Weekend in review

This was a pretty darned good weekend. The weather here was awesome, and I was able to get out among the civilians and do my own thing as well. I think I am coming down with a cold, which sucks, because I can't miss any school or I risk getting recycled (rolled back to a later class). I have been doing quite well in school, except today I bombed a test bad, but it was only a 10 point quiz, so I should recover from it quickly. As far as my PT goes, I am getting better, and have lost almost 10 pounds, and a complete percentage of body fat. That is pretty much in just 2 weeks. I did find out that after I graduate here and leave out, I will have what looks like 3 days of freedom back home before getting called up for the mobilization. As it stands now, we will be back home but working at the unit until around the beginning of June-ish. This is all subject to change, of course. Now, onto my weekend!

The biggest news was my brush with fame. Any of you who know me, know that I am a huge fan and avid viewer of an underground (until recently) street racing series known as Mischief. It is a series that was started by a guy named Dustin Worles out of the D.C. area. This is not a bunch of pimple popping, Fast and Furious watching Honda Civic geeks. The Teckademics crew is serious. In mid-February, Dustin released the newest installment, Mischief Assault, which he did signed under Warner Brothers. Since I am near the D.C. area, I was hoping to get a chance to at the very least meet up with these guys and talk shop about video equipment and camera stuff for my deployment. I was fortunate to actually be invited to the DVD release party in D.C.! It was awesome. The party went until around 4 a.m. but I had to get back onto post before that, so I was unable to stay for the whole thing. All in all, I met a really great group of people who are totally down to earth and fun to be around. I am glad that I came out, and look forward to maybe hitting up another one of their events while I am here.

Inside the best party I have probably ever been to.

Yes, it was that much fun! When drunk people are taking your picture, you can't expect much. Me on the left, with Dustin Worles, creator of the best selling street racing series ever in the U.S., Mischief, and one heck of a nice guy.

Sunday The sergeants three and I decided that we would go to the Smithsonian's Washington Zoo. It really was a pretty darned good zoo. We got to see pandas fight with each other for food. A lot of the exhibits were closed for the winter, but it was good none the less. It is a large zoo, that is really spread out, so we had to do a lot of walking. I ended up taking about 500 pictures, a lot on action photo, so I just decided to put up a couple for highlights.

The one on the downhill side won by biting the "nether-regions" of the other one. A technique that I would not have thought of, but fiercely effective.

These tigers spent a lot of time wrestling around. It was pretty cool, but no blood was drawn.

The gorilla exhibit was pretty cool. The glass was dirty, so pictures aren't that great. No pooflinging or any other less than socially acceptable behavior, but it was still pretty cool.

The king of the jungle again.

Worldwide symbol of freedom.

Sergeant Jerry and I. Gunslinger at the Washington Zoo!

A friendly passerby was kind enough to take our picture and not run off with the camera.

We ended our day at this local Irish pub. It was really amazing. They had the kids doing the river dance stuff inside because of some festival going on in the neighborhood. We had good food and good beer before returning back to the world of dress right dress, and yes sir/no sir stuff. It was a great weekend, and it is nice to get outside and feel human again. Now back to providing freedom for all!