Shucks

It's been almost a month. I better do an events dump to clue in anyone who wanders by here...

1. Bronchitis since December.

2. Averaging sixty hours a week on the job. Yes, I work outside, in Utah. The base elevation for my project is 6500 feet.

3. Emergency room visit first week of February. Was forced to admit "yes, chest does hurt". Result: Left side cardiac catheterization that day, endoscopy exam the next. Diagnosis: pre-ulcerous conditions in stomach. Result: drugs. Lots of drugs.

4. GP visit one week later, after fainting in the shower after a coughing spell. Diagnosis: bronchitis (still) and sinus infection. Result: more drugs; steroidal inhaler, cough suppressants (pill and liquid), antibiotic pills the size of .38 special cartridges.

5. We've had three visits from window contractors. Each one has provided a bid for replacing the existing seventeen aluminum storm windows we use to heat our neighborhood. Bids have ranged from astronomical to merely daunting, so far.

4. Youngest Goddess turned thirteen on the 25th and had her party here at the house. Fifteen eighth graders. Oldest Goddess turned sixteen two days later, and we had her party here on Friday the third, with eighteen highschoolers.

5. Externally, I've watched the cartoon flap, Cheneygate, the mosque bombings, the latest iteration of Bush-killed-New Orleans, Iran's march to nuclear arms, and Terry Taliban Goes To Yale, all with an increasing sense of detachment.

I've decided that a sad majority of Americans aren't serious about fighting this war. Not yet. It doesn't help that media, Hollywood, and The Democrats are still willfully blind to the threat beyond opportunities for them to exploit for personal gain. The administration's strategy has worked well enough to prevent another 9/11 so far. The opposition (beyond the previously mentioned) has wisely invested most of its domestic efforts in media moves.

And that's o.k. We'll arrive at the 2006 midterms with a Republican caucus fearing righteous revolt by their base. The Democrat caucus continues operating in an abject vacuum of ideas or principles, and will be even more beholden to their base.

For what it's worth, I think we'll see Iraq stabilize enough over the next six months that we move a lot of troops out of theater. The remaining coalition units will be dispersed widely throughout the country. Less of a strategic target when the ultimate suicide bombing begins.

Will we strike at Iran before then? I have my doubts. The smart move would be a coordinated air and ground mission conducted within the next two weeks... but the decision may have been made to allow the Iranians to conduct a test, first. A pragmatic political decision, but inherent in such is the acceptance that the inevitable conflict with Iran will be nuclear.

9/11 wasn't enough to mobilize the West. Well, we'll not have that pesky WMD argument the next time around.

The price of victory is going to be more than anyone dared think. Sad, that.

Posts will continue to be infrequent, and will probably be more of the "I cleaned my garage today" flavor than any political or strategic musings. I am in better shape now than since before Christmas but find that concentrating on tasks I can actually lay hands on makes me feel better than beating my head against a wall.

Have a fine one. I'm off to the garage.