10 down, ? more to go

The 25th marked my 10 years in the Air Force. Its been a pretty interesting time with all the places I've been, things I've done and seen and the trouble I've gotten into. Even most of the people have been o.k.

Its been a decade of 3s. Three bases: Japan, Montana and Georgia. Three jobs: 1A4, structures and public affairs. Three deployments: Turkey, near Saudi and Iraq.

After 10 years I'm still me. It was rough going for a while. I came in with a dislike for authority and was in trouble a lot in Japan because of it. Don't worry, I'm still a smart ass and say what's on my mind, I just say it differently now.

This new job in San Antonio is coming at a good time. With two years left on this enlistment it could help me decide to stay in and finish, or get out and move on. I think I'll like it. I'm told that I'll be traveling about 10 times a year all over the world. That's the part I'm looking forward to since that's one reason I came in as a flyer.

Will I make it another 10? I don't know. I'm surprised, as I'm sure most of you are, that I have lasted this long. The retired at 40 makes sticking it out real tempting tho. Guess we'll just wait and see.

Homie's note: This was written at Turner Field while the Braves were getting whooped on by the Padres, my first major league ball game, or else it would have been posted yesterday.

Found what I was looking for

My trip to San Antonio was pretty much a success. I found a house the first day of looking and met a few people from my new shop. The house is nice. It's three bedroom, two stories. Tile and wood on the first floor and carpet on the second. There is a loft on the top of the stairs that will make a good game room.

My office is the Hometown News Service office and I will be traveling for work about 10 weeks of the year all over the world. A few of us, Air Force and Army, will go and get a few hundred troops to fill out forms with questions and come back to spend a few weeks writing the same story over and over.

I stopped in New Orleans on the way. The French Quarter is a pretty neat place. I went exploring off the main streets and that place stinks very bad. Seen the basilica that John Paul II worshiped on one of his American trips.

On the way back I stopped in Biloxi, Mis. for a couple of days. Drove down I 90 along the coast and noticed that Biloxi has been busy rebuilding since Katrina, but Gulfport, not so much. I'm still curious why there are three new high rise condos right across the highway. That doesn't seem smart at all. I noticed that one Waffle House hasn't been rebuilt, but that's ok because the other 4 are still there along the coast. Sharkies, the gift shop on the beach is now a seafood restaurant. The strip next to the mall is rebuilt and occupied. Two years ago it was just studs and a roof.

When I got home Saturday, there was a dotson on my porch. It was all scared but I was able to pick him up after a couple of treats. I took him to the neighbor's house but he didn't belong there so now I have another dog. It stayed in the cabinet most of the night and then Pedro's little couch until this morning. He's not house broken yet so I get to go thru that again. I won't be able to train him like Pedro since he doesn't mind laying in it. Hopefully I can find him a home before I leave, or else it's off to the pound with him. His name so far is Joey Wiener.