This may not look like much of a good friend, but anyone who completed elementary school should know the California Condor is an essential, integral part of the Earth's life cycle, beginning with that of Central California.


I try my best to be engaged in worthy causes, even with my free time. My efforts led this week to a humble contribution to the survival of the magnificently hideous Condor.

Enter our neighbor, the friendly raccoon.

We find signs of our neighbors in our yard daily, whether it be something removed from the garbage can now kicking around the patio, or muddy paw prints on the windshield. We have unwillingly fed them into fat complacency. It was time for them to contribute something to a higher cause.

Driving to the store just yesterday evening, I saw the roaming gang of coons meandering about 20 yards or so in front of the car. Judging by the number of glowing orbs moving slowly across the street there were about 6 of them throwing a drunken garbage binge. On a Wednesday night, of all nights! (Don't they have work?) Toying with the pack I swerved playfully in their general direction, swerving away at the last moment. (My conscience wouldn't allow me to take the group out like that) I was rewarded with a loud bump -- the genius of the pack had fudged an escape attempt TOWARD the car. Big time.

Needless to say I was torn. Between my loathing for scavenging pests and that deep-down soft spot for something that could be construed as cute. By someone less a man than myself, anyway. *cough*

Long story short, I felt a tinge of regret. I told Brenda what happened, and she asked the typical motherly question, "Did you stop and see if it was alive?" Really, that thought hadn't even crossed my mind. Would you stop to see if the spider you stomped on was okay? Maybe take him to the vet?

The moral of the story is that that raccoon knew somehow that he would be a meal for a real in-the-flesh Condor. Brenda got to see the big bird carrying the carcass to the side of the road Thursday afternoon. No regrets, the circle of life will continue for a truly needy species. Now if I could only meet the rest of that coon gang again...

Just a few more...

Hey all! Here are a couple of more recent pictures. Brenda, Dylan and Cameron at the Trunk-or-Treat Saturday night, and Nate with Cameron right after all of our household goods arrived from Washington. Fun days... we're still not all the way unpacked.

To Pull, or Not to Pull (My Hair Out)

Not only is the Military infamous for the "hurry up and wait" way of working, they are also utterly inseparable from needless paperwork. For example, the Leave form for Christmas "Exodus" as it's known here at POM, is made up of three copies of the same leave paper, along with one form (29-B) which is used for the complete travel itinerary, including the model and license number of whatever car we'll be using to get to the airport.

I've also battled unofficial "regulations" for the past two weeks with regards to moving off post to be with Bren and the kids. They wanted to make me wait three weeks before even GIVING ME THE PAPERWORK (this one is two pages, one for a letter of recommendation and the second comprised of a long checklist of things I can only do during lunch breaks) so I can start the process of moving off post to Fort Ord. Hello again red tape, haven't seen this much of you since MEPS. In shah allah I'll be able to make it home in a week, give or take a couple of days.

On a different note, I can now say phrases in Arabic like "The weather in Monterey is moderate all year.", "I'm a soldier in the Air Force and I live in the barracks.", and "I want a chicken. Do you have a chicken? Your mother is a very large chicken." Gotta get those necessary things down first, you know.

What Really Matters in Life

Ha! I bet y'all thought this was going to be some sort of preachy, condescending read. Well I'm just full of surprises. With Brenda and the boys on their way to California, I thought I would share a few experiences that were passed on to me through nightly phone conversations after the duty day was done.

Mom Jones' arrival home from work usually meant that dinner would shortly follow for Dylan. One afternoon, mom was a bit late getting home from work (errands, whatever), and Dylan took notice. Heaven knows how he learned this, but he was wandering around the house saying, "Where's my dinner? Where's my dinner?"

Ever since the graduation ceremonies in Texas, Dylan had been pulling the pictures of his Dad off the shelf and asking when he would see daddy. And, of course, the countdown was already on for when our family would be together again. Who could have thought that 2 months would go by so slowly? Just a few days ago at this writing, after dinner was over and he was going through the standard cleanup procedures before de-highchairing, he yelled at the top of his lungs, "DADDY! WHERE ARE YOU?"
Brenda said, "I don't know, where is daddy?"
Dylan thought for a few seconds, and said, "At work. See in 6 days."

Kids are so fantastic! Not a day goes by but that I think about how much my family means to me, and how glad I am that we can all be together forever.

Short Update -

Okay, just last Wednesday I was told I would be starting language classes on Thursday instead of waiting until October. All well and good, as long as I can still get the family situated here in the "new" place.

Pictures from BMT are forthcoming - just waiting on the emails so I can post them here for all to enjoy.

Back in the saddle

It's been a while! An interesting past two months, leading up to a sunny afternoon here in beautiful Monterey, CA. Language classes don't start until October, but between now and then Nate will be putting in personal time to learn the Arabic alphabet, and basics to get a head start and hopefully stay afloat as he goes through this next phase of training.

We have housing set up, Bren and the kids will be moving out here within the next two weeks. We don't know when our things will come down from Washington, but we're eagerly anticipating having a home again. And in a few weeks Nate will be able to move into the house and off post! (Goodbye free food in the chow hall, hello morning commute...)

More good news in the form of Christmas exodus - the post here will be shutting down for two weeks, giving an opportunity to go back to Utah for Christmas! Lynn and Rachel will be back in town as well, it will be fantastic to see everyone yet again.

Mom, Andrea and Bonnie were able to make it to Lackland AFB for the Airman's Coin ceremony and the Honor Graduate ceremony, and have pictures to prove it. Here's hoping they'll share, and we can post some of the better pictures here. (nudge nudge) Brenda, her mom, and Cameron were able to make it late that afternoon, after those ceremonies but before Parade. Nate's flight performed drill movements very well in both ceremonies, with a perfect score for Retreat and only a handful of demerits for Parade. Again, hopefully some pictures will show up soon.

On the homefront, Dylan is putting his mom through the wringer. Every time he gets his hands on some form of writing utinsel another piece of furniture bites the dust. Too much energy trapped in that little body! He points to Nate's picture often and says, "See tomorrow?" to which Bren replies, "Nope. In two weeks." Dylan has now taken to pointing to the picture and saying, "Miss daddy. See in two weeks." Needless to say his dad misses him very much! Almost three months is a long time to not see the big guy.

That's all for now! Please be sure to keep in touch - phone numbers haven't changed for Nate or Brenda, neither have email addresses. We love all of you!

Wish me luck!

Well it's almost official - I swear in tomorrow morning, then off to sunny San Antonio for BMT! Please keep me in your prayers - and Bren and the kids, while I'm away. They're staying with her mom, we got rid of our apartment in Vancouver.

Lots of love to everyone!

Dylan's activities know no bounds. Just a few days ago, I got a phone call at work from a nearly frantic Brenda. "Guess what I found when I woke up this morning?" Hoping, I thought "Our car was stolen??"

"Dylan got into the fridge before I got up this morning. He must have been pretty sneaky, I didn't hear a thing. He must have decided he wanted eggs."


Needless to say, we are wishing about now we had a carpet cleaner. With only a couple of weeks before we vacate, it's not a good time to have serious messes and potentially permanent stains. Oh well, we learn as we live.

On a lighter note, today is 7/11! That means Dylan's birthday. Brenda spent the entire day today chasing Dylan around, and decorating his AMAZING birthday cake.

Yes, that is a train, and yes, she did decorate it herself. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DYLAN!! We love you, buddy.

The Final Countdown

Well here we are - two more weeks until Nate goes through final processing before Basic Training in the Air Force. Dylan is being the typical 2-year-old; testing his limits (and in turn, his parent's sanity limits) at every turn, vying for the attention we are sharing between him and the little one. Nothing seems to be enough for him right now! But life is good. Cameron is sleeping enough to let us feel rested some of the time, and Nate's counting the days left at his current job on one hand. Brenda and the kids will be staying in Colorado with her mom while Nate's away, and there will still be time to bless Cameron in Salt Lake so family can be there.

Had a fantastic 4th of July, celebrating our great Nation's independence by blowing stuff up and eating grilled food. We've decided that we will come back to Washington for July 4 as often as possible, so we can at the very least have entertaining fireworks. (Utah - eat your heart out! Mortars are where it's at)

Cameron - the newest addition to our family! Born 6/13 early morning, after a quick 2.25 hours of labor, and the doctor didn't even have time to make it to the hospital. Instead, the on-site physician and a friend of ours (finishing his residency this week) delivered the baby. Barely had time to get his gown on before the baby decided it was time. It's a blessing and a joy to have Cameron in our home now. What a beautiful boy!

WOW? Too sexy??

I don't know much of anything about World of Warcraft, but this video almost makes me want to look into it. Funny stuff!

Little bit'o'fun

Okay, this "IQ test" really is quick - only takes a few minutes. I must say I'm insulted by the results, since there was only one logic-based question, and... well... just look! 130?? Whatever. Maybe this is a test that gives you an approximation of half your IQ. Nothing to hang myself over, but definitely a blow to the ego.

Your IQ Is 130

Your Logical Intelligence is Below Average Your Verbal Intelligence is Genius Your Mathematical Intelligence is Exceptional Your General Knowledge is Genius

A Quick and Dirty IQ Test

Back to normal? What is normal anyway?

Well, it's been much too long since I spent any time managing this blog, and all of my ideas have taken the form of half-completed drafts in email files. Not exactly the best way to get them out, but at least I get them down somewhere they can be easily resurrected when the time is right!

At work, I've been getting things organized in preparation for our new arrival (JUNE 20!!) and to give us time to get set for Basic Training this summer. Also trying to get signed up with 24 Hour Fitness, to put on some more muscle weight and get fit... the last thing I need is to drop dead on the Confidence Course. (Just heard a few days ago that for the indefinite future, the Confidence Courses all around the country/world are closed due to an accidental death -- shame, I've really been looking forward to it!)

That's all for now. I'll try to be better at keeping things fresh. :-)

The REAL Issue - Media and Public Opinion

Here's a little something I wrote back around Valentine's day, just before the House voted on the nonbinding resolution (aka cowardly potshot at President Bush and our brave Marines, Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen). Okay, it's not exactly little... but it's not a novel either.

-ne

The REAL issue with the media and public opinion.

After much consideration, I've come to the conclusion that the reason we are even having a discussion in the House of Representatives about the defeatist and dishonest-pushed nonbinding resolution is because the American People have been misled. Plain and simple. So many columnists and broadcast news anchors are throwing aside analysis for partisan agenda, or disregarding fact and reality in favor of the extreme and visually assaulting simply in order to get viewership or readership to increase. Make no mistake, they're in it for the money, not for the truth. Unfortunately so many citizens do not expend the effort or take the time to research all sides of a story from different sources and are left with slanted, abbreviated summary - and I'm not just talking about articles found on the editorial pages. As a whole, we the people don't respond properly to assumption and incomplete facts or references. We all know the saying "garbage in, garbage out". Propaganda is powerful to the weak-minded and those unwilling to dig deeper. The rest of us just have to be stifled by powermongers like those in the Oregon Democratic Kulongoski Regime. Oops, I mean government.

Take the Iraq war. Today we have over 120,000 troops on the ground, with more to follow. Hundreds, thousands of military vehicle convoys move around the country DAILY. Only a tiny percentage of these are attacked in any given day, which means that at the very least 98% of the daily efforts of the convoys run without incident. What about all of these missions, all of these success, all of the progress that is truly being made? Where do you hear about this? Only from the soldiers who have been there, who are there now, and who are actually involved in accomplishing this mission. How does the media majority, including newspapers and televised newscasts, paint the American Soldier? They focus on comments of incompetents like John Kerry who insinuate that our enlisted men and women are dumb, or only joined because it was the only way to climb out of destitute poverty. Or they constantly remind us of Abu Ghraib, where a handful out of all of those working at the facility were convicted of mistreating the detainees. These were disciplined by the military court system (successful justice, it's a good thing) and draw the immature and baseless conclusion that all of our military personell participated in this behavior, or would if they had the chance. The say the men and women fighting for the success of a free Iraq governed by it's own people are rapists and murderers. The insult to humanity and the American spirit is that uninformed people believe this. Nevermind the incredibly far-reaching implications of pulling out before victory in Iraq, which the Democrats and more liberal-leaning Republicans in the House of Representatives really want to do, just without saying those words. We have a constant barrage of negativity issuing from talking heads whose goal in life is to undermine, to push their personal eutopian ideals, and to silence their opposition. Our enemies quote our politicians, using their words to build support within their own extremist ranks. And yet these same liberal voices in our government would likely never sacrifice self for country voluntarily- something any soldier who enlists in any branch of the military pledges to do, and hundreds of thousands have done over the history of our great nation. They are too caught up in rhetoric to take action. We all know the overwhelming majority would not be eligible for military service at this point in their life, that's not the point. It's the attitude - not wanting to risk their comfort, their power in order to stand up for what is right and good. On the other hand, one thing that can never be said about President Bush is that he hasn't stood up for his own beliefs consistently and firmly, regardless of what would happen to his perceived prestige as a result.

On to global warming. So many people believe this farce without question that even here few Oregonians are fighting the governor's tactics when a scientist whose analysis has led him to speak out against the theory of global warming is relieved of his title of State Climatologist on the basis that his opinion does not fit with State policy. Though I am not intimately familiar with conditions during the Stalin-led communist Soviet Union, this sounds like something that would have happened during those dark days. And uninformed people agree with Kulongoski's actions. But on closer examination at the actual data quoted by the global warming fanatics, or more truthfully the total lack of hard evidence supporting the claims, this theory falls apart. Even better, simply consider the tactics used by those pushing this agenda and stripping you of your freedom to chose how you want to live. If nothing else, we should be extremely suspicious when we are dealing with this "scientific consensus." Consensus? Millions and millions of people all over the planet believe that the Earth was created by a higher being, regardless of how they name the being or power. Does that make creation fact? Not if you ask the anti-Christian left. And yet, if we follow the logic behind their own arguments in support of human-caused global warming it does. Which is fine with me, since I happen to believe a Creation actually occurred. But in all seriousness, consensus does not and can not replace scientific fact and analysis. All the while anyone disagreeing with the mainstream opinion of human cause is being stifled at every turn, we have a former Vice President with no scientific degree pushing a blatantly propagandic film all over the country and on over into Europe, and who has even trained an entourage to be official representatives in his stead. (Great, more people who want to be like Al Gore.) To summarize: Hawaii may have seen 50 degree temperatures this year, snow may fall for the first time in 63 years in Kathmandu, tens of thousands of people across the United States can be without power due to extreme cold weather conditions and record snowfall, screenings of "An Inconvenient Truth" can be cancelled for the same reasons, but if you're truly intelligent you had better leave the SUV in the driveway (or sell it) and break out those snowshoes to hit the natural foods market, because we're causing the Global meltdown that will... kill... us... all

As this insanity unfolds, and the Party in Power dismantles our freedom beginning with the Military charged with protecting it, I would ask only one thing of anyone reading this: Wherever a debate is ongoing, whenever a decision is made, consider the end implications of the action. I guarantee that you will find the vast majority (if not all) of the actions taken by the liberal Democrats will in the end accomplish two things - strip you of your freedom, and increase the size of the Federal government. Then think about how long you want this to continue, how much you want to pay in taxes, and how little you want to be able to choose for yourself.

Suidice Bombers and Liberal Inhumanity

On the way in to work today, I heard the news blurb that at least 18 civilians had been killed in a suicide blast outside the United States' largest military base in Afghanistan. Primary reports indicated that the Taliban took credit for the attack, though there was much doubt from investigators that the Taliban could have been aware that Vice President Cheney was inside the base at that time, having made an unannounced trip to Afghanistan.

I parked the car, turned off the radio, and headed for the short walk through the park behind the 200 Market Street building. After getting settled in and organized with my days work, I overheard a woman ask one of my coworkers how he was doing, since he had come in to work so early. His response set my blood boiling: "I'd be doing a lot better if those stupid suicide bombers had got it right. C'mon, they killed all those people who didn't deserve to die and missed the one they should have got."

I make a conscious effort not to fall prey to rhetoric from those who label all liberals as defeatists and underminers of the military and our mission in Iraq (and vice-versa, any who label all conservatives as right-wing neocons). Believing all of what any one person says is a shortcut to being misled and subjected to all sorts of infectious propaganda. But to hear someone I know personally to be more liberal minded make an utterly disgusting statement wishing our Vice President had been killed in that attack completely wiped any doubt about the insanity of left-leaning homosapiens from my mind. I had at one time thought this man to be somewhat informed and logical.

In my mind, tiny thought it is, citizens of the United States of America regardless of political opinion or affiliation have a responsibility to uphold and support their elected President. Since G.W. Bush began his first term, there have been numerous media pieces depicting or describing his assassination. Why is that? Who would even consider themself qualified to make such a damning judgment call -- that the President or Vice President of the United States of America is worthy of assassination?

Of Mice and Men

'Twas a dark and stormy night as we drove into our apartment complex, stopping briefly at the mailbox to find out which billing service will get this month's "Most Annoying" award (looks like Comcast has a substantial lead on Clark Public Utilities). Minute twisters tossed leaves, cigarette butts, and other miscellaneous rubbish in random swirling dances through the path of our not-so-fuel-efficient sedan's headlights. One certain piece caught my eye, and as we pulled forward I noticed that it's pattern didn't change. On closer inspection we learned that the performer was a small field mouse, who seemed oblivious to the fact that a 3,000-pound automobile had driven within two feet of him. Twice.

What was my reaction? That of any red-blooded American male - I wanted to see if I could run it over on the first try. Much to my disappointment, the feral cry of a wild female human... er, the objections of my wife... quickly stifled that barbaric urge. So I tried logic: "something must be wrong, look - he's not running away. Have you ever seen a mouse just run around like that?", all to no avail. I was answered, in the end, that I could "...do whatever you want, but if you kill that thing you'd better not tell me about it."

What a dilemma. Either follow her pleading and leave this obviously disturbed mammal to be devoured by wild street cats - the same ones who roamed our apartment complex urinating on doormats as a form of free speech - or lose hard-earned brownie points by ignoring my wife's objection and killing an innocent and defenseless creature (who, as one co-worker pointed out the next day, could have been "hopped up on rat poison,") and follow my drive to do what another co-worker described as "...God's work...stamping out another piece of vermin." I pulled the car into our parking spot, got out and carried our son up to our apartment door. After seeing them inside, I ran back down the stairs to the still running Nissan, and made myself comfortable behind the wheel. "Well, what do you think?" I asked aloud. Scarcely a second passed when the answer "I bet you can smash him on the first pass, even doing 20." came. With no opposing votes from the house, the binding resolution passed to deafening applause. I turned off the radio - nothing worse than applause to break one's concentration. Looking back today, I still think I did him a favor. I just hope my wife doesn't read this.

Inaugural Post!

Congratulations! You've stumbled on the pioneering post of the Evans Family blog. If nothing else, we promise to entertain, educate and inform... about things that interest us. If you don't find our opinions and news uplifting, humorous or helpful ... well, frankly we don't care. You can also find us online at My Space here.

Holding true to what we consider the American Spirit,

The Nate Evans Family