Sometimes your future needs...Part II

Part II of, "Sometimes your future needs a swift kick in the a$$"...

Irony, it seems, loves to make a mockery of some people in this universe, and I apparently am one of those people.

June 2013, so full of promise and hope.....that was not apparently meant to be.  My wife and I had this dream to return to Moab, Utah, and pass through Colorado on the way.  We had planned the trip to begin at the end of July, and we would return to Spartanburg, SC, in August.  I had plenty of vacation time accrued.  The Jeep Cherokee would not be ready in time,  no worries, we'll prepare the 2003 Explorer instead!  We WILL make it to our vacation!!  Little did we know what was to come.....

Sometimes your future needs a swift kick....

in the a$$.  People use the saying all the time, along the lines of "to do the same thing over and over and expect different results is the definition of lunacy, etc".  This is true if you have a goal or dream.
Those of us that have suffered with Corporate America have heard a headache-inducing term from those of questionable ability that far too often are our "leaders"...Stretch Goals.

...I just got a headache typing that....ANYWAY, perhaps an area where you SHOULD think of that term is with your own dreams and goals.  For many of us reaching middle age, the reality that we are never going to be what we dreamed is hitting home.  But you will NEVER hit those dreams if you don't reach for them.  In some cases, that very act of reaching for your dreams may be the hardest battle you have ever fought.

But if you do not fight, if you do not reach for any dream, whose fault is that?  You should know that answer already.

Not for amateur photographers....

As a public service, I would like to inform you that if you are an amateur photographer, be very careful using the site pxleyes.com.

While the site seems whimsical and welcoming for aspiring photographers, be prepared for strong criticism by others.  Its not for the weak.

There may be other sites more welcoming for the amateur just trying to break into the hobby, but I don't feel like this is it. 

Dealing with teens....

Besides a shared accent and career, I fully understand this father's position.  Shame I did not think of that with my daughter's laptop after HER Facebook rants about her mother....

Tommy, I salute you and your choice of tool to solve the laptop problem.

More changes...

Well, life has a way of changing you, even if you don't want it.  I have to add one more thing to my list of things I have been, and that is now Grandfather.

It has been good to be home after Afghanistan, but it has not always been easy.  That place changes you in ways you will never expect, and depending on what you survived, it can haunt you too.

It is easier now, as some of the edge is finally wearing off, and I am better dealing with "ordinary life".  I still find myself very short on patience with stupidity, and sadly, much more of "ordinary life" seems very stupid to me.  I seem to constantly find myself wondering at the sanity of people who obviously have no idea how sheltered and spoiled we are here in the United States, and how different the entire rest of the world is.

I wish I saw more hope on the horizon.  Like many who have been in places no sane person would choose, I really want a life of peace now.  I don't see it in the near future, and I wish I did not view so many people as self-absorbed and completely shallow.

Life Changes Yet Again.....

They say that only two things in life are certain, death and taxes.  While I can attest to those two happening far to often, I want to add a third item...change.  I spent a year and a half working in Afghanistan for Fluor's FGG's group as part of the LOGCAPIV program, in the border region with Pakistan.
It was an experience I will never forget. I learned a lot about myself and I learned a lot more about the nature of people and big business.  I encountered people I was glad to have met, and met more than enough that I hope I never met ever again.  I survived some situations that you normally don't encounter these days, but I also was witness to people choosing to do things they never would in the States, or could never get the opportunity to do so.
Would I go back?  After some time back in the States, yes.  There is an appeal to living and working in that environment.  But I am done with Fluor, and I am sure they are done with me.

I have a job in the States once more, and I have to adjust to being home with my family, and being around people who don't fly in choppers, wear body armor, or get shot at regularly.

Its a change I welcome.  I am glad to be home

Back to Afghanistan...

Heading back to Afghanistan and back to the valley to go back to work.
It was nice to home for Christmas, but I am not the same man I was in 2009.
There will be much to write about when I can put words too it.

I wonder how I will handle "real life" once more?
And here is a sobering thought....there are no VA benefits for contractors