LONG POST
I received my DD-214 with an honorable discharge on 31 July. There's still a part of me that's in a state of disbelief and shock.
There's a part of me that will always wonder what would have happened had I pushed harder to stay in and complete my 0321 training. There's a part of me that feels like I was supposed to go to war and is disappointed and ashamed that I did not go. There's a much more prominent part that is relieved that I've neither made my wife a widow this year, nor lost a limb fighting somebody else's war. There's the only part that really matters that is thrilled to be home with her and never have to leave her on a Sunday night again without being sure when I can make it back.
If I let myself dwell on it, sometimes I find myself frustrated that I never had the opportunity to do anything worthy of recognition while enlisted. By worthy of recognition, I don't mean by your definition, mine, or your Aunt Martha's - I mean by the standards of 2d Recon Bn, where valor and sacrifice are all in a day's work. Unfortunately, I never even got to deploy with them, to truly experience that 'day's work'. I can only be satisfied that I was honorably discharged, I served some time with a great unit, and came back to my family and friends relatively whole and healthy.
On that note, the knee pain is really starting to get on my nerves. Mandy wants me to try to be seen at a pain management clinic. I have my doubts as to how effective that will be, but I suppose it's worth a try if I don't see improvement in the near future. She is concerned that the chronic pain will quickly lead to depression, which would of course be compounded by my frustration with the circumstances of my enlistment. Personally, I think I'll be okay once I find a way to productively occupy my attention, but again, the pain is obnoxious.
I mentioned previously that I had a pretty good short term contract offer, but it looks like somebody who could start sooner took the job. It looks like my dad has a lead for me, and we'll see how that ones goes. Actually, though, I've made some pretty solid plans that preclude full time employment. Of course, given the right offer, I'd be willing to belay those plans for a year or so, but not longer. Oh, the plans, you ask? I'm going to go back to school full time. I'll be attending Skagit Valley College for a couple of years and then transferring to the University of Washington. I'm going to obtain a bachelor's degree in Computing and Software Systems, which from what I gather, is essentially a Computer Science degree with a bit more focus on how the software engineering process works in the real world along with the requistite business and program management courses. I'll also be (most likely during summer sessions) completing the prerequisites to attend medical school (primarily chemistry and biology classes that I won't be able to fit into my regular schedule) and applying to a few medical schools after my junior year. I haven't made a 100% firm decision on what to do with that, but I have committed to getting the prereq's done and preparing for the MCAT. We'll see what the medical schools have to say about that in a few years.
During the drive home I was thinking a bit about the schism between computers and medicine and wondered what medical schools would think of that. The University of Washington School of Medicine (the #1 rated medical school in the country in primary care and #7 in research) officially has no bias regarding undergraduate degree provided the prerequesites are fulfilled, but they still might ask about it during an interview. The more I thought about the matter, the more I thought there are a lot of similarities. Both professions are in the business of providing service and maintenance to complex systems. Symptoms are examined, trouble shooting is performed, and treatment is administered. Between crises studying and research is done to stay up to date with the latest issues and techniques, and preventitive maintenance is performed. Granted, a human life (arguably from at least a moral standpoint) is infinitely more precious than any computer system, but this does not change the fact the the process is quite similar.
I actually had an interest in medicine when I was younger, but I shied away from the idea. I think this is mostly due to fears of commitment and responsibility. In this regard, I believe the Marine Corps has served me well. When I made the decision to enlist, especially as infantry, I was undertaking a huge commitment. Signing an infantry contract is in effect agreeing to take the direct responsibility of other men's lives into your hands. So if I can hypothetically handle leading a squad in combat, I should be able to hypothetically handle making a judgement call that will determine the prognosis of a critical patient, right? Sounds like about the same stress to me, only with the latter there will be a greater chance that I will have to live with my mistakes a bit longer if they are severe. I wasn't initially comfortable with the amount of time that goes into studying and preparing for a medical career, but when I enlisted I was definitely considering a military career. Which one offers more freedom? Probably the medical career. This pretty much leaves nothing to stop me from giving it a shot, so that's exactly what I'm going to do.
It's been suggested that I should record and/or share my recipes, as apparently I've inherited some of my father's talent in the kitchen (or at least I'm persistent enough to futz with things until I get a couple of them right enough that I'll eat them). Unfortunately, I don't really have 'recipes' per se. I often look at recipes and watch cooking shows, but I seldom write anything down, and if I follow somebody else's recipe exactly, it's very rare and probably only do it once to figure it out. I'm not Betty Crocker, so if you want specifics on any of this, google for a recipe. I did a steak marinade and bbq sauce last week that turned out pretty well... you can check my wife's journal for that one, or leave a comment if you really want it and can't find it in hers. Last night I did a pasta salad with which I was quite pleased - first time I've ever done something like that. Jambalaya I've done a couple of times before - I used a recipe from gumbopages.com as a starting point, and I think it's damned close to Dad's, and that's where I was aiming, so I'm happy with it. The chili I've been making for years. I started when I was probably sixteen or seventeen by following exactly the directions on the '2 alarm chili kit' at the grocery store, modified it, eventually scrapped it and went wholly from scratch, and eventually went back to using the kits because it's just convenient. So far I haven't met a single person who didn't like my chili, and many had doubts that I could top their mom's or their favourite restaurant or whatever, but nobody has yet told me that such and such is better. If you try to follow my recipe and it isn't any good, come over some time and try mine, take notes if you want. Like I said, I aint Betty Crocker.
Jambalaya
I start this one by making chicken stock the day before. Take the meat off a chicken, cut it into bite size pieces, and put it in the fridge for tomorrow. Brown the bones in the oven - maybe about 350 for 45-60 minutes. Put the chicken bones, neck, giblets, whatever, in a stock pot with a bunch of cold water. Simmer this for a few hours. Add mirepoix (carrots, onions, celery), garlic, salt, and herbs (sachet de epices i believe is the French culinary term - think it was tarragon, thyme, basil, oregano, bay leaves, and parsley either in a tea ball or cheese cloth ball). Simmer for a couple more hours. Strain into another pot. Put strained stock into an ice water bath and slowly stir to cool it before putting in the fridge. Apparently this helps reduce bacteria growth. I've never died from a chicken stock infection, so I wouldn't know - then again, the few times I've made chicken stock, I did the ice bath thing, and I've never died from a chicken stock infection. The next day, take your stock out and skim off some of the fat that has formed.
Chop up some celery, bell pepper, and onion (trinity - the cajun equivalent to mirepoix, and in my opinion, better) and set aside. Chop up some sausage (kielbasa works, but I bet andoullie would be better), get out your chicken, and some shrimp. Pot the pot on the fire and throw in the sausage. I like to do this over high heat to get a nice sear on it with a little bit of caramelization and crisp. Remove the sausage and throw the chicken into the pot, seasoning with a 'cajun seasoning blend' (I like Tony Chachere's - I think it's pretty much salt, pepper, paprika, cayenne, garlic). Once browned, remove the chicken and drain some of the fat. Add the trinity, and saute it a bit until the onions are starting to go translucent, then add your meat back in, a bunch of uncooked rice, and your stock. Go ahead and add some more seasoning, and a few shots of tobasco won't hurt either. Bring this to a gentle boil. Do NOT stir it like crazy. Soon as you get a nice simmer, cover it and leave it alone for a while. Somewhere half way in or so, you're basically going to fold it. If you stir it too much, the rice will get all broken up, but you do want some mixing, so fold, be gentle, take your time. Add a little more liquid if needed, cover it up, and leave it alone until the rice is done. That's pretty much it. Serve with french bread and tobasco.
Chili
Chop up a bell pepper, an onion or three, some garlic, and a couple hot peppers - I usually use jalapenos, but I used habaneros last time. Note - when I used the habaneros, adding additional cayenne for heat was unnecessary. Chop up a sausage (kielbasa works, chorizo is probably better - can you tell I like sausage?), and toss that into a pan to sear. Chop up a steak (top round works okay for this), and when the sausage is done, remove sausage to stock pot and sear the steak. I like to throw a little handful of the veggies in with the steak and some salt and pepper while it's browning. Move everything to the stock pot. Add in some chili powder, adjust with cumin, paprika, cayenne, oregeno, and salt. Those two alarm chili kits at the grocery store work pretty well if you don't feel like doing it yourself or don't already have all the spices on hand. I think chili powder is pretty much just cumin, paprika, cayenne, and oregeno anyway if you have all that on hand but don't have chili powder. Add some tomoto sauce, some water (again the 2 alarm chili kit works great here, so just follow their directions explicitly if you are unsure) and mix. Add a couple of bay leaves for bite, a shot of vinegar can help here too. I usually add in a can of chopped tomatoes, a can of red beans, and a can of black beans. Canned stuff is easy, and for this chili it works just fine. Get this to a nice simmer, tasting and adjusting as you go. Remember that it takes a while for the flavours of everythign to blend together and mature, so don't go too crazy with seasoning in the first five minutes. I usually taste it every fifteen minutes or so and adjust slightly, and generally declare it done after two or three hours, depending on how hungry I am. I usually serve chili over rice, or sometimes with corn chips. I keep meaning to do corn bread, but amazingly I have yet to get around to trying that.
Pasta Salad
Mix some dijon mustard and mayo (I used fat free kraft, worked well) in a large bowl. I think I probably used about two table spoons of mustard and maybe six or so of mayo, possibly more. Add some red wine vinegar, honey, salt, pepper, chives, and parsley, mix some more, taste. Add a little olive oil, mix some more, taste. Adjust as needed. Cook up some pasta (bow tie works well). Chop up some cucumber, red onion, celery, carrot, and spinach and tomatoes (yellow tomatoes are great in this). Cool the pasta under cold water so it doesn't kill the veggies too fast. Toss the pasta with the vegies and dressing.
I'm always looking for new things and to improve the old, so please feel free to offer any ideas, suggestions, or constructive criticism. And if you've had my chili and didn't like it, by all means, speak up, but please have some specific suggestions ready too. Of course if you just don't like chili, well then... too bad for you :P
Also, for the vegetarians (anyone here besides Joc???) - yeah, I did that for quite a while, and yes, I can do vegetarian stuff, but really, I don't like it as much. Thanks for talking me out of that one, Dad, I have no idea what I was thinking. Rejoining the world of carnivores was well worth the week of nausea it caused ;)
There's a part of me that will always wonder what would have happened had I pushed harder to stay in and complete my 0321 training. There's a part of me that feels like I was supposed to go to war and is disappointed and ashamed that I did not go. There's a much more prominent part that is relieved that I've neither made my wife a widow this year, nor lost a limb fighting somebody else's war. There's the only part that really matters that is thrilled to be home with her and never have to leave her on a Sunday night again without being sure when I can make it back.
If I let myself dwell on it, sometimes I find myself frustrated that I never had the opportunity to do anything worthy of recognition while enlisted. By worthy of recognition, I don't mean by your definition, mine, or your Aunt Martha's - I mean by the standards of 2d Recon Bn, where valor and sacrifice are all in a day's work. Unfortunately, I never even got to deploy with them, to truly experience that 'day's work'. I can only be satisfied that I was honorably discharged, I served some time with a great unit, and came back to my family and friends relatively whole and healthy.
On that note, the knee pain is really starting to get on my nerves. Mandy wants me to try to be seen at a pain management clinic. I have my doubts as to how effective that will be, but I suppose it's worth a try if I don't see improvement in the near future. She is concerned that the chronic pain will quickly lead to depression, which would of course be compounded by my frustration with the circumstances of my enlistment. Personally, I think I'll be okay once I find a way to productively occupy my attention, but again, the pain is obnoxious.
I mentioned previously that I had a pretty good short term contract offer, but it looks like somebody who could start sooner took the job. It looks like my dad has a lead for me, and we'll see how that ones goes. Actually, though, I've made some pretty solid plans that preclude full time employment. Of course, given the right offer, I'd be willing to belay those plans for a year or so, but not longer. Oh, the plans, you ask? I'm going to go back to school full time. I'll be attending Skagit Valley College for a couple of years and then transferring to the University of Washington. I'm going to obtain a bachelor's degree in Computing and Software Systems, which from what I gather, is essentially a Computer Science degree with a bit more focus on how the software engineering process works in the real world along with the requistite business and program management courses. I'll also be (most likely during summer sessions) completing the prerequisites to attend medical school (primarily chemistry and biology classes that I won't be able to fit into my regular schedule) and applying to a few medical schools after my junior year. I haven't made a 100% firm decision on what to do with that, but I have committed to getting the prereq's done and preparing for the MCAT. We'll see what the medical schools have to say about that in a few years.
During the drive home I was thinking a bit about the schism between computers and medicine and wondered what medical schools would think of that. The University of Washington School of Medicine (the #1 rated medical school in the country in primary care and #7 in research) officially has no bias regarding undergraduate degree provided the prerequesites are fulfilled, but they still might ask about it during an interview. The more I thought about the matter, the more I thought there are a lot of similarities. Both professions are in the business of providing service and maintenance to complex systems. Symptoms are examined, trouble shooting is performed, and treatment is administered. Between crises studying and research is done to stay up to date with the latest issues and techniques, and preventitive maintenance is performed. Granted, a human life (arguably from at least a moral standpoint) is infinitely more precious than any computer system, but this does not change the fact the the process is quite similar.
I actually had an interest in medicine when I was younger, but I shied away from the idea. I think this is mostly due to fears of commitment and responsibility. In this regard, I believe the Marine Corps has served me well. When I made the decision to enlist, especially as infantry, I was undertaking a huge commitment. Signing an infantry contract is in effect agreeing to take the direct responsibility of other men's lives into your hands. So if I can hypothetically handle leading a squad in combat, I should be able to hypothetically handle making a judgement call that will determine the prognosis of a critical patient, right? Sounds like about the same stress to me, only with the latter there will be a greater chance that I will have to live with my mistakes a bit longer if they are severe. I wasn't initially comfortable with the amount of time that goes into studying and preparing for a medical career, but when I enlisted I was definitely considering a military career. Which one offers more freedom? Probably the medical career. This pretty much leaves nothing to stop me from giving it a shot, so that's exactly what I'm going to do.
It's been suggested that I should record and/or share my recipes, as apparently I've inherited some of my father's talent in the kitchen (or at least I'm persistent enough to futz with things until I get a couple of them right enough that I'll eat them). Unfortunately, I don't really have 'recipes' per se. I often look at recipes and watch cooking shows, but I seldom write anything down, and if I follow somebody else's recipe exactly, it's very rare and probably only do it once to figure it out. I'm not Betty Crocker, so if you want specifics on any of this, google for a recipe. I did a steak marinade and bbq sauce last week that turned out pretty well... you can check my wife's journal for that one, or leave a comment if you really want it and can't find it in hers. Last night I did a pasta salad with which I was quite pleased - first time I've ever done something like that. Jambalaya I've done a couple of times before - I used a recipe from gumbopages.com as a starting point, and I think it's damned close to Dad's, and that's where I was aiming, so I'm happy with it. The chili I've been making for years. I started when I was probably sixteen or seventeen by following exactly the directions on the '2 alarm chili kit' at the grocery store, modified it, eventually scrapped it and went wholly from scratch, and eventually went back to using the kits because it's just convenient. So far I haven't met a single person who didn't like my chili, and many had doubts that I could top their mom's or their favourite restaurant or whatever, but nobody has yet told me that such and such is better. If you try to follow my recipe and it isn't any good, come over some time and try mine, take notes if you want. Like I said, I aint Betty Crocker.
Jambalaya
I start this one by making chicken stock the day before. Take the meat off a chicken, cut it into bite size pieces, and put it in the fridge for tomorrow. Brown the bones in the oven - maybe about 350 for 45-60 minutes. Put the chicken bones, neck, giblets, whatever, in a stock pot with a bunch of cold water. Simmer this for a few hours. Add mirepoix (carrots, onions, celery), garlic, salt, and herbs (sachet de epices i believe is the French culinary term - think it was tarragon, thyme, basil, oregano, bay leaves, and parsley either in a tea ball or cheese cloth ball). Simmer for a couple more hours. Strain into another pot. Put strained stock into an ice water bath and slowly stir to cool it before putting in the fridge. Apparently this helps reduce bacteria growth. I've never died from a chicken stock infection, so I wouldn't know - then again, the few times I've made chicken stock, I did the ice bath thing, and I've never died from a chicken stock infection. The next day, take your stock out and skim off some of the fat that has formed.
Chop up some celery, bell pepper, and onion (trinity - the cajun equivalent to mirepoix, and in my opinion, better) and set aside. Chop up some sausage (kielbasa works, but I bet andoullie would be better), get out your chicken, and some shrimp. Pot the pot on the fire and throw in the sausage. I like to do this over high heat to get a nice sear on it with a little bit of caramelization and crisp. Remove the sausage and throw the chicken into the pot, seasoning with a 'cajun seasoning blend' (I like Tony Chachere's - I think it's pretty much salt, pepper, paprika, cayenne, garlic). Once browned, remove the chicken and drain some of the fat. Add the trinity, and saute it a bit until the onions are starting to go translucent, then add your meat back in, a bunch of uncooked rice, and your stock. Go ahead and add some more seasoning, and a few shots of tobasco won't hurt either. Bring this to a gentle boil. Do NOT stir it like crazy. Soon as you get a nice simmer, cover it and leave it alone for a while. Somewhere half way in or so, you're basically going to fold it. If you stir it too much, the rice will get all broken up, but you do want some mixing, so fold, be gentle, take your time. Add a little more liquid if needed, cover it up, and leave it alone until the rice is done. That's pretty much it. Serve with french bread and tobasco.
Chili
Chop up a bell pepper, an onion or three, some garlic, and a couple hot peppers - I usually use jalapenos, but I used habaneros last time. Note - when I used the habaneros, adding additional cayenne for heat was unnecessary. Chop up a sausage (kielbasa works, chorizo is probably better - can you tell I like sausage?), and toss that into a pan to sear. Chop up a steak (top round works okay for this), and when the sausage is done, remove sausage to stock pot and sear the steak. I like to throw a little handful of the veggies in with the steak and some salt and pepper while it's browning. Move everything to the stock pot. Add in some chili powder, adjust with cumin, paprika, cayenne, oregeno, and salt. Those two alarm chili kits at the grocery store work pretty well if you don't feel like doing it yourself or don't already have all the spices on hand. I think chili powder is pretty much just cumin, paprika, cayenne, and oregeno anyway if you have all that on hand but don't have chili powder. Add some tomoto sauce, some water (again the 2 alarm chili kit works great here, so just follow their directions explicitly if you are unsure) and mix. Add a couple of bay leaves for bite, a shot of vinegar can help here too. I usually add in a can of chopped tomatoes, a can of red beans, and a can of black beans. Canned stuff is easy, and for this chili it works just fine. Get this to a nice simmer, tasting and adjusting as you go. Remember that it takes a while for the flavours of everythign to blend together and mature, so don't go too crazy with seasoning in the first five minutes. I usually taste it every fifteen minutes or so and adjust slightly, and generally declare it done after two or three hours, depending on how hungry I am. I usually serve chili over rice, or sometimes with corn chips. I keep meaning to do corn bread, but amazingly I have yet to get around to trying that.
Pasta Salad
Mix some dijon mustard and mayo (I used fat free kraft, worked well) in a large bowl. I think I probably used about two table spoons of mustard and maybe six or so of mayo, possibly more. Add some red wine vinegar, honey, salt, pepper, chives, and parsley, mix some more, taste. Add a little olive oil, mix some more, taste. Adjust as needed. Cook up some pasta (bow tie works well). Chop up some cucumber, red onion, celery, carrot, and spinach and tomatoes (yellow tomatoes are great in this). Cool the pasta under cold water so it doesn't kill the veggies too fast. Toss the pasta with the vegies and dressing.
I'm always looking for new things and to improve the old, so please feel free to offer any ideas, suggestions, or constructive criticism. And if you've had my chili and didn't like it, by all means, speak up, but please have some specific suggestions ready too. Of course if you just don't like chili, well then... too bad for you :P
Also, for the vegetarians (anyone here besides Joc???) - yeah, I did that for quite a while, and yes, I can do vegetarian stuff, but really, I don't like it as much. Thanks for talking me out of that one, Dad, I have no idea what I was thinking. Rejoining the world of carnivores was well worth the week of nausea it caused ;)