I’ve Got Dreams to Kill and People to Forget

Well, where to start?

Honestly, I have no idea.I haven’t written a ‘real’ entry since April, and anything in between has just been filler. A sort of justification to paying for an OD+ membership. Quick side note, if you’re going to complain about OD, then find something else. Is it annoying? Sure. Are there thousands of other alternatives out there to use? Hell yes. Does anyone care if you’re upset? No.

Ok, so on June 27th, I found out I made rank. Woo. And I guess I’ll add, hoo. I’m not 100% sure how I feel about it, to be honest. I’m excited and all and can’t wear to actually sew on, but at the same time, this changes a lot of things for me. Options for bases are limited because the higher up you go, the less positions there are to fill. There’s that whole more responsibility thing. No one wants that. They just want to get paid more. True story. Before I found out I had made it, I was looking at special duties that were available and one really stuck out above the others, and that was to be working at the Academy for four years with the cadets. From what I’ve read, you’re almost with them 24/7. You’re on call, you counsel them, you teach them in the classroom. You’re almost fully integrated into their lives during their whole school career. That just sounds really interesting to me. I’d love to do it. I’d love to be in Colorado Springs for four years. Then, once I found out I made Tech, the opportunity to do so was there. There were a few things I’d have to get in order and do, but I could apply. Then, only July 15th, the AF decided they were going to change how they filled positions where your in charge of shaping and teaching people. Not only this kind of job, but recruiters, instructors, etc. All of it is now a nomination process. Ok, not too big a deal. But, the people who get nominated can’t have any PT fails in the last two years. Well, that right there automatically cancels out my chances at the moment. Despite the fact that I got an excellent on my last PT test on the 24th of July. Never done that before. It felt good to be able to score something like that and not have to worry about it for a year. But, I slightly digress. Despite a small string of good fortune, it would have been nice for something else to work out in my favor that was more career orientated.

Recently, my overseas listing came out. Basically, it shows where I can choose to try and go that is overseas. Well, the options were small and not completely ideal. There was Korea. Fuck no. I’ve dealt with that before and do not want to go back. There was Japan. Slightly better but it is way up north and I have never really had much of a desire to go to Japan. Then, there was Diego. I’ve already been there, but hell yes, I will suffer another year on a tropical island before I go to any of these other places. As long as I get my way. Now, the other day I found out a downfall of adding your Chief as a friend on Facebook. After I had posted that the overseas listing was crap and that I wanted to go back to Diego, at our squadron BBQ we had last week, of course he was like, "Diego? Really? How is that good for your career development?" Well, it’s not. And I straight up told him that I knew at what rank my career was going to end. With PT alone, I am 99% sure I would never go higher than Master Sergeant. It’s pretty much going to be a given especially with the direction this AF is going. So, is Diego good? Of course not, but when the career path I would like to take has been taken from me, by my own doing (I don’t have any dillusions that it was anyone’s fault but my own), then I’m going to get mine. So, if I have a chance to go somewhere nice and almost relax for a year and get my shit together, I’m going to do it. I like to travel. My goal is not to achieve the highest rank possible. I use the military for travel, for classes, for travelling to places to work (even that is to ungodly places like Iraq and Afghanistan). So, I’ll get mine. However it is I can.

My mother and sister came to visit at the end of July. It was everything I expected it to be. It didn’t take long for my mom to annoy the hell out of me. I was extremely relieved when I pawned them off on my cousin for a day to take them out to Stonehenge and Bath. It was nice to see them and for someone to come visit me for a change, but, I don’t know how I put up with her under one roof for 18 years. I’d probably live on the street before going to back to live with them if I had the choice.

I did buy a new couch recently. Voila!:

Despite the fact that I do live living in England, I’m so ready to be off this base. And a little ready to be out of this country. So many things have not gone right, and there are few that actually have. It’s time for something different. I’m really hoping for Diego. It will be nice to disappear again, in a way.