I'll be home tomorrow

Went to play raquetball yesterday with the guys in the shop. That was fun. Today the civilian in charge took us all out to lunch. It was pretty good. Went to a restaurant that her mom owns.

I'm packing for my trip home tomorrow. I think this is the least amount of stuff I've ever tried to shove into my bag. I might even end up with room left over in there. I'll be home till the third. Not real sure what I'll do for the two weeks I'm around. Perhaps throw the little brother into the snow a couple of times. I'm going to go finish the packing thing.

The grands are still on dial-up so I might not post much while there.

This land is my land, and so is this land

So, I went shopping tonight. After buying a few Christmas cards for the family and a couple of other people I walked around the store and found someone's gift. I was waiting in line when I noticed a display of Game Boy games. Just looking as to see what they where trying to get rid of I seen a game with Risk on it, yay!! Sure it also has Battleship and Clue on it but I doubt those get much play time. As a guy that doesn't quit when playing games like most people I like the idea of it being on a portable game system where the computer isn't a quitter . Although it seems pretty easy and I won within the hour, it's not a bad version, just wish you could control how many dice you roll for each attack. Since I'm going on my trip next week and won't be on the plane or the airport long enough to get a whole game of Monopoly in it's a great thing that I seen this. Yup, I'm a nerd sometimes.

School stuff sucks, and I'm not even in one yet

Went to look into classes today. Appariently walked into the school's office instead of the education office. In the school's office I was informed that the CCAF degree didn't mean any thing in the "real world." The lady tried to get me to sign up for some kind of certification program that had classes that where needed and strangley they where the same ones needed for the CCAF degree. She tried to sell me on the fact that the classes where free due to some program. She also said that I could get some grant to pay for the books. That's weird, the military has the same program and I'm not restricted to the classes I can take. Don't mention the fact that of the seven classes, only three could be CLEPed or transferred. You can do that in any combination as long as you only do it with three classes. I will also have to take one of those placement exams to even get in. For one class? Screw you hippie. I'm not going to take some test to tell me there is stuff I don't remember from back in high school. I know that with out some test. The high school transcript is also needed. Why wasn't all of this stupid stuff needed when I took that accounting class in Montana? This is just frustrating I guess. Not to mention the fact that if you ask someone that has anything to do with the Air Force education program they tell you that the CCAF degree is worth some thing on the outside. I think we should get all of the people who decide what is accredited and what is not into one room and get this figured out. Also you should be able to go one place and be told one thing and go right next door and be told something else. Thinking that I might just say screw this stupid little degree thing and go for a bachelor's. Sure I could get a good number of classes out of the way before I seperate.
I'm going to look into some local college to see if I can get by the testing thing, and the transcript thing. Hate to get those things taken care of and it not be in time for the start of class. We'll see what happens. There's allways next semester. Probably not a bad thing since I still have to get my CDCs started and done.

Quiet Sunday

Today was a good day of nothingness. Was nice to watch football. It's just too bad Carolina lost to Tampa Bay and Cleveland lost to Cincinnati.

We received a Satisfactory on the ORI. Seems kind of weird since we got a bunch of outstandings and excellents in most of the catagories. The comm squadron did cause us to get our only marginal, way to go guys!! Word on the street is that if you get even one marginal that causes you to get a overall satisfactory. Don't have another one for five years, so that's a good thing. Heck, it might just be my last one.

Now that this if finally over I might be able to finish in processing the base.

This is where the title would go, if I had one

Yes, that's the book for the team, all 30 pages and five maps. We'll see what kind of warm fuzzies it gave them Saturday. Word is still that we did pretty good.

Saturday I went to the dredded Blockbuster and rented Kung Fu Hustle, for the third time. Yes, the third time. I didn't get a chance to watch it the first two times. So last night I made it a point to put it in. About half way through I fell asleep. Not going for a fourth time. Think that Sunday I'm just going to sit around here all day long and watch the football. Haven't had a good Sunday of football in weeks.

Tickets for home are bought and I just need to adjust times for the rental car for while I'm there. Guess that in the last seven hours it has snowed around a foot. That's nice. Do it now before I have to drive in that stuff. Snow is nice when it's not on the road.

ORI is DUN

That's right, it's over. Guess we did pretty well. Everyone except the med group, but what do you expect. The out brief is still Saturday though.

Not too shabby, so far

I guess we did real well on the phase one part of the inspection. I haven't been botherd by the IG team yet, guess they never came into our office at all the whole weekend. Must of loved the handjob that was those welcome books. That and the second half of the team got here no earlier than 10 last night. This getting up at 4:45 stuff is getting pretty old too. I don't like the fact that I have gotten home and fallen asleep just to drag myself off of the couch and stay awake long enough to go to bed at a decent time. Just a couple more days of pure boredome I guess.

I am glad that I'm not a player in this phase of the inspection since it rained all day. Did wash the car this weekend though, so that sucks a bit. Would suck more if I washed it myself, but it came free with the oil change.

Looked at the EQUALS list today and noticed openings in Yakota, Japan and Eielson, Alaska, both of which where on my list a couple of months ago. They don't come open untill June any ways. I think I'll change the dream sheet just because I can. Ya never know.

And we're off ... Kinda

So, today kicks off the IG inspection. They should have arrived on base at around nine this morning but the plane broke before they left Langley. That pushed them back a couple of hours as they tried to get onto commercial-air. They got a flight and the base sent a bus to Atlanta to pick them up, kinda doesn't make sense to have had 40 rental cars delivered from Atlanta to base yesterday. I could be wrong, but that seems pretty dumb to me. Noon roles around and the plane they where suposed to be on broke too. This pushed the arrival on base to I'm not real sure what time. All I know is that it would push the time we got finished with these people to around 8 o'clock. Four other poeple and I where voluntold to stay after hours and give them those pretty little books we spent so much time on. After getting a early dinner, Tim and I got to the conference center at 4:30. It turns out that only like half the team is going to be here today so me and Tim where let go. The captain and Master Seargant are there passing out books. What a nice couple of people. I'll be in at Six tomorrow morning anyway so I guess it evens out some how. And I guess I'm not working the weekend, the weekender is working Saturday though. He's guard, that's what he does.

Finally, after all these years

I finally bought an iron, and even an ironing board yesterday after six years of fighting it. That's what happens when you go to the cleaners after they close and the one uniform you have has been balled up on the floor over a long weekend. I remember back in Japan when I would "iron" my BDUs by putting them between a couple pieces of plywood between the matress and box-spring. I did acquire an iron when my supervisor left, but I didn't use it much after I got the LOR because a uniform didn't dry after spending the entire day in the dryer at the dorms. I figured if I'm going to get written up for not having it ironed when I did iron it, why bother doing it. I did crease the sleeves every once in a while when they needed it though. I'm not too sure that I did much ironing in Montana since that iron got left in Japan.

Two outlets, one plug

Like the pic? I'm on the laptop right now. Here is a secret for ya, if your internet seems to be going slow or not working, it could be because you have a virus. It could also be because you don't pay attentionwhen you plug things into your power strip and use to outlets to plug in the modem. Luckely this doesn't seem to fry anything, it just makes the internet not work too good.

"When I heard you on the phone the first time I called, I thought you where a black guy. That's what I told everyone." My boss told me that today. That's funny stuff.

I can get my hands on a hard drive eraser and I think that I'm going to erase the one on the desk top. I just don't like the way it is running so slow. It doesn't have anything I need really, photoshop is on both comps and I can get a hold of 7 if I want to put it back on. Other than the few hours the eraser will take, it shouldn't take much time on my part.

Oh yeah, going to be sick

I had to get that annoying little flu shot today. I'm looking to be sick between Christmas and New Year's, as happens any time I get this stupid thing. Good thing it only lasts maybe a day when I get it. Last year I was just down for half the day. Guess it's the Air Force's annual bonuses for all of it's troops. Thanks Air Force! Maybe I could manage to get sick during the ORI. Perhaps when the IG is in the office. How great would that be?

One month down, 20 to go

I have been here in Warner Robins, GA for a whole month. This isn't too bad of a place either. Then again, I don't leave the house unless I have to go to work or shop. Guess that is just the anti-social in me. As you have probably read, the shop has been busy all month. It will continue to stay busy as long as we are bending over trying to do stuff for everyone. Those books we have been putting together for the IG, they are now being binded. They only have five maps in them too. Monday should see the finishing of those things. Not sure what is planned for the rest of the week, since it's quite a short one.

We where informed the other day that our office will be at the IG outbrief on whatever weekend day it is. The party afterwards is still voluntary right now. They have even added kareoke to the list of events for the thing. Woohoo party down!!

My first story for the paper is a retirement story and will be out on the 28th, yay! Since the wing's web master is a biatch the paper doesn't get put on the web. Appariently he thinks that we should be able to do it even though nobody in the office has rights to update the web. Guess that's what happens when you don't renew the civilian's contract and give the job to a master sergeant as an extra duty. I'll just put it on here when it comes out I guess.


Question for the GI's:

If the Air Force Climate Assesment Survey is annonymous, and optional, then why do the higher ups know how many people in each shop hasn't done it? They might even know exactly who hasn't. I think that because they are having a pizza party for all of the people who do complete it.
If you want to make it mandatory, then make it mandatory. Don't say it's optional and then send daily email updates telling us which shop has how many people still needing to do it. I wasn't going to do it, but I think that will be one of my comments and my feelings towards all of this stupid stuff we are doing fot the IG.

And can the IG investigate itself? Just a thought.

People in Georgia don't read?

I went to buy that American Psycho book yesterday. Now, I have only seen two bookstores since I've been here. Neither one of them is a chain kind of place. One is a used bookstore in my neighborhood. Not going in there doubt they would have it anyway. I went to the one in the mall. This mall, not much better than the mall in Great Falls. It's pathetic. But, they do have a bookstore, a sad excuse for a bookstore as it turns out. It is a Wharehouse Books, that apparently means old ass books that nobody bought anywhere else. It's like the last chance for books. I'll probably just reread one of the books I have here. Or I might just take a trip to Macon, it's only about 15 minutes out. They might have a Barnes & Noble, that means Starbucks, yay.

I would like to take this opportunity to say, "Welcom IG team, we are happy to suck you off." Why? Why? Why? Oh my goodness, we have been getting ready for our big ORI, the first one this wing has had since it blended together three years ago, and I can't believe what an ass kiss fest it seems to be. We set up their "office" today, no big deal, just a few tables and a bunch of chairs. There are also these welcome packages that folders aren't good enough for. We just happen to have a book maker thing. It's one of those that has a plastic spine. In here we will have 2 maps of the base, one of which will have all of the buildings and Base X (what an unimaginative name) marked on them. It's a good thing someone thought about using photoshop for that, almost had to do 85 by hand. There will also be a map or two of the city. Of course there will be the bios of the higher ups in the wing along with a history of the wing. And we can't forget all of the supplies that they should bring with them but we buy instead. That's just dumb. I'm sure they will come up with something else to keep us on our knees till they get here. Let's not forget the "Post ORI Bash" that is planned for the Sunday after the outbrief, yeah, I said Sunday. We're waiting to see if that will be mandatory. Bet I don't go either way. Doubt they'll have a sign in roster. They might, just one more ass kiss move.

Do what you are trained to do

So this week I finally got to do what I was trained to do months ago. That's right, I got to put my writing skills to the test, sort of. Wrote my first press release Tuesday and my first retirement ceremony story today. I'll finish the retirement one on Monday because the ceremony wasn't acctually untill this afternoon. The story should be published in the December issue, yay.

Finally got my travel pay, woohoo no more credit card debt. All the charges from the trip will be paid off real soon.

If you know me, you know I'm not a kiss ass. Imagine my surprise when I found out that our office is the one that bends over for DVs. There is this ORI coming up, man have we done our share of puckering up. Everything from buying supplies they should have when they get here - paper, pens, markers, the usual, and don't forget, we get to buy the coffee they will consume. The shop has put little "welcome" packets together. We are also coordinating with the local businesses to put "Welcome IG team" up on their signs accross town. It's just dumb. We even get to set up the area they will have their in brief in. Maybe one of them will break a leg and all this will be worth it.

I did tell my boss that I can't stand people today. We where on our way off base when some female cut me off. I did the thing that I do and got nice and close to her bumber and sped up even more, a couple of times. My boss told me that I shouldn't do that and I told her that she should not have cut me off. She told me I was right. Off base now and a guy isn't paying attention to his stop sign. I did stop and wasn't going to wait for him to figure things out. I pass him and speed up a bit through the parking lot. She sais "Have a bit of road rage do you?"
I said "Well, that and I have and adversion to people." "Why? don't you like people?" "I can't stand them." "Why's that?" They are retarded or jack asses." "I'm glad to know that you like us." "Y'all aren't too bad yet."

I did not think to put antivirus software on this desktop before I left. When I got the internet hooked up, I hooked it up to this one with the hopes of one day setting up a wireless network for the lap top. A week went by and I expected to get hit a couple of times by a bug or something. Tuesday night I loaded some software on here and ran it. There where fifty some-odd spyware files and six trojans. A few of the trojans where duplicates. I was not happy. After the virus check finished it was able to clean all of the trojans and most of the spyware it's self. I had to delete the rest of the files my self. Now I have a clean computer, yay!

About the lack of pics lately. I have just been too lazy to A) Take new ones B) Load said new ones onto the lap top and transfer them to the desk top C) Haven't felt like putting the software on this one. Might do it this weekend, since it is a three day weekend.

Done reading

I finished Angels & Demons yesterday. That was a good book. Not quite as good a The Da Vinci Code, but a good book none the less. So now I need a new one to read. If you have any suggestions, let me know.

I did buy an ethernet connector, a USB one. It broke in three hours. I don't know how it happened. I tipped the computer and it broke. I ended up replacing it with a card.

The Xbox did work Saturday before I exchanged adapters but it isn't working now. I don't know exactly how I got it to work and I don't know how to get it to work now. Maybe it will just happen to work tomorrow, who knows. I'm not too worried about it. It's just a time killer.

Going to get back to the game. Yes, the Colts are winning at half time (21-7). I'm sure Manning will find a way to lose the game like every other time he plays the Patriots.

Hooked up

Well, I have the cable and internet hooked up. I also went a head and got a couch and love seat. Didn't really need the love seat, but the both of them only cost $400 at the furniture store on base.

I have kinda started doing work here. I won't write a story for the paper until the January issue I guess. Not real sure why. Was trying to come up with one for the December issue. Yes, the paper is a monthly. That gives us time to do less important stuff.

I have been trying to hook the Xbox up to the internet with no success. I'm not too sure why it isn't working. Might have to get a new hub. I don't know why I would have to do that though, it worked in Montana and it's not even a year old yet. Maybe I'll try to Homie engineer something for it. But I've tried every thing short of plugging the Xbox straight into the modem. That will be a pain if I have to switch out the computer and Xbox every time I want to play.

Moving in tomorrow

I will be in the house tomorrow. I could have been in sooner but I wanted to get a good scrub down in the bathroom. Think it's clean enough for use. I will probably mop the floor one more time this weekend with the floor cleaner to get the Comet residue. I will also scrub down the kitchen this weekend.

I should be able to set up TMO delivery tomorrow. Hopefully I can have my stuff sometime next week, that way I can get the cable and internet hooked up. Think I'll try and get to this site from work, if I can't I'll post when the internet is hooked up.

Found a house

I finally found a house today, after three days of driving around. Yes, it's a two bedroom with a fenced back yard. I will get the utilities turned on tomorrow. I'll also have to get a futon or something so I can start staying there. I need to clean it a little, it's not that bad though. I do have to stay there for a year, so if I end up not liking it I'm stuck. The neighborhood seems like a nice one so far. Need to clean up leaves and buckeyes from the back yard, and move a couple pieces of tree stump. It will be a good yard for Pedro.

I almost gave up on finding a house that I liked. I even tried to talk myself into getting the house I looked at Friday. It's a good thing I don't give up too easy sometimes.

Why is it?

Why is it that places with Coke poducts either have Dr. Pepper or Mr. Pib? They are the same thing. Even within a franchise, like Mc Donald's, the one on this corner will have Dr. Pepper and the one on the next corner will have Mr. Pib. Anyone ever play the pick a drink game at a restaurant? That can be fun.

Why is it when you are driving around a new town looking for a place to live, you don't realize that you have been in that neighborhood untill you see the same house for a second time.

Why is it most houses that are decent and for rent here are three bedrooms? I looked at a house with a huge yard, that was the nice part. The inside was terrible. Couldn't tell that there was a fresh coat of paint, the wood floors where scratched to hell, the fridge had to be cleaned because meat had been left in it, and there was this smell like the bathroom floor needs to be torn up.

So now I'm living in a hotel off base. Seems that somewhere along the way the people in billeting thought that I would only be in TLF until today. Don't know how that happened. In my travels today I did find a house in a pretty good neighborhood, it seems, but the guy isn't returning calls until Friday. I might try calling the "emergency" number that's on the answering machine. If not I'll get the apartment.

Still finding my way

So, I spent two hours today driving around the wrong part of base. I finally found my way to the back part of base. At one point I ended up off base. Boy, that upset me quite a bit. I also put a bubble in my tire so I have to replace it tomorrow before it pops. I was all ready upset about not knowing where to go and this jackass didn't put on his turn signal as he was coming at me. While calling him things, I went over a curb.

I did have a triple whopper today, though. It was good. Almost too big to fit in the mouth. You guys should try it sometime.

I also found my way back to the TLF from the office. Hopefully I can find my way to the office from the TLF tomorrow.

The apartments that I was looking at in a guide turned out to be run down and kinda shady. I think I might get a garage wherever I go. This town isn't the greatest so far. I'll look at more apartments tomorrow I think. Maybe I'll look for a house. I hate living in buildings with people.

Done travelling

I made it down here to Georgia last night. Took about 10 hours to get here with traffic and stopping to eat and get gas. Speaking of gas, the total, not including filling up while driving around Indy, it cost $318.29. The cheapest place was in Indy coming in at $2.39. The most expensive tank of gas was $3.50 in Williams, AZ.

While home I got to see most of the people I wanted to see.

Dan and Shannon are doing good, they are building a house near Noblesville.

I got to see Dave this time. Got to meet his new wife too.
















I also went to Nate and Danielle's weding Sunday. It was a nice wedding. Kinda surprised it was normal actually.

Today I started work. I tried to call the shop so that someone could show me how to get there. After about an hour of not getting through I decided to find it on my own. I drove around until I seen a building with my wing's number on it, then I drove around until I found a parking spot.

I got to the building and found the orderly room. The lady there told me that the office I was looking for was across a personel bridge and on the flight line. She made it sound pretty close so I decided to walk. That was a bad idea. I walked around an area of the flight line a couple of times and didn't find it. There where a group of cargo planes a bit further down so I walked towards them. That wasn't where I needed to go either. The guy I talked to gave me directions. I started walking some more and was pretty close to there the road crosses the flight line when a captain pulled over and picked me up. As it turnes out, it was still quite a bit away. I finally got to the office and did nothing. I couldn't in process because the base is getting ready for an ORE tomorrow. Maybe I'll be able to in process and set up my email account by the end of the week.

The week at home

Well, it's been all right so far here. I have seen just about every one I wanted to see. I guess I'm going to the rehersal dinner for Nate tonight. The wedding is Sunday.

I am going to finish my trip Tuesday when I roll into Macon, GA, and the TLF there. It should only be about a nine hour drive from here.

I made it

Well, 2,730 miles and six days after I left Montana I made it to Indiana. Yay me! Not sure what the gas total was, I might figure that out later tonight. My mom and littlest brother, my uncle and his girlfriend all came over to my grandparents' house and we had dinner. I fell asleep on the couch at 6:30 for a couple of hours.

Almost there

I will for sure be home tomorrow. I am in St. Robert, MO. There wasn't too much construction on this part of the trip. Did do some more bug collecting though. I don't know what bugs are purple, but I got quite a few of those.

The highway can be boring in the pitch black when the closest vehicles are a mile in either direction of you.

I have also found myself singing along with that Greenday song, Wake Me Up When September Ends. Now, I'm not saying that I like Greenday. Infact I really don't like them at all. Don't know why I like that song, maybe it's just 'cause it's on and I'm bored. However, I do like that Minority song quite a bit. A couple more songs from them and I might have to say I like them. Let's hope that doesn't happen.

Quote of the day:

"They are all blond haired and blue eyed gorgeouse people. They all look a like too. That's becouse they are all related." -- Curtis, on the population of Salt Lake City, UT.

OK, he didn't say that today, it was more like Tuesday, but that's ok, it's my blog.

The trip

So here I sit in a hotel in Santa Rosa, NM. I didn't quite make it to Wichita Falls, TX like I had planned. I thought I might be able to get there today, but the night driving isn't something I like. Guess I'll just take till Sunday to get home. Not a big deal.

The My Chemical Romance show was good. Curtis didn't get to go though. He got called into work.

Angela and the family are doing good. The kids are pretty neat and the husband is cool too.
Too bad I didn't get more time there. I ended up driving back and forth on the highway through Vegas.

While on the highway I looked up to check the signs and make sure I was in the right lane when the car in front of me slammed his brakes causing me to slam mine. It's a good thing I don't drive too close behind people. It was not fun watching the guy behind me try to slow down in time, he didn't hit me. The car infront of me slammed his brakes a second time so as to not hit a box of ceiling tile that had fallen out of the back of a truck. I however, could not get over so I had to drive over them. I slowed down enough to not cause a big problem, just a bit of a bump in the ride.

I didn't like the drive accross Hoover Dam. Could that be slower and a bigger pain?

Today I got to go through a border checkpoint and not even cross the border. No wonder the illegals are getting into our country, we don't know where the border actually is. Guess that is about all for now. I have to map the rest of my trip thanks to this delay.

I made it to Utah

Today I made it to Layton, UT. That's where Curtis lives. He's stationed at Hill AFB.

When I got into town, we went to Salt Lake to an Itallian restaurant that was pretty good. After dinner we went to a little coffee shop in town. It was a neat little place.

Tomorrow we will go to see My Chemical Romance. And Thursday I will be down in Tucson, AZ to see Angela and her family.

Let me catch you up

On Friday, the movers came and got my stuff. It sure is weird how much a bunch of nothing can weigh, and all the space it can take up.



Driving back, there was snow on the mountains. Yay mountain snow!! That is what I would say if I was going to be here long enough to partake in the snowboarding.


! am all out processed and ready to leave on my trip tomorrow. I should be in Utah around 6:30.
I have mapped out the route I think I'll take and it looks like about 4,502 miles from here to Georgia. Man that's a lot of miles. That includes going up to Chicago. Think I'll get an atlas and see about cutting some time off of a couple legs of the trip.

One tubby tubby, two tubby tubby

I passed my fit test today. Not by much though. I did improve on the push ups and sit ups. For some reason the run whooped me. I was about 50 seconds slower than last year. Guess I haven't been pushing my self as hard as I could. After all, I did avoid doing the running thing all summer. Here in the last couple of weeks I did start running almost every day like I was before, but I didn't try to go very fast. Oh well, I'll do better next year. Maybe with the new job I'll be able to get to the gym on a more regular basis.

Aren't lawn darts banned? I seen a couple of kids crossing a street today with them. I thought those things where deemed dangerous and therefore banned, not to mention how much fun they where.

Oh yeah, Orders!

Finally got my orders yesterday, woohoo. Now I can start out processing this place for real. TMO is scheduled for Friday. Monday I have a couple of things to do.

Was going to do my fit test today but the kid claimed that he was getting dizzy when he stood up so I guess the guy in charge sent him home. I have to have this done by Monday so he might just be comming in on his day off. Sucks to be him. He was supposed to be off today for his RDO, but they had him switch it to Monday, weird how he got the day off anyway.

Not so bad

I guess that the $17 I paid for my plates yesterday kinda make up for the $34 I spent on gas the day before. Think I would rather pay full price for the plates than $34 for gas. You only have to pay for plates once a year and you pay for gas every week or so. In the long run the plates would save you a bunch of money.

I'm not complaining, it's nice to be able to just pay a couple of dollars for plates to a brand new car than it is to pay the full price.

We are working on the wiring for the new vanity light and exhaust fan/light in the bathroom today. I'm not sure if we will need to rewire for the light going into the laundry room.

You want how much?

$34 for a tank of gas? I remember when it took less than $20 to fill up a car. That wasn't very long ago, like maybe six years.
I'm not real sure I understand this too much. Sure there was a hurricane in the south somewhere. Sure it's the second largest port for foreign oil. I still don't understand this. The government was supposed to break into the reserves. The out rigs in the ocean weren't as badly damaged as expected. Gas up around here should come from the Alaska pipe line.
Yeah, China is now a growing economy. That still doesn't mean that the price of gas should have shot up as quickly as it has.
Guess I'll just get that bike when I get Georgia. No not a motorcycle, but a bicycle.
Think we should come up with a way to get the price back down. Any ideas?

Waiting

For the past week I've been waiting for the e-mail to start outprocessing. I got that e-mail yesterday.

I go to the site and print out a checklist and a security clearance letter it sais I need to get orders.

In the orderly room, where I took the security letter, the guy was a little confused. Apparently there was no mark next to any of the levels. He is looking into what needs to be checked.

After the orderly room I went to readiness to get my M-16 and Self Aid and Buddy Care training signed off. After 20 minutes I got them signed off. These people where confused about this paper too. They where also kinda confused about the new online thing they check off.

Instead of doing anything else with the check list I decided to go to Outbound and see what was going on.

I told the girl about my experience with the paper. She told me it is a squadron checklist for the base. I know "That makes no sense." I asked her what the point of my squadron's checklist was. She said it is for the squadron, and that the other one I had, making three, needed to be printed out and brought along with the other two to my final out briefing.

"So, I have three checklists of basically the same thing?"
"Yes, I know it seems kind of repetitive."
"More like redundant."

I can't do anything with these checklists untill my orders are cut, two weeks from now. I was hoping to have some time off and call it outprocessing time. Guess I'll actually be doing stuff my last couple of weeks here.

Lazy dayz

So, today starts my eleven days of use or lose leave. Not too bad so far. I sat around most of the day. Did miss lunch with the guys because I didn't check my web mail before 12. Oh well, sure they will go out tomorrow. Also haven't got my email about out processing. Guess I'll have to go tomorrow and see about that.

Thanx to Farva for helping me figure out how to set this pic up.

It's a good thing

It's a good thing I look good in my blues. I have had to wear my service dress twice in a month. Both for good reasons. Hopefuly I can put it away for a long, long time. I know what you are thinking, "Homie, your going into a career field where you will wear blues damn near all the time." That is correct, but it will just be blues, and I won't wear the jacket or the tie that often.

I am also on leave for the next two weeks. I never thought that I would take leave and not get out of town, but it's use or lose and I need to be around to out process.

And the winner is......

I bought the Malibu. Bigger car, nicer sales man. I might just get the pic on here tomorrow, if it's not raining. Nothing like buying a car in the rain. I test drove it in the rain too. Now I will be able to take this trip of mine for sure.

Malibu or Civic

For the past week or so I have been looking at new cars. I had it narrowed down to either a Cobalt or a Civic. Monday I drove the Civic and heard about how much greater the resale value of it is than a Cobalt a few times.

On Tuesday I went to drive the Cobalt. There was not a Cobalt on the lot at the time so I drove a Malibu. It was a nice car. Bigger than the Civic, six cylinder as opposed to four, and after the discounts and things, still roughly a grand more. Not too bad considering all of the features it has. Adjustable pedals and built-in remote start.

Went to the Chevy dealer today and went from $1,800 for my '96 Cavalier with 190,000 miles on it to $2,100. That was a plus, considering I paid $2,000 for it a couple of years ago. The guy at the dealership is a nice guy I guess. He isn't as pushy as most dealers I have dealt with.

After the Chevy place I went back to the Honda place and drove the Civic one more time. And I heard how much more the resale value of the Civic is over the Malibu quite a few times in the two hours I was there. That seemed to be the only thing the dealers are trained to tell people. They also want to give me a whopping $200 for my car. That won't happen. This guy is pretty pushy, like he won't eat if he doesn't sell this car. To hear him boast and brag you would think he should be more laid back. I told him that I wasn't worried about the resale value because I'm planning to drive the hell out of whichever car I get. I'm probably going to put massive amounts of miles on them. It was a typical car dealer experience.

I think I'm going to go with the Malibu. It's more car and just a grand more. Oh and the guy wasn't a pushy kind of car dealer.

I'm not really not into the height of the middle console, and I think the controls for the radio might be a bit far, but it is a better car for not much more. It does also have 3,000 miles on it. Had a few dollars taken off for that though.

Today also marks my sixth year in the Air Force. Not sure I'll do another 14, but if I do I sure hope they go faster and a lot smoother than these first six have.

Half the days off

So, I was planning to get 30 days for this little trip I'm planning to take. Today they told me I will get 15 plus whatever days for travel.
I still plan to visit these places, I guess I just won't spend as much time in a couple of them as I had planned. Fun will still be had. Currt-Dawg is known for having fun.

It will be kinda tricky with the dog in the car and all. So far I have it figured out to between 50 and 60 hours of driving time all together. I'll figure it more exact as the day to leave gets closer.

This being a writer thing is kinda fun. Today I took care of my travel voucher for school and worked on my orders out of here. After lunch I got to replace ceiling tile. I also got to put a key box onto a block wall. Man, I'm glad I became a writer.

Guess who's going where

Well, on October 19 I will be the newest member of the public affairs shop at Robins AFB, Georgia. Guess that's not so bad, it was my second choice on my second Base of Prefference list. Technicaly the third, I suggested going to Alaska again.

Too bad I wasn't a big fan of the humidity in Maryland. I'll get used to it. At least I won't be a carpenter and working outside all of the time.

Does it snow there? Guess we'll find out.

I can go and get that car now though.

Can't think of what to put here

So, I'm still a carpenter waiting on a phone call. With the recent conversation with the PA assignments lady I have decided to wait and see where I will go next before getting a car. That sucks cause I'll miss all of these sales.

If I stay in the states, I will do a road trip and see a couple of people I know, Currt - that means you. I already have plans so far for the Laborday weekend. Think we will be in Seatle for that. I will see about making Salt Lake a stop if I have to go overseas. Should be no problem, I seem to fly through there when I'm going to Indy.

And yes, I'm still planning to get to Arizona. Too bad someone probably won't be there by the time I come down.

Think that's about it for today's thoughts.

I"m done!!

Well y'all, I'm done with school. Yeah, I passed. Would have had this up Wednesday at the airport, but the website was down for maintenance.
There is the pic of the five of us. From me over = Angela, Scott (front), Bethaney, and Farva.

So life here is still pretty good. I got back to see my dog, Pedro. Speaking of my dog, his whole name is Pedro Enrique Hernando Gonzalez Andre Holmes. And no he isn't named pedro after that guy in Napolion Dynomite. Had the dog long before the movie came out.

I'm here and still a carpenter. That's a terrible thing. Guess I'll be one untill I get my orders to another place far away from here. Should happen by December. Hope it is earlier than that cause I would hate to have to drive cross country in the snow.

Post is gone

What I've done

Well it's been a while since I've posted on here so I'll do a quick break down of my time here since Saturday.

Saturday-Went to D.C. with Farva. Rode the train there. Met up with Todd. Went through Little China. Ate at Hooters in Little China. Great wings. Got back in town and seen a movie.
Sunday-Went to the mall for a while. Went to Wendy's. Not the greatest service ever.
Monday-Did the school thing and paginated all day. Hung out in Bethaney's room with the others and had adult beverages.
Tuesday-Did the school thing and paginated. Got told what team I was going to be on for the class paper. I'm on the news team. Hung out in Angela's room with the others and enjoyed adult beverages and pizza.
Yesterday-Wrote my last feature for this school. Went to the gym and swam. I think I did a total of 5 laps the entire time I was there. Hung out in Angela's room and enjoyed adult beverages while finishing my feature.
Today-Wrote a couple of news stories for the paper. Went to chow hall for dinner. We took a 12 pack to the softball field to watch the Air Force kids play the Navy. Game was ended in like 3 innings because one of the Navy ran over the Air Force catcher at the plate. Hung out in Angela's room and finished the 12 pack.

That's a summary of those days.

By the way, I'm done with this place on Wednesday. Yay Me!!

I did pick up the new Garbage CD, and it does rock. It's like they didn't take all those years off.

11 training days left

So, I am now done with the photojournalism part. It's a good thing too. My grade just kept going down. Might have been that Pagemaker stuff. We aren't done with that though, we still need it for layout & design. Here in just a couple of weeks I'll be able to put what they have tried to teach me to use in the real Air Force.

So, there we were, Farva, Lyn and I, walking down the streets of D.C. doing the "don't look like tourist thing" with our Miller Light in brown paper bags. Walking behind the Library of Congress we walked by a truck with a couple of guys chuckling. They knew what was up, they where in the truck doing the same thing. The difference between them and us? They where still in security guard type uniforms. In the front of the library I took a picture of Farva and Lyn with the brown bags. I would have gotten one of me doing the same thing but a group of Boy Scouts came up the steps and we left.

CL -2

It would seem that even in this cyber world one cannot escape the awful CL -2 hit. If you don't know what that is consider yourself lucky. In an effort to clarify for y'all, the bottom pic is me. Bethaney is the pic in the middle. And the one on the top is Angela. They are here at school with me. The guy in the pic for this blog is Farva. He is in the class too. In fact, all three of them are linked from here.

Garbage is good

Today the instructors tried to teach us Pagemaker. Man was that rough. I think that I'll get it eventually. I thanked the four people that I hang out with thanx. That is because at the end of this block, the grade will be a group grade. I'm counting on that grade to pass.

So I come back to the room after going to the gym and shopping for dinner tomorrow. Turn on the television and there is Garbage on the t.v. My day got better right away. I might just get the CD that's been out for like a month.

This just in...

Well, I made it through the features block! Not only that, but today's photo shoot was a pretty good time. Maybe this will be a good week. Not like last week. Tomorrow we start Desk Top Publisher. Guess it's pretty hard to fail and class back from here.

Latest Story

Here is the story I promised I'd have on here. Wanna read it? Here it is.

Twenty-five years ago there was a carnival in Cleveland, Ohio. Cleveland Indians outfielder and 1980 Rookie of the Year Joe Charbonneau was there signing autographs.
"I ran right up to him and got his autograph," said Air Force Tech. Sgt., and Cleveland native, Adam M. Stump, a public affairs instructor at the Defense Information School here.
Stump has been collecting autographs of sports stars for a quarter of a century and hasnearly 200.
Even though Stump had Charboneau's autograph, and a few others he got here and tehre, the idea to collect them didn't come until two years later when he met John McEnroe at an exhibition tinnis match, he said.
Stump wan in the Big Brother-Big Sisters program at the time.
Before the tennis matches, there was a get-together for the big brothers and little brothers who won tickets to the event. He and another kid went to the restroom, and as they walked out, McEnroe walked into the banquet room, he said.
They were both excited to see him and ran into the banquet room, he said.
"He had actually come up to see us," Stump said.
It was neat because he was a big-time athlete, not like Charbonnea. Everyone knew who John McEnroe was, he said.
"I didn't have anything for him to sign because I wasn't really prepared. I didn't know he was coming," Stump said.
Stump got his autograph on the back of the envelope that the tickets for the event were in. Now he has it in his office.
A football signed by former Buffalo Bills quarterback Jim Kelly also sits on his desk.
"Someone said I can get between five and six hundred dollars," Stump said.
However, he has no intention of selling the football or any other autograph.
"I've only sold one autograph in my life," he said.
"It was a Ken Griffey Jr. autographed baseball," he said.
He took it to a card show just to see how much he could get for it, he said.
"The guy was making me an offer I couldn't refuse," Stump said.
"I regretted doing it the day after and still regret it to this day," he said.
"I won't be able to get another one," he said.
Stump doesn't bring stuff to work just so he can show them off to fellow staff.
She has only seen what he displays on his desk, but she's heard about the collection he has at home, said Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Terrina M. Weatherspoon, a journalism instructor at DINFOS.
She heard that he has over 200 autographs that he started collecting as a little boy, she said.
"He must be pretty personable and approchable to be able to get all of those autographs," she said.
Even with 200 autographs, Stump doesn't have all of the signatures he would like to have.
He has a copy of Terry Bradshaw's book "It's Only a Game" that he would like to get signed by the former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback.
"I'm a real big Steelers fan," Stump said.
Stump plans to give his son, Alex, his collection of cards when Alex is 10.
Alex is 3 now. With short, brown hair and blue eyes, Alex is the smaller, spitting image of Adam, even down to the gray patch of hair on the back of his head.
"I'm not sure if he'll appreciate it, but being able to tell him some of the stories that go along with it will be one of the best memories I'll have," Stump said.

There it is. This one got me an 87 and if I score atleast 70's on the last two stories I'll actually pass the features part of the course.

What I Hate Today

First I understand how the silly-villian (civilian) workers on this base feel. Every couple of weeks some group of students come by and want to take pictures of you doing your job. That can get annoying, especially if some of the kids aren't very appreciative.

However, we do need to be able to take pictures of these people for our assignments and that should just be a part of the job on a media training base.

Today we were told to go and walk up to random workers and ask them to take their pictures. Here is a breakdown of how the day went.

Arts and crafts center: one pottery lady-no, other pottery lady-no, framing lady-no
Commisary: peanut guy-no, fruit guy-no, samples lady-no
My hotel and the one next to it: my building->first floor (in my room at the time)-no
second floor-no
third floor-no
other one->first floor- ok, just one picture though
second floor- let the guy I was with take a few
(practically begged for it though)
third floor-no
Thrift store: all three ladies-have to talk to the manager first (manager was in meeting)

So, on the way to the thrift store a bug flew into the truck and landed on my neck. I felt a kind of pinch. I asked the guy driving what it was before I smashed it. "It's a bee," he said. So instead of squishing the life from it right then and there I flicked it into the window. It went into that space between the windshield and dash board. It came out and that was the last thing it did. I squished the piss out of that bug. Turns out it was a bumle bee. Those things don't quit stinging you either. It didn't leave the stinger in, I guess that is a good thing. I'm looking forward to the stiff neck I'm going to have for the next week because of the poison working its way out.

Back to the pictures, it's pretty obviouse I only got one pic for that part of the assignment.

For the first part of the pictures assignment I had a partner. Appariently lunch is pretty important. It was getting close to that time and I still had to get my shots. The kid took quite a bit of time to get his first couple of shots. One shot was a silouhette. I told him I wanted to take them infront of the second floor window we were at. He said that we should go outside. I told him that every minute we spent going down the stairs to go outside was a minute we would waste.

We go down anyway. Outside he realizes that I was right and we should go back inside. Me correct? What a concept!! We end up back inside by a bunch of doors. I take the pic and the door frames and other things are all in the picture. I tell him I want to go somewhere else and he says (everybody say it with me) "Be the monkey, do the trick, get the banana." I tell him that the pics suck and I'm trying, and part of that is to eliminate distractions from the picture. We end up at a different window and the pics look better. They weren't the greatest, but they were much better than the door window.

The day is over, and done with. I'll have that story on this weekend sometime.

Here It Is

Here is my first "non scripted" story. It's a news feature. Took a regular news story and made it interesting and readable. I have fixed most of the errors on it. There where a couple of commas and a word or two that made it read better. Wanna read it? Here it is.

Something had to be done to get him out of there fast. Humphrey looked sick. The scientists knew he would die if he didn't get back to the ocean. ... Turn the page.
The kids sit in anticipation waiting to see what will happen next to Humphrey, the title character of "Humphrey The Lost Whale," a story written by Wendy Tokuda and Richard Hall.
Every summer the post library has a reading program for kids 2-15 to get them interested in reading. On Tuesdays between July 5 and Aug. 2, children of all ages can participate in story time and crafts.
Each week will feature a new "Explore The World" topic. Books and crafts the staff has chosen will be based on the subject and age level.
The reading adventure will start with a trip around the world. Then it is off to explore nature and all its wonders. Next will be a study about cultures of the world. What better place to go after that? Under the sea of course. Finally it's off to space to celebrate how "out of this world" reading can be.
"Families look forward to the summer reading program," said Trudy F. White, a library technician here. They remember how much fun the program was the year before, she said.
Last year 88 kids participated in the program. This year the library is expecting twice as many participants, said Jan Curtis, a post library technician.
The program will be set up in three age groups: preschool age, kindergarten to fifth grade, and sixth to 12th grade.
The staff will try to do whatever they can to get kids interested in reading books this summer, said Curtis.
There will be stories and crafts based on the weekly theme. Several books on the theme will be available for reading and to check out.
The first half of the hour will be story time, and the second half will be for crafts. Crafts are done mainly so that preschoolers have something to take home.
"When they see their craft hanging at home, they'll think 'library,'" said Curtis.
Stories for the younger children will be read all the way through. The staff will try to read more than one if possible.
For the older kids, chapters will be read to spark an interest in the book.
During crafts, the teens will be able to help the little children with the projects.
Everyone who comes to the library to sing up during "Kickoff Week" will receive a library bag filled with an activity book and other theme-related goodies. Also in the bag will be a summer reading list with extra books the kids can read at home. Each week children will receive surprises like penciles and stickers for participating.
Small prizes have been recently donated for the children to win. There is no set plan yet on how the prizes will be distributed.
The prizes are intended to entice kids into reading through the whole summer.
Reading over the summer helps keep reading skills sharp, said Curtis. "The more you do, the better you get," she said.
The library offers many different magazines for kids in the children's reading room.
What will happen to Humphrey? Come to the library during the "Explore The World" summer reading program and find out. Sign-up is Tuesday to July 2 at the post library.

There it is. Hope you liked it. It was good enough to get me a 91.

About Half Done

Well, I'm about half way through this class now. Got through headlines, yay. Now we are on features. It's like the news in a story. This week we had to do a news feature. After an hour or so I decided on a story about the summer reading program at the library on post (base for you Air Force people). Writing the story wasn't hard. Comming up with the idea and questions for the interview, that was a bit more difficult. Had I gotten a second source for the story, I would have been the only person to pass. Nobody ever passes the first features assignment. I argued the point that I had all the information I needed for the story with the first interview. Appariently, a second source is always needed. Oh well. Did score higher than the other four people I know.
Monday we get to start using the cameras for the photojournalism part of the course. We will be using Nikon Dh1's. Thanx tax payers.
That's it for this time. I'll put the news feature on here sometime this week so y'all can see it.

Headlines Suck

Headlines are helpfull little things on the top of stories in newspapers and other things. This is true unless you are the one trying to write them. Headlines are these evil little things designed you ruin your day. Certain sizes, fonts, lengths and a whole lotta work to get just the right number of letters and words. We don't need to learn how to count and line up these things, there are computer programs through out the Air Force. Oh well "Be the monkey. Do the trick. Get the banana"The headline day here was the worst day so far. I got my lowest grade in that class, I got smartmouthed with some female instructor. To be fair though, she did talk down to me and someone else first.
Next week we start the features part. Most people hate it. Features is when we write "human interest" types of stories. I can't wait. I think that I will do real good in that and the photography part. Guess we'll see.

Hi, I'm Homie. Most of you that are reading this know that by now. Right now I'm sitting in Baltimore, Maryland studying to be a reporter for the Air Force. I'll be here untill about August. Not so bad here so far.

Before here I was in Montana. Not a bad place. There is snow boarding in the winter and shooting gophers in the summer. Other than that, there isn't much.

When I leave this place and start my writing job I might just put some of the stories on here. Keep coming back. I'll also keep you informed of the important things.