Where does the time go???

Good grief! It's November!! I can't believe it's been almost 9 months since I left SLO, and trudged through the idiocy that is Boot Camp. Well, I already talked about Boot Camp and EOD Dive Prep Course, and...sorry, I had to re-read my last entry...where was I?? Ok, so I left off at the beginning of Dive School.
Gosh, it's been long enough ago that I can hardly recall what all happened - plus it was only for 2 months. In a nutshell, we learned how to dive SCUBA (even though I already knew how to) and the Mk16, a low/non-magnetic, mixed-gas, rebreather diving rig which allows us to dive on magnetically influenced underwater ordnance to a depth of 300'.

Each rig is worth about a Chevy Corvette...a pretty cool system, but not very user-friendly. Between these two main points, we mostly just got beat-down (PT-wise), and hung out in Panama City at the beach on weekends. Um, other than that, I guess there really isn't much else worth mentioning. Certainly, I'd like to thank you (my friends and family) so much for all the love and support I've received, especially during that phase of my training. I was pretty weak and in a low place, and I couldn't have done it without you! Gosh...Yeah...as much as I enjoy diving, Dive School was a real kick in the teeth. I don't know why it robbed me of the joys of diving...weird. Whatever, I'm past that point; I'm stronger and tougher now. On to the Prize.


Mid-July '08 - So, here I am now: NAVSCOLEOD; a.k.a. The University of Bombs and Bullets. The first 5 weeks I was here, I was pulled out of training due to a security clearance issue - I swear I'm not a spy, hahahaha! But, after I got cleared, things have been pretty sweet! I can't say anything terribly specific, but let's just say that I'm learning how to save the free world, one bomb at a time. Ironically, it pretty much involves blowing up the things we try and keep from blowing up...of course, we make the things we don't want to blow up near that school or hospital or whatever, safe to move to someplace where it can be blown up first. Blowing stuff up is AWESOME!! Who'dathunkit?? So far, as challenging as this school is reputed to be (the 3rd toughest school, period. #1 is some law school somewhere, #2 is something else...and then us, presumably because of how stressful it is), things are going smoothly. I'm just soaking up the training and taking care of business the way they are training me. Outside of school, I've been trying to make my life as close to the way things were as possible. There is surf out here, so I bought a board and I try and catch waves whenever they come through, which isn't very often. And the waves just aren't anything like they are in Cali. During the summer, I was playing a lot of v-ball on the beach. Went deep-sea fishing for red snapper a few weekends ago. Other than that, just kinda whatever. There are a few weekend nights where I'll drive the boys out for drinks. There is a country line dance bar out here. It's sorta fun. Slim pickin's on beautiful (available) women that can dance or that don't smoke...I work out a bunch, watch movies, and drink coffee. Yep, that's pretty much the latest and the greatest.
I'm definitely getting more and more used to the military lifestyle, enough that I don't miss Home as much as I used to, at least not so much that I get depressed...as often...I'm definitely anxious and excited to come home for Christmas!!! So, that's what's driving me from now until December : ) We'll have to coordinate our schedules so I can come see whoever's around!!