Well this past Tuesday a couple of classmates and I decided to go to D.C. in hopes of getting some sunset photos and cherry blossom photos.  I guess I should start with my trip to DC over 2 years ago when I went for the first time.  It was the Black Friday and we only had the day to see what we could.  We actually did see quite a bit and was fortunate to park by the Capital.  We watched the sunset at the Lincoln Memorial and started to head back.  About half way back I needed to relieve myself.  It was about 7:30 lots of tourists around.  So finding a bathroom couldn’t be too hard right?  It was the longest mile I have ever walked and would have peed on a tree if I didn’t think I would be shot by a sniper.

Well it was my second trip to D.C. and I was a little nervous, which I think resulted in me needing to use every public restroom I could find.  Jefferson Memorial, Natural History Museum, Washington Memorial, and I think one more.  It was ok until we started the walk back and I went to bathroom that was locked, and I began to panic.  However I did find a bathroom which I’m pretty sure was built since my first visit.  Not so bad right?

I’ve been fortunate enough to live in Chicago and now New York which have great public transportation specifically the trains.  I bought a little card when went into the city.  I put my card in and when we got off the train I had to put my card in.  I thought it was dumb but didn’t think much of it.  It was when we leaving I realized I was charged by distance.  However I didn’t know that because I was trying to get more money on my card and didn’t know how much to get.  So at the “Smithsonian” stop, probably the busiest in D.C., I asked the woman in the little class booth.  I walked up and we made I contact.  I said, “How much?”  She kind of looked at me and I asked again.  She then got up and walked closeer to press a button.  I assumed she did not hear me the first two times and asked again.  I was interupted by a friend who thought they figured it out.  I then had to ask one more time, “How much?”  The she replied annoyed, “How much, how much how much… How much for what?”  I was astonished since tourists pass through by the millions.  “TO RIDE THE TRAIN!” I replied.  Did she think I was there to order something off of the dollar menu?  If you are a major city and have train pick a flat rate per ride and make it simple.  Only in the city where our politicians screw everything up by over complicated would produce such a train system.

p.s. HAPPY EASTER

You know how every year April fools comes around and you like to prank your co-workers, friends, or anyone who isn’t my wife?  Do you also know that sometimes those things can go terribly wrong, like the time the radio station announced they would be dropping cash from a helicopter, then announced it was an April fools joke and the crowd got angry and beat up the radio reps.  Well no blood was shed today but things did not go as planned.

You should know that I’m in the D.C. area at a military school doing training for the Air Force.  I have been very fortunate to get a fun teacher and class that enables all of us to have fun, but we are also good students and know when to be serious etc.

So today I was expecting and planning some good old pranks.  However we had a very busy day of writing ahead of us so we had to balance.  A few of us decided to order some pizza and work through lunch to get things done.  Why our teacher was at lunch one her collegues came in and explained that we should at least hide the pizza so she doesn’t get in trouble.  So we did and then had him come back in to ask if he would help us play a prank.  We thought a fake story about getting in trouble with the pizza would be good and he agreed to help.

Our teacher came back in along with her boss and someone and another teacher asking about the pizza, but asking us.  All of the sudden we were in trouble.  I smelled a rat and thought our teacher found out and we planned and joking us.  So we all played along until the boss left.  I asked our teacher what that was all about kind of mad still playing along.  She reciprocated by getting angrily asking why we would get her in trouble.  Somewhere along the line both parties were joking but also we all really did get in trouble, but it was hard to tell when the joke ended.  We were all mad but didn’t really know who to be mad at.

Later she called me into the hall to find out what was going on and we were able to explain what happened and the funniest day of the year turned out to be pretty crappy.  The only good news I got today is how awesome my wife is.

Well I feel it is time to put up a post, but I’m not sure what to talk about so we’ll just wing it.  I guess I should first mention that for the past three days I’ve been “confined to quarters,” that’s military for being sick and in your room.  It has been a ball my first day I watch Modern Marvels all day.  I knew it was too much when I watched the same episode “Barbeque Tech” which was pretty awesome.  I’ve had Extra Noodle Soup I think 4 days in a row, along with about 100 cough drops and I am once again officially an alcoholic with all of the shots of Nyquil and cough syrup I’ve been taking.  I don’t feel all that bad but the cough is still bad.  I did go to the doctor on Friday who confined me to quarters.  It was about a 2 hour process since I missed the “sick call” only because nobody ever told us when it was.  I had my vitals taken which was normal until the throat culture.  The nurse was surprised that I found it hard to keep my tongue out and it was uncomfortable when gagging me with a Q-tip.  Then the doctor came in a while later and gave me his diagnosis.

Having a wife as a med student, which made me go to the doctor, is always fun.  She was concerned but also I think a bit excited to compare diagnosis with the doctor’s.  I felt I had good information when I told her I had an upper respiratory viral infection.  It sounded pretty bad to me and I got a prescription to back it up.  Well when I told Christina she started laughing and said, “that’s just a cold.”  So I felt all the time I spent at the doctor was waisted.  However she got a good laugh.  Special thanks to the gal that gave me a ride back to my room as I was walking after missing the bus.

Well back to the Food Network and Modern Marvels.

the other guy is expected to make a full recovery in 6-8 weeks

Apparently it’s official, I’m an alcoholic.  I went out to dinner with some friends Friday and we did have a drink in my room before bed.  When I woke up the next morning I had a big black eye and I have no idea how it got there.  As I looked at myself in the mirror I thought it was funny.  I then looked around to see if I bumped it on the nightstand, bed or something.  Then the only conclusion that I could think of was spider bite.  So what was funny, now became a life-threatening incident.  So off to the base clinic to get checked out and guess what was closed?  I then called the number to have an on-call doctor reach me.  He told me where to go.  He didn’t seemed to concerned, so I asked if I could wait until Monday.  “You’re looking at either mild irritation to total blindness,” he calmly stated.  So I guess I’ll get it checked it out.
I arrived at a clinic in shopping development where I kept getting funny looks.  After the blood pressure and temp, it was suggested I took an eye exam.  You should know in Grenada I was something of an eye doctor.  I volunteered at a lot of health fairs and my job was giving eye exams.  That being the case I have most of the chart memorized.  So I’m standing there with my black eye covered.  “Can you read this line,” the nurse asked.  I imagined I look like someone who is either illiterate or doesn’t speak English.  I knew the letters, but I was trying to work it out in my head whether or not I could see them or just knew them.  “Can you read this line,” he asked again.  Turns out my “good” eye was worse than my black eye, which is why I already had an eye appointment scheduled.
So then came the doctor.  And it when something like this:

working at the healthfair

Dr:    What happened?
Me:    I was hoping you could tell me.
Dr:    Did things get rowdy at the bar last night?
Me:    No not at all
Dr:    Are you sure you didn’t have too much to drink.
Me:    No, I just woke up like this
Dr:    Did you wife beat you up (was that implying I couldn’t take Christina… I can’t)
Me:    No she is far away.
Me:    I think I got bit by something
Dr:    No it would be red not black.

It went on and he did some tests.  We concluded that I somehow slugged myself while sleeping or someone broke in, hit me and left without taking anything.  All in all it is pretty strange and next I have a follow up apt with doctor on base.  Which I may have to walk two miles for because the bus has a lunch break during lunch time which is the only time we would need to go somewhere.

After yesterday’s orientation classes started today.  Our class was split into four sections and I was separated from the people I got to know.  My section is taught by my instructer who will be referred to as PK.  One reason is to keep her annonymus int the event that somone is reading this and that I would be saying something that should be said.  More appropriately she told us SEVERAL stories of how her pets died under her supervision.  PK = Pet Killer.

We all had to go around the room and talk about ourselves.  Just two night ago I watched the movie Stripes.  So when it got to me I said, “My name is Senior Airman Jonathan Youg, but everyone calls me Psycho.”  Words of advice, know your audience.  Most of the people were not even born to understand it was a movie quote.  So I had to explain it which made for a bad joke.  However I always wanted to do it, and I felt this would be my last chance.  I was also outdone by the femal body builder/boxer who is of course a Marine and scares me to death.

Well being 28 it has been a while since I’ve been in school.  So I realized a made a huge mistake when I got homework.  I’ve never been one for homework and to make things worse my pencil kept breaking.  Christina is the worker of the family but I try to make her proud by getting my assignments done, plus I need the money.  the good news is if we do well we get stickers, and possibly a pizza party.  Let the good times roll.

Young out

Some of you don’t know but upon my return to Amercia I enlisted back in the military but this time in the Air Force, NY Air National Guard to be exact.  Well I arrived yesterday at Ft Meade, MD for three months of training.  I’m hoping this will make some good entries to my blog.  Let’s start from the beginning.

I arrived at Regan National Airport where I had to take a cab about 30 miles to Ft Meade.  I had a great cab driver that was very patient and missed lunch with his friends to get me there.  After we finally found the main gate we got in and I checked into my room.  It is actually fairly nice.  Much like a low budget hotel, but I have internet and cable and my own room.  I needed to check in with the Air Force office to let them know I arrived.  Well actually I first had to get a haircut.  I tried calling the AF office but nobody would answer.  I finally put on my uniform and headed back to the bus stop to look for some building.  I could not get the bus schedule right so I went back to the room.  I finally called the school I was attending and got in touch with the AF and they said just show up for school in the morning.

If you didn’t know I was in the Army before so this is a switch.  I have no idea how to wear my uniform and to make matters worse my instructions informed me that we had to wear our dress uniform 4 days a week.  I got everything ready and checked the bus schedule three times.  I woke up put on my uniform and had about a 15 min walk to the bus stop.  Got there and was told the bus does not stop there, but at Brett Haul… which is next door to my building.  I then had to run in the snow back to try and make the bus so not to be late for my school.  I made it and arrived at the school on time.  I waited for a while why others arrived.  One by one they came all in their camoflauge uniforms.  We finally entered class and out of 55 people, one person had his dress uniform on… and you’re reading his blog.

I’m taking a journalism class and after a short welcome we were told we would be taking a English test.  The kicker was if we failed we had to take an extra 3 weeks of remedial training.  If you read my blog you know grammar isn’t my best and I don’t proof read my blog, but that is because my bad writing makes my wife laugh.  Anyway it has been a long time since I had formal schooling on English.  We finished the test.  Then we had more orientation and we would get our results after lunch.  Well the computer system was down and we had to wait two extra hours.  The stress was driving us crazy to see if we would pass.  Well I am happy to report me know enuff english to pass test.

-Senior Airman Young out