Tuesday, September 11, 2012

And so it goes...

T-minus 12 days until I leave for Moab. I'm not having much luck with rear wheels. I'm on my third one. I have a set of Easton Havocs en route to Cali to meet up with me.

I put deposit down on a used Dodge Dakota, bright yellow. Maybe the Koreans will stop pulling out in front of me, then again, probably not.

I'm starting a new job on 15OCT at Rodriguez Range as a computer operator, better job opportunity, should be more interesting and better pay. It's just a longer commute, hence the new vehicle.

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Wow, it's been a long time since I've updated this.  What has changed?

1.  No longer in the Army

2.  Moved to Korea

3.  Is working for a private company as a contractor

At the moment, most of my free time is taken up by mountain biking.  I'm planning a trip to Moab later this year and I want to be in shape to ride everyday, all day, for 7 days and maybe a race.

Korea has been interesting.  I've located where the orphanage is.  I guess it's still there.  Mary Lee and I went down to visit, Chinhae it's called.  At the time, we didn't have plans for anything during the weekend so we just left, with no plans.  We didn't setup a place to sleep and had a hard time finding a place.  The Chinhae Naval Base was booked up so we went to City 7 Pullman Hotel.  Very nice and would stay there again.  The big city in the area is called Changwon, very industrialized, clean and overall nice city.

Leaving the Army was a choice both Mary Lee and I agreed on.  I was never home while at Bliss and wasn't enjoying my experience there.  Though I had many good times while in the Army, Bliss was far from blissful.  In the end, we decided it was best that I ETS and become a regular civilian.

Since then, Mary Lee has gotten back into DODEA and I'm working for a company called n-Link as a Facility Manager for one of their digital classrooms.  I don't mind the job but it's a bit boring although, I do get paid more than I did in the Army with a lot less responsibility.

I have redone my mountain bike; full fork and shock service, new wheels, checked the bearings and full tear down and rebuild.  I've been riding 3-5 times a week and felt it might be a good idea to get the bike in order since I'm using it so much.  I use Strava to track my rides and training.  I got a GoPro Hero2 for filming my crashes, errr, rides.

The trails in Korea are hiking trails and there is a lot of them.  They are steep, technical and varied in elevation.  The dirt is a sand/clay mix.  Pretty good for traction, especially if it just rained.  I was using my good ol' Nevegals but the Conti Mountain Kings are way better and much lighter.

Some of the locals took me on a ride that took 3 and a half hours to complete.  I can do that same ride in about an hour and 40 minutes now.  I bet I can chopped that down to an hour and a half soon.

So far, my time here in Korea has been positive.  Many things are different but many things are the same.  They drive on the same side of the road as us.  Kimchi is catagory of food, not just the pickled cabbage we know.  Korean BBQ is awesome and has nothing to do with barbeque sauce.  They drive like crazy people with no regard to others but, generally speaking, are very nice people.  Service is the number one priority when entering a shop/restaurant.  They love their bakeries.  Heated floors are awesome.  Most Koreans still hang their cloths to dry.  Importing anything is very expensive.  Most Koreans live in high rise apartments and farm their own vegetables.  Korean kids go to school from 8-ish in the morning to about 8-ish at night.  They have after school activities like music or sports everyday.  The younger generation knows English.  The older generation don't give a crap about anything.

Next time, I'll add some pictures.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Moving Freely...

Driving from Killeen TX to El Paso was a neat drive.  As I got farther away from Killeen, the trees got shorter (ultimately, turning into bushes), the grass became more brown and the land became flatter and flatter.  I just wonder how people can live so far away for civilization.  Some of ranches I passed were really nice and sitting seemly hundreds of acres of land.  I think the most interesting area was when I nearing Interstate 10, still on Route 190.  You can see how the rain and wind has cut into the land, leaving flat top hills and high plateaus.  Interesting look and it reminds of many westerns I've seen.  I guess there's a beauty to it.  It's just gonna take a while for me to be really interested in it.  Maybe in 3-4 months, when the my world isn't so torn.

Sunday, February 07, 2010

Slowly Getting Settled

So, in reality, I've been here for a solid 1 month.  I'm slowly settling into my authority, my job and being back into a scout platoon.  Can't believe how young these new privates are and how much sergeant stripes mean to them.  They'd jump off a bridge if I told them to.  I guess I'm kinda liking it here.  It'll be better when I move out of the barracks.  Another thing I like about Germany is that I was ahead of everyone in terms of time.  Now that I'm behind everyone, it's like playing catch up.  Just a frame of mind.

Wednesday, January 06, 2010

Back in Texas, Back to a Scout

So here I am, in Texas, FT Bliss... Bliss, such an ironic name for a place I have yet to like. Yesterday morning was a bit of a wake up call. Morning PT at 4000ft elevation, none of which I'm use to ans Staff Duty. The holiday season is over and I'm not sure when I'll see my sweetie pie again. People have grown to like El Paso and I might but as of now I have no car, no household goods and no one I know is here. The heart sinks a bit. Hopefully, it won't last long.

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Why I ride mountain bikes...





This video was released by Fox Racing Shox. The music and images sum up what I feel when a ride is going well; hitting all my lines, carving the corners and conquering the terrain that's barely walkable, nevermind ride a bike over it. In my head, I have a crowd of me, cheering me on. Cleaning each rock, corner and drop is a small accomplishment to the bigger goal as I fly down the mountain. The feeling of hovering over the trail as trees and bushes blur by is one that can't be replicated. That's why I ride mountain bikes.

Thursday, February 19, 2009