aufgebloggen

2006-09-30T11:34:00.000+02:00

Steph and I just got back from Brugge. It was our little vacation to celebrate us getting back together again after the deployment. We both agree that not only Brugge, but Belgium itself is very underrated. I would even agree that it might be more romantic than Paris!Yeah I said it! So we got to our lovely hotel, which was more than I thought would be. The room was nice even though there was no shower curtain and the beds were just pushed together to form a super bed. Breakfast was included, which is something that we look for now. We learned out lesson in Brussles. The center of the town was only a few minutes walk from where we stayed. There was a little store called the Beer Temple, on the way, and which I stopped twice. I actaully tried something new to eat there, which suprised even me. Turns out that I like something called Chicken in the Brugges style. Apparently, I perked up when I was told that it was a beer sauce. We tried our first beer there, called Leffe. After working on the half liter for a little bit, I turned to Steph and told her with every bit of seriousness, that " It hit me like a brick oven." I did not even notice what I said until the laughter went on histarically for a little bit. She even made sure to write that down. While we were there, we climbed the Belfrey, which was small beans compared to the Eifel tower. It was only 366 steps. There was also a lovely view to compliment us on our achievement of climbing to the top. We got a very nice copper tea kettle/coffee maker there as well. We were sure to note that the bottom had handmade in Belgium on it, as per all the antique shows that we see on the British channels. We would be sure to visit Brugge again if we ever get the chance.

2006-09-28T20:34:00.000+02:00

Who loves Brugge? I DO!

2006-09-28T20:30:00.000+02:00

The ever popular close up of what we ate, but this time, drank. Please notice the beard. That took some getting used to. I am still holding a special place in my heart for Grimbergen, although this Leffe was really good.

2006-09-28T20:28:00.000+02:00

The now standard close up of the local fare. Here we are tasting Leffe.

2006-09-28T20:27:00.000+02:00

Brugge city hall at night.

2006-09-28T20:26:00.000+02:00

The Brugge Belfrey. It is leaning by 4 feet, much like the tower of Pisa.

2006-09-28T20:25:00.000+02:00

The main square/market place.

2006-09-28T20:24:00.000+02:00

Some of the resturaunts in the main square.

2006-09-28T20:23:00.000+02:00

The church of Our Lady.

2006-09-28T20:22:00.000+02:00

A little sugar by one of the canals.

I almost feel sorry for our kids

2006-09-22T09:34:00.000+02:00

Our poor kids are going to have to deal with us. Time and time again, I have said that Steph and I need our own reality show, just so people see how we are in our house. Last night, I walk in to the kitchen and start rapping and about something like turkey or Steph making he lunch for the next day. At this Steph picks up the cue to do what I would call a "hip-hop jig". I was quite a sight; me rapping/doing the robot about a sandwich and my wife flapping her arms and legs in the air. I then thought our poor kids are going to have to be subject to this. At this the laughter broke out for quite some time.

Good sleepy time comedy

2006-09-21T10:49:00.000+02:00

Ahh the joy of sleeping with another person again. In the desert, I was sleeping on the top bunk, an error that I will be sure to never repeat. It does me no good, being almost 30 to have to hop on and off a bed. What am I, in 6th grade? The bed was also solid as a rock and small enough to accomadate most of my torso. Well, whilst slowly adjusting to the joys of sleeping with another person, namely the wife, one encounters various quips. I was sleeping last night, on my stomach; which for me means that I have my headon my hands and my pillow on top of my head; for safe keeping of course. Well, the wife thought that I still was using the second pillow which we prop under ourselves for t.v. watching. She immediately took the pillow, which she thought would be cumbersome, off and threw it on the ground. In my sleepy stupor, I could still manage a witty remark, saying, "Ahh, who needs pillows?" She then realized that I had my sleeping pillow on top my head and quickly replaced it. I had a good laugh at this when she recounted it at the morning coffe. Good times indeed.

2006-09-16T17:31:00.000+02:00

Crappy picture, but these are where we stayed. Each window was a 10' x 10' room that you shared with someone. PLease notice all the white. Sunglasses where almost mandatory. I never even went to the bathroom without them. My closest bathroom was about a minute walk outside the building.

2006-09-16T17:28:00.000+02:00

So, here were the amazing exploding circuit breakers. I had about 4 blow up in my face while I was down there. We were careful not to touch the test button from then. Funny thing is, you have to touch the test button to make sure that it is working properly.

2006-09-16T17:26:00.001+02:00

America's Number One threat.

2006-09-16T17:26:00.000+02:00

Dj Desert Dan mixing it up for ya'll.

2006-09-16T17:25:00.002+02:00

Hit man in the Middle East.

2006-09-16T17:25:00.001+02:00

I earned my line number for Staff Sergeant.

2006-09-16T17:25:00.000+02:00

One of the times I went downtown. You would never be able to know, but right here, the humidity must have been about 99%, seriously!

2006-09-16T17:10:00.001+02:00

I held the power for the base in my hands!!!!

2006-09-16T17:10:00.000+02:00

This is what most of my life was like. The guy next to me, well, shall we say, mmm, allowed me to get a lot done most of the time.

2006-09-16T17:09:00.000+02:00

Here I am before the drenched shirt and sore hands.

2006-09-16T17:08:00.001+02:00

Here I am trying to get an A/C unit running. We spent a lot (A LOT) of time helping out HVAC. Here this tent belonged to some British guys that just got there, they were not used to the heat yet. I didn't fix it by the way, the motor was burnt up.

2006-09-16T17:08:00.000+02:00

Just doing a little digging as a last ditch effort to get some work done.

2006-09-16T17:06:00.000+02:00

This is most of the night crew. Not pictured here are TSgt Spencer and SrA Moses, both of which were awesome guys. I can't remember why they weren't there that day.

2006-09-16T17:05:00.000+02:00

This was the thermometer the day that we left.

I'm Back!

2006-09-15T12:37:00.000+02:00

So, I have returned from the desert all safe and sound. I got back on the 12th, which should have been the 11th, but there were plane delays and then paperwork errors, and then the crew needed to get rest. Well, after about a 24 hour delay, I finally got home. It was good seeing Steph! I have gone through all my inprocessing and now have 2 weeks off until I go back to work. Then after one week of work I am going to take a couple of weeks off for the Mother in lay and Steph's sister, Anna, to come and visit. When I get back to work from that., I am going to be pretty much getting ready to move to our next base, which we don't know as of yet. I will be putting some pictures up shortly, right now I am busy still playing with my iPod which I got there, and putting all the music that I can onto it. Believe me, if it weren't for my iPod and my PSP, I would have died of boredom. So I hope that you are all doing well, and I look forward to talking to you all soon.

Tchuss!

2006-05-08T18:51:00.000+02:00

I am on the way in 2 days. I think that I might be able to post things there, but I am not sure about being able to read them. I know that sounds strange, but it is the way it is. I will try to keep in contact, where possible.
Talk to you all soon.

We're back.

2006-04-07T19:08:00.001+02:00

So we are back home. It is strange to think of home being in Germany. Anyway, our vacation in London was awesome.
It takes about an hour to get to the airport that we flew out of, and that is moslty because you have to take farming roads. We flew with Ryanair, the craziest first-come-first-served airline ever. We still don't know why they can't just assign seats. So you have to line up way early and fight a European crowd (which means all over you, super close) to hopefully get a seat next to your loved one. I did not even have a chance to read all of my Rolling Stone before we were in London. It was less than an hour flight, but the landing there was dreadful. We did not even get out of the airport before the spending began. There was a Clark's store there, and well, lovely shoes too. Shopping with luggage was quite a chore. There also was a sports store there, but I bit my tongue and waited to get a soccer jersey (which would not last all that long).
We had to get on a train to get to the center of London, which I am still trying to define, as there was a bunch a city names that we ran into. Well, the train was a 45 minutes stroll through very rural England. At least it was more exciting than the drive to Paris. When we got to our stop for the "tube", we had seen more people there than in all of Bitburg. A few stops later, we got to our stop for our hotel and dumped off our baggage. We could not wait too long before we wanted to get out and about London. We started at all the closer things, which to us meant shopping streets. Right outside our tube stop was a Virgin megastore, to which I gasped and ran into. 5 Cds later, we were on our way. The long walk along a beautiful park dumped us off at Harrod's, a world famous department store. We walked around in there laughing at the ridiculous prices, but ran into something way more precious....Krispy Kremes! We bought some, and took some home for the following morning.
Then we went to Tower of London, Tower Bridge, St Paul's church, and plenty of walking. Finding food in London is not tough, finding GOOD food in London is a different story. I can now relay almost all of the cafe/restaurants menu......Burgers, Pasta (about 5 things), Main Course (including English breakfast....look it up, everything fried), and Starters. The thing is that everyone had the same menu.
Picadilly Circus and Oxford street were lovely, all shopping areas, then after asking some Brits, we took their advice and went to Trafalagar's Square. That was a disappointment, but it took us down The Mall to Buckingham Palace, and further on to Big Ben. We decided to drop the money for the London Eye, which is a huge Ferris Wheel that allows for great views of London.
The last full day was us just looking around from more things to look at. After the original Hard Rock, I wanted to make sure that I got a pint of lager somewhere legitimate. We found an Irish pub, where some Irish music was playing live. That was a great experience for me. That day too, I found a place that really had my clans tartan, in scarf form. It took the guy looking around a few moments to find it, but I had to get it.
I would say that in London, we had more American food than we have had in the 3 years we have been here. While we did not find the Wendy's; the Krispy Kreme, TGI Friday's, Hard Rock, and KFC all were quite a treat. But we are glad to be back in our bed, and not one made of stone.

2006-04-07T19:08:00.000+02:00

The ol' one arm shot of us in front of Parliament and "Big Ben".

2006-04-07T19:07:00.000+02:00

Buckingham Palace. The road next to it was called The Mall. It was a long street were they do all the processions. On the left here was a beautiful park.

2006-04-07T19:06:00.000+02:00

Picadilly Circus. Note that there are no clowns or lions and elephants. London's Times Square. This was a great shopping area.

2006-04-07T19:04:00.001+02:00

This is Tower Bridge, not London Tower.

2006-04-07T19:04:00.000+02:00

This is from inside the Tower of London showing the Tower bridge.

2006-04-07T19:03:00.000+02:00

A Yeoman Warder, otherwise known as "Beefeater". He was very funny and knowledgable.

2006-03-25T20:57:00.000+01:00

I see that I have not updated this in a while. It is amazing that it has been that long.
Well for 2 weeks in a row in March, we had an exercise. I had little time to do anything then. The last week of it, I worked 12 hour shifts. Today, being on standby, I had to drive around for about 2 hours total, picking up trash because our commander said so. We had some people visit, and I guess seeing us drive around aimlessly was supposed to impress them. Amazing. God really answered dome prayer though, last week. I was scheduled to go TDY (a business trip basically) for a class that I had already been to. As I did not want to go again, I made mention of this to my leadership, all of which fell on deaf ears. As I gave up, and the Friday before we were supposed to leave, people finally realized what I had been saying to them and let me stay. I am super glad that I did not have to go, as I would have had to come back and be immediately on standby, and miss a free day off. That was ridiculous enough.
Aside from work, and more positve; we went to a house warming party for our friends. They moved out of base housing to a little town, which was really lovely. It made me wish that we could do that, but it it way too much a headache for all that. Afterward, we went to the monthly comedy show, which, believe it or not had someone who actually was famous. I guess he starred with Halle Barrey in BAPS. Either way, he was hilarious. There was an English woman who was there who was dreadful. Steph and I had to translate some of her lingo to the others on account of all the BBC that we watch.
I finally bench pressed 315 lbs and did it 4 times! I have been working for that goal for a while now. That was huge for me to reach. My new goal is to squat 405 lbs without cheating 2 times.
Lastly, I saw on my transcripts that I am one class/3 credits away from getting my A.A. from the Air Force. The best thing is, that military members can take a test called C.L.E.P tests that count for 3 credits. I took that test already and as soon as it comes back, and they say that I passed it, I will have a degree! I am so excited and have been looking at the English B.A. program already.
Well that is about it...

2006-02-26T16:35:00.000+01:00

Steph and I are on the squadron volleyball team. I did not choose to be on the "soccer" team this year b/c I wanted to try something new. Steph is a pro. The rest of the team agree that she is quite valuable to us. I should mention that we are undefeated as of yet. (What that really means is that we have played one game and the other team only had 5 people show up, but no the less it was a win).
I had my 4 day weekend cut short. I had to come in on Saturday night and sit around for 3 hours and then again on Monday to sit around for 12 hours. Why you may ask? So would I. It has something to do with water not pumping away, and why would that have anything to do with an electrician? We are still waiting to find out that answer. Ridiculous.
We are waiting to go to London. We have our hotel and flight all planned. I am so excited. This trip is something I have looked forward to since I was in Jr. High. There are so many things that I want to see and buy there. I wish the pound was not so expensive though. We are losing about one dollar for every pound, but what better way to spend our anniversary together. None better way.

2006-02-17T22:32:00.000+01:00

I super like the Russian Olympic clothes. Tell me how I can buy something....http://www.boscosport.ru/turin2006/male/

2006-02-04T18:57:00.000+01:00

One of the guys in our shop got a D.U.I. What does that mean for me..?

-get called out of bed Saturday morning to clean the shop for 3 hours.
-have to stand in formation and get inspected by the base boss next Saturday morning.
-have to pass out flyers at the main gates for 2 hours Friday.
-have to pass out flyers at the post office for 2 hours Saturday.
-get yelled at by our commander.
-more to come I'm sure.

You gotta it.

Berfday

2006-01-28T21:49:00.000+01:00

For my birthday, I got to save the world at work, and listen to our boss talk for 45 minutes straight. What a way to celebrate. However, my awesome wife, Steph made me a SUPER delicious cake, which lasted only 3 days. We got a head start on it the day before. I got to open some presents which were all really cool.
Today we went down to Ramstien for some Chili's and some shopping. Normally, we have a really bad experience at Chili's, but not so much this time. It was actually fairly descent. The shopping was horrible though. We were looking for shoes, work out wear, and suitcases. The Ramstien store usually has more selection, hence the reason we drive one hour down there, but there was nothing that we wanted. We only walked away with some shower curtains. Awww, Germany.

2006-01-19T21:14:00.000+01:00

My stupid Supervision class is finally over. I took the final yesterday. I also got some information about playing in the sand.

2006-01-16T15:15:00.000+01:00

Today I woke up early, ( I had the day off), went down to my car, scraped off the ice and braved the 18F/ -8C degree weather to work out my legs for 2 hours and then played walleyball (volleyball in a raquetball court) for another 2 hours. 2 weeks ago I deadlifted 405! Crazy.
I have been working on getting through this online class that I have been taking. I can't wait for it to be done on the 27th of Jan. The teacher does not answer any questions as I have been doing things blindly. I just want to get it over with. I have still been trying to work out my workout schedule since I am working different hours now. Working with the German, Udo is his name; really nice guy, has been good, but I miss working on the runway. There was a lot more job saisfaction in that.
I have been playing A LOT of FIFA '05 on the Xbox. I know that my time should go elsewhere, but, it is a good release.
cherp.

2005-12-24T22:56:00.000+01:00

Holiday Goatee says, "Merry Christmas"

2005-12-24T16:35:00.000+01:00

Merry Christmas!

2005-12-22T20:16:00.000+01:00

Steph and I took a friend to Cologne for another Christmas Market. There were supposedly 7 other markets, but we did not try to walk to see all of them. They are really the same after a while. We ate at the Hard Rock cafe, which as ok. Our waiter was obvioulsy British, and smiled far too much for me. It was as if he were hiding something. I finally tried the Cologne cologne. Yeah, it smells like some sort of cleaning fluid. I had heard though, that back in the Middle Ages, they would drink the stuff on account of its healing powers. I think it would have cleaned out your colon. I did buy a hat, though, and Steph got some "suspect" hand lotion. Our friend did not really seem into it, at all. So we left, and went home, where we are now.

2005-12-22T20:10:00.000+01:00

A rare find in Germany.

2005-12-17T12:01:00.000+01:00

Here's Ryan at the Christmas Party we had for our squadron. Well, I have not updated the ol' gesicht for 2 reasons. One being that we had been really busy. The class that I am taking online and all the stuff at work, not to mention the Holiday bustle; have made it a rather busy time. Plus, I have been a little sick. Well to keep you up to date, I got passed up on another award and I am getting moved out of the depatment (for lack of a better description) that I loved. On the other hand, up and coming is the holy celebration of the birth of our saviour whom we desperately needed/need, and it is snowing outside right now.

2005-11-27T18:21:00.000+01:00

Steph and I went to most of the local Weihnachtsmarkt. This one was in Dudeldorf. We went to Bitburg and Trier too. Originally it was snowing and made for a nice day, but later it turned into slush. Still, lovely shopping in Germany.

2005-11-27T18:18:00.001+01:00

Another "shop" in Dudeldorf.

2005-11-27T18:18:00.000+01:00

This was the market in Trier. This photo was taken after the hail storm. Before that it was nice, and before that it was snowing. The weather just could not make up it's mind.

2005-11-27T18:16:00.000+01:00

This was in Trier. This HUGE pyramid was in front of the Dom there. I just thought it looked nice.

2005-11-25T23:07:00.001+01:00

The original POLAR ninja. Watch out for the kung-fu grip.

2005-11-25T23:07:00.000+01:00

Lurking ninja. Here the ninja moves silently behind the couch.

2005-11-25T23:05:00.000+01:00

Snow ninja. We need not tie our shoelaces.

2005-11-25T17:41:00.000+01:00

Here is our IKEA table. We had this done the night before, just to see what it would look like. I went online to see how to fold some napkin designs. Originally, I had ones that were folded in the goblets, but it got ruled down on account of it being way too fancy.

2005-11-25T17:38:00.000+01:00

The guys that we had over. The one on the far right is German and this was his first Thanksgiving. We were pretty happy that he had it with us.

2005-11-25T17:37:00.000+01:00

The final moments of the bird. I think that I found the extra gibblets bag here shortly after. We thought that we took out all extra bags, but one made it through.

2005-11-18T12:40:00.000+01:00

It is getting a lot colder here. I think the high for the next couple of days is in the 30's-40's F. I have not seen any snow, as the forecasted a couple of days ago. The wind certainly adds a great degree of chilliness, especially when I am on the runway at work and there is nothing to take the brunt of the ice wind.
I had signed up for 2 classes, a management class and a college algebra class. I got the receipt for the management class. Unfortunately the field rep. for the school is gone and does not return until after the term has already started. Well, I have been trying to see why I have not been let into the math class (not like I am looking forward to it or anything) and they said that I needed placement tests or previous math classes. The field rep. who is gone told me that there was no such thing, did not ask for anything like that; and furthermore, a buddy of mine took the same classes and was enrolled without any placement, test scores, or proof of classes. This has been a headache for me, especially since I bought the book, which was not cheap. I am still waiting to hear from them. I hope they act quick, since the term starts 28 Nov.

I've been taggered

2005-11-02T19:44:00.000+01:00

So I have been tagged, but if you are reading thins, then you either are the tagger, or you have been tagged, or you know nothing of what I am saying. Apparently, I must post 20 things that I have not posted before about myself. This is hard since I am not all that creative nor interesting. So, here goes nothing, you won't get past #2.

1. My name in French class was Jean-Luc, it was on a dare from a friend, and no one else thought it was funny. In retrospect; it is not.

2. I don't like food touching, cold meat, wet bread or cake smashed into the couch, go figure.

3. The greatest moment in my life was watching Stephanie get baptized, the most confusing moment in my life is on-going; why would God want me?

4. I live life in the past.

5. I am selfish.

6. When I was younger, my brother and I would play in the garage; I would own the company "Spies 'R' Us" and he would be the fire dept. Currently, he is in the fire dept, and I am not a spy.

7. I like expensive shoes, pants, underwear; but I will skimp on socks and shirts. I don't know why.

8. I can dance a mean robot.

9. I accepted Christ after a long time of living in a church family.

10. There was once a stick that I would play with, when I was younger. It was a sword, gun, bow, and oar. That was a great stick.

11. Ranch dressing goes on anything.

12. The only cooking I can do would have to do with the oven and something frozen.

13. One of my biggest pet peeves is people standing in the doorway, ARGH!

14. I have never met one of my heroes. For the most part, they live in Britain, or most likely Chicago. I would rather go to the U.K.

15. I would rather sleep than drive, but I would rather lift weights than sit around.

16. I hate swimming. There is something unnatural about a human being underwater.

17. I used to play the clarinet. All the cool guys were playing the drums. After 3-4 years of mastering the clarinet, and seeing that there was absolutely no future in it, I switched to the drums.

18. I am a collector, of what you may ask? Anything that has more than one of itself. I need to get rid of some crap.

19. Initiative and self motivation are the corner stones of success. That, and of course, pizza.

20. Secretly, I think that there is something lurking in the dark, but only after movies. That's when they get you.

2005-10-30T21:15:00.000+01:00

Now, I know what you are all thinking, "My goodness, what happened to this cake?" Well, I am glad that you can even tell that it is a cake. I put on the frosting way too early. I could not, for the life of me, fill in the hole, which only got bigger and bigger. Under normal circumstances, and I think that Steph would agree, I am a descent froster. I make them into pieces of art. This one got away from me, in a big way.
Well, in other news, I have signed up for classes. I have a math class (which I can't fail, but I jumped in with both feet in this one) and a Supervision class. The good news in this is, that I will have only one more class to go to finish my Air Force degree, and then the college that is here fom Maryland will review my transcripts upon taking one more class with them (the last management class that I need to finish the AF degree). The term starts on 28Nov. and goes till my birthday, great way to end, I would say.
Also, I failed to qualify shooting the M-16. Tomorrow I must try again. I think that it is funny that I only can shoot every 15 months, but they want me to be a sniper. Hopefully, I will make it this time, things can really suck if I don't get it. Other than that, we are gearing for another 2 exercises, another week of 12 hour shifts and what not. I can't wait till it is over so I can look forward to Christmas. I have standby on Thanksgiving, but the other holidays are clear, at least for me. We are having 2 guys from the shop come over and have some turkey with us. It will be a good time.

2005-10-30T21:13:00.000+01:00

Here is a lovely pose for you all. There was another one, in which I was posing as if I had the blazer that I ordered, however, it came our far too blurry to post.

Wittlicher Oktoberfest

2005-10-23T16:23:00.000+02:00

We went to Oktoberfest last night. We had planned this trip for a while, and for the rest of the electric shop. Well, all the civlivan Germans bailed out and the the G.I.s too. That was not enough to stop us. I think the plan is that we are going to go again next weekend, but have a table reserved for us.
The tent was pretty big, but I have seen bigger, I did not expect much for a small farming town in the Eifel region. Wittlich is about a 25 minute drive from here on the autobahn. When we walked in, we started sweating immediately. It was crazy hot in there. I had to tote around my sweater, which I had prepared to be the brunt of my outfit for the evening. I had not planned to wear that brown shirt, which showed the sweat to my horror.
The beer was not cheap, for the full liter it was E6.40. We could have bought almost 2 sixpacks of Bitburger for that price.I was not all that impressed with the taste either. Furthermore, after drinking a liter, I was not all that affected. I thought that strange. Maybe because my metabolism has beceome so fast, and that I was sweating like a freak, there was little time for the alcohol to remian in my body: another benefit for working out.
People were all over the place, mostly standing on the benches as is there were a flood present or on the way. The music was all crowd friendly sing-a-long stuff. The kind of songs that stick in your head after you hear them even remotely.
The poor souls that had the misfortune of sitting next to us, took it like a champ. I was feeding the boys the little German that I know to talk to the girls that were next to us. They would report back to me what they said, and then go from there. One of them turned out the be 14. When we found that out, I could see that a lot of the girls out there looked really young. I can't place ages anymore, like I used too. I can not tell a high schooler from a middle schooler.
Well after the liter, Steph and I left, hit up McDonald's and went to sleep.

2005-10-23T16:20:00.000+02:00

This girl had the unfortunate luck of sitting next to us. I was telling Jarred what to say to her in German. Turns out, she was only 14. YIKES!

2005-10-23T16:19:00.000+02:00

One of these things don't belong, one of these things is not like the other. My beer was clearly (literally) not as tasty.

2005-10-23T16:18:00.000+02:00

The sexy wife, chips to get the beer, and the closed eyes of Lou

2005-10-23T16:17:00.000+02:00

Excuse me, I ordered the LARGE beer.

The Bitburger Brewery tour

2005-10-16T17:24:00.000+02:00

I forgot to tell you all that we went to the Bitburg Brewery on Monday, Columbus day. That was a good time. Since we are locals, the tour was free. I did not understand it, but we had to meet up at the offices, to watch a video, that did not say much really. Then after that we went to the "Bit Shop" for some souvenirs. I just got some glasses. I am going to go back and get the soccerball that they had there. I did not have the money at the time. It was only E 24 though. Then drive back to the actual brewery, then drive back to the Gasthaus to "taste".
We went to Ramstein on Saturday, turns out that I STILL hate the Chili's there. I could not ask for worse customer service, nor a longer wait. Clearly, we could all agree that there is a difference between Ranch dressing and Blue Cheese, and I had to ask 2 waitresses for this catastrophe. I told Steph that if I ever suggest that place again, she is to remind that there has only been one good time there. And we are to never go there again.
Steph and I have been praying about what to do next with what to do with our lives. There has been another opportunity that has come up for me. It would keep me in the Air Force, but in a weird way it would be completely different. Anyways, we just want to know what God wants of us, and to know what we want too. I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up. Like I said, I just want to know what I want, and what would be best for us.
On Wedesday, I get my new stripe. I am looking forward to that with all sorts of reservation. It is a step towards making my way in SOMETHING, making a career, but I still don't know if it is the right one. I do however, like the pay raise, I am sure thought that it is not a whole lot.

Well, Here's to Autumn!

2005-10-16T17:23:00.001+02:00

Where we went.

2005-10-16T17:23:00.000+02:00

Who we went with. (Jaime is taking the picture).

2005-10-16T17:22:00.000+02:00

Here at the resturaunt with the 5 free beers that we got, to "taste".

2005-10-16T17:21:00.000+02:00

Yo, that is a lot of beer.

2005-10-16T17:20:00.000+02:00

Here is the chimney that I see all the tme from my place. It is a chimney, and I asked if Santa Claus comes down it, the tour guide said no.

2005-10-16T17:19:00.000+02:00

The whirly twirly of the bottle filling.

2005-10-08T21:51:00.000+02:00

Here is my new postcard photo. This is Cochem in the fog with the Mosel river creeping right beside it.

2005-10-08T21:50:00.000+02:00

As we were leaving the fog cleared and I got this shot off.

2005-10-08T21:49:00.001+02:00

The majesty that is Burg Cochem.

2005-10-08T21:49:00.000+02:00

A shot from closer up.

2005-10-08T21:48:00.000+02:00

This is the huge mosiac of St. Christopher on the side of the castle. I thought it was a painting, but it is a mosiac, not a painting.

2005-10-08T21:47:00.001+02:00

This is a lion with a helmet, not a frog. Also, a great view of the Mosel river.

2005-10-08T21:47:00.000+02:00

Here are the Jungs we went with. Josh, Jared, and Luis, from left to right.

2005-10-08T21:46:00.000+02:00

The oldest wine kellar in the Cochem. We got some really cheap, and crappy wine from here.

Zurück zu Cochem

2005-10-08T21:42:00.000+02:00

The guys wanted to check out a castle, and we wanted to get out of the house. Steph and I went to Cochem with her mom, but forgot our camera. This time we made sure. It was foggy in the morning, but that soon burnt off and was quite a lovely day. We took the tour, again for us, and then walked around the town. We finally found a pizza that was truly the worst that I have ever tasted, and bought some wine, which upon opening when Steph and I got home, turns out to be dreadful as well. Depsite all that, it was a great time seeing Germany.
Since we have Monday off, I kind of suggested touring the Bitburg Brewery at the shop, which turned into a big to do; never the less we are going. It is ashamed that Steph can't go, due to working, but since it turns out to be free, I am sure that we shall go again, since it is across the street.
I have had a cold for some time now. Then it went away and came back with an annoying cough. The guy I work with went to the doctor for the same thing. Stuck in a truck and working together for hours, you are bound to share sicknesses. The doc said that he had Bronchitis. I did not believe it, as the health care is super horrible here. Well, I believe it now. I have had a major cough for about 2 days, and upon taking something for it, I have seen what was in my lungs to cause all of it. I think that it is finally going away, and hopefully Steph won't catch it either.
Well, 11 more days till my promotion.

the 900 club

2005-10-03T17:57:00.000+02:00

I just got back from the gym. I had to go even though we had today off. One of my goals was to get 900. That is, 300 dead lift, 300 leg squat and 300 flat bench press. Well, to day I got the 300 leg squat and I have had the 300 dead lift. If only I was not such a weakling with the bench press.

2005-10-02T22:33:00.000+02:00

The finished product, including the floating shelves.

2005-10-02T22:32:00.000+02:00

After 6 hours, I can hardly believe I am still standing.

Jam Session

2005-10-02T22:18:00.000+02:00

Steph and I just finished a jam session. I taught her how to play "Just Like Heaven" from the Cure on bass, and she picked it up like a champ. I was really impressed and proud.
We found out that there was a new IKEA built just outside Luxembourg, in Belgium. That was only about 1 hour and 10 minutes away, so we had to hit that up. I remember Gabe saying that, "Ikea brings out the worst in people." I thought of that and laughed a bit. It was not till I got home and started assembling did I remember why. 2 hours shopping and a mere 4 hours assembly, what value! It does however look completely awesome, and we love it. Our place now look like a house, a cozy place where we live instead of stay. We can imagine our house that we own, with the t.v. stand in the living room. I have tomorrow off, and I also get the next Monday off. I am pretty excited about that. I don't really know what we are going to do, but certainly work out the legs. I always work out the legs on Monday, it is just the thing to do. Now, however, the guy that I work with wants to work out with me, not a problem since I needed a partner for heavier weight. Well, one day we worked out legs on a Wednesday, and then played 2 hours of ultimate Frisbee afterwards. Well, the soreness lasted a little longer than normal. I am used to some part of me being sore, but my "partner" was COMPLETELY sore. It was funny to watch. He tried to keep up with me and the weight I was doing. Not a great idea. The following days later, he had trouble walking and even standing. That'll show him.

2005-09-24T10:57:00.000+02:00

I just got done working out with Ryan. That would make it the 6th workout this week, is that an addiction?
I am on standby, and got jacked the first night. Poor Steph had to get woken up many times as they called me at 10:30 and 12:00, and then everytime I came in the door. I know that it is part of the job, but it is one (of the many) that I don't like. Enough about that.
A lot of my friends are going to Oktoberfest. If it weren't $85, and I was not on stanby, I think that I still might not want to go. The German that I work with suggested that it is something that I should do while I am here. The problem is that Steph and I don't like huge crowds, and they get rarely bigger than Oktoberfest. I am considering maybe that we should go to the smaller towns around here. Munich is too far to drive too.
Steph and I went to the BX last night to get some shoes, pants and a cd; all we got was a candle. They had nothing. It is pretty comical after a while.
I am going to go drink my protein now.

Bachelor towel

2005-09-18T17:10:00.000+02:00

It's beginning to look a lot like November in San Jose. I miss those times. Ahh...band season.

There has not been a whole lot going on. Steph is away right now. I miss her terribly and it has only been about 4 hours. At first, I was a little looking forward to it, on account that I was going to get some "me" time, but I don't think that I want "me" time; more like "us" time, that is way better. I don't know what to do with myself. I played some video games for about 2 hours without even noticing how annoyed I was getting at it.

I am looking forward to a few albums coming out, that is pretty exciting. Depeche Mode and Lowgold. Other than that, I have been pressing on with work. I was having such a bad attitude towards it for such a long time, then I prayed about it; lo and behold, it has certainly gotten better. What is more, is that on 19 Oct, I can look forward to a promotion. With that, I want to buy myself something to celebrate, but I don't know what that is yet. At least when people look at me, they will see another stripe, that just what I have now.

I guess I better start making something to eat, no it is not Pizza Rolls.

Check out www.madsenmusik.de and go to musik and click on "Immer mehr".

Is there some big sacrifice that you have made to get you where you are now? Do you regret any of them? Do you wish you made some?

2005-09-05T08:22:00.000+02:00

I must apologize, that I forgot my camera and missed documenting the Wienfest in a Middle Ages town, Bernkastel-Kues. I did not get a photo of the fireworks display from the castle and the river. I could of had a picture of the German 80's rock band playing German drinking songs dressed up in their Lederhosen and hundreds of Germans swaying to their music. I wish I would had taken a picture of the rows of wineries.
It was a good time. Steph and I tried a few wines and found one that we liked, what was more interesting was that it is a red wine. The mosel River, where all the wines are made, is notorious for making lots of white wine. I did not think that there was a red wine out here.
Saturday, needing new tires for my car, we went around pricing tires. Not that exciting, huh? Well, I did most of it in German. That was pretty fun. Except for one question from one place and one question from another place, it was al in Deutsch. Awesome. Well, hooray for me.

Ein Fest

2005-08-27T21:21:00.000+02:00

Steph and I went to the Manderscheid Burgfest. It was like the Renaissance fair, but more authentic on account of the castle. There were the goofballs in the garb, some more than others. We got some cool goblets that you had to get for all the beverages, but we decided to keep them instead of getting out deposit back. I was looking forward to seeing some jousting, as I had seen said activity on all sorts of flyers, and have heard that they have done that in recent fests. Well, after waiting for over an hour on a bench, which was encroached upon heavily, and I mean heavily, by other Germans, we got to see a mere sword fight, that lasted only 10-15 minutes. I was not too happy to have a German's leg touching my back the whole time we sat there and watched the show. But, for all that, it was a fun time, and we got the cool clay goblets to prove it.

2005-08-27T21:20:00.002+02:00

Here is where we went for the Burgfest.

2005-08-27T21:20:00.001+02:00

Die Mandersheider Burgen.

2005-08-27T21:20:00.000+02:00

Festival at the foot of a castle.

2005-08-27T21:19:00.000+02:00

Here was the Handwerkermarkt. They sold everything you needed to be a nerd.

2005-08-27T21:18:00.000+02:00

A true knight in the making.

2005-08-27T21:17:00.000+02:00

Here these ladies are having a nice chat, with some tea, and their birds. There was a HUGE dog in the tent in the background. Seriously, he was bigger than some kids at this place.

2005-08-27T21:16:00.000+02:00

There are 2 sides to every story, and three sides to this fine mullet.

Spell check isn't working, deal with it.

2005-08-24T18:43:00.000+02:00

I have the oven preheating for some Pizza Rolls.
There has been a lack of updates, because there is lack of updates.
I am still away from the shop, watching German contractors do their work, painting, cementing, and me sitting, reading Don Quixote; still. I finally got my car back, the wait being only 2 days, but you kow that 2 days seems a life time when you have to take the bus early in the morning. Now my car can stop on a dime, and the emergency brake hardly moves when you life the handle.
I talked with a school "counselor", and have a plan for my school career. Do they need to be so cryptic? Simple answers for simple people. In the Air Force, you are told EVERYTHING. They need not drop the ball here and try to make us figure things out for ourselves, like a normal person; what are they thinking? Turns out that I am going to take a management class to have my transcripts reviewed, then just test away Math. Why wait around for all that? There are some people in the shop who are WAY more into their Air Force career who have a lot less in their 2 year degree than I. That makes me feel a little better.
I was looking at some art online and regretted that I am not in the least bit artistically inclined. I think that I will try writing again soon. What could be more of a muse than Europe, and the grumblings of the Air Force?
So here is a question for you, how do you measure success? Does it constantly change? is it a goal or a means?
The oven is ready.

2005-08-11T19:42:00.001+02:00

I figured out what was wrong with the pictures. The original post is half way down these here pictures, enjoy!
Cherp!

2005-08-11T19:42:00.000+02:00

A big shijp. Ij just thought that ijt looked nijce. Ij really wanted to be closer to the water, sijnce thijs was orijgijnally supposed the be a beach vacatijon