21 March 2008
I suppose it's time for an update. Time has flown the past 8 weeks for me. I'm not complaining though, as you may soon see.
I've been in Texas now since the end of January. I love Texas because it's like a different culture down here. Maybe that seems obvious since it's south and was once it's on country, sort of. But it is just the funniest place for a Boulderite like me to be. Of course Texans don't happily recognize Alaska as the biggest state and I think they try to make up for it with everything else. Not only do I think it's unhealthy to order a 72oz Steak for dinner, but really unnecessary. As far as I understand your body can only digest about 8 oz at a time, so why waste 64oz of a good cow? Texas is also the only state that I know that proudly flies a giant Texan flag next to an equally giant US flag. And can we say 'City Planning?' Driving here is ridiculous, only in Texas have I ever gotten stuck doing U turns on a high way and had to sit for 10 minutes at one light because no one understands merging and the city doesn't understand speedy road construction.
But I'm not here to write the travel guide book for Texas, I'm here to become a box kicker and sticker licker!! WhooHooo! Sound like an Army job? Basically what I'm learning is how to manage, order, track, and distribute medical supplies in hospitals and in field units in Iraq. So far we've learned many computer systems that went out of commission in 2003, and we will be using them until probably 2300 since on one has created a better system still...that works that is. I'll also be responsible for helping during the planning phases of missions to make sure that we have enough supplies and know how to re-supply during combat operations.
The class is pretty time demanding. We have physical training for an hour starting at 6am then start class at 8:15. Depending on the instructor we'll get out some time between 2 and 6 in the afternoon. Although the information is obviously all relevant or they wouldn't waste the time teaching us, some of it is so above my head that I just sit there with a glazed look and hope the teacher doesn't ask me a question. I've only been in a field unit so all the hospital stuff is very foreign to me, and I've only been in for 2 years, so when people start saying, remember in OIF 1 when we did this, I sit there thinking, in 2003 I was a freshman in college and not sitting on the berm in Kuwait waiting to invade Baghdad. But the human brain still amazes me and I have learned a significant amount. How much of it I actually get to use will depend on my next assignment.
Since the class is so time consuming and also pretty demanding outside the class room as far as preparing briefs and studying for tests, I haven't done a whole lot in Texas. I got all excited when I first came down here, but the road construction zapped the adventure right out of me. I've gone around a little bit, haven't seen a whole lot more than when I was here a year ago. I have two weeks left, then it's off to a quick trip home and around the US, then up to Alaska!
The pictures are from when I went down to Corpous Christi. The Sing Ray behaved him/her self and did not fly out of the little pond thing and kill anyone, so there's one non-lethal sting ray out there.
I've been in Texas now since the end of January. I love Texas because it's like a different culture down here. Maybe that seems obvious since it's south and was once it's on country, sort of. But it is just the funniest place for a Boulderite like me to be. Of course Texans don't happily recognize Alaska as the biggest state and I think they try to make up for it with everything else. Not only do I think it's unhealthy to order a 72oz Steak for dinner, but really unnecessary. As far as I understand your body can only digest about 8 oz at a time, so why waste 64oz of a good cow? Texas is also the only state that I know that proudly flies a giant Texan flag next to an equally giant US flag. And can we say 'City Planning?' Driving here is ridiculous, only in Texas have I ever gotten stuck doing U turns on a high way and had to sit for 10 minutes at one light because no one understands merging and the city doesn't understand speedy road construction.
But I'm not here to write the travel guide book for Texas, I'm here to become a box kicker and sticker licker!! WhooHooo! Sound like an Army job? Basically what I'm learning is how to manage, order, track, and distribute medical supplies in hospitals and in field units in Iraq. So far we've learned many computer systems that went out of commission in 2003, and we will be using them until probably 2300 since on one has created a better system still...that works that is. I'll also be responsible for helping during the planning phases of missions to make sure that we have enough supplies and know how to re-supply during combat operations.
The class is pretty time demanding. We have physical training for an hour starting at 6am then start class at 8:15. Depending on the instructor we'll get out some time between 2 and 6 in the afternoon. Although the information is obviously all relevant or they wouldn't waste the time teaching us, some of it is so above my head that I just sit there with a glazed look and hope the teacher doesn't ask me a question. I've only been in a field unit so all the hospital stuff is very foreign to me, and I've only been in for 2 years, so when people start saying, remember in OIF 1 when we did this, I sit there thinking, in 2003 I was a freshman in college and not sitting on the berm in Kuwait waiting to invade Baghdad. But the human brain still amazes me and I have learned a significant amount. How much of it I actually get to use will depend on my next assignment.
Since the class is so time consuming and also pretty demanding outside the class room as far as preparing briefs and studying for tests, I haven't done a whole lot in Texas. I got all excited when I first came down here, but the road construction zapped the adventure right out of me. I've gone around a little bit, haven't seen a whole lot more than when I was here a year ago. I have two weeks left, then it's off to a quick trip home and around the US, then up to Alaska!
The pictures are from when I went down to Corpous Christi. The Sing Ray behaved him/her self and did not fly out of the little pond thing and kill anyone, so there's one non-lethal sting ray out there.
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