Someone cares...

HURRY, HURRY, HURRY only now til SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY! Don't be left out in the cold, get into the action. Don't let others out do you.

Ok, sorry, that was my best car salesman trying to pressure you into being like everyone else and buying a car...well at least sending me something. A huge thanks to the Terry Gardner family for the homemade cookies and this awesome fleece.

If you are feeling a little jealous or outdone, you can always "one up" them with a bigger and better package. Just kidding, but it was the best feeling in the world to go to the post office to pick up my present. It was like a childhood Christmas...and you all can give a small, bald kid child in a third worldish town a nice Christmas whenever you want.

They take football serious in Texas

I don't know if you will be able to see this article, but you can click on it and blow this up. The article talks about how much more football coaches make than teachers on average they make 21K more per year. Football coaches in Texas don't teach school, no their only job is to make sure the town or school has a winning team. Some coaches actually make over 100K per year. But, as the article explains, they put in far more hours than the teachers... my mom will love that one.

It is crazy down here. Some of high schools look like trash, but their football fields are the nicest ever...and huge. It is a big deal on Friday nights. I am going to have to check out a few of the bigger schools this fall.

The new Air Force

Well, they figured I was probably going to compete in the Lawn Dart Olympics, so they better give me some guns for when my parachute slams me down and I have to protect myself. Here is the new standard issue for pilots.

(P.S. The pictures are really white and they make things look very light...I didn't take them. Sorry! Plus I didn't want people to think I am really that white.)

No, really this is the class party I mentioned earlier. We did some "cool gun" shooting, skeet shooting, scuba diving, water scooter racing (mechanical device that you hold and it takes you all around under water...AWESOME), and of course I had to do some swimming and flipping in the pool. I was asked if I always had to be doing something...and of course I do!


The party was cool except I had to drive home in the dark. You laugh, but wait until you have to navigate around millions of deer. They sleep less than ten feet from the road. I thought this deer was injured, but as I started noticing, they are just hanging out. They are totally uninhibited by trucks and humans. It is so weird and you seen tons of smashed up cars around here and they are all done by people deer bowling down the road.

My address...for YOU to send stuff

For those of you that want my physical address so you can send me cookies, care packages, love letters, money, my dog, etc.:

605 E. 8th Street, Apt. #409
Del Rio, TX 78840

Just joking, but send what you will. I am sure I won't throw out cookies, although with it being so hot here, just send the dough and they will be baked by the time I get them.

Parasailing

Today was pretty fun. We learned what to do after we pull the ejection handle. We learned how to fall to earth. They didn't let us practice the ejection seat, but they let us practice falling. I got to wear a helmet again, just like when I rode the short bus and licked the windows all the way to "special" school.

The chutes are not like skydiving chutes. These dropped us at a lot faster rate...it hurts. But I won't complain, the view was pretty good.

We got towed up by a pickup, then they stopped and we drifted...er...fell back to the ground. We then had a BBQ for lunch and spent the rest of the day in academics learning about what to do when our oxygen doesn't work. We will learn a bit more and then take chamber flights on Friday. Should be fun passing out from lack of oxygen! We start added academics tomorrow and that will keep us in class an extra couple hours every night. Getting ready for the 12 hour academic days that are right around the corner.

This weekend our class sponsors are throwing us a party. Each class is sponsored by members from the Del Rio Chamber of Commerce and they help us out while we are in town. We lucked out and got some wealthy sponsors that own tons of McDonalds. They are inviting us out to their house on the lake to swimming in their pool, scuba diving in the lake, (the lake is man made and a whole town was flooded to make it happen and you can go down and see the remains), and skeet shooting on their personal shooting range. Should be fun.

Day 1 of Phase 1

I didn't lawn dart it today! Ok, that would mean I would have to be flying to eject out and burn it in, but at least I started on the journey to get that opportunity. And we learned today how to pull the ejection handle...I think it would be awesome to sit on a rocket, but I bet that would end my flying career in a hurry.

My class is 07-14 (we will be the 14th class to graduate in the FY 2007) and it is for the most part a good group of kids. I say that since I am the second oldest in the class, although I am not nearly the second in rank (thank goodness, that would me added responsibility). There are 28 people: 18 active duty (12 from the USAF Academy), 4 guard, 4 reserve, and 2 international students. They must be prodigies because they are like 20 and 21 with degrees. I barely got one in 7 years.

It should be pretty interesting and the first few weeks we are learning how to parachute and get in and out of the plane. By the way, there is a lot to just getting in the cockpit. By the time you get your G-suit, helmet, mask, oxygen, chute harness, and a million buckles done up, that is not the time to decide you have to go to the bathroom. Then we start learning about the effects of flying on the body and the aircraft's operating systems. Good times ahead on so late night reading.

I won't post everyday, but I wanted to let everyone know I got the whole thing kicked off today. I don't have the days counted until we fly, but it should be around the end of September.

Then I will be able to do this.

P.S. I meant boars...not bores. I found out today they can be up to two hundred pounds and they are for the most part nocturnal.

San Antonio...and Candi leaves

I am officially a bachelor now. AND IT STINKS! I couldn't have made it this far without her. I am not a big one for change, so it was nice to have a constant piece of my life by my side during the whole "getting settled" thing. Thanks Candi for being there for me.

We went to San Antonio to take Candi to the airport. If we would have known that Del Rio has an airport that can take larger planes, we would have gone that route. However, it was nice to take a little trip and see the sites.

The river walk and the Alamo where the big attractions. The history at the Alamo was pretty interesting and now I know all about David Crockett. The river walk was a pretty amazing piece of engineering, as well as being pretty.

The Rivercenter Mall was also very cool...literally. It was air conditioned, which was greatly needed. There is over 125 stores and tons of places to eat. I think 20 of them were University of Texas Longhorn stores. Texas takes its football a tad serious. I think the quickest way to get kicked out of pilot training would be to wear a Texas A & M shirt and hat around the San Antonio and Austin...I would be medically disqualified for life.

We took a river tour and it was well worth the money. At the bottom right is one of the tour boats that fill the river ways. At night they put tables on the boats and make them small floating restaurants.

Well, now I am back home. I navigated my way through the deer and critters to make it back to Del Rio. I have never seen so many types of wildlife...and everywhere. I have seen bores, road runners, armadillos, vultures, opossums, lizards, prairie dogs, and a million mocking birds and deer, just to mention a few. If I had a penny for every mocking bird or deer I see here, I would be able to buy the planes I am going to fly. I need to take pictures of the deer here because it would make my forked horn I shot last year look like an elephant. The deer here are like large dogs.

Anyway, like I was saying, I am back in Del Rio and getting ready for Day 1. We start out learning about aerospace physiology and then systems. The first day of flying is set for the 28th of September.

I will let you know how tomorrow goes (Day 1). Please leave a comment or drop me an e-mail if you read these, so I know that someone is reading these. You don't have to do it every time, but just once so I know all this typing is being read. Thanks Brandon for the comments so far.

Found a home...ok, a place to sleep

Monday, we finally found a place for me to live. It isn't too bad, but it sure isn't home. The apartment is about 10-15 minutes from the base, so I can't complain too much. Some have to drive a lot further than I do. The apartment is a pretty large two bedroom, one bath setup. It is definitely more room than I need, but you have to take what you can get. There is also a pool in the apartment complex, but is looks a little sketchy. Although since every day is over 100 degrees, I am sure I won't let that stop me. We raided the local thrift store for furniture and Wally World for TV stands, desks, etc. It is like starting over once again. Spent a lot of money on things I probably won't be able to give away in a year and a half. Oh well, that is how it goes.

I have a spare room for anyone that wants to take a little trip to Texas. We can go to Mexico (three miles from here), go to the lake, or San Antonio. You just come and I will be your tour guide...hint, hint...somebody better come see me. Especially since it seems everyone forgot my phone number the day I left. Thanks a lot people for all the calls...all two of them. The cable company has called me more than people from home.

Finally in Texas

Well, we finally got to Texas. I felt like we were in Willy Wonka's chocolate factory with all the brown rivers. I so almost tried the water to see if it was chocolate. But some of the area was nice. This picture is from southern Utah and it is the Colorado River.

I was very surprised at all the hills along the way. I was starting to get disappointed about my hopes of seeing flat land once we got to Texas. but finally, about a hundred miles from Laughlin AFB, my dreams were finally met...see first picture (I haven't figured out how to arrange these pictures in order yet)!
The trip wasn't bad. It rained most of the time and we actually had to stop on the interstate because it was raining so hard (in Texas). We were right in the middle of all the flooding in El Paso.

Anyway, we made it. That is when everything started going wrong. We have been searching for days for a house. They won't let me stay in the dorms because I am married, but they won't let me stay in base housing because my wife isn't living with me full time. So I am left with looking for a place in a town that makes Caldwell look like Malibu. I am hoping to get an apartment soon that is still pretty scary. I got to run, but I just wanted to let everyone know we made it and we are doing well. I will post once I get a place to stay. I say that because we can't stay in the base hotel any more because of limited space. Talk to you all soon!



P.S. Did I mention that it is over 100 degrees everyday and the humidity is above 80%? Yeah, such lovely weather...I honestly have never sweat so much...and I lived in Florida for six months.