After a few months of harassment by my wonderful Sister, I felt as though maybe I should throw the (long-stopped reading) public a bone in the form of another post!!! And anyways, I will be the first one to admit that a lot has happened since my last post. So much in fact, that I forgot my username and password to log on to blogger. And here's the truth- the reason I wanted that info was to see whether or not if it had been deleted by blogger for a lack of activity. Whoops. So long story short, I find myself typing on a keyboard, eagerly anticipating posting my message for the world (Kelli) to hear. So, what has happened since sometime in April? While I was gone...... (I feel like I'm giving someone just waking up from a coma an update on what happened while they were out).
Where to start?
The Focus is gone. Not gone, but *ugh*.....replaced. It hurts me to say that, as the Focus was truly the most honest and unpretentious car I have ever driven. It always wore its heart on its sleeve- too bad that heart may have heart disease; the reason the Focus' magic couldn't entice me anymore was because when I lost 5th & 6th gears, it forced me to drive home 5 hours to Atlanta in 4th gear at 50mph. The final straw was when a Honda Insight with a gay-pride sticker flew past me, honking its horn in anger. At any rate, the Focus has swooned my Mom, as it now resides in a drive way in Atlanta, though for how much longer is uncertain. "Phil" 
was most lovingly replaced with "Arnold" (pronounced like the Honorable Gov. Ahhnald). For those unsure, it's a 2004 "Black Magic" VW R32, of which only 750 were made (5000 total R32s imported to the US). It attracts comments and envious stares everywhere I go. I'm the type of person who could pretty much care less about what everyone thinks about my car, as long as I know it's fast and handles well. But darn, it is an AWESOME feeling getting thumbs up from Porsche, Ferrari, and other much faster and expensive cars. It seems as though everytime I stop to fill up someone is asking me about it. AND THE VW OWNERS! Being a "car guy", I always knew VW owners were VERY passonate about their "Dubs", some bordering on cult-like (superceeding Ferrari owners by far), but I've gotten so many honks and thumbs ups from modified VWs that I really know I've been sucked into the cult.
I finished OCS. And the "Knowledge" (our class study material) that I was worried about (in the post below)? It was pretty much a joke. I think I maybe studied for it a total of 2 hours my entire 6 weeks there. Which, thinking about it now, it is kind of strange that I passed everything, considering that as soon as you sat down in the air-conditioned classroom, your head would instantly be nodding and bobbing, and then suddenly and violently jerked upright by a jab in the ribs from the Candidate next to you trying to keep you awake, who would then promptly fall asleep, and then would be the recipient of your well placed and finely executed elbow strike to the ribs.
OCS was quite an experience. And I'm sure that talking to me now is going to paint a different picture of OCS than if you had talked to me a week after graduation. I look back on it sometimes and almost miss it. It's funny to look back and know that 28 May 2006- 7 July 2006 was my boot camp/OCS experience- no longer listening to someone else's stories, but being able to tell my own. It's an experience that will be with me for the rest of my life. I will (God willing) be 75 years old, attending Reading AirShow with my grandchildren, laughing about things that happened. I will be the one telling those stories.
So that's the nostalgic bit.
I think maybe next post I'll go in to a little more detail about the ordeal.
Stephen, out.
Where to start?
The Focus is gone. Not gone, but *ugh*.....replaced. It hurts me to say that, as the Focus was truly the most honest and unpretentious car I have ever driven. It always wore its heart on its sleeve- too bad that heart may have heart disease; the reason the Focus' magic couldn't entice me anymore was because when I lost 5th & 6th gears, it forced me to drive home 5 hours to Atlanta in 4th gear at 50mph. The final straw was when a Honda Insight with a gay-pride sticker flew past me, honking its horn in anger. At any rate, the Focus has swooned my Mom, as it now resides in a drive way in Atlanta, though for how much longer is uncertain. "Phil" 
was most lovingly replaced with "Arnold" (pronounced like the Honorable Gov. Ahhnald). For those unsure, it's a 2004 "Black Magic" VW R32, of which only 750 were made (5000 total R32s imported to the US). It attracts comments and envious stares everywhere I go. I'm the type of person who could pretty much care less about what everyone thinks about my car, as long as I know it's fast and handles well. But darn, it is an AWESOME feeling getting thumbs up from Porsche, Ferrari, and other much faster and expensive cars. It seems as though everytime I stop to fill up someone is asking me about it. AND THE VW OWNERS! Being a "car guy", I always knew VW owners were VERY passonate about their "Dubs", some bordering on cult-like (superceeding Ferrari owners by far), but I've gotten so many honks and thumbs ups from modified VWs that I really know I've been sucked into the cult.I finished OCS. And the "Knowledge" (our class study material) that I was worried about (in the post below)? It was pretty much a joke. I think I maybe studied for it a total of 2 hours my entire 6 weeks there. Which, thinking about it now, it is kind of strange that I passed everything, considering that as soon as you sat down in the air-conditioned classroom, your head would instantly be nodding and bobbing, and then suddenly and violently jerked upright by a jab in the ribs from the Candidate next to you trying to keep you awake, who would then promptly fall asleep, and then would be the recipient of your well placed and finely executed elbow strike to the ribs.
OCS was quite an experience. And I'm sure that talking to me now is going to paint a different picture of OCS than if you had talked to me a week after graduation. I look back on it sometimes and almost miss it. It's funny to look back and know that 28 May 2006- 7 July 2006 was my boot camp/OCS experience- no longer listening to someone else's stories, but being able to tell my own. It's an experience that will be with me for the rest of my life. I will (God willing) be 75 years old, attending Reading AirShow with my grandchildren, laughing about things that happened. I will be the one telling those stories.
So that's the nostalgic bit.
I think maybe next post I'll go in to a little more detail about the ordeal.
Stephen, out.
posted by Stephen at 5:54 PM
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