Research paper idea

Since I am an avid hunter and fisherman I will most likely write my paper on salmon fish spawn seasons or the elk rut. I have been fishing since I was 5 years old and I started hunting at the ago of 16. Right now the fall salmon run is going on, tomorrow I am going to Astoria and fishing the legendary "buoy 10" for chinook and coho salmon. August 30th is the start of archery elk and deer season. I will be spending as much time as I can out in the woods and on the river this year.

End of book thief start of the old man and the sea

I have been having problems with my blog from my home computer lately so I apologize for not posting as much as I would like. I am working on fixing the problem. I have finished reading the book thief and will do one last post about it. I am almost done with my second book, the old man and the sea. It is something that i am enjoying to read so far. I will post more soon.

I remember 17 July 2014

            There are many memories that I have experienced in my short life. Some good, and some bad. The past five years have been a roller-coaster of these memories. I notice that myself always relating assignments I am given to my military service. In early 2011 I was shot at by a Taliban sniper in southern Afghanistan. This being a not-so-good memory, it is still something that I would like to always remember so that I will appreciate life more because that day I was about a foot from losing my life.

            Our company had been in Afghanistan since November of 2010, steadily conducting convoys to many forward operating bases (FOB’s) in the southern region of the country. My role was the M2 50 caliber machine gun operator in the first truck in the convoy. For operational security purposes, I won’t say where we were coming from and where we were going. I remember the very distinct smell of the local afghan trucks that is simply indescribable. The feel of the warm wind in my sweaty face as we traveled at around 40MPH through the city streets

            The weight of my tactical vest pulling on my shoulders as I hear that crack of a seven point six-two rifle unexpectedly on my left side followed by the wizz of the bullet traveling over my head impacting with the rundown, concrete building to my right. The crack of my back was felt as I twisted my gun turret in the direction of the shot as fast as I possibly could, like my life depended on it….. Oh wait, it did. As I was staring down the dark, Smokey alleyway I could feel the butterfly shaped trigger of my loaded, safety off weapon, waiting to send the bullet out of the long, heavy barrel and send the person who just tried to kill me to hell.

            Looking into the alleyway at nothing, he wasn’t there. He left as fast as he had shot, he was waiting for a U.S. convoy to come through the city and take a pop shot at the gunner on top of the first truck. Sometimes they are successful at this cowardly tactic but fortunately they failed this time. Later, going through the same spot we had taken a rough measurement of how far the bulley had traveled over my head and we came up with 12-15 inches. Coming that close to certain death may not be a memory that a lot of people would like to remember, but for me, it is something that happened and I can never change it. It reminds me that I am lucky to be here and to appreciate the time that I have here on this planet.

Rough of new experience

This past weekend I did something that I have never done before. I went to seaside and tried my luck in razor clamming and surf perch fishing. I had to wake up at 2 am to start the drive to the coast with my friend. We were there just in time to start digging on the outgoing tide. I was amazed at how easy it was compared to digging bay clams.
     For razor clams you are on the beach and you have a clam gun to suck the clams out of their holes. All you have to do is bang the sand with a shovel and look for their necks going down in the sand. Put the clam gun over the hole and push it all they way down and then bring it up and grab your clam. The limit was 15 per person and we easily obtained our limits pretty quick. I also picked up a bunch of sand dollars to give to my wife.

         Next we moved south to start surf perch fishing. All was needed for this was a steelhead rod with a 3/4 oz. bullet weight followed by a 4mm bead and barrel swivel. Then your 2 and a half foot leader with a number 4 bait hook, the bait we were using was Berkeley Gulp camo sandworms. Its a good thing to have chest waders to do this type of fishing. We waded out to our knees in the Pacific surf and casted as far as we could. This is an exciting kind of fishing, literally every cast I was getting a bite. The hard part was not setting the hook. They nibble on the bait for a while and you have to wait until the commit and bite the book before you can set the hook and reel them in. A weird side note is that these fish do not lay eggs like most fish. They have their offspring internally like a human would. After you catch a female perch it is common that she will push her babies out to save them. We fished for a couple hours until the surf got pretty rough before calling it quits. We got most of our limit between the 4 of us.

           We came home loaded with lots of clams and perch. We filleted the fish and cleaned the clams after we got back to the valley. The perch don't have much for fillets but they are a tasty treat. I coated mine in panko bread crumbs and fried them, turned out to be a pretty good meal. The razor clams are packaged and frozen in my freezer for a treat later in the year. It was a great experience and I can't wait to go do it again. It is a long drive but if you go with a couple people and do both clamming and fishing I think it is worth it. 

My new experience (day before event)

I am to write about doing something that I have not done yet. Tomorrow I will do that thing! Tomorrow I will be waking up at 2 A.M..... yes you read that correctly..... 2 A.M.!!! I will drive to cannon beach and at low tide I will start my new experience. The thing that I have not done before is razor clam digging and surf perch fishing. First we will dig the razor clams, which are very tasty I must add, and then I will try my luck at surf perch fishing. The process for razor clamming is using what is called a clam gun to suck the clams out of the sand on the beach, sounds easy enough.... we will see. Surf perch fishing will be using a Carolina rig set-up with some plastic scented worms. The limits of both are 15. If I come home with both of my limits I might go back Saturday and Sunday. It is something I have wanted to try for a long time now and I now have the opportunity. My new experience probably isn't as exciting as some peoples but for a simple man like myself, I am easily amused. I will keep you updated with the outcome of my exciting new experience!

Chase's poem (rendered from "Living like Weasels" by Annie Dillard)

I learn, or remember, how to live.

We can live any way we want

I live as I should, as the weasel lives as he should.

Why....

• Why does nothing happen when Obama trades 5 Taliban prisoners for one deserter behind congresses back?
• Why does the U.S. insist on helping other countries instead of helping our country?
• Why is the gas prices so high?
• Why are cell phones getting more advanced and less battery life?
• Why is there cancer?

What if....

• What if Dawson would have never been killed in Afghanistan?
• What if I would have lived with my dad when my parents got a divorce?
• What if I never would have injured my back?
• What if I never would have joined the military?
• What if the U.S. never occupied Iraq and Afghanistan?
• What if I kill an elk this year?
• What if I never got to go fishing again?
• What if my wife got into a car accident?
• What if I don't get a job at Intel?
• What if I buy a boat?

Book thief reading

I am halfway through reading The Book Thief, it is really dry for me and hard to really comprehend it. Liesel is struggling with her home and school life but she has made a bond with Hans. I can relate to that in a small way, my mother remarried after her divorce and I have made a relationship with my stepfather but I do not call him dad. He introduced me into hunting and we do that together as well as fishing. I am happy that my mother is happy and he treats her good. Not really a good connection there with the book but it's something. I will continue to read the book, but i may start reading another one of my books to get it done as well.

My life

              My life has been something that I couldn't even have dreamed about when I was a child. I feel that I matured and got a pretty good idea of life at an earlier age then some when I joined the military and was asked to do things that a teen and man in his early 20's that many will never do. I was deployed to Afghanistan for 12 months and was the gunner for the first truck in the convoy for over 175 missions. As a child I used to play "war" with my friends, but it was nothing of what war actually was, let's just say that I am blessed to be back on American soil with all of my limbs.

             I grew up fishing and hunting and to this day that is something that I love and I try to do it as much as possible. Just last Sunday I went out in the ocean on a charter out of Charleston and fished for bottom fish, it was a really good time and everyone caught their limits of snapper. I am an archery hunter as well as a rifle hunter. This year I am going to archery hunt for deer and elk. I am all in all obsessed with the outdoors and try to spend as much time doing those things as I can.

            I met my wife the year after I graduated high school when we were both attending South West Oregon Community College (SWOCC.) We were married on December 27th 2011 at shore acres park in Coos Bay overlooking the ocean. I love her with all of my heart and she makes me unbelievably happy. Unfortunately she had a miscarriage last year during her first pregnancy, it was a tragic thing but we try to think that it happened because maybe there was something wrong with the baby. We will try to have a child in a couple years when I graduate, we have names picked out for a boy and a girl already..... hopefully that doesn't jinx anything.

           I decided to go back to school after I was medically separated from the military and I chose the  microelectronics technology program at Portland Community College. I hope to obtain a job at Intel, my brother in law works there and the benefits are amazing. This is only my second term at PCC and I am working hard to get good grades so that I can be successful and reach my goal of working at Intel.

"History is written by the victors"

I think this quote is spot on! In school when you are learning about historical wars and battles..... who's going to tell the story if the other side all died? In our own lives, this could be true also. When we "win" at something it is usually a happy time and we like to remember those things so we burn them into our brains with the good memories. I'm not sure I am going in the right direction here but since I wasn't in class on Thursday, I missed out with the class discussion.

A dream

For the past couple of years I have been having a reoccurring dream. It takes place in Afghanistan where I believe that part of me was left. My platoon is out on a convoy logistics patrol (CLP) through Kandahar city and I either get shot at and hear the bullet whiz over my head, or I see an IED right before the detonation. Right when these two events happen, a blank white "screen" shows in my head and I wake immediately. Often with screams. That is all I care to write about.

I don't remember

I don't remember why I cut my cats whiskers

I don't remember how i got to bed one night at the barracks.

I don't remember standing on my uncle Jims' truck with the elk that he shot

I don't remember holding my dad's salmon on the rogue river

I don't remember telling my wife I would do the dishes.

I don't remember a lot of things I learned in High School.

I don't remember where my dad and I found the boat on strawberry mountain

I don't remember seeing the big horned sheep on hart mountain.

I remember 26 June 2014

• I remember hearing my first sergeant tell our company that we were deploying to Afghanistan.
• I remember stepping off the plane on to Kandahar airfield, Afghanistan.
• I remember my first mission through Kandahar City.
• I remember being shot at by a Taliban sniper.
• I remember explosions
• I remember the distinct smell of the local Afgans trucks.
• I remember the smell of freshly fires five point five six NATO rounds.
• I remember the rocket attack alarm sounding off
• I remember coming home
• I remember wanting to go back
• I remember hearing that my friend was killed.

The Book Thief July 1st 2014 in class reading

This afternoon in class we were instructed to read for a few minutes in our chosen book. I am at the point in my book now that I am starting to get more familiar with the characters. Liesel's brother has passed away during their train ride to their new "foster" home, during his funeral Liesel found a book that had been dropped by the gravedigger. The book was a guide to digging graves. Not something that an everyday person would want to read but in a time when reading is hard to come by, she was willing to read anything she could get her hands on. At her new home, the Hubermanns, she learned to roll cigarette's with her new papa Hans. She was instructed that she was to call Rosa "Mama Number Two" and Hans "Papa." I am starting to get more interested in the book at this time, even though this is the book that I am not interested in. I will power through it, can't say if I will be in love with it by the end.