Well people as of now, I'm counting down in hours, not days. It's going to be weird not being able to just have my days to myself....I'm not even going to go into the lack of privacy, having your days spoken for, no TV, etc because I figure that's pretty much a given. For Ha-Ha's, I have been watching Full Metal Jacket and Stripes on a "loop" since Saturday
In a weird sort of way, I'm more anxious than anything to get started, as this basically amounts to a career change for me. My neighbor, who, ironically enough works as a Supervisor of the ART team at Westover (Active Reserve Technician) told me the chances are excellent that I will have an open position by the time I return...that's due to the fact that there are VERY few USAF certified Jet Mechanics up here to work on the C5-A...most are in Dover, DE.
My Wife, Holly, and my son, Colin are obviously upset at my departure...can you blame them? But, Holly surprised me last night when she told me how "proud" she was of me(that brought tears to my eyes)....She said she couldn't imagine how hard it is to make a career change at 33, let alone starting over again in the Military. Her Father, Uncle and two out of her three brothers were (or are) in the USAF-but they all started when they were in their late teens and early 20's.....not their 30's. Funny thing....She, who has NEVER been a huge "car nut" by any stretch decided to do something she has never done yesterday-actually test drive a "sports sedan" yesterday!
She has been talking about Mazda 6's ever since they've been introduced a few years back, but has never done more than that. Well, we saw the commercials for the "Mazda Sales Event" on TV and she immediately had me research what her Honda Civic EX was worth on Kelley Blue book and NADA....which as it turns out,is quite alot! To make a very long story short, we test drove a Mazda 6i Hatchback(reminded me of the SVT in a nice kind of way-rode and handled very similarly) and will probaly sign paperwork this evening (I leave tomorrow morning). The really cool thing is her EX (it only has 20k on a 2003!)will actually place her ahead as it is actually worth MUCH more than what she owes!! So, her car payments will be going down, as well as her car insurance (going from a coupe to a sedan-both are I-4's).
Anyway, thanks again Guys and Gals for all of your support and kind words....It has been worth more than you could know. If you would like to send some words of encouragement and support, e-mail Holly at
Hodgebear72@verizon.net and Colin at
livetoskate93@yahoo.com. I will try to post as soon as I have access to the Net. If not, I hope to be in contact with Kokopellian sometime in May....Please take care of yourselves and drive safe!!
