teenager notice

TEENAGERS!
Are you tired of being harassed by your parents?
ACT NOW!

Move out,
get a paid job,
& pay your own way
while you still know everything!

it's all about family

This has been one constant driving trip for me this weekend. First we all drove to Columbia, SC as a family and then I drove to Dayton, VA to pick up my mother who was visiting my sister. On the way to Dayton I stopped in Staunton, VA to see the family of my roommates from the good old days at VaTech. Driving through the orange colored Blue Ridge mountains, I wondered if anyone would be home at the Knopps or if anyone would remember me. I feel like they are my family for many reasons. There are nine boys in the family and two of them were my roommates. These roommates saw my wife and I get married and helped us so much those first three months. We had so much in common as we loved to play basketball for hours at the VaTech gym and at home when we were together in Staunton. They were the rock strong family when my family was falling apart at the cracks. When I needed support, they were always there for me. With Mama Knopp close to 89 and Papa Knopp close to 95 and it is hard to tell how much longer they will grace the earth with their presence. I mean "grace" as that is the absolutely best word for them. You just want to be around them in hopes that something will rub off! Mama's body may be falling apart but her mind is simply amazing. If I had just half of her memory at 70 I would be a happy camper. Lastly, it is not that the whole family of 9 boys, 20+ grandchildren, 20+ great-grandchildren are perfect, it is how they are constantly learning how to be more like Jesus Christ as a family. Simply amazing to me.

On my way up the Shenadoah valley to see my sister, I saw the Mennonite region of Virgina as that is where my sister lives. Huge dairy farms with black horse and buggy's outside each home with some homes having many bicycles park along the barns. You could see horse dung on the road as I weaved along the curvy country road. Occasionally I would see someone on a bicycle. These are not racing bikes but simple bicycles with baskets on both sides of the back to hold groceries. As a kid I could remember going through the country side around Harrisonburg and seeing the mennonite people, so I got used to seeing them, but after many years it was odd but brought back good memories.


On the way back home with my mother, we stopped to see a childhood friend of hers who had been her playmate since being in the same crib. She had just turned 80 and mom wanted to see her. That is amazing to see someone remain friends for 80 years. They did not dwell so much on the past as just wanted to talk about each other's family and what was going on now. They had both been through much adversity and had the battle wounds to show for it, but knew they would be friends to the end of their life on earth.

On the 5 hour drive home, one of the conversations between my mother and I was about her brother Claude, since he had served in the military for 30 years. He had joined the Marines when he was 16 years old and served in WWII, Korean War and Vietnam. He retired after 30 years of service, most of the latter years as a chef for officers. I remember visiting him many times as I liked to spend the night with them and eat some of the best food that ever entered my stomach. He smoked like crazy and drank tons as well, but was the nicest uncle I could ask for. The last time I saw him, he was on the verge dying of cancer and was really a skeleton with skin draped over his bones. It was a very sad time for me. I remember going to his funeral and crying for a very long time. It is the only funeral I have attended so far.

proud Army parents

It certainly was an emotional two days watching our boy become a man. Maybe he should have become a man sooner or learned lessons the easy way, but for now all we can say is that we are proud parents of our new man. Sometimes it is just too hard to put into words how we feel and this is just such a case. We told him how proud we were of him and he said that we were not as proud of him as he was of himself. He said he did things he never imagined he was capable of completing. His master drill sergeant told him they could quit any time and the final night before his graduation, he told them he was on a mission to make someone not graduate. One of the fellows completed his physical training on the morning of family day (our son told us this fellow's first two mile run on entering camp was in 29 minutes and he had to complete it in 16 minutes to graduate) and if he had not completed it he would have not graduated and would have had to tell his parents to not come. He did graduate by the way! There were people from all over the USA there to see this manly sons. I knew almost nothing about the military when we went to Columbia, SC this weekend. I dislike war and cannot imagine having to kill someone, but I have to say that having seen my son turn into a man was the highlight of my life as a father so far. I really like the Army values and creed as they are great values for anyone to have. The regiment commander read these out loud at the graduation ceremonies and all 460 of the graduates yelled the creed in unison at the end before parading off the field - also quite and emotional experience. Our son is part of the 165th infantry brigade, 3rd battalion, 34th infantry regiment, company "B". The regiment is called "Rock Force" and his company is called the "Hell Hounds".

Army Values

Loyalty - Bear true faith and allegiance to the U.S. Constitution, the Army, your unit, and other Soldiers
Duty - Fulfill your obligations
Respect - Treat people as they should be treated
Selfless Service - Put the welfare of the nation, the Army, and your subordinates before your own
Honor - Live up to all of the Army values
Integrity - Do what's right, legally and morally
Personal Courage - Face fear, danger, or adversity (Physical or Moral)

The Soldier's Creed

I am an American Soldier.
I am a Warrior and a member of a team.
I serve the people of the United States and live the Army Values.
I will always place the mission first.
I will never accept defeat.
I will never quit.
I will never leave a fallen comrade.
I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough,
trained and proficient in my warrior tasks and drills.
I always maintain my arms, my equipment and myself.
I am an expert and I am a professional.
I stand ready to deploy, engage and destroy the enemies of
the United States of America in close combat.
I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life.

I am an American Soldier.

Army

So last night we left our home to spend the night in Columbia, SC so we could get up bright and early to attend the family day presentation at 9am this morning. We got there early to avoid the traffic, but just as we arrived at the Fort Jackson exit we could see a huge accident on the other side of the freeway. We found the Hilton field where the event started and I was not able to sit on the metal bleachers as they were so cold and I decided to stand. We got there at 8am as it was to begin at 9am. At 8:30 they announced that due to the accident they would start at 9:30 instead. At 9:30 they announced it would start at 10am and that there was a fatality and 6 cars involved in the accident. As the sun rose it did get warm enough to actually sit on the bench finally. After a couple of people spoke to open the festivities, we started clapping as we were prompted to do. There were around 15 colored smoke bombs set off in the woods across from the stands. Then all of the sudden all of the soldiers ran across the field into position on the field in front of the stands. We sat in front of the "B" company which was the platoon our son was a part of. It was pretty emotional for my wife and I so of course we had to cry, even though we could not even figure out which one was our son. We were all dismissed and allowed to go onto the field to find our son. Quite the emotional experience as it had been 10 weeks since he left the house a boy and today we saw a man in front of us!

Some of the things we heard from talking to him are:

• He craved M&Ms, ice cream and Starbucks coffee


• First cup of coffee was really special for him


• Listening to his iPod was the highlight of his day


• He bought a cross to wear


• Toughest thing for him was dealing with people - he hated every one in his platoon and it was mutual for everyone


• Second hardest thing was camping for seven days in cold


• Third hardest thing was crawling in huge field with 1000's of soldiers while live fire was being shot over his head


• Fourth hardest thing was having to go through gas mask tests


• Fifth hardest thing was to throw live grenades


• He appreciates the small things in life a whole lot more now

Some other interesting tidbits of his life over the past couple of months. Out of the 52 total people in his platoon, 12 are women. When he left our house he could not run 100 yards without getting winded and having to stop for breath as he smoked heavily for many years. For his physical training, he was able to run two miles in 13:40, which is totally amazing to me - I am not sure I could run two miles that fast! The longest march they did was 12 miles in 3 hours with 85 pound backpacks. Training constantly changes every time they do boot camp. Now the drill sargents are not allow to hit or touch new recruits and cannot get up into their face except for specific reasons. If you fight you get sent off the base for good. If you disobey orders three times for the same thing you go home. Of the 512 people who started only 460 finished and are graduating tomorrow. Our son is so glad he has completed the boot camp and admitted this evening that he is so much better off for doing so. He also told us he felt strange being among civilians, not marching in a line, and talking about common things.

cricket tournament

Today was the end of the cricket season for me as I play all summer long to get ready for the local annual AID cricket tournament. This year I was on a different team from last year. Two of the same players from last years's team were on this year's team but all of the other were new. I found out this morning that all of them but one were from Gujarat. My Hindi lessons don't do much good in that situation I am afraid. We had fun playing cricket and talking on the side lines in between and during games. We lost pretty bad, but it was not about winning for us. Last year I got involved as my previous team got very serious during play and I definitely did not want to do that again. I bowled the last game today and that was definitely fun as two of their best hitters hit balls that were caught in the field and thus were out of the game. In that same game when I batted I stayed in longer than I normally do and actually go a hold of one ball and hit it over the fence into the field next to ours for a 6. It was good to end on that note as I got to know more Indians that I enjoy being around and having fun playing cricket.

These are photos from the AID cricket tournament. There are a couple of them of our team members:

Diwali

Today was the local Diwali Festival. We have attended this celebration around many times previously. In the past few years our daughter accompanied us, but this year my wife and I went by ourselves as are not cool any more I suppose. At the Diwali last year, our oldest son went with us also as he had just moved into his own house down the road from where they have the festival. What a difference a year makes as that was the beginning of all kinds of trouble for us. This year he is nearly at the end of his Army boot camp and a totally different person from last year, which is a great thing.


For me, this year was the best Diwali ever as we met and talked to several Indian friends the five hours we were there. We went early so we could see the younger kids dance as they are he cutest things ever in their Indian saris. I talked to a co-worker who designed all of the backdrops for the stage and the main logo when we first arrived. I had been wanting to talk to him outside of work for some time. Of course I had to stop by and see the man who we rent all of our Indian videos from as he always recognizes me. It was not that hard in past Diwali ceremonies, but this year there seemed to be many more white faces in the crowd. Next I met the husband of a co-worker who I had met last year at a company Diwali party. As I was talking to him I spotted a next door neighbor of ours when we first moved to this area. I watched where he sat with his wife and without being too rude, quickly went over and started talking to him. We saw him a couple of years ago with his family at another local Indian event but had not seen him since. Right as we were leaving I saw another co-worker who I play cricket with and of course had to stop and talk to him for an extended period of time. For me this is a perfect way to spend an afternoon, talking with Indian friends and getting to know them better. Makes me want to go back to India!

best 3D Flash sites

While I am working on lists, I have to give my top 10 list of 3D graphics sites I have seen:

1. eco da zoo


2. Roxik Max2007


3. Roxik toy


4. Barcinski-JeanJean


5. Fat Man Collective


6. Cheatham Lane


7. Lamberta


8. Cristof Echard


9. Orange 8


10. Mr. Doob depth-of-field