My new Lit List

I have been wanting to add a place to my blog specifically for books. I've been trying to read a lot lately and often wish to discuss or share what I am reading with others. So, I've created my Lit List blog which features my comments on current and past reads, as well as a list of favorites. I will soon be adding comments to the page so you can respond to what I write, but for now, you can email me at qqflyboy @ gmail.com to share your thoughts and ideas. There is a link in the column to the right titled Lit List, or you can click on the title of this entry to access the blog.

Military discharged 26 gay linguists

This pisses me off! If there was ever one thing I would kick Clinton's ass for, it would be the "don't ask, don't tell" policy the military adopted under his command. The article, which I must apologize is from FoxNews.com, goes on to say the military has been and is still short Arabic speakers. Of these 26 discharged, some spoke Arabic and Farsi, two of the most in demand languages in the military. The independent 9/11 commission reported the lack of Arabic linguists in the military as one contributing cause to the breakdown before 9/11 as there were intercepted messages from terrorists awaiting translation. Now, it is clear, the US government has put this discriminatory policy ahead of national security. Not only is that scary, it's absolutely asinine.

Also disturbing are comments from the Center for Military Readiness. They oppose gays in the military and said "the discharged linguists never should have been accepted at the elite Defense Language Institute in Monterey in the first place. Resources unfortunately were used to train young people who were not eligible to be in the military." Fuck them. Not eligible? The sad thing is Shrub Jr. isn't likely to abolish the policy. He's probably angered that the policy even exists because is allows gays to legally be in the military, so long as they hide their true selves. Of course, The Constitution says all of it is illegal, but hell, what's The Constitution anyway?

But hey, Georgy took the moral high ground and bought the election. Apparently "morals" are far more important then national security. My ass.

Pics of Paris

The link on the right for my Paris photos keeps disappearing. I have no idea why, so I just decided to throw a link in here. If you click on "Pics of Paris" above, it will link you to the photo album. Dan and Rene are now home and I hope to successfully nag Dan for his photos. Dan, here's my first attempt. Can I please, please, pretty please have a copy of the photos you took while Beth and I were in Paris? Thank you!

Crew Schedule 101

I've been working my ass off this last week, trying to get all my hours in before I head up to Seattle for Sean's wedding on the 22nd. For whatever stupid reason, my transfer to Chicago didn't take effect until January6, which meant I had to bid for a January schedule in St. Louis. I did, and then crew schedule removed all the trips from my schedule, and gave me "available" days for the rest of the month in Chicago. "Availability" essentially means I am available to the company on that particular day. I can look ahead in the computer for trips that need covered and put them on my schedule myself, or scheduling can do it for me the day before.

It generally isn't too bad, but since I couldn't bid for my trips in Chicago this month, I couldn't tell scheduling I needed the 20th-24th off. And wouldn't you know I'm available the 20th-23rd? Figures. So, there is a way around this... fly the max number of hours before you get to those days and scheduling can't touch you -- you are illegal to fly. So, I am attempting to fly a full month in 11 days, which isn't so untypical, it's just that I'm flying six days straight, taking two off and flying five more. It's hectic, but when I get home Monday night it will have more than been worth it. And, I'll get to spend time stress free in Seattle with my friends.

Beth and I are flying to Seattle on Friday morning, the 21st. We plan on spending the day in city, checking out all the sites. We're staying in downtown as well. Jenn and Aaron are picking us up Saturday morning for the wedding, which is in Snohomish. Then we'll head back to the city as a group, stay there overnight, and have a blast together on Sunday. Beth and I fly back Sunday night about six. I am really looking forward to seeing Sean again, although I know it will be brief, and looking forward to spending the weekend with Beth, Jenn and Aaron. Good times with old friends. Yeah, I like that.

Le Louvre

Le Louvre

Today, our final day in Paris, was spent at Le Louvre. Simply put, it's amazing. I can't even begin to describe the size of the museum. Beth and I spent seven hours there and saw about half the museum, and very little of that time was spent looking at things in detail. You could literally spend a week there and still not see everything. We saw, of course, da Vinci's Monna Lisa and Madonna on the Rocks. We also saw Venus de Milo, one of the most famous sculptures in the world. I can't even name all the recognizable pieces of artwork we saw. It's just incredible. The facility itself is worth seeing, let alone all the fascinating pieces of work inside. Our dogs were barking, but we headed off to see Notre Dame again. When we first went, the line to get in was incredibly long. Tonight, we waited about five minutes and made it inside. The architecture is amazing, and to think it was achieved over 800 years ago. The first stone was laid in 1163 and the church was completed in 1330. Yesterday we went to the Eiffel Tower and walked the Champs Elysees. That was a lot of fun as well. Beth and I are sad to be leaving tomorrow, but happy to get back home as well. Our feet are killing us after having been on them for so days at a time. We're headed back to the states tomorrow, and will be in Vegas tomorrow night if all goes well.