Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
Diesel Electric Locomotives
Ok, so the other day I learned that modern diesel locomotives do not use their massive 16 cylinder engines to directly move the wheels. The diesel engine generates electricity which is then supplied to several big electric motors by every wheel (axle really).
Nathan, I apologize for my ignorance as I'm sure you new this all by the age of five.
Anyway, I thought that was really interesting. One of those trains can carry 1 ton of freight ~250 miles on 1 gallon of gas. A big semitruck can only carry the same ton of freight ~50 miles. Don't worry Nathan, that is not something I just learned.
Nathan, I apologize for my ignorance as I'm sure you new this all by the age of five.
Anyway, I thought that was really interesting. One of those trains can carry 1 ton of freight ~250 miles on 1 gallon of gas. A big semitruck can only carry the same ton of freight ~50 miles. Don't worry Nathan, that is not something I just learned.
Friday, December 05, 2008
"Eldest"
As many of you know, Eldest is the second book by Christopher Paolini, the first being Eragon. As I was reading it today I came across quite the "quotable quote":
Live in the present, remember the past, and fear not the future, for it doesn't exist and never shall. There is only now.
I obvioulsy liked it since I wrote it down and have now posted it on my blog. I thought that was bold to say that the future "doesn't exist and never shall" but as I thought about it I realized that in a certain light, it's true. The only thing that is real and that we have power to manipulate and control is NOW. Our future does exist, it is made up of all our "now's" one minute, hour, and day at a time. Just as the sculptor sees in his mind the end product, it is not created all at once, but one careful blow of the hammer to the chisel after another. So, by focusing on our "now's" and making the best of them, we ultimately create and even control this "non-existent future" to which Paolini's character refers.
Live in the present, remember the past, and fear not the future, for it doesn't exist and never shall. There is only now.
I obvioulsy liked it since I wrote it down and have now posted it on my blog. I thought that was bold to say that the future "doesn't exist and never shall" but as I thought about it I realized that in a certain light, it's true. The only thing that is real and that we have power to manipulate and control is NOW. Our future does exist, it is made up of all our "now's" one minute, hour, and day at a time. Just as the sculptor sees in his mind the end product, it is not created all at once, but one careful blow of the hammer to the chisel after another. So, by focusing on our "now's" and making the best of them, we ultimately create and even control this "non-existent future" to which Paolini's character refers.
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Sara's Long Lost Twin
First of all, don't worry Hanna, you're not lost. Today I speak of Sara's twin BROTHER!!
(Please forgive me if I'm the 5000th person to bring this up but I can't ignore the evidence).
Sara and Shawn Cassidy, Separated at birth (and about 30 years)...
(Please forgive me if I'm the 5000th person to bring this up but I can't ignore the evidence).
Sara and Shawn Cassidy, Separated at birth (and about 30 years)...
Monday, December 01, 2008
Spanish #1
De hoy en adelante voy a intentar escribir unas cúantas palabras en español para mi propia practica. ¿Por qué en tu Blog? se preguntarán. Bueno, para todos que sepan el español, me gustaría que leyeran y corrigieran cualquier error que haya cometido.
Hoy fue mi primer día de trabajar en la clínica del hospital. Me dieron un paciente cada hora. Esto me salió bien porque aún estoy tratando de acostumbrarme a la systema de computadora. Por cada paciente tengo que grabar todo de la visita en un papel primero y luego en un programa que se llama AHLTA. Es menos eficaz estar grabando la información en dos lugares, pero así lo tendremos que hacer por ahora.
Por lo general, me gusta trabajar en el hospital, pero entre tu y yo, me gusta mas trabajar en el Grant Hall donde trabajaba todo el mes pasado. Alla me gusta la gente y, mas que todo, el horario porque puedo pasar mas tiempo con mi familia.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
An Innocent Wisecrack
While listening to some Christmas music in the van yesterday Clark asks, "What's this song about?"
"It's a Christmas song" I reply.
In the most innocent way he asks "What's this Christmas song about?"
"It's a Christmas song" I reply.
In the most innocent way he asks "What's this Christmas song about?"
Sunday, November 09, 2008
Clark joins the BSA
Yesterday Clark went with me to a Boy Scout service project. We all went to a sister's house in the ward that needed help with her yard. There were a lot of leaves, sticks, and garbage in the yard. All the young men got to work and did a good job without ever being told what to do or to stay busy. I was very impressed!
I was equally impressed with how much Clark helped out. He worked for almost 2 hours strait before taking a break! He carried sticks and wood to the pile we had going and he ran and fetched things when people needed them.
After we finished we all went to Pizza Hut for lunch. It was really yummy!
Church went well today. The kids were really pretty good during sacrament meeting - except for Shanna's coat issue. It was a little cold out this morning so Ruth put the girls new coats on. The girls (as is to be expected) are quite excited about any new clothing--especially Shanna. Shanna was so excited about her coat that she didn't want to take it off in the meeting. So of course when we tried to she flipped out.
Ruth taught her first Gospel Principles class today. She said it went well. I already knew it would.
Here is a picture that has nothing to do with anything in this post:
I was equally impressed with how much Clark helped out. He worked for almost 2 hours strait before taking a break! He carried sticks and wood to the pile we had going and he ran and fetched things when people needed them.
After we finished we all went to Pizza Hut for lunch. It was really yummy!
Church went well today. The kids were really pretty good during sacrament meeting - except for Shanna's coat issue. It was a little cold out this morning so Ruth put the girls new coats on. The girls (as is to be expected) are quite excited about any new clothing--especially Shanna. Shanna was so excited about her coat that she didn't want to take it off in the meeting. So of course when we tried to she flipped out.
Ruth taught her first Gospel Principles class today. She said it went well. I already knew it would.
Here is a picture that has nothing to do with anything in this post:
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
A day with the Privates
For the first several weeks here I'll be working at the "reception center". It's a big building that all the brand knew recuites go through. They arrive in their PT clothes (classic gray army shirt and black shorts). They're given a number and they start the whole "welcome to boot camp" proceedure. Most of them flew in the night before and have not slept, nor will sleep until the following night.
As they work their way through the recption center they get lots of briefings, shots, hair cuts, dental exams, eye exams, and of course they get their uniforms - after which they get their picture taken. There's probably even more that goes on that I'm not aware of. Oh, and of course they do get yelled at - a lot.
They all seem very scared of their drill sargeants. Their drill sargeants seem scared of the officers (although they aren't sacred of offiers, it just looks that way becuase they respect us). So...when the young Privates see their drill sargeants stand up a little straigher when I walk by, multiply that by 10 and that's how the Privates react.
Anyway, enough about that. It is fun though being the one nice person they get to talk to. I can tell they really appricieat it.
So, for all those eye doctors that may read this (and their actually may be 2 or 3) I'll describe a little bit of what we do in the recpetion center.
From 6:00-8:00am we have sick call. Anybody that is already in training here or even permenently stationed here can come in without an appointment and have us look at them. Most of them just need glasses for whatever reason. We do get a few red eyes (usually contact lens related, which they're not allowed to wear during training), and your usual randome crazy stuff, but like I said, mostly they just need glasses.
From 8:00-11:30 we see the new recruits. They are bought in in groups of 15 or so and a group history is done. Something like, "Does anybody here have a history of eye surgery or eye injury?" etc... All of them are screened by one of our techs. If they can see 20/20 with each unaided, they're done. If they can't, or already know they need/use glasses (or contacts) they move on to see either myself or the other eye doctor. They are only there for a refraction. We use one of those automated phoroptors and as long as they don't have any complaints (which they never do) they spend about 1-2 mintues with us. If they've been wearing contacts we'll take a look at them with the slit lamp as many of them will have some pretty serious CL related corneal issues. And of course we'll take a more indepth look if we can't get them to 20/20 and there's no indication of refractive or strabismic amplyopia.
Lunch is from 11:30 to 12:30. I ride my bike home and eat there.
From 12:30 to 2:00 we have another walk-in clinic time. Most of these patients need to be "updated in Medpros". That just means they've been told that it's been a year since their last eye exam and so they need to stop by and see us. Most of these patients are not dilated unless they have a compaint or condition that warents it. Like the morning patients, most are just refractions.
From 2:00 to 3:00 there are no more patiens. This time is used to go through and electronically sign all the records that the techs put into the computer for the day. It's nice because for each paitent I hardly have to record anything. The biggest thing I would have to record is the glasses prescription and the automated phoroptor I use just prints it out for me. So all I have to right down (on the average patient) is their vision through the manifest, their refractive state, and if I want them to wear them full time or not.
It would be really monotonous over time but for now I really enjoy it. After Thanksgiving I'll be over at the clinic in the hospital. The patients (and eye exams) there are more like your classic full eye exam. At the hospital the hours are 7:30-4:30 with patients scheduled every 40 mintues for full exams and 20 minutes for short exams. At the recpetion center we see between 60 and 400 patients a day.
Here is a picture of an automated phorotpor like the one we use:
As they work their way through the recption center they get lots of briefings, shots, hair cuts, dental exams, eye exams, and of course they get their uniforms - after which they get their picture taken. There's probably even more that goes on that I'm not aware of. Oh, and of course they do get yelled at - a lot.
They all seem very scared of their drill sargeants. Their drill sargeants seem scared of the officers (although they aren't sacred of offiers, it just looks that way becuase they respect us). So...when the young Privates see their drill sargeants stand up a little straigher when I walk by, multiply that by 10 and that's how the Privates react.
Anyway, enough about that. It is fun though being the one nice person they get to talk to. I can tell they really appricieat it.
So, for all those eye doctors that may read this (and their actually may be 2 or 3) I'll describe a little bit of what we do in the recpetion center.
From 6:00-8:00am we have sick call. Anybody that is already in training here or even permenently stationed here can come in without an appointment and have us look at them. Most of them just need glasses for whatever reason. We do get a few red eyes (usually contact lens related, which they're not allowed to wear during training), and your usual randome crazy stuff, but like I said, mostly they just need glasses.
From 8:00-11:30 we see the new recruits. They are bought in in groups of 15 or so and a group history is done. Something like, "Does anybody here have a history of eye surgery or eye injury?" etc... All of them are screened by one of our techs. If they can see 20/20 with each unaided, they're done. If they can't, or already know they need/use glasses (or contacts) they move on to see either myself or the other eye doctor. They are only there for a refraction. We use one of those automated phoroptors and as long as they don't have any complaints (which they never do) they spend about 1-2 mintues with us. If they've been wearing contacts we'll take a look at them with the slit lamp as many of them will have some pretty serious CL related corneal issues. And of course we'll take a more indepth look if we can't get them to 20/20 and there's no indication of refractive or strabismic amplyopia.
Lunch is from 11:30 to 12:30. I ride my bike home and eat there.
From 12:30 to 2:00 we have another walk-in clinic time. Most of these patients need to be "updated in Medpros". That just means they've been told that it's been a year since their last eye exam and so they need to stop by and see us. Most of these patients are not dilated unless they have a compaint or condition that warents it. Like the morning patients, most are just refractions.
From 2:00 to 3:00 there are no more patiens. This time is used to go through and electronically sign all the records that the techs put into the computer for the day. It's nice because for each paitent I hardly have to record anything. The biggest thing I would have to record is the glasses prescription and the automated phoroptor I use just prints it out for me. So all I have to right down (on the average patient) is their vision through the manifest, their refractive state, and if I want them to wear them full time or not.
It would be really monotonous over time but for now I really enjoy it. After Thanksgiving I'll be over at the clinic in the hospital. The patients (and eye exams) there are more like your classic full eye exam. At the hospital the hours are 7:30-4:30 with patients scheduled every 40 mintues for full exams and 20 minutes for short exams. At the recpetion center we see between 60 and 400 patients a day.
Here is a picture of an automated phorotpor like the one we use:
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Lego's!!
Last week my Mom sent me all my Lego's. I was really excited to get them. I spent several hours on Columbus Day trying to put together some of the sets. I'm glad we saved all the instructions. It takes a long time to build them because I want to use only the exact piece the instructions ask for. Several times I was sure that I'd never find a particular piece only to find it later while looking for another.
I'm going to give one of them to Clark for Christmas. Probably the space ship.
I have a white passenger plane I wanted to make but I can't find the wings. They're pretty big so I'm sure I haven't just overlooked them. Oh well. I guess I'll just make a white passenger missile instead.
Here's the three sets I've made so far:
I'm going to give one of them to Clark for Christmas. Probably the space ship.
I have a white passenger plane I wanted to make but I can't find the wings. They're pretty big so I'm sure I haven't just overlooked them. Oh well. I guess I'll just make a white passenger missile instead.
Here's the three sets I've made so far:
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Friday, October 17, 2008
A day with Clark
Today I went with Clark's class on a field trip to the pumpkin patch. I saw patients from 6:00am-8:00am and Ginger (the other doctor) was nice enough to cover for me so that I could go.
A bunch of other parents and I all followed the kids' bus. It was about 40 minutes away. When we got there I was given 3 other kids to watch besides Clark. They were all really good kids and were easy to watch.
Fist we went through a corn maze:
Then we played while we waited for the next tractor to take us all to the actual pumpkin patch:
The kids loved jumping off this bail of hay!
Can you guess what Clark said after he got a good whiff of the pigs?
While we waited we took a few pictures.
Here is Clark and his class:
Contrary to what Clark's face is telling you, he did have a really good time!
Then the tractor came:
I didn't actually get any pictures of the pumpkin patch itself, but I promise we really did go there.
Here is a picture of Clark and his good friend from down the street with their pumpkins:
More play time:
Lunch time...
...and more play time:
Clark had a good time and I'm glad that he's making some good friends and enjoying school more and more.
Tonight after dinner, Clark, Cal, and I went to the free movie theater here on post. We saw Wall-e. It was pretty good. Clark really liked it (plus one of his friends from school sat next to him) but I think it was too long for Cal.
A bunch of other parents and I all followed the kids' bus. It was about 40 minutes away. When we got there I was given 3 other kids to watch besides Clark. They were all really good kids and were easy to watch.
Fist we went through a corn maze:
Then we played while we waited for the next tractor to take us all to the actual pumpkin patch:
The kids loved jumping off this bail of hay!
Can you guess what Clark said after he got a good whiff of the pigs?
While we waited we took a few pictures.
Here is Clark and his class:
Contrary to what Clark's face is telling you, he did have a really good time!
Then the tractor came:
I didn't actually get any pictures of the pumpkin patch itself, but I promise we really did go there.
Here is a picture of Clark and his good friend from down the street with their pumpkins:
More play time:
Lunch time...
...and more play time:
Clark had a good time and I'm glad that he's making some good friends and enjoying school more and more.
Tonight after dinner, Clark, Cal, and I went to the free movie theater here on post. We saw Wall-e. It was pretty good. Clark really liked it (plus one of his friends from school sat next to him) but I think it was too long for Cal.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
The Processor Poll Plumate
First of all, thanks for voting!
Second, thanks for nothing! I was hoping to get some good information from my last poll: Which processor is better, AMD, or Intel?
Almost everybody voted: "I don't know" except for two: one said "AMD" and the other "Intel".
It would have been much nicer if a bunch of people had voted "it doesn't matter" or in favor of one of the processors. So, I'm going to assume that it probably doesn't matter for the computer tasks I need.
Maybe I can come up with a more helpful poll for all of us....
Second, thanks for nothing! I was hoping to get some good information from my last poll: Which processor is better, AMD, or Intel?
Almost everybody voted: "I don't know" except for two: one said "AMD" and the other "Intel".
It would have been much nicer if a bunch of people had voted "it doesn't matter" or in favor of one of the processors. So, I'm going to assume that it probably doesn't matter for the computer tasks I need.
Maybe I can come up with a more helpful poll for all of us....
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
A visit to the dentist...or was it?
So this morning I had to go the dentist. That's right had to go. I don't mind poking and prodding eyes, but I'm no fan of tooth torture.
My last visit to the dentist...which was 5 years ago...was not very pleasant; however, I didn't have any cavities. So, today I expected the worst.
In the Army (or at least at this clinic) they just do x-rays and have the dentist look at you and do any work that needs done. Actually having your teeth cleaned is a different appointment. So, after my x-rays were done (and an hour wait) they sat me in a room to wait for the doctor. You would agree why I was momentarily confused when a member of our Memphis Stake presidency came and sat next to me.
Umm...am I being called to the Elder's quorum presidency again??
Nope, Presi...I mean, Doctor Shirley was my dentist today and we had a good visit. Well, as much as a visit as possible when one is looking in your mouth.
It's funny because I didn't even know he was a dentist or that he'd moved, so it was weird to see him. Anyway, the best news of all...I have "beautiful teeth" albeit they're not that strait and "no cavities"!!!! That's strait from the doctor's mouth.
Thanks Mom for all those fluoride chewable vitamins when I was little!
My last visit to the dentist...which was 5 years ago...was not very pleasant; however, I didn't have any cavities. So, today I expected the worst.
In the Army (or at least at this clinic) they just do x-rays and have the dentist look at you and do any work that needs done. Actually having your teeth cleaned is a different appointment. So, after my x-rays were done (and an hour wait) they sat me in a room to wait for the doctor. You would agree why I was momentarily confused when a member of our Memphis Stake presidency came and sat next to me.
Umm...am I being called to the Elder's quorum presidency again??
Nope, Presi...I mean, Doctor Shirley was my dentist today and we had a good visit. Well, as much as a visit as possible when one is looking in your mouth.
It's funny because I didn't even know he was a dentist or that he'd moved, so it was weird to see him. Anyway, the best news of all...I have "beautiful teeth" albeit they're not that strait and "no cavities"!!!! That's strait from the doctor's mouth.
Thanks Mom for all those fluoride chewable vitamins when I was little!
Yum!
Last weekend Ruth made some coffee cake (spice cake). It was sooooo yummy!
Here's a picture of it not long after she made it:
Here's a picture of it not long after she made it:
Sunday, October 05, 2008
PCS (Army for "Travel Saga")
Saturday:
Got up at 3:30 and took a taxi to the airport.
Flew from San Antonio to Chicago and then on to Raleigh.
Ruth and her dad picked me up at the airport while the kids, mom, and Sheldon stayed with the moving truck at a nearby gas station.
From there we said our good-bye's and I said my hello's with a much needed kiss from Ruth. I took the boys in the truck with me and Ruth had the girls in the van. We had to weigh the truck and van both empty and full since the Army bases their moving pay on the weight moved. Ruth had weighed the truck empty before I got home. We stopped pretty soon to weigh the truck full but the van still had a full tank of gas so we wanted to get rid of some of it before we weighed it.
We stopped in Winston-Salem and visited with our friends from Johnson City - they had moved the same time as us to do a residency. We had a good visit and our kids had a good time.
The weigh station was just past Asheville where we would be heading north to Johnson City. That meant we'd have to backtrack a little but at that point it seemed like the best option. By the time we got there I was just about out of gas. As I pulled into the gas station all the pumps were blocked off. It turns out that the whole town (3-4 gas stations) were completely out of gas. The truck was so low on gas that I didn't dare drive it the 10 miles back to Asheville so after taking everything out of the van so that we could weigh it empty we all piled back in and left the moving truck there. The first gas station we got to was only 5-6 miles away and they had both gas and diesel!! Yeah!! We bought a small fuel container and filled it up with diesel to take back to the truck.
In the end it all worked out and we arrived at Johnson City, albeit a little later than we'd hoped. I think we went to bed around 1:30 that night.
Sunday:
We went to church with our old ward in Johnson City. It was fun to see our old friends. The kids did well in primary and we were on the road by 1:00ish. We drove to Paducah KY where we stayed the night.
Monday:
We slept in a little and took our time getting ready. We were on the road by 10:30 or so. It was fun to see the Arch of St. Louis as we drove through. We arrived at Ft. Leonard Wood around 5:00 that afternoon. We checked into our hotel and then went on base to see if I could "sign in" so that we could stop the old "travel clock".
I guess we got there too late to officially sign in but I found out where I had to be the next morning for an inprocessing brief. So we drove around Ft. L.W. and got a better look at the place.
We stayed in a suite that night since we weren't sure how long we'd be without a place to live. It was pretty nice. It had a little kitchen and Ruth and I had our own bedroom and TV.
I'm glad our traveling is over for the time being.
Got up at 3:30 and took a taxi to the airport.
Flew from San Antonio to Chicago and then on to Raleigh.
Ruth and her dad picked me up at the airport while the kids, mom, and Sheldon stayed with the moving truck at a nearby gas station.
From there we said our good-bye's and I said my hello's with a much needed kiss from Ruth. I took the boys in the truck with me and Ruth had the girls in the van. We had to weigh the truck and van both empty and full since the Army bases their moving pay on the weight moved. Ruth had weighed the truck empty before I got home. We stopped pretty soon to weigh the truck full but the van still had a full tank of gas so we wanted to get rid of some of it before we weighed it.
We stopped in Winston-Salem and visited with our friends from Johnson City - they had moved the same time as us to do a residency. We had a good visit and our kids had a good time.
The weigh station was just past Asheville where we would be heading north to Johnson City. That meant we'd have to backtrack a little but at that point it seemed like the best option. By the time we got there I was just about out of gas. As I pulled into the gas station all the pumps were blocked off. It turns out that the whole town (3-4 gas stations) were completely out of gas. The truck was so low on gas that I didn't dare drive it the 10 miles back to Asheville so after taking everything out of the van so that we could weigh it empty we all piled back in and left the moving truck there. The first gas station we got to was only 5-6 miles away and they had both gas and diesel!! Yeah!! We bought a small fuel container and filled it up with diesel to take back to the truck.
In the end it all worked out and we arrived at Johnson City, albeit a little later than we'd hoped. I think we went to bed around 1:30 that night.
Sunday:
We went to church with our old ward in Johnson City. It was fun to see our old friends. The kids did well in primary and we were on the road by 1:00ish. We drove to Paducah KY where we stayed the night.
Monday:
We slept in a little and took our time getting ready. We were on the road by 10:30 or so. It was fun to see the Arch of St. Louis as we drove through. We arrived at Ft. Leonard Wood around 5:00 that afternoon. We checked into our hotel and then went on base to see if I could "sign in" so that we could stop the old "travel clock".
I guess we got there too late to officially sign in but I found out where I had to be the next morning for an inprocessing brief. So we drove around Ft. L.W. and got a better look at the place.
We stayed in a suite that night since we weren't sure how long we'd be without a place to live. It was pretty nice. It had a little kitchen and Ruth and I had our own bedroom and TV.
I'm glad our traveling is over for the time being.
The last week of OBLC
The last week of OBLC was an optometry-specific set of classes. There were about 10 of us there. We talked about...(drum role please)...Optometry in the Army!! It was pretty good info as there are a lot of different forms and reasons for people coming to the eye doctor.
We also looked at and put together all the equipment that an optometry team would take with them to Iraq. It was actually a lot nicer than I thought it would be. Most of it was exactly what we use in a normal clinic except it's made to all fold up and fit into half a dozen green crates.
Tuesday night we all went out to eat to a weird place. Wednesday for lunch we all went to the WD Deli. It was really yummy. Thursday night we all went to LTC Allen's house for a BBQ. They had a really nice house for entertaining and have recently left the world of DINKs as their first child was born this summer. Her husband, also an LTC, in a radiologist and just got home from Iraq last month. COL Glenesk was also there. He's the optometry consultant for the Army (kind of like the chief optometrst for the Army).
Friday we out-processed and that night Jess, Darin, and I went out to Chachos for dinner. I had a quesadilla. It was super yummy. I also packed that night and got ready TO GO HOME!!!!!!!!!
I have to say that I'm thankful for my roommate Marco. He was a great roommate! We didn't do a whole lot together but he made the whole experience a lot more tolerable.
Here a picture of our optometry group in uniform
Here's me chatting with the COL
Here's a picture of Ina, Jess , Darin, and Jad
We also looked at and put together all the equipment that an optometry team would take with them to Iraq. It was actually a lot nicer than I thought it would be. Most of it was exactly what we use in a normal clinic except it's made to all fold up and fit into half a dozen green crates.
Tuesday night we all went out to eat to a weird place. Wednesday for lunch we all went to the WD Deli. It was really yummy. Thursday night we all went to LTC Allen's house for a BBQ. They had a really nice house for entertaining and have recently left the world of DINKs as their first child was born this summer. Her husband, also an LTC, in a radiologist and just got home from Iraq last month. COL Glenesk was also there. He's the optometry consultant for the Army (kind of like the chief optometrst for the Army).
Friday we out-processed and that night Jess, Darin, and I went out to Chachos for dinner. I had a quesadilla. It was super yummy. I also packed that night and got ready TO GO HOME!!!!!!!!!
I have to say that I'm thankful for my roommate Marco. He was a great roommate! We didn't do a whole lot together but he made the whole experience a lot more tolerable.
Here a picture of our optometry group in uniform
Here's me chatting with the COL
Here's a picture of Ina, Jess , Darin, and Jad
Monday, September 22, 2008
Day 41
Today was the first day of our optometry track. We met at 9:00am and went over different forms we'll be using, coding, and the different tests we do based on the reason for soldier being there. For example, those wishing to go to flight school (which tends to be pretty popular) get just about every test in the book, while those who are established and are just fulfilling the requirements for their yearly physicals get only the bare necessities.
We had three different Army O.D.'s talk to us and one of the more seasoned Papa 3's (which is a technician).
We had two other O.D.'s join us today. They are West Point grads and did their OBLC before optometry school. They both graduated from optometry school this spring like the rest of us.
I checked out the last book to the Percy Jackson series and started reading it today. So far it's pretty good. I hope I can finish it before Friday. I've had a hard time finding a library that actually has it on the shelf.
Ruth is putting the kids to bed. I'm just waiting for her to call and then I'll probably start getting ready for bed myself.
Today was the first day of our optometry track. We met at 9:00am and went over different forms we'll be using, coding, and the different tests we do based on the reason for soldier being there. For example, those wishing to go to flight school (which tends to be pretty popular) get just about every test in the book, while those who are established and are just fulfilling the requirements for their yearly physicals get only the bare necessities.
We had three different Army O.D.'s talk to us and one of the more seasoned Papa 3's (which is a technician).
We had two other O.D.'s join us today. They are West Point grads and did their OBLC before optometry school. They both graduated from optometry school this spring like the rest of us.
I checked out the last book to the Percy Jackson series and started reading it today. So far it's pretty good. I hope I can finish it before Friday. I've had a hard time finding a library that actually has it on the shelf.
Ruth is putting the kids to bed. I'm just waiting for her to call and then I'll probably start getting ready for bed myself.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Our 6th Anniversary!!!
Today is Ruth's and my anniversary! We've been married for 6 wonderful years. I know it's cliche to say, but they've by far been the best six years of my life!
I'm sad that we can't be together today..... and yesterday, and tomorrow, and the day before yesterday and the day after tomorrow, etc, etc, etc...
Just five and a half more days and we'll be back together again, only to get in different vehicles and drive out to Missouri. We'll be stopping in Johnson City TN Saturday night and in Paducah KY Sunday night. Monday we'll sign in at Ft. Leonard Wood MO.
Church went well today. 2LT Sobek was able to make it out which was nice. He's a nurse in my platoon. He and his wife will be moving to Hawaii when he's done with OBLC. Darin and Chris (Stoker) were out of town so Jess and I walked to the library where we have our meetings. Either Darin or Chris usually give us a ride.
After church I ate lunch and went back over to the library to turn in / renew some books I had checked out. I stayed for a while and read my scriptures.
Since I've been home Ruth called and we read scriptures and talked for a little while on the phone. When I get done with this I'm going to watch a couple of conference talks from last April.
I'm sad that we can't be together today..... and yesterday, and tomorrow, and the day before yesterday and the day after tomorrow, etc, etc, etc...
Just five and a half more days and we'll be back together again, only to get in different vehicles and drive out to Missouri. We'll be stopping in Johnson City TN Saturday night and in Paducah KY Sunday night. Monday we'll sign in at Ft. Leonard Wood MO.
Church went well today. 2LT Sobek was able to make it out which was nice. He's a nurse in my platoon. He and his wife will be moving to Hawaii when he's done with OBLC. Darin and Chris (Stoker) were out of town so Jess and I walked to the library where we have our meetings. Either Darin or Chris usually give us a ride.
After church I ate lunch and went back over to the library to turn in / renew some books I had checked out. I stayed for a while and read my scriptures.
Since I've been home Ruth called and we read scriptures and talked for a little while on the phone. When I get done with this I'm going to watch a couple of conference talks from last April.
A Lazy Saturday
This morning I got up and walked (now that my bike is in the mail) to the DFAC to eat breakfast. I had a yummy ham and cheese omelet, with sausage, and a waffle (which wasn't very good). I then walked over to the Px to see if they had any running shoes on sale as mine are as old as my helmet and seem to be bothering my feet. They did have some on "clearance" but they were still too expensive.
I then walked over to the gym to work out. I had a good workout and it wasn't too busy so I was able to use all the equipment I wanted.
I decided after working out to run home. As I went to each of these places this morning I was getting further and further away from my dorm so my run home was quite a lengthy one.
When I got home I ate lunch and watched TV. I didn't really do too much the rest of the day. It was actually pretty nice.
The BYU game wasn't on TV and for some reason my computer wouldn't let me listen to it so I clicked on the "live update" link and read the game play by play. Well, I didn't actually read every single play, but I did try and keep tabs on what was going on. They beat Wyoming 44 - 0. Between last game and this game they now have 103 unanswered points!
I ate dinner a little early so later that night I walked over to Burger King and got a milk shake. There were a couple of good college football games on TV that I kept checking up on.
When Ruth called today she told me that she got a surprise in the mail. It was our wedding book that I had contracted with Ruth Whitemarsh to make for us. I was able to pull the whole thing off without Ruth knowing so she was really surprised and excited to get it yesterday. I had to pat myself on the back because it is really hard for me to surprise her.
I then walked over to the gym to work out. I had a good workout and it wasn't too busy so I was able to use all the equipment I wanted.
I decided after working out to run home. As I went to each of these places this morning I was getting further and further away from my dorm so my run home was quite a lengthy one.
When I got home I ate lunch and watched TV. I didn't really do too much the rest of the day. It was actually pretty nice.
The BYU game wasn't on TV and for some reason my computer wouldn't let me listen to it so I clicked on the "live update" link and read the game play by play. Well, I didn't actually read every single play, but I did try and keep tabs on what was going on. They beat Wyoming 44 - 0. Between last game and this game they now have 103 unanswered points!
I ate dinner a little early so later that night I walked over to Burger King and got a milk shake. There were a couple of good college football games on TV that I kept checking up on.
When Ruth called today she told me that she got a surprise in the mail. It was our wedding book that I had contracted with Ruth Whitemarsh to make for us. I was able to pull the whole thing off without Ruth knowing so she was really surprised and excited to get it yesterday. I had to pat myself on the back because it is really hard for me to surprise her.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Day 40
Today was our graduation!!
This morning we took our test. Nobody in my platoon failed it. After that two of the commanders over our course gave us a little "thanks for coming and go out there and do good" speech.
We then had graduation practice. We went through it several times.
Graduation officially started at 1:00. The main speaker was General Horaho (the main commander over the entire nurse corp). She gave a good speech. By 1:45 it was all over.
After graduation I went to the mail room to get my bike box from them. They were very nice to keep it in their office for me. I found a shady place outside and disassembled my bike and put it in the box. I then carried the box (with the bike in it) about two blocks to the UPS store. They were very helpful and helped me tape it up and get it on it's way. By the way, when I told my roommate this story he said, "why didn't you just role your bike over with an empty box?" Duh! I don't know why I didn't think of that, but that would have been a lot easier.
Also I finally bought a new helmet. I got it on eBay. Ruth said it came in the mail today. My plan was to just through my helmet away instead of packing it all the way out to Missouri; nevertheless, I just couldn't do it. It was my first helmet and have been using it for 14 years straight! That's half my life!! Anyway, I still have it. Maybe when I can actually handle my new helmet in my hands I'll be more empowered to throw my old one away.
When I got home Jess called me and said he wanted to go golfing tomorrow. I said I wanted to go. He called and found out that it would be cheaper if we went today, so we left right away. We rented clubs and a cart, and played 9 holes. It was really fun. We didn't play that well, but we had a good time.
We got done too late to eat at the DFAC so we went to the Burger King that's across the street from our dorms.
Since then I've either been talking to Ruth on the phone or writing this, or watching TV.
Today was our graduation!!
This morning we took our test. Nobody in my platoon failed it. After that two of the commanders over our course gave us a little "thanks for coming and go out there and do good" speech.
We then had graduation practice. We went through it several times.
Graduation officially started at 1:00. The main speaker was General Horaho (the main commander over the entire nurse corp). She gave a good speech. By 1:45 it was all over.
After graduation I went to the mail room to get my bike box from them. They were very nice to keep it in their office for me. I found a shady place outside and disassembled my bike and put it in the box. I then carried the box (with the bike in it) about two blocks to the UPS store. They were very helpful and helped me tape it up and get it on it's way. By the way, when I told my roommate this story he said, "why didn't you just role your bike over with an empty box?" Duh! I don't know why I didn't think of that, but that would have been a lot easier.
Also I finally bought a new helmet. I got it on eBay. Ruth said it came in the mail today. My plan was to just through my helmet away instead of packing it all the way out to Missouri; nevertheless, I just couldn't do it. It was my first helmet and have been using it for 14 years straight! That's half my life!! Anyway, I still have it. Maybe when I can actually handle my new helmet in my hands I'll be more empowered to throw my old one away.
When I got home Jess called me and said he wanted to go golfing tomorrow. I said I wanted to go. He called and found out that it would be cheaper if we went today, so we left right away. We rented clubs and a cart, and played 9 holes. It was really fun. We didn't play that well, but we had a good time.
We got done too late to eat at the DFAC so we went to the Burger King that's across the street from our dorms.
Since then I've either been talking to Ruth on the phone or writing this, or watching TV.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Some of the Armyisms I've Learned in 8 Weeks
High Speed = gung-ho, into the whole "Army Thing" (can also say that one is "all Hooah")
To move with a purpose = fast
Double time = faster (also used as an official command to go from marching to running)
Combat speed = even faster (the prior service guys always tell our teachers to do the lecture at combat speed)
Hooah = used as a response to a statement - can mean: O.K., alright, got it, sounds good to me, you bet, etc... Those that have a bad habbit of using this word will also use it at the end of all their sentences in the same way many of us say "you know".
Hooah (hü-ä or who-ah) is a U.S. Army battle cry. It is used[1] by US Army soldiers "Referring to or meaning anything and everything except no".[2] The word's etymology is unclear, but one possible origin is that it is based on the acronym HUA, meaning "heard, understood, acknowledged".[3] Another possible source of the term is as a vernacular corruption of the term "Huzzah" a Battle Cry in use by United States soldiers during the early to middle 19th century and documented by personal and offical memoirs of the American Civil War.
Roger that = got it (we're on it)
Secure your gear = get your stuff
That's a (big) No Go = that's wrong, don't do it
To get smoked = to have a superior punish you (more likely to be physical, like doing tons of push-ups)
To get scuffed up = to have a superior punish you verbally
Squared away = ready to go
The Sand Box = Iraq
There's a slew of acronyms that inevitably get turned into words, in that they are used as nouns, adjectives, and verbs; however, I'll forgo putting those in here to save you a few hours of reading time.
If I think of any more I'll add them.
To move with a purpose = fast
Double time = faster (also used as an official command to go from marching to running)
Combat speed = even faster (the prior service guys always tell our teachers to do the lecture at combat speed)
Hooah = used as a response to a statement - can mean: O.K., alright, got it, sounds good to me, you bet, etc... Those that have a bad habbit of using this word will also use it at the end of all their sentences in the same way many of us say "you know".
Hooah (hü-ä or who-ah) is a U.S. Army battle cry. It is used[1] by US Army soldiers "Referring to or meaning anything and everything except no".[2] The word's etymology is unclear, but one possible origin is that it is based on the acronym HUA, meaning "heard, understood, acknowledged".[3] Another possible source of the term is as a vernacular corruption of the term "Huzzah" a Battle Cry in use by United States soldiers during the early to middle 19th century and documented by personal and offical memoirs of the American Civil War.
Roger that = got it (we're on it)
Secure your gear = get your stuff
That's a (big) No Go = that's wrong, don't do it
To get smoked = to have a superior punish you (more likely to be physical, like doing tons of push-ups)
To get scuffed up = to have a superior punish you verbally
Squared away = ready to go
The Sand Box = Iraq
There's a slew of acronyms that inevitably get turned into words, in that they are used as nouns, adjectives, and verbs; however, I'll forgo putting those in here to save you a few hours of reading time.
If I think of any more I'll add them.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Day 38
This morning I had to go to the formation before PT (5:00). After everybody got there and they were ready to start they let all of us go that were on that list yesterday - the one about our immunization records not getting put into the computer from the day before.
When we got there they had us wait for about half an hour. At first they thought we were there for immunizations, but they soon found out that most of us had just been immunized. It turns out they didn't know why we were there and based on what we told them they couldn't tell why we were told to come. The guy there said that if we had an accurate print out to not worry about it. He said that most people's info shows up instantly on the web, but there's a certain percentage that doesn't. Evidently somebody that doesn't know that saw that and panicked and had us all report to the clinic at "O"-dark thirty. Oh well, at least we didn't have to go to PT.
The rest of the morning and the early afternoon we had classes. At about 2:00 we had our dress blue inspections. They did it the easy way and just had us put our jackets on so that they could see all the pins, ribbons, etc. and make sure they were on there right.
After that I went home and hung out until dinner. When I went up there to the dining facility there was a bunch of people there from my platoon so it was fun to eat and visit with them.
We got our battalion T-shirts today. Marco designed it but they changed some of the stuff so he was a little annoyed at that. It still looks pretty good though. Tomorrow we get to wear it for our battalion run (basically the whole battalion runs in a large group down the street for about 2 miles, not too bad).
This morning I had to go to the formation before PT (5:00). After everybody got there and they were ready to start they let all of us go that were on that list yesterday - the one about our immunization records not getting put into the computer from the day before.
When we got there they had us wait for about half an hour. At first they thought we were there for immunizations, but they soon found out that most of us had just been immunized. It turns out they didn't know why we were there and based on what we told them they couldn't tell why we were told to come. The guy there said that if we had an accurate print out to not worry about it. He said that most people's info shows up instantly on the web, but there's a certain percentage that doesn't. Evidently somebody that doesn't know that saw that and panicked and had us all report to the clinic at "O"-dark thirty. Oh well, at least we didn't have to go to PT.
The rest of the morning and the early afternoon we had classes. At about 2:00 we had our dress blue inspections. They did it the easy way and just had us put our jackets on so that they could see all the pins, ribbons, etc. and make sure they were on there right.
After that I went home and hung out until dinner. When I went up there to the dining facility there was a bunch of people there from my platoon so it was fun to eat and visit with them.
We got our battalion T-shirts today. Marco designed it but they changed some of the stuff so he was a little annoyed at that. It still looks pretty good though. Tomorrow we get to wear it for our battalion run (basically the whole battalion runs in a large group down the street for about 2 miles, not too bad).
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Day 37
Today we had a few classes and then we filled out the paperwork to get our clothing allowance. Somewhere in between all that we had lunch.
They named off about 30 people that have to go back to the clinic to show them our vaccination records from yesterday (they lost some). I was one of those lucky ones, so tomorrow instead of going to PT I'll be taking my paperwork to the clinic to prove I was injected.
Tonight after dinner I went and played football with a bunch of people from my platoon. About 17-18 of us showed up. It was pretty fun.
When I got home I talked to Ruth on the phone and got my dress blue uniform ready for tomorrow. It turns out one of the pins I bought is the wrong one. Not a big deal. If I have time tomorrow I'll go and exchange it. If not, I'll show them the ones I have and where I would have put them.
Today we had a few classes and then we filled out the paperwork to get our clothing allowance. Somewhere in between all that we had lunch.
They named off about 30 people that have to go back to the clinic to show them our vaccination records from yesterday (they lost some). I was one of those lucky ones, so tomorrow instead of going to PT I'll be taking my paperwork to the clinic to prove I was injected.
Tonight after dinner I went and played football with a bunch of people from my platoon. About 17-18 of us showed up. It was pretty fun.
When I got home I talked to Ruth on the phone and got my dress blue uniform ready for tomorrow. It turns out one of the pins I bought is the wrong one. Not a big deal. If I have time tomorrow I'll go and exchange it. If not, I'll show them the ones I have and where I would have put them.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Day 36
Today we had our platoon picture done. After that we had the morning off until 11:45 at which time we did some of our medical in-processing. Only half our class did it this afternoon. The other half did it early this morning.
First we did dental. Only those going over-seas actually saw the dentist. The rest of us just had x-rays done. I guess we'll get a real dental exam when we go to our duty stations. After that we waited for a long time to get our vaccinations up-to-date, have some blood drawn, read the eye chart, and make sure we had received all the glasses we were supposed to.
It was pretty funny when they gave me the PPD for Tuberculosis. That's when they inject the little but of fluid under you skin on your forearm and re-check it in a couple of days to see if it reacted. Anyway, normally they say something about not scrubbing it too hard or pushing on it. the guys that did mine said "don't scrub it, poke it, or dig it out with a knife." The sad part is that he probably said that because somebody's done it before.
I got done with that at 6:15. Yep, 6 1/2 hours to get my teeth x-rayed, and a little lab work done. But...at least it was "free"!
I found out today that the travel office won't pay for my plane ticket back to Raleigh because technically I'm only supposed to go to Ft. Leonard Wood from here. I told them that I had to go home to get my family and my household goods. They said that I could exchange the ticket to MO for one to NC and that I'd only have to pay the difference ($19) but that I would lose the chance to collect per diem. I hope they give me an appointment with the travel office soon so that we can get some of this figured out.
Today we had our platoon picture done. After that we had the morning off until 11:45 at which time we did some of our medical in-processing. Only half our class did it this afternoon. The other half did it early this morning.
First we did dental. Only those going over-seas actually saw the dentist. The rest of us just had x-rays done. I guess we'll get a real dental exam when we go to our duty stations. After that we waited for a long time to get our vaccinations up-to-date, have some blood drawn, read the eye chart, and make sure we had received all the glasses we were supposed to.
It was pretty funny when they gave me the PPD for Tuberculosis. That's when they inject the little but of fluid under you skin on your forearm and re-check it in a couple of days to see if it reacted. Anyway, normally they say something about not scrubbing it too hard or pushing on it. the guys that did mine said "don't scrub it, poke it, or dig it out with a knife." The sad part is that he probably said that because somebody's done it before.
I got done with that at 6:15. Yep, 6 1/2 hours to get my teeth x-rayed, and a little lab work done. But...at least it was "free"!
I found out today that the travel office won't pay for my plane ticket back to Raleigh because technically I'm only supposed to go to Ft. Leonard Wood from here. I told them that I had to go home to get my family and my household goods. They said that I could exchange the ticket to MO for one to NC and that I'd only have to pay the difference ($19) but that I would lose the chance to collect per diem. I hope they give me an appointment with the travel office soon so that we can get some of this figured out.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Chachos
Here's a few pictures I took at Chachos yesterday with my cell phone.
Here's where you order the Mexican food:
To the left there is where you order their yummy pizza:
Here's where we played pool and watched some of BYU/UCLA game:
Here's a couple pictures of their huge play place (these pictures really don't do it justice):
Here's where you order the Mexican food:
To the left there is where you order their yummy pizza:
Here's where we played pool and watched some of BYU/UCLA game:
Here's a couple pictures of their huge play place (these pictures really don't do it justice):
A quick trip to Austin TX
I can't believe I'm already writing about church again. It seems like I just did this. Don't get me wrong, it doesn't exactly feel like time's been flying by, but at least we're making progress.
Church was good today. They had a gross of dough nuts there today. That's like 3-4 per person. I definitely had my fair share. I should have taken a whole box home with me but decided, for my stomach's sake, that I had better not.
Before our meetings started this morning Darin mentioned that he wanted to go to Houston next weekend to see his brother. I mentioned that I wanted to go up to Austin to see mine sometime. He said, "why don't we go today?" So, I called Paul and Cindy when they got home from church and asked if they wouldn't mind a little company this after noon.
After church I ate lunch and watched a conference talk on lds.org. I read the lesson in the Joseph Smith manual and read a couple chapters in the New Testament. That got me a little sleepy so I took a short nap.
Darin, Jess, and I left for Austin at around 3:30. We did take a wrong turn once and I had to call Paul, but we did eventually get there. They fed us some pancakes for dinner and then we had some yummy brownies and ice-cream with chocolate sauce for dessert.
They told us how to get home via a little more scenic route which was nice. Austin is actually fairly pretty for not having mountains.
We got home around 9:30 or so. I called Ruth and now I'm off to bed. I think we've got some different things on the schedule tomorrow so it should be interesting.
Paul, me, and Cindy
Jess, me, and Darin
Church was good today. They had a gross of dough nuts there today. That's like 3-4 per person. I definitely had my fair share. I should have taken a whole box home with me but decided, for my stomach's sake, that I had better not.
Before our meetings started this morning Darin mentioned that he wanted to go to Houston next weekend to see his brother. I mentioned that I wanted to go up to Austin to see mine sometime. He said, "why don't we go today?" So, I called Paul and Cindy when they got home from church and asked if they wouldn't mind a little company this after noon.
After church I ate lunch and watched a conference talk on lds.org. I read the lesson in the Joseph Smith manual and read a couple chapters in the New Testament. That got me a little sleepy so I took a short nap.
Darin, Jess, and I left for Austin at around 3:30. We did take a wrong turn once and I had to call Paul, but we did eventually get there. They fed us some pancakes for dinner and then we had some yummy brownies and ice-cream with chocolate sauce for dessert.
They told us how to get home via a little more scenic route which was nice. Austin is actually fairly pretty for not having mountains.
We got home around 9:30 or so. I called Ruth and now I'm off to bed. I think we've got some different things on the schedule tomorrow so it should be interesting.
Paul, me, and Cindy
Jess, me, and Darin
Saturday, September 13, 2008
GO BYU!!!
I didn't win the helmet last night. It was totally my fault too since I put up my bid too early. I became the high bidder with 47 seconds left. With ~10 seconds somebody out-bid me by $1.00. I don't know why I bid so early. I guess I was just excited to finish it. Oh well, asi es la vida.
This morning I woke up at 7:00 and couldn't go back to sleep - so I got up. I went to the DFAC to eat. A lot of breakfast for $2.10...pretty fair.
I've been getting lots of emails from LTC Allen and COL Glenesk about moving and what the expected Army traveling procedures are. I feel like they are really trying to be helpful. It's definitely a complicated process - or at least some people are making it so.
Later this morning I went to the gym and played raquet ball with Jess (he's a fellow O.D./LDS/OBLC guy). On the way out we saw an interesting climbing wall. It was only about 10-12 feet tall and was like a tredmil. Your own gravity made it go down and you had to keep going up or else you feet would end up on the ground. Pretty slick. I took a video of it on my camera which I hope I can get on the blog somehow.
After that I ate lunch, took and shower, and got ready to go watch the BYU game. We ended up going to Chacos which has great food! They didn't sound very excited about changing any of their TV's from ESPN or CNN, but magically about 10 minutes after we got there the BYU/UCLA game popped up on half the TV's! Sweet! If you didn't see it, just picture a team playing the perfect game.
59-0, BYU. UCLA's second worse game in history (first was 76-0 loss to USC in 1929). Oh, and by the way, we blocked one of their field goal attempts.
During halftime we played a little pool. Towards the end of the game it was getting close to dinner time so I bought a half burrito, which I could barely eat it. Jess had eaten a whole one for lunch - I really don't know where he put it.
After the game we came home and I went to my room. Marco had just starting watching the Spiderwick movie. I told him I wanted to watch it with him and he started it from the beginning for me. Nice. It was good! I guess I need to read the books.
Well, one more week of OBLC and 1 week of Optometry specific stuff. Two weeks from today and I'll be with my family again! I can't wait!!!
This morning I woke up at 7:00 and couldn't go back to sleep - so I got up. I went to the DFAC to eat. A lot of breakfast for $2.10...pretty fair.
I've been getting lots of emails from LTC Allen and COL Glenesk about moving and what the expected Army traveling procedures are. I feel like they are really trying to be helpful. It's definitely a complicated process - or at least some people are making it so.
Later this morning I went to the gym and played raquet ball with Jess (he's a fellow O.D./LDS/OBLC guy). On the way out we saw an interesting climbing wall. It was only about 10-12 feet tall and was like a tredmil. Your own gravity made it go down and you had to keep going up or else you feet would end up on the ground. Pretty slick. I took a video of it on my camera which I hope I can get on the blog somehow.
After that I ate lunch, took and shower, and got ready to go watch the BYU game. We ended up going to Chacos which has great food! They didn't sound very excited about changing any of their TV's from ESPN or CNN, but magically about 10 minutes after we got there the BYU/UCLA game popped up on half the TV's! Sweet! If you didn't see it, just picture a team playing the perfect game.
59-0, BYU. UCLA's second worse game in history (first was 76-0 loss to USC in 1929). Oh, and by the way, we blocked one of their field goal attempts.
During halftime we played a little pool. Towards the end of the game it was getting close to dinner time so I bought a half burrito, which I could barely eat it. Jess had eaten a whole one for lunch - I really don't know where he put it.
After the game we came home and I went to my room. Marco had just starting watching the Spiderwick movie. I told him I wanted to watch it with him and he started it from the beginning for me. Nice. It was good! I guess I need to read the books.
Well, one more week of OBLC and 1 week of Optometry specific stuff. Two weeks from today and I'll be with my family again! I can't wait!!!
Friday, September 12, 2008
Day 35
We had a lot of classes today. I ate a hamburger with a knife and fork today. They had toasted the bun so much that it was really crunchy on top, but not the bottom. So I just took the top off and ate the rest with my fork. It was definitely a first for me.
After dinner I talked to Ruth for quite a while. Jess called me and told me that he, Darin, and Chris were playing games or going bowling tonight. Well, by the time Jess and I got off the phone with our wives it was too late to go bowling so we just went to Darin's apartment. We ended up just watching boxing and football and talking. I ended up coming home early as boxing is not my sport of choice.
When talking to the guys tonight (and lots of guys in my platoon during the day) I'm always amazed at how much they know about sport and athletes.
I need a new bottom bracket for my bike (it's creeking like crazy) and my 15 year old helmet has just about had it so I've been looking at one on eBay. One hour left! I don't remember what size my bottom bracket is and I don't have anything to measure with here so I'll just have to wait until after our move for that repair.
Well, I'm going to read my scriptures and go to bed.
We had a lot of classes today. I ate a hamburger with a knife and fork today. They had toasted the bun so much that it was really crunchy on top, but not the bottom. So I just took the top off and ate the rest with my fork. It was definitely a first for me.
After dinner I talked to Ruth for quite a while. Jess called me and told me that he, Darin, and Chris were playing games or going bowling tonight. Well, by the time Jess and I got off the phone with our wives it was too late to go bowling so we just went to Darin's apartment. We ended up just watching boxing and football and talking. I ended up coming home early as boxing is not my sport of choice.
When talking to the guys tonight (and lots of guys in my platoon during the day) I'm always amazed at how much they know about sport and athletes.
I need a new bottom bracket for my bike (it's creeking like crazy) and my 15 year old helmet has just about had it so I've been looking at one on eBay. One hour left! I don't remember what size my bottom bracket is and I don't have anything to measure with here so I'll just have to wait until after our move for that repair.
Well, I'm going to read my scriptures and go to bed.
"The Education Crisis"
I admit I am completely oblivious to the current policies, politics, and perceived challenges of today's public school system; however, tonight on CNN they are having a big program talking about "the education crisis".
Maybe this is too simple of a solution but is it possible that our generation of parents are not teaching our children like our parents taught us? I'm sure more teaching took place in the home 30-50 years ago than it does today.
Just a thought.
Maybe this is too simple of a solution but is it possible that our generation of parents are not teaching our children like our parents taught us? I'm sure more teaching took place in the home 30-50 years ago than it does today.
Just a thought.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Sept 11, 2008
Day 34
Today we've all been remembering what happened 7 years ago. I was attending my first semester at BYU after my mission. I was living in Heritage Halls with John Chadwick, Alex Hachtman, Andrew Wheelwright, Scott Raymond, and Marcus G. Most of us had just gotten up except for Scott, who had risen early to eat at the cafeteria. Inevitably he saw a TV showing the breaking news. It was never brought up whether he leisurely ate his food first or ran back right away, but when he returned he said "Turn the TV on, you've got to see this!"
We all went to class talking about the freak plane crash. During my physics class news of the second plane came and they told us to go home and watch.
Now, back to the present, I spent this morning standing in line to turn in all our field training equipment. Like always they did it alphabetically and like always I was there from 7:10 to 11:00. I'm just glad I'm not 2LT Zeaman, poor girl.
After that they I went and made arrangements to get my absentee ballot from NV and get our car registered in NV. I then ate lunch and went to class at 1:30. It was apparent when I got there that they had already started. Turns out they told us it was at 1:30 but it was really supposed to be at 1:00 so they tried to call everybody to tell us. Sorry Mom B. for all the crazy calls!
They let us go just before 4:00 today so that those that wanted to go to the Tim McGraw concert to go eat and get up to the field.
I opted to stay home tonight. I did some laundry and talked to Ruth and the kids. After that I read my scriptures and some Harry Potter y el Prisionero de Azkaban.
No PT tomorrow. I don't know why, but I won't complain.
Today we've all been remembering what happened 7 years ago. I was attending my first semester at BYU after my mission. I was living in Heritage Halls with John Chadwick, Alex Hachtman, Andrew Wheelwright, Scott Raymond, and Marcus G. Most of us had just gotten up except for Scott, who had risen early to eat at the cafeteria. Inevitably he saw a TV showing the breaking news. It was never brought up whether he leisurely ate his food first or ran back right away, but when he returned he said "Turn the TV on, you've got to see this!"
We all went to class talking about the freak plane crash. During my physics class news of the second plane came and they told us to go home and watch.
Now, back to the present, I spent this morning standing in line to turn in all our field training equipment. Like always they did it alphabetically and like always I was there from 7:10 to 11:00. I'm just glad I'm not 2LT Zeaman, poor girl.
After that they I went and made arrangements to get my absentee ballot from NV and get our car registered in NV. I then ate lunch and went to class at 1:30. It was apparent when I got there that they had already started. Turns out they told us it was at 1:30 but it was really supposed to be at 1:00 so they tried to call everybody to tell us. Sorry Mom B. for all the crazy calls!
They let us go just before 4:00 today so that those that wanted to go to the Tim McGraw concert to go eat and get up to the field.
I opted to stay home tonight. I did some laundry and talked to Ruth and the kids. After that I read my scriptures and some Harry Potter y el Prisionero de Azkaban.
No PT tomorrow. I don't know why, but I won't complain.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Day 33
Pt was pretty good today. A good work out, not too hard, not too easy.
After breakfast, shower, and getting ready we had classes from 8:30 to 5:00. Most of them on law, ethics, and the military justice system. After class most of us had to stay behind for another hour in the classroom for a travel briefing.
It's been "interesting" (frustrating) getting all the paperwork done and in the right way. Especially when we get told different things by different people.
Oh well. As they say here, "it is what it is." May I add "only in the government" because with that attitude in the real world you fail.
After class I went and ate. Tonight I have to clean up and organize all the supplies they issued me for our field training as we'll be turning it in tomorrow.
Tim McGraw is singing here tomorrow. I don't think I'll be going. At least we'll be getting out early so everybody else can go.
Pt was pretty good today. A good work out, not too hard, not too easy.
After breakfast, shower, and getting ready we had classes from 8:30 to 5:00. Most of them on law, ethics, and the military justice system. After class most of us had to stay behind for another hour in the classroom for a travel briefing.
It's been "interesting" (frustrating) getting all the paperwork done and in the right way. Especially when we get told different things by different people.
Oh well. As they say here, "it is what it is." May I add "only in the government" because with that attitude in the real world you fail.
After class I went and ate. Tonight I have to clean up and organize all the supplies they issued me for our field training as we'll be turning it in tomorrow.
Tim McGraw is singing here tomorrow. I don't think I'll be going. At least we'll be getting out early so everybody else can go.
Day 32
This morning we had our mid-term. I was feeling unprepared for it, but I only missed 4 out of 50, so I was glad.
After that we had a little brief on traveling from here to our first duty station. We then had 3 classes with lunch in the middle there somewhere.
After classes I went and checked my email and my PIN that I had been waiting for was there! So, I was able to look at my LES (leave and earning statement) so that I could see exactly what I was paid and what was deducted.
Tomorrow Ruth will be sending in the paperwork for our move. She has also been looking at some things that we need to buy before we move: washer/dryer, and beds for kids.
I went to the shoppet to get a couple of things and a bunch of people from my platoon was out in the grass getting ready to play football. They asked me if I wanted to play, which I did. When I got back out of the shoppet they were all going home. I guess they never could find a football. Definitely a good thing to have if you want to play the game.
This morning we had our mid-term. I was feeling unprepared for it, but I only missed 4 out of 50, so I was glad.
After that we had a little brief on traveling from here to our first duty station. We then had 3 classes with lunch in the middle there somewhere.
After classes I went and checked my email and my PIN that I had been waiting for was there! So, I was able to look at my LES (leave and earning statement) so that I could see exactly what I was paid and what was deducted.
Tomorrow Ruth will be sending in the paperwork for our move. She has also been looking at some things that we need to buy before we move: washer/dryer, and beds for kids.
I went to the shoppet to get a couple of things and a bunch of people from my platoon was out in the grass getting ready to play football. They asked me if I wanted to play, which I did. When I got back out of the shoppet they were all going home. I guess they never could find a football. Definitely a good thing to have if you want to play the game.
Monday, September 08, 2008
Day 31
We did PT this morning. The girls from our platoon leading our PT workout this morning used a deck of cards to guide her. Spades were sit-ups, Clubs were flutter kicks, diamonds were push-ups with the hands close together, and hearts were push-ups with arms far apart. For push-ups we did the amount what was on the card (10 for jack, queen, and King, and 15 for the ace) and double that for the sit-ups and flutter kicks. After that we did a little run called "one-up". Basically we run in a single-file-line and the last person in line has to sprint to the front. When they get there the person that is now in back does the same thing.
Today we had a bunch of classes and a test review for our mid-term tomorrow.
We got done around 3:30 today which was nice. I've been trying to get a PIN number for the myPay website the military uses. With that PIN I can look at what I was paid and how it is all broken down. Until I get one I won't know what exactly they've paid me or if it's right.
Ruth and I have also been looking on Craigslist to see if we can get a washer and dryer and some beds for the boys. I think we've found some that will work out as long as they haven't been sold yet and they look as good as described.
After dinner I checked my email, talked with Ruth and the kids, and studied for my test tomorrow. It's supposed to be pretty easy, but I've still got to study what our review focused on today.
No PT tomorrow!
We did PT this morning. The girls from our platoon leading our PT workout this morning used a deck of cards to guide her. Spades were sit-ups, Clubs were flutter kicks, diamonds were push-ups with the hands close together, and hearts were push-ups with arms far apart. For push-ups we did the amount what was on the card (10 for jack, queen, and King, and 15 for the ace) and double that for the sit-ups and flutter kicks. After that we did a little run called "one-up". Basically we run in a single-file-line and the last person in line has to sprint to the front. When they get there the person that is now in back does the same thing.
Today we had a bunch of classes and a test review for our mid-term tomorrow.
We got done around 3:30 today which was nice. I've been trying to get a PIN number for the myPay website the military uses. With that PIN I can look at what I was paid and how it is all broken down. Until I get one I won't know what exactly they've paid me or if it's right.
Ruth and I have also been looking on Craigslist to see if we can get a washer and dryer and some beds for the boys. I think we've found some that will work out as long as they haven't been sold yet and they look as good as described.
After dinner I checked my email, talked with Ruth and the kids, and studied for my test tomorrow. It's supposed to be pretty easy, but I've still got to study what our review focused on today.
No PT tomorrow!
Sunday, September 07, 2008
Fast Sunday
Church was really good today. It was fast Sunday and all the testimonies were wonderful! It reminded me of one you might hear in the MTC as all of us are away from families and going through trials that are a little different than what we're used to.
After church I came home and checked email. Then I went to the library and ready my scriptures and the Ensign. I really enjoyed all the articles I read, especially the letters of Joseph Smith to Emma. I'm sad that I'm away from my family and I miss them a lot, but what a blessing they know where I'm at, what I'm doing, why I'm here, and when I'll be back. Emma and the kids must have been going crazy not knowing those things about Joseph when he was either running from mobs or imprisoned.
When I got home I broke my fast with some dough nuts, the rest of a big cookie from yesterday and a little dinner too. I talked to Ruth for a little bit and then she said she'd call me back. I listened to a couple conference talks and then she called back.
We have PT tomorrow morning at 5:30. Should be fun.
Just 2 weeks left of OBLC and 1 week of my optometry stuff. I'm excited to get home and be with Ruth and the kids.
I reserved a truck from Penske which we'll load up the day I get back. It sounds like we need to leave for Missouri as soon as possible when I get. I still need to find out how many travel days we get and if they'll give us some time to find a place to live before I start work.
After church I came home and checked email. Then I went to the library and ready my scriptures and the Ensign. I really enjoyed all the articles I read, especially the letters of Joseph Smith to Emma. I'm sad that I'm away from my family and I miss them a lot, but what a blessing they know where I'm at, what I'm doing, why I'm here, and when I'll be back. Emma and the kids must have been going crazy not knowing those things about Joseph when he was either running from mobs or imprisoned.
When I got home I broke my fast with some dough nuts, the rest of a big cookie from yesterday and a little dinner too. I talked to Ruth for a little bit and then she said she'd call me back. I listened to a couple conference talks and then she called back.
We have PT tomorrow morning at 5:30. Should be fun.
Just 2 weeks left of OBLC and 1 week of my optometry stuff. I'm excited to get home and be with Ruth and the kids.
I reserved a truck from Penske which we'll load up the day I get back. It sounds like we need to leave for Missouri as soon as possible when I get. I still need to find out how many travel days we get and if they'll give us some time to find a place to live before I start work.
Saturday, September 06, 2008
I'd like a weekend w/ a little BYU football please
Last night I went out to eat with my platoon. We went to Texas Roadhouse. There wasn't enough seating for all of us (20) to sit together so we split up in groups of 5 and got in within 30-45 minutes. I ordered a rib-eye stake w/ ribs, sweet potato and rice. They also had delicious freshly baked bread with some creamy cinnamon butter. It was all super good! I was really full but now that I'm writing about it I want to eat it all over again. Yum!
After dinner about half the people went on to a hip-hop bar/club thing while the rest of us went home. When I got home I went over to Darin's place to watch Saints and Soldiers with him and Jess. It's about a Mormon soldier back in WWII that teaches his fellow soldiers through example and finds one of the people he taught and baptized on his mission to Germany fighting with the enemy, of course. It was really good.
This morning I had to get up at 8:00 and get back in uniform to attend an AMEDD (American Medical Department) Museum tour. My platoon and 5th platoon took the tour together. Actually, once we got there the tour guides split us all up into smaller groups.
I checked my mail and found that I had received a birthday card from Mom and Dad!! Thank you!! It was really nice to get some mail, especially a birthday card.
When I got home I folded my laundry and ate lunch. Ruth called me which was really nice as I hadn't been able to get a hold of her since yesterday evening. I guess with the weather out there the T-mobile network is down. She said the weather there in Raleigh isn't too bad so I'm thankful for that.
At 1:30 Darin, Jess, and I went to Buffalo Wild Wings to watch the BYU game. They had a bunch of TV's of all sizes and a couple of really big screens with games being projected onto them. We told them which game we wanted and they put it on the biggest screen! Pretty cool! We couldn't hear anything but it was fun watching a BYU/Washington football game on a huge screen in the middle of TX.
At halftime the other guys wanted to go and try and watch the game at Chachos so that we could hopefully hear the game and play some pool while we watched. When we got there the pool tables were out of commission and the people in charge weren't very excited to change any of the TV's away from ESPN (the game was on FSN). They did finally put one of the smaller TV's on FSN so that we could watch the game. It was a great game. They were often tied and in the last few seconds Washington scored a touchdown and only needed the extra point kick to tie it up for overtime. Well, just like the last time we played a PAC 10 team we blocked the kick and won the game!! Yeah, BYU still has the longest winning streak in the country!
When I got home I talked to Ruth on the phone. She'll be calling back in a little bit so that we can read scriptures and pray with the kids. I'll be staying home tonight so that I can get a good night sleep.
After dinner about half the people went on to a hip-hop bar/club thing while the rest of us went home. When I got home I went over to Darin's place to watch Saints and Soldiers with him and Jess. It's about a Mormon soldier back in WWII that teaches his fellow soldiers through example and finds one of the people he taught and baptized on his mission to Germany fighting with the enemy, of course. It was really good.
This morning I had to get up at 8:00 and get back in uniform to attend an AMEDD (American Medical Department) Museum tour. My platoon and 5th platoon took the tour together. Actually, once we got there the tour guides split us all up into smaller groups.
I checked my mail and found that I had received a birthday card from Mom and Dad!! Thank you!! It was really nice to get some mail, especially a birthday card.
When I got home I folded my laundry and ate lunch. Ruth called me which was really nice as I hadn't been able to get a hold of her since yesterday evening. I guess with the weather out there the T-mobile network is down. She said the weather there in Raleigh isn't too bad so I'm thankful for that.
At 1:30 Darin, Jess, and I went to Buffalo Wild Wings to watch the BYU game. They had a bunch of TV's of all sizes and a couple of really big screens with games being projected onto them. We told them which game we wanted and they put it on the biggest screen! Pretty cool! We couldn't hear anything but it was fun watching a BYU/Washington football game on a huge screen in the middle of TX.
At halftime the other guys wanted to go and try and watch the game at Chachos so that we could hopefully hear the game and play some pool while we watched. When we got there the pool tables were out of commission and the people in charge weren't very excited to change any of the TV's away from ESPN (the game was on FSN). They did finally put one of the smaller TV's on FSN so that we could watch the game. It was a great game. They were often tied and in the last few seconds Washington scored a touchdown and only needed the extra point kick to tie it up for overtime. Well, just like the last time we played a PAC 10 team we blocked the kick and won the game!! Yeah, BYU still has the longest winning streak in the country!
When I got home I talked to Ruth on the phone. She'll be calling back in a little bit so that we can read scriptures and pray with the kids. I'll be staying home tonight so that I can get a good night sleep.
Our M-16, gas mask, and 9mm handgun
Here is a picture of the weapon we shot and carried around for the last 3 weeks.
Here is a picture of somebody wearing the same mask we had to use and carry around in a pouch hanging off our belt for the last 3 weeks.
Here is the handgun we used, but thankfully did not carry around.
Also, here is a picture of what we had to have on at all times (except for sleeping of course). Our belts were not as comfortable as this one looks.
Here is a picture of somebody wearing the same mask we had to use and carry around in a pouch hanging off our belt for the last 3 weeks.
Here is the handgun we used, but thankfully did not carry around.
Also, here is a picture of what we had to have on at all times (except for sleeping of course). Our belts were not as comfortable as this one looks.
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