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My favorite army stories : Top

 My unit in Germany, the ( fighting, heh ) 205th Aviation Company, was NATO as opposed to the regular Army. We did not wear unit patches on our uniforms. The next unit I served in was known as Task Force 160th. We fell under black ops and didn't wear patches either. This information is unimportant to this story. I just found it interesting. On both bases, Mainz Finthen Airfield ( Germany ) and Fort Campbell, Kentucky, we were stationed with support units. The eighth infantry was on the same base in Germany, and the Screaming Eagles, I forget the official name, was stationed on the same base as the 160th. What made these things interesting was the prejudice directed at us merely for not wearing insignia. The point is that we did things quite differently than those other groups. We were front-line aviation, and most of our officers were pilots or navigators. They weren't overly concerned with rules and regulations. They just wanted to fly. And if you were one of those people that...
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The Fibonacci Blues

 There was a guy, a busker, that I had noticed while driving my cab around Ballard. Apparently, he drank at the Inn Binn on Eighth Avenue, just north of Market Street, and in-between drinks or whatnot, he would stand outside the bar and play his saxophone. He was pretty good, and I was always glad to be stopped at the light there and listen to him play. The song Jazz Man comes to mind now but hadn't in those days. Anyway, one day I got the bell to pick up at the Inn Binn and he was my fare. I told him how much I enjoyed his music and we became friends and he became a regular. During one of our times together, it became obvious that we shared an interest in mathematics and theology and music. Hence The Fibonacci Blues.
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E Pluribus Unum : Out of many one, or in other words, just another pudd'nhead.

 Life. One day you are floating in amniotic fluid at a comfortable temperature, having sustenance provided for you, doing nothing but swimming and learning, a paradise. The next, you are pushed out into a world you know nothing about, with creatures, lights, and noise all doing their best to confuse you. Welcome to the monkey house.  At that moment, that so-called " blessed event, " my life became hell.  I firmly believe that we chose our parents and our potential paths. I chose my father and mother because they seemed strong, supportive, and intelligent. Add to those qualities my father's pragmatism and my mother's humor. There was also an interesting brother and a surprisingly familiar sister in that family.  One thing that you should know about me. I love a challenge. Give me a problem that takes a lot of concentration to solve? I'm in heaven. Fortunately, the family I had chosen to join lived in a central state in a confused and, unfortunately, rich young coun...
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writing

 In many of his books, Kurt Vonnegut speaks of writing as if he is telling a story to his sister. I never entirely understood this, as an audience is an audience. I don't think that is correct anymore.  While I appreciate anyone who would waste their time reading the nonsense I spew, my own sister, as it turns out, is the only one that I can be sure will either understand what I am saying or will appreciate that she now has a greater understanding of what a ridiculous human being I am. I freely admit this. I look back at my life, the last sixty-four odd years, and I now see just how foolish I was.
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Hope. The last evil vanquished.

In elementary school, maybe third or fourth grade, we learned the story of Pandora's Box. I asked the teacher about Hope. Since it is the last thing in the box, wasn't Hope evil too? I did not get an answer. I have wondered and questioned that idea since then. I will soon be living in my car. I accept this as a natural progression of my choices and those of society. We are what we are. I have lived longer and experienced far more than I thought I would, and this is nothing more than one more thing. So it goes. Hope and prayer only get you so far as life will be what it will be, and it is not much influenced by those things. I firmly believe that I am being set up by universe  to learn about the ridiculousness of this world, not to be ' enlightened ' as previously thought, but to prepare me for my next incarnation. One that I am presuming to be of relative importance. The wheels of the bus go 'round, and 'round... Oddly enough, losing that devil Hope helped me re...
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Army stories

   On July 2nd, 1980, Jimmy Carter re-established the draft. We weren't at war, but Afghanistan looked problematic, and there was concern that the post-Vietnam armed forces would not be adequate to deal with the situation. So males between eighteen and twenty-six had to register for service.  Although I was twenty-two, I was grandfathered into the repeal of conscription and didn't have to register. However, like many young men, my brother and his friend Jeff had to.  They went down to wherever they had to do this thing together. They were always together in my mind. I only saw one with the other. They went in two different directions after this day. Rather than just registering and going about his life's path ( yes, it's all part of one's life path. Shut up. ), my brother joined the army. He became a cook and spent the next two years in Germany.  Jeff joined the airforce and was kicked out because he went AWOL during boot camp. He wanted to watch a baseball game...
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How I Changed the World, and you are welcome,BTW. by Artemis Smith

 My name is Artimus. An unusual name. Growing up with a unique name is problematic. But growing up itself is complex. All that input and trying to make sense of it while your hormones race through your system. Add to that having to deal with other people who have their own ridiculousness, and I'm surprised any of us make it. But here we are. We're alive and still trying to make sense of it all. And at our age...heh. I'm not a Deadhead; I'm not a fan, but Jerry Garcia, bless his soul, once said, " What a long strange trip it's been.". Truer words were never spoken about life. The fact that you are reading this means that your long strange trip is still continuing. " It ain't over 'til it's over, "another wise man ( Yogi Berra ) said. So here we are. Today. Me writing this, and you reading it. And to overuse the whole quote thing, I must thank Janis Joplin for her statement, "It's all the same day, man. " Exactly so. I am ...
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