SNOW! Run for your lives!

Okay, so I haven't posted for a bit. A long bit. Okay, a while. Aight, over two months. But really, other than my vacation home, which was pretty much uneventful, nothing much happens out here. I go to work, I go to my hooch, I play video games or watch a movie, and I go to sleep. On Friday I roleplay with a few soliders here (D&D type stuff, specifically Vampire: The Masquerade and Werewolf: The Apocalypse. Guess which character I play?) and on Saturday I try to not get too much of my money taken away in poker. Yes, it really is that boring out here. Why else would I actually look forward to working on a master's degree? LOL

Anyway, to the topic at hand. It just finished snowing here for 36 hours straight. For a coonass from Louisiana, this is amazing stuff! Especially since this is the second time it's happened. In total, it snowed about 5-6", and it's predicted that as much or more will follow later on this week. So, I decided to snap a few photos on Sunday morning and night to show everybody. So, without further ado:

when it rains, it pours....

So, I've been rather diligent lately with keeping my resume current and posted on the various job sites out there. And, accordingly, I've been getting bummed since the last hit I got was in August for a job in Bahrain but nothing has panned out. Now, I'm listed on some major defense contractors' sites (CACI, SAIC, Sytex/Lockheed, Anteon, Raytheon, EMW, Northrop Grumman) and a few cleared job sites (Clearedconnections.com, Dice.com's new site). I've also got the loyal fetchbots going on the sites that send me jobs that meet my search criteria. When I find one interesting, I apply online, etc. etc. So since the end of Sept., I've been waiting on a few hits possible to know whether or not I still have options (gotta have options, right Dad?). Nada. Nothing. I is not happy.

Then last Friday, lo and behold I have a hit. NG wants a phone interview. It's for a job in Orlando, and it seems fairly interesting. So, I do the interview. I think it went pretty well, but I'll know sometimes next week whether or not I'm getting a free side trip to Orlando during my leave in December. Then, just now I got an email from Anteon. I had applied for a Network Engineer position here in Afghanistan with them, since they pay more than ITT. No luck yet on the job in Afghanistan, but would I be interested in one in Iraq? I replied in the negative since I'm sure Mom would be first in a long line of family and friends with baseball bats if they heard I'm taking a job in Iraq. ;) But, two hits in as many weeks. Suffice to say, I'm happy at my prospects *JUST IN CASE*. LOL

Anyway, MBA's coming along fine. If I can do what I want with my classes, I might be finishing up all my classwork by July and my MBA by November. A year and a month for an MBA, yeah, I'm that bored out here. LOL...nah, I'm just really enjoying the work and I want to keep on top of this. And I think I've got one damn good idea for my capstone, now if my mentor just says so, I'll elaborate. Suffice to say, all you education professionals out there might get tapped for a bit. ;)

Another cold and rainy day, with snow on the mountains now. Oh, and hoochmate just got "promoted" to Network Admin, which is pretty cool since we might be able to work the same shift now since he needs to get trained and up to speed on the network. Heh...I have a padawan now. Scary.

All for now, I remain

I think it's called gallows humor...

Katrina: The Gathering

Rather interesting site a fellow friend sent me. If your familiar with Magic the card game, you'll recognize the format. Gallows humor indeed.

Well, it's now turned cloudy, cold, and rainy here. I know, I was surprised when I opened the door of the hooch this morning. Overcast, chill wind, and that annoying drizzle/sprinkle rain. Kind of weather I generally like, just not for weeks on end. This is the first step to that mystical thing called snow. :)

Still waiting on who got the contract. A coworker told me that the announcement has now been pushed back to December. Wow, there must be some serious fighting going on for this thing. The first date was supposed to be the beginning of October. Then it was pushed back to the end of October. Then it was November 15. Now it's December. My sources have told me that various companies are asking their employees for listings of IT certifications they have. Funny, two weeks ago I got the same type of request. Things that make you go hmmmm.....

Well, back to my HR class. Whee...selection process. *snore*

I remain,

I sorry....

Okay, for those who'd like to post to this...I've had to do a change. Since the damn spammers have sunken to the point of comment spam, I've added Blogger's word verification for comments. I know it's annoying, but to prevent this crap I have to do this.

Anyway, nothing much else is going on. They're clearing out one of the mine fields by the flight line today. So far, they've struck two. It's very unnerving, because you'll be sitting here and then all of a sudden a loud BOOM goes off and you can not only hear it but feel it. I've been told that's what a mortar feels like. Personally, I don't ever want to find out exactly what a mortar feels like, and with winter coming, my odds of not doing so are increasing.

Um...other than that...not much esle. Counting down till I can hop on a flight home.

I remain,

here's hoping

So, after a bit of moping about how I appear to be stuck here, I check my Gmail. Lo and behold, one of the positions that I applied for (Systems Engineer 2/3) at Northrop Grumman wants to do a phone interview with me next week. Now, I don't remember applying to too many jobs in the States, but I did apply to every one in Germany that I was qualified for. But, depending on the job and the compensation, it appears I have a chance to either get to Europe or back "home." So, who knows? Here's hoping! *crosses fingers, toes, and eyes* LOL

Well isn't this special?

I was reading Google news, and just happened upon this tidbit:

GE buys IDX, Inc.

I worked for IDX back in the summer of 1998 in their Boston branch. That was my first real "corporate" experience and it convinced me not to go into programming. It also proved to me that I can go anywhere, not know anyone, and still manage to get along quite well and still have a good time. It gave me the initial confidence that eventually led me here.

Anyway, just figured I'd make a note of it.

I remain,

egads....

Aight....I'm getting blog spam now? Is nothing sacred?! *cursing and mumbling*

from the source....

If anybody is interested in the technical aspects of what the Corps of Engineers is doing in New Orleans, a buddy of mine works for them in Vicksburg. He's posting the updates in his blog:

http://stu161.blogspot.com/

The journey so far....

Okie dokie, after a prodding from a pal, I've decided to recap the goings-on of my vacation so far. Please accept my apologies, as I've been having one hell of a time, and internet access is sometimes hard to come by (I know, in this day and age!).

So, without further ado:

Tuesday, Sept. 6

Get all packed up and ready to go. Nick (hoochmate) tells me that there is a direct flight to Germany leaving at 6:30pm, so we rush from work, grab our stuff, and hurry over to the PAX terminal. Of course, the military being as efficient and clueful as they are told Nick the wrong time of the flight. So, we now have about 15 hours to kill and we're numbers 60 and 61 on a flight that can carry 48 people. Not looking good to catch that flight, so we check our options. There is a flight at 6:30am to Manas, Kyrgyzstan. So, we call the PAX at Manas, and they've got three flights over the next three days to Germany. Bagram: 0. So, we hope on a C-17 and jump over to Manas.

Wednesday, Sept. 7

So we arrive at Manas around 8am. As luck would have it, there was the weekly rotator flight to Germany and Baltimore leaving the next day. And, since we're still just one hop away from Bagram, we're still on the clock. Score. So, we've got a day or so to kill in *exotic* Bishkek. Get a tent (yes, quite literally, a tent) and crash for a few hours. Few hours later notice that said tent is uncomfortably warm, check A/C. Apparently we scored the only tent in Manas who's A/C is on the fritz. There are many more transient tents open, but since we are already assigned, the collective military mind cannot fathom why we want to change. Give up, walk around, stay in A/C'd buildings. Go to early check in, find out we're not on the list. Once again, someone did not have a brain nor clue in the military. I started to notice a trend. Get on the list. Go back to now cold tent, take shower, crash.

Thursday, Sept. 8

At 10am, board plane to Germany. Stared out of the window for about three hours till I fell asleep. Wake up to pilot announcing descent to Rhein-Main. Land and go through the last of the military hassles for a bit. Walk outside, find out the shuttle to Frankfurt International that's supposed to run all day and early evening no longer does so but stops at 3pm. It's now 5pm. Attempt to find someone in a uniform with a clue, fail to do so. Nick finally calls the central transportation office, find out there's a shuttle bus coming to get everyone off the flight that no one but them knew about. Communication in action, folks.

Get to Frankfurt International. Take a train to Frankfurt Hauptbanhof (train station). Go to service desk, cross our fingers, and hope that there's a train to Amsterdam tonight. There is not. However, there is a combination of trains that will get us there. Score. Print up plan, head to platform and board our train to Dusseldorf. Nice ride in luxury train. Get to Dusseldorf, and switch to crappier train in route to Venlo. Get to Venlo with two minutes till the next train leaves. Of course, the train is on the other side of the station. RUN to next, even crappier train to Eindhoven. Get to Eindhoven with one minute to spare, but the train is the next platform over. Hop out of train, hop on to new one. Proceed to Amsterdam.

We get to Amsterdam central around 1am. By the time we navigate to a route map, it's now 1:10am. The last train leaving to Alkmaar (hotel) left at 1:06am. Joy. No buses connect to Alkmaar that we can find. So, tally ho to a taxi. Take a taxi to Alkmaar, arrive at hotel, pay extortionary fare, gawk at room. Plop into bed, remark about sheer comfort of mattress, comforter, A/C, etc. Fall promptly and soundly to sleep.

Friday, Sept. 9

First day in Amsterdam. Walked about 8 miles in total, and saw a bunch of stuff. Stopped in a few cafes and had a good time. Many stories too long to type here. Suffice to say, an overall good, full, and tiring day.

Saturday, Sept. 10

Hit the red light district. Gawked at gorgeous women of every nationality in windows. Hit more cafes. Took a canal tour of the city. Sit and enjoy ambience of Damsplein. More overly long stories.

Sunday, Sept. 11

Went to the Rijksmuseum. Was vastly disappointed in the selection of displays. Found out that the museum is undergoing renovation till 2008, and that the current display is about 1/10th of what is available normally. Nick and I both soundly cuss the lack of notices about this until you get past the ticket window. Proceed to Van Gogh museum, gawk at a whole crapload of Van Gogh works. Go to Museumplein (giant park/field) and chill for a bit. Walk around some more, go to torture museum. Discuss the fact that while interesting, the torture museum is not worth the five euro it costs. Come back to Alkmaar, crash.

Monday, Sept. 12

Down day. Walk around Alkmaar a bit. Each lunch at a bar/cafe/hotel that I will be staying at and recommending from now on whenever I come back (http://www.stadenland.com). Talk to a buxsome barmaid about the Netherlands, our jobs, Amsterdam, and her hometown of Den Holden. Proceed to spend 45 minutes walking around and looking for a laundromat that's "right on the other side of the train station." Ask one woman who has no idea. Ask another gentleman whose English is about as good as my Dutch. I then ask if he speaks French. Of course, the fates would dictate that I just happened to ask the local high school French teacher if he speaks French. Proceed to have a very productive conversation in French while walking around looking for the laudromat. Eventually find the 8'x5' sqaure "laundromat" on the other side of a parking lot construction site literally on the other side of the train station. Have a parting conversation where I am told that it is amazing that an American has such a good command of French. I thank him, and the proceed to launder. Walk back to hotel, meet Nick, and we go and chow down on some of the best sushi ever at the local Japanese place.

Tuesday, Sept. 13

Slept late. Went into Amsterdam one last time. Walked around a bit, and ate dinner. Nick has an early morning flight to the States out of Frankfurt tomorrow, so he took the overnight train tonight. I'll be doing the same thing tomorrow night to Munich.

So far, this has been by far one of the best vacations that I have ever taken. Amsterdam is very walkable (even for a fat boy like me!) and has so many cool little nooks and crannies all over the place. Everyone here is very accepting of Americans, and have no problem helping us in English after we butcher their language. The *only* problem that I had was when I was verbally accosted by a rather drunk South African. Suffice to say that before I was forced to defend myself physically after returning some witty repartee, about five Dutch men standing in the ticket line with me soundly shouted down said drunk and restrained him and eyed me warily. After the drunk left, I had *THEM* apologizing to *ME* about *HIS* behavior in their country. I was floored. Suffice to say, Holland has jumped way up on the list of "retire to" countries.

Anyway, off to Munich tomorrow. I'll post from there too. Tot Kijk!

I remain,