Ah, the MRE. That portable, “tasty” meal eaten by US troops in the field, or when one’s unit doesn’t have anything else with which to feed people. As someone who has been in the military, I’ve eaten my share of them. They seem really cool at first, but that coolness factor wears off after about your second or third MRE. That’s when they start tasting the same.
A few years ago, my Air National Guard unit went to South Dakota for a two-week training exercise with the Army. During that time we had three meals a day: one hot meal and two MREs. Because we were in the Air Force and not the Army, we weren’t too keen on playing Army games and pretending we were at war. So we would leave our compound and go to McDonald’s or something similar for one of those meals. This resulted in a large collection of MREs for myself. After sitting in my basement at room temperature for the last three years, a good friend of mine really wanted to try one. So, I decided to document his experience for you all to see.
Continue reading ‘A guide to eating a “delicious” MRE’
I’m big on nostalgia. Probably more than anyone else I know, especially my wife. I think it’s because she didn’t have cable television growing up. I’ll talk about all the cool shows I used to watch on Nickelodeon and she won’t have a clue as to what I’m talking about. So while I was watching shows like Danger Mouse, Mr. Wizard’s World, Today’s Special, and The Mysterious Cities of Gold, she was watching shows like. . .well I don’t really know what kinds of shows she was watching. There actually were a few good shows on the networks, but without Nickelodeon she was missing out on much of the experience.
While watching those totally awesome shows, we all inevitably sit through the commercials. There are a few commercials I remember vividly, but most are locked away in some deep crevice of my brain, only to come back again when I review a familiar 30 second clip. For those of us who grew up in that era, I’m sure you remember the Dig ‘Em Frog, the Kool-Aid Man, and the tons of gimmicky cereal ads.
I had commercial nostalgia years before the internet came on the scene. In my family we had a lot of movies on VHS that we had recorded over the years. I used to play them on the VCR and and fast-forward through the movies so I could watch any commercials I might have remembered. But today, thanks to YouTube, old commercials are at our fingertips. Below are several commercials that I remember fondly.
Continue reading ’80s commercial nostalgia’
For a while now I’ve been extremely fascinated by abandoned buildings. I’m not exactly sure as to why I have this fascination, but perhaps it has something to do with what time, weather, and neglect will do to a structure. Unfortunately, I’m still recovering from a broken leg so my desire to begin any urban exploring adventures must be put on hold at the moment.
One thing I’ve noticed about where I live is that it isn’t exactly the greatest location for stumbling upon an irresistible abandoned structures. I live in Atlanta, where everything is new and the old and abandoned is generally torn down to make way for bigger and shinier buildings. Unlike places in the Northeast, Atlanta was never really an industrial city, so there aren’t a lot of factories to explore. Existing factories generally get torn down to make way for new neighborhoods. In cities like Detroit, you could throw a dead cat and hit an abandoned building. In Atlanta, not so much. I suppose I shouldn’t complain too much since the reason Detroit has so many abandoned buildings is because its economy sucks.
In the meantime, I’m researching some places where I can get some great graffiti pictures from around Atlanta. I’ve always loved street art, and after the overwhelming positive response to my graffiti pictures, I really want to get out and snap some pictures of some really great looking graffiti around Atlanta. I’ve already got some visits planned to some great locations so hopefully I’ll be posting some pictures once I get back on my feet in the next couple of weeks.
If anyone has any great urban exploration stories I’d love to hear about them here. Also, here are some links to some of my favorite UE sites:
Sleepy City - This guy goes all over the world and take pictures of abandoned and not-so-accessible places. His pictures are amazing.
Infiltration - A defunct zine that has a lot of resources about UE.
Urban Exploration Resource - A great UE forum where explorers from all over the world dispense advice and post great photos of their exploits.
I read this here and I thought I would share it:
Dear Abby,
I’ve never written to you before, but I really need your advice on what could be a crucial decision. I’ve suspected for some time now that my wife has been cheating on me.
The usual signs… Phone rings but if I answer, the caller hangs up.
My wife has been going out with the girls a lot recently although when I ask their names she always says, “Just some friends from work, you don’t know them.”
I always stay awake to look out for her taxi coming home, but she always walks down the drive. Although I can hear a car driving off, as if she has gotten out of the car round the corner. Why? Maybe she wasn’t in a taxi?
I once picked her cell phone up just to see what time it was and she went berserk and screamed that I should never touch her phone again and why was I checking up on her.
Anyway, I have never approached the subject with my wife. I think deep down I just didn’t want to know the truth, but last night she went out again and I decided to really check on her.
I decided I was going to park my Harley Davidson motorcycle next to the garage and then hide behind it so I could get a good view of the whole street when she came home. It was at that moment, crouching behind my Harley, that I noticed that the valve covers on my engine seemed to be leaking a little oil.
Is this something I can fix myself or should I take it back to the dealer?
