The Chaplain's Coin - (Germany) Day 441

The chaplain's challenge coin I was given 

(blurred out the name only because I don't use real names in my journal)

This morning for PT we headed to Patton gym, the normal folks did circuit training while those of us on profile headed into the gym for our own workout. I rode the stationary bike for some cardio since I didn't get much of anything yesterday.

I headed into my office and after checking the road conditions and weather reports, let the chaplain know it may be better if we don't do any traveling today. He was looking for an excuse not to make the drive up to Landstuhl today, so this was his way out. In truth it was snowing lightly outside and it was very icy with both Heidelberg and Landstuhl showing road conditions as amber.  So without any driving to do today, I concentrated on work I needed to do here. I started a new college class, so that was priority number one. I then moved on to studying some for my Apple re-certification. After that I did some SkillPorts so I can add them to my CompTia continuing education hours.

I headed home for lunch and then headed to the transportation office afterwards. I didn't go to see them, but just to pick up some of the required paperwork that must be done before seeing them. I'll fill all of that out and then swing by sometime next week to make dates for our household goods pickup. The rest of the day was the norm, just checking email and surfing the web. The chaplain came in at one point and said how much he appreciates everything I do for him. He then gave me one of his coins as a token of appreciation. I thought that was pretty cool, it is actually the first coin I've received since being here in Germany. While in Korea I received numerous coins, but it's been a different story here.

To Certify or To Not Certify (AIT - Fort Gordon) Day 100

We ended up having a light run for pt this morning. We released to run at our own pace down the street and back again multiple times. I took it a little easy, but not noticeably easy. My entire body is sore and I need a little recovery time, the weekend can’t come soon enough.

Took the certification test first thing in the morning once we got to school. Since it’s a certification test those of us taking it all had to go to a special testing room that was a bit more stringent on all the rules.

I took this test the same as the one yesterday...slowly and methodically. I also had a Mountain Dew for the caffeine. We were all also given mints because they were supposed to help us on the test...lol. This time when we finished we were able to see our score right away, so we knew if we certified or not. I ended up passing the test and getting my certification (which is actually required by all 25B, so everyone else will have to eventually get theirs or else they will end up not being able to do a lot of the work). I also later found out that I actually broke the record for the schoolhouse with the highest score ever on this certification exam. I guess all that studying and stressing out has paid off!

We were released until after lunch when we had to form up for our new class “CPN”. It is actually located in another schoolhouse filled with mostly students from another battalion. So we are in a new building with a whole different set of rules. No food or candy at all as well as no backpacks or bags. We have to leave our camelbaks in the back of the classroom and there are no drinks at all at the desks. This means no Mountain Dew for me when I really need it. The chairs are way more comfortable which may make it even harder to stay awake in this class. I saw about 5 people fall asleep this first day, it’s going to be interesting. The lecture we had was pretty acronym intensive. My brain has been so fried getting through security+ that I think it all went in one ear and out the other. The teacher was going so fast and all the material was brand new. Hopefully I’ll be able to keep up a little better next week after a weekend to relax.

I went to eat after class and didn’t realize that was when the safety briefing was going on. I think I can manage this weekend without it though, I just have to remember not to do drugs, drink and drive, or beat my wife....easy enough.

PFC Metal’s wife came to town and gave us a ride back to RBK in her air conditioned car...nice. Time to kick back and relax.

Security+ (AIT - Fort Gordon) Day 84

This morning kind of sucked I found out right before bed last night that I had a hall guard at 12:30 to 1:30 AM. So I got three hours of sleep and then did the hall guard shift with PFC Metal. We did our duties and the sergeant on desk did a thorough inspection of everything. Normally we just switch out with the next ones on shift, but he wanted to make sure everything was done correctly. Not a bad thing because everyone needs to be doing their duties and this way they are guaranteed to be done.

I had a hard time getting back to sleep after my shift for some reason. I just tossed and turned all morning, then when I finally felt like I fell asleep my alarm went off to get up. I hate it when that happens!

PT this morning was the normal warm-up exercises followed by a lot of push-ups and sit-ups. There are rumors of a long run tomorrow. There is also talk of doing weapons pt as well as road marches in the future. Bummer...I thought I left that behind when I left basic.

Started Security+ class today. I was tired as heck because of the hall guard early this morning. The class is full of vocabulary and is the class a lot of people have trouble with besides CCNA. We are also back to the full day of class schedule. We start at 8AM and go until about 16:30, then come back for 2 hours of mandatory study hall from 18:00 to 20:00. This leaves almost no personal time, especially for those of us that live in RBK. After the mandatory study hall we have to walk back over to our barracks. After we arrive, I take a shower and have a little bit of time to call my wife and say goodnight...then it’s lights out.

Overheard Quote: “I wouldn’t have joined the army if I didn’t have some sad stories” (Our instructor talking a bit on why he joined the army)


Instructor

You need to go back through and put in all the NCO's names.  It would be way funnier, and trust me, at this point, they wouldn't care.

Moldavski!  (Opulence...I has it!)

Thursday, March 24, 2011 - 09:46 AM


Brandon

LOL...I decided from the start not to use anyone's real names except for my own. Pretty funny that you found yourself on my site. I am here in Korea with a few people from class and every time we are out and see Hello Kitty (which seems to be very common here) we all think of you.

Hope you are doing well SGT

Friday, March 25, 2011 - 09:56 PM


Instructor

Rofl,  I'm sorry if I misled you, I'm not Moldavski, I just like poking fun at him.  He talks just like the Russian guy in the DirecTV commercials.  Anyway, I'll let him know you said hello if I can find him on Monday.

I like the site, it's pretty impressive work.  Wonder if you are using an app or hardcoding it all.  I would suggest creating a page with links to all the days of each blog by title, or/and creating a search function that will grep the pages for keywords.  It's a little difficult to navigate through them as is.  Nice work though.

Don't know if you heard, but they shut RBK down.  Clark Island is history.

Saturday, March 26, 2011 - 07:49 AM


Brandon

Yes...tell him hello if you see him.

I'm using an app called iWeb for the site. It makes everything very simple...even a caveman could do it. On the main page of my journals it has a "go to archive" link as well as a search field. This sounds like what you are looking for. Take a look and let me know, I'm always looking for ways to improve my site

I hadn't heard that RBK was shut down. Wow! What was the reason?

Also since this isn't Moldavski who may I ask is this? Another instructor?

Saturday, March 26, 2011 - 10:47 AM


Instructor

Ahh, didn't see that link, that will work though.

RBK got shut down because it was designed to be a trap barracks anyway, meaning that when we get a ton of you students in the fall (think about it, everyone joins after school lets out in early summer, then spends 9 weeks in BCT, then we get them, so it puts it at like late summer, early fall for the big push of soldiers.) and here it is winter/early spring and all you guys have PCSd from that push.  There simply aren't enough soldiers right now to support leaving it open.  Plus all that power was going to his head - he got treated better than the freaking company 1SGs did.

Anyway, yeah, I'm a Software Instructor.  You can probably figure out who.

Saturday, March 26, 2011 - 11:14 PM