DONSA - (MedBoard: Joint Base Lewis-McChord) Day 280

Today is a training holiday, well that’s what we called them in Germany. Here they are called “DONSA” which is an acronym for Day Off No Scheduled Activities. Basically just a free day off for no reason. Today was pretty much the same as yesterday, I worked on schoolwork. I then took a lunch break, then worked on schoolwork some more. I didn’t do any job searching because the schoolwork kept me pretty busy. I’m glad I’ll be done after these two classes, but taking two classes simultaneously is keeping me pretty busy and pretty stressed. The stress in turn is what I believe is causing me quite a bit of pain. This whole week has been a pretty painful one. Yes I do have pain medication, but it takes a while to kick in and the more I use it consecutively, the more it seems I have to take. It works really well when I use it 2 or 3 times a week, but when it’s a daily occurrence the return on investment diminishes.

We visited my in-laws in the evening. It’s always a nice visit when we head up there. I’m still soaking up all the quality time we now have with both sides of the family. It was rough for me being stationed overseas for so long. It made me realize what’s important in life and I make sure to focus on the important things on a daily basis now.

Weekend Wrap-Up - (MedBoard: Joint Base Lewis-McChord) Days 189 & 190

On Saturday I took the family to see a University of Washington Huskies Men’s basketball game. We headed to Seattle and had a quick snack at a Safeway before the game and then headed to the campus and watched the game. I’ve only been to the stadium once before about 20 years ago. During that visit I came with a friend of mine who was a sports photographer for the local paper. He got a press pass for me and gave me a camera to take pictures on the floor of the court. That was an amazing experience. Today was the first time I’ve sat in the stands. While not as good as actually being on the floor to watch the game, these seats were near half court, but 3/4 of the way to the nose bleed section. Still we all had a great view of the game and everyone had a fun time. I wanted my kids to see the difference between what a junior college basketball game and a division 1 basketball game is like. The Huskies beat Idaho State which was also a plus!

After the game we went to the Old Spaghetti Factory for a special dinner. It was an expensive day, when you do everything times 5 it can get spendy, but I think the experience was worth it.

Sunday was of course watching Seahawks at my in-laws. This is always fun, especially when the Seahawks win…and do a great job while doing it. We beat up on the NY Giants pretty easily. It’s an exciting time to be a Seahawks fan!

Weekend Wrap-Up (Thanksgiving 4-Day) - (MedBoard: Joint Base Lewis-McChord) Days 173 - 176

This Thanksgiving four day weekend was just plain awesome. I had my kids with me for Thanksgiving and we enjoyed the holiday together with my extended family for the first time in years. My family has a tradition of playing bingo after we eat. Everyone brings white elephant prizes to win. It sounds like a funny tradition, but it sure is a lot of fun. Watching people open the presents which usually contain some pretty funny surprises is half the fun. I really enjoyed the time with my family, I tried to soak up every minute of it. For so long it was just a normal event, but missing everything while I was in the army has really made me appreciate how special it is to hang out with family. This was the best Thanksgiving holiday I can remember!

In The Navy - (MedBoard: Joint Base Lewis-McChord) Day 131

This morning I am working for the navy again. I started off the day where I left off yesterday. After some trial and error I was able to figure out some changes in the bios, then the images worked. I imaged both machines and installed the third party drivers and software, then returned them to the guy who brought them back for us. It feels good actually doing some IT work and figuring out some problems.

I then returned to my usual surfing of the net and checking my army and navy emails. One of my co-workers is an army veteran, so we did quite a bit of chatting about our times in both Korea and Germany. I headed to lunch in my car, then went back to the office. The rest of the day was pretty much the same, chatting with co-workers and surfing the web. I'm hoping once I get a more stable and consistent schedule, that I'll be able to do some more IT work while I'm here.

After work I headed home and did schoolwork. We then headed to my in-laws to watch Thursday night football because the Seahawks are playing. Good game…fun times.

Weekend Wrap-Up - (MedBoard: Joint Base Lewis-McChord) Days 105 & 106

The kiddos came over this weekend and we celebrated my oldest daughter's birthday. She's 17…I can't believe it! On Sunday we all went to my in-laws house and watched the Seahawks play. We have a lot of fun all watching the game together…good quality family bonding time :)

Weekend Wrap-Up - (MedBoard: Joint Base Lewis-McChord) Days 56 & 57

This weekend we had my wife's extended family come to our house and visit. We still don't have our household goods, so we hung out on our deck and ordered pizza. the purpose was mainly to take some pictures while my wife's family was all in town. We hung out with both our families on Sunday. This is the kind of stuff I really missed while being half way around the world for so long!

4-Day Weekend Wrap-Up (AIT - Fort Gordon) Days 114-117

Operation Surprise Visit was a total success, but let me start from the beginning. We had a 4 day weekend to celebrate Columbus Day and it turned out to be a hectic, but fun filled weekend for me.

Friday: Student leadership woke everyone up at 5:00 AM this morning so everyone could get themselves ready and then straighten up their stuff before the inspection at 6:00 AM. There were no showers allowed until after the inspection, so they would stay clean. There were also a number of urinals and sinks in the bathroom blocked off and the laundry room was also off limits all night and this morning. 

Sergeant Kent arrived and started the barracks and room inspections. It took a while because our room is the last one in the hall. When he finally got to ours he came in looked around and said “it shows that you guys put in a lot of effort in this room”, then he took off. 

We then got everything ready and those of us on pass marched over to Charlie company to get signed out for the 4-day. The line was long and slow moving, so PFC Metal and I walked over to Burger King because the DFAC was closed already. Technically we were allowed to go earlier, but if Sergeant Clark came to inspect our room and we weren’t there it wasn’t going to get done and we would not get our pass to leave. We ate and then headed back to Charlie and there was still a line, so we got in it and waited. Finally after about 15 minutes we signed out and were free of this place. PFC Metal took off with his wife and I took off in a cab to the airport.

For the last month or so my wife and I have been planning a trip for me to go home and visit everyone. We kept it a total secret and now I finally get to put it into action.

When I arrived at the Augusta airport I sat and started watching shows on my laptop. I had a while before my plane left, but I just wanted to get away from the base as soon as possible. After a while I heard an announcement that they had overbooked the flight before mine and my flight as well. I had a flight to Seattle via Atlanta and then Denver. I told the guy as long as I can make my connecting flights I would be interested. They ended up sending me to Atlanta on a taxi, giving me a meal voucher good at the Atlanta airport, getting me on a direct flight from Atlanta to Seattle (arriving only an hour later), and $400 (delta dollars) to use via delta.com.

So far the weekend has been pretty good! On the plane I watched “Get Him to the Greek” a pretty funny show as well as some TV episodes that I was behind on. My wife met me at the airport and we stayed in a hotel nearby because we knew I would be arriving late. 

Saturday: My wife dropped me off at Denny’s and then picked up the kids. She asked them where they wanted to eat breakfast and they chose Denny’s of course. They walked in and were in shock to see me sitting there waiting for them.

We all then went to my sister’s house and they dropped me off a couple of blocks away. They all went inside and then I came up later and rang the doorbell. My mom opened the door and before she even recognized who I was, I came in and gave her a hug. She was surprised (I think I almost gave her a heart attack). I then surprised my sister and her husband later on by just appearing in their house.

Sunday: Today is my sister’s 30th birthday. My mom invited all of the family over, so it really worked out easy for me to celebrate my sister’s birthday and also see all of my extended family as well. 

The flight home was tough, I didn’t want to leave so soon (I had an early 6:00AM flight on Monday morning). It was awesome seeing everyone, I just wish I had a longer time to visit. On the plane ride back I fell asleep numerous times and every time I woke up my mouth was wide open....lol. 

The 4-day weekend was so awesome...and very much needed.

Overheard Quote: “Oh Sheeet Oh Sheeet, I’m sorry, I’m sorry” A guy in another cab left the door open and the driver started driving off.

The Sad Goodbye (Pre-Basic Training) 1 Day until Basic

Today we celebrated Easter at my sister’s house. We enjoyed a big breakfast and then hung out while extended family arrived. It was really nice to see everyone once again before I had to leave. Everyone wished me well and is excited for the adventure that lies ahead. I planned on leaving at 1PM in order to make the 6 hour drive to Spokane. 1PM came faster than I had hoped. I made my rounds saying goodbye to everyone and then brought my kids outside to say goodbye to them again. That turned out to be a very emotional moment for everyone. I’m not an extremely emotional guy, but I’ll tell you that we all started crying and I continued to cry like a baby for ½ hour after leaving. That really sucked leaving my kids knowing I will not be able to see them for such a long time. We are planning on writing a lot though. I talked to them after I got checked into the hotel with my wife and everyone (me included) is feeling much better now.

Once we arrived at the hotel and got checked in my wife and I had dinner and then just relaxed pretty much the rest of the night. We will both be getting up early tomorrow morning. I will be heading off to MEPS and my wife will be getting ready for a three hour drive to work. I’m really glad she was able to come and stay with me. It’s nice to spend as much time with her as possible before I head off.

Hangin’ with the family (Pre-Basic Training) 3 Days until Basic

Not a whole lot happened today, just hung out with family.  We went out for a family movie day and watched the remake of “Clash of the Titans”. All in all it was a pretty good movie. Lots of action and everyone enjoyed themselves.

We then had dinner with my wife’s family, which was great. My mother-in-law made an awesome spread of which I ate entirely too much…and then I had two servings of her awesome lemon cake dessert with ice cream.

We bought some college ruled spiral notebooks for each of my kids to use for letter writing to me while I’m gone. My wife had the idea for me to write a little note inside each of them. After finishing the last note I was a little misty eyed. It’s starting to hit home that I’m going to be away from them for so long. That may be the toughest part of joining the army.

Tomorrow is going to be tough saying good bye to everyone.


Anonymous


good luck with everything. I look forward to reading as you go through basic


Sunday, April 4, 2010 - 08:01 AM



Anonymous

Indeed it will be hard...the wife will be lonely, the kids will have a void and the friends and family will wonder each day what you are doing.  BUT..... We will all be strong and through God and love all will be together again for many many many years of great times... LOVE YOU!!!!!!

Sunday, April 4, 2010 - 01:17 PM

The Hurt Locker (Pre-Basic Training) 36 Days until Basic

So I’ve been watching a lot of army and war TV shows & movies lately. Part of getting myself mentally prepared… lol. For Valentines I took my wife to see a chick flick called “Dear John” and this last weekend we watched “The Hurt Locker”. I thought the movie was OK. It definitely makes me glad that I did not choose EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal - The army's version of the bomb squad) as my MOS in the army. A guy I went to high school with (and actually the guy who got me thinking about joining this late life) just finished basic and is now going to his AIT school in EOD. He may be a little crazy I think. I know the movie had to “hollywoodize” the job a bit, but I think that has to be one of the more stressful jobs to have at the moment. There are so many IEDs out there.

I now have just over a month before I leave. I’m trying to soak in and enjoy all the moments that I have left with friends and family. I visited my wife’s family as well as my own last weekend. I spent a lot of time just hanging out with my mom, aunt, and my grandma. I’m going to try to plan at least one more trip over to see my family before I have to take off. It's strange knowing that I will not be able to see them for such a long period of time. Right now I have the option to go visit family anytime I feel like, it's something that can easily be taken for granted. I already try to do my best to live each day to it’s fullest and I don’t take anything or anyone for granted. I’ve tried to live this way ever since I lost my little brother in an auto accident. You never know when a person is going to leave you forever. 



smileychuy

I'm confused! If you didn't choose EOD for your MOS then what did you choose?!   D:

Tuesday, February 7, 2012 - 11:53 PM



Brandon

I chose 25B (Information Technology Specialist) to stay with my current field and experience I've already had in the civilian world.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012 - 06:34 AM

Kid’s Documentation (Pre-Basic Training) 105 Days until Basic

I have been divorced now for a few years. I will not go into detail, but let’s just say I was blindsided and now my kids don’t live with me. I found I had to get original birth certificates and social security cards for each of my kids. During the move my ex-wife had lost or misplaced both. She had nothing for me. The recruiters said no problem, I could go to the local health department since they were all born in this state and I could order new ones. The recruiters then said I could go to the social security office and order new cards for them. Actually they said I don’t actually even need the cards, I only need a verification form from the social security office for each of the kids.

Sounded like a piece of cake…..

I ordered the birth certificates, which like the recruiter said was very easy. Just provide the required information and pay the fee. I have three kids (13, 11, & 9) and had to pay $20 each. A couple of days later and $60 poorer, I was ready to head off to the social security office. I arrived at the social security office with my ID and birth certificates in hand. I was met by an armed guard and was asked to sign in and get a number. An armed guard?? hmmmm I wondered why there was really a need for this. So after waiting patiently for about 10 minutes my number was called. I explained my situation and was told they could not give me replacement cards or even the verification paper that I needed. After a bit of arguing I was told that I needed picture ID of my kids, a doctor’s note showing their names and birthdays, or their official school records with signature. This really put a damper on my day. My ex-wife lives two hours away and I couldn’t count on her to get any of this done. I didn’t know how I was going to get any of the information I needed for this.

After a few days of stressing, I remembered that the kids all had passports from a trip to Mexico that their grandparents had taken them on. The next time I picked up the kids I got their passports as well. I headed to the Social Security office once again. This time with birth certificates, my ID, and my kid's passports in hand, I was able to order their social security cards and get the verification sheets for each of them that I needed.  It only took a couple of weeks, but now at least my kids will have social security cards and birth certificates.