Another week of fun

So this week started off pretty standard, woke up to more Corps BS and class. One perk though, my course load went from 19 credits down to 12 credits. Some may wonder why this happened;well first, I must thank the Governor of Virginia for declaring a state of emergency. This caused me to miss 6 days of classes, and for me missing chem. was crippling since its not my strongest area. When I returned to Tech and began meeting with professors to explain my situation and collect make up assignments, my Chem teacher explained that I would receive a 0 for the test and quiz that I missed. This caused my Chem grade to drop to a 21% which I knew was impossible to recover. After a long debate with myself and counsel from my older brother, I decided a change of major would be my best move. I did this not only because of my Chem situation but also because I was struggling with the courses required for a Environmental science.

I decided on a Sociology major with a focus on crime & deviance, fields that have always interested me. Im excited to start my new major and begin the studies of people. Another exciting even, I was called up again on tuesday so I missed another three days of class. This wasn't for a SOE but because I was asked to help train a unit preparing for Afghanistan. I instructed a class on Close Quarters Combat with the M-4 which is always a fun area. I also received my certification with the militaries new M320 Grenade Launcher. This system is amazing, it moves from the standard M203, manual aim tube to an all digital system. Its amazing how technology is being used to create elite weapons for our soldiers to use on the battlefield making them more effective and eliminating threats.

Ahhh I hate Canada, they just beat the USA in the gold medal match! This was one of the greatest games I have ever seen. And do my discontent the winning goal scored in overtime was scored by none other than Sydney Crosby, the player I despise with all my heart.

Random Story

So once again the power in the Frat house went out, story of my freaking life. It’s 105 degrees inside at 1:00am and I can’t get any cool air. To escape the sweatbox that the house has become I decide to head-out for a walk. I find myself stumbling blindly down the pitch-black street, my eyes flicking around, scanning the shadows for any danger. As I walk past a house that resembles a castle, I notice a Mercedes Benz loaded with after market modifications. I start looking over the car and after about 30 seconds I realize, I’m talking to myself. I am so drunk that I’m actually carrying on a conversation with myself about how ridiculous this Benz looks.

As I start to walk back to the Frat house I again begin to talk to myself, expressing my discontent with the situation. I even ask myself why the hell I am talking to myself, which seems like a stupid thing to do because it only adds to my feeling that I am either way to drunk or slightly crazy from the past week of finals. I decide it’s the alcohols fault, so I just go with it and start yapping away. I even find myself laughing at my own comments, which any other time would make me look like a crazy fool.

While walking back to the house, I realized I forgot where I was. I became so distracted with the conversation with myself, I failed to pay attention to where I had walked. Than I looked at my watch and saw that it was already 8:45pm. The Virginia Tech vs. Duke game started at 7:30pm. I ran back to the house with the Mercedes and decided I would have to borrow it if I wanted to get home in time to catch the end of the game. For some weird reason the car doors were open and the car was running, I took that as a sign from god and quickly sped away. After putting my address in the GPS I found the house, making sure to park the car a few houses down. I ran inside hoping the game would still be on the TV, but was confused when al the lights were off in the house including the TV. Than it hit me, the power was out, how dumb can I be to forget that.

State of Emergency

I never thought i'd be so relieved to be back at Tech after the longest week I have experienced since the war. It all started on the 5th of this month, weather forecasters were calling the approaching storm the fiercest to hit the Commonwealth of Virginia in over 30 years. Initial reports were up to 3 feet in different areas of the state. while sitting in my Military Science class I received a text message from Staff Sergeant Richey, "Governor declares state of emergency, were activated report to armory asap"... Right away I inform my instructor I have to report for duty and head to my dorm to pack all my gear.

After a 4 hour drive I make it to Fredricksburg and report in for State Active Duty (SAD is the acronym used which suits the detail fairly well). Come 0100 on friday I am ordered to take my Hum-v and my A-driver (assistant driver) to Mary Washington Hospital because they need some means of swapping doctors and nurses around. So myself and Sgt. Geir rol in one Hum-v in the second truck Sgt. Schmidt is driving with Pfc. Mohamed as his A-driver. We get to the hospital and spend all night/morning shuttling hospital staff and at around 1200 on Friday we were relieved by another group of drivers.

After returning to the armory we receive a new mission, head up to the Woodbridge area of Virginia and link up with Woodbridge Fire and EMS at Station 12. We would basically be assisting them as part of a search and rescue team as well as the standard fire/ems. They requested our assistance because with 3 feet of snow covering most neighborhood streets and several inches of ice/slush covering main roads, travel for the Engines and Ambulances was extremely difficult if not impossible. But our Hum-v's handled all those obstacles like champs, crawling effortlessly through 3+ feet of snow and handling fairly well on the ice. I responded to 5 house fires and about 15 EMS calls, 3 of which involved a fatality. I spent 6 days straight working with the men and women at station 12 and I now have a new found respect for all Firefighters and EMS, especially the volunteers. The bond that develops when living with such a respectable group of individuals reminded me of the bonds i developed overseas with the guys in my unit.

After 7 days of pure hell, I came away with more satisfaction from helping so many strangers free stuck cars or tractor trailors, shovel their driveways, escape a house without heat or power, and receive medical attention from EMS which otherwise would of been impossible. But on the negative side I also suffered a torn right tri-cep and exhaustion from getting less than 23 hours of sleep of a period of 7 nights.