D-Day, minus eight and a half hours.

So I have all of my clothes laid out, my backpack is full of my school stuff, my other backpack is full of my gym clothes, and my food for tomorrow is in the fridge. Tomorrow is the official start of the real phase two. It is the culmination of everything I have been doing for the last 2 months. At 0800 (that's 8 a.m. to you civilians) I have to report to my unit for my two week annual training event. I have no idea what I will be doing, other than inspection prep. I also have no idea how long of a day I will be working, but I do know that at 1830 (that's 6:30 p.m.) I have to be at Chemeketa for my summer math class. I must say, that I am more nervous about my math class than working at my unit in a high visibility atmosphere for the next two 15 days. Getting by, and actually excelling, is something that I managed to do well while I was in the Army, and it is something that you don't really lose.

So, in closing, I will be pretty busy for at least the next two weeks, and may not have the chance to do a lot of blogging. I will leave you all with a poem that I found while I was in basic training, that for some reason, gave me great strength when the going got tough. To this day, I still look back on it.

I was that which others did not want to be.
I went where others feared to go, and did what others failed to do.
I asked nothing from those who gave nothing, and reluctantly accept the
thought of eternal loneliness. . . Should I fail.
I have seen the face of terror; felt the stinging cold of fear; and enjoyed
the sweet taste of a moments love.
I have cried, pained, and hoped. . . But most of all, I have lived times
that others would say were best forgotten.
At least someday I will be able to say that I was proud of what I was. . .
A soldier.

-Unknown

What makes me tick?

I like to share. Share stories, good food, movies, trivia, pop-culture, and just about everything else. Near as I can tell, I have about fourteen readers. Probably eight with that read regularly. (once a day to see if I have something new) So I thought I would post something for my loyal fan base of just barely enough people to play a basketball game. Many of you know me in person. Some of you are related, some of you I have known for about 13 years, some I am just getting to know, some I have never met, and of course, one very special amazing someone. So back to me. I like stuff. Cool stuff to be exact, rather, what I think is cool. Military stuff, movies, firearms, cars, gadgets, and music. I am also becoming more and more to enjoy exercising. This is something I have always really hated, but now that I let myself get so far out of shape, that I lost myself in me, I am finding it to be extremely rewarding to go in after that lost me through diet and exercise. For the first time in my life, one of my goals is to actually run in a marathon. (well, at least a half marathon) Back to my obsession with stuff.

One of the things I like to do is watch people do dumb things. There are several places that I do this. One is any road in America, and another is the internet. So I thought I would be nice, and share some of my favorite websites, and perhaps a few fun little video links as well.

ebaum's world. This is a site that has a whole lot of worthless stuff on it, but I enjoy the videos and goofiness of it. A few of my current favorites from this site are: Beatbox. A six minute video of some guy beatboxing. Nintendo. Four and a half minute video of an Acapella group doing Nintendo game theme music. Snowtow. This is what happens when you are retarded and try to pull a car out of the snow. The other one of my favorites is a video of a test drive the way we all want to do it in the blackest part of our hearts. Those are a few of my favorite videos off that site, so have fun surfing around it. Another site similar to that is College Humor. This site is a little more adult in nature, so use caution on there.

Ill Will Press. Watch the follies of Foamy the squirrel.

Grouchy Media. This is a site that compiles videos of military stuff to rock songs. Awesome stuff!

Men's Health. I read this magazine, and frequent this site. There is, as they say "Tons of useful stuff."

Maddox. This guy is a pirate. His page has some of the funniest stories and rants I have ever seen. Look for the posts where he grades kids' art projects!

These are just a few of the pages that I frequent. Only a couple of them are anything but time wasters, so if you have some minutes that you hate, check out the sites.

So there you have it, just a few of the things that I do to gather information for the things I babble about, and have fun with. So kick back, click some links, and enjoy!

Anonymous. . .

Ok, I changed the formatting of my blog, so that it will allow anonymous comments. If you aren't a registered blogger, and wish to comment, please include at least a name in your comment. Thanks.

I rule beyond all comparison!

So I went to the gym yesterday, and weighed in. I HAVE LOST 20 FREAKING POUNDS IN ONE MONTH!!!! No, I am not sick, and no I do not think that 5 pounds a week is unhealthy. So yeah, I feel better, I look better (well thinner at least), and I am even more motivated to continue on my little fat stripping spree. So for all of you doubters and haters, here is my workout breakdown, I am refining it, and beginning next week, I think that this will be how it goes;

Monday: Breakfast (English muffin, or bowl of cheerios) 2 mile run, 3 sets pushups, 4 sets situps, snack (powerbar, or MRD) lunch (tuna sandwich or PB&J) 30-45 minutes on the stationary bike. Snack (powerbar or MRD) Dinner (balanced meal with protein, veggies, and the like)

Tuesday: Breakfast (English muffin, or bowl of cheerios) strength training (Arms, back neck, legs) Lighter weight, higher reps. Snack (powerbar, or MRD) lunch (tuna sandwich or PB&J) 30-45 minutes on the stationary bike. Snack (powerbar or MRD) Dinner (balanced meal with protein, veggies, and the like)

Wednesday: Breakfast (English muffin, or bowl of cheerios) 2 mile run, 3 sets pushups, 4 sets situps, snack (powerbar, or MRD) lunch (tuna sandwich or PB&J) 30-45 minutes on the stationary bike. Snack (powerbar or MRD) Dinner (balanced meal with protein, veggies, and the like)

Thursday: Breakfast (English muffin, or bowl of cheerios) strength training (Arms, back neck, legs) Lighter weight, higher reps. Snack (powerbar, or MRD) lunch (tuna sandwich or PB&J) 30-45 minutes on the stationary bike. Snack (powerbar or MRD) Dinner (balanced meal with protein, veggies, and the like)

Friday: Breakfast (English muffin, or bowl of cheerios) 2 mile run, 3 sets pushups, 4 sets situps, snack (powerbar, or MRD) lunch (tuna sandwich or PB&J) 30-45 minutes on the stationary bike, and maybe a 15-20 minute swim. Snack (powerbar or MRD) Dinner (balanced meal with protein, veggies, and the like)

I threw the swim in as extra for Fridays, because it will be leading into my weekends, which will be for recovery. I imagine that I will be getting tired of Tuna and PBJ's, so if anyone has any intelligent advice about a quick easy sandwich type thing that fits, let me know.

Maybe Mega-Hotty is just hanging on, in hopes that I too, will someday be fit and hot, and deserving of hanging out with her. I have no idea how I will ever be able to repay her for what she has to provoke the great changes in my life. But I am eternally grateful.

Triangulation Peak Recon.

So I am leading a hike for Cascade Hills this weekend, and after a tip from Jake, I decided to take everyone up to Triangulation Peak. I was looking at the trail book, and it said that the trail was open from July through October. I called the Detroit Ranger station, and asked if it was open now. The lady that I talked to said that it might be snowed in. I thought "crap"(link not for the faint of heart, viewer discression is advised) but considered that since I have seen about an inch of snow in the Cascades this year, that I should go see for myself. I called up Matt, and he and I headed up to the trailhead. It is only about an hour away, and the trail was fairly easy. We only ran across one other group of people hiking, and had the whole place to ourselves.

The trail is a 4.2 mile round trip, and the last 0.6 mile is fairly steep, requiring two rest stops before reaching the top. Holy cow, what a view! I have never been that close to Mt. Jefferson, and was a little awestruck by the sheer magnitude. The book also describes an unmarked trail that is difficult to find and negotiate in order to get to Boca Cave. We actually found it pretty easily, but the trail it steep and technical. It was awesome! From inside the cave, the door of the cave frames Jeff perfectly.

The weather was kind to us, but there was enough of a cloud cover that we couldn't see all of Jefferson. If it was clear, you could have seen Hood, Jeff, Three-fingered Jack, Washington, maybe one or two of the Sisters, and some other peak that I couldn't identify.

I am really hoping for some decent weather, just so we can have a grand view of everything. Even if the weather sucks spokes, it should still be an awesome hike!

Phase Two

Alright, since some people have stated that they won't click on more than 3-links in a blog, I guess I might have to stop making a bunch of links and just get on with the telling of my story.

Right. So I shall henceforth be known to all as Specialist Rutherford, of the Oregon National Guard. I enlisted, or reenlisted rather, into the National guard yesterday. I signed up with the 1249th Engineering battalion in Salem. My job (or MOS) is 31U (uniform) which will be changing to 25U in September. I am really stoked, because they will pay for a whole bunch of my college while I am in, and I also still have a bunch of the G.I. Bill left.

Part of phase two, is also getting back into school, and working towards my business degree. I am planning on attending Summer classes, in order to get back on track with my math. (Which I suck at.) The end result of Phase 2, and leading into Phase 3, is to get enough credits toward my degree to get accepted into Oregon's OCS (Officer Candidate School) and get commissioned as a Lieutenant. That way I will have a Business degree, a communications training background from the Army, and the leadership training and experience of being an officer. That will make up a pretty mean resume I think.

So that is my big news for the week, now if I can just get through school and my commission before they send my ass to the desert. Speaking of my ass.... (umm....) I have managed to get started making it smaller. I have lost eleven pounds in 2 weeks, and plan on losing a whole lot more over the next several months. So if you see me eating unhealthy food, or (God forbid) drinking a Coke, please kick my ass.