Meetings May Now Have a Different Meaning

I used to tire of meetings. Marines, especially senior officers such as Lieutenant Colonels and Colonels love to hold meetings, sometimes for the sole purpose of hearing themselves talk; and, other times, just to fill up their calendar. Seriously. My biggest pet peeve is when someone takes the floor and takes half an hour to say something that should have taken no more than five minutes.

My boss, at the prompting of his two Captains, decided to hold a meeting Thursday morning at Cafe du Monde in the French Market. Cafe du Monde is known for its coffee and beignets, and serves little else. Their Cafe Au Lait is better than anything you'd get at Starbucks and the beignets sinfully delicious. Beignets are square pieces of dough fried and dusted with powdered sugar. They taste a lot like a funnel cake.

After an hour-and-a-half of enjoying the atmosphere and delicacies, we finally got down to business. The actual meeting lasted only about thirty minutes, but it was the most enjoyable thirty-minute-meeting I've attended.

Meow!

This is the latest acquisition to my growing cat collection. It is post-1950, since it shares the same mark as another cat in my collection. It is painted in a moriage style and is a bit more elaborate than the others.

Sightseeing

I took my second boat ride across the Mississippi yesterday morning, courtesy of the US Navy. Dental is located on the west bank on the Naval station and they operate a shuttle between the two banks. It was a rather nice morning boat ride, although a bit on the warm and muggy side. Fortunately, I get to take another one later in the month to get a cavity filled. I wish I had a picture to go along with this post, but aside from looking exceptionally foolish to others, I wasn't sure if it would be considered a security violation since a Navy ship was berthed alongside the pier.

Today I had a chance to see the Market District in the French Quarter. But only briefly. . . . I was more concerned with breathing at the time to care about sightseeing. The new boss of the Logistics branch thought it would be motivating to take everyone for a run (typical practice for new bosses.) While not acclimated yet, I decided to give it a shot. Unfortunately, I just succeeded in looking pathetic. . . . in front of everyone. Anyway, while running by, I got a glimpse of it and thought it definitely worth exploring at my own leisure.

Once an Okie, Always an Okie

The Land Run Monument in Bricktown, OKC

Day Thirteen

Though not my first day in this new land, its strangeness was made evident. I have been here thirteen days and am still experiencing some culture shock. I awoke to a magnificent thunder and lightening storm before dawn; something I had not experienced while in the East but fairly common in Oklahoma. What made this occurrence unusual to me was the fact that not a drop of rain fell in the hour or so it lasted. The sun came out with the dawn, but retreated in the early afternoon before the daily rainshower.

The natives are also an interesting lot. I was completely dismayed with their behavior the first few days I was here. I was expecting the stereotypical deep south laziness, slowness, and/or complacency, but experienced instead downright rudeness, hostility, and meanness. However, in my most recent outings, I have seen that this behavior may not be typical.

Their driving customs also confound me. Drivers here use their horns liberally and it has gotten to the point that I don't know what I'm being honked at for, nor do I care. Red lights and stop signs are treated as suggestions and yield signs completely ignored. Just this morning while approaching a drawbridge, I saw that the light was red and stopped--I watched as everyone else flew by in the other lanes, so it did not take me long to do the same (after being honked at.)

I have met a couple of my neighbors and will tell of my encounter shortly.