Band-Aid

This is going to be a follow up post to  my last one.  Pretty much just my thoughts but the information is out there for you all to look up if you wanted to.  Basically I had my rant on here last week about Obama taking money away not only from veterans but from current soldiers overseas.  This upset me beyond belief.  Many of you may think I am crazy but when I was asked by a friend to describe my time in Iraq in one word, I said "Fun."  I am not sure what you all are thinking when I say that but it was.  My company was awesome, we did what we had to do, not only to get the job done but to have fun doing it.  We had to be over there so why not make the best of it.  Yes it sucked, it was extremely hot, wet, dry, smelled really bad and even cold.  Yes it does get cold in Iraq.  I had bombs blow up very close to where I was sleeping, IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) stare me in the face and even rockets fly over head that sounded like they were going to hit me in the back of the head.  All and all I had fun.  Regardless if I had fun or not, every solider is different and everyone has had the same experience as I did.  It was scary as well, I just feel it is wrong to take money away from them when they have no real choice to be there or not.  Yes, they signed up knowing they would be going overseas at some point but pay them for their sacrifices.  Also the money I almost wasn't going to get pays my bills and I count on that money every month to live.  The government did fix the problem temporarily by raising the debt ceiling.  Something I am glad they did because I do not have to live under a bridge now, but this has happened before and the same issue will arise again until the figure out a way to fix the problem not just prolong the inevitable.

Obama Does NOT Care About the Military or the Safety of the United States

After reading the title of this blog I can't even imagine what all of you are thinking especially if you have read my last several posts.  As you can see I do not like our "Amazing" President (lots of sarcasm here), for many reason most of pertaining to the military.  Now before I go further into why I am Obama hating today in this post I have a question to ask and would love for all of you to answer this while you comment on this post. While I was in the Army as an E-4 specialist (my rank when I was retired) I was receiving  $2,193.90 per month.  When a soldier is deployed to a war zone like Iraq or Afghanistan they receive combat pay/hazardous duty pay which is a whopping $225 per month.  That is the pay the government gives us to get shot at.  The pay is not taxed which is where the majority of our extra money comes from. I spent 14 months in Iraq and was shot at by snipers many times but was not close enough to make all that worried but still makes you duck your head and your butt hole pucker a little bit.  I had rockets fly over my head which sounded like it was coming right for my head and also my convoy was blown up once while over in Baghdad, Iraq.  Now I did say I was not going to get further into this post http://patdollard.com/2012/02/obama-pulls-combat-pay-for-u-s-troops/.  It is a short article if any of you would like to read that as well.  If a soldier gets into a fire fight for lets say four hours they will receive that pay for that day.  Lets do the math take the monthly rate of $225 and divide that by 30 days, $7.50 is what those brave sacrificing men and women will receive for getting shot at for hours.  My hatred is not just deriving from this but also I am on the Post 9/11 Chapter 33 G.I. Bill which pays for my schooling, gives me $500 a semester for my books and also pays me BAH (Basic allowance for housing) which allows me to go to school and not have to work  a ton a hours to pay my bills and be able to focus on school.  If things do not get changed or fixed by the first of the month I will not receive my BAH money which is a little over $1,500 a month living in Pittsburgh that pay is based off where you live and the cost of living, so it varies from state to state and city to city.  I also will not receive my retirement money or my disability money which I get because I was medically retired due to injury.  I do not know how you all feel about this but would love your comments on this.  It is a very important topic to me because of my ties to the military and the effect this has on my life, but has an effect on all of you as well.  If this stays in effect until another President changes it or Obama wakes up not as many people will join the military which will cause America to become more vulnerable to attack in the future.  If I do not receive that money I can not pay my bills and my car will be taken and I will have to move to the closest warmest bridge I can find.  I feel that Obama is single handily putting many veterans on the streets if this is not fixed they are Americans just like everyone else.  I also feel that the veterans should be held in a little bit different light for the sacrifice they gave for this wonderful country we live in today but if this keeps going the way it is going.  America will not be too wonderful anymore.  Please comment and tell me what your thoughts are, no matter what your feelings are let me know.  Thank you.
with out asking you all the question I wanted to ask but I felt like I had to give you a little bit more information to allow you to answer the question to the best of your ability.  With all this said would you go to Iraq or Afghanistan and get shot at for $2418.90?  I would guess that the majority of you would not.  When military personnel get into fire fights they can last from anywhere between minutes to hours.  Obama is taking the combat/hazardous duty pay away from all deployed soldiers.  The article I am using for this blog is

Olympus has Fallen

Olympus has Fallen, is a movie I feel everyone should watch.  It's a great action packed movie from start to finish, but I am not here to critique the movie for you but i will make a comparison to the movie.  With all these  talks about should we attack Syria or shouldn't we.  All these people talk about war being so bad and it is, but it is a necessary evil to protect everyone hating on the military as well as the people that do not want us to take action.  Well the real question is should we protect America before its to late and another 9/11 like event happens, or just like in the movie we let our guard down and next thing you know is someone has taken the President and is close to wiping America off the map just like in the movie Olympus has Fallen.  See what people don't understand is the brave men and women that join do so to protect the American people and give them the chance to speak freely.  Now let me ask all of you a serious question, how would you feel if your kid or loved one walked outside of the house and was shot in the face by complete accident?  Or how about you are sitting in your house getting cozy with your girl or your man and your door gets kicked in and then many armed men come racing through your house looking for whatever they want?  These are the kind of things that happen and when we take the fight to their land those things do not happen to Americans.  Yes it is still sad to watch a little kid get shot or feel bad for people when you kick their door off the hinges and catch them naked in the middle of the floor getting busy.  But there is a saying that applies here "its better them than me."

This is a letter to my son, this letter is about my life.  I wrote this just in case I am not able to tell him everything myself he has this to read so he knows what I have gone through in my life, in hopes that he will learn from me and not make the same mistakes I have...

Dear Jayden,
            My life has seen its ups and downs and has been nothing short of an adventure.  Not only exciting and fun adventures but adventures of the unknown and negativity.  A life of promise for a great future slipped away.  The door to my future closed right before my eyes.  Feeling lost and hopeless I attempted to turn my life around.

            Baseball was and will always be a passion of mine.  It was always there, no matter what went wrong in my life, baseball was there.  I was just starting to learn the game when Nana and Papi split up, but it was there.  Whenever I lost someone close to me, baseball was there.  The ballpark was always my getaway from all the problems in my life.  Baseball is what got me to college, without it who knows where I would be today.
           In 2006 I was 20 years old; I seriously hurt my ankle playing in a semi-professional baseball league; 2 weeks before scouts for the Pittsburgh Pirates were expecting me to tryout.  Unable to attend my scouting session with the Pirates I went back to college and for the first time in my life baseball was no longer there for me.  I was cut from the team due to my injury.  After losing the only thing that has consistently been there for me, my life turned dark.
            To cover up all my pain and sadness I turned to drugs and alcohol.  My grades suffered as a result and I was kicked out of school.  All I could think is “here we go again, yet another thing in my life that has not gone my way.”  It wasn’t until years later that I realized, that was one of the best things that had happened to me.  If it was not for getting kicked out of school, I would have ended up taking over 2 cities in Iowa selling drugs.  I would have gone straight to the top.  I would have had everything I ever wanted, money, nice cars and all the women I could handle and more.  But with the little experience I had doing this, I would have been in over my head and in prison or murdered in a year or twos time.
            In March of 2007, now 21 years old, I had nothing.  No hope, no car and a minimum wage job.  On one cold night in the basement of Nana’s house I could not fall asleep, call it fate if you will.  I decided to join the United States Army.  I figured that since I could not set myself up for a successful future, why not have Uncle Sam help me.  So I made the call and signed the papers.  Two weeks later I was on my way to basic training in Ft. Benning, Georgia.  Five months after that I stood alone in Ft Polk, Louisiana watching everyone I grew to become family with, say goodbye to their families, not knowing if I would ever see mine again.  I got on a plane and started my journey to fight in the Iraq War.  My second day in Iraq a soldier was shot in the face and died.  My hatred for the Iraqi people grew.  All I wanted to do was shoot and kill as many of them as I could during my time there.
            But an unexpected thing happened, I met a little boy.  That little boy knew what my truck looked like and would run down the street until we stopped and would talk to me every time.  He would laugh, crack jokes, tell me where the bad people lived and even tried to hook me up with his sister.  Knowing that he risked his life to tell me everything he did, I then realized that not all people all bad people, just some have not been privileged to be born into the best of situations.  That is when my life changed.
            I was medically retired from the Army on November 24^th, 2010 and came home to Pittsburgh.  Even though I was now a better person inside, I still fell back into the hood and started partying and doing drugs again.  Still wanting a better life I turned back to college and baseball to help me get there.
            It was at college I met your mother.  Your mother and I were only together for a few months when she told me she was pregnant with you.  Nine months later on February 28^th, 2012 you were born, and my life was forever changed.
            I am writing you this letter not to tell you the kind of bad person I may have been, but to give you a guide of what not to do in case something happens to me and I am unable to tell you myself.  If it wasn’t for a few misfortunes and 2 little boys worlds apart I do not know where my life would have ended up.  I did all of this to set myself up to give you a better life than I might have had.  So live your life whole hearted and true.  Put your all into everything you do, take care of your family and friends, and live everyday as it is your last because you never know when it might end.
            Love,
                  Daddy

The Day My Life Changed

              Many people are quick to judge others for things they may not even have done but for things people like them have done.  I was one of those people.  Back on November 27^th 2007 I grabbed my gun, my equipment and said goodbye to friends and family.  Not knowing if I would ever see any of them again, I got on a plane and started my journey to Iraq.  I had this attitude about me that everyone in Iraq was bad and should all be killed.  I am here to tell you about this little kid I was privileged enough to meet who forever changed my thoughts and emotions for the people in Iraq.

                Just a couple of days after I arrived in Baghdad, Iraq, before we took over for the unit already there, a soldier was killed.  He was shot in the face while in his guard tower, he was the only one in the tower at the time and was unable to radio for help, bled out and died.  The worst part of all this is that was his last guard shift before he was heading back home.  This made my hatred grow even more although I already wanted to shoot these people in the face; I now wanted to do so even more.

                After weeks and weeks of kicking in doors, detaining insurgents and finding weapon caches, we had a meeting with a town leader.  While outside pulling security I met this little kid who asked for some candy which we gave out to the kids all the time.  I ended up building a friendly relationship with this kid that grew to the point that he knew when my truck was coming down the street.  He would run alongside my truck yelling my name.  When we would stop this kid would talk to me the whole time, I built up a trust with this kid so strong that he trusted me with his life by telling me who  the bad guys were, where they lived and would even tell me when someone would drive by with a gun in their car.  This kid could have been killed if he was found out telling me this information. 

                This single good hearted kid in a country for of murder and devastation changed not only my thoughts on the people of Iraq but changed my life.  Death stared me in the face every day for 15 months and he was still able to make me realize that even at war there are good people everywhere and to not jump to conclusions and place a whole race of people into a category for the actions of others.

BP Spills Coffee

In this video clip you will get to see BP getting made fun of their oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Not only did BP spill some oil into the Gulf, it took them way too long to fix the problem. BP was able to get a mile deep in the ocean to drill this oil and put evenything they need to do it in place. But what happens if something goes wrong? Whats happens if something doesnt go as planed? You need to have standards in place for every aspect of the business even if you are sure that it couldnt happen, there needs to be a plan in place just in case it does happen. In this case it seemed to me that they had no plan or idea on what to do in the case of this particular oil spill.

This video make me laugh not just because they are making fun of the company and the people who work for BP. This video shows you in a humorus way that they had no idea what to do to fix and stop this leak. Can I even call it a leak? The oil was spilling out into the Gulf way faster than they could barrel it up for export. Also in this clip you will see different ways they tried to fix this spill. Within the humor you will see how insane this people must be to think that some of the things they tried would have worked. Just makes me believe that BP really wasnt concerned of the people they have affected and not to be left out the helpless animals they killed as well.

Real Or Fake-What do you think?

Me: What do you think of the Modern Warfare 3, the game play, the violence…etc.?

Adam: I don’t think the game is as good as expected. But since Modern Warfare 2 is huge Modern Warfare 3 automatically is bigger. Call of Duty likes to keep the real war like style in the game play but they do a good job of shielding you from the violence. For example when you get shot money flies everywhere not blood and gore as in real war.

Me: What do you think of the violence in real life war and how do you think it compares to MWF3?

Adam: I think people who played Modern Warfare 2 don’t realize the violence in real war because unreal war people get a head blown off, limbs fly off. Call of Duty World at War was the only game just like violence in real war.

Me: Why do you think the Call of Duty games are so popular?
Adam: Modern Warfare 3 had a lot of games building up to it. For example Modern Warfare 2 and World at War were both games of the year and because it’s a realistic war game not all aspects of it but most.