Catfish and Keystone

Many months ago, Chuck and I decided to be more conscious of our daily nutritional choices, and we’ve since reasonably modified our eating habits.  Nothing drastic, but rather sensible.  We keep our pantry and fridge stocked with plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables.  We’ve eliminated sodas, instead choosing tea, juice or water.  We’ve even cut our alcohol intake nearly in half, which is astounding considering how often we pop open a bottle of red with dinner.  We’ve cut out most of the unnecessary fats and sugars, opting for cooking spray and Splenda whenever possible.  We’ve upped our intake of fish and chicken, and we’ve even replaced beef with bison.

But yesterday…  Yesterday, healthy just wasn’t cutting it.  We deep fried some southern spiced catfish and homemade hush puppies, and served it with fresh corn-on-the-cob rubbed with herb butter, blackeyed peas, and slightly sweet cornbread made with honest to god sugar.  Mmm, mmm, mmm, I felt like I was back home in Arkansas, and, man, was it good!  Good enough that I felt the need to write about it.

Chuck and I have also whole-heartedly made an attempt to join the green movement, and I must say, I’m rather proud of how well we’ve stuck with it.  It started out with carrying reusable shopping bags to the grocery store.  Back in June, we placed rubber bins in our garage for plastics, metals, cardboard and paper, and we make a run to the recycle point every Friday.  In fact, I’ve become increasingly annoyed that all of the recycle stations in our area only take #1 and #2 plastics.  Not to mention, they only take brown or clear glass, which eliminates all of the green wine bottles I have stored in the bottom of the pantry.  Here we are trying to do the right thing to save the earth, and you bastards won’t take my green glass because it’s not ‘profitable’ for you?  But I digress.  We’ve still managed to reduce our weekly output of trash from six or eight bags a week to two.  We rock.

Our next grand idea is to begin composting.  We built in an area to place a composter in our back yard when we were building out the shed and deck, so we’re already half way there.  After that, we’re considering running our laundry and dishwasher water out a separate line from our house, so that we can reuse the water on the lawn and shrubs.  I’m still not completely sold on that one, though.

We’re thinking about heading down south this weekend with some friends to float the Guadalupe River.  And when I say ‘float,’ I don’t mean via a canoe.  I’m talking about the redneck version where you hop on an inner tube, tie your styrofoam cooler (no, that’s not very ‘green’) to it with a rope, and pop open an ice cold, canned beer.  Preferably something cheap that goes down like water.  Keystone Light, for instance.  I think I might complete the experience with one of those disposable, water-proof cameras, because I’m sure this trip will be photo-worthy.

In other news, I’ve been uber productive at work lately.  Last month, I started working on a major addition to our software.  In the end, it turned out to be just me and one other girl that completed the majority of the programming, and as a result, we and the four system engineers and testers that supported us received the following email from our requirements manager entitled ‘To Those Who Bled for It.’  In case I’ve never really explained what I do, I’m a software engineer for a military intelligence program:

"To the people who made the Socio-Cultural module in CIDNE a reality:

Yesterday, I got tapped for a briefing and demo in DC.  It was scheduled for this coming Thursday, but has since slid to next Tuesday.  The demo is to be run off the CENTCOM CIDNE AFG server, specifically focused on the Socio-Cultural module.  [Program Manager] is going to speak for a few minutes, and then I’ll demo for at least 15 (we have an hour, but [Program Manager] wants to leave lots of time for questions).

This demo is to the National Security Council, in the Situation Room of the White House.

Each of you were critical to making this a success.  And no matter what whiny customers, or threatened programs of record, say or do in the future regarding this program, remember this:

You created the most robust, flexible, integrated socio-cultural capability ever seen in the United States on either side of the military/dept of state line.  You did it under impossible timelines, for a customer base that was at first completely unengaged, and then self-contradicting in the extreme.  You managed to do it across two radically divergent theater baselines and two version releases, all nearly at the same time.  And you specifically maintained your good humor and professionalism with me, as I struggled to be a conduit between our team and one of the most difficult communities we have ever worked with.

Did I say, "…THE MOST robust, flexible, integrated socio-cultural capability…"?  My apologies.  I meant, "…THE ONLY…"  You have done what no one else has in 8 years of war.  I am convinced that no one else could have done it.

Each of you went above and beyond on this one.  I want you to know that I see it, leadership sees it, and I am grateful to you all.

Now, the President’s inner circle will see it.  And there is literally no way that they can fail to be impressed with what you have created."

It feels so good to have a job where your superiors actually tell you how much they appreciate you.  We’re about to overhaul the look and feel of our software with a complete user interface redesign.  As a result of my previous work, I’ve been put in charge of the implementation, completing most of it myself and delegating out the rest.  I’m completely stoked!

Zoto is still holding my photos hostage.  Bastards.  I’ll post my newest pics as soon as the site is resurrected.

Cheers!
Felina