WARNING: NEIL DOES TYPOS....
Entry #4 Random Fashion note: I like to dress up. But I’m sliding into a more comfortable phase of my life. Gaucho recommenced a t-shirt company called Fresh Clean Tees. Love them. Ordered a sample and then enough to wear one a day (I'm not a fan of doing laundry). Thanks, Gaucho. You are my only hope. . . +++++ I was watching half watching YouTube this morning and I saw a video about a guy who’s company does elaborate drone displays. I’ve seen them before during football halftime shows and maybe a concert. You know, a swarm of drones makes pictures in the air, they flash colors and act as one. I don’t know why but this morning that gave me goosebumps. Not the good kind. We’ve already been hearing stories about FBI raids going haywire ([[] https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2018/05/criminal-gang-used-drone-swarm-obstruct-fbi-raid/147956/ ]) because the crooks they’re trying to nab have drones at their disposal. The bad guys use drones like we would, to keep an eye out for the authorities and thwart their efforts whenever possible. And that’s just a couple at a time. Now, imagine a swarm of the winged beasts. <shivers> I think we’re way behind on defending against this sort of thing. Cal once told me that one of his greatest fears for a Marine infantry squad/platoon is drones. How do Marines defend against them? Again, something to think on. Maybe I’ll do some tinkering tonight. Your always-thinking buddy, Neil Warning: Neil does typos...
Entry #3 China Thoughts I know I promised more observations, but this one won’t leave me. If I won’t leave me Doc Higgins says it should go in the journal. China. A conundrum to many. But not to me. The rise of the sleeping dragon first came to my attention when I was an undergrad at the University of Virginia. It was the one and only class I took outside of the Engineering School. We went back say a hundred years. I don’t remember all the details. I don’t have a photographic memory, no matter what others think. What I DO remember still haunts me. The Chinese, especially the who’s who, don’t think like we do in the West. We’re thinking a year, maybe two down the road. What will interest rates do? Who’s gonna win the next election? That kind of thing. Our best leaders look decades ahead. But they’re outliers. Re-election and all that. Not China. They’re thinking one hundred, two hundred years down the road. They’re willing to make HUGE sacrifices today to get the ENORMOUS payoff later. How do we compete? Something for me to think on. Maybe Daniel has some insight. Typos may be present... because it's Neil....
Entry #2 It turns out that the blinking curser on my computer screen is cursed. A cursed curser. It taunts me. “Write faster, Neil,” it whispers. “Write anything, Neil,” it scratches. Jeez. I really must be nuts. Pissed at a curser. . . ++ Okay, took a break and I’m feeling better. Went for a walk and ended up at the chow hall. Like Doc Higgins suggested, I’m observing. Trying quiet my mind and observing. So, I observed. This would probably be really stupid to anyone but me, but I’m calling this a study of human nature. A deep dive into the human psyche. I watched Top (that’s MSgt Willie Trent, Dear Diary) eat lunch. Yeah. Thrilling, right? Well, Dear Diary, it was. I sipped Mt. Dew Zero as I watched. Here’s a list of everything my giant gladiator friend consumed all while regaling some new employees with his unending stories: - 5 eggs, overeasy - three scoops of sweet potato/corned beef hash (this alone would fill a normal human’s plate) - two bananas - one glass of milk - one glass of fresh-squeezed orange juice - two banana nut muffins with butter - one ribeye, done medium rare - one cup of coffee, black - one cup of green tea, extra matcha - one small bowl of oatmeal, with raisins and granola sprinkled on top - one apple There you go, my observation for the day. Not bad. Interesting, at least to me. Who to watch next? Your observational scribe, Neil Entry #1
I can’t believe I’m doing this. I used to make fun of diary scribes. Now I’m one of them. Great. Just great. <scratching head as I try to figure out how to do this> Okay, I’ll start at the beginning. My foot. Ponder took it. I’m never getting it back. Wah, wah, wah. Such a baby. I’ve met people who have it a lot worse than me. Brave men and women who’ve lost every limb and still figure out how to keep going. I have ZERO right to complain. So why am I here? Why and I writing this? Short answer: Doc Higgins thought it might be useful. Long answer: Something squirrelly this way runs. Work is fine. Better than fine if you analyze the bottom line. While SSI isn’t exactly public anymore, we’ve got more than enough contacts and contracts to keep us busy and running for decades to come. But I think the good doctor is right. Something’s up in my head. An unease. A fidgetiness. (Is that even a word?) Sorry. I can’t promise that my entries will be typo free. I build stuff. I don’t write books. Back to the long answer. Doc Higgins thought it might be useful to recap my days and/or start my days with whatever’s running through my noggin. So that’s what I’m going to do. I don’t know what’s gonna come out on the page, but I promised that I’d give it a go. So I will. And if anyone ever finds this journal (I’ve hidden it in the deepest depths of SSI’s network so it won’t) I hope they don’t judge me too harshly. Because I’m just a computer guy trying to get by. And if I don’t lie, or poke myself in the eye, who knows what might come by. See. I can barely rhyme. There goes my budding hip-hop career. Until next time, Dear Diary. Your loving newbie scribe, Neil |
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