Back in School

It didn't take long to hit the ground running in academics. The past week was full of classes and the most dreaded CBTs. CBT stands for computer based training and it is how the Air Force conducts a lot of their training, especially in pilot training. You have endless slides of systems and procedures, then you go to class for a recap and for questions. I guess it saves money on instructors, but it sure is boring.

The days aren't too bad. We usually have class for 1-4 hours and then CBTs for several hours. On average I would say we are in class/computer lab about eight hours a day. I am having to get my brain back into "think" mode and "stay thinking" mode. Eight hours of academics are hard when your brain has a power save mode that kicks in after two hours of use. A guy will forget how stupid he is until he gets along side of people that aren't afraid to show him. Yes, I am once again in class with the "smart kids" and it is kind of sickening.

The class is twelve students big. Two Navy, one Marine, and one Air Force pilot are going to test pilot school. There are five Air Force guys and one international guy going to become T-38c instructors and then myself and Aaron who are "transition students." I am the youngest in rank, although there are five dudes with my rank. This week will have more academics, a couple of simulators, and possibly starting to fly. I want to get flying ASAP so I can get as ready as possible for IFF (the next class that starts in July), but I also know there is so much more I need to cram into my noggin (fighter pilots can't say head) before my first flight. It all goes back to the penguin theory and I am taking inventory and kicking a bunch off. If you don't know about the penguin theory, it basically states that your brain is an iceberg and there are only so many penguins that can fit onto the iceberg before some start falling off...and right now my iceberg feels like it is going through global warming.

On to all the other stuff. We are settled in and are making daily trips to the store to buy things that we have, but we just forgot to bring. Candi is working partial days and is day-to-day on whether her job is going to be there the next. Kind of frustrating, but she is used to being jerked around...by her work...not me!

Finally, the weather has decided to swing from being pegged on "crappy" to being pegged on "awesome." The first several days were wet and tons of rain. However, the last few days have been upper 80's and low humidity. I got sun burned and have never been happier to inch closer towards skin cancer. Below shows one of the many drainage ditches around that are typically dry, but was flowing with three feet of water and blocking off roads with all the rain lately. Kids were floating and swimming in all the run off, since it was flowing quite quickly. The best part is the kid in the top left that is stuck on a electrical box. I took the picture, waved, and left... WHAT? I am sure he knew how to swim...

We Made It

Well, the first chapter in the next part of our lives has been written. It started out in nice hand writing and ended in some hieroglyphics that are not very legible. The trip started out with us loading the U-Haul in the rain and ended the same way. The middle part had a lot to do with rain/snow and it continues that way in San Antonio. The locals are saying it has never rained this much for this long and we are saying, "whatever!" I liken the drive in a large U-Haul pulling a trailer to strapping on a parachute in a tornado. You go where the wind wants you to go.

Luckily, I had a good co-pilot for the trip, Jaxson. Sorry for the redundancy for those of you that saw these pictures on Twitter or Facebook.

Jaxson did well, except for the time he decided that inside the cab was just as good as outside for going to the bathroom. And the times I was trying to use my mirrors and a yellow lab's reflective capabilities are quite less than the actual mirrors...which led to some one finger waves and horn pushing from the other people I was trying to co-habitate with on the road.

The drive was pretty ugly due to the weather and the surroundings. Not a lot to look at, except beer bottles along the road in New Mexico and the giant playground of teeter totters in Texas. As I said on Twitter/Facebook, you know your state is big when they have mile markers with four digits. All in all, the trip went well until the last 150 miles when the U-Haul truck's transmission went out and it wouldn't shift down so I would top out at 40 MPH on "Texas hills." The service engine light came on and it ran horribly after that. We limped in and were able to unload everything into the house we found online and then returned it. The attendant at the U-Haul place said, "wow, she does sound like she wouldn't make it much more." I was a little worried that I was going to be on the hook for it, since it only had 13K miles on it, but they said they would take care of it and it wasn't my fault.

Our house is nice and everything worked out just perfectly. If you aren't the religious type, the way everything worked out at the last minute, might make you believe in something. Things definitely worked out better than we could have expected so far, so I will go out on a limb and say somebody's prayers worked. We are busy getting our house put together and talking to each other...weird what you will do when you don't have TV and Internet...ok, the last one is being borrowed from a neighbor or you wouldn't be reading this.

Oh, I do have a wife that came too. If you didn't know, I am pretty self centered. Candi did very well driving and is doing well. She had Zoe, the two cats, and a handful of truck in the rain. She nearly pulled over in NM a few times due to rain and continual lightening that made it next to impossible to drive, however, she just kept following my taillights. Don't tell her I was scared and couldn't see where I was going.

That is all for now, I should get back to unpacking, but I just wanted to give everyone an update. Our new address 8431 Mannington Place, Converse, TX 78109 for those who care to know. Google map it, I will go stand outside and wave.