Thank goodness for long weekends

This is the last day of a four-day weekend, and I'm so happy to have had the time to catch up on my sleep. Seriously, getting up every morning at 5am and not getting home from work until 7pm (and sometimes not getting to leave until midnight) was starting to get to me. It's just a different mind set here. In the past, I had a day to shoot, a day to edit, and the next day whatever products I had due were turned in and loaded. Here in Korea, if you shoot something before noon, the powers that be want you to have it completed by 5:00. It's a little hard to adjust to, but I'm sure I can make it work eventually. It's just that the expectations are a little unrealistic. Sometimes people come back from a shoot with great video, but everyone gets writer's block, and that takes up valuable time. Other times, no matter what the shoot was, it's difficult to tell a whole story, or relay what information you have to due to lack of video. It's just difficult to live by this time standard. The only thing that keeps me from going insane sometimes is the fact that I see other people doing it.
Just a little rant.

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Happy Memorial Day - this little message is brought to you by all those who have come and gone before me in the military. If you see an American Flag today, take time to stop for a few seconds and remember those Soldiers, Sailors, Airman, Marines, and other military personnel who have paid the price for their government's actions. It is truly a sacrifice to live in the military, but it's an even greater one to die for your country. No political statements here, just truth: Some answer a call to serve, some serve to get somewhere better than they came from, some have no other choice, and some just need a job, but any of us, and any of them do what we can. It's YOU, our friends and family, that make serving in the military bearable. So, here is a little advice for anyone out there to help keep today's troops going proudly and strongly:
1. Parents, tell your children you're proud of them (even if it's against your politics). Realize too, that sometimes the mission comes before personal needs, and communication isn't always possible.
2. Husbands/Wives/Boyfriends/Girlfriends, write your significant other and tell him/her you still think about them every day. Don't use the time away from them to play the field, nothing crushes a human being more than getting the "Dear John." Also, see the communication sentence above.
3. Friends, write often. Out of sights does not have to mean out of mind.
4. Americans, no matter what your political view, remember that those who serve are not the ones who make the decisions. If you're anti-war, don't be anti-servicemember. We're just doing the job our boss makes us do. Believe me, if it were up to most service members, we'd rather be home playing with our kids, kissing our S.O. and chatting with our friends and family than mounting up for what could be our last mission.
Remember also, that it may not be your son, daughter, husband, wife, relative, or friend, serving, but tomorrow it very well could be. Even the most anti-war hippie can shave his long hair and join up if the motivation is there. Try to treat everyone how you'd want your own family member to be treated. If you have the opportunity, visit a veteran's or military hospital. You may not like what you see sometimes, but think about Private Smith who just wanted money for college, and now will never be able to walk to class. Just say hello, and thank you, that's not too much to ask.

I don't mean this to be a downer, and I'm not saying any of this happens to me, but after listening to the stories of veterans and current service members, anyone who hears/reads this would do well to remember it.

God Bless America and her fighting force.
Happy Memorial Day.

Something old, something new

First, the old.
I'm right back into the job. So far this week, I've created 2 commercials, gone on 2 news shoots, and produced 2 news stories (and it's only Wednesday!). I heard today that I'm one of the best producers in the office. While that gives me a boost to my ego, it makes me a little sad, because there are 12 other people in my office. I've only been a military broadcaster for 4 years. The thing is, most of the people in the office are either cross-trainees (came from another career field and are new to broadcasting) or are fresh from DINFOS. In fact, I think I'm the ONLY person in my office that has been a broadcaster for more than two years. YIKES!
I hope my time here will be productive, not for my career, but for the folks around me. It's scary to be the most experienced guy, but that being so, I want to train up the rest of my coworkers on our equipment, so they can perform at the same aptitude (that, and so if something goes wrong, I'm not the only person the bosses call to fix it).

I'm liking Korea, but not loving it. My Love lies over the waters in Japan, and missing her is making it hard to get into my new "home." As a duty station, it could be worse, and it could be a lot better. As a place to live, if you take away the health risks of drinking the water, breathing the air, or the ever present threat of war, it's okay. It's like Japan, but with an elevated threat level.

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On to something new. Vanessa got some potentially bad news in the mail yesterday. You can read about it on her blog. Please pray for her, and ask for God to give her the strength she needs to battle what's inside her, and the peace of mind to not lose hope. We talked about it last night, and again today, and she's unsure about our future because of it. I try to keep her calm, and let her know that I'm going to be at her side (either in person, or via communique) for the rest of our lives. Nothing, not any potential health problems, not even a "subdermal hemotoma" would ever change that. She knows that, but sometimes I have to remind her just for her stability.