Not this year

I didn't make Tech. this year, that's E-6 for you non Air Force types. I'm not surprised it was only my second time testing and only 10 got promoted. Sounds low, huh? There were only 40 eligible to test. I'll just keep studying and get it next year.

Yes, it's been a while

I know, it's been a long, long time since I've been on this. There really hasn't been much going on down this way.

I guess the big news of the last couple of months it that I'm moving to San Antonio in October. Yay! I just have one question. Who's coming with me? I'll be down there working in the former AFNEWS office, now known as the Defense Media Agency. My stories will be in quite a number of publications, the biggest one probably being Airmen Magazine. If you've read it, then you know that those are some long stories in there. Guess I'll be working on that since I hardly get a page worth of material when I write now.

I think I'll be buying a house down there even tho I won't be there longer than three years, pretty much guaranteed. The prices right now are just too cheap to not own. I've looked online a few times and will probably find a realtor around the end of this month.

I'll be on this more often and keep y'all up to date on stuff.

What's the point?

What's the point of companies having your phone number if they aren't going to call? No, I don't want to have conversations about nothing with people I don't know. I don't even like talking about nothing on the phone with people I do know. I would like them to call when there is a problem though.

Let's take credit card companies. I moved a couple of months before my card expired and received the bills with that yellow address change thing on it, cool. When my card was a week from expiring and I didn't have the new one I called and was told that it was returned because it was sent to the old address. Good thing I made that call, and didn't use the card that much any ways. Every month my phone number is on the bill so they know what it is. Hey companies, make a call to see why important mail is returned to you. 

This brings us to the most recent calling problem. My Xbox broke, yes, the dreaded Red Ring of Death, and so I called the repair number. That was a huge hassle and I should have known that things were going to not go right. Especially since she never got my address right. 

About two weeks after I make the call I get one on my voice mail asking me if I had returned the console yet. I called back and was told that the box wasn't even sent because my address couldn't be verified. Why wasn't I called, or even emailed when they figured that out. So we got into the whole "We can't find your address so we can't help you" deal. 

"I cannot verify your address so we cannot send the shipping box to you."

"Uh, what do you mean you can't verify?"

"Our search does not show that address."

I pull my house up on Google Earth.

"What are you searching with?"

"USPS.com, I cannot find it on that, but I can on Google."

"And that's not good enough?"

"No, ok, when I put in the four numbers of the extension I found it. We can either send you the box in three to five days or we can email you the shipping label and you will have it by tomorrow."

"Just email me the label."

"What is your address?"

I gave him my work address and it was still emailed to my Hotmail account. But it is out getting fixed now and I no longer have to deal with those people in whatever country I call when I have a problem with it. 

I doubt that I will be any kind of nice about not getting a phone call when something is wrong next time. 

And, why have reference numbers if the people on the phone, in whatever country you call, don't ask you for them and just give you a new one anyways?

No fuzzy side effects

Not sure if I'm special or not, but it would seem that Percocet doesn't give me that neat feeling people often seem to have. The IV didn't even do anything for me, except knock me out during the procedure. That's probably a good thing. I did wake up a bit to the surgion breaking my teeth. Yeah, I tried to fight back and keep that from happening, then I went back to sleep.

I was fine on the way out. I was doing so well that I went ahead and had my ride go straight to the pharmacy on base and get the pills before taking me home. I did sleep quite a bit Wednesday, that could be from staying awake until 4 in the morning the night before.

I didn't even have much pain until Friday, that's also when the swelling finally started. By Saturday I was needing the Percocet and kept my face iced.

Today is better, I've started to lose the stitches. I am now yellow in the cheeks from bruising even though I didn't bruise on the outside of my face.

Closer to becoming a local

Well, it has taken almost nine years, five days short to be exact, but the Air Force has finally won the fight to take out my wisdome teeth. I did put up quite the fight. I may have even laughed at the dentist once or twice when it was suggested to have them pulled by an Air Force surgion. Thanks to cut backs and aircraft appropriation efforts Robins has no Air Force dental surgions and I'm going off base. Figured since one is impacted and another is cause a sensitivity in others I should get them out, especially since an Air Force hack of a dentist isn't doing it. That's right, if I was staying on base for this I would keep refusing to get it done. It's bad enough I was bamboozled and am getting the two pulled and the two not causing any problems at all cut out. Hopefully since it is a civillian doctor that I'm told does this all the time he won't jack up my nerves around the teeth like so many military dentists seem to do.

That's really all I'm worried about, that and any other kind of stuff he can mess up in there. I'm looking forward to being IV'ed and drugged up for three days.

I' pretty well stocked on the ice cream and other foods I don't have to chew. It was a bit weird buying the ice cream since I don't ever really get the urge to buy it aside from the occasional Ben & Jerry's. I was like that's enough. No, I need more. No, that's enough. Think I have plenty to last through the weekend.

Maybe I'll go see Tropic Thunder while I'm drugged up this weekend.

Dead car

I was sitting in my car this morning listening to my iPod studying for my 7 level test when my car shut off. I figured that it shut off because it has an auto off timer when it is running on the battery. I was wrong. It turned off because the battery died. I guess that when I had the sterio put into the car I lost the battery saver timer. That's good to know, only wish I knew that before I killed the car.

I passed the test and the car sat in the parkinglot across base all day. I got it jumped and home, and it started a little bit ago. Not as strong as it normally does, but it started.

I won't sit in my car very long without it running again.

One year ago today

On this day last year I re-enlisted for another four years. Yes, that will put me at 12 years three years from now when it is time to decide to go another round or get out. No, I haven't decided on staying in or leaving. We will see how ass-backwards the public affairs career field, and the rest of the Air Force, can become. I'm expecting a new assignment sometime in the next year. That might be the deciding factor in my decision.