contraildash

Cycles though...my old man was telling me about all the DCA's going through the USCG in the mid-to-late 80's to get Falcon time and then peace'ing out ASAP to FedEX to fly said Falcons. (FedEX, UPS, ect are still sweet gigs from what I've been told) Who knows when the airlines will recover, if ever now, but I expect it'll continue the cyclic trend and improve at some point. Not sure what the NetJet type gigs are like these days. Last time I talked to a friend that flies Challengers, it wasn't all that great either.

I laugh, but then realize that someday I'll be in the same situation looking at some old pics with some young-whipper-snapper! On a side note, I got to support some U-2 stuff recently. While not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, it was still pretty damn cool to me.

Slideshow of the early U-2 program. Sweet and random find. U-2 slideshow

I fly C-21s in Europe...whats NOT to love about that???

Back stateside, I've had maybe five or six meals bought for me while on lunch-n-backs. Personally, I think the American public is more excited to see us in bags than in blues. I've been out in public in both uniforms and had very different experiences in them. So the AF may not want us out and about in bags, but the civilian population sure does like it.

Had to drop by the local 'Practiker' here in Germania on my way home the other day. German's stare enough as it is...ten times worse when you are in a bag.

In UPT a year ago, the Friday afternoon debrief with beer was standard. Studs and IPs alike drank together, no big deal. Those that didn't drink, still hung around and had coke or something. Don't have to drink to be a bro. In my current SQ, the commander just left and from what I've seen and been told, there was no culture for traditions at all. My impression was that our prior CC felt "officers should not drink, especially in public." But we do, and he just seemed to tolerate it. Depressing. Hell, while we aren't a fighter SQ, we are based in the old fighter facility, so to me it's sacrilegious that we don't make use of the decent bar area that we have. The new CC sat down with the SQ last week and said he looks forward to getting together in the SQ bar on Fridays for a few beers, stories, the 'occasional F-bomb', and more SQ based activities. You could feel the weight lifted off the SQ in that room...actual sighs of relief.

Dunno if you are single or not, but the night life down in old town is not all that shabby. Always a good time.

We used these to ship from CONUS to OCONUS, less than two week transit back in October. Rates are nice, and all that matters is that it fits in the box. You could send a block of lead, and it'd still be $11 or whatever for the large one. Just sent a bunch of stuff back to CONUS, still waiting to see how fast it gets there (with XMas and all). But... If you are using these flat rate boxes to ship from an APO to an APO, they send them the slowest method possible. Same flat rate, slower service.

Bag of AIDS infested dicks....

Got my IHRB tabs today...awesome!!!

Ask and ye shall receive!

I'm 6' and wear an XL PT shirt. I'm trying to figure out why the shirt goes almost to my knees. In fact, if I tuck it in all the way it hangs out the bottom of my shorts in places. Not to mention those shorts are XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXL so I'm not rocking the 70's NBA look. Hell, I could take a safety pin, pin it off and make a wrestling suit. Why do I need PT shorts if my shirt can do that?

I used a Leica for high altitude, wide area photography! That camera, the RC-30, rocked! So I'm guessing that their point and shoots aren't all that bad.

You aren't kidding! Never get between two folks in the continental breakfast line who's combined weight can be defined in terms of 'tons.'

So typically you can get half decent beer at the class six for fairly cheap. Well I didn't feel like driving to base to get beer last night so I hit up the local German beverage store for the first time. I expected to pay an arm and a leg since the Euro is kicking our butt. Not so! Talk about heaven! I picked up two cases of beer for €30 or around $45. So whats the big deal? Well thats 40 1/2 liter bottles of fresh beer...so just over $1 a beer. Sorry class six...ya got nothing on this shit!

I just want my car to get here from the states... Gearpig: which G-shock is that, I've been looking for a new one. I got my wife a boxer puppy so I can pretty much get whatever the hell I want for xmas this year. I just pre-ordered a RC V-22...I look forward to blowing a hyd line and crashing in my backyard. Good times! My next self-gift is going to be a wireless surround sound set up for the living room.

I have a Nikkor AF-S 18-55 DX I use for my traveling. I like it, works fine for what I do with it. I'll have to do some hunting on Amazon for a telephoto. Any suggestions to start with? I'm still rather new to the photography thing, so I'm open for suggestions. Here's some pics I took before I left the states, the sun was great and these statics were easy to shoot.

most guys/gals I know here in bags hide them under jackets or put em in a pocket till needed. The people i just bought a dog from are enlisted and were telling me how out of hand the RB wearing rules here are getting in thier side of things. For example, as I previously posted about RBs with PT gear, this E4 was telling me that now the rule is unless you have the full jumpsuit on you have to have a RB. Despite the fact that the shorts and shirt are more reflective than the pants/jacket are....basically everyone wears them all the time because certain individuals make a huge deal out of it if you don't. It's not that they want to, just the asspain is too much to deal with.

I got a nikon d60 over the summer and despite being an entry level DSLR it is great for my needs. I will throw a few examples of planes I've shot up on here in the morning. Just wish I could get a half decent zoom/telephoto lens now....

They make good roommates:

It's going to come down to the guy/gals that sacrifice their own 'career' to take a stand on changing things. I'll be the first to admit that, as of right now, I need this job. It's a disgusting catch-22. I want to change it, but changing it means I'll probably not be in for very long, but I need the job and hell I just got here. I just need to win the powerball so I can say f-it, I've got a few mil to live off of comfortably, let's rock the mother-f'ing boat and start changing shit. Oh passed over for captain...shucks...I'll just go be a ski-bum and enjoy my millions. I'd even start a 'retirement fund' for anyone else who wants to join in the quest. Now I just need to win the powerball....

Awesome post. Did you go that route or just familiar with the process? I'll second the quality of life statement. With the exception of TPS, I saw my pops all the time. Was at our soccer/hockey games, scouts, ect. When we owned a boat, seemed like every weekend we were at some lake water skiing. It was great as a kid, and the locations are awesome too. Cape Cod, LA, Corpus Christi, Houston, were all great. E-City was my least favorite, but I was in college and only visited there.

Maybe that wife running around base with a RB is married to said shoe clerk and is testing this up-coming EPR/OPR bullet for enhancing safety.