My first drill at Fort Worth is drawing to a close. Great stuff going on, here.
First, I got together with a handful of old classmates from Texas Wesleyan. The biggest difference between me and them is that they actually graduated. I was on the 4 year, no-degree plan. It was awesome seeing everybody and I hope to see a lot more of them throughout my time here.
Jamie Lloyd (Basler) hosted us all at her house and she put out a nice bunch of munchies, etc. It was so cool of her to do this, and she did it on short notice. So, I owe her.
Second, coming down here sort of reminded me why I never fell in love with the weather. Like William Tecumseh Sherman (himself a native of Ohio) said if he owned hell and Texas, he'd live in Hell and rent out Texas.
It's muggy here and really hot. Now, this Summer, it's been hot and muggy in Ohio, but trust me... it's hotter and muggier, here. I distinctly remember always dreading wearing any nice clothes in the warm months when I lived here because I'd sweat through in the time it took me to get out the front door and get the A/C going in the car.
Even so, I love Texas. Fort Worth is my adopted hometown. I like the climate in Hawaii better, but Fort Worth has a lot of character and I enjoy my time here.
I am disappointed that I didn't get to run much, but the first couple nights I was here, I was meeting friends, etc. Not a biggie. Today, we ran a mock PT test and I ran the 1.5 miles in under 15 minutes. I really struggled with the humidity, and although the heat wasn't oppressive, it was noticeable. Especially in light of my recent running at home in temps in the 60s. It was actually in the 50s when I left Detroit.
Next month, when I run the test for real, I should be able to get an even better score because it'll probably be cooler.
Tomorrow, I'll run at least 6, though. I found where the running track is and I'm gonna eat that sucker up.
The CO of this unit, like me, also flies here at his own expense. So, he's being really cool about working with me on drills. He's allowing me to double-up when I drill here. So, instead of showing up once a month and drilling for 2 days, I'll be showing up 6 months out of the year and drilling for 4 days. That way, it cuts my airfare expense in half.
I'll try to do all my drills during the cold weather months because Texas is a mutha in the Summer. Plus, I want to leave May, June and July as open as possible because that's Logan's travel season.
The Navy will fly people to certain billets, but this isn't one of them. I specifically wanted Fort Worth and I specifically wanted a Contracting Officers' billet. So, I knew I'd be paying to fly. However, being able to consolidate my drills, only drill half the months of the year, and make the most of my airfare is a big plus. Commanders of these units have a lot of latitude on this sort of thing, and I'm lucky my commander is so accommodating.
Money was never a factor in why I'm doing this, of course. I've always considered this my expensive hobby. However, it's nice when it doesn't cost me quite as much. Oddly enough, there are a couple of ways I do pretty well financially, by participation in the reserves.
The first is that I get a $2,000 bonus for every language course I pass. Since I'd be taking the classes, anyway, that's a nice perk.
The second is that I get my health insurance for only $200 a month and it's the best insurance I've ever had. I don't think I've ever paid a deductible or copay in the entire time I've had it.
At this point, I'd be reluctant to leave the reserves because it saves me so much on health insurance. Especially because I own my own business and would have to shop for an individual policy, otherwise.
The Navy doesn't pay airfare, but they provide me with a room while I'm here. It's with some trepedation that I accept this because the Navy is notorious for, say, putting 2 guys into a hotel room. I think it's just part of the Navy's culture. On ships, everybody lives in very close quarters and it's not unusual for two officers to share the same stateroom.
There is a hotel here on post, though, called the Navy Lodge. It's $65 a night, and I may pay for it out of my own pocket from time to time. For this drill, I did get my own room, but with a shared bathroom with another room. This wasn't nearly as inconvenient as it may sound at first blush. Especially since I have my own sink in my room.
However, Homey don't play room-mates if he can avoid it. Granted, that continues my streak of this being my personal little nonprofit endeavor, but hey.
Next month, by the way, there won't be any normal rooms available on post and they'll put us up in hotels off-post. That pretty much guarantees I'll have a room-mate. Navy Lodge, here I come. Not only do I not want the room-mate, but I really want to stay on-post. Nothing like a 3 minute commute in the morning.
So, it feels good to be back in Texas and seeing friends I haven't seen in years. I really like the unit and the commander is really working with me on this.
I did start the ball rolling on getting my final contracting course for my DAWIA (defense acquisition workforce improvement act) certification. I found out that until I actually have my DAWIA cert, I'm fenced off (meaning the can't pluck me for other various supply corps officer mobilizations.) Hardly matters, though. The only people mobilizing right now are contracting officers, anyway.
Next month, I'm authorized to double up on drills and in a really cool coincidence, my brother and his family will be here! So, I'll get to see him, his wife and my two nephews! That's something to really look forward to.
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