Friday, September 1, 2006, 04:33 AM
I just wanted to wish PC a very warm welcome back to the blogging community. Oh wait...that's me!! Yes, I know, some very RUDE people have been leaving comments on my blog, mean messages on our answering machine, even going so far as to fly out to our house to acost me in person. I GET THE HINT!!! You want me to blog on a regular basis. Right, got it. Here ya go...
So what have I been up to lately? Well since my last post I had a flight suit formal, became 27 years old, spent about 30 minutes with my parents while they were here for 2 weeks, planned an exercise for 1000 people, planned the move of 80 computers and phones to our new building at work, flew to the Philippines for 4 days, and started building a rock garden. In short, I've been really busy. In fact, last night I was up until 2am working on stuff that I didn't get done during the day. Man, there's just not enough time. That whole hourly rate that I talked about in my last post really hits home during weeks like this.
I haven't had time to respond to emails, blog, or even search the Internet and read blogs that I normally enjoy reading. So, it's good and bad that I'm taking a week of leave next week. Yes, I'll be working after everyone goes to bed, but it'll be nice to get out of the daily grind and take some time off.
Anyway. The Philippines was neat. It was kind of like little America in a lot of ways. There's a mall on Clark Airfield that is exactly like what you'd see in Colorado or Virginia or...well, maybe not Iowa, but you get the idea
So there ya go, a small blog entry. Stay tuned tomorrow for an update on the rock garden. Lisa doesn't think that I'll finish it before our guests arrive. I'm gonna show her!
[ 2 comments ] ( 19 views ) | [ 0 trackbacks ] | permalink
Friday, August 4, 2006, 03:21 AM - USMC
Lisa brought up a topic in one of her recent blog entries that is very near and dear to our hearts: military pay. For those of you who don't know, all of our pay is public knowledge and you can see that here: http://www.dod.mil/dfas/militarypay/new ... pdated.pdf.
Let's do some analysis. I'm a 2ndLt (paygrade of O1) with over 2 years in the military. My base pay is $2,514.60 per month. The equivalent of my time in service on the enlisted side ould be a LCpl (paygrade of E3) with over 2 years in the military and his base pay is $1,595.70 per month. In both of our cases, our medical care and housing costs are covered. I get $187/month for "subsistence" (food) while the LCpl get's a meal card for free meals at the chow hall.
Having said all of that, if we do an hourly wage type dealy, here's what it comes down to:
2ndLt hourly wage (working 50 hours/week): $12.32
LCpl hourly wage (working 50 hours/week): $7.82
But, 50 hours a week is what we usually only spend at our desks. In the eight months I've been working here, I've been deployed for a total of about 2 1/2, working 12-18 hour days the whole time. Technically, we are on call 24 hours a day. I have gone into work on more than half of the weekends since I've been here. So, looking at the 24 hours a day, here's the new hourly wage:
2ndLt hourly wage (working 24 hours/day): $3.67
LCpl hourly wage (working 24 hours/day): $2.33
Enlightening, huh? We don't do it for the money, especially the enlisted guys. The benefits are pretty good, but the reason most people do it is because they want to get out of a bad situation or just to give more meaning to their lives.
[ 6 comments ] ( 49 views ) | [ 0 trackbacks ] | permalink
Thursday, August 3, 2006, 02:54 AM
How do ya like them apples, Marc? Three posts in one day! And, the one about typhoon Bilis is no longer showing up either. Got any more funny comments? Yeah, that's what I thought 
[ 1 comment ] ( 9 views ) | [ 0 trackbacks ] | permalink
Thursday, August 3, 2006, 02:53 AM
Hey, Marc, this one's for you. I heard you giving me crap on Lisa's blog about not posting anything regularly.[ add comment ] | [ 0 trackbacks ] | permalink
Thursday, August 3, 2006, 02:46 AM - USMC
Remember when staying up late was really bad ass? Well, I would like to officially tell you that it's not any more. I used to laugh because my mom had a rule about "no new ideas after 9:00pm". Basically, by that time, she was dog tired and was actually laying in bed reading something or watching TV or whatever just before bed. I've never really been a night person, but I couldn't ever believe that!
Times have certainly changed. In a few days, I'll be 27 years old. I normally wake up at 0600 and hit the rack about 2200 (10:00pm for you civilians out there). Last night, however, I went to bed at 0300 and woke up this morning at 0600 to go to work. Yup, that's right, I worked for about 5 hours straight on our plan for the next exercise we're going on. Without going into too much detail, it looks like every unit in the Wing is playing except for the Wing HQ. My unit is going to run everything. And, since I'm the Communication Officer, that means I'm running all the comm. Awesome. Me. A 2ndLt. I guess you get what you ask for! Aside from just the sheer size of it all, it's just A LOT OF WORK and not a lot of time. Plus, I've got all the other projects still going on that I'm taking care of.
Anyway, back to the subject. So, yeah, getting only 3 hours of sleep at night is no longer possible. Thank God Nathan has been sleeping through the night for the last couple of nights, because when he wasn't, it was even worse! Note to self: I guess I'm not a kid anymore...I can't stay up until the wee hours of the morning and expect to be 100% the next day!
[ add comment ] | [ 0 trackbacks ] | permalink
Monday, July 31, 2006, 03:22 AM - Japan, Technology, WWW
Everybody who's reading this blog should know for a FACT that I'm a computer super freak. Having said that, what comes next should not at all surprise you.
Google Maps is a really cool feature. You can look satellite images of locations, maps, etc. You can also use their API to pinpoint places and reference them later. Well...that's what I'm starting to do with things we like to do or places we like to go in Okinawa. There's a lot I still want to do to this website, but this is just a start. Leave me a comment to let me know what you think:
http://www.thedrews.net/maps/index.php
BTW, click on the red markers to see the text entry.
[ 3 comments ] ( 23 views ) | [ 0 trackbacks ] | permalink | related link
Monday, July 31, 2006, 03:14 AM - Family, Japan, Pictures
;)
Today we drove to Ikei Island to see what all the hubub was about. In order to get there, we pass the Jusco that I just found out about and cross a really pretty bridge, drive through two other islands, and finally end up on Ikei Island. The island is tiny and is mostly inhabited by farmers. There's one resort, a motorcycle racing track (huh?), a lot of farms, and a bunch of beaches. It seems that more than one person capitalized on their beach front property by charging $4-$6 per person to use the beach. There were a couple of beaches that we found (where all the surfers go) that are free and deserted. My kind of place!
After driving all around Ikei for about 30 minutes, we drove back and stopped in the middle of a bridge to take pictures. Nope, we weren't the only crazy people!! There were 3 other cars stopped on both sides taking pictures. He he he, I love Japan!
After that, we drove through the other islands, stopped at a few more beaches, and commented on the fact that Okinawans really love taking their sun tents out to the beach along with their grills and doing an old fashioned (Japanese) BBQ. Full on with yakitori, hot dogs, vegetables, etc. Sounds like fun to me!
On the way home, of course, we HAD to stop off at the Jusco mall and get a blood orange slurpee from the Doutor Coffee place. We saw that last week when Lisa finally took me to the mall and I got the slurpee. Man was it good!!!
All in all, it was an awesome day exploring one of the great benefits of living on a (sub) tropical island. Click the related link for the rest of the pictures.
[ 2 comments ] ( 20 views ) | [ 0 trackbacks ] | permalink | related link
Wednesday, July 26, 2006, 03:16 AM - Japan
Here's a weird tidbit for you: all official references to the year in Japan are done as the number of years since the current emporer has been on the throne. For example, when talking to Americans, I drive a 1989 Toyota Town Ace. If I look on my Japanese title it says the van was built in "Heisei gannen" or the first year of the Heisei era. My insurance espired in July of "Heisei 18" or the 18th year of the Heisei era. My new insurance, that I got completed today (it's like an emissions inspection in the states) will expire in "Heisei 20".
Anyway, for those of you who are interested in reading more about how the Japanese dates work, click on the related link.
[ add comment ] | [ 0 trackbacks ] | permalink | related link
Sunday, July 23, 2006, 04:02 AM - USMC
Last one, then I'm going to bed. Everyone likes to poke fun at Marines because they think we're all stupid jarheads. Think of it this way...if our enemy thinks that, then it's easier to kill them. Either way, I still like a good ribbing. Take a look at this video that some Navy pilots made about Marines. It's AWESOME!!!
http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2690790
[ 1 comment ] ( 7 views ) | [ 0 trackbacks ] | permalink
Sunday, July 23, 2006, 03:36 AM - Family
Every once in a while I like to Google myself or Lisa or us or other people. A few minutes ago I googled "the drews" and ran across our alleged family crest. That's it pictured to the right of this text. Kinda stupid, huh? Although...do take note of the lion in the crest...and I am a Leo...are you seeing a pattern here? You can read the rest of the information about the Drews at the website: http://www.houseofnames.com/xq/asp.fc/q ... -crest.htm.
[ 3 comments ] ( 16 views ) | [ 0 trackbacks ] | permalink
Back Next
