Hi Everybody
I know it's been awhile, so I have to get some stuff out of the way. Happy birthday to dear old Dad. Sorry I wasn't there. Happy Anniversary to Mom and Dad. You guys rock. Um...let's see what's been going on at the Academy. We had training on Friday night. It wasn't too bad. I knew my knowledge and so did the guys with me, so we really didn't get beat to horribly. The last station I was at we played a game with the upperclassmen. If we could say a song as a qoute, we wouldn't get beat. So of course I pulled out one of the few songs I know by heart, Sir Mix-a-lot's "Baby Got Back." The upperclassmen found it pretty funny, so we hardly got beat. We even had to preform it a few times so others could hear our greatness. It was pretty cool.
On Saturday, we had to go to some National Character and Leadership Symposium speeches. Most of them were pretty lame, but I did get to hear Gene Krantz talk. He was the flight director for the Apollo 13 moon mission. He recounted what all happened that day. It was pretty cool actually hearing from someone that was intimately involved with the whole operation. There was a lot of cool stuff he told us about that was left out of the movie that I found really interesting.
Okay, now that that's out of the way, I'll tell you about the 100's night rooms.
For our Squadron Commander, we drywalled over the alcove to his room. Where his door used to be was a blank wall. That was pretty cool.
One room was completely covered in tin foil: Walls, floor, everything. Even the stuff in the fridge, computer cables, and books were wrapped in nearly $50 of tin foil. Very shiny.
The room I did was pretty much a barn. There was hay all over the floor, along with some "Brokeback Mountain" memoribilia. Also, one of the guys looks a lot like John Malkovich, so I covered his desk with pictures of John Malkovich.
One guy had every chair from our Squadron Activities Room in it. Oh, and they were all zip-tied together. And for added effect, a radio placed strategically in the far, unreachable corner of the room, blared Mexican music. Quite annoying.
We booby-trapped another room, so that when the seniors opened the door, it caused cups of water to fall all over their floor. This one took a lot of planning and time, but it turned out pretty cool.
There were some other ones, but I don't feel like writing anymore. Talk to you later on the comments page.
posted by Sam at 12:46 AM
53 Comments:
Yeeee Haaaaa! Jill strikes again!! Take that, birthday boy!
Sam, that was a riot...I bet you had a blast doing all of that desecration, did you get any pictures of it that could be shared with us or is that classified material? You know, Apollo 13 was one of my favorite movies so listening to him was awesome, but then anything with Tom Hanks in it is awesome. Qusetion, back to that desecration stuff.....will that eventually happen to you, too? Well pal, have a good Sunday and I'll write to you later.
2/26/2006 7:17 AM
Hi Sam,Thanks for remembering dad and mine anniversary, we had a good day, I spent the day doing my favoite pass time, hanging out with the girls and shopping and lunch, dad was home staining our new night stands. We went to church and then out to eat dinner, then to the most fun ever b-day party for Andy Mann, who turned 50.
Glad you didn't get beat to hard, and I didn't know you knew the words to "Baby Got Back"!
Everyone wants to see some pic's of 100th night!
2/26/2006 10:40 AM
oops forgot, Sarah was right, my hair looked like I had just rolled out of bed! I know now why the people waiting for their turns, ran like the wind when they saw me!
2/26/2006 10:42 AM
I'll have to accumulate some pics of Hundreds' Night for everyone. I know there are a lot floating around, I just have to find the best ones.
And Jill, hopefully the same kind of stuff will happen to me when I'm a senior. The freshmen usually only do it to seniors that they like, so it's a sign of respect to put thought and effort into messing up someones room.
And as for the "Woman Show"...that's retarded. Were they handing out free subscriptions to dumb magazines like "O" and "Rosie"? I bet there were huge Jumbo-trons showing Lifetime movies, all of which star the same lady.
If "Lifetime" were a person, it would be that smelly girl wearing a "Rainbow Brite" shirt that sits in the front of class and always talks even though no one wants her to. And any channel that counts "Designing Women" as one of its major shows needs its plug pulled faster than Bill Clinton on life support.
2/26/2006 12:11 PM
Hahaha! I knew that Sarah would fly in to protect her "Golden Girls"! I bet it was fun though...for a girl.
2/26/2006 1:23 PM
Where is everyone today? I am dissappointed not to see any heated comments today?
2/27/2006 3:53 PM
Becky, that maze email scared the crap out of me! Here I was all intent trying to get to level 4 and AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!! I just got back from visiting my brother in the Woodlands. Houston was fun, I got to see the Nasa Space Center. I saw all of the control rooms for the Apollo missions. This was the real deal too, red phone and all! I couldn't believe they actually had a red phone back then. I can just see it now, national security depends on a little red "Batman style" rotary phone, and a room full of computers that had to perform a lesser function than my IPOD NANO. Simply amazing. Today's control room was really sophisticated though with flat screen monitors, and a look that was totally futuristic. Sam, this is something you should see some day. It was really interesting.
2/27/2006 9:31 PM
OK, I have a story and will try to make it short. Yesterday I took Rufus out to go pottie and put him in this make shift samm pen Brian consructed for the mean time. I left him out and went in for a bit. Next thing I rmember I was outside when I heard the phone ring.....being female it became a priority to answer. As I was talking to me girlfriend for about 15 min, I thought "I better bring Rufus in." I went out and he was gone!!!!!! I told my friend who live across the street and we hung up quickly. I ran all over the yard screaming his name and could not find him anywhere...I of course started crying, Lauren too. I called my inlaws hysterically crying and my fther in laws was on his way to look for the dog. My God! We paid $800.00 for this dog and he was with us for 10 days! I see my girlfriend driving around the neighborhood, searching for the lost pooch, calling his name. I continue to cry and call for him, when it hits me...."I think I took him in the house when I answered the phone........." Needless to say, I go inside and there he is, sleeping comfortably in the dining room. I was so embarassed. I had half of Adams County searching for a dog that was not lost. All I could say to my inlaws was that I found him, I could say no more. And that is the rest of the story.......
2/28/2006 7:09 AM
Hey Tom. Gene Krantz spoke here over the weekend. He was the mission director for Apollo 13 and some other ones. His speech was really cool. He pretty much just talked about what happened over the time period and about the interesting odds and ends that weren't in the movie. He's pretty cool
2/28/2006 8:17 AM
Sorry Aunt Becky, I had to work yesterday (payroll).
Despite all “hoo-has” and “high-fives” toward Rachel’s last post, the CDC data in question DOES exist. The linguistic trick used, by whichever site Rachel pulled these quotes, demonstrates the extent this mendacity has gone. (Wallace Institute is the original) Mr. Avery wrote: “According to recent data compiled by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control...”; not, as implied by the granola sites, “according to a study by the CDC. “ I have to apologize here, because my quote was similarly misleading. Nevertheless, Mr. Avery did receive data from the CDC regarding e-coli cases despite organic food organization claims to the contrary. Because the CDC did not run their own study they could, technically, answer in the negative. Many studies are conducted with information obtained from organizations collecting the data for other purposes.
Organic Foods have not been proven to be more nutritious. This sophism is even acknowledged by many organic advocates. There are serious scientific flaws in all studies cited by organic organizations. Chemistry.org, an organization removed from the heated controversy, concurs with Avery’s (and other’s) contention that the nutritional content of organic food is indistinguishable from conventional food. The problem with these studies is due to the difficulty in controlling variables such as weather and soil, which affect greatly the nutritional content of food. The two-year duration of the study cited by Rachel is way too short for an agricultural assessment. This limit in scope is like trying to guess the name of a classical symphony with one obscure note. Similar attempts are made by the anti-smoking crusade regarding second hand smoke. (A thorough understanding of statistics in general and T-tests in particular help expose poorly conducted studies.)
I couldn't care less about people’s desire to eat organic food, but I have to respond when bogus claims of nutritional superiority and safety are promulgated through propaganda. Many children are put at an unnecessary and serious risk because their parents believe the marketing gimmicks and selective “studies” perpetuated by the organic movement.
As for the other points, research yourself if you seek the truth. If not, accept Rachel’s treatise and live in sophistry.
I applaud, and thank Rachel for her effort. This exchange has given me a better understanding of organic farming and its effects, not to mention a greater respect for Rachel Baird. (Save her sense of humor of course. This did start off as a joke levied at Aunt Becky.)
This has been fun.
2/28/2006 8:29 AM
Chris-
This has been fun...I still stand by my research that Avery is a quack...but whatever. There are always two sides to every story and it is interesting to see what kind of info you can acquire during research. As for my sense of humor...I have one, and most of the time I think you are hilarious...just some things you wrote last week were a little mean-spirited, even if you didn't mean them to be that way. I hope we can move past this "disagreement" and can continue to have fun on Sam's blog...it is starting to seem too serious!
Tom- I'm glad you had a good time in the Woodland's! It is a gorgeous place isn't it! I so wish I would have known you were going, my friend Jen lives in The Woodland's, I would have loved to visit her! Next time you go, let me know, I might hitch a ride!
Jill - your story made me crack up...speaking of crack, where you on it yesterday? Do you even know where your kids are? He he! How is your dog biscuit business going? What did you guys ever name it? When is your first show?
Everybody wish Sarah good luck on her interview tomorrow, lets all say a prayer she gets the job and gets to work with less meth-heads than she does now!
Rach
2/28/2006 10:10 AM
Does anyone want to guess how long it takes to download a "Summa Theologica" pdf file?
40 minutes @ 56k dial-up; if that means anything to anybody except Josh.
2/28/2006 11:06 AM
Rachel, unless you know, aks Josh how hot your laptop runs. My Mac's hard drive is currently 113F without the fan running.
2/28/2006 12:19 PM
Chris, I don't know how hot my laptop gets, but it has to get up there. It's never crashed or anything because of it, but I can here the fan kick in.
And for all you Woodlands' lovers, here's a note: That's in Texas. Texas sucks. After you've met numerous stereotypical Texans you'd hate it too.
2/28/2006 2:01 PM
There we go, this is more like it, but where is Jeremy? I want to hear about his travels. Jill,do you need something for memory too? Your story was amazing epecailly how much you paid for Rufus!! YIKES! You should put one of those remotes under his skin. Sam since when are you against Texas? Sarah, I will be keeping my fingers crossed and saying some prayers for your interview, good luck.
2/28/2006 5:24 PM
I love Texas! It's the only state that doesn't pay homage to D.C. Its capital building or governor's mantion (or something) does not face east like the other 49. And it's the home to the best congressman in the U.S., Ron Paul (14th district).
3/01/2006 7:22 AM
Hey All! Jeremy reporting from Chicago. This is my first day back at work since going to Sarasota for work/vacation. I missed a connecting flight to Sarasota and I missed a connecitng flight back to chicago. Luckily, I'm as cool as a cucumber and sweated none of it.
Spent Saturday on the beach with the pretty girls and the muscle bound dudes with tribal tattoos on their arms. [I imagined them pointing at their biceps and saying, "Yeah, this one's Celtic for 'Awesome'."]
I met some great people. Went to a few bars, ate at some nifty restaurants.
A new record was set. At this one bar I was approached 4 times within an hour with, "Are you that kid from Harry Potter?" Normally that only happens once per evening...
Very Truly Yours,
Harry
3/01/2006 2:17 PM
One of my bosses (government job) liked the story about Jeremy's associates calling him "HP."
If you weren't "Magic Man" it wouldn't be as funny as Brandon Walsh.
90210ut
3/01/2006 2:45 PM
Did I miss something what does "HP" stand for? Jeremy your weekend sound great! What a life style you live! And you can ask Sam about the delays and the cancelled flights, UGH! Isn't this weather just the most greatest! Love turning off the heat and opening the windows. Buy everyone, I'll be checking on ya after dance class tomorrow night.
3/01/2006 4:47 PM
Chris: for the record, only you call me Brandon Walsh. And I think for anyone to get the whole Brandon Walsh connection, they'd have to know me in high school and think really hard.
For Harry Potter, it just gets worse as I grow my hair out and Daniel Radcliffe gets older.
Catch you all tomorrow...
3/01/2006 4:58 PM
Chris-
Josh said "that's pretty hot" when I told him how hot your laptop was running...he didn't know what his was normally...therefore he is no help.
Jeremy I love HP! Maybe you should dye your hair brown and get a good british accent and really milk it! OHMYGOD, I'm related to a celebrity!
Rach
3/01/2006 9:20 PM
Hey Sam, have you still been watching 24? Man, the last episode was intense! I am totally into that show now. Have you seen the new PS2 game 24? It looks promising. Jack is the man. I really like that show, but I have never seen a man in real life take out a helicopter with 3 shots of a hand gun, nor has the average motorist been able to get to any part of L.A. in a matter of 10 minutes. I understand it is a fictional take on government conspiracy, however, I tend to crave a little more realism. But still, Jack is the man, and I find myself hooked with this Monday night lure of goodness like a little kid and his Saturday morning cartoons.
3/01/2006 10:39 PM
Any good Lenten mortifications out there? I've given up coffee and will consciously eat MORE. Excepting weekends, I don't want the tub of Folgers to go bad.
3/02/2006 7:18 AM
For lent I've given up housework and cooking. Also am giving up Diet Pepsi as soon as I get rid of the 3 cases I have. How's it going Sam. Going to your mom's this week end. Wonder where they will put me sense your room is a shrine now. Love you, Grandma
3/02/2006 8:55 AM
That was hysterical! (3 cases) How long will that take you, Mrs. Marx? (Is that the correct spelling; or do I even have the right name? It's hard to keep track of in-law's maiden names.)
3/02/2006 9:17 AM
Gov. job "duty" of the day: to see how much paper I can stuff into a malina folder.
3/02/2006 9:38 AM
Chris: Coffee? I'm interested in seeing whether you have any withdrawal symptoms. You are usually immune to things like headaches. Keep me posted.
Lent. Let's see. What to give up? I have no idea. Perhaps 'll give up all TV shows except "24" (I too am an enormous fan). I'm sure I'll benefit by avoiding the cable television for 40 days. I'll get a lot more accomplished around the house and for work. I'll read more. Good idea.
I need to get back on track with exercise too. No TV will help.
Alright there it is: I'm giving up all television programming except "24" and getting back on my workout routine.*
-jeremy
* note that giving up television programming allows me to watch anything I can throw into my DVD player.
3/02/2006 11:35 AM
Jeremy, I have the immune system of Lex Luther, remember. I have not coughed in over 3 years. My only "kryptonite" is "Typhoid Brianna." For those not in the know, "Typhoid Brianna" is the flu that makes one hurl a minimum of 10 times at a single sitting (or kneeling rather). It is carried by cute little sisters.
Sam, Jeremy said the latest Batman is better than the Keaton original. Your opinion?
3/02/2006 12:10 PM
Lex: That's right. Your immune system is quite powerful. I'd like to see how this plays out.
- Clark <--- (wearing my Clark Kent glasses today)
ps: Batman Begins was terrifico.
3/02/2006 12:32 PM
Are you adjusting them at the bridge with your index finger, Clark?
Or, are you at home wwwwashing your tights?
3/02/2006 12:35 PM
I always adjust them at the bridge while saying things like, "Oh. Gosh Lois..."
3/02/2006 12:38 PM
Rachel: I noticed that you suggested I dye my hair brown to make me look more like HP... Do you remember what I look like? 'Cause I've had brown hair since I was 7.
:) Just kiddin'. I guess I have golden hair. Some strange cross between brown and blonde... It changes color depending on what sort of junk I put in it for stylin' purposes...
3/02/2006 12:41 PM
Blondie!
Just like "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly."
ah a ah a ah! wah, wah, wah
3/02/2006 12:49 PM
Darlene, I have vowed to do MORE housework during lent, so I will come to your house and we will kill two birds with one stone!!!!
Hey, Sarah, how did the interview go?
3/02/2006 1:52 PM
Chris: I haven't seen Batman Begins but I'm sure there's a copy floating around the squad. And it's spelled "Marcks" unless my grandpa's family was somehow related to a certain Karl.
Have fun at my house Grandma D. I think Mom and Dad will have to take of the vaccuum plastic covering my room, keeping it in prestine condition waiting for my return. Remind Mom to turn of the motion sensor too. Moving around at night and suddenly hearing angel music as my picture is illuminated from classy track lighting gets kind of annoying if you're not me, Mom, Dad, Kelly, or Sarah. I think Rachel's jealous.
What am I giving up for Lent? Hmmm...maybe I'll walk more. Oh wait, I don't have a car. I exersice more. Dang, I'm already forced to do that. Um...cursing? Nah, I'm in the military. Sleeping? I guess 5 hours a night doesn't count so exnay on that. How about all shows except 24? That's pretty good, but considering I only get a few decent channels, that's kind of cheating. I'll conserve water by only doing the laundry once a week and wearing the same clothes day after day. Foiled again...I already do that! I'll keep my room clean...damn, this is hard.
I guess I'll just have to keep thinking. Later
3/02/2006 2:49 PM
Here I am as promised! But I have to confuss we skipped out on dance class tonight! To much to do getting ready for our company. Sam you poor guy,hey,you don't have to give anything up, you can pray more,be nice to all the other cadets there, call your mom more, hey that's a good one!
Jermey, I think you are way cuter then Harry Potter, by the way, it came to me late last night what HP stood for, I am kinda of slow if you all haven't noticed by now.
Chris good luck on giving up coffee, that will be hard, maybe you should try the Gano Coffee,heeheheh, I am still on the fence what to give up? I was going to give up desserts till I found out that Rach is making one of her yummy cakes for our company tomorrow night. Sam,my grandma's name was Karl!! Have a good weekend everyone, we are looking forward to My Mom and Peggys visit.
Sam just 22 more days till your home!
3/02/2006 6:54 PM
oops, correction from my last post, I ment to say that my Grandpa's name was Karl!
3/02/2006 6:56 PM
Wait...are you serious Mom? You had a relative named Karl Marcks? Hmmmm...interesting.
3/02/2006 7:01 PM
Yes, I think it was spelled with a "C' though, he was your Grandpa's Marcks dad. Hey, Yakove Smirnof is coming in to see the Doc tomorrow, just one of the perks of my jobs, meeting celeberities.
3/02/2006 7:19 PM
I didn't realize the prescience of my "Marx" post. Sam, keep reading the "Mill" (I prefer Mises) and stay away from the Karl. We don't need a relapse.
3/03/2006 7:15 AM
MARCKS is the correct spelling but Sam, although it is not Marx, we do have some history with the Germans. Two of the Marcks ( and they did spell it like this ) served in the army during WW2. One was pretty high up having a Pantzer unit. The other was also high up leading some other unit. Somewhere in my mess of pictures I have one of them in uniform. One resembles your grandfather. Much to my surprise I was watching a old movie called "The Longest Day" where they told the American side and also the German side of story. In one scene they were celebrating this Big Shots birthday and it was one of these Marcks fellows. Just a bit of histroy for you. Love you, Granny D
PS: Mom is putting me in your room! I am so honored!
3/03/2006 8:15 AM
Thank you Mrs. Marcks. I'll have to watch "The Longest Day" again to see that particular scene.
3/03/2006 8:21 AM
Thanks for the encouragement Becky. I just hope Harry Potter grows up cuter than the actor who played the kid in Witness. Jared won't drop that, and that dude looks funky.
3/03/2006 12:16 PM
Hey People, so Beckaroni mis- pronounce the girls name, whats the big deal? Life is to short to worry about details! Rock on Beckaroni!
3/05/2006 5:38 AM
Hey, anonymous is not me, I would not even know what to click for that to come up?
3/06/2006 7:31 AM
Day 4 with no coffee.
Aint too bad. No headaches. But plenty of diarrhea from all the extra vegetables I've been eating. However, I have substituted one "juvie earl grey" mug for my usual 1/2 pot of Folgers.
Did Uncle Kevin give up his martinis? Who am I kidding, of course not. That's crazy talk.
3/06/2006 9:07 AM
Jeremy, have you submitted your request for the smallest laptop possible as your replacement at work. The other "Mac" guy here at the U just bought a new 12" PC-Laptop (Dell maybe). He says its lighter than my PowerBook. Look into it before it's too late and you're stuck with a 10 pound 17" Gateway anvil. Unless you want to look like a USD Law student who has to pull his PC around in a piece of luggage.
It cracks me up. Everyone in my building (administration) has a huge laptop with a docking station. But, they leave their PC at work because it's too heavy to take home. (Kesi hasn't taken her PC home since the end of football season.) So much for portability.
The first question every IT guy should ask: Are you sure you don't want the smallest available?
3/06/2006 1:12 PM
Today South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds signed the Bill to ban abortion in South Dakota! There have already been threats to boycott the state as a "conference" location for many organizations (who cares, see ya never NAMBLA).
Watch the news tonight.
3/06/2006 2:15 PM
Chris, I think my Dad gave up beating his assistant. I don't think it was for lent though...I'm pretty sure it was because of the lawsuit.
3/06/2006 8:35 PM
Sam, your father is too smart to allow a lawsuit filing. He's probably just giving his knuckles healing time.
Vermillion, SD made the news this morning. CBS was showing a rally against the new abortion bill. I know Vermillion is university town, but it seems funny to boycott abortion in a village of four thousand. The protesters probably saw 45 cars at most drive by. Way too freak'n cold for that. Did anyone else see this on the news this morning?
3/07/2006 7:13 AM
I guess you're right Chris. My Dad is pretty smart. I heard that he uses a sock filled with sand to beat his assistant. Appearently it doesn't leave bruises as easily. What a clever father I have!
3/07/2006 10:15 AM
Hi Sam, Not much action going on the blog site, think you need to post a new message. How is all the trainning going? What are your plans for Recongnition Day? Will you be getting some bling? Love Mom
3/07/2006 4:56 PM
Sam.....are you still with us???!!!
3/09/2006 6:30 AM
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