Texas

So for the past 9 weeks thanks to Uncle Sam I have been a tenant of "The Great Place" aka Ft Hood TX. I will forgo talking about the actual training (not for OPSEC since that really doesn't apply in this case... just because I am trying to get over the fact that the 10 weeks of training could have been condensed into 4, maybe 5, weeks and there is so much wasted time in this stuff that it makes me sad... when I find myself fondly wishing to be back at work? I am bored).

Not exactly where I wanted to be (since I get to miss 4 of the 8 weeks in DC where the weather is pleasant by my standards) but I am a true believer taking lemons and making something approximating lemonaide, so I took it upon myself to explore the heck out TX (I spent 5 months in Houston in 2000, but never got over to this side except for one trip to Austin). I went out drinking on 6th Street in Austin, made my arteries cry out for mercy when I went to the TX State Fair, explored Austin and San Antonio pretty extensively with Cupcake Girl and my parents, and even went in and went to a University of Texas game (vs Colorado).

I think I will borrow from some other bloggers and present some of the good things and some of the bad things in a list:
Good

• Friendly people - really.... My favorite story is that after walking around for 2 hours in 90 degree heat we were looking among the tailgaters at UT for a beer to buy. My Dad said that he was a tourist, was hot, tired and just wanted to buy a beer. The man just reached around, grabbed into his cooler and gave my Dad a beer.
  
• Great BBQ - really, some of the best!
  
• Best Tex-Mex ever
• Short work day (average day started at 0800, broke for lunch from 1130 to 1300 and then was done by 1530). I think going back to working 8-9 hour days is going to kill me
• Lots of space for long runs (training for MCM and the Army Ten Miler)

Bad

• Surprisingly bad trails. Sidewalks ending, poorly maintained... Kind of surprising on an Army base.
  
• Interesting (new) things to run into the trails. I had to hop off one when a M2 Bradley APC came roaring up past me. Also a whole new assortment of wildlife, snakes and cattle. And because of the cattle? They have these things called cattle guards that are meant to coincide with streams etc that were meant to keep the cattle constrained. Large bars about 9in separation.
• Driving... everywhere.... Distances that I would never drive had to be driven because walking was just unsafe.
• The motel I spent this time in. Completely sealed (poor ventilation that can lead to mold if not run continiously), crappy shower and right next to the cannon at the 3 Corps HQ.
• Living on base. The above mentioned cannons that go off every weekday at 0600 and 1700.... Very hard to sleep through.
  
• And yes, being so far from home

But in just another 2-3 days I can leave. 1500 miles of driving and I will be home!!!

Exhausted

Everyone else out there yawning their way through their Monday? I know that me and caffeine have been good friends today.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I know that I did! Lots of food, lots of family (yep, I am a lucky one... I love spending time with my family. They are the greatest), lots of friends, lots of booze and lots of video games (see previous post for that). And as an extra bit of fun, my Hokies won on Saturday, gaining them a shot at the ACC Championship (I would not have bet on this happening this year).

My brothers and I ran the PWBA Turkey Trot through Del Ray on Thursday (a little pre-eating penance). I shocked myself with my sub 9-minute miles for the entire 5 mile race. Given that I hadn't been training much for the past 2 weeks that was nothing short of miraculous. I love that race, it’s a lot of fun and just the right distance.



Now get back to work!

Let's Go Hokies!

I was lucky enough this past weekend to attend the VT/Nebraska game at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska.

It was quite an experience. 88 thousand people were in attendance, maybe all of 6-7k of them were Hokie fans. But we represented, almost all wearing Orange (some wearing the more camouflaged Maroon) and apparently we were far louder than any visitor team that any of our neighbors could recall (my family was sitting almost opposite to the Hokie corner and you could clearly hear the cheering and chanting from across the ginormious stadium).

Really, the game was a sheer, grip the edge of your seat game. While the Hokies grabbed the lead early with a Safety and a quick TD from an interception, there was no moment that night that that I felt completely comfortable with victory (probably due to my having seen the Hokies blow it so many times at this point when they do get ahead).

I will say that I have nothing but good things to say about the Nebraska fans. We were sitting deep in their territory and answered many questions (the most popular being of course, "What is a Hokie?") and other questions (I think overall they were impressed that so many people traveled so far for this game). They were also very gracious in defeat (it was such a close game they could be angry at their own team but not us... particularily since there really is no bad blood between VT and Nebraska), I even was given a brand new Nebraska hat as we were leaving the game

Other than the football game I was quite impressed with Nebraska (not that I would live there or anything... far too pedestrian unfriendly for my taste) but it has been 11 years since we went out there. I saw a number of relatives that I haven't seen since then and was actually pretty impressed with the way that they have developed downtown Omaha.