Crash. Erase. Install. Reboot. Repeat as necessary.
Finally, finally, finally home. "Damn, it feels good to be a gangsta."
The last 2 1/2 weeks I've spent without a computer have passed pretty quickly in sporadic flurries of activity. Most of it involved packing my stuff, making arrangements to move, and getting in some last-minute visits.
My last day in the Navy--two Fridays ago--went down in true military fashion. All I needed to do was sign my DD-214 papers and be on my merry way. I went to Personnel at 8 AM, as soon as they opened. Eventually, traffic slowed down and there was just me and a handful of other people waiting for the same thing as me. Around 3:30 PM, I'm the only one left. It was annoying, but not too bad. Considering how long I'd been waiting, I knew I could wait all day if I had to. So they shafted me one more time, took my ID card, and sent me home. I heaved my hard hat, goggles, and boots into the dumpster on my way out. Only disturbing thing about the whole situation is how a spot on my 214 says "Inactive reserve until 2010--eligible for recall to active duty and screening." Or something like that. So what if I randomly get called up for a drug test and there's marijuana in my system or something? Do I get a dishonorable discharge from the [i]inactive reserves[/i]? Big deal. If they try to recall me to active duty, they'll find that I've already left the country.
I went to the Wave again last Tuesday, and had a much better time than I did the previous week. Before leaving the area, I got to see Theresa (recently back from Texas), Gwen, Brianna, Rachael, Karla, and a few others. I didn't get to see Mouse, since she hasn't been answering her phone for a few weeks. Oh well. I'll be back to see my friends soon enough.
I ended up having to get a U-Haul truck and towing my car behind it. Once I got used to it, it actually wasn't as difficult as I thought. One of the taillights fell off the trailer, but I got insurance for it, so I should be okay. Now I just have to get the truck weighed, full and empty, so I can send the weight tickets and my receipts back to Norfolk so the Navy can reimburse me. The sooner the better, since I still don't have a job. I'll be working on correcting that this week.
Today was my first day of school at CCRI. The one class I had today was a Geology lab, and a sign on the door said that there was no lab today, just a normal class tomorrow. It wasn't a total bust, though; I got a feel for the layout of the school, picked up my textbooks, and got my schedule and student ID. Tomorrow I have three classes, but being the beginning of the semester, it shouldn't be too bad. Besides, my second class is Acting :) That ought to be fun.
*sigh* It's really good to see my family again, and to know that this time it's not just a week-long vacation, that I'm really here for the duration. But there's still an overwhelming amount of stuff to do. Unloading the truck. Sorting. Cleaning. Repairing. Getting a job. Working. Not to mention getting involved in the extracurricular stuff I want to do. It'll take a while to really get everything sorted out and running smoothly. But hopefully, by New Year's, I'll have a semester's worth of credits, rapidly shrinking debts, and enough community involvement to start rebuilding my social network.
No matter what perils lay ahead, I can face them all, for I have my family and my freedom to support me.
PS - Vae, if you still read this, give me a call soon. I don't know what's a good time to call you, and I miss hearing your voice.
PPS - To the one who deleted a certain folder from my hard drive: was it really neccessary to delete the folder of artistic nudes, too? Those were in their own folder for a reason, and very carefully organized. Considering the questionable stuff you put on my computer and did NOT delete, you shouldn't be throwing stones.
Considering I didn't get a chance to say goodbye properly because I didn't want to wake you, I was hoping to reconnect on a better note. But I'm very annoyed by this blatant breach of privacy. Not angry, just annoyed. It will take me a while to replace what was lost.
The last 2 1/2 weeks I've spent without a computer have passed pretty quickly in sporadic flurries of activity. Most of it involved packing my stuff, making arrangements to move, and getting in some last-minute visits.
My last day in the Navy--two Fridays ago--went down in true military fashion. All I needed to do was sign my DD-214 papers and be on my merry way. I went to Personnel at 8 AM, as soon as they opened. Eventually, traffic slowed down and there was just me and a handful of other people waiting for the same thing as me. Around 3:30 PM, I'm the only one left. It was annoying, but not too bad. Considering how long I'd been waiting, I knew I could wait all day if I had to. So they shafted me one more time, took my ID card, and sent me home. I heaved my hard hat, goggles, and boots into the dumpster on my way out. Only disturbing thing about the whole situation is how a spot on my 214 says "Inactive reserve until 2010--eligible for recall to active duty and screening." Or something like that. So what if I randomly get called up for a drug test and there's marijuana in my system or something? Do I get a dishonorable discharge from the [i]inactive reserves[/i]? Big deal. If they try to recall me to active duty, they'll find that I've already left the country.
I went to the Wave again last Tuesday, and had a much better time than I did the previous week. Before leaving the area, I got to see Theresa (recently back from Texas), Gwen, Brianna, Rachael, Karla, and a few others. I didn't get to see Mouse, since she hasn't been answering her phone for a few weeks. Oh well. I'll be back to see my friends soon enough.
I ended up having to get a U-Haul truck and towing my car behind it. Once I got used to it, it actually wasn't as difficult as I thought. One of the taillights fell off the trailer, but I got insurance for it, so I should be okay. Now I just have to get the truck weighed, full and empty, so I can send the weight tickets and my receipts back to Norfolk so the Navy can reimburse me. The sooner the better, since I still don't have a job. I'll be working on correcting that this week.
Today was my first day of school at CCRI. The one class I had today was a Geology lab, and a sign on the door said that there was no lab today, just a normal class tomorrow. It wasn't a total bust, though; I got a feel for the layout of the school, picked up my textbooks, and got my schedule and student ID. Tomorrow I have three classes, but being the beginning of the semester, it shouldn't be too bad. Besides, my second class is Acting :) That ought to be fun.
*sigh* It's really good to see my family again, and to know that this time it's not just a week-long vacation, that I'm really here for the duration. But there's still an overwhelming amount of stuff to do. Unloading the truck. Sorting. Cleaning. Repairing. Getting a job. Working. Not to mention getting involved in the extracurricular stuff I want to do. It'll take a while to really get everything sorted out and running smoothly. But hopefully, by New Year's, I'll have a semester's worth of credits, rapidly shrinking debts, and enough community involvement to start rebuilding my social network.
No matter what perils lay ahead, I can face them all, for I have my family and my freedom to support me.
PS - Vae, if you still read this, give me a call soon. I don't know what's a good time to call you, and I miss hearing your voice.
PPS - To the one who deleted a certain folder from my hard drive: was it really neccessary to delete the folder of artistic nudes, too? Those were in their own folder for a reason, and very carefully organized. Considering the questionable stuff you put on my computer and did NOT delete, you shouldn't be throwing stones.
Considering I didn't get a chance to say goodbye properly because I didn't want to wake you, I was hoping to reconnect on a better note. But I'm very annoyed by this blatant breach of privacy. Not angry, just annoyed. It will take me a while to replace what was lost.