Core Dump!

Monday, October 14th, was another day off and it became my cooking day!  I put together Enchiladas and Shepard Pie in dishes that I froze and now can easily pull out for dinner later on.  I also went for a run - I was going to run Seoul Tower but instead ran the perimeter of post and saw lots of new stuff that's close by.

10938 Steps (4.76 miles)

Tuesday, October 15th, we had lots of computer/printer issues at work.  It could have been worse - BN had lost their internet so I hand carried lots of paperwork over to BN so that my soldier could leave for WLC the next day!  My WWQ also got together and had our first rehearsal in a bit - we are starting to think about our upcoming holiday concert and the caroling season.

12543 Steps (5.46 miles)

Wednesday, October 16th, was a pretty normal day.  My soldier left for WLC and I did paperwork.  Story of my life!

14022 Steps (6.10 miles)

Thursday, October 17th, was a long and stressful day.  I don't even know why it was so stressful but everyone was in a bad mood.  I went with a friend to go see a movie - we walked over to the Ipark movie theater and the only movie that was playing in our time range (and was in English) was Gravity.  It was a good movie - very poignant though it did make me dizzy.  I might have had more issues if we had seen it in 3D.  I definitely want to come back to this movie theater though to see the big blockbuster movies that are coming out soon - Hunger Games 2, Thor 2 and such...

20029 Steps (8.71 miles)

Friday, October 18th, was a Comp day for us (making up for the extra work we do...)  I got up and went for a run with my friend Alan and we ran/walked about 8 miles.  Afterwards I met up with two of my specialists and took them to get their CIF issue which is all their Army equipment and gear.  We had to inventory it all (and luckily I had just done this so I could help them because I knew what it all was!)  Then we went and laid out their equipment, painted and taped their bags and packed their "Go Bags".  We had heard rumors that an EDRE (Emergency Deployment Readiness Exercise) was on the horizon so I invited all the new folk to the unit to come to our bag packing/painting party.  Quite a few showed up in order to get their gear in order.  Afterwards, I went to the Navy Club for my usual Friday night hangout.

27570 Steps (11.99 miles)

Saturday, October 19th, I rolled out of bed and went to my Hash.  It was a much longer run than normal... like 12 miles long!  We told the hares that if they had just done another 1.1 miles we could have called it a half marathon!  I was so sore and tired by the end!  Afterwards my friend Dom and I went to get pizza - we went to a place called Monster Pizza because I was told by some band folk that it was the best pizza around.  It was not.  It actually reminded me of Bells Pizza... only really good as drunk pizza food... it was super greasy!  Then we met up with some other runners to go to HBCfest which is a musical festival in HBC (right outside my gate) where all the local bars have a rotation of local bands play.  IT WAS CRAZY!  There were sooo many people that they were spilling into the streets though the local cops weren't too happy about that.  My group ended up holing up at the VFW since it was slightly quieter than everywhere else.  It was a fun night of dancing and listing to music!

27570 Steps (11.82 miles)

Sunday, October 20th, I got to sleep in a bit and then bummed around a bit.  At night they were running the Shadow Run of the Army Ten Miler - it started at the same time as the actual Ten Miler in DC.  We actually only ran a 10K (ie... the 5K route twice...)  There were about 30 folk who came out, though it was fun :-)  I ran with Alan the whole time and we finished a couple minutes less than an hour.

18358 Steps (7.98 miles)

Monday, October 21st, was rough getting up after such a late night, especially since I still had to go to PT.  We have a new PT schedule were it runs from 0630-0800 and our first formation is now at 0930.  And we no longer wear our reflective belts.  And they aren't closing the roads during PT hours anymore.  Our thoughts are that 8th Army heard that they needed to reduce their ranks by 10% and said "challenge accepted!"   In the morning we marched a honor guard ceremony and hat afternoon we went to the EST practice shooting M16s - the EST is like video game shooting.

7920 Steps (3.44 miles)

Tuesday, October 22nd, was another day of work work work.  I did have lunch with a friend at one of the KATUSA snack bars and he whipped out an ultrasound photo - his shock and awe!  He was so excited to be a dad though he isn't telling many folk until they are further along.

9679 Steps (4.21 miles)

Wednesday, October 23rd, started with a class on growing professionally and personally and the trainer had one of the KATUSAs stand up and talk about US misconceptions.  He said," I wear skinny jeans because they fit and I wear bright shirts (esp. pink ones) for fashion.  But I not gay."  It was fairly adorable.  At lunch I ran down to the TMC (Troop Medical Clinic) for my doctors appointment where, while I'm lying on the table the doctor asks me "Are you a nurse?"

Me: "No?"

Doctor: "No medical training?"

Me: "No??"

Doctor "Well, you definitely sound like you have!"

Me: "Ah... a lot of my family is in the medical profession."

Doctor: "Oh?  What happened to you?"

Me: "I went and got a frivolous arts degree instead"

Doctor: "Well, you can always go back and get a medical degree!"

I thought it was funny.  They shot my arm full of drugs and then I rushed back, changed into my dress uniform and marched another ceremony.

9279 Steps (4.04 miles)

Thursday, October 24th, was another fun day.  We did tactical PT for PT in the morning which consisted of us learning different buddy carrys.  I got a bit peeved because they segregated the females for training which is a huge EO violation.  Afterwards we had our EDRE where we had to bring all our equipment and "Go Bags" and lay them out to be inspected as if we were going to war.  It's amazing how much stuff you have to go to war with.  We also had a full unit weigh in which means I spent my lunch measuring people in between bites.  I had a heart to heart with my SGM at the end of the day about EO issues.

8058 Steps (3.50 miles)

Friday, October 25th, was thankfully a Comp Day.  I slept in a bit and didn't get up to run because my body really needed the rest.  I skyped with some family in the morning and did a fashion show for my mom over skype.  I did eventually drag myself into work to get some paperwork done (I will never catch up on all the paperwork...)  I met up with Sam there and we did fashion show part 2 and then bummed around the PX before going to happy hour at the Navy Club.  I walked in and an officer shouts out "Captain America!"  I did an embarrassed wave and trudged through as the rest of the guys in the room wanted to know why he was calling me that...  Afterwards, I went back to my BEQ and popped in a movie for a bit.  Some friends called and were feeling down so I trudged out to go play pool with them - playing pool against me always makes people feel better!

10940 Steps (4.76 miles)

Saturday, October 26th, I woke up and met up with fellow hashers right outside the gate and we traveled together to our start point.  The hash run today was a good one because the pack stayed together pretty much the whole time and it was only about 4 miles.  Afterwards we trekked back to post.  I bummed around for a bit and then met up with some friends to go to a Halloween party.  I went as a Librarian (I know... so original... but I do have the clothes for it!)  There was a guy in a giant bear suit and he got hounded by the Koreans no matter where we went.... it was hysterical!  A couple of the guys took turns wearing the suit because they all needed breaks from having their pictures taken all the time!  There was another guy who was dressed as Quail Man and we were polling the folks who recognized him to see what the age spread was... not very big at all actually.  It was a really fun night :-)

15014 Steps (6.53 miles)

Sunday, October 27th, I woke up not feeling all that well.  My cold progressed to more than just a little cough, but to full blown cough with crap in my lungs and dizzyness :-(  I slept in for a bit but then had to go to work.  I did get to have a fairly awesome brunch with a friend though, but then more work.   I ran into my PLT Leader at work and he told me that I wasn't allowed to come to PT in the morning with that nasty of a cough and texted my soldiers to tell them I wouldn't be there...  I doused myself with Nyquil and went to bed early.

Turkey Necks and Sloppy Joes

Sunday, October 6th, I got up fairly early so I could start my crockpot ribs!  I got to smell the ribs all morning and I only missed getting to smell them when I went out for a Hash with Southside.  The ribs were fantastic by the time I got back :-)  Not a horrible way to spend a Sunday!

15274 Steps (6.64 miles)


Monday, October 7th, we didn't have PT in the morning because we had a sequence rehearsal for the CSM change of responsibility which can be worse than a change of command because CSMs never know how to shut up :-P  One of the CSMs had some pretty fantastic one liners including "you can tell by my turkey neck and sagging belly."

5274 Steps (2.29 miles)


Tuesday, October 8th, was a fairly normal day though the top ranks of the band were out at the M9 range.  We worked, there was drama due to the government shut down.  Fairly normal stuff at this point.

9687 Steps (4.21 miles)


Wednesday, October 9th, we did half mile sprints for PT and then had a fairly normal day.  We were suppose to have concert band in the morning, meetings and paperwork in the afternoon.

6301 Steps (2.74 miles)


Thursday, October 10th, was a long day.  We did buddy exercises in the morning for PT.  We had a sequence rehearsal in the morning and then classes (which were frustrating as hell).  Then we had a Honor Guard Ceremony in which I marched.  It was frustrating and long and hot.  Afterwards, I stayed late working on paperwork for training and for my squad.  I treated myself to a milkshake from Once Upon a Milkshake.

14169 Steps (6.16 miles)

Friday, October 11th, was the start of my four day weekend for Columbus Day. I slept in a bit and then met up with Sam for a day of shopping.  We went over to Garden5 (where we had the joint concert last week).  We got these really strange corn shaped, bread with cream in the middle things at the subway which were fantastic.  Then we had fun, spicy hotdogs.  When we left, we had small cakes (that I had eyed last week!)   We shopped the hell out of the food, can't say we did much actual shopping though!  We've decided we are both good window shoppers but are horrible at committing to an actual purchase!  We headed back to post and ran into a couple other band guys in Itaewon so we had coffee with them and then showed them some of the funny things we found at the Hamiliton Shopping Center.  We also found the Korean version of a Claires which was lots of fun.  We headed back on post and went to the Navy Club since it was $1 beer night!  I ended up meeting up with a bunch of people and it was pretty hysterical.  One of the guys had a bit too much to drink so I walked him home and then had movie night with another friend (we watched Airplane which I hadn't seen in forever!)

15683 Steps (6.82 miles)

Saturday, October 12th, I rolled out of bed to go run the Columbus Day 5K fun run on post.  A couple of other band folk and Carter also ran which was nice!  I ran with Herold for a bit but he took off on me, but I still ended in around 27:00.  Afterwards we got Jamba Juice!  I showered and relaxed for a bit before meeting up with Sam and we went and got our nails done - Mani and Pedi.  I think I terrified the Korean lady with the amount of calluses on my feet.  Then we went and got her watch battery replaced and shopping around a bit on post.  We decided to go out to Itaewon to go have dinner at the Rose and Crown and didn't realize that the Itaewon Global Festival was going on.  They had shut down the street and lined it with tents - Sam and I decided to walk down the middle which was crazy crowded.  I led the way, since I am the giantess, and helped break our way through the crowds.  There were tents with all sorts of world arts and music, but predominately the tents were filled with different types of ethnic foods.  And it was an odd assortment of countries - USA, France, Germany, Kenya, Uzbekistan... very random.  The US tents had boiled crab, hot dogs and sloppy joes.  I was really excited at the Ecuador tent which had horchata!  I had us stop and buy some - it wasn't as good as the horchata from my Taco Stand in Fernley, but it still tasted like being back in NV.  We decided it wasn't worth trying to fight for food so we went with the first plan and got a table at the Rose and Crown.  I had Young's Double Chocolate Stout (which was fantastic!) and Sam had an Irish Cream Ale.  We both had a salad (because the dressing is soo good and I am trying to figure out what its made of!) and then we split the Fish and Chips and the Shepards Pie.  After dinner, we trotted down to the Bampo bridge to watch the water and lights show.  Afterwards, we came back to my place to watch Pitch Perfect.  Sam stayed the night since it was late by the time we were done with the movie, plus the festival was creating so much noise that Sam wouldn't have been able to sleep at her place anyway.

34454 Steps (14.98 miles)

Sunday, October 13th, was an extremely lazy day for me.  I rolled out of bed fairly late, went and grabbed some coffee and then got pulled into a book and couldn't stop until I finished it.  I finished the third book of the Hunger Games Trilogy, Mockingjay and it left me in quite a funk.  The trilogy really makes you think about what we as a species are capable of and what could possibly happen.  I walked down to the commissary to stock up on food and made beef stroganoff for dinner (though it wasn't nearly as good as Moms!)  I got to skype with a friend and then watched some tv online before deciding I should call it a night.

7012 Steps (3.05 miles)

Ceremonies and ceremonies...

Tuesday, October 1st, was a fairly normal dayish... we had dress rehearals for the upcoming USFK Change of Command... our 4 Star General was going to change out and so its going to be a big deal with a lot of brass... Afterwards we had more concert band rehearsal for our upcoming rescheduled joint concert.

11138 Steps (4.84 miles)

Wednesday, October 2nd, was Change of Command Day!  It was a nice late start for us followed by the SGM lining us all up and inspecting our uniforms with a ruler and a fine toothed comb.  We rolled out for the ceremony... which was incredibly long!  There were 5 speeches - some Korean guy, the Secretary of Defense, Chuck Hagel, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dempsey, the outgoing Commander, General Thurman, and the incoming, General (I'm not even going to try to spell his name at this point).  It almost turned into 10 speeches, but someone got wise and did simultaneous translations (thank goodness!!!)  That was a long freaking time to be standing out in the sun unable to move.  Luckily, no one passed out on the field.d  After work, I dragged Carter (who is newly promoted to SSG!) out to Craftworks to have a beer and a burger to celebrate his promotion and tease him that his promotion was the reason the government got shut down... it follows, right?

7396 Steps (3.21 miles)

Thursday, October 3rd, was our big makeup concert day with the Korean Special Warfare Command Band.  Because of the government shutdown technically all concerts should have been cancelled... our first instinct was to just not answer our phones and check our emails... but we did go get permission from the 8A chief of staff in order to still do our concert.   However, we were waiting anxiously for the phone call last minute saying get back on the bus and come back...It was a late start for us, though I rolled in early so that I could get some counselings and other paperwork done.  We loaded up the bus and rolled out to Garden5 in Songpa which is this huge shopping center with an open plaza in the middle (where we were going to play).  We then had a joint sound check/rehearsal/basically a first practice concert for a couple hours.  Then we got fed Bulgogi, were allowed to wander around for a bit (I've decided I'm going to go back... fun shopping experience place!), then we changed in these tents they set up in the  basement of one of the buildings and then we performed our concert!  We had an MC for the concert who spoke all in Korean and apparently she was a very famous Korean comedian.  I didn't understand anything that was going on except I think she was trying to auction off some of the Korean saxaphonists to some of the women in the audience.  She also called our commander "Chef Deeeeeeelaney!"  The bari sax player who was sitting next to me translated a bit of what she was saying... mostly that she asked our Katusa (who had sang one of the songs for the concert) to come back on stage and show us his dance moves.  After he did this, she said "you are obviously a virgin."  Then he ran off the stage... it was an odd concert.

10538 Steps (4.58 miles)

Friday, October 4nd, started off with more dress rehearsals/dry runs for a change of command, though this time its for a CSM Change of responsibility next week (which might be even longer since NCOs really like to talk...)  After a couple run throughs, I ran over to turn in this weeks CFC stuff, grabbed lunch with a friend, and then slaved away the afternoon with the training shop getting caught up on DTMS stuff and the slides for BN.  Then I went to happy hour at the Navy Club (still loving the $1!) This time, our bar had been overrun by Air Force Officers and their scary looking wives!  I had dinner with some friends (Italian of all things... it was pretty good!) and didn't stay out too late since it had been such a long week!

13296 Steps (5.78 miles)

Saturday, October 5th, I met up with a group of friends to go hiking in Bukhansan National Park where we climbed Baekundae Peak (about 830 meters).  It was a cool climb with a bunch of parts where you were scrambling hand and foot up rocks.  I was amazed how busy it was... you really are never alone in Korea!  Apparently, when you get old in Korea, you hike up and down Korean mountains with as much fancy hiking gear as you can carry.  I just had on my running shoes and if I'm going to be scrambling over rocks like that, I will need to invest in some shoes that can grip because I slipped a bunch and landed on my butt only a few times!  The view from the top was absolutely amazing though!  After we climbed back down, we went out for Chicken and Beer since some of the guys we were with had never been to our Chicken and Beer place in Hongdae (which is the best Chicken and Beer place that I've been to!)  I called it an early night because I was exhausted after such a long day!

22833 Steps (9.93 miles)