CONGRATZ DANIEL! My little brother is now a E-4 (Corporal). Well, actually, at the beginning of this month, but I’m happy for him.

And on to my rant..

First of all, I’ll mention that if you want to read about our trip home, check out dagger_garnet‘s journal. We had lots of fun. 🙂 As for everything since then, lets just say time has been really scarce lately. Even now I should be studying, but instead I’m doing this. Anyway…

Things of interest… I guess Iraq is the most interesting right now so I’ll start there. It’s a pretty sure thing that I’ll be going back there later this year. Where I’m going is still being withheld, but it’ll be in or around Iraq, and I’ll be doing convoys. Only difference from last time is that this time I will be doing the convoys, and this time we don’t have the guns. We’ll be driving around the 915’s (tractor trailers) to deliver supplies. Safety-wise, it’s slightly more danger since this time we’re the target, and not the offense, but we’ll still be in armored vehicles and hopefully it’ll calm down enough that we’ll be relatively safe.

What else… I’ve actually had an evaluation of my credits for school done, and it looks like I don’t have many left. This semester I’m taking Calc II, Probability and Statistics, and Christian Ethics. I’m also going to take a British Lit CLEP to knock out the two English Classes I still have left. After those, depending on now the deployments going, I’ll take Japanese 1-3 from an online university. (Most likely MESA Univ.) I’ve talked with the Sensei there and she sounds really nice. Only concern is that I’ll be required to give so much time toward the class, and of course, that might be time I don’t have. I wish I could find that place that lets you work on your schedule. *sigh*

So, if things go right, I’ll only have Operating Systems and Data structures when I get home. Both computer classes, both easy. Note, this does not include electives. There is still a chance that they might (a big MIGHT) take the classes I took at ITT Tech as electives. I still doubt this will happen, but they had them in their system and she said that that’s a really good sign. I’ll find out on Monday.

Something I thought was funny, but might not be that interesting… I went in to get my Tuition Assistance for the three classes I’ll be taking next semester today, and found out that I was over the cap that the military will pay per year. So, even thought I was gone for six months, I somehow used $12,000 since I’ve been back. The amount refreshes in October, but it still amazes me. This means that I’ll need to dip into my Mongomery G.I. bill to pay for the rest of the classes. It’s kinda nasty.

As for my current classes, they end on Thursday. (The three classes I’m taking now are Assembly, Special Topics: Security+, and Calc I) The Calc and Assembly are going fine, but the Sec+ is stressing me out. Not the class, the test. The class is just to get you your CompTIA Security+ certificate. One incentive to actually get people to take the test is that you’ll receive an A in the class if you pass the Certification test. (Another, just for military, is that they’ll pay for the certification if you pass.) The cert test is $237.00, however, if you go through Certify 4 Less you can get a voucher to take it for $152.95. So, anyway, I take the test on Monday. Wish me luck.

What else… tonight they’re having some big Harry Potter party at Barnes and Noble, so Tina and I will probably be heading up there to check it out. Maybe I’ll get my copy while we’re there… depending on how crowded it is. I hope it lives up to it’s fanfare.

Works been a pain, as usual. The AMC (Air Mobility Command) commander, General Reno, came by to visit Vehicle Operations and tell us how great we’re doing on convoys. He’s the one who started the whole Basic Combat Convoy Course and I guess likes to see how it helped us in our job out there. Due to his visit, and since he was coming to OUR building specifically, I spent the last week scrubbing everything. Funny how I become the ranking airman in the show and suddenly they make me responsible for everything. It does make me mad how I’m supposed to be in charge of all the other airmen but they ignore me. Whoever’s idea it was to make an airman in charge of the airmen instead of an NCO was nuts… They know I don’t have any power to do anything to them… *sighs* Oh well, I find out next month if I sew on Staff Sgt or not. I so hope so. It’ll also mean I’ll be a truck commander in Iraq as well. Much nicer than a driver. 🙂

Anime-wise, I’ve been watching Bleach and Naruto. Bleach is at least starting to pick up some… although it helps that I read part of the Manga and know what to expect. Naruto has always been good with a few things that irritate the hell out of me. (Why are almost all of the girls useless in this… can’t they do ANYTHING? Grrr.)

What else to rant about… I don’t know… I guess I’ll go study for a while.
Later

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Filed under: Uncategorized - @ July 15, 2005 7:23 pm

Tags: deployment, school