Wait On Me

Having completed Apprentice Technical Training, I now get to sit and wait a bit.

"I hate waiting." -Inigo Montoya

It's cool to be out, but said waiting period is supposedly not long enough to DO anything. Had I another week, I could schedule time to come home (I was particularly looking forward to that notion.) Had I another three weeks, I could chuck a college course in there.

Admittedly, this just heightens the challenge. The obvious is unattainable - what more obscure challenges could I pursue in this time?

More Technician moments.

It will happen from time to time that I must complete a procedure, but lack proper tools and/or hardware to do so.

The difference between regular class and open learning is that during class, my proctor knows me, or at least knows my habits, and understands that what I'm doing is not, in fact, goofing off. There are times indeed when I AM, but when you spend eight hours a day in the same class, same room, on the same material, your brain requires periodic momentary unhinging.

I swear, if they'd just let me do something with music theory, this would all balance out. I'd compose the snot out of that to contrast how much left-brain activity's going on!

Or, y'know, I'd do that thing at the gym where I bike and listen to my iPod while reading a book and lip-syncing the words to the song and make sure I can process what I'm reading well enough to enthusiastically describe it to Julia that evening. She and I have come to a comfortable relationship of respecting the other's small insanities.

But, by contrast, the instructors at Open Learning DON'T know me. I'm just another apprentice in digis. So they aren't used to the same quirks. They are also grumpy. To a one. I don't know where Petty Officers want to be in the evenings, but it definitely ain't HERE.

Petty Officer comes over to investigate some suspicious-looking connections I've just made. "What do you call this?"
I look up at him, probe and alligator lead in hand. "Jury rigging, FC1?"
He looks at me for a few seconds, then walks off. "Carry on."

Heh. Cool.

Momentous Occasion

And on the heels of that....

I shed my first gray hair tonight!

It's actually silver. And you're thinking I'm darn weird for being so excited about this. And you're most likely right, but fortunately, I don't care!

Oh. Random quote I heard this week. "Of course I'm a *****. I'm a Sailor. We're cocky as *** and we don't give a **** what anyone thinks of us!" This sums up a lot of my friends here, in multiple ways.

But yeah, playing with my hair at ATT (I don't know that this helps me concentrate on what I'm doing, but it does help me stay awake; a valid concern when one's classroom is 85 degrees), found a shiny. I was fascinated - this would probably be less interesting if I was blonde, but it came off of me and it's not dark! This is so strange!

Anyway. That's not exactly news, but I'm excited. I have this thing about growing older - I plan on enjoying myself while I'm at it.

Happy Birthday!

So, yeah. 'Tis my sister's birthday today. She is all kinds of amazing.

You really can't say that you're the only one making sacrifices when you join the military. We're all big on the business of "giving up our freedoms to defend yours," but our families go with us as far as they can, and miss us when they can't. There've been a lot of things over the last six months that I wish I could have shared with my family, and they've all been amazing.

So, I s'pose, when you're thanking a soldier/sailor, if they have any kind of family entourage with them, thank them as well. In my case, my family's been AMAZING about supporting me, so thank them first. :D

Long Time Lost

My friend Dan is one of the vampires over at Mayo, and understandably needed some time off. (Let's face it - you take a lot of verbal abuse when your job is to wake people up at 2 a.m. to put another needle in their arm - even when you're one of the nicest guys on the planet). And where, oh where, could an individual with interests in the arts and life sciences manage to entertain himself for a week?

Well, yes, there was a convention out in Washington that was right up his alley. But instead, he came down to Chicago for the week!

All right, yes, most of that week I was putting in a frenzy of extra hours at school. (I am trying, trying, TRYING to complete ATT by next Tuesday.) But we had set aside Saturday afternoon and evening for us. And he spent the rest of the week hitting the museums and other attractions in the area that made him happy.

We had a fine time together, and were headed back to Great Lakes from Elgin...and something went a bit wrong. And we didn't realize HOW wrong until we were nearly in Indiana. Hmmm. Oops.

But, while we didn't make it to back until almost 4 hours later than we'd planned (which meant that I didn't hit my rack until 0400 - fortunately, I didn't have to get up until 0930 the next day, it being Sunday), we had an amazing six-hour conversation with the extra drive time. It was great! Yeah, we were both crazy-sleep-deprived for the next few days, but we, well, "we talked about soccer and how every man's just the same."

Okay, maybe not. Caedmon's Call has a song, "Table for Two," about two guys staying up all night talking about life, and it always makes me think of Dan. Late night conversations are the best, because your filters are shot. You're not trying to sound good (so, half the time I sound a little nuts), you're not trying to impress, you just hit this point where you're solid. Just solid core, talking about what you really think. Yeah, those conversations always cost you for sleep, but tired is temporary - as long as you can remember them later, there's something cool that happens when you're with a friend at 2 a.m.

Sunday was another series of misadventures, but I'll have to share that with you later.

Dear world,

The business of me walking upright is no indication that my brain has actually gotten its act together. Unless you find a way to wake me up that dumps a fair amount of adrenaline in my system (thereby ensuring the morning but wrecking the rest of the day), I will not be capable of independent thought for the first forty minutes of the day. It's all very stimulus-response. I recognize the need for a shower, so I shower. I recognize that I am hungry, so I have breakfast. I recognize that I am not wearing the Uniform of the Day, so I rectify that situation. These are all prescribed responses. If you try to insert some OTHER program command before 0600, you very well might hang the entire system.

At least until breakfast is over.

For you...

I'm strengthening my faith.
I'm getting a good education, to get a better job, to support whatever family it needs to.
I'm working hard.
I'm maintaining my health to the best of my abilities.
I'm lengthening my endurance.
I'm pushing my patience.
I'm pursuing my passion.
I'm learning to love.
I'm increasing my wisdom.
I'm praying.
I'm enduring.
I'm hurting.
I'm mending.
I'm growing.
I'm honing my skills.
I'm pursuing.
I'm singing.
I'm crying.
I'm laughing.
I'm trying.
I'm running.
I'm struggling.
I'm yearning.
I'm doing the menial tasks.
I'm making the most important decisions of my life.
I'm sacrificing.
I'm planning.
I'm saving me.
I'm offering what heart I have.
I'm living.

For You,
For you.

-----

This isn't mine at all. My friend Tater wrote it back in 2007, and I was moved and inspired. Hung it up in my locker at school, sealed to the door with packing tape so that I'd see it every day before Band.

There's a lot about finding the right partner, or what makes him a good partner, what to look for in a mate. Camp and Berean (they both sort of happened at the same time) were the first places where friends and I started really talking about what it would mean to focus instead on becoming a good partner, putting more energy into preparing ourselves for them than seeking them.

We tended to focus even more on the concept that none of us have any real idea what mountains God's going to want us climbing, so, we wanted to get ourselves as strong, as fast, as flexible as we knew how (not just physically). I sometimes think we misunderstood the concept of having God as our strength, but other times I'm convinced that God calls us to do the best we can, give Him our best, and let Him take care of everything beyond our best.

Anyway, this was written by a guy in college. And I'm a girl in the military. But almost all of it rings true here, too.