What A Day

Here Cliff demonstrates the proper Army decompression technique after ending a seven day week, (just before beginning the next seven-day week).

And here he demonstrates the proper response and Army discipline resulting from getting stuck (by me) four times up and down his arm. While they had to "fish" for my vein, Cliff only broke the skin one time in one place. I had to poke the poor bastard four times to get a "flash".

A flash is when the blood spurts up into the "flash chamber" to let you know you've hit paydirt. - - - That's not entirely true - I hit pay-dirt on my first go, only the tiny catheter, which is left behind after the initial stick - got kinked like a garden hose on one of Cliff's vein valves. We had to withdraw it, which did in fact reveal the bent kink, but meant that I had to stick my buddy three more times, from his wrist to his bicep.

Hands were shaking like a leaf. I would not make a good infidel-throat-slitting jihadi.

Cliff took these of me shortly after O'Reilly in my annual tradition of photographing myself on my birthday to provide a pictoral aging animation. I've done this for ten years or more, and in that time - I've aged twenty. Here I am enjoying a "Green Bean" Frappe. Green Beans are on almost every base, and provide a much needed luxury I'm quite sure the vetrans of America's other wars didn't have . . . But they could drink and chase women - so stuff it Russell, and Mann!

Regal, Conquering pose. Evoking Captain Morgan. Whatever is in my head?