A little bit nerdy.

And, the nerd test...

Wicked Smaht. Nomah!!!!

I'm liking these dumb little tests. Here's the stupid test...and the results.

Another Goeppner Copycat post...

I recently took the superhero test, after seeing it on Chris Goeppner's blog (http://geppapa.blogspot.com/). Superman...I like it. I think the flying question put me over the top.

Your results:
You are Superman

Superman 75% Hulk 70% The Flash 65% Iron Man 60% Green Lantern 55% Spider-Man 50% Supergirl 48% Robin 45% Wonder Woman 38% Batman 35% Catwoman 30%

You are mild-mannered, good, strong and you love to help others.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz

Germany and Luxembourg

I got back from my last trip on Friday, March 31. It was a three-week trip, instead of the two weeks that they used to be. Hopefully they'll go back to two weeks soon. Anyway, this was a mostly standard trip, with Germany, Turkey, and Iraq stops.

We got about 4 days off in Germany towards the end of the trip and made the most of it. Taking a van, we went to Trier, Germany (Germany's oldest city) and saw the Trier Cathedral, which was amazing. Trier is also home to Porta Nigra, a huge black gate looking thing that the Romans built at the end of the second century as an entrance to the city. It's the largest Roman fortified gateway still in existence.

The next day, we made it down to Echternach, a city on the German/Luxembourg border. Also with a lot of cool old stuff. This is a picture of an old school in the city, still in use (there were elementary/junior high kids running around everywhere). After Echternach, we headed down to Luxembourg City, the capital. More cathedrals and cool old buildings. There is much of the city built in a big ravine surrounding a river that runs through the middle of the city. Pretty interesting landscape.

All in all, a good trip. Long, but good.

(I)Tunes

I'm going to copy off of a post on Chris Goeppner's blog (http://geppapa.blogspot.com/). Music is something that takes up a lot of my time (and money). I'm a sucker for new and different music and will often get several new albums before I've even listened to other recently acquired albums. There are songs on my Ipod I haven't even listened to yet (I learn this everytime I do the Shuffle Songs thing). Anyway...here's my list of good music I've been listening to recently. Some of these bands are new to me, and I'd like to share them with you.

+Ben Kweller - Sha Sha
+David Crowder Band - The Lime CD
+Death Cab For Cutie - Plans
+Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
+Better Than Ezra - Live At the House of Blues, New Orleans
+Convoy - Black Licorice
+The Derek Trucks Band - Songlines
+Dispatch - Bang Bang
+Jack Johnson - Sing-a-longs and Lullabies For the Film Curious George
+John Mayer Trio - Try!
+Wilco - Kicking Television: Live In Chicago

I'd like to see some more lists...post 'em if you got 'em.

Two Down...

I got back from my second trip last night. This was one of those "good deals" that are so hard to come by these days. We did a fighter drag, which means that we followed behind while 12 F-18's went over to Iraq to deploy, following a tanker. We carried all the maintenance guys and their equipment in our C-17.

One of the F-18's broke and had to go to a base in Cape Cod, Massachusetts...we got to stay there a couple nights. From there, we went to Lajes Air Base, in the Azores, a group of islands off the coast of Portugal. That place is beautiful; we even got to go deep-sea fishing and caught three barracudas. Then it was on to Souda Bay, Crete; it's a Greek island. Also beautiful, we got stay in Crete for four nights. Then it was into Iraq for the Marines. We went on to Germany from there and flew out of there until our time was up. We got home four days late, which is no good, but we'll make some extra money on that. All in all, a really fun trip and some great experiences.

These pictures are of the sunset over Praia, the city right next to Lajes. This was our view as we came back in from fishing...not too bad of a day, not to mention we got to watch the Super Bowl that night.

My first trip

Well, I just got back from my first two week trip last night. We spent about 11 days at Incirlik Air Base, Turkey flying C-17's into and out of Iraq. From there, we spent a night at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar and flew out the next day to Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany. After about two and half days in Germany, we got to fly home to Charleston, stopping by at Pope AFB in North Carolina. It was a lot of fun, and I got to see three new countries (I'd already been to Germany). It's good to finally be doing my job, my one great passion that burns deep within my loins...like a flaming golden hawk. (Obligatory Anchorman reference)

Here's a picture of me at the Sabanci Merkez Camii, or the Sabanci Central Mosque, in Adana, Turkey.

The beauty of compound interest

So...I have now made one mortgage payment in my life. My online statement breaks it down into principal, interest, and escrow paid. Of my payment, only 15% went to paying down the principal. The principal paid was a whopping 0.1016% of the original loan amount. Welcome to the real world, right?

“The most powerful force in the universe is compound interest”
--Albert Einstein

What is wrong with this picture?

Besides the fact that Kentucky lost to Vandy at home for the first time in 31 years...look closely!

BAD sports weekend

Boy. That was ugly. The Cats get thrashed by 27 at Kansas, in one of the most pathetic displays of "Kentucky" basketball I've ever seen. Selfish, confused, and playing with no heart, UK went on to its worst loss in the Tubby Smith era. And I thought it couldn't get worse than the 26 point whoopin' put on us by Indiana back in December. Uuuugggglllyyy.

That's OK. I can't wait until Sunday. The Bengals are in their first playoff game since 1990. Taking on the Steelers, who they just beat a little over a month ago in Pittsburgh. We can win this game. Second snap of the game, Carson Palmer drops back to throw his first pass, and a Steelers' defensive lineman rolls into his knee. First reports are that he tore his ACL, maybe even his MCL. Who Dey! The Bengals actually play well with Jon Kitna playing quarterback, but it's just not enough. They just weren't the same team after Palmer went down. Bengals lose 31-17. Bad, bad sports weekend.

At least Randolph Morris is coming back Tuesday for the Vandy game. Why am I looking forward to this game? I should have learned.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Hope you have a great day...you deserve it. I'm so glad God blessed me with having you as my mother. I couldn't have asked for better. Please just take today and celebrate. I'm looking forward to you living in Chucktown. I love you Mom!

Here's why you buy a Mac...

Buy Apple.

What my friends fly...

Each of these pictures represents what (at least) one of my buddies flies. Thought I'd give you just a short look at the rest of the Air Force, outside of C-17's.

Happy New Year!!!

Please, enjoy your 2006.