France This Week!

Apologies again if you thought I disappeared... I'm working on getting internet in the house so I can post more at my convenience rather than the library's or cafe's. I leave for France on Thursday, and my hotel advertises free wifi, so hopefully I can continue my updates from there. I'm getting excited about the trip, though it worries me that the site team leader seemed fairly clueless when I talked to him last week. I don't like disorganization when it comes to travel arrangements and orders and important details. But assuming all of those issues get ironed out, the current plan is to leave here and arrive in Istres on Thursday, training with the weather team on Friday, begin 24-hour ops on Saturday, shuttle launches on Monday, come home on Tuesday.

Here is a basic overview of what I will be doing there: Istres Air Base is one of three Transoceanic Abort Landing (TAL) sites for the US Space Shuttle after it launches from Cape Canaveral, FL. If there is a problem during launch and the shuttle needs to land, it will land at one of these sites. The weather team provides 24-hour weather observations beginning 48 hours before a scheduled launch. For the shuttle to launch, weather must be "green" for landing at one or more TAL site. We'll be providing that info to the Kennedy Space Center. If the shuttle launch is delayed, we get stuck at the TAL site until it launches. Obviously, there are worse places to be "stuck" than the French Riviera... I just want to be back before the 21st to run a 5K with the weather flight, and then of course Thanksgiving. :)

So this week will basically be spent getting ready for that trip. The house is getting closer and closer to set up. I was fairly productive this weekend assembling two beds and getting rid of some more boxes. I tried to buy a TV but the BX was out of the one I wanted, so I have a rain check. House phone line will be activated tomorrow, and then I can get TV/internet/phone service. The Mini has had some trouble starting this past week, so it has an appointment tomorrow at a garage specializing in restoring classic Minis, which I'll take advantage of to get it thoroughly checked out and a few smaller "cosmetic" issues taken care of as well. I'm getting better at driving it, and it's so cute and yellow you just have to smile when you see it. :)

I also picked out my next two goal races this past week. Since I can't get into the London Marathon this coming April (if you would like to hear me gripe about this in detail, let me know, but for now I will refrain), I picked the Edinburgh Marathon in Scotland in May. It has a reputation for incredible scenery as well as a fast course, which will be a nice change from running up and down the mountains of Big Sur (but don't get me wrong, I will be doing Big Sur again when I'm back in the States in a few years). As a warm-up race, I picked the Dover Half Marathon in Feb, which I already know will be incredible scenery based on my previous visit. I'm really excited to finally have races and dates to plan for, so I will be setting specific training plans soon. For now, time for me to run to church, so that's all for now!

Fog

Today was very exciting, so I hope you will find this a better entry than the last one. It started out with the most beautiful morning I have seen since I have been here, and probably ranks in my top three ever with the sunrises in the mountains of CO Springs and Germany. When I left my house, it was in dense fog. Call me crazy, but I LOVE fog. It reminds me of camping in the Shenandoah mountains of VA, and I love how mysterious everything looks taking shape as you get closer. It's like you're in your own little world and everything else is just briefly slipping in and out. Also, since we set our clocks back last weekend, the sun had already risen for my drive, so the fog was lit up and sometimes you could see the blurry shape of the sun poking through on my left as I drove south. Then, as I made the last turn onto the road that goes around the north end of the runway to the base gate, all of a sudden the fog was behind me, the sky was a brilliant blue and there were beautiful wispy cirrus clouds stretching across it. The trees along the road made a corridor of incredible fall colors, with the sun lighting up all of the bright reds, oranges, and yellows. England makes me wish I was a photographer. Or that I could take pictures while driving without driving off the road or causing an accident.

After lunch, Greg took me on a tour of all of the fighter squadrons' buildings, since I am now moving more into my role as their main contact for weather support. They have some pretty cool setups and facilities, and the walls are covered with past and present pictures of aircraft over impressive background scenery. (For the record, if the unbelievably gorgeous poster of an F-15 formation over the White Cliffs of Dover was to disappear from the lobby of the 493rd sometime in the next two years, I have NO idea who could be behind it...).

When we got back, we were over in base ops talking to them about taking me across the flight line to the helo squadron's headquarters when a call came in about an in-flight emergency; an F-15 had an engine malfunction and was coming in to land in 5 minutes. One of the guys, LB, jumped up to go out and respond to it, and Greg asked him if I could go with him. He said yes! So we ran outside, jumped in the base ops pickup truck and flew down the flightline towards the north end of the runway. As we were driving, LB explained that we were supposed to watch where the plane hit the runway, then follow it all the way down to the side area where fire crews and crash recovery crews would meet it. The purpose was to look for FOD (anything that might have fallen off the aircraft) and to clear the runway as soon as possible for other aircraft to land. When the plane landed just past where we were waiting, LB pulled out and stepped on the gas and we sped along like a chase vehicle as the plane taxiied to the designated area. It was so exciting! When the plane came to a stop, firefighters in silver spaceman-looking suits jumped out of the waiting trucks and cleared the area before anyone else could approach. After the situation was under control, LB drove me around some different areas of the airfield and explained a lot of things about the pavement, the airfield signs, the different areas, and the procedures that are followed in certain situations. It was all so interesting, and I learned a lot about how weather affects ground crews as well as aircraft operations.

Tomorrow should be a fun day too. Not only is it Friday, but the weather flight is doing a group run (my idea) at PT tomorrow, then there is a wing awards luncheon where Greg and Cody (one of our forecasters) are up for wing-level awards after winning at the OG level, then a squadron hail and farewell in the afternoon complete with families and kids in costumes, then OCF meeting! Plans for the weekend are still undecided, but I'm excited about tomorrow. That's all for now!

Still Unpacking

I don't have much incredibly interesting to say today, but I thought I should write something since I hadn't in a while. I did not go on any adventures this weekend, as I am continuing to unpack the house. I have also spent time TV- and furniture-shopping. So, kind of boring, but I suppose it must be done... my friends here are making fun of me for still not having my house unpacked after living in it for 2 months.

The highlight of the weekend was watching my Penn State Nittany Lions beat up on Michigan 35-10 last night, which I got to see thanks to AFN and another "game night" with the weather flight. By far the best PSU-Michigan game I have ever watched. :D This past week also included some fun times and great conversations with people in the flight... it makes me sad to think that most of this crew will be gone by January. But I'm not going to let that stop me from enjoying the time with them that I have now, and I'm looking forward to making plenty of memories going into the holiday season.

Time for me to get going, as I need to hit the gym, get home, and shower before Jose and his Hummer help me pick up a bookcase for the house this evening (neither Cabrio or Mini is built for carrying a 6-foot-tall bookcase). Mon-Wed of this week I am stuck in a training class that will likely be very boring, but at least it is football playoff week so I'll see people in the evenings. Maybe I'll come up with something more exciting to write about next time. :)

Productivity

The lingering travel high from Dover on Monday allowed me to stay home this weekend and make some much-needed progress in the house. On Saturday, I finally found my bag of tools (silly me, why didn't I think to look in a box from my bedroom labeled stuffed animals and shoes?) and put together the loft for my twin mattress, my computer desk, and a small bookshelf. Putting together the loft and desk by myself was no small undertaking, as those who have helped me in the past can attest to. Especially the loft... I had to engineer a tower of boxes to the exact height to hold one end of the heavy top frame in place while I got all the hardware in place to hold it up. But I did it! Then I finished organizing the kitchen this morning... it is quite possible I was more productive in the house over the last two days than I have been in the entire month I have lived there. :)

Saturday night, Jose had the weather flight over for a game night... as in, the board type. I think more time was spent just hanging out, eating, and watching football, hehe. But it was great, he built a fire in the fireplace and it was nice to just sit in his huge living room with everyone. It is definitely starting to feel like winter here. I will have to get brave and build a fire in one of my own fireplaces one of these days. I loooove walking down my street and smelling everyone's fires. :)

I must sadly report the demise of my cell phone yesterday... turns out that dropping them in water is bad. I tried the "bowl-of-rice" method to dry it out (if you don't know what I mean, you're not alone... the girl in the cell phone store looked at me like I had two heads when I tried to explain), but it only halfway worked... it can turn on and make calls, but the people on the other end can't hear me, and they sound to me like they are talking through wax paper. To make a long story short, it means I got a new phone today. It is bright yellow, so at least there is a somewhat happy ending to this story.

One other thing that has been on my mind lately is how much I love my drive to and from work. I'll be honest, there were a couple times after I moved into the house that I wondered if living 35 minutes from work was the right decision. And yes, sometimes it would be a lot more convenient to live closer. But then there are so many reasons that I have come to love about the route: I have seen some of the most incredible sunrises and sunsets of my life... the drive is mostly north/south through farmland, so I can watch the sun rise or set the whole time without ever getting blinded. I love that I pass a field full of fluffy sheep... and one of them is black. I love that most of the houses in the villages I drive through have been there since before the Constitution was signed. I love that I regularly pass tractors and horse-drawn carriages. I love that sometimes shallow fog sits in the fields on both sides of the road, and I can just make out a horse or cow through it. I love the abandoned old red double-decker bus in a field and how iconic it looks. I love the isolated church that looks so mysterious rising out of a bed of shallow fog. And when it's dark and I can't see these things, I devote that time to praying (with my eyes open, of course, hehe). That's 35 uninterrupted minutes I can spend talking to God... and I always get home before I run out of people and things to pray about.

This week starts out with an OG run tomorrow morning, so I better get home and rest up... the OG/CC does not take it easy on those!

Dover

This past weekend had a very low point and a high point. I'm not going to talk about the low point in this entry... maybe later. The high point was my trip to Dover on Monday, our day off for Columbus Day. I found out on Friday night at OCF that a couple in the group, Mike and Jody, were going down there for the weekend with their 3 kids. I mentioned that I was planning a day trip on Monday, so they suggested we meet up at Dover Castle. The weather was gorgeous, as you can see in the picture below:


This was taken from the outer wall of the castle, looking towards the main gate and the keep. The castle was incredible... it was built by Henry II back in the 1100s, but was still used as a fortress up through WWII! There is a massive complex of tunnels under the castle that were used as military headquarters, a hospital, communications center, lookout points... just amazing. I think the thing that impressed me the most was an anti-aircraft gun along one of the outer walls - you won't find many medieval castles with those! Of course, I took tons of pictures inside and outside the castle, so check out the link at the end. I had a great time hanging out with 5-year-old Marrin and 4-year-old Jacob! :)

After we toured the main parts of the castle, Mike and Jody and the kids left, and I went over to the White Cliffs visitor center. From there, there is a 2-mile walk along the cliff tops to the South Foreland Lighthouse, another historic site. It is supposed to be a 40-min walk, but of course I went much slower due to stopping every few feet to take a picture. I have a lot of pics of the same cliffs, but they are just so incredible to look at... the pictures don't even do them justice. They're just so massive and BRIGHT! Here is my favorite picture that I took of them:

I also found a trail that zig-zagged down the face of one cliff to the beach. Now, let me tell you, this trail was STEEP. It was also uneven and rocky. I felt like a mountain goat going down. Check out my photo album for pics. It was worth it, though, the beach was awesome. Waves crashing on the rocks, salty air blowing in my face, white cliffs stretching as far as I could see. I spent so much time down there that I never even made it to the lighthouse. I had to turn back to get my car before they locked the gate to the parking lot.

I wish I could ramble longer, but the cafe is closing so I must go before I get kicked out. Here is the link to my Dover photo album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=325895&id=701905001&l=2d6845d2b3

And here is the link to a video I took on the beach, turn up your sound so you can hear the waves crashing! http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/video/video.php?v=318349485001

Driving My Mini

I'm still in love with my little yellow baby. But we are taking our time getting to know each other. I learned to drive stick somewhere around 9 years ago on my dad's 1974 VW Beetle, then started driving an automatic and have never driven a stick again until now. My refresher driving lesson was on Tuesday night, and it is lucky for me that Greg developed a lot of patience while raising 8 kids, because that first driving attempt was a little, well... rough. I didn't stall it EVERY time I tried to go into first gear from a stop, but it was pretty darn close. Second and third are easier because they flow, but I got pretty frustrated trying to get into first or reverse from a stop. Finally, Greg figured out what I was doing wrong - I was letting the clutch out slowly and starting to add gas, but when I felt it start to shift I was getting excited and letting the clutch go all the way. That was a major breakthrough, but we had to go to the OSS football game, so I didn't get to do much more that night.

So last night, Mini and I spent some quality time together. We had some one-on-one conversation, and I think we understand each other a lot better now. We spent about an hour practicing mostly first and reverse, but eventually getting to second and third too. We're not perfect or even very smooth, but we are at least 200% better than the first night. As soon as I'm done writing this, I'm going back to get it for some more quality time. I told Jose that I had a date with Mini tonight, and he told me to have fun. I said I better, we're already married. ;-)

Work is great. I love the people in my flight and they make the time fun and interesting. I also briefed wing staff twice this week, which was a little intimidating at first but both times went very well. The vice commander was even joking around with me today. Next week I work the forecaster desk on day shift all week, which will be nice to log that time to practice after being certified this Monday. This is a three-day weekend, and although my house is not even close to unpacked, I can't sit still for that long. I am finally going to make the trip to Dover Castle and the White Cliffs on Monday, and I will probably go somewhere closer on Saturday or Sunday but haven't decided where yet. That will leave one day for house stuff. That's not too bad, is it? :)

Guess What?

I bought a car. :-D Did I mention I was looking for one? I have been thinking for a while that I wanted a British car, for several convenience and safety reasons. Any drive-up service is on the right side, and when you want to pass a tractor or lorry (semi truck) on a two-lane road, you have to wait until the road curves enough to see around it because you're on the wrong side of the car to look around it (otherwise you risk pulling out into oncoming traffic). Plus, living as far from base as I do, if something ever happened to the Cabrio, it would be a pain to get rides back and forth. So... what kind of car to get? After plenty of online research and reading reviews, I had almost decided on a nice MG convertible. But then, yesterday morning, I drove by the base resale lot and experienced love at first sight. Are you ready for this? (you have probably already cheated and looked at the picture...) So here is my new baby:

Is that not the cutest thing you have ever seen in your life?!?!? It's a restored 1979 Austin Mini 1000, and it is beautiful and shiny and MINE. I called the seller immediately and set up a time to meet them, see the inside, and take a test ride last night. (Small technicality = I can't drive stick yet, but I have been meaning to learn and MSgt B agreed to teach me next week.) Then of course, as with all car issues, I emailed my dad (would have called him, but it was 3am ET). I had to go back to base in the afternoon for commander's call, and as I was excitedly telling MSgt B (who I'm going to refer to as Greg from now on, because it's easier to type) about my date with the yellow Mini, he asked if I knew what to check it for. I said that I had emailed my dad but hadn't gotten a response yet. He then offered to go over to the resale lot with me to check it out while it was still daylight. I felt a little guilty about him taking the time to do that, but he insisted so we went over and he looked it over, pointing out some rust spots underneath and telling me about a few things to look for when the engine was running.

I finally got to talk to my dad later that afternoon, and filled him in on talking to the seller and Greg's assessment of the car. Daddy liked the idea of the Mini, which did not surprise me, since he and my mom had one when they lived here. Plus, it is very comparable to how a VW Beetle is valued in the US, sort of like an icon or collector's item. So I met the sellers last night, got a ride in it, checked all the things I was supposed to check, asked a lot of questions... and I was still in love with it, so I bought it. Well, technically, we are not exchanging the money and keys until Monday, but it is as good as mine. I'm so excited. How much more British can you get than a Mini?

Okay, on to other news: Jose is not deploying to Turkey. Neither am I. There is a Maj somewhere in USAFE who is going instead. So that is very good news for Jose and his family. This week was definitely a lesson for me in how fast and how many times things can change in this business, though. I'm done with my training (yay for no more mid shifts), and my checkride is on Mon and Tues. On Monday, I get to do something else cool: A bunch of our jets are deploying to Turkey, and Greg and I are coming in at 3am to do several mass briefings for them. That should be interesting, as I have not done anything like that yet.

As you may remember, this is weekend #2 of my self-imposed ban on traveling in an attempt to unpack my house. Weekend #1 turned into a hang-out-with-the-weather-flight weekend, which I enjoyed, but it means I have more to do this weekend. Today I made significant progress in the kitchen. It is not done, but getting close. Next week, I really need to get over to Feltwell to request my loaner furniture, because it will be hard to unpack upstairs without a couple wardrobes (you may remember I only have one miniscule closet, in the guest room). I also need to go bed shopping, and put together my twin bed's loft and my computer desk. And buy a TV, get a phone line, get TV and internet service... yeah, that's not all getting done this weekend.

So I am off to do laundry now, what an exciting Saturday night. :) I will just daydream about my Mini...