Monthly Archives: October 2008
Guess Who’s Back?
Yes! I’ve finally got my internet and cable hooked back up here in my new dorm room. So far everything is going well in my new room. It’s a bigger room, so that’s always good…and the people on my floor seem to share my interest of loud music, so I fit right in, lol. Now, I’m gonna recap everything that’s been happening with me during the last week!
On Thursday and Friday of last week, I worked at what’s called the ‘alert facility’. It’s the building where the pilots hang out while they are on ‘alert’…such as during a war when they need to run to their planes in a hurry and take off for some reason. It’s set up to house several crews at a time, and the planes are parked just outside the building. My job there was to help move and build some new furniture for the rooms. It was ok, and it got me out of the office for a couple of extra days.
Saturday, we opened the airfield at about 2pm, and we worked until just before 7pm. The Governor of North Dakota flew in for an activation ceremony. Our local National Guard unit was activated. We also had some high ranking Generals come in for the ceremony.
On Sunday, I went to church at 2pm like I normally do now. My co-worker met up with me there for the first time. After church, I went downtown for some food and then lounged out for the rest of the day.
Jeff called me Monday night to tell me he made it to Las Vegas safely. He was kind of nervous to fly since it was his first time, but he made out well. He was given the grand tour of the Vegas strip and he even won almost $200 his first time playing a slot machine! 
They plan on taking a side trip to San Diego before heading back to Maine I guess. He had planned to attend the live broadcast of TNA on Spike TV, but the tickets were all sold out by the time he looked into buying one.
Yesterday I had a follow-up dental appointment. The dentist has been working on a baby tooth that never came out, and he’s trying to make it so that I won’t have to have it pulled. It’s one of my bottom molars. He said that over time, if a baby tooth that small doesn’t come out naturally, it will eventually wear down enough to make it necessary to have it pulled out before it reaches the root. He also said that if I ever were to get a cavity in it, that the best option would be to yank it out. He said I can probably keep it for another 5-10 years or so, but that eventually it’ll need to come out regardless. He wants me to look into getting an assignment at a base that has a lot of medical specialties such as Lackland AFB, Eglin AFB, etc…so that if it came to it having to be pulled, it could be done by a specialist and not just a dentist…if that makes any sense?
Today’s been interesting. I finished my first volume of CDC’s, which are guides that you have to review and then take tests on at the end of each one to become proficient at your career field specialty. I passed the first test with a 97%, then corrected it to a 100% after, so that’s good. It had 68 questions, all multiple choice. I also went to the Health Clinic with my Airfield Manager. We both had appointments for our PHA, which means ‘preventative health assessment’. I had to have my final Hepatitis A and B shots done and then I had to go to the Laboratory to have some blood drawn and do the whole piss-in-a-cup thing…
If you’re still reading this, I’m not done yet, so fair warning!
Over the past week, I’ve had a ton of free time on my hands. I also have some big news! Not only did I completely finish two new lyrics, but one of them happens to be “Just After Sunset”!
Later on this evening I’m participating in the league bowling tournament again at 5pm, then I’ll be coming back to watch Ghost Hunters at 8pm. I work again tomorrow, but then I have Friday and Saturday off. After my 2 days off, I work Sunday, Monday and Tuesday – all 12 hour shifts from 6am until 6pm. Then, I get the next 4 days off after that.
Ok, I think this is the longest post in the history of blogging!
Explosions!
Well, today I spent most of my time wounded, on the floor of our base gym. I never died after all! We got to the the base theater at 9:30am, and that’s where they told us what we would be doing for our victim roles. My role was to play a guy who, after an explosion occurred, couldn’t walk and had lower back and hip pain. After the make-up and wounds were put on the “victims”, they bussed us to the gym where the terrorist act was to occur. Most of the base had no clue what was about to happen, and at 12:30pm, they set off a few loud explosions around base over the loudspeaker, and then set off some smoke bombs in front of the gym to simulate an attack. We were spread all over the gym to make it more realistic for the fire department. We pretty much sat around inside for a few hours until they gave us instructions to leave the building and whatnot, then they transported us to the hospital where they simulated an emergency situation and “treated” us. It was pretty much a hurry up and wait type of deal for the most part. I met some cool new people though while I was there, so that’s good at least.
This might be my last post for about a week or so. Hopefully I can find some sort of an internet connection in my new dorm, but it’s doubtful until I get it hooked up in my room next Wednesday. The only thing left to move is my TV now, and I’ll move that after Ghost Hunters, lol. If you have my number, call me if you want in the meantime until I get my connection back.
Take care! Bye!
Kyle…Dead?
I got out of work early yet again today, due to the fact that I am participating in a base exercise tomorrow morning, starting at 9:30am. The hospital is putting on some safety demonstrations, and I volunteered to play the part of….a dead guy. And then, I believe, I am playing the part of someone who is contaminated with some sort of deadly agent. I guess it should be fun…?
I also called up my cable/internet provider and scheduled an appointment for next Wednesday at 1pm so I can get my services switched to my new room. I carried my stereo over in pieces tonight to my new place and my lamp as well. I’ll have it all finished up tomorrow, right on time for Thursday morning’s outprocessing appointment with CDM.
I believe they are giving me tomorrow off from work due to the fact that we aren’t sure when the safety demonstrations will be over. My supervisor just said that if it goes much past 1pm, not to worry about going into work after. However, I have to stop in to see my Deployment Manager to get my Winter cold weather gear after the exercise is finished.
The only thing left to do tonight is find something to eat! Bye!
Monday, Monday – It’s Only Monday
Hey everyone. I just saw a new TV trailer for Saw V…and it looks better with every new trailer! I’m watching the new ‘Unsolved Mysteries’ on Spike TV. I’m not sure how I feel about it yet. New host, new music, new format – yeah, I’m not sure I like it very much.
I spent a bit more time moving today. I’m just about done. I also talked to Jennifer for a little while. Her and her husband have been a bit under the weather and they were forced to miss Retro Night! 
I also set up a new email account. I’m gonna slowly be moving my primary address to Gmail instead of Yahoo.
That’s it!
Worship Fest 2008
Normally I would have posted at least one blog by this point in the day, considering it’s a day off, but I’ve been a bit busy! I woke up around 1pm – keeping in mind I went to bed early this morning at about 4:30am – and then I got ready for church. When I got to the church, I asked Chaplain Todd where the band equipment was, and he said they were setting most of it up downtown at the Oak Park Theater for the Worship Fest 2008 concert tonight. So, during church, I thought about it for a while and decided I was gonna go down and check it out. I left around 5:30, since it started at 6pm, and actually got there a few minutes late because I got lost, haha! Hey, give me a break…I’m still new to this area! The concert featured 5 of Minot’s worship bands, Including the Minot AFB band as I stated earlier. Yes, I am a bit biased, but the Minot AFB worship band closed out the event, and they were simply amazing. All of the bands were amazing as a matter of fact. The show lasted for about 2 hours and 15 minutes.
The move over to my new room is going well still. I really haven’t got much more left to move. I’m waiting until Tuesday night or Wednesday before I move over my TV and Stereo…because I’ll go insane if I have to be without it for a few days. I’m gonna try calling Jeff now and see if he’s around to talk, then watch the rest of Final Destination 3! Goodnight!
Quarantine
For the most part, I’d have to say ‘Quarantine’ was a pretty good movie. It’s comparable to ‘Cloverfield’ – mostly because the entire movie is from the perspective of a camera that a character is carrying. It had plenty of jumpy moments – as well as plenty of humorous moments. I don’t think it’ll be one I’m gonna go out and buy, but it’s definitely not a waste of money to go see in theaters either.
I moved a few more things over to my new room after I got back and ate…now I’m listening to the Z94 party dance mix…and blogging of course. A couple years ago I never even understood the concept of blogging, but now I see why it’s so addictive.
Enjoy what’s left of the weekend – or long weekend if you’re lucky enough like I am to have Monday off as well!
Another Movie Adventure!
I think this evening I’m gonna go downtown and see ‘Quarantine’. I was going too last night, but honestly, I forgot all about it until around midnight, lol. I’ll probably catch the 5:25 showing of it. I’ve just been packing and moving some more of my stuff to my new dorm this afternoon. Nothing all too exciting is going on this weekend other than the normal things.
My lyric, ‘Pray for You’, seems to be a monster at the moment. It’s still getting good reviews online, and It’s approaching 130 views on musesmuse.com. The Muses Muse is where I post my lyrics for critique, if you were wondering at all. I do think, in the near future, I am going to look into sending a bunch of my work into the copyright office for a license. As it is right now, if someone performs any of my lyrics, I don’t get paid any royalties from it…and I’m not gonna be happy with anyone performing my lyrics for free, that’s for sure. I’m looking into ASCAP and BMI to register my lyrics with as well. They are the agencies that make sure royalties are paid accordingly.
It’s kind of overcast today…well not ‘kind of’….it’s REALLY overcast today. It’s only 3:30pm and I’m gonna have to turn on a light here soon I think. Oh geez…I sound like my grandmother now…
Anyway, I might post later on after the movie and tell you how it turned out. Please…don’t let it be anything like ‘Blindness’ was…
Getting Older…
…Is something that’s been on my mind lately. The last couple of months, one of the main things that has been on my mind is the fact that I’m getting older, and I’m not a part of the ‘indestructible’ teenager years anymore. I’m only 23, I know, but I’mnot 22. When I was 22, I wasn’t 21. I think I might be going though the last phase of the transition into adulthood, if that makes any sense to you. It took me a little over 5 years, but the transition is almost over, and I’m having a bit of a rough time accepting it I think. A few years ago, Myspace was the ‘cool’ thing to do for people my age. Now, I can barely get anyone to look at it, and I certainly don’t have any desire to keep updating it these days. When I was back home, with all of my old friends, I think it helped keep me ‘younger’ in a sense. Now that I’ve moved, the last phase of this transition has moved faster that I would have liked it too, but I still wouldn’t trade what I’m doing for anything this world has to offer.
I think it’s funny how I’m just now thinking about these kinds of things. My life is great, I still have wonderful friends, a great career, a great family and my health, so I can’t complain about any of that. It’s just that I’m realizing now that time goes by whether you want it to or not, and you can’t take back anything that’s already passed you by. In less than 7 years, I’m going to be 30 years old. I can’t even come to grasp that yet. Just yesterday, I was walking down the halls of my old high school. It’s amazing how fast the time goes by when you don’t have any more magical ages to look forward to…like driving at 16, being an adult at 18, and drinking at 21….after that, what is there?
Any thoughts?
What a great day!
I woke up this morning at about 5:15 and got ready for work. Work was amazing! The Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force was holding interviews for about an hour this morning with the local news stations, so he was in our building in the DV lounge. The ‘DV’ stands for ‘Distinguished Visitor’…more or less for important or high ranking people. He came out to our office for a little while and chatted with us and shook all of our hands. Just to put it in perspective, the chain of command goes like this, from the top:
- President of the United States
- Secretary of Defense
- Secretary of the Air Force
- Air Force Chief of Staff
- Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force
Chief McKinley
So, it’s quite an honor to meet someone like him. After he and a General left, our Squadron Commander came in and wanted to know why we had so many people working this morning, since it was meant to be a ‘minimum manning’ day. My supervisor sent me home around 9am.
I moved a few more boxes worth of stuff to my new dorm room, and then took a nap for a few hours. After I woke up, I moved even more stuff, including my rock collection. That was, for lack of a better phrase, a pain in the ass. Moving all of my rocks is one thing, but keeping them together and then keeping track of the accountability on them is another thing. I’ve made a bit of a dent in my room, so these next few days should go smoothly. A couple people from my shop have volunteered to help me this weekend if need be, so that’s a plus.
I’m about to order some food here soon. I haven’t decided if I want to go bowling or not. I haven’t used my new ball yet so I might head over and bowl a few practice games. But for now that’s all I have! Have a wonderful night!
