I am in the hotel in Denver, fighting with the computer. I seem to be having issues with my iPod, which will be some serious problems once I get down on the ice.
I met up with one of the other guys from my class, at the Denver airport. It took us a while to get the shuttle, but we finally got it. I totally forgot my shuttle voucher number and actually deleted it from my email inbox, but no one said anything, so hopefully it's not a big deal. I think one of the other people on the shuttle forgot theirs too, so I don't feel too bad. Heck, one of the guys made his number up.
The guys asked if I wanted to go to dinner, but I am way too tired. I am also getting a fever blister but I can't find the medication, so I might have to run out tomorrow night and get some more.
And since I have to be up at 0600 tomorrow morning, I am off to bed.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Travel Day 1: Baltimore to Denver
I cried like a baby all morning. From when Chris and I got in the truck till after I got to the terminal and got off the phone with him again. I don’t know if it is fear, or just sadness over leaving everything and everyone and him. I was just so incredibly sad. I also miss him terribly, but it’s getting more bearable, if only slightly. At least I don’t feel like I’m going to bust into tears at any moment anymore.
So yeah…in my ever-lasting fear that I will arrive late and miss my flight, we once again got to the airport at an impossibly early hour for my actual flight time. It sucked, actually. Earlier wake-up in the morning, and in the interest of not sitting in the terminal for hours, we got coffee and breakfast and sat and watched the security line get longer and longer. My flight wasn’t supposed to leave until 1:50 (it actually was later than that…we didn’t leave the gate till nearly 2:40) and we got to the airport at about 11am or so. So we sat and I cried and I’m sure made a general spectacle of myself to the other people. Finally, around noonish or so, I screwed up the courage to actually go get in the very long security line. We walked together till I turned the corner, and then I cried some more. Made it through security with only a couple of people staring at me, and was looking for a place to sit in the terminal when he called. He was crying which only set me off again. I’m pitiful. Good thing I wore my glasses and brought a pair of contacts with me.
I managed to get a call in to my mother and my grandparents and talk to them, and they made me feel slightly better. I went and bought a book to read, since I only had 2 with me.
When I was boarding the plane, I was one of the last people on, and therefore was left with less-than-optimal over-head space. Trying to hurry (we were late already, and I detest people who hold up the line trying to find the perfect spot for their luggage) I had to shove my one carry-on up while trying to not dislodge the bag on my back and clock the guy sitting in the seat I was next to. He gave me a hand, and I was rushing trying to get my other bag off my back, and got all tangled up in my headphones. Between that, and trying to slide into my window seat, I lost one of my earpieces (the little rubber thingy that makes it comfortable for your ear). No clue where it flew off to. So I was left iPod-less the whole 3 hour flight. Luckily, I can get lost in a book.
The woman next to me was actually very nice and we chatted a bit about her time in the military, where I was going, and so on. When we got to Dallas, I was looking for the stadium (just for a reference), and she said that her husband was a huge Skins fan and was a Hoggette. What do you think of that one Art and Ron?? No, I didn’t get a chance to ask her if he was in the commercial, or which one he was.
Because our flight was late leaving Baltimore, I got to Dallas with not enough time to do what I wanted to do, which was to find out the scores of the games. Instead, after trying to find my earpiece on the plane, I hurried out to the bathroom and find some food and maybe a replacement earpiece. I changed into a set of contacts (since I was done crying now and hate wearing my glasses…I like peripheral vision), and went in search of food. Luckily, my new gate for the flight to Denver was 2 gates down from the arrival gate, so things weren’t too bad. Unluckily, there was hardly any place to eat that I could find in a hurry. As it was, I waited for one person to serve several people, with only 5 minutes till my boarding time. I ordered my food, and went across the way to the Brookstones, where they had earphones and stuff. Not that I could afford the noise canceling $200 ones, but I scoured the place for some replacement earpieces. I did manage to get a pack of them, and while they aren’t a perfect fit on the earphone, at least I have music for while I travel. I really wasn’t looking forward to buying a new set of these things in Denver. I went back and grabbed my food, which wasn’t that great (I would have rather had a Fuddrucker’s burger, or something from Einstein Bro’s) but the line for Fudd’s was just too long and the Einstein was closed.
As I was walking to the gate after getting my food, I ran into one of the guys from my class. He’s a couple seats ahead of me, but it’s nice to know that there’s someone to travel with for the last bit of the trip.
The plane to Denver is hot. I think it’s just the sun coming into the windows, because my window shade is hot to the touch. Whatever the reason, the A/C on the plane can’t keep up with it. The pilot just said we are about 170 miles south of Denver, so we’ll be landing soon. I guess I better turn this off and put it away. I’ll post it as soon as I can.
So yeah…in my ever-lasting fear that I will arrive late and miss my flight, we once again got to the airport at an impossibly early hour for my actual flight time. It sucked, actually. Earlier wake-up in the morning, and in the interest of not sitting in the terminal for hours, we got coffee and breakfast and sat and watched the security line get longer and longer. My flight wasn’t supposed to leave until 1:50 (it actually was later than that…we didn’t leave the gate till nearly 2:40) and we got to the airport at about 11am or so. So we sat and I cried and I’m sure made a general spectacle of myself to the other people. Finally, around noonish or so, I screwed up the courage to actually go get in the very long security line. We walked together till I turned the corner, and then I cried some more. Made it through security with only a couple of people staring at me, and was looking for a place to sit in the terminal when he called. He was crying which only set me off again. I’m pitiful. Good thing I wore my glasses and brought a pair of contacts with me.
I managed to get a call in to my mother and my grandparents and talk to them, and they made me feel slightly better. I went and bought a book to read, since I only had 2 with me.
When I was boarding the plane, I was one of the last people on, and therefore was left with less-than-optimal over-head space. Trying to hurry (we were late already, and I detest people who hold up the line trying to find the perfect spot for their luggage) I had to shove my one carry-on up while trying to not dislodge the bag on my back and clock the guy sitting in the seat I was next to. He gave me a hand, and I was rushing trying to get my other bag off my back, and got all tangled up in my headphones. Between that, and trying to slide into my window seat, I lost one of my earpieces (the little rubber thingy that makes it comfortable for your ear). No clue where it flew off to. So I was left iPod-less the whole 3 hour flight. Luckily, I can get lost in a book.
The woman next to me was actually very nice and we chatted a bit about her time in the military, where I was going, and so on. When we got to Dallas, I was looking for the stadium (just for a reference), and she said that her husband was a huge Skins fan and was a Hoggette. What do you think of that one Art and Ron?? No, I didn’t get a chance to ask her if he was in the commercial, or which one he was.
Because our flight was late leaving Baltimore, I got to Dallas with not enough time to do what I wanted to do, which was to find out the scores of the games. Instead, after trying to find my earpiece on the plane, I hurried out to the bathroom and find some food and maybe a replacement earpiece. I changed into a set of contacts (since I was done crying now and hate wearing my glasses…I like peripheral vision), and went in search of food. Luckily, my new gate for the flight to Denver was 2 gates down from the arrival gate, so things weren’t too bad. Unluckily, there was hardly any place to eat that I could find in a hurry. As it was, I waited for one person to serve several people, with only 5 minutes till my boarding time. I ordered my food, and went across the way to the Brookstones, where they had earphones and stuff. Not that I could afford the noise canceling $200 ones, but I scoured the place for some replacement earpieces. I did manage to get a pack of them, and while they aren’t a perfect fit on the earphone, at least I have music for while I travel. I really wasn’t looking forward to buying a new set of these things in Denver. I went back and grabbed my food, which wasn’t that great (I would have rather had a Fuddrucker’s burger, or something from Einstein Bro’s) but the line for Fudd’s was just too long and the Einstein was closed.
As I was walking to the gate after getting my food, I ran into one of the guys from my class. He’s a couple seats ahead of me, but it’s nice to know that there’s someone to travel with for the last bit of the trip.
The plane to Denver is hot. I think it’s just the sun coming into the windows, because my window shade is hot to the touch. Whatever the reason, the A/C on the plane can’t keep up with it. The pilot just said we are about 170 miles south of Denver, so we’ll be landing soon. I guess I better turn this off and put it away. I’ll post it as soon as I can.
Pre-Travel
Three days of being taken out for dinner. If it didn’t require me to leave for 5 months, I might actually feel better about things.
Paulette took me for thai food on Thursday night. Sadly, I had to go back to work to finish some things, so I didn’t get to spend as much time with her as I would have liked. Friday, the coworkers took me for Chevy’s, and gave me a card signed by everyone in the company and a stuffed penguin. Because our company’s motto is “See More with KPL” we decided he should be called Seymore. Seymore is currently in my carry-on, sadly stuffed into an over-head bin. Friday night was thai again, in Old Towne Alexandria, with the FFG crew. I did get a chance to get over to Seamus’ to see the Jake-dog before I left. I also got to see Delfina’s new car, which is quite spiffy.
Saturday Chris and I finished my packing, got my prescriptions, and we went to dinner with Anna, Art, Sarah, Tim, Cali, Brian, Susan, Mike, and Beth. We had hibachi, which was a good choice for so many people. We hung out at Anna and Art’s afterwards, and I finished packing before everyone went home.
So yeah…aside from the incessant crying I’ve been doing the past 3 days (leaving work was exceptionally hard) this whole long trip thing has it’s benefits.
I still don’t want to do it that often though…
Paulette took me for thai food on Thursday night. Sadly, I had to go back to work to finish some things, so I didn’t get to spend as much time with her as I would have liked. Friday, the coworkers took me for Chevy’s, and gave me a card signed by everyone in the company and a stuffed penguin. Because our company’s motto is “See More with KPL” we decided he should be called Seymore. Seymore is currently in my carry-on, sadly stuffed into an over-head bin. Friday night was thai again, in Old Towne Alexandria, with the FFG crew. I did get a chance to get over to Seamus’ to see the Jake-dog before I left. I also got to see Delfina’s new car, which is quite spiffy.
Saturday Chris and I finished my packing, got my prescriptions, and we went to dinner with Anna, Art, Sarah, Tim, Cali, Brian, Susan, Mike, and Beth. We had hibachi, which was a good choice for so many people. We hung out at Anna and Art’s afterwards, and I finished packing before everyone went home.
So yeah…aside from the incessant crying I’ve been doing the past 3 days (leaving work was exceptionally hard) this whole long trip thing has it’s benefits.
I still don’t want to do it that often though…
Monday, September 24, 2007
Time Crunch
I found out at almost 1900 Friday night (1700, Denver time) that I have, in fact, been PQ'd. This led to a flurry of spending money this weekend, with a trip to get boots (but they are such NICE boots!), and other sundry items. I also managed to start packing stuff Saturday, to the point where I need more space saver bags to finish.
The things I have left to do are primarily phone calls. Call the climbing gym to see if I can suspend my membership. Call the insurance company to authorize additional prescriptions. Call the phone company to find out about suspending my phone. Call the company about additional uniform supplies. There isn't much left to buy, a couple more space saver bags and a toiletries kit, and the toiletries that I haven't bought yet. I need to assemble a box of things to mail myself (Christmas cards, extra toiletries, etc) but I think I'll have Chris send me that at some point in time.
Other than all that....it's all over but the crying.
The things I have left to do are primarily phone calls. Call the climbing gym to see if I can suspend my membership. Call the insurance company to authorize additional prescriptions. Call the phone company to find out about suspending my phone. Call the company about additional uniform supplies. There isn't much left to buy, a couple more space saver bags and a toiletries kit, and the toiletries that I haven't bought yet. I need to assemble a box of things to mail myself (Christmas cards, extra toiletries, etc) but I think I'll have Chris send me that at some point in time.
Other than all that....it's all over but the crying.
Friday, September 21, 2007
Updates since training
Since training, I've been on vacation for 2 weeks, and sweated bullets trying to get all my ducks in a row for leaving.
Easier said that done. My doctor's appointment was the Thursday I came back from training, 2 days before I left for vacation. That went off without a hitch. The week after I came back from vacation, I had the first visit for my crown. Well, I thought it would be the only visit, but no such luck...I had to go back to get the permanent crown on.
Here is where the trouble started. I called all my doctor's offices to get the required records sent to Raytheon. My GP I had to call twice. The first time the woman answering the phone didn't seem to understand what I was asking. The second time I got someone who was significantly more coherent. The problem was that they didn't send EVERYTHING Raytheon needed, so I had to call again. Luckily, I got the same coherent woman, and we got everything straightened out.
I also had issues with my lab work. Supposedly, LabCorp is contracted to Raytheon or something, so if the lab you are going to is Labcorp (and not just contracted to LabCorp), they should have the paperwork you need. So, armed with this knowledge and the list of lab work I need done, I march into LabCorp near work. We can't take this, it doesn't have a patient number on it, the guy said. In not-so-good English. But you said you WERE LabCorp, not just contracted to them, and this paper says that I should be in the system cause I'm with Raytheon. Can't you just look up my name? Evidently not.
Steaming, I head back to work and call the medical office and complain. They send me the paperwork I need by fax, and I take it to the LabCorp in Waldorf at 0700 Saturday morning. Where the lab tech promptly tries to bill me for the work. Ummm...It says here that you guys will direct bill Raytheon I tell him. Luckily, this guy had some brains, looked at the paperwork again, and agreed. Good, less people I have to be angry at.
Meanwhile, I've been fighting on the phone with the woman at my other doctor, who is claiming that I need to send in an authorization letter to get the information I need. Ok, HIPPA and all that, I understand. What I didn't understand was that I had to pay a fee for you to fax this stuff, and that suddenly, the hand-written letter I wrote and faxed to you wasn't good enough, and I had to fill out your special paperwork. Well, I'm a nurse, and I don't do this kind of stuff. I'm normally in the back. Can you call back next week when the receptionist is back from vacation? Well, I can, but this is really time-sensitive stuff, and needs to be done NOW. But I manage not to scream and yell. Instead, I take the time to drive down there the next week (when I had the appointment for my crown, so now I'm mad, AND in pain), and walk into the office. The doctor is there and tells me that they faxed report X last Monday, but here's a copy, since you drove all the way down here, and that way if anything happens, you can have your own copy.
She must have been looking in a crystal ball.
I call Raytheon to make sure they have everything now. They tell me they're missing my dental stuff, and that's it. Cool, I can take care of that. I call the original dentist who had the paperwork, and after playing word roulette for 10 minutes, the hygenist and I finally realize we've been talking about the same thing the whole time, and I am scheduled to come in early Thursday morning. I go in, get the dentist to sign the paperwork, get copies of my x-rays, and they don't even charge me (SWEET!!!) I head back to work to fax the paperwork and Fed-Ex the x-rays (they don't fax so well). I call Raytheon to make sure they got the fax. Well, we're still missing report X. Umm...it was faxed to you Monday, August 20th. I even saw the fax record. When I called earlier this week, you said you had everything but the dental stuff, which is on it's way!
My list of people to be angry at is getting long again.
I call the doctor again, and they are nice enough to fax it right away (the copy they gave me was at home). I call Raytheon and leave a message that there is a fax there with report X. I get a call back not 30 minutes later. I'm not sure what you needed to fax, but it must have completed your paperwork, because your file is in the pile to go to review this afternoon.
*headdesk*
I call on Tuesday (the Fed-Ex'd x-rays should have arrived first thing Monday morning), to make sure they got it. Well, we haven't checked the mail this week yet. Check back this afternoon or tomorrow. So I call on Wednesday. Nope, still haven't checked. At this point, I throw up my hands and decide to not call for the rest of the week. If you can't say something nice....
I call the week of Labor Day, on Thursday. Even with a holiday in there, they should have gotten to the mail by now, right? Oh didn't you get our email? We sent an email to you on Friday, August 31. The dentist wants some more information. At this point, I am ready to reach through the phone and strangle someone. No, I didn't get the danged email. If I HAD gotten the email, you bloody well would have had the information you were asking for BEFORE Thursday!!! I was trying to be nice, really I was, but I had to interrupt her when she started reading me the email she sent and what they needed. At the time, I was at lunch, and really had no way to write down anything. She re-sent the email instead.
So I call the dentist (the one who put in my crown, since that was the info they needed) and faxed the dentist paperwork to them to fill out and fax it to Raytheon and email the x-rays. Friday, I called again to make sure it had been done, and was told that the office manager was filling it out and she had questions for me, but wasn't there right now, can she call you back?
It's amazing my blood pressure isn't higher.
She calls me back, confirms the information she needed and says she'll fax it right away.
I call Raytheon on Monday. They claim to have not gotten it, but then again, they haven't checked the email from last week yet. sigh I have to call back Wednesday and maybe they'll have gotten to it.
Since I'm going to get my permanent crown on Thursday, I decide to save myself some aggravation and just get the stuff myself. The dentist is nice enough to understand and tells me to just get a copy of my chart when he's done later that day, and it should take care of everything. I get a copy of my x-rays and leave.
In the meantime, I am so swamped at work, I am pulling 12 hour days and don't have time to do anything.
Monday I call the dentist and get the chart faxed to me. Tuesday I fax it to them, and Fed-Ex Overnight the x-rays. Thursday (we are now up to yesterday, mind you) I call.
We've got it, it's to be sent for review today. We should be letting you know this afternoon or tomorrow. While I'm grateful that you actually HAVE it and haven't LOST it this time, (as opposed to the past 3 times I've tried to send you stuff), it was there on Tuesday!! What was it doing yesterday gathering dust???
I still haven't heard anything.
Meanwhile, I am having kittens, with my captain telling me I leave September 30th, and I have nothing done. I get my proposed itinerary (which won't be finalized till I am PQ'd), and it says to call this person to discuss my deployment. I call on Tuesday, but no one answers the phone. The message is from the Friday before. I leave a message, but also take the number of the person the message says to call. I call her, but she doesn't answer either. One more message. Wednesday I try again, first thing in the morning (and remember, I am on the East Coast. I am calling Denver, CO, which is 2 hours behind) and get her. She confirms things and says she'll keep after medical about my PQ status.
Yesterday I get a phone call from the second woman I left a message with. Turns out the first person (who I got the email from) is no longer in the office, and New Chick will be handling my account. I tell her I went over things with Woman #1, and she says that she'll check the records. (This is when I called medical and found out they sat on my stuff for a day.)
So, yeah. So irritated with Raytheon right now. I'll be calling first thing in their morning today to see if the Great and Powerful Dentist has determined that I will not have teeth falling out of my mouth in 5 months.
In the meantime, I have to buy boots, suspend my phone, suspend my gym membership, and send myself stuff. But first I have to find out if I'm actually going.
Easier said that done. My doctor's appointment was the Thursday I came back from training, 2 days before I left for vacation. That went off without a hitch. The week after I came back from vacation, I had the first visit for my crown. Well, I thought it would be the only visit, but no such luck...I had to go back to get the permanent crown on.
Here is where the trouble started. I called all my doctor's offices to get the required records sent to Raytheon. My GP I had to call twice. The first time the woman answering the phone didn't seem to understand what I was asking. The second time I got someone who was significantly more coherent. The problem was that they didn't send EVERYTHING Raytheon needed, so I had to call again. Luckily, I got the same coherent woman, and we got everything straightened out.
I also had issues with my lab work. Supposedly, LabCorp is contracted to Raytheon or something, so if the lab you are going to is Labcorp (and not just contracted to LabCorp), they should have the paperwork you need. So, armed with this knowledge and the list of lab work I need done, I march into LabCorp near work. We can't take this, it doesn't have a patient number on it, the guy said. In not-so-good English. But you said you WERE LabCorp, not just contracted to them, and this paper says that I should be in the system cause I'm with Raytheon. Can't you just look up my name? Evidently not.
Steaming, I head back to work and call the medical office and complain. They send me the paperwork I need by fax, and I take it to the LabCorp in Waldorf at 0700 Saturday morning. Where the lab tech promptly tries to bill me for the work. Ummm...It says here that you guys will direct bill Raytheon I tell him. Luckily, this guy had some brains, looked at the paperwork again, and agreed. Good, less people I have to be angry at.
Meanwhile, I've been fighting on the phone with the woman at my other doctor, who is claiming that I need to send in an authorization letter to get the information I need. Ok, HIPPA and all that, I understand. What I didn't understand was that I had to pay a fee for you to fax this stuff, and that suddenly, the hand-written letter I wrote and faxed to you wasn't good enough, and I had to fill out your special paperwork. Well, I'm a nurse, and I don't do this kind of stuff. I'm normally in the back. Can you call back next week when the receptionist is back from vacation? Well, I can, but this is really time-sensitive stuff, and needs to be done NOW. But I manage not to scream and yell. Instead, I take the time to drive down there the next week (when I had the appointment for my crown, so now I'm mad, AND in pain), and walk into the office. The doctor is there and tells me that they faxed report X last Monday, but here's a copy, since you drove all the way down here, and that way if anything happens, you can have your own copy.
She must have been looking in a crystal ball.
I call Raytheon to make sure they have everything now. They tell me they're missing my dental stuff, and that's it. Cool, I can take care of that. I call the original dentist who had the paperwork, and after playing word roulette for 10 minutes, the hygenist and I finally realize we've been talking about the same thing the whole time, and I am scheduled to come in early Thursday morning. I go in, get the dentist to sign the paperwork, get copies of my x-rays, and they don't even charge me (SWEET!!!) I head back to work to fax the paperwork and Fed-Ex the x-rays (they don't fax so well). I call Raytheon to make sure they got the fax. Well, we're still missing report X. Umm...it was faxed to you Monday, August 20th. I even saw the fax record. When I called earlier this week, you said you had everything but the dental stuff, which is on it's way!
My list of people to be angry at is getting long again.
I call the doctor again, and they are nice enough to fax it right away (the copy they gave me was at home). I call Raytheon and leave a message that there is a fax there with report X. I get a call back not 30 minutes later. I'm not sure what you needed to fax, but it must have completed your paperwork, because your file is in the pile to go to review this afternoon.
*headdesk*
I call on Tuesday (the Fed-Ex'd x-rays should have arrived first thing Monday morning), to make sure they got it. Well, we haven't checked the mail this week yet. Check back this afternoon or tomorrow. So I call on Wednesday. Nope, still haven't checked. At this point, I throw up my hands and decide to not call for the rest of the week. If you can't say something nice....
I call the week of Labor Day, on Thursday. Even with a holiday in there, they should have gotten to the mail by now, right? Oh didn't you get our email? We sent an email to you on Friday, August 31. The dentist wants some more information. At this point, I am ready to reach through the phone and strangle someone. No, I didn't get the danged email. If I HAD gotten the email, you bloody well would have had the information you were asking for BEFORE Thursday!!! I was trying to be nice, really I was, but I had to interrupt her when she started reading me the email she sent and what they needed. At the time, I was at lunch, and really had no way to write down anything. She re-sent the email instead.
So I call the dentist (the one who put in my crown, since that was the info they needed) and faxed the dentist paperwork to them to fill out and fax it to Raytheon and email the x-rays. Friday, I called again to make sure it had been done, and was told that the office manager was filling it out and she had questions for me, but wasn't there right now, can she call you back?
It's amazing my blood pressure isn't higher.
She calls me back, confirms the information she needed and says she'll fax it right away.
I call Raytheon on Monday. They claim to have not gotten it, but then again, they haven't checked the email from last week yet. sigh I have to call back Wednesday and maybe they'll have gotten to it.
Since I'm going to get my permanent crown on Thursday, I decide to save myself some aggravation and just get the stuff myself. The dentist is nice enough to understand and tells me to just get a copy of my chart when he's done later that day, and it should take care of everything. I get a copy of my x-rays and leave.
In the meantime, I am so swamped at work, I am pulling 12 hour days and don't have time to do anything.
Monday I call the dentist and get the chart faxed to me. Tuesday I fax it to them, and Fed-Ex Overnight the x-rays. Thursday (we are now up to yesterday, mind you) I call.
We've got it, it's to be sent for review today. We should be letting you know this afternoon or tomorrow. While I'm grateful that you actually HAVE it and haven't LOST it this time, (as opposed to the past 3 times I've tried to send you stuff), it was there on Tuesday!! What was it doing yesterday gathering dust???
I still haven't heard anything.
Meanwhile, I am having kittens, with my captain telling me I leave September 30th, and I have nothing done. I get my proposed itinerary (which won't be finalized till I am PQ'd), and it says to call this person to discuss my deployment. I call on Tuesday, but no one answers the phone. The message is from the Friday before. I leave a message, but also take the number of the person the message says to call. I call her, but she doesn't answer either. One more message. Wednesday I try again, first thing in the morning (and remember, I am on the East Coast. I am calling Denver, CO, which is 2 hours behind) and get her. She confirms things and says she'll keep after medical about my PQ status.
Yesterday I get a phone call from the second woman I left a message with. Turns out the first person (who I got the email from) is no longer in the office, and New Chick will be handling my account. I tell her I went over things with Woman #1, and she says that she'll check the records. (This is when I called medical and found out they sat on my stuff for a day.)
So, yeah. So irritated with Raytheon right now. I'll be calling first thing in their morning today to see if the Great and Powerful Dentist has determined that I will not have teeth falling out of my mouth in 5 months.
In the meantime, I have to buy boots, suspend my phone, suspend my gym membership, and send myself stuff. But first I have to find out if I'm actually going.
Home again, home again, jiggety-jig
Most of the guys left Wednesday afternoon. There was only the captain and one other guy from my class there till Thursday, though the captain was staying for the next class as well. A bunch of them arrived Wednesday afternoon as well, so at least I got to meet most of the rest of the crew. We ended up going back out to Gateway to the same restaurant we had eated at Tuesday night, but at least I didn't have to pay for it.
When we got back, I headed for my hotel room and packed up the rest of my stuff. I woke up kind of early, casue I wanted to get the 0800 shuttle to the airport in case security lines were long. I'm kind of glad I did, cause they were long. Still, I had plenty of time to chill, and got my seat changed to a window seat (I hate aisle seats). The flight back was pretty uneventful. I spent the time reading, sleeping, and listening to my iPod. I have to say though, that 5 hours in a plane at one time is a bit much, and I was getting pretty figety by the end. It was raining in Baltimore when we landed, so the last hour or so of the flight was a bit bumpy.
Chris was waiting for me when we landed, and I retrieved my bag (luckily, it didn't get lost) and we headed home.
And that was training.
When we got back, I headed for my hotel room and packed up the rest of my stuff. I woke up kind of early, casue I wanted to get the 0800 shuttle to the airport in case security lines were long. I'm kind of glad I did, cause they were long. Still, I had plenty of time to chill, and got my seat changed to a window seat (I hate aisle seats). The flight back was pretty uneventful. I spent the time reading, sleeping, and listening to my iPod. I have to say though, that 5 hours in a plane at one time is a bit much, and I was getting pretty figety by the end. It was raining in Baltimore when we landed, so the last hour or so of the flight was a bit bumpy.
Chris was waiting for me when we landed, and I retrieved my bag (luckily, it didn't get lost) and we headed home.
And that was training.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Wednesday (almost done!)
Wednesday was the day to go home for most of the class. In the morning, we took a ride back to the airport to meet up with the 109th again, and take a look around an LC-130.
It was very interesting. The flight deck wasn't much like the one for the KC-135 we saw last week, but it wasn't all that dissimilar either. It was nice, though, to see in person what the firefighters had been telling us about yesterday.
Now the skis are put on during manufacture of the plane, and can be raised and lowered so the plane can use the wheels. They end up raising the plane about 2 feet or so higher, and it's pretty high to begin with. I had trouble with the troop door on the side, and it required a little jump to reach the handle. It'll be even tougher with full gear on and the damned thing 2 feet higher. This is one of the taller guys in the class and he's about 6'3" or so (maybe taller?).
Here's a shot of the inside of that door. It's heavy as anything, and I had a hard time getting it to go up. I did find it amusing that it says "air and ground use only." Ummm...where else are you going to use it? Space? Underwater, perhaps?
This was the 'nose art'. Obviously, this plane is made specifically for the Ice. Here's a close up of the skis.
And if you have to go to the bathroom while you're in flight, this is where you go.
It was very interesting. The flight deck wasn't much like the one for the KC-135 we saw last week, but it wasn't all that dissimilar either. It was nice, though, to see in person what the firefighters had been telling us about yesterday.
Now the skis are put on during manufacture of the plane, and can be raised and lowered so the plane can use the wheels. They end up raising the plane about 2 feet or so higher, and it's pretty high to begin with. I had trouble with the troop door on the side, and it required a little jump to reach the handle. It'll be even tougher with full gear on and the damned thing 2 feet higher. This is one of the taller guys in the class and he's about 6'3" or so (maybe taller?).
Here's a shot of the inside of that door. It's heavy as anything, and I had a hard time getting it to go up. I did find it amusing that it says "air and ground use only." Ummm...where else are you going to use it? Space? Underwater, perhaps?
This was the 'nose art'. Obviously, this plane is made specifically for the Ice. Here's a close up of the skis.
And if you have to go to the bathroom while you're in flight, this is where you go.
Tuesday...Classroom day
Tuesday we were in the classroom all day (so sorry...no nifty pictures).
First thing in the morning we went over the videos from our burns to comment on some stuff. No bad commenting, since they really were treating us like we knew what we were doing. They also showed us the video of the night they had the propane tank catch fire.
I think we also did some more Antarctica stuff, and then broke for lunch.
After lunch, we got to meet some firefighters from the Air National Guard 109th unit, from upstate New York. They're the guys who we'll be meeting down on the Ice anyway, although the firefighters don't get to go. They showed us some pictures and went through how to shut down the LC-130's and C-17's and such. We actually broke pretty early, and got some time off for the afternoon.
We ended up going back to Gateway to the same place we had gone my first night there. The ANG guys came with us, and we played in the arcade area while we waited for the rest of the group to arrive.
I did some more laundry Tuesday, and I think Tuesday was when we all got our camera memory cards to the appropriate people to get all the pictures together.
First thing in the morning we went over the videos from our burns to comment on some stuff. No bad commenting, since they really were treating us like we knew what we were doing. They also showed us the video of the night they had the propane tank catch fire.
I think we also did some more Antarctica stuff, and then broke for lunch.
After lunch, we got to meet some firefighters from the Air National Guard 109th unit, from upstate New York. They're the guys who we'll be meeting down on the Ice anyway, although the firefighters don't get to go. They showed us some pictures and went through how to shut down the LC-130's and C-17's and such. We actually broke pretty early, and got some time off for the afternoon.
We ended up going back to Gateway to the same place we had gone my first night there. The ANG guys came with us, and we played in the arcade area while we waited for the rest of the group to arrive.
I did some more laundry Tuesday, and I think Tuesday was when we all got our camera memory cards to the appropriate people to get all the pictures together.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Day 6: Monday, Night Burns
Monday morning we got to get some extra training time on the trucks, which was really nice of them. I got to drive some more, and had the quickest knockdown time of the day.
By the way, this is what the controls for the turret look like.
After that, we got lunch, and most of us took a nap before our night burn.
This was the best. After our class picture, we all got our stuff together and got our assignments for the burn. On the first one, I got to be the driver. IT didn't go the greatest, but keep in mind, I've never operated a pump before, so I wasn't sure what I was doing.
Here's video of us coming in for the first burn of the night. I'm driving the truck with the flashing lights.
The second night burn, I was a member of the RIT team. In fact, they made me be in charge, though my captain helped me a lot, since the biggest scene I had ever been in charge of was an sick person.
On the last burn, I was on the engine again, and had the nozzle for the interior attack. My captain and the instructors said I did really well, so I wasn't too upset. There was a bit of confusion during it, when my captain and I came out because he was low on air. We took the hose back down, with a little help from the SAR/ladder team, and did some attack from the outside, and backed up the 2nd engine company, who was going for fire in the front cargo hatch, just under the cockpit. Then they wanted us to go back in, but they didn't hear us tell them that both our low air alarms were going off. We went and changed bottles, and were going to go back, but then they said not to worry about it. So we took our gear off and started organizing what we could to help clean up, and then they said to get back in gear cause we were going to do another scenario. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough spare air bottles to go around, so we couldn't do another one.
The one funny thing that happened was that the instructors decided to make things interesting for us by putting dummies in the road as victims. The first truck through (which would have been us, but we were told we had a 'mechanical issue') didn't see the bodies until they had run over them. While the audio (which I'm not posting because there is a lot of cussing in it) is hilarious, they never told us about the bodies in the road. Our driver saw them just in time, and slammed on the air brakes, but our captain was out of his seat belt, turning on his air bottle. He slid off the seat and had so much momentum that he hit the windshield. Luckily, we weren't going very fast, but it was fast enough to stun him. He got up, shook the cobwebs out of his head, and said "My bad, should have been wearing my seat belt."
Anyway, here's a video of the last scenario in our night burns. I took the hose up the side that had the collapsed wing, and was in the cockpit where you can see the fire from the co-pilot's window. Watch for the 'fire tornado' to the back and left of the fuselage.
By the way, this is what the controls for the turret look like.
After that, we got lunch, and most of us took a nap before our night burn.This was the best. After our class picture, we all got our stuff together and got our assignments for the burn. On the first one, I got to be the driver. IT didn't go the greatest, but keep in mind, I've never operated a pump before, so I wasn't sure what I was doing.
Here's video of us coming in for the first burn of the night. I'm driving the truck with the flashing lights.
The second night burn, I was a member of the RIT team. In fact, they made me be in charge, though my captain helped me a lot, since the biggest scene I had ever been in charge of was an sick person.
On the last burn, I was on the engine again, and had the nozzle for the interior attack. My captain and the instructors said I did really well, so I wasn't too upset. There was a bit of confusion during it, when my captain and I came out because he was low on air. We took the hose back down, with a little help from the SAR/ladder team, and did some attack from the outside, and backed up the 2nd engine company, who was going for fire in the front cargo hatch, just under the cockpit. Then they wanted us to go back in, but they didn't hear us tell them that both our low air alarms were going off. We went and changed bottles, and were going to go back, but then they said not to worry about it. So we took our gear off and started organizing what we could to help clean up, and then they said to get back in gear cause we were going to do another scenario. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough spare air bottles to go around, so we couldn't do another one.
The one funny thing that happened was that the instructors decided to make things interesting for us by putting dummies in the road as victims. The first truck through (which would have been us, but we were told we had a 'mechanical issue') didn't see the bodies until they had run over them. While the audio (which I'm not posting because there is a lot of cussing in it) is hilarious, they never told us about the bodies in the road. Our driver saw them just in time, and slammed on the air brakes, but our captain was out of his seat belt, turning on his air bottle. He slid off the seat and had so much momentum that he hit the windshield. Luckily, we weren't going very fast, but it was fast enough to stun him. He got up, shook the cobwebs out of his head, and said "My bad, should have been wearing my seat belt."
Anyway, here's a video of the last scenario in our night burns. I took the hose up the side that had the collapsed wing, and was in the cockpit where you can see the fire from the co-pilot's window. Watch for the 'fire tornado' to the back and left of the fuselage.
The weekend
I had actually made no plans for the weekend. Some of the guys were going to go hiking, and I had wanted to go with them, but I decided the huge blisters on my feet from walking on Wednesday needed a break. I was wandering around the hotel wondering what to do, and ran into a couple of guys who were going to the Black Diamond factory and store, and then to the copper mine up in the mountains, so I tagged along with them. One of the guys had rented a cat for the weekend so we could cruise around a bit.
The factory store was nothing much to look at, and in fact I could get better prices either online or at REI. I wasn't much impressed. However, the copper mine was impressive, if not exciting. IT was actually kind of depressing in a way, to know that this 3 mile or so hole in the ground was once a 9000 foot mountain. I must say I was highly amused by the spin doctors they had working to make their 'demonstration video." After all the talk of how much copper the mine produces (2% in a whole day! Out of something like 200 tons or something ridiculous like that), they went on to say how the company that manages the mine is so eco-friendly and is working hard to improve the environment. Oh well...
Anyway. The machines they use are huge, and I'm pretty sure I've seen them on Discovery channel or something similar. I took lots of pictures for Chris, since I know he likes that kind of stuff. What really amazed me was the synchronization that's required to keep all those trucks moving the way they were. It really was kind of like a ballet.
This is me in front of one of the tires they use on a hauler (seen below).
Here's a shot of the side of the mine, verses the mountains it's in. Trust me, this doesn't do it justice. I couldn't get the whole mine, top to bottom, in one shot.
After leaving there (after all, how long can you sit and watch dump trucks, even big huge ones?), we drove around Salt Lake City for a bit, and then went back to the hotel to see who else wanted to get dinner. I had wanted to go to Hard Rock Cafe, even just to get the shot glass. A bunch of us ended up going, taking 2 trips to get everyone there in the car.
Here's your sign.
And this is how you get 7 people in a Ford Focus. The worst was the giggling coming from the back. Everytime those of us in the car would get quiet, the 2 in the trunk would start giggling again and set us all off.
After dinner, a bunch of us decided to go to the go-kart track just down from the hotel. I didn't race, but I took all the pictures. These little cars were FAST! Gasoline powered, and they went about 45 mph. Some of the guys decided to suit up all the way.
Then it was back to the hotel to go to sleep, though I stayed up pretty late to do some laundry.
Sunday I watch a bit of 'The States' on the History Channel, and ironically enough, they were doing Utah. Some interesting stuff there, let me tell you. We actually ended up just wandering around the city, about 6 of us. We went to the Mormon Temple, saw where the Tabernacle Choir sings, and went to the Church Museum of History and Art. Say what you will about the Mormons, but they had some pretty incredible stuff, and it was all very well preserved.
This is actually an odometer from a wagon wheel to tell how far you've traveled in a single day.
And that was pretty much the weekend. We headed back to the hotel after walking from the Temple down to the Gateway center for a late lunch at the food court there. And then it was back again to get a good night's sleep for Monday.
The factory store was nothing much to look at, and in fact I could get better prices either online or at REI. I wasn't much impressed. However, the copper mine was impressive, if not exciting. IT was actually kind of depressing in a way, to know that this 3 mile or so hole in the ground was once a 9000 foot mountain. I must say I was highly amused by the spin doctors they had working to make their 'demonstration video." After all the talk of how much copper the mine produces (2% in a whole day! Out of something like 200 tons or something ridiculous like that), they went on to say how the company that manages the mine is so eco-friendly and is working hard to improve the environment. Oh well...
Anyway. The machines they use are huge, and I'm pretty sure I've seen them on Discovery channel or something similar. I took lots of pictures for Chris, since I know he likes that kind of stuff. What really amazed me was the synchronization that's required to keep all those trucks moving the way they were. It really was kind of like a ballet.
This is me in front of one of the tires they use on a hauler (seen below).
Here's a shot of the side of the mine, verses the mountains it's in. Trust me, this doesn't do it justice. I couldn't get the whole mine, top to bottom, in one shot.
After leaving there (after all, how long can you sit and watch dump trucks, even big huge ones?), we drove around Salt Lake City for a bit, and then went back to the hotel to see who else wanted to get dinner. I had wanted to go to Hard Rock Cafe, even just to get the shot glass. A bunch of us ended up going, taking 2 trips to get everyone there in the car.
Here's your sign.
And this is how you get 7 people in a Ford Focus. The worst was the giggling coming from the back. Everytime those of us in the car would get quiet, the 2 in the trunk would start giggling again and set us all off.
After dinner, a bunch of us decided to go to the go-kart track just down from the hotel. I didn't race, but I took all the pictures. These little cars were FAST! Gasoline powered, and they went about 45 mph. Some of the guys decided to suit up all the way.
Then it was back to the hotel to go to sleep, though I stayed up pretty late to do some laundry.
Sunday I watch a bit of 'The States' on the History Channel, and ironically enough, they were doing Utah. Some interesting stuff there, let me tell you. We actually ended up just wandering around the city, about 6 of us. We went to the Mormon Temple, saw where the Tabernacle Choir sings, and went to the Church Museum of History and Art. Say what you will about the Mormons, but they had some pretty incredible stuff, and it was all very well preserved.
This is actually an odometer from a wagon wheel to tell how far you've traveled in a single day.
And that was pretty much the weekend. We headed back to the hotel after walking from the Temple down to the Gateway center for a late lunch at the food court there. And then it was back again to get a good night's sleep for Monday.
Day 5...FRIDAY!!!
Today we didn't actually do any burns. Instead we took some field trips. The first one took us to the Utah Air National Guard base on the airport grounds. We got to check out a KC-135 (mid-air refueling jet) up close. Two of the of the Ut ANG showed us around, and we got got to sit in the flight deck, including the pilot's chair. We also got to wander around the cargo deck, and we checked out where the refueler actually sits (or rather, lies down). It's such a small space! The thought of having to crawl down there in full turnout gear plus SCBA and then pull that guy out gives me the willies.
Anyway, here's some pictures from the KC-135.
Here's the plane, or at least the front of it. We weren't allowed to back up far enough to get a shot of the full plane.
This is the design someone painted on the side. Each plane had some sort of 'nose art' of sorts (though it isn't really on the nose, persay). This was the best of the lot though. The next shot is of the UT ANG shield.
Here's a shot of the bed the guy controlling the refueling wand lays in. There's a small chin rest, and a joystick on one side (near the bottom), and a set of buttons above. And a tiny little window to look out of while he controls the wand.
When we were done with the KC-135, we headed to the Delta flight training center. This is where Delta airlines trains their pilots and flight crew. There were a lot of interesting things to see. We learned how the flight crew gets training in fighting fires aboard planes, and how they learn to open and close those huge doors in an emergency and when to open a door and when opening a door will get you an emergency slide in the face (they are stored in the doors and on some older models will jump out and hit you if you don't disarm them first). They had a mock-up of first class, so the flight crew could practice. They also had a mock up of the escape hatch in the tail of some smaller planes. And we got to see how those huge emergency slides can transform into rafts for water landings.
Here's some shots of the class trying to open and disarm the doors and windows in the mock-up room.
Anyway, that was Friday morning. In the afternoon, we had some question and answer time about Antarctica and what to expect, bring, etc.
Anyway, here's some pictures from the KC-135.
Here's the plane, or at least the front of it. We weren't allowed to back up far enough to get a shot of the full plane.
This is the design someone painted on the side. Each plane had some sort of 'nose art' of sorts (though it isn't really on the nose, persay). This was the best of the lot though. The next shot is of the UT ANG shield.
Here's a shot of the bed the guy controlling the refueling wand lays in. There's a small chin rest, and a joystick on one side (near the bottom), and a set of buttons above. And a tiny little window to look out of while he controls the wand.
When we were done with the KC-135, we headed to the Delta flight training center. This is where Delta airlines trains their pilots and flight crew. There were a lot of interesting things to see. We learned how the flight crew gets training in fighting fires aboard planes, and how they learn to open and close those huge doors in an emergency and when to open a door and when opening a door will get you an emergency slide in the face (they are stored in the doors and on some older models will jump out and hit you if you don't disarm them first). They had a mock-up of first class, so the flight crew could practice. They also had a mock up of the escape hatch in the tail of some smaller planes. And we got to see how those huge emergency slides can transform into rafts for water landings.
Here's some shots of the class trying to open and disarm the doors and windows in the mock-up room.
Anyway, that was Friday morning. In the afternoon, we had some question and answer time about Antarctica and what to expect, bring, etc.
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Days 3 and 4...Scenarios!!
Although we did start the day on Wednesday by doing some more dual-line/dry chem work, since not all the groups had a chance the day before to practice with it.
Then we broke up into teams and did actual scenarios. Incident command, tower control, and 2 crash truck (engine) crews, a ladder crew and the RIT team. If I remember right, we only did 2 scenarios, one of which I was on the engine crew, and got to be on the nozzle, and one when I was on the back-up crew, and stayed outside hauling hose.
The next 2 days were like this...Scenarios for our live fire training. They give us a situation, and the incident commander tells us what he wants us to do. Thursday we did another one and I got to drive. That didn't go so well, but the instructor with me said if I had the time to work on the truck for a week, I'd know my way around it. I wasn't too upset...It's not like we're going to have these kinds of trucks down there. One of the last evolutions of the day on Thursday I was on the engine crew, and we had to go up on the overwing to get in the plane. Through some serious mis-communication, I ended up on the ground instead of going up on the wing with my crew.
If you look carefully in this picture, you can see me. I'm on the left side, obviously the shortest one...Yep, that's me!
After Wednesday, I was feeling pretty tired, so we decided to walk to a place pretty close to the hotel. Our captain came out and walked with us, and when we made like we were going to this place, he shook his head and kept walking. So we all did the same thing. For 2 miles! I was wearing my Birkenstocks, and got a huge blister on the sole of each foot...it was horrible. However, when we finally stopped, we were at a restaurant called the Red Iguana. The line was horrifically long though, so we ended up splitting up anyway. A couple of guys kept walking to the Gateway (only about another half mile or so) and some of us turned around and found a little Mexican restaurant called the Chili Verde. Great food.
There did seem to be a plethora of Mexican restaurants in Salt Lake City, mostly small ones tucked away.
But yeah...so much for the nice quiet slow early night on Wednesday night.
Thursday we went to our instructor's station on the airport. Nice station! Each crew member has their own room, the kitchen is huge, and they have a racquetball court (that they can't use anymore for insurance reasons). We sat in the engine bay and one of the instructors gave us a demo of the flashpoints of different fluids used on planes; fuel, hydraulic fluid, etc.
Here's a nifty video of what would happen if a plane with aviation gas (flashpoint of -50*F) that was leaking into a ditch, and you drove over the ditch and created a spark.
Pretty impressive, huh?
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