Schedule and more down in Alabama

Hey everyone....Mollie gave me the idea to keep a record of what my schedule is like down here in LA (Lower Alabama). I've been meaning to get this posted all week, but we finally got internet yesterday and I'm getting caught up on a few things. I'll go day by day, for effect.

Monday:
Johnni and I woke up at 3:30am to drive the last 3 hours to Fort Rucker. Why did we wake up at 3:30 am? Well, as it would turn out we are still in Central time zone down here. That's great, except that the whole drive we thought we were changing time zones and would be in Eastern by the end of it. Nope, instead we ended up waking up at 3:30 instead of 4:30. Why 4:30 then? Well, because we thought we were 5 hours from Ft. Rucker...but really we were only 3. I blame Jack (the GPS).

We drove around post looking for where I was supposed to report in. I finally signed in around 11 and went to a few different buildings filling out paperwork. We had an appointment at 3pm to get our housing, and we ended up choosing a 3BR over a 4BR. Pics will come once we get things settled...

After choosing a house I was off for the day, so we grabbed our camping chairs and spent the evening in our empty duplex. Here's a pic of our new pet:


This is a picture of a female Banana Spider taken from Dave's (friend) iPhone. The spider is about the size of the palm of my hand. It's the biggest spider I've ever seen, and is still hanging around to keep us company. One of the benefits of living on post is the free pest control....I think it's pretty obvious that this job went to the lowest bidder...

Tuesday:
I had a swim test at 0700. I got to the gym and put on the required flight suit, vest, helmet, and boots and proceeded down to the pool deck. The 8 of us there were then informed that there was too much chlorine in the pool and we couldn't do the test that morning. We all changed out of the gear and I went home until my 1100 formation. The 1100 formation was short (as in, I was dismissed at 1110) which gave me some time to eat lunch before taking the actual swim test at 1300. I passed and was told my "Dunker" school dates would be after JOPD which I can only guess stands for Junior Officer Professional Development that starts on 26 August. After the swim test (1350) I was done for the day. I went back to our place to help Johnni unpack our stuff (which thankfully came the day after we moved in, despite our expectations to get it in 2 weeks).

Wednesday:
I had PT at 0615, but since it was raining we had a "Zonk" which means everyone breaks out of formation and goes home. I got home from my 1100 formation around 1125 and had the rest of the day....

Thursday:
My first actual PT session at 0615. I was smoked, so I went home and showered and slept until my 1100 formation. I then laid in bed/slept from 1130 until around 3 or 4 i think? I had a headache from all this hard work down here I guess...

Friday:
PT at 0615, but it was a game day. I played ultimate frisbee until 0700 when I was released. Final formation of the week at 1100 where we got a safety brief. I actually stayed around to ask how I can get a Ranger School slot, so I was tied down all the way until 1150 yesterday. I spent the afternoon waiting for the Time Warner guy to hook up our cable and getting ready to have a few friends over to grill.

That's my first week down here at flight school. It looks like that will be my schedule until the 26th or so and during all holds while I wait on courses. Some people are bored....I am loving it because I get to spend so much time with Johnni. It sounds like free time will disappear once the flying starts...stay tuned for more updates and pics of Alabama.