Post #5

This is why everyone should consider joining the Air Force:

We had a fund raiser today to raise money for the squadron Christmas party and random things that pop up (like if a military spouse needs something and their husband/wife is deployed, the squadron may be able to help) so we had a golf tournament and had the day off from work to accomplish this. So we showed up in civilian clothes and golfed. Carts with beer, snacks, chips etc. were driven around to us in case we wanted to buy stuff to further support the squadron.

The carts were full of Hooters girls.

Now, I don't like going to Hooters. Their food is awful. But these girls volunteered their time for free to come out and help us out (not really doing anything but posing for pictures and flirting) and I think that's pretty cool.

For the record, this was my first time playing golf. I enjoyed it but after seven or so holes, I was done. I don't know how people can go a full 18. I think maybe if the kids are in to it, I'll get in to it too, but for now I'll save my money for more important things.

We received an award too. A spray-painted gold playstation controller that said stick to Tiger Woods golf because we sucked. The whole team, save one, was out on their first golf outing. So us sucking was expected.

But where else are you going to get a day off from work to golf, drink beer, hang out with friends, AND all the money raised will go to making your future parties great and your families a little more secure?

Go Air Force!

Post #4

I have good news and I have bad news. And contrary to the way everyone usually likes to hear the delivery, I’ll tackle the good news first, then the bad.

So the good news: I found my iPod. It was under a couch cushion.

Unfortunately (bad news) I found it AFTER I took a PT test today. If you walk around a walking track twelve times, it’s tough to stay motivated, tough to stay moving at a decent pace and it gets REALLY boring. So boring your mind starts to drift and you don’t even realize that your pace has slowed drastically. No kidding, a blue jay landed on a tree branch and I almost stopped to look at it. I slowed considerably and caught myself just in time.

Man, I hate PT tests. I know I’m not alone in this either. I understand the need for them, I understand the desire for the AF to keep you trim (you look better in your uniform – no one wants a slob working for them) and fit (so you, you know, won’t die after running a mile in a bullet-proof vest) BUT it still sucks that you’re being evaluated in an official capacity on your body. I don’t know, there’s just SOMETHING about it that freaks me out, borderline scares me.

Maybe it’s because it feels like – as they wrap the tape measure around your waist – they’re measuring your worth. Your whole worth, summed up in your body, the thing that, as a member of the USAF, you probably don’t use that often. Nothing to do with your intellect, nothing to do with your job skills or leadership skills or anything that really matters, none of it comes in to play. But if you have a 40” waist, oh boy, you better watch out.

And this just seems a little wrong to me. Maybe it wouldn’t be as bad if it wasn’t such a HUGE thing to the AF. If you fail to meet the requirements, they can kick you out. How bad would it feel to be kicked out of a job you were qualified for, that you were good at, in a career where you were excelling in ALMOST every way, but you happened to eat fast food too much? And because of that, you got kicked out.

That’s a little ridiculous.

Oh well. It’s not like one guy is going to change this.

But I went out and walked my three miles (I can’t run) and my scores were good. Unfortunately it was a practice test so I get to do it again next week. I wouldn’t be so damn angry if I had FAILED the test, because it was a practice test and I was just seeing where I was after ALS. I’m more mad at myself for not having the confidence to say I can still do it.

But oh man, I’m mad at myself. Not cool, Russ. Not flipping cool.

I like to end most things on a positive note though so here we go: Next week, as I wake up early to drive to work to get evaluated again for a test I have absolutely zero faith in just so I can say that I’m worthy to stick around for one more year, I’ll step out into the chilly air and I will definitely have my iPod ready to go.

Post #3

During Thanksgiving of 2007, Amazon released their Kindle. While ereaders had been around for a while, this was a big step forward both in terms of use and book availability. It was likened to the first iPod.

Then Amazon released the Kindle 2, which featured "upgrades" that slimmed down the body, streamlined the keyboard, made the page turn buttons smaller and stronger, sped up the page turning process and got rid of the expandable memory, supposedly in favor of getting the body as slim as possible.

But the Kindle has some problems too. Mainly that it's a little pricey. The price has dropped significantly since its release, but it's always been a bit high and there's also a big threat of them acting in a very Big Brother fashion.

They can reach into your device and take what you bought if it doesn't seem legitimate or make changes to your library without you knowing it. It would be like if someone went into your house and started marking out words in your books o taking them altogether because they were borrowed from a friend.

A student was using the Kindle and its handy note taking feature in a college class only to have Amazon pull the book off of his system and now he has no book for the class and is pissed. Amazon manned up though and said they're sorry and gave him back his notes but without the text nearby, the notes are practically useless. They also said they would never do something like this again.

They also offer services that other ereaders are offering but Amazon is wanting to charge you for the service and the others aren't.

Since the Kindle has been released, I'm sure many people in the industry are thinking that this is the iPod of books and they want to get in on a lower floor. Look at what happened with Apple. No one else wanted to support MP3 formats and the iPod became the king of MP3 players and now you can ask someone if they have an iPod and they'll say yes and caveat it with "well, it's a Sansa." "Ipod" has become synonymous with MP3 player, much like Kleenex has become synonymous with tissues.

Because of this we have good looking competition from Sony and Barnes & Noble.

Honestly, for me the “benefits” of buying the Nook from Barnes & Noble or the Amazon Kindle just don’t work for me. I will never use text to speech, especially when it sounds like a robot. I can barely make it through automated phone recordings so how can I expect myself to make it through Brave New World? This is not an actor or the author reading the book, this is a machine reading it. Not cool to me.

Also, why on EARTH would I want MP3 features on my reader? It is NOT a computer, why should it be treated like one?

I don’t really understand pictures on readers either, but would rather have the reader to have that capability because it probably means that it could handle illustrations in books.

The dictionary. Whenever I didn’t know a word, my parents made me look it up in the big heavy dictionary. The work put forth in finding it helped me remember the word and its definition. I thank my parents for this because I’m pretty sure it’s what has helped the most with my vocabulary. The Sony does not have an instant dictionary where the Nook and Kindle does but again, the work of finding the word will help you remember what it means.

I also don’t need a web browser on my reader. I just don’t. The reason it’s there in the first place on the Nook and Kindle is because they want you to be able to buy books from them and since you have access to that, they have access to you.

I’m not TOO worried about Big Brother but stay the heck away from my devices.

All the perks of the Kindle and the Nook are probably not going to be applicable to me. I probably won’t be hanging out with other Nook users who have their reader on them and happen to want to lend me a book of theirs for 14 days. I’m not interested in paying way too much for newspapers and abbreviated magazines either.

But the Sony, ah, the Sony. What a great looking reader. It does not offer expandable memory, but honestly, since I’m not going to be paying for a NY Times subscription, and have no interest in MP3s or pictures, how am I going to fill up any level of memory when a normal book is 2mb? And when I finish, am I going to hold on to it or am I going to get it off of my device and into the folder that has all of my other finished books in it? I want my device as clean as possible so I can see which books I have that I’m in the middle of and which books I have that I still need to read.

The price is decent too. At 200 bucks I can get the reader, have access to Google Books which is all but a book dealer themselves now, AND Sony’s bookstore which might cause some healthy competition. Sony’s shop offers books in series at a discounted price too when they’re in bundles. Prices are comparable to Amazon’s shop (B&N is still pricey even in electronic form) too.

It doesn’t have text to speech nor a web browser, nor pictures, nor lending, nor any of that other stuff. It’s just a solid reader with the ability to get books from multiple sources (when Amazon and B&N realize that they should be offering an inexpensive device that can go to different sources they’ll sell more) and at a decent price point too. You can’t beat it, honestly. Not at the price.

I plan on getting it because it doesn’t have all that fluff that, while cool, I’ll never use. AND it doesn’t connect via internet and no one cares what I have on my device.

Take the hint, Amazon and B&N!

Post #2

I seem to have misplaced my iPod. This really bumms me out. I know I had it the night that I graduated (the 28th), because my mom was commenting that Metallica whom the iPod was playing (Damage Inc.) came to town and she didn't even know it.

I'm not quite sure if Mom could handle a Metallica show. I can't remember the last time I ever saw a mosh pit break out at a Metallica show though so maybe she could. I know she REALLY likes the black album and not too much else, so it may end up a disappointing night for her until they play the obligatory Enter Sandman.

God I hate the black album. It was a fine album until my dad decided to play it in the car for (no exaggeration here) 14 months straight. If you listen to ANYTHING for 14 months, you're bound to feel the same way I do. And he would always go back to track number 1 to start the trip off so I could be sure to listen to the first five or six songs and little else.

*shudder*

But moving on. I know it's around somewhere. I need it though. The iPhone is not the best for listening to music in the car what with AT&T's screeching speaker interference, or the fact you have to slide to open then press track forward, backward, menu, etc. The classic set up is much easier to navigate without taking your eyes off the road.

I have got to find that thing.

Ah yes, tomorrow I plan on posting about ereaders, so watch out. My love for the Kindle has taken an odd turn, one I'm not sure it can come back from and what with Sony's new ones and now even Barnes & Noble has one so research needs to be done in case anyone out there is planning on using my info as research of their own for their ereader-buying experience (if so, please let me know your opinions because I'm still a bit on the fence about which to get).

Until tomorrow!

Post #1

Well, it seems that I've missed day one of Noblopomo this year so... dangit. BUT I figured I'll do it anyway and extend to December 1st. I think that's fair.

So what's new in Kid Land? Annie moved to a big girl bed last night. We had to move the nightlight she's used to which is a brass turtle with light-up shell (very cool) because it was just too obvious that there was a plug attached. This might mean that she would follow the cord to the wall and pull out the plug. I'm not worried about her pulling the plug or putting her fingers in the holes afterward but perhaps completing the circuit with the plug halfway out and electrocuting herself... yeah, that crossed my mind.

But after the initial meltdown of not being in the familiar crib, she calmed down and actually slept pretty good. I hear she even had a great nap today.

In Adam news, Adam has a misshaped head. We were a little worried about it, and the pediatrician referred us to a shaping doctor (I think they're called "orthontists") who said that it's purely cosmetic and it isn't impacting his brain at all and the unevenness would probably work itself out as he grew BUT that didn't stop him from doing scans and seeing just how much is wrong with his head.

Now, an interjection. My kid is not Quasimodo or anything. He looks fine but we noticed that in the back of his head he has a flat spot.

Anyway, he said he wanted Adam to wear a helmet and work up to wearing it for 23 hours a day for an indeterminate amount of time.

Tricare does not cover the helmet. The nurses said it was because Tricare considers the helmet to be... optional. Whether that's true or not is beyond me. The helmet costs 2,100.00 and THAT means that Adam is going to have to develop a good personality because we just can't pay for that. He'll get dates, no worries though. He's got eyes that will probably attract the chicks like moths to a flame.

Meanwhile for me, it was supposed to be back to the grind today but between having to take Adam to the doc and having to do some currency things, I was just unable to do any work.

Tomorrow though...

Can I Brag A Little?

Well, tonight was graduation night of Airman Leadership School. 192 class room hours, multiple homework assignments, several speeches, a large number of classroom discussions, interactions, learning about leadership, about taking care of your people and basically how to be the best Non Commissioned Office you can be. It was... rough. So many of the nights I spent doing homework or studying and my lovely wife would watch the kids or accommodate me in some way and it's been a bit trying, but I explained to her that this is worth it. This is the first time in my career that I stood up and took control of my CAREER and it wasn't just going along with the flow, or letting others dictate MY action. I stayed up and studied harder than necessary and before the last test, I was more than happy to volunteer my time helping out in study groups all weekend.

To my wife I say thank you because without you there to help me I wouldn't have done as good as I did.

And how good did I do? Well, there are several awards you can win. You can win an academic award which is just top dog for grades only, you can win a distinguished graduate award which is for those in the top 10% of the class that not only showed great academic excellence but also leadership capabilities. You also have the leadership award which is chosen by the school Commandant, and finally the Levitow award which trumps all awards in prestige. The thing about the Levitow though is that if you win it, you can't win anything else.

I was in direct competition with someone and it was mainly out of fun, but we have a bit of a history of rivalry so it was a motivator and in the end, the first award they called was for the academic and it went to me. I was shocked because I'm pretty sure I wasn't the top as far as grades. I was pretty sure I was in second place, but hey, who am I to turn down an award? So I haul myself up to the front and get my very first plaque from the USAF and go sit back down. Oh, there were handshakes from EVERYWHERE and I even got my very first coin handed to me by a commander which was pretty freaking awesome. To get a coin given to you by a person who gets coins ISSUED to them is awesome because they have to inventory all the coins they give out and to whom it was given.

I was pretty happy. Then they called the leadership award and it went to my flight commander and she was more than deserving. She dedicated a ton of personal time to make sure that her flight was taken care of (and she brought in cookies on test days)and there was never a question of whether or not she was there coaching everyone on. The great thing is usually flight commanders don't receive awards because their performance slips because they're too busy helping out their flight members.

Next up was distinguished graduate. They said my squadron and I looked at the only other guy from my squadron there and then they called my name.

My name.

The Colonel that handed me the statue said that what I did was really impressive to her.

I believe it. I was stunned. More handshakes, one more coin. I was super happy.

Then the next DG award (class size dictates how many are given out) was given to my new buddy Sparky who deserved it very much.

Finally the Levitow was given to the Airman with whom I was competing against and before we got our diplomas, I congratulated her and said I was proud of her and she said the same to me. Our flight took ALL the awards and every recipient was sitting next to each other in class too.

But getting the awards were just a small part of the joy, honestly. I felt great that I was now validated. I could look at my supervisor and let them know that their Airman did something that was pretty cool and honestly, I couldn't have done it if I hadn't been groomed by them beforehand. And my mom and her boyfriend was there and that was cool too. I've known Mom's boyfriend since I was ten and he's always been a very strong presence in my life and I'm glad that they could have been there to see it.

Unfortunately Kim wasn't there and to be honest, I missed her very much. I recorded a speech given by a Chief about the importance of spouses, but it would have been cool for her to see me get called up to the front both times. I can't give credit to my supervisors for grooming me without giving credit to my wife for letting me be groomed. She's been more than patient with me in the AF and I only hope that the small tangible things I get can somehow make her proud enough to forget or forgive the long nights alone with the kids while I was busy writing a paper or practicing a speech.

I love you, Kim. More than any amount of words these fingers could ever type. They could pound on keyboard after broken keyboard until the fingers were mere nubs at the end of time and it would still be sorely lacking in telling you the depth and strength of my love for you.

Well, everyone, I think I've bragged enough. Thanks for your time and have a great day!

-Pappy

The Annoying Guy

You know what annoys the crap out me? Return characters that are bad. This applies to both TV, movies and real life, by the way. I hate it when some douche is in your life for some reason or another, then they leave and they're gone for so long that you let out that breath you never realized you were holding. Ah, a rush of relief.

But then that same person comes back in and you just want to scream at him that you were fine without them here. "WHY ARE YOU HERE?" You want to ask. "GET OUT! DON'T COME BACK! LIFE WAS MUCH BETTER WITHOUT YOU AND YOUR INPUT!"

I swear to god it's a like a stray dog you feed once.

So you ignore it and hope it goes away and eventually it does but then some stupid friend of yours drops half of a burger at a BBQ and doesn't clean it up enough and guess who comes back?

It's miserable.