Just where the hell have YOU been?

Well, that's kind of a long story, but I guess the short of it is, nowhere.  I'm still here at Disney, living the life, breathing in the fine particulate dust, putting money in the accounts (so that it can be voraciously consumed by the debts of a former wife opps...life). 

To be more specific, or rather more accurate, I guess it's safe to say I started living again.  For those who follow the blog and have done so from the beginning, you've seen me go through these things, read about them, looked at the pictures, and depending on your level of imagination and my writing skill on that particular day, maybe even cried with me through the hard times and smiled with me through the good.  And I've said before that I started living again, but I was just starting back then, I was taking baby steps, I was still a little torn between what was, what happened and what was to come...Now I'm running. 

So lets catch you up, shall we. 

• I have a "friend" and confidant in my life again.  Can't say much more on this topic, but suffice it to say, no man is an island.  "Friend" is an interesting term, one that I don't use lightly, some of you probably have no friends, I've gone through times when I had none.  Having one or two especially in closer proximity than halfway around the world is a good thing.  I have 2 here, and some really, really good, awesome acquaintances.  Friend: n  Person who would spend personal money and get on a plane in the middle of the night without any questions simply because you asked them to. 
• I moved, I think I might have mentioned that before, but the moving itself was a real pain in the ass, getting everything set up was almost as bad.  Getting back and forth for the first couple of weeks was nothing short of wild either.  But the new apartment is cheaper, and in a better location with many more opportunities for socializing...not to mention I can now step outside my door without breaking the rules!
• I'm Driving!  That's right, I rented a car.  Nothing special, a little 2013 Hyundai Accent, but with the money I was saving by moving, and the money I was spending on Taxi's, it worked out to just a little bit out of my pocket.  Saudi driving has its crazy moments, but its not half as bad as it looks from the passenger side.  It's a lot like driving in most US cities, just without as many rules...And I rented from Avis to make sure that I had good insurance and that the car would be in good mechanical shape. 
• We finished first semester, tests have been administered, grades have been turned in, reports have been written.  Class load has been determined for second semester, I have my schedules written and am preparing the first two weeks detailed lesson plans.  I have 4 subjects and I'm pulling 15 credit hours and 32 contact hours of Instruction...ugh!  
• I'm building the level 8 logbook 4 from scratch, It's a long story again, but I don't actually have access to the program the logbooks were built in...so I'm starting from zero, I hope to have a poorly written makeshift copy ready in the next month and the revision completed by the end of the semester.  I kinda plan on using it as a bargaining chip to make sure receive my end of service benefits.  
• I hit 14 months and didn't bother to take a picture...
• I started reading and studying again...I'm currently in the middle of 3 novels, and have a few different podcasts that I listen to.  It's amazing that as you live life, you get caught up in things, stop studying and are behind the times almost immediately.  For me, trying to understand US foreign policy and US-Saudi relations as well as understand the gun control debate and fiscal cliff non-sense based on an education from 4-5 years ago was something akin to trying to build a house based on your extensive knowledge of how to build a barn...So I'll write a separate post about some of these maybe, but allow me to recommend the following podcasts and blogs.  Podcasts:  Dan Carlins Hardcore History, Dan Carlin's Common Sense, Back Story, Things you missed in History Class.  Blogs:  Eric Garland http://www.ericgarland.co/2013/01/15/the-chart-that-explains-the-crazy/  Eric is a "little" out there, oh wait actually, he's not, he's just telling you some stuff in a way that you haven't heard before.  Love this blog.  

So, as you can hopefully see, I haven't been ignoring you!  And I haven't fallen off the edge of the world either!  Just got a little busy, which is a good thing sometimes.  One of these days though, I'm finally going to head home on time, not having any pressing engagements and just fall asleep on the couch!