Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Happy New Year!

I don't need to look at the clock to see when the New Year arrives, I just listen to outside of my room with all the drunks hollering and saying farewell to 2012.  Although back home in Visalia it's still 2012 with less than 17 hours to go before I see Facebook blow up with the new year posts from friends and family. I hope you guys are doing ok and don't do anything that will get you killed.

So what do I plan to do for 2013? I definitely want to go back home and see my family again. Since we lost our dog some time ago I'm thinking about getting my mom a new one from the shelter that will hopefully make a great addition to the family. If I do get to come home I'll make sure to go on another road trip again, but with some company. Last time I went home for Thanksgiving I made a solo trip to Provo, Utah mainly for the 12 hour drive and to visit Temple Square since I never actually got to go. If I do get to come back home in April (mainly for my birthday so my command wont ruin it for a 3rd straight year) I may or may not crash the wedding of a certain someone who happens to plan to be married in Tucson, Arizona. If the date keeps, I'll go. Plus it'll give me a very good reason to visit my mission field. Although it's sad to say that I haven't kept in touch with many people from there, so I don't know who I would visit if I did find them online.

Another place I would like to go back to is mainland Japan, either Kyoto or return to Tokyo. Kyoto would be for the historic value of the city and how it still retains much of the history whereas Tokyo has evolved into a concrete jungle, although a very impressive concrete jungle. The other country nearby I'd like to visit is China, however it would be very expensive to go if I signed up with the MCCS group that goes. I don't think I want to drop $3000 and be part of a military tourist group. Can you imagine the Chinese just waltzing into my hotel room while I'm out and about checking to see if I'm a spy? Although it would be funny to witness their faces upon finding a trolling note. That might not bring a smile to the Chinese government, but it would still be worth it :P

Update outside (12:16am): "Happy Birthday" was sung to someone.

The third and most economical plan for the year is to stay put and save my money.  As tough as it is to pick up rank out here, I have the feeling that I wont this coming advancement exam. Other than not studying, it's hard to look good on paper when no collaterals are given to the E-nothings since the command insists that those go to E-4 and above. Yet they tell us to work as if we're already at the next rank, but the credit goes to the person who holds that collateral. The other option is to volunteer, however that doesn't get you much on its own. Plus, with the way things are here, it has not been a great start to my military career. I can go on about my plans for the future, but that alone is a post on its own.

Update outside (12:37am): "Happy Birthday" was sung again. Drunks are funny.

Going to the gym will be a pain this month, with all the losing weight resolutions being made. Earlier today it was fairly crowded for a Monday afternoon on New Year's Eve, but it'll be a whole different song all day when the sun comes back up. There's nothing wrong people wanting to lose weight, it's perfect timing since beach season isn't for another 3-4 months on Okinawa and about 5-6 back in America. If it does get too crowded after work in the gym, I'll start using the small gym in the barracks for lifting and run off base for the cardio. It'll be fun to run the Stairway to Heaven since it's very close, and have never attempted.

With the 96 almost over and two incidents (before New Year's Eve), let's see what will happen to the liberty policy for III MEF. It's most likely going to bring back the Jerk Report.



No comments:

Post a Comment