I had the privilege of having both of my brothers visit me at the same time. It was great to be together again. It felt a lot like hanging out when we were all at home. Of course there were vast differences. For instance, it was my home, my one brother was on his way to being stationed on a Pacific Island, and the other is working and going to school full time to be a computer scientist/programmer. Life sure is different than I pictured it when I was 16.

California again. This time there are no forest fires to mar the horizons. And I am finding it has a strange beauty. The hills roll on forever and are back-dropped by far off mountains. Dry light brown grass covers the hills and little forests pop up randomly and litter the sides of the taller hills and smaller mountains. And the trees! There are so many different kinds of them. A few evergreens, some ones with all their leaves gone that look like gnarly African savanna trees, and other regular oaks and such that I don't really know their precise names but notice them from other parts of the US. I have been running close to sunset each day and boy those sunsets sure are gorgeous.
Oh ya, I suppose I am here for training - deployment training at that. So, not tons of fun. But it'll be a good thing, supporting people that need it and good for the career, all in all a good thing. The training is supposedly 6 days a week, which pretty much blows, but it better than 7 days a week... And they are nice enough to give us a 4 day break for Thanksgiving and even a 3 day weekend for Veteran's Day. Huh, this will be the last Veteran's Day that I am not myself a war veteran. Dun dun dunnn. Finally getting to do the J-O-B.

Today marks the two weeks of marathon training. It's going pretty well, and it feels really nice to have accomplished a goal again. Recently, with moving and training, I haven't kept up with much of what I set out to do. So, two weeks of sticking to a running schedule feels really good. Rest day tomorrow! And last day of MC-12 IQT, which hopefully means heading back home Tuesday morning - as long as the money people back home get themselves straightened out. We'll see. Monday morning means bugging them until they break and do their jobs!

3rd day of my MC-12 career and 2nd day of marathon training. Neither of which is intense, but both have their painful parts, like me not being able to stay awake or pay attention for very long, and painful legs. But they both have their upside...I feel better, more alive when I run. And...ummm, I met knew people...oh, academics for IQT is half way done... Ya, I never really thought the academic part of flying was very fun. We get to do charts and calculations tomorrow. Best part of learning! Except that no one else really enjoys or understands it in general, so it takes forever. But we have a bunch of techy majors, so maybe it'll go faster than usual.

Anyway, back to dinner and "studying".

First day of MC-12 initial qualification. Well, I haven't studied in a while. Or it felt that way after 8 hours of someone telling me what I should learn in the next 5 days. But here they don't seem to be as thorough as pilot training. So, it shouldn't be as intense. Also, I don't like hotels - well, particularly the Hilton, way too overpriced. I suppose they do give me $56/day for food. But I really don't think an overcooked soggy chicken pasta dish is worth 15 of those dollars, even if the government is paying for it. Another reason is that TV is lame. And TV sucks when you have to watch the shows at the time of their choosing instead of yours. AND, people are awkward unless you tip them. What happened to people doing their jobs for - oh, I don't know - their paychecks.

In other news, I got a Nook for my birthday. It is pretty cool. I am almost finished with my first book already, and I haven't even read the instructions. Free books are money. ;-)

Tomorrow is the first day of marathon training ... or pre-marathon training at least.

5 days. That's how many days before I leave for MC-12 IQT, and the beginning of what will become a very long separation. IQT is only two and a half weeks long, and then I will be home for somewhere between 10 days and 2 weeks. After that I leave for Beale and the separation starts in earnest. I am hoping Josh can come visit before I deploy, and especially for Thanksgiving or something close to it that we can both celebrate. After the couple months at Beale I will deploy and be gone for 7 months or more. And it is very unlikely that I will see Josh at all in those 7+ months, unless we happen to cross paths on a runway somewhere out there. Hey, there's always hoping.

Well, during our extended separation, we'd both like to get in better shape, and do something "together" - some sort of common goal that we can share when we are reunited. We have decided to train for a marathon. Hopefully, the Air Force Marathon in September 2012. By then we will both be back stateside and since it is Air Force supported, we should both be able to get leave to attend the race.

Next Monday, we are both starting a training program for it. And there you have it, one goal, two people, multiple states/countries, 26.2 miles, 51.5 weeks away.

11 September 2011. 10 years after the world stopped turning - for most of us in the US at least. Almost everyone remembers exactly where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news. For me, after initially hearing my grandma exclaim over the phone that the second plane had hit in NY, the rest of the day was somewhat of a blur. I remember the neighbor coming over and me and my family going to watch the events unfold with her, because no one wanted to be alone that day. I remember hanging on to every word that Pres. Bush said in his speech afterwards. I remember the feeling of hopelessness and anger. And now, ten years later, I still feel the rush of anger and indignation at the thought of such needless deaths. Of such violence toward unsuspecting civilians. I think of my upcoming deployment and wish that I didn't need to go invade the privacy of another country's citizens. But I know that unfortunately for them, and for the family I will leave behind for so long, I must. To prevent the terror that they harbor (willingly or not) from causing such pain to my country's people again. Because as I remember 10 years ago as a terrible tragedy that a few words cannot adequately describe and an act forcing the US to enter a war against terrorists that other countries have long been fighting, others remember this day with a pain that most will be lucky enough to never feel, and a fear that those same terrorists will want to commemorate their loss with even more loss. And that, that fear that Americans still have of a violent attack on their own soil, that is what makes my job most important. And I train for years on end and deploy for months on end to fight a battle not really my own, to banish that fear from my nation.