Sunday, July 31, 2011

God smiled on me

Today we were supposed to leave for Blue Thunder which is a two night camping experience. Supposedly it simulates a deployed environment in which we sit around and do nothing. I've heard that in the middle of the night we are "attacked" and we have to deal with the "attack". I believe attack = firecrackers. Before even going I've been thinking of just not doing anything during the attack and laying there. After all it is "just COT". In this case I think it would be awesome to be the fake dead person. You can just lay there. THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID! But I don't feel like having a commander yelling in my face. Then again, no commander is as short as me and I'd imagine that it would be hard to bend over and consistently yell into my face so maybe that will deter some of the misplaced rage.

Moving onto the good news.....drumroll......due to a lightning warning, we did not leave for the Blue Thunder campsite today and instead were able to enjoy some more 2nd class privileges and eat off base. This is why I am able to write to you. An additional plus is that we only have to deal with 3 MRE's. MRE's are as heavy as they are delicious.....wait no that's not right. I mean that MRE's are not delicious and they ARE heavy. I don't have any pictures but think of the giant Army green duffel bag filled to the brim. Then imagine that bag on my back. I can't even really see me with it on but the image makes me laugh so I know you're smiling now. Unfortunately I just found out that I can't upload pictures here so check out my facebook page for all corresponding pictures.

Tomorrow the first buses leave at 5am. I do not plan to be on the first bus. I overheard some people talking about how they wanted to make sure they were first on the bus. These overachievers don't realize that it's "just COT". Like I always say "Aim Low, end up average". First thing we have when we get there is a ropes course. Supposedly it is really intense and takes about an hour. Since I am such an athletic person....PAIN HARCH!!!! I'm hoping that I will make it through ok. Supposedly there is a point where you can stop right after you ascend and you can get down if you freak out. Since we have a harness I think I will be ok but we will see. I'm hoping I will not be paralyzed by fear again.

Just to backtrack a little, yesterday a bunch of us volunteered with Habitat for Humanity. We went with our sister flight. Myself and two others from my flight went and had a blast. It was kind of like our leadership obstacle course stuff but not getting graded therefore automatically made it more awesome.

My morale was low on Thursday after I failed my leadership test, then on Friday I got a lil tipsy at the officer club orientation and my morale went up. Then I got paid on Friday and my morale went up little more...but then I realized that I was still here at COT and my morale came full circle to low again. To sum up, morale is back into the red. 4.5 days left HARCH!

Friday, July 29, 2011

Unknown fear

So I never thought I was afraid of heights but it is a different story (no pun intended) when there are no barriers to keep you from falling. I can't go into the details completely since these obstacles are "top-secret" but I had to be on a high wall and cross water. That was yesterday. Today I ended up on a high wall again and was again gripped with fear. No way to know until you try I guess. Luckily I think the worst has passed. We have a ropes course coming up but I don't have a problem if something is supporting me, such as a harness. I think part of the problem was that I had too much time to look down and fixate on how ez it was for me to fall.

Today I hit the MRE (meals ready to eat) jackpot. I got m&m's and pretzels. Yesterday I got patriotic cookies. That's right folks, cookies in the shapes of Lady Liberty, the American flag, and other American symbols. It felt a little treasonous biting the flag but they were decent. It's like eating deer....you might feel bad at first but Bambi tastes good.

Now that all of my assignments have been turned in and COT is coming to an end, my printer works now. I don't really need a printer anymore so that worked out really well.

Currently smokin hot outside and I am getting ready to head out into it again for parade practice. We got lucky yesterday and had a good breeze. Today we are not so lucky. This is a very glass half empty entry. Hmmmm happy thoughts......

ONE WEEK LEFT HARCH

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

junk food HARCH

Junk food HARCH! hut toop threep fourp hut toop threep fourp....twizzlers HARCH! I don't recall if I reviewed all the military lingo or not but Harch is the command for moving forward and for some reason two = toop, three = threep, and four = fourp. I think it has something to do with making the words easier to yell out.

This morning I woke up at my cuIstomary 4:30am HARCH time. My roommate advised me that I had been talking in my sleep and I said "I want that carry out". I never remember my dreams but I think this speaks volumes to what I truly hold dear to my heart. I've been dreaming of Chick-Fil-A for a few days now. If you are reading this and you are able to go to a Chick-Fil-A, please go in my stead! My flight and I thought my vocalized food dreams were hilarious. Surprisingly though we asked for and received approval tonigh to order pizza. One of my flightmates is Jewish and our dining facility has very little that he can eat. The food is substandard to begin with, but it is much more difficult since he can only eat kosher food. It's miserable for all but triple miserable for him. We asked our squadron commander for a special exception since we are not allowed to order food in and we were approved. So I actually ended up getting carry out!!!!!

Moral: Dreams really do come true

Today during our "fun run" I tripped and fell scraping off some skin from both hands. It is just two fingers on my right hand and the palm of my left hand but pretty painful. Tomorrow we go through leadership obstacles and I'm hoping that I won't have an obstacle requiring to much right hand action.I should work on not being a wuss. Not being a wuss HARCH! 

I did laundry again bc I ran out of PT shirts again. I feel like I should just breakdown and buy more AF clothes but I can't let them break me. If I give in now with 1.5 more weeks to go I lose not just my money but my pride. Ok maybe that's a little ridiculous but I'm gonna pull out my "I'm tired" card. I haven't used it yet and I should be allowed to use that twice a day.
.
The men in our flight do not understand why the women are crazy about candy and chocolate. Answer: we pop babies (although not me personally), live by double standards, and have to deal with them. Women HARCH!

We've had some down time but I think the craziness is gonna start up again. Hopefully I'll get to write soon. Until then CARRY ON!

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

no more tests!

No more tests! I passed the PT test today: 21 pushups, 44 situps, 14:05 run. That is the good news. The bad news is that I can probably NOT count on getting 50% salary after serving 20 yrs  which means that I will not be serving 20 years. My instructor just told us today about Obama's speech last night. I guess it is highly probable that this will be eliminated to help reduce the US deficit. I'm more than a little disappointed about this. I was pretty sure that I would stay in for the 20 so that I could also get civilian physician job, possibly one that paid less. Had this announcement been made 1.5 months ago, I don't think I would be here now. Feelin a little bit of regret. I'm curious how the military will be able to keep doctors though. There is really no incentive to be a military doctor beyond your commitment now.

My cough is still here but seems to be getting better. Our auditorium lectures are sprinkled with coughing people. Everyone is getting sick from sleep deprivation. We also have extremely healthy food which is probably why I've gained 4 pounds in 4 weeks. Nothing like Chili-Mac that melts in your mouth....noodles so cooked they're practically liquid HOLLA!

We continue to move closer to 1984. We are instructed to correct each other when others do not follow protocol. We are told to continue professionalism even when no one is looking.....because there are cameras.....

I miss hearing my name. Here I am just Lt Lee. I don't think our flight members even know each other's names. I've made a point of trying to use first names in the dorm whenever possible. Trying to hold onto the smallest shred of individuality that I can claim.

Feel free to leave comments for me! I enabled comments from anyone now.

Monday, July 25, 2011

I forgot to tell you guys about the Urine chart! Yup we have a chart with varying shades of yellow posted in every bathroom stall here. The amount of water you need to drink is determined by the shade of urine you have. My roommate has a picture of it which I will try to upload tonight. Everyone and thing is judged here even the urine. We also get flag warnings that tell you the temperate warning. Black flag means dangerous to stay out long. They change the flags throughout the day by literally putting up pieces of paper on all the doors throughout the day. The military is all about color coding: weather warnings, urine analysis, Homeland Security.....well I guess Homeland Security doesn't count.

On a separate note now I understand why Zoolander couldn't turn left. it's hard to turn those corners sharp. no joke. Test done so now I just have my fitness test tomorrow. Hopefully I'll pass.

I continue to sleep in class and I actually wish that I could see what I look like when I nod off bc I think it looks pretty hilarious. There are 15 of us in our flight class in a U-shaped formation. Luckily since I am the computer officer, I sit in the front AND I also nod off the most out of anyone in the class. FLY FIGHT WIN. (sorry but it was bout time for some good AF propaganda). We're supposed to stand up when we're falling asleep but it can get dangerous when you fall asleep while standing. lol.

uggggghhhhh i'm so bored!!! We're stuck in our flight room w/out permission to go to our dorms. We have no assignments due and we have been cooped in here for an hour so far. Dinner is in half an hour. 30 minutes until my freedom but I don't know if going to DFAC (dining facility) counts as freedom. Give me liberty or give me death...Patrick Henry knew his stuff. Just to give you an idea of how awesome DFAC is, in tribute to Amy Winehouse "Try to make me go to DFAC I said NO NO NO!"

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Sushi

Today I ate sushi from the commissary aka base grocery store and it was the best sushi I've ever had in my life. However, to quote a flight member, this is probably bc I am wearing "COT goggles". This just means that normal stuff looks/tastes/seems 10 times better than it really is. Under normal circumstances there is no way that I would call grocery sushi the best sushi I've ever had. I'm currently studying for our last exam tomorrow while listening to some Glee Tunes. Ironically I'm listening to "I've Had the Time Of My Life" LMAO with sarcasm. "(singing)....I never felt this way before...yes I swear....it's the truth...." While at the commissary I picked up Twizzlers, Laffy Taffy, M&Ms, pudding, etc etc etc....Something about being here has made my sweet tooth even sweeter. This upcoming week we will be eating MRE's 24/7 mmmmmm. We watched a movie last night called "Taking Chance" starring Kevin Bacon. It was a movie about a soldier escorting a fallen soldier back to his hometown for burial. The movie showed every leg of the journey and all the details involved with transporting the soldier back home with all the proper military courtesies. It was a sad way to close out the week and spend Saturday night but it really put things into perspective. I complain about being here a lot but this is a walk in the park compared to what our soldiers are going through while deployed. We had a lecture last week about being deployed. It is a little crazy to think that I will have to carry a 9mm. Of course I have at  least 6 years before I can even be deployed but it is hitting home more and more..........I guess I tried to convince myself that this would not really be a dangerous job but being an American soldier, doctor or not, is like having a target on your back.

On a lighter note, gotta give the AF props for being on top of the whole Don't Ask Don't Tell policy. Literally the day that was repealed, we had a big lecture on it and had the new policy read to us. Of course I slept through it bc it is not testable but I was impressed on how quickly the info was passed down. Alright now I really have to study beyond just staring at the papers.

Friday, July 22, 2011

Today I wore make-up! Civilian women...DO NOT take this for granted. It's never fun when you get "Good Morning Sir". It takes hammer pants and boxy shirts to make me appreciate my curves. It felt weird putting it on at first but I decided to step it up for our pictures today. We took individual and flight pictures today. Someone asked what the individual pictures were for. Someone else replied "It's the picture they show when you die". lol.....kinda.....FLY FIGHT WIN! Yes they have ingrained these nuggets in my head. Expect future blogposts to be peppered with Air Force propoganda. I LOVE the Patriot Act and 1984 is an awesome book. Are you happy Big Brother??

Unfortunately my govt laptop has all the good stuff blocked so I have been living without tv and movies. Apparently it can be done but this makes my morale low (we right morale letters every week....I should put in something on my next one about the importance of netflix to morale).

I have pictures to prove that I actually am currently in uniform but we're not allowed to hook up anything or upload anything to our laptops so you'll just have to take my word. Thank goodness I'm completely honest and not a bit sarcastic.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

halfway point

Halfway through HOLLA! so I just finished a presentation on Somalia. Did not think I would be doing ppt stuff here. We ran a 5k this morning but it was not scored for anything. I use the word "ran" very loosely. It is important to note that I got to wake up at 4:30AM for this fabulous run, same time I wake up every day. It was more of a race against yourself since it did not count for a grade. I decided that I am always a winner and do not like competing against myself, therefore put in minimal effort. Near the end there was a big hill that I saw several people struggle up. I admired those people for their effort.......but.....I decided to walk up it. The Air Force says to AIM HIGH. I say AIM LOW (then end up avg). Although I also use the word avg loosely since I ended up taking 32:55 to finish the run :)

We just started wearing our blues today. As we progress it seems like we get to wear brighter colors. I think the Air Force is doing whatever it can to make me look like a boy. I'm bringing sexy back in the form of MC-Hammeresque balloon pants. But I think Hammer's pants may have at least been low-rise. My pants are definitely mom pants. Essentially my pants have divided my stomach into 2 portions. Not sure if everyone will get this but think of the Mom skit from SNL.

We have one more academic test on Monday and Tuesday is our physical fitness test. I will probably pass but I should probably try to do more than the minimum. Amazingly I think I've got the push-ups covered.

With the weekend coming up, I'm not sure what I'm more excited about, sleeping in until 7AM or going to Burger King. That's right folks BURGER KING!!!!! We exercise a lot but I'm pretty sure I'm gonna b poppin buttons soon.

That's all I got for now but I will def post something this week!

Monday, July 18, 2011

sickness falls

Every other person in my flight group is sick now. But since we are all sick that means we are getting sick as a team......so in its own way it is a WIN! Gotta say it's pretty amazing being near the landing strip when jets take off and land. Our drill practices were right next to the strip. So close we couldn't even talk!!!! We just had our first academic test today and we have our informative brief speeches on Thursday so we're def rolling right along. I can't hook up my camera to my govt laptop so sadly I can't post pictures. uhhh gotta go to drill practice will be back

Saturday, July 16, 2011

full night's rest

I have decided that the Air Force employees a type of carrot-stick reward policy. But they like to save money so they don't waste money on carrots instead using basic human liberties as carrots. On Friday we were upranked to third class (I think it was called 3rd class but it is physically impossible for me to stay awake during lectures so this is a guess). Third class means that we get base privileges. Up until this point we were limited to dorms, cafeteria, and lecture classrooms and auditoriums. In terms of dog leashes, it's kind of like we had a 1 inch leash before and now we have a 4 foot leash. It was AWESOME. I ate Taco Bell for lunch and pizza for dinner. People : do not take these amazing things for granted. I didn't really want to conform and walk with my hands cupped, stand at attention, and all that jazz....but when they dangled fast food in front of me, I felt compelled to reach for that carrot. so yeah I'm marching now doin my bit. Now I see why Bingo loves her carrots (hopefully you get that reference). Having access to bases and the ability to eat what we wanted also meant that we could talk at dinner without sitting on the edge of our chairs with our backs straight. I also loved not having to turn on a pivot, loved not having to start every sentence with sir/mam, and I loved not having to walk with my hands cupped. I slouched like no other and I felt OUTSTANDING. Base privileges rock. some AF dialogue for you

AF commanders: How do you feel?

Me and the rest of my class: OUTSTANDING!

I threw that dialogue in there so you could understand why I sprinkle in those OUTSTANDINGS.

Last  night I got to sleep for 9 hrs and it was OUTSTANDING. Since July 5 I have slept about 5 hrs a night. Luckily Saturdays means that we can sleep in until 6:30AM. Yall know what a morning person I am :) ok more to come later.

Friday, July 15, 2011

1 week down!!

Hi friends!

So I've finished about a week and a half and this is definitely not what I thought it would be. Fiscal conservatives look away. We get a private bathroom (well semi-private because we share it with our roommates) and daily housekeeping services. Thank you American taxpayers. As soon as we stepped off the bus they started yelling at us to put our bags down, get certain items and go stand in line. In hindsight kinda hilarious how freaked out we all were. I forgot to pull out my cash from my bag so I had to ask to "fallout" from the line....yup that's right I'm using military lingo already and it's only been 8 days. I think it's been 8 days. The lack of sleep is blurring my thoughts. It's a new thing waking up at 4:30AM. I don't think I've ever watched the sunrise. Those of you who I'm not friends with until after noon know what I'm talking about. It's a blast watching  about 300 people nodding off in class and then abruptly jerk their head up as they try to stay awake. Everytime I wake up from a momentary nap I look around reassurance. If more people do it, the least likely I will be called out for a demerit. Moving onto demerits. So it turns out AF officer training took its lesson plan from kindergarten. Getting a demerit is like getting your name on the board. One of my flight members had a flight commander come up to him and say "DID YOU JUST WAVE AT ME?" The guy saluted but I guess it wasn't up to par so DEMERIT. We get uniform inspections before our first flight class of the day. My instructor comes around and checks us for loose cables on our ABU's (ABU= army branded uniform = the severely ugly camouflage hot did i mention ugly? uniform that military people wear). Honestly I'm tryin to just lay low and make it through this alive. Backtracking on some terms. We are all divided up into groups of 15 people. and each group is called a Flight. My flight is called Quebec. es All of us live together in a block of rooms and we have specific flight only classes, we eat, march and do everything together. Seems like most of the people in my flight are dentists. There are 2 other students who are going to Uniformed Services University with me (military med school in Bethesda, MD). I have to figure out how to post pictures but once I do you will see the awesomeness that is me after getting 4-5 hrs of sleep for a week. Gotta shout out to Danica who did say that Alabama was hotter than Florida. Marching outside in my ABU's for 2 hrs has proven you absolutely correct.