My Brother Bubba

Hello all

Yeah it has been along time since my last post and most of the time has been devoted to south pacific fun with the exception of the last three weeks. That is because I found out that my younger brother is dying. Get this, he has advanced cancer. A melanoma from a lesion on the sole of his foot spread into his lymph nodes and now it is at "stage 4" whatever that means. Can you image a black man, living in Seattle, getting skin cancer on the bottom of his foot? People get webbed feet in Seattle not skin cancer. As the cancer specialist said "hmmm this is extremely rare". He just turned forty. The doctors gave 6 months to possible 5 year time frame but I don't see him lasting longer than a year. Things seem to be deteriorating pretty fast while I was there.

So last week, I flew to Seattle and spent time with him. He was a blast, in good spirits and very accepting of his fate. At first I was angry because he was not going for life but my brother has always been easy going and very far from the coffee generation overachiever. Radiation and surgery are out of the question and with a 1 in seven chemo chance he said the hell with it, " I already feel sick why make myself miserable also". I know, I know, I tried the homeopathic/alternative medicine speech. Christ you can only lead a horse to water. I guess trying to beat 1:7 odds on a terminal illness would be too much work for him. More effort than he has ever put out in his life on anything but; he is the only person that can do it. We, meaning family, can all help him but he needs to be mentally there first and he isn't yet with time rapidly running out. That would be called acceptance.

My eldest sister Lorraine flew into Seattle, from Atlanta two days earlier. Big sis was cool and matriarchal, at first I was annoyed but man she was in charge and that helped ground me a bit. Mom and Dad flew down from Alaska two days after me. Each of us stayed for about a week, honestly the staggered family arrival and departure worked out pretty good. We had some fun, and ate good food, Salumi's downtown Seattle was great and 13 Coins late night is a SeaTac must for me.

Emotionally how am I? Hell, I don't know. Yes I'm sad, and sometimes I cry, but honestly getting divorced was more gut wrenching. Way lots more anger, hate and heartbreak. I'm mostly sad and reflective. I left a lot of stress and stuff to escape out here and not learn any more lessons in life for awhile. Sigh I guess life really includes all of the tragedy, pain, heartache, and joy (emotional stuff) along with adventures.

I love my Brother ..

Pacific Dining USAKA Style

Hello all

Just a short note to let you know I’m still alive and kicking in the South Pacific. The most FAQ from my friends, are about island women...NO Comment! The second most FAQ is about the food. So after several attempts to attach the dining hall intranet web site with the Café Pacifica menu, which failed because, is blocked by the local IT folks. Meaning you can only see the menu while at work???. I have decided to write a summary e-mail about the food served in the PDR (local slang for Pacific Dining Room which in the early years was call the Subsistence Building). Honestly, some of the food isn't bad, and you have to give props to the cooks for being creative and adventuresome.

There is a huge variety in the menu.

Sometimes Italian; Ratatouille, Spaghetti w/Bolognese Sauce, Ham Marco Polos, Jardinière (ok so this is French but still most folks wouldn't know it)

or Mexican; Smoked Pork Carnitas. Chorizo Enchiladas, Tex Mex Fresh Veg., Spanish Rice/Tortillas, Beans Supreme??? (Yeah baby!!!, this is culinary vision. Forget taco supreme, burrito supreme, nachos supreme. Just go straight to the supreme beans)

Even Asian; Sweet & Sour Pork, Korean Beef Steak, Thai Veg. Pasta (this was horrible! Imagine fettuccine noodles with some peanut butter mixed in arrrgh), Oriental Fried Rice

OK so it is a menu of mix Asian cultures but hey the dudes be cooking. Sometimes, two or three times a week, there is just weird shit like, collard greens w/carrots? Great fish though, Broiled Mahi Mahi, Pan Seared Ahi.

I have hunch that chicken is the most popular food in the world. Chicken is almost a three time a day stable here and rice is also served at every meal including breakfast (eggs silly). Here are the lunch and dinner chicken selections from the last two weeks.
1. Kwaj Fried Chicken
2. Chicken Peapod Stir Fry,
3. Crispy Baked Chicken
4. Chicken Sukiyaki (yup Tuesday was Asian food night)
5. Breaded Chicken Strips w/ BBQ & Ranch,
6. Lemon Herb Roast Chicken
7. Chicken Fajitas
8. Oven Fried Chicken (really could be Crispy Baked Chicken)
9. Chicken Corn Saute
10. Sweet & Sour Chicken
11. BBQ Chicken
12. Herb Broiled Chicken
13. Roast Cornish Hen w/Fresh Herbs (yes these are chickens, lil bitty chickens but still chickens),
14. Spicy Chicken Curry
15. Louisiana Chicken & Crab Soup,
16. Chicken Veg. Stir Fry
17. Chicken Cordon Bleu
18. Szechuan Chicken
19. Oven Fried Chicken (not Oven Fried Chicken again)
20. Chicken Sukiyaki
21. Herb Roast Chicken (out of lemon again)
22.Spicy Buffalo Wings w/Celery & Bleu Cheese
23.Chicken Fried Chicken (ok this one had me.believe it or not this was served with "natural gravy")

The long and short of it is one must be very selective. Some things are good, other things are horrible. So farI have lost about 5lbs. When in doubt I eat the chicken.

P.S. Get the latest version of GOOGLE EARTH and see where I am

Be still my heart

Howdy all

This is a copy clip from a recent e-mail from my last gf. She is a pretty awesome woman and had to share. What I really want to do [this week] is electro-chemistry. From The Hydrogen Economy: "So, the more evolved and complex the social organism, the more energy is required to sustain it and the more entropy is produced in the process of maintaining it. This simple reality flies in the face of orthodox economic theory. In fact, neither capitalism nor socialism is capable of accommodating the harsh 'real-world' realities imposed on society and the environment by the first and second laws of thermodynamics." The use of wind, geothermal, solar, etc., to power electrolysis to create storable, transportable hydrogen is very attractive. Don't worry, I'm also reading The Hype About Hydrogen, which seeks to debunk hydrogen as the silver bullet. Oh man nothing like a little "thermo" between engineers. Hindsight is 20/20 sigh... oh well, the good thing is we're still good friends. Next Post is Ebeye I promise

S-PAP

Friends, howdy from Kwaj.

OK I'm sorry it has been a long time since I have posted. However, the good news is I have finalized mylong awaited (S-PAP) South Pacific Action Plan. Yes, in true engineer fashion I couldn't just "Do It". I had to plan it. In addition, since Im saturated in this military world, I gave it a pretty neat acronym. The plan is divided into two parts; personal task and professional task.

Personal task
Marshallese culture emersion. Get boat access and tour the Atoll islands. Learn Marshallese, visit Majuro the capital and hopefully get to other atolls. Basically get to know the Marshallese ppl and escape the USA influence. This place has 2000 Americans and 1500 Marshallese that come over from Ebeye everyday to work. I think, but Im not sure, the wages are substantially lower for them than USA folks, sharecropping comes to mind. I got a Marshallese CD from the liaison officer. This should be good cause, I stink at languages. I'll post for sure the trip(s) to Ebeye separately.

Fishing, deep sea, and saltwater fly fishing. A few Tuna, Ahi, Ono, and Mahi-Mahi. The locals catch some other reef fishes with hand nets. I dont know what those are and some of them have ciguatera toxins. The authorities say dont get reef fish??? Ok so far I have take the two written test to get your B-boat license. They have these really hot 22" Twin-Vees with 115 hp Yamahas for rent 40 buck for four hours plus gas. Get this gas is $1.80/gallon.

I am also on task to shake of my water phobia and perhaps do some snorkeling and/or scuba. I have never been a water person. I think it is the whole fire sign thing, plus always wearing glasses. Not a big priority until I get the underwater vision issue solved. Bi-focal goggles if you please. Being cheap here, insurance covers eye exams, but insurance isnt active until the first of June. Imagine living on an island and you can't see in the water, Christ sakes. So I need to wait, get some prescription goggles, and then attempt snorkel and scuba. Hell that shit is big out here. Sorry, surf-daddy aint happin.

Paint ten 9x12 watercolors and perhaps write some short stories or something. I joined the KAG (Kwajalein Artist Guild) met some cool ppl. This is working on the next career. Whatever moves me in the direction of royalties? This is the last engineering job I hope. Yeah I said that about the last engineering job Christ. This job is heavy suckage personified. I know, I know, I said I wont complain about work arrrgh.

Professional Task
Regain my past AutoCAD proficiency. This is the only real professional goal I can think of. Perhaps get my PMP certificate but hey if Im looking at royalties in the future who needs it. No hot keys, no layer keys, no templates. I have a draftsman that cant do xrefs. ha ha I mentioned Tri-Services layering standards once lol. That gives you a glimpse of the work/job situation. Beyond AutoCAD there is no engineering software here, none of any type period. I mention the lack of load analysis software in a meeting and was told to use a slide rule, they thought it was funny??? Oops was I complaining?

That is all for now G-Daddy Tropicus


P.S. I have a data cable issue to solve. As soon as I fix it hopefully, pictures will follow.

A Small Irony

Hiho all (for some reason I have been thinking of Kermit the Frog)

Anyway how about a Kwajalein update. OK first some parameters. I ain't gonna complain about work. It is a job, it pays, and I'm out here for the adventure. However, excluding job complaints does not let the Company nor location off of the hook. I will often reflect and narrate on those conditions.

Today's topic folks, is irony. It is all over and I'm really trying to keep the sarcasm from bursting out. I have had three different orientation session; EH&S orientation, New employee orientation, and Island orientation, all without a compass or GPS. I'm all orienteered out. Btw my GPS is so old the Marshall Islands don't show up on any view less than 500 miles. Looks like I need a new one lol. OK back to the topic. Bit of history, this was the site of Operation Flintlock, the battle of Kwajalein. Oh about 1945 the US pounded this place with artillery, we're talking mass tonnage of ordinance, soldiers landed and slaughtered the entrenched Japanese. In 1945 this place was leveled and has never recovered. There are big pits in the reef that were blasted out for material used to extend the island. The liberated coral was also used for the concrete aggregate used in almost all of the older buildings.

In addition, this is an active US Army installation, being the army brat; I have been on a few Army Post and AF Bases. The point is military installations are not green environmentally friendly spaces. OK here is the ironic part; they had a big Earth Day Celebration 2006 here. I look around and want to cry, my boyhood visions of Treasure Island have been trashed. I could see, Earth Day awareness, a small wake perhaps? But celebration plleeezzs. I need to get off this island and see some other atolls. The real deal, is most of the US activities are channeled to this, the Kwajalein Atoll. You need permission from the RMI (Republic of Marshall Island) to go anywhere else. Our security is so tight we also need to get passes and permission to leave and go anywhere else.

Here is my partial island adventure plan.

1. Be quiet and not complain about the job. Yes G-Daddy will try to be a complacent worker bee. arrrgh is that bile I taste?
2. Try to learn Marshallese, sigh I am not good at languages.
3. Then hopefully I can go to Ebeye (pronounced E-bye) and make friends with folks from other atolls speaking Marshallese.
4. Get to at least three other atolls.

Here is a final don't do if any of y'all get a job out here. Do not ask about radiation in the EH&S (environmental heath and safety) orientation. We are not suppose to mention that however, there are some RF hazards I have actually gotten a Marshall Island history white paper, from one of those orientations, that does not even mention that the USA set off 67 atomic weapons out here. The atolls of Bikini and Enewetak where evacuated. Five islands in Enewetak Atoll were literally vaporized. OK next time more on the Island Adventure Plan

I'm here, I'm here, I'm here, I'm here

Hey folks Im in

The good parts.

The weather has been spectacular. 82-84 F. in the day, sunny or partly cloudy. Everybody rides bikes no POVs. It was part of my job to ride around the airport today and look at a project site. Man that was tough!! My room window looks east so I get the sun and moon rise over the ocean. The ocean view is spectacular, so far there has been steady trade winds and everyday I can watch these 3-4 foot breakers. Yes, folks I have an ocean front room, cross the road and add about 75 ft of land and Im at the beach. I have seen a total of 5-6 ppl on the beach it is all around so I guess the locals think no big deal. I walk to work and take the beach road so I get this view for about half of the walk. I guess I could ride a bike but hey it is only a 5 minute walk to the office.

I could give yall some of the bad parts but hey, I think Im gonna walk the beach. The sun has set and it has cooled off. Plus I got this new LED headlamp that really needs to be broken in before the moon rises. I must proudly add that the LED headlamp purchase was a result of GHOOM. I miss and want my rollerblades. This place is virtually flat. However the blades are in the mail, woo hoo GHOOM optimization again. Also want my bowling ball. This place has a 7 lane alley that is empty. Get this you still keep score by hand!!! The lack of bowling ball and fishing gear was also a result of the aforementioned GHOOM. Unpleasant result? Yes, but analyzed and fully evaluated.

Final note: for some reason we get Sunday and Monday off? Im sure there is a justifiable reason if you think about it? Regardless on Monday while ur going to work, Ill be .. hmmm hangin in paradise.

Kwajalein

OK, arrrgh yes I have to go back to work.

Translation: I'm almost out of money. I know, I know.. I made a vow not to go back to engineering but, alas U R what U know. He he ha ha so I modified the vow! Anyway, the modified vow is if I have to go back to engineering, then it better be an easy, fun/exotic job and location. A true life (if, then) logic statement. Pretty tuff vow if you consider, growing up in Alaska plus 25 years of engineering up here. Note the amount of money isn't the first criteria. Shucks and darn the first job I apply for sends me an offer. The job is located in the Marshall Islands. Of course I said yes. I think of it as trading seeing fur seals in the Pribilof Islands (been there, done that) to sea turtles in the Marshall Islands. Yeah, I've seen the bears at Brooks camp too. Been snowed in in Glacier Bay NPS, that was a blast. Alaska been very very good to me (old SNL Garret Morris line).

So far so good. I sent back the first bundle of paperwork last week. I had the pre-employment "physical" today; basically they just drew a ton blood and other fluids, data collection of materials to be sent "back east" for further analysis. Yeah my blood pressure was OK and so was the uh prostate, being over 40 is a bitch. Remember when the hernia check as a big deal??Barring some weird unknown illness and the security clearance I think I'm in. (Fingers crossed, knock on wood).

GHOOM (geek high organization/optimization mode) is setting in. OMG, first a Gantt chart to organize all of the crap I need to get done b4 I go. Need to list everything I'm taking; which puter, camping gear, prescription goggles (holy shit I need an eye exam, extra glasses) fishing stuff (hmmm poles are in Soldotna @ mom and dads). Arrrgh Banking - I hate automatic EFT's but should get that set-up for all of the house bills. Yikes 20 and 18 yo sons with the run of the house, holy fuck that is "risky business". FYI Tom Cruise is a punk. Bike!! Can't drive on the island. Throw away bike?? Everything rusts out. Need to evaluate the proper bicycle for the tropics. The party!! need to have a party b4 I go!!!Warning Warning Danger Will Robinson. Sigh this is sooo much fun. More fun than humans should be allowed to have. wooo hooo