Record anti-war protests

A record number of people turned up for anti-war protests yesterday in Sydney and in major cities around the world. John Howard, our Prime Minister, the man tasked with making the tough decisions, in the best interest of our nation, ignored these protests and defended his actions in sending troops to the gulf. Personally I think that is a sign of a strong leader and a very wise decision. A man in his position should not allow the “relatively” uninformed opinions of some people, to lead him astray from doing what is right for the country. “But that’s like a dictatorship!” I hear you say. Well the difference here is that we, as a nation, voted for this government to run the country to the best of their ability. And we have the power to elect another leader at the next election should we be dissatisfied with their performance. I know many people don’t trust politicians and believe me, I hate politicians as much as the next man. So call me naive because I do believe there is “some” good in John Howard’s bunch and that they are doing this in the best interest of Australia.

I can assure you; not a single person in that rally yesterday was more informed about the Iraq situation than the PM. Some of the protesters were “first timers” and were going along because they believed war was wrong. This is understandable, as our relatively recent history of wars is enough to convince any sane person that war is not a good thing. And then there are those extreme lefties who at the mention of the word “war” would go nuts irrespective of the situation at hand. One must ask, have these people thought about the consequences of the alternative? Would inaction now, result in a greater catastrophe sometime in the future? And would they be rallying if they were privy to the same sort of information as John Howard, keeping in mind they are tasked to make a decision in the best interest of our nation.

So I guess my main point here is, people will always have differing opinions. In today’s democratic society where free speech is a right, uninformed opinions can sometimes result in actions that could cloud the decisions that need to be made. These decisions are made from the additional information that is available to the government and not to the general public. Although it may seem like yesterdays’ protests should be enough to justify their respective government’s decisions as wrong, I believe only a weak government would succumb to this, or one that is more worried about the votes than doing what’s right.

So many Engineers!

I've been looking for a new job recently and one of the keywords that I use to search these online job agencies is "Engineer". Now you wouldn't believe it but I got a tonne of hits based on that word. Initially I was like "Woohoo! Lotsa good jobs for me to choose from!" Then upon closer inspection I get jobs like "Japanese Speaking Technical Support Engineer" and "Voice Engineer". Geebus! It seems they just slap the word "Engineer" at the end of every job title just to make it sound prestigious and technical. The work of an engineer is to utilise technology in order to develop products that would benefit man kind. I don't see how tech support can be called engineering.

Sultanas Part 2

As you all recall in part 1 of the Sultanas episode, Paul had unknowingly eaten all of Georges' packet of sultanas and he wasn't impressed. Newton was the culprit as he managed to trick Paul into believing that it was his packet of sultanas. Well, as I was walking to work today I felt the truth must be told about this little debacle. On the afternoon of that day, Newton told me the truth. It was all a set up. It WAS Newton's packet of sultanas and George was just putting on a show. Darn good one at that. Newton didn't like his sultanas so he thought up a little prank in order to get Paul to consume them, then make him feel guilty and possibly have him bring in some food to work as an apology. Sneaky little bastard! hehe

So Paul, if you're reading this, don't tell him I told you. We're the engineers here. We have to stick together and get these workshop boys back! ;P

Changes...

This is a little something I wrote to my friends on email a couple of weeks ago that depicts my situation with my army reserve commitments.

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As you all know, people change with time. Our needs and wants today will not be the same in the future nor were they the same in the past.

During the past year at the army, things have been quiet and fairly mundane. Mainly because I've been allocated to a new Corps. (Engineers as opposed to the previous Corps of Infantry) and posted to a reserve unit. I am now a logistics officer doing alot of planning and organising of training activities for the soldiers. I find recently that I lack the motivation to attend regular parade nights and training weekends as there always seems to be something better happening during that time. I am not as excited about the army as I used to be and it is starting to become a burden, on both my time and my happiness.

When I joined the army almost 4 years ago I was in my second year of uni and things we boring and repetitive. That was when I seriously thought about joining the army. The army provided a challenge both physically and mentally and I was always eager for a challenge. It provided a change in my lifestyle. I would have something else to do apart from full time uni. And going into Officer training would teach me the leadership and management skills that will one day be useful in my civilian career.

Now, I have always been a person who believes that life should be enjoyed and if you're doing something you don't enjoy, then don't do it. I guess what it all comes down to is that I've lost interest in the army and the army related activities. By going on I will only be doing so because I feel it is my duty and not because I enjoy it. I've always said that the day I don't enjoy doing what I do in the army is the day I quit. Plus I couldn't show up to the barracks and give a half hearted attempt at commanding my troops as it would be unfair on them.

During the past couple of months where we had the army holiday break I felt alot better without the extra burden of army commitments. I wasn't required to put in extra time doing my army stuff after work and on weekends. My time was solely devoted to my career, family, friends and now, girlfriend. I know what you're all thinking right now "Now that he's got a girlfriend he wants more time to spend with her". I'd be lying if I said that Sara wasn't a contributing factor to my decision but it is in no way the major factor. I was starting to lose interest in the army even before I met Sara. The issue here is that for whatever reason, I don't enjoy what I do at the army anymore and I don't look forward to those Tuesday nights and weekend exercises.

So my decision is to go Inactive. This means technically I'm still in the army but I will not be actively participating in any army related activities. People normally do this if they go on holidays for an extended period of time or they are going through some tough times and need a break from the army. I'm doing this because I want to "trial" what it's like to not have the army in my life. If I feel the urge to go to the army again then I can reactivate my status. Personally I doubt that would happen.

I know my mum and my relatives are more than happy to see me quit the army. They have always pressured me into leaving and was never 100% behind my decision to join in the first place.