Things

Few things compare to spring after a long winter. Seriously, this past weekend was the most beautiful weekend we've had since sometime last September, and as a result, almost everyone I have seen today appears quite refreshed. At least compared to normal (the academy is still a grind, but relatively speaking - much refreshed). I love spring and fall so much, however summer is also great. Basically what I'm driving at is this: I love the heat. I grew up in West Texas where summers meant a seat buckle so hot that it would literally burn you. Cassette tapes (yes, I remember the cassette tapes) that would melt if left exposed in the car during the day. Sidewalks hot enough to cook an egg (not recommended for eating, pretty gritty...).

Suffice it to say, I love the warmth returning!

Also I worked out for the first time in about 2 weeks (the time it has been since I contracted the poison oak). That also feels amazing, I was really beginning to miss the workouts. Not that I am some jacked-up gym rat, but at the same time I do enjoy working out everyday, even if I only work out for about an hour a day.

Hopefully the weather and poison oak continue to improve, I'm ready for summer already!

Identity Theft

It appears that I have fallen victim to identity theft again. This time, the culprit apparently used my name and address, etc, to set up a credit card from some other company and proceeded to charge it to an online casino based out of England. I just don't get it. What kind of a low-life chooses identity theft anyway? Have they no conscience? I would much sooner become homeless and die from starvation than commit identity theft for food, much less commit identity theft to GAMBLE. How about a strong shot of honesty, whoever you are who is doing this to me (this isn't the first time), I hope you realize that you have no future in this world. If I ever find out YOUR identity I will personally see to it that the world knows your shame. Meet me face to face and we'll see how clever you really are.

-Storm (is building and heading your way)

Not a whole lot to mention today

So there's not a whole lot going on that is new. My poison ivy/oak/sumac is getting better, slowly, but is still pretty bad. School is picking back up, in fact, last night my brilliant friend and I spent 3 and 1/2 hours working on our dynamics homework. It's great to be back (that's sarcasm, boys and girls).

On a more interesting note, I get to construct some fiberglass this afternoon, as part of our Engineering Material Science class' lab. That, at least, should be pretty cool. And on a completely unrelated note, I CANNOT WAIT UNTIL SUMMER!

-Storm

Poison Ivy/Oak/Sumac

As the last post says, I got poison ivy or poison oak, poison sumac, something, over my spring break. Pretty much blows, my right arm has several spots that are completely blistered up and oozing yellow stuff. So I went to the sick bay this morning and got 4 meds - calamine, aluminum acetate, steroids, and a form of benadryl. Hopefully this stuff clears up soon...until it does I'm missing my professional rescuer classes as well as a lot of sleep, and homework is even more of a chore.

I spent an hour medicating my arms this morning after sick bay (skipped a class to do so), and they're feeling much better right now, hopefully that means they're starting to heal...

Two things

So, two things to write about today. First, a quote that I find interesting:
"When I meet a stranger, I expect them to act a little strange" - Jenni James
I thought this was interesting, because normally when I meet someone it is hard not to make first-impression character judgments. But they are, after all, strangers, and so it would be normal for them to act a bit strange. Anyway, I thought that was an interesting point to make. So thank you, Ms James, for that nugget of advice.

Secondly, in keeping with tradition, I have returned from leave with some form of bodily ailment. This time, poison ivy on my arms (and it appears, behind my left ear - don't ask me because I don't know). It seems that I am perpetually ill when I return from leave back home. This time it is poison ivy, last time it was a rolled ankle that I could barely walk on. Another time it was an ear infection so bad that I had to have a myringotomy. Before that, a terrible cold/sore throat. The times that I have returned sick way outnumber the very few times I have returned well. I'm sitting here with bandages all over my arms and I look like I am terminally ill with these gauze pads that are discolored from the seepage of the blisters. I can't wait for classes to start on Monday...

So that just about gets it for me tonight. Time to watch a movie, or maybe just go to bed. A ton of procrastinated homework awaits me tomorrow!
-Storm

Intuitively Obvious to the Casual Observer

A phrase that I am finding to be more and more common as I further my mechanical engineering education is "intuitively obvious to the casual observer". I am not a fan of this phrase for two reasons. First, hardly ever is the situation intuitively obvious, especially to a casual observer. The most recent example I have seen of this phrase was in one of my math books where it had a differential equation, which, as is supposedly intuitively obvious to the casual observer, could be simplified to a common form. But that simplification took 3 pages, and involved many algebra skills that I had long forgotten. Intuitively obvious. Sure.
The second reason that I am not a fan of that phrase is because I imagine the author, who, clearly, must be a genius, is just sitting there chuckling to himself as he writes it. He either knows it's not intuitively obvious and is just writing that to get under the skin of people like me, or it really was intuitively obvious to him and he knows that he is part of the 1% of America to which that phrase applies. Either way, the author is probably getting a good laugh knowing that people like me will spend far too much time trying to understand what is apparently "intuitively obvious to the casual observer"!

...and now I'm blogging about math phrases. I should get out more
-Storm

Update on Jewel

Alright, so first off let me say that the conversation I had with Hope concerning Jewel took place late at night many weeks ago. And the more I thought about what I had told myself and you all that I would do, the less it sounded like a good idea. Not that I am scared and am trying to talk myself out of it, but it seems like I could possibly ruin any hope I had for Jewel if I go out and tell her how I feel. And here's why: we don't know each other very well.

I talked with Hope again last week and told her about what I was thinking. I half-expected her to say that I am just scared and that I should go ahead with it, but to my surprise she agreed with me. She said that it is much harder to find out a guy likes her and then try to work backwards in the relationship, getting to know him after knowing he likes her, than it is to go the other way. And, quite frankly, highly inconsiderate in her eyes. So her advice to me was to spend more time talking with her and just let God take care of the rest. Sounds like a good plan to me, and it was confirmation to what I had been thinking. It really is good to have friends who you can be open with!

In lieu of meeting with Jewel and telling her how I feel I am now just going to meet with her, as I do with most of my friends when I come back home for a while. Obviously if it comes up I won't lie about my feelings, but I will most likely not bring them up and force them upon her. We'll see, God never fails to surprise me, but I don't think we'll be having that conversation at this point!

Until next time, yall have a great spring break! - Storm

Buried Classmate

Yesterday I buried a classmate of mine. A member of the great class of 2012 died last week, and this week our entire class shipped down to Maryland to honor his life at the wake and funeral.

Although I didn't personally know Kenny Link (1990-2010), I have heard nothing but positive things about him. It was terribly sad for me to see his family and their pain, and it was especially sad for me to see some of my classmates hurt over the loss. If there is one thing that I have really seen through this whole experience, it is that the service I am in is truly a huge family. We take care of our people and are always there for each other.

I regret that I never talked to Kenny, I passed him several times in the passageways of our dorm, but that was during 4/c year when we couldn't talk to each other outside of our rooms. He was, however, a member of my class, and as such I am happy to have had the opportunity to honor him at his memorial.

This loss has really made me think about my priorities in life. The fragility and brevity of life is something that I have dismissed for most of my life, and yet Kenny was younger than I at the same school I attend. He is now gone. It definitely makes me take a long look at what is truly important to me.

I hope I never have to bury a classmate again, or a close friend, for that matter. But what Kenny has taught me is a lesson I won't soon forget, and for that I am thankful. Life goes on, but it is how we live it that defines who we are. I, as I'm sure most of you would agree, would like to leave a legacy behind. Kenny did that.

Now, more than ever, is time to saddle up and start living like God has called me to.


And in a completely unrelated note, after staying the night at the service academy in Annapolis, I am more than confident that I made the right choice for me in coming to the Academy that I attend. I'm sure they have a great program going on, and some people would prefer to be at a large school with limited personality, but I on the other hand prefer a school where the class size is small enough to allow deep friendships with any or all of one's classmates, if they so desire. I would like to see any of the other service academies send an entire class to a town 6 hours away so that they could be part of their classmate's funeral. It was impressive, a bonding experience for our class, and I couldn't be more proud to be part of this organization.

That should just about wrap up my thoughts for the night...
- Storm

New Years Resolutions and Things.

So obviously it is a little late to make new years' resolutions, I did make some, however, at the turn of the new year. Here are a couple:
1) Do homework on the day it is assigned.
2) Get to bed as close to 10pm as possible (TAPS).
Those are pretty high goals for me to meet, considering the homework load that I have this semester. So far they have gone pretty well though. I hardly ever get to bed any later than 11 pm, and on occasion I actually make it to bed by 10pm (like last night). Most nights I hit the rack around 1030pm.
The first goal was going pretty well until some of these ridiculous labs started taking precedence, but in all honesty I'm doing a fairly good job of getting all the assignments done early.

Another semi-new years goal was to make working out an every-day priority. I've done a pretty good job of that too, I'm preparing as much as I can for this summer, as I will be training the incoming cadets and intimidation is obviously a big factor for success!

Well I guess that is enough rambling for now, until next time
Storm

Friends, sometimes a challenge is good.

Over the past few months I've been talking some with a semi new friend, we'll call her Hope, that I made through physics studying back home and our new church. She's been a great help in getting through some hard days, and I like to think that I've been a good help to her in some problems she's been dealing with, too.

About a week ago she, out of the blue, asked me if I thought that a certain girl, we'll call Jewel, still likes me. This girl, for the record, is the same one that I talked about earlier when I was saying that I discovered that the only girl I've every truly felt for doesn't actually like me. So, I told Hope that I thought my old crush doesn't like me anymore, although she may have before. Hope disagreed, saying that she thought I was wrong, and followed up by asking whether I like her still. I was amused by this for two reasons, I have never told Hope that I like Jewel, and of course, I still liked Jewel, but instead of answering the question I dodged it by asking how she knew I used to like Jewel. Hope was giving in, she asked me "Let me put it this way, if you knew she liked you, would you like her?" I decided to be honest, and replied, "Honestly? I'd be head over heels for her."

We talked a bit more, and the general conclusion from the conversation was that she might still like me, but she may not. In any event it was up to me to tell her my feelings and until I do I won't get either the relationship or the closure that will allow me to move on. The funny thing is, this was not news to me at all, in fact I most likely would have given the same counsel to any friend of mine, had they approached me with the same situation. So, next time I'm home I've decided I will make sure to have a talk with this girl, Jewel, and let her know where I stand. At this point, it is a win-win situation for me because if she has the same feelings for me then that is great, and if she doesn't, then at least I have closure and I can start trying to move on (painful as it may be).

There are three things that I've noticed about this whole experience that I wanted to share.
1) If you have feelings for a girl, be honest with her. It's not going to hurt you, she can't take anything away from you by rejection, and I think a lot of guys will find that most girls, even if they are not interested, aren't going to be super rude about it or anything like that. You are still who you are, and if you continue to trust God, He will show you the way.
2) Sometimes it might be helpful to completely remove yourself from the situation and try to give yourself advice as if you were not the person in question. I don't know how this works in relationships, because that means removing almost all emotion from the picture - which is hard. But heck, it's worth a try.
3) And for all other times when you can't seem to fix the issue yourself, often it takes a friend to help you out. But not just any kiss-up friend, sometimes you need a friend to challenge you. When I was talking with Hope, I started getting a little agitated a few times, but I didn't show that to her because I knew that she was right and I needed the challenging. On the flip side, perhaps you are that friend for someone. Don't be afraid to challenge your friends. Don't be rude, but remember that we all need a kick to get going from time to time, and maybe one of your friends needs that from you!

As for Jewel, when I go home next (spring break) I will talk with her. I'll keep you all updated, I'm sure!

Storm