Birthday
Well, Saturday came and went last weekend and with it I turned 30 years old. I think I went into the whole "30" concept pretty even keeled, actually. In the end, it was not a very dramatic day. Still - there's always something more "alive" about the day when it's your birthday. At least I think so. Generally, I think I'm feeling pretty well. I actually feel better (physically) now than I did in the entire last year of residency - hell maybe last two years. Since I've moved out here and started a more stable day job, I've been eating better and also working out a hell of a lot more. I can see and feel the results of this. Even my rampant obesity problem is starting to get under control...
On the day itself, I woke up and Gwen made me a really good omelette. So far I've been unimpressed with the cooking of eggs (one of my favorite foods) in Europe. Gwen's omelettes are therefore the best I've had over here, and by far. They are something special.
We didn't do too much else during the day - I played some Madden (more later). For dinner we went to a pretty good French restaurant in town. After dinner, we scrambled to the movie theater in the sub-freezing temperatures (it has been ridiculously cold here lately). We saw "A History of Violence" which I thought was entertaining but uneven. It started out well enough, and definitely held my interest, but overall I question some of the things about it. And enough said about that, really.
Desert Voices
Well, it's official. Gwen has gotten her orders and is being deployed, which is no fun at all. See her site (linked to the right) for details. I think we're both doing OK with it. To be honest, I would rather go myself than stay behind and watch Gwen go. It was bad enough to say goodbye to big Pete. When Gwen leaves, things will be really tough. And of course she's understandably miserable about it. But we're both trying to keep a good attitude and perhaps channel the mighty Pete in that regard.
Speaking of big Pete, we got some email from him about Kuwait. It's good stuff - pretty funny if you know Pete and/or how the army works. Or even if you don't. Here it is:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello from Camp Buehring, Kuwait -
I guess this falls under the "mass email change of address" heading. Most of you know I've been deployed. Short version of the story is that I’m currently at Camp Buehring, Kuwait waiting for my brigade to receive it’s mission (Army speak for “to do list”) in support of OIF. For now, all we know is that we’ll be in the Kuwait/Iraq theater for the next year. From what I’ve heard from friends who’ve deployed, I’ll have plenty of time to keep you all up to date on what’s going on over here, as well as give you a bit of insight into day-to-day Army life. If you’re interested in getting updates, respond to this email, and read on below. (I’ll put together a distro list from respondents) If not, just hit the delete key. Either way, please feel free to send oatmeal raisin cookies to the address below.
CPT Peter Henning
HHC 2BDE, 2BCT 1AD
APO AE 09330
So what’s been going on over the last couple months?
Finished up residency in WA state early summer and have been running ever since. Flew into Germany late July to start my first post-residency “utilization assignment” (aka pound of flesh for all those education $ we picked up). I’m a Brigade Surgeon with the 2nd Bridage Combat Team which is part of the 1st Armored Division. Confusing? It was (and is) for me, too. Working at an Army Medical Center doesn't necessisarily prepare you for the "real Army", so I'm getting a crash course. The learing curve has been vertical, and the “lessons learned” could, and probably will, be a email in their own right. The rest of the summer and fall was spent “in the field” which is military speak for living in tents, playing war, drinking lots of weak coffee, and eating food whose sole cooking method is boiling water. (Tip: pass on the veal parm) Got back to home post (Baumholder, Germany) with just enough time to find an apartment, receive my household goods, and pack a clean pair of underwear before jumping on a plane for Kuwait.
Actually, “jumping on a plane” makes that sound a little too easy. Before any “jumping” could commence, things started with a mandatory 0250 (yes, 2:50 AM) formation. After standing in formation for 30 minutes, it was decided that this was such a smashing success that we should “fall out”, then convene another formation at 0650. In between, we drew weapons and waited. From there, we loaded buses, and went to a gym where we officially “checked out”, and then officially waited. Back on the buses to somewhere (I really have no idea, I was asleep enroute) where we were weighed in all our gear and waited. Getting the idea? Buses, somewhere, waited again. Buses, plane (5:30 PM now), Kuwait five hours later. Needless to say there were plenty more buses and waiting, all of which culminated (at 5:00AM) with getting to our tents and “baggage claim”. Ever been to the airport and someone has the exact same bag you do? Try that with 250 people who’ve packed a year’s worth of poop into identical bags. (Circus music here).
Enough for now...more to come. If you get multiple copies of this, it's b/c I sent to just about all of my contacts and may have a couple addresses for you. Let me know your preferred address.
Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving. Will let you know how boiled pumpkin pie turns out.
Pete
-------------------------------------------------
Word on the street now is that Pete may be in Kuwait for some time before hitting Iraq (much more than the usual - like months). But who knows. I won't be posting too much about specifics on this thing anyway, per Army regulations. (I'm not too sure about my readers - I think some of them may have Al Qaida connections. Especially Iwan. Or maybe I just don't trust Canadians. But who does?)
Gwen is slated to leave in mid-January. We are doing some traveling prior to then to try and maximizer her remaining days. This weekend we are fired up because we are heading out to Austria and the Stubai Glacier for some snowboarding. They already have some snow and we are staying at a 4-star hotel - so either way it will be fun. Pics and stories to follow, of course. We leave this afternoon.
Tis the Season (yes, already)
Gwen and I put the X-mas tree up already. We did it this early because Gwen is leaving to do some training elsewhere in Germany starting Monday and she will be gone up to two weeks or so. The tree rocks. You can see early pics of it over at Gwen's site. I will save my full photo-expose of it for later in the season...
Etc...
So I won the Super Bowl with the Giants on Madden. We went 16-0 this time again, but this time didn't disappoint with a playoff loss. Then I had a bitch of a time keeping all my sweet peeps on my team the following year because of the salary cap restrictions and several hold-outs. Not to worry, though. Even though we lost some veterans, we'll be developing some fine young talent over the course of this season.
Also, after finishing up season 2 of Arrested Development (which is so awesome I don't know what else to say), Gwen and I netflixed Lost on the recommendation of some friends.
After getting through 4 episodes of Lost (disc 1), here is my take. Generally, I will say that the show is intriguing and I want to find out what happens. That being said, Gwen and I found several things about the show (unintentionally) hilarious:
1) In case you ever wanted to find out what happens when a plane full of really HOT people crashes on a remote island, here is your answer. Gwen and I can't help laughing at all the hot people, from the lead characters on down (with the obvious 'exception that proves the rule' comic relief fat guy). You've got the hot doctor guy. The hot main chick. The hot rich bitch chick with her ridiculously hot brother. You've got the "biker badboy" hot guy. The sensitive hot Iraqui guy. The hot Japanese couple. The hot pregnant chick. I mean...come on! When they argue or pout, it's even better. Angular cheek bones of Nordic models cut deep, apparently. And when they hike in the rain and every curve of everyone's body and face undulates as they climb up hills or whatever - it all feels like a thinly veiled fashion ad. Right down to the cosmetically designed 'crash scrapes' and studio-crafted "disheveled plane crash" hot hair styles that several characters have. HIGH-Larious, I say. We've actually laughed out loud several times about this. I think they really should have toned that down.
2)Some of the doctor stuff (main guy) is a little overboard as well. The guy's story about his surgery on a young girl (a solo pediatric spine sugery in residency?! Um...yeah) and his fear issues (count to 5 - it's fun!) was ridiculous; the story happens early and was so bad it just about made me want to turn the show off. Luckily it was only a small piece and eventually it's forgettable. But that shit right there belonged more on House M.D. than this show. In that context, some of the other medical stuff is bogus, which is I guess to be expected and with the exception of that one time actually isn't that big a deal.
3)This is nitpicking - but the "dun dun DUN!!!" drama points can be a little much. Definitely have to expect some of that in this show, and often times they hit it pretty well. But sometimes, like I said, a bit much. I really hope the show doesn't become ridiculously twist-heavy, but I fear that it will, of course. It just has that feel about it. Like 24 on an island.
Anyway, all that said, we are enjoying the show and looking forward to more. It does build suspense well and each episode has a nice overall pull to it to keep me interested. I think they are handling the character back stories well, too. So, anyway, more Lost coming up.
And with that, gotta run. Back to clinic and then time to hit the slopes. I wonder if the people in Austria would appreciate it if I spoke in nothing but a loud, obnoxious, Arnold Schwarzenegger accent at all times.
"Hey YOU?!? AUS-TREE-UH IS PRET-TY COO-UHL! NICE VERK ON DIS CONT-TREE..."
That's it - I'm trying it. I'll let you know how it goes...
Happy Thanksgiving.
No comments:
Post a Comment