One of the things you can always count on in the military is making some very interesting friends. Some are closer than others, but it's good to know that most of them at least don't dislike you. Maybe that sounds a bit cynical, but I've got some friends that have essentially eliminated my need for enemies. ;-] Allow me to introduce a few of my amigos...
 This is me and Ryan Jacoby. Ryan was a linguist that I worked with. We spent many a watch conversing about all sorts of useless and trivial bits of knowledge and even managed to squeeze in some actual philosophical discussion from time to time. Ryan... You borrowed my books, you borrowed my CDs...thank you for giving them back. |
 Translation: "You are not allowed to hit an anteater with your car!" |
 This is me and my buddy Darla. She eventually moved on to Scottland but while she was in Panama she was kind enough to read one of my manuscripts and offer some "readers' advice."
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 This is my roommate, Danny. In fact, this is the only picture I have of him where he isn't giving me the finger! ;-] |
 Here's my friend Davey... "He's still in the Navy and probably will be for life." A fellow Billy Joel fan, we rubbed that line from "Piano Man" in his face when he decided to take orders to Monterey instead of getting out (Which is what he said he was going to do).
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 This is Mike Heisenbuttle (Or Brother Mike as I often referred to him). Mike and I got along really great. We were the only active members of the LDS Church at our command and we shared the challenge of getting to church on Sundays. We managed to make it a couple of times while I was there. The rest of the time we had our own Family Home Evenings, usually by going down to the picnic area with our CDs and books and talking about music, home and the gospel. Oh, we both managed to get into trouble from time to time, but we were always there to look out for each other. Mike was away on emergency leave when I left Panama but we were able to say goodbye before we left.
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Fort Sherman, Panama had itself a neat little zoo (well, hardly a zoo by American standards but a zoo nonetheless). I visited it a few times to see some local wild life like coatimundi and assorted primates. It was run by enlisted men stationed at Sherman and I'm sorry to say they didn't always treat the animals very kindly.
 This is a picture of me with a monkey. (I'm the one wearing the shirt.) |
 "Uncle Louie, Tracy. Tracy, Uncle Louie." |
 "Could you call the keeper, I'm all out of raw chicken heads." (That's among the things they were fed.) |
Below is what can only be called a one in a million shot. My friend Tracy and I saw him scurrying across the road, we stopped the car, I got right in front of him to take his picture and, wouldn't you know it, he was kind enough to pose. ;-]
 "Get out of my way before I kick your butt! You think you intimidate me, don't you! Well you don't! I'm not scared of you! I'm not scared of anybody!...Mommy!" |
| Back to Panama |