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Monday, August 27, 2007

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    Back And Better Than Ever!

    I'm back in the saddle again
    Out where a friend is a friend
    Where the longhorn cattle feed
    On the lowly gypsum weed
    Back in the saddle again

    Well, it's been awhile.  And by awhile I mean a year -- but hey, who's counting?  Needless to say, trying to cover everything that has happened in the last year would take forever, so for the sake of brevity, I'll give you a quick synopsis of the last few months and where I'm going from here. 

    Four years of trails and tribulations came to an abrupt end on May 26th when I finally graduated from West Point.  I got a diploma, a commission as a Second Lieutenant, some new uniforms, 60 days of paid leave, and a boot out the door.  I spent the first half of that leave with my super-hot girlfriend Annie, pictured below.
     

    For those of you that have yet to met Annie, I'll go ahead and tell you that she's pretty much the coolest girl of all time.  We've been together since about October and I can honestly say I've never been happier.  She gets mad at me when I brag about her, so I won't mention that she was a National Merit Scholar or an All-American in track and field.  Now you may be wondering, "Ben, doesn't it bother you that she's better than you in everything?"  Of course not!  I've actually grown tired of being perfect and its somewhat of a relief to have someone else bear the burden for awhile. 

    After Annie took off for Jersey, I was left with an emptiness that only a new car could fill.  Anyone that knows me well enough can tell you that I've wanted a Mustang since I was 15.  I really wasn't looking for one, but an amazing opportunity came my way and I was able to buy this 400 horsepower monster. 


    Eventually my leave came to an end and I had to make the 1700 mile drive from Grove City to Fort Bliss, Texas in El Paso.  For the last five weeks I have been a holdover waiting for my next phase of training to begin.  For the most part, it's been like another five weeks of vacation.  Other than working out every morning, I can't say that I've really had to "work."

    El Paso is actually quite nice.  Fort Bliss is right in the middle of the city, so pretty much anything you could want is right outside the gate.  Some of my friends live near the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), so we usually spend our weekends hanging out with all of the college kids on Cincinnati Street, trying to make up for four years of probation.  You can literally throw stones into Mexico from certain parts of the city.  Juarez has 1.8 million people in it and looks like a Third World Country.  From what I can tell, it's just Jawas and Sandpeople living in shanties dug into piles of sand and trash.  Makes you appreciate a government that makes you pay your taxes and your water bill.  But for the most part, El Paso is really nice and being here in the desert has been a lot of fun. 

    Anyway, this Wednesday I leave for Fort Benning, Georgia for seven weeks at the Basic Officer Leadership Course.   After that, I will be back in El Paso until early March of 2008 doing the Air Defense Artillery Officer Basic Course.  When that's over, I'm headed for Fort Campbell, Kentucky to the 101st Airborne Division as an Avenger Platoon Leader.  As far as I understand, a month after that I'll likely be on my way to Baghdad for a brief 15 month stint in Iraq.  But who knows, maybe by then we'll all get along. 

    I've made this pledge before, but now that I don't have school work to keep me busy, I promise I'm going to try and keep this thing updated...that is if anyone actually reads it.   So until next time, take care and Godspeed!

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