Nate's Made it to KY

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

I arrived at the Armory between Tulsa & Owasso off of Hwy 169 @ 2pm. Corey, Mom, and Sis dropped me off. I appreciated the ride but they didn't make it any easier. Emotions aside, it went well, I sat at the armory for an hour and a half. We finally left when everyone got there including the sergeant that drove us. We made it to Sapulpa then he realized he forgot the Pikepass. We drove all the way back to Owasso, in early five o'clock traffic mind you, and got the Pikepass. Anyways, 4:45 or so, and we were back in Sapulpa.

The ride was uneventful; there was only 4 of us plus the SGT in a 12 passenger van. We arrived at the Clarion on South Meridian in OKC at about 6:15. We checked in and ate, and went to bed about 10:30pm.


Wednesday, May 27, 2009

My alarm goes off at 3:50AM and I have 30 minutes to get downstairs and check out. We left for MEPS (Military Entrance Processing) at 5AM.

MEPS is the reason today has sucked so bad. It isn't hard, but I arrived @ about 5:15AM and didn't leave until 1:30PM! 8 hours and 15 minutes is a good amount of time. The only thing I did in that "Day's Work" was get height & weight measurements and was asked if anything has changed on my paper work. Yea, bummer. We had lunch there too.

Finally, we were called in for another "shipper's brief". There are 6 of us going to Ft. Knox, and I'm in charge of all the guys because of my rank (E-4 SPC). Everyone else is a private, I believe. I have everyone's paper work and orders. Yippie! A little baby sitting never hurt anyone.

We go to check in and the guy from United Airlines, who was a total prick, told me I shouldn't check my bag because they would probably lose it. So, I bit the bullet and threw away any liquid containers over 3.0 oz. I absolutely hated doing that but all my stuff being lost would suck worse.

Well, we're in the air and everything is okay now. We're headed to Chicago for an hour and a half layover, then onto Louisville, KY. Haha, my pretzels are made by King Nut Companies!


Thursday, May 28, 2009

Wow! It's been about 24 hours, actually a little less since my last entry, but in the amount of time I've slept 35 minutes. Its about 8pm or so & hopefully I'll be hitting the sheets before to long. In that short amount of time we've been processed medically, issued clothing, head shaved, civilian stuff taken away... I'm so fried I can't think of everything else.

We arrived at 11PM last night and we went to bed at 3AM and got up at 4AM, had breakfast (which was 3 minutes long at 5AM), and the rest of the day was a blur. The issuing of the clothing was the coolest part. They may treat us like dogs, but they give us everything we could possibly need. I have warm and cold weather clothing even though I'll be at Knox through the summer and San Antonio through the fall. It's cool though, cause I'm sure I'll use it in drill.

Basic hasn't even started yet. We'll start the first of next week. Today is Thursday the 28th, so I'm guessing we will start on Monday the 1st of June. We'll see soon enough. Well, I'm gonna sleep now. Love everyone!

Friday, May 29, 2009

Last night, Thursday the 28th, we got some good sleep. Today we woke up at 4AM again and ate @ 5AM and then went through some dental and auditory tests and exams. Like everything, it sucked. We also got an eagle card with $250 of our own money to buy some stuff at the PX (Post Exchange). We got a bunch of basics and necessities like toiletries. We also got running shoes, so we may get to try those out soon. I'm ready to start basic; I don't think we'll be here a whole lot longer. Hopefully.

All the meals are 3-5 minutes tops. They can get over 400 guys through in about an hour. I've had heartburn from eating too fast, but it hasn't been too bad. Today was definitely easier, I just hate standing and sitting as much as we have. We haven't marched much but when we do, this is the song we sing:
"There is a girl who wears a yellow ribbon; She, she wears it in the spring time, the very month of May; And if you ask her why the heck she wears it, She wears it for the soldier who is far far away." I think its kind of gay, but its better than silence.

Sunday , May 31, 2009

Today is Sunday and it's been pretty easy thus far. Right now it's 13:55. We went to church this morning, and it was pretty cool. We had bible study at 8AM and a sermon at 10AM. The bible study was better. The speaker was more intriguing... he was a retired sergeant major. After that we ate lunch, we have been getting 3 minutes tops for meals. It sucks but I've gotten plenty to eat every time. Oh yeah, here is a joke that the chaplain told:

"This old lady was getting robbed one night and she walked up behind the thief and said... "Freeze, Acts 2:38, repent of your sins & turn to God." The thief stopped immediately and threw his hands in the air. The old woman calmly called the police. The cops cuffed the thief. As they walked him to the squad car, they started laughing. they said they have never seen a perpetrator freeze to a scripture. The thief said, "What!? I thought she said, Freeze... I have an Axe and two .38's!"