Last one

This will be my last blog post until I am down in GA. I'm not sure how long, or when it will be that I am able to blog again, but hopefully it won't take long. I wanted to say that I really appreciate all of the well wishes that I have been receiving. It is so nice to hear from everyone, and your well wishes get me through the tough days. It has been a tough week here.... and the toughest part comes tomorrow.... A "fun run." Yeah, right. I think not! I'm trying to drink as much as I can tonight, before climbing into bed.... for the long night of sleep before the torture begins. Did I mention that I hate water. I have to force myself to drink it. Trust me when I say this drinking bottles and bottles of it so I don't collapse tomorrow is RIDICULOUS! I'll be headed to GA following the day's activities and classes.... so no more hotel internet. In fact, I'll be turning in the iBridge as soon as I post this.

I'll also be packing up what I can to take down to my truck tonight. The fewer trips tomorrow morning, before the damn "fun run," the better. I look forward to updating as often as I can with as much information as I can.

On the homefront, JD is starting to warm up to my parents.... yelling at them when they don't get home early enough for him. He wants his treats when he wants 'em and if you aren't home in time, he'll tell you all about it! Man, do I miss him.

I'll talk to you all again, as soon as I have the opportunity.

Day 4

Today was another day that went as well as I expected, but not as well as I hoped. I goota quit wishing for miracles. But, we had a good night. 15 of us all went out to dinner together. We're really starting to get to know one another and we seem to mostly get along. I get the impression that one of the girls here doesn't like me all that much, but that's her problem. She'll just have to deal, 'cause I ain't going anywhere.

Once again, I haven't gotten any work done on my WIP.... been more than a month now. *pouts* I need more time in the day. There is too much to do at during the day and I come back exhausted.... I NEED sleep. I'm past feeling guilty about not writing.... now I'm just pissed. I've been stuck on page 232 FOREVER! I wanna get to the next part (that I haven't figured out yet, but that's beside the point). Hell, I barely remember the story at all! I'm gonna have to read the whole thing before I start working on it again, simply so I know what has already happened. I WROTE IT! But, it's been so damn long since I even opened the document. GRRRR! Maybe in GA.... I hope.

Day 3

Well, today didn't go any better than yesterday, but I am feeling better about it than I was. A GIANT thank you to Peanut for yakking with me and listening to me vent. It really helped. My parents called last night and I talked to them for almost an hour. That helped too. I didn't do as well as I would have hoped today, but I did better than I expected in some areas, and about what I expected in others.... I just hoped for a miracle (that I didn't get). I'm sure yesterdays blog isn't going to be the last downer that I write, but hopefully, I'll bounce back like I did this time.

We are down 2 more recruits (1 didn't show up on day 1). They decided last night that they were done. They say that at least 8 of us probably won't make it (class stats). I guess their leaving increases my odds.... but that still leaves 5 of us that, by odds, won't be here at the end. But, as I said yesterday, they'll have to kick my ass out, 'cause I won't leave voluntarily.

Day 2

Today was a tough one. I am just trying to make it through the day. We were there until about 10 minutes ago... like, 12 hours. I didn't do as well as I would have liked in the classes that we had today. And, I'm scared. Terrified really. I'm terrified that I am going to disappoint myself and not be able to do this. And, I really don't want to disappoint my parents or friends. That would be the worst thing I could do. I have so many of you cheering me on, and I don't want to let you down either. We haven't even gotten to the initial physical testing yet.... that's tomorrow morning.

One thing I must say before I sign off (I'm going to bed now), they'll have to kick me out. I won't voluntarily quit. If I don't make it, it's not because I gave up.

Thank you all for all of your support and good wishes upto this point. I hope I don't disappoint any of you!

Day 1

Well, it has been an interesting one! I have met a lot of new people. Really nice people. They've made it pretty easy to get over the worst of my shyness, though it's always there. It's a small class... a little over 20, but it seems that is the standard.

I can't say much about it except some general stuff, but it has been fun so far. I probably won't end up blogging very much about the whole thing. Maybe someday you will all get to read some of what is happening in a book.... if I ever get the time to work on it. Not enough hours in the day! One of the guys has been to the training in GA already for another job. He said that there was no internet in the rooms at the time, but they were putting in the ports for high speed while he was there. However, there was a phone in every room, so you were able to sign up for AOL or something like it and have internet access.... so hopefully I won't be too dead to come on and say high and talk just a bit, give a little update on what is happening.

It still hasn't hit me that this is reality. Physical tests begin Wednesday... then Saturday, we have a "fun run" (2 words that should never be used together in a sentence without the word NOT in front of fun!).... 2 miles. UGH!

6 of us went out to eat together tonight. We all went to Friday's. We were able to get some more information, 'cause we were all given more information on different things... so we are at least closer to having some clue as to what is going on.

I'm looking forward to hitting the sheets tonight.

D-Day

Well, the first leg of my trip is started. I left today from my parents' house... leaving behind my cute kitty... and headed for the first stop. DC. Tomorrow at 6:30am, I will be picked up from the hotel with other trainees and we will be carted off to the training facility.

As you can see, I am online ( had a hell of a time tryin' to get my laptop to agree to the new equipment).... at least for the moment. The hotel that I am staying at has high speed internet. I'm lovin' it. I can not only play on the net... but it doesn't take 4 years for a simple page to load!

Last night Peanut and I went out for a good dinner.... I had langostinos! My favorite! Actually, the only type of seafood I'll even eat, but I digress. Then I got a lesson with my new digital camera... hence yesterday's post ;) Thank You Peanut! I like playin' with pictures!!!!

Daddy made me a pancake brunch this morning (I hate pancakes.... except for the ones he makes). That was after he made me go for one final run.... umm, my stuff was all packed to go! I had to wear a pair of cheap running shoes. I thought my knee was going to explode! It hurt so much. Then, my leg cramped up driving in the middle of 5 lanes of busy traffic. Not a fun experience. But I arrived here, without a speeding ticket or accident. Yeah! Now, for the hard part.

I'm planning to blog as much as I can this week.... hopefully I won't be too dead at the end of every day. See ya then.

This is the Cranky Kitty Ya'll have heard about.

This is Cranky Kitty, JD. He's cranky. But, he's a cutiepie. Gotta love the PINK eyeliner he wears. Everybody says he's a crossdresser.

Hola

Alrighty. I've shopped more in the past few days than I have throughout my entire 25 years.... AND I AM NOT DONE YET!!!!! I could seriously cry. I have spent waaaay too much money on things that I NEED.... with a couple hundred more looming in front of me. Yes, I will be making more money now than what I was before, but my first paycheck doesn't come until the 15th of September. Not including the gas that my truck is going to guzzle in the upcoming weeks (which I can't even begin to think about), I have a $400 (and that is WITH a discount) hotel bill that I have to pay my first week down there and not be reimbursed for. I hate to use a line that has been WAAAY over used throughout the years, but I must.... AM I MADE OF MONEY????

It is just starting to hit me. I leave in a matter of days... 4 and a half to be exact. I'm exhausted and not sleeping, 'cause I can't shut off my brain when it is time to go to sleep. It's finally hitting me just how much is riding on this.... and it is scaring the hell out of me. I'm frustrated because I normally use writing/reading as a stress reliever. I disappear into my own little world for a few hours and escape the things that are clogging up my brain. But, I have no time to do that now. I still have too many boxes still packed from the return trip, not even close to being packed for the upcoming trip... which will last 3 months before I will be close enough to even have my parents bring me stuff. HOW do you pack for 3 months in a climate that you are not even vaguely familiar with? My parents live in a town, nicknamed Flood City. The sun shines here 2 times a year. Once in January and once in December. It is always raining here... and if it isn't raining, it's foggy or hazy. The humidity will be a little worse there than it is here... but this place is COLD compared to Georgia. Yet, what is it going to be like in November there? 'Cause I'll be there through the beginning of November. And I only have so much room to pack stuff. UGH!

I am really excited that this is all happening. I've been waiting for it for so long. But as long as I've been waiting for it, I am no where near prepared to get to it. What am I going to do about it? What I always do... Suck it up and give it my all. And hope that it is enough. Well, I'm off to run..... again. Wish me luck on not collapsing this time.

I HATE SHOPPING!!

Last night, I had to go shopping for a few of the many things on my list to buy for training. The only part I enjoyed? Shopping for my truck. What can I say, I shop like a guy. My idea of shopping is limited to electronics, trucks, Jeeps and motorcycles. Maybe someday when I have some money for 1 of each of those. At the moment, I have my truck and a few minor electronics. I went shopping for new running shoes, hoping that they would help.... right. Well,we shall see. I'll be leaving in a few minutes to do my daily torture.... running. And whose idea was it to run in the heat of the day? Not mine. Although if it was up to me, I'd skip the whole damn thing.

My knee is not quite as big as it was before. It is by no means back to its original size, but better. I'm attempting to run tonight without the brace... living on the dangerous side tonight. This is probably not the smartest idea I ever had. That, and I agreed to "walk around the block" with my dad on Saturday morning. My block is 7 miles. AND, the ice cream store will still be CLOSED when we get there. :( The ice cream store is about the halfway mark. It's all uphill (or should I say mountain) from there. I think I was on something when I agreed to that.

Didn't get to work much with my dad today. Had to work with one of their employees.... don't like him. He drives worse than my brother! And those of you who know my brother probably can't believe that anyone drives worse than him. For those of you who don't know, my brother has wrecked, at least twice, every one of the 5 vehicles that he has owed, plus his ex-fiancee's truck and 2 of my mom's cars. His latest vehicle (that has been wrecked, although minor, 2 times already) is only a year old and he has already blown up the engine. And, his previous truck was wrecked more times than I can count and was at one point hanging off a cliff (why anyone would give my brother car insurance is BEYOND me). This employee is WORSE!!! I refused to get in the car with him today. I took my own truck instead... OTHERWISE, I was going to drive HIS truck. I'd swear they learned to drive in Pittsburgh.

There just aren't enough hours in the day. I haven't opened a book or my WIP since I got to my parents. When I am not working, I'm unpacking, repacking, shopping for stuff to pack or running my ass off. I feel really guilty about not getting anything done, but I need to sleep sometime, right? I only spend about 5-10 minutes every other day on the net to update my blog and check my email. Geez, even if I stopped doing that, 1o minutes isn't long enough to get anything done on my WIP. *sigh* Maybe, someday.

Off to run in this God forsaken heat and humidity. Welcome to Flood City.

more of the same

Well, the distance has improved some, but not much. I HATE RUNNING! There is less pain, but I think that is because I'm just numb now. My poor knee is twice the size it is supposed to be for the second day in a row. I was allowed to skip the running today for 4 miles on my mom's eliptical machine. Supposedly low impact. I WOULD HAVE RATHER RUN! Low impact, MY ASS! I got about half that distance... going halfway backwards, trying to lessen the strain on that knee... didn't work. I think I just need a new one. You think they have the technology to do a whole body transplant yet? 'Cause, I would happily pay the bill for it if they could do it for me.

Daddy's playing again tonight, so it'll be a late one.... no running in the morning, not that I've dragged my ass outta bed yet voluntarily. My dad's business sponsors a baseball team that has won the championship for 3 straight years, so his business partner is going to pick up the trophy tonight at the AAABA game. The Boilers will play China in Washington, PA on Saturday. GO B.Hale BOILERS! I've been saying this from the start. You put the Boilers in a game against the Pirates and they would easily win. No one believes me... what they forget is that it is the Pirates and they SUCK! I'm sorry to all the pirate fans (well, the one fan) that read this, but I cannot tell a lie.

Well, I am off to get ready for tonight. Gonna be a long one, but I can't wait.

Crippled

Well, I'm not quite crippled. As long as I stay moving, I'm okay. If I sit down for more than a minute, then there is a very good chance that I won't get back up. Yesterday, I walked (I walked because I could hardly put weight on my knees, let alone the impact of running) 2+ miles in the morning, most of it hills. Daddy wasn't satisfied. After dinner (a meal I won't bore you with the details), Daddy decided that I needed to run. Pain and all. So off we went.

In 3 days, I have doubled the distance that I could run without dying. Although, I came really close to the dying part. I have also shaved 12 of 15 minutes off of my total time needed for the minium training goal. The first time we did the distance in 30 minutes; he took it easy on me. Day 2, we shaved 10 minutes off the time, doing the same distance in 20 minutes.... that time was along the country road we live on vs. the track at the middle school. I would rather run my street than the track... you never really make any progress running around in a circle, and it's boring. Last night, despite the pain, we ran double the distance in 18 minutes. If only I could take Daddy with me.... he seems to be good at getting me moving ( a lot farther than I think I can go). After the picnic that we are going to today, I will be going once again.

I finally managed to get some info about the training that I am going through. It won't be like boot camp. We will have our evenings and weekends to ourselves. And, it looks like the laptop will be accompanying me. Hopefully our rooms will have internet service, or there will be a computer lab, or internet cafe in the area that I'll be able to use to update my site. It at least looks that way now.

Well, now I am going to attempt to get out of my chair and get ready to go to this picnic.... It should only take me 15 or 20 minutes to get up. See ya next time.

Exhausted

Well, I was going to sleep in this morning... I didn't want to run. Daddy dragged me out of bed and made me go! :( I will say this, though. I got almost double the distance I got yesterday (before I fell over and collapsed... well, almost). Whoever invented running should be shot!

It was a trip this morning. When I got back from running, Mylo decided it was a good idea to chase JD, like he did with my parents' cat ( the one with no claws). I think that is a mistake he'll make only once.... whoops, I forgot it was Mylo, make that another hundred or so times. Although, he hasn't required any stitches and still has both eyes, I figure it is only a matter of time. He's so dumb he'll never learn.

Adjusting

There is still so much more left to unpack. It seems as if more boxes keep appearing out of no where! It's not right!

It is really weird to be at my parents' and actually have a bed (I normally slept on the floor). But then, my brother's dog decided he wanted to sleep with me. I have a full size bed and that little dog left me a whole 1/4 inch of space to sleep on!!! Between that and JD sitting on the florr alternately growling and hissing at the dog... that about sums up the first and second nights here. Not really conducive to good sleep.

Daddy kicked my ass in more ways than one today. I got the honor of drilling 4 holes (one of which was nearly an inch and a half) through 6 inches of stone followed by concrete block that had been poured solid. I thought my arms were going to fall off. Then, in the hottest part of the day, we went running. NOT A BRIGHT IDEA!!! But I ran farther this time before collapsing than I have previously, and considering how hot it was (and yes, it's definately wishful thinking) I should be able to run farther when it is cooler out, right?

I plan to get up early and go for a run before work tomorrow.... 6am, not fun. Then, to reward myself, Daddy is playing tomorrow evening, so I'm going to skip the evening run and go with Daddy. I get to be a roadie and carry all of his equipment (not exactly light lifting), so that should count for something, right?

Home again

I am now at my parents house, with way too much to do. Too much stuff to unpack and then repack. The mound of boxes is really intimidating! JD is not adapting well as of now. He had finally come out from beneath my desk, but he's barely letting me near him, let alone anyone else in my household. I am missing my apartment already, but it almost seems like I am just here for a couple days to work with my dad... which is sort of true, 'cause I'll be leaving again in a matter of weeks.

I turned in my uniform this morning. I enjoyed that almost as much as turning in my resignation letters. Waaay too much fun. One of my bosses said that they would make arrangements with me if I wanted to come back and work the All-Star game next year. I swear it took every ounce of energy that I had not to bust out laughing. Once I escaped, WHY WOULD I WANT TO RETURN?

DONE, DONE, DONE!!

It is now nearing the end of my shift. WHOO HOO!!!! I am going to go home and enjoy a nice, ice cold Mike's! Still don't think that it has really sunk in.

One of the guys I work with got the song "Pure Imagination" from the original Willy Wonka stuck in my head! Yes Jason, it is your fault. Don't try to argue. You did it. It's been a fairly slow night. It was very weird that a guy I never met gave me a hug, when I said goodbye to the team's traveling secretary. THEN, he asked my name. I'm not exactly a hugging type of person... I was stunned. It was too weird.

Time flew! I can't believe it is so late already! Sorry P-Nut. By the time I realized what time it was, I was afraid you were sleeping and didn't want to wake you up. I'll call tomorrow. Well, I just talked to you, so never mind.

It is finally over! Big Frank is here, and I am OFF!!!!! Party, party, PARTY!!!!!!

... 1...

This is it. My last day of work! Horrah!!!! I don't think that it has really sunk in yet. I've been doing this so long, it'll probably take me a couple of days to realize that I NEVER have to come here again! I imagine I am going to flip out once or twice thinking I lost my ID badge, forgetting that I have turned it in. It seems that they are ready for me to leave. They already deactivated my internet account here. I have to use one of the other officer's accounts today. Oh well. Lord knows, I am more than happy to be getting the hell outta here!

I'll be working with my dad until it is time to leave. I am really looking forward to working with him for more than a day or two at a time. I really missed that. And, I'm certainly going to miss it when I leave. I have so much fun working with him. Getting filthy is so much FUN!

Seeing a lot of people today and getting to say goodbye. It's always funny to me how people who never talked to me in the entire 3 years since I've been here are suddenly speaking to me. It's very weird!

Anyway, hopefully I'll have time to post tonight at the conclusion of my shift. That's when the party begins!