Going Ballistic

Shooting is fun.

Check out some of my scout soda sniping work. Marines - I know you are pretty impressed, and you know where to find me.

These were just with a pellet gun. The first time I really got my hands on a gun was a few months ago. It was a 9mm Smith & Wesson handgun. After a couple of shots, I got over the noise and intimidation (somewhat) and excitement set in.

Power, a little edge of fear (because I know just enough at this point to literally be dangerous), and excitement can make for a fun mixture and that is what shooting does for me.

Have you ever shot a Glock underwater in a swimming pool at 10 o'clock on a Sunday night with the pool light on to see how far the bullet will go? Me neither, but I bet it averaged about 3 feet over 4 shots.

I recently made some ballistics gel though and shot in to that. Crime labs use ballistics gel to simulate human tissue. It is basically some seriously dense gelatin. I found a recipe online that made a pretty decent version of it. It was a cool little experiment. The molds were pretty small and the pellets mostly went through it. However, a few stayed in and left little arcs of trajectory in there that resembled vapor trails that airplanes leave in the sky sometimes. Mucho cool I tell ya!


TGIM!
D.

A good sketch is better than a long speech ~ Napoleon Bonaparte

Sometimes I feel a bit preachy. Today though, I do not feel like I have much to say. There definitely aren't any speeches waiting in the wings of my brain.

LTC Juan Montoya sent me this photo the other day. He takes a lot of incredible shots, but ones like these are especially good at centering me on why I do this work.

Perfect timing too, as I have been in a bit of a rut with OAP lately. I have been feeling largely unable to connect with people and infuse them with the same enthusiasm I have for showing our men and women serving, they have our support.

Seeing images like the one above always bolster me on the importance of this work. My hope is that they will serve to remind others as well.

Our fellow Americans serving, do one of the toughest jobs this nation has to offer. Don't you think they deserve to be remembered and know they have your support?

That's all. I will let the photo do the rest of the talking.

Happy Thursday!
D.

Grace Under Fire

Below are just some of the emails of thanks we have received from the brave men and women registered with OAP:

• Again your organization has come to the rescue. Just when everyone was feeling down due to a loss we suffered the day before, your box arrived and showed us exactly why we need to continue to do what we are doing. We will get over this and it will not be our last loss before we are out of here but your care and concern shows that not everyone has forgotten us or has left it to the politicians to decide what we do and for what reason. We do what we do for people like you and your organization and for no other reason than it is our duty. ~ Terry, Future Operations - US Army
  

• I just learned about this group, it kind of feels good to know someone still remembers us back home. ~Publio - US Navy
  

• The only thing that matters is the fact that there are people out there like you and your volunteers that support us. Thank you so very much for caring. It means a lot to everyone over here, it really does. ~ SFC Tom - US Army
  

• Thank you for your support. You mean so much more than you will ever know. ~ SGT Maro - US Army

• The package was accepted with smiles and was attacked like ravage beasts. We really do appreciate what you and your organization are doing to support the troops and we will never be able to thank you enough. Mail call is the best part of the day. Receiving things from home makes the days go by easier and faster. Again, thank you! ~ GySgt Randy – US Marine Corps
  

• Thanks for all the support and kind words. It sure makes the job here easier knowing people back home support us as you do. Thanks again... ~ SFC Manuel - US Army
  

• I want to say thank you thank you thank you for the box of goodies I received from you. They will make the time here in Afghanistan a little more bearable. ~ PFC Natalia - US Army

Snack Packer Confessional....

When I was growing up, my father raised my brother and I with some pretty devout Catholicism. Most Saturday afternoons he would take us to church for confession before 4:30 mass started. I remember waiting my turn and then going in the small, closet sized room and closing the door behind me. It was so dark in there that it actually made me a little dizzy. I always felt my eyes bulging open to try and gather as much light as possible. Eventually I could make out the faint razor thin strip of light coming in from the bottom of the door. I would focus on that to orient myself until the priest slid the window open and was ready to hear about how crappy I had been all week.

Confession #1: I made up a list of sins and kept if for the duration of my time as a Catholic. That's right -- I recited the same evil deed list every time I went in there.

It was bad too. Now would be the time to make sure the kids aren't looking over your shoulder.............are they gone?....ok...here it is: "Bless me father for I have sinned. This last week I hit my brother, talked back to my grandmother and didn't listen to my dad"

I know. I'm not proud, but there it is. I regurgitated that awfulness to any priest who would listen over those years.

I do not attend church anymore. Aside from the darkness making me feel sort of trapped in that little room, there is something about the act of confession that I kind of like.

So while I am cleansing...

Confession #2: I AM LAZY!!

There...I finally just got it out there.

I am supposed to be working today, but you know what I did? Nothing. And then after that I went and ate a tasty burger.

I feel guilty. I am so behind this month. Our packing is getting done late. Our shipping is getting done even later. Don't even ask about administrative stuff like bookkeeping -- yikeys! Ughh....

I don't quite know how it got this way lately. Or rather, I do not have the energy to unravel it all and explain. I just let this month get away from me. Damnit!

When I am out and about enjoying all the great stuff I have at my fingertips, I remember all the guys and gals working hard for us overseas and then my guilt sinks in a little more.

Don't get me wrong here. I am no martyr type that thinks I should be tirelessly working day and night for the project. I do have the ability to call myself out when I am being a candy ass though....and this absolutely applies to me these days.

When I was a kid 10 Hail Marys and 10 Our Fathers fixed pretty much everything, (or so I was told) leaving me forgiven and on a clean slate to go out and slap my brother for another week.

What prayer do you say for the lazy snack packer?

Do as I say, not as I do -- Support our troops!
D.

Things that make you go eww!

Sometimes it is fun to gross yourself out. Enjoy these nasty little factoids from The Hypochondriac's Handbook.

• A colony of Salmonella bacteria can quadruple its population - in a warm, moist environment - in less than an hour. The incidence of Salmonella poisoning has increased by 400% in the last 4 years. ~ Yummy! May I have a side of bleach with my chicken? Thanks.
  

• A single pair of underwear on average contains one to ten grams of fecal matter consisting of, among other things, the rotavirus which causes diarrhea and the hepatitus virus. ~You 10+ gram people need to learn how to wipe! You are really romping up the averages!

• 300,000 injuries - including 80,000 deaths - each year occur in hospitals due to negligence. ~ Umm yeah.........tell me again how long you people are in school before becoming doctors and nurses?!

• Children bring their hands to their mouths once every three minutes, on average. The amount of dirt they swallow daily would cover seven kitchen floor tiles. ~Yikeys! I think I just felt my ovaries completely shrivel at that one...

• The world is home to over 3500 species of cockroaches. In some species a female will mate once and remain pregnant the rest of her life. If it doesn't bleed to death, a roach can live for weeks without a head. A cockroach breaks wind every quarter of an hour. ~Roaches fart every 15 minutes?! Keep that in mind people. That is a good back up for when you can't blame it on the dog!

• Flu viruses can live for years in dried spit. ~Who in the hell is drying spit?! Yuck!
  

• Except for one family, all spiders are venomous. Only about 60 species have jaws and fangs that can penetrate human skin. ~See, no need to run screaming from the room anymore....harmless fangs......niiiccee.

Okay, go wash your hands, bleach your undies, and maybe let that poor spider live another day!

Support our troops!
D.

Marines -- First To Flickr

I love the Marines, I really do.

They are an incredible group and they never cease to impress me. I am not playing favorites (that would be a little bit of an occupational no-no in my field), I am just throwing out some Marine love here.

We have a very special donor who is a Marine. His name is Joe Taylor and he is a great guy. Always has a big smile on his face and a joke or funny story to tell. If you want to have a good time, pull up a chair and have a drink or two with Joe. He has served 5 combat missions between Korea and Vietnam during his service to our country. Now he is retired and his 75th birthday is right around the corner.

A few weeks ago I had this idea that Joe might really enjoy a birthday tribute picture from some active duty Marines to add to the wall in his den that commemorates his service. I pitched the idea via email to all the Marines we currently support, and then crossed my fingers. One response came in. GySgt Eric told me he would be honored to gather his Marines for this special photo and anticipated having it done in a few days so we could get it ready for Joe's big day.

Sure enough, as promised an awesome group photo arrived the other morning when I checked email. I was so touched by the effort these troops went through to assemble and make the sign. I can only imagine how Joe is going to feel when he sees this special gift from his fellow Marines.

Happy 75th Joe, and a big thank you to GySgt Eric and his Marines!

No one deserves your support more than the brave men and women serving our country overseas.

Semper Fidelis
D.