I'm Back

well in case any of you didn't know I made it back safe and sound. I've been back since January. I know a little late with the notice. I didn't do as well blogging as I would have hoped for but oh well, I'm sure most of you kept track through Facebook. For those of you that haven't, not much has changed. I still work at the same place I've been at for 10 years. I've got a girlfriend now. She's pretty cool, I think I'll keep her around a little longer.... OK I'm sure its more like she'll keep me around a little longer. She's way out of my league but I'm hoping she doesn't notice that. Well that's it. I'll write more in 21 months.

Back From Florida

Well I'm finally back. It was a long month but by the weather reports I kept hearing about I had perfect timing!!! Ha ha. Florida wasn't to bad weather wise. They said it was the coldest its been in 15 years. A lot of mornings we woke up to low 30's temp. The last week we hit the 80's a couple of times. I loved calling Minnesota and telling who I was talking to that yes it 2100 hrs (9pm) that I'm talking outside in shorts and a t-shirt. I got the F-you a few times. At least I thought it was funny. We did a lot of training and we kept hearing from all the graders that we were one of the best platoons that came through. We set a lot of set up time records. I feel lucky to be going with the group of guys that I'm going with. There is a lot of experience and the leaders all know what they are doing and have no problem explaining anything to dumb little privates like myself. I try to pick their brain as much as I can.
Well I'll be home for about 3 weeks. I can't give specific dates on the computer as I'm sure you know why. I'm hearing the rumblings of some people planning a going away party for the 21st so be prepared to come and drink.
There will also be a send off ceremony in River Falls at the university for anyone that wants to attend. I think it will be at like 1:30. We won't actually be leaving that day but...
Well thats all I have right now. Hopefully I'll see you all sometime this month. Take care.

Veterans Day

To all the veterans. Happy Veterans Day. Thank you for all you have done. With out your sacrifices this country wouldn't be the country it is today. So if you see a vet be sure to shake their hand and say thanks.

Adjustments Between 2 Lives

Each month I have Drill. Sometimes it's just for the weekend and other times it lasts all week, as was the case in October but with a deployment coming up sometimes this kind of crap happens. My frustration lies with in myself in trying to balance my 2 lives. A few days before, sometimes longer, I try and prepare myself to get in the "Army" mindset. A mind set that will help my in preparing to do unthinkable things if need be in the coming months. I go through different scenarios in my head that we have practiced and I try and imagine what I would do. I'm sure it's alot like athletes do before big games. I did. I just try to get into the Army mindset. During this process I find myself being short and getting angry at people for stupid stuff. Like a couple days before our last drill while standing in line this guy who gets all upset at the old lady in front of him at the counter who is buying lotto tickets and who in his opinion is taking to long who turns around and looks at me as if to say can you believe this lady. I smile but if this guy really knew what I was thinking. That the only thing keeping me from ripping this guys head off and using it as a soccerball is that last piece of straw that separates us from animals. Usually this kind of stuff wouldn't bother me. I would just think this guy is a jerk and carry on about my day. Sometimes though it stays with me a little longer. This mindset usually last a few day after I come back but I'm finding that the last couple of months it's not really going completely away. It's getting harder and harder to readjust to my real life each time I'm away. Maybe thats good. Maybe this is what most nornal people go through before their deployment and I'm just normal. Who knows. Or maybe if they would just fix Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid then this old lady wouldn't have to buy lotto tickets and then this guy would have never turned around. So I guess I'll just blame the government. LOL

First Blog

Well this is my first blog. I'm finally catching up with the times. I thought I would set something up to keep people up to date on what is going on. We will see how this goes. I'm not really big on writing but I'll try and keep this blog as truthful as I can. I figured this would be a good way for me to keep people updated. Well that's it for now.