The pre-30's have begun

Well last night I had a blast meeting the guys out at the old EFN place, getting hooked up on drinks and hosting a small after gathering at my place. I really do luv having small crowds at my place. It really feels like home having those close to me be in my house. It's funny how I always thought I would hafta beg obnoxitonians to come over but when your got friends that are just cool cool, we got southern VA and MD folks that just come over. That's wassup! i luv my family of friends.

So this morning I did my last late wakeup (at least till Thurs..got a job! We'll get into that) and had four people over. I made breakfast and we all had some good convo. Bdays came up and we got a LOT of cancer babies in our small group...I'm turning 30! Not to be narcissistic but I LOOK great for someone turning 30! I'm not at the halfway hump of 29 yet but looking in the mirror and thinking of some of the guys I know in their 30s I welcome giving 30 the hot sexy 25 look it deserves!

Ok so looking back at my 20s I reflect on the army (joined at 19) and how the only good..i'm sorry BEST thing to come out of that mistake is my long lasting continuing 10year friendship with my bff Chris and his wife Tiffany aka my family. If I had to go through that f'n hell all over again, I would do it just cause they are worth it. I got my first fourplex out of it too when I turned 20. The commander would not sign off on me owning property because I was so young and what would I know about managing properties. The bank did not want to proceed without having that letter. IDK where I got my business savvy mind but I told them that if they did NOT process that loan, another bank would. I refuse to let someone in the army dictate my financial situation. Got the loan, and the closed. The commander did not want to give me BAQ to live off-post so I maintained a room in the barracks. One day someone was living in MY space though! Ohhhh HELLLZ nah! I may not live there, but that room is MINE unless you gimme my money. Got back paid two months BAQ! So that was my first property and of course being me not caring what the commander or army thought. Mike does Mike. Period.

So the army days lasted till OCT 2004. After that I took a holiday and got my MCSE! I moved in with my besties (for like 6mos) and bought another 4plex (sold the other one in 2003. What a dump!). This 4plex was beautiful and right off the golf course! Was a real cash cow even till the end (netting 16 off of it). I moved to Kuwait in 2005-2007DEC. I loved being in the desert. This was the first time I got to be a six figga n***a! I was rocking my HS Diploma and showing myself and the world what you can do. I achieved my goal a year early of earning that money by 25. I did it. Good feeling of accomplishment. That's years 24-26.

26-Present I would say focuses on myself coming out of the closet. This was very difficult for me to do. I always wanted the wife, picket fence, and kids (especially to play with my BFFs kids). That wasn't in God's plan though and I threw the towel in. I was tired of never having a relationship and being 26. I wanted to know what love was and have someone else love me. So I've been knocked down and got up and fell down again. Patience is something that will develop with age I suppose. I fell in love with my hero (Marlon) and a heartbreaker who lied to me (Darrell). I have my walls up, I date now but find it hard to be vulnerable just cause I hate the PAIN that comes with love. I seriously do want my prince charming but in time that will come. I have a great group of friends and love that my BFFs live only 40mins away. Some friends have disappeared or just plain nix'ed having me as a friend (PS-And i frankly dont give a f***).

Maybe 30 will be the best decade of my life! But to sum up what's going on now, I'm 29, have a terrific dog that I love and she loves me and a new job! I am a Microsoft Engineer! F'n did it! To all those who want to shine and excel in life here's a tip. It's not the piece of paper that you hang on a wall.
...
....it's that CPU in-between your EARS!

Tomorrow is my first day on the job! I will be re-hiring my maids and getting a dog walking service for lil miss Reese. Gym will have to be done around 8pm. Pre-30s are great! Bring it on June!

Prayers go out to the families for their losses

*sigh...* I try and stay away from the Iraq topic. I got out of the army in Oct 2004. I had volunteered to go to Camp Liberty and was not selected. It saddens me that we are there and because we can not undo the past, we have to focus on the future.

To the families that have lost a loved on in Iraq, I couldn't imagine the loss, suffering and other emotions that you deal with on a daily basis. Or if you have the same/changed viewpoints about Iraq. Either way I tip my hat and appreciate the sacrafice that your father, mother, son and/or daughter did for our country. No matter what your viewpoint is on Iraq the bottomline is they were soldiers carrying out orders from their commander-in-chief.

The army isn't too clever when it comes individuals. What I mean by that is there are people diagnosed with Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) who get deployed & re-deployed to the sandbox. These guys need proper psychological counseling. Not another year in Iraq! Now let's say you take this soldier with PTSD and send him back to Iraq. He's a SGT and by looking at his Class-A photo decked out with awards likes his army career. So....when would be the best time to tell this guy; turn-in you're weapon...you're going to seek counseling and get medically discharged out of the military for PTSD? In Iraq or in the US of A? As if being in Iraq isn't hard enough, let's put another added stress in there...YOU'RE FIRED!!! YOU'RE DONE! ALL YOUR HARD WORK, MEDALS...EVERYTHING YOU'VE DONE FOR THE ARMY...IT'S OVER! TURN IN YOUR WEAPON AND BE PREPARED TO GO BACK TO NOTHING where BTW you still have bills! Live with the embarrassment of telling people that you were medically discharged under mental health. There are probably more factors, or maybe these ideas didn't roll through SGT Russell's head. I'm an emotional kind of guy so these are the ideas that come in my head.

My heart and prayers go to the victim's SGT Russell shot. And I'm interested in seeing the action the army takes. SGT Russell killed five comrades who left behind families and loved ones. I do believe that he should lose his freedom, however the army has a big responsibility on their hands as he was diagnosed with PTSD before re-deploying to Iraq! How many other potential threats are out there? How differently can you handle those situations?

How difficult will life be after these heroes come home and look for work with a medical discharge? Will the US take care of their vets or are we looking at another Vietnam aftermath? It's scary because if you're not lacking in imagination, you can see what the streets of DC and other big US cities will look like in 10-15 years. Ok...I'm done writing about this. I had to get it out of my head. My prayers to those who have lost a loved one while deployed, Shame on SGT Russell and Shame on the US Army.