Been awhile
Well have some time to kill (that's a first) so I figured I may as well write in this thing again.
Going hiking today to Round Valley Recreation Area with the usual bunch of idiots. Should be a good time, I'm pretty excited. I really love camping and the outdoors... just relaxing and doing a whole lot of _nothing_ is a wonderful thing. I'm looking forward to just laying around, reading a book, and otherwise just blowing off some steam.
In other news, I got my official letter for my report date in Maryland. 31 January 2011. So I'll be moving down to _somewhere_ in Maryland this coming January. I'm still so back and forth on where to move. I know that I am not buying a house for at least a year or two--and I have up to two years from my report date to buy a house and get gov't credit for the move. So I figure I may as well just really get a feel for the job...and in two years decide if I really see myself staying and working there for awhile. Scary thought: I'll be almost 26 in two years. fml. In terms of apartments to rent for the time being there, I've been searching literally for months all up and down the I-95 corridor from almost Delaware to Baltimore, and am still incredibly indecisive. There's a brand new and beautiful place in North East. Downside? Middle of no where really...kinda boring I would suppose. But huge and spacious apartments and pretty economical (~$1100 for a 2 BR, 1 bath). Then there's Bel Air, where everyone and their mother is moving from Fort Monmouth. Nice area, and pretty close to work as well. Apartments are pretty decent too and it's not _as_ boring as North East. Then there's living in Baltimore. I'm really starting to warm up to living in the city there, even with the lack of decent public transportation and expensive apartment rates. Part of me is saying when else in my life am I going to be able to live in the city and enjoy myself? livebaltimore.com came to the Houlihan's near base this past week, and sponsored a happy hour social. Free drinks and food is always a good way to attract people anywhere. They were actually really helpful, and gave some great direction on places to look at living wthin the city. I've been looking at apartments there, and it is going to be pricey. Of course the waterfront places near/in the inner harbor area are around $1900+/mo for a single bedroom (~900+ sq.ft)...which is a lot of money. So I'm currently waiting to hear back from some places on approximate rent rates and some of their other rules (like pet policy hah).
I'm scary how quickly I've had to 'grow up' since January. Started working full time and now I'm worrying and planning about the 'future' (whatever that means). But I'm glad work has been really busy. It's been keeping my mind off of everything. Always good to keep occupied. I'm slowly starting to get the hang of things at work, and so far am really enjoying it. One thing is for sure, it has definitely given me a new perspective on the 'war'. While I may not agree with some of the reasons, etc. of why we went to war in the first place (sidebar: you can't really go to "war" against terrorism), I have a newfound appreciation for what the warfighter goes through over in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other theatres around the world. Guess it's a good thing, because it really motivates me to do my job and do it right. You screw up or slip up... people can get hurt or die from your mistakes. Yeah, a bit extreme but it certainly has some truth to it.
Enough rambling
Going hiking today to Round Valley Recreation Area with the usual bunch of idiots. Should be a good time, I'm pretty excited. I really love camping and the outdoors... just relaxing and doing a whole lot of _nothing_ is a wonderful thing. I'm looking forward to just laying around, reading a book, and otherwise just blowing off some steam.
In other news, I got my official letter for my report date in Maryland. 31 January 2011. So I'll be moving down to _somewhere_ in Maryland this coming January. I'm still so back and forth on where to move. I know that I am not buying a house for at least a year or two--and I have up to two years from my report date to buy a house and get gov't credit for the move. So I figure I may as well just really get a feel for the job...and in two years decide if I really see myself staying and working there for awhile. Scary thought: I'll be almost 26 in two years. fml. In terms of apartments to rent for the time being there, I've been searching literally for months all up and down the I-95 corridor from almost Delaware to Baltimore, and am still incredibly indecisive. There's a brand new and beautiful place in North East. Downside? Middle of no where really...kinda boring I would suppose. But huge and spacious apartments and pretty economical (~$1100 for a 2 BR, 1 bath). Then there's Bel Air, where everyone and their mother is moving from Fort Monmouth. Nice area, and pretty close to work as well. Apartments are pretty decent too and it's not _as_ boring as North East. Then there's living in Baltimore. I'm really starting to warm up to living in the city there, even with the lack of decent public transportation and expensive apartment rates. Part of me is saying when else in my life am I going to be able to live in the city and enjoy myself? livebaltimore.com came to the Houlihan's near base this past week, and sponsored a happy hour social. Free drinks and food is always a good way to attract people anywhere. They were actually really helpful, and gave some great direction on places to look at living wthin the city. I've been looking at apartments there, and it is going to be pricey. Of course the waterfront places near/in the inner harbor area are around $1900+/mo for a single bedroom (~900+ sq.ft)...which is a lot of money. So I'm currently waiting to hear back from some places on approximate rent rates and some of their other rules (like pet policy hah).
I'm scary how quickly I've had to 'grow up' since January. Started working full time and now I'm worrying and planning about the 'future' (whatever that means). But I'm glad work has been really busy. It's been keeping my mind off of everything. Always good to keep occupied. I'm slowly starting to get the hang of things at work, and so far am really enjoying it. One thing is for sure, it has definitely given me a new perspective on the 'war'. While I may not agree with some of the reasons, etc. of why we went to war in the first place (sidebar: you can't really go to "war" against terrorism), I have a newfound appreciation for what the warfighter goes through over in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other theatres around the world. Guess it's a good thing, because it really motivates me to do my job and do it right. You screw up or slip up... people can get hurt or die from your mistakes. Yeah, a bit extreme but it certainly has some truth to it.
Enough rambling