The end of an era...or a week and a half

Its Sunday night and my week and a half of not working has finally come to an end. I go back tomorrow and the rest of the week, and then off for another two and a half weeks. Yes, its a rough life I lead. I took my PT test on Thursday morning and I did ok on it. Which is really all that matters. As long as I pass, I'm good. But I really wanted to do better. I had been working my ass off for months, but then with the move and being so dislocated for over a month, I think that kind of screwed me up. I didn't work out nearly as much as I would have liked, but it all worked out in the end. I hope that I will have the time to keep getting better. It will definitely be more difficult without a trainer yelling at me at least three times a week, so I need to stay on top of my workouts.

I have spent an inordinate amount of money in the last few weeks, and frankly, I need to stop. Its getting to be mildly ridiculous. Thankfully I get paid in a few days, but still. Time to quit.

Yesterday I walked around downtown San Antonio for a few hours, getting re-aquainted with this quasi- lovely city. There is definitely some beautiful spots down here, and, like all big cities, it has its ugly places. But I wanted to scout out some places to take pictures, which I did this morning. It was nice, just walking along the Riverwalk and the empty streets. It was very quiet and pretty peaceful, actually. This morning, anyway. Yesterday, on a beautiful sunny Saturday afternoon, it was pretty damn hectic, but I enjoy people watching, so it was ok.

I went to a bar with a guy in my class that I have known for awhile (we went to military training together) to watch the UFC fight last night. It was a good time with some good people. Unfortunately the great state of Texas, or at least the city of San Antonio, allows smoking in its bars. After having been in Arizona and Washington for so long where smoking isn't allowed, it took my by surprise and was wildly irritating when I found this little factoid out. Thankfully I don't go out much, but when I do, I smell like an ash tray. Blech. I could live without it. Either way, it was a good time last night.

Well, I had some more profound thoughts from earlier in the day that I wanted to put into this thing, but have since forgotten them all. Which is why I need to record these things down when they happen, because I am notorious for forgetting such things. My phone even has a digital recorder on it and I see it there, staring at me whenever I scroll through my prolific apps, but somehow fail to use it. Ah well. Perhaps my astute insights and deep thoughts will return to me at some point.

So on that not-so-high note, I am going to bed. I need to work out tomorrow morning before class, so that requires me getting up fairly early, and necessitates and even earlier bedtime. Like now. Night peeps. Hasta.

Oh yeah, maple/dijon pork chops and sauteed cauliflower 'rice/potatoes/couscous' rocks. Just sayin.

Oh, and...blood orange italian soda and disarrono is pretty fantastical too. K. Night.

Too much meat

Well, as the title states, I had too much meat for dinner. I kinda wanted to puke. But it was oh so tasty. Skirt steak and sauteed cauliflower. Yum yum yum.

It was a weird day. I went for a run this morning, which went well. I feel pretty good about this PT test coming up. Then I was on base and drove by the spa and they were offering a deal on body wraps. Soooo I went in. And they had an opening. Soooo I took it. Basically, the goal of a body wrap is to suck out some toxins, clean out your pores, and suck you dry so you lose a few inches around different parts of your body. They start by taking measurements so you can see, afterwards, where you lost and how much. Then they slather on some super sneaky spa clay over the area to be wrapped. You can do a whole body, but that would have sucked. Im pretty damn hairy and digging dried clay out of leg hair would have been bad. Pulling it out of my chest hair was bad enough. But I digress. Then, after the clay is applied, the take ace bandages (or something similar) that are soaked in some super sneaky spa chemical and wrap you up. Fairly tightly. Which seems to get tighter the longer you have it on. Then they put you in a sauna suit, which sucks. And then they stick you in a torture device. They call it the steam chair. I disagree. Its a regular chair with a frame around it and a cover that can zip up, leaving only your head and hands exposed, while uber hot steam is piped in to the little oven. I felt like a gawddamn turkey being roasted alive. I had to yell at her multiple times to come in and turn it down as my leg was literally being cooked while I sat there, helpless. I called it quits after 45 minutes. I was getting dizzy and nauseous and I figured that was a good time to throw in the towel...which I literally did because I was irritated at being roasted. Then the nice lady pulled me out, stripped me down and remeasured me. Total I lost 6.5 inches form my abdominothoracic area, so it wasn't a total loss. Well, partial loss. Ha ha.

Lets see...looked at more crappy craigslist furniture then went home. Made some more dinner. Got sick. Blah blah blah. Watched the pilot episode of californication again. I love that show. Hank is my anti-hero. I love him. And now its off to bed. I need to get up and work out and stretch and get ready for Thursday. So really I have nothing to do tomorrow. Well, I need to start looking over this stuff again. By 'this stuff' I mean medical stuff. A and P, chem, yadda yadda. Its hard to do that though without direction. To just randomly dive in and try and learn or remember stuff doesn't work for me. Hmmm...I'll need to figure that one out. So yeah. Bed. Night.

I love steak

So today was an interesting day. I finally unpacked, though there is still an explosion of my shit everywhere. Maybe tomorrow it will get a tad more organized. Maybe. I dropped off paperwork to get paid a possible s-ton of money, so we shall have to see. Then I dinked around for awhile killing time because San Antonio traffic sucks. A lot. And I had to go a ways out of town to get my desk. So I looked at a furniture store that basically had my dream living room set and an entertainment set with a 50" flat screen for 2 grand. I was drooling. I wanted it so bad. Nevermind the fact that it probably wouldn't even fit in my tiny living room. Oh well. It was bee-ee-ay-utiful. Le sigh.

So I go to get this desk and its in a swanky subdivision full of ridiculously priced ginormous homes and I go up and its a younger guy and his stuck up wife. He was cool. She...not so much. He tells me the story of this desk. It was supposedly built by a friend of his fathers like 30 or 40 years ago, and the guy has been dead for at least 25 years. So its old. Its big. I like it. It has character. The guy said he basically used it most of his life but that his wife was making him get rid of it because she didn't like it. She thought it was ugly. Whatever. So the guy helps me load it into my truck and off I go. I'm happy with my purchase. 50 bucks well spent. So I get to the store because I had to pick something up and I look at the desk, now turned on its side and notice something odd. 3 stickers. One under each bottom leg and one under the top itself. The newish looking stickers say 'made in the phillipines' followed by some numbers and a bar code. Now. I may not be the smartest guy in the world. In fact, for as smart as I am, I do some pretty dumb shit occasionally. But even I, dumb smart guy, can figure that this guy just took me. I mean, really? Made in the Phillipines. With a bar code. On new stickers. I was trying to justify it by saying that maybe the old guy used pieces from other stuff that maybe had the stickers on it or something, but then I think that there is a very small chance that they used bar codes like that and stickers on things that were 'hand-made- back in the 70s. Maybe I'm wrong and this guy was telling the truth, but somehow I sincerely doubt it. And I'm still ok with my purchase. I like the desk. I'm sitting at it right now, as a matter of fact. But did he really have to make up a story to go with it? I was excited about that part. But now I have to believe that it was probably some 8 year old kid in the phillipines with bleeding fingers making 8 cents an hour.

And then it hits me...this is my karma. Sooooooo, the grodie bed I bought the other day. I sold it. The next day. And I maybe sold it for the original price that was asked of me, but that I did not pay. I maybe made a small profit on the bed. Soooooo, its possible that was my karma on dishonest craigslisting. I learned my lesson. Hopefully its over. Either way I still love my desk and I don't have that nasty ass bed in my place anymore.

So on to tonight. I made an epic dinner. Flank steak with a cumin/salt/pepper rub, cooked to medium rare. Cilantro/garlic/lemon juice/salt/cayenne/oil drizzly sauce on top. And asparagus sauteed with salt and garlic. It was a-mazing. I have a happy tummy and an angry kitchen. I made a mess and now I have to clean it up. Blech. Oh well. I have awesome leftovers now.

My PT test is coming up soon. I need to work out. I took yesterday off, and its looking like I am taking today off too. Damn. Can't afford to do that or I will be packing my bags quick. Nah. I ran a 5k in 24 minutes the other day. So I should be good. I just hate PT tests. With a passion. But I need to learn to love them in the next two days. I can't worry about it though. That doesn't help. So I won't. Instead, I am going to clean a little and then go to bed in my oh-so-wonderfully cozy comfy bed.

Night peeps.

Breakfast steak and eggs...mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

So this morning I decided to try breakfast steak and eggs. Let me just say this: fantastic. I am thrilled with my cast iron skillet, even though its new and not totally seasoned yet. I love it. It cooks eggs the way I like them, and cooking them right after you cook meat is awesome because all the yummy, fatty meaty goodness is cooked right in there with them. Yum. Not a bad way to start the week.

Now, I have a lot to do today. I need to clean. Its retarded messy in here right now and frankly, its driving me nuts. I am not, by far, the cleanest person out there. I am not a neat freak and a little mess doesn't bother me. But this is not ok. I mean, there is literally shit strewn haphazardly about in every which way. Its a mess and I can't look at it anymore. That being said, I'm also lazy. There are times when the mood to clean strikes me and I just go balls to the wall with it. But now is not one of those times. Sigh. I need to get it done though.

I also have paperwork to turn in on base. Hopefully it will make me some money. Well, it will. Just how much is the question. So we shall see.

I am going to pick up a desk tonight. I found it on craigslist and it was made by some girls dad like 50 years ago and I think its pretty damn awesome. So that is tonight. Hopefully its not total crap, but it looks pretty good in the pictures she posted. Who knows.

Oh, and just a side note...my new bed rocks my socks too. I slept great last night. No creepy crawlies from not thinking about what I was sleeping on the other night. So, yay for me. And my uber soft jersey sheets were awesome too. I highly recommend them.

I think that's about it for now. We shall see. I am gonna make my not-so-world-famous-but-more-locally-as-in-my-house-famous flank steak with cilantro-garlic-lemon drizzle and probably some asparagus. I'm actually pretty excited for this one. Hopefully it turns out the way it has in the past. Pics to come. Have a great Monday!

Inaugural posting...or something like that

So I was given an idea today to start a blog about my musings and misadventures while in PA school here in lovely San Antonio at Fort Sam Houston. For those of you who don't know, PA school is short Physician Assistant school. Its a 29 month Master's Program that, when completed, will allow me to do ungodly things to people and get not only paid an exorbitant amount of money to do so, but get thanked all the while as well. Its a ridiculously hard program that will sap my will power and sanity, but I'm looking forward to it.

The Army, while it has screwed me over many times in the past, has finally seen fit to repay me for all the bloodletting it has done over the years by allowing me to go to attend this fine academic program. They will pay me my full salary whilst here, which is awesome. And they pay for pretty much everything else, too. Which is nifty. Its one of the top ten schools in the nation for the PA program. We aim to knock Duke and Iowa off the #1 and #2 pedestal. We may be aiming a tad high.

So here I am, sitting in my very small, 1 bedroom apartment, typing away on a blog that few, if any, will ever read. But thats ok. I hope to be able to document this journey as best I can, whenever I have time. I would like to share musings and insights and thoughts and questions with my quasi-avid, non-existent readers and hopefully, on occasion, here from you, too. I will also post my misadventures in cooking and other random things that happen to me around this fine city. Such as this weekend, when I was looking for a bed on Craigslist (first mistake). I found an ad that said 'queen bed- $50'. I got excited. I called and we went back and forth and finally I was on my way to pick up a super awesome queen bed and frame for only 50 dollars! Well, needless to say, I am an idiot. It was kinda gross, and I didn't even realize that the box spring was a full size, while the mattress was a queen size. Sigh. Sometimes I amaze myself. But thats ok. It worked for a night (though I tried very hard not to think of what it was I was sleeping on). Today I got a new bed for pretty cheap, and then went ahead and sold that old one on craigslist. Ha. Came out even, so I guess I can't complain. Though if I find out that there were bed bugs, I may kill someone. ::Shudders:: I hate bed bugs. Blech.

I also had my first foray into cooking bacon today. That was exciting. Got to break in a new cast iron skillet, which was interesting. I made some bacon and eggs and it was all pretty tasty. The bacon was not cooperating though. It was sticking to the skillet, so I think I need to turn it sooner, because it was rather irritating trying to not get burnt by exploding oil bubbles. Oh well. It tasted great. Then tonight was a double hamburger patty stuffed with pepper jack cheese, just like I saw on Food Porn. Only, it didn't come out nearly as good. Apparently my skills aren't there yet. The cheese wasn't ready to explode as you bit into it. Rather, it didn't really melt very well. And I had to pull it apart to cook the insides of the burger. And I topped it with some tasty (although maybe a little overdone) sauteed onions. Despite the issues I was having, it all came out pretty damn tasty.

Now I'm off to Wally World to buy some sheets. Good times. Well, I hope I can stay with this little journal of sorts, as I have failed miserably to do so in the past.

Peace outtie.