July 30th, 2014
Camp Parks, CA
There are two quintessential Army foods: the Army omelette and Chili Mac. These are such standards that no Army mess hall (nowadays called a “Dee-Fac” for “Dining Facility”) would go without both for more than a few days.
July 24th, 2014
Camp Parks, Calif.
It’s that time of year again and I’m in uniform for two weeks with the Army Reserve. My Sustainment Brigade is lead on a logistics exercise in the Bay Area of California. Half of us are at Camp Park (East of Oakland, near Livermore), the other half at the Port of Alameda (adjacent to Oakland).
Mount Diablo Behind The Command Post
July 5th, 2014
Moreno Valley, CA
The story of me and quadcopters begins last Fall. Earlier if you count the year-long effort of Tom Mahood (with an able assist from Jack Freer) to get me involved in drones. I finally broke down and bought a QAV500 with a Naza controller. Some number of crashes later I was highly impressed with the survivability of the QAV500, somewhat less impressed with the Naza. So I made the move to an open-source, open-hardware, flight controller called the APM. Very impressive in functionality and much cheaper than the Naza, though more complex to set up and operate. I already had a couple old GoPro Hero’s (the original HD version), so that was a no-brainer, although many people (including Tom) seem to get excellent results with the Mobius Action Cam, which is 75% cheaper than a new GoPro Hero 3 Black.
June 25th, 2014
Fort Irwin, Calif.
Soldiers training here spend two weeks in “The Box” which is the field training area. If they need medical care, they first see a provider (usually a PA) at their battalion aid station. For further care they are evacuated to their brigade treatment area. After that they are evacuated to me for treatment or referral to the Emergency Department. Tonight we had a PFC evac’d for suspected bat bite.
April 23rd, 2014
Fort Irwin, CA
People in medicine are very superstitious. I learned as a student never, ever, to use the word “slow” in an emergency room. Not unless you want all the nurses to hate you.
Fort Collins, CO
March 3rd, 2014
Or Of Houses and Beer, the lack of the Former and Plenty of the Latter.
I’m in Fort Collins looking to buy a rental house. I already own one house here, one that I hope to move into one day not too many years from now when I retire from PA work, but would like to have another. Or two if things work out.
Wintery view from near my current house:
Fort Irwin, CA
February 16th, 2014
i arrived at work today to find a full parking lot. I’d ask for a reserved spot, but people who drive armored vehicles don’t pay much attention to such things. Besides, my boss would laugh at me. More than usual.
