Our first night away without Ellie

We had a pleasant evening thanks to Mom. She kept Ellie for a while so Vanessa and I could go out and have some fun. We went to a new Italian place in Gainesville and it was awesome. We followed up with a game of mini-golf and some coffee. I could tell she had a great time but couldn't wait to get back to Ellie. I hope she had a wonderful birthday.

Thanks Mom for keeping Ellie for a while.

Korey brought up an interesting concept a few days ago. I'm not historically a huge fan of Taurus pistols but they're on to something here. It's "The Judge." It is essentially a revolver available in a 3 or 6 in barrel. It has a huge cylinder to accept .410 ga shotgun shells. It looks pretty silly to me but for a car gun it might be pretty cool. It also accepts the .45 long colt bullets which is another feature. This would also make a great trail gun for hikers or backpackers. The .410 would be great on small game at reasonable distances.

Web Gallery

Here is the link to our web gallery:

http://gallery.mac.com/gtmiller21#gallery

HAPPY BIRTHDAY VANESSA!

Catching up

Well I did it. I finally drug myself to the verizon store and picked up a blackberry 8330. I realized today how much my cell phone knowlege lags behind. I decided to get with the program by blogging from my new phone.

Little Ellie's first doc visit was today. Everything checked out fine. They're having us watch for signs of colic though. I'll let you know at 4am what I think. This is only her fourth night home so we'll see.

The Barnes family brought us dinner tonight and it was awesome. Jake is getting big. Christine helped deliver Ellie so she and Vanessa are a lot closer now. Dan and I already go way back from our interesting choice to attend a military college.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

The New 50 cal

That's right. The M2 .50 cal machine gun is getting a little brother. Evidently the Army is planning on fielding it around 2010. It is smaller and lighter with less recoil. It is currently being tested in several locations. I am interested in seeing if it will become a man-portable platform and if it has any credibility as a tripod-mounted sniper weapon. It is supposedly more accurate than the M2. Remember that the M2 holds the record for the longest recorded sniper kill at 2500 meters. The Soldiers interviewed made it clear that the M2 will not be replaced but it will be supplemented.

Anyway, here is the link at global security. 

Observations of Fatherhood

I have a wonderful relationship with God (always improving), a wonderful wife, and a beautiful (currently screaming) baby Ellie. Life comes with challenges but these three elements of my life make it more than worth it. I've realized a few things since I've become a father.

-I get just under one year now to earn father's day

-I need to get Vanessa her own cell plan or get an additional job $$$$$$$

-I carry as much stuff for Ellie as I do for the Army (rucks need wheels like strollers)

-Vanessa is actually superwoman in disguise

-Ellie poops a lot and on a lot

-0 time belongs to me

-The washing machine will never stop running again

-I can't spend a week in a hospital room doing nothing and then run 5 miles without almost dying

Just a few observations. I'm sure more will follow when Ellie has more that 2 days at home. I'm really glad that I get a strange sense of accomplishment from otherwise unfavorable circumstances.

Ellie Kate Miller

On Sunday Vanessa gave birth to Ellie. She was really a trooper through the whole thing. I was impressed with her ability to cope with everything. The whole process was amazing. We are blessed to have such great family and friends to support us. God has truly given us a gift. I look forward to going back home and finding our new routine. I'm sure that things will never be the same but I am okay with that. I also look forward to the new experiences that Ellie's life will bring us. Having my own family is awesome.

Things that suck

COMCAST! Comcast service sucks, their customer service sucks, and their company sucks. For the past two weeks or so my Internet has been so slow that I would fail if I was in school right now. It is also very annoying when playing online video games. I think Call of Duty 4 is getting old but the moral of the story is Comcast sucks.

On the topic of things that suck. The United States' ability to compete with foreign information warfare. Every time a kid gets killed overseas it is an American's fault according to the local authorities (can you really say authorities yet?). The other day when the Pakistani army was firing on US forces on the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan they got lit up. An air strike killed some 11-13 Pakistani army. Pakistan told their people that the United States attack was unprompted. I'm sure this is complete BS if you know what kind of approval you need for a 500 lbs bomb.

These unfortunate souls that live in caves and shanties have been kept uneducated by their own government, hate America because we suck at information warfare. They all go by the WIIFM theory. That's "what's in it for me!" If we can give these people the information we have and some sort of quality of life that will keep everything peaceful for a few minutes. Then they will screw it up again but we know that going in.

Here's another idea. Let's quit kissing Israel's rear and maybe the Muslim world won't hate us so much. If anybody knows why we support Israel's every move please let me know.  Anyway, we suck at information warfare and we will continue to suck at it until we start using our technology and help these people out.