This bloging (is that the way to spell that) has been great for me and I want to thank the folks who invited me to do this for the opportunity, most notably Angela, thanks for the reminders. It seems like every week I get an e-mail from someone I served with some where, from my enlisted days, to college, all the way through my most recent deployment in Afghanistan. I just today received and e-mail from a college class mate of mine who went through a whole list of people that he and I were both in college with (and one of our instructors who is now a full colonel) that are still serving in the Army. It never fails to amaze me how close not a family that the Army can be and even over all of the years and miles and lack of contact that one can just pick up the conversation with someone as if you had only seen them last week. I also find it absolutely fascinating to learn what all of these men and women have made of themselves, both in the civilian world after service and in the Army. To go back and remember a guy who was a college junior and then, the next time you get in touch with them, they are a Major, a father and husband, and an engineer in the civilian world!!! Brock, congratulations on everything!

With this trip down memory lane here it got me to thinking that I have not mentioned my infamous University, the MIGHTY WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A great institution of higher learning and a producer of some of the finest military officers in our Army today (yes I am very partial to WSU if you could not tell).

I am sure most of you have some place near where you live that you have never been too but always meant to go to. Well, one of those places near me is the Snake Farm. Some of you that watch the Discovery Channel and watch "Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe" know what I am talking about. My wife and I make it a point to go and see or do things at least one, our version of been there and done that. It gives us the opportunity to finds things we would do more than once and things to tell people to avoid and not to waste time or money. The Snake Farm was different and if your into snakes, go for it. Overall it is just a really small local zoo that specializes in snakes. They had some other animals, monkeys, alligators, some big cats, lots of birds. So if you have $10 and about 2 hours to spare it is worth a quick look. I didn't take too many pictures of snakes but I did of the other animals.

My wife did a fantastic job doing the trim work on all of the windows, so I have to show that off. (I know you are all saying "enough with the windows").

We found some pretty cool window stickers, floor mats and seat covers at Wal-Mart in the automotive section. My car really needed the floor mats and seat covers so I figured what the heck.

Got a bit more done on my engine, replaced the rods and lifters and removed the broken bolt from the water pump housing so that is finally coming along.

Other than that, work at US Army South is moving along and I am getting my bearings pretty well and finally not feeling like I am at a dead sprint from the moment I walk in. But here is a photo of the building. It was the hospital for Ft. Sam Houston, built in 1936. If you ever go there, stay out of the basement, it is supposedly haunted and was the original holding area for the recently departed for the hospital.