Happy New Year!

Well, it's Dec. 31st here, sfo I thought I'd throw that up there. It's cold as usual, but I think I'm starting to get used to it. It's 28 degrees right now, with a slight wind. There's supposed to be snow showers later today, but there's been a clear blue sky all day, so I don't know about that. It hasn't snowed since I've been here. Every one keeps saying it's going to be a bad winter. I guess I'll find out in the next couple of months. I was supposed to get a calling card today, so I could call home while I was at work, but I didn't wake up in time to run to the PX to pick one up. So now I'm stuck at work with no phone usage. I did bring in some movies though... that will occupy my 6 hours. Since it's the hollidays, I've only been working 6 hours a day. It's quite nice. On today's movie list is Signs, Open Range, and The Last Samurai. The First Lieutenant is coming in at 1600 to make sure the shack is clean. It's pretty squared away though, so she shouldn't bug me for too long.

I finally got off my lazy butt, and went to the gym and played some basketball yesterday evening. It was pretty funny... I was hitting everything from 20-25ft, but I couldn't make anything inside 20ft. I realized how much of my game I really lost. There were some pretty crappy guys out there and they were picking me like a booger. All I could do was laugh at myself. I felt like I was getting some of it back towards the end of the night though... I don't think it will take too long to get back into it. Almost every time I would take a long-range shot, I would get a sharp pain in my elbow... Don't know what would cause that. I felt like an old man with stiff joints.

Time to throw in a movie and let the time pass by. My pizza needs to hurry up and get here!

A Quickie

I only have 10 minutes before I have to jet, so I thought I'd just throw a quick one up here. Christmas was alright. I had to work for 6 hours. The First Sergeant brough in some food for me though. That was pretty cool. I called home on Xmas, back in the states. Talked to quite a few people. It was nice. Got the whole familia knocked out in just one phone call. Can't beat that!

Today is nice... It must be in the 40s. Clear blue sky, no ice on the ground... maybe I'll go running. Not much to do as usual. I'll get to venture off post pretty soon. I don't know if Korea is ready for me to be turned loose on the town.

New Year Resolutions

So, who's making New Year resolutions? I'm not, that's for sure. Every year, people say they are, but we all know they're too weak to go through with them, or they just simply forget about them a few weeks down the road. Besides... if you've got something wrong with yourself, why wait until new years to fix it. Don't be jacked up for months on end, fix it when you first notice it, dumbasses. I especially can't stand the ones that say they're going to lose weight for a new year resolution. Dude... You've been fat for quite some time, why wait... get off your fat ass and start exercising.

Merry Christmas

Well, Merry Christmas everyone! It's Christmas for me today. I've got to say, it's not the best Christmas for me. I've never been away from home on Xmas, and I've never had to work on Xmas either. I did get to sleep in today though, which was a bonus. I finally got a good night's sleep for once. I miss everyone back home. Especially right now. I don't really have much to say today, so I think I'll just leave it at that. Merry Christmas.

0450

That's the time I wake up every morning. No, it's not really THAT early, but early enough. I don't have to be at the shack until 0600, and it's only about a 6 minute walk. I give myself enough time to eat breakfast and get all of my stuff together, but of course, most of the time I just hit the snooze button two or three times, so I usually miss out on breakfast. I think it's funny what people will do just for that extra 10-20 minutes of sleep.

Well, it's 0614 right now. I have an exciting 12 hours ahead of me. I only have to work half of the day tomorrow, and it's the second half, so I get to sleep in. Woo hoo! Tomorrow is Xmas for me... I've got to say, it's the first time that I've never been excited about Christmas... it's just another day for me. I don't have anyone to spend it with, or anything to do even. Even my Korean room mate is gone! I have the 26th off, which means I can call home on Christmas for everyone back home. That will be nice. I guess I better wake up early that day, I have quite a few phone calls to make.

Back to sitting around... I mean, work!

the MP shack

The MP shack is a lonely place. Especially when you're the only one working. The phone rings every so often, but maybe only 5-10 times a day. People come in and out every once in a while, and some times they may need a badge, in exchange for their ID. It's pretty clean compared to what it was like when I first got here... the place was a dump. It still seems to be pretty run down. There are 3 small windows, all of which have openings in them to communicate or receive things. This allows the frigid air to blow in. 2 of them are covered with pieces of cardboard (how innovative) and the other has a this piece of metal that can be slid back and forth. The computer/internet is the only source of entertainment, unless of course you work the midshift or on the weekends, then you watch movies for 12 hours a day. Every once in a while, someone might stop by and talk for a while, or an NCO will come in and spout off a few orders, but it's relatively lonely most of the time. The shack isn't very big. Sometimes it feels as if the walls are closing in and I just need to get out. We're supposed to be moving buildings pretty soon. Maybe the next MP shack will be a little more "up to date."

Chilly

Wow, it is cold here!! 18 degrees last night and this morning. Currently, it is 28 degrees, and its 245 in the afternoon. As soon as you step outside, it hits you like a swift kick in the teeth! I will never again complain about how cold it gets in West Sacramento, because it doesn't even compare to here. Given, there are colder places, but I'm not there, and hopefully never will be there! They say January is the coldest month here... God, I hope it doesn't get much colder. Then you'll really hear some whining. If you've ever walked into a meat locker, or the freezers in a store like Raley's or Safeway, then you would know what it feels like here. That's the best comparison I can give.

On to a different topic... I've decided to extend my tour here. Given many different factors, it's not as long as I had anticipated and the extra pay is slightly less. It will actually only be for one extra year, so I'll be here for 2 years, not 3. And I will only get an extra $300 per month. But it starts immediately, not just for that extra year. If I can squeeze the paper work out soon enough, I can get the extra pay for December, even though the month is pretty much over. But it's not like I'd be getting one over on the Army because I've been here the whole month anyways. I'm not going to re-enlist though... just extend. If I re-enlist, it will have to be for at least 3 years, that would mean I would still have one year left on my contract when my tour is finished here, and that would mean my ass would end up in the sand box for that year. So screw that! I'm not one of those war junkies/adrenaline junkies/retards that ask to go over there, and pretend like they're all bad ass and hardcore, then end up getting deployed over there and then cry about having to go. I'll be the first to admit that I don't want to go over there.

Bad news!... I'm having issues with my enlistment bonus. ARGH! It may be a while before I can get my computer. This is so damn frustrating. I may not get it until I'm out of the ARMY, or if I choose to re-enlist, then I'll get it. I'm working on that though. Hopefully soon! If not, I'll just have to save up for a couple of months, I guess. Other than that, things here are going pretty well. I've been here almost a month already. Time seems to be going by pretty fast, which is good. I'm planning on coming home in June. It would be early June. I'm not sure for how long though. Maybe 2 weeks at the most. Things may change between now and then, but I'll keep ya posted.

Well... back to work for me! Only 3 more hours to go! Gotta stay alert though... ya never know when some North Koreans will rush the gates! Ha!

Yeah Yeah...

Yeah, OK, so I said I wasn't going to come down here... we all knew that was a lie. I had to take care of some stuff today, so I was here anyways. Plus I wanted to look for some crap online. And kill about 3 hours of my day.

argh!

I'm getting frustrated with being in Korea. I hate having to wait on a bus to take me somewhere, just so I can make a phone call or get online. Then having to wait for the bus, just to take me back. After today, I don't think I'm going to make the trips down here anymore. It's a waste of my time for the most part. So those of you that I talk to will just have to wait a couple weeks until I get my cell phone and computer.

Shoot me!

Today's agenda: watch Matrix Reloaded, Matrix Revolutions, The One, and Vertical limit. That should kill about 8-9 hours out of the day. Then I'll go home, shower, eat some dinner, watch the Bourne Supremecy and then go to sleep. How exciting.

Tis a fine day

The weather is frikin awesome today. I went from being freezing ass cold, to about 65, with the sun shining. I hope it stays like this. At least for a while. I can't stand it when it's unbearibly cold. This has got to be just a tease though... I know tomorrow, when I get up and have to walk to work at 545 in the morning, it's going to be about 20 degrees.

Anyhoo... I think I've pretty much decided that I'm going to stay here for 3 years. When that's over with, I'll probably just get out of the Army... I don't know. It's a long way off. Plus I'm already making mad cash here, and I'm only going to be making more if I decide to stay. There seems to be more positives than negatives.

Now what?

Alright... so I have about 15 more days to decide whether or not I'm going to re-enlist, and sign a contract that would keep me in Korea for 2 extra years. If I decide to stay in Korea for 3 years, I'll get an extra $400 a month for 2 of those years. Plus a pretty fat re-enlistment bonus. I'm leaning towards it, but I'm still not sure yet. I would be out of the army early 2008...which isn't too long. Plus I'd be home every so often on leave.

On another note... Hadley didn't get accepted to the Naval Acadamy. However, she did get accepted to the Naval Acadamy Prep School, in Rhode Island. She has two weeks to decide if she's going to go there or not. If she goes there, then she can get into the naval acadamy just 10 months later. So that means, 5 years of school, plus another 5 years as a commissioned officer. So I have no clue where things are going to go. I think she's pretty much decided that she's going. I'm so happy for her. But on the other hand, it's so hard to see where things are going to go from there. 5 years of school is a long time, then 5 more as a commissioned officer. I guess we'll see how things play out.

I'm here, and alive.

Well, I made it to Korea. The last couple of days have been pretty long, and somewhat boring at times. The whole time change has got me all messed up. I'm a day ahead over here, but when it's 12 in the afternoon here, it's 7 in the evening back home. So at about 3 in the afternoon, I feel pretty tired and want to go to bed because it's about 10 at night back home. I'm getting used to it though. I'm at Camp Humphreys... not sure exactly wher that is... all I know is that it's down south. I'll find out what city, but I believe it's Uijon, or something like that. I have a KATUSA (Korean Augmented to the U.S. Army) room mate. He's actually pretty cool. Real nice guy. Hard to understand at times though. His name is PVT Kim. So the job I'm going to be doing is nothing like what I've been trained to do, which is pretty disappointing. I kinda feel like a rent-a-cop... I just sit in a "shack" and watch people as they come and go, and give them badges and take their IDs and what not. I pull security for a flight line here, that has some pretty high-tech air planes. Nothing that I would like to be doing though. I was hoping to do some road work so I can apprehend some people, and break up bar fights, and all that good stuff that the MPs do down here, but NOOO!! I get stuck in a Military Intelligence unit, where I get to sit and watch air planes all frikin day, woo hoo! There's really not much to do here... I bought a PS2 today, to pass the time, but I can't hook it up cuz the TV I have is too old, and I don't have the adapter, and I can't get a new TV until tomorrow. So tomorrow my day will consist of about 12 hours of Madden 2005. Right now, I have very limited internet use, but in about a month I will have a laptop and internet in my room, so I'll be on pretty much every day or night.

I already miss everyone back home so much! I'm hoping to get a cell phone within the next couple of days, but it might be a couple weeks before I can get one. Until then, expect random calls at odd times of the day or night because I usually only make it to the phone once a day. Anyways... I better get going... I have some Korean televsion to watch!

I love you Hadley! I got your little notes that you left in my duffle bag... that was so sweet.

My bros... love you guys too. I can't wait until I get my computer so I can at least keep in touch with ya. Take care. You'll hear from me again soon. Late!

Brandon