2009 has already been interesting. That is not the correct word for what has been going on, but I can not find another. My boss's wife, age 83, had been ill. In and out of the hospital, early onset dementia, etc. In January, she committed suicide by inserting gun into her mouth, and pulling the trigger. My boss took bereavement leave for several weeks, and still was not doing well upon his return to work. One day, he flew into a rage and threw the computers across the room. He also fired the nurse who had been sleeping on the job, and using the office computers to search the net for gay web sites. There was backlash from his actions, and last week, he cleared out his desk and walked off the job. Yesterday, I was at work and the nurse on site rec'd a call from her son, with news that her 1 yr old granddaughter was seizing and in the hospital, but being transferred to Barrows. I drove her to Barrows and sat with her until the ambulance arrived. Just rec'd a call from her that the child is in a drug induced coma, and on heart, seizure, etc meds. The docs have done just abt every test they can, with no conclusion as to a dx. I am praying for all of the above, and am grateful that life has treated me as well as it has. Once again, it has been made clear that life is VERY fragile, and VERY transient.

Not much is going on. I follow Hannity, OReily, and Greta nightly, and like what they report. However, as with any of the media, it is mostly abt scare tactics. Guess that's what sells. I also follow Hal Lindsey, and he outlines his thoughts abt our future. All very intesting.

Will volunteer at the airport military hospitality center. That plus being a Soldier's Angel, is abt the extent of what I seem to be able to contribute right now.

Michael Yon writes: “Big media has caught on with the situation in Afghanistan. Unfortunately, now 2009, they have only caught up to 2006. This year will likely be far more brutal than we have ever seen. At the going rate, my guess is that the Coalition will begin to fall apart by about 2011. The Canadians are wobbling and getting a standing count. They'll likely be TKO by 2011. The British are hanging tough. Godspeed to General Petraeus and our people.”

And from a posting on Michael’s blog: “Mike, I have friends who just came back from Afghanistan. They have worked with ISAF. Outside of the brave Canadians, British, even the French (sometimes), the rest of the Coalition is worthless. Their countries don't allow them to engage in combat. Their politicians can't allow any injuries and fatalities. This exposes the rest of them to danger though a lack of support. I see this year as a very dangerous transition because we can't depend on our NATO "partners". I'm planning on deploying in the Spring of 10. I need to know who I can depend on and who I can't. This is NOT going well and it has nothing to do with America. It has to do with the lack of courage from our Socialist European "allies". It's amazing.”