Intel 35 Day 7 - (Germany) Day 266

Had my normal routine in the morning with breakfast at the hotel and then heading into class. This morning we picked up the other two in our class at their hotel. They were renting a car for the last week, but had to return it after the weekend.

Class this morning went on as usual. We go over a block of instructions and then do a hands on practical exercise. It seems the more we get into this class without slowing down, the less I actually understand. I can still get through all the hands on portion because it's easy enough to find the keywords and also look through our slide book to find the step-by-step instructions. I will definitely need some time on our system back in the office in order to feel comfortable working on it and really understand what and why I'm doing what I'm doing. There is just a lot of information that we need to go through for the class, I'm sure in our account we only use a portion of it though…we'll see I guess when I get back.

Lunch today was going to be at the DFAC, but when we arrived, the lines were out the doors. Normally we would have stayed and just waited it out, but today I had to also head to the library. My boss sent me a message last night stating that I had to log onto a computer with a CAC reader and electronically sign some DTS paperwork for my last trip out here. I guess they are still trying to work on paying me for that one. So we ate lunch at Burger King and headed over to the library to get that taken care of.

We were released from class a little before 1600 and headed back to the hotel after dropping our classmates off. I read some and then just listened to music and relaxed on the bed for a while. I think I was in and out of consciousness for about an hour just listening to music and taking it easy.

I then headed out to the dining area and ate dinner with SGT Mex and the other soldier here. Dinner was great as always. I then finished watching a movie on my computer and video chatted with my wife for a bit.

Intel 35 Day 6 - (Germany) Day 265

Back in the routine today with breakfast in the morning and then off to class. The class has been moving along, I can't say that I understand everything though. In fact at times we'll go over a block of instruction and then do the practical exercise, I'll just follow through step by step in the book not exactly sure what is going on or why. I think a lot of this will make more sense when I get back to the office and see what exactly we do and why.

Lunch was at the DFAC as usual, except that SGT Mex didn't come. He had to run to the commissary, but I didn't want to spend any money…so it was just the DFAC for me. I ate my food and then just played games on my iPhone until it was time to head back to class. The evening portion of the class was similar to the morning, except we had a very long practical exercise. I like having the hands on, but I'm feeling lost at times wondering exactly what I'm doing. I'm hoping the final test is pretty straight forward.

We were released at about 1630 and headed back to the hotel. I read a little and then took a short nap before dinner. During dinner the other soldier staying here with us found out his house had been robbed. He's stationed up in Belgium and he got a call from his first sergeant telling him that everything is gone! Someone must have pulled up a moving truck. He was understandably pretty pissed off and there's not a whole lot he can do about any of it since he's down here until the end of the week. After dinner I did my schoolwork. Not a whole lot to report today…my stomach is full of good German food and I'm ready to relax for the rest of the night.

Overheard Quote: "My piss smells like bacon" (SGT Mex describing how he can tell he needs to start drinking more water.

Weekend Wrap-Up (Regensburg) - (Germany) Day 263 & 264

Me standing in front of the Walhalla Temple near Regensburg

Saturday: This morning we woke up and had breakfast a little later than usual since it is the weekend…everyone agreed on 0900. After that my wife and I got ready and then headed off to a city called Regensburg. The owner of the hotel suggested it as a place to see, so we took his word for it and headed off. The drive was about an hour and after a little bit of research on the web, we had some sites we wanted to check out and were on our way.

When we arrived, we ended up parking in a parking garage almost in the center of town. We came up and started walking around downtown to find a maze of small alleyways filled with various shops. One could spend days here just going from shop to shop checking out the various things to buy. We were not here for a shopping spree, we were here as tourists ready to see the sites…but there was a major situation arising…I had to pee pretty badly. I found the tourist information center and promptly asked them where the nearest bathroom was. Once that was taken care of, I was able to think clearly and we started enjoying the sites.

We checked out the Regensburg Cathedral which has two large towers that dominate the skyline. The inside is impressive as well, and there are tombs of past bishops which I was surprised to see. After that we headed out and found a restaurant to have lunch at outside. This is one of the things I love about the European towns that we visit, on a nice day one can sit outside at the many tables and grab a bite to eat. It's enjoyable to people watch and take in the fresh air.

With full stomachs we headed to check out the The remains of the East Tower of Porta Praetoria from Ancient Roman times. It always amazes me when I check out ancient ruins and think back at how long ago they were built. We headed across the stone bridge which was finished in 1146! This ancient bridge was very important back in the day and was used by the knights of the crusades on their way to the holy land.

We spent more time just checking out the city before heading out for a short drive to Walhalla Temple. This huge building is full of famous and historical German figures and is modeled after the Parthenon in Athens. We did have to pay for parking (2 Euro) and then pay for entrance (3 Euro), but it was very impressive. Inside it is full of busts in the likeness of the historical figures and outside it is just massive, with the columns and the large steps.

We headed back to the hotel after that and had another great meal by the owner here. I think the coolest thing about this trip is that we would have never even thought of it unless it was recommended by the owners. I'm glad we were able to make it there and enjoy a city we would have missed otherwise.

Sunday: We had breakfast again at 0900, then headed off to the Grafenwoehr post. I had to do laundry (one of the only downfalls of this hotel is the lack of a washer and dryer). While I did my laundry, my wife shopped at the PX, which is fairly large compared to ours in Heidelberg. We then planned to eat lunch at a wonderful Chinese place called "Tea Garden" off post, but when we arrived we found it closed. They are closed for a month while they go on vacation. This is something you don't see much of in the states. A business usually doesn't just take a month off so they can go on vacation. They have a different outlook on money I guess, and they put more emphases on their own quality of life. I guess this isn't a bad thing, except for the fact that my wife and I wanted some good Chinese food.

We ended up headed back to the food court on post for lunch, then went back to our hotel for a nap. My wife left at about 1500 to head back home and I did schoolwork and then read for a while before eating another wonderful dinner here at the hotel. I'm afraid to get on the scale when I get back home!

Pictures of our day trip...check out the slideshow below or go to the album on my flickr:

Created with flickr slideshow.

Intel 35 Day 5 - (Germany) Day 262

Had the usual morning breakfast in the dining area of the hotel. One of the nice things about each morning is that the three of us that are staying here, all sit at one table and have some morning conversation while we eat breakfast. It kind of starts the day out right, a nice breakfast with some fellow students who like to talk about anything and everything.

Class today was similar to the previous days. Today we focused on transferring encryption keys we made to devices called SKL (Simple Key Loader), which is the device similar to an oversized palm pilot. We also loaded the audit logs from the device to the machine. As with the other classes we would get a block of instruction and then do a practical exercise giving us some hands on experience.

At lunch we ate at the DFAC and then headed off to try and find the health clinic on this post. Evidently it's an emergency that I get my flu shot now. I guess the rest of the office received theirs and it was actually marked down in their MedPros, so now I need to get mine done. We finally found the place, but found out they only do flu shots on Mondays. I told them it was an emergency…LOL, then told them I'd be back on Monday.

We got out of class at 1500 which was pretty cool…a nice way to start our weekend. We came back to the hotel and I did my schoolwork before doing a little reading. By about 1800 my wife had arrived. We ate dinner in the dining area with SGT Mex and the other student here. My wife finally got to experience some of the wonderful food the owner makes here. I'm guessing I'll probably gain about 10 pounds in these two weeks I'm here.

We were planning on heading to Munich this weekend, but after the owner came out and suggested we check out Regensburg (which is only an hour away) we decided to take his advice.

Intel 35 Day 4 - (Germany) Day 261

Had my usual morning breakfast at the hotel before heading to class. We started class after our usual morning news brief. This is where the instructor hangs out in the front of class and we discuss the daily news. They say we can discuss anything except politics and religion…LOL. They would prefer security related news, but everything is fair game. Today it was mostly about the attacks on the US Embassies in the middle east. These places also have ComSec material, we were wondering at what point they might have actually started their destruction process (destroying all the ComSec classified & top secret  materials while the embassy is under attack)

Class went by pretty quickly, as usual we listened to a block of instruction and then did some hands on with a practical exercise on our system. We generated electronic encryption keys on each of our systems by the end of the day.

The day also included a number of breaks where discussions would arise and the one I hear most often is the difference between tactical vs. strategic units in the army (tactical units deploy and strategic units do not). I'm told that if I were in a tactical unit, then there would be no doubt that I would be actually doing my job (Information Technology Specialist). On top of that I hear from everyone that the environment in a tactical unit is much different than that of a strategic unit. The idea I keep hearing is that since a strategic unit doesn't deploy, they hang around worrying about stupid stuff all the time. A tactical unit on the other hand has more money to spend and just gets things done…they don't do the stupid crap all the time. How much of this is true, I don't know…since I've never experienced the tactical side. It seems to be the common theme I hear from everyone though. I think my whole experience, thoughts and feelings I have about the army would be different if I had been in a tactical unit.

Once class was out we headed back to the hotel where I started watching the Apple special presentation on the new iPhone 5. I have to keep up with the tech news even while I'm away! I then had dinner in the dining area with the other two soldiers here. The cool thing about staying in such a small hotel out with the locals, is the ability to interact with them. One of the owners of the hotel came out and chatted with us for about an hour.

I then video chatted with my wife for a while before heading to bed for the night. Looking forward to the weekend coming soon, my wife will be coming up and we'll be doing some site seeing.

Intel 35 Day 3 - (Germany) Day 260

A view of SGT Mex in the outside dining area at our hotel...I love this place!

Had my usual nice breakfast this morning along with my "to-go" coffee…I love this hotel! Arrived at class and because we have such a small class size (only 4 people) we have been moving along faster than planned. We ended up taking quite a bit of time just chatting with the instructors between each block of instruction. At one point we chatted for an hour about random stuff. There were some pretty interesting conversations. Both our instructors have retired from the army. Our female instructor had an interesting career with overseas time in Korea, Kuwait, Norway, and Germany as well as some time working at the NSA. She did say something that I can really relate to, probably because I joined so late in life "I was a civilian in a military uniform". I think and feel the same way. Being older, I'm already set in my ways and I can see past a lot of the bullshit that goes on. I also question a lot of the stupidity that I see versus a young person who may not know any better.

We did have a couple hands on portions during the day, but today was more instruction than usual. The instructors said they still have to give these current blocks of instruction, but the army does not use this information anymore. It's funny because even the last bullet on the slide stated that the army no longer uses this…but we had to go through it anyway because the material had not been changed yet by Fort Gordon. Everyone was left kind of scratching their heads wondering why we just wasted two hours of our lives.

We were let out at 1600 after another long random conversation session between us and the instructors. We backed up our systems and did an inventory of all of our personal items, then we left. We headed back to the hotel, where I read my book for a bit, then took a nap. I then ate dinner with SGT Mex in the dining area along with another soldier here for training. This hotel only has 3 rooms! We had some good dinner and good conversation before heading back to each of our rooms. I did homework before video chatting with my wife, then called it a night and turned in.

Intel 35 Day 2 (Tittie Tuesday) - (Germany) Day 259

Ed's Bar Dresscode...LOL

This morning I woke up and after getting ready, met SGT Mex in the dining area for breakfast. I'm loving this little hotel. It's more like a bed and breakfast, but it also has a cafe that serves lunch and dinner as well. The contract all the local hotels have with the military here include breakfast and dinner. We eat lunch at the DFAC on post. I love the owner's cooking!!

Class today consisted of a lot of hands on with our systems. The instructor would go over a block of instruction or two and then we would do a practical exercise on our own using our systems. The day went by at a decent pace. We are basically still getting our systems setup. Each step builds upon the previous steps. We were able to make our systems communicate with each other and transfer information.

After class ended, we headed back to the hotel to change and eventually eat dinner. I had mentioned to SGT Mex about the last time I was in this area during the FTX I had to attend. I told him about Ed's Bar in Grafenwoehr (which is about 25 minutes from Vilseck) which some of the guys in my barracks visited on a Tuesday because of a special "event" held only on Tuesdays called "Tittie Tuesday". The way they described it sounded like they went to this bar and the waitresses went topless on Tuesday. After hearing this SGT Mex decided we had to go. I looked up the address and we headed out. We ended up arriving about 1930 with plans to be back in our beds at 2200 at the latest. Let's just say things didn't go as planned.

We arrived to find a bar that had one customer and an ugly bartender. I thought to myself, this isn't a good sign! We decided to have a drink and play some pool anyway…we did drive all the way out here, we might as well enjoy ourselves. We played 3 games with me winning 2 of them. I felt like a pool shark because I was killing him the entire time. The only reason I lost one of the games is because I scratched when trying to hit in the 8 ball...I was on fire! We then started playing darts. They had an electronic machine there, so we played a game of cricket. This is a long game that passes the time. I ended up with a miraculous win by hitting three bulls eyes in a row. I wasn't so lucky the next two games. Is it wrong that my arm was sore after three games of darts?

By this time there were a couple more people in the bar, but we decided to call it a night. It was 2130 and we headed out. On the way to our car, we saw they had just opened up another door to Ed's Bar (Ed's 2) and went in to check it out. It turns out that was the actual topless portion and had just opened for the night. Not wanting to miss out we decided to have one more drink before we left. It turned out not to be topless waitresses at all, but a full on strip club! There was a pole and chicks came out and did their dance and eventually went topless. It turned out to be a pretty funny night. We didn't leave as early as planned…we had to wait and watch each of the dancers at least once before leaving (we didn't want to be rude).

By the time we arrived back at the hotel it was 2300. The front door was locked, but luckily we were given keys to get in. I made it to my room and crashed…it's way past my bedtime on a school night…LOL.