My triumphant Return to the Skies

It's an older picture, from January 2005- my last flight at Gilenkirchen NATO Air Base. Last week, imagine me in this pose, but with a big 'ol shit eating grin. For 8.4 hours. Thats right, my first flight in 15 months. A lot of people said it would never happen. A lot more couldn't understand why. It's hard to say. Maybe it's because of these pictures.

The one on the right is from Alaska. Thats the glacier on Mt. McKinley, Denali National Park from about 18,000 feet.

Maybe it's this picture. Sure, you only see a couple guys around the jet, but it takes an incredible amount of teamwork to not only get that aircraft into the air, but to perform a mission effectively and safely, bringing everyone home every time. And I'm a part of that. My desk is 29,000 feet with a view most would die for.

Yes, there are times I shout out at myself "Why the hell am I doing this?!?!", or when we're only 200 AGL on a difficult approach with heavy rains and strong crosswinds, and the pilot is getting too slow on the airspeed and the stall warning system goes off... Or the time we hit windshear and bounced on the runway, then blew through a formation of F-15's that where in the visual pattern...

The sights I've seen... the people I've met... the things I have done. I really feel like I belong here, in the air, doing what I do best. If there is such a thing as reincarnation, I want to come back as a bird.

The Sky is Green and the Grass is Blue

In a remarkable turn of events, my Aeronautical Orders finally got straightend out. Although I was a bit miffed that they had basicly been sitting on someone's deck at the Flight Management Office for about a week. Seems the woman that handles them was on vacation, and my orders where at the bottom of a very large pile of paperwork that her office was saving up for her until she returned. I had to use my Jedi Powers and Mind Trick a Staff Sergeant into processing the orders so I could get back to flying. I'm scheduled to fly on the 19th of April. Woot!

In ANOTHER strange turn of events, someone near and dear to me broke up with her live in boyfriend. I was strangly detached from the entire situation. As a matter of fact, I don't think I really want to touch the entire situation with a 10' pole. HOWEVER, being the "Charlie Brown" kinda guy that I am, I'll be there for her. What a strange, twisted world my love life is. I suxor.

Spent the entire day on Saturday immersed in World of Warcraft. Wasn't my intention, but it happened anyways. I wanted to paint and play Warmachine at the local game store. In an unexpected gesture, I was offered one of my Guild's coveted spots on a Molten Core raid. How could I refuse? I went along and had a good time, and picked up my first piece of Tier 1 armor- Lawbringer Boots. After that, we ran on over and killed Onyxia. After THAT, we killed another dragon named Ysondra. Was a good day of raiding and I finished Saturday without hardly stepping foot outside.

So when Sunday rolled around, I was feeling a tad guilty. I was supposed to go to the 30th Annual Medeval Fair down in Norman, Oklahoma. One of my roommates was at his Sunday Morning Cult meeting, and the other was still in bed. So I pulled an OKC White Trash move and sat outside in the sunshine in my PJ's and slippers, sipping on coffee, and making a bunch of phone calls to friends. One finally convinced me to goto the Medeval Fair, and I'm glad I did. Had a good time. It's fun to see all the people in costume, and the singing and play-swordfights/jousts. It's a pretty big deal, and one of the few things I missed about OKC.

A C-5 Galaxy crashed today during an Emergency Return to Dover AFB. EVERYONE onboard (17 souls!) survived with light injuries! We talked about it for a bit at work. Was remarkable that no one died. I hope something like that never happens to me. Knock on wood!

Life seems to be going well for me. And I'm pretty happy about it. Why is the sky Green and the grass blue? Just seems that everything is upside down, but in a good way.

Promotion Testing

Tomarrow I get to face the Yearly Ritual of Promotion in the Air Force. For many, it is the beginning of Passover. A state of being in which one is full of hope and optimissum until the results of the Weighed Airman Promotion System. In a cynical and often cruel ceremony, the Squadron Commander gets notified of anyone under his/her/it's command that will be promoted the day before the actual results are published to the rest of the Air Force. Said Commanders will then have some kind of formation or single out said person in front of your working peers to say "Congratulations on making ! Your hard work, dedication, and motivation to the Air Force has paid off! Not only will you be getting more pay, but more responsibility and oppurtunites for your career! Everyone is proud of you!".

This of course could not be farthur from the truth, especially if it's someone that hasn't been in as long as you, and especially if you both tested during this testing cycle.

And so, they celebrate passover by gathering the other "losers" and drinking large quantities of beer. The "Winners" go off and celebrate as well- but the "Losers" usually don't go along.

This year, I'm going to be a looser. I just haven't studied enough- or enough to make me doubt the outcome. Yes, this year, I won't be making another stripe. There is always next year.

Another Day, Another.... ?

Yeah, I totally agree with this picture. I faced one or two of them today.

I'm still not flying yet. Erg. Soon, I hope.

I saw this today, and well, it was just sad. And funny too. In a very sick, twisted sort of way. I'm going to hell for sure. Check it out. http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/03/14/beauty.queen.death.ap/index.html

"Miss Deaf Texas Struck by Train, Killed" reads the headline. She apearently was walking too close to some railroad tracks, and, well, didn't hear the train.

OK, moving on. Went to the zoo the other day and had a great time. My favorite animal?

Pretty, eh? Didn't get to see any lions. Well, not completely true. I got to see the top of ones ears- they where hiding. No Wolves either. However, as zoo's go, it was still pretty impresive. Score one for OKC!

What else? Nodda. Trying to get motavated to paint. Ugh. I like to paint, I want to paint, I just... can't. Blah.

Onward!

Sometimes, it's just hard to update...

Yup- thats me.

Good Stuff: I got my stuff delievered to my friends' house, and am now sleeping on a bed again. Feels Fraking Great!

Work is going very well- I spent just about my entire day posting changes to my Flight Manual- 13 of them!!! Oh My Gawd! First off, the Flight Manual is about 1300 pages. Each change had about 100 pages to change. You have to start sequentialy, that is, the basic Tech Order first. Then Change one- remove the "bad" pages, and replace with the "Good" pages. Took me about 6 hours to do the whole thing. Tomarrow, I get to bump it against the index to see if I got all the Changes correct (called 'A' Paging). Busy work in the extreme, but ya know what? I loved every minute of it.

Started my Iron Kingdoms d20 Campaign "Witchfire Trilogy". fun stuff. Of course, all my players have pre-rolled an additional 3-5 characters. I seem to rack up the PK's when I DM. >:)

I've also started playing Mechwarrior- Click, click, boom as my friends call it.

Yeah, it's Clickytech, but it has a few things going for it. No assembly, no painting, pull it from the box and start playing. It's also pretty much a no brainer to play- or at least it was. It's gotten a little more complicated since I first started playing. Still, it's a beer and pretzles kinda game.

How are ya liking the pictures? I've deceided to start jazzing things up a bit around here.

Have you been keeping up with BSG? Apollo is now the Commander of "The Beast"- and their isn't a better person in the fleet for it! Kinda throws my earlier predictions off a bit about the Pegasus getting blown up, eh? I mean, they can't kill Apollo off, can they? Of concern to me now though is the previews of the season finale- the Chief looks like crap, and in one scene, someone dressed in the orange Ground Crew coveralls is taking a swan dive off a high rail. Come on Chief! Buck up! It'll be all right, just stick with it...

OK, thats all for today. Oh yeah, a few links to check out:

http://www.chairforce.com

http://rrrrrrrrrrrrrnnnnnnnnnnhhhh.blogspot.com/

Enjoy!

A Good Day

Have you ever had one of those days where just everything worked out? That things just "Went Your Way"? How about a day when you felt like you could do no wrong?

Today was one of those days for me. It's funny how often I would wear BDU's to work instead of a Flight Suit when I had office duty. Then for a year I wasn't allowed to wear a Flight Suit. Today, I did. It's funny how wearing a "Plastic Bag" can alter the way you feel about yourself. Or maybe it was the Leather Jacket and all the prestige that goes with it. I dunno. It just felt FRAKING GREAT to be wearing a Flight Suit and my Leather Jacket.

The day started blah. Grey overcast day, cold, got up late. What a way to start the day. Went to the BX, got a cup of mocha java, then sat down in the Barber Shop. Wasn't expecting much- I just never get a good haircut. Today, I got a kick-arse haircut! Perfect IMHO. I then did a quick walkthru of the BX and heard a guy excitedly talking on his cell phone-

"Dude! They just got eight of 'em in! Three are already gone! Hurry!"

So, I wondered over to the Video Game section to see what the fuss was about. Found a couple salespeople and others standing about.

"And low and behold! Holy Flourescent light shine'ed down upon low. Yeah, did the Circle of Red Coats surround the alter and chant in low tones. The Green robed worshippers hath also gathered around. For there laying low was the Green and White box of the house of Microsoft, father of Xbox that beget THE XBOX 360 !!! "

The item I waited in line for FOUR HOURS in freezing snow weather outside a Best Buy in the Gawd Forsaken Hours of Pre-dawn back in November. /dance

Ok, so the ol' Credit Card took a hit today. :)

From there, it was on to the Squadron, where I was surrounded by people that just had a purpose, and knew what had to be done. It just doesn't get any better than that for me. I actually got to talk shop with some old buddies, and I'm really looking forward to the future.

Hope is a powerful thing.

On to that other thing I edited from the records. Expectations. /Bah

Found a place to live- but an apartment won't be available until sometime after May. So I'm throwing some of my stuff in storage and staying with some friends. Good times.

I'm starting a Iron Kingdoms campaign for my old gaming group. And getting into a Warmachine group, and Mechwarrior. Good times ahead!

Expectations

First off, I made it to OKC just fine. Woot. The ol' Jeep isn't quite as fast as my Mustang- so I was getting passed a lot. It's also a bit more thirsty. Oh, and if you ever drive into Casper, Wyomig, DO NOT stay at the Motel 6 just off the highway at the second exit. It SUXOR BAD. Took three days to get here. I stopped the second night in Salina, KS. Pronounced Sol-on-a. Don't know why, won't know how, but there ya go. Sorry for saying Salina at the Chili's there folks. It's all good.

Second, in World of Warcraft, my Guild Quixotic finally took down the dragon Onyxia and I got my fancy new, BFS- thats Big Fraking Sword to you uninitiated into the wonderful world of MMORPGs. I was very happy, and fell asleep dreaming happy thought.

Third, I reported for duty today. Saw some people I knew from a long time ago (2002! LOL). We worked a little bit on a plan to get me up and flying again- but for the most part, they said "Take care of your stuff, and when your done, come back and tell us your ready to fly". I think I can do that. Gotta find a place to live first. I really want to move into a house- but from my limited search so far, the houses around the base are... ghetto. Or at least the ones for rent. Looks like apartment living for me once again. :(

Now for the meat of the post. Expectations.

A GREAT DEAL OF THIS POST HAS BEEN EDITED BY ME. SORRY, BUT SOMETIMES, YOU CAN GET A LITTLE TOO PERSONAL.

-->twist and pivot my perception of reality a bit if you please<-- LIFE GOES ON

---Maybe someday I will explain why that phrase has a special meaning to me---

What really scares me is that I think I still love her. :(