Rings in General

I don’t know what it is about Tuesday night – Wednesday morning. But I am awake at 2am and Zeus himself can’t pull me back to sleep.

I bought Toad the Wet Sprocket’s Coil in the airport at BWI on the way back from Saudi Arabia en route to Norfolk, heading there for a course in the Command and Staff College.

Only the military could think it would be a good idea to pull someone out of a combat setting and slam them into an academic setting in the matter of days. We are just supposed to pull up our big boy pants and deal.

I was reading Orson Scott Card’s Xenocide while listening to Coil. My senior chief, who had flown from San Diego to attend the same course told me TtWS had broken up. He was a California boy, and apparently all California boys are plugged into some kind of network.

I lay on the bed in a crappy hotel room in Norfolk. My divorce was on the way. I listened to Rings over and over again until it finally made sense.

The “I” character in Rings is a fucking tree. Everything clicked. Some of the protagonists in “Xenocide” are trees.

I think, to a degree, every time I came back from deployment I went insane for a period of time. You think you are handling it, but you are not.

I was relatively mature by the time I started getting shot at. I should have been able to deal. I can’t imagine the effect that must have on a 20 year old.

I had an appointment with a cardiologist yesterday. I am trying to get cleared to start lifting heavy weights. I am healthy as a horse. And I have some calcification going on with my aortic valve.

Which means before I get the go ahead I get to do another nuke stress test. And an MRI, which will be a first for me.

Doc scared me. Apparently the aortic valve thing might require surgery in the next 10 years. I was really hoping to get out of this life without any invasive surgery. And no, I will not be looking at the results of the MRI when it happens. I do not need to see my guts.

Best laid plans. I guess I am not going to be a flight instructor. I wish I had known that before pissing away five grand.

I still have a chance at a sport pilot license.

Good luck to everyone who bought into the Megamillions. I threw down 20 bucks. Somebody has to win, right?

How is it I remember
Knowing that I would live forever
Isn’t it strange
How truth can change…

Last updated October 24, 2018