JamesSavik

The family business: the Army, Hoo-ah!

One of my younger cousins ships out to Afghanistan next week. Another cousin, Roger came back this spring from Iraq with some scars from and IED. The irony is they aren't as bad as his skateboarding scars. It's hard to believe Wayne is ready. When I think of him, all I see is a bouncy, skinny kid that can barely sit still. Geez- I hope they have some adult supervision. They look so damned young.

I suffered through the Great Appliance Revolt of 1998. In a space of 4 months, my fridge, freezer, central air, dishwasher and washing machine got depressed and committed suicide. I got myself jacked up pretty good on the credit cards and took several years to pay it all down. It was this lesson that taught me to never get any deeper than could pay off in a couple months on credit cards. Ideally, I pay off anything I spend the same month. After I paid all that crap off, I closed my Chase accounts because they constantly raised rates despite my prompt payments. I closed my BP account which is managed by Chase and uses the same heavy handed tactics. The best policy is NOT to deal with companies that use every possible legal means to screw you.

every author is different. Faulkner and Hemingway wrote drunk. I just pass out and don't get anything done. The trick is finding what works for you.

Do you know the name & artist of the song used in this commercial?

See if you like this one.

Watching me someone is. HA ha! High Anxiety Traumatizing kitty

I like to see politicians on the golf course. They do less damage there... except to the divots.

You've got cat toys!

Handsome is good.

I don't even text people.

Since I've got some locals, WTF is a HOV lane? We were guessing... hovercraft? I was too traumatized to ask, look or speculate. If it hadn't been for the calm, bitchy voice of my Garmin GPS navigation gadget, I would probably still be there.

This did it for me. It looked so innocent on the map but NOOOOO. Dallas's High Five interchange where I-635 and I-75 come together is a FREAKING NIGHTMARE. I don't like heights. I was screaming the whole way in 70 mile per hour traffic with Dallas residents calmly driving by talking on their cell phones, browsing the web and watching porn on their portable DVDs. I don't like heights. I don't even like being this tall. I wanted to drive through, not fly. The damn thing is 12 stories high... and is a lot messier since I passed through. Please: add your own urban terrors.

Bah humbug. Bad Santa rules! Of course, there's always Satan Claus from the Last Boyscout: And don't forget Robo-Santa from Futurama. And of course, who could forget Santa Zim He knows when you are sleeping. He knows when you're awake. You better find a bunker, and hunker down for goodness sake!

Whaaa? asks the clueless Southerner drinking ice tea and sweating in November.

It's a complex problem with a lot of moving parts but I'll try to tackle it. Since the end of WWII, the United States has been involved in a number of unpopular wars with ambiguous outcomes and in support of dubious allies. Korea was just the first but it was followed by Vietnam, Panama, Gulf War !, Gulf War II and Afghanistan. Unlike WWII, none of these wars has been a clear-cut victories and a "good war" like WWII that the people could all support. Often times we found ourselves supporting an ally that wasn't a hell of a lot different than the enemy. In many of these wars the indigenous military ran a lot more than they fought and shot a lot more civilians and suspected spies than enemy soldiers. When soldiers from these conflicts came home, they were met with apathy, ridicule and even hostility. While WWII veterans were lauded and praised, Korean and Vietnam war veterans were ignored for the most part. Post-WWII war veterans experiences were difficult, ugly and were often shrouded in secrecy. Many were told never to discuss operations that until this very day remain classified. So the foundation is laid for the silence: Never talk about it. Almost all of these veterans suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder to some degree, which I described in Valhalla. PTSD manifests itself in a number of ways and alcoholism and drug addiction is quite common and difficult to treat when you have a patient with numerous traumatic memories who can't find relief in any other way. The symptoms of combat related PTSD that I described in Valhalla are alcoholism, drug addiction, sleeping difficulties, nightmares, flashbacks, social and family difficulties make it difficult or impossible for a sufferer to function successfully in society. In many cases its a degenerative condition and the PTSD sufferer's life falls apart over time. It becomes a downward spiral and the symptoms grow worse. In many ways Never Talk About It makes things much worse. It is very difficult to get vets to confront these traumatic memories in a therapeutic setting. Many just think they are crazy and suffer in silence until a lot of damage has been done or there are serious personal and legal consequences. It's no surprise that many of these guys end up homeless. The treatment that they receive on the streets as homeless people is disgraceful. They can become victims or be exceptionally violent if cornered or if they are having a flashback. It is a complex problem that our society has yet to successfully cope with and the Afghan and Iraq Wars have added an entirely new generation of vets with crippling psychological problems that are progressive and deadly. Already we are seeing spikes in suicide rates of active duty personnel. If history is any guide, this will only get worse in the decades to come unless more effective treatment methods are used and our society treats this issue as a medical problem rather than a legal one.

Valhalla has arrived.

Well- I'm pretty sure my nephew Ian's first word was Booger. Booger is my brother's cat, a huge yellow tabby and he's big enough for the little cowboy to ride. Yee-haw! (sorry- it's a Texas thing)

More fun stuff from the Oatmeal Preparing Your Pets for War How Everything goes to hell in a zombie apocalypse How Twilight (the gay-assed vamp flicks) work

Who is JK?

Isn't that a mall cop Ribar? Cat update: Life as a cat toy is difficult and painful.

Like a Soldier by Johnny Cash With the twilight colors falling And the evening laying shadows Hidden memories come stealing from my mind As I feel my own heart beating out The simple joy of living I wonder how I ever was that kind But the wild road I was rambling Was always out there calling And they said a hundred times I should have died But now my present miracle Is that you're here beside me So, I believe they were roads that I was meant to ride Like a soldier getting over the war Like a young man getting over his crazy days Like a bandit getting over his lawless ways Every day is better than before I'm like a soldier getting over the war There were nights I don't remember And there's pain that I've forgotten Other things I choose not to recall There are faces that come to me In my darkest secret memory Faces that I wish would not come back at all In my dreams parade of lovers From the other times and places There's not one that matters now, no matter who I'm just thankful for the journey And that I've survived the battles And that my spoils of victory are you _________________________________________________ Posting Wednesday at Awesomedude: DO NOT MISS IT!