I was apparently such a freak that aliens abandoned me. In return, my little brother was bought as a K-Mart Blue Light Special. Our parents, unfortunately, have to take responsibility of our older brother.

I'm not sure you would--this was independent post-MA work & I'm not sure I talked about it on here. I have been studying the increased individuation of voices of military personnel, particularly individuals who served in Iraq and Afghanistan over the last 12 years; and the effect of technology on making new voices and lived experiences accessible.

That's fascinating. One of our friends has a son who served in Afghanistan, and she bought an iPhone so that whenever he was able to get online and Skype, she could talk to him. That was really the first sense I had that soldiers could be in such immediate contact with family and friends while they were serving. (My friend didn't sleep for 18 months, because she always wanted to be available to Skype whenever he was available. I mean, obviously she slept, but she never let that iPhone out of her sight and woke up whenever it made a sound. She was kind of a wreck for those 18 months.)

You can take your personal laptop to war. It's a whole new world.

I sympathize so much with your friend. A close friend's national guard unit was called up and saw combat in Iraq, and his wife was a complete wreck. The fear is just so strong.

SA, that is a very cool topic. It so different today even from when I was in the Navy. In the mid-80s there weren't cell phones galore, the innertubes, any of that good stuff. Stationed in the Indian Ocean all we had was a wireless communication network that charged us $5 a minute. The same when I got to Spain. When I first got there, if you wanted to call out, all they had was two overseas landlines that you had to put your name on a waiting list for, typical wait 45-60 minutes. And, again, about $5 a minute. They finally got a wireless set-up with 8-10 booths at some point, but it didn't get any cheaper. At least my parents could call in where I worked, but we weren't allowed to call out. Had to use the "public" lines for that. And lest your wonder why I couldn't get a phone out in town, there was a 2 year wait for a phone line. Not much point in trying to get one if you barely get it right before you transfer home.

The maintenance man in my building is angry and depressed. He's fixing a leak in the unit above and over from mine, and he keeps loudly saying stuff like, "I'm fucking sick of this shit!"

In his defense the building is almost 100 years old and the landlord's a cheapskate so he keeps on having to fix broken old stuff that should be replaced.

Did I mention the front door to my section of the building can be forced open from the outside when it's locked? The landlord won't pay to replace the door or the locking mechanism so the maintenance guy keeps trying to get it so it'll stay locked, but the repairs fail after a few weeks.

It so different today even from when I was in the Navy. In the mid-80s there weren't cell phones galore, the innertubes, any of that good stuff.

Yes! Absolutely--thanks for sharing your experience. And when you compare the Gulf War with the OEF/OIF wars, that ten years' difference represented a cultural shift that the military is still only just grasping. It's an incredible progression of communication and autobiographical accounting.

When my brother was in Macedonia in the late 90s (Kosovo,) he could call from certain pay phone phones set up at US domestic rates. I think they were satellite based, as there was a 3 second lag we got very adept at. He was flying drones, so. Occasionally, some contractor would try to pull a fast one and it would be international rates but since he was calling collect & it also announced the rate, so I'd warn him as I refused the call.

He destroyed several of those phones for that. As was the custom, apparently. One preferred method was when disposing of ordinance. Oh, and then return the 'defective' equipment to the contractors.

He also could email me. I have a folder of printed out correspondence from him (thank god, I lost all my email from that era in an epic hard drive meltdown.)

It so different today even from when I was in the Navy.

It's amazing to me that my brother could Skype with the kids while he was in Afghanistan. On the other hand, my dad was stationed in Scotland in '65 and '66, and I guess he and my mom relied on letters.

Oh, and then return the 'defective' equipment to the contractors.

HA.