Electronics Mart - (Korea) Day 344

Unfortunately I couldn't get my iPhone out of my pocket fast enough to take a photo
of this. While at the electronics market there were two guys in business suits
riding together in an electric wheelchair...pretty funny!

Work call this morning was at 0700. We setup for a meeting in our conference room, but the meeting ended up getting pushed back an hour. We ended up coming in early for nothing, but no big deal. I was able to check my email and get a mocha from Starbucks, then watch a little TV. I then went to an awards ceremony with our NCOIC who actually came in from leave to attend the ceremony. One of her previous soldiers actually helped save the lives of people on a white water rafting trip while off duty. I wanted to go to show my support for this young man who did a pretty brave thing all in the middle of the rapids. I'm glad he and a couple others all received awards for this.

After the ceremony I headed to the company with my NCOIC to check on the status of my orders. The company hadn't heard anything, so a specialist came with us to battalion to check it out. When we checked it out in person I heard the same thing I've heard with every email…they are still waiting. My NCOIC stressed the importance of getting the orders and they said they would send through an email with the request. I'm still not holding my breath…nothing moves fast in the army.

After that I went to my room for lunch and video chat with my wife. When I headed back to the office I met up with my NCOIC and our new KATUSA. We all headed to the electronics market which is pretty close to IPark Mall which is not too far from the post. It is basically a few big buildings that are just full of various vendors selling electronics. Our NCOIC was trying to see if she could find a place that would fix her iMac. It looked like she threw it off the roof of her building! One guy we talked to with the help of our KATUSA translating looked at her computer and said "There is no answer for that" LOL. I tried finding a FireWire 800 cable so I could transfer the data from her iMac to her laptop, but even that was hard to find. I was able to find FireWire 400 to 800, but no 800 to 800 which is a little strange. We didn't look at a lot of places, so I may head back there over the 4-day weekend.

By the time we got back it was time to leave work, so I just headed to my room and took a nap. I then watched Hawaii Five-0 and did some schoolwork before heading to the gym. I arrived there at 1930 and it was still busy. They installed new mirrors all along the wall and I guess everyone wanted to look at themselves. It's a little frustrated trying to get a good workout when all the normal equipment I  use is taken. I was able to use alternative equipment and still get a decent workout. Maybe if I go late next time I'll start at 2000.

When I got back I watched an episode of Chuck before turning in.

SMA - (Korea) Day 343

Work call was 0830 this morning. We setup for a meeting in the top secret conference room and then we got a call from Special K telling us we have to pick two people to go to a CFC (Combined Forces Command) 33rd Anniversary Celebration. Nobody wanted to do it, so SPC Mick and I decided we would go and take one for the team. We caught a special shuttle that ran from our office to the theatre on post were the "celebration" was taking place. It wasn't much of a celebration. It was basically a couple speeches and some awards were handed out and they needed some people in the audience to clap. The real celebration was later at the Dragon Hill Lodge, but that was only for VIPs…which we were not.

By the time we got back to the office it was time for lunch. I headed to my room as usual and video chatted with my wife. Once back in the office I drove PV2 Charlie and SPC Mick to Collier Fitness Center (The Gym on post) and we attended another event that our NCOIC signed us up for. This one was for the Sergeant Major of the Army. He is touring around giving out a lot of information and taking questions to take back to the pentagon. His main focus when talking was a lot about benefits and entitlements. There are going to be a lot of changes because our country is in such poor shape financially. The army will be shedding at least 50,000 people. He said they will be recruiting less, forcing people to retire, and kicking out troublemakers. He spoke about how if we want to get promoted that it's going to be a lot tougher and we will have to do stuff to distinguish ourselves from our peers in order to get recognized. He also mentioned changes that are being proposed for a new PT test and new uniforms.

There were a number of questions asked, but the one I was most concerned with was about tuition assistance. He said the article in The Army Times was a little premature and he is for not making any changes to it. He also said if there are any changes that will be made, it will take a while to process. I'm hoping I can finish my degree before they make any changes.

By the time we got back to the office, it was time to clean up and head out.. The whole day seemed to consist of attending meetings. We left a little late, so I  knew I wouldn't make it to the gym before rush hour. Instead I took a nap. I then ate dinner and watched Survivor. My guilty pleasure…I love that show. After that I headed to the gym and did a cardio workout. My back is feeling better, but still not 100%.

I wrapped up the night by doing some schoolwork and then watching an episode of Flashpoint.

Weekend Wrap-Up - (Korea) Days 341 & 342

Saturday: Didn't do a whole lot this weekend, the only plans I had were delayed until Wednesday to go see some lantern ceremony. So today I woke up around 0830 and did the usual…laundry and video chat with my wife and kids. I then did schoolwork for a long time. I had quite a bit to do and it took most of the rest of the day.

I did make a trip to Moyer Center and signed up for a couple of trips before I leave Korea. Most of the trips I've signed up for in the past have not been very full, but lately they have been filling up. This time I got there in plenty of time! I then went to the library and read The Army Times. They have it free to read there and I don't want to pay for it. Actually I would probably subscribe if there were an iPad version, but there isn't. The main article was talking about the plan to cut tuition assistance. This would really suck because I'm making use of it. It's free money for school while you are active duty. I am planning to have my 4-year degree before I get out and the planned cuts are going to make that a little more difficult.

I then headed to the gym and kept it to strictly cardio on the bicycle making sure not to aggravate my back. When I finished I headed back to my room and watched some CSI: NY & Miami.

Sunday: Slept in until 0930 and then watched the UFC in my room. They rearranged the channels and I can now get that particular station which is nice…a little late, but nice. I video chatted for a while with my wife and kids again and then did schoolwork again for a while. I headed to the gym working out on my legs and some on my abs. My back is still a little sore, but I'm hoping another nights rest will help with that.

The rest of the night was just watching a CSI and the movie "Takers". A bank robbing move full of double crosses and lots of explosions and guns. Of course it was pretty good.

I experimented a little with moving my website. I currently have it hosted with Apple’s MobileMe which will be going away soon. So at some point in the next 6 months I have to find another hosting service. I’ve checked out something that looks promising, but it will change up the website quite a bit and there is no way to automatically transfer everything over, so it would be a time consuming process....we’ll see.

Back Ache - (Korea) Day 340

SPC Roy checking out my iPad while the KATUSAs are getting their
safety briefing for the weekend.

Work call this morning was 0900. Today was a little strange at work. We had no meetings at all and didn't have any side work to do either. Our NCOIC ended up telling us to go ahead and leave at 1100 which was pretty cool!

When I got back to my room, my roommate was there and asked if I could go with him to the military clothing store. He wanted me to purchase some souvenir army sweatpants and sweatshirt for him. He's going to be out of the army for good soon and wants a little something to remember it by. Military service is mandatory for Korean males and is sort of like a right of passage for a young man. He'll now go back to civilian life and return to school at the university.

I purchased myself some icy-hot at the PX while we were out. I guess I worked out a little too hard at the gym on my back. It just started hurting pretty bad, I must have really strained a muscle. Back in my room I lathered on the icy-hot and then ended up taking a long nap. The nap helped, but I ended up lathering on some more and taking some aspirin. Hopefully it will get better soon, I need to keep working out because my PT test is on the 18th. I'm taking today off of course to give it some time.

I watched the movie "Shaolin" that PV2 Charlie let me borrow. It's a Chinese movie with Jackie Chan as a supporting actor. It was actually pretty good if you like martial arts movies. I was a little skeptical before I started watching it because it was a foreign flick, but I was pleasantly surprised. It's about feuding warlords and how some Shaolin monks get caught in the middle. They end up taking a stand using only martial arts against guns and cannons.

The rest of the night was spent doing schoolwork and taking more aspirin…my back is so sore….grrrr.

Early Off - (Korea) Day 339

Fall is in the air...my walk back to work after my lunch break.
I think most of the trees in Seoul are located on Yongsan Army Garrison!

So today I woke up at 0430, shaved and put on my uniform…ready for room inspection at 0500. Our room was inspected by a female SFC this time. I stood and held the door open (because you can't have the door closed when there is a female in the room) while she walked around and told my roommate all the stuff that was dirty. She left and that was it. I don't even know what she was pointing at and I don't really care…just glad it didn't last too long.

Work call was 0630 this morning, we had to setup for a KUB in our conference room. Once finished setting up, I headed to Starbucks for a mocha, but I mixed it up a little with actual breakfast and got biscuits & gravy from the American Eatery in the food court. Ironically the American Eatery is run completely by Koreans just like every other shop in the food court.

Once back at work I ate up in the conference control room while watching TV. When it came time for the meeting to start I stayed there and flipped slides. Once it was finished we cleaned up and immediately setup for another meeting in our conference room. This time SPC Mick ran the computer and I hung out just in case somebody needed something. When the meeting was over we cleaned up and then headed out for lunch.

I went to my room as usual and video chatted with my wife. Back at the office I just watched some TV until 1400 when I drove our new KATUSA to the housing office. He needed to fill out some paperwork for his pending move to our barracks since he's still in the temporary barracks. Once our old KATUSA leaves, he's going to take his room.

When we got back it wasn't too long before our NCOIC called us down and told us to clean up and head out early. We left a little after 1500 which was pretty cool. I went to my room and changed for the gym, but decided to go eat first. I ran into PV2 Charlie and our new KATUSA and we all headed to the food court and shared a pizza. I then bought everyone some ice cream for dessert. I picked up some items from the PX and the shoppette before heading back to my room. In order to miss the gym rush hour I decided to watch an episode of Falling Skies, then do some schoolwork before heading to the gym. Once back I watched an NCIS: LA.

Status of my PCS move: I sent an email this morning to S1 asking for the status of my orders. I received a reply stating that "since my DEROS is in November, they will look into it for me". Well no crap I'm leaving in November, I've been trying to get everything in order for months now. The army moves at a snails pace. I also learned that the lady who is working on my packet is leaving and was told who is replacing her. This can either be a good thing or a bad thing, I guess time will tell.

The Sex Trade - (Korea) Day 338

Received my photo today with Leon E. Panetta, the current Secretary of Defense.
I wasn't quite ready for the picture and ended up with a goofy smile on my face.

Work call this morning was at 0830. We setup for the normal Wednesday morning meeting in the secret conference room. I let PV2 Charlie run the whole thing from start to finish and just stood by in case something went wrong. The meeting ran as planned and we cleaned up afterwards. We then headed up to our conference room and set it up for a KUB.

We took our lunch break and I headed to my room to eat and of course video chat with my wife. When I got back to the office I headed straight to our conference room for the upcoming KUB that we setup for. I flipped slides for it and then we cleaned up when it was finished.

I then had a special mission from Special K, I had to go around to the command group and collect coins for our army major that will be leaving soon. They are going to put them in a plaque for him. In fact we are going to have a hail and farewell on the 14th where they will be saying goodbye to him, our old KATUSA, and me! Woohoo!

We all received an email stating that we had to do some human trafficking & sex trade training. I quickly went through the material just hitting next until it was finished and then took the test. It's all pretty much common sense passing the test. The hardest part was finding the actual training and then finding out where to obtain & print our certificate.

We cleaned up the conference control room and the office, then took off for the day a little after 1600. I quickly went to my room and changed for the gym so I could get there before rush hour. I just wanted to make sure I got a stationary bicycle so I could get my cardio in. I'm aching pretty bad from my intense workout yesterday. I need to invest in some icy-hot!

Back in my room I ate dinner and watched The Vampire Diaries as well as Falling Skies. I then did my schoolwork before cleaning my room. I changed days that I cleaned my room from the weekend to Wednesday nights because we now have weekly room inspections on Thursday mornings at 0500. (Have I mentioned I hate living in the barracks?) So I get to wake up at the butt crack of dawn and listen to an NCO tell me what is wrong with my room after he walks around snooping until he finds something. I try not to clean too well so he can find something fairly fast and easy, tell me to clean it up and leave. No need to prolong the event.

Breakfast...Interrupted - (Korea) Day 337

The air force sergeant receiving her medal from our colonel.
(Our conference room in the ceremony setup with all the chairs removed
and the flags up front)

Work call this morning was at 0630. We had to setup for a KUB, but for some reason they put it in a small conference room that we don't normally use. Once setup, I took off to Starbucks to get my mocha and a blueberry bagel. Back in our conference control room I started eating my breakfast and watching a little TV. All of a sudden there is an emergency. I get called down to this little conference room about 5 minutes before the meeting is supposed to start and they can't figure out why the laptop isn't working. Nothing like waiting until the last minute guys! I took a look and couldn't figure it out. The cable that was labeled for the projector was plugged in, but nothing was coming out. Then one of the people that work in the room came in and was like "oh…you're supposed to use this other cable over here". Makes me wonder why they labeled the cables at all let alone have the one that we need totally away from the desk where the laptop is. Anyway…we got it up and working, then I went back to my breakfast.

I basically watched football until lunchtime, then headed to my room and video chatted with my wife because my internet is back on….woohoo! When I got back to work we opened up the conference room and set it up for a ceremony. The new air force sergeant in our admin office was receiving a medal from her last unit. It was given to her late, so her old commander asked our colonel if he could give her a little ceremony and present it to her.

After that we set up the conference room back for normal meetings and then let the ROK use it for a meeting that lasted the rest of the day. We took turns on the computer in my office getting various tasks done as well as reading the news and checking Facebook status updates…you know…the important stuff. I wish there were some more training or something I could be doing, but as my time gets shorter here, so do my responsibilities. My replacement is basically doing everything I used to do except for the IMO type stuff.

We headed out at 1600 for PT. I had a great workout at Trent Gym and then headed to my room and relaxed. I watched an episode of NCIS, NCIS: LA and Terra Nova before calling it a night.