From The Birth Place Of America

Greetings and salutations once again, and thank you for joining me for another rousing edition of my journey. If you will all open your hymnals, we will begin with the ever popular "The Only Constant Is Change". Yes, the military has done it again. As I mentioned in my last post I was to finish my training in DC and go to Winchester, Va for a combat driving course. Well as you might expect the plan has changed. The powers that be have determined that the class in Winchester is no longer the one I need and instead I have to go to Melbourne, Fl. The biggest problem is that no one in Pakistan really seems to get that I am on PCS (Permanent Change of Station) orders and I can't just go rolling where ever I want. When the folks in Pakistan made the change they didn't bother to tell the folks at the Bureau of Personnel to get my orders modified. So ever since the Monday after Thanksgiving I have been trying to get that ORDMOD and as of the time of this writing (Monday Morning) I still haven't gotten it. It's all aout who pays for it. My detailer who writes my orders is working hard on it but these things take time which is why I was so annoyed that they made this change with two weeks lead time. Even better than all that I am supposed to have my flak jacket and helmet for this class which they were supposed to issue me when I was in Tampa. However, they screwed up and didn't give it to me thinking I would get it when I get in country. They have worked out that I can borrow the gear from the guys giving the training, but it was a big mess. So as it stands, I have orders to a class they don't want me to go to and I have a quota at a course that I do not have orders to attend and do not have all the right gear for. Lots of fun, eh?

OK, OK, OK. Take deep breaths. In with the good, out with the bad. I'm feeling much better now.

Let's change gears to a happier topic shall we? I have been to Washington DC three times in my life. All of them have been this year; the first for July 4th and the two times during these orders. During the July trip, my friend Crystal S. and I went on a sight seeing trip to the National Mall that tested our friendship and destroyed one of her shoes. We started by taking the metro to Arlington National Cemetery were we walked around and I got to see the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We then proceeded to walk to the Lincoln Memorial, the reflecting pool, the World War II Memorial, the Washington Monument, to the Capital Building and finally to Union Station before taking the metro back to my buddy ET's place where we were staying. The next day we hit the National Archives to see the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, and the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. One might think we did a pretty good job in just a couple days of seeing the sights. But for those who do not know this barely scratches the surface of the monuments, memorials and museums that this town holds.

In an effort to further my adventures I took a trip to the Smithsonian Museum of American History. They had several neat exhibits: one about the presidency, Americans at war, a 200 year old house discussing the different people who lived there, the Gettysburg Address and a few others. But the best has to be the original Star Spangled Banner. The following are presented for your enjoyment.

A Roman George Washington.

C-3PO Human/Cyborg relations. Unfortunately his counterpart R2-D2 was not there.

Dorothy's Ruby Slippers

Kermit the frog here (insert goofy voice here).

The original Star Spangled Banner.

I also took a walk around the area through Freedom Square which is laid out with the street plans that Pierre L'Efant made for the city. There is a really neat view down Pennsylvania Ave to the capital.

As many cool things there are to see in DC, there even more in this region. ET and I took a trip this weekend to see the Navy/Army Game in Philadelphia, Pa. Aside from it being very cold it was a great game; particularly since Navy shut out Army 34-0. The game is definitely one, if not the, best rivalries in college athletics. As you all know I think OU/tEXAS is probably the best rivalry when it comes to basic dislike for the other team/school/fans/state, and there are many others like OSU/Michigan, USC/Cal; but Army/Navy truly lives up to the name "America's Game". The history, pageantry, pomp and festivities are spectacular. There aren't a whole lot of games that the President of the United States goes to every year but he comes to this one.

Lincoln Financial Stadium. The Corps of Cadets are on the left and the Brigade of Midshipmen are on the right.

ET and I tailgating at the game. I told you it was cold.

Before we came back to DC, we did some sight seeing in Philly, visiting the Liberty Bell and Liberty Hall. It's absolutely amazing the amount of history there is in such a small area.

Philadelphia city hall at night.

Liberty Hall. Sight of the Continental Congresses, and the writing of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution.

Liberty Hall closer up.

The Liberty Bell.

Well that is all for the moment. Hopefully I will be getting my orders squared away by tomorrow, one way or the other. I hope all of you are enjoying yourselves and are getting over the Thanksgiving glut. As always I look forward to any comments you might want to leave on the blog or send to me via e-mail. Keep in touch and if you can't be good, be good at it.