Still in T-1 Academics. Still seems to be crawling by. The days are getting longer now, with more frequent simulators that go until 8:30 or 9pm and full days of classes. The sims are fun so far though. It is pretty cool playing the role of a co-pilot, I think I am going to like my future job very much. Flying as co-pilot is like going on a road trip. I always enjoyed road trips. The planning, the maps, the random stuff that happens along the way, and of course seeing new places and meeting new people...

Yes, I do believe I am going to enjoy my job.

T-1A academic training so far is going really slowly. This week the base network has been down and we can't do any classes as they are all dependent on that. This afternoon we meet our torturer for the next few months (aka USEM, which I am sure stands for something, maybe something like unit standards evaluator or something or other), basically this person gives us all our flight line written and verbal tests. Most of the tests are verbal and meant to be stressful and painful. I have heard that this second half isn't as belittling and frustrating as the first, so maybe the USEM time will also be like that.
Either way, that and one pretend simulator seems to be all that we will be able to accomplish this week. Pretend meaning we use cockpit pictures instead of the actual simulator for this first sim.
Even though all this apparent free time seems great, I feel weird about it. It's as if I am getting way behind because I am not doing anything. And though I do study, I feel that it is not near enough, especially when the day drags on forever and I can't focus to save my life. So, here's to hoping the pace picks up just a little, nothing crazy, and keeps the days from being never ending.

Well, here it goes, on to the next half of pilot training. Time to start learning to fly a new plane, a jet plane for real this time. 7 more months of pilot training before I earn my wings. And rumor has it that the hardest part is behind us. The next few weeks is academics again, then right before Christmas we will start flying the new jet. Time to get back in shape and to learn as much as possible before the crazy time crunch that is the flight line begins again.
In other news, Shadow is all grown up now. He is about a year old. He is still a nice calm puppy most of the time, but he definitely has his rowdy moments. He has also picked up a really annoying habit of barking at the neighbor dogs, which is horrible. Hopefully, we can break that habit soon.

I have sucessfully completed T-6 training. Next will be T-1s. I am thrilled to be done, well right now it is more like relief. There is a week or a week and a half left until T-1 training officially starts. That will be enough time to relax and recharge before the next long stretch of training. Half way done with pilot training!

Something that bothers me immensely is when people decide to argue about stuff online, when neither person has a legitimate argument, and neither party knows what they are talking about. If it didn't make me want to smack them, I might enjoy the irony of people using technology to make themselves look stupid instead of just googling it and perhaps learning something that day. I understand that the internet is sometimes frustrating to use as a resource as it is hard to sift through so many of the blogs and news reports that claim to be facts but lack any truth. But surely it isn't that difficult if I can do it? In any case, that is my rant for today - go look stuff up before you post and let the world know that you know nothing.

I think a wise saying applies to the internet as well - “It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.” ~ Mark Twain

Teachers
In the pilot training arena and most of the time in a military context they are called instructors, but they are still teachers. Teachers I feel are some of the most important people in your life. Mostly, what they say and teach is rarely remembered. And a lot of times you learn what not to do from teachers. However, every now and then you get one that is just outstanding at what he/she does. They seem unflappable and carefree, yet still uphold the standards. Being around them makes you appreciate life and love what you are learning. These kind of teachers are not only remembered for what they said and what they taught, but also for that little something they added to the lives of those around them. I feel I have been blessed with many such teachers along the way so far - maybe even more so than the average person. Today, watching one such teacher fly his last flight for the air force, I remember those teachers and what they have done for me and how they have helped me along the way.

Instrument complete! It feels like a miracle, or maybe a dream. What a miserable experience, not as bad as initial flight screening, but boy was it rough. I am sure you are thinking, how was it rough? you were flying an airplane, couldn't be that bad. This is where you would be wrong. You see, I am a perfectionist, and the T-6 is a horribly unstable plane, which makes for a glorious aerobatic flight, but a terrible instrument platform. Instruments is all about being steady and smooth. The T-6 is not meant to be either, at least not in that way. But now it is over and I get to fly formation. That will be fun.

I had a good talk with a friend today. It made me think about how we live life. Most things we do for the greater good, or at least for our greater good. Some people work in a tiny cubical, answer whiny phone calls, deal with confused customers, or get other people's coffee for 8 or more hours a day just for the pay check they get every other week or so. To them that pay check is the greater good that comes from the long hours spent on the verge of insanity. Others serve for the greater good of others, yes the pay check is nice, but not nearly enough to compensate for the struggle. Teachers put up with other people's spoiled brats for hours each day just to see the glint of learning in a few of their eyes. Soldiers put up with the fear or death and injury to be able to sleep at night with the knowledge that they have kept the innocents who cannot defend themselves safe. Airmen face the risk of crashing or being shot from the sky to provide a shield for those fighting on the ground and to bring hope and supplies to those in need. Doctors work long hard hours and bear the pain of families losing loved ones to be able to bring health and happiness to their patients.

In every job there is reward for those who work it. And every job longs for the weekend to spend with their family and friends, whether that job includes flying the fastest planes or working the longest hours in a mine.

And now my weekend starts and I cannot think of anything else to say. It's been a long week.

Cross country was a lot of fun. It was a ton of work, and really tiring, but still cool. My instructor pilot told me that her first cross country as a student was when she first started feeling like a real pilot. I think I agree. Some times things went a little crazy with the weather and the clearances, and I wasn't sure what to do still, but for the most part it felt like I really knew what was going on and could do it all on my own.

Taking off for my first night sortie was pretty sweet too. Flying at night on a commercial plane is one of my favorite parts of flying, but being the person flying over those little lights flickering down below is even cooler.

One thing that was rough about cross country was that it took away my weekend. It is a little brutal flying a plane with no autopilot and pretty bad triming capability for long periods of time every day. But I just reminded myself that those towns we were passing over could very well have people working on the weekends as well, and their work was either more brutal hard labor or more boring desk jobs. So, really I would much rather be a pilot flying on the weekends, than have a desk job with the best hours possible.

Instrument checkride is coming up, probably next week. There is a crazy amount stuff to know for it, so most of the next few days will probably be spent studying. And then it is on to formation and low-levels!! woot!

Tomorrow, I go cross country. Though a seemingly simple sentence, it holds so much meaning. It means I have made it through a very difficult party of pilot training successfully so far. It alludes to the idea that I will be flying a plane across the great state of texas for a journey that many road trips have accomplished. It reminds me of sitting in the back of my dad's car on sunday afternoon drives - craning my head back to watch the fluffy clouds pass by the window and dreaming of zooming around in those clouds. It is such a small step in the journey of pilot training, but it seems like such a great step in the journey of a dreamer.

Another long week in pilot training. But in the end it seemed productive. Sometimes I feel like I am catching on to the whole flying thing a whole lot slower than everyone else. However, I am still alive and pushing through, so it must be going well. Next friday I go cross-country, which is supposed to be a great time. And then after that I just have a week our two left of instruments before formation.

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Pilot training is going well. It is super busy, but pretty awesome. It is finally the weekend and time to relax.

It has been a long couple of weeks, stressful I suppose. But mainly, just really long. Had a rough time getting good at landing and such. But I seem to have it now. It just took a little longer for me, and caused some grief. The long breaks due to weather did not help much either.

Now the weather is looking up and I have been put on Flying CAP (commander's awareness program) so that my instructors know I need just a little extra help with the flying thing and that if I do have breaks in training it will affect my flying a whole lot. It has turned out to be really good. Where I was getting one or two flights a week, I am now getting about 4, and now I have only experienced instructors fly with me. That way I am not the experiment of the new guys.

So, all these long weeks led up to an amazing Friday. I solo'd the T-6! It was awesome. I was trusted with a 6 million dollar plane to fly all by my lonesome.



Next is the first checkride, which is basically a test of how well I am flying up to that point in training. This is the most failed checkride of all the checkrides in the T-6, so I have a lot of studying to do. If the weather holds and we don't have too many maintenance cancellations this next week, I should have the checkride the end of this next week or the beginning of the one after.

Today, I learned how to land. The End.

No, just kidding. But it was awesome. Saturday fly day tomorrow. But who can complain, even since I am not scheduled to fly. My job is awesome.

Well, back to studying. No rest for the wary this week.

The weather this week has been better than last, sort of. Yesterday was the best flying day we've seen for the last week and a half or more. Today the clouds rolled in and cancelled most flights. Tomorrow is scheduled to be even worse, but we'll see how it goes. I have had two flights this week and one last week. I feel like I am improving a lot, but if also that these long breaks between flights make me relearn everything over again. I really don't have enough experience to just be rusty after a week or more out of the jet. But this is the desert, so hopefully the thunderstorms and rain will let up enough to give us a few solid weeks of good fly days.

In either case, tomorrow is Friday, which means I have made it through 4 weeks on the flight line. There are a painful amount left, but hey, there are definitely worse jobs out there. In fact, I can think of few better.

This week was not very productive in the way of flights. Weather has cancelled most flights and completely cancelled flying for today. Pretty ironic, considering this is the desert.

On another note, it is finally the weekend. And it is a beautifully long weekend. Definitely looking forward to relaxing and recharging.

Week two of phase two done. So tired. Five flights in. I have a lot left (like 58), but it is definitely moving along. I only have 3 academic tests left in T-6's.

Whew, ok sleepy time

The nights of pilot training are interesting. I spend them wishing I was asleep and trying to force the wandering thoughts of flying and testing from my head so that I can fall asleep. And then even when I do fall asleep, the training even invades my dreams and gives me a fitful sleep at best. But then Friday night comes and I pass out around 8:30 in the evening and sleep like a rock until the next morning.

Today, I have an instruments test. It is a strange thing to be studying for instrument flying before I have even got the hang of VFR (non instrument) flying. I have also heard that as soon as I solo and maybe even the few flights before solo, that I will start instrument simulators.

Later this evening, I have my 4th flight. Tonight is "night week," which means we start later in the day and fly later, so that the instrument rated pilots can keep up their night currencies.

Flying the T-6 is pretty amazing. It goes about twice the speed of the little planes I have flown before, and of course it goes inverted and can do aerobatics. But it is a rather uncomfortable plane to fly as well. Having to wear a g-suit, a helmet, and a harness, as well as, the seat seems to find my shoulder blades and slice into them for half the flight. However, when I am actually flying maneuvers or patterns, I hardly notice these things. It is the dead space in between that accentuates the discomfort.

12 hour days are standard during pilot training. Strangely though, this does not feel like a hardship. There is so much to learn right now, I don't know how we could learn it all if we had shorter days. The only hard parts of 12 hours at work is being so hungry at the end and barely seeing my husband all week. But we knew we would be busy, so even that is not so bad.

Overall, pilot training is quite different than what I expected. Yes, there is a lot of studying to do, and flying is not easy. But the frustrating things Josh had to deal with are not as frustrating when you experience them instead of watch them. There are too many things going on for the little annoying things they do to us to really bother anyone yet. Maybe when we are not so new to flying and want more time at home, then we'll notice those things more. But for now, we spend most of our time thinking of what is coming next and not what stupid thing we had to do a minute ago.

This week was the first full week of flying. I got two flights in. They were pretty awesome. I definitely enjoy flying the T-6 a whole lot more than the DA-20.

The days are long and the nights are painfully short. But it this flying gig is fun and I hope it continues to be so. Well, it's Friday, which means steak for dinner and finally spending some relaxation time with Josh.

First two days of phase 2 (real flying) was awesome. Ok, both days were long and painful at times. But Thursday I had my dollar ride, which was incredible. The flight I am in has turned out to be really great. The IPs (instructor pilots) are really good at what they do and really want to help us learn to fly. We got a good bunch.

Today, Josh and I are going to a World Cup party, even though I think soccer is really boring. It should be fun, most of my class will be there and we'll BBQ and pretend to be interested in a ball rolling around on grass. It is England vs the USA, so maybe it will be interesting. Down with the Brits!

Tomorrow the flying begins. Bring it.

Things I learned this week:

I am very allergic to insect repellent.

Simulators suck about as much as first person shooter video games and are likewise unrealistic.

Puppies will play with anything that they haven't been yelled at for...including DVD's.

Not blinking enough hurts.

Yep, so a lot learned this week. Next week we fly. The flying is a little behind schedule, so the guys that we are replacing will not be finished on time. So, we most likely will not have our firsts flights until Friday next week or even the Monday after that. This is fine - more time to study and soak it all in. And hopefully our schedule for weather classes can be readjusted to not be as painfully packed together.

The weekend is almost here. Two more classes this afternoon and then Friday night is on.

I did my second emergency procedures sim today. It went rather well. Had the same IP that fell asleep last time, he didn't dose off this time. Today, is a short day. It is just after noon and I am finished already. It feels very nice, because the morning was very early. So, I suppose finishing at noon is actually a 6 hour day, but still, it could have been worse.

This weekend was fabulous. The Watermark where Josh and I stayed was wonderful and we had a great time being absolutely lazy and spoiling ourselves. Massages are really nice and jacuzzi bath tubs are great. Breakfast in bed each morning rounded out the experience lovely. We also went to a Brazilian BBQ restaurant. I stuffed myself so full of delicious food that I thought I might explode. It was the type of restaurant that serves a dozen different types of meat on platters that are carried around by waiters. They also had bottomless fried bananas, fried cornbread, and mashed potatoes. Amazing.

So...I have one more week of Phase 1 left. I feel like it has taken forever, but really not been enough time to prepare for the flightline. Wednesday, that is when we start flying. Because our schedule was so nuts, we actually have two classes that day as well, so probably not many of us will actually fly. But...that's when it all starts. The twelve hour days, the incessantly early mornings and late nights, the stress of failure, disappointment, grumpy instructor pilots, and verbal abuse....I am looking forward to it. Well, of course I am not looking forward to any of those things in particular. But, just to be honest with myself: I have wanted to do this since before I remember, have been working towards this for the last 9 years, and after finally making it here, I have been waiting for it to start for the last 10 months. So, here it goes....flying.

It is no homework Thursday! Which is not as cool as you would first think. Tomorrow, I was supposed to have the Flying Fundamentals exam, but it is a half day tomorrow in celebration of Memorial Day Weekend. Except, it is only sort of a half day. We can only do half a days work, and then we have to do a bunch of base activities for "wingman day." And if that wasn't the best way to start the weekend, our exam was pushed to Tuesday at 0600 and only 4 people will be able to do the sims tomorrow. So, a fake half day versus having to study extra over an otherwise perfectly good 3-day weekend. Chock that one up for a loss. This week was kind of busy, and kind of not.

Something hilarious happened this week though. I was in this simulator, going through the flight and learning to do these outrageously slow 30 degree banking turns. I am on the 4th one or so and finally reached the prescribed heading. So, I level off and wait for further instruction from my instructor. And then I wait a little longer, but he says nothing. Awkwardly, I readjust my heading, thinking maybe it is not perfect enough. Still nothing from the peanut gallery. I wait a little longer, struggling to keep my aircraft level, since the sim is not so good at trimming and staying on a proper altitude and heading. Still nothing. So, I wiggle around in my seat so I can see behind me to the sim desk.....my instructor is asleep. Like, passed out chin to his chest asleep. Unbelievable. And, I have no idea how to react. The guy is a retiree and has been working the simulator program for who knows how long. I am not sure if it was a condition he had from being so old that he just randomly falls asleep, or if my flying was just that boring. Anyway, I make some noise and clear my throat and finally after a couple attempts at that, he wakes up. Then he continues on like nothing happened, just picks up right where he left off.

Crazy.

Yeah, so long week for everyone I suppose.

Shadow is suffering from our long days as well. He seems to be overly excited all the time and always in dire need of attention, even if we take him for long runs or walks. But I suppose being alone for most of the day is pretty boring. Hopefully, in a little while he will be properly crate trained and we can let him out in the yard for longer periods of time during the day so he can play with his toys and run around more.

Shadow's training is coming along fairly well. The only real problem we are having is that housebreaking. He just doesn't seem to be able to understand that one. He has learned a variety of commands and is very proficient at fetch now. We are even moving on to more complicated commands like "go to your mat" and "leave it."

Today, I was talking to someone who also has a puppy. He was saying that having two puppies is actually easier to deal with than just having one. I find that interesting. It makes sense, but two puppies running around sure seems like a lot of extra work. Definitely something to consider.

It's Saturday morning and I have been awake for over two hours. Why, you ask, would I wake up at 7 on a Saturday morning. Well, if your class gets in trouble for some nebulous act that we as a class still do not know and have not been told what we actually did, well, if this happens, your class gets to paint the local high school's stadium bleachers on a perfectly good Saturday morning. Unless of course this Saturday morning is rainy, and then you get to drive out there and wait for half an hour before someone decides that the weather man is most likely correct and it is going to continue raining for the rest of the day.

Anyway, rescheduling and slow, uninspired decision making have been the theme of pilot training so far. Neither of which I am particularly fond of, but I guess that's how it goes. If you ask me, it should be stopped, but apparently, that is only a personal opinion and some people enjoy the poorly organized and inadequately led side of the military.

So, now for something less riddled with cynicism and sarcasm. I had my first graded sim yesterday. It went...well, interesting, but I guess well, since I received an excellent on it. I guess all you really have to do to get good grades on the first couple sims is show up and not have your flight suit on backwards. This is a good thing, because I had absolutely no idea what was going on. I mean, I knew I was supposed to be flipping switches and going through the checklists and blurting out random things as prescribed. But knowing that and knowing what is going on are two completely different things. It was good though, I now know that there are way to many little switches and that I should probably memorize not just what I have to say, but also where exactly all the switches are and in what order I have to flip them.

So far, what I have learned about being a pilot is that chimpanzees have more friendly training but learn very similar things. Maybe, if I was given a banana every time I flipped the switches in the right order, then perhaps it would make me feel equal to a chimp. However, seeing as bananas could get expensive, I don't see that happening in the near future.

Feels like a rough week this week. Mostly because by the time I am done I feel like a zombie. Today, my eyes are tired and I have been battling to stay awake for the last 2-3 hours in a class with an instructor who is rather uninteresting, even if he does a good job explaining things. I feel like I should be doing hard core studying in the evenings, but my eyes hurt so much I am actually closing them intermittently while typing this. Anyway, I got off a little earlier today than was originally scheduled, which means tomorrow will be longer. So, I gotta do some house cleaning. Maybe that will also help me wake up just a bit.

I am currently trying to force myself to study. Tomorrow at 6am is the Systems 2 exam. However, all I can think about currently is that in less than two weeks it will be Josh and my 1st anniversary. We are going to Houston to celebrate. It is in 11 days. And somehow between now and then I will have finished 3 exams, 4 or 5 sims, and 4 blocks of instruction. How am I ever going to concentrate enough for that to all happen successfully?

In any case, I better get back to studying, the review for this class is in 2 hours.

We spent most of today digging holes for a fence. We are finally putting up the fence that we got last month from one of the houses that the base is demolishing. Beneath the sketchy top layer of soil is even more rocks, mostly limestone type stuff, thankfully. So, it broke apart eventually, but it was slow work. As luck would have it someone down the street was also putting up a fence and had rented an auger, which we borrowed to finish the last three holes. We definitely should have started with the auger instead of borrowing a friend's shovel and post hole digger. But, it was good to get in a long day of hard labor. It is a break from the endless hours of classes and computer slideshow classes.

The third week of UPT consisted of that -- seemingly endless hours of classes and CAI's (lessons on a computer in something similar to power point format). I have 3 1/2 weeks left of phase 1 (the academic heavy portion). Josh is washing back two classes and finally started flying again this week. He has 4 flights before his first checkride and I have my second Systems test early Tuesday morning. Needless to say, we will be studying most of tomorrow (after we finish putting up the fence in the morning). We are hoping the fence gives the dog a little more time to play outside and makes him happier. Housebreaking the dog is getting to be pretty frustrating. He doesn't seem to quite get that he shouldn't poo everywhere. Not sure if we should punish him more or what, but hopefully he starts to get the idea soon.

The first group of USAFA '09 graduates tracked this week (track meaning going to the second training aircraft, which determines what type of aircraft is flown upon graduation). And next week the last group of '09 graduates start pilot training. It is kind of crazy that we are all really that far away from our days as academy cadets and we are really living our dreams.

So, wow, what a week, and it's only Wednesday. Shadow, as we have named our new pup, is a very good puppy. Fortunately, he is not crazy. He is still a lot of work, but it could be worse. Today (the 3rd day we've had him), he has had no accident in the house. He did puke, but that was just showing me that hot dogs are not a good doggy treat. I gave him a bath today. I have no idea why he doesn't like water, aren't dogs supposed to like water? In any case, the bath will be at least a weekly occurrence, so he will eventually get used to it. Also, there is dog hair all over part of the house. We don't let him in any of the rooms, so no problem there. But in the back room and hallway it is getting pretty bad. Or maybe I just really dislike dog hair. Oh well.

As for UPT. It is going well. It seems really slow right now. But that is fine, I am sure if it was any faster, I would be struggling. Today, I had the Systems 1 test. Passed that. Yesterday, we had our first set of Sims. Not much to it this time, just flipping switches and figuring out where stuff is. Four more weeks of Phase 1 left (Phase 1 is the academic portion of UPT).

We got a puppy yesterday. I can barely believe it. A couple found two puppies tied up and left for dead in the middle of nowhere and was asking for people to adopt. I told Josh that he should convince me that it was a bad idea to get a puppy. But he only came up with reasons it could work. So, we now have a 4 month old puppy.

It is a black lab. We named him Shadow. It seems to fit. The dog is mostly very quiet (especially for a puppy) and like a shadow, follows us around and lays down nearby. So far, he likes the door mats, so we got him one of his own. He does not like the crate, though he doesn't whine too much when we put him in there for bedtime. He stops after 15 minutes or so. Hopefully, that will get less and less. It is interesting learning how to train him. As an officer we have learned so much about communication and getting people to follow you. But dogs do not understand what we are saying. We are figuring out a whole new way of communicating, mostly by gestures and tone of voice.

Also, Shadow loves to sleep. For a puppy that seems odd, but there is no way I am complaining. Best puppy ever.

Josh got a flight and a simulator ride today, which is awesome. They are finally getting him spun back up. He should wash back this week or next. He is a little too far behind to stay with his current class, and he is fine with that. He even knows a lot of the guys in the flight he's washing back into. Well, back to the real world and studying. Systems 1 test on Wednesday and my first simulator (sim for short) tomorrow.

Interesting time of the year. The UCI (Unit Compliance Inspection) is messing up the scheduling for our class. We finished 2 and half hours early today, because our instructors had to go off and pretend to contain a simulated fuel explosion. This will probably be painful later this week or next when we have to make up the stuff we couldn't do. Right now, it is nice to relax a bit, and get some extra studying done.

Long day today. Mostly, the academics seemed to grad on endlessly. All morning we had power point classes, then the FACT test, and then another power point class. Kind of brutal. Not sure if I remember much of anything from the last class. By then I might have been completely gone. But, it was our first Systems class.

FACT is the fighter aircrew conditioning test, which I definitely failed. Apparently, I am too short for those machines. I did well on the lower body and endurance stuff, but the weird arm curl and bench press machine thingies did not work very well for short me. But, apparently, it is completely meaningless for me anyway, since I am also too short to fly fighter planes.

Today, we got our first delivery of Schwan's. We are hoping it will be a good way to deal with neither of us having much time to make and clean up from dinner. Anyway, dinner is over and now it is about time to study. The long days, long study sessions, and lack of free time is really refreshing. I know it will all one day be useful and I will get to do what I love.

Well, the first week is over. With all the seeming snags along the way, it still ended up to be a pretty decent week. Aerospace Physiology is mostly interesting. We just finished the survival part. And I did really well on the exam. It feels much nicer actually doing classes now. Most of them are pretty interesting, or at least entertaining. And even if it a totally boring instructor, I still learn at least something from the class. Our class as a whole seems to be meshing well. There is always those few kids that make you want to bang your head against the desk, but life is just like that. And the cool people in the group make up for the annoying ones.

Next week will be long, but it doesn't seem like it will be as brutal. Class seems to end at 5 each afternoon, which is a huge plus. The FACT test is Monday, and then Thursday we have the last aerospace phys test. The FACT is a fitness type test to make sure you are strong enough to handle a fighter jet. Even though I am not going to be flying those, I am pretty sure I am still supposed to pass it. So, that might be the thing I am a little concerned about. But really, there's nothing I can do between now and then to get better at it. So, I just have to give it everything I got when I do it, and see how it works out.

Another big thing this week is we start our Systems classes. Meaning, we learn about the aircraft systems. I think it is pretty neat that I finally get to learn about the plane I'll be flying in just 5 1/2 weeks. More on all that later. For now it is bed time, as the ground drug trials we are taking this week have started kicking in and I feel the no-go pill starting to work.

Master's classes = A's

Pilot training = way busy and way too many briefings, hopefully we'll be having more classes than briefings soon

Aerospace physiology = really cool people

This week = it is hump day, it is almost the weekend

me = study then sleep

Well, the first day was interesting. Just a load of random power point type briefings that really isn't new information. But at least it was low stress. The day ended well with a depressing demotivational speech by leadership. People are really good at pep talks here. I know, those sentences are dripping in so much sarcasm they are basically drowning at the bottom of the Atlantic.

Anyway, the battle for wings goes on. Tomorrow is another day. Another very early day. Good night.

So, here it goes. A new adventure about to begin. Pilot training starts tomorrow. I can't decide if the tightness in my stomach is from the nervousness, the fact that it is almost dinner time, or the drugs trials we have to do. Whatever the case, I pretty much am psyched for tomorrow and this next year. It is going to be one heck of a ride.

The next two days will be a series of briefings, most of which are annual type air force briefings to make sure we get the required stuff out of the way so we don't need to do it in the middle of pilot training. Then starts the academic classes, which lasts for about 6 weeks. In June, I hit the flight line. And that means we start actually flying. I will fly the T-6 Texan II. This will happen for about 4 1/2 months, and then we track. We track to a different aircraft, there are 4 options, T-1, T-44, T-38, or UH-1. T-1's are a small jetliner type planes that lead into flying airlift or air-refueling aircraft. T-44's are planes with two props out front and lead into the C-130, which is the air force's large prop plane. It has 4 props and flies cargo drop missions, missions that drop things out the back like pallets or people. T-38's are fighter trainers that lead into fighter or bomber planes. And UH-1's are the helicopter trainers.

I can't fly T-38's or UH-1's because I am to short, so my choices are kind of limited. But I am still excited about it. Out track date is 21 October.

Today, I finished the two master's classes I was working on. Finally, the last paper was a killer. So, now it's just pilot training for a year. Let the good times begin.

This week is dragging on, but also going too fast, strangely for the same reason. I am writing a 20 page paper. Writing long boring papers is one thing I despise about school, and non-technical papers are the worst of them. I feel like I have to make up stuff to say about only semi-interesting topics. But that's not the worst of it. I get distracted so easily while researching and then half an hour later I realize I haven't written a word more and still haven't found what I was looking for. So, the boring long days of research and writing make this week drag on. But I am hardly a quarter way done and I still have another class to write an essay for (thankfully a much shorter one). And the due date seems to be coming up pretty fast now.

I was having a chat with my brother-in-law tonight. It made me realize how awesome my childhood really was; I mean it was rough at times, not perfect at all, but it definitely had its moments, lots of them. My brothers and I had so many adventures together. And I know realize that not every family gets that close. Sometimes sibling rivalry and personalities clash too much. Of course we had our clashes and fights, lots of fights, but somehow they always figured themselves out.

Some of my favorite memories were outdoors and others were of mischief: hiking state parks, free-climbing cliffs, trying to make a creek into a dam, discovering forgotten graveyards in the woods, bonfires, climbing trees, trying to fix broken furniture with duct tape and watching it crash to the floor as our parents walked in, traveling the US in an RV, being chased by bees from an abandoned, emptied pool, trying to get lost in the woods - succeeding, jumping from waterfalls, floating on rivers, making bamboo fishing rods and cleaning fish with a pocket knife, camping trips, secrets, dreaming of growing up....

And oh the laughter, so many things we did purely for a laugh. So many gags and goofy stunts. I think one thing that made growing up together so awesome was the laughter. Practical jokes was definitely one thing I really missed when I moved off to college. Oh memories...

Back from an extended weekend away. Lots of time spent in the hospital for my husbands surgery. It feels good to be back home. Yesterday, I went to our first class meeting for UPT (undergraduate pilot training). I am starting pilot training soon. Crazy. I have been waiting so long it didn't really feel like I was ever going to start. But now I have only 12 days until I start. I suddenly do not feel ready at all. I do feel like I just want to get started and get into it and see how this thing goes. I am tired of sitting around doing not much of anything.

I got dog tags today. Apparently, we have to wear them when we fly. But we are not allowed to wear necklaces or rings, so that seems like a rather large contradiction. I find it interesting that dog tags come with the same chain I use to turn on and off my lights and overhead fans. Of course, I knew this before, but now that I have my own personal light switch to hang around my neck, I have decided it is odd. Who thought that this would make a good necklace, and when did it start? or did it start as a necklace and transition to a light switch? After doing a quick google and wiki search and finding nothing, I wonder if questions like this will ever be answered. Oh well. I guess some thing in life are just meant to be a mystery. Really strange mystery though.

On another note...yeah, exercise thing, fail, epic fail this week. I am one, lazy, and two completely unmotivated. Now, I have plenty of reasons to be motivated. I like being fit, I like the physical pain brought on by morbid amount of exercise, I like being stronger and faster and thinner than the average American, not to mention things are more fun when you have the extra stamina and energy that exercise provides, things like sports, kayaking, waking up in the morning, sex, hiking, playing outside, exploring, water balloon fights, studying...etc. But still, I am not motivated. I think part of the reason is that I have to do absolutely nothing all day. And before when I had to do stuff, it included sitting at a desk filling out and tweaking excel spreadsheets and other documents...boring. So maybe that's it. I am bored. And because I am bored, I don't feel motivated to change the status of my boredom, or to really fix anything with how out of shape I am becoming.

So, now I just have to figure out how to get over that, and I think I will be able to stick to regular workouts. Not sure how, but I hope I figure it out soon.

It's late Saturday night. Today was a seeming success. I am half way done with that blasted paper (unfortunately only half way). But I did go for a run, and enjoyed some much missed Cajun food.

There was a Cajun Festival in town this evening and Josh and I went with some friends. They had all you can eat shrimp and crawfish. It was very tasty. Though not really the best crawfish boil fixings I've had, they were good nonetheless. Because it has been way too long since I've had the pleasure of crawfish at all. We are rather far from the coast, and this apparently makes it next to impossible to get live crawfish all the way out here. So, unfortunately, they had to start with frozen seafood and go from there. And apparently, this part of the world does not use much in the way of spices when cooking, which of course left much to be desired. BUT, it was crawfish, and it was fun.

Tomorrow is Easter Sunday. Happy Easter.

Fitness:

Ran 1 mile

Friday, running fail. I went to take a 30 minute nap, which I was planning on following with a run. Turned out to be a 2 hour nap with no run following. I have been attempting to work on this long paper I have to write about Enron and financial accounting. However, I really don't care about Enron, and well, financial accounting is boring as well. And somehow I have to get 10 pages out of all the information that is so boring and dry and meaningless to me. It is weeks like this that make me wish I did not decide on doing these two master's classes before starting pilot training.

On a brighter note: if I do happen to finish this paper (I am sure I will, always seems to work out) and the shorter one this week for my other class, then I will have only 3 weeks before I am a quarter of the way done with my MBA. Which is funny to think about, but only true in course credit not time, because I can't take classes for the next year and a half or so.

Also, if I can get myself at least half as interested in the Enron debacle as I am at writing my random thoughts in this blog, then maybe it will go faster.

Fridays are days for grilling steak and potatoes on the back porch. This Friday is no exception, now if only my husband will be released for today, we can get start our weekend.

Fitness:

fitness fail -- 2 hour nap

Happy April Fools.

April the first is a strange day. During that entire day, if anything happens that is not normal, or maybe normal but sucks, I wonder if it is an April Fools joke. Unfortunately, it usually is not.

A new Bones comes out tonight...finally. Of course I won't be watching tonight, but tomorrow on Hulu, you better believe. I am addicted to this show, no, fascinated with it. I watch old episodes, whenever I am feeling bored or like watching something at all really. If all the shows in the world were to be cancelled but Bones, I would be okay with that.

Tonight, I am making Chicken Divan and brownies for supper. Currently, I am making the brownies. And what I mean by that, is I am eating the brownie mix while I wait for the oven to heat up. I wonder where brownies came from...other than heaven of course. But who thought of them, and why have they not won the Nobel Peace Prize? Because that one act of creating brownies has probably done more for the world than any other human act, besides inventing ice cream, of course. I believe if you replaced the phrase "best idea since sliced bread" with "best idea since brownies" one, it would actually mean something, and two it would be used a whole lot less.

Anyway, even though today was semi-useless as I did not accomplish anything but a PT test and mixing brownies up, it is a really good day. I believe that is mostly because of the sleeping in and the brownies, rather than the PT test. So, now I will work on my wonderful paper on Enron's downfall for my horridly boring master's class.

So, I think instead of doing the 30 day blogrimage, since I seem to be really late on starting, I am going to start a monthly challenge. Every month I will choose something to do daily to try to improve myself. For the month of April, I am going to run one mile or more every day during the week and one of the days on the weekends (leaving one day for rest). Running is something I could improve a lot on, and I hope this will be a good start in doing so.

Fitness:

Yesterday, I did pyramid push-ups and shoulder presses.

Today, I got tagged as doing a practice surprise fitness test to help the new fitness monitors figure out the system...yay...

But at least it forced me (literally) to get in a good run, and more push-ups and sit-ups. Though the sit-ups are hardly a workout, doing push-ups today on top of yesterdays has given me a deep burn in my shoulders.

Drove a lot today. My husband had a surgery consult, and the nearest "real" hospital is 3 hours away. Turns out he has to get surgery in two weeks, so we'll be going back again. It isn't a super big deal, just a kind of average surgery. But it has taken him off flying status until he has recovered fully. Which could be anywhere from 4 to 8 weeks. A downer for sure, but he's taking it like a champ and trying to focus on the fact that even though he can't fly, he can get a lot of studying in until he can.

Didn't get much done in the way of goals today. One of my friends started this thing called blogrimage. It's where you blog about something for 30 days. Something that maybe will change your life or just something new to try for a month. Maybe it would help me get in a regular workout routine. So, thinking about it, and what it would all entail.

Today, I watched the house across the street be demolished.

Perfection

Recently, I have been thinking of about what it would mean to be perfect. Or maybe not perfect, but continually improving. There are so many ways to improve life, stuff like fitness, health, knowledge, home improvement, character, skill sets, etc.

I think setting goals or checkpoints might help make sure I fully utilize my life. First, some general goals are in order.

Get in peak physical shape

Eat foods that make my body feel healthy

Actually play guitar

Learn a language

Learn new things frequently

Continue fixing the house

Become a better person

Some goals for the next month:

Run 3 times a week & do calisthenics/lift 3 times/week, regularly

Learn a new song

Read a book

Finish painting the back room

Maybe just writing down my progress on stuff like this will help me think of it more frequently, and maybe accomplish some of them.

Saturdays

Saturdays are great. No work needs to be completed on a Saturday. So, if you do get something done, it's like you are super productive or something. Today, we moved a fence. Just a chain link fence, but it was cemented into the ground. It feels good to work outside and get dirty and scratched up a bit, especially on such a lovely spring day.

This week is midterms. I have one paper left, but I don't want to start it. Financial accounting...not so fascinating as it sounds. But when these classes are finished, I will be a quarter of the way through with my masters, which I suppose makes it worthwhile.

Today, I wait.
I wait for my husband to return home.
I wait for April 26th, so I can start training.
I wait for the end of the day, so the weekend can start.
I wait for motivation to complete my last midterm.

I feel like I have been waiting for a while. I suppose I have. I have reached the stage of waiting where pure boredom sets in. Boredom so deep, that thinking of things to make the boredom go away is boring. The irony is that I have waited for this boredom. A year ago I dreamed of being this bored. Thus, I am not complaining, because this boredom feels good.

I know the boredom will not last. Soon, I will find something to occupy my time and stimulate my mind. And in a month, I will start training and the boredom will be gone. Then perhaps I will wish for its return.

In my boredom, I have started an online journal. Seems to me that this way I can journal without having to fill up books that take up space and will one day fill a box. And perhaps, somewhere some other bored person will read part of this one day, and for maybe 5 minutes, their boredom will be curbed, if only slightly.

~ Sky Monkey