clueless

So I wanted to contribute something to the blog, my first contribution will be pictures of Terra. Go figure =) The first was taken after her long day at the ER, she was so tired she fell asleep at 7pm watching her favorite movie. The second picture was taken on the airplane coming back from seeing Daddy, she did so great on the plane but then again it was a relatively short flight.

Trash Walking

I've been in Twenty-nine Palms, CA for about two and a half months so far. By about week two I had an idea that was nagging me every time I would go out for a walk. I have no vehicle here, so I walk to and from the school house (not far, maybe .25 mile one way) every day ,and to the commissary (3 miles one way) at least once a week.
Every time I set out on a walk I am reminded of my time in Iraq. The scenery is similar, the air is dry, and there is a ton of freakin' trash everywhere. I imagine that a bit of that has to do with the open spaces and the constant wind, but it gets to me every time I go outside. This isn't a ragged base in a war-torn country, this is California. Why is there so much trash?
So I had it in my head that I should start going for trash walks. Just my regular walks, but take a bag and pick up stuff along the way. I kept coming up with really lame excuses though.

"I don't have any trash bags."
"I don't have any gloves to reach into the bushes (thorny like hell)"
"I'm just going to wait until I can get one of those extendo-grip things so I don't have to dig in the ground and use my hands!"
But most of all,
"What if people laugh at me?"

This last one is the real reason it took me so damn long to get around to this. I keep to myself here, I don't talk much to the other Marines in class. I just don't feel like I fit well here. That's fine, really since I'm only here for a couple more months. I just can't seem to get it out of my head that I would be doing something considered degrading if I just went around and picked up trash out of ditches and fence-lines.
In the end I just got sick of ignoring it. So yesterday, I grabbed a trash bag, my music, and my sunglasses (to hide behind, lets be honest here) and walked to the commissary. I stayed on the path, and only grabbed things within about 5 feet of me on the way down, and nothing in the brush since I had no gloves. I still ended up with about half a bag full (10 gallon bag) by the time I made it to the store.

Now, I had too much to cart back with me along with the few things I was going to buy at the grocery, so I had to dump it in a trash bin rather than sort it for recycle.

So I had learned my lesson on that. The trip out is for scouting trash, and pick up is on the return. It seems the the only recycling bin is at my barracks, so it made sense to just bring it back there for sorting.

My second trip today was just for trash walking, I didn't have to be at the store or anything. Just a nice walk on a beautiful day. I ended up focusing on recyclable things as much as I could since I still didn't have gloves for bushes. But I walked ditches to get the majority of the trash and had to leave quite a bit behind. 

My bag also started to bust, so lesson learned there too.

All in all it was a great experience and I'm really looking forward to next weekend. I think that I can sew myself a bag that shouldn't bust and I can reuse rather than using trash bags.

Positive impact, good exercise and fresh air. Really what more can you ask for?

End of the week crud

After cramming for weeks to certify for the CCNA exam, I was expecting to be taking it easy for this next course. I just didn't realize it was going to be this easy. Boredom is an understatement. Thankfully, I do get internet which means I have lots of time to surf about beer/brewing.
Found out about a documentary called Beer Wars that was fun to watch. It did have some slow parts, but any time peeking into the lives of craft brewers makes me happy. I'd recommend it to anyone with any interest in the beer industry in America. It's a daunting place.

The end of the week gives me a chance to walk the crazy hills around Twentynine Palms. This time with camera in tow, so next week maybe I'll have something to show for it. Maybe a trip to the wood shop on base as well. Who knows?
I have a few ideas for projects to keep me busy. I'll leave you with an ear bug, I've been listening to Steve Martin playing banjo since Monday and finding a clip of him with Bela Fleck was revelatory. Hard to listen to this and feel sad.

Life without books.

This blog is going to be for me to share pictures and updates about my family and what we are up to, without being shackled to Facebook. I realized I spent far, far too much time checking status updates and trying to be perfectly witty or intelligent on things I really shouldn't have worried about. I also felt this sense of entitlement that was growing on me. I kept telling myself I would post things for me to go back to reference later, but I was terribly disappointed when no one would comment. Which is sad. So it was time to pull the plug.
However, I do realize that having a virtual outlet for family to check on us if they want to would be a great idea. So here is the compromise.
My good friend and fellow Pisces had a blog at one point which I greatly enjoyed. So I feel much less intimidated by the whole idea now.

I'll also be putting up my brewing adventures here whenever I get an opportunity, and any future plans for The Dire Badger that tumble out of my head.