Feedback contains information on updates and some background information that might be of interest to some readers. It also has comments from web site readers that might have wider interest than just to me. To that end, and to possibly prevent having to respond to the same questions and comments again and again, this page provides responses that answer some of your questions, even some you've not yet asked. Be forewarned that I write for enjoyment as well as for enlightenment, and hope that you'll appreciate my humor. If not, then send me a comment and maybe I'll post it here. Or maybe not.

As with other areas where I post items of interest, I'll include dates and have the newest first so you don't have to go scrolling through a lot of "old news" (is that an oxymoron?). To speed up page loading, entries have been divided by year, with larger years' entries split.

Jack Terwiel     

2002	2003	2004	2005: Jan-Jun  Jul-Dec
2006: Jan-Jun  Jul-Dec	2007:  Jan-Jun  Jul-Dec	2008: Jan-Jun  Jul-Dec	2009: Jan-Jun  Jul-Dec

June 24, 2007 – Tie a White Ribbon; Parking Garage Repairs; Don't Try This At Home
Tie a White Ribbon: Just up Hill 180 from the new Family Housing construction site is a small picnic area. It's not often used, probably because of the unstable soil. Recently, some white ribbons have appeared tied to some trees. To the right of that area, some more trees are surrounded by tape. Similar activity was seen here in January 2006. What's the significance? Don't know, but nothing happened the first time.

Parking Garage Repairs: Peeking into the second floor of the parking garage revealed some interesting "art work" on the floor. I suspect the designs, mainly around the support columns, indicate some type of repair work on the floor.

Don't Try This At Home: The article directly below from last week discusses the Retiree Forum held by the new Yongsan Retiree Council. Also included is an image of a Yongsan Council lapel pin created using the image of the Army Retired lapel pin. We have been advised that this is a copyright infringement, so no distribution will be made of this pin. A warning to others who might like to emulate somebody else's logo: don't try this at home until you get permission from the copyright holder. I will, however, leave the image link up as a reminder of what you CANNOT do.

June 17, 2007 – Yongsan Retiree Council; Osan Sunrise
Yongsan Retiree Council: The newly-chartered Yongsan Retiree Council held a Retiree Forum on Saturday, June 9. It was attended by 48 retirees and four pre-retirees, and six of the attendees brought their spouses. Briefings were provided by Soyoung Harleston of the TRICARE Office, and Tiffany Lassen of the VA Benefits Delivery at Discharge office. Your RSO gave an update on a couple of topics he thought would be of importance and/or interest.

One of the surprises was when Steve Rego, the council Chairman, presented me with a Yongsan Retiree Council lapel pin. Rather than try to decribe it, I'll just let you see it, either with a small image (38KB), or a larger, more detailed image (93KB). Thanks, Steve.

Osan Sunrise: As I was out walking and taking photos early this morning, I was coming down Hill 180 and saw a very nice view of the sun peeking from behind some clouds. The picture doesn't do it justice, but its the best I could do to capture the view and share it with you.

May 28, 2007 – Osan Wildlife; Remembering the Sacrifice
Osan Wildlife: (No, I'm not referring to wildlife in the Ville.) As I was returning from taking pictures on Saturday, I walked past the ROKAF area between the Commissary and the AAFES Service Station. Glancing up the hillside, I saw this male pheasant elegantly perched on a piece of broken concrete slab and surveying his domain.

Remembering the Sacrifice: I hope everyone takes time on this Memorial Day holiday to remember the sacrifice made by so many to help us enjoy our freedom. We take time to relax with family and friends but should never forget those who are so far away defending this freedom. Take a couple of moments to visit the Vietnam Memorial with Gathering of Eagles and Rolling Thunder. And take a couple more moments to listen to In The Name Of Freedom that's also linked below the What's New scroll on the home page during the Memorial Day holiday.

May 19, 2007 – Clean Up, Catch Up; Whose Parking Is It Anyway?; Speaking of Parking
Clean Up, Catch Up: With the Retirement Services job taking a lot of my time, I kind of let some of the more obscure (for some people, anyway) parts of the web site get out of date. So I went to Health Matters and went through each of the Helpful Health Care Web Sites and verified, updated or deleted each link. They all work now.Then I went to the Visitors page and verified or updated each of the links down the middle of that page. They all work now. Finally, I went to the Korea Links page and verified, updated or deleted each link. They all work now. As I get time or make time, I'll go through more of the web site and check it. You can help. If you find a problem, let me know at jack@rao-osan.com.

Whose Parking Is It Anyway?: The week before last, I was headed to the car to drive to work. I had parked it just inside the Osan AB main gate in front of the Civil Engineer area. As I crossed the road, I noted a strange sight. Much of the parking area in front of the CE building has been designated as reserved parking for buses. This is the sight I saw. The entire designated area was empty and three buses had parked further up the hill. Not having been there the previous afternoon/evening, I don't know what led to this situation. I just thought it looked kinda weird. (By the way, this item's title is a takeoff on a CD I spotted at the BX and bought yesterday: Season 1 of "Who's Line Is It Anyway?", a Drew Carey-hosted improvisational comedy show that's also kinda weird, but very funny.)

Speaking of Parking: With the parking lot behind the Community Activities Center construction site being re-paved, the reserved parking spaces have been temporarily designated in the Shopping Mall parking area. These plus the other folks who had parked there has placed an additional burden on the Mall parking and spots are hard to find. To make you feel better, I took this picture to show the frustrated parkers what a nearly-empty parking lot looks like. And after passing through the parking area, I took the mall walk which is looking very nice greened up.

May 1, 2007 – Text-Only E-Mail Affects Retiree Newsletter; Are These Boot Made for Walking?
Text-Only E-Mail Affects Retiree Newsletter: USFK recently converted the e-mail system to provide only text formatted messages. I was concerned about the effect it would have on the HTML version of the newsletter and my fears were confirmed. Although the information is all there, the loss of formatting has made it very hard to read. There are some options that can be considered to work around this obstacle. From my end, I'll include as the first line of future HTML newsletters the URL for the web site version. This should only be visible to users who underwent the conversion to text only. From your end, you can change the subscription format from HTML to Text and that will get you a more readable text version. You could also opt to receive the HTML-format e-mail at a personal e-mail address or via direct access at your Army Knowledge Online account. Or you can cancel your e-mail subscription and access the newsletter directly from http://www.rao-osan.com.

Are These Boot Made for Walking?: During the Osan walkaround on Saturday, I came across these boots hanging from a wire. They have been artfully painted with high-gloss red, making me wonder – are these boots still made for walking, or are they better made for dancing?

April 7, 2007 – New Hill 180 Ceremony Site; Downspout Design; It's Spring
New Hill 180 Ceremony Site: Each year the 51st Fighter Wing holds a ceremony on Hill 180 to commemorate the last bayonet charge of the U.S. Army led by Capt Lewis Millett. The plaque and flagpole have been moved across the road to a more appropriate and scenic location.

Dowspout Design: Next to the Hill 180 commemoration site is the Senior Officer's House, which has a most interesting downspout. A linked chain drops down from the gutter into a carved lava rock basin. Most interesting, looking very oriental garden-ish. It may be hard to see starting from the top. Start from the basin and follow the links upward.

It's Spring: They say that in spring a young man's fancy turns to thoughts of love. For those of us who found love years ago and more quietly enjoy it in our later years, Spring brings forth thoughts of rebirth.

March 18, 2007 – Air Quality in Korea
With prevailing winds in the area blowing east to west, Korea sits squarely in the path of whatever blows out of China and Mongolia. Until recent years, the primary airborne menace has been the "Yellow Wind" or "Yellow Dust," which is very fine sand blown from Mongolia. This is primarily the result of the extreme drying of that region because China has diverted rivers to support the drive to industrialize that country. A more recent airborne menace has been the result of the industrialization. If you've been tracking the most serious air polluters, you'll know that China and India head the list. In addition to polluting their own territory, the China pollution also affects the air quality in Korea. On a recent drive back from Daegu, the air was a dirty gray and the radio was warning people, especially the very young and very old, to remain indoors. The air contains heavy metal particulate that is extremely dangerous to inhale.

While out walking yesterday, the air in this part of Korea looked very much like what we saw on the drive from Daegu. I though I'd share it with you.

February 25, 2007 – Area II Retiree Council; Osan Quality of Life Enhancement; Konglish
Area II Retiree Council: On February 23, I was very pleased to attend a meeting of retirees to form a new Area II Retiree Council. Although the attendance was not as great as we had anticipated, there was sufficient interest among the attendees that the new council has a bright future. Steve Rego (nearest on the left in second photo), who has been the driving force to organize this council, was selected as Chairman.

Osan Quality of Life Enhancement: Based on the initiative of the former Mission Support Group Commander, several quality of life enhancements have taken place. The latest is the new sign in front of the Osan Post Office. It replace the original sign, which can be seen distantly at the right in this photo.

Konglish: While walking on Hill 170, where the new electical distribution work is being done, I came across an intriguing label on the pipe attached to the concrete pole. The pipe houses the wiring running down from the pole into the ground. The label painted on the pipe got my attention and I wondered if there's a manufacturer for improper installation. (Konglish is a Korean form of English leading to interesting constructions, of which this may be an example).

February 11, 2007 – Around the Mall; Water Sports on Hill 170; Dongducheon Visit
Around the Mall: While out for my Sunday walk, I wandered past the Osan Shopping Mall. In front there was a furniture sale, including one intricately carved table Around the side, the area between the mall and the comm building has been bricked to make a pedestrian area that may see further development. From the opposite end the landscaping is more evident.

Water Sports on Hill 170: The water plant on Hill 170 is having some runoff. I took some photos on Saturday when it was warmer, then again on Sunday after a cold front came through. I thought they made for some interesting side-by-side comparisons.

Dongducheon Visit: We visited Camp Casey in Area I on the first Tuesday in February. The turnout was disappointing, and I take the blame for not pushing more fervently to get the word out. A total of three retirees, all working in the Solder Support Center where we were set up, came to talk to me.

January 21, 2007 – Travel Schedule; Osan Gate Closure
Travel Schedule: My wife and I made our first of the long-distance monthly visits, this one to Camp Henry in Daegu. It was definitely worthwhile meeting with the widows face-to-face, since the more relaxed conversation atmosphere (compared to the telephone) revealed some important facts that could enhance their benefits. Obviously, it would not have been possible without my wife's able assistance to provide the language and benefits expertise in talking to the widows. We're looking forward to visiting Camp Casey in the Dongducheon area on the first Tuesday in February, and before that I'll be visiting Seoul on Tuesday, Jan 23.

Due to the amount of time it took to travel there, and the time that customers started showing up, plus the time that the last customer left, we're shortening the Daegu visit schedule by two hours. The new schedule is 1000-1400. This could be further modified (lengthened, shortened, times changed) based on future visits. And I want to take the opportunity to publicly thank Mr. Chuck Hoelderlin and the ladies of the Camp Henry Credit Union for their invaluable assistance in making the visit a success. And thanks also go the Education Center for providing the office space for us to conduct our business.

Osan Gate Closure: Osan is having a local exercise and for the first time in my memory they've closed the main gate for the duration starting Thursday afternoon. On Friday morning, we had an appointment at Aju University Hospital and used the Osan-Aju van service, which waits in front of the 7-11 directly in front of the main gate. While waiting to leave, we watched the confusion and traffic backup. By 7:30am when we left, it looked like the traffic had backed up all the way from the Beta gate to the main gate. Since that's the route the van normally takes, I was glad to see the driver make a U-turn and take a longer (but this time less congested) route.

December 31, 2006 – Retirement Services Update; Ice Sculpture
Modified Area Visit Schedule: After reviewing the 2007 calendar, I decided that visiting Area I on the first Tuesday of each month would not be a problem, except in January. There's a discussion in RSO's Corner and schedule for the first two months in the Notices section of the January newsletter.

Ice Sculpture: As I wandered Osan AB snapping photos and enjoying the beautiful weather, I came upon this ice formation sculpted by nature.

December 16, 2006 – Retirement Services Moves to Camp Humphreys; Newsletter Info
Retirement Services Moves to Camp Humphreys: If you visited the Retirement Services Office (RSO) in the location at Yongsan, you know that it was uncomfortable. It was situated near the entrance to a narrow office with Army personnel located at the rear, and it offered neither privacy nor comfort. Visitors were dislocated by the traffic to and from the rear of the office.

Since a private office could not be found in a suitable location, the decision was made and approved to relocate the RSO to Camp Humphreys. This was done on Dec 15. As much as Seoul residents may dislike the move, it was necessary to be able to resume RSO services that often require privacy to protect personal information and dignity.

To compensate for the loss of direct access to the RSO in Seoul, I will start a visit schedule for Area II in January that will have me at Yongsan on the 2^nd and 4^th Tuesdays of each month and available for assistance from 0900-1500. Location is yet to be determined, but it will be in the same building where the RSO was located.

In addition to the monthly Seoul visits, the RSO will also be supporting Area IV at Camp Henry in Daegu on the 3^rd Tuesday of each month in the Education Center. Services will be offered from 0900-1500. A schedule has not yet been worked out for Area I, but the office is located in Grace Hall and services are expected to available 0900-1500. We just haven't decided on which day of the month is most suitable.

Update: Starting in February, the RSO will visit Area I on the 1^st Tuesday of each month. Jack Terwiel will be at Grace Hall on Camp Casey from 0900-1500 to provide advice and assistance to retirees and widows living in Area I, as well as to soldiers who are considering remaining in Korea after separation or retirement.

Newsletter Info: At last count, there were only a bit over 400 subscribers to the e-mail newsletter "Still Serving in Korea." I'm somewhat perplexed on why that is, since I do get a lot of feedback from retirees on how useful it is to them. I suppose that a number of readers have decided to look for it at the web site archive, which is okay. I thought that by contracting with a mailing service, it would be more convenient to be delivered by e-mail, but that doesn't appear to be the case for (what I hope is) a majority of the 1,800 retirees that DMDC shows to be living in Korea.

I know that at least one military server was blocking the newsletter service as Spam. The server was the U.S. Army e-mail server for Korea, and retirees were unable to subscribe on-line because the mailing service would send an e-mail requesting confirmation and it was not being delivered to their inbox. A subscription will not be activated by the mailing service until the confirmation e-mail is received. I was able to contact the person who can fix these matters to unblock the mailing service e-mail. If you're a user on korea.army.mil, you can now subscribe to receive the newsletter at your official e-mail address. With the next newsletter, I'll test my AKO e-mail signup to verify that it works properly.

November 26, 2006 – Did You Know?
As you know, RAO-Osan.com is a commercial web site, so there are no constraints on what I can post. However, since I sort of loosely affiliate with the military (home page disclaimer notwithstanding), I try to stay away from topics that are controversial in the political, religious, etc. realms. People are entitled to their opinions, and their choices should be respected because we live in a democracy. However, it's also important in a democracy that information be equally accessible and given the widest dissemination so that everyone can make an informed decision.

To promote informed decision-making, I'm going to make an exception to my self-imposed rule and provide some other information on Iraq that you might not read, see, or hear in the news. As noted at the end of the article, all the information the writer describes is verifiable on the Department of Defense web site. So I'm not really straying too far beyond my own set boundaries.

November 12, 2006 – Area IV Retiree Appreciation Day; Veterans Day Remembrance; A Visit to Camp Humphreys
Area IV Retiree Appreciaton Day: The 1st Annual Area IV Retiree Appreciation Day was held on November 10 and it was a big success. More than 100 retirees, accompanied by family members and guests, showed up. Hats, coffee cups and the new Army Retired pins and matching RAD pins were given to each retiree, and drawing were held for prizes before the free BBQ luncheon. A 40-slide show is available here.

A panoramic photo of the attendees can be seen here. A brief video clip (11MB) of the Daegu Bluegrass Boys can be see here.

Veterans Day Remembrance: On November 11, Veterans Day, below the American flag in front of 51^st Fighter Wing Hq was the POW/MIA flag.

A Visit to Camp Humphreys: On November 7, I had the opportunity to visit Camp Humphreys for training. As you know, it's undergoing a lot of construction in anticipation of force relocations. I found construction inside the main gate shown here and from another angle. When I checked the construction sign, I wondered, with the flooding in this area, whether the Multipurpose Athletic Field would become the Family Aquatics Center in the rainy season.

Speaking of Camp Humphreys, I found a tantalizing sign near the main gate, apparently appealing to those with a temper. If you need to let off steam, this is the place for you.

October 15, 2006 – Korea Retiree Appreciation Day; In Mourning; Guestbook Update
Korea Retiree Appreciaton Day: The 1st Annual Korea-wide Retiree Appreciation Day was held on October 14 and it was a smashing success. Early estimates are that about 500 retirees, family members and guests showed up. Hats, coffee cups and phone cards were given to each retiree, and drawing were held for prizes after the free BBQ luncheon. It was sponsored by the Eighth U.S. Army and the EUSA G1 troops showed up en masse to organize and run the event. LTG Valcourt, Eighth Army Commander attended, spoke to the retirees and then visited each of the tables at which the various organization provided information, special offers, and gifts. A 30-slide show is available here.

For some reason, one photo would not display in the slide show, and I would be remiss if I didn't show you Steve Davis (on the left), our U.S. Army Retiree Council representative in Korea.

In Mourning: The Osan AB population of mourning doves is reduced by one, as evidenced by this sight on Hill 180 this morning. I hope it wasn't a casualty of the airshow going on at Osan this weekend.

Guestbook Update: The hosting service contacted me yesterday that they've resolved the problem of their Guestbook not displaying properly. I checked and that's correct. However, it still displays the first entry that I posted while testing the Guestbook and which I had deleted.

As I reported to you in the previous Feedback, I reactivated the original Guestbook. I thought it was working, but attempting to add a new entry still causes an error message, which I've reported to the hosting service. Given their lack on response on this Guestbook, my guess is that they want me to use theirs. I will when it works properly.

October 8, 2006 – Guestbook Problem; New Search Option; Hill 170 Electric
Guestbook Problem: When the hosting service changed their "toolbox", they added a Guestbook option and that somehow disabled the Guestbook that I'd had for years. I don't know why. So I installed their Guestbook, over which I have very little control. I posted a test, and then a visitor posted an entry and that's all we could see. Behind the curtain, two more visitor entries had been added and I had deleted the test entry, but it kept coming up showing the test entry and first visitor's post. This is caused by caching, where the software stores information and thus speeds up the response. Normally when you have a cache, it's refreshed after a period of time, or you can force a refresh by clicking the "Refresh" icon one or more times. That didn't work, so I notified the hosting service. To date, I've had no satisfactory response from them.

So I solved the problem by turning on the familiar old Guestbook. Enjoy!

New Search Option: Along with the new Guestbook, the toolbox included a Search option. It's pretty simple, but some folks may find it useful. If you've used Search options before, this one's different. The words are separated by a space, no quotes and no commas. You have to select whether you want to find entries with all the words in them (AND), or find entries with any one or more of the words (OR). You can also specify whether or not to consider upper and lower case differences. It will return either a list of the files that contain the word or words you've searched for, or it will respond that it didn't find any files with the word or words you entered.

Hill 170 Electric Power Upgrade: I was out for a short walk this morning and took some photos of the electric power upgrade. First is a shot from the roadway. Next is looking through an opening in the closed gates. The next two shots were taken looking under the gate, first straight ahead and then looking at materials stacked at the left.

September 10, 2006 – Osan RAD; Hill 170 Construction; A Fungus Amongus; Ugliest Car Award
Osan Retiree Appreciation Day: Yesterday we had our quarterly Retiree Appreciation Day hosted by the Challenger Club and funded by 51st Services Squadron (thank you!). I took some pictures and arranged them into a slide show for you viewing pleasure.

Hill 170 Construction: The power line installation shown previously was not for the antenna site. Rather it's for electrical power upgrade as described on this sign. And here's the contractor's temporary office with the mandatory sofa. And coming off Hill 170, a nice view above Osan.

A Fungus Amongus: Last week I had photos of Osan flora and fauna. In the interest of equal time and diversity, here's a sample of Osan's fungus population growing in front of the bowling alley.

Ugliest Car: Passing by the chapel this morning, I came upon what some of the U.S. car magazine writers have voted the ugliest car of 2006. It's called the Actyon and some views are here, here, here and here. Normally, cars are identified with a manufacturer such as Hyundai, Daewoo, or other. This one only has Actyon on the nameplate.

September 3, 2006 – Jack's New Job; More on New Camera
Jack's New Job: I've been selected to fill the new position of Army Retirement Services Officer for Eighth Army, which means I'll be working at Yongsan in Seoul. If you haven't read the issue of Still Serving in Korea posted today, please check out the Director's Corner for my comments.

New Camera: I couldn't pass up the opportunity to show some more capabilities of the new camera. Here's some of the flora of Osan AB. While waiting for the Commissary to open yesterday, I took this moth on the window of the ATM hut. It was very cooperative and didn't move, allowing me to take this close-up, or the higher resolution version. And to give you a better idea of the size of the camera, I placed it on a $1 bill with the previously shown nickel to show you the actual size. The location of the lens at the upper corner sometimes can lead to small glitches such as this with a finger partially visible.

August 19, 2006 – New Camera
New Camera: Today I took the newest camera out to make the rounds of Osan. Hopefully, if you see any difference in the images posted for family housing and the Readiness Dorm, they're better than (or at least as good as) the previous photos.

The camera is a Sony DSC-T30 about the size of a pack of cigarettes. It has a lot of capabilities such as close-up. Note the engraver's initials below the sleeve on the right. Here's an extreme close-up (Sony calls it "Magnifying Glass") of the initials. And if you can handle downloading a 2.1MB file, here's a panoramic view of the miniature golf course at Yongsan. Try blowing it up to see the detail. (The large building behind it is a Korean museum built on what used to be the full-size golf course at Yongsan.) The camera can also do self-running slides shows with onboard music through a computer or through a TV. Amazing what they're squeezing into small packages nowadays.

August 13, 2006 – Hill 170 Construction; Housing Update; Korean Repair
Hill 170 Construction: The electrical power to the antenna site is stopped here until some more trees can be removed.

Roadwork at Osan: Full width paving is completed from the main gate to the officers club entrance (sign in right lane). Beyond that point and continuing to the Broadway intersection only one side was done, but not opened to traffic as of Sunday morning.

August 5, 2006 – Hill 170 Construction; Housing Update; Korean Repair
Hill 170 Construction: One minor point I managed to overlook in the Hill 170 antenna construction was that there was no electric power, so it wasn't functional yet except using generator power. That's now being corrected.

Housing Update: The senior officer five-unit housing on Hill 180 is occupied. One unit has this interesting sign at the front door. Are they expecting visits from German-speaking Koreans?

Korean Repair: Near where I live I came upon this scooter repair using packaging tape. Must not have discovered the unparalleled benefits of duct tape yet. Oh well, I guess whatever works.

July 8, 2006 – Roadwork at Osan; Critters; Gotcha
Roadwork at Osan: Songtan Boulevard (from the Main Gate) is being repaved. Phase One from just inside the inner gate goes down the hill to the Youth Center. Incoming traffic is currently be re-routed to the road up and over Hill 170.

Critters: Speaking of Hill 170, I found this guy just starting to cross the road. I don't give him much chance for success given the heavier traffic resulting from the temporary diversion of traffic.

And while on the subject of critters, we took a trip on July 2 with Osan MWR Tour and Travel Center to Kanghwa Island, off the West Coast near Incheon. At one of the stops I spotted this crane at the water's edge.

Gotcha: On the same trip to Kanghwa Island, we stopped to visit a Buddhist monastery. Most of the monasteries are located in remote areas away from civilization. The isolation allows the monks to contemplate free of the worries of daily life. Well, I found the monks here didn't want that much isolation, as I spotted a satellite dish hidden among the trees. Maybe they also needed to contemplate the World Cup.

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