More Japanese Signs

I cannot take credit for spotting these...I only spotted them on engrish.com. Priceless...

What's for lunch?


They'll take care of that for you too...



What kind of party are they throwing tonight?

Week In Review

This was a fun, and seemingly short week. It was certainly a short week at work, as we only had to be there for three days. We were given Thursday and Friday off in celebration of Independence Day.

We stayed home last night (the 4th) and grilled some meat (animals; it's what's for dinner!) after a day at the beach. We'll head out tonight to watch fireworks at Torii Station.

We made a trip out to Ikei Island to go geocaching and see the sights. You can see a couple more pics on my geocaching blog.

Work was surprisingly busy, with preparations for an upcoming field exercise taking up most of my time. I also had a few hoops to jump through in order to get my transfer to the SNCO Academy in motion. Thankfully, my incompetent administration section will have almost no role to play in that evolution.

More Japanese Signs

I guess when they say, "No dogs allowed," they REALLY freakin' mean it!

We saw this sign in a park just south of us, and I knew that it was destined to be a classic.

Another Hobby?

I suppose that most people are wetting themselves over the Clinton, McCain, Obama mess. Knock yourselves out; they all appear to be career politicians to me.

In the mean time, I've taken up a new hobby. It's called Geocaching, and it's a lot of fun. It consists of going out (yes, outside, in the sun) and finding little cahces of things that people have hidden and reporting your finds on the website Geocaching.com. It really is more fun than it sounds like.

I've only found three, and one of them took three visits to the site to figure it out. Here's the deal:

Somebody places a "Geocache" in a hiding spot. They then go on the website and post the coordinates (lat and long, or UTM), and you go out with a GPS unit and find the Geocache. The cache usually consists of a few little trinkets, and a logbook that you sign in on. You can take an object out, as long as you put one in. There's even trackable things that people can use. The trackable objects have their own web pages where you can see where they go, and have been. Pretty neat, in a simple sort of way.

Once you find one of these things, you can go log your find, enter what you took/left, and see what other folks had to say about that particular treasure hunt. All in all, it's a neat way to see parts of Okinawa that I haven't seen yet. I can also involve my wife and kids in it.

I think this Geocaching thing is going to be a keeper. Go to the website, give it a try, and don't whine when you can't find your first one.

School 1957 Versus 2007

I got this in my email from a friend. I think I remember seeing it before, but it's still a great reminder of how much "progress" we've made (thanks a ton liberals!).

SCHOOL -- 1957 vs. 2007

Scenario: Jack goes quail hunting before school, pulls into school parking lot with shotgun in gun rack.
1957 - Vice Principal comes over, looks at Jack's shotgun, goes to his car and gets his shotgun to show Jack.
2007 - School goes into lock down, FBI called, Jack hauled off to jail and never sees his truck or gun again. Counselors called in for traumatized students and teachers.

Scenario: Johnny and Mark get into a fistfight after school.
1957 - Crowd gathers. Mark wins. Johnny and Mark shake hands and end up buddies.
2007 - Police called, SWAT team arrives, arrests Johnny and Mark. Charge them with assault, both expelled even though Johnny started it.

Scenario: Jeffrey won't be still in class, disrupts other students.
1957 - Jeffrey sent to office and given a good paddling by the Principal. Returns to cl ass, sits still and does not disrupt class again.
2007 - Jeffrey given huge doses of Ritalin. Becomes a zombie. Tested for ADD. School gets extra money from state because Jeffrey has a disability.

Scenario: Billy breaks a window in his neighbor's car and his Dad gives him a whipping with his belt.
1957 - Billy is more careful next time, grows up normal, goes to college, and becomes a successful businessman.
2007 - Billy's dad is arrested for child abuse. Billy removed to foster care and joins a gang. State psychologist tells Billy's sister that she remembers being abused herself and their dad goes to prison. Billy's mom has affair with psychologist.

Scenario: Mark gets a headache and takes some aspirin to school.
1957 - Mark shares aspirin with Principal out on the smoking dock.
2007 - Police called, Mark expelled from school for drug violati ons. C ar searched for drugs and weapons.

Scenario: Pedro fails high school English.
1957 - Pedro goes to summer school, passes English, and goes to college.
2007 - Pedro's cause is taken up by state. Newspaper articles appear nationally explaining that teaching English as a requirement for graduation is racist. ACLU files class action lawsuit against state school system and Pedro's English teacher. English banned from core curriculum. Pedro given diploma anyway but ends up mowing lawns for a living because he cannot speak English.

Scenario: Johnny takes apart leftover firecrackers from 4th of July, puts them in a model airplane paint bottle and blows up a red ant bed.
1957 - Ants die.
2007 - BATF, Homeland Security, FBI called. Johnny charged with domestic terrorism, FBI investigates parents, siblings removed from home, computers confiscated; Johnny's Dad goes on a terr or watch list and is never allowed to fly again.

Scenario: Johnny falls while running during recess and scrapes his knee. He is found crying by his teacher, Mary. Mary hugs him to comfort him.
1957 - In a short time, Johnny feels better and goes on playing.
2007 - Mary is accused of being a sexual predator and loses her job. She faces 3 years in State Prison. Johnny undergoes 5 years of therapy.

Memorial Day

Here's to hoping that Americans, and those that we have secured freedom for, will remember what this long weekend is all about.



I hope that folks enjoy their cookouts, days at the beach, rounds of golf, or other leisure activities this weekend. I sincerely hope that they take at least a moment to think about what we are supposed to be honoring on this, and every, Memorial Day.



Here's a sharp salute to those that have given that last full measure of their very being for something greater than themselves. Here's a salute to those that fought to the bitter end, and laid down their life for the rest of us, or even for the buddy next to them.

Semper Fidelis
Go Navy!
Go Army!
Go Big Blue!
Go Coast Guard!

Marine Corps 101

This is for all of my fellow Marines that read my feeble little blog. Leave your answers in the comments with just a number (1. Chesty Puller, etc). Feel free to try it, even if you're not a Marine. I know some smart guys that will still probably get some right. NO CHEATING. Leave Google out of it!

1. Who said, "uncommon valor was a common virtue"?

2. Who adopted the current Marine Corps emblem?

3. Who are the only two Marines to be awarded two Medals of Honor?

4. What's the maximum effective range of the M-2 .50 caliber machine gun?

5. During what conflict did the Marines earn the title "Devil Dogs?"

6. After WWII, where did the next amphibious landing take place?

7. Where did the first amphibious landing in USMC history take place?

8. Who was the first Marine to hold the rank of Sergeant Major?

9. Who was the first Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps?

10. Who was the only Marine to be awarded five Navy Crosses?

11. When in the field, who eats first? Who eats last?

I'll post the answers in about a week or so...or, at least, a link to them. Semper Fi

Japanese Signs

I've seen some crazy signs since arriving here in Okinawa. Here's a sample of some. I've seen one of these, but the others were simply found online. They keep the spirit of the odd translations though...WTF with the chick on the bear? Maybe that one means "no girls with axes riding bears."

Week In Review

I guess this will be a "double whammy" review, since I didn't do one last week. Twice the bang for your buck! Let's see, what happened last week...it's a bit of a blur. Bob roamed the neighborhood last Friday evening and met some people that were partying (on a Marine base? What are the odds?). What happened this week?

I'm still attending the SNCO Academy Advanced Course. Only four more weeks to go! The physical training (PT) each day is fun and challenging, so that's a plus. The academic portion isn't really challenging, except for the sheer amount of it in any given period. We have an exam every Monday, which covers all of the topics of the previous week. Having the weekend to study is a huge advantage. Our "Class Commander," or the senior Marine in our class, is a complete idiot. Students are beginning to just laugh at him now, and we're all wondering why he hasn't been fired yet. Oh well, he does provide us with entertainment.

My ribs are not completely healed, but they're much better than they were. The PT program at the academy is probably not helping the healing process, but that's just the way it is. No big deal; it's just pain. Some of us are fond of saying that, "pain is just weakness leaving the body."

We planted some flowers in front of our house. Well, my wife planted some flowers in front of our house, and they're doing well. Our front yard looked pretty barren prior to that, and it looks pretty nice now. We put the flowers in little flower boxes that look as if they were designed to go on a window ledge. This will allow us to drag all of our flowers inside when the typhoons come. Our neighbors, on the other hand, will simply have their flowers scoured down to bare dirt by the typhoons.

This Sunday is Mother's Day (don't forget guys!). The weather here is supposed to be crappy, so I guess I won't be taking my wife to do much of anything that day. I'll just be doing, well, I don't know what I'll be doing. I'll be doing whatever she desires me to do. I suspect that it will involve cooking and cleaning, but that's just a guess. I had ordered a very small gift for my mom, but it only got here yesterday, so there's no way it will reach her by Sunday. Oh well; she'll get it a bit late. It's not necessarily a Mother's Day gift anyway, just something small that my wife and I both though was very neat. I'll put something up about it after she gets it (don't want to ruin the surprise).

I watched the movie The Kingdom, starring Jamie Fox. It wasn't a bad movie, but it wasn't exactly a good movie either. It got the point across, I suppose. It certainly pissed me off. You can just watch the first 30 minutes of the movie, and get plenty pissed off (which is probably the point of the movie).

Well, until next time, stay safe and shoot straight.

Okinawa Battle Sites Tour

As part of the SNCO Academy that I'm attending, I was fortunate enough to go on the Okinawa battle sites tour today. Here are a few pictures from the trip.

This first one is one of the countless entrances to the elaborate tunnel system that can be found atop "Hacksaw Ridge." 2,500 Marines and Soldiers lost their lives taking that ridge. Some of the tunnels went as deep as 130 feet underground.



This next picture is of a Japanese machine gun that was recently unearthed behind the Taco Bell on base (Camp Foster, to be exact). Any time that construction projects take place here, some type of war relics are usually dug up.



The next picture is of the actual Japanese flag that was flying atop Shuri Castle until it fell to U.S. forces. It was signed by various unit commanders. It, and many other artifacts, can be viewed at a historical collection on Camp Kinser. Unfortunately, the Marine Corps is doing nothing to support this historical exhibit, and it exists due to donations alone.



This last picture is taken from atop Shuri Castle. Most of what you see had to be rebuilt, due to damage sustained during the battle.



I enjoyed the tour, but a few pictures can hardly do it justice. Read up on the Battle of Okinawa; you won't be disappointed.