Radioactive Rain - (Korea) Day 129

A typical motorcycle seen on the streets of Seoul. These guys fit all kinds
of stuff on the back of their motorcycles & scooters.

Work call this morning was 0700 to setup for yet another DADT meeting. We don't have to do much except turn the system on, so it was pretty easy. This was the only meeting scheduled for the day, so I thought we may get off early…fat chance.

After we turned the system on, I hopped on the computer and was able to finish my final SkillPort for the week. I then started setting up the second computer in our control room. Since we got a new computer we will now have two in the control room to share between us which will be nice. I was able to get it all setup except for the network cable…I'm gonna have to search around and see where those are stored.

SPC Roy grabbed me and we headed out with the office car. I had an appointment to get my passport photo taken. There is a place on post that will take passport photos as well as the photos for our ERB for free. So we arrived there and I ran in to have my picture taken. We cannot have them taken in uniform though and even our tan undershirt counts as our uniform. There is a spare button up shirt that they keep there on stand-by for soldiers to use in case they don't bring any other clothes…like me. What's funny is that there are a number of people that use it. Even SPC Roy's passport photo was taken in the same shirt, so there are a whole bunch of folks out there with that same top on in their passport photo which is pretty funny.

As we left there was an SUV that was honking at us and waving…SPC Roy couldn't figure out why or who it was. We headed off to the ATM machine so I could withdraw some cash. When I came back out SPC Roy asked me to check the front tire, he said it didn't feel right and sounded funny as he was turning around. Well that's because it is flat…now we knew why that SUV was honking and waving. Now my whole plan was to stay inside as much as possible because the news has been saying that we will be having radiation rain coming down today because of the nuclear disaster in Japan. I'm sure it is very small doses, but who wants to hang out and soak all that up? Turns out we both spent quite a bit of time out in the rain. We had to change the tire and put the spare on. It's a long process because the little jack and tools that are in the car are a pain in the butt. We finally get the tire changed and drove it over to the TMP (Transportation Motor Pool) where we were going to go anyway to check the car out for another week. Before the TMP though, we had to stop at Starbucks to get some coffee, this was going to take a bit. Not only does the TMP check our car out to us weekly, but they also have the car wash, the gas station and the mechanics. We had to get the tire fixed before we could check it out again. After waiting about 30 minutes or so, we had a fully inflated and patched tire on our office car. We then proceeded to gas it up and check it out for another week.

When we got back to the office it was time for lunch, so we ended up heading out with Special K to the KATUSA snack bar. I love that place. They have great Korean food and it's only $5 for a filling lunch. When we got back I found a civilian guy who had a box of cable and all the tools I needed to make my own network cable…woohoo I'm actually doing 25B work. I made a cable and hooked up our new desktop in our control room. I hooked up a printer to it as well and shared it for the other desktop up there. This is the first time I actually spent more than just a few minutes doing 25B work. Wow.

I was able to use the new computer to update the events calendar and start a new SkillPort. Not too long after though I was told to clean up the office and then we could go. We ended up leaving about 1630, which is better than 1700 I guess. I got to my room and did some schoolwork and ate a snack. I've found that I've been eating small breakfasts, a large lunch, and usually only some trail mix for dinner. Since I was sick I started eating much less than before. It's just not the same eating microwave food all the time. I can't wait until I'm back with my wife and can have some good home cooked meals. I will probably gain a few pounds :)

To wind down the night I watched Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World. What a strange movie. I saw the previews so long ago I pretty much forgot what it was about. I have had it on my computer for a long time, but just never got around to watching it. It's basically a mix between a movie and a video game. Not at all what I expected. It had me chuckle a few times and I watched the whole thing, but it was strange. The lead character has to fight his new girlfriend’s exes if he wants to continue to date her and all the fighting is similar to the fighting video games you can play. If you’re a fan of the fighting video games you may get a kick out of this movie.

One Year - (Korea) Day 128

In the parking lot near our office. An old man rides this bicycle here and
has his own little mobile car wash service. He washes people's cars throughout the day

Work call this morning was at 0800. We had to setup for the usual Wednesday meeting in the secret conference room. This is also the meeting that I run the two laptops for it. I had SPC Mick hang out with me so he could get an idea of what is done. The meeting ended a little after 1100. After the meeting was over, our sergeant, me and SPC Roy headed over to the gym to play basketball. There were a few others from various offices and we played 3 on 3. There were a couple girls playing as well. It turned out to be a pretty physical game. SPC Roy was guarding me at first and was hanging on me, pushing me, running into me and anything else he could do to try and stop me. One game I had a female sergeant guarding me and she was worse than SPC Roy! Even though she was a girl I still stuffed her every time she tried to shoot near me, you're not going to get special treatment if you're playing with guys.

After basketball we took showers and then picked up some food to go from the food court. I felt like something a little healthy, so I had Subway. We took the food back to our conference room and ate in the control room. There was another DADT meeting going on, so we could watch TV..but we had to keep it down. Evidently radiation is coming our way now from the troubled nuclear plant in Japan. Because of all the radiation that is flowing into the pacific ocean we will not be eating any seafood. I'm sure they'll say any radiation that reaches us will not cause any harm, but it is still scary. I think the government would say that no matter what so there would be no panic. I may try and stay indoors a little more…at least for a while.

After lunch I headed down to our office to setup one of the new laptops we got. I then setup a desktop up in the conference room. This will give us two extra computers now which will be nice. We will not have 5 people fighting over 1 computer. By the time I finished I was told to clean up and go home. The young hawaiian called and asked if I wanted to play basketball. I seriously considered going, but I can barely move after hiking to Seoul Tower two days in a row, then playing basketball today. I think if I would have played, they may have had to take me out on a stretcher. Instead of playing basketball I took a nap…LOL

After I woke up, I did my schoolwork and then watched a TV show. Another day down, in fact this month marks one third of my time here in Korea finished. Sometimes it feels like time is flying by, other times it can't go by fast enough. I really miss my wife and family. It kills me that I have to be away for so long. Today is actually my one year anniversary of being in the army. I've done so much in this last year. I finished basic training, an old man amongst a bunch of mainly young kids. It was tough, but also had a lot of funny parts as well. I met some good people and proved to myself that I could still physically and mentally survive. It kept me away from my wife and family for about 10 weeks, with very little contract. I was able to see my wife for a week between basic and AIT, then I was off again…alone. I survived AIT a TRADOC environment that sucked quite a bit. I hated being treated like crap and I hated being away from my wife and family for even longer. I pushed through and graduated at the top of my class…distinguished honor graduate. I also met some good people and was able to hang with my good friends PFC Metal as well as the young and old hawaiians the entire time. I think without the close friends it would have been much worse. I was grateful that I could have a phone and a laptop though. Even though I couldn't be with my family I could still talk and video chat with them…AIT was about 6 months. Once I was finished with AIT I found out that I was going to Korea…unaccompanied. WTF? I was hating life at that point. I knew I would be away from my family for periods of time, but I didn't expect to only see them for two weeks and then be away for an entire year. I've tried to make the best of being in Korea. I love the food and the people are great. I don't care for being a private. It's strange that I've been sent to school fully trained in computers only to serve coffee to generals. I'm glad I still get to video chat and talk to my wife and family, but because of the time difference it can be tough sometimes. I'm still going to try and enjoy my time here as much as possible. I'll be sad quite a bit, but I'll push through.

I've been in the army for a year. Basic was pretty much what I thought it would be. AIT was quite a bit crappier than I thought it would be. Korea has been nothing like I thought it would be. We'll see where I am in another year…At this point I don't care where I go, I'm just hoping that I'm with my wife. In one year I've seen my wife and/or family for a total of about 3 weeks! If all goes according to plan I'll be at my next duty station as a specialist in December and I'll have been living with my wife for 4 or 5 months…that sounds so good.

the wife

One day over, one more day to go.

Thursday, April 7, 2011 - 12:28 AM

mom

It makes me so sad to read your comments about being so lonely. Just know we are missing you bunches also and cant wait to have you home. Hang in there, you are doing an awesome job

Thursday, April 7, 2011 - 04:08 AM

Brandon

It can get tough being here without family. I was just reflecting on this last year since I joined. I don't think a lot of people realize the sacrifices that are made by service members. I'll keep chugging along and taking it one day at a time.

Thursday, April 7, 2011 - 10:02 PM

Sharpshooter - (Korea) Day 106

There are many videos out there of the Japanese Tsunami, but this one is at

street level. It's just amazing to watch the power of the incoming water and

how it moves cars, trucks, and houses right before your eyes.

This morning's work call was a little earlier at 0800 because of the normal Wednesday meeting. This is a meeting I always do down in the secret conference room. I have two laptops an unclassified one and a secret one that I go back and forth with displaying slides for the brass out in the conference room. There is always last second changes and it seems to always be a little of a pain in the butt. The meeting actually lasts from 0930 to 1100, so by the time I finished up it was almost lunch time. My sergeant told everyone to bring their civilian PT clothes today so we could work out at lunch. Because of various things going on, only me and our sergeant ended up going. We played basketball..one on one and I just killed him every single game. I couldn't miss a shot. He kept wanting to play one more, but each time I beat him pretty bad. He finally gave up after 6 games. What a great workout though, I'm going to feel it tomorrow! I headed to my room after that and showered, then ate and video chatted with my wife for a bit. It turned out to be a nice 2+ hour break from work.

When I got back to work I sat down and did SkillPorts for a while. Our sergeant is now requiring all of us to finish at least three courses each week. I was able to finish my third today, so now I don't have to worry about that any more. The big news right now is the earthquake that hit Japan followed by the tsunami and nuclear plant issues. Because of this the network group has cut off almost all websites that are not .mil websites. There are a few exceptions, but that is about it. They want to conserve bandwidth for all the communication that is going on with the support effort. Everyone is a little worried about all the radiation that is coming out Japan's nuclear reactors and hoping it doesn't get too bad. It would really suck if they had a total meltdown and the wind blew all the radiation towards us. I might have to take leave…for a couple years!

After I did the SkillPorts I went up into our conference room where our KATUSA was watching Clash of the Titans on our sergeant's laptop. Later on we were joined by Special K and we watched about half the movie before we were told we could head home. It was only a half hour early, but I'm not complaining.

The rest of the night was the usual stuff…schoolwork and some TV shows. Going to bed on time tonight and I don't have to work until the normal time tomorrow…looking forward to a good sleep tonight.

FS SPC Miller

Yea....crazy video. My sis who is in the AF showed me this link:http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/03/13/world/asia/satellite-photos-japan-before-and-after-tsunami.html interesting to see before and after.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011 - 11:25 PM