Category Archives: Fallen Warriors

Another Sunday

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My day started in New Jersey. Seriously. I spent Thursday evening through this morning in New Brunswick, New Jersey attending PICC’12. What a great conference. Sponsored by LOPSA, and hosted by the New Jersey chapter of LOPSA, it was two superb days of new friends, meeting in meatspace folks I only knew electronically, good food, and some awesome technical training classes. My major focus this time around was on configuration management, security, and IPv6.

I can’t recommend this conference highly enough. Only a three hour drive for me, it’s also right close to the train and near to Newark airport. Think about it for next year for yourself. Oh, yeah, it’s inexpensive, too. Conf + food + hotel + gas was under $900.

Special thanks to William Bilancio, Thomas Uphill & Benjamin Rose, Aleksey Tsalolikhin, Shumon Huque, and Jesse Trucks. These folks were crucial to making the conference super for me.

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Our condolences to the families, friends, and units of these fallen warriors:

Master Sgt. Gregory L. Childs, 38, Warren, Arkansas, died May 4, in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Sgt. John P. Huling, 25, of West Chester, Ohio, died May 6 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

Staff Sgt. Thomas K. Fogarty, 30, of Alameda, California, died May 6, in Ahmad-Kheyl, Afghanistan, from injuries sustained when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.

2nd Lt. David E. Rylander, 23, of Stow, Ohio, died May 2 in Logar province, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.

Spc. Junot M. L. Cochilus, 34, of Charlotte, North Carolina, died May 2 in Logar province, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.

Sgt. Jacob M. Schwallie, 22, of Clarksville, Tennessee, died May 7, in Ghazni province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.

Spc. Chase S. Marta, 24, of Chico, California, died May 7, in Ghazni province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.

Pfc. Dustin D. Gross, 19, of Jeffersonville, Kentucky, died May 7, in Ghazni province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.

Petty Officer Second Class Jorge Luis Velasquez, 35, of Houston, Texas, died as a result of a non-combat related incident in Manama, Bahrain.

Best Two Out of Three

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One more day of weekend to go – I’m taking Monday off work, for a variety of reasons, some of which will be explained later. But Saturday and Sunday I was in the yard, planting: Both in front and in back. That process is pretty much done. I didn’t get the watering system fettled for the season yet, and that was my original goal … but the rest of the plants was an important part, too. So, tomorrow for that, I think. Pictures tomorrow, too.

I also have to replace the kitchen sink faucet, since it gave up the ghost just before supper tonight. Fortunately, it wasn’t a catastrophic water-everywhere type of #FAIL, just a handle came off, broken bits inside, can’t get any water out at all type of #FAIL. C’est la vie.

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Our condolences to the families, friends, and units of these fallen warriors:

  • Master Sgt. Scott E. Pruitt, 38, of Gautier, Mississippi, died April 28 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
  • Pfc. Christian R. Sannicolas, 20, Anaheim, California, died April 28, in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device.
  • Sgt. Nicholas M. Dickhut, 23, of Rochester, Minnesota, died April 30 in Zharay, Afghanistan, from wounds sustained when enemy forces attacked his unit with small arms fire.
  • Capt. Bruce K. Clark, 43, Spencerport, New York, died May 1, in Tarin Kowt, Afghanistan.
  • Staff Sgt. Zachary H. Hargrove, 32, of Wichita, Kansas, died May 3 in Bagram, Afghanistan.

Garden and War

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Yesterday, I mowed the yards, and little else, since rain was inbound. We got another 2/10″, which is all to the good – perhaps a total of 1.5″ over the last week. That’d be a wonderful regular event.

Today, I planted all the seedlings in the garden.

Seedlings in the Garden

Seedlings in the Garden

It doesn’t look like much right now – 28 or so tiny tomato seedlings spread out through two beds, zucchini and butternut squash, cucumbers, and half-inch tall jalapeño plants. None of the cerrano peppers germinated. I’ve got spares of some of the tomatoes bedded for now where the cold frame was, in case of a late failure … and everything’s documented, so that I can preserve seeds for next year from this crop. The main purpose for this picture is to provide a baseline for the jungle to come.

Snow peas and tomato seedlings

Snow peas and tomato seedlings

The snow peas are doing very well. All about eight inches tall, and starting to flower. I sense YUM in our future.

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Walking the dog after her supper tonight, we were lucky that her feet weren’t cut on the broken glass left behind by an asshat who was done with her bottle of Smirnoff. It covered a chunk of sidewalk. Fortunately, Lexi was trailing me, so that when I crunched, I stopped and made her walk around. After the walk I went back and swept it up and disposed of it. I suppose it’s true in any neighborhood – some are always going to be asshats.

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A bad week in Afghanistan for our troops, sadly. Our condolences to the families, friends, and units of these fallen warriors:

Staff Sgt. Joseph H. Fankhauser, 30, of Mason, Texas, died April 22 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

1st Lt. Jonathan P. Walsh, 28, Cobb, Georgia, died April 22 in Paktia, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.

Pfc. Michael J. Metcalf, 22, Boynton Beach, Florida, died April 22 in Paktia, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.

Chief Warrant Officer Nicholas S. Johnson, 27, of San Diego, California, died April 19, in Helmand province, Afghanistan, when his Black Hawk (UH-60) crashed.

Chief Warrant Officer Don C. Viray, 25, of Waipahu, Hawaii, died April 19, in Helmand province, Afghanistan, when his Black Hawk (UH-60) crashed.

Sgt. Chris J. Workman, 33, of Boise, Idaho, died April 19, in Helmand province, Afghanistan, when his Black Hawk (UH-60) crashed.

Sgt. Dean R. Shaffer, 23, of Pekin, Illinois, died April 19, in Helmand province, Afghanistan, when his Black Hawk (UH-60) crashed.

Spc. Manuel J. Vasquez, 22, of West Sacramento, California, died April 24 in Paktika province, Afghanistan.

Spc. Benjamin H. Neal, 21, of Orfordville, Wisconsin, died April 25 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, from injuries sustained when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.

Spc. Jason K. Edens, 22, of Franklin, Tennessee, died April 26, in Bethesda, Md., of wounds sustained April 15, in Laghman province, Afghanistan, when the enemy attacked his unit with small arms fire.

Spc. Moises J. Gonzalez, 29, Huntington, California, died April 25, in Balkh province, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained when his vehicle rolled over.

Lt. Christopher E. Mosko, 28, of Pittsford, New York, died April 26 while conducting combat operations in Nawa district, Ghazni province, Afghanistan.

Staff Sgt. Brandon F. Eggleston, 29, of Candler, North Carolina, died April 26, in Ghazni province, Afghanistan, from injuries sustained when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device.

Sgt. Dick A. Lee Jr., 31, of Orange Park, Florida, died April 26, in Ghazni province, Afghanistan, from injuries sustained when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device.

Staff Sgt. Andrew T. Brittonmihalo, 25, of Simi Valley, California, died April 25, in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained from small arms fire.

So Much For Relaxing…

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I was going to take a weekend to relax. Really I was. But I’m on call, see. So my Saturday started with a page at 0608 – a dead system. I was at the office by 0715, and fixed that, then worked on a couple of other tasks before heading back home. So … I washed the car, cut the lawns, finished the mulching, and cleaned up the side yard. That put paid to Saturday.

Today, Darlion (nee´ Harmony), the 2007 MacBook Pro was laid to rest. It had shut itself off several times in the last couple of weeks. Just a matter of time, really, until it ate data I cared about. So I migrated everything off the system, and issued the (probably) final shutdown command. Supper out tonight at Mi Hacienda with Marcia and LindaRose, yum.

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Our condolences to the families, friends, and units of these fallen warriors:

  • Staff Sgt. David P. Nowaczyk, 32, of Dyer, Indiana, died April 15, in Kunar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when his vehicle was attacked with an enemy improvised explosive device.
  • Cpl. Aaron M. Faust, 22, Louisville, Kentucky, died April 15 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
  • Capt. Michael C. Braden, 31, of Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, died April 18 in Bagram, Afghanistan.

Apologies

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Today, I was at work by 0555. We finished up the necessary work, I dropped by the nursery to pick up a couple more bags of mulch, and I was home by noon. So that’s a good thing.

A bad thing is that I managed to not push the publish button on last Sunday’s second post: My apologies, as I really don’t like shirking on my acknowledgement of the sacrifices made on our behalf by the men and women of our Armed Forces.

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Our condolences to the families, friends, and units of these fallen warriors:

  • Spc. James E. Dutton, 25, of Checotah, Oklahoma, died March 31, in Logar province, Afghanistan.
  • Cpl. Michael J. Palacio, 23, of Lake Elsinore, California, died March 29 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
  • Staff Sgt. Christopher L. Brown, 26, of Columbus, Ohio, died April 3, in Kunar province, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained after he was attacked with an improvised explosive device while on a dismounted patrol.
  • Cpl. Christopher D. Bordoni, 21, of Ithaca, New York, died April 3 of wounds sustained Jan. 18, 2012, while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
  • Capt. Nicholas J. Rozanski, 36, of Dublin, Ohio, died April 4, in Faryab province, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained during an enemy attack by a suicide vehicle borne improvised explosive device.
  • Sgt. 1st Class Jeffrey J. Rieck, 45, of Columbus, Ohio, died April 4, in Faryab province, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained during an enemy attack by a suicide vehicle borne improvised explosive device.
  • Sgt. 1st Class Shawn T. Hannon, 44, of Grove City, Ohio, died April 4, in Faryab province, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained during an enemy attack by a suicide vehicle borne improvised explosive device.
  • Cpl. Alex Martinez, 21, of Elgin, Illinois, died April 5 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
  • Spc. Jeffrey L. White, Jr., 21, of Catawissa, Montana, died April 3, in Khost province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.
  • Spc. Antonio C. Burnside, 31, of Great Falls, Montana, died Apr. 6 at Ghanzi province, Afghanistan of injuries suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with small arms fire.
  • Staff Sgt. Tyler J. Smith, 24, of Licking, Missouri, died April 3, in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when he was attacked with an enemy improvised explosive device.
  • Constructionman Trevor J. Stanley, 22, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, died April 7 while deployed to Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti.
  • Lance Cpl. Ramon T. Kaipat, 22, of Tacoma, Washington, died April 11 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
  • Spc. Philip C. S. Schiller, 21, of The Colony, Texas, died April 11 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with small arms fire.
  • Lance Cpl. Abraham Tarwoe, 25, Providence, Rhode Island, died April 12 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
  • Sgt. Tanner S. Higgins, 23, of Yantis, Texas, died Apr. 14 in Logar province, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when enemy forces attacked his unit with small arms fire.

Spring Semester Fini!

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Yay! I wrote and submitted my last 11 pages of work for the Principles of Software Engineering class yesterday, so I’m done and waiting on the ‘A’.

Today, to celebrate a few weeks of freedom from school, I shopped, cleaned the coffee roaster, did yard work, roasted coffee, cooked, and cooked some more. Sore and tired now, but still happy. And of course, we won something on Friday. Nothing close to a half billion dollars, though.

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Our condolences to the families, friends, and units of these fallen warriors:

  • Capt. Aaron D. Istre, 37, of Vinton, Louisiana, died March 24 in Kabul, Afghanistan.
  • Sgt. Daniel J. Brown, 27, of Jerome, Idaho, died March 24 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.
  • Sgt. William R. Wilson III, of Getzville, New York, died March 26 in Paktika province, Afghanistan, of wounds from small arms fire.
  • Sgt. Joseph D’Augustine, 29, of Waldwick, New Jersey, died March 27 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
  • Capt. Francis D. Imlay, 31, of Vacaville, California, died March 28 from injuries received in an accident involving an F-15 aircraft near a base in Southwest Asia.
  • Pfc. Johnathon F. Davis, 20, of Griffin, Georgia, died Mar. 29, in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered from enemy small arms fire.
  • Cpl. Roberto Cazarez, 24, of Harbor City, California, died Mar. 30, while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
  • Spc. David W. Taylor, 20, of Dixon, Kentucky, died Mar. 29, in Kandahar province, Afghanistan.

Good news, bad news

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The good news is twofold. First, my penultimate deliverable for the Software Engineering class is in the hopper – two sections (about 11 pages) of an SDMP document. One more week of reading and writing puts that class to bed.

Second, it looks like my effort to finally purchase materials and get the cold frame built (see yesterday’s post) is going to pay off: we’re likely to see frosts Monday and Tuesday nights. With luck what I built protects what I’m growing.

Third (yes, third, this is a bonus good thing, for some definition of good), I’ve got a week-long VSphere 5 boot camp training that I’m attending this upcoming week. It’s nearby, I won’t be away from home much early or later than normal working hours, and I’m going to learn a crapload about VMware to supplement what I already know from the environments I’ve worked with previously. The downside is that all of this piles into my brain while I’m trying to finish a very challenging UMUC class. Such is life – the next convenient training is months away.

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Our condolences to the families, friends, and units of these fallen warriors:

  • Sgt. Jamie D. Jarboe, 27, of Frankfort, Indiana, died March 21 in Topeka, Kan., from wounds suffered on April 10, 2011 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, when enemy forces attacked his unit with small arms fire.
  • Spc. Dennis P. Weichel Jr., 29, of Providence, Rhode Island, died March 22 in Laghman province, Afghanistan, from injuries suffered in a noncombat related incident.

Team Project DONE; Now, Lasers!

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I’ve been working like mad on a team project for my CMIS330 class, it’s due tonight, and happily, I think it’s done! I’ve got it out for review to the team members right now, and hell or high water I’m turning it in at 2100 EDT.

It makes me want to build robots with Laser Eyes (thanks to JoCo) and loose them upon the world.

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Our condolences to the familes, friends and units of these fallen warriors:

  • Staff Sgt. Jesse J. Grindey, 30, of Hazel Green, Wis., died March 12, in Kandahar province, Afghanistan.
  • Spc. Daquane D. Rivers, 21, of Marianna, Fla., died March 14, from injuries sustained in a non-combat related incident in Paktika province, Afghanistan.
  • 2nd Lt. Clovis T. Ray, 34, of San Antonio, Texas died Mar. 15 at Kunar province, Afghanistan of injuries suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.

Argh III

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In my introduction conference entry for my CMIS class, I said I hate school group projects. At work it’s fine, people are motivated and interested – the mission gets accomplished. My dislike continues to be fueled by the current group project I’m participating in. I posted up template documents, did my part quickly, completely, and early to provide exemplar material to make it easy for my teammates to follow the template … and we needed everyone to the the first part done by last night. Of the other three folks, only one had anything done. Me == Sad.

I’ve finished my Geology course – that’s the last of the General Education Requirements retired. All that’s left is upper division electives – the one that I’ve got three weeks left in now, two in the Summer session, and two in the Fall. Huzzah!

So sorry for the delay in this post – my life is pretty bloody full right now, and daylight savings time sent me for a loop. Feeble excuses at best, but I’m here now…

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Our condolences to the family, friends, and compatriots of Specialist Acosta

  • Spc. Edward J. Acosta, 21, of Hesperia, Calif., died March 5, in La Jolla, Calif., of injuries sustained Dec. 3, 2011, when his vehicle was struck by an improvised-explosive device in Wardak province, Afghanistan.

I’ll rest when I’m dead

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I took off from work a couple of hours early on Friday.

At that time, I was still feeling a bit off my feed – this whatever it is that isn’t a cold anymore has been kicking my ass. So I “took it easy” this weekend: I slept in past eight both days! Thanks, Lexi!!!

After that, though, no rest for the wicked. I put in about 12 hours writing for both classes yesterday. Today: Shopping, washed the car, cleaned the dining room, weeded out the raised beds, and seeded/prepared for snow peas. Then I reviewed the writing I did yesterday, and submitted the assignment I could. The other one doesn’t have a class link for submission yet, argh! Now THAT’S frustrating.

Oh, yeah, and the bug’s still got me, more’s the pity. Still plugging away with the antibiotics, fluids, and other OTC meds.

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Our condolences to the families, friends, and units of these fallen warriors:

Maj. Robert J. Marchanti II, 48, of Baltimore, Maryland, died Feb. 25, from  wounds received during an attack at the Interior Ministry, Kabul, Afghanistan.

On Feb. 25, the armed forces medical examiner at the Dover Port Mortuary in Dover, Del., positively identified the remains of Staff Sgt. Ahmed K. Altaie, of Ann Arbor, Michigan. On Dec. 11, 2006, a casualty review board declared Altaie “missing – captured” after his disappearance in Baghdad, Iraq on Oct. 23, 2006.

Cpl. Conner T. Lowry, 24, of Chicago, Illinois, died March 1 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

Staff Sgt. Jordan L. Bear, 25, of Denver, Colorado, died Mar. 1, in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered from small arms fire during an attack on his base.

Pfc. Payton A. Jones, 19, of Marble Falls, Texas, died Mar. 1, in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered from small arms fire during an attack on his base.