Day 1

Reported at 0700 and then had a briefing from the squadron commander as a class at 0800. Most of today was spent with a few briefings on everything from patterns, to standup expectations to studying for the rides. We also did a lot of setup on the computers and in our flight room to make sure we all the permissions we need and are able to access the materials that we need to access.

Oh, and another bit of entertainment showed itself today as well. As I was sitting at one of the computers being shown how to set it up for each morning, I heard one of our IPs on the phone next to us use my name and the name of the Lt stepping me through the computer setup. Well, long story short, we got to go see the secretary and then make a nice little trip in the downpour to the clinic to do a drug test. AKA peeing in a cup. And to top it all off, I had literally just come back from the bathroom 5 minutes before that call came in! So I then proceeded to down 3 large bottles of water on our way to the clinic. We also pulled into the parking lot and almost hit this lady walking next to the road who chose that exact moment to step out to cross in front of us without bothering to look first! Then, she had the gall to come up to us as we were about to enter the clinic and tell us that we ought to slow down in the parking lot! My friend was the one driving, and he was not doing anything crazy or dangerous, so I could not just let that one go! So in my most professional and respectfull tone I told her "Ok, we'll keep an eye on that; but, ma'am, you should really try actually looking both ways before you step out in front of a car!" Some people... I think she just scared herself and decided to take it out on us, who knows, but I wasn't about to pass that up since she came back and found us! So funny!

So we got up to the drug testing area on the second floor of the clinic and I finished one more bottle of water. By now my stomache hurt, but I still wasn't ready to go! Luckily, though, in about 15 minutes or so I was able to provide a sample for the good people at the clinic. Now, as bad as it was for me to have to go and do that with an observer looking on, I realized that it would be even worse to be stuck with the job of that observer! He's a fellow 2Lt but his class doesn't start until July so his job for the past week has been to 'observe' people taking care of filling the test cup; talk about an awful casual position! So I guess it's true that it can always be worse.

Random note: I found the greatest thing at the store today--diet Barq's Rootbeer!! It's the wonderful taste of Barqs but without the guilt-laden calories! I didn't even know that they made the stuff, but I HAD to pick up a 12 pack when I saw that today! Dad, you'll have to keep your eyes open up there in VA.

Sadly, I am not on the schedule to get my dollar ride tomorrow, so it looks like it's going to be Monday. But, it's not too bad at all. I'm going to study tonight as if I had it tomorrow, and then I'll sit in on a briefing and debrief of one of the guys who will fly. I'll also get a chance to spend some time in the sim and work on getting my ground-ops to the fastest speed possible. The faster we get through that, the quicker we start the jet, and the faster we get the plane running, the sooner we can get the AC on, and the sooner we get the AC going, the happier our IPs will be, and the happier the IP, the better our grades! See the fancy correlation there? So really, all this practice is just so we can get the cool air going faster!!

We also have a 0530 (that's pronounced 'o-dark-thirty') show-time tomorrow, so that means I need to get into bed around 2030 to get a full night of sleep! So, I had best get off of here and do a little bit of studying before trying to knock myself out for bed (warm milk, anyone?).