Yes Sir Captain Sir.
Whole lot of firsts for me on Thursday. First time meeting a Captain in the AF, first time on an actual AFB, first time on the LA AFB, even though it's only like 10 minutes north of me. The day started with me travelling up to SaMo to finish filling out a lot of the holes in my paperwork, and finish squaring away my package for the Board. Got to answer all sorts of interesting questions like I had on many forms, more along the lines of "have you ever done anything bad, ever?" but also some new one's such as "are you opposed to being responsible for discharging a nuclear weapon on an enemy?" Much of it was psychological, questions about whether you're anti-war being the most important I'm sure. They had the big word for pacifist on there, treating it as a religion, asking if I was a member of that group. I have friends who are, but I have always felt the price of the lifestyle that we live and the peace that we live in, is war. Not all the time, not continuously, but at times it is necessary. Squared away all the physical paperwork, just have to call back on Monday since I never actually found out where to go for it next Thursday.
We then caravaned down to the Base since I wasn't entirely sure where I was going, which ended up being more interesting that usual because I had to cut someone off to stay behind the recruiter who had just dived down a random exit ramp, and then he proceeded to get cut off pretty horribly at least 3 times during the remaining journey. Ahhh L.A. drivers, they keep you on your toes. I was thinking it was going to be with an O-5 or 6 (Lieutenant Colonel or Colonel) but it ended up being with an O-3 (Captain). The ranks in the Air Force when it comes to officers go from O-1 (2nd Lieutenant) which you start out as immediately out of training, all the way up to O-10, with O-7 through O-10 reserved for the four levels of generals. I'm sure I would have been intimidated regardless of his rank. It kind of sucks to be a civilian, while your enlisted recruiter is going through his reporting statements and salutes and so forth, and you're standing there with your thumb up your nose wondering what you should be doing. He really made his best effort to make me feel comfortable though, and as a result I ended up not using the word Sir as much as I'd been planning to. Alas its not like I have any experience with the concept growing up, but I'm sure I'll learn it in a hurry when it becomes necessary. It really felt like an AcaDec interview all over again, except for the fact that it was about an hour instead of a timed seven minutes. Covered just about everything about me that could be said in that amount of time, focusing on my past performance in life, basically. I really feel it couldn't have gone any better, although I stumbled over trying to find the right word at times, my typical ability to blab up a storm about everything in a very articulate way with a multitude of sweeping hand gestures reigned supreme. He seemed genuinely interested in everything I said, and had clearly done many of these types of interviews before, it was clear his questions followed a predetermined path. Made me all giddy inside when he said out of the dozens of interviews that he'd personally handled and officers that he knew on a personal basis, my AFOQT scores were by far the best he'd ever seen or heard of.
So, I might as well explain how the selection process works. As previously mentioned mid October the Board meets (it's made up of O-6's) and rates all the applicants on three categorys. Multiple officers rate each person, and the scores are averaged. In each of the three categories, ratings are given that range from 2 to 3.3 in .1 increments (weird I know). Thus, the worst possible score is 6, and the best score being 9.9. The three categories are:
Education/Aptitude: This consists of Academic discipline, AFOQT scores, GPA, and Transcripts
Experience: This consists of Military Experience/Performance if prior, Letters of Recommendation, Demonstrated Leadership, Community/Base involvement, Athletics, and Skills/Hobbies.
Potential/Adaptability: Finally this consists of Evalutation of Interviewing Officer, Letters of Recommendation again, Work Experience, Communication Skills, and Law Violations.
One thing you have to remember though, is you're only competing against people in your category. So although the Non-Tech selection percentage in the last few boards had been between 15 and 30%, the Navigator selection percentage has remained steady at about 80 to 90%. With those numbers in mind, I find it hard to believe that I'll be in the lower 10 to 20% in any of the categories, and thus feel pretty good about my chances. You can now begin talking about counting my chickens before they hatch any time now.
November 7th is the day my life will now revolve around, although there might be delays. More later, this post is getting lengthy.
Wednesday, August 28, 2002
Progression
So, I can now move both arms individually without any kind of major pain. Haven't blogged for a few days because well, there was nothing to blog about. Just a lot of sitting around, taking a cool bath once or twice a day, unable to really do anything.
Last night I rewatched the first two episodes of Band of Brothers, the only two I'd seen previously. My plan is over the next few days to finish watching the series. Kind of sad I haven't gotten around to it sooner than this, given all the good things I've heard. Given my new career choice however, I'm going to make a point of watching these kinds of things, and although it will never tell me what it's really going to be like, I can at least see what it was like for the people who helped give me the way of life I currently lead.
Speaking of which, I received a phone call from my officer recruiter today, letting me know that someone had been forced to cancel their interview appointment for tomorrow at 1pm, and thus there was an available slot. I of course jumped at the chance, knowing this could really speed things up. So it appears I'm to be up at his office in Santa Monica tomorrow morning at 11am, in order to fill out a bunch more paperwork and finalize my package, then we'll drive over to LA AFB for the interview. I'm sure I'll be nervous, but no more nervous that I was during AcaDec interviews, when I knew I was being graded from the moment I stepped into the room until the moment I stepped out. With the amount of training I've had, it shouldn't be a problem. I'm sure I'll be practicing answers at some point today though. :) I also found out to my surprise that my physical has also been scheduled, for next Thursday Sept 5th. This is both good and bad news, good because it's sooner than I thought, bad because there's the possibility that the sunburn might still be around. Other than having to explain what happened, I don't see how that can affect me negatively though. It's just all the what ifs, that get you. I'm four pounds under the max weight, even with clothes on I'm a few under, and with a week to go I'm sure I can drop even further into the safe zone. Who knows, having not had a physical for about 5 years, there's always a chance they'll find something wrong I didn't even know about. The good news is that just about everything is waiverable, if you have the time and patience.
So it turns out that I will in fact have everything done before the deadline for the October Board. According to the schedule, that Board actually meets from October 15th-18th, and the estimated release date for the results is November 8th. Bit earlier than expected, but welcome just the same. It's the first Board of the Fiscal Year 2003 for the military, so that could work to my advantage, as there will be plenty of slots to fill. The last few boards have been somewhat selective in many of the fields, that should be less true with the new FY. Of course, the release dates for the least few boards have been delayed quite a bit, with the July release coming out around 2 or 3 weeks late and the August release so far 1 or 2 weeks late itself. "Hurry up and wait."
All in all though, I'll still know by mid November at the latest what the deal is. Worst comes to worst, I'll be rejected the first time and automatically go to the second Board which meets in November, and releases the results in December. If you get rejected twice you have to wait at least six months I think it is, so that'll be it at that point until I graduate at least. Although I haven't been completely ignoring the fact I might have to consider other options, this has been my main focus for a while. Will just be nice to finish up these last few steps and be done with it, so I can get back to doing other things.
I do believe it's time for that 3rd BoB ep. Haha BoB. That looks funny.
So, I can now move both arms individually without any kind of major pain. Haven't blogged for a few days because well, there was nothing to blog about. Just a lot of sitting around, taking a cool bath once or twice a day, unable to really do anything.
Last night I rewatched the first two episodes of Band of Brothers, the only two I'd seen previously. My plan is over the next few days to finish watching the series. Kind of sad I haven't gotten around to it sooner than this, given all the good things I've heard. Given my new career choice however, I'm going to make a point of watching these kinds of things, and although it will never tell me what it's really going to be like, I can at least see what it was like for the people who helped give me the way of life I currently lead.
Speaking of which, I received a phone call from my officer recruiter today, letting me know that someone had been forced to cancel their interview appointment for tomorrow at 1pm, and thus there was an available slot. I of course jumped at the chance, knowing this could really speed things up. So it appears I'm to be up at his office in Santa Monica tomorrow morning at 11am, in order to fill out a bunch more paperwork and finalize my package, then we'll drive over to LA AFB for the interview. I'm sure I'll be nervous, but no more nervous that I was during AcaDec interviews, when I knew I was being graded from the moment I stepped into the room until the moment I stepped out. With the amount of training I've had, it shouldn't be a problem. I'm sure I'll be practicing answers at some point today though. :) I also found out to my surprise that my physical has also been scheduled, for next Thursday Sept 5th. This is both good and bad news, good because it's sooner than I thought, bad because there's the possibility that the sunburn might still be around. Other than having to explain what happened, I don't see how that can affect me negatively though. It's just all the what ifs, that get you. I'm four pounds under the max weight, even with clothes on I'm a few under, and with a week to go I'm sure I can drop even further into the safe zone. Who knows, having not had a physical for about 5 years, there's always a chance they'll find something wrong I didn't even know about. The good news is that just about everything is waiverable, if you have the time and patience.
So it turns out that I will in fact have everything done before the deadline for the October Board. According to the schedule, that Board actually meets from October 15th-18th, and the estimated release date for the results is November 8th. Bit earlier than expected, but welcome just the same. It's the first Board of the Fiscal Year 2003 for the military, so that could work to my advantage, as there will be plenty of slots to fill. The last few boards have been somewhat selective in many of the fields, that should be less true with the new FY. Of course, the release dates for the least few boards have been delayed quite a bit, with the July release coming out around 2 or 3 weeks late and the August release so far 1 or 2 weeks late itself. "Hurry up and wait."
All in all though, I'll still know by mid November at the latest what the deal is. Worst comes to worst, I'll be rejected the first time and automatically go to the second Board which meets in November, and releases the results in December. If you get rejected twice you have to wait at least six months I think it is, so that'll be it at that point until I graduate at least. Although I haven't been completely ignoring the fact I might have to consider other options, this has been my main focus for a while. Will just be nice to finish up these last few steps and be done with it, so I can get back to doing other things.
I do believe it's time for that 3rd BoB ep. Haha BoB. That looks funny.
Sunday, August 25, 2002
Blisters Hurt
Never had an experience with sunburn blistering until today. I'm in more pain than I have been in oh, about five years.
Didn't help that I was having to meet and greet people which involved hugging and shoulder slapping extensively at the party. That probably screwed it over actually. I'm proud though, I didn't complain once to anyone outside my family who were smart enough to not do those kinds of things.
It's my own fault, I guess. More later on how cool the party was, when I'm able to do things like type blogs without flinching from the searing pain through my shoulder.
Never had an experience with sunburn blistering until today. I'm in more pain than I have been in oh, about five years.
Didn't help that I was having to meet and greet people which involved hugging and shoulder slapping extensively at the party. That probably screwed it over actually. I'm proud though, I didn't complain once to anyone outside my family who were smart enough to not do those kinds of things.
It's my own fault, I guess. More later on how cool the party was, when I'm able to do things like type blogs without flinching from the searing pain through my shoulder.
Saturday, August 24, 2002
Sunburned to Bits
You want funny lookin sunburn, I got one for ya. Picture this. You're going on a hike, and the last time you got a bit sunburned, so this time you grow a brain and take some lotion. Beforehand when you get out of the car you lather up your neck and face to be sure that it isn't a problem this time. Your t-shirt and shorts getup covers everything else possibly lighter in color, as your arms and legs are tan enough for it not to be a problem. You decide about a half hour in to roll up your sleeves and create a tank top effect. You leave your upper arms and shoulders exposed to 90 degree heat for approximately 8 hours. Voila! When you get home and remove the T-shirt, it now appears that you are wearing something with red sleeves. Plenty of white in between, but amazingly bright red long sleeves from the shoulder down. Ah, intelligence.
The good news is my back isn't burned, because trying to sleep with that is the worst. My arms still hurt like the dickens, but I suppose I deserve it. Unfortunately have the big party tomorrow, so I'll have to dress of spiff and make attempts to cover the evidence.
More good news is we made it to the top, again, and even got back before dark this time. I'm gettin pretty good at this, I should be a tour guide or something. Even more good news I'll probably be really light tomorrow morning. :) Well a new low anyway. Man, even my sockline shows a clear difference in shade, when there wasn't one before. At least I was smart enough to switch wrists on my watch like halfway through, something I hadn't done for like 5 years which felt really whack, but did the trick and avoided serious lines there. The strange thing is, it was much hotter the last time I went, and I didn't get much darker at all, and no really painful burns to speak of. I guess it was a different UV rating today, or something.
Ah... blowing air on my arms sure feels good. All I need is like a fan doing that at all times, but some sort of sleeveless thing to keep me warm meanwhile. Actually blowing on them just makes them burn more a few seconds later, nm. Well, if I can't sleep I'll be back. :/
You want funny lookin sunburn, I got one for ya. Picture this. You're going on a hike, and the last time you got a bit sunburned, so this time you grow a brain and take some lotion. Beforehand when you get out of the car you lather up your neck and face to be sure that it isn't a problem this time. Your t-shirt and shorts getup covers everything else possibly lighter in color, as your arms and legs are tan enough for it not to be a problem. You decide about a half hour in to roll up your sleeves and create a tank top effect. You leave your upper arms and shoulders exposed to 90 degree heat for approximately 8 hours. Voila! When you get home and remove the T-shirt, it now appears that you are wearing something with red sleeves. Plenty of white in between, but amazingly bright red long sleeves from the shoulder down. Ah, intelligence.
The good news is my back isn't burned, because trying to sleep with that is the worst. My arms still hurt like the dickens, but I suppose I deserve it. Unfortunately have the big party tomorrow, so I'll have to dress of spiff and make attempts to cover the evidence.
More good news is we made it to the top, again, and even got back before dark this time. I'm gettin pretty good at this, I should be a tour guide or something. Even more good news I'll probably be really light tomorrow morning. :) Well a new low anyway. Man, even my sockline shows a clear difference in shade, when there wasn't one before. At least I was smart enough to switch wrists on my watch like halfway through, something I hadn't done for like 5 years which felt really whack, but did the trick and avoided serious lines there. The strange thing is, it was much hotter the last time I went, and I didn't get much darker at all, and no really painful burns to speak of. I guess it was a different UV rating today, or something.
Ah... blowing air on my arms sure feels good. All I need is like a fan doing that at all times, but some sort of sleeveless thing to keep me warm meanwhile. Actually blowing on them just makes them burn more a few seconds later, nm. Well, if I can't sleep I'll be back. :/
Friday, August 23, 2002
Spring Cleaning, in August
The big 30th anniversary thingy bobber for the parents is on Sunday, and some cleaning ppl are coming tomorrow morning to give the house a whoopin, so everything in my room has to be decent looking by 10am. I tend to live out of boxes during the summer, so the place is pretty trashed. Really annoying to have to box stuff up and put it in the garage, when you're just going to have to take it all out in a few weeks and get everything together making sure you didn't forget anything to take it to college. Least I get to move in on a Friday this year instead of during the weekend, that should give me a few extra days to get into the swing of things. Something tells me they got rid of the week before classes start though, and they probably start early the following week, which would be lame.
I conned another friend into climbing Mt. Baldy tomorrow it looks like, so we'll see how that goes. Now that I've conquered it again, I won't be as disappointed if we have to turn around halfway. That and I'll actually know where I'm going this time. :)
The new job basically sucks ass, your classic data entry, which is good for oh about four hours, then your eyes start going blurry and you start getting really bored and it seems like motivating yourself to do each new record takes like five minutes at a time. If you actually get going time sort of passes, but gets old after a while.
Highly doubt it's going to last much longer, I'm doing everything relatively as slow as possible without drawing attention, but still getting through the huge amount of entries pretty quick. They didn't even want me back on Monday, but they do Tuesday, which is strange. Oh well as long as I get a day next week out of it that's at least one more paycheck. Then I'm supposed to call the other job at Kaplan back on the 6th and see if they need me some more there, so I should be able to eek out some more money before I head back to school.
Remnants of my shins started being annoying today, which is not such a good sign, since I even took a day off yesterday. I guess I'm going to not run for a few days, the Baldy trip tomorrow will do plenty. Gah, when is move in day when you need it.
The big 30th anniversary thingy bobber for the parents is on Sunday, and some cleaning ppl are coming tomorrow morning to give the house a whoopin, so everything in my room has to be decent looking by 10am. I tend to live out of boxes during the summer, so the place is pretty trashed. Really annoying to have to box stuff up and put it in the garage, when you're just going to have to take it all out in a few weeks and get everything together making sure you didn't forget anything to take it to college. Least I get to move in on a Friday this year instead of during the weekend, that should give me a few extra days to get into the swing of things. Something tells me they got rid of the week before classes start though, and they probably start early the following week, which would be lame.
I conned another friend into climbing Mt. Baldy tomorrow it looks like, so we'll see how that goes. Now that I've conquered it again, I won't be as disappointed if we have to turn around halfway. That and I'll actually know where I'm going this time. :)
The new job basically sucks ass, your classic data entry, which is good for oh about four hours, then your eyes start going blurry and you start getting really bored and it seems like motivating yourself to do each new record takes like five minutes at a time. If you actually get going time sort of passes, but gets old after a while.
Highly doubt it's going to last much longer, I'm doing everything relatively as slow as possible without drawing attention, but still getting through the huge amount of entries pretty quick. They didn't even want me back on Monday, but they do Tuesday, which is strange. Oh well as long as I get a day next week out of it that's at least one more paycheck. Then I'm supposed to call the other job at Kaplan back on the 6th and see if they need me some more there, so I should be able to eek out some more money before I head back to school.
Remnants of my shins started being annoying today, which is not such a good sign, since I even took a day off yesterday. I guess I'm going to not run for a few days, the Baldy trip tomorrow will do plenty. Gah, when is move in day when you need it.
Thursday, August 22, 2002
Nine To Five
Think that was a song in the 80's. Alas it's time to go see what the new job is like. Hopefully won't be anything terrible. Probably going to last at least a few weeks, so hopefully it's the brainless type of stuff that makes time just flow on by. Maybe after the first day I'll be able to take a discman or something, if it's just hardcore data entry in some cubicle by myself.
Didn't go running today, felt some soreness yesterday while running the Entradero Park course, and figure I should just take a day off whenever my legs feel like they need it if I'm going to be running every day other than that. So I figure a random day off every 3 days or something instead of a set 2 days per weekend off will be better for my legs.
Went to a Mongolian BBQ place for the first time last night for a friend's bday, which was fun. Bout fifteen people or so, not all of which I knew, so it was neat meeting new people. For the first time in a while, I met a friend's boyfriend and didn't immediately have a negative opinion of him. Of course, I only talked to him for like 5 seconds, so I suppose there's still a chance once I discover all the skeletons. :) Was nice seeing all those ppl again, we had the usual grand ol time hootin and hollerin at various jokes. I wasn't a big fan of the fare at the restaurant, I guess I just don't like the whole wok concept. Too convoluted. Too much stuff mixed in maybe. I like things more simple. Always good to be branching out and trying out new things though.
Gah, guess I should get in the shower already, delaying will just make me late.
Think that was a song in the 80's. Alas it's time to go see what the new job is like. Hopefully won't be anything terrible. Probably going to last at least a few weeks, so hopefully it's the brainless type of stuff that makes time just flow on by. Maybe after the first day I'll be able to take a discman or something, if it's just hardcore data entry in some cubicle by myself.
Didn't go running today, felt some soreness yesterday while running the Entradero Park course, and figure I should just take a day off whenever my legs feel like they need it if I'm going to be running every day other than that. So I figure a random day off every 3 days or something instead of a set 2 days per weekend off will be better for my legs.
Went to a Mongolian BBQ place for the first time last night for a friend's bday, which was fun. Bout fifteen people or so, not all of which I knew, so it was neat meeting new people. For the first time in a while, I met a friend's boyfriend and didn't immediately have a negative opinion of him. Of course, I only talked to him for like 5 seconds, so I suppose there's still a chance once I discover all the skeletons. :) Was nice seeing all those ppl again, we had the usual grand ol time hootin and hollerin at various jokes. I wasn't a big fan of the fare at the restaurant, I guess I just don't like the whole wok concept. Too convoluted. Too much stuff mixed in maybe. I like things more simple. Always good to be branching out and trying out new things though.
Gah, guess I should get in the shower already, delaying will just make me late.
Wednesday, August 21, 2002
Peanut Butter Lathered Apples
Mmmm. Was treated to some of those while up at a friend's place, she and her best friend and I had a grand ol time cookin dinner and chowin down on some yummynummy food. We worked up an apetite while wandering all over West L.A. looking for a Home Depot and ended up at the one closest to my house, go figure. One minute I'm having fun with tape measures, the next time I turn around I see the two girls playfighting with hammers, until one of them gets a big thumb. Luckily they were using those big rubber ones rather than the metal kind. Could have been worse.
Dropped off all the material for my package, after stopping by a few places to pick up various items. Took a data entry form based test at my temporary agency when I stopped by to pick up the Letter of Recommendation from them, apparently they hadn't tested me since '99 and wanted to update my records. I found out that on average I type 11,000 keystrokes per hour. I'd always known sort of a range of words per minute, but never keystrokes per hour, which is what a lot of companies use when looking for potential data entry personnel and whatnot. I always though I was around 8k which is the minimum for most jobs, with 10k for some of the more high paying ones. Cool to know I can hang with the big boys (as if it's something to brag about). The plus is I have a new job starting Thursday that should run at least through the 13th which still pays $11 like the last one, but is much closer. No freeway driving involved. It's 9 to 5, which means again probably not a 40 hour week, but who knows there might be overtime possibilities or whatnot. Saving the five bucks a day for parking and taking my own lunch should save me tons of money there anyway. I'm quite satisfied with working right up until the day before I leave for school, $ is $.
Oh and I almost forgot the biggest news of the day. Did a mile and a half time trial over at the track, and not only smashed my best mile time in a few years, but also ran UNDER the required time for the PFT at OTS for the first time in about as long. Don't laugh when I say 11:49, with a 7:47 mile. Hey I've only been training a week, gimme a month or two and we'll see how those numbers change. :) The reason this news is so good is that a 12:00 is all that's required during the "hell" that is OTS, so not having to worry about the physical aspect of things and spending more time on the mental should be an advantage. Of course in Alabama with major humidity and ninety degree heat even at 5am, things might be a little different. That's assuming I get accepted, of course. No need to put all my eggs in one basket, so to speak. Hell, it'll be nice to be in shape regardless of what I end up doing.
Mmmm. Was treated to some of those while up at a friend's place, she and her best friend and I had a grand ol time cookin dinner and chowin down on some yummynummy food. We worked up an apetite while wandering all over West L.A. looking for a Home Depot and ended up at the one closest to my house, go figure. One minute I'm having fun with tape measures, the next time I turn around I see the two girls playfighting with hammers, until one of them gets a big thumb. Luckily they were using those big rubber ones rather than the metal kind. Could have been worse.
Dropped off all the material for my package, after stopping by a few places to pick up various items. Took a data entry form based test at my temporary agency when I stopped by to pick up the Letter of Recommendation from them, apparently they hadn't tested me since '99 and wanted to update my records. I found out that on average I type 11,000 keystrokes per hour. I'd always known sort of a range of words per minute, but never keystrokes per hour, which is what a lot of companies use when looking for potential data entry personnel and whatnot. I always though I was around 8k which is the minimum for most jobs, with 10k for some of the more high paying ones. Cool to know I can hang with the big boys (as if it's something to brag about). The plus is I have a new job starting Thursday that should run at least through the 13th which still pays $11 like the last one, but is much closer. No freeway driving involved. It's 9 to 5, which means again probably not a 40 hour week, but who knows there might be overtime possibilities or whatnot. Saving the five bucks a day for parking and taking my own lunch should save me tons of money there anyway. I'm quite satisfied with working right up until the day before I leave for school, $ is $.
Oh and I almost forgot the biggest news of the day. Did a mile and a half time trial over at the track, and not only smashed my best mile time in a few years, but also ran UNDER the required time for the PFT at OTS for the first time in about as long. Don't laugh when I say 11:49, with a 7:47 mile. Hey I've only been training a week, gimme a month or two and we'll see how those numbers change. :) The reason this news is so good is that a 12:00 is all that's required during the "hell" that is OTS, so not having to worry about the physical aspect of things and spending more time on the mental should be an advantage. Of course in Alabama with major humidity and ninety degree heat even at 5am, things might be a little different. That's assuming I get accepted, of course. No need to put all my eggs in one basket, so to speak. Hell, it'll be nice to be in shape regardless of what I end up doing.
Monday, August 19, 2002
One Eighty Nine Point Five
That's right, the barrier has been broken! :) Another nine and a half pounds in the next five weeks and I'll be one happy camper. Got all the way around the pier again this morning, without even a running partner this time. Very promising. Going to do another time trial tomorrow, and probably stick with distance on MWF and some sort of timed workout on TR. Then when school comes around, planning to add on a swimming or sport workout in the evening on top of running in the morning. Haven't really started in depth training for arms and abs yet, that'll probably come easier once I've gotten into shape a bit more. The lighter you are, the less you have to lift. :)
Hopefully this is the last day working at this place. My transcripts got here on Saturday amazingly, just 24 hours after I ordered them online. So hopefully I'll be able to trek up to SaMo on Tuesday to drop everything off.
Bummer, I typed this up this morning and forgot to post it. Luckly it's still sitting here. ;)
Yeah, it was my last day. I am quite pleased.
That's right, the barrier has been broken! :) Another nine and a half pounds in the next five weeks and I'll be one happy camper. Got all the way around the pier again this morning, without even a running partner this time. Very promising. Going to do another time trial tomorrow, and probably stick with distance on MWF and some sort of timed workout on TR. Then when school comes around, planning to add on a swimming or sport workout in the evening on top of running in the morning. Haven't really started in depth training for arms and abs yet, that'll probably come easier once I've gotten into shape a bit more. The lighter you are, the less you have to lift. :)
Hopefully this is the last day working at this place. My transcripts got here on Saturday amazingly, just 24 hours after I ordered them online. So hopefully I'll be able to trek up to SaMo on Tuesday to drop everything off.
Bummer, I typed this up this morning and forgot to post it. Luckly it's still sitting here. ;)
Yeah, it was my last day. I am quite pleased.
Sunday, August 18, 2002
You're the One!
I'd like to say hi to the one person that visited this page yesterday. Come to think of it, it was probably me. :) Was there some sort of party I didn't know about? Some sort of gathering? Did internet connections all over the country get cut off simultaneously? Just weird I guess. Blah, I've always said ppl who count hits are lame, I guess I should take some of my own medicine. :)
I feel like I should put up something rewarding for the next person to see this. Something like a pic maybe, or some sort of representation. Maybe I'll do that.
Today's movie review is Blue Crush, which I'd have to give uhhhh hmmmm 4 M's. It was actually more entertaining than I thought it would be, and there was some very neat camera work throughout. Definitely the most advanced surfing photography I've seen. Some were clearly computer generated, and some you could tell the faces of the actresses had been added in, but some of the waves they were actually riding. Was actually pretty funny occasionally, could have been worse. Maybe 3.5 M's is more accurate. They did replay the flashback where she hits her head on the rock like 8 times. That was like 7 too many. No, 8 too many. Cringed every time I saw it. Blah, way past my bedtime. Gnite all. Er, I guess I mean gnite, you. :)
I'd like to say hi to the one person that visited this page yesterday. Come to think of it, it was probably me. :) Was there some sort of party I didn't know about? Some sort of gathering? Did internet connections all over the country get cut off simultaneously? Just weird I guess. Blah, I've always said ppl who count hits are lame, I guess I should take some of my own medicine. :)
I feel like I should put up something rewarding for the next person to see this. Something like a pic maybe, or some sort of representation. Maybe I'll do that.
Today's movie review is Blue Crush, which I'd have to give uhhhh hmmmm 4 M's. It was actually more entertaining than I thought it would be, and there was some very neat camera work throughout. Definitely the most advanced surfing photography I've seen. Some were clearly computer generated, and some you could tell the faces of the actresses had been added in, but some of the waves they were actually riding. Was actually pretty funny occasionally, could have been worse. Maybe 3.5 M's is more accurate. They did replay the flashback where she hits her head on the rock like 8 times. That was like 7 too many. No, 8 too many. Cringed every time I saw it. Blah, way past my bedtime. Gnite all. Er, I guess I mean gnite, you. :)
Friday, August 16, 2002
I Swear The Pier Moved Further Away...
Thanks to friendly companionship, I managed to make it all the way down to the Redondo pier this morning, out around it and up to Vet's park, then all the way back home. That's 3 to 4 miles or something. Making progress anyway. The legs feel a little weaker today, but on the way to work I really felt like I had a lot of energy. Strangely the 190 barrier is still somewhat inpenetrable, I've hit it multiple times without managing to get below. Something tells me now that I'm running again that will soon change. Just knocking on wood that the concept of shin splints is not going to reappear.
I felt pretty tired while I was running, but that's probably because I was launching into stories from time to time, and it's hard to handle a narrative when breathing heavily at the same time. Was good conversation though, and that's all you can ask for while pushing your body around. She's headed off to Knott's Berry Farm tomorrow, might run again in the morning beforehand though, going to check with me later online. I've only been to Knott's once, and not since they put in their newest roller coaster the Xcellerator, so at some point I'll probably have to make a return trip. Six Flags is free though thanks to the season pass, so it's hard to make the switch.
Finished "Ender's Shadow" a few days ago, and got started on "Shadow of the Hegemon." Technically it's the 6th book in the Ender's game series, although any of them could be read as standalones. Basically the only sci-fi series I've ever read, and I've enjoyed them all immensely. After this I'll have to start knocking out "The Two Towers" in preperation for the movie release in December.
More news on the AF front, going to be heading up to SaMo early next week to deliver a lot of paperwork including copies of my SSN and DL cards as well as transcripts from college and various other forms. I didn't know you could just order transcripts online and have them mailed to you, which sucks because I could have done that weeks ago. Probably only takes one or two business days though so should get here in time for this visit. I was thinking I was going to have to make an extra trip to SB and back in order to deal with those, quite pleased that it won't be necessary. Also found out that the physical and BAT test (hand-eye coordination test basically) will take place at LA AFB and not Edwards, so I won't have to drive long distances with my pupils dilated. Even better, I could get someone who loves me to drop me off and pick me up! (wink wink)
Well given I'm at work I probably shouldn't be blogging. Pretty sure this is my last day here though. I certainly hope so.
Thanks to friendly companionship, I managed to make it all the way down to the Redondo pier this morning, out around it and up to Vet's park, then all the way back home. That's 3 to 4 miles or something. Making progress anyway. The legs feel a little weaker today, but on the way to work I really felt like I had a lot of energy. Strangely the 190 barrier is still somewhat inpenetrable, I've hit it multiple times without managing to get below. Something tells me now that I'm running again that will soon change. Just knocking on wood that the concept of shin splints is not going to reappear.
I felt pretty tired while I was running, but that's probably because I was launching into stories from time to time, and it's hard to handle a narrative when breathing heavily at the same time. Was good conversation though, and that's all you can ask for while pushing your body around. She's headed off to Knott's Berry Farm tomorrow, might run again in the morning beforehand though, going to check with me later online. I've only been to Knott's once, and not since they put in their newest roller coaster the Xcellerator, so at some point I'll probably have to make a return trip. Six Flags is free though thanks to the season pass, so it's hard to make the switch.
Finished "Ender's Shadow" a few days ago, and got started on "Shadow of the Hegemon." Technically it's the 6th book in the Ender's game series, although any of them could be read as standalones. Basically the only sci-fi series I've ever read, and I've enjoyed them all immensely. After this I'll have to start knocking out "The Two Towers" in preperation for the movie release in December.
More news on the AF front, going to be heading up to SaMo early next week to deliver a lot of paperwork including copies of my SSN and DL cards as well as transcripts from college and various other forms. I didn't know you could just order transcripts online and have them mailed to you, which sucks because I could have done that weeks ago. Probably only takes one or two business days though so should get here in time for this visit. I was thinking I was going to have to make an extra trip to SB and back in order to deal with those, quite pleased that it won't be necessary. Also found out that the physical and BAT test (hand-eye coordination test basically) will take place at LA AFB and not Edwards, so I won't have to drive long distances with my pupils dilated. Even better, I could get someone who loves me to drop me off and pick me up! (wink wink)
Well given I'm at work I probably shouldn't be blogging. Pretty sure this is my last day here though. I certainly hope so.
Thursday, August 15, 2002
When You Need A Smile...
They always tend to make an appearance in one way or another. Was out running this morning for the 2nd day in a row (MY GOODNESS) which in itself was a feat, because due to my injury I haven't been able to accomplish that goal in about a month. So far, so good. No pain whatsoever in the last two days, as I gradually am increasing the distance I run.
I had my usual hat and headset getup goin as I plowed down Henrietta on the way back from the little two mile loop deal over yonder, listenin to Rick Dees in the morning, which tends to help a lot when compared with just listening to yourself breath and get tired. Anyway, I ran smack into a buddy from high school, or rather, the same high school as I went to We were never actually there at the same time, we've always been the same grade level so when she was a freshman in high school I was a freshman in college, and ditto now that we're both seniors. She went through the AcaDec program as well, so we share some common feelings and attributes. It was quite random we'd be running at the same time, I guess the X-Country team is up in Big Bear for the week but she had to work, so she's just running on her own this week. Ended up turning around and basically running with me back to my house, which was fun. It's amazing how running with someone else can help you forget about the fact that you're tired. Well, other than having to pause every six words to take two full breaths. :) The nice thing about her is she's somewhat close to my pace, or was at least making me think that. That's the real bummer with trying to find running buddies, one person is always more in shape, or has a much faster pace. She suggested we run tomorrow too though, so I guess I'm not that hideously slow. She just has to go run another three miles or something after dropping me off. :)
It's weird, when you least expect something to cheer you up, alakazam, there they are.
They always tend to make an appearance in one way or another. Was out running this morning for the 2nd day in a row (MY GOODNESS) which in itself was a feat, because due to my injury I haven't been able to accomplish that goal in about a month. So far, so good. No pain whatsoever in the last two days, as I gradually am increasing the distance I run.
I had my usual hat and headset getup goin as I plowed down Henrietta on the way back from the little two mile loop deal over yonder, listenin to Rick Dees in the morning, which tends to help a lot when compared with just listening to yourself breath and get tired. Anyway, I ran smack into a buddy from high school, or rather, the same high school as I went to We were never actually there at the same time, we've always been the same grade level so when she was a freshman in high school I was a freshman in college, and ditto now that we're both seniors. She went through the AcaDec program as well, so we share some common feelings and attributes. It was quite random we'd be running at the same time, I guess the X-Country team is up in Big Bear for the week but she had to work, so she's just running on her own this week. Ended up turning around and basically running with me back to my house, which was fun. It's amazing how running with someone else can help you forget about the fact that you're tired. Well, other than having to pause every six words to take two full breaths. :) The nice thing about her is she's somewhat close to my pace, or was at least making me think that. That's the real bummer with trying to find running buddies, one person is always more in shape, or has a much faster pace. She suggested we run tomorrow too though, so I guess I'm not that hideously slow. She just has to go run another three miles or something after dropping me off. :)
It's weird, when you least expect something to cheer you up, alakazam, there they are.
Wednesday, August 14, 2002
Twice.
That's the number of times I visited the hospital yesterday.
That's also the number of times I'd been in the hospital in the twenty years prior to that. I've been lucky. Never broken a bone, never had a stitch, never been involved in many of the not so wonderful things that require a hospital visit. It was interesting though, seeing the brand new wing at Little Company of Mary, visiting my Mom, trying out the food, (which actually wasn't so bad) and just being aware of all the types of people around me, who were there because they needed help, in one form or another. I really don't mind hospitals that much. I guess I don't have any negative memories associated with one, so they don't carry the same stigma that the do for some people.
Finally decided to start knocking out some of the 159 movies I have that I haven't seen. As of today that's now 158, as I finally witnessed The Shawshank Redemption 7 M's out of 7. People are very right when they say this movie is good. It's a view into a prison, and the life that long-term inmates lead. The acting is just phenomenal, with everyone playing their characters perfectly. I was especially impressed with some of the secondary characters. From the stuttering friend, to the heartless captain of the guard. The scene that affected me most though involved Brooks, the inmate who'd spent 50 years in the prison. I won't spoil it for anyone (although if you haven't seen it, put this one as close to the top of your list as possible) but the music played around that scene, and the voice the elderly actor uses while describing life on the outside, really makes you feel. The music all around was perfect, not too dominant, yet always there, eerie notes when required, slow melodic tones as well. The acting though, is what sets this one apart. Attempting to portray someone who has spent the majority of their life in prison cannot be easy. Yet every actor does a marvelous job. That's another building I've never visited, I suppose I've been lucky there too, although I'd like to think that was much more a conscious effort on my part.
Working today again, although the person I've been doing the most stuff for left last night for a month long trip, so I'm assuming they'll run out of stuff and send me home early for good. 9th day working at this place, I don't mind the 550 or so after taxes I'll end up with, but I'll be extremely glad to be doing something else.
That's the number of times I visited the hospital yesterday.
That's also the number of times I'd been in the hospital in the twenty years prior to that. I've been lucky. Never broken a bone, never had a stitch, never been involved in many of the not so wonderful things that require a hospital visit. It was interesting though, seeing the brand new wing at Little Company of Mary, visiting my Mom, trying out the food, (which actually wasn't so bad) and just being aware of all the types of people around me, who were there because they needed help, in one form or another. I really don't mind hospitals that much. I guess I don't have any negative memories associated with one, so they don't carry the same stigma that the do for some people.
Finally decided to start knocking out some of the 159 movies I have that I haven't seen. As of today that's now 158, as I finally witnessed The Shawshank Redemption 7 M's out of 7. People are very right when they say this movie is good. It's a view into a prison, and the life that long-term inmates lead. The acting is just phenomenal, with everyone playing their characters perfectly. I was especially impressed with some of the secondary characters. From the stuttering friend, to the heartless captain of the guard. The scene that affected me most though involved Brooks, the inmate who'd spent 50 years in the prison. I won't spoil it for anyone (although if you haven't seen it, put this one as close to the top of your list as possible) but the music played around that scene, and the voice the elderly actor uses while describing life on the outside, really makes you feel. The music all around was perfect, not too dominant, yet always there, eerie notes when required, slow melodic tones as well. The acting though, is what sets this one apart. Attempting to portray someone who has spent the majority of their life in prison cannot be easy. Yet every actor does a marvelous job. That's another building I've never visited, I suppose I've been lucky there too, although I'd like to think that was much more a conscious effort on my part.
Working today again, although the person I've been doing the most stuff for left last night for a month long trip, so I'm assuming they'll run out of stuff and send me home early for good. 9th day working at this place, I don't mind the 550 or so after taxes I'll end up with, but I'll be extremely glad to be doing something else.
Tuesday, August 13, 2002
More Info...
Apparently the cause of the blast was a gas leak in a house that was being fumigated, with a spark eventually setting off the catastrophic event. Luckily, this means no one was inside at the time, and from what I've heard there are only minor injuries to surrounding neighbors.
The house is just simply leveled, with many surrounding houses sustaining heavy damage.
Once again though, I'm fine, and unfortunately it appears I'll still have to go to work today, after stopping by to visit the mother in the hospital as she recovers from her surgery.
Apparently the cause of the blast was a gas leak in a house that was being fumigated, with a spark eventually setting off the catastrophic event. Luckily, this means no one was inside at the time, and from what I've heard there are only minor injuries to surrounding neighbors.
The house is just simply leveled, with many surrounding houses sustaining heavy damage.
Once again though, I'm fine, and unfortunately it appears I'll still have to go to work today, after stopping by to visit the mother in the hospital as she recovers from her surgery.
I'm Safe...
All those lucky enough to be watching CNN this morning, no need to worry, I'm fine.
The houses that were obliterated by a massive explosion at about 5:45am are located about six blocks from me. There are reports of damage in a wide radius, with glass breaking at houses more than a few blocks away, but we haven't found any damage to ours.
So if you heard the name Torrance and panicked, I appreciate the concern, but go back to bed. :)
More later as I receive more information. I won't be sleeping anymore given the number of sirens and choppers circling outside my window. The major news channels all just switched over, feel free to check it out.
All those lucky enough to be watching CNN this morning, no need to worry, I'm fine.
The houses that were obliterated by a massive explosion at about 5:45am are located about six blocks from me. There are reports of damage in a wide radius, with glass breaking at houses more than a few blocks away, but we haven't found any damage to ours.
So if you heard the name Torrance and panicked, I appreciate the concern, but go back to bed. :)
More later as I receive more information. I won't be sleeping anymore given the number of sirens and choppers circling outside my window. The major news channels all just switched over, feel free to check it out.
Monday, August 12, 2002
When It Rains...
So, my mother is currently recovering having undergone a hysterectomy this morning, apparently the procedure went as planned. She's expected to be in the hospital until Wednesday. Another really poor day at work. I was going to say shitty, but after a bad experience this weekend with someone lighting me up for swearing, and realizing that it's outlawed at OTS, I might as well cut it out of my vocabulary now. It's not like it's necessary, and it certainly doesn't help my image. I swear far below the average person, but I see no reason to do it at all Forgot to get lunch money, so I just went without. During the lunch hour my usual reading spot in the lobby of the Hyatt Regency next door was disrupted by jackhammers on the floor below. Traffic was worse than usual.
Then to top it off, I get a random e-mail then an IM from someone I'd planned on avoiding since coming to the realization in May that we were just different people. I'm stupid enough to reply, and later respond, and my reward is a conversation in which she proceeds to knock everything about my career choice, and myself in general. There were a few highlights, one of which was her informing me that she will happily be the person sending me off to war in some foreign country to die in order to protect her way of life while she spends her millions on material things. The one that really topped everything off though, was her informing me that in the "grand scheme of things," I'm just as much of a slut as she is. Now, I tend to censor this blog, in a way. I refrain from personal attacks, I never mention names, and I leave out much of the less flattering information I run into about people. In this case though, I'm not at all concerned with any reactions. As has probably been figured out, tonight's encounter was once again with the most recent ex. I've finally blocked her permanently, through all forms of communication that I have access to. I am no longer of the opinion that any sort of interaction would bring anything but negative results. In the years since our relationship ended (yes, years) she has taken up smoking, getting drunk on a regular basis, and sleeping with various people just to satisfy her physical need, including a neighbor, just because he was there. Those who know me, know why I unfortunately regret having ever been in a relationship with her. The three habits stated above are basically the least desirable traits a friend, or even a person, could possibly have. Granted, her side of the story will be different, if you ever have the displeasure of running into her and hearing about it. In my own defense, I can only say it has been over two years since I've received anything more than a hug from the opposite sex. Sad in a way, but true. I'm sure this helps you realize what a ridiculous statement the above quote really is, if you compare the two lifestyles. Why I even let it affect me, I have no idea. That's the last time. Alas, all I can say is my life will be much better off in the future, with her forgotten.
I can't thank my friends enough for being there over the last few years as I've moved through various stages of transition. I can only hope to follow your example and repay what you've given me, any way I can. The subject for that blog in May was "One Door Closes, Another Door Opens." Interestingly enough, it was still cracked enough for even more negativity to shine through. If there's a way to slam it harder than I just did, I'm not sure how.
Let it be known, this is the last blog in which she will be mentioned, permanently. Along those lines, if I give you the cold-shoulder in person when asked about the subject, back off.
So, my mother is currently recovering having undergone a hysterectomy this morning, apparently the procedure went as planned. She's expected to be in the hospital until Wednesday. Another really poor day at work. I was going to say shitty, but after a bad experience this weekend with someone lighting me up for swearing, and realizing that it's outlawed at OTS, I might as well cut it out of my vocabulary now. It's not like it's necessary, and it certainly doesn't help my image. I swear far below the average person, but I see no reason to do it at all Forgot to get lunch money, so I just went without. During the lunch hour my usual reading spot in the lobby of the Hyatt Regency next door was disrupted by jackhammers on the floor below. Traffic was worse than usual.
Then to top it off, I get a random e-mail then an IM from someone I'd planned on avoiding since coming to the realization in May that we were just different people. I'm stupid enough to reply, and later respond, and my reward is a conversation in which she proceeds to knock everything about my career choice, and myself in general. There were a few highlights, one of which was her informing me that she will happily be the person sending me off to war in some foreign country to die in order to protect her way of life while she spends her millions on material things. The one that really topped everything off though, was her informing me that in the "grand scheme of things," I'm just as much of a slut as she is. Now, I tend to censor this blog, in a way. I refrain from personal attacks, I never mention names, and I leave out much of the less flattering information I run into about people. In this case though, I'm not at all concerned with any reactions. As has probably been figured out, tonight's encounter was once again with the most recent ex. I've finally blocked her permanently, through all forms of communication that I have access to. I am no longer of the opinion that any sort of interaction would bring anything but negative results. In the years since our relationship ended (yes, years) she has taken up smoking, getting drunk on a regular basis, and sleeping with various people just to satisfy her physical need, including a neighbor, just because he was there. Those who know me, know why I unfortunately regret having ever been in a relationship with her. The three habits stated above are basically the least desirable traits a friend, or even a person, could possibly have. Granted, her side of the story will be different, if you ever have the displeasure of running into her and hearing about it. In my own defense, I can only say it has been over two years since I've received anything more than a hug from the opposite sex. Sad in a way, but true. I'm sure this helps you realize what a ridiculous statement the above quote really is, if you compare the two lifestyles. Why I even let it affect me, I have no idea. That's the last time. Alas, all I can say is my life will be much better off in the future, with her forgotten.
I can't thank my friends enough for being there over the last few years as I've moved through various stages of transition. I can only hope to follow your example and repay what you've given me, any way I can. The subject for that blog in May was "One Door Closes, Another Door Opens." Interestingly enough, it was still cracked enough for even more negativity to shine through. If there's a way to slam it harder than I just did, I'm not sure how.
Let it be known, this is the last blog in which she will be mentioned, permanently. Along those lines, if I give you the cold-shoulder in person when asked about the subject, back off.
Sunday, August 11, 2002
Not Much To Say...
Drove out to Timbuktu also known as Hemet, California on Saturday for a memorial service, that basically took up the whole day as I spent a few hours each way in the car. There's not a whole lot to say about that, it's not the most cheerful thing in the world, and I don't suppose dwelling on it helps.
Today was basically sit around day, as I despair over having to go to work again tomorrow. More hours on the road, more hours doing nothing, trying to strech 10 minute jobs into hour long ones, so that I can at least get a 7 hour day before they say "well, guess that's all for today" and tell me to come back two days later. Least my first paycheck in a while should be here in the next day or two, and then I'll have at least two more coming after that. Still have a long way to go before I've made any progress towards a decent amount on the summer, though. I could tell them to take me off this basically part-time job that I dislike greatly and is totally inconvenient, but there might not be anything else available. Then again having this go on all the way through summer would be like sticking a 5 inch splinter under my fingernail.
Props to two of my friends for being the highlights of an otherwise dreary weekend, one for a lengthy conversation along the beach during a nice sunset, and the other for letting me blab cell to cell nonstop while bored as all heck driving alllllllll the way back across LA on the way home yesterday.
Drove out to Timbuktu also known as Hemet, California on Saturday for a memorial service, that basically took up the whole day as I spent a few hours each way in the car. There's not a whole lot to say about that, it's not the most cheerful thing in the world, and I don't suppose dwelling on it helps.
Today was basically sit around day, as I despair over having to go to work again tomorrow. More hours on the road, more hours doing nothing, trying to strech 10 minute jobs into hour long ones, so that I can at least get a 7 hour day before they say "well, guess that's all for today" and tell me to come back two days later. Least my first paycheck in a while should be here in the next day or two, and then I'll have at least two more coming after that. Still have a long way to go before I've made any progress towards a decent amount on the summer, though. I could tell them to take me off this basically part-time job that I dislike greatly and is totally inconvenient, but there might not be anything else available. Then again having this go on all the way through summer would be like sticking a 5 inch splinter under my fingernail.
Props to two of my friends for being the highlights of an otherwise dreary weekend, one for a lengthy conversation along the beach during a nice sunset, and the other for letting me blab cell to cell nonstop while bored as all heck driving alllllllll the way back across LA on the way home yesterday.
Friday, August 09, 2002
The Magic at Six Flags...
Man, slept in longer today than I have in quite some time. I have a good excuse though, got few hours of sleep the night before having to get up early and head out to Six Flags. Ended up not getting home until after midnight, and I was pretty drained by that time.
Two bummers put dampers on the day, one of which was X being closed for the whole day which was disappointing, the other being I strained my neck pretty good on the first ride we went on, and was having problem rotating my head to the right the remainder of the day. That said, I pretty simply had a ton of fun for the entire day. The person I was with is someone I've always gotten along with, and regardless of the length of the line, I was never bored. I barely even noticed the heat, which stretched into the mid 90s for most of the day. We got on most all of the big rides, and although they were out of my California rolls at the sushi bar, the Tsunami ones weren't too bad. My voice was pretty much gone this morning, but now seems to just be a bit hoarse. I tend to do my share of hootin and hollerin on the big dips. :)
Managed to take a wrong turn coming home as I missed the turnoff to the 405 from the 5 a bit south of the amusement park, ended up not being that big a deal as we just took the route right past downtown on the 110, had been a while since I'd seen the L.A. skyline at night. That also allowed us to use the carpool lanes on the 110, which are neat because they're about a hundred feet above the freeway itself, your own little highway in the sky. So then I managed to miss the turnoff to the 405, and we ended up having to get off the 110 further south and double back. Apparently I was engrossed in the conversation. I've driven the 110 to the 405 route every day I've worked for the past few weeks, yet still managed to blow right by it. Go figure. Two retarded moves in one trip, can't even remember the last time I managed that. Yet I'm going to be a navigator for a living, HAHA. Er um.
Hopefully going to be seeing more of that friend than I have in the last few years, she's quite the neat person.
Managed to run across a song I hadn't heard in forever, James Taylor's "Fire and Rain." It's a nice friendly cheerful head bobber type. Turns out I don't have a social calendar for tonight, but I will be leaving early tomorrow morning to gallumph out to Hemet.
Man, slept in longer today than I have in quite some time. I have a good excuse though, got few hours of sleep the night before having to get up early and head out to Six Flags. Ended up not getting home until after midnight, and I was pretty drained by that time.
Two bummers put dampers on the day, one of which was X being closed for the whole day which was disappointing, the other being I strained my neck pretty good on the first ride we went on, and was having problem rotating my head to the right the remainder of the day. That said, I pretty simply had a ton of fun for the entire day. The person I was with is someone I've always gotten along with, and regardless of the length of the line, I was never bored. I barely even noticed the heat, which stretched into the mid 90s for most of the day. We got on most all of the big rides, and although they were out of my California rolls at the sushi bar, the Tsunami ones weren't too bad. My voice was pretty much gone this morning, but now seems to just be a bit hoarse. I tend to do my share of hootin and hollerin on the big dips. :)
Managed to take a wrong turn coming home as I missed the turnoff to the 405 from the 5 a bit south of the amusement park, ended up not being that big a deal as we just took the route right past downtown on the 110, had been a while since I'd seen the L.A. skyline at night. That also allowed us to use the carpool lanes on the 110, which are neat because they're about a hundred feet above the freeway itself, your own little highway in the sky. So then I managed to miss the turnoff to the 405, and we ended up having to get off the 110 further south and double back. Apparently I was engrossed in the conversation. I've driven the 110 to the 405 route every day I've worked for the past few weeks, yet still managed to blow right by it. Go figure. Two retarded moves in one trip, can't even remember the last time I managed that. Yet I'm going to be a navigator for a living, HAHA. Er um.
Hopefully going to be seeing more of that friend than I have in the last few years, she's quite the neat person.
Managed to run across a song I hadn't heard in forever, James Taylor's "Fire and Rain." It's a nice friendly cheerful head bobber type. Turns out I don't have a social calendar for tonight, but I will be leaving early tomorrow morning to gallumph out to Hemet.
Tuesday, August 06, 2002
Monday Dunday.
Well technically it's Tuesday, but since I didn't work today and I'm working tomorrow, it feels like it will be Monday. Who knows how long this job will last, it's becoming more of an every other day thing, and that's not really going to work this week. I apparently actually have a social calendar, as one of my friends is taking advantage of the fact that I can take someone to Magic Mountain for free both this week and next, and wants to go on Thursday, and then I'm possibly filling in as a friend of mine's "guest" at another function, someone's wedding anniversary I believe.
Then comes Saturday, when it appears I'm going to attend the first memorial service/funeral of my life. Going to be making the trek a couple hours out to Hemet, California, the hometown of my father's brother and sister in law. She's had cancer for a number of years, and passed away a few days ago. On the bright side, she's the first of my parent's generation of the family to pass away, but still at an unfortunately early age. I'd been hoping to escape off into the military before having to attend the multitude of weddings that will start happening as my fifteen or so cousins all start getting married off at once, and I'd certainly not planned on attending any funerals before finishing college. I guess though, I should be very thankful I've never had to attend one before now. Things could be much worse.
Don't get me wrong about weddings, it's not that I don't like them, it's just that I don't like the questions associated with the event. When you end up being the oldest person unmarried at the place, all sorts of fingers get pointed and questions get asked about your "progress" with the opposite sex. It's just not a priority for me right now. Answering the same question eighty times to eighty different relatives isn't much fun. No, I'm not seeing anyone. No, I didn't come out of the closet. Yes, they are smart to have stayed away from me, and you're quite clever to have said that, given the six people before you had the same quip.
Oif. So the high from the weekend has waned, and it sounds like it'll peak on Thursday/Friday, and then slash its way back down for the weekend.
Here's to long life, may all of us be lucky enough to live one.
Well technically it's Tuesday, but since I didn't work today and I'm working tomorrow, it feels like it will be Monday. Who knows how long this job will last, it's becoming more of an every other day thing, and that's not really going to work this week. I apparently actually have a social calendar, as one of my friends is taking advantage of the fact that I can take someone to Magic Mountain for free both this week and next, and wants to go on Thursday, and then I'm possibly filling in as a friend of mine's "guest" at another function, someone's wedding anniversary I believe.
Then comes Saturday, when it appears I'm going to attend the first memorial service/funeral of my life. Going to be making the trek a couple hours out to Hemet, California, the hometown of my father's brother and sister in law. She's had cancer for a number of years, and passed away a few days ago. On the bright side, she's the first of my parent's generation of the family to pass away, but still at an unfortunately early age. I'd been hoping to escape off into the military before having to attend the multitude of weddings that will start happening as my fifteen or so cousins all start getting married off at once, and I'd certainly not planned on attending any funerals before finishing college. I guess though, I should be very thankful I've never had to attend one before now. Things could be much worse.
Don't get me wrong about weddings, it's not that I don't like them, it's just that I don't like the questions associated with the event. When you end up being the oldest person unmarried at the place, all sorts of fingers get pointed and questions get asked about your "progress" with the opposite sex. It's just not a priority for me right now. Answering the same question eighty times to eighty different relatives isn't much fun. No, I'm not seeing anyone. No, I didn't come out of the closet. Yes, they are smart to have stayed away from me, and you're quite clever to have said that, given the six people before you had the same quip.
Oif. So the high from the weekend has waned, and it sounds like it'll peak on Thursday/Friday, and then slash its way back down for the weekend.
Here's to long life, may all of us be lucky enough to live one.
Sunday, August 04, 2002
Me Tho Pwoud.
Okay okay I skipped a few days. Believe it or not, I was actually getting some WORK done around here! Ended up leaving an hour early Friday too, and they don't need me Monday, but want me Tuesday. It's turning into more of a part time thing, but I still get like 250 a week out of it, so I guess I can't complain, since it's not like there's a multitude of alternatives.
The last couple days I've impressed even myself by deciding to move full ahead with my package for OTS, first by doing the HUGE application Thursday night and Friday morning, answering a berzillion questions that basically all boiled down to "have you ever done anything bad in your life, ever" to which I of course said NO! :) Then yesterday I managed to not only finish up my Personal Statement and Resume, but also get the ball rolling for Letters of Recommendation! Usually getting paperwork done with me is like pulling teeth, ESPECIALLY when I end up having to contact other people, set things up, ask them for favors, etc etc. Go figure though, I typed up the whole format for the Letters of Rec, and copied it into a Word doc along with my Resume and Personal Statement so I could send all the info to my endorsers, then wrote out lengthy personal e-mails to all of them making the requests, then even got a few e-mails back so I could send them off the info! This may not sound all that interesting but it feels really good to be taking care of stuff that was going to be hanging over me. Already two of the four people have answered in the affirmative, with the other two not being able to receive the initial e-mail until most likely Monday. Only need 3-5 Letters, but 4 would be a good number. I have a few other possibilities in mind in case these don't work out.
So we stand about two months away from my Officer Recruiter's deadline of October 2nd, for packages that will be going to the November 2nd Board. This appears to be the ideal one to apply for since I'd then find out the results in December, and if I get rejected it automatically goes to the December Board and I'd find out in January. After that if I don't get in it's basically over, and that will leave me like 6 months and two full quarters of school to secure an alternative option for my future if necessary. I'm not too worried though. My Personal Statement is something I'm really proud of, one of my better pieces of writing that had to be restricted to one page. That's thanks to the help of various friends and family members who all chimed in with their two cents, of course. The recruiter is requesting my physical next week, which I assume then will be within a month or something maybe. That's the only other real possible hangup, as the flight physical for rated applicants (people doing jobs in the air) is quite extensive, and something might be found that I didn't even know about. Most everything is waiverable, you just have be patient enough to sit through that process, and that would delay things a bit. You actually don't need to have passed the physical to send your package to the board, you just have to have an appointment made. So I might get accepted, and yet still get delayed due to the physical or a possible waiver for who knows what. Hopefully with the 6 month leeway I've added in I should be able to make the July 1 class of 2003. That would leave me a couple weeks to enjoy life after graduation before I actually ship out. Still don't know whether I'd drive or fly, or maybe take the train or something. They pay for expenses either way, and it's easier to take all your stuff if you drive, but then again travelling light might be smart for training. After training if I move on to technical training in Flordia almost immediately depending on the class date it would be a pain to have my stuff shipped though.
I guess there's plenty of time to ponder such issues. :) I'm just happy that my package is shaping up in a hurry, I should be able to give him my Personal Statement, Resume/Applicant Profile, and Letters of Rec by the end of this week maybe, or possibly next. Then I hear there's many many many more forms to fill out, but that's all easy stuff. Last step is an interview with an actual high level officer, which I hear is pretty pivotal. If you gain their vote and they write you a good recommendation, you're pretty much set. Thanks to all my interview training through AcaDec, I should do fine. So, the nice thing although I'll have to get transcripts from school, I go back like the 20th and will be able to get those as well as make an appointment with a counselor to discuss my schedule this year, and make sure I've got everything set for graduation, and thus get the form that shows my expected graduation date and how I'm going to achieve it with what classes, etc etc. I'll probably have to make one more trip down to the Santa Monica office after I've gone up to school, but I think we generally have a week before classes start anyway, so I'll just pop down and finish any last forms or paperwork, and be done maybe evern EARLY (go figure) before the October 2 deadline.
Only bummer then is I'll be done, but I'll have to wait almost a full quarter at school before I find out the results, assuming there are no delays. Alas, the infamous "hurry up and wait" slogan of the military.
Other than that, I went running for the first time in two weeks (shin splints knocked me out of it as you recall) with my new shoes. It literally felt like I was running on foam padding, it was great. I even did the stretch where you put your feet behind you and sit down on your heels, stretching that shin muscle and the muscles on top of your foot, which used to be too painful to even attempt a few weeks ago. No pain whatsoever. The bad news is my time for just the 1.5 miles that I started with like 6 weeks ago as a starting point is basically back to square one. I think it's just due to the 2.5 week gap though, I'm sure things will get up to speed much faster than they did the first time, and this time I'll have a solid 7 weeks before school starts to lower my times. The right shoes, no pain, and things should definitely improve at a faster rate than before. Just have to worry about properly stretching that muscle, so we don't have any repeats of the beginning of the summer. In related news, I'm only 1 pound off my all time low as of today, with that low coming having done that marathon hike up Mt. Baldy. So within the next week or so I should be down into the 180s for the first time since maybe high school?
To recap, proud of my Air Force package progress, proud of my promising progress in getting back in shape, proud of my current weight decline, very happy with the way things are going at the moment. :)
I have tomorrow off, anyone up for Magic Mountain? Walking all those hills and tensing up all your muscles on roller coasters is always a good workout. :) Good sushi there too!
Okay okay I skipped a few days. Believe it or not, I was actually getting some WORK done around here! Ended up leaving an hour early Friday too, and they don't need me Monday, but want me Tuesday. It's turning into more of a part time thing, but I still get like 250 a week out of it, so I guess I can't complain, since it's not like there's a multitude of alternatives.
The last couple days I've impressed even myself by deciding to move full ahead with my package for OTS, first by doing the HUGE application Thursday night and Friday morning, answering a berzillion questions that basically all boiled down to "have you ever done anything bad in your life, ever" to which I of course said NO! :) Then yesterday I managed to not only finish up my Personal Statement and Resume, but also get the ball rolling for Letters of Recommendation! Usually getting paperwork done with me is like pulling teeth, ESPECIALLY when I end up having to contact other people, set things up, ask them for favors, etc etc. Go figure though, I typed up the whole format for the Letters of Rec, and copied it into a Word doc along with my Resume and Personal Statement so I could send all the info to my endorsers, then wrote out lengthy personal e-mails to all of them making the requests, then even got a few e-mails back so I could send them off the info! This may not sound all that interesting but it feels really good to be taking care of stuff that was going to be hanging over me. Already two of the four people have answered in the affirmative, with the other two not being able to receive the initial e-mail until most likely Monday. Only need 3-5 Letters, but 4 would be a good number. I have a few other possibilities in mind in case these don't work out.
So we stand about two months away from my Officer Recruiter's deadline of October 2nd, for packages that will be going to the November 2nd Board. This appears to be the ideal one to apply for since I'd then find out the results in December, and if I get rejected it automatically goes to the December Board and I'd find out in January. After that if I don't get in it's basically over, and that will leave me like 6 months and two full quarters of school to secure an alternative option for my future if necessary. I'm not too worried though. My Personal Statement is something I'm really proud of, one of my better pieces of writing that had to be restricted to one page. That's thanks to the help of various friends and family members who all chimed in with their two cents, of course. The recruiter is requesting my physical next week, which I assume then will be within a month or something maybe. That's the only other real possible hangup, as the flight physical for rated applicants (people doing jobs in the air) is quite extensive, and something might be found that I didn't even know about. Most everything is waiverable, you just have be patient enough to sit through that process, and that would delay things a bit. You actually don't need to have passed the physical to send your package to the board, you just have to have an appointment made. So I might get accepted, and yet still get delayed due to the physical or a possible waiver for who knows what. Hopefully with the 6 month leeway I've added in I should be able to make the July 1 class of 2003. That would leave me a couple weeks to enjoy life after graduation before I actually ship out. Still don't know whether I'd drive or fly, or maybe take the train or something. They pay for expenses either way, and it's easier to take all your stuff if you drive, but then again travelling light might be smart for training. After training if I move on to technical training in Flordia almost immediately depending on the class date it would be a pain to have my stuff shipped though.
I guess there's plenty of time to ponder such issues. :) I'm just happy that my package is shaping up in a hurry, I should be able to give him my Personal Statement, Resume/Applicant Profile, and Letters of Rec by the end of this week maybe, or possibly next. Then I hear there's many many many more forms to fill out, but that's all easy stuff. Last step is an interview with an actual high level officer, which I hear is pretty pivotal. If you gain their vote and they write you a good recommendation, you're pretty much set. Thanks to all my interview training through AcaDec, I should do fine. So, the nice thing although I'll have to get transcripts from school, I go back like the 20th and will be able to get those as well as make an appointment with a counselor to discuss my schedule this year, and make sure I've got everything set for graduation, and thus get the form that shows my expected graduation date and how I'm going to achieve it with what classes, etc etc. I'll probably have to make one more trip down to the Santa Monica office after I've gone up to school, but I think we generally have a week before classes start anyway, so I'll just pop down and finish any last forms or paperwork, and be done maybe evern EARLY (go figure) before the October 2 deadline.
Only bummer then is I'll be done, but I'll have to wait almost a full quarter at school before I find out the results, assuming there are no delays. Alas, the infamous "hurry up and wait" slogan of the military.
Other than that, I went running for the first time in two weeks (shin splints knocked me out of it as you recall) with my new shoes. It literally felt like I was running on foam padding, it was great. I even did the stretch where you put your feet behind you and sit down on your heels, stretching that shin muscle and the muscles on top of your foot, which used to be too painful to even attempt a few weeks ago. No pain whatsoever. The bad news is my time for just the 1.5 miles that I started with like 6 weeks ago as a starting point is basically back to square one. I think it's just due to the 2.5 week gap though, I'm sure things will get up to speed much faster than they did the first time, and this time I'll have a solid 7 weeks before school starts to lower my times. The right shoes, no pain, and things should definitely improve at a faster rate than before. Just have to worry about properly stretching that muscle, so we don't have any repeats of the beginning of the summer. In related news, I'm only 1 pound off my all time low as of today, with that low coming having done that marathon hike up Mt. Baldy. So within the next week or so I should be down into the 180s for the first time since maybe high school?
To recap, proud of my Air Force package progress, proud of my promising progress in getting back in shape, proud of my current weight decline, very happy with the way things are going at the moment. :)
I have tomorrow off, anyone up for Magic Mountain? Walking all those hills and tensing up all your muscles on roller coasters is always a good workout. :) Good sushi there too!
Thursday, August 01, 2002
A Beam Of Light In the Dark...
Glad everyone got a good giggle out of yesterday's story. Hilarious really. [scowls] :/ I'm not supposed to be old yet. I don't wanna grow up, I'm a Toyz R Us Kid. Anyway.
Yesterday's flick was Reign of Fire which I went to see basically because I'd seen everything else decent at the theater, and my friend wanted to meet up and watch a movie, so watch we did. I actually expected it to be largely lame other than some pretty cool dragons, and it was somewhat better than expectations. Some very cool dragons, and although the whole concept of dragons ruling the world is somewhat weak, there was some pretty good action whenever they attacked. Had to go check my rating scheme and example movies to decide where this one should fall, and I think I'm gonna have to go with 4 M's. Seems like just about everything I see these days is 4 or 5 M's with the occasional 6, but I guess that's because I try to avoid the really terrible stuff, and certainly don't pay to see anything that I think will fall into the 1-3 M's area. Maybe when I start catching up on all the old stuff I haven't seen we'll see more excitement in the ratings. Only disappointing thing here was not only did I actually pay the full student price of 7 bucks because it was a night show, but I forgot to use my AMC Moviewatcher card when I would have gotten a free movie popcorn and soda for reaching 100 points on it. BUMMER. Guess next time I hit up the movies I'll have to see something good, and bring a date even, can't eat all that popcorn by myself...
Managed to get the people I work for to run out of dirty work for me to do today a little early, so left around 5 instead of 6. Better yet, I pointed out they probably won't have anything for me tomorrow early, and I might as well just skip a day and come on Friday. Yeah, it's less money that way, but I figure I'm wasting my time if I'm not even getting a full eight hour shift and am spending all that money on parking gas and food. Sushi place downstairs sure is good though. Actually I think I'd like just about any place that made sushi, I'm not too picky. It's good stuff. Going to have to get a lot of exercise tomorrow, working commuting and sleeping doesn't leave much time for it when I have to go all the way to LA. :/
Glad everyone got a good giggle out of yesterday's story. Hilarious really. [scowls] :/ I'm not supposed to be old yet. I don't wanna grow up, I'm a Toyz R Us Kid. Anyway.
Yesterday's flick was Reign of Fire which I went to see basically because I'd seen everything else decent at the theater, and my friend wanted to meet up and watch a movie, so watch we did. I actually expected it to be largely lame other than some pretty cool dragons, and it was somewhat better than expectations. Some very cool dragons, and although the whole concept of dragons ruling the world is somewhat weak, there was some pretty good action whenever they attacked. Had to go check my rating scheme and example movies to decide where this one should fall, and I think I'm gonna have to go with 4 M's. Seems like just about everything I see these days is 4 or 5 M's with the occasional 6, but I guess that's because I try to avoid the really terrible stuff, and certainly don't pay to see anything that I think will fall into the 1-3 M's area. Maybe when I start catching up on all the old stuff I haven't seen we'll see more excitement in the ratings. Only disappointing thing here was not only did I actually pay the full student price of 7 bucks because it was a night show, but I forgot to use my AMC Moviewatcher card when I would have gotten a free movie popcorn and soda for reaching 100 points on it. BUMMER. Guess next time I hit up the movies I'll have to see something good, and bring a date even, can't eat all that popcorn by myself...
Managed to get the people I work for to run out of dirty work for me to do today a little early, so left around 5 instead of 6. Better yet, I pointed out they probably won't have anything for me tomorrow early, and I might as well just skip a day and come on Friday. Yeah, it's less money that way, but I figure I'm wasting my time if I'm not even getting a full eight hour shift and am spending all that money on parking gas and food. Sushi place downstairs sure is good though. Actually I think I'd like just about any place that made sushi, I'm not too picky. It's good stuff. Going to have to get a lot of exercise tomorrow, working commuting and sleeping doesn't leave much time for it when I have to go all the way to LA. :/
