Understanding How Online Poker Bonuses Work

A loyalty bonus is an online poker bonus awarded to a player who has been using a particular poker site for a certain period of time. It can be a match bonus like a poker sign up bonus or it can come in the form of some kind of promotion. All the top online poker rooms offer loyalty bonuses.

Match Online Poker Loyalty Bonuses

A match loyalty bonus will probably just show up in its own window when you log on. It will let you know that if you make a deposit within a certain period, you are entitled to a percentage of your deposit as a bonus. It usually doesn’t matter how long you’ve played on the site, as long as you have an account when the offer is made, you are eligible.

Promotion Loyalty Bonuses

The other way you can earn bonuses for continued play on a site is through player points. Most sites have a player points program where you earn points depending on how often you play on the site. These points can’t be redeemed for cash, but can be used to play in freerolls with cash prizes, or for merchandise with cash value. The great thing about online poker loyalty bonuses is that you get them for doing something you would be doing anyway: playing online poker. Keep your eyes open for any loyalty bonuses that are offered so that you can optimize your online poker playing experience by doing the same thing you’ve been doing all along.

Time for a quick post

... and that is about all.

I just got home from Jackson Hole and the madness or turning around and heading to Europe in less than 24 hours has started. The dogs go to camp (code for my mother-in-law's house) as soon as Dr. K gets home from work. Then it's time to eat dinner, pack, charge batteries and get some sleep before heading back to the airport. The dump of JH pics will have to wait. If you can't wait, you can check them out at Flick'r.

See you in a couple weeks.

(Special K will be in Vegas Oct. 9-12. Get ready.)

Wild and crazy times

I've just been too busy to blog. Work and fun have had me running like crazy until today. Since work and fun have been balanced pretty well, that is not a complaint, it's just the fact.

For instance, last Saturday, Dr. K and I jumped on the Falstaff Boogie Express (it's really a toaster on wheels) for a trip to Brevard, NC. This was the site of the Mountain Music Festival that featured the greatest mandolin player in the world, Sam Bush. We arrive at the show about 5:30 and had just gotten settled on the grass when the crowd in the seated area just erupted. Since none of us were paying attention, we had to jump up to see what the commotion was about. Falstaff motioned me over and I saw an old silver-haired gent with a banjo. Since I don't always see real well, Falstaff had to clue me in to the fact that the new attraction was Steve Martin. Yea, that Steve Martin. The leader of the band made it clear that of all the special guests that they had hosted, Steve was easily the most recent. Steve was no slouch on the strings either. It was a good start to a great show.

Monday, I boarded a jet for Wyoming and the Tetons. I'm currently sitting in the Lake Jackson Lodge knocking out this post. This is what I see when I look to my right:

Here is a shot of Cowboy K from this morning:

Yea, work is tough today. Leave your sympathy notes in the comments. We pay for our fun tomorrow with a day full of meetings followed by a trip home on Friday. After that, this blog will go stale until October as I will be out of the country without internet service. I'll bring back tons of pictures from our European Vacation. I'll post a few more Jackson Hole pics later, so come back soon.

Patriotism

A friend on another blog posed the question, "What good is Patriotism?" He went on to write that he found no good in it.  I have to disagree.

First, I need to define what I call and feel as Patriotism.  It is pride in the ideas that make our people great.  It's not really about the country.  It is more about the idea of freedom and just government than about borders.

It is not pride in the flag.   The flag is a symbol of this country.  The meanings of symbols change, both for the good and the bad over time.  The both the swastika and the cross have been symbols that have been both positive and negative depending on when they were used and who was using them.  Who knows what this country will represent in 100 years, 500 years, or more.  To pass laws that requires a special treatment of a symbol is dangerous.  When the government of this land tries to pass such laws, the patriotism in me says No,  We should protect that freedom of expression (like flag burning) against the government for the future when it might be well warranted.  (Having that right today makes it a lot easier to pick out the wackos)

It is not pride in the government.  A certain amount of government is necessary for the operation of a society.  Government should help a people to band together to do things that are for the common good that would otherwise not happen if left to the private sector.  Road, utilities, schools, protection, and law enforcement(very different from protection) come to mind.  The purchase of art, funding of unnecessary projects, and passage of unnecessary laws (laws banning poker for one) are corruption of the governmental process.  Patriotism tells me speak up about the wrong that government does especially the waste and corruption that exists.  Patriotism is a check on the power that still allows the people to govern.

Patriotism makes me cheer when a people rises up to throw off the shackles of oppression.  When the people of a land rise against a Marcos, or apartite,  or a politburo, my heart cheers them on.  When they try and fail like Tienamin Square, my heart cries for them, because Patriotism isn't about this country, it is about the ideas of freedom that founded this country.  When those ideas spring up elsewhere in the world, I know it is their Patriotism that makes them act and keeps the ideas of freedom alive.

I think my friend and I have different definitions for the word patriot.  What he calls patriotism, I would call blind faith.  Patriots follow and protect freedom.  Blind faith follows people and political parties without thought.  If I'm right about the definitions, then my and my friend agree.

Patriotism is what makes the people "The People."  It protects our way of life when it drives people to act in protection of their rights.  Patriotism has grown and suffered over the years.  It was strong in the 1940's and helped to keep the western world free.  I'd have to say it is down today.  But it is not dead.  It slumbers, waiting for a tyrant to step over the line.  Patriots and patriotism will protect us so long as the idea of freedom lives.

Keep the dream alive.

Palin

The Republicans may have the wrong person at the head of the ticket. If you listened, you know what I mean.

10 Years

Some 12 years ago this past May, I had a really good week.  The months preceding that week had been difficult (understatement).  My first marriage had come to an end and my father had passed away from cancer.  So a good week was really welcomed.  Wednesday of that week was an outing to Lazer Tag.  I can't recall if it was a Jaycee outing or a work outing.  Hell, I don't even remember if anyone got outed.  I remember meeting Bill Gates for the first time that Thursday.  Friday was a good night for dinner and drinks with friends at a bar.

But it was Saturday that changed my life.  I get tears in my eyes just writing that.  Memories can be tough bastards.  Anyway, I got up early to go to a Jaycee project of reclaiming a park in a poor neighbor hood.  The park had been destroyed by hurricane Hugo.  As we gathered in a parking lot for the ride to the work site, I noticed a cute girl that I had not seen before.  I wanted to talk to her, but kept my distance.  Why, I don't know.  We didn't speak until close to the end of the morning's work.  I invited her to come have lunch with the crew (since she was new and all), and she accepted.

The next week or so we met again after a Jaycee meeting and she gave me her number.  I still have the sheet of paper that she wrote it on.  I still have the girl, too.  To shorten what could be a very long story, we dated, I moved to Seattle forever and came back after 6 months.  We were married on August 29, 1998. 

These have been the most wonderful 10 years of my life.  We've had so many adventures and wonderful times.  Baseball and Boston, Rome and Waterfalls, and "putting our feet up" and sometimes, just a poke in the ribs have all been made more special through sharing them with her.  We've held each other up through the tough times of seeing friends and family members pass.  We've picked up a house and a couple dogs along the way to making that house a home. 

I spend a lot of time on the road, but there is no place I'd rather be than home with my wife.  Dr. K has become the best thing that has ever happened in my life and I am so grateful for all that put me in the right place and time to meet her and for all that has happened since.  I can't imagine life without her.

Thanks Honey!  Now let's start 10 more.

I don't know about McCain or Obama. Hope is slim.

Now is the time that our country needs patriots. I wish I saw one running for President, or Congress, or Dog Catcher. In this context, a patriot is someone who is willing to face harm for the love of one's country. Our soldiers are the most obvious example. A politician that is willing to talk straight about who his plans will help and who they will harm would be a patriot. That person would not do such a thing for his own gain. His political career would be harmed. I thought McCain might be that person, and maybe he will be later in the current campaign, but he is playing it safe for now if he want so get elected. Obama has "changed" most of his platform since the end of the primaries in order to appeal to the center of the political spectrum. That's smart, too, and for the same reason. It looks to me like they are appealing to the feelers and not the thinkers among us. Their "changes" appeal to those not paying attention or with short memories. Worst of all, they don't have to worry about the idiots who wouldn't vote for an _________ if they were the only party running.

Let me explain. If you say that you are willing to kill a child to save a thousand, you would be vilified as a monster, a Nazi, or Jessie Helms. On the other hand, if you came out in favor of saving the child without mentioning the thousands that would be killed instead, then you are told by the feelers in the electorate that you have your heart in the right place and it was good to try. That is an extreme example, but sums up politics today. The obvious right answer to this hypothetical is to hate it, but let the one child go. The politician that saves the child and fails to tell us the truth about the thousands the best gets elected and that is what both sides are trying to do. And we are getting what we vote for, liars.

So my dear friend Falstaff has posted about his support for Barack Obama (here). After reading his arguments, I appreciate his reasoning, but he needs to look again. He may come up with the same conclusion, but he has come to his conclusion based on the wrong facts.

Most telling is that he knows that Obama will raise taxes, but all of the things that he lists that would raise taxes, those are not paid for by taxes paid to the federal government. Sure, those tanks and guns are bought by the feds, but if you end the war, spending on those things will go down. He also lists garbage collection, education, sewage, police, and fire protection. In order, those things are the responsibility of the county, state, county, city, and city.

If Obama raises our taxes, he will be spending them on things that will get them more into your life, not less. Your choices on healthcare will certainly be less. Your choices on how you use your electricity will be less. Social programs will grow, and grow more wasteful. I'm not even going to get into what our current social programs have done to the fabric of poor families in this country since the start of Johnson's war on poverty, but the fact is that 30% of children in this country are born to single mothers and that puts them at a huge statistical disadvantage right from the start. That is one thing that will need to change and bigger and more social programs will not change this situation in the long run, and it must change.

Does Obama say that taxes will go up if he is elected? No? Liar. Does McCain? No? Probably a liar.

Obama promises to "change" the economy. I don't want the economy to change that much. That sound a little crazy given what we are told by the media and politicians. The the truth is that the GDP of the United States has grown every quarter of the Bush presidency. Every single one! Oil prices are up, but they are coming down. Housing prices were up, now they are coming down. If you don't like either one, just wait a bit. You may say that the rich are getting richer, but the poor are also getting richer, just at a slower rate. But Obama is going to "change" the economy. I can't wait. You can be sure that the poor will get poorer of the economy contracts.

We've got the terrorist on the run. He's going to change that, too. Oh, Joy.

I'd like to see some changes. Let's require underage girls and single mothers looking for assistance ID the fathers and force them to provide for their children (or prosecute them for rape in the case of the underage girls). That should free up a lot of money for children in greater need. I'll bet adding more responsibility to social programs is not on Obama's list.

Let's really educate all children. What a great investment that would be. Let's provide vocational training for those who won't be going to college instead of tearing those programs apart. Let's add an advanced diploma for the gifted students who are working to get into the best universities. Let's get disruptive children in a highly disciplined environment (boot camps come to mind) where they can be free from distractions. I'd pay for those things gladly.

Let's build out and harden the Internet 2. The internet is doing for our economy now what the interstate road system did for us in the 60s and 70s. It deserves massive investment. And while we are at it, let's get everyone free basic internet. Wi-Fi is not that expensive. We just have to get the cable monopolies out of the way. Then poor children would have as many resources as the rich kids. Yes, we would have to find them computers, too. That not that huge a problem.

And the list goes on and on.

Of course, most of what I've listed here are local or state matters. Truth is (IMO), the federal government gets in and takes a ton of our money and leaves the responsibilities for our services to us and other governments. Think of all the great work the TSA does in helping you get on each and every flight. So it doesn't bother me if Obama or McCain get elected to be President. Unless they do something really stupid like trip up the economy or bring a war to our country, it probably won't matter a whole lot. I don't think either man will have enough power to do either one. One or both of them need to stop lying to us about how great things will be when they are elected. It won't be. It will be a bit better for some and worse for others and none of us can be real sure who is who.

Obama speaks a lot prettier than McCain and that can inspire people. Reagan and Clinton spoke well and inspired people, but then so did Hitler. Both men say they want more alternative energy used, but neither will tell you that doing so will increase the cost of energy that we will all pay. That will mean that someone will not be able to afford something they really need. Are you ready to pull the food from Granny's mouth to get a solar powered house? McCain will try to get more land opened for drilling than Obama. That will lengthen our dependence on oil, but will keep energy costs lower in the long run (but not in the short run).

The biggest difference is that we know a lot more about McCain and what he stood for before the campaign than we know about Obama. You may like what you know, or not. There are reasons to like and dislike each side or maybe both sides. I would much rather have to straight talkers that give me the good and the bad so that we could all make truly informed decisions. I don't like gambling on which man will become what after the election. But I can understand that for one to do that in this day and age would be political suicide.

But what I can not understand are the anit-patriots who say that they would never consider voting for X party. BTW: Falstaff does not qualify here. These are the feelers who would rather pick a side like it was a sports team rather than think about the issues and look at the man or woman running for office. I would hope we could all look for the patriots and sing their praises when we find one in hopes that someday we could get better leadership than we are offered today.

BTW: I'll probably vote for McCain as an obstruction to the other party so that only the plans on which there is some agreement make it into law. However, I'm still looking for the patriot.

Slack

I've been home.  I've been gone.  I've come back.  I've played poker a couple of times and I've not written about any of it.  I haven't given up the blogger thing or been kicked off.  I just haven't felt like writing.  I've been slack.  Some folks pay to advertise on this site, so I need to make an effort to post today.  So like a fiber-challenged old man, I'll try to force one out.  (I write that knowing that my mom does read my blog.  That's the cutting edge right there, baby.)

I've not been slack about exercising.  Dr. K and I have gotten outfitted with a couple of nice bikes and the accessories that go along.  Nowadays, you have to have a helmet, clip-in shoes, a bike computer, tools, shades, etc., etc.  I keep thinking back to when we were kids.  We just got a bike and rode.  We used our eyes and ears for safety (well, sometimes).  I do remember my older brother loosing control on a friends bike going down hill at probably 25-30 mph.  He got the worst case of road rash I've ever seen, but he lived.  He also got hit by a car once and he lived through that, too.

Back to the present - Dr. K and I also got a bicycle trainer so that we can ride indoors.  It will be nice to hop on the bike and get in a workout without going to the YMCA.  I hope it leads to more workouts.  Between running and riding, I got some good cardio exercise 6 of 7 days last week, and that was a week when I was on the road for 4 days.

Those 4 days were spent in Norfolk.  It was a good visit in just about every way.  I've got the place I like to stay when in the area.  The Town Center of Virginia Beach is not far from the customer, has some good hotels and lots of restaurants.  There is also a mall and other stores in case I need to pick something up.  For instance, I decided that I needed a certain book on the spur of the moment.  A short walk to Barnes and Nobel took care of that.

The travel schedule is filled to the brim until mid-October.  Next week, I'll be in Colorado Springs.  Then I'll be home for a week of training and then I'm off to Jackson Hole, WY for a week.  Those are both business trips.  I'll get through them somehow. :)  Then a nice two part vacation starts with the Dr. and I going to Europe for a cruise followed by a trip to Vegas to celebrate the 40th birthday of Brian the Red.  Many of the members of the Falstaff Poker Crew (he may not want us to be a crew) will also attend.

I've got some other things on my mind, like:

• Why can't John McCain remember how many houses he owns?  That looks really bad to folks who don't own a house.  Anyone who has owned rental property would understand if they wanted to.
• Is that the best Obama can do against McCain?
• I liked the way I played cards on Friday night.  I generally made good moves in games with which I am not very familiar.
• I don't like the way I reacted when the cards roshambeax-ed me.  It was not fun for anyone and it was not good poker.  Sorry guys.  More Welbutrian, please!
• I've got a lot of work to get done in the next 4 days before my 10th wedding anniversary (Friday).
• Did anyone pay enough attention to notice that I'm not wearing my wedding ring?  Some may have and worried that it means trouble.  Not even close.  Dr K and I are getting our rings "pimped' for our anniversary.
• How is Schoon doing?  I've thought about him and his wife every day for a while now.
• How am I going to get my work done while blogging.  I'm not.  Bye.

A most depressing post with a happy ending

This is just one of those times. There has been a lot going on. I just haven't felt like it is the kind of thing that either I'd want to share or the kind of thing that anyone would want to read.

For instance, the mother of a very good friend past away from cancer this weekend. Yesterday morning, an elderly neighbor and nice, gentle man passed away. His was from the effects of a stroke, I think. And as much as I wish it were not true, these are probably the last days of the wife of another good friend. She is in her early 30's and a new mother. See, I told you you wouldn't want to hear about it.

There is so little that Dr. K and I can do for any of the caregivers and survivors. We offer help and suggest ways we might, but when it comes right down to it, these are private matters and we are not a part of those families. They had the same situation back in late '07 and early '08 with the passing of my father-in-law and grandmother. Other folks that have been in my life forever are getting old and it is not too difficult to see that this pattern may continue for a while.

With all of that said, thinks are good around the House of K. Dr. K has had the worst luck in getting work done on her teeth. The last two issues have resulted in a lot of pain after the fact and turned into root canals. She had been dealing with the second one for 6 months now, but it looks like grinding down the new crown has taken care of that.

The Doctor and I are also coming up on our tenth anniversary at the end of this month. We have been getting each other our gifts and frankly just reveling in our lives together. These ten years have flown by and I'm looking forward to many more. I'll have to write down the stories of how we met and how she got her engagement ring in future posts. Those are two of the stories that we like to share the most.

Dr. K has also gotten the bike riding bug. With all of the depression above, we want to help more with a cure for the cancer part. So our goal is to ride in the 24 hours of booty next year and raise a bunch of money in the process. We have our goal. We have acquired the bikes this week. Other stuff is on order. We will be fully outfitted and in training very soon (if you call riding around "in training"). We also have a commitment from Dr. K's employer to sponsor the team. I think we will have a lot of fun along the way.

So the post was depressing, but that is what is going on and on my mind. The happy ending isn't really and ending, but a milestone and a start in a new direction. It is all LIFE. I, for one, am still glad to be taking part.

I'm an anti-Obama Poker Playing ex-blogger

This blog is now doomed.

This past week has seen the web giant Google (owners of Blogger) block access to several of my friends blogs. Pauly, Al, and others lost their ability to post to their blogs after years of regularly posting their entertaining content. They were told they had been identified as Spam Sites and would have to undergo a formal hearing in order to get their sites back or see their sites deleted in 20 days. If you are wondering, a Spam Site is a page that contains mostly links to other pages, thus increasing the link counts of those pages and moving those pages higher in search engines (like Google). Just a quick glance would show anyone that none of these sites comes anywhere close to this description.

So what's up. G-Rob has written a great post that may explain what is going on. In short, someone is complaining to Google about poker related content on the Internet and Google may be knee-jerking those sites away from their authors. It is a better explanation than Google has offered to date. They have offered no comment.

So what is the anti-Obama thing all about? Just as control had returned to most of the poker writers above, I ran across this article which showed the same thing is happening to some anti-Obama blogs on, you guessed it, Blogger. It looks like some Obama supporters are complaining to Google/Blogger that not everyone sees the presidential race the same way that they do. So Google/Blogger pulls the sites and does a review. Those sites are also back up after a day or two.

I wonder what would happen if I complained to Google that they are not living up to their promise to "do no evil." Would Google go down for a day?

Now that I have outed myself to the blogsphere as an anti-Obama poker player, let's see how long it takes for Blogger to track me down and review this. Probably not more th

The Situation in Review

Let's review the current situation:

- Oil and Gas prices are dropping rapidly

- The surge in Iraq worked.

- Home foreclosures have leveled off or are dropping slightly

- Google is doing evil (dropping page ratings for bloggers whos links don't play by Google's rules)

- Apple is forcing their software onto Windows machines (first Safari and now MobileMe)

- Microsoft is showing signs of embracing Open Source

- The economy grew in the second quarter so there will be no recession during the current Bush administration.

Whatever will people bitch about now?

Final Words

"Tell the governor he just lost my vote."

- Christopher Scott Emmett just before he was executed by the state of Virginia (7/24/08).

Oki-Vegas Report

My trip out to OKC was over 10 days ago and I took no notes, so this trip report will be the memories that stick with me rather than the immediate report that jogs my memory when I look back.  Memory joggers are good, but the memories that I will carry forward from this trip are good as well.

There were no pictures taken on this trip.  That is very out of character for me, but I wanted this to be a minimalist trip.  No camera.  No computer.  Just relaxation.  Keep an eye on http://www.instanttragedy.com/ if you want pictures.

The flight out started with an early 4 am wake up, shower and drive to the airport.  My flight on Continental connected in Houston without incident.  I got to OKC a little early and Maudie was by in short order to pick me up for the drive to the lake.  It took us less than 20 minutes to get lunch at Arby's and to miss our turn.  We didn't realize our mistake (the turn, not Arby's) until we were about 20 miles off course.  A quick stop for beer and directions got us back on track.

We arrived at the lake with beer and ready to rock.  We were warmly greeted by OOSSUUU, Tragedy, Buddy Dank, Skidoo, Kat, Mr. and Mrs. Surflexus, Joannada, and our wonderful host GCox and his assistant "Triple B" (Bill the Beer Bitch).  I drank a couple of beers during the introductions and we headed for the lake.  Great fun was had riding the waves of beautiful lake Oki-Vegas (of was it Fort Cobb Lake).  Videos of this and many other events of the weekend can be viewed at the websites of Tragedy and Kat above.  Go see.  Skidoo managed to flip on his run which sank both the boat and his knee.

I probably drank four more beer just chatting and watching the goings-on.  I guess I was still decompressing from Iraq just a bit.  We headed back to the lake place shortly thereafter.  I had a few more beers there before I realized that I was not even buzzed.  It turns out that been in OK is the 3.2% variety.  What a waist of time.  That was not the point of the trip.  The point of this part of the trip was to enjoy a meat-fest of venison burgers and polish sausages followed by a hold'em cash game.  The cash game put one of the most evil beats on me when my AK flopped a broadway straight.  I got all my money in against Skidoo's pocket 7s (that is a 96% chance to win).  The next two cards are Q and then 7 to give Skidoo a boat.  That was the end of my poker for the night.  I was down $90 and dead tired.

We headed into OKC to following morning.  After more conversation, some guitar hero, more great food and some great karaoke entertainment, we sat down to the big tourney.  To this point, I've never even come close to cashing in a blogger event.  I have a good-to-great record in charlotte area tourneys, but I'm a big O-fer with the bloggers.  Well this day I busted out to take a 3rd place and cashed for a $74 profit.  I added a few more dollars to get my Oki-Vegas balance to a -$9.

Sunday was travel day for most of the rest of the group.  I bid them farewell and headed for the Riverwind Casino down near Norman, OK.  This was a wild session that saw by early flopped set of 9s get crushed by a flopped set of Qs (felt).  After a rebuy my set of Js got out drawn by a rivered flush.  I made some good hands and actually got up by $100 before the long slow slide took my stack down to $32.  I got my first AA of the trip to hold up in a 3-way pot to get close to $100.  Shortly thereafter I raked another big pot on a set of Qs.  I finished the session up $18.  That also gave me a big $9 profit for the weekend.

Some of the mental pictures that I'll carry with me from the weekend:

Kat's very swollen ankle

Mrs. GCox and BuddyD doing karaoke (they were good)

Saving the jet ski from major repairs (I just watched)

Just hangn' on the porch at the lake

Listening to Tragedy talk to his kids (it was both happy and sad but so real)

Finally making the money at a blogger event

Toasts to Iggy as he made his run at the WSOP

Dial-a-shots

 

So let me tally up the weekend:

Poker - Profit

Friends Made - Profit

Good times had - Profit

Get the Iraqi sand out of my system - Profit

That is one profitable weekend.  Thanks once more to Mr and Mrs GCox and the rest of the crew.  I'm already signed up for next year.

Iraq Wrap-up

I finished up my time in Baghdad way back on the 4th of July.  There is not a more fitting place to celebrate the birth of our nation that to be where another free nation is being born.  How well the current situation works out for the Iraqis is still very much up in the air, from my knowledge of history, the future of the US didn't look any better in 1776, or 1812, or 1865. Like the war or hate the war, I would hope we all wish the best for the people or Iraq.

One of my colleagues in Iraq took the time to show me around the Al Faw Palace which was used by Saddam as a resort for his loyal party members.  The palace look more ornate than any of the other palaces that I visited, though I have read that the gold isn't and the walls are paper thin and this huge chandelier is part plastic.  Still, you can't scoff too much as a half-million square feet of floor space.

To give a little perspective to how big this chandelier is, here is another view from above.  The chandelier is as big as the octagon on the floor below it (compare it to the people below).

Some of my best writing on this trip was about the "facilities."  Here is a picture of some of the facilities in the palace (holy crap!).

Here is a photo that gives a little idea about how much fun it can be to drive around in Iraq.  We were still on the base, but it still really sucked. (There is a truck directly ahead of us)

Here are a couple of left-over Iraqi tanks.  Looks like the army left them there as trophies.

 

Overall, I'm glad I went. Iraq is a hot, dusty, and generally uncomfortable place.  I never got used to eating meals in the chow halls and using community facilities for bathing and other personal matters.  I sure did enjoy that first long shower at home.

On the otherhand, I didn't go there for a vacation.  I went there to work and to test myself a little bit.  While I was there I did good work, I kept my patience, and I rolled with the punches (like doing without my luggage for the first 3 days).  I missed home, but never felt homesick.  I left feeling like both the military and contractors liked having me there.  There is no doubt that they treated me well.

Will I go back? I doubt it.  Three weeks is a long time to be gone and it put a lot on Dr. K's shoulders.  I like my home too much to be away for so long.  But, in case the situation arises where I'm the guy that they have to have, I'll reserve the right to reevaluate.

It's good to be back.

Lazy?

After blogging for so many days in a row, my posts suddenly came to a stop once I arrived home from Iraq. I still owe this blog a wrap up of that trip.

Additionally, I attended fabulous Oki-Vegas. My everlasting appreciation to GCox and MrsGCox25 for hosting our bunch of fairly well behaved degenerates. That gathering of friends did some serious good for my tattered soul. I played the crucial role of Geek for North Carolina standing in (but no substitute) for TripJax who could not make it this year. We missed ya. It was great to see/meet/get to know better the whole crew - Maudie, Katitude, Joanada, 23Skidoo, Sirflexus, Peaches (MrsFlexus), Oossuu, BuddyDank, and Tragedy. I'm already signed up for next year and I can't wait.

I'll start catching up on the blog writing tomorrow.

Back in the USA

Feel that humidity.  I love it.

I'm now sitting in the terminal at Dullas Int'l Airport having cleared customs and just waiting for the last leg of this journey to start.  The story of my escape from Baghdad and the scramble through the airport in Kuwait will have to wait for now.

I am so relieved to be on my way home.  I really hope I don't cry too much when I see Dr. K again.  It has been an incredible journey, but I'll be glad to get back to the wife and the life that is mine.

Iraq - Day 18

I'm just going to put up a short post today.  It is going to get super busy as the ball of life picks up speed as it rolls toward my departure tomorrow night.  I have to fix the rest of the DB corruption, run a three hour class on SQL Server (maybe I can give it again at Oki-Vegas :) ).  Then I have to pack, sleep, work and then leave.  Tomorrow afternoon will, no doubt, drag out longer than a Yanni concert.

I'll be home Saturday morning.  I'll probably have some closing thoughts then.  I'll be back in the states soon.  Thank goodness.

Yea, Who is April?

Tony Plutonium have never agreed on much, but I have to agree here.  Check out this You Tube clip.  It is the funniest thing I have seen in a long time.  Thanks for sharing, Tony.

Iraq - Day 17

I really enjoyed myself today.  I had a job to do and it took most of the day.  I think I made so good breakthroughs for the customer.  It is good to know that I can still get my hands dirty (in a geeky sort of way) and get work done that helps others out.  I'll be tackling the last trouble spot tomorrow.

More folks are leaving the office.  Today, one left for some vacation and another left for good.  The guy who left was just absolutely beside himself with excitement.  It was his own personal Christmas morning.  I expect that I will be seeing one of them again and I'll probably be talking to the other on additional support issues.  They were both good guys and I appreciate them adding their own flavor to my adventure.

In honor of the departing team member, we had a good-ole American Barbecue.  The smell just floored me.  Chicken and burgers and kabobs on the grill is one of those smells that I'll always enjoy.  Of course, we lacked any beer to go with the other traditional fare, but I've grown used to that.

Now it is my turn to start getting excited.  I'm currently fighting the urge to start putting my stuff in bags.  I'm going to wait until tomorrow after work to start that.  I think I'll get too excited if I start now.  I've still got a good bit of work on my plate to complete, so I don't need the distraction.  Actually, work will be the distraction that helps to get Friday at 1800 here all the more quickly.

Iraq - Day 16

Today is a slow day. 

The dust outside is just as bad or worse today (see picture below).  For those who have not been in a dust storm, it's not like I would have expected.  I thought the wind would be howling and it would be tough to breath.  It's not, at least not now.  You don't even notice that you are breathing in dust.  You can taste it a little, but not much.  Its just like fog except that it is warm to hot instead of cool.  The folks who have to work outside wear something over their mouth and nose.  I'll bet they still get some interesting stuff when they blow their nose.  I do, and I work inside.

Several of the guys here have a drink called Wild Tiger.  This stuff tastes to me like Red Bull, but with a lot bigger kick.  It comes in 250ml cans and is made in Jordan.  It is not available in the states (yet).  They buy it by the case when they can get it.  The stores run by the locals sell out pretty quickly.  Just one more thing that you won't see stateside.

Today's plan was to start a closer look at the server that I saved yesterday, but plans change.  Around here, they change quickly.  We ended up building some Full Text Indexes on a huge database.  We started populating the indexes right before lunch.  It wouldn't surprise me if it ran all night.  It was something that I've not done much before.  We had to write one query that stretched my TSQL abilities, but we got that to work.  I wouldn't want to write complex SQL code every day, but it sure is fun once in a while.

Going-home-itis is really starting to creep into my mind.  I'm starting to make plans for when I get home.  Thinking about seeing the wife and the dogs.  About taking a long private shower.  Of course, thinking those thoughts just makes it harder to wait. A couple guys I work with are leaving tomorrow and that doesn't help either.

I don't think I've said anything about the showers.  Like the toilets, the showers are a short walk from the hooch.  On one side of the door there are about 12 small stalls facing each other in a row. On the other side are the mirrors and sinks.  There are shower curtains of a sort.  They cover just over 62.4% of the opening.  I've been instructed not to let me feet touch the floor of anything in that trailer, so I shower with flip-flops on.  Finally, this being the desert, we are short on water so they want us to take showers only running the water when needed.  So a desert shower is turn the water on, wet hair, turn water off. Lather.  Turn water on and rinse.  Wet body and wash cloth and turn water off.  Soap up.  Turn water on and rinse.  Turn water off.  I guess I won't bitch about water restrictions at home (yea, right).

Finally, congrats to Al Can't Hang for his new gig and new life.  Life is too short to hate spending 40 hours a week at work.  Feed your passion.