Blogging And Me

I enjoy blogging. This is because I always wanted to keep a blog. I am living my dream as I write my thoughts down. I do enjoy it when people read my work but I do not always write for that purpose. Thank you to those who have read my blog. I was told I need a theme for my blog. But other than keeping a record of my life, I cannot for the life of me come up with a theme. I like to read and review the news articles. I am not trying to be political by doing this. It just seems to help.

I can remember so many things from my youth, and growing up. My childhood, early adulthood, and adulthood were full of excitement. Even almost a year-and a half ago, I was still driving Buber. But now I seem to be in a routine. I work, and try to stay comfortable at my Dad’s when I am not working.

I resisted the urge to write for a while, because I was doing things. Growing up. The Navy. School. Yes, driving Uber even. Now, is the time to write. I hope to write a bit about all those topics I just named. For example, I was stationed overseas during most of my active duty Navy service. Thanks to the war on terror, I kept getting to go overseas. So, I have been around the world. I am grateful for all this, from God. Then, I also got to do some school, from which I got my Associate’s Degree. I still have a bit of school to do for my Bachelor’s degree.

I apologize for not having a theme. If I need a theme, I guess writing about news stories. Writing is a gift God gave to me. I intend to use that gift to write history. I kept a blog during COVID-19. I really liked what I had. But due to some personal stuff, I was asked to delete my blogs. I will try to avoid the personal stuff. But sometimes it is difficult for me. I have things pent up from a situation that happened, and although it happened twenty years ago, I still hope for a positive outcome.

My whole theme is to leave a written record of the things that happened in our time. Hopefully, one day, someone will find it and find my writing initiative and informative about what happened in our day. COVID-19, going back a bit, the War On Terror. September 11, 2001. The invasion of Afghanistan, the invasion of Iraq. But also personal things. I was in Basic Training for the Navy when the invasion of Iraq occurred. But I do remember watching some of the run up to the invasion. The back and forth with the United Nations, and the claims of “weapons of mass destruction” wmds. The United States really wanted to invade Iraq. All along it was intended, I imagine. When Bush took office, he even said he intended to finish what his father had begun over there.

But I need to be careful to not write to much. After all, it is about quality, not quantity. I have another blog. I generally make daily updates to it. But this blog, each post I intend to take my time to make sure the information shared is relevant, and important to know in order to understand what happened in our day. I do not agree with our news outlets stance on politics. Most of them lean way to the left. The ones that do not, still push the same narrative anyways. Some people call it an agenda. But by narrative I mean partially the story. For example, in the story you can argue the Germans won the Battle of Berlin. But in the narrative, the Soviet Union won the war. So, it almost does not matter whether the Germans won the Battle of Berlin or not. The next day, they surrendered to the Soviets, even though they sought to surrender to the western powers, the United States and Great Britain.

I’m partially dressed for work. Max is inside. So, I need to finish getting ready. But I have a few moments to spare. I wish I knew of a way to make money from my blog. But the whole point of me writing is not to profit for personal sake, but rather to write for anyone who wants to read what I have to say. Hopefully, they will come away with an understanding of what happened. Nevertheless, I intend to put some money into my blog. So, I hope I will learn how to use my blog for a return. Anytime you invest, you can get a return, is what I learned. Sadly, that return is in the wreck yard, but nevertheless. I saw the fruits of my labor: a Hyundai Accent, 2011 model with non-electric windows. White exterior. I was so proud of that car. I wish I had thought of buying a different car much more quickly. But until my investment came back, I did not really have the money to do so. Instead I purchased an Audi, and got stuck with that.

I know, I know. Now I know, that an Audi shows a bias towards German cars. I wish sometimes that I had bought a Mercedes SUV instead. Since I was going to buy a German car anyways. Might as well have. But to its credit, that Audi did do a lot of driving. But apparently, the transmission developed a malfunction.

But now, I look for a vehicle, one that will drive Uber, is safe, and cost effective. Speaking of vehicles. I saw this gem in the parking lot at Albertsons:

My friend Scott got me into taking pictures of trucks, and buses. I guess he enjoys doing that himself. So, I am just sharing this photo to connect with Scott. I really liked the look of the bus. It looked comfortable, maybe those inside were comfortable too. But it was for the Duncanville Panthers. Duncanville is over where my car wreck happened. Anyways, it is time for me to finish getting ready for work. I am going to try and eat before hand.

I like to play computer games. One game I am playing is Total War: Rome II. I’ve been slowly working on a map. I can show you some of the progress.

After the Civil War Rome grew in strength. So, I decided to betray the Etruscans. This is because they captured the two of the three northern Italian cities I was trying to capture.

Rome was in a much better position after it captured the remaining Etruscan regions. But it took a lot of gory war in order to capture those regions that make up Italy. I’m very slowly expanding. In this version of Rome II, they have Civil Wars, which cannot be avoided, only averted for a turn or two. The War with the Etruscan League began in 1 BC and ended in 18 AD. After 19 long years of war, the final battle culminated into a naval battle.

Now, after a brief war with Nervii, Rome finished capturing another settlement.

Here is what the game play looks like. The game features multiplayer, and I tried it once with a friend. It was a little tedious. But very fun. I enjoy my private time with my games though. This playthrough included a battle.

I started playing computer games in 1991. I started on a 286, with no internet connection. So, I don’t often play multiplayer games. When I play multiplayer, I like to play cooperatively. I really like strategy games. In 1996, for Christmas Billy bought me Exploration, and we played that. That was my first strategy game, and we played it multiplayer. I also liked playing Axis & Allies. I forced Billy to play hours of that game, I never did learn whether he liked it or not. I can play competitively as well. In 1998 I bought Civilization II. I will include more playthroughs later.

I remember the first time I played Total War: Rome. It was in 2008 in April after I first reported to Manama, Bahrain. I tried it while at the Single Sailor lounge in Bahrain. I had never played a Sega strategy title before. But I wanted to, and I liked it so much I bought a copy of it from the Exchange. Even though it is a strategy game, it reminded me a little bit of Super Street Fighter II, with the geography settings for the battles. Each day, when I first arrived in Bahrain, I would play it. Just a little bit at a time. I was really impressed by how accommodative the game was. It was turned based on the campaign map, but real time in the battles. So, it allowed me to make my decisions and yet in the battles, I could do whatever I wanted. Sometimes as Rome you could win a smashing victory, with half the forces.

Now in Rome II you need an equally matched force in order to win. So, it takes some of the guess work out of it. Also, I tend to do more autobattles in Rome II. Where as in Rome I I played out nearly every battle. It was so much fun to play. The music in the series has always been relaxing too. The political and civil management in Rome II was greatly expanded. Now, on top of battles you have to decide what to do with your people. Also, each city takes resources, such as food to build new buildings.

Well, I hope you enjoy this review. I enjoyed writing it. I was finally able to include my maps.

Hurricane Ida made landfall Sunday. With 150 MPH winds. A democrat is in office, so they down play the destruction. Hurricane Ida hit on the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. Here is a photo of some of the damage:

My Mom is from Louisiana and I remember following the events of Hurricane Katrina. But Hurricane Ida was downgraded to a “tropical storm”. You cannot trust these people at all.

The withdrawal in Afghanistan is wrapping up. There is now a live YouTube channel to watch as the withdrawal continues.

People are going out of there way to honor the 13 servicemembers killed in Afghanistan. They were killed in a suicide bombing that happened at the Kabul Airport.

I included the footage here for your viewing. God keep our troops safe, and may all the Americans get out of there safely. It is interesting hearing the sounds, and seeing the sights of the Kabul Airport. I can hear a helicopter in the distance, horns, cars. Music playing too. I hope my blog post finds you well.

I work today, today being Monday, August 30, 2021. I won’t be closing. But on Thursday Night I will be closing. I took a shift for a fellow Courtesy Clerk. I hope it was the right decision. On Friday I have my eye-exam. My medical Retention Review is supposed to be submitted by the NOSC today.

In the future I will do a blog post on me and History. How I came to be a student of history, and how working at FedEx after school was eye opening to history, and what my studies mean. Basically, when I was a kid, I was enamored with World War II. Hence why I played Axis & Allies so much. I also watched lots of World War II videos. Victory at Sea, The World At War series. Another series, was Why We Fight by Frank Capra. I read a lot of books on World War II as well. Especially about Midway and the Battle of the Bulge. My Great Uncle Jim was in the Battle of the Bulge. Eventually, in High School I found myself drawn to history. But that was not what made me want to study History. I had a real experience with History during my time at FedEx. Also, now that I am at Albertsons, I also have experiences with History, but now I expect them. I just hope maybe it is enough to finish my degree.

max is outside. I don’t want to forget Max. he has been by my side through this whole ordeal. The ordeal known as life. I’m trying to make my post as vivid about my life as I possibly can. Max is just laying out, in the sun next to the shed. Rolling in the grass.

Well, that is all for now. Eric signing out.