I have done God's work this week.

Not, only did I hook up the entire MP company with G-Mail accounts, I had those with their own computers install:

• Firefox (bow to the glory of tabbed browsing) for web browsing,
• Ad-ware & Spybot S&D for removing pesky spyware,
• Zone alarm and gave them all a tutorial on what firewalls are and how they work (PS: Run a spyware program before installing Zone alarm).
  
• AbsoluteShield a shredder program that insures that data is truly erased (Yes people that's right recycle bin doesn't truly delete your files, if someone REALLY wants to look they can find it easy).
• Mass Downloader so they can download files faster and insures that if your link to the net dies, the file doesn't.
  
• Gave them the link to YouSendIt.com (You can send a file up to 1GB in size).

Today, I made the internet better and internet users smarter.

Tommie Hustle is not a member of any subversive organization that believes in the violent overthrow of the government of United States of America.

Just had to throw that out there, I get lots of visitors to the site and you never know who may be watching. Well, as you all well know I pretty much pick my hair every time I have a free hand. My pick is much like a security blanket. Well a guy comes up to me and asks me if I am a member of the Black Panthers. Black Panthers? WTF.

I say "No, why would you ask something like that? I know I have a quizzical look on my face. Kinda the look you would have if you walked past the kitchen and you saw your grandma farting on top of the Thanksgiving turkey. Yeah, the look you are making right now.

He says "That pick you have with the fist and the peace sign you know that is the sign of the Black Panthers right?"

*TIME STOP*

I have a choice; I mean I felt like I Was in a Dave Chappelle skit. I mean I could "keep it real" but that was an emotional reaction based on incorrect assumptions from both of us. I'm thinking everyone should know a pick is a pick but, for someone white how could they know? He had no reason to know, learn, or care about picks. I thought to myself, is it really worth it? At the end of the day it really just was something he just didn't know.

*TIME START*

I said "Naw, man. This is just a pick the fist is just to remind the user that you have to grip it (this wasn't the time or the place to go into the concept of black power) and the peace sign well that just means to be gentle with your hair. It's all subtle."


"Really, I didn't know that, I was told it was the symbol of the Black Panthers."

"I'm sure Black Panthers used picks like these because, well they were Black and picks are what Black people use when we have a lot of hair and as you know all Black Panthers had afros."


"Man, I didn't know that. Wow, you learn something new everyday."

I gave a little smirk and said "You sure do."

Be careful what you wish for...

Well since I have been picking my hair non-stop for the past 6 days I have developed a bit of a problem. No hats will fit on my head. This isn't a problem today but, I really don't want to imagine what will happen in another 30 days. I'm already having to slick my hair down so I can put on baseball caps.

Haven't had much to say recently.

Well, I haven't been inspired to post in the last week or so. I think the reason is that I have entered a state of ennui. Well maybe ennui is too strong of a word, I don't have the dislke of my job that ennui would imply. But, I think I have reached the point where being in Iraq is "normal". I mean this is my life, I get up get dressed, take a shower, get dressed again, go to work, do work, eat, do work, get undressed, and go to bed. Pretty much like people do in regular life. But, all of the events in the past that were whiz-bang moments are just a part of the day. I can sit here and listen to a crisis over the phone, get up, go to the site, do some peeking and poking around, press a button here, restart this, take this out of the generator, clean this and everything is back up and running.

I mean I like that feeling because I can go into someplace and fix something in a matter of minutes where my customer took hours to look at it. I'm just saying that I have noticed the change. When I first got here I was in awe of the system, I felt seperate from the system. Now I'm part of it.

I don't care how hot it is in Iraq. Don't wear short sleeves at dusk.

Man these mosquitos are some sort of hellion beasts or something. I'm like aren't you little fuckers only supposed to be found around water? Man I wore short sleeves and got caught outside around dusk. They tapped my veins like I was a dope fiend. My arm are burning like a son of a bitch.

Oh yeah the mosquitos here are big as hell. They are about the size of a small cheeto.

Soon everyone will be here.

Well, it seems that my bother's brother-in-law is coming to Iraq to deliver fuel for Halliburton and I got an email from my buddy Spellmore it seems he got called back after being out of the Military for 2 years and he is coming back to the sandbox himself. While his email didn't indicate it I don't think I would be far off in saying he was pissed.

I think about how this war works and I know there is always that low tin foil hat talk about bringing back the draft. I don't know if they will need to or not. I mean look at my bother's brother-in-law and myself. You throw enough money at a problem and someone will come to solve it. As far as pulling back people into the service who have finished their "requirements" I would consider that a back door draft but, it's written in to the contract so...

I have been kinda mute on my bother's brother-in-law decision to transport fuel. I'm no fan of Halliburton. I don't like their business practices but, a dollar is a dollar I guess. The people here for Halliburton are contrators in the pure sense of the word. They are contracted to do a job and Halliburtion is contracted to pay them at the end of the contract the relationship between them is over. On top of that fuel is a high value target, his situation will be and is a WAY different experince than what I will be doing. Iraqis don't travel on Iraqi highways and they can read the signs. I have told my brother that I wouldn't do it if I were him but who am I to tell someone what to and what not to do in Iraq? If I had a choice of things to do, I wouldn't drive explosives around in a country where people regularly shoot at any moving vehicle. I guess that's the limit of my psyche.

Naps b gone

Again my folks are the greatest! My Pops sent me a package with a new camera, 200 gig hard drive, some games the wire first season DVD a webcam some headphones but, none of that stuff was important to me I dug in my boxes and found what I was looking for, my folks sent me 5 picks one of which is from Antonio's Manufacturing Inc. For those of you who don't know much about Afro picks in 1972 Anthony R. Romani patented the "cake cutter" every Black home had a No. 360c cake cutter. Hell, we had ours until at least the late 90's until someone "borrowed" it. But what you all probably know is the No. 532 pick. It is the pick with the black fist and the peace sign. All trendy today but, in 1972 it was a strong signal represnting pride, strength, and self-determination as well as oppostion to the Vietnam war. The pick is displayed National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center in Wilberforce, Ohio.

OK that is really irrelevant. That's not what I thought when I opened the box. I grabbed the first pick I could and went through this woolly mammoth. Man, that pick spread those naps like a hot knife through butter. I felt like Jerry Curl in Hollywood Shuffle after they gave him back his activator. I picked my hair for about and hour and a half straight. I don't think you all know how that felt. As a matter of fact I'm picking my hair between typing.



Afro pick I love you.