Admiration & Persecution

Thus far quiet days with my ex and at home, just the way I like it. I want to wish Roisin and her father a great day as he is 80 years old. It was somewhat of a sad day but one has too step back and admire the amount of things people that age have seen and experienced. It always amazes me the stuff people have gone through. Now imagine an immigrant whom left his home and made the journey to a new and different place. That alone is to admire. Sadly me and my generation will not see nearly as many changes and events as our parents and grandparents. Maybe one reason why I joined the Navy to maybe get a hope of experiencing world changing events even as small as our current events.

Finished reading State Of Fear by Michael Crichton and I highly recommend this book and I feel is a must read for everyone. I decided to stay with Crichton and read Next. I liked Next as it pointed out many things about gene manipulation and gene patents. Coincidence that Crichton died early in life from cancer. Hmmmm. Another must read book for everyone. My next read I decided to finally buy Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. This book may be the very first book written about time travel but it was used to point out society from that era and Twain's time.

I was slowly looking to get my upgrade before I leave and it seems cell phone companies are again screwing consumers. Amazing how they price fix and raise prices even more. Amazing how some cell bills are the same as car payments lately. Now you are paying full price for phones on top of the cell bill itself. No more subsidized phones. I guess I will keep my old phone and when I get back turn it into pre-paid. These companies are going to loose customers once people realize this. Now I hope cell phone companies start to lower the prices of devices as they are too high.

I have to go on a minor rant on a big subject and that is Edward Snowden and this administration treating him like a spy. Funny how they trash his background yet hire him to run the computers that spy on us. Now this administration is eager to catch him to shut him up. An administration whom promised to be transparent and to help whistle-blowers yet they persecute them. On the other hand we we have Holder and the administration providing guns to Mexico causing so much havoc and now Syrian rebels which in turn will be pointing those guns at our military. Yes your sons, daughter, wives and husbands will one day be on the other end of a gun provided by our government. So much secrecy with the IRS and Benghazi to begin with and we are concerned about a guy whom just pointed out what he did. Please, we need to wake up.

Microsoft has decided to change its policies on the new XBOX One after so much backlash. It will no longer require an internet connection and games can be traded as before with no restrictions. However the Kinect sensor and its capabilities are still an issue. Sony however right now ahead with its lower price tag advertised. Also to note I got the urge this week to play some video games which I haven't played in weeks. Wanted to download State of Decay to find out it has been having issues downloading. So I never got to download it to play it. Thanks Microsoft. Playstation on the other hand has released Last Of Us and it looks like game of the year already. For some reason Sony tends to back and put forwards awesome story telling games.

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It's Daddy's Day!

Finally went out to see my brother on Friday. As usual we left late but it was a nice day overall. Natalia doesn't see her uncle often but amazing how much she remembers and likes being around him. Saturday I was back in front of my smoker and cooking all day. Pulled pork again with different rub (mustard based) and apple wood for the smoke. However still didn't come out good. I will now need tips. Maybe higher temps? Better quality meat? Wrap it? Help!

Made employee of the month at work and it really doesn't mean much to me. I go in and do the same work day in day out not looking for recognition. It was funny to get it now as so many pointed out to me I never was recognized while working in my old department where I did so much, took care of so many problems and took on so many responsibilities. But I am happy to see my many associates at the front increasing their numbers thanks to me. No one else takes the time to help them out and care.

I want to quote author R.A. Salvatore in his dedication to his upcoming novel and series as I found it something I live by.

"This book is dedicated to anyone who believes that the hero isn’t the one with the biggest sword, but the one with the biggest heart,

Who believes that doing the right thing is its own reward, simply because it’s the right thing to do,

Who believes in karma, or divine justice, or simply that the greatest reward of all is being able to go to sleep with conscience clear."

Finished reading The Human Division and a bit disappointed at the story. Not as page turner as his previous books. There really was no ending and the story overall seems a small part to a much larger story in the war between the two groups. My next book is State of Fear by Michael Crichton and thus far a page turner. I was hoping to also read Animal Farm but picked up the wrong book at the library. So next week I will go pick it up.

More news on the XBOX One is released and I must say I am an XBOX guy but may not be much longer. Seems they are treating its users like criminals by forcing an internet connection and still not really answering the question about used games but simply going around it like a politician. Not to mention the Kinect will be listening and watching you at all times. Sony is in a real good spot to dominate if it simply does the opposite. I already use my Playstation for all my media and entertainment and now I may go full on to that system.

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Spy and Block Me!

Drill weekend over and not much work this time around. Again another mandatory Navy wide training. This month we send off Lt. Cmdr. Swearingin (2nd tour to the area) and Lt. Cmdr. Anderson to Afghanistan. More new people to the unit and this batch looks like they are ready to work and be around for a while. HM2 White joined us this weekend and it was great to see him and make fun of him.

Spent one day this past weekend with my grandma and Natalia and it was a nice time. My grandma is doing and looking good as years past and may hopefully end up staying just a bit longer.

Finished reading The Last Threshold and I found it a good story and left me wanting to know more. Eagerly await R.A. Salvatore's next book to see what it will bring as it will be a six book series. My next book was Make Room! Make Room by Harry Harrison and I know I can expect anything from this author. This book was the inspiration for the movie Soylent Green. However the book was not a traditional Harrison book and found it to my liking. I recommend this book to anyone as it was a nice quick read. I then jumped back into Scalzi with his latest novel The Human Division and thus far half way through it and not as catchy and special as his previous books.

Work has been extremely busy. I don't know why so busy. Everyone says beginning of the month as all those government welfare cards get reloaded but I've never seen it this busy. As many know I get irked at the welfare system as I see it abused daily. So many of these cards I see not belonging to the actual buyer and more and more every month being able to cash out their benefits. Seems every store nowadays makes most of their money from the government. Not just Wal-Mart as I see bigger and bigger signs in fast foods places, Target, gas stations, etc... I'm waiting to see a nice white and green one in Starbucks. Even cooked food is now added. Are people too lazy to actually cook their food. Won't be long before anything can be obtained with welfare benefits. We are becoming a welfare state where many are becoming accustomed to believing the government will provide them with anything they need. I understand some people really need the help but it is not what I see. Just recently numbers have started to come out on the figures spent yearly on this program and it has grown substantially over the past couple of years.

Also in the news and finally mainstream Americans seeing how this administration has been spying not only on journalists but in citizens. It is not news to me as it has been happening for sometime now with these huge data centers being used and built to funnel all our cell and internet traffic so it can be scanned and saved. Some amy start to slowly see much stuff online being "blocked" from such popular sites like Facebook and Google searches as these companies clearly are some being used for this. Maybe now more and more people will wake up and see how we are slowly becoming a slave state. The huge push to un-arm us, the push to spy on us, the slow indoctrination of Islam culture being pushed to us, the push to bypass and maybe erase some of our constitutional rights, and the lack of jobs forcing so many of us to become government dependent or just to submit. As our president says many times - "Just getting by" which appears to be the new motto for America. The land of the middle class just getting by. I am very skeptic on the recent attacks in U.S. soil from what we are told are Islam radicals. Seems more and more are happening and never before even through our long cold war, while our administration keeps arming groups in Africa, the middle east and even Mexico. A clear example Americans are seeing now in the Benghazi killings as the truth us slowly coming out, not to mention the current turn of events in Mexico and I dare say the unexplained "deaths" of the many U.S. Navy SEAL sailors. With this all being said I know this administration has definitely flagged my little blog and all is being stored. Hey! President, can I also have some space to store my photo and music files in your servers? LOL

I have a little rant - Why is it hard to get hot sauce at a fast food place? They have too many types. Want hot sauce? Yes. Hot hot sauce. Please just make one and that is the choice. If you don't want hot sauce then don't ask for it. Mild, medium, hot, inferno? Just one, please.

Man Of Steel Trailer

Don't forget to catch the latest Sword & Laser Podcast #130.

Being Me

Didn't spend much time with Natalia over the Memorial day weekend and spent most of the weekend with Roisin. Headed to Big Bear which to my surprise was not that busy. Stopped by a few antique shops, smelled quite a bit of candles and got to see some really pretty photographs at the local gallery. Also got a few nice pictures from Big Bear as you can see. This week, on the other hand, has been full days at work and looking forward to a few days off cooking and staying in town with Natalia doing the "small town thing" on Saturday.

Finished reading The Mote in God's Eye and found it very entertaining. A classic in the genre as is really dwells into the lives of the Motes, their beings and their history. It shows us how violent humans are and starts to explain the motives and history of an alien race. I know there is a sequel and already on my shelf and on my "to read" list. My next book is The Last Threshold and I eagerly turn the pages to see how the huge story ends and how it may lead to R.A. Salvatore's new book coming out in the fall.

The XBOX One is due to release later this year and getting some press but I feel it will be revolutionary in the sense that there will be a camera inside your house always listening and watching. Thus far I do not see many people thinking and writing about this aspect but today I just read how it may even monitor if you watch commercials. That alone is scary for it to track all your moves inside your house. I don't think the engineers deep down felt this device could be so bad but knowing how government works and so many agencies and companies very quickly I am sure they got their hands on the developing of this device. I can even see this device seeing how many people are in the room and charging you more for a movie or just not allowing its viewing to make more money. Will I get an XBOX? Yes, but I want to know more if the Kinect sensor actually has to be plugged in. I would not install the camera device and I am sure very shortly people will figure a way to disable its microphone function. It would be evil of them to force the Kinect device to be plugged and setup to use it. That I feel would cost them in sales. Sony should not follow this trend.

On the cycling front I must say I haven't been keeping up lately but this past weekend Freddy Gonzalez makes it his 4th National jersey. Amazing he still has the motivation to race at his age and his roller coaster career. Lance Armstrong again making news, like a true politician he will keep denying and lying and not speaking hoping it goes away. After all his words on how he will help the sport clean itself has yet done anything to help. But at least he is out of the sport and unable to cause any more harm. The corrupt system is still governing the sport but hopefully with more eyes over it. On the Livestrong Foundation it is being put to light how much of the money this organization collected went to pay high salaries. I knew all along this was used as Lance's secret hush money/legal fund and so many people leeching of this. When will people realize so many of these "non profits" are really high profit scams. Why find a cure for a disease when it makes more money to not find a cure.

Amazing how a lying and disgraced politician is running to be mayor of New York City. Yes, Anthony Weiner is running and experts have him winning. Makes me think if people are actually that stupid or are elections that corrupt and fixed?

Don't forget to catch the latest No Agenda Show.

Memorial Day - Hoorah!

This is one of those celebrated days many see for the wrong reasons. Of course it has been commercialized and recently as I have seen patriotism being seen as a bad thing, this day should be looked as the day normal individuals freely choose to sacrifice themselves and families for what our nation is. Many people never will fully understand what this is as so many never sacrifice or bother to make a difference. But to those very few that sacrifice by leaving their families and some pay the ultimate sacrifice in death to serve. For whatever reason we serve our nation deep down we do it for honor and courage. These deep beliefs should never be lost and need to be passed down. Patriotism should never be discouraged and I feel those that do should move to the side and thank those whom sacrifice so they can take advantage of what this nation is.

Going on "walks" in the extreme weather, in full uniform with the feeling in the back of your head of danger. Turning on the engine of that truck getting ready to go out on a convoy and not knowing how your day may end. Working in a make-shift hospital receiving wounded friends and doing the best you can so they can make it home to their families. Being an officer and having to sit down and make real decisions that affect life. No, these individuals are not going out for a run around town in their fancy gear, going on a safe commute to work or making decisions on where to move that display at a store. These individuals give up privacy and so many comforts to serve. This creates a family of men and women that so many will never understand. I can say, as late as I joined I am very proud to share that misery with these men and women. Every day I think of those serving and friends from my unit down range serving and sacrificing and doing the job to bring home safe everyone downrange.

Normal Quiet Days!

Normal quiet days since the past post and all I can think of is - "The calm before the storm". BBQ pork shoulder I smoked the other day, came out decent but it needed about an hour more. Next time I think 250 degrees is the ticket. Also will try another rub. Saturday on my "trash run" I saw that again the Saturday market started in town and this time it was rather large and stopped by. As the book junkie that I am I picked up a few books and stopped by the library and finally got me a library card. Spent a bit of time around there and in the park with Natalia.

Again threats from my "ex" wanting to take Natalia away from me. I am starting to think, why? Again blamed for her being sick when I picked her up last week and she wasn't there to drop her off. Again no reply on where she was that morning and I have no clue on where Natalia lives or spends her time. Always very secretive. In time this will change as Natalia grows up.

Actually sat down this week and watched two movies. Watched Last Stand and found it entertaining to my surprise. Also watched Parker and was hoping for more there but a familiar story and not much of a "ride". Still slowly moving through my current read in The Mote in God's Eye and it is entertaining. Can't wait to finish it and start The Last Threshold and see what may be Drizzt's last story (somehow I doubt that).

I have to say that I have been keeping up with cycling news a little bit and watched the Tour of California and finally seen a race that looked clean, believable and exciting to see this. I know the sport is not clean by any means and never will as we can see with DiLuca getting caught this past week.

Geek News - Prometheus 2 movie is moving along and may be a reality as casting is starting and the story is being developed. In the meantime I ran across this great article there on more backstory to the universe from the Aliens video game >>. Been watching a bit of miniature gaming videos from Mini War Gaming among others, and I am starting to get hooked again. Maybe when I get back from my "trip" and have time and money. The XBOX ONE and the PS4 have finally made official announcements and will be out this year.

Check out the Kim Stanley Robinson interview at the Sword & Laser Posdcast >>

Out In The Open

Another week of work and I decided to shake things a little bit in "Facebook-land" by opening up about my relationship with Roisin. It was an interesting morning that day and my little blog took quite a bit of traffic from somewhere. I decided to play a little joke on Roisin with her daughter which I managed to keep it going the whole day - Gotcha! It is kind of amazing how technology plays so much in our lives in how we communicate. I will spend my free time with Natalia a whole day in front of the BBQ cooking and playing outside. Stopped by the Navy and got some paperwork for my deployment to help current issues with Natalia and direction. Woke up on my BBQ day at 0630 to find 45 degrees outside and overcast (God really likes me). Fell back asleep and woke up late but didn't stop me from starting my BBQ. Pork shoulder is what I am making and it is my first time. Next week I will try it again and modify it if need be. Still want to try brisket again but a much smaller piece this time as that takes much longer to cook. Picked up Natalia again sick and with the irritation on her arms again present. Again will clear it up and that is all I can really do.  (Cool BBQ pictured but I can't see where the wood box is)

Call me a geek but I got a little excited a few days ago to see one of my favorite authors Jack McDevitt bring back Priscilla Hutchins in Starhawk, one more novel due out early November. So I have yet another book to look forward to while I am gone. Neil Gaiman's newest novel, The Ocean at the End of the Lane out next month. Finished reading Song of Susannah and found it a little hard to read. Maybe because of the personal problems I had recently I may have found it a little hard to concentrate. But still a bit enjoyable as the story took a twist by introducing the actual author Stephen King into the story. My next book is The Mote in God's Eye which I read years ago and remember liking it, so I will revisit it. Also decided a few days later to pick up State of Fear by Michael Crichton since it relates so much at what we are going through now in this world.

Meanwhile I will say this very little about our current events. Why so much distraction and "news stories" being pumped out during the Benghazi hearings? Coincidence? Nope! The administration is very busy throwing stuff at us so we can look over there while they skim and sweep the hearings under the carpet. I don't see anything coming out of it other than vague answers and lies and lots of secrecy. Meanwhile we have Google believing they own the internet and starting to slowly edit it to accommodate their business model. That is scary as so many feel Google is the internet and they have the power to control your experience. It is time we find an alternative search engine and browser out of the many out there. It is time for another shift as the so many before.

Don't forget to catch the latest Sword & Laser Podcast #128

Drama Part # ... I Lost Count

This Doc is in distress! The "drama" has begun for me. I finally asked my ex if she planned on not following the court custody agreement during my deployment and she said she would not. She said she plans on keeping Natalia during my whole stay out and not following agreement and having my parents (Natalia's grandparents) not see her at all. But she took the time to say how proud she was that I am serving. Very unpatriotic and crazy woman. So now I have to somehow find money and go back to my attorney to get this figured out in court before I leave for deployment. I fear the worse while I am not here which should not be an issue. In the meantime she still refuses to tell me where Natalia lives during the time with her. I know she is not stable and everything is so secretive with her, thus the reason to keep everything hidden. Sadly a little girl will suffer and her childhood will suffer due to the mental illness of her mother.

The Navy will be doing the best they can and I have informed them of my problems. I await word from JAG to see what they can do this early before my mobilization. I have California Family Code Section 3047 and Assembly Bill AB 414 as my standing to have my parents take over my place while I am deployed so I can stay in contact with Natalia.

As far as my normal life is concerned, not much other than work. My grandma is in town and we went to see her Thursday for a few hours and Natalia was real excited to see her "abuelita" again. My grandmother is getting some eye surgery to fix her cataracts and I do pray it all comes out good with a speedy recovery and that she stay in California as long as possible. Not much reading as I was hoping to have finished my current read.

Don't forget to download the latest No Agenda Show. But be aware this is not for everyone. 

And Thus It Begins...

Well, May the 4th and May 5th are over and so is drill weekend. A weird drill as it was very laid back. Very few patients and just sat around joking all day and doing much "training". Again re-structuring of the unit. Camp Pendleton OHSU Det D looses yet another good Doc as HM3 James finishes his contract and left by the back door when he should have left through the front door as he much deserved it. Also LT Partain leaves us for a deployment and I know that will be felt at medical to have him gone. There has been a shift in the unit with many new additions which has lead to some "unsat" behavior by some corpsmen and truthfully I will not allow that to happen and I am not alone. Sadly we only get together a weekend a month but the remaining drills I have left I will put on my "hard ass hat" and crack down on some of this. I will no longer tolerate much laziness while wearing the uniform. This may sound cheesy to many and hard to put into words but a while back HM2 Large said  that he was proud to wear the uniform, to put on the uniform transforms one to honor the uniform with its extensive history sacrifice, honor and courage that our rate represents. Those words stuck and forever will.

To my surprise Roisin again treated me to an awesome outing and dragged me to watch Iron Man 3. She didn't have to do much convincing. I found the movie entertaining and it moved the character of Tony Stark along a little bit more in the overall story line. The use of Mandarin will surprise the fans of comics and I found it a bit ... of an eye roller given the current events around the world. However Extremis was introduce and may be part of the next Avengers movie. I found the coolest scenes to be those where Pepper Potts donned the suit (sorry spolier).

Early this week I am under "Winter Weather Advisory" which I laugh because I have finally decided to put my snowblower away for the year. Actually for the next two years. However, I will see lower temps for about two days but not snow. But that would have been too funny for me.

I will keep this post short but I must point out that lately I have seen more and more websites being "blocked" and in a sense shut down by some. It has come to light that Google may be part of this. This is something I fear and many are unaware and many simply don't care or even believe. But it is happening. This is a slow movement to censor us. We are too worried about the guns and having stupid arguments over the color of the weapon or how many projectiles it can shoot while in our face we are starting to be censored. I noticed it first with Facebook taking down certain accounts. Patriotic accounts I use to follow are disappearing. This cannot happen. I am disgusted to plainly see patriotic Americans being labeled as crazy and "terrorists". Now Google has implemented a black list and for no reason they are blocking accounts with "bullshit" malware warnings that are simply untrue. A company that claims to do "no evil" and criticized China for its censorship of the internet. You should all be ashamed to act in such a way and yet enjoy what America lifestyle offers so many. I already know Facebook is compromised as the "intelligence" agencies already set up shop there and approve content under the idea of "preventing terrorism. Please, the Boston bombing happened, with warning and so many agencies present. So start by protecting us and stop scaring us and controlling us.

Ender's Game First Peek

Don't forget to download the latest No Agenda Show and disregard any "malware" warnings. These are lies by internet companies to slowly censor the internet and promote an agenda.

Work & Daydreaming

Week of work, being broke and daydreaming. Drill weekend coming up and I am sure a busy one as always with a few new guys to the unit. I hope to find a computer and get some courses knocked out as requirements for my deployment. Check in again and see if any news from others and catch up. My grandma is in town again and was hoping to see her Thursday but she was going out with my uncle. Soon Natalia will see her "abuelita" again. My flowers are all out and as you can see Natalia loves to play with them. I can't wait to my deployment to start and be over so I can have money to do my backyard. I have so many ideas and plans for it. It will be a great place to hang out in.

To my surprise I am starting to get comfortable with my deployment later in the year. I am sure as the date gets closer some feelings may change. My "ex-drama" has begun. It has been a while and it looks like it is a trend. Months of peace and then it ramps up. A bit early as I thought it would start as my deployment date got closer and I am starting to get ready for the worse and sadly enough will have to get myself and my parents ready. Whatever you can imagine, I can expect. The worse part of me being away will not be me missing my daughter but having that feeling in the back of my mind everyday of what problems my "ex" will cause. Sad to think this but it is a part of my life. Very patriotic to cause such headaches to one doing its duty.


Finished reading Hunt for the Meteor and it was a nice short read. Even when the book was first published in 1908 Verne wrote about taking advantage of the "stock market" and gaming it. Decided my next read to be the Cauldron, the final book in the Priscilla "Hutch" series by Jack McDevitt. A page turner like the rest of the series I was getting excited to see the outcome only to walk out disappointed. I was so much hoping for an awesome ending with closure. I may end up reading at a later time the other series he has written. My next read will be the The Song of Susannah (Darktower 6) by Stephen King.

Looks like J.J. Abrams is planning on bringing Stephen King's 11/22/1963 to TV. I am excited for this as I loved the book. This book and Under the Dome coming to TV is exciting. Now, when will they try to get Darktower to the big screen?

Don't forget to catch the Sword & Laser Podcast 126.