Farewell For Now...

Well, for all intensive purposes I'm on my way to an illustrious career with the United States Army. I haven't taken off my St. George in a few weeks. I figure that it can't hurt. My duffel bag is packed and sitting by the front door, and I'm just sitting around burning the hours I have left at home. I don't really get excited about things like this. I just tend to get really focused. I'll be thinking about everybody while I'm gone. I hope I can make you guys proud. I'll be out of reach, but I promise to write all of you. I won't have a return address until I arrive in Fort Knox, so I'll send out letters to notify everyone of how to contact me. I might stop by the Mason residence tomorrow morning and drop off some stuff for Mer, and say good-bye to everyone. Megan and Andy are in town so I will get to see them. Then I need to go get a nice short hair cut, and after that I'll just go home and rest. Wish me luck everyone, I promise you guys that I will give it everything I've got.

Mer,

I love you more than anything in the world. During this time we've had apart I've never been able to get you off of my mind. Don't worry about me, I'll be OK. When I return, I'll be 5 weeks closer to seeing you again, and that in and of itself makes the trip worth it. You are the most beautiful and genuine person I've ever met. I know that you won't be home to get the letters, but I'm going to write you anyway. Expect a pile of mail. If there is only one person I need behind me, it's you, and I know that you are. As long as I have your love I can do anything. Don't forget your American Soldier, because I know that I won't forget you. I love you.

Cliff

Shopping Fiend

Well, I must say that I'm exhausted. I've spent the entire day so far shopping for things to take to Kentucky with me. It ended up costing me in the neighborhood of 200 dollars. ::sigh:: I was running all over the Navy Exchange for several hours looking for everything. I did get to buy some cool stuff though, including a pair of brand-new all-terrain cross training shoes. I also picked up Mer a present today...

Well, I'm going to take a quick power nap before I go test out my new running shoes. I'll probably post later this evening. I've been posting frantically since I'm leaving tomorrow!

Happy 6 Month Anniversary

Well everyone, Mer and I have managed to make it 6 months without killing each other.

Happy half of a year babe! I love you and always will. I hope to talk to you soon and can't wait for you to come home!

Birthday Festivities

Well, my birthday festivities drew to a close this evening. We went to Sushi Rock and ate at a Japanese grill table. (Mer, twasn't my idea. It was my mom's) My father thoroughly enjoyed the food. He thought he was going to hate it. I received my gifts today. I am getting my dad's laptop, with a new printer and mouse. I received three movies: U-571 (I love this movie), Timeline (Mer said that it's great), and Dreamcatcher (I think my mom wanted to see this one). I also got some money and a few disposable cameras. Considering I'm getting a new computer, this year wasn't a bad haul.

Today I went to the mall and bought a collection of Tennyson for my trip, but I've already read half of it! I also wrote a little, like I always do when I read a lot of poetry.

Sentinels of Your Heart

(I couldn't think of a better name)

Depart, depart, I must depart,
to struggle on the sleeping field,
go I must to learn the art,
but to you my heart I yield.

And when the vapors fall among the boles,
when they smother, choke like smoke,
and when I feel my valor cold,
it is your name I shall invoke.

And no struggle, no flying dart,
can harrass me when I rest,
among the sentinels of your heart,
that I keep locked in my chest.

No pestilence, no tragedies, no deadly snare,
no enemy can bring harm to me,
while my heart is in your care.

A Tradition of Honorable Service...

This is my nuclear family from left to right: Mom, Dad, Lj (little sister), Me, Bj big sister), and David (brother-in-law)

People often ask me why I want to join the military. I usually give them all kinds of reasons: great medical coverage, good financial security, exciting jobs, travel, patriotism. But what it comes down to is all of these things and none of these things. I view the service as a calling. A calling in my family that goes as far back as we have historical records. When people tell me how much they appreciate my willingness to serve, or that of my parents, it always catches me off guard. That noble profession that we all seem to have undertaken just seems like life to us. My parents get up, put on their business suits and go to work. They come home and have a family. I think that sometimes I take what they have dedicated their lives to for granted.

My father retired from the Navy in 2001. He served all over the world, including the First Gulf War and two tours in Antarctica.

My mother will retire from the Navy next year. She also served two tours in Antarctica.

My sister served for several years in the U.S. Air Force, but got out to raise her family.

Her husband is still in the Air Force and is currently stationed at Lackland AFB, Texas.

My mother's brother was a gunner on an Army armored vehicle during the First Gulf War.

My father's brother was in the Navy for 10 years.

My maternal grandfather was an Air Force officer.

My paternal grandfather was an Air Force military policeman. He served in Vietnam.

My mother's uncle was a bataan death march survivor.

My father's uncle was among the first wave on the beaches of Normandy.

They had to throw my maternal great grandfather out of the recruiting depot kicking and screaming because the would not let farmers serve in World War II. He stayed home and contributed on the home front, but he regretted it for the rest of his life.

My father's cousin served in Korea.

My cousin recently returned from his first tour in Iraq with the Air National Guard, and has volunteered for a second.

The majority of my male ancestors alive in the 1860s served as confederate soldiers in the war between the states.

A brother of one of my distant grandfathers served in the War of 1812.

Several of my distant grandfathers served in the U.S. Revolution.

There is a monument on the US Naval Academy campus to one of my distant grandfathers who went down with his ship, William Herndon.

You see? The males in my family that have served in the military comprise the majority. They all joined for different reasons, but they all found that they were called to duty. In no way did I feel pressured by my heritage to join the military, but with all of the red, white, and blue blood coursing through my veins... it was inevitable. It's the lifestyle I know and love. I genuinely believe it is what I was born to do.

Happy Birthday to Me

Well, I turn 18 today. I'm currently sitting alone in my house at the computer. I hung out with Josh last night. I was finally afforded the opportunity to see Team America. It was hilarious.

I also talked to Mer's folks yesterday. I was extended the offer to accompany them to Minnesota. I'll have to run the dates past my mom. I met her grandparents (maternal). They're great people. I can see why her mom is the way she is. Talking to Mer's grandma was like meeting her mom all over again. Her grandpa pretty much just laid on the couch and snored the whole time, but he wasn't feeling very well. It was great to see the girls again. Mary Kate was being very sweet. She drew a mutant tomato with 6 legs, two eyes, 4 rows of teeth, braces, and crazy hair. I thought it looked like Michael Moore... but that's just me. Her father and I were able to talk for a good hour or so about college and things. It's funny how unusually comfortable I am in their house. It's like I walk in and all of a sudden all the stress dissapates.

I went for a run today. It's around 93 and 100% humidity outside, so I figure if I can pound out three miles in that no problem, I should be fine in Kentucky. It was similar to running submerged in warm bathwater. I love Florida.

I'm getting more and more psyched about LTC. I want to leave now and get it over with.

Cinderella Man

Cinderella Man was an amazing movie. Russell Crowe has cemented his place as one of my favorite actors. He may actually be THE favorite. Renee Zelwegger vastly improved my opinion of her as an actress. She was amazing in the supporting role. Kenny Chesney is a lucky man.

Lonely...

I don't think I've ever spent this much time alone. I just go to work in the morning, and then spend the afternoons reading, writing, watching movies, or playing video games. I've also been running about 3 miles a day to get ready for LTC. I don't really feel the desire to hang out with any of the guys from high school... maybe it's seperation anxiety or something. In the light of recent events though, it just seems that they're stuck in high school mode and I'm moving on to bigger things. It's a sad thought. With Mer gone, the only person to hang out with is myself! My dad met his best friend in bootcamp, maybe I'll forge some meaningful friendships at LTC or GMC. I've been writing a little bit. It's a sci-fi short story, conceived from boredom. I've also taken to Clive Cussler novels, chewing them up and spitting them out at the rate of one every 2 or 3 days. My Mom and I are getting ready to go out to a movie. She and I always go see one for my birthday. She won't be here Tuesday night, and my dad is still up at Leadership Academy, so it looks like I'll be spending my birthday alone. LTC seems like it is going to be totally awesome, but for some reason I'm not eagerly anticipating it. It kind of represents me leaving the house and the end of childhood... anyway, my Mom is yelling so I have to wind it up. Off to see Cinderella Man.

Shipping Out Soon...

A week from tomorrow, I leave for Georgia Military College. I will be there for 4 days of basic training exercises before I head off to Fort Knox, Kentucky, to complete LTC, or the Leadership Training Course. LTC consists of 4 weeks of intense field exercises and classroom work to prepare and qualify Army ROTC students for the Advanced Program, or in my case the Early Commissioning Program.

I'm actually excited about the ECP, because it allows me to earn my commission in 2 years instead of the usual 4. I will be a 2nd Lieutenant at 19 as opposed to 21 or 22. That means when my buddies are graduating from college as 2nd Lt.s I'll already be a 1st Lt. up for advancement to Captain. Now this early commission is conditional on me completing my 4 year degree. So not only do I get to earn my commission early, but I also get to attend my last 2 years of college wherever I want without participating in a restrictive ROTC program. The only hook is that I will be a drilling reservist (the whole 1 weekend a month and 2 weeks a year deal). After I earn my 4 year degree I will become an active duty O-2 in the U.S. Army.

Now I know what you're thinking... Army? What? Cliff? I though he wanted to be a Marine. Honestly, when you break it down the Army and the Marines are virtually the same in most aspects. This early commissioning program is a great deal, and I'll be able to do everything I wanted and get paid for it. I'll just be wearing a different uniform. Did I mention that they're paying me $800 dollars to go to LTC?

After I get back toward the beginning of August I plan on doing a little bit of travelling. Possibly taking a road trip out to Pensacola, that way I could give Mer a ride out to Alabama and still get a chance to hang out with her before we go to school. Then a want to head up to see my uncle in NY, because he isn't doing too well.

I'm pretty sure I'm getting a laptop for my birthday... sweet.

Evolution?

Yesterday, as my mother mused over the x-rays of my head hanging on the wall in my dentists office, she expressed the opinion that my missing wisdom tooth was evolution eliminating an unneccesary vestigial part of the body. This statement raised questions for me about evolution that have been bothering me for a while.

First, all of my conclusions in this post are based upon the assumption that evolution is purely the result of darwinian natural selection, and that nature doesn't take a more proactive approach at altering DNA. Also, this post is totally excluding religion as an explanation, because devout as I am, I don't think we can deny the existence of dinosaurs or other past species. If "evolution" fits into a grander scheme of things, that is a topic for another discussion.

There is no logical way evolution can explain the trends that are occuring to certain species and how fast they are at work. I'm mainly going to discuss the human species, becuase through modern society we have pretty much eleminated the factor of natural selection. However, certain changes are still taking place among our species. For example, in medieval times King Arthur was said to be 6 feet tall, and they considered him a giant. Today 6 feet tall is closer to average. No one can tell me that that is because the tall guys got laid more. Also, if you look at the records of olympic athletes, humans have been getting more and more athletic over the past 150 years (since the games were reinstated, I'm unsure of the exact year). I think that it is highly unlikely that natural selection alone could be responsible for these athletic changes. Because, like I said before, humans have no natural predators and virtually no competition among each other for mating rights, so any changes could not be explained by the darwinian principles of evolution. To bring this post full circle, I doubt the number of wisdom teeth people have prevents them from scoring, yet it seems that they are being phased out of our bodies. Things like this can only point towards a more proactive approach our bodies take towards evolution. Is there someway that our bodies can detect necessary changes and pass those along to our children?

I'm Alive! Sort of...

Well, I found out why I only had three wisdom teeth. It's because my lower left tooth was a big enough pain in the ass to account for not only the missing tooth but the other two as well. Apparently it was very impacted and shifted laterally to all of my other teeth. Basically it was pointed inward at my tongue. Of course I opted for no gas, aso I was fully conscious for the entire operation, which was quite fascinating. That's also what the doctor kept saying. "This is fascinating, I can't see a thing" ::drill:: ::drill:: Now I'm at home spitting blood in a cup and waiting for mom to return with some loritabs... sweet.

Impending Doom

I leave in about half an hour to have my wisdom teeth removed. Ironically, I only have 3. I think that my bottom right tooth is really just hiding somewhere in the region of my tonsils in a desperate attempt to avoid extraction. Anyway, I opted to not undergo anesthesia, so I will be fully conscious as they rip part of my life force out of my head. Not only is that freaking sweet, but I am going to be soooooo buzzed for the next three days on the crazy pain killers they give me, AND I get to eat nothing but go-gurts! Freaking sweet! I wish I could get my wisdom teeth removed every year!

Darwin stops by Hardee's...

First of all, to give a little background: I recently became employed at a Hardee's fast food restaurant in Green Cove Springs. Green Cove is a primarily low income area of the county and is about 30 minutes from my house in Middleburg. I work what I term a "mid-day shift" from about 8 to about 4. I am lunch cook, among other duties, so during the breakfast hours I prepare the store for lunch.

Now, the women that work the morning shift are all black and over 25. This is obviously a very different demographic than the ones I tend to interact with. Well, as they cook in the mornings I am running around performing various duties. Most of these duties are out of sight of these women, so they are completely unaware of the things I do. Every time I see them I smile courteously and continue about my business. Well recently, everytime I smile at one of them they would laugh. I was at a complete loss to figure out why. Eventually I started catching snatches of conversation, while they were standing around and doing nothing, about how they are of the opinion that I stand around and do nothing. I was pretty shocked at first because I have always prided myself on being a hard worker. Anyway, as the day wore on today it got worse. Eventually it erupted into outright criticisms of the things I was doing, despite them having no clue what my job entails. I was so amused at this outright hypocrisy, because most of their time is spent figuring out ways to do as little work as possible. When they have to move about the store they waddle as slowly as possible. I was so amused by them that when I took my break, I shouted back into the kitchen, "Look! I'm taking a break from taking a break!" Of course they found this very amusing and erupted into laughter. I went and sat in my car, after I ate, and thought about my situation chuckling to myself. Then I went back into the store and waited until both of the culprits were standing near each other. This is what I said:
"You know what you're going to be doing this August? You're going to be coming back to Hardee's to work for minimum wage. You know what I'm going to be doing this August? I'm going to college because there is know way in hell I'm going to be working at a fast food joint for minimum wage when I'm your age!"
Of course they were stunned and apalled. I was so pleased with myself that I just went back about my business and smiled for the rest of the day. The true laugh came when I got my check today, and found that I was getting paid a full dollar an hour more than them. Social darwinism is my comfort in a world full of ingorant people trying to avoid an honest days work.