Here's Your Sign...

I thought I'd throw in a few signs you don't see in your average Mall parking lot. These remind me that I'm on an Army Post, just in case I might forget.

This thing below is a 'Clearing Barrel'. The idea is that every time you enter a building, you go through the steps to make sure your weapon is cleared and safed. The barrels are filled with concrete and sand to absorb small arms impacts from within. You stick the barrel of your weapon in the hole as you clear it. As we are not carrying live ammunition here at Ft Sill, this barrel has tape over the opening to keep the critters (and cigarette butts and candy wrappers) out. Seems like Accidental Discharges (some might say, Negligent Discharges) were accounting for enough injuries to make this a good idea overseas. After all, most average Americans aren't used to carrying loaded machine guns around all the time.....

Just in case you need instructions on clearing your weapons:

Lois has her first day of motorcycle riding at the local Harley shop's beginners riding course today. I'm excited for her - and just a little worried, but not too much. If all goes well, she'll have her bike license by Monday and we can go shopping when I'm home on leave. At least ONE of us will have a bike.

I sure do miss the music at Overman Park in downtown Cedar Falls this year. From what I hear, it's as much fun as ever. Save me a spot or two on next years' calendar - most likely later in the season, but I'll be there!

Getting down to the last couple of weeks here. Everyone is getting antsy and ready to go. Most of us are looking forward to some leave the first week of August. I can hardly wait. I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas.

If you can, drop in on the Medevac sendoff on Aug 5th. I believe it's at 6:00 PM at Hawkeye Community College. All my BlackHawk med guys from Waterloo are going to Iraq, too. They're coming here to Ft Sill just as we leave, so they'll be 'in country' just a couple of months after we are. I don't know if we'll cross paths down here or not, but I'm sure I'll see some of them over there.

Well, as always, write when you find the time.

Here's a piece of advice from a fairly wealthy man I know. When asked the secret of his success, he replied:

"Get what you can, Can what you get, and sit on the cans."

Later, Dave