Location: Raleigh, North Carolina, United States Birthday:7/24/1978 Gender:Male
Interests:I like to be outdoors, I like to watch movies, and I like to enjoy life's little pleasures...and like to pleasure myself a little. hehe KIDDING Expertise:longing for the days when I oppressed people all over the world for my Government. Occupation:Student
This is a short video showing our little kitties....Tom and Jerry. Tom just loves to hop up on the refrigerator and try to get to the ice maker.....silly kitty
I figured I would link to a video that my team leader in Kosovo shot. I kinda had a falling out with him...but this video shows what it was like some days "inside the wire" in Kosovo....most days it was quieter....more peaceful...the kids didn't yell at me and give me the finger....but if you knew the guy behind the camera...I'm sure you'd understand. Haha. Anyways, this was where I lived for 6 months in '99-00. Cyas!
I figured I would start uploading some videos and stuff to youtube.....since I don't want to jump on the myspace bandwagon. Youtube is awesome cause there is so much interesting video out there....some really culturally valuable! This is video I took of Toma's cousin playing a VERY recognizable Russian song. Though her cousin and his family live in Russia, they are all originally from Georgia. They fled from Georgia when civil war erupted where they lived. They lived in the Abkhazia region on the Black Sea. Many of the Georgians who lived in this region had close ties to Russia and fled there due to the war. In this video, her cousin Ruslan is singing in Russian.... With Toma's family you never know what language they will speak....it may be Russian one minute, Mingrellian the next....or possibly Georgian - all 3 distinctly different languages (Russian and Georgian is like comparing English and Chinese). They don't mix languages though....that is looked down upon. No Spanglish here....hehe. Anyways, hope you enjoy...and let me know what you think!
Well....we got our visas and we're off to Russia in 2 weeks!! Can you
believe it!? Exciting isn't it???....well....no...now I know you're
excited but...no.. ....no....don't cry....Moscow Does Not Believe In
Tears.... so stop crying from excitement!
Good day....not just a greeting....but it was a good day
Last night when Toma got home we talked about our weekends...it was
nice. She had so much fun. She left on Friday night with a book bag of
clothes....just enough for the weekend. We try to just carry on after
being robbed in Georgia that time ....well, she bought so many
clothes she had to borrow a suitcase from my sister to come home with!
She must have spent like $500! She needed the clothes though. Her work
is switching to professional attire.. no more business casual. Thats
one good thing about my job. I can dress business casual every day
except Friday....when I can do whatever I want just kidding...but
we can wear jeans on Fridays. "Oh...and next Friday is Hawaiian shirt
day....so you know you, if you want to, you can go ahead and wear a
Hawaiian shirt and jeans.." (Office Space reference) Man, that movie is
like SO right on with offices....I hate it haha. Anyways, back to
Toma...she had fun and got to kick back with my sister some. I had fun
too....haha.
I got to thinking lately about the phrase "whatever it takes." Often
people use this in business to let everyone know that the corporate
objective is to be achieved above all else. This is not a unique
concept for me. In the Army obviously mission comes first. When you
were assigned a mission there were no options...you had to complete
it...you had to achieve your objectives. Sure, you wouldn't always
succeed...but quitting isn't in the Airborne vocabulary. One thing
about the military though, especially the Airborne...people mattered
too. For the most part, leaders knew they had to take care of their
people to get the most out of them. I was no exception. I was a very
connected leader. I knew my guys and was close to them...they could
trust me....and I knew they would give me their best....we both knew we
would be there for each other. Except this one shitbag I had right at
the end, but thats another story....haha. Anyways, today in our
department meeting our "corporate engagement survey" results came up.
This is a survey conducted by the company to gauge how happy we are and
all....and our company and department's scores fell this year. After a
little bitch session...not too too bad....our director reminded us that
the corporate mind set as far as our goals go for this year and the next
few years is "whatever it takes"....again, a familiar concept to me,
but with a misguided application. I wanted to point out that there is
another part to that....its "whatever it takes, but you can't forget
who is fighting to get you there"....that is what is wrong with our
company, our department. The leadership, and I use the term lightly,
doesn't understand that you can have an unyielding desire to achieve
victory, but you have to treat your people well, compensate them well,
and make them feel like they are essential to achieving the objective.
They don't do that. They pretend to care....they even pretend to
develop plans to increase employee engagement....their attempts fail
miserably. They could learn something from they vets at that
company....people matter....sure, mission first...but people matter.
This weekend I got to talking about "whatever it takes"...even though I
didn't express it in those terms. A special friend of mine is in a sort
of tough spot. I tried to put my 2 cents in....tried to pump up some
motivation...and promised I would be there to offer support. I think I
pissed someone off in the process, because sometimes people fail to
support those they love like they should. My point is....when you have
a goal....you have to do "whatever it takes" to achieve it. Walking 25
miles with a 70 pound rucksack isn't easy....but you do "whatever it
takes" to get it done...getting in to Carolina after being turned down
twice because you screwed up your senior year of high school years ago
isn't easy....but you fight harder, work harder, you do "whatever it
takes" to get it done.....growing your book of business by 20% in a
year isn't easy....but you do "whatever it takes" to make it
happen....when you feel lost, have nowhere to go, nothing to do, you
need socialization, education, goals, a future....you do "whatever it
takes" to get it done. Without support all of this is harder....so
thats why I will do whatever I can to make sure those that need me are
in the position to do "whatever it takes...."
Sometimes people need to get away....sometimes they need a break.... So
maybe this weekend is a good time. Friday night would be a good night
to chill out and watch some movies and sip margaritas....Saturday would
be a good day to wake up to tea, scrambled eggs, home baked biscuits and
bacon....to go take a walk....through Duke gardens or something....then
to go spend the day at the flea market or something....taking time,
enjoying freedom....I think that sounds good. I think we'll do that.
Then I'd go my separate way.... and Saturday night would be a good
night for me to chill out at home while some other people go out to a
bridal shower and downtown, enjoying fun friends, good drinks, nice
nightlife....then maybe when they get home a card game or movie in the
wee hours....All of this sounds like a great idea for how to spend a
weekend with a good friend..... Or like Toma said maybe I have other
plans....I dunno....sometimes you gotta say... do "whatever it takes"
to get away for a while.
so stop crying from excitement!
....well, she bought so many
clothes she had to borrow a suitcase from my sister to come home with!
She must have spent like $500! She needed the clothes though. Her work
is switching to professional attire.. no more business casual. Thats
one good thing about my job. I can dress business casual every day
except Friday....when I can do whatever I want 
