Friday stuff, and some cool pictures.

Takin' a little break from the series of Terlingua posts to talk about what's been goin' on this week, and then some normal Friday crud.

The last three Terlingua posts covered gettin' there and settin' up camp, so the next one will probably deal with drinkin' and eatin', the live bands each night, and goin' to see DOM. Eventually there'll be another one dealin' with my brief visit to the other chili cook-off down the road, and seein' the hoochie mamas. Guys, hold it together. It won't be long now. Thing is, I haven't had time to cull out and fix all those pictures yet, so it'll have to wait a bit. Plus, I've got Chinese food with Dad, Friday night football, and then two days and nights at Enchanted Rock and Fredericksburg this weekend to take pictures of. God knows when we'll get a chance to go over those pictures, but you'll see them too. Next week some time, I promise you.

First off, last Tuesday night I wrapped up the lectures and reviewed both my 4:45 and 7:30 evening Government classes for their first exams, which they took Thursday night. I took the opportunity of the exams to try to ketch up on a few blogs. I've found that the way this semester is going, as ridiculously busy as I am, I have more time there at work to read blogs and post things than I do at home. I went home Thursday for the hour that I have between my afternoon classes and these evening classes and just had enough time to fix a few pictures and upload them so I could later ad this text on the computer in class. Rat race, I wanna tell ya.

Here's a picture from the Razor of my desk last Tuesday night when my 7:30 class was getting their review. Those folks didn't want to miss anything. Cracked me up, so I took a picture. I tell ya, I should get a cut from the PX or Best Buy for all the recorders I've sold in the last thirteen years.

I've never had an issue with students recording my lecture. I know some teachers do, but I couldn't care a less. Whatever the kids need to do to succeed, without cheating, is cool with me. Hell, people have been recording me for so long now, there should be sets of tapes out there for sale. you can see a few older mini cassette recorders there, but now these little digital recorders hold something like two hundred hours worth of recordings, which is more than a semesters worth of class time. The newest thing is for students to bring their laptops in and take notes that way. I had a soldier bring one in once, pull up the screen, flip it over and down like a notebook and start writing notes on the screen with a stylus. The technology mazes me. Had a girl video record me once with her laptop. I told her if any of it ended up on YouTube she'd be in trouble. Hell, I'd a laughed my ass off if it had. It'd be hilarious. Anyway, I thought the picture was funny. You could smell the panic in the air.

I was zippin' down 195 Wednesday morning to get to my morning classes in Florence, wolfin' down what's become my regular breakfast these days (two corn dogs and a diet Mtn. Dew), when I pulled over and got a few cool sunrise shots. The weather has been cool and cloudy this week, so it made for interesting effects. They turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself.

This one is probably my favorite. Wednesday night was pool night. Denise and I met up after work at about 7pm and headed over to the hall, but along the way me made a few stops. I had to gas up the wheels at Wall Mart, and I wanted to stop at a cool liquor store near there to see if they had any of that German Vodka I told you about maybe three posts ago. They didn't, but they took down my number and said they'd see if they could order it. I'll go over to the Class-Six on base Friday afternoon and see if they have it. I'll hunt it down one way or the other. Shit was GOOD.

I lost to a better player Wednesday night, but had a good time and enjoyed myself anyway. I've developed an "I don't really give a shit" attitude about it all, refusing to care if I win or lose, and just enjoying the company, the relaxing time, a good cigar or two, and a few mugs of good spirits. It's a nice break in the middle of the week. I had a good time. Hell, lets face it, I got soused. I hadn't eaten anything that day (that is, after the two corn dogs at the butt crack of dawn), so those three big mugs of Amber Bock went strait to my head. I gave my keys to Denise and she drove us home. Of course, she'd had three or four Seven & Seven's, so I don't really know who was more loaded. After we got to my place I nuked some leftover Shepherd's Pie that she'd cooked the night before, and the buzz went away in no time. Good to go.

Here's a similar sunset view from Thursday morning, also heading South on 195. It's not as spectacular, but I like it. Denise woke me up that morning with cards and a few presents, surprisin' the hell out of me. Thursday was our birthday. We share the same day, eight years apart. Cool eh? Handy as hell too. After classes in Florence I went home in a hurry and cooked her some of the little treats I like to make, baking ham and cheese and hot honey mustard in rolled up garlic croissants. She loves 'em. I went to the local grocery store and got cards, flowers and some chocolate truffles, and took it all over to her office on the way to my lunch time classes. She liked it. I got to the base and was about 5 minutes late to class, but it was well worth it to see the look on her face. She makes me feel good, almost like a real grownup for the first time in my life, and has enriched my life in ways that I once thought I'd never be able to experience. Happy birthday baby.

When I was zippin', and I do mean zippin', over to the campus on base after seein' Denise, I rolled up on a really cool birthday surprise. I had to stop and get a few pictures, even if it meant I was gonna be even later to work.

This is the "tank" version of the Stryker armored vehicle. I've seen pictures of these things on the web, but I'd never seen one in real life. It was chained down to a flat bed and was there by the side of the road, in a part of the base where vehicles are prepped for transport by train or truck. It has the body of the Stryker armored car, which some of you have probably seen in pictures from Iraq, and a turret with a 105 mm gun. It's supposed to provide us with the capacity to inject rapid deployment forces into a hot spot somewhere with enough firepower to go up against the sort of armor you see the average local 3rd world forces toting around... You know, like a T-55. It doesn't have the armor to go up against a T-55 head on, but it's supposed to hold the ground till they can plink the fuzzies with smart bombs or fly in some M-1s. Anyway, that was the last idea I heard. Hell, so far as I know, they may have canned it and be sending it here to set it up in one of the museums. I'll keep ya posted.

So, after my 7:30 class finished their exam, I called Denise and we headed out to a nice dinner at the Texas Roadhouse. When we got there, Denise asked me if I'd gotten the same card on purpose. I was surprised and puzzled. It turns out she'd gotten my birthday card at Wal Mart last Monday. When she woke me up at about 6:30 and shoved presents and cards at me, I'd given the card a cursory look in the fog of waking up. Four hours later, when I went to HEB in a mad dash to find something good but not too sappy, I managed to find the exact same card. What the hell are the odds of that? We had a good laugh about it. The burgers and rolls were great. I had two tall Killian's, and Denise had a Lager Shandy. We laughed a lot, and had a great time.

After dinner, we went to a local book store to browse magazines and ended up wandering into the isle filled with sex manuals. I was leafin' through them and thinkin' out loud, sayin' things like, "Baby, all these people are skinny. Where the hell are the sex books for fat old bastards?" She almost wet herself. After that we went to the grocery store for batteries and booze, and then we went back over to my place and shared the aforementioned booze and a slice of chocolate cake. Mom had picked up the cake and dropped it and a few cards off at my house in afternoon, while I was in class. It was a fun evening.

Today I taught my five regular daily classes and then visited with some friends for a bit. After that I went to the Class-Six on base, but they didn't have that brand of Vodka. I put in a request to see if they can order it. We'll see. Now I'm relaxing for a few hours at home before I head over to get dad and take him to do our normal Friday stuff. He missed it when I was in Terlingua last week, so he's really rarin' to go. It'll be fun to hang with him again tonight.

Saturday morning, Denise and I will head South to camp out for two nights at Enchanted Rock State Natural Area, near the beautiful town of Fredericksburg. I have some friends who go there every year at about this time. It's always fun, and a bit more civilized than Terlingua. They have showers and all the amenities of modern life right there on site. Denise should have a much easier time. I'll be right at home. This time she won't have to wear my floppy hat to hide her morning hair. It's a strange experience, waking up and seeing Rod Stewart's '70s perm on the pillow next to me. Unsettling.

Anyway, they have showers, flush toilets, and electric outlets for the curling iron right across the road from the camp sites, so she should be set up nicely. We'll probably drive down to eat in Fredericksburg at least one night, and stroll the main street there. It's very pretty little German town, with a Lutheran cathedral and lots of cool shops and places to enjoy adult beverages. I'll take pictures, but then you knew that, didn't you?

Well, take care and enjoy your weekend. I know I'll enjoy mine. Cheers.