Fresh week, Fresh start.

The last post ended with me and the rest of the gang pretty down trodden. Thank God for His mercies. Memorial Day could not have come at a more opportune time. I was able to talk to some wise men, who were able to give me sound advice and encouragement, and I had an opportunity to unwind. One of my buddies from home, Tom, a Sigma Nu with me at William Jewell, has a brother who is a Navy Corpsman that is training to work with Marines as a Green Side Corpsman. Just so happens, that the Navy Corpsman train at the Navy Hospital just a short drive up the road from 22 area in Pendleton. Before I left, Tom gave me his brothers number and we were able to hang out about a week ago. Jon, Tom's brother, is a really cool guy, so we decided to hang out on Saturday. Sea World and other Busch parks, like Busch Gardens have a Hero Salute deal where any active military can get into one of the parks free once a year. Its pretty cool. So we went to Sea World and watched dolphins and sharks and killer whales and rode some rides for free. Unfortunately they made some money off of us in food costs. I also learned a valuable lesson. When going to Sea World, bring a plastic bag to protect your phone, camera/other electronics. Do not attempt to eat an entire large bag of cotton candy as quick as you can so you can use the bag it came in. It makes you feel rather sick and gives you a huge sugar buzz. Not a good idea. I was able to relax and to enjoy time to lay in bed, and catch up on rest. I had some welcome alone time.
Today, I got up at 3:30, and we drove up to 29 Palms. I will be taking part in a joint COC training class learning how to intigrate the different shops into a team. Thats about all I can say there. This place is desolate. Man is it barren. There is nothing but scub, cactus and joshua trees. Interesting fact, Joshua trees only grow in Israel around Jerusalem and in the area around 29 Palms. Its said that one set guards Heaven's entrance, the other Hell's. I will let you guess which this would qualify as. The hours here will be long. We will work through the weekends. It is intense, and today we discovered that as reservists, we are well behind the learning curve on the newer systems they are using in Iraq and Afghanistan. We need to catch up, and quick. It will take a lot of work, but it is neccesary. Our work saves lives if we do it right. We don't want to have the death of a brother on our hands because we don't know what is going on. This class will be very good for prepairing us. We are finally getting training. After months of monotony, God finally gave us an opportunity to become better Marines. I am excited. It will be a hectic 20 days, but it will be good. To add to all that, my hotel room is awesome. I have a nice bed, two pillows, direct tv, a kitchenette and a bathroom I only share with one other guy. I am excited. Thank you Lord. You have encouraged me, lifted my spirits. I am only sorry that I haven't had a great attitude even when its tough going. Kind of a sad commentary. I need more work.