And now, we wait!!

Yesterday I submitted the most important application package of my life thus far. I just applied to become an Aerospace Physiologist, which is a commissioned position. That's right, I just might be an officer in the near future! For those of you who are not familiar with the military, the difference between enlisted and officer is astronomical. For one, the pay is way legit, and B.) even an O-1 (a 2nd lieutenant and the lowest officer rank) outranks the Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force (the highest ranking enlisted member of the Air Force). He would have to salute me. That would kinda rock. The only real requirement to be an officer is that you have your Bachelor's Degree, which I have had the entire time, so I always get asked why I joined as an enlisted member. I chose to join enlisted first because I wanted to learn what it was like to even be in the military before I tried to lead people in the military, and I have gained a lot from my experience so far. I've also got a lot more to learn, but hopefully it will be as an officer now. I received some AMAZING letters of recommendation which I think will help push my package to the top of the stack for this position. I don't know how many people will be applying and there is only ONE slot open this selection cycle, but I know I will be highly competitive for the slot, and I truly believe my chances are good for being the one chosen. As a physiologist, my job would be to basically train pilots and other aircrew members how to adapt to the physiological changes of flight. I would be doing a lot of teaching and briefing, which I love, and I could also branch of into the research portion to find new ways to keep people safe, which would also rock! I'm so excited about everything getting this job would mean and I can't wait to find out what their decision will be. I'll be receiving a call sometime in the next couple weeks where I will be interviewed by one of the members of the selection board, and that will complete my package, so I'll let everyone know how that goes when it happens. Then it's really just a waiting game until they call me to let me know they picked me! =) I should find out by Christmas if I got it or not, so stay tuned!!

I might have a problem...

So it has come to my attention that I am HIGHLY competitive. I have always known this, but I think it may have gotten worse. So yesterday was a wing-wide "Resiliency Day" to draw attention to the fact that Airmen are committing suicide and we need to be better wingmen and women and watch out for our coworkers and such. They opt to do one of these shin-digs about once a year, usually around the holidays because that's when suicide rates go up. I just wish they would give us the day off rather than make me sit around and play touchy-feely with my coworkers, but I get no say. Anyway, it always starts with group activities in your unit before there's a big briefing from the Wing Commander later in the day, and it's up to each individual unit to determine the activities they will do, provided they foster teamwork and opening up and shit. Our unit had a delicious breakfast potluck, then some talking and getting to know each other better I guess, then the competition comes in. We had to split into groups and work together to design an apparatus that would protect an egg in a one story fall. Unfortunately we couldn't go any higher than that, because everyone's device protected the egg, and it wasn't a true testament to who's design was superior. I decided our team was going to model our design after the one NASA used for the Mars Spirit Rover, like this:

BTW we only had access to Dixie cups, newspaper, balloons, cotton balls, and plastic bags. And straws I think, but those were irrelevant. So my plan was to surround the egg in some cushion, then surround the entire thing in balloons like the rover. It was brilliant, and it worked wonderfully, but like I said, everyone's did. Suffice it to say however, I was obnoxious in the design/creation process. I mean, people were laughing so one can assume I was reasonably entertaining, but I think I might have gotten carried away after awhile. I constantly accused others of stealing our design (which they were), I tried to take all the balloons (even though I eventually conceded and let other teams have some), I talked trash, it was a lot. And the prize was some friggin Justin Bieber tattoos! I didn't give a damn about the prize! I seriously only cared about winning for the glory of it all. I don't know why I get this way whenever a competition comes about. It might have something to do with having 3 siblings, or it might just be the Hansen way, not really sure. In the end, everyone had fun and I don't think I ruined anyone's day unless they just weren't saying anything, but I do think I need to tone it down a notch when it comes to competitions. I also maintain that our design truly WAS the best because it fell the slowest, but everyone was a "winner" which only infuriated me more. I guess it is my way of having fun, but I also don't want to ruin anyone else's fun. Does anyone else get like this? I can't be the only one!

Pets

Now as you all know, I don't yet have human children. I do have two furry "children" however. The way I see it, like human children, pets can't help it that we chose to bring them in to our lives. They're just here on this earth, shaped by the hand they're dealt. Therefore, if you decide to take on the responsibility of pet ownership, you need to look at for what it really is: an adoption. That pet is now your kid and you owe it to that creature to give it the best life you possibly can. It's not like they ask for much: food, water, safety, potty breaks, stimulation, and love. The same basic needs you would give to your baby.

Obviously, there are good and bad parents out there. Some people are just shitty. What really pisses me off is when people are good pet owners until they have human spawn. Then the cat or the dog gets brushed aside or even gotten rid of to make room for the baby. You wouldn't get rid of your first born just because you had another, would you? I see posts online all the time for, "free cat or dog to a good home, the only reason we're giving him/her up is because we just had a new baby and we don't have time anymore." This infuriates me. Maybe the pet goes to a good home, but did it deserve that? No. Even when you ignore your dog because you're busy with other shit or something, they still greet you at the door every damn day with the same breathless enthusiasm and unconditional love that you just can't find in humans because we're not capable of that, in my opinion. Cats are slightly different, of course, but they still grow fond of their owners and come to appreciate their family and their settings and they love us too, just not as outwardly as dogs. Cats are gotten rid of the most because people tend to view them as pieces of furniture or something. Like they have no feelings one way or another where they live.

Another reason people get rid of their pets (especially in the military) is due to a move, or as we call it, a PCS. They just don't feel like going through the effort of getting the shots and forms and paying the extra fees to bring the pet with them, so they ditch 'em and forget about it. It makes me sick all the times I see this posted around here. I want to call each one individually and bitch them out, but it wouldn't do any good, they're still gonna be shitty people.

All I'm trying to say is that we chose to take on the responsibility of pet ownership, so everyone needs to see that out through the end, through thick and thin, no matter what. Give a dog a home and he gives you his whole heart and soul. When I look in to Zeke's eyes, I see nothing but pure love and affection reflected back at me. I could never leave him behind. The year that I had to live without him while I was in training was the worst year of my life, just as it was for single mothers that were without their children. People act like I'm crazy for loving my pets and all animals as much as I do, but I see no other way because that's how I was raised. Thankfully I married a man who thinks along the same lines. He may not love ALL animals like I do, but our pets are our children, and we both love them unconditionally, and are committed to them for their entire lives. When we have human children one day, we'll incorporate our pets and our babies into each others' lives, like you would do with siblings. No one will get left behind or forgotten about. I just wish everyone would feel the same.

Rome!

Well I clearly haven't posted in awhile, I just haven't felt like I've had anything post-worthy going on. Just day-to-day activities really. Taylor and I finally went to Rome, and it was one awesome trip! We flew RyanAir, which is a nice cheap way to fly, but can be very aggravating based on how Europeans travel. There are no assigned seats, so it's always first-come, first-serve seating, which to Europeans means, "line up in a huge cluster-fuck an hour before boarding and breathe your hot, stinky breath right down someone's neck." Since they have no personal space, they get right up on you, and it's just terrible and stinky. This time, we decided not to participate in the annoying cluster-fuck, because you still get a seat on the plane anyway, and it doesn't matter if we sit next to each other for the short flight. We chose to sit and wait off to the side until almost everyone was done boarding, then we got up, walked through the gate with no time spent in line, and still got 2 seats across the aisle from each other. Not bad at all. We have definitely figured out the American way to survive RyanAir. Now, on to the actual trip!

Day 1: Ancient Rome

Taylor and I in front of the Colosseum

Some of the Forum

  We landed at about 8:30 AM, so our first day started as soon as we got off the plane. We found a shuttle bus that would take us in to downtown Rome for less than 4 Euro, which was an awesome deal, so we booked return trip tickets on that too. Once we got in to the downtown area, at the main train station, we busted out our map and started walking (after a brief sit at a cafe where I tried to eat the worst sandwich of my life). We started out in the wrong direction but after we got our bearing we figured it out. Priority 1 was getting sunscreen along the way being that Taylor has ginger blood and I enjoy not having skin cancer. We looked at the train station, but they were literally selling small bottles for 20 Euro, FUCK THAT! We stopped at every little market along our route until we finally found one with sunscreen for less than 4 Euro, so huge win there. After we procured the necessities that we couldn't bring on the plane, we head to the Roman Forum and the Colosseum. We bought our combo tickets for the Forum, Palatine Hill, and the Colosseum at the Forum, and we were glad we did because the line at the Colosseum is ridonculous, so anyone going to Rome take heed. Walking around the Forum is neat, it's obviously all in ruins but it's so cool to think about who used to walk those same streets. From there, you can head right up to Palatine Hill, then down to the Colosseum last. We were in awe of the size of the Colosseum, thinking how difficult it must have been to build this when they did. We also learned that the Colosseum looks the way it does today because it was basically ransacked for valuable materials such as bronze and whatnot, so there are huge holes in many of the columns. Also there was a fire which burned the floor so that's why you can see the labyrinth underneath. Many of you probably already know these facts, I just want to be semi-informative in here, so I'm including fun facts! By this time, we had been wandering around for several hours with our heavy packs on our backs since we couldn't check in to the hotel until later in the afternoon, so we were ready for a long break and some gelato! We got roped in to one of the restaurants right next to the Colosseum, which was a huge tourist trap and ridiculously over-priced, so don't do that. Whenever the servers are standing outside trying to talk you in to their establishment, it's going to be over-priced. Walk a little away from the huge attractions and you'll enjoy better food for a fraction of the cost. Just as a reference, we had 2 beers and split a large gelato sundae thing, and we paid about 40 Euros, so seriously avoid that crap. After we had our break, we grabbed a cab to take us to our hotel hoping they would check us in a little early. We got there just after 2 PM and they did thankfully, so then we just relaxed in our super air conditioned room and took a nap since we were up at about 2 AM for the early flight out. Our hotel offered a cheap shuttle in to the city, so we reserved our seats on that for about 7 PM to head out for dinner. It felt great to relax, shower, then get pretty for our first night out in Rome. The shuttle dropped us off right outside the walls of the Vatican city, so we searched online for some restaurants in that area before heading out. We found one with good prices that got great reviews and headed there. Everywhere in Rome is pretty easy to walk to if you're not 90 and wearing decent shoes, so you can save money on cabs if you're willing to put in some miles. Our hotel was a little outside the city which is why they offered the shuttle, but once you're downtown, that's when you can walk just about anywhere. Our first dinner was delicious, the service was fabulous, and we had a great time. Before heading home we stopped at this gelato shop right near the walls of the Vatican that became my favorite gelato shop of the trip. I think we stopped there about 4 times, and a couple other random ones along the way. I lost count of the number of times we had gelato, but I think it was in the neighborhood of 7 or 8 times in 3 days =). The return shuttle that night was already fully booked before we even checked in so we had to take another cab back, but we booked our shuttles for the next day in advance so we knew we would be getting back cheaper the next night. After a long day it was wonderful to go back to the hotel and crash hard.

Entrance to the Vatican Museum

Day 2: Christian Rome
We headed back out at 9 AM on day two to see the Vatican museums and St. Peter's Basilica and all that. I read in the guide book that to get in to these places your shoulders and knees must be covered, but unfortunately I read that on the plane, after I had already packed nothing but tank-tops, tube-tops, shorts and short dresses, so I knew I was going to have to buy some cover-ups. There are scarf vendors ALL around this place for people just like me, so it wasn't a catastrophe, and I got 2 scarves for only 7 Euro, not bad! We were going to do the Vatican by ourselves, but the line was seriously about a mile long, and there are people offering English-speaking tours all over the place. We took the bait from a very nice lady who sold us on her tour company which would take us through a guided tour of the Vatican museums (including the Sistine Chapel) and then only with a tour guide could we take a short-cut to the front of St. Peter's Basilica. In my opinion, it's worth it to go with a tour (while we were waiting for the tour to begin is when I witnessed the brutal Seagull vs. Pigeon massacre). They gave us a student rate, which was 40 Euro each, we didn't have to wait in line, we received info on all the hits of the museum, and we didn't have to go out and walk all the way around the outside of the city to get back in to the Basilica. If you are already well-versed on Vatican knowledge and comfortable going it alone you can save yourself the money, but I enjoyed the tour. Inside the Vatican City was chaotic. We went on a Monday which is apparently the busiest day, but it's also the busy season so it's supposedly packed like that every day. It was kind of hard to stand and enjoy some of the pieces because there are so many people in there you are literally just pushed along like you're caught in a tide. We still were able to see most everything and our guide was very knowledgeable on everything. The Sistine Chapel is obviously the main highlight of the museum, so everyone wants to end up there. Inside the chapel is where you need to have your knees and shoulders covered, and you can't take any pictures or even talk. There are guards in there that shush people constantly and they get up on your shit if you're speaking above a whisper. It was definitely a sight to see, but since there were so many people, once again we just got pushed along with the flow until we made it to the back where we could stand and appreciate it for a minute. Our tour group was equipped with little radio receiver thingies where the guide spoke in to her microphone and we each had a receiver and an earpiece so we could hear her anywhere. She was able to speak softly enough so that she could tell us about the chapel while we were inside. After we were in the chapel for about 10-15 minutes, we headed out the exclusive tour group-only exit and headed to the Basilica. Our guide dropped us off right out front of the main doors and our guided tour was over. Next we headed in to St. Peter's Basilica (where once again, shoulders and knees must remain covered) and used our guide book to give ourselves a tour. The sheer size of this church is just unimaginable until you're standing right in it. I just can't understand how they were able to build this kind of stuff without modern technology! It's crazy! It was huge and ornate and very beautiful, and much less crowded than inside the museum so we were comfortable going at our own pace and checking out all the cool shit inside. Afterwards we head out in to the piazza (the square out front) and looked at that for a bit. At the top of the stairs was this tiny old man, in his late 80's or early 90's, with his little roller walker and his bag of stuff (who knows what he was carrying) and he appeared to be all alone so he clearly needed help down the stairs. There was another family that helped carry his walker, and a man and I held his arms and walked him down the stairs. He was Italian and had a thick accent, but he was asking me if I was Italian or American, Catholic or not, then he was just going on about the church and Catholicism, and popes and all kinds of stuff but I couldn't make out everything he was trying to tell me. He was sweet though and once he was down he just went on his merry way around the square. At the end of this part we were trying to head back to the shuttle drop-off spot to catch our afternoon shuttle back for a little siesta, but we got turned around a bit and didn't make it in time for the 1:20 pick-up. Then we just grabbed some lunch in the area and waited for the 2:20 shuttle hoping it wouldn't be full so we could head back then. Thankfully, it wasn't full so we headed back to the hotel for some pool time and chillaxing. Our next shuttle out was at 7 PM again, and we weren't coming back until 10:20 PM so we had some time to wander. We mapped out the area we wanted to see so once we got off the shuttle we walked about a mile down the road to the Piazza del Popolo which was neat. There were some cool statues of Triton and sea creatures, and it wasn't busy at this point in the day.

Triton and sea creatures and shit

We ate dinner at a small little place down an alley where I had some AMAZING risotto. We were next to a table of some more Americans so it was nice to chat with random nice people. After dinner we walked back, had more gelato of course, and headed back to the hotel for the night.

Day 3: Cool Shit and Lots of Walking

The Pantheon

 On our last day we wanted to see all the other cool shit we hadn't seen yet, like the Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain and whatnot. First, we spent the morning sleeping in a little, relaxing by the pool, and working on my tan. We didn't head out until 2 PM, and our shuttle home wasn't until 9:20PM, so we knew we had several hours to get it all in. Once we got downtown, we just started walking. We walked past the Castle Sant' Angelo, which we saw briefly after the Vatican, and that was cool but we didn't try to go in. Directly after was Piazza Cavour, then we headed across the river towards the Pantheon. My directional skills were on-point this day, and we were able to just wander and see basically everything in this area. We walked through a big piazza where there were tons of artists selling paintings and stuff, then we saw a couple neat obelisks, then we had more gelato, then we found the Pantheon. I knew this thing was going to be cool, but I was seriously surprised by how cool it was. Once again, the sheer size just blows you away. Inside the Pantheon makes you feel like an ant. After that we headed towards Trevi Fountain. I didn't know much about the fountain, just that the guidebook said it was worth seeing, and it was. It was waaaay bigger than I expected, but it was so gorgeous! It was built right in to the side of a building, and it was built to mark the terminal site of the aqueducts built in 19BC. The fountain wasn't actually built until 1762 AD, so it's fairly recent, but still friggin impressive.

The fuckin Trevi Fountain! Yeah!!

 After the fountain we walked to the Capitol building, also awesome, and then just strolled down the street looking at some more ruins. This pretty much brought us around to the Forum and Colosseum again, which we had already seen, so after a little rest in a park we started walking back towards the Vatican. We basically just walked up along the river the whole way so it was neat to see the sites right along the river. It wasn't a long walk, maybe only a couple miles, but after a long day in the heat I was tired by the end of it. We grabbed an early dinner and a few beers and of course more gelato, then we ended up catching a shuttle one hour earlier since we were beat. Once back at the hotel we just packed up since we were leaving early in the morning, and that was it for our little trip! I felt very satisfied at all the sites we got to see in the short time we were there, and it didn't even feel rushed. I still had plenty of time to relax and swim in the hotel's awesome pool.

A couple little side notes:
1.) NEVER attempt to drive here. DO NOT rent a car or drive there yourself. Drivers in Italy are absolutely ape-shit, and there are basically no rules to the road. Lane lines don't exist and don't matter if they do, stop lights are suggestions, and speed limits are meant to be broken. I'm shocked there aren't more accidents, but I think it's because all the drivers here are used to this style of driving and can handle it. Americans should not attempt it being that we adhere to the rules of the road and don't appreciate being cut off constantly. I got used to trusting our drivers since they seemed to know what to do, but if I were attempting to drive there I would have had multiple heart attacks. Our cab ride to the train station on the morning we were leaving was the most intense car ride of my life, no joke.
B.) Pack a knee-length skirt or pants and a shirt with some sort of sleeve for the Vatican and other churches. The scarves aren't expensive, but its a pain in the ass to keep adjusting them to make sure you're covered.
III.) Eat as much gelato as you possibly can! Seriously, it's fucking delicious. Even better than other gelato I've had in Europe. Also, just eat food as much as you can. Authentic Italian food is the bomb.

That's about it! As soon as we landed in Germany I missed Rome, being that it was barely 50 degrees when I got off the plane and rainy. So much for my tan! I just put a few pictures in here. For all the other pics from our trip, check out Taylor's album on Facebook.

NEVERMIND!!!! Damnit

Aaaaand after 2-3 weeks of getting me amped up and pumped for my deployment, it's CANCELLED! Out of the blue, I was notified that the whole thing is off, so I no longer get the awesome experience I was looking forward to. I'm pissed, but there's no one I can specifically be pissed at since it clearly had to come from a very high level to cancel an entire tasking, but mostly I'm disappointed. I was really looking forward to the new things I was going to learn in all the pre-deployment trainings I had, and all the experience I would get from actually being deployed. Plus I was already thinking about some nice things I would get with all that deployment money.... so sad. Now its back to the mundane everyday clinic life. Forever. Also, Taylor missed out on a deployment he could have done but turned down because of mine, AND we cancelled our Rome trip. We're going to try to reschedule since the flights weren't able to be cancelled and we still have those, so if we can re-book the hotel we'll try again. The initial TDY I had scheduled the whole time is still on, so I will still be home May 18th-27th, and the party is still on. Good news there at least. Now its time for a consolation beer. =(

I'm sorry, is my boss a 70 year-old man, or a 15 year-old high school girl??

So I work in a "special" clinic, where we do things a little differently almost all the time, and most the time it pisses me off. It's all because of our civilian in charge. He was AD for over 20 years, and retired 26 years ago, and has been working in his position EVER SINCE. Man is old, and a pain in the ass. I CONSTANTLY butt heads with him. I am very direct and straight-forward, and when I have a problem with someone, I go to that person and hash it out, rather than behaving like a tween and going behind their back and talking to everyone else except them about the problem. This turd chooses to behave like a tween. At the age of 70. Today's issue: Today was not a normal clinic day, so I was going about admin duties and doing pre-deployment stuff, and my NCOIC was doin her thing. All of a sudden, Dude went walking through the clinic with 2 women, headed towards the waiting area. I didn't think too much of it because he randomly shows people the clinic sometimes and I thought this might have been one of these occasions. I was on the phone, but shortly after I hung up, one of the ladies came walking in to my office stating that she was told to check-in with me for her 10:30 appt with our doc. Needless to say, I was slightly confused being that we didn't have appointments today and I wasn't told anything about someone coming in. I asked Dude if he had cleared this with our doc, and he said he had and that we just needed to book her as a walk-in for the computer and he was ready to see her. I figured, alright, I'll do this, then address the issue that I didn't know this was happening later, because this is not the patient's fault, it's Dude's. Turns out it was more complicated because she wasn't in our system so she had to be registered but I don't have that access and my NCOIC was out at the moment. I went looking for someone who could do it, failed, headed back to my clinic, then just in time my NCOIC came back and was able to do it. I asked if she knew about anyone coming and she looked just as surprised as I did, so clearly she didn't know. So after we took care of the patient and she was gone, I went to Dude to speak with him. I have had problems with him in the past perceiving my directness as snippiness, or being disrespectful, when it's not the case at all. This time I purposefully took a neutral stance and explained calmly that it would have been nice to know that someone was coming in so that I could have been prepared, rather than having it sprung on me when I'm already in the middle of other things. I thought this was a reasonable request. He instead proceeds to give me dirty looks the entire time I'm talking to him, then makes the pitiful excuse that I was on the phone when the person called requesting to be seen, as if I would NEVER be off the phone again! I just reiterated that I would like to be kept in the loop, and in a clinic of 5 people, communication shouldn't be an issue. Everyone except the 2 techs knew what was happening, which seems like a problem to me. I could tell he was pissed, which pissed me off because all I did was came to him with a real issue, calmly expressed what had upset me, and left it at that. I had NO attitude, and no other issue with him at that point. I was at my desk working again when he came in and very aggressively questioned me on something I had said, and he had it wrong so I corrected him, informing him what I really said, then he grumped off. I'm just completely fed up at this point because I know he's going to grab my NCOIC when she gets back and immediately bitch to her about how terrible I was and whatnot. Before he could get the chance, as soon as she got back I told her what had happened, and our secretary confirmed my story. Sure enough, he called her in his office to talk to her, and basically threw me under the bus, saying I was standing with my hands on my hips, acting snotty and bitching and being rude. NONE OF THIS HAPPENED!! He made the whole damn thing up! Furthermore, I learned that he had bitched to our secretary about me already, saying the same thing, that I had attitude and stood with my hands on my hips. I cannot express enough how much this pisses me off. He is a grown ass man, going around talking to other people about his issue with me rather than talking to me directly, and making shit up that never happened!! I asked my NCOIC if she could negotiate a meeting with all of us where I could speak to him directly with her there as a mediator, and he obviously refused because he knew he was lying and he didn't want to look like an idiot in front of her. Plus he's a goddamned chicken shit. So anyway, nothing got resolved because he went home early (shocker) and won't be in tomorrow. Honestly, I don't know how I can speak to him without him taking it as an attack, even when I specifically try to be respectful and polite. He sees what he wants to and hears what he wants to and he gets what he wants because no one will stand up to him. I would, but it's just not worth it at this point. I have one more week left with the bastard, then I'm gone and hopefully he's no longer here when I get back from my deployment. He's dead to me! Fucking childish bullshit! Anyway, this was just a rant to get it off my chest and put out the type of shit I put up with on an almost daily basis. FUCK IT!!!

Here's the Deal... Kinda...

I'm deploying! While I don't want to spell out all the details for obvious reasons, I do want my friends and family who I don't call every week to know that it's happening, and Taylor and I are very excited for it. Boo Boo maybe not so much, but he won't know what's happening til I'm gone anyway. I'll still be coming home in May for a visit from the 18th - 27th, so the party is STILL ON!!! I know, that's clearly the most important piece of news. I just have a crap-ton more training now as part of that trip, then a crap-ton more shortly after. I'm stressing a bit right now because I just got all the info on everything I have to do before I go, and holy shit it's a lot. The "good" news is I'll only have about 2 weeks to do it all!! Yay for cramming!! After I get back to Germany from all the training in May and June, I'll have just over 2 weeks to do everything before I come back to the states for the rest of my training and then straight to the actual deployment from there. I'll be gone for over a year with training and deployment combined, so there will be a lot of Skype in my life. Feel free to hit me up when you see me on there, it will be good to hear from anyone I'm sure! It's going to be a great deployment and I'm going to get TONS of experience and skillz that I could never get in the clinic. Plus, not to mention the extra pay will add up so that's a good bonus too. Fear not! This is a good thing, and while I know some of you (aka my mom) will worry, try not to, and try to just think good thoughts and send me goodies lol. That's about all I feel comfortable saying because I don't want to get in trouble for saying too much online, but I'm sure you all get the gist!

Gotta Replace the Whole Assembly!!

I took my car (Patty Cake) in to have my brakes inspected today, thinking it was going to be pretty routine stuff. I knew I needed stuff replaced because my car has been shaking violently when I hit the brakes at a high speed for a little while now. I figured new rotors, new pads, that's about it. Well they called me late morning to give me the verdict. Apparently, one of my calipers has been sticking, which is probably why my rotor went bad and why my car was shaking. They call it "warped rotors" but from what Eric says and what I read online, there really is no such thing as the rotor itself warping, just the brake pads basically burning their sediment forever on to the rotor, making it an uneven surface which really can't effectively be ground down or fixed. HOWEVER, the really bad news was that one of my wheel bearings was so terrible that my wheel can apparently lock up or pop off at any moment, and my car is now unsafe to drive. I have no idea how long it's been in this condition, but my guess is it's been a bit, based on some of the sounds I've been hearing while driving. Also, my rear brake has been leaking brake fluid in to the drum or something, which has been messing up the boot or the foot or whatever it's called (I'm exhausting my knowledge of car stuffs here, don't mock me!), so I need to replace both rear brake drums as well. So all in all, I've gotta replace front pads, rotors, and calipers, rear drums, and both front wheel bearings. Total for parts comes out to $485 something, and labor (when they do it) will be another $465. They have to order parts from the states which takes 7-10 business days, and then I need 6.2 hours of labor for the job, so the earliest they could book my car to be fixed is May 1st. Now my poor lil car has to sit there in the parking lot for almost a month waiting to be fixed because I can't drive it anywhere. At least Taylor and I are now on the same shift, so car-pooling is an option.

We are now considering selling the car in a few months and trying to get what I can out of it now before something else goes wrong. If I sell it now, I can say it has new front and rear brakes, new tires, new alternator, new thermometer and whatnot, and whatever the hell else I've had fixed recently. Blue book and NADA values listed aren't bad, so if I could get about that, I'd feel good, and kinda get back what I've put in to it lately. My fear is that since it's at about 239,000 miles, the transmission might not last me much longer, and I would like to get rid of it before that happens. I don't know, I'm just very hesitant to make a big purchase, but it might be worth it at this point. We'll see. Anyone who has any advice, feel free to send me a message or post a comment, let me know what you think. Also, I do love my lil Escort ZX2, and we've been through a lot together. I have put on about 200,000 miles since I bought it almost 6 years ago. There's a lot of memories and road trips on that slutty lady! So that was my day. Well not really, there were a lot of other aspects to it, but that was my main problem of the day. And now I'm spent!!

I'm joining the bandwagon

So I've decided to start my own blog as well. Not that I think many people will be particularly interested in these things, but I know I thoroughly enjoy reading the blogs of my friends and family that I don't get to see every day, so I thought that perhaps they too, would enjoy reading some of my musings.

I would like to make my first post about the thing that is forefront in my mind right now: my future. In my younger days, I basically breezed through life (high school, college) not really trying very hard and still doing well, and I didn't have a problem bouncing from career goal to career goal without really settling on one for long because I was always of the mind-set, "I'm young, I have time to make up my mind." Well, while I will not dispute that I am still young, I am in my late twenties now (oh yes, LATE, ugh), and I feel that it is time for me to cut the bullshit and decide. I've toyed with the idea of pursuing my PhD in Psychology for years, and it wasn't until I found out about a certain program available to me that it became clear that I should really go for it! The military offers a program to go to the Uniformed Services University and earn your Masters and PhD with a follow-on internship at a military hospital, and you get paid the entire time. Sounds too good to be true, right? Well it almost is. The program is EXTREMELY selective, meaning only about 5-7 people from the entire military (that's ALL branches, not just AF) get in each year. So I have set my sights on this program now, and I am gearing up to apply at the end of this year.

My immediate goals are to take the GRE and get involved in research projects to get all peer-reviewed and whatnot. I've purchase multiple GRE study guides and have been working on those, and I've also gotten involved in one research study with one of the docs I work with and I'm open to others. I've been putting myself out there, trying to gain all the insight I can from the psychologists I see in the clinic, and making it known that I am enthusiastic and hopeful that I will be a stand-out applicant. That being said, from what I've read about the program, many students don't make it the first time they apply, so I'm prepared for that. I just want to make sure my package is as awesome as possible this year so that if I don't quite make the cut, I will still stand out in their minds as someone to consider next time.

Being out of school for so long has made me realize how much I actually liked being IN school. I miss classes and learning new things that are relevant and novel and just plain cool. I feel like I've finally grown in to someone who is ready to take my life seriously and actually make an effort at getting what I want instead of just succeeding because I'm a good test-taker and have a photographic memory.

So anyway, that's what I'm working on now. Getting my shit together and making something of my life. I feel like I have a lot to live up to, being that my sister is a freaking genius who goes around inventing things like flavor-changing lip gloss and ball powder lotion =).