"Geardo, Gear Nerd, Gear Queer, etc."

I've been called such things by some of the other guys in my unit for having high speed stuff, but here's the problem:

- Due to varying issues, supply can't get us some of the nice things we need, like new magazines
- Even then, some of the "nice" things we do have... really aren't that great

We don't get issued actual Camelbaks, we get issued some third party derivative. It's nowhere nearly as well-built as Camelbak products (small access port, thinner tube, non-QD mouthpiece, etc.) and it shows in the issues I've had. One day the drinking valve just fell out of the tube when all I was doing was standing and drinking out of the straw.

Josh and Emily Quellet's Wedding Reception

It was a long drive over to Lake Michigan, and I regret leaving late, but the reception was definitely a lot of fun. It was nice to hang out with a slightly different crowd, I knew some of the guys from playing airsoft but not great because of the geographic distance. If there's one thing I guess that's kind of amusing about airsoft, it's the nicknames and handles that people associate themselves with, and I got a chance to catch up with some people who I haven't seen in a while. "BoredKender" is in basic training for field artillery but his wife and kids were there, "Cover" was the best man, "Crazyrabbit" just got back from Afghanistan, etc. Most of us used to be on the same "team" but several of us ended up joining the military so we really don't play anymore.

Favorite picture from the night, the groom Josh "Lucky" Quellet with one of BoredKender's kids:


I'm sure whoever reads my blog also views my flickr page, but here's the rest of the set that I've posted so far.

Sunrise

I see the sunrise a lot when I'm doing Army stuff because I'm actually required to get up earlier, but I've been doing some thinking about it this week.

When the sun first cracks over the horizon, there's a certain period of time as it's rising in the sky where you can still look at it with the naked eye, and the sky is all these different hues of orange, pink, and light blue. Then 20 minutes later it's bright enough for you to put your sunglasses on! It's kind of nice to look at every morning - even on rainy days sometimes you'll still catch a glimpse of the sun rising.

Here we go!

Crazy! Leaving Michigan in October! I'm glad that plans got sorted out for now, and I'm sure every soldier who's never deployed before goes through this, but I just have the full spectrum of emotion going on - excitement, caution, contentment, cynicism, regret, etc.

First week of Fort Dix

Quick summary:

Two weekends ago I was at Fort Snelling in Minneapolis, got to go to the Mall of America which was pretty cool. Got to Fort Dix on Monday. Been doing some miscellaneous Army classes, haven't really gotten to the fun part yet. It's been hot.