Just finished reading a great novel on the Vietnam war. Not for everybody, meaning it was a bit graphic at times. However me personally would recommend it to anyone that has any type of interest in history. This particular book was about a sniper in Vietnam . Just randomly picked it among some books I had gone through at the main library in downtown Los Angeles( a few post's back ) .However it's not for everyone. Me personally have never been in the military, or seen any type of combat. However have always had a interest in world history .Hence borrowed this book . Turned out to be quite graphic at times . Other parts of the book were a little slow. Mainly after the graphic sniper missions. However the sniper missions alone, are worth the reading. Won’t go into any details and give it away. However have to give you at least one excerpt on the novel . This page caught my attention for some reason . Thought it was really well written too give you a insight what is happening here. the author of this book came upon a south Vietnamese village with his platoon.They were trying to decipher if there were hostiles in the village.Well here it is:

“ If it was a VC village, then they fully supported the operations of the local guerrillas, many of whom were probably fathers and sons from this very village, and they couldn’t divulge who the VC were or where they were hiding. On the other hand, if it was a village that supported the South Vietnamese Government but the local VC were forcing them it provided food and shelter to our enemy, for their own protection they had to deny that the VC were present. For the village, it was a lose-lose situation. No matter how the village elders handled things they were going to lose. Such was the nature of the war in Vietnam.”

Gary D. Mitchell- A Sniper’s Journey-

Just a few after thoughts , having been around for 40 years or so, have come across my share of veterans in my time. Where it has been the time, I had a job in my hometown as a taxi driver briefly. Would get veterans in the back of my cab.My hometown seemed to have quite a few of them . We must have had a large veterans hospital or something. Or the time I was a waiter, also in my hometown. Working the night shift At the 24 hour Howard Johnson’s . There was one gentleman that used to sit alone , and my guess was he couldn'’t sleep(probably the coffee he drank all night didn’t help). Anyway he was a quiet, subdued man. However he had a gentleness about him that I liked. However I could see he was kind of amiss, something wasn’t right. Anyway one night after my shift he asked me to drive him home across town, to the east side of town. Well we talked on the way home, and he told me he was in Vietnam . Although I was only about 24 at the time. Still remember that night .Some 20 years later.


We all see our veterans , some are homeless,others are perfectly fine . I think the author said about 30%(or maybe it was higher)of veterans of Vietnam suffer from PTSD – Post traumatic stress disorder.In some form or another, Including the author himself . After reading some of his sniper missions I can understand why . Just gave me a little bit more insight into the horrors of Vietnam . However it is hard for me to comprehend all of it. Considering I was about 4 years old at the height of it. However one part of the book mentioned the disrespect he received after he came back stateside. Not sure I understand this, considering the soldiers at this time were drafted and didn’t have much of a choice in the matter. As he said” he was just following orders.” Anyway if you have any comments,feel free to leave them .

No, not literally , this blog is going to stay active , just kind of liked my previous post on twitter and I hope you did too.

Anyway have 3 e-mail accounts. Always good to have alternative accounts. And I enjoy some of the features on hotmail . Anyway after neglecting one of my accounts for quite some time. Had trouble accessing it this morning. my browser basically kept blowing up on me. Solution, opened up google chrome a entirely different browser which actually is a really good browser. Anyway solved the problem. The original browser couldn't handle 200+ e-mails or whatever the deal of the day was .However, will be definitely trying this browser more and more.Don't use it to much (hardly ever actually) .Oh kind of a short blog.However wanted to include a pic from my vacation in 2007. Was in south Florida, stayed in Fort Lauderdale, rented a car . Drove down to south beach one day took the scenic route. Along the highway that runs along the coast(think it's called the 1 or something like that). Really enjoyed south Florida and hope I can visit there again soon. Need a vacation soooo bad . It's been over 2 years. Anyway here's a pic for y'all.

Not sure why I am writing this however thought maybe I could give some input on this great program we call twitter . The title of my blog actually came from a actual tweet today. Meaning it get’s my creative thought process going and makes me write blogs (editorials) for no apparent reason. Seriously, great program .When I first came across this program it was somewhat complicated. It takes some getting used to at first. Couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t getting a influx of followers. It took a little while to get the big picture. Even till this day I learn something new everyday. When I first started tweeting my purpose was to find followers. So I would randomly would go on the twitter directory and go from state to state. This is why I to this day, have a overflow of people in one particular state. Not that I didn’t find your tweets interesting , or to hurt your feelings . Seriously didn’t know what I was doing . Until one day the twitter program actually stopped me and suspended me for a few hours. This is when I started to get more of a concept of the whole program. You see it’s not about finding followers it’s more about having them come gradually . There’s no particular need to have 5,000 followers . Me personally am really happy with my amount of followers. Weeding out the spammers, and not so legitimate tweeters is always a challenge. To this day I really don’t mind you trying to sell your product or whatever occasionally . However if all you do is spam , spam , spam . Then I usually will unfollow you. Tend to like real life people that just tweet something simple every now and then like “The dinner’s in the oven , and will ready in 10 minutes”. Something simple . The tweeters I found when I first started to look from state to state. Actually have become some of my favorite followers. Some of those folks follow me, and some don’t. You can’t take it personally, if someone doesn’t’ follow you. However to me those folks that I tweet, and don’t come back to me, for one reason or another. Are actually kind of interesting or mysterious in some ways. And some of them that don’t come back to me. And don't have any interest in following me, doesn't really bother me. Not everyone is for everyone , we all have are different opinions and such. Sometimes opposites attract sometimes they don’t . It’s a very complex program this twitter program . However I really enjoy it, and you must too, to have a account here. Anyway take care all, and see you on twitter.

Anyway had my lunch in Chinatown .

at a place called the Golden Dragon on Broadway in the heart of Chinatown. Always usually go there . Had the Mongolian beef with a cup of won ton soup and a diet coke. The food is good there . not outstanding, but good. However not writing a review on a restaurant (at the moment).So let's move on. Anyway after lunch proceeded too the library in downtown . Had too get back on the gold line going back towards union station . Got off at union station . Down the platform too the red line. Then got off at the pershing square station i believe . Walked about a block or two to the main library. Beautiful library in downtown. One of the best I have ever seen. Check it out sometime . Proceeded down to the history dept. and finally found a book i liked . It's about a sniper in Vietnam. His experience . May have some excerpts from the book in future blogs. We will see.
Anyway closed the library . Back on the train. The train goes through some rough areas of Los Angeles . Mainly south central. However i have never had any problems.And like i said before. They have undercover police (allegedly on the trains). The trains are well what's a good way to describe it?Diverse would be a good word for it. One guy was hustling fruit juices and candy on the train (yes , through south central). He actually sold some on the train. That's OK however that one or two dollar snack. Can cost you oh $250.00 dollars and some community service. You see, you can't eat on the train . And of course the folks that purchased the food did. Anyway that's my day. Hope you enjoyed it . Not too much work on my end . You see I used too process data for a living.Now i sell fruit juices and snacks on trains. So putting out blogs is not so bad on my end. Actually kind of enjoyed it . Hope you did too ...I'm joking about selling fruit juices and snacks on train ...no really.

The green line becomes the blue line too the red line.

Parked my car at the train station and proceeded too head on downtown. Took oh i would estimate 45 minutes to reach my destination . You have to take the green line. transfer to the the blue line, too the red line.Got off at union station . Then you have to walk up the platform to the gold line . a day pass on the train makes this very easy . The funny thing about the trains in the Los Angeles area are. Growing up on the east coast you have to go through turn styles to enter the train station. In Los Angeles you initially have to purchase your ticket . After that you are on the honor system . Meaning you can randomly be spot checked by security officers ( Which I saw at my transfer point). Or by Los Angeles Sheriffs dept. So beware train stowaways. they definitely check your tickets from time to time.Anyway hopped on the gold line at union station. had too get off at the first stop , which is Chinatown.Interesting point when you are going between union station and Chinatown you have a great view of the twin towers. Which has housed many infamous criminals (or better said)defendants on trial. O.J Simpson, Robert Blake, the Mendendez brothers . OK enough said about the twin towers . However it's quite a sight.

my adventures in Los Angeles day off today 08-05-2010.

Wasn't sure if I was going to write a blog today however what the heck since it's still fresh in my mind. Started out twittering most of the day . However feeling well rested. it usually takes not one, but two days for me to recover from my work week.Anyway started to get restless around my apartment. However somebody very important started too follow me on twitter. Not going to mention who . However it's a nail biter . Meaning every day i will wonder if this gentleman will continue to follow me or one day just uncheck me . Being silly, but seriously a honor for me, and i do appreciate it . Who do you ask? well check out my followers on twitter and figure it out (Shawn777 is my twitter name).Anyway one new follower can make your whole day. After making breakfast at home. Decided too hop the metro train downtown. The public transportation has really come a long way since I moved out here in 1989. Although I have a car. Sometimes the train looks appealing . And if you do the math . Gas, parking , aggravation in traffic . Sometimes it just makes sense too take public transportation. Caught the train in Redondo Beach at the Marine / redondo beach station . Don't take the train too too often but every now and then.