Meet the New Unit

This weekend was my first drill with my new unit. My new section is an interesting group. Let's start with the current section sergeant, Sergeant Rhino. He's thick-skinned and all business, but fortunately he does have a sense of humor at times. He'll need a sense of humor with Private McLovin around. PVT McL seems to be a class clown and a lady's man, and a text message addict. In contrast, there is PFC Gadget who is probably more of a computer whiz than myself, and has more disposable income for fun electronics. Finally, my counterpart is PFC Jade, the only female in the section. She seems easily bored, but generally good-tempered. In addition, we have two people from out of town to fill slots. Our officer, Mr. Whiz, seems very friendly and knowledgeable, and Sergeant Buccaneer is a backup to Sergeant Rhino.

I think I'll be able to work with everybody in the section, and if I'm lucky I'll be able to put up with them when we're off-duty too. I have no idea yet how much free time we'll have or what sort of recreation will be available. I'm not counting on anything yet, but I sincerely hope that my biggest problem during this deployment is boredom. If things are exciting, then we have problems. I guess I'm anxious to know what life will be like, but I'm trying very hard not to think about it. The more I dream about the sort of schedule or accommodations we'll have, the more disappointed I'll be when the plan changes.

Out for the Count

My wisdom teeth surgery went well. I'm recovering well I think. I slept almost nonstop for the first two days. Ashley has been a saint taking care of me. The pain has not been tremendous, but I'm still making careful choices about the food I eat. Mostly mashed potatoes and yogurt. For the past couple of days, I've been up and walking around, and even drove myself to the store. I almost feel good enough to head back to the office tomorrow, maybe I'll give it a try.

Spring Break, A Bit Early

Tomorrow I'm going in for wisdom tooth removal surgery. All four. Two of them will be next to nothing, and one of them should be fine, but they'll be digging for the last one. I've decided to go through a civilian surgeon rather than waiting for the Army to do the surgery. Granted, it would be free with the Army, but the Army dentist will almost certainly not use a sedative, only local anesthetic. I don't want to remember a thing, so I guess a little out-of-pocket expense is a worthy investment. The timing of the surgery was supposed to be carefully placed to miss as little class time as possible and recover over spring break, but I'll still be missing two days. I should be able to make it up. Wish me luck!

St. Baldrick's Success

Well, the St. Baldrick's fundraiser was a success by my standards. Team Buff Bus managed to raise $1,600, and with kind sponsorships from my father and Rational Data, I met my own goal of $100. Every little bit helps. We all had a great time, and Mike even joined in the fun. Ashley took many great pictures of the event, so check'em out!

St. Baldricks Around the Corner!

Hey everyone! If I haven't told you yet, this Saturday I'm participating in a shaving event for St. Baldrick's Foundation. It's a fundraising group that funds research on children's cancer. It's a great cause that my dispatcher encouraged me to join.

Here's the deal. I'm going to get my head shaved. Bald. I know its not a huge stretch for myself, but its for a great cause. If you would like to sponsor my hair loss program, even just a few dollars, you can donate at my sponsorship page. Chris's St. Baldrick's Sponsorship Page! Every little bit helps, and I appreciate any help you can give. There are a lot of causes that deserve this support, but to me, children's cancer is particularly unfair. No one should have their childhood marred by such an experience.

Thanks!

Grizzly Rose Run

The week was fairly uneventful. I had a pre-surgery consult to have my wisdom teeth taken out. Scary prospect, but I'd much rather have it done under sedative than have an army dentist with local anesthetic and a line of people waiting behind me.

Friday night I had a run taking some students down to the Grizzly Rose. Only problem was, I dorked up the start time. I arrived at 9:30 for my pre-trip, only to realize that I was supposed to start at 7:30 and finish at 9:30. Turns out, my supervisor had called me, and I had been in the computer science labs, where I get almost no cell phone reception. It was less-than-catastrophic, because two other buses had squeezed on a few extra passengers each and covered it. I pre-tripped, drove down to the Rose, and sulked in the parked bus until it was time to leave. The third return trip bus didn't arrive either, so the two buses were again just a bit overpacked. Terrible run.

Lots of Bus

It's been a busy week for Ashley and I. We managed to finish making our wedding registry at Target. That was our last excuse, so now we have to finish the invitations and get them out the door.

Transportation needed a lot of help this week, so I took some time off at Rational Data and grabbed some charter runs. Thursday morning, I took a few people down to a sustainability conference in south Denver. They were very interesting people with some great ideas. One of the most interesting proposals I heard was a system that uses algae to scrub city air. A business would be able to put a shed on a building room, the algae would clean the air, and the business would reap profit from the multiplying algae. Much more complicated, but that's the gist. I think it will be really interesting to see how sustainable energy takes form in the next few decades.

Another charter was picking up high school students from Aurora for the Black Student Alliance. I think it's some sort of diversity recruiting effort. Personally, I think it's a good idea to encourage diversity efforts like this, because sections of CU are really not that diverse. The College of Engineering seems to have quite a few Asian, Indian and Arab students, but very few places on campus have a high number of African American or Latino students. On the flip side, the gender ratios in different programs is all over the place. I think most of the Engineering departments are at least 90% male, and I've heard the Biology departments are much the opposite. It's just an observation, not really a praise or a complaint.

This morning I picked up the Army ROTC group from a paint ball field near the School of Mines. It was awkward trying to interact with them. I haven't had a hair cut in a couple of weeks, and I didn't shave this morning, so I didn't have the military look. I was tempted to ask their major about his deployment since he had a patch on his right sleeve, but it seemed silly to ask him. Socially, it would be addressing him as if he was at my level, but I'm lower enlisted and haven't been deployed, so it would be... out of place. I decided against it. Finally at the end of the trip, I asked if they had a first sergeant. I know the ROTC uses some pseudo-enlisted rank structure to teach the function of the rank system, so there should be a first sergeant in the group to handle simple direction of the group. They looked very confused, so I just sheepishly asked if they could have someone remind the cadets to police up trash. I've considered trying to get involved with the ROTC people before, but it's such a different attitude from what I've experienced. They're students that get high-and-tight hair cuts and wear ACU's (improperly, I might add). They haven't been conditioned, and so trying to interact with them as fellow members of the military is awkward. I don't think I'll try to get involved. I'll just stick with the couple of bus driver friends I have in the ROTC battalion.