Test blog

Just testing to see if this site is still active

Story time- Deep in the woods of Houston

UV therapy

Started tanning again, works best for my skin. Was told not to for the drugs I'm on for my auto immune diseases. Choosing not being a skin rash ball that has gotten infected twice this year over quality of life. I will die of cancer, at least I get to pick it

a friend died

I started to post this in 2015. But didn't. But in September of 2015, the death toll by suicide passed the number of deaths in combat zones in the two units I deployed with in the wars since 2001. Just sayin.

Bad Rodney?

Late, drinking, and thinking. I think it's time Bad Rodney came back. Now, a lot of people know me from specific time frames, and, honestly, different Rodneys. I'm not talking about the "Pub mean guy" that was most of my tenure at The Pub in Athens Ohio (world's second greatest pub behind "The Split Crow" in Halifax, Nova Scotia (Canada you fucking twat waffles), but the last two years I worked there, not an act, just fucking hating every air pirate on the planet. Then I went to Iraq and centered myself. Might be time for that Rodney to come back, because of all the Goddamn self-centered pettiness that has taken over. Think of someone other than yourself, try to think critically about the things that happen around you, and make decisions to make this better. Too many narcissistic self-centered twatwaffles making decisions that affect you, pay attention. Everything you do affects people around you. KNOW THIS. The "not here for a long time just a good time" holds the same weight as " kill them all, let God sort them out". No matter your age, please, have a good time and enjoy yourself. But realize that everything you do, no matter how small, affects someone else. Unless you Antifa. Which are the most fascists assholes on the planet. Bring your black block to me bitchs, I'm going to Valhalla regardless. Beware the old man who lived in a world where men die young. This message is sponsored by Grammarly because I am drunk.

update?

Been a while since I have posted. Bad Rodney. But since no one, well almost, some friends do. Just had to say this. I have wondered about some of my critical thinking since my time in the wars. Yeah, in my undergrad studies, it took me a while to get my degree, but yet there I was, taking 2 to 3 classes a quarter, while spending 60-70 hours a week at work. When I came back for grad school, all I had to do (initially, thank you government sequester) was go to school. I had a much rougher time. And it wasn't because of class load. I actually thought the classes taught were easier. But I wasn't making the higher level critical thinking as well. Was it PTSD? It didn't help, but I have been dealing with that since birth. Family upbringing was worse than war. Not nearly as much boredom between the violent parts. My Iraqi office mate? Still friends with him. So no, not it. Then I find this. http://www.militarytimes.com/story/military/2016/08/11/malaria-drug-causes-permanent-brain-damage-case-study/88528568/ The malarial drug, which I first started taking in 1989, and in every country I have been to, including most of 2001 to 2010, causes brain damage. Permanent. Wow. Just had to type this out. Have known since August, been digesting the info. I ate that shit like candy for ten years.

Human condition?

I just watched a commercial on TV. It was an "uplifting" commercial. The commercial is of a child, with a cleft pallet, for the most part told first person. You see his family looking at him odd, not wanting to look at him, looking depressed. Mom has a look on her face like it was her fault. You see his classmates whispering behind his back. Then, they show him going into surgery, and in a mirror, you see his lips skewed, teeth sticking out at random angles. He wakes up from surgery, and then everyone, his family, friends, all, are smiling, everyone happy. You see his face, and it has been surgically corrected. All smiles at the end. I know kids and humans can be cruel. If you look different, there is a problem, but you can fix it, and be a part of normal society again. They treat those who are different as wrong, freakish. And this is my point. The answer to this child's problem is to have to fix his face to conform to society. I know there are good medical reasons to have this surgery. But the jist of the commercial isn't about those. It's about non-tolerance, and you should fix your freakish face. The problem is the kid, not societies idea that the kid is a freak, and fix that shit. It reinforces the idea that because this kid looks different, it's not societies problem, and they can look at him as weird, and treat him like that, until the kid has surgery to look "normal". The kid himself is the problem . And this is wrong. Yes, I'm happy the kid got "fixed", so he can eat normal, not have the medical problems that are associated with having a cleft pallet. But he was born that way. He didn't have a choice. So to make a commercial that shames him into surgery reinforces the idea that it's OK to make fun of him, or the mother to take it personal like it was her fault. Don't worry, the kid can be fixed and be normal. Only then can we treat him like one of us. Instead of supporting the child, being nice to him, treating him like normal. I'm sure the people who made the commercial would say they did the opposite, that they were showing the cruel world as it is, and there is no other option than to "fix" the kid. Yes, the world is cruel. And I think this commercial reinforces that. I say, make a commercial that shows the mean people, but also to show the family supporting the child, friends supporting the child, then go into the medical reasons why this surgery should happen. Preach tolerance for those who are born different, who had no control over the "deformities" they were born with. Don't reinforce that you have to fix yourself to "fit in" and "be normal". It's not your fault. Place the onus on society to understand, educate themselves, to learn what exactly is going on. Kids making fun of him will happen. It's up to us as adults to help educate the kids, and to be tolerant and accepting ourselves. Some people are different. They shouldn't be treated that way. Accommodations may have to be made. It's our job as a society to make that happen. Many older cultures, the Mayan of one (which I learned while in Mexico), treated people who were born with "birth defects" were treated as touched by the Gods, and revered. Our society does the opposite. Let's stop that. Just sayin.