CO2

CO2 (Consideration of others) some people don’t have it. I was at the gym last week and I was working out in two areas which kind of sounds bad but one was a smith machine and one was a bench. The way I had it set up is I had an adjustable bench under the smith machine with my towel, shaker cup and workout journal so I could do some flat bench and incline bench press. The bench I had a dumbbell on it to do pullovers. I was coming back over to the smith machine and someone moved my bench. This would have been inconvenient but understandable if there weren’t two smith machines available. So I told the person “here I’ll move down to this other smith machine.” I moved down to the other smith machine and while I was doing my set I see a dude come up and talk to two other guys and start to use my bench without even asking if anyone was using it. So I walked over and then he “asked are you using this” and my reply was “that’s alright I’ll move down to this open bench over here” because once again there was open benches available. This is the first time that I have really ran into this but it was multiple times in one visit. Must’ve been something in the water.

Army Career and my feelings:

I really enjoy the feeling of being in the Army but there are a few things that I have seen that or felt that makes me wish some things were different. I first started feeling this way deeply when my Dad died. I guess it is some kind of regret for not being around much when he was alive over the past 10 years while I was in. Another thing I didn’t really think about too much until this point in time was the sacrifice that Jennifer would be making. I knew the kids would have it rough with moving from school to school and the instability of me deploying etc. but I didn’t think about her sacrifices. I got to thinking about it and the biggest thing was her not having a career of her own until I am through with my career. She has to handle all 5 of our kids while I am deployed and in the field as I currently am for 3-4 weeks approx. (again). I expressed my thought to Jennifer and she told me she knew that when I rejoined. She said she did it willingly and it was both of our decision for this lifestyle. I then realized that I also have a lot to be thankful for to the Army. It has provided me with a way to provide for my family financially and give them experiences of a lifetime. We never would have seen the many places we have been. I am truly blessed to have my wife by my side.

Muscle Milk Juice box

While I was in Iraq I started to working out. Since I came back I came back from Iraq my wife has put up with my obsession and the amount of money I have spent even though the results are questionable. One of the items that I spend my money on is little pre-made boxes of muscle milk (which contains 21 grams of protein so I drink it as a snack or breakfast). Well my 3 year old has noticed me drinking it and buying it and has become fascinated by it. When I am drinking it he will ask me “are you drinking your muscle milk?” Well now I am in Grafenwoehr again and when I was talking to Jennifer she told me Jacque was drinking his juice box and he told her “I am drinking my muscle milk.” I thought it was funny.

Free Ride

I have offered rides to Soldier walking around post and have on a rare occasion been given one. My last GRAF rotation the bus shuttle that runs to the PX and to the training area stopped and gave me a ride the rest of the way. Today a taxi stopped and offered me a ride at first I declined but then the driver said for free. I jumped in and quickly assessed that I can make an escape if the driver started taking me where I didn’t want to go. I soon found out why the driver was so generous. She started handing 4 different brochures and then proceeded to give me several business cards. My thinking is she saw the rank and new that I had access to a lot of Soldiers and I would return the favor by recommending the cab service to Soldiers… I didn’t and don’t plan to. Not that I don’t appreciate the ride but they normally charge an arm and a leg for a ride that is a short distance.