Chris Penningroth’s Weltanschauung

     The best thing about this deployment was meeting this guy:

     . . . At least according to him! You know how these young folks can be brash sometimes.

     You’re doing great work, AJ! Keep it up!

     I had some of the spiciest Kung Pao chicken ever today, therefore I went seeking a dessert that would cool me off afterward.  Actually, I didn’t go seeking it, the waiter stopped by and recited a short list.  I remember hearing "Mango (something), mango (something else), (another something with) mango, and fried ice cream.  Fried ice cream! I haven’t had that since the last time I was in Albuquerque, and that wasn’t recent.  That was what I ordered, fried ice cream.

     The fried ice cream was pretty good, I don’t think it was a honey glazing though.  There were some fruits to the side, which was really tasty.  But the ice cream was coated with creamed corn! It wasn’t bad, but personally I don’t think of creamed corn as a dessert component.  Come to think of it, I don’t think of any vegetable as dessert, and usually not fruit, either.  I can practically hear my wife cringing right now. 

     Today was a first for me:  Weltanschauung just took it’s first hit (that I know of) in the Blogosphere over at Virtualpolitik.  "Hits" is a bit of an exaggeration, it was really more of a fun poke, or at least I chose to take it that way.  

     I can’t be the only MilBlog that posts PowerPoint presentations.  I wonder how she found mine?

     I can’t argue with her.  Prevention of Dangerous Military Activities Between the US and the Former Soviet Union isn’t really earth-shaking.  For awhile I didn’t even find it particularly relevant.  Maybe it’s good to have after all, based on some of the things going on with Russia. 

     I’m glad she got to talk to Mr Patriquin, he’s a great man.  It was also good to see the photo of COL MacFarland, Sheik Sattar, and Travis. 

     Here’s more amazing video from Rob T’s Antarctica trip; set to some music that got my soul singing along, too!

     I’ve found it nearly completely unnecessary to wear this stuff in the current theater.  The primary danger is from pickpockets.  

     I can’t believe I traded in a G-suit for kevlar!

Update 11 Apr 2008:  Due to popular demand to know which one of these fighter pilots-turned fighter-pilots-on-the-ground is me, I’ll give you all the following hint:  I’m the one on the side.  (Seriously, I may tell you via e-mail if you ask nicely)

     Anne, I’m curious now about that riding crop, I’ll keep my eyes peeled.  There aren’t many horses around here, though. 

     This was some footage Rob T. took on his trip to the Antarctic Marathon, and it’s awesome!

     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbXtnh2K1Bk

     This is not recommended for children too young to watch some of the "meatier programs" on Animal Planet. 

     Weltanschauung friend Rob T. did something pretty amazing after running his first eight marathons:  He ran the Antarctica marathon! (I didn’t even know there was such an event).  He and some friends and family put together a short video on YouTube about it. 

     The event was run on King George’s Island, which is part of the South Shetland Islands just northwest of the Antarctic Peninsula.  It’s just across the water from the southern tip of Chile/Argentina. 

     That’s just plain amazing! Congratulations, Rob!

     I just recently returned from one of the far-flung camps in our area of operations.  It was one of those places where you couldn’t drink the water without boiling it first (not even to brush your teeth).  Pretty much all the food was fried, even the vegetables (and sometimes even the fruit).  The mango smoothies and the fried bananas were pretty tasty, but the only other snacks around were whatever our families sent to us, with the exception of some knockoff Nabisco cookies.  There was a local version of lemonade that tasted really good (not too much sugar), and all tea there was sweetened (helped prevent me from missing Texas). 

     Even though water wasn’t scarce, the plumbing wasn’t quite as good as most Koa campgrounds, so it was Navy-style showers, which wasn’t too bad.  The toilets weren’t the ‘flushable’ variety, though, so you had to fill a bucket with water and dump it in order to effect a flush. 

     The food there ensured you’d get familiar with the flushing process. 

     Hand sanitizer, while not really abundant, was fortunately available in places where soap was not. 

     If you like sun, surf, insurgents, fish, and mangos, this is the place for you!

     It looks like Admiral Fallon just resigned.

     His deputy will be the acting CENTCOM commander.  Lt Gen Dempsey was in command of 1st Armored Division when I was working over in that neck of the woods.  He helped me get some medals pushed through for my Airmen that had gotten downgraded by (ironically) CENTCOM (actually the air component).  I thought that was pretty cool of him!