35. Sunday.
Today was my day to shine. I didn't have much on my plate. but I ended up doing a lot. kinda. I took the guys in my class to the mall because they wanted some food from the food court and to walk around get cookies.. so, we did that, one guy bought me a super awesome delicious double sided cookie with tons of frosting on the inside (pretty much about a million grams of sugar, but well worth it!!! :) anyways, we did that. I took them back to there hotels and I went to mine.. I had been teetering on the idea of getting the new iphone for about the last 2 weeks. . It had came out this weekend and I was like, hmmm.. should I get one?? I called around to AT&T stores and best buys in the area, no go. They were all sold out, it's a popular device I guess.. So, I decided I would wait it out. but then I got the idea to find an Apple store, they are bound to have iPhones piled up waiting to be bought by me. SO.. I did a quick search on apples website and Wallah.. 92 miles away in the wonderful land of New Orleans was an Apple store.. by now it was about 4:15 and they close at 6 on Sundays.. I had less then 2 hours to drive down there, find the store and make my purchase.. So I hopped in my car and got on the way (also, I had wanted to hit up New Orleans at least once while I was here, just to see how it is doing, two years ago it was still pretty destroyed from the hurricane) I made it down there by 5:45, got inside the mall it was by 5:50 and got in a small line outside the store, I got in and bought the iPhone. What an awesome impulse buy by Brad. Anyways, I am enjoying it. and liking it and no regrets (yet).. I drove back, and hit the hay..
Monday - Wednesday 36 - 38.
Class days are usually always boring.. We learn and troubleshoot the equipment.
Monday we finished up our troubleshooting of some equipment and then tuesday we had to learn the Software of that equipment (basically just reinstalling it if we need to, it took a while though, old SLOOOWWWW computers) so, we did that and then just kinda did nothing the rest of the day.. well, we got prepared to start Full System troubleshooting for Wednesday... Before when we have troubleshot, we have done it in sections, kind of like how a computer has different sections, (the monitor, the keyboard, the mouse, the insides that do all the work... and they all work together to make one big piece of equipment) well, this is a huge piece of equipment with literally thousands and thousands of cables and wires that interface and talk to each other.. Anyways, we prepared for that.. and starting today, we had 7 problems to find.. (this whole system troubleshooting should take us 2 - 3 days) We did the 7 problems in less then 2 hours.. So, we went to lunch and came back and they had 15 problems in the system.. We did those in about 2 hours exactly. We are done now. 2 - 3 days of work in less then a day. Thursday in class is going to be extremely boring and we will be sitting around, hopefully get released early. I fly home Friday now and will be in Utah for 9 days before heading out to Georgia. :) I am very happy about this. anyways.. After class. came to the hotel and went out to Chili's with my buddy who lives here to have a last meal with him before I leave.. Tomorrow my class and I are going to see Transformers, then we all leave. Should be a good last couple days.
Anyways, hope all is well with everyone. BYE..
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Tuesday - Thursday. Days 30 - 34.
Tuesday - Friday
These days were class days, did nothing more then just sitting in class and learning. I am in block 7 now. Block 8 is the last block and we will start that next week on Wednesday. Then 3 days of class and I will be on my way home from Mississippi.
Friday after class.
We went and saw the movie "Year One" which I thought was pretty funny. I enjoyed it.
after that, we ate at Which Wich and then went casino hopping for a little while. Ended up at the Beau Rivage, I won 35 dollars. One guy with us won 85. and the other two lost 100 bucks.
After that, it was 9 pm. I drove them to there hotels, and I went to see "The Proposal" because I had nothing better to do. I enjoyed the movie though, it was funny.
Saturday.
I drove up to Mobile, Alabama today for the sole reason of going on a drive. It was about 50 miles away. Wasn't anything too exciting. I had heard it was a cool place. but, it was just like any other town. I did see a HUGE freaking cruise ship, that was pretty cool.
After that, I drove back and took a big nap. Then I went to pick up the guys. We went to the Imperial Palace Casino or the "IP" for short.. We went there to eat at a Brazilian buffet, it was called "Carnival de Brazil" it was exactly like "Rodizio" in Salt Lake City, except way more expensive since it was in a Casino. It was really good food though. I got stuffed.
After that, they wanted to gamble some more. So, we went to gamble at the Beau Rivage again.
This time, 3/4's of us lost 100 dollars. Me being included in the 3. You can't win everytime, and with the 300 I won last week, I still own some of the Beau's money. So, Burn on them.
Now, I am in my room. I just watched the movie "Fan Boys" A movie about star wars nerds. pretty funny movie. and getting ready for some the bed.
So, that is that.
Bye!
These days were class days, did nothing more then just sitting in class and learning. I am in block 7 now. Block 8 is the last block and we will start that next week on Wednesday. Then 3 days of class and I will be on my way home from Mississippi.
Friday after class.
We went and saw the movie "Year One" which I thought was pretty funny. I enjoyed it.
after that, we ate at Which Wich and then went casino hopping for a little while. Ended up at the Beau Rivage, I won 35 dollars. One guy with us won 85. and the other two lost 100 bucks.
After that, it was 9 pm. I drove them to there hotels, and I went to see "The Proposal" because I had nothing better to do. I enjoyed the movie though, it was funny.
Saturday.
I drove up to Mobile, Alabama today for the sole reason of going on a drive. It was about 50 miles away. Wasn't anything too exciting. I had heard it was a cool place. but, it was just like any other town. I did see a HUGE freaking cruise ship, that was pretty cool.
After that, I drove back and took a big nap. Then I went to pick up the guys. We went to the Imperial Palace Casino or the "IP" for short.. We went there to eat at a Brazilian buffet, it was called "Carnival de Brazil" it was exactly like "Rodizio" in Salt Lake City, except way more expensive since it was in a Casino. It was really good food though. I got stuffed.
After that, they wanted to gamble some more. So, we went to gamble at the Beau Rivage again.
This time, 3/4's of us lost 100 dollars. Me being included in the 3. You can't win everytime, and with the 300 I won last week, I still own some of the Beau's money. So, Burn on them.
Now, I am in my room. I just watched the movie "Fan Boys" A movie about star wars nerds. pretty funny movie. and getting ready for some the bed.
So, that is that.
Bye!
Monday, June 15, 2009
26 - 29. . 4 days of me being cool...
Days 26 - 28. Friday - Sunday.
I decided to do the weekend as one big event, rather then day by day..
So, Friday. Normal awesome day that started off with me waking up. and then I was talking to a friend via text and she told me the movie "Up" was good, so I decided, "Hey Brad, you should see up" so I took my own advice and went to see the movie "UP" which, I enjoyed. It was Sad, Cute, Funny and just plain awesome. I liked it and recommend it to those of you who haven't seen it because for some dumb reason you refuse to watch Disney movies, even though they are generally always funnier then any other movie because the writers are actually smart and know what the crap they are doing. . Anyways. back to Friday. After the movie, I ate a half a subway sandwich, and took a nap for a while. Then I woke up and went and got the guys and we went to the Luxurious Beau Rivage Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi (which is about 3 miles from my hotel, or about 1 mile from the base) We went to the buffet and gorged ourselves, which was an awesome good time. THEN, we were going to hit up the piano bar and listen to some music, but we had about an hour or so wait before it started, so we sat down at a black jack table, all 4 of us. $15 dollar table, single deck black jack. (which is cool because all other tables are 6 deck black jack which is worse odds for the player) SO, we were playing, and for some reason we all did really good, two other guys sat down at our table and they started doing good too, and before we knew it, it was 1:30 AM and we'd been playing for about 4 - 5 hours and I had won 300 bucks, and another guy with me won 120, and another won 40, and the other one stayed even, (he was up about 200 at one point, but he was really drunk and made stupid decisions with his gambling) But that was that. We went all went to our hotels and crashed. It was a fun night.
Next day. Saturday. I woke up, I think I probably watched about 18 episodes of Arrested Development (I probably just exaggerated that by about 13, but whose counting?) anyways, I did that, and then me and two of the guys went to see "Take of Pelham 123" Which I thought to be a pretty good movie. But, as I've probably stated before, I enjoy pretty much every movie I see. Except for Hellboy 1 & 2, I hated those movies with a passion. Anyways, after the movie, we did nothing and all went to our hotels, and I finished up Season 2 Disk 2 of Arrested Development. and then got to bed earlier then Friday.
Sunday. Today the two guys across the street in the other hotel were able to move onto base, so I drove them to base at noon (which was check out time of the hotel they were in) and they found out that they couldn't check in until 2:00 pm.. So we had time to kill. We went to this sandwich shop called "Which Wich" and it's a way good place. They make super custom sandwiches, which are way better then just custom sandwiches (I made that decision) and they have really good shakes too.. So, we did that, went to walmart and I got a haircut which was awesome fun for the other guys! then we walked around, I bought season 1 of a tv show called "Chuck" which was recommended to me by my friend Kellie's Husband Matthew. and then, we did nothing but drove around for like 30 minutes, I was exploring the bowels of Mississippi and listening to comedy, and the other guys were pretty bored I think, but I didn't really care. I was trying to find cool things (didn't find crap though).. well, 2 o clock finally came, and I took them to the new hotel on base and bid them farewell. I then went to my room and watched Arrested Development and finished up Season 2. I got taco bell and showered and went to bed. All in all it was a good weekend.
Day 29. Monday.
Went to school. Finished troubleshooting for block 5 and started on block 6. . We finished all the homework in class within about an hour and a half (mostly because the teacher didn't want to teach and just let us do homework) we will start on the lecture tomorrow and get into troubleshooting by the afternoon I bet. After class, I skipped mandatory pt again, went to the gym, then came to the hotel, ate some easy mac while starting on season 3 of arrested development. I showered. Went and got a chocolate shake and fries from burger king. came back. episode 2 of season 3 of that show I watch. and here I am. Chatting on Facebook. Blogging. and it's 8:12, so I should be getting ready for bed. So, I think I will do that now. Goodnight ya'll (that is how they would say it here, in the dirty south)
I decided to do the weekend as one big event, rather then day by day..
So, Friday. Normal awesome day that started off with me waking up. and then I was talking to a friend via text and she told me the movie "Up" was good, so I decided, "Hey Brad, you should see up" so I took my own advice and went to see the movie "UP" which, I enjoyed. It was Sad, Cute, Funny and just plain awesome. I liked it and recommend it to those of you who haven't seen it because for some dumb reason you refuse to watch Disney movies, even though they are generally always funnier then any other movie because the writers are actually smart and know what the crap they are doing. . Anyways. back to Friday. After the movie, I ate a half a subway sandwich, and took a nap for a while. Then I woke up and went and got the guys and we went to the Luxurious Beau Rivage Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi (which is about 3 miles from my hotel, or about 1 mile from the base) We went to the buffet and gorged ourselves, which was an awesome good time. THEN, we were going to hit up the piano bar and listen to some music, but we had about an hour or so wait before it started, so we sat down at a black jack table, all 4 of us. $15 dollar table, single deck black jack. (which is cool because all other tables are 6 deck black jack which is worse odds for the player) SO, we were playing, and for some reason we all did really good, two other guys sat down at our table and they started doing good too, and before we knew it, it was 1:30 AM and we'd been playing for about 4 - 5 hours and I had won 300 bucks, and another guy with me won 120, and another won 40, and the other one stayed even, (he was up about 200 at one point, but he was really drunk and made stupid decisions with his gambling) But that was that. We went all went to our hotels and crashed. It was a fun night.
Next day. Saturday. I woke up, I think I probably watched about 18 episodes of Arrested Development (I probably just exaggerated that by about 13, but whose counting?) anyways, I did that, and then me and two of the guys went to see "Take of Pelham 123" Which I thought to be a pretty good movie. But, as I've probably stated before, I enjoy pretty much every movie I see. Except for Hellboy 1 & 2, I hated those movies with a passion. Anyways, after the movie, we did nothing and all went to our hotels, and I finished up Season 2 Disk 2 of Arrested Development. and then got to bed earlier then Friday.
Sunday. Today the two guys across the street in the other hotel were able to move onto base, so I drove them to base at noon (which was check out time of the hotel they were in) and they found out that they couldn't check in until 2:00 pm.. So we had time to kill. We went to this sandwich shop called "Which Wich" and it's a way good place. They make super custom sandwiches, which are way better then just custom sandwiches (I made that decision) and they have really good shakes too.. So, we did that, went to walmart and I got a haircut which was awesome fun for the other guys! then we walked around, I bought season 1 of a tv show called "Chuck" which was recommended to me by my friend Kellie's Husband Matthew. and then, we did nothing but drove around for like 30 minutes, I was exploring the bowels of Mississippi and listening to comedy, and the other guys were pretty bored I think, but I didn't really care. I was trying to find cool things (didn't find crap though).. well, 2 o clock finally came, and I took them to the new hotel on base and bid them farewell. I then went to my room and watched Arrested Development and finished up Season 2. I got taco bell and showered and went to bed. All in all it was a good weekend.
Day 29. Monday.
Went to school. Finished troubleshooting for block 5 and started on block 6. . We finished all the homework in class within about an hour and a half (mostly because the teacher didn't want to teach and just let us do homework) we will start on the lecture tomorrow and get into troubleshooting by the afternoon I bet. After class, I skipped mandatory pt again, went to the gym, then came to the hotel, ate some easy mac while starting on season 3 of arrested development. I showered. Went and got a chocolate shake and fries from burger king. came back. episode 2 of season 3 of that show I watch. and here I am. Chatting on Facebook. Blogging. and it's 8:12, so I should be getting ready for bed. So, I think I will do that now. Goodnight ya'll (that is how they would say it here, in the dirty south)
Friday, June 12, 2009
Days 23 - 25
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Instead of doing a day by day breakdown of these days, I am just going to ramble about generalities of the days. They all start and finish the same. School then doing nothing in my hotel til I fall asleep.
I stopped drinking caffeine and soda this week, just to see how my body reacts. Mostly, I was tired all week, but I don't know if it was because of the no caffeine. I got 8 hours of sleep every night and woke up feeling either sorta refreshed or sorta still groggy and tired. But throughout the day I would be yawning like crazy and fell asleep a couple times in class. So, I don't know if my body is better on 7 hours, or better on 8.. we will see, I am going to studies and tests on myself to find out. Next week will be 7 hours of sleep week with no caffeine still.
Anyways. I didn't do much of anything during the week this week. After class I mostly just watched Arrested Development and chatted it up on the facebook and msn messenger. I attempted to play star craft with my good buddy Sam Decker, but we only got one game in before the hotel internet decided to show it's true colors and be retarded. I then got my internet running through my cell phone using T-Mobile as my new reliable internet, but, it was too slow and the game didn't work out at all. So, we gave up on Wednesday at 8:49 PM CST, it was a sad day for everyone.
Last night (Thursday) I did go see Terminator again. I went with my buddy who lives here, he hadn't seen it and I didn't mind seeing it again. Afterwards, I went and played a little blackjack because it was only 9 pm and I didn't want to call it a night yet, since today (friday) I have no class. I played for a while and didn't win any money, so, I came back to my room and turned on the tv.. And this is where my life got really interesting.. New paragraph just to describe it..
I was watching the second episode of a new show on Comedy Central called "Tosh.0" it's a comedian I really like "Daniel Tosh" who finds funny/gross/disturbing things on the internet and makes fun of them and he is a funny guy, so it's awesome.. Anyways, last week after his first show I sent him a tweet on twitter telling him this "@danieltosh Your show was the coolest comedian run show i've ever seen. Granted I've only seen two, yours is the best out of those two!!!" On episode two he started talked about all the good reviews he has been getting for his brand new show, and he ended up showing what I said, it also had a picture of me right by it and had my sign in name "Mrcoolbrad" I sat in shock for about 10 seconds then got really excited and text messaged my closest friends and then hopped on my laptop and updated my status on facebook and myspace about it. It was cool seeing myself on Comedy Central and saying something that was funny/stupid enough to make one of my favorite comedians tv show.
Here is a picture of it from the show!!
If you right click and hit View Image it will show the whole picture.
Close up.
If you right click and hit View Image it will show the whole picture.
Full picture is here.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a77/RonLovesLavvy/Bradontosh0.jpg
or
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a77/RonLovesLavvy/tosh0closeup.jpg
Other then that, this takes me into Friday. It's 10 AM here, I am laying in my bed being the laziest person I can possibly be and just relaxing. I think we are going to go see Taking of Pelman 123 sometime this weekend and the guys who live in the hotel across the street from me are moving on base for the next 3 weeks, so I am going to drive them and there stuff to there new hotel. I am staying off base though, which is nice because I get more money to stay off base and I get to keep the rental car.
So. That is that. I hope all is well with my 3 - 4 readers. You guys have an awesome time!
Instead of doing a day by day breakdown of these days, I am just going to ramble about generalities of the days. They all start and finish the same. School then doing nothing in my hotel til I fall asleep.
I stopped drinking caffeine and soda this week, just to see how my body reacts. Mostly, I was tired all week, but I don't know if it was because of the no caffeine. I got 8 hours of sleep every night and woke up feeling either sorta refreshed or sorta still groggy and tired. But throughout the day I would be yawning like crazy and fell asleep a couple times in class. So, I don't know if my body is better on 7 hours, or better on 8.. we will see, I am going to studies and tests on myself to find out. Next week will be 7 hours of sleep week with no caffeine still.
Anyways. I didn't do much of anything during the week this week. After class I mostly just watched Arrested Development and chatted it up on the facebook and msn messenger. I attempted to play star craft with my good buddy Sam Decker, but we only got one game in before the hotel internet decided to show it's true colors and be retarded. I then got my internet running through my cell phone using T-Mobile as my new reliable internet, but, it was too slow and the game didn't work out at all. So, we gave up on Wednesday at 8:49 PM CST, it was a sad day for everyone.
Last night (Thursday) I did go see Terminator again. I went with my buddy who lives here, he hadn't seen it and I didn't mind seeing it again. Afterwards, I went and played a little blackjack because it was only 9 pm and I didn't want to call it a night yet, since today (friday) I have no class. I played for a while and didn't win any money, so, I came back to my room and turned on the tv.. And this is where my life got really interesting.. New paragraph just to describe it..
I was watching the second episode of a new show on Comedy Central called "Tosh.0" it's a comedian I really like "Daniel Tosh" who finds funny/gross/disturbing things on the internet and makes fun of them and he is a funny guy, so it's awesome.. Anyways, last week after his first show I sent him a tweet on twitter telling him this "@danieltosh Your show was the coolest comedian run show i've ever seen. Granted I've only seen two, yours is the best out of those two!!!" On episode two he started talked about all the good reviews he has been getting for his brand new show, and he ended up showing what I said, it also had a picture of me right by it and had my sign in name "Mrcoolbrad" I sat in shock for about 10 seconds then got really excited and text messaged my closest friends and then hopped on my laptop and updated my status on facebook and myspace about it. It was cool seeing myself on Comedy Central and saying something that was funny/stupid enough to make one of my favorite comedians tv show.
Here is a picture of it from the show!!
If you right click and hit View Image it will show the whole picture.
Close up.
If you right click and hit View Image it will show the whole picture.
Full picture is here.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a77/RonLovesLavvy/Bradontosh0.jpg
or
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a77/RonLovesLavvy/tosh0closeup.jpg
Other then that, this takes me into Friday. It's 10 AM here, I am laying in my bed being the laziest person I can possibly be and just relaxing. I think we are going to go see Taking of Pelman 123 sometime this weekend and the guys who live in the hotel across the street from me are moving on base for the next 3 weeks, so I am going to drive them and there stuff to there new hotel. I am staying off base though, which is nice because I get more money to stay off base and I get to keep the rental car.
So. That is that. I hope all is well with my 3 - 4 readers. You guys have an awesome time!
Monday, June 8, 2009
Day 19. Day 20. Day 21 and DAY 22!!! WOAH.
Day 19. Friday.
Friday, good day. Class got out at 11 AM instead of 3 pm, and my classmates and I went back to our rooms and got into civilian clothes and went straight to the movie theaters to see "Land of the Lost". I thought the movie was awesome. I liked it. I liked Will Ferrell in it. I liked Danny Mcbride in it. It was a good movie in my eyes. After that, I think we went to dinner somewhere, or the we went to the mall. I think it was the mall first. We went to the mall because one of the kids wanted to get some smokes from some smoke shop there, but they didn't sell the type he wanted and then told him that they were so unpopular that they stopped selling them a long time ago.. So, we left the mall and went to eat at this place called "The Shed" It's a BBQ joint here that plays live music on weekend nights and is supposed to be Amazing! I had a pulled pork sandwich and it was pretty delicious, comparable to my favorite place in Salt Lake called "Pats BBQ" Pats is still better though. After this we all went back to our rooms and called it a night. I ended up watching a chick flick. "He's just not that into you" and it was a decent movie. I am not gay though or a girl. so I didn't LOOOVE it like some girls that I know... you know who you are.
Anyways. that was Friday.
Day 20. Saturday.
Today. I Slept in like a maniac. Texted the guys and we all went to see "The Hangover" around 3 pm. During the early hours I think I just played on facebook/myspace and twitter because I am in Mississippi and I really do not know what else to do here.. But, that movie was also awesome and hilarious and awesome. We all laughed a lot in the movie. After that, we grabbed some dinner at this place here called hooters.. i said it like it doesn't exist in Utah. but it does. The 36 year old married guy recommended it, the 21 and 22 year old single guys said "OKAY!" and I Brad Hintze being the driver went along with the majority ruling. Though, I do say, my Buffalo Chicken Sandwich was delicious. I very much enjoyed it. After that, we drove around the coast for a bit, couldn't think of anything else to do, so I took everyone back to there rooms. I then went to Ruby Tuesdays to say Hey to that married lady that I met last week, she is leaving to Germany soon and is the nice person in the South that I have met so far, and she said to come visit her before she left, so I chatted with her until my buddy who lives her called me and wanted to go "hit the club" so, I went to Walmart and got me a 5 dollars polo shirt to club with, and met him at the Beau Rivage Casino. We first went into the Dueling Piano bar they have there to listen to some music, it was crowded, but kinda cool, I think I am going back there this weekend for a longer experience. But, after the piano place, we went over to the club, and it was hopping and crazy. I have never experienced clubbing before, it was my first time, and there was tons of people, about a million guys trying to get with 10 specific girls. So, my buddy and I just kept moving around. He finally got me to dance with some girl and she was married, but really nice and though we couldn't really talk because the music was loud, I learned that she was indeed married and from Baton Rouge, Louisiana and up here for a girls night to party. This was the only dance I got that night. The rest of the time was me just dancing like a doofus and trying to look cool (though I thought I looked super cool, I don't think anybody else did) we left after about 2 hours of nothing and I went back to the hotel and fell asleep.
Day 21. Sunday.
Slept in again. woke up, and watched about 7 consecutive episodes of "Arrested Development" a show i'm learning to love and get addicted to. Once I finally showered, I started my laundry in the hotel laundromat, which is actually just 1 dryer and 1 washer right outside my room, I think it is supposed to be for this whole place, but nobody ever uses it, so I paid the 1.25 and went to town. During Laundry time and after, I watched more Arrested Devolopment and got about 14 episodes in, It is an easy show to watch, please don't judge me.
After I was maxed out on watching tv on my laptop and sitting in a uncomfortable hotel chair, I went driving to find me some food. I drove for about 20 minutes, passing everything, nothing sounded good. not at all. Until Finally. I found the place of my dreams, the one place that sounded so delectably amazing I was forced to pull in immediately and go inside. This place of course was "Popeyes Chicken" I got myself a Chicken Bowl (which is way different then a KFC chicken bowl, it has beans and rice in it, very good) so, as I said in my parenthesis, it was very good and it hit the spot. I then went back to my hotel, watched one more episode of Arrested Development and was asleep by 8:30 pm.
Day 22. Monday.
Monday, I woke up to my hotel phone ringing, and I was confused, so I didn't answer. it was 4:15 AM. My alarms are set for 4:30 and I snooze them until 4:50. It stopped ringing for like 10 seconds then started again, and I picked it up and it said "Good Morning. This is your wake up call...." so i hung up immediately and closed my eyes for the next 15 minutes. I never set a wake up call and I don't know who did. I don't think it was my classmates, so, maybe they made a mistake, or somebody is out to get me. It's hard to say.. Either way, I got up at my normal time and went to class, we finished Troubleshooting for Block 4 and got our books for Block 5 and started on homework. After class, I went to the gym (skipped mandatory PT with the school house, hehehe) and worked out, and then played raquet ball with the 2 other guys that came with. After that, we went to Subway, I got me a foot long turkey and ham sandwich on white. Good stuff. Came here, to my hotel, watched 3 episodes of Arrested Development and I am not on the downward spiral of me being tired and getting ready for bed. I hope everyone is great back home. I know my good friend Andrea is amazing today. She got some awesome news and her life will improve by about 1000% (yes one thousand) I am very happy for her and her little baby. :)
Anyways. Goodbye everybody.
Friday, good day. Class got out at 11 AM instead of 3 pm, and my classmates and I went back to our rooms and got into civilian clothes and went straight to the movie theaters to see "Land of the Lost". I thought the movie was awesome. I liked it. I liked Will Ferrell in it. I liked Danny Mcbride in it. It was a good movie in my eyes. After that, I think we went to dinner somewhere, or the we went to the mall. I think it was the mall first. We went to the mall because one of the kids wanted to get some smokes from some smoke shop there, but they didn't sell the type he wanted and then told him that they were so unpopular that they stopped selling them a long time ago.. So, we left the mall and went to eat at this place called "The Shed" It's a BBQ joint here that plays live music on weekend nights and is supposed to be Amazing! I had a pulled pork sandwich and it was pretty delicious, comparable to my favorite place in Salt Lake called "Pats BBQ" Pats is still better though. After this we all went back to our rooms and called it a night. I ended up watching a chick flick. "He's just not that into you" and it was a decent movie. I am not gay though or a girl. so I didn't LOOOVE it like some girls that I know... you know who you are.
Anyways. that was Friday.
Day 20. Saturday.
Today. I Slept in like a maniac. Texted the guys and we all went to see "The Hangover" around 3 pm. During the early hours I think I just played on facebook/myspace and twitter because I am in Mississippi and I really do not know what else to do here.. But, that movie was also awesome and hilarious and awesome. We all laughed a lot in the movie. After that, we grabbed some dinner at this place here called hooters.. i said it like it doesn't exist in Utah. but it does. The 36 year old married guy recommended it, the 21 and 22 year old single guys said "OKAY!" and I Brad Hintze being the driver went along with the majority ruling. Though, I do say, my Buffalo Chicken Sandwich was delicious. I very much enjoyed it. After that, we drove around the coast for a bit, couldn't think of anything else to do, so I took everyone back to there rooms. I then went to Ruby Tuesdays to say Hey to that married lady that I met last week, she is leaving to Germany soon and is the nice person in the South that I have met so far, and she said to come visit her before she left, so I chatted with her until my buddy who lives her called me and wanted to go "hit the club" so, I went to Walmart and got me a 5 dollars polo shirt to club with, and met him at the Beau Rivage Casino. We first went into the Dueling Piano bar they have there to listen to some music, it was crowded, but kinda cool, I think I am going back there this weekend for a longer experience. But, after the piano place, we went over to the club, and it was hopping and crazy. I have never experienced clubbing before, it was my first time, and there was tons of people, about a million guys trying to get with 10 specific girls. So, my buddy and I just kept moving around. He finally got me to dance with some girl and she was married, but really nice and though we couldn't really talk because the music was loud, I learned that she was indeed married and from Baton Rouge, Louisiana and up here for a girls night to party. This was the only dance I got that night. The rest of the time was me just dancing like a doofus and trying to look cool (though I thought I looked super cool, I don't think anybody else did) we left after about 2 hours of nothing and I went back to the hotel and fell asleep.
Day 21. Sunday.
Slept in again. woke up, and watched about 7 consecutive episodes of "Arrested Development" a show i'm learning to love and get addicted to. Once I finally showered, I started my laundry in the hotel laundromat, which is actually just 1 dryer and 1 washer right outside my room, I think it is supposed to be for this whole place, but nobody ever uses it, so I paid the 1.25 and went to town. During Laundry time and after, I watched more Arrested Devolopment and got about 14 episodes in, It is an easy show to watch, please don't judge me.
After I was maxed out on watching tv on my laptop and sitting in a uncomfortable hotel chair, I went driving to find me some food. I drove for about 20 minutes, passing everything, nothing sounded good. not at all. Until Finally. I found the place of my dreams, the one place that sounded so delectably amazing I was forced to pull in immediately and go inside. This place of course was "Popeyes Chicken" I got myself a Chicken Bowl (which is way different then a KFC chicken bowl, it has beans and rice in it, very good) so, as I said in my parenthesis, it was very good and it hit the spot. I then went back to my hotel, watched one more episode of Arrested Development and was asleep by 8:30 pm.
Day 22. Monday.
Monday, I woke up to my hotel phone ringing, and I was confused, so I didn't answer. it was 4:15 AM. My alarms are set for 4:30 and I snooze them until 4:50. It stopped ringing for like 10 seconds then started again, and I picked it up and it said "Good Morning. This is your wake up call...." so i hung up immediately and closed my eyes for the next 15 minutes. I never set a wake up call and I don't know who did. I don't think it was my classmates, so, maybe they made a mistake, or somebody is out to get me. It's hard to say.. Either way, I got up at my normal time and went to class, we finished Troubleshooting for Block 4 and got our books for Block 5 and started on homework. After class, I went to the gym (skipped mandatory PT with the school house, hehehe) and worked out, and then played raquet ball with the 2 other guys that came with. After that, we went to Subway, I got me a foot long turkey and ham sandwich on white. Good stuff. Came here, to my hotel, watched 3 episodes of Arrested Development and I am not on the downward spiral of me being tired and getting ready for bed. I hope everyone is great back home. I know my good friend Andrea is amazing today. She got some awesome news and her life will improve by about 1000% (yes one thousand) I am very happy for her and her little baby. :)
Anyways. Goodbye everybody.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Days 17 and 18 are pretty sweet.
Day 17 and 18 are pretty much the same as the rest.. Went to school and came back to the hotel and did a lot of nothing and went to bed.
I've decided to show some pictures and try and explain a little more about the equipment and what I do, since about 99% of the people I know do not have a clue of what I do.
This is the inside of the equipment I am training on.
This is a pretty crappy picture, but the big rectangle van on the right is the equipment from the outside..
This is a radar that plugs into the OM via Fiber cable and gives us an Air Picture on the screens to show what Air places are flying around, and details about the planes, Altitude, Speed, Friend or foe.. Plus a lot more stuff.
This is the Screen or "OCU" (Operator Console Unit) inside the OM, It looks like a bunch of nothing on the screen to us, but to that guy, it's a lot of information..
Here is a good picture of a couple OM's linked together, you can see the Air/Heat behind them and the huge air ducts going to and from the OM, and the Radar in the background.
Here is another shot of the inside. Notice how small it is in there.
I am responsible for all the equipment on the inside, and Maintenance is usually done on the inside. You get 3 - 4 people in there, and it gets cramped!
I found a website that says exactly what the OM Does. They call it a TAOM though, which is the long name for it. Tactical Air Operations Module.
The TAOM may be employed singly, or in multi-TAOM configurations. It accomplishes the mission by performing the following functions:
* Detection, identification, and classification of all aircraft and missiles within the area of responsibility.
-Basically we see what planes are flying around, Make sure they are good, and if they are bad, we talk to the planes and let them know what is up.
* Track management of each aircraft, missile, and ship.
-Make sure they are doing what they say they are doing.
* Data transmission, reception, and forwarding with other agencies
-We can forward our radar to other OM's and receive information from other OM's, also, we have radios that can talk a great distance (the antennas on the roof help with some of that)
* Evaluation of the threat potential of enemy aircraft and missiles, and the selection and assignment of weapons to engage hostile threats
-This is the operators making sure the enemy aircraft get what is coming to them :)
* Engagement control of friendly interceptor aircraft and surface-to-air missiles against enemy threats
- Same type of stuff, but protecting us.
* Control of airspace and air traffic within the area of responsibility
-Basically same as #1, we control air space. After 9/11, my unit was activated for a full year and controlled all the airspace around Salt Lake, they also did this for the 2002 Olympics here.
Anyways, that is my life, learning the equipment. I do not talk to planes or anything of that nature, I basically learn what all the equipment does on the inside, learn why it does it, and if it breaks, How I can get it working again really fast, so that the OM isn't down for very long.
Any questions, just ask.
Hope everybody is great!!
I've decided to show some pictures and try and explain a little more about the equipment and what I do, since about 99% of the people I know do not have a clue of what I do.
This is the inside of the equipment I am training on.
This is a pretty crappy picture, but the big rectangle van on the right is the equipment from the outside..
This is a radar that plugs into the OM via Fiber cable and gives us an Air Picture on the screens to show what Air places are flying around, and details about the planes, Altitude, Speed, Friend or foe.. Plus a lot more stuff.
This is the Screen or "OCU" (Operator Console Unit) inside the OM, It looks like a bunch of nothing on the screen to us, but to that guy, it's a lot of information..
Here is a good picture of a couple OM's linked together, you can see the Air/Heat behind them and the huge air ducts going to and from the OM, and the Radar in the background.
Here is another shot of the inside. Notice how small it is in there.
I am responsible for all the equipment on the inside, and Maintenance is usually done on the inside. You get 3 - 4 people in there, and it gets cramped!
I found a website that says exactly what the OM Does. They call it a TAOM though, which is the long name for it. Tactical Air Operations Module.
The TAOM may be employed singly, or in multi-TAOM configurations. It accomplishes the mission by performing the following functions:
* Detection, identification, and classification of all aircraft and missiles within the area of responsibility.
-Basically we see what planes are flying around, Make sure they are good, and if they are bad, we talk to the planes and let them know what is up.
* Track management of each aircraft, missile, and ship.
-Make sure they are doing what they say they are doing.
* Data transmission, reception, and forwarding with other agencies
-We can forward our radar to other OM's and receive information from other OM's, also, we have radios that can talk a great distance (the antennas on the roof help with some of that)
* Evaluation of the threat potential of enemy aircraft and missiles, and the selection and assignment of weapons to engage hostile threats
-This is the operators making sure the enemy aircraft get what is coming to them :)
* Engagement control of friendly interceptor aircraft and surface-to-air missiles against enemy threats
- Same type of stuff, but protecting us.
* Control of airspace and air traffic within the area of responsibility
-Basically same as #1, we control air space. After 9/11, my unit was activated for a full year and controlled all the airspace around Salt Lake, they also did this for the 2002 Olympics here.
Anyways, that is my life, learning the equipment. I do not talk to planes or anything of that nature, I basically learn what all the equipment does on the inside, learn why it does it, and if it breaks, How I can get it working again really fast, so that the OM isn't down for very long.
Any questions, just ask.
Hope everybody is great!!
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
This is Day 15 and also Day 16!!
Monday.
Today we finished up troubleshooting on one section of the equipment and once we were done with that, we were done with Block 2. We started Block 3 right after lunch and got our new packets and started on homework and basically did that until the end of the day. After, instead of going to mandatory exercise, I skipped it and went to the gym instead which was way better then the bull crap that they make us do. One of the kids in my class came with me and the two others went to the mandatory exercise like good little boys. After that, I went back to my room, ate some delicious Peanut butter and Jelly sandwiches and watched tv until bed time.. Didn't do much. BUT.. Sunday, I watched MTV Movie Awards and it was some of the funniest TV I have watched in a while.
This is one of the funny skits from the show..
Anyways, On to Tuesday!!!
Tuesday.
We finished up all the powerpoints/lecture for Block 3 around 1 pm today and started on Troubleshooting. Each group had time to fix one problem and then we got released out of class 30 minutes early. After that, I took the guys to the fast internet hotel to do Laundry and after that we ordered a pizza and ate it at Airman Piedra's hotel room.. Before that though, I went to the gas station to buy a water before heading to his hotel room (because he was already there) My dad called while in the gas station, so I hung back for a minute to talk, but then I needed to leave, so I went up and the lady at the counter said this verbatim "WHY DON'T YOU GET OFF THE PHONE!!!! YOU HAVE BEEN HERE FOR 20 MINUTES AND THE OTHER GUY WOULD HAVE HELPED YOU EARLIER SO YOU DIDN'T STAND AROUND" I said "I've been here for like 2 minutes" "NO YOU HAVE NOT" "Yes I have, ask him, he saw me come in" "HE WAS THE ONE YELLING AT YOU" "Okay..." She finished ringing me up and I said "bye lady".. But holy crap, what a dumb freaking lady. Anyways, that is Mississippi for you.. ha.
Will Ferrell is on Man vs. Wild tonight, so I will be watching that and then going to bed. I hope everyone is great.
Today we finished up troubleshooting on one section of the equipment and once we were done with that, we were done with Block 2. We started Block 3 right after lunch and got our new packets and started on homework and basically did that until the end of the day. After, instead of going to mandatory exercise, I skipped it and went to the gym instead which was way better then the bull crap that they make us do. One of the kids in my class came with me and the two others went to the mandatory exercise like good little boys. After that, I went back to my room, ate some delicious Peanut butter and Jelly sandwiches and watched tv until bed time.. Didn't do much. BUT.. Sunday, I watched MTV Movie Awards and it was some of the funniest TV I have watched in a while.
This is one of the funny skits from the show..
Anyways, On to Tuesday!!!
Tuesday.
We finished up all the powerpoints/lecture for Block 3 around 1 pm today and started on Troubleshooting. Each group had time to fix one problem and then we got released out of class 30 minutes early. After that, I took the guys to the fast internet hotel to do Laundry and after that we ordered a pizza and ate it at Airman Piedra's hotel room.. Before that though, I went to the gas station to buy a water before heading to his hotel room (because he was already there) My dad called while in the gas station, so I hung back for a minute to talk, but then I needed to leave, so I went up and the lady at the counter said this verbatim "WHY DON'T YOU GET OFF THE PHONE!!!! YOU HAVE BEEN HERE FOR 20 MINUTES AND THE OTHER GUY WOULD HAVE HELPED YOU EARLIER SO YOU DIDN'T STAND AROUND" I said "I've been here for like 2 minutes" "NO YOU HAVE NOT" "Yes I have, ask him, he saw me come in" "HE WAS THE ONE YELLING AT YOU" "Okay..." She finished ringing me up and I said "bye lady".. But holy crap, what a dumb freaking lady. Anyways, that is Mississippi for you.. ha.
Will Ferrell is on Man vs. Wild tonight, so I will be watching that and then going to bed. I hope everyone is great.
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