Quick Update

Sorry for the gap in posts. Had a whole long post that got lost due to internet issues. I didn't have time to post yesterday.
Oh well.
One of my little projects didn't quite come to fruition on schedule, but I'll have other opporunities. Have had some interesting meetings and some good networking opportunities, which is always good.
One exciting development was that I had a sandwich for dinner. Seems mundane, but it was the first one I've had since leaving home. It was good.

I can't help but comment a little on the news. One thing that has been annoying is seeing stories that are factually wrong but being unable to correct them due to the nature of the information involved. We are slowly improving the information flow and how we manage and release things, but it needed to be fixed a few years ago. It is incredibly frustrating.
I can sympathize with those who defeated the Viet Cong during the Tet Offensive. A combination of terrible perception management at the top, leaders who squandered the trust of the American people, and inaccurate reporters turned a tactical and even strategic level victory into a major strategic setback.
And out of curiousity, does anyone know when the number of casualties became the sole metric of progress, with any number greater than zero being a defeat? I'm not being glib or heartless, these are my brothers and sister and I recognize too many of their names, but this war and that is what comes with it. Maybe it is the absence of other recognizable metrics. I don't know.
Maybe Grenada, Panama, Iraq I, Kosovo, and Iraq 1.5 raised expectations.
I don't think everything suddenly changed in Somalia. It already had changed at that point.

I guess that brings me to the next issue. I was chatting with a friend via Gmaila, and she mentioned that if nothing else, I'll have time to transition back to civillain life between getting home and starting school. All I could think was "Yuck." Sorry. Of the many things I can't wait for when I get home, being a civillian again just isn't one of them. For all the gripes about the military bureacracy and some of the silly stictures of military life, I like the shared sense of purpose and helping to carry the burden. When I get home I'll be a spectator again.
I'll find ways to be useful. Otherwise I'll go nuts.
Don't be confused. I am very much looking forward to being home. But I realize I'll miss this too.