Hank's Place

Hi -

Sorry for the long absence. I found a temporary gig doing contracting work at local biotech and it has really eaten into my screw around at the computer time. And the kids, so demanding.

But anyway, I'm going to attempt to redo a post that I wrote the other day right before it got eaten by Blogger.

This post is the latest in my recurring post theme: are we still losing in Iraq?. Previous episodes included a lovely post on a tank named "New Testament" driving down a road in Iraq and another about a clerk who was serving in a Provisional Rifle Company. I get these pictures from the USMC Image Archive. This website features pictures taken by regular everyday Marines that are then posted on an official usmc.mil page. So it's a strange combination of mundane and right up there in the middle of the action pictures. Today's picture is this:

Caption:
Lisa White works on rebuilding an AAV on the assembly line at MCA. Hundreds of the Marine Corps’ most valuable vehicle are getting rebuilt to extend their life cycles.
Photo by: Pat Fisher

But, internets, I can hear you asking, "Why does this mean we're losing, Hank?" It's quite simple really. The AAV (Amphibious Assault Vehicle) is what the Marines use to get infantry from ships out at sea onto beaches when it's time to do the D-Day thing. After the Marines secure the beach the idea is that other forces more set up for continuous campaigning on land will take over and continue with the ass whipping of the bad guys. So, an AAV is not designed to drive around on dry land for long periods of time. What we're doing in Iraq right now is destroying the ability of the Marines to do their primary job (to the point where their swimming armored vehicles have to be stripped down to bare hulls and entirely rebuilt) by having them fight a pointless war.

To reiterate Hank's Query: How many Iraqis do we have to kill before the survivors will be our friends?

Still Losing? Yup.

So, as you can see in the picture below, YW lost his first tooth on Friday due to a wild elbow dislodging his already very loose upper incisor. The Tooth Fairy came through with 5 Golden Dollars. Much happiness and proudness at tooth redemption for money. Fast forward to Sunday. YW is sitting on the toilet pondering, as is his wont. In addition he is fidgeting with his remaining upper incisor which is also quite loose. He wiggles it. He tugs it. He wiggles it some more. He tugs a bit harder. He wiggles again. He tugs some more. Pop! Out it comes. Now it was pretty quiet in the bathroom; not at all like the rough and tumble of the schoolyard. I'll bet he heard it let go of his gum. He came completely unglued. MLWN and I were cleaning up in the ol' home-office when YW appeared, pants around his ankles, tooth in his hand, wailing. We tried to explain that it was OK that he lost another tooth; that it was actually pretty cool to have the Tooth Fairy come twice in one weekend. But he was having none of it and moped around all day.

It turned out that his big fear was that the kids at school would see that he was short two teeth and tease him. After school reports were that nobody noticed and he skated through the day sans teasing.

PS - The Tooth Fairy only brings $5 for the first tooth. After the first the price goes down to $2 (in Golden form, of course).

YW lost his first tooth yesterday. And not in the way he anticipated. The tooth was ready to go; it was waving in the breeze, but hadn't yet succumbed. During recess at school one of his classmates, in what is reported to have been a complete accident, delivered an elbow to YW's mouth. Out came the tooth, a certain amount of blood, and some tears. YW at first thought he had swallowed the tooth, but the teacher in charge of the recess organized a search party and the errant incisor was located.

This morning YW discovered that the Tooth Fairy left him 5 (five!) Golden Dollars!

create your own visited states

OK, so I guess I haven't seen much of the South.

Here's the scene: I'm driving the boys to our favorite Japanese restaurant where we will meet MLWN and consume raw fish, etc. And are discussing how sometimes YA mispronounces various Fast Food names.

H - That's right, YA says Big Donalds instead of McDonalds. Do you want to know what I used to call Burger King when I was your age?
YW - Yes!
H - Booger King.
YW - Booger King?!?!
H - That's right, Booger.
YW, YA - Booger King! <much laughter />
YW - What did your sister call it?
H - I don't remember.
YA - My baby sister says...
YW - We don't have a sister, YA.
YA - We're going to buy one and she's going to say...
YW - You don't buy babies; you get them
YA - We're going to buy a baby sister that talks.
YW - YA, you don't buy babies, you get them from your mother.
YA - And she's going to say...

Conversation was here interrupted by our arrival at the place of yummy food.