A Storm In Afghanistan

Coming soon... the blog relaunch/restart...

Tonight, Melinda and Rachelle of SpouseBUZZ hosted me on their internet radio show.

I must admit to being a tad bit nervous as I do not often get to speak in public, but it was a pleasure to talk with these wonderful ladies.

They put me at ease, and we were soon discussing all sorts of topics, ranging from the history of the cancer journey and to be able to discuss the upcoming Walk (see the post at the top of the page).

I encourage everyone to be tested... it's never too early. Remember, we always think life's tragedies will happen to Other People, but someone has to be that other person. Please, get tested. Testing is one of the best defenses against cancer. Even if you don't have any history in your family (Ellicia didn't), it can happen to you. And if it does, it is NOT the end of the world... just the beginning of another journey in your life.

Together, we can beat cancer. One day, it will be nothing more than just another sign of the Zodiac.


Click HERE to listen to the show... My segment is in the second half.

Nothing exciting in this post. Just looking for some help with Blogger. Want to expand the size of this template a bit, so the main posts and the sidebar are a bit wider... basically a higher resolution compatibility. If you can help, I'd appreciate you dropping a line in the comments. Thanks.

Isn't technology amazing? In my hand, I am holding more computing power than the astronauts used when they went to the moon.

This blog entry isn't being made at a computer. Not even a laptop. I'm in my van sending it in from my phone's access to the Net.

From my phone, I can do just about anything, including download the latest weather image from satellites in orbit.

Fifty years ago, the world was adjusting to the very concept of objects in space. The mere idea of communicating with the WHOLE WORLD via a handheld device... Would have made impressive science fiction.

What will people be capable of doing fifty years from now? What will MY children find commonplace that will amaze me (besides their taste in music)?

I can only hope, and excitedly await, for what someone Imagines.

Some have asked for more info about Ellicia's story. I have gone through the messages and tried to find some relevant posts. If you scroll down, on the right side, you'll come to a section called Labels. There, I've placed about 68 or so "Ellicia" posts.

Now, keep in mind, these aren't all of the posts that are at all related to Ellicia. I'm still working on labels, but these are the most relevant.

In the archives, still unlabeled, are plenty of Ellicia posts...

And as I have time, and browse through, I'll label those, too.

Please, enjoy reading and sharing her joy of life and determination to fight and win against this disease... so proud of her!

Quite a few of you post wonderful comments and I'd love to be able to reply. But, since you post anonymously (and can't blame you - I'd do it, too), I can't.

So, a request.

IF you post anonymously and would like a response, then please e-mail me at this address. A short "Hi" and "I'm so-and-so who just commented" is all that's needed.

No e-mails will be given out.

Promise.

Please keep commenting, though... even anonymously.

Ok, The net's back... it's been spotty, but each day is better. I've actually tried to post twice recently, but it keeps dumping out.

So, now... I'm going to try to catch up on all the latest news...

Thank you all for continuing to check in...

Just a quick note to say all is well... well, almost all... We're STILL suffering from no Internet. Just our two buildings are off the network... and the group we've gotten it through isn't the best at customer service... basically their response is, "If you don't like it, we can always unsubscribe you." So, we wait.

Other than that, I'm saving up some posts for later...

Will post as soon as I can...

From another lovely Army day in Afghanistan...

Everything (so to speak) is ok.

We're having Internet issues. E-mail is, at best, ragged. Web surfing (needed for this blog) is out of the question.

I've kind of snuck on to a system to get this message out to all concerned (and the concern IS appreciated.)

Don't know when things will be back to normal.

More later.

Promise.

Ok, a request... anyone good at programming web pages?

I'd like to snazzy this site up, but... I don't know the HTML well enough, nor am I swamped with time to learn.

Any web gurus out there willing to take on a charity case?

Some good questions by y'all about the spammers.

First, Spam is unwanted messages - usually e-mail, but can also be comments on blogs like this.

Second, Spam is rarely generated by a person. Most often, it's done by a computer program.

A computer can be programmed to send an e-mail message to everyone in a network.
A computer can be programmed to search blogs and post comments to them.

That's what's happened here.

The "Secret Word" test is there because computers can't read. So, while they can automatically send a message, they don't know how to answer the test question, "What word do you see?"

Thus, stopping automated spam.

You, lucky humans, can see and thus must take this test with every post.

Say, "Thank you, Spammers."

Well, let's welcome the Spammers...

Logged in to see so many comments. Was excited. What could lil' ol' me have written that generated such a response!?

Spam.

All the spam comments have been deleted (I think?). Also, I've now activated the feature where you will have to verify a word to post a comment. Sorry, but necessary...

Back to the blog...

My net's been down for days... Please bear with me as I catch up...

Anyone out there have a solid HTML background? (If that sentence leaves you with a "Huh?" feeling, you can skip this post. Nothing interestin here.)

I'm not completely up to speed on my web knowledge, and would like this blog to be... well, if not first-rate, at least half-way decent.

So, if you have some skills, and would like to volunteer, please drop me a line with your e-mail address. Thanks!

Welcome! I'm trying to develop a new way to share all the experiences that I have with the Army, especially with this deployment. So, I'm going to take a crack at blogging. I welcome any and all suggestions, neat tricks, requests, etc. I'll update this as much as I can, of course...

Our main group will be leaving soon. I won't be joining them, as I get to stay back about two weeks. This works out well, as it lets them go through the set-up of our unit and I get to see Thomas born.