And so begins the final countdown to me being a civilian. Fuckin-A.
It’s been over a week since my last update – bad on me. Don’t have a very good excuse, to be honest. It’s just that the last week or so has been kinda busy in the evening. Much of last week I was hanging out with people each night – a few nights I spent hanging out with Byron while he was out here (and I was continuing the addiction-to-Guitar-Hero program which went without a hitch), my old neighbor EB was in Denver for business so he came down here one night and we had dinner, and then I spent one afternoon at my Dad and Pat’s to help them set up their new HP Vista PC (I’m almost inclined to go to Vista myself…but then I think of all the asspain and think again). And then one night I spent studying solely for my Security+ exam which I took on Thursday and which I rocked: Out of 900 points, I got 863 (to pass, you need 764). So yay for me. It’s not as if I really need it anymore, but I’m glad to have it. I will NOT continue to prepare for the CISSP exam though, basically that’s a huge pain that I don’t need anymore (it was mostly resume fodder, to be honest), it’s $500 I’d happily have back in my account, and the next test I could take is 30 Sep and in Denver….
….and I won’t be anywhere near Denver on that day because I’ll have been at work at NBC for just over a week by that time! Yep, the NBC offer is a done deal and as of today, my first day at the job has been established as Monday, 24 Sep. Yowza. That makes it much more real for me. I’ve got just over three whole weeks to househunt, pack up my shit, and drive out to NYC. Heart is definitely racing! But I’ve been looking at a few places and I’m very optimistic about them. I think out of all the ones I’ve been looking at, I should find a great place. Here’s hoping.
Two duty days left in the military (and then 3 years as an Inactive Ready Reservist…which means that if the Air Force has to call up personnel for some ridiculous reason, I could theoretically find myself back in Active Duty, but I try not to think too much about that possibility). Frankly, it’s hard to really fathom it. As you have probably seen on this site, since almost 365 days ago, I’ve been keeping a green count and at the time I started it, 365 days seemed like a long time. And to be honest, it was. The time did not exactly fly by, but that’s not to say it’s still not surprising that it’s nearly September 2007. I have fairly un-mixed emotions about the whole thing. I’m ready to be done. Cheyenne Mountain has not left the best taste in my mouth, primarily for the Air Force but probably for the military overall. It’s probably a situation of circumstance and location for me, as I know plenty of people who are still thrilled to be in the military, and good for them. But this past assignment has been quite enough for me to make up my mind that the military is not at all what I want to do anymore. Learned lots, but I’m definitely looking forward to being New York-Hobie for a few years!!!!! I figure I have two more updates to dwell on my military-related thoughts, and by that last one, perhaps I’ll be completely honest about a few things.
So I’ve got a lot of work cut out for me in the next few weeks. My plan is to fly out to the NYC area (on NBC’s dime, natch) to go visit the apartments I’ve seen and choose one while out there. That should hopefully be a very short trip. I’ll then have an idea of what exactly I’ll need to bring with me. Then I embark on selling nearly everything else I own. Yep, it’s time to clean house of all my big furniture stuff. Here’s a link to what I’m selling for those morbidly curious:
Hobie’s Moving Sale – Almost Everything Must Go!!!!
Tell all your Colorado-based friends if they are in need of some furniture! Then I’ve got to hope that my house either sells or rents. I’m resigned to the fact that I’ll probably have to rent it and probably at a loss on my part, but I’d rather pay a bit to ‘subsidize’ the rent then to have to pay an additional mortgage on top of my rent in NY/NJ. But that’s a rant for another day. Keep fingers crossed.
In family news, my mom had eye surgery. The primary reason was to remove the cataracts that are developing in her eyes, which are hereditary I think and something I probably get to look forward to in a few years. They’re working on her eyes one at a time, but a secondary reason and bonus for her is that they’re going to fix her vision while they’re operating. How sweet!! But it’ll be weird for her, as she’s had imperfect vision since she was 12 and glasses have been part of her face for so long now. I don’t know how it’ll be if she doesn’t have them on! But the first surgery went fine today and then she goes back in approximately a month. Yay! Other family news: Dad and Pat are going to be departing the Springs after this Labor Day weekend for California. It’s been great to have them around this summer, that’s for sure. Hope they have fun at their next campground in El Centro!
Okay, almost done for today. A few last trivial things to write about. First, I am hopelessly addicted to the new video game, Bioshock. Unbelievably fun and involving and creepy and eerie first-person shooter/game set underwater in a Utopia experiment that went all wrong. And then I also finished reading the graphic novel/comic book Watchmen. Highly Recommended!!!!! Can’t wait to see this movie…in 2009. Oy. Who KNOWS where I’ll be living then?????? š
Alright, enough from me today. I sent out a ‘Farewell’ email to most of all my past AF friends yesterday and heard back from quite a few of them today. I’ll definitely miss that camaraderie, but it’s easy enough to keep in touch with people nowadays, I have little excuse not to keep in touch with them. Seriously!