This afternoon I came home from lunch and, as usual, I fired up the PC and logged onto Twitter. A new Online Friend Jennifer Navarrete, podcaster on The MorningBrewCast, had a Twit about an online video she saw. It was "a 24 second video from a guy who swears the best way to enjoy coffee is to do it outside in the cold." She then posted a link to the video and the following question: "So does it look like it was fun?"
I responded, "some of my best times with coffee have been in a cold wet foxhole." By now you know that I was an Infantryman in the U.S. Army. My first duty assignment took me to Germany. If you have ever been to Central Europe you know that the winters can get pretty brutal and being an Infantryman meant that you had to be out in the elements, no matter what. When others had the luxury of going inside when the first winds of winter blew across the German countryside, we dug in.
Yep, we dug foxholes or where local restrictions prevented digging we built above ground fortified fighting positions w/overhead cover. So nothing warms one up faster than digging a hole in the ground or filling hundreds, if not thousands, of sandbags to make the fortified fighting positions. However, at the end of a long cold winter day there was nothing better than a hot cup of joe...java...kaffee...coffee.
While the Army is not known for its gourmet coffee selection, well at least not in the mid 1980s. Coffee, back then, came in one flavor and one color: BLACK. Yes, the flavor and the color were the same, trust me. Anyway, there was nothing like leaning on the back wall of the foxhole or against the stack of sandbags as the wind blew across the treeline, the leaves blown across the Grunewald floor, bare tree branches scraping against one another, and sipping on a canteen cup full of piping hot coffee.
It wasn't that it was hot coffee on a cold day, but that it was a brief refuge from the Army. It was a moment that we had to ourselves. It allowed us to be civilians yet again it gave us a moment to reflect on our past while still being firmly rooted in our present. Well, fast forward to today, every once in a while I will pour a cup of coffee and walk out on the porch on a cold night or a rainy day and enjoy. For a few minutes I am back with the friends of my youth. Sometimes, I can almost hear my old roommate, Dan Braun, bitch about how we have to be in the woods while there is a perfectly dry and warm barracks room a few miles away, and on those exceptionally still nights, I can almost hear my Platoon Sergeant, Mel Huff, moving about in the forest and walking smack into a low hanging branch. It really happened (I won't write about the night he fell in a foxhole).
Excuse me, now it's time to brew a pot of coffee.
tags used: Dave Guerra, Coffee, Grunewald, Foxholes, Fighting Positions, Army, Jennifer Navarrete, Morning BrewCast
30 November 2007
29 November 2007
Preparation (or failure there of)
This evening I got a unique opportunity to see the preparation that people put in to be a success and I also saw the lack of preparation that people will use as an excuse for failure.
First the winner who prepared...The Dallas Cowboys. They played the Green Bay Packers in a decision making game for the top seed in the NFC. The Cowboys have obviously done their homework and were just a little too much for the Packers. The Pack used something called a 5-wideout set (5 wide receivers), in a way that appears as though 5 Wide Receivers are fanning out onto the playing field from one point of origin. The Cowboys gave up a couple of yards when the 5-wideout was used early in the game but that was it. From then, Dallas exploited everything that Green Bay was dishing out. In the end Dallas went to 11 - 1 and Green Bay goes back to Wisconsin with a 10 - 2 record. CHEERS TO DALLAS!!!
The one who failed to prepare...The Green Bay Packers. They traveled to Dallas only to get their back sides handed to them. QB Brett Favre must have thought that Dallas was a flash in the pan or something but he was wrong. Early in the first half, something must have spooked Favre because he could not get it together and was just heaving the ball to get rid of it. It cost him and the Packers, the only light at the end of the night was Aaron Rodgers (Backup BG QB) who stepped up and filled in nicely after Favre's "mysterious" elbow/arm injury. A little more experience and Rodgers will fit in nicely as Favre's replacement. Still the Packers came up way short and saw themselves seeing why failing to prepare sends one home with their tail tucked nicely between their legs. JEERS TO GREEN BAY!!!
Finally, who else failed to prepare: Fast Eddie's Sports & Billiards...Two out-of-town work guest and myself found ourselves there for the big game. We arrived just after the start of the game. I kid you not, we were never visited by a waitress or waiter. While we saw a couple walking around plain and simple there were not enough to serve the crowd. We were there the entire game and left without ever order or buying an adult beverage or any beverage for that matter. How can an establishment know for a couple of weeks that Thursday November 29, 2007 was going to be a big night for NFL games and this establishment failed to prepare by having adequate staff coverage. I just cannot come up with a suitable explanation as to why any customer service based establishment would give its customers less, especially when they advertise that they will screening the biggest game in the 2007 NFL Season, next to the playoffs of course, and want everyone to come on down and enjoy what they have to offer while watching the game. Talk about a big disappointment. So, dear reader, if you want to settle for less and have minimal to no service, then may I recommend your next social event be held at Fast Eddie's Sports & Billiards and you will not be disappointed. I know that I will never repeat that mistake because now I know. JEERS TO FAST EDDIE'S SPORTS & BILLIARDS.
tags used here: Dave Guerra, Winners, Dallas Cowboys, Green Bay Packers, Losers, Preparation, Failure to prepare, Fast Eddies Sports and Billiards
First the winner who prepared...The Dallas Cowboys. They played the Green Bay Packers in a decision making game for the top seed in the NFC. The Cowboys have obviously done their homework and were just a little too much for the Packers. The Pack used something called a 5-wideout set (5 wide receivers), in a way that appears as though 5 Wide Receivers are fanning out onto the playing field from one point of origin. The Cowboys gave up a couple of yards when the 5-wideout was used early in the game but that was it. From then, Dallas exploited everything that Green Bay was dishing out. In the end Dallas went to 11 - 1 and Green Bay goes back to Wisconsin with a 10 - 2 record. CHEERS TO DALLAS!!!
The one who failed to prepare...The Green Bay Packers. They traveled to Dallas only to get their back sides handed to them. QB Brett Favre must have thought that Dallas was a flash in the pan or something but he was wrong. Early in the first half, something must have spooked Favre because he could not get it together and was just heaving the ball to get rid of it. It cost him and the Packers, the only light at the end of the night was Aaron Rodgers (Backup BG QB) who stepped up and filled in nicely after Favre's "mysterious" elbow/arm injury. A little more experience and Rodgers will fit in nicely as Favre's replacement. Still the Packers came up way short and saw themselves seeing why failing to prepare sends one home with their tail tucked nicely between their legs. JEERS TO GREEN BAY!!!
Finally, who else failed to prepare: Fast Eddie's Sports & Billiards...Two out-of-town work guest and myself found ourselves there for the big game. We arrived just after the start of the game. I kid you not, we were never visited by a waitress or waiter. While we saw a couple walking around plain and simple there were not enough to serve the crowd. We were there the entire game and left without ever order or buying an adult beverage or any beverage for that matter. How can an establishment know for a couple of weeks that Thursday November 29, 2007 was going to be a big night for NFL games and this establishment failed to prepare by having adequate staff coverage. I just cannot come up with a suitable explanation as to why any customer service based establishment would give its customers less, especially when they advertise that they will screening the biggest game in the 2007 NFL Season, next to the playoffs of course, and want everyone to come on down and enjoy what they have to offer while watching the game. Talk about a big disappointment. So, dear reader, if you want to settle for less and have minimal to no service, then may I recommend your next social event be held at Fast Eddie's Sports & Billiards and you will not be disappointed. I know that I will never repeat that mistake because now I know. JEERS TO FAST EDDIE'S SPORTS & BILLIARDS.
tags used here: Dave Guerra, Winners, Dallas Cowboys, Green Bay Packers, Losers, Preparation, Failure to prepare, Fast Eddies Sports and Billiards
27 November 2007
Happy Holidays
Tonight, the annual A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS aired on ABC. Personally, I thought that it was just too early for that long standing holiday favorite to air on TV. Just like Luci mentions that January snowflakes are better than December Snowflakes or my personal dilemma Late December Egg Nog is 100 times better than Just After Thanksgiving Egg Nog, well airing A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS less than a week after Thanksgiving is insane, but then it all started to make sense. ABC is kicking off their CHRISTMAS VIEWING SEASON with the standard, A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS. They feel it now and I'm liking ABC now.
So tomorrow night (Wednesday 11/28) they will keep the momentum going by airing what the new generation will certainly call a classic; SHREK THE HALLS with all the voices. This means that over the next couple of weeks things are going to be moving pretty fast so in case you have not heard it from me...Have Happy Holiday Season.
More from me later.
tags this blog post with:
Dave Guerra, Charlie Brown, ABC, Winter, Christmas, Holidays, Egg Nog, snowflakes, Shrek
Technorati Profile
So tomorrow night (Wednesday 11/28) they will keep the momentum going by airing what the new generation will certainly call a classic; SHREK THE HALLS with all the voices. This means that over the next couple of weeks things are going to be moving pretty fast so in case you have not heard it from me...Have Happy Holiday Season.
More from me later.
tags this blog post with:
Dave Guerra, Charlie Brown, ABC, Winter, Christmas, Holidays, Egg Nog, snowflakes, Shrek
Technorati Profile
22 November 2007
Happy Thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving from me. I hope you have a wonderful holiday and an even better Black Friday, if you are not too sure what Black Friday is, well check out this Black Friday Ads website.
Now if today is not a holiday in your part of the world, then there is nothing wrong with giving thanks without the need of a formally declared day, so please give thanks your way.
Tags Used Here: Dave Guerra, Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Happy Holidays,
Now if today is not a holiday in your part of the world, then there is nothing wrong with giving thanks without the need of a formally declared day, so please give thanks your way.
Tags Used Here: Dave Guerra, Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Happy Holidays,
11 November 2007
Veterans Day 2007
Please pardon the interruption. Today is Veterans Day in the United States and I want to take a moment of your time to do a little reflecting.
It was a little more than 22 years ago that I stepped off the bus at Fort Benning, Georgia. There I was 18 years old fresh out of high school and about to embark on something that I thought I knew something about what I was getting myself into but in reality had no idea. See, my father was a career Army man and we traveled to bases over the eastern part of the U.S., so my brothers and I had the privileged life (if you can call it that) of being considered military dependents. Well, let me tell you being a Soldier and being a dependent of a Soldier are two different things. The two are like polar opposites. Still I knew from an early age that somewhere/sometime in my life the military was a career option. So I opted for the College Fund, which at time was going to payout almost $50K for college. Not a bad deal.
From July 1985 to October 1985, I was in the middle of the most humid place on the planet. Basic Training was conducted in what seemed like 1000 degree temperatures, always on the go, little to no sleep, and (I kid you not) even ate GREEN EGGS (yep, the same green eggs of Green Eggs and Ham fame). Well, in the end I was a certified PROFESSIONAL SOLDIER...I was an United States Army INFANTRYMAN, but I was not unique in the sense that I was the only Infantryman. On October 13, 1985, I acquired 114 more brothers and from that day on I feared no man on the planet except for another Infantryman, for I knew exactly what an Infantryman was capable of.
After graduating Basic and Advanced Infantry Training, my first assignment took me to the last divided city in the world. BERLIN, West Berlin to be exact. It was here that I was a member of the most unique unit in the history of the United States Army: the Berlin Brigade.
It was in the Berlin Brigade, that I served at the tip of the spear of the free world, as on a daily basis we stood toe-to-toe with our Cold War adversaries, the Soviets and the Warsaw Pact. In 1985 to 1987, if anything were to happen it would be in Berlin first. The running joke among the Allies (British, French, and U.S.) that if there was ever a war, a sign would be hung outside the Berlin Wall that read "Stalag Berlin" and the Warsaw Pact would bypass the city. However, the humor only went so far, it was in Berlin that I realized that should there be a war, it was these men that I was going to die next to, because we knew fully well that being 110 miles behind the Iron Curtain no one was going to relieve us in a time of war. Though there was never a war, some very great friends were lost. Friends like J.R. Morast (we were in the same Basic Training & AIT unit) who died coming off guard duty and Kenneth James Gibson, died coming home for Christmas on Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, who unknowingly became one of the first casualties in the early days of what was to eventually become the War on Terror. Two others; Kenneth Ford and James Goins died in the La Belle Disco Bombing. Knowing they and too many others like them are in a better place now, we persevered and soldiered on. Those that knew them and served with them are honored to have called them Brothers, Brothers-in-Arms.
However, it was not all doom and gloom. In Berlin, I had the privilege of not only working and living among some of the finest soldiers in the United States Army, I also got to live and be among the citizens of Berlin, the finest people on the planet. I never met a citizen of Berlin, that did not appreciate the Freedoms, we (the Allies) helped give them so many years ago. No matter what their political opinions were, they were happy to be Free enough to voice those opinions. Just on the other side of the Berlin Wall, the citizens of East Berlin saw themselves as pawns in a game of politics and yearned for the day that they were able to have their voice heard without fear of intimidation or imprisonment. Little did any of us know, at the time, that the end of Berlin Wall was not that far off.
When my time to leave Berlin came, I was sad in the fact that a chapter in my life was coming to an end. I was sad of the people that I was leaving behind and sad for those that were never coming home. Still all-in-all, being in West Berlin in the 1980s was the greatest adventure a young soldier could ever undertake. It helped shape the path that the rest of my life was going to take. To this day, I still pay homage to the Professionalism that the Berlin Brigade instilled in everyone whoever served. Above all, everyday I am grateful to have served with the finest soldiers in the world in the most unique City on the planet during the most unique time in the history of the planet.
Thank you for your time and THANK A VETERAN,
David Guerra
U.S. Army Infantryman
Berlin Brigade, West Berlin 1985 - 1987
It was a little more than 22 years ago that I stepped off the bus at Fort Benning, Georgia. There I was 18 years old fresh out of high school and about to embark on something that I thought I knew something about what I was getting myself into but in reality had no idea. See, my father was a career Army man and we traveled to bases over the eastern part of the U.S., so my brothers and I had the privileged life (if you can call it that) of being considered military dependents. Well, let me tell you being a Soldier and being a dependent of a Soldier are two different things. The two are like polar opposites. Still I knew from an early age that somewhere/sometime in my life the military was a career option. So I opted for the College Fund, which at time was going to payout almost $50K for college. Not a bad deal.
From July 1985 to October 1985, I was in the middle of the most humid place on the planet. Basic Training was conducted in what seemed like 1000 degree temperatures, always on the go, little to no sleep, and (I kid you not) even ate GREEN EGGS (yep, the same green eggs of Green Eggs and Ham fame). Well, in the end I was a certified PROFESSIONAL SOLDIER...I was an United States Army INFANTRYMAN, but I was not unique in the sense that I was the only Infantryman. On October 13, 1985, I acquired 114 more brothers and from that day on I feared no man on the planet except for another Infantryman, for I knew exactly what an Infantryman was capable of.
After graduating Basic and Advanced Infantry Training, my first assignment took me to the last divided city in the world. BERLIN, West Berlin to be exact. It was here that I was a member of the most unique unit in the history of the United States Army: the Berlin Brigade.
It was in the Berlin Brigade, that I served at the tip of the spear of the free world, as on a daily basis we stood toe-to-toe with our Cold War adversaries, the Soviets and the Warsaw Pact. In 1985 to 1987, if anything were to happen it would be in Berlin first. The running joke among the Allies (British, French, and U.S.) that if there was ever a war, a sign would be hung outside the Berlin Wall that read "Stalag Berlin" and the Warsaw Pact would bypass the city. However, the humor only went so far, it was in Berlin that I realized that should there be a war, it was these men that I was going to die next to, because we knew fully well that being 110 miles behind the Iron Curtain no one was going to relieve us in a time of war. Though there was never a war, some very great friends were lost. Friends like J.R. Morast (we were in the same Basic Training & AIT unit) who died coming off guard duty and Kenneth James Gibson, died coming home for Christmas on Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, who unknowingly became one of the first casualties in the early days of what was to eventually become the War on Terror. Two others; Kenneth Ford and James Goins died in the La Belle Disco Bombing. Knowing they and too many others like them are in a better place now, we persevered and soldiered on. Those that knew them and served with them are honored to have called them Brothers, Brothers-in-Arms.
However, it was not all doom and gloom. In Berlin, I had the privilege of not only working and living among some of the finest soldiers in the United States Army, I also got to live and be among the citizens of Berlin, the finest people on the planet. I never met a citizen of Berlin, that did not appreciate the Freedoms, we (the Allies) helped give them so many years ago. No matter what their political opinions were, they were happy to be Free enough to voice those opinions. Just on the other side of the Berlin Wall, the citizens of East Berlin saw themselves as pawns in a game of politics and yearned for the day that they were able to have their voice heard without fear of intimidation or imprisonment. Little did any of us know, at the time, that the end of Berlin Wall was not that far off.
When my time to leave Berlin came, I was sad in the fact that a chapter in my life was coming to an end. I was sad of the people that I was leaving behind and sad for those that were never coming home. Still all-in-all, being in West Berlin in the 1980s was the greatest adventure a young soldier could ever undertake. It helped shape the path that the rest of my life was going to take. To this day, I still pay homage to the Professionalism that the Berlin Brigade instilled in everyone whoever served. Above all, everyday I am grateful to have served with the finest soldiers in the world in the most unique City on the planet during the most unique time in the history of the planet.
Thank you for your time and THANK A VETERAN,
David Guerra
U.S. Army Infantryman
Berlin Brigade, West Berlin 1985 - 1987
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)