Dumpy.

I'm feeling rather dumpy today. There are reasons for these feelings of mine, but I don't know. I guess everything is rather dull as well.

Something that I've been thinking about lately is that I really am annoyed at the Army. Maybe somehow it's all my fault... but really I feel as though my hands are tied.

The number one, most important reason why I wanted to be in the Army was to live overseas. This is what I wanted. I wanted to move back to Europe for a little while. Like three years or so. In fact, that's the only way I would stay in the Army in the first place. Even if I had to go straight to a unit that is deploying... at least I'd be coming home to somewhere cool like Germany or something. I really don't understand how after spending a tour in Kuwait that I got no choice on where I got stationed when I got back. In fact, my branch manager didn't even tell me I was to be posted at Drum... I found out by looking at my ORB and seeing my projected assignment.

Somebody please tell me how I can get to Germany. Somebody's got to need a SIGO.

Gas Shortage in the ATL

I don't particularly find humor and others' misery, but I did find the gas shortage thing in ATL particularly funny. My parents live there, if you didn't know, and they were rather worried about running out of gas.

Some pics:
http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-91819

Maybe we should start walking more? Or people in ATL should stop driving so many SUVs.

Even my boyfriend's jeep takes two and a half tanks where my car takes one.

I also find it funny that they are trying to limit people to $50 of gas... Hell, $50 doesn't get you much nowadays.

I guess he's aight

Joe Biden is an SU Law Alum. I guess he's alright. He was elected to the Senate at 29... Damn. Makes me feel somewhat unaccomplished.

He was kind of a hottie back in the day... I go for a man with a nice smile.

<--JOE

Seeing this picture, I should probably post some from Lauren's wedding. Lauren looked amazing too. Though I admit, I'm kind of annoyed that I gained a tad of weight before the event. I hate how my arms didn't look like their lovely defined selves; that will be quickly remedied. I'm rather worried about next year too. I'm curious as to how I'm not going to turn into a blimp over there. I'm kind of hoping that the food sucks, not on any part of our cooks, because they're always great. But you can't make filet mignon out of rump roast. Anyway, I need to go fix somebody's computer. What the hell is new.

Article

You've gotta read this article:



http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1841108,00.html



Would something like this then render speech obsolete? Like the kind where you sit down and talk to somebody in front of you? Think of how this could work with cell phones in the future.

Say what?

So... I've noticed a lot of attention on something the public likes to call drones. They're talking about what us military people call UAVs. Rightly so, we're keeping with the military tradition of acronyms. Anyway, UAV stands for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. Types of UAVs include: the Raven, Predetor, Warrior, Global Hawk, etc. One of the most misleading things that is said lately is that UAV's are, as described in wikipedia is that they are "unpiloted aircraft." This is however, untrue. Someone is controlling almost all these aircraft at all times. Saying that they are unpioleted is te same as saying that if a plane is on autopilot, then they are unpiloted. Believe it or not, because there isn't someone in these aircraft, doesn't mean they aren't piloted. Soldiers who fly these things even get flight pay while operating them. This sort of makes sense to me:

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1842216-2,00.html

Having the same training as a guy that actually flies in a plane doesn't seem to make sense when you well... don't.

Econ 101 and the D word

I just wanted to make sure got this little tidbit out there.

http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/17/news/economy/colvin_recession.fortune/index.htm




This article defines pretty much what I've been confused about. What the hell are they talking about? Remember this quote?

Obama called the fall of both Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch & Co. "the most serious financial crisis since the Great Depression" of the 1930s.

Whoa! Holy crap... There isn't a single QUARTER of loss of Real GDP. What does that mean, oh, no recession maybe?

(http://www.gmanews.tv/story/120523/Obama-blasts-Republicans-on-economy)

Maybe if those wealthy A-holes had any sense of business ethics and weren't so worried about lining their pockets... This stuff doesn't happen over night people. If this was happening, it has been happening for a while now.

About recession/depression:

http://economics.about.com/cs/businesscycles/a/depressions.htm

People other than me have been talking about this as well.

http://sbvor.blogspot.com/2008/04/recession-of-2008-that-wasnt.html



The top article pretty much sums it up though. People believe that we're in a recession (even though we're not... and not depression note, and not even close) because of often media and pop-culture it seems like. And what pisses me off even more is that Obama is capitalizing on people's opinions, similar to how Bill Clinton won against G H Bush. Regardless if Clinton was capitalizing on (and spreading) ignorance, he still won the election, even if George was right.



My Dad once told me that his fav president was G H too... There must have been good reason for that. I mean my Dad was standing next to Regan when he said, "tear down this wall." He was also there for the infamous "I am a jelly doughnut like you" translation blunder. Oh wait... that was JFK. Oh well. I wonder if he was there for "You can tell a lot about a fellow's character by the way he eats jelly beans." Anyway... I guess the moral of the story is that you say what people want to hear, not what is actually true.



Since I have ADHD, I figure I'd add this too on the tangent... Abe Lincoln's quote: "If I were two-faced, would I be wearing this one?" That guy did have quite the mug.



As for the presidential election, I really did get pissed off by the Great Depression remark. Granted, pretty much none of the people who would read this would have existed back then, or even parents would have existed, I think depression and the history we have learned about that black time in American history is scary stuff.

Bottom line: The problem lies with Congress. Why is everybody so obsessed with the President? The problem lies with that vacation-taking group called the Legislative branch. And I understand it. I don't know who my congressman/woman is. Hell, I don't even live in the state where I'm registered...

That's the bomb

I was looking for some of my fav soaps for my mom to send me while I was deployed and came across this post/review for some of the products:

3 out of 5:
"I love your bath bombs (hate the militaristic name, though). However, it takes way too long to receive your products! Thanks, alicebdavis@gmail.com" Date: 4/29/2008 Rated by Buyer: alicedavis4

Ok. What the hell is wrong with you? Why would you post something so ridiculous?? Just so we get this out there... Bomb is not always militaristic. In fact, many times bomb is even used is not in a military-like way. Like the bombing of the World Trade center. Or the bombing of the USS Cole. Or the bombing of the subway in Madrid. All of the above were not military in nature at all. Violent, yes. But lets see what else bomb can mean.

How about to bomb a test?

Or these are the definitions presented on dictionary.com:

-An explosive weapon detonated by impact, proximity to an object, a timing mechanism, or other means.
-An atomic or nuclear bomb. Used with the.
-A container capable of withstanding high internal pressure.
-A vessel for storing compressed gas.
-A portable, manually operated container that ejects a spray, foam, or gas under pressure.
-A large amount of money.
-A great success.

In football slang I know it's a forward pass.

Dealing with computers, it's a a spectacular program or system failure... AKA BLUE
SCREEN OF DEATH!

In Jazz it's a sudden, unexpected accent or rhythmic figure played by a drummer during a performance. I really do like jazz too. I should download more on iTunes. I like swing too. That's fun music.

Talking about nuclear power, its a lead or lead-lined container for transporting and storing radioactive materials.

Sometimes I just enjoy making fun of other people. I make fun of myself all the time. If I do that, surely, everybody else is game.

Thought of what I wanted to say earlier.

Pics from promotion... yeah.  I think I remember what I was going to write earlier too.  Did you see that the two presidential candidates raised like 63 and 47 million a piece?  Too bad all that money won't be going to all the people who really need it.  Talking about all the schools that suck and need funding and all the kids who are in 8th grade and can't read... 110 million would probably help, right? 

Nothing witty comes to mind.

All I really wanted to say was that I feel fat today... But I figured that was tacky. I know there were a couple of things I wanted to say, but at this poing in time, nothing comes to mind. Oh well.

Feel lil' guity.

I wanted to quickly clear something up for somebody that I might have confused. I feel rather bad about my mix of words in an earlier post. Of course, I never intend to intentionally hurt anybody with my postings on here, but I was out of line.

I have loved before. I think to say that I have never loved before is an unfair understatement. I have loved before. I've just never been in love. I see a difference between the two. For a perfect example, I loved Brad, the man that lied to me about being married and having a pregnant wife back in the states. For those of you that don't know the story, please don't make me rehash it. Here's the recap: Met a guy in Kuwait. Tall, blonde, blue eyed all-American type. Had a good sense of humor, was very charming, Brandi falls for him. Lies first about his age. Then tells me he has a psycho ex that does all sorts of things to him. Lies about his dog, of all things. Tells me his sister got the dog fat when it was really his wife... ok anyway. I was with this guy for nine months before he bothered to tell me that he was married and had a son. Oh, did I mention that his son was born while we were together? Oh yeah, forgot about that. He moved up to Drum to be with me or escape his wife, who I'm pretty sure wasn't as psycho as he says at all... Probably was pissed that her husband had an affair while he was deployed while she was pregnant with their son. Yeah. I would have buried him, not just tried to ruin his career. And you know, its not even like he fessed up about any of this. I had to pry it out of him. I found out that he was not 28 as he said but in fact 32 by looking at his ID because his lies didn't add up. My best friend noticed that a woman named Nancy was calling his cell non-stop while she was staying with me. He wasn't honest with a single thing. And even now, I still don't know who he is. The BLUF, to use an Army cliche, is that Brad not once loved me. He might have been attached to me, but lying to me about pretty much his entire life tells me that he didn't love me at all. And this isn't my opinion, its a fact that the person you love you are honest with... Maybe telling little white lies isn't that big of a deal (does this make me look fat?), but the whole life story is not right at all. Even now it makes me sick to think about.

Good news is that I've reentered the dating pool and am dating a dashing (he he) young officer in my unit, who is a huge charmer. Even my Mom likes him. You know what's even more surprising is that Dixie likes him! I am content now. He has some crazy friends, but I adore them.

Anyway, now that I feel shitty, I guess I'm going to go eat lunch at home. I feel like I haven't gotten a thing done this morning.

I should be balding with the amount of hair falling out of my head.

Have you ever shedded a lot? I do a lot for some reason. Maybe it's stress.

Anyway, I'm getting kind of annoyed at work. I may not be the brightest crayon in the box. But I'm sick of people acting like I'm dumb. I'm about to start getting nasty with people who start lecturing me like I'm an idiot. I'm freakin young yes, I haven't had people to properly mentor me or whatever cliche Army way you want to say it, I've learned just about everything I know by screwing something up because most people would rather see me fail. I'd like to think I'm just getting all the fuck ups out of the way and someday soon maybe things will start going better because I will have screwed up enough for their to be not so many places where I could fuck up anymore... Ugh. If that makes any sense at all...

This whole thing is giving me a rather large headache. That seems to be the theme for this week. Week of many headaches.

I've got a case of the Mondays.

I need another vacation. Things have been a bit hectic. I have a pretty large headache.

So, I got a nice phone call and email from a guy I thought would be finally out of my life. It was a great feeling to have finally forgotten about somebody like that. I really have no love for somebody like that. Here's a sample of an email:

I want my AC, two books of cds, and anything else I own put back in my office this week. Funny, by allowing you to use that stuff, I'm still taking better care of you than you ever did me. You'll always be the girl who abandoned the man she supposedly loved while deployed. whore

Mind you, this is the same guy I sent like five care packages, even though we weren't together. But I never did anything. In retrospect, ever talking to him was a BAD idea on my part. Have you ever had your instincts tell you something that you decided to completely ignore and then it come back to bite you in the ass? Well, it came back and comped off most of my ass in this case. I've been kicking myself in the ass for not listing to my gut. My gut told me, "You don't want him. He's not your type. He's... annoying." I should have known better when the first lie surfaced. It's crazy how not once did he fess up. I had to pry every one, lie that is, out of him. I am glad to have moved on with my life... I feel like a whole new person without such a drag of a person around.

And then I get this email later in the day:

I'm sorry for calling you that. it's just hard. Everything reminds me of you. I'm glad you're happy

I'm happy to say that I really don't think about him at all.

Somebody like this makes me not want to ever be with anybody at all. I went to Lauren's wedding this weekend and was asked if I ever wanted to get married at some point. As happy as my dear friend seems, things in my life are not like that. As much as I once wanted to get married at one point in my life, I haven't figured out what the point is for me. I haven't been with somebody who really has made me believe that marriage is a worthwhile endeveur. There have been a couple of men who have once or twice sparked my interest and were what most women would call marriage material... But lets be honest. What the hell do I have to offer a guy? "Hey, nice to meet you, we may fall in love, but in 3 months I'm going to the other side of the world, in one of the most remote, obsecure countries in this grand world of ours... and I might be able to call or email most of the time, but I won't be able to see you for another at least 6-8 months (preferably 8 just bc it works easier to have like 4 months left when you get back...) And then when I get back, I'll likely be going somewhere else; I'm trying to get into law school somewhere in the south where I can be close to my fam for at least a little while and then who knows." Ugh. My life is depressing. I want to take that step out into the unknown, but with my heart the way it is, I don't know if I can handle getting it crushed/liquified again.

I don't feel like I'll be able to keep a guys interest as it is. This is Brandi being depressed. I'm sorry I had to let you into a not so pretty part of me :(

Politics. No. Really.

When I saw Sarah Palin on the tube for the first time, it was due to her pregnancy with her fifth child. In my mind, I saw a successful mother of four about to do number five. Wow. That's what I've always wanted... I really want a family (someday maybe) and would really like to have some sort of career to speak of. But then, just as she breaks as the VP nominee, we hear about her seventeen-year old daughter who is five months pregnant. Opps. Yeah, big opps. But what did I want to say here really...? I really wanted to mention the fact that while in many other countries, the rates are a lot lower. My only experience is with Belgium where I don't remember any girls being pregnant in my school. And there, I can say for sure that the reason why they weren't pregnant wasn't because they didn't have sex. Sex was more accepted I guess... Everything from more acceptance of the body which could be shocking to most Americans... Like for example that they had "Show girls" of all movies on regular TV
(reminder: Commercials had naked women in them too)

I would say I felt as though many young women had better self-esteem too.

Check out the figures:
17 Belgium: 287.051 births per 1 million people
1 United States: 1,671.63 births per 1 million people

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/hea_tee_pre_percap-health-teenage-pregnancy-per-capita
DEFINITION: Number of births to women aged below twenty. Data for 1998. Per capita figures expressed per 1 million population. Convienetly, this was the year that I was living in Belgium at the time. So I do remember what it was like.

Want to get grossed out? Here you are. Numbers for USA are rather skewed, to say the least.

http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/publications/factsheet/fsest.pdf
Just something to think about. But I can certainly say that just because you're a teen mother doesn't mean you're "bad" or whatever. That's so stupid. I really don't think you're a bad parent if your kid gets pregnant either... Anywho.