Had a great Halloween weekend. Started off with the San Antonio Zombie Walk from Hemisfair Plaza down to the Alamo. A short little shuffle/limp/stump drag down through the middle of touristy downtown and stopped in front of the Alamo. My group of friends generally went for a "dead super hero" theme. I didn't have too much time to prep, so I went and bought a black fleece shirt and spray painted a Punisher symbol onto it. Add some zombie makeup and prosthesis and voila!
zombie walk was a good time.
Halloween day I took the motorcycle out for a long ride and stopped and stocked up on provisions on the way home. Ready for Halloween!
my roommate wore her oversized, googly-eyed skeleton costume and I put on my Headless Horsemen costume and moderned it up a bit for the trick or treaters:
good times. We both noted how it's not quite the same as when we were younger and the whole neighborhood would get into Halloween with lots of houses passing out candy and decorating. Maybe only seven houses on our street were doing it..but we had a fair number of kids and parents come by and we had a good time.
Today I took the motorcycle out for another ride. I found a polling place on the far edge of the country with lots of nice back roads to get there and went to vote. Then I rewarded myself for doing my civic duty by going to one of my favorite truck stops for chicken fried steak and home-made ice cream.
getting ready for a short two day camping trip after the weekend at Lost Maples, Texas. It's probably one of the only places in Texas where the mass of foliage changes for the season. Hence its name. We've had a couple of cold spells, so there should be some red and orange going.
zombie walk was a good time.
Halloween day I took the motorcycle out for a long ride and stopped and stocked up on provisions on the way home. Ready for Halloween!
my roommate wore her oversized, googly-eyed skeleton costume and I put on my Headless Horsemen costume and moderned it up a bit for the trick or treaters:
good times. We both noted how it's not quite the same as when we were younger and the whole neighborhood would get into Halloween with lots of houses passing out candy and decorating. Maybe only seven houses on our street were doing it..but we had a fair number of kids and parents come by and we had a good time.
Today I took the motorcycle out for another ride. I found a polling place on the far edge of the country with lots of nice back roads to get there and went to vote. Then I rewarded myself for doing my civic duty by going to one of my favorite truck stops for chicken fried steak and home-made ice cream.
getting ready for a short two day camping trip after the weekend at Lost Maples, Texas. It's probably one of the only places in Texas where the mass of foliage changes for the season. Hence its name. We've had a couple of cold spells, so there should be some red and orange going.
In New York for a week visiting good friends and stopped by the Columbia campus yesterday for a tour and info session. A bit blown away by the place. Such a great university and in New York City....I can't help feeling like I've lucked into something far beyond me...like winning a lottery that I have to then win a quiz show to keep the money. But it's going to be an amazing experience. Info session and tour went really well. Got some great information about possible academic roads towards a master's degree and also housing and what not. Going back on monday to try and sort out the VA requirements. In the meantime, greatly enjoying New York and wandering about. Stopped into a gallery with bossanova and saw the Ferdinand Holder exhibit. Really powerful and beautiful stuff.
Staying with great friends in Brooklyn and generally doing well. Stressing a bit over being intentionally unemployed, but I'll be alright.
Things are moving along...
Staying with great friends in Brooklyn and generally doing well. Stressing a bit over being intentionally unemployed, but I'll be alright.
Things are moving along...
So much going on. Almost done with my working time doing HVAC. Getting ready for my first trip up to New York to look in at Columbia University...look for apartments...try to figure out how this is all going to work out.
really excited and a bit overwhelmed.
working as the platoon commander for my old platoon in my Reserve unit. Dealing with a new company commander, company first sergeant, and operations chief all at the same time. They're coming into a unit that's full of experienced NCOs and has just returned from a deployment last year...and they feel like they need to make their own mark on things...and it's frustrating that they ignore all the experience in the foundation of their company. Trying to decide if it's worth flying back to Texas every month for drill and maintaining my presence here or just transferring up to a unit in New York.
Also trying to figure out if it's worth taking my motorcycle to New York. really want to have it with me, but if I'm moving in January, it may be several months before I have much use for it.
and my roommates have added another tenant to our clan/menagerie:
edit: also been listening to a lot of Lucero lately
and was recently reunited with old friends that left SG some years back, BionicFemme and onefoolishline....it's amazing how years go by everywhere but in our relationships with good friends....
really excited and a bit overwhelmed.
working as the platoon commander for my old platoon in my Reserve unit. Dealing with a new company commander, company first sergeant, and operations chief all at the same time. They're coming into a unit that's full of experienced NCOs and has just returned from a deployment last year...and they feel like they need to make their own mark on things...and it's frustrating that they ignore all the experience in the foundation of their company. Trying to decide if it's worth flying back to Texas every month for drill and maintaining my presence here or just transferring up to a unit in New York.
Also trying to figure out if it's worth taking my motorcycle to New York. really want to have it with me, but if I'm moving in January, it may be several months before I have much use for it.
and my roommates have added another tenant to our clan/menagerie:
edit: also been listening to a lot of Lucero lately
and was recently reunited with old friends that left SG some years back, BionicFemme and onefoolishline....it's amazing how years go by everywhere but in our relationships with good friends....
AT (Annual Training) went pretty well for being two weeks spent up at Ft. Hood doing pretty basic type training. We got soaked on the second and third days by torrential downpours and then had to continue on through the next two weeks. Two weeks without a proper shower and lots of running around in the heat....interesting times.
The highlight was our platoon, which hardly EVER actually does it's intended Military Specialty (we are anti-tank missilemen. Snipers may hunt gunmen, but we hunt motherfuckin' TANKS) was given a single $40,000 missile to fire on the live fire range. Our gunner, another SG member in fact, got to take the shot and scored a direct hit on his assigned target. It was the most expensive 5 seconds this side of Thailand, but it was amazing to watch.
We also spent the better part of the week running company level operations and patrol bases, which is tiring but fun. Due to the lack of commisioned officers in the company I was given the opportunity to be the platoon commander for the Anti-Armor platoon and I really enjoyed it. I had a good second as my platoon sergeant and we juggled a lot of the burdens between us and it worked out well.
at the very end of it all my platoon sergeant and I went and got supplies and had a BBQ cookout for the company: burgers, links, and fajitas:
now I am home and back at work. Things kinda shaken up around my home and it's got me amped and a bit discombobulated all at the same time. but I've been staying up late and hanging out late most nights (like tonight) and I'm enjoying life for the most part. Those things that are missing can always be found, maybe.
oh, yeah. and this:
The highlight was our platoon, which hardly EVER actually does it's intended Military Specialty (we are anti-tank missilemen. Snipers may hunt gunmen, but we hunt motherfuckin' TANKS) was given a single $40,000 missile to fire on the live fire range. Our gunner, another SG member in fact, got to take the shot and scored a direct hit on his assigned target. It was the most expensive 5 seconds this side of Thailand, but it was amazing to watch.
We also spent the better part of the week running company level operations and patrol bases, which is tiring but fun. Due to the lack of commisioned officers in the company I was given the opportunity to be the platoon commander for the Anti-Armor platoon and I really enjoyed it. I had a good second as my platoon sergeant and we juggled a lot of the burdens between us and it worked out well.
at the very end of it all my platoon sergeant and I went and got supplies and had a BBQ cookout for the company: burgers, links, and fajitas:
now I am home and back at work. Things kinda shaken up around my home and it's got me amped and a bit discombobulated all at the same time. but I've been staying up late and hanging out late most nights (like tonight) and I'm enjoying life for the most part. Those things that are missing can always be found, maybe.
oh, yeah. and this:
0140. was up all last night too. happened across some photos from NYC from January and spent some time on them:
and for Kay:
leave tomorrow for two weeks of field training with the good ol' USMC.
see ya.
and for Kay:
leave tomorrow for two weeks of field training with the good ol' USMC.
see ya.
0140. was up all last night too. happened across some photos from NYC from January and spent some time on them:
and for Kay:
leave tomorrow for two weeks of field training with the good ol' USMC.
see ya.
and for Kay:
leave tomorrow for two weeks of field training with the good ol' USMC.
see ya.
July 4th was fun. Went floating on a river with friends.
drank a little..not as much as the week prior. Think I'll swing back that direction this weekend maybe.
kinda pinballing between IDGAF and wanting to burn the world down. so it goes.
dealing with a lot of administrative, bureaucratic shite, but that's not the reason for the pinballing. Taking this whole week off of work before I leave for a two and a half week field training exercise for the Marines. that's already shaping up to be a cluster too.
ah well. playlist for this week
drank a little..not as much as the week prior. Think I'll swing back that direction this weekend maybe.
kinda pinballing between IDGAF and wanting to burn the world down. so it goes.
dealing with a lot of administrative, bureaucratic shite, but that's not the reason for the pinballing. Taking this whole week off of work before I leave for a two and a half week field training exercise for the Marines. that's already shaping up to be a cluster too.
ah well. playlist for this week
they were all full on Thursday. Ouch. my liver. not pictured are the Knob Creek and Jim Beam that didn't quite get finished off.....I declare in a feat of remarkable self-restraint.
ridiculous weekend. Alcohol all night, IV fluids and hitting the gym during the day. Danced my ass off through last night.
Many laughs, a bit of drama, shenanigans, pridefest block party, and not very much sleep at all. There may be more photos floating around on other cameras. I may or may not post.
have seriously had this song spike stuck in my brain for most of the last week. really digging it.
Guess I haven't been around much. Been a fairly busy couple of weeks. In the last week, I was made a
Staff Sergeant
a pall bearer
and an elf
Staff Sergeant
a pall bearer
and an elf
