This is very good news Scott. There must be some way for us to take advantage of you being in the future. I mean, even if you can't tell me which stocks to buy, can you at least tell me what the weather is going to be like tomorrow morning? That way I would feel a little bit better about my tax dollars funding your epicurean and snorkeling adventures.

Of which I am quite jealous, by the way. Japanese food is exquisite, especially when it involves tempura or raw fish. Please tell me you're going to try the latter and not just stick to the fried stuff, good as it may be (and it is quite good, courtesy of the delicious panko breading they tend to use). And you should definitely try unagi -- eel, often grilled with a slightly sweet sauce. So tasty. The snorkeling sounds fabulous as well. If you manage to get any underwater pictures, definitely post them.

And to brighten up your drab little life of snorkeling and eating, here are some pictures. They give you a sense of a typical day for Benjamin in the Big Apple.

Morning Shave, Haircut, Bath (he's a born multi-tasker, always slurps up his morning coffee in the tub) and then it's off to earn his keep (hey, Manhattan ain't cheap)

The Future?

Ok, so now its time to delve into the mysteries of life. I don't know exactly how to put this, as it is kinda complicated. I'll take a deep breath and just say it. I'm in the FUTURE! Tis the tuth. I don't know quite how it happened, but I do know I am here, and by here I mean the future. Let me explain a little. To the casual eye I appear to be 10 hours behind Chicago time, or 7 behind my Love's time. Here is where it gets confusing. I am 10 or 7 hours behind you all, BUT I am a day in the future also. Some of you who think you know math and time zones will just think I am 14 or 17 hours ahead of you. However I know that you can only be either 12 hours ahead, or 12 hours behind. If this wasn't so then you could just keep flying around the world and go back in time or foward in time. We know it isn't that easy however. So the only conclusion is that somehow, some way, I am now in the future.

Now in the future almost everyone is Asian. Don'task me why, I'm just the messenger here. Also they drive on the left side of the road. Yeah, kinda crazy. Further all of humanity inhabits one island, 70 miles by 13. We......are......DOOMED! The good thing is that the future is not set, and your actions today could save the world from this interesting future! I will keep reeporting from the future for some time, and I leave it up to you, oh great Doestsch's, and my hunny, to keep the world safe!

Now let's put the technical aside, and get to what everyone wants to hear about, which I unfortunately have very little to tell about. So far we have mostly stayed in a small are and done classes as well as a ton of PT, about twice a day. Which is really good. To sum it up I get paid to get in shape, as well as lead Mrines, which is what I love. So no downside yet.

We flew all night, starting in California. The normal refual in Anchorage was done in Honolulu as some valcano or other was erupting......Yes I know, Alaska is crazy. Then on the Guam for another quick stop. This took all night, and in the wee hours of the morning we finally came upon the island of Okinawa. It looks pretty from up high for a first glance. Off the ground, unloaded and we got to customs. A quick look to see about imported fruits and live nuts and such things, then off to the base. Oh, it already rained as we stood outside being inspected. Off to the base, and getting our gear inside, and its raining again! The lodging is nice, as we get 2 man rooms, and enough space....for Marine standards. The weather however......Chance of rain, 300% for the next few days. Yes, it did rain many differant times each day. Only the past 2 days did it finally clear up and we all got some decent sun on us.

Today we got the evening off, and first thing I went and bought some snorkle gear. I grabbed a buddy and we hit the beach, which is all of a few minute walk. The water is nice, and the urchins are aplenty. We were not in a prime location, but I did run into a boat in the middle of snorkling and I asked him where to go. So now I know wer to swim out to for some good stuff. Even with a bad location I still got to see some marine life. A nice blue fish, starfish all over, a sea cucumber, some odd other plants that I have never seen before, and a really interesting many many colored fish that I followed for a while. Unfortunately I don't have a water proof camera, but I will try and borrow one from somone else so I can take pictures later. By the time we got out there the day was late, so I barely had any time to explore, but expect some pictures and hopefully stories later!

After swimming I went out to town, which is only a 10 minute walk to the immediate area. We had heard a local place had good food. well, it did. One guy had eel, which was better than many fish I've had. I picked out the Ten Don, which is fried fish, shrimp and vegatables. ALL of them fried, and on top of a huge bowl of rice. I quickly mastered(kinda got used to) using chop sticks and went to work on the sea food. Shrimp - Awesome I don't think I've ever had crisp shrimp before, but that was the best word to describe it as. Vegatables, fried, mmmmmm. Fish? Tasted like chicken, except better, So I wondered what it was. The english speaking gentelman said it was tuna! Wow, that was the best tuna I have ever eaten, and probably the best fish I've ever eaten too. After hat we hit up a bar, had a shot of something local, and a big glass of rum and coke. 75% rum in a huge glass. Hmmm, I didn't want that much, but she gave me that much. It seemed odd to me. Well when I drank it I figured out why she put so much "alcohol" in it. That bar does the oldest trick in the book, watered down clear liquer. So for me it ended up good though, since I didn't want that much in the first place. But for drunk folks, they prolly never knew the differance.

So here I am now, a happy couple drinks in me, a little time to relax, enjoying my time here, and looking forward to the rest of it. I hope you are all doing well, and exoect to see some pictures posted now and again from me. If anyone has any gift requests please let me know. I can't promise I'll get them, but I will try. I'll be home before you know it!

There and Back Again...

Since your not a hobbit or a character in one of Tolkien's many stories, we know you won't be fighting Orkes (Orq?) or playing golf with a goblin kings head...we still hope that you have fun.

We know that you'll probably be totally miserable in that hot pacific weather, breathing in stinky ocean air...but we get to breath in the robust smell of thawing grass, and mushy left over leaves.
Even though you may have to deal with seeing all those weird creepy creatures of the sea, we are content here (in Illinios) where we don't have to see whales, dolphins, and colorful fish.
While you may get to see all those vivid obnoxious colors of the tropics, we get to watch the barren trees sway in the wind, and the same comfortable green we see every year....
So think of us while your applying the sunscreen, and feeling the salty ocean water on your toes, just remember that we get to enjoy the cold crisp awaking of Lake Michigan's 'fresh' frigid water....
Oh boy!

I poke and prod in jest of course...

We sincerely hope that you enjoy your trip! Take loads of pictures, and report back here with all your wacky stories. Soak it all in and remember to praise/thank God everyday for the beauty of His creation.
Especially remember to take time to enjoy the sunrise and sunset....I can only imagine they will be one of the most beautiful things you've ever seen - aside from Katy, of course
=) ("absence makes the heart grow fonder").
We know that your trip won't be all fun and games, but it still sounds awesome nonetheless.
Don't worry we wont be singing the song from the South Pacific musical, 'I'm gonna wash that man right out of my hair...and send him on his way...yo HO!"
Try not to enjoy yourself so much you won't want to come back.
It's very interesting that the Marines tend to send you to the warm places.
We found you out, you really don't do any grueling work do you? All these stories about 'treks' and 'gear' and miles of walking...chicken poop! As I look at pictures of the pacific I start to think it's really just a conspiracy the military has created in order to have an excuse to go on a vacati...er...I mean 'mission'.

Back to the weird creepy creatures: You might want to watch out for this guy.


Well I did intend for this to be posted before you acutally left Illinios, maybe it will be even more fun to read now that you will be commenting from afar.

Have fun...and until next time...

Everyone back in windy, chilly, Illinios sends their love.

Re: Regardless

Well, I hate to let you down Scott, but you are indeed wrong. Irregardless is an illogical word as it's a double negative, therefore regardless is the correct and only version. So now you have something to talk about with all those Marines over there.

Regardless, did you get my package yet?

And it's good to know exactly where you're situated. I had been wondering. Have you done any more traveling at all in the past few weeks? And has the weather gotten even hotter? It's been quite balmy over here in NY.

Elizabeth

Where am I exactly?

So I know I have told all of you before where I am, but since I've never shown you on a map, most of you probably don't know exactly where in Iraq I am. So open up that nice picture of Iraq that Steve just posted and find the star in the middle, labeled "Baghdad". Following the road west out of Baghdad you will come to a dot, thats dot is the city of Al Fallujah, which is the extent of how far I have traveled east. The next dot on the map heading west is Al Habbaniyah, where I am happily online writing this. A little further along is Ar Ramadi, which I haven't quite been all the way to yet. Looking North you can see a large lake. Making a triangle of Fallujah, Ramadi and a little southeast of the lake, and that about the area I've traveled over at some point of another, with most of the time within 15 miles of Habbaniyah.

About the people here....Well, I really don't deal with them much, and from what I've seen, I don't have much good to say about them, so I'll be nice and not say anything at all! Hm, that won't satisfy you? Ok, I'll try and get back to you on this one.

Irregardless and regardless.......I honestly don't know, but I do know I do use them differantly. I use irregardless when comparing two things, and regardless when I don't need to make a quantitative comparison....I'm so probably wrong in how I use it.

And the website is beautiful! I had to look hard to see that those weren't pictures you guys took and posted up!

Middle East Map

Iraq Map

Let's Talk

What? No posts for May? What is going on, everyone?

To start off a fruitful discussion for June, I will post a few things I've been up to as well as some topics for dialog.

1) Here is the website for American Rendering, where Sara, Matt, and I have been doing a lot of work:
www.usrendering.com

Why didn't we get "www.americanrendering.com"? Because, and you should never start a sentence with "because", one of our competitors already bought that name and it links to his website.

2) Last night I went for the 1st time to a "Prager Meet Up", which is a national club for people who listen to Dennis Prager on the radio. It was a refreshing experience with intelligent people, and the topic of discussion was the downturn in the real estate market and the many recent housing foreclosures. Irregardless, the discussion group said real estate is still your best investment.

3) What is the difference between irregardless and regardless?

4) For Scott: How are the natives? What experiences have you had with any Iraqi soldiers or families? How do they think differently about government, the war, or life in general?

OK, that should do it for now. Let the posts begin!

Happy Birthday Scott!

Hey Scott, Happy Birthday! You're almost as old as me again! Try again next year.
Happy Birthday from Sara-Anne, she keeps telling me to tell you she wants to wish you a Happy Birthday. So this one's for her: Happy Birthday Scott!
As you can see, we came to Iraq looking for you to wish you a Happy Birthday, but we couldn't find you. We ate your cake once again. Paul's ready for battle. Hope you had a wonderful day.
The video is from Easter. We keep ourselves entertained fairly easily.
We're sending our prayers to you.
Matt & Sara-Anne

Happy Birthday Scott!

Life In the 'other' Doetsch household.

Well, where to start, lets see.

As you know Steve, Matt, and myself, have started the new American Rendering business. Matt is so excited about this business. He has been talking as long as I've known him, about starting a business of some sort, and now it is all coming to fruition. My job is to make sure Matt and Steve don't argue too much (since I know they love to do that, which is fine, but work needs to get done......all in good fun :). So i keep the office organized, and also do the 'digital' design/decorating for their projects. It's a great use of my creative side. The office is now the back portions of the family (back) room. We painted it and changed the layout, and find it quite conducive to work.

So I now have my green card and my SSN, yay!! Which means my next step is to get my Drivers. Matt has taken me out driving (in a cemetery) and I had much fun! So watch out!
In June I will be heading back to Canada for a month long visit. I'm pretty excited as their are so many people to visit. 2 weddings and a family reunion, also taking Matt on a tour of the town/area I grew up in know as "The Gateway to the Rockies" Hinton.
Other then all that I spend my days learning from Ingraham, Prager, Medved, and occasionally Savage. It's wonderful and my love for this country is really continuing to grow and feel as though it were my own. It saddens me all those who are citizens and do not appreciate this country as I, coming from a country that is not oppressive, do. Anyways, in the long run, it's great to know there are men (and women) like you in Iraq doing what you can to protect this "greatest nation on God's green earth" (as Medved would say).



We've also acquired 'Pip', Carolyn's bird, temporarily while they are in Florida. He's a parakeet/budgie, and has quite the personality. Occasionally he likes to squawk and peck, but most of the time he's a pleasant bird. Francis is incredibly jealous/intrigued by him. Anytime I open the cage or talk to the bird, even if Francis is on the other side of the house, he still comes running. We wish we knew what he thought of the bird, and once in awhile notice him licking his lips. Although knowing Francis, he'd probably just want to play with Pip, however that would be a disaster.

So that's what is going on around here.

Our CCD kids often lift up the soldiers in Iraq, and will mentions "Mr.Doetsch's brother". So you have allot of prayers going up for you. We recently taught about Angels in CCD, so don't forget to talk to your Guardian Angel!
Glad to know your doing so well, and that you eat better than most of us do...hehe!

We love you, God bless, and be safe,

Matt and Sara-Anne