I'm currently in Germany.  I was sent here 3 days ago because of some issues with my blood tests that could not be resolved or diagnosed in Iraq.

The diagnosis is rheumatoid arthritis.  All of the bloodwork points to that, and I've got a bunch of joint inflammation, specifically my shoulders, elbows, wrists, fingers, knees, and feet.  Sounds like fun, huh?

So as far as the Army is concerned, they should keep me on active duty for treatment until I can go back to my primary job, which is flying airplanes.  If I go through the process and can't get approved to fly again, then they'll send me to a medical board where they'll either give me a new specialty or put me out of the reserves.  If they decide to put me out, then depending on what sort of disability rating they give me, I'll either get a severance or get medically retired.  In other words, I may never fly for the Army again.

As far as my civilian job, the FAA is a little more lenient.  As long as I can get this condition under control, I should be able to return to flying for the airline.  Do I really want to do that?  Well, I don't know.  Everyone who knows me knows that if I'm not flying, I'm not happy.  I left active duty because my last job had me sitting behind a desk for 16 hours a day.  I don't know if I could do that unless I found something I really enjoyed.  Who knows.

So in about an hour a group of us are headed into Kaiserslautern, the local town here near the hospital.  I took out 60 Euro (about $80) for some spending cash, so maybe I'll find some cool stuff to buy.

I'll be leaving Germany on Monday and headed to Fort Bragg.  With any luck, I'll be home on Tuesday night.

I'm pretty bummed about this whole deal.  My future is up in the air, and all of the plans that J and I had are as well.  I don't like that feeling.

http://www.military.com/news/article/no-deal-no-bucks-odierno-tells-iraq.html?ESRC=army.nl

No Deal, No Bucks, Odierno tells Iraq

I haven't updated in quite a while.  This hasn't really been on purpose, but more because of my laziness combined with lack of motivation combined with everything going on over here in the desert.

I've got approximately 2 months under my belt, with another 10 to go.  The president-elect's "plan" to pull out of Iraq within 16 months shouldn't affect this deployment.  It's cooling off over here, with highs in the 70s and lows in the 50s at night.  The duststorms have died down, but it has rained a bit.  Unfortunately, when it rains, our little living area floods and everything turns to mud.  We still have puddles from the last storm that hit over a week ago.

Work is easy.  In fact, life over here is easy for me.  It doesn't really feel like a deployment.  On a no-fly day, I get up at about 8am, mess around on the computer for a few hours, get showered, eat lunch, and go in to the office where I stay until about 6pm.  At the office, I usually read the paper, do the sudoku and crossword puzzles, check the office email, and work on some Army coursework (every time you get promoted, there's an accompanying school to complete).

On fly days, everything revolves around the flight.  Today is a fly day for me, but we don't take off until later this afternoon.  Many of our flights involve early morning departures - I've taken off as early as 4:40am, which usually means getting up around 2am.  We primarily fly VIPs and dignitaries - I've flown people like Ambassador Crocker, General Austin, retired General Barry McCaffrey.  I've also flown privates who need to get out on emergency leave, and given rides to soldiers and civilians who just need to get from one point to another.  I've flown Brits, Aussies, and even a Romanian General.  I've flown to just about every airfield in Iraq and Kuwait, and I have an upcoming trip out of the country that, due to security reasons, I can't really talk about yet.  I promise I'll have pictures of that one.

It's no coincidence that I chose the day the election results were in to write again.  I woke up this morning, looked over at the TV, and saw that the now president-elect had significantly more votes than his Republican opponent.  I don't consider myself democrat or republican, but I have to admit that most of my values tend to lean to the right.  I'm very much of an open mind and am willing to listen to anyones point of view, but it takes a lot to convince me to change my opinion on core values.  In other words, I voted for the old guy.  That being said, as an officer on active-duty in the military, I have to be careful what I say in a public forum.

So some questions I have that will inevitably be answered in the next 4 years:

-With the president-elect's tax plan, how are American jobs going to be protected?  If you raise taxes on businesses, they will move parts, if not the whole business, overseas.  Why?  Labor is cheaper.  So what happens to those people who lose their jobs in the process?  My dad's company is already shipping jobs to China and India.  Is it not going to get worse if you tax the hell out of businesses? 

-Does the president-elect really think that he'll be able to pull American forces out of Iraq in 16 months?  He has stated that by setting a timetable, it will force the Iraqis to action.  Really?  Is he sure about that?  These guys kill each other based on the side of the street on which they live (can you say gang wars a la Compton?), and he thinks he can force them into action?  If we pull out before the Iraqis are ready and willing to accept their own responsibilities, we can definitely expect others nations to influence this new government, nations like Syria and Iran.  In such a volatile yet important part of the world, is that what we need?  I'm all for the US not being the world's police, but can we afford to have the Iranians control or have influence over this much territory?

-What is the president-elect's plan for combating illegal immigration?  What is his plan for dealing with the 11+ million illegals already sucking this country dry?

I have more, but I'm frustrated right now.  I just don't see any good coming of this election, at least not for me and my family.  Prove me wrong, Mr. President-elect.

Yeah yeah, I was gonna post stuff.  My bad.

Spent a week at Ft. Benning, GA.  That sucked.  It rained a lot because of TS Faye.

First leg of flight sucked.  Flew to Shannon, Ireland, stuck in coach between two broad-shouldered dudes.

Second leg from Shannon to Kuwait was better.  Business class seats rock.

Spent first night in Kuwait because they only sent one plane (that seats 7) and there were 9 of us.

Got to Iraq the next night, moved right into my room.  Not too shabby.

Spent the last few days getting over jet lag, and am flying tomorrow morning for the first time.

Here are some pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/terryschooler/

Gotta sleep now.  More later.

Looks like my time has come.  In the morning I'll be headed to Fort Benning, GA, for a week of uniform issue, shots, and shooting ranges in preparation for my deployment to the big sandbox.  I can't say I'm looking forward to being away from home for a year, but it really shouldn't be a bad deployment.  I'll have one of the safest, cushiest jobs around.  I mean, c'mon, who else packs blue jeans to go to war?

My job?  I'll be flying in a VIP flight detachment, and, unlike the last time I went over there, I'll actually be flying.  In fact, I'll probably be looking forward to days where I don't fly - that's how much we'll be flying.  And since the Army typically doesn't like it when their VIPs get shot, we should be able to remain out of harms way by virtue of association.

I'm not looking forward to goodbyes...ugh.  They suck.  That's all I have to say about that.

So if I get a chance, I'll post from Ft. Benning.  I don't know what they have for internet there, but I should be able to tether my phone to my computer and get online.  After that, it may be a few weeks before I get back on.  My email address will remain the same.  If anyone out there would like my mailing address, drop me a line and I'll send it to you.  A year is a long time to go without freshly-baked cookies (hint hint).

I've been very neglectful of my blog for almost two months.  My bad.

I hate it when people say "my bad".  I mean, is it really that hard to say "my fault" or how about even "sorry"?  I mean, when people say "my bad", it usually means they screwed up somehow.  At least apologize for it.  Ugh.

Sorry, don't know what got me on that tangent.

Anyway, these last two months have been fairly uneventful.  After the beach, we've just been working and hanging out.  We did take a weekend excursion up to Brenda's place last weekend.  It was definitely nice to see her again, as I think the last time we saw each other was probably about 18 months ago.  Nate was very young baby then.  For 21 months old, he's a pretty big kid now!  Anyway, it was very nice to see them again.

Otherwise, we're just counting down the days until I head out.  We've been taking care of all the things that need to be addressed before I leave, like renewing leases, powers of attorney, putting bills on autopay, etc.  We got a storage unit last week, and today we're going to move all of our boxes from our closets to storage.  Then we get to go look for a futon for the spare bedroom so we'll have a place for guests to stay (and not a moment too soon - my parents come in next weekend for about a week).  I'm trying to get all of my pre-deployment stuff squared away, stuff like classes, shots, etc.  It's kind of a hassle, but it's well worth it in the end - at least I'll be employed.

My airline is going to begin furloughing pilots around the 1st of October, with the number of pilots hitting the street somewhere around 400.  I'm about 320 from the bottom, so I would definitely be in that group if I weren't on military leave.  By me being on military leave, they can't do anything to me.  My classmates, well, they aren't as lucky.  They're all probably going to be furloughed, and that really sucks.  But with oil still well over $120/barrel, the airline can't afford to keep them employed.  I'm just hoping that by the time I get back late next summer, my job will be back as well.  If not, I really don't know what I'll do at this point.  I'm flying enough with the Army that I don't need to fly for a living, but it's probably the only thing that I'll be happy doing.  I could go find an office job and just fly for the Army, but again, that wouldn't make me very happy - that's why I left active duty!  Another option would be to go back on Active Duty (if I'm not going to fly full-time, I may as well do something that I know).  However, I don't believe I could do that and keep the wife happy, since inevitably we'd have to move.  We don't want to move.  I could pound the pavement when I get back looking for a flying job, hoping that the economy picks up in the year that I'm gone.  The problem?  Hope is not a method, as I was told many times during my Army career.  Ugh...

Ideally, I'd like to get a job with a company called NetJets.  They are an awesome company, seemingly not affected by high fuel costs because they just pass those along to their customers, who are usually rich enough to not have to worry about that kind of "trivial" stuff.  The problem?  Everyone and their brother wants to get on with them right now.  The have about 3000 pilots, on their way up to about 4500, and they probably have at least 1000 resumes on file (and growing daily).  At this point in time I don't meet their minimum requirements, but I should have those by the time I redeploy.  I need about another 400 hours, and I also need to get my Airline Transport Pilot license (basically the next level of pilot license above Commercial Pilot).  I plan on taking the written test before I leave, and then I can do the checkride as soon as I get back, in an Army airplane, and it should only cost me roughly $700-800 (of the people that have to buy their ATPs, most people pay in excess of $3000).  Once I have the new license, only then can I apply.  The good part?  My job in the Army is to fly VIPs around (Generals/Admirals).  NetJets flies VIPs around (rich, paying customers).  It's essentially the same job, which I'm hoping will work to my benefit.  I guess we'll see in about 12 months.

Oh yeah, speaking of the Army, I got promoted to Major.  That means about a $400/mo pay raise.  Next month, I go over 10 years of service, which will mean another $400/mo pay raise.  Not too shabby.  The year that I'm deployed I should gross about $105K, which means that I will also net $105K since I don't get taxed.  Sweet!!!  It's definitely a lot better than the $21K I grossed last year at the airlines...sometimes I wonder why I love flying so much.

Changing gears a little, I had to get rid of the Jeep.  I wanted to get Jeannie a new car so I wouldn't have anything to worry about while I'm gone, so we traded in the Jeep.  Her Honda was paid off already, and with gas prices the way they are, it only made sense to trade in the 16 mpg Jeep.  This way we also keep only one car payment.  So we got a silver Honda CR-V.  It's a lot better on gas than the Jeep (about 27 mpg), and she's driving it to Duke every day while I drive the Accord to Ft. Bragg every day (110 mile round trip).  I miss the Jeep, but this will be good for us financially.  Plus, we needed a 4-door vehicle, and the CR-V meets that requirement.

Anyway, I think it's time to get these boxes ready to move.  I'll try to update before I head out, and once I'm over there, I should have regular internet access, so I'll update more regularly.

Or maybe a few days...

I made it back to Raleigh from Ft. Rucker on Friday evening, and on Saturday afternoon we headed down to Carolina Beach for a few days of rest and relaxation.  I'm actually typing this from our little rental condo on the beach.  J is out on the beach right now.  I ran in to use the bathroom and try to fix her iPod.  So while the computer is trying to find the iPod, I figured I'd type out a quick blog entry.

Things have been good here at the beach.  We had a bit of a snafu trying to get down here, as Nibba is a bit too big for her carrier.  We had to get a new carrier, and believe me, it made a world of difference.  Otherwise, we've just been relaxing a bit.  The weather has been great during the day, and stormy at night, which has made for some great light shows.

I'll get some pictures and even a short video a little later, but for now, it's back out to the beach!

Since others are getting nostalgic in their blogs...

Four years ago today was the worst day of my life.

Fuck you Cinco de Mayo.

Lucky for me, better days followed.

Anyway, still in Alabama.  Found out that I'm deploying to the big sandbox in late August for at least 11 months.  Maybe by the time I get back, the airline industry will have settled down a little.  Or better yet, I'll have enough time/experience on my hands to get a better job where I'm not away from home so much.  We'll see.

I think it's time for a margarita, Cinco de Mayo be damned.

I have succumbed to Steve Jobs and his evil empire...

I now own an iPod.

And I love it.

*cries*