iPhoto — For a Good Laugh

21. April 2009 · Comments Off on iPhoto — For a Good Laugh · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: ,

So I’m having a grand old time working on organizing my photos on my Macbook.  There’s software called “iPhoto” that seems quite intelligent.

I’ve already imported all my pictures from our desktop (32,000+ photos, about 30GB).

So one of the features I’m having fun with is iPhoto’s Face Recognition program.  Called “Faces”, based on a few initial tags in your photo albums, “Faces” will run through all your other photos and attempt to find other pictures that also have that particular face.

If done right, you can tag the faces on your photo, then upload them to something like Facebook, where the tags will also upload.

iPhoto also then categorizes all the photos by face, so if you click on “Howie”, ideally you’d see all photos where our dog, Howie, has been tagged.

As you can see in the first picture here, at the beginning of the “Faces” listing, iPhoto does a pretty good job matching my faces. But then, as you scroll down, you see some other faces appear: Jacob and even Maryann the Fotomom.


This was GREAT when I was tagging pictures of Dave.  Every white person with glasses showed up: Joe (Dave’s college roommate), Wendy Warlick, both Andy AND Suzy McNabb, our friend Bill from grad school, even a number of officers I worked with in the desert recently, especially if he had glasses!

Dave was wearing his military hat with Captain’s bars in several of his pictures, so one of the “Faces” that appeared was of a four-month-old Jacob wearing Daddy’s Captain’s hat.  Ha ha!

It’s certainly a good laugh…fortunately, as you go through each pass of tagging photos, you can run “Faces” again and each attempt will be improved.

A Revolution in the Vollmer House!

19. April 2009 · 2 comments · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: ,

The kitchen laptop has officially been REPLACED!

Finally!

I haven’t been this excited about computer stuff in a really long time — I’ve been looking forward to getting a new laptop for many months, and for once I was going to save up and get something I REALLY wanted.

After those months in the desert, getting kicked off the WiFi just because someone with a Macbook sits next to me got quite old.

So today I marched down to the Apple Store in West Omaha, took advantage of their “Personal Shopper” service and walked out of there with a Macbook of my very own!  It’s AMAZING!  It immediately hopped onto my WiFi (yes, after I gave it the security code) and I was surfing SO FAST!

A couple weeks ago Dave’s laptop ran into some troubles with the hinge that keeps the computer open, so he’s contemplating getting a Macbook of his own.  They’re offering a military discount, which made it even more appealing!  He’s taking a trip in a couple weeks so it’d be nice if he had a new computer to take along.

The Macbook I got was the most basic of the aluminum models (there’s a white model that costs less, but the aluminum seemed more durable), which has a special multi-function touch pad, it doesn’t work like a typical PC-laptop touch pad, you have to learn some new moves for scrolling and zooming in and out…much like what you can do with an iPhone.  It has a built-in webcam, which is nice, and when I plugged in my iPhone to it, it automatically synced with iCalendar, iPhotos, iTunes and my Address Book.  I didn’t have to do a thing!

Surfing the web has been like lightning, and even task-intensive sites like Facebook have been a breeze to navigate.  I haven’t had this easy a time with our PCs since we moved to Omaha.

So it case you hadn’t noticed, I’m pretty excited about this.

I’ll leave you with this silly picture of me, taken from the built-in webcam. You can see how happy I am:

Weather Webcam Fun

15. April 2009 · Comments Off on Weather Webcam Fun · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , , ,

Now that I’m home, I’m slowly getting back to normal. One of the things that was on my mind while I was away was setting up one of our webcams (that we used to keep in touch during my deployment) as a weather webcam, that connects to our home weather station.

So here you go. Have some fun and scroll down on the webcam page to the calendar and select “View Video” to see a daily 24-hour loop. This will look better in 2-3 days when we have some steady-state views. I’ve been adjusting the timestamp, viewing angle and resolution so it isn’t perfect at the moment.

You can also look to the right and see the new, improved weather sticker for our weather station. The weather observation is from our backyard, while the webcam is pointing out our front window, aimed towards the north-northwest. It’s supposed to auto-update about once a minute.

If you want a quick look at the past 24-hours’ weather, play the video below. Pardon the quality if you view this before mid-day Thursday:

It’s Good to be Home!

11. April 2009 · 4 comments · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , ,

Greetings from Detroit! I’ve two legs down on this journey, three to
go. The flights from Doha to Amsterdam, and from Amsterdam to Detroit
were more or less without incident (save a broken shoe heel from an
overambitious beverage cart that I didn’t notice till I had
disembarked).
I’m now getting ready to board my flight to Colmbia, SC where folks
from my unit will meet me at the airport to get some of my equipment
and perhaps have me sign a couple forms.
Then I will continue my journey home from Columbia to Chicago, then
finally homeward bound to Omaha.
I found some wonderful gifts for the boys at the Doha Duty Free shop,
including some European Easter candy that I remember getting at
Eastertime in 1980 in Hong Kong….when I was the same age as Jacob!!!
I can’t wait to see my boys again!!!!

Books Read on this Deployment – The Complete List

11. April 2009 · Comments Off on Books Read on this Deployment – The Complete List · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , ,

Books Read on this Deployment
1.) The Marching Season, Daniel Silva: 16 Jan 09
2.) Angels and Demons, Dan Brown: 20 Jan 09
3.) Deception Point, Dan Brown: 25 Jan 09
4.) The Other Boleyn Girl, Phillipa Gregory: 3 Feb 09
5.) Marley & Me, John Grogan: 5 Feb 09
6.) Cruel and Unusual, Patricia Cornwell: 11 Feb 09
7.) Point of Origin, Patricia Cornwell: 21 Feb 09
8.) Black Notice, Patricia Cornwell: 1 Mar 09
9.) Holy Cow, Sarah Macdonald: 7 Mar 09
10.) Blow Fly, Patricia Cornwell, 16 Mar 09
11.) Trace, Patricia Cornwell, 23 Mar 09
12.) Book of the Dead, Patricia Cornwell, 31 Mar 09
13.) The Last Templar, Raymond Khoury, 10 Apr 09

Things I Won’t Miss About This Place

10. April 2009 · 4 comments · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , ,

Don’t get me wrong, I’d rather be here than Bagram or Balad. The trips off base were great and I’m glad I took the risk to venture out there. But this is still a deployed location and I had to do without quite a bit.

Here’s a list of things I won’t miss about being here…

1.) Wearing reflective belts at night even though the AF Physical Fitness uniform is covered in reflective screen printing.
2.) The dust.
3.) Eating breakfast at dinnertime, and dinner at lunchtime, and lunch at breakfasttime.
4.) The dust.
5.) Having a first sergeant come up to me outside to ask me to tuck in my fitness shirt all the way. Like he was standing there waiting for me to arrive to give him something to do.
6.) The dust.
7.) Wearing reflective belts at night around my uniform, and around my backpack.
8.) The dust.
9.) Trudging home from work in 90 degree temperatures along the roadside while a young Airman whizzes past me in an air conditioned 2009 Ford F-150 with no other passengers.
10.) The dust.
11.) The smell of ASS in the trailers when we weren’t able to open the doors periodically. One giant collective fart.
12.) The dust.
13.) The smell of dead animals right outside the entrance to the dining facilities. There’s no better way to perk up your appetite.
14.) The dust.
15.) The dining hall main line servers (not military) who always would offer me TWO steaks, TWO pieces of lasagna, TWO Belgian waffles. What, did they think I wasn’t fat enough?
16.) The dust.
17.) Having to walk 90 seconds to the latrine if I have to pee in the middle of my sleep time…and having to remember to tuck in my uniform shirt and put on my reflective belt first.
18.) The dust.
19.) Having to reduce my entire life down to the contents of two suitcases.
20.) The dust.

I’ve Been Taken Off the Line

08. April 2009 · 2 comments · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , ,

“Taken off the line?”

Yeah, I guess it’s a reference to putting a fighting unit in reserve after serving on the front lines for a while. That’s how I feel now. I’m no longer on the work schedule. My mission is to get home safely.

Paul is here, he’s fully trained and now has the helm of the weather team’s night shift. The training was a very busy time, and not without drama…we have to shoehorn the training here with real-world events and real weather issues. I’m popping in and out of the workcenter, mainly to say “goodbye” to the various people with whom I had the honor of serving alongside, but don’t ask me anything about the weather over Iraq or Afghanistan. I don’t know!

I also had some non-weather related drama this past week, with lots of troubles scheduling a flight home. I was cleared to leave anytime starting today, and about 6 hours ago I received my flight information. What a relief. I wasn’t as concerned with when I’d be headed home as much as simply knowing something to pass on to the family and colleagues. I should be home by the end of this weekend.

I went to my last weekly social tent call this past Tuesday and as is tradition, I put some money on the bar to celebrate it being my last week. It certainly didn’t hurt that I had taken 2nd place in the Air Mobility Division’s NCAA Bracket contest, much to the chagrin of the 20 other guys who didn’t appreciate my “Barbie’s Dream Bracket” prediction of UNC v. Michigan State for the championship game. I had predicted Michigan State to take it all, but oh well.

I got a lot of great pictures from Tuesday but here’s a sampling I’ll share. Working the night shift was awesome, we could be honest with each other and focus on getting the job done without the politics of day-shift issues like pretty Powerpoint slides for the generals.


Here’s proof that my replacement did indeed arrive and is doing well. That I didn’t kill him during our training! Ha ha! Just kidding! Paul was a great student despite the brutal schedule we gave him!


Me with some of my night shift colleagues. Yes, I’m the only girl in the picture above, but there were other ladies around…


See? That’s Sarah on the left (Royal Air Force) and Mel on the right (Royal Australian Air Force).


This is for Jacob. This young man, who goes by “Buddy”, flies A-10s in the war and has been temporarily assigned to our unit here for a couple weeks to serve as a liaison between his squadron and the air war planners. His patch is that of the Expeditionary Flying Tigers and I told him about how that’s Jacob’s favorite airplane, the Flying Tigers A-10! He gave me a unit patch for Jacob!

Now that I’m “off the line”, I have been converting my sleep schedule into more of a swing shift schedule, to better match Central Daylight Time. I have the time to work on this blog entry, upload about 50 new pictures, and I also have a chance to work out 1-2 more times before I head to the airport. In fact, I think I’ll go to the gym right now!

Just like on my trip here, I’ll send a note or two on my trip home, so long as I can pick up WiFi on my layover in Europe, and once I’m back in the states my phone can hop back on the AT&T network and I can write more often!

I absolutely can’t wait to see my boys again — knowing it’ll be this weekend some time is such a great feeling!

I’m Impressed!

04. April 2009 · 8 comments · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: , ,

Hello! No pictures for today, since I’m preparing to go to bed, but here’s quickie update for the gang!

1.) My replacement, Paul, is here. Yay! Paul showed up in great spirits and so far has been taking the firehose of information quite well.

2.) Paul arrived on Thursday night. About 12 hours prior was when I was notified to pack up and move out of my room, it was to be given to Paul upon his arrival. Great. Typically, one moves into a “transient tent”, which is fine when you have an outbound flight arranged. I didn’t have an outbound flight arranged at the time so our first sergeant said that if someone in a dorm was willing to take me in, I can share a room with someone. Enter Rose! I had stayed in Rose’s room in March when she was on vacation (she’s deployed here for MUCH longer than me!) and she took me in for the duration of my tour, bless her heart. Thanks Rose!

3.) I don’t know exactly when I’m coming home quite yet. Even if I did know when I was coming home, I wouldn’t publish it on the Internet, but I could at least say here “Yay! I know when I’m coming home!”. I will say that the suspense is killing us!

4.) Those computer batteries I had purchased my first week here, that provided me 8 hours of life back in February before requiring a charge, now gives me a whopping 45 minutes of untethered support when I’m trying to webcam with the family. But that’s okay, I’ve found several hidden outlet spots that I can take advantage of when I’m doing the webcam thing at 3-in-the-morning here…very few others online at the time. Besides, something strange happened to the WiFi here and my connections aren’t so hot as it is.

Just as well on the computer and the batteries — it’s literally going into the GARBAGE when I get home, so it only has another month-or-so to live. MacBook, here I come!

So as you can see, there are many signs out there that my time here is wrapping up, even if I don’t have a clear date for leaving. I’m homeless, my replacement is here and is being trained up, and I’m getting weekly e-mail notifications about what date my e-mail address here will be turned off! All good signs.

Besides my husband and kids (and Howie, who is recovering exceptionally from his surgery of 10 March), I think the thing I can’t wait to do is COOK!!! I’m breaking out the big guns when I get home, I think: chicken etouffee, beef bulgogi, homemade bread, hand-decorated cakes!

Time for bed!

Interior Decorating…

30. March 2009 · Comments Off on Interior Decorating… · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: ,

So here I am, outside under the “Bra”…the wind is whipping and the dust is blowing. But I persist…things are well enough. I pulled a table and chair behind the giant wooden film screen, so I’m mostly blocked from the wind.

I’m getting ready for my replacement to arrive at the end of the week, although I’m getting rather anxious because I still don’t have a flight home arranged quite yet. No one here does it — suffice it to say that there’s someone in the U.S. who makes all of our arrangements. I’m hoping to hear something in the next 48 hours!

Meanwhile, I am still awaiting word that I have to move into the transient tents later this week. So I’ve been packing up the extra stuff and shipping home what I don’t need between now and when I get home, such as extra yarn and books. I just shipped two boxes today, and there will probably be two more later this week.

Before I took it all down, I thought I’d share with you how I decorated my dorm room:

From 2009 03 25 Kids_Art_DormRoom

I received so much artwork from the boys, and even several letters from Jacob, but some of art from Timmy included some of his first word-writing.

Jacob’s teacher encouraged him to write letters to me. Here are some examples:

From 2009 03 25 Kids_Art_DormRoom

From 2009 03 25 Kids_Art_DormRoom

Before you pick too much on his spelling, remember that he’s in Kindergarten and apparently the spelling part of his language skills come later. Here’s a card Jacob made for Timmy’s 4th birthday in January. That’s Thomas the Tank Engine pulling Annie and Clarabel drawn at the bottom.

From 2009 03 25 Kids_Art_DormRoom

This is Timmy’s work. My heart melted at his drawing of Howie.

From 2009 03 25 Kids_Art_DormRoom

From 2009 03 25 Kids_Art_DormRoom

And finally, enjoy the Valentine’s Day card I received:

From 2009 03 25 Kids_Art_DormRoom

I also had pictures of the boys up elsewhere in the room, and I enjoyed looking at the art and the pictures of my boys each and every day. I’m so excited — it won’t be long before I’m home!

I need to stop now — the dust is actually accumulating on the laptop screen and it’s getting hard to see outside with the outdoor glare. Keep in touch with my Twitter feed on the right column!

Books Read on this Deployment

23. March 2009 · 6 comments · Categories: Uncategorized · Tags: ,

Books Read on this Deployment
1.) The Marching Season, Daniel Silva: 16 Jan 09
2.) Angels and Demons, Dan Brown: 20 Jan 09
3.) Deception Point, Dan Brown: 25 Jan 09
4.) The Other Boleyn Girl, Phillipa Gregory: 3 Feb 09
5.) Marley & Me, John Grogan: 5 Feb 09
6.) Cruel and Unusual, Patricia Cornwell: 11 Feb 09
7.) Point of Origin, Patricia Cornwell: 21 Feb 09
8.) Black Notice, Patricia Cornwell: 1 Mar 09
9.) Holy Cow, Sarah Macdonald: 7 Mar 09
10.) Blow Fly, Patricia Cornwell, 16 Mar 09
11.) Trace, Patricia Cornwell, 23 Mar 09

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