earliest possible instance, government and military buildings would be raided for information on the location of WMDs. If intelligence agencies have more specific locations of WMDs, raids early in the war while the territory is still in enemy hands would be executed, possibly before a real ground war has even started.
While the primary force's actions are similar for the above three, it's the secondary resources that differ. An operation to liberate Iraq from an oppressive dictator is a policy I could potentially support. Iraqis were being terrorized by their government in a way similar to the days of Stalin. But it has been stated by Rumsfeld that this reason is not good enough (I'm not going to make a case here related for or against the objective being oil). If the objective was WMDs though, then the idea was a preemptive strike (if you think this is retaliatory for 9/11 you need to start paying more attention to the facts; no one likes Saddam but he wasn't behind it). Not going into which major wars were or weren't started because of a preemptive strike to a sleeping enemy (I have seen suggestions about wars such as WWI, but I haven't researched it enough myself so I won't talk about things I don't know enough about), but a preemptive strike on Russia in the cold war would have resulted in the deaths of millions. There actually was a strike on communist Russia in the days of Lenin. 10,000 men (a division or two) were sent to help the Czars and put down the communist rebellion. It might not have been the only reason the Russians hated us, but it couldn't have helped.
So going way, way back in this discussion, when I feel that Bush's policy of a preemptive strike on a regime that may or may not be a threat in years to come is wrong and I even feel like it tarnishes what the predecessors in my family fought for, I feel like it's almost wrong that he's the one giving the speech at the WWII memorial (yes, he's the president and no, I'm not taking into consideration his national guard time even though simply being in the national guard then was a form of draft dodging only capable by those with direct family connections). So I left the room, closed the door, and watched anime (oh the irony...).
Third topic for today. I made a delivery to a condo south of Loyola today (they weren't supposed to be able to order from us as we don't deliver to Chicago, but oh well). So the people come down from upstairs and the total is $90. The woman gives me some bills and the top bill is a $100. I thank her and leave. I get about a mile away when I get a call saying that I need to go back because they gave me too much. I turn around and go back and find that under the $100 were about 5 $1s, then 2 $20s, then a $100. I was led up to the condo and the (different) woman asked how much I was given, I gave it to her and she said that she needed it as travel money to get home tonight. Turns out there's a wedding and everyone is a little... frazzled (for lack of a better word). She gave me back $120, so I still got a $30 tip, and thanked me for returning. The people back at potbellys were impressed by my honesty for going back. I didn't exactly see another course of action there other than giving it back, but there are people who are greedy who would say "you gave it to me so tough".
For all of those who are searching hard for work after
college.
Seeing Roger on his birthday was fun. I went and saw a show at Second City, and I highly recommend it to anyone curious about it. Drinks are served as well.
Last week was an exciting point for discovery of martial arts for me. Aside from the demo on Saturday, I am just discovering what proper technique feels like. I'm not saying my technique is perfect by any means, but I'm just starting to feel that when I throw a right-hand straight punch (it doesn't even feel correct for my left hand). So when you think about it, I am starting to be able to do it with one hand doing one technique. It's ... exciting to think about. Now I need to practice.
Other than that, I'll be going down to Nashville again the first weekend of June with Carl. If I can't get time off from work, I'll quit.
Today was supposed to be a day off for working at potbellys. It turned into a day off from working at the tae kwon do school as well because my car has been having trouble starting (turned out to be nothing). Then I got a call from potbellys saying that the person who they wanted to bring in had to work at the other store, so they needed me to make at least one delivery. I of course was willing to work a "full" shift (which turned out to be three orders). After the shift, I went to tae kwon do and helped the colored belts prepare for their belt test. Now I should be well rested despite the fact that today was the 11th day in a row working.
Other than that, just kind of going along. Roger is coming in this weekend, so Sunday will definitely be a day without any work. It'll be nice, but my streak will be gone. Maybe some night I'll go driving... tonight would have been good if it wasn't raining on and off.
Last night was a good night for delivery. I made 11 deliveries (two of them were catering orders), and earned 3x as much as I do in a normal night. After spending an hour going through the numbers and figuring out how much I take home for the day, my boss gave me a bonus: a milk shake. It might sound small, but it hit the spot.
I'm starting to feel a bit like Takumi from Initial D. It's not the fact that I'm doing delivery (although I wish it was a mountain road in the middle of the night instead of Evanston at any time of the day). It's that he learned to drive with a cup of water in his cupholder, and he had to drive so that the water wouldn't spill. I'm having to drive with shakes, malts, and smoothies in a paper bag on my passenger floor. So far I've actually gotten pretty good at having it not fall over despite being able to drive quickly.
I've started working for pot belly's, so please order from there (I'm paid by the delivery, not the hour). If you need a menu, one can be found
here. The number is (847) 328-1800.
Ugh, I did not sleep well last night. One of the guys in the building came knocking (first on the front door, then on the window). I told him before that if he knocked on the window I'd call the cops. Instead, I got up and went to the front door. He was very jumpy and wanting to come in. I told him he wasn't welcome inside. When he was continuing to be insistent and pushing some on the door (not that hard), I whipped out my cell phone and dialed 911 and showed it to him, telling him he had 5 seconds to leave or I'd call the cops. He spent those 5 seconds saying something or other (probably trying to persuade me), I honestly wasn't paying attention. Then I hit the send button and he kind of disappeared. I talked to the operator and gave her a description of him, a name, and she said she'd send a cop over to explain to him not to disturb my sleep.
In other news, the are some
games who are trying to prove that sex sells even in the gamer world.
I got rear ended today. I was stopped at a light for about a minute when a light push forward occurred. I'm not sure of the details, but the woman claimed to have arthritis in her ankle and didn't realize she didn't have enough pressure on the brake.
There was no visible damage and it appears the impact occurred on my license plate. Finally it does something for me.
This interface is weird. It probably is better in some ways (but not others) but either way it'll take a bit to get used to.
Anyway, the painting of Persians stalled Sunday night as I burned out some and proceeded to play Fight Night 2004 for 5 1/2 hours straight. Fun game, and I can see some controller mechanics they could use to make Olymic Tae Kwon Do 2005 (I wish...) with.
I'll be getting back into finishing up the Persians and then go back to not painting for two months.
Me: "So are you guys one of the Party Patrol cars? With a UP and EP officer?"
Cop (straight face): "We prefer to be called the P. P. Patrol."
He delivered it like he was dead serious and I struggled to avoid cracking until I was back in my apartment.
Harsh, but probably needed to be said.
In other news, things just keep poking along. I eat, I sleep, I paint, I go to the Tae Kwon Do school.
Last night when I got back from my three hours of Tae Kwon Do, I found someone parked in my space. Contrary to things I may have said, I felt bad about the fact that the general course of action is to have the person's car towed. The paint to mark my space is worn and hardly visible, so she must not have thought it was a space. But then what am I supposed to do? There aren't spaces for me to park over night and I don't see why I need to park elsewhere and check periodically for when my space will become available. I saw who the driver was too. When she found out she was screaming at the top of her lungs... at midnight. She has had car trouble at this building before, she locked her car keys, house keys, and someone else's house keys in her car (I think with the engine running too).
I've finished painting my second batch for my late Persian army. I now have all of the skirmishers, all of the light cavalry (6 stands), and the royal guard. My next step is to paint 3 stands of heavy cavalry and a general figure. This may seem like a lot less than the light cavalry, but light cavalry only require 2 figures for a stand and heavy require 3, so I'm only painting two less figures in this batch.
John says he'll be coming by early next week. I'm going to see how much of a Persian army I can have ready for when he does. I know I can get the core army and a fair number of bonus units (I'll need to borrow some hoplites from carl's armies), but I don't think I will quite get as many units painted as I would prefer. Oh well, I'll just have to see what can be done and what can't.
In other news, I've started working for my Tae Kwon Do master. In the past, I've helped him with this and that but this time I'm getting paid for it. Assuming I leave the area in a couple months, I hope there will be someone from the NU club who will be able to take my place helping out Master Baek.
This is probably the main reason why people should always be wearing clothing when outside. Not to say it justifies it (there was a Seinfeld episode about it if I remember correctly), but still.... very sad that people of my species responded in this manor.
Other news, I painted 22 Late Persian figures over the weekend (1 stand to be the Royal Guards, 9 stands to be Skirmishers). I hope I can keep up a reasonable level of productivity.
