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 Greetings! You are reading an article from The Mudville Gazette. To reach the front page, with all the latest news and views, click the logo above or "main" below. Thanks for stopping by! August 15, 2006 Day OneBy GreyhawkD____ Yes, we made it safely back. Yes, I'm slow to write - but the hours have been filled with the sorts of things that fill these types of hours. Homeless, car-less, school-less, and damn too little time or money from on high to deal with the situation. Not complaining, you know all this as well as I (been there, done that, got the t-shirt) but I really believe the relocating is a greater sacrifice than time in a war zone. I definitely know which brings the most stress, hands down. Funny that in hindsight neither seems quite so bad. I guess that's part of human nature, that tendency to forget (or block) the worst of anything, and the reason we can do such things repeatedly. Or maybe it's not part of the universal condition, and is in fact an affliction that those of us who do things like 20+ years of military service suffer in blissful ignorance. If so, God help us if it's ever cured. Sorry - wandered a bit. I will say this for the record - I may go back to Iraq, or visit Afghanistan for a first time, but I'll be damned if I pack the family off to any other spot after this one. You can taunt me with that vow should I break it in some distant future, but I'll add that the house I've committed to buying isn't the sort one lives in for just a few dozen months before driving the For Sale sign into the curbside grass, so factor that in before placing bets. The place in Germany was fine, and well situated, and I hated to see it and the adjacent acres of forest in the rear-view mirror, but the new place will certainly help make any longing for those days easier to bear. Don't get me wrong - home in the USA is a good place to be. But there are indeed some things that were better about Germany. You and I know this, but for those who believe everything about America is better than anything about any other place, I offer one word: Beer. If they choose to continue arguing they are fools. As far as beer goes, I've hit upon something that might compensate - more about that in some near-future correspondence. No really, I'll be writing regularly now - I promise. It was the house-hunting that kept me afk - and the laptop shared with three kids maintaining contact with their friends on distant shores while I used my turn to plan another day's assault on my realtor’s patience. So, more on houses and the hunting thereof later too - for now I'll jump back to day one back here in the good ol' USA and offer my first impressions. But darned if that doesn't bring me right to another thing the Germans do better than us - the highways. Once the big long plane ride (on a too-small plane) was over we still had miles to go. Seems there aren't any planes big enough to fly big dog in his crate to the smaller airport near Newbase. (Another "funny" story there too - it's actually cheaper to fly to Smallport than Big One, even with stopover at same big airport, so Uncle Sam was a bit reluctant to drop the extra dime. More on that later too. Maybe.) So we loaded 5 people, luggage, and two dogs in crates into rental vans (yes, two minivans, and we travel light) and set off down the highways. After a two-hour drive to Frankfurt, a two hour wait for departure, a many-hour flight across the Atlantic (during which we passed through a strange time-warp that saw us on the ground a mere three hours after departure - heh) and two hours to clear customs and one more to secure said rental cars we were entitled to a nights sleep, but we did so on the plane (24 hours without sleep prior to departure is the secret to "successful" sleep on a trans-Atlantic flight - at least it works for me) so with just enough daylight to get where we wanted to be we elected to press on. We took the first exit to stop for food. For the record, our first American meal was Arby's - one of the few fast-food places not all over the German landscape or at least in the AAFES food courts. When we got back on the highway, we promptly found ourselves in our first American traffic jam. It was big-city rush hour, we were headed out of town, and apparently there was an accident. Given the quality of American drivers and laws governing their use of the highways, I expect there are multi-car pileups every day at rush hour, but could be wrong. Bottom line, big city was in the rear-view, and I had no problem with that. In Germany a traffic jam is called a stau, and the Germans handle them very well. Wherever two lanes become one, the "zipper" is automatically used, and vehicles from each lane take turns merging into the one surviving lane. Meanwhile, back where the two lanes have slowed to a crawl, the vehicles in each lane split as far as possible to the outside of their respective lanes, creating an effective center lane for use by emergency vehicles that may need to move quickly forward to the source of the delay. In America none of these things are done, and the best you can hope for is that not too many of your immediate neighbors will lean on their horns in hopes of moving the row of vehicles extending to the horizon before them. I've always enjoyed traveling America's highways, but the autobahn has probably ruined that for me, at least in some regards. Once we cleared the stau we sped back up to the government mandated speed limit of 55 mph (yes, less than 100 kph - I can hear you laughing now, but the trick is to barely press the gas pedal) and a few more miles out of town that limit jumped to 70. Of course, we couldn't actually go that fast - the left lane was filled with folks who apparently felt that speed was excessive. That happens when big trucks decide to pass other big trucks in Germany, but in compensation you can go as fast as your tire rating will allow. (I'll bet most Americans don't even know that the tires are the real determining factor in their ultimate safe driving speed - and since most here aren't rated above 80 mph those who do chose to drive faster than average probably don't realize the engine can do much more than the tires can bear - but I digress). The bottom line, I felt better and safer cruising the autobahn at 100+ mph than I did an American highway at 50-70. The sad thing about American drivers tooling along slowly in the fast lane is that apparently they can do so even when not passing. You can pull right up behind someone going under the speed limit in the left lane with the right lane open, and they'll actually expect you to shift into the open right lane to pass them. I did that about 20 times in the first 100 miles. I confess I fought the urge all the way to floor the accelerator and drive that speedometer needle to the far right - even with open road in front of me. But it wasn't a lack of urgency, it was a complete awareness that Americans on highways are the most dangerous people on earth, absolutely unaware of the world around them (a large number are chatting on cell phones) and completely unpredictable. American comedians, if they aren't concerned with "political correctness" will sometimes refer to Asians as stereotypical bad drivers. The real joke here is one you'll get only if you've driven somewhere where people can actually drive. Unfortunately, the highway was my first impression of America, a place I've been absent from for all but a few weeks of the past four years. But I'm going to guess that most visitors here from foreign lands don't get their first impression of the USA from behind the wheel of a car. This is a good thing. Keep them away from the highways, and keep them away from the canned piss we call beer, and they'll likely believe this a nice place to visit. Me, I want to live here. Gotta go, daughter needs to chat with a friend in Chile. More later. Cheers, Posted by Greyhawk / August 15, 2006 2:53 AM | Permalink 31 TrackBacksA short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention. Read More The picture you see here is one that I took inside the building that will become our new tech control facility (TCF). A TCF is the brain of a network. When your watching TV and you see nerds frantically pulling cables and circuit cards from cabinets ... Read More "Hey hey! Ho ho! The U.N. has got to go!!!" No, that's not my friends at "Reject the U.N." talking, although it might well be, but rather these are the calls now from IRAN and the insane Islamists who charge the U.N. with--get this--being a stooge of... Read More One of the stranger things that I've seen here is the birdcage in the MWR area. I don't know the history of it, but it's a pretty huge cage with about 20 or 30 birds in it. I'm not much of a bird buff so I don't know what kind they are, but they're a... Read More It is interesting though that he justifies his pursuit of “Peaceful Nuclear technology” with our nuclear arsenal. He is saying that he needs to have nuclear power to counter American Nuclear Weapons… Somehow I don’t see his logic here… Unless his Nucl... Read More Here's a report on three recent and very notable cases of political corruption that have emerged, the third one just yesterday. Read More Here's a report on three recent and very notable cases of political corruption that have emerged, the third one just yesterday. Read More North Korea declared itself a Nuclear Power in February 2005, though they have never conducted an actual test. Earlier this year North Korea tested a Taepodong-2 Missile which could theoretically hit the U.S. The missile tests earned Kim Jong Il intern... Read More I'm pulling out the big guns with this one (MOGS is probably running his hand across his face right now in abject surprise). I've had some pretty vague open topics for the past few weeks, but this one? Straight forward. Read More The sunrise in this picture happened a couple weeks ago now. It's not particularly beautiful if you don't know the story behind it. At the time of the picture, I had been working with these troops for about 20 hours trying to run the fiber optic cabl... Read More The sunrise in this picture happened a couple weeks ago now. It's not particularly beautiful if you don't know the story behind it. At the time of the picture, I had been working with these troops for about 20 hours trying to run the fiber optic cabl... Read More Follow this link to sign up for a special blogosphere 9/11 tribute to the people, the actual individuals, who were murdered that day. On 9/11, blog volunteers will honor the name of one person assigned to them. They are only about half-way to t .... Read More I am a somewhat moderate democrat (some on the far left say I don't belong in the democratic party) and if I got to pick the president (not the democratic candidate but the president) I think my choice would be Read More What does Baghdad really look like? This. This photo was taken during the recent Shia pilgrimage to comemorate the death of the 7th Imam. Troops convoy in this kind of situation every day. On this particular day there was a ban on vehicle traffic in ... Read More Sure some will say that by Cutting and Running from Iraq will allow us to focus more clearly and dedicate more forces to get Bin Laden. This approach assumes that by killing or capturing a six and a half foot tall terrorist hiding in a hole in Afghanis... Read More Sure some will say that by Cutting and Running from Iraq will allow us to focus more clearly and dedicate more forces to get Bin Laden. This approach assumes that by killing or capturing a six and a half foot tall terrorist hiding in a hole in Afghanis... Read More But Pat Buchanan has a new book, "State of Emergency," building on his "Death of the West," which MAY yet wake up ... Economic sanctions in Iran? What about taking care of Iraq first? ...more Read More Iran has turned away U.N. inspectors wanting to examine its underground nuclear site in an apparent violation of the Nonproliferation Treaty, diplomats and U.N. officials said Monday. Read More Some of the scum who were part of the plot to blow up planes flying from Britain to the US were native Brits who converted to Islam. From what I've seen across the web, there is much to suggest that a considerable amount of Brits in the UK were indoc... Read More Some of the scum who were part of the plot to blow up planes flying from Britain to the US were native Brits who converted to Islam. From what I've seen across the web, there is much to suggest that a considerable amount of Brits in the UK were indoc... Read More That's the name of a new book written by British researcher David Fraser, which Theodore Dalrymple based some of his latest articles in the City Journal on (Hat tip: Betsy's Page). It helps explain much more clearly what's wrong with the UK today, in... Read More The Arkansas Democrat Gazette's got an article that talks about the concept of continuity in comic books. It talks about how times have changed in how everyone can keep track of continuity, from collections to computerized databases. And, it says the... Read More There is a lesson to be learned here. The question is if the editors themselves are willing to sit up and listen. Depending on how you view it, some of this is bad news: both of the big two are having massive delays in when a book goes to press: Read More Some comics fans have led passionate debates about Marvel's abuse of its own properties like Captain America, but while they can or do have justification it, they should also be criticizing the industry's apologists, if you ask me. Read More Michelle Malkin reports on how Steve Centanni and Olaf Wiig are still being held prisoner by the PLO/Hamas in Gaza, but which the MSM, in all their possible FOXophobia, are all but silent about: Read More The Wiz makes a guest appearance in today's news. In this picture he's posing with a mold of Mark's foot that MarksMomma sent me in a package recently. The story about how she had to 'splat' his little foot in the goo to make the cast is a funny one,... Read More Before District Court Judge Anna Diggs Taylor could rule on the merits of the NSA Spying case she had to find that the plaintiffs had standing to even bring the suit. To do that, the plaintiffs had to show that Read More Mr. Stokely sent this out to us this evening. The Samurai class of Feudal Japan believed that life was impermanent, short lived and glorious and they lived their life just like that and even chose as their symbol the cherry blossom, beautiful and ..... Read More Unbelievable...............Well actually it's not all that unbelievable, the hard left has completely left any shred of objective and moderate standing behind in their sprint to become totally unhinged. Just the latest example of the hard left fallin... Read More In this video, U.S. forces pour on the firepower. Then they hear the gratifying words: "bomb's in the air." Read More I received an email from a friend who is a retired Army officer that included a link with the comment that he thought I would identify myself as a "sheepdog". Strangely, he was right. Read More 31 Comments |
November 26, 2010America@war [Greyhawk]
I think anyone who's ever pondered the "comment" option - once only available on blogs and bulletin boards, now ubiquitous on almost any web site - will appreciate this:
The so-called faculty of writing is not so much a faculty of writing as it is a faculty of thinking. When a man says, "I have an idea but I can't express it"; that man hasn't an idea but merely a vague feeling. If a man has a feeling of that kind, and will sit down for a half an hour and persistently try to put into writing what he feels, the probabilities are at least 90 percent that he will either be able to record it, or else realize that he has no idea at all. In either case, he will do himself a benefit. That's wisdom from the past, captured for posterity at the US Naval Institute, shared via the web on the institute's 137th anniversary. From their about page:
"The Naval Institute has three core activities," among them, History and Preservation: The Naval Institute also has recently introduced Americans at War, a living history of Americans at war in their own words and from their own experiences. These 90-second vignettes convey powerful stories of inspiration, pride, and patriotism. Take a look at the collection, and you'll see it's not limited to accounts from those who served on ships at sea, members of the other branches are well-represented. I'm fortunate to have met USNI's Mary Ripley, she's responsible for the institute's oral history program (and she's the daughter of the late John Ripley, whose story is told here). She also deserves much credit for their blog. ("We're not the Navy nor any government agency. Blog and comment freely.") We met at a milblog conference - Mary knew (and I would come to realize) that milbloggers are the 21st-century version of exactly what the US Naval Institute is all about. Once that light bulb came on in my head, I mentioned a vague idea for a project to her - milblogs as the 21st century oral history that they are. "Put that in writing," she said (of course - see first paragraph above!) - and here's part of the result. Shortly after the first tent was pitched by the American military in Iraq a wire was connected to a computer therein, and the internet was available to a generation of Americans at war - many of whom had grown up online. From that point on, at any given moment, somewhere in Iraq a Soldier, Sailor, Airman or Marine was at a keyboard sharing the events of his or her day with the folks back home. While most would simply fire off an email, others took advantage of the (then) relatively new online blogging platforms to post their thoughts and experiences for the entire world to see. The milblog was born - and from that moment to this stories detailing everything from the most mundane aspects of camp life to intense combat action (often described within hours of the event) have been available on the web... And et cetera - but since you're reading this on a milblog, you probably knew that. And you know that milblogs aren't just blogs written by troops at war, that many friends, family members, and supporters likewise documented their story of America at war online in near-real time, as those stories developed. The diversity in membership of that group is broad, the one thing we all have in common is the impulse to make sense of the seemingly senseless, and communicate the tale - for each of us that impulse was strong enough to overcome whatever barriers prevent the vast majority of people from doing the same. Everyone at some point has some vague idea they believe should be shared - we were the people who, from some combination of internal and external urging, found and spent those many half hours persistently trying to write it down. But where will all that be in another 137 years? Or five or ten, for that matter. That's something I've asked myself since at least 2004 - when I wrote this:
Membership in the ghost battalion has grown in the years since, and an ever growing majority of those abandoned-but-still-standing sites are vanishing. Have you checked out Lt Smash's site lately? How about Sgt Hook's? If you're a long-time milblog reader you know the first widely-read milblog from Operation Iraq Freedom and the first widely-read milblog from Afghanistan are both gone from the web. If you're a relative newcomer to this world you may never even have heard of them - or the dozens upon dozens of others who carried forth the standard they set down. If you have a vague notion that something should be done about that, (a notion I've heard expressed more than once...) then you and I and the good folks at the US Naval Institute are in agreement. Preserving the history documented by the milbloggers is just one of the goals of the milblog project, the once-vague idea that we're now making real. And it's a big idea, if I say so myself - too big to explain in one simple blog post, so stand by for more. Likewise, it's too big a task to be accomplished by just one person. So if you're a milblogger (and exactly what is a milblogger? is a topic for much further discussion on its own) I'm asking for your help. All I'll really need is just a little bit (maybe just one or two of those half hours...) of your time, and your willingness to tell the tale. We've already made history, it's time to save it. (More to follow...) Posted 4:02 PM | Permalink |
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The Mudville Gazette is the on-line voice of an American warrior and his wife who stands by him. They prefer to see peaceful change render force of arms unnecessary. Until that day they stand fast with those who struggle for freedom, strike for reason, and pray for a better tomorrow.
 
 
 Furthermore, I will occasionally use satire or parody herein. The bottom line: it's my house. I like having visitors to my house. I hope you are entertained. I fight for your right to free speech, and am thrilled when you exercise said rights here. Comments and e-mails are welcome, but all such communication is to be assumed to be 1)the original work of any who initiate said communication and 2)the property of the Mudville Gazette, with free use granted thereto for publication in electronic or written form. If you do NOT wish to have your message posted, write "CONFIDENTIAL" in the subject line of your email. Original content copyright © 2003 - 2011 by Greyhawk. Fair, not-for-profit use of said material by others is encouraged, as long as acknowledgement and credit is given, to include the url of the original source post. Other arrangements can be made as needed. Contact: greyhawk at mudvillegazette dot com  Tending Distant Far from hearth and home, watching What tales we'll tell When things grim Some distant sunset, vision fading Saluting fallen friends whose names - Greyhawk, Baghdad, December 2004 |
Glad you are back!!!
Well said and welcome home, Greyhawks! I had to laugh while reading, been there done that know the feelings!
Welcome home, Greyhawks! It's good to have you back.
quit whining and come visit (you can take a train).
Welcome home! But we know where you've really been: Out saving the Universe.
At least in my imagination.
And 'prolly in reality...
Welcome home.
Perhaps you can find some Warsteiner in the local Class VI.
It's good to hear from you. Welcome home!
Good to know you're still alive and the pups made it. Saw a pic of your new digs--quite nice! I'll try to find an Elvis on velvet as a housewarming gift. It'll look great over the mantle. Your b-i-l and nephew are going to be in your new hometown on Tues. evening. Will you be available? By the way, said nephew gets his MBA Thurs. afternoon (best birthday present ever!). Let me know when your stuff gets there, I'll come help you unpack. Love ya!
Welcome home. I really enjoyed the trip down memory lane. My trip back was 1987, felt all that you describe about traffic (and beer).
You will get used to American highways and drivers again, more's the pity. Beer, on the other hand...
I will say that you have it better than I did. I live in Upstate NY, home of Genny Cream and Utica Club and Matt's, but in the last 2-3 years, many of the local bars have Pauliner HefeWeizen on tap, a passable Widmers Weizen, Newcastle Brown is common too, and I can even get Hacker Pschorr (two restaurant bars and in many of the beverage stores). Microbrews offer some good alternatives, Blue Moon is a good Belgian white, even Sam Adams makes a HefeWeizen...
Some things never change, but Americans' taste in beer is slowly improving...For those who can discriminate the good stuff from the canned piss.
Again, welcome home!
Actually, American beers are pretty good. The trick is that numerous beverages in the U.S. (in defiance of labelling laws) are represented as "beer" when they are really "malted beverages". The most voluminous case in point would be Budweiser, whose use of rice as an adjunct to fermentation actually disqualifies it as beer.
Welcome home! Pretty soon you'll get over the "foreign" feel... but you'll always keep the memories.
Welcome Back, GreyHawks!
My 2nd trip home from Europe (UK) was in '98, and I agree completely with your initial observations (complaints, whatever)
May I suggest several mitigation strategies?
-Good (European) beer can be purchased anywhere (can you say globalism?) but you need to be willing to "pay the price." Suggestion: AAFES is usually always cheaper, with better selection, and no sales tax!
-As DadManly suggested, good beer can be found in many locations in the states on tap, but you have to shop around
-As RonF also suggested, there are many excellent American Beers; depending on the location of NewBase, there should be ample "micro-breweries" nearby, but again, you will pay for quality over quantity
As for the "Great American Open Road" I can only offer some observations:
-Many locations in America do NOT have reliable "public transportation" available. I DON'T consider Greyhound buses public transport, and I had to travel on them over 4,000 miles very recently. (Made me very nervous that I wasn't better armed.) But I'm NOT excusing the abysmal Driver's Education, or lack thereof, that most states require before licensing a new driver. But unless you're gonna have more people walking more miles...*sigh* you see what I mean.
-It actually IS against the law (in most states) for someone to cruise along in the left lane when someone tries to pass, as it is in Europe. But I've never seen anyone get a traffic ticket for this offense.
Once again, Welcome Home! Now that you've re-joined the American Dream, home-owner, there's only one other thing that I must say;
Thanks to ALL of you for your service and sacrifice!
You were missed. Remember, after life in the military - you may still have to PCS. Want to buy a house in Oklahoma?
I'm the wife of a retiree with no job yet - UGH!!!
Welcome home, all. And thank you.
Ah yes, the wonderful left-blinker on, and if someone does not move out of the way, flash your highbeams! Nothing like the German Autobahn Ballet to make me miss great drivers and driving conditions.
2 years at Rhein Main AFB spoiled me something awful!!!
Next PCS was to Omaha, NE - where people stop on ONRAMPS before merging!!! ARRRGHHH!!! ;)
Glad your back, Welcome Home!!!
Welcome "HOME". Both of you have been sorely missed. Sounds like the PCS was quite an adventure. Glad to have you back.
The biggest problems with American beers are rice and pasteurization. Anyway, the fresh beer makes a trip to Germany special... I wouldn't have it any other way!
Welcome home, and thanks again for your service and for the work you do on Mudville Gaz.
Hey, I live in the Chicago suburbs...tell me about bad driving! Of course, it sure beats ANY road in Afghanistan, or Mexico for that matter.
Welcome home! Traffic is relative. I live in Northern Virginia, which is code for "just outside of D.C. The traffic here is constant. Friday's are the worst.
As others have said, good beer can be found. Personally, one of my favorites is Red Hook ESB. Unfortunately, I have yet to find a good domestic German style beer. When I need to get my German Beer fix, I usually hit the Class VI store and get a case of Warsteiner.
Welcome home Greyhawk! Yes, I do miss the beer in Germany and the price of a decent import is outrageous, but since I'm not a big drinker I still don't spend much on the stuff. Try finding some boddingtons - it's the only beer I touch these days unless I'm at a friends house and I'm pretending to be polite.
Hey, welcome back! I am helping to promote a survey on military opinions on DADT. Any military member, retired, former or current (active / reserve) can participate. The link is as follows;
DADT Survey
Please take a moment to look it over and respond. All replies are confidential.
Glad your back safe, hope your not too much worse for wear.
Saved you this: To profile or not, a brief quiz.
I know my answer.
Papa Ray
West Texas
USA
I have really missed your wonderful writing. Loved this tale of travel. Hope every thing is going well.
Welcome Back!
I tend to dissagree about the Autobahn. But then I live in Iowa where this is no real traffic. On the AB I saw a lot more tjams and the foreign trucking- was a mess. Also I did not see a middle lane accomodation once. And the road repair did not leave much space to get through; at a speed that one felt like one must exhale. Yes the highway speed is infinite, but the direction of problems then becomes the REAR and you will get high speeders coming up rapidly from behind no matter what speed you go. And they don't really slowdown for you to exit the lane, just lean on the horn or tailgate infinitly if you are boxed or not. then there are the stoplights which are a single location and that is always too high to see unless you duck down.
OK so I took the train later. Worse! Most uncomfortable seats in the world, I thought. Then I got to Italy! Ouch. Good ole Amtrak. I 'll take Ameratransport any day.
Welcome back to the big, beautiful, green and blue USA! You fell in love with the USA all over again, didn't you? You just thought you were in love until you got back to her if it hit you the way it did me once I left that wasteland called "the sandbox". I've been back for months and months, and while I've denigrated back into the politics of the country, I'm still sleeping with her as if I'm on the 2nd honeymoon to this day.
This is the world's greatest country, and as much as her Government pisses me off on a day to day basis, it's great to have my feet planted firmly upon her. God Bless ya, friend... and again - welcome back home...
Welcome home, Hawk.
If you come up with a solution for the beer situation, I trust you won't fail to let me know what it is. :)
Welcome home
I am glad you are back. Welcome Home!
Greyhawk, you might want to start drinking wine. The European beer imports are all pasteurized. Beer will only last 90+/- days without it. I do business in the Czech Republic. I only drink their delicious fresh draft beer when I'm there. The head on that beer is like cream, amazing.
Yeah, yeah, belgium beats it hands down, i second czech beer as well, loved moravia, they make semtex there but don't hold it against them. spent much time in deutschland, {besides my USAREUR tour}. damn good sausage i have to admit but the best beer is usually local and doesn't find much distribution outside of it's area. did a drive from hamburg to Praha shortly after the wall came down and found some damn good beer in the east. By the way if you're in the Czech Reublic try Rebel Beer, kid you not.
Welcome back! Sorry about the beer situation - hopefully at some point, we'll get to experience German beer.
And congrats on the house!
- hfs