An 800 Mile Weekend

 I accomplished a lot of big things this past weekend. On Thursday, I drove home to Salt Lake. That's about 400 miles from my dorm in Las Vegas.

I went and played warrior for a few days. I qualified on the rifle range, got a new team leader, learned a few new things about how to be a good soldier, ate some tasty MREs, shot in the pouring rain...Let me tell ya, it was a pretty eventful weekend. 

As you can see, I didn't do an amazing job on that qualifying thing...but! I qualified and that is what matters. It doesn't help that I got saddled with a weapon witha grenade launcher attachment. It made my M16 about 3 or 4 lbs heavier causing my unsupported positons to be a bit more unstable...but, I shan't blame the weapon. I will simply do better next time!

After my ever so exciting weekend of shooting and running around with eye-pro and kevlars I got to jump in the car again and drive back to my new home and return to "real life." I packed up the last of my things (including my insturments...I was going crazy without them) and I headed down the road. I drove 300 miles before I stopped for gas...300 miles in the car without stopping is kind of a lot, in case you were wondering.

I also got quite lucky. I got to drive through the Virgin River Gorge (you know the part of I-15 that runs through Arizona?) in a lightening storm complete with sheets of rain and crazy semi-truck drivers...I also got to experience high winds through the Moapa valley nearly blowing me off the road. It was just great.....

Okay maybe not, but I made it safe and sound, and that is all that really matter. We'll just chalk it up to better luck.

Of course, this morning, after that exhausting drive...I woke up at 6:26 and I'm all like...uuuuggghhh... and this became my reality.

Yep. That sums up my morning. Jogged to my car in the parking lot drove like a bat out of hell, and of course, I still make it to work with time to spare like always...but oh man..You should see my hiar.

No. I'm not going to show it to you. It's too awful.

But, the important thing is, I made it to work.

Now, I'm back to reality. Working hard, thinking about finding myself a new job..Now that I have my mandolin and guitar back with me, maybe I'll just start playing on the street until people give me enough money to afford my college education. That would be pretty nice...

Well, I suppose that's all I've got for you today. Have a lovely Tuesday everyone :)

My First Drill

Oh my heavens...what do I say about my first drill with my unit as a "Pre-B" (that means Pre-Basic soldier, and I have been getting called that for two days)?

It was...interesting. First of all, I didn't know freakin' anything so I was ridiculously nervous. On top of that I was pretty late, but that was due to the whole not knowing anything. Then, they're like, "Hey, you're going to be here a while. Let's put you in a uniform. So they find me some ACUs that were thrown into a cage in supply. With some awesome ink stains, a gigantic cover, no boots, and the coat and trousers are about two sizes too big. Luckily, they didn't make me wear them yesterday.

I was just trying it out so I have in my earrings still...whoops

I just did a bunch of crap on the computer and wandered around trying to look busy. It wasn't all that exciting. Today, though, I learned tons of stuff. It was way fun. It was a really long day, but it was nice to be moving around and feeling like I had a bit of a purpose. A few guys took care of me and made sure that I had stuff to do. It was a lot better today.

Yesterday, though, I texted my friend and bitched like crazy...I was not a happy lil' camper. I was annoyed with like everything about the Army.  I'm so glad that today sucked a whole lot less.

Next drill, we're going to be doing a PT test. And I can tell you right now, I'm gonna pass that thing and prove that I belong there. And get this, I'm actually kind of excited about it!

P.S.--My blog design is sooo close to being so cool it's almost unreal so check back in a while and see if things around here have changed!

P.P.S.--If you haven't already "liked" my FB page you definitely should! I'm really excited to be expanding my blog to all types of social media. It's amazing to know that there are people out there are reading my words and appreciating my thoughts. It