Funny movie line

It took me a while, but I finally got around to watching the movie Office Space for the first time about 3 months ago.  Now, almost like Napoleon Dynamite, every time it's on, I can't bring myself to turn it off.  One of the funniest lines I have ever heard came from that movie.  It was the scene after the three guys found out that they had made an error in their calculations and they ended up with a lot of money.  They were sitting in their apartment and trying to figure out how to hide the money and one of the guys is looking up "money laundering" in the dictionary and as he's reading the definition the other guy says "I can't believe we are such nerds that we have to look up "money laundering" in the dictionary." 

It just kills me every time I see it.  Of course the scene when they take the copier out into the field and destroy it with a bat to the song "Damn, It Feels Good To Be A Gangsta" is right up there in the top ten for me too.    I guess I just spent too many years as a prairie doggin' cube jockey.  Doesn't take much to make me giggle.

Visiting the past

Yes, Ilisa is actually from upstate New York.  The truth is told.  I do not admit I am from NY to most people.  When I am asked where I am from, I am quite comfortable saying South Florida because that is where I have lived and worked for the past 11 years prior to coming back into the Air Force.  I consider south Florida to be home.  However, I was raised in a little town called Wappingers Falls.  Although I have great memories of my old home town, I remember more than anything wanting to "get out".  Like I was awaiting parole or something.   I got out all right.  Never looked back, either.  However, I still have a tie or two back there in NY.  I have an aunt, uncle and some cousins, but more importantly, I have a lifelong friend, Cindi.  Cindi is going to be married in December.  I went back to little Wappingers Falls see her last week and get some pre-wedding socializing done.  I met a couple of the other bridesmaids, saw her wedding dress and scoped out the location for the wedding.  We had a blast. 

I also made it a point to drive around and spend some time looking at all the places I remembered from when I was a child.  I saw my old house, the old library, the best old pizza place in the world, Frank's (which is still there and still awesome and they even knew I was one of the Stillman kids!), my old schools, etc.  It was such an awesome trip.  I always had an appreciation for where I lived and grew up because my father always had us out in the town and surrounding areas enjoying nature, picking apples, sleigh-riding or just generally going on adventures through the mountains.  While I was very rich in love and family, we were very poor financially.  Powered milk and food stamps were the song of the day back then.  Most people were too poor to get out.  But now, going back, the area has become very hot (just north of NYC).  I probably couldn't afford a home there now even if I wanted one.  Which, for the record, I do not, but it really is so much nicer than I remember it to be.  

I had a great time, and even got to see a couple of friends that I never thought I would see again.  A girlfriend of mine Shaun and her mom Margaret to name two.  I also got the chance to spend some quality time with a very influential gentleman from my past named Jeff, who was the person I formed the basis of my leadership style off of.  He is a retired Marine with a sense of humor and knack for for common sense that is very much un-common.  It was just incredible to see them all and to see the town.  Seeing all that has changed and all that has really NOT changed.  :)  The bottom line is I feel ten years younger and invigorated.  I didn't even realize how burned out I was until I went on this vacation.  I am ready to go back and attack the world again.  Life is good.

Hilton's and other things that should stick to Hotels

I am listening to one of the local top-40 radio stations.  The reception I get isn't very good, so when I sort-of heard the main melody of the song that was starting, an older song popped into my brain and I started humming along happily thinking, wow, I haven't heard this song in forever!  The song I am talking about is "Break My Stride" by Matthew Wilder.  It came out sometime in the mid eighties, I think.  I loved that song. I found it very surprising that it was being played on this radio station since they only play current top 40 music.

About 45 seconds or so into it, I thought I heard a female voice, and knew that it couldn't possibly be "Break My Stride".  Matthew Wilder has clearly a male voice and this was clearly a female voice.  So here I am, picking up my little clock radio, waving it around the office trying to find a pocket of reception clear enough to decipher exactly what I was listening to.  With one foot on my desk, a hand on my chair, and the hand holding the radio straight up in the air,  I was able to listen to the rest of the song.  The DJ comes on and says that it was Paris Hilton with her new song "Stars are Blind".  Mortifying, to say the least.  I won't go into my whole schpeel here about Paris Hilton because, one, she's not worth the physical exertion of typing it, but most importantly, my point is not Paris Hilton, but the song itself.  I was able to almost completely sing "Break My Stride" along to the base melody of "Stars Are Blind". 

I remember something similar happening in the eighties with the song "Ghostbusters" by Ray Parker Jr., and "I Want A New Drug" by Huey Lewis and the News. I heard the similarity almost immedieatly after heaing "Ghostbusters" the first time.  Later on I believe there was even a lawsuit brought on by Huey Lewis against Ray Parker Jr. for stealing his song.  I could be wrong, after all the reception really stinks in my office.  But if anyone else knows Break My Stride and has heard Stars are Blind, listen for it.  It sure sounds like the same melody to me.

That's FIRST lieutenant, thank you!

So last week, after a long two years, I finally put on the rank of 1st Lieutenant!  I realize that it's automatic to go from 2nd Lt to 1st, but I don't care!  It's a big deal to me!  And I had one of the best promotion ceremonies ever, if i may be so bold as to make that claim. 

My brother, Chuck (in the picture with me) is also active duty, he is a doctor (a Radiologist) in the Army stationed in Tacoma, WA.  He's a Major Promotable.  For those who are rank-knowlege impaired, that means that he has a line number to put on Lieutenant Colonel even though he is still wearing the Major rank.  Why explain all this, you ask?  Because as a senior ranking officer he has the authority to officiate the ceremony of my promotion.  And boy did he ever!  I, of course, am in Louisiana.  Quite the hike from Tacoma!  But he made the trip, midweek at that, for the sole purpose of officiating my promotion ceremony.  It was even cooler because he was the only person wearing a green uniform in a sea of blue.  Hee hee! 

The woman in the picture, pinning on my rank along with Chuck is Wendy.  She is my closest friend here in Louisiana.  

So enjoy the pictures and remember, when you call me Lieutenant now, you have to mean it!

Oh say can you seeeeee......

I am not sure if I have ever written an entry about my singing the National Anthem before, so I suppose I have to start this entry by saying that I sing the National Anthem for official functions at Barksdale AFB.  There are three or four of us who do it and we rotate through the ceremonies.  I sing at retirement ceremonies, Change of Command ceremonies etc.  I also sing for some of the college graduation ceremony's that take place on base.  It's not that I am Whitney Houston or anything, far from it actually, but I have a passable voice and the guts to sing the National Anthem sans music in front of a crowd.  It's fun and i take a lot of pride in doing it.  The interesting thing about singing at official military functions is that there is a specific protocol involved.  The Honor Guard posts the colors, they dip the flag, I sing.  When I finish, the Honor Guard finishes posting the colors and they march out.  During this whole time everyone in the room is standing at "attention" and in complete silence.  The silence continues through the posting, my singing and through the chaplain's invocation which immediately follows my singing.  The great thing about that is two fold...1) No one is looking at me when I am singing and 2) I get to go sit down when the chaplain comes up to speak and blend back in to the audience.  It's all very much on the DL and I get to remain fairly anonymous.  I actually prefer it that way.  

Occasionally someone from within the Shreveport/Bossier community will have an event that requires someone to sing the National Anthem and they call the base and ask if they can send one of the singers.  Well last week, I got my first chance to sing at a community event.  It was for the 2006 Special Olympic Summer Games opening ceremony.  It was so awesome!  The difference is that when you are singing in the community, there really isn't protocol like there is for military ceremonies.  The crowd at the LSU gymnasium was very excited and enthusiastic and when I got out on the floor they were cheering and clapping.  When I started to sing, everyone sang along with me!  It was great!!  I had a smile on my face the whole time.  It's incredible to hear 300 people all singing the National Anthem at the same time.  After I was done (or after WE were done as was the case!) there was more cheering and I was totally humbled.  There is no cheering or clapping or any noise at all for that matter at military ceremonies.  This was really neat!  Who'd a thunk it?

hiatus

Ah, Tuesday!  What is so good about Tuesday, you ask?  I'll tell you... I don't have a test tonight, that's what!  I am on a break between semesters from school.  To think,  having to work 55 hours a week seems tollerable when you don't have to go to school at night too.  :)  There is a two week break between semesters at school and life is good for the moment.  I decided to double up the ol' course load come next week when school starts up again, though.  Glutton for punishment perhaps?  Maybe.  But I really just have the tendency to get all excited when I see myself actually begin to accomplish a goal.  I figured it out and I can finish my first masters by the end of next summer if i keep up this pace.  This begs the question, can I keep up this pace?  Time will tell.  Too late to drop the classes now though, so I will just have to suck it up if I made a mistake.

Test anxiety

Next week is mid-term week.  I start worrying about mid-term week about 1 week into the semester.  I hate tests and it doesn't get any easier as I get older.  As a matter of fact, it gets worse.  I suppose if i was one of those naturally brilliant individuals, you know, the ones who don't have to crack a book and kick ass on every test they take, i wouldn't be nearly as worried.  But I am a needs-to-study-for-hours-on-end kind of person.  I sometimes wonder why i even subject myself to this kind of stress voluntarily.  I sure as hell have plenty of stress at work to last me all day and night for the rest of my life.  Much of it I can do nothing about.  Maybe that is why I like school.  It's stressful, but I really do have total control over how well I perform.  I work really hard and I earn all the credit.   

The real reason why I do it is because I want to get picked up for an AFIT scholarship from the Air Force.  AFIT stands for Air Force Institute of Technology.  You can get a full scholarship for a masters degree from either a civilian university or Baylor University . Both are sweet options. It means that the Air Force would pay me to go to school full time without having to work.  If i can do really well for the next several classes that I am in now, it can make my AFIT application package more competitive.   The GPA I carry in the classes i am taking now show a history of success at the graduate level.  All the more reason for them to pick me!  I will start the actual application process in about another year.  I am hoping that I can leave this assignment directly into the AFIT program.  That would just rock.  I better get back to the books...