Christmas and such

Christmas was great - family, friends, lots of not-so-productive time. A few quick thoughts from over Christmas...

Rocky Balboa was worth the wait. Frickin' sweet, you know, if you love freedom. That said, it could have been better, but it was still sweet.
The Guardian was surprisingly good. I wasn't too sure about it going in, but it rocked.

Sitting on the plane for an extra 2 1/2 hours yesterday trying to get back to Utah wasn't fun, but those Texas thunderstorms sure are impressive.

Having a nephew is great.

This video by my friend Dan was the funniest thing I've seen in a long time. Good job Dan.

Oh, and whoever provided the funding to make Church Ball shoot be hurt.

Just like his uncle

So my sister just sent me a picture of my nephew Caden in the camo I bought him. Pretty dang cute.

In other news, Kevin Lambert (my roommate) and I performed a super sweet song last night at a mini christmas talent show. Kevin was on the guitar, and I played the harmonica. Basically it rocked.

And I'm flying home to Dallas on Thursday, unfortunately, right in the middle of the BYU bowl game. Hopefully I'll be able to see the 2nd half.

28

So yesterday I turned 28 years of age. The celebration basically consisted of going to Fuddruckers with some friends, then having friends drop by the apartment throughout the night to have rootbeer floats and say hi.

Up and Down

My week's been up and down. Here are some short reasons of why...

Bad - Work is driving me nuts. They can't keep me busy. That's the problem with actually doing your work efficiently.
Good - Ken and I went snowboarding all day Friday at the Canyons.
Bad - My sister Staci continues to be sick, and the doctors don't know what it is.
Good - I went and saw The Fountain, which rocked, but I don't think most people would like.
Bad - So I tried to get the alignment on my truck fixed. 3 hours and $85 later, it still pulls right.
Good - I went and saw Paradise Now at the International Cinema at BYU. Very interesting film if you don't live in a bubble.
Bad - I'm socially inept when around a girl I like.

So yeah... that's my life.

Gateway to the West

So for Thanksgiving I went to my Grandmother's house in St. Louis. I had a blast, got to see not only my immediate family but also some cousins I don't see very often, and all their kids. It was a lot of fun playing with the newest great-grandchildren, eating, sleeping, and eating some more.


On Friday my parents, brother and sister and I went to the St. Louis Arch. I had been once like 15 years ago, and I think if I don't go again for 15 years I'll be OK. Maybe 30.
The Arch itself is beautiful, and a very nice monument to Jefferson and the westward expansion that used St. Louis as a starting point. I think the park at the base of the monument is much nicer than going to the top, but I figure it's just something that has to be done.

Bad Horse

The weekend is over, and once again, I have a crazy story to tell...
So Saturday I went hiking with T-Rav. We decided to go hike out to the hot pots up Spanish Fork canyon in the afternoon, get back sometime in the early evening. So we take off, hike out there, see a few naked people (I think there was some man-man action going on in one of the pots...) take a look-see but didn't jump in, and hike back out. While driving out, we notice a bunch of moving shadows off to the left of the car - cattle, deer? No, horses. Then 4-5 horses came running across the street right for us. Trav skidded and swerved, but one horse went skidding right across the asphalt into the passenger side fender. His wild horsey eye was about a foot away from mine. It was pretty nuts. Anyways, we're both fine, but trav's truck has seen better days...


And the horse? He just got up, limped for a second, then ran off with the herd.

Funeral: Part 2

So I just got back from Las Vegas. It was a good trip. I was able to visit with Aunts, Uncles, and cousins. I got to see by Grandmother laid to rest. I got 2 days off from work. And I got back just before the end of family home evening...

My sister sent me this sweet picture of my nephew and I at the viewing last Friday. I think it's pretty cool. Having a nephew is great, because I can play with him, and then hand him back when he's stinky or crying.

Then, on my way back from the burial in Vegas, I went off-roading a little in the Utah desert. I went and explored the ghost town of Lund, north of Enterprise Utah. Here's me when I stopped in the middle of the road for a pic, in the middle of an empty America.

The Funeral: part 1

So today was part 1 of my Grandmother's funeral. It went well. It was really nice to see all sorts of Aunts and Uncles and cousins. Now that both grandparents on my mother's side are gone I wonder if we'll still have family reunions and get-togethers.

It was overall a touching experience, and I learned some stuff. For example, I didn't know that my grandmother was born in Idaho. I also learned that not only did all her sons earn Eagle Scout, but ALL of her grandsons (~15?) earned Eagle as well, and so far the oldest great-grandson has already earned his Eagle. That's pretty nuts.

A lot of people asked about my experience in Iraq. One or two asked me why I wasn't married yet. And my immediate family was shocked that I shaved the beard. I look like I'm 16 now...

Adventure of the Day: Stewart Falls

OK, so Stewart Falls isn't anything too crazy, but it's still a nice hike up by Aspen Grove and the Mt. Timpanogos trailhead. The truth is, I wimped out. I had desires to hike Timp today, but I turned around. It was raining, and snowing, and I wasn't really wanting that today. Clouds I could handle, but not rain. But the hike out to Stewart Falls was good - about an hour and a half total time, and not too much rain.

Life and stuff

So my grandmother just passed away tonight. It's tough to say goodbye, but it was definitely her time. Past her time, really. She's been basically vegetable since moving up here from Vegas two years ago. So sometime in the next week or so I'll be doing funeral stuff. Probably head down to Vegas for the burial, so she can be buried with my grandfather.
Here's a sweet pic of my grandma and I a few years ago when I stopped by for a surprise visit at her old nursing home in Vegas.

It's Truth

"There are two kinds of people in this world that go around beardless—boys and women, and I am neither one".
—Greek saying

A Cougar Fan

I am a BYU cougar fan. For life. But, what I witnessed on Saturday at BYU's game against UNLV disgusted me.

Most of the game was great. It was a beautiful day, my buddy Trevor Perkins and I had great seats on the east side, BYU kicked trash. But during the 3rd quarter, with BYU aleady ahead by 5 touchdowns, UNLV's quarterback took a bad hit and got hurt. He was on the ground, not moving, for about 5-10 minutes. They eventually had to remove him via stretcher, but during the wait what did the fans do? The wave.

You gotta be kidding me. The fetchin' wave. Now, the Alumni section on the west side eventually stopped when they saw the hand stretcher being pulled out. Everyone else didn't stop until they drove the drivable stretcher up next to him. Like they couldn't tell something was wrong when BYU's trainer was out there for 10 minutes.

Throwing tortillas, booing, yelling at refs, and all the other stuff that BYU's admim repeatedly tries to tell us is 'unsportsman like' is part of a gameday atmosphere. But doing the wave during an injury? During a serious injury? What if he had broken his neck? What if he had snapped his back? The man becomes a parapalegic while BYUs ignorant trash fans do the fetchin' wave. Luckily, he only broke and dislocated his ankle.

I am and always will be a BYU fan. But that was jacked up.

Balad

Balad is in trouble.

I've heard the base I was at has been having a lot of attacks too...

Some interesting links

Here some interesting things I've seen on the internet lately...

This man and his son are incredible.

I don't know how many of you saw the horrible fight in the University of Miami football game this past weekend, but this article about it was excellent.

Book Review: The Road

For those of you haven't read any of Cormac McCarthy's books, you are truly missing out on one of best writers of American Fiction. I personally wouldn't describe most American writers these days as writers of American Fiction, but rather feeders of American consumerism. Tom Clancy, Grisham, and Michael Crighton: all storytellers, sometimes short, sometimes long, but rarely do you feel the pain, the fear, the pale sun on cracked lips that McCormac makes you feel. American Fiction -to me- brings sharpened senses of what it feels like to live and be an American, what our darkest dreams are alongside with our brightest hopes, whether it's floating a raft with Tom Sawyer or walking a desolate road with an unnamed man.

Which brings me back to McCarthy and The Road. Wonderfully written, it made me feel as if I were walking the road myself, looking for something to eat, hoping for a safe, warm place to sleep. Be warned: this book is very intense aka scary at parts. But the way McCarthy pulls you in is almost hypnotic. I'd put the book down, only to pick it back up 30 seconds later.

It's new in book stores, but some other very good books by McCarthy are All the Pretty Horses, The Crossing,and Cities of the Plain. His book Blood Meridian is by far the most violent book I've ever read, but just as powerful as the rest.

I highly recommend The Road.

Adventure of the Day: Windmills

After work today I went and visited some of the windmills near Mojave CA. Pretty cool. Of course, almost running out of gas in a rental car on a dirt road in the middle of the Mojave desert, not so cool. But hey, what's life without a little stress?

Adventures in Palmdale

So my weekend had it's ups and downs...

On Friday I spent the day with Jared and Becky Shaver in LA. It was really good to see them - I was amazed at how much little Jonah has grown in the past 3 months.

On Saturday I felt like crap, so I basically sat around most of the day. Disappointing because great weather, and how often am I just sitting around in the high California Desert?

Today I went to a singles ward nearby. I was excited, hoping maybe I could find some people to hang out with. Well, it was pretty bad. Most of the guys were pretty cool. But that was 25 out of the 40 people who showed up. Take out the bishopric and their wives, and we're talking about 8 girls, 3 of which were already spoken for. 5 left. 1 that actually looked and seemed normal. I asked the guys if the odds were always like this, and they said that this was actually a good Sunday, and that it is like this everywhere in the valley. Basically, if you are a man, DO NOT move to Palmdale CA.

Better Diggs

So I've moved to the Courtyard hotel here in Palmdale. It is SOOO much nicer. I'll be around for awhile yet (at least another week) but at least I have a nice room, and I'm only a mile or so from the nearest '24 hr fitness'.

Plus, I'm excited because I should have a few days to explore the Mojave desert.

Oh, and 'Lost' was totally rockin' tonight. I frickin' love that show. If you don't like 'Lost', I question your judgment. Put another way, our tastes differ. Severely.

Ramada

Just in case anyone was wondering: The Ramada Inn in Palmdale, CA is just as gross as every other Ramada Inn in the world.

Skydiving

Here's a sweet video of me skydiving last week. It's pretty long, so hopefully you have fast internet...



Here are links to Travis and Kelly's dives.

Loss of Reason

So today, to celebrate T-Rav's birthday, we went skydiving. It was incredible! I was scared, but it was worth it. It was an incredible rush, even beyond the 'WHAT THE FREAK AM I DOING!" phase I experienced at the door. Eventually I should be getting a video here in the next week or so, but until then, here's a sweet picture of me right after landing.


oh, and i didn't tell my parents until after i had jumped. turns out they weren't upset at all!

dirty utah

If you feel like torturing yourself...
Utah
I felt like throwing up after about 30 seconds... 3:30 was too much. Makes the handlebar look good by comparison.

Handlebar

So, life's been CRAZY the past couple days. But two important items:
1) Over the years, many have wondered where the nickname RyRy came from. Well, it came from a friend named Mike Taylor, who's blog has now been added to my blogroll. Welcome Mike and family.

2) I had a sweet handlebar going on on Saturday. It's gone now, but you can't help but miss it.

Tyra

Here'a another sweet link. You'd better check this out, or else.
Tyra Banks

In Zion

So life has been crazy busy the past few days. This past I went to Zion National Park with some friends from Salt Lake. On Friday I hiked the infamous Angels Landing hike, where you go up this narrow spine several thousand feet in the air. They have chains to help you not fall off and die, for which I was very grateful. I also saw the IMAX film Shackleton's Antartic Adventure. Awesome. Incredible. Then hiked to an overlook called the observation pt.

That night we all met up, then drove to this cow pasture where we spent the night. It rained off and on thru the night, which since I didn't have a tent sent me scurrying into a car at 3:30AM. Then we woke up and hiked the narrows.

Now, I realize that not everyone is quite the outdoors enthusiast that I am - and that's OK. However, regardless of what you're doing in life, you should be prepared both mentally and physically. Some of the people that came to hike the Narrows with us were not prepared, and it wasn't fun dealing with them. We eventually convinced 2 to head back to the trailhead, and things got a lot better from there.

The Narrows was sweet. Doing it in 1 day (16 miles in water) was tough. But it was definitely one of the most prized hikes I've ever done in my life. Beautiful, challenging, and fun.

Alive

I'm alive. Exhausted. I'll try to give a full report tomorrow.

Off to Zion

So I'm off to Zion National Park for the weekend. I'm kinda nervous about it - we're hiking the Narrows, something I've always wanted to do, just never got around to it. But it's with a group of people from Salt Lake, most of which I don't know, so we'll see how it goes. Regardless, it should be sweet to hike it, and a fun chance to make some new friends. I'll let you know how it goes...

Adventure of the Day: Backside of Y Mtn

Happy Labor Day!
I suppose I should be grateful to the AFL and other Labor Unions for the day off... but the capitalist in me thinks those organizations generally benefit people who are unwilling to work hard and efficiently. Nevertheless, I am grateful for the day off.
On my day off, I went to breakfast at this diner here in Provo, called Nate's Diner. It was OK. I thought their biscuits and gravy was a little bland. Kinda turned to paste, which was cool when I was 5.
Then I went hiking around Y Mountain. Pretty sweet hike, one I've done several times, in most every season. Basically, from when I left the Y I didn't see anyone else until I was halfway down to Rock Canyon - pretty empty back there. But! At least there were lots of people hiking the Y (most of which I think were disgusted with my pace as I passed by them...)
Right now I kinda have a headache - we'll see how the night plays out.

The answer

A number of people have asked me how I made that sweet poster. Here's the answer:
Poster Maker . Found via USA Today PopCandy

Nice Legs

Fighting mad

There's this sweet Tim McGraw song, The Cowboy in Me. In the song, he says that he's Got a life that most would love to have, but sometimes I still wake up fightin' mad.

Totally hits me sometimes. I'll just wake up fightin' mad, for no reason! I've been so blessed, but it hits me anyway. Part of this I think is just from being a man. But I believe another part of this comes from a lack of direction in my life. I really don't have too many long term goals right now. No marathons, no half-marathons, no century bike rides, no mountains calling me, nor is anyone really pushing me to do these things. The only real long-term goal I have right now is graduate school in 12 months. Other than that, I feel like I'm just kinda getting along.

Any ideas or suggestions would be welcome.

Things I've learned.

It's been a crazy week, but I've learned a few things I feel inclined to share.

• As a man, one is required to apologize for things that are not his fault, and this is quite often the only way to get back on good terms with someone. Yes, maybe they should apologize, but you still gotta do it.
  
• Being sick is no fun.
• Having nothing to do at work makes it no fun.
• Don't try spitting on a motorcycle at 50+ mph. It doesn't work.
  

Pudding anyone?

Tonight while I was at Macy's Grocery here in Provo I saw a wonderful thing. A young father was shopping with his two young daughters (maybe 3 or 4). One little girl wanted some pudding cups - and let's be honest, who doesn't?

The father, being thrifty, told her to put them away, and she said she really wanted them.
He then told her they couldn't buy them because they didn't have that much money. Her response? That she had two dollars of her own to buy them. He started laughing and told her that 'OK', they'd get the pudding.
It got me smiling pretty good.

Ryan's new toy

Sorry it's been so long between posts. I am alive, and doing well. This past week I bought a motorcycle, and it's been a lot of fun. Right now I'm just trying to practice with it, getting comfortable, etc. It's a lot of fun. I run my errands all over town on it, and hopefully I'll get comfortable enough to use it when I'm meeting my car pool buddies for work.

In other news, I got a slight flu Wed. afternoon, so I took Thursday off as sick leave. I also coordinated a massive family home evening bonfire on Monday. About 60-70 people showed up.

This is pretty sweet

Snakes on a Plane
That's a pretty sweet link. I highly recommend it.

Other things that are sweet:
Motorcycles
National Parks

Things that aren't sweet:
Having your 1 month free pass to Italy cancelled on you.
Being bored at work.

At Home in Dallas

So I've been home for a few days. My brother Jeffrey got home from his mission to Uruguay - it's been fun to see him. Yesterday I got to ride my Dad's motorcycle - a Honda VTX 1300. Pretty dang big. I think I'm going to get a bike, but something a little smaller, like a 750.
I've also spent a lot of time hanging out with my nephew Caden Thomas Crofts. That's me and him spending quality time together yesterday.

Also, some of you already know, but the Job called me Thursday and told me my Italy trip was cancelled. I'm bummed about this, but figure that everything worked out too specific and too directly for the Lord not to have a part in this. For some reason, it seems I'm meant to stay in Provo for another year. I'm looking forward to it.

United Airlines

After 3 hours of sleep I woke up and went to the airport to visit my family in Dallas. Now, to drive non-stop from Provo to Dallas would take somewhere around 20 hours, so I guess it still worked in my favor, but 13 hours seems like to long.

United Airlines had maintenance problems that delayed me by almost 3 hours, then I missed my original connection from Denver. Anyways, I made it home, but it took far too long. I'm voting United as Ryan's least favorite airline of the day.

It also took far too long for me to make it back home. It's been 7 months since I've been home, and it feels good.

Life is Crazy

Life is pretty crazy right now.
This Thursday I fly home to Dallas for a few days to see my brother Jeff get back from his mission to Uruguay.
Then I get back Monday, go to work for a bit on Tuesday, and leave for Italy on Wed.

Oh, and in the meantime, I need to figure out
A) Am I staying in the same apartment this fall, or moving across the hall?
B) How to tell this girl I've been making eyes at that I would really like to write her while I'm gone, and perhaps court her when I get back?
C) How I'm going to take everything I need for Italy and/or the Middle East, while still having plenty of room for souvenirs.

3 days, 3 changes

So it would seem that I WILL be going overseas - thus eliminating my need to decide make a decision on where to live. Since I leave ~2 weeks from today (Thurs), and I'm going home to Dallas next week, I don't have time to look for a new place. I'm going to be staying here at the Omni with Ken.

Now, I say that, but tomorrow I'll be finalizing the details. I'm actually excited about this - it should be for 3-4 weeks, up to maybe 5 if things get crazy. The pay won't be that great, but when you're being paid normal salary + bonuses to work 40 hrs/week in Europe for 3-4 weeks, you take it and run.

If, come December, I'm really itching for a change, I'll move then. But this will give me a chance to travel, a chance to continue seeing my friends, a chance to spend some time with my Brother Jeff this fall, and a chance to see where things will go with this girl down here.

Provo or Salt Lake

So it was decided today that I'm not going overseas again - at least, not anytime soon. The next major decision for me to make (assuming I don't get into Law School this fall, and at this point it doesn't look like it) is whether or not to move up to Salt Lake, or stay down in Provo.
There's good reasons for both.
Provo: Don't have to move my stuff.
Already have friends here.
Don't have to look for an apartment.
Some family around. Brother Jeff will be back this fall.
Some girls I'm interested in right now live here.
SLC: Much closer to work. Save $ and time.
Fresh start socially.
Women who are older and more focused on dating/marriage?

Basically I'm going to pray about it, and try to feel what's right. It greatly depends on whether or not this girl thing pans out. If not, I might just say Adios to Provo.

Back Over

So I have several big decisions coming up - primarily, should I go back out into the field. They want me, and I told them I was willing, but now I'm not so sure. Here's a few reasons for my indecision.
1) I've only been home 45 days - and now they want me to go out for another 100? I would really like to be home for a while.
2) Shaky game plan. They haven't decided all the details, so this may be premature, but they don't even know where I'd be going, and exactly how everything would workout isn't decided. It sounds like I might not be living on a base, but rather just in a nearby city - not an opportunity I'd desire in any part of Arabia or thereabouts.
3) Money. It all comes down to the money. At the moment, it sounding like I'd earn almost half as much as I earned in Iraq - NOT COOL. Sure, it's a lot of money anyway - I've been blessed. But right now I don't need the money, and if they want me to go they need to make it worth my while.
4) While my love life ain't the greatest, I think it's getting better, and it certainly won't continue if I go back over.

Basically the only reasons I'd go out again this soon is if A) The money is enough to help me get thru grad school without big debt or B) They really really need me.
Things that would make me tell them to take a hike: dangerous, crappy living, relatively low pay, a girl.

Laguna Beach

So my internet has been down for a few days, but it's back, and so am I. It's late, but a few thoughts on my trip to LA to Reno to Provo.

1) Laguna Beach is gorgeous! AND! I've been blessed with some amazing friends. Jared and Becky picked me up and took me to the beach, where dolphins were swimming 20 meters away from us. I got to play with their son, baby Jonah, and stayed with them that night. The next day they took me up to Oxnard via Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and Belair. Way sweet. I wish they lived closer.

2) Having a nephew is cool. It was way fun being in the baby blessing, and just holding the little guy. He still sleeps a lot, but I think he's going to be a lot of fun when he's about 6 months older.

3) Yosemite National park must be visited at length sometime in the future.

4) Reno: Nice place to visit, but no real desire to stay.

City of Angels

So, tomorrow I'm taking off for LA. I'm going to assist in the blessing of my sister's son, and help them move, and hang out with Jared and Becky and their son Jonah. Here's a picture from the last time I saw Jared and Becky.

Then I'm travelling with my Ma, Pa, and little sister to Reno to see my Grandfather, and then back here to the Utah.

In other news, I went to the Fullmer's Boxing gym yesteday - they tried to convince me to have an amateur fight on the 15th. I was thinking about it, and was going to spar tonight to see how I'm moving, how I'd do. But I don't feel particularly good right now, and wouldn't have much time to train while in LA, so I decided to pass on that.
I think this vacation will be good for me.

Home alone

So my roommates deserted me this week. Something about a wedding in California involving Kirk's brother. So I'm Home alone, and looking for things to do. Right now, that means cleaning up and throwing away lots of stuff. I did fit in time for a trip to the Mormon temple this morning.
However, at Elisabeth's suggestion, I did make it country dancing this week, and it was a wonderful time. Way too hot, but still way fun.
Other than that, not much going on. Oh, and Wal*Mart doesn't carry Mentos! What is wrong with this world?!? That's what I get for trying to buy a product from an EVIL corporation.

To the girl who almost rear-ended me today:

I pray when you slam into someone other than me, that your phone arm gets maimed and that some sense gets knocked into you.

Ready to make nice

Well, I didn't make it country dancing this week. I went to the Fullmer Boxing Gym instead. I walked in and the Fullmer Bros all asked me where I had been, to which I responded 'Iraq.' Maybe next week I'll dance. Maybe.

In other news, I'm ending my boycott of the Dixie Chicks. I still don't agree with their politics, but if I refused to be entertained by anyone whose politics or morals aren't in synch with mine I'd be 1) Very closed minded and thus ignorant or 2) Stuck reading material relating to the Glorious Revolution of 1776. Not that that doesn't make for an exciting night, but...

So with that in mind, here are some links to some music I recommend...
http://www.myspace.com/dixiechicks
http://www.myspace.com/johnnycash

Eco-Challenge

So today I completed my first triathlon, but not just any tri, today I did the BYU Football Triathlon, aka the Eco-Challenge. Basically it went like this (for me - some people are a lot faster).
4 AM - wake up
5:05 - swim 1 mile in a lane with 4 other guys. big football player guys.
6 - bike over to LaVell Edwards Stadium, run every stair
7 - start biking up to Squaw Peak overlook. mountain bikes only - no road bikes.
8:30 - rest for a minute at the top of Squaw Peak, then ride to the top of South Fork canyon (up past Bridal Veil, Vivian, and South Fork parks)
10 - turn around at South Fork, now it's on to Aspen Grove
11:30 - Aspen Grove. Now run/hike to Stewart Falls, then on to Arrowhead Peak (in Sundance Ski Resort). And jump across some streams and stuff.
12:45 - take an extended break 'cause I'm about to pass out
1:26 - shake Bronco Mendenhall's hand as I cross the finish line.

So basically I'm dead tired now. I'm about to collapse as I write this. Since I was wearing spandex-like stuff, I had to be a little picky on which picture I could post and maintain my 'Family friendly' rating. But here ya go. This is me after 8hrs and 21 minutes of racing. If you look closely, you can see those dead sexy sweat lines across my chest.

This weeks Aspirations

So I've determined that next Wednesday I'm going country dancing. Once upon a time I went often - it's been a long time though. Hopefully I'll get a date - but if not I'll just go stag. Good clean fun.
Also, this Saturday I'm going to participate in the BYU football team's ECO-challenge. I'm not sure of everything that will be involved just yet, but it's going to be intense. They had a short 'screening' before they would let me sign up. There's a meeting about it on Friday that I'm going to - should learn more then.
I had been hoping this weekend to visit with my Grandmother while she's in Colorado, but I'd have to drive all the way to Colorado Springs, only to turn right back around. So ECO-challenge it is.
Hopefully afterword I can find some young las to heal my wounds...

Adventure of the Day: Big Springs

Today's adventure was mountain biking up Provo Canyon, to a place called Big Springs. I've decided I'm way out of shape for mountain biking in the mountains. I seemed to do fine last week in Moab, but I felt like I couldn't breath up on the trail. Plus, I've been slacking off on my endurance cardio stuff. Boxing drills and stuff are intense, but just not the same.
Also, in exciting news, I signed up to take 'Motorcycle Education' in July. Should be way fun. And my sister did have a little boy - his name is Caden, and apparently he's doing very well.

Uncle Ry

So apparently they induced my sister Kristi into labor a few hours ago. If everything goes right, I should be an uncle here in a few hours.
While I'm not sure what exactly my duties as an uncle will entail, I have some ideas.
1) Buy him an outfit - a camoflauge outfit.
2) Tickle him.
3) Play video games with him.
4) Teach him at least 1 word mommy and daddy won't like.
5) Be in California in July for his blessing.
6) Hold him.

Now, I know that the video games might have to wait a few years - that's OK. I'm patient. In the meantime I'll just hope that everything runs nice and smooth.
PUSH! HARDER! BREATH!
I HATE THIS!
YOU did this to ME!
EPIDURAL!
Oh! He's beautiful!

Moab and stuff

So this weekend was crazy. We (Ken, Kirk, Britney, and myself) went to Moab, UT, on Friday night. It was good times - I had this massive foil dinner, the stars were beautiful, nice campfire. A little warm, but really a very nice night.
The next morning we rode a trail called 'Fins and things'. It was tough, took us about 3 1/2 hours. Some slick rock, some sand, and some dirt. Not nearly as technical as the 'Slickrock' trail, but a good trail.
I got back and immediately headed off to the Rodeo up near Grantsville. Worst Cowboys I've ever seen, but it was still fun.

So today I read an interesting article on USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2006-06-04-iraq-doctors-cover_x.htm
It's all about the hospital at Balad Air Base. The Dr. Bishoff quoted in the article was my Mormon group leader while I was there.

Tomorrow's activity will be searching for a 21 year old that is missing in a canyon near here (Rock Canyon). I, along with T-Rav and perhaps Ken, are going to try and lend a hand to the search and rescue efforts. But, since he's been missing since Thursday morning, the chances aren't very good.

Time to think

So I've now been back a week and had a little time to reflect on the experience over in Iraq. It's been a nice week, but kinda hard too.
I feel like going to Iraq has helped me become a better man. Helped me to understand the war not from the politician's view or the media's view, but simply from the point of view of a civilian embedded with U.S. troops. Going certainly gave me some much needed technical experience, a chance to learn how the military works, and learn what life is like at a forward military base. Plus, I got paid well for it.
The toughest part wasn't the mortar fire, but rather the loneliness. Being confined to 12 square miles wasn't really all that hard - it's not like there was anywhere else in Iraq I wanted to go. It was just not having my friends and family around that was tough.
Being back has been a little rough, but certainly not bad. I mean, for the past 3 months I've had a very defined existence, to make sure my equipment ran correctly. And because I was able to maintain that existence a lot of people all over the world were able to sleep in peace. It's nice knowing I helped, in a small way, protect them.
Back here, I have no such direct purpose. I suppose in the long term, my job here in Utah does the same thing, but much less directly.
Anyway, this has been far too somber a post. I'm going to Moab tomorrow to go mountain biking. It's gonna be sweet.
This will in all likelyhood be my last post about Iraq, unless something else is just knawing at me. I'd love to talk to anyone about my experience over there, what I learned and saw, but it will probably be on an individual basis.

Baggin' a Squaw

So for Memorial Day I went with my roommate Ken, T-Rav, his wife Kelly, and her sister Krust (it's really Christi, but you know...) and hiked Squaw Peak in Provo. This has been a hike I've wanted to do for a long time, just hadn't gotten around to it. It was good. A nice return to hiking after living at 200ft for the past 3 months. The hike took about 4 hours, so was probably around 8 miles long (4 each way).
Then I went to a Bar-B-Q and saw a whole lotta friends I hadn't seen in a long time. It seems that not only are most of my friends now married, they also either already have kids or are expecting.

Defying the Laws of Physics

I'm back.
It was a long trip. From the Air Force base in Kuwait, I took a bus to the Kuwait International Airport. After stumbling around for a few minutes, I finally hooked up with a travel agent who got me tickets all the way back to Salt Lake City. But, between this and the security guys going through all my luggage, I ended up missing my flight to London.
So I got a hotel in downtown Kuwait City, and crashed. I enjoyed the rest of the day napping, eating, and wandering around downtown. Walked down to Kuwait Bay, at the North end of the Perian Gulf.

The next day I woke up at 5 AM, got going to the airport, caught my flight, and off I went. 7 hours to London, then 8 hours to Chicago, then a long delay in Chicago, and 3 hours back to Salt lake. Trav and Kel were kind enough to pick me up at 2 AM when I rolled in exhausted.
All told, I travelled about 32 hours. 30 of which were in 1 day.
Umm... there was some discussion as to whether or not the blog will continue. It will. It probably won't be every day, but rather once or twice a week. Hopefully some of you will continue to read and enjoy hearing about my experiences.

Kuwait

So I finally left Balad. I took a good look around before I got on the plane - I doubt I'll be back in Iraq anytime soon. After sitting around for ~5 hours, I left Balad about 4 in the afternoon and flew to a US Air Force base in Kuwait. Now I have to wait between 6 and 10 hours for some grunt to run my passport over to the Kuwaiti officials, get it stamped, bring it back, so I can get off base and get to the international airport. I've been waiting about 5 so far - I'll probably go check on it in a few minutes.
Anyways, here's the plan right now. Get the stamp, go to the airport in Kuwait City, get a flight for either London or Frankfurt. Get there, go to a hotel, and rest for awhile - maybe go look around at stuff, and arrange my flight back to Salt Lake. Then get back. But! I figure somewhere in there, I'll probably spend a day site seeing, depending on flight times and such (I'm already over 50 hours for the week, so I should be OK).
See ya'll real soon.

I hate this

I'm still in Balad. After a horrendous experience last night (I was up well over 32 hours trying to get a flight- only to be kicked to the curb with nothing), tonight I had to deal with a Moron that wouldn't let me fly straight to Germany. Plus, all the flights keep filling to capacity, and I keep getting bumped. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. In the meantime, at least I continue to earn money for all this trouble.
I'm going to go sleep for a few hours now. I need to be back at 8 AM to check for tomorrow's flights.

Destination: ?

So my replacement is due to arrive in a little over an hour. This morning I did some wash, packed my bags, cleaned my room, and got a work out in. I'm hoping to catch a flight anywhere tomorrow - but Germany would be really nice. Or Spain. OK, so anywhere would be nice at this point. Of course, it could take a few days to get out. Lots of servicemen are trying to get out right now.
I did take a few minutes today to visit this sweet tank we have on base. An old Iraqi tank - I went a little bit inside, but it was a mess, and I have an aversion to lockjaw.

Honor

K... so I didn't take this picture, though I was present when it was taken. You can see a poor Iraqi girl running barefoot up to the fence to ask for candy. With all the talk on the news of "What's wrong with the War", or "Why we shouldn't even be in Iraq" it's easy to forget the kids caught in the middle. And regardless of whether or not those anti-war sentiments have validity (I believe some do), the fact is that if our troops leave now, this little girl and others will suffer because of religous fanatics.

It's easy to put that point aside - but I think if we have any Honor we have to stay in Iraq. Maybe we change stategy, sure. Whatever it takes. Just so long as the kids in the field and in the hospitals get to live in a better place.
My replacement should be here tomorrow night. Hopefully I'll leave on Saturday.

Going Postal

So today I mailed a trunk of swag home to myself. This swag was all the stuff they gave me when I got here - my Gore-Tex stuff, a fleece, some polypro shirts, a first-aid kit I found, and some other odds and ends. I really really hope it makes it back safe, 'cause that's some nice stuff.
Also, the other guy finally caught a flight out today. Only took him 3 days to catch a flight. Us contractors are very lowest on the totem pole, and with 5000 US Air Force guys trying to get out, makes it tough to catch a flight.
Heard a big boom today. Apparently the anti-mortar gun shot a mortar mid-air, and it detonated right then - mid air. I was inside, but it was close enough I could tell it's general location.
Other than that, just another day.

90 days

Today was my 90th day. Now as soon as my replacement gets here I'll begin the journey home. I'm not sure getting out will be as easy as getting in was - one guy I work with has already waited 2 days. Of course, seeing him wait I can already realize a better way to do the waiting, so maybe I'll get out quicker. Still, the base is doing a complete Air Force swap out right now, so maybe not.
So the temp today was 105 in the shade - about 115 in the sun. I worked out in it for an hour and a half, and it wore me out for the rest of the day. But the slurpie like thing I drank when I finished helped a lot.
I really want out of here. It's time.

Haije

So a whole bunch of new GI's are arriving. The guys I've been here with are all leaving withing the next two weeks, so we're all taking off at the same time. Some of us took some pictures tonight - here's one of a dirty Haije (Ha-Jee), which is how the individual terrorists are referred to over here. Kinda like Charlie in Vietnam.
Yesterday, I did try to post, but the internet was way slow due to Mother's Day. I had a delightful Mother's Day. I taught Sunday School - the lesson was on Faith. Plus I called my Mother and told her I love her. I hope you all did the same, 'cause if not Chuck Norris might hurt you.

Definition of Crazy

So tonight while I was at dinner, someone decided to throw an IED (Improvised Explosive Device - what they do roadside bombs with) over our perimeter fence. Messed me up about an hour getting back from dinner, since the spot they threw it is right between my work and the chow hall. A real pain.
Now, to me this just indicates a probing of our base security, and probably our response patterns. But it also shows just how nuts these people are. To walk up and toss a bomb over a fence, with motion detectors and guards all around? Straight crazy.
Oh, today it hit 103 in the shade. It was about 115-120 in the sun. Nice and toasty.

Get me out.

Today was a pretty standard day. While there were some attacks, nothing super close to me.
I did wake up in kind of a foul mood - I think more than anything I just want to get out of here. I'm ready - at least to know when I'm headed home. At this point I'm hoping to be back in time for church a week from Sunday - but that's just a hope. It may not be until a week after that. Kinda frustrating not knowing.
But, on a good note, today was payday, and that always makes me happy. I should have at least 1 more big paycheck coming to me.

Blue Skies

So today was a picture perfect day. Mid 80s, blue skies, slight breeze. It was great! I went outside and read for awhile, my equipment ran well. Reading about Lewis and Clark gave me a desire to kayak/canoe from Yellowstone to Pittsburgh. That'd be pretty sweet. Maybe someday.
On a disappointing note, there were a ton of choppers landing at the hospital today. I don't think today was a good day for the good guys. Both medevac and non-medevac landing like crazy.
I usually think it's more serious when a non-medevac chopper is coming in, because that I think shows they didn't have time to call in the medevac, but maybe there's other issues involved.

Fixin' stuff.

Trying to think about what I did in the past 14 hours is taxing. I know I had to work from ~9PM to midnight fixing some stuff. That wasn't too cool. Finally left work sometime around 12:45. I'm very tired. And hungry.
So today's only real adventure (besides fixing stuff that needed fixin') was working out in the rain. I just didn't care anymore - besides, every once in a while, jumping rope in the rain is theraputic. At least, that's what Confucious says.
I do find it amusing that all of the other people that I work with get stopped on their bikes by Air Force Officers trying to enforce their idea of base policy (which are not actual policies) while I openly ride with my helmet hanging on the side of my bike, race cars, jump curbs, and ride way too fast thru the housing area, yet haven't been stopped once.

Life's a Garden

I'm really getting tired of the food here. It almost made me ralph tonight, but I stayed strong. I think I've just been eating the same stuff for too long. I very much look forward to some Papa John's pizza and a Sobe. mmm... Sobe...
So here's a little tid-bit about Ryan some of you might not know. I'm pretty much addicted to Sobe - especially the strawberry ones. Especially after mountain biking. They just go together - I can't explain it any better. I've been known to go thru 3 or 4 on a hot summer day. Also, having been in the war zone now for a few months, I'm convinced there is only one way to truly conquer the insurgents and Al Queda. Chuck Norris. http://www.chucknorrisfacts.com/
And if anyone disagrees, you better pray Chuck has mercy.

You can't have No in your Heart

Today was a good day. All of my equipment worked today, I helped a few people out, read some (I just started Undaunted Courage about Lewis and Clark). Worked out in a dust storm. You know, same old same old.
Tonight I almost wiped out on my bike - I was riding home, and I'm too cheap to buy new batteries for my headlight (since I leave in a week), so I didn't see the sign post that had fallen down. But I rode over it, and I didn't fall, so it's all good.
Anyways, tomorrow should be an exciting day. I'm doing the same thing I did today. Read, listen to music, workout. It's a rough life.

A day off

Today was technically a day off. I only worked 8 hours today. But a lot of that was just driving around the base, looking for a new area where we could put our stuff. For some reason I can't quite understand, they think it might be wise to move us.
Frankly, I think this is just another example of a beauracratic military of a beauracratic nation wasting time and money on stuff that doesn't matter. (We won't really move, this is just a game people play). But hey, as the recipient of money ill spent, I'll stop that train of thought right now.
All in all, today was pretty laid back. I attended church, watched the Oscar de la Hoya fight, and read. I also got on the waiting list to get out of here. They presently want me to go through Quatar - I'd prefer Europe... we'll see how it goes.

Fun in the Sun

So for about 10 days, we didn't see the sun here. It was constantly overcast, but not with clouds, with dust. Sand. It was way gross - and hot. Even if the wind was blowing, it didn't help.
But the sun came out, and it feels great. I read outside for about an hour and a half, right before we had a braut-bar-b-q, with brauts straight from Germany. It was great.
Came back, called my family to let them know I'm alive and doing good - then just hung out. Once again I had to do some work later on - some of our equipment is acting weird about 10:30 every night lately.
Oh, and my task for tomorrow? Find a new path for riding to work. Apparantly they don't want bikes or pedestrians out by the F-16s and BlackHawks. I guess they feel that having us walk/ride home on an unlit perimeter road all alone is a much 'safer' option. So, I'm going to look for a path - I figure if I can go running and mountain biking on deer trails in Utah, I can probably find a line in the dirt I can follow here.

Reputation

So I'm gaining a reputation as a 'go-to' guy out here. The guy to ask if something is busted. The one that is asked about policies and stuff. Kinda nice to be able to help out, and to know that you can get the job done when it needs doin'.
Other than that, my life has been pretty basic the past day or two. I work, sometimes I fix stuff, I read, and I work out. That's it. Today I watched Last of the Mohicans, which always makes for a good day. No crazy alarms or anything.
So, it's become quite the ordeal to not read anything about Lost. Arggh!!! Hopefully I'll be able to catch up before the season finale - if I even get home before the season finale.
I've been told there will be no water tomorrow... I guess we'll see how that goes.

Cutting Logs

So all day I had a hard time staying awake. First of all, I had to wake up early. But even if I didn't have to wake up early, I probably would've been awake. Which brings me to reason #2 - my roommate was snoring WAY loud last night. Kept me awake half the night. Many of you already know I don't like the man. This probably did not aid that cause. Probably.
Aside from being tired, today was a pretty good day. I read some, I fell asleep reading the Liahona, worked out (it was 95 degrees today - pretty hot for an hour 1/2 workout outside.
Oh, and today marked the first time I had to take immediate cover because of an 'Incoming' alarm. Usually I'm inside the bunker, or close enough I can step inside it. But today I was inside this hut I workout in (there's a heavy bag in there). So I lay on the hut floor next to a wall and covered my head. It blew up a long ways away from me, which is good.

Revenge of the Bird

So the bird got it's revenge on me. I went to clean up the pooh it had left in my work out area, and when I went in, it flew out. So there I am, cleaning up, when I see it's built a nest in the rafters. I of course take my broom and remove the nest, and hear 'Splat'. Splat of course being the sound an egg makes when it smashes on the floor. There was some yolk, and some blood, and a little bit of bird fecal matter.
Thus, I eliminated the bird problem, but the bird got it's revenge by making me feel almost bad about killing it's unborn fetus. Not that I really feel bad, and yes, I would have done it anyway. But the score is now Bird 2, Ryan 0. Dirty bird.
In other news, I got some stuff arrange between me and management, and I won't be leaving before the 17th. So the 17th or shortly thereafter. Still that's only 2 weeks. I'm excited.

Got the Shirt

Couple of cool things happenend today. I put up 250 pds on the bench and got the shirt, which was pretty cool. After being slightly worried, it went up like butter. Nice and smooth. I'll bet I'd get close to 275, but they don't have a shirt for it, and I don't care enough to do it without a tangible reward.
Then I went to a re-enlistment ceremony for one of the GI's in my unit. The re-enlistment oath is actually a fairly stirring oath. http://usmilitary.about.com/od/joiningthemilitary/l/blenlistoath.htm
After the ceremony, we had a sweet tour of an F-16, and the colonel giving the tour described each weapon with a considerable amount of detail. It was pretty sweet.
And! I got a package from my mother today! Inside were some candies, and some sweet books, and of course a spanish Liahona magazine. Oh, and how could I forget, a Rascal Flats CD, which I'm assuming was my sister Staci's contribution, since they tend to be more of a teenage girl country band. I tried to listen to it, I promise, but I didn't make it thru the 3rd track. Maybe I could work on my patience by listening to it. But maybe that'd be just enough to make me snap... probably not worth the risk.

Three

The most exciting part of the day was listening to a talk in church. I know. I too was shocked by the thought. It wasn't even that good of a talk. But it was given by an Iraqi from Baghdad who joined the church in Jordan several years ago. It was pretty sweet to listen to his story - at one point he was imprisoned for having a Book of Mormon and stuff. Probably the first Iraqi member of the church, at least living in Iraq.
Other than that, I just finished reading the first 3 books of the Belgariad by David Eddings. Kinda like the Lord of the Rings, only there's 5 books instead of 3. I read the first 3 in 3 days, but I think I'll have to wait and find the last two back in the states. Definitely good, though I couldn't say it compares in quality to LOTR.

Dirty Bird

So a couple times a week I try to get a work out by jumping rope and hitting a heavy bag we have in our compound. Tonight I was going to do so, when a bird came in and starting pooping on the floor and causing a ruckus. He wouldn't leave! I yelled at it, I swatted at it, I even kicked at it, and the thing wouldn't get out. I didn't feel good about killing a bird so I could get a work out in, so I left. Bird 1, Ryan 0.
Dirty Bird.

Connect 4

4 days in a row of nearby attacks. Getting kinda old. Really old.
But, good news, today was pay day. That's about the end of the good news. Just about the end of the news period.
So since nothing is going on..., the 'anti-mortar' weapon is actually an older weapon they use on Cruisers and Destroyers in the Navy to shoot down enemy missiles and rockets and bombs and kamikazies (if there still were some). The Navy upgraded to some super good one, and the pentagon had a bunch laying around. They tested them against mortar fire, which is Way slower than a missile, and it worked. So they sent them out here. They test them every once in a while, which is kinda like fireworks. Anyway, they don't usually use them when we're being attacked, begging the question, 'Why do we have them?' I figure it's in case we attack some Persian country with anthrax loaded scuds, but that's just me.
Anyway, happy Friday. I'm pretty sure this is a good weekend for Zion National Park. Unless your a commie. Or a socialist.

Odin's Raven

So yesterday and today they attacked our base, right when I was getting back from dinner. Yesterday we were actually driving back, and heard the siren (but they didn't play the entire alarm sound clip) so we just kept driving back, just like everyone else on the road. We get back to our area, and yeah, it hit right there.
Today it wasn't as close, but once they shot the 'anti-mortar' gun, which I've actually never heard them use in a real situation before, so that was cool.
Oh, and I finished my book on Carnegie. Very interesting stuff. I didn't realize how involved the man was in setting up our country for world economic power. Very interesting stuff.

slowest. day. ever.

Today was a nice, bright, sunshiny day, until some storms came rolling in and made a mess of everything. I want no more rain these next few weeks. Other than that, no interesting stories, nothing special happened. I did read thru the Priesthood talks from the Church conference a few weeks ago - that was good. But my day was pretty slow... and then I had to stay until 1:15 AM, so I played video games, but even that didn't break me out of my hum-drum day. Hopefully tomorrow can be a little more exciting.

Party Bus

Hmm... today wasn't that eventful - I lifted in the morning, hard enough that I'm confident I can hit 250 and get my shirt when I decide to go for it. I also read some more of Meet you in Hell, the story of Carnegie and his right hand man Frick.
This sweet ride was out by the MiGs the other day. I couldn't help but admire it's aerodynamic feel and it's wild rims. As you'll notice, it is the Official Iraqi Party Bus. Pretty sweet if you ask me.

Freedom Fighter

I'm smiling, I promise. This was taken today before a really sweet storm sped thru. This was about 3 PM local time, and as you can see, I was ready for the storm. My only fear is that some crazy security guy might shoot at me, but I was OK.
Shortly after I took this, I was waiting for the big storm to hit, and it slammed us pretty hard. I tried to make it back up top, but the rain was a little too intense - it felt like hail on my face. Basically, I wimped out.
That was the highlight of my day. I was smiling and laughing all thru the storm.

Hold em' for God

I was invited to participate in a Texas Hold'em game tonight - entry fee of $10. I decided to go to church instead. I figure God pays better, oh, and it's the right thing to do. If pressed, I was prepared to give my standard, "I only gamble with my life" line. But I didn't. The guys all know I make church a priority on Sundays.
Other than that... well, I'm very sick of the food here - I think I'm probably losing weight I don't mean to lose... I look forward to some real hamburgers and pizza when I get home. Mmm... pizza. Oh, and I'm toying with the idea of a motorcycle. I know, I've toyed with this before. BUT!! Now I have some money, and it would save gas $, and be a lot of fun... So we'll see...

MiG Alley

So yesterday I tried to post, but these computers...
But, I did get to do something cool yesterday. I got to visit MiG alley. It's kinda like Cadillac Alley near Amarillo TX., for those of you so blessed to know the landmark. Anyway, there were about 10 planes (MiG's are Russian planes, if someone out there hasn't seen Top Gun) all covered with graffiti and stuff. It was pretty sweet. Some of the guys sat in the cockpit - I didn't 'cause I heard this story about how this guy accidently engaged the ejection system doing that, and he went splat. But I had this picture taken because I approve of the message on the plane.
Today, well, nothing wild happened today, unless sitting all the way thru Army of Darkness counts. Or 2 hours in the weight room. I started to watch Daredevil but thought better of it.

Back in style

Starting today at midnight we have to wear our body armor. I'm not sure for how long, and it's kinda annoying, but in truth I'm starting to get used to it. It's still not fun riding the bike with it on, but eh, what ya gonna do... It is the latest style.
Nothing really exciting happened today. I worked out, watched Conan the Barbarian and Batman Begins, you know, just to enrich my life with some good artsy independent films. The other day I watched the end of that indie-movie Revenge of the Sith and nearly cried with Obi-Wan when Darth Vader got burned up. Stirring to the soul.

It's all about the shirt

So today I was told of a challenge I think I can achieve before leaving the base. Apparantly the gym gives out t-shirts for different accomplishments. I'm not totally sure what all the different things are, but the one I was told about and the one I'm going for is the 250 pd bench. I think I hit that once about 4 years ago - I really don't remember. But I think I can do it again. It's all about the shirt. I know I'm close, it's just been a long time since I really maxed out. A buddy of mine here thinks I could walk in and do it now, but I dunno. Maybe in a week or two.
In other fun news, I've lost about 4 pounds this week. I think it's mostly because I'm sick of the food. What started off as great food is now worse and worse. I go to breakfast and can barely stuff anything down. I'm not too worried unless I start to lose strength and weight. That would be bad.

4 weeks

I didn't get to write yesterday, due to the fact that I had to stay at work until 2AM, and that there was a crazy rain storm going on when I did leave. It was comparable to a Texas Thunderstorm, only no thunder. Just lots of lightning. I'm not sure how that works. Maybe Iraqi lightning isn't fast enough for thunder...

But!!! Good news. I found out that I'll be headed home in 4 weeks instead of 8. I'm excited about this. It's a lot less $$, but I'm good on money, plus I still have 3 paychecks coming... So I'll be good to go.
I should be leaving about mid-May. Then I may or may not travel a little on my way home - I'd like to, but it's not quite that easy... Hopefully. Oh, and I just checked a book out from the base library. I know it's about Carnegie and the Steel Strikes like a 100 years ago, but what drew my attention was the title, See you in Hell. Sounds interesting.

Easter

Happy Easter! Hopefully everyone had a wonderful Easter meal. I also hope that all the eggs and baskets were found and everyone enjoyed Church.
Our Easter meal was nasty. They gave us some nasty looking ham that looked like it had stayed a week or two in the anatomy lab juice, with stuffing that was more like warm paste. Gross.
But, I did teach Sunday School today, so that was good. Then I went to my trailer to have my roommate start tearing into me about the bikes that had been chained up next to our trailer for the past several months, sitting in the rain and dust.
I had told some guys at work about them, and with some bolt cutters they took them. Then we found out they belong to some guys that used to work with us out on the site, and those guys might come back. Anyways, I told my roommate I was sorry we didn't ask before taking the bikes, and that we'd take care of it tomorrow.
He didn't shut up, so I laid into him about how I know a whole lot more about bikes than he does, and leaving a bike in the rain and dirt rusting is a waste, and it tells me the person not only doesn't care about the bike, he's probably too ignorant to merit having a bike. Plus, the owner's in another country indefinitely! Then I said I'd take care of it tomorrow, and turned my back on him. And I will, because unlike a lot of people, when I say I'll do something, I do it.
Oh, I finished this sweet book Shadow Divers. It's about shipwreck diving in the Atlantic. Way good. A true life adventure book.
Happy Easter.

Give me just a night, una noche...

Today it hit 98 degrees. It was pretty hot, but I didn't think we'd jump up that fast. It was 92 yesterday, but we set a Balad record for 98 degrees this early in the year. I don't think the 'records' go back very far, 'cause you know sometime in the past 5000 years that people have been living here it got a lot hotter a lot earlier in the year. Maybe they just count since the American conquest, I mean, liberation. But probably not since Assyria. Probably.
Other than that, I unfortunately had to do some work today - which is a nice way of saying some of my stuff broke and I had to fix it. Luckily I was able to. Though it's still acting weird...
3 points to whoever can name the band I stole the title of this post from.
10 points to whoever comments it in first.

Sweet Jumps

So I worked on my bike some more today. The brakes felt like they were rubbing on the back wheel last night, so I took them completely apart and redid them. It wasn't a perfect job, but the bike rides a whole lot smoother now - and the brakes still work, so I'd give it a thumbs up. I took in airborne a few times, just to make sure it's working right.
One of the GI's said something to me about me, that I thought was a pretty good insight into Ryan's psyche. He said that I'm the kind a guy that will work hours on something small, just because it's bothering me. That's pretty descriptive I think. Says a lot in just a few words...
Oh - and listening to some Alan Jackson today, I learned a great new line: she's alright if she takes a kiss with a little bit of chew. Awsome.

She ain't half bad

So today I woke up, worked out, ate and got to work by ~ 3PM. My big activities of the day included fixing my flat bike tire and replacing a broken component of my satellite dish. Or rather, watching the GI's replace a component of my dish, and making sure they didn't break anything (they did great.)
Tonight, while 'working' (meaning I was present in case something broke, but actually playing video games) we got 3 'INCOMING' alarms within like 10 seconds, followed by the loudest boom i've heard yet. It was really close - about 150 yards or so. Maybe more like a 100. Anyway, it was close.
Then, when I'm going home, I'm talking with the gate guard, she tells me that they counted somewhere around 17 mortars in that attack alone, plus Unexploded ordinance. Oh, and they gate guard, she didn't look half bad...

flat tire

So last night riding home in body armor I guess I hit a curb kinda hard with my back tire. Anyway it's flat, leaving me to walking all over. Not a big deal, we have buses and vans and cars. Except for 1 in the morning when I'm trying to get home. After about 20 minutes of waiting for the bus, I decide to hoof it back to my hooch. I then realize, hey, the internet cafe is about to close. So I take off running in my armor, helmet, with a backpack on. Sometimes this fun activity is called rucking.
I made it with about 10 minutes to spare. I heard there were some attacks far away from me today. Nothing close by. I've only seen 1 attack. The rest I've just heard or heard of....
Have a good day.

In Trouble

So I almost got in trouble today. Unfortunately, no women were involved.
You see, today was the unofficial 'Attack Balad AFB' day. I woke up late from my late night and went to the gym, unaware that there had already been several attacks. While in the gym we went Code Red for 45 minutes. When we got done, I needed to quickly shower and get some food before the chow hall closed. Well, getting to the shower, shaving, and getting back to my trailer took more than 30 minutes, the time we have to call and check in. So someone was sent to look for me. When I did get to work, everybody had to rub in that I hadn't called. Gee, that's great. I'll call in right away next time. Lesson learned.
So apparantly before I got to work at 3PM, they had already had 3 attacks, including that Code Red that held me up 45 min. Then, while I was there, we had about another 4, more or less. Finally, they just decided to make us all wear our body armor - so of course the attacks have stopped.

Late night

Last night I slept 11 hours. It felt really good. The past few days I've kinda had a sore throat - after my 11 hours, I felt great. This also played into the fact that I had to stay at work until a little after 1AM. A wild fun night. Plus, now I'm hungry, but I know I shouldn't eat this late...
Nothing exciting to report today - though I was just told by our Indian (dot) guy running this 'cyber cafe' that they are closing for cleaning, and 'Thank you and have a nice day'. You do likewise.

Arggh.

Today I got frustrated because one of my fellow contractors doesn't EVER shut up. He just talks all day long, saying nothing, or talking about stuff he knows nothing about. I, being the nice guy you all know and love, can't do anything. I especially can't do what I'd like to do and remain a free American citizen. So I just put on my headphones and read a book.
And no, I didn't see Lee. Nor did anyone else I know of for that matter. Too bad. Guy comes all the way over here, and probably like 2 people show up. The fact that the concert was at 2 in the afternoon probably didn't help.
Have a good day.

And I'm Proud to be an American

So tomorrow everybody's favorite musician is coming to Balad Air Base. No, not Barry Manilow. Lee Greenwood. Yeah!!! I can't wait. Lee Greenwood! I'm close to hyperventalation I'm so excited!!!
Unfortunately, I don't think I can go. Hopefully someone will go, even if it's just to see the Patriot Cheerleaders. Shoot, I'd make more of an effort if it was just the Patriot Cheerleaders, sans Lee.
Well, I finished season 3 of '24'. Of the 4 seasons I've seen (1-4), 3 is by far the best. I don't know why. But it's still no Lost. Anyways, I figure I'll get a lot more reading in now... I'm currently reading a non-fiction book entitled Shadowdivers and a sci-fi book Ring.
That's it.

50 days

So today marks 50 days 'In Country'. Hard to believe that much time has gone by. I certainly wouldn't have guessed it... Feels like I just got here. Now, I was supposed to be leaving at 90 days, but I think it'll be somewhere around 105 to 110 days total. Regardless, I'm around halfway done.
Sometimes I feel like my life is pretty boring right now, maybe it's even slightly pathetic how little I actually do. So I decided to list some other exciting events going on right now that in comparison, make me look far from pathetic.

American Idol. If you actually care, you should be hung by your vocal cords.
Opening Day for Pro Baseball. I don't actually like baseball all that much, but I get more satisfaction watching a little league game than a pro game.
The WNBA draft. Women basketball players are wrong in so many ways, I won't even begin.

That's enough ranting. Hope things are well.

I had a Chinook once...

The only really interesting thing today was seeing a Chinook helicopter, followed by an Apache. He was landing at the hospital - I was told that they only use those guys when things are really messed up.
For those unfamiliar with helicopters, a Chinook is a huge twin rotar helicopter. Thing could probably fit a normal helicopter inside it. I know it can fit humvees inside.
Oh, did I mention that the other day I was on top of our bunker, and got buzzed by an Apache? It was pretty sweet. I hear a copter, and all of a sudden I look up, and the thing is moving fast about 20 yards right over my head. It was way cool. That's all.

Cutting logs

So I got a pretty lousy night sleep last night. My trailer-mate Ken snores very LOUD. Driving me nuts. So my new goal is to wear myself out to the point where I no longer hear him. Trouble is, I don't do anything most of the time. I watch '24' and play pool. It's a rough life.
My new goal is to finish '24' season 3. At that point there will be little to nothing left here that I want to see. Maybe an occasional movie. I'm 8 hours in. 16 to go. Then just reading.
The only interesting thing from today is that as I was catching up to go to the chow hall, the GI's placed 2 bets based on me. We'll see how you do.
The first was whether or not I wrestled in high school.
The second was whether or not I do any sort of fighting now.
Answers: 1) No 2) Yes, I do some amateur boxing.
I was just happy that someone thought I looked like I did that stuff.

Mud and knives

I woke up this morning to thunder and rain. A lot of rain. Turned everything into a mud pit. Riding the bus instead of my bike added 40 minutes to my commute this morning. Walking home tonight took ~40 minutes thru the mud.
But, my newest toy is a Gerber folding knife. I was hoping for a nicer switchblade knife, but apparently those won't be in until September, so I took this. It's pretty sweet, and it already accidently drew blood. Don't worry, it was mine.
I also had to deal with disappointment - I was hoping to listen to some of conference tonight, but it didn't work out - plus, between leaving work later and the long walk home, I missed the beginning of church. At least I got to go.

So, why are there so many unsolved murders in West Virginia?
The DNA is all the same, and there's no dental records.

Fun for the whole Family

So today was pretty uneventful. I finished my book on real estate, watched GI's race rafts made out of waterbottles and duct tape at the newly opened outdoor pool, and attended a pizza party. Then tonight, I'm talking to my parents and explaining that some called this place 'Mortaritaville', but it's really not that bad. Then the Incoming alarm goes off, and I'm like "Hey Mom and Dad, not a big deal. Happens all the time." Then I start hearing the booms, and their REALLY close. I tell them I gotta go. I called em back later. Turns out they landed really close to this bunker shown in the picture, which is about 200 yards away from where I was.
This is actually what I'm referring to when I say bunker. We work out of a concrete aircraft hanger. For security reasons I can't show you mine, but this is the same size. Totally safe from anything the insurgants may have. But still, whatever they hit us with tonight was plenty strong.

Paid off

Today was a good day. I'm now debt free. I paid off my truck, so it is completely mine now. I guess there are some serious benefits to being here. Mostly monetary benefits.
So, my boss told me that it's OK if I work out during the workday - on the clock! I didn't mention this to him, but frankly, that's got to be one of the most unethical things I've ever heard. It's one thing to sit around when there's nothing to do. It's quite another to leave, work out, shower, and come back 2 hours later acting as if you've been working the entire time. I won't be doing that. I'll just work later. It's not like I have anything else to do.
Oh, I finished season 2 of '24'. Yes, Jack Bauer is the man. What I really like is how Jack has changed from season to season. Totally different personality.

Alarm Red

So I was going to get on a little bit earlier, but we were attacked. Apparantly a whole bunch of mortars hit all at once on the other end of the base, which sometimes precedes an attack - which is always a possibility. I was in the library, reading a book about Chess.
Yes, I'm that big a nerd.
I was going to go lift tonight, but I'm finding it hard to be motivated to do more than 4 workouts a week. You know me - Lazy Ry. Just sit around and do nothing. Yup, that's me.
Oh, I only have a few more episodes of '24' season 2 left. Kim's a moron. And yes, Lost is a much better show. Sorry, but you see, Lost actually has character development. But I'm still watching it. I'll try and post a pic of a bunker soon.

Junk

This internet connection is junk. I could get better using paper cups and a string. Plus it's late when I'm writing this, and it's still not working...
Still, things are good.
Hoo-Ra. Got it. Half an hour later. My goodness, what a pain.
K, this is our burn pile/dump/jackel & bird feeding ground. Basically, everything goes here and we burn it. Unfortunately, 75% of the time the smoke is blowing right over the base.
I'll try to be better about posting pics, but enjoy!

Hail

Today's wild story was a crazy rain/hail storm this morning. I had to wake up a little earlier today than I have been (7 instead of 8 - yeah, its pretty rough) but I didn't even make it to 7. This crazy rain storm moved thru, rained hard, then hailed hard for about 10 minutes, then split. I decided that it was time to get up shortly after, and proceeded to work.
Now, I was in bed, but I have it on good account that this wasn't ordinary hail. Apparently it wasn't spherical, but rather almost hershey kiss like. Weird. I wish I'd gotten a picture of it.
Hopefully I'll be able to put a picture of the local dump/ burn pile / jackel and bird paradise on tonight. I dunno - the connection seems kinda spotty... Forget it. Another day.

Warming up

Things are warming up here. I don't know how hot it got today, but I'd guess a nice warm 85 - 90. My exciting activity of the day: washing out a plastic crate and throwing stuff in it. Pretty wild. I also finished Season 2 of Battlestar Galactica, which was sweet. Totally wish I had discovered the series earlier - lacking the SciFi channel cuts deep. I'm kinda hoping to finish seasons 2 and 3 of '24' in the next week or two, so I won't feel like there's anything else I should ever watch again. No more movies, no more TV. Books.
Other than that, the only other activity was tonight. I worked late and didn't feel like working out, and then the airmen invited me to play video games with them. Specifically Warcraft. Outcome? I whupped em hard. But they're learning quick. They asked me how long I'd been playing, and I said, "Off and on for a couple of years."

I'm boring

So my life is pretty boring right now. Nevertheless, on the advice of my mother I took a few pictures today of normal sites here on base. I'd post one right now, but I forgot my camara. So hopefully tomorrow I'll be on the ball and post a picture.
Other than that, I actually stayed busy this morning, and my new site leader (boss guy) showed up today, so I had to try and act busy all day. Tougher than it sounds.
That's it, that's my life. If anyone went to Moab, please tell me your tales.

Moab

While exercising tonight I was listening to a small arms battle being waged over at the perimeter gate, about a 1/2 mile away from me. I'm now able to clearly distinguish between M-16 and 50 caliber machine guns. I'm also getting dangerously good at Sudoku. NSA's gonna be calling me in any day now...
Meanwhile, I was also thinking that now would be the perfect weekend to go to Moab. I would encourage all of you living in Utah - if you have no real plans for this weekend, to call your friends or significant other, and go camping in Moab tonight. I know I would. It would take all of 0 seconds to make that decision (that being the amount of time needed to call my significant other). Then maybe 5 minutes to call my friends and tell them to meet me at Campground C by the Slickrock trail. Bam! Done. Hot dogs, pigs in a blanket, walking main street exhausted after doing something insane. Nothing better. Alas, I find myself in a different desert.

Abs of Thunder

I woke up again today at 3AM, and the stuff I needed to do was once again cancelled. So once again I was exhausted all day and left with little to do. I did rebuild a hard drive - how's that for a good time! But hey, while emailing people and doing some Sudoku, I'm almost thru '24' season 1. I really think Jack Bauer should just shoot Kim for being dumb trash. But I digress.
The one and only exciting event of the day came when I was working out. There I was, doing some pushups and such, when the 'Incoming! Incoming!' came on. So I go flat on the mat, and everyone in the room groans. It's at this point that I see there's a cute girl on the ab mat with me - shortly after I smile and give her a "How you doin'?" I notice the ring on her finger. Yup, luck is just flowing my way.
Now, the good thing about being on the ab mat during an Incoming is that you can continue to do your abs while you have to be on the ground, waiting for the 'All Clear'. So I keep working out, hear 3 loud bangs go off in the distance, wait a few more minutes, then everybody starts moving around. Then life was back to normal at Balad Air Base. Thats all.

3:30 in the mornin'

I wake up this morning at 3AM to go to work, get there, and they tell me nope. It's been changed until tomorrow. So basically I woke up at 3 AM for nothing. Now, this isn't a totally bad thing. True, as I write this I'm getting pretty tired. But wait! My company pays different rates for day, evening, and graveyard shifts - and today I was graveyard. Which is like 10 or 15% more than usual. And I get to do it all again tomorrow.
No attacks today (at least close to me) - but I met a guard that works at the perimeter gate right by us. I was told that they love to bomb that area right in the afternoon, which is what I heard yesterday (no, we don't usually wear body armor unless there is intel of an immediate threat.) I think the afternoon shift might have ticked off someone, or insulted someone, because they consistantly get hammered.

Google-fu

So there I was, talking with some guys outside our bunker, when I hear a big boom. We all take a step toward the bunker, and hear two more big booms. They were close - after hearing a bunch one can tell. Anyways, it wasn't for another 30 minutes that they announced that there was even an attack! How frustrating.
Oh, Yaju was asking what IED stands for. While I had faith in Yaju's Google-fu, perhaps his Google-fu isn't as developed as I thought. IED stands for Improvised Explosive Devise. It's kinda like taking all the powder form a bunch of fireworks, putting it in a pipe and blowing it up when someone drives or walks nearby. Nasty stuff.
I have to wake up early tomorrow (~3) to do some stuff, so if anyone wants to email me around ~5 PM Mountain time, you might get a really quick response.

A good day (finally!)

K,
so most of the day was boring. I did some tool inventory stuff, did a sudoku (I'm getting way too fast at them), and finished my indian book (feathers, not dots.)
But, tonight I had an incredible experience. I went to the hospital to visit the wounded.
The first guy I visited with was an Army special forces Ranger. He got hit by an IED about 3 miles off the base. Busted up his leg pretty good. They wanted to send him home or to Germany. He told them no, he'll wait in Quatar until his Unit ships out. He was way cool - I gave him some girl scout cookies someone had and some hot cocoa.
After that we went and visited some Iraqis. There were 2 little kids who were sleeping, but some men that were awake. Through a translator we talked with them. One had busted his leg and didn't seem too willing to talk - though I got a smile out of him when I pointed at a picture of a woman and a child behind him and asked if it was his wife.
The other man was a Baghdad Police Officer. He had taken a pretty wicked blast to the head from an IED in Baghdad. They had to staple his skull together (we could see the staples. 3 seperate lines of ~20 staples each.) Anyway, as the soldiers I was with lined up to shake the man's hand, I could feel the man's confidence and pride soar. It was amazing. A wonderful experience.

Little Chick

Today being Sunday, I decided that my movie of the day would be Short Chick, I mean, Chicken Little. It was OK. On the whole, I'd have to say that Disney did a poor job. Some things were funny, but I felt like it was too forced (which it was in fact, since the movie was only made so Disney could throw it at PIXAR during contract negotiations.) Definitely no Shrek, and no where near the brilliance of The Incredibles.
Church was OK tonight. OK, I almost left at halftime out of boredom. But the realization that there was nothing else to do, and certainly no better place to be kept me there. In the end I think I'm better for it.
Oh - I also got the word. Right now I'm looking at a mid-June departure. I'm not too excited about it. Hopefully it'll turn out to be early June or May instead. The later I stay here, the less likely I am to tour Europe. But we'll see.

If we hurry I can still make...

So I work with some rough people. Between the military guys and the contractors, I hear the f-word somewhere around 200 times a day I figure. I don't like it, but I admit I'm becoming a little more callous to it.
Nevertheless, I had to say something when someone referred to me as (copying the comment Jim made) "effing Ryan". Of course, telling the guy I didn't appreciate being referred to like that only made him do it more. He kept asking me if I was a Christian and if I had any aptidude for violence - I think he was a little scared I might just hit him. But since he's also the jokestr here, I told him that as long as I'm laughing and smiling he's alright.
Other than that, I finished reading Captain Blood - it was a pretty cool book. I kept reading it, following my rule to never discard a book before I've read at least 200 pages. But if it goes 200 and I'm still not impressed, ciao. I'm now reading a book about the Cheyanne Indians (feathers, not dots) and a book on real estate.

Et tu?

I totally forgot the Ides of March. This is a true shame, since prior to my departure I was hoping to have a toga party for the Ides, you know, celebrate the death of Caesar. Alas. Poor Caesar, and Poor Antony and Cleopatra.
I moved into a new trailer, which is much nicer than the previous one. I also received a package from my mother, full of treats and books and goodies. Hooray!
Other than that, I have to say that it's nice to look in the news and know that I specifically helped in the War on Terror. That all my time over here isn't just about doing something different and exciting, but that I can point to specific things that we as Americans did to fight some crazy fanatics, and say, "Hey, I helped them plan that." Maybe I'll be able to tell you more in 10 years or so.

A waste of a day

So today pretty much stunk. We really didn't do anything, and because we had to be in body armor if we went outside, nobody really wanted to do anything anyways. So I read Captain Blood, which is definitely getting better. R (do ya get it? HaHaHa).
I also watch movies they have loaded on the network here, or read manuals associated with work. Pretty much I'm going stir crazy. Hopefully tomorrow I can get out and do something.
I'm also frustrated by people who don't think. I got 2 people I work with right now: 1 can remember his name, the other can't consider any point of view or idea but his own. At least I don't have to do much.
On a positive note, tonight we got to watch as they fired the anti-mortar/anti-SCUD guns all at once. We have a bunch on base, and they all fired tonight at the same time as a test. We were all sitting out on our bunker like it was the 4th of July. It was pretty cool. Also on a positive note, I got to know the base supply guy, who's hooking me up with some military sunglasses and a switchblade knife. We sorta told him he could come ride 4 wheelers sometime. Which might even be true.

Mixed blessing

So it sounds like I might be staying until June 15th. This creates all sorts of problems, and all sorts of blessings. The blessings are mostly just $. The bummer is, well, really it's just that I'm lonely. The job is pretty boring, and there's not much to do when I get off work but come check my blog.
It's not for sure yet, but it's like 90% sure. I certaintly don't want to make a fuss, since nobody likes a whiner, especially when he's being paid like I am, but really, once I have enough to pay off my truck, I don't much care about the rest.
That's it. I'm reading a dime novel from the Industrial Era entitled Captain Blood. So far its lousy. One of those books they make you read in middle school just because they can - but has no real merit. Oh, and while today we didn't have to armor up, tomorrow we get to. Yeah!

Wild day

Just kidding. I didn't do jack. Didn't start a new book. I did go to church.
The only really exciting thing is that for 24 hours we have to wear our body armor, starting at midnight. Only exceptions are if we are in bed, or in our bunker. We can take it off while we eat in the chow hall, but then we have to put it back on when we're done. So I'm just going to hang out inside the bunker tomorrow. All day. This is all based on some intel that thinks we'll get attacked tomorrow. Yippee!
Oh - Today marks 1 month since I left. Crazy, eh?

The Power of One

I finished The Power of One. I recommend that everyone on earth read this book. Unless, of course, you don't think the human spirit is worth much, approve of Aparteid, and dislike the most noble of sports, Boxing. If all three of these apply to you, I don't want to know you - please stop reading my blog. I could sympathize with not liking boxing. But the first two?
But if you do read the book, what an amazing book. I feel like a better person for having read this book, something I can't say about most books I read. This makes 6 books I've read in the 4 weeks I've been gone - and I don't see that pace slowing down.
No attacks today, though I found out that there several other parts of the base that were also attacked yesterday.

Two timing

I will not be attending the Montgomery Gentry concert - I found out it will be on Sunday instead of Saturday, which would mean I miss church. That's not something I'm comfortable with, so no go on the concerto.
Today we were attacked twice that I know of. Both were too close for comfort. One hit inside my housing complex (on the far side of my complex, closer to the perimeter, thank goodness) just before I went to the gym. I actually heard the alarm this time. Apparantly it did some damage to some trailers, but the only damage to people was from them dropping to the ground.
The other occured just before dusk, when I was working up on top of our bunker. We were working, and saw a light out of the corner of our eye. Thinking someone was taking a picture, we turned, and about a 1/4 mile away, pretty close to the runway, saw a bunch of smoke rising and heard this Boom. Then about 10 seconds another one hit, pretty close to the first one. I must say Mortar fire is a little scarier after this, 'cause those explosions were big. The initial shock wave (just the boom, not the shrapnel radius) was probably 30 feet diameter.
Just another day in paradise!