MEPS, part 2

I went back to MEPS today; not for a physical but for a consult. So i dragged my ass out of bed at 3:30 in the morning, was out of the house by a quarter past 4, and an hour later i began the whole horrible process. I wore my lucky Habs socks, and I didnt think they were working at first, because true to form, I went in and got yelled at to sit and wait, since they were only processing people who were shipping out first. No problem - i expected it and had brought a book. Then I got yelled at for not joining the other girls (who were shipping) in the inspection room, which apparently I was supposed to get in on despite not shipping out today. Got my happy butt inspected (got naked, showed my hands and feet, got my height and weight taken, got dressed again) and then waited for an hour while they figured out where their own asses were. I got taken down to the Naval Hospital by the duty driver, where I had my endocrinology appointment. Doc was cool, i felt very comfortable with him and he was able to be straight with me and didn't seem to think what he's thinking I have (Late onset nonclassical CAH) is going to prevent me from going in, so there's no issue, they just have to make sure thats what it is. So to blood-sucking I went.

Naturally I got the phlebotomy intern, who, while very cute and sweet, managed to miss my veins twice (once in each arm), and then called for back-up and apologized to me for all the stabbing and kept asking me if i was feeling alright. Back up, a very serious filipina phlebotomist, showed up, stabbed me unceremoniously (and unlike cute guys stabbings, hers hurt), and filled my vials with no problem.

I tried to make the guy feel better by telling him my veins were shy, but he was just a little horrified that my vein was just a little lower than he'd stabbed. Poor kid.

At any rate, I was in and out of MEPS by 11, and everyone was nice to me over the course of the day, and there were no major complications (with the exception of the stabbings and getting a bit lost at the hospital on my way to the appointment) so im blaming the socks and a good attitude.

now i am having a cup of coffee, y'all.

I'm in the walk stage of crawl, walk, run.

I'll be honest; I haven't been keeping up too closely with goings on at the academy. I've been busy in my post-academy life. I try not to talk about too much extremely personal stuff here; I like to keep confined to posts about things which are useful or interesting to read to people who are not me. As a result... maybe not so much with the posting lately. What's been going on?

I came home from college, sat on my duff for a few months getting complacent, split with my long-time boyfriend, moped around for a little while, visited my sister in Arizona, got a job as a bookseller, started seeing someone new, spent some time with my brother while he was home on leave, started up a knitting group in the area, and have begun a new, stressful period in my life.

I am going through the process of applying to the U.S. Coast Guard OCS. This has proven to be much more time consuming and more stressful than I had thought it would be. This is in no way a bad thing - it's the push I needed, and I don't like anything easy. This is proving to be difficult for me to do all on my own (and make no mistake, you are on your own for much of it. This where being a 'self-starter' comes in handy!) but I am enjoying it. I've been getting "down to fighting weight" as they say, working on the paperwork, and reading up on all the required and suggested books and subjects.

I've still got a ways to go in terms of paperwork (my narrative, in particular.), but i'm at weight, focused and determined. I may not get in, but i'm doing what I can to make sure that I am competitive with other applicants.

I'm ready to go, I'm just waiting for the call.

Holy crap, academia. We were blessed today by the presence of Dr. Heather Smith of the University of Northern British Columbia. She gave a talk - to a full Peachman Hall - on "Canada, the US and Climate Change: A Perspective from the Northern Neighbour." She was delightful - funny, informative, and thought provoking. She took our questions well, and although the northwest passage isn't her expertise, she answered our questions damned well. Her lectures very much reminded me of Dr Nincic's - real lectures with real information and not the droning snoozefests i've become accustomed to during her sabbatical. Definitely gave me a moral boost!

We're a small university, so we dont get much by way of speakers or guest lecturers, and we definitely dont generate much interest - nobody wants to speak here and fewer people attend guest lectures, but this one turned out fabulously.

In other news, I actually read the Jamestown Foundation's Terrorism Focus email (i get the digest and i usually skip through it) this afternoon and imagine my surprise to read the following:

FATWA IN TRIBAL PAKISTAN DECLARES TALIBAN “OUT OF ISLAM”

A new fatwa (religious ruling) issued in the Pashtun Darra Adam Khel region of Pakistan’s North-West Frontier Province declares the Taliban to be “out of Islam” as a result of their violence, failure to follow Islamic teachings and takfiri ideology (the latter referring to the Salafist-jihadi practice of declaring fellow Muslims “infidels” if they oppose jihadist dogma). According to the fatwa’s author, Mufti Zainul Abidin, “The Taleban leaders consider themselves and their directives as superior to true Islamic principles and directives as ordained by Almighty Allah” (The Nation [Islamabad], March 23). The Mufti invites other members of the ulama (scholars of Shari’a law) to denounce the “inhuman and immoral” acts of the Taliban.

The fatwa singled out the pronouncements of Mufti Khalid Shah, a Taliban religious leader of dubious credentials who has attacked established Islamic scholars in a series of Taliban-issued CDs. Khalid Shah issued a statement in December 2006 urging attacks on local NGOs “promoting the agenda of the Jews and Christians” (Dawn [Karachi], December 23, 2006). This was followed by an Urdu language fatwa pasted at night on the walls of Darra Adam Khel declaring a jihad against the Pakistan government (Daily Times [Lahore], May 3, 2007). Darra Adam Khel is notorious for its thriving arms bazaar and was the scene of heavy fighting between Taliban militants and the Pakistan military earlier this year (see Terrorism Focus, February 13).

Islamic scholars in the region have been reluctant to oppose the Taliban publicly since the still unsolved assassination of Maulana Hassan Jan in 2007 after he declared the practice of suicide-bombing “un-Islamic” (The News [Karachi], September 16, 2007; PakTribune, September 15, 2007).

Something to nosh on over dinner, you guys. Take a think on it.

Well - nothing to report from Camp Keema except that the fishies upstairs have started not one but two fires in the bathrooms in upper res in the past month. I don't even understand that. The new mega-issue of the Binnacle (the campus newspaper) is out, along with two full pages of Shotty's recent escapades which snagged him a spot on Dr Phil this past week. Yes, that is our own Shotty taken drunk dudes down. The cop on the show didnt seem to excited, but whatever - Shotty's a hero to us and we're proud of him (and I dont think anyone was surprised by this either).

And since I couldnt find the video of that, here's some music, the new NaNuchKa video - cute girl, great song: