We went over to the ANA PA office this morning because the Command Sergeant Major for NTMA and CSTC-A (I really don't want to spell them out - just know that this is the top enlisted guy in these parts right now) was here to visit with the ANA Command Sergeant Major to talk about some ANA issues. I was there to train with my ANA PA guys, but that last all of 5 minutes when my PA guy just left the room the meeting was in. Go figure. Actually, I found out later that they had another shoot to go to. They didn't really see the importance of this meeting and didn't view it as news. Interesting. The top enlisted guy in Afghanistan is here talking to your top enlisted guy about YOUR Army's issues. That's not important?! Really?
I documented the meeting myself and after it was over, I conducted an interview with the ANA Sergeant Major. The Army Sergeant Major had to leave, as the roar of MRAP vehicles there to pick him up could be heard from inside the building. So, I did the interview and brought all the footage back to our office to start digitizing and working on it. I had Bari translate the ANA CSM's interview so I could use a voice-over to post to YouTube in English (it will be up there tomorrow). I didn't get it quite finished, and decided I needed a break. To the gym I went.
I was sitting on eighty nine miles to start the day. Sandy was at ninety five and was sure to hit one hundred today for sure. Chris is back a little ways, and wasn't a threat to hit one hundred for a few days with the schedule he's on for marathon training. So...as I left for the gym a little earlier than usual, I thought about a comment I made to Chris a couple days ago. The comment was, "I will be the first to break one hundred miles." I didn't honestly think I would be at the time, but I thought about it long and hard as the dirty rubber mat underneath my feet started spinning at the 7.0 level I had set it on.
After three miles, I felt real good and knew I had a shot to go the full eleven miles I needed to get to one hundred total. I knew that Sandy would run at least five later in the day when she works out,
so I could definitely be the FIRST to break one hundred...as long as I do the eleven I needed. Three miles turned into six miles...six miles turned into nine miles. At this point, I had to start the machine over again and tell it I wanted to run for twenty more minutes. The maximum time the machine will let you run is ninety minutes at one time. Well, the first ninety minutes only got me to nine miles, so...I did what I had to do. The last couple miles weren't as bad as I had thought they'd be. Sure, I was tired and my knees ached, but I did run the eleven miles needed to be the first one in the office to one hundred miles total. I was happy. One hundred miles in twenty eight days (not counting the days off I took - so it was actually less than twenty eight days)...not too bad...and I'm down twelve pounds. That is not the end of the story however. Sandy did run this afternoon, and she had seen my one hundred prior to running herself. She was sitting on ninety five miles, and I knew she'd just go run six miles to break one hundred herself AND maintain the lead. She did. I got my photo first though. HAHAHA I also got an updated one after she ran too...ya know...just to be fair.
I worked some more on my video, but just wasn't feeling it tonight. We went to dinner, watched a movie in the office, then everyone went their separate ways like usual. So here I sit, trying to keep this damn thing up to date. It's tough sometimes with the work picking up here, the amount of people waiting for computers growing, and the internet connection being so slow because of it. I'll take what I can get though. It's better than nothing.
Today was a pretty good day. It seems like the days are moving along, and they don't seem so much the same like the "Groundhog's Day" mode I was in early on. Things are good here. We're progressing and doing many "firsts" here. It feels good to be a part of that, and set the bar for those that follow. I have a great team here and it's nice to get up in the morning and be happy to go to work. Any of my Airmen will tell you that I'm big about that for them. If you wake up in the morning and hate going to work to do what you do...well...I just can't imagine it. I have the greatest job in the Air Force and am thankful every day that I'm not smart enough to be a 3C0 computer operator and washed out of that tech school before retraining into the video field. [OK, I know the comments are coming about that one - I don't go around "bragging" about that one!] My wife is a 3C0 too...so don't think I don't hear about it all the time! Regardless of that, I love my job and it was just meant to be this way. I've been very successful despite many ups and downs in the past seventeen years, and now I get to teach NCO's from another country how to do what I do. Amazing.
Tomorrow will be here soon, so it's time for this one hundred mile runner to get to bed (ok, I'm bragging...I just ran eleven miles, give me a break). I'll do my best to keep this updated daily, but as I've said, there might be a few things going on here to prevent it. I'll do what I can though. Again, I'm thankful for what I do have here, and if I can get on once a week...at least it's something.
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