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Nyal
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Name: Steve
Country: United States
State: California
Metro: San Francisco
Gender: Male
Interests: Going home! Besides that, paintballing, rock climbing, clubbing, watering my cactus, instant noodles, unagi sushi, Chinese chess, manga, and beer!
Expertise: Looking for terrorists, FUBAR missions, cleaning weapons, driving agressively, cleaning weapons, writing reports, all in one day. B.O.H.I.C.A. baby!
Occupation: Military
Industry: Government
Message: message me
AIM:  nyalgaidin
Member Since:
1/7/2005
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| I'm back after dropping off the planet for a while. Being back home has been a great experience. Now I'm deploying again for OIF 4. Just kidding! Screw that hell hole. Even with contractor pay, I wouldn't go back there. Life back in the states is calm and boring and I sometimes miss the excitement. So I'm going skydiving in Vegas to make up for it. On the subject of Vegas, New Years Eve was kick ass at Tao in Venetian. Even though I never saw Paris Hilton, my buddy did and took a few pics. Almost worth the $200 cover. Almost.
My unit came back in November. Our battalion did not lose anyone organic to us, which was good. Only three purple hearts, which was even better.
I've been doing a lot of thinking, traveling, and thinking while traveling. The Army, Iraq, and the intel field has been a great experience, and I'm ready to move on in life. Looks like the chances of another deployment for me is slim, and I'm ready to get out when I ETS in 08. I'm trying to get some type of award for my efforts in Iraq considering they gave me a "certificate of appreciation." Eh. I've seen people get ARCOMs for doing paperwork. Perhaps because our team leader was medevac himself (no award either) and our team was disbanded early on, they forgot at the end.
Here are some pics from a China/Taiwan vacation, a much needed one btw. Enjoy!
An interesting angle.
New Cliff House in San Francisco. Sunset.
My favorite shot from China, Dragon Gate.
Random flower.
That's my car at Ocean Beach, San Francisco.
Courage. A man sits next to the edge of a cliff, enjoys the view. Yellow Mountain, China.
Pictures are worth a thousand words. Then this incredible place is worth a thousand pictures. Besides Grand Canyon, I think this is the second place that shocked me in terms of magnificance and beauty. Stone Forest, China.
Panda like bamboo.
Tranquility. Sun Moon Lake, Taiwan.
They weren't kidding when they said the clouds are like an ocean of waves atop the Yellow Mountain.
Li Bai would make a poem if he saw this scene, but I could only gasp.
Three Gorges, still grand after the big dam raised water levels.
Yellow Crane Tower, China.
Dragon Cave, China.
Taken from behind a waterfall at great risk to the camera.
Location of a shot in Crouching Dragon.
Another location in the movie.
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I am free! After over 11 months of active duty in support of OIF3, 4 of them in country, I am now honorably discharged and back to National Guard status. I can't begin to describe how much I appreciate the freedom that comes with civilian life... no more PT formations at zero dark 30, no more cleaning after other people's mess, eating and sleeping when I want. I went through more things and matured more in the past year than I could've imagined before leaving for Iraq, and mostly for the better. Now I look back at my injury and I still can't decide if the whole experience was worth the 3 metal implants in my face lol. I'm in the process of filing a claim with VA.
I've been taking a lot of pictures recently, some planned and some randomly. I do apologize for the lack of updates, for the 3 people that read this blog regularly. But here it goes, some of the better pictures I took in the past few months.
Sea Fair Seattle 2005.
Seattle airport's new food court area, very nice.
Grand Canyon! That's my buddy as we trek down the dangerous canyon trail to camp. That is a sheer drop to the left of him.
A heart-shaped cactus I found along the trail. One of the few that did not find its way into my leg.
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| I don't know what I was thinking when I was typing the address to Army email (AKO)...
www.us.army.milk
Anyways, I wish everyone a happy and safe July 4th. To my buddies in IZ, stay safe!
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| As promised, here are some pics from Seattle that I took during a
weekend visit. My crazy cousin Connie and aunt gave me a Nikon
D70 as a welcome home present (mucho thanks) and I've been shooting
nonstop since.
Since I've been back, I've adjusted well to the normal tempo of
life. The first month or so I felt a constant need to work, to be
occupied with something, anything, thanks to the ultra tiring but
rewarding schedule of Iraq. In the three months or so I was in
country, I had 1 day off, not including Christmas, and even on that day
off I went to the office to catch up on reports. My teammates did
the same, and my team leader never had a day free.
After the accident, the battalion forced our op-tempo to a crawl.
With each passing day (and beer), I realize that Iraq was just a
temporary period of my life though with invaluable lessons and
experiences. The life-or-death decisions every soldier makes in
the warzone, especially in the intelligence field, might've been a
burden on some, but I gained confidence, courage, and focus from these
decisions, whether good or bad. I love the work I did and
sometimes when I'm at the Fort Lewis chow hall, I think back on the
better chow hall in Baghdad with lobster tails and.... oops wrong
memories. 
As Tommy Franks said of his experience in Vietnam, some of my memories
of Iraq are slowly slipping away; some are just a blur. I
should've kept a daily journal, though this blog helps. But some
memories will never fade: The incredible sight of the ruins of
ancient Babylon, the joy of handing the first Iraqi kid some candy (and
him asking for more, and more  ), and the
countless awesome soldiers and marines I worked with who just want to
make a difference, to get their job done and go home. On this
Memorial Day, I am proud to be serving with such incredible
people. 
Also I want to thank all the anonymous supporters out there who gave
soldiers hand-made beanies, scarfs, who sent care packages, letters of
encouragement, Christmas cards, especially to Joe and Diane Spencer of
the Hope for Change Foundation. They are good people.
These last 3 pics are from a crazy 3 hour hike through Mount Ranier, but that's a story for another entry.
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