Remembering Rod

Last Saturday, our friend Rod Rodriguez was killed in that terrorist
attack at the Marriot in Pakistan. Rod and his wife Caryn were our
friends in Korea, then they moved to Germany a little before we did.
Rod was a good man, and Kristie and I are still troubled by these
events. Read the article about his memorial service in Germany:
http://www.stripes.com/articleprint.asp?section=104&article=57701

Four of us from Korea who are now here met on Friday to talk about
our friend. It was a beautiful sunset that night, and we toasted in
honor of him.

My Pants

Outside of work and church, I've worn pants only twice in the almost
two months we've been in Okinawa.

What Obama Thinks of You

I think Obama flipped you off last night in the debates. It's hard to
argue with a middle finger.

Wendy!

Our good friend Wendy from Wiesbaden was in Okinawa this week for a
training. It was great to see her, especially since her stories of
Okinawa (she lived here less than two years ago) greatly contributed
to our desire to move here.

Fortunately, she was correct in her assessment. If she was wrong,
she'd be in trouble!

Aslan's Beach

Here are a few pictures and a short video of Araha Beach, the beach
in front of our apartment.

Getting Kicks Outta the Little Kicks

Here's a clip from Seinfeld episode "The Little Kicks." I watched it when I was in the hotel lobby here in Okinawa. I stood there and watched it with six or so strangers. There we were, all laughing out loud at it, even though we've probably seen it dozens of times before. I felt connected to them in a strange kicky kind of way.

Is this what Carl Roger's collective consciousness is about? Was he talking about Seinfeld?

Thank You for Your Corporation

On a driveway near our place.

"I Want Her to Decimate This Woman."

Another fine example of the friendliness and openness from the left. Spoken by none other than the political maven himself, Chevy Chase.

Now, put on your open-minded hat for a moment: imagine the outrage if someone like Dennis Miller (also a former SNL Weekend Update anchor) said that he wanted Obama decimated. "Hate speech!" "Racist!" "Close-minded!" Why the double-standard?

Clinton Cancels Rally Appearance After Learning Palin Invited

Rather than a goodwill gesture appearing at the United Nations in Jewish solidarity to protest Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Clinton pulled out after learning that Sarah Palin will attend. Interesting, as both Hillary and Barack stated that they will work at reaching out for bipartisanship. When they discovered that Palin would attend the same event, "Clinton aides were furious." Not furious at Ahmadinejad. Not furious over treatment of the Jews. No, they were furious because they discovered Sarah Palin would attend the same UN event.

Barack, why are you letting this woman campaign for you? I know that you are working hard at winning Hillary supporters, but may I suggest that you read the definition of a Pyrrhic victory? I think that's what you would get with the Clintons breathing down your executive neck looking for a return on the favor. Better to lose without her than win with her.

I teach 8th graders, and even 8th graders don't act like this much of a brat.

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/09/17/clinton-blindsided-palin/

This Spider, Its Web, My Head

On a walk on a trail, I ran into a huge green web. As I was brushing
it out of my face and hair, I knocked this banana spider to the
ground. I doubt that you can begin to appreciate the gravity of that,
as this spider was about six inches wide. The web must have been
something Peter Parker slings up for a romantic evening with Mary
Jane. After Kristie saw it, there was no romantic night for this
spider man.

I still have a queasy stomach when I think of the incident. While I'm
not afraid of insects, I don't like ones as big as a DVD perching on
my melon.

One of these is a video, and you can hear Kristie's kind words for
me. It's something akin to, "I'm glad it was you and not me."

Tina Fey as Sarah Palin

Funny funny funny.

I have said for over a year now: it's not that we aren't ready for a woman president. Rather, we aren't ready for THAT woman (Hillary). And it has nothing to do with her cankles.

It is amusing to watch the left convulse in anger at McCain/Palin's strong possibility in November. The attacks have been non-stop. Who's swiftboating now? Or, is it only considered swiftboating when it's successful?

Aslan's Home

Today marked the day when Aslan finally arrived home. We moved into a
no pet room on September 2, and she's been in the kennel on-base ever
since. Her quarantine period was finally up today, so I broke her
free from prison, went to the vet, then brought her home.

She was so excited to see us again that she went into her new room
and fell asleep.

Charlie's Elephant

Charlie, our friend from Wiesbaden, has a style of painting that we love. Kristie traded photography services for this painting of an elephant inspired from Charlie's trip to Vietnam. We were so excited to put it up and start enjoying it. It's our only picture hung at this time, so it makes it even more special.

Check out Charlie's work at http://www.charliecooleyart.blogspot.com. Send him an email telling him to update with new paintings!

Moving Day

After living in hotels for over three months, we are moving into our
apartment today.

Dead Stuff on the Beach

And you thought you could only find seashells!

Trip to Okuma

Last weekend, Kristie and I went to stay at Okuma, a resort in the
north part of the island. It was even more beautiful than people told
us. We stayed in a cabin for two nights, and didn't do much besides
reading and walk around. I'm still working through C.S. Lewis's Mere
Christianity. It's even more enjoyable on the water.

We went on a boat snorkeling trip, where there were perhaps too many
fish. They came up and nibbled on our masks. It's a little scary.

Kristie even played video games, perhaps for the first time in our
marriage. I probably should have let her win, to encourage the behavior.

Welcoming Me to Okinawa

To give me a proper welcome, Okinawas put my name up around. You
remember that I like when people do this, right? You folks in
Portland really dropped the ball on this one. Not one Ron anywhere I
looked.

In reality, Ron is a Japanese store filled with leather boots and
hats. Perhaps it's time for me to undergo a fashion change.

Seinfeld Leaves the Fold

This may be the end of my relationship with Jerry Seinfeld.

Outside of his comedy and originality, I was always attracted to that Mac sitting in the rear of his apartment in most episodes of the show. He was a Mac user even before I was. Now this happened this week.

It's not to late to quit this, Jerry. Come back. Please?

China's Freedom of Religion

Worth reading: China confiscates Bibles from Americans at the airport. The country--and the world-- must decide whether China is an open, free country or a closed, oppressive one. Stories like this point to the latter option.

Kristie's First Driving Day

We bought a car yesterday. It's a Toyota Corolla Spacio. We liked it
because of its space for Aslan. While it's nice to have wheels, we
both are still practicing driving before going off-base. Kristie had
never driven on the left side before, so I wanted to capture the
moment of her maiden voyage.

We think that we found a place yesterday as well, so it was a
productive day.

Rhode Island Visit

Kristie and I had an excellent trip to RI last month. From the time
we landed on Monday to the time we leave on Monday, we were on the go
with lots of family and friends to see and spent time with. The only
negative part is that I left my favorite sweatshirt in the Enterprise
rental car. Those crooks there stole it!

My mom and Bud, my step-dad

My mom and me

My uncle and aunt and cousins

Brianna

My brother David

My dad and me at Starbucks. No matter how hard I try, I just can't get him to like that coffee!

DJ looking pensive

DJ and me

My good friends Artie and Charlie

Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head

Today we had three briefings: water safety, driver's safety, and
housing. We got our licenses, and a friend lent us his car so we are
mobile. The water safety video scared us, and I don't think that
we'll be getting into the water ever again.

We had an agent show us a couple of places, but we are beginning to
think that living with a beach view is more difficult than we though.
We saw a place with a great view, but the apartment was ugly, dirty,
and pink. I'm trying to talk Kristie into just giving up and living
on base. We'd have to wear uniforms and go to roll call each morning
at 0400, but I think we could use a bit of discipline in our lives.
Kristie needs it more than I, however.

More housing appointments today at 9. Our place is out there
somewhere, I can feel it.

Monday's Dinner

For dinner, we met up with Carol, my former boss in Korea and in Germany (she is the one who hired me in DoDDS). Carol showed us her beautiful house on the beach, then we had take-out in the park near the water.

We got our indian food from this little shack on the beach. An incredibly sweaty man made us chicken curry, lamb curry, and nan bread. We both enjoyed the food, but really liked the little doorway that even someone of my small stature needed to duck to enter.

We sat on the beach until well after sunset.