tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25170905101276444062024-03-14T02:06:13.783-05:00If I Knew Then What I Know NowMarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13577533589945876645noreply@blogger.comBlogger67125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2517090510127644406.post-77140198811550210492016-01-23T13:31:00.000-06:002016-01-23T13:31:40.751-06:00Investing Young & Retire Early<p>Do you know anything about investing your money? A lot of people do not. The reason for that is that we are not taught in school how to do it. The only way to learn is to research it yourself. There are lots of books, videos, and audio on the subject. I personally started looking into it in my 40s. That is not entirely too late but it is a lot easier if you learn it much sooner.</p>
<p>With that in mind, I am going to share with you what I am learning. I am not an expert on the subject. I am only giving you my experience from researching and applying what I have learned. I started my research by looking into ways to <a href='http://3budgeteers.com/supplementalincome.php' target='_blank'>make money online</a>. I do pretty good but it is not a good way to build retirement income. I graduated to <a href='http://3budgeteers.com/residualincome.php' target='_blank'>network marketing</a> which is a really good way to build residual income from leveraging your business partners' work. By working 1 to 5 years finding business partners who educate others, you can live the life of your dreams. Treat it like a business and give back to your business partners to help them succeed and you will succeed.</p>
<p>I also looked into investing money into stocks. I bought some penny stocks and lost my money. It was a good learning experience. I still have the stocks because I refuse to sell until I have gotten my money back. I may wait forever and that is fine with me. I only spent/lost $60.</p>
<p>My wife's family has always used Edward Jones and she has an IRA account with them. So, I approached them and asked questions. I wanted to know how dividends worked, how you are taxed, and the fees associated with buying and selling stocks. I got a lot of good information including a complimentary book on how to invest your money.</p>
<p>My goal has changed from my own monetary investments to that of my children's. Instead of learning this for my own gain, I am learning and passing it on to my children. I encourage you to do the same. If you are reading this as a young man/woman, I encourage you to read this book and apply its teachings today!: David Bach's <i><a href='http://amzn.to/1lFybf3' target='_blank'>The Automatic Millionaire</a></i>.Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13577533589945876645noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2517090510127644406.post-73840490667558573382015-02-16T23:52:00.000-06:002015-02-16T23:52:20.104-06:00United States Air Force - Young & Dumb<p>This is a new set of posts writing embarrassing things I did during my years of service. One of the dumbest things I did... well let me start from the beginning.</p>
<p>I had lived on the (Altus AFB) base about six months. I had never been inspected the whole time I was there. I was in a real funk during this time. I didn't have money, didn't know how to budget my money very well, and was actually starving.</p>
<p>I had purchased a MGB from a guy down on his luck. He let me pay him in monthly payments of $200. The total cost was $1800 I think. Before I drove it off, <img border="0" style='position:relative;float:left;margin:10px 10px 10px 0px;' src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KEv7nA4LLuQ/VOLUoJJihII/AAAAAAAADzM/sLGY4Xg9awY/s320/Mgb.bristol.750pix.jpg" /> a policeman in the small town of Lone Oak pulls up and tells me how many times he has pulled this guy over for speeding and never wants to see the car on the road in his town again. I agree and drive away.</p>
<p>I drove it from Lake Tawakoni, TX to the base (about 250 miles) and it ran like a champ. It was a convertible and very low to the ground. Picture a young boy driving an old car (I don't remember the year but the picture is close to what it looked like) that looked to be in great shape. Heads turned and people liked the car. It was one of the more fun drives I had over a long stretch of road.</p>
<p>A couple days after getting back to the base, I drove the car to the Command Post. About 300 feet from there, smoke billowed out from under the hood and inside the car. <img border="0" style='position:relative;float:right;margin:10px 0px 10px 10px;' src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-XixtokyHxzw/VOLUoPsKuOI/AAAAAAAADzQ/Hq6CnbKiuR4/s320/fire8.jpg" /> I thought it was on fire but didn't see any flames. I could smell that electrical burning smell (I didn't know what it was back then). The whole wiring mechanism burned to a crisp while the car coasted to a stop.</p>
<p>I ended up letting my friend take the car and he got it running again but I couldn't afford to keep paying on it. I asked my friend to let me take it back to the guy I bought it from. He didn't like the idea but neither of us could afford to pay it off. So I drove it back to the guy's house and left it in his yard with a note apologizing for not completing the purchase. He was probably ecstatic to see the car again.</p>
<p>So, I was in a funk. Depressed at not having any money and no car. Upset that I had payed money on the car and nothing to show for it. In my dorm room, I didn't have a trash can. I kept a trash bag and usually threw my trash away. Well, I had used my last bag and didn't have money to purchase more. I was eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and my sink where I made them was sticky and trash was in a pile on the floor. It was bad and I cringe everytime I think about this. While at work, my dorm got inspected by the first sergeant and when I got back, they were there and he was giving the sergeant in charge of the dorm a good ass chewing. He asked me why it was like that and I told him I didn't have a trashcan. He told the sergeant to get me a trashcan and some bags and to get the room cleaned up. He said he would be back in a few days and it better look spotless! After that, I got over my funk real fast. I cleaned that dorm room up and always kept it that way.</p>
<p>Sometimes you just need a good kick in the ass to get your attitude adjusted for you. All I had to do was go ask for a trashcan and some bags and the whole ordeal could have been avoided. Instead I got in trouble, and worse, the sergeant got in trouble too.</p>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13577533589945876645noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2517090510127644406.post-37464618290199363862014-04-01T22:47:00.000-05:002014-04-01T22:47:15.881-05:00All the Great and Great-Greats Have Left Us<p>I grew up in a very family oriented family. That means that we always did things together and helped in any way we could. This closeness has existed with us for many generations. My Parents were as busy as most but we always found ourselves with our Grandparents, our Uncles and Aunts, and even our cousins. My Grandparents lived on a large farm and I find most of my youth and young adult-hood memories come from that location. I have written previously on the farm and will try not to repeat what has already been said. I wanted to introduce you to my subject before moving forward.</p>
<p>My Grandparents inherited the farm from their Parents, my Great-Great Grandparents. Both of their histories are so interesting. They lived in a time with no internet, they lived in a time where great minds were inventing the things we have today. They ate much less than we do today and worked much harder than we do today. They did their best or provide, not just for themselves, but for their children, for their children's children. They did this without breaking up the family in divorce though they were not perfect in their relationships. They stuck together though.</p>
<p>Today we buried the last of our Greats. This is the reason for my melancholy post. The Greats have moved to our Parents who will become the Great-Greats, bringing us to Greats. Time seems to be catching up with us. Do we have time to provide for our children and their children's children? We live in a time of broken families, a time of entitlement. Are we too late to teach our children they need to work for what they have? We have given them anything their heart's desire to a point. Though we sprouted from hard times, we were provided for but were taught to work and work hard for ourselves. We learned to save for what we wanted instead of it being handed to us. Our children have grown up and we hope they are not doomed to failure for spoiling them so.</p>
<p>If it is too late for our children maybe the best thing is for them to learn the hard way. Then teach them how to avoid the hard knocks in the future. Teach them how to work and work hard for what they want. Maybe it is time for us, the Greats, to buy some land. Land for growing up on, land for farming on, and most importantly land for feeding so we no longer rely on others in the world to feed us.</p>
<p>Maybe I am wrong and our children are much better equipped for the future that is moving quickly upon them. As a father, I worry about them though. I hope I haven't failed them.</p>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13577533589945876645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2517090510127644406.post-52915608265540082712014-03-27T23:17:00.000-05:002014-03-27T23:17:09.055-05:00Chess Fans?<p>I play chess on chess.com. I play at about 1850 on the site. These games aren't over the board but played in turns over days and months. You can really study before making a move. A lot of the people up on the site really know their openings. I studied the openings to a point but I like playing my own style of game. I fall into traps and zaps all the time because I don't follow the openings but I learn from them (well until I forget again).</p>
<p>I find myself doing really good and then equally really bad. I think it has to do with life and responsibilities. I end up making rushed moves instead of thinking more before making a move. My opponent always seems to take advantage of me during those times. When I play a great game, I always wonder why I can't repeat that every game. How can a person such as Kasparov rarely lose a game? Is it memorization or really good strategy? Most likely both.</p>
<p>I have always dreamed of being good enough to play against a master but I haven't reached that level of skill yet. Maybe someday :)</p>
<p>I just wanted to share that with you. Maybe you have better answers than I. Either way, Chess is a game/sport I will never tire of.</p>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13577533589945876645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2517090510127644406.post-55263383828406715632014-03-16T17:42:00.000-05:002014-03-17T06:22:19.337-05:00New Family Dogs<p>I wrote about our puppies a while back (see <a href='http://wthwasithinkingbackthen.blogspot.com/2011/03/spare-tire-that-shoulda-been.html'>The Spare Tire That Should'a Been</a>). It has been a couple of years now and I have acquired two more dogs.</p>
<p>Our third dog was actually saved by a friend of ours when the dog ran out in front of her. She opened the door to get the dog off of the road so it wouldn't get run over. It jumped into the truck and she took it back to her house. A few days later my wife is over there with her sister and they got to plotting. I'm called and asked if I want another dog. I did not and said no. They asked me to come over and meet the dog before saying no. I went along with it knowing I would say no anyway. I walk in and sit in the floor. A white short haired and long legged dog runs over with a ball in her mouth. I start playing with the dog because I enjoy playing with dogs. You should have seen the wicked grins on the lady's faces. <img border='0' alt='crack-russel Teensy' title='Crack Russel - Teensy' src='https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-fX4HstXEyPM/UyYnK0BDF6I/AAAAAAAACkE/gAo6u265xFE/w393-h500-no/teensy.png' style='position:relative;float:right;margin:10px 0 10px 10px;'/> They knew I couldn't say no now... they were right.</p>
<p>We take the dog home and our long haired Dachshund, the alpha of the two dogs we already have, would not leave her along. She would bark at her and get real vicious. We would have to hold the alpha and let the other two play together. For a couple of weeks this hateful behavior continued but finally subsided and then they started getting along, or at least tolerated. A week or so more and all three were playing well together. Don't tell the Dachshunds but my favorite dog is the long legged "crack-russel". That dog makes me mad because we can't keep it in the yard and we have a chain linked fence. She somehow finds ways of getting under it but through it all she is my favorite dog.</p>
<p>My wife's sister's daughter wanted a dog and rescued a black Dachshund. <img border='0' alt='Roxy' title='Roxy' src='https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-SJ3OLP6q5UA/UyYnK-heUfI/AAAAAAAACkA/nWEwFSEE7eA/w427-h422-no/roxy.png' style='position:relative;float:left;margin:10px 10px 10px 0;'/> We visited and were introduced to the dog. It was a scrawny little black puppy with white feet and one white leg. The papers say she is a Dachshund mix. We visited a couple more times and the dog was still scrawny. My daughter comes up to me and asks if we can take the puppy home. It was very hard to do but I said no. She walks away and converses with the ladies for help. So they come back and I cave in. We take the dog home and the viciousness starts all over. We watch it carefully for a week and things start to settle down. We get the dog some food and it gradually starts filling out. She is very playful and I enjoy playing with her but she is a toy hog and I can't play with my "crack-russel" anymore. I find ways around it but my favorite dog doesn't want to play as much anymore. She still comes to me and gets in my lap though and we bond that way.</p>
<p>So counting them up, we now have four dogs and I am putting my foot down ... no more dogs! :)</p>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13577533589945876645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2517090510127644406.post-16103506236870787412014-03-14T09:21:00.001-05:002014-03-14T09:21:52.142-05:00Scared to Death<p>When I was 21 years old, I got married to a woman who had never been away from her parents. When she was young, her parents had divorced but remained close but did not live together. After we were settled in Altus, Ok where I was stationed, she started asking me about certain parts of her body. She was really worried something was wrong with her. <img border='0' style='position:relative;float:right;margin:10px 0 10px 10px;' alt="The Hypochondriac's Pocket Guide to Horrible Diseases You Probably Already Have" src='https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-DYaSKL7SFhs/UyMO5FzT_SI/AAAAAAAACjQ/eLqKlQ6nKHY/w280-h429-no/HypochondriacsGuide.jpg'/> At first I checked her out real good but she kept on with it day after day. I didn't know what was wrong with her. I would tell her she was fine but nothing eased her worries. She eventually went to a psychologist to help her work through what was really bothering her. They prescribed her medicine to ease her worries. I had two years left of my four year term in the Air Force and this went on until I was out and we lived closer to her parents. I didn't realize any of this until years later.</p>
<p>It is miserable, not only for the person who thinks that they are about to get a disease and die, but for the people having to deal with the problem. You can tell nothing is wrong with them. You can tell them that but nothing convinces them. These people are labeled <a href='http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypochondriasis' target='_blank'>Hypochondriacs</a> in the medical field.</p>
<p>Now, my family is dealing with this problem. My brother has started worrying about his health. He has been to the doctor and got all kinds of tests to prove nothing is wrong but he insists that something is wrong. Recently he had an anxiety attack and ended up in the emergency room thinking he was having a heart attack. I have told him he needs to get counseling but so far it is going in one ear and out the other. They did some tests on him to determine what was wrong with him but didn't find anything after a stress test and sonogram. <img border='0' style='position:relative;float:left;margin:10px 10px 10px 0;' alt="Person carrying books with caption, Let's see which illness I have today!" src='https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-gdSXkmaTjZ0/UyMO5BriFYI/AAAAAAAACjU/vGjwrSc3Hpg/w300-h334-no/hypochondriac1.jpg'/> Still, he thinks they are missing something. If he doesn't seek help, he will most likely end up in the emergency room again.</p>
<p>As someone on the outside, there is nothing you can do to convince Hypochondriacs there is nothing wrong with them. It is on them to figure out they need to see a counselor. That is something my brother has not yet figured out for himself even though we keep telling him. It's almost like an alcoholic or drug addict who has to come to the realization that they need help.</p>
<p>If they get to where they are hurting themselves (scaring themselves to death), it is time to get psychiatric help by forcing them into it. It's not something anyone wants to do but sometimes it is necessary. I'm hoping my brother will realize he needs help and takes the first step.</p>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13577533589945876645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2517090510127644406.post-56802010038350187912013-11-03T13:25:00.000-06:002013-11-03T13:25:08.130-06:00Is it Possible to Make Money on the Internet?<p>You will probably think I have gone off the deep end or, at the very least, laugh at me for getting scammed. I have started working (if you can call it that), in my spare time, at home on the internet. All I really do now is stay social on a web site and help new members succeed as I have. If you are interested in how it works, keep reading. If your mind is already blocked to this, I ask you to open your mind and keep reading.</p>
<p>My wife started to college at 40 years old. She has an impressive resume already but never completed her degree. After her years in the Air Force, she worked on computer hardware. She debugged problems with the wiring and schematics. The work became volatile though and she ended up working in the health field where she excels today. My career path is computer software as a programmer. We started a small business (more of a hobby) building web sites for our customers. She was doing the logo and selling, while I was building the sites. I would ask her questions about the style of the site and her input was great. It brought something out of her though. She wanted to learn to program as I do. So she has dug in, with a full time job, two children, and me weighing her down. She is very busy but she is making progress in her computer engineering degree.</p>
<p>She wishes she could go to school full time and I really want to make that dream a reality for her. I decided I would see how I could make money on the internet from my computer. It had to be easy and not very time consuming as I have full time job. I searched online and found there are a lot of things you can do to make money on the internet: write blogs that get popular (hard to do and very time consuming), write documentation or whatever a company wants <img border="0" style='position:relative;float:right;margin:10px 0 10px 10px;width:50%' src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-NfO56SQZiWg/UnaQexSSN8I/AAAAAAAACgo/ZdXgGmSP_E8/w345-h80-no/ibdlogo.png"/> you to through a contracting type site (time consuming and frustrating), and many more I'm not going to list. Of all of the things I tried, I found that <a href="http://www.inboxdollars.com/?r=ref14311836" target="_blank">Inbox Dollars</a> was easy and not real time consuming. The site is set up so that you take surveys and get paid to do so. They have other ways of making money but I highly advise not doing those. Mainly because the next thing I found takes what they do to a whole other level.</p>
<p>Before I tell anymore though I must warn you about protecting yourself from computer viruses. The only reason I even started looking at these sites online was because I have an easy way to deal with viruses. I have software that creates a mini computer on my computer. This is called a virtual machine that allows you to save a snapshot of it before going to sites that might give you viruses. It makes it easy to go back to that snapshot so that you never <img border="0" style='position:relative;float:left;margin:10px 10px 10px 0;' src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/oui53Srbty-AyoIEwshu5da2UWABNryIDj77MoBrrig=w128-h164-p-no"/> have to worry about viruses. The software was created by Sun Microsystems but Oralce bought them out so you will find the software on the Oracle site. The name of the software is <a blank="" href="https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads" target-="">Oracle VM Virtual Box</a>. If you follow that link, download the version for your operating system and install. You will need an operating system to use it. Since MS Window's software costs money, I chose to use <a href="http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop" target="_blank">Ubuntu Linux</a>. Linux is free and easy to use so long as you don't want to do anything but browse the web. Linux is becoming easier to use but for a user coming from MS Windows, there is a bit of a learning curb. If you click on the Linux link above, you should choose the right version based on your machine and save it to a location you will remember. Open the VirtualBox and when making a virtual machine, point it to that file. I could go on and on telling you how to install and run this but the instructions are already out there. Search for it if you need help. Although this is not foolproof as far as viruses go, it comes very close.</p>
<p>I had signed up with several sites, checking out what they had that would help me make money. So naturally I started receiving lots of spam. You see these kinds of things in your email occasionally - make $5000 a month but, like you, I'm saying to myself yea right. With an open mind though, I visited one of the sites. The site has videos showing you how to make money. They actually train you to "green" a site that pays you $50 once you complete it. Until this point, I had not spent any money. My idea was to make money without having to spend anything. I mean how can you make money if you are spending it? Well it turns out that if you invest <img border="0" style='position:relative;float:right;margin:10px 0 10px 10px;width:50%' src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-Xz6K88CLwjw/UnaQ05DnpyI/AAAAAAAACgw/xqA0TbISH9U/w719-h143-no/header_wide.png"/> a little, you have the potential to make more. If I have peaked your interest, go to <a href="http://5085610.dailydollardash.com/">ProjectPayday</a> and sign up. Check out all the videos and reading materials with an open mind.</p>
<p>There are two parts to their system. The first is called Method I and the last is called Method II. In these steps, money flows like this:
<ul>
<li><b>Company</b> with product and trial offer</li>
<li><b>Advertiser</b> who sends customers to the company site utilizing several IFW sites</li>
<li><b>IFW Site</b> that sends Method I referrals to the company site using a special link so that the advertiser gets paid, who in turn, pays them</li>
<li><b>Method II Trader</b> who sends referrals to the IFW sites who in turn pay the trader a kickback from the money they get paid from the advertiser</li>
<li><b>Method I Referral</b> who completes enough offers on a IFW site to "green" it for their trader who gives them a kickback (50 to 65%)</li>
<li><b>Freebie Site</b> gets payed by Method II traders for membership and the opportunity to trade on their IFW sites</li>
</ul></p>
<p>As a Method I referral, you purchase offers from companies with good products. These offers are heavily discounted for new customers. If you are not a new customer, you cannot purchase an offer. The offers are from all kinds of companies, but some of the known ones are Dell, Discover, Netflix, etc. Basically you purchase the offers on a trial basis and if you like it, keep paying the monthly subscription (or whatever plan the offer has). If not, follow the company's instructions set forth in their terms of service for cancelling. <a href="http://5085610.dailydollardash.com/" target="_blank">ProjectPayday</a> sends you through their "Fast First Fifty" where you get paid $50 for "greening" their site. Then they tell you where you can go from there to continue this process. I lucked out and went to a site that has a very fair process for the next level, Method II. The site, where you continue working as a Method I referral, is called <a href="http://www.1stdegreefreebies.com/forums/index.php?referrerid=7942">1stDegreeFreebies</a>. As a new member you <img border="0" style='position:relative;float:left;margin:10px 10px 10px 0;width:50%' src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-KFO0NTH_t9w/UnaQ90VOOpI/AAAAAAAACg4/2-rUvwRDowM/w720-h133-no/1stDegreeFreebiesLogo.png"/> introduce yourself and receive lots of welcomes from experienced members in Method II hoping to acquire you as their referral. These mentors are very helpful and truly are interested in helping you succeed. I, myself am one of these mentors. Mentors have several IFW sites to choose from and 1stDegreeFreebies has requirements of which sites should be greened before a Method I referral moves to Method II. As you green IFW sites in Method I, you acquire those sites for your referrals in Method II. These acquired sites are the ones the mentor's offer their referrals to green. After you green enough IFW sites as a Method I referral, you can start trading your IFW sites you have acquired as a Method II trader.</p>
<p>The second part of the system is called Method II. You are a trader hoping to acquire referrals to green your IFW sites for you. All you have to do is stay social on 1stDegreeFreebies and help new members and you will get a fair share of new recruits. In addition to staying social and helping new members, if you want more opportunities, post your successes on social sites like Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, etc. ProjectPayday has good information on how to do this. You can view some of my success on my Pinterest board, <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/markpoland/making-money-online/" target="_blank">Making Money Online</a>.</p>
<p>This has been an overview of trying to make money online using the freebie system. There is so much information about all of this that I am going to have to split it up into several posts. I will provide my experiences in each step and how I have become popular on 1stDegreeFreebies to acquire referrals. I hope you will continue reading and I hope to see you as one of my referrals in the near future! This is not a scam or I would not be writing about it. You do have to spend money to make money. Though I started this so my wife could quit her job and go to school full time, that is not realistic unless I really push to get a lot more referrals. In other words, the potential to make a lot of money is there but you really have to work at it.</p>
<p>If you made it here thank you for keeping an open mind and I hope this helps you if you are interested in making a little extra money. I would appreciate it, if you are going to start this, if you will use my <a href="http://5085610.dailydollardash.com/" target="_blank">ProjectPayday</a> link first. After going through the training there, I hope you will join <a href="http://www.1stdegreefreebies.com/forums/index.php?referrerid=7942">1stDegreeFreebies</a> using my link as well. Once you join, I hope you will look for Welby, my name on that site. More than likely I will find you though :) If you follow my instructions and adhere to the warnings, you will make it to Method II where you can make easy money!</p>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13577533589945876645noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2517090510127644406.post-21840161656283607512013-02-27T00:20:00.000-06:002013-02-27T00:20:13.582-06:00The Gym<p>In a <a href="http://wthwasithinkingbackthen.blogspot.com/2011/02/losing-weight-without-diet.html">previous post</a>, I talked about losing weight using the Naturally Slim program. With that program, my wife and I lost a lot of weight. We maintained the way of life for a good while but when the holidays hit, we slipped. Months passed and we were not maintaining our weight and certainly not losing any. Instead of revisiting the Naturally Slim principles and applying them we thought it would be better to get in shape. It was the end of June and we were eating a light lunch at a sandwich shop. Behind me, but in front of my wife, Amy, there was a gym. I was thinking it would be nice to exercise instead of sitting in front of a computer all day. Before I could say anything, Amy asked what I thought about going to the gym. I told her I was just thinking about it and we decided we would go see how much it was going to cost.</p>
<p>We walked in and asked how much a membership cost. They showed us around and provided us with the different plans including the plans for personal trainers. We thought it would be a good idea to have a personal trainer to learn how to use the equipment and what exercises were good for our goals. Amy and I talked it over, including how we would be able to make time for it, and picked a plan with a personal trainer once a week for both of us. The rest of the week we would exercise together. After signing everything, we were scheduled for a fitness assessment the next day.</p>
<p>We went and bought some workout shorts and shirts and some new shoes. Later we even bought those watch-like bands that tell your heart rate and how many calories you have burned. I don't use mine because it never tells me my heartbeat. If you sweat, and of course you will, those devices are not very good. It was a waste of money in my opinion. Amy uses hers and has troubles with it from time to time but is patient enough to deal with it. The next day we walk up in there all shiny and new looking like newbies. We didn't care, we knew we were and we knew it wouldn't be long until the new wore off. They calculated our body fat and determined where our heart rate should be to lose fat. Then they put us on a treadmill and talked with us while we walked and ran getting our heart beats to the proper rate.</p>
<p>The number one reason a person joins a gym and never goes back is because their muscles ache horribly after a strenuous workout. I can't remember if the members at the gym told us to get a lot of protein or if Amy already knew but we ended up getting some protein milk shakes to use after our workout. This kept us from hurting horribly the next day. To save money, and after a week or so in the gym, we decided to buy the powder that you mix with water and whatever else you can find to hide the taste of the powder. We mix frozen strawberries and pineapples and that makes a very tasty after-workout shake. Get your protein (about 25 grams plus the protein you get in your daily meals) and your muscles will not hurt. You will notice they have been used but they will not cripple you. With your muscles in good shape, you will not have an excuse not to go back regularly.</p>
<p>My wife is... how should I say this. No, not crazy. She is obsessive on things and this happened to be one of those things. I'm pretty sure it was because of how much it cost. She was determined to get her money's worth. I was thinking we would go three times a week. That seemed like a good plan. That way we could rest our muscles a day in between our workout days. Nope. We went every day. Never missed one day the first month. This is not what I signed up for but I sure wasn't going to let her go by herself with all those guys working out in there. It was a no win situation. I would have to try to keep up with her.</p>
<p>Really it wasn't that bad and I found myself enjoying the workouts. Once a week we would work out with our personal trainer and get pointers on what to do for the rest of the week. Once we got a feel for how everything worked, Amy started checking out the internet for workout plans and came up with a plan for working out each of the muscle groups on different days. We still have several months of personal training but really she is our personal trainer. Once our year is up, we will not have to renew the personal trainer plan. That will save us some money and maybe we can afford to add the kids to the membership.</p>
<p>We really lost the weight we had gained after the holidays. My muscles (I didn't even know I had any) started showing up and Amy pointed them out. I couldn't believe it. She got muscle definition as well and looks great. Amy started school not too long ago and we had to lessen our days at the gym (I hated that, not). While we were working out every day I was eating anything I wanted (including the sugar stuff I was supposed to stay away from). When we slowed down, that caught up with me and I gained weight. We need to revisit the Naturally Slim principles and follow them. Stop eating sugar for three weeks to detox and then eat smaller portions. Workout when we can and we will be able to lose the weight we have gained.</p>
<p>The gym we are in has free boot camps periodically and Zumba classes that Amy and I both attend regularly. There are no guys in the Zumba classes normally but I go anyway because I can actually dance and like doing it. <img border='0' style='margin:10px;position:relative;float:right' alt='Zumba class' title='Zumba class' src='https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-tKYmjtyBcPY/US2jSU34j7I/AAAAAAAACdI/17cMS8MDDaI/w496-h428-p-o-k/zumba.jpg'/> I try to follow the instructors but I usually end up doing my own thing. There is a basketball court and I try to play each time we go to the gym but ever since the holidays, all of the new year's resolution people are in the way. Not to mention it is basketball season and there are always a ton of players in the court. I'm looking forward to fewer people in the gym like it was before the holidays.</p>
<p>Going to the gym and using the Naturally Slim principles are good ways to lose weight and keep it off. If you slip like we have, it is not too hard to get back on track. Remember to get your protein in when lifting weights or working on your core. If you can't afford a personal trainer look on the internet for exercises that will help you achieve your goals. Get out and play! It is good for the heart and the mind. Relieves stress, makes you happy, and makes you feel good about yourself!</p>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13577533589945876645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2517090510127644406.post-39916727181960381452013-02-26T00:15:00.000-06:002013-02-26T00:17:22.515-06:00United States Air Force - The Command Post<p>This is part six of a multi-post about my career in the Air Force. Start from the <a href="http://wthwasithinkingbackthen.blogspot.com/2013/02/united-states-air-force-recruitment.html">beginning</a> if you like.</p>
<p>In part five I introduced you to Altus AFB and my friends.</p>
<p>It was my scheduled day to start at the Command Post. I walked the 1.3 miles saluting any officers that might be driving or walking by. I wore my blues but I would mostly wear my camouflage uniform when working. When I got to the building and walked up to the entrance, I pulled on the door and it would not open. It made a clanging noise and I could see metal mesh reinforcing the door. There was a button with a sign that said "Ring to enter." I pushed it and a Staff Sergeant opened it and invited me in after introducing himself and asking if I was Airman Poland. I confirmed that is who I was though my name was on my uniform. As I walked in, I noticed it was dark. There was an office to the left of the entrance. Straight ahead there was a pit for lack of a better word. There were stairs, about three steps, that led down into the pit. I saw four people and the machines they were working with along with the control panels. To my left above the pit was a large room with a large table and multiple chairs sitting around it. I didn't have time to study what was going on in the pit as I was being moved down a hallway passed the office to the left. I was taken to a room where I was told I would need to be able to type so many words a minute. I said I never took typing in school. That wouldn't be a problem, he said and later provided me a computer game (I love computer games) that sent words across the screen that you had to type before they disappeared. The game instructed where to place your fingers and I found I picked typing up fairly quick. Later I was scheduled to take a typing test to prove I could type fast enough and passed easily.</p>
<p>The rest of the day was spent filling out paperwork for a background investigation. I would need to provide details from several years back. It was very exhaustive and included the question about drugs. I gave the same answer as when I was recruited looking at the Staff Sergeant to see his reaction. There was no reaction and we continued on with the paper work. For the next few days I would be asked for more detailed information on certain parts of the paperwork. I was told this was for a top secret security clearance and I would be restricted from certain parts of my job until I was given clearance.</p>
<p>I didn't know at the time but I am wiser now. The fact that I had told the truth about every embarrassing detail of my life to the recruiter when I first joined, it is my belief that I was pigeonholed into this job. They wanted someone they could trust. Someone that wouldn't let embarrassing parts of their life inhibit them or be used to control them. This theory is probably anti-climatic but it really frustrated me early on that I was not to be allowed to program. Now, I understand (or think that i do) why I was not allowed. Though it was frustrating, it was an honor to have held that clearance during my years in the Air Force. In fact, having it has helped me get a couple of jobs outside of the military.</p>
<p>The next month, I was trained to be a command and control specialist in Altus AFB. They let me go to the pit and showed me what entity each of the 50 or so buttons on the control panel would call or alert. In the pit, there were two entities working side by side. Each had a different task but performed the same work. On the base there were KC-135 aircraft and the entity I would not be working with, followed those aircraft. On my side, I would be following the C-5 Galaxy and C-141 Starlifter aircraft. When I first started they had these old computers with green lines and text that we entered data into. Most of the data would be written on folders and stored in the back someplace though. It is funny, it was 1990 and we didn't see a computer with a Microsoft Windows operating system until the middle of 1993. In fact, we were given a computer that would communicate base to base over the internet before we were given a computer with Microsoft Windows. When we received the computer with internet capability, I was so impressed. It made me think about the programmers that got to work with the code to make the communication possible and it frustrated me. Instead of writing things on a folder, we could enter it all into this new computer.</p>
<p>There would be two people in the pit. On one side, there would be an airman or sergeant and on the other there would be an officer. It reminded me of how there is a pilot and a co-pilot for flying most aircraft. Each had their own console of buttons though the officer side might have had a few buttons that the airman/sergeant side did not have. All of the pilots eventually filtered their way to the base operations side of the building where they would check weather, order meals, and whatever else that entity provided. They would then come to the command post to talk with the officer or a commander in the office at the entrance. In fact, the officer in the pit would always be a pilot and for good reason. When in-flight emergencies occurred, the command post officer/pilot would help by giving suggestions as to what the problem was and how to correct it. If it couldn't be fixed they would provide assistance in landing the aircraft so it could get fixed by maintenance crews. During an in-flight emergency, there was a checklist to follow for notifying fire, maintenance, and the base commander. In notifying those entities, the base would be ready to handle any catastrophic situation. During my years at the command post we never had a catastrophe.</p>
<p>Have I mentioned the phones and the buttons on the console? I worked with these for nearly four years. I do not like talking on the phone anymore and will do everything in my power to keep from using one. I hate the sound of a ringing phone and would rather talk to someone in person or, with the technology we have today, text or email them. Even communicating on social sites is better than using the phone. There was a lot of noises in the pit. We had large machines that hummed and ca-chunked constantly. When I'm in a quiet room, I have a ringing in my ear so I always like to have music playing. This is not entirely the pit's fault. I grew up listening to loud music from low bass to high trebles. It all added up.</p>
<p>The commander of the command post was a Major and a pilot. He took a couple of the airman up in a C-141 Starlifter and let us sit up front with him and the co-pilot. It was really cool watching them and <img border='0' style='width:50%;margin:10px;position:relative;float:left' alt='C-141 Starlifter Cockpit' title='C-141 Starlifter Cockpit' src='https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-QeB5Xb-rhFI/USxOr2_KEQI/AAAAAAAACc0/2uGuSVK8u14/w407-h301-o-k/c141c.jpg'/> the engineer get that large beast off of the ground. That was one of coolest things I got to do in the Air Force. One of the worst things I did in the Air Force was chemical warfare training where they stick you in a box with several other trainees. You are outfitted with a gas mask and have it on. They let the gas in and you breath in safely and you are like, that's not so bad. Then they tell you take off your mask and tell them where you are from, your rank, and your name. So, I take a deep breath before taking my mask off and then tell the trainer what he wants to know. He says that is impressive <img border='0' style='margin:10px;position:relative;float:right' alt='Gas Mask Training' title='Gas Mask Training' src='https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-C4rzklJqCEM/USxOr-y6EeI/AAAAAAAACcw/EwMKx0un6kw/w539-h301-o-k/teargastraining.jpg'/> that you did not breath in yet. Then I walk out the door thinking I made it and take a deep breath. I am immediately overcome with coughing, snot running out of my nose, and tears running non-stop down my face. The trainer stopped me just long enough to make sure I got a good breath of it. Still, it was an interesting experience and one that I don't look at with regret.</p>
<p>After I was cleared to work from trainers and clearances, I got to work twelve hour shifts for four days and take four days off. I loved that schedule. It gave me a lot of free time that I usually used to visit family and friends. I also used it to visit my Air Force buddies. Before I was honorably discharged I had reached the rank of Senior Airman. They no longer use that rank. Instead I would have been a sergeant (E4).</p>
<p>I have a friend who retired from the Navy a couple of years ago. I always kick myself for not staying in for 20 years and retiring. He was 39 or 40 when he retired. He has the G.I. Bill and he's from Texas so he has the <a href="http://www.tvc.texas.gov/Hazlewood-Act.aspx">Hazelwood Act</a> as well. Both benefits can be passed to your children. He was particularly lucky as he did not get the G.I. Bill when he enlisted like he should have. He was talked out of it. He qualified for the <a href="http://www.gibill.va.gov/benefits/post_911_gibill/index.html">Post 9/11 G.I. Bill</a> though and it is even better than the original G.I. Bill. He went to school after he retired and didn't have to pay a penny of his own money. He has not used the Hazelwood Act and still has a portion of the G.I. Bill left to pass on to his child. I will be passing my Hazelwood Act benefit to one of my children as well. If you go in, make sure you stay in for however many years it takes to retire and that you sign up for the G.I. Bill.</p>
<p>This ends the Air Force career series though I may write more about the Air Force in future posts.</p>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13577533589945876645noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2517090510127644406.post-54519138308725185282013-02-21T22:10:00.000-06:002013-02-26T00:21:11.208-06:00United States Air Force - Altus AFB, OKThis is part five of a multi-post about my career in the Air Force. Start from the <a href="http://wthwasithinkingbackthen.blogspot.com/2013/02/united-states-air-force-recruitment.html">beginning</a> if you like.
In part four I detailed my tech school days.
<p>When I got to Altus AFB, I was directed to a building where they welcome new members on base. I was given lots of material to read and sign and then given a tour of the base. The base was not very large but I learned it was a training base for cargo type aircraft. They were so large you <img border='0' style='margin:10px;position:relative;float:right;width:50%' alt='C-5 Cargo Aircraft in Flight' title='C-5 Cargo Aircraft in Flight' src='https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-PE61_n_eGqI/USbmf1gWgHI/AAAAAAAACbQ/SbcThWHCpdg/s629/C-5Galaxy.jpg'/> wondered how they ever got off the ground. The base had a commissary - a grocery store basically, BX (Base Exchange i think) - a merchandise store, a credit union bank, a building to change oil in your automobile if you knew how, and a bowling facility where you could purchase burgers and beer. Then there were the buildings that facilitated all the different functions for the base. The building I would be working in was near the flight line and was just North of the air traffic control building. The base operations building was next door in the same building as the command post. Lastly, I was shown the barracks, where I would be staying. There were lots of older barracks but I was put in the newer barracks on base. The new ones looked more like apartments and I would be staying on the second floor. They were about 1.3 miles from where I would be working.</p>
<center><img border='0' style='margin:10px;width:95%' alt='Altus AFB Map' title='Altus AFB Map' src='https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-JHe_TtFCtko/USbkCEkHVMI/AAAAAAAACbI/Z0qbGF9D7N4/s651/AltusAFB.png'/></center>
<p>When I was finished with the tour and told when and where to meet, I moved into my new one bedroom efficiency. It had a bathroom, a sink, a small refrigerator, and a living space with bunk bed. I never had a roommate though. Now most people would hang posters and put up pictures and such. I never did any of that. I guess because I never had a room of my own in my high school years. All I needed was my stereo and my large collection of rock and roll cassettes. It was just a place to sleep and relax to me. Connected to the living quarters was a place you could go to watch MTV (I mean TV) and play pool. There was one short pool table and I played on it all the time. It's interesting to me that I never was very good at the game though.</p>
<p>It's funny how there are some things you have never been taught or even introduced to but are very important in life. One of these things was opening a bank account and keeping it budgeted. I went to the credit union on base and opened an account with auto-deposit. Before I got to tech school I had a card they would scan when I bought something. I didn't know how much was on it, I just used it when I needed something. The credit union provided me with a new debit card and gave me materials teaching me how to budget my account. I didn't take it seriously and put the papers in a pile somewhere in my room. I eventually got into financial trouble and ended up learning the hard way how to budget my account. I did not learn to budget my money though. I remember a time when I had no money and nothing to eat. I wouldn't get another paycheck for two weeks. I don't remember what happened but I had to borrow a little money from a friend so I could purchase peanut butter and bread. Don't let this happen to you. Learn to budget your account and your spending.</p>
<p>In high school I was given a 1976 Cougar when I was old enough to drive. When I left for basic training, my sister was given the car. I had no car and had to walk wherever I wanted to go. Luckily it was still summer (end of July or early August). There was a guy that lived in the same barracks and we hit it off one day. His name was Ivan and he introduced me to his friends. One of his friends was John and the three of us became good friends. I find it interesting that when I started school in Emory the friends I hooked up with played Dungeons & Dragons. My new friends, Ivan and John, both played as well. It is amazing how not having friends can make your life very hard to handle but when you have them, it seems there is nothing you can't handle. I was very happy to have them. They both ended up renting a house in town (off base) and I found myself over there all the time. Before I was honorably discharged, Ivan and John didn't get along very well and things just seemed to disintegrate with all of us. If we were to ever get together again, we would pick up just like old times but for some reason we didn't stay in touch. I miss them. One day we visited a couple off the base who had pet birds and a baby. We played D&D with them and had a good time. They were going to be moving soon and offered me their car if I promised to take over the payments. It's crazy how life hands you things like that. I told them they could count on me to keep up the payments and I did. I never missed one of them and payed it off in full. It was a 1986 white 4 door Buick Skylark. I was able to take the long drive to the Lake Tawakoni area where I grew up and visit family and friends. I no longer had to walk all over the base. Life was good.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://wthwasithinkingbackthen.blogspot.com/2013/02/this-is-part-six-of-multi-post-about-my.html">next post</a> will get into the actual job and I might get to that conspiracy theory I have...</p>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13577533589945876645noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2517090510127644406.post-66379995888557392022013-02-20T23:00:00.000-06:002013-02-26T00:23:34.769-06:00United States Air Force - Tech School<p>This is part four of a multi-post about my career in the Air Force. Start from the <a href="http://wthwasithinkingbackthen.blogspot.com/2013/02/united-states-air-force-recruitment.html">beginning</a> if you like.</p>
<p>In part three I pointed out specific things that happened during basic training and closed with graduation day.</p>
<p>I took a commercial flight out of San Antonio to Biloxi, MS. After I arrived I was transported to Keesler AFB to learn how to do my job. I was taken to a dorm room and told where to meet on Monday morning. It was Friday so I had a couple of days to get acquainted with my room mate and others in the dorm. I was told not to leave the base but everyone in the dorm was going off base for the weekend. They asked if I wanted to go. I did but I was told not to so I wasn't sure what was going on so I said no thanks.</p>
<p>I set up my stereo and played a Pink Floyd cassette I bought before I left Lackland AFB. Pink Floyd is great to listen to for unwinding and de-stressing. While listening, I unpacked the rest of my belongings and <img border='0' style='position:relative;float:left;margin:10px;width:50%' alt='Pink Floyd - A Momentary Lapse Of Reason' title='Pink Floyd - A Momentary Lapse Of Reason' src='https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-iWdfZQ-dng8/USWmzScppwI/AAAAAAAACao/CaVt0lVKXNc/s486/Pink-Floyd-1987-A-Momentary-Lapse-Of-ReasonCapa.jpg'/> then lay down on the bed and relaxed. Except for going to the chow hall, that is what I did for the whole weekend. A lot had happened to me in a month. It was now July and I still felt like it was June. Felt like I missed a month of my life or lost several years of my life. I was still me but different. Actually I felt alive. I was on my own for the first time in my life having to make the grown up decisions instead of relying on family or friends for guidance. It was scary and exciting at the same time. It is kind of like watching your Dad mow the lawn and want to push that machine around the yard yourself only to find you will be stuck doing it for the rest of your childhood. I could never go back to being the shy little boy. I would move forward as a young man.</p>
<p>Monday morning arrived and I got dressed in my "blues" and marched to the school. All of what I learned is a bit fuzzy now but I learned to disseminate instructions to different entities on a base. How to follow a checklist during in-flight emergencies (when aircraft land at the base I work at and it has a malfunction). In this job, I would know every aircraft on base, where it came from, and where it was destined for. Of course there was a lot more to it but this is what I would be learning about during my stay here.</p>
<p>Each day was filled with eight hours of school and after school we would exercise. I'm pretty sure everyone in tech school was out there at the end of each day. We filled up an entire field and did jumping jacks, push-ups, and running. I don't mention the chow hall but it was visited frequently during the day. After exercising and eating, the rest of the day you were on your own to do what you liked. Studying what you learned that day was encouraged, especially if you had a test the next day.</p>
<p>It's sad really, I am the kind of person who stays to himself. It is very hard to make friends like that. Basically it takes someone extroverted to approach me before I get a new friend. You will notice that I have not mentioned anyone's name I roomed with in basic training and I will not mention any names from tech school either. That is not to say I wasn't liked or talked to but no friendships developed.</p>
<p>The second weekend arrived and the guys left the base again. They asked if I wanted to go but I still felt I better not since I was told not to. I started thinking it was pretty unfair for them to be able to go out and not me though. By the third weekend, I decided I would go with them. We went into Biloxi and it was late. I was in a car, in casual clothes. If it were not for the absence of hair, we might have looked like non-military people. Another reason I had not left the base was because I was told the military people were not liked everywhere. We never encountered anyone that openly disliked us while in the city though. We got to our destination, a club of some sort, and went in. As we walked in it <img border='0' style='position:relative;float:right;margin:10px;width:50%' alt='Rocky Horror Picture Show' title='Rocky Horror Picture Show' src='https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-jc0EujDPMC8/USWmzaxCtCI/AAAAAAAACas/UebgTRKEz_Q/s651/rockyhorrorpictureshow.jpg'/> was dark and there were tables and chairs to sit in. In the back, there was a stage and the area around it was empty, probably for dancing I thought. We sat and a guy came out on stage. Have you watched the movie, "Rocky Horror Picture Show"? This guy was dressed like one of the characters. I had never watched the movie myself but I was about to know all there was about it. The guy up front asked if there were any virgins in the audience. I was like why did he just ask that? The guys asked if I had ever seen the movie and I said I had not so they pushed me up on stage. I guess I was a virgin in that I had not watched the movie. They had the virgins hold an apple or some kind of fruit with their necks and pass it to the person next to them so that it got to the far end of the stage. I was lucky in that I was next to a young woman. We worked together passing along the fruit and I couldn't help notice how close our bodies were. When we were done with the induction, I went back and sat with the guys and we watched actors on stage act out the whole movie. We had a great time and got back on base real late.</p>
<p>When I joined the Air Force, I was asked where I would like to be stationed. I was asked for a dream base and several alternate bases I would like to be. I picked Hawaii and then all bases very close to Texas. At the end of my class, we were given our orders to where we would start our career. My orders said I would be going to Iceland. Iceland?? This is not where I asked to go. Quite the opposite, I wanted someplace hot. If I knew where I was headed, I would have kept these orders though. A guy had orders he didn't like and asked if anyone wanted to exchange. I asked where his orders were and he replied Altus AFB in Oklahoma. That was close to home and I jumped on it. Though I'm getting ahead of myself, this base is where I spend the rest of my four years in the Air Force. It is in the middle of nowhere. I was relieved I was not headed to Iceland and he was happy not to be going to Altus.</p>
<p>After I graduated the class, I was shipped home before I would go to Altus AFB. The flight from Biloxi to Houston was the worst flying experience I have ever had. My ears hurt the entire flight and I was miserable. I complained about it and someone told me to chew gum while in the air. So I did that on the flight from Houston to Dallas and it helped. My Mom picked me up in Dallas and we traveled to Lake Tawakoni where I was able to spend a few days with family and friends. I went straight to my girlfriends house and picked her up but I could tell my absence took its toll on our relationship. We broke it off before I went to Altus. I didn't date anyone for a couple of years after that.</p>
<p>In my <a href="http://wthwasithinkingbackthen.blogspot.com/2013/02/united-states-air-force-altus-afb-ok.html">next post</a>, I tell the story of my career in the Air Force.</p>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13577533589945876645noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2517090510127644406.post-41599917764703428602013-02-19T00:12:00.000-06:002013-02-21T15:16:08.081-06:00United States Air Force - Basic Training, Graduation<p>This is part three of a multi-post about my career in the Air Force. Start from the <a href="http://wthwasithinkingbackthen.blogspot.com/2013/02/united-states-air-force-recruitment.html">beginning</a> if you like.</p>
<p>In part two I gave you the itinerary of each day of training. In this post, I am going to point out specific things that happened during basic training and close with graduation day.</p>
<p>One day was spent talking with personnel about what job we wanted. <img border='0' style='width:40%;margin:10px;position:relative;float:right' alt='Spacial Testing' title='Spatial Testing' src='https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-gaBQb8fIwRI/USMTOF729eI/AAAAAAAACaM/BwuM-RTHh0E/s500/spatialtest.gif'/> I replied I would like to be a programmer. They said alright, take this test and it will let us know if you are a good match. The test was for graphically inclined people and had no programming questions. It was all shapes and figures you had to fold or move mentally to match the answering image. This makes me think they already knew what I would be doing. Had they tested me in an actual programming language, I would have had no problem impressing them. This is the only thing I was ever disappointed about in the Air Force. "Instead of programming how about these selections?" Only one of them sounded interesting to me and somehow they probably knew which I would choose. I said I think Command and Control Specialist is what I would like to be. They thought that was a good choice. I will tell you more about why I think this was all planned in a future post. We also went over the G.I. Bill. If we gave $100 a month of our paycheck for a year they would give us so much money to go to college. <iframe style='position:relative;float:left;margin:10px' width="440" height="260" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/4qvrkMmw5gg?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> At the time, I think it was $21,000. I didn't like the idea of losing that much money but I agreed to it. I'm glad I did because it paid for most of my Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science. Yes, the very thing they wouldn't let me do for the Air Force. I might be a little bitter about that. Make sure you get G.I. Bill if you ever join the armed forces. It is a great benefit!</p>
<p>The layout of the dorm was a rectangular room with a wall down the middle. The heads of each bunk bed were against the middle wall on both sides. I think we had 25 to 30 guys in our squadron. I slept in the bottom bed. Against the borders of the walls were the lockers. At the far end of the room was a wall that you walked around to get to the showers and bathroom. There was one exit (maybe two but I don't recall another exit) and since we were on the second floor, we had to walk down stairs to get out. There were no windows and the ceiling had panes of florescent lights. The floors were light green with square tiles. The walls were yellow. The fact that I still remember this 23 years later lets you know this place really left an impression.</p>
<p>The first week was hard. You had to learn to put on your uniform as quickly as possible including lacing up boots. They would ride you until you got it all done and I would fumble around trying to quickly do things and that just made things worse. On top of that, the beds had to be made perfectly. After a couple days, I got smart and found a way to slip in my covers without messing up the bed too much. I would still have to tighten everything when I got up but it was easier. Remembering how to tie shoes came back to me after a couple of days and things started to get a little easier. It's amazing how being harassed non-stop will make you forget the easiest of things.</p>
<p>My Uncle joined the Marines right before I joined the Air Force and his basic training was very physical. The Air Force is much less physical and is more about getting into your head. We would get demerits, pieces of paper letting us know what we did wrong. The one with the least of these would get an extra ribbon to wear on their uniform after graduation. Basically the one person the drill sergeants never saw or harassed. No, I was not the one. It is probably because I would always laugh at myself when I screwed up. That infuriated the drill sergeants more when I did that but I couldn't help myself. I'm sure they thought I was laughing at them or something. I don't know how many of those demerit slips I received but they kept coming.</p>
<p>I remember one time, about the third week, I was asked to go the women's dorm to help with something they themselves could have done. I think they were trying to get into the women's heads by bringing a guy over. They probably told the women a guy was coming and when I got there it was a big let down since I weighed 119 pounds and had no muscle definition :) I think I got a demerit while I was helping there as well. Probably forgot to report or screwed it up somehow having an audience of women. Hmm, maybe they were messing with my mind that day :)</p>
<p>There was one day we raked the grounds around a building on base. I hated raking at home but being cooped up in that dorm room will sure change your mind about things. I love being in the sun and getting to be outside doing anything was better than being in the dorm. As I said previously, I enjoyed the exercise and marching. We would practice marching on a field and then march around the base. Without the backpack weighing me down, I could actually look around and see my surroundings and enjoy the mid-June fresh air. There were large cargo planes, small jets, some moving, some sitting still, and I wanted to see them all up close. I would not be allowed to during training though.</p>
<p>Remember the chili mac meal I talked about? Well they served that a lot, much to my enjoyment. I couldn't get enough of it. When I said it was the best meal I had ever had, it was because I was starving, not because it tasted spectacular. The food was good but it is made for hundreds of people. Our squadron made a song about the chili mac. It is much too hard to sing in this venue but put yourself into a southern state of mind and sing, "Chiii-iily Mac, Let me tell you about, Chiii-iiily Mac..."</p>
<p>The week before graduation we were allowed to go to a club and mingle with the women in basic training. I danced with one of them, and had I not had a girlfriend back home, I would have asked her for her number. We did not kiss, just enjoyed each other's company for the short time we were allowed.</p>
<p>As you can tell, it was not hell all the time. Our squadron had a lot of fun during our down times. We got to go see the San Antonio Spurs play and we were the loudest in the arena. Our drill sergeants enjoyed us and near the end became much less hostile toward us. They break you down and build you back up. It is really an interesting psychological experience. Before I went to the Air Force I walked around with my head and eyes looking at my feet. I was very shy. Actually I'm still somewhat shy but less than before training. After I graduated basic training, my head never looked down and my eyes were always looking everywhere. I would say my posture improved but my Dad instilled that lesson in me when I was young. Still, with my head no longer looking down, my posture had to improve even more.</p>
<p>On graduation day, we put our "blues" on. The drill sergeants were not harassing us to hurry and we got ourselves looking sharp. Shiny shoes, straight tie, ironed shirt and pants, and hat sitting as it should on the head. We did this for ourselves, not for anyone else. This was our time to shine, to show the world, our superiors we would not let them down when we left basic training and went into our "chosen" career positions. Yes, we were proud of the men we had <img border='0' style='margin:10px;position:relative;float:right' alt='Graduation Review' title='Graduation Review' src='https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-_9VNddHBfWA/USMTOB1hUaI/AAAAAAAACaI/KuXjPaGMZHk/s340/gradsalute.JPG'/> become. After we were ready and in position, we marched to the graduation ceremony. There were hundreds of us, men and women. Each squadron standing in parade rest waiting for the chance to march in front of the officers waiting to accept us as soldiers of the Air Force. When it was our squadron's turn, the drill sergeant called us to attention and marched us in front of the officers. We were commanded to look right (eyes right) and salute as we marched by. The officer saluted back and we marched back to our position to await the rest of the squadrons' graduation march.</p>
<p>After graduation, we were able to visit with our family and friends. My Mom, my girlfriend's Mom, and my girlfriend came to the graduation. I was so glad to see them all. Still in my blues, we visited the River Walk in San Antonio and talked about basic training. After the day ended and I had to return, I said goodbye to them and went back to the dorm to await the journey to <a href="http://wthwasithinkingbackthen.blogspot.com/2013/02/united-states-air-force-tech-school.html">tech school</a> where we would learn about our new job...</p>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13577533589945876645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2517090510127644406.post-21379698862160526172013-02-17T23:00:00.000-06:002013-02-19T06:18:15.479-06:00United States Air Force - Basic Training, the First Day<p>This is part two of a multi-post about my career in the Air Force. Start from the <a href="http://wthwasithinkingbackthen.blogspot.com/2013/02/united-states-air-force-recruitment.html">beginning</a> if you like.</p>
<center><img border='0' style='width:50%;margin:10px' alt='Lackland AFB Welcome Gateway' title='Lackland AFB Welcome Gateway' src='https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-WzJrUX9iKnM/USGvB9GPUGI/AAAAAAAACZE/VkenC69w9oo/h120/gatewaywelcome.jpg'/></center>
<p>The plane arrived in San Antonio in early June and the group I was with walked off the plane where we were herded to a bus <img border='0' style='margin:10px;position:relative;float:left' alt='Getting off bus' title='Getting off bus' src='https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-P3AuuOWkEbI/USGvCehm8jI/AAAAAAAACZU/IvHHJOAqo0Y/s128/offbus.jpg'/> destined for Lackland AFB (Air Force Base). I had heard horror stories of military basic training and expected to be pulled off the bus and pushed and kicked around. I was a little worried as we drove up to our drop off point. There were men and women in uniform looking real serious. I watched the others get off the bus to see what was going to happen to me as I walked down the isle of the bus. They were just being put in a line. No kicking, no screaming, just barked orders to get in line. <img border='0' style='margin:10px;position:relative;float:right' alt='In your face' title='In your face' src='https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-NuEW3ExDL7o/USGvCA3IBmI/AAAAAAAACZM/iS0-rOqa8n8/s128/inyourface.jpg'/></p>
<p>I got in line and and the drill sergeant told us we were nothing but worms but that he would make us better. Now, I had been barked at during my time painting so I was a little accustomed to it. Of course, this was a lot worse but I found myself enduring fine. We were marched to our dorm where we would spend the next five weeks learning how to be soldiers and men of honor.</p>
<p>We were put in a square room where we sat on the floor while drill sergeants passed out our handbooks and we learned how to address them before we could speak. When they were through, they lined us up and went down the line asking us our name and where we were from. Now, they were not interested in the least about this information. They wanted to see if we remembered how to address them before answering the question. Some got it right and some stumbled over the long phrase. When it came my turn, I fumbled it. The correct phrase was "Sir/Ma'am, Airman Poland reports as ordered" and then you answer the question. I think I changed a few words around or replaced reports with reporting. Oh yea, not good. At the time it was not funny but now it is really funny to me.</p>
<p>We were given our chores for the time we would be there. The chores were not to be changed for the duration. I got lucky somehow and did not have to clean the latrine. My chore was washing clothes for the men in my squadron. I thought to myself, I should have watched Mom more closely when she washed clothes for our family. It was actually nice to wash the clothes because you got away from all the drill sergeants for a while and got to relax and reflect on the day's events.</p>
<p>We went to sleep the first night and it seemed like it lasted about a minute. We were rudely awakened to blaring trumpets in the early hours and were rushed to get dressed and make our beds. We wore the same clothes we came with. <img border='0' style='margin:10px;position:relative;float:right;width:40%' alt='Wake up' title='Wake up' src='https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-k32uzDJRA6A/USGvCpvn1oI/AAAAAAAACZg/Z0bRt9oPgWY/s128/wakeup.jpg'/> I had jeans, a shirt, and some high-tops that were untied but tight enough to stay on my feet. My attempt at making my bed was not near good enough for the military and the drill sergeant tore off the covers and had me try again. I still don't think it was good enough the second time but he let it go and I stood sleepily waiting for the next orders. I didn't wait long as we were ushered outside of the dorm under a tin roof supported by steel beams The ground was concrete and we stood in line with many other squadrons. Though it was summer, the morning was a little brisk for my liking. The Air Force song came on and we were to sing it. I love that song til this day but I hated it then. Who sings that early in the morning? After that we were taught the commands attention, parade rest, and at ease. As a marcher in the band this was nothing new to me. Of course it was much stricter but I found it easier than most of the guys.</p>
<p>When they were satisfied that we knew what to do, we were put in parade rest and one member of our group was picked to go in front of a drill sergeant in the chow hall to get permission for our squadron's turn to eat. I did not get to see how the poor guy did but it took a while before we were allowed to eat. When we were allowed in we went through the line stepping side to side down the line. When we got our food and sat down at our squadron's table, we were told we had very little time to eat. We were to drink a full glass of water before eating as well. I hate drinking water; never have liked it. I gulped it down slowly because I am not a fast drinker. When I finally got around to eating, I took a couple of bites and was forced to stop eating and take my tray of dishes to the kitchen. This first day was turning out to be a very bad day.</p>
<p>We were marched to the military store where we would purchase our uniforms and get our hair cut off. I knew the haircut was coming and actually looked forward to it. One less thing to slow me down. We were instructed to buy a backpack, two sets of camouflage and two sets of "blues" uniforms. Both sets consisted of pants, shirts, belts and shoes. The camouflage shirt was long sleeved and the blues shirt was short sleeved. The camouflage shoes were actually boots while the blues were special dress shoes. We were ordered to buy polish for the boots/shoes so we would later be harassed about not having shiny enough foot wear. We packed everything we bought into the backpack and strapped it to our backs. The backpack was tall. It started at the top of my head and ended at my butt. It was heavy with the newly purchased items. We marched back to the dorm and it was the hardest march I have ever done. I think my back bows inward permanently now because of that march as I tried my best to keep my back straight while marching.</p>
<p>When we got back to the dorm and put our equipment in our lockers we were off to school. I just got out of school and wasn't looking forward to more of it. We would be taught the laws that were important to our careers and each rank of each of the armed forces. It was a lot to learn and I probably didn't do all that well at it but they passed me along. Mostly the laws part was what I didn't get. The rest of it was interesting and I was able to retain the information.</p>
<p>After school we worked out by doing push-ups, running around the base, and marching. This was actually some of my favorite parts of basic training. I was not in the best of shape but I was young and had no problem with the exercise except the push-ups. Luckily the push-ups were not a big part of the work out. Close to the end of basic training we went through an obstacle course <img border='0' style='margin:10px;position:relative;float:left;width:30%' alt='Obstacle course' title='Obstacle course' src='https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-z2Xuoup_uGU/USGvCUuRObI/AAAAAAAACZc/mj26b9XsjN4/s128/obstaclecourse.jpg'/> consisting of crawling on our stomachs, running over tires, jumping over barriers, swinging on ropes, climbing walls, etc. This was my favorite part of basic training. This is how a park should be built. Lots of fun.</p>
<p>Lunch time finally arrived and I was looking forward to it. This time I took my tray of food to the squadron's table, I drank the water as fast as I could and was able to get all my food down before being interrupted. It was the best food I had ever had, I was so hungry. They had chili-mac and mashed potatoes. The only thing missing was ketchup but I probably didn't have time to put that on my food anyway.</p>
<p>We went back to the dorm for some down time and mail was passed out. Of course the first day you don't expect to get mail but this is when we would get our mail and write to our family. I wrote my family when I could and they wrote back with encouraging words and love. I missed them all. We got to make a phone call ever once in a while and I always called home. It was good to hear their voices and though the call was short it made my day.</p>
<p>Not all the guys in my squadron had it easy. One actually jumped the fence and went AWOL. I do not know what happened to him except they caught him. He never came back to our squadron to finish his training. Another guy was made the planter. The planter is someone who is approached by the drill sergeant to plant strings on clothing hanging in someone else's locker or something to get someone in trouble. When he got caught he had a hard time for the rest of his training. I'm pretty sure soap wrapped in a towel might have been involved one night. If a drill sergeant approaches you and threatens you to do this, do not do it. I was never approached so I don't know how the conversation went. If you are unable to decline the offer, then just plant the strings on your own stuff. The hell after getting caught is not worth it.</p>
<p>During the evening hours we would have our last meal of the day, do our chores, shine our shoes, study, and get ready to do it all over again the next day...</p>
<p>The story continues <a href="http://wthwasithinkingbackthen.blogspot.com/2013/02/united-states-air-force-basic-training_19.html">here</a>.</p>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13577533589945876645noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2517090510127644406.post-1231714145664217092013-02-17T00:01:00.000-06:002013-02-18T19:15:44.561-06:00United States Air Force - Recruitment<p>I actually have written about my Air Force career but not extensively. Some of the words are the same in this entry as the <a href="http://wthwasithinkingbackthen.blogspot.com/2011/02/to-air-force-and-beyond.html">original summarized version</a>.</p>
<p>Before I graduated high school, I took the SAT and visited the <a href="http://www.tamu-commerce.edu">East Texas State University campus in Commerce, TX (now Texas A&M Commerce)</a>. I didn't really know what I wanted to do. I don't remember why I chose to talk with an armed forces recruiter but that is what I ultimately did. I'm not sure if my Mom asked me about it or if I heard my Grandfather was in the military or what. I know that I definitely chose the Air Force as the branch I wanted to join because my Grandfather did. My Mom took me to the Air Force recruiter in Greenville, TX and the Sergeant (don't remember his exact rank) really seemed interested in getting me to join. My SAT scores were average with my math being my highest score. We talked and talked, watched videos, and discussed what I might like to do. I didn't know what I wanted but I knew I liked working with computers. I had also taken a Pascal programming class in high school and enjoyed that. So I told the Sergeant that I would like to program for the Air Force. He asked if I was sure and asked if I would like some other jobs. At that point I had got it my head I would be a programmer and said that is what I want to do. The Sergeant said alright and asked if I would like to fill out the paperwork right then? I looked at Mom and she looked like she was all for it so I said alright. We went through a lot of questions, including asking about alcohol and drug use. As a young kid, I had tried alcohol and one time even marijuana. I told the Sergeant the truth and the look on Mom's face was priceless. She couldn't believe it. I was always a good kid. I even turned it down one time and told my sister about it. She told Mom and <img border='0' src='https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-VoCp_8Uw8AY/USBtrVIQrLI/AAAAAAAACYc/4GOc5CPsuDU/s128/meps.jpg' style='margin:10px;position:relative;float:right' alt='MEPS Center' title='MEPS Center'/> I'm sure it worried her but made her proud. She was definitely not proud to hear that I had, once in my life, used drugs. This isn't something I'm proud of either and I only tell it because it will be relevant to future writings about my career in the Air Force.</p>
<p>After the paperwork was finished and everything was in order my Mom and I left. The date for enlistment was a couple of months away. I was to meet back and take a Greyhound to the <img border='0' src='https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-PyypiN3raBw/USBtrR6s2sI/AAAAAAAACYY/wMkXL_5uGNc/s128/greyhoundbus.jpg' style='margin:10px;position:relative;float:left' alt='Greyhound Bus' title='Greyhound Bus'/> MEPS center in Dallas, TX. When the day to leave arrived and I had said my goodbyes to my family and friends, my Mom took me to catch the bus. We hugged and I got on the bus not knowing much about the "real" world. I was excited and scared to be on my own. I was truly alone.</p>
<p>I was little scrawny kid of 18 years, weighed about 119 pounds, and stood five foot and eleven inches. I let my hair grow out in high school and it was shoulder length. When the bus pulled in at the Dallas location, I got off and walked to the MEPS center having gotten instructions from the recruiter before loading up. When I walked in I was directed where to wait. All branches of the military were represented and I was asked to join different branches saying it was not too late to change. This shocked me and I definitely did not want to join any other branch so I said no thank you. I was placed with a group of new recruits and lined up so that our naked bodies could be poked and prodded to make sure we were fit to join. Yep, the world as I knew it had just turned upside down. This was very unusual. After everything checked out, we were sworn in and there would be no backing out or joining any other branches. <img border='0' src='https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-5eVThT_aZCs/USBtrYcLjQI/AAAAAAAACYU/VRut9FSPEYw/s128/aflogo.jpg' style='margin:10px;position:relative;float:right' alt='Air Force Logo' title='Air Force Logo'/> We were owned by the United States Air Force.</p>
<p>We would be shipped out the next day and were given accommodations for the night in a motel. The next morning we were delivered to the <a href="http://www.dfwairport.com">DFW Airport</a> and boarded a plane to Lackland AFB in San Antonio, TX...</p>
<p>Continue reading <a href="http://wthwasithinkingbackthen.blogspot.com/2013/02/united-states-air-force-basic-training.html">part two</a></p>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13577533589945876645noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2517090510127644406.post-34177672079389514252011-07-08T20:27:00.001-05:002011-07-08T20:27:56.008-05:00Poison IvyLast weekend I was trying to clear our backyard of sticker brush so the dogs would not get it stuck in their hair. It was all along our fenceline. My goal was to pull it so that the root and all came out. I also had some tree limbs hanging over my yard and there was a bush that was growing between my neighbor's and my yard. I got out my wood clipper, cut the low hanging limbs, and moved on to the brush. The brush was harder to get to because of the way it was growing between the fence. I had to pull some of it or twist it after cutting to get it to come off.<br />
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After I got it all done, I felt good about what all I had accomplished. A couple of days later, I noticed a rash on my arm and asked my wife what she thought it was. She said it was probably poison ivy and I believed she was right. I don't think I have ever had an allergic reaction to poison ivy or just never got into it before. I took some benadryl and went to bed that night and went to work the next day with no problems. The night after, the itching started. I scratched in my sleep and when I woke up my arms were a mess. I went to the doctor and got a steroid shot and we started cleaning and putting calamine lotion on it.<br />
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It has nearly been a week and it still looks awful. <img border='0' style='float:left;margin:10px' alt='Poison Ivy ridden Arms' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_A2HbnHNh2U/ThetV-Uj8NI/AAAAAAAACB0/nPX7kBIUwYw/s320/DSC02921-750636.JPG'/> The average time for it to clear up is about two to three weeks so I'm hoping by next week it will be gone. I did a search on poison ivy and found this <a href='http://www.poison-ivy.org' style='text-decoration:none' target='_blank'>site</a> that has a "Skin Rash Hall of Fame". Mine is much nicer compared to some of those.<br />
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Read up on what poison ivy looks like. It might just save you a lot of torment. You itch constantly and it leaves a strong desire to scratch it. You have to have a strong willpower not to scratch or it will spread and/or get infected. Also read up on how to prevent it from getting under your skin within an hour of coming in contact with it. Cold water shower! Once it gets under your skin, you are in for a long ride of torment :P<br />
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Each day I take benadryl, soak each arm for 15 minutes in an alluminum-water chemical combination, use a cotton ball to alcohol the affected areas, and then another cotton ball to apply calamine lotion to the affected areas. You would think after all that the itching would go away. It does not! It lessens the desire to scratch but the itching is always in the background of your mind :PMarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13577533589945876645noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2517090510127644406.post-19739912597791603412011-07-06T20:12:00.000-05:002011-07-06T20:12:50.755-05:00Timeshare 2011We just got back from our latest <a href='http://picasaweb.google.com/markpoland/Branson' target='_blank' style='text-decoration:none'>vacation</a>. It was for relaxation; we did not want a vacation we were forced to have something to do each day. In fact, we did a lot of resort activities and had a lot of fun. <img border='0' style='float:left;margin:10px' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-T21NXXWx8VE/ThP-gdDFLsI/AAAAAAAAB4M/UwCFS7s9MDI/s320/willowridge-785269.jpg' alt='Marriotts Willow Ridge Lodge'/> That's not to say we didn't go to shows and such off the resort.<br />
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We went to Branson, MO at Marriott's Willow Ridge Lodge and stayed a week. The weather was nice the entire time we were there and we swam nearly every day. We played ping pong and pool in the entertainment center and watched several free movies on the big screen in their theatre room. One night there was a wine and cheese social (the kids drank soda). Another night we ate smores by a fire.<br />
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We always go to a store the first day to get groceries for the week. Of course, we forgot something and had to return the next day to pick it up. When we entered, we were greeted by people offering us free show tickets to go to one of their presentations. By now, you know we can't help ourselves. We went and sat through the presentation. What they offered, Marriott already gave us. They were selling vacation packages and if we didn't own any timeshares, we might have been tempted to purchase. By the way, these deals always sound great. It's better to research up front who they are and what they offer. That way when you go in, you will already know what questions to ask and can make an intelligent decision.<br />
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<img border='0' style='float:right;margin:10px' src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-J_qZrMvLTj8/ThP-feuzTgI/AAAAAAAAB38/sasWy5jRKJ8/s320/inspirationtower-780856.jpg' alt='Inspiration Tower'/><br />
While we were in Branson, we went to two shows, two days at Silver Dollar City, and Inspiration Tower where we zip lined over the land at 170 feet high for a half mile at 50 mph :)<br />
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We ordered our tickets online before we left home for the following shows. When we arrived at the first show, Hamner Barber Theatre, we found ourselves on the very first row. The show was great with magic, ventriloquism, and comedy. <img border='0' style='float:left;margin:10px' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BxXte_pjSu4/ThP-e9IvSjI/AAAAAAAAB30/foG0nDiMxeA/s320/hamnerbarber-779932.jpg' alt='Hamner Barber Theatre'/> In fact, during the intermission a magician came out into the audience looking for an assistant. He handed my daughter a flower made out of balloons so naturally we thought he was going to take her up on stage. Instead, he pulled me up onto the stage. We did the introduction - name, occupation, etc. Then the real fun began. He started by placing a large magician hat on my head that fell to my shoulders. I was then taught how to take a bow after each magic trick. All of this act was done with my hands behind my back with a magicians tuxedo wrapped around my front and the true magician's arms in the sleeves. A hand came up to my mouth with a balloon requiring air. I attempted to blow it up and the magician pulled it out of my mouth and the crowd roared with laughter. The balloon was presented to my mouth again for air. I blew it up successfully and the magician started tying it when it flew out of his hand into the crowd. The next trick the magician was pulling out different colored handkerchiefs but somehow they came apart and the magic trick failed again. I reached down to try and save him and he reprimanded me saying that I should not have three arms. I was just trying to help :) The one handkerchief he was able to pull out turned into roses and I bowed. For the last trick the magician took the top hat off of my head and pulled out a real rabbit. I reached over and petted it but it was shaking nervously so I pulled my hand away. I bowed and was released from duty and went to sit back down. The rest of the show was dedicated to the United States Veterans and was very moving.<br />
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The second show was on the Branson Belle. <img border='0' style='float:left;margin:10px' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MgCvpn-4HSk/ThP-epcrGNI/AAAAAAAAB3s/J367qDStyUw/s320/bransonbelle-778055.jpg' alt='Branson Belle'/> The Branson Belle is a large boat ride where you are given dinner and a show. If you ever get a chance to do this, I highly recommend it. Our show contained music from five band members playing a guitar, bass guitar, drums, piano, and Tenor Saxaphone / Keyboards. They were actually background to the whole show but were great. The show had two groups. The first group was a one woman performer playing a violin or piano and singing. And if that were not enough, she performed an acrobat act where she hung around playing the violin. The second group consisted of a five member acapella group. The host of the show was a magician / comedian. He pulled a young girl from the audience and pulled a puff ball from her ear and her eyes lit up. He presented two to her and had her hold them in each hand. He did a trick saying the ball from the left hand would move to the right and had her open her hand. In her hand appeared two balls. She was amazed again. But you should have seen her face on his last trick. He had her hold two in one hand and said when she opened there would be no balls. When she opened her hand five or six balls fell out. It was the most shocked and amazed face I have ever seen. Priceless. After dinner we went out on deck and looked at the large red wheels moving the boat forward. We visited every floor and Amy and Emily met the Captain of the boat.<br />
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At Silver Dollar City <img border='0' style='float:right;margin:10px' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sSJg5LPigVo/ThP-gO5pH1I/AAAAAAAAB4E/8kIExIWJnDA/s320/silverdollarcity-784534.jpg' alt='Silver Dollar City'/> we visited Marvel Cave which is really cool. Make sure you do not have to go to the bathroom before taking the tour. There are no bathrooms during the tour. In the fall, I was told that you would see bats. We did not see any during this summer visit. If you go and want to see bats, try to plan for Septemeber or October. We love roller coasters and Silver Dollar City has a couple of really good ones, Powder Keg and Wildfire. There was a third one we were going to ride but it was shut down while we were there.<br />
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All in all, it was a very relaxing and fun-filled vacation. We started our timeshare journey in 2008 and have taken advantage of its benefits for three years. We have had no problems, and after acquiring the second timeshare points, we forsee many more successful vacations in the future.Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13577533589945876645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2517090510127644406.post-67004422061783628302011-07-01T20:07:00.000-05:002011-07-01T20:07:30.237-05:00Timeshare 2009 and 2010We returned home scared and happy about our timeshare purchase. We were worried how our friends and family would react so we told no one about it. It was 2008 and we had used it one time. We payed our first maintenance fee. We had budgeted it so it was no problem. It was hard seeing the money go but we had high hopes that it would be worth it. We decided to trade in our entire room in 2009 for vaction points and didn't take a vacation. We saved our money and took the kids to Disney World in 2010.<br />
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In early 2010, Amy booked a half room, knowing we would not spend much time at our resort, for Disney World. She found one in <img border='0' alt='Marriotts Grande Vista' style='float:right;margin:10px' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cJCPubyaaf0/Tg1AlkA6lGI/AAAAAAAABtM/39bU79doo2w/s320/grandevista-750712.jpg'/> Orlando named Marriott Grande Vista and had no problem getting it for the day after Christmas and over New Year's. Take a look at the <a href='http://picasaweb.google.com/markpoland/DisneyWorld' target='_blank' style='text-decoration:none'>pictures</a> of our <a href='http://wthwasithinkingbackthen.blogspot.com/2011/03/christmas-2010.html' style='text-decoration:none'>Disney World vacation</a> if you are interested.<br />
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While we were at the Florida resort, we attended another timeshare presentation. We were given an opportunity to purchase another part of Marriott. We found out they changed from trading to a point system. Instead of relying on a place to be available for trade you were purchasing points to use for vacationing (these are also deeded and can be passed down), it was more like booking a stay at a hotel where you call and ask for the days you want. All the fees went away except the maintenance fee. I had to talk Amy into it again because she was still skeptical about the whole thing. She liked the new changes but told me again that I would be in big trouble if this didn't work out the way the sales person pitched it. Now we are owners of two timeshares and have more points/time for vacationing!<br />
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Amy's sister, Kendra, was working toward a nursing degree and was about to graduate. I asked Amy if she thought her sister could use the other half in time as a graduation gift. She presented the idea to her sister and they talked and decided to go to Aruba. Amy looked at the possible Marriott locations in Aruba and found a very nice place called <img border='0' alt='Aruba Ocean Club' style='float:left;margin:10px' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L8XHSmKZULc/Tg1Aldu3n7I/AAAAAAAABtE/30d2X2b2sNU/s320/aruba-748388.jpg'/> Aruba Ocean Club. Amy had no problem booking the place for her sister. After Kendra graduated, she and her family headed out. When they got there, there was a little construction going on at the resort and they were offered a nicer room for a little extra money and had their room upgraded. They had a blast being right on the beach, snorkeling and playing with the fishes :)Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13577533589945876645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2517090510127644406.post-21296204052882072962011-06-29T20:38:00.000-05:002011-06-29T20:38:37.954-05:00Las Vegas IIWe saved our pennies to go and purchase our timeshare the following year of our wedding trip. Instead of driving, we flew from DFW to Las Vegas. When we arrived at the Marriott's Grand Chateau, we checked in and went to our room. Our mouth's just dropped open and we were speechless. We went through the tour the year prior but it somehow paled in comparison. Take a look at the <a href='http://picasaweb.google.com/markpoland/LasVegasTakeTwo#' target='_blank' style='text-decoration:none'>pictures</a> of this trip and you might get a feeling of how we felt.<br />
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I thought I had Amy sold the year prior but now that she had a year to think on the whole deal, she was having second thoughts. We read about the Marriott time shares other people experienced. Some were horrible and some were great. We went through the presentation / sales pitch the second time and I was still sold and Amy still argued that it was not a good thing to do. But I begged and begged, and Amy caved in and we actually bought into it. Amy told me I was dead meat if this didn't pay off and we couldn't go wherever we wanted when we wanted to. As we walked out you could almost hear the sales people saying "Suckers". That's a joke and as I tell more of our time share stories, you can decide if we were suckered or if it was a smart purchase.<br />
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The real value in a timeshare, in my opinion, is that it forces you to take vacations and in taking vacations you get quality time with your family/friends. You are forced to take vacations because if you do not, then you are just throwing money away.<br />
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Here are the details of the timeshare purchase:<br />
<ul><li>Trade based - trade your Marriott timeshare for another's in another location. To be able to trade to another location (Marriott to Marriott), it would have to be available before you could get it. There are high usage times where you most likely would not be able to book what you wanted. In fact the first thing we tried to do was book New York. It was impossible to get it we were later told because people who purchase in that location do not bank it for trade. Its not perfect by any means but try to get a condo in New York and see what happens.</li>
<li>Since Las Vegas is a prime location, we figured it would be easier to get what we wanted when we wanted</li>
<li>With a large amount of Vacation Club points, we could take big vacations such as London, Hawaii, etc.</li>
<li>The entire 2 bedroom condo can house eight (two families).</li>
<li>Fees: Yearly maintenance fee, a fee to trade in toward a non-Marriott location, a fee to use the company to get a non-Marriott location. Lock-off fee (splits the one week in the 2 br condo into 2 weeks - one in the main side and one in the smaller side)There are others as well but those are the main ones. Sounds horrible doesn't it. It really would be if I showed how much each fee was. By the time we took our vacation we probably could have done it with our own money for the same price but not for a resort this nice. These vacations are for a full week.</li>
<li>Points are accumulated each year based on what you have purchased. The room is big enough to split in two (lock-off). You could take 2 one week vacations by splitting the room or exchange your week for Marriott reward or vacation club points. You use the points to take vacations far away (out of the country or in tropical locations) possibly including airfare.</li>
<li>There are over 50 Marriott locations to trade for.</li>
<li>Purchased property is deeded so that it can be willed to your children or whomever you like.</li>
<li>Share with family members; they go on vacation in your place as a gift.</li>
</ul><br />
<img src='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-N851Pew4ph0/TgvQ2QiC3fI/AAAAAAAABss/EbcCEmluw7Q/s320/mindfreak-709940.jpg' alt='Chris Angel Believe show' style='width:25%;height:25%;float:left;margin:10px' border='0'/> Since we had been to Las Vegas a year prior and did most everything, we took it easy this trip. We would go around gambling and having fun being together. We watched Amy's favorite magician at the Chris Angel (Mindfreak) Believe show and sat close to where his Mother was sitting in the audience. It was a cool show. We went through Madame Tussauds <img src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5u3kCgT0vaQ/TgvQ2kiaKmI/AAAAAAAABs0/l_cvvn9rKN4/s320/waxshow-710892.jpg' alt='Madame Tussauds' style='width:25%;height:25%;float:right;margin:10px' border='0'/> and laughed and had a good time taking pictures with all the different wax characters. We saw the Blue Man Group and they brought out a bowl <img src='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ceYuqtN1d9M/TgvQ2L_jwGI/AAAAAAAABsc/SazQ415OUWE/s320/bluemangroup-708377.jpg' alt='Blue Man Group' style='width:25%;height:25%;float:left;margin:10px' border='0'/> of Cap'n Crunch and handed it to me to hold along with a flashlight while they performed out in the audience. That was awesome... until they took it all back ;)Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13577533589945876645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2517090510127644406.post-58316106299784000082011-06-28T15:46:00.001-05:002011-06-28T19:35:57.209-05:00Las Vegas IWhen Amy and I first started dating, we lived together for a while and got to know each other better than we already did. After about a year, we decided to get married. We planned a week long trip to Las Vegas and set a date and time to have it performed at The Little White Wedding Chapel. The vacation/marriage/honeymoon trip was packed full. Our trip would take us from Mesquite, Texas through New Mexico and Arizona to the Grand Canyon and then on to the border of Arizona and Nevada through the Hoover Dam and then into Las Vegas. We also planned a couple of shows we wanted to see and booked our stay at the Stratosphere.<br />
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We enjoyed the sights we passed along the way. It was early December and the Grand Canyon <img border='0' alt='Arizona Grand Canyon' style='float:left;margin:10px' src='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mMYDGiXERdQ/Tgo0yxIBrOI/AAAAAAAABrk/LfPGRlOXTFc/s1600/grandcanyon-723279.jpg'/> was very cold. Our <a href='http://picasaweb.google.com/markpoland/LasVegas' target='_blank' style='text-decoration:none'>pictures</a> of the trip tell a good bit of the story. After the Grand Canyon, we traveled back down and further West and drove over the Hoover Dam too late to see it. We arrived in Las Vegas around 10pm. We drove down the strip with lights in our eyes. We found where we would be staying while we were there. We could not check in this night though so we decided to stay at the cheapest place we could find. We drove away from the strip and found a Motel 6. When you are low on money its a great price but you definitely get what you pay for.<br />
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We checked in the next day at the Stratosphere <img border='0' alt='Las Vegas Stratosphere' style='float:right;margin:10px' src='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vYKZCfmVdF0/Tgo2VdaPsVI/AAAAAAAABr8/Cwg1YVdgDyE/s1600/stratosphere-717402.jpg'/> and deposited our luggage in our room. I wanted to make our wedding day real romantic. I was able to step away from Amy a few minutes and went to find a good florist in the area. I asked the florist if it would be possible to deliver a 100 red roses and they said they could. I had never tried buying this many roses before and when I found out the price my hopes of making our wedding day real romantic faded so I decided I would buy a much smaller amount of roses.<br />
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On our wedding day a limousine took us to The Little White Wedding Chapel. <img border='0' src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cCL9-w7K8Xs/Tgo4iOGtIKI/AAAAAAAABsE/DgHopkW2X7w/s1600/whitechapel-780653.jpg' alt='Las Vegas The Little White Wedding Chapel' style='float:left;margin:10px'/> Amy was dressed in a pretty blue dress and was so beautiful. When we arrived we were ushered into a room and waited for our turn to get married. A Hawaiian man performed the ceremony. Pictures were taken after we put on each other's rings and kissed. We bought Amy a real pretty Helzberg ring before coming to Las Vegas. It is a one carat Masterpiece diamond surrounded by another set of diamonds that add up to one carat. It is the prettiest ring I have ever seen. We were driven back to the Stratosphere where we went straight to our room and got comfortable...<br />
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The rest of the trip was a blur. We travelled back to the Hoover Dam to get a better look at it. <img border='0' alt='Arizona/Nevada border Hoover Dam' style='float:right;margin:10px' src='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6qC96ej5dqs/Tgo0zL7sfWI/AAAAAAAABrs/IWixTCzro6Q/s1600/hooverdam-724582.jpg'/> We walked until our legs hurt each day. We gambled in many places and did pretty good for ourselves. We planned to spend so much each day. On the first day we won enough to use for the next day and didn't have to use any of our gambling money to play. We were approached each day by people wanting to sell time shares. We went to a few of them and got free shows or gambling money.<br />
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One in particular was a Marriott presentation. Marriott was in the beginning stages of building their Grand Chateau. <img border='0' alt='Las Vegas Marriott Grand Chateau' style='float:left;margin:10px' src='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-H_0T1Yh39lE/Tgo0zjWMFwI/AAAAAAAABr0/vz8ZH9XGfHA/s320/marriott-726551.jpg'/> The first tower was complete and they were working on the second tower. We were given the sales pitch and showed the property. I was sold. It would give us one week every other year that could be split so that we could vacation in many locations around the world every year. Amy fought me, fearing the horror stories of time shares. I could see the value in it though. This location was prime and we would be able to trade locations with ease. In the end she agreed to spend a little money up front to come back and stay a week in one of the condos to see if we liked it at which point we could purchase......Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13577533589945876645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2517090510127644406.post-86395738610145515772011-04-19T19:59:00.000-05:002011-04-19T19:59:40.839-05:00Tongue Biting<p>I was eating pizza this evening and I must have mistook the tip of my tongue for the pizza. I bit down hard on the tip of my tongue and thought I might have bit it completely off. I went to the bathroom to look at it in the mirror. Nothing was separated but a small chunk was sliced enough to flap. I usually accidentally bite the edges of my tongue. I have never bitten that hard on a solid part of the tongue before.</p><p>Now, I'm a little worried about keeping it clean and healthy. I need the flap to grow back into place as quickly as possible but how do I get it to stay put while eating and drinking? You would think after forty years of life you would have enough experience not chew on your tongue but you would be wrong.</p><p>I guess it could be worse. My wife's brother bit his tongue in two. Luckily the doctors were able to get it back together again. He doesn't even have a lisp or anything. The doctors figured he would always talk with a lisp.</p><p>Anyway, be careful eating your food and make sure your tongue has not mixed itself in the middle of it before you chew down :P</p>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13577533589945876645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2517090510127644406.post-56907414716963262422011-04-12T22:42:00.000-05:002011-04-12T22:42:23.086-05:00Learning to Swim<p>I don't remember the first time I went swimming but I do remember the first time I think was my first time to go swimming :)</p><p>When we lived in Irving, my Mom packed towels and sun tan lotion and took us to a public swimming pool. My brother, sister, and I were excited about going. We all hopped in the car and waited impatiently to arrive.</p><p>When we arrived, there were lots of people there. Some were sitting or laying on the edge of the pool. Others were climbing a tall ladder to jump off of a board hovering over the pool. Most of the people were in the pool.</p><p>I watched the people climbing the ladder and jumping off. I really wanted to do that and told my Mom as much. She laughed and dismissed it and my brother laughed too. We all got in the pool. I waded in the shallow end and got water in my eyes. I went to where my Mom was with a towel and dried my eyes. I went back out and water got in my eyes again. I went back to my Mom for the towel. I did this several times until my Mom said, "Rub your eyes with your fingers to clear them." I tried that and was amazed it worked. My fingers were wet and so were my eyes but by rubbing my eyes with my fingers, the water in them cleared. I had much more fun after that.</p><p>I'm not sure how, but I got away from my Mom and decided to climb the tall ladder to jump into the pool from the board above. <img alt='Boy afraid to jump on top of high dive' style='float:left;margin:10px' border='0' src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6hdNI23YoyA/TaUbTygDBaI/AAAAAAAABq8/vPuqcQ93Uqk/s320/highdivefear-763343.jpg'/> It was much taller than it looked from far off. I stayed in line behind the other people. I made it to the first rung and waited to start the long climb. When I got to the middle, I began to get a little scared. I continued climbing though not wanting to be embarrassed climbing back down. I made it to the top, got on top of the board, looked down, and couldn't bring myself to do it. The people behind me were trying to get me to jump but I was so scared I couldn't. I began the long embarrassing climb back down the tall ladder.</p><p>If I had jumped off into the pool, I probably would have drowned. Sometimes fear is a good thing. I had never been taught to swim; obviously since this was probably the first time I had ever been in a swimming pool. My Mom was afraid of the water and would stay in the shallow end. My brother had witnessed me at the ladder and told Mom what I was doing. She was upset with me and didn't know whether to spank me or hug me.</p><p>My Grandfather had a boat when I was a little older and we went out onto Lake Bonham. This was my first time on a boat. We were made to put on an orange life jacket. When we got out a ways, we threw out the anchor and everyone jumped out. I jumped out and went under the water bobbing back up due to the life jacket strapped to me. I had seen people swim on television and mimicked their actions with the life jacket on and found that I was able to swim from point to point. After a while, I had my Uncle watch me with my life jacket off to see how I did without the life jacket on. I swam under the water which I like doing much more than splashing around on top of the water. I don't like my eyes getting wet so I never open them under the water unless I have a pair of goggles on. That was the day I learned to swim. Well learned enough to keep myself afloat but I doubt I would be able to save someone if I had to keep both of us afloat.</p><p>Wearing a life jacket and mimicking swim movements is a good way to learn to swim but you definitely want someone with you when you take the life jacket off. You always want a swim partner when you swim as well. Never swim alone. Never climb a tall ladder to jump into a pool if you don't know how to swim. It's a terrible idea.</p>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13577533589945876645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2517090510127644406.post-52647755015640660502011-04-08T22:30:00.000-05:002011-04-08T22:30:52.676-05:00Great Driver in Reverse. Not!<p>During my term at Altus Air Force Base, OK, a couple of years of service was under my belt and I lived in an apartment. I owned a real pretty green Ford Escort GT. <img border='0' style='float:right;margin:10px' alt='Green Ford Escort GT' src='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QfNuUhAj_zc/TZ_RnoH9cfI/AAAAAAAABq0/pcvsGIBBsQ8/s320/escortgt-717636.jpg'/> I made lots of trips back and forth between Altus, OK and Lake Tawakoni, TX.</p><p>In Altus there was a movie rental store on the main street through town. I would visit there to rent Nintendo games and movies. The store had a small parking lot right off of the main street. There was enough room to back out without entering the street to turn around. When I drove up this particular day, I parked around the middle of the parking lot near the front door. I went into the store and got whatever I was looking for that day and then came back out. I got back into the Escort and started the engine. I looked all around the car while putting it in reverse. I pushed on the gas to back up quickly knowing that there were no cars around me. I heard a crunching and scraping noise completely surprised that I had just backed into a car that just pulled into the parking lot. To this day, I still do not know how that car was there.</p><p>I tried to open my car door but couldn't so I crawled over to the passenger side and got out there. Mobile phones were not popular back then and I didn't have a way to call anyone. After making sure the people in the car I hit were okay, I walked into the store to call the police. The woman at the desk had already called them and said she saw the guy pull up in there and was acting like it was their fault. I wanted to believe her but I knew it was my fault. I should not have backed up as fast as I did.</p><p>The police officer showed up to get everything straightened out and afterward, I went home. When you are backing your car, always keep your head turned around watching for any surprises that might show up unexpectedly.</p>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13577533589945876645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2517090510127644406.post-39752857019550067002011-04-07T23:20:00.000-05:002011-04-07T23:20:17.509-05:00History of Book Reading<p>When I moved to Lake Tawakoni and started going to school, my friends and I would meet in the library after lunch. We would play Dungeons and Dragons or Dragonlance (D&D like game set in the Dragonlance world). My friends noticed right away that I had never played and instructed me how to play. I really enjoyed building a character from scratch and using my imagination to help him grow.</p><p>My friend Kevin was surprised I had not heard of or read the Dragonlance novels written by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. <img border='0' style='float:left;margin:10px' alt='Dragonlance' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4_L7Zz3i7Uo/TZ6KyaJOpkI/AAAAAAAABqk/0lMHTMPk5CE/s320/dragonlance-749711.jpg'/> He had already read the first book and asked if I would like to read it. I thanked him and opened the book. He immediately asked me not to open the pages so far or he would take it back. From that moment on, I have always kept my book pages half open so as not to hurt the spine.</p><p>I read that first Dragonlance novel and from the first word I was mesmerized. I could not put it down. I was a slow reader and Kevin asked me many times if I was done with it yet. I said no and kept plugging along. When I finished it, i gave it back to him in the same shape I received it. I asked him for the next book which he had already completed. I read the first three novels this way and I liked the books so much, I bought my own. I still have the complete set, though the books have looked better. If you are looking for fantasy novels, and haven't read the Dragonlance Chronicles or Legends, I highly recommend them.</p><p>My friend Frank introduced me the world of Piers Anthony's Xanth. I don't remember how many books were in the series <img border='0' style='float:right;margin:10px' alt='Xanth' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_-ajvbxZOe4/TZ6Ky19UGlI/AAAAAAAABqs/yqPMOh_q1XU/s320/xanth-751172.jpg'/> and I don't think I ever read them all but the books I did read were very good. I highly recommend these books as well. He also introduced me to Terry Brook's Shannara series and Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern later in life. Very good books.</p><p>In the Air Force, I had a friend that introduced me to David Edding's Belgariad series. Dragonlance has always been a favorite of mine but these books are just as good. I highly recommend reading these. I am currently reading these <img border='0' style='float:left;margin:10px' alt='Belgariad' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1ZcjuZKbfQ4/TZ6Kx4NsHrI/AAAAAAAABqU/umPBF_vout8/s320/belgariad-747715.jpg'/> books to my son and he can't get enough. I read all of the Dragonlance books to him as well. He ate them up and hated when we were done with them. By the way, sharing books with your children is a great bonding time. I really enjoy it and I know he does too. In a fast-paced world it is nice to slow down and read aloud. When my daughter is old enough to enjoy the books, and if she is interested (she might not like the books I like), I will read them to her. More than likely, I will read books she is interested in instead.</p><p>I branched out on my own and bought The Dark Elf Trilogy by R. A. Salvatore. I enjoyed reading about the darker side of life and this <img border='0' style='float:right;margin:10px' alt='Dark Elf Trilogy' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZNMFQa0tYg0/TZ6KyPyXaeI/AAAAAAAABqc/2Jsh-8R7zyI/s320/darkelftrilogy-748300.jpg'/> author wrote a great story about evil characters. If you want to understand the phrase evil turns upon itself, these books are a must read. I looked for other books by the Dragonlance authors and read their Darksword trilogy and The Deathgate Cycle. Those are very good books by them as well.</p><p>Except for reading to my children, I rarely have time to read for pleasure. I took time to read J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, The Spiderwick Chronicles by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black with my wife, and Eragon by Christopher Paolini.</p>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13577533589945876645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2517090510127644406.post-15261887510250177432011-04-06T19:20:00.000-05:002011-04-06T19:20:47.227-05:00Life vs Work<p>It has been a crazy week this week and we have only made it half way through. My Great-Aunt, my Grandfather's sister, passed away and her funeral was Tuesday. I planned to go to it and emailed my boss that I would.</p><p>At work on Friday, I was given a very difficult task to complete by Wednesday morning. I got everything together on Friday night and Monday. I then used what I gathered to acquire what was asked for. I found that my application would not do as much as I thought it would. I had to scale down what I would be able to give by Wednesday.</p><p>To make sure everything was completed successfully, I worked instead of going to my Great-Aunt's funeral. I finished the work late Tuesday night. I missed seeing a lot of relatives I have not seen in a long time.</p><p>Sometimes life isn't fair. My Dad instilled in me the importance of my job over most things in life. "Take care of your job and it will take care of you." If I would have gone to the funeral, I would not have finished my work on time. I chose to take care of my job over family and I definitely made the correct decision.</p>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13577533589945876645noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2517090510127644406.post-22573032358076338032011-04-04T22:31:00.000-05:002011-04-04T22:31:02.717-05:00Family Games<p>I grew up playing games with my family. When I was unable to play with my family, I was playing by myself. I received a deck of cards and was taught how to shuffle them. I think it was my brother who showed me a cool way to shuffle. You shuffle normally and when the cards are mixed fold them together to shuffle them back into one pile. I played with cards so much that they would become very flimsy and eventually I would need another deck.</p><img border='0' src='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-56yNWY6adco/TZqKwjU-28I/AAAAAAAABqM/nNlN3gDjASE/s320/games-798355.jpg' alt='skip bo, 42 tricks, hoyle cards, checkers, chinese checkers' style='margin:10px'/><br />
<p>There were several people in the family that taught me everything I know about games. Way before there was Skip Bo, a card game called King Sol was played instead. It was played with two decks. The dealer would deal 30 cards to each player. The goal is to get rid of those cards. I was taught strictly how not to play. By learning how not to play, I learned to play strategically and my Aunt Noni enjoyed her games with me. She is my Dad's sister who passed away a few years ago. I lost a great playmate that day. She liked a challenge and could not stand it if you made a mistake. She would let you know if you made a mistake and it would stick in your head. I think others might not have understood her but I totally understood and enjoyed my lessons and games with her.</p><p>My Uncle Buddy taught me new Solitaire games that I did not know existed. He is my Dad's brother. I can't remember the names of all of the games but I played those games by myself. He saw me playing solitaire at his house and asked, "Would I like to learn a different solitaire game? I said, "Sure!" I absorbed every card game he threw at me and played them all the time after that. He had a lake house on Lake Tawakoni. We would fish off of his pier and other things... I will post more on Uncle Buddy in the future.<br />
<p>My Grandfather and my Aunt Beverly get credit for teaching me how to play a mean game of 42. 42 is a domino game. The only game that is similar that I can think of is the card game Spades. Instead of telling you the rules, I will provide a link to the <a href='http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/42_(dominoes)' target='_blank' style='text-decoration:none'>game</a>. My Grandfather who is much older than me is still as sharp as a tack when it comes to this game. My Aunt Beverly and I play a mean game when we are partners. She is as sharp as her Dad (my Grandfather). We win more than we lose.</p><p>Another game I knew nothing about and thought I did is checkers. You might think checkers is a kid's game but it is a sport similar to chess. There are tournaments like in chess but I have never played in one. My Grandfather is the best checker player I have ever played. He taught me how to keep my checkers structured. Something I did not know that he taught me was that you must always take your jumps. He taught me how to win with two kings against one king. It took me a long time to get good enough to give him a challenging game but I finally did. He beats much more than I beat him though :)</p><p>My Grandmother taught me how to play Chinese Checkers. It is a game I was never very good at. I guess I just never got into it the way I did other games. My Grandmother was very good at it though.</p><p>There is probably nothing better than playing games with your kids. I know as a kid, I was in hog heaven when I got to play with my family. Even a game as simple as Go Fish makes for great memories.</p>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13577533589945876645noreply@blogger.com0