Argghhh!

...aaaaand it's time to bug out.Same deal as last year at this time -- 'cept we won't be returning. The Iraqi Flight Training School is closing up next week, and I've got a lot of inventory, pack-stuff-up, and door-locking work to do between now and *this* Friday, because that's when *I* split.I'll probably do a long, meandering post at some time in the future -- and throw in a bunch of pix -- but meantime, I'll leave you with a chuckle.Now, the Iraqis in Baghdad figure...

Turn on every ligh t in your house. Celebrate an hour of power.

Episode 430,238,982* On the left, a rubber bullet (more properly called a "baton round"). On the right, a tungsten anti-armor penetrator. Both have very different impact characteristics when striking humans or tanks, despite the apparent similarities. They do not make good earplugs, however. Squares in the background are approximately one inch.

...at the Pentagon Bus Stop.

MATS shifts from a land and unload passenger deliver to a "drop ship" paradigm. Bill's stop is coming up...

If you can start the day without caffeine, If you can always be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains, If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles, ... If you can eat the same food every day and be grateful for it, If you can understand when your loved ones are too busy to give you any time, If you can take criticism and blame without resentment, If you can conquer tension without medical help, If you can relax without alcohol, If you can sleep without the aid of drugs, Then....

Before we go down that secession road again... it was expensive last time, and would likely be so again. Dusty, in comments to his post below, broached the idea, and offered some suggestions. I thought that rather than keeping that buried in the comments, I'd toss it up here for a discussion in a post all it's own. I'll take my favorite of Dusty's suggestions and toss it up to start things (yeah, some of you are surprised at my first choice, I know). Term Limits - with pretty much...