Stood up!

Well, not really. John, of course, had the decency to call me today and tell me that the theater tour tomorrow had gotten canceled and he didn't want me to drive all the way down just for the rehearsal with the girls and new guy tomorrow night. (It bothers him that I drive so much. Far more than it bothers me, which is weird.) Instead, I was informed that I WOULD be spending the night on Saturday after the show, and that way we could have breakfast, clean Osmosis and get it ready for shipping, play in the warehouse for a while, and maybe finish watching that rehearsal video together (I'll believe it when I see it) on Sunday. Not that he had anything planned or anything, though =P

The bad part is that I don't get to hang out with everyone tomorrow night =( (Which, frankly, is one of the reasons John wants me to just live down there.) The awesome thing is that it means I can go to all three classes tomorrow night. Kickboxing felt so good the other day, and my legs weren't sore at all from it today. In fact, actually, it was my upper back and upper arms that were sore and stiff for some reason. Mr. R thinks it had nothing to do with kickboxing - he said it was probably the boxing drills we did in tkd last night. Apparently he and Sir went to a boxing seminar over the weekend. I noticed them focusing on slightly different footwork during the drills than normal, but never dreamed it would make THAT much of a difference! We did similar drills tonight in FIGHT, so we'll see how tomorrow goes. I really just want to play with the jahng bahngs again...

Reprieve?

So...apparently I am going to Basic in May (as originally planned), or possibly sooner (they just need to confirm that I took and passed my space flight physical, which should happen by the end of this week, and then I can ship out any time), now. Which, honestly, is a Good Thing, because I was really getting nervous about where rent/bill money for that month was going to come from. And, May/June in Texas is slightly more appealing than July/August/September, frankly. And, there's absolutely no point in moving for a month, only to have to pack up and put everything in storage (plus, it'd be hard on the cat, and we all know who is REALLY in charge here!). Sir is happy about this. John is not. Of course, I'll still need a place to live for the three months between the end of Basic and the beginning of tech school. And some means of paying for that. But now I have time to look at some options.

There might be another big show in LA in early July (hopefully not TOO early in July, I want to be back in time!), so that should help. John called today and asked if I could come down early on Wednesday (we have a rehearsal scheduled for that evening for the show on Saturday) and tour the potential theater with him. We'll see how it goes. I sent him an email explaining the whole not moving/going to Basic earlier thing, but he hasn't responded other than to ask me if I was still planning on doing any apartment hunting while I was down there on Wednesday.

The potential problem is that my current (sort of, we haven't met yet) ERAU class doesn't end until mid-May. Gonna have to figure that one out with the instructor. Might have to take an incomplete and retake the class - it's past the refund date. We'll see.

Oh, and the 148th and 216th are fighting over me. It's fun. Because of the show this weekend, I couldn't do the scheduled drill shifts, so I did mine this past week. It's a pain to get up to the 148th w/o the clearances and badges, and there's really nothing to do up there w/o those either, so I spent two days working with a lieutenant and a staff sergeant, putting together instructor training manuals for the 216th. The lieutenant started the "Can we keep her?? Pleeeeease?" thing with my recruiter, and the staff sergeant already has other projects he wants me specifically to help with. My recruiter listed for them all the reasons I had to go with the 148th (something about imminent, slow, and painful execution by the colonel up there topped the list) and proceeded to map out my career path for me:
TSgt: "She's going up to the 148th to get some experience, then she'll come down here and work JSpOC for a while, then she'll move over to the range unit when it stands up."
Me: "Yeah, because I have ANY say in this whatsoever."
TSgt: "Psh. Yeah, you think you're moving to LA, too. I want you to stay local."
Don't know why it matters to him, as long as I do my training and all the shifts I am able to (not just my required ones), but it's nice to know.

On the REALLY plus side, I have bruised and bloody knuckles from doing kickboxing and tkd tonight (first time I've made it to kickboxing in AGES, we'll see how well I walk tomorrow!), did NOT kill the tweenybopper who flinched every time I so much as moved in class tonight (although I might have threatened him a little. Sir slapped him upside the head, though, so I think the threat was okay), got in "trouble" with Mrs. S for goofing off with Sir during kickboxing (he started it), my forms felt REALLY good tonight (maybe I CAN do this stuff!), I got some music stuff figured out on the computer (more music for long drives), got my textbook and the first assignments for my 511 class (Remote Sensing and Observation - another term paper/presentation. Yay =P), AND I get to go down to LA and hang out with my crew TWICE this week!

More Lyrics For You To Ponder

"This time, I wonder what it feels like
To find the one in this life, the one we all dream of
But dreams just aren't enough
So I'll be waiting for the real thing, I'll know it by the feeling
The moment when we're meeting, will play out like a scene
Straight off the silver screen
So I'll be holding my breath, right up 'til the end
Until that moment when, I find the one that I'll spend forever with

Cause nobody wants to be the last one there
Cause everyone wants to feel like someone cares
Someone to love with my life in their hands
There's gotta be somebody for me like that
Cause nobody wants to go it on their own
And everyone wants to know they're not alone
There's somebody else that feels the same somewhere
There's gotta be somebody for me out there

Tonight, out on the street, out in the moonlight
And dammit this feels too right, it's just like déja vu
Me standing here with you
So I'll be holding my breath, could this be the end?
Is it that moment when, I find the one that I'll spend forever with

Cause nobody wants to be the last one there
Cause everyone wants to feel like someone cares
Someone to love with my life in their hands
There's gotta be somebody for me like that
Cause nobody wants to go it on their own
And everyone wants to know they're not alone
There's somebody else that feels the same somewhere
There's gotta be somebody for me out there

You can't give up, (when you're looking for) a diamond in the rough (cause you never know)
When it shows up, (make sure you're holding on)
Cause it could be the one, the one you're waiting on
Cause nobody wants to be the last one there
And everyone wants to feel like someone cares
Someone to love with my life in their hands
There's gotta be somebody for me, oh

Nobody wants to go it on their own
And everyone wants to know they're not alone
There's somebody else that feels the same somewhere
There's gotta be somebody for me out there
Nobody wants to be the last one there
Cause everyone wants to feel like someone cares
There's somebody else that feels the same somewhere
There's gotta be somebody for me out there"
-Nickelback, "Gotta Be Somebody"

NOTE: I'd minimize the screen and just listen to the song - the video images (lots of random destruction) have NOTHING to do with the lyrics!

New Toys

Sir had us start learning jahng bahng (bo staff) drills tonight in instructor class! Regular class was huge (there had to have been at least twenty people there!), but instructor class was just me, Ma'am, Mr. H, and J tonight. It was all about weapons. We started out with double bahng mahng ee drills, then dropped to single bahng mahng ee drills, then the jahng bahng drills. I REALLY like jahng bahngs! (Of course, three years in flag corps might have something to do with that.) Unfortunately, it's not a testing weapon option until third degree, but the drills are fun! There's nothing like a new weapon to make you feel clumsy as all hell, though, particularly when there's apparently a "proper" way to pick up the weapon if you drop it (rolling it onto your foot and kicking it up into your hand - Sir claims that it's really so that you can say "I didn't mean to drop it, it's on the ground so I can do this cool trick!"). Luckily, I only dropped it once.

Anyway, I like those. Unfortunately, I also got threatened informed that after this next midterm (which I also just found out last night that I was midterming again in less than three weeks!), I'm going to have to start learning the single ssahng jeol bahng (one set of nunchucks) form. Ssahng jeol bahngs not only do not interest me in the slightest as a weapon, but also seem like a really good way to repeatedly whack myself in the head. Sir assures me that the single ssahng jeol bahng form is much easier than the single bahng mahng ee form (which I don't think is difficult at all), but I'm not really looking forward to it. For my next midterm, I'll have to do my regular form, my single bahng mahng ee form, and sparring, then for the next two midterms after that will be with the ssahng jeol bahng form. Mrph. Oh,

Ma'am and I have matching bruises from class last night. I woke up today with a not-visible but very-well-felt bruise on my hip and couldn't figure out what it came from. It wasn't until Ma'am mentioned having the same thing that it dawned on us. We (each working with different partners) did a boxing drill where one pad ends up on the hip for a left hook. My partner last night has a really nasty left hook. Apparently Ma'am's partner (I don't know who she was working with) does, too!

Spent today on base with the 216th. I helped file some paperwork, made up some recruiting packets, had lunch with my recruiter and a couple of the guys at a really yummy Thai place in Lompoc (don't know the name, but the chicken fried rice is really good), and then helped a ssgt and lt start putting together some instructors' manuals. I think we'll finish that tomorrow. I almost prefer doing my drills NOT on the drill weekends - I actually feel like I'm DOING something, at least! The recruiter is going to talk to the sgt in charge of the 148th and see if maybe I can get into Basic a little earlier and do the split training option, which would be cool. Technically, there's nothing that would prevent me from going to Basic tomorrow if I had to - all my paperwork is in order - they're just really waiting until they know when my tech school would be so they can try to get them back to back. If I do the split option, that becomes moot, so maybe I can get to Basic earlier (like, BEFORE John schedules five billion shows). That would be nice. We'll see.

Anyway, back on base tomorrow, then haganah tomorrow night. More LA on Friday, although I might push that back to Monday because a place I really want to see isn't open on Friday and I'm not so sure about driving quite that much, but we'll see. The good thing about it is that it gives me something to do, which I am in DESPERATE need of!

Mrph

So, the place I looked at yesterday that I said sounded too good to be true....yeah, it was. It was not in a bad neighborhood - there were lots of really cute and well-cared-for places around it. The buildings themselves were not visibly run-down. It was, indeed, cat-friendly and short-term lease. It was also in total interior disrepair - the first apartment the lady tried to show me had a broken screen door (which elicited no apology, not even a comment about it - it's a broken DOOR!), but for some reason she didn't have the key to get into that one, so she took me to another unit. THAT one had a great layout - much bigger than I'd anticipated (almost as big as my current apartment) - and I would maybe at least have forced myself to continue my polite interest mode (this place had already given off a strong "white trash" - not to be snooty, but true - feel), if it had been in any kind of livable condition. Granted, I am NOT the world's most notorious neat-freak. I can live in my own mess quite comfortably. But this place? Well...as if the smudges on the walls and stains on the carpets (which looked like they hadn't been vaccuumed in, oh, ever) weren't enough, there were SPIDER WEBS in the corners. With SPIDERS! I'm sorry, but NO. Not Acceptable! I couldn't even bring myself to go into the bedroom or bathroom. I just (very calmly, I thought) turned to the lady, said "That answers all of my questions, thank you for your time," and got the hell outta Dodge. If there had been a "I'm sorry, we just haven't had time to clean this one since the last tenant moved out" kind of thing, I might have at least stayed five more minutes. But this place was clearly not a good place for a single girl with my standard of living. Maybe that makes me a snob, I don't know, and I don't care. The first rule of self-defense is to not put yourself in a position where you have to use it.

So, instead, I went over and harassed John at his office for awhile. We ran some errands (well, okay he ran errands and I got dragged along), he showed me what has been going on with some of the illusions in the downtime (Watertight getting cleaned, Black and White getting a new packing case, Osmosis getting sold - thank goodness!), and hung out with Eduardo and his family for a bit (he and his wife run their business out of the other side of the warehouse, and they had their two supercute little kids with them that day). It was fun, and would have gotten me out of dealing with traffic on the way home if there hadn't been what looked like a fairly major accident near the 5/10/60/101 interchange. Took forever and a day to actually get on the 101, but after that, it was fine. (Although yes, John, I am aware that it would be far more convenient for me to NOT have to drive three hours each way to go home.)

Looks like I'm going back down on Friday and maybe Saturday to look at some more places. On the other hand, I've gotten a couple more phone calls regarding potential jobs, which is encouraging. And I'm doing my next ANG drill tomorrow and Thursday since John's next show is the first weekend in April. No idea what I'll be doing - just supposed to report to Sgt. Bivins tomorrow at 0830 and he said he'll have things for me to do.

Class tonight - yay! - and hopefully more knitting! The illusion scarf is officially half done already and I can't wait to get it finished up!

Having cake and...

So, it looks like there's about a 98% chance that I'll be moving to LA at the end of this month. The job interviews on Tuesday both went very well, particularly the one in Santa Fe Springs, and I'm expecting to hear back from them early next week. The apartments I saw were kind of a bust - one place insisted on a twelve-month lease, which I can't guarantee, and the other not only was much higher than their ad had said, but was also farther south than I would have preferred. I'm going back down on Monday to check out at least one more apartment which sounds too perfect to actually work out - it's cheaper than what I'm paying here, short-term lease, cat-friendly, and exactly in the area I'd like to live - near SFS if I get that job, but still far enough south that if I get a job in the Anaheim area, it'd be convenient to that, too. (John's words when I told him where it was were "holy $%^@, Katie...if you live there AND get the job in SFS, that'd be SICK! Totally ideal! You'd be RIGHT HERE!") So, it's probably in a bad area or a run down building or for some other reason unacceptable. I'll find out on Monday, I guess.

The hardest thing was telling Sir that I wasn't going to be training full time there anymore. Honestly, the dojahng and the people there are the ONLY reason that I haven't packed up and moved south before this. They're my family here, and I don't want to leave them. (I had posted a whiny rant on Ravelry about it last night, but since deleted it.) I talked to Sir tonight, and asked him to help me try to find a good school down in that area. He agreed to help me...with finding a FIGHT school (or "suitable alternative", he suggested also looking into styles like muay thai). However, due to the...uniqueness...of our dojahng, finding a tkd school was going to be next to impossible, unless I a.) wanted to join an ATA school or b.) wanted to start completely over learning a new style of tkd. Neither option is particularly appealing to either Sir or I (there is a reason we're no longer an ATA school, remember), and since it's not like I can permanently stay out of the area - I do have this little military obligation to fulfill - he made a deal with me. He'll personally continue to oversee my tkd training any time I'm in town - whether for drills or ERAU class or tech school (once I can get offbase, of course) - either through private lessons or me stepping into a class when schedule allows. It's my responsibility to arrange those times with him and to continue working on my forms on my own so that I can demonstrate them when I'm there. I love my instructors! And I almost made it through the whole conversation w/o tearing up, but as I was bowing out the door, Sir added "We'll really miss seeing you here all the time, though." I made it out the door, but had to sit in the car for a couple minutes before I could drive. I still have next week, and it's not really goodbye, but it's still hard. I'm certain that I owe my sanity to that dojahng - it became my refuge when things got too stressful with work or when bad things happened. I'm sure I would have burned out even faster, and maybe not have realized it, without those hours of being forced to let go of whatever show was over my head at the time. I don't want to leave my family completely, and I really am grateful that Sir is going to allow me to keep them as much as possible.

Yes, I could stay here in SM if I REALLY wanted to, living off my student loans and going further into debt while I continue to look for work (and I'd like to point out that I've been job-hunting in this area since mid-October at this point and not had ANYTHING except those two weeks at the bookstore), make it inconvenient for myself to work on my favorite job, and generally being bored out of my mind having nothing to do. Or, I could move south, reduce my rent and gas, continue to take classes and make drill weekends, work on my baby and be able to hang out with my crew, and I've already had two strong interviews with more possibilities on the way. Moving away for just one reason is silly. Staying for just one reason is even sillier.

And now I'm gonna crash, since tonight seemed to have been tweenybopper night at FIGHT (me, Sir, and J - a relatively new guy - were the only "adults" there tonight) and my arm really hurts now. It was cool getting to help demonstrate, though, and knowing the defenses w/o having to think about them (two chokes and a knife tonight).

A very nice Saturday

Friday was kind of spent having a small pity party for myself. I mean, from anyone's perspective, my life should suck - I'm 27, single, no real prospects in that direction, unemployed, always worried about finances, and often alone due to the fact that most of my friends here work theater hours. But you know what? I've never thought of it that way. I'm a full-time student, I'm getting a fresh start, I've been working on a show I love, and I have an amazing support system. I'm really happier now than I was before. But, that said...having the single girl be the person to get the decorations and love/marriage quotes for not one, but TWO, upcoming bridal showers is a drag. Not to mention that yet another of my (online) friends is spawning (she, however, is NOT getting a baby blanket - I'll be lucky if I get Beck's finished at this rate, and she's clearly the priority!). So I kind of fell into a "poor me, no one loves me" funk for a bit.

Then I woke up this morning with my usual "screw that, I can do anything I want today!" attitude. I know a lot of people who can't seem to go anywhere without at least one other person. I am not one of those people. While there are clearly times where groups are preferable (going to Disneyland, for instance), I am perfectly capable of doing things like eating in restaurants, going to movies, and even traveling around the world by myself. So after pondering my options with my friend Matt (who initially suggested the Monterey Aquarium, which I still need to see), I packed up and went to the Santa Barbara Zoo!

The day initially started off like this:
(I swear, this is a picture and not a painting! It was taken from my steering wheel on the 154 near Lake Cachuma)

But by the time I got down closer to Santa Barbara, it looked more like this:

And I saw animals like these:











And PENGUINS! I mean, honestly, how could a day suck if you see penguins in it?
I even got really brave and went into the creepy-crawly house all by myself! The Madagascar hissing cockroaches almost made me leave, though. I can deal with lizards and snakes but I HATE bugs and spiders!

All in all, the SB Zoo is okay. It's not huge in any sense of the word - I was able to easily see all of the exhibits in about an hour and a half - and the price of admission isn't bad ($11 for an adult, plus $4 for parking). The layout is a little weird, and some of the older exhibits are a little sparse, but it'd be a fun place to take a group of kids for a few hours. There were several times I felt like I could reach out and touch the animals, even though I really couldn't. It was cool! Bring a snack, though; the concessions are outrageously priced.

After that, I headed back up to Santa Maria in a much better mood and even went shopping for the two ladies' shower (we're showering them both on the same day - this coming Monday), although I didn't find anything I liked for them. I did, however, find a super cute khaki dress that is going to be perfect for the TWO job interviews I have down south on Tuesday! One is in Anaheim for a temp job through one of the companies I've been working with and the other is in Santa Fe Springs for a company that deals with stage lighting rentals. If either of those go well, I'm moving ASAP. I'm also going to try to make time to see one of my former students and maybe another friend while I'm down there, too. It might end up being a busy day! (And yes, the Irish in me requires that even though the dress is khaki, the accessories will be green on March 17!)

Gonna head up to SLO tomorrow to try to get the ladies' gifts (reason that it's time to move #138: the malls and any other decent store here - and in SLO - are closed up tight by 7:15p on a Saturday night. Wth?), getting my ID, showering the ladies, and going to class on Monday, then back down to LA on Tuesday. Can't wait!

Funnies!

These have been circulating through the Internet and emails for years, but I just got them (again) and they still make me giggle. So now they've been forced upon you guys (possibly again), too!

UPS Airlines Operations and Maintenance

Remember it takes a college degree to fly a plane, but only a high school diploma to fix one; a reassurance to those of us who fly routinely in our jobs. After every flight, UPS pilots fill out a form, called a 'gripe sheet,' which tells mechanics about problems with the aircraft. The mechanics correct the problems, document their repairs on the form, and then pilots review the gripe sheets before the next flight.

Never let it be said that ground crews lack a sense of humor. Here are some actual maintenance complaints submitted by UPS pilots (marked with a P) and the solutions recorded (marked with an S) by maintenance engineers.

By the way, UPS is the only major airline that has never, ever, had an accident.

P: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement.
S: Almost replaced left inside main tire.

P: Test flight OK, except auto-land very rough.
S: Auto-land not installed on this aircraft.

P: Something loose in cockpit
S: Something tightened in cockpit

P: Dead bugs on windshield.
S: Live bugs on back-order.

P: Autopilot in altitude-hold mode produces a 200 feet per minute descent
S: Cannot reproduce problem on ground.

P: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear.
S: Evidence removed.

P: DME volume unbelievably loud.
S: DME volume set to more believable level.

P: Friction locks cause throttle levers to stick.
S: That's what friction locks are for.

P: IFF inoperative in OFF mode.
S: IFF always inoperative in OFF mode.

P: Suspected crack in windshield.
S: Suspect you're right.

P: Number 3 engine missing.
S: Engine found on right wing after brief search

P: Aircraft handles funny. (I love this one!)
S: Aircraft warned to straighten up, fly right and be serious.

P: Target radar hums.
S: Reprogrammed target radar with lyrics.

P: Mouse in cockpit.
S: Cat installed.

And the best one for last

P: Noise coming from under instrument panel. Sounds like a midget pounding on something with a hammer.
S: Took hammer away from midget.

Bored (Updated w/ Knitting)

1.) 100 Things About Me has been updated - things change in three years! Not a lot, though.

2.) I'm done with my first term as a graduate student! Yay! Grades for 604 are supposed to get posted next week, but I'm pretty sure I did at least okay on the paper/presentation and I think I only missed maybe nine points total on the final, so I'm not too worried. Dad and I were talking the other day and we both agreed that it's easier to focus as an "adult" taking classes - you're there because YOU want to be there for yourself, not because it's the next step in your life that you're expected to take.

3.) Small show coming up in Glendale on April 4th. It's not really a corporate deal, even though it's a private show - it's more like a promotional show, almost an audition. I guess these people are considering sending us to do a thing in Armenia for their company. It's super-tiny, and John admitted that he could easily do it all by himself, but he's calling the crew in anyway, mostly because it looks sleeker for him to be The Boss and have People supporting him. And, we get paid and get to hang out, so we're not complaining. I'm harassing him about going down next week - he's taking my baby (Watertight) completely apart and I want to be there! He doesn't know what his schedule is going to be yet, though, so I'm being as patient as I can be.

4.) I'm applying for lots of temp jobs, although there aren't many in this area, so I have actually started applying for stuff down in the LA area, including a temporary clerical position at Northrup - Grummond, a big aerospace company. We'll see.

5.) Apparently, posting perfectly innocent song lyrics results in five emails, two comments, and one phone call wanting to know what's going on or, more specifically, what his name is. Trust me, my love life is NOT that exciting! Yeah, there's a guy I like, no, I don't think he's into me at all, and even if he was, he's off-limits, so it's all good =)

6.) One reason studying has been so hard:

(and why cat hair gets all over my keyboards). He does this every time I get my books out!

7.) Now you see it:

Now you don't:

The first two suits are done, and I decided to block it on the needles to get a better idea of how it was going to measure up. It's a bit narrow - only 5" wide - but is already slightly over 24" long, so one foot per symbol will make for an 8' long scarf. That's acceptable. I already like the two color idea so much better than trying to use white as the background! (The symbols are much clearer irl than they are in the photos - when sitting at my desk looking over at it on the table, they are very clear.) I'm also changing the order to spades, hearts, clubs, diamonds (the original pattern has it as spades, hearts, diamonds, clubs), because a.) I think alternating the colors looks better aesthetically and b.) because that's how I was always taught the suits were ranked anyway. But, at any rate, I like it so far.

Gotta run out to the base and try to get my ID today. Gonna stop in at the temp agencies, too! I'm So Bored without a job!

Songs in my head...

And he said, "Marry me, Juliet, you'll never have to be alone.
I love you and that's all I really know.
I talked to your dad, go pick out a white dress.
It's a love story, baby, just say yes..."
-Love Story, Taylor Swift

There's a fine, fine line between a lover and a friend;
There's a fine, fine line between reality and pretend;
And you never know 'til you reach the top if it was worth the uphill climb.
There's a fine, fine line between love
And a waste of time.

There's a fine, fine line between a fairy tale and a lie;
And there's a fine, fine line between "You're wonderful" and "Goodbye."
I guess if someone doesn't love you back it isn't such a crime,
But there's a fine, fine line between love
And a waste of your time.

And I don't have the time to waste on you anymore.
I don't think that you even know what you're looking for.
For my own sanity, I've got to close the door
And walk away...
Oh...

There's a fine, fine line between together and not
And there's a fine, fine line between what you wanted and what you got.
You gotta go after the things you want while you're still in your prime...
There's a fine, fine line between love
And a waste of time.
-"Fine, Fine Line," Avenue Q

Magic and Science

and finding a way to blend the two. It's looking like if I want to get all my ANG training done at once (8.5 weeks of Basic, 6 weeks of Space 100, 6 weeks of MILSTAR training, and 4 weeks of on-the-floor training, so about six months total), I'll start Basic in July (double UGH about going to Texas in the summer). However, I don't know when John's shows are going to be yet (we're hoping to get at least a general idea this week), and if I have to, I can split up Basic and Tech School. Plus, after about a month of tech school, I should be able to go off-base on weekends if we have shows then. (John's trying to always schedule shows on weekends where possible until we start making enough that we can do full-time positions.) Both sides seem willing to be flexible as much as they can be, so we'll see how the cards get dealt, I guess. I don't HAVE to go to Basic in July - I technically have up to a year to start Basic - but I'm also pretty useless to my unit until I go through training, so of course, they don't encourage that, and I don't particularly enjoy being useless. I know there are going to be sacrifices, of course, but I can't really plan anything for certain until we get the show dates.

The rest of drill weekend was alright. I had to drive down to Channel Islands (down by Oxnard/Ventura) yesterday for another physical. Couldn't eat anything for twelve hours prior to blood being drawn, get up at 5:00a, on the road by 6:00a to be there at 8:00a, and the first thing they do is draw SEVEN vials of blood. Yeah, I did NOT get up from that chair very quickly (and my arm is still sore!). The rest of the day went pretty smoothly (the food at VAFB is a LOT better), and I was back in SM by 4:00p. Fell asleep reading in bed around 9:00p (REALLY early for me!), got up at 5:30a, on the road at 6:30a, and reported to VAFB at 7:00a today. We didn't do a lot today - just checked up on some of the paperwork trails, got a mini-tour of the base (I'd already been pretty much everywhere we went, except actually onto Minuteman Beach, which is really pretty), and that was about it. I'm supposed to get my military ID this week - most people don't get IDs until they go to Basic, but since ANG members are technically active and expected to report to various bases BEFORE they go to Basic, we can get ours early (which is awesome, because it means I don't have to pay admission when we go to Disneyland in a few weeks!). Next month us two non-priors are supposed to join a student flight with the 216th for some PT and rank structure/etiquette training (I know the rank structure, probably not the etiquette, though), I think. We'll see.

Trying to study for my 604 final and failing miserably. I fell asleep on the couch for an hour or so this afternoon and woke up to a nightmare involving one of my former second years. Weird. I have a symbol and a half done on the Illusion Scarf and I like it so far, although I think it's going to be both shorter and narrower than originally intended. I might have to do three repeats instead of two. I'm going to finish this second symbol (the heart) and then block it on the needles to get a better idea of how it will size out. I still need to finish Beck's baby blanket, too - I might take it to knitting at Panera tomorrow, even though I REALLY need to go to kickboxing again. Baby S's birthday party was Friday night and it was the first time I'd seen Mrs. S in for, like, ever. Been on the road or working on academic stuff too much lately and need to get back off my butt!

Random Good Mood

A lovely night, a lovely night!
A finer night you know you'll never see!
You meet a prince, a charming prince
As charming as a prince will ever be.
The stars in the hazy heavens tremble above you
While he is whisp'ring "Darling, I love you."
You say goodbye, away you fly
But on your lips you'll keep a kiss
All your life you'll dream of this
Lovely, lovely night...
-Cinderella

The Insanity

As you might have picked up by the title of my last post, I've been a little busy recently. Let's see, where to start? My last significant post was last Wednesday, so we'll pick up from there, I guess.

Thursday was spent finishing up the Soyuz presentation for 512 and frantically searching for more information for my 604 paper and ultimately deciding to change the scope of it. I did not make it to haganah that night, sadly.

Friday was spent on paper research, applying at another temp agency (recommended by Eduardo), studying for the 512 midterm, then taking said midterm that night and freaking out slightly because it was harder than I had expected it to be. (It turns out that everyone else thought so, too.)

Saturday was spent discovering that the midterm wasn't as bad as I'd thought (90%), listening to the start of the presentations (I gotta say...rockets in general are pretty darn cool toys! We did Minuteman III missiles and Atlas, Delta II, and Pegasus rockets that day), learning about the orbital mechanics for interplanetary travel (doesn't that sound like that should be a line from, like a Star Trek episode?), reviewing for the final, coming home, and continuing to research paper stuff.

Sunday was spent dreading having to give my presentation, fumbling through it (EVERYONE else got asked tons of questions during their presentations, which made it feel like a back and forth discussion, rather than a presentation, but NO ONE asked anything during mine, so either I was extremely clear or extremely boring, which made me MORE nervous), listening to the rest of the class' stuff (LCROSS, THEMIS, TacSat III, and Launch Safety), taking the final (which, after knowing what the midterm was like, was pretty easy), coming home, and continuing to work on paper research.

Monday was spent down in LA. John actually followed through on getting the crew together to watch the show video for once, and "made it worth it" for me by having me come down earlier in the day and letting me reorganize our touring supply case, which had been driving me insane. It was a fun day - he had burned me a copy of a CD he'd bought last time we were at Starbucks (we call it Parisian wine music), we had lunch with his family (well, 4 of his 5 siblings, anyway), started taking Watertight apart to clean it, and then he went back to his office and gave me carte blanche to organize the case. (It's MUCH better now!) I'd finished with the case and was sitting at the table working on my paper when he came back with a brilliant (*cough*) idea. "Hey! Wouldn't it be awesome if you worked HERE?! You could always just BE here and help with stuff, I wonder if my dad has any openings in the office..." I'm not holding my breath for that, as they've been hit by the economy just as hard as everyone else, but it was sweet of him to think that. (I got several not-particularly-subtle hints throughout the day that "it would just be easier if you were down here," which I found amusing.) The girls and Eduardo showed up in the evening, and we descended on Ruby Tuesday's with enough laughter and noise between the five of us to scare other patrons away while we ate. Then we went back to the warehouse and actually got to watch the video of the show, which was very useful. The others took off around 10:00p, but John started tinkering with Watertight again, and my car was parked by his office, so we didn't get out of there until about 11:30p. Now, despite what happened last time I drove back late at night, this time I was actually okay to drive - it hadn't been any crazy long day, I'd gotten a good night's sleep the night before, and I hadn't been up for any 24 hours straight by the time I hit the road. I knew that Tuesday was going to be my last real chance to work on my paper, having finished the research at the warehouse while waiting for him, and wanted to be sure I'd have enough time to get it typed up. John, however, seems to have taken my "don't ever let me do that again!" impulse whine to heart and he kidnapped me! He usually fills my tank up for me when I leave, so when he drops me off at my car and says "Follow me," I figure we're going to the gas station. No, we went back to his place instead. His response to my "*I* thought I was going home tonight?!" was "Well, you can if you really want to...*I* don't think it's worth it, though, and you have a room to crash in here, so...why?" Mrph!

Tuesday started out pretty nicely, actually. Luckily, I still had my travel toothbrush in my bag from last weekend, but his brother sure gave me a weird look when he came into the kitchen the next morning and saw me, no makeup and in the same - now dirty from the warehouse - clothes as yesterday. John had asked me to not leave until he was up, so I ended up typing the first page or two of my paper (I'd finished the research at the warehouse) with the SoCal sunshine streaming onto me through their kitchen windows. I actually could have kept working on the thing (to a certain point) right there, but John finally decided he was ready around noon (with more "you don't really want to go back, you should be down here" comments), so I got back to Santa Maria around 3:00p (it's actually a more direct route from his house, one less freeway to navigate). I got about half the paper done, then said "Screw it, I need this!" and went to haganah for the first time in a week and a half. Getting beat up on helps clear the head, I swear! Came home, got about 3/4 of the paper done, figured out the correct formatting, and crashed.

Today, I finished the paper, threw some slides together for the accompanying presentation and went to class. This time, I was more nervous BEFORE the presentation, but during it, I was fine. Clearly, being nervous before presentations results in better presentations. It also helps that there were questions and comments during this one. All in all, I feel like I did much better with this presentation than I did with the 512 one, and I kind of slapped this one together at the last minute. Weird. I also just got the news that John met with another promoter today and they're interested in doing a series of at least five shows! So today's been a pretty good day - good news on the show AND all of my papers and presentations are now OVER! I have one more final for 604 next week, and then classwork is done for a couple weeks. I'm trying to decide if I want to do two on-site classes or one on-site and one online class next term. I'm leaning towards the latter, but I'm going to go register tomorrow, so we'll see.

Tomorrow is going to be spent SCRUBBING down the apartment. It's time for a good, thorough, spring cleaning, and then Friday is Baby S's second birthday party! (We'll see how much blue icing gets smeared this time!) I have to go down to Channel Islands at dark o'clock Saturday morning for my space flight physical, and then regular drill day on Sunday. Between the trips to LA and VAFB, I've put over a thousand miles on my car just in the past two weeks. Yikes! Time for an oil change!

Making some of the insanity worth it....

Course
ASCI 512
Title
Space Mission & Launch Operations
Final Grade
A - Superior


My presentation was mediocre - I wasn't nervous until I got up there and started talking, and then I got REALLY nervous and flubbed a lot - but I guess it was good enough.

Now to get some sleep (went back down to LA yesterday - Monday - and got back this - Tuesday - afternoon , more on that later), wake up, write the last two pages of my paper, and hopefully continue my A streak.