2008 Synopsis
2009-01-18 - 8:41 a.m.
this was supposed to be a year of changes, my dagaz. i joined the military. things i never want to forget: drill sergeants carr, bitz, and davis. getting paid to pull fireguard. spades. shaving cream socks. specialist Zoe, the prince of Kenya. caceres (one of two people with their names tattooed on their back), and butler (the model bay leader). fist fights and mattress surfing. team fife and team sssix, the spitting cobras. "soldier medic! the other day i was struck by lightning. you know what i did, soldier medic? i picked myself up, dusted myself off, and i struck back!" the McDonald's Massacre Cadence. "motivated, motivated! downright motivated! hoo-ha i wanna kill somebody! hoo-ha i wanna kill somebody!" what it means to be a dragon medic. team grundel. sgt brown walking out in the middle of the end-of-cycle photograph. Spartan Blackhawk, Dragon Rider Dragon. my grandmother died. i reget that i havent posted all her mail, and i regret not replying back, thanking her for each and every letter. i hope she knows though, how much i appreciated receiving them. it was a sort of funeral commonly seen in my family. people got together and told jokes and laughed, right up until the music. the first speech was from a delegate of the red hatters, an organization of elderly women that my grandmother joined to explore her wild, girly side. it was the most moving and also the most professional account of a person that i've ever heard at a funeral. for the thanksgiving that followed, i went up to maine, it having been a typical holiday for my mother and grandmother to enjoy fussing about things. by the time i arrived in maine, they had eaten thanksgiving dinner for breakfast and i learned that sister got married to whats-his-face. some guy that proposed to her 8 times while they were both drunk, who she had known for 2 weeks prior to the ceremony, and who was scheduled for front-front-line deployment 2 weeks after the ceremony. i asked my parents what sort of car he drove and they wouldn't tell me, but i assume its at least on par with the mustang she received as a gift from that other guy. o, to be beautiful. she even made a half-assed effort to keep the wedding a secret from the whole family, the thought of which still makes me chuckle. fort town indian gap. the first drill i attended which did not involve bar-b-ques or football games. we assisted another unit in certifying for a detoxification mission. essentially we laid around in the cold in torn costumes and make-up that made us look like we were experiencing hypothermia (it was supposed to make us look like we were in shock) and the certifying Soldiers, when they eventually found us, presumed we were contaminated with a chemical agent. whereupon we were stripped down and sprayed with water, and set back out in the cold to repeat the process. 2 became hypothermic, fo' realzies, and 4 more were on the verge of hypothermia upon reaching the hospital. in december, my unit had a christmas party. it was terribly uncomfortable. in january, we inventoried our TA-50 and i was given the honor of being the guideon bearer. i also accidentally hit myself in the face with a shovel. bought a 1991 Jetta named Valarie from the nicest little old lady in the world. 11 thousand miles later, a CV joint fell out of the jetta at the most convenient moment possible. moved into a house with a guy whom will henceforth be called XxStarGateFanaticXx, not that i have anything against the Star Gate series, just that i dont want to use his real name. we play chess in the evenings, he cooks and i do dishes. we get along well, and have a lot of similar views on The Issues, but he's been rather unsuccessful with finding another tenant. his saint bernard is well trained, almost humanlike, and makes very small poo, given its size. she makes up for this with strategic positioning, usually on the neighbour�s front lawn or walkway. i counter with stupidity, by letting the dog out for a sort time and closing my eyes or turning my back in a timely fashion so as not to incriminate myself with the knowledge of her stratagems. there was one Rule of the household, that is that i cannot consume food upstairs. the first week or so was difficult, and after that coke became an exception and i have yet to actually break it. this rule has two unforeseen side effects: it encourages me to eat prepared meals on regular intervals, and it encourages diner conversation, usually for a couple hours following the meal. still sort of getting used to this sort of behaviour because chris and i never sat down and ate next to each other, since he was vegetarian and i mostly ate meat or junk. actually we seemed to eat more while standing up or walking from place to place, while accomplishing some other task. when i moved into my own place i continued this sort of light-snacking-on-the-move tradition and it seems to be much more efficient (and marginally more healthy) than sit-down meals. but i can't complain, because XxStarGateFanaticXx enjoys cooking and the meals are very good. Mitch and I are planning a canoeing trip to find aliens. spilled soda in one of my laptops and broke an LCD panel on another one. started work on a tabletop RPG that can theoretically be used to "generate" scripts for a television series or movie. the hole in my head has completely healed, thanks to luther, who has moved out. going back to college to finish my bachelor degree in computer science, and after that i may pursue a bachelor degree in biochemistry, before attending officer candidate school and switching my military occupation specialty to 68K, laboratory researcher. this is significant, because its the first time in my life, that i have had a real plan, for my life. in other news, the world is supposed to end in december 2012, and im starting to ask myself what we have accomplished during this age, that is worthy of surviving to the next. had a touch of insulin shock the other day, headache, sweating and shaking, felt fine after popping some skittles. We had a christmas party at work, i got drunk and sang karaoke. and then i woke up in a hotel room with the lady from the front desk, which is odd because we both think its a bad idea to have romantic relationships with coworkers. this year was my nephew's first year in school. Mum moved out of her brother's house and back into the overpriced trailer park. Mitch is teaching college-level physics in Fitchburg, i expect he's going to get married soon. Father completed his Master's in education and he and Step-Mother moved back to maine, where she received a promotion from the church. Step-Sister moved in with her cool boyfriend in Portland Maine, and Step-Brother and Sister have both moved to Texas. Outside, its snowing.
