Todd's Tips

Well, after 8 long months here in Iraq, I'm finally going back home to Hawaii in less than 3 weeks.  Obviously I spent a lot of time (probably too much) griping about things I didn't like about being here ... I missed my family!  But just to keep things in perspective, I thought it was important to also write down some of the things I liked. First, let me qualify this a little bit.  During my time here I was what's known as a Fobbit ... someone who spends their whole tour on a relatively secure base.  I can hardly begin to imagine the real sacrifices that the soldiers who are outside the wire everyday have made during their very long time here in Iraq.  I feel for those guys/girls. That being said, here's my list of things that actually weren't too bad about living on FOB Sykes for 8 months ... The food was excellent - While I'm not even going to try to guess what Uncle Sam is paying them to feed us, I do have to say that KBR put on a good spread.  Every day

I suscribe to many newsletters.  One of the best is "Leadership Wired" from John C. Maxwell.  I really enjoyed one of today's articles, and thought I'd share it here ... 9 Things You Simply Must Do By Dr. John C. Maxwell Oprah Winfrey and Anderson Cooper are two of the most popular media personalities in America. Yet, their backgrounds hardly could be more dissimilar. Oprah was born to unmarried teenage parents in rural Mississippi. Anderson’s mother was fashionable railroad heiress, Gloria Vanderbilt, and his father was a successful writer/editor in Manhattan. Oprah grew up in poverty, spending her childhood in the inner-city ghettoes of Milwaukee. Anderson was born into wealth. He appeared with his mom on The Tonight Show when he was three, and he modeled for Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, and Macy’s as a child. Yet, for all of their differences (background, race, and gender), Oprah Winfrey and Anderson Cooper have unmistakable similarities. At some level, they resembl