Merry Christmas...

Remember what Christmas is about this season.

(Here's a hint... it's not about motorcycles or games or toys, although those are cool too :)

If you are a Christian, it's about celebrating the birth of our Saviour, Jesus Christ...

If you're not... well it's still about the birth of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, but if you haven't realized that yet, let it be about loving one another, living well and cleanly, and having happiness in your heart. Let yourself be happy.

In the aftermath of a nasty election and in the midst of dire conflict around the globe, cynicism and nastiness are still running rampant. Drop it. Set aside the desire to prove yourself smarter, cooler or more fashionable than the next guy. Just stop. Do something genuinely nice for no reason at all. Forgive someone who doesn't deserve it. (He did)

And don't sweat the small stuff. If you have a roof over your head, food for your family, and some form of transportation, you are making it. Anything beyond that is gravy.

Trust me... I'm mostly preaching to myself here, but I think the shoe probably fits a lot of people right now. So this Christmas season, as Bill and Ted would say...

"Be excellent to one another" (At least I think they said that)

Merry Christmas everyone.

Wow...

My motorcycle rocks.

It's an enduro style on or off road. I got on it today and told my wife I was going to ride around the block.

I rode around 40 miles down back highways.

It's addictive... the good weather helped too.

Woohooo!

Went in and did PT today on the final workday of 2004. I am officially on leave until the 2nd, and looking forward to nothing but family time, hunting, riding motorcycles, hopefully writing something more significant than I have been, and... OK well, I do have a few things to do around the house... like cleaning out the garage, working on my jeep, and a few other things.

I'm going to at least replace my halfshaft on my Jeep tomorrow. It's been bad for quite a while and I've been riding around with the part in the back for about 2 months now. While I'm at it I think I'm going to put a small lift kit on and raise it up a few inches. I have a Grand Cherokee, but I drive it like it was a Hum Vee so I'm always busting things up on the undercarriage. I hope if I lift it up a little it will help, but in reality I'll probably just attempt even more ludicrous things with it and be in the same boat. Oh well, at least it will look cool with fatter tires.

All the Privates are gone now, except for the ones who are getting chaptered out of the Army. Most of them are probably sitting on their ass playing Halo, double fisting doughnuts and soda pop while they entertain their friends with stories about their new life as an Airborne Ranger.

I have to give them credit though. One of the calls a CO or 1SG dreads getting at a time like this is the one about some Private acting like a dumbass in the airport on the way home. I've heard horror stories about Privates walking around in Class As with earrings in thier ears. There are usually some who smoke or drink, and there are plenty of opportunities for them to just act stupid in general.

Airports are filled with active duty military from all branches at this time of year, and most of them will make a correction on the spot and leave it at that. But if the infraction is big enough, or the Private gets disrespectful, or they just don't want to let it go, they will sometimes call their unit.

We got a call yesterday from one of the airports we shipped them through. Apparently their behavior was GOOD enough to warrant recognition. They were standing at parade rest when addressed by other soldiers, acting professional and courteous, and just generally being outstanding representatives of the company.

I was amazed. It's not that I don't expect most Privates to do the right thing, but it's usually the idiots who draw attention to themselves. It's nice to hear that, at least for some of the soldiers, they are taking their lessons to heart.