State Of The Donut, July 2007
State Of The Donut - July 2007
Another year already? This time around, not as much action - well, for most of the year anyway...
July 06: After taking a "skills placement test," it was decided by the powers higher than Dave that I'd be changing job assignments. No longer would I be sitting in the box watching blinking lights; now, I'd be waiting for the lights to break, then repairing them. Donut has gained a level! Unfortunately, the decision wouldn't be felt for awhile due to...
August 06-October 06: DETAIL! Since I seem to be such a "squared away" soldier, I was chosen to be on a special 3-month detail. What did I do, you ask? I served coffee and set up flags. For 3 months. At least they let me go on leave for awhile after all of this back-breaking work...
November 06: LEAVE! Alright, so it was only a week - but still welcome. No real highlights, just some general relaxation.
December 06: CHRISTMAS! Pretty solid month of normal daily stuff, aside from the field exercise. Five days of rolling the trucks out, setting up, testing equipment and operators, packing up, rolling in, coming home, sleeping, waking up, repeat. On the bright side, my repair shop was able to stay in a nice comfy building the entire time. Job perks FTW.
January 07: SOLDIER OF THE MONTH! After my section decides that I'm such a decent soldier, they decide to send me in for the coveted Soldier Of The Month competition. Four soldiers (well, two due to paperwork issues this month), dress uniforms, and a smattering of questions. And after the smoke settles, Donut is victorious. Picture on the wall for me!
February 07: Donut finally manages to begin college. My first course? "Integrated Software Applications I." Or, as I like to call it, Introduction To Microsoft Office. One of the easier classes I've ever taken, I might add. Successful completion, and my first college credits/transcript. Four down, sixty to go...
March 07: More daily mundane, nothing of real consequence.
April 07: The funny thing about winning the Soldier Of The Month competition is that they expect you to go to a Soldier Of The Quarter competition. This time, all three participants are ready to go. Well, two of us anyway. My study skills have apparently gone downhill somewhat since leaving high school. The competition ensues, and yet again, Donut reigns supreme. More to add to the Army resume, I suppose...
May 07: And here's where things pick up like all hell. After some careful deliberation, I decide to dedicate an additional three years to the Service. This now pushes my "get out" date to sometime 2011. Paying off debt, finishing college, and finally attaining the job I've wanted since 1999 all contributed to the decision. May also brought about another change in job assignment - moving to a new team entirely, dedicated to a new project. This put me in an interesting situation; now, I could possibly look at another deployment. More in June...
Oh wait, I forgot another major May event.
May 07, Part 2: Girlfriend. Yup, the drought ends for now. Quite possibly - and hopefully - for a very, very long time.
June 07: A-KON! Another year, another yearly Dallas convention. Not as spectacular as in years past, though I did manage to meet a few personalities: Spike "I mustn't run away" Spencer, Mookie (of Dominic Deegan fame), and Scott Ramsoomair of VGCats. Not a bad trip in all, especially getting to see a buddy of mine next to "bondage girl." Rather entertaining, if you ask me (well, it makes sense to know more about the guy - that's the whole entertaining part). One gripe I have about the hotel, though: What good is a convention center, targeted towards business use, if you can't get a cell phone signal? Go too far past the registration desk, and you're out of coverage. Not handy when you're trying to keep in touch with your group. At least I managed to get to the hotel in a timely manner - without ending up outside of downtown Dallas. ^_^; June also brings confirmation that July will show another board appearance - this time, for promotion to SGT. This one might actually prove to be easier, due to the shorter list of study topics required. Only time shall tell, I suppose...
It seems that things are finally starting to come together majorly for the Donut - picking up quickly, apparently. Although I have a feeling the next year will be just as - if not more - interesting...
- Dave out
Another year already? This time around, not as much action - well, for most of the year anyway...
July 06: After taking a "skills placement test," it was decided by the powers higher than Dave that I'd be changing job assignments. No longer would I be sitting in the box watching blinking lights; now, I'd be waiting for the lights to break, then repairing them. Donut has gained a level! Unfortunately, the decision wouldn't be felt for awhile due to...
August 06-October 06: DETAIL! Since I seem to be such a "squared away" soldier, I was chosen to be on a special 3-month detail. What did I do, you ask? I served coffee and set up flags. For 3 months. At least they let me go on leave for awhile after all of this back-breaking work...
November 06: LEAVE! Alright, so it was only a week - but still welcome. No real highlights, just some general relaxation.
December 06: CHRISTMAS! Pretty solid month of normal daily stuff, aside from the field exercise. Five days of rolling the trucks out, setting up, testing equipment and operators, packing up, rolling in, coming home, sleeping, waking up, repeat. On the bright side, my repair shop was able to stay in a nice comfy building the entire time. Job perks FTW.
January 07: SOLDIER OF THE MONTH! After my section decides that I'm such a decent soldier, they decide to send me in for the coveted Soldier Of The Month competition. Four soldiers (well, two due to paperwork issues this month), dress uniforms, and a smattering of questions. And after the smoke settles, Donut is victorious. Picture on the wall for me!
February 07: Donut finally manages to begin college. My first course? "Integrated Software Applications I." Or, as I like to call it, Introduction To Microsoft Office. One of the easier classes I've ever taken, I might add. Successful completion, and my first college credits/transcript. Four down, sixty to go...
March 07: More daily mundane, nothing of real consequence.
April 07: The funny thing about winning the Soldier Of The Month competition is that they expect you to go to a Soldier Of The Quarter competition. This time, all three participants are ready to go. Well, two of us anyway. My study skills have apparently gone downhill somewhat since leaving high school. The competition ensues, and yet again, Donut reigns supreme. More to add to the Army resume, I suppose...
May 07: And here's where things pick up like all hell. After some careful deliberation, I decide to dedicate an additional three years to the Service. This now pushes my "get out" date to sometime 2011. Paying off debt, finishing college, and finally attaining the job I've wanted since 1999 all contributed to the decision. May also brought about another change in job assignment - moving to a new team entirely, dedicated to a new project. This put me in an interesting situation; now, I could possibly look at another deployment. More in June...
Oh wait, I forgot another major May event.
May 07, Part 2: Girlfriend. Yup, the drought ends for now. Quite possibly - and hopefully - for a very, very long time.
June 07: A-KON! Another year, another yearly Dallas convention. Not as spectacular as in years past, though I did manage to meet a few personalities: Spike "I mustn't run away" Spencer, Mookie (of Dominic Deegan fame), and Scott Ramsoomair of VGCats. Not a bad trip in all, especially getting to see a buddy of mine next to "bondage girl." Rather entertaining, if you ask me (well, it makes sense to know more about the guy - that's the whole entertaining part). One gripe I have about the hotel, though: What good is a convention center, targeted towards business use, if you can't get a cell phone signal? Go too far past the registration desk, and you're out of coverage. Not handy when you're trying to keep in touch with your group. At least I managed to get to the hotel in a timely manner - without ending up outside of downtown Dallas. ^_^; June also brings confirmation that July will show another board appearance - this time, for promotion to SGT. This one might actually prove to be easier, due to the shorter list of study topics required. Only time shall tell, I suppose...
It seems that things are finally starting to come together majorly for the Donut - picking up quickly, apparently. Although I have a feeling the next year will be just as - if not more - interesting...
- Dave out