We finally got rid of it!

I should have taken a picture.

Oh well.

We're officially a one car family! That's right, after 8 long years I finally got rid of the Taurus. After years of some problem or another and some mystery transmission problem lately we tried to take it to CarMax to sell it, but of course it just wouldn't make it the 15 miles there. Instead we donated it to the Purple Heart. It was super easy, we'll get a tax write off, and, most importantly, we don't have to deal with it anymore!

We've basically just been using the Toyota since we moved anyway, so it won't be too big a change. I just hope that we're nearing the end of Nate having to be at work at 5:00. We'll discuss getting another one once we find out where we'll be stationed, but we don't want to get one now just in case we end up going to Japan where we probably wouldn't need it. For now, we'll be saving on car insurance without Geico :)

FEX I

These are pictures from Nate's 1st FEX, which happened in July. I thought he might like to give a narrative so I was going to let him post this, but apparently he's "too busy" (really he had been ridiculously busy...I'm just giving him a hard time). Enjoy the pictures and I'll try to get him to make time to update ya'll. Wish me luck!

Delta Co. Newsletter

Here's the link to the third edition of the Delta Co. newsletter. This one actually opens :)

GAS GAS GAS

No, this is not a post about flatulence. It's a relaying of my experience in the gas chamber. CS gas was no fun, for my eyes, nose, neck, wrists...pretty much anywhere. It burned and it was terrible. Sure, it was nice to have a gas mask on, but when they make you take it off, and the gas is so thick that you can't see the people across the room, it's no fun.

That's Gonzalez on the left, Capasso in the middle, and I'm on the right. We had to go in there and do various exercises where we broke the seals of our masks and then had to regain and clear the mask.

Lt. Jones, a guy I went through OCS with got a bad bloody nose from the gas. One of the women in the company came to his rescue.

After the gas chamber they made us go out to Cannon Field and have a CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear) defense class...in full MOPP suits. (Mission Oriented Protective Posture)

Oh, did I mention it was a black flag day? (Black flag = a temperature index of 90 degrees F and above) Those MOPP suits make it feel 10 -30 degrees hotter than it is. So we were pretty warm during our class.

Below are some videos taken at the gas chamber...