So...no post yesterday. I was busy getting my Marine Corps Dress Blue uniform from the tailor. I had to have it altered so it could still fit me. You see, I had made Dustin an offer: If he so desired, when he returned from Iraq, I would get all of my lovely thick hair cut off and within regulation, and make sure my uniform was ready to go, and we would both go out on the town decked out in our military get-up. Maybe we will get free drinks? I am sure a lot of people will come up to us and say "thank you"; they always do...
Anyhow...the blues look great. I think next week I might actually put up some pictures.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Music
Okay. So I really like music. I actually went to a couple semesters of music college. My problem lately is I can't find any NEW music to listen to. I guess I don't really put a ton of effort into it, and I am quite content to just listen to my favorites over and over. The most recent artist that I have "gotten in to" would be Neko Case, who totally rocks. I have been lucky enough to see her live this year AND last year. Also, Better Living just happens to have all of her records. Beyond that, I have to go back several years to when Dustin turned me on to The Arcade Fire, who totally rule the Earth. All bands must bow to them. Just look them up on You-Tube and be amazed. This is a particularly silly and awesome performance, and here they are playing one of their songs with David Bowie.
More recently, Patrick was nice enough to turn me on to the band Beirut, who have a similar vibe to The Arcade Fire, a little more by the way of Devotchka.
I have a busy day ahead of me - here's wishing it is full of good songs!
More recently, Patrick was nice enough to turn me on to the band Beirut, who have a similar vibe to The Arcade Fire, a little more by the way of Devotchka.
I have a busy day ahead of me - here's wishing it is full of good songs!
Monday, July 6, 2009
Busy Weekend
Wow! What a holiday! First, great sunshine at the water-park, and continuing all day on Friday into my parents' big party.
Saturday was a blur...sleeping in, then prepping for the 4th of July celebration, where People's Market had a booth. We also ran a big sack-race that was a huge hit and had kids running in from all over the park to participate. I cut out before the big fireworks show...so I could make it home and head out with Better Living to a park up on Capitol Hill...where we watched fireworks going off all across the valley.
Sunday, the market was a blast, although I caught a lot of open hostility. Apparently, some people just don't have any manners (or class, or humility). It is okay, though...they are like a shadow to me now; an echo of a person. No sense letting one little shadow ruin a fantastic weekend!
And how about all of the SUNSHINE?
Saturday was a blur...sleeping in, then prepping for the 4th of July celebration, where People's Market had a booth. We also ran a big sack-race that was a huge hit and had kids running in from all over the park to participate. I cut out before the big fireworks show...so I could make it home and head out with Better Living to a park up on Capitol Hill...where we watched fireworks going off all across the valley.
Sunday, the market was a blast, although I caught a lot of open hostility. Apparently, some people just don't have any manners (or class, or humility). It is okay, though...they are like a shadow to me now; an echo of a person. No sense letting one little shadow ruin a fantastic weekend!
And how about all of the SUNSHINE?
Friday, July 3, 2009
Friday Unrelated Information
1. I petitioned Better Living to have a Tuesday or Thursday "Project Roundup". She said no. She said it could be the "Project Review, Project Update, or Project Progress Report", but not round-up. Apparently, "there is only room for one round-up on this ranch." It was cute.
2. The Marines have recently launched a big offensive in Afghanistan. I heard on N.P.R. that the Marines are planning on clearing a southern region of the country and then setting up temporary camps and staying for who knows how long, while they train the Afghanistan Army and police in the area.
3. Water Parks! We are going to an amusement park today, that features a small water park and several water rides. It is too bad that we aren't going the Schlitterbahn in New Braunfels, Texas, because that is the greatest water park I have been to. Aaaahhhhh....nice times in the water.
2. The Marines have recently launched a big offensive in Afghanistan. I heard on N.P.R. that the Marines are planning on clearing a southern region of the country and then setting up temporary camps and staying for who knows how long, while they train the Afghanistan Army and police in the area.
3. Water Parks! We are going to an amusement park today, that features a small water park and several water rides. It is too bad that we aren't going the Schlitterbahn in New Braunfels, Texas, because that is the greatest water park I have been to. Aaaahhhhh....nice times in the water.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Feeling Lazy...
I have several errands to run today, and so I am feeling kind of lazy when it comes to blogging. So, I will just share a few nice 40k images with you all. Better stuff tomorrow.
The first is a picture from the last 40k tournament I played in, wherein Stelek's demons have laid waste to one flank of my army. Yikes! Luckily, I laid waste to the other flank of HIS army, then ran away for a nice fair-and square draw. Very nicely painted demons.
The second picture is of my small Tau force, looking cool in some ruins in a picture I sent to Dustin to keep him motivated (warhammer-style) while he was in Iraq:
The first is a picture from the last 40k tournament I played in, wherein Stelek's demons have laid waste to one flank of my army. Yikes! Luckily, I laid waste to the other flank of HIS army, then ran away for a nice fair-and square draw. Very nicely painted demons.
The second picture is of my small Tau force, looking cool in some ruins in a picture I sent to Dustin to keep him motivated (warhammer-style) while he was in Iraq:
That is all for today, folks. Valentine out.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
War Story Wednesdy: Motor Transport
When I say over there in the "about me" bit that I am a Veteran, I don't give a lot of details. More for War Story Wednesday? So here is today's topic: Motor Transport. My M.O.S. (That is Military Occupational Specialty for the uninitiated) was "3533": Logistics Vehicle Systems (LVS) Operator. So..a fancy acronym-tastic way to say that I drove trucks; the fanciest trucks. The LVS series of vehicles are all powered by the Mk48 front module, which has the cab and engine, and are then coupled with a rear module. There are several rear module variants. The Mk14, for example, is a simple flat bed that can be fitted with I.S.O. (International Standards Organization) locks to haul shipping containers and connex boxes, or cargo can just be placed on the bed and strapped down. The Mk17 has a smaller flatbed (with fold-up sides), and also has a hydraulic crane. Below is a photo of some of the most difficult LVS work I got into. In the photo, I have just returned to our camp after a vehicle recovery mission. I am driving the Mk48/16 rear module, which has a fifth-wheel to pull an M870 low-boy trailer:
I actually have the trailer detached, because its bit for the fifth-wheel is on a collapsible goose-neck. I am backed up to the back of the trailer (those are the rear ramps of the trailer sticking up behind my four main LVS axles). I have used a winch on the Mk16 to recover an Army 5-ton that was hit by an enemy IED. It wasn't a particularly large or effective IED, but it did flatten the tires and took out a big piece of the passenger side axles. In the picture, if I remember correctly, we are off-loading the Army 5-ton over at the Army's side of our camp.
As an LVS Operator, I also went through all of the regular Motor Transport Operator training (MOS 3531), and was fully licensed to drive (and boy did I drive) the normal Motor Transport vehicles: The 7-ton MTVR and the ubiquitous HMMWV (High Moblity Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle or 'humvee'). Below is a photo of a 7-ton towing a HMMWV:
There are two things I would like to point out in this photo: first, we are in the middle of nowhere, and second, that HMMWV is all kitted-out and up-armored. Regarding the first, there isn't much to say. We are out in the desert. It is vast and empty. I believe we are on a raid in the photo, or on our way back. That is an entire other post, however. On the second point: That is not one of our Motor-T platoon HMMWV's. It belonged to H&S (Headquarters and support) Company or one of the other companies in my battalion. We didn't get up-armored HMMWV's until a few weeks before we redeployed back to the U.S. Our convoys were thusly comprised entirely of 7-tons (generally) with a few LVS's thrown in to haul fuel, heavy equipment, etc. The 7-ton in this picture is a good representation of our average 7-ton: an armored turret for a gunner, bolt-on armored door, and ballistic windshield.
Alrighty...I think I am going to go swimming now. It is summer, after all!
I actually have the trailer detached, because its bit for the fifth-wheel is on a collapsible goose-neck. I am backed up to the back of the trailer (those are the rear ramps of the trailer sticking up behind my four main LVS axles). I have used a winch on the Mk16 to recover an Army 5-ton that was hit by an enemy IED. It wasn't a particularly large or effective IED, but it did flatten the tires and took out a big piece of the passenger side axles. In the picture, if I remember correctly, we are off-loading the Army 5-ton over at the Army's side of our camp.As an LVS Operator, I also went through all of the regular Motor Transport Operator training (MOS 3531), and was fully licensed to drive (and boy did I drive) the normal Motor Transport vehicles: The 7-ton MTVR and the ubiquitous HMMWV (High Moblity Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle or 'humvee'). Below is a photo of a 7-ton towing a HMMWV:
There are two things I would like to point out in this photo: first, we are in the middle of nowhere, and second, that HMMWV is all kitted-out and up-armored. Regarding the first, there isn't much to say. We are out in the desert. It is vast and empty. I believe we are on a raid in the photo, or on our way back. That is an entire other post, however. On the second point: That is not one of our Motor-T platoon HMMWV's. It belonged to H&S (Headquarters and support) Company or one of the other companies in my battalion. We didn't get up-armored HMMWV's until a few weeks before we redeployed back to the U.S. Our convoys were thusly comprised entirely of 7-tons (generally) with a few LVS's thrown in to haul fuel, heavy equipment, etc. The 7-ton in this picture is a good representation of our average 7-ton: an armored turret for a gunner, bolt-on armored door, and ballistic windshield.Alrighty...I think I am going to go swimming now. It is summer, after all!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Narrative Campaign
So, when Dustin comes to visit a large chunk of our time is going to be devoted to 40k. Since we are both total fluff-heads (we love Necromunda because of its Role Playing Game qualities), I am working on a narrative campaign for us to play using pretty much every painted model we have. There will be five missions, based loosely around the idea that Tyranids have landed on planet Deseret (*wink*), and Imperial forces as well as locals (Orks and Tau) are responding to the Tyranid invasion.
Here is a rough outline of the five games:
GAME #1: 1 objective, + neutral Orks & Tau. This is a crazy, silly game to help Dustin and I both get up to speed on our 5th Edition rules...and also just be crazy and silly! Dustin will have a 750 point Tyranid swarm, and I will have a 750 pt. Blood Angels armored convoy. There are also Orks and Tau that start on the board, and after our turns, I roll to see what silly thing the Tau do and Dustin rolls to see what silly thing the Orks do. There is even a potential for Dustin to roll well and gain control of the Orks for the rest of the game. There is only one objective we are fighting over, using Stelek's modified objective rules. Below is my VASSAL diagram of the game 1 deployment:
GAME #2: All of Dustin's Tyranids VS my Marines, in the ruined outskirts of town. D3+2 objectives, long table edge deployment just like a standard game in the rulebook. No crazy special rules (although we may still use the modified objectives rules), EXCEPT: If any of my named characters or his Hive Tyrants are killed in this game, they cannot be used in the big final battle.
GAME #3: Dustin's Imperial Guard and my marines (played by Dustin) VS Tau and Orks, played by me. Dustin is rushing in his "R&R" time before he gets leave to paint up a small I.G. army, so in this game he can test it out. We also thought it would be fun to let him have a few of
my Marines just so he can play around with them and boost the points of his I.G. force. We'll probably play a standard mission from the rulebook, with all those random dice rolls for game type and deployment. The weird allies (Orks and Tau? For the Greater Good?) is enough wackiness for this game.
GAME# 4: Dustin and I team up to form like a 3500 or 4000 point Marine/I.G. joint force to play some guys at the store, and it ties in to our campaign somehow. Hope we can find some willing opponents!
GAME #5: The nids are just too much....all of Dustin's Tyranids, plus many "infected" Tau and I.G. VS. a bunch of my Marines with a few Witch Hunters or I.G. heavy weapons teams...there is a breach in the city walls...only if it holds can the civilians be evacuated before the planet is virus bombed into oblivion! Of course, we will make up some fun siege rules.
So that is pretty much the plan. It is a work in progress. I hope Dustin enjoys it.
Here is a rough outline of the five games:
GAME #1: 1 objective, + neutral Orks & Tau. This is a crazy, silly game to help Dustin and I both get up to speed on our 5th Edition rules...and also just be crazy and silly! Dustin will have a 750 point Tyranid swarm, and I will have a 750 pt. Blood Angels armored convoy. There are also Orks and Tau that start on the board, and after our turns, I roll to see what silly thing the Tau do and Dustin rolls to see what silly thing the Orks do. There is even a potential for Dustin to roll well and gain control of the Orks for the rest of the game. There is only one objective we are fighting over, using Stelek's modified objective rules. Below is my VASSAL diagram of the game 1 deployment:
GAME #2: All of Dustin's Tyranids VS my Marines, in the ruined outskirts of town. D3+2 objectives, long table edge deployment just like a standard game in the rulebook. No crazy special rules (although we may still use the modified objectives rules), EXCEPT: If any of my named characters or his Hive Tyrants are killed in this game, they cannot be used in the big final battle.
GAME #3: Dustin's Imperial Guard and my marines (played by Dustin) VS Tau and Orks, played by me. Dustin is rushing in his "R&R" time before he gets leave to paint up a small I.G. army, so in this game he can test it out. We also thought it would be fun to let him have a few of
my Marines just so he can play around with them and boost the points of his I.G. force. We'll probably play a standard mission from the rulebook, with all those random dice rolls for game type and deployment. The weird allies (Orks and Tau? For the Greater Good?) is enough wackiness for this game.GAME# 4: Dustin and I team up to form like a 3500 or 4000 point Marine/I.G. joint force to play some guys at the store, and it ties in to our campaign somehow. Hope we can find some willing opponents!
GAME #5: The nids are just too much....all of Dustin's Tyranids, plus many "infected" Tau and I.G. VS. a bunch of my Marines with a few Witch Hunters or I.G. heavy weapons teams...there is a breach in the city walls...only if it holds can the civilians be evacuated before the planet is virus bombed into oblivion! Of course, we will make up some fun siege rules.
So that is pretty much the plan. It is a work in progress. I hope Dustin enjoys it.
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