ntegravtec's Xanga

Monday, September 14, 2009

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 23:54:50 GMT

WOMEN ARE...

Women are a mystery. Sometimes they can be logical. Other times they can be completely contradictory and emotional. One minute they might be extremely jealous and upset, the next, you might be having make-up sex. What gives? Ask anyone I know and they'll tell you I don't think this way. Rather, these are the things said about women when I converse with others. I certainly have never experienced these symptoms.

As I read "Afghanistan 101, Understanding Afghan Culture" I realize that sometimes these notions are conjured by men in an attempt to assert Masculinity (MAS) or a Gender Gap. "It involves the equality, or lack of it, between women and men in societies. Countries, like Afghanistan, are high in MAS whereas the U.S. is low. MAS correlates positively with power distance (the physical/psychological distance from a governing authority) and uncertainty avoidance (the likelihood of life exhibiting consistency) but negatively with individualism."

So get this. In Afghanistan, women have been historically portrayed as "cunning, satanic, unfaithful, evil, emotional, and dishonest among others and advise men how to control them". Certain Afghan poems/writing depict women in this light:

"God punished women because of Eve's disobeying God and eating from apple tree ... [Thus] Women have ... bad habits similar to pigs, monkeys, dogs, snakes, mice, scorpions, pigeons, fox, and sheep."

"There are thousands of women; a woman does not keep herpromise; a woman is with you when she cannot find another lover; as soon as she finds another she no longer stays with you; this is what women do and their story of charm and deceit is long."

"A bad woman is like Hell [in this world] in the company of a good man."

In a passing conversation, my coworkers and I talked about the women of Brazil and Latin women in general. It was mentioned that, as a generalization, Latin women are emotional and dramatic, easy to be jealous. In the case of Brazilian women, there are many that are absolutely crazy to where they will stalk a boyfriend/husband in order to ensure that fidelity is not compromised. Despite all of these personal stories or illusions, my coworkers have somehow found decent and "quality" females to be their life witness.

There are, however, classic literature that depict women in a different light:

"A man who has a good and pious woman in his house is in Paradise [in this world] because good women protect religion from what is religiously prohibited." They are the strength and backbone of a functioning family. A man may have all of the power outside, but it is the good woman whose words are whispered in the man's ear so that he may go out and do good.

"You should know that women are good but their number is small. And the world exists because of women. And there are women who are a hundred times wiser than men."

Given that even U.S. history did not begin to allow women suffrage until the 1920's, we cannot judge a society that many deem to be backwards and un-modern. Afghanistan is a land that has been torn, conquered, and invaded by many civilizations indeterminate. This current nation building effort taken on by ISAF will not be short. Folks, we're gonna be there for a while. Even Rome was not built in one night.

All photos taken with my trusty Canon Powershot SD780IS Point-n-shoot. Long gone is my SLR :(

Thirst Quencher

Yummy Fresh Bread

Calamari Fritti

Pistachio Crusted Scallops

Uncommon Valor Was A Common Virtue...

Yay For Dental Records!

Ya, In About A Year

Semper Fidelis

Sunday, September 06, 2009

Sun, 06 Sep 2009 16:20:31 GMT

THE DAILY HAZARA

Hazara. It means a thousand as in the thousand people Genghis Khan would use to attack various towns/villages. Unfortunately or fortunately for me, I look like one of them. In my new motley crew, we have descendants of Ireland, Mexico, Italy/Brazil, and me - "Hazara-boy".

Looking back a couple of years, I thought I would have been on a totally different path than I currently am. It never occurred to me that I would be single again, a brother in-law, without a car, rolling on a ducati, finally finding a passion in life, on deployment, and never having been more confused about my career. The friends I had before a decade ago, are almost all completely changed from the ones I have today. Given my daily interactions with my coworkers, I also seem to be much more liberal than before. Who knew?

The start of summer brought about a new adventure in my many chapters. I finally got activated in spite of my parent's fears. "Is there any way you can ask to not go?" Dude. I signed the contract knowing the likelihood of my name being called. Given the company, I'm glad I'm going this time. The team is comprised of 2 grunts, a helo pilot, and a straight intel analyst. In their civilian world, we have a PH.D candidate/professor, nurse, intel analyst, and a technology specialist. It is this kind of variety that makes the Reserve component so powerful. Whereas active duty Marines are specialized in one thing, the Reserves Marines (not all) bring their alternate world experience to the table. I'm also pretty thankful that I'm not one of the oldest people on the team - in fact, I'm the youngest and least experienced. There's going to be/has been a high learning curve.

I was really fortunate to have the opportunity to attend my sister's wedding back in Orange County. We spent about a month back in San Diego to train on other areas for our deployment. Again, the parents were stressed because they did not know if I could attend the wedding. For once, I wasn't really worried. I figured if it could happen, it would. More than likely, it was going to happen one way or another. I tried spending time with those important to me, including an old college friend who lives across country. I got in a few good bike rides with the brother and learned a little bit more about my and Giada's capabilities. For the first time, I attended baseball games of both the San Diego Padres and Anahiem Angels. Let's just say the Padres suck and I'm still on a losing streak for home games attended. Aren't Angels supposed to be a winning team? wth?

After San Diego, we flew to DC to speak with various companies. It's only been a week, but I've already met with yet another close college friend. Strange. I seem to see more of my friends outside of OC/SD - DC, Japan, Camp LeJeune, Dallas, Hong Kong, NYC, Napa, and Orlando.

Apparently, taking this shot gets you in trouble

It's nice to play 9-ball with someone who understands...

The random places you'll see your hometown friends... in downtown DC.

Semper Fi

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 16:07:49 GMT

THE RIGHT TO PROTEST

I have met all types of people with various political views. Politics, like religion, is a topic in which people should only try to understand one another instead of influencing them to change. It has never been my agenda to force people to change their thinking. Upon engagement of these conversations, I make it a point to just ask questions about other's beliefs instead of telling them what to think/do. The only time I have a problem with people and their political/religious views are when they try to force their way of life upon me; "you need to think this way" or "you need to believe in this..". What interests me is the degree to which people can believe in their views, left or right, and how far they're willing to go in order to get their viewpoints across to the public. Compared to the number of people across the spectrum, these protesters are often the smallest minorities in the group. Rhetorial: Of that small percentage of people, how many of them have served in the military or in some other form that of which protects their freedom of speech? How often do you hear, "I don't support the war in {fill in the blank}. I don't agree with it or condone it. But I support the troops."

Here is an interesting idea of which I am not the originator. "If you haven't served in the military, you don't/shouldn't have the right to protest." What a novel idea! If you haven't defended your freedom of speech, you shouldn't talk. I like it. In much the same way, if you don't pay rent, you don't get to dictate what goes on in the house or voice your opinion on how the house should be run. Splendid!

Too often I hear people protesting about this and that. Don't you guys have a job to work? If you're like my buddy Sam or friend Valerie, you're far too busy doing stuff you either like to do or doing stuff that makes you a crapload of money. Either way, there are more productive things to do in life than to gripe about what is wrong with this country. I guarantee you, the men and women in our US Military get paid squat relative to the amount of work they are required to bear. Marines are the speartip and the rest of the branches are the staff. Of those in the military, Marines get promoted slower, thus getting paid less. Yet, we still accomplish more than anyone else. Further more, if we have a gripe, we just "head north and go do bad things." All joking aside, protesting is a waste of money and time - often being done by those with too little of the former and too much of the latter.

So what spawned this idea? I saw an old beat up car driven by a female Marine. On the bumper were stickers that said "Obama '08' and 'Get us out of this war'. If you fight for it, you can do whatever you want.

Semper Fi

Monday, July 06, 2009

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 00:45:13 GMT

THE ECONOMICS OF HUMAN BEHAVIOR

Economists try to understand and explain the world by assuming that the phenomena they observe are the outcomes of people's purposeful decisions.

Individuals try to achieve their objectives given their limitations - limited time, money, and energy. They optimize.
Individuals reacting with each other will eventually achieve market equilibrium. Government intervention alters that equilibrium.
For economists, goods are just things we want to obtain; tangibles such as oil and cars, or intangibles such as esteem and peace.
The full price people pay is a composite of the time, money, and effort they must give to obtain the good.
Criminals respond negatively to costs and positively to benefits.
There is a direct relationship between education and human capital. As people invest in themselves, purchasing education and training in order to earn more later in life allows them to build skillsets; which in turn increases their rate of return on the investment.
General training will be paid for by the worker in the form of lower wages while training, but the costs and benefits of specific training will be split between the worker and the firm.
The way in which a household accomplishes its goals is inextricably related to the members' abilities in the market and household, and whether specialization in either of these sectors is profitable.

Semper Fi

Monday, July 06, 2009

Mon, 06 Jul 2009 00:44:03 GMT

MARKETS AND STATES IN TROPICAL AMERICA

With regards to farming/agriculture, "why should reasonable men adopt public policies that have harmful consequences for the societies they govern?"

In describing the agricultural policies of African states, we therefore examine government intervention in three markets: the markets for agricultural commodities, the markets for inputs into farming, and the markets for the goods that farmers buy from the urban-industrial sector.

Basic Tenets of African Governments

Governments wants to stay in power, the must appease powerful interests. Political action is used to secure special advantages - rewards that cannot be secured by competing in the market.
Governments finance production programs over pricing policies to promote superior political attractions. Such programs fail because the resources are spread too thin.

Policies Toward Cash Crops for Export

Most African states possess publicly sanctioned monopsonies (a single buyer); where there are many sellers but only one buyer.
In Africa, public agencies are by law sanctioned to serve as sole buyers of major agricultural exports. They purchase cash crops for export at administratively determined domestic prices, and then sell them at the prevailing world market prices.
During economic crisis, these agencies kept the price paid to farmers below the price set by the world market; becoming the wealthiest and economically most significant single units in their respective economies.

Semper Fi

Tuesday, June 09, 2009

Tue, 09 Jun 2009 23:49:49 GMT

WEEK IN REVIEW

Last week, I was basically working at the studio. Well, the time I spent there should have qualified as work. Being my last week in San Diego, I took practicing to heart and tried everything I could to perfect my skills. It's that same sort of stubborn determination that always gets me in trouble in life. I somehow got slated for 4 routines (Tango, Cha-Cha, Swing, Waltz) to perform in front of the judge (Nick Kosovich) on Sunday. The family and J came to watch the event. It's a rather big deal since I don't normally let other people come watch my events. I guess I'm starting to let loose a little.I got my critiques after going through the freestyles and routines. Oddly enough, the judge enjoyed our Swing routine the most. His impression was that we really loved swing. Immediately after saying that, J and I looked at each other and bursted out laughing. Too bad he didn't say that about the Cha-Cha or Waltz. J, J, and I definitely put way more effort into the Cha-Cha and Waltz. In any event, I thought that would be the last time I'd see both J's for a while.

Monday was activation day. I struggled with a few pre-deployment activities during the work day; I fell asleep at the desk every day. It was awesome. I couldn't resist going to the studio, so I went Monday and Friday. If anything, to get the last little bit out of me for a long time. It was a good choice. The Madder wanted me up in OC a few times before leaving. I took advantage and dropped both Giada and Mandy off in OC, leaving me without any mode of transportation.

It's an odd feeling - leaving everything behind to fend for itself. Crazy world I live in. North Carolina hasn't been a peach, either; 88 degree weather with full 100% humidity. To top it off, the GySgt has been prepping us by letting us acclimate to the weather. I haven't sweated so much in a very long time. It's pretty gross. Our first day of PT was spent running 4 miles total, split with calesthenics in between. 10 pull ups, 10 Tire flips, 9 pulls ups, 9 Tire flips, etc. Lovely stuff. I pulled something in my back and popped both knees. I'm gettin' old. I can feel it. But, my mind won't quit. Darned determination.

Semper Fi

Wednesday, June 03, 2009

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 05:20:28 GMT

I THINK YOU KNOW THE ANSWER...

So, we all got in trouble. We're now not supposed to help anyone with anything at anytime. I can understand why, however, it is in our nature to help other people with problems. Now, we just have to do the helping at starbucks. In any event, we're all guilty - it was just rather unpleasant. Then, I got commissioned by the Director to help break up a husband/wife couple and have a Tango round with them. When I asked the wife how many times she had been there, she replied "only once," and that she didn't know the steps to Tango. Great. Now I'm stuck being asked by the Dance Director to help someone out AND I was just told there was a new rule not to do so. Perfect. A quick look-around had me locking eyes directly with the girlfriend/coworker of the instructor who just informed us of the new rule. I sighed a heavy sigh and told the lady the basic steps. We just did the basic steps for the entire 4 minutes of the song. She got it and, so did I.

It's not that I'm being insolent. I get it. It's the rules and so be it. You can't make exceptions for one and expect everyone to follow the rules. Make it even, make it fair. Next subject...

It's the last week of San Diego for a very long time. It's also the first week for the near year or so. 2 days in and I've already fallen asleep at my desk two days in a row. I'm not really off to a very good start. We'll see how the rest of this thing goes.

Someone asked me what I wanted for my birthday. Everytime someone asks, I always reply, "I just want to spend time with you." I honestly mean it. Most people just brush it off like it's nothing and end up trying to buy me something. While I will never refuse a gift, I really just cherish those times spent. It's something that I will more than likely not forget. I might not remember the exact wordings used during the conversations, but I will always remember that certain people always went out of their way to spend those few precious moments. I got a call from someone wishing me happy birthday. I wasn't around to pick up the phone, but I still got the call and a voicemail from them singing happy birthday to me. It was cute, and I'm a sap.

Semper Gumby

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Tue, 12 May 2009 21:48:38 GMT

CACKLING HENS, PT 1

"... you know, back when I was on weight watchers..."

For the last 2 years, I've been on a new company project. The project is great, except for where I sit. I know of 3 people on my FB that have experienced the ultimate doom... the Cackling Hens. What are Cackling Hens? Well, as my project engineer so delicately put it, "Those f*cking hens do nothing but gossip all day long and have nothing better to do but stick together and disrupt other people." Lo and behold, I sit next a set of Hens. Everyday, and I really do mean everyday, they get together anywhere from 10-45 minutes to discuss... nothing.

What type of people are these Hens? My versions are late 40's to early 50's Caucasian females. I can't tell if they're married because the fat rolls on their fingers are covering up any potential rings. They are all plus sizes, love to eat, smaller torsos with gigantic bottoms, and somehow are higher up in the food chain. When they rant, they generally like everyone within a 30 ft radius to know what they're discussing. Here is an excerpt from today. Notice their skill in transitioning from one topic to another...

... I've always liked cheddar cheese the best, after string cheese. I use to measure out my portions, you know, back when I was on weight watchers. But, I didn't like throwing out all of my trash because, you know, I'm on this green thing. I try not to throw anything away.
One day my mechanic came by to fix my washing machine. I left the house to do some errands. When I came home, he threw all of my trash away, including my bottles! I was so mad.. I wanted to recycle everything. I couldn't believe it. My sister tried to throw away her recyclables as well, but I wouldn't let her. I even got her to rinse out her bottles. I read somewhere that you need to wash the recyclables to keep the bugs out of it. I don't know enough about the process, but it helps keep the trash clean. I went grocery shopping with my mom. My mom was taking a plastic bags for the vegetables, I yelled at her saying "mom, that's not recyclable".
When i visited my friend in sunnyvale, she couldn't recycle cereal boxes. They only took newspapers, glass. She was always so proud that sunnyvale recycled everything before anyeone else. Now they're doing phone books, etc. I think it had something to do with the glue, making it unrecyclable.
Calculus hasn't changed in years. Amazon has this thing where sellers can resell used books. I've ordered some of these books, and they're really good! There are some things like geography, that you might be iffy. I had my dad's old geology book, it was interesting but i didn't believe it because they come up with new stuff on plate tectonics. That's why they don't use encyclopedias! I was shocked, looking at encyclopedias that were a year old, and stuff was outdated! Britannica funds studies to compare their sources with wikipedia and they're still winning, but wiki is getting closer. One thing you have to be careful of is people writing autobiographies or changing other people's profiles, especially political rivals and celebrities. Okay, whew! gotta go..

Seriously? How the hell did we start from Cheddar cheese, to weight watchers, to recycling, to calculus/geology books, to wikipedia?? Holy beans, that's amazing... Ya, ladies and gentlemen. That is what C, S, L, and I have had to endure every day. On those longer stints lasting 45 minutes or more, we would just put our headphones on or sit on the company chat system making fun of their ridiculous comments. It's one thing to have sporadic conversations far and few in between, but every freakin' day? C'mon... Maybe I'll make a series out of this.

Semper Fi

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Sun, 10 May 2009 03:33:14 GMT

GIADA "THE LUCKY"

J, you've seriously got problems. I don't know how you get yourself into these situations all the time...

~ Beckers

I got home rather late, but didn't go to sleep right away. I had to finish ripping, converting, loading some DVD movies onto my iPod so that J could use it on her flight. I ended up not sleeping until 3am, after 3 movies had been converted. Instead of sleeping in my bed, I took to the couch and covered myself with my new handmade USMC blanket J had so graciously made for me. When I woke up, I tried to finish loading all the movies. I was supposed to go to OC today to drop off my stuff. I really hate moving My plan was to drop the ipod off at J's, head back home, pick up the MDX, and head back to OC. Well, I was running out of time to drop the ipod off because I was still working on getting all the movies and songs loaded. I had forgotten how long it takes to rip DVDs, convert them to ipod format, then transfer them over. Anyway, when it was all said and done, I had 20 minutes to get to J's place before she was going to leave for LAX. I suited up and took Giada out for a hot lap. Before getting on to the freeway, I felt a tap on my lower back. First instinct, "oh shit, a moto cop just snagged me and tapped me to pull over." No, that wasn't it. I got to the stoplight and looked back. To my dismay, my rear seat cowl (the one with a torn off Ducati butt plate) and popped open. While trying to stop I had one thought... Oh shit, my wallet, garage door opener, and vehicle registration/insurance papers are in there... efff!! I found the wallet and garage door opener still in there, but no papers. I thought to make an attempt to find them, except I told J I would be going over before she left. Mission accomplishment, right? Stupid Marines... A quick drop off at J's left me with one phrase that had me laughing over and over - "Thanks so much! You're aces! Feel free to miss me..." Wth? Feel free to miss me? hahahah Crazy females.

I rolled back and retraced my entire route before the seat cowl popping off. I road all the way home, stopping several times to see if pieces of papers along the road were my reg/insurance papers. Nope. I was heading back to the freeway again and was about to make a turn back home when I saw two inconspiciously folded papers laying in the ditch.. No way! Found them. Pimp! I decided to celebrate by going to Julian for some apple pie. Talk about a great way to start a ride. I rode to Julian taking 78 hwy. When I got there, all the shops had closed. Sitting around, I didn't really feel like leaving but decided that since the sun was setting soon, I had better get home quickly. Ya right. Googlemaps told me I could take the "scenic" route by taking the 79 south towards 8 freeway. This would take me past Lake Cuyacama, Alpine, El Cajon, Santee. Ya, all the eff way out there. Well, Giada and I had certainly not been out there. What a great way to see what J's place looked like. The road through 79 was a lot more technical, windy, with roads in poor condition. I kept trying to lean far enough to scrape my pucks, but to no avail. They still look brand spanking new :(

Btw, J lives pretty freakin' out there in the boonies. Alpine is definitely no short hike to the studio every day. Too bad she isn't around this week. I've got lots to tell her.

Anyway, Giada-Layna gets her night off after rolling 120 miles in one day. She finally got rid of a few squid stubbles on the side. I'm hoping the CF parts, stabilizers, and fender eliminator comes in soon. More pictures to come!

Looking back at this month, Giada is one lucky girl. And I'm one lucky guy.

Semper Fi

Friday, April 17, 2009

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 05:14:05 GMT

MONTH IN REVIEW

It's been a busy month. I've spent a lot of time with J working on relearning things in a different way. Instead of doing what she showed me, she has begun to more frequently say, "From now on, you will do this way..." GrRrRs.. I fight her every step of the way, asking why she didn't just tell me in the first place. Her response? "As talented as you are, do you really think I could have gotten you to do what I wanted you to do?" Cocky me says, "YES!!!!" J always ignores me after that. *sigh*

At some point this last month, aside from hanging out with J after work every day, I took J out for fishing for her bday. I was so pumped for ocean fishing. I was talking about it in my sleep. We arrived barely on time, got on board. I think she sensed I was pretty excited. We didn't catch a single fish. *sigh, again*. I caught more live bait out from other people's lines than with my own fishy. I tried talking to it, coaxing it, covering it with squid.. but no avail. J on the other hand, was a champ. She wasn't too keen on handling the fish herself, but still managed to muster enough courage to pick one out, skewer it onto her hook, drop it in the water, and watch it swim away. After some time, the fish was on its last legs, she unhooked it and threw it back in to be free... until the sea lion swooped in for the kill and ate the damn thing. ha! I felt kinda bad for it being a lazy, relaxing, boring 5 hours on the ship. However, J really perked up when we spoke about food - clam chowder to be exact. I haven't seen such a 180 in a person in a while; funny how food always perks perks that girl up.

Let's see.. what else? J and I went to Balboa Park to ride rollercoasters non-stop for the day. I haven't had that much fun riding rollercoasters in such a while. It's like anything you do, it's more fun when going with people that are equally as enthusiastic as you. We also met up a weekend or two later for church, followed by hanging with the family and dogs. Aside from ballroom, fishing, and some dinners with J, there hasn't been much except for my trip to good 'ole China Lake with J. We spent a week in the high desert relaxing, drinking beers, eating BBQ, and working out. Not bad. She was a trooper, tagging along and hanging in there despite not feeling well.

And here we are, the weekend. I wished I had a day off to breathe, but no. I'll be working again. Maybe I can hang out with J tomorrow night. We'll see.

Semper Fi