My family came into town this week, its been a blast being able to see them. Unfortunately this week has went by really fast. We have spent most of our time swimming and dining out at new restaurants. Noah is a great swimmer! We were throwing pennies at the bottom of the pool and he was diving down and beating me to them. Tomorrow we are going to Family Fun Center it should be a lot of fun, they have go carts, bumper boats,and rock climbing. Friday they are heading back to Council Bluffs. It seems too soon and I wish I wouldn't have to go so long without seeing them again. Three years from now Noah will be even more grown and I wish I could be there more.
After North Dakota and this week off I feel like I haven't worked in a month. It's been a nice vacation and I even have some more time off planned as well. It's been such a good vacation I'm not even dreading going back to work, almost just ready for it. About two more months and if everything works out I should be off to Guam. I'm really excited to start new in Guam, I just wish I could bring Jenny and my family with me. I will have plenty of leave almost 50 days by the time I arrive in Guam and get settled. Hopefully I should be able to use it and see some of different countries around the area. Traveling is the main reason I made this blog. Ideally as I travel I would like to share experiences and pictures from around the world to my family and friends. I want to use this blog as almost a journal to log everything I have done so I don't forget all the highlights later on in life.
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Last day in Minot today, can't wait to get back to Barksdale. These two weeks went by really fast, we finished our T.O. and I think I have seen just about everything there is to do in this town. Just a few weeks here really made me appreciate were I got stationed. Also, Jenny gets back Sunday, so excited to see her since she has been away for 2 & 1/2 weeks. I got us a hotel so we can celebrate her birthday, for a present she wanted some antique Cinderella cookie jar we saw at a shop. I don't see the appeal in it, especially because baking cookies definitely isn't her strong point. Regardless, I know she will like it.
This was a pretty good week, went to the North Dakota State Fair, hopped on a few rides, and lost some money to the rigged carnival games. Also, I was graced to see one of the historical parks Minot has to offer, The Scandinavian Heritage Park.
Not much to see at this park other then the architectural design of the Scandinavian area. As you tour this bland park you will also have the pleasure to learn that Scandinavia hasn't contributed anything to the world since the birth of Lief Erickson in 970. If my math is correct that's over 1042 years of not being able to achieve a notable thing other then a couple skiers, good job Scandinavia.
All in all I am very glad that I got to come up to Minot to see how the other side of my career operates. It has been a neat learning experience and the extra money was nice. Even though my time here was enjoyable I wont be tricked to putting this place on my dream sheet again, I will be avoiding it like the plague.
This was a pretty good week, went to the North Dakota State Fair, hopped on a few rides, and lost some money to the rigged carnival games. Also, I was graced to see one of the historical parks Minot has to offer, The Scandinavian Heritage Park.
Not much to see at this park other then the architectural design of the Scandinavian area. As you tour this bland park you will also have the pleasure to learn that Scandinavia hasn't contributed anything to the world since the birth of Lief Erickson in 970. If my math is correct that's over 1042 years of not being able to achieve a notable thing other then a couple skiers, good job Scandinavia.
All in all I am very glad that I got to come up to Minot to see how the other side of my career operates. It has been a neat learning experience and the extra money was nice. Even though my time here was enjoyable I wont be tricked to putting this place on my dream sheet again, I will be avoiding it like the plague.
Thursday, July 19, 2012
My first few days in Minot have been pretty interesting, been going pretty much non-stop since Sunday. Today is my first day to really relax. Made a lot of progress on the T.O. rewrite, not sure if this trip will take the entire 2 weeks. Yesterday evening we all decided to out to eat, we were recommended to go to a Japanese steak house called Sakura, On our way into downtown I wasn't sure what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Minot was prettier then I anticipated. As you come over a hill into the city. A bridge captures the entire city underneath of it's walkway and frames it in almost a picturesque fashion. After a few wrong turn and a few wrong addresses we finally found the steak house.
Sakura was pretty interesting it was full of Hibachi grills were they put on a show and cook the food right in front of you. We had a fairly eccentric chef who entertained us through the night. As I observed through the restaurant I noticed the chefs were squirting water into people's mouth and counting down to see who could hold the most water. Being a little over competitive I waited for my chance to show everyone in the restaurant up. As I listened to other people's times the average was about 12 seconds. Finally after waiting for a bit my chance came. I was the first to drink at my table, as the chef squirted the water into my mouth I noticed it had a very strong taste. I started to question what I was drinking. I figured it was some sort of cooking liquid, the chef continued to shoot the unknown liquid until his bottle ran out. My final time was somewhere around 50 seconds. After I finished I felt light headed and my mouth was numb. I asked him what it was and he replied in his strong Asian accent " That's happy water!". After saying this I realized what he had just done, I had taken about 6 shots of sake in 50 seconds. This wasn't be best scenario because I had volunteered to be the designated driver for the evening. More importantly I felt deceived, who just pours alcohol into someone mouth without telling them what it is or checking for an I.D. I enjoyed my dinner and we found a designated driver for the rest of an evening. After that we went to a bar call the Blind Duck. While in the bar and under my involuntary intoxication I decided to make the bold statement that no amount of alcohol could make be throw up and I quote "I am too much of a man!" The next morning was spent shamefully cleaning the inside of the rental car. I think if I ever find that little Asian man again I might make him pay.
I spent most of today just taking some tours around Minot learning about the other side of my job. this Friday I should be able to go into a missile training silo for the Minuteman III. Really looking forward to seeing this because I have only had a chance to study the launch sites not actually see or experience one in person.
Sakura was pretty interesting it was full of Hibachi grills were they put on a show and cook the food right in front of you. We had a fairly eccentric chef who entertained us through the night. As I observed through the restaurant I noticed the chefs were squirting water into people's mouth and counting down to see who could hold the most water. Being a little over competitive I waited for my chance to show everyone in the restaurant up. As I listened to other people's times the average was about 12 seconds. Finally after waiting for a bit my chance came. I was the first to drink at my table, as the chef squirted the water into my mouth I noticed it had a very strong taste. I started to question what I was drinking. I figured it was some sort of cooking liquid, the chef continued to shoot the unknown liquid until his bottle ran out. My final time was somewhere around 50 seconds. After I finished I felt light headed and my mouth was numb. I asked him what it was and he replied in his strong Asian accent " That's happy water!". After saying this I realized what he had just done, I had taken about 6 shots of sake in 50 seconds. This wasn't be best scenario because I had volunteered to be the designated driver for the evening. More importantly I felt deceived, who just pours alcohol into someone mouth without telling them what it is or checking for an I.D. I enjoyed my dinner and we found a designated driver for the rest of an evening. After that we went to a bar call the Blind Duck. While in the bar and under my involuntary intoxication I decided to make the bold statement that no amount of alcohol could make be throw up and I quote "I am too much of a man!" The next morning was spent shamefully cleaning the inside of the rental car. I think if I ever find that little Asian man again I might make him pay.
I spent most of today just taking some tours around Minot learning about the other side of my job. this Friday I should be able to go into a missile training silo for the Minuteman III. Really looking forward to seeing this because I have only had a chance to study the launch sites not actually see or experience one in person.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Had to take to Jen to the airport this evening. She is staying in Florida for 2 weeks with her family, I'm glad she will get to see her family before she leaves for Korea. I'll will be leaving for Minot this Sunday, looking forward to the break from work and possibly seeing some people I haven't seen since my Tech School. It's been a hassle all day getting the paperwork straight for the TDY. I have had a permanent head ache since noon. It will all be worth it though if I don't spend to much money up there, should be able to walk away with a few hundred in pocket.
Other then the TDY everything has been pretty stagnant. Got all my credits transferred to my CCAF degree and will be graduating soon, should be able to win the Pitsenbarger Award which would be a nice extra $400 to enjoy. Also, really looking forward to seeing my family as I get back from Minot. After that it's just wasting time until my departure date for Guam gets generated. I am trying to push up the date sometime in late October. Going to try and get into school hard when I get to Guam, probably try and work a night shift and go to school in the day. It all depends on the accreditation of the University of Guam and whether or not I will be able to transfer the credits I earn. If it doesn't work out I will be joining the Base Honor Guard Unit. It would be really neat if I could find a way too accomplish both, but not so sure if that could happen.
Other then the TDY everything has been pretty stagnant. Got all my credits transferred to my CCAF degree and will be graduating soon, should be able to win the Pitsenbarger Award which would be a nice extra $400 to enjoy. Also, really looking forward to seeing my family as I get back from Minot. After that it's just wasting time until my departure date for Guam gets generated. I am trying to push up the date sometime in late October. Going to try and get into school hard when I get to Guam, probably try and work a night shift and go to school in the day. It all depends on the accreditation of the University of Guam and whether or not I will be able to transfer the credits I earn. If it doesn't work out I will be joining the Base Honor Guard Unit. It would be really neat if I could find a way too accomplish both, but not so sure if that could happen.
Monday, July 9, 2012
Nice relaxing day today. Start work tomorrow, after such a long 4th of July weekend I'm not even sure I remember how to do my job. I'm sure the week will go by fast, it usually does. Then I will be off to Minot for a T.O. rewrite. My TDY worked out perfect it happened to be at the same exact time Jen was taking her vacation to Florida. It will be nice to have something to do while she is gone. Today we had the crazy idea to make sushi.
Turned out alright except for the fact that Jen can't stand the smell of seaweed. After, we determined just a shrimp filling wasn't enough. Also, I'm pretty sure the guy at the Asian Market tried to sell us the most expensive products he had, 5 simple ingredients turned out to be upwards of $40. I caught him trying to sell us a whole bag of sesame seeds when he had little containers on the back shelf and he tried to sell us this broke down rice cooker that had already been opened. I guess he can do that when everything is written in Japanese and he doesn't put a price tag on anything.
If anybody was wondering how to make sushi it's pretty simple. An easy guide to rolling all different kinds of sushi can be found at Makemysushi.com or you could just look up videos on Youtube. The ingrediants I used were:
Turned out alright except for the fact that Jen can't stand the smell of seaweed. After, we determined just a shrimp filling wasn't enough. Also, I'm pretty sure the guy at the Asian Market tried to sell us the most expensive products he had, 5 simple ingredients turned out to be upwards of $40. I caught him trying to sell us a whole bag of sesame seeds when he had little containers on the back shelf and he tried to sell us this broke down rice cooker that had already been opened. I guess he can do that when everything is written in Japanese and he doesn't put a price tag on anything.
If anybody was wondering how to make sushi it's pretty simple. An easy guide to rolling all different kinds of sushi can be found at Makemysushi.com or you could just look up videos on Youtube. The ingrediants I used were:
- Nori (Seaweed)
- Sushi Rice - Yes, it's diffrent then normal rice
- Shrimp
- Sriracha Hot Sauce
- Sesame Seeds
- Soy Sauce
- Wasabi
It's Sunday today, the day most people start dreading the work week. Lucky for me I don't start work until Tuesday. The three day weekend makes all the 12 hour shifts worth it. Honestly, I don't even feel like I work 12 hours. I'm pretty sure we get off early every day. It's starting to become a much better work atmosphere at my job. That's a much needed thing where I'm employed, everyone's finally smiling and laughing at work, truly I don't mind being there. I guess I should say what I do if anyone I don't personally know is reading this. I am a Missile maintenance Technician for the USAF I work on Air Launched Cruise Missiles. Here is a little picture of what I do.
The only difference is this picture is a little spiced up, I don't work under a black light. the Air Force does this with a lot of pictures, it automatically makes your job seem 10 times more interesting. What purpose would working under a black light serve other then putting me to sleep 10 minutes into work or maybe helping me spot out dirty stains on the missile like an episode of Room Raiders? I'm not sure but it's all ridiculous.
My Sunday started off early, I had to wake up Jenny, we still had some stuff to put in storage before she leaves for Kunsan AFB, Korea. It's sad that she will be leaving in 2 months, I wont be able to see her for 3 years. I wonder if our relationship will be able to last that long being thousands of miles away from each other. On the bright side I will be leaving For Anderson AFB, Guam later this year. That puts us closer together for 1 of the 3 years she will be gone. After Korea she will be headed to Germany for another 2. We like to talk about what we want to do once our tour with the military ends. We have decided on one thing, that we both want to travel. One thing I would like to do is a world cruise. Jenny found a great one on Princess.com. This particular cruise docks on 23 different locations around the world over 75 days. If the military would let me take that much leave I might have jumped on it this month.
The only difference is this picture is a little spiced up, I don't work under a black light. the Air Force does this with a lot of pictures, it automatically makes your job seem 10 times more interesting. What purpose would working under a black light serve other then putting me to sleep 10 minutes into work or maybe helping me spot out dirty stains on the missile like an episode of Room Raiders? I'm not sure but it's all ridiculous.
My Sunday started off early, I had to wake up Jenny, we still had some stuff to put in storage before she leaves for Kunsan AFB, Korea. It's sad that she will be leaving in 2 months, I wont be able to see her for 3 years. I wonder if our relationship will be able to last that long being thousands of miles away from each other. On the bright side I will be leaving For Anderson AFB, Guam later this year. That puts us closer together for 1 of the 3 years she will be gone. After Korea she will be headed to Germany for another 2. We like to talk about what we want to do once our tour with the military ends. We have decided on one thing, that we both want to travel. One thing I would like to do is a world cruise. Jenny found a great one on Princess.com. This particular cruise docks on 23 different locations around the world over 75 days. If the military would let me take that much leave I might have jumped on it this month.
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Today was a slow day, not much of anything happened. I worked on my computer and installed some new spyware. After finding out that my old email account had been hacked and had been used for who knows what. It's nice to know that all of it's taken care of. Like I said today was pretty boring other then the fact that it was a Double Exp weekend in Everquest. Played entirely to much.. But it was fun so whatever.
At the end of this week I will be heading out for my TDY. Otherwise known as Temporary Duty Yonder, yonder who would of thought that's what the "Y" stands for. The military is full of strange acronyms like that though. It's always a little fun to find out how they came about. As I mentioned before my TDY will be in Minot, AFB North Dakota. Still not sure what to expect or even if I should be excited being that I have to go up there with my supervisor who tried to hit me with some necessary paperwork. Even though it got rejected I start to wonder why he even tried..But I continue to stray from my main point, maybe that's because Minot is just not that interesting. When all anybody has to say about a place is that it's a frigid boring dot on the map in the middle of nowhere how can you be expected to be pumped about your arrival. Even still I guess it will be nice to get out of Louisiana for a little bit and see what the nuclear side of the job is like. I imagine it would just be strain with all the extra security and two person concepts.
At the end of this week I will be heading out for my TDY. Otherwise known as Temporary Duty Yonder, yonder who would of thought that's what the "Y" stands for. The military is full of strange acronyms like that though. It's always a little fun to find out how they came about. As I mentioned before my TDY will be in Minot, AFB North Dakota. Still not sure what to expect or even if I should be excited being that I have to go up there with my supervisor who tried to hit me with some necessary paperwork. Even though it got rejected I start to wonder why he even tried..But I continue to stray from my main point, maybe that's because Minot is just not that interesting. When all anybody has to say about a place is that it's a frigid boring dot on the map in the middle of nowhere how can you be expected to be pumped about your arrival. Even still I guess it will be nice to get out of Louisiana for a little bit and see what the nuclear side of the job is like. I imagine it would just be strain with all the extra security and two person concepts.
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