We've had some interesting goings on around here lately. I can't really write about them, as they're a bit on the sensitive side and I don't want to be the guy who got An Numaniyah put on the front page of CNN.com.

Nothing dangerous mind you, but still more interesting for the blog than the "The Iraqis broke another computer today" kind of thing that makes up my days lately. (Although, the Iraqis did in fact break another computer today.)

Keep tuned, once it's all straightened out I'll write about it.

I caught this story from The Daily Telegraph, a British local newspaper. It may all seem rather mundane, but wait until the end. The pay-off is worth it:

Thieves broke into Business Homes' new business park in Wakefield last week and stole the 60 cameras and sensors that made up its "state of the art security system".

The theft was particularly embarrassing given that two of the site's occupants are HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and HM Prisons Service.

"This was a seriously sophisticated system," insists director Simon Houlston, prompting me to ask how the burglars did away with it.

"There are cameras hooked up to a central office in Blackburn," he says. "If the men watching the screens see a burglar they send a message out on loudspeakers to the office warning them to leave.

Unfortunately, in this case the thieves just didn't listen. "One other person did, though. The old lady next door later told us she had heard the voice of God, last night, telling her, in a strong Lancashire accent, to leave the vicinity as soon as possible."

With friends like these, who needs enemies?

View it here (1.5 MB)

I found out this evening that, effective March 15^th, I've been promoted from Sergeant (SGT) to Staff Sergeant (SSG). I've been a SSG for a week and didn't even know it! *lol*

It was a nice little bit of news to get too because I've had a pissy couple of days. I think it's because I'm getting close to coming home for leave. I'm anxious to get out of here and come home for a while so all the stupid shit (pardon my french) that Iraqis do has been getting on my nerves more than usual.

At least for tonight though, I feel a little better. I've wanted to get my E6 for a while now. It feels good to be recognized for the work you do, y'know? I certainly don't have the hardest job in the Army (I work on computers) but I take pride in my work and try to do the best I can. It's a good feeling when other people recognize that in you.

Six pay grades in six years. Pretty good pace if I say so myself!

I posted all my pics taken so far over her in Iraq up at Yahoo! Photos. I figured at the rate I was going I would never get them up on this site. At least not in a timely manner.

If you're interested, you can check them out here.

I received 2 boxes today in the mail. They were labeled "Hats from Home", and for the life of me couldn't figure out what that was all about. When I opened them up, they were full of baseball caps!

There is a gentleman named Richard Kingdon from Churchville, NY who has started a program called Hats from Home. He takes donations of new, unused baseball caps from individuals and companies and sends them overseas to deployed service members. What a neat idea!

The guys here loved getting the hats. They swarmed around the boxes and rifled through, finding their favorite sports team or some other cap they liked. It was like Christmas! It's nice to get something from home like that - something to wear that isn't a desert camoflage pattern.

We only got 2 boxes, and one was labeled "5 of 5" so I'm assuming there's 3 more coming. That's a lot of hats! And let me tell you, they were nice hats too, not cheesy second hand John Deere caps with the plastic snaps on the back. Of course, when you send that many hats some are going to be generic hats (one said "Vote for Tony", whatever that means). But there were Buffalo Bills caps, various baseball teams, and a variety of other really nice hats. Somebody is donating some nice caps!

If you have unused caps you'd like to donate, you can contact Richard Kingdon at (585) 594-4446 to make arrangements to get the hats to him.

Nice little article about appreciating Enough.

An excellent essay by Charles Krauthammer over at Time.com regarding the recent spurt of Arab democracy. I highly recommend it.

Is that a number of kittens performing Independent Woman in front of a British pub?

Why yes, it is. Why do you ask?

Who knew? I think this holds deep implications for cow tipping. Read all about it here.

Of course, this leads one to ponder other possibilities, such as . . .

• What are the emotional consequences of choking your chicken?


• How do monkeys feel about being spanked?

Yes, we ask the hard hitting questions here.

Today Don and Kelly (my brother and sister - they're twins!) turn 37. Since I'm stuck over in Iraq and can't sing them their birthday song, I'll just have to make due with the next best thing . . .

*ahem*

Happy birthday to yoooouuuuu . . .

Happy birthday to yoooouuuuuu . . .

Happy birthday dear Don and Kellyyyyyyyyyyyyy . . .

Happy birthday to you!


You can check and see if Don did anything over at his family's website, www.crossrhodes.com. If you're interested in Kelly's birthday you'll have to call her. She's a non-technical kind of person, if you catch my meaning.