This is actually going up Thursday night... Well, crossing into Friday morning. I can't sleep. Neither can a few other Marines on my deck. It's weird.
Language: Wow. Today was actually a great day. I had my teaching test with my teaching team leader and he sounded pretty impressed with me. He said that I was well above the passing mark and that I had used several grammar patterns repeatedly that most students have an impossible time using. I also have a good knowledge of grammar even if I sometimes stumble over the exact pronunciation of a word. So I am starting this test off on a good foot.
There was more BS in class today between various students... Many of them are being increasingly negative and it's distracting. They are making a choice to be miserable here instead of make the best of their situation. In other news, I was invited to a brainstorming session before my class leader meets with a 4-star general tomorrow to discuss the testing and curriculum problems. The upper echelons are finally noticing that their budget is being thrown at ineffective projects...
Tonight I met with my speaking partner. I helped her with her homework for a bit and then we just chatted in the target language. It was free-form and a whole lot more productive and entertaining than I our previous sessions. I started by asking about her about her new job and we just ran from there and pursued tangents as they presented themselves. She asked me about life before enlisting and I asked her about Korea. At some point I meant to ask her about immigration and instead asked her if she was pregnant...
Apartment: Still no luck on the phones today... And craigslist is not turning up any leads. My chit is still delayed too. I guess I should have known better than to put much stock in an ETA concerning a colonel's office. Heh.
Military: The Corporal cutting scores plummeted this month... I'm not above the cut but it's interesting to see who is getting promoted. It's far from a perfect system. Right now, I am going to focus on getting my Lance Corporal self squared away before I start plugging away towards Corporal. I want to make sure I'm worthy of the rank.
Fitness: My platoon announced today that starting next week PT will be at 0515 on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. This means that, with my apartment, I'll probably have to get up around 0400 everyday. I was rather annoyed at first because even if I were to be PT exempt I still have to show up at 0515 for accountable but then I formulated a plan to make the most of this.
I'll show up for PT at 0515 on 4/5 workdays. It'll be squad or fireteam PT probably which is generally pretty solid PT so I'll start my day off with a good workout. After I PT I'll go to the fitness center, where I will have a locker rented out, and shower with spare hygiene gear I leave there and the towels they provide.
Once I am approved to live off base I get a commuter student ticket for my car. Right now, as an on-post student, I'm not allowed to drive around during the duty day. Master Guns is of the opinion that I have no reason to be driving anywhere on such a tiny base. However, commuter students commute so they can drive anywhere and no one raises an eyebrow. Therefore, I can drive to the fitness center on the other side of base during my 1:50 long lunch hour on Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays and go lift weights. I won't even have to change or shower (I don't sweat when I lift) but just take off my cammie blouse and stick it in the locker. Boots and utes is an authorized PT uniform.
Then in the afternoon is my marathon training. The Momrine isn't as solid a runner as I am so the marathon training, aside from the really long Sunday runs, isn't very challenging for me. The morning PT will make sure that my personal fitness continues to develop while the Momrine and I work on our marathons and her PFT.
All said and done I'll be done with my workday and all the PT that entails (almost 3 hours on some days) by 1700. Not bad at all. That still leaves me with five hours to do whatever until I hit the rack at 2200.
Gaming: I finally found the not-sucky mods for Mount & Blade. Woo!
Personal: It's funny how a bad situation can turn out for the best, isn't it? A lot of it has to do with how you approach the problem. Do you want it to suck? Or do you want it to benefit you? I prefer to have it benefit me so it does.
23 March 2007
21 March 2007
Training Day 66
And now we are all caught up...
Language: More mind-numbing review... The busy work was stifling but the one hour of speaking practice with a teacher and another student was actually enjoyable. I like how I can just rattle stuff off in the target language at times. I'm not great but I am getting there. My teaching team also finished reviewing the corrections to my BYKI list so now I get to make all the changes and publish the lists.
Apartment: Today I stopped by one office and had a few places knocked off my list. I made multiple phone calls and eliminated several more places. Then I viewed one apartment and pretty much removed it from the list... It was at the upper crust of my budget and certainly didn't 'wow' me enough to warrant that jump. A few more places popped up on craigslist though... and my grandfather is going to see if we can't find the bonds I received when I was teeny to cover the initial deposit and setup of my new place.
Personal: I'm getting a lot done but not necessarily what I want to get done... This apartment search is seriously monopolizing my time. Bah. I can't wait to settle in.
Language: More mind-numbing review... The busy work was stifling but the one hour of speaking practice with a teacher and another student was actually enjoyable. I like how I can just rattle stuff off in the target language at times. I'm not great but I am getting there. My teaching team also finished reviewing the corrections to my BYKI list so now I get to make all the changes and publish the lists.
Apartment: Today I stopped by one office and had a few places knocked off my list. I made multiple phone calls and eliminated several more places. Then I viewed one apartment and pretty much removed it from the list... It was at the upper crust of my budget and certainly didn't 'wow' me enough to warrant that jump. A few more places popped up on craigslist though... and my grandfather is going to see if we can't find the bonds I received when I was teeny to cover the initial deposit and setup of my new place.
Personal: I'm getting a lot done but not necessarily what I want to get done... This apartment search is seriously monopolizing my time. Bah. I can't wait to settle in.
Training Day 65
Tuesday, huh?
Language: Augh! My brain! It's trying to leak out my ears and escape the monotony!
Apartment: More searching today! I found a long, long list of places on citysearch.com that I have to start going over... And some places at apartments.com. I have a ton of phone calls to make. Then a lot of driving. The really exciting part of today is that during chow I went down to admin to sign a packet to the base commander with a note on the front from my CO explaining the request for BAH. So my CO has signed off on my chit and now we are just waiting on a signature from the base commander. Then there is more paperwork for me to fill-out... The boys at admin said that I may receive word back tomorrow as they were hand-delivering the packet today.
Personal: Sometimes a little humility goes a really, really long way... As does good advice from some close friends and family.
My reprogramming seems to be working. It's amazing how often a negative thought will surface in the brain and it's equally amazing how simply saying "Quack!" will disrupt that thought. And a little bit of pain does wonders for an inability to focus.
Language: Augh! My brain! It's trying to leak out my ears and escape the monotony!
Apartment: More searching today! I found a long, long list of places on citysearch.com that I have to start going over... And some places at apartments.com. I have a ton of phone calls to make. Then a lot of driving. The really exciting part of today is that during chow I went down to admin to sign a packet to the base commander with a note on the front from my CO explaining the request for BAH. So my CO has signed off on my chit and now we are just waiting on a signature from the base commander. Then there is more paperwork for me to fill-out... The boys at admin said that I may receive word back tomorrow as they were hand-delivering the packet today.
Personal: Sometimes a little humility goes a really, really long way... As does good advice from some close friends and family.
My reprogramming seems to be working. It's amazing how often a negative thought will surface in the brain and it's equally amazing how simply saying "Quack!" will disrupt that thought. And a little bit of pain does wonders for an inability to focus.
Training Day 64
Life has been crazy lately... so everything is going up late.
Language: Today we wrapped up the last bit of grammar for this unit. Then we started the mind-numbingly boring and 3-day long affair of reviewing for this week's test. We've never delayed a test this long before... I hate it. I liked it more when we were moving faster than everybody else, pounding the language in, and moving on to the next stuff. We had time to do other stuff just for kicks and I was confident we would be doing the extra units at the end of the course.
Apartment: Yes, this rates it's own entry now. I've been making phone calls trying to find an apartment but to no avail. The Internet (spell-check says that word is capitalized now) isn't helping much either. I'm not sure how I am going to pull this off... but I have to.
Personal: I had a good, long chat with my dad about some stuff tonight... I'm going to try out a few tricks to reprogram myself out of some of my negative behavior. We'll see how it turns out.
Language: Today we wrapped up the last bit of grammar for this unit. Then we started the mind-numbingly boring and 3-day long affair of reviewing for this week's test. We've never delayed a test this long before... I hate it. I liked it more when we were moving faster than everybody else, pounding the language in, and moving on to the next stuff. We had time to do other stuff just for kicks and I was confident we would be doing the extra units at the end of the course.
Apartment: Yes, this rates it's own entry now. I've been making phone calls trying to find an apartment but to no avail. The Internet (spell-check says that word is capitalized now) isn't helping much either. I'm not sure how I am going to pull this off... but I have to.
Personal: I had a good, long chat with my dad about some stuff tonight... I'm going to try out a few tricks to reprogram myself out of some of my negative behavior. We'll see how it turns out.
19 March 2007
Training Day 63
Sunday was much better. I actually felt like I accomplished something.
Language: I looked at my vocabulary a bit... The big thing was finally getting the ink I need to print off the master-list of vocabulary to go over with my teacher's this week. Then I can publish the semester 2 lists for BYKI.
Marathon: Just a little trail run down to the point then back up the hill to base. I felt wretched most of Sunday and was dehydrated so I didn't push it too hard. I ran the whole thing without breaks in 1:25:32. It's dawned on me that the marathon is coming upon me closer than originally expected... It's going to be a gut check. That's fine. All the more reason to be proud of myself and my battered, broken body when I cross that finish line.
Once again, the solo run helped me work out some of the stuff in my head.
Automotive: I put some serious miles on my vehicle Sunday and, besides the clanging noise from the stuff in my trunk when I hit a bump, she performed beautifully. I'm getting better about noticing what is wrong with her and correcting it too: I added more oil and air to the tires before it became a problem.
Gaming: I went to Nickle City with some friends on Sunday! Mmmm... $5.00 gets you a whole lot of gaming. I was a bit underwhelmed this time, sadly, as the machines weren't as well maintained as they usually are. I also had the wrong shoes on for DDR (I was wearing core frames... shows you my state of mind for Sunday) and sucked pretty hard at it. Yes... That's my reasoning.
Personal: Let's see... First thing I did was head over and check out a studio apartment. It's close to the base and in a nice area but it's not quite what I need. A half-kitchen and nonexistent counter space don't really suit me. Time to look around some more...
I rounded up a small group of friends and hauled butt down to Mountain View. We went to Nickle City, saw my grandmother, ate really tasty food (and it didn't tank my system!), and picked up the boxes of stuff my dad had dropped off for me. My car didn't appreciate all the extra weight but it was worth it.
I also did a lot of thinking and soul-searching on Sunday. The run and subsequent shower (something about the water ionizing the air and taking all the dirt out of it so it's more O2 rich and people think better...) helped a lot. Do you know how frustrating it is to see a problem with yourself, look at your past and see a possible source for it, but be unable to correct it? It's really frustrating. Immensely frustrating.
I just am not sure how to undo years and years of training... This reaches down deep: My need to protect, watch over, and assist other people. It's my primary motivation for enlisting. It's a huge factor in all my relationships (and people can really get tired of it). It's a role I slip easily into. However, it's starting to do some damage... I don't need to be the surrogate anymore. I was never supposed to be surrogate in the first place.
Hrm.
Language: I looked at my vocabulary a bit... The big thing was finally getting the ink I need to print off the master-list of vocabulary to go over with my teacher's this week. Then I can publish the semester 2 lists for BYKI.
Marathon: Just a little trail run down to the point then back up the hill to base. I felt wretched most of Sunday and was dehydrated so I didn't push it too hard. I ran the whole thing without breaks in 1:25:32. It's dawned on me that the marathon is coming upon me closer than originally expected... It's going to be a gut check. That's fine. All the more reason to be proud of myself and my battered, broken body when I cross that finish line.
Once again, the solo run helped me work out some of the stuff in my head.
Automotive: I put some serious miles on my vehicle Sunday and, besides the clanging noise from the stuff in my trunk when I hit a bump, she performed beautifully. I'm getting better about noticing what is wrong with her and correcting it too: I added more oil and air to the tires before it became a problem.
Gaming: I went to Nickle City with some friends on Sunday! Mmmm... $5.00 gets you a whole lot of gaming. I was a bit underwhelmed this time, sadly, as the machines weren't as well maintained as they usually are. I also had the wrong shoes on for DDR (I was wearing core frames... shows you my state of mind for Sunday) and sucked pretty hard at it. Yes... That's my reasoning.
Personal: Let's see... First thing I did was head over and check out a studio apartment. It's close to the base and in a nice area but it's not quite what I need. A half-kitchen and nonexistent counter space don't really suit me. Time to look around some more...
I rounded up a small group of friends and hauled butt down to Mountain View. We went to Nickle City, saw my grandmother, ate really tasty food (and it didn't tank my system!), and picked up the boxes of stuff my dad had dropped off for me. My car didn't appreciate all the extra weight but it was worth it.
I also did a lot of thinking and soul-searching on Sunday. The run and subsequent shower (something about the water ionizing the air and taking all the dirt out of it so it's more O2 rich and people think better...) helped a lot. Do you know how frustrating it is to see a problem with yourself, look at your past and see a possible source for it, but be unable to correct it? It's really frustrating. Immensely frustrating.
I just am not sure how to undo years and years of training... This reaches down deep: My need to protect, watch over, and assist other people. It's my primary motivation for enlisting. It's a huge factor in all my relationships (and people can really get tired of it). It's a role I slip easily into. However, it's starting to do some damage... I don't need to be the surrogate anymore. I was never supposed to be surrogate in the first place.
Hrm.
Training Day 62
Saturday was a really mixed-day.
Language: I met with my speaking partner on Saturday and we chatted for about two hours. We're both new at this and trying to figure out how to benefit from each other's presence... I helped her with her English pronunciation. She helped me with sentences and using my vocabulary in the target language. Things should get better as we relax around each other.
Automotive: I tried to find a spare rim for my vehicle's spare. No such luck. I swear, next time I have to replace the tires on my vehicle I am just going to buy new rims and tires. It'll be cheaper, easier, and less-retarded in the long run.
Gaming: I tried to kill time in my normal manner. Strange thing is, this used to work great back in high school. Just game and read web comics. It doesn't work anymore... It leaves me feeling a bit hollow.
Personal: This had to have been Revenge of the Funk. I have vague recollections of Saturday being one of those days where I ran my mouth when I shouldn't have, made a mess of things, resolved some of it, etc. I remember being thankful for Saturday being over.
Oh! One thing about Saturday that actually put me in a good mood for a bit: I watched The Fifth Element in a theater! It's an old, renovated theater (complete with balconies and curtains) too. I went with one of the airmen from my class and it was actually nice to hang out with someone outside of school. He and I seem to be finding more and more in common and he's even picking up my taste in games.
Language: I met with my speaking partner on Saturday and we chatted for about two hours. We're both new at this and trying to figure out how to benefit from each other's presence... I helped her with her English pronunciation. She helped me with sentences and using my vocabulary in the target language. Things should get better as we relax around each other.
Automotive: I tried to find a spare rim for my vehicle's spare. No such luck. I swear, next time I have to replace the tires on my vehicle I am just going to buy new rims and tires. It'll be cheaper, easier, and less-retarded in the long run.
Gaming: I tried to kill time in my normal manner. Strange thing is, this used to work great back in high school. Just game and read web comics. It doesn't work anymore... It leaves me feeling a bit hollow.
Personal: This had to have been Revenge of the Funk. I have vague recollections of Saturday being one of those days where I ran my mouth when I shouldn't have, made a mess of things, resolved some of it, etc. I remember being thankful for Saturday being over.
Oh! One thing about Saturday that actually put me in a good mood for a bit: I watched The Fifth Element in a theater! It's an old, renovated theater (complete with balconies and curtains) too. I went with one of the airmen from my class and it was actually nice to hang out with someone outside of school. He and I seem to be finding more and more in common and he's even picking up my taste in games.
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