Day 93 - 27 November 2012

Well, I am about four days away from half way! I still can't believe it has already been three months, but as long as it keeps going this fast, I won't complain. The quicker the better!

It's been a little slow at work lately. Just working some comm issues, but otherwise have everything running. I assisted with moving a system on Sunday. Looks like we got it moved just in time, as we're expecting to see some weather...possibly snow...tomorrow!

I've been listening to Maroon 5 a lot lately. I've listened to their albums I have off and on, but here it's been quite a bit...and they're growing on me. They will be in Jacksonville April 1st, so I asked Meagan if she likes them; she does too! So, we got tickets to the show and I get to take my girl out for a night of music and fun! It should be awesome!

Ok...that's about all I have for the past couple of days. Not too exciting, I know, but it is a couple of days closer to home! I need to get some sleep so I can get up in the morning. Night all and God bless!

Day 91 - 25 November 2012

Ok, so the daily updates are still a little hard for me to get posted. We've been working some pretty crazy hours working on everything. The weather will change soon enough, so we're trying to stay ahead of the game! But, I can update you on how the past week has gone.

Thanksgiving came and went...one heck of a long day! We were all ready to enjoy some slow days, as we have nearly everything up and running. Then, the night before/morning of Thanksgiving, someone decided to work on some stuff somewhere. I would go into details, but I can't give away a lot of information. Just know that it was a major pain in our rear ends! So, instead of enjoying a nice slow morning, I got pulled into the office around 1000 to begin trying to figure out what happened.

Thanksgiving Lunch

We called all over the place and no one claimed to know what happened. We lost everything at one point, but managed to get most back up. So, more calls to investigate and still no idea what happened. We went to lunch around 1230 and it took us an hour to get through the line. However, we had REAL turkey and all of the fixings, so that was good!

Thanksgiving Dinner

After lunch, it was back to the phones to try figuring out what happened. We were still unable to get any information about our outage and pressed on, call after call. We worked on it until it was time for dinner. We decided, since we had to wait for an hour to get lunch, we would forego the special dinner and get pizza. It was pretty good pizza, but I'm only going to pay $11 for a personal pan once. And they call it a "medium" pizza. Ha!

So, after we finished our pizza, more head scratching and phone calls ensued to try figuring out what happened. Anyhow, this went on and on all night. Finally, around 0030 or 0100 in the morning, we figured out what had happened. Some changes had been made, but we're not sure who made them or where. So, we submitted some information, verified a couple of sites were working, and celebrated the day's accomplishments! We figured we were good to go...

I didn't get up on Friday until late. I think I finally rolled out of bed around 1230 or 1245 and had just enough time to get to the dining facility for lunch before they closed. After lunch, I headed up to the office to see if we had any updates. Apparently, some of the places were still having minor issues, but there wasn't really much we could do about them. So, we just began to wait for updates from the guys who are responsible for them. Things finally went from crazy to more calm and collected!

Well, the weather is turning colder. The mountains are getting covered with more and more snow, which is creeping lower and lower. I think it's only a matter of days before we have our first snow here. We'll see, but it can't be that far off! The past few mornings have been very, very chilly! I've been wearing my long-sleeve undershirt and fleece jacket in the mornings. Today, I actually broke out my beanie cap; something I don't enjoy wearing. I don't know why, but I've just never been a big fan of sock caps. However, when these ears get cold, they get COLD! So, I have to suck it up if I want to stay warm!

That's pretty much the last week in a nutshell. Things are still going well on this end and I'm just ticking off the days until I get to go home...almost half way there! So, I'll sign off for the night. Night all and God bless!

Day 85 - 19 November 2012

It's hard to believe it has been two weeks since my last post. There hasn't been a whole lot of extra stuff going on, just the normal day-to-day operations. I've had a few ups and downs though...

So, I was by myself for a while...explains why my blog fell off the shelf for a bit. I had a large amount of issues to deal with and was trying as hard as I could. However, for reasons beyond my control, things weren't getting fixed; and, it was all placed on my shoulders. My new team arrived, I spun them up, and we got stuff knocked out. Then, another event happened that was blamed on me. I didn't see why and my morale hit an all-time low. I'm a very hard charger. Tell me what you want done and I'll make it happen as quick as I possibly can! So, giving it may all actually got me kicked to the curb...for NO reason. I'll tell you what...it was a pretty dismal night. I felt like total crap; but, that's over! Thank heavens!

We've been working hard over here to get everything up and running and on the verge of being the FIRST team to get EVERYTHING up and running at the same time...with NO issues! That's something I can certainly be proud of. I've got a good team and a can-do attitude. We're rocking it!

Ok...I know it's been a while since I've posted, but I'll get back on the daily normal. I just really need to get to bed. My stomach doesn't like me right now and I don't know how much sleep I'll actually get. That said, night all...God bless!

Day 71 - 5 November 2012

Ah...up and at 'em after an extra hour of sleep! :) I headed over to talk to Meagan and was happy to find out that Jimmie Johnson won the race at Texas, extending his lead in the points. It is reminiscent of my trip to Iraq in 2006, when Jimmie won his first championship. I may just have to sacrifice some sleep here soon to watch the Chase unfold!

Meagan and I talked about a family we know that are going through a rough time right now. I am so thankful that I am not a bad person and we are happy. I know I cannot do the things I do without her support...

Work today...same. I wish I could get a few of these issues resolved, NOW; but, we'll keep working on them... The new DO got under my skin a little today. I felt almost as if he was looking at these ongoing issues as me not doing my job. In fact, I believe I have been going above and beyond, because I can't seem to get some of the guys out there to make phone calls and troubleshoot...so, I took the reins and started doing it myself. However, we did discuss it after dinner and I know why he's pushing to get this stuff taken care of. I'll do whatever I need to in order to assist, but the guys in the field need to step up their game as well! I just don't see how it makes sense to send a guy out to a location, simply to enter a number in a computer, because an Army guy doesn't want to help. To that, I agree with my superintendent: if the Army won't assist us...pull the damn sensor! Done.

Work is done for today and I'm off to bed! More fun tomorrow! Night all...God bless!

Day 70 - 4 November 2012

Got up a little late today...still managed to make it over to talk to Meagan. I was just running a little later than usual. I guess it's one of those days where my body is telling me I needed sleep.

After chatting with Meagan, I headed over to the barber shop. I was in dire need of a haircut. I know it's getting too long when it starts standing up on its own. I am still not brave enough to cut my own...unless it is completely shaved and, well, that's not me!

I usually write about lunch and dinner. Well...it is getting a little old, I suppose. So, I will just write about new/good stuff we have. For lunch today, I did try something new. They had onion rings on the short order line. I picked some of them up, stopped by the sandwich bar for bread, ham, and Swiss, then proceeded to the panini grill. Leadership was quite impressed with my ingenuity! The sandwich was delicious!

Work today was pretty plain again. I am still working to resolve some minor issues with a few sensors. Otherwise, not a whole lot going on.

After dinner, we went over to the tower for a farewell ceremony. The DO who was here when I arrived is on his way home...new one in place. So, we had a nice little presentation for him and then sat outside with cigars. I had a great chat with all of the leadership...great, GREAT group of guys to work for/with!

Ok...work is done, so I will sign off for now. Night all and God bless!

Day 69 - 3 November 2012

Started out the day, just like any other...talked to Meagan. Not really much to talk about, just some chit chat. We talked about the van...Meagan has it back! :) We also talked about some friends of ours who are having problems...otherwise, not much to really talk about. No news is good news, I suppose.

I had a little extra time this morning, so I went back to take a short nap before heading into work.

Work is pretty much the same today...not much going on. I can't believe how quiet it has been! Certainly glad all of our stuff is running really well...but, it does make for some long shifts!

Lunch was good. I had roast beef, corn, peas, and carrots. The roast beef was especially good! I had some gravy on it...complimented it well.

Back at work and still not much going on. Just working on a few odds and ends.

Dinner was not the greatest tonight. It was Mexican night and I am 0 for 3 when I've had it. So, I decided to go for a cheeseburger. Unfortunately, it was the worst cheeseburger I've had since I've been here. It tasted watered down...

Still not much going on at work...continued watching Rome and waiting for the outside world to call me on the phone...pretty quiet still.

Alright, time to head back to the room. It will be an early morning again tomorrow. Night all! God Bless!

Day 68 - 2 November 2012

Got up this morning and talked to Meagan, Taylor, and Emma. They had just gotten home from Scouts at Home Depot. Sounds like they had a lot of fun! I sure am jealous... Taylor told me all about his adventure and he was part of the winning team for the scavenger hunt! Meagan had bird houses for the winning team, so Taylor received that from her and all of the boys got Joey Logano cars to work on from Home Depot. Hmmm...maybe we can turn him away from Kyle Busch?!? I doubt it...

After talking to Meagan, I had a couple of hours before I had to get ready for work. I really wanted to work out this morning, but I'm still trying to adjust to the long days. The good thing, I suppose, about the long work days is that time is going fast. The faster, the better. So, I headed back to the room for a nap before work.

Headed into work to find the same issues I dealt with yesterday. I tried calling a couple of sites, with no luck. So, I studied for my promotion test for a while. Got a call from down south and had a good chat. Good to hear a friendly voice from time to time!

Headed over to the post office to mail some stuff to one of the sites. I forgot to include it yesterday, so I needed to send it off. I believe the post office will be quicker than other means, so we'll see!

We went to lunch...I had an Italian-style sandwich. I think the only thing Italian about it was the salami...if that's even Italian. And, since we are still out of bread...it was on a hot dog bun. Interesting, to say the least; but, good!

Back at work and still not much going on...started watching the series Rome, which is on our morale drive. It's good so far!

Headed to dinner for steak night! One night I look forward to and another way to mark the weeks off!

Watched a couple more episodes of Rome. Still not much going on...time to head "home" for the night. Night all...God bless!

Day 67 - 1 November 2012

So, I was able to sleep in a bit this morning. I woke up about 0700 and sent a text to Meagan to see if she was still up. She was, so I headed over to the terminal to chat for a bit. She shared some pictures of the kids in their Halloween constumes...so cute! Emma had the cutest stinker face ever...with a mouth full of candy!

Finished talking to Meagan and headed into work. Still not much going on today. I see that my comm issues are still ongoing. Frustrated from the guys in the field doing little to assist, I decide it will do me good to start making phone calls.

Time for lunch! We are out of bread, so I made used turkey, ham, and cheese, to make a couple of grilled wraps with tortillas. I had a side salad, some cucumber salad, and corn. Not really too bad of a lunch...

Back at work and still trying to get stuff up and running...that's about all I'm working on today!

Headed to dinner. Tonight, I tried a crab melt...wrong idea. It really wasn't that good. In fact, it was probably the worst dinner I've had since I've been here.

Still not much going on and I can't get ahold of the guys I need to talk to, so time for a couple of movies. I'm watching Phone Booth and Perfect Stranger.

The movies were both really good! Work is done for tonight, so I'm headed off to bed. Early morning tomorrow! Night all...God bless!