Chris' Updates

Eight weeks of class finally came to an end Friday, when I took my Calc 2 test. I don't have the results yet, but it felt pretty good. I'm expecting a C in the class, but there is that slight chance that my final exam grade and a healthy curve kicked me up to a B. Wait and see! This weekend, I started chewing away at my required AT days by helping with the 96th Infantry Division Reunion's Family Day event. They've had all sorts of events this week for the reunion, like on Thursday, when everyone in the unit was invited to attend the Rockies baseball game, in uniform. Saturday's Family Day was an opportunity for the vets and current members to bring their families for food, fun (a rock wall and a dunk tank), and a look at today's military. I was volunteered to show off the M249 SAW , the Army's light machine gun. I've fired one, a little 50-round drum in BCT, but I wasn't immediately prepared to be a "subject matter expert" on the thing. I h...

Lots of exciting things happening! Yesterday contained both a beginning and an end for my life. The beginning came in the form of an interview for the Geek Squad at our local Best Buy. After school I rushed on over to the store to meet with the Geek Squad manager, Lam. He was pretty cool, and asked me a few technical questions. I was able to answer them pretty well, with only a few small hiccups. For instance, I didn't know what popular spyware scanners are available. I should have known, but I never use them. My machine stays fairly clean, as a rule. Either way, I held my ground on technical knowledge. He didn't say I was necessarily hired, but he mentioned that if there was no room in Geek Squad, he'd try and find another place in the store for me. I think Geek Squad would be fairly awesome, but I could live with just about anything in Best Buy. Considering I really really need a job. So I guess I may need a new hat in the near future. The ending came with Jeremey moving ...

Well, yesterday was my last trip down to faire for the season. I had a good time. I tried to trade out my leather-bound journal for another style, but the owner didn't keep that style in stock at the shop. I wondered around taking picutres for Jackie, and I caught a few good ones. A little after lunch-time, I got volunteered to be a step-and-fetch (grabbing food) for Ashley's entire shop, and then Jackie and her boss. Interesting, but next time I demand a tip! And that was most of the day. Afterwards, Ashley took me with a good number of the wench camp residents to O'Malley's Pub in Palmer Lake. We just had dinner, but a few of the older women had some drinks too. The pub did have one unique feature; when you order a steak or a burger, you just get the raw meat, and then you use their communal grills to cook it to your pleasure. It was a fun time.

Where the heck did I put my copy of Homeworld ? I just got a hankering to play it, and I realized I haven't seen it since I left for Basic. Have to ask Mike... Go on about your business! Nothing to see here.

So, continuing after drill on Sunday afternoon. Having being bussed from Ft. Carson to Aurora to drop off gear and be released, I drove back down to Larkspur to join Ashley. I was able to get into faire for the last half hour or so of the business day, just as everyone was leaving. Ashley was a bit caught up for a while, because she was participating in a "Wench Walk." For those unfamiliar, a wench walk is an event when several wenches, about 6-10, gather in a pack and Wench (verb) unsuspecting men. When one is wenched, they are placed in a circle, and the wenches take turns in placing very lipstick-laced kisses on exposed skin. Very traumatic. Ashley tried to have me wenched, but I told her she could have me done on a different day, when I wasn't three days in the outdoors. After that, Ashley and I tried to get ready for the party. Ashley was supposed to bring a food dish, but forgot the noodles in the van that had already driven home, so we just got dressed and headed u...

So, I think the test went well Thursday. I'll find out tomorrow, I hope. Drill was excellent this weekend. We didn't stay in our usual Reserve barracks in the main of Ft. Carson, with its "posh" 2-man rooms. Instead we stayed in the "Tent City" barracks, which are a lot like the BCT barracks, with one long room of bunks. Lucky we weren't crowded. Friday was spent at the Land Navigation course, and we retrained ourselves in navigation using a compass, given bearings and distances. It was really good training, but tiring! Each team walked thru two courses, with each course being roughly 4km once you walk to the starting lot. This is thru varied terrain, flat stretches and steep hills, open fields and thick underbrush, small streams. Not to mention the cacti and yucca plants. Do I ever appreciate those combat boots! All told, I probably walked 6 miles in basic field gear Friday. And it was fun as hell. I slept well. Saturday was much more interesting. We ge...

So, lots happening. School is trucking right along, but no huge changes there since the last test. Friday, the group went to the opening night of Pirates of the Carribbean 2, and it was completely worth it. Very entertaining. The weekend was as usual, the girls gone to faire, me up here working on this and that. Tuesday, Ashley and I went on an impromptu date. We ended up mostly shopping around the jewelry stores, looking at rings. No, I don't plan on popping the question any time soon, but I would like to know Ashley's tastes when I do end up getting something. And as it turns out, she's got a particular style in mind, but she's not too picky about the price. Good to know. Tomorrow I'm taking my third midterm early during my professor's office hours, so that Friday I can head down to Ft. Carson for drill. This is going to be a crazy weekend! I've got drill Monday morning to Sunday afternoon, then Sunday evening I'm driving back down south to faire so I...

I hope everyone had a nice 4th of July weekend, I know I did! It was useless to go to recitation on Monday, being the first class after the test. I would have spent my usual 4 hours between the commute and class, just to pick up the test and discuss it. Instant 4-day weekend for me! I spent quite a bit of time trying to fix Jeremey's new custom computer, but I think there's a major component on the motherboard, namely the chip set, that's damaged or malfunctioning or something. Monday night we had a sort of movie night and party over here at Alcott, and that was pretty fun. It was a bit different from our usual thrown-together parties. Ashley made a roast chicken and fondue. Tuesday night it poured for about an hour, but it cleared up in time to watch B-town's fireworks show. Absolutely amazing! B-town never disappoints when it comes to fireworks. Except that one year they had a misfire and had to cut the show short. At least they used the extras the next year! I got my...

Well, life has been treating me well for the past week. Last weekend I took another trip down to Larkspur to see Ashley and the girls in action. I had a lot of fun, and got out with my wallet only a little slimmer. I did, however, buy one of the leather journals from D'Vyne Wrytes that I've always wanted. It's so cool! I also got to see the campsite for the first time. Usually its only open to staff but since I was in costume, I was able to sneak back after cannon. I did, of course, have to help the girls put up another tarp, but it was worth it. I got to witness a "wenching." Calculus has been getting steadily harder. We're working into infinite series, which is a common stumbling block for students at this level. As its name suggests, it involves a lot of working with infinity, which is very ambiguous to me. It also involves a lot of obscure algebra, the stuff that I never liked in high school. The stuff I would learn for the test and then actively try to ...

I should really stop lurking around google video: Pipe Dream by Animusic This reminds me, its been such a long time since I've played any music. Maybe I'll fix that.