A Long December

October and November have turned out to be very bad for me. Both months I managed to only enlist 1 person - so 2 total. Looking at going into December 2 behind makes me wonder how this could have happened. Well.... how could it?

October should have been an awesome month for me as it was actually a 6 week month for me - the last 2 weeks in September counted towards October. I started out the month thinking I had all the time in the world and didn't have to work very hard because I had a few people lined up. That turned out to be a huge mistake. I obviously didn't make as many phone calls as I needed to, so I didn't do as many interviews as I should have. I had all the time in the world is how I justified it all to myself. I had one person enlist on October 27th making me go into November 1 behind mission.

November's mission went from 2 to 3. 3 in November? I figured I'd have my work cut out for me but knew I could do it. I did a couple of interviews before I left for Hawaii and told them I'd contact them when I got back. Only one of those people turned into an enlistment, but not until the 22nd. 1 down, 2 to go should have been easy because I had started doing a lot more interviews. I had 2 ready to go before the Thanksgiving weekend.

I don't know if any of the other recruiters have experienced this or not but you usually lose a lot of people over Thanksgiving weekend because some ultra-leftist aunt or uncle tells them how horrible the military is and how they'll be in Iraq 6 months after they enlist and that all recruiters are liars. This proved to be true this year for me.

I had one guy who I had been working for a month and had scheduled him to go to MEPS before Thanksgiving - but his Grandfather died so we rescheduled for Monday for Tuesday after Thanksgiving. I picked him up and drove him to MEPS and all was well. He called me from the hotel telling me he scored a 51 on the ASVAB. I congratulated him and started telling him what to expect the next day again. Then he started saying how he wasn't sure of all this. I told him to meet me in the parking lot of his hotel in 15 minutes..... We talked for 2 hours and in the end he could only tell me that his gut was telling him that he was making the wrong decision. The weird thing was that he could clearly see all the benefits to joining the Guard and how it would better his life - but he still wouldn't process the next day. Eventually I figured out that talking to him any longer was pointless so I told him to go to his hotel room and go to MEPS in the morning and tell them that he refuses to process. He wanted me to bring him home that night - home is about 4 hours away! SCREW THAT! He was pissy about it until I explained to him that I have no obligation to bring him home so I'm really doing it out of the goodness of my heart. The next day the GCs at MEPS talked to him and couldn't get him to process either. Maybe he'll enlist later, but I've already wasted enough of my time on him so I'm just going to move on.

The other person who was going to process was actually a walk-in. Now I've never actually had a walk-in before in my area - in 3 years. Everything seemed great and we were going to process before Thanksgiving but then she couldn't get off of work so we planned it after Thanksgiving. While she was at Thanksgiving she talked with her cousin who's in the Air Guard - needless to say she's now planning on joining them.

I worked harder in November than I did in December, but in the end I know I didn't work hard enough. I did a lot of interviews in November but got a lot of people who don't want to join. Some people would like to blame the war on this whole thing but I made mission just fine last year and the war was obviously going on back then so I don't think that's it. Maybe I've changed something in my interview that makes them not want to join? Maybe my close just sucks? I have become concerned that I'm over-selling them - talking so much about the Guard that they get confused and lose interest. I don't know what I'm doing wrong but I have to change something. Back to the basics I guess.

I'm coming into December 2 behind mission - that means I have to write a 4 in December or things get really bad. I've already been told that I'm now on mandatory hours so I'll now be working from 9am to 9pm every day. Nothing has been said about weekends but I'm already planning on working weekends anyway.... in the end I have got to come up with a plan on how I'm going to get myself back at mission - without a plan I won't get anywhere. December is always a bad month for me - last December I only wrote 1 contract to give you an idea what I'm up against.

The first part of my plan is contacts. Obviously I need to make contacts in order to setup interviews. Most people will say that they want to make X amount of contacts per day. That's all fine and dandy but what if you make your X amount of contacts but you didn't schedule any interviews? How did that help you accomplish anything? It doesn't. My plan is to make enough contacts to setup 2 interviews a day. If I make 2 phone calls and setup 2 interviews I know I've met my goal for the day. If I need to make 50 contacts to schedule 2 interviews in a day than that's what I need to do. Obviously if I make 2 phone calls and setup 2 interviews then I'm going to keep trying for more.....

The second part of my plan is interviews. If you didn't guess from what I wrote above my goal is to conduct 2 interviews a day - more if possible. So my goal is to conduct 14 interviews per week. Some of you might think that this goal is a little unrealistic - I realize that it probably kind of is. But I figure I should set my goals high to be the most successful. I realize that some will no-show me like all of my interviews today did, and I might have to reschedule some if I have to suddenly run off to MEPS, but that's my goal.

The third part of my plan is lead generation. I need to generate as many leads as possible these next 30 days. There are actually 2 parts to this plan. Step one is school programs - I already have 2 school programs scheduled, one of them will be with the entire junior class of one of my schools. The other one is just one class but hopefully some people will be interested. I need to schedule more this month. Usually I talk to my counselors to schedule stuff but I'm going to take a different approach and talk directly to the teachers. I have a class on Iraq that is simply amazing so I'm going to talk to all my social studies teachers to see if I can do it with them. Step 2 is referrals from my previous enlistments. I don't know why I haven't gotten more referrals this year but I've got to change that. One thing that I'll never understand is the unsuccessfulness of the GRAP program. If you were going to get paid $2,000 for each friend that you enlist wouldn't you be talking to everyone you know about the Guard? I know I would but for some reason my kids don't. So for some reason $2,000 doesn't do a thing, but there is one thing that I've seen do wonders - a drill weekend off with pay. I don't know why a weekend off with pay motivates people so much but it does for some reason. So I'm going to see all of my enlistments this weekend and I am going to tell them if they get 1 person to enlist in the month of December they can have a drill weekend of their choice off with pay. If that doesn't work do you guys think smoking the shit out of them would? I know one recruiter who does "Bring a lead or bring a canteen" every month and it's very successful - for some reason that just seems wrong to me.....

The fourth part of my plan is face-to-face. I need to meet as many people face-to-face as I possibly can in the next 30 days. I only have a few ideas of how to accomplish this. I plan on doing lunchroom visits at all of my schools during this month - and as soon as possible. I normally hate doing lunchroom visits because it seems like the only people who come talk to me are ones who want free stuff and the ones who want to debate the war like I had something to do with the decision to go to war. As counter-productive as I believe this is I'm still going to do it because I need to do everything in my power to get enlistments. I am also going to be a chaperone for one of my school's dances. What better of an opportunity to meet kids than to throw on my dress blues and hang out with them for 4 hours? Plus it's good community service so it kills 2 birds with one stone. Finally I plan to talk to everyone I meet about the Guard. Every cashier, every gas station attendant, every burger-flipper at every fast food restaurant, every pizza delivery boy, every punk at the local teen club, every bum walking around the mall, every kid working at Walmart (especially the one who has to go grab all the carts now that it's getting cold), every single person I see I will talk to about the Guard.

So that's my plan. I think it's a good plan and I hope and pray that it works out for me. Any of you other recruiters want to drop some advice?

Anyway, it's going to be a very long December.......

-SGT Guardsman

Jinxed in time for the Holiday

Remember that post I did about the "greatest interview ever"? Remember how I said I probably just jinxed it? I was right.

This kid told me that he was pretty sure he was going to join, he just needed to talk to his real mom about it before he did it - which was good because I needed her to sign the PC anyway. So he goes down to see his mom for the weekend and calls me back. I ask him when he wants to go to MEPS and he tells me never. I ask why not and he replies, "Well..... I was talking with my step dad this weekend...... and he helped me realize that if I joined the military I'd be in Iraq in 6 months so I'd better not..."

"Um...... you understand that you can't deploy till you're fully trained right?"

"Yeah."

"And you understand that you can't become fully trained until you have your high school diploma right?"

"Yeah."

"And you understand that you're a high school junior right?"

"Yeah."

"So you understand that you won't graduate for almost 2 years, then you still have to finish your training, so you won't even be ELIGIBLE to deploy till 2 to 2 and a half years from now right?"

"Yep."

"So you ready to go to MEPS then?"

"Well...... my step dad helped me realize that I'd be in Iraq in 6 months so.... no."

"Did you not listen to what I just said?"

"Yeah, I was listening."

"So why are you concerned that you'll be in Iraq in 6 months if I just explained to you how that's impossible?"

"Because everybody gets sent to Iraq 6 months after they join."

"Hmm.... weird - ask the 27 people I enlisted last year if they've deployed. Every one of them will tell you they haven't deployed - actually 2 of them go to high school with you. So you understand that your fears of going to Iraq in 6 months don't really have any real basis right?"

"Yeah........ but I just don't want to go to Iraq in 6 months"

"Seriously, are you even listening to me?"

"Yeah."

"Are you calling me a lier then?"

"Well..... I... uh..."

"I assure you I told you the 100% truth about everything - I've never lied to an applicant and never will"

"But my step dad."

"Was your step dad in the military?"

"No"

"Does he know anybody that is in the military?"

"No"

"Don't you think that MAYBE I might know a little more about what we're talking about than your step dad? I mean I'm sure he's a smart guy and all but he's never served and he doesn't know anybody who's serving so I don't think we can consider him an expert or anything."

"I'm just not interested."

"OK, do you have any friends that you think might be interested?"

"You've enlisted them already."

"You only have 2 friends?"

"No, I have lots of friends."

"So do you have friends outside of your high school?"

"Not really...."

"So since all your friends go to your school, and I've only enlisted 2 people from your school, I'd say you have lots of other friends that would be interested."

"Um....... not really.... none of them would be interested."

"Did you ask them?"

"Well.... no."

"Well if you had to guess which one of your friends was interested, which 2 would you say would be?"

At this point I'm kind of messing with the kid - I'm actually surprised he didn't just hang up on me!

Surprisingly he gave me 2 names! He probably did it to get off the phone - but oh well, maybe something will come out of it...... In the end I thanked him for his time and told him to give me a call if he ever changes his mind. I was still really pissed off in the end though.

To make up for it I did have a guy go down to MEPS today. He ended up being color blind so I had to find him a new job but he enlisted today ending my 32 day nut! I've got another one lined up for Tuesday and hopefully a couple more next week too. This all doesn't stop my NCOIC from requiring me to work the day after Thanksgiving!!!! I tried to put in a leave slip and he told me no so I'm just going to work from the office near my parent's house - it'll work out because the girls will be shopping anyway.

The funny thing is that if 6-month guy would have enlisted I'd be spending time with my family on Friday, not working......

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving - for my friends that don't celebrate this American Holiday (I'm talking to you Mark and Denise), sit down and say a quick prayer thanking God for everything you're lucky enough to have, and realize that no matter how bad things seem to get, they could be worse. For my American friends - don't forget to think about those brave men and women serving all over the world in our defense. Pray that they come home safely to see their family that they missed this Thanksgiving. Finally, thank your creator that these brave men and women stand ready to do violence on our behalf so we may sleep peaceably in our beds at night.

-SGT Guardsman

Hawaii's Funnest Day

My most fun day started off with a required breakfast with the entire team and the team leadership. My team commander recently left us so we presented her with a parting gift - a plate that I've still never even seen. As a matter of fact, I didn't know what we got her until she opened the box and exclaimed "It's a beautiful plate!"

After breakfast we were allowed to have a free day. Most of the guys wanted to go snorkeling at some bay I can't spell or pronounce - but I'd been there 3 times before so I pretty much wanted to do my own thing. And in all reality I also didn't want to go hang out with the people I work with if I didn't have to. Don't get me wrong, I consider some of the guys I work with my close personal friends; but I had all week to spend with them. I thought about it and I wanted to go hiking in the mountains and find a waterfall - something I've never done in Hawaii before. So I acquired a vehicle and set off to find my waterfall. SGT Lief and his wife wanted to go kayaking or something so he and his wife asked if I could give them a ride somewhere.

They had me drive them to some other bay that I can't spell or pronounce on the other side of the island. I was happy to drive them because it would give me a chance to see some other parts of the island as we were driving through the mountain range. It was really cool but unfortunately it's kind of impossible to take pictures while driving......

Eventually we were at a stop light where I saw this sign:

Um.... yeah - I don't get it either....

So I dropped them off at their bay and set off to find my waterfall - but I didn't know where a waterfall was on the island.....

I some how found an information center where some old lady told me there "might" be a waterfall on this hiking trail with a name I won't even try to pronounce. I asked her for directions and I'm still not sure if she gave them to me in English. Eventually I stopped at a gas station to ask for directions. As I'm looking for directions 3 local 19-year-old girls said "you're looking for Miklikiiliikaulaukillai Hiking Trail? Just follow us, we're going there too!" Who am I to argue with 3 hot 19-year-old Hawaiian girls?

We arrived and the hike was pretty cool going through the mountains.


The trail WAS pretty nice, but it was very muddy from the storms that came through here recently - it was horrible picking up hot Hawaiian girls out of the mud the whole way up the mountain.


Going up the view was awesome!


Eventually we started seeing the stream so I was getting excited about the waterfall....


But I would soon find out we still had mountain to climb...


And then some more mountain...


We saw some more water motivating me to continue onto the waterfall....


Where I saw a sign....


But we had more mountain to climb.... at least we were getting higher!


As we got up there the view was awesome!


Yes, that is my ugly mug on the mountain....so I looked down the mountain and it was steep....


The pictures don't do it justice if you didn't notice.

Eventually we made our way down into a valley and I heard the exciting sounds of the waterfall....



The picture doesn't do it justice here either - it was really amazing. I found a spot to hide my stuff and jumped in the pool to find a place to jump. The water was friggin cold!!! But after hiking up the mountain for an hour and a half then down the valley for half an hour, it was very welcomed. As soon as I got to the other side of the pool I jumped in from the lowest spot - it was mildly fun. There was some cocky 14-year-old named Dillon who pointed up to the high spots and said "You wanna jump from there?" I started himming and hawing about it and he said "What! Are you scared?"

I couldn't let this 14-year-old punk me out in front of my Hawaiian Hotties so of course I said "HELL NO! Show me the way big guy..." That was when my adventure went from hiking to rock climbing. This little bastard was like a friggin spider monkey climbing the cliffs up there - it was everything I could to do keep up with him. Eventually I looked down and started to realize what I had gotten myself into. The kid brought me to the highest spot, which I'm told is 100 feet. When we got up there I realized it was at least 100ft if not more... I asked the kid where I wanted to land so as not to hurt myself and he said "Just watch me" and leapt off the cliff. He didn't even think about it - he just jumped. Cocky bastard.

I peered over the edge and was about to jump - but then a thought suddenly popped into my head. If I got hurt, like broke my leg or something, my NCOIC MSG Love or my Sergeant Major would KILL ME! I started to think this wasn't a good idea and was about to chicken out when another thought popped into my head. I had just scaled a 30 foot cliff and could have died on my climb to this jumping spot - there is no going back down that thing. I was pretty committed at this point....

I decided to jump - I had done things like this as a kid so I knew it would be fun. I jumped and had a blast on the way down - but then the water wasn't where I expected it to be. It was still WAY below me! I was pretty freaked out, but there wasn't much I could do except to continue falling. I hit the water and received the biggest enema of my life - I don't think I'll have to wipe my ass for a month!

If you look at this picture you can't see the spot I jumped from. The spot was above the top of the frame!!!!


I popped out of the water and was ecstatic! That was the best thing I'd done on the island so far! I got a lot of high fives from the other guys at the waterfall and also a few "Dude! You're crazy" comments. The hike down was not nearly as hard of work as the hike up - obviously - but it was hot out so I was glad to have a bottle of water in the AC inside the car.

Eventually I picked up SGT Lief and went back to the hotel where I prepped myself for dinner with MSG Love.

For dinner MSG Love, his wife, and I went to Dukes for dinner:

If you ever go to Hawaii you NEED to go to this restaurant. The food is awesome and the desert they gave us was AMAZING - it's even been featured on the Food Network.

The even had live music for us!


After dinner we walked the streets of Honolulu to see the local street performers and some interesting "side shows".

The first street performer we saw was "The ONLY Live Statue":

Then we saw another "Live Statue"

So much for him being the ONLY one huh? Later down the street it appeared that these two weren't the only ones...

We saw some really strange Egyptian robot type thing.

Next to him was one of the most interesting drummers I've ever seen.

The "Phantom of the Drumming"?

Then we saw a guy playing a tree branch

I didn't think this was possible.... He actually had it hooked up to an amp too.

Then we saw another drummer.

Then actual local drummer

Then the really weird guy playing the banjo.

We ran into a local guy who was playing the "wind pipes".... or at least that's what I called them.

He played a song, then started the same song over - eventually we passed him again and he was playing the same song again! When a lady tried to sell me his CD I declined.

There were quite a few guys playing the guitar like this guy.

And this guy

During all this time there were a lot of side shows. Take this transvesitte for example.

This isn't a very good picture but I couldn't get another. He....er... she.... it? Whatever it is didn't want me to take another one - and I didn't want to explain how I got into a fight with a transvestite to my Sergeant Major.

There was also this guy.

Here's what I don't know: What injustice is he fighting against? Here's what I do know: This guy ain't blind! He's been sitting there, in the same exact spot, since the day I got to Hawaii. He's there every night all night - he just sits there. I can't prove it at the moment but I know he's not blind.

So that's my best day in Hawaii. We did other things like go to the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. We went to a Luau. I went to the north shore to do some more cliff jumping and catch a sunset - but it was overcast and nothing has high as the waterfall...

All in all, it was a good trip. But by Friday night when we left I was really ready to go home - going on vacation with a bunch of people you work with isn't most people's idea of fun... Like I said, there are a few guys on my team that I really consider my friends but the others.... I'd rather just work with them.

-SGT Guardsman

$10 Internet Part 2

I paid for internet again today so here I am doing another post....

Today I just spent time with some fell RRNCOs lounging around the pool at the Hale Koa where we're staying for most of the day. I went around and did my own thing for a while, like finishing my book on the beach - but most of the day was spent with them.

Eventually the rest of our team arrived and we had a required meeting to go over the itinary and have dinner togeather. Eventaually it was decided I was going out with "the boys". I was a little worried how things would go with me being the only sober one - I was pretty much told I would be baby sitting them as they got messed up. I decided I can walk home whenever I want so I'd just play it by ear.

Our first stop was Moose McGillychubby's bar:

All I have to say is SAUSAGE FEST! The only women there were the bartenders and chicks with their boyfriends. This wasn't a too bad of time until SGT TP started humping my leg in an attempt to be funny. I guess it was kind of funny, but I didn't really enjoy him humping my leg! The most interesting thing that almost happened involved a large Somoen(sp?) man and a bet of $150. I won't give too many details of this bet, but just know if it would have been carried out it would have resulted in somebody's severe injury and the cops interviening. I was glad SGT Holyman didn't take the bet.....

Realizing this was a total sausage fest we decided to leave and go to Bobby G's Spot:


This bar was slightly better but there was a local Regge band playing so the place was packed with military guys and pot-heads. The pot-heads weren't so bad - but I just don't like hanging out with other military guys very much.

Most people who aren't in the military probably wouldn't understand this but those of you who are in know what I'm talking about. Military guys are usually, mostly, "Alpha Male" type guys. Always trying to dominate one another and getting pissed off about the littlest things to appear to be the "better man". When I'm off duty I really just want to chill. I work hard every day and I really don't have the want or need or energy to constantly battle these guys. I think it stems from being a totally different person out of uniform than I am in uniform. Just the way all these guys want to "prove" how much better they are than every other guy just gets on my nerves. I would rather just chill out and meet some nice people and have a generally good time. Another reason I don't like to hang out with other military guys is that I hang out with military guys every day - why would I want to do that on my time off? I have found, however, that I like to hang out with older, married, military guys because they're more mature and have nothing to prove - nor do they try to steal away the girl you're dancing with!

Anyway, tomorrow is an early day with a required breakfast and then some training - I'll leave you with a daytime picture of the view from my hotel room:

-SGT Guardsman

Making Use of $10 Internet

Well I paid for the internet again today so I figured I'd do another post to get my $10 worth......

So today I slept in for a while for the first time in a while. I only slept in till 10am. The weird thing is that all of my team mates were basically appaled that I had slept in so long. I'm on VACATION!!! Why shouldn't I sleep in? I did and I enjoyed it so if they have a problem with it I really don't care.

After I woke up we all rallied in the lobby and set out to do some shopping with the wives. I'm sure I could have done something else but seriously, walking the beach alone wouldn't have been very fun. We walked through the business district and looked at all the shops including the expansive ones that wouldn't let us in because we weren't in suits and ties. Bastards!

One thing that was interesting is that there is an ABC Store on just about every block. Now I've been to places with a Starbucks everywhere you turn, but I seriously don't know how ABC Stores stay open as they're litterally on EVERY block.

After a while one part of our group got sick and tired of looking at EVERY shop so they moved on while a group of us stayed back and took our time. I stayed with the "slow" group for 2 reasons. #1 because I don't really have anything else to do so I might as well just relax and take my time. #2 because I just get along with the people that were in the "slow" group much better than the other group.

While we were taking our time stopping at every shop we stopped at a mall and quickly realized we couldn't afford a single thing in this place so we decided to leave. As we were leaving SGT Redeye's wife (I should do a battle roster one of these days huh?) said she needed to use the bathroom. She took about 10 steps, look at her husband and said, "I don't feel very good...", then nelt down and puked all over the floor of that mall!

Deep inside I was kind of smiling since some of those shops looked at us like we were peseants as they asked us to leave - the deserved to have their floor puked on.

In all reality I felt really bad about Mrs. Redeye and how she was feeling. But man did she puke everywhere!

Eventually she finished puking and SGT Redeye grabbed a cab to take her back to the hotel. So SFC Blunt, his wife, and I went on to:

We walked around the International Market Place for a while and I quickly discovered that SGT Blunt's wife is a very bad influence. I am now the proud owner of a bunch of Hawaiin Shirts that I'll probably never wear again after this week. They're nice shirts though. The one thing that I wanted to pick up was a new pair of sunglasses. I found a shop with some name-brand sunglasses for really cheep but nothing that popped out at me so I dropped $10 on a pair I thought looked nice but would soon replace. Eventaully we came upon a Oakley store and SGT Blunt's wife suggested we go "peak" inside.

I found an AWESOME pair of sunglasses with interchangable lenses that I really liked. SGT Blunt's wife eventually talked me into the glasses and we watched for a half hour while 2 different sales people tried to figure out how the lenses actually fit into the glasses! If somebody from Oakley is reading this you really need to train your people better. We were about to leave when SGT Blunt's wife said we should look at the sandals that they had there. Both SGT Blunt and I left with brand new Oakley sandals - and that bastard claimed the pair that I wanted first. I couldn't copy him so I went with my second choice.

Did I mention that SGT Blunt's is a bad influence? About a $350 bad influence.

After that SGT Blunt and his wife went back to the hotel for a "nap" and left me on my own. I didn't know what I wanted to do so I went to my hotel room to read Saddam's Secrets. I read about a page and realized I'm in friggin HAWAII sitting in my hotel room reading - so I took the book to the beach. I read another 3 chapters and realized that the sun was setting:

After sunset I called a team mate and hooked up with the "fast" group for dinner - at the hotel restaurant where we ate dinner LAST NIGHT! I hate eating at the same place twice in a row. I talked with them for a while and then they all went to spend some time with their wives - it sucks being one of the only single guy here. So I decided to take a night time walk along the beach and then retired to my hotel room and watched a movie.

So, that's my Hawaii trip so far - hope you enjoy reading what your tax dollars are paying for but "training" starts tomorrow so I'm going to bed. If I pay another $10 for internet tomorrow I'll probably do another post.

-SGT Guardsman

P.S. Eye reely dount liek Jon Carry sow eye reely waunt two use hiz speel cewker bwat eye culd nawt dew an entier powst uswing it. SGT Lori and eye are werking on sumthing two stik it two teh bastard. Stay tuneed......

12 Hours Later

Well, it was 12 hours of travel time, but let me show you what I see out my hotel balcony:

That's Waikiki beach right out there. It's night so you can't really see it, but it is nice to see that beach once again!

I suppose I should tell you all why I am in Hawaii right now since I haven't exactly explained it to you....

Last year my recruiting team worked really hard if you didn't see my post about the new fiscal year. I enlisted 27 people, getting credit for 24 of those contracts. As a team we worked really hard and came out as the top team in the entire state of Minnesota. It was a lot of work and surely a team effort and we achieved what everyone said was impossible. Because of demographics usually one of the teams out of the Twin Cities takes top team status simply because they have a MUCH larger pool of applicants. But apparently they were no match for my team last year. For our efforts, we are being rewarded with a training trip to Hawaii! So here I am sitting at a hotel in Waikiki.

The next 2 days are pretty much my own, I can do whatever I want. After that they have a lot of team building activities planned for us - including a Recruiting version of "The Newly Wed Game". I'm sure excited about that since I came alone and pretty much everybody else has brought their spouses..... I figure maybe I should go out and find some really beautiful Hawaiin girl to fill in the position of my wife, then "divorce" her when I leave on Friday. Just kidding!

The trip here was really, really boring. 2 different planes and 12 hours later after lay-overs I finally arrived - 8 of those hours were spent in the air from Minneapolis to Hawaii. I did watch a movie, but the battery on my laptop only lasts for about 1 movie. I listened to a lot of music because, luckily, my MP3 player lasts for 20 hours on a single charge. What I did with the rest of my time surprised even myself.

I will admit to you I have never, ever, even once, read a complete novel in my entire life. I cheated my way through high school and did the bare minimum of reading during my days in college. I knew I would have a lot of time on my hands so I figured I'd pick up a book and try to read it. The book I picked up was "Saddam's Secrets" by former Iraqi General Georges Sada. I am already over half way through the book and can't wait to pick it up again - something I've never done before. If you haven't read this book yet, you need to. It is the most amazing book I've ever picked up. It talks a lot about the history of Iraq and what went on inside the government though the years beginning with before the Baath party took power. There is even a part where he lays out what happened to the WMDs - I haven't read that part yet so I can't tell you much about it.

So I'm in Hawaii, paying $10/day for my internet access just so I can keep checking my email while I'm gone. You all know that a recruiter never stops working, even when you're thousands of miles away. I'm behind mission so that explains why I can't let the job go. If I was ahead of mission I would like to think that it would be different but I doubt it would be. So since I'm paying twice as much for internet than I do back home for 1/4th the time I'm going to make the most of it. There will be some new posts over at my brother's blog, JusticeSoldier.com, soon so if you're a regular reader of his blog make sure you check it out.

-SGT Guardsman

Jon Carry & Trip

In case you haven't been watching the news recently, there have been some interesting comments being made by "Jon Carry". Listen to what the liberal from Mass. had to say:(Hat tip SFC B)

So apparently all soldiers are dumb huh? Some soldiers from my home state happened to think this was pretty funny so they decided to make a little sign that you may have seen on the news:

Click on the picture to enlarge

I found this pretty dang funny - and then even funnier when I figured out it was soldiers that I have served with. Who knows if they'll be in trouble or not. I hope not, but I suppose they could be. Anyway, but you've probably noticed many other bloggers commenting on this. My opinion? It's brilliant

I wasn't that pissed off about Jon Carry's comment, I knew he was showing his true colors again and pretty much laughed it off. What does piss me off, however, is his "apology".

As a combat veteran, I want to make it clear to anyone in uniform and to their loved ones: my poorly stated joke at a rally was not about, and never intended to refer to any troop. I sincerely regret that my words were misinterpreted to wrongly imply anything negative about those in uniform, and I personally apologize to any service member, family member, or American who was offended.

It is clear the Republican Party would rather talk about anything but their failed security policy. I don’t want my verbal slip to be a diversion from the real issues. I will continue to fight for a change of course to provide real security for our country, and a winning strategy for our troops.

"Misinterpreted"? I'm sorry Jon Carry, yor werds wer preittie cleer kut! Maybee bekuse I'am knot edukated eye missinterprettedd whut u saided.

Whoops! I accidentally had SFC B's and Station Commando's "Jon Carry Spell Checker" activated.

So now it's pretty clear cut about how the democrats think of us soldiers.... and they wonder why we vote GOP.

This next week will be low on the posting as I will be in Hawaii for work. Rough duty I know, but hopefully I'll have some pictures for you all! Aloha!

**UPDATE** Watch this video (video on right top of page) from WCCO in Minnesota. It confirms that Jon Carry actually CANCELED a planned trip to Minnesota because of the picture! I really like Gov Pawlenty's quote from the video.....