The things one can do in the 21st century...

This is Jamie and me on the train to Munich. And yes, I'm writing this blog on the train! You have to love modern technology. I took this picture just moments ago. There will be more pictures and another blog later in the week about the full trip.
Happy New Year Everyone!!!
I miss you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Midieval Christmas = A Cold Christmas

A Merry Christmas at Auerbach Castle


The Highest Tower.


Some views from the very top of the tower

Pretty good spot to watch for the enemy coming, huh? If you look closely, you can see the house where I spent Christmas. The house where I spent Thanksgiving evening is also in this same valley/plain.
The Wall/Moat.

This must have been the main hall or something. It's in pretty bad shape now. There are some scaffoldings holding up parts of it.

For unto us...

Merry Christmas, everyone! May God bless each of you this Christmas as you celebrate the birth of the Son. Remember, Christmas is not a self-contained event. It is not an end unto itself. From Isaiah's prophecy, to the announcement of the angels, to the words of Simeon in the temple courtyard, the coming of this baby, Jesus, was always viewed with His great future role as King of kings in view. We don't celebrate the birth of this baby, as though the world needed one more baby to be complete. We celebrate who this baby is and we place our hope in His deeds as a Man...as THE Man. Out of the body of the virgin, came the body of the Savior...a body which would be broken for us, would be pierced for us, would be raised for us...the body which, one great day, will take its seat on the eternal throne from which the King will rule all the earth as He now rules in our hearts and He will bring peace to all the earth just as He has brought peace to our souls. "We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." To me, "merry Christmas" means "let your heart be happy and full of peace because your Savior has come." (it's a lot easier to say "merry Christmas" though).
Thank God! We have a Savior and His saving work is being finished in our hearts.


Merry Christmas! Your sins are forgiven and your Savior is alive!!!

Peace on Earth...may the Lord Jesus bring it with Him soon!

Blah Blah Blah

Well, I'm writing today to say that I have nothing to write about...nothing good anyway. Actually, it's been a pretty bad week so far and on top of it, I'm sick again. The sickness is due, I'm sure, to the MANDATORY flu shot I had on friday. I mean, really, why give a perfectly healthy person a shot that 's guaranteed to make him sick, on the off chance that he might not get sick again later in the winter? I probably would not have gotten sick again anyway.
I could go on complaining, but who wants to read that? Anyway, the weekend should be better...hopefully. I don't have any plans except for Christmas Day, so I'm not sure what I'll be doing the rest of the weekend. Probably not too much unless I feel better. Christmas day I'll be at the home of some people from the Post Chapel where I've been attending. They graciously invited me a couple weeks ago, and I accepted.

Well, that's it for now.
Miss you all and I hope you all have a good rest of the week.

Nuremberg

I wanted to try out a new city over the weekend. I chose Nuremberg...it was sort of a Nuremberg trial...haha. Nuremberg has the most famous/best Christmas market in Germany. The markets have lots of booths with things to buy and food to eat. I spent all my time (about 6 hours) in the old city of Nuremberg.

Here's a link to the yahoo folder with the other pictures in it. Enjoy. http://new.photos.yahoo.com/chicado77/album/576460762375971864

CLS Class: not for the squeamish

This week, I'm in CLS class. CLS stands for Combat Life-Saver. It's four days of basic trauma treatment methods and techniques for use in a combat situation. Tourniquets, Bandages, Treatment for Shock, and the Grand-Daddy of 'em all: I.V. training. I.V. stands for Intravenous...or "inside the vain." Now, this is not my first CLS class, nor is it my first time receiving or giving an I.V. During my short history with CLS classes, I have developed a record of passing out 66.6% of the time when receiving the I.V. Before yesterday, I was at 50%. Below is a photographic record of my experience receiving my I.V. yesterday. I took along my camera with this blog in mind. I knew there was a good chance that things might get interesting. I also knew that if they did, you all would never forgive me for not having pictures to verify it. As a note of personal redemption, I'd like to let everyone know that I'm a CHAMP at giving an I.V. I'm just a sissy when it comes to getting one (not too redemptive I guess). It's odd too, because getting shots has no effect on me whatsoever. Not long ago I had about four in a matter of about one minute. No sweat. Haha you should have seen the sweat on the tile floor when I got up from it yesterday though.Okay...if you don't like the sight of blood (or needles) or don't want to see me getting pale, passing out, and passed out, then stop here. But come on folks...who wouldn't want to see this?!? Have a good laugh...we all did.
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Okay, I'm ready.

This is attempt #1 (left arm). This one didn't quite take.

OUCH! This is attempt #2 and it took.

This actually was one of the more painful I.V.s that I have received. My squad leader is the one administering it..she did a good job.

I'm smiling, not because I'm enjoying this, but because I was amused at what was going on inside my head. Like I said, this was a very painful "stick" and it was all I could do to control my tongue. I hear swearing all day long, every day and I usually do very well at not conforming to that kind of speech, but at that moment it was very hard to keep up the resistance. It just amused me how strong the urge was to swear (and there was one particular word on the very tip of my tongue). Maybe you had to be inside my head to appreciate that moment, but it did make me laugh. Nieces and Nephews, swearing is not good, but I'm sure your parents can explain to you that sometimes bad words that go in your ears all the time, sometimes come out of your mouth by accident. This time it didn't.

Still doing okay, but starting to feel kind of hot.

Uh oh, Did he just look at that blood? Not a good idea. Now I'm feeling very hot.

Where did all the color go in Phillip's face? Oh yeah, it followed the blood when it left his head to find a new home lower in his body. I think this photo might actually show the exact moment that I lost consciousness.

Continue on to the next posting for the continuation...

CLS Class continuation

Continuation...

And heee's ooouuuutttttta there
That's gum in my mouth. It looks like my eyes are rolled back, but it's just the redeye effect in the photo.Look how white my hand is.

"easy..hold his head"

They said I was still chewing my gum when I was passed out...haha

Waking up...and seeing the humor in the situation.

Getting cleaned up and trying to get my color and hearing back. Your hearing goes fuzzy and tunneled when you pass out. Usually I notice that to happen before I pass out. I didn't notice it this time until I woke up...bummer.

All in a day's work

This is a good way to get people at work to remember who you are...haha Okay, maybe it's not the best way to be remembered though.

miss you all

Range Week

This week I spent Monday through Thursday at the range. I was part of the range cadre. I wasn't looking forward to it, but it actually turned out to be a great week! I qualified on the M16A2 rifle on Monday as a "sharpshooter" with 36 hits out of 40. Then on Thursday, I qualified on the M9 pistol as "expert" with a score of 26 hits out of 30. The rifle range was on stationary, paper targets and the pistol range was on pop up targets. Like the name implies, they pop up. There are about 7-8 different target locations and they pop up in a random order. They vary in distance too. I was very happy with the opportunity to qualify on the pistol. It's usually only officers and MPs who get to do that. I had the opportunity since I was part of the cadre for that range.

Here are some pictures from the internet to help you visualize what went on:

The M-9 pistol The M-16A2 rifle
A soldier firing the M-16 at a qualification range. (no, it's not me, but this is what I did) Do you see the ejected cartridge flying through the air? Those puppies are HOT when they land on you. I've had them go down the collar of my uniform before. They give you a nice burn. This happens at the range a lot since the firing positions are so close to each other. The soldier to your right always has to watch out.

This is a stationary paper target. It's similar to the one used for qualifying. The qualification target has ten different targets on it which vary in size to represent differing distances. This one is used to "zero" the weapon. That's where you adjust the rifle to the way you personally are aiming it. Everyone looks through the sights a little bit differently. This helps you "set your preferences" on your weapon. You have to fire 5 out of 6 consecutive rounds into the circle on the black part of the target.

This is an example of a pop-up target. Not all of them are this size, but most of them are. They range in distance from 50 meters to 300 meters on an M-16 range. The distances for the pistol range are, of course, much closer. No one can hit 300 meter targets with a pistol.

Well, I hope this gives you an idea of what I did.

Miss you all

DVD answers

Okay, here are the answers. I'm going to put them in the comment section of this posting so that people don't see them until after they've taken the quiz, if they want. I'll put the grades in there too. Look for your names at the top of each comment posted by me to find your score.
I'm loving grading your quizes. you guys have some great answers! "Why, a couple of times I even laughed out loud...right out loud!" Who said that? Check out the answer to number 1.

Enjoy! I know I have.

“Let’s play a game!!!”

Okay, why is the title in quotes? Because it’s a quote, silly. Ah, but from whom?

Question: What’s Phillip’s favorite TV show?
Answer: The Dick Van Dyke Show.

Easy question, right? Well. Let’s try something a little harder. There are a handful of other DVD aficionados out there who read this blog regularly. Some are family, some might as well be. So, let’s have a little quiz.
This is how it will work: There are ten lines below. You tell me who said the line and to whom and what the episode was in which it appeared. Sounds easy, huh? I warn you, this is not for beginners.

Rules:
Do your own work. No pairing up.
No referring to the tapes or DVDs.

Scoring:
There are 20 items, each worth 5 points. You get 5 points for identifying the episode and 5 points for identifying the person who delivered the line and to whom….don’t forget that part.

Here’s the grading system:

80-100....Honorary Cast Member
60-80......New Rochelle Resident
40-60......You’re no Eleanor Roosevelt
20-40......Dummy McGee
0-20........Bupkis


Good Luck!


#1 Why, once I shook so hard, I emulsified xylene and hexal alcohol! And you know they don’t mix.

#2 You look like you slept in a box of prunes.

#3 Well, if he lived in the city like any normal kid, he’d be attacked by a nice street gang.

#4 Yeah, I can run back here and blow my nose, I guess.

#5 You might find another Monroe Deifendorf.

#6 You know what’s wrong with bucket seats? Everybody’s got a different size bucket.

#7 Music’s the same, costumes are the same, after a while you forget they’re monkeys

#8 Can you double stitch? Can you make hoops? I’m the only one who ever made Peter Pan fly, without showing an inch of under garment.

#9 You are in charge of his mouth. If he opens it, stick a buttered roll in it.

#10 How can I have a romantic weekend when I know I’m a lousy kisser?



Extra Credit:
5 points each for a brief explanation of the following:

1. Dummy McGee
2. You’re no Eleanor Roosevelt
3. “Let’s play a game!!!”


I’ll give each of you your scores as a comment when you comment on the blog with your answers.

Oh yeah...this is HOT!

Never, in all my living years, did I dream I'd have a car like this! A 1990 Opel Senator, four door, manual transmission. Total Chick Magnet! ...just maybe not chicks in my age group..haha.

The taller building in the background of the photo is my cell block...I mean, my barracks. I always get those two confused.



By the way, this is a temporary car. Hopefully temporary on my terms and not the car's. I want to get a new car, but I didn't want the payments yet, so I'm going to wait about a year or so. Maybe less maybe more. Just as soon as I can save up a decent down-payment.