I apologize for the gap in blogging... I'll blame it mostly on not having internet in my house yet, and also because I have been running around like crazy with everything I have had to do this week. Sunday morning, I chickened out on going to the parish church in Downham Market, because when I went to check the sign for service times, I didn't even know what the names of their services meant. Must be more Catholic-based than I had thought. So I decided to try the local Methodist church. I was raised United Methodist, so it should be fairly familiar, right? Yes and no... service structure was normal, but I was the youngest person in the congregation by at least 30 years, probably more. Out of the 80-100 people in attendance, I was one of only a handful without white hair. Everyone I met was nice, but the cute little old lady greeter looked at me like she didn't know what to do with me when I walked in. I have nothing against older people, and I am happy that they have such a good-sized congregation, but I will continue looking for a church where I fit in a little better.
Sunday afternoon, Cassie (my friend from OCF) and I went to Ely to see the famous cathedral. I was not disappointed. The pure size of it is just staggering, and there is artistic detailing on almost every inch. The ceiling inside is painted with a line of pictures showing the story of the world from creation to Jesus's life and death. An Evensong service was beginning just after we entered, so unfortunately we could not explore the front part of the cathedral, but the sound of the organ and choir echoing through the cavernous building added to the ambiance. I took a short video of the central part of the church with the voices in the background (you may have to turn up your speakers): http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/video/video.php?v=279752065001 And here is the photo album of all my pictures from the cathedral: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=305530&id=701905001&l=53ff7c84b4
Monday was a training day for the OG since it was a UK bank holiday and flying was not allowed. OG/CC led the group on a 3.5 mile run around the flight line, at a rather brisk pace... only about 1/3 of the group finished with him, Jose and I were the only ones from the wx flight that kept up. (My legs were sore for two days afterwards...) The rest of the day was spent in various CC calls and training events. Tuesday, my household goods were delivered to my house! This included all my furniture and so many boxes I don't understand how this all came out of a 1-bedroom apartment. So, I bet you're wondering if the bed fit up the stairs. Drumroll, please... ... ... ... no. But I was pretty much expecting that, so I wasn't really upset. Plus, Cassie and I happened to be discussing furniture on Sunday, and when I told her about my fear of the bed not fitting, she said she was actually going to buy a queen bed and would take mine off my hands if it didn't fit. So that is good, I already have a place for it to go and can start bed-shopping for an "English queen" size, which is what the landlords had. Until then, I am sleeping on the twin mattress that will eventually go on the loft after I build it again.
The only casualty of the move that I have discovered so far is a crushed lampshade from my living room table lamp, but that should be easy enough to replace. I took "empty" pictures of the house on Friday night, and then "box explosion" pictures this morning after my second shipment arrived. Didn't take time to caption them, but they are fairly self-explanatory and can be found here if you are interested: http://community.webshots.com/album/574473672MBEwaX
Wednesday, I was the escort for six of the top-ranking people in Air Force Weather as they stopped to visit on their way to Germany for the conference next week. I went with a TSgt from the Mildenhall wx flight to pick them up at London Heathrow (thank goodness he was driving, London traffic terrifies me), and then brought them back to Mildenhall for a day of meet-and-greets with base leaders and dinner that night with a bunch of wx folks at a nice pub. They were a very interesting group... a retired Brig Gen now holding Senior Executive Service position (Brig Gen equivalent civilian), 3 Cols, and 2 Command Chiefs. I enjoyed hearing their behind-the-scenes discussions and jokes, and of course they had a ton of stories and experiences to share. I also got to meet the Mildenhall wing commander, a female Col who is a Brig Gen-select... cool! Dr. Lewis, the AF Director of Wx, coined me at the end of the day and bought me a drink at dinner, so I suppose everything went pretty well.
Tomorrow I am training on day shift in the wx station, OCF dinner and meeting, trip to somewhere cool on Saturday with Cassie (destination not finalized yet)... then Sunday I leave for Germany!!! I still don't believe it is so close. I don't think I will believe I am going until I get on the plane. Eeeek!
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