Its the end of another crazy week. Too many crazy things have happened to count.
Lets start with the test. I missed one question. That means my 100% goal has been shot. My current GPA is 98.5%. That hurt for only a minute. We went to a graduation that day and there was one prior service student who scored a straight 100%. I guess that hasn't happened in over 5 years. There is only one student in my class who still has 100% and he is a Master Sergeant. There are more important things than being perfect. I have other responsibilities like running activities in the fishbowl, keeping my roomate out of trouble, and staying in shape.... So maybe I can afford to graduate without being the best in my class.
Oh yes, my roomate has created some stress. He came in two weeks ago telling me that he would be no trouble and seemed to be a very clean individual. Since then I have discovered that his deffinition of clean is less than standard and I caught him drinking Alcohol in my room. After offering alcohol to my friend when we caught him, I told him I would not tolerate Alcohol in my room and advised him to get rid of it immediately. We left and told a Student leader everything that happened. Since then he appologized 100 times. He is a nice guy but he could use some growing up.
Last Sunday a young A1C took it upon himself to get very drunk, defficate on the floor in the hallway of his dormitory, and then paint the floor with it. He was pulled infront of the whole squadron on Monday afternoon formation to explain what he had done but was too embarassed to say anything. An MTL only explained that those who are of age to drink should never drink soo much that they can not remember what they did the night before. After I found out what he had done I was pretty disgusted.
Some of the things Airmen do is so wrong. We represent our country. I guess when some airmen are out of uniform they think they can do whatever they want. What makes me more frustrated is the fact that their are soo many A1Cs out there willing to act like morons or not care. Rank means soo much in the military and as an Amn, someone who signed up at the same approximate time as everyone else here, it stings me personally to see my peers act so irresponsibily. Friday night we were placed on lockdown after horrible room inspections, and while on lockdown it was diiscovered that someone in the squadron stole a laptop.
Leadership is starting to drop the hammer and everyone suffers for the acts of a few. Sadly, most of these Arimen do not learn.
I'm sorry I haven't given the link for the shirt shops yet. This week has been busy. I have the designs. I just need to make the jump from paper to the computer. I will keep you posted on my progress.
Have a good week!
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Friday, September 18, 2009
Happy Air Force Day!!!
And so ends the week...
This past week was long. Our instructor was out for the week and we had two different substitutes. One was an Air Force Staff Sergeant and the other was a retired member of the Navy. The Ssgt was a little excentric, enjoys theatre, and doesn't eat cat shaped animal crackers... yeah, weird. The ex-Navy instructor was pretty cookie cutter old guy. He is a little behind the curve on the lifestyles and slang of today's youth and will make jokes that not even the 28 year old Master Sergeant will laugh at.
So it sounds like this is how our education will continue. Our program is being terminated and a new progam has been developed and instructors are being sent to prepare for the new courses that will be taught starting in October. Our specific floor of the building wont see new students until after I am gone in November.
Friday was the Air Force's birthday! Yay! We had mandatory fun from 3pm until 6pm an then we all broke off to do whatever we wanted. The night was long. There was free food and beer everywhere. They tried to make it fun by getting some local bands and having auctions but we really wanted to get out of the heat. My little group ended up wandering for most of the night. The bowling alley was full so we walked about 3 miles... wandering before I pulled the plug and we all went to bed.
GI Joe was surely entertaining. I went in with low expectations and was pleasently dissapointed. It was an action movie made in a time of cheaper CGI. I bet we see more and more movies like this as the technology to produce it becomes more common and less expensive. I wont go too much into the story line and just share what I have learned:
This past week was long. Our instructor was out for the week and we had two different substitutes. One was an Air Force Staff Sergeant and the other was a retired member of the Navy. The Ssgt was a little excentric, enjoys theatre, and doesn't eat cat shaped animal crackers... yeah, weird. The ex-Navy instructor was pretty cookie cutter old guy. He is a little behind the curve on the lifestyles and slang of today's youth and will make jokes that not even the 28 year old Master Sergeant will laugh at.
So it sounds like this is how our education will continue. Our program is being terminated and a new progam has been developed and instructors are being sent to prepare for the new courses that will be taught starting in October. Our specific floor of the building wont see new students until after I am gone in November.
Friday was the Air Force's birthday! Yay! We had mandatory fun from 3pm until 6pm an then we all broke off to do whatever we wanted. The night was long. There was free food and beer everywhere. They tried to make it fun by getting some local bands and having auctions but we really wanted to get out of the heat. My little group ended up wandering for most of the night. The bowling alley was full so we walked about 3 miles... wandering before I pulled the plug and we all went to bed.
GI Joe was surely entertaining. I went in with low expectations and was pleasently dissapointed. It was an action movie made in a time of cheaper CGI. I bet we see more and more movies like this as the technology to produce it becomes more common and less expensive. I wont go too much into the story line and just share what I have learned:
- It is possible to be the main character, know all the key bad guys on a personal level, be the best of the best... of the best, run around like the incredible hulk in an exo suite, almost save Paris, and still have no one care about you. Sorry Duke but I was more interested in your buddy flying at Mach 6 than you being captured by your ex-girlfriend.
- A Vow of silence doesn't end after you have avenged your master's death.
- Ice sinks.... Damn you Cobra! You think of everything.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Week 3 Update
Big week this week. Not a particularly difficult week but some stuff happened.
So my Training here is broken into 5 Blocks and we just completed the 1st block on Thursday. I scored 100% on the test and am now one step closer to distinguished grad and top grad. My next test is scheduled for the 25th and I am pretty confident I can repeat my previous success if I keep focusing on my studies. This block focuses on the components of a computer, how it works, and some basic instruction on some ways to protect and handle computer equipment, along with learning binary. I know most of this stuff so it shouldn't be to hard. Lots of review.
I was complemented on my marching yesterday. One of my old element leaders told me it is crazy see how still my head is when I march. Another airman started laughing and said, "Isn't that what he is supposed to do?" That made me feel good. I have thought that it would be fun to join the drill team but I just don't have the time. Its good to know that I can march with the discipline my MTI tried to instill during BMT.
I had my White Rope interview today. It went well. There were a few rough spots where I changed the wording of some of my memory work but it wasn't bad. My interviewer knew I wanted to be there for the right reasons and hopefully he is glad to have me in the program. I have 1 more interview and a written test to take before I put on my rope. I bought the rope on Saturday and will probably put it on during our rope meeting on Wednesday.
Megan has been doing a good job of keeping track of the days for me. I guess there are 66 until I graduate. It feels like time is actually going much faster. Bring on the Fall!!!
Shirt Shop Online!!! I've been gone for a while and multiple factors have pushed me to team up with an online distributor that I trust to make custom apparel and sell it via a provided, and customizable, online shop. I have a lot of ideas and more designing, less setup and making the product, is what I am looking for. So this should be fun. All the money we make on these shirts will go back into the business until Meg and I can reach a truly independent state. I hope you enjoy the designs. As sales increase the selection of designs will increase. If you have an Idea, email me. I can probably make something up and post it. If it sells it will stay in the shop.
So look forward to an update on the shop and a link to it from my blog. I will also fill you in with the details on what it is like to be a white rope and how my final interviews went.
Have a good sabbath
So my Training here is broken into 5 Blocks and we just completed the 1st block on Thursday. I scored 100% on the test and am now one step closer to distinguished grad and top grad. My next test is scheduled for the 25th and I am pretty confident I can repeat my previous success if I keep focusing on my studies. This block focuses on the components of a computer, how it works, and some basic instruction on some ways to protect and handle computer equipment, along with learning binary. I know most of this stuff so it shouldn't be to hard. Lots of review.
I was complemented on my marching yesterday. One of my old element leaders told me it is crazy see how still my head is when I march. Another airman started laughing and said, "Isn't that what he is supposed to do?" That made me feel good. I have thought that it would be fun to join the drill team but I just don't have the time. Its good to know that I can march with the discipline my MTI tried to instill during BMT.
I had my White Rope interview today. It went well. There were a few rough spots where I changed the wording of some of my memory work but it wasn't bad. My interviewer knew I wanted to be there for the right reasons and hopefully he is glad to have me in the program. I have 1 more interview and a written test to take before I put on my rope. I bought the rope on Saturday and will probably put it on during our rope meeting on Wednesday.
Megan has been doing a good job of keeping track of the days for me. I guess there are 66 until I graduate. It feels like time is actually going much faster. Bring on the Fall!!!
Shirt Shop Online!!! I've been gone for a while and multiple factors have pushed me to team up with an online distributor that I trust to make custom apparel and sell it via a provided, and customizable, online shop. I have a lot of ideas and more designing, less setup and making the product, is what I am looking for. So this should be fun. All the money we make on these shirts will go back into the business until Meg and I can reach a truly independent state. I hope you enjoy the designs. As sales increase the selection of designs will increase. If you have an Idea, email me. I can probably make something up and post it. If it sells it will stay in the shop.
So look forward to an update on the shop and a link to it from my blog. I will also fill you in with the details on what it is like to be a white rope and how my final interviews went.
Have a good sabbath
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Here we are at the end of Week 2. We are on lock down. Church starts at 1400 and it is currently 1310. The severe weather ( a lot of rain and some lightning is keeping us from going outside too much.
I will make the most of it and give you a good post. Let's see... we started school. So we get up at 4 am on Monday, we are all formed up at 5 to go to school and when we finally get there we are told that school didn't start until Tuesday so we marched back to the Dormitory and changed out of our blues (we wear blues every Monday in the Air Force unless our job that day required us to wear ABUs) to go to AFI (Awaiting Further Instruction.) So while an Airman is on AFi they are waiting to be tasked with something menial to do. They made us walk around the building for 45 minutes picking up trash and then we spent 2 hours cleaning hallways and dayrooms. So imagine 40 young men in the 20s picking up trash and cleaning halls that are cleaned everyday anyway... Yeah... um we are all getting paid regardless of what we are doing so I guess I should be grateful they didn't try to find us anything harder to do. Well after lunch they sent 4 of us halfway across vase to help people move furniture for an hour. It took us longer to walk there and back than to do the work they wanted us to do. Needless to say Monday was long and we were glad when we were finally released for the day.
Ok, our first day of school... it was good. A lot less oppressive than I thought it would be. The teacher is a civilian and she has a really upbeat attitude. We spent the first day getting to know each other and going over class rules. On Wednesday when we actually started to work I was surprised to find myself a whole day ahead of everyone else in my class. I didn't even feel like I worked very hard. The whole course is split into 5 blocks or divisions and I have decided that block 1 is really easy. Our block test in on the 10th and I should have all my chapters and bookwork done by tomorrow. I haven't had too much time on this 4 day weekend to study. I have been busy working with the student leaders over in the "fishbowl" everyday.
The Fishbowl Student Ministry Center and the white rope program are pretty cool. Especially for those who are still in their first phase here on base. I started working in the White Rope program on Thursday and have been working one 3+ hours shift every day since. The mission of the Fishbowl is to provide a place for students to gather in a safe environment and relax from the stresses of school. The whole program is built on four pillars; Spiritual Formation, Authentic Community, Leadership Development and service opportunities. To serve, that is what we do as white ropes. There are many things the Airmen can do from playing X-box on the big screen to playing any musical instruments we have to offer. This week we have watched more movies than I care to see but watching people play the instruments is fun. The program here at Keesler AFB is run by the Chaplains and is the first and oldest organization of its kind in the Air Force.
Another Airman and I are running everyday to try and keep in shape. It has now been 3 1/2 weeks since we have been on a serious workout program and when we get hit with PT testing a few of us actually want to pass. So hopefully and weight I gain will be muscle. Then I can play some more sporty stuff with the sporty people like Jason and Tyler.
That's about it for now. I will be sure to update everyone on my current business venture in my next post.
Have a good week
I will make the most of it and give you a good post. Let's see... we started school. So we get up at 4 am on Monday, we are all formed up at 5 to go to school and when we finally get there we are told that school didn't start until Tuesday so we marched back to the Dormitory and changed out of our blues (we wear blues every Monday in the Air Force unless our job that day required us to wear ABUs) to go to AFI (Awaiting Further Instruction.) So while an Airman is on AFi they are waiting to be tasked with something menial to do. They made us walk around the building for 45 minutes picking up trash and then we spent 2 hours cleaning hallways and dayrooms. So imagine 40 young men in the 20s picking up trash and cleaning halls that are cleaned everyday anyway... Yeah... um we are all getting paid regardless of what we are doing so I guess I should be grateful they didn't try to find us anything harder to do. Well after lunch they sent 4 of us halfway across vase to help people move furniture for an hour. It took us longer to walk there and back than to do the work they wanted us to do. Needless to say Monday was long and we were glad when we were finally released for the day.
Ok, our first day of school... it was good. A lot less oppressive than I thought it would be. The teacher is a civilian and she has a really upbeat attitude. We spent the first day getting to know each other and going over class rules. On Wednesday when we actually started to work I was surprised to find myself a whole day ahead of everyone else in my class. I didn't even feel like I worked very hard. The whole course is split into 5 blocks or divisions and I have decided that block 1 is really easy. Our block test in on the 10th and I should have all my chapters and bookwork done by tomorrow. I haven't had too much time on this 4 day weekend to study. I have been busy working with the student leaders over in the "fishbowl" everyday.
The Fishbowl Student Ministry Center and the white rope program are pretty cool. Especially for those who are still in their first phase here on base. I started working in the White Rope program on Thursday and have been working one 3+ hours shift every day since. The mission of the Fishbowl is to provide a place for students to gather in a safe environment and relax from the stresses of school. The whole program is built on four pillars; Spiritual Formation, Authentic Community, Leadership Development and service opportunities. To serve, that is what we do as white ropes. There are many things the Airmen can do from playing X-box on the big screen to playing any musical instruments we have to offer. This week we have watched more movies than I care to see but watching people play the instruments is fun. The program here at Keesler AFB is run by the Chaplains and is the first and oldest organization of its kind in the Air Force.
Another Airman and I are running everyday to try and keep in shape. It has now been 3 1/2 weeks since we have been on a serious workout program and when we get hit with PT testing a few of us actually want to pass. So hopefully and weight I gain will be muscle. Then I can play some more sporty stuff with the sporty people like Jason and Tyler.
That's about it for now. I will be sure to update everyone on my current business venture in my next post.
Have a good week
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