A legend has passed away.

BIG DECISIONS

I have a big decision ahead of me.  I am now leaning towards doing it.  In fact, I have decided to do it, but I want to make sure I know everything I need to know before I sign the papers.  I have decided to reenlist under the Air Force Reserves.  As you may know, I did eight years of active duty service.  I almost went straight into the reserves but at the time was a little tired of the whole thing and decided to cut all ties.  Since then I have regretted not doing it because that is another guaranteed retirement after 20 years of service.  If had done it I would only have three to four years left, plus I would have been bumped up a rank automatically.  Anyway, I have 12 more years to go, but I have at least 15 to go as a cop, so I might as well. 

Here are the details:  I will be joining as an Individual Mobility Augmentee (IMA).  I will likely be assigned to Barksdale AFB which is in Shreveport, LA.  As an IMA I will not be deployed overseas unless I volunteer (and even then it is unlikely they will spare me to go overseas).  If I am reactivated to do active duty time I would go to Barksdale AFB for that period of time and fill in for people who are deployed overseas.  When I enter the reserves it will be at least at the rank I was at when I got out, which is Staff Sergeant (SSgt) or E-5.  Barksdale AFB is only three to four hours away, so easy travel time.  IMAs don't do the standard one weekend a month and then a two week service period during the year.  Instead I can almost set my own schedule up.  Let's say you have to do 30 days of service in a year's period.  I can do all 30 days at one time and be through for the year.  Also, I can do more time than is required and get more credit towards retirement.

Here are some cons:  When I am gone I will take a slight pay cut when I receive military pay, plus I will not be able to perform my off-duty jobs.  At this time you don't get retirement until you reach the age of 60.  They are working on getting that dropped to 55. (Which is when I will likely retire from law enforcement at the earliest.)  I'll be gone for periods of time and it is unknown if I can bring Jana with me.  If I do get activated I am damn sure gonna find a way to bring her up there.  Also, there is always the possibility that the IMA overseas deployment status could change and I could be shipped out.  I'll need a little bit of a learning curve.  I brain-dumped a lot of military knowledge and jargon in the years I have been out of the service.

Here are some pros:  A third retirement.  (I have city retirement and another secondary retirement I contribute to right now.)  A possible enlistment bonus, which I have not discussed with the recruiter yet.  When I am up there I will be close to PropForward and Wallaby.  In fact, I might even be working with PropForward there (hopefully).  Plus, it might even be kind of fun to be able to do this stuff on a part-time basis.  I have a lot of good memories from the military.  While I am working as a reservist I will be housed and fed.

Anyway, I discussed it with Jana and she said I should go for it.  I just need to work out some details with the city and talk to a Sergeant in my police department who is an IMA at Lackland AFB.  I want to talk to him about how things work as an IMA and how you schedule your duty periods.  I'm also curious as to where I need to go to pick up uniforms and other equipment.  I am both excited and a little scared about this decision.  It's a big deal and could have good and ill effects on my life.  But I think overall it will be a good thing.

I saw the Incredible Hulk on Friday night.  It was very awesome.  But then what would you expect, it had Edward Norton in it.  I don't think I've seena  movie of his I didn't like.  There were a lot of tributes to both the comics and the old 70s television show.  Also, you do NOT need to hang out through the credits.  There is nothing extra at the end.

I saw Indiana Jones last night.  It was good, but I'm still trying to decide if it was as good as the previous Indy movies.  I think I'm leaning towards it being as good though.

Jana and I leave tomorrow for the Shreveport area.  The maps I printed out say it will be a four hour trip.  I'm figuring it will actually be more like three hours.  I look forward to getting away for awhile.  Oh, and Trinity is coming with us.

Stills from the new Watchmen movie, due out next year.  For those of you who are fans of the comic book limited series, you'll be excited to see that these characters look exactly like they do in the comic.  I wonder if Alan Moore will change his mind about the movie when he gets a chance to view it.  It is supposed to be faithful to the comic.

The Comedian

NiteOwl

Ozymandius

Rorschach

Silk Spectre

Ladies and gentlemen...

Sorry I have been absent for so long.  I guess I just needed a break in general.  Today was my Friday for the week.  I am on vacation next week.  Jana and I are going to Louisiana to visit PropForward and Wallaby.  It's about a three or four hour drive.  I have the intention to leave early on Sunday and arrive close to noon.  And then leave the following Thursday.  We'll see if we can get our asses in gear at that point.

Hey, would you all visit a friend of mine? He's new to Xanga and goes by the name of Jaferris. Go ahead and give him a big welcome.

Sorry about the absence.  All I gotta say is Grand theft Auto IV.  'Nuff said!  Also, you gotta see Iron Man.  That movie is amazing.  And stay through the end credits, you won't regret it.

You are Apocalypse

Apocalypse 60% Dr. Doom 57% Magneto 54% Lex Luthor 52% Mr. Freeze 48% Juggernaut 47% Mystique 47% The Joker 45% Venom 42% Dark Phoenix 42% Kingpin 34% Poison Ivy 33% Catwoman 31% Riddler 29% Green Goblin 19% Two-Face 15%

You believe in survival of the fittest and you believe that you are the fittest.

Click here to take the "Which Super Villain are you?" quiz...

Well, I'm excited...Weezer's new album is out in June.  I've already heard the first single and I really dig it.  And my profile pic is the cover of their new album.  Gotta support my peeps.  I actually had the last album up there too, when it was released. 

I'm listening to Billy Joel right now.  My partner and I were talking about him yesterday and it got me into a Billy Joel mood.  The dude has some awesome music out.

Grand Theft Auto IV comes out on the 29th.  I doubt I'll be able to buy it on the release day, but I am excited about that game.

Okay, so I took the plunge.  I was a little late to the game.  But I love playing Call of Duty 4 in online multiplayer mode.  I'm not great.  It takes me a bunch of games to warm up.  But I've been getting.  If you don't know, the game starts you off at a real disadvantage.  You have a basic gun along with the possibility of limited skill and experience.  The other guys who have been playing for awhile have all these nice weapons along with knowing the game and being generally better at it that you are.  So end up getting fragged a lot to start with.  But then you get used to using your basic gun reasonably well...And just when that happens you unlock a red dot sight that makes using the gun even easier, so it's like an exponential increase in your abilities.  Then you start unlocking perks, like some that make your shots more likely to penetrate through walls, so you can get folks on the other side.  Or you might get one that makes you not show up on the map.  It's a great game.  I just had some online anxiety to get past.  Now I'm loving it and see why so many people are addicted to this game.

DOCTOR VISIT NEWS

I finally broke down and went to the doctor.  Well, that's not the whole truth.  Last night at 3am I woke up and felt better than I have in awhile.  But I was forgetting that this thing has been tricking me every morning.  I'd feel a lot better early on and then by mid afternoon I felt as bad as I ever have.  So I was going to go to work and not see the doctor.  But Jana made me go.  I'm glad she did.  Even while I was sitting in the waiting room for the doctor I could feel that all too familiar pressure building up behind my eyes.  I was informed that I have a sinus infection.  Actually, that might not have been all.  The doctor said I had "the whole nine yards."  Doctors have a bad habit of not always telling you what the complete diagnosis is.  They just assume you got the gist of it and prescribe meds.  Anyway, looks like I'm off another two days for fear of spreading it to others.  And I am on three meds and a nasal spray.  Luckily, she gave me samples for the nasal spray and two of the other meds.  I only have to get one of them filled.  I'm almost happy I DID have something.  That way I know I was being pitiful for a reason.