100's Night

I got them up.
The first one is the larger one.
The others are the same video,
but a smaller screen.
So those of you with slower connections.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2363091172088771647
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6103966922138482043
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3820242404789370484

Summer Periods

I got my Summer Schedule.
I didn't get Jump.
bummer.
But that's ok.

I get to come home first period. (03-JUN through 23-JUN)
Take some Classes to get ahead.
And the Space Orientation and Global Engagment.

Sounds like fun.

Wassuuuuuup!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3443941836961546081&q=air+force+academy

Murals

http://www.usafa.org/pages/Cadet-mademurals.htm
They didn't interview me.
I gues I wasn't around then.
But I helped with these.
The B-2 and F-117 mentioned are mine

Videos

Also...
http://www.grouchymedia.com/ has some really good stuff.
They only make military videos.
That's the motivational stuff the get's us going.

USAFA Dancing

Helping Cadets retain their sanity.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8376947077775909834&q=dancing+cadet
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5925245115612162594
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5405366458619564374&q=dancing&pr=goog-sl
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6578076219126930956
I've got the 100's Night videos uploaded too.
They're just being verified.
I'll post the link when their ready.

Fun in the Snow

Four More Weeks...

Until I get on the plane to come home.
Spring break is almost here.
The only thing that stands between it and me
Is four more weeks of school, and recognition.

If you want to know what that is...
Google "United States Air Force Academy Recognition"
Read some of articles there.
Expect them to be understated.

I don't like talking about it while it's still coming.
After it happens I'll be more than happy to explain it all.

16-APR-2005

I found this on my Palm pilot.
I wrote it while visiting my grandparents n Florida before I came here.
That which is parenthesis is what I’ve inserted for clarification.

16-APR-2005
Today I read a book about (General) Norman Schwarzkopf.
It made me think long and hard about my future and whether or not the military is right for me.
Why would I want to dedicate such a large portion of my life to being a solider?
Why do I want to study and excel in the art of war?
War is two opposing sides, each with the potential (and intent) to cause much harm to each other,
and (potentially) innocent bystanders.

Why do I want to take up a profession were it is my job and duty to kill other human beings?
It is not for the glory.
No medal or amount of recognition is worth taking another man's life.
It is not for the money.
Even the most highly trained solider still gets paid the same as the guy who sweeps the floors.
(Either way, it’s not that much)
It is not for the lifestyle.
No one wants to move every other year just because his boss says so.
(Or to be able to pick up and go across the world in 24 hrs notice.)
(Or to separated from one’s family for the extended periods of time required by job)

After thinking long and hard about the reason why.
I've come to this conclusion.
I chose to fight so that others won't have to.
I chose to fight to protect the freedoms of others.
I chose to fight so that others may live.
I will go into battle to take the life of another solider so that he cannot take the life of someone else.
I will kill others to save the life of someone I may never know.
I will be the cause of their death to protect the freedoms of others.
(It seems to make more sense to kill a few corrupted individuals before they can cause the deaths of many more innocent people)

War is not all guts and glory. (Like in the movies)
It is having to take the life of another man to save the lives and freedom of others.
I know I will hate every minute of my service, but I will persevere so that someone else won't have to.
(Maybe not hate every part of my job, but I won’t be enjoying killing people)
This is my calling; doing the difficult for others.
It is the next logical step in my life; the continuation of my service to others.
I cannot think of a better way to serve.
I will go and do what everyone hates, but has to (must) be done.
I will fight them enemies of freedom abroad so they will not have to be fought at home.

(The following is my reflection on what I wrote in April)
We had to memorize a quote by Schwarzkopf.

“A professional solider understands that war means killing people,
war means maiming people,
war means families left without fathers and mothers.
All you have to do is hold your first dying solider in your arms
and have that terribly futile feeling that his life flowing out
and you can’t do anything about it.
Then you understand the horror of war.
Any solider worth his salt should be anti-war.
And still there are things worth fighting for.”

Robert E. Lee said something to the effect of
“It is well that war should be so terrible,
Or we should become fond of it.”

I don’t think there’s anything else to say.
I’m gonna hate the purpose of my job,
But it has to be done.

Chem Confusion

We actually confused the instructor today.
One of the cadet’s cell phones started ringing in the back of the classroom.
It was very feint,
So the instructor didn’t hear it.
Just to increase the embarrassment factor of having one’s phone ring in class,
Various people start coughing.
Eventually everyone is in on it.
The instructor was in the middle of working a problem on the board.
So he turns around and asks what’s wrong,
Thoroughly confused.
One of my classmates says,
“Oh, nothing, we all just had an itch in our throats at the same time.”
“No, really, what’s going on?”
He thought he had messed up on the board or something.
“Just some problems with CELLULAR respiration”
Or something like that.
This went on for a while.
It was rather entertaining.

Knowlege Bowl

Just got back form a Knowledge Bowl.
It was an away game at Squadron 24.
Earlier this week,
24 painted their squadron patch on a wall in every other squadron.
Needless to say,
We were ticked.
So we went to 24 all pumped and ready to tear them apart.
And we did .
The score was 200 -65, Bulldawgs.
We had several rounds were we got every single question.
That’s how we role.

In The Bleachers

Woo Hoo!!!

We finally got above freezing!
It’s currently 33 F.
It’s been snowing since Wed and it finally stopped.
The mountains are beautiful.
We dipped into the negatives a few times over the last few days.
I know you all in Texas are getting what’s left over what we’ve been getting over the past few days.
Hope there’s some left.

100's Night

Last night was 100's night.
It is the night when there are 100 days to graduation.
The firsties have a party and find out what their job in the Air Force will be.
The Fourthclassmen "decorate" (read trash) their rooms.
Here’s a link to the video I made of it
http://www.geocities.com/theearthcanbemoved/100snightsmall.wmv
If you want the bigger version,
Just E-Mail me.
I’ll post stuff on other rooms as I get it.

Texas Rocks!!!

I don't know why,
But I woke up this morning and decided to check my mail today.
So,
I went down to the mail room after my last class.
There was a key in my box.
Keys are very special in the mail room.
It means there is a package waiting for you.
I found the box number that matched my key and opened it.
I didn’t recognize the address.
When I got back to my room and opened it,
It was stuffed full snacks.
On top was a note from the North Texas Parent club.
My roommate started complaining about how the Florida Parents Club never sent him anything.
(Of course I share whatever I get)
I just said,
“Hey, Texas is better than your state.
What else is there to know?”

Happy Singles Awareness Day

It makes sense to post this story sense tomorrow is Valentines day,
Traditionally the day when people pair up.

My roommate watch a movie called notebook over the weekend.
I only caught part of it sense I was doing schoolwork.
The basic plot it as follows.
An elderly couple is in a nursing home.
The wife has Alzheimer’s and doesn’t remember the husband.
He could go and live a normal live and she would never know the difference.
Instead he lives there with her.
Every day he reads her their story,
About how the met and fell in love.
In the evening she remembers and comes back to him.

That’s not really the point though.
My roommate commented on the change of appearance between the early years and when they were in the nursing home.
He mentioned how attractive she was when she was in her twenties,
But as in her seventies in a nursing home she wasn’t appealing.
I replied that it’ll happen to all of us.
He said something along the lines of yeah too bad.

The following is purely my own opinion.
Our society focuses too much on the external.
That which is unimportant and fades away.
We will all grow old and die,
And it will not be pretty.
It is character we must focus on.
The inside that makes us what we are.
This is why we should be attracted to another person.
Not because of their physical characteristics.

I read in a book a while back (I don’t remember the book) something similar.
When looking at someone of the opposite gender,
Don’t think of the outside, think of the inside.
Would you be willing to live with that person 50 years later?
Would you be willing to grow old and die with that person?
When all physical attractiveness is gone?
Would you be willing to feed that person when they become unable to do it for themselves?
Would you be willing to listen to the same story over and over again when the have no short term memory?

We should not be as concerned with how the person looks as much as we are how the person acts.
This is the true person.
Their character,
Not their body,
Is what counts.

More Pics

These are more the type of pictures I wanted to show.
It's morning,
The trees are frosted,
And the sky is blue.

That last one is Chyenne Mountain.

That's where NORAD is buried.

Every day up here is a postcard day.

You just have to be willing to open your eyes and look for it.

Snow Pics

I took this on way to class.

Description

I changed my blog's description line.
I thought Romans 5:4-5 was more appropriate than "My Life"

It's Snowing!!!

I wonder if they'll cancel the beat session for tomorrow.
Probably not.
They'll just beat us indoors.

Noon Meal Announcments

So...
We're all sitting down for lunch and eating.
Then some guys from Squadron 16 (Chicken Hawks) and say,
“This is jus a reminder that there are 16 proud Chicken Hawk weeks until graduation.
In honor of this event, We’ve got a song.”
So they play a few songs on their banjos.

Then another guy comes up and says,
“Well…
I can’t sing or dance,
but if you want to come see us beat Wyoming on Friday,
Come out to see guy’s wrestling.”

Then some girl comes up and says.
“We’ve got a meet Friday night.
So if you’d rather watch girls in spandex instead of guys in spandex,
Come watch girl’s gymnastics.”

All this makes me wonder…
“The real Air Force isn’t like this…
Right?”

CompSci

Here's the program I spent 4 hours free handing
And here's the engineering aproach that is more typical of me.


As you can see
The time spent planning was worth it.

Day 36

There are 36 days until recognition.
In celebration,
the Fourthclassmen of Squadron 36 Stormed Spirit Hill in the middle of Noon meal formation.
Squadron 36 is the Pink Panthers,
so they all dyed their shirts pink.
They were on the other side of the Terrazzo,
So I couldn’t see them very well.
I just saw a blob of pink running to the hill.
At first I thought they where streakers.
A whole squadron of them.
That thought was very disturbing.

Programing

I just wrote my first program for CompSci.
The assignment was to write a program that would draw a picture.
I spent about 4 hours trying to free hand it.
After figuring out that it won’t work like that,
I got a picture and made a grid over it.
After about an hour and a half of planning,
I got it done in about another hour and a half.
Here’s the pic

And here’s the program.
I can’t figure out how to make the nose cone look decent.