and thus Operation: Arctic Illinois is at and end. good times. visited family and friends, got gifts and shared the fun.
visited with John and Chia. we went to his house; visited, then to her house; visited, then to Meijer; screwed around. later we met up with Catherine at a bar and hung out. i finally left town around 1am.
all was good; the drive back was hell though. i hit this nasty snow storm in Indiana, and i kept through it until half-way through Ohio! real bad. but i made it to Mark's around 4pm. relaxed for a couple hours, then headed back towards the ship. left at 7pm and got to the ship at 2am today.
long drive.
so now im tired as hell. and its off to bed.
Friday, December 28
Wednesday, December 26
long day yesterday. visited relatives, had a good time.
today i hung out with Seve and Laura. later ima visit the Gilberts, John and Christina and i are gunna go to Cat's afterwards. hang out with them for a bit, and hit the road around midnight.
should be at Mark's around 11am.
man i really dont want to leave. ive been having such a good time!!
today i hung out with Seve and Laura. later ima visit the Gilberts, John and Christina and i are gunna go to Cat's afterwards. hang out with them for a bit, and hit the road around midnight.
should be at Mark's around 11am.
man i really dont want to leave. ive been having such a good time!!
Tuesday, December 25
Monday, December 24
so yesterday John came in. bout 1140pm. we ate at IHOP and hung out at Cat's, were around 3 they left, and i stayed.
other than that, i bout new wiper blades. and a pair of winter gloves/work gloves. and ate at SnS again.
theres some drama going on with the group. people not liking other people because of past experiences with them, all of which is somehow preventing everyone from hanging out together while everyone is in town.
goooo figure.
Grandma and Gramps are coming to the house for a visit and help with the polish side of the cooking. fun times.
other than that, i bout new wiper blades. and a pair of winter gloves/work gloves. and ate at SnS again.
theres some drama going on with the group. people not liking other people because of past experiences with them, all of which is somehow preventing everyone from hanging out together while everyone is in town.
goooo figure.
Grandma and Gramps are coming to the house for a visit and help with the polish side of the cooking. fun times.
Saturday, December 22
yesterday Steve and i dressed out and visited Mr. Rowe. it has been a long time since i saw him last. it was really awesome. he has these spiral binders he calls "The Book". if you did something bad, you would have to sign it and write what you did. he keeps them all, so Steve and i went through the 96/97 one. our names are in there quite a bit!! and most the time whose ever name is there first is followed by the other. we were such trouble makers.
so we talked and reminisced of the good old days. before we left he got our mailing address. said he and his class would send some things. it was a good time.
afterwards we both went to Fridays for lunch, then to LWS and visited my mom at the schools library. we were going to make a surprise visit to Steven's class, but they look busy at the time.
later that evening me and Steven went sledding and snowboarding at the Knights of Columbus hall. there was still snow on the hill there. even if it was wet and melting. we had fun. on our way back i took the truck with Steven in the back for a little off road experience. he liked it.
lets see....later that night Steve and Laura came over. we were all bored so we went to 7-11, then to Meijer, then to Laura's. i was tired around midnight, so i came home, went to bed, and got up about an hour ago!
today: nothing planned so far. Liann is having her birthday party today, and ALL her friends are coming over, so im going to have to find someplace else to be...
so we talked and reminisced of the good old days. before we left he got our mailing address. said he and his class would send some things. it was a good time.
afterwards we both went to Fridays for lunch, then to LWS and visited my mom at the schools library. we were going to make a surprise visit to Steven's class, but they look busy at the time.
later that evening me and Steven went sledding and snowboarding at the Knights of Columbus hall. there was still snow on the hill there. even if it was wet and melting. we had fun. on our way back i took the truck with Steven in the back for a little off road experience. he liked it.
lets see....later that night Steve and Laura came over. we were all bored so we went to 7-11, then to Meijer, then to Laura's. i was tired around midnight, so i came home, went to bed, and got up about an hour ago!
today: nothing planned so far. Liann is having her birthday party today, and ALL her friends are coming over, so im going to have to find someplace else to be...
Friday, December 21
another day, another day.
Wednesday night i hung out with Steve and Laura and Jon. we ate at SnS, and went to Laura's and played Guitar Hero. David joined us as well. he finally got his license!
so then i left and took Liann shopping. interesting. i swear im not related to her...
anyway later that night i hung out with Catherine and Christina. i ended up sleeping over at Cat's place. and the rest of yesterday was spent in Chicago with Cari, whom i haven't seen since senior year in high school. it was a ton of fun! we ate at a really good family-owned restaurant, then walked around on Navy Pier and saw "I Am Legend" at the IMAX theater. veeery good movie. then we met up with Joe Tiberi and Jessie at Cari's house and watched Dick Tracy. got home...bout an hour ago!
today, after my hour or so nap im driving Li and Dave to school, and me and Steve are going to visit Mr. Rowe in our dress uniforms. he was our 5th grade teacher, and the BEST teacher we ever had. itll be awesome.
after all that its family time. maybe ill see Joe before that though....today is is only time off during the daylight hours...
John comes in on Sunday.
hard to believe Christmas is in 4 days!
Wednesday night i hung out with Steve and Laura and Jon. we ate at SnS, and went to Laura's and played Guitar Hero. David joined us as well. he finally got his license!
so then i left and took Liann shopping. interesting. i swear im not related to her...
anyway later that night i hung out with Catherine and Christina. i ended up sleeping over at Cat's place. and the rest of yesterday was spent in Chicago with Cari, whom i haven't seen since senior year in high school. it was a ton of fun! we ate at a really good family-owned restaurant, then walked around on Navy Pier and saw "I Am Legend" at the IMAX theater. veeery good movie. then we met up with Joe Tiberi and Jessie at Cari's house and watched Dick Tracy. got home...bout an hour ago!
today, after my hour or so nap im driving Li and Dave to school, and me and Steve are going to visit Mr. Rowe in our dress uniforms. he was our 5th grade teacher, and the BEST teacher we ever had. itll be awesome.
after all that its family time. maybe ill see Joe before that though....today is is only time off during the daylight hours...
John comes in on Sunday.
hard to believe Christmas is in 4 days!
Wednesday, December 19
Operation: Arctic Illinois has kicked off!
turns out there was some confusion with the leave days, and it actually DID start the 17th.
me and Mark left around 11am, and got to his place in Scranton, PA around 8pm. the weather was fair; very, very windy.
so i spent the night at his place. more like partied the night at his place! his whole family was there, and a bunch of Mark's friends stopped by; we all drank the whole night. bout 1am i went to bed. it was a blast, they are quite the family! fun to be around.
so i got up, had a big breakfast, and hit the road again. weather was very nice too, the roads were dry pretty much the entire way to IL. and not much construction traffic around Chicago either. i was happy!
today me and the parents are going to stop by the bank for some business. then probably go out o lunch. ill call Steve up, maybe we will go snowboarding; theres a lot of snow on the ground, but the weather report is saying its supposed to warm up by Saturday, and even rain. boo.
hope is snows some more instead!
turns out there was some confusion with the leave days, and it actually DID start the 17th.
me and Mark left around 11am, and got to his place in Scranton, PA around 8pm. the weather was fair; very, very windy.
so i spent the night at his place. more like partied the night at his place! his whole family was there, and a bunch of Mark's friends stopped by; we all drank the whole night. bout 1am i went to bed. it was a blast, they are quite the family! fun to be around.
so i got up, had a big breakfast, and hit the road again. weather was very nice too, the roads were dry pretty much the entire way to IL. and not much construction traffic around Chicago either. i was happy!
today me and the parents are going to stop by the bank for some business. then probably go out o lunch. ill call Steve up, maybe we will go snowboarding; theres a lot of snow on the ground, but the weather report is saying its supposed to warm up by Saturday, and even rain. boo.
hope is snows some more instead!
Sunday, December 16
THIS JUST IN:
me and Tim are driving West heading towards base. we get on the interchange between two major highways. im driving along; first i should say its 11pm, raining hard, and theres a lot of cars on the road.
anyway im cruising along, Tim is asleep in the passenger seat, and right in front of me, not more than 300-400 yards, i see headlights streak across the lanes. immediately i think, oh crap, theres been an accident. sure enough i pull over to the far right lane, (which happens to be an exit lane) and in the knick of time see a Toyota Corolla smack its driver trunk side panel into the barrier. i shake Tim and yell "Tim, Tim! theres been an accident get out!!" i stop abruptly, jam it into park and throw my hazard lights on.
the whole front end of the car is ripped off and laying in the lane we're in. i can see the smashed up radiator. the front bumper is laying on the passenger side of the car. headlight glass and fiberglass are all over the lane we are in, and pieces are in the lane next to us. thankfully nothing big was in the traffic lane. i can see the rear panel that hit the wall all smashed and the trunk door is jarred open. the driver door wasnt jammed however.
i get out of my truck, run over to the car, (which has started smoking from the engine at this point) and theres a woman, maybe 50-60 years of age, in shock in the driver seat.
i say "Ma'am are you okay? are you hurt?" shes in shock so she doesn't say anything. i look into the car, the airbag is covering her lap so i cant see if shes pinned, but at least she is alive and breathing.
so i said "ma'am im calling 911 just stay there"
i tell Tim to go over and watch her. i call 911, give them all the info i need. meanwhile Tim is talking to her making sure she doesn't go into cardiac arrest or anything. while on the phone, another car pulls over, and thank god, because one of the occupants was an EMS guy. he gets on his radio and calls for help too, and gave a more detailed description of the injuries.
so after i hang up with 911, i start directing traffic to move over to the left lanes. i throw a cone out behind my truck to signify "caution". still, cars come speeding feet from our cars and us, as if they never see the accident. freakin' bastards. pay attention people!!
by this time, in the far left lane another accident occurs, a mustang sideswiped the barrier. i thought about running over there to help, though it wasnt as bad as the one in front of me, but there was too many cars flying down the other lanes. i just stood there on the other side and watched as a few of those cars came within inches of hitting that mustang.
instead i grab a road flair out of the truck and tried to light it to aid with directing traffic, but its old and didnt want to light. by the 90th time of striking it trying to get it to light, EMS arrive.
i toss it into the tree line. piece of crap.
anyway the police got my witness report and other important contact and personal info. he said thank you very much for stopping and helping. "not too many people would do what you two did. especially at this hour in this weather condition. nice work." and he let us go.
its been awhile since ive witnessed an accident....and a first for aiding someone in an accident. i hope i never have to do that again; and though i responded with extreme quickness, i was scared as hell the whole time. when i first pulled up just after she hit the wall, and my headlights were shinning into the car, and she was just sitting there, not moving, looking all wide eyed, i thought for certain she was dead. that airbag saved her life. and me pulling over and Tim and I responding as quick as we did saved her too, i believe.
so far my weekend has been quite interesting!
me and Tim are driving West heading towards base. we get on the interchange between two major highways. im driving along; first i should say its 11pm, raining hard, and theres a lot of cars on the road.
anyway im cruising along, Tim is asleep in the passenger seat, and right in front of me, not more than 300-400 yards, i see headlights streak across the lanes. immediately i think, oh crap, theres been an accident. sure enough i pull over to the far right lane, (which happens to be an exit lane) and in the knick of time see a Toyota Corolla smack its driver trunk side panel into the barrier. i shake Tim and yell "Tim, Tim! theres been an accident get out!!" i stop abruptly, jam it into park and throw my hazard lights on.
the whole front end of the car is ripped off and laying in the lane we're in. i can see the smashed up radiator. the front bumper is laying on the passenger side of the car. headlight glass and fiberglass are all over the lane we are in, and pieces are in the lane next to us. thankfully nothing big was in the traffic lane. i can see the rear panel that hit the wall all smashed and the trunk door is jarred open. the driver door wasnt jammed however.
i get out of my truck, run over to the car, (which has started smoking from the engine at this point) and theres a woman, maybe 50-60 years of age, in shock in the driver seat.
i say "Ma'am are you okay? are you hurt?" shes in shock so she doesn't say anything. i look into the car, the airbag is covering her lap so i cant see if shes pinned, but at least she is alive and breathing.
so i said "ma'am im calling 911 just stay there"
i tell Tim to go over and watch her. i call 911, give them all the info i need. meanwhile Tim is talking to her making sure she doesn't go into cardiac arrest or anything. while on the phone, another car pulls over, and thank god, because one of the occupants was an EMS guy. he gets on his radio and calls for help too, and gave a more detailed description of the injuries.
so after i hang up with 911, i start directing traffic to move over to the left lanes. i throw a cone out behind my truck to signify "caution". still, cars come speeding feet from our cars and us, as if they never see the accident. freakin' bastards. pay attention people!!
by this time, in the far left lane another accident occurs, a mustang sideswiped the barrier. i thought about running over there to help, though it wasnt as bad as the one in front of me, but there was too many cars flying down the other lanes. i just stood there on the other side and watched as a few of those cars came within inches of hitting that mustang.
instead i grab a road flair out of the truck and tried to light it to aid with directing traffic, but its old and didnt want to light. by the 90th time of striking it trying to get it to light, EMS arrive.
i toss it into the tree line. piece of crap.
anyway the police got my witness report and other important contact and personal info. he said thank you very much for stopping and helping. "not too many people would do what you two did. especially at this hour in this weather condition. nice work." and he let us go.
its been awhile since ive witnessed an accident....and a first for aiding someone in an accident. i hope i never have to do that again; and though i responded with extreme quickness, i was scared as hell the whole time. when i first pulled up just after she hit the wall, and my headlights were shinning into the car, and she was just sitting there, not moving, looking all wide eyed, i thought for certain she was dead. that airbag saved her life. and me pulling over and Tim and I responding as quick as we did saved her too, i believe.
so far my weekend has been quite interesting!
Saturday, December 15
well the year's last underway was the busiest.
we ran drills, scenarios, and GQ's almost everyday! there was not one moment our ESG wasnt being "attacked" by hudongs, enemy aircraft, or fast approach boats.
but it was all very good training.
and we were ONE POINT away from getting Battle E. that would have been another ribbon to the bunch! oh well. we still passed as #1 in our group. thats how the Nash does it!!
so leave doesnt start until the 18th now. some mix-up with emails. which sucks, cause thats a day less i have to spend at home. i am spending the night at Mark's place in PA; im driving him home and picking him up on the way back. figured i head up that way anyway, ill help a shipmate out. shit i get a free nights rest....and alcohol, and chicks, and drunkenness ha.
Operation: Drunken Wonderland is now Operation: Arctic Illinois. guess its been freezing cold up there, and theres snow, and ice, and sleet....ha the usual!
i love it!
we ran drills, scenarios, and GQ's almost everyday! there was not one moment our ESG wasnt being "attacked" by hudongs, enemy aircraft, or fast approach boats.
but it was all very good training.
and we were ONE POINT away from getting Battle E. that would have been another ribbon to the bunch! oh well. we still passed as #1 in our group. thats how the Nash does it!!
so leave doesnt start until the 18th now. some mix-up with emails. which sucks, cause thats a day less i have to spend at home. i am spending the night at Mark's place in PA; im driving him home and picking him up on the way back. figured i head up that way anyway, ill help a shipmate out. shit i get a free nights rest....and alcohol, and chicks, and drunkenness ha.
Operation: Drunken Wonderland is now Operation: Arctic Illinois. guess its been freezing cold up there, and theres snow, and ice, and sleet....ha the usual!
i love it!
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