What the hell is wrong with the Air Force? ( Read more... )

Yesterday on the news they talked about an 18 year old who was very drunk (.24+ BAC) and drove his car off the road (a cliff really) and got it stuck high up in a tree. Nobody even noticed for 6 hours because he was so far off the road and just hanging it a tree and it happened at 2 am. He was dead when the rescue workers arrived and his passenger, an 18 year old girl, also very drunk, was taken to the hospital in critical condition. They said on the news that his BAC was "over three times the legal limit." If he is 18, there is no legal limit. The limit is 0.00%, so you can't really say he was three times that.

I also wonder how somebody that drunk can even figure out how to get the key into a car to start it. That is very drunk. And I also wonder about their friends. How could you let somebody who can probably barely walk get in a car and drive it?

This is hilarious.

Date:	2004-10-15 15:13
Subject:	Hooray for a new bed!!!
Security:	Public
Mood:	excited

I got my new, queen bed today. I don't know what I'm going to do with the extra room. I don't know how Jessi's going to get in bed when I'm not home. This bed is probably 8 inches taller than the old one. I'll have to get a step for her. It's right at the height of my butt, so I can just barely sit on it without hopping. She'll have to pole vault.

Started with a good dream. ;)

Today, work was ok. We had a meeting in the morning to discuss a chem/bio detector that a battle lab asked us to take a look at. The contractor in charge of the work for some reason won't supply any test data or results, and to the four of us in my group this detector looks small, but worthless. It seems it would require way too much work to upkeep and there is no way for it to tell you the concentration of a particular detection.

After the meeting I ate lunch and read the Daily Texan online, like I always do. Lunch was the usual and the Texan had stories about the undefeated volleyball team winning and the upcoming Red River Shootout. Statistically, Texas should be the favorite, but the so-called experts think OU will win by 10. I think OU will lose to UT, OSU, and A&M this season.

PT today was running around Area B and stopping to do calisthenics every so often. I can't run hills because of my knees, so I stayed inside and ran the track. I did the fastest mile I have ever done, 6:50, then got a really bad cramp on my right side and had to walk half a lap. I finished having done just over a mile and a half in just under twelve minutes.

I came home, took a shower, talked to Jessi for a little bit, finished reading The Magician's Nephew (#1 in The Chronicles of Narnia), watched The Simpsons and cooked and ate dinner. I think this was the best dinner I have ever cooked. Taking a page out of The Y Bar and Grill's cookbook I had a seared tuna steak served on wasabe mashed potatoes with steamed broccoli and a glass of Yellow Tail Shiraz. As inexpensive as the YT is, it is very good, though it seems to be very strong. Maybe I have just lost my tolerance since I don't drink much anymore.

That gets me to where I am now. ESPN Classic is showing the 1969 Red River Shootout, where Texas QB James Street led the Longhorns to a victory over OU en route to their second of three national championships in a decade, so I might watch that at 8.

I miss Jessi.

I came home from the commissary and I went to enter my purchase in Microsoft Money. I downloaded my recently cleared transactions and there were two payments to United States Air Force for 343.29 each. I nearly flipped out wondering why the AF is stealing my money. Then I went to USAA's website and looked at it there. Turns out the charges were from United [Airlines] and Money just got confused. Silly Money.

http://money.cnn.com/2004/09/17/news/fortune500/pg_gay_rights/index.htm?cnn=yes

Conservative Christian groups are urging a boycott of two of consumer product maker Procter & Gamble's key products, charging the company is aligning itself with gay rights groups, according to a published report.

Wear your seat belt. And if you ever meet the person invented airbags, shake his or her hand and say thank you. Some day one or both of those might just save your life.

Date:	2004-08-25 21:45
Subject:	Bike bike bike bike bike bike
Security:	Public
Mood:	exhausted

Today at work we had the last of a long series of calls and picnics and parties. It was the SNJ division call and we all got out at 11:00 to go the Bass Lake Lodge, eat burgers and dogs, drink beer, get door prizes, then go home at about 2:30. I decided since I was going home I would go for a bike ride.

As soon as I got home it started pouring. "Well, I'm not biking today," I thought. Then the rain stopped as suddenly as it started, the sky turned blue, and by 4:30 it was nice and dry and sunny out. So I decided to go for a ride afterall.

I figured 20 miles sounded good, maybe farther depending on how I felt after the first ten. At about 9 miles I was thinking I felt pretty good and decided to continue a little farther. Long story short I rode to the end of the trail (a few miles south of Dayton and when I say a few I mean about 10) and turned back. In the end it totalled almost 42 miles.

I did it in 2 hours, 23 minutes, and 50 seconds, including slowing down and stopping at the few stop signs and lights on the way there and back, so I averaged just over 17 mph. That's not as fast as I did the time trial last week, but I'm still pretty happy with it.

Now, I hurt.

Date:	2004-08-15 21:32
Subject:	Just because
Security:	Public
Mood:	tired

I just wanted to put something here because my last post was in May.

Went camping this weekend with Paul, Amanda, Sadie, Troy, Dane, Kristin, Christie, Chris L, Mike, Jenn, Chis B, and Colleen. It was fun but I didn't sleep well because it was so cold and I don't own a sleeping bag and my air mattress didn't insulate me very well. I got up about 5 and went to the lake to look for animals. I heard a few frogs jump in, but didn't see anything. There was a dense foot of fog on top of the lake. I stayed out there until just after sunrise which was about 6:13, then I went to the campsite and got Sadie (Paul and Amanda's dog) and took her for a walk around the park. She is part retriever, part chow, part shepard, part chicken. She was very scared of the water and the birds.

Yesterday we went for a bike ride on the mountain bike trail, which I was really looking forward to, but a huge stick jumped up out of nowhere and sliced my rear tire stem about a mile into the ride, so I ended up with a flat by time we got back. It was nearly impossible to control because of the flat, especially going downhill. We played frisbee for a while and got Sadie to catch one in her mouth, but then she was fixated on barking at Mike for some reason and wouldn't go after it.

Last night we had fire and decided that the wood we brought was too soft and burning too quickly, so Mike, Dane, Chris, and I took hatchets to some nearby hardwood logs to get a better fire going. The ranger came by while we were doing this and thought it was hilarious and told us that if we were marines we'd be doing it with a pocket knife. Mike had asked Dane to get him an axe at Walmart when he bought a tent (Dane and Kristin had no idea how to put up there 30 year old tent so they bought a new one) but he didn't, so we had to use dull hatchets. We got the fire pretty hot, though, with some good sized logs.

Overall the weekend was fun, but I'm exhausted.

My boss came into my cubicle today to ask me a question. He has this funny way of approaching people. It went like this.

BOB: (sigh) ...
KEVIN: ?
BOB: ...
KEVIN: ?
BOB: ...
KEVIN: ?
BOB: ...
KEVIN: (wonders if he is going to say anything)

Then he suddenly asked "Do you want to go to AFIT?" And I'm thinking "Right now? Sure. See ya!"

I told him I am intrerested in AFIT/CI (go to a real school and the AF pays for it) but not in going to the normal AFIT program because they do not offer any degrees in chemistry.

It turns out that in my OPR (Officer Performance Report) my colonel wrote something about how I need to be sent to AFIT and to SOS (Squadron Office School) in residence. Usually only the better people get recommended for in residence SOS and you don't go until you are a captain, so I found that quite flattering.

Why fire arms should be allowed in establishments that sell alcohol:

"Alcohol causes conflicts; fire arms resolve conflicts."

I wonder if the people they interview on this show are for real.

I hope nobody in green peace ever eats yellow corn or seedless fruits. Otherwise they would be hypocrites and I hope they become mutants.

I have a companies to hate list, but if I had a companies to love list, Amazon.com would be the number 1. For the second time now I have ordered something with the supersave shipping that is supposed to take up to two weeks and gotten it within three days.

Traveling as a DV with a couple of generals, the assistant Sec Def and a mess of colonels is definitely the way to go. I wish all my trips would be that cool.

I accidentally put cinnamon sugar into my hamburger meat instead of garlic powder. That was weird.

I've graduated to the secret world of the Air Force. Today, for the first time, I saw a story released on CNN that I knew about a week ago, because they weren't ready to give it to the press. Unfortunately I can't tell you which one, but those of you who know I work in detecting chemical weapons might be able to put 2 and 2 together and get a very fuzzy 4.

The bad thing about going TDY a whole lot all of the sudden is fresh foods. I have bread, bagels, english muffins, and hamburger buns that I will have to refrigerate or freeze so they won't go bad and I have nearly a gallon of milk that expires on Thursday, the day I come back, which means I need to drink at least most of it tonight and tomorrow morning.

So after walking down some stairs and being left in a lot of pain from it I called Tricare and got an appointment this morning to go to the doctor about my knee. When he came in to see me he didn't seem to care or want to hear my explanation of where or when it hurts. He bent my knee a little bit, pushed on either side of it and asked if it hurt then and there. It didn't, because it only hurts when I bend it a lot and quickly. He didn't want to hear it though. He was saying that it was probably a strain and blah blah blah, then I told him that my doctor three years ago said he thought it might be patello-femoral syndrome (my knee cap moves to the side, causing micro-tears to the ligaments) and he said something like Yeah, the symptoms do all point to that. That must be what it is.

Then he gave me a prescription for naproxin (high powered aleve) and a capsaicin cream and a knee brace that I don't think is helping much. I also talked him into giving me a profile so I don't have to run tomorrow (which he wanted me to do) and instead I will do the bike test. I'm just hoping the bike doesn't hurt me.

The French Foreign Ministry has been advising its citizens in Iraq -- including journalists -- to leave the country because of the escalating conflict there.

Japan also advised its citizens to leave while Russia announce it is sending planes to evacuate its citizens while France and coalition partner Japan are urging their citizens to leave.

<http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/04/14/iraq.hostages.int/index.html>